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Hardcover: 1008 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (August 31, 2010)
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The Way of Kings
by Brandon Sanderson
Within the
first couple dozen pages of The Way of Kings, I was ready to put the book down.
It had been a while since I’d picked up and read (cover-to-cover) a fantasy
novel and the publisher’s glowing comparisons to Lord of the Rings and Dune
didn’t do anything but make me doubt reading beyond the first 24 pages would be
worth my time, entertaining, or do anything other than make me completely
forsake the genre.
But you know what, Brandon Sanderson sure looks like a geek. If the author’s
picture was doctored or mocked up to make him look like a beard-stroking
“serious writer” I would have given up on the spot.
I read the whole thing and I’m happy to say that it wasn’t a waste of my time.
That’s not meant as a backhanded comment. I really did enjoy The Way of Kings.
Sanderson is at his best when he’s writing extended action sequences, both in
the “micro” and “macro” scale of things. The large epic battles that take place
on the aptly named Shattered Plains are written extremely well. Rather than a
wide
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swathe
of “a battle happened” Sanderson fits the pieces of the military movements,
enemy positions and environment together in such a way that it was very easy to
follow. Even the scenes that extend for close to an entire chapter never lost
me. I can say the same thing about the more personal encounters, those limited
to a couple of combatants, or a lone assassin taking out a room full of people.
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They way
the scenes unfold it feels a lot like Sanderson storyboarded these encounters
well before putting the scenes into words. The ones that focus on the assassin,
also feel like they could be lifted straight out of the book and inserted into a
video game starring a Jedi Knight.
As a result, the anticipation of the novel’s concluding battle had me flipping
pages just a little faster (and a little later into the evening). It’s a great
conclusion but it also duals as the setup to the second book.
As with any fantasy book, especially one that contrives its own unique setting,
there’s a lot of explaining to do: how this place works, the things in this
environment, the social relationships, and the locations. Sanderson does a great
job layering this information as he moves us through the story via the three
main characters: Kaladin (a slave with a destiny), Shallan (a woman in trouble
and planning a high stakes heist) and Dalinar (a highprince suffering visions).
We learn about Shardblades, Shardplate, Voidbringers, Radiants, the caste system that operates
throughout, history that has turned into myth, devastating (but very regular) highstorms, and spren, that are seemingly attached to everything.
Feeling pain? Painspren will zip around you. Feeling particularly victorious?
Gloryspren will glow around you. The whole spren thing was the one thing that
made me roll my eyes. They certainly add more color to the story -- the whole
place seems to be alive with light, even the currency glows -- but it would have
been better suited to a video game setting.
Sanderson also sprinkles a few interludes throughout showing the reader
seemingly unconnected short stories that further flesh out the world. By the end
of the novel it all makes a lot of mechanical sense and makes the concluding
events much more meaningful in the context of the story.
The weakpoint of the book is limited mostly to Shallan’s exploits, which often
involves a lot of flirtatious talk. Pages of it. And I found myself scanning
through those parts to get to something more interesting. It was particularly
awkward if these exchanges swooped in after a battle scene or some other intense
encounter involving Dalinar or Kaladin. I suppose it’s all the service of
character development but I’m of the mind that a lot of it could have wiped out
with a few carefully worded sentences.
(And maybe it has been; this was an “uncorrected advanced” reading copy of The
Way of Kings. There were editor notes throughout.)
The comparisons to the Lord of the Rings and Dune novels can’t be completely
justified at this point. While there’s plenty to keep readers interested, the
fact this is the first novel of a planned 10-book cycle, the comparisons with
two legendary series like those might be a little premature but the foundation
has definitely been laid for a series rich in character, story, and myth of its
own creation.
- Aaron Simmer
(August 31,
2010)
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