Rhythm of War Book Review
“The best and truest duty of a person is to add to the world. To create, and not destroy.”
And just like that, I’ve finished this epic series—or at least I’m currently up to date! I decided on a whim and with the encouragement of my husband, to begin The Stormlight Archive series in February. Other than A Song of Ice and Fire, this was the longest series I’ve ever attempted, with each book coming in at over 1,000 pages. As I’ve said in previous book reviews, I am not daunted by long books, in fact, I quite love them. I love being completely immersed in a book and wow, I wasn’t totally prepared for just how immersive The Stormlight Archive series truly is. From the mind bending world building, to the fully fleshed out characters and creatures, to the science behind fabrials, light, sound, and metals, to the complexity of human emotions. Brandon Sanderson is, by far, the most creative writer I have ever encountered. His ability to create a world so vast and complex full of fantastical creatures is mind boggling and unlike any other.
With all of that being said, if you haven’t read Rhythm of War, book four in The Stormlight Archive series and are planning to, stop reading now and come back once you have. This review will contain spoilers. You have been warned, airsick lowlanders.
“Smiling because, for how bad everything could be, some things were still good.”
To begin, I loved this book. It is easily up there vying for favorite with book two, Words of Radiance. This book felt like a return to more of a character driven novel rather than the strategic politicalness of book three, Oathbringer. There was quite a bit of action around the 40% mark that felt very similar to ‘end of book’ action and I wondered how Sanderson would fill in the rest of the novel, but he certainly didn’t have any issues with it! This book felt very steady with only a few areas that felt like a slog. Sanderson’s combination of character development and plot kept me engaged and wanting to turn the pages the whole way through, which is a bit of a contrast to how I felt about Oathbringer.
“‘You can bear it,’ Veil whispered. She stepped forward, eye-to-eye with Shallan. ‘You can remember it. Our weakness doesn’t make us weak. Our weakness makes us strong. For we had to carry it all these years.’”
There are so many things I loved about this book! I loved how Navani was a main character here and how we learned just how intelligent she truly is, despite her very real Imposter Syndrome. While sometimes difficult to read, I enjoyed learning about the science behind fabrials and the many different types of light. One of the most interesting parts for me was Navani and Rabionel’s relationship and how they worked together under uncomfortable circumstances yet developed a friendship and bond that ultimately saved each other in the end. I loved being back in the mind of Kaladin and how we got to see him at his lowest. Sanderson does an incredible job displaying Kaladin’s depression and the inadequacies he feels at protecting those he loves. I love how much is revealed in this book! We get so many answers to things we’ve been waiting on. I won’t reveal any of those things to you here, but the questions I find that keep piling up at the end of every novel, are starting to dwindle. I still have questions at the end of Rhythm of War, but they are more along the lines of “what’s going to happen,” rather than, “what does that mean.”
As is with all of the books in this series, the last 20% felt like a sprint towards the finish that I didn’t want to put down! There were so many things happening that I find myself randomly remembering something important that I completely forgot about!
As with the others, this book made me laugh out loud, made me cry, and surprised me in ways I didn’t see coming. I enjoyed every moment of this book, even the few parts that lagged, and will miss being in Roshar with some of my very favorite characters of all time (hello Syl and Lift!) I am anxiously awaiting the fifth book in the series, set to arrive sometimes in 2023 and my husband and I are already talking about who will finish it first.
“Was humankind worth fighting for?”
Since I’m all caught up on this series, I wanted to give you some overall feelings I have about the series as a whole:
This book feels like a study of humanity. On one hand, Sanderson does an incredible job with human emotions (see point below). On the other hand, I felt that a major theme in these books was that our world doesn’t just revolve around humans. For us, of course it does because, hi, we’re human. But there are so many other aspects to our world; plants, animals, spiritual, and emotional energies and I think Sanderson demonstrates this concept well in The Stormlight Archive. Without saying any major spoilers here, humans are not what the world truly revolves around. The world, our Earth or Sanderson’s Roshar, is a rich and lively place that revolves with or without humans there to witness it.
The way Sanderson talks about mental illness in this series is incredible. No matter who you are or what you struggle with, I find it very easy to discover a character in this series that you can relate to. Every character feels so flesh and bone real with true emotions that mirror our own. I love how Sanderson doesn’t shy away from talking about how human’s feel inadequate and broken. Not only does he talk about these very real emotions, he provides hope and encouragement throughout the books.
Maybe an unpopular/spicy opinion but, I really dislike Shallan as a character (don’t @ me). I love how Sanderson portrays her with her multiple personas. I think this is a genius way to not only explore the human mind and how we cope with past traumas, but a great way to introduce different complex characters. I personally really like Shallan’s other personas so much more than her, but maybe that’s the point?
I enjoy reading about the Spren and Voidbringers/Singers and love contemplating what they represent in our world. One of my absolute favorite details of this series is how Spren react to humans and how they are physical beings that pop up when humans experience an emotion. I think assigning physicality to emotions is genius. Insert awespren here.
My favorite characters are Syl and Lift. This shows the type of reader I am. I’m always here for the side characters and I find that a well developed novel is one that has rich side characters. These two characters are *chef’s kiss* perfect.
I love Wit and how he uses stories to connect and build hope and provide comfort to Kaladin and Shallan. The Girl Who Looked Up is still my absolute favorite part in the series so far.
Here are links to my reviews of other books in this series:
