I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I'm kind of sad that The Stormlight Archive is Brandon Sanderson's magnum opus, instead of the Mistborn series. This was a good book - I even liked it better than The Way of Kings - but I didn't really love it. All of Sanderson's hallmarks are here ... expansive worldbuilding, a creative magic system, wonderful action/battle sequences, a preoccupation with religion and its influence on society. But even with all that, this series has left me a little cold so far. Maybe it's the main characters, who with the exception of Dalinar (and Highprince Sebarial, for some reason) have me rolling my eyes as often as not. Oh, Adolin is cool too. But so far I'm pretty ambivalent about Shallan and Kaladin. I guess time will tell. 
 Also, I may be in the minority, but I'm going to say it nonetheless - this book really didn't need to be as long as it is. I'm not afraid of long books - I've read the unabridged Les Miserables, I've read Atlas Shrugged, I've read just about every Stephen King mega-novel that he's written. But this book didn't need to be 1300+ pages. It's one thing if an author needs to tell a massive story in one book (looking at you, Stephen King!), but there are going to be ten of these books. At the same time, Sanderson's proven that he can write complex, gripping stories without needing nearly as many pages. Once again, I point to Mistborn - I remember reading the first book and thinking "how is this a trilogy? He wrapped up the story in one book!" Or, look at Sanderson's novellas - incredible stories, new worlds and magic systems, great characters, and they're often less than 100 pages! Ultimately, this book felt like being on a treadmill. I knew I was accomplishing something, I felt good about it, but I was well aware that I wasn't really getting anywhere fast. 
 One last note - as a Cosmere novel, and one of the books in his keystone Cosmere series, there are obviously lots of connections to his other books. But after finishing this, I'm really glad I've already read Warbreaker. (view spoiler)[The appearance of an old friend at the end of WoR was the best part of the entire book to me! (hide spoiler)] 
 2016 reading challenge: a book over 500 pages