The Way of Kings

To say this book had great world building is to understate it. The world Sanderson created is so realistic it is mind blowing. And the story is compelling, and complex and I couldn’t get enough.

Brandon Sanderson is a master at world building. He slowly draws you into a plot with a group of characters that are believable and likable. You will find yourself sympathizing with Kaladin and feeling like you are right there with bridge 4!

Remember what it was like to read through Harry Potter as it was coming out with all your friends? This is that series now. You really need to catch up before we get much further: there’s only 10 books and we’re 4 deep. I’m on book 4 and you really REALLY need to be reading this.

Give it 20% before you cast it off.

In my opinion Brandon Sanderson delivers an amazing read to the start of a new series in his Cosmere World. I have read several things by Sanderson, but nothing of his adult books until now and it caught me hook, line, and sinker. This book had action, flawed but lovable characters, along with some not so lovable ones, and everything that fantasy has to offer with unique creatures and languages. As always, his characters are well developed, even the secondary ones, and have a lot of teach and entertain with. This book to me had an ending while still leaving open the possibility of more books. I just felt complete after reading it.

I highly recommend this book to other fantasy readers because to me it has everything a reader is looking for while staying clean and well thought out. By the end of the book I’m sure you will catch yourself saying, “storm it” as it can explain a lot of things!

A Book You Will Not Forget

I loved this book, one of the best epic fantasies I’ve read in a long time. This was the first time I read a Brandon Sanderson story, and I’m hooked on him. The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive, is an immense, epic adventure that takes place in a world that is both believable and like no other.

Sanderson has crafted a fantasy with characters, places, creatures, religion, culture, and geography, all explained in elaborate detail, but never in a way that interferes with the action and the progress of the story. He gives you just enough information a little at a time to allow you to understand events taking place without overburdening you with detailed descriptions all at once. (Okay, maybe at the very beginning you won’t understand everything, but you will as the story continues.) The way he develops characters as the story progresses is excellent. The male and female characters are powerful, complex, and realistic, each with their unique traits.

Mostly, you will want to read more. I was never bored or lost interest during the LONG reading time to complete this book. This is a must-read. If all his books in the series are this good, it will rank among the top fantasies of all time.

Not for everybody, but this thousand page monstrosity was the best that I have read in years

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (2010)
Cast out by his people, a Shin man is sent to murder the king of one of the world’s most powerful nations. He possesses magic such as Honorblade, used to cut anything, and Surgebinding, that renders him able to bind things together.
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The Way of Kings

Takes a long time to build, but once it gets going, hold onto your seat.

This my 3rd book from Sanderson and the credit I had for audible.com couldn’t have been spent better.

This book starts out introducing a main character Khaladin. Khaladin isn’t really a favorite character of mine but he pulls forward other characters that are fantastic. Khaladin is a slave and though strange circumstances, he begins to form a gathering of slaves who begin to follow him. Before all this can happen we are introduced to a young woman named Shallan.

Shallan is the character to bound me to the book. You’re introduced from the start of what her intentions are and why she’s trying to do what she’s doing. As your interest in Shallan’s story continues to grow two other stories are forming in the background. That of Kaladin and one other, brightlord Dalinar Kholin.

For the most part Kholin is a great guy and nothing really interesting happens in his story. And then it happens. Sanderson grabs Shallan’s story and twists it around Kohlin’s. Then he takes Kalainds and twists that one around as well so that all three stories are somehow effecting one another.

The endings of these stories start to come together so wonderfully that your left with your mouth open not realizing it until drool begins to droop down onto your reading. The perfect twist happens at the end and its so well done that it plays with your emotions, making you angry and sending you searching for the next book.

Reading this after the final empire can feel like a slower pace because of all the action the final empire possess. Then again, the detail that Sanderson gives his character in their beliefs, customs and the way he continues to describe his world make this book so much more memorable.

I really enjoyed the way Sanderson cleverly hides the racism in his book. The bright eyes are lords and the dark eyes are slaves. Right away he ties the feelings and attitudes into something we understand in our world. Although this is fantasy it feels believable and almost actual in some ways.

My only gripe is this. Kholin has shard plate armor, a mythical ancient armor. He jumps into combat to save Sadeas. Sadeas is being beaten into a pulp on the ground, his helmet is knocked free and they are mass gang banging their weapons on his body. Kholin jumps in, saves him and barely gets out. This armor is amazing. Then, Kholin visits his nephew. He punches his nephew a few times and suddenly his nephews shard plate, super amazing near-invincible armor just … breaks? Just like that? This is the only reason I gave it a 4 star and not a 5 star. Everything Sanderson prepped me for was to understand how amazing this armor is and then, poof. It’s not.

Otherwise the book is fantastic. Having finished the book I now appreciate the whispy spirit thingies. I enjoy the descriptions of his world, the plants, animals and terrain. The history of this world, it’s just all done so well and it paints and incredible picture.

Folks, it’s writing by Brandon Sanderson.If you already know his work, enough said! If you don’t yet know his work, there is a FLAT OUT AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC collection of works that surpass any author’s work I have had the pleasure to know in my 72 years, He is the top of the food chain in wonderful, detailed, imaginative, engrossing fantasy writing, I cannot recommend any and all of his writing highly enough. I am an author myself, and I cannot hope to even achieve sight of his coattails. I SWEAR you will enriched beyond expectation by his writing.

Five hundred stars are not enough