Should I stop reading?

[Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon]

Hello everyone!! I’ve read and loved all Mistborn books, Steelheart, Rithmatist, The way of kings and Words of Radiance. The two Stormlight Archives books were amazing and always kept me entertained. So I was really excited to start Oathbringer but even 200 pages in I feel like all the love I hade built up for SA just fell apart in seconds. I started to dislike Dalinar and all of his chapters and Shallans progression almost stopped entirely (in my opinion). Right now I don’t know if I even want to continue the series because how much I dislike Oathbringer. I really don’t mean to hate because I love Brandon Sanderson and still do, it’s just maybe this book isn’t for me. Should I push through and keep reading even though I don’t like anyone except for Kaladin or should I skip the book and wait for the fourth or just skip the whole series??

[Gilphon]

Well, I mean, you haven't exactly come to the right place if you want unbiased opinions. You're come to a place full of people who are biased in favour of Oathbringer who will try to convince you to keep reading. 

But in my personal biased opinion, Oathbringer is the best book Brandon's ever written. I can at the very least assure you that you will view both Dalinar and Shallan very differently by the end of the book. 

Also, going off the one thing I definitely know you'd like, I can tell you there's a chapter from Rock's point of view later on. So maybe at least push through until then?

Edited December 28, 2019 by Gilphon

[Rask]

Sounds like maybe you're burning out? Did you just binge the Cosmere? My advice to you is to take a break and read something light and relaxing, whatever you feel will best get you to unwind. Take as much time as you need to, but definitely give Oathbringer another shot once you feel like it. 

Don't let anyone pressure you into reading at a pace that is wrong for you, as the old adage goes, 'journey before destination'. 

Good luck and may your passion for stormlight rekindle! 

[Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon]

Thank you for the response, I will definitely give it another shot but first I will take som time off the cosmere. I appreciate your help very much, thank you!!

[Karger]

1 hour ago, Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon said:

I started to dislike Dalinar and all of his chapters

Hm.  I really liked those.  Care to explain.

1 hour ago, Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon said:

Shallans progression almost stopped entirely

Yeah she is kind of tapped out.

1 hour ago, Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon said:

Right now I don’t know if I even want to continue the series because how much I dislike Oathbringer

Oathbringer is probably the most tedious of the SA but it is in my view also the most worthwhile.  I agree you might be burning out.  Do not read a book out of obligation you will not enjoy it.

[Elsecaller_17.5]

4 hours ago, Gilphon said:

Well, I mean, you haven't exactly come to the right place if you want unbiased opinions. You're come to a place full of people who are biased in favour of Oathbringer who will try to convince you to keep reading. 

But in my personal biased opinion, Oathbringer is the best book Brandon's ever written. I can at the very least assure you that you will view both Dalinar and Shallan very differently by the end of the book. 

Also, going off the one thing I definitely know you'd like, I can tell you there's a chapter from Rock's point of view later on. So maybe at least push through until then?

This is truth.

3 hours ago, Rask said:

Sounds like maybe you're burning out? Did you just binge the Cosmere? My advice to you is to take a break and read something light and relaxing, whatever you feel will best get you to unwind. Take as much time as you need to, but definitely give Oathbringer another shot once you feel like it. 

Don't let anyone pressure you into reading at a pace that is wrong for you, as the old adage goes, 'journey before destination'. 

Good luck and may your passion for stormlight rekindle! 

And this great advice!

[Koloss17]

Oathbreaker is one that is amazing if you want to learn more about the shards and the magic system on Roshar as a whole, but it is kund of like Harry Potter’s order of the Phoenix. You get smacked silly with all the information that gets thrown at you, but it connects a lot of holes in your knowledge. This was a book I lost interest in halfway through, read another book, came back to it and restarted, and liked a whole lot. It also is much more involved in the cosmere and is something that might be a bit confusing if you don’t know all of that jazz. But overall, it is a fun read that leaves you wanting more. It has fun dialogue and really goes in depth with each character’s personality(s) and is an insanely good addition to the cosmere. You should carry on, but a break is a good idea probably.

