This was a fantastic analysis. When I read WoK Prime I thought it was a decent book in and of itself, but leagues below where the canon WoK ended up. As Stormlight is one of my favourite series I glad to see how much better the new version is. And I thought that you did a really good job finding and describing all the changes. I'm pretty sure that Meridas' counter point is Amaram. Given that Amaram's first name is Meridas, and that Gavliar wanted him engaged to Jasnah in the WoR prologue (though she obviously wanted nothing to do with him.)
Pinning this for your comment about Amaram...I mean...like how did I miss that?? 🤦♀️ Like...it's literally the same name lol. I apparently went crazy while making this. Maybe it's because Amaram puts on this "holy face" where he's like "I'm such a nice guy!" and Meridas in Prime doesn't even try that threw me off lol.
To someone who writes fiction, this analysis makes me very hopeful about the progress I can make with my writing. The fact that a such a bad draft turns into one of the greatest fantasy books ever is amazing.
Just came to say what a deep and well researched video this is. It is fascinating to see how Sanderson's vision for the book changed over the years. Thank you Bookborn, you are a hero!
Wasn't gonna watch this whole video, but you put in so much work, I couldn't click away. Definitely glad that Dalinar's son's are still alive in the official version, lol.
I wasn’t going to watch all of this but you sucked me in! Thank you for such a well organized, well executed summary and break down. The way you discussed how Sanderson’s writing has changed/improved was incredibly well done and thoughtful and I loved hearing your thoughts.
Loved the analysis, thank you. I was asking myself through the whole video how he got from A to B, so glad you called out that exact question in the conclusion. However he did it, I'm glad he evolved! Also, that concluding thought about why we love Kaladin so much was wonderful. Deep and very appreciated!
Thanks for watching Sean...also I think you are my first "real life" friend to ever comment on any of my videos which seems both weird and monumental at the same time ;)
this was such an amazing video! So organised and well thought out🙌🏻 honestly, this just makes me respect sanderson even more as an author for putting this draft out there and it is so so inspiring! I also loved your thought about how our struggles are such a huge part of what makes us lovable haha i’ll definitely remember that🥰
Thanks for making this video. I was very curious as a big sanderson fan, but didnt want to confuse any story points by reading this version having read probably 100 books since way of kings. Plus im well behind on my to be read list.
Sanderson's thoughts are expressed like an open book every time he posts a video of his lectures or interviews. It's not surprising he wants to share his draft to readers. 😅 Wow, what a lengthy video you've just made! You have really drilled down to the details of the world itself. Great video! 😍🤓🥰
Man I'm a huge Sanderfan and an aspiring writer. Seeing the differences and learning about why certain things were changed really does help with progressing my own skills.
Great in depth video, I'm glad I won't have to read WOK Prime myself. I'm sure the book had it's strengths but I'm so grateful that this isn't the finished product we were presented with in the end
Thanks for this! It is interesting to see where Way of Kings started when Sanderson was much less experienced at writing. I am glad that he kept working at it and improving and we eventually got the final version. I was surprised by all the deaths and how much more brutal the world in general was written. He has talked about a period where George RR Martin had gotten big and there was a push for him to be more like George and he tried doing it but didn't like results. Maybe this was part of that because it is so different from his current style of writing.
Yes someone else had just said that to me, and I think it provides SUPER important context. Like...he was still coming off of the "trying to be grim" and it really shows in the book once you know that.
I'm glad to hear the love for it because I feel like it often gets overlooked compared to the other books! Something and Kaladin's arc with bridge four just really speaks to me
Yess! I am also sad how they made shard blades feel less valuable as the series moves on. It was so powerful to have the shard blade traded for their freedom at the end, when it was worth a nation.
@@markmartin5817 That's interesting that you feel like they've become less powerful as the series goes on! Is that because so many people are radiant? I don't think it lessons the sacrifice any, because at the time Dalinar made the sacrifice it did matter a lot, which is probably the important thing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Great job on the detailed explaination of the differences, and the plot of this draft version of the way of kings. I definitely like more the final version that we all know, however it is still very interesting to see how much his plot building has evolved.
Thank you for devoting your time to reading and reporting all this data. I mainly listen through graphic audio on my commute so it was very helpful to listen to this instead of reading prime . Keep up the good work
Loved this! I listened to TWoK prime on audiobook a little while ago and love that you did this great deep dive! I completely agree that I think it's so special that he released this, not just for his fans but for aspiring authors. It's amazing to see the differences and improvements that he was able to make between these two editions. I think in some ways it really gives hope and inspiration to authors who often can only see the finished product of these hugely successful authors. Also, completely agree with everything you said about Shallan/Taravangian. I hadn't put two and two together that he basically used that same plot point in Warbreaker which just goes to show how much better he did it in Warbreaker. Very astute point! Loved your point about the main characters missing their "struggles." Great point. Overall, great, great video. Thank you so much!
I think even between the Mistborn trilogy and Stormlight Archive there was a massive improvement in the treatment of female characters. I absolutely love Mistborn but there are definitely some eye-roll moments when it comes to the women. I think as he's become more successful, he's really put effort into getting and *listening* to sensitivity readers, which I appreciate. It's always nice when someone is humble and motivated enough to be open and willing to listen, and it absolutely shows in his work. Maybe being a university professor has also motivated self-reflection as well? Even the Writing Excuses podcast evolved over the years to include more diverse speakers. Sanderson is totally my safe-space when it comes to not wanting to read upsetting things (especially involving the female characters). Nice video, I was curious about Prime but probably wouldn't have had the time to read it!
oh totally agree. As much as I love Mistborn, even the fact that Vin is basically the only female of note (and particularly in the crew) is so different to what he writes in Stormlight.
I felt that there energies were different lol. I guess I made the assumption he wasn't a worldhopper, but I realize I def do not have enough information to definitively say that.
@@Bookborn Yeah, I doubt that Nalthis existed in this iteration of the proto-cosmere, but _maybe_ Brandon always intended him to be from a planet other than Roshar. He did feel the need to write a prequel for Vasher seven years later.
I just finished listening to the WOK prime and thank you for the amount of work you put into this video. We can see/read/hear the growth of Sanderson's writing by comparing the two versions. Many of the points that Sanderson and you made about the writing are right on point. While watching your video, I thought that many authors do not have the skill to "close the loop" on the points of view or multiple plot points like Sanderson can do now. I've read several books where an author brings up things that I have nothing to do with the plot. It seems to me that WOK Prime is better than many published books! I think he learned a lot writing from completing the Wheel of Time series. When I started WOT, I thought that it was very much like a Sanderson book (as I read Sanderson before WOT). Maybe he got annoyed by the hair twirling from the WOT as I did and became a better author. :-)
Sanderson has been very vocal about how much finishing WOT helped him! He said that he really just didn't have the skills to keep track of multiple viewpoints in a satisfactory way, and I think you can see the huge jump in that from Prime to official WOK. It was so interesting seeing how much he changed between the two books, but how his original ideas were always still there.
Great analysis. I think the most interesting change was renarin creating the diagram. Where as in the published he just instrumental/influences/corrupts it.
Totally. And interesting that he's still related to the Taravangian character / messing him up, but just in a different way. I think the Diagram as it is in the official version is more interesting, though.
I figured few people really want to devote the time to read a less-good version of a great book (especially when it's 900 pages long). I'm glad it's useful!
