The Stormlight Archive Read online

  PUBLICATION FACTS

  • The Way of Kings was published in 2010, but Brandon Sanderson began planning and writing it over fifteen years ago.

  • After having a draft of The Way of Kings completed for years, Sanderson recognized a problem with it and rewrote the entire novel from scratch.

  • The Stormlight Archive series is planned to be ten books long, divided into two five-book sequences.

  • Each book will be structured around one central character, whose backstory will be explored indepth through flashbacks throughout the novel. Kaladin’s past was explained in The Way of Kings, Shallan’s backstory was revealed in Words of Radiance, and the third novel is likely to focus on Dalinar.

  • The Way of Kings debuted at #7 and Words of Radiance at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller List.

  CHARACTERS

  Kaladin Stormblessed

  “You were not shocked when a child knew how to breathe. You were not shocked when a skyeel took flight for the first time. You should not be shocked when you hand Kaladin Stormblessed a spear and he knows how to use it.”

  Raised by his father to be a surgeon, Kaladin became a soldier, and then a slave before saving the life of one of the most powerful men in the world, Dalinar Kholin.

  As the newly-named captain of Dalinar’s personal guard, Kaladin must protect the entire royal family, despite his deep-seated hatred of Lighteyes and the oppressive rule they represent.

  Kaladin has always been a protector. He became a soldier to protect his brother Tien. As a squadleader he habitually took on weak and vulnerable soldiers and did his best to keep them alive. As a bridgeman he built Bridge Four into a cohesive unit with military discipline and did all he could to increase their chances of survival.

  As a burgeoning Knight Radiant, Kaladin must master his new powers and represent the ideals of the Order of Windrunners. If he fails to use his new position wisely and well, he may lose not only his powers, but also Sylphrena, his closest friend.

  Dalinar Kholin

  “Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

  As a young man, Dalinar Kholin was feared throughout Alethkar as the Blackthorn, terrible and deadly in battle. He helped his brother Gavilar conquer the other Highprinces and reunite Alethkar under the rule of House Kholin.

  After his brother was murdered by the Assassin in White, Dalinar gave up his wild ways, setting aside alcohol and committing himself to the Alethi Codes of War and the teachings in The Way of Kings. He strove to become a stalwart and honorable man, in order to prop up Gavilar’s son Elhokar and keep his new kingdom from flying apart.

  As the war against the Parshendi dragged on, Dalinar began receiving visions that drove him to unite the peoples of the world. Despite the fractious nature of the other Highprinces, he sought to forge a path to victory through cooperation.

  After being betrayed and left for dead by his former friend Torol Sadeas, Dalinar gave up his Plate and Blade and rededicated himself to ending the war, this time through political force rather than martial power. He forged a small coalition of Highprinces and marched on the Shattered Plains, rediscovering the lost city of Urithiru in the process.

  Shallan Davar

  “You are old enough to wonder, to ask, to reject what is presented to you simply because it was presented to you. But you also cling to the idealism of youth. You feel there must be some single, all-defining Truth—and you think that once you find it, all that once confused you will suddenly make sense.”

  When Shallan was young, she was the beloved darling of her father, who doted on her kindly. All that changed when Shallan killed her mother and her mother’s accomplice in self-defense, traumatizing her and forcing her father to take the blame to protect her.

  After that fateful day, Shallan’s father became cruel and manipulative, mutilating or driving away his sons and ruining the Davar family. Eventually Shallan killed her father as well, and took up responsibility for the subsequent survival of her house.

  To pay her family’s debts, Shallan took it upon herself to steal Jasnah Kholin’s Soulcaster. She became Jasnah’s ward to grow closer to her but grew to love scholarship, all the while haunted by strange spren. When it became clear that Shallan was a burgeoning Knight Radiant, Jasnah took her under her wing in truth.

  After Jasnah’s apparent death, Shallan has had to once again redefine herself, this time relying on her causal betrothal to Adolin Kholin, her Lightweaving, and a few weeks of apprenticeship to a conwoman named Tyn. Shallan has become involved with the Ghostbloods and will have to continue to navigate their treacherous organization.

  Szeth-son-son-Vallano

  Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king.

  For reasons that have not yet been revealed, Szeth was exiled from the Valley of Truth in Shinovar, branded with the title “Truthless” and burdened with an Honorblade. He is honor-bound to serve as the slave and weapon of any person who holds his Oathstone, and has therefore served as an assassin for many masters.

  At the command of the Parshendi, Szeth assassinated King Gavilar and sparked a war between Alethkar and the Parshendi.

  After the Parshendi discarded his Oathstone, Szeth was lucky enough to serve a series of masters too dull to realize his full potential. That changed when Taravangian discovered him and used him to assassinate more leaders and destabilize a number of major nations. This led Szeth into an inevitable clash with Dalinar and Kaladin.

  Kaladin defeated Szeth, seeming to kill him, but Szeth has been revived by the Herald Nalan, who replaced his lost Honorblade with a sword that is very likely the cursed blade Nightblood.

  Eshonai

  Once, she’d seen the world as something fresh and exciting. New, like a blossoming forest after a storm. She was dying slowly, as surely as her people were.

