Words of Radiance: Book Two of the Stormlight Archive (The Stormlight Archive, 2)

Wow. I don't know where to even start with this one. Admittedly, though Brandon Sanderson is my favorite author, I wasn't the biggest fan of The Way of Kings, the first book of the Stormlight Archives. I mean, the story was good and the world was interesting, but for some reason it did not hook me the way his other books had.

Now, with Words of Radiance, I may have a new favorite fantasy novel(and optimistically, new fantasy series).

Words of Radiance mainly continues the storylines of the major characters from Way of Kings - Kaladin, Shallan, Jasnah, Dalinar, Adolin, and Szeth, the assassin in white. The way that these characters eventually come together is nothing short of genius, culminating in an ending that the word "epic" doesn't seem to begin to cover. Basically, what Way of Kings made me think this series was ultimately building towards served only as the climax of book two. Out of a planned ten. Yeah.

The world in the Stormlight Archives is rich, unique, and awe inspiring. Sanderson has crafted a world which has been shaped by violent storms called highstorms. All facets of life and the evolution of plants, animals, and humans are tied to the deadly power of these forces of nature. It may be cliche to speak of the world within a fantasy book being a character in itself, but that truly applies here. I cannot imagine the amount of work Sanderson put into crafting the adaptation of life to live in this storm-torn existence. The magic in this world, powered by stormlight(basically an energy that originates in the highstorms) is complex and creative, a Sanderson staple.

There are enough interweaving plots to potentially tie your brain into knots, yet Sanderson pulls them off deftly, throwing twists and surprising revelations at the reader left and right. Even predictable plot points are given an injection of Sanderson ingenuity. And never do these twists feel as if they exist to further the story or to simply throw off the reader. Each is crucial to the story, and completely believable in the context of the story. I know I'm a little biased in this regard(as I've mentioned, Sanderson is my favorite author), but he has really outdone himself with the story this time.

The characters all possess an amazing amount of depth(Sanderson seems to have evolved past the criticism of having two-dimensional characters in his prior works . . . maybe an effect from finishing Roobert Jordan's Wheel of Time series). Every main character is wholly believable(in a swords and sorcery fantasy sense), each with their own personal demons and motivations. Not one of the dozens of main and side characters blend in with another. Each is unique and interesting.

The action in this book, as with any Sanderson book, is exciting, fast-paced, and brilliant in its creativity.

Now, I know I haven't said much about the plot, and I don't feel I can without giving more than I'd like away. Instead, I'd like to express that this is an AMAZING epic fantasy novel. The hardback version is over a thousand pages(I read that it's the biggest book published by TOR page wise . . . not 100% sure if that's true)and 300K+ words, yet it reads like a book a quarter of its size, keeping you glued to the pages from the first to the last with little to no filler. Some of the biggest names in epic fantasy(Tolkien, Jordan, Martin) are/were unable to pull off such a feat. When I finished the last page, I wasn't ready to put down the book. I wanted more, so much so that I found myself actually hating the thought of the series coming to an end 8 books from now. Yeah, I enjoyed it that much. I can't remember the last time I was this satisfied with a book in a series. The end is still stuck in my head as I write this, and probably will be until book 3 is released a year or more from now.

Again, I know I have a bit of a Sanderson bias, but I still feel that this is a book that needs to be read by any fan of epic fantasy. Heck, just fantasy. I do not recommend going into it without reading Way of Kings, but know that if you even sort of enjoy Way of Kings, I guarantee you'll LOVE Words of Radiance.

Sometime later on in Words of Radiance, during one of the many Interludes that appear between each of the behemoth novel's five sprawling parts, a character named Lift ambles up the side of a castle wall using powers we'll leave here unspecified on her way to steal. Soon thereafter, a boy joins her side and asks her how she managed to scale the wall, as there was no ladder for her to do so, and he himself needed a rope that she lowered down to him. "Gumption and spit," Lift replies, before traipsing onwards towards her destiny. Gumption and spit, indeed. Here is a marvelous combination of things that can result in magical things - even if the final product is a bit messy.

Over one year ago, I wrote up my thoughts concerning Brandon Sanderson's entry volume to the Stormlight Archive, "The Way of Kings" and had a blast lauding the book, not to mention infuriating fans of Dune everywhere. The Way of Kings was (and is, upon re-reading) one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read - heck, one of the most best books I've ever read, period - and I gave it a 9.5/10 (a 5/5 by Amazon's star system) after desperately pruning it down from the 10/10 I initially wanted to give it by taking off half a point for Kaladin Stormblessed's face palm worthy emo moments and Shallan Davar being...well, herself. In short, The Way of Kings was one of my favorite books of all time, in large part because of the series it promised.

So, the question I needed Words of Radiance to answer was, "Is the series still promising?" And the answer is "Yes." And that's a good, good thing - a relief, even. Following my tradition, the first paragraph of this review is about as closer to a spoiler as I'm going to get - fear not, wary reader. No spoilers follow for Words of Radiance...but if you haven't read the Way of Kings, I'd recommend not going any further than this. I will address subject matter you probably don't want to know. Come on back after you've read the first book and the series, and we'll talk.

For the rest of you, we'll go ahead and get the brass tax out of the way up front here - Words of Radiance is a good book. I'd give it an 8.8/10 on my scale, or about a 4.5/5 on Amazon's star scale. Amazon doesn't seem to see the need for half stars in their options, so in an effort to not under-represent this book, I'm marking it as a 5/5. Technically, it's closer to a 4/5, but that 4 star rating just looks bad, doesn't it? Frankly, I don't have the heart to mark Words of Radiance down that far. It is, by all accounts, a better book than its predecessor, and Sanderson has clearly grown as an author, his prose and descriptive power reaching very good levels. So why the negative hullabaloo from the Way of Kings' self-professed biggest fan?

Well, I guess it's just because I didn't like this book as much as the first one. Not by a long shot, actually. In fact, so long as we're being honest, I thought parts one and two of Words of Radiance were two of the bleakest, most "oh my God not Song of Ice and Fire syndrome please Sanderson no" pages I've ever trudged through. It was, for lack of a better word, a frightening time in my life, having been excited for this book since I first left Roshar so long ago. I had recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan, and I had more wrapped up in the Stormlight Archive than a simple thirst for entertainment. It was the first book I read upon returning to the States, and there's something...special, maybe, about that. That, and this book series is going to be ten books long. I will grow up with it, in many ways, as will we all. I was pretty frightened that the Way of Kings might have been a fluke, and the nine books that followed it were destined to be more like the middle of the Wheel of Time or the last two iterations of Ice and Fire.

Be at peace, readers. Parts 3, 4 and 5 of Words of Radiance are all truly wonderful, and Sanderson seemed to get his mojo back by the time I hit them. The book earns the five star rating I've awarded it, and its because of its moments of sheer brilliance that I find myself disappointed and genuinely baffled by the unnecessary moments of tedium that drag the book as whole down away from its predecessor. Ultimately, the Stormlight Archive is, at the end of Words of Radiance, in very good shape. There are places for it to go, questions for it to answer, battles to be fought and mysteries to be unraveled. That's all that matters, really. This was Shallan's book, and thus the book most of us were most wary of to begin with. She was a frustrating character in the Way of Kings, and in some ways she's even more frustrating here, but for very different reasons. I didn't particularly like her in the first book, and I liked her even less by the end of this one. I can't help but wonder if my relationship with the book was in large part due to my relationship with her.

My biggest complaint about Words of Radiance is actually directly connected with its biggest strength. It is a massive tome - a sprawling behemoth of a book, and as a result we get to see more of Roshar than ever before. More of its politics, its mysteries, its religions, its cultures, its landscapes, its magic. Thank God for that, since I love this world and I never want to leave. But Sanderon's pacing here is...well, off. (The witty banter is also painful to read, at times, but it adds to the charm of the characters, in its own weird way.)

What I mean about the pacing is this - parts one and two trudge along at a snail's pace, getting bogged down by high prince politicking (that ends up being unimportant come book's end), Shallan lying to herself and to the world, and Kaladin returning to his fantastically emo roots, and Adolin channeling a G-rated Jaime Lannister minus Cersei. Dalinar recedes into the background a bit here, but I don't mind this as much as I thought I would, Jasnah continues to be a great character, Lopen gets funnier, and Shen proves to be more elaborate than he originally seemed. Rock remains a good cook.

We see much more of Parshendi culture, learn more about the lost city of Urithuru, and of Taravengian's evil plan to save the world. We learn about the nature of spren early on, and about the nature of shard blades late in the book. Part five of Words of Radiance is arguably the best part of the bunch, and is also the shortest - by a LONG shot - and could have easily been a hundred pages longer. Should have been, I'd venture to say, as the first 90% of the book leads up to the climactic final 10% - but when the revelations finally emerge, they're given maybe a page or two of attention. It startled me. The twists you came to find out - predictable or not - should have been given much, much more space to breathe. I would have loved that. In an effort to counterbalance this paragraph of nay saying, I will say that there are a couple of duels / battles in Words of Radiance that had me smiling like a blithering idiot. Sanderson still knows how to write a fight. Man oh man oh man.

So does Words of Radiance reveal too much or too little? Both, I think - Sanderson shows us so much in this book, yet it feels like he's trying to fit in as MUCH as humanly possible into a tiny space, which baffles me, since he just spent a thousand pages building up to those reveals. It was like he lost a little faith in the fact that his world is interesting enough as it is without having to try and elaborate what makes it interesting, and as a result he worked and worked and worked on parts of little consequence, exposing the clues too neatly, and when it came to the parts that really, actually mattered, he was out of both time and space.

There was no need to try and recreate the mind breaking ending of the Way of Kings, but I do appreciate the effort to do so. Maybe it'll be something we can expect in every book, a final hundred pages of twists and twists and twists. At best, this could set the Stormlight Archive aside from its contemporaries in wonderful fashion. At worst, Sanderson could...lowers voice to a conspiratorial whisper go the way of the Shyamalan. I know, blasphemy. Honestly, though, the Shyamalan effect is the deadliest enemy facing the Stormlight Archive on the whole right now. Hopefully the twists we find in book three of the Stormlight Archive are more satisfying.

I wonder, honestly, if Sanderson himself is very aware of the book he has wrought. He's a very perceptive man, and being a professor at Brigham Young University has allowed him to organize his thoughts on writing with the clear efficiency only someone who teaches writing could muster. I cannot help but assume that, post publication, he looks at Words of Radiance the way a professor might. The world of Roshar is still here, still full of surprises, still full of characters who will do things that surprise you. The characters are still (thankfully) themselves, and the magic is still really, really cool.

