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A review by aseaoftomes
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I really really enjoyed this.
This is the fourth installment in the Stormlight Archive, so it's hard to give a summary, but this picks up about a year after the events of Oathbringer and the war is picking up.
The writing in this was really great. I've often talked about the inconsistency in the quality and tightness of Sanderson's writing, but this was one of his strongest works in my opinion. It flowed nicely, the pacing was good and it was very engaging throughout. At times I did find certain portions of the book to be a bit heavy on technical details, which I normally really like, but it just felt like a lot all at once. But overall, really solid writing.
The plot of this was interesting too - lots of political intrigue and different people coming together in unexpected and expected ways and of course there's the thread of a looming and brewing war throughout. Also there were a lot of really great themes throughout as well - things like mental illness and learning and accepting yourself, which I also really enjoyed.
The setting/world building was particularly strong in this one. I always like Sanderson's world, but I really loved it in this book. We got a lot of information about the Cosmere and it's starting to come together, so I really loved getting to see all of that and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
Finally, the characters. As always, there were certain character's arcs I preferred to others. I particularly enjoyed Shallan, Adolin and surprisingly Kaladin in this book. I also really liked Navani's arc as well. We learned so many interesting things about all of them in this book and I'm really excited to see what happens next! (I also love Wit and Jasnah a lot and they might be my favorite characters - but I'm also highly concerned about them both).
All in all, a really great addition to the Stormlight Archive and the overall Cosmere.
This is the fourth installment in the Stormlight Archive, so it's hard to give a summary, but this picks up about a year after the events of Oathbringer and the war is picking up.
The writing in this was really great. I've often talked about the inconsistency in the quality and tightness of Sanderson's writing, but this was one of his strongest works in my opinion. It flowed nicely, the pacing was good and it was very engaging throughout. At times I did find certain portions of the book to be a bit heavy on technical details, which I normally really like, but it just felt like a lot all at once. But overall, really solid writing.
The plot of this was interesting too - lots of political intrigue and different people coming together in unexpected and expected ways and of course there's the thread of a looming and brewing war throughout. Also there were a lot of really great themes throughout as well - things like mental illness and learning and accepting yourself, which I also really enjoyed.
The setting/world building was particularly strong in this one. I always like Sanderson's world, but I really loved it in this book. We got a lot of information about the Cosmere and it's starting to come together, so I really loved getting to see all of that and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
Finally, the characters. As always, there were certain character's arcs I preferred to others. I particularly enjoyed Shallan, Adolin and surprisingly Kaladin in this book. I also really liked Navani's arc as well. We learned so many interesting things about all of them in this book and I'm really excited to see what happens next! (I also love Wit and Jasnah a lot and they might be my favorite characters - but I'm also highly concerned about them both).
All in all, a really great addition to the Stormlight Archive and the overall Cosmere.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence