18. RHYTHM OF WAR
Book Four of The Stormlight Archive
BY BRANDON SANDERSON
This is the first mainline STORMLIGHT title I’m giving less than five stars. Its good, but the pacing wasn’t working for me this time around. And while a lot happened, I didn’t feel the thrills and chills I’d felt in previous Stormlight books.
As of right now, I have Words of Radiance in the number one spot, and Oathbringer is number two. The Way of Kings is in third place, and that puts Rhythm of War dead last.
Ultimately, I think it came down to the “Sanderlanche” not really hitting me this time around. In the past, those last 100 pages were unputdownable and mindblowing. Not so much in this one. In fact, listening to the audiobook, when Michael Kramer said “Epilogue,” I did a double-take and shouted, “What?!” Because, as long as the book was, I didn’t feel like I’d just read the final chapter of the novel. It just didn’t hit me that way.
There weren’t nearly enough Dalinar chapters, Kaladin chapters weren’t nearly as exciting as they should or could have been, and I’m not a huge fan of the Parshendi POV characters, who all got way more screentime here than ever before. Shallan was the most interesting character in this book, and even she had a few chapters where I was waving my hand like, “Can we get on with this, already?” But honestly, I might just be a bit burned out on this particular series at the moment. I need a palette cleanser.
That said, the Epilogue was pretty great.
Overall, I enjoyed my time in Rhythm of War but didn't love it.
Four out of Five Secret Second Sprens.
I have a few other audiobooks in my TBR pile that I have to get through asap and two ebooks I’m supposed to have already read by now. So Wind and Truth will have to wait a bit, but I’ll get to it. I know that’s most people’s least favorite of the series, but it has some defenders, so I’m going in with an open mind, but hoping for greatness.
Now, technically this was the 18th and final book read in 2025. The goal was 52 and I fell way short. But one book per week was doable when I set that goal. Things changed throughout the year where that was no longer feasible. So for 2026 I’m setting a more realistic goal. I read 18 in 2025 so I’m setting the new goal at 26, for the year. 26 books in 2026. Can I do it? Let’s find out. Currently in my TBR:
PULSAR SKY by Martin Lejeune
INGRAM by Louis C.K.
DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman
THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon
WIND AND TRUTH by Brandon Sanderson
THE SHADOW OF THE GODS by John Gwynne
