The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Book Description
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.
One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.
Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
Maude’s Book Club Questions For ‘The Way of Kings’:
Kaladin is like Szeth, he can absorb stormlight to enhance his ‘powers’. Every time he holds currency, he drains them. These bursts appear physically in war. Did we all pick up on this? He’s using his surgeon training to bolster his Bridge 4 team. He builds his own crew with Rock, Teft. They can see Syl too. She keeps advancing.
What did we learn about the Spren in Part 2?
We don’t have any chapters from Shallan’s POV, she’s mentioned only as Jasnar’s new ward Dalinar’s fall from grace… it reads like a tragedy Dalinar lacks a lot of trust, and even his son feels he’s losing it. Frustration knowing he’s not sharing everything Dalinar is not sure to keep following his brother’s last words, or wondering if that’s what got his brother killed in the first place. He struggles with both the Thrill and being grounded/pacifist. Talk about where Dalinar went wrong, should he be trusting the messages or going with gut instinct on Sadeas, whose cunning was not factored in?
We learn more about Aedolin, is he in a good enough headspace to take Dalinar’s spot, knowing his swordsmanship is good, but is his political mindset? He’s quick of tempter. The dude is a womanizer/getting a reputation, but he seems like a strong and revered member of the ‘council’.
What about Renarin? He’s got a ‘blood weakness’ illness and is more scholarly, although Dalinar wants to win him a shardplate and sword. He suffers from depression, a few characters now have hinted mental illnesses. Shallan’s older brother who’s a fucking sadist sociopath etc Talk about The Way of Kings as a text/tome: does it feel like the Bible in some ways?? What is its importance?
Who do you think could be a spy? Who do you think cut the King’s saddle strap?
Talk about how lineage is displayed through hair colour We learn about the world both from the highest and lowest parts of the social hierarchy Both Kaladin and Dalinar’s core values show they’re always trying to do what’s right, even if most disagree. They have a shared goal of uniting their people. While Kaladin somewhat succeeds, Dalianr continues to fail.Do we miss Shallan’s POV? Are you currently backing any of the characters? The parshendi: is it adding up that they know so little about the enemy they’ve been attacking for 7 years? They seem to grow their armour and have a culture that the Alethi weren’t aware of. What do you think they’re about?
WHAT ARE VOIDBRINGERS?! Axies says he’s one, there was a drawing of one that Shallan drew from a text for Jasnar, and it looks like a Chasmfiend. What do you think the significance is?
UNPACK DALINAR’S DREAM: he steps into the body of a different person at a different time. A shadow-like enemy is attacking the village. He’s married with a daughter. Attacks the shadow creatures. Is visited by Shardbarers: a man and woman(!!) Talk about the masculine and feminine traits of this world: reading and writing is a feminine quality, not for men. Feminine is to create, and masculine is to destroy. Is Brandon Sanderson subtly insulting his male readers? Is Axies a demonstration of non-binary/no or fluid gender?
