Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Brandon Sanderson is quickly becoming my favorite author. I grew up with Tolkein, Asimov, Herbert, and other gifted writers. Though I was young and didn't understand everything on the page, the stories came alive for me. I was also a huge fan of Orson Scott Card in high school, and the past 15 years of George RR Martin. In my opinion Brandon Sanderson might just beat them all. I know that will be taken as blasphemous and borderline heresy, because Tolkein and Asimov are considered two of the greatest writers of all time. Just hear me out as to why I think Sanderson has something special with this series. The Way of Kings is the first in a planned 10 book series in the Stormlight Archive. These 10 books take place on a planet called Roshar, a planet with a unique and rich history. While humans are present, the world is very different than our own. The world is a very unforgiving place, with hurricane level storms traveling across the world every couple of weeks, giant crab like crustaceans roaming the world, and trees and other plant life have evolved a rock-like resilience to the elements. Right away you can see that this differs from the more traditional fantasy worlds of other authors. As if this isn't interesting enough, Sanderson goes one step further and introduces a magic system that hasn't been seen before. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil it, but the discovery of this "magic" (if it can be called that) is both interesting and refreshing. Though this book and presumably all books in the Stormlight Archive will take place on the planet Roshar, Brandon Sanderson has done something even more ambitious with his books than other authors have attempted in the past. He has other series, such as Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, etc that take place IN THE SAME UNIVERSE. Though these books take place in the same universe they take place on different planets, with different magic systems on each. How are there different magic systems? Well there is an explanation, (a really good one I might add) but for it to make sense, you really need to read the books. Do you have to have read one series first to enjoy another series? Absolutely not! That said, if you HAVE read some of the other books, there are numerous "Easter Eggs" that you will discover in some of the books that will make you smile. There is an over-arching plot between all of the books in each of Sanderson's series in the Cosmere Universe, but that plot is still in its infancy. Sanderson has said he knows his end game, and thankfully he is a very fast writer. It is amazing to me that Sanderson can write so quickly and yet so well at the same time. The character development each of the characters experiences is amazing. Each is well written, and even though I get annoyed at some of the decisions the characters make, I am not annoyed at the WRITING of those characters. The characters don't always make the best decisions, because Sanderson writes them as humans, and humans make mistakes. There are twists in the books that would rate very highly on the M. Night Shamalayan scale. There are very few books that have made me tear up as if someone cut an onion in the room, but for some reason this book (as well as Words of Radiance and Oathbringer) has made me do so. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. There's humor, romance, comedy, drama, and best of all, GOOD WRITING.