The Stormlight Archive: A Pocket Companion to The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Description: This pocket companion is designed to provide facts and details that may have been missed on the first reading of The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance and speculation about what is to come. As such, it contains spoilers for the first two novels of The Stormlight Archive. This edition is limited to 5,000 copies.
Publisher: Tor
Rights: All rights reserved

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PUBLICATION FACTS

• The Way of Kings was published in 2010, but Brandon Sanderson began planning and writing it over fifteen years ago.

• After having a draft of The Way of Kings completed for years, Sanderson recognized a problem with it and rewrote the entire novel from scratch.

• The Stormlight Archive series is planned to be ten books long, divided into two five-book sequences.

• Each book will be structured around one central character, whose backstory will be explored indepth through flashbacks throughout the novel. Kaladin’s past was explained in The Way of Kings, Shallan’s backstory was revealed in Words of Radiance, and the third novel is likely to focus on Dalinar.

• The Way of Kings debuted at #7 and Words of Radiance at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller List.

CHARACTERS

Kaladin Stormblessed

“You were not shocked when a child knew how to breathe. You were not shocked when a skyeel took flight for the first time. You should not be shocked when you hand Kaladin Stormblessed a spear and he knows how to use it.”

Raised by his father to be a surgeon, Kaladin became a soldier, and then a slave before saving the life of one of the most powerful men in the world, Dalinar Kholin.

As the newly-named captain of Dalinar’s personal guard, Kaladin must protect the entire royal family, despite his deep-seated hatred of Lighteyes and the oppressive rule they represent.

Kaladin has always been a protector. He became a soldier to protect his brother Tien. As a squadleader he habitually took on weak and vulnerable soldiers and did his best to keep them alive. As a bridgeman he built Bridge Four into a cohesive unit with military discipline and did all he could to increase their chances of survival.

As a burgeoning Knight Radiant, Kaladin must master his new powers and represent the ideals of the Order of Windrunners. If he fails to use his new position wisely and well, he may lose not only his powers, but also Sylphrena, his closest friend.

Dalinar Kholin

“Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

As a young man, Dalinar Kholin was feared throughout Alethkar as the Blackthorn, terrible and deadly in battle. He helped his brother Gavilar conquer the other Highprinces and reunite Alethkar under the rule of House Kholin.

After his brother was murdered by the Assassin in White, Dalinar gave up his wild ways, setting aside alcohol and committing himself to the Alethi Codes of War and the teachings in The Way of Kings. He strove to become a stalwart and honorable man, in order to prop up Gavilar’s son Elhokar and keep his new kingdom from flying apart.

As the war against the Parshendi dragged on, Dalinar began receiving visions that drove him to unite the peoples of the world. Despite the fractious nature of the other Highprinces, he sought to forge a path to victory through cooperation.

After being betrayed and left for dead by his former friend Torol Sadeas, Dalinar gave up his Plate and Blade and rededicated himself to ending the war, this time through political force rather than martial power. He forged a small coalition of Highprinces and marched on the Shattered Plains, rediscovering the lost city of Urithiru in the process.

Shallan Davar

“You are old enough to wonder, to ask, to reject what is presented to you simply because it was presented to you. But you also cling to the idealism of youth. You feel there must be some single, all-defining Truth—and you think that once you find it, all that once confused you will suddenly make sense.”

When Shallan was young, she was the beloved darling of her father, who doted on her kindly. All that changed when Shallan killed her mother and her mother’s accomplice in self-defense, traumatizing her and forcing her father to take the blame to protect her.

After that fateful day, Shallan’s father became cruel and manipulative, mutilating or driving away his sons and ruining the Davar family. Eventually Shallan killed her father as well, and took up responsibility for the subsequent survival of her house.

To pay her family’s debts, Shallan took it upon herself to steal Jasnah Kholin’s Soulcaster. She became Jasnah’s ward to grow closer to her but grew to love scholarship, all the while haunted by strange spren. When it became clear that Shallan was a burgeoning Knight Radiant, Jasnah took her under her wing in truth.

