The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
This is by far the longest book I’ve ever read. The copy I had was 1252 pages long. I haven’t read anything close to the length of this.
To say I was intimated is an understatement.
After being told time and again by Reddit and by booktubers I follow, I finally managed to get the book and also managed to finish it!
Let’s get to talking about the book.
I’m actually speechless.
I don’t think any book has ever left me like this.
There’s a lot right about this book.
The characters were brilliantly written, the plot- brilliantly executed.
I’m just… in love.
Although there were some parts of the book where I felt the prose was a little weak, and the pacing in the beginning and during the interludes was quite slow, once I pushed through those, I couldn’t put the rest of the book down. I felt bad just taking a small bathroom break.
Also, the Sanderlanche is 100% a real thing with this book.
This was also one of the most vividly described books I’ve read. There was one day where I was confused whether I’d seen a video/movie or just imagined the scenes depicted. (It’s the latter, if you’re wondering. :P)
Characters and Plot:
The book focuses on three characters.
The first of which was Kaladin who we find out, was quite the soldier during his time in the army. But something happened to him, and he became a slave. The thing that happened caused him to go into depression, and his arc is about how he tries to fight that, and much much more.
The second character is this woman named Shallan.
She wants to steal something valuable from this lady scholar (one of the most famous ones, if I might I add) by first becoming her student. But when she finally becomes one, she realizes that she actually loves learning, and her arc deals with this duality, as well as other things.
The last of the characters is this big time old prince named Dalinar. His brother — who was the king that united the nations — was assassinated, and that started a war which has been going on for 6 years.
Dalinar was a warmongerer, but his arc deals with how he comes to terms with how wrong that is, and as with the other characters in the book, it deals with a lot more.
This book was Kaladin’s book. I love how Sanderson crafted his entire character. His judgements, his behaviour, his relationship with people. It’s wonderfully done.
Dalinar and his entire arc was probably my favourite of the many characters introduced.
Shallan never really stood out to me, but a lot of my most visceral emotions came in her arc. I hope the upcoming books help change my mind on her!
Worldbuilding:
One of the most important parts of any epic fantasy book is its world, and by association, the author’s ability to build worlds. The book delivers on this aspect as well!
The entire plot takes place on the world of Roshar, and in the universe known as the Cosmere.
The unique thing about the world of Roshar is that there are these massive highstorms that take place every few days (look at the cover above), and this has shaped the geography of the world. From its plants to the animals that live within this world. The plants and animals too have evolved to grow shells to protect themselves from these highstorms. The humans to have survived by taking precautions against these storms. These highstorms always rage from East to West, but the more West they go, the weaker they become. This once again provides an interesting cause of the geography of the world. There’s barely any fertile lands in the East, but there are plenty of them in the West.
One of the most intriguing parts of Roshar, is these tiny fairly like creatures called spren .
There are different spren that mimic different human emotions, like the anger spren, anticipation spren etc. Then there are spren that mimic nature itself, like the wind spren, fire spren etc.
Conclusion:
There’s more I’d love to talk about. Things like the class system in the book, the magical elements of the world. The unique currency system used. But, I’ll leave that for you to discover dear reader, when you finally pick up the book!
All in all, a brilliant book, and it’s one that I definitely would recommend and I cannot wait to get the rest of the books in the series.
9.5/10
