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4.63 AVERAGE
4.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book had such a sloww beginning but after everything it really picked up. World building and tension building is chef's kiss
slow-paced
This was not a book for me. at 400 pages in, I asked my friends why should I keep reading. I wouldn't even have given it that long if it weren't Brandon Sanderson. My friends convinced me to keep reading and I did. I read all 1000 pages and did not enjoy it. Do you have any idea what it's like to read 1000 pages (45 hours of audiobook!) and genuinely not have any fun? I know a lot of others love it but....it's just not for me.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. So, I have been at this book for what feels like forever to me. And, honestly, it's not because it's long. It is more because this is the most boring, frustrating, excellent book I've read- possibly ever.
Let me take a step back before I explain. I rate books off of one main factor- how fun was this to read? Despite calling myself a storyteller or having attempted to author books of my own before, I really don't feel qualified to tear things apart at a linguistic, literary, or professional level. So I default to the metric by which I judge my other hobbies. Now, sometimes, a book has issues that make it not fun, like repeating the same descriptions, rampant sexism, unbelievable characters, or poor, poor worldbuilding. I reflect those things in my reviews.
This book had none of those. It has absolutely incredible worldbuilding, excellent characters that are both well thought out and believably done, and a very cool storyline. Despite that, long stretches of it weren't very fun. I really don't know if the term 'pacing' defines the problem in its entirety, but it's close. The first 70% of this book contains a lot of material, but the story moves forward only barely, it seems. It feels ponderously slow at points. It's all establishing the world, establishing the characters, establishing the whole setting.
Now this by itself isn't really that bad. I've read slow books before. Where this one almost lost me repeatedly was in its erratic breaks from characters and nearly random interludes. The author would spend chapter after chapter building an area, investing me in a character, and as soon as I started to feel any interest in them, swap to a slow buildup of a completely new character whom I (as of yet) cared nothing about. Characters would be given cliffhanger chapter endings, then neglected for like 300 pages. Sometimes characters would be alternated almost every chapter, then one would disappear for what felt like half the book.
Worst of all are the interludes. Rarely feeling necessary to the story, they without fail broke up the action at critical points in other characters' stories. Its like if you got to the climax in a book or show, then someone decided now is the time to show you an entirely different book or show, then maybe we'll come back to where we left off... or maybe not. It drove me nuts- the highest urge to throw a book I have possibly ever had. Each time the book pulled this, I set it down for longer and longer. In fact, without the urging of my mate, I probably would have put it down for good about 66% of the way through, as the book at that point simply wasn't giving me back enough for my investment.
But I'm glad I didn't set it down. In the end, the story picks up, and it's downright excellent. It took me weeks to realize how worth it the journey was, but it was definitely worth it. The end ties everything together, and completely realizes the potential that this series and the author are capable of. You just have to stick with it and give it a chance, and I can't fault it too much for that.
In closing, this book left me with some conflicting feelings, but was overall very well done. It has an excellent story waiting to be told, you just have to give it amble time to tell itself.
Let me take a step back before I explain. I rate books off of one main factor- how fun was this to read? Despite calling myself a storyteller or having attempted to author books of my own before, I really don't feel qualified to tear things apart at a linguistic, literary, or professional level. So I default to the metric by which I judge my other hobbies. Now, sometimes, a book has issues that make it not fun, like repeating the same descriptions, rampant sexism, unbelievable characters, or poor, poor worldbuilding. I reflect those things in my reviews.
This book had none of those. It has absolutely incredible worldbuilding, excellent characters that are both well thought out and believably done, and a very cool storyline. Despite that, long stretches of it weren't very fun. I really don't know if the term 'pacing' defines the problem in its entirety, but it's close. The first 70% of this book contains a lot of material, but the story moves forward only barely, it seems. It feels ponderously slow at points. It's all establishing the world, establishing the characters, establishing the whole setting.
Now this by itself isn't really that bad. I've read slow books before. Where this one almost lost me repeatedly was in its erratic breaks from characters and nearly random interludes. The author would spend chapter after chapter building an area, investing me in a character, and as soon as I started to feel any interest in them, swap to a slow buildup of a completely new character whom I (as of yet) cared nothing about. Characters would be given cliffhanger chapter endings, then neglected for like 300 pages. Sometimes characters would be alternated almost every chapter, then one would disappear for what felt like half the book.
