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

Warbreaker

Every time I finish a novel by Brandon Sanderson, my line of thinking immediately reverts to, "New favorite!"  Rife with underground action, intricate plots and twists, deep characters, different perspectives, magic, and corruption that I've come to associate with Sanderson, this story is the perfect book for any conspiracy theorist.  Dr. Hodgins, this book is for you!

First of all, there's the magic.  Sanderson always has some new form of magic to introduce us to, get us attached to, and then reveal that there's so much more to it than we could've thought.  The magic form in Warbreaker is called Breath.  Every person has one, but the accumulation of hundreds grants better understanding of the senses, such as perfect pitch and perfect tone and hue recognition, and the ability to awaken objects to do your bidding.  The magic of Breath also has everything to do with color.

Then, there's the character development, which is something I highly value in stories.  All I can tell is that they were very well-done, and I'm absolutely in love with the character of Siri.

Sanderson's stories also have the perfect mix between descriptions, inner dialogue, and dialogue.  There's not too much happening, and you always get an insight in to what the characters are thinking.  Also characteristic of his writing, every now and then you get a snipit of information that one of the characters may not have, that you're dying to just jump into the book so you can tell them what they need to know.  He did that all through Elantris, and according to Warbreaker, he is just not one to break his personal motif.

The only problem I have with this story is the character Lightsong.  He's a great character, he just goes through long periods of time being completely unbelievable to me.  There are moments when I think, "Yes!  That's how you should be!"  But then he just reverts to his old self.  Then again, maybe I just can't really relate to this character's way of speaking.  He confuses me to no end, like he confuses everyone he actually speaks to in the book..  I suppose he just irritates me more than anything.

I can't wait to read Way of Kings, but I'm going to have to.  I've got several other books I need to read first, and it's almost 1000 pages.  I have a hard time reading his 600-page books as it is.  I'm probably going to have to wait for this summer to be able to focus that much attention on a single book.

My rating: 9.5/10