TGRF Reviews - The Way of Kings (Part 4)

I had assumed that the fourth part of The Way of Kings was the final part, but now that I've finished it, it appears I was wrong. There is a final part five, which looks to be quite short, and feature everyone, including Szeth (which I'm definitely excited about). Since it's short, and since it's the end of the book, I will simply roll it into my review on the entire story. So stay tuned for that.

But now it's time to get onto the review for part four, which I finished yesterday.

Title: The Way of Kings (Part 4)
Author: Brandon Sanderson

Compared to the first three parts of this book, for each of which I had a strong idea of what was good and what was bad, part four seems mediocre. Not in a bad way. It had good and bad as well. It's just that I think the lines between the two started to blend in this part, and things started to level out.

I'll go over the bad first, then the good, then the in-between.

By far the worst thing about part four was the fact that Shallan wasn't there. The part focused on Kaladin and Dalinar, with a single chapter from Navani, Gavilar's wife.

Towards the end of the third part, a lot of things began to happen around Shallan. Revelations were made which change everything. Questions were raised with no visible answer. Stuff started to happen. And then it all stopped. The final chapter of part three was a quick reaction to the revelations, no answers, and even more questions than before. I was eager to continue Shallan's story, but then I turned the page, and it was... not there.

The lack of Shallan was truly disappointing. I can't begin to fathom why Sanderson would peak our interest like that, and then ignore it.

The good of part four revolved around Kaladin. Since probably part three (possibly two), I've known something is going on with Kaladin. He has powers. And thanks to some of those disconnected other povs I've mentioned in other reviews, I've had a pretty good idea of what those powers will turn out to be.

However, Kaladin has remained stubbornly unaware of what he is doing. Even when it's staring him in the face, he just shrugs it off and thinks about other things. Honestly it was getting a bit maddening.

Finally however, he's opened his eyes to the obvious, and the resulting awesomeness definitely made me want to read more. he finally starts using his powers, finally gets out of the slump he's been in all story, and finally meets up with Dalinar, which I've been looking forward to. This was definitely the best part of the section.

In the middle we have Dalinar. In part two, I wasn't a fan of the Dalinar chapters, largely because of the confusion which accompanied them. I've mentioned before how all I wanted was a family tree - a desire which was compounded by switching between Dalinar and Adolin, and thus changing the relation of all the other people I was trying to keep straight.

Things have settled down to only Dalinar's pov in part four, and his story is way better for it. At this point in the story, I cannot see anything that Adolin's previous pov added, and I would have scrapped it. Obviously the importance of his pov might come out in the final part.

But back to Dalinar. Dalinar is a serviceable protagonist. I can't really say much more than that. He's a decent fellow, facing his own problems, trying to juggle the king's paranoia, his own apparent insanity (which might not be insanity at all), and doubts over who he can and cannot trust. In a story where he was the sole protagonist, he might be quite interesting. Against Kaladin, he's merely killing time.

Things do heat up towards the end of part four. Dalinar faces a huge twist. Kaladin gets his act together. The two of them meet up. Someone's really going to get it if Dalinar survives the chapter. This felt like the climax of the book, and I was eager to keep reading.

Now that part four is complete, I am definitely looking forward to part five. It will be short, and I hope it ties everyone together nicely. As I said, I won't review it separately, and will instead go straight to the full review for the whole story.

Until then, keep reading.

~TGRF.