i finally read rhythm of war for the first time and now i'm a cryptic 

Pattern definitely knew, Its why he told her constantly that she would kill him, told her it was ok if she killed him, and asked her everytime she was displeased with him if she was going to kill him.

10:03 "Adolin is the closest thing to a brother Kaladin could have" *sad Oroden noises*

For me the science was the best part of the book because I could see from her experiments where it was all going and I kept wishing for her to stop and think if she should for a minuet! Of course she didn't...But knowing where it was bound to end up made all the science scenes so tense for me. I was a bundle of nerves throughout that whole part.

Adolin's emotional intelligence and compassion ALWAYS makes me cry, whether it is for Renarin or Maya or Shallan or Kaladin. Like, if Evie did one thing it was raise that boy right! It makes me really excited for Renarin's book because I feel like their chilehood is where a lot of that came from. This was my least favorite Stormlight book by far (and by that I mean its 4 stars and the rest are 5). Even though I love Navani, I feel like her story didn't really have the emotional impact to be such a big part of the book. Same with Venli, I just couldn't get as emotionally invested in her plan to flee and seek neutrality, and her flashbacks just felt like an uneeded explanation for how this whole thing started. I honestly wish that Navani had been given more flashbacks bcs I think that could have gotten us more invested in her arc and given us some fun looks at young Elhokar, Jassnah, Adolin, Renarin etc.

"You know there will be a day where Kaladin dies, or Teft dies, you know, far in the future hopefully." oh NOOOO

Maya speaking is one of my top moments in the cosmere. Kaladin speaking the 4th Ideal and Navani bonding the Sibling were too obvious to be satisfying. Taravangian killing Odium and taking his shard was such a good twist that I don’t know how Sanderson can recover from it.

The part with Tien and Kaladin had me nearly bawling. I loved the part when Kal turned the tide on the pursuer. I also liked Adolin and Maya. 1) Rhythm of War 2) Way of Kings 3) Oathbringer 4) Words of Radiance My rating is more based on how memorable to me the book was since I like each of them

Kaladin takes Kaladin(ness) to the next level in this book. He just keeps going and going, trying to help people and do the right thing. We need more kaladin's in our world.

Nice, I really enjoy listening to people's thoughts on my favorite book. It's not a popular opinion, but I rank this one as the best stormlight book.

4:36 Aaaaaaaah so cute!!! I think this book dragged the most out of the four as well, and Shallan’s plotline also felt pretty rushed to me. But Navani and Raboniel’s relationship was one of the best stories Brandon has written in my opinion. Highly recommend the shardcast episode that came out this Sunday as it sums up a lot of why I love this part of the book so much. Kaladin’s arc with his father and his depression along with Adolin and Maya’s relationship were my other favorite aspects of the book for obvious reasons. Congrats on being caught up! Now you can suffer with the rest of us once book 5 comes out haha.

The themes in this book showed the most for me, loved the self acceptance and reflection of all the characters. I think Renarin has a huge arc coming and we will be seeing ALOT of him don’t worry

Hey! Amazing video, was so interesting to see this format instead of a review, which is what I’m used to! I wouldn’t normally point things out like this, but since you mentioned that you like it when people do that I wanted to bring up the fact that in The Way of Kings, Pattern actually says to Shallan that he is here to “learn as much as I can before you kill me.” Which at the time just seems like a nod to the Recreance, but gets a really spooky new context now that we know that Shallan has deadeye’d a Spren before! Thanks again for an awesome video!

Epic opening befitting the epic book. Absolutely loving these. And don't worry we are all missing things LOL. Things making the rereads that much better. Every emotion you're having is shared by the Sanderson community. It's great seeing them on someone else in live time LOL

"...Teft dies, far in the future. Hopefully." -Quote taken seconds before disaster

My enjoyment of the 4 books: 1.) The Way of Kings 2.) Rhythm of War 3.) Words of Radiance 4.) Oathbringer I generally see a ton of variation within the fandom when it comes to ranking the books.

