I've just finished Rhythm of War, and as of right now, I think this is my favorite Stormlight Archive book.

Which is a crazy thing to say, because I've been treating this whole series as basically one enormous book. It's hard to rank them individually when every book feels like a necessary piece of the same insane emotional machine. But still. When I think of a favorite right now, Rhythm of War immediately comes to mind.

I think Sanderson reached his best self here when it comes to character arcs, emotional payoff, structure, and narrative work. I can understand why some people might rate this one lower. It is slower in places. The Venli/Eshonai flashbacks were not always the most gripping part for me. There is a lot of science — fabrials, Light theory, rhythms, tones, and Navani essentially doing Rosharan physics homework under military occupation. But apparently I am the target audience for that, because I loved this book.

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Kaladin and Tien

Favorite scene in the whole series so far. I bawled my eyes out for like ten minutes. God! And it is really difficult for me to cry, which made it even worse, because when I do I ugly cry. I thought it was going to be like one of Dalinar's visions: something meaningful, maybe symbolic, maybe spiritual, but still distant. Then Tien's first reply hit… and it felt so real. My eyes became watery immediately.

That scene tore me apart. I cannot believe how perfectly written it was. It was unexpected, but also somehow the most natural thing in the world. Kaladin has been carrying Tien's death since the beginning of the series. Not just grief, but guilt. The kind of guilt that becomes part of your identity until you don't know who you are without it. And then Tien:

"You're good enough for me."

This chapter broke me. Absolutely broke me. Kaladin finally being told that Tien's death mattered, that his life mattered, that Kaladin's failure didn't erase the love or the good — God!!!

This is the core of Kaladin's character for me. He keeps thinking that if someone dies, it means he failed them completely. As if love is only valid if it ends in success. But that's not life… Sometimes people die; Sometimes you lose; Sometimes the storm catches everyone eventually.

But the run still mattered. Fleet kept running. Tien still mattered. Teft still mattered. Kaladin still matters.

Accepting that he cannot protect everyone, that loss does not mean his love was worthless, that he can fail to save someone and still not be a failure as a person. That is such a hard lesson for Kaladin specifically, because protecting people is not just what he does, it is who he thinks he has to be in order to deserve existing. So when he finally says the Words, it hit so hard.

"I accept that there will be those I cannot protect."

I have been waiting since The Way of Kings for this man to get armor. I remember noticing the Radiant helmets vanishing in Dalinar's visions and thinking Kaladin would eventually get something like that. And now he does.

Hopefully now Kaladin can take, I don't know, a tiny wee break from his major depression?

Art by ariirf

Teft

I was not ready. At. All. Teft's death completely caught me off guard. When Moash killed Phendorana, my first thought was honestly, "Oh God, Teft is going to have to live without his spren now. He is going to spiral again." My brain did not even register that Teft himself could die. Then Moash. MOASHHHHHHHHHHH. Moash, the betrayer, the piece of garbage, the disgusting creature, actually killed him.

And what makes it so painful is that Teft had finally reached such a beautiful place. And then he dies like that. I should've seen it coming — too many great Teft chapters. So many red flags. Fuck.

The fact that his death becomes part of Kaladin's Fourth Ideal absolutely destroyed me. "Say it, lad! Do it!"

Kaladin and Lirin

Lirin is a difficult character. He frustrated me a lot in this book. Like, buddy, your son is being hunted by ancient immortal murder-crab spirits in a tower under occupation, maybe this is not the ideal time to call him a monster? Like lowkey?

But I also think Lirin's arc worked really well. What I loved is that the resolution between him and Kaladin was not one of them proving the other completely wrong, they both had to accept that someone can choose a different path from yours and still be correct.

Navani

NAVANI KHOLIN. My respect for this woman skyrocketed in this book. The prologue with Gavilar was disgusting. I already knew Gavilar was probably not the perfect noble king everyone remembered, but wow — this man managed to become hateable after being dead for four books. Impressive work.

So when the Sibling told Navani, "You are not worthy," my heart actually split for a second, because that is exactly the wound Gavilar left in her.

But she is worthy, and the entire book proves she is worthy.

Navani: "I am not a scholar."

Also Navani: casually invents anti-Light, collaborates with an ancient enemy genius, helps discover Warlight, bonds the Sibling, saves Urithiru.

And that collaboration — Navani and Raboniel — was one of my favorite dynamics in the entire book. Two ancient enemies, except one of them is not ancient but is carrying a lifetime of insecurity, and the other is ancient enough to be exhausted by existence itself. Neither fully trusts the other. Both are manipulating each other. Both know they are being manipulated. Both still respect each other. It was incredible to read.

