Words of Radiance is one of those sequels that takes everything I liked about The Way of Kings and makes the world feel bigger without losing the characters that made me care about it in the first place.
Kaladin was still probably the character I was most invested in. He’s incredibly capable, but he also has this talent for making decisions that make me want to yell at the book. There are moments where I’m thinking, this is badass, immediately followed by, Kaladin, what the fuck are you doing? That combination is part of why I like him. He isn’t written like somebody who suddenly has everything figured out just because he’s becoming more powerful. He’s still angry, stubborn, carrying a lot of baggage, and figuring out what kind of person he actually wants to be.
Shallan grew on me even more in this book. I already liked her, but Words of Radiance gives her a lot more room to become her own character instead of just being attached to somebody else’s story. She’s clever, funny, damaged in her own way, and you start seeing how much of that humor is actually part of how she deals with everything she’s been through.
Pattern can still annoy me sometimes. The repetition and the way he circles around certain ideas can wear on me a little, even though I understand why he talks the way he does. That’s a pretty small complaint, though, because I like what his relationship with Shallan adds to the story.
I also really liked the time Kaladin and Shallan spend together. Without getting into what happens, there are parts of the book where they’re forced to rely on each other and you start seeing them understand each other in ways they didn’t before. I remember thinking Sanderson might be setting them up for something more, and I liked that tension even though the story doesn’t take the obvious route.
One of the things Words of Radiance does especially well is the magic.
JacTheSipper left a comment on my Way of Kings review talking about how much more interesting a hard magic system can be when there are clear rules and limitations, and this book is a really good example of why that works for me too.
Kaladin and Szeth are probably the easiest way to see it. On the surface, they can do some very similar things. They can move in ways that look impossible, manipulate gravity, fight in the air, and completely change what a battle looks like. But the source of those abilities and the rules behind them are not the same.
Kaladin’s power is tied to his bond with Syl and to the ideals he is trying to live by. His abilities are not just another weapon he gets to use. Who he is becoming and the choices he makes actually matter to the magic itself.
Szeth is different. He can use abilities that look very similar, but he gets there through a completely different path. I liked that because it keeps the magic from becoming, “these two guys both have flying powers.” Sanderson makes you think about where the power comes from, what it costs, and why two people who appear to be doing the same thing might actually be operating under completely different rules.
And Szeth is just badass. There really isn’t a more complicated way I need to say that.
I think that’s one of Sanderson’s biggest strengths. His magic feels like it belongs to the world instead of being something he pulls out whenever he needs to solve a problem. The rules are part of the religions, the history, the wars, the characters, and the way people understand themselves. The deeper you get into Stormlight, the more you realize that learning how the magic works is also learning how Roshar works.
Adolin continued to surprise me too. He starts out looking like he might just be the more polished, straightforward member of the group, but there’s more going on with him than that. I like that he generally tries to do the right thing and live according to a certain code, even when the world around him is making that harder and harder.
There are also some absolutely great action sequences in this book. Sanderson is really good at building toward those huge moments where several storylines finally crash together, and Words of Radiance has some of my favorite examples of that.
My one real criticism is that Sanderson sometimes stretches those climaxes longer than I need them to be. There was a point toward the end where so much is happening around the storms and the characters that I remember thinking, okay, this has been going on for a while now. I loved the payoff, but it took its time getting there.
That said, when the payoff comes, it’s worth it.
Words of Radiance made me more invested in Stormlight than I already was. The characters deepen, the magic gets more interesting, the world keeps opening up, and you start realizing that some of the things you thought you understood in The Way of Kings were only the surface.
I’d absolutely recommend continuing if you liked the first book. It’s still a commitment—this is not exactly a quick weekend read—but if Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin, and the world of Roshar worked for you the first time around, this gives you a lot more to dig into.
— Cory Lane