An Epic Story Is Scope, Scale and Amition 

I cannot imagine how much joy this single text has brought into my life. While it’s difficult to imagine that a piece of fantasy literature, one so heavily invested (pun intended, by the way), could have such a real-world impact on a person’s life, I assure you—it did. 

I cannot think of a day when those great words of The Knights Radiants didn’t provide me comfort or strength – ‘life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination’. It’s the sort of singular line that can drive a person from hardship into a determination to beat the odds. And that’s the story of The Way of Kings summarised – a fight against the odds. 

Welcome to Roshar – Where Power Resides In The Weapons of Fallen Gods 

Nearly five thousand years ago, The Last Desolation arrived, seemingly marking the end of an eternal struggle between the forces of honor and the Voidbringers. It was a battle in which the ten heralds, humanity’s greatest heroes, abandoned their oaths and one of their own, leaving behind only their knights as the defenders of mankind. 

Thousands of years later, the heralds are myths, and their Knights Radiant are an order long disbanded and reviled. The secret powers of the surgbinders have become myth. The only true powers in the world are shards, armor, and swords that grant humanity incredible strength. A strength needed as the country of Alethekar wars against the singer clans on the shattered plains, a people who hired a mysterious Assassin In White to murder their king. 

Though this is the reason many men fight, it’s also the reason many die—men such as Kaladin Stormblessed, trained as a surgeon but renowned as a warrior whose lord betrayed him into slavery. Forced to carry bridges across the planes, Kaladin is without hope—until a spren, a creature of magical power, sees in him a purpose: to save the men of Bridge Four from being sacrificed in the mad war of the Alethekarian elites. 

Though not all of them are as brutal as Kaladins master, Sadeas. Dalinar Kholin, brother to the late king, has been given visions of the past and words to give him purpose, ‘unite them’. Seeking a better way forward from endless contests of brutality, The Blackthorn looks to the ancient text – The Way of Kings – and seeks to regain whaqt was once lost. 

Though Dalinar faces his own challenges; his sons Renarin and Adolin feel he is going mad, the other high princes give him no respect, and his nephew, King Elokhar, is a poor ruler whose Wit perhaps knows more than his master. Still, he strives to find answers to end the conflict and the reason for his late brother’s obsession with The Knights Radiant. 

In doing so, he contacts his niece, Jasnah, the atheist reject of the kingdom, who has taken on a ward: Shallan. Shallan is an outsider to Alethi society, a scholar, and an artist who seeks to use her position next to Jasnah to restore her family to their former glory. She is hiding deeper secrets that she is not entirely privy to. Yet, those secrets will lead her to uncover truths that will change the very fabric of the world.

Three stories, seemingly unconnected, but all of this working to discover a single truth – wha was it that was lost thousands of years ago, and can it ever be regained?

Venture forward into the world of Roshar, and find out yourself!

A Novel Which Captures You With Every Chapter

This book has over one thousand pages, and not a single one is wasted. Sanderson has reached the peak of his writing prowess. His work on Mistborn has allowed him to create the desired product finally. This project is clearly born of passion, and I loved it. Whilst this isn’t exactly an origin story, in terms of Cosmere-related novels, this is the first time we’re taking to the world of Rashar. 

Sanderson is a master at crafting worlds, and he’s proven that already with his Mistborn series and Scadriel. Within the battle between Ruin and Kelsier’s Crew, there’s a deep history to the world, which is reflected in its deeply fleshed-out characters, magic systems, and beliefs. Scadirel is the world Sanderson managed to climb to the top of the mountain in this skill of worldbuilding, but with The Stormlight Archives, the author has planted his flag on top of the mountain. 

The world of Roshar is made real not just because its characters are so fleshed out but because they have been sculpted from the mould of Roshar itself. Kaladin’s status as a ‘dark eyes’ presents his obvious and immediate bigotry. Shallan’s deeply religious surety of the Vorin religion has her in open opposition to her mentor. Adolin Kholin questions his father’s strength as his Alethi background sees aggressive behavior as more acceptable than almost anything. 

Unlike certain fantasy novels, which start building from the ground up, The Way of Kings reads like the ending to a story we should all know but do not – and that is its defining genius. The world of Roshar, nearly five millennia after its last desolation, feels alien to us, and quickly, it becomes evident it’s not just because it’s a new world for us to explore but because Sanderson so easily convinces us this world is more real than our own. 

Close To Perfection, One Plateau Away

It’s hard to criticize this book because it is so perfect in every way. However, it is not a book I would recommend starting with, regardless of whether you are just getting into The Cosmere or looking for a fantasy book in general. This large-scale novel is meant to feel like it is telling a tale that can’t lose a single word. As an entry novel, it’s incredibly intimidating. 

I stress this heavily—you cannot begin your Cosmere journey here. Not that it’s any worse an entry point than The Final Empire, Elantis, or even Warbreaker. Unless you’re prepared to sit down for what may be a grueling week of on-and-off entry into a story where you’ll suffer as much with Bridge Four as you will with The Alethi Highprinces. There’s a lot of suffering in the darkness before the dawn, and the dawn isn’t all that bright. 

At times, it can also be unbalanced in its progression from character to character, though this is my issue with Sanderson’s writing. Sometimes, Sanderson will leave you on a cliffhanger and not resolve it for another four or five chapters because he’ll whisk you away from the battlefields of The Shattered Plains to the halls of study in Kharbranth. 

Reading this novel and later the series – if you dare – is a challenge. This isn’t some little novel you can pick up and finish in a day. This is the Stormlight Archive, and its thorough! Approach it with caution, take your time, and don’t rush. Savour every sweet bite of this five-course meal that begins with The Way of Kings. 

9.5 out of 10.