Raboniel was one of my top three characters in this book. Terrifying, intelligent, cruel, tired, fascinating, and somehow deeply tragic. Her killing her own daughter to end her suffering was horrible, but also strangely tender in the most disturbing possible way. This book did such a good job showing that immortality is not just power, the Fused are scary not only because they keep coming back, but because coming back over and over has broken them, much like the Heralds. Raboniel wants the war to end, and the terrifying (and honestly kind of sad) part is that she is willing to end it in any way that works.

I did not expect "Navani does science with an ancient war criminal" to be one of my favorite parts of Stormlight, but here we are. Also, the two of them basically inventing the Rosharan equivalent of nuclear weapons in a basement was insane. Anti-Light changes everything. Spren and Fused can be killed permanently. The war has now entered its "everyone is even more cooked than before" era.

"Journey before destination, you bastard."

Venli and Eshonai

Venli's arc was good, but the Venli/Eshonai flashbacks were the weaker part of the book for me. Not badly written, and not pointless — I just wasn't as invested in them as everything happening in Urithiru, Shadesmar, and the Odium plot. Venli did terrible things. She knows it. She's trying anyway; not in some grand heroic way, just quietly moving toward better, and that's enough for me, I guess.

Eshonai's final chapter, though? Beautiful. The Stormfather giving her the chance to ride the storm and finally see the world before passing on was one of the most unexpectedly lovely moments in the book. Eshonai wanted to explore — that was always her dream. So giving her that at the end, even after everything, was so, so satisfying.

"Bursting with songs, Eshonai let herself pass into the eternities, excited to discover what lay on the other side."

Also, Leshwi. I really like Leshwi. She feels honorable in a way most Fused don't. Her reaction to Venli bonding a spren was fascinating. "They've forgiven us?" What happened between the spren and the singers? There is so much history buried here. MAN!

Adolin and Maya

Adolin Kholin is officially cemented as one of my top five characters. Absolute golden retriever of a man. Saving Notum was peak Adolin.

"Honor is not dead so long as he lives in the hearts of men!"

This man is on trial in a hostile honorspren city, facing potentially catastrophic consequences, and he still risks everything because it is the right thing to do. And the Maya scene — the much-awaited Maya scene — was so emotional.

The Recreance is suddenly way more interesting too. It was not simply Radiants betraying their spren; the spren chose too. Which means something happened that made both sides believe breaking the bonds was necessary.

Also, 1vs1 battle between:

• "YOU CANNOT HAVE MY PAIN."
• "YOU CANNOT HAVE MY SACRIFICE."

Shallan

I will miss Veil.

Shallan is one of those characters where I either want to hug her or shake her. Usually both. But I think this was her strongest book yet. Not because she got magically healthier, but because she finally stopped running, or at least, started running less.

The reveal surrounding Testament hit me hard. Shallan having bonded a Cryptic before Pattern, and having killed that bond, makes so many strange things from earlier books suddenly make horrible, horrible sense. Every time I think I understand Shallan's backstory, Sanderson reveals another hidden layer underneath the hidden layer underneath the hidden layer. This woman has more compartments than a toolbox.

Pattern knowing about Testament also makes his whole relationship with Shallan even more tragic and weirdly touching. His jokes about her killing him were not just funny little Pattern nonsense. He knew what happened and he bonded her anyway. I love Pattern, man. Cryptics in general, actually, easily my favorite spren order.

"I am your Veil" was such a good scene.

I'm glad she didn't kill Kelek. That felt wrong from the start. Brother is clearly broken in his own Herald way, and the more we learn about the Heralds, the more I think the answer to "how insane are they?" is just "yes."

Also, Shallan leaving the Ghostbloods is very interesting — which brings me to…

Cosmere spoilers ahead for Mistborn: Secret History and Warbreaker — skip to Taravangian if you haven't read those.

Cosmere Stuff

!I sadly got spoiled for Thaidakar's identity, which annoys me because I'm pretty sure I would have figured it out at the end and lost my mind properly.!<

!But come on. Lord of Scars? AHH!!! Kelsier running a morally questionable interplanetary secret organization is so completely believable that I cannot even be mad. What is bro doing? What is the goal here? The Ghostbloods wanting to move Stormlight off Roshar is fascinating. If they figure out how to transport it, that feels like it could change the entire Cosmere's power structure. Also, Kelsier is one of my favorite Cosmere characters, so I'm glad he's still kicking around.!<

!Also, Nightblood. A sword from Warbreaker just helped kill Rayse, the Vessel of Odium. I'm really curious about Nightblood's origin. How powerful was the woman who made it? We don't know much about it in Warbreaker. I repeat myself when I say I wasn't a big fan of Warbreaker, but damn this book is necessary for Cosmere.!<

