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mushrocolpse's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
samueldhall's review against another edition
4.0
I have once again just finished re-reading Rhythm of War and holy moly what a mammoth book.
Watch my complete review here - https://youtu.be/2ZFEneTJ4rA
Trigger warning * there are issues with suicide and various mental health struggles depicted throughout this book that may cause some people issues.
Let’s jump into what I loved about this book because I want to spend more time discussing what I didn’t like, or what I know other people will really dislike.
Production value of this book is next level, it’s the kind of thing you’d expect from some other authors 10th anniversary and special editions. The chapter headings, spren illustrations, and maps all add to the visual appeal of this book.
The way Sanderson deals with mental health like no other novel - PTSD, chronic depression, dissociative disorder, autism and more.
Dabbid and Rlain as characters are fleshed out to a degree that you can’t help but care for them and they are in my opinion, two of the strongest character arcs in this book.
I want to make a point here that this is a Sanderson novel, a stormlight novel, and so while I’ll be talking about negative points mainly, it’s still a bloody fantastic book and the SL is still my favourite series of all time. Sanderson has just set a really high bar for himself and i’m being nit picky.
The things I found passable but didn’t like or dislike
The first time I read this novel I found the singers flashbacks with venli and her sister to be a drag, but on this read I found them to be more interesting because I wasn’t racing to the end to find out if our favourite characters survived and thrived. I’ll be honest though, I still don’t really care for them. I think Sanderson has a gigantic job trying to get us to care about so many different characters in the 5 books (era 1), and I’m not sure if he’s bitten off a bit more than he can chew or if down the line we’ll see all of these pay off.
Kaladin and Shallan. Gosh, what a mixed bag here. There were some mind blowing amazing moments for these characters but we also get a lot of the same same and I can empathise with people who feel that has grown old, and at the same time I can fully empathise with Sanderson who is trying to give mental health a respectful representation and not just fix their problems with magic. I still love Kaladin and his character so I don’t mind his parts, but I do find Shallan a challenge. To be honest, Shallan could slip into things I dislike, and I can openly say she’s my least favourite main character.
The things I disliked or things I think other people will really really dislike.
This book is so intricately science based, or as Sanderson describes it, hard magic. It's so heavy that Navani’s chapters were a slog for me to get through. There are some chapters that I had flashbacks of sitting through hours upon hours of university textbooks, light, sound waves and other scientifically heavy subjects. It’s the weakest part of the book for me. It feels a little bit like Sanderson is just using scholars to info dump some theoretical concepts.
Now I’m not necessarily saying this won’t pay off, or that there isn’t a reason for this. The prologue in way of kings is essentially a bit of an info dump but Sanderson has explained why he thought it was necessary and I agree with that, so hopefully this is on the same level. But I did, and I can understand why others will read this book and just be like wow, the pacing was so slow, and so scientific based, and I didn’t like it.
One of my other dislikes of this book, is how constrained it feels because it mostly takes place in one place. After how open the world had begun to feel with the oath gates, it almost feels suffocated taking place in one major location again.
Overall thoughts - This book is definitely my least favourite Stormlight Archive book so far. But that doesn’t make it a bad book at all. What I want to point out though, is that I believe a lot of this comes down to the book needing to carry a very large portion of the character development we need for book 5. I believe book 5 will be so fast paced that we needed this book for the character development and relevant information.
Watch my complete review here - https://youtu.be/2ZFEneTJ4rA
Trigger warning * there are issues with suicide and various mental health struggles depicted throughout this book that may cause some people issues.
Let’s jump into what I loved about this book because I want to spend more time discussing what I didn’t like, or what I know other people will really dislike.
Production value of this book is next level, it’s the kind of thing you’d expect from some other authors 10th anniversary and special editions. The chapter headings, spren illustrations, and maps all add to the visual appeal of this book.
The way Sanderson deals with mental health like no other novel - PTSD, chronic depression, dissociative disorder, autism and more.
Dabbid and Rlain as characters are fleshed out to a degree that you can’t help but care for them and they are in my opinion, two of the strongest character arcs in this book.
I want to make a point here that this is a Sanderson novel, a stormlight novel, and so while I’ll be talking about negative points mainly, it’s still a bloody fantastic book and the SL is still my favourite series of all time. Sanderson has just set a really high bar for himself and i’m being nit picky.
The things I found passable but didn’t like or dislike
The first time I read this novel I found the singers flashbacks with venli and her sister to be a drag, but on this read I found them to be more interesting because I wasn’t racing to the end to find out if our favourite characters survived and thrived. I’ll be honest though, I still don’t really care for them. I think Sanderson has a gigantic job trying to get us to care about so many different characters in the 5 books (era 1), and I’m not sure if he’s bitten off a bit more than he can chew or if down the line we’ll see all of these pay off.
Kaladin and Shallan. Gosh, what a mixed bag here. There were some mind blowing amazing moments for these characters but we also get a lot of the same same and I can empathise with people who feel that has grown old, and at the same time I can fully empathise with Sanderson who is trying to give mental health a respectful representation and not just fix their problems with magic. I still love Kaladin and his character so I don’t mind his parts, but I do find Shallan a challenge. To be honest, Shallan could slip into things I dislike, and I can openly say she’s my least favourite main character.
The things I disliked or things I think other people will really really dislike.
This book is so intricately science based, or as Sanderson describes it, hard magic. It's so heavy that Navani’s chapters were a slog for me to get through. There are some chapters that I had flashbacks of sitting through hours upon hours of university textbooks, light, sound waves and other scientifically heavy subjects. It’s the weakest part of the book for me. It feels a little bit like Sanderson is just using scholars to info dump some theoretical concepts.
Now I’m not necessarily saying this won’t pay off, or that there isn’t a reason for this. The prologue in way of kings is essentially a bit of an info dump but Sanderson has explained why he thought it was necessary and I agree with that, so hopefully this is on the same level. But I did, and I can understand why others will read this book and just be like wow, the pacing was so slow, and so scientific based, and I didn’t like it.
One of my other dislikes of this book, is how constrained it feels because it mostly takes place in one place. After how open the world had begun to feel with the oath gates, it almost feels suffocated taking place in one major location again.
Overall thoughts - This book is definitely my least favourite Stormlight Archive book so far. But that doesn’t make it a bad book at all. What I want to point out though, is that I believe a lot of this comes down to the book needing to carry a very large portion of the character development we need for book 5. I believe book 5 will be so fast paced that we needed this book for the character development and relevant information.
grasswald's review against another edition
4.25
Brilliant but so long. Like so so long. A Sanderson ending always hits though.
th_written_off's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
johngerman_o's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
allnee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
theliterarysewist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It may have taken me 65 days (yes! Sixty-Five!) to finish this beast, but I loved every minute of it. I find myself looking forward to specific characters arcs and annoyed having to read the less interesting ones which made some parts harder to get through. I know it’s important so I don’t skip or anything though. I’m constantly blown away by the little details and subthreads that appear throughout these novels. Such brilliant storytelling!
jocelyntaylor1's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0