The Way of Kings Author: Visit Amazon's Brandon Sanderson Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0765326353 | Format: PDF
The Way of Kings Description
From Publishers Weekly
This massive tome is the first of a 10-part epic fantasy series from relative newcomer Sanderson (Mistborn), best known for his efforts to complete the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. In a storm-swept world where history has dwindled into myth, self-serving aristocrats squabble over mystical weapons that render their bearers immune to mundane attacks. The ambitious scholar Shallan learns unexpected truths about the present, the virtuous aristocrat Dalinar reclaims the lost past, and the bitter and broken slave Kaladin gains unwanted power. Race-related plot themes may raise some eyebrows, and there's no hope for anything resembling a conclusion in this introductory volume, but Sanderson's fondness for misleading the reader and his talent for feeding out revelations and action scenes at just the right pace will keep epic fantasy fans intrigued and hoping for redemptive future installments.
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From Booklist
This colossal volume opens a fantasy saga clearly influenced by the Wheel of Time, which the author is in fact finishing. It’s a classic story of intrigue, magic, and war, with a large cast of characters and multiple settings lovingly detailed in a way only possible in volumes of this size. Two characters stand out. One is Shallin, a young woman seeking to enter the household of a royal princess so that she can steal a magical talisman and restore the tattered fortunes of her family. The other is Kaladin, a gifted young soldier enslaved for desertion, who fights his way back to freedom in battles on the Shattered Plain. There’s wit (Shallin’s amiably unscrupulous sailor protect Yod is a gem), magic (the weather is almost a character in its own right), and erudition (if the fighting on the Shattered Plain doesn’t owe something to WWI, this reviewer would be surprised). Readers will plunge into it, even as they send up cries for a glossary and cast of characters. --Roland Green
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- Series: The Stormlight Archive (Book 1)
- Hardcover: 1008 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (August 31, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765326353
- ISBN-13: 978-0765326355
- Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 2.3 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Here we go, folks: The Way of Kings, at over 1000 pages, is the first volume of Brandon Sanderson's projected ten-book series, THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE. At one book per year, we probably won't see the end of this series before 2020, especially given that Sanderson is first planning to finish up Robert Jordan's WHEEL OF TIME. So, if you're looking for a new series to read, this one has some advantages and disadvantages: on the plus side, there will be a lot of reading material coming your way; on the other hand, it'll take quite some time for all of it to get here. Luckily, The Way of Kings is a very promising start to the series. Unlike what seems to be most of the fantasy audience, I haven't been a huge fan of all of Brandon Sanderson's work so far, but The Way of Kings is easily his best work to date.
The book has three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar) and a host of side characters, who occasionally also have chapters or "interludes" written from their point of view. The main story focuses on Kaladin, a surgeon's son forced to become a bridgeman -- a form of military slavery that involves carrying siege bridges in Alethkar's ongoing war with the Parshendi, who at the very start of the novel assassinate Alethkar's king. Dalinar is the late king's brother (and uncle of the current monarch), who along with nine other High Princes is running the war effort against the mysterious Parshendi. And finally, on the other end of the continent, there's Shallan, a young noble girl who wants to become the apprentice of Jasnah, a princess and famed scholar -- although Shallan's motives for seeking this position are not what they initially seem...
Of these characters, Kaladin is the most fascinating and well-rounded one.
I had the opportunity to read an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of a book a lot of people out there probably want to get their hands on, and I thought, "Hey! Here's a chance to review something in a timely fashion." So I read through all 1000 pages of said book, and I'm here today to review it for you. Aren't you lucky?
What is it?
It's the first book in a planned ten (count 'em, ten) book epic fantasy by Brandon Sanderson, fantasy author extraordinaire. He's well known for his Mistborn series, and much better known for being that guy who's finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. (The next book's out in November, folks! Excited much?) This isn't just any ol' epic fantasy series, either. The back of the ARC says "What Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time has been to the fantasy genre for the last two decades, The Stormlight Archives (the name of the series) will be to the next." And while Sanderson persuaded Tor to keep that wording off the final, published book, any which way you look at it, the gauntlet was thrown. Sure, some of it could be an attempt at hype, but the thing about hype is that sooner or later, you can evaluate for yourself whether it's earned or not.
I'm here to tell you that in this case, the hype is earned.
I still vividly remember seeing Jordan's Eye of the World on the shelf at the library for the first time. I was at an age where I was choosing what to read based on book thickness alone. If it was really long and heavy, and it had something remotely related to fantasy on the cover, I checked it out and read it, usually three of those a week. Jordan's book stood head and shoulders above the other stuff I was reading. It was long, but fast paced.
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