CONTENTS
Prelude to the Stormlight Archive
Book One: The Way of Kings
Prologue: To Kill
Part One: Above Silence
1: STORMBLESSED
2: HONOR IS DEAD
3: CITY OF BELLS
4: THE SHATTERED PLAINS
5: HERETIC
6: BRIDGE FOUR
7: ANYTHING REASONABLE
8: NEARER THE FLAME
9: DAMNATION
10: STORIES OF SURGEONS
11: DROPLETS
Interludes
1-1: ISHIKK
1-2: NAN BALAT
1-3: THE GLORY OF IGNORANCE
Part Two: The Illuminating Storms
12: UNITY
13: TEN HEARTBEATS
14: PAYDAY
15: THE DECOY
16: COCOONS
17: A BLOODY, RED SUNSET
18: HIGHPRINCE OF WAR
19: STARFALLS
20: SCARLET
21: WHY MEN LIE
22: EYES, HANDS, OR SPHERES?
23: MANY USES
24: THE GALLERY OF MAPS
25: THE BUTCHER
26: STILLNESS
27: CHASM DUTY
28: DECISION
Interludes
1-4: RYSN
1-5: AXIES THE COLLECTOR
1-6: A WORK OF ART
Part Three: Dying
29: ERRORGANCE
30: DARKNESS UNSEEN
31: BENEATH THE SKIN
32: SIDE CARRY
33: CYMATICS
34: STORMWALL
35: A LIGHT BY WHICH TO SEE
36: THE LESSON
37: SIDES
38: ENVISAGER
39: BURNED INTO HER
40: EYES OF RED AND BLUE
41: OF ALDS AND MILP
42: BEGGARS AND BARMAIDS
43: THE WRETCH
44: THE WEEPING
45: SHADESMAR
46: CHILD OF TANAVAST
47: STORMBLESSINGS
48: STRAWBERRY
49: TO CARE
50: BACKBREAKER POWDER
51: SAS NAHN
Interludes
1-7: BAXIL
1-8: GERANID
1-9: DEATH WEARS WHITE
Part Four: Storm’s Illumination
52: A HIGHWAY TO THE SUN
53: DUNNY
54: GIBLETISH
55: AN EMERALD BROAM
56: THAT STORMING BOOK
57: WANDERSAIL
58: THE JOURNEY
59: AN HONOR
60: THAT WHICH WE CANNOT HAVE
61: RIGHT FOR WRONG
62: THREE GLYPHS
63: FEAR
64: A MAN OF EXTREMES
65: THE TOWER
66: CODES
67: WORDS
68: ESHONAI
69: JUSTICE
Part Five: The Silence Above
70: SEA OF GLASS
71: RECORDED IN BLOOD
72: VERISTITALIAN
73: TRUST
74: GHOSTBLOOD
75: IN THE TOP ROOM
Epilogue: Of Most Worth
Endnote
Ars Arcanum
ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of Roshar
Map of the Unclaimed Hills and Alethkar
Shallan’s Sketchbook: Skyeels
Map of the Lumberyard
Shallan’s Sketchbook: Chulls
Prime Map of the Shattered Plains
The Alethi Codes of War
Map of the Warcamps
Historical Greatshell Picture
Map of Kharbranth
Map of Four Cities, from Kabsal’s Evidence
Shallan’s Sketchbook: Shalebark
Shallan’s Sketchbook: Axehounds
The History of Man
Shallan’s Sketchbook: Rockbuds
Navani’s Notebook: One
Shallan’s Sketchbook: Plants
Navani’s Notebook: Two
Detail of the Tower Plateau
Relief of Nalan’Elin
THE WAY OF KINGS
PRELUDE TO
THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE
Kalak rounded a rocky stone ridge and stumbled to a stop before the body of a dying thunderclast. The enormous stone beast lay on its side, riblike protrusions from its chest broken and cracked. The monstrosity was vaguely skeletal in shape, with unnaturally long limbs that sprouted from granite shoulders. The eyes were deep red spots on the arrowhead face, as if created by a fire burning deep within the stone. They faded.
Even after all these centuries, seeing a thunderclast up close made Kalak shiver. The beast’s hand was as long as a man was tall. He’d been killed by hands like those before, and it hadn’t been pleasant.
Of course, dying rarely was.
He rounded the creature, picking his way more carefully across the battlefield. The plain was a place of misshapen rock and stone, natural pillars rising around him, bodies littering the ground. Few plants lived here.
The stone ridges and mounds bore numerous scars. Some were shattered, blasted-out sections where Surgebinders had fought. Less frequently, he passed cracked, oddly shaped hollows where thunderclasts had ripped themselves free of the stone to join the fray.
Many of the bodies around him were human; many were not. Blood mixed. Red. Orange. Violet. Though none of the bodies around him stirred, an indistinct haze of sounds hung in the air. Moans of pain, cries of grief. They did not seem like the sounds of victory. Smoke curled from the occasional patches of growth or heaps of burning corpses. Even some sections of rock smoldered. The Dustbringers had done their work well.
But I survived, Kalak thought, hand to breast as he hastened to the meeting place. I actually survived this time.
That was dangerous. When he died, he was sent back, no choice. When he survived the Desolation, he was supposed to go back as well. Back to that place that he dreaded. Back to that place of pain and fire. What if he just decided…not to go?
Perilous thoughts, perhaps traitorous thoughts. He hastened on his way.
The place of meeting was in the shadow of a large rock formation, a spire rising into the sky. As always, the ten of them had decided upon it before the battle. The survivors would make their way here. Oddly, only one of the others was waiting for him. Jezrien. Had the other eight all died? It was possible. The battle had been so furious this time, one of the worst. The enemy was growing increasingly tenacious.
But no. Kalak frowned as he stepped up to the base of the spire. Seven magnificent swords stood proudly here, driven point-first into the stone ground. Each was a masterly work of art, flowing in design, inscribed with glyphs and patterns. He recognized each one. If their masters had died, the Blades would have vanished.
These Blades were weapons of power beyond even Shardblades. These were unique. Precious. Jezrien stood