The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson is an unfinished epic fantasy series. The series is part of Brandon Sanderson’s multiverse, the “Cosmere.” The book follows multiple different main characters, as well as many side characters. Currently, there are four main books in the series, each more than 1,000 pages, and two shorter novellas. There are multiple different opinions on this series. While some fantasy readers are hesitant to read this series because of its sheer length, others find it to be their favorite book of all time. The series’ second installment, Words of Radiance is one of the highest-rated books on Goodreads.
With its length, the series is often criticized for its slow pacing. As someone who hates books that are too slow, I found myself agreeing with this sentiment as I was reading the first installment in the series, The Way of Kings. Since the books are so lengthy, many readers end up dropping the series before they get very far.
Despite the slow pacing, this series is now one of my all-time favorites. While it is slow, it keeps the reader captivated, and they slowly realize that every detail in the book has some relevance. This makes reading the series exciting and leaves a sense of anticipation as to what will happen next.
The overall plot of the series is incredibly well-written. Sanderson does an amazing job of weaving the pieces of the story together, while purposefully leaving gaps for the reader to question, only to find out later in the story. This series is a prime example of fantastic epic fantasy storytelling and deserves more attention than it receives.
While this series is absolutely amazing, if you are a new reader getting into the genre, I would not recommend this. I would recommend this series for people who are not new to the genre, and have a good understanding of what they like. Furthermore, you need a lot of stamina to read this book. If you don’t have it, I would also not recommend you read it. But overall, The Stormlight Archive is definitely worth reading.
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