Book Reviews

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1)

By Brandon Sanderson

 

ISBN: 9780765365279

Pages: 1280

Publisher: Tor Fantasy

Date Reviewed: December 19, 2014

 

 

 

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An epic fantasy, the book begins with a look at the past, a confusing world where men fight, die and fight again. A group called the Knights Radiant is needed to protect the world in the coming storm. A world that is similar to our own but with such striking differences that you cannot help but be sucked in with the need to find out more. Harsh stone completes that landscape where gemstones are highly valued, not for themselves, but for the Stormlight they contain which allows for Soulcasting, a type of magic. The complicated political landscape is determined by your birth and the lightness of your eyes. The book follows several main characters:

Kaladin, the boy, the surgeon, the soldier, the slave. How did he become all that he is and what is he destined to become?

Shallan, the sheltered young woman fleeing her home, struggling between naïveté and manipulation, between being a scholar and an artist.

Dalinar, the brother of a King, general, leader and the only Brightlord with honor. The weaving of these characters and their history is as enjoyable as frustrating. Each glimpse into the past unlocks only a part of the story, with the reader wanting and waiting for more. The first of a series with an estimated ten books until the story is completed. A thrilling and well-crafted tale that leaves you devouring page after page late into the night. A series not to be missed.

 

 

“Authority doesn't come from a rank," Kaladin said, fingering the spheres in his pocket.
“Where does it come from?”
“From the men who give it to you. That's the only way to get it.”

About the Author - Brandon Sanderson

 

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Brandon Sanderson was born in December 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested for him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This all changed in eighth grade when an astute teacher, Mrs. Reader, gave Brandon Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. Brandon thoroughly enjoyed this book, and went in search of anything similar. He discovered such authors as Robert Jordan, Melanie Rawn, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, and Orson Scott Card. Brandon continued to be an avid reader through junior high and high school. He liked epic fantasy so much that he even tried his hand at writing some. His first attempts, he says, were dreadful.

 

Brandon is working on updates for his In my spare time I read and sleep and eat and try to keep the blog at on his website more or less up to date.

 

 

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