The Way of Kings

by Brandon Sanderson

Hardcover, 1008 pages

English language

Published March 31, 2010 by Tor.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-2635-5
OCLC Number:: 471819495

(16 reviews)

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 …

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.

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.

1 edition

Olivia Appleton reviewed The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

Fantastic book with only one major flaw

4 stars

The Way of Kings is a worldbuilding masterpiece. Its characters are rich and internally complex, their stories are fascinating, and their motivations compelling (even when you disagree with them). The single exception to this is the Shallan arc.

This is not because Shallan is a bad character, but because she's a decent character surrounded by great ones, and because it takes too long for her arc to connect to the main story.

I highly, highly recommend reading this book, and most of this author's other works.

Radioactivestardust reviewed The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

Review of 'The Way of Kings' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I am currently overwhelmed.

However although it is a fantastic book, I had issues.
I. hate. multiple. Pov' s.
And the same thing happened as always, it threw me out of the reading experience. I had to go so far as to get the audiobook, switch between chapters and structure my life according to reading and listening chapters.

I would lay down my life for Kaladin. I WANTED to know it all. But no, I just get another character shoved down my throat in between to make it more "exciting"
It was not. It was painful and annoying.

But since I know this is my own thing, I probably can't blame it on the book..

I also could not help to compare it to TNOTW. And that did also not go well. I loved the name of the wind more. The Way Of Kings felt like this supremassive, effective technical superb work of fiction. It was planned to a T, exercised with skill, but it lacked passion. The name of the wind has so many failures, I know them all, but omg I love it so much. All of it, every minute. I opened the book, and I did nothing but read. I was so immersed i did not recognize anything around me. The Way Of Kings though? At 50% I was still wondering why I am reading the book, while I was looking for the magic and the fantastic and the beauty. And while I was thrown out of the book again and again as I had to change characters.

The ending was good though. And I love Kaladin. I will probably hate the beginning of the second book again, but I will still read it. It's still a good series.

Sean Randall reviewed The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

Review of 'The Way of Kings' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

there's no doubt that this is the best book I've read in an age. The hairs on my arms prickled at all the right places, my anticipation peeked at all the high points and my heart sank when things went wrong. I found myself thinking 'oh, that's a good quote, I can use that in my review', then before I knew it I was pages and pages ahead, swept up in the story.

Kaladin, most haunted of men, yet most stubborn and brilliant too. he's portrayed very well, the emotional tempest within fuelled so ferociously that we can't but help lock ourselves to him. I found myself speeding up as I hit a chapter from his viewpoint, and even those from his past are expertly placed and written so brilliantly - such that when in the 64th chapter and things are grinding away to the ultimate battle of this volume, I was literally on the edge of my seat. he's a very complex, very powerful character and this really is his book.

Shallan is also focused on, of course, her story runs parallel to the main body of action. We learn a lot about her from her own viewpoint sections, but there's this amazing intertwinedness about everything. I liked how shallan was painted, how she was willing to sacrifice anything for her family, but there's this aura of mystery about her yet.

then there are the others, the backdrop, the characters who don't feel like second fiddles because they have so much place in their own right. Dalinar, Szeth and Adolin spring to mind. I am glad that there are many mor novels to come in this series, I sincerely hope that a thousand pages is but the tip of the iceberg.

Of the writing, I can only say it is excellent. The very world is so unique as to be entirely Sanderson's own, and it's so different from ours that we don't feel the need to try and place things, geographically or technologically. I can honestly say that this is the first book where I regret not being able to see the artwork, as it's not only an important part of the story, but the world is so vast that some geography to look at may have helped some. The battles and magic all feel very natural and smooth, each coming from an appropriate character's view means that it's easy to compartmentalise who can do what, in terms of spirituality.

To summarise, whilst this book works and feels very much like a fantasy epic, it's deftly written with such aplomb that one sometimes gets the impression one has a window into a real world far away where all this is happening. Not only do we get to see it from numerous viewpoints and angles and perceptions, but we as readers also gain great insight into the character's motivations and rationales for what they do. not all of them, and not entirely, of course: where'd be the fun in that? There are many questions that remain unanswered, things that have yet to happen, and more information we want on things that have already gone. When I first opened the book and saw the table of contents, complete with parts, interludes, artwork and chapters, I thought I'd be hopelessly lost within a few short pages. But I wasn't. I loved it. There will always be enough in my bank account to cover the next one - I just hope my patience lasts.