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Evan Leach's Reviews > The Way of Kings
The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
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Evan Leach's review
bookshelves: fantasy, 2010-2019, novels, american-literature, doorstoppers, epic
Feb 11, 2012
bookshelves: fantasy, 2010-2019, novels, american-literature, doorstoppers, epic
When I was a kid, I was never able to get the best of those damned Magic Eye paintings. I would stare and stare until my eyes watered, but to no avail.
Well, looking at The Way of Kings and its glittering, 4.58 rating is bringing back some painful childhood memories that I’ve tried really hard to repress. Because like those stupid paintings, I just can’t see what all the fuss is about. To be clear, I didn’t hate this book: I thought it was sort of O.K. But this is so out of proportion with what everybody else seems to think that I can’t help but feel out of the loop. It’s Mrs. Betzler’s 4th grade class all over again, so thanks for that Brandon Sanderson. I had three big problems with this book:
1. A lot of the action/fighting scenes were pretty tedious. Not once in the book did I feel that any of the main characters were in any serious risk, which sucked away a lot of the dramatic tension. Also, many of characters were so much better equipped/more skilled/blessed with more über magic than their hapless opponents that the battles were just page after page (after page) of the superman characters slaughtering hordes of luckless opponents. At times it felt like I was reading the transcript of somebody playing a video game. A 1,000 page transcript.
2. While Sanderson lays some good bricks here in terms of world-building, I never really got hooked by the history of this universe he created, and I didn’t get a great feel for what the world at large was really like (with the exception of a few locations like the Shattered Plains, etc.). That would be one thing if the book was 300 pages, or if it threw us straight into the action, but a book this size where the action is limited had better be doing some grade-A world-building and I didn’t think Sanderson reached that level.
3. Finally, your mileage may vary but the writing in this book drove me crazy. I haven’t read anything else by Sanderson, so I don’t know if this is just his style or if there was a failure in the editing process, but I found a lot of the dialogue in this book to be exhausting. For instance:
”Brightness…I believe you stray into sarcasm.”
“Funny. I thought I’d run straight into it, screaming at the top of my lungs.”
Ugh. Or this gem when a young lady requests an unusual book from a merchant:
”I can see you are a woman of discriminating taste.”
“I am. I do like my meals prepared very carefully, as my palate is quite delicate.”
“Pardon. I meant that you have discriminating taste in books.”
No. Nonononononono. But I don’t know. If the zingers above made you laugh, or if you like randomly placed exclamation marks in your dialogue, you probably will be just fine. This may just be a matter of personal taste, but the dialogue in this book drove me crazy.
Anyway, I don’t want to overstate my dislike for this book. I thought it was long, kind of sloppily written, and could be pretty boring at times. I very nearly quit at about the 450 page mark, which is a rarity for me. But there are some promising elements here: it’s not a Tolkien clone, at least, and some of the characters are pretty solid. Also, the plot got much more interesting as the book developed, and the second half was markedly better than the first (although that’s almost damning with faint praise), to the point that I’ll probably give the second book a chance whenever it comes out. But I sincerely hope it’s better than this one. 2 stars.
All I see is an OK fantasy novel.
Well, looking at The Way of Kings and its glittering, 4.58 rating is bringing back some painful childhood memories that I’ve tried really hard to repress. Because like those stupid paintings, I just can’t see what all the fuss is about. To be clear, I didn’t hate this book: I thought it was sort of O.K. But this is so out of proportion with what everybody else seems to think that I can’t help but feel out of the loop. It’s Mrs. Betzler’s 4th grade class all over again, so thanks for that Brandon Sanderson. I had three big problems with this book:
1. A lot of the action/fighting scenes were pretty tedious. Not once in the book did I feel that any of the main characters were in any serious risk, which sucked away a lot of the dramatic tension. Also, many of characters were so much better equipped/more skilled/blessed with more über magic than their hapless opponents that the battles were just page after page (after page) of the superman characters slaughtering hordes of luckless opponents. At times it felt like I was reading the transcript of somebody playing a video game. A 1,000 page transcript.
