taliefer

interesting, hadnt thought of it that way. actually helps a bit. still feels kind of weird to just change Odiums out like this, but I think its something I will come to like more on a re-read with more perspective

I will look into DID, it may make me like Shallan as a character a whole lot more as part of my problem with it was i wasnt sure what Sanderson was trying to do with her. Hence why i thought he was trying to portray schizophrenia, and doing it poorly. I'd be overjoyed to be wrong on this one.

I finished an hour ago, and i cant help but think...this is a bad book. I shock myself by thinking this, but there were times I thought the book was borderline farcical. I actually thought Brandon was gonna turn Eshonai into a chasm fiend at the end there since we had just seen one with the listeners, and the stormfather bein all "i do show mercy yo", I actually thought the Stormfather might transfer her soul into the chasmfiend. I'm not sure thats a good headspace to be in at the end of a book, where you are just waiting for the shark to be jumped like that. the vast majority of the Venli flashbacks provide nothing, we already knew how she and Eshonai developed. it was just repeating the same notes from previous books. and her chapters in the present werent much better. Kaladin still resonates with me on such a personal level, its hard for me to be critical. I think Brandon nails it in his depiction of Depression, something I am quite familiar with. Shallan...not so much. this was another part of the book i found myself laughing at when i it was meant to be taken seriously. Its just..what mental disorder is this supposed to be? this isnt how multiple personalities work, and in fact when most people think "multiple personality disorder" they are really just bringing to mind misrepresentation of Schizophrenia. its just so tiring to read, especially since it wasnt exactly a bombshell that she had a previous spren. it was all but spelled out in previous books. I realize this is supposed to be about her coming to terms with it, but man, it wasnt fun to read. I think my biggest complaint is this is the first Sanderson book where it felt "written". like he needed X to happen so character Y goes here and does this cause "reasons." Everything from the tower invasion, Adolins trial, Teft staying behind, Navani's science, all of this felt like characters doing things in service to the plot, which was surprisingly disappointing. also TWO (Taravangian becoming Odium and this "EL? audiobook, dunno how its spelled character) new antagonists coming in at the eleventh hour? thats...meh. so bad. then you have Wit and the end going on about storytelling. this felt like an author stroking his own ego to me, was way to on the nose about story telling at the end of a huge book. I think theres alot to chew on with his interaction. that said, even if the trial taking place felt really forced, The trial gave us, in my opinion, the greatest moment in the series so far: "WE! CHOSE!" (listened via audible, so not sure how its printed in the book). this was easily the climax of the book to me and a legitimately great moment. I'm still a fan, im invested in this characters. but I think this is just a bad book. not "the weakest stormlight book but still good", but an outright bad book. its mostly a giant info dump, with alot of information we already had, but alot of the new info was cosmere stuff that is slowly taking over the series. this is not a standalone anymore, not sure how i feel about that. and then theres the whole Navani thing, which is actually just straight dumping of info via scientific method to us. it was pretty boring and i dont think will survive re-reads very well. Maybe my opinion will change on my reread, i hope it does, but my fresh thoughts upon finishing just arent good. While this book feels like a misstep along the Journey, I'm still on board until we get to the Destination.

i think Moash is just going to be "bad guy thug" and not the champion. he just isnt a big enough character for that to have any real impact. we were basically told but not shown his friendship with Kaladin in WoR. there really isnt any scene of those two bonding. they go out once, which was also the night moash set up the meeting to move the plot along, wasnt really a significant character building moment. Moash has served his main purpose of reflecting Kaladin back at himself at this point, hes just a stooge from here on out. if his friendship with Kaladin had actually been fleshed out, i could see him serving a larger purpose.

i'd be up for some kind of kal syl thing, as i think they already have the closest relationship of any two characters in the books. i was disapointed in the lack of interactions in general between the two of them in shadesmar, that kinda fell flat. i also think it dampens any "ship" of them, as Sanderson obviously didnt use the situation there to advance their relationship more than it already was.

i have about 0 interest in eshonai flashbacks, since shes already, you know, dead. i suppose it would be the ultimate "journey before destination" scenario, but i dunno. it doesnt interest me and im kinda wary if thats the direction he goes.

i gave it an 8 very close to going to a 7, but in the end i did plow through the book and mostly enjoyed it. but in comparison id rate way of kings a 10 and radiance a 9. Oathbringer is easily the weakest of the 3 so far to me. shallans whole arc didnt resonate with me, at all. and was just flat out annoying to read at times. multiple personality disorder just doesn't register with me, i guess. the payoff for Dalinar's arc was awesome personified, but i dont feel his wife subplot warranted it. i actually found myself agreeing with younger Dalinar in his wife was just flat out stupid for sneaking into a city Dalinar was poised to attack. so i had a hard time buying into his pathos. Kaladin was great, as always. Adolin was a much needed breath of fresh air from all of our broken main characters, i really hope he doesnt backslide regarding Sadeas' death. and i hope we get another well adjusted character to help break up the flow of broken character after broken character. that may be why i had a hard time buying into shallan and Dalinars arcs fully. theres only so much depression and angst i can handle before it becomes repetitive and a trudge to read. the world building continues to be great, if maybe just a *tad* too much on the overall cosmere side. its starting to feel like the cosmere is going to play a bigger role in this series than originally thought. not sure if thats good or bad yet, willing to wait. but my eyebrow is raised for sure. favorite moment was easily Dalinar merging the 3 realms. i never saw that coming in regards to "unite them" but it was so, so awesome. side note, im super optimistic about the Lift character between her role here and i read EdgeDancer. she could be that other character aside from Adolin that i feel this series needs to lighten the POV from our characters.

i disagree, i think Kaladin's arc was once again easily the best part of the book. he is such an interesting character. him having to deal with abject failure was enthralling. if he had cut it off at part 3, i dont know how i would have reacted. .

i must be in the minority, i felt this was easily the weakest of the 3 stormlight books so far. it was still good, dont get me wrong. but it just wasnt as good a read as the other two. he did ALOT of world building in this book, which is great, but i think thats why so many people are so high on it. i have 3 major problems which detracted from my enjoyment: 1- the shallan chapters were just annoying to read, and didnt feel at any way earned. she went from a strong character to one teetering on the edge, cause reasons. easily the weakest part of the book. which is surprising, i enjoyed her alot in my recent re-read. 2- While the payoff for Dalinar's arc was great (bringing the 3 realms together was the best part of the book) i felt the underlying tension was weak. he didnt *actually* kill his wife, she lived up to her reputation of being dull of wit by sneaking into the city Dalinar was there to attack. like This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules? i actually found myself agreeing with younger Dalinar, which i really dont think was the intent here. i can understand why Dalinar would have so much strife for this, but it didnt come across to myself as i was reading. i couldnt empathize, which lowered impact it had on me. 3- this is the most minor, but while i understand these are broken people...enough is enough. we need more Adolin characters that arent neck high in angst to break up the flow. and i really hope he stays on the path hes on regarding murdering sadeas. that being, sure he can have the occasional moment of guilt, but he seems to realize it had to be done. i really hope he doesnt backslide. on the positive side, Kaladin continues to be strong. i continue to think he is the best written protagonist ive ever read. the Brandalanch at the end was really good, as usual, but again not as good as the other two books` Brandalanches at the end. all in all, Brandon Sanderson has easily earned any benefit of the doubt required and continues to be my favorite author. i'll be curious to see if people are still so glowing about this book once the shine of it being new wears off, or if it really is just me in regarding it as the weakest of the books so far.

id chalk this up to Brandon re-using a phrase he likes. like his obsession with the word "Tempest"

why cant he carry it around? once it "bonds" with him it poofs. he seemed to be in a hurry to get to his home, i dont know that he'd take the time to find a good home for the blade.

i would'nt be upset by any means if Kaladin becomes Honor's champion...but it seems way too obvious.

im a baseball fan, and i live in red wings territory, i get the superstition stuff ;p it does fit the scene, just never occured to me while reading. i did chuckle a bit~

A for the effort...C for the Comedy

ive given up reading a song of ice and fire. the last couple books were just kinda meh. i think i like the tv show better than the series anyhow. the books were fine, i just never thought martin was all he was hyped up to be. its a good but not great fantasy series that the author lost control of cause he wanted to kill people off willy nilly. if jon snow is indeed dead, i have 0 interest in picking up the books again. i'll be lookin for spoilers when the next book comes out in 3 years.