Brandon Sanderson

Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive

Annabelle Gauthier

Sometimes she felt like a thing wearing a human skin. She was that thing in Urithiru, the Unmade, who sent out puppets to feign humanity.

One man could love an ice sculpture while another thought it boring. It was the same with food and drink. It did not make the food broken, or the person broken, to not be liked.

Alina

It was the scream of a thousand warriors on the battlefield.

It was the moment of most sensual touch and ecstasy.

It was the sorrow of loss, the joy of victory.

And it was hatred. Deep, pulsing hatred with a pressure to turn all things molten. It was the heat of a thousand suns, it was the bliss of every kiss, it was the lives of all men wrapped up in one, defined by everything they felt.

Noah Cross

 It felt good to just be told what to do.

Luke Harkness

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brandon Sanderson is my favourite author. He writes intelligently, he writes genuinely interesting characters, he writes utterly phenomenal worlds and he writes superbly gripping storylines. Oathbringer is no different.

Keep an eye out for my review of it on my blog: www.lukeharkness.com/newsletter

Christine

????????????????????????????????????????????
five stars for Wit that is all.

Vicky  Nuñez 

There's so much great things in this book that this could be a huge review just about my gushing about how much I love it. So I'll sum it in a few short words: this is a masterpiece and if you haven't started the series you need to do it immediately!

Nenad Nikolic

More exciting adventures in Roshar. This book is a bit slow in some parts but definitely delivers. I guess that it's not easy to keep the pace in such ambitious series and you hav got to fill the pages somehow. Worth your time if you liked previous books from the Stormlight Archives.

Always get intimidated when I look at the length and forget it will be the best book I’ve ever read

less intriguing than the previous two books……… but still good………. very good…..

Delaney Vorwick

Jasper Hickox

These books are so good. It feels like just when it’s dragging and I’m starting to feel a bit tired, it ramps up into insane psycho mode. The last 300 pages I read today where it was multiple POV swaps per chapter was just fucking insane, a 2 page section had 5. It’s crazy how it doesn’t feel clunky or awkward to read. It flows so well. Such a satisfying payoff to multiple stories built up so far. Dalinar was my least favourite character going into this one and this is one is HIS book so I was a bit worried. But man does he get redeemed. All his back story memory wiping from a god stuff had so many twists and turns it was awesome. Kaladin remains my favourite with Shallan just barely behind. Jasnah gets a ton a badass moments at the end and Rock getting the prominent game saving role was so funny and I loved it. Onto Rythme of War baybeeeee

Lennart Tondeleir

Oathbringer is a brilliant book by a brilliant writer. The author has crafted a world with incredible depth. The previous two books in the series were superior to Oathbringer in my opinion. There are several character decisions and coincidental circumstances which are just too 'convenient' for the plot. Though I'm an avid fantasy reader, I feel the story could have been told in a lot less pages without loss of quality. I really appreciate the humor the author uses to bring some levity to the story.

It gripped me from the start and never let go, so far this is the best book of the year, possibly of all time

Prashanth Srivatsa

This was mighty fun and immensely satisfying! Sanderson has outdone himself, expanding his world like a crystal lattice, each character meticulously designed to bring realism into fantasy. Simple prose, complex magic, a grand scheme, an epic scope and boundless imagination stuffed (or rather neatly laid) within 1250-odd pages, scattered with devilish details and fascinating tidbits of a world you simply don't want to leave. The great evil is out in the open, and we're only 3 books down. It's a good thing then, that Sanderson is a real stickler for productivity.

aurelia

not my fav stormlight book, had some parts that were great and some that were underwhelming

Rachel Kanyid

After reading this book for a year.... I finally finished. I am ashamed that it took me that long to finish, since it's by my favorite author and all, but it did not disappoint. Sometimes you have to savor each little bit of a book, and that means you read it much more slowly, especially when you read it during the busiest year of your life to date... Lol. 😂

tina

second read: oct 28, 2020
i finished this in 7 days. pls be proud of me <3

first read: july 15, 2018

911 this is an emergency ! How does one cope after reading Oathbringer?! How do I go back to reality after all that?! What the fuck am I supposed to do now ????!?! 

𝒯𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝑒𝓅𝓉 𝓃𝑜 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝑒𝓃𝒹. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅 𝒶 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒.

Brandon Sanderson has done it again. He can go and take all of the universe’s stars because god knows how much he deserves it. Somehow, the series just keeps getting better and better with each book despite the fact that the previous ones are always difficult to top. My expectations were not only met, but exceeded once again and I have been killed by Brandon Sanderson yet again. Obviously, my review will never give this book the justice it rightfully deserves but I’m gonna try anyway.

“𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃,’ 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓁𝒾𝑒𝒹, ‘𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉, 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝒾𝑒. 𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝒾𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒽.”

Oathbringer greatly focused on characterization whilst still introducing a broader perspective to the plot, and expanding the world and the magic system more. I’ve talked about Sanderson’s brilliance when it comes to writing characters, but I feel like he really came through in this book. Every character has a story to tell and a darkness to overcome. There’s a character who suffers from depression, another who’s struggling with addiction, and there’s also one who’s having difficulty trying to find their identity. Their dark sides and flaws are what makes these characters much more real, alive, and relatable. It’s what makes these fictional characters human. The book also gives a lot more page time to the side characters, which I really enjoyed and loved. It’s great that we got the chance to see the story in the eyes of the side characters (such as the bridge four). 

𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓁. 𝐹𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹. 𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓃𝑜 𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒. 𝒯𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒, 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒𝒹.

As expected, Oathbringer excels not only in characterization but in literally ALL aspects. Honestly, with the amount of Brandon Sanderson books I’ve read, I don’t think I should be surprised by this anymore. But his books still jump up at me like a thief in the night. The Stormlight Archive makes me forget about all the other high fantasy books I’ve read in the past. It’s so brilliant that it’s not even fair to put it side by side with other fantasy novels/series. The world continues to expand. We’re no longer at the tip of the iceberg anymore because we’re already diving further and further below the surface. New subplots are introduced and we get a clearer understanding of the magic system. A lot of people say that Brandon describes his world and his magic like it’s science and I think that’s the perfect way to describe how he writes. That’s what makes this world so rich, so fascinating, and feel so real. And this is just one of the many reasons why I love this series sO much. 

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓃𝓈𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃𝑒’𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒾𝓅𝒶𝓉𝑒.

Oathbringer is a behemoth and I’m pretty sure I’ve missed a lot of foreshadowing and the like with so many things happening. I literally have long ass notes for this book only, and I have an even longer one for the entire series sjdjsjsj. I read this for two weeks yet I still need and want more :( . I can’t believe I’m going to have to wait 2-3 years (maybe even more, oh god) for the next book :( . I don’t know whAt I’m supposed to do :( . I’m probably just going to cry about it until we get a release date :( . I’m not even kidding :,( .

𝒴𝑒𝓈, 𝐼 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒.

p.s.
THIS IS THE FUCKIN EPIC FANTASY RIDE I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED IN MY LIFE

𝒫𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓁𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒸𝑒𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒶𝓈 𝒥𝒶𝓈𝓃𝒶𝒽 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓅𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓁.

andrea

i was in terrible pain the entire time. 5/5 oathbringer is my favorite stormlight book now

Alejandro

I don't think I have enough words to say how freaking amazing this book is. Stormlight keeps going in crescendo. The characters keep growing in amazing ways, the moments are more epic than ever, the plot gets to points that you never imagine and, something I truly love, we get to know more and more of this world and universe :)

Honestly, this wasn’t my favorite stormlight. Sanderson always does an amazing job, of course, but this was long without a lot of interesting moments. It does still have a fair share, just a lot more down time. The characters all have amazing arcs. And it’s still amazing. I just really struggled to get through it. Above all else, still an amazing read. 

James Eaton

This series is just incredible. 

This was not my favorite book in this series,
But that doesn’t make it any less amazing because books 1-2 were nearly perfect. 

This felt like the transition book to 4/5 that pauses the plot along. I’m still excited to keep going with The Stormlight Archive and other Cosmere works!

Anastasia 

9/10

Amazing, show stopping, sensational ....I'm running out of words to describe part 4 and 5 of this 

I would admit that this was a little slower at first compared to WOR but the ending makes up for it 100% ...I would also like to say this is the THE MOST significant book in the stormlight archive so far . It perfectly answers the question WHY???

why are the radiants back??...why are the parshendi and the parshmen so bent on conquering all of Roshar ???.... I could also claim this is the most empathetic book Sanderson has ever written and it has the greatest scene in all of cosmere 

There's so much depth to certain characters now and I honestly can't wait to see how their stories evolve , I also enjoyed the light being on the minor characters more (bridge four, Szeth-son and by some extension Adolin and Renarin)...I really can't wait to read Rhythm of war .... Sanderson delivers again

Marisa Petri

Amazing yet again, but this book seemed more like a transition onto the next one

Julie Janis

Incredible book! While this wasn't my favorite in the series and was quite a challenge to get through, I appreciate the amazing character development and epic world this story has. I'm excited to get to Rhythm of War!

Celeste Richardson

Rating: 6/5 stars

Upon rereading Oathbringer, not only am I still blown away by it, I actually love it even more. It’s a rare book that grows and deepens and improves when revisited, but Sanderson has a knack for churning out such fiction. His intricate plotting, superb pacing, insane world building, fathomless character development, and impeccable attention to detail are all second to none. Is it any wonder he’s in my top three favorite authors? Below is my original review of Oathbringer. I can’t wait to dig into Rhythm of War next month! 

Original November 2017 review:

This book deserves all the stars in the Cosmere. And then some.

