Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status "darkeyes." Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.

The Assassin, Szeth, is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin's master has much deeper motives.

Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable.

Whew, 48+ hours of audiobook! That was intense! 

The Stormlight Archive are the longest books I’ve ever read, followed shortly in number by A Song of Ice and Fire. What I love about these enormous books and series is that there’s just so much going on and authors like George R.R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson have a way of spacing all of the characters out enough so that each one has their own individual story but then when they unite or cross paths with other characters, you find out exactly how their stories were meant to line up all along and we just weren’t seeing the bigger picture yet!

WORDS OF RADIANCE starts crossing all of those paths set up in THE WAY OF KINGS so it was great to see how these stories are coming together and where the big picture is going! I enjoyed WORDS OF RADIANCE more than THE WAY OF KINGS because I was better able to see this big picture. I’m so used to shorter series, both in number of pages and in number of books. Since The Stormlight Archive is currently planned to be ten books, there’s so much to explore throughout the whole series that a lot of secrets need to be kept in the first few books before reveals start happening, so at times, this series does seem a bit slower than other series I’ve read. It’s not really a bad thing, because I love really getting into this world and having this fantasy world feel so incredibly real with all of its detail, but it just doesn’t have me falling in love with this series as much YET since I’m still learning so much about it. 

I really liked the character development within this booke. Shalan grew a bit in THE WAY OF KINGS but she really starts to develop as a character in WORDS OF RADIANCE. Her role in the series is much more obvious in this book and she gets tied to many more characters and having already ready OATHBRINGER now as well, it’s great to see how much she grows and becomes more involved in each book, looking back on where she first appeared in THE WAY OF KINGS.
I still love Dalinar and Kaladin and I’m enjoying their characters even more as the series progresses and the supporting characters, like those of Bridge Four, are outstanding additions to the book to bring some levity, camaraderie, and so much more.

I liked getting more hints about the world but I’m still thirsty for so much more world-building! I have SO many questions that I know will get answered but again, I’m used to shorter series where I get more reveals much quicker so it’s hard to tell myself that they will be coming! Brandon Sanderson’s world-building is so incredibly interesting and now that I’ve learned so much about the Cosmere in general, it’s easier to see how each book of his set in this universe are starting to tie together. Things that I’ve read in other books are really starting to connect in The Stormlight Archive and this series has the most information about this universe, in my opinion.

I also like how there are interludes in these books, allowing other important POVs to come in. Some I liked, some I didn’t. I hated Lift’s POV interlude and was upset that she was going to become a main part of the series, being the main character in the EDGEDANCER novella, but I’ll get more into that with OATHBRINGER since that’s where she starts becoming more important. I really like the interludes that offer small pieces of important things later on, or ones that fill in some missing pieces of what we’ve already learned.

So far this isn’t my favorite Brandon Sanderson series but it certainly has potential! The more I read, the more I get into this story and fall in love with the characters, and clearly we’re going to be spending a lot of time together! I don’t know if it was a good or bad idea to read the first three books in one year since I’m going to be waiting very, very long for the rest of the series but I’m also glad I was able to do that so I could really get a solid feel for this world and have the characters stick in my mind so well!

Kept Me Hooked On: Super long series. I haven’t ever read a series this long that wasn’t something light and easy, like a cozy mystery series. It’s so interesting to see the plot develop for a series that’s so big!
Left Me Wanting More: Reveals. I’m just greeeeedy. I love Brandon Sanderson’s twists and I want themmm!

Addiction Rating
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It’s a commitment… that’s an understatement! But I will always recommend Brandon Sanderson’s books!

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