2. While Sanderson lays some good bricks here in terms of world-building, I never really got hooked by the history of this universe he created, and I didn’t get a great feel for what the world at large was really like (with the exception of a few locations like the Shattered Plains, etc.). That would be one thing if the book was 300 pages, or if it threw us straight into the action, but a book this size where the action is limited had better be doing some grade-A world-building and I didn’t think Sanderson reached that level.
3. Finally, your mileage may vary but the writing in this book drove me crazy. I haven’t read anything else by Sanderson, so I don’t know if this is just his style or if there was a failure in the editing process, but I found a lot of the dialogue in this book to be exhausting. For instance:
”Brightness…I believe you stray into sarcasm.”
“Funny. I thought I’d run straight into it, screaming at the top of my lungs.”
Ugh. Or this gem when a young lady requests an unusual book from a merchant:
”I can see you are a woman of discriminating taste.”
“I am. I do like my meals prepared very carefully, as my palate is quite delicate.”
“Pardon. I meant that you have discriminating taste in books.”
No. Nonononononono. But I don’t know. If the zingers above made you laugh, or if you like randomly placed exclamation marks in your dialogue, you probably will be just fine. This may just be a matter of personal taste, but the dialogue in this book drove me crazy.
Anyway, I don’t want to overstate my dislike for this book. I thought it was long, kind of sloppily written, and could be pretty boring at times. I very nearly quit at about the 450 page mark, which is a rarity for me. But there are some promising elements here: it’s not a Tolkien clone, at least, and some of the characters are pretty solid. Also, the plot got much more interesting as the book developed, and the second half was markedly better than the first (although that’s almost damning with faint praise), to the point that I’ll probably give the second book a chance whenever it comes out. But I sincerely hope it’s better than this one. 2 stars.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
November 1, 2011
–
Finished Reading
February 11, 2012
– Shelved
February 20, 2012
– Shelved as:
fantasy
March 28, 2012
– Shelved as:
2010-2019
October 30, 2013
– Shelved as:
novels
October 30, 2013
– Shelved as:
american-literature
March 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
doorstoppers
February 15, 2016
– Shelved as:
epic
Comments Showing 51-100 of 142 (142 new)
Evan wrote: "Yeah I know plenty of people who loved this book, so clearly it didn't bother everybody. I see you gave the Mistborn books higher marks; I definitely need to give those a shot."I hope I didn't already say this upthread, but I'm not sure you'd like them any better. There's the same video-game-esque quality to the fight scenes, the same, shall we say, goofy dialogue, the same rather sloppy writing. Of course they're also much shorter and therefore more tightly written. (I have to say, I'm rapidly losing tolerance for fantasy series. Who would want to read 10 1000-page books about anything?)
Emma wrote: "Evan wrote: "Yeah I know plenty of people who loved this book, so clearly it didn't bother everybody. I see you gave the Mistborn books higher marks; I definitely need to give those a shot."I hop..."
Even Proust kept it under 5,000 pages...I can't remember if you've read Mieville or not, but he's my current favorite for contemporary fantasy (well and GRRM when book 6 comes out in 2017).
I have read one Mieville. His style is a little out there for me, but I did enjoy it and definitely appreciated the standalone factor! GRRM I'm willing to give a pass because IMO his books have genuine and worthwhile complexity and not just bloat. I can't say the same for most authors of fantasy series, though. I've been debating reading Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series since I've liked her recent trilogies, but seven books for one story....
Emma wrote: "I have read one Mieville. His style is a little out there for me, but I did enjoy it and definitely appreciated the standalone factor! GRRM I'm willing to give a pass because IMO his books have gen..."I totally get where you're coming from regarding these massive fantasy series. I have read the first two Wheel of Time books, and while I wasn't swept off my feet, I thought they were fine. If it was a trilogy, I would have chugged through the third one already, but with 10 more in front of me (or however many) just thinking about it is exhausting. On one hand, I understand how people thirst for a truly epic series that goes on for great length - haven't we all got to the end of a story and wished it could keep going? If GRRM could keep up his current quality for 10,000 pages I would be right there with him until the end. But on the other hand, a series of that length has to be really compelling for me to make that kind of commitment, and I think that's pretty rare.
I haven't been reading as much fantasy either as of late. This year I'm committed to re-reading Tolkien (which I haven't done in like 17+ years; I'm currently through the Silmarillion) and Gormenghast. I'd like to tackle some more Mieville if I have the time.
