REVIEW: The Rithmatist

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson with illustrations by Ben McSweeny
Published: May 14th 2013 by Tor Teen
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Young Adult, Mystery

Pages: 374

Format: Hardcover
Rating: 8.5/10
Description: More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles. As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.

Brandon Sanderson has done it again and he created a beautiful book. One word to describe it: creative. It is masterful and cool (heads up: I say "cool" alot in this review). This whole book was just fun. The Rithmatist a combination of the coolest elements including magic, art, mystery, it has steampunk elements, and it is just really cool. Basically, the story is set in an alternate world where North America is separated into islands called the United Isles. Like, how interesting is that? 

Also, due to the lovely and intriguing design of the cover, people constantly asked me about this book. I took it to school one day, and a bunch of my friends picked it up to study it. I, of course, made them look at the United Isles map, and then proceeded to give them a brief description of the book. Seriously, click the picture and study it more closely. It's just so cool. 

Inside the book, there are a ton of illustrations and drawings. Some illustrated various defense tactics, and they were very clever. Others were drawings of chalklings. 

 

Some of the illustrations were kind of blurry which did kind of bother me, to be honest. But they were beautiful and added so much life to the book, so what can you do? 

The Characters? Joel was a good character. He is highly intelligent and bright. However, he's one of those smart-but-don't-try kind of kids, which annoyed me a lot. I hate people like that... Who take their talents for granted. Other than that, though, Joel was a great protagonist. His ambition and obsession with Rithmatists and the magical art of Rithmatics was admirable. Melody was awesome. Her vocabulary and speech was so relateable. That fact that she had repeated phrases made her really believable because a lot of teenagers talk like that. Every time she said something like "It's tragic" and "The unicorn is a very noble and majestic animal" I laughed out loud. All her banters are so funny. She reminded me of Hermione with her stubborn and... well... kind of annoying character. We all love her, though. This book reminds me of Harry Potter so much. There's a character named Finch, for goodness sake! All the characters were fully-fleshed out and even the minor ones were interesting.

The Setting? The alternate universe in which this book was set is so interesting. I loved hearing about how their society works. The form of travels were awesome (steam-powered horses and the sky train). And coins with the gears inside were so cool. The names of the cities were so fun, for example "Nebrask", "Albert", and "New France." I wish this book was an epic, so I could immerse myself in this cool world more. It was very interesting.

The Plot? I loved the story progression. It was quite simple and easy to follow. The storyline is just SO creative. Brandon Sanderson made me scared of chalk drawings. How is that possible? The magic system was very unique. It was complicated, and very immersive. The diagrams really helped the whole story come to life. The illustrations made everything feel real. I liked the inception ceremony, and the fragile state of the war waging on with the wild chalkings. The mystery was riveting. 

Usually in young adult books, I can guess the ending. This book? Nope. It wasn't predictable. Sanderson just took me on this really fun ride. The two battles at the end were just perfect. The last battle had me smiling the whole time.

Overall? This is one of the most creative books I have ever read. It is just so full of fun. At the same time, it is very clever, with a rather complicated system of magic and defense. I LOVED the military jargon, and the in-depth descriptions of the defense systems. The characters were loveable, the world was beautiful, and the plot was engaging the whole time... Sanderson is quite obviously a word wizard. 

 

Harry Potter (both the books by J.K. Rowling and the movies) because of the awesome magical elements. Also, the setting? It's a boarding school... where kids learn magic... Harry Potter, anyone? The characters as well! Muggles and Wizards, are like the Rithmatists and the regular humans. Professor Finch? FINCH? Nalizar was like Snape, with Joel having this uncanny obsession with him. Melody reminded me of Hermionie with her stubborn, headstrong, and kind-of annoying nature.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card (the book, not the movie). I just used the movie poster because Asa Butterfield is adorable. It reminds me of The Rithmatist because of the huge military component of the book. Ender's Game is filled with all these complicated military strategies, and so is The Rithmatist. Ender's highly analytic and strategic mind is quite complicated, and very interesting to read about. The military defense in The Rithmatist is equally as complicated and interesting to read about. The setting is also simmilair. Ender attends a battle school, Joel attends a magic school. Also, the two fairly young protagnists remind me of eachother. Both Joel and Ender are sort of ostracized, and they don't really fit in with their peers, but both are so intelligent. Oh! Petition for Asa Butterfield to play Joel if The Rithmatist ever turns into a movie!