After Jasnah’s apparent death, Shallan has had to once again redefine herself, this time relying on her causal betrothal to Adolin Kholin, her Lightweaving, and a few weeks of apprenticeship to a conwoman named Tyn. Shallan has become involved with the Ghostbloods and will have to continue to navigate their treacherous organization.

Szeth-son-son-Vallano

Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king.

For reasons that have not yet been revealed, Szeth was exiled from the Valley of Truth in Shinovar, branded with the title “Truthless” and burdened with an Honorblade. He is honor-bound to serve as the slave and weapon of any person who holds his Oathstone, and has therefore served as an assassin for many masters.

At the command of the Parshendi, Szeth assassinated King Gavilar and sparked a war between Alethkar and the Parshendi.

After the Parshendi discarded his Oathstone, Szeth was lucky enough to serve a series of masters too dull to realize his full potential. That changed when Taravangian discovered him and used him to assassinate more leaders and destabilize a number of major nations. This led Szeth into an inevitable clash with Dalinar and Kaladin.

Kaladin defeated Szeth, seeming to kill him, but Szeth has been revived by the Herald Nalan, who replaced his lost Honorblade with a sword that is very likely the cursed blade Nightblood.

Eshonai

Once, she’d seen the world as something fresh and exciting. New, like a blossoming forest after a storm. She was dying slowly, as surely as her people were.

As a young Parshendi woman, Eshonai’s passions were exploration and cartography. She wandered far and wide, exploring lands her people had never visited in recorded history. She made first contact with humans, paving the path for the war that would devastate her people.

As war raged between Alethkar and the Parshendi, Eshonai served her people as a general, a Shardbearer, and a member of the Council of Five. Though she still loved history and exploration, she sublimated her desires by constantly wearing Warform.

As her sister Venli tried to convince her people to adopt the experimental and dangerous Stormform, Eshonai sought out Dalinar Kholin to try to forge a peace that would save her people.

She succeeded at arranging a meeting but was maneuvered into adopting Stormform before the meeting could take place. Now she has fallen under the power of Odium and has lost her personality in his hatred and aggression.

LOCATIONS OF INTEREST

Alethkar

This military superpower on the far windward side of Roshar demonstrates the strictest adherence to Vorin principles of any nation. Its men answer their Calling to be great warriors, its women are some of the finest clerks and scholars in the land. For the Alethi, everything is a competition and until very recently this fierce drive to prove their superiority had kept Alethkar divided into ten warring Highprincedoms. A few years before the events of The Way of Kings, Gavilar Kholin unified Alethkar under his rule before forging a truce with the Parshendi of the Unclaimed hills, a treaty that was broken by his assassination on the very night of its signing. Alethi society is deeply classist, divided into a ruling Lighteyes class, Alethi who have very light eye colors, and a laboring Darkeyes class, who have very dark eye colors. Two of our four primary characters, Dalinar Kholin and Kaladin Stormblessed, are from Alethkar. Other important Alethi include Adolin, Jasnah, Renarin, Navani, and Elhokar Kholin, as well as Highprince Sadeas. The capital of Alethkar is Kholinar, the seat of House Kholin, but since the breaking of the treaty with the Parshendi, the warcamp at the Shattered Plains has become an increasingly permanent second capital.

Jah Keved

The second-largest Vorin nation, Jah Keved is home not only to the greatest collection of religious tomes in Roshar, but also some of the finest artifabrians in the world. It is continuously pushing forward artifice and science in search of the long-lost ability to create Shardplate and Shardblades, and has recently mastered the construction of half-shards, shields that mimic Shardplates’ ability to deflect Shardblades. Although the cities are centers of science and education, much of Jah Keved remains rural and backwards, and in the provinces it is a closely guarded secret that women often neglect their daughters’ proper education. Jah Keved contains the Horneater Peaks, in which live a race of people who can often see Spren who do not wish to be seen and who do not follow Vorin ways. Years of interbreeding has given Vedens characteristic red hair. Shallan Davar is from Jah Keved. The capital of Jah Keved is Vedenar, which is where king Hanavanar rules.

