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shlymiller's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
palmkd's review against another edition
5.0
This continues to be my favorite series which I cannot recommend enough!
I've read this one twice now and there's so much going on that it's hard to write a proper review.
You definitely need to start with book 1 in the series, and each book is more like 5 books in one and so wonderfully put together. If you've ever read a Sanderson book, you probably know that it comes with a "Sanderlanche," aka that moment where you really can't put it down anymore and your feelings are all on high alert. That was probably the last 2-2.5 hours of this book for me. SO GOOD.
Book 4 of the Stormlight archive was AMAZING. The stakes are higher, the feelings rawer, and the journeys even more rewarding than previous books. This time the current story is taking place in 3 different locations for the most part. There's some flashbacks explaining other points of view from the timeframe of book 1 which reveal some interesting information. There's more Radiant awesomness and another trip to Shadesmar. There's more spren and awesome world building.
And if that all wasn't enough, the Cosmere connections are becoming more and more blatant as the series progress and I CANNOT wait for book 5 in December!
I've read this one twice now and there's so much going on that it's hard to write a proper review.
You definitely need to start with book 1 in the series, and each book is more like 5 books in one and so wonderfully put together. If you've ever read a Sanderson book, you probably know that it comes with a "Sanderlanche," aka that moment where you really can't put it down anymore and your feelings are all on high alert. That was probably the last 2-2.5 hours of this book for me. SO GOOD.
Book 4 of the Stormlight archive was AMAZING. The stakes are higher, the feelings rawer, and the journeys even more rewarding than previous books. This time the current story is taking place in 3 different locations for the most part. There's some flashbacks explaining other points of view from the timeframe of book 1 which reveal some interesting information. There's more Radiant awesomness and another trip to Shadesmar. There's more spren and awesome world building.
And if that all wasn't enough, the Cosmere connections are becoming more and more blatant as the series progress and I CANNOT wait for book 5 in December!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and War
aseaoftomes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I really really enjoyed this.
This is the fourth installment in the Stormlight Archive, so it's hard to give a summary, but this picks up about a year after the events of Oathbringer and the war is picking up.
The writing in this was really great. I've often talked about the inconsistency in the quality and tightness of Sanderson's writing, but this was one of his strongest works in my opinion. It flowed nicely, the pacing was good and it was very engaging throughout. At times I did find certain portions of the book to be a bit heavy on technical details, which I normally really like, but it just felt like a lot all at once. But overall, really solid writing.
The plot of this was interesting too - lots of political intrigue and different people coming together in unexpected and expected ways and of course there's the thread of a looming and brewing war throughout. Also there were a lot of really great themes throughout as well - things like mental illness and learning and accepting yourself, which I also really enjoyed.
The setting/world building was particularly strong in this one. I always like Sanderson's world, but I really loved it in this book. We got a lot of information about the Cosmere and it's starting to come together, so I really loved getting to see all of that and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
Finally, the characters. As always, there were certain character's arcs I preferred to others. I particularly enjoyed Shallan, Adolin and surprisingly Kaladin in this book. I also really liked Navani's arc as well. We learned so many interesting things about all of them in this book and I'm really excited to see what happens next! (I also love Wit and Jasnah a lot and they might be my favorite characters - but I'm also highly concerned about them both).
All in all, a really great addition to the Stormlight Archive and the overall Cosmere.
This is the fourth installment in the Stormlight Archive, so it's hard to give a summary, but this picks up about a year after the events of Oathbringer and the war is picking up.
The writing in this was really great. I've often talked about the inconsistency in the quality and tightness of Sanderson's writing, but this was one of his strongest works in my opinion. It flowed nicely, the pacing was good and it was very engaging throughout. At times I did find certain portions of the book to be a bit heavy on technical details, which I normally really like, but it just felt like a lot all at once. But overall, really solid writing.
The plot of this was interesting too - lots of political intrigue and different people coming together in unexpected and expected ways and of course there's the thread of a looming and brewing war throughout. Also there were a lot of really great themes throughout as well - things like mental illness and learning and accepting yourself, which I also really enjoyed.
The setting/world building was particularly strong in this one. I always like Sanderson's world, but I really loved it in this book. We got a lot of information about the Cosmere and it's starting to come together, so I really loved getting to see all of that and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
Finally, the characters. As always, there were certain character's arcs I preferred to others. I particularly enjoyed Shallan, Adolin and surprisingly Kaladin in this book. I also really liked Navani's arc as well. We learned so many interesting things about all of them in this book and I'm really excited to see what happens next! (I also love Wit and Jasnah a lot and they might be my favorite characters - but I'm also highly concerned about them both).
All in all, a really great addition to the Stormlight Archive and the overall Cosmere.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Medical trauma
kylieqrada's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The Stormlight Archives are my favorite of Brandon Sanderson's works. Re-reading the first three books and the novellas in the latter half of 2020 and then picking up RoW now, although I have some regrets (CLIFFHANGER!!!) really allowed me to see BSands' progression as an author. The CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. The MENTAL ILLNESS REP. The (improving) DISABILITY REP (we still have some work to do here). The COSMERE TIE-INS. I weep. And while this book was so very, very long, I did not begrudge him one single line. Especially those last 100 pages. Phew. I need a nap. 1 million points for Gryffinpuff.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder