When Alcatraz Smedry set fire to his foster parents' kitchen, he wasn't surprised. He always breaks things, sometimes just by being in the
same room with them. Naturally, it'd mean another pair of foster parents would give up on him - these two had been remarkably tolerant, putting
up with him for eight whole months - but what else was new? Ever since he could remember, he's been in foster care. Sometimes he wonders if he
ever had a real mother or father, or if he somehow broke them, too.
Which is why it was so strange when he received a gift on his thirteenth birthday, purporting to be from his father... but why would anyone, even a
prankster, send him a box full of sand?
The next day, instead of the social worker he expected, Alcatraz finds a strange old man on the doorstep. Claiming to be his grandfather, he seems
frantic to learn that the sand has gone missing - a fear Alcatraz can't help sharing, when the social worker arrives with a gun. Even though the old
man saves his life, Alcatraz simply cannot believe his story: that the United States of America are part of the Hushlands, kept deliberately in the
dark about the true nature of the world by the evil cultists known as Librarians, and that the stolen sand just might allow them to extend their grip
over the remaining Free Kingdoms. Swords more technologically advanced than guns? Magical Talents? Glasses that grant wearers special gifts? It's
insanity, every word of it.
But, of course, that's exactly what the Librarians have trained him to believe...
Review
Having enjoyed Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, not to mention working for the local library system, I had to give this one a try. The story
itself is decent enough. Alcatraz isn't the most noble of heroes, and never pretends to be; he goes to great lengths to point out his own cowardice,
selfishness, and stupidity. His companions tend toward exaggerations, as befitting the inherently silly, often manic nature of the plot. Still, none
of them are complete idiots, and even in their eccentricities they all carry their own weight. Alcatraz even manages to grow a little, if often in spite
of himself.
What lifted this book in the ratings was Sanderson's writing style. The unfettered glee with which he toys with the reader, reveling in his absolute
power as the storyteller, turns a decent story into a marvelous one. The text is littered with literary references with an obvious tongue-in-cheek flair
as Sanderson simultaneously salutes libraries and books while casting librarians in the role of the ultimate evil on Earth. It's been a while since I read
a book that just had fun with itself like this. Hopefully, I can get my hands on the second volume someday - not necessarily because I'm invested in
Alcatraz's adventures, but because it was such a kick to read.
One thousand years ago, the Deepness threatened to consume the world until the Hero of Ages vanquished it. Since then, He has reigned as
the immortal Lord Ruler... but His Final Empire is anything but a joyous paradise. Plants grow withered and brown under an ash-reddened sun.
The streets are stained black with soot and filth, and strange mists swirl through the starless nights. Noblemen treat the skaa peasantry as
less than property. But, despite centuries of abuse and ill will, none have been able to stand up to the Lord Ruler and his Steel
Inquisitors.
Now, one man means to do just that.
Kelsier is a minor legend among the skaa. He alone has survived slavery in the Pits of Hathsin where the Lord Ruler harvests atium, a rare metal
on which the empire's economy is based. The brutality he endured there woke in him the gift of Allomancy, a noble-born skill allowing one to
digest specific metals and extract superhuman abilities from them. With it, and with a hand-picked team of gifted thieves and rebels, he aims to
liberate the downtrodden skaa and slaughter the noblemen.
Vin has lived her entire life in fear. Her half-brother Reen drilled the brutal truths of life as a street-thief skaa into her with words and
fists... and with the final knife in the back of betrayal, the day he vanished and left her alone in the capital city Luthadel, to fend for
herself among the thief crews. About the only thing that's kept her alive so far is her Luck, an ability she hardly understands but which has
helped her squeeze past Death more than once in her short, hard life.
Kelsier notices Vin's gifts at about the same time the Lord Ruler's monstrous Inquisitors - charged with purging all hints of Allomancy from the
lesser classes, among other unpleasant tasks - detect her. While offering her sanctuary, Kelsier draws her into his bold plans for revolution,
grooming the girl for a very special role in his plot. The more she learns about that plot, and the man behind it, the more Vin starts to wonder:
is the Survivor of Hathsin the liberator the world has waited generations for, or a madman as brutal as the Lord Ruler Himself?
