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| The cover art for "The Way of Kings" |
First off, I am going to put up a warning about this post, prepared to be hooked and to invest many hours over years into this book series. You have been warned!
In today's post I want to talk about one of the new books in the epic fantasy genre that is sure to come to dominate the genre in the future: "The Way of Kings".
"The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson is the first book in Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, a planned-ten part epic fantasy series and boy will it be big! If anyone is familiar with The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan you will know how large epic fantasy novels can be and this is no exception. "The Way of Kings" is just as big (if not bigger) than the largest novels by Jordan. The size can be daunting or it could also be just what the doctor ordered. In my personal opinion, "The Way of Kings" needs to be so large because Sanderson creates such an three-dimensional world that any attempt to shorten the novel will come at the world's expense. In just the first novel, you are introduced to multiple cultures unique to different parts of the world, nations at war, thousands of years of history, lore, and an impending doom.
"The Way of Kings" focuses on the story of Kaladin, though he is just one of a cast of foil characters throughout the world, the son of a doctor who now serves as a slave, moving bridges for the army as they battle across canyons and plateaus. In addition to moving bridges while under fire from opposing troops, Kaladin and the other slaves in his bridge crew are required to scavenge for fallen weapons and armor in the caverns where flash floods may occur at any moment, along with the appearance of monstrous cavern beasts.
Without ruining any of the plot for you, the story also focuses on the stories of an assassin who is bound to do whatever his master (the one who holds his oath rock) says, a High-Prince who is having mysterious visions whenever a Highstorm (a Hurricane-ish storm) occurs, and a young woman in training to be a scholar who is trying to save her family from disgrace and is being haunted by other-worldly persons with symbols instead of heads.
You may look at each of these characters and think that there is enough going on with each one to warrant their own book, well now you are getting a sense of the need for the size.
In addition to the cast of characters, we shouldn't forget about the world. Amid the other worldly scenery, we are introduced to spren, almost fairy like creatures, who are attracted to the feelings and physical state of people in the world. Just as there is such a wide variety of feelings in humans, there is an equally large and diverse population of spren infiltrating the world. These spren allow the characters to actually interact with the world and have it interact back.
An important thing that I want to draw your attention to, is that it would be easy for such a large and complex novel to stagnate and break down in its narrative. However, Sanderson does an excellent job in driving the novel forward through action, making one feel like the novel has passed too quickly at the end of 1000 pages (a nice feeling when you think that there are going to be 9 more novels after this one!).
On a personal note, I just loved the book. I would listen to this book on audio book as I would go running and commute back and forth to work, times when I normally have nothing else to do but think. Because there is such a widespread of characters it is easy to have one of them relate to you at any given point. For me at the time it seemed like I was like Kaladin, all I was trying to do was do the right thing but things seemed to get worse off. At other times I felt like another character, trapped into doing whatever I am told to do.
Not only is "The Way of Kings" full of characters you can relate to, it also has those who are complicated and down right evil, along with those who you would think that it would be fun to be in another life. The book is entertaining and a great start to a long journey. Like other of Sanderson's works, it encourages you to think and empathize while you are being entertained.
I highly recommend "The Way of Kings" to anyone who is looking for an intriguing and new story to occupy their time for a while. Give it a try. You won't regret it!
