Radiance
The eagerly awaited sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Way of Kings. Six years ago, the Assassin in White, a hireling of the inscrutable Parshendi, assassinated the Alethi king on the very night a treaty between men and Parshendi was being celebrated. So began the Vengeance Pact among the highprinces of Alethkar and the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi. Now the Assassin is active again, murdering rulers all over the world, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin’s master has much deeper motives. Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status darkeyes. Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl. Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Radiance
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In an alt twentieth century where the planets are habitable, the silent-film studios have colonized the solar system. Severin Unck, a documentarian, vanishes on Venus, and her father pieces her last film together.
Multiple novels share this title. The most commonly searched is Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (2015), a science fantasy novel set in an alternate solar system where every planet is habitable and silent films are the dominant art form.
Yes. Radiance is structurally experimental, with chapters in the form of newsreels, gossip columns, screenplays, and interview transcripts. The form is intentional and rewards readers who enjoy collage fiction.
Radiance is 1088 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Radiance takes most readers 16 to 24 hours to finish.
Radiance is a standalone novel by an unknown author, not part of a series.
Radiance is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.