Words of Radiance
Ratings1,371
Average rating4.7
How can you morn your favorite characters when all of them return from dead? Looking at you, Szaeth, Syl, and Jasnah.
this book and series has been absolutely amazing and has been the only book i can actually pick up and read for hours at a time
“Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do.”
Damn. From start to finish, this story had me in its clutches. I thought the first book was excellent, but this one is something greater than that. The way everything comes together in the final part is probably my favorite ending in anything I've read, watched, or played.
what a book. felt shorter at 1200 pages than WoK did at 1000 pages.
the grand scale of the battles and conflicts in this book are incredible. i usually have a hard time picturing everything im reading in my head, but not so with this. sanderson paints such a clear picture of the story he's telling, and though there's a lot of information you're constantly taking in, it still feels manageable.
the magic system in stormlight archives continues to grow deeper, and im so excited to see how it expands further in oathbringer.
im thoroughly enjoying this series, and cant wait to start the next one.
Oh my god.
Its 3AM and i just finished this book. Review in the morning at a reasonable hour.
Edit:
I finished this book 4 days ago and completely forgot to come back to write a full review and now my mind is blank lmao.
I don't know what possessed me to make this 1000+ page book my first book of the year but honestly it was a good decision. It was fantastic. I cannot get enough of this series and the only thing stopping me from jumping right into the third book is it doesn't fit into this month's book budget :)
I loved it just as much (if not even more) than the first book and I cannot wait to get to the third one the second my paycheck drops.
Havn't stopped thinking about what it would take to make a spectacle action soulslike in the stormlight universe. Someone's gotta make it.
5.00/5.00“You have a chip on shoulder the size of a boulder”.
I think reading Words of Radiance should give us a chip on our shoulder. This chapter of the Stormlight Archives is already a part of fantasy's greatest works, a masterpiece of storytelling, featuring fantasy's greatest characters, bringing the cosmere to reality. Kaladin will go down as the most beloved characters in fantasy history. He is superman, while being a serious and interesting character. Dalinar's wisdom evokes the weight of leadership in ways no other story has done before for me.
"The Knights Radiant, have Returned""I choose him, he's mine","I promise to protect even those I hate""Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do".Plot -> Words of Radiance is one large book plus several short stories woven together in one giant novel. The story weaves into the characters in the most satisfying ways, in ways only the Lord Ruler can do. Its similar to how the plot weaves into the worldbuilding in The Wheel of Time books. The best parts, in the order of decreasing awesomeness -> Kaladin protecting Elhokar and speaking the third oath after realizing that Elhokar is Dalinar's Tien, Sadeas's death, Kaladin jumping in to the arena to protect Adolin, Shallan killing Tyn, the Listener's POV, Dalinar demanding surgebinding from the stromfather, Dalinar asking Wit if he is a Herald! OMG. And Adolin-Kaladin Bromance yay!Worldbuilding -> The listeners society is the crowing jewel of worldbuilding in this book. It makes them such interesting bad guys, who are forced to become so when cornered. Roshar's flora and fauna impresses in this book as well. Windrunner and Lightweaver magic system is probably the most interesting magic systems in all of fantasy, although I think WoT worldbuilding is better. I still throw a perfect 10 here, cause I think it is done so well. Shardblades being dead spren, wow, I did not see that coming. And who are these Cosmere gods! Charaters -> Kaladin, Kaladin, Kaladin, enough said. The lessons he learns in this book, the growth he goes through in this book are second to none. Shallan comes in with her complex layered personality the part with Kaladin-Shallan in the chasms is gold. (budding romance?, not sure how I feel about a love triangle)Prose -> Not much to say here, better than the way of kings, but still no where close to the best. I think the book needs more poignant and quotable lines. The story is so impactful, but the writing is so forgettable that the book suffers a disadvantage when compared to other fantasy prose. Emotional Impact -> Screaming, cheering, roaring and crying. Words of Radiance is an emotional ocean. Plot twists, satisfying magic systems, satisfying character arcs, satisfying character deaths and the unmistakable awesomeness of a sanderlanche. Perfect and rare 10 for me.
The adventure continues, the world building is awesome and the story gets bigger, and gives you energy to get further in this odyssey.
Easy 5 stars.
It is true that this book is carried in the shoulders of the way of kings. Since it is a sequel there is not such a big need for world building and introductions from the start, this book could focus on the characters and mysteries of the world and I loved it.
I was instantly hocked from the start to see where my favorite characters would end up and to see if my predictions and conspiracies from the first book would get resolved in this one and they kinda did, but also not. There are still a lot of mysteries to uncover in this world (they better due, because there are 10 books planed in this series xD) and I cant wait to continue reading.
Sadly it wasn't all perfect. i still got some critiques with the final battle and how some of the problems were resolved. I understand every choice made by Sanderson, but I expected it to be resolve differently. Still this represents only 4 to 5 chapters of the 90, therefore not a deal breaker and still a 5 star read.
1. Dragon Ball fighting...
I did not like the fight between Kaladin and Szeth. It felt very Dragon Ball to me, were they just fly around and the fight isn't grounded (no pun intended). I understand that if you have the power to fly you will use it to your advantage in a fight, but if both can fly it just makes it difficult to follow. I found myself skimming through this fight because it was a burden to get through.
