The Way of Kings | Brandon Sanderson | Negative Rant Review

[linda]

OMG, finally someone said it!! I’ve never seen anyone describe The Way of Kings exactly the way I feel about it. I agree It felt juvenile, cringe, and honestly kind of tacky. The constant quirky details don’t add charm. They make the world feel silly and unserious, like it’s trying way too hard to be “unique.”

And you're so right. There’s no sense of wonder. This isn’t an epic, it’s just a really big book.

I also just don’t vibe at all with Sanderson’s sense of humor. It’s so painfully bad and only makes the characters feel more flat and forced.

Yes!!! there’s no real sense of danger, no real stakes, and it just ends up feeling hollow. I 100% agree that maybe it could’ve been a good book, but definitely in someone else’s hands.

Thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking and thought no one else ever would.

You’ve got a new subscriber!!!

[BryceWithRice]

I didn’t realize you could talk about not liking Brandon Samderson’s books on the internet without ending up dead

[TaraHeroWide]

What I really feel about Sanderson's writing is that it reads like a first draft. It needs ton of editing and a good chunk of the lenght could be cut. And personally I feel like a lot of the information is forced down ones throat rather than presented like small, shattered treats to discover. For example he will straight out tell the reader what is happening in the scene like it would be part of a script for a screen. I DO not need to be told the characters are planning to go to a ball if it has been mentioned in a previous scene and they are dressing up in ballgowns!

[philipcarlson]

Thanks. When I first got into fantasy I tried Brandon Sanderson. So many positive youtube reviews. I felt gaslit by the community, it was like I was reading different books. YA, poor prose, too much hand holding, simple characters. I really didn't care for it. I then read the Dandelion Dynasty, a real fantasy series. No comparison.

[digitalbear]

I find Brandon Sanderson distinctly "sexless". Not that I literally need erotic content in every book I read, but I need to believe characters are realistic, with some level of carnal desires and deeply-held beliefs. Things about them that are so deep down that it takes a whole book to come to recognize. I read the first book of Mistborn and started the second, and it just started to feel way too sanitized for me. I'd def read it to like a class of middle schoolers or something, I guess?

[BossAttack]

It's nice to see a review that coincides with my own opinion. I think you covered most of my issues with the novel. I also started with Mistborn as I already had the series purchased previously on my Kindle, so I figured I'd burn through them first before getting into Stormlight. And I really did not like Mistborn, I felt each book was actually worse than the last. BUT, I graded Mistborn on a curve. It was Sanderson's first novel. It's a YA novel series. Etc. Now, that still doesn't excuse the poor narrative experience I felt reading the series, after all Harry Potter is a first time novelist series and essentially a book geared towards children. And yet, it has good prose for its genre and a great sense of adventure and overall themes. Still, I was told that Stormlight Archive is SO much better. And how Sanderson basically "levels up" with Way of Kings.

I figured I'd take the plunge even though the page count worried me. 1, 000 pages for the first novel is a series? Who does he think he is?! Suffice to say, all the issues in Mistborn are pretty much all present in Way of Kings. The only benefit is that WoK actually has more world building than Mistborn, which had very little world building. Now, I went into WoK with the expectation that the prose would be very basic. I'd read Mistborn. I'd been told this by others. And Sanderson himself has described his "simplistic" and "basic" prose style as being a "clear window" into his world. Fine. But, that means I'm going to be paying far more attention to the actual story and characters since there is little enjoyment to be had in the actual prose.

And you hit the nail on the head, this is not a difficult book to read. I feel that anyone saying that has either not read a lot or have not read much fiction that isn't fairly grounded. I feel the reason others claim the book is "difficult" to initially read is because Sanderson creates world that are NOT grounded or similar to our own real world. The weather, topography, flora, fauna, and societal structure are all VERY much different than anything on Earth or general human history. As a result, you cannot exactly ground yourself going in on much since it's all fairly alien. Still, this is just fiction 101 when it comes to building a fantastical world. Everything will be explained to you in the novel in due course and then explained 1, 000 more times in case you didn't get it the first hundred times. If you have zero patience waiting to understand what a "spren" is, then sure this might be a "difficult" read. But anyone capable of sitting down and reading will find the book a very easy read.

And so, with that out of the way we get to the story...which is basic, predictable, and overwritten. You know what's going to happen the majority of the time extremely early-on, but you have to read 700 pages before the predictable thing happens. Did anyone honestly think Dalinar was insane? Dalinar is a prime example because he's such a simple character. He's honorable and that's his only character trait. He's honorable and acts honorable and does honorable things. Did I mention how honorable he is? And so what is his major conflict for 1, 000 goddamn pages? Whether he's insane and should abdicate his position or whether he should stay and try and trust his visions. Absolutely riveting stuff...

