The first book in

The Stormlight Archive

series

The Way of Kings

introduces the three protagonists who will be our windows on the strange and wondrous world of Roshar and the drama about to unfold there:

* Dalinar, the assassinated king's brother and uncle of the new one, is an old soldier who is weary of fighting. He is plagued by dreams of ancient times and legendary wars, visions that may force him into a new role he could never have imagined.

* Kaladin, a highborn young man who has been brought low, indeed to the most miserable level of military slavery, and like Ben Hur must suffer and struggle to survive and rise again.

* Shallan, a naïve but brave and brilliant young woman who will do anything to save her impoverished noble house from ruin.

These are people we will come to know deeply and take to our hearts. But just as important to

The Way of Kings

is a fourth key ‘character’, the unique world of Roshar itself, a richly imagined setting as real as science fiction's Dune, as unforgettable as epic fantasy's Middle Earth. Through all the volumes of

The Stormlight Archive

, Brandon Sanderson will make Roshar a realm we are eager to visit.

What Robert Jordan's

The Wheel of Time

has been to the fantasy genre for the last two decades,

The Stormlight Archive

will be to the next, and

The Way of Kings

is where it all begins.