I _loved_ the science sections. Navani struggling and making world changing discoveries were the chapters I was most interested in. But I think Navani bonding the Sibling to be undeserved and less interesting than the alternative ‐ with Rlain bonding a spren that would actually prefer him instead of the one that felt like was handed down from Renarin - But my favorite chapters were Taravagnan's. The ascension, the smart-dumb mechanic, and his confrontation with wit were so cool. I'm a suckered for a well placed memory wipe, and that scene was executed so well, feeling like a post credits scene and at the same time giving us that dramatic irony... top notch.

I study science so I really enjoyed the science part. I found myself wanting Navani to try certain experiments and was thrilled when she actually ended up doing them. Also I loved Navani bonding the sibling because it felt like her proving to herself that she is capable, she is a scholar and she is worthy. It was kind of a contrast to the start of the book with Gavilar talking down to her. As someone who struggles with these types of thoughts it made me really emotional to see her gain that sense of worthiness.

Hey Tori great video! I have to agree that this book was the slowest paced in the series although the twists were pretty juicy, lol. I like the depth of detail Sanderson has with the science/magic, that's my jam. If you hadn't heard of this series I would recommend 'The Saga of Recluce' books, it has one of the best magic systems ever!

As someone with ADHD, I get you!!!! Brandon himself has said that Stormlight isn't for everyone; they're a hard read. And I kid you not I'm still rereading these books and finding things that I didn't see the first time. You're soooo allowed to miss things >:3 never let anyone tell you otherwise

I'm on the side of things that I absolutely adored the "science class" moments through the book. As a very VERY amateur writer, but overall analyzer of worlds and such, I loved to see the detail on how the world's magic systems allowed for such things. How it interacted with itself, how it works, and how it can build using its own building blocks.

I'm really enjoying this video, but also suddenly realizing that I need to stop watching it for now because this is the one book of the series that I haven't read enough to know every detail by heart and I'm starting to feel like I'm spoiling moments that I didn't remember happening until you mentioned them or I saw them in the comments. I'll have to come back to this after my next read through. 😊

I literally bawled when Teft died! I’m not much of a crier but that hit me SO HARD!!! Especially knowing how it would affect Kaladin… And then Kaladin’s talk with Tien and swearing the 4th ideal… I just completely lost it! And it all makes sense, you know, logically. I’m order for Kaladin to finally come to terms with the fact that he couldn’t save everyone, that it would have to be a very impactful person dying… naturally the two of them are my favorites and I just had such a hard time with that scene :/ But I loved the book and am still in love with the series! I’ve already decided that I will be taking some days off work when the 5th book gets released so I can just finish it in just a few days lol 😂

I loved everything about this book! I get how we had to learn the science part, Adolin ❤Kaladin ❤️ Maya ❤️ Navoni

Great job with the 4 videos!

Adolin is my favorite character in all the books. I just love him.

39:50 hate to burst your bubble, but Sanderson released the prologue to SA5

ADOLIN BEST BOY As much as I like it, it can drag. It's not peak Stormlight like 1-3 (honestly have a hard time ranking them) but the Cosmere-wide bombshells (like Taravangian + Nightblood vs Rayse) in 4 are so fun and brought me a ton of joy during the early pandemic. Speaking of, there is one bombshell hidden amongst all the chaos near the end. Don't want to spoil it as I'm not sure how far into Mistborn you are. 👀

Super cool video! I definitely enjoyed the experiments a little more in this book, as I am a bit of a nerd in that regard, but the Venli/Parshendi storyline was not as interesting to me, although I could see why they're important. I was inordinately proud of myself when reading this for predicting the deadeye cryptic was Shallan's but totally missed the Azure/Zahel connection until now. My ranking would probably be: 1 - Word of Radiance (flawless) 2 - Oathbringer (a little slower, but also amazing) 3. Rhythm of War (Still 5 stars, but a small step down) 4. Way of Kings (my first epic high fantasy and it took quite a while to get oriented and invested in all the characters) Curious if anyone else has a similar ranking

I like the books by favourite in release order. The Way of Kings being my favourite, WoR a very close 2nd, then OB, then Rhythm. I only read Rhythm the one time so far so I'm hoping I'll get more second time through

I just finished rythms of war and im so happy you just released this video! Hope the best future for this channel

I definitely enjoyed the science stuff more on a reread because i understood it, but i have to say this is the book of the series that is the most ummm slow i guess but it also has some of the most emotional moments that really hit, yes even on a reread i had tears, knowing doesnt help

I've gotta say, this is probably my favorite Stormlight. It's not the best one (Words of Radiance I think is probably the strongest overall), but this is the book that actually made me properly appreciate Sanderson as a storyteller. For context, by the time I picked up RoW I had read the Mistborn era 1 and Secret History in addition to the other Stormlight books (not the novellas), and wasn't terribly impressed. I was more continuing out of "hey, it's something to do, it's kind of cool I guess" than anything else. Honestly, it's been bothering me for years now what it is about Sanderson that didn't work for me, and I *think* this book answered that. See, I actively thought The Final Empire was a bad book. It just made me sad that such a cool premise and setting was wasted on such a bland and boring story. I liked the other two better, but I maintain to this day (though perhaps I would change my mind on a reread) that...it's not that great. Stormlight, by contrast, actually had me somewhat engaged. Especially by the end of book 2, I felt that Sanderson was "borderline great," (and the fact that it wasn't "fully great" for me was quite irritating). Dalinar's confrontation with Odium at the end of book 3 was pretty much the first time in ANY of his books that I was properly emotionally invested, on the edge of my seat, and caring about these characters with all my heart. (There was like 1 scene in Final Empire too, where Kelsier is in the underground cave messing around with some rather dubious religious manipulation, and the part in Words of Radiance where Szeth darkens the hallway, but that's about it.) I "think" the reason for my apathy has more to do with Sanderson's *presentation* rather than the actual content of his stories. Specifically, I feel like he lacks proper *exaggeration* in his storytelling--and I mean that in the general artistic way, not the cartoony one. There isn't enough honing in on what really makes this setting cool and compelling, these characters unique, this magic system fascinating, and everything just blends together into a Meh Soup. No matter how bizarre and fantastical and creative the story is, things feel mundane, dull, and banal. The actual things in the story ARE very cool and awesome and neat, but the way he presents things it doesn't really communicate that (to me at least). Shardblades are crazy magic swords that are unnaturally long, in this really specific way that makes me FEEL something when I see a picture or an artists' rendition--but they just kind of feel like generic swords on the actual text. The vanishing/summoning and intricate designs absolutely are presented well, but the supermassive aspect just...well, it's talked about repeatedly, but I don't FEEL it as a reader. Does that make any sense? It's sort of a feeling of Sanderson being unwilling to fully commit, to take his ideas as far as they can go and do really interesting things with them, and to present them in a manner that properly exaggerates the features that really make the world interesting. Instead of all the nauseating awesomeness of sorcerers that have to eat metal, we get a magic system that is so diluted with abilities that it feels like a "get out of jail free, except when the plot says you run out of metal" thing. Which is what has bothered me, because of any author Sanderson is probably the one who *does* commit all the way. His interviews, Q&A sessions, theorizing around the books, all that stuff I find as cool as other people find the books themselves. But I didn't get any of that from the books--only from the surrounding talk. And I think that's because of this: even though Sanderson does go all the way with the story in his head, the way he puts it on page doesn't do it justice. It's not exactly the prose, or exactly the style, or exactly any one thing I can put my finger on, but just a general failure to communicate the elements that I personally would find compelling, while focusing on other things in such a manner as to make them dull. All that to say, Rhythm of War changed that. This was the first time I felt like Sanderson was actually committing. The excruciatingly boring magic in Mistborn became retroactively interesting as hints of the metals' use in fabrials became apparent. The dullness of the Stormlight hard magic system (in the, "use gravity to move in different directions!" going on for three chapters in a row) became through Navani an extension of a well-thought-out cosmic metaphysics that showed that these magic systems actually are more than arbitrary, unnecessarily mathematical superpowers. The generally straightforward plot became destabilized in fascinating ways by Taravangian (who also just took my heart and wrung it on the floor) without diminishing the existing threat of Odium. The lack of stakes in the entire series was shattered by the Radiants being uniquely disabled. Depth was added in horrific fascination by Ishar's use of bondsmithing and his "experiments." Thaidakar's appearance at the end. Etc., etc., etc. Basically, this book showed me (before looking into the fandom and behind the scenes Q&As) that Sanderson actually does commit, actually does go all the way, and is able to go to interesting places with his ideas that reap rewards the better you understand his universe. It gave me a sense of trust in him as an author that Mistborn absolutely annihilated and took FOUR STORMLIGHT BOOKS to build. Yes, it's not perfect. It's probably the most flawed of any of them. Dalinar feels completely off, the Urithiru plotline goes on FOREVER, the science stuff could probably get old on a reread, the whole thing is awkwardly paced, Shallan's arc is a little abrupt. But I don't care, because it finally let me see what other folks like about Sanderson. Since this book I read pretty much the rest of the cosmere, and got a lot more out of it than I would have it I'd done it before RoW. (Emperor's Soul and Warbringer are particularly good, and definitely suffer a lot less from the "lack of exaggeration" problem than his other books.) So yeah. That was a long rant about why I like this book If anyone read this...my goodness, that's quite something. Hope it was tolerable, and not too offensive to the die-hard fans? (I know I am *objectively* wrong about the quality of Mistborn: I can see it's better than I gave it credit for via hindsight, and I'm just saying how I felt about it at the time.)