Yet something is lost when we come into this book expecting twists around every corner. It makes the moment when they finally come so much less remarkable - indeed, I actually predicted almost every twist before I ever cracked the book open, and I'm not always very good at that. I wonder, therefore, if part of the reason I didn't enjoy Words of Radiance as much as I had hoped I would is simply because I spent the whole book reading between the lines, searching for assassins in every shadow, for twists in every ambiguous statement. If it's possible for the quality of the book to lie in the reader, then that has been exemplified here. This brings me, at last, to the part of the book that astonished me most.

The character of Wit - who I am of the opinion acts almost as an avatar for Sanderson himself in the world of Roshar and Shadesmar - comments on the flaws and nature of the book surrounding him at the end of both the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. He usually reveals the best twists in the midst of leaning on the fourth wall, and comments on what he perceives to be injustices in the world of art. In the Way of Kings, Wit argues that originality is what humanity values most, and in Words of Radiance, he argues that all art is subject to perspective.

"Give me an audience who have come to be entertained," Wit says in the epilogue, "but who expect nothing special. To them, I will be a god. That is the best truth I know."

Fellow readers, my advice is simple. Go into Words of Radiance looking to be entertained. Don't look for the twists. Looking for the twists is like sneaking a peek at presents the month before Christmas. Just wait, let the day come, and then tear the paper to pieces and scatter it all around, feeling the rush of not knowing what lies within. Sanderson is crafting for us a master series, and has eight more books to present. I for one am breathless for the continuation of the series, and have full faith in the author to turn this series into something very, very special. I'll see you all at the end of book three, which I am already hungry for. And, finally, to Mr. Sanderson himself.


Thank you, sir, for welcoming me home.

8.8/10

This was amazing! You were all right!

I have no words in me to review this book, but it certainly was radiant. Every time I think I can’t possibly become more impressed with Sanderson, I find out I was wrong. He is brilliant, and I am in awe with what he is achieving with Cosmere as a whole.

I love that Sanderson leaves enough clues for us to guess little pieces of story, but it never compromises our satisfaction, because there is always something more. It just makes me feel smart, while You can always be sure <i>“there is always another secret”</i>!

What an emotional roller coaster! This was fantasy perfection! The world building is amazing, the magic system intricate, and the characters are complex, flawed and profound, and they never read as the typical fantasy heroes.

The way Sanderson writes his characters just feels different. He explores something in them in a deep level, but then you see another layer, and get to explore it on a deep level as well. Sometimes you like the first layer and relate to the character immediately, sometimes you need to see more of them, and go deep into another piece of their soul. Words of Radiance was stellar in exploring more layers of SA characters and, at this point, I’m invested in all of them (and I hated several in WoK).

This is a very long book, but everything on it feels necessary, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Having everyone together, and several POV in the same chapter increased the pace of the story, and left me hanging on every written word. I wanted to scream every time I reached the interludes, but I loved all of them, and what they add to the story.

Shallan’s humor was a great addition to the story, bringing a new light to it. It was certainly needed to balance Kaladin moods. I expect she will change a bit with the admission of the past, but I hope she gets to keep at least a bit of her older self.

I loved the duels, the chasms, the storms, bridge four, discovering Adolin’s heart and Taravangian brain, the fights and, as usual, Hoid.

<i><b> Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. I will protect even those I hate so long as it is right.</i></b>

<b>Side note</b>: for everyone who says it is necessary to read Warbreaker before this book… I honestly don’t think it is. It’s a nice Easter egg, but it doesn’t really impact the story (yet?). I was actually disappointed because I was expecting more of that particular character.

Read Warbreaker because it is great, because you love Cosmere, because it is an easy entry to the Cosmere or because you want to read Sanderson without the commitment of a whole series.

Stormlight Archives is already a huge commitment with 4 ginormous books, 2 “novellas”, and more than half of it yet to be published. Let’s not add additional restrictions please.

Book 2

Pros:

• Amazingly eve better than the first book due to more plot and multiple story line's tie-ups that make for several tight endings.

• Doesn't seem like an installment. It could stand on it's own.

• Overall Plot is tight, well ordered, timing is metronomic.

• Writing is super clear. Reading is a total breeze.

• Creativity is in spades. Branderson is a certain master at imagining something new to you that he can describe easily as a picture, understandable the first time you read it.

• This book is revealing the magic organization in deeper detail, but hints at more.

• This book took the plot of god-metaphysics and created what had seemed contained into a subset. The universe just got larger.

• There are multiple parallel plots going on, each switch making you crave and long for a return to the character you just read about. Most writers do this by chapter as he did in the first book, but this book increases the pace by having some chapters of 3 distinct narratives playing round-robin to keep interest and pace. This keeps your interest, but also helps you not lose your place with characters. A comparison is with Martin in that his last book entirely omitted characters, so that someone you read about in Book 4 you won't get to until Book 6 making re-reading necessary for anyone who don'ts have a perfect memory. Maybe that helps him sell more books to be re-read or that cool Apple App, but it's actually quite annoying to the reader.

Cons:

• Some characters are too cutesy. The personality of the main Spren is too Tinker Bell for my taste. I think it takes what could be a serious and heavy pall over the entire work, giving this fiction a feeling of reality, that is dispelled by such frivolity.

• I find some of the characters still 2 dimensional. Some character dialogue are too similar to each other, and example being that I noticed 2 distinct characters having the same exact syntax and verbiage to their sense of humor. This is the only flaw I can find in his writing that can still develop to perfection. Namely, verbal identity to character dialogue that effortlessly makes them seem distinct and real. It's still in some places too stiff and formulaic. It's still his Achille's Heel.

