The eagerly awaited sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Way of Kings.
Six years ago, the Assassin in White, a hireling of the inscrutable Parshendi, assassinated the Alethi king on the very night a treaty between men and Parshendi was being celebrated. So began the Vengeance Pact among the highprinces of Alethkar and the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi.
Now the Assassin is active again, murdering rulers all over the world, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin’s master has much deeper motives.
Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status darkeyes. Now …
The eagerly awaited sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Way of Kings.
Six years ago, the Assassin in White, a hireling of the inscrutable Parshendi, assassinated the Alethi king on the very night a treaty between men and Parshendi was being celebrated. So began the Vengeance Pact among the highprinces of Alethkar and the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi.
Now the Assassin is active again, murdering rulers all over the world, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin’s master has much deeper motives.
Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status darkeyes. Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.
Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and their civilization-ending Desolation. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but even arriving there proves more difficult than she imagined.
Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The consequences for Parshendi and humans alike—indeed, for Roshar itself—are as dangerous as they are incalculable.
Review of 'Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Brandon Sanderson has achieved another epic masterpiece with Words of Radiance. The 2nd book of The Stormlight Archive series is thoroughly enjoyable. You do need to have read the prior book to understand what's going on, but it is totally worth it. Words of Radiance continues where it left off with some of the same strong characters, plot, and magical settings. I sincerely hope that Sanderson dedicates more of his time to growing these series. I wouldn't mind a longer wait for the second Mistborn trilogy if we get more Stormlight books!
Review of 'Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Words of Radiance is the sequel to The Way of Kings, overall my favorite Sanderson book to date. I was a bit worried that WoR would suck, because Well of Ascension as book 2 in the Mistborn series was not my favorite in the series. It was a needless worry, thank goodness. Words of Radiance outshines TWoK and leaves me wanting more. Anyone who did enjoy TWoK will likely love this sequel.
We still have all our main protagonists, with a slight shift away from Dalinar. We get more of Adolin's PoV than Dalinar, but I was okay with that. The focus and shining superstar of WoR is Shallan who's grown into a very intriguing character in this series. Travelling towards the Shattered Plains to find the lost city of Urithiru, we learn more about her powers of Surgebinding and more importantly her back story, with plenty of flashbacks to …
Words of Radiance is the sequel to The Way of Kings, overall my favorite Sanderson book to date. I was a bit worried that WoR would suck, because Well of Ascension as book 2 in the Mistborn series was not my favorite in the series. It was a needless worry, thank goodness. Words of Radiance outshines TWoK and leaves me wanting more. Anyone who did enjoy TWoK will likely love this sequel.
We still have all our main protagonists, with a slight shift away from Dalinar. We get more of Adolin's PoV than Dalinar, but I was okay with that. The focus and shining superstar of WoR is Shallan who's grown into a very intriguing character in this series. Travelling towards the Shattered Plains to find the lost city of Urithiru, we learn more about her powers of Surgebinding and more importantly her back story, with plenty of flashbacks to her life in Jah Keved.
Kaladin, the prime hero from TWoK is a bit on the whiny, angsty, emo side in WoR, which makes his chapters a bit boring or tough to stomach. It's only in the end he becomes entertaining again.
In the love triangle Sanderson hints at, I find myself to be a Kaladin-Shallan shipper. I find Adolin to not be that interesting with Shallan. Maybe his actions in the latter parts of the book will change him considerably for the next book. We'll see.
Aside from our main heroes, there's also other PoVs that are incredibly interesting, especially in the interludes. There are more surgebinders, King Taravangian and his Diagram, and other secret groups like the Ghostbloods who all seem to know more about what's going on in the world than we do. There are interesting revelations, plot twists, and in the end the re-foundation of the Knights Radiant with Surgebinding reminding me very much of how Allomancy worked in Mistborn.
Above all, I am sad the book is over, and the knowledge that I will likely be in my 60s by the time Sanderson is done with this makes me cry.
Highly highly recommend this series, if you enjoy epic fantasy in any form, but be warned, there's 8 more books to come. Waiting is agony, isn't it?
