The Way of Kings
Ratings1,523
Average rating4.6
Most of the book felt almost more like a slice of life rather than a grand fantasy story, it is quite noticeable that it is a setup for bigger things down the line. However you're often not sure where it is going or what the characters are trying to achieve, but rather they live their day to day life instead.
The ending is phenomenal and ties a lot of these events together and does a great job at setting up the next books in the series.
Welp. I did it. Was it worth spending hours and hours trudging through these pages? A little. I enjoyed parts of it. The grandiosity is what gives the book its appeal but the execution fell so flat for me. I'm more of a character-driven story reader but I feel like they were stretched so thin that I feel like I didn't even have to make conclusions myself. The book literally fed me who these characters are "supposed" to be. IMO, there's a lack of nuance in majority of the characters, i.e. Sadeas, Adolin, Navani, even Dalinar and Shallan.
The biggest problem I had with this book isn't the length. I crave for long reads because I do enjoy the mundane sprinkled in between action-packed scenes. The problem for me was it's lack of dynamics when it comes to the story. And no, it being the first book to a 10-book series is not an excuse. A book is a story in of itself and should be able to hold on its own while giving hints of what is to come. I'm not talking about the hidden secrets, schemes, and the overarching "villain" of the world. Again, the grandiosity is what gives it's allure. But by itself, it felt like it was just one fleshed-out scene divided in chunks and over-stretched. The first 200 pages and the last 100 pages were pretty much the entire story. Cut the middle pages and it's still going to be the same.
Let's see if I can do this without spoilers.
Some reviewers have complained that there were characters who's arc's were too predictable. Sit back and ask yourself, why are you reading an epic scope fantasy novel? Is it because you expect arc's to break the mold? Or because you're looking for a fresh story that follows certain guidelines and then runs wild? Epic fantasies garner certain expectations, and this book is no different.
Sanderson's first book in the series isn't necessarily the best piece of fantasy out there (sorry), but it plays to your expectations perfectly and with enough excitement to keep the pace going throughout the book. It took me a bit longer than normal to slough through this 1000 page behemoth, but I finished it happily and asking questions that we all know the next book won't answer.
Well played, Mr. Sanderson.
Fantasy readers preferring large scale stories (though not necessarily with large casts) will enjoy this book.
Gran libro! El mundo de Roshar es vasto y lleno de muchos misterios que dan ganas de descubrir. No le doy 5 estrellas simplemente porque se siente muy denso al principio, su arranque es lento y se toma su tiempo desarrollando la trama. Esto en parte lo puedo entender si pienso en este libro como un prólogo necesario para la historia.
El world building es muy bueno y el desarrollo de personajes también. Dalinar y Jasnah fueron mis personajes favoritos, Kaladin también está en la lista aunque su exceso de drama es molesto a veces.
Definitivamente voy a continuar la saga!
Było ok, ale ze względu na częstą zmianę punktów widzenia na początku ciężko mi było się wczuć w jakąkolwiek postać. Bardzo duża ilość tekstu była wykorzystana w celu przedstawienia tego, jak wygląda i działa świat, ponieważ jest tak inny on naszego. Podoba mi się system magii, ale nadal niezbyt go rozumiem. Zakładam jednak, że zostanie on bardziej wytłumaczony w kolejnych książkach. Jak na razie to Dalinar jest moją ulubioną postacią główną, a Shallan najmniej ulubioną, co nie oznacza, że jej nie lubię.
Después de leer Nacidos de la Bruma (Era 1) tenía las expectativas muy altas con Sanderson, pero lamentablemente me ha decepcionado. En El Camino de los reyes no he encontrado uno solo personaje que sea al menos la mitad de carismático e interesante como lo fueron Kelsier, Sazed o Tensoon, por ejemplo. Todos (especialmente Dalinar) me han parecido sumamente aburridos.
Además, Sanderson tiene a las mujeres en un concepto que no comparto. ¿Cómo puede un autor crear una sociedad ficticia en donde solo las mujeres tienen acceso al recurso más poderoso de una sociedad (la información) y aun así ser sumisas y dejarse gobernar por hombres? ¿Piensa Sanderson que por naturaleza las mujeres son estúpidas?
