Sep 2025 Book Recommendation: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Intro

The Stormlight Archive—which The Way of Kings is the first book of—is easily one of the most popular ongoing fantasy series. And for good reason, too; with a complex world and magic system, and a cast of equally complex characters to go along with it, it’s definitely one of the best fantasy series I’ve ever read. (And I’ve read a lot of fantasy series, so trust me when I say that’s saying something.)

If you like books about characters rising from the depths of despair to stand up for what they believe in, you’re in for a treat. So, without further ado, let’s get into details.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson Overview

Genre(s): Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of 5 of The Stormlight Archive

POV/Tense: Third-person past

Length: 1008 pages

The Way of Kings follows three main POV characters: Kaladin, Shallan Davar, and Dalinar Kholin. Kaladin is a commoner-turned-soldier, who was deemed a traitor after opposing a cruel commander. Shallan is a noblewoman and a scholar seeking to get her family out of debt. Dalinar is a former warlord trying to turn over a new leaf.

Six years ago, King Gavilar of Alethkar was assassinated by a mysterious assassin known simply as the Assassin in White. The assassin was hired by the Parshendi, a species of armored humanoids who populate a nearby region known as the Shattered Plains, for reasons that remain unclear. But the transgression sparked war between Alethkar and the Parshendi, a war that continues to rage all across the Shattered Plains.

Kaladin, whether he likes it or not, is a part of this war. After angering his former commander, he is sent to a prison camp, where he is made a bridgeman, someone whose sole purpose is to run ahead of the army and set up bridges across the many chasms that give the Shattered Plains its name. It is a dangerous job, one that’s as good as a death sentence—which, of course, is part of the point. Kaladin, beaten and worn from a past that he dares not to speak of, is resigned to his fate—until, despite his good judgment, he comes to care for the other men in his bridge crew, and starts to wonder if there is a way to save them from their doomed existence.

Shallan, on the other hand, is far from the Shattered Plains, in the great city of Kharbranth, where she hopes to study as a scholar beneath Jasnah Kholin, one of the greatest minds alive. But that is only one of her goals; secretly, she also plans to steal a Soulcaster—a magical device that allows the user to change one substance to another—from Jasnah. She plans to use the device to get her family—which has been on the brink of financial ruin ever since the death of her father—out of debt to a mysterious organization known as the Ghostbloods.

Dalinar, the brother of the fallen King Gavilar and one of several Highprinces of Alethkar, is a trusted advisor to his nephew King Elhokar. But that doesn’t mean he is particularly trusted or liked by the rest of the nobility. His infamous reputation as the Blackthorn—the brilliant but brutal warrior and battlefield tactician who was pivotal in the conquering of the lands that became Alethkar almost thirty years before—makes many wary of him and, though he hates to admit it, Dalinar knows their suspicions are justified. In an attempt to turn his life around, he has started trying to live by the lofty codes of an old book called The Way of Kings. But his ill standing at court is the least of his problems; for years, he has been afflicted with some strange form of madness that makes him start hallucinating with every great Highstorm that rolls in, and that condition shows no sign of letting up.

But, as time goes on, Dalinar starts to wonder if there’s more to the visions than he initially believed—particularly when they start seeming to tell him to reform the Knights Radiant, an ancient group of knights who possessed supernatural abilities and were sworn to protect their homeworld of Roshar from the evil Voidbringers who tried to eradicate humanity centuries ago. The visions warn of the Voidbringers’ return, and seem to have decided that Dalinar is the person best fit to rally Roshar against them. Little does he know that events have already been set into motion, with the Voidbringers well on the rise and the new Knights Radiant already beginning to manifest their powers.

All that’s left to do is one thing: Unite them.

Personal Thoughts

That was a much lengthier overview than usual but, hey, there’s a lot to say. (It’s a thousand-page-long book!)

One of the things that I appreciated most about this book was that it managed to pull off having both a super fleshed out world and having super fleshed out characters at the same time. As someone who has read a lot of fantasy, I’ve noticed that a lot of the time the series with the super cool and fleshed out worlds, while often still good, seem to have much flatter characters, like the author put all their effort into the world and didn’t have much left for the characters. And the opposite—with characters who are super fleshed out and a world that is minimal—is at least as common. (Though that’s generally less of a turn-off for me than the other way around.) This was definitely not an issue in this book; both the world and the characters were equally complex and interesting. To date, I think that Brandon Sanderson and Robin Hobb are the only two authors I’ve ever read that I feel have achieved that balance. (Which is part of why they’re two of my favorites.)

And, of course, the characters are amazing. While Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar are all good characters—and get even better as the series goes on—I want to focus on Kaladin in particular. One of the most important things for a story to do is make the audience really root for the main character and really care about whether they achieve their goals. Kaladin is definitely one of the characters where I’ve seen that done the best. His backstory is kept kind of vague at the start of the book, then gradually revealed in more detail as it goes on, and you really come to understand why he is the way he is and why he cares so much about saving his bridge crew. So, by the end, I was very invested in seeing him succeed, which added a lot to the experience.

Outro

That’s all for today’s reading recommendation. I hope that I’ve gotten you interested in this book—or, if you’ve already read it, that you’ll check out some of the similar titles I’ve listed below. As always, thanks for reading!