@@Bookborn Yeah. I've seen several hardcore fans of the 17th Shard say that they opened the book, read a few pages, and then were like "nah, I'm good" and put it away.😂
Thank you for the analysis! This is by far the best I've come across. The funny thing is, this is by far my favorite Brandon Sanderson book and your opinion section basically reverse outlined everything I find difficult with Sanderson's writing. I respect his craft but just can never get into his books. They're too... polished. Like a film adaptation that has trimmed out all the redundant, messy parts I love in books in order to have a streamlined, focused narrative. I personally don't like when authors tie up all the loose ends, it retroactively flattens out the experience for me. And I love random background characters that fade in and out of the story, it makes the world seem richer. But it just goes to show how subjective the whole reading thing is.
That's so funny, I have a friend who is just like that and so we always argue about books because I don't mind the clean tidy wrapped up endings, and she's like "but it's not as realistic!!" 😂
For sure. It seems like a lot of things were just moved over to Warbreaker. Someone in the comments told me that originally, Warbreaker was going to be a prequel to Way of Kings.
I would argue that it isn't our struggles themselves that should define us and help us relate to people, but rather how we overcome our struggles that is important.
Made it to the end 🙃 One of the best things about this book is Vashers thumb disappearing training. Kaladin ends up doing it while in Jail, and when he first gets his shard blade he is summoning and dismissing it, over and over and over. Making Shallan go crazy. But he then figures out at a pivotal Sanderson style epic battle that he can dismiss his Shardblade and summon it again instantly and it brings together Vashers Shardblade forms and he passes the blade through another Shardblade and kills a guy that kept blocking his attacks. Also cutting a guy wearing Shardplate in half is pretty dope. I thought that scene was excellent and well built up. You can definitely tell he was still a fantastic writer at this time. Just not his current, legendary self.
Oh I almost mentioned that exact scene weirdly! When he reappears the shardblade in the guy it was freaking EPIC. Like it was the scene I was like "OK, this is where I'm seeing classic Sanderson".
Wow amazing content (including delivery) ! This is the first time I've seen a video from you and I am surprised you don't have more subscribers. That will change I'm sure.
Poor Shallan! Way of Kings, Kaladin kills her brother. Way of Kings Prime, Kaladin kills her betrothed! Poor girl can't catch a break even through the multiverse!!!
I think nale and the other herald identify balenmar as Ishar at the very end. And might I say, there has never been a character that was clearly a more powerful figure than they let on more so than balenmar.
Found your channel recently and I've been binging on your Cosmere videos today while I work and love your content! I didn't even know WOK had a previous version. Have you considered doing full recap videos for the Stormlight Archive (if you haven'talready)? I for one could use a refresher on the WOK and WOR.
I haven't done it yet, but I've considered it for sure! I think I'm going to do recaps for Mistborn Era 2 first since Wax and Wayne 4 is coming out soon-ish. I'll probably do Stormlight ones closer to #5's release date!
Although this book was trying to do too much, I still love that it sounds like Brandon just has always had really cool twists. I love the whole thing you talked about Taln and how we find out he was crazy only for it to turn out that he was a herald. It also definitely is interesting to see how Brandon took all these ideas he tried to do too much with and explored them more fully in different books. With that said I would find it really interesting for him to explore the whole mad vs being a herald in a different book because we don't really get that in the actual stormlight archives anymore, while it seems like he has explored the other ideas to a much greater degree.
Oh TOTALLY AGREE. I actually found Taln's storyline to be super interesting, even if it was slightly ruined by the fact I knew too much going in since we've obviously read the "real" version. But the whole unreliable narrator thing is one of my favorites, and I think Brandon could do it really well even if it was used in a completely different setting/story.
Would you consider doing a summary like this for each Cosmere book? It would be nice to go back and watch your summaries vs re-reading a series when a new book comes out.
I 100% read Vasher as the actual Vasher. The counterpart of that character in the published version is after all actually Vasher even though he has changed names after he changed planet.
My guess would be that the wedding night scene didn't come across well partly because it was written several years before he was married and therefore lacking experience to write it sensitively. I've not read it (yet?) so I may be completely wrong.
Totally agree, and I mention that a little in my opinion portion. It more just surprises me since his current books don't suffer from that at all - but like you said, he got married after which probably helped lol
Yeah I definitely vacillated back and forth on whether to do it or not and I'm glad I went for it. I'm nervous for the WoR leatherbound kickstarter...I feel like even more people are going to want that one and I'm going to have to sign on and be decisive immediately to get one 😂
I didn't find the struggle to pronounce Alethkar nearly as upsetting as the pronunciation of the J in Jasnah and Jah Keved. But that's just me being a pronunciation snob
Oh the Jasnah one is purposeful - I know it isn't a hard J, but I read them initially with that in mind and now I refuse to change because I'm stubborn and don't like "ya-snah".
Yeah someone else pointed this out 🤦♀️ Like...it's literally the same name, how did I miss that?? I think the reason I went to Sadeas is that Meridas in Prime doesn't come off as the "I'm such a good person" way that Amaram pretends to be. IDK, it was a huge brain lapse lol
I'm pretty sure Balenmar was Ishar, since he was pointed out at the end wearing stormwardens robes. He seemed to be trying to stay in the camp with the most power.
Wow I didn't know this other version existed! Very cool to hear of the differences. I am halfway through the video and just want to say that I like all the differences EXCEPT that Jasnah gets less screen time in the official version, since she is by far my favorite character. It actually hurts me how little screen time she gets. How could he make such an amazing character and not have her in the story more? lol
Finished the video now, thank you for making it! The fact that Brandon released this makes me appreciate him so much more. I don't think I would have the balls to do that. Glad I found your channel, liked and subbed
Crom!?! oh no ahaha Jasnah embarrassed!? That's the most shocking to me haha. And she's in relationship!?!? what is happening!? hahaha Wait there's a religion which is known as Elends? As is in Elend Venture from mistborn? Interesting that Jasnah can hear special tones considering how much of a role that played in Rhythm of War. Adolin's head on a spike!? oofff Wow, this was so much bleaker than the released edition! Its strange that at this time he was being told he needed to write more like GRRM to get published but he didnt want to and so he wrote this instead! Because its still pretty dark and very GRRM compared to the final version. Awesome video!! Thanks so much for doing this, its so interesting to see all the differences
It's actually *Elin* which I probably should have thrown up on the screen haha. Supposedly Sanderson said that he thinks even though he was trying to get out of being pushed to write dark like GRRM, it still influenced Prime a lot, and I'd agree with him. Like you said, it's pretty dark - I find especially Renarin's storyline to be messed up haha. Thanks for watching the whole thing 😂 I'm very impressed
Is it really 10seconds. I know it is mentioned but in story they seem to be able to summon it right away. I suppose because in cannon version they have scenes where they count so it is more apparent.
I found the book very interesting but kept missing stormlight and spren. Also spoilers but I was very sad that Taln died. It seemed like such a waste. This book makes me very much look forward to the Herald viewpoints in the books 6 to 10
Also it feels like there are way too many named character deaths in this... I mean in the original many of Bridge 4 dies but in this it feels like we invest a lot in Dalinar's sons and Taln and then they just die
I received it as a part of backing the kickstarter for Way of Kings leatherbound. So, I'm unsure if the physical copies will ever be sold outside of that...
@@Bookborn well I don’t have the letherebound but I do have the pervious stormlight archive right up until oathbringer, here in the uk the books are split into two parts the rhythm of war was sold separate and I got dawn-shard edge dancer and mistborn era 1 and two physical copies mind you I’m still waiting for mistborn 7 to come out, I can wait iv got 191 books plus another 4 comeing for my birthday in June the 5th this year. I’d rather read books than anything else keeps me sane in life.
As I saw this video I immediately downloaded and read wok prime (didn't know it was out there before) and just today I finished it and watched your video :D I totally agree with you especially on the females in the book I think the most interesting was the paying for magic part like with merin. I mean how would this be in following books? Would there be a solution like practicing and it would be better? Can't imagine big and long wind runner fights with this handicap... Oh and also wasn't there a hint that balenmar was a herald at the end? He reminded me also a bit of a not so witty wit :D Thanks for the video :)
Yesss TOTALLY agree. I had such a hard time imagining how the magic would end up being very "cool" because it had such a steep cost. I think the stormlight solution is much more elegant for the purposes of the novel. Oh yeah, there was! I totally forgot to mention that. We aren't sure but he probably WAS going to be a Herald...or a Wit. Something was up. If he was originally supposed to be Hoid, I feel like he was much more "switch sides-y" then Hoid usually is. Hoid certainly isn't necessarily GOOD, but I feel like he's more subtle.
Vasher is definitely Vasher here. Just not named Zahel. He teaches Merin a form that literally no one else even knows about. Vasher here was one of the Herald names also I believe. So he eventually became a world hopper instead of a Herald.
Possibly! I was just saying I wasn't sure if it was *warbreaker* Vasher. He may still have been a worldhopper, but was he nightblood wielding? Hard to say.
@@Bookborn I don't think Nightblood was a thing yet. I reckon when he moved Awakening to Warbreaker and started Cosmere building more it all started to become more.... familiar xD
The way that Brandon talks about Shinri is really interesting. He talks about how Merrin turned into Kaladin, but says that he came up with Shallan after Way of Kings Prime, so it seems like Shallan is not evolved from Shinri, despite some similarities.
From what I read of Prime, it felt like the bad ending for the Stormlight Archive. Especially the end of the book. Taln’s dead, Jasnah loses her political power, Shinri is captive, Merrin loses his shardblade, Jek is about to escape, Alethkar is in ruins, it just feels so bleak
Oh that's so interesting about Shallan! I'm loving all this WOB that you guys are giving me about Prime, I need to find a way to collect them all in one place. Makes sense to me that Shallan was almost a new invention. There are clearly influences from Shinri, but so much is different - especially her role in the novel. I do want to know what the plan for Merin was after book 1 since he goes back to be a farmer, and supposedly Bridge 4 was going to come in somewhere?
I'd love to read the Prime version but I'm so bad at keeping track of all the plot and worldbuilding details in these massive books. I'd get everything mixed up so bad
It actually does get quite confusing. It's interesting because in the process of this video I found the characters starting to relate less and less (like in the beginning I'd always be subbing in "Kaladin" in my mind for Merin, but by the end, it felt like such different books those characters almost didn't relate any more for me.)
How do you pick out the exact questions I want (need!) answered? 😂 Thank you for this! Edit: (finished watching) Wow, Prime was daark... Also the characters are definitely better in the final version, when their struggles are present.
I think the issue is that since many main viewpoint characters don’t deal with their inner darkness and struggles, the outer struggles and plot got really dark to make the narrative feel weighty and as an attempt at making us care about all the characters knowing the stakes are high.
Yeah I just find it so fascinating that by missing their struggles, they become so much less interesting. Or, I should say, more relatable struggles - I think more of us understand depression than "hmm gotta go from commoner to noble" lol
@@Bookborn yeah.... though i haven't been in a situation like Kaladin, well not anywhere close, but i find some of his traits so relatable and frustrating tbh. I like that and him without that frustrating mental health is just....bland
It says the way of kings prime is part of the Kickstarter tiers I have the way of kings 1 and 2 in stormlight archive is that in those books? I don’t have any the Kickstarter tiers just the physical stormlight archive books.
Hmmm I'm not sure, if you got the leatherbound Way of Kings kickstarter, I think this was one of the stretch goals. But maybe it came with the tier I chose - it was a few years ago, so I don't remember. I think you can get it digitally though even if you didn't do the kickstarter, just not the physical cop.
I've read the free version of WoK Prime on Brandon's website a few months ago (just because I love his work so much) and it's definitely not that good. I actually forgot a lot and your video (yes I watched until the very end) helped refresh my memory. I kind of want to know what someone would think of this book without reading WoK first, because I still enjoyed my reading experience. But that was mostly because I found it so interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two stories. That was the best part. I mean, no spren? No Parshendi? The characters are so different? I think the most interesting change for me was Jasnah, just because I also love her so much and she is so different (definitely worse) here. It was so weird to see her in a relationship with Taln of all people. Even though the book wasn't that good, I read it quite quickly and really wanted to know what would've happened next in this version of the events. Oh well.
First I'm extremely impressed you made it to the end lol. And I totally agree. I'm actually surprised at how some very random details - like Kholin's wearing blue - survived. For some reason that was super interesting to me to see those little things. And even the title - the difference in the "in world" books of Way of Kings give SUCH a different feel to why the title is the title, if that makes sense. Although, like you said, the story was painful in some places, overall it was a very cool experience.
Awesome review! I don’t care how you pronounce. Thank you for sharing your opinion. In rhythm of war I was extremely impressed by Sandersons ability to write an entire book from a woman’s perspective so well. Whereas way of kings prime has been written by a male perspective of women. I agree with you on his handling of female characters and his growth as a writer.
I’m late to commenting. Just listened to it. I thought Jasnah changing Taln into smoke was also her chooses the path of the awakener instead of the woman or politics and her marriage to Meridas
I made it all the way through. :)I read it, and enjoyed it for its own merit. It was better (for me) that many of the names were different and made it easy to enjoy w/o the constant comparison. It was nice to see threads that ultimately became different stories in here. I wonder, in reference to the wedding night scene, how much Brandon was influenced by Robert Jordan? This felt a lot like the scenes where Mat was in a similar type of circumstance to me.
I'm currently rereading WOT and I'm going to be so interested to reread that scene. I think it's going to hit me VERY differently than it did when I first read it. It's possible he was influenced, although I think they read differently: in Jordan's case, I think it was "haha men can't be assaulted" whereas in Sanderson's case it felt more like he didn't understand how to write the trauma correctly.
Just finished the UA-cam audio version of Prime. While I agree with most of what you said, there are a couple I disagree with, a few points you didn’t touch on. I think NOT Szeth is a more interesting character in Prime, not just because of more POV time. There are some good points with NOT Kaladin, especially with his friendship with NOT Adolin. But best thing about Prime is Taln, he is not only a much more developed character, he is major part of the story, and a side/background character. Would love to know what he’s other pact mates story would have gone. There mayhaps be some of where that storyline of in future novels. There also seemed like a good background storyline about NOT Jasnah’s husband, coming later.
For whatever reason I found the struggles of real!Szeth more compelling, but I can see how his less-conflicted self in Prime might appeal to people. I agree that it was great hearing from Taln's perspective. I hope we get to in the future - I think he's slated for one of the back five books if I remember correctly. I wonder how much will be taken from NOT Taln.
Honestly I had a hard time using the name "Kaladin" when talking about Merin in the plot. They feel so different to almost be unrelated. Merin is a good guy, but he doesn't come close to Kaladin's charisma, leadership, or overall character.
@@Bookborn Thankfully Branderson knows his limits. He has said that before he wrote the wheel of time, he knew the way of kings wasn't ready and the characters 'fell flat'. After WoT, he called up his publisher and told them he is ready. And oh boy are we lucky he chose to wait because kaladin is my favourite fictional/fantasy character
I just mean that in WOK Official, the name is Zahel - his name is only Vasher in Warbreaker, so it's funny to hear it as just "Vasher" here. Also, yeah - personality is different, and it's clear he's not a worldhopper. Well maybe - I guess I can't claim to know what Sanderson was thinking at the time.
