The Way of Kings presents a diverse set of likable protagonists in a unique world setting and provides 1,000+ pages of enjoyable fantasy epic reading.

The novel is the first volume in Brandon Sanderson’s new epic series, and it follows the stories of three main protagonists:

Kaladin, a surgeon’s son and apprentice, who joined the Alethi army to help protect his younger brother. Kaladin found talent as a spearman, becoming known as Kaladin Stormblessed for his ability to avoid injury and death. But ultimately he failed his brother and many of those around him. Despite his nickname, Kaladin is haunted by the idea that he’s cursed. He’s a complicated young man, who believes in honor and justice, but who sees little of those qualities in his leaders, who reward his great accomplishments on the battlefield with treachery, banishment and slavery. Kaladin ultimately makes his way back to the army, not as a soldier, but as a member of the bridgemen, whose only role was to carry bridges for the army to cross the ravines of the Shattered Plains. Bridgemen were considered dispensable, and aside from carrying the bridges, their role was to serve as targets for enemy arrows before the real army engaged. But Kaladin refuses to accept his role, using his talents – first as a surgeon, then as a leader, to unite the bridgemen and make them believe in themselves. Along the way, and with the help of a “spren” or spirit named Syl, he discovers that he has far greater talents than he ever imagined.

Shallan is the daughter of a minor noble from the Kingdom of Jah Keved. Her family has fallen on hard times after her father dies. The family’s wealth came largely from the use of a magical fabrial, which no longer seems to be working. So Shallan sets off with plans to steal a new fabrial from Jasnah Kholin, sister to the Alethi King, who is a renowned scholar and Soulcaster.

Dalinar Kholin is the uncle and advisor to the current Alethi king. Dalinar’s brother is assassinated in the early part of the book by a lone assassin, sent by little understood nation of Parshendi. He leads one of the larger Alethi war factions fighting the Parshendi on the Shattered Plains. Where most of the other warlords spend their time squabbling, posing and earning gemstones, Dalinar is most concerned with honor and winning the War of Vengeance. He is perceived as weak by his peers, and his old-fashioned ways don’t seem to help. It gets worse when he begins seeing visions, urging him to unite the Alethi princes and bring unity back to Roshar. Like his brother before him, he becomes obsessed with a historical book called The Way of Kings, which teaches about the ancient Radiants and their ways.

What I like about the book

The world set forth in The Way of Kings is unique for its ecology and magical system, both of which are complex, interrelated and unique. The world of Roshar seems completely foreign, consisting of rocky plains and barren wasteland. Its landforms and ecology are shaped by frequent and ferocious storms, which are also the source of Stormlight, which gives the world’s magical gemstones their power. This is a world where grass retracts into the ground to protect itself from highstorms, and where the predominant creatures are crustaceans, ranging from the very small to the humongous.

After the first book, it’s not entirely clear HOW all of these things are interrelated. It’s just clear that they are.

The pace of the book is very good. Even though it employs some classic genre ideas (such as the return of ancient magic and the downtrodden hero), in 1000+ pages, I didn’t get bored with the characters or the storyline.

I would recommend The Way of Kings to anyone looking to begin a new epic fantasy series.

Actually, it felt good to get back into the story. I don’t know why I always feel surprised that I enjoy the creative writing process. I spend so much of my time not writing that it often feels like I’m avoiding it. Then, when I start up again, I feel rejuvenated, which makes it hard for me to fathom why I have such a hard time keeping up with it.

But then I realize it isn’t writer’s block, or procrastination, or lack of ideas, or any of the other excuses writers often manufacture to explain why they aren’t writing. It’s that I have a life outside writing. Family, work and other pursuits take up a lot of my time–and that’s not a bad thing, either.

I enjoy spending time with my family. I enjoy going to the movies with my wife, going to three different kids’ sporting events on a Saturday, even helping the kids with their homework.

I enjoy my work (most of the time). Recently I started a new venture, which you can see over at www.greenmfgnews.com . So, in addition to my full-time job as magazine editor, I also am trying to start something new on my own. And when I have a chance, I poke away at this novel of mine.

So I write when I can. I feel good about it when I do, especially when I’m able to make real progress. For example, last night I finished off a chapter. I also passed the 40,000 word mark, which I figure is about a third of the way there.

Fantasy Novelist’s Progress Report:

• Consecutive days of productive writing: 1
• Chapters complete: 11
• Word Count: 40,582

I wrote about 1,000 words last night and got myself about halfway through Chapter 11. After several months of slacking off, it feels good to get back to this project. I found that I’ve missed spending time in the world I’ve created. I’m finding that the more time I spend with them, the more the characters come to life.

So now I’m full of fresh energy and enthusiasm. Forget about what I wrote yesterday. 4.5 years? Absurd! My new estimate is 4.5 months, and I have a track record of two whole days to back me up.

All I have to do is keep writing 1,000 words a day.

Fantasy Novelist’s Progress Report:

• Consecutive days of productive writing: 2
• Chapters complete: 10 (and a half)
• Word Count: 39,016

So I looked at my last post, got out my handy calculator, and figured out how long it would take me to finish this novel if I continue at my current pace…

Today is January 26. My last post about the novel was November 4. That’s 82 days between posts. I’ll admit that I haven’t blogged every time I’ve written. But I haven’t written that much either. One chapter and about 3,000 words in 82 days.

This is where it starts to get scary. Assuming the novel will be about 30 chapters and 120,000 words, I figure I should be able to wrap things up in approximately 1,640 days, which equates to 4.5 years.

Gosh, I hope I don’t get carpal tunnel syndrome from all that typing.

