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Rhythm of War Full Book Reactions


Chaos

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Finished the book last night and this is going to come off a bit negative, but the book needs to be about 300 pages shorter than it is.  My other large issue with the Stormlight archive that gets worse and worse with each passing novel is the involvement in the Cosmere.  More easter eggs are being introduced with each book and while people that have read all of his Cosmere novels and series multiple times will be able to pick it up, to a more casual reader(me) it feels like we're being left in behind because I just don't remember a lot of these characters.  He honestly needs to come out with a reference book and glossary that helps someone like me that only read Elantris once, or Mistborn twice and haven't read all of the novellas.  Heck even just a full explanation of the implications would help after each novel.  

Overall: The book is wordy with what feels like very little in the way of forward progress for the series where long stretches of it were not critical to the movement forward, the plot, or character development.   I was hoping with such a heavy investment made by the reader, that we'd get a more drawn out and spectacular crescendo but the book kind of wrapped up in about 5 chapters and I was left with a feeling of, "That's it?"  I had a lot of the same feelings from reading Jordan/Sanderson's The Gathering Storm.  I didn't leave very satisfied.  I will absolutely continue to read the series and want to see it reach its conclusion but each passing book seems to be more focused on the die hard readers that can re-read multiple times.  With a 16 month old rampaging through the house and a demanding career, that's just not me and I hope Brandon gives that some consideration for future novels.  I was once one of those avid readers but life gets in the way and your priorities change, especially over a series that take a decade or more to complete.

Radiant shard plate is just spren that form the plate together----awesome.  Maya hopefully becomes Adolin's spren ---- awesome.  I hope to see thousands of windrunners in the next book.

I fully understand that my opinion probably deviates from the majority on here but I thought it needs to be said.  

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5 hours ago, Elbertohokie said:

Finished the book last night and this is going to come off a bit negative, but the book needs to be about 300 pages shorter than it is.  My other large issue with the Stormlight archive that gets worse and worse with each passing novel is the involvement in the Cosmere.  More easter eggs are being introduced with each book and while people that have read all of his Cosmere novels and series multiple times will be able to pick it up, to a more casual reader(me) it feels like we're being left in behind because I just don't remember a lot of these characters.  He honestly needs to come out with a reference book and glossary that helps someone like me that only read Elantris once, or Mistborn twice and haven't read all of the novellas.  Heck even just a full explanation of the implications would help after each novel.  

Welcome to the refrence book/glossary:D

5 hours ago, Elbertohokie said:

I fully understand that my opinion probably deviates from the majority on here but I thought it needs to be said.  

Youd be surprised at how many people share at least some of your veiw.

 

Either way, welcome to the shard.

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5 hours ago, Elbertohokie said:

Finished the book last night and this is going to come off a bit negative, but the book needs to be about 300 pages shorter than it is.  My other large issue with the Stormlight archive that gets worse and worse with each passing novel is the involvement in the Cosmere.  More easter eggs are being introduced with each book and while people that have read all of his Cosmere novels and series multiple times will be able to pick it up, to a more casual reader(me) it feels like we're being left in behind because I just don't remember a lot of these characters.  He honestly needs to come out with a reference book and glossary that helps someone like me that only read Elantris once, or Mistborn twice and haven't read all of the novellas.  Heck even just a full explanation of the implications would help after each novel.  

I also understand where you're coming from.  The coppermind (wiki about Sanderson's stuff) now has a time machine feature, that you can see what the wiki was prior to X book comes out.  So you can now use the coppermind instead of reference book you want.  It's never going to be perfect, but would let you look up whatever you want without ruining the current book you're reading.  Try it out at: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Special:TimeMachine.

 

By using it a bit just now, it appears that once you do a search using it, you need to either hit back on browser, or go back to the time machine page for your next search.

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12 hours ago, Aldric said:

I also understand where you're coming from.  The coppermind (wiki about Sanderson's stuff) now has a time machine feature, that you can see what the wiki was prior to X book comes out.  So you can now use the coppermind instead of reference book you want.  It's never going to be perfect, but would let you look up whatever you want without ruining the current book you're reading.  Try it out at: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Special:TimeMachine.

 

By using it a bit just now, it appears that once you do a search using it, you need to either hit back on browser, or go back to the time machine page for your next search.

I've used it many times but I feel like I spend more time researching what happened before than reading the new book.  I know those resources are out there but it might behoove brandon to come up with a 50 page, "what happened before and is consequential" and then a 50 page, "What happened in the Cosmere and is consequential" sections at the beginning of each book.  

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44 minutes ago, Elbertohokie said:

I've used it many times but I feel like I spend more time researching what happened before than reading the new book.  I know those resources are out there but it might behoove brandon to come up with a 50 page, "what happened before and is consequential" and then a 50 page, "What happened in the Cosmere and is consequential" sections at the beginning of each book.  

The odd thing I’ve noticed is that SA only, or casual readers who are only barely aware of the connections seem to do fine, as do those of us who either reread extensively or remember minor details from books they read once half a decade ago. The problem seems to exist only if you’re both aware enough of the Cosmere to know the connections are there and recognize them when you see them, but don’t know enough to know what they’re referencing or if it’s important.

It reminds me of a Reddit discussion I had with someone, who asked about what they were supposed to know and had a similar complaint. The answers were essentially: we learned this in SA or we don’t know anything about this. In other words, everything that confused them was either answered in SA or was something we didn’t know. They were confusing themselves by overthinking because they knew the connections existed, but didn’t know enough to recognize what was a connection and what wasn’t so assumed everything they were confused about was explained elsewhere.

They had also missed some important details when actually reading SA, which is a different matter entirely; the books are big and it’s been six years since WoR and ten since WoK. So a lot of the questions you may have due to ‘Cosmere references’ may actually have been explained or foreshadowed in WoK, and you’ve simply forgotten over the past ten years. (Quite understandable; I have three little angels and it’s hard enough to remember daily tasks, let alone a random epigraph from ten years ago!)

The only two big crossover elements in RoW are from Warbreaker and Mistborn, and you don’t need to read either. Warbreaker expands on the pasts of Zahel, Azure and Nightblood. Mistborn will give the backstory of Thaidakar. That’s it. Everything else is an Easter Egg or was clearly explained in the book. There’s no need to read those books, and you certainly don’t need to read any others. I would recommend reading the SA companion novellas, as those are directly related and events in those tend not to be explained in their entirety in the major books.

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Dalinar, or less obviously Renarin or Venli (possibly even Rlain), are walking paths that could put them as the God of War by taking up Odium and Honor together, as Sazed was poised to assume the mantle of Harmony.  Of course, that feels pretty obvious so it won't be so simple as that, but it's a tasty enough herring to enjoy while waiting what will certainly seem like eons for the next installment.

Edited by StarrFall
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2 hours ago, Bejardin1250 said:

I think Kaladin is also on that path

He is very Honorable ( even more so then Dalinar in my opinion) and fights with loads of Passion

Hadn't really considered that given he has so much going on, but a very fair point; he certainly makes more sense than Rlain at the very least.  I had honed in on the others (excluding Rlain, more of a gut feeling there) because of their direct experiences with Odium's and Honor's investiture (or combo thereof), but there are few characters in the Cosmere who display anywhere near as much passion OR honor as Kaladin displays.

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  • 2 months later...

I think kaladin needs some therapy before he can assume the mantle of God of War. He agreed with dalinar that he should stay on the sidelines for now and I feel it would be a slightly regression of his character if he decided to take it one book after. Also taravangian (spelling if off) just took odium. For kaladin to instantly take it off would deprive us of one of the best cosmere villains to date. Not to mention the reforming of honours splintered shard

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Just finished the book! Made an account just to talk about it. Great stuff, a lot of extra crossover stuff in here. I had a theory about Azure being offworld and well everyone knew about Hoid, but having Zahel and Ghostbloods being confirmed to be crossovers is wild. I suspected cultivation was up to some wild plays, but Taravangian taking Odium’s power was not it (i actually thought Moash might get it... he was looking more like a “force” than a person at the end there). Writing-wise I dont think its the strongest book - Venli is a bit of a weak character imo and while Navani’s storyline was cool, it wasn’t strong enough to carry the whole book. There were only two main plotlines going throughout the book - tower and shadesmar - and one of them got skipped over for the whole of a part. Navani’s airship was quite a bit of set up that went nowhere. The character interactions were also lackluster - Why no Mink/Lopen stuff? Not to mention Szeth, Lift and two full heralds were added to the gang at the end of last book and we barely spent any time with them. There’s a lot of cool moments that could’ve been created there. Not to mention my favorite character duo, Shallan and Jasnah, have said like two words to each other since book 1. I dont mind there being lulls in plotlines, it was clear this story needed to be pushed before they could rise, but I think that maybe should be tempered with more hope in the other plotlines? Or at least more activity? This isnt the biggest gripe, its just a lot of words to say “this doesn’t flow as good as BS usually does.” 
 

