Book Review: Rhythm of War

Stormlight Archive #4, by Brandon Sanderson

Prologue: Navani recalling Gavilar's assassination, strange anti-light orb.

Rescue Lirin, Kaladin's father, using floating ship. Mink, herdaz general, rescued too. Pursuer and Kaladin clash, horrible exchanged where Pursuer stabs Kaladin's neck repeatedly, paralyzing him, forcing healing. Saved by headbutt, I think. Lured into building, fabrial suppresses Kaladin's power, he kills Pursuer anyway using a knife to the neck. Navani gets to study suppression fabrial later.

Venli and Fused infiltrate tower through the tunnels, turn the tower's defense against the radiants, who all fall unconscious except Kaladin and Lyft. Raboniel and Pursuer. 

First battle to try to protect the tower's column. Soldiers valiant stand and defeat, buys enough time to infuse the shield to protect the column. First node is destroyed.

Navani captured and cooperates with Raboniel. Dabbid communicates with the Sibling.

Moash plots with Odium to send Kaladin nightmare visions about being unable to protect anyone. 

Battles around the nodes that power the shield. 4 nodes that must be protected or destroyed so the Sibling can't be corrupted. Navani tries to help, but Raboniel spies, and finds and forces Kaladin to destroy 2 nodes - outside, the well.

Dalinar and Jasnah win battles in Emul, deceived that Tower is OK but has problem with spanreeds/oathgates that Navani is working on. Eventually they figure it out, too late to really assist.

Adolin and Shallan go to shadesmar, Lasting Integrity, honor spren stronghold, big box where you walk on the walls. Adolin keeps N who was banished from being beaten so much he falls apart. Adolin offers to stand trial to prove that current humans should not be held accountable for Recreance, they can be trustworthy. Herald Restares is the judge, wants to leave. Shallan tries to turn into Formless and kill him and take his place to save Adolin, recovers at the last second and won't do it. Integrates Veil. Realizes she bonded another Cryptic and broke vows after killing her mother, creating a deadeye. Maya brought as final witness against Adolin in the staged trial. Maya speaks, "We chose", and that shocks everyone, acquits Adolin, he can leave. (Spren and radiants agreed to the Recreance, didn't know it would create deadeyes) 

Navani investigates Towerlight, combination of cultivation and stormlight. Finds rhythm of war, the combination of voidlight and stormlight, Odium and Honor's rhythms combined. Anti-voidlight, the same tones, but inverted, with the Intent of the singer. Captured in a gem through a vacuum, so it can't hear background sound. Raboniel uses it to mercy kill her insane Fused daughter. Figures out anti-Stormlight, which can kill Radiant spren.

Kaladin final fight with pursuer, names him the Defeated One, drives him away. Moash is hiding in the room with the unconscious Radiants, attacks Lyft, disables her, kills Teft and uses knife to kill Teft's spren. Kaladin immobilized with Teft's death, Moash orders him left untouched, so he will break (and kill himself).

Navani catches Raboniel in a fabrial trap just as the Sibling's shield falls. Moash goes after Navani. Navani convinces Sibling to bond with her just in time, floods Moash with light and makes him feel his betrayals. Raboniel attacks Moash to help Navani, Moash flees. Navani figures out how to fix and restart the tower defenses with the Sibling. Raboniel tells Navani to end the war, dies. Regals fall unconscious now, Fused forced out, Singers surrender in tower.

Dalinar talks with Ishar, herald bondsmith, who thinks Dalinar is Odium's champion. Ishar has Szeth's father's honorblade. Ishar is very effective at defeating radiants, until Szeth uses the black sword.

Szeth visits Tarvangan to confront him about Szeth's father's death. Breaks some spheres, attracts Odium. Odium wants to know how Dalinar knows how to move against him. Tarvangan uses Szeth's black sword to kill Odium/Rayse, and take Odium's power and become Odium. Cultivation planned for this to happen, and wants Tarvangan to act with compassion and honor. Tarvangan thinks he can just fix everything. Uh-oh.

Final meeting of Wit and Tarvangan, Wit realizes Odium is no longer Rayse, then Tarvangan re-writes some of Wit's memories which are stored externally, and Wit is unaware in a replay. Uh-oh.