Short Book Synopsis: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Hello dear readers, welcome to another Short Book Synopsis. It’s a simple idea: I summarize books for you so if you want to know what happens in them, you don’t need to worry about re-reading the entire book.

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Shallan is the main focus in this book, and we get her flashbacks featured at times throughout the book. The flashbacks slowly reveal the gradual destruction of her family, and the details of her two potential murderous and/or abusive parents.

The Interludes introduce Lift and follow Eshonai as she, at first, reluctantly changes to stormform and then stages a coup, taking complete control of the Parshendi.

We start the prologue with Galivar’s assassination told from Jasnah’s perspective. We see the horror she witnesses and her bond and eventually Soulcast for the first time.

The main story starts with Shallan and Jasnah traveling by ship to the Shattered Plains. Jasnah tells Shallan of Shallan’s betrothal to her cousin Adolin. Shallan continues her teachings until she is woken during the middle of the night and witnessed the murder of Jasnah.

In an attempt to save the rest of the crew, Shallan soulcasts and causes the ship to sink.

She makes it to shore but is unable to soulcast a simple stick when she tries. She eventually joins Tvlakv’s slave wagons and heads towards the Shattered Plains.

Meanwhile, Kaladin sets up training exercises for other bridge crews and begins experimenting with his newfound Adhesion abilities. He gets upset when he finds out that Brightlord Amaran arrives in Dalinar’s camp.

Dalinar keeps trying to unite the Highprinces by using his authority as the new Highprince of War. In one of his flashbacks he and other Knight’s Radiant fight against a Thunderclast in the middle of a Highstorm.

Back to Shallan, she eventually joins Tyn’s caravan and joins with them to defend against bandits and winning over a group of deserters that were chasing them.

Tyn assumes she can’t really be who she says she is, so Tyn takes her on as an apprentice con artist. She eventually finds out the truth, but is killed by Shallan using her Shardblade.


Adolin starts winning some duels and obtaining pieces of shard plate, following his father’s plan to unite the high princes. Renarin trains with Shardblade and plate while Torol Sadeas works against Dalinar, consolidating power and sending troops on gemstone raids when it is not his turn.

Szeth attempts to kill Dalinar, but Kaladin defends him. Kaladin tells Szeth he is a Windrunner just like him, but Szeth flees in confusion and anger.

Shallan finally arrives at the Shattered Plains in the middle of a conference between the King and the Highprinces. She informs the royal family of Jasnah’s death and cons her way into being hired by Seberial. Using her Lighweaving skills, she takes on the persona of “Veil” and does some work for the Ghostbloods. She uses them in an attempt to learn about Urithiru and warn Dalinar of the Parshendi Voidbringers.

During the day she manages Sebarial’s books and courts Adolin, who she begins hitting it off with.

Kaladin continues training the bridegemen, promoting more men capable of command so he can delegate more patrols and guard duty.

He attempts training like Szeth to walk on chasm walls, but instead flies high above the ground in control of his abilities.

Moash reveals his dark secret and out to kill the King. Kaladin is torn – he knows the king is week and should be killed, but he has sworn to protect him.

Adolin makes a mistake, and accidentally challenges four Shardbearers at once to a duel. With Kaladin’s help, Adolin manages to win the duel and Kaladin asks for a boon from the king; a challenge with Prince Amaran, but he is arrested at his declaration.

Kaladin stews in prison and is visited by Wit, who ends up making things worse. When he is eventually released, Kaladin learns that Adolin demanded to be imprisoned as long as he was, which softens Kaladin’s feelings towards Adolin and lighteyes in general.

An assassination attempt on Dalinar during a scouting mission leaves Kaladin and Shallan at the bottom of the chasms, but both used stormlight to survive the impossible fall. They both don’t trust each other at first, but they both lighten up and share some of their pasts with each other. Kaladin kills a chasm fiend with Shallan’s shardblade but then realizes he has lost all contact with Syl because he is involved in Moash’s scheme to kill the King.

The countdown clock ticks towards zero. Dalinar prepares an assault against the Parshendi. Kaladin and Shallan make it back to camp and Shallan insists on going on the assault, having mapped out a good amount of the Shattered Plains in her trip with Kaladin, who stays behind with a wound to his leg.

Dalinar leads his army, guided by Shallan, to the centre of the Shattered Plains to end the war once and for all. Kaladin falls into a deep depression over his loss of Syl and his injuries, before having an epiphany that he must protect the incompetent king from assassination.

He confronts Moash and almost dies before uttering the words:


When he speaks these words, Syl returns and becomes his shardblade once again. He fights off Moash and Graves who flee after failing to kill the King.

Dalinar and the Alethi army encounter the Parshendi, who have taken on a strange new form. A portion of them fight while a portion of them sing a strange, foreboding song. The Alethi manage to win, but not in time to stop the Everstorm from coming at the same exact time as a Highstorm.

Szeth arrives at the scene of the battle to finish the job on Dalinar, but Kaladin intervenes and stops Szeth, driving him away.

Shallan solves the age-old puzzle and finds the portal. She activates it using her shardblade and the Alethi are transported to Urithiru, making it through the Highstorm and Everstorm.

Dalinar, Shallan, Kaladin, and Renarin gather in Urithiru and declare themselves as Knights Radiant.

Did I miss anything? What were your favourite parts of Words of Radiance? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
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Book Review: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Hello dear readers, today we continue on the path of The Stormlight Archive with the second of the three currently released books: Words of Radiance.

I reviewed The Way of Kings last month and did a summary of it to refresh my memory for when book four comes out.

The fourth book Rhythm of War comes out in a few months and I am beyond excited, so I am giving the first three the love they deserve.

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Title: Words of Radiance
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy it here





Character Perspectives

Words of Radiance focuses more on Shallan’s story. She is a main character throughout the first book, but was second fiddle to Kaladin. Now Kaladin takes a step back and his story is more of a supporting role to Shallan.

I am not the biggest fan of Shallan, she seems foolish and selfish, but she becomes more likable in this book than in the first. Each chapter focuses on a small handful of characters, and the overlap in this book is a lot more than the first.

I like that we don’t just get current events and experiences though. We are also getting the backstory for whomever the main character of the book is. It is adding a wonderful amount of depth to the world and I am loving every minute of it.

Character Development

With each backstory we are getting, we discover the world more and more. Within the first two books of the series we explore maybe a tenth of the world, but each chapter let’s us explore a little more each time.

I also think Sanderson does a wonderful job at letting characters grow as the story continues. We already see their struggles and their fears right from the start, but then we get to explore it more, further our understanding of it as the characters come to realize them, and then we watch them grow.

Sanderson is a master of worldbuilding and I honestly don’t know of too many other authors that are able to do what he does in this series.

The Plot Thickens

Each chapter that I finish of Sanderson’s work blows my mind. He is able to take your understanding of his worlds and tear them apart in an instant.

Too often he opens your eyes more to the entirety of his realm, and its really amazing.

What makes me enjoy this book even more is that we get the “bad guy” perspective. Too often books come from the good guy’s perspective, and we don’t really get a chance to see the decisions made by the other side.

Words of Radiance allows us to explore their thoughts, their feelings, and their struggles almost as much as Shallan’s and her allies. I think that it really helps us empathize with them and the story becomes a lot less black and white, there is much more gray.

Final Thoughts

I absolutely love Words of Radiance and the rest of the series. I think it is a terrific example of what a high-fantasy book can and should be. The world is so vast and unknown, the plot so enticing and suspenseful, the magic so well developed, and the characters so well written and developed.

What did you think of Words of Radiance, or the rest of the Stormlight Archive series? Let’s talk about it in the comments, and make sure to follow me on social media for more!
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