Rithmatist, YA novel by Brandon Sanderson
Jul. 29th, 2014 10:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackRithmatist is an excellent example of academic magic in an alternate fantasy history where America is a collection of islands, and technology is replaced by Rithmatism and a bit of steampunk. Universities teach as a special subject, Rithmatics, the art of making precisely calculated magic circles out of chalk, and chalk figures which come to life, used in duels, and fighting against wild chalklings in Nebrask.
I'm disappointed it's not more *mathsy* -- there's a lot of calculating the proportions for where to draw things on circles, but that's all done in advance, and Rithmatists don't really have to actually understnad it, just be really good at drawing accurate proportions freehand. But even if it doesn't flesh it out, it implies a world where researching new geometric forms and innovative ways of using them is important.
The world is lovely. I wasn't moved by the plot or characters (though I couldn't put it down without finding out what was going on with the science). The young student who wants to be a rithmatist, but was poor and wasn't chosen. Who is intelligent but doesn't get a chance to prove it and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. The kindly old professor who's a good theoretician, but not as good at duelling. The young rithmatics student who is really good at drawing animals but isn't any good at the geometry so clowns about and can't take the study seriously. They're all reasonably nice, but very similar to other characters. Whether that's he didn't have time to polish the book more (it sounds like he would have liked to do more in that world if I had time) or that I'm too jaded for it.
I'm disappointed it's not more *mathsy* -- there's a lot of calculating the proportions for where to draw things on circles, but that's all done in advance, and Rithmatists don't really have to actually understnad it, just be really good at drawing accurate proportions freehand. But even if it doesn't flesh it out, it implies a world where researching new geometric forms and innovative ways of using them is important.
The world is lovely. I wasn't moved by the plot or characters (though I couldn't put it down without finding out what was going on with the science). The young student who wants to be a rithmatist, but was poor and wasn't chosen. Who is intelligent but doesn't get a chance to prove it and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. The kindly old professor who's a good theoretician, but not as good at duelling. The young rithmatics student who is really good at drawing animals but isn't any good at the geometry so clowns about and can't take the study seriously. They're all reasonably nice, but very similar to other characters. Whether that's he didn't have time to polish the book more (it sounds like he would have liked to do more in that world if I had time) or that I'm too jaded for it.