The Rithmatist

The Rithmatist is one of Sanderson's young adult novels. As such it has his patented world-building and magical system, but is a bit more bite-sized than most of his adult works (which tend to be long and complicated). It takes place in a world similar to ours, but where the US is an archipelago with some sort of evil lurking at the center. Warriors called Rithmatists are identified at a young age and then trained and ultimately sent to hold the line so this evil doesn't spread to the rest of the country. Only now it seems like something's escaped and a teenager who's obsessed with Rithmancy but has no powers of his own is determined to get to the bottom of it all.

The magical system in this book is geometry-based, which I appreciated. But it's also not quite as cut and dried as the more mathematically inclined would hope for. Sure, things that are more geometrically perfect are stronger, but artwork and intent count for something, too. And the balance between the two remains a mystery to be solved in future books.

My biggest disappointment in this book is that it positively cries out for a sequel or three. Sanderson did an excellent job of seeding a bunch of different threads and ending the novel ambiguously. But then it fell off the list of his priorities. He keeps promising a sequel "someday", but it's looking farther and farther away with each passing year. Which isn't the end of the world. Just go into it knowing that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger that won't be resolved anytime soon. Maybe next time Sanderson needs a break from Cosmere...

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