The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive 1)

SUMMARY:

I long for the days before the Last Desolation.

The age before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against us. A time when there was still magic in the world and honor in the hearts of men.

The world became ours, and yet we lost it. Victory proved to be the greatest test of all. Or was that victory illusory? Did our enemies come to recognize that the harder they fought, the fiercer our resistance? Fire and hammer will forge steel into weapon, but if you abandoned your sword, it eventually rusts away.

There are four whome we watch. The first is a surgeon, forced to forsake healing to fight in the most brutal war of our

time. The second is the assassin, a murderer who weeps as he kills. The third is the liar, a young woman who wears a scholar’s mantle over the heart of a thief. The last is a prince, a warlord whose eyes have opened to the ancient past as his thirst for battle wanes.

The world can change. Surgebinding and Shardwielding can return; the magic of ancient days becomes ours again. These four people are key.

One of them may redeem us. And one of them will destroy us.

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!

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REVIEW:

What I didn’t like: The thing I didn’t liked in this book was it was thick (super long) with a word count of 383,389 words. That’s insane! But I wouldn’t say that Brandon Sanderson should have made it shorter because to be honest each scenario and plot he put in the book, he puts for a reason and every detail counts. As for the characters, I observed that some people hated Shallan’s chapter but I find them more enjoyable than Kaladin’s chapter to be honest. Kaladin’s chapters, in my opinion is more repetitive but don’t get me wrong! I love Kaladin as a character! However the plot, is very vague. I find myself thinking what are sprens? Why do they exist! And what’s up with the shardblades and shardplate? But everything will be answered in due time! This whole book is like a prologue for book two.

What I like: The magic system! For now in book one, magic system is still pretty much vague but everything will be discovered later on and would make sense! The characters are really great especially Kaladin and Syl (I love these two). To be honest, I liked the book very much and I didn’t regret reading this at all. Even though it was daunting because of how thick the book is. You will find it enjoyable to read and you won’t even notice that you are breezing thru it. And as the usual “Sanderlanche” last few chapters is also insane, crazy and action packed!

Would I recommend this book: A hundred times YES! This book is sooo good! Once you start the first book you will want to read the rest. I would rate this 5/5 stars for everything (plot, character, magic system). One of the best epic fantasy series I’ve read.