The Stormlight Archive - A Pocket Companion to The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance

The Stormlight Archive

by Brandon Sanderson

This pocket companion is designed to provide facts and details that may have been missed on first reading of The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance and speculation about what is to come. As such, it contains spoilers for the first two novels of The Stormlight Archive.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, Epic Fantasy, Short Stories, Reference, High Fantasy

30 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Layla ✷ Praise the sun ✷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is only 30 pages long but nicely made and a great quick reminder of some of the stuff (characters, places, open questions) of the first two books of the Stormlight Archives.

You receive this book for signing up for Tor.com's newsletter at http://torforgeblog.com/2016/08/01/do...

[Chris Haught · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little primer to prepare for the awesomeness that is Oathbringer!

[Jesper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little guide

[Mangrii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una pequeña -y escasa- guía sobre algunos de los personajes principales de la saga, la flora y fauna de Roshar, así como un repaso a las regiones más importantes y a la historia de los Caballeros Radiantes y sus órdenes, así como a sus principales habilidades y armas.

Perfecto como anticipo (junto con una visita a Cosmere.es) antes de ponerse con Juramentada.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little guide, providing a quick refresher to the characters, creatures and locations on Roshar. You could find this information online, but it's still nice to have it in book format.

[Louie Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Stormlight Archive and at Book 2 we are barely at the stage of asking the questions as well as trying to answer them. This has good prompts set out smartly with some nice illustrations.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice companion to Stormlight universe. In fact, it’s a tiny encyclopedia about the main characters, places, ecology, Surgebinders and Knight Radiants in particular.

Best to look through it after you read the books for a while for it refreshes your memory. It doesn’t bring anything new but it gathers some info closely together, which in the books you find in bits and pieces. And it has some of the original drawings from the books, which are a delight.

But if you want more on this universe or others of Sanderson, you may wanna check these places:

http://stormlightarchive.wikia.com/wi...
http://coppermind.net/wiki/Coppermind...

And also, you can check the progress BS makes on his books here: http://brandonsanderson.com/

[Skylar Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and concise. I was hoping this little guide would be a bit more comprehensive, much of it was quite simple. However there were some fascinating tidbits that were very insightful on the world of Roshar as we know it (so far).
I especially liked the list of spren types with their accompanying attributes and the orders of the Knights Radiant and their surges.
I absolutely cherish and treasure the Stormlight Archive and I so look forward to experiencing it as it unfolds over the next two decades.

[OhWell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good refresher, I'll have to refer to it again when The Stormlight Archive #3 comes out.

Thaylens have long white eyebrows that they often wear tucked behind their ears.
Now that I'm reading WoT I know where Brandon Sanderson's inspiration came from :)

[Akwa Timba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel bad giving something that's technically not a new or whole book 5 stars. But Stormlight Archives is so badass I'm going to allow it

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un breve repasito de los dos primeros libros pero que se queda en nada ya que se dedica a repasar los personajes principales por encima y hablar de las diferentes ordenes y animales pero sin profundizar. Tendré que buscar algun resumen en wiki antes de ponerme con Juramentada.

[José · Rating 3 out of 5]

No recordaba algunos detalles de los primeros libros de The Stormlight Archive así que descargué esta pequeña guía que sirve para refrescar algunos datos sobre los personajes, el mundo de Roshar y los spren.

Esta mini guía está muy bien: es concisa, contiene las ilustraciones que aparecen en los libros y sirve para no tener que volver a leer los dos ladrillos de 1000 páginas (aunque obviamente no abarca todos los detalles, solo los más importantes), seguramente le pegue otra leída cuando se publique el tercer libro. Me encantó volver a leer acerca de este impresionante universo creado por Sanderson; si todavía no leyeron The Stormlight Archive, se están perdiendo de una verdadera obra maestra.

