Rhythm of War SPOILERS Review! 

How is you doing?

I think Adolin's relationship with Maya was developed really well, just much more subtly than most. You can go all the way back to where he speaks to her before his duels and such. The respect he has shown his Blade since he received it created the bond that allowed her to regain some form of consciousness. I thought that was really cool.

"Adolin just kinda helps others instead of doing his own thing." My dude, that's the point. Adolin is a helper. The climax of his story is a direct result of his desire and ability to help Maya when everyone else had written her off.

Adolin’s friendship with Kaladin is a beautiful thing. Here you have a man that goes out of his way to help his friends, who doesn’t understand them completely, but genuinely TRIES his damnedest to do it, and moves them because of it. Here is the best and most realistic depiction of an ally to a suicidal person I have seen in a long time. You can only hope that you will meet someone as determined to work with what he has as Adolin Kholin; you can only dream of having someone like that to save your life. I wholeheartedly disagree with you on your assessment of his character; his greatest strength is that he does not need the spotlight to help someone. He does what he can. He tries his best. That is a noble quality that few other characters in the series possess in such magnitude.

The epilogue honestly scared me more than anything that happened in the whole book. Like idk I’ve always seen Wit/Hoid as a mysterious and sort of omniscient character and the fact that T-Odium “took” his memories has frightening implications for the future books

Maya did not defend Adolin in the court, she defended herself.

What about Raboniel? No thoughts on her? I thought she was a fantastic villain (if you can call her that).

Your Adolin criticism is amusingly his biggest insecurity-feeling unimportant and just being an extension to others, he’s struggling to fit in into a world which has left him feeling without purpose. I found that very interesting, and am looking forward to see how Brandon handles that.

Kaladin's arc had me in tears

"Journey before destination, you bastard!" is my FAVORITE line in this book!!

Honor can never die so long as he lives on in the hearts of men!

Adolin is actually my favorite character overall. Everyone around him is so important... and he's just... Adolin, just a mere man. Kaladin and Dalinar are easy to like, easy to get invested in, their character arcs are epic and dramatic. Adolin's arc is a quiet, understated thing, and I absolutely love that.

Personal Adolin theory: first human to give power to a spren via a bond, rather than the other way around. Maya is the first spren version of an Edgedancer.

When Lewshti reacted to Venlis new status, I suddenly cared more about the Parshendi.

I loved Adolin in this book. The way he was so nervous in picking his outfit for the first time he would see Maya in the Cognitive realm in a year was subtle and so worthwhile to me

Interviewer: So Brandon how powerful is Nightblood? Brandon: YES!

Cold (not hot) take: We need more Wit and Design. Love the interactions between those two goobers.

Oh thank God I finally have a place to post this: The only valid Kmight's Radiant in this book was Zu the Stoneward because the first thing she did when entering Shadesmar was hug her spren.

Taravangian as Odium's vessel is absolutely terrifying, even more after seing that even Hoid is scared of him. I have no idea of where this is going and what Cultivation masterplans are

Breaking Bad Navani was everything I wanted.

For a book that was supposed be Venli's Book, I honestly wasn't that into her chapters. Every time one came up I wasn't excited like I was with other characters. Have to (respectfully) disagree about Adolin though. I feel like his whole arc for all four books has been leading to Maya's recovery and it paid off well, if a bit predictable.

One thing that I loved about Todium is the fact that we have no idea what is going to happen. Like we started to know better Odium in this book and we could have an idea of what he might do. But Tarangvian? It feels like an chaos element

Apparently you missed the Memo, but Taravangian-Odium is just shortened to Tod. Thank you for coming to my TOD talk.

Omg and Raboniel. She was SO GOOD. When she died at the end, I about lost it. Just wanting to release her daughter from a cruel fate. So good. Can't wait for book 5 so I can reread the stormlight archive once more!! And teft, ugh.

I agree with some of your points, disagree with other, as it should be. Rythm of War was a true 5 stars for me, loved it.

