The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson — An In-depth Review
There is a lot of trepidation on my part when it comes to this post, because it is doubly special to me. Not only is this review the first ever video I uploaded to my booktube channel, but also it will be among the first posts in my neonate blog.
I will leave pomp and circumstance out of it and jump straight into it.
If you favour the audiovisual medium, here's my video review of The Way of Kings. Remember not to judge too harshly, it was the first video I ever recorded after all.
As a short preamble, I will take a moment to explain exactly how I confront reviews both on my channel and in this here blog. If you are in the fantasy community, you must have come across my favourite author Brandon Sanderson at least in name (I mean, the man is everywhere).
As an innocent and bright-eyed aspiring writer I cannot recommend his lectures on Creative Writing enough. Seriously. Here's the link, go and watch them. Just make sure you come back here when you're done.
Screen grab from the Sanderson lectures at BYU, credit goes to Sanderson.
In essence, this is to explain that I follow his structure on what makes up a story in order to give some skeleton to my reviews, so I always talk about character, plot, worldbuilding and "packaging" (a bit nebulous, but this is an umbrella term that comprises prose, cover art, formatting and other miscellaneous bits and bobs that don't fit the rest of the labels).
On top of that, I add an extra segment on "post-reading sensation", because, at the end of the day the beauty of literature truly lies in the eyes of the beholder, and a book that is flawless in all those sections might not appeal to me.
Very interestingly, when I sat down to write my notes about Sanderson's first instalment of The Stormlight Archive, I thought I wouldn’t try to use any sort of structure. Before long I realised I had much more to say than expected, so here we go. Also, if you haven't read The Way of Kings, that's alright too. I stay far away from any sort of spoilers!
1. Characterisation
Without getting into any complex character analyses (primarily because I lack both the knowledge or experience to do so), I don’t have any glaring issues with Brando Sando’s characterisation at all.
One of the advantages of epic fantasy is that you have a chance to display a wide range of characters and explore their actions in so many different ways. Brandon makes his characters terribly complex, containing multitudes (in the case of Shallan, well, quite literally) and no one feels like a filler whose purpose is merely advancing the plot.
I very much enjoyed the dynamic of flashbacks as a way to explore character's backgrounds, especially Kaladin's. Sanderson manages to sprinkle them carefully so that you are not distastefully pulled away from the main arc, rather complementing it well.
In this first instalmet I particularly found Shallan a fascinating character. There is a mysterious event in her past that is so foundational for her current personality and a very early twist (I don't think this is a spoiler at all in the grand scheme of things) that her intentions for being Jasnah’s apprentice were quite nefarious. I actually believe it was reading Shallan when I realised this was another sort of fantasy.
Kaladin Stormblessed, a fan-favourite. Credit for the art goes to Ari Ibarra https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qA3EWL
Dalinar is another very interesting character, possibly rivalling with Kaladin for my favourite spot, but he doesn’t quite shine in this first instalment so I will reserve a full comment on him.
In summary, they are very well realised, fully fleshed-out, and something I particularly liked is the fact that even secondary characters will surprise you with the weight of their actions. It is almost as though every character is primary, the only difference being that we don't spend as much time with them. Under the benevolent permission of likely the longest genre in literature, Sanderson utilises the page count perfectly to offer us a complete view of every single character.
A very good proof of that is how the interludes are as gripping and interesting as the main storylines.
Sanderson gets extra points in character credibility by way of mental health representation. I love seeing authors spending some time exploring the consequences of living in alien worlds in the character's psyches. It makes them real, grounds them.
2. Plot
Shallan arriving at Kharbranth. Credit goes to lamaery https://pin.it/3EUBQaS
I live for multiple storylines that intertwine as you keep reading, it just makes the experience so much richer. I will be vague because the main plot hasn’t even been finished and this is just the first instalment.
Now, in all honesty, when I think about TWOK, plot is not a remarkable aspect that comes to mind. This doesn’t mean it is lacking in any way, simply that in my opinion it is not the strongest aspect.
It's also been roughly over a year since I read the book, and I can't barely remember what happened. So that helps with the whole avoiding spoilers thing.
3. Worldbuilding
Drawing of the Shattered Plains by Redditor https://www.reddit.com/user/AshfellEverdawn/
This. This is where Brando really shines. When I think worldbuilding, I tend to veer towards historico-political worldbuilding but even though that was not the focus at all, I commend Sanderson for the level of care and detail to every element added to the story.
Something that is central to the story is the highstorms, and this particular pesky weather phenomenon shapes everything. Architecture, etymology, gastronomy, geology. I was astounded with the amount of work put on how it would impact wildlife accross Roshar and the way it was introduced to us through the eyes of Shallan as a personal interest, rather than recurring to frigid info-dumping.
Sanderson's technomagic obviously takes a very prominent spot in the forefront of this self-defined magnum opus. It is vastly intricate with multiple subparts that interact together to deliver a magic system that instils a sense of wonder not by vagueness of its rule, rather by its tremendous complexity.
4. Packaging
Cover design of the US edition of The Way of Kings by Michael Whelan
Granted, Sanderson’s writing style is not the most flowery, and certainly if what you’re after in a book is distilled lyricism and elevated prose, this is not your book (or any Brando book for that matter).
This is not to say the prose is cataclysmically bad, just simply not the focus of the storytelling process. I believe when Brando sat down to write (at breakneck speed at that, I mean how does he not have an incapacitating carpal tunnel syndrome on both hands, and his brain?), language was not part of his main concerns.
I would also like to dedicate a brief moment to appreciate the wonderful cover of the US edition above. Look at it. Breathtaking.
5. Post-reading sensation
I’ll let you in a Iittle bit of a secret. I was actually introduced to this story in the audiobook format (I had a credit to spare and was looking with the longest book I could get, and so my business-savvy mind went for the 55-hour long mammoth).
Reading this book transported me back to home, walking to the bus station with the astounding view of the Atlantic ocean in the distance. This book absolutely gets my coveted "immaculate vibes" label.
More than that, I plunged deep into this book during the first wave of the COVID pandemic in the UK, so it not only showed me what was happening with modern fantasy and took me out of a very long reading slump, it helped escaping the worst time in recent memory.
It goes without saying, you should read the book. See you in the next one.
