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| From Goodreads |
Book Jacket:
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.
Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings his unique brand of epic storytelling to the teen audience with an engrossing tale of danger and suspense—the first of a series. With his trademark skills in world-building, Sanderson has created a magic system that is so inventive and detailed that that readers who appreciate games of strategy and tactics just may want to bring Rithmatics to life in our world.
Review:
There are novels and there are SANDERSON novels. If you haven’t read any Sanderson books, I suggest that you stop reading and pick a copy ASAP. You won’t ever be disappointed. Sanderson can write and he does it so well that you’ll stay up all night reading. This is one author whose work I’ll pick up without any hesitation.The Rithmatist is about a boy named Joel who is obsessed with the art of Rithmatics. Rithmatics is the art of giving chalk lines and drawings, life and power. Think of Arithmetic, Geometry, Trigonometry and Magic all combined into one. It has special rules and guidelines to be followed or it won’t work just like Math. :P This made the magic system unique but understandable.
Unfortunately for Joel, he doesn’t pass the required trial to become one. However, this doesn’t stop him from learning all the theories. This is one of the things I loved about Joel. Even though, he knows that it’s impossible for him to be a Rithmatists, he is still passionate about Rithmatics. It is this passion that made him so loveable. I’m pretty sure we’ve all met Joel at school. Those guys that pass everything without studying and ones that has taken the blessings in life for granted. This part of him annoyed me at first but as the story moves on he gradually changes and grows when he meets Melody.
The other character that brings life to the story is Melody. In simple terms, she’s the exact opposite of Joel. She was given the gift of Rithmatics but isn’t very good at it. All she wants to do with her gift is to draw her Unicorns and other noble (girlish) creatures which Joel notes is a waste and an insult to his masculinity. The way Joel and Melody interacted with each other is what really hooked me to this book. You could easily see the barrier between Joel and Melody slowly crumble replaced by friendship and trust they develop throughout the novel. This made them feel so real and made reading the book so much fun.
At the heart of it, the thing you really look forward to in a Sanderson book is either the world building or the unique magic system. And in both aspects, I’m happy to say that he doesn’t disappoint. He gave me a world that I would love to live in and a magic I would really love to practice. The Rithmatist happens in a world where the Koreans conquered most of Europe and the United States is an Archipelago. By doing this, he made the world instantly relatable and yet new enough to be interesting. In this world, magic often used than technology and I love the comparison with our current situation. You could see the hard work for research, and how he made his work believable (though it is fiction). The magic system is another level as well. You could really see that this is Sanderson’s specialty. As I said before, Rithmatics is the art of giving chalk lines and drawings life and power. It is a combination of Arithmetic, Geometry, Trigonometry and Magic. This magic system is just so original that I loved it. The diagrams, the geometry, the offenses and defenses, and of course the marvelous “chalking” (unicorns and noble creatures). The way he set up the rules and still showing us the endless possibilities that came with it just sucked me into the story.
The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it is does not read and write like a MG novel. It is more like an adult novel with MG characters. In the end, this novel made me so happy and I can’t wait for the next book to come.
Rating: 5/5
