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A review by samue_l
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
5.0
For me, when it comes to fantasy, there's a of point acceptance in every series. At the point of acceptance, I come to terms with the circumstances and systems put in place by the author. So maybe it's more of a point of convincing. In any case, it's only after that point that I fall for the characters.
I only have two bones to pick with Brandon Sanderson, and as I'm writing this I am fighting the urge to close my laptop and promptly start reading book two, so take them with a grain of salt.
The first one is this: that point of acceptance didn't hit until about 500 pages in. The magic system is hard to grapple with, straight from the prologue and especially in those first several chapters. Being high fantasy, much of the plot actually hinges on the usage and consequences of this magic, and Brando Sando shows no mercy when it comes to the intricacies of his craft. He shoves magic down the reader's throat from the get go—which is fine, some people like that. I just need a little warmup, Brandon.
Secondly—and this is likely preferential—his prose isn't as nuanced as I would have hoped for a man of his writerly stature. It took me a long time to get around to reading THE WAY OF KINGS, and on the way I fell in love with the exposition of many great wordsmiths. If you're looking for something as distinct as the crisp verbosity of George RR Martin, or the dreamy refinement of Neil Gaiman, then the Cosmere is not your place. But you'd be a fool to dismiss Sanderson on these grounds, as this book made me sweat on several occasions. There are only three things I like to sweat on, and the pages of a good book is one of those things.
My two qualms might as well be smashed to shards, because once I did get past that point of acceptance, these characters were all I could think about. If the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself, then Sanderson has a lot to work with in this series. And once the magic system (I still don't quite understand it) is received, the plight of these characters takes center stage. Sometimes you have to go deep, deep into the obscure happenings of someone else's imagination in order to witness the grand arrangement of human emotion that we see here. And that's okay, because in the end, you'll find yourself relating to it in one way or another.
Great book. Five star. Recommend to you.
I only have two bones to pick with Brandon Sanderson, and as I'm writing this I am fighting the urge to close my laptop and promptly start reading book two, so take them with a grain of salt.
The first one is this: that point of acceptance didn't hit until about 500 pages in. The magic system is hard to grapple with, straight from the prologue and especially in those first several chapters. Being high fantasy, much of the plot actually hinges on the usage and consequences of this magic, and Brando Sando shows no mercy when it comes to the intricacies of his craft. He shoves magic down the reader's throat from the get go—which is fine, some people like that. I just need a little warmup, Brandon.
Secondly—and this is likely preferential—his prose isn't as nuanced as I would have hoped for a man of his writerly stature. It took me a long time to get around to reading THE WAY OF KINGS, and on the way I fell in love with the exposition of many great wordsmiths. If you're looking for something as distinct as the crisp verbosity of George RR Martin, or the dreamy refinement of Neil Gaiman, then the Cosmere is not your place. But you'd be a fool to dismiss Sanderson on these grounds, as this book made me sweat on several occasions. There are only three things I like to sweat on, and the pages of a good book is one of those things.
My two qualms might as well be smashed to shards, because once I did get past that point of acceptance, these characters were all I could think about. If the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself, then Sanderson has a lot to work with in this series. And once the magic system (I still don't quite understand it) is received, the plight of these characters takes center stage. Sometimes you have to go deep, deep into the obscure happenings of someone else's imagination in order to witness the grand arrangement of human emotion that we see here. And that's okay, because in the end, you'll find yourself relating to it in one way or another.
Great book. Five star. Recommend to you.