The Stormlight Archive

by Brandon Sanderson

Highstorms scour Roshar. Knights Radiant must rise again. Sanderson's #1 bestselling epic: 10 million copies sold. Five massive volumes of magic, war, and broken oaths. A slave, a scholar, and a warlord face gods and demons. Journey before Destination.

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. With over 10 million copies sold and each book debuting at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, this is epic fantasy on an unprecedented scale - where individual novels exceed 1,000 pages yet leave readers desperate for more.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. It has been centuries since the Knights Radiant abandoned their sacred oaths and mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only their legendary Shardblades and Shardplate. Now, as ancient enemies return and the world faces a new Desolation, three unlikely heroes emerge.

Kaladin, a former soldier enslaved and betrayed, discovers he can manipulate Stormlight - magical energy carried by the highstorms - making him a potential Windrunner. Shallan, a scholar with dangerous secrets, seeks forbidden knowledge about the fallen Knights Radiant while concealing her own emerging powers. Dalinar Kholin, a warlord haunted by visions from the Almighty, struggles to unite fractious kingdoms against an enemy most believe extinct. Their paths converge as sapient spirits called spren seek to bond with humans and restore the Knights Radiant.

The series will be split into two arcs of five books each, with a time gap of about ten years between the two arcs. Each novel focuses on one Order of Knights Radiant and features flashbacks from a specific character. The first five books - The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War, and the upcoming Wind and Truth (December 2024) - explore Windrunners, Lightweavers, Bondsmiths, Willshapers, and Skybreakers respectively.

"The Stormlight Archive is a series that, like Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Robin Hobb's The Realm of the Elderlings epics, every fantasy fan worth their salt must read and be familiar with. This will be one of the giant series that will help shape the entire scene."

Perfect for readers seeking meticulously crafted magic systems with clear rules, character-driven epics exploring mental health and trauma, political intrigue on continental scales, and fantasy that asks profound questions about honor, leadership, and what it means to keep oaths when breaking them seems justified.