REVIEW: Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, #2)

I LOVED this book. On my last day of reading, I was on page 800-something out of 1000, and I had to specifically pick the time that I started reading, ‘cause I knew that, with so much going on, once I started, I didn’t want to stop.

So I read the last two hundred pages in one sitting.

I don’t have much of a goal with how I organize this. I know that I’m late as hell to this party, but I just want you guys to reexperience the magic of reading this for the first time — ‘cause there was MAGIC in the experience, especially in the last half.

Words of Radiance easily tops The Way of Kings for me. Sure, it’s been two years since I read it, but even after checking the summary, most of WoK felt like everything happened in its own corners. Shallan and Jasnah’s plotline was largely unrelated to Dalinar’s plotline, which was only tangibly related to Kaladin’s plotline. Obviously, yes, by the end, Sanderson went sicko mode, Dalinar bought Bridge 4, and Shallan and Jasnah started to head for the Shattered Plains, but that doesn’t change that, before then, everything felt like it ran in its own lane, and there was a large lack of magic.

Being an epic fantasy series, I know that Stormlight has a way longer timeframe to scale its “magicness”, so for The Way of Kings, the most “magic” were Shardblades, Shardplate, and Szeth (more on him later). In the context of the setting, “magic” and the Radiants were gone, betrayed their oaths, and Surgebinding, the magic system the series largely focuses on (as far as I know), was almost non-existent in the present time.

I’m a huge fan of magic systems and fight scenes and magic-fueled fight scenes, so even if I loved The Way of Kings, even if the plots themselves were gripping, I spent most of the book waiting for what came next, when the “magic” and the interconnectedness of the plotlines finally turned up to the next level.

Words of Radiance was that next level.

Kaladin, Adolin, and Dalinar were directly interacting with one another for the entire book, and Shallan and Jasnah (at first lol) were on the way to the Shattered Plains. On top of that, we had this constant countdown to the Everstorm, pushing Dalinar and co. further to find out what it even meant. On top of that, we had the threat of a certain street-running assassin showing up again at any time.

I was hooked.

Kaladin’s plotline was my favorite, no contest. His felt the most “punchiest”, mirroring a typical — yet satisfying — growth in his power. After getting a taste at the end of WoK, he spent most of the book learning his new abilities, got smacked by a master of those same abilities, trained to reach a new level of power In the Sky, then lost that power until he reached a new level of his character arc, regaining his resolve to do the right thing and protect Elkohar, before finally facing same that master once again. That final fight between him and Szeth proved not only his superior mastery of his own power, but of himself, of his duty to honor his Oath to protect those who can’t protect themselves, even if he hates them.

I also loved how Kaladin’s got all these “adjacent” skills from his base power of controlling gravity by Lashing objects. It’s not directly written that being a Windrunner lets him fly and have super strength, but he can manipulate his gravity, Lash himself to the sky or suspend his gravity, and technically fly. It isn’t written that he has super strength, but he can lash himself into a dropkick so hard that he breaks his own legs and immediately regenerates them, technically gaining super strength.

Being an author myself and working with magic systems so much, I love how it’s that level of technicality that shows how smart the system’s really designed and opens the door to so many other strategies, like using his gravity control to throw other people around and disorient them, similar to a certain Truthless assassin.

And then Shallan?

She was playing Dishonored.

The entire book, her plotline went from Sea of Thieves to honestly reminding me of that anime The Eminence in Shadow, where the main character just faked his way through situations. Watching her gain her confidence by faking it was amazing, and when she started using it to trick Tyn and then working with the Ghostbloods to infiltrate Amaram’s mansion and evade their assassination attempt? Creating illusions and clones of herself, manipulating her appearance, and creating sound distractions?

She was just living Dishonored!

I used to dread her chapters, but here, I loved hers from beginning to end. Her backstory was so tragic, but the first time I read, I didn’t pick up on the fact that she had TWO SHARDBLADES? I didn’t even realize that, against Tyn and in the chasms with Kaladin, she summoned two entirely different swords. What else has she been through that we don’t know??

My other favorite character, besides Kaladin and Shallan, was a certain street-running, Truthless, unstoppable assassin. Szeth was my introduction to the series, with his prologue scene in The Way of Kings showing me just how “magic” the series could be, how insane the fight scenes will be.

Plus, I just love antagonists.

Even in my own series, the main antagonist is my favorite character. I’m a huge fan of the kinds of antagonists who have everyone panicking just by showing up. Along with the countdown to the Everstorm, Szeth was like another countdown to tension, a background threat that would come back at some point, holding my attention for the moment my boy would show.

And when he did show?