REVIEW: WORDS OF RADIANCE by BRANDON SANDERSON
Gaining momentum.
All my reviews are spoiler-free. I aim to remain objective, even with the stuff I love, examining the product from all angles to provide you with the best insight I can to better inform you before you invest time or money. I try and be as brief as possible, the goal being for you to get a good idea of what to expect in a short amount of time. Thanks for dropping by!
WHAT IS IT? Words of Radiance is the second part in Brandon Sanderson’s new high-fantasy series. If you are unfamiliar with it and want to investigate further, I suggest starting with my review of the first book in the series, The Way of Kings, which you can read here. Simply because this is a sequel, there may naturally be very minor spoilers below if you have not read the first. Clocking in at 384,265 words, Words of Radiance is huge, surpassing even the first book and setting the record with the publisher Tor Books as the largest tome their facilities can physically print. All the many, many characters from the first make a return and we are introduced to even more, particularly of note, the leader of the enemy Parshendi clan named Eshonai.
STORY: This book picks up right where WoK left off, largely following the same three characters, Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar, all of whom are in very different places than when the series began. After the climactic battle on the Shattered Plains in book one, Kaladin and his loyal bridge crew find themselves with the freedom they always strove for. Serving in High Prince Dalinar’s armies, they must do all they can to help him hold his crumbling kingdom together and defend it from assassins, corruption, and betrayal from the inside. Meanwhile, the aspiring scholar Shallan journeys to the Shattered Plains to join them but is quickly met with disaster. Her road becomes a long one, but one that turns out to be invaluable in discovering her mysterious powers. Dalinar continues to see divine visions and as the approaching calamity begins to come into view, all the main protagonists make leaps and bounds in discovering their individual capabilities. The book reads just as easily as the first and is plenty entertaining but maintains the same slow pace we are used to. It does a great job moving the overall plot forward and there are some truly satisfying moments, especially the last quarter, which makes the climax of the first book look like child’s play.
WORLD: Most of Words of Radiance takes place on the same set piece, the Shattered Plains, but we continue to see more layers peeled back, zoning in closer to some of the individual war camps and getting a closer look at the high storms that blitz the world, closing the inhabitants behind locked doors. One of the new angels we get is that of the everyday life of the Parshendi enemies- a race that grows armor-like carapace on their skin and ‘hum’ to different rhythms to communicate. While I found some aspects of these warriors and their motivations to be involved in the war interesting, I felt it did not have the same magnetic pull the main plot line offers so I’m glad it did not dwell on them for too long.
PACE: This entry in the Stormlight Archive stays true to the first book’s pace- for better or worse. Again, the book is an undoubtedly entertaining ride, given you are patient and willing to fully commit to the world being presented. Even when its predecessor already set up most of the required parts for this story, it still moves casually through the first and second acts with a quiet confidence, developing relationships and burrowing deeper into political intrigue. The interlude sections make a return as well, so brace yourself once again to leave the story at its high points to essentially start over with (mostly) new characters that at this point, do not tie into the main plot. While these provide some interesting tidbits, I once again couldn’t wait until they were over so I could get back to what really mattered.
THEMES/ATMOSPHERE: Words of Radiance maintains the solid balance of intense action, romance, and mystery though this time around, I found the book to be injected with a little more humor than the largely grim Way of Kings, a few moments making me laugh out loud (how do you poop in shard plate?). That does not mean it doesn’t dive in and explore some darker stuff, though, especially as we see more of Shallan’s past and the cause of her troubled mind.
CONCLUSION: Words of Radiance is another masterfully crafted piece of high-fantasy. Slow, but deep in rich detail with characters that make us want to get to know them. While the temptation to skip the interlude sections proceeds to grow as it will surely continue into the next books, the rest of the story is gaining momentum. The final act and climax is one for the books too, with some long-anticipated arc payoffs and one of the most epic duels I’ve read in some time.