Fantasy Novelist’s Progress Report:

• Consecutive days of productive writing: 1
• Chapters complete: 10
• Word Count: 38,233

The Cassandra Kresnov novels Breakaway and Killswitch will follow at the same price and format, to be published in June and July 2009 respectively.

“We’ve had significant interest from the major booksellers in seeing Pyr enter the mass market format, and a great deal of interest in this trilogy in particular,” says Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders. “Joel’s series is smart, sexy, action-packed, and features a very well-rounded and admirable female lead. We’ve been very happy with their performance thus far in trade paperback, and feel they are especially suited to lead our charge into mass market, a perfect example of the type of smart, action-packed and engaging read that Pyr is becoming known for. I’m thrilled that Cassandra Kresnov is poised to entertain even more readers with her mass market debut.”

From the newsletter:

Cassandra Kresnov is a highly advanced hunter-killer android who defected from her League Dark Star special ops assignment, seeking the quiet life of a civilian, but then becomes unwillingly embroiled in dangerous interplanetary intrigue. Shepherd is known for his strong female protagonists, his gripping action sequences, and his rich depiction of Byzantine political machinations. Tobias S. Buckell, author of Halo: The Cole Protocol, called the series, “A blast to read,” while Publishers Weekly described it as “Robert Ludlum meets Elizabeth Moon.”

Huntington Beach, CA
Wednesday, November 12 @ 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Avenue

Northridge, CA
Thursday, November 13 @ 7:00 PM
Borders
9301 Tampa Avenue

San Diego, CA
Saturday, November 22 @ 4:00 PM
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
Suite #302

Source: The Del Rey Internet Newsletter

• Life Achievement: Leo & Diane Dillon
• Life Achievement: Patricia McKillip
• Novel: Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada/Penguin Roc)
• Novella: Illyria, by Elizabeth Hand (PS Publishing)
• Short Story: “Singing of Mount Abora” by Theodora Goss (Logorrhea, Bantam Spectra)
• Anthology: Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, Ellen Datlow, editor (Tor)
• Collection: Tiny Deaths, Robert Shearman, editor (Comma Press)
• Artist: Edward Miller
• Special Award—Professional: Peter Crowther for PS Publishing
• Special Award—Non-professional: Midori Snyder and Terri Windling for Endicott Studio Website

AliensAndElves.com congratulates this year’s winners.

So what? National Novel Writing Month appears to be geared toward amateurs. Their focus is on quantity, not quality. Just get the words down on paper. What you do with them after that is up to you.

Except that my goal isn’t just to get words on paper. That part is easy. It’s getting the right words that’s difficult. Maybe that comes from my being a professional magazine editor in my real life. Maybe it comes from the fact that I don’t just want to write a novel. I want to write a good one. I want to have it published and be successful.

I spend far more time planning, editing and rewriting than I spend writing fresh material. To me, that feels like the better approach. I don’t have a problem coming up with ideas or ways to express them. It’s not about writer’s block. It’s about blocking out time to keep making progress.

Like NaNoWriMo, I use word count to track my progress. But they’re not just words. They’re the right words. Counting them just gives me a way to see my progress and stay motivated. Two months ago, I had 23,000 words and six chapters. Now I have 35,000 words and nine chapters.

I hope the good folks at NaNoWriMo will forgive me, but I’m not participating. They had more than 100,000 participants last year, with some 15% actually completing the 50,000 words.

I’m just going to keep doing what I do. My goal isn’t just to have a certain number of words and call it a novel. My goal is to write a cohesive, interesting epic fantasy page-turner. Whether it ends up at 50,000 words or 150,000 words doesn’t matter.

Fantasy Novelist’s Progress Report:

• Consecutive days of productive writing: 1
• Chapters complete: 9
• Word Count: 35,300

Ok, maybe “world’s greatest” is a bit of a stretch, but I am writing fantasy, after all, and half the fun is just making stuff up. The point is, I’m back in the writing habit. Exactly one day in a row. OK, maybe “habit” is a bit of a stretch, too, but I feel a lot better about making progress than the alternative.

I worked on a new scene last night, the last scene of Chapter 9. The main character is about to get himself into a whole new mess, and it should be interesting. But he’ll also meet a new ally, whom I’ve already introduced. Together they’ll be able to get out of the mess, but not in this chapter. All I have to do tonight is finish getting our hero into the trouble. Throw in some bad guys and the scariest fantasy monster you’ve ever come across, and we’re in business.

I should be able to finish at least the rough draft of Chapter 9 tonight, and then get a good head start on Chapter 10.

In the early stages of writing a novel, there’s a lot more planning than writing. I feel like I am getting to the point in the story where the planning has mostly been taken care of, and the action of the story begins to drive itself. I don’t have to think about what is going to happen next, because what happens next follows naturally from what happened previously. That makes the writing part a lot easier.

Let’s hope it continues.

(World’s Greatest!) Fantasy Writer’s Progress Report:

• Consecutive days of productive writing: 1
• Chapters complete: 8
• Word Count: 33,808

Unfortunately, writing every day is a much harder habit to develop than not writing every day.

I haven’t been totally inactive since the last time I posted, but I haven’t written that much either. I am about two-thirds of the way through Chapter 9, which is about a chapter and a half further than I was late in August. I have somewhere around 33,000 words complete, and I hope to get through Chapter 9 tonight.

In the meantime, I finished reading the latest from Terry Brooks a few nights ago ( The Gypsy Morph, book 3 of the Genesis of Shannara series ). It was a good book, well written, with Terry Brooks’s usual style, and I consider my time spent reading his work as studying as much as reading for pleasure.

I admire Brooks for his pace and writing style, and if my writing can come anywhere close to that, then my “studying” time will have been well spent.

So, with inspiration anew, I’ll tackle the rest of Chapter 9 tonight. Wish me luck.