El camino de los reyes tiene sus momentos interesantes, pero que están sepultados entre cientos de páginas aburridas en donde no pasa nada relevante. Algunos arcos son repetitivos y tardan muchísimo en avanzar.
En general... me aburrió bastante.
This book omg. It is honestly the best piece of literature I have read and tbh might ever be.
From the size of the book you would expect the reader to be burnt out. For the reader to lose interest once halfway through. But no, Brandon Sanderson hooks you in from the very first page. From the prelude to the epilogue the story is honestly amazing.
I think the novel takes its time to build its characters. To really show its passion and compassion for the characters in the pages. They seem to ebb and flow from the pages, in such a far away fantasy lies very real and endearing characters. I really enjoys stories from multiple POV's I think its such a great way to really emphasize main characters and what not without taking away from a story. But at the cost of those POV centered books are issues with pacing and the very real issue of simply just having one of the characters fall flat.
Now with one of the characters being far far away from the others, you would think that there would be some issue with the pacing of the novel, but no, I am just as interested in Shallan's wardship as I am Kaladin's terrible time as a bridgecrew member. I found myself in disbelief that I went from one high intensity moment, leaving on a cliffhanger to someone elses POV. I would want to continue the story so bad that I kept reading, often late into the night. But just because someone elses POV ended did not mean the one that started was bad. No, every single one of these POV's had something of interest and of emotion.
Characters:
Kaladin is really just a favourite. I don't think many people can read this guys sections and think that hes lame. Hes cool, and awesome, but also real and emotional. I really liked the way his depression was depicted and also just the amazing story and character building that had happened throughout the novel. Like we have this super strong character but he had so many inner turmoil that made him presentable as a real and flawed character. I think his ending with not wanting to save Dalinar really showcased his distrust and how his past has influenced him as a person. Really truly amazing, all this back story formulating together to really understand the character and what he would do.
Dalinar is the GOAT. He is so respectable and is a leader depicted right. He has such an interesting story, one that I personally found to be the forefront of this novel even though Kaladin had so much more pages. I sat on the edge of my seat with every choice he made and with every word he spoke. What an absolute goat.
I will say that Adolin is kinda idk he didnt have enough for me. I think I liked him a lot but I would have rather seen things from Renarin's POV for more diversity with the cast. Almost all the characters r crazy strong fighters so seeing someone like Renarin POV woudl've been cool.
Shallan is unfortunately where the cookie crumbles. I still think she is so cool and well written but she had just less of a personality than the others. I did like her a lot but I felt she just didn't have as much of an impact or as many pages tbh. But still really nice to see the history and other side of the world other than war through her lense.
Another gripe I have is they should've had more like darkeye perspectives maybe? idk cuz everyone other than Kaladin is a lighteye. But honestly its whatever not a biggie, but this couldve made things more diverse ig.
I also really enjoyed the little interludes between the parts. This was although initially i was like WTH give me back Kaladin. BUt then I honestly really appreciated the nice little worldbuilding that they did.
The story was also fantastic. Lots of action but great worldbuilding. The twists were expectable but also well done. I kept thinking wit was the assasin but ig not. And I thought Sadeas was gonna die not betray Dalinar.
Also the characters are just really mature and aren't dumb for lack of better words so the story felt great.
I have too many good things to say about this book. I truly have never felt so many emotions while reading a novel in a long while. This is an encapsulation of everything I enjoy in a story and a novel.
Overall I really enjoyed the book. I liked that each character had clear progression and multiple setbacks, and I simply liked all the characters. The world is unique, interesting, and feels lived in. I do feel like some of the fat could have been trimmed, but nobody reads epic fantasy for brevity.
My thoughts, not actually a review.
Length is not justified at about 400-500 pages too long. Although I would still feel this book was just setting the stage for the story.
Characters were not interesting and showed no real growth. I actually liked the interludes more than the POV chapters but that's not saying much.
The prose, various names and "worldbuilding" is amateur writing at best. Great for YA and great for the masses. Self explanatory.
Nothing wrong with popcorn books but the fanboys/girls for this one is next level. It's okay to like whatever you like but stop acting surprised when someone doesn't.
