The Stormlight Archive: Rhythm of War by: Brandon Sanderson

 

The Stormlight Archive kept itself fairly divided between three plotlines throughout the first three installments, but Brandon Sanderson always intended the series to be split into two arcs of five installments each.  Rhythm of War is the penultimate installment in the first arc of the series and as of writing this review, the final installment of the first arc has yet to be released and is currently being written.  This means this review lacks whatever context the final installment of the first arc will leave readers, which is integral as while Rhythm of War is a novel that has a beginning, middle, and an ending it is also a book that keeps the main thrust of this first sequence at the point of tension.  Oathbringer ended with Odium and his terms for a duel facing Dalinar and his forces, while Rhythm of War ends with the selection of champions.  In a lesser author’s hands this could verily easily make this book feel like a complete waste of time, especially when Dalinar’s perspective is actually the least seen perspective in Rhythm of War, the book being more concerned with exploring Shadesmar, the origin of the spren, and an invasion of Urithiru by the Singers.  These are the main thrusts of the novel, however, as these are much larger in scope than previous installments, despite those previous installments being just as long as Rhythm of War, so Sanderson continues what makes The Stormlight Archive great and focuses in on a handful of characters for different points of view.  The different characters add different flavor, keeping Dalinar off-page is also a fascinating choice as his decision for champion and Odium setting a date for their contest is something hanging over the head of the entire novel.

 

In Dalinar’s place, Navani Kholin gets quite a large portion of the action, being reintroduced as inventing several fabrials and devices including a Final Fantasy style airship powered by stormlight and several of the modern technologies.  Sanderson draws on history for Navani’s plot in the book, acting as queen and driving her people through the occupation by the singers, led by Raboniel.  Navani’s self-sufficiency and her own scheming is what guides her, beginning her plotline in the prologue, recounting the night of Gavilar Kholin’s murder from Navani’s perspective.  There is this genuine sense that the relationship between Navani and Gavilar to this point had been incredibly strained, Navani clearly not being okay with the many secrets her husband had been keeping and her own interests in technology.  Her reaction to his dead body is one of Sanderson’s more emotional moments, the entirety of Rhythm of War having a theme of reacting to the deaths of others and dealing with loss and failure.  It is especially poignant knowing the novel ends with uncertainty, that nobody knows who, if anyone, will or can be saved.  Navani and her scientific inquiry makes several advances, but much of her struggle is convincing a spren, the Sibling, to form a bond with her under the extreme circumstances.  Sanderson lays out the ideas of scientific inquiry also leading to vast destruction, Navani discovering the opposite of the several aspects of light.  There are several discussions of Navani investigating Investature under Raboniel, until the moment which she discovers the opposite of stormlight and its ability to destroy a spren completely.  This creates the possibility of the death of Radiants and spren alike, making killing an immortal being possible.  This is something that several parties would want, but Navani’s reaction to this only leads to one of her darker moments at the climax of the novel where she overcomes Raboniel.

 

The singers and the spren both get a considerable amount of time devoted to them, Venli on the singer’s side of things being our main point of view outside of Navani.  Venli was not the original candidate for the flashback sequence of Rhythm of War, Sanderson intending Eshonai to be the primary flashback sequence, but as often can happen when writing plans had to be adjusted and the flashbacks were split between the sisters.  Eshonai’s development was something the reader could already understand through reading The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, while Rhythm of War is concerned largely with Venli becoming disillusioned with the Singers and tether war.  Her chapters in the present day are the most fascinating as Sanderson is allowed to write a truly alien cultural point of view, yet still managing to create humanity in the Singers so that the reader can truly understand the post-colonization issues that have arisen.  While defeating Odium has become the primary goal, finding a peace with the Singers and undoing the slavery and oppression of the natives of Roshar is something that hadn’t actually been done by the humans on Roshar.

 

Making amends for the horrors of the past are also the main thrust of Adolin’s plotline in Shadesmar throughout the book.  While the Shadesmar sequence is used to flesh out the spren, it is also a very personal story for Adolin as he has a place to find himself, not becoming a Radiant yet still having his great worth.  Much of his plot is being put on trial for the sins of the Knights Radiant of the past who killed their spren by breaking their bonds.  His Shardblade, Maya, a deadeye is a character in her own right, although she is a character who does not speak or show signs of sentient functioning yet is clearly and vibrantly alive.  Adolin has to unravel the mystery of what exactly happened when the bonds were broken as the deadeye spren clearly have lives and the potential for sentience, perhaps Maya even has created a bond with Adolin.  His trickery is also fascinating as he attempts to use the spren’s laws against them in Shadesmar, the trial being presided over by an actual Herald in Kalak.  The entire sequence also has larger Cosmere connections, Rhythm of War clearly setting its eyes on a larger scope than just Roshar, if only for brief moments.

 

The main thesis of Rhythm of War lies, however, in the character arcs for Shallan and Kaladin, both characters who have to learn to accept the fact that they both will fail at times, though in very different ways.  Shallan spends the novel in Shadesmar with Adolin and company, having come to a balance with Veil and Radiant, until it becomes clear that Mraize and the Ghostbloods have slipped a traitor among their ranks.  There is this added pressure that builds throughout the first third of Rhythm of War for Shallan and when it comes to a head she goes within herself, frightened by the emergence of a potential fourth persona.  Veil and Radiant taking over for Shallan is fascinating as here more so than in Oathbringer does Sanderson make these two stand alone as characters in their own right (there were sensitivity readers and advisors on the representation of dissociative identity disorder for this book, more than previous books), both equipped with their strengths and weaknesses though not able to guide themselves and others through Shadesmar without Shallan there.  Shallan retreating into herself is also never permanent, Adolin being the most obvious person to draw her out occasionally and provide support, but it must be Shallan who alters her plans and allows things to fail.  She is tasked with capturing Kalak’s soul to become a full Ghostblood, something she is hesitant to do for many reasons, but her ability to fail and change is integral to her character arc.  It fully mirrors Kaladin who also is suffering from his own mental health issues, having his command taken from him due to his declining mental health.  It is directly tied to his inability to speak the Fourth Ideal, something revealed at the climax of the novel for Kaladin to be “I accept that there will be those I cannot protect!”  This is the thesis statement of Rhythm of War, Kaladin only being able to reach the conclusion after spending time once again as a surgeon, losing the respect of his father for being a soldier again, and finally confronting Tien’s death from way back in The Way of Kings.  Kaladin combining his knowledge of a soldier with his knowledge of surgery also adds to the theme of advancement, helping to deal with some of the fallen soldiers’ post traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation.  It’s also clear that Kaladin is not the champion for Dalinar against Odium, will not forgive Moash for his betrayal and reconciles with his own family, something done beautifully.

 

Overall, Rhythm of War is a novel that is more splintered and unresolved than any previous installment in The Stormlight Archive, but it is one with some of the most important events of the sequence as everything is putt in place for what will be the final book published at the end of 2024.  It is the most thematically deep installment thus far and the strongest overall as Sanderson excels at furthering the characters, keeping one of the previous main characters off-page for much of the novel without you knowing it.  There are also several heartbreaking but incredibly satisfying permanent character deaths that resonate with other characters’ arcs, and some of Wit’s best knowledge to lead our characters to where they need to be (The Dog and the Dragon is a fascinating look at Sanderson’s view of art and outlook on life).  10/10.