@@Bookborn well... BranSan said in one of his live signings that warbreaker started as a prequel to TWOK but ended up in its own world with its own magic system... I wasn't going to read prime because, i don´t know, maybe it would spoil some future plot, but this video was really great, so I definitely will read it now
@@elArqui22 Ahh so maybe that's why so many Warbreaker words were used in TWOKP. Now that you mention it, that sounds familiar...I can't keep all of it straight lol
Nope, nobody said it! While I was writing this I honestly couldn't remember if some of them were different and for the life of me i couldn't find any mention in the book when I was flipping through.
Well, Jasnah's power looks kind of like dustbringers. I'm not sure if it is stated in TWOKP that Jasnah is NOT a dustbringer, so I think she might be, cause we know almost all parts of her magic, except order name, and we only know order name of dustbringers
Hi and welcome! No, I don't own a goodreads. It's a long story 😅 But I'm working on a strorygraph account right now so that people can see what I'm reading/what I've read easier!
This is more a UA-cam feedback than it is on your video, but how much of an accessibility option would it be to skip the accessibility-portion-tagged chapters to allow creators to be fair AND engaging?
I’m not sure what you mean? I chapter my videos to be useful to people watching so they don’t have to watch an hour video if they just want something smaller… but maybe you’re talking about something else?
@@Bookborn oh yeah, no shade on your game you're great at making things as enjoyable as you can! I just mean UA-cam should be better at recognizing/letting creators tag portions the parts of videos designed for orientation so viewers familiar with your model can get right to the action. That way the stuff intended to get new viewers used to your model gets to them, but the initiated can get right to the juicy bits.
Love the video! I couldn't make it 2 sentences in without cringing at Dalinar's name. Im up to the part where you talk about the age differences and... Well im reading mistborn right now and i kind of feel like he didn't quite fix this all the way lol. Wax and Marasi, Breeze and his girl, even the teasing about Kelsier and Vin which is never shot down properly. He always lampshades it but doesn't... You know, just age up the female characters as he is well within rights to do as the author lol. Its the only thing that makes me really uncomfortable about his books so far
I personally NEVER read Kelsier/Vin as a romance but purely as a mentor/mentee relationship, and it drives me crazy that people read romance in that. It's interesting that you think Sanderson has hedged on that, I feel like he's been pretty clear that it was a father/daughter sort of thing, but he also does so many interviews I may have missed the one where you felt he was hedging it haha. I think Wax and Marasi get a pass from me because they aren't together; Wax never views Marasi in a romantic way, only Marasi views Wax that way. I agree that I've never loved Breeze and his girl, and probably no surprise that Mistborn was written shortly after WOK Prime. I'm really glad we have Dalinar/Navani - I've always so appreciated an adult relationship where both individuals are similar in age. Media in general seems to be obsessed with Older men with younger women and nothing could drive me more crazy. I find YA in particular uses this trope so much and I'm just like...PLEASE STOP.
I think it's just really hard to read this as just a book. Like...If I had never read the real version, would I be so critical of this one? Probably not. But when you see what it became, it becomes a really stark contrast that's super hard to be neutral about, you know?
Actually I think the reason is still the same. I believe there was a Shin rebellion because there was a group that believes the return was coming. And Sek is part of that rebellion so he became truthless.
Was there a rebellion in the original books? Maybe I'm misremembering it but I thought it was just Szeth who thought that, so he was turned truthless. Here in prime it seemed like they already believed it and were using it for their own gains...
@@Bookborn No the rebellion is in prime. In the original he is alone in stating the return of the radiant. But essentially in both Szeth became truthless because he believes the return is coming.
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This was a fantastic analysis. When I read WoK Prime I thought it was a decent book in and of itself, but leagues below where the canon WoK ended up.
As Stormlight is one of my favourite series I glad to see how much better the new version is.
And I thought that you did a really good job finding and describing all the changes.
I'm pretty sure that Meridas' counter point is Amaram. Given that Amaram's first name is Meridas, and that Gavliar wanted him engaged to Jasnah in the WoR prologue (though she obviously wanted nothing to do with him.)
Pinning this for your comment about Amaram...I mean...like how did I miss that?? 🤦♀️ Like...it's literally the same name lol. I apparently went crazy while making this. Maybe it's because Amaram puts on this "holy face" where he's like "I'm such a nice guy!" and Meridas in Prime doesn't even try that threw me off lol.
An hour of differences, wow. Not all heroes wear capes.
Thanks 🦸♀️
You mad woman, you have done the fandom a great service this day. 🙏
Thanks for watching ☺️
To someone who writes fiction, this analysis makes me very hopeful about the progress I can make with my writing. The fact that a such a bad draft turns into one of the greatest fantasy books ever is amazing.
It really is a great testament to knowing that hey...the first draft isn't everything.
That is very true.. 🤌🏽
Just came to say what a deep and well researched video this is. It is fascinating to see how Sanderson's vision for the book changed over the years. Thank you Bookborn, you are a hero!
Thank you! It made me wish more authors talked about the transformation of their novels - its such an interesting look into one of my favorite series.
Wasn't gonna watch this whole video, but you put in so much work, I couldn't click away. Definitely glad that Dalinar's son's are still alive in the official version, lol.
I appreciate your commitment a lot...I know it's long 😂. I am VERY glad too - I found Renarin's storyline in Prime to be particularly depressing.
Fantastic video about a subject I haven’t seen anyone else talk about in this detail. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the support!
You just made an hour long video but I need more
Don't stop being awesome, Bookborn! Love your content
Thanks Lore ☺️
Your videos are so organized and easy to navigate! Props for including timestamps. :)
Thank you! I figured no one really wants to listen to an hour long video so might as well make it easy to skip around 😂
@@Bookborn I did, and it was awesome! It’s interesting to hear how he changed as a writer over time.
I wasn’t going to watch all of this but you sucked me in! Thank you for such a well organized, well executed summary and break down. The way you discussed how Sanderson’s writing has changed/improved was incredibly well done and thoughtful and I loved hearing your thoughts.
Thank you so much for the support!
Been looking forward to this one! Excited!
Thanks 😊
This is insane! Thank you so much for a such in-depth discussion! I loved it!!!
Thanks for watching!
The audiobook is also available on Brandon Sanderson's UA-cam channel for free.
The effort put into this video is astounding!
Thanks for the support!
Loved the analysis, thank you. I was asking myself through the whole video how he got from A to B, so glad you called out that exact question in the conclusion. However he did it, I'm glad he evolved! Also, that concluding thought about why we love Kaladin so much was wonderful. Deep and very appreciated!
Thanks for watching Sean...also I think you are my first "real life" friend to ever comment on any of my videos which seems both weird and monumental at the same time ;)
this was such an amazing video! So organised and well thought out🙌🏻 honestly, this just makes me respect sanderson even more as an author for putting this draft out there and it is so so inspiring! I also loved your thought about how our struggles are such a huge part of what makes us lovable haha i’ll definitely remember that🥰
So you gonna read this after Skyward or what? lol jk
Thanks for making this video. I was very curious as a big sanderson fan, but didnt want to confuse any story points by reading this version having read probably 100 books since way of kings. Plus im well behind on my to be read list.
Glad I could help!
Excellent and awesome video. Thank you so much! This was so much fun!
Thank you!
Sanderson's thoughts are expressed like an open book every time he posts a video of his lectures or interviews. It's not surprising he wants to share his draft to readers. 😅
Wow, what a lengthy video you've just made! You have really drilled down to the details of the world itself. Great video! 😍🤓🥰
It's one of my favorite things about following him as an author! He's so open to all of his fans and you can tell he just honestly loves what he does.
Man I'm a huge Sanderfan and an aspiring writer. Seeing the differences and learning about why certain things were changed really does help with progressing my own skills.
I totally agree! Like...I'm not even a writer and I felt like it taught me a lot about even just reading books and how they can evolve.
Thanks Bookborn! This video fits right in for me. I am now very deep into my cosmere journey mostly thanks to you!😁
Great in depth video, I'm glad I won't have to read WOK Prime myself. I'm sure the book had it's strengths but I'm so grateful that this isn't the finished product we were presented with in the end
Totally agree. He's admitted himself that he wasn't ready at the time he wrote it!
Thanks for this! It is interesting to see where Way of Kings started when Sanderson was much less experienced at writing. I am glad that he kept working at it and improving and we eventually got the final version. I was surprised by all the deaths and how much more brutal the world in general was written. He has talked about a period where George RR Martin had gotten big and there was a push for him to be more like George and he tried doing it but didn't like results. Maybe this was part of that because it is so different from his current style of writing.
Yes someone else had just said that to me, and I think it provides SUPER important context. Like...he was still coming off of the "trying to be grim" and it really shows in the book once you know that.
Way of kings is one of my favorite books. The end of the book made me love the characters. It is probably my favorite storm light book.
I'm glad to hear the love for it because I feel like it often gets overlooked compared to the other books! Something and Kaladin's arc with bridge four just really speaks to me
Yess! I am also sad how they made shard blades feel less valuable as the series moves on. It was so powerful to have the shard blade traded for their freedom at the end, when it was worth a nation.
@@markmartin5817 That's interesting that you feel like they've become less powerful as the series goes on! Is that because so many people are radiant? I don't think it lessons the sacrifice any, because at the time Dalinar made the sacrifice it did matter a lot, which is probably the important thing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Great job on the detailed explaination of the differences, and the plot of this draft version of the way of kings. I definitely like more the final version that we all know, however it is still very interesting to see how much his plot building has evolved.
This video was great! I didn’t want to actually read wok prime but I wanted to know the differences so it was perfect. Thank you!
I figured there would be a lot of people in that position! Thanks for the support :)
Thank you for devoting your time to reading and reporting all this data. I mainly listen through graphic audio on my commute so it was very helpful to listen to this instead of reading prime . Keep up the good work
Loved this! I listened to TWoK prime on audiobook a little while ago and love that you did this great deep dive! I completely agree that I think it's so special that he released this, not just for his fans but for aspiring authors. It's amazing to see the differences and improvements that he was able to make between these two editions. I think in some ways it really gives hope and inspiration to authors who often can only see the finished product of these hugely successful authors.
Also, completely agree with everything you said about Shallan/Taravangian. I hadn't put two and two together that he basically used that same plot point in Warbreaker which just goes to show how much better he did it in Warbreaker. Very astute point! Loved your point about the main characters missing their "struggles." Great point.
Overall, great, great video. Thank you so much!
I think even between the Mistborn trilogy and Stormlight Archive there was a massive improvement in the treatment of female characters. I absolutely love Mistborn but there are definitely some eye-roll moments when it comes to the women. I think as he's become more successful, he's really put effort into getting and *listening* to sensitivity readers, which I appreciate. It's always nice when someone is humble and motivated enough to be open and willing to listen, and it absolutely shows in his work. Maybe being a university professor has also motivated self-reflection as well? Even the Writing Excuses podcast evolved over the years to include more diverse speakers. Sanderson is totally my safe-space when it comes to not wanting to read upsetting things (especially involving the female characters).
Nice video, I was curious about Prime but probably wouldn't have had the time to read it!
oh totally agree. As much as I love Mistborn, even the fact that Vin is basically the only female of note (and particularly in the crew) is so different to what he writes in Stormlight.
You are the real MVP for this hour-long video!
I tried to keep it shorter but...I failed lol
@@Bookborn it was perfect to listen to while I was working
31:13 - I mean, this is mostly the same Vasher as in Stormlight, he's just not using the name "Zahel" this time around.
I felt that there energies were different lol. I guess I made the assumption he wasn't a worldhopper, but I realize I def do not have enough information to definitively say that.
@@Bookborn Yeah, I doubt that Nalthis existed in this iteration of the proto-cosmere, but _maybe_ Brandon always intended him to be from a planet other than Roshar. He did feel the need to write a prequel for Vasher seven years later.
I just finished listening to the WOK prime and thank you for the amount of work you put into this video. We can see/read/hear the growth of Sanderson's writing by comparing the two versions. Many of the points that Sanderson and you made about the writing are right on point. While watching your video, I thought that many authors do not have the skill to "close the loop" on the points of view or multiple plot points like Sanderson can do now. I've read several books where an author brings up things that I have nothing to do with the plot. It seems to me that WOK Prime is better than many published books! I think he learned a lot writing from completing the Wheel of Time series. When I started WOT, I thought that it was very much like a Sanderson book (as I read Sanderson before WOT). Maybe he got annoyed by the hair twirling from the WOT as I did and became a better author. :-)
Sanderson has been very vocal about how much finishing WOT helped him! He said that he really just didn't have the skills to keep track of multiple viewpoints in a satisfactory way, and I think you can see the huge jump in that from Prime to official WOK. It was so interesting seeing how much he changed between the two books, but how his original ideas were always still there.
Great analysis. I think the most interesting change was renarin creating the diagram. Where as in the published he just instrumental/influences/corrupts it.
Totally. And interesting that he's still related to the Taravangian character / messing him up, but just in a different way. I think the Diagram as it is in the official version is more interesting, though.
Thanks for the summary. I won’t read the prime version . But was curious how it compares to the official version . You are the MVP
I am new to sanderson and started with prime, good to see the differences. Thanks.
Finally got around to watching this. I am very grateful you read this so I didn’t need to!
lol I don't mind taking one for the team
@@Bookborn always appreciate a good Cosmere video!
Honestly, I dont think I would have liked that book that much. Way of Kings is SO much better.
Wow. Awesome work here. I've had little to no interest in reading "Prime" due to wanting to get to my list of TBR books. Thanks for your sacrifice. :)
I figured few people really want to devote the time to read a less-good version of a great book (especially when it's 900 pages long). I'm glad it's useful!
@@Bookborn Yeah. I've seen several hardcore fans of the 17th Shard say that they opened the book, read a few pages, and then were like "nah, I'm good" and put it away.😂
@@faultier1158 lol trust me there were several times I thought that during this book...mostly during Jasnah perspectives 💀
Thank you for the analysis! This is by far the best I've come across.
The funny thing is, this is by far my favorite Brandon Sanderson book and your opinion section basically reverse outlined everything I find difficult with Sanderson's writing.
I respect his craft but just can never get into his books. They're too... polished.
Like a film adaptation that has trimmed out all the redundant, messy parts I love in books in order to have a streamlined, focused narrative.
I personally don't like when authors tie up all the loose ends, it retroactively flattens out the experience for me. And I love random background characters that fade in and out of the story, it makes the world seem richer. But it just goes to show how subjective the whole reading thing is.
That's so funny, I have a friend who is just like that and so we always argue about books because I don't mind the clean tidy wrapped up endings, and she's like "but it's not as realistic!!" 😂
I watched the whole video! Really interesting as I’m not planning on reading it myself but I like to know what the differences are
Here's a 🌟 for actually making it to the end! lol
Made it to the end! Great job!
Very impressed! Thanks for watching!
Brother Lhan totally reminded me of Llarimar from Warbreaker.
For sure. It seems like a lot of things were just moved over to Warbreaker. Someone in the comments told me that originally, Warbreaker was going to be a prequel to Way of Kings.
Thanks for doing this it seems like a lot of work!
It was actually, thanks for noticing 😂
I would argue that it isn't our struggles themselves that should define us and help us relate to people, but rather how we overcome our struggles that is important.