2. Oathgate kind random...
I also got pulled out of the story with how the Oathgate worked. We were never introduced during this novel or the previous one to the ability to transport objects long distances, I understand that this is supposed to be an ancient power that was lost. But we still got introduced to “flying” and the Honorblades. Both essential to the resolution of the final conflict. But the fact that the Oathgate transports everybody on it (except for Szeth...) at the last moment possible, felt a little out of the blue. Maybe we could have been introduced to the concept of teletransportation during the interludes, as many other concepts were introduced.
3. Somehow nobody died...
To be honest I was expecting Dalinar to die in the final battle, because it would have been a pretty powerful death and it would have let the door open for Adonlin to step up into a more main role. At the end of the fight I was actually relived that they didn't kill Dalinar, because I love his character. But I still hope that they give Adolin a bigger focus on the next books. Because he is actually a pretty cool character, but his whole development is in the background of the other main stories.
At first when Jasnah was killed I was upset (Jasnah went pretty strong at the start of this book, she went from boring and strict to being really cool) and I was pretty sure she would end up coming back somehow. But at the end when I finally accepted her death she was broad back, and it was a bit unexpected and anticlimactic.
But at the end when they brought Szeth back it was the straw that broke the camels back. I loved the fact that they introduced Nightblood with his return and I understand why was chosen to return back, but man could you not have introduced a new bad guy. The one badass from the interlude that was hunting the heralds would have been a great fit for that role. But I guess if we can't kill the main characters, why would be able to kill the bad guys... haahahahaha
None of the main characters have died during these 2 books, although there have been 2 pretty epic and dangerous fights. Until now we have only lost secondary Bridgemen that I never actually noticed in the first place. I like that all my favorite charters are all still living, but it is starting to feel like the plot Armour is a bit too strong.
All in all I loved this Book and can't wait to continue reading the stromlight archive.
This was amazing! You were all right!
I have no words in me to review this book, but it certainly was radiant. Every time I think I can't possibly become more impressed with Sanderson, I find out I was wrong. He is brilliant, and I am in awe with what he is achieving with Cosmere as a whole.
I love that Sanderson leaves enough clues for us to guess little pieces of story, but it never compromises our satisfaction, because there is always something more. It just makes me feel smart, while You can always be sure “there is always another secret”!
What an emotional roller coaster! This was fantasy perfection!
The world building is amazing, the magic system intricate, and the characters are complex, flawed and profound, and they never read as the typical fantasy heroes.
The way Sanderson writes his characters just feels different. He explores something in them in a deep level, but then you see another layer, and get to explore it on a deep level as well. Sometimes you like the first layer and relate to the character immediately, sometimes you need to see more of them, and go deep into another piece of their soul. Words of Radiance was stellar in exploring more layers of SA characters and, at this point, I'm invested in all of them (and I hated several in WoK).
This is a very long book, but everything on it feels necessary, and I wouldn't change a thing. Having everyone together, and several POV in the same chapter increased the pace of the story, and left me hanging on every written word. I wanted to scream every time I reached the interludes, but I loved all of them, and what they add to the story.
Shallan's humor was a great addition to the story, bringing a new light to it. It was certainly needed to balance Kaladin moods.
I expect she will change a bit with the admission of the past, but I hope she gets to keep at least a bit of her older self.
I loved the duels, the chasms, the storms, bridge four, discovering Adolin's heart and Taravangian brain, the fights and, as usual, Hoid.
Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. I will protect even those I hate so long as it is right.
Side note: for everyone who says it is necessary to read Warbreaker before this book... I honestly don't think it is.
It's a nice Easter egg, but it doesn't really impact the story (yet?). I was actually disappointed because I was expecting more of that particular character.
Read Warbreaker because it is great, because you love Cosmere, because it is an easy entry to the Cosmere or because you want to read Sanderson without the commitment of a whole series.
Stormlight Archives is already a huge commitment with 4 ginormous books, 2 “novellas”, and more than half of it yet to be published. Let's not add additional restrictions please.
This has now become my favourite book ever. Full stop. It's, very shockingly, even better than the first one. I love that it focuses more on Shallan, as she was my favourite character in “The Way of Kings”. I can't wait to read the next books and novellas in the series. Thank you Brandon Sanderson for creating such a wonderful world.
2023 re-read 5⭐s!
One of the best fantasy books ever written.
Words of Radiance continues to build on the already great first entry of the Stormlight Archives.
Action, politics, humor, drama. This book has all these elements and more.
Even with this book being 1000+ pages, it reads so quickly as you do not want to stop.
Ready to dive into the next book for another re-read.
“Words are where most change begins.”
Now this lived up to the hype of the Stormlight Archives. Beyond it's epic scope, Words of Radiance had powerful character moments and ticked along at a far better pace than its predecessor. In fact, this book felt like the exciting second half of one large story.
Read my full review with beautiful artwork and my favourite moments at my website here.
A great book for my fitness, because it makes me want to hike in the mountains all day so I can keep listening. I've not buzzed off a series of books like this for many years. The depth is superb.
The sequel doesn't suffer from the shifts in the plot that happened at the end of the first book. The cast of characters continue to be compelling and entrancing, and the connection between character development and the physical setting of the story gets me every time.
Age range: 14+
This rating is not about mature content so much as it is about the length and depth of this book. Younger readers may have trouble with just how much story there is, and how many characters there are to remember.
4.5 to be honest, I still hate the interludes so much, it completely takes you out of the story. this book is already large it did not need 200 pages of side quests.