Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings - October Reading Jumpstart

"Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war."

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I decided to pull this 1000-something-page epic fantasy book off my shelf. To do what? I guess actually–finally–attempt to read it. All intimidation of its length aside, Brandon Sanderson’s first The Stormlight Archive book, The Way of Kings, was a planted consideration for epic fantasy goodness post my reading of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. And, as of late, I could use a fantasy distraction more than ever.

Nonetheless, I'm about 150 pages into the book; while not wholly absorbed in the narratives of the characters Kaladin and Shallan, I can say the book is fairly easy to glide through. Though it is complex built on complex in terms of narratives, world-building, magic systems, and all other fantasy components, I’m not discouraged. Instead, as Jordan trained me, I keep reading patiently knowing I’ll “get” whatever I “understand” at some point. I think the biggest issue I’m having is that I keep looking for Nynaeve in this book. Which, clearly, is my favorite Wheel of Time character. Or maybe a semblance of her–I suppose.

Either way, I'm taking my time with The Way of Kings. Wish me luck, I suppose. At only 150 pages, I have a longggggggg way to go. But so far, I'm with it. Still waiting for that one character I gravitate towards, but I'm still engaged.

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Completed Part One and now at my first Interlude. Part of me wants to read something else to give myself space with this large book. Another wants to keep reading. I'm starting to really enjoy reading Kaladin's story (what really helped was the flashback featuring his dad who was a surgeon). You can really see how Sanderson is rounding Kaladin's character about from the dark space he has crawled from underneath as a slave who was once an army hero. He's reclaiming himself, as at one point he was close to committing suicide. That, to me, is exciting as a reader. It's going to be incredibly interesting seeing where he goes in the following parts. 

As for the character of Shallan, I love how she is an artist filled to the brim with the tenacity to rescue her family. She has set upon a very heavy mission to steal a magical artifact that will keep her family from ruin. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what Shallan's final judgement/move will be amidst being around characters who she will surely betray.