Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Overall, I enjoyed Words of Radiance, perhaps not as much as the first novel in the series, but I still thought it was quite good. Not that I thought every aspect of this novel was good. For one thing, it’s too long. Even though some parts of it are page turning and intriguing, there were too many long flashbacks, too many inconsequential scenes, and the interludes generally seem like a waste of time. So, this novel is quite good but not without its flaws.

The lifeblood of any series is the characters, since the reader is going to have to spend so much time with the characters, especially in a novel as long as this one. This novel and series has well developed characters from the main ones: Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar to many of the lesser and side characters. The author is strong at characterization as well as building suspense. I found myself wanting to find out more about the big reveals, which are set up well. There are times when the novel is an exciting page turner, such as when Kaladin jumps into a duel with no protection to save Dalinar’s sons. I also enjoyed the specter of the Assassin in White attacking, and the intrigue surrounding the plot to kill the king. There was a lot going on in this novel, and for the most part it was good. I would recommend reading this, but I wish a strong willed editor was willing to chop this down a bit and get rid of some of the fluff.