Incidentally, I've been in bar exam hell this month and basically absent from this site, but I look forward to catching up on your reviews come August.
Yes, I guess the problem is that as I've gotten pickier, fewer and fewer of those massive series have shown the kind of writing chops that would make me want to stick with them for 1000s of pages. And because much of what I read isn't fantasy, I'm very aware of the fact that most authors manage to tell a complete story between 300 and 400 pages--so an author has to be really good to keep me going like 20 times that.Heh, no worries, I'm in a similar situation but procrastinating like crazy! (sending PM)
Thanks for agreeing with me Evan. Ten books used to sort of happen by accident in the old days, where an author would make too much and had to keep stretching out his series in order to solve all of his problems. But planning for that much? With that big of a word count? My book would put people to sleep.I agree with a lot of what Emma is saying. Although Mistborn does get better the more you get into it--in my personal opinion--Sander's problems are less defined, almost blending together so you don't see them as much.
And Emma, that goofy dialogue--if you haven't read up to the part where it has it, it's so bad in The Way of Kings. In Mistborn it was pretty bad too, but he ditched it in the later two books of the series; hope he does the same. If I ever did get a chance to make a big epic fantasy, or even a small trilogy, I'd rather keep it contained. And those interlude chapters are annoying...
I'm a Sanderson fan and I overall enjoyed The way of the kings and rated it 5 stars yet I agree with everything you said in this review. I think this book is really overhyped and though I'm going to read the second book if he doesn't improve his characterization and silly dialogues, I may give up on the series entirely.
I never understand people talking about the length of this book like its a problem. People seem to lose interest or want more action the whole way. This doesn't make sense to me as see most 200-300 page books as a waste of time. 700 pages for a series is the minimum for me. Anything less and I find it hard to get attached to the characters and stories. This is the same for me in movies. 2 hours is rarely enough. I would take a TV series over a movie any day.So when someone says something like "so an author has to be really good to keep me going like 20", I'm confused. I think that the author writing the shorter story has to be far better to get anywhere close to the same emotional reactions I get when reading a larger series.
Travis wrote: "I never understand people talking about the length of this book like its a problem. People seem to lose interest or want more action the whole way. This doesn't make sense to me as see most 200-300..."Travis, I'm with you regarding TV. I can't watch any TV drama that's not serialized, and I'd take Breaking Bad and Mad Men over the majority of current movies any day.
I also think there's a lot of truth to the argument that it takes more skill to pack emotional power into a shorter story than a longer, multi-volume series. For me, the problem with these ultra long series is the opportunity cost. When I hear that there are going to ten books in the series, and the first entry is 1,000 pages, it makes me think about all the other great books I could be reading. 10,000 pages is the equivalent of 20-30 (average sized) books; I'm not going to pass on those to commit to a huge series unless I'm really, really into it.
For me, the series that have passed that test include GRRM, the Dark Tower series, and maybe one or two more. For a lot of other readers, it's the Wheel of Time or this series (or Goodkind, or whatever). At the end of the day, nobody wants to spend hours and hours reading something they're not that into. But I'm glad you enjoyed this book. Also, go Buckeyes.
Thanks, Travis, for explaining the appeal of books like this.For me, if the story and characters and writing don't impress in 300 pages, they aren't going to do so with 3000. Quantity can't substitute for quality, and a great author can make me care more in a 20-page short story than a mediocre one in a 500-page novel. But too, I don't read only to get attached to characters, which may or may not happen. I'm also looking for artistic merit, which is hard to come by in these bloated fantasy epics.
Emma wrote: "Thanks, Travis, for explaining the appeal of books like this.For me, if the story and characters and writing don't impress in 300 pages, they aren't going to do so with 3000. Quantity can't subst..."
Yeah, I dropped 20 page short stories when I finished all of my English classes ^_^. For me reading is all about the adventure. Really getting into another person's head, exploring the world, watching them overcoming conflicts. That's why I'm so drawn epic fantasies. Not only is there's so much to learn about who a character is, but fantasy allows for the creation of whole new worlds that I get to discover. I love history even if it is fictional.
From my view quantity can substitute for quality, at least to some extent. I would take 100 pages of slightly worse quality over the 20 pages if it gave me more of a chance to see the world building or get to know more about the motivations of the characters.
