The Way of Kings by Brandon SandersonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very good book. Though it seems a little formulaic at first, it manages to surprise the reader thanks to its complex world-building. Even right up to the end there are twists and turns that are hard to predict, and you are fed the information in trickles, so it's not overly expository, though a few of the dialogues seem a little forced.
The thing is, it's a very enjoyable book that you can't put down. Shallan's chapters are boring mostly, so I found myself wanting to skip ahead to the Kaladin chapters, which are the emotional cornerstone of the book. Kaladin's journey is very well told and seems more original than Shallan's or Dalinar's. It has one or two "Hell, yeah!" moments near the end which give you a huge payoff.
It's a long book, but the pacing is good and it doesn't slog down much. The length is necessary due to the amount of world-building and especially to give a payoff to Dalinar and Kaladin's story. Without the room to breathe, their 'epiphanies' at the end wouldn't have the huge impact they do.
There are some issues, but mostly with expository dialogues and some awkward phrasing. Brandon's prose is not as beautiful as, say, Patrick Rothfuss's, but he makes it up with truly superior world-building and some truly awesome scenes.
Can't wait for the next book and to find out more about the mysteries!
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