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About this blog

I'm going to post my reactions and analysis of Rhythm of War chapter by chapter as I go through. Contains spoilers for RoW, obviously, and for the Cosmere in general as I'll probably be theory crafting as I go.

Entries in this blog

Liveblog Introduction

Hello fellow Sanderfans!  When Oathbringer released I tried liveblogging my reactions (link to Google Docs), and found that it greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the book. Since then I’ve liveblogged a few other books with similar results, including one other Sanderson work (Starsight). I’m eager to do the same thing now with Rhythm of War, and this week the first preview chapters arrived on Tor.com.  In contrast to Oathbringer and Words of Radiance, I have kept myself unspoiled from all
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Internal Art: Map of Shadesmar

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. A Portion of the Southern Sea of Souls Map image here. I want to reiterate that Nazh is a gem. He’s much more present on this map than some of the others, with lots of annotations. I love it.  First of all, what is that creature in the top left?! It looks reminiscent of a larkin but is clearly a creature of the Cognitive Realm and looks awesome. A less fanciful rendition of this absolutely has to appear i
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Navani's Notebook - Part II

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Notes and translation relate to the original image here That pillar is much smaller than I was imagining, especially after the action scene where Shallan evicts Re-Shephir. See artwork here, here, and here. I expected at least a double-height vaulted ceiling, but no, this looks like it’s only 12 feet high or so. Also not much like I imagined. I had in mind more of a gyroscopic form factor.  
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Chapter 108

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 108 (Moments) Icons: Mirrored triad: Taln, Vev, with Jez doubled. Windrunner moments, plus endurance and healing? Epigraph: Confused but brilliant? Sure, I’ll take that compliment, El. On a tent in Amaram’s colors. Is this Tien, and he doesn’t recognize him? I am not sure how this vision will be helpful, Dalinar.  Kaladin hasn’t learned that in living the vision he inhabits memories of the on
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Interlude I-5

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Interlude I-5 (Lift) Lift! It’s Lift! Hooray!  I know Lift is a divisive figure among Stormlight readers, but while she occasionally feels a little over the top she almost always lands really well for me. I’m excited to see what she’s up to now. My main worry is that she’ll be dropping lots of hints about Dawnshard, which I am still waiting to read until after finishing Rhythm. (I don’t actually know if Lif
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Chapter 45

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 45 (A Bold Heart, A Keen and Crafty Mind) Eshonai flashback! Notably, we haven’t seen any flashbacks in the first two parts of the book. Does that mean that Eshonai’s bits are going to be confined to part 3 only, in a departure of format from the previous books? Or does it mean that her parts were too spoilery to include until after the Urithiru invasion? It’s really hard to imagine the second one bei
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Chapter 20

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 20 (The Unseen Court) Epigraph: A letter! Who is this one from? Relative youth, but not Sazed since we heard from him in the last book. So I’m guessing this one isn’t a Vessel. The first letters were to/from Frost, also not a vessel, so that’s not unprecedented. Without knowing more I’m going to go out on a limb and guess this is the president of Silverlight University. Seems as likely as anything else I
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Chapter 115

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 115 (Testament) Icons: Kalak and Ash, mirrored as per usual. My guess about the symmetry being broken is wrong, or only applies to chapters with the new Odium. Epigraph: This El seems like a jolly fellow. Let’s support his candidacy for overlord. Shallan is trying to rehabilitate her first spren, now named Testament. This is going to be a long, laborious process. Props to Shallan for embarking
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Chapter 111

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 111 (Unchained) Title: Probably most intended as a reference to the Sibling, but I imagine it will be a broadly applicable theme. Icons: Quartet of Chach, Ishar, Palah, and Jez. Hard to speculate for Chach and Palah. Epigraph: How recent are we talking, here? I assume this is post-epilogue material, and El is aware that Urithiru was retaken and the Sibling revived. He really doesn’t think it
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Endnote and Ars Arcanum

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Endnote I’ll admit I don’t really get this ketek. I’m going to have to think about it for a bit. It’s disturbing that it’s written by El, who in this case is noted to be a/the “Fused scholar of human art forms.” Is this endnote by Nazh? Who else would be collecting the keteks and writing commentary about singer interpretation of Alethi poetic styles? The typeface isn’t different, so we can’t positively iden
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Chapter 1

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Intro post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 1 (Calluses) Epigraph: not much of interest here, except for the word choice to “calm” the spren prior to capture with something it knows and loves. I wonder if failing to do so is really the result of agitation on the spren’s part. It’s clearly not bait, since the gem itself seems to serve that function. Maybe a matter of hypnosis/getting the spren to let its guard down? Alternatively, it may ju
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Chapter 47

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 47 (A Cage of Forced Spirits) Epigraph: and now we’re citing the undertext. This really convinces me that despite the title we are dealing with a human author rather than a listener. New working theory: this is Navani’s research notes while working under Raboniel. The comment here about “answers are all that should matter” is her own doublespeak and misdirection while working under the enemy; the prev
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Chapter 110

