Brandon Sanderson has shared the UK cover for book four of the The Stormlight Archive, Rhythm of War, over on Twitter! Check it out below.
The cover was first shared by British book retailer Waterstones, which is currently accepting pre-orders for signed limited edition.
Arriving this November: @BrandSanderson's new book in the Stormlight Archive series,
Rhythm of War (featuring a striking cover design, just revealed). Pre-order limited SIGNED copies here: https://t.co/z9l07vtRQi pic.twitter.com/IxmLPdzk9F— Waterstones (@Waterstones) April 16, 2020
Over on r/Stormlight_Archive, fans speculate that the character depicted on the cover is Shallan, with some readers noting that this is the first time she’s appeared on a Stormlight cover (although she does feature in the endpapers for book two, Words of Radiance). One reader also raised this question: If the last two books have depicted pivotal scenes on their covers (SPOILERS at the link), could this be true for Rhythm of War, as well?
For more details about The Stormlight Archive book four, check out Sanderson’s explanation behind the title, as well as our post on three questions we have leading up to the book’s release. The author has also shared key updates on the future of the Cosmere, including a planned timeline for book five, in last year’s State of the Sanderson. The latest Rhythm of War update was published about a month ago, and can be found at r/Stormlight_Archive.
Here’s the book’s official synopsis:
After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage.
Now, as new technological discoveries begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.
Rhythm of War publishes November 17, 2020 in the US with Tor Books and the UK with Gollancz. It’s available for pre-order now from your preferred retailer.
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Rhythm of War
I am looking forward to the part about the enemy developing new technology as well as Team Dalinar preparing for Team Odium’s new offensive and unlocking the keys to Urithiru. Perhaps we will see a big focus on Navani even though she is not the flashback character.
As to the book cover. I do not like it. I miss the bright colors of the 3 prior books. I would not have had as much an issue if this cover were similar to the 3 prior covers. But the style is completely different. It is sort of like the game which one does not belong.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
aka the musespren
@Andrew: All the British covers look like that, I think. The colorful ones are the American covers. I’m guessing they release the British first because the American ones take longer to paint.
I’ve never been a fan of our covers for the Stormlight Archive, they were much better suited to the Mistborn books. I’ve already pre-ordered the American version through Amazon.
necessary_eagle @2. I did not catch that this was the UK cover. That makes my comment about the cover moot. Oops.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
aka the musespren
Yeah, I have to admit, I prefer the American covers (although I absolutely love Whelan).
But definitley intrigued to hear more about Urithriu.
looks great, but why does Shallan look like she’s got a beard?
@lonepeanut Do you mean the shadow on her face?
@1: Andrew: you should check the covers for the UK version of the other books. They are all amazing! I really like to compare the Oathbringer one since it has Jasnah, in both cases, on it. I personally prefer the Oathbringer’s UK cover. I love artistic style of them.
So yes, I love this cover. This Shallan is amazing and it makes me excited to see if she will be on the RoW cover as well. I am also intrigued as to where she is… mountains, a lake… could she be at the Horneater Peaks?
I’m a big fan of the UK covers in general so this looks fab!!
Anyone else thinking that this isn’t Shallan/Jasnah? I hope I’m not spoiling anything here but my hunch is that this is Azure personally. It looks like it might be a cape or something wrapped around which we know she has a tendancy to do in OB.
@9: I think it was confirmed it is Shallan. The Bulgarian cover also has Shallan on it and Adolin (yip) (in Shadesmar) (both confirmed by Sanderson).
I think the expectations are Shallan will also be on the US cover. The UK cover seems to depict Shallan near a mountain range, so perhaps the Horneater Peaks where she and Adolin could use the perpenticularity to go back into Shadesmar thus leading tot he Bulgarian cover. In any case, this cover seems linked to the Bulgarian one and perhaps the US cover will follow onto this thematic.
Or not.