"The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson is the opening installment of his new series, "The Stormlight Archive." Sanderson has come to the forefront of the fantasy genre through his work on the home stretch of Robert Jordan's popular series, "The Wheel of Time." He had been selected by Jordan's widow to complete the series based on his early work, "Mistborn: The Final Empire."
Ten years in the making, "The Way of Kings" has all the earmarks of becoming one of the genre's "must read" series. His depth of characters--both the primary and secondary--draws you into their individual worlds and keeps the reader engaged throughout the 1,007 pages.
Like all good fantasy works there involves a quest, and it's no different for here. But what Sanderson adds to his literary strategy is the quest for self-identification or self-fulfillment. In the case of Brightlord Dalinar Kholin it is an effort to find out the destiny of his visions and pull to fulfill the standards and expectations of ancient book, "The Way of Kings." And for Kaladin, it his escape from the reality of who he was and who he is that brings him face to face with what must be.
"The Way of Kings" is one of the best fantasy works I have read in some time and look forward to the next volume.
No comments:
Post a Comment