So I’ve binged my way through both of The Way of Kings‘s sequels.

…and I kind of stand by my assessment. Don’t take the binging as an indication that the books are amazing: they’re good, but probably could have been a hundred pages shorter on average. I’ve been looking for a decent fantasy fix for a while, and it scratches that itch – but it’s not as good as any of several fantasy series.

The excessively detailed worldbuilding has a certain payoff, I’ll freely admit that. The problem isn’t that it exists, it’s that it’s too much (and IMO, in books 2 and 3 it gets downright fillery. Sure, the fauna and flora is superweird. Don’t need to explain it sixty-eight times.

I also stand by my initial thoughts on the flashback conceit – in fact, it’s probably even more of a weak point in book two and three. The backstory we get in book two weakens the character, burying an interesting concept in overwrought drama. As to book three, it probably has the most appropriate flashbacks, but again it’s probably a chapter or five too exhaustive.

So, my verdict so far: worth a read, but it’s not Sanderson’s best.