Description
Book Synopsis THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON BEHIND THE COSMERE
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Speak again the ancient oaths:
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
Return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.
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 ten 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 ten 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.
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FANTASY COULDN''T BE MORE EPIC:
''I loved this book. What else is there to say?''
PATRICK ROTHFUSS
Sanderson is a master... He doesn''t disappoint''
LIBRARY JOURNAL
''Sanderson is astonishingly wise''
ORSON SCOTT CARD
''Epic in every sense''
GUARDIAN
Trade ReviewThe Way of Kings is epic in every sense. Sanderson has built a world that leaps to life, a cast of varied characters and a vast history that slowly unfolds. While Sanderson cuts from the familiar cloth of fantasy, his narrative impetus and meticulous world building bode well for future volumes. * GUARDIAN *
No one has more fun writing or is better at describing galactic dogfights.... Read the first one for fun or enjoy the second on its own * BOOKLIST *
Sanderson is an evil genius * RT BOOK REVIEWS *
It's rare for a fiction writer to have much understanding of how leadership works and how love really takes root in the human heart. Sanderson is astonishingly wise -- Orson Scott Card
Sanderson has created a fascinating world here, one that deserves a sequel * WASHINGTON POST *
I
loved this book. What else is there to say? -- Patrick Rothfuss
The best part...is the compelling, complex story of Dalinar, Kaladin, and Shallan as they struggle though emotional, physical, and moral challenges. Fans and lovers of epic fantasy...will eagerly await the next volume * LIBRARY JOURNAL *
The Way of Kings is epic in every sense. Sanderson has built a world that leaps to life, a cast of varied characters and a vast history that slowly unfolds. While Sanderson cuts from the familiar cloth of fantasy, his narrative impetus and meticulous world building bode well for future volumes. -- Eric Brown * THE GUARDIAN *
