Stormlight Archive Boxset

While the truth is I was more or less moved by my completing of reading The Way of Kings back in October, I still wanted (at some time or another) to give Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive series more chances. I understood from some readers how the second book, Words of Radiance, really set the tone of this epic fantasy. The issue is that I just didn’t know when exactly I wanted to try more of the series–-to jump in further within Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar’s journey. It’s one of those epic fantasy series that continues to stay in the back of my mind, with a part of me ready to find precisely what is the draw of the series overall.

Then, right on time, I happened to come across the complete boxset on BookOutlet and could not believe it. $42 for the complete Stormlight Archive series in hardcover (with an original price tag of about $140 dollars). I couldn’t believe it; there was zero hesitation in my taking advantage of this opportunity and purchasing the boxset.

So, I don’t know exactly when I will be jumping back into the series. However, as seen, I’m prepped and ready to see what else the series has to offer. I want to find what makes this series such a beloved staple in the high fantasy genre. What is all the rage? What is all the fuss? And, as a The Wheel of Time lover, will I ever find my Nynaeve in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe?

We’ll see. Soon. At some time. Lots to get through here. But, as when I took on reading The Wheel of Time, I believe I can do this. 

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."

~.~

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.