The Way of Kings Final Reaction

Final sounds so final. This is my final opinion on the matter! The Way of Kings is a very promising beginning to a hopefully long and enduring fantasy adventure. It's exactly what I've been looking for. It's lengthy, and much of this first book is introducing the characters and the world, but those characters are interesting. Fascinating. Remarkable. And I can't really do them any justice without spoilers because its all about their secrets. Just trust me on this.

I've read some complaints that there isn't enough action, not enough going on. I completely disagree with this, but then my experience of reading this novel was three months of picking it up and putting it down for a while to keep up with my studies. Every time I picked it up Kaladin was overcoming some new and terrifying obstacle, Dalinar was admitting grappling with the same issues (but grappling with, not whining about), and Shallan was up to something mysterious. The progression of each of these characters' struggles was beautifully paralleled by the revealing of their depth.

Most intriguing to me is the way in which, while Shallan is a well-flushed out and complex character, I still just can't believe her actions and her motives. Not to say that they are unrealistic, but to say that she is driven to do terrible things that are difficult to understand, and we're left with a bit of a cliff-hanger in terms of her character that Sanderson is sure to resolve in future novels. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Kaladin, Dalinar and the minor characters of the interludes, I constantly found myself counting the pages to get back to Shallan.

As I stated before, the world is creative and immersive, the magic and the plot are original and enticing. I hope this is the way fantasy goes in the future.