The Way of Kings: The Stormlight Archive [Versión Kindle]

Here we go, folks: The Way of Kings, at over 1000 pages, is the first volume of Brandon Sanderson's projected ten-book series, THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE. At one book per year, we probably won't see the end of this series before 2020, especially given that Sanderson is first planning to finish up Robert Jordan's WHEEL OF TIME. So, if you're looking for a new series to read, this one has some advantages and disadvantages: on the plus side, there will be a lot of reading material coming your way; on the other hand, it'll take quite some time for all of it to get here. Luckily, The Way of Kings is a very promising start to the series. Unlike what seems to be most of the fantasy audience, I haven't been a huge fan of all of Brandon Sanderson's work so far, but The Way of Kings is easily his best work to date.

The book has three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar) and a host of side characters, who occasionally also have chapters or "interludes" written from their point of view. The main story focuses on Kaladin, a surgeon's son forced to become a bridgeman -- a form of military slavery that involves carrying siege bridges in Alethkar's ongoing war with the Parshendi, who at the very start of the novel assassinate Alethkar's king. Dalinar is the late king's brother (and uncle of the current monarch), who along with nine other High Princes is running the war effort against the mysterious Parshendi. And finally, on the other end of the continent, there's Shallan, a young noble girl who wants to become the apprentice of Jasnah, a princess and famed scholar -- although Shallan's motives for seeking this position are not what they initially seem...

Of these characters, Kaladin is the most fascinating and well-rounded one. Brandon Sanderson does a fantastic job building up his history and explaining his motivations in a series of flashback chapters that gradually ratchet up the dramatic tension and turn Kaladin into his most memorable character to date. On the other hand, the witty, independent Shallan was a bit too recognizable: add color-changing hair and you could almost confuse her for one of the sisters in Warbreaker. The heroic Dalinar falls somewhere in the middle: he's the lone wolf warrior noble, the only High Prince to follow the ancient Alethi Codes of War, and someone you can admire -- while at the same time being able to predict what's going happen to him in the midst of nine other, less noble High Princes.

The book's blurbs inevitably point out that there's yet another main character, the world of Roshar -- but in this case, there's really something to this. It's hard not to be excited about a brand new fantasy universe at the start of such a long series. Brandon Sanderson performs a fine balancing act here, showing enough hints of the vast history and depth of this new world without revealing all of it. From the mysterious "prelude", showing events that happened 4,500 years before the start of the story, to the intriguing fauna and flora, to the nature and origin of the High Storms, to the question of what exactly a "spren" is... you'll end up with more questions than answers by the time you turn the final page, but you'll be intrigued and eager to read more. A testament to the quality of this book: it's rare for me to read a book that's more than 1000 pages long and still wish I could immediately read more.

Part of the reason for this is Brandon Sanderson's completely transparent prose. Some authors write prose you need to savor slowly -- Guy Gavriel Kay, Catherynne Valente, Janny Wurts. Their prose invites contemplation and appreciation of the rhythm, rhyme and sheer elegance of the words on the page. By contrast, Brandon Sanderson's prose has very little artifice to it: it just exists to tell the story. It's plain as can be, doesn't draw any attention to itself, and rarely if ever stands in the way of the story. However, it would be a mistake to underestimate how difficult it is to write a novel in such a way that you sometimes completely forget that you are, in fact, reading. Sanderson's prose never stands in the way of the reader's complete immersion. As someone who is usually very aware of what I'm reading and how many pages I've read, I often was surprised to look up and realize that I'd just read 30 or 40 pages without even being aware that I'd been reading. There's a real art to writing a compulsive page-turner like this, and Sanderson, who teaches Creative Writing at BYU, is becoming an expert at it.

Not that The Way of Kings doesn't suffer from some of the same flaws as Sanderson's other works. Characters are often still a bit one-dimensional, and some of the plot devices the author uses are too predictable and transparent. The start of the novel, describing the assassination of the Alethi king, reminded me strongly of some of the action scenes in the MISTBORN novels, with the assassin using his magic to perform gravity-defying stunts, but fortunately the rest of the novel doesn't read like a video game's magic system turned into a story. It's also written more tightly and with less filler (which, again, comes as a surprise given the length of the book). The end is filled with rousing heroism and a moving, truly exciting climax, but after the Big Final Battle, there are a few big revelations crammed in a few short pages, and while those were fascinating and definitely sparked my interest to read more of the series, they also felt a bit rushed and anti-climactic. Still, The Way of Kings is, in almost every way, a better book than anything Brandon Sanderson has produced so far, and if the rest of THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE keeps up this level of quality, we may end up looking back on the MISTBORN trilogy as an early practice run leading up to a work with better balance, better writing, and a much larger scope.

Finally, The Way of Kings is also a lovely book in terms of artwork. From the stunning cover illustration by Michael Whelan to the interior artwork, this book simply does everything right. Every few chapters, you'll find a full page of artwork, e.g. some pages from Shallan's sketch book showing Roshar's native animals and plants, or an illustrated page from the Alethi Codes of War. These aren't just beautifully done, but also relevant to the story. I've never really seen an epic fantasy integrate art into the novel in quite this way.

The Way of Kings is an excellent start to a promising series that's sure to dominate sales charts and bookstore shelves for many years to come. If you're already a Brandon Sanderson fan, this book will blow you away -- and if you're new to the author, you now can get started with the author's finest work to date.

I had the opportunity to read an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of a book a lot of people out there probably want to get their hands on, and I thought, "Hey! Here's a chance to review something in a timely fashion." So I read through all 1000 pages of said book, and I'm here today to review it for you. Aren't you lucky?

What is it?

