[Review] The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

Titel: The Way of Kings

Series: The Stormlight Archive #1

Author/Autor: Brandon Sanderson

Publisher/Verlag: McMillian Audio

First Published/Erstveröffentlichung: 31.08.2010
Format: Audio , english

Synopsis/Inhalt: GoodReads

Review: 4*, GoodReads, LovelyBooks

TBR/Leseliste: -




Speak again the ancient oaths,
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
And return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.

Roshar is a world of stone swept by tempests that shape ecology and civilization. Animals and plants retract; cities are built in shelter. In centuries since ten orders of Knights fell, their Shardblade swords and Shardplate armor still transform men into near-invincible warriors. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.

In one such war on the ruined Shattered Plains, slave Kaladin struggles to save his men and fathom leaders who deem them expendable, in senseless wars where ten armies fight separately against one foe.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Fascinated by the ancient text namedThe Way of Kings and troubled by visions of ancient times, he doubts his sanity.

Across the ocean, Shallan trains under eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece Jasnah. Though Shallan genuinely loves learning, she plans a daring theft. Her research hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
 -->GoodReads 

 

I started listening to The Way of Kings on a whim. I've read the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson and as I was craving some epic Fantasy I decided to try another of his series. Believe me it was an epic undertaking, I listened to the audiobook for almost two months, not because I didn't like it but because the book is enormous. And let me tell you, it was worth my while.

As I started this book a long time ago, I might be a bit fuzzy about the details of the very beginning, especially as I was quite confused in the beginning.  Here, I believe, the audiobook is partly to blame. I did enjoy listening and I often stopped doing what I was doing to simply listen, but not seeing everything laid out in front of me, it took me a while to understand what was happening and who was who and what was what.

That said, once I got into the book there was no more confusion and I'm sure, if you read the book rather than listen, it's not that big a deal at all. 

But let's start from the beginning, or in this case with the worldbuilding. I absolutely adore Brandon Sanderson for this. His world is so thoroughly thought through, everything makes sense and there are simply no holes to poke at. He is not overly descriptive and his worlds, as I've come to know them, aren't all flowery and beautiful, but they are very complex and incredibly all-encompassing.

The plot is very interesting and I like how we follow different people and only get to see over time how they might interact or come together at some point. I also liked that his plot isn't just some version of something I've seen before. As it is a series I still have no idea where all of this is going. I do have some suspicions, but knowing Sanderson they'll be proved wrong anyways.

As for the characters I really liked Kaladin and Syl. I love how Kaladin is the reluctant hero who always ends up helping because he simply can't stand injustice. One thing I already noticed while reading the Mistborn series and I really appreciate is that his 'heroes' aren't superheroes right from the start. While they do get special abilities they get them over time and have to learn how to use them first.

Shallan I didn't like as much as I couldn't really connect with her. But I do feel like Sanderson didn't put as much of a focus on here at first as he did Kaladin, and I do like her in the second book.

One thing that really struck me as odd were the very restrictive gender roles. Only women are allowed to read for example, but they also have to keep one of their hands hidden at all times, their safe hand. While I do consider this to be very wired as I said before, I also think it is a testament to Sandersons innovativeness.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and rated it 4 stars, as it took me a while to fall in love with it. I'm already reading the second book which, again, is a massive undertaking.