Review of "The Way of Kings"



When my identical twin and I were little, most of the time people thought we'd be exactly the same in every respect.  Au, contraire.  We always had different tastes.  Even our bodies are a little different.  We both have skeletal deformities, but in different areas.  We seem to be mirror image twins.  Our cowlicks and our crooked teeth are on opposite sides; even some of her internal organs are backward.


She liked math in grade school, I liked spelling, which is why we switched desks after recess.  Our third grade teacher was oblivious that she was doing ALL of the math and I was doing ALL of the spelling.  Our dastardly plan to pass third grade with flying colors was dashed when Mom tipped our teacher off.  DRAT!  FOILED AGAIN!


As teenagers, she preferred to work on the farm with our Dad, I went to work at a nursing home.  In college, she worked for degrees in chemistry, theater arts, and nursing.  My degrees are in music education, anthropology/sociology, and fine arts education.  Today, she's a nurse, and I'm a music teacher.

Despite the many differences, some natural, some done intentionally to buck others' expectations, the one thing we share is a love of fantasy and science fiction.  Hey, we'd already painted targets on our backs in high school by being decidedly odd.  Why not add the final nail to the proverbial social life coffin by adding swords and capes?  


Despite our mutual love of the genre, we can't even agree on a favorite author.  About the only author we both love is David Eddings.  (The Elenium and the Tamuli, not his more recent works.)  I'm really into Jim Butcher and Charlaine Harris.  Jen?  Not so much.  I asked her to do a review for my site because she reads totally different fantasy authors than I do.


Below is her first book review.  Thanks, Nurse Jen!  (I'd call you Jin-Jin, but that would be embarrassing, wouldn't it?)


Gladiator Meets David Eddings
By Nurse Jen

            When Scooter asked me to review some of the most recently published works, neither she nor I realized what a challenge it would be.  This reviewer is used to charting in shorthand about patients, not expounding elaborately on a specific author’s qualities.  Hopefully, you will be kind enough, dear reader, to overlook dropped articles and the like.  That being said, it is with great pleasure that I highly recommend The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
            Sanderson describes a world where violent storms and spirits roam the planet, and a hero that arises from the lowest levels of society to protect all, including those that oppressed him.  Deserted by the god-like Radiants that once protected the populace from the Voidbringers, hope seems too far out of reach.  Fortunately, the Radiants left their near-invincible armor and weapons for mankind to use.  Unfortunately, they turned them on each other.  This is a tale of greed and losing sight of the true enemy, and is beyond a doubt enthralling.
            The plot Sanderson weaves is multi-layered, and therefore requires a great deal of exposition.  The beginning is a bit slow and can be difficult to enjoy a great deal, but stick with it!  The elaborateness pays off in the end for an astounding finish.  
            All in all, this reader highly recommends Brandon Sanderson’s latest novel and is already reading previous works by this author.  Enthusiastic readers such as me shall have to wait a while for the following novel, however.  No release date has been set according to Sanderson’s website www.brandonsanderson.com.  He seems to be occupied working with Robert Jordan on the Wheel of Time series along with other novels.  Check out his website for more information on his projects and exclusive looks at his upcoming work.  Enjoy yourselves, readers, this reader certainly did!

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