# Anyone else read Brandon Sanderson's "The Way of Kings"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772 "2011-02-18T03:14:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/1 "2011-02-18T03:14:04Z")
He’s just the sort of author where you want to discuss things afterwords. Hunt down every reader you can find and ask _what do you think THAT was about?_ ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/2 "2011-02-18T06:04:40Z")
I read it and enjoyed it. But that was right when it came out, and the details are no longer fresh in my mind. What specifically about it did you not know what was about, if you get my drift? I mean, I certainly didn’t walk away from it thinking “what the hell was that?”, as I sometimes have from books. ---
**Author:** ![Koldanar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@Koldanar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koldanar)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/3 "2011-02-18T13:39:36Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > He’s just the sort of author where you want to discuss things afterwords. Hunt down every reader you can find and ask _what do you think THAT was about?_ There are a few websites out there too if you want to see some research / discussion on this, and his other books. [http://www.17thshard.com/](http://www.17thshard.com/) [http://www.brandonsanderson.com](http://www.brandonsanderson.com) (Click on the message board link). Some enterprising person out there took the time to translate the drawings in WoK, and came out with some interesting information regarding the magical devices in his world. There is also a link between the various worlds in his books, but the link is unimportant to each individual story. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/4 "2011-02-18T17:08:01Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > What specifically about it did you not know what was about, if you get my drift? I mean, I certainly didn’t walk away from it thinking “what the hell was that?”, as I sometimes have from books. I didn’t mean it that way. I meant, enduring mysteries, like “What is Wit?” (my main one). ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/5 "2011-02-18T17:14:17Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I read it and enjoyed it. But that was right when it came out, and the details are no longer fresh in my mind. I’m in the same boat… but i liked it a lot. Very much looking forward to the rest of series. (and the new mistborn novella!!!). I love Sanderson, and the rate at which he seems to pump out these amazing books is astounding. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/6 "2011-02-18T17:44:45Z")
There’s a new Mistborn novella? Is it in a collection or online? ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/7 "2011-02-18T20:20:54Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > There’s a new Mistborn novella? Is it in a collection or online? Here’s a link to Brandon’s blog post about how it started out as a short story and grew into a short novel that is expected to be out this fall 🙂 [Mistborn: The Alloy of Law](http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/954/Wrapping-Up-My-Time-Off) ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/8 "2011-02-18T20:36:17Z")
I’m a huge fan and have read everything he’s published except the Wheel of Time continuations. The Way of Kings is what really cemented his reputation for me and he’s now on my very short list of people whose stuff I preorder and pick up at launch. (He, Patrick Rothfuss, Brent Weeks, Richard Morgan, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) I’m definitely looking forward to the next one, though a new Mistborn novel isn’t wrong either! I’m also looking forward to his uncanny way of foreshadowing huge developments early on, in plain sight. (Mistborn readers will be familiar with the importance of the word “on” as opposed to “in” for instance.) I’m excited to see what he’ll pull back from book one. ---
**Author:** ![Zoinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zoinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoinks)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/9 "2011-02-19T02:42:08Z")
Yeah, I read it a while back. I preferred the, uh, Kaladin(?) scenes to the rest. Sorry, like I said, it’s been a while. The female scholar bits kind of moved slowly for me. Shoot, I remember now I sent a long message to Sanderson’s Livejournal account. I wonder if he reads those? Maybe I should have just emailed him. I do remember sometimes being confused at all the characters and mentioning in my PM that I hoped he included a dramatis personae for the next book. His technical abilities as a writer have certainly improved from his first book. Not to say that Elantris was crap but I remember there were bits that niggled at me, though I can’t recall specifics offhand. > [@Koldanar](#): > > Some enterprising person out there took the time to translate the drawings in WoK, and came out with some interesting information regarding the magical devices in his world. > > There is also a link between the various worlds in his books, but the link is unimportant to each individual story. Do you have a link for the translations? And what’s the link between Sanderson’s worlds? Is it like Stephen King’s books and technically it’s all taking place in the same universe? Or the all-encompassing evil is from the same source? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/10 "2011-02-20T00:49:19Z")
Yeah, Kaladin’s the best character (although I liked Shallah, too; it’s just that K has an awesome factor of about ten thousand). And Wit. Wit is also awesome, and puzzling. Any thoughts on who/what he is? ---
**Author:** ![Zoinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zoinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoinks)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-brandon-sandersons-the-way-of-kings/571772/11 "2011-02-20T03:04:10Z")
Sorry, I barely remember Wit and had to look him up on Wikipedia. I can’t really comment on him since I already returned WoK to the library. Obviously he knows more than he lets on. I do remember thinking there must be medical problems that would spring up from that one society that spends their entire lives immersing their feet in water.