I’m about fifteen years late to this, but I finally did it! I finally read The Way of Kings! My eldest brother can breathe a sigh of relief at long last (also, N, if you’re reading this, hi!).

So in Brandon Sanderson’s first Stormlight Archive book, The Way of Kings, a young man named Kaladin has been ripped from his home due to war, and now he’s being forced to work as a member of a bridge crew. This yearslong war takes place on the Shattered Plains, an expanse of plateaus and canyons, navigable by the armies only with the use of bridges. But Kaladin finds one last reserve of strength, and so he’s going to get himself and his crew out of here if it’s the last thing he does. Meanwhile, a highprince named Dalinar grapples with the nature of the war. He keeps having visions during storms, bringing about questions about their land’s history and what its future might hold. Unless he’s going mad, as his sons suspect. But history isn’t only a concern of Dalinar’s; miles away, Jasnah researches and wonders, though no one is quite sure what she’s looking into—least of all Shallan, a young woman who wants to become Jasnah’s ward. But Shallan’s motives aren’t honest, though the more she learns about Jasnah and the world, the less certain she feels about anything.

This summary probably sounded like a lot, and… it is. A thousand pages, in fact. And it’s the shortest book in the series. Wish me luck, because unsurprisingly, I’m invested now.

Sanderson has a lot of words in his vocabulary, but “succinct” isn’t one of them. Luckily, the world he’s created here, and the characters, make it a very interesting story. It took me a while to get my bearings, and there’s a lot of lore, but I had a great time reading this.

I was definitely most invested in Kaladin’s storyline. His journey over the course of this book is awesome, and it was so easy to root for him. He’s a well-rounded character, full of determination and ingenuity, yet also lots of sorrow and doubt born from the last few terrible years. It was wonderful to see him allow himself to care about the bridge crew, and to let them get to know him. Those characters are fun too, especially Rock. I want to be his friend.

As for Dalinar, his story had the misfortune of being juxtaposed with Kaladin’s plans really taking off, so I found myself struggling a little through his scenes. But even with that, the view of the war from his perspective is intriguing. Even more so when you consider the visions he’s having, which tease things about the long-gone Knights Radiant that I’m sure will be explored more in subsequent books. However, I really do not care about his relationship with Navani. She barely made an impression on me, and nothing really intrigued me about the two of them.

And then there’s Shallan, who starts this series as a sheltered but privileged rich girl. Her narrow world view and naivete make for an attitude toward others that’s frankly pretty frustrating. That said, I was interested to see how her plan regarding Jasnah would play out, and I did enjoy the banter that she and Kabsal have. Furthermore, I have assumed since early on that Shallan’s going to have some major character development; she just seems the type of character that Sanderson will use as a vessel for some revelations about the world. It started in the final fifty pages of this book, in fact (so many revelations, Brandon, calm down!). So I’m sure lots of people really didn’t like her, but I just kind of rolled with it, knowing it won’t last.

On the other hand, the best character is, naturally, Wit. Or rather, Hoid. Even if I hadn’t been spoiled for this detail, I would still have been able to identify Sanderson’s favorite little guy in a heartbeat anyway. Everything about Wit just screams his true identity. Also, he’s absolutely hilarious in this. I can only dream of having the cleverness and confidence to stand up in a crowded party and insult every rich person who walks by. He’s an unhinged icon.

Okay, anyway, I should probably wrap this up, because I’m not breaking new ground in the world of book reviews. “Brandon Sanderson is a skilled fantasy writer” isn’t a shocking statement. His characters, settings, and backstories are all rich with detail and creativity. Each POV character’s journey is well-paced and interesting, though there’s clearly so much to come. I personally am really interested to see how Shallan’s character grows, what Kaladin does moving forward, and what else Dalinar learns. Also, it would be nice to see at least someone push back against the bafflingly rigid gender roles that exist in this society, but there’s four more published books; plenty of time for all my wishes (and so many things I will doubtless never see coming) to happen. Because rest in peace to my TBR: I just added 4,000+ pages to it.