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

Great book but Kate Reading is awwwwful

Great book loved the story, characters, and world. However, I did skip entire chapters at times because I just couldn’t listen to Kate Readings awful reading style style. Everything is clipping and short and it never sounds natural. I especially could not listen to her chapters if I was trying to go to sleep listening to it.

I will read the next one instead of dealing with that again.

Renewed my Audible membership for Book 2!

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

I love stories of honorable Knights. The story is intriguing by the way it brings you into the setting. Character development is phenomenal! This book displays the internal battle of right and wrong morals is better than any I've read before.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Way of Kings?

The speaking of the words of honor.

What about Kate Reading and Michael Kramer ’s performance did you like?

The readers did a good job. Their voices did a good job at capturing the tone and style of the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I instantly renewed my audible membership to get Book 2. ... Book 2 was even better!

Sanderson at his Best

IMO, this book is Sanderson's best work to date. The pace of the book is rather slow to begin with, but I'm guessing that's because there's a lot of needed setup for this massively epic series. All in all, the story was amazing, and I look forward to reading the rest of the adventures of Kaladin and Dalinar.

I gave the Performance 3 stars, wishing I could give 2.5 stars. Michael Kramer did another stellar performance, but Kate Reading was horrible....horrible. Her recorded voice sounded like a robot and some chapters she read I just had to flat out skip as her voice was just excruciating to listen to. She also decided to pronounce Sadeas' name differently than Kramer, causing me to wonder if we had a new character for a minute or two.

Starts Slow

I came to this book from the gentleman bastard series as well as kingkiller chronicles. I found that when I started this book, both the content and narration left something to be desired in comparison. This book seemed to lack both the wittiness of the previously mentioned books, as well as the performances their narrators provided. Specifically in regards to the narration, I was annoyed by the way Michael Kramer's inflection sounded as if he was constantly asking a question. Despite this I continued to listen and found my opinion change after giving it more time. By the time I was halfway through the book, I had become deeply invested in the characters and had truly begun to enjoy the narrators performances. Before the book even ended I had already purchased book 2 as I had to know what would happen to the characters I had come to know so closely. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys epic fantasy stories, so long as you do not mind giving it time to find its footing.

Makes you believe in God

The creativity of the author is amazing. Books like that, arts, music, etc, makes me believe in God. We, humans, are capable of grandiose things, such as this book. I couldn't stop listening, and I'm waiting anxiously for the next book. Great job Brandon. BTW, I loved Warbreaker, from the same author. Piece of art.

speed up the narration for best results!

I speed up all of the books I listen to and in my opinion it makes this book better. the narration is a bit slow for me and it feels as though speeding it up got me past the initial bump of starting a big book. I really like this book alot. this book is mainly "set up" for the rest of the series and seems like lots of things start but dont progress until the last few chapters. I dont mind but it can feel like lots of words for little story progression but those words build the environment and show character detail and inner turmoil of all the characters. I would listen to it again and like the place this story is going towards.

amazing

this book is fantastic, the cosmere universe is starting to be revealed little by little.the battle scenes are intense, Brandon Sanderson is quickly becoming one of my favorites

Pretty cool new fantasy world

Took a little while to get into the book but about a quarter of the way through I became hooked.

Good narrating, shallow content

The narration is great! However, not even the most skilled narrator can read depth, real life application and value into a piece of literature. This is certainly an entertaining book, and if thrilling, sensational and violent fantasy is your thing, you will probably enjoy it as it is quite well written! Its not bad, not particularly good, and I can find little of lasting value in the characters and plot, beyond that of immediate entertainment. That said, I think it's probably considered fairly decent within the fantasy fiction genre.

Wow!

Sanderson does it again! What a phenomenal start to what is going to be one of the most epic fantasies of all time!!!