The Rithmatist

The Rithmatist is a young adult fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson about an alternate Earth, which contains a kind of magic known as Rithmatics, through which Rithmatists, or practitioners of this magic, can control wild chalklings, two-dimensional creatures made of chalk. Joel dreams of becoming a Rithmatist though he is not one when the book begins. Obsessed with Rithmatics, Joel is recruited to become part of an investigation about a series of missing Rithmatist students, alongside the eccentric Professor Fitch. The book is the first in the Rithmatist series.

The book opens in a world like our own Earth, except North America is made up entirely of islands. When the Europeans came to colonize America, they found the islands uninhabited except for the presence of chalklings, wild two-dimensional creatures that wandered the land with no known predators. The Europeans learned Rithmatics to protect themselves against the chalklings; in the present day, Rithmatists have learned how to control the power of various kinds of chalklings to use for their own benefit.

Joel Saxon is a student at Armedius Academy in New Brittania, a prestigious school for young people. Joel is not a Rithmatist, but he is obsessed with Rithmatics, studying it intensely. Unlike the other students at Armedius, Joel is the son of a poor campus janitor, not a child of privilege like his classmates, and he is not a Rithmatist. Despite this, Joel embraces his education. His biggest struggle is his dream to be a Rithmatist, which was squashed when his father died just before his intended initiation, ruining the ceremony. Joel knows little about his father's death, but believes he may have died in a train accident.



Because he can't be a Rithmatist, Joel is interested in becoming a scholar of Rithmatics. He begins working over the summer with Professor Fitch, who is a Rithmatics expert. Professor Fitch is also tutoring Melody Munns, a Rithmatist who has fallen behind on her studies because she hates Rithmatics. As it turns out, Professor Fitch has been at work on a series of kidnapping cases, in which Rithmatist students have been disappearing. Fitch draws Melody and Joel into the case, recruiting them to help him find the suspect. The investigation is led by Inspector Harding, who encourages parents to lock up their Rithmatist students in their dorms until the kidnapper can be found.

At first, Joel is suspicious of Professor Nalizar, a visiting professor and war hero from Nebrask, who, arrogant and condescending, rubs Joel the wrong way. Joel soon learns that Professor Nalizar is studying new Rithmatic lines – it is widely believed there are only four kinds of lines, but Nalizar suspects there may be more.

Melody and Joel slowly become friends, and eventually, Melody encourages Joel to consider trying his initiation again, to see if he might become a Rithmatist. The night before the initiation, Joel becomes the target of the kidnapper and is nearly stolen away in the middle of the night. Joel survives and reports the attack; Inspector Harding arrests a clerk for the crime, which Joel finds questionable.



One night soon after, Melody and Joel are walking around campus when they see some security guards who had been guarding Rithmatist dorms knocked out on the ground. The two go inside and find Professor Nalizar in the hallway. Suddenly, Inspector Harding appears and attacks Nalizar. After Nalizar is disarmed, Harding destroys a number of Rithmatist students with his chalklings. Melody and Joel struggle to escape, and eventually, Fitch comes in to save them. Joel and Melody soon learn that Harding had been overtaken by a spirit called a Forgotten, which turns humans into puppets the way Rithmatists can control chalklings.

The book ends with a Melee inspired by the headmaster, who hopes the contest will return the school to normal. During the Melee, however, Joel discovers that Professor Nalizar is also possessed by a Forgotten and that he plans to train his students to succeed and go off to war.

Brandon Sanderson is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for creating the Cosmere universe.