A Reading Blog: The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, #1) First Interludes - Part Two
First of all, hello (and welcome back if you have been following along with this reading journey so far). Thank you so much for checking out my humble blog. I am back to talk about my impressions and thoughts from Part Two of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. As a reminder, this is less of a review and more just my somewhat structured ramblings on this massive novel. Please feel free to comment and start discussions using the comment box below.
Spoilers from this point on!
In the First Interludes, we meet a character called Ishikk who is being paid to search out someone called “the Roamer” on behalf of three unknown men. We see him meet up with them and give a status report where he claims to have not found him yet - the end of his chapter seems to indicate that he is not being very forthcoming. We also get to meet Shallan’s really creepy brother, Nan Balat. I don’t even know what to say about that dude. And finally, we learn that Szeth is still out there and kicking it, but under very different circumstances from the prologue. Some random guy has gotten a hold of his Oathstone and is using him as a slave. I don’t have any strong opinions about the interludes. The first two POVs don’t really reveal much, in my opinion, and I can’t tell yet how they play into the larger narrative. Szeth’s story is interesting because obviously this guy is going to be important to the overall plot - he wasn’t just a random guy hired to kill the king. Anxious to see where his storyline goes…
Ok, so Part Two is where we really start to get into the meat of the main story. I really enjoyed the new POVs we got to meet in this section. Speaking of…
Dalinar Kholin has entered the chat, everyone. We get two new POVs in part two with Dalinar and his hot-headed son, Adolin. I don’t know if this will persist throughout the whole book or even the series, but I really prefer the Dalinar/Adolin POVs over the others, overall. I think it’s because theirs involve a lot more politics and court intrigue which I love as a reader. So let’s start with Dalinar. If you remember, he is the brother of Gavilar Kholin, and was too busy being drunk and passed out to help the king when he was being assassinated - but no one is beating himself up over this more than Dalinar. On top of that, he’s dealing with the intense pressure of trying to unite a fractured kingdom while also experiencing mysterious “visions” that seem to take him into the ancient past. These visions have the unfortunate side effect of making him look like he’s losing his mind in the eyes of everyone around him.
Now, aside from being an absolute stud, Dalinar’s most admirable character trait is his sense of honor. This guy is steadfast. He is always going to do what he thinks is right - even to the absolute frustration of his son, Adolin, who thinks his father is growing weak when he fails time and again to defend his honor as he thinks he should. Throughout part two, Sanderson highlights heavily the contrast between Dalinar and the other High Princes, particularly Sadeas (the high prince who employs Kaladin’s bridge crew). They are portrayed as selfish, petty and lacking honor (are you catching on that this is a major theme in SA yet?) Although, it seems like Sanderson is trying to hint that maybe Sadeas is someone who can be trusted despite the less than ideal character traits he has displayed so far. I am far from convinced just yet…the dude just stinks.
“Sometimes the prize is not worth the cost. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”
Then we have Adolin. Friends, this guy is impetuous. It’s interesting because he also places a high value on honor, but how he handles insults to his honor could not be more different than Dalinar. At every perceived or real insult, he wants to duel someone (which he is apparently very good at) - but fortunately for him, his father and brother are often there to curb his anger and talk him down. When he isn’t trying to duel every High Prince on the Shattered Plains, he’s busy courting his newest girlfriend in camp. I lost count, but I think there were at least three mentioned in Part Two. It feels a little cheesy to me, if I am being honest, but hopefully he settles on one soon so we can all move on. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see where his storyline goes mainly because my dude hates Sadeas. These two are going to have a showdown at some point and I don’t know if I like Adolin’s odds.
The end of the Dalinar/Adolin POVs in this part see Dalinar trying and failing to unite the High Princes. He tries to talk them into coordinating attacks against the Parshendi, but they aren’t going for it. Their greed and selfishness keeps them divided. That, combined with his vision inducing episodes brought on by the high storms, has him making the decision to abdicate in favor of Adolin. Which, I mean, is obviously going to be a huge mistake. Fortunately, the chapter ends with there still being room for Dalinar to change his mind. Fingers crossed.
Kaladin, meanwhile, continues to deal with his own personal storm. In Part Two, he goes from despairing slave to bridge crew leader, gaining a position of unexpected influence among the bridgemen. Kaladin's personal but mysterious spren, Sylphrena, aids him along this journey. In connection to Kal, we see Syl develop more - taking on more human-like thought capabilities and remembering more from her own past.
We also get to see more glimpses into Kaladin’s past and the events that lead up to his enslavement and eventual relocation to the fighting plains. Sanderson is obviously going to drag this one out for the rest of the book, much to the consternation of my impatient nature.
But perhaps one of my favorite parts of this section is Kal’s interactions with other new characters we are introduced to - his fellow bridgemen, Teft and Rock. They bring some light bits of humor to the narrative that I enjoyed more than the witty asides that we got from Shallan in Part One (sorry not sorry). Plus, Teft gives us great lines like these when talking to Kal, “You worry like a worrier.” I can’t wait to use that line on someone. But overall, they serve to show that Kaladin’s leadership skills are still sharp and he has a way of uniting men and giving them a purpose.
Actually wait, my favorite part of this section was that there were no Shallan POVs. SORRY NOT SORRY. Meet me in the comments.
Sanderson definitely amps up the world-building in Part Two. We get mention of the mysterious Voidbringers of the ancient past through Dalinar’s visions. Although, oddly enough, no one seems to agree on what they were exactly or what looked like. This seems odd to me and I am kind of obsessed with learning more about them. Another interesting development is that we get to meet a Radiant for the first time since the prelude (again, through Dalinar’s visions). We are given very little information about these long lost knights before Dalinar is whisked out of the past and back to present day - mainly that they trained in a city called Urithiru and that they “fight for no king and for all of them.” Hmm, okay.
All in all, I thought Part Two had a lot more going for it - more information on the magic system, the world, political intrigue, and the amped up personal conflict of the characters. Oh and monsters. Insert chasmfiends. I already know we are going to have more showdowns with these scary creatures. I can also see the slow build of the plot on the part of Sanderson, but at no point does it ever feel slow - we are always learning new things and getting more information on the world and the characters.
Well, that is it for now. I hope you will join me for my next installment. Please feel free to comment and chat any part of the book through Part Two. Until next time!