I like the book, but a 4.5 star rating is ridiculous. I think it's a 3 star which means, per good reads "I liked the book", it's not stellar by any stretch of the imagination. Although I'm only 1/4 through it, however it's not grabbing me and there is no character I really like.
Andrew wrote: "I like the book, but a 4.5 star rating is ridiculous. I think it's a 3 star which means, per good reads "I liked the book", it's not stellar by any stretch of the imagination. Although I'm only 1/4..."Glad you're liking the book so far, Andrew. I thought the second half was stronger than the first, so if you are enjoying it so far it should only get better as you progress.
Well said man. Exactly my feelings. SAnderson is an overhyped author. I have also read the Mistborn series and i found Way of kings slightly more interesting. Only because of the world building. Otherwise his books are giants of immature writting with no sense of dread, full of uninteresting characters spawned out of ultra high fantasy action games who seem to be unable to have proper dialogues, resulting in total absence of suspension of disbelief. Being harsh, I found the ratings of his books a typical example of Bertrand Russell's quote "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."
The dialogue is definitely painfully bad at times. And Sanderson has a horrible tendency to describe a character through others' observations, rather than just writing them to embody that trait (intelligent, funny, etc.). So many characters are described to be certain things that they definitely are not. In my opinion, that makes him a bit of a lackluster writer. The storytelling is pretty good, as is the world-building, but this is definitely overhyped.
Sean wrote: "And Sanderson has a horrible tendency to describe a character through others' observations, rather than just writing them to embody that trait (intelligent, funny, etc.). So many characters are described to be certain things that they definitely are not. "Who for example? I don't recall ever encountering that problem in his books.
I'm glad that you made a comparison to the old magic eye posters...there are so many popular books I've had the same feeling about.
If you compare this to the WoT series, what kind of verdict do you come up with?
Igor wrote: "If you compare this to the WoT series, what kind of verdict do you come up with?"Igor, I've only read the first two WoT novels and I wasn't crazy about them. I liked Jordan's writing a lot more than Sanderson's in this book; on the other hand, I thought that The Way of Kings was more original.
FWIW, there seems to be a lot of overlap between WoT fans and fans of Sanderson's work. If you enjoyed WoT, you will probably really like this series. While this book didn't do much for me, lots of people feel otherwise and if you're a Robert Jordan fan I'm guessing you'll find plenty to enjoy here.
The thing is, I didn't quite like Sanderson's Mistborn, if felt too naive for me. I liked Jordan to a point, and then it went downhill. Then, I liked Sanderson's work in the WoT series, better than his Mistborn and most of Jordan's books.So I was wondering how his later independent work scales up to his WoT-commissioned work. Not sure I would be able to enjoy Jordanesque writing anymore, though. I liked it when I was 20, now, I need something faster and grittier.
Thanks!
Igor
Good review. I will say your quotes for poor dialogue may be a bit out of context though. They are both taken from Shallen who, as I remember, fancies herself quite witty but is also very naïve. That's why I always took her "witty" remarks with a grain of salt.
I am so glad I'm not the only one who felt Shallan's dialogue was groan-worthy. Not witty or clever at all.
I thought that the MistBorn series was much better. This series feels like he is trying to turn a 2,000 page story into a 10,000 page story.
hahah Shallan is a PITA, I was desperate for her to get busted and then executed painfully.
I'm enjoying it so far, but I have to assure you that the star rating isn't really something to worry about. 50 Shades has an above 4-star rating. Just keep that in mind if you're feeling bad about not liking a book that a lot of others do. :-) Sorry you didn't enjoy it. I'm not far enough in to fully judge it, I just like what I've read so far.
Renee wrote: "I'm enjoying it so far, but I have to assure you that the star rating isn't really something to worry about. 50 Shades has an above 4-star rating. Just keep that in mind if you're feeling bad about..."Here's hoping you keep enjoying it, Renee. This just wasn't quite for me, but I will definitely give Sanderson another try at some point.
