Answering ‘Should I Read Stormlight Archive?’

During the last holidays, I decided to read something from Brandon Sanderson. He has been writing epic sci fi books for several years now and was also picked to finish ‘The Wheel of Time’ which is widely regarded as one of the best fantasy series of all time. All I knew at the time about this author is that he explains his magic systems well. I looked up goodreads and tried to get a sense of the recommended series to start with. Looking at the different series and this expanded connected universe that was mentioned (the cosmere), I still wasnt sure exactly where to begin. Mistborn seemed like the obvious choice as it was a completed trilogy. However… my attention was drawn to Stormlight Archive.

These are EPIC books to be sure and I was worried about a few tings

1. Incomplete Series? – This is a risk. Game of Thrones is the perfect cautionary tale. But Stormlight is different. 4 books completed. 10 planned in total. With any other author, I would have maybe avoided starting what is an incomplete series, but Brandon’s output is remarkably consistent. Also, the books are planned to have 2 cycles with the first ending at book 5, so I was expecting a satisfactory conclusion in the next year or 2 anyway.
2. Length of the books – 1000 pages! The longest book I’ve ever read is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. Lord of the Rings trilogy combined is just a little longer than ‘The Way of Kings’ which is just Book 1 of the Stromlight Archive. The length was intimidating. But, It was also a challenge I really wanted. I wanted to immerse myself and figured this would be a good test. So I bravely decided to give it a shot. Tied very closely to this point is the prose. I have tried reading Wheel of Time and Robert Jordans insistence on using 10 words where 1 would be sufficient has turned me off the series each time. However, Brandon writes differently. There is world building, but no unnecessary descriptions. This is not to say the pacing is excellent. There are times in the book where it seems a few things are drawn out longer than they needed to, but overall- the book is still a breeze to read.

I finished Book 1 in ~9 days and Book 2 in about 8 days. Im currently halfway through Book 3.

Turns out- I love these books. And here are some reasons why:

1. Characters and World – The world of Roshar is interesting. The history and myth are well peppered through the book keeping you wanting more. The charaters are also all great. Dalinar, Kaladin, Shallan, Jasanah all leave an impressions. All have great motivations and journeys. They do not all start at the same place and part of the joy is learning how they will meet and face the challenge the world faces. The characters are also not stereotypes. They are well developed, they change but they have cornerstones or core beliefs that make them a joy to read about.
2. Crecendo and set pieces – Brandon is great at building up the tension in a crecnedo and setting up the pieces on the board exceptionally well. You see how he is positioning everything for the final climax and he delivers with great set pieces. He repeats this again in book 2 – ‘Words of Radiance’ and I am seeing the same format in Oathbringer, Book 3. This means each book has a fantastic climax.
3. Brilliant foreshadowing – Part of the lenght and the crecendo I mentioned pays off with the bits of foreshadowing Brandon is able to add. There are chance meetings, or descriptions and some of the interludes that will describe something that is relevant a few chapters of sometimes a book later. This kind of storytelling is amazing as you are seeing the journey and the bread crumbs of an unravelling mystery.

So, dear reader- should you read Stormlight archive? Yes you storming should!