Author Brandon Sanderson visited Seattle, WA yesterday.
He has been in Seattle several times over the last few years. The last time came about in late 2009 for the release of the newest Wheel of Time novel, The Gathering Storm. This time he visited in support of his new book, The Way of Kings, a massive opening tome to a greater series titled The Stormlight Archive.
The Stormlight Archive is the series that Brandon has always wanted to write but always felt he wasn’t good enough yet. He has known particulars of the series for 20 years and has had it mapped out from beginning to end for several. After getting the chance to work on the Wheel of Time and with its editor Harriet McDougal, Brandon received great tutelage and felt confident in tackling the sprawling epic brewing inside of him for so many years.
The result is The Way of Kings.
And it’s extremely well done. I am through Part I into Part II and it is picking up steam. But what I like most about the book is Brandon’s writing ability. He has matured into one of the more elegant writers out there. Not a word is out of place, not one added without need. In fact, I was talking to one of my friends and he likened the writing out of all fantasy writers he has read to that done by George R. R. Martin.
I agree to a certain extent, particularly knowing how much George and Brandon both edit their work once a chapter draft is complete. While the story itself has nothing akin to GRRM, it is a great read that keeps you turning pages. And there are many pages—1001 to be exact. That makes fantasy readers happy, yes? Also with its multiple interior illustrations, The Way of Kings makes for a gorgeous book just to hold in your hands.
If you have not read anything about it, here is the book description:
Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive.
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.
One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.
Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
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.
Speak again the ancient oaths,
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.
Here are five videos from last night’s event, where Brandon reads the Prelude to The Way of Kings as well as answers questions from the fans on a variety of topics ranging from his new book to the Wheel of Time:
Part I: Brandon’s Introduction & Opening
Part II: Brandon reads from The Way of Kings
Part III: Brandon does his Q&A
Part IV: Brandon continues his Q&A
Part V: Brandon continues his Q&A
There you have it. Brandon from his last stop for The Way of Kings tour. He of course will be hitting the road for the release of the next Wheel of Time book, Towers of Midnight.
In the meantime, I strongly recommend The Way of Kings. Don’t take my word for it.
Try it and make up your own mind!