Kharbranth

The City of Bells, Kharbranth is an independent city-state cut into the side of a mountain to shelter it from the Highstorms. Its epithet refers to the hundreds if not thousands of bells that blow merrily in the winds raised by the weakened Highstorms. Kharbranth is home to the Palanaeum, the finest library in all of Roshar, said to contain seven hundred thousand tomes and scrolls. King Taravangian, the ruler of Kharbranth, has used the proceeds from the Palanaeum to build the most extensive medical system in Roshar, providing dozens of free hospitals for his people, and making Kharbranth the perfect place for a young surgeon to learn his art. Lirin, Kaladin’s father, dreamed of sending Kaladin to study there. But those charitable hospitals harbor a terrible secret.

Purelake

A broad, smooth, shallow lake of still water. The Purelake is sheltered from the storms and strange and beautiful fish swim below its surface. A small group of people live in the Purelake, eating fish that they catch and making predictions based on their movements.

Shinovar

The farthest leeward nation, Shinovar is protected from the Highstorms by distance from the Origin and by a huge mountain range. Ecologically sheltered, it has developed a biosystem similar to Earth’s. The ground has soil, the grass does not have to retract or move, and chickens and horses are common. In Shinovar being a farmer is the most honorable calling, and warriors are considered shameful. They consider stone sacred and do not mine by breaking the earth, or even walk on stone. There are no spren in Shinovar, for reasons that are as yet unknown. Szeth-son-son-Vallano, the Truthless assassin, is an exile from Shinovar.

Thaylenah

Thaylenah is an island kingdom separated from the mainland of Roshar by the Longbrow straits. Thaylens have long white eyebrows that they often wear tucked behind their ears. While Vorinism is not widely practiced in Thaylenah, Thaylens are heavily influenced by Vorin culture and cover their safehands. This may be primarily to facilitate trade with the Vorin kingdoms. Thaylens are mostly merchants, sailors, and traders.

The Shattered Plains

Deep within the Unclaimed Hills there is an area called the Shattered Plains, an expanse of broken plateaus that may once have been connected. Since the breaking of the treaty between Alethkar and the Parshendi, the Shattered Plains have been a constant battleground. The Alethi and Parshendi are in competition for the greatshells, massive crustaceans that wander the plateaus and have gemstones for hearts.

Urithiru

“Urithiru was said to be the center of the Silver Kingdoms, a city that held ten thrones, one for each king. It was the most majestic, most amazing, most important city in the world.”

The legendary city out of which the Knights Radiant operated, Urithiru was lost when the Radiants left the world. It is only accessible with the help of a surgebinder, and Shallan spends much of her time on the Shattered Plains searching for it.

ECOLOGY OF ROSHAR

As Roshar is wracked by frequent Highstorms, hurricanes of sufficient force to toss boulders through the air, the animals of this world have evolved in very peculiar ways, selecting overwhelmingly for hardiness, and favoring crustacean qualities.

FAUNA

Axehounds

The closest thing we’ve seen to dogs on Roshar, axehounds are hexapedal creatures with a hard carapace that fuses shell and skin. They are keen hunters, relying on their extrasensory antennae. Axehound calls sound like multi-voiced trumpets. Noble families keep them as pets.

Chulls

These huge, docile crabs are the primary beasts of burden in most of Roshar. They are slow but very strong, and are used to pull everything from carriages to plows. During Highstorms chulls can retreat into their stony shells for safety.

Cremlings

“Cremling” is a blanket term for several species of small crustacean scavengers. They vary widely in appearance although all have purple blood, like greatshells. Cremlings are often pests, and “cremling” has become a generic term of abuse.

