Rhythm of War

After a really slow start, Rhythm of War came together really well, did some new things that were refreshing, and makes me feel curious and optimistic for the concluding book #5.

Pros:
For the first three books, it was fairly easy to group people into “the good guys” and “the bad guys.” Some people had rough pasts, or were traitors, but the audience was generally aware of that and characters didn't really transition between groups. In this book, however, you have an unexpected burst of “gray” characters. The new Taravangian, Raboniel, Venli, and even the Honorspren are all a great introduction to the plot, since you're never certain what might happen with their motives and loyalties.

It could have been a little gimmicky, but returning to the same pivotal incident in multiple different flashbacks over the series from different perspectives has been a great development. And as a reader, you now know sooo much more than you did in the series preface, so it all fits together in your mind much better.

I thought the mental health stuff was going to be gimmicky, but I actually thought it felt authentic to the characters and thoughtful. Of course that kind of thing would happen to Shallan and Kaladin, and it's nice to see them “break script” from what has been expected of their characters since book 1. That's also true for Adolin, whose time without a sword was really good for both him and the reader.

Sanderson has always handled information/misinformation really well, sometimes hiding knowledge from the reader, or certain characters, or both (thinking back to Mistborn's great twists). There's a good dose of that here, and the story is stronger for it.


Cons:

SOOOOOOOO long. I get that Sanderson can write quickly, which is great, but I think this book would have been improved significantly if he cut out 80-100 pages before the halfway point. There's a really good plot development around the 50% mark which carries the rest of the story on a quick pace, but it took me weeks to get there.