With only nine months to go until the release of book four in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series, the hype train is starting to really get rolling. This week, the book officially got its title confirmed: Rhythm of War.
While we’ve known for a while now that Rhythm of War was a working title that Sanderson was considering, it’s still pretty exciting to have it confirmed as the final choice. After all, it means we’re one step closer to our return journey to Roshar!
So what does the title mean? Where does it come from? Let’s do a bit of digging. But be warned: there will be SPOILERS below for the first three Stormlight books.
As is the case with every book in The Stormlight Archive, the title of the novel will also be an in-world tome that is featured in the story. The Way of Kings was a formative work that changed Dalinar Kholin’s worldview. Words of Radiance was a book that Shallan Davar studied to try and glean the secrets of the ancient orders of the Knights Radiant. And Oathbringer, strummer of heartstrings, is the book that Dalinar writes by the end of the third volume in the series.
So what role will Rhythm of War play in book four?
For starters, Sanderson has hinted that this is “the first of one of these in-world books that has involved the writings of someone who is not human.” Given that he’s also confirmed that book four was planned to feature flashbacks for the Parshendi warrior Eshonai, and that the title itself is an obvious reference to the Parshendi — who communicate by using various songs and rhythms — I do believe that we can make a safe assumption about what non-human species wrote Rhythms of War.
As for who will actually be writing the book, that remains to be seen. We know that this volume will heavily feature Venli (Eshonai’s younger sister). Given Venli’s turn at the end of Oathbringer, is it possible that she’s writing Rhythm of War as a tome to pass on knowledge to her people? Or perhaps it’s a book she’s come across and helped convince her that Odium — the godlike being who is enslaving the Parshendi to his will — is not to be trusted. Or maybe one of our human protagonists is reading it in order to better understand the Parshendi in hopes of forming a lasting peace?
There are just too many possibilities!
Tor also gave us a look at one of the next Herald paintings: Talenelat’Elin, pictured above. The hardcover edition of Oathbringer introduced having huge, beautiful images of the Heralds on the final pages of the novel, a cherry on top of books that are absolutely stuffed with gorgeous artwork. While it isn’t certain whether this image will appear in Rhythm of War or the following book, it’s still cool to get a glimpse at some of the fantastic artwork that the series has in store.
The one thing that can be said for certain, however, is that Rhythm of War is going to be EPIC. According to Sanderson, “Book four finally gets to one of the foundational scenes I conceived from the beginning. In fact, it might be the very first big scene I imagined, and my favorite in the entire series. A part of me can’t believe people are finally going to be able to read it. Less than one year now! Life before death, Radiants.”
When the man himself is in disbelief about people reading big scenes, it’s got to be a good sign, right? Right?!
Rhythm of War hits shelves November 17th, 2020, which means that you have just enough time to re-read the first three gargantuan books beforehand.
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