The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings

By Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis(from back of book):

     Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.
One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.
     Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by overpowering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under the eminent scholar and notorious heretic Jasnah Kholin, Dalinar's niece. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
     The result of more than ten years of planning, writing, and worldbuilding, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.
Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.

My review:

     This is my all time favorite book. Its world building is incredible(it should be, he spent ten years on it), the characters are all do realistic, and it is incredible how three stories can run simultaneously and still be spectacular. You grow to love each character, and it is hard to let them go when the book finally ends. I love this book. Robert Jordan(Author of the Wheel of Time series) may have a similar writing style to Brandon Sanderson, but it isn't the same. Brandon Sanderson pulls you in deeply he shows great mastery and his writing is far from repetitive.
     In fact, one of the best traits Brandon Sanderson has is his creativity. This book is unlike any other. It has a world far from explored. We learn as the main characters do. Some of what they learn is already known in the world, and some is not, but all is new to the readers. Sanderson masterfully blends together what the characters need to know and what we want to know.
      This is an all around fantastic book that I would recommend to nearly any fantasy lover. It has a wonderful plot, incredible characters, and a world you will never want to leave. Enter this detailed world and open The Way of Kings.

My rating:

      5 stars
Profanity: Mild
Sexuality: Mild
Violence: Moderate(no gore)
Drugs and alcohol: Mild