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

Feb 11, 2018 Vicky N. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

The Way of Kings is the first book of this epic fantasy series. As the first book in long series, this first books is filled with history and explanations of its religion, magic system, etc.
But they are all peppered throughout the book and are never too overwhelming. The history lessons are intertwined with the characters so you never get bored.
Honestly, I'm just in awe of what an incredibly detailed world Sanderson has created. It made for an interesting book.
I am in awe and I loved every min ...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Jim Schmitt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, read-three-times, top-15, 2014, 2017, 2020-audiobooks

This was one of the best books I have ever read. I am literally astounded that it is as good as it is. I have read a few of Sanderson's books by now, and while I liked them all, I never got the feeling that he was capable of wowing me like this. I always thought he was clever and creative, but this just took epic to a new level. This book has been on my shelf for a while now and I can't believe that I'm just now getting to read it.

Over the last year I've have read a lot of good fantasy. I discov This was one of the best books I have ever read. I am literally astounded that it is as good as it is. I have read a few of Sanderson's books by now, and while I liked them all, I never got the feeling that he was capable of wowing me like this. I always thought he was clever and creative, but this just took epic to a new level. This book has been on my shelf for a while now and I can't believe that I'm just now getting to read it.

Over the last year I've have read a lot of good fantasy. I discovered r/fantasy on reddit and not only did it inspire me to get back into fantasy full-force, it provided me with a lot of great recommendations of some of the most universally well-liked series'. As a result, I have read a lot of great fantasy books over the last year and given out a lot more 5's than I would have previously expected. This book was so good that I almost feel like it redefined what a 5 was and I should go back and change all the others to 4.

There are a few other books out there that I probably liked as much as this, but all of them (except Name of the Wind) were books later on in a series. These are the kind of stories that take a few books to really get to the point where I am invested in the characters and their story enough to feel the way I did about these characters. Only at that point did I think this kind of climax was possible. Sanderson did it in one book. Hell, I was hooked within the first 100 pages.

Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan, Szeth. Some of the most intriguing characters I have come across. The best part of the book is the amount of mystery and information that is slowly exposed as you read, yet at the same time leaving you with this feeling that you understand about 1% of what is going on in the world. As far as I know, Sanderson is currently planning this to be part of a 10 book series and I can see why. It's going to take him that long just to get through all of the things he introduced in this 1000 page tome. But at this point, the more the merrier.

Now one of the things I had always felt about Sanderson's writing in his other books is that it seems like he creates a magic system (good ones of course) and then creates a story around it that fits. I have no idea if this is what he actually does, it just feels that way to me. This one feels different. Magic plays a huge part, but there are a lot of aspects that are left as a mystery and are either slowly unveiled or are still shrouded and implied to be revealed later. I like that. It's a bit more traditional but I feel like it makes the story a lot more about the characters and less about manipulating a list of rules. To be honest, the prologue almost made it seem that this was the direction that he was heading in at first but that changed quickly. I'm sure the detailed magic system will come more in to play later but if it's at a point when other things are a bit more fleshed out, I'm sure it will be better.

So seriously. This book is amazing. Definitely my favorite book of his (at least tied with A Memory of Light, which may or may not count). I can't believe I have to wait for 9 more books. Luckily Sanderson is a book writing machine and hopefully I won't have to wait too long to get my fix. I feel like I can understand how those people who read the Eye of the World when it came out must have felt.

Read more of my reviews at www.JimtheGrim.com ! ...more

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Oct 12, 2014 Darwin Newton rated it liked it

Very confusing start, took a long time to connect the dots because the story's all over the place but by the second half of the book he's got mostly everyone pointed the same direction. Amazing world creation and magical constructs, unique concepts of social interaction and eventually there's a quality storyline in there somewhere. ...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Brian rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, books-i-own

I've read just about all of Brandon Sanderson's stuff, and this was my favorite so far. It still suffers from some of the same flaws of his other stuff, but they're much less pronounced. Yes, it's probably a lot longer than it needed to be, but I was enjoying myself, so I didn't really care about that. It did drag a little bit, but that made the payoff that much better when it arrived. And what he does well, he does really well here. The world, magic, intrigue, mystery, etc... were all top notch ...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Mike rated it it was amazing

Shelves: crème-de-la-crème, awesome-reads, bookshelf-buy

This book is on my creme de la creme shelf and I feel it pertinent to inform you that books on that shelf, in my opinion, are the best of the best, off the charts, that by which other books are judged.

There are many great reviews on GR for this particular book, so I'll spare you my long winded appraisal. ...more

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