July 2014: The Way of Kings - Final Discussion (with Spoilers)

[Lisa]

Let us know what you think now that you have finished the book! No spoiler tags needed here.

[Matt]

Read this book last year. Absolutely loved it! If you enjoy it, make sure to read the sequel. It's even better!

[Duncan]

This is by far my favorite Sanderson book to date. It's the perfect start to the series. Though I didn't like the sequel quite as much, I still highly recommend it.

[Dave]

It's been on my virtual bookshelf for a while, and I finally read it when it was selected as book of the month. Before that, I've started on the prologue and it didn't grab me. But once I got past the first few chapters, I finished it in about three days.

The story is superb, and things really come together in the second half of the book. You can't help but root for the pivotal characters.

A few moments still threw me out of the book, like the spanreed, which comes across like a magical version of an online chat system.

One thing that I really loved about the book was the world building, the little details about things such as crem, that really helped distinguish this novel from other fantasy works. Been a while since I've read a book that was so original in its world crafting.

[Tyler]

If you read the second book it goes more in depth with the spanreed thing. Think particle physics where one particle will copy the movement of another no matter how far apart they are.

[Insamity]

I liked it a lot but I felt like it could have been trimmed down a little bit.

[Stephen]

Tyler wrote: "If you read the second book it goes more in depth with the spanreed thing. Think particle physics where one particle will copy the movement of another no matter how far apart they are."

Not to be that person, but I don't think that is the concept of the spanreed. The nature of entangled particles does not enable information to be sent that way. Besides, you run into the problem of the uncertainty principle and all that.

[Robert]

Loved this book when I read it. I would advise anyone who hasn't read the second book (and those who have) to read Warbreaker if they haven't done so already. There are lots of tie ins with his other works, but I think Warbreaker had the most obvious connections.

[Nolan]

Stephen come on your reading a fantasy novel. That's not how particle physics work at all but it's fantasy.

[Stephen]

Nolan, I know what you mean. I was just trying to clear a common misconception of entangled particles.

For my review: I read this book about a year ago. It took me a while to really get into the book. At first I didn't like the slow pace but after reading the second book I realized why it was necessary. By using the first book to fully build the background he was able to go in full force on the sequel. The second half of this book though is extremely rewarding. Once you enter that threshold it is impossible to put down.

[John Honaker]

Stephen, I definitely agree with you. It takes a while to get started, but once Kaladin gets to the Shattered Plains it takes off and doesn't look back.

The second book goes along the same trajectory, but it ramps up much more quickly. I just read the entire second book last week, and all I can say is, "Wow!" I definitely can't wait for the third!

[Maya]

Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. This book was great, though the ending to the second book felt a little hurried. Still can't wait for the third though.

[Lisa]

Robert wrote: " I would advise anyone who hasn't read the second book (and those who have) to read Warbreaker if they haven't done so already. There are lots of tie ins with his other works, but I think Warbreaker had the most obvious connections. "

Yes! I was quite surprised to see the Warbreaker tie-ins! And I barely remembered the ones I did catch. I felt like I probably missed some. I don't know that it is a "must-read" before WoR, but there's definite benefit to reading it first.

[Monica]

One of my favorite parts of this novel is the setting. I love how most of the known world has the ecosystem of a tidal pool, and I love how Sanderson speculates (in depth) how a society would be different from our own when set in a such unique climate/biome. Obviously the character development and plot are also excellent, but one of my favorite things about Sanderson as a writer is that he starts writing all his books with a "what if..." question (examples, what if a society lived in an ecosystem that is much like a tidal pool, what if there was a world where the magic system was based entirely on metals) and then he builds an intricate story around the answer.

[Suzanne]

This is the first of Sanderson's books that I've read, and I'm impressed. The world building is so detailed, but not in the club-you-over-the-head-with-it kind of way, it's woven into the story really well.

The only criticism I'd have is that the dialogue had a few modernisms that snapped me out of the fantasy mode in places, but it was really pretty minor. It may just be the price for naturally flowing dialogue, overall it was very well done and it felt natural and off the cuff rather than carefully composed.

I also found myself looking forward to the Shallan/Jasnah characters, the mythology/history/philosophy that the author composed is really interesting and in-depth, complete with wrong turns, cultural misunderstandings and garbled translations. I'm also looking forward to reading about a lot of the different places that this book referred to in passing.

[Mt]

Have just finished this now - have to say I've very impressed, and am ploughing onto the 2nd book now.

Loved the build-up and general pacing - but then I'm a Peter F Hamilton fan so slow pace is fine by me!

[Alex]

I know I'm kind of late to the party here, but I just finished Way of Kings and was completely blown away - as many of you have said the world building and character development were fantastic and really drew me in. I was so enthralled with the story that I went ahead and bought the audible version of the book to listen to in the car during my commutes as I just couldn't wait until I got home to continue the story. In case anybody was wondering, the audio version was exceptionally well done, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who might be on the fence about whether to spend the money on it or not. I even went ahead and purchased Words of Radiance both in hardback and audio - hopefully we can have a discussion thread about the sequel here pretty soon!