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.

If Mr. Sanderson would have changed few parts of this book and called it the final book of Stormlight Archive Series, it would have been a fitting finale to an exceptional trilogy. But, no this is just book 3 of the potential 10 book series and I genuinely don’t know how he is going to keep on escalating the story further and raise the stakes even higher. 

I went back to the land of Roshar after a break of almost 3 years and I realised immediately that I was missing out on some (or rather many) incredible stories from Mr. Sanderson. There are so many characters and their own storylines to keep track of, I was worried that I would not be able to get hang of things but a detailed recap by a Youtuber - Captured in Words helped me catch up with where the characters were placed after the Words of Radiance. 

At the end of the Book 2, Dalinar had become my favourite character and Oathbringer adds more lore and layers to this character. Sanderson allows you to enter Dalinar’s mind once again which makes you feel more emotionally connected to him. Kaladin and Shallan build further on their characters and powers and both get their time in the spotlight to shine but in some weird way, I felt it was Adolin who showed the most character growth in this book. I enjoyed Lift popping up every now and then with her humour. Her pairing with (spoiler) was unexpectedly enjoyable and I wouldn’t mind them teaming up again in future. 

I am kind of glad that I had read Warbreaker before reading this book as it helped in giving some context to few characters and plot points. 

I’ll be honest in saying that I was much more hyped after the end of first 2 books in terms of diving into the next book immediately. Like I said, this book could have been the end of a trilogy if Mr. Sanderson wanted it to be (doesn’t mean I wanted it to be). 

All in all, a fantastic addition to the Stormlight Archive Series which is at this point (ending of Oathbringer) a 4000+ page series with 3 books and 1 novella. Just getting till here feels like an achievement in itself (must appreciate how convenient Audiobook has been) and it blows my mind that at this point there are still 2 books + 1 novella already out there in our World so I hereby take “Oath” to “Bring” the next book before the end of 2025.

Adwait Kulkarni

If Mr. Sanderson would have changed few parts of this book and called it the final book of Stormlight Archive Series, it would have been a fitting finale to an exceptional trilogy. But, no this is just book 3 of the potential 10 book series and I genuinely don’t know how he is going to keep on escalating the story further and raise the stakes even higher. 

I went back to the land of Roshar after a break of almost 3 years and I realised immediately that I was missing out on some (or rather many) incredible stories from Mr. Sanderson. There are so many characters and their own storylines to keep track of, I was worried that I would not be able to get hang of things but a detailed recap by a Youtuber - Captured in Words helped me catch up with where the characters were placed after the Words of Radiance. 

At the end of the Book 2, Dalinar had become my favourite character and Oathbringer adds more lore and layers to this character. Sanderson allows you to enter Dalinar’s mind once again which makes you feel more emotionally connected to him. Kaladin and Shallan build further on their characters and powers and both get their time in the spotlight to shine but in some weird way, I felt it was Adolin who showed the most character growth in this book. I enjoyed Lift popping up every now and then with her humour. Her pairing with (spoiler) was unexpectedly enjoyable and I wouldn’t mind them teaming up again in future. 

I am kind of glad that I had read Warbreaker before reading this book as it helped in giving some context to few characters and plot points. 

I’ll be honest in saying that I was much more hyped after the end of first 2 books in terms of diving into the next book immediately. Like I said, this book could have been the end of a trilogy if Mr. Sanderson wanted it to be (doesn’t mean I wanted it to be). 

All in all, a fantastic addition to the Stormlight Archive Series which is at this point (ending of Oathbringer) a 4000+ page series with 3 books and 1 novella. Just getting till here feels like an achievement in itself (must appreciate how convenient Audiobook has been) and it blows my mind that at this point there are still 2 books + 1 novella already out there in our World so I hereby take “Oath” to “Bring” the next book before the end of 2025.

wasn’t as great as words of radiance but still enjoyable and FUN. among the three, i think this one made me cry the most. my heart break for evi 😭💔💔💔 

hana

at some points i did feel the weight of how long this book is but it was still so good. i have also read these books in quick succession without much breathing room so i may be biased 

Daphne Li-Chen

mind blown, awe struck, enraptured!

at some points i did feel the weight of how long this book is but it was still so good. i have also read these books in quick succession without much breathing room so i may be biased 

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!

Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive

Reviews

Highlights