Review
I've seen this one recommended numerous times by numerous people, so I finally decided to give it a try. Sanderson crafts a pleasantly different
fantasy world, more of a post-apocalyptic dystopia than the usual pseudo-medieval landscape. His Allomancy has specific abilities and limitations,
which the characters use to great effect. Both Vin and Kelsier undergo profound transformations as the realities of inciting social changes collide
with their preconceptions. Action and intrigue intertwine in more or less equal measure, weighted somewhat toward the action end. Since this is Book 1
of a trilogy, some threads are left dangling at the end, but a surprising portion of the plot wraps itself up here. A good, gripping read, and the start
of a trilogy I actually want to follow.
The Lord Ruler lies dead, His thousand-year reign over the Final Empire ended at last. In the capital city of Luthadel, the surviving members of
the revolution's central crew, along with the idealistic young nobleman Elend Venture, struggle to establish a free government, where the once-enslaved
skaa have equal rights and a voice in their own lives... only to find two enemy armies on their doorstep and a third on the way. When the Lord Ruler
fell, the powerful noble houses who thrived under His regime wasted no time grasping for more power. Capturing the Final Empire's capital - not to
mention the legendary stash of the rare metal atium said to be hidden within Luthadel's walls - would be a jewel in any would-be emperor's crown. Not
only does Elend have to deal with threats from without, but turmoil and political backstabbing already threaten to topple his government from within...
aided by plants and spies from the invaders beyond the city walls, and a traitor who has infiltrated the very heart of the crew.
While Elend and the others struggle to maintain control of Luthadel, the Mistborn girl Vin - former street thief, slayer of the Lord Ruler, beloved of
Elend, pupil and heir to the legendary Kelsier, whose death has taken on holy overtones already in the minds of the liberated skaa - faces more
disturbing troubles. A mysterious Mistborn assassin stalks the city streets, making her question her own allegiances. Strange powers reshape and
strengthen the nocturnal mists that blanket the empire. And a force calls to her, possibly from the legendary Well of Ascension. The terrible events that
led to the Lord Ruler's rise to power a thousand years ago seem to be repeating themselves - which means that the Deepness, a deadly entity He is said to
have slain, may once again walk the world. Vin is determined to save the people of Luthadel, but how is she supposed to defeat the monster when she has
no idea what it is?
Review
Starting up not long after the events of Mistborn, this book follows through on the promise and the perils brought about by the fall of the corrupt
Lord Ruler's regime. Idealists must temper their dreams with reality, and believers start to question their faith. More information comes to light about the
thousand-year-old enigma of the Hero of Ages, a once-good man whose legacy somehow became the tyrannical Lord Ruler after unleashing the powers of the Well
of Ascension. Between politics and studies, Allomancers fill the night with metal-fueled fights and bloody battles. For the most part, I found this a worthy
sequel. My main complaint is that it felt too long. Sanderson keeps squeezing in more information, more twists, and more troubles, creating a whole second
climax after the fairly traumatic (and very finale-like) siege of Luthadel. As a reader, I started suffering combat fatigue, wondering just how much more I
was going to have to endure before hitting the end of the book. Having come this far, I expect I'll track down the third volume sometime soon, but I think I'll
let my reading backlog thin out before then; I'm still mentally burned out after that final slog.
Betrayed by her own instincts, Vin unintentionally released a powerful, malevolent force from the Well of Ascension. Ruin was one of the primordial
entities that, along with its counterpart Preservation, created the world - a world that it was promised it would one day destroy. Freed, it seeks to
make good on the promise that Preservation tried to prevent coming to fruition. There may be hope, left by the Lord Ruler in hidden caches throughout
the Final Empire. Vin and her husband, Emperor Elend Venture, race to solve the final riddles left by the enigmatic tyrant, even as their new-fledged
empire dissolves into rebellion and chaos. Even those of the inner circle, who helped Vin and Kelsier overthrow the Lord Ruler, seem to be losing faith.
With the mists turning lethal, hordes of bloodthirsty koloss on the move, and the Steel Inquisitors under malevolent control, the whole earth seems to
be in its death throes... and this time, not even Vin and her companions may be able to prevent a catastrophe that's been in the making since the world
itself was born.
Review
I think that, at its heart, the Mistborn trilogy was really only two books... possibly even just one and a half. The rest of it boils down to
brooding. Every character spends an inordinate amount of time brooding, lodged in their own dark thoughts and picking at the same inner scabs while the
plot sits quietly by the wayside gathering ash. Oh, that's not to say nothing happens. There are several intense fight sequences, with Mistborn Allomantic
powers pitted against various foes - enough to trigger the occasional eye glazing, as even the fighting doesn't often move the story forward. (At least one
character even manages to brood during an intense fight sequence.) Betrayals and setbacks galore await Vin and her allies in the quest to save humanity
from Ruin's grasp. Along the way, the many hints and puzzles of the Mistborn world slowly resolve, clicking together to form a very detailed framework
behind the brooding and battles. At the end, Sanderson pulls off some startling revelations... including at least one that almost made me groan out loud.
