The Way of Kings is the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archive. Simply a must read. If you search “Best Fantasy Series” you’ll find The Stormlight Archive nearly atop every list. And I must say, it did not disappoint. I absolutely loved this book from front to back and the reviews and cultural status are warranted. I cannot wait to dive into the three following books and see how our story progresses over the next 3,556 pages (yep, it long).

First, a couple items to level set (pre-spoilers).

Our story takes place on the planet of Roshar, where periodic events known as Desolations reduce humans to essentially a pre-industrial or almost medieval stage of life of development. Massive high storms ravage the continent from east to west, like hurricanes, destroying almost everything in sight. It’s been 4,500 years since the last Desolation and our world is in an era of solitude.

Shattered Plains: Where much of our story takes place, is a wild place. A weather torn area near the western part of the continent and thus subject to the full force of the highstorms. The Shattered Plains is a barren landscape of plains and chasms, rife with danger. Storms are so strong that no real cities can be erected without using natural landscape as protection. And Chasm Fiends – basically giant centipede like crustacean-monsters – lurk in chasms between various plains and pop up from time to time killing anything in sight. Worth noting however, these Chasm Fiends have valuable gemstones as hearts, and once killed and taken, can be infused with stormlight (see below for more).

Also, across the Scattered Plains (and much of the western world) plants and animals have adapted to the raging storms. Trees can lay down, plants can tuck in their leaves, to avoid damage, and many creatures are armored. Chulls, kind of like giant hermit crabs, are domesticated beasts used like Ox to pull heavy things.

Stormlight:  Stormlight is a type of magical energy that is integral to the world of Roshar. It is a glowing substance that can be captured in gemstones, and it is used to power various forms of magic throughout the story. Stormlight is used to fuel the abilities of the Knights Radiant, who are warriors with magical powers that were formed to protect humanity from the monstrous Voidbringers. These abilities include the power of flight, enhanced strength and speed, and the ability to manipulate gravity and other natural forces. Throughout the book, several characters learn to harness the power of Stormlight, either using special gemstones or by absorbing the energy directly from the environment. This ability allows them to perform incredible feats of strength and magic, and it plays a key role in the story’s many battles and conflicts.

Shardbearers: Shardbearers are warriors who wield Shardblades or Shardplate, powerful and ancient magical swords and armor that are considered to be some of the most powerful and valuable possessions in the world of Roshar, and they are highly sought after by many as there is only 100 or so known Shardbearers.

• Shardblades are incredibly sharp and can slice through nearly anything with ease (lightsaber style), and they can cut through both physical objects and magical barriers. If the shardblade touches a living limb (i.e., arm or leg) the limb does dead instantly and if it touches their head or neck, they are killed instantly, and their eyes burn out. Pretty rad. They are also unique in that they can be summoned or vanished on command by the owner in 10 heartbeats.
• Shardplate, on the other hand, is a full set of magical armor that is also made of the same rare metal as Shardblades. It conforms to the wearer perfectly and provides incredible protection to the wearer. It also enhances their strength, speed, agility, and dexterity, making them nearly invincible in combat. These are powered by gemstones, which can run low on energy as the Shardplate takes more and more damage but can be rejuvenated with stormlight. This type of armor is way better than any normal type of armor. This armor is the prettiest armor of all the armor.
• Combined, Shardblades and Shardplate make up a complete set of armor and weaponry that only the wealthiest and most powerful warriors in Roshar can afford to possess. They are highly prized for their incredible power, and they play a significant role in our story – in battle, betrayal, power, and politics.

The Way of Kings – Book 1

Written by Brandon Sanderson, published 2010. Summary, review, and spoilers ahead.

Prologue: Thousands of years ago, before Sigourney Weaver… before our story really begins, the Almighty (God?) sent 10 Heralds to help humanity, who formed the Knights Radiant to protect the world from Voidbringers, scary monsters who cause Desolations (destroy everything and reset humanity). We get a little teaser of these Knights, but time goes on and they basically disappear. According to Vorin teachings (a religion), the Heralds and Knights betrayed their oaths and deserted mankind leaving the world subject to future Voidbringers and another Desolation (foreshadowing???).

Main Story: This epic tale follows several characters from different countries and social strata who, I believe, are inextricably linked with some developing the ability to channel stormlight. The story rotates between our main characters’ viewpoints as they are slowly drawn together at the Shattered Plains, where the most powerful nation on Roshar, Alethkar (an often-warring nation), is engaged in a long war with the mysterious Parshendi people.

