/lit/ - Literature

>>20892630
Rhythm of War, The Stormlight Archive #4 - Brandon Sanderson (2020)

Rhythm of War is ok. Its greatest weakness to me isn't its length, but how it chooses to spend its narrative. None of the plotlines were engaging or interesting and a lot of it really felt like completely drawn out filler. When a certain event happened, I thought to myself, "Oh, so they're going to do cat and mouse scenes for the next several hundreds of pages" and so it was. There was so much that felt like it happened because it was required for the plot to advance in a certain way rather than as organic progression. It's quite probable that it was all intentional to build up towards catharsis, so that after reading it for so long, there's a sense of release. I don't know if that was intentional with the first book, but it felt like that this book was built around that rather than it being a natural part of the story's structure. Personally, I would prefer if it were more evenly distributed. I have no doubt that the next book will solidify a lot of what I think about The Stormlight Archive.

Maybe in the next book the characters will have new developmental arcs, but I'm not not expecting it. Kaladin especially with his relapses, but I suppose that's to be expected with his condition. Then there's Shallan's Past of Many Happenings, which I'm assuming in next book will all come together and provide some needed power increase at a critical moment. I think the narrative overly emphasizes in a reductive way that the greatest insights come from the darkest times. There's been a lot more about the Parshendi than I would've expected from the first book and I don't care for it. If it were done better, then I think it would be a worthwhile inclusion, but as it is, it's a not particularly meaningful mirror. I know that Sanderson has had a Semitic naming scheme for certain characters, which I still don't understand his intention, but he really has fully committed to it with this latest addition. It confuses me in relation to their Earthen counterparts. Is it a coincidence that combining their name with another results in Superman's name? Probably.

I've seen a lot of about how this book includes more and more and more stuff from the other Cosmere series, but aside from the epigraphs and a few trivial other details, I think that's an overstatement. Most of what's presented was already introduced in previous books. I don't really see that changing with the fifth and final book of this arc either. Maybe there'll be more integration with the second arc, because as it is I still don't see the Cosmere as much more than a marketing scheme. I don't know if there will ever be a full crossover. Also, Easter Eggs are overrated. I think far too many become excessively agitated about how much they believe that they're missing out on, or even feel coerced into reading more than they want to in pursuit of a mostly illusory full experience.

Rating: 3/5