I definitely respectfully disagree in terms of Adolin and Maya. Yes she won him the trial, however his connection to her and working on that for 4 books now is what enabled her to do that. That's very much a him alone win, even as everyone else mocked him and dismissed that entirely, even a lot of the other main characters like Kaladin. Even the idea of doing the trail, was his idea when everyone else would've given up. He forced his way in and secured that win in a way I think anyone else might not have. He also I think shined in this book in terms of the rescue of the Honorspren who's name I forget. That was a badass fight, and I love that it was all him winning most of it on his wits and skill alone. And his clear honor won them over and that played a key role too in the win, although dwarfed by Maya. I also think Sanderson has done a great job of slowly building Adolin up as an Edgedancer and how much he listens to those commonly ignored, and sees everyone. I also think in many ways Adolin is one of the best, in terms of being a good person, characters as he keeps showing up and exemplifying honor and kindness in a way that even Kaladin doesn't always do mostly on the kindness part, although that's because of his inner demons. Adolin is just so consistently a good friend, and a good husband despite a ridiculously complicated wife for her own reasons that he accepts without a moments thought. He doesn't always know what to do but he's always there to help her if he can. On the other hand I definitely agree about the Singers and Listener culture. I liked a lot of the current timeframe Listener / Fused characters, and some of the flashbacks had something to them but a lot felt meh. I was more interested on the potential of a Terris person, or just other person who likes excessive rings, who came in to help and why than I was about the Listeners. I'm glad at least to some degree Sanderson realized that and toned down the flashbacks from where most of them were, and I liked the ending for Eshonai as that was a nice sendoff to that character. I also agree for Shallan the buildup and payoff for Formless was too quick, which I think could've been helped if their storyline wasn't entirely dropped for part 3, but I could see how that'd be tricky to do. It just felt like any time she was potentially peaking out felt like intro then she was here and gone.

I'm starting to worry that Brandon is deriving enjoyment from abusing Kaladin.

I just like how we have no clue what Cultivation really wants or even her goals. From what we've seen of her so far she seems more neutral but you never know when it comes to shards.

I was listening to one of latter chapters on the way home from work, and that one Kaladin chapter had me ugly crying in the highway.

My favorite moment in the book is Wit's story about the dog and the dragon

I appreciate you honesty with all of this. Although our opinions don’t always line up, it’s good to hear another that’s just not mine. I think Maya’s big scream was a part of Adolin’s arc in a meaningful way. She was able to scream because of the connection (Connection?) that Adolin shares with her. So I think the payoff is there for Adolin and plus into his potentially being an Edgedancer or pseudo-Radiant or whatever (tbh I don’t want him to be radiant, especially because of Dalinar’s expectations). He was able to solve the problem of the honorspren by remembering someone who had been forgotten, and empowering them to speak up.

The BEST line in RoW, I think .... " Journey Before Destination, YOU BASTARD" 😂😂😂

I thought the dabbid chapter were great. I always love how Brandon Sanderson handles mental illnesses in his books.

As Sazed said, it's not the vessel that you should be worried about it's the power itself. That goes for Taravangian as well and this will be terrifying because despite his intentions, he is just a vessel, a genius that Odium will take advantage of. Cultivation f'ed up universally since she thinks Todium can control the power.

Weirdly enough I cared more about adolin and maya rather than venli and her flashbacks

Honestly I actually really liked adolin in this book. His personal struggles with dealing with his father's revelations , what happened with sadeus and how hes still doing everything he can to help and support these other characters with their problems all made me personally invested with what was going on with him. But what I'm most worried about with the book is the ending and the whole ten days thing. Because of what it potentially means since it means dalinars coalition has to lose the duel or It will kinda make rhythm of war pointless since the war will be over and all the accomplishments of navani and adolin wont have time to make an impact. But if they lose then we will lose dalinar and honestly I'm not sure what will happen at that point. I trust in sanderson completely but still think I'd rather the duel been like 10 weeks or something.

It's interesting that you barely talked about the things that I loved about this book (the rhythms, Kaladin acting as the last rebel, Maya's speach, the entire fucking ending...Though you did talk about T-Odium) in favor of things that seem like details to me. It does explain why you consider this book to be good, while I consider it to be the best Sanderson book

See I actually wanted Adolin to say the oaths and “Heal” Maya, but Brando Sando pulling the “we chose” had me shook.

Notum choosing to speak for instead of against the humans was incredible. "Honor is not dead in the hearts of men." Is not a line or scene I will ever forget

I found the 400 page gap between the Shadesmar storyline far more jarring than any Wheel of Time drop off. I don't know why but it really threw me

PSA: Go back and read the last bit with Shallan and pay close attention to the conversation about Thaidakar. Possibly the biggest bomb-drop in the book, even with the Taravangian thing.