When I read The Way of Kings, it became one of my favorite books of all time. When I read Words of Radiance, it supplanted its predecessor, which I find to be incredibly rare for a second book in a series. I was understandably impressed, but while I was excited for Oathbringer, I honestly believed there was no way it could be better than the books that came before it. I’ve never in my life been happier to have been proven wrong. Sanderson absolutely blew me away with Oathbringer. I don’t how he did it, but I’m ecstatic that he did.

In The Way of Kings, we got Kaladin’s back story, which I loved. In Words of Radiance, we learned about the past that shaped Shallan. Here, in Oathbringer, it is Dalinar’s turn. His past has so far been the most painful to read about in my opinion, because the man he used to be is so vastly different from the man he is today. Something I really appreciated was the fact that we were getting his flashback scenes as he himself remembered them, allowing readers to feel like they were truly making this journey step for step with Dalinar. His past is both fascinating and incredibly disturbing.

However, as with the preceding books, Dalinar is far from the only perspective we receive. We get more of Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin, and more who I won’t list because I don’t want to spoil anything. One thing I absolutely loved was the inclusion of Bridge Four chapters, from the perspectives of various bridgemen. This was a wonderful gift Sanderson included for his fans. 

Watching the Knights Radiant expand and grow and even take squires was absolutely wonderful to behold. Yet again, the Words spoken were powerful and varied and moving. I love the Ideals Sanderson has created here, as I think they make for incredibly powerful words to live by for both character and reader. But sometimes those Words feel impossible to say, and we’re unable to choke them out. I like that this struggle isn’t shied away from in the series. Saying the Words isn’t easy; if it was, everyone would be a Radiant. What makes someone Radiant potential is the immense pain they’ve experienced and their ability to rise above it, even as they continue to struggle.

There was an immense amount of character development in this book, for both our main characters and side characters. Some characters struggled with their identity, incapable of accepting themselves for who they are. Depression was battled, and it wasn’t always conquered. Addictions reared their ugly heads and refused to be ignored. Demons from the past plagued their hosts and laughed at the pain they inflicted. Decisions were questioned and regretted. Everything the characters went through made them feel so incredibly alive. Sanderson showed us raw, real people, and he exposed their pain and struggles to us. But he also showed us their triumphs, which were made all the more poignant because we witnessed the fight to attain them. 
 
In my opinion, the central theme of this book was one of forgiveness and acceptance, mostly of yourself. It’s about knowing your flaws and accepting them as part of you. It’s about not hiding who you are, even if you don’t like who that person is. It’s about owning up to your mistakes and learning from them. It’s about knowing that you’re broken, perhaps beyond repair, and loving yourself anyway. It’s about people’s powerful ability to heal other people, and in the process lessen their own pain. It’s about sharing the pain with friends, because no one can shoulder a bridge alone. It’s about crying when you need to and finding a way to laugh through the tears. It’s about flinging your arms wide and letting the sun shine on your scars when you’d rather wallow in the shadows. It’s about accepting that life is hard and imperfect and unfair and embracing it anyway.

This book moved me. I laughed and cried and raged. Its over 1,200 pages passed by too quickly, but reading it was an incredible experience. Yes, now the waiting game begins for book 4, but if the first three books are any indication, it will be well worth the wait.

I’d like to thank my marvelous friend TS for not only sending me this beautiful book as an early Christmas gift, but for being there to laugh and cry and rage with me as I read. She made an already incredible experience even more wonderful.

Brianna

Finished this reread just in time for Rhythm of War! Thoughts are the same, but I understand more why this one isn’t generally liked as much as WoR despite it being my personal favorite.

First review:

”The question is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die.” 

 I’ve got some hot takes y’all.  (I’ve got hot takes about Sanderson in general, so unsurprising.)

Le controversies:

I loved this book more than Words of Radiance. It dropkicked me into oblivion. I had to quit listening to the audiobook at work because I was one step away from bawling my eyes out. (And mind — it takes a lot for me to cry from a book, and even more from a Sanderson book.)

I do not like Kaladin and Syl grates on my nerves more often than not. (And as a side note, what the fuck was that unnecessary love triangle.)

I don’t care if the ending was disjointed and didn’t follow the Sanderson Formula™️. I’m the self-proclaimed #1 Kholin fan and this book delivered on all fronts.

Man, now I gotta join the masses in waiting for Rhythm of War.

John Harkabus

After starting this series early last year, I have not been able to stop thinking and theorizing about every little detail that Brandon Sanderson seems to include in every sentence. I hang onto each morsel of new information and freak out when the reveals eventually come. 

This book, more so than book one or two, has provided those sweet, sweet reveals and has left new lingering questions that I’ll continue to obsess over until I read the next book. I struggled through the fourth act as I do in every Brandon Sanderson book but so far I have never been disappointed with the resolution. Also, for anyone that obsesses over the tiny details and just wants questions answered, this book provides it in spades. 

This series continues to be my favorite long running high fantasy series, and even though I need to take a breather before jumping into book four, I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Deborah Kerr

Another gorgeous installment to the Stormlight Archive.

Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive

Reviews

Highlights