Brandon SandersonOathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive

Done.2 and a half years of waiting, theory casting. Multiple rereads, millions of anticipation spren, unbelievable amounts of hype.And 24 hours of glorious, glorious reading later, I am done. Oathbringer is fantastic. Saying it is awesome is an understatement. Saying it is shocking can't quite possibly convey how shocked I was at the developments that happened, which I didn't expect at all. Quite honestly, oathbringer is scary. It's a tempest, like a high storm, with highs that threaten to get you light headed and with lows, like the chasms, that are horrifying. It has moments of pure hilarity, moments of pure badassery, and moments of pure, pure surprise.It's a storming fantastic book, something no one will expect. So I won't spoil. The developments in this book, even after years of making and reading theories, come as a complete shock, but bring great delight. Some of the Viewpoints in the book are unexpected, but amazing nevertheless.Especially the second part. That was a genius, brilliant thing bran san has done, amidst chaos of war and action, and the mystery of urithru, part 2 of the book was a great anchor, showing us how it's the people that reside roshar are that is important, not roshar it self.Parts 3 and 4 , especially part 4, are everything I wanted from a stormlight novel, but I never knew. I won't say anything more than that. Part 5, the sanderson avalance, is better than both TWOK and WOR, and that is the highest praise I can give to it. All in all, the book is amazing, it's brilliantly paced, very well written and has moments of fantastic character growth.But the thing that makes a book great are the characters, and though this is Dalinar's book, two people shine the brightest here. Shallan and Dalinar. Both their arcs are fantastic, both mirror each other in subtle ways, both showing us different sides of the same coin. I loved the moments of resolution of their arcs, the natural progression of it all, and the inevitable conclusion.Voidbringers are unexpected . Ever storm is unexpected. The destruction, the horror and all of it, come in unexpected ways. And I loved it , I loved how the voidbringers are not just another faceless, "evil", disposable army to be defeated by humans. I loved how all of them have motives, much stronger than we knew so far.And gods, the morality of it all. I won't say anything about this, it is something to be read and find out, something to cherish and find on your own.Oathbringer is a fantastic book. It is better than the way of kings by all accounts, and it is certainly better than Words of radiance everywhere it counts. The character moments strike hard when they need to, the moments of pure badassery make you cheer even if you are as stoic as a rock. The 450,000 word massive tome never feels slow, it never feels as if it's lagging and it never lets you take a break. It's not a kind of book that exhausts you, it's a kind of book that makes you crave more, makes you wish for more regardless of the fact that you have just read a monster of book. It's a fitting book, an amazing reward for years of waiting, and it's something that everyone of us wanted.Incase it was not clear already, it deserves much much more than a 5/5

Character:We follow Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Jasnah, Adolin and the others as the have now reached Urithitu after the last battle on the Shattered Plains. This is Dalinar’s book. That’s very clear. Dalinar has always been a character I’ve looked forward to, even more than Kaladin, and he shines in this book. We get to see Dalinar’s past in a sequence of flashbacks and they are heartbreaking. We can now fully understand the dramatic changes in his personality from the Blackthorn consumed by bloodlust to the Bondsmith who swears by oaths and The Way of Kings. His story is truly sad, and his arc is that of change and confronting past tragedy. Kaladin has lesser page time in this book than the previous two, but still manages to develop a lot as a character since his past evils still threaten to pull him into the abyss. Shallan is a polarizing character in this book. For some people she has become insufferable and annoying, while for others, this was expected. Personally, I have to admit that I hated reading the Veil sequences. Her Dissociative Identity Disorder, which manifests as different people quite literally due to her Lightweaving, is understandable but it goes on for too long in the book. Perhaps Shallan is so broken that we cannot expect her to recover instantly. Either way, I liked the old witty and curious Shallan way more than Veil or Radiant. Jasnah surprisingly doesn’t appear much in the book. When she does appear, she steals the show. But I’d like to have seen more of her. The Bridge Four members get their own POVs. Teft’s past is revealed and his struggle with substance abuse is well portrayed. Brandon seems to have included his first LGBT character in this book. Glad to see that his Mormonism hasn’t tampered with his open mind. Adolin goes through a lot on this book, and for the first time, his reputation as the son of Dalinar and his duelling skill with a Shardblade are useless. He feels weak and exposed, but goes through with it.Setting:Perhaps the arena where Oathbringer shines over the previous two books is in its worldbuilding. Sanderson zooms out of the Shattered Plains to expose the immensely detailed world he has created. We visit Thaylenah, Azimir and Jah Keved. There is an entire part of the book that takes place in Shadesmar. A lot more is revealed about the Spren and Odium. Dalinar’s tryst with the Nightwatcher is also shown. Due to the politics that takes place, we also see the vivid cultures of the different kingdoms. As we follow Dalinar’s battles, we get a look at the princedoms before they were united under Gavilar to form Alethkar. A large part of the book takes place in Alethkar’s capital, Kholinar. The Parshendi are not the enemy any of us or the characters in the book expected.Plot:This book is tightly plotted. Though it may seem slow in the beginning, especially if you’re not a fan of politics and international relations (which is a large part of this book), they all have good reason. Dalinar’s inexperience in politics and his sudden position as the one who has to unite Roshar puts him in a difficult place. Odium’s Unmade are revealed. Re-Sephir, Sja-Anat and the others. Urithiru is a complicated structure but there’s something wrong with it. The first moment of action is with Shallan and the others at Urithitu. After that, the battle of Kholinar. It all ends with the battle of Thaylen Field, which is, in my experience, one of the longest and largest battle scenes I’ve read. It’s the length of an entire novel, and yet it has you hooked. It is epic in every sense of the word. And the climax to Oahbringer was probably better than the previous two books, in the sense of wonder and awe that it invokes. Which is saying a lot. It had many goosebump inducing plot twists and fights of epic proportions. There is a link to Warbreaker in this book, as we see a character who is clearly someone we know from Warbreaker. And Nightblood gets to DESTROY EVIL.Conflict:The main conflict in this book is that Dalinar has to get the other kindgoms to trust him and join in his coalition to become a united Roshar against Odium’s forces. This is especially difficult because of his reputation as a mass murderer and unparalleled commander as the Blackthorn. Naturally, when Dalinar goes with his treaty of alliance, nobody wants anything to do with him. Shallan faces her different personalities. Adolin feels like a fish out of water with no magical powers he can use. Kaladin finds that the oaths he swore to are not easy to uphold. Jasnah finds a disturbing truth in her research, something that threatens to end the Knights Radiant.Prose:There is nothing fancy about Sanderson’s prose. It’s straight and to the point. He however, invents swear words to fit his world, which seems a bit contrived.Final Thoughts:I backed the Stormlight Archive when I first read The Way of Kings back in 2012, and Sanderson has not let me down. This series is defining where epic fantasy can go. Though I might need a cartwheel to lug around the next book.Rating: 9/10: Storming brilliant!