Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, Book #4 of the Stormlight Archive
Introduction
In Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, the war continues between the human forces of the Stormfather and the Voidbringer forces of Odium. The Voidbringers have taken the kingdom of Alethkar, and the humans have retreated to the stronghold of Urithru. Dalinar Kholin leads humans and must decide where he should attack. Their strength is fading, and he must make the right decision or fail, leading to their destruction. Kaladin faces PTSD and must conquer great physical challenges to save them all. Will the forces of the Stormfather succeed or perish?
Summary–Six Viewpoints
There are six main viewpoint characters in this novel, including one viewpoint in flashback. The viewpoints are all about equal in importance. The viewpoints are Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Navani, Venli, and Eshonai.
Summary – Flashbacks
Kaladin’s flashbacks were in Book 1. He suffers from PTSD incurred from the events of the last novel. In this novel, he struggles to heal himself and to protect Urithru. Kaladin is the leader of the Knights Radiant order of Windrunners.
Shallan’s flashbacks were in Book 2. Her struggle is with dealing with her other personalities, which are taking over more and more of her life. She created these personalities to cope with the terrible things that have happened to her in her life. The personality Radiant trains with the Shardblade and is the ideal Knight Radiant. The personality Veil pretends to be worldlier than Shallan and associates with the underground gang called the Ghostbloods. Shallan also has trouble figuring out her relationship with her fiancé, Adolin, who is Dalinar’s elder son. Shallan’s talents are creating illusions and creating items by surgebinding of stormlight. She is a member of the Knights Radiant Order of Lightweavers.
Dalinar’s flashbacks were in Book 3. His flashback chapters in Book 3 detailed why he does not remember his wife and what happened up to the time that he lost his memories. He becomes a Bondsmith (a Knights Radiant Order) and the leader of the humans at Urithru.
The flashbacks for Book 4 come from both Eshonai and Vendi. The flashbacks explain how Eshondi became the leader of the Parshendi war effort and how Vendi learned to use other forms to bring back the Voidbringers. Eshonai is only seen in flashbacks, while Venli has viewpoint chapters in flashbacks and in the current time.
Summary–Voidbringers and Parshmen
The Voidbringers took Kholinar, the Alethi capital. The humans gathered at Urithiru, the former city of the Knights Radiant, send a flying barge to rescue the residents of Hearthstone. Kaladin, Navani, and Dalinar take part in the rescue mission.
The Parshmen are a non-human race that has been the slaves of the humans and have been in a state that is called dull form, which decreases their intelligence. The Alethi have been fighting the Parshendi on the Shattered Plain since the Parshendi had Dalinar’s brother, Alethi King Gavilar, assassinated by the assassin in white. The secret they discover is that the Parshmen are Parshendi in the dull form. Some Parshendi, called the singers, have brought the Everstorm back and have awaked the Parshmen out of dull form. The Everstorm brings the Voidbringers who are called the Fused. The Fused are singers melded with ancient powerful spirits of Parshendi trapped by the Heralds in another plane. The Fused seek to overthrow the humans and retake Roshar as their own. The original Knights Radiant had discovered a secret about the Parshendi and had forsaken their vows.
Summary–Rhythm of War
Kaladin, Dalinar, and Navani take a flying barge to rescue the citizens of Hearthstone. Their homeland, Alethkar, has been taken by the Voidbringers and the only safe place to take the refugees is the ancient city of Urithru.
They send Shallan and Andolin on a special mission to Shadesmar to enlist the aid of the Honorspren.
Dalinar takes the coalition army to Emul to defeat the Voidbringer forces gathered there.
Kaladin and Navani protect Urithru from a Voidbringer attack. Venli is part of the Voidbringer attack but doesn’t have the same goals as the Voidbringers.
Recommendation
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanders is another outstanding book in the Stormlight Archive series. The book expands on the first three books and intensifies the conflict. The reader learns more about how Eshonai became the leader of the Parshendi and how Venli learned new forms which lead to the coming of the Voidbringers. Dalinar becomes a supreme war leader. Kaladin faces his biggest challenges yet. Navani faces an interesting dilemma concerning if you should help your captor if the help you provide could prove your downfall. Shallan deals with her multiple personalities and her relationship with Adolin.
The flashback character for book 5 is for Szeth-son-son-Vallano, and that should prove interesting. Books one to five are a division of the series, and a significant event should occur at the end of the next book. This series continues to amaze me, and I look forward to reading the next book and the following group of five volumes in the coming years.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49021976-rhythm-of-war
My review of Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. In book three of the Stormlight Archive, Dalinar learns the truth of his past through his flashbacks.
My review of Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson, a collection with nine stories that are part of the cosmere universe. Many of the author’s works are interrelated by an overarching plot, which he calls the cosmere. He sets the stories of the cosmere on a group of worlds that can be traveled to by magical means. Six stories are set on the worlds of his published novels, and three stories are about worlds that have not had a novel-length story treatment. All the stories in this collection are excellent.