The only part I heartily disagreed with on your review was sloppy writing. I didn't think the Shallan scene was funny persay, but I'm surprised that you took it to mean bad writing. To be fair I loved this book so I'm incredibly biased. If you want to give Brandon Sanderson another try you might want to go for something more fast paced like Alloy of the Law. Mistborn seems to be another favorite so you could give that one a go. You might want to avoid Elantris though, it's a little slow and it's good but it takes a pretty long time to get going. Warbreaker is heavy on the shifting perspective but also a little slow. It's kind of his style to be heavy on the character exposition so take that how you will. He's got a YA novel called Steelheart that might be another good one for you.
Not trying to bash you, just wanted you to actually enjoy a book by him whenever you tried again. Good luck!
I actually just read that Shallan scene last night and I agree with Evan. It isn't bad writing in the sense of poor grammar. It was bad writing in character development. He's been setting her up to be this feisty, snarky, quick-witted woman and she isn't. I wonder if this is a case of a man who doesn't understand women trying to write a believable female character. I'm really hoping this isn't a negative turning point in this book, but the Shallan character is shaping up to be a poorly-written Mary Sue.FTR, I'm not saying men can't write believable and well-written female characters -- just that this one doesn't seem to be very good at it.
Andy wrote: "The only part I heartily disagreed with on your review was sloppy writing. I didn't think the Shallan scene was funny persay, but I'm surprised that you took it to mean bad writing. To be fair I ..."
Thanks for the recommendations, Andy. I've heard great things about Mistborn and it is on my radar. Happy reading!
Great review! I really loved the book but you do bring up some great points that I even agree with. How much importance you put on those points will ofcourse vary, and even though they didn't bother me enough to dislike it, they are some great points.Especially the page upon page about slaughtering millions of people by one guy.
Except world-building, I think your comments are spot on. The parts of the world that most of the events occurred are interesting for me. Also, the parts that have only a chapter or two like Purelake and Shinovar sparked my curiosity.I have another big problem with the book: the repetitive descriptions.
After a point I wondered whether Sanderson is paid per word count. I found myself passing some paragraphs about Kaladin's hatred of lighteyes, Shallan's dilemma about the fulfilling time she has with Jasnah and rescuing her family, Szeth's dilemma about killing innocent people and his obligations, Kaladin feeling sorry about not being able to help the ones he cared, etc. They were explained again and again. As if Sanderson was trying to make sure everybody understands character's even simple feelings.
Also, George Martin proved it that you don't have to make some characters invincible to write an epic story. I felt only a small worry about a character's fate at the end of the book in a book filled with numerous deaths. It just isn't logical.
Another point which dampened my liking was the lengthy philosophical discussions. I think a fiction writer should not discuss philosophy directly, for example, by making characters talk like Plato's Dialogues. This book has a lot of inner and character-to-character dialogues. Sanderson surely has ideas, but I am not reading this as a book on philosophy. I don't want to sound arrogant but those ideas are not at all that interesting. Maybe if he only implied them in the events and actions of the characters, it would feel more natural. For example, GRRM does a good job of showing how people suffer, who wins, who loses when there is war without having lengthy dialogues about war.
Winterfella wrote: "Except world-building, I think your comments are spot on. The parts of the world that most of the events occurred are interesting for me. Also, the parts that has only a chapter or two like Purelak..."I just finished Mistborn after reading this and I agree with a lot of this. He struggles with showing rather than telling and The Way of Kings could have been half the length it was.
I won't say I loved it and there are much better books out there. But I gave it 3 stars in the end and am going to read the second book. I found it entertaining enough and he left me wanting to know what happens next. So while not great and definitely flawed, I ended up enjoying it enough.
Some people just have to go against what's popular... 2 stars? I feel like you were looking for gripe going into this. I don't particularly agree on any of the points.
Amen, after seeing all these glowing reviews I felt like I was crazy for feeling it was deeply mediocre.
Zashi wrote: "Amen, after seeing all these glowing reviews I felt like I was crazy for feeling it was deeply mediocre."I read the second one and I have to say it actually clears up a lot of the problems with The Way of Kings. Characters I hated in TWOK are some of my favorites after reading Words of Radiance. And the writing is much improved. I actually really enjoyed WOR and I'm excited for the next book. It's shaping itself into a good story. I like it much more than I liked Mistborn.
i love the book, but i must say that i hate the romantic part of it, like dalinar and navani, and shallan always feeling love for someone who get a little close to her, like when she was at Kharbranth(which i knew it will happen from the moment they met). and on the shattered plans knowing that she isbetrothed to someone, she also started liking another guy because she spent a storming night with him(i also feared that this would happen from the moment they start to insult each other because this always happen in romantic novels which this book is not) the truth is nobody likes
love triangle and nobody want to read them in books like this. this is why i can still read mistborn many times without skipping any page because it contains non of this.
