Tim Clark
Lift, a character introduced in a small book within the big book which is Words of Radiance gets her own novella. It's light but fun. Lift is a bit annoying - a character who prides herself on her immaturity can end up a little too "blown by the wind to wherever Sanderson wants her to be" - but you warm to her as events unfold. Wyndle is another great spren - and I love the idea of a whole plane of existence where the various spren types have chosen a champion and Wyndle's tribe are just 'well, everyone else is, we will too' - but he really want to cultivate the souls of chairs.
It feels like it crystalises a few of the concepts hinted in WoR too - which might make it a must read at this point in the cosmere.
Note: this (along with The Emperors Soul, secret history and lots of other curios are in Arcanum Unbound - which is 1 audible credit rather than 3)
Lift, a character introduced in a small book within the big book which is Words of Radiance gets her own novella. It's light but fun. Lift is a bit annoying - a character who prides herself on her immaturity can end up a little too "blown by the wind to wherever Sanderson wants her to be" - but you warm to her as events unfold. Wyndle is another great spren - and I love the idea of a whole plane of existence where the various spren types have chosen a champion and Wyndle's tribe are just 'well, everyone else is, we will too' - but he really want to cultivate the souls of chairs.
It feels like it crystalises a few of the concepts hinted in WoR too - which might make it a must read at this point in the cosmere.
Note: this (along with The Emperors Soul, secret history and lots of other curios are in Arcanum Unbound - which is 1 audible credit rather than 3)
Added to listOwnedwith 3 books.
Updated a reading goal:
Read 20 books by December 31, 2026
Progress so far: 5 / 20 25%
A 1,000-page foundation for something that promises to be excellent — which is both its greatest strength and its central problem.
Coming straight from Mistborn, the shift is jarring. No heist, no crew, no magic system that explains itself. Instead: three protagonists being broken in different ways simultaneously across a world that feels genuinely ancient but refuses to explain itself. The storms, the spren, the megacrabs — it's unlike anything I've read, and I mean that as a compliment, mostly.
Kaladin has the best progression of the three. His supporting cast provides most of the warmth. Shallan is chirpy and frustrating in equal measure — she keeps choosing the boring option when the interesting one is right there. Dalinar is solid. The world-building is vast and clearly going somewhere ambitious.
The honest caveat: on its own terms, this is not as good as Mistborn. It's all setup. You're eating your vegetables on faith that the pudding is coming. I'm going in on that faith — Sanderson has earned it — but I'd be lying if I said Way of Kings was a complete, satisfying story in its own right. It isn't. It's a prologue the size of a building.
Three stars for now. I'll revisit when I've finished Words of Radiance — if the payoff is everything people say it is, this rating is going up.
A 1,000-page foundation for something that promises to be excellent — which is both its greatest strength and its central problem.
Coming straight from Mistborn, the shift is jarring. No heist, no crew, no magic system that explains itself. Instead: three protagonists being broken in different ways simultaneously across a world that feels genuinely ancient but refuses to explain itself. The storms, the spren, the megacrabs — it's unlike anything I've read, and I mean that as a compliment, mostly.
Kaladin has the best progression of the three. His supporting cast provides most of the warmth. Shallan is chirpy and frustrating in equal measure — she keeps choosing the boring option when the interesting one is right there. Dalinar is solid. The world-building is vast and clearly going somewhere ambitious.
The honest caveat: on its own terms, this is not as good as Mistborn. It's all setup. You're eating your vegetables on faith that the pudding is coming. I'm going in on that faith — Sanderson has earned it — but I'd be lying if I said Way of Kings was a complete, satisfying story in its own right. It isn't. It's a prologue the size of a building.
Three stars for now. I'll revisit when I've finished Words of Radiance — if the payoff is everything people say it is, this rating is going up.
It's beautifully written. It's a cliche - but the journey is the discovery - read the first chapter - if it grabs you - as it did me - it's brilliant. If you are expecting bombastic fantasy - you might be disappointed. I hate a book that fails to stick the landing - I found the one deeply satisfying.
It's beautifully written. It's a cliche - but the journey is the discovery - read the first chapter - if it grabs you - as it did me - it's brilliant. If you are expecting bombastic fantasy - you might be disappointed. I hate a book that fails to stick the landing - I found the one deeply satisfying.
Tickled my brain exactly right from the start - the magic system seems mad when you start reading - but it's logical and consistent and makes the story compelling. The actual book is beautifully self contained while supplying a rich world for the rest of the original trilogy to play in.
Tickled my brain exactly right from the start - the magic system seems mad when you start reading - but it's logical and consistent and makes the story compelling. The actual book is beautifully self contained while supplying a rich world for the rest of the original trilogy to play in.