Review - The Rithmatist

A Review of The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

By Amy Baumhoefner

Last month I had to spend a night trapped in the Charles de Gaulle Airport as I waited for my family to join me in Paris. Knowing this experience was ahead of me, I was spurred on to find a book on my Nook (it’s Barnes & Noble's eReader, if you didn’t know that) to read which would hold my attention all night while becoming more and more sleep deprived. Though I am an avid reader this was a tall task even for me.

As I struggled to find the right book Barnes and Noble’s website kindly made a suggestion – The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson. This YA book was on the list of new releases which their editors suggest. Usually this does not sway me (They touted Beautiful Creatures and I’ve never, in my entire life, been more bored after plodding through one hundred pages of a YA novel). But after reading the description I tipped my head to the side—my traditional look of consideration—‘hum’ed and clicked to get the free sample.


After reading the 30 odd pages of the sample I was hooked—even though I still didn’t really know what was going on. The writing was engaging and I loved the main characters. However, what really grabbed me we the originality of the concept. The whole idea sounds strange—it’s about people who can draw with chalk (things called Chalklings), animate them, and then with battle each other and against the Wild Chalklings (which can kill people, by the way). Huh?

I read the book most of the night but didn’t quite get a chance to finish it when the group arrived from America. The next day on the bus to Normandy I dug out my Nook and dove back into the final few chapters. When my co-travellers inquired about the book I was reading, I tried to explain the plot—and found my description lacking. I made a second attempt—it still sounded very strange and didn’t totally make sense. I finally just read them the description posted on Barnes & Noble:

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.

Even after that I couldn’t totally give them the full picture of what it was about. But the more I thought about it the more I realised that is part of what makes it good. The complexity and the creativity of story, character, and style create a world that can only be discovered in the pages of the book. What’s the point of reading a book that can be described in a few sentences? Nothing really. The ones you value, the ones you remember and go back to, have that something that goes beyond words.

While The Rithmatist isn’t the best YA book written in the history of mankind, has a quality about it that makes it one of the best I’ve read in a while.

On a completely different different tangent I want to say that I much prefer the US cover (shown about on the right, the one with the horse) over the UK cover art. I know this a weird thing to make a big deal about but, as a person who often does judge of book by its cover, I am much more drawn to the style and idea of the American cover. The UK one seems much more generic. 

Feel free to give your own opinion on this. I always love a good debate!