[Aon Tia]

Yup taking some time off Cosmere is a good advice but Oathbringer deserves to be given a second chance by you. 
Just keep reading it and I have a feeling that it will surprise you in the end. 
It is my absolute favourite book of Brandon’s and I love the way he handled Dalinars arc in this book. It was brilliantly done. 
 

[Honorless]

Some works are emotionally exhausting, go read something swashbucklingly mad for a while and then come back to Oathbringer. If you've been reading Sanderson for a while you must have a long backlog of books on your to-read list! 

[agrabes]

17 hours ago, Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon said:

Hello everyone!! I’ve read and loved all Mistborn books, Steelheart, Rithmatist, The way of kings and Words of Radiance. The two Stormlight Archives books were amazing and always kept me entertained. So I was really excited to start Oathbringer but even 200 pages in I feel like all the love I hade built up for SA just fell apart in seconds. I started to dislike Dalinar and all of his chapters and Shallans progression almost stopped entirely (in my opinion). Right now I don’t know if I even want to continue the series because how much I dislike Oathbringer. I really don’t mean to hate because I love Brandon Sanderson and still do, it’s just maybe this book isn’t for me. Should I push through and keep reading even though I don’t like anyone except for Kaladin or should I skip the book and wait for the fourth or just skip the whole series??

I'll agree with the others and say that you would probably be best served by a break from the Cosmere/Sanderson and come back refreshed.

I do think that Oathbringer, while still being a great book, is the weakest of the SA so far.  There have been threads here about it over the past few years.  Some people loved OB, others didn't.  I also shared your dislike of (what I assume are) the Dalinar flashback chapters.  They felt too separate from the main story to my taste and I found myself getting impatient reading them.  If you look at the flashbacks, I think it makes sense:  Kaladin's flashbacks were in the first book, so it was really just our way to meet him.  I personally skip most of them on rereads because they bore me.  Shallan's flashbacks tied in a lot of overall mysteries of Roshar alongside Shallan's personal backstory/history.   I always try to reread the books ahead of the next release and so far I've enjoyed reading all of hers even on rereads.  Dalinar's flashbacks are primarily just his backstory.  You have only read the first ~20% of the book so I won't provide any spoilers, but especially his early flashbacks dragged for me.  They tell an important story for sure, but even though I like Dalinar I didn't really like reading it.  I know there are people who loved it though.  And be prepared to be frustrated with Shallan in this book.  You could almost consider this book to be like her equivalent to Kaladin's time on Bridge 4.  It's a huge test for her.  It's not as obvious because she's not a slave forced to run into certain death once or twice a week, but it's just as hard for her.

[KandraAllomancer]

I think the best summary of Oathbringer is one line from some review I once read: it contains both the highest highs and the lowest lows in the whole series so far. Yes, it drags at times. And some parts (Kaladin and Shallan's POVs in Part 4) seem quite lackluster despite a rather... interesting setting (though there's probably a ton of cool foreshadowing that will be obvious in a few years ). That being said, Part 5 is, in my opinion, one of the best (if not the best) thing Brandon has ever written

Edited December 29, 2019 by KandraAllomancer

[Tglassy]

My advice, just finish it.  Oathbringing is long, and drawn out, and especially the stuff with Dalinar seems to paint him as this horrible person, but the end of the book was so powerful BECAUSE of all that setup, that I've gone through the whole series three times just to get to that ending again.  Now, I listen to the books, and Michael Krammer's performance is wonderful, so that adds a bit to my enjoyment, but that ending...wow.  Hits me right in the feels.

[Duke of Lizards]

I agree with the above statements and want to say (reiterate) that the Dalinar and Shallan parts were very hard to read for me (for various reasons), but they are so important for the character development that happens in the series.

Oathbringer is worth reading because you get new viewpoints, very interesting reveals, Cosmere easter eggs that are really fun, new places that are explored, and the most epic Sanderstorm that has occurred in the series.

