Oathbringer

Brandon knocks it out of the park. It's easy to rattle off the standard criticisms of his writing - the heavy exposition dumps, the told-not-shown characterisation. But increasingly I find that I just don't care, and can even spin those cons into things that I like. The worldbuilding in Roshar is so intricate and exciting that I crave every dump of exposition; each one gives me more to process and ponder. And while it's easy to dismiss the characters as intrinsically talented and therefore uninteresting, I no longer think that I read fantasy for relatable every-person struggles, nor do I think I should. I want to see that I'm reading characters who are exceptional, almost by necessity (spren bond them, after all), and consider what it means to be that way in the face of unimaginable circumstances.

Nor are Brandon's best features missing from Oathbringer. The pacing is continuous and non-stop, even the interludes leave us craving more. Every chapter is a revelation, or a laugh, or a development, or growth, interweaved to be continuously engrossing. I did, after all, get through the 1200+ pages here in a day or so, and it was not exactly forced. If there was one thing I would nitpick at, it would be the increasing prominence of the cosmere in the book. I worry about how an inexperienced reader, or someone who didn't wait out for the book's release, will receive the continuous interjection of terms like Connection, Investiture, Splintering and others. I think more characters than ever before in Oathbringer are involved in the cosmere, and they play much bigger parts.

I am feeling like I find it harder to give praise than to nitpick these days. Still, read this book. And then again, once you've had a chance to appreciate the careful craft in this beautiful, beautiful volume.

what a book. i know the general consensus is that Words of Radiance is everyone's favorite installment in the Stormlight Archive, but (not having read Rhythm of War) this is mine.

potential spoilies ahead.

the most compelling characters ive ever encountered are in this series, and they have the chance to shine in Oathbringer. Dalinar's struggles with his past and the kind of man they make him today feel so authentic and relatable. Shallan trying to separate her identities and figure out who she truly is resonates with those who struggle with imposter syndrome. Kaladin just, well... being Kaladin... is a journey you don't want to miss. Adolin went from a character that is there to a character i'm glad is there.

also, just wanna highlight the most goosebump inducing quote i think i've ever read:

“Ten spears go to battle,” he whispered, “and nine shatter. Did that war forge the one that remained? No, Amaram. All the war did was identify the spear that would not break.”

oooooooo baby. had to put the book down and do a lap around my room after reading that line.

the further i get into this series, the more confident i am that i'll be rereading it all not too far off in the future. dont wait. read the Stormlight Archive.

I really like this series, these characters, and Sanderson's writing, but this one felt especially long to me. There are certain points where everything is happening at a mile a minute and I couldn't put the book down, but other times dragged quite a bit for me.

There are some things that happen, especially in the climax and denouement, that seem very cliche and yet still mostly work with the way that Sanderson is able to build momentum into a frantic blur of scenes. There's a fight near the end that feels like something straight out of a final boss encounter in a video game.

Sanderson has built a great world in this series and tends to dole out interesting new ideas at rapid pace, but it seemed like in the last act so many new ideas came out of seemingly nowhere (though I do admit I may have just flat out missed some foreshadowing) that it lost some of the impact for me as it felt as though literally anything could have happened.

I still enjoyed this book quite a bit and couldn't stop reading for the last quarter of it or so, and I'll eagerly await the next one.

“A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles. The trials. The knowledge that we will fail. That we will hurt those around us.But if we stop, if we accept the person we are when we fall, the journey ends. That failure becomes our destination.To love the journey is to accept no such end.”

Yeah, that didn't make me cry, at all!
The character interactions are still the strongest in The Stormlight Archive. Part 5 was glorious with the changing POVs. I have a lot of questions, but the most important one is: How old exactly is Hoid?

Wow. This was a ... commitment. As in, a mega-long book. But what else could I expect from Brandon Sanderson?

For the sake of my attention span, I wish it had been broken up into at least two books. But I did quite enjoy it; it's satisfying to get more and more answers that build the puzzle of Roshar and its history. There was some fascinating character growth, particularly for Dalinar and Shallan, and as always, Sanderson slips in delightful nuggets of wisdom (some of which I've included in the highlights). I continue to be amazed by the detail and sheer imagination that goes into this series. I maintain that Sanderson is an absolute genius.

The parts that lost me are the parts that always do... I get easily bored by the political conversations (hate me a game of Risk), and drawn-out battles lose my attention in books as much as they do in movies.

Now I need a rest from The Stormlight Archive – but I am looking forward to the next two after I recover!

Incredible! Oathbringer totally lived up to my expectations after [b:Words of Radiance 17332218 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507307927l/17332218.SY75.jpg 16482835]. The plot was engrossing and deftly intertwined with backstory and world building. Sanderson is truly a talented writer. We find out a lot more about the lore and magic system in this book too. However, while Oathbringer is an easy five stars, I didn't enjoy it as much as [b:Words of Radiance 17332218 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507307927l/17332218.SY75.jpg 16482835]—I think primarily because the flashbacks focus on Dalinar, and I don't care for him as a character. But, don't get me wrong, this is an incredible book. I'm looking forward to the fourth book, though I'm not excited that I have to wait until 2020.On second read: I really enjoyed the reread/relisten!

The first thing that you will notice about any of the Stormlight books is that these things are huge. This one is no exception - a great weighty tome of a book. Interestingly, they seem to have gone to a thinner paper between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer hardcovers, because although Oathbringer has more pages it has a slimmer spine. The net effect is that this book is denser, which makes it a heavy weight to have in you hand.

This is all of course secondary to the contents of these pages. You would have to have been living under a rock for the last decade or so if you are a fantasy fan and have not heard of the Stormlight Archives. These are books that are whispered of in hallowed tones as one of the best if not the best current epic fantasy series. Sanderson has a wonderful breezy writing style that is just so easy to read. Beyond this is his fantastic imagination, which builds amazing worlds with unique and interesting rules. Roshar, the world of Stormlight is at the pinnacle of these.

Oathbringer picks up pretty much where Words of Radiance left off. The Radiants are back and Dalinar is doing his best to unite the nations of Roshar against the coming Desolation. This is book 3 out of a planned series of 5 and it definitely feels like a middle book. There is a lot of set up towards the finales and moving the various characters around to where they need to be. The plot does not progress a huge amount, but it does have an ‘Empire Strikes Back' type moment that really gives a nice twist to the story.

The world, the characters and the story are all fantastic to return to, and whilst this doesn't quite strike the highs of the first two books in the series this is still epic fantasy at its best. I cannot wait for Rhythms of War to see where the story takes us next!

After the amazingness of books 1-2 it was going to be hard to match up. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and did gasp at many times at what was going on. At first I wanted more of certain characters, then I started to realize Sanderson was concentrating on the characters with the most areas of growth - which made for a more interesting story.

3.0 out of 5 stars

The hype surrounding Oathbringer was deafening in the fantasy community in anticipation of its 2017 release. I've read most of Sanderson's work and am fascinated by his massive Cosmere universe. That said, Oathbringer was mostly a letdown. I enjoyed The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, but just felt a total disconnect when it came to this book.

The most frustrating part is that I can't quite put my finger on why I disliked it so much compared to the previous books. Was it too long? Was it unfocused? Was it too uneven? Did it spend the most time with the characters that I like the least? Did the scope expand too much? Do I have Sanderson fatigue? Or was I just in the wrong headspace to connect with this massive tome? Perhaps it was a combination of all of these issues. Either way, I could not become invested in this story until after the 1,000th page, and by that point, the strong ending could not salvage everything that had come before it [Although it did keep this book out of the 2-star range].

I won't abandon this series yet, as I'm still intrigued by Sanderson's world and concept, but if there isn't some sort of story/character shakeup in the near future, my reading experience of future installments will continue to be a trudge rather than a sprint.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

What I liked: Dalinar's backstory was impeccable. The events that took place in his past, the mistakes he made, the tyrant he was, shedding light on all of it added so much depth to his characterization. I'll admit, Dalinar's not a character I particularly cared for in this series despite him being one of the MCs, because there's this holier-than-thou edge to his demeanour that makes me cringe at times. But his backstory definitely broke this opinion I had of him, and while I'm still not as invested in him as characters like Kaladin or Jasnah, I appreciate him a lot more now.

What I didn't like: I don't know if it's just me, but the bulk of this book seemed to be filled with repetitive navel-gazing.

Considering how much I loved the previous two books in the Stormlight Archive, my disappointment of this alone would have inclined me to give this 2 stars. But I can't deny the other merits of this book that I didn't go over in this review, so I'll leave my rating at 3 stars for now.

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.

Rating BS books 5 stars has almost become a reflex action for me. That being said, I would have to say this book falls a bit short of my expectation and I would rate it more as 4.5 stars.
The last 2 books, were out of this world brilliant and honestly were the best reads of my life. This one thus, had to provide a patchwork of explanations for the last two books, in addition to taking the story forward.
The revelation about the Desolations and Recreance hit me hard in the face (could never have guessed it).

