Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you have an email ending in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @outlook.com (or any other Microsoft-related domain), please consider changing it to another email provider; Microsoft decided to instantly block the server's IP, so emails can't be sent to these addresses.
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
Comments
You know half of it.
I think it's about nine-tenths of the way through, a bit more, that you'll find out why that's even more awful/awesome.
Wait. Yes. That means you're moving into the part of the book where Kaladin starts being fuckawesome.
He hasn't started yet?!
Kaladin has been generally pretty cool up until now, but from here on in, he starts getting fuckawesome- his ideals start shining through his depression, and he slowly, slowly becomes Kaladin Stormblessed once again.
Plus, you're heading into the parts which finally explain his proper motivation- I think you've already read about what Amaram did, but you haven't read about Tien and Varsh yet.
And then there's the final sequence, before the epilogue, which is possibly the most awesome scene I have read in quite a while, on behalf of both Kaladin and Dalinar, but mostly Kaladin.
Anyway, something I wanted to bring to your attention: the writing in the book.
This is, quite possibly, one of the best parts of the book. I'm hesitantt o call it the best, as that crown falls to the characters or the worldbuilding, but it's definitely up there.
Well, what's really so good about the writing, you ask?
It's plain.
No, really. That's it. It's plain.
See, in books like The Name of the Wind, the prose itself supports the story. The narrator is a storyteller and a musician, and this is reflected in the way the story is told; it's rambley, it's disconnected, the prose itself flows like a storyteller would tell it, not an author. That's all well and fine; in fact, it's one of the best parts of that book, as it supports the themes of the story.
However, in The Way of Kings, there is absolutely nothing special about the writing at all. He doesn't construct a language; he doesn't try to evoke a lot of imagery; he doesn't use a thousand made-up words; he provides reference points for real life to understand the language; he just writes it simply, just... telling the story.
Well, how is that a good thing?
It's actually pretty simple; The Way of Kings is long. Fucking long. 1001 pages in the first book of a ten-book series. Writing which invites you to contemplate, writing which forces you to think about what's being written, that helps you to imagine what's going on, it sets the scene. That's all well and dandy, for shorter books. Investing the effort to read that amount of work in what will quite possibly be a 10,000 page epic? Well... that's not something that is very welcoming.
Sanderson's prose, however, is simple. It just tells the story; it sets a scene, then it focuses on whatever the story focuses on. After a while, you tend to forget that you're even reading; you're just having the story told to you. It doesn't overwhelm you.
There's more to it than just that, though. Most high fantasy books these days have... well, it's hard to describe. They have boring chapters interspersed through the book, meaning that the actual good chapters are highlighted. Highlighting the good prose by the boring prose, I guess.
Sanderson, however, constantly has stuff happening. This doesn't mean that it's jam-packed with action; there's not actually always a lot of stuff happening in a given chapter. There's a lot of worldplay, though- especially in Shallan and Dalinar's stories. There's thematic implications, religious implications. There are phrases littered about that give a new spin on things. None of this really requires you to put a lot of thought into things; it just means that you're constantly given something to mull over in your head. It stops chapters from being really dry and boring.
That's probably one of the biggest strengths of the book, I think. The prose is simple, which makes it easily readable, and thus keeps you going.
Oh, I thought that was explained recently.
Well, glad I didn't spoil it then. You'll be getting to it soon though.
That's why I've been able to picture fight scenes and stuff vividly when normally I can't! I noticed it very early on, but couldn't figure out what was so special.
I know that sounds backwards, but I do think that's it.
That is it, yeah.
I mean, most books... they tend to delve into the how. I mean, a lot of books seem to give you step-by-step instructions on how they fight, focusing on what the characters are doing, what the effects are, and so on. Sanderson just kind of skims that; he says what the characters are doing, then just shows you the effects, which allows you to build up a fight scene very quickly in your head, and leaves it up to you to imagine all the tiny details. He doesn't focus on how long things take, or how many hits everyone takes, or describe how they parry, twirl and attack (except in one very memorable instance near the end of the book).
It just... stylizes everything, which allows you to build up the scene in your head without needing you to imagine it like a film.
Also it is said that the work of the most masterful of craftsmen has a touch so delicate that you won't even notice it's there.
That is probably one of the best lines in this book so far.
that is the best line
Idunno, I liked the "that makes no sense" in the prologue, though that's more because of the way I imagine him saying it, on top of the context.
Got to the bit with Amaram.
I...he...
O.O
I knew what that meant. I do believe that's the first one that's fairly explicit in meaning.
Er...I just read a bit where he basically says "well, I have to go be in another series for a bit. Later."
Yeah, it is one of the two biggest bits of his characterization. It firmly establishes why he hates lighteyes so, and the way he turned down the Shardblade and Shardplate establishes him pretty well as someone who doesn't want to take their power for himself.
Oh, no. You think you do, but really, you have absolutely no idea, and you won't until the very last page of the book. Although you're somewhat right.
Nope, again. We find out where he is/has been at the end of the book.
Fair enough. Still, that was the only one that I had even a vague idea about, which is pretty significant.
Aw :c
Still, some of the stuff he said does appear to indicate that his presence in multiple worlds isn't just a running joke or anything like that.
Oh, the context is pretty clear; you know who it's about, and what he's talking about. You just don't realize the real significance of that quote yet. In fact, even I'm not fully sure of it; although I suspect that some of the other quotes in the page headings may have been by him.
I don't think it's a joke. I'm pretty sure that he's connected to the Shards, though.
>page 762
is
is that a knifegun?
I... what?
context plz
Wait, no. That's a fabrial, designed to sit over your wrist, I believe.
Oh, okay.
It totally looks like a knifegun, though.
It really does. I thought it was some sort of torture instrument at first.
I believe the knife-thingies are meant to... Okay, I have no fucking idea. It's weird and I like it.
Wait, it's not a fabrial. ???
What's that?
That's a bit of fanart someone drew, in the style of the artwork in the book. It's a picture of Syl as they imagine her; faint, ethereal, but a defined person. Wind, smoke, given human form.
Oh, okay. I was going "wait, was there a picture of Syl? Because I did not see a picture of Syl."
There wasn't. That's why I linked that, because I thought it was a pretty good representation.
There's a bunch out there of Kaladin, too.
So, I was reading the bit where Kaladin is learning how to surgebind. Then I realized that his part of the book is basically a superhero origin story.
A bit under 60 pages from the end, but I wanted to take a moment to say that Dalinar is pretty awesome.
So's Kaladin, but I already knew that.