Several characters from different countries and social strata become aware of the looming danger and develop the ability to channel stormlight, a kind of radiant energy, which helps them perform magic. Thousands of years after the last Desolation, the people on Roshar are reluctant to believe that a new cataclysmic event might soon take place. According to Vorin teachings, the Heralds and Knights betrayed their oaths and deserted mankind, exhausted by cyclical war and suffering. These divine messengers formed the Knights Radiant, warriors with magical abilities, to protect humans from Voidbringers, the monsters who cause Desolations. In the Roshar religion, Vorinism, the Almighty sent 10 Heralds to help humanity. On the continent of Roshar, on a planet of the same name, events called Desolations periodically reduce humans to a Neolithic stage of development and population.

Please be advised that The Way of Kings includes graphic depictions of injuries and death, including death by suicide. The current study guide uses the Tor 2011 mass-market paperback edition of the novel.

In 2007, Sanderson was chosen to complete the last three novels of Robert Jordan’s acclaimed fantasy series, Wheel of Time, which was adapted into a TV series by Amazon in 2021. Sanderson’s first published work is the novel Elantris (2005), followed by the Mistborn series. Sanderson received a BA in 2000 and an MA in English in 2004 from Brigham Young University, where he now periodically teaches creative writing courses.

Sanderson is a contemporary American fantasy and science fiction author, whose best-known works include The Mistborn, The Reckoners, Skyward, and the Alcatraz series.

The way of kings cover