The Way of Kings

The Stormlight Archive, Book 1

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer

Length: 45 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of the Stormlight Archive, begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

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 10 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 10 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 more than 10 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.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson:

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive:

• The Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Edgedancer (Novella)
• Oathbringer

The Mistborn trilogy:

• Mistborn: The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
• The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series:

• Alloy of Law
• Shadows of Self
• Bands of Mourning

Collection:

• Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels:

• Elantris
• Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series:

• Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
• The Scrivener's Bones
• The Knights of Crystallia
• The Shattered Lens
• The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series:

• The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson:

• The Reckoners
• Steelheart
• Firefight
• Calamity

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2010 Dragonsteel Entertaiment, LLC (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Sweeping epic fantasy

I want to thank many of the earlier reviewers of this book which encouraged me to try it. I had not read a major fantasy series in a while and I was very happy to have picked up this one. Way of Kings is set in an innovative fantasy world and has the 'Heroes journey" thing totally figured out. Sure its a bit predictable and its very PG rated, but it was a fun book to listen and the narration was excellent especially at high speed which is how I like to listen to these books. Two thumbs up!

Gancho...That was amazing!

Brandon Sanderson did it again! Extremely engaging and brilliantly put together. Along with Michael Kramer and Kate Reading's performance, The Way of Kings will forever be timeless.

Perfect

What made the experience of listening to The Way of Kings the most enjoyable?

Loved the story line and everything about the whole book.

What did you like best about this story?

there was nothing not to like as far as I was concerned

Excellent

Big fan on fantasy. This was maybe my second favorite right behind Name of the Wind. Sanderson isn't as good of a prose writer and Rothfuss but his world building is way better. If you like one you like the other.

Good story, weaker finish

The story was great, but the ending wasn't as strong as I've done to expect from Sanderson. I'm still excited for the next book, however. Also, there was an issue with having two narrators: they pronounced some names differently, putting emphasis on different parts; this was very distracting. Other than that this was a fantastic piece that tugged at my emotions like no other entertainment I've experienced. It was a masterpiece on so many levels and I can't wait to see where it goes

Captivating but a little slow to set the hook

A great universe to follow Wheel of Time, and you can see WoT's influences throughout.
The story jumps around a lot and at first it's hard to follow, but soon it starts to come together into a coherent larger picture and it doesn't take long to hook you. Great story!

great listen

My favorite books are the ones that stay in my mind once I turn them off. There were several places in this story where I would be contemplating character's decisions and ideas after stopping for the day. All of the unfamiliar ideas and references were a little confusing at first, but once you get used to the language it was no problem. This book has a lot of action and suspense. Great story and I loved the readers. I cant wait to start the next book in the series.

Thouroughly enjoyed

Although you can tell that Brandon is influenced by his work on the wheel of Time series he does make this one his own and I enjoyed it very much

My favorite series of all the books I have so far.

The narrators did an excellent job of making each character sound distinctive, and gave the proper emotional tone.

I found the story/world refreshingly new, not the same old elves, dwarves, orcs, etc... I likes how the "magic" in the story is unique, new, and well explained.

Most importantly, I found that each character was one I liked/fit their roll in the story. I had no problem understanding their motives or what drove them. In short, I was not wondering why so and so was "evil" or "good."

One of my favorite audiobooks!

Great voices, and it's Brandon Sanderson so you KNOW it's going to be good. I believe this is one of his best works.