Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) by Brandon Sanderson

Amy  

fantasy

I often add sequel reviews to the blog written for the original book in the series. But, these Stormlight Archive books are so large and Brandon Sanderson has indicated that there will be several more in this series. So, I decided to start a new blog for the next few novels in the series. I recommend you check out my original blog with the first three novels in the series here.

If you’ve read the previous novels in the series, you know approximately what to expect in Rhythm of War. You won’t be disappointed.  This installment brings the story arc forward with all the tension and wonderful characters that you've seen previously. I’ve just got to say that Sanderson is so incredibly creative and prolific. It’s truly astounding. He has multiple series, most of them containing huge individual novels, with an incredibly large cast of well-drawn, diverse characters—often not human and completely of his invention.  He creates languages, ideologies, battlefield strategies, city structures, and religions.  Genuinely, he’s extremely impressive.

Having complimented him appropriately and after enjoying this novel overall, I do have to say that his storylines are sometimes so complicated and convoluted that it’s difficult to understand what’s going on. Also, as these novels are huge, there is so much time between installments that the reader is bound to forget details about characters and situations which adds to the confusion. I wish that Sanderson would lay some things out more plainly and also provide more reminders of plot points from previous novels. Sometimes, I have had to let the larger political/religious themes become background noise and focus on the characters in order to enjoy it much more.

I was annoyed that Syl is suddenly ridiculous in the beginning of the novel. She’s always been comic relief but more subtle and genuine. In this one, she was practically slapstick and I didn’t like that she was being used that way. However, I still enjoyed cheering for all the characters I’ve grown to love and I appreciated the new characters we met along the way.

Another hit for Sanderson!

Again, the audiobook narrators were Michael Kramer and Kate Reading and, again, they were pretty marvelous. There are so many characters and they both have a great repertoire of voices. Sometimes, Reading is a bit too rigid in her speaking which is my only ongoing complaint. I give them an A.