To avoid giving out to much too much information, the rest of the review is tagged as a potential spoiler.

Dalinar's backstory is almost prophetic. The ideals embodied in the whole narrative might as well take shape in a new religion some day :P. Shallan's story though makes her seem too skillful in too short a time. Also, I was shipping Shallan and Kaladin so hard, I stand disappointed. Kaladin being Kaladin, is just f**king awesome. Not to forget, Jasnah Kholin! I just love that woman, is there anything she can't do? The Fused(supposed Gods) should put up a better fight right? A few other question that remain unanswered.How the hell did Amaram get so powerful? Also, is it just me who finds Odium something like Voldemort? Unreasonably confident but easily dealt with. That's not to say he makes a bad villain but honestly, I expected better from him. All in all, the last 2 books just raised my expectations to unhealthy levels and this book, though brilliant, left me yearning for more.

It is getting to the point where it is becoming impossible to talk about everything that happened because there is so much happening in the story arcs of each and every character. (good problem to have imo). I have so much to talk about yet also so much that I can't spoil. This book get 5 stars solely on the basis of the quality of the Sanderlanche that hits us in the last 200 pages. Additionally, It's not all character development. Indeed, most of it is occurring during really fantastic scenes of action or during inopportune times. The momentum is maintained. And then there's a whole squad of flying, storm-riding heroes. Matter-altering women, master illusionists, blade dancers, immortal assassins, gods, and my personal favorite... the cognitive realm itself. There is so so much to love in these books that if i put it all down the length of my review will start to rival the length of Sanderson books. To sum it up : The book is brilliant. read it.