I have for years felt like the only person in the world that didn't like Sanderson, up until reading this review. Thank you so much. I find his writing dull and his dialogue painfully awkward. The more "clever" it's meant to be, the more lame it comes across. I had the same issue in Mistborn, being told over and over again that Kelsier is so witty and so smart and just getting these lame, dead lines from him. I tried to read the Way of Kings hoping that Sanderson had improved since Mistborn, but no. Not really. Not in the ways that matter to me.
Kat wrote: "I have for years felt like the only person in the world that didn't like Sanderson, up until reading this review. Thank you so much. I find his writing dull and his dialogue painfully awkward. The ..."we are many ;)
Kat wrote: "I have for years felt like the only person in the world that didn't like Sanderson, up until reading this review. Thank you so much. I find his writing dull and his dialogue painfully awkward. The ..."Clearly not my cup of tea either, Kat. Thanks for reading.
I am right there with you on Shallan's "cleverness" the writing for her dialogue reminded me too much of every overbearing female character in WOT, where they were smart and would beat you over the head with their intelligence until you agreed.
I agree. This book reads like Eddings last novels, where he just repeated characters and patterns from other books in a new setting.
Avcopan wrote: "How about this gem:"Damnation, Szeth thought, Lashing himself upward with a quarter of a Basic Lashing. That didn't pull him upward, it just made him lighter. A quarter of his weight was now pulle..."
Haha...yeah.
I was in agony, looking for an excuse to stop reading. Thank you, oh sane ones. I think I'll jump to the last 100 pages and see if there is any meat.
Man am I glad I found this review!I read Mistborn Book One and loved it, and therefore I went into The Way of Kings (Part One, my edition has book one split into two) really excited. I think I got about ten pages in, and then I was quite annoyed. As you have pointed out, the book has quite a few problems, but the thing that bothered me the most just then was the writing. It is clunky and immature and lacks flow, and it is repetitive.
Mr Sandy is not very subtle in his exposition either. He practically beats the reader over the head with certain things. Among other things we were informed several times what the different sprens looked like, in more or less the exact same words every time! I got too many descriptions of rockbuds, and ninety precent of them were unnecessary.
The dialogue, even when witty or educated characters were speaking, was not particularly clever. So after a while I figured I'd pop by Goodreads to find some sympathy, but I left quickly wondering what was going on and what I had missed.
Well, now I've finished the book, and I still feel the same about it. So it's great to find likeminded people. I feel more sane now.
Some things were cool or exciting or funny, but the writing just decreased my excitement.
And I'm a little bit scared that I got carried away with Mistborn. I guess I'll see when I get to the second one.
And thanks, Evan, for letting me vent! I am a little bit more relaxed now.
PS. This feels a bit like swearing in a church. Will we be burned at the stake for heresy?
Ingeborg, burning at the stake was a very uncommon punishment for heresy. You were more likely to be hung, drawn and quartered. And if you were of noble birth, most likely your possessions would be taken and you'd be exiled, or in the worst case, a quick beheading.Are you of noble birth?
Igor
Ingeborg wrote: "Man am I glad I found this review!I read Mistborn Book One and loved it, and therefore I went into The Way of Kings (Part One, my edition has book one split into two) really excited. I think I go..."
Thanks for the kind words, Ingeborg!
Igor wrote: "Ingeborg, burning at the stake was a very uncommon punishment for heresy. You were more likely to be hung, drawn and quartered. And if you were of noble birth, most likely your possessions would be..."Not very noble, no. Slow and painful, then?
Unfortunately for you, yep. Stay chipper.Igor
I think that's a great point about Sanderson holding back. I too got the sense that he was careful about unleashing too much too early, probably so he had enough fuel in reserve to get him through a 10 book, 10,000 page series! I did like some of the bricks he was laying in terms of world-building, and more than anything else that is what makes me interested in giving book two a shot.