If anyone ever asks me who my favourite author is, I more often than not tell them Brandon Sanderson simply because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by him that I didn’t enjoy.
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Rhythm of War is the fourth and penultimate book in the initial phase of the Stormlight Archive. And, unfortunately, despite still my admiration for his ability to carry such a huge world and cast of characters, there was something about Rhythm of War that didn’t feel quite peak Sanderson for me.
So Rhythm of War picks up right after the events of the previous book, Oathbringer. The world is a dangerous place, the team has established a new base of operations and there’s a new way to travel. However, there’s also a bigger, nastier evil at work looming over everything (to put it very basically).
Rhythm of War once again expands on this world as new science and technology is explored, new places are discovered and secrets about the past and possible future are all revealed (again, trying to summarise a 1,200+ page book here).
Rhythm of War plot – 4.25/5
As mentioned above, Rhythm of War continues on in typical Brandon Sanderson fashion and typical fantasy genre fashion really of taking everything we know from the previous book and expanding upon it, opening up the world more, having our main characters continue on their journeys and find out more about themselves.
Despite its brought scope, ability to expand upon the world and continue on character journeys in a satisfactory way, there’s just something about Rhythm of War that does feel just a little longer than the others, despite the fact it’s not s long as Words of Radiance, the second in the series. There was something about the fact that not a vast deal actually happens that dragged this out a little.
Unlike the previous novels where it felt like every other chapter something absolutely enormous was getting discovered or a massive event was happening, these were few and far between in Rhythm of War and it almost feels like I could have missed a massive part of this book and not felt like I’d missed out on anything crucial.
I still rate it highly as for any book to be over 1,200 pages and to keep my attention, it has to be good – but it definitely didn’t feel as epic and grand as the other books in the series.
Rhythm of War characters – 4.25/5
Once again, this theme seems to carry on with our characters. Unlike the previous books where I simply fell in love with the relationship between two characters or was keen to read the chapters of a certain other character, Rhythm of War didn’t quite have those for me.
Yes Cil is still funny, witty and keeps you entertained throughout and her relationship with the straight-edge, serious Kaladin was enjoyable throughout, but everyone else felt like they were just sort of getting on with their lives and thus not bringing a whole lot to the story.
Navani’s story was the one I was most interested in but this was due to the content of what she was exploring rather than her actual character.
Rhythm of War final rating – 4.25/5
It physically pains me to admit this but I think Rhythm of War might be a bit of a miss from Brandon Sanderson. Usually, you have epic storylines, constant world-breaking reveals and so much more that, despite their great length, makes these books absolutely speed along. However, with some less-than-stellar individual storylines and a severe lack of immensity meant that this, to me, felt like the longest Stormlight Archive book and possibly even just a filler for the final book in the series!
