What Stormlight Archive Book Did You Like More?

[natc]

If two people starting off on a bad note makes romance feel forced to you never watch any anime

And Kaladin's power fluctuations only seem convenient for the plot developments until you realize it's said developments that caused the shifts in the first place...

Narrative-wise I actually liked WoK more, but WoR outnumbers it in terms of moments of Awesome. And I'm not talking about Lift.

Life epiphany into simultaneous regaining of powers, summoning a glowing shardblade, then exploding with so much stormlight that the floor frosts over into a massive glyph. That's just an epic moment. Then he takes to the air in his next scene.

[galendo]

I don't mind a relationship starting off on a bad note -- it's practically a guarantee in the romance genre -- I just don't like the number of hoops WoR jumps through to get there.  For instance, if they'd got off on the wrong foot because Kaladin killed her brother, that'd be one thing; but the number of coincidences that have to happen for them to meet in this fashion is enough to strain the bounds of believability.

 

When plot developments cause Kaladin's power shifts I don't mind so much.  The losing-the-powers segment and the regaining-the-powers scene work great for me (and yes, I too think that the scene where Kaladin regains his powers is pretty awesome.  So is the fight with Szeth afterward, both before and after Kaladin arrives).  It's the fact that he loses his powers juuust in time to fall into the crevace and wander around with Shallan that gets to me, and that he gets them back juuust in time to save Dalinar.  I kind of give the latter one a pass because it's near the end of the story and I've been conditioned to accept last-minute rescues at the climax of a tale, but the earlier one bothers me.  Perhaps more than it should, but I feel that the second book stretches coincidence of timing in a way that the first one didn't.

[cem he/him]

Both books are among my all time favorites, but I like The Way of Kings better too.

 

TWoK is a beautifully structured book. Kaladin's arc is the linchpin in the story, which is especially great for me because Kaladin is the character that I both identify with and aspire to the most. Then you get Dalinar/Adolin, and it contrasts perfectly with the Kaladin/Bridge Four arc. Where you see the war in the Shattered Plains from the very bottom from Kaladin's point of view, you see it from the very top from Dalinar's. Then, Shallan takes you away from the war and gives you something entirely different. Szeth provides nice little mysteries. Kaladin's flashback ties directly to the plot of the book.

 

In WoR, once Shallan joins the fold, all the arcs move parallel to each other, with deviations along the way (e.g. Shallan joins the Ghostbloods, Kaladin meets Graves, Dalinar fumbles at politicking etc.). Before her arrival, Shallan's story is somewhat repetitive of Kaladin's in TWoK, only with far less sense of accomplishment.

 

This is very subjective, but I also don't like that the WoR is a more lighthearted book. I read anything by Brandon on the release day, but I just don't like the way he writes humor, plain and simple. It's often too silly or too sitcom-y for me. The boot scene, anything with Sebarial, Rock and co. messing around etc. were very cringeworthy. These were in TWoK, too, but they were rarer and provided a nice release at times. Besides, these guys are literally on a countdown to apocalypse. I feel like things should be getting darker, not lighter. There should be privation, riots, something. Poop needs to get real.

 

Also, Shallan gets too much help from Brandon. Jasnah "dies" so Shallan can have a purpose. Sebarial is just there so she can have a position. Everyone, including people who are supposed to be scientists, act like utter morons so she can cleverly solve the puzzle and save the day.

 

What WoR did very nice were the Crowning Moments of Awesome. The scene where Szeth attacks Dalinar for the first time, Kaladin and Adolin's duel, "you probably want me to be a spear, don't you?" etc. These are among the coolest pieces of writing I have ever read. I mean TWoK had its moments, but nothing comparable to WoR. These are just Red Wedding or Dumai's Wells level stuff. In between these moments, though, TWoK was consistently better.

 

So, journey before destination.

