First Time Reading Stormlight Archive

I'm trying not to spoil myself, but I also want to discuss!

I was a bit hesitant to pick up a series by Sanderson outside the Wheel of Time. Not because I didn't trust his writing, but mostly because of anxiety.

I bought the audiobook version of the Way of Kings recently, and holy crap, this is a good book! It took a bit of going back and re-reading at first, because Sanderson just kind of throws you in. I like authors that do that, but this was a lot to take in.

Anyway, I really like pretty much everything going on. The characters, the world, the magic system, the different cultures, the creatures, the lore... I think I'm just about past the half-way mark of the first book. I may just pick up the second one in physical form, because my credits for Audible come in on the 20th of each month.

My favorite character at the moment is Shallan. I relate to her in a lot of ways. She's a nerd, she's a smartass, she has to push herself harder than she normally does for others, and she has a petty side to her in all that too. Oh, and she likes to draw! I can't wait to see where her and Kaladin's story goes.

I also really like Dalinar. I find myself rooting for him most of the time.

 

I love the books as well, and finished the three published ones in less than a month. That's all I was doing in my free time because they were so good.

I also like Shallan and Dalinar as some of my favorite characters. Like most fictional characters they have their moments when you just want to strangle them or smack them upside the head, though.

 

Leala, you are spot on. I think Shallan also has red hair in the books, it has been awhile since I read them so I may be wrong. I do remember discussing with you your art and how skilled you are. You are definitely similar to Shallan.

They are great books. I am currently reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson at the moment, I am hooked on all his works

 

She does have red hair. And thank you for that compliment!

 

You are so right about that!

 

Man, I got really invested in Shallan's story last night, and then it switched to Kaladin's perspective when things came to a head. I was so frustrated! I caught up with her this morning, though.

 

I accidentally put something on my keyboard and apparently it made a lot of spaces. I'm keeping it. Edit: Aww, the forum stripped them. It was like 6.5 lines in the editor though )

And yes, that can be one of the frustrating parts about books with multiple perspectives. On the one hand, you get to see a lot of what's going on, and you get unique takes on those events from the characters. On the other hand, sometimes you want to keep going with one character's story, especially if you really like them or don't like the one that follows.

 

You're right. I experienced that with WoT too, but I think I was soooo invested in it because I was listening to this particular part while on my walk last night. It was also just...really good.

 

You know that that is a normal literary approach right? It is meant to make you keep reading

 

It's meant to make us hug red squirrels not gray squirrels! Red ones are nice! *runs around in circles meowing at all of you*

 

Knowing this does not make the transition any less frustrating.

 

Hope you enjoy it, Leala! I actually started with Way of Kings as my first Sanderson work outside of WoT too, years ago.

I find it most impressive the way he is literally attempting to test the limits of what a single publishable volume can contain. He has stated that he thinks of each Stormlight volume as an entire trilogy of books, broken up by novellas of the kind you'd often buy in between published volumes of other fantasy series. They also give him a vehicle to explore parts of Roshar that otherwise wouldn't appear onstage in the main narrative. Really cool and ambitious project.

Well let us know what you think of WoK when you're done!

 

I like Dalinar the best and am still putting off reading Oathbringer!!

I enjoyed the first two so much!

 

I think we are on the same path, WoT Re-Read 2019, then book 3-4 of Stormlight in 2020, with possible quick summary re-reads of books 1-2. Go us!

 

Yeeesss!

 

I just finished Way of Kings (because it's an audiobook.) I can't wait for my credits to come in, so I just bought Words of Radiance in physical book form.

 

I have tried audiobooks so many times over the last decade but I just can't get into them, I wish I could, because I am a slow reader some nights. For some reason I need to read out loud to myself to ever get lost in a book. It is a weird quirk of mine. Hopefully I make enough money to have a spare reading room someday, so as not to annoy whomever I am living with at night, lol

 

Oathbringer takes everything good in the first two Stormlights and magnifies it. Sanderson's craft just gets better with each volume.

 

I started to read the actual book of Words of Radiance, because I just can't wait for my credits to renew, and also I want to start bonding with my books again.

It's been interesting, because I haven't seen a lot of these names spelled out, so sometimes, I'll stop and hesitate on a name before I figure out who it's supposed to be.