There's even a strong hint of sequel potential. While I didn't hate the trilogy, it ultimately turned into more of a plot-slogger than a page-turner.
Three hundred years ago, the age of ash and darkness ended and the world of Scadrial was remade by a new-risen god. Though the metal-powered magical
talents of Allomancy and Feruchemy persist, today's wonders come in the form of electric lights and steel railroads and towering iron-boned skyscrapers
- wonders everyone, not just the gifted, can enjoy. But even in this remade Scadrial, evil lurks in the most unlikely places.
Waxillium Ladrian thought he'd left his noble blood and city life behind him when he ventured into the untamed Roughs. As a rare Twinborn, his
Allomantic ability to repel metal and Feruchemical talent for altering his weight helped him become a legendary lawman. When his uncle dies, however,
Wax must return to the city of Elendel and take up a title he never wanted... even considering a cold, arranged marriage to deal with insolvency issues
from mismanaged house funds. But even if he takes off his badge, he remains a lawman at heart - and when the Vanishers, a group of mysterious criminals
known for high-profile heists, strike too close to home, he finds himself up against a mastermind worse than anyone he ever brought down in the
Roughs.
Review
Nobody can accuse Brandon Sanderson of a lack of scale or ambition. Here, one of modern fantasy's most prolific authors revisits the world of his
epic Mistborn trilogy in what is essentially a western, as industrial revolution meets frontier expansion, still mingled with copious amounts
of metal-based magic systems. It's the sort of world evolution not many would attempt, but the setting works very well here, adroitly blending old magic
with new tech for a "weird west" where, unlike many mixed worlds, the two forces aren't inherently at odds or mutually destructive. This works, in part,
because of the "hard" nature of Sanderson's magic; it's essentially another branch of physics, with specific applications and limitations.
If only the rest of the story were so well balanced.
While the industrially advanced Scadrial held my interest, the plot and characters, unfortunately, felt like they rolled off the factory line with
barely a dab of paint to differentiate them from countless other stories. We have the brooding former lawman haunted by the one villain who got away
(and the girl who died - essentially "fridged" to give him a reason to be extra broody and standoffish about romance.) We have the comic relief sidekick
whose banter isn't always as witty as the characters believe. We have the eager young love interest (always about half the male hero's age for some
reason known only to writers who just can't shake this trope), who lacks real world experience but makes up for it with obligatory book smarts and raw
pluck. We have two tiers of villains: the one who directly engages the hero at several point (and delivers multiple monologues to about how alike they
are), and the higher-up who lurks like a shadow for future installments - and whose tie to the hero is not exactly original. We have constables so
incompetent they couldn't catch a criminal if one ran right into them red-handed. We have widespread sexism and peripheral characters who fell out of the
western stock bin, lightly redressed for the fantasy slant Sanderson put on this story - which itself is composed mainly of snap-together parts. At some
point, I realized I wasn't seeing the story or the characters or even the world: I was seeing Trope A clicking into Plot Device B by way of Complication
C. I found I could successfully predict the outcome of pretty much every scene the moment it started based on familiarity. I should not be thinking that
about a Sanderson title.
Between my interest in the world itself and my lack of interest in the people and the story, I found myself left with a rather flat feeling about the
whole book, which grants it a flat, three-star Okay rating. Much as I wanted to enjoy it, and interested as I was in how Sanderson successfully aged
Scadrial, I just couldn't get past the tired sense that I'd seen it all before a few too many times.
David was a boy when the red star Calamity appeared in the sky... and when the Epics emerged, ordinary humans developing bizarre, physics-defying
powers. Instead of becoming saviors of justice, like in the comic books, these men and women turned evil, destroying nations as they squabbled to
carve up the world between them. Some, like David's father, believed heroes would arise among the Epics - a belief he died for, murdered by the Epic
Steelheart who had come to claim Chicago. That was ten years ago...
