The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

by Brandon Sanderson

“We’re not leaving without you,” Sigzil said. Many of the others nodded. “I’ll follow,” Kaladin said. “We can’t leave those men behind.” “Kaladin, lad—” Teft began. “We can talk about me later,” Kaladin interrupted. “Maybe I’ll go with you, then sneak back into camp later to rescue the wounded. For now, go salvage from those bodies.” They hesitated. “It’s an order, men!”

they really care about him man...

“We owe them nothing,” Kaladin whispered. He thought he could see Dalinar Kholin’s banner, flying blue at the front of his army. “You got them into this, Kholin. I won’t let my men die for you.” He turned his back on the Tower.

the conflict...

“I bind things, Kaladin,” she said, turning and meeting his eyes. “I am honorspren. Spirit of oaths. Of promises. And of nobility.”

AAHHH

He raised a trembling hand to his head, feeling the brand there, wet with his sweat. “I owe you nothing, Kholin.” And his father’s voice seemed to whisper a reply. Somebody has to start, son. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow.

yesss...

The lighteyes don’t care about life, Lirin had said. So I must. So we must. So you must. … Life before death. I’ve failed so often. I’ve been knocked to the ground and trod upon. Strength before weakness. This would be death I’d lead my friends to … Journey before destination. … death, and what is right.

Us and them, he thought. That was the only way a soldier could think of it. For today, Dalinar Kholin and his men were part of the “us.”

This is my choice, he thought as the Parshendi archers formed up. It’s not some angry god watching me, not some spren playing tricks, not some twist of fate. It’s me. I chose to follow Tien. I chose to charge the Shardbearer and save Amaram. I chose to escape the slave pits. And now, I choose to try to rescue these men, though I know I will probably fail.

GO KALADIN!

Varth’s squad hurried forward, attacking the enemies—who had been distracted with Tien and the other two. They’d placed the untrained at the front to stop the momentum of the enemy attack.

Fucking horrible

“You work with what you have,” Varth said, nodding to his team, then pointing at a fortified position. “If they give me men who can’t fight, I’ll find another use for them.” He hesitated as his team marched away. He seemed regretful. “Gotta do what you can to stay alive, son. Turn a liability into an advantage whenever you can. Remember that, if you live.”

Yeesh...

Beards woven with glowing gemstones. Kaladin breathed in. Like the power of salvation itself—like rays of sunlight from the eyes of the Almighty—Stormlight exploded from those gemstones. It surged through the air, pulled in visible streams, like glowing columns of luminescent smoke. Twisting and turning and spiraling like tiny funnel clouds until they slammed into him. And the storm came to life again.

OH FUUUUCK

“I will protect those who cannot protect themselves,” he whispered. The Second Ideal of the Knights Radiant.

GRAAAAAAAHHHHH

“Stormfather,” Peet whispered. “What … what is he?” “He’s our bridgeleader,” Teft said, snapping out of his reverie. On the other side of the chasm, Kaladin barely dodged a blow from a Parshendi mace. “And he needs our help! First and second teams, you take the left side. Don’t let the Parshendi get around him. Third and fourth teams, you’re with me on the right! Rock and Lopen, you be ready to pull back any wounded. The rest of you, wrinkled wall formation. Don’t attack, just stay alive and keep them back. And Lopen, toss him a spear that isn’t broken!”

Teft is awesome

“Now?” Dalinar bellowed incredulously. “Now you come?” The Shardbearer stepped forward, steel boots clanking on stone. The other Parshendi backed away.

oh fuck bro

With Stormlight making an ecstatic pulse within him, he felt a rhythm to the battle.

you could say he felt the Rhythm of War, even

He threw the remains at a third man, then caught a new spear as Lopen tossed it to him. The Herdazian was collecting them from the fallen Alethi nearby to give to Kaladin when needed.

LOPEN GOAT

That realization rocked him. He found himself respecting the Parshendi as he killed them.

The man started. “Promoted … Who are you? Can you do that?” “Someone needs to,” Kaladin snapped. “Go. Get to work.” “I—” “Go!” Kaladin bellowed.

Goat behavior

He understood what was being said. The accent was nearly impenetrable, but the words were in Alethi. “It is you,” the Parshendi Shardbearer said. “I have found you at last.”

What the fuck

Sadeas had upset the balance, and it could never be regained. Not in the same way.

What was a prayer, if not creation? Making something where nothing existed. Creating a wish out of despair, a plea out of anguish. Bowing one’s back before the Almighty, and forming humility from the empty pride of a human life. Something from nothing. True creation.

wow

Again, Dalinar was struck by their discipline. More and more, he was certain Sadeas had nothing to do with that. It was this man at their head. Though his eyes were dark brown, he held himself like a brightlord.

you could say he was walking the Way of Kings, even

“So, you’re saying you can just die, and it would be all right?” “No,” he said. “What I’m saying is that I faced eternity, and I saw peace there. That will change how I live.”

okay that's raw

Someone had burned an enormous thath glyph on the stones here, and Sadeas stood at its center. Justice. There was something magnificently appropriate about Sadeas standing there, treading upon justice.

Kino

By letting the Parshendi kill you, I could protect Elhokar from you and turn you into a symbol to remind the others what we’re really doing here. Your death might have become what finally united us. Ironic, if you consider it.”

