The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Apr 07, 2012 Dale Pearl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-worth-rereading, epic, fantasy, religious, first-in-a-series, read-due-to-a-review, 2014, high-fantasy, war, y2014-june

So you say you like fantasy books do you? You also want intrigue, strong characters, flawed characters, and epic world building? You need a magic system that makes sense for the world in which it exists? You want to read a novel from a unique universe in which every single element was thought out in advance before pen ever hit the paper? Well.... if that is what you were looking for look no further as Brandon Sanderson does all of this and more in his first novel in the the Stormlight Archive.

I So you say you like fantasy books do you? You also want intrigue, strong characters, flawed characters, and epic world building? You need a magic system that makes sense for the world in which it exists? You want to read a novel from a unique universe in which every single element was thought out in advance before pen ever hit the paper? Well.... if that is what you were looking for look no further as Brandon Sanderson does all of this and more in his first novel in the the Stormlight Archive.

I will also say that this is an ideal book for YA readers to transition to books of thicker substance. You may never go back once you enter the worlds of Brandon Sanderson. The writing style is easy to follow, the magic system will blow your mind, and the creatures created will keep you up at night in dreams of wonder causing your own imagination to spin entirely new tales for your minds eye to enjoy.

One thing that bothers me about this book. There are essentially two story lines that weave through the entire novel. As you read you are expecting them to intertwine at some point in the book. Well they never do so in that I would have to say that this really should have been two separate books all together since one part of the story never interacts with the other. That would have cut down the size of this by about 300 pages or so. Brandon did a similar approach in parts of the Mistborn Trilogy but in that series it was to the point of making the books difficult to read (at least book 2 and book 3).

With my small rant out of the way I can safely say that this was indeed a very enjoyable read. Well worth the nearly 1 month of reading it with a group of friends nightly and discussing via twitter and we even had weekly discussions to help us all collect our thoughts on the chapters covered. That little exercise in group discussion made this book even more enjoyable.

If Martin is never able to finish Game of Thrones I'll be ok as look as Sanderson is able to finish up his estimated 32-36 books in the Cosmere Universe that he has created. The more I read of Sanderson the less that I enjoy Martin's works. yes, G.O.T is epic beyond belief. But Martin is a tool so full of himself that waiting for the almighty to finish he world tours instead of keeping folks on hold for years on end. Meanwhile Sanderson is cranking out 3 to 4 books a year and of a better quality. On top of that Sanderson talks with his readers instead of talking down to his readers. Big difference!

Back to this book. Now if you have read through my Sanderson and Martin rant then you must be wanting to know something more about this book. Right now the book is just $2.99 on Amazon for electronic download. I can say with certainty you cannot buy a better book with $50.00 and you are a fool if you don't buy this book.
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Sep 04, 2013 Dolphe rated it it was amazing

As with many fantasy epics, there is a period of adjustment for the reader during the first several chapters. After all, you've just entered an entirely new universe of characters, camaraderie and conflicts. It understandably takes some time to get your bearings. Patience offers a great reward here as the author crafts a thoroughly entertaining tale of honor and faith. Those are subjects authors often attempt to wrap their pages around, but few succeed as well as Sanderson. Yes, the geeks among ...more

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Aug 02, 2014 Anthony rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I enjoyed the book. Not as much as others according to the scores. It was a little light for me. I never read 1000 pages faster so I did enjoy it but it wasn't as in depth or intricately plotted as I would have liked. I enjoyed the Kaladin chapters and thought there were some unique ideas in telling his story. I enjoyed Sanderson's take on using a Tinkerbell type character that has bonded with Kaladin. The girl's chapters, I forgot her name, were tolerable. i wasn't that interested. Her dialogue ...more

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