Greatshells

Greatshells are a class of huge crustacean creatures with large gemstones for hearts. Most of the greatshells we have seen so far reside in the Shattered Plains, where they are known as Chasmfiends. These monstrous creatures can grow up to thirty feet tall with huge, crushing claws. Their blood is violet and gives off a moldy odor. There are even larger greatshells in the Reshi Isles, creatures so large that they are mistaken for islands. Many peoples, including the Parshendi, are suspected of worshiping greatshells as gods, and some speculate that there may be some connection between chasmfiends and the mysterious Voidbringers of legend. Chasmfiends attract mysterious, as-yet-unidentified spren when they die.

Santhid

The Santhid is a gigantic aquatic creature possessing significant intelligence. When they decide to follow ships, the only part of them visible above the surface is their domed shell.

Skyeels

Amphibious, flying predators that can grow as long as seven feet from snout to tail, Skyeels hunt both fish and small land animals. Their flying mechanism has not been fully explored, although Shallan noted that they have small pouches beneath their fins that deflate as they dive. Unidentified spren gather around them while they fly. Sailors call these “luckspren,” although Shallan is less than convinced.

Whitespines

Whitespines are dangerous predators as large as wild boars with enormous tusks that can break off inside their victims, sharp claws, and a ridge of spines along their back. They live in dens and sometimes hunt humans as prey. They are reported to smell quite terrible.

FLORA

While there are many kinds of plants on Roshar, fewer are given a name over the course of the books than the animals. We do see a variety of exciting and peculiar evolutionary strategies, however.

Many plants on Roshar demonstrate rapid plant movement, responding to touch or vibrations in the air or ground by retracting into the rocks or closing their buds. This allows them to survive Highstorms and the many herbivorous creatures that would consume them.

Other plants take minerals from the silty water they subsist on and form that sediment into hard, rocklike shells. The most common staple grain crop in Alethkar, for example, is the rockbud, a kind of rice geode that must be cracked open to reach the grains.

Most plants relax their defenses after the inundation of a Highstorm, drinking in the readily available water. Some plants, such as the snarlbrush, activate their chlorophyll in response to water.

The period after a Highstorm is an especially good time for the plants to feed because most animals have been driven into shelter by the boulders tossed around by hurricane-force winds.

SPREN

Every concept in Roshar has the potential to attract a visible spirit called a spren. These ethereal creatures vary wildly in shape and size, and seem to react to how humans perceive ideas. Spren are an essential part of Sanderson’s world and are deeply tied to how humans access the magical powers of Surgebinding.

EMOTIONAL SPREN

Spren are drawn to cognitive events within human minds, and as such have a particular predilection for strong emotions. Angerspren, fearspren, painspren, and others all appear around humans locked in the throes of strong emotions, giving rise to a highly performative emotional culture.

Angerspren

“His expression was as thunderous as a highstorm, angerspren boiling up from the ground around him like small pools of bubbling blood.”

Whenever someone feels sufficient rage, these spren bubble up from the ground around them. It has not been confirmed whether a skillful enough actor could hide his or her anger well enough to keep angerspren from materializing.

Fearspren

“Small fearspren—shaped like globs of purple goo—began to wriggle from the masonry, pointing toward the doorway. They were drawn by the terror being felt on the other side.”

Fearspren point towards sources of intense fear and can potentially reveal a terrified person hiding from something. It is noted of Bridge Four that, “to their credit,” they were not attracting any fearspren, which indicates not that they are fearless, but that they are less afraid than other nearby people. Not attracting fearspren seems to be a sign of valor.

Painspren

“Painspren—like small orange hands with overly long fingers—were crawling around him, reacting to his agony.”

It is likely that the extremely unpleasant physical manifestation of painspren is due to the fact that they are shaped by unpleasant emotion.

