The Way of Kings Book One of The Stormlight Archive

While I enjoyed the first time I read The Way of Kings I found Kaladins part of the story sometimes less enjoyable than Shallans. The second time I read The Way of Kings I thoroughly enjoyed both Shallans and Kaladins POV. Probably one of the best first books in a series I have ever read.

This is the definition of perfect epic high fantasy, i could not love this book more. Is it the standard or simply the best? Idk, but I'll recommend it to anyone I'll ever meet and I won't apologize for it. Srsly. Go read it. Click on buy. right now.

I’m not too ashamed to admit that the first 150 pages or so filled my head with Sims talk the way you’ve never heard it before ‍ ‍ . My mans Sanderson was making up words left and right, introducing about a dozen POVs, no prep time, we are simply being thrown into these characters' lives, we have NO IDEA who they are, why they ended up in the places they are in, there is a white killer who walks on walls and gods meeting in the middle of nowhere to discuss the end times and everything is new, and there are so many countries and names and religions to keep track of- BUT the amazing thing about trusting the process when it comes to Sanderson is that all will make sense in due time. On top of that, there is NOT A SINGLE INFO DUMP in sight, god BLESS BS for trusting his readers to have the brains to be able to put everything together by themselves. thank god he didn’t decide to spoon-feed us oh my lord. Before I knew it, I was hooked. The length of this book makes it possible to get so detailed, to explore these characters so thoroughly and intensely, few fantasy books will satisfy your hunger to get to know their worlds and characters as extensively as this one. 1258 pages in combination with Sanderson’s writing means these characters get room to BREATHE. I am now questioning every other fantasy book I have ever read because in comparison to this?? 95% of all other characters will from now on feel SHALLOW as f*ck. Next, characters, though I don’t even know which character to talk about firs- LIES, it’s Dalinar, of course. Dalinar Kholin, the Blackthorn, brother to the assassinated King, Shardbearer, DILF, man of my dreams: description He can trample me with his horse, kill me with his Shardblade, toss me to the Wolves, I don’t care. And yes, yes, this is Elendil from “The Rings of Power”, I KNOW , but when given the choice to imagine a canonically hot character in his 50s with long dark hair, who is honourable, true, steadfast, loyal, and an amazing warrior, I have no problem transferring outward appearances from one fandom to another. It’s a skill, luv. Anyway, DALINAR: His POV is one of the most important ones. As a Highprince of the country of Alethkar and uncle and advisor to the murdered king’s son, there is a certain spotlight on him which has intensified ever since he is haunted by strange visions that have people questioning his sanity and the standing of his family and House. His two sons are sceptical about the nature of his visions and whether they are even real so for a great part of the book we see Dalinar as a soldier who is torn between his duty and what he thinks is right. He is increasingly seen as an oddity no one wants to ally with but because the reader knows that Dalinar is right and because he is the only man in an entire goddamn war camp who can still tell right from wrong, Sanderson has you riveted to your seat, you can not not love this man (and the cherry on top: he is a WIDOWER , you GUYS, I love my fictional men emotionally scarred). Now, let’s move on to Kaladin who, out of all the characters, got the most “screen time” (bruv, you know what I mean) and who can probably be considered this book’s main protagonist. At the beginning of the book, we have no idea where he came from, or who he is. All we know is that he was a soldier skilled with a spear who ends up as a slave and then a bridgeman, the lowest of the lowest men working in the war camps. His life is living hell and yet he doesn’t give up, always manages to get back on his feet. Male characters like him are so fucking rare in fantasy novels peddled in the YA and NA genres respectively, you give me someone like him who has so many layers, is caring and kind, a super skilled warrior, powerful (STORMBLESSED), and I will immediately cherish him forever. God, thank you, Sanderson, for giving me an actual complex 20-something-year-old protagonist who is as layered as Kaladin, THANK YOU. Kaladin is nothing short of inspiring, there is so much going on in that pretty head of his, and his character arc sees him ending up as almost a different person at the end of the novel; stan Kaladin. I talked about two mans in a row so it’s time to mention Shallan. Out of all three, it is her journey that seems to mirror the journey of your average girly YA fantasy character most. After weeks at sea, she arrives in a strange city far from home intending to become apprenticed to one of the most notorious scholars in the lands, Jasnah Kholin, daughter of the assassinated King and brother to the current King. Shallan’s left behind everything she’s known, her father is dead and all that is left are her brothers. With their House on the brink of ruin, Shallan’s siblings have put their trust in her to save the family. Now, while Shallan’s starting point in the story sounds rather bland, she becomes a more interesting character as we go along. It’s not easy to keep a character’s POV interesting if they stay at the same location throughout the whole book without spatial progress to show for but Shallan’s butting heads with Jasnah, her ulterior motives for wanting to study under her, and more than one nefarious thing going on behind the walls of the Palaneum made me enjoy her chapters very much. Personally, I thought her thoughts and feelings weren’t as detailed as Kaladin’s or Dalinar’s so I really hope we’ll get to know her more intimately in the next installments. I have talked so much and in detail about what I loved about this, but I NEED to talk a bit about why this only bagged 4 stars from me: 1. I know I probably sound like a child when I say this but this book is too long. This arguments could also honestly come from inexperienced high fantasy readers used to their 300-something page long YA fantasy novels who might think Sanderson would deign to reside on the same level as, say, SJM (I know her books are longer than 300 pages, no need to defend this woman), BUT there *are* scenes in there which only ended up drawing out the whole plot for no reason. There is a nearly page-long discussion between Dalinar and one other character about the clothes Dalinar wears and how unfashionable they are (first of all, how fucking DARE YOU, Sadeas). Let me make one thing clear: this book isn’t too long because of Sanderson describing the setting, or the numerous flashbacks. It’s too long because at times it felt like the author indulged in nothing but the own sound of his voice, and the rhythm of his words. 2. I could have easily overlooked the book’s length (which, again, did not stop me from devouring it) if it hadn’t been for the characters’ lack of emotional interpersonal connection despite all those words. Let me elaborate: throughout the novel, “Stormfathers, but she was beautiful” comes up several times in Dalinar’s POV when he thinks of Navani. And even though I’m already going absolutely FERAL over their courtship, I think it lacked the emotional depth that Sanderson’s writing should have provided to play up their relationship! Sure, his characters are multi-layered and complex and we are made privy to their innermost thoughts and desires but unfortunately the latter did not transcend beyond the characters' self in ways that I felt they were absolutely emotionally connected with their family, friends, and romantic partners. As of now, I have the feeling that the characters are meant to take the reader on their journey rather than each other (I don’t even know if I’m making sense anymore but I just got the wine out of the fridge, idgaf). TO CONCLUDE: this book was one hell of a journey throughout which I kept reminding myself “this is the last time that you’re reading this for the first time”, which truly helped in making this a special reading experience for me. The characters and setting are the novel’s crown jewel, shining so brightly, they nearly eclipse the few complaints I have. I can definitely see myself rereading this in the future!

Sanderson schafft es wie wenige bevor ihm einen Fantasy Epoch zu schaffen, welcher seinen Lesern nicht nur durch eine riesige, interessant gestaltete Welt sondern auch unglaublichen entwickelte Charaktere im Kopf bleibt.

a must read for readers, who like rich, complex stories. the author created a story, which chained the reader to the book.