A review by ashley_mrose530
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Honestly, this book is nothing short of spectacular. I would give this more than 5 stars if I could. The pacing is amazing, the writing is perfectly simple but also captivating, and the characters are all lovable. I think this is definitely a great book for anyone who is looking to get into epic high fantasy. It drops you right in, in a good way. There's always going to be a little bit of confusion with a high fantasy as you try to get a sense of the world, but this book gave you just enough so you could understand and not be bored but also didn't overwhelm you with all of the information all at once. The world building was so seamless and well thought out and I loved learning about the magic system and the different species of humans.
I loved all of the characters even the more minor ones. They were all so well developed and had such distinct personalities. I even loved the one who was killing everyone and will be seen as the "bad guy". They all had a lot of depth throughout the book and stood out as individuals. I rooted for every single one of them to get what they wanted.
I also really liked the pacing of this book. Like I said, it does drop you in like right away with a character who is killing people as he's trying to kill a king, so it starts off on a high note which I think was a great way to start because when that was over you were completely ready to slow down and get a deeper sense of the world that you needed in order to move on. But the book itself was also separated into parts with interludes in between. I really enjoyed that it took a step back from the main story with those and added a side story to give you more information about the world and how it works without inundating you with exposition. It really worked with the pacing of the novel as a whole.
So yeah this was definitely a 10/10 read and I will be recommending it to anyone who is interested in high fantasy.

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