• He promises a timely delivery on books, but gets side-tracked by other projects and pushes the dates back. So we are going to be waiting for a loooong, time. Hopefully not Robert Jordan time cause I don't think there is anyone capable of finishing Branderson's books as well or better.

Branderson's style is also classical in the sense that it's clean. There isn't modern cable channel gore or sexuality or shock plot for shock's sake to glue the interest of readers. He is a master of plot and doesn't let anything get in the way of keeping the plot moving exactly as he orders it. It's as if he believes good writing and great plot will keep the readers without the cheap literary gimmicks.

The timing of his unfolding plot is metronomic and the plot is of such quality, it appears that we not only have a breathtaking masterpiece in the works, but a rare generations output even by his own standards of work. I like some of his other books very much, but this undertaking's internal history is deep and somewhere below Tolkien and above R.R. Martin. Read my first book's review for a comparison between him and Martin and why they are only similar in that they are contemporaries.

The first book piqued my curiosity. This book has my interest, ha ha. So he is now my current favorite living fiction author.

Bottom line: Superb next step in the series & leaves you pining for Book 3.

"Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do."

I stand in awe of fantasy writers that can make an entire new world, magic systems, cultures, history, lands and everything else that goes into making a great fantasy and fill it with so many details that while you are reading the story you can get so drawn in that you feel like you are there or that it is a real place. Brandon Sanderson is one such writer. I enjoyed The Way of Kings (WoK) and gave it a 4.5 rating Words of Radiance is even better and 5 stars just doesn't seem like enough. The world is richer and we hit the ground running in this installment since the world has already been set forth. Sanderson still built up on the foundation he already created in WoK and everything he added to it made if all the richer.

Sanderson is maybe the best writer I have read at giving a lot of ups and downs throughout the story but saving up and building steam for that last 15-20% where the s*** hits the fan and the intensity just skyrockets all the way to the end. I was on the edge of my seat, reminding myself to read all the words and take my time but I was so excited to see what happened next that I found myself reading faster and faster as everything in the story was unfolding.

Told from multiple POVs throughout the story gives the reader an all-encompassing understanding of the world and the various interests and plots of gods and men. Every new layer and character added something to the story. The end of each part of the book had me struggling to take my time through the interludes as I couldn't wait to see what was happening with our characters. A few of the interludes were from the Parshendi POV and gave an interesting understanding of the war, and the Parshendi's goals. Some of the interludes revisited a few of the characters from WoK and made more sense to me in how they fit into this story while I imagine others importance will make more sense later.

While WoK's was very much Kaladins story WoR is more Shallan's. I was a little worried about this as I didn't really like Shallan very much in WoKs. She was naïve and came to steal for Jasnah for that very reason she was less likeable. But she totally grew on me in this book as she really comes into her own and we have a chance to learn of her past. She has been hiding from it for so long that it is hard for her to face.

"I seek the truth," Shallan said. "Wherever it may be, whoever may hold it. That's who I am."

I grew to really love her character. She is full of banter and wit and gets herself in just as much trouble as she gets herself out of. I had so much fun following her story as she travelled to the shattered plains and it was even more fun once she met both Kaladin and Adolin. I see the hint of a possible love triangle in there somewhere but thank god it hasn't hit yet. I really enjoyed the time she spent with each of the men but her first meeting and later banter with Kaladin was some of the funniest dialogue in the book.

"The only time you seem honest is when you're insulting someone!" "The only honest things I can say to you are insults."

Oh Shallon does have a sharp tongue and it seems that she is unlike anyone else Adolin has tried to date before. She has the princeling a little twisted up with what he should do. The way that Shallon is able to affect the lives of those around her and change them for the better was amazing as well. She was able to change the lives a few people extraordinarily and her new found abilities are extremely intriguing. She does seem in a little over her head though.

Adolin was also a character from the last book that I wasn't a huge fan of. Compared to his father Dalinar and Kaladin he just wasn't that interesting to me. Well that has totally changed in this book. Adolin is more than he seems for sure and as a few of the chapters are told from his perspective I really started to enjoy his character. The lengths he goes to for the people in his family and for what he feels is right are fantastic. But he still has the privileged air about him so he does it in the most comfortable manor possible.

"Kaladin frowned. "Wait. Are you wearing cologne? In prison?" "Well, there was no need to be barbaric, just because I was incarcerated." "Storms, you're spoiled," Kaladin said, smiling. "I'm refined, you insolent farmer," Adolin said. Then he grinned. "Besides, I'll have you know that I had to use cold water for my baths while here." "Poor boy."

Kaladin's arc is a journey of right and wrong, honor and betrayal, past and present. He has a big boulder on his shoulder against all lighteyes based on is past. Some warrant it and others do not. But it is a journey a true hero must take if he is to be a hero. I was happy I liked Shallan so much otherwise I might have got lost in Kaladin being a little bit of a downer through some of this. He was lost in his hate at times, although warranted it was hard to journey that with him. It was nice when a few people were able to drag him out of it.

"I trust you. It's a very strange sensation." "Yeah, well, I'll try to hold myself back from going skipping across the plateau in joy." Adolin grinned. "I'd pay to see that." "Me skipping?" "You happy," Adolin said, laughing. "You've got a face like a storm! I half think you could frighten off a storm."

Kaladin really struggles with his vows and his relationship with Syl. Did I mention that I really hope somehow someway that Syl and Kaladin a destined to be together. That as their bond grows she will become more corporeal in our world and they can have a romance, which is totally the girl in me talking. I ship them so hard though. It is my dream and it is farfetched but I want it anyway.