That's definitely a huge factor that I didn't articulate correctly!
Thank you so much. I was so curious but just don’t have the time to read Prime
I figured a lot of people would be in your shoes!
Made it to the end 🙃
One of the best things about this book is Vashers thumb disappearing training. Kaladin ends up doing it while in Jail, and when he first gets his shard blade he is summoning and dismissing it, over and over and over. Making Shallan go crazy.
But he then figures out at a pivotal Sanderson style epic battle that he can dismiss his Shardblade and summon it again instantly and it brings together Vashers Shardblade forms and he passes the blade through another Shardblade and kills a guy that kept blocking his attacks. Also cutting a guy wearing Shardplate in half is pretty dope.
I thought that scene was excellent and well built up. You can definitely tell he was still a fantastic writer at this time. Just not his current, legendary self.
Oh I almost mentioned that exact scene weirdly! When he reappears the shardblade in the guy it was freaking EPIC. Like it was the scene I was like "OK, this is where I'm seeing classic Sanderson".
Wow amazing content (including delivery) !
This is the first time I've seen a video from you and I am surprised you don't have more subscribers. That will change I'm sure.
Ah Ps. You are very pretty (I promise I'm not a creep, it's just an observation that I felt had to be said).
Thanks so much for the support! It really means a lot!
Poor Shallan! Way of Kings, Kaladin kills her brother. Way of Kings Prime, Kaladin kills her betrothed! Poor girl can't catch a break even through the multiverse!!!
JUSTICE FOR SHALLAN (can you imagine a multiverse scene for her. It'd probably be pretty depressing)
51:11 - I don't remember whether it's confirmed in the book, but I believe Balenmar was Ishar in disguise.
AHH OK. That makes a LOT of sense. I knew there had to be something going on there, but it was given so little attention in this book.
I think nale and the other herald identify balenmar as Ishar at the very end. And might I say, there has never been a character that was clearly a more powerful figure than they let on more so than balenmar.
@@Aplesedjr Ahh, just didn't write it down/remember. Sanderson made it pretty clear there was something up with him lol but I missed it
Found your channel recently and I've been binging on your Cosmere videos today while I work and love your content! I didn't even know WOK had a previous version. Have you considered doing full recap videos for the Stormlight Archive (if you haven'talready)? I for one could use a refresher on the WOK and WOR.
I haven't done it yet, but I've considered it for sure! I think I'm going to do recaps for Mistborn Era 2 first since Wax and Wayne 4 is coming out soon-ish. I'll probably do Stormlight ones closer to #5's release date!
@@Bookborn awesome! I could use a refresher on Wax and Wayne too!
Although this book was trying to do too much, I still love that it sounds like Brandon just has always had really cool twists. I love the whole thing you talked about Taln and how we find out he was crazy only for it to turn out that he was a herald. It also definitely is interesting to see how Brandon took all these ideas he tried to do too much with and explored them more fully in different books.
With that said I would find it really interesting for him to explore the whole mad vs being a herald in a different book because we don't really get that in the actual stormlight archives anymore, while it seems like he has explored the other ideas to a much greater degree.
Oh TOTALLY AGREE. I actually found Taln's storyline to be super interesting, even if it was slightly ruined by the fact I knew too much going in since we've obviously read the "real" version. But the whole unreliable narrator thing is one of my favorites, and I think Brandon could do it really well even if it was used in a completely different setting/story.
Would you consider doing a summary like this for each Cosmere book? It would be nice to go back and watch your summaries vs re-reading a series when a new book comes out.
Probably! I did a recap of Era 2 for the Lost Metal, and I may do them as other cosmere books come out.
@@Bookborn that’s gonna be perfect. I still need to read the lost metal. And the video is gonna come in clutch. I’ll search for it now.
I 100% read Vasher as the actual Vasher. The counterpart of that character in the published version is after all actually Vasher even though he has changed names after he changed planet.
Everyone agrees with you. For some reason he just didn't give me "true" Vasher vibes! IDK why!
My guess would be that the wedding night scene didn't come across well partly because it was written several years before he was married and therefore lacking experience to write it sensitively. I've not read it (yet?) so I may be completely wrong.
Totally agree, and I mention that a little in my opinion portion. It more just surprises me since his current books don't suffer from that at all - but like you said, he got married after which probably helped lol
I still so deeply regret not adding this to my kickstarter order! It's just so pretty and I want it on my shelf!
Yeah I definitely vacillated back and forth on whether to do it or not and I'm glad I went for it. I'm nervous for the WoR leatherbound kickstarter...I feel like even more people are going to want that one and I'm going to have to sign on and be decisive immediately to get one 😂
@@Bookborn Me too!! It took me daaaays of deliberation on these leatherbounds. My wallet is shaking in terror lol
I didn't find the struggle to pronounce Alethkar nearly as upsetting as the pronunciation of the J in Jasnah and Jah Keved. But that's just me being a pronunciation snob
Oh the Jasnah one is purposeful - I know it isn't a hard J, but I read them initially with that in mind and now I refuse to change because I'm stubborn and don't like "ya-snah".
@@Bookborn Jasna (without the H) is an actual Slavic name though. It means light or bright (👀) and is pronounced Yas-nah.
Amazing analysis..thankyou for the video😍
Thanks for watching!
Ha, "Sanderlanche!" How fitting for his book endings!
I obviously didn't come up with it, but it's absolutely my favorite Sanderson term. Whoever did come up with it is a genius.
lol look it up in the Gif search engine on any texting app. You'll have a good time guaranteed
Amazing video, you saved me from reading WOK Prime. One thing: 27:25 Meridas sounds a lot like Amaram? And Amaram's first name is Meridas.
Yeah someone else pointed this out 🤦♀️ Like...it's literally the same name, how did I miss that?? I think the reason I went to Sadeas is that Meridas in Prime doesn't come off as the "I'm such a good person" way that Amaram pretends to be. IDK, it was a huge brain lapse lol
I'm pretty sure Balenmar was Ishar, since he was pointed out at the end wearing stormwardens robes. He seemed to be trying to stay in the camp with the most power.
Wow I didn't know this other version existed! Very cool to hear of the differences. I am halfway through the video and just want to say that I like all the differences EXCEPT that Jasnah gets less screen time in the official version, since she is by far my favorite character. It actually hurts me how little screen time she gets. How could he make such an amazing character and not have her in the story more? lol
Finished the video now, thank you for making it! The fact that Brandon released this makes me appreciate him so much more. I don't think I would have the balls to do that. Glad I found your channel, liked and subbed
Crom!?! oh no ahaha
Jasnah embarrassed!? That's the most shocking to me haha. And she's in relationship!?!? what is happening!? hahaha
Wait there's a religion which is known as Elends? As is in Elend Venture from mistborn?
Interesting that Jasnah can hear special tones considering how much of a role that played in Rhythm of War.
Adolin's head on a spike!? oofff
Wow, this was so much bleaker than the released edition! Its strange that at this time he was being told he needed to write more like GRRM to get published but he didnt want to and so he wrote this instead! Because its still pretty dark and very GRRM compared to the final version.
Awesome video!! Thanks so much for doing this, its so interesting to see all the differences
Also, yes, I made it to the end!! hahaha :P
It's actually *Elin* which I probably should have thrown up on the screen haha. Supposedly Sanderson said that he thinks even though he was trying to get out of being pushed to write dark like GRRM, it still influenced Prime a lot, and I'd agree with him. Like you said, it's pretty dark - I find especially Renarin's storyline to be messed up haha.
Thanks for watching the whole thing 😂 I'm very impressed
Is it really 10seconds. I know it is mentioned but in story they seem to be able to summon it right away. I suppose because in cannon version they have scenes where they count so it is more apparent.