I really love Adolin and I think he got some subtle but genuinely good development in this book. Adolin's got a touch of Perfectionist Older Sibling Syndrome and is struggling to tread water, let alone achieve the type of results he's used to, while everyone around him now has superpowers. He was given responsibility and high expectations very early in life, he was trained for a bunch of stuff that is now obsolete, he's discovered just how deeply flawed his dad (who used to be his idol) is and has had to come to terms with the fact that his dad killed his mother, he's continuing to clash with his dad over issues of identity, and his wife and his friend are experiencing mental health crises he feels like he can't actually help them with, which is absolute torture for the type of person who feels such deep instincts to both care for people and also to achieve results. I feel like everyone's going to have a different relationship to each of the Stormlight MCs--not each character is going to hit quite as close to home for every reader--but Adolin's story and conflict really hit well for me. Adolin is going through some serious struggles--he was trained to be a main hero and has adapted into playing a support class.

I think that with Adolin's arc, the whole concept is that now in a world with radiants and magic he is just no longer as useful in the roles he used to fill, and in book 5 his arc will be all about him having to fully come to terms with that, imo.

No love for the Thaidakar reveal, huh? That's going to be a BIG deal at some point

Kaladin is by far my favorite character. I've dealt with depression for years from the things I've seen and done in my life, and there is so much that goes on Kaladin's head that I relate to on a deep level. I'm very excited to see what happens in the next book.

Make a full spoilers review: "Kal deals with depression" No way...

You can not change my mind the rhythm "Rhythm of War" is ragtime.

I personally enjoyed Adolins storyline very much, though admittedly I mostly just wanted to see Maya do cool stuff.

Best way to summarize part 5 is it runs your emotions through a paint mixer.

You mention you love Adolin and his relationships. The payoff with Maya is all about Adolin and relationships. That was a big payoff I thought.

I consumed this book in 5 days and I still can't give a proper review. I just loved it and maybe among rereads my rating will drop but right now I stand at a 5 star read♡ Loved the pacing, the charcter growth and that ending😘 Thanks for this review it made me laugh and it was a great way to start my day♡♡♡

I feel like the Singers, just like the Assassination Day prologue, are having their own story arc/perception shift through the first 5 books. Book 1 they are painted to be some mystical and fel threat. Book 2 they are shown to be very real and definitely evil. Book 3 you're shown that, no, most Singers are decent, if understandably furious, people but it's the Fused that have an evil agenda and are controlling them. Book 4 shows that, no, even the Fused are not monolithic and they want the war to end just as much as the humans. I wonder what Book 5 will bring. That may be part of why feelings are mixed on these guys. You can't really hate them as bad guys but we still have some of that initial prejudice working against them. Maybe not. Also, calling it now, New Odium picks Gavinor as his Champion and Dalinar will be forced to kill him or forfeit Roshar.

Looking forward to the implications of T-Odium. The Sanderson Cinematic Universe has a Thanos now.

My insterest in the Parshendi story took a massive hit when Eshonai died. I was happy to see more of her in this book, but Venli never really clicked for me as a character.

The kaladin and Tien moment broke me to tears, I hold it with teft but seeing Tien again, man I feel that so deep

Taravangodium was a moment that just blew my mind, especially when I looked back and realised holy SHIT this has been set up since book 2. Every time Taravangian discusses means and ends, it's always 'Let the burden of sin fall upon me' which is so similar to 'I will draw strength from your pain, give it to me'. Personally I liked the Adolin-focused parts of section 4, but not the Shallan-focused parts of section 2. Venli's flashbacks were too long and too disconnected from the rest of the story. The Navani vs Raboniel storyline in the Tower was done really well, although it felt like a repeat of The Emperor's Soul.

As an engineer, the Navani storyline was amazing because I could really relate with here personality and story arc. I don't necessarily agree with your opinion on the Adolin arc: I didn't see the decision to go to trial coming, and the Maya event was a good payoff all the way from the first book when he says he is the only one he knows to talk to his shardblade. So I enjoyed those arc without problem. Honestly my biggest issue with the book was the Venli/Eshonai flashback. I just couldn't get into them and I often found myself speedreading them to get over it and go back to the meat of the action.

