The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

About this book

Speak again the ancient oaths, Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before Destination. And return to men the Shards they once bore. The Knights Radiant must stand again. Roshar is a world of stone swept by tempests that shape ecology and civilization. Animals and plants retract; cities are built in shelter. In centuries since ten orders of Knights fell, their Shardblade swords and Shardplate armor still transform men into near-invincible warriors. Wars are fought for them, and won by them. In one such war on the ruined Shattered Plains, slave Kaladin struggles to save his men and fathom leaders who deem them expendable, in senseless wars where ten armies fight separately against one foe. Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Fascinated by the ancient text namedThe Way of Kingsand troubled by visions of ancient times, he doubts his sanity. Across the ocean, Shallan trains under eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece Jasnah. Though Shallan genuinely loves learning, she plans a daring theft. Her research hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.