Rhythm of war is a great book. Close behind Words of Radiance in my ranking of Stormlight books

These videos r a great way for me to revisit the books as I haven't reread them since I first read them back in the year that Oathbringer came out. I'm super excited now to reread them. Personally, I've yet to find a fantasy series that has the same deep level of immersion that Stormlight Archive has. When I think of the series, I feel transported to the world immediately. Whereas, most other books I think more of the characters and plot points as opposed to immersion in the world fully.

Finally finished rhytm of war so i could check out what my selection of stormlight youtubers had to say about it! Would have liked to hear you more of what you thought about shallan. Really started to dislike shallan's identity-and-past bs more and more. Really dissapointing since i really liked her story in words of radiance. I like Renarin having a small role in the series. It fits with his mysterious vibe (like Wit!). THough i think he'll have bigger role in part 5. Also you didn't mention the huge Taravangian-Odium-Wit reveal!! I feel you with Venli, the singer characters lack character for me. Although i liked hear arc in the end. What did you think of Lirin's story ? You mentioned him but his arc and the way it happened with Hesina confronting him and making up with Kaladin deserves the mention for me! Part one of this book really stands out to me, best part one of the 4 books! Instantly hooked and very interesting to see status quo after the 1 year time jump. The epic finale also did it for me. That feeling of trance of investment, there are few things quite like it. Even though i didn't like some of the book, i still will give it 5 stars. The highlights make up for it!! Now i will reflect some more and sit with my feeling of emptiness inside now i finished this journey

I read all of these books to my wife, it's a way we spend time together. but RoW was the first stormlight book we read where I was reading it for the first time as I was reading it to her. we were on a trip as we finished the book and I just remember the two of us sobbing in a hotel room together reading through Teft's death and Kaladin swearing the Fourth Ideal

I love all of these books so much that it's hard for me to rank but if I had to give it a shot I'd say it's probably close to -The Way of Kings -Words of Radiance -Rhythm of War -Oathbringer Words of Radiance and Rhythm of War could easily be flipped as I like them both quite a lot. I think a lot of my original appeal to Sanderson was all the science behind his magic. I love science so seeing an author flesh out the magic of the world so thoroughly and scientifically is amazing to me and really draws me in. Makes the world feel more tangible to me, but obviously not everyone thinks the same way. As for Renarin, while I agree that he's pretty heavily underutilized in these books, Brandon is setting up for the second Arc of Stormlight (books 6-10) and I think he's going to play a MUCH bigger role in those books especially with his spren being one of the "corrupted" spren. Glad you're finally caught up with the rest of us and have to wait in eager anticipation for book 5

