Book Review: Words of Radiance
Holy Sanderson, Batman!
So, I've been working my way back through the Sormlight Archive so I can have them fresh on my mind when I read Oathbringer... but OH, THE RE-READS!
If you're not familiar with Brandon Sanderson's work, odds are that you don't read much fantasy. As a quick summary of his work: it's epic fantasy, and his books could kill a chihuahua at a four-foot drop. They're gigantic books that, while good, are dense and have multiple threads all going in different directions. It can sometimes be a bit of a mental workout to keep everything straight, but it's all the more rewarding when you're able to keep up.
Words of Radiance picks up where Way of Kings left off. I won't give (m)any details because I don't want to write any spoilers, but it's kind of hard when you're writing about the second book in a series.
WoR not only continues the stories of Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, but introduces viewpoints from characters that were peripheral in WoK. Namely Adolin, son of Dalinar.
The action in WoR is true to the Sanderson form: Yes/but, no/and. If you're not familiar with the idea, here it is:
So, I've been working my way back through the Sormlight Archive so I can have them fresh on my mind when I read Oathbringer... but OH, THE RE-READS!
If you're not familiar with Brandon Sanderson's work, odds are that you don't read much fantasy. As a quick summary of his work: it's epic fantasy, and his books could kill a chihuahua at a four-foot drop. They're gigantic books that, while good, are dense and have multiple threads all going in different directions. It can sometimes be a bit of a mental workout to keep everything straight, but it's all the more rewarding when you're able to keep up.
Words of Radiance picks up where Way of Kings left off. I won't give (m)any details because I don't want to write any spoilers, but it's kind of hard when you're writing about the second book in a series.
WoR not only continues the stories of Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, but introduces viewpoints from characters that were peripheral in WoK. Namely Adolin, son of Dalinar.
The action in WoR is true to the Sanderson form: Yes/but, no/and. If you're not familiar with the idea, here it is:
- Do the characters succeed in crossing the bridge?
- Yes, but there's a huge enemy army on this side and the bridge just collapsed. The heroes are screwed.
- No, and there's a huge enemy army behind them and the bridge just collapsed. The heroes are screwed.
Either way, bad stuff is going to happen to the characters, and it drives the plot further and further down a path the readers might not always want. But when it's over, the readers are amazed and cursing the author for putting the characters through horrible ordeals. Which is awesome.
Again, I'm not going to get into specifics about the storyline because I don't want to introduce any spoilers, but I will give my pros/cons list:
Pros:
Great writing
Deepening characterization
Intense story on many fronts
Drives readers crazy
Brings plot to the perfect place for a continuation into Oathbringer
Cons:
LONG
LONG
LONG
LONG
LONG
LONG
LONG
...
And long.
And Oathbringer is longer.
Overall, I can never really find something wrong with Sanderson's writing, so I have to give it a 5/5. It really is that good.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
Also, sorry for getting this out late. The technology gods were unkind and this didn't go out as scheduled, so I fixed it. Thanks!
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