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afa · 11-10-2011, 11:42 AM

I'm done with The Way of Kings. Very good book. I don't know if it's really to everyone's tastes, as it seems that most modern Fantasy now is geared towards being more 'gritty'. Lots of violence, lots of blood, lots of sex, lots of grey characters who have both evil and heroism within them. All that is good, of course, and I enjoy those, too (Abercrombie and Martin are among my favorite authors). Sanderson, meanwhile, seems to be more in the 'classic' Fantasy mould. Good guys are largely good, bad guys can be spotted easily enough, and we have PG-friendly alternatives to swearing ("Storm you!").

None of that is really a criticism, though. In fact, in some ways, it's actually quite remarkable that Sanderson can write a book (and a big one at that) that holds your interest despite not having some of the aforementioned 'surprising' characteristics. Of course, that could easily bring up a debate over when a surprise is not really surprising. Once you're known for twists, the twists don't really seem all that twisting, if you get my meaning.

I think there is definitely a place for authors like Sanderson. Authors who know how to spin a good tale, have a vivid imagination and a detailed world for you to immerse yourself in, and can make you feel a sense of danger and desolation while never letting go of the undercurrent of hope.

The book is not without its flaws. In particular, likely as a result of his work on The Wheel of Time, Sanderson seems to have picked up Jordan's habit of detailing unneeded minutiae like dresses and food content. On the whole, though, I found The Way of Kings to be a very engrossing novel, as evidenced by the fact that I finished this 1000+ page behemoth in about 9 days, which is unusually quick by my standards. And much like his Mistborn trilogy, the book is self-contained enough that it can be read as a stand-alone (no cliffhangers here). An excellent first entry into what will apparently be Sanderson's magnum opus, The Stormlight Archive. I would give it a solid 8 out of 10, which may go higher or lower in the future, depending on how it holds up once it simmers in my head for a bit.

And so I move on to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

11-10-2011, 11:42 AM	#11363
afa The Forgotten Posts: 1,136 Karma: 4689999 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Dubai Device: Kindle Paperwhite; Nook HD; Sony Xperia Z3 Compact	I'm done with The Way of Kings. Very good book. I don't know if it's really to everyone's tastes, as it seems that most modern Fantasy now is geared towards being more 'gritty'. Lots of violence, lots of blood, lots of sex, lots of grey characters who have both evil and heroism within them. All that is good, of course, and I enjoy those, too (Abercrombie and Martin are among my favorite authors). Sanderson, meanwhile, seems to be more in the 'classic' Fantasy mould. Good guys are largely good, bad guys can be spotted easily enough, and we have PG-friendly alternatives to swearing ("Storm you!"). None of that is really a criticism, though. In fact, in some ways, it's actually quite remarkable that Sanderson can write a book (and a big one at that) that holds your interest despite not having some of the aforementioned 'surprising' characteristics. Of course, that could easily bring up a debate over when a surprise is not really surprising. Once you're known for twists, the twists don't really seem all that twisting, if you get my meaning. I think there is definitely a place for authors like Sanderson. Authors who know how to spin a good tale, have a vivid imagination and a detailed world for you to immerse yourself in, and can make you feel a sense of danger and desolation while never letting go of the undercurrent of hope. The book is not without its flaws. In particular, likely as a result of his work on The Wheel of Time, Sanderson seems to have picked up Jordan's habit of detailing unneeded minutiae like dresses and food content. On the whole, though, I found The Way of Kings to be a very engrossing novel, as evidenced by the fact that I finished this 1000+ page behemoth in about 9 days, which is unusually quick by my standards. And much like his Mistborn trilogy, the book is self-contained enough that it can be read as a stand-alone (no cliffhangers here). An excellent first entry into what will apparently be Sanderson's magnum opus, The Stormlight Archive. I would give it a solid 8 out of 10, which may go higher or lower in the future, depending on how it holds up once it simmers in my head for a bit. And so I move on to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.