Rhythm of War
Ratings798
Average rating4.6
Umm WTF was that ending?! What the hell happened in the last part? So much chaos
I have so much to say, but at the same time, I don't want to say much... This book was INCREDIBLE!!! Brandon set the bar really high for the next book, and for that he worked masterfully the plots in this one. Besides, I appreciate the effort he made with the characters mental illnesses. The depictions were accurate, and I can't be more thankful for their journeys because they were like my own. Now I'd like to sleep until the next book, thank you very much.
I'll probably revisit this series sometime, but I think Sanderson's writing style just got to me after reading a lot of his books in quick succession. His characters are still good, his prose is very accessible, and I really respect his focus on representation. However, I tapped out at the 4th straight book of “... and ANOTHER secret in _____'s past!!” like come on.
Contains spoilers
Omg I loved this book! Especially chapter 12 I want a novella with Kaladin and Adonlin adventures cannon or not.
But that ending I did not see it coming with odium. And the epilogue left me curious what Hoid is up to.
Book 4 of the stormlight series. It was definitely solid, but my least favorite of the bunch so far. Part 1/2 of this book felt like just a do-over of the first book with shallan collapsing again mentally and then going on another healing journey which i found to be rather repetitive especially given how much progress she had made in the previous books. I get thats kinda the point that healing isnt always a linear journey but still fell a little flat for me. That might be due to the pace of the first third of the book which was rather slow and a lot of nothing happened. Once they set out for the shadesmar journey though things got interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed Adolin and Mayas revelations throughout the trial by the honorspren and we continue to learn more and more fascinating things about this world and its history. Venli also had a very compelling journey of her own as did Rlain. I LOVE the fact that Rlain turns down an offered honorspren since that only serves to reiterate the way he is viewed by the world (pitied/outcasted/etc) and he fully deserves what he ends up getting in the end. Speaking of which my boy Brandon sticks to his guns and man does he know how to write an ending!! Kaladin doing kaladin things but finally learning how to accept the grief of friends who have died was so amazing. Taravangian stealing odiums power and then taking Wits memories so he doesnt realize what happened to rayse sets up an incredible mystery that i cant wait to see picked apart in the bext book. Im also glad they didnt force kaladin into the champion role as i think that would have been a bit of a cop out. Very curious to see the resukts of this contract and how a much smarter taravangian will wriggle his way out of it. My guess is that the nightwatcher will end up spilling the beans on what happened to him as he goes out of control with the power he suddenly now holds but we shall see. cannot wait to start the fifth and final one of this part!!
Probably the weakest book in the series so far. Even the concept of having Kaladin perform a Die Hard tribute in the endless backrooms of Urithiru isn’t enough to save the middle portion from being absolutely mud water to wade through.
best stormlight book by far! focuses on a small scale siege scenario and sprinkles a little courtroom drama into the mix.
love how much time is devoted to both kaladin and navani while all the other less interesting characters are pretty much resigned solely to supporting roles this time around. it was really appreciated after the previous few books felt too wide in scope and had too many story arcs to keep track of - meant it was seldom that anything actually connected or left a lasting emotional impact.
so many moments in this book truly truly wrecked me and i'm thankful the story made space for them. my biggest issue with this series boils down to the fact that the story has gotten so huge and epic and i'm glad this one went back to a bit of single location intrigue filled with all the political backstabbing i've been missing since the way of kings.
3.5 stars.... Personally my least fav stormlight book so far but honestly still enjoyable - I know what ppl say when they claim it's getting way too bloated. BOOK 5 HYPE!!!
3.5 stars.... Personally my least fav stormlight book so far but honestly still enjoyable - I know what ppl say when they claim it's getting way too bloated. BOOK 5 HYPE!!!
“Our weakness doesn't make us weak. Our weakness makes us strong. For we had to carry it all these years.”
