Rhythm of War: Book Four of The Stormlight Archive (The Stormlight Archive, 4)
An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller and a USA Today and Indie Bestseller!
The Stormlight Archive saga continues in Rhythm of War, the eagerly awaited sequel to Brandon Sanderson's #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from an epic fantasy writer at the top of his game.
After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar’s crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.
Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin’s scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.
At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.
Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
Rhythm of War
The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
Collection
Arcanum Unbounded
Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent
The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Reviews (204)
Sad
Journey before destination. A key thing in the series thus far and it makes me sad that Sanderson did not take that to heart in writing this book. The end being really good does not make up for the meat of the book being disjointed and not fun. It is not a bad book in the grand scheme of things, but it IS a bad book in comparison to the other Archive books. The vast majority of characters we see repeat themes from the previous books. Mental health is a major thing in this book both to its credit and detriment. I understand it is a constant struggle for many people but I feel as though that very constant struggle hurts the book. There just seemed to be very little progress in the book. It would be one thing if it was at least fun to read but that was not really the case. It more depressing and dark than previous books especially adding in the mental health bits. The flow of the story was constantly interrupted, mainly by flashbacks. Flashbacks that added nothing into the story of any relevance. This was easily my favorite series that I was reading, I looked forward to each release. In the previous books I found myself reading constantly with as few interruptions as I could. This book was not like that. With this one I found myself putting it down to do other things, especially when one of the aforementioned flashback chapters came up. This book combined with Sanderson saying he plans on this being a 10 book series divided into two 5 books parts leaves me sad, disappointed and worried going forward.
mental health guide...
I'm about 50% of the way through the book, so far i'm really not enjoying the split personality disorder and how much it feels like the word count has been expanded to account for these long irritating inner debates. .
Do yourself a favor a just read the last 85% ...
Almost everything that made this series amazing in the first 2 books has been whittled away to mere sidenotes. The downward spiral started in book 3 and bottoms out with this book. You can read the first 100 pages and the last 100 pages and get every important point of the book without having to struggle through constant, boring, repetitive "whimpering in fear BECAUSE OF ALL MY TRAUMA!!!" and psychotherapy 101 plotlines. There is also really no sense of risk for any of the major characters; one or two side characters always get offed but you always know there are no real stakes for any of the others. None of the other radiant classes are developed at all. These books were 10x better when it was warriors with massive magical blades in almost indestructible magical-powered super-armor just fighting in huge battles and sometimes duelling. Go back to that, please.
Dragged down by weak supporting characters. Lots of skimming.
I wrote another review, but wanted to be a bit more concise. * I love Brandon Sanderson stories, but RoW falls into the same trap as many fantasy series that drag on past 3 books. * I'd only recommend this book to those readers who are very Invested in The Cosmere. It basically has The Architect scene from The Matrix strung out through much of the book. * Shallan, Navani and Venli are interesting characters. Wit's always good and I could've read more chapters about The Mink. Dalinar and Jasnah are just kind of there. Lift is awesome, but she's lost in the shuffle. Lirin (Kaladin) and Adolin drag down the entire book. * RoW should've been the first book in a new trilogy. As book #4 in the Archive, it's about 400-600 pages too long. Sanderson should have just included Dawnshard if he needed 1200 pages for publication. Additional Notes: 1. Lirin drags down all the Kaladin chapters and eventually the entire book. His character is so flat that it's nearly impossible to read his and Kaladin's chapters. Point made after 2 chapters. Time to move on. 2. Adolin drags down all of Shallan's chapters. The whining gets incredibly old after a very short period of time. Got the gist 2 books ago. 3. The interludes aren't needed. They're either a PoV for a character in the main story arc (should've been a chapter) or too short to add anything to the world. For example, I-8 adds very little and that's a stretch unless you've read Dawnshard. 4. It feels like there are too many facts not in evidence. I've read the 6 Mistborn books, Unbounded and Dawnshard. I still feel like I had to buy and read Warbreaker about mid way through reading RoW. Didn't help, which wasn't a great feeling. RoW would be especially confusing without Unbounded and coppermind.net (fair warning, coppermind has many RoW spoilers in addition to other useful information. The best books are the ones you can reread and still enjoy after knowing everything though).