Ahh I must've just missed it
39:42 isnt that just basically Wheel of Time?
I found the book very interesting but kept missing stormlight and spren.
Also spoilers but
I was very sad that Taln died. It seemed like such a waste. This book makes me very much look forward to the Herald viewpoints in the books 6 to 10
Also it feels like there are way too many named character deaths in this... I mean in the original many of Bridge 4 dies but in this it feels like we invest a lot in Dalinar's sons and Taln and then they just die
Where did you get the way of kings physical book? I can’t find that anywhere but I’m from the uk.
I received it as a part of backing the kickstarter for Way of Kings leatherbound. So, I'm unsure if the physical copies will ever be sold outside of that...
@@Bookborn well I don’t have the letherebound but I do have the pervious stormlight archive right up until oathbringer, here in the uk the books are split into two parts the rhythm of war was sold separate and I got dawn-shard edge dancer and mistborn era 1 and two physical copies mind you I’m still waiting for mistborn 7 to come out, I can wait iv got 191 books plus another 4 comeing for my birthday in June the 5th this year. I’d rather read books than anything else keeps me sane in life.
As I saw this video I immediately downloaded and read wok prime (didn't know it was out there before) and just today I finished it and watched your video :D
I totally agree with you especially on the females in the book
I think the most interesting was the paying for magic part like with merin. I mean how would this be in following books? Would there be a solution like practicing and it would be better? Can't imagine big and long wind runner fights with this handicap...
Oh and also wasn't there a hint that balenmar was a herald at the end? He reminded me also a bit of a not so witty wit :D
Thanks for the video :)
Yesss TOTALLY agree. I had such a hard time imagining how the magic would end up being very "cool" because it had such a steep cost. I think the stormlight solution is much more elegant for the purposes of the novel.
Oh yeah, there was! I totally forgot to mention that. We aren't sure but he probably WAS going to be a Herald...or a Wit. Something was up. If he was originally supposed to be Hoid, I feel like he was much more "switch sides-y" then Hoid usually is. Hoid certainly isn't necessarily GOOD, but I feel like he's more subtle.
Vasher is definitely Vasher here. Just not named Zahel.
He teaches Merin a form that literally no one else even knows about.
Vasher here was one of the Herald names also I believe.
So he eventually became a world hopper instead of a Herald.
Possibly! I was just saying I wasn't sure if it was *warbreaker* Vasher. He may still have been a worldhopper, but was he nightblood wielding? Hard to say.
@@Bookborn I don't think Nightblood was a thing yet. I reckon when he moved Awakening to Warbreaker and started Cosmere building more it all started to become more.... familiar xD
Thanks for sharing the differences.
The way that Brandon talks about Shinri is really interesting. He talks about how Merrin turned into Kaladin, but says that he came up with Shallan after Way of Kings Prime, so it seems like Shallan is not evolved from Shinri, despite some similarities.
From what I read of Prime, it felt like the bad ending for the Stormlight Archive. Especially the end of the book. Taln’s dead, Jasnah loses her political power, Shinri is captive, Merrin loses his shardblade, Jek is about to escape, Alethkar is in ruins, it just feels so bleak
Oh that's so interesting about Shallan! I'm loving all this WOB that you guys are giving me about Prime, I need to find a way to collect them all in one place. Makes sense to me that Shallan was almost a new invention. There are clearly influences from Shinri, but so much is different - especially her role in the novel.
I do want to know what the plan for Merin was after book 1 since he goes back to be a farmer, and supposedly Bridge 4 was going to come in somewhere?
Just came to me, isn't Merida's an analog to the prince that took in Shallan?
Merdias is absolutely supposed to be Meridas Amaram lol. Just had a little brain blank lol
I'd love to read the Prime version but I'm so bad at keeping track of all the plot and worldbuilding details in these massive books. I'd get everything mixed up so bad
It actually does get quite confusing. It's interesting because in the process of this video I found the characters starting to relate less and less (like in the beginning I'd always be subbing in "Kaladin" in my mind for Merin, but by the end, it felt like such different books those characters almost didn't relate any more for me.)
How do you pick out the exact questions I want (need!) answered? 😂
Thank you for this!
Edit: (finished watching) Wow, Prime was daark... Also the characters are definitely better in the final version, when their struggles are present.
lol thank you! Yes Prime was crazy dark. That death toll...like somehow all of Dalinar's sons being dead was particularly gruesome.
I think the issue is that since many main viewpoint characters don’t deal with their inner darkness and struggles, the outer struggles and plot got really dark to make the narrative feel weighty and as an attempt at making us care about all the characters knowing the stakes are high.
This sounds so rough....i can't imagine stormlight without Depressed Kaladin
Yeah I just find it so fascinating that by missing their struggles, they become so much less interesting. Or, I should say, more relatable struggles - I think more of us understand depression than "hmm gotta go from commoner to noble" lol
@@Bookborn yeah.... though i haven't been in a situation like Kaladin, well not anywhere close, but i find some of his traits so relatable and frustrating tbh. I like that and him without that frustrating mental health is just....bland
It is so weird because I also can't remember what stonewards use but I know it is mentioned when Taln awoke in the Monastery.
It says the way of kings prime is part of the Kickstarter tiers I have the way of kings 1 and 2 in stormlight archive is that in those books? I don’t have any the Kickstarter tiers just the physical stormlight archive books.
Hmmm I'm not sure, if you got the leatherbound Way of Kings kickstarter, I think this was one of the stretch goals. But maybe it came with the tier I chose - it was a few years ago, so I don't remember. I think you can get it digitally though even if you didn't do the kickstarter, just not the physical cop.
I've read the free version of WoK Prime on Brandon's website a few months ago (just because I love his work so much) and it's definitely not that good. I actually forgot a lot and your video (yes I watched until the very end) helped refresh my memory. I kind of want to know what someone would think of this book without reading WoK first, because I still enjoyed my reading experience. But that was mostly because I found it so interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two stories. That was the best part. I mean, no spren? No Parshendi? The characters are so different?
I think the most interesting change for me was Jasnah, just because I also love her so much and she is so different (definitely worse) here. It was so weird to see her in a relationship with Taln of all people.
Even though the book wasn't that good, I read it quite quickly and really wanted to know what would've happened next in this version of the events. Oh well.
First I'm extremely impressed you made it to the end lol. And I totally agree. I'm actually surprised at how some very random details - like Kholin's wearing blue - survived. For some reason that was super interesting to me to see those little things. And even the title - the difference in the "in world" books of Way of Kings give SUCH a different feel to why the title is the title, if that makes sense. Although, like you said, the story was painful in some places, overall it was a very cool experience.
Awesome review! I don’t care how you pronounce. Thank you for sharing your opinion. In rhythm of war I was extremely impressed by Sandersons ability to write an entire book from a woman’s perspective so well. Whereas way of kings prime has been written by a male perspective of women. I agree with you on his handling of female characters and his growth as a writer.
It's really cool to see the growth. A good reminder that being good at anything is just dedication and practice. I personally LOVED RoW!
I did make it until the end and wow not at all what I was expecting
Congrats, I'm impressed lol! I know, it was so much darker and just doesn't feel like Stormlight at all.
I’m late to commenting. Just listened to it. I thought Jasnah changing Taln into smoke was also her chooses the path of the awakener instead of the woman or politics and her marriage to Meridas
I made it all the way through. :)I read it, and enjoyed it for its own merit. It was better (for me) that many of the names were different and made it easy to enjoy w/o the constant comparison. It was nice to see threads that ultimately became different stories in here.
I wonder, in reference to the wedding night scene, how much Brandon was influenced by Robert Jordan? This felt a lot like the scenes where Mat was in a similar type of circumstance to me.
