"As for the characters, I've only met two so far, I know there are potentially more..." Dalinar: 👁👄👁

This is my favorite series by a mile. Hope you enjoy it!

Its adorable seeing new sanderlings join the family. Also, I really forget how obscure and misleading twok is at times

Gosh, I'd forgotten how wild this series is at the beginning, and it must be even more so to someone not used to how weird epic fantasy can be :D This has been a very well produced video, I love the set, and fun to listen to as well, I am looking forward to the next 3 years worth of Sanderson reaction videos :D To add to your confusion about the pronunciation of Jasnah's name, I'll also say that Brandon did you dirty even more than you realize 😅 He himself says it with a soft Y sounds, so more like Yasnah or Yazznuh (and you'll find most of the fandom lean that way too). There's a fun bit of trivia attached to that, though you won't see it in the book - the shift from hard J-sounds to soft ones is something that happened in some cultures as a way for the lighteyes to make themselves sound more posh. So while Jasnah's name, as the name of a lighteyed woman, would be pronounced with a soft J, Jost's name, a darkeyed kid from Kaladin's hometown, would be pronounced with a hard J. You can obviously say things however you want, but I thought it might be fun to catch a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg that is Brandon's worldbuilding :)

For people who have read book four the Jasnah sene it has a nice little quote “then briefly Shallan heard a sound. A low thrumming, like a distant group of voices, humming together, a single PURE NOTE.” He had us the whole time. This was written over twelve years ago.

My brother tried to convince me to start reading this series for three years before I finally gave it a go and I was kicking myself for not starting it earlier once I did! I’m onto Oathbringer now ☺️ The sanderlanche where everything starts ramping up to a close at the end of the books still brings me so much excitement

I just finished The Way of Kings last month, and I can safely say it is incredible. I’m on Words of Radiance, and now you can truly see the master work that Sanderson is so truly genius at.

I’m currently reading this series aloud every night for about 30-45 mins to my girlfriend. She typically falls asleep in the middle of each chapter but sometimes she stays awake because the story is too captivating. 😊

The not speaking out, not having a hair out of place and being sequestered in a manor thing - it is more of a Shallan's family specific thing

Love this series though it wouldn’t be my recommendation for a first time high fantasy reader. For Sanderson, Mistborn is much more accessible.

I know I'm a little late to the party here but I'm always glad when someone new picks up this series. It is genuinely one of my biggest inspirations in life. Happy reading! Glad you are sharing your journey with others also. Life before death!

I don’t get through much fiction but Mistborn was great so I’m thinking of giving Sanderson another go. Thanks for the video!

The Stormlight Archive is my favourite series of all time. I really hope that you enjoy the series and I’m so happy that you’re sharing your journey with us. Thank you.

Good morning! I just discovered this video last night and finished watching this morning. The Way of Kings was my first Sanderson book at the beginning of the year and I absolutely fell in love with the world, the characters, and his writing. I’ve spent the remaining time catching up on the earlier part of the Cosmere before delving deeper into Stormlight. So far I’ve read Mistborn Era 1 and am halfway through Elantris. I just wanted to drop a comment to say what a wonderful video you have made. It has reminded me of all the joys of discovering this world for the first time. I appreciate you highlighting specific sections of the book and focusing so much on your experience unraveling the story. Also, your room looks so insanely cozy and it makes me feel relaxed and ready to read! Thank you for this content and please keep going. I liked and subscribed right away! I can’t wait to see more. With this quality, your subscriber count will grow in no time at all!

I'm very excited for you starting this series. The world building in the first book is amazing. But the growth and changes that the characters go through is the most incredible part of the series. I look forward to your next reaction!

VERY INTERESTING. (No spoilers) Brandon Sanderson is my favorite writer by far. The Stormlight Archive was my second series to read from him. I started with the Mistborn trilogy and then the Alloy of law. The magic in them is much simpler and clever in their usage in my opinion. (You should read those next). I enjoyed Stormight and I read it a couple years ago. It's interesting to hear what's going on in your head about book one, it seems so far away and crazy how some other things happen coming after the beginning. Slight spoiler here but tbh it kinda isn't. Book one focuses happens entirely on The Shattered Plains and later in the story when they are away from there and are looking at a map, they describe it as barely a thumbnails width on the map. It's crazy how the entire book one is in such a tiny place in the world and I found that very interesting. Anywho, It's 4am I should go to bed. Enjoy the rest of the series! (It's a long one lol)

Awesome video! This was my first ever brandon book and it took me 3 attempts to finish it... The learning curve is STEEP. But the payoff is so worth it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your thoughts and reactions You are my first step into #booktube also and you are so well spoken and pick up the key things well, also ur set is BEAUTIFUL

This is such an awesome narration, it feels like re living the story again from your eyes! It's also a good refresher of the books.

This was super thorough and I am HERE for it! Just finished the series over the last year and I'll definitely continue to watch these, enjoying your thoughts so far

Really great video. Best I can say is stick it out. This series really is something special. The characters grow in ways that are so touching. Hope you enjoy. I will keep watching these so please keep coming out with them!

I love this. watching you learn the world through reading, knowing what I do seems so bizarre. it's really cool. I love this.

Glad to see someone who's also started on their Sanderson journey. This was also my first book, and even though it takes a while to get into it (for the reasons you mentioned: it's a big world and lots of characters to take in), from the half-way point, I was suuuuper hooked. This book (together with Heroes Die from Matthew Stover) were the ones that pulled me back into reading (in general). I hope you'll have a great reading journey

I just read all 4 book over the past two months. They are amazing and now among my favorites. Excited for you to start this amazing series!

I am not going to spoil anything, just give some clarification on some things you either misinterpreted or didn't catch. The Stomlight Archive is very intense in it's worldbuilding. Most of your observations about the cultural settings of this world are more about Vorinism than general Rosharian customs. Primarily Alethkar the father west you go the less people observe those customs. While Kaladin was serving in the army he was actually in the second highest rank a darkeyes could be. Kaladin's glyph is represents dangerous. Feel free to pronounce the words however you want. But generally Alethi is pronounced A-leth-e.

[Spoilers ahead] You mentioned how "Women are not supposed to be quippy and smart" Uh, that's basically your job if you're an Alethi woman. The whole worldbuilding of the Alethi culture is that men destroy people on the battlefield, and women destroy each other in scholarship or in writing. In book 3 you see how Dalinar's wife could not stand being an Alethi because it felt like every discussion with another woman was a battle of words where she felt like she always lost and was made a laughing stock. One strange subversion I found in SA was how it always seemed easier for a woman to become a warrior, than for a man to become a scholar. And pages were always spent on the latter, and all the characters talked about it in confusion and suspicion. but whenever a female character said, "I'm going to pick up a sword" a male character would say, "sounds good, morning maneuvers are at dawn."

Nice video. It's always fun to see someone take up these books. Doing Stormlight as your first Sanderson, let alone modern fantasy, is a bold choice. It's a lot to keep straight, but as you get deeper into it, it will come easier. Can't wait to see your reaction as you go along.

I'm on my 3rd reread of the series and hearing your theories and connections as a completely new reader is so interesting! It's an amazing series, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the rest of the book There is always another secret

This book series helped me quit smoking. Takes a good read to distract you from cravings

This is my first time watching a reaction series of someone reading a book. I've seen plenty of reactions to shows before, but honestly, I love what Sanderson is doing with this series, and I've been eager to find out what other people's thoughts on the series was, and watching this video with a POV of someone slowly heading into this series is absolutely amazing. Thank you for your reaction and your thoughts!

Never heard of you before, but the framing of your thumbnail had me curious enough to touch. I’ve never seen this approach to reading, breaking it down and taking a more micro than macro, and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. I also really like the framing of your primary shot-looks nice, bookish, and the lamp is great! Looking forward to what else you do, and subscribed!

This is such an amazing video! I’m excited to watch you fall into the Cosmere and get as obsessed with it as I am!

Told you this privately but it is one of my all time favourite books. I love it, I love the way the character of Kaladin is developed the way it deals with depression and mental health.

Oh man I love this series! I went through the whole thing with audio books so it's interesting to hear your pronunciations of certain words. Enjoy the ride! It's just getting started.

I really enjoyed this video! Looking forward to following along with the rest of your reaction series!

Always wonderful to see more people diving into this series. Enjoy!

Oh man, that's an interesting first dive into Sanderson lol I enjoy most of his stuff but I would never recommend Stormlight to a first timer, it's so THICCCCC but I am so so happy you are enjoying it so far!

This book got me back reading again. Absolute masterpiece by the end in my opinion. I hope you love it by the time you finish. Thanks for sharing your reactions.

i love hearing new perspectives on the book. some of my friends like shallon, some dont, i do. but we aaaallll love syl. shes the GOAT. also sanderson can get a little confusing sometimes but when caladin was a captain in the beginning he wasnt a slave. he was only made a slaver after the murders.

Aw man you are in for a ride, happy to welcome you to the stormlight club, new to be sanderfan

Love this series, but it is way easier to start with his others. Stormlight is so Cosmere connected, so it’s helpful to have the other books under your belt

The over-arching Cosmere storyline is pretty deep. If you like Stormlight then you should delve into the rest of Sanderson. Wheel of Time is very good as well and Sanderson did a pretty good job finishing Jordan's series.

This is a really cool video. You did a great job at setting the tone of the Stormlight archive

Surviving is the perfect term to describe the reading of that series. I listen to the books on audible. Major kudos to you for spending the hours reading the physical Copies of the book!!

I'm starting out with Way of Kings too. Am around 100 pages in. My first Brandon Sanderson book. I'm not doing a reading vlog of it, because I imagine it would take too long and my uploads would be so infrequent. I'm not a fan of fantasy.

This is an amazing idea! Also, well executed! Please do more! Thank you! :D

Stormlight Archives is shaping up to be a great series. I'm a little mad I started when just the first book was out, I've had to wait on each release. I had to do the same thing for "The Wheel of Time" books from the second one on (14 in the complete series) and it can be maddening. If you find yourself looking for more High Fantasy I do recommend Robert Jordan. "The Eye of the World" is the first of the WoT series.

Wow, the quality of this video is really so good. I know this channel is gonna go places, just subbed. PSA: Stormlight is my 2nd fave fantasy series, hope you enjoy it all the way

I'm currently rereading Way of Kings. Well, listening to it anyway since I do my reading mostly via audiobooks. I've read the first three Stormlight Archive books as well as all the other Cosmere books, but I haven't read the 4th Stormlight book yet. That's my current goal, reread the first three Stormlight books and then finally read Rhythm of War. Good luck with the series!

What a fantastic reaction video. Great use of art and quotes. And your lighting and backdrop are fantastic.

I started reading Brandon Sanderson thanks to the duke and duchess podcast and it has been one of the best experiences ever. Im currently on book 3 and expecting Rythms of war for xmas

Now imagine The Way of Kings not only a part of the Stormlight Archive series but also a part of BrandoSando's own universe "Cosmere". Then you start coming back and forth between different books when you see something similar to the things from other series

I had to start this book twice before I really got into it but once I did I was full on invested and read the whole series back to back. It's wonderful.

Stormlight is rough for someone not used to high fantasy. Maybe work through the wheel of time. It's longer but it's easier to read than stormlight.

Ugh. Just wait to you get to the Sanderlanche at the end of this book. I don't know if any other piece of art, media, or what have you has filled me with so much emotion. I thought I understood not being able to put a book down. But the last ~200 pages of The Way of Kings? No way, no how, I tell you

As an audiobook listener, I'm gonna let you know how some of the words and names are pronounced in the audiobooks. You are welcome to ignore or do whatever with this info. I just know people will crawl right up your ass if you don't pronounce things exactly like they think it should be. So, I promise I'm not trying to be a know-it-all or mock you. I firmly believe that you are allowed to do whatever you want with a story once it leaves the author's hands. Jasnah = Yahs nuh Alethi = Al eth ee Parshendi = Par shin dee Sylphrena = Sil phren ah If I notice any others I'll reply to this comment. I'm really enjoying the review so far.

I love this series! Although I wouldn’t recommend it to a first timer.The best series to introduce Sanderson’s talent and to start high fantasy is by reading the Mistborn Trilogy. There’s honestly a preferred reading order and books u’ll have to read before TSLA bc of the easter eggs. The universe in Sanderson’s books is called Cosmere so they’re all connected but held in different planets. But TSLA’s world building is sooo massive and complicated, BUT amazing. Mistborn’s world building is very intricate too but it’s easier to remember that even kids would remember it. :)))

listening to someone reading it for the first time now that ive finished the stormlight archive and all but one of the cosmere books is amazing. i forgot how little you know at the beginning of the series, especially when you haven't read other cosmere books or gotten any previous info into the series/ universe

I'm new to Sanderson, so far I've only read Skyward and I loved it. I'm gonna buy Starsight soon.

I am sure you've gotten this a lot, I would recommend mistborn book, which is also fantasy but but is easier to get into. Way of the kings is amazing and his best work, but it's sorta hard to get in

Starting not just Sanderson, but High Fantasy in general past Tolkien with Stormlight... ohhh this is going to be fun to get your reactions to!

This series is probably in my top 5. My favorite series, Malazan, is about as high and epic as fantasy can get. If you think Way of Kings throws you in the deep end, Malazan throws you right into Challenger's Deep and expects you to swim to the surface on your own😂 Hope you enjoy the series!

This was actually the book I decided to read after mutliple years of not touching any book for entertainment purpose... I just wanted that fantastic feeling of wonder about the world, magic and its characters like I had as a kid reading Tolkien and Harry Potter. This got recommended over and over wherever I looked, took some time to convince myself that 1200+ pages wasn't an issue (lol), but man am I happy I did pick it up. Loved the second book even more, fantastic series (and now working on the Cosmere as a whole).

I enjoyed the video, I have read all of the Stormlight books that are currently out right now, and it's my favorite series. However, I noticed that there were some things in the book that you misunderstood. One of them being that you said that Taravangian, the King of Kharbranth was Jasnah's brother. They are not siblings. I'm not completely sure where you got that from, but just a correction.

Now that you've made it through this book and other work from Sanderson, would you recommend starting with this one? I read LOTR when I was younger, but the only fictional book I've read in the last 13+ years was Pride & Prejudice 😅. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but I am going to try and read more this coming year, and I think I'd like to throw a Sanderson book into the mix. Realistically, I'll probably only get one good fantasy book in for the year, so I'll have to choose wisely.

I miss the feelings of reading TWOK for the first time. I hope you enjoy it and read WoR, it is the best one of the four released so far.

Wait till you get to the second book “Words of Radiance” 🤯 STORMBLESSED: Honor is dead, but I’ll see what I can do

Just a quick Critique, Tolkien is High Fantasy, Harry Potter is Urban Fantasy, and Sanderson is Epic Fantasy. Never have I ever heard the term Low Fantasy. Epic Fantasy is regarding the fact that their are many view point characters, sprawled across a vast and richly depicted world.

This is so interesting to see a first time reaction of the way of kings

Glad I watched this. I was just about to click buy on this book, and this absolutely convinced me Sanderson is 1000% not for me. Saved me $. Thx. Subbed.

is this edition the mass market one? I want to get it because its cheaper than the white book but I don't know if it's gonna survive after one reading 😅

Yo the climax of this book is insane!!!!! On Words of Radiance currently

Interesting first impressions. Spren were 100% my highlight. Dunno how bridges became boards/ladders though

BRIDGE 4!!!!!!!!!!!! that boy Kal, talk about a sad back story. I wanna cry for that boy. but I ain't soft...I still cried a little bit though. the most recent book felt way too long tho. it just dragged. but I hope you enjoy the cosmere journey.

Great video! Side note, love your lantern in the background. Where did you get it??

Low fantasy and high fantasy are less about whether you're in a world similar to the real one or in a totally made up universe. It's more about how realistic the magical elements are. The more unrealistic and out there (swords cutting mountains in half, giant robots throwing galaxies like shuriken etc.) the higher the fantasy. You could have a totally made up world that is like a mirror image of medieval europe and has no magic of any sort, and that would be low fantasy, whereas you could have a story set in contemporary earth, but have people use energy attacks from their fingertips that can blow up entire planets like in DBZ, and that'd be high fantasy. Stormlight Archive gets to be pretty high fantasy as the books go on and characters unlock more power tiers, but especially the first book and so on it's pretty basic low fantasy stuff outside of the starting action scene with the assassin and the final fights.

I thought Wheel of time had intense lore- this is on another level - I'm just starting and trying to understand- the politics, culture and geography of this world is making my head explode 🤯😵‍💫

I am reading Stormlight for the second time and let me tell you one thing - no book will ever feel good again. That's the unfortunate price you pay for experiencing brilliance. That's the reason I am reading it again. I just can't read anything else...

Such a high quality video

Where are you getting all of these drawing of moments in the book?

Loved this, please keep making videos!

I would recommend the series Wheel of Time by robert jordan, starting with Eye of the world. Its an incredible high fantasy tale that's very easy to read and has really vivid worldbuilding that lets you get lost in the pages :) you may like it better as an introduction to high fantasy. Sanderson is okay but i find some issues with parts of his writing/themes that stop them having the same oomph as WoT. Cheers for the vid!

I remember reading the chapter Bridge Four when he first carried the bridge, and I'm not afraid to admit it I cried like a child

wow starting with Stormlight instead of Mistborn, ambitious. hope you have a great time!

First Brando Sando and firstish high fantasy? Good luck, and I hope you enjoy!

This is my favourite book of all time, besides LOTR. Interested to hear your thoughts on it!

Just to clear something out (no spoilers): if I understood correctly what you said, you seem to think Kaladin was a slave when he was in the army. He wasn't. He (didn't) kill someone, and then he was made a slave.

It's an amazing series. I am currently just starting book 4. I think you're supposed to pronounce Jasnah with a 'y' sound and not a 'j' by the way.

I love these books, but I actually listen to them on Audible… the same two amazing narrators read the first 4 books so far ❤️

I wasn't going to say anything about how you pronounced Alethi, but then you said chasms with a "ch" sound.. it's pronounced "ka" "Ka-zm" And it's "ah-leh-thee" not "ah-lee-thee"

This is for real my favorite book.

You are VERY ambitious to start with Stormlight, most people start with Mistborn or Warbreaker

I LOVED this book. It's been a few years since I've read it, but I remember I lost interest after Words of Radiance because I started to sense an "algorithm", or some type of formula he was using. Everything started to seem NPCish... It's like you can foreshadow what's going to happen once you catch on and the characters became flat...

Reading cosmere you might want to take notes

Just in time for my third read of this series that will take place this fall.

Well you better start falling in love with that book

I've never heard someone say chasms like that lol (Canadian here). I've only ever heard kha-zimz: like cattle, not Cha-zimz: like chapter.

Does this video have spoilers?

I wish I could enjoy this series, but when I got halfway through the 3rd book, I stopped. I got sick of the character pov ADHD, and the Robert Jordan slog (only way I know how to describe it). I felt I couldn't sit and connect to the developing characters and stories before the pov would switch, ripping me into a new setting and character. I was also inwardly begging for deeper conversations and relationship development between Kaladin and Syl the whole damn time, but it never came. Maybe book 4 brought it, but I couldn't care about the characters enough to push through the rest of book 3 😢 I thought about it and I would care more about Rock's death than any main character. Minus Kaladin, but that's because his redeeming quality is Syl.

ive only read asoiaf, started this and im STRUGGLING

15:04 actually her name is said Yaznah😅