The Way of Kings: Book One of the Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson

Aug 2010 · The Stormlight Archive Book 1 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

About this audiobook

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

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.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer

The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning

Collection
Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity

Ratings and reviews

I'm halfway through this and I swear the story has not advanced in like 15 chapters. I swear you can just tune this out, tune back in 45 minutes later, and basically all the same stuff is still happening. It takes wayyyyy to long to do character building, and in my opinion, tries to spell out every little detail to the reader like they're stupid. People keep telling me it gets really good after 800 pages, but if it takes that long to get good, it's not worth the investment.

The story is excellent, and the voice actors do a great job at portraying an array of characters. There is a glaring issue with the quality of the file. Frequently, for a few seconds, the audio cuts out, skips around, or jumps forward several seconds. Not only can it break immersion, but can also leave you guessing as to what was said. The story/voice acting gets 5/5. The quality gets 2/5. A digital download shouldn't stutter like a scratched CD.

The book itself is amazing. I had a lot of trouble caring for the characters at first, but after 45 hours it's hard not to! But I have noticed that the book skips and sometimes completely goes silent for several seconds. At first I thought it was my headphones, so I changed those, then I thought it must be the download, so I switched to my computer to stream it, and now I am convinced it must be within the audiobook. This is very disappointing as missing even a few seconds of conversation can break immersion and you definitely get immersed in this book. TL;DR Book is amazing, but slow to start. Audiobook has some quality issues.

About the author

Hugo Award-winner Brandon Sanderson is the author of bestsellers such as the Mistborn trilogy; the Stormlight Archives; and novels including The Rithmatist and Steelheart. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time® sequence.

Michael Kramer received an Earphones Award for his narration of the Kent Family series by John Jakes and for Alan Fulsom's The Day After Tomorrow. He has also read for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

Kate Reading has received multiple Earphones Awards and has been named a “Voice of the Century” by AudioFile magazine. She received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon.