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The Stormlight Archive

book series · in 18 sources (2018–2021)

Includes: The Way of Kings, Oathbringer · Within: Kaladin, Dalinar

Sources by year: 2018: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2021: 10

Also known as: Stormlight

Threads

Also named in the threads: Ali says he might start a book review series on the fantasy books he has read (2018) · Ali learns to draw concept art (2021)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Brandon Sanderson (20) · Mistborn (11) · journey before destination (8) · The Wheel of Time (5) · Audible (5) · Harry Potter (book series) (3) · Game of Thrones (2) · Ryan Holiday (2) · AirPods (2) · Instagram (3)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2021

  • 2021-01-03 · The Most PRODUCTIVE Thing I Do Each Year — announcement: Ali's SMART goal: by the end of 2021 he will have illustrated a scene from The Wheel of Time, Mistborn or The Stormlight Archive and uploaded a speed painting of it to YouTube, maybe as a Short, and Instagram. — 00:13:42
  • 2021-01-06 · My PRODUCTIVE Bucket List (2021) — Ali: Item five: Ali really wants to learn to draw like a concept artist and to illustrate favourite scenes from fantasy books such as Mistborn, Harry Potter, The Stormlight Archive and The Name of the Wind. — 00:12:46
    • Ali's SMART goal for drawing: by the end of 2021 he will have created one illustration of a fantasy scene and uploaded it as a time-lapse to YouTube or Instagram. — 00:13:16
  • 2021-01-20 · A RIDICULOUSLY Productive Day in my Life — Ali: At 8 a.m. Ali has a Zoom art lesson with his teacher Alessandro, practising human anatomy in Procreate on the iPad, towards his 2021 goal of becoming decent at concept art to illustrate scenes from his favourite fantasy books. — 00:00:29
  • 2021-01-24 · My Favourite iPad Productivity Apps — Ali's dream for his concept art is to illustrate a scene from Mistborn, such as Kelsier riding the winds, or from The Stormlight Archive, such as Kaladin holding his spear, which needs skill at drawing people. — 00:09:52
  • 2021-02-26 · Brandon Sanderson on Writing, Storytelling and Fantasy Books — Ali's years follow Sanderson audiobooks: Mistborn in his final year of medical school (2017–18), Stormlight Archive books one to three on his walks to work as a first-year doctor, then The Wheel of Time on his hour's drive in his second year. — 00:05:19
    • Brandon Sanderson: Other publishers avoid releasing in the same week as a Stormlight Archive book, so it is hard for Brandon Sanderson not to hit number one in fiction. — 01:14:34
  • 2021-08-04 · The Greatest Enemy of Success - Ego is the Enemy — recommendation: Ali: Following Brandon Sanderson's "journey before destination" from The Stormlight Archive, Ali says the more we think about the journey and the less we fixate on the destination, the more we combat ego and the likelier a happy, fulfilled life. — 00:13:36
  • 2021-08-08 · Dating, Regrets and Boxing - 2 Million Subscriber Q&A — Ali: The quote that has stuck with Ali is the First Ideal of the Knights Radiant from Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive: life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. — 00:21:18
  • 2021-08-18 · 10 Rules I Follow Everyday — Ali's ninth rule is journey before destination, a quote from Brandon Sanderson's series The Stormlight Archive that he says he always talks about. — 00:09:09
  • …and 1 statement more in 2021 — all statements of 2021

Also named in: How to Beat Procrastination

2020

  • 2020-03-30 · Improve your Reading + My New Favourite Pen — Ali: After the Kingkiller Chronicles, Ali took about a whole year to get through the first three books of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, listening from 2018 to mid- or late 2019. (hedged) — 00:10:55
    • Ali and other fans are anxiously awaiting the fourth Stormlight Archive book, which he thinks should come out in November 2020. (hedged) — 00:10:55
    • Ali thinks his order was a good one: Mistborn is a good gateway drug into fantasy, long but high-impact, while the Stormlight Archive is very long and can be slow, so a background in fantasy helps you get through it. — 00:11:18
    • If you have not yet started on fantasy audiobooks, Ali says do yourself a favour and go in this order: Mistborn, then the Kingkiller Chronicles, then the Stormlight Archive, then The Wheel of Time. — 00:13:17
    • Ali calls the Stormlight Archive an absolute masterpiece of really long climaxes; he still gets tears in his eyes thinking of the end of book one and what happens with Kaladin and Dalinar. — 00:15:15
    • When he reached the end of the first Stormlight Archive book, Ali, just home from the gym, sat on his sofa for about four hours until three in the morning listening to it. — 00:15:42
  • 2020-09-29 · How to See Problems as Opportunities (The Obstacle is the Way) — Ali calls "journey before destination", an ideal of the Knights Radiant in Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive, focusing on the process rather than the outcome, one of the fundamental pieces of life advice that all self-help converges on. — 00:03:10
  • 2020-12-22 · PRODUCTIVE Day in the Life of an Aspiring Gymshark Athlete — Ali: Over breakfast Ali listens to book four of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive on Audible. — 00:01:27
  • 2020-12-28 (said on 2020-12-15, implied) · How Much Money I Earn as a Doctor + YouTuber — Ali keeps in mind "journey before destination" from Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive: if you enjoy the journey, everything becomes fantastic because you are having fun doing the thing. — 00:17:45

2019

  • 2019-06-20 · My Favourite Fantasy Books — recommendation: Ali recommends three fantasy series he discovered last year (2018) and loved: Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn, Patrick Rothfuss's The Kingkiller Chronicles and Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive. — 00:00:00
    • Ali has listened to The Stormlight Archive only on Audible, starting around September 2018 he thinks, to savour it; each book takes about 50 hours, and the physical books are huge. (hedged) — 00:09:37
    • The main reason Ali now listens to the Stormlight Archive books only on Audible is that it encourages him to go to the gym. — 00:10:35
    • After The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, Ali is now listening to Oathbringer, the third Stormlight Archive book; Brandon Sanderson is writing the fourth and fifth. — 00:13:34
    • Ali says another five Stormlight Archive books will come out over the next 20 years or so, so a reader starting now has 20 years of entertainment ahead, because Brandon Sanderson will deliver. — 00:13:34

2018

  • 2018-08-30 · Monthly Favourites #6 - Ali Abdaal — Ali: The audiobook of The Way of Kings, the first book of The Stormlight Archive, took Ali an hour or two to get into; now he is completely addicted and listens to it skateboarding to work or driving. — 00:05:34
    • Ali suggests starting Brandon Sanderson with Mistborn, which is very readable, since The Stormlight Archive is denser and, like Game of Thrones, introduces many characters. — 00:06:03
    • Ali might start a book review series on his channel about The Stormlight Archive and the other fantasy books he has read, and asks viewers to say in the comments if they would be interested. (hedged) — 00:06:33
  • 2018-11-01 · My Favourite iPhone XS Apps — recommendation: Ali is listening to Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, the second book of The Stormlight Archive, and recommends it. — 00:12:32
  • 2018-12-08 · Ask Doctor Ali - 100k subscribers Q&A — Ali found the gym hard until he set up a system that made it enjoyable: a workout decided in advance so he does no thinking, and an audiobook, these days Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer. — 00:08:03
    • Ali's top three reads of 2018, enjoyed equally: Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles and Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. — 00:13:03