Rhythm of War
Ratings796
Average rating4.6
3.5/5
La historia sigue siendo fantástica, pero creo que en este libro, Sanderson lo alargó más de lo debido. La Parte 3 tiene tintes de excelencia, pero esas 300 páginas aproximadamente se sintieron como 10.000.
Los flashbacks, aunque interesantes, poblaron demasiado el libro con detalles que ya conocíamos y el estar atados a un solo lugar en la mayoría de esta extensa historia tampoco ayudó mucho.
A partir de la Parte 4 despega nuevamente y la Parte 5...que puedo decir, es la Sanderlancha, pero las falencias mencionadas creo que afectaron bastante lo que pudo haber sido otra obra maestra de Brando Sando.
De todas maneras, a esperar el archivo 5!!
I finally read it !! It's been on my tbr since a while but I can't bring myself to read it. The reason : more than 1200pages (or 28 hours of reading). So it's been read since the beginning of February and been paused by several buddy reading. But I finished it yesterday! And what to say about it? Did I already mention I love Sanderson books ? I f***ING love it ! I cannot say a lot because I don't wanna spoil and, with Sanderson, more we read, more we learn. I love this kind of writing , when we learn about the universe, the world, the magic and the past... And I don't know why I read it because now, I have to wait for the next one to be published... So yeah , thumbs up again for Sanderson
3 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
The world is still at war, with the god Odium seemingly growing in power by the day. Especially when the largely human defending forces lose control of their mysterious secret fortress.
Review
needed
Abhorrent pacing, but the Kaladin chapters are absurdly good and elevate this novel into a worthy sequel
I won't try and recap the story as others do, I could never do it justice. As always, this isn't your OG dragons and spells fantasy epic which is the best part. I felt like the story move forward more in this book than the previous. Can't wait to see how the story evolves and involves the rest of the cosmere.
I AM A SOBBING MESS
Incredible. Slightly slow to start but Kaladins and navanis stories really Pulled me through.
As usually the ending made up for the slowness but it was a struggle to put this book down!
How much more emotional trauma must my heart take ?
We're screwed come book five aren't we.
5 de 5
Una vez más, disfrutando esta historia al máximo. Las referencias del cosmere son bien intensas en este libro, incluida algunas cosas del prologo del archivo 5.
Keeping things generalized to avoid spoilers
This book offered some of the most enthralling plots laid out by Sanderson. While Oathbringer dove into the political world of Roshar, Rhythm of War dove into Roshar itself.
RoW expands on some characters more than a few of the “usual suspects” that you might come to expect, so individuals who love those specific characters from earlier books might find this one a bit lackluster. I enjoyed the new look on these characters, so this wasn't an issue for me.
Along with that, RoW gets pretty technical about the machinations of Roshar – it felt like I was getting as many questions answered as the number of new questions I had, can't wait for book #5!
I finished this book but didn't really enjoy it. The scope has simply gotten out of hand and the plot is too messy. The first 3 books were all pretty good and memorable, but this one wasn't. The main 3 characters at this point have all become repetitive and annoying. I decided to stop reading this series after this book. I'm fact, this book basically put me off of extra large books (600+ pages) completely.
I'm definitely hooked to Cosmere and will wait for the next books with great anticipation.
Maybe even read some other Cosmere books meanwhile...
The penultimate book in a story arc is always a challenging one. Everything needs to be set up for a grand finale so there tends to be a fair amount of character positioning and story prep. Rhythm of War is the 4th book in a 5 book first arc of the Stormlight Archives and has a lot of ground to cover. The main POV character who had previously all be brought together are now scattered apart to fulfill some key tasks. The war which has been going on is not exactly going brilliantly for our heroes - the fused are essentially immortal so a war of attrition is a bad one to be in. These are all challenging positions to tell and keep the reader interested - especially over a 1200 page book! Sanderson is however a master of the epic fantasy genre and holds together all his threads, keeps the reader interested and delivers a mightily impressive take on this, usually the most challenging book in a series.
I don't feel I need to rehash my praise of Sanderson's world building and character work - if you have got this far into such a massive series you should well be aware of it. He is a master of his craft and this is probably the best epic fantasy currently being written. Note: Stormlight Archives need to be read in order. I see too many reviewers of fantasy books starting in the middle of a series and then complaining about being confused. DO NOT START READING THE SERIES WITH THIS BOOK. Do yourself a favour and start from the beginning (The Way of Kings). Epic fantasy needs to be read this way. Sanderson has been clever enough to split his Cosmere into several self contained story arcs, but each arc needs to be taken as a total story and you can't jump in mid arc.
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.
Of all the Stormlight Archive books I think this one felt the most in-tune with its main characters. The progression of the main players Kaladin, Shallan, Navani, Dalinar was absolutely fantastic. But along with some EXCELENT character progression we got so much more information about the world. The last 10% of this book was BONKERS, so many delicious tidbits that makes me super excited for the next edition of the stormlight archive. All in all excellent book in a masterful series.
Another spectacular entry in the Stormlight Archive from Brandon Sanderson although this was probably my least favorite of the four released so far. I was not a big fan of flashbacks with Venli and Eshonai and I would have preferred another character (maybe Navani or Raboniel?). I think some of the other characters took a big back seat in this book that I enjoy specifically, Shallan and Dalinar. I get that they each had their books already but there just was not a whole lot happening to them as characters in this book.
The best thing about this book was the worldbuilding and the Cosmere implications that result from some of the discoveries made by Navani and Raboniel. Another great part of this book is Kaladin's arc who had the best arc of everyone in the book.
I am super pumped for book five which will end this first arc of the Stormlight Archive! While this was my least favorite of the series so far, it was probably necessary to set up a lot of things for book five.
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.
I've really liked this series, but this one clicked more than the others for me. It presents some perspectives that we haven't really seen up until now and there are some fun and interesting character interactions that really drew me in, like Navani and Raboniel. There are still a lot of archetypical hero moments and repeated story beats, but they are well done and fun to read.
I still think these books are way too long for my taste, but this one felt like much less of a slog compared to parts of the last book, Oathbringer. I'm not entirely sure why, it felt to me like chapters were pretty short and switched quite often to almost completely different storylines, so I never felt bored in one place for too long.
I find a lot of the god-tier rules and stakes really confusing though, and I'm not sure if that's on me or if it's because I don't know much about the greater Cosmere beyond this series or if it's intentionally opaque. I can understand the effect of certain things on the characters in this story, but a lot of the details and implications of them are muddled to me.
** Minor Spoilers **
The occupation of the tower is really well done and gives a lot of insight into several different types of characters, and allows interactions that we haven't seen before. Not everything is black and white in the conflict. Also, having Kaladin basically Die Hard-ing throughout the tower was fun.
I like almost all of the main POV characters. Adolin trying to prove himself in a world where his main skills have been rendered nearly obsolete. Shallan's personalities could have been very eye-rolling, but it works as a blunt representation of inner conflict. Dalinar is just a well written character who provides a good path into a lot of the macro-story. Navani teaches us a bit more about how the world works and is a more clinical insight into it. Venli lets us explore a lot of unseen history, allowing us to understand and sympathise with the “enemy”.
** Major Spoilers **
I'm kind of surprised that the three main storylines (Shadesmar / Dalinar at War / The Tower) didn't really converge to a finale. I thought that would bother me, but I kind of liked having them all with their own concerns.
The big fight once again being resolved by swearing a new ideal is a little bit much, but it was enjoyable still. The power creep in this series is getting wild though.
I absolutely enjoyed it, the action scenes are so breathtaking, the story is so rich. I cannot recommend it enough. I can't wait for the next one.
Y llegamos al cuarto tomo y Brandos Sanderson de repente se deja ir y no sé si será hora de irle poniendo un alto o nos quedamos aquí sentados esperando ver hasta donde va a parar. Voto por lo segundo, yo confío, en verdad que sí. Pero si los dos últimos libros del El archivo de las tormentas se me han hecho largos. Sigue teniendo muy buenos finales y muchas revelaciones, que se hace difícil captar todas.
Lo peor del caso es que a pesar de que el libro es más largo que una pandemia, me ha dejado con ganas de que salieran más algunos personajes.