Fantasy, Stormlight Archives and me...

Hey there, everybody

Today I want to talk about a fantasy series I have recently been obsessed with. Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. 

My fascination with fantasy and Science Fiction dates back to my childhood when I used to read lots of comics and stories in the newspaper edition of Saturday. Stories filled with magic, adventure, romance and secret treasures.  It made me love this genre. But the best part about reading fiction is it indirectly teaches you a lot. Some stories are open to the interpretation of the readers. While others are happily ever after kind. While it's natural for anyone to hate the one with a sad ending, if you look at it from another angle you might get why it had to be so. 

This reminds me of a quote from my favourite fantasy series, Kingkiller Chronicles. It goes, "It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he'll look for his own answers." 

I could go on and on about Kingkiller Chronicles for hours, so let me take you to my recent fantasy favourite, Stormlight Archive.

An  

If someone asks you to name a fantasy book series, what would you say? My guess is it's either Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Six years ago, they were the only fantasy series I ever read. 

After the Harry Potter series was finished there was a lot of fantasy series that filled the void. Kingkiller Chronicles are one of them. The first book, The Name of the Wind came out in the same year as the last book of Harry Potter did. There is Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch that seems to live up to readers' expectations.

3 years later, in 2010 the first book of Stormlight Archives - The Way of Kings was published. Followed by Words of Radiance in 2014, Oathbringer in 2017 and Rhythm of War to be published in November 2020.

But before you start reading this series, there are few things to keep in mind.

Sanderson's books are really long. I haven't read any book longer than that. But the reason you may find it tough to go through is not that they are 1300 pages long. It's because the author takes a lot of time narrating the journey of the main characters. So it feels like the story is moving forward slowly.

There will be flashbacks to let you know what they have been through.

Usually, the first book of any fantasy series takes time. You need to understand the magic system, new characters, different parts of that world and all. And in what might seem like an unending cycle of what the hell, just keep in mind that it's all worth your time. 

 

 It's easy to tell YOU all this. Because many of you DO read fantasy books. But my friends don't. And that's why it's not fun answering them about a book that I know for sure they are not going to read. Forget reading, they don't even check it out on Goodreads. And probably won't even remember the name of the book.

I used to tell them. And here's how our casual conversation was like... 

Them - Hey, what's that book you're reading?

Me - Oh, this. It's Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. 

Them - The cover looks great. What's the book about?

Me - Well, it's about a lot of things. It starts with an assassin named Szeth who's got cool powers like flying and climbing on walls. He can make people stick to the wall with a technique called Lashing.

He has also got a sword that can burn the eyes of anyone it touches. He is bald and wears plain white clothes and...

Them - Well, that - 

Me - and let me tell you the magic system. Some special people called Radiants have these unique powers to absorb Stormlight. Like, if you're walking through a hallway surrounded by spheres and lamps full of light, you can just take a breath and your body will glow. Then based on their abilities they can fly or create illusions or travel to the mind realm. And the Stormlight heals you if you're injured. Isn't that amazing?

Them - That sounds interes-

Me - But I mean there is a lot more than that, you know. There are unknown secrets, weird Parshendis, dark past of their civilization. There are Chasmfiends and they have gemstones attached to their bodies. There is an adventure. There are sword fights. There is Kaladin. There is Shallan. And... And...

At this point, they slowly start backing away.

And tell me they don't have time to read such long books. 

And then that's it. They usually leave me alone with my book. But I was just being honest and not over-enthusiastic. Okay, maybe a little over-enthusiastic.

So anyway, let's talk about Oathbringer, the third book of the series. The book is great. As all of Sanderson's books are. But of all the three, I liked the second one the most. There was a lot of action scenes in it.  If you want to read my review, here's the link. 

Usually, his books have different plots for the main characters. The book is divided into five parts with interludes in-between. I expected a different story from the one I read. So a little disappointed. Just a little. The book is still fun to read. 

In the end, it all comes together for great magic action scenes between the main characters and Odium(pronounced similarly as Sodium without S). 

I don't want to spoil too much for you. But here's a fan-made video of Dalinar fighting a chasm fiend, (a scene from book one) that might spark your interest in the book. 

This is really a good time to be a fan of fantasy fiction. Lots of good fantasy series are out there demanding to be read. Some are still in the process to be completed. In Stormlight Archive there will be a total of ten books. Three of them are already out. The fourth one will be released in November 2020. If you're interested in starting this series, you can buy the first book using one of the links below. You're gonna love these books. Be ready to immerse in the Cosmere World. So many scenes have goosebumps guaranteed (Spoiler warning).

Amazon store Links 

The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) - https://amzn.to/3erjg4l

Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - https://amzn.to/2Z41yxo

Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive #3) - https://amzn.to/3dq9rm7

The Rhythm of war (Stormlight Archive #4) - https://amzn.to/3k3zFz4