This book did a lot of heavy lifting to set things up for book five. Due to the amount of balancing, it feels less balanced compared to the others. Still very enjoyable nonetheless. I loved how much focus previous side characters got in this and that did a lot for the pacing.
genuinely life changing. That’s really all there is to say about it. Each of the character’s stories spoke so deeply to me that there were a lot of times I had to put it down and just digest it all. It felt like my own stories but in this back drop of a crazy amazing detailed fantasy world. Also definitely my favorite of this series so far.
Shallan's chapters were insufferable and made it hard to invest in the first two parts. My interest picked up in part 3 when she was no longer one of the main characters
4.5. It so fun.
Noticeably less cohesive than the previous installments but I still had a lot of fun reading it because I've become so invested in these characters. I can imagine hating this series if I hadn't connected to any of the characters lol.
I keep thinking that Brandon Sanderson is toothless when handling the Stormlight Archive, but I still scream whenever something bad happens to a character I like so I guess I'm glad he lacks the teeth to actually bite them to pieces (I'm looking at you, Fitz and the Fool Trilogy). The day he kills one of them off I think I may abandon the series but thankfully the next book is still in the works so I have a blessed break from the worry.
Anyway, it's fun. I had a lot of fun reading it and that's my primary area of focus when it comes to the books I read.
10/10 book
10/10 Graphical Audio adaption
This feels like watching Oppenheimer tbh
This is the best Stormlight book yet in revealing the mysteries and explaining the lore.
4.50/5.00“Journey before Destination, you bastard!”
These words sum up the message of this book perfectly. Rhythm of War, is surprisingly, an underrated entry in The Stromlight Archive. This book focuses on Woldbuilding in such an intricate way, that I can finally place the magic system in SA in the same pedestal as the WoT. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the character development and the amazing sanderlanche ending. Although, I will repeat my criticism of how the “sanderlanche” is not always needed. Some of the plotlines could have reached the end before part 5, without taking anything away from this book. The weakest part of this book is the backstory, which is very uninteresting and did not add much to the plot, and failed spectacularly to develop the character that it was trying to. But Sanderson makes up with other plotlines and worldbuilding which is as excellent as I expect SA to be.
Life before death!
"I accept that there will be those I cannot protect"!Plot -> Kaladin, yes! Navani, hell yes! Raboniel, hell fucking yaas! Taravangian yay! Adolin and Shallan, okayyyyy. Venli, duh. The flashbacks hurt this book more than anything. The plot is excellent otherwise. i enjoyed Kaladin's journey, Navani and Raboniel's plotline is nothing short of the best of fantasy worldbuilding. Worldbuilding -> Amazing! Voidlight, lifelight, Warlight, Towerlight.. what else do I need to say? Its freaking amazing 10/10 rare.Characters -> Raboniel! NAVANIIIIIII! YAAASS. I love it. Kaladin is excellent as usual. Shallan is okay, but Venli was just boring. Prose -> Same as before, my complaints about the POV jumping is not as bad as book 3. I still don't like how all plotlines were delayed until the end, but it is better than book 3. Emotional Impact -> I absolutely loved this book. It has some boring moments with Venli flashback, and Shallan's story was resolved too quickly after wasting so much time with nonsense in Shadesmar. And all the cosmere connections is so fun!
Amazing ending, unfortunately a bit of a slog in the middle. The weakest of the for stormlight books so far, still an amazing read though
This book dragged a lot compared to the rest of the series :( I found myself getting bored for pages and pages and I think the ending did not pay off this time. I hope book 5 is as good as books 1 and 2 were.
On a more general note, I'd like to note that I'm getting more and more annoyed by the direction Brandon Sanderson's writing is taking. I really don't like his sense of humour and I can't stand characters like Wit (Hoid) or Wayne. I think I really hated Tress of the Emerald Sea precisely because of Hoid. Also, I have always been annoyed at the way he changed Matt's character in the Wheel of Time, making him much more of a clown :(
There goes Brandon Sanderson again, saving me tons of money in therapy.
I love where this book went and the characters it brought to the forefront. I love how it broke them all down and built them up again. I love how much the world expanded. I love how the author broke my heart. I love how he united them (if you know you know). I love the shock it delivered at the end and the worry it sparked in me.
I love this book. I can't wait to re-read it!
