Wow! That was incredible! I am so excited to read the next book. SPOILERS! I was so excited to see lots of Warbreaker references AND that I finally found out how people traveled from world to world. This makes me so excited to keep reading more. 10/10 - March 24, 2024 ( )

Stormfather!

Let the next few weeks go by fast so I can read the series again! Nothing happened like I thought it would--it was so much better. ( )

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. ( )

This is just a petty low-star review because some of my faves died and another was-not-morally-evil-but-essentially-evil in a boring way, not a cool way. Seriously, though, the author's pets in this series have literal plot armor and can be forgiven for anything, while the other characters get redemption doorslams and have their character arcs given away. Oh, well. *swats away emotion spren* ( )

I'm currently counting the days til November after finishing this book. SO MUCH HAPPENED.
I recently read a reddit thread claiming that Dalinar had one of the greatest character arcs in modern fantasy, and after finishing this book I'm pretty sure I agree.



Adolin deserves the world. Kal is my very moody son. Bridge Four must be protected at all costs. ( )

So good :) ( )

A (Great).

A world war begins in a fantasy world. It doesn't justify it's length as well as the first two books in the series, but it has some extremely powerful moments.

(Dec. 2023) ( )

This is it for me and this series. It is well written but I find it to be way too long. Epic for epics sake. I know why people love this series and I understand why people like long books in long series but the story moves too little for so much effort. I struggled through each of the three books because I love Sanderon’s writing but in the end my patience for really long books and really long series is razor thin. I kept putting this down and reading something else. Chalk this one up for not for me. ( )

Great world building continues. Definitely what I have come to expect of Brandon Sanderson and I can't wait for the next installment. ( )

I will start with one little issue I have with this book, or actually, the entire series. I am very worried that this series will inevitably suffer from the Dragonball-Z effect (or the super-sayan-effect if you will). I'm still working on what this actually means, but I'm basically worried that when Kaladin&Co go to super-sayan, the enemy will always go super-duper-sayan, and then just when everything seems hopeless Kaladin&Co will turn ultra-super-duper-sayan and save the day (by shouting really hard while streaming light from their bodies). I know this is not a very good analogy, but it does make me uncomfortable. Luckily, this is not what happend thusfar, so I am confident that Sanderson will continue not writing Dragonball-Z.

That being said, this book was awesome and I want to live in Sandersons brain.

Also, I'm very sad that I finished this book.

(Also, I don't know why I mentioned DBZ as much as I did in this review.) ( )

Not only did this third installment live up to the hype, but I found it to be the best yet in terms of picking up the world-building pace. What I love about Sanderson, is that he can write an epic while avoiding the usual tactic of giving readers a thousand different story lines that never get resolved until the final book. Things are HAPPENING in "Oathbringer!" I, for one, am absolutely HOOKED on this series! ( )

Full Disclosure: Joshua MacDougall received a review copy from the publisher, Tor.

With the third entry of Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archives, Oathbringer, releasing today, the arc that comprises the first five books is more than halfway through. The third book takes nearly all the events that have happened previously and reaches the height of storytelling for the series so far.

https://geeklyinc.com/review-oathbringer-by-brandon-sanderson/ ( )

I feel like I'm starting to figure out some of the clues and understand a little better the big picture, especially when it comes to spren and some of the other magical beings. The biggest character development comes with Dalinar. His growth over this book is so compelling and creates a lot of the personal tension in the storyline. There's a lot of big battling going on in this novel, especially at the end. It is also interesting to see characters really coming into their powers. ( )

Every time I pick up a book in this series I keep thinking it can’t be better than the previous edition, and I get proved so wrong.

This book explores all the same great themes of mental illness, loss, abandonment, perseverance, justice, honor… that the precious books in the series did.

While I do think this was the slowest of the three, it was still the most impactful in the series. It’s as if (aside from Edgedancer) that the series keeps improving on itself.