WoR is my favorite, but this book took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions and it made me fall even more in love with the series because of the complexity of it all.

Take a break if you need to, but definitely come back. Don’t abandon this journey!!

[rjl]

Have you read Edgedancer? Maybe read that after your break if not. It's a simpler and happier book than Oathbringer.

That said as others have said Oathbringer has some amazing highs and some very low lows so parts of it really are a slog other parts are simply: WOW...

[garlick]

When I first read oathbringer it was my least favorite. But after letting it digest its probably my favorite. Its a bit slow in the first part but push through the pay off is well worth it. Dalinars arc is amazing. 

[ZenBossanova]

I think there is nothing wrong with a little Sanderson break, though I do think Oathbringer is a bit weaker than other Stormlight books. But there is no need to rush. Let me recommend a few good non-Sanderson books. After all, you have almost a year until book 4!

I suggest:

His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik

Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone 

 

[Frustration]

 

On 12/28/2019 at 1:47 PM, Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon said:

Hello everyone!! I’ve read and loved all Mistborn books, Steelheart, Rithmatist, The way of kings and Words of Radiance. The two Stormlight Archives books were amazing and always kept me entertained. So I was really excited to start Oathbringer but even 200 pages in I feel like all the love I hade built up for SA just fell apart in seconds. I started to dislike Dalinar and all of his chapters and Shallans progression almost stopped entirely (in my opinion). Right now I don’t know if I even want to continue the series because how much I dislike Oathbringer. I really don’t mean to hate because I love Brandon Sanderson and still do, it’s just maybe this book isn’t for me. Should I push through and keep reading even though I don’t like anyone except for Kaladin or should I skip the book and wait for the fourth or just skip the whole series??

I also didn't like Dalinar until the end I wont get specific but It's awesome, Shallan Unfortunately sticking to old trends just steals Kaladins Screen time and could for almost all intents and purposes be written out of the Narrative very easily.  In my opinion you should finish Oathbringer does make Dalinar Difficult to deal with but if you don't read it you won't ever come to forgive him.

[+robardin]

Not only should you not stop reading, you should push through, take a break, and then come back and read it again.

I initially found Oathbringer a bit disjointed and disappointing, but on a re-read it was much better (and yes, I skimmed the Rageaholic Dalinar chapters a bit). And while it doesn't appear to be true in your case, I think a lot of my finding it "disjointed" came from having read many of the "Raging Dalinar" POVs as previews in the Unfettered II collection, and also reading the first part of OB in the weekly chapter release on the Tor website leading up the full novel's release.

I don't think I'll do that again, if it's an option, but it'll be hard to resist... Maybe I'll just say, don't judge until a second read-through.

On the whole I would still but WoR ahead of it, but the big scenes in Oathbringer are among the best in the Cosmere works.

[Lidolas]

The first part of the book was released 3 chapters per week.  I remember being disappointed with the story through all of that part.  Kaladin's arc was boring and he was the only one not in El Dorado, I mean, the Stone of Tear, I mean Urithu.  It picked up after the first third, and the last section of Oathbringer is my favorite of all Sanderson's endings.

[Frustration]

16 hours ago, Lidolas said:

  Kaladin's arc was boring and he was the only one not in El Dorado, I mean, the Stone of Tear, I mean Urithu.

Honestly (and I stopped in book 5) The only character in Wheel of Time that I liked reading was Perrin.

[Stormfather-in-Law]

On 12/28/2019 at 4:22 PM, Gilphon said:

Also, going off the one thing I definitely know you'd like, I can tell you there's a chapter from Rock's point of view later on. So maybe at least push through until then?

Your mileage may vary, but I'll add that the Rock chapter is one my favorites in the whole series. To me it is a perfect gem.

[Lidolas]

On 1/4/2020 at 6:01 AM, Booknerd said:

Honestly (and I stopped in book 5) The only character in Wheel of Time that I liked reading was Perrin.

It's good you stopped there then.  Perrin was my favorite too for the first 4 or 5 books.  After that, most of his chapters were a chore to read.

[kaellok]

5 hours ago, Lidolas said:

It's good you stopped there then.  Perrin was my favorite too for the first 4 or 5 books.  After that, most of his chapters were a chore to read.

I think there were only a couple of Perrin chapters I liked in the first 10 or so books, but in the last few I really liked a lot of them.  Mat-fan for life, tho, and honestly I'd be okay if none of the other characters existed and the series was just ~2000 pages of Mat being Mat.  There are many reasons why I recommend people not read the series, but most of them hinge on one of the books (I think book 8?) having no Mat in it at all--which is a critical flaw and I lost all trust in the author and editor for this deliberate and heinous exclusion.

On-topic:

I find Oathbringer to be the most inconsistently written of the SA novels so far.  TWoK was a fairly tightly focused narrative (for being a 1000 word doorstopper following the primary viewpoints of at least three major characters, along with a dozen or so secondary), and remains the best written imo.  Words of Radiance is my favorite, because of Shallan, but the inherent problems of writing such an epic story with so much happening definitely show the cracks.  In Oathbringer, especially on first-read, those cracks seem more like fissures until the final third, which has quality comparable to TWoK.

Vernor Vinge wrote truly epic and amazing sci-fi epics, but basically every single one of his novels took me a predictable 10 days to complete: 7 days for the first third, 3 days for the second third, and then a physical inability to set the book down until it was done for the final third.  Oathbringer honestly shares many of those same qualities.  So I would definitely recommend you continue reading it, especially if you enjoyed TWoK and WoR, but absolutely feel free to take your time.  If you have come to a section that makes you want to set it down, do it.  The payoff for the final third is worth continuing through the parts that you don't particularly enjoy (and those parts are actually improved quite a bit on a second read, which is interesting to me, because what I don't like in WoR is magnified on my re-reads, rather than minimized).

[Elegy]

34 minutes ago, kaellok said:

I find Oathbringer to be the most inconsistently written of the SA novels so far.  TWoK was a fairly tightly focused narrative (for being a 1000 word doorstopper following the primary viewpoints of at least three major characters, along with a dozen or so secondary), and remains the best written imo.  Words of Radiance is my favorite, because of Shallan, but the inherent problems of writing such an epic story with so much happening definitely show the cracks.  In Oathbringer, especially on first-read, those cracks seem more like fissures until the final third, which has quality comparable to TWoK.

I definitely agree that it's the most inconsistent of the three, although I still think that Words of Radiance has the best writing (especially a lot of Shallan's scenes in the first third are just gorgeously written. The santhid scene in particular is a highlight). Oathbringer has to tackle a huge challenge since it has to transform a story about a small conflict (the War of Reckoning, which was the focus of the first two books) to a story about a huge conflict (the True Desolation, which spans the whole world), and that's very ambitious and it shows at places - while it is the longest SA book by far, it still feels rushed at places. For example, it's the first to give closure to arcs within the very same Parts they are established (the first Part tells two coherent stories: Kaladin traveling Alethkar and Shallan investigating Sadeas' murder, and both are solved at the end by Kaladin returning to Urithiru and Shallan facing Re-Shephir). Then the Kholinar arc in the middle feels like a whole book in itself. And I might have to add, I love that book and Part 3 is one of my favorite SA Parts yet, but it really leaves its mark on the grand picture of the novel. It's the first Stormlight novel to genuinely feel like several novels squeezed into one book. But storm me if these "several novels" don't have some of the most emotional moments and some of the most brilliantly plotted developments in the series and the whole Cosmere! I love Oathbringer, but yeah, if there's one Stormlight book that feels a bit uneven, it's this one.

[Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamon]

Thanks to everyone that has helped me get motivated to read the rest of the book. I have recently finished it and it was holy chickens amazing! I don’t regret reading it at all and it is now my favorite SA book