The Way of Kings - I Need the Sequel

My boyfriend and I made a deal where if he read my favorite series, I would read his. He is reading the First Law series and I am reading The Way of Kings.

The only Sanderson I read previously was Mistborn (not my cup of tea).

Brandon does a masterful job with world-building, which is what I fully expected. I like all the different fantasy creatures and the little tidbits of lore that we get.

One of my favorite parts of the book is actually the epigraphs. They make me feel so much curiosity to figure out what they mean. I started reading them backwards to put the story together or started forming theories about them. Really fun! I love books that make you work for payoff. Connecting threads and making predictions is my favorite.

I think, like Mistborn, my biggest issue is that the characters just aren't the strongest. So far, Jasnah and Shallan share the same personality, just different belief systems. They are smart and witty and stubborn and that actually feels very YA fantasy to me in terms of female characterization.

Navani is supposedly very smart and crafty but that's been told and not shown (yet but my boyfriend assured me she becomes interesting). Right now I just know her as someone who is "so beautiful". But they are an improvement from Vin (Mistborn).

I did confuse my boyfriend about 600 pages in when told him that so far the only character that I found interesting was Sadeas. Early on, when Dalinar recounted how Sadeas had donned the King's armor and lured the assassin away I thought that was baddass. His entrance was also cool and he became the only character (up to that point) whose motivations felt like a mystery to me. I wanted to see more of him.

Eventually though I also found myself liking Adolin.

I think my biggest issue is that so many of the pages felt unnecessary. A lot of the book was Dalinar ruminating whether he was going mad while doing otherwise mundane tasks (like digging a latrine). I highly doubted that we would spend all this time seeing Dalinar's visions only for Brandon to go "and actually he's just nuts and it didn't mean anything". Yes, I know these visions are going to matter, can we get past this extremely forced "dilemma" and do something about it???

Kaladin on the other hand, I find intolerable. The only thing interesting is how someone who is both so privileged and (literally) blessed still manages to screw up this badly. He has collapsed at every obstacle, rejected every good opportunity presented to him and wallows in self-pity. I wish someone would just tell this loser that the common denominator is him.

It was around 980 pages in when it's finally revealed >!how Tien died!< (I stopped caring hundreds of pages ago) and it was so mundane I had to question why I was made to wait for this "reveal". It wasn't interesting and Tien is barely developed as a character. What was the payoff of learning this?

I also found it very unrealistic that Kaladin was allowed to cause so many issues for what were essentially slave drivers and they did nothing to stop him. He either gets away with it entirely (rescuing the injured) or they watch his crew with worried expressions and come up with silly solutions like extra training and salvaging. I could not comprehend the incompetency of those who make all the rules and have all the power.

I do feel hopeful that the sequels (which do not have Kaladin as the MC) will be more enjoyable.

When I reached the part where >!Sadeas abandons Dalinar on the battlefield!< I did understand my boyfriend's reaction better. I will say that I absolutely loved this scene. It's one of the only scenes that made me feel invested in the outcome (Shallan's being the other).

Ultimately, there is a lot to admire about Brandon's writing. The world is fascinating and it feels alive. The mystery behind all of the lore and world-building is compelling. The codes are really cool (and I've found myself quoting them). The Radiants are awesome.

But like Mistborn, the pacing and the characters just didn't hook me. I'm really hoping that books with a different MC will help me enjoy it more because I see a lot of potential in the setting and lore but I cannot stand learning about to through Kaladin.