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greylotus4 's review for:
Rhythm of War
by Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson continues to be one of my favorite authors of fantasy, however this book is probably the worst of the Stormlight Archives.
A lot of things happened between the release of this book and when I ultimately finished it. The biggest one being the birth of my second child which has taken up a significant amount of my time. I can't, however, wholly blame her for how slow my reading was for this book. My biggest issue is how boring some of the moments are.
At this point, the plot to the Stormlight Archives is too complex to succinctly sum up. The Knights Radiant are attempting to fight back the Singers and stuff happens is about the best that can be described. Unfortunately, the stuff that happens in this book is a lot of build up with not a lot of payoff. I get that this is the penultimate chapter for the first half of this series, and therefore needs to get the loose ends all in a place to be tied up by the last novel, but there is a lot of posturing in this book that doesn't lead anywhere yet.
The biggest draw back to the story comes to the focus character. Venli/Eshonai, singers/parshendi, are the main story and get the back story flashbacks in this book. This is the biggest disappointment in the entire franchise. The developments provided aren't noteworthy, don't contribute to the overall plot in a meaningful way, and are a chore to read through. The biggest missed opportunity was not having Navani be the primary person in this story. She has just as much page time as Venli does and her story is so much more important in the moment than Venli. Venli may be important in the next book, but even still, what was explained about her backstory could have been summed up much easier in smaller bits instead of having an entire book dedicated to her.
This is a lot of negative, but they are really big negatives. I still loved the book and will continue to read the series. Some moments in this book are so emotional and I loved how they played out. are all incredible moments and have their just emotional weight. The series does continue to impress me.
I'm only hard on the faults because of how good this series can be and is, but I just would love it to be just a little bit more. That said, the book is great and deserves to be on every Fantasy lovers shelf.
4/5
A lot of things happened between the release of this book and when I ultimately finished it. The biggest one being the birth of my second child which has taken up a significant amount of my time. I can't, however, wholly blame her for how slow my reading was for this book. My biggest issue is how boring some of the moments are.
At this point, the plot to the Stormlight Archives is too complex to succinctly sum up. The Knights Radiant are attempting to fight back the Singers and stuff happens is about the best that can be described. Unfortunately, the stuff that happens in this book is a lot of build up with not a lot of payoff. I get that this is the penultimate chapter for the first half of this series, and therefore needs to get the loose ends all in a place to be tied up by the last novel, but there is a lot of posturing in this book that doesn't lead anywhere yet.
The biggest draw back to the story comes to the focus character. Venli/Eshonai, singers/parshendi, are the main story and get the back story flashbacks in this book. This is the biggest disappointment in the entire franchise. The developments provided aren't noteworthy, don't contribute to the overall plot in a meaningful way, and are a chore to read through. The biggest missed opportunity was not having Navani be the primary person in this story. She has just as much page time as Venli does and her story is so much more important in the moment than Venli. Venli may be important in the next book, but even still, what was explained about her backstory could have been summed up much easier in smaller bits instead of having an entire book dedicated to her.
This is a lot of negative, but they are really big negatives. I still loved the book and will continue to read the series. Some moments in this book are so emotional and I loved how they played out.
Spoiler
The situation with Maya saving Adolin in the trial, Kaladin saying the fourth ideal, Taravangian slaying Odium just to become Odium, Teft's death, and Shallan finding out she killed a sprenI'm only hard on the faults because of how good this series can be and is, but I just would love it to be just a little bit more. That said, the book is great and deserves to be on every Fantasy lovers shelf.
4/5