Rhythm of War: Book Four of the Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson

Nov 2020 · The Stormlight Archive Book 4 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller and a USA Today and Indie Bestseller!

The Stormlight Archive saga continues in Rhythm of War, the eagerly awaited sequel to Brandon Sanderson's #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from an epic fantasy writer at the top of his game.

After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar’s crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.

Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin’s scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
Rhythm of War

The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning

Collection
Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

This book felt like a fan fiction of Lord of the Rings. It was bad and made absolutely no sense whatsoever. There are characters named Kaladin, Adolin and Wit. None of these characters do anything of importance. This is, apparently, a war. Nothing about it is explained and, visually, it makes no sense. It is clear that nothing about this book is clear. There are Shareblades, Voidlights and Shadesmars. None of these elements add up to anything. The only good thing about this is that it is hilarious. The jokes between the characters are extremely funny because of how absurd some of them speak. Otherwise, this book is abysmal, makes little sense, and is pathetically overrated.

Sadly, this is the worst Brandon Sanderson book I've read and I've read almost all of them (and LOVE THEM). I truly hope he isn't turning into Robert Jordan. The first two thirds of this book was unbelievably boring with obvious pandering to gender identity (femalen in a malen body? boooo) as well as a very long . . . slow . . . boring look at mental health and depression. Brandon, we read your books to escape from depression, not be reminded about it by MULTIPLE characters who are all suffering from mental illness. maybe 1 character . . . .for a bit of time. We read books to be told stories that inspire, surprise, excite, terrify . . . .but not depress. Come on, man. In the end, I just don't think that the last third paid off for the over complicated, low plot achieving, mental health drudgery, of the first two thirds. I'm disappointed. Hopefully this is a 1-off experiment. Crossing my fingers.

As someone who has read every book that Sanderson has written, it was almost heartbreaking to see a story that I LOVED fall apart. The first two books in the series were without question the best 1-2 start to any series I've ever read. Book 3 lost itself about halfway through and it didn't recover or right the ship in book 4. The magic that made the series so great has vanished and it hurts me to type that. The focus on "real life issues" (specifically depression, which was to me the main plot of the story, and I just couldn't enjoy the book because if it) just seems out of touch to me, as I read books to escape the real world. I am not minimizing the fact that the issues Brandon wrote about are real issues, just for me personally, I am not reading the stormlight series to experience those topics or to be informed about them. The story breaks the characters so much, you don't really have anyone left to root for. All of that said, I still love his books. Just sad about the series.

About the author

Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. His bestsellers have sold 32 million copies worldwide and include the Mistborn saga; the Stormlight Archive novels; and other novels, including The Rithmatist, Steelheart, and Skyward. He won a Hugo Award for The Emperor's Soul, a novella set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he completed Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time®. Visit his website for behind-the-scenes information on all his books.