Over one thousand pages can seem a little daunting to the average reader, but by the end you’ll be begging for another thousand pages, and you’re in luck because Way of Kings is the first book in Sanderson quintessential series-The Stormlight Archive.

This book mainly follows three primary characters. Kaladin, a slave and former soldier, has become catatonic after a life times of catastrophic failures, will find it’s not in his nature to just roll over and surrender. There’s Shallan, a noble and amateur scholar who tries to become an apprentice to the world’s foremost scholar, but not to learn but to steal a valuable artifact to save her family from ruinous debt. And finally there’s Dalinar, a high prince and general. Forced into a war by the death of his brother the king, while trying to decrypt the cryptic message his brother left for him as he lay dying.

Now usually with books this large you can imagine some fatigue from reading it, but I couldn’t put that book down. It actually proved a small distraction from my school work to the chagrin of my teachers. This book pulls you in with its compelling narrative, in-depth look at the human condition, and maintains a grounded perspective on war, politics, and religion. You’ll find yourself awed by the way he captures Kaladins return to the man he once was, by Shallans naiveté and eagerness, and Dalinars evolution into a social pariah because of his obsession with military code. The Way of Kings was a book that took almost a month’s worth of time, focus, and total investment. I may be describing it as something more than a book, because it is. It’s an experience, the entire series will leave readers drained but wanting more of the kind of feeling it will give them, I cannot recommend it more and I cannot wait to see where the journey in this story will take me next.