Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive Book 3) by Brandon Sanderson : Review

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.

I’m going to do my best to write this without spoiling anything for anyone, but so much stuff freaking happens in Oathbringer that a few minor details may accidentally sneak through. I’ve been a massive Brandon Sanderson fan ever since they announced he was going to complete the Wheel of Time in 2007 and I decided to see if I thought he was up to the task. While I haven’t enjoyed every book he’s written, I do think he’s improved as a writer with every book that he writes and this book is no exception.

Oathbringer was everything I expected it to be and so much more — I actually went to work on no sleep the day after I got it, and only got a few hours of sleep over the next couple days. The only time I had to read it was at night after work for a few hours.

I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve always thought that some of the best scenes in the series are the flashbacks we get throughout each book. It’s always interesting to get deeper insights into a character and finding out just why they ended up where they are now. In Oathbringer we finally get Dalinar’s flashbacks and get to see just who this Blackthorn is that everyone talks about, and how he goes from that brash, violent young man to the Dalinar we know and love.

Unfortunately, I can’t really say much about the story itself and why I think it’s by far the best book that Sanderson has written so far, Stormlight or anything else. I’m honestly going to start listening to the audiobook for Oathbringer the minute I finish this review because so much happened in this book that I felt like I missed something major everytime I blinked or let my mind wander at all. Old friends and enemies appeared and left, new friends and enemies were constantly making themselves known, people were glowing everywhere. It was absolute madness and I loved every single minute of it.

As much as I loved Oathbringer there were a few minor things that really annoyed me about the book. First is the repetitive way Sanderson has started to describe the clothes that the women of the book are wearing. Apparently, there is only one type of dress in all of Alethkar and most of the world and we get to hear about the color and style of every women’s dress in every scene. Second would be certain aspects of Shallan’s character in this book. I can’t say much to ruin it, but while I loved her story arc I was really annoyed by her the entire time. She fell again to one of my least favorite characters.

I’m already planning ahead for how many times I’m going to listen to the Audiobook or reread the book itself while I suffer through the excruciating wait for the next book in the series. The only consolation about having to wait so long is that it’s Brandon Sanderson…you know the book is going to be amazing when it’s done and that he’s likely written like 12 books in the time it’s taken me to write this review.

This was an amazing book and series that is well worth taking the time to read and I can’t recommend it enough to people. Brandon Sanderson is one of those authors you will never regret picking up at the bookstore or library.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.