So I fell in love with Brandon Sanderson's books when I read The Way of Kings. That book led me to a bunch of his other books which I have loved equally. However, with Words of Radiance I believe he has outdone himself. I was expecting it to be on the same level has the first in the series, but it was just amazing. The length of the book allowed for you to learn even more about the characters, especially after thinking that you knew about them pretty well at the end of the first book. It was amazing to see some people actually start to change, I thought it was amazing to see the change in Gaz when Shallan actually gave him a chance.
Now to back this up a little bit, I am a very avid reader in case you had not noticed. And so I can judge how much I loved a book on a few different things. And when everything is met, it really makes me realize how outstanding a book is. So for starters, I had started reading it on the evening of Thanksgiving. On Friday I read a nice little chunk. And today (which really by the time I post this it will be Sunday but that is just a technicality) I finished it. I read a good 2/3 of the book in one day, despite thinking about how I wanted to vary my long weekend. I just put the book down and work on some of my other projects, oh I should but this book down and maybe play a little bit of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Nope. None of those happened. I had issues actually wanting to take time out to prepare something to eat. Now this generally happens with good books that take a little bit of time to read. And so this is sometimes easily met.
I was on such an emotional rollercoaster, it is not even funny. There was a nice amount of humor, there were times I was so upset I would protest verbally (startling my cats) to something that happened. I got immensely giddy upon some of the different things happening. This book single handedly bumped him up to the level of Steven Erikson. And yes, I am starting to rate books on the scale of that series.
A wonderful thing that he did were the Interludes and the flashbacks. The first book was all about Kaladan's flashback, and really allowed us to see into what his past was like. This second book was focused on Shallan. It definitely made me understand her a little bit more through these flashbacks and seeing a little bit more from her point of view. The Interludes were nice breaks from the current story and showed things that were happening in different parts of the continent; which is extremely important in making everyone realize that there is more to that world than the Shattered Plains. It also allowed us to see some things from Szeth's point of view, and to see the conflict that he has been living through his whole life. The ending for him was really heartbreaking in a sense.
But I must go back to the fact that the changes and progress so many of the characters managed to undergo was just breathtaking. And it really brought out meaning behind the first oath of the Radiants. And one I will not put down here in hopes of tempting you the read the book. What I found extremely interesting was how connected to a lot of things Wit was. He most definitely played a key role in helping both Kaladan in the present, and Shallan in the past to get to where they were. And I sincerely hope that he does not take nearly as long to make the third book as it took for him to get this second book out. In the end I would say this book definitely deserves a standing ovation, especially for the very interesting ending.
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Now I generally do not come back to alter these posts after posting, but I had to do a quick bit of Googling. My bookworm heart was sent aflutter upon the news that this series is supposed to be a 10 books series. I believe Steven Erikson will have some very good competition in here for my #1 book spot.
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