The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive book 1) Book Review

 

This book was one of the most intimidating books on my TBR (to be read) pile, I have had it for years, the first two, then the third and now since the fourth book was coming out in November I decided to tackle it. 

I was not disappointed, I personally love slow fantasy when it is done the right way, like with Robin Hobb for example. To me the atmosphere and the world are just as important as the action, I love when I can truly see why a character is reacting certain ways, what motivated them to pursue certain course of actions, their thought process. What made them become who they are today. This is what I got in The Way of Kings and much more. 

My favorite character was definitely Kaladin, I loved his past and his point of view. I also loved Dalinar and Szeth, the two point of views which I did not enjoy the character but enjoyed learning more about the world were Jasnah and Shallan. I do hope that in the future we will learn something that will make me more empathetic towards them, but for now I really don't mind whether they live or die.   

The way this book is written is truly brilliant, at first a lot of information and point of views or excerpts from the past do not make sense. Little by little things are woven together in a seamless way, that doesn't make it as if it is impossible, but rather a logical conclusion based on the evidence they have uncovered. The world in this book is vast and complex, each region have their beliefs and way of acting everything feels natural rather info dumping which can often happen in such big fantasies with so many cultures in it. While there isn't much happening for the first half of the book as we discover the world, it isn't boring, it felt like learning about a new country nobody had discovered before, following people as they unravel things. 

I loved every second of this reading experience and I highly recommend this 1001 pages mammoth of a book. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series (even though they keep getting bigger) as the world gets richer and the plot more complex. 

5/5 stars 

Bookarina