Words of Radiance vs Wrath of Empire: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Magic, Fiction
Words of Radiance
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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…
Wrath of Empire
“Orz stood at the bottom of a narrow flight of steps, head tilted toward the light streaming in from the open hatch above him.”
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As war rages, both sides are in a race to find the one thing that could turn the tides to their favor--a stone with the power to turn humans into gods--in the second book of Brian McClellan's epic fantasy tale of magic…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Words of Radiance highest: Words of Radiance 4.8 · Wrath of Empire 4.5.
- Wrath of Empire is the quickest read — about 12 hours vs 20 for Words of Radiance.
- Words of Radiance has the widest readership — 527911 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Words of Radiance | Wrath of Empire | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.8 (527911) | — |
| Hardcover | 4.7 (3) | 4.5 (130) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (4) | — |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (8455) | 4.5 (362) |
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Reception
| Words of Radiance | Wrath of Empire | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 527911 | 362 |
| Editions | 23 | 4 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 171247 | — |
| Reading it now | 27142 | — |
| Written reviews | 37238 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 7794 | 197 |
| Pages | 1088 | 680 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Words of Radiance or Wrath of Empire?
Words of Radiance has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Words of Radiance 4.8/5, Wrath of Empire 4.5/5).
Which is shorter to read: Words of Radiance or Wrath of Empire?
Wrath of Empire is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Wrath of Empire (680 pages, ≈ 12 h 36 m); Words of Radiance (1088 pages, ≈ 20 h 09 m).
Which is harder to read: Words of Radiance or Wrath of Empire?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Words of Radiance: Moderate; Wrath of Empire: Moderate.