David's life revolves around Epics, specifically the Epics in charge of what has become Newcago: a town turned half to metal by Steelheart's formidable
skills, kept shrouded in perpetual darkness by Nightweilder, terrorized by the incandescent Firefight, and powered by the mysterious Conflux. He's
determined to find Steelheart's vulnerability and have his vengeance, but he can't do it alone. He needs the help of the Reckoners, a terrorist group
composed of ordinary humans, the only active resistance to the reign of Epics in the Fractured States of what used to be America. When he finally makes
contact with them, things don't go as planned, but David's nothing if not persistent. How far is he willing to go to avenge his father - and what price
is too high for justice?
Review
Superheroes aren't normally my thing, but I enjoy Sanderson's works and had heard good things about this trilogy. Here, though, I was less impressed
than I'd hoped to be. The world here feels like something from a comic book, which is both a plus and a minus. On the plus side, there's a nice aesthetic
that would look great on screen or in a graphic novel, a supervillain-riddled dystopia with subterranean catacombs carved through solid steel, full of
impossible weaponry and larger-than-life action sequences. On the minus side, the logic stretches thin in many places. Sanderson's known for "hard
fantasy", where powers have distinct rules and restrictions; he pretty much abandons that idea here, with all sorts of random skills that grow or shrink
depending on the plot, with vulnerabilities that just don't make sense. As for the characers, they felt flat. David's a determined boy, bent
entirely on vengeance to the point of tunnel vision, but he's just plain not that smart at times. Being forced to see the world through his brain,
especially when it's so often clouded by adolescent lust for his brooding Reckoner teammate Megan, wasn't fun - particularly when he's too
dense to see some rather obvious complications and plot twists. The other Reckoners fall into recognizable stock character bins, with a few dabs of paint
to make them look original but which don't hide the factory mold they're cast from. Similarly, the Epic villains are evil bogeymen, amoral monsters for
the sake of being amoral monsters, with scarcely a trace of humanity left in them. (On a writing level, I was ready to punch Sanderson for overusing the
word "softly." Was the Q broken on his keyboard, that he couldn't shake it up with a "quietly" once in a while, or outright admit that the characters
"whispered"? Here are these hardened freedom fighters going up against supervillains in major gunfights, with explosions and bullets and debris and Epic
powers flying, and they keep talking "softly" to each other - after a while, it was like a fluffy pillow thrown into a firefight, so out-of-place and
irritating the phrase became... but I digress.) The story ratchets up to a decent climax, but for a good stretch it feels like it's consciously dithering
as it chases clearly-false leads and otherwise kills time (while setting up aforementioned plot twists that David densely ignores). A pyrotechnic ending
almost brought it up to a full four stars... but another "twist", plus a wrap-up that diluted some of the power of the final confrontation (not to mention
an epilogue that made me worried about where the trilogy as a whole is going, and robbed me of any remaining inclination to pick up Book 2), dropped it
back down. It's not a bad book, and it has some good stuff, but it just isn't my thing.
In the United Isles of America, only Rithmatists stand between human civilization and the destruction wrought by wild chalklings, two-diminsional
creatures capable of rending living flesh. Blessed by the Maker Himself with the ability to infuse chalk lines with power, these elite warriors are apart
from and above the common folk... and, more than anything, Joel longs to be one. But Rithmatists are chosen at age eight, and at sixteen he's too old
to ever be more than a powerless theorist - little better than his late father, a chalkmaker, whose obsession with Rithmatics plunged the family deep
into debt. Living at the Armedius Academy in New Brittania, rubbing shoulders daily with those who hardly seem to care how they've been gifted with an
opportunity he'd do anything for, doesn't help. Instead of focusing on his own studies, he finagles ways to sit in on Rithmatics lessons with old
Professor Fitch... so Joel is there the day the new Professor Nalizar, a young man fresh from the Nebrask battle lines, comes to challenge Fitch for his
red coat of tenure. With Nalizar come dark days at Armedius. Rithmatist students begin disappearing, leaving nothing but a few drops of blood and
fragmented chalk lines that look for all the world like wild chalkling attacks. But those beasts are confined to the isle of Nebrask, nowhere near New
Britannia... or are they? As Joel digs deeper, he unearths a mystery with roots deep in the origins of Rithmatics - and a danger older than the United
Isles themselves.
