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[OB] What is your review of Oathbringer?


ICanDream

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Now that we’ve had some time to mull over our opinions for this heft tome, I thought we’d have another thread about our reviews for the book. I feel like last time we were just wallowing in the ecstasy of a Stormlight release and it was hard to give it an honest review, so yeah... here is a thread to post your honest review about this book and how it stacks up to the rest.

So what did I think of it? I, personally, loved it. Of course, it didn’t quite match the WoR - which remains, IMO, the greatest book ever written - but it did read incredibly well, and I enjoyed it tremendously. There were many things this book did well, and I’m going to go into them:

Firstly, Dalinar. Before he was a compelling character, but he, at least in my eyes, had always la led that incredible emotional grounding of Kaladin or the weirdness of Shallan. But in this book... wow, he gave Kaladin a run for his money in who I consider the most compelling of the main three. The whole end sequence with him was phenomenal and heart-wrenching, and his flashbacks were in stark contrast to the man who he is now. In reading those flashbacks, you gain a greater appreciation of the man Dalinar has become. 

Secondly, the Avalanche. Masterfully written. I found myself emotionally drained after reading it. I felt hope, despair, sympathy, anger, wonder, awe and joy tempered with melancholy (that came out way more poetic than I had intended). This was a great ending. End of.

Thirdly, the climax to Part Three. Wow. So what happened at the end of Part Three? I’ll tell you. Dalinar receives another flashback, this one taking him back to when he killed Evi. That alone was emotional. But it didn’t stop there. We got an action sequence with the fused involved which was terrifying. Then we had the chapter “The Girl Who Stood Up”. Then we had Elhokar’s death, as well as the death as many others that Kaladin had cared about. We had Kaladin freeze. Then we got a pulse pounding battle. And then it all ended on a cliffhanger - with everyone in Shadesmar. It’s easy to see why I liked this.

Fourthly, all the other good stuff. I include in this section: Kaladin - his arc was incredible and struck a cord with me - Shallan - her arc was emotional and I (controversially) absolutely loved it - the world building - I mean it’s as good as the previous books so yeah, it’s good - and finally I was never back red. That’s high praise for a book this long.

Now the stuff I didn’t like:

The way Amaram was handled. His final scene where he turned into Yelig-Nar was great, but his character had so much more potential. Of course, it didn’t come to fruition.

The whole Sadeas thing kind of fizzled out. This was less of an issue for me than others, but it still bothered me.

Heleran. I was really anticipating Kaladin and Shallan talking about this, but nope.

And lastly, the Ghostbloods: where were they most of the book?

Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book. I’d give it a 8.5/10 and that’s high praise coming from me. While not as good as WoR, it is a worthy third instalment to the Stormlight Archive.

 

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I guess the whole Oathbringer reaction thread could count as a review board, but I will play along :D

I have a different relationship with Stormlight than most here I think; I dont really expect the plot to move forward (and I am usually a plot guy). I came to this idea in Way of Kings where you could basically summarize the book in about 4 sentences. I enjoy the worldbuilding and character development of which Oathbringer delivered. I personally thought the Shadesmere (sp?) sections really interesting as with just spending time in his unique world! I think a solid 8/10 for me. I think Words of Radiance was better and a maybe Oathbringer with a slight edge over WoK.

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