I didn't love the Die Hard - Urithiru element of the book, especially after the time skip. I wanted to be with the Edgedancers, the Truthwatchers, the Stonewards, etc., and learning about their Orders, spren, and oaths. I wanted to see how the war was working on broader fronts, how the Radiant alliance was dealing with the Iriali and other human traitors, what the Listeners were actually up to, etc., etc. I didn't want to spend so much time focused in one location. That said, I actually liked the magi-science element. It's pretty clear that anti-Investiture is going to become very important in the wider cosmere, and its invention really raises the stakes for the Fused and spren in general. And the conclusion is strong enough that forgive the pacing in the middle.

This was a great video, and it was relatable hearing all the love for Adolin and Renarin. Personally I feel like a lot of the science went a bit over my head, and was not my favorite part either particularly. But kind of like you said, a lot of intense themes were explored, and I feel like that contributes a lot to my own love for this book, even though it still has plenty of weakness. I.e., Kaladin's plotline is so meaningful personally imo, it kind of makes me a lot less disappointed as a whole in the book, kind of tying it together with Oathbringer for me. Anyways, just wanted to share some of my thoughts, and thank you for sharing yours as well! I.e. like some things I didn't think of (like contest of champions being Kaladin vs. Moash). This was great and makes me want to continue my own reread :D!

On your comments on renarin being underutilized. SA6-10 are going to shift so the current main characters will become side characters and some of the side characters (notably renarin, lift, and jasnah) will become main characters.

I agree with you on the science bits being tedious. I've listened to the whole cosmere on audiobook and those parts just couldn't hold my interest. It just seemed like flavor, I understand we need to learn about the lights but it could have been shorter for sure. This seemed like the slowest one for me but one of the most important for cosmere implications. I loved the courtroom drama scenes the most, excited to see what Sanderson does with Adolin.

This is the only Stormlight book to make me tear up. Chapter 85, the Dabbid chapter. You know Kaladin is going to live, he's got plot armor and I'm all for it. Don't let that man die at all cost and Dabbid coming through when it matters most and saving the day was incredibly satisfying. And people don't like Adolin? He's my favorite character along with Kaladin. Adolin is the nicest sweetest boy that just wants to understand and help people. Him not pushing Kaladin to hard to talk and always trying his best to cheer people up. The dude is just a super nice human and I love that. I'm not super into the science stuff but if I get less Shallan chapters because of it then I'm all good. I don't mind is she disappears for long stretches of time but she's stuck to Adolin and it sucks that he has to go away too. I love Rhythm of War because it seemed to be more chill. Oathbringer had my head spinning at all the things happening at the end. That one chapter at the end of Oathbringer that had like 10 different pov's and lasted forever was rough for me. I'm fine with characters not being present in all the books. There are going to be 10 of them so we are going to have plenty of time with them I hope. Navani was the main character of this book to me. I love how this book has a more mellow dower tone and pace. I loved it!

This is my second favorite next to Words of Radiance. I love kaladins fantasy die hard arc I love all of the worldbuilding and magic mechanics with navani, and I love expanding on shadesmar politics!! I understand why some people don’t like RoW it’s dense and it follows a lot of side characters but that’s kind of why I love it, personally I wish we would’ve gotten more of Dalinars pov in this book but I understand that it’s pretty much navani and Venlis book.

I really liked Raboniel. She has clung to the barest threads of sanity for 10,000 years in the hopes of ending endless cycle of torture her people and her daughter are forced to endure because her people were tricked into servitude to Odium when humans attacked. She does evil unforgivable things, but I have a hard time calling her evil.