PHYSICAL PHENOMENA SPREN

There are many spren who are formed by human perception of natural events, which help humans understand phenomena that they couldn’t otherwise perceive with the naked eye.

Groundspren

The Alethi believe that things fall towards the ground instead of floating away because groundspren pull them downwards. This is fundamentally interchangeable with a working theory of gravity. Brandon Sanderson has said that groundspren pull with a force equivalent to .7g.

Rotspren

Rotspren manifest as small red bugs. Their existence has given the people of Roshar a working germ theory of disease and allowed them to develop sophisticated surgical hygiene routines.

Lifespren

“Tiny lights rose around the plants. Lifespren. They looked like motes of glowing green dust or swarms of tiny translucent insects.”

Lifespren are most likely to appear in the blossoming stage directly after a Highstorm, when plants hungrily drink in stormwater. This might highlight the fact that spren are tied to the storms, especially considering how both spren and storms are absent from Shinovar.

Judgmental Spren:

Some spren seem to pass judgment on how well humans are succeeding at their performative tasks. Some of these appear at moments when a person is performing before a large crowd, but others can appear privately.

Creationspren

“Creationspren were of medium size, as tall as one of her fingers, and they glowed with a faint silvery light. They transformed perpetually, taking new shapes. Usually the shapes were things they had seen recently … they imitated shapes exactly, but moved them in strange ways. A table would roll like a wheel, an urn would shatter and repair itself.”

Alethi scholars believe that creationspren are drawn to skillful acts of creation, so art that attracts creationspren must be finer than art that does not. It is more likely that they are drawn to accurate representations of shapes in nature.

Gloryspren

“Gloryspren—like tiny golden translucent globes of light—began to pop into existence around him, attracted by his sense of accomplishment.”

These spren show that, on Roshar, glory is conceived of as an internal attribute, rather than one that is granted by general approval.

Logicspren

“There were said to be logicspren—in the form of tiny stormclouds—who were attracted to great arguments, but Shallan had never seen them.”

It is unknown what aspect of great arguments attract logicspren or why they take the form of stormclouds.

NAMED SPREN

Some spren have gained such power, such prominence, or such personality, that they’ve taken on lives of their own. This is especially true of spren who have formed a Nahel bond with a human to allow them to Surgebind. Such spren gain identity as they grant power to their Surgebinders and can lose that personality if their bond is broken, causing them to die as individuals.

Sylphrena

Sylphrena, better known as Syl, is an honorspren bonded to Kaladin. She embodies the charateristics of her type of spren, being changeable and playful, while also urging Kaladin to embrace the ideals of the Windrunners. She bears some relationship to the Stormfather, who seems to feel responsible for all windspren and to have forbidden them from entering into bonds and making new surgebinders.

Pattern

Pattern is a Cryptic spren whose bond with Shallan strengthens after she tells the symbolheaded figures who had haunted her an important secret. He manifests as a raised pattern on surfaces. He loves lies, especially lies people tell themselves. Unlike most spren, Pattern cannot hide himself from human perception.

Cusicesh the Protector

“At precisely seven forty-six in the morning—the locals could use it to set their timepieces—an enormous, sea-blue spren surged from the waters of the bay. It was translucent, and though it appeared to throw out waves as it rose, that was illusory.… They called it by name, Cusicesh the Protector. Some worshipped it as a god.”

Cusicesh is a deeply mysterious spren, one of the largest and most powerful we’ve seen. It may be a shadow of some greater being, as the Stormfather is.

Stormfather

The Stormfather is in fact a massive and powerful spren who exist within the Highstorms. The Stormfather appeared to Kaladin when he was left out in a Highstorm, and Kaladin sees him again in dream. As one of the three spren who can bond with humans to create a Bondsmith, he accepts Dalinar’s oath at the end of Words of Radiance.

