The Way Of Kings - Blog Posts

“hmmm Shallan has been looking kinda bored lately, maybe I should take her to a dark scary street tonight and kill some guys in front of her to spice things up” -Jasnah probably

a small helping of TWoK memes

more like an adoption if you ask me 🤨 Dalinar tried to be sneaky with it fr

so I started the stormlight archive

Another scene that should be in stormlight archive book 5

There is a commotion outside the tower. Even though there are 10 days left. Both sides are going to be making moves.

Kaladin sees the early signs of conflict and is worried. Humans and singers are about to clash. They had been called to discuss a seize fire but on both sides there are those who bent on fighting.

Kaldin looses it. In a fit of cold rage he jumps into the sky.

"Windrunners!" He calls out. Tho he no longer A soldier. Every windrunner and squire joins him in the sky without question.

"There will be no more fighting" kaladin roars. His voice like the storms. Eyes ablaze with a tint of red.

"In 10 days the war will end. There are many among you who just want to life. You are free to join us. I and all of the windrunners will protect you. Humans or singer or anyone. And if you wish to fight we'll fight you too"

A regal flie out to attack kaladin but he finishes him swiftly.

Then slowly the murmmers die down.

Kaladin calms and gets back to the clinic like nothing happened.

Some time later kaladin is walking through the tower when we sees solders rushing forward. Some singers had accepted their offer to enter the tower till the war ends. Many had returned to alethkar.

He grunts as he goes to investigate. Queen is there surrounded by guards. Who are facing singers with spears who are defending somebody on the ground.

Moash.

Kaladin suppresses the surge of anger. Looking at his former, now blind friend. Surround by singers.

"The traitor needs to be punished for his crimes" navani says.

The singers object. These are the singers that kaladin had helped. They see him but say nothing. They are still bitter with him.

"We won't let you take him" the singers yell.

"He is a traitor and dangerous. We cannot let him roam free" snarls a solder.

"Leave him in our care. We will take full responsibility for him. He... he's our friend"

Kaldin is torn.

Just then an impatient solder rushes out to attack the singers. Before kaladin can interfere. The singer disarms the solder and subdues him on the floor.

A move that kaladin recognized. The same move moash used on kaladin when kaldin had tried to go after dunny.

Kaladin steps forward glowing which shuts everyone up before a fight can break out and asks, where the singer learned that move.

The singer answers that moash taught them. That he helped them and protected them when kaladin betrayed and left them so they wouldn't be helpless.

Everyone is silent before kaladin advises singers to keep a close eye on moash from now on and walks away while moash makes a snide remark but kaladin keeps walking.

He enjoys using the power. His story is about the struggle between who he is and who he wants to be and who he is taught to be. In regards to his powers he's more like adolin.

He enjoys being powerful then hates himself for that enjoyment.

He has opinions and rage but he tries to be passionless cause he thinks it's the right way.

He's just a small wet meow meow.

szeth is all like "I hate killing people. I hate myself for killing people. Why must I kill people all the time" and then every time he fights it's the most elaborate fight scene ever. There is ONE GUARD and he lashes him upwards, binds him to the ceiling, puts his own spear under him, and then waits for the lashing to run out so the guard falls down and is impaled. and every fight scene is like that. if you think murder is morally wrong why did you do that to him

Hoid is more of a basted. We just don't know it yet. Kelsier is an asshole but everything he does is for the ultimate good of his world. Hoid helps people but ultimately serves himself only.

Jan + Feb Reading Wrap Up

I will be the first to admit that it’s a little late for a February wrap up when it’s nearly April, but I wasn’t planning on doing one until recently, so fuck off. 

Ushers by Joe Hill - Short Story (4 stars)

I’ve been a Joe Hill kick recently, since his new novel comes out in October. Ushers is a short story that follows a young man who can see grim reapers, and this ability affects his life in both positive and negative ways. I gave this story 4 stars. It was okay, but I don’t really like short stories for the simple reason that they are too short! It was creepy, it was well written, and an overall interesting read, so if you want something spooky, you want to give Joe Hill a shot, or you just have a free lunch break, take a gander at it. 

