I was not, on any uncertain terms, going to read this book for ages, if ever. It's huge and is only the first in a ten book series. Why would I put myself through the agony of reading this one book if I couldn't actually finish the series for probably ten to twenty more years? 
 Obviously, something must have happened to change my mind since here I am reviewing this book. One would hope that I wouldn't write a review unless I'd read the book. 
 The answer, my dears, is that yes, I read this book. Possibly against my better judgement. But, then, when it comes to pretty, eye-catching things I don't usually act on better judgement. 
 I present to you all the pretty thing that made me change my mind: 
 That is Shallan Davar, one of the protagonists in the Stormlight Archive. This picture is the endpaper for the second book in the series, Words of Radiance. When I was shown this, I knew that I needed to read the first book as fast as possible so that I could read the second. All because of Shallan. 
 And, truly, she was my favourite part of this book. I loved her character and her story arc. I definitely skipped ahead in places, rushing to get to the next Shallan part and reading it before returning to the story arcs of Kaladin or Dalinar. 
 Shallan and Jasnah, two strong female characters in this book. They both have a yearning for knowledge, strength, and wit. They were delightful, troubling, and brilliant. The two of them get a star all to themselves. Best part of the book. 
 Sadly, they took up a very small part of the book. 
 Remember Faulkner's one quote? The one that goes: "Kill all your darlings?" Well, Sanderson might have been able to benefit from this quote. The main-main character, Kaladin, really seemed to be a 'darling.' You could feel the love Sanderson had for the character in the pages and it resulted in most of the book being about a whiny, rather dull character who would have been much better if he'd been shown less often. Kaladin got repetitive and dull pretty early on and by the end, I was just hoping he'd die or that the focus would start changing. 
 The other main character, Dalinar, was almost as likeable as Shallan. He was relatable in many ways, admirable, and just a good, solid character. I found a lot of pleasure in reading about him and also his son Adolin. I look forward to more of them in the second book. 
 Now that I've covered the more main characters, let's skip to the plot. Unfortunately I felt that the many pages bogged the plot down. The book would have benefited from a heavier cutting hand, I think. It was good, but there was just so much information that was unnecessary and just served to slow the story down. Things really began to exciting around the 800 page mark and then the crazy reveal happened only about fifty pages from the ending. Honestly, I could have used with some more excitement in the first half! 
 The world and magic system are both brilliantly thought out, of course. I've never seen an author as good at world-building than Sanderson. Definitely a star earned there. 
 All in all, it's a good book, with some great characters. It just drags on and on. Do I recommend it? Yes, I do, but I still think that waiting until more of the books are out is a good idea.