The Way of Kings
2010 • 1,008 pages
Ratings646
Average rating4.6
15
Ratings646
Average rating4.6
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before Destination.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.
One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.
Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.
Speak again the ancient oaths:
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.
Featured Series
3 primary books9 released booksThe Stormlight Archive is a 9-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2010 with contributions by Brandon Sanderson, Mélanie Fazi, and 2 others. The next book is scheduled for release on 12/14/2024.
Series
15 primary books45 released booksThe Cosmere is a 45-book series with 15 primary works first released in 2005 with contributions by Brandon Sanderson, Michael Kramer, and 8 others. The next book is scheduled for release on 12/14/2024.
Reviews with the most likes.
45 HOURS of audio book COMPLETE! All in all it took me about 3 months of commutes (though I didn't listen to it every commute). This was my first time listening to a fantasy book (other than my mom reading to me as a kid), and I'm not sure I liked it — but that could also be unique to this book. I found it hard to get into a good rhythm with it. The interludes were more confusing. I got kind of bored during the bridge crew sections and during battles, probably would have skimmed if I were reading. The narration was also super cheesy and the male narrator's “feminine” voice made me cringe, along with every time he said “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” (See: cheesy). The female narrator was less monotone, but pronounced names inconsistently and differently from the male narrator, which was distracting.
In terms of the book itself: I didn't find this universe's magic system as compelling, or easily grasped, as Sanderson's others. There were few moments when I felt truly engrossed and like I needed to know what would happen next — but again, this could be because I listened to it disjointedly and never for long enough to get in a rhythm.
At some point I'll finish up the series, but I don't think I'll listen to any more as audiobooks. I gave it 3 stars to mirror my enjoyment level. Sometimes felt like a chore and while it was at times enjoyable, I'm excited to move on to something else.
Brandon Sanderson! Spinner of yarns and stretcher of story! I was hooked by the story all the way through but this was a long ass book where very little happened and I don't trust the journey to be worth the destination, heresy though that might be.
The prologue was very interesting, then the first chapter started and it had nothing to do with it. It takes too long to introduce the protagonist, which at the point I stopped reading there was two of them. I'm sure their stories would connect at some point, but up to that moment they were very uninteresting, specially the woman protagonist part.
I hate when an possible interesting story is littered with boring fillings in order to what? Build the world with excessive descriptions? Narrate every single aspect of a characters perspective? Add dialogs that do not further the plot and reveals only how tame the protagonist is?
From what I could gather there was this Kaladin fellow who was a very good fighter and then he was captured. Then there was this Shallan woman who did nothing for many, many pages.
Finished the second half ( so full book). God damm, incredible stuff
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