A brief refresher: the Stormlight Archive is set to be Brandon Sanderson’s magnum opus, the grandest and most ambitious of his many, many books within a shared universe called the Cosmere. Against an ancient threat supposedly defeated long ago, the Knights Radiant must rise again to protect the world of Roshar and its inhabitants. There are sentient ideas come to life called spren. There are giant swords that cut stone and sever people’s souls. And of course, there is Stormlight, the magical power source held in gemstones that are renewed by a massive hurricane which has ravaged the world for millennia. It’s a series planned to have ten books, and Rhythm of War is the fourth.
I’ll avoid
specific Rhythm of War plot spoilers for this review, but there will be
plenty about the series so far. SPOILER WARNING from
this point on. There, you’ve been warned.
***
Anyway,
there used to be only one hurricane. Now there’s two; an opposing storm has
arisen which empowers the enemy with the dark magic of Voidlight. It’s
complicated. The nature of these different forms of Light lies at the heart of Rhythm
of War’s storyline, but more time is spent ruminating with the series’ many
broken characters.
THE STORY SO
FAR
These books
have never had the most consistent pacing. The Way of Kings was a slow beginning
which set the stage for conflicts to come. A big part of what kept me
reading was the sheer uniqueness of the setting. A war playing out over a vast
plain of fissures and chasms which require slave-carried bridges to cross, and
the former soldier Kaladin’s struggle to save himself and his fellow slaves
against impossible odds. There were legendary heroes now revered as deities for
fighting an ancient enemy that no one even remembers; once-heroic Knights who
betrayed humanity yet formed the basis for a culture in which eye colour
determines social status; motile plants and giant crustaceans which evolved to
survive the storms. This world was different.
While still
largely set on the Shattered Plains, Words of Radiance pushed the plot
forwards in oh-so-satisfying ways. All the main characters were actually
gathered in one place instead of faffing around on separate quests and only
briefly running into each other. (Looking at you, latter Wheel of Time books.) People
grow and change. Shocking twists occur. Shallan became a much better
heroine compared to the first book. Words of Radiance was truly
brilliant.
Then Oathbringer
took us on a whirlwind tour of very different locales: the grim darkness of the
long-abandoned tower city, Urithiru; the wartorn cities of Kholinar and
Thaylenah; and the strange and fantastical realm of spren, Shadesmar. The third
book zoomed out in scope in order to pack so much into those pages, sometimes
to its detriment. But Dalinar’s backstory tied it all together, the bittersweet
tale of a man in the process of changing. The Blackthorn is absolutely one of
the best characters Sanderson has ever written, apparently the first he ever
wrote. I teared up when he saw the light during the final battle, man. That
doesn’t happen often.
And that brings
us to Rhythm of War, which returns to the slower pacing of The Way of
Kings.
BROKEN
HEROES
The Stormlight
Archive stands out in how the main characters struggle with trauma and mental illness.
Kaladin is crippled by depression. Shallan has split personalities which
allow her to escape her horrific past. Dalinar must confront the harsh truth
that he was a murderous monster for most of his life, responsible for the death
of someone he loved. Watching these broken people overcome their pasts and
become better, truly worthy of being Knights Radiant, is inspiring. But
it’s also frustrating when they continue to struggle with mental health despite
their change in circumstances, even though this is entirely realistic.
This makes
up the bulk of Rhythm of War’s core conflicts. Kaladin and Shallan are
both increasingly lost in their own minds and must confront the traumas that made
them who they are. Navani is raised to a central character as she delves into
the mysteries of Stormlight and Voidlight while fighting her own imposter
syndrome. I was certain this fourth book would focus on Jasnah after she was
crowned queen at the end of Oathbringer. But nope, this time it’s Venli
who gets the flashbacks. Through her we take a closer look at how the war with
the Parshendi first began, even as she walks the dangerous path of serving the
Fused as a Radiant singer.
The book’s more
adventurous plotline follows Shallan and Adolin as they return to Shadesmar on
a mission to convince the honorspren to join the war effort, even though the
long-ago betrayal of the Knights Radiant struck them the hardest and reduced
the vast majority of their numbers to ‘deadeyes’, the spren version of the
walking dead. I liked the growing bond between Adolin and his Shardblade, Maya,
a deadeye herself, along with the increasingly complex interplay between
Shallan and her alternate personas. On the other hand, it feels like the author
gave her and Adolin short shrift with the husband-and-wife aspect of things.
Their wedding happened offscreen, for crying out loud! I don’t know, they’re
still sweet and loving towards one another, and he’s remarkably accepting of
her split-second personality changes. I guess I was expecting their
relationship to evolve once they were married.
Meanwhile, for
all his battle prowess as a Radiant, Kaladin has grown increasingly beaten down
and internally scarred. Rhythm of War puts him situations where he’s
forced to face his past, his depression, and the truth about what holds him
back from achieving the Fourth Ideal. Darkness and the struggle to keep
fighting were major themes for him in The Way of Kings and Rhythm of
War brings them back in spades.
There’s a strong focus on character development in these pages. It's nice to slow down with the characters as they go about the routines of their lives, treating wounds and sketching spren and brushing horses. But what stood out for me was the lack of worldbuilding. Compared to all the unique and interesting locales of earlier books, the settings in this one felt too familiar. Urithiru, Shadesmar, the Shattered Plains, Kholinar, Azir. These are all places we’ve been to before (with some exceptions). Though it is interesting seeing how they’ve changed over time, the settings just don’t feel as groundbreaking as they used to. What happens to our heroes and heroines and yes, villains too, is groundbreaking! Stuff happens, make no mistake. Rhythm of War just takes its sweet time getting there.
It would be remiss of me to leave out the outstanding endpaper portraits of the Heralds and the detailed illustrations throughout the book. The artwork of the Stormlight Archive has always been excellent and it remains so here.
CONCLUSION
Rhythm of War sets up some much larger and more exciting
conflicts down the line. Seriously, Book Five is going to be crazy. But Book
Four, well. This might just be my least favorite Stormlight title so far. That
doesn’t mean it’s bad; none of these books are bad. It’s just outshined
by earlier titles.
Rhythm of
War was fine. But I have a feeling that the fifth book will be a lot better.