I'm currently rereading WOT and I'm going to be so interested to reread that scene. I think it's going to hit me VERY differently than it did when I first read it.
It's possible he was influenced, although I think they read differently: in Jordan's case, I think it was "haha men can't be assaulted" whereas in Sanderson's case it felt more like he didn't understand how to write the trauma correctly.
@@Bookborn Don't disagree, but I feel like it was also handled poorly...but then I'm known as anti-WoT. 😉
Just finished the UA-cam audio version of Prime. While I agree with most of what you said, there are a couple I disagree with, a few points you didn’t touch on. I think NOT Szeth is a more interesting character in Prime, not just because of more POV time. There are some good points with NOT Kaladin, especially with his friendship with NOT Adolin. But best thing about Prime is Taln, he is not only a much more developed character, he is major part of the story, and a side/background character. Would love to know what he’s other pact mates story would have gone. There mayhaps be some of where that storyline of in future novels. There also seemed like a good background storyline about NOT Jasnah’s husband, coming later.
For whatever reason I found the struggles of real!Szeth more compelling, but I can see how his less-conflicted self in Prime might appeal to people.
I agree that it was great hearing from Taln's perspective. I hope we get to in the future - I think he's slated for one of the back five books if I remember correctly. I wonder how much will be taken from NOT Taln.
If the way of kings prime just like another copy of the way of king printed book?
Nope! It's the original draft that Sanderson wrote about a decade before the "real" WOK got released.
I will never have the courage to read WoKP because Kaladin is my favourite character and I can't imagine him in any other role
Honestly I had a hard time using the name "Kaladin" when talking about Merin in the plot. They feel so different to almost be unrelated. Merin is a good guy, but he doesn't come close to Kaladin's charisma, leadership, or overall character.
@@Bookborn Thankfully Branderson knows his limits. He has said that before he wrote the wheel of time, he knew the way of kings wasn't ready and the characters 'fell flat'. After WoT, he called up his publisher and told them he is ready. And oh boy are we lucky he chose to wait because kaladin is my favourite fictional/fantasy character
31:23 Why is that Vasher not Vasher? diferent personality? how did he change??
I just mean that in WOK Official, the name is Zahel - his name is only Vasher in Warbreaker, so it's funny to hear it as just "Vasher" here. Also, yeah - personality is different, and it's clear he's not a worldhopper. Well maybe - I guess I can't claim to know what Sanderson was thinking at the time.
@@Bookborn well... BranSan said in one of his live signings that warbreaker started as a prequel to TWOK but ended up in its own world with its own magic system...
I wasn't going to read prime because, i don´t know, maybe it would spoil some future plot, but this video was really great, so I definitely will read it now
@@elArqui22 Ahh so maybe that's why so many Warbreaker words were used in TWOKP. Now that you mention it, that sounds familiar...I can't keep all of it straight lol
The gemstone that Taln powers his stonewarding with is amber, which is just solid tree goo. As I’m sure some others have said
Nope, nobody said it! While I was writing this I honestly couldn't remember if some of them were different and for the life of me i couldn't find any mention in the book when I was flipping through.
Well, Jasnah's power looks kind of like dustbringers. I'm not sure if it is stated in TWOKP that Jasnah is NOT a dustbringer, so I think she might be, cause we know almost all parts of her magic, except order name, and we only know order name of dustbringers
Great video, thank you so much
Thank you 😊
Great video as always! I am fairly new to your channel, sorry in advance if this question pops up a lot: do you have a public Goodreads account?
Hi and welcome! No, I don't own a goodreads. It's a long story 😅 But I'm working on a strorygraph account right now so that people can see what I'm reading/what I've read easier!
This is more a UA-cam feedback than it is on your video, but how much of an accessibility option would it be to skip the accessibility-portion-tagged chapters to allow creators to be fair AND engaging?
I’m not sure what you mean? I chapter my videos to be useful to people watching so they don’t have to watch an hour video if they just want something smaller… but maybe you’re talking about something else?
@@Bookborn oh yeah, no shade on your game you're great at making things as enjoyable as you can! I just mean UA-cam should be better at recognizing/letting creators tag portions the parts of videos designed for orientation so viewers familiar with your model can get right to the action. That way the stuff intended to get new viewers used to your model gets to them, but the initiated can get right to the juicy bits.
Love the video! I couldn't make it 2 sentences in without cringing at Dalinar's name. Im up to the part where you talk about the age differences and... Well im reading mistborn right now and i kind of feel like he didn't quite fix this all the way lol. Wax and Marasi, Breeze and his girl, even the teasing about Kelsier and Vin which is never shot down properly. He always lampshades it but doesn't... You know, just age up the female characters as he is well within rights to do as the author lol. Its the only thing that makes me really uncomfortable about his books so far
I personally NEVER read Kelsier/Vin as a romance but purely as a mentor/mentee relationship, and it drives me crazy that people read romance in that. It's interesting that you think Sanderson has hedged on that, I feel like he's been pretty clear that it was a father/daughter sort of thing, but he also does so many interviews I may have missed the one where you felt he was hedging it haha.
I think Wax and Marasi get a pass from me because they aren't together; Wax never views Marasi in a romantic way, only Marasi views Wax that way. I agree that I've never loved Breeze and his girl, and probably no surprise that Mistborn was written shortly after WOK Prime. I'm really glad we have Dalinar/Navani - I've always so appreciated an adult relationship where both individuals are similar in age. Media in general seems to be obsessed with Older men with younger women and nothing could drive me more crazy. I find YA in particular uses this trope so much and I'm just like...PLEASE STOP.
This book wasn’t as bad as I hear, people say it is awful but it wasn’t as enjoyable as the original but it was still a solid book
I think it's just really hard to read this as just a book. Like...If I had never read the real version, would I be so critical of this one? Probably not. But when you see what it became, it becomes a really stark contrast that's super hard to be neutral about, you know?
@@Bookborn for me, having read a lot of fanfiction, (though not of Sanderson works) I enjoyed my listen immensely.
Chanarach’s name in Prime, “Chanaral”, is close to the name for the river “Channerel” from Mistborn…just thought that was cool
Actually I think the reason is still the same. I believe there was a Shin rebellion because there was a group that believes the return was coming. And Sek is part of that rebellion so he became truthless.
Was there a rebellion in the original books? Maybe I'm misremembering it but I thought it was just Szeth who thought that, so he was turned truthless. Here in prime it seemed like they already believed it and were using it for their own gains...
@@Bookborn No the rebellion is in prime. In the original he is alone in stating the return of the radiant. But essentially in both Szeth became truthless because he believes the return is coming.
You are absolutely fantastic
Wit mentioned adonalsium to dalinar in WOK. Think it was during a party or something.
You're talking about in the official WOK, correct? I don't remember seeing a Wit-counterpart in Prime
@@Bookborn yeah that's right.
I just realized Brandon used Szeth's original name for a bird in Words of Radiance (Jeksonofnone). I don't know why, but I find that kind of funny!
Oohhh that's a super good catch! What an easter egg.
The way of kings prime left me wanting a sequel with that ending.
I may not have to, but I'm gonna. But then I'll still come back here.
Let me know what you think of it! Not many of us have read it yet, I feel like haha
"This may be upsetting to some viewers" .... Well at least she's self-aware 🤷♂️😂
C R O M
D A L E N A R
In all seriousness tho, great video as always!
Look, I know my audience. I know how I've hurt them in the past.
@@Bookborn Honestly I was more upset by how you pronounce "Shinovar" than anything 🤣
@@ElijahStormblessed My husband literally HATES how I say it. He's like "no...no stop. How could you say it that way?"