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

by Brandon Sanderson

Many of the bodies around him were human; many were not. Blood mixed. Red. Orange. Violet.

The place of meeting was in the shadow of a large rock formation, a spire rising into the sky.

These Blades were weapons of power beyond even Shardblades.

“You might call it a miracle. Only one of us died this time.” “Talenel,” Kalak said. His was the only Blade unaccounted for. “Yes. He died holding that passage by the northern waterway.” Kalak nodded. Taln had a tendency to choose seemingly hopeless fights and win them. He also had a tendency to die in the process. He would be back now, in the place where they went between Desolations. The place of nightmares.

You might call it a miracle. Only one of us died this time.” “Talenel,” Kalak said. His was the only Blade unaccounted for. “Yes. He died holding that passage by the northern waterway.” Kalak nodded. Taln had a tendency to choose seemingly hopeless fights and win them. He also had a tendency to die in the process. He would be back now, in the place where they went between Desolations. The place of nightmares.

Braize?

“He will not remain bound by this. The enemy. He will find a way around it.

Who is the enemy ?

They were men with skin of black marbled with red. Parshendi, they were named—cousins to the more docile servant peoples known as parshmen in most of the world. An oddity. They did not call themselves Parshendi; this was the Alethi name for them. It meant, roughly, “parshmen who can think.” Neither side seemed to see that as an insult.

dark-skinned Azish man who had an odd patch of pale skin on his cheek and

remember this description - update: this is Nale based on description

Worse, the Alethi scholars were said to be close to creating new Shardblades. Szeth hoped that was just wishful boasting. For if it did happen, the world would be changed.

1

A man with a long grey and black beard slumped in the doorway, smiling foolishly—though whether from wine or a weak mind, Szeth could not tell. “Have you seen me?” the man asked with slurred speech. He laughed, then began to speak in gibberish, reaching for a wineskin. So it was drink after all.

Herald Ishi?

Szeth brushed by, continuing past a line of statues depicting the Ten Heralds from ancient Vorin theology. Jezerezeh, Ishi, Kelek, Talenelat. He counted off each one, and realized there were only nine here. One was conspicuously missing. Why had Shalash’s statue been removed? King Gavilar was said to be very devout in his Vorin worship. Too devout, by some people’s standards.

?

Stormlight could be held for only a short time, a few minutes at most. It leaked away, the human body too porous a container. He had heard that the Voidbringers could hold it in perfectly. But, then, did they even exist?

perfectly

His punishment declared that they didn’t. His honor demanded that they did.

More about this in book 4 and 5 I'm sure.

the metal fuzzed when it touched living skin. It traveled through the guard’s neck without leaving a mark, but once it did, the man’s eyes smoked and burned.

According to legend, the Shardblades were first carried by the Knights Radiant uncounted ages ago. Gifts of their god, granted to allow them to fight horrors of rock and flame, dozens of feet tall, foes whose eyes burned with hatred. The Voidbringers. When your foe had skin as hard as stone itself, steel was useless. Something supernal was required.

why shardblades were made

His Lashings interfered with the gemstones that powered Shardplate, and he had to choose one or the other.

Hope kaladin doesn't put on shardplate at any point

The tempest within Szeth gave him many advantages—including the ability to quickly recover from small wounds.

stormlight

The king was still moving. Shardplate would protect a man from such a fall, but a large length of bloodied wood stuck up through Gavilar’s side, piercing him where Szeth had broken the Plate earlier. Szeth knelt down, inspecting the man’s pain-wracked face. Strong features, square chin, black beard flecked with white, striking pale green eyes. Gavilar Kholin. “I … expected you … to come,” the king said between gasps.

The king coughed. “You can tell … Thaidakar … that he’s too late. …” “I don’t know who that is,” Szeth said, standing, his words slurring from his broken jaw. He held his hand to the side, resummoning his Shardblade. The king frowned. “Then who …? Restares? Sadeas? I never thought …” “My masters are the Parshendi,” Szeth said.

who

The king coughed. “You can tell … Thaidakar … that he’s too late. …” “I don’t know who that is,” Szeth said, standing, his words slurring from his broken jaw. He held his hand to the side, resummoning his Shardblade. The king frowned. “Then who …? Restares? Sadeas? I never thought …” “My masters are the Parshendi,” Szeth said.