"What's [Adolin] doing? Because even now, he's acting as a vassal for someone else?" That's a huge point of stress for Adolin, Navani points it out at the beginning of the book. He was shadowed all his life by the titan that ks his father, and now he finds himself surrounded by Radiants, feeling incredibly irrelevant. I agree that Sanderson could treat his character better, since he's my favourite one, but a huge point of Adolin's character is that he lives for others.

Venli was one of my favorite characters in this books actually, well her present form. Her flashbacks with the other listeners didn’t pull me in, but I just loved her.

No one talking about Teft. But Teft's death was unexpected and shocking for me. First the pain he felt when his spren was killed and then him being killed by Moash after all he went through and overcame. Just really heartbreaking. I'm not sure if I'm that excited for the 5th book since who knows who's death is coming next.

I gotta say that my favorite reveal of this book is that the leader of the Ghostbloods is Kelsier.

One thing I just now picked up on is the comparison between the Deadeyes and the PTSD soldiers. Think about it, both are kind of just 'living' on autopilot, both suffered because of war and most importantly the way they are treated. The Ardentia and the Honourspren both lock them up in a poor attempt to 'protect' them, but Kaladin and Adolin both prove that what really helps them is to talk to them, spend time with them, really care about them and treat them like normal people. This ultimately is the reason why Maya helped Adolin. I think it was a good moment for Adolin because his kindness payed off. Ever since he knew the shocking reality of Maya he did everything he could to try and treat her like a normal person and it finally comes to a grand conclusion. Sure, maybe not a singular 'big' moment for Adolin, but a sum of many small things which is actually more true to life. It isn't usually the grand moments that make the most difference, but the consistant, small things in life that change the world.

Boo, Adolin is the best character.

Best line in the book...."I'm banning toes!"

I loved this book. I agree with most of your points, but I liked Adolins story and didn’t care as much for Navanis just because it took so much time to get through. Thanks for putting up a spoiler review!

Kaladin was easily my favorite part of Rhythm of War. Just like you said, seeing a character share my own struggles with depression-everything from the grand span of years to the moments that kick off spirals to the exact thoughts I have at the worst points-written SO WELL, was definitely an experience to read. It's annoying to see a character just get over their mental struggles, so Rhythm of War was a breath of fresh air.

"There wasn't a Sanderlanch." (non-spoiler review) BRO WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT.

Gavilar:My rule shall last forever! Szeth:Hold my beer.

Raboniel is now up there with Denth as my favorite Sanderson villain. Outstanding arc for her.

I love that one of Daniel's criticisms boils down to "I wish the book had been longer" (more time with Shallan's internal dialogue). Daniel Daniel no Daniel pls Brandon may see And HE'LL DO IT

The final flashback chapter with Eshonai hit me A LOT harder than I was expecting

Funny, Adolin was actually one of my favorites. I dont know why it had to be "all about him", his love and compassion led to Mayas moment. It was one of the best scenes of the book, on par with "Honor is dead but Ill see what I can do." They found out the radiants didnt betray spren, that the genocide didnt happen. That wouldnt have happened if it wasnt for Adolin.

Adolins arc with Maya was one of my favorite things in the book. I don’t think someone being selfless is lacking development I think it’s actually a really good character trait.

Sanderson should have went full Parshendi in this book. The biggest problem of this book was that Venli didn't develop enough and she didn't accomplish much. Compare her to previous focus characters in the first three books and what those characters were able to accomplish. Venli's contributions just don't measure up. Why devote so much time to a character that accomplishes so little compared to her contemporaries.

Thanks for the review. Great as always. I actually really liked Adolin's story in this book. His problems were not solved with a duel, which I liked. His reaching out to Kaladin to try to help his friend was great. Just my 2 cents.

Keep in mind that if adolin gives you a "what is he doing?" vibe, adolin himself feels that way!

Just finished the book. Expected to get bored with Venli, Rlain and other characters who got page time for the first time from your spoiler free review, but I really enjoyed all of them and i am really surprised at how much I enjoyed the book after watching your review. A lot of things that bothered you didn’t bother me as much except for shallan and adolin’s arc maybe.

I’m a psychotherapist and I gotta say I completely agree with you. I’ve never seen mental health so well portrayed, in both expression and recovery. One of the reasons I love reading Brandon Sanderson so much is because of how well he writes mental health and the arc of recovery from mental health. So tired of characters just snapping out of ptsd and depression. Sanderson does it right.

