A Review - The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson


I don’t really know how to start this review. I know I don’t need to review The Way of Kings, over five hundred thousand people all ready have, they’ve said it’s brilliant and my god do I agree.

I’m not writing this because it needs a review. I’m writing this because I need to.

World building doesn’t even come close to describing what Brandon Sanderson does with this book. World building is fine, but it usually relies on taking existing bits of fantasy, arranging them into a world and adding your own little bit to make it your own. What Brandon Sanderson has done here is world crafting. I haven’t entered a world this unique since my first experience with Tolkien. The setting, the races, the culture, the weather, the weather resistant flora, the striking and dangerous fauna… it’s all completely fresh and imaginative. The classic fantasy races are brilliant, I love an orc, I love an Elf. I love big wolves. But this was just so new and alien it never felt boring.

The book isn’t particularly thought provoking but also, who cares. I’m reading this for escapism, I don’t want my thoughts to be provoked. The main plot, and the way Sanderson weaves the sub plots throughout it are gripping. Yes, it’s a slow start but the pay off is worth it. And slow start doesn’t mean boring start. You will go through like 600 pages where not that much happens but it’s always entertaining. I’ve been reading to many books recently where I’m clamouring for things to start happening and then when they do it doesn’t quite land and I found myself not really caring too much about how things played out. The slow, methodical building in The Way of Kings really got me to buy in and care about what was happening so that when the plot twists landed, they hit me like a Mike Tyson body shot uppercut two piece.

The cast of characters in this book is brilliant too, I love the found family aspect of Bridge Four and I particularly love the way Sanderson manages to write flawed Heroes that still feel like a classic, fantastical hero.

I could go on forever about this book. If for whatever reason you haven’t read it yet, read it now. I cannot wait to get my teeth into the rest of The Stormlight Archive (and friends)

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