2. THE WAY OF KINGS
By Brandon Sanderson
Book One of THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE
I was not planning on reading THE WAY OF KINGS for the second book of 2025. I’d placed a hold on this title’s audiobook with my library via Libby. Last time I checked, my wait was still estimated at another 6 weeks! I was actually about 10% into a completely different book when I received the notification that THE WAY OF KINGS was ready!
Being nearly 50 hours long, and only available to me for seven days, and with only 40 hours in the work-week—There was no time to lose! I set the other book aside (for now) and I dove into what many consider to be Brando-Sando’s best work.
So let’s talk about it as spoiler-free as possible.
MY EXPERIENCE
Szeth, son-son Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white when he decided to steal this book from the Main Characters. Is there a cooler dude than Szeth? Can we please get a whole novel following him as the main character? Whose ass do I gotta kiss to make this happen?
Every time a chapter began with the words “Szeth, son-son Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar…” I got giddy with excitement. He alone is worth the price of admission. But wait, there’s more!
Okay, I was pretty intimidated by the Stormlight Archive and hesitant to start. But after every MISTBORN novel was a banger, I simply could not put this off any longer. And I must say, it was quite the experience.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
I’ve thought long and hard about this. During the first 75% of this novel, I honestly couldn’t answer this question. What’s it about? It’s about these three main characters, living in this insanely interesting world. One is a High Prince, wielding magical armor and a magical sword, trying to win a war while having intense hallucinations that might mean he’s going mad. Another character is a soldier who was betrayed and made into a slave, and he’s got a magic fairy companion and is super lucky apparently. And then there’s a young lady who’s trying to save her house from bankruptcy by stealing something super powerful from someone really dangerous.
But what’s the main plot? Well… up until that 75% I honestly couldn’t have said. There was no plot. There were three plots but even they were really just the day-to-day life and attempted survival of these characters.
But then the end happened. That infamous Sanderlanche. And I understood.
This is an origin story.
An origin story for three heroes that will surely go on to do great and terrible things in the books to come. The kinds of legendary beings that books are meant to be written about… this book is your introduction to them. How did they come to be? Where does their power come from? Why? What made them the perfect choices for these destinies?
That’s what this book is about. If this first Stormlight Archive series is 5 books, then I’d assume book one covers the first of five acts, which ironically is how I structure my own plots within my novels and series as a whole. Making book one the Set-Up and Inciting Incident for the entire series. So the end of book one, is just the inciting incident for the rest of the series. This means book two should be the Point of No Return. Book Three must be the bulk of the conflict. Book four should be the Crisis or Dark-Knight-Of-The-Soul era. Making book five the Climax and Resolution of the entire five books.
Based on some reviews of book 5, I think I might be on to something here.
So the first 75% of this book is just introducing you to the characters. The latter 25% is the actual inciting incident that brings them into a more recognizable plot. Let me be clear: At no point in that first 75% did I find myself bored or wishing there had been a more traditional plot structure. These characters are fascinating, engaging, and almost immediately endearing.
Sanderson’s writing is excellent, as usual, and his way of making reveals that blow your mind is something to be studied. Even a character like Shallan, who you think you know everything about, hides a deep dark secret. And when that secret was revealed, I about dropped my Kindle. I never saw that secret coming.
This book took me longer than one week to read, hence the lateness of this review. Luckily my third book of 2025 is a short one, so my next review will be on time. But I have no regrets. This book was lovely and though I have a long wait before I can read Words of Radiance, I feel good about it because I’m sure to be thinking about this one for a long time yet.
Oh, and Hoid? WTF?