Por suerte falta menos para la publicación de Oathbringer :)

[Mountainroot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Δεν το θεωρώ καν βιβλίο και δεν ξέρω αν και το ίδιο θεωρείτε βιβλίο.
Λοιπόν τι είναι; Είναι 30 σελίδες που είναι λες και έχεις βάλει απλά τις 2 παραγράφους από το τι γράφει η wikipedia για διάφορα πράγματα που έχουν συμβεί στα πρώτα δύο βιβλία.

Δηλαδή σου λέει: Kaladin και έχει 2 παραγράφους του ποιος είναι και τι έκανε. Τραγικό. Οπότε έχει πχ τους 3-5 βασικούς ήρωες.
Μετά έχει τα 4-5 κράτη από μία παράγραφο του τι είναι και τι κάνουν. Δεν κάνω πλάκα. Μία παράγραφος είναι.
Έχει μετά 3-4 ζώα και 2-3 φυτά. Επίσης από 1-2 προτάσεις στο κάθε ένα.
Τέλος τις δυνάμεις των surges.
Τέλος. Να είμαστε καλά να λέμε βλακείες να πουλάμε εντελώς χαζά βιβλία για τους fans.

Τραγικό. Δεν παίζει να τους πήρε να το φτιάξουν ούτε 1 ώρα με copy paste.

Υ.Γ. Νομίζω είχε 1 ή 2 προτάσεις που μπορεί να είπε κάτι που δεν ξέρουμε από τα βιβλία αλλά επειδή εγώ τα διαβάζω 2η φορά και ξέρω πράγματα μπορεί και να μην ισχύει. Αλλά μην περιμένετε να μάθετε πράγματα που δεν ξέρατε.

Μην χάσετε ούτε την ώρα σας ούτε το κόπο να το αποκτήσετε. Απλά προσπεράστε. Σαν διαφημιστικό είναι.

[Mariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nada nuevo pero siendo Sanderson trash como no disfrutarlo

[Stefano G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very handy summary of important facts to use as reference when reading the Stormlight Archive! Also, has some very nice pictures.

Contents:
- Main characters: Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan, Szeth, Eshonai.
- Main lands/locations of interest: Alethkar, Jah Keved, Kharbranth, Purelake, Shinovar, Thaylenah, The Shattered Plains, Urithiru.
- Fauna/Flora: Axehounds, Chulls, Cremlings, Greatshells, Santhid, Skyeels, Whitespines.
- Spren: Emotional Spren, Angerspren, Fearspren, Painspren, Groundspren, Rotspren, Lifespren, Judgemental spren, Creationspren, Gloryspren, Logicspren, Syl, Pattern, Cusiecesh the Protector, Stormfather.
- The Knights Radiants: explanation of all the orders and types of Knights Radiants.
- Fashion: explanation of fashion on Roshar.
- Sanderson works: there is also a summary of all TOR published works, with a short introduction of each.

[Timóteo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Várias informações úteis dos dois livros. Vai ser bom para consultar se esquecer alguma coisa até o terceiro sair. Ah, tem spoilers fudidos do segundo livro, então se não terminou ainda eu diria para não ler isso.

[Kike Paniagua Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glosario sobre el archivo de las tormentas, la genial saga de Brandon Sanderson. Contiene spoilers de las dos primeras novelas (el camino de los reyes y palabras radiantes). Creo que es útil para leer a modo de recordatorio o para ampliar un poco más en temas de worldbuilding. Interesante

[Octavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bueno... Es toda la info que ha salido hasta ahora recopilada y ordenada. Nada nuevo pero es práctico.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for people who want a quick catch up but I already knew most of it. A majority of the information can be found online! I thought it was going to be a summary of both books or something, a good prep for Oathbringer.

[Shirahime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta guía es una buena manera de asimilar conceptos de todo lo que ha ocurrido en las dos primeras novelas y de obtener información de sistemas como la flora y la fauna de Roshar, que son muy curiosos. Lectura básica y rápida, es de agradecer.