God, wat hou ik van deze wereld en personages!Stormlight-boeken zijn zo moeilijk om recensies voor te schrijven. Afgezien van loven en verzuchten over hoe goed ze wel niet zijn, is het zo moeilijk om iets samenhangends en toch beknopts te schrijven dat de rijkdom van het verhaal, de wereld en de personages adequaat kan omvatten. Het is gewoon ongelooflijk hoe één persoon dit allemaal heeft bedacht.Oathbringer is niet anders. Terwijl boek 1 het boek van Kaladin was en boek 2 dat van Shallan, was dit het boek van Dalinar en STORMS zijn achtergrondverhaal is zo emotioneel!“To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.”Dit boek ging zo veel over geestelijke gezondheid, hoe je omgaat met traumatische ervaringen, hoe je in het reine kunt komen met slechte beslissingen, bewust en onbewust genomen, hoe je de manier kunt veranderen waarop je naar jezelf en/of anderen kijkt.Onze drie hoofdpersonages – Dalinar, Shallan en Kaladin – lijden allemaal aan een vorm van depressie en het is zo interessant om te lezen hoe ieder daar op een andere manier mee omgaat.Dit boek was tamelijk traag, wat een van de belangrijkste punten van kritiek is die ik online over dit boek zie, maar ik vond het geweldig dat het rustig voortkabbelde en ons soms gewoon in de hoofden van mensen liet zitten, stagneerde en denkprocessen herhaalde tot een soort resolutie naar boven kwam drijven. Dit maakte het zoveel realistischer en pakkender.Tegelijkertijd zijn de waanzinnige reikwijdte en intense verhaallijn zo ontzagwekkend! Hoe de plot langzaam werd onthuld, en zelfs groter bleek te zijn dan ik me ooit had kunnen voorstellen. Ugh, het is gewoon zo ontzettend goed!SPOILERS in een verstrooiing van gedachten vanaf dit punt!“Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing.”Zoals ik al zei, concentreerde dit boek zich meer op het achtergrondverhaal van Dalinar en ik ben hem nog meer gaan waarderen, wetende vanwaar hij komt, hoe gebrekkig hij is en hoeveel hij worstelt.Ik vond hem al leuk uit eerdere boeken, maar eerder omdat hij de persoon was die we geacht werden leuk te vinden, omdat hij op een voetstuk werd geplaatst als het rolmodel voor eer en moed. Nu leerden we over zijn gruwelijke verleden en de vreselijke dingen die hij heeft gedaan, en hoe hij hier nu probeert mee om te gaan, terwijl hij tegelijkertijd probeert het soort persoon te worden waar hij zelf naar op kijkt.“It's okay for me to enjoy this,” Shallan said, as if discovering something precious. “It's all right to celebrate. Even if things are terrible in the world, it's all right.”Shallan bleef groeien en haar talent van lichtweven ontwikkelde zich op een heel interessante manier. Het was fascinerend te lezen hoe ze zichzelf zag en hoe ze haar alter ego's werd, om haar pijn en schuldgevoel in hokjes te kunnen weg steken.Haar spren Pattern - ”NO MATING!” - is heel vertederend en schattig. Al vraag ik me af of hij echt het beste met Shallan voor heeft.“We're entering an era of gods, Adolin thought.Ik vond de ontwikkeling van haar relatie met Adolin erg leuk. Hun interacties zijn heel schattig en lief en ik blijf voor ze supporteren.Over Adolin gesproken: ik was bang dat hij in dit boek zou sterven. Omdat hij Sadeas vermoordde en een soort heldencomplex had en Shallan een beetje te veel naar Kaladin keek, vreesde ik dat dit een voorafschaduwing was van zijn dood. Blij dat ik ongelijk had en ik vind het geweldig hoe hij Shallan echt ziet en weet wanneer ze een van haar omspring-persoonlijkheden is, terwijl niemand anders het lijkt op te merken. Ik vind het geweldig hoe zorgzaam hij is, zoals ook voor Renarin en zelfs het paard van zijn vader! Hoe schattig is dat?En dan zijn hele ding met kledij! Heerlijk dat hij gewoon zelf kan naaien.Ik ben ook erg blij dat hij niet ook een Radiant is geworden. Zorgt voor een zeer interessant contrast, maar ben benieuwd hoe zijn relatie met zijn shardblade zich verder zal ontwikkelen. “You'll never be able to do enough to satisfy yourself, Kaladin. That was still wonderful.”Onze emo-jongen Kaladin had deze keer niet zoveel paginatijd, maar wat we zagen waren zulke geweldige voortzettingen van zijn verhaal. Ik vond het prachtig om zijn hereniging met zijn ouders te zien en hoe hij een soort afsluiting krijgt van zijn schuldgevoel over de dood van zijn broer .Hij blijft nog steeds worstelen met zijn eigenwaarde, maar ook hier begint hij traag aan zijn genezingsproces, mede door zijn spren Syl als katalysator. Syl zorgt ook voor de broodnodige luchtige noot in de anders vrij depressieve zelf-beschuldigende perspectieven van Kaladin. Alleen was ik absoluut geen fan van hoe ze Kaladin steeds richting Shallan duwde. Blij dat Kaladin dat uiteindelijk in de kiem heeft gesmoord. “Maybe I'm one of those punchy guys.”Adolin stopped in place and grinned at Kaladin. “Did you just say ‘punchy guys'?”Ook de interacties van Kaladin met Adolin zijn geweldig om te lezen. En in tegenstelling tot met Syl, lukt het Adolin wel om een zorgelozere Kaladin naar voor te laten komen. Een glimp van hoe hij zou zijn geweest zonder zijn zwaar belaste schouders. “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.”Ugh, er is nog zoveel dat ik niet heb aangesneden.Jasnah's terugkeer! De ondergang van Elhokar door de hand van Moash. Adolin die koning kon worden, maar weigerde waardoor we KONINGIN Jasnah krijgen, waar ik helemaal voor ben!Renarin's onthulling, het was duidelijk dat er iets mis was, maar wauw!Bridge Four en hun ontwikkelingen. Teft, zijn verslaving en pogingen om te verbeteren waren zo hartverscheurend (I will protect those I hate. Even if the one I hate most is myself.) Rock en zijn familie! Lopen. De [b:Warbreaker 1268479 Warbreaker (Warbreaker, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1240256182l/1268479.SY75.jpg 1257385]-crossover!! Nightblood natuurlijk, en was dat Vivenna? Ugh, nu wil ik Warbreaker herlezen!Venli en haar spren! En haar nieuwe rol bij de Voidbringers/Listeners. Wel een beetje teleurgesteld dat Eshonai dood is... Ze verdiende beter en Venli die het allemaal in gang heeft gezet blijft door de oog van de naald kruipen zonder echt veel berouw te voelen.Moash, Moash, Moash, neen...Odium. De Unmade. Lift. Taravangian. Enz.Laat me maar gewoon ophouden en herhalen dat ik zo'n grote FAN ben van deze serie! Ik snap de hype volledig en deze is dubbel en dik verdiend!