The main characters:

Kaladin, our likely hero, is a surgeon’s son who becomes a soldier and later a slave (not a great life arc), and one who is (in my opinion) a bit too altruistic. He makes so many decisions for good causes, even though many of them don’t feel that way. He certainly makes choices I would not… but this isn’t about me. After hitting rock bottom as a slave, we watch Kaladin climb up through the ranks as he is clearly destined for greatness.

Shallan Davar, a young aristocratic woman set on saving her family from financial ruin, sets forth a deceptive plan to trick Jasnah Kholin, the heretic daughter of King Gavilar and one who appears to possess the power to Soulcast (use magic). In my opinion, even knowing Shallan’s secret plan right out the gate, her story feels like a slow burn. But one that really, really got me engaged the deeper and deeper we got into the story.

Dalinar Kholin, a fierce warrior and the current Alethi king’s uncle. One who is having troublesome visions and struggling to keep power among other high princes in the king’s court. Dalinar is a Shardbearer (one who possesses ancient weapons and armor capable of enhancing the abilities of the wearer).

Szeth-son-son-Vallano, an outcast of the Shin nation, cursed to obey whoever possesses his Oathstone (like the genie and his lamp). A shady character we don’t get a lot of screen time with, but when we do… oh man is it exciting. Szeth seems to possess significant control over stormlight and has some Matrix-like fight scenes that are captured perfectly.

There are many other characters, but these are the main four characters in which we follow (from each respective POV) through the story.

Now back to the good part.

An unknown Parshendi, a type of “person” with marble like skin and naturally grown armor and basically thought of as savages, who possesses the Oathstone orders Szeth to assassinate Gavilar, the King of Alethkar. As Szeth must do what the owner of the Oathstone says, he’s off (and mostly Szeth is ordered to assassinate people… I feel like he could have other tactical uses… but alas). We have a dope fight scene between Szeth and Gavilar (a Shardbearer) that feels very Matrix-like with great writing. Ultimately the king is no match for Szeth. Bam, bitch went down. Bam, Szeth, super-bitch. You are so cool.

Devastated by his brother’s (the king) death, Dalinar vows to destroy the Parshendi. And the war is on. Much of the story depicts the POV from Dalinar and Kaladin, both fighting against the Parshendi in the Shattered Plains, though from very different social levels.

This war between the Alethi and Parshendi goes on for years, with no victory for either side in sight. So, after years of pointless fighting, Dalinar begins to doubt the war effort and the ways of Alethi society as a whole. His change of heart is inspired by an ancient text, The Way of Kings (the title of the book!), which Gavilar had become interested in before his death. The book refutes the aggressive and competitive Alethi culture. Additionally, Dalinar experiences strange visions that warn him of coming danger and compel him to unite his people.

Kaladin, who starts life with the high promise of becoming a surgeon, ultimately volunteers for the army then gets stabbed in the back (metaphorically not literally) and finds himself outcast as a slave where he becomes a bridgeman on the Shattered Plains. A terrible job, one that leads to almost certain death. His job, along with the rest of Bridge 4 (one group of many bridge companies) is to help the army cross over the chasms separating individual plateaus on the Shattered Plains and, unfortunately, also draw enemy fire (unprotected) so that the infantry and calvary can cross safely for battle.

While surviving, miraculously, Kaladin meets a spirit, called a Spren that only he can see and talk with (and kind of Tinkerbell-esque) inspires him to be a better person and to help those around him. Kaladin proves to be a valuable bridgeman and eventually becomes the crew leader… which is to say he is still a slave, but now leads a small group of other slaves. However, he capitalizes on his new leadership position and finds ingenious ways to help his men stay alive. At the same time, he begins to develop the ability to absorb stormlight, which gives him special powers. We come to find out, this is one of the reasons why he has avoided about three-million arrows that have been shot at him day after day of doing bridge runs.

