Cover of The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings

  • 2010 first published
  • 1,008 pages
  • ★ 4.5 (166 ratings)
  • 30 editions

Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings (2010) is an epic fantasy novel. Readers will find themes of imaginary places, kings and rulers, magic and imaginary wars and battles.

Open Library readers give it an average of 4.5 out of 5 from 166 ratings, and 862 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 30 editions across 6 languages. It appeared on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction bestseller list in 2010.

It runs to roughly 1,008 pages — 18–19 hours of reading at an average pace.

About The Way of Kings

Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive. Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars are fought for them, and won by them. One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable. Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by overpowering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Description from Open Library

Awards & lists

  • ✦Locus Awards 2011 — Best Fantasy Novel (nominee)
  • 📰New York Times bestseller list — Hardcover Fiction, 2010

Themes, setting & tropes

Genres

Subjects

  • Fantasy
  • Epic Fantasy
  • Imaginary places
  • Kings and rulers
  • Magic
  • Imaginary wars and battles
  • Manuscripts
  • Slavery
  • Epic fantasy
  • High fantasy

Publisher

Quick answers

Who wrote The Way of Kings?

The Way of Kings was written by Brandon Sanderson and first published in 2010.

What genre is The Way of Kings?

It is usually shelved as Epic Fantasy.

How long is The Way of Kings?

The median edition has 1,008 pages, about 18–19 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.

What books are similar to The Way of Kings?

Readers who like it often enjoy Fire & Blood, A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows.

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