DALINAR was my favorite character from the last book and he had a few moments in this one where I wasn't sure what to expect from him. It seemed that he might not be up to the task at hand and then he would pull something unbelievable out. I loved his pose and calm. He is everything that a leader should be, that a king should be. I always still seem to underestimate him and I am surprised by how he reacts to situations.

"What you did tonight was clever," Wit said. "You turned an attack into a promise. The wisest of men know that to render an insult powerless, you often need only to embrace it."

Sometimes he is played the fool but he recovers quickly and always moves in a positive direction no matter the cost to himself. He is truly a good man doing the best he can for his kingdom and with so much stacked against him that can't be hard.

He is the character that I worried for the most because that is who Szeth was sent to kill in WoK. Any meeting they had was intense and the conclusions to both their arcs in this book were unexpected and left my jaw on the floor.

"He fought as he wished he had all those years ago, for the chance he had missed. In that moment between storms--when the rain stilled and the winds drew in their breaths to blow--he danced with the slayer of kings, and somehow held his own."

There are so many other characters that played great roles in this. Rock, Teft, Lopen, Wit, Jasnah, Sadeas (I hate that dude), Sebarial and Palona as well so many others, I couldn't possibly name them all. There are so many reveals that will play a big part in other books and some that were shocking in this one. I was on a rollercoaster almost the entire book and so many characters had surprises in their arcs. The epilogue had me jumping out of my seat with excitement. What a fantastic way to end the story.

All I know for sure at the end of this book is The Desolation Comes and it will be an epic journey that I can't wait to participate in.

There are a lot of reasons to love the Stormlight Archive and the two books out. Sanderson has created an imaginitive yet realistic world with dynamic, living, and fascinating characters and cultures. The magic system is vast and complex, yet consistent and fluid. Each chapter he seems to give us answers yet still leave us with a deep sense of wonder - not in the furstrating LOST (the TV show) way, but in a very fulfilling and satisfying way. It reminds me of the wonder we should still have at the 'magic' in our own universe despite knowing how some of it works.

Not only is the world enjoyable, the plotline is exciting and detailed. It is deliberate and focused on more than just 'fun action scenes.' There is a real weightiness to these books (literally and metaphorically). You will not be dissapointed with the plot of the Words of Radiance (or the Way of Kings if you haven't read that yet).

As I mentioned in my review of the Way of Kings, Sanderson not only creates an exciting and interesting story, but he communicates timeless truths and does so in a way that is enriched by beautiful prose and very touching moments. I've found myself reliving key moments in both books in my mind as they have particularly struck me in their scope and truth. Moments that as I read the books a second time I found myself truly looking forward to and mixed in with a few tears at the sheer power of them.

All of that aside, the thing I am most impressed with Sanderson is how he treats the issues of morality in these books.

For me, the epitome of fantasy is still the Lord of the Rings. I am enraptured by Middle-Earth and the beautiful truths present. Some people dislike (and I understand why) how 'black and white' Tolkien's characters are. Personally I love my hero to be bold and confident and pure like Aragorn is, but I get why people see that as 'unrealistic.' On the opposite end of the spectrum, Martin's A Tale of Fire and Ice (Game of the Thrones) is very beloved for the opposite reason - it is gritty, realistic, and deterimidly 'grey.' Of course, both of those novels have a touch of the opposite. Smeagol/Gollum, Grima Wormtongue, Boromir and a few other characters touch on that element of 'greyness' in Tolkien. There are characters in A Tale of Fire and Ice that are certainly closer to white or black than grey. Nonetheless, I think they are good examples of opposite ends of the spectrum.

Then there's what I love about Sanderson.

I don't think we've seen a single character we've seen that is pure white or pure black in Sanderson. Kaladin, the protgaonist, while constantly struggling with what it means to hero, has moments where he is very much on the 'white' side of the spectrum, but certainly isn't perfect. The slaver, Tvlakv, is described as 'A bastard, but a likeable bastard." So even the 'bad' characters have a touch of light in them.

At all, though, Sanderson maintains that while the characters aren't perfect, there still is a pure and white and a pure black at the ends of the spectrum. True, everyone has blemishes and faults, but that doesn't change the fact that there is an ultimately 'good' morality and an ultimately 'bad' morality. A significant emphasis of these novels is the characters struggling to achieve this purity. Recognizing their selfishness and greyness for what it is an combating that.

I think it is a fascinating and exilerating combination of the two sepctrums and is part of what truly drives these epic tales. It is found just as much in Words of Radiance as it is in the Way of Kings, if not more.

Because of this and all of the other reasons mentioned, I cannot recommend the Words of Radiance highly enough.

At this point, Words of Radiance has been out for a year and a half, and I suspect most of Sanderson's fans have read it. I've bumped into them at cons, book stores, signings, and, frankly, almost every other place where you might find readers. I bump into them at the most unlikely of places and find them in the people I would least have suspected of being fantasy fans. In fact, for a lot of them, this is the only fantasy that they read--indeed, to them, fantasy IS Brandon Sanderson.

There are a lot of explanations for this, but the simplest one is really this: Sanderson writes some pretty awesome stuff. Broad appeal, female protagonists, good writing, high productivity, the absence of foul language and "on-screen" sex, and highly creative world building are all parts of that, but really, Sanderson has a formula that instead of being predictable focuses on storytelling fundamentals and innovative plot, character, and world-building...

But enough rambling: let's get to Word of Radiance. It merits its own dose of praise.

