The Way of Kings

One month.  That is how long it took me to read this monster of a book.  It is also how long it took me to realize, once and for all, that Brandon Sanderson is the greatest author of today.  I cannot begin to express in coherent words how spectacular his work is, but I will try to at least show you a sliver of the greatness of this one book.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is more than daunting, with 1001 pages of story, followed by an Ars Arcanum, and a note from the author.  Additionally, it is only the first book in The Stormlight Archive.  There is no word on when the next book will be out, but I can promise you I'll be one of the first in line to purchase it.  On his website, he says this book is a basically a dip-of-the-toes into this fascinating world, called Roshar.  That's hard for me to process, as there was plenty of magic, religion, war, and history in this tome.  His writing is styled in a way that it slowly reveals the answer to every question.  There's no volley of information in which you lose eighty percent of the details.  It is well-thought out, completely creative, and told in a way lets you enjoy the story just as much as the mythology, the intrigue, and the individual characters.

I would love to give you a synopsis, but it would take a couple thousand words to do it justice.  I don't really have the time for that, and I doubt you would have the time for reading my mundane summary.  However, I'll tell you that it is very basically about a war, and a coming war that is said to wipe out the entire world.

The three main characters are incredibly deep, and very entertaining.  Sanderson's ability to constantly create, create, create is a never-ending amazement to me.  All of his worlds are so different, but detailed!

Perhaps my excitement over this soon-to-be series should be taken with a grain of salt, seeing as its the only epic fantasy I've ever delved into.  Sadly, the only thing I have to compare it to is Harry Potter, which it surpases in complexity and creativity.  (Did you ever think such a thing was possible?  Believe me, I never even considered it.)  One month ago, I'd have told you that Harry Potter could never be surpassed in the world of fantasy.  I stand corrected.

Go and read this book!

Always,
Krista