It's the first book in a planned ten (count 'em, ten) book epic fantasy by Brandon Sanderson, fantasy author extraordinaire. He's well known for his Mistborn series, and much better known for being that guy who's finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. (The next book's out in November, folks! Excited much?) This isn't just any ol' epic fantasy series, either. The back of the ARC says "What Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time has been to the fantasy genre for the last two decades, The Stormlight Archives (the name of the series) will be to the next." And while Sanderson persuaded Tor to keep that wording off the final, published book, any which way you look at it, the gauntlet was thrown. Sure, some of it could be an attempt at hype, but the thing about hype is that sooner or later, you can evaluate for yourself whether it's earned or not.

I'm here to tell you that in this case, the hype is earned.

I still vividly remember seeing Jordan's Eye of the World on the shelf at the library for the first time. I was at an age where I was choosing what to read based on book thickness alone. If it was really long and heavy, and it had something remotely related to fantasy on the cover, I checked it out and read it, usually three of those a week. Jordan's book stood head and shoulders above the other stuff I was reading. It was long, but fast paced. It had fantastic characters, and even though it was the first book in a series, it had a distinct beginning, middle and end. It was a series started with an entirety in mind, and it's gone on to be the most successful fantasy series in the past two decades. It's been mimicked many times in many different ways. It redefined the genre.

For The Way of Kings to do that, it was going to have to break new ground--not just traipse along in the wake of other books. That's just what it did.

The book tells three separate stories. There's Dalinar and his son Adolin, two nobles embroiled in a six-year old war. There's Shallan, a young woman who's doing her best to save her family from ruin. There's Kaladin, the one-time war hero and current slave, battling inner demons. These are roles we've seen before in fantasy, yes, but Sanderson breathes new life into them. They're full-fleshed characters, each very well done. My personal favorite was Kaladin, and it's his storyline that takes the bulk of the book. I'd delve into more of the plot, but I read it spoiler-free, and I'd like to give you the chance to get to know it that way, too.

For me, what really made this book stand out from the crowd was the world-building. Most fantasies these days share fairly similar settings. Yes, they each of some funky animals and strange demons or mythical beasts, but the technology level's usually about the same (fairly primitive), the cities all feel like they're out of medieval Europe, and the various climates are all very Earth-based.

Sanderson's world feels more like something from a science-fiction book. It's a world ravaged by regular super-storms. Storms so strong they can pick up boulders and hurl them through the air. Storms that have had a huge effect on the ecosystem of the planet. For example, they have something they refer to as grass, but it's far different from the green stuff we know. This grass is more of a living creature, able to suck itself into the ground when danger appears, then emerge again once it's gone. And that's just one example. The animals are also almost wholly different and alien: more like land-crustaceans than mammals. It's hard to describe this just right, but it feels very natural in the book. Sanderson came up with a unique, new world, and it plays a very big role in the story.

Technology plays a role in the setting, as well. The world has scientists devoting themselves to the study of magic, putting it to new uses that have a very steam-punk feel. These people don't view themselves as primitives: they look at their lives in much the same way we do, feeling like they're living at the best of times, where technology has developed far enough to make their lives easier and give them hope for continual new developments in the future.

Another way the book stands out is in its art work. Full color maps appear in the front and end flap, each chapter gets its own illustration (similar to the beginning illustrations that start each chapter in The Wheel of Time). More fully drawn maps dot the text itself, accompanied by pages of illustrations of the various creatures and items that appear in the book. No expense was spared on the development of this novel, and it shows. You get more than your money's worth from this one. Three separate interior artists in addition to the cover artist. When's the last time you saw that in an epic fantasy? Have you ever? I haven't.

Was there anything I didn't like? Well, as the first book of a ten book series, it doesn't exactly hurl you into the full climax right off, but that's to be expected. The book has plenty of action and plot turns, but at the end of the day, it's still the first step in a long journey. It has a lot of promise for things to come, but it pays you in full upfront, too. Does that make sense? Better yet, the book's written by a man who's proven he can keep up the pace of a huge epic. Sanderson is a prolific writer. He churns out words like a machine, and he's devoted to his craft. He has a very transparent writing process, willing to communicate with his fans extensively through his Facebook and Twitter accounts and his blog. I'm not worried that we'll go through three or four (or five!) year droughts between books with him. He's not just a fantasy author, he's a fan, and he knows how frustrating that can get. So while I approach many fantasy books with caution (10 books? Really?) I don't feel that way about this one.

My only other frustration came from something typical to epic fantasy: with three separate stories to tell, I'd have to leave one plot and go to another after each chapter. Of course, I think it's a great sign when I'm upset the chapter ends--each time. There wasn't a plot line that I didn't look forward to reading. I'd get into one, then be disappointed when it ended and a new one started, but I was disappointed again when that new one ended and I got back to the old one.

Perhaps the highest compliment I can give the book is that I spent most of my Saturday reading it. I think I blazed through the last 750 pages in a day, and it's been years since I read that much that fast. In fact, the last time I remember doing it was with Robert Jordan.

'Nuff said.

Brandon Sanderson fills me with awe. He's so prolific, so inventive, so exactly what I want to read. I was lucky enough to receive an advance reading copy of The Way of Kings, and from the very beginning I was completely enthralled by this new world he's created. It's gritty, realistic, thought-provoking, completely unique, and fascinating. I enjoyed reading every single character's viewpoint, and that's a rare thing; usually in books of this length, there are the necessary but somewhat boring chapters woven cleverly in with the exciting ones to keep you reading. This wasn't at all the case with The Way of Kings; every character was one I was eager to spend more time with. Also rare, Sanderson managed to completely stun with a twist near the very end - one of those perfect twists that are so logical and fit so perfectly into the story that you wonder why you never saw it coming. I love that kind of storytelling, and if you can't tell, I loved this book. It's going to the very top of my "Best Books of 2010" list.

This is a must-read, folks.