In The Way of Kings, #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson introduces readers to the fascinating world of Roshar, a world of stone and storms.It has been centuries since the fall of the Knights Radiant, but their mystical swords and armor remain, transforming ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for them. Wars are fought for them and won by them.One such … them and won by them.
One such war rages on the Shattered Plains where Kaladin, son of a surgeon, has been reduced to slavery, and Dalinar, commander of the armies, is plagued by dreams of ancient times, doubting his own sanity.
Across the ocean, Shallan, a naive but brave and brilliant young woman, plans a daring theft to save her impoverished noble house from ruin.
The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is Book 1 of The Stormlight Archive, an epic fantasy masterpiece in the making.
THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE
Book 1: The Way of Kings
Book 2: Words of Radiance
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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I recently finished the first of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series, and as with his other work that I have read (mostly the Mistborn trilogy) it really pulled me in. It took me a little time to get into it at first, but after that it was difficult to put down, even the supposedly “slower” parts. Sanderson has created a large, complex, and very interesting world, and I’m now eager to read the rest of the series!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jasnah Kholin and Kaladin are my two favorite characters so far, although I like Shallan and Dalinar as well. Jasnah is a very interesting person, and I like her thoughts and attitude, her deep love of learning, and her determination to get to the truth about her world. I like Kaladin for his determination to not give up, and to make the most of whatever situation he finds himself in. Revelations at the end of this first book now make me especially eager to know what happens next.
Sanderson does a good job of building different cultures in the different geographical parts of his world, and showing how they vary depending on their distance from some of the world’s dangers (such as the highstorms), and how they interact with each other and have influenced each other over time.
I would recommend this to anyone who like long, epic fantasy stories, with many characters and complex world-building.
My all time favorite fantasy. Not even a huge Sanderson fan but these books are fantastic!
Loved this book! One of the best books I have read! It is a Epic Fantasy, 3 main characters we follow through the book. Sanderson builds worlds , people , well just everything in such a remarkable way. When I read this books years ago, it became that book I am always told people to read! Still do now.
My new favorite fantasy epic.
Sanderson is a master at his craft. This book truly displays how well he creates compelling characters and placing them in a vividly imagined world. I love the storyline and the character’s arcs during their quest throughout the Stormlight Archives. Well done Brandon.
Brandon Sanderson has always been great at world building and having interesting magic elements to his worlds. Great, great author and I look forward to the rest of the Stormlight Archive.
Wonderful series.
As a fantasy genre connoisseur, I can say with confidence that this is the best fantasy series I’ve ever read to date. The world is fascinating, every character is so full and complex, and even when it goes where I expect it to, it does so in unexpected or thoroughly satisfying ways! Sanderson is a fantastic writer!!
Read the series. Really liked
Long time Sanderson fan; hard to dis his magnum opus
This book was beyond amazing! The magic, the strange safe hand technique, the spren, shardplates, and the fact that only women and priest read. There is just so much this book has to offer. I absolutely loved this world and can not wait to learn more about it in the next book. After learning about each character and how they all started to intertwine it became hard to pick a favorite character. This was my first Sanderson read and I am glad that I picked this up.
The world building and magic system are fantastic. I absolutely loved this book. It’s a large book though, so I ended up having to buy it in Kindle form as well just so I didn’t hurt myself when I inevitably dropped it on my face.
The world of this book is so alien it took me a little while to wrap my brain and imagination around what the author was describing. Once I learned the names and ideas of things the book became a lot easier to follow. It was totally worth following blindly for a few pages/chapters because the book is epic; in its scope, its backstory, its character development, and its writing quality.
I only give it 4 instead of 5 stars because of my own inability to follow some of his descriptions. My reasoning is thus: either they are overly complicated and he should simplify them, or I’m not sufficiently intelligent enough to understand what was going on and therefore am not in a position to judge its quality.
Still, a great book. Read it. And the next two also. Really.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I am looking forward to reading book 2. The storyline was interesting and well-written.
AMAZING.
I wanted more at the end.
This is Brandon Sanderson’s best series since he completed Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time”. Big Fan!
Remarkable, this book was intense and I can’t wait to find out how it ends!
So Sanderson is the reigning king of epic fantasy at the moment. Such accolades always make me skeptical when I consider picking up a new author. I must have a rebellious nature because I immediately think: If everybody says he’s so great, he can’t possibly be THAT great.
Well, I finally broke down and read some Sanderson. I started with The Way of Kings…
And it blew me away. Oh wow. You can tell a great book not by how “great” it is, but by what it gives you during the story. I opened the cover, the doorway to the world of Roshar blew open as well, and I tumbled in head over heels. By the end of this first weighty volume, I felt like I’d been given a meticulously crafted gift. I repeat: Oh wow.
Flip over my new leaf; I’m a diehard fan after one book.
The Way of Kings is a sweeping epic following Kaladin and Shallon (and a wealth of side characters) in an utterly unique fantasy world. Sanderson masterfully adds tiny details (like the “safe hand”) that are odd enough to make you feel dropped in the midst of an alien land, but not so far-fetched that they pop you out of the story. He builds the current action alongside the land’s history until the two coincide in a tightly woven fabric of tension and deep world building.
Strap in. If you love epic fantasy, The Way of Kings will sweep you off your feet and carry you away.
This is the beginning of a phenomenally epic series!