Rhythm of War: Book Four of the Stormlight Archive

Definitely the worst book in the series so far. Every character has been flanderized to an extent that it feels like a bad fanfiction. Pattern is wAcKy, Shallan is full-on insane, Kaladin is constantly on the verge of self-deletion, and Dalinar is unreasonably judgmental and harsh. Additionally, the book is unashamedly woke, and I certainly wouldn't suggest supporting it with your money. It feels like Sanderson has spent far too much time on Reddit, with the kind of people that use that site on a daily basis, and has assumed that everyone who reads his books are like that. However, it's not so bad that the series can't be saved. We'll just have to see how the fifth book turns out.

Sadly, this is the worst Brandon Sanderson book I've read and I've read almost all of them (and LOVE THEM). I truly hope he isn't turning into Robert Jordan. The first two thirds of this book was unbelievably boring with obvious pandering to gender identity (femalen in a malen body? boooo) as well as a very long . . . slow . . . boring look at mental health and depression. Brandon, we read your books to escape from depression, not be reminded about it by MULTIPLE characters who are all suffering from mental illness. maybe 1 character . . . .for a bit of time. We read books to be told stories that inspire, surprise, excite, terrify . . . .but not depress. Come on, man. In the end, I just don't think that the last third paid off for the over complicated, low plot achieving, mental health drudgery, of the first two thirds. I'm disappointed. Hopefully this is a 1-off experiment. Crossing my fingers.

As someone who has read every book that Sanderson has written, it was almost heartbreaking to see a story that I LOVED fall apart. The first two books in the series were without question the best 1-2 start to any series I've ever read. Book 3 lost itself about halfway through and it didn't recover or right the ship in book 4. The magic that made the series so great has vanished and it hurts me to type that. The focus on "real life issues" (specifically depression, which was to me the main plot of the story, and I just couldn't enjoy the book because if it) just seems out of touch to me, as I read books to escape the real world. I am not minimizing the fact that the issues Brandon wrote about are real issues, just for me personally, I am not reading the stormlight series to experience those topics or to be informed about them. The story breaks the characters so much, you don't really have anyone left to root for. All of that said, I still love his books. Just sad about the series.