Edited March 28, 2015 by cem

[galendo]

What WoR did very nice were the Crowning Moments of Awesome. The scene where Szeth attacks Dalinar for the first time, Kaladin and Adolin's duel, "you probably want me to be a spear, don't you?" etc. These are among the coolest pieces of writing I have ever read. I mean TWoK had its moments, but nothing comparable to WoR. These are just Red Wedding or Dumai's Wells level stuff. In between these moments, though, TWoK was consistently better.

 

You know, this sums it up really well.  The awesome scenes were much more awesome in WoR, but everything else was better in WoK.  So I guess which one you prefer depends on whether you prefer the quality rollercoaster of WoR or the consistent quality of WoK.

[Guest]

I think both books had their strengths and their weaknesses. Here are my very personal impressions.

 

WoK

 

Pros:

 

- Kaladin's story arc. It has to be the most compelling story arc in all SA. The young man who's life goes from bad to worst and yet manages to never give up, to keep on trying until he finally succeeds may not be the most original trope there is, but it sure was effective.

 

- The Kohlin's parallel story arc. It was not as good as Kaladin's, but it provided needed contrast in order to give the reader a wider perspective of the world at hand. Early on in WoK, we understand the story is not about an oppressive society and its poor minions, but is about a richer world where the high ranked are not all jerks. It also serves to highlight the wide difference between the Sadeas and the Kohlins.

 

- The end climax. It was good, much better than WoR. The built-up was slow but inexorable. We knew something bad would happen, but not when or how bad. When Sadeas abandoned the Kohlins was an "oh crap" moment. Kaladin's later decision to sacrifice the freedom of his men to fulfill the greater task of rescuing an army of soldiers was amazing. Had he not gone to help the Kohlins, would he have made it as a Windrunner? Somehow I do think this decision was amongst the most important one Kaladin has made so far. The scene where Dalinar stops the single bridgecrew bravely running to their rescue was just breath taking.

 

Cons:

 

- Shallan's story arc. It was not as compelling as Kaladin's. It was not bad, but it kept bringing the focus away from the main action and it was tiresome. Shallan also spend most of the book being in denial, not speaking, not owning up to herself and it got unnerving rather quick.

 

- Less action. In the middle of the book, not much happens.

 

WoR

 

Pros:

 

- Bringing the main characters together. I lead to some interesting character interactions and some of my favorite moments in the whole series. I love characters when they actually interact one with another and WoR gave me just that. So I loved it.

 

- Adolin being fleshed out as a character and given his own story plot. A nice surprise, a huge surprised. Back in WoK, his role has been to emphasis Dalinar's. He did not carry an arc of his own, we barely got to know him. In WoR, he was promoted to main character and given some character depth. His interactions with Kaladin were priceless... The horse scene... Who does not love the horse scene? Brandon also manages to give us just enough clues something is going on with Adolin and yet not enough for us to puzzle it out. Clever move as by the end of WoR, he becomes a wild card, the one character we are not sure about. Surely he is amongst one of the most talked about topics since the release of WoR.

 

- Shallan's story arc. She was the odd one out in WoK and many feared she would not be able to carry on a book. Yet she did. It started bad for her as she remained the shy, easily dismissed girl who could not manage to make a bunch of lowly sailors let her see a santhid. I was overly surprised to see her grow after Jasnah's death. I was great. I love Shallan now.

 

- Actions. A lot more actions, especially towards the middle. Adolin's dueling climaxed in the third part, giving us something to fear and root for. It was heavily foreshadowed something bad would happen with those and we were not deceived.

 

Cons:

 

- Kaladin's story arc. He's had high, so it is not entirely fair to call him a cons, but many things did not work for me with Kaladin. I feel his climax was when he jumped into the arena, rescued the one man he hates most of all from a sure death and is later surprised to find out he is quite the fellow, standing up for him, when no one else would. After the 4 on 1 duel, Kaladin's arc went downhill. I understand why Brandon had him lose Syl: he wanted us to know being a Radiant was not easy, but it felt like too much in the case of Kaladin. I also hated the chasm scene. It felt forced. All of the Kaladin/Shallan interaction felt forced. To me.