The Pram by Joe Hill - Short Story (3.5 stars)

Another Joe Hill short story, this entry follows a husband who comes across a supernatural pram and, as you can imagine, creepy chaos ensues. This was a fun read. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Ushers. I don’t enjoy stories that are particularly hopeless, and I also don’t fully enjoy stories where the main character is evil, an unreliable narrator, or crazy, because it tends to make me sympathize with them less. It was well written, just as Ushers was, and I would like to know more about the lore of the story. The background of the story seems so much more interesting than the story itself. 

Ancestor by Scott Sigler - Novel (3 stars)

Ancestor follows a team of experts as they attempt to craft a brand new species with the specific purpose of xenotransplantation. In the process, they create hungry entities that stalk the humans they were created to help. You’ll like this novel if you enjoyed Jurassic Park. It has a healthy balance of likable and unlikable characters. This was a fine novel. I gave it three stars. I wasn’t angry, I read it, but had I known what my experience would be, I probably would’ve gone with something else. Ancestor has the feel of a big budget action movie that you go to see on a weekday because nothing else is playing that evening. Or better yet, some random action thriller you found on Netflix that you turn on while you clean the house. It’s fine. My only major problem with the story is that the monsters weren’t scary to me. The descriptions made them sound like mutated chickens, and the image was more surreal than it was scary. I don’t know if I can recommend this. I don’t think I’m in the target demographic. You’ll probably like this novel if you enjoy James Patterson or Michael Crichton. 

Stones to Abbigale by Onision - Novel (0 stars) 

Holy shit. This was the worst book I've ever read. Ever. I’m not kidding. I read this as part of a reading challenge, and I have so many regrets. The only good thing to come out of it was my new skill of being able to stop reading books that I hate. If I start a book and I don’t jive with it, it’s a DNF now. I can’t ever get the time back that I wasted reading this garbage. At one point, I crumpled up a page, threw it in the toilet and pissed on it. Click here or here for more details. 

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson - Novel (4.5 stars)

I’ve been hearing about Brandon Sanderson for years so I was excited to read his stuff for the first time. This book was good, had some really solid worldbuilding, but I’ll warn you, it is long and it is part of a series. The final 15% made me feel like I was on drugs and I was losing my goddamn mind. Trying to explain the ending to the uninitiated is like trying to explain Endgame to someone who has never seen a marvel movie. It would be five stars but I didn’t enjoy the pacing of the novel. For a more in-depth review, click here.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - Novel (0.5 stars)

Annihilation follows a government funded team as they enter a mysterious land afflicted with paranormal activity known as Area X. I didn’t like this book. The issue is that I don’t enjoy ambiguous stories and I didn’t know that’s what I was walking into. Who is that? What is this? What does that mean? Why is this happening? How does the story end? Who knows? Who cares?! If I’m going to devote my time to a novel, I would like to A) relate to the characters, B) understand what is going on, and C) know that there was a point to what I just read. Even stories that aren’t inherently deep, like the Fast and the Furious franchise, have a point. And the point of the Furious franchise is to entertain. The Hunger Games is a critique of elitism and power structure. A story should be about something and if it’s not about anything, it should at least try to entertain. I didn’t know what Annihilation was about or what it was trying to do. My problem with ambiguous stories is that a lot of them are pointless meanderings masquerading as deep and complex story telling. You can write virtually anything and say, “Well, it’s not supposed to make sense!” When I finished Annihilation I was left no different than the start of the story. It made me feel nothing. 

And this is a side tangent, but what is with the Snowbird thing? For the uninitiated, the main character’s husband had a nickname for her, and the nickname was Snowbird. He kept repeating it over and over again in every flashback and it annoyed me. A part of it made have been the fault of the narrator, as I listened to the audiobook and her drawl on the word made me want to slit my wrists. 

