The Stormlight Archive
The Stormlight Archive is a high fantasy novel series written by American author Brandon Sanderson, planned to consist of ten novels. As of 2024, the series comprises five published novels and two novellas, set within Sanderson's broader Cosmere universe. The first novel, The Way of Kings, was published on August 31, 2010. The second novel, Words of Radiance, was published in 2014 and debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller List. This was repeated by Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. The fifth novel, Wind and Truth, was released December 6, 2024. Sanderson has indicated that he will start drafting the latter half of the series after he finishes writing the upcoming Era Three Mistborn trilogy and the two Elantris sequels. The series has been adapted as a video game and a tabletop roleplaying game.
Publication history
Sanderson completed the first draft of The Way of Kings in 2003, and initially referred to it as being part of a prospective series titled The Oathshards Series. The first draft of the manuscript was among over a dozen books written by Sanderson before his debut publication Elantris. Six chapters of this early version were included in the anthology Altered Perceptions and the original version of the book remains available on the author's official website.The published book is significantly different from the original manuscript because of a substantial rewrite prior to its 2010 publication. From June to August 2010, Tor Books published sample chapters from The Way of Kings on its official website, along with an introduction by Sanderson. In its first week of release, The Way of Kings was No. 7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.
In October 2010, Sanderson indicated that he planned to release the second book in the series in 2012, approximately two years after the release of the first book, as he was occupied in the interim writing A Memory of Light, the final book of The Wheel of Time. This would be followed by the release of the third book about a year later. However, after completing the first draft of A Memory of Light, Sanderson said the book would be pushed back to a 2014 release. The second book was initially titled Highprince of War, but after refocusing the book on a different character, Sanderson tentatively titled it The Book of Endless Pages before eventually settling on Words of Radiance.
Before the release of the third book, Sanderson publicly revealed several chapters in blog posts, conventions, and publication in an anthology. The first draft of the book was finished on December 9, 2016, and the book, titled Oathbringer, was released on November 14, 2017.
The first draft of the fourth book was completed in December 2019. The title, Rhythm of War, was announced on the Tor website on February 10, 2020, and the cover was revealed six months later. The book was finished in July 2020. In a Facebook post, the author said that the final word count was "roughly 460,000" words, the length of Oathbringer, and the book would have 112 chapters, plus differently numbered interludes, prologue, and epilogue. Rhythm of War was published on November 17, 2020.
The fifth book was first announced in January 2022. It was initially titled Knights of Wind and Truth but was later shortened to Wind and Truth. The first draft was finished in December 2023 and the book was published December 6, 2024. At 491,000 words, it is currently the longest book in the series.
Books
Ten books are planned in the series, which is split into two sets of five books each. Sanderson described the planned story arc of the second set of five books as a "sequel" to the first set, with some appearances of characters from the first set. The biggest time skip in the series will occur between the fifth and sixth books.As of 2020, two novellas have been published. The first novella, Edgedancer, features the character Lift and is set between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer. Edgedancer was originally published in Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection in 2016. A standalone edition of Edgedancer was published on October 17, 2017. The second novella, Dawnshard, features the characters Rysn and Lopen and was published in November 2020. It takes place in the one-year gap between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War.
Major Characters
- Kaladin Stormblessed – A surgeon apprentice who became a talented soldier, but got betrayed and enslaved. With Dalinar's help, he becomes the leader of the Order of Windrunners. He is bonded to an honorspren named Sylphrena.
- Szeth-son-son-Vallano – Known as the Assassin in White, Szeth was honor-bound to serve his masters, even if it meant killing numerous rulers. He later learns that his punishment was unfair and becomes a member of the Order of Skybreakers.
- Shallan Davar – A minor noble with dissociative identity disorder. She is a scholar and an artist, who becomes a spy and the leader of the Order of Lightweavers. She is bonded to a liespren named Pattern.
- Dalinar Kholin – A general and nobleman, striving to be a better man. He becomes a Bondsmith and the leader of the Knights Radiant.
- Adolin Kholin – Dalinar's firstborn son, who is also a nobleman and highly skilled duelist.
- Navani Kholin – An inventor, noblewoman and scholar. She later becomes a Bondsmith, after bonding with the Sibling.
- Jasnah Kholin – A scholar and noted atheist who becomes Queen of the nation of Alethkar. She is a member of the Order of Elsecallers, bonded to an inkspren named Ivory.
- Renarin Kholin – Dalinar's second-born son, a nobleman bonded to a corrupted mistspren named Glys, making him a member of the Order of Truthwatchers, as well as giving him the ability to see the future.
- Eshonai – A Listener Shardbearer who is among the first to contact humans. She is later killed in battle by Adolin.
- Venli – A Listener scholar. She bonds a lightspren named Timbre and becomes a member of the Order of Willshapers.
- Lift – A young thief and member of the Order of Edgedancers. She is bonded to a cultivationspren named Wyndle.
- Rlain – A Listener and former soldier under Kaladin. He bonds a corrupted mistspren named Tumi.
- Moash, later known as Vyre – a talented warrior who becomes a friend of Kaladin, but later betrays him, not being able to forgive the nobles.
- Taravangian – The king of the nation of Kharbranth who was cursed to have his intelligence and empathy to fluctuate massively. He plays a dangerous game with Rayse, apparent arch-villain of the series, and supplants him in this role.
- Taln – A Herald who was abandoned by his peers to be tortured for 4500 years; who lost his mind, but never broke.
- Wit, also known as Hoid – An interplanetary traveler who initially appears as a jester, but later proves to be powerful, ancient, and the archenemy of Odium.
Setting