THE KNIGHTS RADIANT

The First Surgebinders and the Foundation of the Knights Radiant

At the beginning of his ancient war with Odium, Honor shared his power with his ten Heralds. Wanting to aid in this battle, the spren decided to imitate the Heralds by bonding with humans to grant them surges. Such were the first Surgebinders created, each having access to two surges and a wide range of powers. The Surgebinders were unexpected allies of Honor and had enormous potential. The Herald Ishar’Elin, Herald of Luck, organized the Surgebinders into ten orders, with each Herald patronizing one group of Knights. Thus were formed the Knights Radiant.

The Glory of the Knights Radiant and the Last Desolation

For many ages the Knights Radiant battled for the people of Roshar, keeping peace among the kingdoms and weathering the Desolations. They established the city of Urithiru and created portals from there to many major cities. They went into battle alongside the Heralds in the Last Desolation, known in Vorin tradition as Aharietiam. Vorinism teaches that they helped the Heralds banish the Voidbringers into the Tranquiline Halls, ending the cycle of Desolations. In fact, all but one of the Heralds abandoned their battle at this point, leaving the Knights Radiant to pick up the pieces of a shattered world.

The Day of Recreance

Vorinism teaches that, after years of defending humanity, the Knights Radiant grew tired and corrupt. On what is known as the Day of Recreance, the Knights Radiant all over the world cast off their Shardplates and Shardblades and abandoned their vows, turning their backs on humanity. It is not known why the Radiants made this drastic decision, betraying their vows both to humanity and to the spren they’d bonded.

The Immortal Words

“Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.”

This is the first ideal of the Knights Radiant, the code every Radiant lived by. Each Order shared the first Ideal, with four later Ideals to guide the individual Orders.

The Orders and their Surges

ORDER OF WINDRUNNERS: The first Order, following Jezrien, had the ability to bind Adhesion and Gravitation. Kaladin is an incipient Windrunner.

ORDER OF SKYBREAKERS: The second Order, following Nale, had the ability to bind Gravitation and Division. Szeth is an incipient Skybreaker.

ORDER OF DUSTBRINGERS: The third Order, following Chanarach, had the ability to bind Division and Abrasion. There are no known Dustbringers at this time.

ORDER OF EDGEDANCERS: The fourth Order, following Vedeledev, had the ability to bind Abrasion and Progression. Lift is an incipient Edgedancer.

ORDER OF TRUTHWATCHERS: The fifth Order, following Paliah, had the ability to bind Progression and Illumination. Renarin Kholin is an incipient Truthwatcher.

ORDER OF LIGHTWEAVERS: The sixth Order, following Shalash, had the ability to bind Illumination and Transformation. Shallan Davar is an incipient Lightweaver.

ORDER OF ELSECALLERS: The seventh Order, following Battar, had the ability to bind Transformation and Transportation. Jasnah Kholin is an incipient Elsecaller.

ORDER OF WILLSHAPERS: The eight Order, following Kalak, had the ability to bind Transportation and Cohesion. There are no known Willshapers at this time.

ORDER OF STONEWARDS: The ninth Order, following Talenel, had the ability to bind Cohesion and Tension. There are no known Stonewards at this time.

ORDER OF BONDSMITHS: The tenth Order, following Ishar, had the ability to bind Tension and Adhesion. Dalinar Kholin is an incipient Bondsmith.

FASHION

Male fashion

Male fashion in Alethkar has long been shaped by military uniforms, favoring sharp lines and a minimum of frivolity. The long and lucrative campaign at the Shattered Plains, however, has led to flamboyant evolutions of that aesthetic, incorporating more elaborate collars, colorful scarves, and open coats.

Female fashion

Female fashion is far more restrictive. Vorin tradition demands that women restrict themselves from the manly arts of combat and Vorin Lighteyes women to wear long, closed sleeves over their left hands, which are called safehands. High-class women can use their safehands to balance easels while drawing or books while reading, but must perform any tasks requiring more complicated fine motor skills with their right hands.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (R.A.F.O)

• How will access to easy transportation via Urithiru change Alethkar?