I agree with most of the opinions presented! thoughts: -the structuring of the middle part of the book where we don't see certain characters for a long time bothered me a little more than it should have -Adolins arc felt good to me, I get that it wasn't as satisfying from a character perspective but that made him seem even more human, trying his best and not necessarily succeeding through his own merit (but still basically saving Maya/the day by being a genuine Good Guy™) -also I think the reason the Listener flashbacks are less engaging than the Blackthorn flashbacks in OB is that while their culture is very interesting, the information presented doesn't feel as new and revealing -didnt expect Todium and love how Brandon constantly raises the stakes and keeps everything fresh by killing off villains and changing threats (Rayse was kinda weak anyway imo) -Navani/Raboniel interaction is amazing♡ Obviously a great read, Kate & Michael killing it on the audiobook. While waiting for the next entry I'm off to close my cosmere knowledge gaps, probably reading Warbreaker next.

Gotta respectfully disagree with you on my boy Adolin. Part of Adolin’s whole deal is that he does just help people. His treating Maya like a person (spren) despite being a dead eye is what enables her to come somewhat out of her state. His reassurance probably stopped Kal from killing himself or at the very least majorly self harming, and his love for Shallan allows her to come more to terms with yourself. Adolin truly is the most Edgedancery Edgedancer who ever danced upon a edge

one thing I find strange about the ending is that hoid is storing his latest memories in breaths rather than older ones.

The defeated one and maya's court appearance are probably some of my favourite moments from the entire series

I've soooo been looking forward to this. I have steadily worked through this book more quickly than usual because I was SOOOO motivated to watch this video!

Just finished Fires of Heaven and moving on to Lord of Chaos ;)

Please Make A dedicated Video of Reviewing Dark Tower As A Whole Series!♥️

I feel I should tell you Daniel, that I was almost as excited for your spoiler review as I was for the book itself. The first thing I did after a few minutes of soaking in the ending was watch this. Well done sir. I hope you make a more lengthy video discussing some the finer points in the book.

Love your channel man. I loved reading as a kid and kinda lost it for the last few years but one of your videos popped up in my recs randomly and I decided to pick up mistborn after watching some vids. I'd forgotten how much I loved fantasy. Now ive polished off that series and the stormlight archive. I thank you for reminding to a passion I'd forgotten about

I don't think Aedolan is the worst character in the stormlight archive and I think you overstated how bad his part in story was. Yes the finall day of the trial was not great, but personally I found the journey to be good with honestly my favorite fight in the series. And as a character I don't understand how you could hate him more than someone like Moash or Sadeas.

Haven't finished the book yet so I just came to drop a like and get back into the book. Would return after Im finished with it Edit (2 weeks later): Now I have finished! Loved it! The Dog And The Dragon story is so so so good omg.

Adolin's relationship with Maya was set up perfectly for the trial. He spoke to and cared for her throughout the series. Maya speaking up for him during a pivotal trial speaks immensely to his character!

Lol love the Intro! I’m glad I finally finished the book so I can check out everybody’s reviews!

I cried a lot. That's everything I can say right now :(

If anyone wants an actual spoiler review with meaningful discussion and less commenting on other people’s opinions of their own opinions, go check out Elliot Brooks’ spoiler chat videos for this series. She reviews the books for any SA reader to enjoy, not just the “casual fans” (whatever that means).

As far as Formless' relatively abrupt resolution, I personally really appreciate how often he introduces personal and/or interpersonal conflicts that resemble overplayed story elements and then says "haha jk it's resolved"

Adolin is a breath of fresh air. Hes the most mentally stable character in the series. It's such a relief when we switch to his view. I really like his level headedness, and i love that hes fighting as someone who is not a radiant.

Spoilers: Do we think Kelsier is the Lord of Scars? Also Wit and Jasnar is the best ship in the cosemere.

This is too short for a spoiler review 😂

Also, you are one of the few reviewers I trust the in depth reviews and opinions on because you do such an incredible job of explaining the way you think about things, that even if I don’t necessarily like the same things all the time, I generally get a lot out of your reviews and they are incredibly helpful in even persuading me to pick up books I wouldn’t necessarily have in the first place such as Jade City and The First Law books.

Bruh, the taravangian twist had me floored. Rayse was not only the biggest stormlight villian, but arguably the biggest threat to the cosmere. And now, Taravangian is somehow sneakier, smarter, and more devious than Rayse had been. Super excited to see where this goes.

Oh lol Rythm of War is my favorite so far 😂