Words of Radiance
Ratings1,372
Average rating4.7
4.5/5
Soluciona todo lo que no me gustó del primero (sensación de haber leído el mismo capituló 5 veces, por ejemplo)
Con un ritmo mucho más rápido y ágil Sanderson despliega todas sus armas, para cerrar con un final apoteósico que Como de costumbre te deja con ganas de más.
(Me da pavor el tema religioso después de haberme producido ampollas en la primera trilogía de Nacidos de la Bruma, pero oye aquí sigo)
I thought The Way of Kings was epic. And I was definitely not expecting to love Words of Radiance even more than the first book. Sanderson has surpassed my expectations. I loved every page of this book!!
The ending of this book might be the most epic heavy-metal satisfying showdown I've ever read. There is no way you can put the book down for the last 150 pages.
No idea how Sanderson can possibly top it but excited to see what he does.
Brandon Sanderson has quickly risen to be one of my absolutely favourite authors. With the second book in the Stormlight Archive, he hits it out the park again. The world of Roshar is an intriguing one of storms and archaic social orders based on some seemingly arbitrary physical attributes (light eyed people are the rulers). The world building here is second to none, and the epic scope that was begun with The Way of Kings is amply followed up and even increased in this. Stormlight #1 spent most of its length establishing the backstory and motives for its main protagonists, Dalinar, Kaladin and Shallan. This book final unites them and the results are spectacular. All of these characters have grown over the course of the 2000 odd pages of the first two books (yes, these books are HUGE). The characters are all interesting, likeable and flawed - always an engaging mix.
I cannot praise the brilliance of the magic systems that Brandon Sanderson uses enough, and this is another system that is cleverly constructed. The currency in the world of Roshar are gems which can store energy recharged in the frequent storms. This energy is what drives the magic, but the energy is used up by the act. The religious undertones behind the magic are facinating too, along with the concept of ‘spren', beings of thought/emotion/ideas/natural forces.
This series is rapidly becoming one of my top 5 fantasy series of all time, and I have only read the first two books. Oathbringer, Stormlight #3, is high up on tbr and I cannot wait till book 4 comes out later this year.
Just read this. Seriously.
I will be putting a full review on my youtube channel so you can check out there
Update 2023:
This story is so magnificent on such a grand scale and with such fantastic flawed characters!
It has gotten me inspired and helped me get through tough times. It takes its time, yet never feels like dragging, because reading it is such a profound joy. I feel like it could go on forever and I'd gladly read it all.
Original review 2019:
Fantastic entry! I liked it even more than “The Way of Kings”!
That's it. It was a nice read, but too fantastic for me. I am reading no more Brandon Sanderson.
Spoilery questions after reading Part 1:
Serious spoilers for WoR ahead
- Was Szeth's spren taken from him or killed? How can he do Surgebinding if he has no spren?
- Can you physically go to Shadesmar or only mentally, since it's a cognitive realm?
- Jasnah's not really dead, right? Since her body not being there was specifically pointed out? Also, she had a spren sooo?! (confused)
- Uhhh WTH is going on with the Parshendi? They pokevolve? 😂
- Was that really a spren in the crystal that Eshonai used? Why'd she change so drastically?
Favorite parts:
* Adolin's first duel 😎
* Kaladin and Shallan's bickering!!
* Adolin and Kaladin at the training grounds.
* The 🐎 riding lesson was unexpected and hilarious.
* Shallan asking Adolin weird questions about the Shardplate 😂
* Learning to use Shardblades.
* Shallan being a spy.
* Pattern being a voice recorder 😆
2024 Update:
Words of Radiance still holds true as my favorite book. Having read it in physical form in my initial reading, it still holds the magic in the audio format.
What I love about my first reread of the The Stormlight Archive is all the stuff I missed when I first read it beforehand, including all the amazing foreshadowing Sanderson hides within the lines. In the second book, I love enjoying all the wonderful sequences and having a new experience with a deeper understanding on the Cosmere universe. To see underneath the waterline of the iceberg to find a massive block that continues under the surface with all the worldbuilding and world-hopping lore. God I love everything that comes with this story.
