First published in August 2010, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is the first book in the epic fantasy series “The Stormlight Archive”. Brandon Sanderson is known for writing books in the genres of epic fantasies, High fantasies and Science fiction and young adult books.Some of his famous works are The Mistborn series, White Sand, The Reckoners. He is also known for finishing the last 3 books of the Wheel of time series.
The Way of kings mainly follows four characters namely, Kaladin a warrior forced into slavery by a shocking series of events, Shallan Davar a young noblewoman with not so noble aims and a heavy responsibility, Dalinar Kholin a highprince battling his mind trying to figure out if the visions he sees are delusions or visions informing him of the past and its truth, and Szeth-son-son-Vallano, an assassin who forced to obey his maters and go against his beliefs due his past mistakes all. Set on the rocky and storm filled planet of Roshar Where the Knights Radiant ruled centuries ago but left the world on its own devices for reasons unknown leaving behind their Shardblades and Shardplates mystical weapons which Turn ordinary men into warriors who are nearly invicible. To obtain these men have traded kingdoms and waged wars and all these characters are about to be caught up in one such war being fought for reasons which have become muddled as the war continues. Through his writing the author creates a vivid description of the characters, explaining the thought process and the inner conflict of each one of these four characters. Especially the character conflicts of Szeth and Shallan are quite thrilling and thought evoking and leave the reader speculating about which side the character will tip towards, which side of their conscience will they end up agreeing with. The author uses these conflicts and the dilemmas of the characters in such a way that it keeps the reader hooked and reading. Moreover, the writing creates an immersive world creating a vivid picture of it in the reader’s mind. The author has described every possible detail in the book from the geographical features of the different area it’s flora and the weather conditions prevailing on the planet to the description of the physical appearances of the characters including the different outfits worn by them. The author also gives us an understanding of the religious systems that are present on the planet and the magical power systems. The combat scenes are thrilling and give great details of how the characters are moving, fighting and how the power systems are being used. Though the pace of the book is quite slow in the beginning and could have done better with more pace in the beginning, it picks up the pace in the later part. The book kept me engaged and left me with a satisfied feeling craving for more. But the length of the book may deter some readers as it is over 1000 pages long. The extreme amount of details provided by the author for things which do not contribute to the plot are tedious and lead to the pace at which the plot developed being slowed down due to them which could have been removed without the quality of the story being hampered. As mentioned above the pacing of the book is quite slow in the first half and makes it a bit challenging to keep moving forward. Though it is understandable as to why the details of the culture and the weather patterns have been added in the book as it being the first in the series it tries to set up the picture of the world in the readers mind which may be appreciated by some but might also lead to readers craving for more pace. Overall, the Book does a what First book in the series should do that is leave the reader wanting more. The Way of Kings sets up the tone for the later books in the series though leaving questions to be answered as to what happens next while still leaving you satisfied.