Rhythm of War

Whew! What an emotional roller coaster! And SO MUCH happened. I think I'll need a while to process it all. Once again though, Brandon Sanderson proves why he is my favourite author. The world-building and magic system continues to amaze, but it is his characters and the messages he infuses into his books that keep me coming back and have made me so attached to his books, but most specifically this series. Kaladin continues to be my favourite character and his revelation at the end of this volume had me ugly crying for a good LONG time. It's both a heartbreaking moment and also has so much heart to it. I connect with Kaladin SO much and find my own solace in his revelations that make me relate it to my own experiences and life and I think that's truly what makes Sanderson's writing, although it is essentially fantasy, a cut above so many others I have read. In a recent talk Sanderson admitted he wanted his writing to bring people hope and give them a positive outlook and I love that about his books. It's not fluffy or unrealistic or easy, but it is laced with encouragement to try, to be better to keep going despite mistakes and short-comings and pain and sins to realize you have the choice to change, to at least TRY to be better, to ‘take the next step'. And it fills me with encouragement to do the same every time I read these books. I won't go into details about all that happens in this volume here, if you've made it this far in the series, just know that this is another absolutely worthy addition to it and well worth the invested time to read it. It's intricate, imaginative, emotional and continues to be one of the best series out there in the fantasy genre.