The Way of Kings
by Brandon Sanderson
Reviewed by JMD Reid
On the world of Roshar, the Heralds sent by the Almighty to guide mankind in their war against a great enemy have survived the war. Most of them. For the first time ever, they don’t have to return to Hell to be tortured. They could give it all up. They could life to mankind and tell them they won. The evil has been defeated.
4500 years later, the Heralds are myths. Their great lie has become a religion. Their magic lost to time, their followers reviled as traitors who failed to live up to the Herald’s name. But those followers, the Knights Radiant, are needed once more. For the great enemy stirs once again.
I know, it sounds like your typical epic Fantasy setup. But this one is so different. Brandon Sanderson has created a wealth of characters, all broken in someway, all needing something to change int hier lives. From Kaladin, the son of a doctor and once a highly respected soldier now sold into slavery and contemplating suicide, to Shallan, the daughter of a minor noble house plotting to steal from one of the most powerful women in the world to save her family. On the Shattered Plains, Dalinar receives cryptic visions as he struggles how to hold his dead brother’s fractious kingdom while feeling guilt for the crimes he committed in the past.
For letting his brother be murdered while he lay passed out drunk at a feast.
Sanderson brings to life the alien world of Roshar. A world where humans are interlopers, struggling to survive in a world wracked by storms that make our worst hurricanes look like spring squalls. Sanderson’s growth as a writer is on full display in this epic series as he writes something to rival the greats in this genre.
If you’re a fan of epic fantasy, this is a series you have to read. It is creative, full of believable characters who struggle and suffer and fight for a better life. You’ll find yourself rooting for them as Sanderson unveils his complex story layer by layer, peeling it back as he slowly guides you deeper and deeper into the mystery of his universe.
You can buy The Way of Kings from Amazon!