The first book in the Stormlight Archive series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, kickstarts an amazing new epic narrative.
A planet of stone and storms is Roshar. The rocky terrain is regularly swept by eerie tempests of immense intensity, which have changed both environment and culture. Trees tuck branches in, animals hide in shells, and grass retreats into the barren earth. Only in places where the landscape provides shelter are cities established.
The ten dedicated organizations known as the Knights Radiant have fallen centuries ago, but their magical swords and armor sets, known as Shardblades and Shardplate, still exist. These items may turn regular men into almost unbeatable fighters. Men exchange Shardblades for kingdoms. They fought and prevailed in wars on their behalf.
The Shattered Plains is a devastated region where one such conflict is raging. There, Kaladin has been degraded to slavery after exchanging his medical apprenticeship for a spear in order to protect his younger brother. He tries to rescue his soldiers and understand the commanders who see them as disposable in an absurd conflict in which 10 armies fight disparately against a common enemy.
All those other forces are under the leadership of Brightlord Dalinar Kholin. He has the same fascination with an old treatise known as The Way of Kings as his late brother, the king. He is seeing overwhelming images of the past and the Knights Radiant, which are causing him to question his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Despite her sincere passion of study, Shallan has ulterior intentions. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.
Speak again the ancient oaths:
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.