The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) in /r/Fantasy Discussion Group

Mar 26, 2017 Sherwood Smith added it

Shelves: fantasy

This is one of those books that took a couple of tries to get into.

The first, oh, eighty pages or so are nested prologues, and they are all about war and death. When I first attempted this book shortly after publication, I put it down at that point, thinking that this was one for young guys who liked a lot of war porn.

Well, after several years of being told that no, I was totally wrong, I ought to try it again, I pulled it out a few nights ago, and grimly smacked into those early pages again. Y This is one of those books that took a couple of tries to get into.

The first, oh, eighty pages or so are nested prologues, and they are all about war and death. When I first attempted this book shortly after publication, I put it down at that point, thinking that this was one for young guys who liked a lot of war porn.

Well, after several years of being told that no, I was totally wrong, I ought to try it again, I pulled it out a few nights ago, and grimly smacked into those early pages again. Yep, more guys killing each other . . . but as soon as I reached Shallan's entry--a seventeen year old artistically inclined girl, sent by her family on a secret mission--I thought ah, at last some story outside of war, war, war.

Well, the more I got into the book, the more I began to see that Sanderson was playing hard with the tropes of war, glorious war. It's most clearly embodied in Dalinar, the high prince who feels the thrill of battle (he calls it the Thrill) but then is appalled at the destruction when he falls out of the trance. By studying the Code, he's striving to impose a modicum of civilization over the savagery of constant warfare. His co-high prince, Sadeas, thinks he's cracked, and weak, in trying to find a moral path.

Sadeas is an interesting character--just when you think you can predict his reaction, he takes a left turn. Ditto Jasnah, the tough, scholarly princess who utterly rejects the current organized religion, and so is constantly visited by a handsome young priest who also befriends the determined Shallan . . .

Then there is Kaladin, the soldier who strove to be the best he could be, and keeps getting knocked back down, and down, and down, until he's hit the worst level: a bridgeman under Sadeas, equivalent to slaves. Only worse, because they are what we'd call cannon fodder if there were any cannon.

Add in Dalinar's son Adolin, who reflects his dad's striving for a moral center in a situation where that seems impossible, and you've got a set of interesting characters to root for, though whew, the body count is right up there.

Terrific worldbuilding--so many fascinating little details--and a lack of graphic rape scenes that in too many epic fantasies seem to be regarded as necessary furniture--and I found myself sucked in just as much as predicted.

It's not perfect. I think many of Kaladin's flashbacks weren't needed ((view spoiler)), and some of Dalinar's tended to repeat the same information, and a couple of intriguing plot threads were totally dropped ((view spoiler)).

Overall the story was absorbing, the world fascinating, and the characters deeply involving. I can totally see why this series is as popular as it is--I want to read the next! ...more

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Dec 18, 2018 Rinaldo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: united-states, fantasy

4.25/5

So, I accidentally started this book when I was in the middle of Toll the Hounds (Malazan Book of the Fallen #8). The original plan was to hold up until the 4th or even ideally 5th book is released, but alas, I'm that weak.

“Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.”

Speaking about expectations, I came to this book with perhaps too high expectations. It's almost universally well-loved by my trusted reviewers and friends in fantasy ...more

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Jul 12, 2022 Kin rated it it was ok

Genuinely I don't know why everyone gives Sanderson a pass on some of the slowest, most repetitive writing I have ever seen... The way the protagonists would have the same thoughts and revelations over and over, the almost complete lack of plot structure until the last three or four hours of the book (did I mention that the audiobook is 45 hours long?), the insufferably dreary worldbuilding... I just don't understand how people love it all so much.

Honestly, I feel like this could have been good ...more

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Jun 13, 2021 Ketutar Jensen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fantasy-challenge, series

Prelude.
Ok... interesting.

Prologue
Ok... so... nothing to do with the prelude. Ok... Interesting, though.

Part I
Something different, again.
next chapter, something different, again.
and it goes on like that.

It takes quite a lot of time for me to realize that Cenn is pretty much irrelevant. He's just a young boy who gets killed on his first battle. Yeah, he dies.
We are introduced to a lot of people, and half of them are irrelevant. As much care is taken to present even the irrelevant characters, so ...more

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Jul 29, 2014 Dave rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Some really great worldbuilding and ideas in this. It's a bit of a rocky start, but the storytelling comes together wonderfully. ...more

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Aug 18, 2014 Michael Underwood rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, 2014-reads

Ambitious and lush. However, I feel like it would have been a stronger 500-page novel. More decompressed than is my preference.

Also, I'm not at all confident that a medieval-ish patrilineal patriarchy would persist when only women are literate. Correspondingly, women's voices are backgrounded in the work. ...more

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Apr 06, 2016 Casey rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-that-can-double-as-weapons, hic-sunt-dracones

YES YES YES!

Can't wait to finish the rest of this series. ...more

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Jan 09, 2016 Diane Patterson rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf-f

Ambitious and he clearly has a giant world going on...but it took me two months to read. Much of it felt putting pieces into place and not especially thrilling on its own.

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