The Way Of Kings

The Stormlight Archive has for better or worse become the poster-boy for where (classic) epic fantasy is going. It's the evolution of the Tolkien-style fantasy -- a fantasy that was very much expanded and added to by Robert Jordan with The Wheel of Time. And now Brandon Sanderson is rebuilding epic fantasy in his image, updated for modern readers. It's a fantasy very much divergent from the style of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire which embraces the gritty conceit. Sanderson's style of epic fantasy strides the middle ground between Tolkien and Martin -- a bit of each, but not too much of either. The Stormlight Archive (2 massive books into the whole 10 series) is a hugely epic series that's casting an eye on the Malazan throne for epicness. The first book pulls out all stops and makes a grand statement with the page count alone, being only a mere first 1000+ pages in a purported 10 book series. You can see why The Stormlight Archive is about as epic a fantasy as they come.  But not only epic, but also damn good. This is one of the best fantasy books to come out in the 2000's and certain one of the best fantasy of the past five years, hands down.The Way of Kings does everything right as an epic fantasy. There's a world-ending plot in the backdrop, a cast of interesting characters that are starkly realized, a unique magic system, different races with a lot of tension between them, huge and epic battles, and some of the best action in the fantasy genre.Characterization is also fantastic. Sanderson has done a particularly well job at building up the character of Kaladin, who spend the majority of the novel enduring the fantasy genre's worst Dirty Job ever. Through the nightmare that is Kaladin's life (and various flashbacks to his childhood), Sanderson does a great job explaining the character's motivations and present actions. These flashbacks are also used to great effect as a way to throttle up the dramatic tension as the story progresses. The action, when it happens, explodes and what a ride it is!So if you are a fan of Sanderson's work, you love epic fantasy, or you just want to read one of the best damn fantasy books out there, The Way of Kings blows pretty much every other 'epic fantasy' competition out of the water, with the exception of Martin's works.All in all, a fantastic start to what's looking to be a great epic series (a series that's looking to be far superior to The Wheel of Time). The sequel, Words of Radiance, was a spectacular read that kept the strength of the first book for the most part. I don't feel it was as good, but there were certainly some very strong moments in the book.If you are looking for epic fantasy, I can't recommend any other series over this right now. Start reading if you haven't already. There have been some excellent epic fantasy series (in the style of Martin, Jordan, and Sanderson) released the past couple years (The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne, The Traitor's Son Cycle, The Powder Mage Trilogy, and The Shadow Campaigns of particular note), but so far Sanderson's series still remains at the top of the pile.