Not only did he expertly paint characters as non-threatening nonentities so that your mind was blown when their nefarious true natures were revealed, but he stealthily laid the groundwork consistently throughout the story, making it utterly believable. After the hunt, Dalinar speaks with Adolin about his time with Gavilar long before his death. Before he died, his brother directed Dalinar to an ancient tome called "The Way of Kings", which leads Dalinar to start questioning the warlike and competitive Alethkar way of life. He also begins to experience visions in which he sees the ancient Knights Radiant and receives a cryptic word to unite his allies. For Dalinar, these visions cast doubt on the mistaken history of the Radiants and begin to reveal the truth about the Voidbringers and the current state of the world. All of these events make Dalinar reluctant to fight in battle. Dalinar's conviction is questioned by those closest to him, casting heavy doubt on his sanity and bringing into question his claim to leadership. In the political unrest of the age, perceived weakness is caused by others attempting to eliminate him. Having no other options to uncover his visions, Dalinar plans to abdicate his war position to Adolin.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making. It started already. Just this year alone I have read two books by an author who said he was inspired by Brandon Sanderson. I never thought that you could read about bunch of knights, dressed as medieval Power Rangers, wielding giant swords that were made out of pure essence, which would appear in their hands out of thin air (or morning mist) when they would call them with their minds – and not come out as a dork high on sugar.Better authors that were more focused on quality of what they were writing about - where you can actually recognize their effort to make a book better; Sanderson does have a slower story pacing than some other authors out there but it is always building until those final moments when everything comes together and blows up spectacularly...totally worth it. So as you can see, I came into this expecting to love this but little did I know how much this would capture my heart and soul. This is the type of book that you know you'll love, but even then it still sneaks up on you and makes you fall hard. My only regret is that I started this series now and I know for a fact I won't be able to stop myself from reading the next 3 books before the 5th comes out and then I'll be having to wait until 2023 for it *sobs* but at the same time I don't regret reading this right now?? I don't know how that works smh.

I want to tell you more, but I don’t have the space here. I want to talk about the art in the book (it’s ambitious, unlike anything I’ve seen tried in an epic fantasy novel before.) I want to talk about the scope of the series, the distinctive world which is so much larger and more real than anything I’ve worked on before. I want to explain the book. Kaladin is such a tortured character in the beginning, I just wanted to go and hug him. Protect him from the world. Kaladin doesn't deserve all that's happened to him *sobs* Branded as a slave and sent off to be a bridgeman -- the most dangerous role in war, having to carry (along with other men) large, mobile bridges to set across the chasms in the Shattered Plains for soldiers to cross. Meanwhile, you don't have any protection from the enemy who lie across the chasms with their arrows💀 It's basically a death sentence for any man. Obviously, I can’t tell you anything about the story but I’ll tell you this, The Way of Kings is the beginning of tales that will remain inside your mind palace. It’s a heavily character driven book filled with tales of life & death, love & hate, bravery & cowardice, hope & despair, trust & betrayal, faith & atheism. Basically, all elements required for a great story are here, told from multiple POV.I read this as part of a massive group buddy read (SHOUT OUT to my peeps at Sanctum of Fantasy ). Several members achieved "Master of . . . " titles during the read, and I'm granting Sanderson Master of Misdirection status.