  As a young Parshendi woman, Eshonai’s passions were exploration and cartography. She wandered far and wide, exploring lands her people had never visited in recorded history. She made first contact with humans, paving the path for the war that would devastate her people.

  As war raged between Alethkar and the Parshendi, Eshonai served her people as a general, a Shardbearer, and a member of the Council of Five. Though she still loved history and exploration, she sublimated her desires by constantly wearing Warform.

  As her sister Venli tried to convince her people to adopt the experimental and dangerous Stormform, Eshonai sought out Dalinar Kholin to try to forge a peace that would save her people.

  She succeeded at arranging a meeting but was maneuvered into adopting Stormform before the meeting could take place. Now she has fallen under the power of Odium and has lost her personality in his hatred and aggression.

  LOCATIONS OF INTEREST

  Alethkar

  This military superpower on the far windward side of Roshar demonstrates the strictest adherence to Vorin principles of any nation. Its men answer their Calling to be great warriors, its women are some of the finest clerks and scholars in the land. For the Alethi, everything is a competition and until very recently this fierce drive to prove their superiority had kept Alethkar divided into ten warring Highprincedoms. A few years before the events of The Way of Kings, Gavilar Kholin unified Alethkar under his rule before forging a truce with the Parshendi of the Unclaimed hills, a treaty that was broken by his assassination on the very night of its signing. Alethi society is deeply classist, divided into a ruling Lighteyes class, Alethi who have very light eye colors, and a laboring Darkeyes class, who have very dark eye colors. Two of our four primary characters, Dalinar Kholin and Kaladin Stormblessed, are from Alethkar. Other important Alet
hi include Adolin, Jasnah, Renarin, Navani, and Elhokar Kholin, as well as Highprince Sadeas. The capital of Alethkar is Kholinar, the seat of House Kholin, but since the breaking of the treaty with the Parshendi, the warcamp at the Shattered Plains has become an increasingly permanent second capital.

  Jah Keved

  The second-largest Vorin nation, Jah Keved is home not only to the greatest collection of religious tomes in Roshar, but also some of the finest artifabrians in the world. It is continuously pushing forward artifice and science in search of the long-lost ability to create Shardplate and Shardblades, and has recently mastered the construction of half-shards, shields that mimic Shardplates’ ability to deflect Shardblades. Although the cities are centers of science and education, much of Jah Keved remains rural and backwards, and in the provinces it is a closely guarded secret that women often neglect their daughters’ proper education. Jah Keved contains the Horneater Peaks, in which live a race of people who can often see Spren who do not wish to be seen and who do not follow Vorin ways. Years of interbreeding has given Vedens characteristic red hair. Shallan Davar is from Jah Keved. The capital of Jah Keved is Vedenar, which is where king Hanavanar rules.

  Kharbranth

  The City of Bells, Kharbranth is an independent city-state cut into the side of a mountain to shelter it from the Highstorms. Its epithet refers to the hundreds if not thousands of bells that blow merrily in the winds raised by the weakened Highstorms. Kharbranth is home to the Palanaeum, the finest library in all of Roshar, said to contain seven hundred thousand tomes and scrolls. King Taravangian, the ruler of Kharbranth, has used the proceeds from the Palanaeum to build the most extensive medical system in Roshar, providing dozens of free hospitals for his people, and making Kharbranth the perfect place for a young surgeon to learn his art. Lirin, Kaladin’s father, dreamed of sending Kaladin to study there. But those charitable hospitals harbor a terrible secret.

  Purelake

  A broad, smooth, shallow lake of still water. The Purelake is sheltered from the storms and strange and beautiful fish swim below its surface. A small group of people live in the Purelake, eating fish that they catch and making predictions based on their movements.

  Shinovar

  The farthest leeward nation, Shinovar is protected from the Highstorms by distance from the Origin and by a huge mountain range. Ecologically sheltered, it has developed a biosystem similar to Earth’s. The ground has soil, the grass does not have to retract or move, and chickens and horses are common. In Shinovar being a farmer is the most honorable calling, and warriors are considered shameful. They consider stone sacred and do not mine by breaking the earth, or even walk on stone. There are no spren in Shinovar, for reasons that are as yet unknown. Szeth-son-son-Vallano, the Truthless assassin, is an exile from Shinovar.

  Thaylenah

  Thaylenah is an island kingdom separated from the mainland of Roshar by the Longbrow straits. Thaylens have long white eyebrows that they often wear tucked behind their ears. While Vorinism is not widely practiced in Thaylenah, Thaylens are heavily influenced by Vorin culture and cover their safehands. This may be primarily to facilitate trade with the Vorin kingdoms. Thaylens are mostly merchants, sailors, and traders.

  The Shattered Plains

  Deep within the Unclaimed Hills there is an area called the Shattered Plains, an expanse of broken plateaus that may once have been connected. Since the breaking of the treaty between Alethkar and the Parshendi, the Shattered Plains have been a constant battleground. The Alethi and Parshendi are in competition for the greatshells, massive crustaceans that wander the plateaus and have gemstones for hearts.

