Rúnar’s review of The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) > Likes and Comments

Alison wrote: "But have you tried reading Mistborn? :)"

I don't think I want to. Am I missing out? My small sample of Brandon Sanderson has not indicated that I will like it :)

Lol, eyerollspren.

I didn't mind the whole lighteyes/darkeyes thing, but as I continued to read the book, it felt less and less plausible. I was okay with the prose eventually but it's certainly nothing that inspires a sense of fantasy.

Boom, right in the kisser. Great review.

Your review distilled my feelings about this book better than my review did.

If this were Sanderson's world, you'd be surrounded by a tiny cloud of reviewspren right now.

I am happy to find out that I am not the only one to be mightily disappointed by this book. I found it childish and ultimately very boring. I really cannot understand the hype.

Giuseppe wrote: "I am happy to find out that I am not the only one to be mightily disappointed by this book. I found it childish and ultimately very boring. I really cannot understand the hype."

Amen.

Yes, thank you for being spot on! In hindsight, I can't imagine how I made it through the first two books. It certainly, was a waste of time. After realizing that he indeed was a mormon I started making excuses for continue reading, listening to other reviews saying " just hold on the "sanderlanche" is coming in the last 200 pages. It came and it passed by almost unnoticed.

There are entire paragraphs whose every other word is just jargon:

Oh, Stormfather, Adolin thought, stomach twisting in pain. Jezerezeh, Kelek, and Ishi, Heralds above. Let me find a way to right this. Please. "I will return to Alethkar," Dalinar said. "Though I hate to leave our army here down a Shardbearer."


I just can't take this seriously.

I fail to see the problem here. Shardbearers are properly explained up until this point, and with context in the sentence alone anyone can tell what Jezerezeh, Ishi, Kelek, and Alethkar are.

If you didn't like the book that's fine, but I feel like you're just reaching to find things to criticise.

My dad and I were just talking about this book and the problems with it. I went off on a huge rant of the spren, and then found your review and it make me laugh. Well put!

Sagar wrote: "IDK if you read the book, because spren are very important. They are also a metaphor for quantum mechanics."

I read all 1001 pages of this horrid tome and I regret every moment. I fail to see the connection with quantum mechanics, and I honestly can't be arsed.

Abhishek wrote: "I fail to see the problem here. "

The problem is not this paragraph in particular. The problem is that the whole book is like this and it's honestly just exhausting. Yes, we can infer what Jezerezeh, Ishi, Kelek, and Alethkar are, but we are not well motivated to care.

I loved your observation on the inherent religiosity of his world understanding.

Honestly, I am too bored (probably stopping after vol. 1 of Book 1, which is ALREADY 700 pages) to make such complex observations.

So, my next question is: how much cocaine did you take to notice?

Mistborn is as bad as Way of Kings. Its one advantage is that it is shorter.

Love the eyerollspren. Yes I was rolling my eyes a lot. I love Mistborn but this was too much repetition and random POVs and the overwhelming religious themes, which I don't usually mind, but it was devoid of subtlety. I gave it 3 stars myself, but if you havent already give Mistborn a shot.

No. Mistborn is not better. It is equally pointless, juvenile, and dull. I love what Sanderson did with WoT, but everything else he has written is just a pile of words.

It's juvenile to make wines different colors...? Oy

The spren are also kind of a big deal. They make the magic possible, but maybe a child like mind is needed to appreciate them

Sam wrote: "It's juvenile to make wines different colors...?"

It's the kind of worldbuilding a child might do in their idle thoughts. It makes the world feel constructed and not a living place.

"The spren are also kind of a big deal. They make the magic possible, but maybe a child like mind is needed to appreciate them"

I understand it's revealed in a later book that the spren are important. But that makes me like it even less, since the whole magic system is then organized around this awkward contrivance.

William wrote: "Wow. You're so edgy and different!"

He's not trying to be either. He's not making his points for the sake of it. If you disagree, fine. But he thought about his own response and gave plenty of thoughtful examples.

Maybe you need to think about your insults a bit more. This one doesn't work.

Just read the review and I was like oh my. This is exactly what I'm thinking. What the hell is with all this hype over this book.

I'm like pretty far into it, and I'm like where's the suspense, what the hell is going on where is this ultimately leading up to... Oh shit I have 600 more pages of this to get through to get to the good stuff! I just finished a re-read of The Fellowship of the Ring book and that had me glued... That took me from place to place, moment to moment and with a purpose.

The intro got me in, as there's a murder of a King and like S#&t will eventually go down... Nothing... What the hell...

Maybe Tolkien put the bar so high that others trying to do something original, just can't do it for me... Oh well...

This isn't a perfect book, but giving it 1 star does not come across as emotionally mature.

There are very few people like you out there but they do exist. I've seen this attempt executed before. People giving the highest rated, and most beloved, fantasy books in history the lowest score they possibly can, then being prideful of that fact like they are the beakon of truth in an entire ocean of lies. Needing to go full-bore against the grain as hard as physically possible.

It's troubling that some people go through life this way.

Good luck going forward, you beakon of truth, you.

Thank you! I felt like I was reading a different book than everyone else giving it gushing, five star reviews.

William wrote: "This isn't a perfect book, but giving it 1 star does not come across as emotionally mature.

There are very few people like you out there but they do exist. I've seen this attempt executed before. ..."

*beacon

William wrote: "This isn't a perfect book, but giving it 1 star does not come across as emotionally mature.

There are very few people like you out there but they do exist. I've seen this attempt executed before. ..."

Also, you realise that opinions are subjective, right? 'Beloved' is not an absolute.

I tell you what. I thought this book was fucking shit. Words on words on words. Am I wrong? No. Am I right? Well, it depends...

At least this guy has taken to time to truly think through his opinion and present ideas related to examples.

You seek to shut him down. You are, in fact, acting like the 'beacon of truth' you so despise.

I’m not trying to be a beacon of truth. I simply read this book and I didn’t like it. No, more than didn’t like it. I hated it. The fact that it’s so universally loved makes me hate it more, because I feel like I was tricked into believing there was something worthwhile here.

What are all these fantasy elements doing in my fantasy book? 🤬

Thank you. Absolutely agree with everything. I dont undersand the how the ratings are so overrated. I had to DnF it.

Womp womp

I just finished Part One (thankfully he let me know) around p.190. I'm not sure I can keep going but I don't want to be defeated by this book which is actually very easy reading and should be the relaxing story time I'm looking for.
My bookmark fell out and I accidentally started reading again where it had been replaced randomly (around p.320). I read almost the whole chapter before realizing I wasn't in the same part of the book I had left previously.

In my honest opinions, you have no taste in books

This thread was almost as entertaining as the book - and I loved the book ;)

Talie wrote: "In my honest opinions, you have no taste in books"

Your opinion on this matter is unwelcome, unsolicited, and worth precisely nothing.