I’m left asking, what was the point? It was a six hour audiobook, why did I devote so much time listening to that when I gained nothing? Not even entertainment? I was bored and annoyed. The climax was confusing and lackluster. I saw the sequel on sale this week for 1.25 and I had to remind myself how much I hated the first book, but come on! A 1.25?! Can you think of a place where you can get a book for a 1.25? I might go back and see if it’s still there. For a 1.25 I’d buy twelve more Onision books. 

Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham - Novel (4 stars)

It should surprise nobody that I am a Gilmore Girls fan. When I discovered Lauren Graham had a memoir, I jumped at the chance to read it, and it was splendid. The novel includes dozens of anecdotes (funny, sad, and everything in between), focused on Gilmore Girls and the overarching structure of Graham’s career. I highly recommend this if you like Lauren Graham or Gilmore Girls. It’s funny, it’s touching, and I just discovered that Graham has written a fiction novel which I will be reading very soon. 

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare - Novel (3.5 stars)

Clown in a Cornfield follows Quinn Maybrook, who, after moving to a small town, finds herself trapped in a cornfield with her new friends and several chainsaw-wielding psychopaths wearing clown costumes. This was a good book, though I was a little disappointed. If you’re on BookTok, you know people have talked up this novel, and I was expecting a little more. For one thing, I didn’t feel very connected to the protagonist. We know how she feels and we know about her past, but we don’t really see a lot of her personality. In larger conversations, it feels as if she’s just a bystander. Other than that, things were okay. It was enjoyable, and I wasn’t really creeped out while reading this. It is classified as a horror, but I’d say it’s closer to a suspense novel. There’s a sequel, but I probably won’t read it. This could be a standalone novel if you don’t read the epilogue. 

Thanks for reading. I may do these monthly or bi-monthly, I haven’t decided yet.

Moash should get over himself too. I can fix him too also

Mm.,.,. Kaladin just- get over being mad and stuff.,., it makes you less attractive.,, I could fix him if he gave me the chance.

Something fascinating about Words of Radiance in comparison to Way of Kings is… everyone is so much angrier??? Kaladin and Shallan are like- mostly just pitiful the entire first book, but now that their situations are improved the both of them just go off the rails.

I adore the way Stormlight handles war. Everyone believes earnestly that what they do is right. Fervently correct. They would and do die for their beliefs. The Listeners were correct to kill Gavilar, but the Alethi were correct to seek retaliation as well. It captures the experience of conflict better than most media I’ve ever seen.

Yes Dalinar. YES. Beat the shit out of your nephew!!!! Yes yes yes and then tell him you’re fucking his mom!!!! I love him so much you guys.

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA I FORGOT HE TOTALLY ATE SHIT THE FIRST TIME HE TRIED TO USE HIS RADIANT POWERS AHAHAHAHAH

“Why don’t you use my bridges?” Says Sadius. “Why don’t you strand yourself on a plateau with my men serving as the only means of escape?” Says Sadius. “Why don’t you hand me the knife while removing the armor from your back?” Says Sadius

This upcoming betrayal weighs on me. But it does highlight something interesting. Brandon Sanderson does an excellent job of introducing concepts, then having them pay off in the other narratives. (See: Shallan’s “lesson” on human morality followed immediately by the Kaladin flashback where he realizes bravery does not always mean fighting) This chunk of narrative - the betrayal of Dalinar - brings to mind the words of Kaladin earlier in the book when someone mentions how a betrayer amongst the Bridgemen could utterly ruin them all. He says they simply cannot worry about it, for if they did, nothing would get done… and he’s right. Dalinar’s trust is his downfall, but it causes change. Dalinar, in making the choice to trust Sadius, has allowed the world and the war to shift in a way that would not be possible otherwise.

It’s a bit fascinating

MY GLORIOUS KING HOID WITH THE DEUS EX CHARACTER REVELATION STORY!!!!!! LET’S GOOOOOOOO

Been re-reading the Way of Kings recently and… it’s a truly fascinating series of “almost”s. Shallan almost gets away with her theft. Kaladin almost saves the people be chooses to protect. On a re-read these grow even more obvious. It’s almost like reading the Odyssey with just how damn close they get to their goals over and over again.

