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The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, Book 1)
The groundbreaking first book of an epic series that has changed the face of fantasy. The Way of Kings begins The Stormlight Archive. Speak again the ancient oaths: Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before Destination. Return to men…
- Release Date
- 2010
- Length
- 973 pages
- Publisher
- Hachette UK
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Our Review
About the book
The first volume of The Stormlight Archive is set on Roshar, a storm-battered world, and follows a slave-soldier, a young scholar with a secret, and a highprince haunted by visions. Their paths begin to converge as an ancient catastrophe seems poised to return.
Our review
Somehow a thousand pages of world-building feel personal here, anchored by one of modern fantasy’s great wounded heroes.
The Way of Kings asks a lot of us at the start: unfamiliar ecology, layered magic, a cast that keeps expanding. We would gently suggest pushing through the first hundred pages, because what follows is extraordinary. We count Roshar among the most fully imagined settings in the genre, a place where storms shape plants, animals and politics alike, and Sanderson reveals it through characters rather than lectures.
Kaladin’s story of despair and stubborn leadership on the Shattered Plains is the emotional core, and it handles depression with surprising honesty. Shallan’s scholarly scheming and Dalinar’s moral crisis provide contrast in tone and tempo. The prose is functional rather than lyrical, and some interludes feel like detours. But the final chapters converge with such force that the length starts to feel earned instead of indulgent.
What we loved
- Kaladin’s arc, an unusually candid look at despair and duty
- A setting where the weather itself drives culture and biology
- An ending that pulls every storyline into alignment
Keep in mind
- The opening is slow and the vocabulary dense
- Plain, workmanlike prose may disappoint readers who want lyricism
Read it if you like
Readers who loved Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World or Steven Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon and want something more hopeful.
The verdict
A demanding but deeply rewarding epic opener that earns its size through character, not just spectacle.
