Epic

This book consumed my life for 3 weeks. Not a second of it was wasted.

All of the characters are interesting and real. Even the bit players stuck with me - Ishic the Fisherman in particular. I really hope that Sanderson will expand on some of those in the next books - I'm optimistic, from all reports he'll have plenty of pages to fill :). I keep trying to imagine what will happen when all of the characters eventually meet (for instance, I'm certain that Rock will fall head-over-heels for Shalan).

The glimpses you get of the 'magic' systems are intriguing, and I kept catching myself trying to put the pieces of it together when I really should have been doing other things (sleeping, for instance).

The environment is unique, the plants and animals are a mixture of the familiar and strange and hint at events that must have happened in the world's past ... and even as I write this, I'm putting more pieces together :) I think I may have to listen to it for a 5th time.

I would recommend listening to the whole book at least twice. Listening over it again with hindsight/foreknowledge of where the story is going lets you see events in a very different way, and the simple length means that even the most careful listener will miss some gems. I'm considering buying the hardcopy as well.

18 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Brilliant

I have listened to over 100 Audiobooks, and this is the first time I really felt the need to write a review. I picked up a Brandon Sanderson book about two years ago, and was immediately impressed by his writing style. Too many fantasy writers forget how important it is that their worlds should also have rules and limits and plausible (if fantastic) magic. Every brilliant writer is an artist on his own, and should not be compared to another. Brandon Sanderson completed the Wheel of Time series, and I hope that he wouldn’t therefor mind being compared to Robert Jordan. An amazing story and a satisfying end, although I feel the itch of the addicted for the next book. The brilliant narration by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (the narrators for the Wheel of Time) takes you right into the world and leave you hungry for more. I give this book my highest recommendation and my only wish is that I can have a selective memory loss so that I can enjoy this one again.

49 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Stick with it

If you could sum up The Way of Kings in three words, what would they be?

Epic, brilliant, extensive

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Getting towards the end, I found every opportunity to listen.

Any additional comments?

Being such an epic this title begins by developing some backgrounds and history pertinent to the the overall story. In doing so the story takes a bit of time to form but when it does there is no disputing that this is an outstanding epic journey into a completely original culture and world. Initially I felt that Brandon Sanderson was, in a way, showing off his ability to create such a different society but after giving the title time to develop my opinion was utterly changed. Please stick with this book, you will be glad you did....

Double N

15 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

WOW!!

This was very new to me. I thought I was going to be bogged down with slow periods in a long drawn out novel. I was very wrong. Splendid.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Kate Readings ruins a perfectly good book

The book is a true epic. Kate reading however with her weird end of sentence inflections ruins most of her parts. Her narrative is so irritating i found myself wincing everytime her part would come up. Kramer on the other hand is steady and stoic as expected. Ive been meaning to hear the wheel of time series but seeing its also kate reading, I think I'll give the audio books a pass.

17 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Took forever to get anywhere

My heavens. This book creeps forward at a dizzyingly slow pace. He writes well and there has been great thought and care put into creating a world that is detailed and colorful. But oh my god, all the endless back and forth, uuurgh. Just kept wanting it to go. Anywhere. Now.

Like riding a donkey after robbing a bank.

12 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Brilliant!

Wow! Brilliant! One doesn't realise Brendan Sanderson's genius until you reach the end and can encompass the entire book. To write 40 hours of material with focus and and keeping the dialogues sharp and inventive is a unique talent.

This book had a great variety of characters. Some "critic" reviews on other sites have complained about characters lacking depth. But, I found all the characters were well rounded and had a variety of facets to their personality.

I would highly recommend listening to this book.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Epic

I've been looking for a good epic fantasy world since I've finished Sword of Truth and got as far as you can with Wheel of Time, and if this book is anything to go buy The Stormlight Archive is going to be an amazing Epic fantasy series.

It might just be because this book has the same narrators as the Wheel of Time but the writing style is very similar to Robert Jordan, this might be why he was asked to finish off the WoT series after Jordan's death.

The writing is great, the narration is great and the action scenes flow nicely enabling me to really visualise the story in my mind.

Love it, five stars isn't enough.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Magnificent - one of the best if not the best

Highly recommend, smart novel that make you curious and eager for more, 5 great stories interlinked with each othe. Top notch

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Where is the next BOOK!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Way of Kings to be better than the print version?

I have both audio and printed version of this book. I would listen to the audio and go back and re-read the printed version. I often found that while listening, my mind wondered and missed some small details. I enjoyed in re-reading the printed version to "catch up" or find the missing plot. Further, I use both printed and audio books to help me in my reading/diction and accent. It is a great way of learning English.

What other book might you compare The Way of Kings to and why?

The Wheel of Times - an epic fantasy novel, where this book is shaping up to be. Just hope the series don't take several decades to complete!!

What does Michael Kramer and Kate Reading bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Accents, the emotions in the voice bring the characters alive.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile