Way back in 2012 I picked up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I saw the cover and, on a whim, I snatched it up. I had no idea then that I would leap down into the world of Roshar with both feet and not once look back as I rode the storms into the greater world of Brandon Sanderson's cosmere.
Now for full disclosure, I actually had to put this book down the first time I started reading it. Brandon Sanderson does an amazing job at capturing a character who is burnt out, facing depression, and on the verge of a total breakdown. It was so well done that I, who was at the time facing one of my own, was unable to read about a character who had similar problems. Boy am I glad that I picked it up again though because that put me in a much better mood. I've re-read the book three times now, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it each time. I firmly feel that, to date, Way of Kings is the best book he has yet written.
The Way of Kings is the opening to Brandon's epic series, The Stormlight Archive. It is projected to be a ten book long undertaking with two distinct arcs of five books each. I say these things in advance just so people know why I'm going to be gushing about the cosmere for, oh, say the next decade or so.
But what is this story? Way of Kings is set on the world of Roshar, far unlike anything you've ever seen before. The single continent is perpetually lashed by highstorms, hurricane like storms which come randomly sweeping east to west, scouring the land and creating a landscape and creatures we would find wholly unnatural. Grass lives in tiny holes in the ground that it retreats into when the winds rise. Trees will hug in their branches to stay alive, and animals have shells and other methods of hiding and surviving which will spare them the worst of that damage.
Humans too have to adapt to survive this world. They build in the shelter of natural concentrations of rocks, lees and valleys which hide their homes from the worst of the winds. It's a world very different from our own.
Far in the past, humanity was cast from the Tranquiline Halls by the Voidbringers, demons who hated humanity. Humanity had the Ten Heralds who led them against Desolations where the Voidbringers would invade and ravage Roshar. Protected by the Knights Radiant, the Heralds and Humanity banished the Voidbringers and the Heralds left the world to bring the fight to the enemy in the afterlife. However, the Knights Radiant later betrayed humanity, and so left behind their great weapons, shardplate and shardblades.
In the present day, four thousand years after Aharietiam, the Last Desolation, the nation of Alethkar is at war. Their king has been assassinated by the mysterious Parshendi people, and so they have sworn the Vengeance Pact to bring the assassins to justice. It is a brutal war which has lasted for six years.
We follow three characters, the disgraced warrior Kaladin, the warlord Dalinar, and the scholar to be, Shallan. Each of these three characters begin in disparate stories, separated by geography, motivation and class. One is a slave, one an impoverished noble daughter, and the other head of an Alethi princedom, and seen as the power behind the throne.
Kaladin's story was, to me, a very poignant and personal one, but one that was not without hope. His start as an amazing fighter who eventually falls as low as one can in that society, and the resultant hopelessness he feels hit very close to home. I enjoyed Kaladin, and the family he found in Bridge Four, where he is cast out and left to be used as cannon fodder. This story of rediscovering humanity and friendship spoke to me. I definitely enjoyed Kaladin and his growth into a leader, that he gets an amazing spren companion in Syl, just added to the fun.
Shallan was actually my favorite character in this book. Her journey to find the famous heretic princess, scholar Jasnah, a formidable character in her own right, was one I sympathized with. Jasnah's artistic talent being unappreciated by her mentor, and her growth in the love of finding knowledge. Her quick wit, and determination to move forward was another thing I found inspiring.
Dalinar Kholin, the Blackthorn, unifier of Alethkar, and brother to a murdered king, is probably an fan and series favorite. I admit, he is on my list to be the best character in the series. I can never decide who I enjoy more as a main character. However, his story is one of the burdens of leadership, and the possibility that he is going insane. During every highstorm he receives visions and a voice commands him to "unite them" and this has caused him to try and live by increasingly strict Alethi codes, and the philosophy of the book The Way of Kings. It puts him at odds with his former friend and ally, Torol Sadeas, who doesn't share his vision. Putting the two most powerful highprinces at odds, Dalinar battles his visions, his son who questions his sanity, and his own doubts. If he fails, he may doom his entire kingdom.
As a set up for an epic fantasy series, I don't think this book can be beat. It is a detailed piece of worldbuilding, story driven adventure, and revelation of an ongoing mystery. You can very easily begin to question all the assumptions you have about the world presented to you, as everything is not necessarily as it seems. In what could be the defining feature of all of Brandon's books, there's always another secret. Clever, witty, and it will not fail to constantly exceed your expectations.
Way of Kings straddles the line between being an expositionary tale for building the world and lore of Roshar and beginning the whole saga of the Stormlight Archive very well. It separates each part of the book through interludes which are clever little vignettes which flesh out the world of Roshar, some of the side characters, and even give us more information on the cosmere as a whole. People who have been digging for the deeper mysteries in the whole of the cosmere will be happy with what they find, but usefully, those who don't want to read the whole of the cosmere don't have to understand these hints to enjoy the story.
As per usual, there is a very strong emphasis on the magic of the world of Roshar. This time, even for Brandon Sanderson, it is complex. It is used rationally, and very much is apart of the world itself. We have three distinct magic systems, all revolving around complex bonds and the use of various implements. Surges and Soulcasting are the mainstay, explored differently by each story arc. Then there's the shards and shardplate, something we still don't fully understand how it was created. Attached to that is fabrials, devices which harness the magical energy of spren and use them for mundane things like telling time or heating. It adds some great depth and flavor to the world, and of course, it shows off Brandon's impressive ability to create and utilize his magic in very plot important ways.
The action with this one is almost as powerful and visceral as that in the Mistborn series. It uses the magic so well, and is very cleverly written. The shardblades and shardplate make for some amazing scenes, and they are basically power armor that you would normally see in science fiction. The sheer power put forth in these ancient artifacts of destruction is amazing to see on the page. Coupled with Brandon's skill at raising the stakes as the story progresses, I promise you that you won't be disappointed with what you see!
Having now re-read this book three times, I can say it still stands tall as one of my all time favorites, especially in the fantasy genre. As I said in my Mistborn review, while that trilogy remains his perfect trilogy so far, Way of Kings remains his most perfect book to date.
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