• Why did Dalinar go to the Nightwatcher, and what boon did she grant him in exchange for his curse?

• Who or what is the Nightwatcher?

• What are the Ghostbloods planning?

• Where is Cultivation?

• Can Roshar survive the Everstorm?

Tor Books by Brandon Sanderson

Note: Within series, books are best read in listed order.

–—

THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE

With more than ten years spent in research, world-building, and writing, The Stormlight Archive is a true epic in the making, a multivolume masterpiece in the grand tradition of The Wheel of Time®.

The Way of Kings

Words of Radiance

Oathbringer (Forthcoming)

MISTBORN

This modern fantasy classic dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails, and the Dark Lord takes over? What follows is a story full of surprises and political intrigue, driven by a memorable heist crew.

Mistborn

The Well of Ascension

The Hero of Ages

Three hundred years after the events of The Hero of Ages, the world is on the verge of modernity, but one scion returning from the Roughs discovers that the civilized world isn’t as civilized as he’d thought.

The Alloy of Law

Shadows of Self

The Bands of Mourning

ALCATRAZ VS. THE EVIL LIBRARIANS

On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry gets a bag of sand in the mail—his only inheritance from his father and mother. He soon learns that this is no ordinary bag of sand when it is quickly stolen by the cult of evil Librarians who secretly rule the world. It is up to Alcatraz and his band of freedom fighters to bring an end to their tyranny.

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians

The Scrivener’s Bones

The Knights of Crystallia

The Shattered Lens

The Dark Talent

OTHER WORKS

Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection

Brandon Sanderson’s first story collection: novellas and short stories set in the Shardworlds, the worlds of Stormlight, Mistborn, Elantris, and more.

Elantris Tenth Anniversary Author’s Definitive Edition

Fleet, fun, and full of surprises, this is a rare epic fantasy debut that doesn’t recycle the classics. A city and people go from blessed to bewitched, but when the latest outcast arrives, he brings something new—hope.

Warbreaker

By using Breath and the color in everyday objects, miracles and mischief can be accomplished—and are. But it will take considerable quantities of each for two sisters and a Returned god as they face the challenges ahead.

The Rithmatist

While Joel’s mind for figures would make him a genius with the magic of Rithmatics, he doesn’t have the spark. But he could be the only one able to protect the other students when they start disappearing. A new favorite of YA readers, this fantasy has lively and feisty characters and an inventive and detailed magic system.

–—
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BRANDON SANDERSON

Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah, and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He is the author of such bestsellers as the Mistborn® trilogy and its sequels, The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, and The Bands of Mourning; The Stormlight Archive novels The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance; and other novels including The Rithmatist and Steelheart. In 2013 he won a Hugo Award for Best Novella for The Emperor’s Soul, set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time® sequence. For behind-the-scenes information on all of Brandon Sanderson’s books, visit brandonsanderson.com. Or sign up for email updates here.

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Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Publication Facts

Characters

Locations of Interest

Ecology of Roshar

The Knights Radiant

Fashion

Unanswered Questions

About the Author

Copyright

This pocket companion is designed to provide facts and details that may have been missed on first reading of The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance and speculation about what is to come. As such, it contains spoilers for the first two novels in The Stormlight Archive.

We invite you to visit the following websites for additional information about The Stormlight Archive:

www.brandonsanderson.com/book/the-way-of-kings

Brandon Sanderson’s personal website
us.macmillan.com/author/BrandonSanderson

Macmillan’s author page for Brandon
www.tor.com

A site for science fiction and fantasy
www.tor.com/features/series/the-stormlight-archive

Tor.com’s main Stormlight website
www.tor.com/features/series/the-way-of-kings-reread-on-torcom

Fans comment chapter by chapter
www.coppermind.net/wiki/Category:Stormlight_Archive

Fan made encyclopedia
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