Moving across the world, we follow Shallan who seeks to gain the confidence of Jasnah Kholin, Gavilar’s daughter (the dead king and reason for war). Jasnah is a renowned scholar, who also possesses a Soulcaster, a powerful magical artifact that allows her to transform objects. Shallan plans to steal the Soulcaster in order to help her family prevent bankruptcy (ok we know the ending, but how do we get there??). Well Shallan builds her trust with Jasnah, and ultimately succeeds in substituting the Soulcaster with a broken one. She can’t just steal it and run away, so she hangs tight biding her time. Here we have a cool scene using magic stones of some sort where she writes, kind of like an email (it’s paper but it, I don’t know, teleports the ink to her family’s paper), and let’s her family know her success and plans to join them shortly. But before she can dip out, she is poisoned by an assassin. Jasnah offers to heal her, but knowing she now possesses a broken Soulcaster (and Shallan has the real-one up her sleeve… literally), she confesses her deception so that Jasnah can take back the real Soulcaster and save her life with magic. This summary doesn’t do it justice, ultimately loved this story arc.

Any who, afterward Shallan realizes that Jasnah does not actually need an artifact to perform magic and that Shallan herself has a similar ability. The two women reconcile, and Jasnah confides in her protégé that the Voidbringers (which Shallan has been drawing unintentionally from time to time) are most likely the Parshendi. The two women decide to travel to the Shattered Plains to seek answers and prevent the Desolation.

Dalinar, with his crazy visions (basically convulsions that happen during highstorms), is losing credibility with the Highprinces. He believes these to be visions from God. Adolin, his son, quite frankly isn’t happy with him either. He’s talking up some crazy ideas, oh, and he secretly loves the widowed Queen Navani (but she’s totally into him too, scandalous). With her help, they start to decipher his dreams and come to realize they need to unite the Alethi people through peace, not war (though war is really their jam).

Now Dalinar seems to be figuring things out, he doesn’t have it all sorted. He leads a large group of soldiers into battle under an alliance and understanding with another Highprince, Sadeas. This guy is shady, but they agree it’s best to team up leveraging each group’s strengths to take our more Parshendi. But uh oh, Sadeas is a big fat liar and sets up Dalinar, his son, and all his men in the battlefield by pulling his men and bridges away secretly mid-battle. Essentially leaving them stranded and subject to the full force of the Parshendi.

Back to Kaladin. He’s been part of Bridge 4 for a while now, which is part of Sadeas’s army (not good right, knowing what we know). But we’re back in time for the moment and Kaladin keeps surviving bridge runs, saving more and more men, training them in his spare time, and being a real good leader. Well, he’s hated by many for working them on off days, and volunteering for bridge runs (aka suicide runs) on days they aren’t supposed to, but he’s also getting things in order.

One particular bridge run, Kaladin orders his group to side-carry the bridge (using the bridge as a shield against Parshendi arrows). And, hooray, it works! But also, it screws up every other aspect of battle and gets a bunch of Sadeas’s forces killed. For this unscripted and monumental screw up, he is sentenced to almost certain death. He will be tied up and left outside during the next highstorm. He gets pretty damn beat up, but he manages to survive the storm. And subsequently, a few notice that he has a little glow to him, as if he absorbed some of the stormlight.

After nursing back to health, Kaladin’s next mission is to train Bridge 4 to fight with spears (which they do in secret in nearby chasms pretending to gather resources) and plot an escape for freedom. But on the bridge run where Sadeas’s soldiers betray Dalinar, instead of executing their escape plan, Kaladin orders his men to help Dalinar. With some sweet fighting skills from Dalinar and Adolin (Shardbearers remember) and Kaladin, who apparently has mad skills, they survive and Dalinar is indebted to Kaladin.

Dalinar promises to free Kaladin and Bridge 4 from slavery and promotes Kaladin to Captain in his Honor Guard. Kaladin is moving back up the ranks! Kaladin and his crew are no longer destined for death as bridge men.

Now we end with Szeth, who we haven’t covered much of yet. Throughout his arc, he bounces from master to master carrying out their various biddings. He isn’t a happy lad, but mostly appreciates that no one fully realizes the power they possess when they are in possession of his Oathstone. That said, his last master is an elusive character, but one who does seem to know his power. And orders and number of executions, all of which are to be done publicly and flagrantly.  Szeth doesn’t love this, but dude has no choice.

We end the book with Kaladin coming out from the shadow of slavery, Dalinar understanding his visions and surviving the betrayal by Sadeas, Jasnah and Shallan heading towards the Shattered Plains, and Szeth… Szeth has been ordered to kill Dalinar.

Where do we go from here?!? Well, I don’t know, will need to continue to with Words of Radiance. Stay tuned for that review.

TLDR: Amazing start to what (I hope) will be an overall amazing stories. Stories woven together, a deep history and world building. I absolutely loved this book. Absolutely must read. 5/5 Stars.