The Way of Kings by Brandon SandersonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Days after finishing The Way of Kings, I still wasn't sure how to rate it or review it, but now I finally have a few thoughts put together. So here goes.
>> Edit 4-25-2015: Initially I settled on 5 stars, but after some time to reflect, I am downgrading to 4 stars. Let me explain why...
The fact that I didn't put the book down and instantly proclaim my awe gave me pause. Usually I rate a book 5 stars when it grabs me and doesn't let go, when I lose sleep over it, or when it moves into the realm of irrational emotion that overshadows all flaws. I didn't have this feeling about The Way of Kings. In fact, I was bored at times because it moved soooo slowly. I had to take a couple breaks from reading it because it was just so long and slow. That is not a 5 star book for me, even though I recognize that this 1000 page behemoth is essentially a prologue for the rest of the series. Let's face it, Sanderson fan or not, that's a long prologue. I am not that into epic-ness for its own sake.
The first half of the book, I felt like I was going to have to give it 3 stars because of the boredom factor. Then the second half it slowly raised itself to 4. Only the fact that it lingered with me for several days afterwards, and that I had trouble finding something else to hold my interest, made me consider giving it 5 stars. That, and a couple of really awesome scenes at the end. And the fact that it was Brandon Sanderson biased me towards a 5 star rating as well, I have to admit. But ultimately, I rate books based on reading experience, and this one was too slow for too long. So my complicated choice of rating is going to be 3 stars rounded up to 4 for the last fifth when it finally came together.
>> End of edit
This may be one of the most epic-feeling epics I've ever read. There is the overwhelming sense that this book is only a long beginning to a hugely epic tale, one that is going to span 10 novels and be extremely vast and sprawling. The first book has only barely scratched the surface with its 1000 pages! And after 1000 pages of introduction, I do feel that I am ready for more.
The world feels very vast and old, and the magic system is very well developed (of course - this is Sanderson we're talking about!), but it is still very limited in scope for such a long book. The story so far takes place in mainly three locations with three main characters. So the world feels vast and detailed, but we don't actually get to see a clear picture of all of it yet.
Let me talk about the characters, since building them is the main focus of this book. First the most minor (in this installment), Shallan. I really struggled to like her, since her motives were less than pure, and I didn't want her to succeed at all. Thankfully, this changed by the end of the book, and now I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with her story. But there were times when I was impatient to get back to the other two main characters because I liked them much better, and they were closer to the action.
Dalinar, I really liked. He is a high prince commanding an army in a pointless war, and he's also uncle / advisor to the young king whose power is shaky a few years after his father was assassinated. Dalinar is having embarrassing visions, and - also incredibly embarrassing for his sons - he is finding purpose in honorable ideals that go beyond blood lust in battle and the petty squabbling of the other high princes. His parts are full of internal conflict and philosophical ideals that pit him against his contemporaries, who think he's going crazy and/or soft (they are seen as kind of the same thing).
I loved the scenes where Dalinar proved them all wrong. He had a couple of the really great action scenes, and I loved where his story ended up.
I do have to say, his visions were kind of confusing at times, adding to the 'where is this going?' feeling. They showed a lot of history, which was good for world-building, but I feel as if a second reading would make things a lot more clear now that I know where it's headed.
But by far, the best character is Kaladin. He is a slave, formerly a soldier and a surgeon (we get to see his former life through flashbacks). At the beginning it's really difficult to read about him because of his treatment and the despair and hopelessness of his situation. Every time you think he's at the bottom, he goes lower. Normally I don't enjoy reading things full of despair and bleakness, so for a while I didn't like his story. But thankfully it doesn't continue that way for the whole book. Kaladin finds a way to drag himself out of the seemingly bottomless pit of hell. Bit by bit, his story gains hope, and his were some of the most awesome action scenes in the entire book. This is a character who is transformed and who he becomes is amazing.
So I enjoyed two out of three main characters, and was mesmerized by the world - but not to the point of losing sleep. I never had a problem putting it down. At times I wondered what it was all getting at when there was just lots of character building and only spurts of action. But the feeling of it still pervaded me. I enjoyed being in the world and missed it when I finished.
This reminds me of my feelings when reading Tad Williams’ The Dragonbone Chair. That's another one with a very slow building world with lots of character development and not a lot of action at first. That series became one of my favorite epic fantasies because of the feeling of just being in it, savoring it. That's how I feel about The Way of Kings. It is subtle, but it has me.
I am very much looking forward to the next book, now that I understand the world and am ready to learn more about it. I'm glad I started the series instead of waiting for more books to be released. The first one ends in a place that I'm happy with for now, and with such huge books, I actually don't mind taking a break between them. I think this is a series I can savor over years instead of gorging them down all at once.