Yikes buddy

Dalinar snorted. “Well, you’ve shown me something today, Sadeas—shown it to me by the very act of trying to remove me.” “And what was that?” Sadeas asked, amused. “You’ve shown me that I’m still a threat.”

Talk that fucking talk

“The Blade,” Dalinar said, firm voice carrying in the air. “In exchange for your bridgemen. All of them. Every one you have in camp. They become mine, to do with as I please, never to be touched by you again. In exchange, you get the sword.”

No fucking way

“What is a man’s life worth?” Dalinar asked softly. “The slavemasters say one is worth about two emerald broams,” Kaladin said, frowning. “And what do you say?” “A life is priceless,” he said immediately, quoting his father. Dalinar smiled, wrinkle lines extending from the corners of his eyes. “Coincidentally, that is the exact value of a Shardblade. So today, you and your men sacrificed to buy me twenty-six hundred priceless lives. And all I had to repay you with was a single priceless sword. I call that a bargain.”

Awwh this rocks dude

Dalinar leaned down, getting close enough to smell the king’s breath. “The girth on your horse during the hunt,” Dalinar said quietly. “You cut it yourself, didn’t you?” Elhokar’s eyes grew wider.

Oh fuck???

“Well, now you know,” Dalinar said, voice hard. “If I’d wanted to kill you, Elhokar, I could have done it a dozen times over. A hundred times over. It appears you won’t accept loyalty and devotion as proof of my honesty. Well, if you act like a child, you get treated like one. You know now, for a fact, that I don’t want you dead. For if I did, I would have crushed your chest and been done with it!” He locked eyes with the king. “Now,” Dalinar said, “do you understand?” Slowly, Elhokar nodded.

GOOOO

“I have been treating the other highprinces and their lighteyes like adults. An adult can take a principle and adapt it to his needs. But we’re not ready for that yet. We’re children. And when you’re teaching a child, you require him to do what is right until he grows old enough to make his own choices. The Silver Kingdoms didn’t begin as unified, glorious bastions of honor. They were trained that way, raised up, like youths nurtured to maturity.”

Excellent

“I was trying to be Nohadon the peacemaker. But I’m not. I’m the Blackthorn, a general and a warlord.

Dalinar turned to go. Then he hesitated. “Oh, and Elhokar? Your mother and I are now courting. You’ll want to start growing accustomed to that.”

HE REALLY SAID BY THE WAY IM FUCKING YOUR MOM

Dalinar turned to go. Then he hesitated. “Oh, and Elhokar? Your mother and I are now courting. You’ll want to start growing accustomed to that.”

HE REALLY SAID BY THE WAY IM FUCKING YOUR MOM

“There is no fabrial, is there, Jasnah? There’s no Soulcaster. There never has been. You use the fake ‘fabrial’ to distract people from the fact that you have the power to Soulcast on your own.” Jasnah fell silent.

HOLY SHIT

“What am I?” Shallan whispered. “Truthfully?” It was a day for confrontation. She felt strangely strong, steady. Time to speak it. “I’m a murderer. I killed my father.”

Oh holy SHIT???

Was he losing his mind? Each time he carried out an assassination, he found himself blaming the victims. He cursed them for not being strong enough to fight back and kill him.

yeesh dude

“You have done your work well,” the king said, still not facing him. “Leaders dead, lives lost. Panic and chaos. Was this your destiny? Do you wonder? Given that monstrosity of a Shardblade by your people, cast out and absolved of any sin your masters might require of you?”

Taravangian goat???

Szeth frowned. And then it began to make sense. He knew what would happen next, even as the king reached into his voluminous sleeve and withdrew a small rock that glittered in the light of two dozen lamps. “You were always him,” Szeth said. “My unseen master.” The king set the rock on the ground between them. Szeth’s Oathstone.

WHAT nevermind not goat NOT GOAT

“I don’t understand,” Szeth said, watching in horror as the four patients grew pale. “You’re killing them, aren’t you?” “Yes. We don’t need the blood; it is merely a way to kill slowly and easily.”

Brooo

“You are a monster.” “Yes,” Taravangian said. “But I am the monster who will save this world.”

Holy shit

“They claim we chased the Voidbringers off the face of Roshar or destroyed them. But that’s not how humans work. We don’t throw away something we can use.”

Holy SHIT

“We didn’t destroy the Voidbringers,” Jasnah said from behind, her voice haunted. “We enslaved them.”

HOLY SHIT.

‘Lopen,’ they’d say, ‘you only have one arm, but I see that you can glow. I think that you should kiss me now.’ ”

LMAO lopen

“At least tell me this,” Dalinar said. “What time are we seeing? Is this the past, the future, or something else entirely?” The figure didn’t answer immediately. Then he said, “You’re probably wondering if this is a vision of the future.” Dalinar started. “I just … I just asked …”

LOL

“I am … I was … God. The one you call the Almighty, the creator of mankind.” The figure closed his eyes. “And now I am dead. Odium has killed me. I am sorry.”

Oh fuckkkk holy shit

“But we don’t. Given two works of artistic majesty, otherwise weighted equally, we will give greater acclaim to the one who did it first. It doesn’t matter what you create. It matters what you create before anyone else.

“What is it we value?” Wit whispered. “Innovation. Originality. Novelty. But most importantly … timeliness. I fear you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate friend.”

HOLY SHIIIIT