The bright spark of this book is how much worldbuilding it added. Every chapter with Wit or Odium was a goldmine for this stuff. For one, bondsmiths are clearly stormin broken. Its now canon that Dalinar can literally change who Tarvangian has a deal with, as could Navani. Im not sure who he bonded Kaladin with though to give him the Tien memories. I dont think Tarvangian’s deception will actually last that long - Hoid might figure it out when he gets his flute, but also Szeth’s sword talks... it’ll probably just tell him outright that the old Odium’s dead (probably after some prodding and at a crucial moment.) The merchant imo could maybe Zahel? Next book could go one of three ways - T stays bad and wins, T turns out to be good at makes a savior play, or T loses. A big possibility is Dalinar losing the contest of champions early on and having the rest of the book being the main characters clawing back a post-apocalyptic Roshar until someone kills Odium with Navani’s death rattles and someone else ascends and terraforms everything to be good again. The singers having made friends with the chasmfiends is a twist, no idea how that plays out. Szeth probably says the 5th ideal, or maybe Kal does. Hoid using metal to hide from the gods is a neat trick, and I wonder how many other mistborn tricks are “cosmereversal”

 

EDIT: I just realized after I made this comment that Zahel is a 2nd tier invested individual and somehow made it out of his system. Even if that’s not handy because it doesn’t apply to him or whatever, Bondsmiths probably CAN free a being from their Connection to a world. Actually, so can szeth’s sword 
 

Spoiler

The only other BS I’ve read is the first Mistborn trilogy. First, the fact that Shard energies can harmonize has some implications for Harmony in Mistborn - shouldn’t the combo shard end up being something that has common ground for both energies? Does the negative of combo rhythms damage both targets? Presumably more than two energies can be combined, and if all 16 rhythms are combined you’d literally get investiture antimatter. The Kelsier-thaidaker thing was already kinda spoiled for me here. That means that Kelsier’s a “Second Tier Invested Being” and has lived long enough to be more of a force than a human. At first I was making fun of how similar Kaladin and Kelsier’s story archs were, but now they’re so similar I think it might actually be prepping something? Like that’ll be the final battle when the whole cosmere gets to the endgame? They went through such similar archs with one coming out good and the other evil... Also apparently I missed a terriswoman in there somewhere. 

 

Edited by lipat97
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  • 4 weeks later...

I think the biggest issue I had was that the pacing was weird.  Like, so much of Dalinar's bits feel like housekeeping of the continuity.  And Shallan's plot felt like it dragged a bit.  

Words of Radiance was definitely tighter, almost too much so.  This feels kinda awkward and gangly I guess.  

The twist is awesome though.  

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OK, so I'm almost done with my reread of RoW, and I have these thoughts:

1) I cannot stand Lirin.  Like, as far as I'm concerned, he's the Dolores Umbridge of the Cosmere.  To call your son a monster, then talk about giving him up for execution... I don't care what your rationale is, or the fact that he got the tattoo later in the book.  He's easily top 3 least favorite fantasy characters of all time.  

2) I couldn't stand Kaladin's arc the 1st time around.  I loved it this time around.  I don't know what changed.  

3) I didn't like Shallan's arc the 1st time around.  I liked it even less this time around.  I'm glad it seems to be resolved.  I did understand where she was coming from more this time, but I couldn't stand her constant whining.  

4) Adolin is seemingly perfect.  I don't know how I feel about that.

5) Did BrandoSando have detailed drawings of spren included in this book specifically to make that one scene that much more vivid and horrific?  Because it kinda feels like it.

6) I don't know what peoples' issue with Jasnah/Hoid is.  I adore it.  I understand it, and I stan it.  I want them to rule the Cosmere together as benevolent dictators.

7) Am I the only person in the fandom who is super jacked about Taravodium?  Like, really listening to his mindset in his interludes, I'm in the fanclub.  Bring it on.  I think it's a really good thing, and I am here for it.

 

Edit: I wasn't trying to skirt rules.  I forgot rules.  I apologize.

Edited by Mistborn Surgebinder
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6 hours ago, Mistborn Surgebinder said:

OK, so I'm almost done with my reread of RoW, and I have these thoughts:

1) This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules Lirin.  Like, as far as I'm concerned, he's the Dolores Umbridge of the Cosmere.  To call your son a monster, then talk about giving him up for execution... I don't care what your rationale is, or the fact that he got the tattoo later in the book.  He's easily top 3 least favorite fantasy characters of all time.  

Eh, I just feel that he’s at a lost at what to do with someone that contradicts everything he believes is right. I don’t blame him

 

6 hours ago, Mistborn Surgebinder said:

couldn't stand Kaladin's arc the 1st time around.  I loved it this time around.  I don't know what changed.  

 

Part one Kaladin was pretty bad in my opinion, though I did think the nodes was a pretty bland plot device

 

6 hours ago, Mistborn Surgebinder said:

Adolin is seemingly perfect.  I don't know how I feel about that.

He’s just not doing literally anything so he can’t mess up

 

6 hours ago, Mistborn Surgebinder said:

Am I the only person in the fandom who is super jacked about Taravodium?  Like, really listening to his mindset in his interludes, I'm in the fanclub.  Bring it on.  I think it's a really good thing, and I am here for it.

I am very excited

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