By – Brandon Sanderson
Rhythm of war so this is kind of the big boy of fantasy this year. The amount of hype surrounding this and Sanderson himself has been pretty extreme, with the kickstarter and don jard these things just dropping right and left it’s extraordinary. Rhythm of war itself has stood on top of that mountain of hype as a pillar for fans to look to. It’s almost even like the people who aren’t Sanderson fans end up talking about this there’s just this gravitational pull within the community. Did it live up to the hype? Is it worth it? Let’s get into the Review of this behemoth of the book.
The stormlight archive is probably the largest epic fantasy series currently being written in its main timeline, there’s other things like malazan still having entries come in but this in terms of its ongoing massive epic fantasy is the biggest. Way of Kings was a smash success and it’s only gotten bigger from there, telling the story of Roshar, a kingdom that is at war with the parshindi a people who are a fantasy race.
The fourth book focuses on the cast of characters we have come to know and love. Their growth development and experience as they are trying to uncover what exactly these existential threats they’re facing are while also dealing with just war at their doorstep. I would say the biggest question surrounding this specific book for fans is if there is still gas in the tank to complete this first leg of the story because it has been confirmed from Sanderson himself that the stormlight archive planned to be 10 Books is going to be split into two equal parts five and five.
This is the second last entry for that first leg it’s building up to. Whatever the end of this first bit is going to be, it does that and i would say it’s largely the focus while also providing a decent amount of catharsis within the self-contained story happening here this book does a very good job of grabbing many of the plot lines of course leading up to this entire series. while also having self-contained motivations and resolutions within these pages and that latter bit is actually where the bulk of my criticisms for rhythm of war come from.
This book in the broad picture of the stormlight archive is doing exactly what it needs to in my opinion but in terms of being a completely enjoyable read on its own. A book that you can have that complete feeling with that’s where it’s going to leave some readers kind of wondering. I also found in terms of character to be the least amount of character growth we’ve seen as a whole from the series yet, while there are also new characters brought into the spotlight.
People who are here mostly for experiencing the extraordinary landscape Brandon is painting. This might be the book that makes them the most happy. rhythm of war also does a spectacular job of really painting things even to the higher levels giving us a better feeling for the bigger threats.
There were many elements that I loved in Rhythm of War. I always adore reading about Bridge Four, we get to know more about members such as Dabbid and Rlain which was excellent. Travelling to Shadesmar again was great, as Adolin and Shallan venture to the honorspren capital of Lasting Integrity. (I don’t consider this to be a spoiler as it is mentioned in the summary section) Also, finding out more about Adolin’s “sword” was one of my favourite sections. This time, we are given further insight into some of the main Fused players such as Raboniel, the Pursuer, and Leshwi which added to the story greatly.
This book has twists starting in the beginning in the earliest chapters and has the satisfying result of entangling the entire Cosmere. I was thrilled to see pieces coming together that I hoped to see bring answers. Sanderson has done it again, and I already can’t wait for book 5.
