A review by lostinthelibrary
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Unfortunately, this is my least favourite of the Stormlight Archives books so far. It was always going to be hard to top Words of Radiance but this did fall short for me and for the first time I felt the length of these doorstopper novels. 

Of course, the weakest in a masterpiece series is still very good and there was lots that I really liked here. Some highlights were:
  • Raboniel - This series does heroes really well but the previous books haven't had particularly interesting villains. Raboniel broke this trend - menacing, intelligent and sympathetic I was on edge never knowing what she was going to do and what her motives really were. 
  • Navani - She's always been one of my favourite characters and I am so glad she got her time to shine in this book
  • The scenes in Shadesmar especially
    Maya's testimony
  • The exploration of Kaladin's mental health and his journey to supporting others with theirs
  • The final chapter of the book was just beautiful!

The chapters containing the above were fantastic and gripped me as I know this series can but there was a lot to wade through to get to them. I think it was a mistake to not introduce
Venli's
flashbacks until two thirds into the book. The flashback POV chapters really anchored the previous books and I think their absence in the first third made this book feel a bit more directionless.

I still love this series and have no doubt that the end to its arc in the next book will be masterful. Maybe I will even look back on this book fondly as I am sure it will set events in motion for the finale. But for now I am still a little disappointed. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings