Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Kaladin survived what his opponents had said would be his sad demise as a military slave, and was controversially the first “darkey” of low standing to be appointed command of the royal bodyguards. Now, he must defend the king and Dalinar from all threats, both common and rare, including the Assassin’s completely unique menace, while covertly attempting to learn amazing new abilities that are somehow connected to Syl, his honorspren.
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Amazon.com
Szeth, the assassin, is back at work assassinating kings across Roshar, using his enigmatic abilities to evade every bodyguard and escape every pursuer. Highprince Dalinar, who is regarded as the force behind the Alethi monarchy, is one of his main goals. The war’s importance would seem to be sufficient justification, but the Assassin’s master has much deeper motivations.
Shallan, who is brilliant but tormented, makes an equivalent effort. She is broken in ways she won’t admit, but she carries a dreadful burden: to stop the mythical Voidbringers’ return and the ensuing Desolation that would destroy civilization. The Shattered Plains is where she can get the secrets she needs, but getting there is harder than she anticipated.
The Parshendi are making a historic choice in the centre of the Shattered Plains at the same time. As their numbers continue to decline due to years of Alethi attacks, their war leader Eshonai persuades them to stake everything on a desperate bet with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The potential outcomes for humanity, Parshendi, and Roshar itself are all equally dangerous and unknowable.
A character named Lift ambles up the side of a castle wall utilizing powers we’ll leave here unexplained at some point later in Words of Radiance, during one of the numerous Interludes that emerge in between each of the giant novel’s five expansive parts, on her way to steal. A kid soon joins her side and inquires about her strategy for scaling the wall because there was no ladder for her to use and he needed a rope that she lowered to him. Lift responds, “Gumption and spit,” and then saunter off in the direction of her goal. Truly, gumption and spittle. Even though the result is a little sloppy, this wonderful combination of elements can produce magical things.
The technical quality of Sanderson’s writing has never been one of his strong points. That surely qualifies as a pardonable sin. Writing that isn’t up to par might nevertheless have a captivating story, and good fiction isn’t always about technicality. But in this case, with such a long, drawn-out epic, the story just drags a lot of the time, and Sanderson’s dull prose doesn’t really help to liven things up between the bits of the story that actually matter, which seem few and far between as one wades through what seems like endless dull conversations and activities that might end up giving one or two small pieces of information that contribute toward the eventual meanderings of the plot or character development.
