1st Reread [June 2024]: First time it took me 8 months to finish.  Second time it took me 8 days.  This is one of the greatest things I've ever read.  I just love this book so much (can't you tell?) 😭


Original Review + Rating [December 2022]: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I started reading this book eight months ago (back in April). I just finished it last week (at the beginning of December). This book is LONG. I also admit, it was a little intimidating to me, as a slow reader (thank goodness for Michael Kramer and Kate Reading). At 1000+ pages, this is the longest Fiction book I've ever read. And the font size of my Trade Paperback copy isn't what I'd call large. Those 1000 pages were no joke. On top of that, often than not, I was focusing on other books and reading this one on the side. I finally convinced myself--- at the halfway mark ---that it was time to turn all my reading attention to finishing this one. I finished the last 500 pages in under two weeks.

This book was AMAZING. Sanderson's worldbuilding, magic systems, story, characters, and plot twists were top-notch. The book starts off slow, but for good reason--- it kicks off an eventual ten-book Epic Fantasy series. There is a lot to set up, and not one of these 1000+ pages were wasted. Szeth's prologue is what got me completely invested in this book (it has become one of my favorite chapters in any book period).  You will not be disappointed by the ending of this book.  It was both extremely emotional and insanely epic.  Things wrapped up very well, and yet I was still dying to start book two. This is exactly the conclusion I like to come to at the end of my books.

There were three main POVs in this novel: Kaladin's, Dalinar's, and Shallan's~~~ 

•Dalinar is my absolute favorite character in The Way of Kings (I don't know when and how that happened, but it happened). He's just such a good guy. I wasn't expecting to like this guy as much as I did. I loved how he tried to live honorably even when those around him did not. I loved his relationship with Adolin and how that grew and changed throughput the course of the novel. The ending of his portion of the story was SO satisfying (seriously, this guy is just the epitome of honorable). I was honestly sad when we had to take breaks from his POV to go back to Shallan chapters (nothing against Shallan). I am so ready to get to Dalinar's book (Oathbringer).

 •Kaladin's story was so sad, and yet so inspiring. He was the true Main Character of the book (as we got his backstory and primarily his chapters in this one). I loved his instinct to protect and form attachments. His lack of trust and his tendency towards depression made me feel so bad for him (especially once I learned the context for all of that). Kaladin's struggles and insecurities felt so real. He was so well written.
 I can't talk about Kaladin without mentioning Bridge Four. I fell in love with Bridge Four. After having read Elantris earlier in the year, their story reminded me a lot of Raoden and his sector of the prison city he dubbed "New Elantris". This was a very welcome thing. I loved seeing New Elantris grow. I do think Bridge Four did what they did even better. It was a blast getting to know these guys and to see how they gradually came together as a real team. Out of the bunch, I think my absolute favorites were Teft (our lovable old grumpy fellow), Sigzil (Michael Kramer's narration for his voice reminded me of Sazed from Mistborn, and I loved him because of that) and Moash (this dude grew a lot throughout the book, and I loved it) . I'm so, so excited to be continuing Bridge Four's story in Words of Radiance (so far, I am not disappointed).

•And then we come to Shallan. If I'm being honest here, she wasn't my favorite. She was the weakest of the three in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, she was still very well written and interesting in her own right, but I found myself wanting to just get through her chapters to get back to Bridge Four and back to the Kholins. Shallan just didn't stand out to me as much as Dalinar and Kaladin. Hopefully this will soon change. Words of Radiance will be Shallan's book, and I'm optimistic that that's when she'll start to click in my mind.  (Edit upon rereads: yes, Shallan gets better.)

A word on Sanderson's writing here. This book was art (and I'm not just referring to the beautifully done cover and interior illustrations). Sanderson is not one to generally use flowery and elegant prose. Instead, he tells his stories in a very simple, everyday sort of manner (which is one thing I love about his writing). That said, this book was a bit more elegant than normal. It truly felt "epic" in its writing (giving me LOtR vibes at times). There were also so many quotable moments (so much so that I was admittedly half tempted to underline in my copy of The Way of Kings even though I NEVER write in my Fiction books). You can definitely see Sanderson's growth as a writer between Mistborn: The Final Empire and The Way of Kings. Both are excellent novels, but I agree with Sanderson that The Way of Kings is probably his best book.

I'm calling it now, The Stormlight Archive is going to be a classic for the Fantasy genre one day. The Way of Kings is one of my best reads of the year, and I am so glad I pushed myself to finish before the end of 2022. It was slow going, my finishing of this book, but it was SO worth it. Rating this one five stars doesn't do it justice. It is just on a whole new level. I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend this to any and all fans of large-scale Epic Fantasy. It is so rare that I read a fantasy novel that makes me feel good on a Lord of the Rings level. The Way of Kings is one of those rare books.

I really dislike Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. They have such a big following and trying to do rereads with the audio is kind of painful. I have the audio at 2.70x speed, and it still feels like "gah I'm still not finished" but reading it instead makes me feel like the journey was enjoyable. 

Wow. Holy shit. Ok I get what you were all talking about now. 

It started slow, but Sanderson's storytelling was frankly immaculate and he weaved all the threads together with precision and care. Kaladin was a firm favourite from the get go, Shallan is a character archetype I adore (I'm a forever student at heart and so seeing characters in any learning environment is my jam) plus her whole dilemma and how she deals with Jasnah was wonderful to watch grow and blossom. Dalinar was a slow burn but grew on me, his dry wit and blunt nature plus the inherent vulnerability in having a POV character deeply question their sanity meant I couldn't help but love him. Also loved Wit after seeing him

as Hoid in Tress of the Emerald Sea

, he made me snort my tea from laughing. 

The audiobook narrators were phenomenal, genuinely no idea why people were bitching about Kate Reading so much (maybe it's a marmite thing but I adored how she read Shallan). There were like one or two things I thought maybe needed a biiiiit more breathing room (for example I do not for one second believe Jasnah would have forgiven Shallan so quickly at the end there) but also for pacing sake I understand why they went the way they did so I'm not complaining. 

Also sorry I just have to, spoilers below also beware of cursing:

THE PARSHMEN?!? THE PARSHMEN ARE VOIDBRINGERS?!?!?!? When I got to that bit as God is my witness I paused my audiobook and just went what the FUCK

This book made me fall back into reading after not having picked up a book for 5 years. The story builds slow but has many plot threads that build and are resolved at different times so there is always something happening, even if it isn't the main story thread.

The Stormlight Archives is 100% my favorite book series of all time and it has been a big part of my life for many years. I would recommend this to anyone who loves high fantasy. I would actually recommend this to anyone no matter what. 

Even though I love The Way of Kings, it is probably my least favorite out of the Stormlight books. That isn’t to say it’s not good. I still think it’s an amazing book. But I think it just starts off a little slower then the others. Also I have reread it so many times it gets a little stale after a while but that is just a me thing.

This books is packed full of interesting characters, fantastic world building, lore, and so much more! I think people get really intimidated by its size but it is absolutely worth it and I can almost guarantee you will get sucked in. I definitely recommend at least trying it!