  Urithiru

  “Urithiru was said to be the center of the Silver Kingdoms, a city that held ten thrones, one for each king. It was the most majestic, most amazing, most important city in the world.”

  The legendary city out of which the Knights Radiant operated, Urithiru was lost when the Radiants left the world. It is only accessible with the help of a surgebinder, and Shallan spends much of her time on the Shattered Plains searching for it.

  ECOLOGY OF ROSHAR

  As Roshar is wracked by frequent Highstorms, hurricanes of sufficient force to toss boulders through the air, the animals of this world have evolved in very peculiar ways, selecting overwhelmingly for hardiness, and favoring crustacean qualities.

  FAUNA

  Axehounds

  The closest thing we’ve seen to dogs on Roshar, axehounds are hexapedal creatures with a hard carapace that fuses shell and skin. They are keen hunters, relying on their extrasensory antennae. Axehound calls sound like multi-voiced trumpets. Noble families keep them as pets.

  Chulls

  These huge, docile crabs are the primary beasts of burden in most of Roshar. They are slow but very strong, and are used to pull everything from carriages to plows. During Highstorms chulls can retreat into their stony shells for safety.

  Cremlings

  “Cremling” is a blanket term for several species of small crustacean scavengers. They vary widely in appearance although all have purple blood, like greatshells. Cremlings are often pests, and “cremling” has become a generic term of abuse.

  Greatshells

  Greatshells are a class of huge crustacean creatures with large gemstones for hearts. Most of the greatshells we have seen so far reside in the Shattered Plains, where they are known as Chasmfiends. These monstrous creatures can grow up to thirty feet tall with huge, crushing claws. Their blood is violet and gives off a moldy odor. There are even larger greatshells in the Reshi Isles, creatures so large that they are mistaken for islands. Many peoples, including the Parshendi, are suspected of worshiping greatshells as gods, and some speculate that there may be some connection between chasmfiends and the mysterious Voidbringers of legend. Chasmfiends attract mysterious, as-yet-unidentified spren when they die.

  Santhid

  The Santhid is a gigantic aquatic creature possessing significant intelligence. When they decide to follow ships, the only part of them visible above the surface is their domed shell.

  Skyeels

  Amphibious, flying predators that can grow as long as seven feet from snout to tail, Skyeels hunt both fish and small land animals. Their flying mechanism has not been fully explored, although Shallan noted that they have small pouches beneath their fins that deflate as they dive. Unidentified spren gather around them while they fly. Sailors call these “luckspren,” although Shallan is less than convinced.

  Whitespines

  Whitespines are dangerous predators as large as wild boars with enormous tusks that can break off inside their victims, sharp claws, and a ridge of spines along their back. They live in dens and sometimes hunt humans as prey. They are reported to smell quite terrible.

  FLORA

  While there are many kinds of plants on Roshar, fewer are given a name over the course of the books than the animals. We do see a variety of exciting and peculiar evolutionary strategies, however.

  Many plants on Roshar demonstrate rapid plant movement, responding to touch or vibrations in the air or ground by retracting into the rocks or closing their buds. This allows them to survive Highstorms and the many herbivorous creatures that would consume them.

  Other plants take minerals from the silty water they subsist on and form that sediment into hard, rocklike shells. The most common staple grain crop in Alethkar, for example, is the rockbud, a kind of rice geode that must be cracked open to reach the grains.

  Most plants relax their defenses after the inundation of a Highstorm, drinking in the readily available water. Some plants, such as the snarlbrush, activate their chlorophyll in response to water.

  The period after a Highstorm is an especially good time for the plants to feed because most animals have been driven into shelter by the boulders tossed around by hurricane-force winds.

  SPREN

  Every concept in Roshar has the potential to attract a visible spirit called a spren. These ethereal creatures vary wildly in shape and siz
e, and seem to react to how humans perceive ideas. Spren are an essential part of Sanderson’s world and are deeply tied to how humans access the magical powers of Surgebinding.

  EMOTIONAL SPREN

  Spren are drawn to cognitive events within human minds, and as such have a particular predilection for strong emotions. Angerspren, fearspren, painspren, and others all appear around humans locked in the throes of strong emotions, giving rise to a highly performative emotional culture.

  Angerspren

  “His expression was as thunderous as a highstorm, angerspren boiling up from the ground around him like small pools of bubbling blood.”

  Whenever someone feels sufficient rage, these spren bubble up from the ground around them. It has not been confirmed whether a skillful enough actor could hide his or her anger well enough to keep angerspren from materializing.

  Fearspren

  “Small fearspren—shaped like globs of purple goo—began to wriggle from the masonry, pointing toward the doorway. They were drawn by the terror being felt on the other side.”

  Fearspren point towards sources of intense fear and can potentially reveal a terrified person hiding from something. It is noted of Bridge Four that, “to their credit,” they were not attracting any fearspren, which indicates not that they are fearless, but that they are less afraid than other nearby people. Not attracting fearspren seems to be a sign of valor.

  Painspren

  “Painspren—like small orange hands with overly long fingers—were crawling around him, reacting to his agony.”