Rhythm of War

Hello friends,

Wishing you a happy new year! I know that I had committed last summer to post more, but last year was a transition period for me during which I was able to rejuvenate myself. During that time, I managed to read a few books about which I will be summarizing in this and the next few posts. The book I want to talk about in this post is the rhythm of war by Brandon Sanderson, which is the fourth book in the stormlight archive series. The book  follows various characters, including Kaladin, a former slave and now a radiant with powerful abilities; Shallan, a skilled artist and scholar dealing with her fractured identity; and Dalinar, a high prince and leader of the Alethi, facing political challenges and internal struggles. The book highlights how Dalinar comes into terms with his newfound power as a Bondsmith, while balancing his duties as a general. Shallan meanwhile undergoes drastic transformation while travelling to visit the honorspren stronghold with Adolin. She grapples with personal issues, such as trauma, identity crises, and the consequences of her past actions and begins to accept that she is not responsible for those actions. The readers also get more details about Shadesmar and the way spren operate in this unique alternate reality.

Rhythm of war focuses more on the dynamics of characters about whom the readers did not know much from the previous books. Adolin gets a major arc in which he is tasked with convincing the honorspren to join the Radiants coalition against the fused. He risks imprisonment if he is unable to convince the honorspren to join the cause. The trial arc casts into light the transformation of Adolin from a pampered prince to a leader. The endearing bond between him and his sword (Deadeye named Maya) is also tested and the readers will be pleasantly surprised when reading that arc. We also learn more about the mysterious Wit including details about his origins, his connection to the war, and his dynamic with Jasnah, now the Alethi queen. Speaking of Alethi, their hideout Urithiru is under threat of a complete invasion by the fused led by Raboniel. The Urithiru invasion arc becomes a turning point for many characters including Kaladin, Navani, Rlain, Dabbid, Venli and Kaladin's dad Lirin. Kaladin has to cast aside his trauma and fight to save Urithiru from being captured. We see Kaladin undergo a massive transformation by the end of the arc and convince his father that Kaladin was doing the right thing all along. Lirin who was reluctant from the start that Kaladin had made a mistake by joining the army slowly understands and accepts Kaladin's point of view with the help of Kaladin's mother. Credit must be given to the fused named Pursuer and Moash who make Kaladin's life a hell, which leads to the drastic change in Kaladin's radiant powers and the readers will feel that both Moash and Pursuer get deserved punishment in the end. Dabbid and Rlain play a very important role in rehabilitating Kaladin and rescuing the Radiants from disaster.

Venli becomes a central character in this book and we get to know a lot about her past including how she decided to become a Fused and why she started disliking her sister Eshonai. The readers also get to understand what caused the fight between Alethi and the singers and who was behind the war. Venli longs for a reunion with her kin (singers) and secretly plots an escape from the current conflict to join them, while harbouring a radiant spren. Speaking of spren, the actions of Navani to save the spren of the Urithiru tower takes centre stage in this book. As the acting queen of Urithiru, she has to work with Raboniel - who wants to control the tower by corrupting the tower spren -  to save the tower. Together, Navani and Raboniel do various experiments to find a new light source that is sure to take centre stage in the next instalment of this series. The Navani arc will make the readers wait with anticipation about the methods she will employ to save the tower from falling into the enemy's hands. The readers will understand the meaning of trust between enemies, betrayal, and friendship in this arc through the eyes of Raboniel and Navani. The readers will be taken by utter surprise regarding the fate that befalls Taravangian, the conniving king, who acquires a power well beyond his reach and capability, which poses a danger to all of Roshar with deadly consequences. In all, Rhythm of War is a very interesting book that will enthral the readers with sudden twists and turns, but by the end, the readers will understand that the story is finely poised for the next instalment of the book.

See you soon with another book explored!

-Thejas 😀