Summarizing 1,000+ pages is tough, but here are the key points: Kaladin Stormblessed: A former soldier who becomes a slave and is sold as a Bridgeman—men forced to carry bridges in dangerous battles. Dalinar Kholin & Adolin: Highlords involved in the war, trying to navigate politics and honor. Shallan & Jasnah: A scholar and her apprentice exploring the world's magic and history.

Journey Before Destination, Life Before Death, Strength Before Weakness – the foundational oaths that define the book’s philosophy. The struggle of leadership, responsibility, and honor. The mystery of Stormlight and magic as lost knowledge. Understanding The Cosmere was difficult since this world has been built over multiple books. I may have started in the wrong place, but it was still a great entry into The Stormlight Archive. 🏷️ Memorable Quotes The opening line: “Seth son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king.” 🔗 Personal Connection The Journey Before Destination mantra resonated deeply with me. The deep world-building and long story arcs appeal to me—I can immerse myself in this universe for a long time. I’ve never read much fantasy before, likely because no one in my environment did either, but this book might change that. ✍️ Style & Structure The writing was engaging—I stayed curious for the over 1000 pages. The flashbacks were sometimes confusing but well-integrated. 🏁 Final Thoughts I want to explore The Cosmere more and read the earlier books to understand the universe better. I plan to re-read this after gaining more context.

Das Worldbuilding von Brandon Sanderson begeistert mich jedes Mal aufs Neue, aber die Art wie er sich für die Welt Roshar und seine Charaktere Zeit genommen hat, ist beeindruckend. Trotz der Länge hat mich das Buch nie gelangweilt, ich konnte mir die Charaktere super vorstellen und auch wenn sich 80% des Buchs wie ein "Build-aup" anfühlen, ist das Ende wirklich großartig, sehr zufriedenstellend und toll geschrieben. Auch fantastisch finde ich, wie Brandon Sanderson immer wieder kleine Spure in die Story reinschreibt, auf die er später wieder zurückkommt. Es ergibt alles Sinn und man fühlt sich als Leser nie verloren. Rundum bin ich sehr happy mit dem Buch, ich liebe Kaladin als Charakter, Shallan ist einfach nur genial und Dolinar einer der komplexeren Charaktere von Brandon Sanderson. Ich freue mich extrem auf Buch 2 aus dem Stormlight Archive: Words of Radiance. 🤩

Wow. This was my first Brandon Sanderson Book ever read. I honestly don’t know how to review this fabulous book. I heard from many booktubers that this book is a new class of it’s own and would be a 10 Book series, so when I read this last year (2019) the next 2,5 Books were already out selling like crazy. I thought I maybe give this a try and read this along with my girlfriend. Little did I know that It would hook me in a way no book before did… At first the worldbuilding was massive and I had my troubles getting on with it, but as time did go on I was fascinated by the little things Brandon did, for example the detailed fauna descriptions (which were kind of interesting/hilarious). After a certain event in this book everything switched, and I didn’t want to do anything else except keep going and see those characters continue their journey. Characters… Man, Brandon created very lovable characters based on very difficult emotions/mental disorders/problems which makes every single one of them very flawed and understandable. Every Book (so far) does focus more on one of the main characters but the others get as much “book”-time as the others. This book focus on Kaladin which is a very deep and complex character in this story. Without spoilers I will say that his journey in this book is one of the most interesting stories I ever read. Brandon Sanderson has a unique writing style which I can understand that most people will be turned off. But most people apparently don’t understand that this will be a 10 Book series which Brandon describes as his Magnus Opus, so a big part of this book is the introduction into the world, characters and factions. Also a thing that I observed is that the ending of a Brandon Sanderson book is always a very epic showdown with a payoff. TL;DR: I wish there were a way to erase memories, so that I could re-read this book and experience everything fresh one more time. Thank you Brandon

well fuck me sideways. i just restarted my cosmere journey after 8 (9?) years and oh boy do i wish i restarted it earlier. all those years ago i read a couple books in german (in which each book is divided into two) and then stopped because life got in the way. now it's time to get it going. and it's going great giving this 4.5 stars while knowing the series only gets better after the first book feels so wrong. but it fully deserves this rating. the characters, the world building and the way sanderson lets the story - current as well as background - unfold itself is just so good. i won't lie, the first around 90% are slow. sanderson gives each character as much time as they need to settle in the story and make it their own. there are parts of the book that feel almost too slow - at least for me - but i get why the story needs these parts and i know the rest is absolutely worth it. even if the way of kings isn't the first of sanderson's books it's still one of his older ones. and i know that in his older books his view on women is ... not as good. i keep those books for later when I'm more in the mood to tackle that kind of thing.

