The Way of Kings Review
Review of The Way of Kings (http://www.amazon.com/Way-Kings-Stormlight-Archive/dp/0765326353) by Brandon Sanderson (http://mistborn.livejournal.com/)
Normally I don't give criticism to a book I really enjoy for "being too long" - after all, most of us wish our favorite books were a little bit longer. However, in this case, there was probably 200-300 pages of material that could have been safely cut from the book, as many chapters were essentially duplicates of previous ones. A chapter about a character worrying about going crazy, or suffering as a grunt in an army is interesting. Having multiple chapters that are in essence identical to each other is... too much. It's possible that I've been spoiled by Sanderson's short stories, in which he's able to convey epic breath and scope in stories only 20 or 30 pages long, complete with world building and interesting character development. Sanderson himself spelled the solution to this problem in his Alcatraz books - you can either dedicate 200 pages to tediously talking about how a guy crossed a desert, or you can just say "he spent months crossing the desert." I honestly think this book would have been tighter with multiple chapters from each of the viewpoint characters chopped and combined.
Now, criticism out of the way, the book is excellent. By the end of book, the reader is going to be treated to several very delicious plot points, which will undoubtedly lead to lots of speculation on theoryland websites until the next book is finished. Even though this book is just the first in a series, with nothing really resolved with any of the viewpoint characters, enough significant plot happens to each of them that you feel satisfied with the wait.
Even more interesting is the moral system Sanderson is creating with this series. Besides a nebulous "Odium" figure which we never meet or see (a devil-analogue, perhaps), there's no villains in the work. The "voidbringers" that are responsible for nearly destroying the world a hundred times over fight with more honor than the "good" kingdoms that mainly squabble amongst themselves and oppress the poor. Likewise, there's no truly good characters in the book - the poor 'freedom fighter' is consumed with hatred for the rich, the rich (even the 'perfect general') brutally use the poor as slaves and cannon fodder, the 'honorable assassin' and his employer are highly moral that follow a strict path that results in complete atrocities, the 'helpful sailor' is a cheat at dice, the young 'good king' is a compulsive paranoid, the 'good brother' tortures animals, and so forth. You find real darkness in every 'good' character in the book.
I find this interesting as Sanderson's typical heroes are a bit flawed, but essentially good characters at their core (cf Elantris, Mistborn, Alcatraz) that eventually assert their heroic nature and triump. In this book, the characters all have actual evil tendencies or nightmarish actions in their past. It will be interesting to see what he does with this different breed of character.
It's an outstanding work of epic fantasy, and I can't wait for the next installment.
Normally I don't give criticism to a book I really enjoy for "being too long" - after all, most of us wish our favorite books were a little bit longer. However, in this case, there was probably 200-300 pages of material that could have been safely cut from the book, as many chapters were essentially duplicates of previous ones. A chapter about a character worrying about going crazy, or suffering as a grunt in an army is interesting. Having multiple chapters that are in essence identical to each other is... too much. It's possible that I've been spoiled by Sanderson's short stories, in which he's able to convey epic breath and scope in stories only 20 or 30 pages long, complete with world building and interesting character development. Sanderson himself spelled the solution to this problem in his Alcatraz books - you can either dedicate 200 pages to tediously talking about how a guy crossed a desert, or you can just say "he spent months crossing the desert." I honestly think this book would have been tighter with multiple chapters from each of the viewpoint characters chopped and combined.
Now, criticism out of the way, the book is excellent. By the end of book, the reader is going to be treated to several very delicious plot points, which will undoubtedly lead to lots of speculation on theoryland websites until the next book is finished. Even though this book is just the first in a series, with nothing really resolved with any of the viewpoint characters, enough significant plot happens to each of them that you feel satisfied with the wait.
Even more interesting is the moral system Sanderson is creating with this series. Besides a nebulous "Odium" figure which we never meet or see (a devil-analogue, perhaps), there's no villains in the work. The "voidbringers" that are responsible for nearly destroying the world a hundred times over fight with more honor than the "good" kingdoms that mainly squabble amongst themselves and oppress the poor. Likewise, there's no truly good characters in the book - the poor 'freedom fighter' is consumed with hatred for the rich, the rich (even the 'perfect general') brutally use the poor as slaves and cannon fodder, the 'honorable assassin' and his employer are highly moral that follow a strict path that results in complete atrocities, the 'helpful sailor' is a cheat at dice, the young 'good king' is a compulsive paranoid, the 'good brother' tortures animals, and so forth. You find real darkness in every 'good' character in the book.
I find this interesting as Sanderson's typical heroes are a bit flawed, but essentially good characters at their core (cf Elantris, Mistborn, Alcatraz) that eventually assert their heroic nature and triump. In this book, the characters all have actual evil tendencies or nightmarish actions in their past. It will be interesting to see what he does with this different breed of character.
It's an outstanding work of epic fantasy, and I can't wait for the next installment.