__Original Review (2018):After reading The Way Of Kings ~How is Brandon going to live up to this in its sequel?After 200 pages of Words of Radiance ~Well, I guess that'll do it...500 pages in ~Emotionally invested. Forgetting to eat.700 pages ~Did that just happen!? I need to help... oh wait.900 ~So much.... SOO MUCH FIGHTING... YES!!Finished ~What time is it?...Words of Radiance Overview~How is this x10 better than The Way Of Kings?__
Audio read by: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
1st Read: Physical (2018)Re-read: Audiobook (2024)
The foundation laid in [b:The Way of Kings 7235533 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388184640s/7235533.jpg 8134945] completely paid off. This book was spectacular (radiant?)—epic fantasy at its finest. Unlike the first book, this book progressed at a much faster rate, and there were lots of unexpected plot twists. The lore and the magic system rule, and there is a lot more of that in this book. If [b:The Way of Kings 7235533 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388184640s/7235533.jpg 8134945] was Kaladin's book, then this one was Shallan's. I already enjoyed her as a character, but she really grew in this book and became a much needed foil to the somewhat-predictable male protagonists.
A much faster read than the first book, despite the additional length. It gave me “the thrill” book reader version 😆, meaning I stayed up too late reading for several nights.
I feel like this book did a better job of giving the characters more depth. In the last book, my biggest issue was that none of the characters were super interesting: Kaladin was somewhat whiny, Dalinar was too proper and boring, and Shallan was morally questionable. But all of the characters have actual arcs this book, and I found myself very drawn into the character stories, especially Shallan's backstory. My only issues are (spoilers ahead) a) I'm not entirely sure where the story is going to go after this book and b) the two fakeout deaths have someone sucked all the stakes out of the series.
4.0 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
Brandon Sanderson's follow-up to The Way of Kings is an ambitious and impressive display of epic fantasy storytelling. This is an expansive and detailed world that keeps growing with each additional book. Speaking of growing, this 1,000+ page monstrosity would certainly benefit from a tighter edit, but at this point Sanderson can publish whatever and however many words he chooses. Luckily, the story moves along at a decent pace, and I was never left bored with the book as it progressed, but it did take several hundred pages for the story to grab me.
The story features characters in a Good vs. Evil struggle, and almost all of them want to be on the Good side, but some attempt to better the world through Evil means. This adds an interesting wrinkle to a classic trope. While I've enjoyed following the heroic journeys that many of these characters are on, it seems that they lack the depth or authenticity that would allow me to truly care about them. I think I was spoiled by reading so much Robin Hobb in between books in this series.
My qualms aside, this is another enjoyable installment in an epic series that I'm excited to move forward with.
Mysterious, dangerous magic, vendettas and high stakes battles keep you on the edge for this entire book. Characters you want to succeed have moments of glory, mixed with despair.
The best book I've read this year. It builds so nicely on what [b:The Way of Kings 7235533 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388184640s/7235533.jpg 8134945] started. The Stormlight Archive has surpassed [b:A Game of Thrones 13496 A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) George R.R. Martin https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436732693s/13496.jpg 1466917] now as my favorite fantasy series. Thank you [a:Brandon Sanderson 38550 Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg] for this gem.
Somehow even better than the first. All I want to do right now is slip into a coma so that I can wake up in 25+ years and read all of these books at once.
What a wonderful end to this two books. It keeps a lot of questions open for further books, but it closes down this story ark very nicely. I might have been a bit too harsh on the first book with only three stars, but reading those two books back to back it makes a fantastic read.
Avoids the skip-able filler common in so many books. Characters were interesting and varied and all the choices felt like a natural progression to the conclusion- not forced. I can't wait for the next book!
It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did it a race to find out what happened next. I loved the character development in Shallan. Kaladin was a bit frustrating to me until the end. In the next books we're supposed to get more than just an interlude of Szeth, and that can't come quick enough. At some point how this series and all the other Cosmere series tie together is going to make sense to me. I can't wait for that.
So its taken a really long time to get through this book which is so strange since its the first time its ever happened with any of Brandon's books. A small part of the reason is the obvious one. Its really long. But the bigger part of the reason is that its so complicated!. The magic system is still not clear to me and I am having a tough time keeping track. The fact that I still gave it 4 stars is tribute to the quality of story writing in this volume. There is the main theme interspersed with these beautifully written shorts which are delightfully composed. Somehow Brandon seems inspired by the Kingkiller Chronicles in all the right ways. But finally its that man Kaladin and Stormlight that keep you awake at nights. So expect a very slow start and a fiery finish which in some ways despite the books length still feels rushed! So when is the next book out?