Can't say I'm a fan of Sanderson just by this but I can see the appeal. The characters are compelling and the ecology of this world makes sense for the most part. Battle scenes are plenty and well written, so if you like those here's your book.
I did have some issues with how the races are portrayed. Most of the criticism seems to focus on the light-dark eyes racism which is intentional but I do believe some comments made on the Parshmen/Parshendi were very much unintentional and made me feel a little offput.

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.

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 is what epic fantasy for today's general audiences is all about. It keeps the vast, lived-in world, the (new!) magical races, and the brick-like length of classic fantasy but also weaves in complex politics and a certain gentleness toward its heroes that reflects modern tastes.

With Sanderson's immense popularity comes criticism. Most common, that his prose is simplistic, that his 'hard' magic lacks magic, and that there is too much hand-holding with plot implications. I'll address them one at a time:

First, this is not a flowery book. There were a few fun verb choices and the dialogue can be snappy but it also strays into cheesy on occasion and I was never moved to reread or dwell on a description.  However, far worse than being simple is the sin of getting in the way. Sanderson's 'windowpane' prose, as he himself calls it, may not delight but you always understand what is happening - often with cool, clear visuals too. Also, simple style does not equal simple substance. There is one betrayal in particular that disappointed me at first for seeming to flatten the betrayer, only to reveal a much more layered motivation than greed. The only place this lack of memorability hurts the book is in the few mottos and snippets of wisdom passed down to our heroes which have that motivational poster feel. Not bad, just bland. It is a very accessible book.

Second, Sanderson's matter-of-fact approach to magic does cost him in mystique and wonder but it buys an impressive amount of verisimilitude and the ability to present a magical situation and give his little nerd readers the joy of deducing what's about to happen. When a surgeon's apprentice explains that clean water washes away rot 'spren', we accept it (and, by extension, the larger concept of these spirits) thanks to real-world knowledge of germs. When a warrior fuelled by stormlight leaps into a group of enemies who use it for jewelry, we know shit is about to go down. It is odd how little cohesion there is between spren, shardblades, lashings, old magic, etc. (especially since Sanderson advices going deep on one type of magic before adding more) but I wouldn't put it past him to reveal some unifying feature down the line. He does also attempt to revive the sense of mystery via characters researching magic but that feels so much less grounded in contrast that it's difficult to care about beyond plot implications.

Third, I personally never felt robbed of putting two and two together by being screamed at that the answer was four. Sanderson is not shy about confirming your predictions once they are revealed, but I still had fun getting to the answers ahead of a few characters (though not so far ahead as to be annoying, which is also a skill). Now, I wouldn't complain if characters were more subtle in their internal dialogue but it's not a deal-breaker. (I do need them to stop all saying Stormfather, but x is y, however.)

With the popular criticisms out of the way, I can now level my own:

Neither criticism nor praise, but an observation: religion and faith plays a large part in this book. Not the easily-dismissible fantasy religion either; these people are not worshipping Marvo the Maker or Trill the Trickster, they call their god the Almighty. There is a historic war where the fantasy Catholics tried to seize control and were beaten so bad priests are now forbidden from owning anything. Two of the POV characters are explicitly religious, with the third being drawn to it here and then. What's more, it's not simple uninterrogated faith, which would be easy to call unfashionable and dismiss. There is at least one very likeable atheist character and the faithful POV characters question their faith in intelligent ways. There is debate where both sides seem to score points that sound very much like you would hear from good-faith modern debate. I will be very interested to see the religious status of our heroes at the end of the series.

Finally, I want to shout out the little scientific sketches included opposite each of the chapter titles. Great visual aid, cute, intriguing, lent a sense of realism. Love them.

Finally, finally, I need to commend this book for something I have honestly never encountered in epic fantasy before: ending a dramatic confrontation with "also, I'm fucking your mom. bye".

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!