TS Chan's Reviews > The Rithmatist

4.5 stars.

One of the reasons why fans of Brandon Sanderson (including yours truly) love him so much - when he gets into a writing funk he sidetracks himself by writing something completely different from his main project and it can result in a gem like this book.

MG and YA are not my go-to genre and hence, I'm very selective when it comes to these books. However, I have immense faith in Sanderson as he consistently churns out good, if not amazing, books. I also failed to understand why he had been so regularly critiqued for his characters. Ever since I've read The Way of Kings - one of the most character-driven books in epic fantasy - I've come to appreciate how my engagement with such fictional beings drive my enjoyment of the book. I believe that he had invariably delivered in this aspect simply because everytime I pick up a Sanderson book, I am not able to read anything else.

Firstly, this is non-Cosmere book. The world is set in a gearpunk 'alternative' Earth where North America is made up of islands. Secondly, no review of this author is complete without mention about the magic system and I am beginning to risk sounding like a broken record - how does Sanderson even create such fascinating ones? In the Rithmatist, the foundation of the magic was built on geometry, trigonometry and chalk. Yes, chalk! "How??" you might ask. Well there are illustrations at the start of each chapter to explain the mechanics of different chalk drawings and how precise geometrical/trigonometrical properties influence its relative strength/power. The power of this author's imagination realised in artform.

The storytelling is solid comprising both a pretty dark mystery component and a school/learning setting. In spite of the young age of the main characters, the narrative was not annoyingly juvenile but was instead engaging and mature enough to appeal to older audiences. I really appreciated how Joel, the main protagonist, did not get an easy way out. You'll need to read the book to understand what I mean by this; no standard YA tropes here. To cap it all off, the ending sequence and the revelations were quite magnificent. There was a "Ooooh, I see what you did there" moment, which I can't allude to further as it might be construed as a potential spoiler.

Ever the planner, Sanderson has just completed the research phase of the 2nd book as he intends to expand the worldbuilding from North America to Meso- and South America.