Oathbringer

Executive Summary: This may be my least favorite book of the series so far, but it's still an easy 5 star rating for me, something I don't give out lightly.Full ReviewThis was easily my most anticipated book of the year, despite a few big series conclusion books being released as well. There was a time a few years ago when Brandon Sanderson could do no wrong. I read everything he put out and loved it all. Eventually that streak ended, but his cosmere books are still quite enjoyable. None more so than Stormlight Archive.I had a rough start to this one. I held off on reading the free chapters posted on tor.com because I didn't want to have to read it in short increments. This is a beefy book (longest yet) but I knew I'd want to tear right through. Unfortunately, the post office had other plans and I got a later start on this than I planned. I rationed the free chapters (thankfully there were a lot of those!) out for 4 long days waiting on a replacement copy to be delivered.Once I got my book, all other hobbies were set aside and I spent more time reading in the last week than I probably did in the last 4-5 months. I was averaging about 75 pages a day (a lot for me) while I had work, and closer to 200 pages on my days off. Add in a 4-day holiday weekend and I was in bliss! I had planned to finish the book by today, and I guess technically that is true as I ended up reading 300+ pages well into the night to finish this off.If you've read the first two books of the series, you'll know that Mr. Sanderson focuses on one character. That isn't to say the others don't play a role, but we get the most of this focus character, typically in the form of additional flashback chapters that offer us additional insight. In [b:The Way of Kings 7235533 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307887s/7235533.jpg 8134945] it's Kaladin, in [b:Words of Radiance 17332218 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307927s/17332218.jpg 16482835] it was Shallan. This book belongs to Dalinar.We learn a lot important details, not only about Dalinar, but Roshar as well. Mr. Sanderson continues his excellent world building and further expands his magic system (albeit maybe not as much as in some of the previous entries).There is a still a lot of focus on Kaladin, Shallan and Andolin too, but we also get some really great insights into many of the secondary characters, in particular the Bridge 4 crew. Those chapters were probably some of my favorites. There are a few other parts/characters in this I really enjoyed as well, but I don't want to give anything away.This book is massive, and you get a lot of story for your money. I found some of the early going a bit slower than previous books, but the final section of book was so fast paced, I lost all track of time and happily stayed up well past the time I normally go to bed just so I could finish.Part of me wishes I had more self control to read this slower. It will now be a few more years until we get the next volume of this series and I'm back to waiting. The rest of me is ecstatic to once again have another book so good as to remind me why I love to read and why this continues to be my favorite series. So far Mr. Sanderson is 3/3 on perfect scores. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.