A review by targrhaegar
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging emotional tense 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

5.0

This book lived up to its hype and then it turned out to be even better than what I expected. I'm not a very articulate person, so I'm just going to list some of my thoughts, in no particular order.

⚔️ Fantastic worldbuilding. So many details and facts about all the different lands, cultures, religions, people, languages. It's so amazing and intricate. There were several interlude chapters sprinkled throughout the book that worked as a way to expand the worldbuilding and the lore. loved them.

🩸 Tons of action right from the beginning. There were so many battle and fight scenes, and I'm someone who usually dislikes this aspect of fantasy books. I just find action scenes so boring. I skim through them. But the scenes here were all so important and amazing. So, so, sooooooooooooo amazing. Which leads me to my next point:

🐎 I FELT SO MANY EMOTIONS WHILE READING THIS BOOK. I cried several times: out of sadness, out of excitement, out of joy, out of feeling so proud of the characters. The action scenes will pull at your heartstrings. But the other parts of the book are just as amazing. I loved it when a book makes me feel. I used to be someone who cried and laughed with every piece of media I consumed. Then, I don't know what happened to me, but I stopped to be able to have physical reactions, such as crying or laughing, while consuming media. I seldom do. So I really appreciate it when a book brings out my old cry-baby self.

🌠 THE CHARACTERS. THEY. ARE. THE BEST. PEOPLE. EVER. I love our main characters so much. Specially Kaladin; he's my everything. I love him so much. He's the best person I've never met (because he isn't real. Unfortunately). Dalinar is the father I always wanted. Except that I do have a great father, but I just wanted to emphasize how great of a fatherly figure Dalinar is. He's a true man of honor. I admire him so much. And Shallan is so intelligent, and I wish I had her strength. 

🌬️ This is a story told through different POVs. They were all interesting and great. I didn't find any of them boring. At no point in this book did I think ''ugh, not this character's POV again''. I was a great fan of Shallan's chapters. They were my absolute favorite and I looked forward to reading them.

👑 This will be irrelevant to most people and it has nothing to do with the quality of the book, but I think Jon Snow and Kaladin are very similar. I was thinking about that today because I watched Alt Shift X's video analysis on Jon. It was fun to point out their similarities as I was watching the video. I also joked about how he's similar to Daenerys
because Kaladin survived the Highstorm and Daenerys survived the fire. Both are events that should be impossible to survive and that are important in each character's journey.


🦀 PLOT TWIST. There were a few, and I saw none of them coming. Well, except two, but I only predicted them a few pages before the reveal, thanks to the way everything was being set up for it. 

📚 By the way, the side characters are awesome, too. Specially the ones in Kaladin's chapters. I LOVE THEM.
They're the best family ever. I'm so glad I was wrong and none of them betrayed the group. I loved how they started hating or feeling indifferent towards Kaladin, and ended up respecting and appreciating him. It's so lovely and amazing and wonderful and I don't know what else to say other than I love them so much.


👨‍⚕️ Friendly reminder that I love Jasnah and she's my wife. Thank you.

✨ This book is the best start to an epic fantasy series that I know will become my absolute favorite. Actually, it already is. It doesn't matter that I haven't read the rest of the books, I know I'll love them so much and I'm so excited to read them. I cannot wait. I need them right now. 

💎 OH, AND THE ENDING................ One of the last chapters is the best thing I've read IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I SWEAR TO GOD. IT WAS SO PHENOMENAL.
WHEN KALADIN DECIDED TO GO BACK TO SAVE DALINAR'S MEN. WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL??????? THAT WAS SO HEROIC AND AMAZING AND WOOOOOOOOW. I LOVE KALADIN AND THE BRIDGEMEN. I LOVE THEM. THEY'RE SO NOBLE. I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT IT. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. THEY'RE SUCH GREAT PEOPLE. I NEED TO SCREAM FOREVER. THAT CHAPTER WAS SO GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CALL ME DRAMATIC, BUT I SWEAR, THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I'VE READ. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE. IT WAS SO GOODDD LSFKHSDKFHSDKFHSDJK. I LOVE THEM FOREVER.


READ THE WAY OF KINGS. Who cares if it's over one thousand pages long? Those are the best pages you'll read.