Elves

Rithmatist Review

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was enjoyable, even for a YA book. Unlike the Alcatraz books, this one is serious, but keeps it's tone pretty light, especially with the main character, Joel, who is so enthusiastic that it is contagious. He's devoted to learning about rithmatics, making chalk drawings come to life, but unfortunately, he's not one himself, so he can just study it when allowed, but can't actually do it. Most of the book, you're wondering if he'll become one himself or not, I won't spoil it here, but at least at the beginning, you get the point of view of someone who isn't a rithmatist, which helps, having Joel not be a superpowered rithmatist who can use all 8 or 10 or 12 metals, I mean, knows all the defenses. Sometimes having a powerful hero is appropriate, other times, we want a Frodo, who has no magic but gets things done. At first I thought it would be a stand alone book, but at the end there were some twists that entail another book, maybe more, as well as keeping it from going into the Harry Potter zone. It was easy reading, a brisk adventure set in an alternate history. The world wasn't explored much, but there are plenty of things to explore later on. While no Way of Kings, it is fun to read. I can imagine an IPad app coming out, where you can actually draw out the circles and defenses and send out little chalklings. I mean, Sanderson already wrote a book for Infinity Blade, now he can have his own game out there. We'll see.

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