[Francesco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un'ottima lettura di ripasso prima di affrontare il terzo capitolo della saga.
Confido in futuri aggiornamenti!

[Jairo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un buen recordatorio de la historia, los personajes y el mundo de Archivo de Tormentas, especialmente si hace tiempo que se han leído los dos anteriores.

[Marc Tort · Rating 3 out of 5]

De bolsillo, sin duda, tiene menos palabras que la etiqueta de mis pantalones.

[Anddy Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante, pude entender mejor.

[Tyrell ⚔️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice companion to the Stormlight universe. It’s essentially a tiny encyclopedia about the main characters, places, Surgebinders and Knight Radiants.

I would definitely recommend reading this after the first two books to not spoil anything for yourself. Use this as a tool to reference and refresh your memory before reading Oathbringer.

[Siona Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I say anything on this book, I want to say the following. I was originally going to buy a physical copy of this, however my local indie bookstore (and it really isn't local, it's like an hour and a half drives away from where I live) didn't have a copy. I found one on Amazon Marketplace for $45 dollars. Sadly to say, I was willing to pay that much for it.

However, just an hour ago I saw where if you sign up for the Tor/Forge email news letter, they'd give you a free ebook copy, so I decided to go that way. And boy, am I glad that I didn't pay that much for this book.

I don't want to say it's a waste of time, but it really didn't give /me/ any new info (it was basically just spelling things out that had been subltly put into the books). However, I read the Coppermind wiki (http://coppermind.net/wiki/Coppermind...), so that is probably only true for me.

If you love Sanderson, then definitely go read this. But don't pay 45 dollars for it because it really isn't worth it.

[Joaquin Castañ · Rating 1 out of 5]

"El Archivo de las Tormentas (Flash Relatos)" es una guía de bolsillo en español que acompaña los dos primeros libros de la serie "El Archivo de las Tormentas" escritos por Brandon Sanderson, "El camino de los reyes" y "Palabras radiantes". Esta guía es una referencia rápida para los lectores que desean refrescar su memoria o tener una visión general de los personajes y eventos importantes de los dos primeros libros.

La guía contiene ilustraciones y mapas para ayudar a los lectores a visualizar el mundo de Roshar, donde se desarrolla la serie. Además, ofrece un resumen de la trama y de los personajes principales, lo que facilita la comprensión de la complejidad del universo que ha creado Sanderson.

En resumen, "El Archivo de las Tormentas (Flash Relatos)" es una herramienta útil para aquellos que quieran profundizar en la historia y la mitología del mundo de Roshar, así como para aquellos que quieran refrescar su memoria antes de adentrarse en los siguientes libros de la serie.

[Elizabeth Molyneaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot less in this than I anticipated... Personally I would recommend checking out the Stormlight wiki or 17th shard rather than this pocket companion. While the information in it was cohesive and easily accessible, it didn't read too well and I felt the structure left a little to be desired. As it is a factual companion to the series, I had hoped to see some decent referencing rather than pure info regurgitation. I appreciated the quotes and general information, but I would have liked to be able to go and find the quotes afterwards, or know from a glance from which book the quote or information came.
I think it is a cute little collectible, but little more than that.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

It contains summary information and sketches for the first two books of The Stormlight Archive. It is 30 pages long. It is an attractive volume, with nice artwork and coverwork and binding, but very light on content.

[Polo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a pocket guide with a list of the main characters, and their gifts, abilities and powers. It also includes drawings and descriptions of the flora, biology, ecology, demographics of the world Brandon Sanderson is building in the Stormlight Archives series.

In my opinion this pocket guide was released to keep fans from complaining about the lag time between books in the Stormlight Archive series. The author is writing and releasing many other books in various other worlds, and not releasing the next installment for the Stormlight Archives.

It is his prerogative as a writer to focus his creativity on what he wants to write about. Evidently his creative flow is not with the Stormlight Archive series right now. Whenever the third book in the series is published maybe I'll read it and maybe I won't.