Oathbringer

Strong Storytelling, will upset Kaladin fans

Oathbringer is book three of five. The first five books in the Stormlight Archive tell their own story. Later, another set of five will tell another story. Sometimes all the heroes win in the middle, sometimes they fail. In this book, we have both wins and losses. In one book, you have three small novels going on, with important points of view from many people.

Sanderson dives deeper into the cultures of Roshar and the conflicts that have nothing to do with the “bad guys.” Instead many of the conflicts are inside different characters own heads and hearts. This aspect of the story will be hard for many fans. This aspect of the story is important. Awareness of bias and of mental health issues is important. It’s rare to see them addressed so directly in an adventure fantasy.

But in this book, Kaladin, the hero of book one and book two – is not the star. He has growth, but not the awesome growth of power leveling up I think many fans were hoping to read. Instead, Bridge 4 as a whole, is given more points of view and room to grow. Sometime these are painful in heart wrenching ways, but in beautiful character development ways.

Dalinar’s flashbacks will make you look at him differently. It will be hard to see a hero in such a different light. Journey before destination everyone. His journey is a strong one.

The ladies of the Stormlight Archive are given more room to grow here. But at times it is a backward growth. At others it is wonderful to see them breaking the molds of Voirn culture.

Once you turn the page on Part 5, get ready for a rush of a ride. You will not want to put the book down for the final act.

Many important magical questions are answered in this volume of the Stormlight Archive, but it raises more questions. Some of the questions answered, were not the ones many fans were hoping to see addressed, including myself. I hope readers will appreciate the story that was written, for what was written. Not criticizes it because it was not the story they were expecting. I know I love the book, even if there are a few bits I wish were different. But the characters are not perfect people. They would be less interesting if they were.

I love that that the art is included even for the audio book. That is an extra special treat. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading do their typically awesome job narrating the books. I’m glad they kept the voices of the characters the same from the first two volumes of the books.

143 of 182 people found this review helpful

A mixed bag of brilliance, marred by missteps

Brandon Sanderson is one of the greatest story tellers writing today; and this series is his magnum opus. Book 3 is not the strongest of the series. But it still soars in many places, despite some missteps throughout.
Parts of this book left me cheering out loud! Parts of this book are truly awe inspiring.

Other parts had me shaking my head, as long established characters suddenly behaved in ways that contradicted everything the author has told us about them in the past.
For such an immense book, it surprised me how many times an obvious shortcut was taken in order to setup the next scene.

There was one long scene involving a female lead that had no purpose other than comic relief. This bungling, slapstick detour was so jarring, it was hard to return to the rhythm of the story. Worst of all, it felt amateurish, and just wasn't funny.

Almost every competent character had a moment of incompetence so glaring that it became obvious this was a deliberate gimmick. Possibly a recommendation from an editor, but taken too far?

But still, with all of that said, this is still a mostly brilliant story. The action scenes top any blockbuster movie put out this year.
It was filled with many pay-offs from the previous books, some of them setup so expertly that they still surprised me, despite the clues revealed before.

Like all of his books, this was also a vehicle for the author's social, political, and moral view of the world. Presented nicely as part of the story with not-too-much outright preaching.

84 of 119 people found this review helpful

Perfection in literature.

If you have read the first two books in this series, then you already know Brandon Sanderson is the greatest storyteller of our generation, and, one of the best to ever put pen to page. That is not grandiose hyperbole. It is understatement. So, now that my opinion on the author is clear, the book. The book is excellent! The pacing is great and the story progressed just the right amount for me. In my opinion, what Sanderson does the best of any writer I have ever read, is the tear-down and rebuilding of characters. I will say, that this book seems to spend more time making everything seem like it's getting worse and worse before finally we see positive change and victories for the main characters. Not really a negative for me but it does feel like there is no hope till nearly the end of the book. I am so glad Sanderson doesn't suffer from whatever George R.R Martin and Patrick Rothfuss have been afflicted with. I think we can reasonably expect the next book in 2-3 years, which is amazing considering he will also be churning out other incredible books and stories along the way.

55 of 80 people found this review helpful

After several times listening:

The first time through, I was just a bit disappointed. The mystery was largely mitigated as questions were answered (double edge sword) and the character development necessarily became more subtle. And, well, it is very much, a third book in a series of ten, —but still a dynamic masterpiece.

After more times through, and after reading Acanum Unbounded, I am in pure awe at the brilliance of the whole Cosmere, the variations of investiture, the absence of plot confusing coincidences, the Aristotelian’ish qualification of virtues (so different than the A-moral “virtues” of other fantasy books that try to create hero’s out of ambiguity and carnality), the superb dialogue, and the whole aesthetic.

I do think there needs to be a way to soften Mr Kramer’s S whistle sounds. He is a great talent, but I have to listen in high volume, as my work includes using long hours with noisy grinders. The S becomes piercing and even painful at times. Perhaps there is a software program that can minimize the high harsh whistle when Michael gets tired?

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sanderson Perfection

This book is SO. GOOD. Of course, if you've gotten this far, you've likely read The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, so you're GOING to read this one (surely). I can't recommend it highly enough. I laughed, gasped in horror, cried (more than once), and found myself screaming "NOOOOOO!" in my car when a particular character was killed. Many surprises and things I didn't see coming. And the narrators did a fantastic job too (as always). So why are you still reading this? Go buy the book already! :o)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not the best he has written.

I loved the first two books in this series but I had a hard time keeping my attention on the story. I went back many times and listened to parts again and again. There are great parts but there are more that just lag. This isn’t the best he has written.

31 of 48 people found this review helpful

Tedious

What did you like best about Oathbringer? What did you like least?

The premise of the book was great, and the end was decent. Liked the idea of the humans not necessarily being the heroes they thought they were.The rest was just tedious. I understood the characters after the second or third flashback, or other attempts to get me to understand. Became filler after a while. I really got tired of the Dalinar flashbacks in particular. Some were good, but too many had little point.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I love a good long book, but this was long without reason. Tedious is the best word I can use to describe it.

Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading – was your favorite?

Kaladin is by far the best character, and Michael does his usual fantastic job. Kate Reading is such a perfect pairing in with MIchael. I really enjoy all her characters, but she really nailed Shallan in particular.

Do you think Oathbringer needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I'm getting a bit tired of the seemingly endless layers of magic and universes. It gets to the point that nothing is impossible or final. No boundaries are no fun. No more books required for me.

Any additional comments?

Brandon Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. I was so excited for this next book in the series, but by half way through I just wanted it to get to the point. I've listened to longer books and didn't want them to end, but not this one. Once again, tedious.

I probably would not have been so harsh on other authors, but Brandon Sanderson is one of the best there is. HIs bar is higher for me. Sorry, Mr. Sanderson.

35 of 57 people found this review helpful

DISAPPOINTED

I recommended the other two books to many friends and family and unfortunately I cannot recommend this one. The book was easy to put down for days and seemed just a long set up for a next book. This story focused too much on the human flaws and frailties of the main characters which is not that interesting or fun to read/listen. All victories were short lived with the next threat looming and that gets tiring after 55 hours. It might be that my expectations were too high after the first two books in the series which I had trouble putting down and wished for more. I prefer an epic tale of heroes with super skills and powers that have great adventures to a series of battles and failures. I still think Brandon Sanderson is a great writer and although I did not enjoy this book I certainly could not do what he does and create and write a story like his.

40 of 66 people found this review helpful

Bloated and a bit of a let down

while is entertaining, felt like a lot of waiting for things to happen. Like the author wanted to write a big book, but didnt want to give away too much information and it just leads to a meh book. Hope book 4 is better

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Journey before destination...

Brandon Sanderson finally delivered Oathbringer, the highly anticipated third entry in the Stormlight Archive, and amazingly this volume is even bigger than the first two. As the books get bigger so does the scope of the story being told and that is almost hard to believe. Each of these books would be an entire series for many other authors and the truly amazing part is that Sanderson has 7 more entries planned before he is done. This book focuses on Dalinar Kholin and the events throughout his past that shaped the man he has become. Dalinar bears the nickname Blackthorn and it is time to learn why that is.

Although Dalinar is the focus of this book, all of the main characters return and many new ones are introduced. Now that the Parshendi have summoned the Everstorm, all of Roshar is under threat and Dalinar seeks to unite the various factions together in order to survive the wrath of the Parshmen. They escaped their millennia of slavery in book two and they want to take back what they believe to be rightfully theirs. Dalinar tries to lead the defense from Urithiru, but unfortunately for him, the reputation that earned him the nickname Blackthorn comes back to haunt him.

The scope of the story once again expands significantly and this is the first time in the series that I started to worry about that fact. At this point I am invested in the existing characters and although they all still play significant roles, things have gotten so big that I wish I could spend more time with Kaladin and the men of Bridge Four than learning about the next level of story being told. The first two books of the series were the best fantasy I have ever read, but I must sadly say this one felt a little bloated. The flashbacks that explain Dalinar's past are all excellent but the larger story took center stage and the characters that I wanted to spend time were reduced to cogs in a big machine. More Bridge Four and less Shadesmar please.

The story continues to be read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading and that makes listening an extremely enjoyable way to experience this amazing story. Despite the fact that this is the weakest of the three books so far it is still the work of a master and a must listen. Book 4 is supposed to focus on Eshonai and is due in 2020.

21 of 35 people found this review helpful