I knew I should have dropped it at SPREN.
For some reason, I really struggled to get along with the start of Dalinar’s story, but the beauty of Brandon’s writing is that I loved him by the end. Barely noticed the 1000 pages go by on the whole.
This book was amazing. I will say for it's flaws it was very long and there was a lot of world building so if you don't like that the book may not be the best for you. I think the book is better as an audio book because then the length seems less daunting. The book is not a page turner, with like an overarching plot, like, “we have to go here and defeat the balrog then we continue onto mount doom kinda book.” You would have a hard time describing the tory of the book you could only tell people the setups and the conclusion. The most important part of the book is the characters so if you cannot connect with them you might have a problem. Let me break them down-
Kaldin- He is a slave at the start of the book and also a super noble awesome guy, and throughout the book we learn how he became a slave. His portions of the book are mostly flashbacks to how he became a slave and his ongoing process to try and liberate himself and the other slaves. He is just a really decent guy, if I had a complaint I would say the characters are too black and white. They are complex but very good or evil.
Shallan- She is a girl who tries to rob a sorceress by becoming her apprentice. Shallan probably has the least happen to her plot wise but she makes up for it by just being a very witty character. She is very naive and brandon sanderson uses her parts to cheer people up and help us with the main mystery on the story which is why did the king really die because the woman she is planning to steal from is looking into that.
Dallinar- I would say his whole story is very much like game of thrones. He is also a super noble high prince and he is trying to get people to become decent people. His story is about how he has visions of the past and is trying to get people to follow the codes because he believes in those visions. He, at first was kind of a boring character because he was always worrying but sanderson gives him a lot of other stuff so you are not bored. Dallinar's chapters are heavy on world building because he is in a place of power so he knows the most about the world. He also has visions of the past which help with the world building.
Not to say the story is only world building, Sanderson weaves it with his stories like an expert. However you must be able to be attached to his characters. If you are not it will be hard for you to get through the book
An absolute gem of a book. Incredible world, incredible characters (each with their own unique arcs), and fantastic action scenes.
So excited to have found such a well written and engaging story. Can't wait to read the next one.
Kaladin I love you so much but ever since Dalinar swooped in I only have one thing to say...I take my whiskEY NEATTTTTTTTTTTTTT
4.5⭐️
I really jumped into “High Fantasy” feet first with this book. I saw so many people on TikTok talking about it so I figured what the heck why not. I need new types of stories n my life.
I picked up the Graphic Audio version of the audio book, and I cannot begin to explain how much better this is than somebody just reading the book. Distinct character voices, music, sound effects, 256kbit audio, just a dream to listen to vs the trash quality of the average audio book. It does make it a bit harder to read following the book but its close enough.
I am a slow reader so I had to go Audio Book just to get this done in less than a year.
About the book: Like eveyrbody says it is very long and there could be a few hundred pages shorter, but the payoff was worth it. The character growth of Kaladin alone makes this book worth it. I also love the Kholin story lines as well.
I look forward to another 120+ hours of the rest of the series!
This is a difficult book to rate for me.
I loved some aspects of it, like the world building, some characters and the epicness of the story. However, the page count doesn't feel justified and although they are some important themes in the book, I was never fully emotional invested in it.
I put this aside after listening to 27% of it. It's not bad, by any means, but it's a classic swords and sorcery epic with warriors and lots of magic, and that's just not my thing. None of the characters are unique or interesting to me: a bookish young woman who won't take no for an answer, a royal who disagrees with the way things are done, a warrior who came up from nothing with an unstoppable will... They all felt very generic to me, as did the whole setup.
I also found the writing style to just be very focused on action; description is saved for magic and the world, and less so the people or dynamics within it. I wouldn't say Sanderson is a bad writer, by any means, but I also wouldn't call him a good writer. He's prolific though, and he knows how to please his audience.
I did enjoy some aspects of the adventure and magic stuff, but that's not enough for me to commit to 5000+ pages / 200+ hours of my attention.
I can't praise this book enough! It's packed with breathtaking scenes and Kaladin, along with Bridge Four, stole my heart. I'm at a loss for words to describe its brilliance, I have a feeling that will be my favorite ongoing series.