The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

I just finished Brandon Sanderson's THE WAY OF KINGS. It's been a while since I read an adult novel, and this is a loooooooong one. (1000 pages, anyone?) I admit it took me a while to get into, partly because there are four focal characters whose plot lines take a while to intersect. But especially at the midpoint, I became quite engrossed and er, a lot of things I was planning to do this weekend still haven't been addressed. I suspect this is the kind of book that boys read when they run out of MG and skip to adult. Because stuff HAPPENS. It's got that kind of heroic MC who has to deal with a LOT of opposition--yet somehow manages to find a way to fight, or outwit, or get around it.

Several things I really enjoyed in this book that are kind of Sanderson hallmarks:

1. Making the characters use the tools at hand to solve their problems. They are often seemingly minor tools, but there is great creativity it making them work.

2. Giving you details of a situation such that you form one impression, and then later giving you more details and making you realize things aren't quite the way you thought they were.

3. Religion. In many other books, religion is often either ignored or ignorant or some Evil Force Trying to Rule the Universe. Sanderson doesn't avoid or look down on religion. Instead, he has a variety of interesting religions in his books. Religion is treated with respect (there's even an atheist character in this book whose nonbelief I felt was treated quite fairly, considering the importance of religion in the book in general.) Sanderson respects people's beliefs, and I appreciate both that and the fact that religion plays an important plot element in his books. (Not any real religion--they are all made up for this book.)

It's the first of a series of er, ten. Which I'll be looking forward to, although I don't think I'll store these books on a shelf higher than my head anytime soon. I don't like concussions...