Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
My basic summary: In a world plagued by regular hurricane-like storms and made mostly of stone, our intrepid heroes (Established in the first two books) continue on their path to try and reform the Knights Radiant. This book focuses on Dalinar and his purposely hidden back-story as he leads the charge with the Knights Radiant, tries to bring together the monarchs of the world, and figure out who he is, all while exploring a ancient city none of them understands. Then they find out who they’re really fighting.
Why I picked up this book: It was written by Brandon Sanderson.
What I knew going in: I knew Oathbringer was going to focus on Dalinar.
My response: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Because of its length, I had to read this book over a much longer time period than I usually read books, and as such I think I had far more time to mull over what I was reading before I was finished. This resulted in my stepping back and seeing the writing more than with other books. (Well I suppose it could also be that this book was more poorly written and thus more transparent, but I’d rather liken it to my being more aware of writing instead.)
There were certainly some plot choices where they left me scratching my head, and others that made perfect sense. As always, the climax pulled everything together pretty perfectly. And I am so happy with where Adolin’s story arc is going. I was really worried about him after the end of Words of Radiance.
Also, because these books are so large, I made sure to mark places I wanted to go back to before I left them because I don’t see a world in which I have time to read these monsters more than once. Though most of these were for picking apart his writing at a later date.
Sanderson also did some beautiful things regarding depression and ones view of themselves in this book that brought me to tears. Nothing heavy-handed, but just a reminder that we humans always feel so alone and yet there are other people out there who have experienced what you have.
Will I pick up the next book: While I know it will be at least two years, yes. And I am following details about it closely. (Though truthfully, I am following details about most all of his books and their release schedule.)
