Not a review of Words of Radiance, a novel by Brandon Sanderson, second book of The Stormlight Archive. Absolutely not. My review of the first book is probably more informative.
I cannot write a review of Words of Radiance. Not a proper one. I have not a single constructive word I can say about this book. Don't get me wrong, I have many things I want to say, but the whole lot of them can probably be distilled into an enthusiastic holy shit holy shit holy shit.
Thing is, I've been taken in. They have me. I've fallen in love with this world and its characters and all these blasted pages (a TEN BOOKS series with A THOUSAND PAGES each, what the hell). Mr. Sanderson can literally write anything, pull out any stupid fantasy bullshit he wants, and I will still be all oooh!. When I write most of my book reviews, I try to break it down and piece together what makes it good. For this book? I'll just get too excited at stupid shit like Kaladin did something cool!!
I can't even compare it to the first book. They have blended in in my head not as two books, but as one continuous story. I'd say I enjoy this one more, but do I enjoy it more because it's better, or because I've already been attached to the characters? I think this second book is less exhausting to read and far more exciting than the first, but is it because it's better-written, better-paced, or because it's built on what already happened on the previous book?
There are things you just cannot be trusted to make a good judgement on. This is mine.
Do not ask me if The Stormlight Archive is a good fantasy series to get into. I cannot answer that. But if you are somehow looking for a long ongoing fantasy epic with a pretty good chance of being completed at some point in the future, then yes, I'd say, give this a try.
