Words of Radiance

The release of the book was delayed due to Sanderson's commitment to writing the final book of The Wheel of Time.[6][7]

Initially, Sanderson planned that this volume would be named after the tome Shallan is given at the end of the first volume: The Book of Endless Pages. However, the name was changed after the editor commented "Uh, are you sure you want to name a very long, very thick fantasy book The Book of Endless Pages?”[2] The book, at 1088 pages, is the maximum printable size of a book for its publisher, Tor Books, making it the biggest book ever printed by the company.[8][9]

On July 1, 2013, Sanderson announced on his official Twitter account that he had finished the first draft of Words of Radiance.[10] On July 3 Tor Books officially released an early excerpt of the novel, containing the beginning of an interlude starring Taravangian, the King of Kharbranth.[11] On December 10, 2013, Tor Books announced on its official website that Sanderson had turned in the manuscript of the book, commenting that production could now begin.[12] On the same day a second excerpt of the novel was released, containing an interlude starring the new character Lift.[13]

On December 30, 2013, Tor Books revealed the endpapers for Words of Radiance, painted by American artist Michael Whelan.[14] It pictures Shallan while painting at the Shattered Plains. In the same article Whelan states, "When Irene Gallo proposed a second painting for Words of Radiance, I immediately knew it was Shallan we were talking about. Indeed, like many fans, I had felt that the story was becoming as much Shallan’s as Kaladin’s; she merited equal representation in the book’s design, as far as it was possible to do so."

On January 8, 2014, Tor Books released the prologue and first two chapters of the book as previews with points-of-view of Jasnah, Shallan and Kaladin.[15] A week later, on January 14, Tor Books released the 3rd, 4th and 5th chapters of the book,[16] followed by the 6th, 8th and 9th chapters on January 21.[17] The last chapters to be released before the publication of the book, Chapters Ten, Twelve, Fourteen and the first Interlude, were released on January 28, 2014.[18]

Tor Books revealed the dates and locations for the Words of Radiance book tour on January 29, 2014.[19] On February 4, 2014, Tor announced 'The Glimpses of Radiance', a series of daily previews of the book running from February 11 to March 4, 2014.[20] Non-spoiler reviews were released by Alice Arneson[21] and Carl Engle-Laird[22] on the Tor website and by 17thshard.com, the official fansite of Brandon Sanderson, 17th Shard calling the book, "truly an achievement. It expands on its predecessor, fulfilling the promises it sets up, and manages to surpass it".[23] Samples of interior art painted by Ben McSweeney and Isaac Stewart were released on February 26.[24]

Years ago, Szeth-son-son-Vallano, the Assassin in White, was sent by the Parshendi to assassinate the Alethi king Gavilar Kholin (for reasons not yet revealed to the reader). This murder resulted in the Vengeance Pact among the highprinces of Alethkar and the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi. Now Szeth is active again, and is sent by King Taravangian of Kharbranth, to kill Highprince Dalinar Kholin (brother of the late King Gavilar).

Kaladin, once a slave and bridgeman on the Shattered Plains, is given command of the royal bodyguards to protect Dalinar and his family (including King Elokhar) from perils and the threat of the Assassin. Meanwhile, he struggles with both his feelings regarding lighteyes (the nobility of the Alethi) and his past with Brightlord Amaram. He trains and practices to master the powers of a Windrunner that are linked to the bond with his honorspren, Syl.

Shallan Davar, together with her mentor Jasnah Kholin, are heading to the Shattered Plains to prevent the return of the Voidbringers and their civilization-ending Desolation. Jasnah arranges a marriage between Shallan and Adolin Kholin, Jasnah's cousin. Their ship is attacked en route to the Shattered Plains and while Shallan survives, Jasnah is believed to be killed. Shallan, with the assistance of sailors and outlaws she finds on the road, makes her arrival at the Shattered Plains.

One of the Parshendi, Venli, discovers a stormform that allows Parshendi to summon a storm similar to the Highstorms and turn the tide of the war. Some Parshendi believe using stormform will summon the Voidbringers, but the ruling council allows the form. Eshonai wants to parlay with Dalinar to bring an end to the war before stormform is used.

Szeth attempts to murder Dalinar but is stopped when Dalinar catches Szeth's shardblade with his hands. Kaladin ends the attempt by knocking himself and Szeth into open air. During the melee after landing, Szeth sees Kaladin use stormlight and flees from the duel, realizing that the Radiants are back and he is not Truthless.

Eshonai, along with most of the surviving Parshendi transform to stormform, and summon the Everstorm, which comes from the opposite direction as the normal highstorms. The Alethi attack and defeat the Parshendi, but not before the storm is summoned. The Alethi armies are only able to escape the storms through Shallan's discovery and activation of the Oathgate (a system of teleports usable only by the Radiants), which evacuates the army to the legendary city of the Radiants, Urithiru.

After arriving at Urithiru, Dalinar swears the oaths of the Knights Radiant and the Order of the Bondsmiths - binding the Stormfather as his spren. It is discovered that Renarin, son of Dalinar, is also a member of the Knights Radiant (a member of the order of Truthwatchers). Adolin, after being confronted by Sadeas who states that he will continue to oppose Dalinar - despite the desolation - kills Sadeas after a short struggle.

In the epilogue, Jasnah is met by Hoid after she returns from the Cognitive Realm, where she escaped to from the attack on her ship to the Shattered Plains.

The primary chapters within the book are told from the viewpoint of several major characters, while the book's interludes are told from the viewpoint of other characters (not all of which repeat).

An audiobook version was released by Macmillan Audio on the same day as the hardcover version read by narrator team Kate Reading and Michael Kramer, who also read The Way of Kings.[31] A 5-part GraphicAudio version of Words of Radiance was released from September 2016 to January 2017.

The third book in the series, Oathbringer, was released on November 14, 2017.[32]

• Words of Radiance title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Words of Radiance at the Internet Book List