"Rhythm of War" review & reactions
Review
I knew going into this to expect slow, but after I’d heard the same about Words of Radience yet preferred it to Way of Kings, I wasn’t sure if I actually believed it. Unfortunately, this was…slow. The first bit was great, and the last bit was just as incredible as the endings to the first three novels (I cried at least twice), but good god Venli is the most tedious character ever and maybe one of the flashback chapters total had anything remotely interesting in it.
Subtract Venli’s chapters, though, and I loved everything else. There was so much here.
Spoiler Review
“Journey before destination, you bastard.”
Would have been happy for him to die here tbh, but I’ll take blinding him and turning the tide of the battle and retaking the tower. Can’t wait for his eventual death later. I found this wonderful subreddit /r/fuckmoash and subscribed immediately.
I cried when Tien gave Kaladin the carved horse. I cried when Kaladin said the Words. I cried when Kaladin found the horse at the market. Also when Veil got absorbed into Shallan. Also when Navani killed Raboniel.
Yeah, every single one of these Stormlight endings has been incredible.
Really liked that Formless was Shallan. Also that Shallan turned against the Ghostbloods finally, but still got her answers. I’ve started reading reddit threads & wiki pages so I’m really excited about the scope of the Ghostbloods in the cosmere as well.
Enjoyed the Navani experimentation chapters, and that she finally got to come into her own as a scholar.
But goddamn, every single chapter with Venli was just, so, boring to me. I think she is the only non-compelling POV character in this entire series, though Eshonai’s in this book are similarly useless.
Okay, here’s Venli’s character development: In the past, she was selfish and bad because she was doing what an evil spren in her gemheart wanted her to do. Now, in the future, she’s becoming a better person because she’s, uh, doing what a good spren…in her gemheart…wants her to do. Wait, hold on a minute.
This is such a danger with character development being driven by Knights Radiant wanting to advance to higher Ideals - it’s like in The Good Place how Eleanor can’t get any points because her motivations are to get points, not to actually do good. And for literally every single other character (The Lopen in particular, btw), Sanderson handles it SO WELL, but for Venli like…her advancement doesn’t make sense at all? And she just does whatever Timbre says to do? And she makes no decisions on her own? She’s just scared for her own survival and then wants to get back to her mom for selfish reasons?
I guess it’s relatable and more like “ok here’s what a normal, non-hero person might do in these circumstances” but that’s Adin who gets TWO (incredibly adorable) chapters about how he’s a normal person and definitely not a fighter at all and hides from the invasion and then Dabbid pulls him away from the fighting later on.
Anyway, Venli makes literally no progression whatsoever, and these chapters should be from her spren’s point of view instead. Or Rlain who is actually super cool and it’s a crime that we don’t get to see his and Renarin’s friendship from their POV. Or Leshwi who has probably been having super complex emotions this entire time because she probably really doesn’t want to fight and is probably way more interesting than Venli. Or Raboniel, whose motivations included: Finding a way to permanently kill her insane daughter, manipulating Navani into finding her a way to destroy Radiants…but if that failed, then handing over to the enemy a way to kill her own people, keeping a rein on her own people’s political movements, which are probably just as intricate as the Kholins', and making it look to Odium like she’s a perfect servant this entire time.
Screw Venli. What a dumb character.
Anyway, let’s talk about more things I liked because I really did love this book except for the like 25% of it that was stupid Venli chapters.
Taravangian! I said after Oathbringer that his continued opposition of Dalinar didn’t really make sense anymore. Okay, it makes sense now, I’m clearly not smart enough for him. Or ambitious enough. Wow. That was quite a turn. And how dare he steal some of Hoid’s Breaths! But damn that was a cool ending. And terrifying??
Rlain got a spren finally! I’m guessing this was the spren that was sent to maybe bond Mraize and instead is bonding Rlain?
Also the explosion in the lab plus Navani’s sound vibration to make “antimatter light” has made me wonder if what shattered the Shattered Plains was an attempt to turn the land into a giant tuning fork that went terribly, terribly wrong. (In fact, maybe they were trying to kill Odium and instead they killed Honor?? I think some ancient giant failed experiment must be why Leshwi is so scared of Raboniel, because Raboniel honestly seemed incredibly smart, thoughtful, wise, sane, competent, etc…and it’s not like Leshwi seemed the opposite of these qualities.)
I also really want to know why Mraize was so eager to imprison Lift. What was up with that? Like…Ghostbloods bad, got it. But turn against humanity on Roshar bad? Really? What is going on with him/the Ghostbloods?
And of course Maya –
“You. Cannot. Have. My. SACRIFICE!” she shouted. “Mine. My sacrifice. Not yours.” She pointed at the crowd. “Not theirs.” She pointed at Adolin. “Not his. Mine. MY SACRIFICE.”
It was pretty clear for literally the entire Shadesmar journey that Maya was going to convince the Honorspren on Adolin’s behalf, but actually seeing it happen was still amazing. And I was not expecting this manner of convincing, that the spren were equally responsible for the Recreance, though of course it makes total sense! And now I want to know what exactly happened omg
I’ve read a bunch of wiki pages by now, but time to read moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Stormlight 5 when
