The Way of Kings

by Brandon Sanderson

Info

Date Finished: 1/7/2026

First Sentence: 'I'm going to die, aren't I?' Cenn asked.

Last Sentence: 'I fear you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate friend.'

Companion Album:

New Cover

A book cover for "THE WAY OF KINGS" by Brandon Sanderson. The background is an off-white, clean cover. The top features the author's name in gold and the title in large, dark blue text. The center is a stylized, arched illustration of a large, jagged blue rock formation against a blue background, with sharp, angular streaks of gold and yellow energy or light crossing it. The text at the bottom, below the arch, reads "BOOK ONE OF THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE."

A Few Thoughts

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is a popcorn-munching crowd-pleasing fantasy epic with some pacing issues in its first two-thirds. It's my favorite of Sanderson's so far, and I'm itching to read the other Stormlight Archive books.

I admire the directness and clarity of Sanderson's writing, which helps you keep track of his complex worldbuilding and magic systems. But it's a double-edged sword when some parts could use a little more, I dunno, flavor(?) or poetry(?).

The "life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination" mantra of the Knights Radiant, for instance, had me rolling my eyes each time it came up. There's gotta be a more interesting way to say or represent those ideas without, you know, just directly saying them.

This book has to do a ton of setup for what's to come, and Sanderson takes his time doing so, indulging in long flashback sequences, detailed descriptions of cultures (clothing, hairdos, food), and expository dialogue on the magic system.

But towards the end, the pacing ramps up intensely, to the point where I was doing no-fun keep-putting-it-off type chores just so I could hear what happens to my boi Dalinar. Thank you for helping me unclog the right side of my kitchen sink, Brandon Sanderson.

Related:

Cover Notes

This one hinges on the illustration, which I found on oldbookillustrations.com. Lots of cool stuff there. I'll probably use it in the future. I learned how to do masks and blend modes in Figma. Link to the illustration.