BOOK REVIEW: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

So a novel has to grab the reader’s attention right from the start, correct?  How about beginning with a hopelessly trapped young lady realizing that she is about to die as hordes of frightening creatures are set upon her?

It’s a little gruesome but that’s how Brandon Sanderson introduces his young adult fiction, ‘The Rithmatist’, to the world.  Being exposed to a little morbidity right from the get go might seem a little cliché but it worked, in a way.  I finished the novel in almost one sitting.  I took a break after the first 30 pages but then when the first Rithmatist duel started, I couldn’t put the book down until the very last page!  Literally lost a night’s sleep over it!  And even after I was done, I kept rereading the last chapter over and over for its inspiring moments of awesome.

So what is a Rithmatist?  A Rithmatist is an individual gifted with the ability to bring chalk drawings to life.  Being one holds a lot of prestige, honor and is something our protagonist Joel would have wanted to be had it not been for his unfortunate background.  But when young Rithmatists start disappearing under mysterious and bloody circumstances, even his non- Rithmatist status doesn’t guarantee his safety.

Bringing chalk art to life sounds like a cartoon plot, doesn’t it?  *coughChalkZonecough* There is some playfulness involved, though very slight, but the concept is kept quite serious.  Seeing as the Rithmatist is set in a teaching facility, it feels like a young sorcerer entering a magical school or teenagers who live in a world with the equivalent of superpowers, be it mutants or ninjas.  A slight difference is their ability.  It uses MATH.  Actually knowing applied mathematics of dimensions and properties of angles and areas could actually save your life.  This is, of course, coupled with a whole lot of strategy and critical thinking.  Being book proficient doesn’t help if you have no instinct on the field where creatures will tear you apart if you can’t draw a circle to save your skin.

The novel itself is peppered with illustrations of the chalklings, both dangerous and cute.  The battle diagrams that bookend the chapters are fascinating to study once you realize how they can be applied by the characters themselves.  It’s actually a bit of an education in tactics and learning about them makes for a more enriching reading experience.

On the main character, Joel is a standard young protagonist with a secret past and future potential.  It would have been more interesting to have his math genius be earned, which might actually be the case, but some of it must have came from his father’s legacy or possibly inherited traits.  Joel is quite a likeable fellow with the usual burning need to prove himself and such.  Sturdy stock for the stuff of heroes; the mold isn’t new but it doesn’t detract from the quality of his personality.

Now the school is ripe with characters who could have been oddball friends and classmates but it is limited to a non-romantic weird lady friend and caring older folks.  Joel’s female friend Melody is a kook and thankfully not taken as the puppy love interest.  If this was ever adapted into another media, they’re sure to include a wisecracking sidekick and an intrusively cute chalking companion.  The very idea might ruin the atmosphere because the humor in the book is more subtle and not overt or relying on pop culture or snark.  This is an alternate earth history, very dignified and very grand.  The ‘Master’ is the god.  ‘Dusts’ is their swear word.

As an alternate earth, they have coins with mechanicals parts, strange railways for transportation, culture between countries being mixed up, sacred coming-of-age rituals and the whole Nebrask thing going on where, apparently, a war against unknown evil is being staged.  The world building is laid out expertly because not all the blanks are filled.  Information about the setting is only dropped when it is needed.  It doesn’t seem like a lecture and the missing bits being inferred by the reader catches one’s imagination.

And then there’s the mystery.  The plot draws the reader in because of the hints and clues.  Granted there are not too many suspects plus there’s even the vizier type, the usual ‘bad guy in a good guy position’ but the investigative element with new, magical aspects lends to a different kind of suspense.  The danger and the way it is being dealt with is out of this world but it is also done in a down-to-earth manner.  It is grounded so that even the fantastical bits make sense and it doesn’t make the reader feel like certain factors are being made up as they go along.  That feeling of being treated as an intelligent reader, coupled with the learning curve and Joel’s internal drive, gives the book it’s the page turning quality.

The Rithmatist is actually the first book of a two parter but could possibly be a series, depending on how things unfold.  It could also totally be imagined as a cartoon series or anime.  The chalk battles smack of imagination running wild and strategy along the lines of any action-fueled anime with skirmishes between pets, cards, robots, marbles, puppets, remote controlled cars etc at their master’s command.  Readers into that genre should pick up this book.  This shouldn’t be limited to those who are into fantasy for kids.

Of note, I don’t follow the Wheel of Time but Rithmatist scribe Brandon Sanderson was tasked to complete the epic series after Robert Jordan passed away.  Being exposed to his writing style makes me want to find more of his work.

Anyhow, if you want to lose a night’s sleep because of an enthralling and exciting novel, read The Rithmatist!  Highly recommended not just for young adults but for any and all adventure fans.

PAGE ENRAGED SPOILERS!!!  Don’t read below unless you’ve read the novel or wild chalklings will get you!

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I’m so happy Melody wasn’t a love interest.  I swear, I’m sick of teens needing to fall in love when lives are at stake.  Sure, danger just increases emotional feelings but these guys are just kids.

Joel not being a Rithmatist was heart rending!  But you just know something else will happen in the next book.

Darn that ending!  To be continued!  Loved the triumph of the final scenes, hence me rereading them over and over again.

The culprit was a huge surprise.  It wasn’t the Snape!  It WAS the Snape?  It wasn’t the Snape?  It was the… whaaaaat!?!?

The teacher suddenly becoming awesome was a bit much.  Sure, he was thinking of the kids but, eh, could have been more of a close fight.  There really should have been more chalk battles really but that’s the problem when the main guy ISN’T a Rithmatist.

The vigor lines and the new developed lines are cool in its simplicity.  They’re just laser blasts.  I can imagine them racing through the floor.

I kinda expected Melody’s unicorns to be characters but they weren’t.  I don’t know whether I should applaud that or not.  And it wasn’t really stated how bloodthirsty they could be in action.

This, I swear, depicts learning better that the pig-blemish school.  There’s a science behind the ‘magic’ and it wasn’t even really termed as magic.  It was just the way it is but it was properly grounded.