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

Simply the best

I found my self stay up until 11:00 pm listening to it! I just couldn't put it down. Best book I've ever read... listened to... read or listened to!

Excellent!

This was a wonderful book and audiobook. I loved every minute of it. Definitely recommend for fantasy lovers!

fantastic

1 flaw, authors pronouncing names differently otherwise it was a fantastic production. story is complete and vivid.

A fantastic and original world

The story is intricate and interesting, spanning both time and distance across multiple PICs. Oh and there is a fun new magic system.

Fun on the whole but also fairly intricate.

The narrators are great as always. Their use of different pronunciation for the same words/names can be distracting or confusing.

Kramer amazes, while Kate Reading falters to match

Kramer displays excellence, and a story that wows. Reading struggles to match his skill. Altogether, excellent.

I love The Way of Kings

Such a great start to what I hope is a long and involved series.
I love the story line and the little details that bring this to life great job.

Spectacular! I'm so in love with this story.

This story is perfect. I'm completely enamoured, and can't wait to start the second book!

Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, and Way of Kings

Sanderson covers a substantial amount of ground in this solo effort--I first discovered him through the last of the Wheel of Time series, and thought I would try this as a follow-up. Treating Sanderson as a ghost-writer, though, would be a severe disservice. Not only does he have his own voice, the internally consistent world that he puts together has several interesting spins both on magic and on swordplay--I particularly like how magic is not clearly dominant, and how magical swords and armor don't just happen to be mithral mined by elves or some such.

Like any excellent fantasy novel for adults, the political intrigue is at least as interesting as the swords and sorcery, with a good mix of humor, honor and treachery. Unlike the Game of Thrones, however, this particular read is a bit more in the PG rated range than R. Tactics matter more than in Game of Thrones, and betrayal, when it occurs, was much less obvious to me (With GoT, I would frequently find myself thinking "No, don't go in there!!!, which didn't happen with this book).

Be warned, however, this book is not easy to put down, and may keep you up listening later at night than you intended to.

Fantastic!!!

The way the story was told and the originality of the story made for an exciting read.

Dont give up!

Hard to follow in the beginning, but don't give up on this book. It is amazing!