Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive
The #1 New York Times bestselling sequel to Words of Radiance, from epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson at the top of his game.
In Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance.
Dalinar Kholin’s Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.
Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realizes that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar’s blood-soaked past and stand together—and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past—even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.
Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson
The Cosmere
The Stormlight Archive
● The Way of Kings
● Words of Radiance
● Edgedancer (novella)
● Oathbringer
● Dawnshard (novella)
● Rhythm of War
The Mistborn Saga
The Original Trilogy
● Mistborn
● The Well of Ascension
● The Hero of Ages
Wax and Wayne
● The Alloy of Law
● Shadows of Self
● The Bands of Mourning
● The Lost Metal
Other Cosmere novels
● Elantris
● Warbreaker
● Tress of the Emerald Sea
● Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
● The Sunlit Man
Collection
● Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
● Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
● The Scrivener's Bones
● The Knights of Crystallia
● The Shattered Lens
● The Dark Talent
● Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (with Janci Patterson)
Other novels
● The Rithmatist
● Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds
● The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
Other books by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners
● Steelheart
● Firefight
● Calamity
Skyward
● Skyward
● Starsight
● Cytonic
● Skyward Flight (with Janci Patterson)
● Defiant
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Community Reviews
I particularly mention its emotionality because it has been the most surprising aspect of the series so far. Of course, when reading epic fantasy, I expect graphic, crazy battles, romance, and boring slogs of politics and strategy. I don't expect such a variety of different characters to be so shockingly well-developed, with aspirations, failures, worries, desires, shame... In a way that you almost feel like it must be based off of something real?? I'm not sure how this depth of character is achieved, even though I read it firsthand myself for the past 3 months.
I really enjoy good wordbuilding, new magic systems, but was so completely enamored by the CHARACTERS more than anything else. Throughout this book, I thought the most about how this would be adapted (probably because of the recent news of a contract for a show with Apple TV!), I became extremely attached to these fake people, and I wondered constantly, man, how can this book continue being this good for 1000+ pages?
I have learned that one of the secrets why I enjoy some of Sanderson's writing so much is that he uses Oscar Wilde's (one of my favorite authors!!) characters as inspiration for some of his own. I still am aware this isn't the best writing I've ever read in my life, nor the best book I've ever read. I also dragged through some of the middle (like pages 300-600?), and there were some pages about battle that I literally just skipped because they were so messed up (lol) BUT WHEN I GOT TO THE END MY MIND WAS BLOWN!! I am going to be digging into more long books and trying to see if this feeling is encapsulated in all of them, or if it's particularly an ability of Sanderson. There is genuinely no greater satisfaction than reading like 1100 pages and getting to that last 150, knowing it's going to wrap up so many loose ends, people are going to die, fall in love, secrets will be revealed!!!?!?!?
Here, for my own enjoyment (and future enjoyment, as I still have 2 massive books left to go in this series, and my opinions will certainly change) I will rank my favorite characters so far:
1. Shallan (& Pattern!!)
2. Wit
3. Renarin
4. Taravangian
5. Lift
6. Dalinar
7. Veil
8. Kaladin
9. Jasnah
It feels fitting to have extra long reviews for these extra long books, and it's hard to say what else made me stick around for the entire story, aside from just feeling that I had to get it over with! There were some points in the middle where I considered many times if this would be the last book I read in the series, but by the end I felt extremely ready to just start the next book, without even reading the novella in between. I think the huge plot twist that happens near the end changed a lot, and so did that one Unmade spren who spoke to Shallan. So far, I feel odd about the unmade spren, which feel strangely underdeveloped in comparison to other parts of the story, but hopefully focusing more on them in the next book will be very interesting.
I also sincerely appreciated the many references to Warbreaker, and loved seeing Szeth's character interact with Nightblood, who I'm sure will remain one of my favorite characters of the Cosmere. I feel super glad that I read Warbreaker before starting Stormlight Archive now, and I hope there will be more character appearances from Warbreaker! It sounds like many of them might be dead by this point, though, so I won't keep my hopes up!
I found it really surprising that this became a story about colonization and I have many many thoughts. I am very curious as to where Sanderson will take the story now, but I know there's more Nightblood in the future, so consider me hooked! This is a 5, whereas the other books may not be because, at the time of reading, they seemed to be bursting with filler. I now see that this was all essential exposition, and I can't wait to read even MORE exposition in the next 2 books, as long as it will bring me to as gratifying an ending!
It seems like a lot was building up to the end of Oathbringer, so I can't wait to see how the 5th book will end, as I'm sure I couldn't possibly imagine! If I had to guess, maybe the heralds will come back, or there will be NEW heralds! TBD... I will come back to this review before writing the next, and we'll see if it can top Oathbringer, though I doubt it!
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