Worst of all are the interludes. Rarely feeling necessary to the story, they without fail broke up the action at critical points in other characters' stories. Its like if you got to the climax in a book or show, then someone decided now is the time to show you an entirely different book or show, then maybe we'll come back to where we left off... or maybe not. It drove me nuts- the highest urge to throw a book I have possibly ever had. Each time the book pulled this, I set it down for longer and longer. In fact, without the urging of my mate, I probably would have put it down for good about 66% of the way through, as the book at that point simply wasn't giving me back enough for my investment.
But I'm glad I didn't set it down. In the end, the story picks up, and it's downright excellent. It took me weeks to realize how worth it the journey was, but it was definitely worth it. The end ties everything together, and completely realizes the potential that this series and the author are capable of. You just have to stick with it and give it a chance, and I can't fault it too much for that.
In closing, this book left me with some conflicting feelings, but was overall very well done. It has an excellent story waiting to be told, you just have to give it amble time to tell itself.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was initially intimidated by the sheer size of this book but after reading the first few pages I just gobbled the whole thing up, and I want more(THANK GOD this man is crazy enough to pump out this many pages).
The Way of Kings is incredibly exciting, with rich lore and world building. The battles are intense and captivating, and every pivotal moment or revelation about the characters lore, makes my jaw drop and I am left staring at the book for 5 minutes.
More than that I felt like The Way of Kings is a Way of Life. I resonated to the characters struggles of identity and trying to do good in a flawed world, and it fueled my perseverance to continue to do good despite my cynicism, as the good has to start somewhere.
The Way of Kings is incredibly exciting, with rich lore and world building. The battles are intense and captivating, and every pivotal moment or revelation about the characters lore, makes my jaw drop and I am left staring at the book for 5 minutes.
More than that I felt like The Way of Kings is a Way of Life. I resonated to the characters struggles of identity and trying to do good in a flawed world, and it fueled my perseverance to continue to do good despite my cynicism, as the good has to start somewhere.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book. It's not too heavy/depressing, while exploring interesting themes. The pacing is excellent, the plot was super fun to anticipate, the characters are complex and interesting, and the world building as f*cking awesome.
Read via audiobook - this one is a full audio production, which took a bit of getting used to, but I came to adore the music and sound effects added. There was still the odd bit of audio that was hard to understand, but there's enough exposition that I can miss the odd line and all things eventually make sense.
While this is billed as mature/adult fiction, it still reads as younger adult. It's partly due to the age of Kaladin and Shallan. It may also be due to the absence of swearing, sex, etc. I heard somewhere that Sanderson does "mature themes without mature content" and that rings true.
The world building is absolutely my favourite part. It's so vast and intricate and I both enjoy and feel frustrated by the process of figuring out it's rules and history alongside the characters, as things slowly get revealed. It's been fun comparing the magic system to that of Mistborn. I'm excited to explore the Cosmere further and see how the stories intersect (if they do). One of my favourite aspects is the division of literacy between men and women.
This book had me cheering at parts. The end is f*cking awesome; the payoff (both emotionally and plot-wise) is huge and sets up the next series well. Very nice.
Read via audiobook - this one is a full audio production, which took a bit of getting used to, but I came to adore the music and sound effects added. There was still the odd bit of audio that was hard to understand, but there's enough exposition that I can miss the odd line and all things eventually make sense.
While this is billed as mature/adult fiction, it still reads as younger adult. It's partly due to the age of Kaladin and Shallan. It may also be due to the absence of swearing, sex, etc. I heard somewhere that Sanderson does "mature themes without mature content" and that rings true.
The world building is absolutely my favourite part. It's so vast and intricate and I both enjoy and feel frustrated by the process of figuring out it's rules and history alongside the characters, as things slowly get revealed. It's been fun comparing the magic system to that of Mistborn. I'm excited to explore the Cosmere further and see how the stories intersect (if they do). One of my favourite aspects is the division of literacy between men and women.
This book had me cheering at parts. The end is f*cking awesome; the payoff (both emotionally and plot-wise) is huge and sets up the next series well. Very nice.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The beginning is a bit slow but it’s world building. The story is AMAZING.