The Way of Kings Review
By Caleb
Author:
Brandon Sanderson
Page Count:
1252 (TPB)
“The purpose of a
storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think
upon.”
Hoid – The Way of
Kings Pg. 1,006 (TPB)
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson’s
start to his own epic fantasy series, ‘The Stormlight Archive’, was an
impressive piece. After reading through Elantris
and Mistborn, I hadn’t been able to
get enough of the man’s work. And then I stumbled upon this beast of a book.
Over 1,000 pages of world building, character building, “Wow! What have I got
myself into?” moments and topped off with a finale that could have let this
story stand very easily on its own; Sanderson has done something that I don’t
see too often from authors trying to participate in the epic fantasy landscape.
He made me feel completely satisfied.
For
starters, the cast of characters that permeate the story - from the main
viewpoint character Kaladin, all the way to some of the minor characters such
as the harsh bridge crew supervisor Gaz – Sanderson was able to create diverse
personalities that all played within the rules of the societies and beliefs of
the world he had created. Even when he repeated the personality of his female
protagonists, yet again, in the form of Shallan, he was able to diversify her
enough that she didn’t feel exactly the same as Vin (Mistborn) and Sarene (Elantris).
With three
primary viewpoint characters, a touch less than George R.R. Martin’s novels,
Sanderson manages to weave a story that slowly brings the three different tales
together and unite them. Providing more diversity in the plotlines is another
perk of the novel. Kaladin’s fall and subsequent rise, Dalinar’s descent into
possible insanity, and Shallan’s attempt at thievery are all engaging tales
that hold up the novel and work to build up this world that, according to
Sanderson, should be continuing on for about 10 volumes.
Now, in each
of these individual stories, the reader is presented with insight into who they
are and what makes them tick. And, in a pleasant twist, characters who are not
one of the primary viewpoint characters are periodically used within the
chapters – providing a brief look at events from a different perspective.
Then there
are the interludes. A great, and I believe quite effective, method of providing
the reader with looks at different areas of the world that are not necessarily part
of the main three’s currently running plotlines.
I’ve read
other opinions of readers of The Way of Kings that malign the lack of action,
or the lack of major stakes to the action sequences that are there. While I do
agree that there is a lack of major stakes to many of the earlier action
sequences, the book picks up the stakes in the last 400 pages.
I also want
to point out that, unlike certain other epic fantasy I have read in the past, Sanderson’s
lower character death count is a breath of fresh air. With some of the most
popular epic fantasy novels in current times being filled to the brim with
character death, Sanderson’s approach has opened up some new avenues for
developing the primary characters that he is working with.
Now, onto
what really matters to Sanderson’s readers; his worldbuilding and magic systems
that permeate The Way of Kings are
some of his finest that I’ve ever seen. Having read through Elantris and Mistborn, I’ve seen his worldbuilding evolve over time. And that’s
saying something as both of those books are very impressive in their own right.
What
Sanderson does in The Way of Kings though,
is beyond those books. He creates a world from the ground up. One racked by
devastating storms and made up primarily of rocky terrain. Throughout the
novel, Sanderson builds up a world that is not just medieval Europe. He builds
a world as fanciful as those I grew up with. Narnia, Middle Earth, and now
Roshar have been added to the mix.
Then there’s
the magic. Sanderson’s greatest strength has always been developing magic
systems that stand head and shoulders above anything that any other writers
I’ve read have given. Each universe he creates holds a different magic system
that is well rounded and quite well defined. In the case of The Way of Kings, Sanderson has put
together two, at least, intriguing magic systems. First, we have the lashings
that are used by the assassin in white, the one who starts off the whole sordid
affair in the present day. Able to shift gravity and stick objects (including
people) to walls, the lashings don’t get used often throughout the first novel,
but the twists as to who have access to this power – well that’s one of the
satisfying parts of the story.
Next is the
soulcasting, while never delved into too, too deeply, it is the source of much
of how the society functions. It is especially important out on the Shattered
Plains where much of the story (and almost of Kaladin and Dalinar’s chapters)
take place. With this, people are able to create buildings, food and niceties
that are necessary for the operation of such a long and grueling war (lasting
for six years, if I’m remembering the timeline correctly). What we do learn of
it stems from Shallan’s chapters, where her goal to steal a soulcaster from
Jasnah, the sister of the current king, provides readers with access to some
more information on the workings of soulcasting.
With the
hinting of more types of magic at the end of the novel, and Sanderson’s past
work, has shown that there’s a lot to look forward to when it comes to this in
subsequent novels.
I loved this
book, there’s a lot going for it, however, it can be slow. There are moments where
the story seems to be going nowhere fast. Yet, when the story comes to its
conclusion, these moments become relevant and I wondered why I ever thought it
was slow in the first place.
The book is
full of payoff, and, in many ways, could have been a stand-alone novel if
certain elements were tied up in this book. However, it’s only the start of the
series and I cannot be more excited for that if I tried. With the second book
having just released (and I’m already knee-deep into it), I’m excited to see
what direction Sanderson takes the Stormlight Archive.
The Way of
Kings is a highly recommended book. I give it a… 9/10
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And there is my first novel review. I hope readers enjoyed, and will look forward to more content. Until next time,
Caleb
