The Way of Kings: Friday Wish-List

I've had a very hard time finding out anything about this book and after digging around for awhile I finally had to admit to myself that the reason I want to read this book is because I love the author.

When Brandon Sanderson's first book Elantris showed up in the Science Fiction Book Club I hesitated buying it. I'd had some pretty bad experiences buying books from SFBC and I didn't want to end up forking out another $20 for a lousy book. The problem was I was pretty desperate for a new book. So I bought it. I instantly realized the sheer power of Sanderson's writing.

Elantris was Sanderson's first published novel and I have followed his work ever since. When it was announced that he would be finishing The Wheel of Time Series, I was among the nerdy fans on his website that cried out in joy.

Fast forward three years and what you find is that Brandon Sanderson has become the best new fantasy writer in a decade.

So when a new book comes out with his name printed across the cover I'll admit I'm pretty indiscriminate of the content.

But what is The Way of Kings about? Even Sanderson struggles to describe it:

The book started its life many years ago being about a young man who made a good decision. I wrote the entire book that way before realizing I’d done it wrong. So I started over from scratch and had him take the other fork, the more difficult fork. The fork that cast him into some of the worst imaginable circumstances, ground him against the stones of a world where there is no soil or sand on the ground.

My goal: to prove to myself, and to him, that the ‘good’ decision was not actually the best one. The Way Of Kings is his story, though he shares the space with several others. They’ll get their own books later in the series.

Intrigued yet?

It's all I needed. In fact, it's more than I needed and I feel like Christmas will be here on August 31st.

But if it's not enough for you, don't worry! Tor.com has a little something-something to wet your palette.

It's actually a BIG something-something....  You can read the prologue and first three chapters here and listen to chapters four through six here.

So, what are you waiting for!? Go... go... discover one of my favorite writers of all time.

Then come back and tell me what you think.

Books: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson,
           The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson,
           The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan