While Stormlight isn’t nearly as stabby and schemey as GoT, there is a very healthy dollop of political intrigue, particularly in the first book.Īlethkar, the country at the story’s center, is in a fragile state. Map of Alethkar from Brandon Sanderson’s Website.
Stormlight archive books series#
These add a lovely bit of flavor to the world, and they’re just good stories.Įach Stormlight book is also filled with dozens of pieces of artwork, all of which are intended as “in-world” pieces of art created by the scientists, religious leaders, and historians of Roshar.Īnd speaking of worldbuilding, you could even call Sanderson a “universebuilder.” Most of his novels are set in “The Cosmere,” a collection of magical worlds, and there are a few crossovers from other series in Stormlight. Sanderson cleverly uses the interludes, which are essentially short stories following non-protagonists in Roshar, to give us a look at some of the other cultures and places of the world. This isn’t a series about traveling the world, so we mostly get a look at two or three places in each book. One way that Sanderson succeeds in making the world feel massive and heavily populated is through interludes.
It’s like a treasure hunt filled with morsels of lore and magic. Though much of its ideas are new and unusual, they’re introduced slowly and in a way that makes sense-as a result, rereading is a blast. The Stormlight Archive is intricate without ever being confusing or info-dumpy. But Brandon Sanderson takes worldbuilding to a different level. Martin is known for his worldbuilding-we know thousands of years of Westeros’s history and lore. Michael Whelan’s cover art for The Way of Kings, from Brandon Sanderson’s website. The Worldbuilding of the Stormlight Archive Martin’s world and characters, this series offers some similar elements while being something very fresh and unusual. I think this is a series for fans of fantasy in general. Why is This the Perfect Series for Game of Thrones Fans? Szeth, the Assassin in White, who is forced to kill kings against his will.Īnd yes, that is the shortest summary of this series I could come up with. Dalinar, the aged warmonger who now watches his country squabble in a pointless fight against the Parshendi (more on them later). Shallan, the ambitious scholar with a lot of dark family secrets. The series follows several characters and their adventures: Kaladin, the darkeyed spearman who has seen his comrades fall and finds himself a slave. Oh, and there are also shardblades, ancient swords that can be summoned by their wielders and have the power to cut through stone and souls. Though they’re magical to read about, these tiny beings are commonplace in Roshar. There are angerspren, gloryspren, keenspren-no one is certain how many varieties exist. On top of all this, there’s also spren, which are sentient, spirit-like beings who are attracted to certain human emotions. Societies are often divided into two groups of people: the lesser darkeyes and the privileged lighteyes. The people of Roshar are diverse and unusual (the Thaylen have distinctive long eyebrows, and the Iriali are known for their golden hair), and the world is filled with rich cultures with deep histories.
With the powerful storm comes stormlight, an energy that can be used to infuse gemstones, the world’s primary currency, and produce light and even energy. Civilization, flora, and fauna have all adapted to this extreme environment. On the world of Roshar, a hurricane-like storm sweeps over the rocky world every few days.
0 kommentar(er)
