The Wulver’s Library‘s Review of Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Finally finished the behemoth that is Rhythm of War and what a deep dive of Cosmere lore it was. I eagerly await every Sanderbook and when they are released i am all in, anti-social mode activated until i finish that last page. There is a lot to unpack in our return to Roshar so let’s get started.
With each instalment, Sanderson shifts perspects to focus on major and minor (so far) characters that give us a larger scope for the saga. RoW is, in my opinion, a female-led story. Our attention is primarily on Navani, Eshonai and Venli with story arcs for the characters we’ve come to know. Sanderson has always had a way of writing strong women and RoW demonstrates the struggle in Rosharan society very well. Always impressive is the sense of balance and symmetry with the violence and action of fights that show important elements in the series but Navani’s chapters paved the way for incredible insights in fabrial technology, research and the efforts of the scholars.
World-building is Sanderson’s forte and RoW is no different. We can always expect more of the same quality and complexity in RoW than previous books and Sanderson really gives a different scope to the magics of the world here. We explore aspects of all the realms in Roshar. Cosmere enthusiasts will be extremely excited to discover the new developments and added connections to the greater universe.
For all the praise I give Sanderson I do have some criticisms. I loved this book but honestly, it hasn’t been my favourite of the series. I never mind the length of SA novels, in fact I anticipate these, but RoW was one where there was a wee slog. I’m not sure if that’s because we have been treated to a high level of writing previously that I perhaps expected more impact but this is the penultimate book of this arc and I felt there was a lot held back in anticipation for something even greater than what we got.
RoW is a fantastic sequel though, worthy of the Cosmere content that we got. I’ll freely admit to being an unabashed fan of Sanderson but this was a colossal volume of emotion and investment that will resonate with Cosmere and SA-only readers alike.