Also I think I’m gonna start live-blogging my Stormlight re-read

September 2022 Wrap-up

Oh, look who is on schedule for posting something.

Hello reader babes!

I dub September "The month that June did not read a lot". Don't get me wrong I am super proud of what I read.

You may have noticed that I made some changes to my August 2022 Wrap-up and that was because that is because some of the books I read on there were actually completed in September (The first week of September blended together with August in my brain). I am including those original reviews here so you are still able to see my thoughts and opinions on them.

This month I read a total of 4 books. I was just shy of my goal for September but I am proud that I was able to finish a rather large book this month. The other books I have read this month kind of fell short of my expectations although I did have one five star read.

*Spoilers will be indicated by asterisks around the book title*

*City of Glass by Cassandra Clare*

This was all in all a very good conclusion to the end of the series. It was action packed and kept me wanting to read. However, I have a massive issue with this book and that  While I adore this series, the world and the characters, who the hell let Cassandra Clare publish this. I get that late in the book (like way later) we learn that Clary and Jace aren't siblings but while they still believe that they are siblings both actively say "aha who cares lets bonk anyways" and it is gross and not okay, especially for a YA novel. I get that it's far too late to change now and Cassandra Clare has been kind of infamous for her incest kink(? gross) but I still hate it. To be honest, I only read the Mortal Instruments so that I could read the Infernal Devices which I'm told is far superior.

2/5 Stars

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

As y'all now, I read A Good Girls Guide to Murder and absolutely loved it. I was excited to pick this up when I finally was able to (seriously this book was sold out everywhere!) I have to say I was a little disappointed with this book. It just didn't grip me like the first one did and the investigation seemed to fall flat. I liked the ending and it was still fun to be in this world with these characters. I'm not sure if I will continue with the series unless the last book involves a plot line from this book.

3/5 Stars

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I finally did it. I read my first "Adult" fantasy novel and by was I glad that it was this one. My first thought for this is "Wow can Brandon Sanderson world build." His histories, politics, characters, geography, all of it sucked me in and I could imagine myself in this world. At times it felt like I was a scribe just recording everything going on and I loved every bit of it. This book was slow, don't get me wrong but with a 1,000 page book, what do you expect. That isn't to say that things didn't happen. From start to finish I was intrigued with how things were happening and what was going on. I loved the switching perspectives although, towards the beginning I was far more interested in Shallan's story than I was Kaladin. Speaking of Kaladin, he is my new book boyfriend. I love that man with my whole heart. In one of my reading updates on Goodreads (follow me on Goodreads) I said that Kaladin reminded me a lot of Kelsier from the Mistborn series and I think that is why I love him so very much. This book was intense and I loved every bit of it.

5/5 Stars

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

While I *technically* finished this on Oct. 1, I am counting it here because a majority of it (88%) was read in the month of September and it was finished in the early morning hours (2:27 AM to be exact) of October 1st. I didn't know a lot about this book going into it. I was fresh off of my Furyborn YA fantasy reading kick when I picked this up from my local Barnes and Noble and the premise was interesting. Going into this I did not know that it was a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses fairytale and honestly that gave this book a huge boost for me. That being said, this book was certainly interesting and don't get me wrong it was good and I'm glad that YA is allowing darker fantasies onto the scene but this book just wasn't all that for me. The romance felt thrown in and unnecessary, the characters didn't feel fully flushed out and I didn't feel like the plot was super cohesive.

3/5 Stars

I'm disappointed I didn't read more higher rating books but The Way of Kings really over shadowed my other reads for this month and to me, that is okay. Hopefully October will be a spooky month for some great reads. October TBR will be coming later this week.

Much Love,

June <3

"Why? Why do you care?"

Redrawing this. It was the second ever Stormlight scene I drew, from one listening on the audiobook, and I didn't much like it even before I got the kindle version and realised how far off my depiction was. So now, have a sufficiently wet and miserable Kaladin. And a very cute Syl.