Review
It's been a while since I devoured a book like I did The Rithmatist. Sanderson sets up a great world, a fragmented "gearpunk" alternate history
that re-imagines not only North America but the whole early 20th century, as well as an interesting magic system that's as much about mathematics as it is
power, even as it sets up political, religious, and cultural tensions. Joel makes for a clever, driven protagonist, but he's not without his blind spots and
flaws. As a sidekick, he picks up Melody, a girl who represents many things Joel wants - particularly wealth and the Rithmatic ability - alongside a
melodramatic streak. The two hardly hit it off as quickly as many young adult heroes, but they make a decently balanced team. A host of other characters turn
up, many of them adults, but none of them deliberately obtuse or as foolish as grown-ups can be in novels with underage main characters. Joel doesn't get
things right all the time, and he makes some serious missteps in his pursuit of the abductor's identity and ultimate plot. Along the way, naturally, he does
some much-needed growing up. The story ticks along like a well-wound clock, building to a tense climax with an interesting, unexpected twist. There's every
indication of at least one more book in the series, and some of the ideas almost needed more exploration, though most of the tale is resolved here. Given how
it pulled me in to a day-long reading binge (even keeping me up late on a work night), and the overall imagination level, I give it top marks.
As a young girl, Spensa always looked up to her father, a heroic fighter pilot defending the remnants of the human race from alien Krell attackers. Even after
he was branded a coward and shot down by his own wingman, turning her family into pariahs in the underground city of Igneous, she wanted to be just like him...
but he always told her to reach for something higher than the debris-clouded skies over Detrius. He told her to reach for the stars - where their people came
from generations ago, and to which they might return, but for the Krell.
Against all odds and prejudices, Spensa manages to make it into flight school. Here, at last, she can prove herself a warrior and restore her family's honor. But
real combat is nothing like old Gran-Gran's ancient stories of warriors and heroism. Worse, she shows signs of a "defect" that may have contributed to her father's
shameful final actions. But she'll do whatever it takes to get into a pilot's seat, and if the colony leaders try to ground her, a derelict discovered in a cave
near the base may be her ticket to the skies - if she can repair it on the sly. That is, unless the Krell's shifting new tactics don't spell the end of harrying
attacks and the beginning of all-out annihilation...
Review
Skyward starts out as a by-the-numbers young adult tale with sci-fi trappings, composed of parts that have become very familiar. There's the pariah
heroine fighting an unjust system, the nasty admiral who seems to have a personal vendetta against her, the elder mentor with ties to her late father and who
provides more clues about his hushed-up final flight, the supportive best friend, the enemy classmate who is not what he first seems, and so forth, all of whom feel
a little flat when introduced. Even the world of Detrius and the conflict with the Krell, despite some nice ideas and the fighter pilot trappings, seem like shallow
window dressing, as does the derelict spaceship and its peculiar onboard computer. This is a world so far in the future that humans have spread to distant planets,
yet which still clings to stories and imagery of old Earth, among other cumulative anachronisms that kept me from immersing as I should have. It's not until past
the halfway point, as Spensa slowly sheds her childish obsession with Beowulf (and her somewhat bratty attitude that does her no favors), that the tale starts to
deepen, though it still feels a little shallow at times; it's an action-driven piece throughout, with many dogfights and physics-stretching maneuvers. Spensa even
backslides on some important lessons to draw out tension even as her experiences in flight school mature her. By the finale, it's a decent ride, with a final twist
that, while not entirely unexpected, sets up some interesting things for the inevitable next book... though even by then several peripheral characters remain fairly
flat despite some effort to deepen them. Despite the reasonably strong finish, the earlier sense of flatness and overall predictability just barely held it back
from a full four star rating. I might read on, though... in paperback or from the library, next time.
In ages past, the storm-swept world of Roshar trembled as great battles raged across its many lands, consumed by wave after wave of chaos known
as Desolations. The Knights Radiant were humanity's greatest champions in these wars... until the day they betrayed the very people they served,
walking away from their oaths and leaving behind their Shardplate armor and weapons. Today, stories of the Desolation and the foul Voidbringers are
little more than myths and bedside tales, the Knights Radiant cursed. The people have fragmented into warring races and kingdoms, forgetting the old
Codes. But danger still waits, and soon the Final Desolation will fall upon an unprepared world. A hero must come, to throw back to darkness, but
who? And from where?
Shallan left the family estate on a mission to save her family. Her late father left them drowning in debt - if his death were known, the creditors
would strip her family to the bone. Her plan is dangerous, but she's desperate... as she must be, to contemplate stealing from one of the most powerful
women in the kingdom. But even as she works to gain the trust of the eccentric heretic Jasnah, she discovers more temptations and dangers than she
bargained for.
