To quote Orson Welles: “This is a lot of shit, you know that?”
Listen, Sanderson’s name looms large over the fantasy genre, so I finally decided to take the plunge. But I started with the Mistborn trilogy, his first. And…it was shit. I’m sorry. God awful, each book worse than the last. But I was told that Stormlight was so much better, how Sanderson had improved vastly. Sure, the prose is still basic but everything else is improved.
Okay, I’ll admit Way of Kings is better than Mistborn. This novel actually has decent worldbuilding or maybe the ZERO worldbuilding in Mistborn has skewed my perception. But there is actual worldbuilding with this novel, like there are actual places that exist beyond wherever the narrative is focused on. We don’t need to visit every location mentioned, but I should at least get an idea that other noble families or locations exist beyond Alethkar, Kharbranth, and the Shattered Plains. And I do, so that’s nice.
Congrats, because that’s pretty much the only positive I have to say. The prose is still shit. 1,000 pages of basic prose. Listen, when I’m reading a BOOK, I do expect to get enjoyment from the actual text itself. However, I can look past this if your characterization and plotting is operating at an Nth level. Because without good prose, all focus will now be on your character and plotting.
However, the characters and plotting here are equally middling. Every character is basically a single character trait, no complexity. Dalinar is honorable. Khaladin is a good guy hero that just wants to protect people. Shallan is “witty” and shy but wants to learn and grow out of her shell. Repeat that for 1,100 fucking pages with zero change. Now, I don’t want to hear about how Khaladin gets more complex 4 books and 6,000 pages further, no. Either he’s interesting now, after a 1,100 pages, or I’m not reading further.
The plot is basically non-existent since the entire story is just two goddamn places where the same thing happens every chapter. Dalinar groans about honor and whether he’s going mad. Kal suffers. And Shallan reads and goes on dates with Kabzbal (whateverhisname). Fucking fascinating. And listen, I love a “nothing happens” story. Nothing is happening are probably my favorite stories. You know, where a bunch of characters are just stuck in a place and we are just zeroing in on their personal character and growth, examining every facet of them and overarching larger themes? But you know what? Those are usually the second or third novels or films, AFTER you’ve established who these characters are and let us have some plot fun with them. It’s why the Empire Strikes Back is so amazing. What’s important though is that STAR WARS didn’t start with ESB, it started with A New Hope!
We are stuck with these characters for over 1,000 pages where nothing happens and nothing interesting is explored about them. Oooooo will good guy Khaladin finally escape or save some people? Is the honorable Dalinar insane in a high-fantasy series that starts off with a prologue from 1,500 years ago with some magical warriors such that we know for a fact that it’s literally impossible for his visions to not be real? Absolutely riveting.
Oh, and after Mistborn I think it’s clear Sanderson has a fetish for woman with long black hair. And hey man, so do I. But I also don’t go writing about that in every story.
Let’s not talk about the lack of women, LGBTQ+ characters, his constant need to write about slavery that he is not equipped to handle, and godawful romance. Let’s not.
I’m sorry, I wished I liked it. I wanted to get on the Stormlight hype train, but sorry. I don’t believe I can continue with this series.
by revanchisto