Now, I'm not one to agree that a character needs to change or "have an arc" to be engaging or properly written, you can have a magnificent story about a character that does not change. However, you still need to make it possible for us to believe they may change or to challenge their beliefs. Ned Stark in ASOIAF is somewhat similar to Dalinar in being a man whose all about honor. Yet, Ned Stark is so engaging because his honor, and what is even supposed to be the honorable thing, is routinely put into question. It's gripping and engaging as you debate whether Ned Stark is doing the right thing has he navigates extremely complex and high-stakes scenarios while trying to maintain his concept of honor and morality. Dalinar, meanwhile, is not presented with any such challenges. He has his visions and that's really the only thing we are meant to focus on, which we as a reader know cannot be insane ravings of an addled mind. He never really has to put his honor into any difficult challenge. He's never really explored in any meaningful way, he just gets to look tough and bothered and tormented when in reality he's a static, boring, and threadbare character with not much going on under the helmet.

And that goes for every character in the book. They are thin character traits masquerading as characters in a meandering story that doesn't really go anywhere and only serves to string you along until the next book where things may really start to happen. Sorry, but I'm not reading 1, 000+ pages for you to tell me that the story doesn't actually start until the next 1, 000+ pages. Let's not even get into those "repressed" elements you touched on. The lack of real romance, sex, meaningful women, etc. What's funny is for such an ALIEN and STRANGE fantasy world, sexuality and gender are as basic as the 1950's and before.

[lukeyznaga]

The problem with a lot of modern fantasy books is over hyped, political correct marketing for bad authors.

[SamElliottsStache]

You're right about this book not feeling like fantasy. It was what I call "white anime", specifically shounen manga. He appeals to the Marvel Comics crowd and he's too tame. But that was expected since he teaches at a Mormon university.

[MrAelin]

I would've enjoyed this book back when i was 10 lol. Im 30 so there's no way i can pass the page number 100. I need the good old Abercrombie

[lukeyznaga]

It's the Elites. They are loud tho few. Heavy marketing. You are correct. Did I mention that I subbed.

[devinkipp]

Subscribed. Thanks for the honest review, I felt the same way but only got two chapters in, hated almost every scene. As an aspiring writer who's watched almost all of his lectures its unfortunate to see that he takes a sort of "Do as I say not as I do" approach

[calmorca]

Man thank you for saying out loud whats been on my mind. I absolutely hated this book. Incredibly boring, lackluster characters, no complexity or nuance. No emotional connection to anything in the book. It baffles my mind how this book is so highly rated. Gosh what a waste of time

[federicoguardado]

I almost died laughing when you started critiquing the character names looool, great video, agree with you on this one. Almost felt like I was crazy for not liking it

[InternetConnected]

I managed to slog my way through the first two Stormlight novels. The third one finally stopped me dead in my tracks. Never went back to the series.

[webarnesca]

I'm left wondering: is the book tacky?

[nathanbeer]

I actually liked it, I like the mystery of Roshar and why thing are as they are, what the hell is Stormlight, Voidbringers, Sprens, Shadesmar etc. and I think Brandon has the ability to explain these subjects but not feeding it too much to us readers in order for us to know more and in the climax he takes all that we know of the magic system so far and uses it to deliver such an epic battle between good and bad and ugly.
The difference between Brandon's way of writing and Rowling's or Tolkein's (haven't read Robin Hobb yet so cannot compare with her) is that Brandon likes to explain to the very core how his magic system works what's its limits? When can you use it? Which people can use it? Why can you use it? Why doesn't it work sometimes? What sides effects does it have? Whereas with other stories you just have that mysterious ability and that's all you need to know, that's why his books can be weapons for how long they are like this comment that I'm writing. 😅
Brandon Sanderson's way of writing is probably for everyone's taste, his premise is very slow and that's okay, I don't disagree.

[adamkleiman]

every character a Mary Sue, nobody ever in danger in a fight, the worst prose I've ever read, every POV reads the same, don't feel like I actually know any of the characters, writing ab sex and alcohol simply bizarre, unbelievably slow pace. I did not enjoy it.

[Military-gradenutella]

Write by numbers. Sanderson writes like the ideas are modular - file the serial numbers off and republish.

[OscarB-py]

I have always had this feeling that I have to read this book because of all the praise it gets, almost like an obligation, but I did read the Mistborn trilogy and I thought it was "meh" but I always wanted to give the Stormlight series a chance since, supposedly, they are books written at a later date when maybe Sanderson's craft could have improved. This video and others I see online are just confirming to me that I won't enjoy it either. I guess there is a downside to writing books so quickly. I'd rather the author take the time they need than churning out slop year after year.

[Grahammerk]

This validates my need to quit trying to read A Way of Kings. Thank you.