Rhythm of War (2020) is a fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson and is the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive series. The series takes place on the planet Roshar in Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. Set one year after the events of Oathbringer (2017), the third novel of the series, Rhythm of War follows protagonists Dalinar, Kaladin, Shallan, and Navani as they battle the god Odium for the fate of Roshar.

Like the first three Stormlight Archive novels, Rhythm of War is, according to Brandon Sanderson, essentially three novels in one. The novel is split into five sections, each featuring a different set of characters.

Other works by this author include The Way of Kings, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Elantris.

This guide uses the 2020 Tor edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The novel features depictions of mental illness, including depression, suicidal thoughts, and symptoms inspired by dissociative identity disorder. The fantasy-infused depictions of mental health issues and neurodiversity may not be accurate to real-world experiences and, in some cases, may be offensive portrayals.

Plot Summary

Rhythm of War is set in a universe called Cosmere, on the planet Roshar, on a supercontinent also called Roshar. There, the ruling family of the recently created country of Alethkar battles the minions and allies of Odium, a god that wishes to subjugate humanity to become soldiers in his greater battle in the Cosmere. Both protagonists and antagonists have access to Stormlight, the source of magic in the world; they also bond with and make use of the powers of the spren—spirits that embody emotions, ideas, and concepts.

The novel focuses on the efforts of Alethkar’s ruling family: King Dalinar Kholin, a famed warrior and the leader of the Knights Radiant—superhuman fighters who use magic called Stormlight; Queen Navani, a renowned researcher and crafter of magical items called fabrials; heir to the throne Adolin, a charming duelist; and Navani’s daughter, Jasnah, a brilliant scholar of history and of Odium’s minions. Key allies of the Kholin family are Kaladin Stormblessed, an exemplary Knight Radiant who focuses on the protective magic of the Windrunner, and Shallan, formerly Jasnah’s ward and now Adolin’s wife and a talented illusionist and psychic Radiant called a Lightweaver. All of these characters have their own associated spren; dead spren can turn into weapons called Shardblades.

The novel also follows some members of Odium’s forces. Venli is a member of a nonhuman species called listeners, which humans refer to as Parshendi. Listeners, in turn, are a splinter group of a species known as singers—beings that can transform their bodies into forms that are best suited for specific purposes. Many generations ago, humans stole the singers’ minds, enslaved them, and called them parshmen. Those singers who were unaffected are now known as listeners/Parshendi. Venli’s motivation for fighting against the Alethi is to free the enslaved parshmen. Another antagonist is the thousands of years old Raboniel; Raboniel is one of the Fused—the ruling class of the Parshendi, made up of resurrected Odium-based spren possessing the bodies of dead parshmen. 

The novel begins one year after the events of the third novel, Oathbringer, in which Dalinar gets Odium to agree to a contest of champions. However, the god refuses to set terms, as he believes he has the upper hand in the war. Dalinar realizes that he must frighten Odium into believing he could potentially lose the war to convince the god to commit to the contest.

The novel opens with the rescue of the residents of Hearthstone, Kaladin’s hometown, from Fused and singer control. The Alethi, instead of sending a covert rescue mission, take Navani’s latest invention: an airship. They use the airship to rescue the entire town while Windrunner Radiants fight off the Fused. However, during the successful rescue, due to Kaladin’s increasing battle shock—a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—and depression, Dalinar removes him from active service. Instead of staying to train Windrunners or act as an envoy, Kaladin chooses to return to his father’s surgery practice as an apprentice. Learning about the abysmal options available to other people with mental illness, Kaladin dedicates himself to helping them and researching new treatments.

Dalinar and a coalition of other monarchs decide to invade Emul, a country to the West, to recover it from Odium. The Kholins are shocked when Taravangian, a seemingly weak king whom they rightly suspect of working for Odium, agrees to the attack, but they move forward anyway.

Meanwhile, the coalition needs more Windrunners, but many honorspren—the spren who bond with knights to give them their supernatural abilities, hate humans for their ancestors’ betrayal thousands of years prior. Shallan and Adolin volunteer for an envoy mission to apologize and plead for help in person. This is a dangerous task: The spren live in a different dimension called Shadesmar. Shallan is also hoping to infiltrate the Ghostbloods, a covert organization with dark ties to her past.

Meanwhile, Navani and Kaladin remain in Urithiru, an ancient fortress city shaped like a tiered tower and defended by the Sibling, a spren that blocks non-Radiant powers. While the majority of Alethi troops are away from the tower, Raboniel leads an invasion of Urithiru, corrupting Sibling so that Radiant powers do not work, rather than those of the Fused. All of the Radiants except Kaladin fall unconscious; Navani protects the Sibling from corruption with an ancient shield but surrenders when it is clear they have lost.

Raboniel demands that Navani use her scholarly skills. They work together to learn how the tones and rhythms of Roshar can be used to mix types of Light and create new kinds of gemstones and fabrials. Meanwhile, Kaladin goes into hiding deep within the unexplored regions of the tower, fleeing a Fused called the Pursuer. He and Navani communicate via the Sibling, planning the liberation of the tower; however, unbeknownst to them, Raboniel hears Navani’s conversations with the Sibling and often is one step ahead.

During the occupation of the tower, on Odium’s orders, Taravangian betrays the coalition of monarchs by ordering his troops to attack them from behind, trapping them between enemies. Nevertheless, the Alethi rout the troops, capture Taravangian, and take Emul as planned.

In Shadesmar, Adolin offers himself up for an honor trial, essentially standing in for all humanity, including the ancient Radiants who betrayed their spren. Meanwhile, Shallan’s mental health challenges come to a head: She has a version of dissociative identity disorder; however, her personas now help her to face her past, allowing her to recall painful memories of betraying a spren and killing her abusive parents. Adolin challenges the beliefs of the spren during his rigged trial. But just before he is condemned, the dead spren of his Shardblade manages to talk, which has never happened before. She reveals that the ancient Radiants did not betray their spren—the spren chose to be sealed away to protect humanity and Shadesmar from the Fused. Adolin is free; the nature of Radiant bonds will change.

Just as Raboniel has almost totally corrupted the Sibling and gained the power to kill Radiant spren with Navani’s discoveries, Navani and Kaladin get the upper hand. Kaladin successfully says his fourth Ideal—part of the magical pact uttered by Radiant Knights—which grants him Shardplate, a special kind of armor, and full use of his powers. Navani becomes a Radiant by bonding the Sibling. Together, they defeat the Fused and their singer army. Meanwhile, Venli, who has been part of Raboniel’s forces but has not strayed from the honor her spren desires, now says her second Ideal. Venli and her people leave Urithiru and the Fused to seek the surviving listeners that Venli has discovered through Raboniel.

The loss of Emul convinces Odium to attend the battle of champions, which will take place in 10 days. Kaladin agrees to help Dalinar by working to heal one of the Heralds who might be able to help Dalinar learn to use his powers. Shallan and Adolin commit to helping their dead spren heal.

Meanwhile, Taravangian kills Odium in a vision, thus taking over as Odium’s new vessel. Taravangian-Odium, whose beliefs are based around extreme utilitarianism, feels torn between destroying and saving humanity.