!Anyway, this is where my brain starts going into "what is the endpoint of the Cosmere?" mode. Rayse was so focused on Dalinar — he wanted him as a champion, general, weapon, something. Which makes me wonder if the endgame is going to be some Avengers-type situation where people from different planets fully start interacting, or fighting some big, bad war type of thing.!<

Taravangian

Okay. Brother. Let's talk about this. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Taravangian has always been one of my favorite characters — very well written, deeply frightening. But he also always terrified me because he is the kind of antagonist who can explain every terrible thing he is doing. And then… Sanderson somehow made him worse.

Rayse finally dies. For approximately three seconds, I thought: "Oh. That's huge." Then Taravangian picked up Odium. And I immediately realized the situation had somehow become much, much worse.

Rayse was hateful. Taravangian is smart. Not good.

Did Cultivation pick the stupidest day for Taravangian so he could process the hatred without being consumed by it? What is her endgame? It feels like most major things so far have happened because of a nudge from her while she's hiding in the background.

But Taravangian has always been dangerous because he thinks he is saving everyone. He can justify anything — murder, betrayal, mass death, sacrificing entire cities, all of it. And now that man holds divine hatred.

Wit

The epilogue was disturbing. Deeply disturbing. A being as capable as Wit getting played immediately made the stakes feel higher. This might be the first time in the entire series that Hoid has felt genuinely vulnerable. Usually he moves through these books like he has already read the script and is mostly there to heckle the actors. Then Taravangian-Odium manipulates his memories, replays the conversation, and Wit walks away thinking things went fine.

That was eerie. Hoid losing without realizing he lost is terrifying.

Szeth and Shinovar

Szeth was not in this book as much as I expected, but the ending setup has me hyped. Kaladin and Szeth going to Shinovar together? That is such an insane buddy-cop pairing. One is a depressed Windrunner surgeon-soldier who just swore the Fourth Ideal. The other is a bald religious catastrophe carrying the most dangerous sword in the Cosmere. Very normal road trip.

I have wanted to know more about Shinovar since book one. Szeth's entire existence has been one giant question mark and I have always been intrigued, so the idea that we are finally going there is very exciting.

Also, Kaladin having to find Ishar first. What the hell was that. The spren bodies? No thank you. That was one of the creepiest things Sanderson has written so far. Ishar is not just "mad Herald" scary; he is "understands the laws of reality and is doing surgery on them in a shed" scary.

Moash

Fuck Moash.

Thank you for attending my TED Talk.

Questions Going Forward

• What is Taravangian-Odium's loophole in the contract? Because he clearly saw something Rayse didn't.
• Who is going to be Odium's champion now? Moash still feels possible, but I genuinely don't know anymore. Prediction: Book 5 is Szeth's book, so maybe Szeth ends up as a champion for the good side.
• Is Taravangian going to be a "better" Odium, or just a much more dangerous one? Rayse seemed like a normal bloke who happened to get the Shard of Odium. Taravangian meanwhile…
• Can deadeyes be fully revived?
• What really happened during the Recreance?
• What happened with Ba-Ado-Mishram, and why does every massive historical disaster seem to point back to her?
• What exactly does Sja-anat want?
• What is Thaidakar actually trying to do?
• How are the Ghostbloods planning to move Stormlight off-world?
• Is Wit even aware that something went wrong?
• What is going on in Shinovar?
• Can Szeth please have one normal conversation with literally anyone?
• What did Ishar actually do to those spren?
• What is El's deal?
• Is Moash blind permanently?
• Can someone please throw him into the ocean?

Final Thoughts

I loved this book. I understand why some people might find it slower, but for me, the emotional payoff was unbelievable. Kaladin and Tien. Teft dying knowing he was loved. Navani realizing she is worthy. Raboniel and Navani creating something beautiful and horrifying together. Adolin standing by Maya. Maya screaming "WE CHOSE." Shallan finally facing Testament. Eshonai riding the storm. Taravangian becoming Odium. Wit getting outplayed.

I also love how this series keeps expanding the scope of the conflict in each book. At first it was bridgemen and highprinces. Then Radiants and Voidbringers. Then gods. Now we have anti-Investiture weapons, deadeye mysteries, Ghostblood worldhopping logistics, Herald insanity, and a new Odium who might be even worse than the old one.

Everything is connected. Everything is worse than previously assumed. Everyone needs therapy.

Rhythm of War is my favorite Stormlight book so far.

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

And once more, with feeling:

Fuck Moash.