When the first book in The Stormlight Archive was released (The Way of Kings) back in 2010, I found myself waiting at a midnight release to get Sanderson's signature--and yes, I still shake my head that I did it, but I digress--he had just finished the last three books in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. While I agreed with most readers that Sanderson's touch had actually improved the Wheel of Time, I wanted assurance that I wouldn't have to wait a generation to see the end of the next epic fantasy series I would start, of which Sanderson was at that moment signing the first installment in front of me at the table.

"There will be ten books," he said. "And I promise not to die on the way."

All of this is just to say that after finishing #2 in the series I am more than even after the first eager to read the next. And I would read as many as Sanderson writes, be they a thousand pages or more...

Words of Radiance surpasses The Way of Kings and sets a path for the series that hints at as much, or more, as it actually reveals.

As Words of Radiance opens, our two heroes--Kaladin and Shallan--find themselves moving towards a purpose, having over come the obstacles that they surpassed in The Way of Kings. Kaladin is no longer a slave, but wields the power of the Knights Radiant, if secretly from all but a few of his closest soldiers of the newly formed military unit he heads in their task to protect the King. Shallan finds herself en route to the Alethkar war camp on the Shattered Plains, learning but slowly to recognize her own growing powers. And yet, neither will foresee what they must do--what they must become--if they are to survive the coming storm, as well as the treachery that awaits at every turn.

Meanwhile, the mysterious Assassin continues to spread chaos across the land, killing heads of state across the continent, commanded by an unseen hand, a shadow power manipulating the nations.

Sanderson has learned how to develop his characters, good and evil, and to make them hurt in a way that accrues sympathy from the reader. For example, it's hard to see Kaladin's choices, watch him pay the price, and see how he digs himself out of the results. Yet Sanderson finds a way, proving that he is in command of the story, not the other way around. At a thousand plus pages, building one character might seem easy, but he does it with every character who earns any time on the pages, even during one of the shorter interludes that fill the gaps between sections, both with color and hints of what is going on across the continent beyond where our main story is happening. Every character is individual, creatively rendered, and vibrantly alive. Just when I think Sanderson couldn't possibly make Roshar more real, he creates another culture, unique and colorful, and adds another layer to what is also a highly developed interplay of characters, countries, cultures, and mythologies.

It's a 'wow' factor that makes Sanderson's writing--already carrying a strong story--that much more gripping and hard to put down.

Words of Radiance is fantastic, and almost anthropological at points, in its scope. I can't wait to read Oathbringer (hinted for a 2017 release, which is so far away as to be almost a depressing thought), as well as anything that Sanderson manages to punch out in the intervening time between his finishing writing and the publisher's release to shelves.

This is a huge, meaty, fantasy novel for lovers of fantasy novels. I have a habit of diving into books and forgetting to come up for air. The bigger a book is, the longer I can immerse myself, so the size of this >1000 page novel is a high point for me. It took me three days of solid reading to get through it, during which I pretty much only stopped to feed myself and walk the dog. There are some people who say they managed it in one sitting, and I am stupefied by the sheer amount of posterior fortitude that must have taken.

The story is vast, encompassing hordes of characters, side plots, and rich with details and hints that allow the reader to puzzle and theorize about how everything fits together. The world itself that the story is set in continues to be unlike any other world I've read about in fantasy, with a well thought out history and unique ecosystem that are important to the plot. There are a lot of answers given to questions raised in the first book that lead to a lot of wonderful AHA! and I KNEW IT! and SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING WHY DIDN'T I SEE IT? moments. One of the things I love about Sandersons books is that the magic systems are very detailed and practical. Instead of , "It's magic, DUH." there are logical explanations and rules which fit within the context of the story, and you can be sure that every angle and possibility has been considered and will probably be addressed eventually if it hasn't been already. In short, it's written by a geek for geeks, and the plot will hold up to scrutiny. Everything from the technology to the philosophy, at least from my inexpert point of view.

I've heard some complaints about the side stories and characters being unnecessary, but I think half the fun is trying to figure out how they fit in to the overarching story line. It's a ten book series, people. There are still a lot of mysteries left, and we get to guess and wonder in the meantime. There are hints. Once again, this is obsessive geek territory, and that's not a bad thing.

There are obvious plot twists and shocking ones, and Kalladin is emo but heroic, and Dalinar gets his groove back and Shallan is given more depth and we get to see inside the parshendi culture. It's better to just read it. I won't get into the plot details.

I took off one star for a few issues I have that may be just because I am an irritable person. It might just be me and my curmudgeonly view on life, but this is my review, so be it. Here they are: (warning: rant follows)

1)STOP USING THE WORD 'TAD'. It's not a good word in the modern vernacular, and it has no business in a quasi-medieval fantasy novel. I understand that there are artistic licenses with dialog, and I'm even being forgiving of the use of 'awesomeness', because for me it wasn't nearly as jarring as 'tad'. Every time I read it I was completely thrown out of the story. Tad. REALLY?

2. I WOULD RATHER LISTEN TO A DOZEN NAZIS FILING THEIR NAILS ON CHALKBOARDS THAN HAVE TO READ ANY MORE WORDPLAY Half of the characters imagine themselves to be very clever. They call themselves clever repeatedly, and so does everyone else. They're not. They're obnoxious. There are some genuinely funny moments in the vast tome I just read, but the dialogue, it does not scintillate. There are some moments, if someone had picked Shallan up and tossed her into the jaws of the nearest chasm fiend I would have considered it a job well done. Apparently on Roshar, the height of incisive ridicule is to call someone stinky. (I'm looking at you, Shallan, Sebelius, Kalladin, Wit and Adolin. Yes, every single one.) During the painful banter sessions I'm reminded of a bunch of dweebs giggling at their own smug cleverness. (Not that there's anything wrong with dweebs. I fall into that category myself, but I don't think that's what the author was going for, and there's so MUCH of it!) It doesn't help that Wit, who's name is descriptive of his JOB for chrissake, has speech patterns eerily similar to the comic book store guy from The Simpsons.

Behold: "It's also hilarious on people who aren't deaf, OBVIOUSLY. What, you think I'd torment someone just because they're deaf? That would be immoral. No, I torment all people equally, THANK YOU VERY MUCH." (Emphasis mine. I can't not read it that way. I can't un-hear it.)

3. NIGHTBLOOD Why did Brandon Sanderson bring that awful talking sword cartoon character into this story? WHY?? It was the worst part of Warbreaker and now it's a crossover! It's a TALKING SWORD. Aaargh! Get off my lawn!

Other than those three issues I loved this book. LOVED it. I'm going to read it again to catch anything I might have missed, because I'm already going through the separation anxiety that comes from finishing a good book. I can't wait for the next one.

So if the Way of Kings plodded on a bit, at least it had Kaladin's struggle through being a bridgeman to keep it interesting. In Words of Radiance, the plodding never really ends. It's interrupted with interesting bits now and again, and some of those interesting bits are really very good and very engaging. But before long, we're back to plodding, terrible dialogue, cardboard characters, and tensionless scenes of bugger all happening. I'll dive in and explore why this one left much to be desired for me.

<b>Technical Aspects</b> Sanderson's strength has never been the technical aspect of his writing. Now, that's certainly not an unforgivable sin. It is possible to have a compelling narrative with less-than-stellar writing, and technicality is not the soul of good fictino. But here, with such a long, drawn-out epic, the story just drags oftentimes and Sanderson's lackluster prose doesn't do much to liven things up between the bits of the story that actually matter, which seem few and far between as one wades through seemingly endless bland conversations and activities that might end up giving one or two small pieces of information that contribute toward the eventual meanderings of the plot or character development, but mostly just seem like filler...which this book certainly doesn't need.

His dialogue is hit or miss. I'll address this more later, but he CANNOT write witty banter, which is unfortunate...because I swear that half of the dialogue in this book, especially for some characters is <i>nothing</i> but "witty" banter. It just ends up coming across as dialogue that would perhaps be fitting between two eight-year-olds, but not between full-grown adults. I'll talk about that more in the Characters section.

His descriptions continue to be adequate but not spellbinding for the most part. We get the picture of the world well enough, though it does come across pretty generically in my mind. This series seems to have this thin layer of originality on the surface, but it ends up just coming out as a generic fantasy mishmash in my mind, at least from a visual point of view. I do like his Stormlight magic system and the order of the Knights Radiant (even if they're basicaly just Jedi knights), as well as some aspects of the spren and other god-like beings. The politics and human civilizations though are pretty bland, with pompous lords and dissatisfied peasants and armor and swords and battles and a distinctly almost-human OTHER to fight. Not that everything has to be original. I'm just saying that I don't find that many aspects of this series new and interesting in terms of setting/cultures/worldbuilding, with a few notable exceptions as I mentioned.

Some of the language used both for narrative and dialogue seems anachronistic or just out of place for the world we're in. Words like "awesome" (as used by a very annoying 13-year-old...I'll get to her later) just don't fit in with the epic fantasy setting we're in.

Most of what actually IS interesting in this book (and there are some things) comes from what happens in the plot, not from technical prowess or good dialogue, with a few notable exceptions, such as some of Dalinar's conversations with Kaladin.

All that said, the technical part of the writing isn't horrific. It's functional but not something you'll remember.

<b>Story</b> Now, I don't want to judge story or plot too harshly because it's a very subjective thing but I'll put in my two cents about a few things at least. One thing I really want to gripe about is the lack of any overarching conflict aside from that between nature and man. There are sort of accessory villains, each wanting to influence events in the world for their own ends, but none of them are really explored that much and there are so many different groups that it's hard to remember who wants to do what. In the end, it's really the storms that are the great threat to mankind.

In the first book, Sadeus was the big villain and I thought that was much more compelling. He seemed like a friend at first, if an uneasy one, and eventually everything led up to his big betrayal. That genuinely came as a shock! In this though...well...there's nothing really like that. The Parshendi are the bad guys and they stay the bad guys. They're not even <i>in</i> most of the book though, so the tension can't come from them and there's not really anyone else for it to come from except here and there scattered throughout the jumbled mess of plotlines. Fiction, especially epic fantasy, <i>is</i> conflict after all.

The Parshendi are there too, as I said, but it's unclear why they want what they want. We found in the last book that they assassinated Gavilar, the king of the Alethi and so they kind of become resigned to their fate as the prey of the Alethi as they are hunted on the Shattered plains until they suddenly decide that the Alethi are actually the bad guys...because they wanted to bring back the Parshendi gods or keep them from being brought back or...something...it's not really clear. In fact, <spoiler>Eshonai's entire plotline is literally pointless. Nothing we need to know comes out of it that couldn't have been supplied by Rlain in the end anyway and her decision to kill off half the population makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. And then she dies, along with all her other Stormform brethren! Pointless! We didn't even really get to see that much of what they can do!</spoiler>.