Okay. Now what the f*ck was that? And I mean that in many ways. Probably - and sadly - in more negative than positive ways. This book was ... a lot. Like, literally. And for the most parts of it, absolutely nothing that felt even slightly important happened. It was only on the last 100 pages that the story actually managed to pick my interest. Everything before ... well I didn't even see a story for the most of it, if I'm being completely honest. Everything seemed so trivial. There was no visible plot or anything like that. Things just ... happened. And now in the end I think the whole book is nothing more than a 1000-pages-prologue. And that's just far too much. I do like long books. But at least I like to know where they want to go. For the longest part of this book I hadn't even considered it an epic high-fantasy novel, but rather a fantasy-themed slice-of-life-drama. The writing style itself was alright and quite enjoyable, but the story - or the lack of it - was simply dull. I don't say that what happened on the first 900 pages was unnecessary. It just could have been told muuuuch shorter. Many words were used where there wasn't a need for them. BUT as I said, the last 100 pages managed to pick my interest. So I can't deny a certain interest in how this series continues. But I remain sceptical. And those final pages are the only reason I rated this book with 3 stars. Otherwise it would have been ... not that good.

DNF at 16% 16 percent and all I've read was part one... Don't get me wrong, it's not necessarily bad. The writing is mostly good, but: - the magic system is super confusing - there are all these additional stories from people nobody knows or cares about - the story develops soooo slow

Ich habe alles geliebt. Das World Building fühlt sich so dermaßen natürlich an, es gibt kein unnötiges Infodumping. Kein Charakter muss mir in ellenlangen Paragraphen erklären, wie die Welt funktioniert. Wir erleben es selbst während dem Lesen. Stück für Stück wird die Welt größer und komplexer. Die ganze Sache ist einfach sooo immersiv, es macht richtig Spaß, sich vollständig in die Welt fallen zu lassen. Die Charaktere?! Ich liebe sie alle. Alle haben ihre Ecken und Kanten, sie machen tatsächlich Fehler die weitreichende Konsequenzen haben, obwohl das, was sie tun, moralisch richtig ist. Ihnen stehen ihre eigenen hohen moralischen Standards im Weg und das macht sie so unfassbar nahbar. Man lernt das Wesen eines jeden Charakters durch seine Entscheidungen und sein Handeln kennen, nicht weil uns ein anderer Charakter sagt. So schreibt man komplexe Charaktere, liebs. Emotional hab ich auch noch nie mit einer Gruppe Sklaven so sehr mitgefiebert wie hier. Bridge Four hat mein Herz, lieb die Jungs ❤️ Ein muss für jeden, der gute High Fantasy erleben möchte. Lasst euch nicht von den über 1000 Seiten abschrecken. Die sind vollkommen gerechtfertigt.

I always wanted to be in the way of kings fanclub but struggled a lot picking up a 1000+ pages monster. But all those reviews (more than 350k) praised this book so high, that I knew I had to pick it up one day and begin my journey. I really wanted to but couldnt somehow because of this huge task...So my wife bought me the signed copy for xmas and I started reading the first third of the book at the start of this year. I had to pause because it was super slow paced, I couldnt figure out who is who, which aspects would be import and where to follow and who to root for....I didnt wanted to read along with a slight Frustration. Two weeks ago, after a long rest, I picked it up again and had a BLAST reading and finishing it. The pace gets faster, you dive into the whole world, the mechanics, the magicsystem and start caring for all those characters. There are three main Stories and none of them was either bad or boring. Every strain was Important, breathtaking, thrilling and enjoyable. Sanderson could have written three books. This whole book could have been a standalone or even a trilogy, but no, sanderson decided to make this the huge beginning of a whole saga. His Life's work. The Booktuber Petrick Leo wrote in his review that this Book is too short and I always wondered how 1000+ pages could be too short...but today, with finishing this book, I now know what he meant. I was so close to buying the second Book today haha. Can't wait to dive again into this wonderful world! If you are into fantasy, if you want an epic, awesome, unbelievable and unforgetting journey into an fantastic world, grab a copy of this book. Don't read reviews, don't ask yourself if this is a book for you, just dive into it, let yourself flow, maybe take a break once a while, but truly enjoy a true gem of an unique masterpiece.