Son of a surgeon, Kalidan once dreamed of becoming a soldier, of finding true honor on the battlefield instead of the corruption and pettiness if the
brighteye lords his father served. He learned the hard way that battle brings no glory and little honor, especially for a lowly darkeyes like himself.
Now a branded slave, his bitterness knows no bounds. People all around him seem to die, no matter what he does. Why can't he die with them?
Dalinar is a highprince, brother of the slain King Gavilar and uncle to the current regent. He, alone of all his fellow highprinces, still follows the
ancient Codes that the late Gavilar embraced, codes that ask a ruler to display honor, integrity, and concern for his underlings. His ways make him an
outcast among his peers... and, in the political maneuverings of the Alethki courts, that makes him vulnerable. Worse, he is plagued by recurrent
visions of a world in chaos, warned by a voice to unite his peers. Is this a message from the Almighty Stormfather, or are his sons right that he's
simply going mad?
Szeth-son-son-Vallano was cast out from his people as Truthless, a slave to a succession of brutal masters. It was his hand that killed King Gavilar,
triggering a massive war that rages to this day across the Shattered Plains... a murder he hated committing, like every other time he was forced to use
his deadly gifts. Some dark game is being played, a game whose shape terrifies him. But he is Truthless. If he cannot change his own worthless fate, how
can he possibly change that of Roshar?
Review
Fantasy, especially epic fantasy, has a way of feeling familiar, even in the hands of the best authors; characters may stand out, and there may be a
few twists on the genre conventions, but there's usually a familiar world beneath it. Sanderson manages to create something entirely new, an alien world
full of strange magic and stranger races, all bound up in a tale so large that "epic" is truly the only word for it. Having invented a unique world and
several distinct populations, he goes on to stock it with a host of fascinating characters. Their paths rarely cross, save toward the end, but each of them
has a unique and important perspective on events as they unfold. It's rare that I find both the setting and the characters equally fascinating. I was
constantly torn between wanting to know what happens next and wanting to linger over the pages, extending my stay in Roshar. My only complaint is that it's
Book 1 of a series, and I've yet to see a sign of Book 2. I haven't had a chance to hand out a five-star rating in a while, but this book deserves no
less.
The storm-swept world of Roshar stands on the brink of destruction... but few are aware of the danger, and fewer still can stand against it. The Knights
Radiant, people bonded to the elemental spren and powered by Stormlight, long ago abandoned the world, and in the centuries since knowledge of them has been
lost and deliberately obscured. If the world is to survive, the Knights Radiant must be reformed... but how, and by whom?
Highprince Dalinar's visions of past cataclysms drive him to seek the Knights, but an incompetent king and petty, infighting nobles stand in his way. His
former friend Sadeas has shown his true colors in a betrayal that turns the highprinces against each other, even as unity may be the only key to salvation.
But Sadeas is more than just a selfish, short-sighted man, as so many lighteyes princes are; indeed, he may know more about the coming cataclysm than even
Dalinar.
Kaladin Stormblessed, once a slave doomed to die as part of Sadeas's disposable bridge crews, finds himself elevated to the rank of captain, unthinkable for
a darkeyes... but he finds no peace in his new rank. His ability to inhale and channel Stormlight and his bond with the windspren, Syl, have changed him
irrevocably, though even as he hides his true nature from his new lord Dalinar, he struggles to determine what to do with his powers - just as he struggles
with his own hatred every time he sees Dalinar with his new ally Highprince Amaram, the man who slaughtered Kaladin's former companions and branded him a
slave when he stole the Shardblade Kaladin himself had earned in battle. Syl insists that he cannot indulge his vengeance, that he must find a higher calling,
but Kaladin cannot let injustice stand unanswered - even if it costs him everything he has gained.
Shallan's plan to steal from her mentor Jashah to save her failing family ended in disaster - but Shallan's accidentally-discovered abilities prompted the
scholar to keep her on as a student, believing the would-be thief to be an important key to her own research. When disaster strikes and leaves Jasnah dead,
Shallan and her newly-bonded spren Pattern must take up her research and mission: to find a lost city on the war-torn Shattered Plains. There, perhaps,
humanity might find safe harbor from the coming Everstorm. But first Shallan must master her own Stormlight-fueled skills, and confront secrets she's been
hiding from herself for most of her life.
Meanwhile, the seemingly-unstoppable Assassin in White strikes down rulers around the world, sowing chaos and bloodshed and confusion, as another force hunts
down the emerging Knights Radiant even as they begin to feel their powers.
The Everstorm is almost upon them all...
Review
Sanderson evidently does not believe in recaps or easing readers back into a world; he drops them in the deep end to sink or swim. Since I didn't reread the
first volume before picking this one up, that made for some floundering and confusion, as I struggled for my bearings. Once I regained the feel of the world,
though, Words of Radiance proved to be another enjoyable entry in this truly grand and sweeping epic fantasy series. All manner of peculiar cultures
and creatures populate Roshar, tied by a deep history whose echoes still shape societies long after the original truths and roots have been forgotten (or
deliberately obscured; the dominant church of much of the region did much to distort and destroy that which disagreed with its teachings, as churches are wont
to do.) As for the characters, they continue to grow richer and more complex, revealing unexpected strengths and weaknesses that usually ring true. A few
developments here and there felt forced, one or two of the new characters didn't quite fit in, and something that occurred in the epilogue (no spoilers, sorry)
helped shave a half-star from the rating, but overall I enjoyed this one nearly as much as the first one. I'll have to remember to read the third book sooner
rather than later, however, so I don't have to spend quite so long re-immersing when I next return to Roshar.
BioChroma, the power of Breath, can work amazing wonders or great terrors, feeding on colors - from dyed cloth to blood - to animate unliving
objects. Infuse a rope with Breath, and it will pull you up a wall. Infuse a dead body, and it becomes Lifeless, a soldier that knows no pain and
needs no food. Everyone is born with one Breath, and the more one gathers, the more power one has... if one ignores the cost to those who give up
their one Breath to live as dull Drabs. In the jungle domain of Hallandren, on the shores of the vast Inland Sea, both color and Breath are
worshipped, A court of gods - those who have spontaneously Returned from death, bereft of memories but gifted with powerful Breath - rules in the
capital of T'Telir, beneath a God-King whose power and Breaths are beyond counting.
Now, old treaties demand a bride for the Hallandren God-King, the only Returned capable of siring an heir.. and that bride must come from the
mountains of Idris, where bartering Breath is considered akin to dealing in souls.
All her life, Princess Vivenna was raised to fulfill the treaty, studying the ways of the ostentatious Hallandren people and their
Returned-worshipping cult. But then her father sent her young sister, the irresponsible and utterly untutored Siri, in her stead. Not only will the
naïve girl be eaten alive in the Court of the Gods, but she's liable to get herself killed; tensions between Hallandren and Idris have always
run high, but lately they're nearly at a boil, and any Idrian royalty in T'Telir is bound to be a useful hostage at best or a target at worst. As
Siri struggles to adapt to life in court - surrounded by hordes of suspicious priests and indolent, scheming Returned "gods" - Vivenna slips away
to rescue her... and finds herself caught up in a web of lies and danger in the streets of a city more overwhelming and complicated than any of her
tutors could have prepared her for.
Lightsong the Bold is considered a god of bravery, but he doesn't feel particularly brave, or divine. Ever since the day he Returned, he has devoted
himself to debunking his own divinity, deliberately doing as little as possible to fulfill his minimal duties at court. But when the new Vessel, the
Idrian princess destined to bear the God-King Susebron's child, arrives, he is drawn, against his will, into the machinations of his fellows, driven
by dreams of war and death consuming T'Telir.
Danger is coming to Hallandren and Idris, the threat of a conflict more deadly and riddled with Breath-infused atrocities than even the great,
world-shaking Manywar. And it seems that nobody, not royalty nor the gods Themselves, can stop it.
Review
Once again, Sanderson delivers a unique, interesting magic system, building a world around the power of color and populating it with a cast of
intriguing, if not always likeable, characters. The storyline grows a little convoluted, though I suspect that part of my occasional confusion was due
to unintended breaks in reading the book; I wound up having to set it aside for days at a time, and it took a while after picking it up again to immerse
in the world once more. My main complaint is that the ending felt too abrupt and neat, given the many threads that came together in the finale -
especially as it edged into theological territory. Part of me suspects that this was intended to be a longer book, possibly a series, but that it was
unnaturally cropped for unknown reasons, the rough edges given a quick polish. I also wasn't sure I totally bought one of the character's transformations
by the end. Still, I enjoyed the story on the whole, and I loved the concept of BioChroma.
