The Way of Kings

By Jonathan Sherman

​Most mediocre books on philosophy are concerned with making men. The truly great books are concerned with making men into leaders, pillars of morality, and guidance for their community. 

The Way of Kings was created by Brandon Sanderson and is a story about one of these books, and an exploration of what a code of morals can do for a man who is lost. That is just one of three main perspectives in the book and one of the many reasons it is worth reading despite its incredible length. The other two perspectives are of two teenagers trying to find their place in the world and experiencing rather extraordinary suffering along the way. Both teenagers, by the end of the book, are transformed by their experiences and end up in places they thought were totally out of their reach, each one showing extraordinary determination and grit along the way. 

These three perspectives are all vehicles to showcase the book's various strengths. The first of which is the world-building, which, as always for Sanderson, is quite outstanding and extremely immersive despite its rather unfamiliar eastern-based setting for the fantasy genre. The second strength the book has is its fundamental understanding of cause and effect. Each action in this world has its consequence, and each of those consequences will branch in ways you cannot imagine. It is utterly beautiful and goes to show Sanderson’s attention to detail and the Herculean amount of effort put into this book. 

This book to me is a reminder to hope and persevere, that despite whatever may be going on in your life, you can always enact change on it, you can always improve, and even if you lose everything along the way, you might just find something new.

Brandon Sanderson facts and life:

1. Sanderson teaches at Brigham Young as a professor with an emphasis on creative writing. All of his lectures at the institute can be found online.
2. Sanderson has written over fifty novels, several novellas, and short stories on top of that.
3. Sanderson was the man who finished off The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan’s death.
4. The Way of Kings is, in part at least, meant to be a cathartic experience for those undergoing depression.
5. Sanderson is a member of the church of the Latter-Day Saints and spent two years on a mission in Seoul, South Korea.