How am I ever supposed to find the words for this book? How do you find words for a book that made you cry at least 6 times throughout its 1001 pages and one time latest about 10 minutes? This book wrecked me. It absolutely wrecked me. It damaged me so profoundly emotionally. But storms you need to read this. You could describe stormlight as "a guy carries a bridge for 1000 pages and it's the best stroming thing I've ever read". But for real: If you want an awesome and very unique worldbuilding, characters you will grow to love and hate, epic battles and plottwists that are absolutely killing you with suspense and that you won't believe are truly happening? Read this book. If want found family vibes and funny banter even though the world is ending everywhere around them? Read this book. If you want storytelling that will grip you to your bones and make you want to finish this story all in one setting - and if you want to be enraptured with the details (Stormlight, the world and the magic are so thought through, its a masterpiece of planning and scheming and it comes together so beautifully!)? Read this book. If you are in need of a book that will give you all the feels? Read this book. Read it for the epic battles, read it for the beautiful character development, read it for the magic system & the worldbuilding. This book is worth every hype & I do finally understand what people mean when they say Sanderson is an awesome writer! The way he builds his characters & makes you care even about the assholes (!) - it's pure magic. I fell in love with Kaladin Stormblessed from the very first page & he is now one of my fave characters of all time! But I also really started caring about Dalinar Kholin which I did not think possible since he is quite... unreachable in the beginning, but he grows on you - I promise. Combine that with how much detail Sanderson put into the world and its inner workings and you get the masterpiece that is Stormlight 1. If you love high fantasy or even just wanna give it a try this is the one for you.

Ich habe viel zu lange gewartet das Buch zu lesen und dann es zu beenden. Dabei war das Buch nie schlecht. Musste mich nur manchmal anders fokussieren. Das schöne ist: auch bei mehrwöchiger Pause hatte ich beim zurückkommen nicht das Gefühl ich hätte was vergessen. Alles war sofort wieder da. Das ist bei einer so großen und komplexen Welt wie der, die Brandon Sanderson hier erschaffen hat nicht einfach aber er hat es geschafft. Das ist nicht zuletzt auch seinen großartigen Charakteren zuzuschreiben, die ich fast alle sofort ins Herz geschlossen habe. Allen voran Kaladin, Dalinar und Adolin. So komplexe, so zutiefst menschliche Charaktere… Ich bin hin und weg. Und gerade das Ende hatte es in sich und sich mehr als gelohnt und Lust auf mehr gemacht! Wer komplexe, ausgefeilte Fantasywelten und großartige Charaktere mag ist hier sehr gut aufgehoben, Fantasy-Neulinge könnten sich aber eventuell ein wenig verloren fühlen.