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 110 (Reborn) Icons: Jez and Ishar. We’re back to our regular mirrored doublet, so maybe things are calming down? Looks like windrunner and bondsmith shenanigans inbound. Epigraph: Really? Now you’re teasing us with one word at a time? This is getting silly. Okay, that is a lot more windspren than I expected. Kaladin is overachieving again, opening a glowing channel from the top of the storm to the
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Chapter 21

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 21 (The Seething Knot) Epigraph: Oh, nope this is Sazed after all. Presumably a second letter, then. Has Hoid been contacting everyone again, or just the people he thinks are most likely to be sympathetic? Adolin is delightful. I love how he’s justifying his fashion obsession with an appeal to Alethi manliness. “Oh, yes. Picking the right outfit is exactly like fighting a duel, with the same prepara
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Chapter 29

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 29 (Cage Without Bars) Epigraph: Sazed is looking for a “sword” (or perhaps a champion?) who can act for him when he by his nature cannot. Is this talking about Wax? I would imagine not, since one of the recent books--I think it was Bands--talked about Wax being his hand of Ruin, while someone else would be his hand of Preservation. I don’t think “both protect and kill” is talking about the same dilemma
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Back Cover Copy

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Back Cover Before jumping into this, I want to share something very cool that I learned this week. Did you know that the Coppermind has implemented a time machine function where you can access the articles as they appeared prior to the release of a particular book? That means you don’t have to avoid the wiki entirely if you are trying to stay spoiler free. Props to the Coppermind staff and contributors for ma
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Chapter 113

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. NOTE: Many, many apologies for the delay. Yes, it's been six months since my last entry. Don't worry, we're in the home stretch now. The end is in sight! Chapter 113 (Emotion) Icons: Compassionate Taravangian at the top. Chach and Nale as dual herald icons, but not mirrored. Weird. What’s this intended to mean? Epigraph: Best guess is that El is going to be Odium’s champion. I don’t think we’ve met him ye
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Chapter 102

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 102 (Highstorm Coming) Icons: Jez and Chach. Either brave windrunners, or destructive highstorm.  Epigraph: This one is quotable:  Is…is this talking about the infamous “voidbinding chart” from the endpapers? Are those shapes intended to be singer faces? Also, am I correct in assuming “this Return” to mean the current one in the story, or would these Musings on the first of the FInal Ten Days
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Chapter 112

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 112 (Terms) Title: Are we really going to try making a contract with Odium now? I sure hope not. It doesn’t feel earned. Hopefully this is about the terms they will set with their allied Fused in the Tower. Icons: Betab. Patron of Elsecallers, also Wise and Careful. I’m going to hope it’s something to do with Rlain’s new Elsecaller status. Epigraph: This might be the first in-text confirmation that O
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Chapter 2

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Intro post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 2 (Severed Cords) Epigraph:I wonder why the gem can't be fully infused. Does the Stormlight take up too much space that the spren needs to occupy? In addition does the Stormlight sustain the spren or merely make it more comfortable? (Side note: apparently my dictation tool recognizes “Stormlight.” That will be useful.) A Kal chapter? No, a Syl chapter! Huzzah! In the first book Syl was my very fav
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Chapter 49

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 49 (Soul of Discovery) Epigraph: Yes, I would expect someone in your situation to have trouble focusing on the right knowledge, when everything is so tangled and obfuscated, and you must hide your discoveries. Good luck, Navani, I believe in you! Busywork to buy yourself time to think and get organized. Makes sense, but Raboniel will anticipate this. I vote for boldness! Is Navani mistaking Ven
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Epilogue

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Epilogue (Dirty Tricks) Icons: Jester and Ash (mirrored) –Wit the lightweaver, naturally Design is the sort of audience member Wit needs: unimpressed and… I want to say snarky but she’s more genuine than that. Willing to object. Wit, on considering Sja-Anat’s expanding influence. This is striking because Sja-Anat has been shown to be working for the benefit of Roshar and against Odium. Is there somet
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Chapter 25

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 25 (Devotary of Mercy) Epigraph: Great Googly Moogly! More shard names? What inspired Brandon to give us this sudden windfall? Whimsy, Mercy, and Valor now, in addition to Invention from the previous chapter. Not much information about them beyond hints, though I really want to see what kind of magic system Whimsy inspires. (Maybe that’s the magic kite story that was mentioned in the State of the Sand
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Chapter 7

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Intro post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 7 (The Rarest Vintage) Just a guess that this title is hinting at my hidden larkin prediction for the Ialai scene. Endangered animal all but relegated to myth = rare vintage. Epigraph: zinc and brass as opposing metals. I wonder where I’ve seen that before… Interesting that they influence the strength of the spren’s effect, when a subset of spren are manifestations of emotions, and the metals cor
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Shallan's Sketchbook - Part II

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Cryptics (image here) Before anything else, I have to say how much I love the little sketch at the bottom of the page.”I’ve never seen a cryptic running. I expect they would look very silly.” Indeed, yes. I’m sure Ben had a great time drawing that one, and I like it as a moment of lighter-humored Shallan layered on top of her naturalist observations. Their hands being only obsidian or marble, black or white
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