Favorite in the series so far. ( )

Halfway through. Tedious. Find the details of why this book is so terrible by reading all the one star reviews on Amazon. They are more interesting than the book itself. Perhaps we just need a less than 100 page summary of This Book in order to proceed in the series
Once again the book improves quite a bit after 750 pages of reading but I am going to stand by my two star rating as the book is much too long and not well enough edited for the reader. ( )

Halfway through. Tedious. Find the details of why this book is so terrible by reading all the one star reviews on Amazon. They are more interesting than the book itself. Perhaps we just need a less than 100 page summary of This Book in order to proceed in the series
Once again the book improves quite a bit after 750 pages of reading but I am going to stand by my two star rating as the book is much too long and not well enough edited for the reader. ( )

This series is amazing but it's waaaaaay to long. Going on a year and a half I think I've been trying to get through book 3. Finally done. On to book 4 which is equally as a long as this one. ( )

Finally finished. Oathbringer is a long book! So far I have liked Words of Radiance best in this series. The plot seemed to drag a bit in the middle of this one, but I liked it and am interested to see where the story will go. My favorite story lines were Teravangian's and Venli's. ( )

I love the world and I love the characters. The nations, cultures, magic, and technology have a variety and complexity that is rare in the fantasy genre. Moreover, the depth of the characters given how many there are is truly remarkable. That being said, this is not a particularly good book. It moves at a snail's pace that drags on for 1000 pages, and many themes are beaten to death to compensate for the lack of plot development. This book could have been cut down to half the length and been twice as good for it. Because of that, I cannot recommend it except to ardent (no pun intended) fans of the Stormlight Archive. ( )

Whew! This series keeps getting better and better. There's build up in every chapter and multiple payoffs along the way, though the big payoffs at the end of the book are awesome. ( )

How do I even talk about this book without screaming spoilers into the distance forever and ever, amen?

How about we just agree this book was 99% perfection, and I'll give you some hilarious asides instead. First, I still love the story, the characters, the amazing gasp moments, and the interludes. I was a little bothered by the constant changing of the books at the beginning of chapters, this time for the first time, but insanely excited by how we reconnected to the title and that book by the end of the whole novel.

Short-form lolsy non-spoilers of the shouty kind:

Yasna Kolin has always been my queen. Even before now, she could step on me, and I'd still say, "Thank you, your majesty." (I NEED TO SEE WHAT SHE DOES NEXT ALREADY LIKE BURNING.) Shallon's divergence, both literally and physically, has ALL MY BASE. I love her love match (but I ship hard the OT3 we won't get there). I would die for so much information on Wit. Kaladin. What do I even say? I'm just flailing my hands in every direction ever about him. Shamesmar. SHADESMAR. And the society of the spren! Everything I never knew I needed and more. Actually, every new society we saw all over this book and this world this time, and how vastly different and utterly detailed continues to blow me away.

Dalanar has broken my heart with his finally full revealed backstory and made me gasp scream loudly at the big, unexpected reversal and his choice at the very end of the novel. Teft made me weep. Moash makes me want to weep. Taravangian simultaneously made me so, so, so sad and proud and alarmed and disappointed. I'm DEEPLY INVESTED in the arcs of The Assassin in White & Venli. The background of the Slave Parshman, both at the beginning of the book as we finally meet some and the massive bomb about the original "Void Bringers," totally shattered my world. (That adds whole new sets of tags to these books!!!!)

Part of what I love best about reading Sanderson is he never takes the easy track, and there are always so many things in these 1,000 pages I didn't predict, which is so rare for me when reading/watching/etc. anything with a narrative arc.

Bridge Four continues to own a whole section of my heart, and I'm so proud of the new scouts' inclusion. iiiiiii can't wait to read more about Navani in Dawnshards and I absolutely squealed the first time that word was mentioned in this book. ( )

Once again, channeling all of the greats in fantasy that I have come to adore, with his very own voice and flavor. What a delight to read, as always. ( )

10/10 ( )

I liked this better than Words of Radiance. I feel like in this book, Sanderson did a better job of integrating the character development with the plot in a way that didn't feel like it dragged on. In some ways, this book feels like the completion of the first story arc of The Stormlight Archive. It leaves plenty of room for the world and characters to develop but also closes things out enough that it seems the next book will explore a significant different direction. It was another fun read, and I look forward to the next installment in the book. ( )

Really had to slog through this one. It's just too theological for me. Hundreds of pages of Dalinar's inner turmoil over his moral turpitude. We get it, it's About Forgiveness and Redemption. Blarrrrrrrrrrrgh.

Most of the time I can forgive Sanderson for being a Mormon, but not this time. ( )