Rhythm of War Part One

Description

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. Brandon Sanderson's The Cosmere 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 Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker Arcanum Unbounded Review: Too much filler and drags on - Maybe I’ve just read too many of his books but there is way too much filler and then the culmination is rushed and forced. The characters are getting on my nerves a bit. They are obnoxious and entitled and I want to strangle them now. And they don’t change! And somehow it all works out miraculously for the “good guys” with some nonsensical changes of heart, etc. Getting a bit unbelievable. Review: Excellent addition to this epic saga - This book forms the first half of the fourth volume in Sanderson’s exemplary saga, ‘The Stormlight Archive’. If you’ve read the previous volumes (and there is no point reading this if you haven’t), then you will know exactly what to expect. With exhilarating action sequences, gripping developments and intriguing reveals concerning historic events, ‘Rhythm of War’ is just as enthralling as the books in the series that preceded it. Although the necessity of splitting each volume into two physical books is understandable due to their size, it isn’t ideal for the story. However, the structure of ‘The Stormlight Archive’ novels, with its sections and dividing interludes, does negate some of the adverse effects in that there are plenty of natural divides. ‘Rhythm of War’, perhaps, lends itself a little better to the split than its predecessors. The end of part two, although not an out-and-out cliff-hangar, certainly occurs at a gripping point. The previous book, ‘Oathbringer’, suffered a little from being a bit Kaladin light. After he was probably the lead character in the first two books/volumes, he was side-lined somewhat in favour of progressing the personal stories/journeys of some of the other characters and their development, particularly Dalinor. Kaladin is, maybe, the main focus once more in this first half of ‘Rhythm of War’. Suffering from sort of PTSD he becomes estranged from those around him and assumes a bit of a different role that allows for his character to be developed further in different directions. It is a shame, though, that his relationship with Lyn isn’t covered, it taking place between ‘Oathbringer’ and ‘Rhythm of War’ and, not as yet, featuring in any bonus short story or novella that are common for the author to produce. As expected, ‘Rhythm of War’ continues to follow all the usual cast of characters, but there is definitely a greater emphasis on the followers of Odium and more is revealed about the hierarchy of the Fused. Two new powerful and influential Fused are introduced with Raboniel and the Pursuer. They are two very different characters but are both threatening presences in their individual ways. The ongoing storyline benefits from having some ‘bad guys’ come to prominence. Some of the novel also comes from the perspective of Venli. With her own agenda and her questioning of following Odium this provides an alternative point of view of the ongoing conflict. The novel explores her past, as well as her sister’s, and bit of the background to the war between humans and Parshendi on the Shattered Plains. Although this is the fourth book, there are plenty of new elements introduced in this first part. These include more hinted references to the greater Cosmere, the universe in which the bulk of the author’s novels seem to take place. As such there is plenty to satisfy fans of the series and this first part successfully sets things up for a promising second half.