Elantris was good. Mistborn was awesome. The Stormlights Archive promises to top them all. The complexity of the world is stunning, the history so rich that the reader just begins to get a grasp of how living in Roshar is after 1000 pages. Once it's finished it probably will be an epic tale joining series like 'The Sword of Truth' or 'The Wheel of Time'. If you find them lenghty and confusing, you probably won't like "The Way of Kings" either, but for everybody who loves epic high fantasy tales, this book is even better than Jordan's or Goodkind's work. At the beginning I wasn't immediately hooked. Only at the end of the book I could really grasp why the prelude was relevant. Then there's the prologue with Szeth - I would never advise anyone to write a prelude and a prologue. Yes, Szeth's acts are important, but I didn't really connect with him. I can understand why the first chapter presenting Kaladin wasn't from his point of view, but Cenn's introduction confused me and it wasn't until page 100 or so that I began to look forward to reading about any character and curious about what happened to them. So it was a really long introduction. Then there are the interludes. I feel it's quite difficult to keep track of them and their importance for the overall story line if you don't read the whole book in just a few days. There's so much detail and information in them! I really liked that you got glimpses of other countries in these. Also interesting are the sketches and maps. I'll probably have to reread the whole book soon to fully understand their meaning and the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. The worldbuilding is just fabulous. Every culture has its own traits and traditions and although the main characters are very much alike, there are secondary characters like Rock who bring different aspects into the story. Roshar (with the exception of Shinovar, I believe) is quite different to our own world, with highstorms bringing stormlight into spheres which can be used for soulcasting or simple light. These highstorms have shaped the lands to something quite different and wondrous. I don't recall ever reading about something similar, Sanderson always manages to bring something totally new in his books and worlds. (I mean: only women are allowed to read and write! Every man has to rely on his wife or daughter to read to him and dictate her what to write down! And the women have a secret subtext that they never read aloud as their private form of communication.) In this first volume, magic isn't as prevalent as in Mistborn, but what we see of it hints at an equally elaborate system. As for the characters, I didn't really think of Szeth as a main character (although the teaser speaks of four characters to watch and hints at him). Shallan, Kaladin, Adolin and Dalinar were all very vivid and complex. As for the secondary characters, it really depends. There was a clear picture of Jasnah but nearly all of it came from Shallan and her point of view. Adolin and Dalinar, although related to Jasnah, only refer to her being away and hoping she will return soon. The most interesting secondary characters all belong to Kaladin's chapters - Syl was secretly my favorite and I am really curious to learn and see more about her. I really enjoyed the ending or rather the outcome that was promised. At last, Kaladin got rewarded for his pain and troubles and his bridgemen were saved. Jasnah discovered Shallan's theft, but they worked through it and will continue the wardenship and GO TO THE SHATTERED PLAINS! Yes! I can't wait to see all of them together. Even Szeth will be there but hopefully not be successful with his last order. And the chapter with the Wit? It really felt like the beginning and knowing how many more books will follow, I suppose an epic battle and many more secrets and places and characters will come.

Oh my, who doesn't love reading a huge book? The Way of Kings is about a country shaped by so called highstorms: intense storms that affect the lives of plants, animals and humans and that leave behind a mysterious light in gemstones. The plot is so complex that I'm still not sure if I understand everything and of course it's hard to summarize. Among the main characters is the slave Kaladin, former soldier and surgeon, who fights for his own survival and the survival of his fellow slaves in a terrible war. There is also Shallan, hopefully soon a warden of the princess and secretly planning a theft. And Dalinar, the king's uncle, who has strange visions. Sanderson often writes a little mysteriously and the meaning of most scenes is still not clear to me (although, I believe that everything will make sense in the end so I am anticipating the next books that will surely help me understand!). I also struggled a little with Dalinar's point of view - he often just talks about his philosophies about war and compared to the other narrators, that was a bit boring. Nevertheless, reading all of those 1000+ pages was very easy to me. The world of the book is described in beautiful detail and it is so fascinating. There were even drawing and illustrations! I do have to say that the impressive world building was a bit too much for me. I just couldn't remember all of the countries and cultures that were being introduced. That is probably because I read this book in ten days and I would have needed a lot more to fully absorb it. Oh well! I still have the sequels. I am very intrigued because of the excellent writing and original world.

A complex and very different fantasy world with a not too complex storyline, great ideas and characters that you'll begin to sympathize with. I liked especially that there seems to be some kind of scientific approach to explaining all the magic and strange creatures in the world. Sadly this read is a bit long while not all too much happens, while the development of the two main characters takes a lot of time and goes to great detail. Nevertheless enjoyed the book and will continue with the second part soon.

It's been roughly 8 years since I've read it for the first time (back then in German) and it was a great experience coming back! All the details I didn't get back then, all the connections, the lore! Also buddy reading it with someone who hasn't read them yet was super cool! Can't wait to start re-reading Words of Radiance ✨