Review: Rhythm of War

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How does Brandon Sanderson do it? Seriously...how? A decade into this series and already a total of over 4000 pages written over four books, at least 1.5 million words by now...and this on top of other projects of his? Wax and Wayne? Skyward and sequels? Even the Steelheart trilogy? Nah, but The Stormlight Archive is well and truly his magnum opus, and here, it's pretty clear that Sanderson is absolutely on top of his game. Weaving in beautifully complex and heart-tugging narratives of the horrors of war, the futility of war, the aggravation of being locked in an endless campaign that never ends...and of course, the frank looks at the effects of a wide variety of mental illnesses on our heroes. Especially Kaladin and his depression, and Shallan and her dissociative identity disorder. Not to mention all kinds of PTSD heaped on top of everything and everyone else. Blake was right, Chapter 80 was well and truly something else...but then Part Five comes along and kicks the story into one of its highest gears yet, including a moment that almost had me screaming my lungs out from sheer shock. And then, with the promise of capping off the first of Sanderson's planned two Stormlight arcs in the fifth book...well, let's just say we really, REALLY need to see him keep up on his god-tier talents. Though I also wouldn't be surprised if we had to wait four or even five years for it...but unlike most other fantasy authors, I absolutely trust Sanderson to deliver.

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