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What We're Reading ~ The Way of Kings


Let me preface this by saying that I am a HUGE Brandon Sanderson fan! I don't think I've met a single one of his books that I haven't liked. If you're looking for a fantasy author who keeps things clean, Sanderson is your guy! I can rest easy knowing that if my kids ever pick up a Sanderson book, they'll never run across anything explicit.

This series is called The Stormlight Archive, and the style of this series is called epic fantasy. It is meant to be high fantasy, and so the books are long, and the series is longer! The point of view jumps from character to character, and there are lots of characters.

One thing you need to know about Sanderson's writing in this series is that each book begins with introductory chapters before jumping in with the main character. So, if you're confused with the first chapter or three, hang on, things will settle down. He also has short "interludes" between parts of the book, with characters you probably haven't heard from yet. Just absorb what you can, and move on. Each book in the series focuses on a particular character (although you still have POVs from everyone) and there are flashbacks to that character's past periodically throughout the book.

On to the book! Meet Kaladin, our hero! He's about 20, with a mysterious past, which we learn about in this book. We see a quick glimpse of him in one of the preludes, where we see a bit of his military history, but we officially meet him in a slave wagon where he is pestered by a magical creature called a spren, who is acting unusually. On the other side of the world, we meet Shallan, a 16 or 17 year old girl, who is a rather naive and sheltered noblewoman on a daring mission. And finally, we meet Dalinar Kholin, who is the uncle of the King of Alethcar and seems to be the last nobleman of honor in the whole country. These three characters are the main ones in this book, though the secondary characters will become of even more importance over the course of the series.

No spoilers to be found here, so I'll leave it at that. I really like this book and the series that follows.The characters are unique and distinctive, and the story is compelling. I've listened to this book many times, and it hasn't gotten old yet!

Enjoy!
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