The Way of Kings Part One by Brandon Sanderson

I'm on gardening leave. This was part of a 3 for 2...it's slush but decent enough and if you're a sword and sorcery type I'd recommend it. Except that it's only the first of a proposed 11 part series and the second book (part two of the first book is out) is not due until Autumn 2012...so if you like waiting around this is for you.

The story is interesting enough and the world is pretty well realised and sufficiently different from ours to make discovering it intriguing enough. However, there are some characterisations that are so out of "world building 101" that I really hope he takes it in a surprising direction. It's not edgy and as per most fantasy it's really very conventional from a moral and cultural point of view.

Yet, as with the Mistborn books, Sanderson has a serious and interesting take on spirituality that many others don't. It does elevate his story telling and I'm interested to see where this goes. Don't get me wrong, it's epic in the way that only Fantasy can be, but nevertheless it's a good distracting bit of fun.