My Stormlight rankings: 1) Oathbringer (most emotionally affecting to me, though I found the beginning dragged a bit) 2) Rhythm of War (see below) 3) Way of Kings (I'll never forget my first introduction to Roshar) 4) Words of Radiance (I think it was just when I read this one that kind of affected the way I felt about it, but I wasn't nearly as as invested or interested as I was in Way of Kings or any of the other Stormlight books. Has a lot of great scenes, though.) I always love most of the plots in the Stormlight books. I'm not very picky and have very diverse tastes, so these books really appeal to me a lot for a lot of reasons. I genuinely can't say that I call any part of these books bad, though that isn't to say I don't have my critiques/parts I didn't personally enjoy. Here are my thoughts on Rhythm of War in particular: Rhythm of War from a plot standpoint, was actually the most interesting for me. I REALLY enjoyed Navani as a character, especially her relationship with Raboniel, and I found the science fascinating. This is coming from someone who traditionally doesn't like science, either. Kaladin's arc in this book was so emotionally affecting and overall just really well done for me. Adolin's arc was also very well done in my opinion (his relationship with Maya was amazing), but I agree that the ending to Shallan's arc was rushed in this one (Shallan is a character I love but I feel that Brandon has really missed the mark with her character arc these last two books). While I really don't connect with Venli much at all, I enjoyed her character well enough and was rooting for her to overcome her internal struggle of listener vs radiant. I also loved her flashbacks with Ulim, I think it depicted a manipulative person in one's life very well. My two biggest critiques with this book is that the battle in the first part feels a little repetitive and slow, and I think the first part in general is sort of weak. I also agree that Dalinar is just sort of . . . there in this book. There was very little arc for his character. I would have preferred to see him really yearn to go and help but not be able, then move his interactions with Ishar to part 4 and through that he finds a way to make it to Urithiru and try to get involved. But, when he gets there Navani has already solved everything. I think it would have been interesting to see Dalinar reconcile with not being able to help when he thought he was needed, then see him deal with the fact that he wasn't. Sidenote: I think that the underuse of Renarin is a purposeful choice on Brandon's part, but I do understand not liking it. In my view, he's supposed to be mysterious and his powers are supposed to be misunderstood. I think he will take a significantly larger role in the 5th book now that Rlain is a Truthwatcher too. My gay heart is hoping for a Rlainarin relationship, but I don't know how likely that is haha.

(I know its a year late) But as far as the GIANT gap between chapters in Shadesmar, I think that was very intentional and effective writing choice from Sanderson. You complained about how long and sometimes tedious a wait it felt to get back into the Adolin/Shallan action... but that's the point, it has been long and tedious for Adolin and Shallan as well, as they are waiting as prisoners in Shadesmar

You had me at one video. New subscriber.

I have complicated feelings about this book. On the one hand, some of the most powerful moments in the series happen. On the other hand, the reading experience was very frustrating. I too was very put off by the near 400 page pause on the Shallan/Adolin plots. In fact, I shared most of your frustrations lol.

29:27 "I don't care about Taravangian right now... like I know he's gonna do something else and I'm just... phm..." Oh boy, this is gonna be GOOOOOD :D

Me not rereading and enjoying your first reads instead! I love the epic opening HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

11:00 "and then spar... in the bedsheets.......................... hanging on the lines" I see that pause. I see it.

I named my Minecraft sword Mayalaran.

I had been waiting for Brandon to kill off a major character but it being Teft broke my cold heart. I think the most meaningful words in this whole series to me have been "I will protect those I hate, even if the one I hate most is myself" and they really cemented Teft as my favourite of the secondary characters. I wish we had more of him but here we are. It's good to know that Brandon will kill a character off if it makes sense and it does keep the tension in the story. I honestly didn't think I'd love the science as much as I ended up liking it in the end. I think that's partially because of how much I like Navani (another surprise for me honestly) and Raboniel and the chemistry they had. All in all I wish we had more Dalinar and Jasnah, and less Shallan (easily my least favourite of the bunch) but having the Shadesmar story was good all things considered. Seeing more of the heralds was great as well. If you haven't read the secret project tid bits that Brandon dropped, one of them is about Sigzil. I think he's going to be a major character going forward and I'm soso looking forward to it! Loved the video, these vlogs have been great and I like seeing someone with a completely different temperament and pov to mine go through my favourite books! Keep going strong!

Tori: I don't care about Teravangian right now. Brandon: evil maniacal moustache twirling laughter

I agree this book dragged. Pacing just hit a wall. The ending was always fantastic though. The worldbuilding was just too much and I love worldbuilding. I think it was just because Navani was just too static. Did you like the moment with Kaladin and his 'brother' I don't know if you are aware but I am pretty sure Renarin is a main character in the last 5 books. Ranking this book from best to worst: Oathbringer, Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Rhythm of War

If you havent seen any of the theories about *why* the Cryptics seem so interested in Shallan, you might find them very interesting.

Rhythm of war is my least favourite despite liking the science stuff, but I didn't mind too much because it made for an incredible set up to book 5. We got our insane levels of great character development for the main characters in the last 3 books, we got a huge amount of world building for this one, and now the stage is set to blow our minds with the finale

35:32 😬

Did you make the connection between Thaidakar and Kelsier at the end of the book? Shallan refers to him as the "lord of scars", and mentions that Wit might come over there and whip him again... as seen in Secrets of Mistborn. Crazy seeing the Cosmere stories merge!

You keep saying you want more Renarin. Your wish shall be granted!… in a few years. One of the second set of 5 books is going to be dedicated to Renarin’s story if the Coppermind is accurate.

2nd comment for me after watching the video. I liked the book but it was my least favourite. The pace was not great and there were rushed moments but some of the themes hit hard. What I liked: Kaladin's journey through depression. Difficult to read but that's how it works. Depression is a monster far worse than the fuse. It's great that Sanderson didn't just solve it within a single book (way of kings). Navani's story arc was also great. I liked the sciency bits. The part with Adolin and Maya gave me goosebumps. "We choose!" Teft's death..wow.. I guess, finally we have some important characters dying. This book felt much darker than the others and had rushed at moments. Somehow, I think he had too many arcs on his plate that he couldn't develop or fit in.

i was suprisingly effected by ribonials death, I thought id celebrate but I was actually kinda sad

Where the actual spren is kaladin. I'm too hungover for this today 🤣

Did you notice that Wit/Hoid is now a Lightweaver...?

I agree with you regarding the romance. It feels like they went directly to the friendship part of a relationship that lasted many years. No passion, no love, just "yeah, we are good together, we like each other". I always thought that romance in these books is extremely weak and that's why I don't necessarily like Shallan and Adolin in a relationship. It's a wasted opportunity to make us care about the 2 of them as a couple in my opinion.

My least favourite part was Wit and Jasnah's relationship. Those two don't fit well together for me, and it felt unnecessary to have in the book. My favourite parts would be "WE CHOSE!!!" And Kaladin swearing the fourth ideal. Overall, I liked Navani's parts. Without her being forced into a situation like that-- so that she can't give the credit of her work to other scholars, and so that she's in an environment where she can just focus-- we would've missed her realizing that she is worthy and smart (when Gavilar had convinced her otherwise). I am happy Rlain didn't bond the sibling because it was just like how Kaladin tried to force a honorspren to bond with Rlain. Nobody was asking what Rlain wants.

Don't worry Brandon Sanderson has at least two more books coming out this year, you'll have plenty to read lol.

Something cool, I can't recall when, but Pattern Tells shallan that she WILL kill him.

The timeline of Rhythm of War is weird. I'm a die hard Stormlight Archive fan but I gotta admit it doesn't really work how Brandon Sanderson tries to simulatenously catch up on a year and a half of war development while telling a die hard story with Kaladin at Urithiru.

Dalinar has no arc in this book. He is trying to figure out his powers but doesn't truly get anywhere with it. It's why he feels apathetic as you say. There is no character arc for him, just plot stuff.