Book 1 of The Stormlight Archive
Summary
There are four people of importance in this long and eventful tale. These four people will shape the land of Roshar in ways they have yet to comprehend. They will either make it great and prosperous. Or they will tear it down brick by brick.
The first of these four is the surgeon who fights in the most brutal war of the time to protect those he cares about all while still trying to keep a hold of his humanity. One thing he struggles with is learning when to care and when to let go. Every death he could've prevented (whether as a soldier or surgeon) lies heavily on his conscience. The second one of the important four is the assassin. This assassin does not take pride or pleasure in his endeavors and he actively mourns every life he takes. Yet he cannot prevent his killing.
The third is a liar who hides behind the face of a scholar. She uses any means necessary in order to accomplish her goal. No matter how many lies she needs to tell, no matter how its eats away at her soul, she will never quit a goal before it is complete. Finally, there is the fourth. He is a prince who is believed to be growing weaker in his old age as his wish for fighting slowly leaves his mind. He grieves the many losses he's had to endure and tries his hardest to hold onto the traditions of his people, even if that means losing all respect from everyone, even his own family.
They may all seem different, but these four people are bound to have their lives intertwined with one another. They will change each others' lives in more ways than one and they won't see what's happening until it's all said and done. Will they destroy one another, or will they save each other?
Note: For those of you who have read this book, I hope you get that this is a difficult book to summarize because of just how much there is to the story. But I definitely tried my best :-)
Opinion
Scale of 1-10:
10
This book was REALLY hard to review. I'm used to reviewing books that are shorter and more to-the-point, so this was an interesting change of pace! One thing that I was happy to see was that the story moved really fluidly. Normally, even in smaller books, there are scenes that are absolutely pointless and the book could've been without. In this book, though, every scene has a purpose, whether it's character building or giving an amazing insight into the world. In a fantasy like this one, that takes place in a totally different world, it is really important to build the whole world and immerse your readers in it. I have yet to read a Brandon Sanderson book that doesn't do that! I'm glad to see that he's consistent!
I also became so interested in all the characters' storylines. I was having fun looking and see how they all related to each other and I was already starting to see how they would probably end up meeting one another. I loved some of the wry humor in this book. I love the sarcastic humor that the author has in all of his books no matter what the genre is! Also, I got to see how much the characters kind of grew from the start to finish of just this first book. Because this is the second time I've read this, I also see how far they've come in the next few books. It is incredibly interesting to reread this book and then see how much from this first book gives clues to what happens later on. There's so much foreshadowing and I didn't even see it until now!
One thing that readers need to remember when reading the prologue and the first couple of chapters is that things aren't automatically explained. I promise you that things start to make sense as you keep reading the book but there is a period where you will have absolutely no idea what's going one. This is not a book I would recommend to people who aren't a major reader because this is definitely a huge commitment (there are 1080 freaking pages!) and there's a lot of stuff to keep up with and take in when reading this story.
If you're a huge fan of fantasy, then this is for sure your type of book. I would also recommend this author's other fantasy books (and even his sci-fi books too) because most of his fantasy books take place in the same universe. They don't all tie into one another, but it's known that they all happen within the same universe but in different systems (I guess that would be the right word). His Cosmere is a whole other thing to explain so for right now I'll just say that you need to READ THIS BOOK!
Age Rating
13-14+
I mainly gave it this age rating because of how much focus and attention this book needs in order for the reader to keep up. The reading level was a huge influence in my age rating. There are also sexual references and some minor language.
Language:
The words that are used every so often in this book are "piss", "bastard", and their name for their religious hell is Damnation so I guess the word "damn" is used frequently if that counts.
Sexual Content:
Whores are mention multiple times in this book because soldiers visit whorehouses and stuff. There are a couple of sex jokes and references but there really isn't anything major. There is also a kissing scene towards the end.
Violence:
Violence is kind of a theme in this book. There are fight scenes that are described in a way that kind of makes your stomach churn. Talk about eye sockets being burned and limbs becoming dead and immobile because of a mystical blade cutting through it (the arm doesn't fall off but it becomes lifeless). Fighting and death are frequent in this book but not the main theme. There's quite a bit of politics involved in this story especially when hearing from one of the character's side of things. I feel that this is pretty well-balanced between action and actual, well-thought-out storyline.
Other:
There is an instance where one of the main characters contemplates suicide because of the guilt he feels for not saving the lives of certain people. He feels as though there is another left to live for and that the world has just cursed him and those around him. This is really only in the beginning of the story and the character moves past it before you even make it half-way through the book.
Here's the link to the book on Goodreads:
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