Loved It!!! (Spoiler Free)
It’s like Stormlight and the Cosmere are taking an important turn....and it is well-worth the ride! This book is packed with action from the very start and answers questions we began asking in Way of Kings. Navani’s POV is a wonderful inclusion. The development of many third-tier characters also shows the way the series will progress as newer characters come into the spotlight. I laughed. I cried. I was on the edge of my seat. Worth the wait and excited for the next volume!
Very angsty
I didn't know what to expect but I was really looking forward to this book since this is one of the best series out right now but all I got out of this is frustration. It almost reads like a self help book about how every character feels sorry for themselves. I can understand since I served 5 years in the USMC and I have my dark days too but the characters go on large monologues that turn into tangents with hardly any action. It hard to take some of the angst to heart because at the end of the day most are good looking people with phenomenal skills. I understand that being good looking or being good at something doesn't stop depression or other mental illnesses but as a person who really suffers from depression and doesn't go a day without thinking of the people I have seen die it is aggravating to read. It comes off as preachy and I assumed we were moving forward with the Radiants. I assumed they were going to finally become stronger but they actually deteriorate with their loathing. They haven't become stronger, they have become weaker. I was extremely disappointed with Kaladin's role in this book. In a lot of ways I can relate to him but the thing I liked most about him was that he was the man I always inspired to be while I was in the military. I know Sanderson wanted to make him realistic but all it did was make my depression worse. Kaladin has his moments but they hardly outshine the rest. Kaladin was at his worst in this book and I have lost most of my inspiration and faith in him. This leads me to Kaladin's father-Lirin. He's a typical anti war persona and at times I can find people like that admirable but he just comes off as a bootlicker with no standards willing to bow to anyone as long as there is no fighting. Then again he is the father who let his sons get stomped on and sent to war without much bickering, so I honestly shouldn't expect much from him. I wouldn't be surprised if Lirin would not make a fuss if his wife was taken by some noble. Shallan is interesting and I like her but her tangents went on far too long in this book. I'm actually shocked none of the beta readers took a step back to address some of the useless monologues she had and tried to cut it down. Adolin was the most interesting character in this book and I could go on about it but I don't want to spoil anything. I'm on the fence about continuing this series. What a shame
Every Series Has A Lull
To avoid spoilers I will say that this book does an incredible amount of work setting up for the arc finale, but like all things penultimate leaves a little to be desired. Unlike the previous entries, most of what is happening in RoW is internalized conflict while the world itself carries on mostly unaffected. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though I feel like it should be a much shorter book. Instead, it is the largest entry with the least amount of progression. There are some other issues with this book, namely characters rehashing demons most readers would have long assumed were laid to rest. There isn't much to say in way of plot that isn't a spoiler, so I will leave it at that. The lack of progress and meandering aside, the book ends in typical Sanderson fashion with all the threads coming together wonderfully and leaving the reader ready for more. While it is the lowest point in Stormlight so far, it still stands incredibly tall on the shoulders of its predecessors, while setting the stage for a conclusion that is sure to leave readers shocked.
Beautiful book
Just starting book four and I’m hooked again, Sanderson’s writing is fantastic. The book itself is well thought out and detailed with some beautiful illustrations throughout, colored pictures on the insides of the cover and even the inside of the jacket is a colored map of the entire world. This is better than illustrated editions I have purchased, and this doesn’t claim to be one.
Sloppy and Unfinished.
I love the Stormlight series but this felt like it was written by someone else. Gone are the poetry and the clever quips. This is just a set of notes stretched out to meet a word quota. Incoherent run on sentences and abrupt storytelling make a series of events, not a story. Many authors try to stretch a great story into 10 books. The middle books always suffer for it but are at least worth reading to re-experience the world and characters. This "book" doesn't even feel like it has the same characters in it. I didn't laugh or cry.
Too long for what it really is
The main plot is very simple. But the book is far too long and filled with needless stories and side plots. In the end the author tries to find spiritual depth but it fell like he is missing the main essence of it all.
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