There are a lot of pointless little plot things here and there, as I've said. There's a scene (this isn't a spoiler at all) where Dalinar and company are going to meet the Parshendi out on the plateaus to discuss something. Adolin insists on going in his father's place and posing as Dalinar during the meeting while Dalinar tells him what to say via spanreed. Why? No reason...just no reason at all. They suspect assassins might take the opportunity to strike, but that's never really stopped Dalinar before and this meeting is pretty darn important. Also, NOTHING ends up happening anyway so it's not even justified from a narrative perspective. It seems like an attempt to add drama when it really isn't called for at all and I'd rather just see the story progress. That'a just one example of many.

Now, as I said, I could forgive a lot when it comes to story/plot if the characters are interesting and compelling. After all, characters and how they deal with their conflicts are what really drive compelling stories. Characters are what saved The Way of Kings for me after all (Well, Kaladin at least). Did they (he) save this one for me? Well...erm....

<b>Characters</b> No. No they did not. I mean, they weren't terrible. I still gave the book three out of five stars because I do still relate somewhat with a few of them and I genuinely wanted to see what happened to them. It wasn't always a hate-read for me, mostly because I do like some of the characters, mostly Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar. That said, they were still pretty weak for the most part. I'll go through each of the major ones.

<i>Kaladin</i> Kaladin was my favorite character of the last book. His struggle to unite his bridgeman companions and free them all from their oppression while discovering arcane powers was genuinely captivating at times. Aided by pretty great flashbacks to his younger days with his family at home and the events that led to his enslavement, his story sold the book to me even though the other characters had the personality of cement. He had a great arc, a compelling (if a bit cliché) personality, and genuine conflict to fight against.

As this book starts though, he already has all that he wants. He's in a really great place as Dalinar's bodyguard and his men are all taken care of and free. He quickly devolves into a moaning child and stays that way through most of the book. The colorful characters that accompanied him last time (like Rock, Teft, Sigzel, etc.) play a much more minor role and Kaladin has to cary this one by himself, which he kind of fails to do. He discovers more powers and masters them pretty effortlessly (boring).

The only real arc he has relates to one of his bridgemen and the king. This is a great subplot and I won't spoil it, but Kaladin learns some humility and also learns that the duty to protect extends farther than he thought. It's not perfect, but it was a good aside from the bunch of nothing he was doing before.

All in all, Kaladin comes across as a big pout in this book. Uninteresting, petty, and tortured by his inner demons, which also aren't that interesting.

<i>Adolin</i> Mr. Boring McBlandypants himself. Comes across as a too-perfect idiot who is obviously just there for Shallan to fall in love with before she realizes that Kaladin is the one for her. That's not even a spoiler because it doesn't happen in this book but I just know it will...Next

<i>Shallan</i> Shallan was boring in the last book...and she still is, but at least she's DOING something in this one. The beginning is just awesome for her but then quickly devolves into boringland again once she reaches the plains. Sanderson tries way too hard to make her witty and quirky but it just backfires and makes her really annoying. If that was the intention then it was effective...but not in a good way. Maybe it's supposed to be in her character that she's really bad at making witty jibes at people, but if that's the case then why do they actually seem hurt by her comments or jokes at times? There are only so many times a "your mom" or "your face" type of joke is funny...and that's not that many times. But that's basically the extent of her wit; "your mom" and "your face" jokes, as in Kaladin: "Ah, that chasmfiend is retreating!" Shallan: "It was probably your unfortunate face that did the job" Kaladin: "Well your mother probably looks even worse..." No, that's not an actual excerpt but I wouldn't have been surprised if it had. It's that bad at times.

There's also an odd moment or two when Shallan reacts very strongly and negatively to the suggestion that she needs to be protected. That was never really set up and comes out of nowhere, supposedly based on her history of being sequestered away by her father. Still, it feels random and out of nowhere and way too strong.

I do really like Pattern for the most part, even though he too has some dumb lines. Shallan discovers her powers pretty easily as well and has a lot of subplots relating to the ghostbloods that just kind of go on and on without paying off.

We do find out the big reveal about Shallan's past, but it's a huge letdown as we've already put the pieces together for ourselves at that point. Her flashback scenes are actually quite excellent though and old Shallan is way more interesting than present times Shallan. She had more of a conflict in the years leading up to the main story and the events that take place with her brothers and father are far more interesting than what she's doing with the ghostbloods or in her attempts to find the Oathgate. It's a good example of how small, character-based moments are far more interesting than overblown, epically fantastical things in the world without emotional engagement.

<i>Dalinar</i> Dalinar is kind of the same bland soldier he was in the first book. I like some of his conversations with Kaladin and how he acts as a bit of a foster father to him, but I wish there was more of that. Most of his time is spent being gruffly speculative.

<b>Summary</b> This isn't a bad book. It's just not for me. I like every scene and every chapter in a book to serve the overall plot while giving their exposition and character development. That is certainly not the case in this book. This book has plot threads and character stories weaving all over the place, not always moving the story forward. I like dialogue to feel real and in the vein of the world we're in. Lift talking about all her "awesomeness" and stuff like that really takes me out of a story. Lift, by the way, was really annoying. Anyone who has read the book knows who I'm talking about.

Anyway, if you were a big fan of the first one, you'll probably like this one too. I read this one begrudgingly because I like the first one more than I hated it. I think Sanderson may just not be up my alley. He seems like a perfectly nice guy from interviews and I enjoy his lectures. He's not even a bad writer. Just not for me. I'll probably end up reading more of his work, but I'll be taking a break for a while.