Rhythm of War: Book Four of the Stormlight Archive

Is it even possible to give these books less than five stars? Is it even allowed? Every time we are blessed with a new book in the Stormlight Archive, it becomes one of the best books I've ever read. Plain and simple. They're just that fun. They reach those heights, that level of epic.A forewarning, this review will be unfettered praise.I somehow seem to forget just how much I love this series between installments. It's only natural I suppose, to need to immerse yourself in something again to remember just how much it grips you, but still, I seem to forget. It's just such a good story. Every little piece of it. The more we learn the more fun it is, and it is already a massive, interwoven, deliciously complex story. I can't get enough. And so when a new installment appears, I am consumed. Not just in the story itself, but the universe of which it is part. The story, the Coppermind entries, the WoB, all of it. Consumed.Rhythm of War starts extremely strong. The one year time-jump makes catching up to the new norm a very fun experience. Our favorite characters are challenged in new and distinct ways: by forcing them to re-examine what it means to uphold their Oaths, by requiring them to face truths at the risk of losing the love around them, by pushing them to shed doubt in the face of danger, by challenging them to seek freedom when it would be so much easier to give up. In a series known for upping the ante with each new book, this installments still feels fresh; like an important piece of the puzzle, and a natural extension of the story. One gets the sense that Brandon knows exactly what he's doing...And so I was enthralled. Having just finished it, I still am. There's nothing like the last stretch of a Sanderson book. He may be the only author who leaves you with more questions than you had when you began, but I thank him for it. He takes you up to the highest highs, and let's you ponder the future, marinating in the experience. His books are just so cool. And that sounds trite, but it's really not. No other books make me sit back and think "Damn, that is so cool" as often as Sanderson's. It's just a fact. And no they aren't literary masterworks or Pulitzer Prize winners, but the complaints that I used to see--hell, the complaints that I used to have--about his books are hard to apply these days. His skills have grown in noticeable and appreciated ways as things like character development and emotionally charged scenes become a major strong point in his work.I go on and on about Brandon's worldbuilding, everyone does. But there's a damn good reason for that. Because as much as he is growing in other areas, worldbuilding and plotting remain his major strengths. He builds the kinds of worlds that are so interesting you stay up thinking about one little piece of them when you should be sleeping. Roshar--and the greater cosmere in general--is an incredible place to visit, and one that grows more enticing by the page. It is science-fiction flavored fantasy in the same way that something like Dune is fantasy flavored science-fiction. And for someone like me, that's a homerun.No review of this book could even come close to summarizing all my thoughts on it. Installments of the Stormlight Archive are massive, and each one is a lengthy experience. A lot runs through your head during a thousand pages; more than a thousand. Plus, to truly review this book I would need to delve into the most massive of massive spoilers. But I will say this...There is no doubt that the Stormlight Archive is Brandon's best series; he admits this himself. 'Magnum Opus' may be the term thrown around down the line. As such, this is the series where he's really starting to open things up, as far as the greater cosmere is concerned. It’s still on a small enough scale that you don’t have to have any idea what I’m talking about, but the connections are flowing. He is no longer being coy about the existence of other planets, and the ability to travel to and from said planets. It’s right there in the text, and it’s all starting to come out. So what that does is get readers who may have never read any of his books other than Stormlight really excited for the cool things they’ve yet to discover. And it also offers a hugely rewarding reading experience for those who have read the other cosmere books, as we piece things together and notice all the "hidden" gems. The balance Brandon has achieved in this is nothing short of remarkable.I won't pretend his books are for everyone. Sometimes people want something more, and what's more subjective than one's reading material? But if you're looking for a fun world to immerse yourself in, with a master storyteller at the helm, pick up a book by Brandon Sanderson. Maybe I'll see you on the other end of the rabbit hole.

On occasion, there comes a piece of art into the world that comes to refine and redefine its genre. Just as 'Star Wars' came to be emblematic of the space opera and summer blockbuster, and 'Scream' reinvigorated the slasher film, I firmly believe 'Rhythm of War'--and more broadly, the Stormlight Archive as a whole--to be a landmark novel in the genre of modern fantasy, and a novel which everyone should read. At its heart, what sets 'Rhythm of War' apart from other modern fantasy is its relevance, its originality, and its optimism. Not coincidentally, these are three reasons why the novel should be read.In terms of relevance, we live in a world of contention and chaos. Mental health problems are continually on the rise, there is political and cultural turmoil around the globe, and we as a race have yet to deal with the awful specters of racism, poverty, and sexism. While many modern fantasy novels deal with such themes, there is a tendency towards the fantastical--to brush aside reality in favor escapism. Not so with the Stormlight Archive! Amidst the fantasy of epic battles and arcane mysteries of the novels, we are treated to characters who battle realistically with depression, who struggle to reconcile differences of belief and ideals, and who struggle with both external and internal racism and sexism. In 'Rhythm of War', Sanderson is able to effectively create a compelling fantasy narrative that is nonetheless nested in the personal struggles common to all humanity.And what a narrative it is! I will freely admit that Sanderson has certain flaws as a writer, such as an over-reliance on a few favorite 'pet tropes.' Yet, despite his weaknesses, this man EXCELS at crafting unique narratives and settings. Foreshadowing seems to come second nature to the man, but he does it with all the subtlety of a master painter. His world-building is unparalleled amongst his contemporaries, in part because of how well thought out it is. To give you a sense of what this man is capable of, he's invented a set of laws that dictate exactly how all magic in his written universe work. You heard me right--Sanderson invented a set of magical physics for the specific purpose of ensuring his world-building is consistent.Finally, while Sanderson's writing is both relevant and creative, there is something more than this that sets apart 'Rhythm of War' and the Stormlight Archive as a whole. We see in modern fantasy a trend towards the dark and the gritty, evident in series like 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Witcher.' While these shows and novels are not necessarily bad, they create the unfortunate connotation that 'real art' must be dark, fetid, Machiavellian, needlessly violent, and filled with gratuitous sex--in a word, cynical. Furthermore, these series treat the problems of their world as a given, in a way 'giving-in' to their cynicism, admitting that it is a part of life and reality. This is where Sanderson truly shines apart, and why 'Rhythm of War' is so essential for the modern reader. It doesn't shy away from violence, nor from showing that people have great potential for cruelty and villainy. However, despite all of the terrible things that happen in the novel, Sanderon's characters consistently show that just because our world is bad, doesn't mean it cannot become better. Where other novels choose cynicism as a means of coping with the realities of an imperfect world, 'Rhythm of War' opts instead for optimism, and in doing so gives the modern reader a reminder that there is always hope for a better world, provided we are willing to sacrifice for it.In the interest of time, I'm cutting my review here short. In summation: if you are looking for a creative book, that is truly engaging and original, read this! If you are looking for a fantasy novel that is nonetheless relevant to modern life, read this! And finally, if you are sick and tired of seeing pessimism and cynicism dominate the literary landscape, and want something hopeful instead, read this!One final note: yes, the book is long. Over 1000 pages, to be semi-exact. For some, this is a deterrent. Don't sweat it! It reads quite easily, and the series flows very smoothly. May I also point out that you just read this entire review, and I promise you--it's a lot more fun than my writing!

Taking Tolkien out of the equation, as someone who read all of wheel of time and all of the current 5 game of thrones( my with a clash of kings in game of thrones ranking as my favorite), I understand this to be a bold claim.This book is a payout on the investment of the prior 3 books and reveals that no detail no character in the first 3 books was wasted. All of the characters, the events are leading up to something-an epic world, with a story worth re-reading.Warning, this book starts off slow. It took 300 to 400 pages for it to get going. When I arrived at the thought " the pacing is too slow in this one", the narrative takes off and doesn't slow till the end.Brandon Sanderson does such a great job of writing characters as humans, addressing depression, trauma, and dementia in his characters in a human and compassionate way. He ties up almost every lose end in this book whole still keeping the reader invested in what happens next. This book made me consider rereading the first 3 because it points to how the events in the first book continues to have echoes in this expansive rich universe Brandon Sanderson has created.In fantasy, its a book that made me feel all of the emotions, exuberance, despair, sadness, and hope. There's a scene in the book that made me tear up, something I never expected a book would make me do. He treats the characters with amazing tenderness and provides closure to many character arches..If you want action, complex characters, fantasy, and rich story telling, this book has it and this series is for you.

Brando Sando usually nails the stories, keeping them gripping and detailed, but I found this particular novel a bit tedious and predictable. Not so much that it’s going to preclude me from continuing to read but…Spoilers from here:The singers capturing the tower but ultimately not holding the tower because they were able to revive the sister last second just makes me feel like not much happened in these 1100 pages.Of course, things did, but it felt a bit like a filler novel, much of it fluff for fluff’s sake.I’m going to continue but if book 5 gives me a similar feeling, not sure I’ll be keenly waiting around for the next 5.

Well done and full of Wit. I appreciated the storytelling and how so many characters fully developed into their potentials.

I have great respect for Sanderson and his works. I am a big fan of the mistborn series, and WAS a huge fan of the stormlight archive. I am writing this SPOILER-FREE review as a true fan, with the hopes that it is taken as constructive criticism of what not to do on future installments. I will reference a couple of events from previous books.This book is mostly fluff. Very little of it is dedicated to advancing the plot. It creates more questions than answering old ones. It develops a lot of non-essential characters in ways that do not matter. Every paragraph is followed by a long description of the character's interpretation of things, to help us further understand their mind, and mental condition. This book is very dark, and heavy, and if it were not dropped in the middle of a series that I am heavily invested in finishing, I would have stopped reading it.Throughout the previous books, there are highly stimulating payoff moments that occur. Kaladin, fighting off arrows for his bridgemen, him and Adolin dueling against impossible odds, Dalinar hacking his way through seas of enemies, Kaladin's showdown with Amaram, etc. These events help to keep the momentum of the books going, while delivering a major payoff at the end, for fighting through the darkness of the main story. Book 4 lacks this payoff, both intermittently, and at the end.Not only is the story dark, simply due to the awful circumstances that everyone found themselves in for the entirety of the book, but also because of the constant deep delve into their minds, regarding these terrible circumstances. There is no real pay off in the end. Yes, a couple of key events transpire. Yes, the knowledge that those events transpired advances the story, but the way that these events transpired was not stimulating.Shallan and Adolin's story archs felt entirely unnecessary and were not entertaining. Kaladin's story arch was brutal - even worse than his walk through shadesmar in book 3.Lastly, I typically love scientific magic, but this book went too far. In a separate novel that involves wizards and wands, I dislike how magic is gratuitous. Characters can cast as many spells as they like, and there is no rhyme or reason as to why they might be tired, or why one character could best another, or even what limitations there are on a wizard's power. Conversely, my favorite novel, by Patrick Rothfuss does a great job of explaining the sweet simple science behind the magic. Supernatural actions have simple, yet engaging details of how they are done, with rules and limitations that are fun yet easy to understand.Previous installments of the stormlight archive have explained some rules of radiant powers, which are pretty solid in the way they are broken down. However, this installment gets much deeper into fabrial use and stormlight functionality. The book gets incredibly specific in these details, while also walking us through actual trial and error science behind it all, and painting pictures of tons of fantasy tools. The problem is, this is not REAL science, so this book is filling our minds with a bunch of science that will never be relevant to our actual lives. These chapters could have either been cut out, to reduce unnecessary reading fluff, or redirected into meaningful story/character development.In the future, please, less fluff, less deep diving into every single observation, less deep dive into the science, especially less deep dive into the initial wrong interpretation of the science. Let's see more action, more emphasis on the use of the powers that we have poured so many hours into understanding.

I'm reading a lot of negativity around the lack of action in ROW. I think the type of reader you are might influence how you feel about it. This book is about character development through and through, and doesn't really advance the story at all. Honestly the story is at the same place it was after SA3. But you know what, that's ok by me because the character development was so incredible.Now even on the subject of character development I see lots of complaints. People are sick of Shallan dealing with mental illness, or Kaladin dealing with his father. If you want a standard fantasy trope of the "good guy" growing up and beating the "bad guy," I'm not so sure this series is for you. The characters are painted in all sorts of grey shades and have a lot of negatives about them, just like you and me, it makes them feel so much more real. The struggles they go through has put a tear to my eye more than once, and I can't say that about a lot of characters I've come across in any medium! Brandon's attention to detail even extends to the "bad guys," with some really good development and backstory of some, and even the main "bad guy" is painted in shades of grey and has a development arc.Otherwise the writing was superb, but again short on action. The biggest action was at the end, those few chapters were well worth the read, especially because that character development brought those characters so much closer to me. But I get it, on some level Brandon may be falling to the same sickness Robert Jordan had, that of writing books just to milk the series. But if that's the case I really don't care, because I know one day (like with WOT) I will have to say goodbye to these characters forever.If you like SA, especially if you love the characters, don't hesitate to pick up this book. Just appreciate it for what it is, one long character development study with not much action or story progression.

5 stars because I loved it. So here's my ramble.Critiques. Kholins feel too important. Throughout the book it's all about Dalinar, Navani, Renarin, and Adolin. Which is fine, but I feel like there should be others too? Small complaint.I love Kaladins arc in this book, but it almost feels like it went to quickly at the end and his growth kind of happened all in one moment. This could just be me reading it like that, but also I just feel eh. I loved how he focused on PTSD and Mental Health as I struggle with mental health issues and relate to this. Once again Sanderson gives characters anyone can relate to.I LOVED Shallans character arc. She really grows throughout this book. I will not spoil it. But the fact that she does what she does and grows so much, I could seriously feel her pain. While I don't have multipersonality disorder I could FEEL what it's like to have it.Adolin. His growth, but more so his bond and his honor and his owning up to not being the best. Combined with Maya's growth. I just. I think it's beautiful. This combined with how much the honor spren grow and how bad they were to him at first. I really enjoyed this.The HERALDS. AHG why. They are insane, but interesting characters man. I can't wait to see them grow in the future. I really liked Kelek and how he talks with Shallan and even helps her. Ishar is JUST WOW. The way radiants fight...It was so unexpected!!!!NAVANI AND REBONIEL. I can't even. I love this. This connection. This beauty. Science. AHG. Listen. Navani is a scholar and she needs to accept it and I just. I am so excited for her growth in this book because she discovers amazing things and the work and the love. I CAN'T. Reboniel makes me so so sad but also joyous. Her ending is wonderful.Venli and Rlain and Eshonai. She grows so much in this book, as it is her book. Her powered grow. But her relationship to others and her honesty with herself grows. There is so much progression it makes me so happy. This applies to Rlain as well. And the chapter with Eshonai might make you cry.There's so much more to this book, but that's all I can say without spoiling too much. Also, just watch for Taravangian...his progression and SZETH is pretty freaking lit.Okay. Layout. I don't like how Part 2 is basically all in Shadesmar and doesn't show the real world until part 3. It's a weird dynamic of staying with Adolin and Shallan and Navani, and never showing Emul until part 3. Definitely different. Also the flashbacks start in part 3 so I was confused as to who's book this is. I actually. I think this is technically Navani's book, but some people say it is Venli's book...I don't know who is right but that's okay!!

This was an excellent addition to the Stormlight Archive, and I cannot wait for the next!

If you are into Fantasy books, by default, you should read anything Brandon Sanderson writes. He is by far the most productive fantasy book author I’ve ever known so far and easily the best for me.There is a lot that I can tell you about this book as it is heavy in volume and rich in developments & revelations but let me tell you this; it is another solid addition to the flagship series of Sanderson's with a lot more revelation to the magical powers and elements, and how they work in this world.The logic and the dynamics of powers becoming quite interesting and complex, so much so that I had difficulty following on occasions and had to re-read some sections. Author establishes a connection between the powers in this world and the art, mainly rhythms. As I said, it is very interesting, but I do think it is getting a bit complex.The book answers many unanswered questions related to what might have happened in the past. I found Venli's story line especially very revealing, and it tells you all about how the night of the king Gavilar Kholin’s murder came about. In addition, the history of what happened previously in Roshar and a lot more to some of the mysterious characters and the world itself are revealed.The world building was full on in this book, maybe more so than some of the previous books which was good because it really captivates you more when you realize that there is a lot more to discover after three brick heavy books which are more like two books each themselves. There are little nuggets of knowledge as to Roshar being only one of the planets within the Cosmere where author's all other books and series spreads.I think story lines that happened within the tower were more interesting and captivating compared to the others but overall, I enjoyed every aspect of the book very much. I would still put the first and second books ahead of this one, but it is definitely more enjoyable than the third book.There is a huge emphasis on the mental health of the characters, so much so that I thought author must have either studied the subject deeply or he has some sort of training or consultation. Perhaps he or someone close to him were going through similar life struggles at the time, and it had an impact on him. If you had any mental problems in the past, sadness or trauma, then you can be sure that what some of these characters going through (mainly Shallan and Kaladin over completely separate and unrelated story lines) will resonate with you. To be honest, I found it educating and it might really help you if you can connect with the struggles characters having, especially Kaladin.As always, the book has many twists and turns, some really surprising. Typically, as usual with Sanderson’s books, the tempo of the book increases to the end and there are much more happening through the end after all the plot building in the first 60-70% of the book.I don't know what to feel about the big turn that happened in the book through the end which involved Taravangian but I guess we will see in the book 5!I really liked what happened with the one character we all thought died 😊 It was a really good send off. I love all books Sanderson writes and this was no exception.I think Stormlight Archives series becoming so good that it is on a similar level as Wheel of time (where Sanderson also had written the last 3 books) and I would not be surprised if it surpasses it.Knock! Knock! Amazon, maybe you will do a TV series for this one too!!

Uma continuação impecável com um final surpreendente. Brandon Sanderson é mesmo o melhor no que faz!Já quero o próximo!

Der vierte Band der Reihe führt die komplexe Welt von Roshar auf beeindruckende Weise weiter und bringt die Handlungsstränge der Charaktere auf spannende Weise voran. Besonders fasziniert hat mich die Mischung aus tiefgründiger Charakterentwicklung, epischen Schlachten und überraschenden Wendungen. Die Geschichte ist dicht erzählt und belohnt die intensive Aufmerksamkeit, die man als Leser mitbringen muss.Positiv sind die großartige Weltgestaltung, die vielschichtigen Figuren und die erzählerische Komplexität, die das Lesen zu einem fesselnden Erlebnis machen. Negativ ist, dass die Länge und Detailtiefe für manchen Leser überwältigend sein können und Geduld erfordern.Fazit: Ein Meisterwerk der modernen Fantasy, das Fans der Reihe vollends begeistert – 5 Sterne.

Una delle migliori saghe fantasy di tutti i tempi.