 

- The plot to assassinate Elhokar. I liked it better when the thread was in his imagination and I loved to have Szeth come back to kill... Dalinar. I hated to have real attempts on Elhokar as it justifies him for being a paranoiac jerk for so long. I absolutely despised the association of Elhokar to poor Tien! They have NOTHING in common. To reduce the near thirty years of age king to a small teenage boy was pathetic. Elhokar is not helpless.

 

- The end climax. It is not as good as in WoK. Sure the fights were awesome. Adolin was awesome. Kaladin was awesome (minus the Elhokar part). Shallan did great, but the climax did not feel as definite as in WoK. The book also ended with Adolin doing the unspeakable. The cliffhanger there is horrible. Nothing to do with WoK which was a well rounded book, though this should not be a cons as it sure gave us plenty to talk about.

 

Overall, my personal preference goes to WoR. Because of Adolin. Because of the increased character interaction. Because of the increased action near the middle of the book. Duels were awesome.

[StormingTexan he/him]

The fact that this is even a discussion (and a divided one) is testament to Brandon's greatness. I mean how often do people think the second bookin a series is better than the first? Sure maybe the the third in a trilogy if it had an awesome ending but hardly ever the follow boom after the first.

I liked WoR better. Not that I didn't like WoK but let's be honest it took a loooong time for 100 pages of awesome at the end of WoK. WoR just had more action and I guess I like that more than world building (even though I really like Brandon's world building). I also really liked how Brandon changed my opinion on Shallan who's pages I wanted to skip half the time in WoK to some of my favorite parts in WoR. I liked how we saw Kalidin fall and rise again. I loved Adolins duels. I liked Dalinar's internal battle of how to lead. I REALLY liked seeing the war on the plains from the "enemies" POV. Then the ending just epic.

[GrainofaRiver]

 Voted Words of Radiance because:

 

 - I like seeing Kaladin as a soldier rather than a bridgeman. I appreciate what he did as a bridgeman, but stories about beaten down underdogs aren't really my thing.

 - We already know all of the characters, so the book can hit the ground running

 - I felt the climax was far more grand than The Way of Kings'.

 - You get to see the point of view characters interacting with eachother

 - It was nice to have Shallan finally in the Shattered Plains. I don't mind jumping from location to location with shifting points of view, but it's somewhat annoying when everybody else is in one place. I'm hoping that the next book has multiple characters in various parts of the world, as I currently fear the possibility of the same thing happening with Kaladin.

 - The characters are better developed. I like all the characters better for their growth in the previous book.

 

 and various other reasons; blah-deh-blah-deh-blah, wall of text.

 

 I will say that Words of Radiance's ending didn't have the same 'punch in the gut' revelations that The Way of Kings' did, but I have to subtract some points from The Way of Kings for punching me in the gut five times.

Edited March 29, 2015 by GrainofaRiver

[el_warko he/him]

WoK, hands down.

 

It set the bar really high and even though WoR was almost as good, to semi paraphrase Hoid about brilliance - doing something first; timing and all that. 

 

Some scenes in WoR were better:

 

1) Szeth vs. Kaladin;

2) Moonlit chasm stroll fun;

3) Adolin being not so one dimenional

4) Flight of the Skajaquada / everstorm

 

But

 

In WoK we had:

 

1) A world that previously didn't exist - creation will always trump elaboration;

2) The uberfication of Bridge 4 special shout out ot my PK brother and sisters, ;

3) Tien flashbacks and

4) The Taravangian reveal.  

 

all of which add a little bit extra to my mind.

[Shahrizai she/her]

I didn't think it was possible to like WoR more than WoK, but it happened. I really think it's because the last ten chapters or so were so incredibly satisfying to read and I really felt like I had been through a super intense experience by the time it finished, plus I loved getting more of Shallan's back story. Not that I didn't love getting Kaladin's in WoK. Arrrghh they're both so brilliant, I'm really glad you had both as an option. But ultimately I have to say WoR, by a hair.