gavilar

Gavilar coughed, hand quivering, reaching toward his chest and fumbling at a pocket. He pulled out a small crystalline sphere tied to a chain. “You must take this. They must not get it.” He seemed dazed. “Tell … tell my brother … he must find the most important words a man can say. …”

voidspren

Gavilar coughed, hand quivering, reaching toward his chest and fumbling at a pocket. He pulled out a small crystalline sphere tied to a chain. “You must take this. They must not get it.” He seemed dazed. “Tell … tell my brother … he must find the most important words a man can say. …”

oaths

A landlord was encroaching on Brightlord Amaram’s territory—the land owned, ultimately, by Highprince Sadeas. It

Once, Kaladin would have been quick to go help, but something within him had changed. So many people he’d tried to help were now dead. It seemed to him—irrationally—that the man would be better off without his interference. After failing Tien, then Dallet and his team, then ten successive groups of slaves,

You should bless me for saving you from that man’s sickness.” “I’ll bless your cairn when I pile it up myself,” Kaladin replied.

A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears.” —Collected on the 4th of Tanates, year 1171, thirty seconds before death. Subject was a cobbler of some renown.

But expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.

yy

She hadn’t asked, but she was certain Captain Tozbek could read. She’d seen him holding books; it had made her uncomfortable.

tozbek

A mark—the medium denomination of sphere—was a little less bright than a candle, and it took five chips to make a mark.

spheres

The only daughter, the last memory of Brightlord Davar’s beloved wife. It still felt odd to her that she been the one to take charge after … After the incident … After … Memories attacked her. Nan Balat bruised, his coat torn. A long, silvery sword in her hand, sharp enough to cut stones as if they were water.

respect is like manure. Use it where needed, and growth will flourish. Spread it on too thick, and things just start to smell.

Were there old allies her father hadn’t alienated? There was that matter of the strange collection of maps they’d found in his study. What did they mean?

shallans father

She raised her freehand to her head, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight of House Davar’s situation, her part in it, and the secret she now carried, hidden ten heartbeats away.

thats the second hint of shallan having a shardblade

“Chronic competence, I should guess. She’s been so successful in life that she has unrealistic expectations of others.”

“Then perhaps Eternathis will serve you,” he said as his wife held up a blue-grey set of four volumes. “It is a philosophical work which examines the same time period by focusing only on the interactions of the five Vorin kingdoms. As you can see, the treatment is exhaustive.” The four volumes were thick. The five Vorin kingdoms? She’d thought there were four. Jah Keved, Alethkar, Kharbranth, and Natanatan. United by religion, they had been strong allies during the years following the Recreance. What was the fifth kingdom?

what's the fifth vorin kingdom

The Purelake was life itself. Once, this land had been claimed by a king. Sela Tales, the nation had been called, one of the Epoch Kingdoms.

The Purelake drained into pits and holes when the storms came, and so you just shoved your raft into a crevice between two ridges of stone and huddled up next to it, using it to break the fury of the tempest.

“There’s a kolgril in the bucket for you,” he noted. “Caught it early this morning.” Her stout face grew uncertain. A kolgril was a very lucky fish. Cured aching joints for a good month after you ate it, and sometimes let you see when friends were going to visit by letting you read the shapes of the clouds.

There were three of them. Two were dark-skinned Makabaki, though they were the strangest Makabaki he’d ever seen. One was thick limbed where most of his kind were small and fine-boned, and he had a completely bald head. The other was taller, with short dark hair, lean muscles, and broad shoulders. In his head, Ishikk called them Grump and Blunt, on account of their personalities. The third man had light tan skin, like an Alethi. He didn’t seem quite right either, though. The eyes were the wrong shape, and his accent was certainly not Alethi. He spoke the Selay language worse than the other two, and usually stayed quiet. He seemed thoughtful, though. Ishikk called him Thinker. Wonder how he earned that scar across his scalp, Ishikk thought.

Of course Nu Ralik was their god, but you always pretended that he wasn’t. Vun Makak—his younger, spiteful brother—had to be tricked into thinking you worshipped him, otherwise he’d get jealous.

“I swear it by Vun Makak,” Ishikk said pointedly. “May he watch over me and curse me as he pleases. I have looked diligently. No foreigner like this one you mention—with his white hair, clever tongue, and arrowlike face—has been seen.” “He dyes his hair sometimes,

Wit / Hoid

He didn’t bother wondering why they were looking for this Hoid,

Bingo! So now who are these 3men then, really? And ehy would hoid be at Purelake?