Oathbringer Question

[brycebooks]

Hello! I’m currently 767 pages into Oathbringer and this has been my least favorite of the Stormlight books. I decided I just want to skip the rest of the book and go onto ROW. Can anyone give me the most important chapters I NEED to read before continuing on in the series? I’m on chapter 75. Thanks in Advance! 

[Roscoe Any Pronouns]

...I fail to see why you would abandon ship this far in, especially with the biggest (and coolest) moments coming up extremely soon.

It cannot be a journey if it doesn't have a beginning. I mean this wholeheartedly - please finish Oathbringer if you wish to continue Stormlight (Especially with how RoW is perceived). It is still to this day among one of my top endings of all time.

[Treamayne]

Welcome to the Shard. Please consider an Intro Post to let us know what you have or have-not read (whichever list is shorter). Also, please consider checking out the Sharder FAQ for some useful forum info and tips. 

3 hours ago, brycebooks said:

Hello! I’m currently 767 pages into Oathbringer and this has been my least favorite of the Stormlight books. I decided I just want to skip the rest of the book and go onto ROW. Can anyone give me the most important chapters I NEED to read before continuing on in the series? I’m on chapter 75. Thanks in Advance! 

Oathbringer is also my least-favorite Stormlight book, but it does have one of the best Climaxes in the series (which is a main reason why so many people love it).

From Ch 75 - these chapters are (extremely) important to remainder of the series:

Spoiler

• Interludes: I-11, I-13, I-14
• Flashback Climaxes - Ch 76, 114
• Kholinar: Ch 79/81, 84, 85, 87
  • Post Kholinar: Ch 89, 97, 102, 108
• Urithiru: Ch  96, 100, 111, 113
• Other: Ch 92, 98, 106, 
• Climax: Ch 116-120
• Fallout: 122

Also note that you can use the Coppermind Summary and Epigraph pages to fill in gaps.

Hope that helps

Edited February 16, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[BridgeBoi]

Might I also suggest chapter 82? Not as plot-important, but it's wit's story. Sanderson does a wonderful job and it also includes a lot of Shallan development.

[Lord Stormer]

I've finished Oathbringer (first time) a week before New Year. I've heard pacing issues beforehand from taking up Way of Kings, and when I started reading I tried to gauge whether I share the same thoughts as many. Books 3 onward are slow, but I see I'm not so affected. We all read with different expectations and goals. If you're a casual reader, the bulk of the pages may be daunting. I consider myself committed and possessive of details, so I mark references and notes on available blank pages, then underline paragraphs of interest. If I rush I give a target of 50 pages a day (paperback), which I completed within 3 hours.

Novels are ideally like foundation struts of a skyscraper - all of them are needed or the structure falls off. So I can't really suggest for you to leave out some chapters. Stormlight is complex. Each chapter is important in different ways - even beyond Roshar. I'll say they are specialized for different purposes. Some focus on character (76, 82); some heavy on lore (38, 111); some have Cosmere connections (68?); and a few are quinessentially epic (118, 120). For best enjoyment, I won't miss any.

It's Journey Before Destination - yes, Oathbringer and Rhythm of War slog down, I believe in what Brandon Sanderson always says when it comes to plot: promise, progress, and payoff. Every ending delivers.

Edited February 18, 2025 by Lord Stormer

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

On 2/15/2025 at 12:18 PM, brycebooks said:

Hello! I’m currently 767 pages into Oathbringer and this has been my least favorite of the Stormlight books. I decided I just want to skip the rest of the book and go onto ROW. Can anyone give me the most important chapters I NEED to read before continuing on in the series? I’m on chapter 75. Thanks in Advance! 

Don't give up now!

[Terrisman]

On 2/15/2025 at 4:02 PM, Roscoe said:

...I fail to see why you would abandon ship this far in, especially with the biggest (and coolest) moments coming up extremely soon.

It cannot be a journey if it doesn't have a beginning. I mean this wholeheartedly - please finish Oathbringer if you wish to continue Stormlight (Especially with how RoW is perceived). It is still to this day among one of my top endings of all time.

What I think you mean is Journey before Destination 

[Roscoe Any Pronouns]

8 minutes ago, Terrisman said:

What I think you mean is Journey before Destination 

In this context, I do not;

Spoiler

Unite them.

"Journey before destination," Dalinar said.  "It cannot be a journey if it doesn't have a beginning."

 

[Treamayne]

On 2/15/2025 at 4:02 PM, Roscoe said:

Especially with how RoW is perceived

Could you please clarify this? 

Because it sounds like you think RoW has a bad reputation (many who dislike Oathbringer enjoy Rhythm of War, those that dislike RoW seem to like Oathbringer from opinions I have seen on the forums).

Just for the record for the OP - my current personal ranking:

Spoiler

1. Way of Kings
2. Words of Radiance
3. Rhythm of War
4. Wind and Truth
5. Oathbringer

 

[Terrisman]

1 hour ago, Roscoe said:

In this context, I do not;

  Hide contents

Unite them.

"Journey before destination," Dalinar said.  "It cannot be a journey if it doesn't have a beginning."

 

He has had a beginning. it’s the destination he’s after

[Roscoe Any Pronouns]

23 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Could you please clarify this? 

Because it sounds like you think RoW has a bad reputation (many who dislike Oathbringer enjoy Rhythm of War, those that dislike RoW seem to like Oathbringer from opinions I have seen on the forums).

Just for the record for the OP - my current personal ranking:

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Way of Kings
2. Words of Radiance
3. Rhythm of War
4. Wind and Truth
5. Oathbringer

 

I've been conditioned into thinking RoW was negatively received... seems I was wrong, my mistake

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

1 hour ago, Roscoe said:

I've been conditioned into thinking RoW was negatively received... seems I was wrong, my mistake

I mean, it's the bottom of my SA tier list personally, but I don't think it's a bad book by any stretch, it and WaT are just very different books from the first three SA books IMO. 

I'm honestly getting tired of "attacking Sanderson because he dominates the market" to be a popular position out there in the booktube/tok & r/fantasy land. 

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, Roscoe said:

I've been conditioned into thinking RoW was negatively received... seems I was wrong, my mistake

23 minutes ago, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

I mean, it's the bottom of my SA tier list personally, but I don't think it's a bad book by any stretch, it and WaT are just very different books from the first three SA books IMO.

I apologize if I was too strong, I tend to react negatively to opinion stated as fact - so I was curious on what you based your statement. As GHM shows, there are fans who rank RoW as their least favorite of the first arc - my point was simply that that opinion was not universal and should not be presented as such (not just for the OP, but for all that may read this thread in the future).

 

[Duxredux he/him]

For these kinds of rankings it's also worth noting thay they are relative. The phenomenon of hype and inflated expectations often means that for simple good solid stories it can feel underwhelming. The authors I tend to gravitate back towards when I want to reread something are Sanderson, Timothy Zahn, and Terry Pratchett, and for me even Pratchett's early works before he hit his stride, bottom ranked among his dozens of books still will get more laughs from me than the best from many other authors. It's like mocking the 10th place Olympic athlete for being lazy or having sloppy technique. Sure they weren't the best, but they were still competing on the global level.

That said, I feel you on these giant tomes that Brandon makes, and I'm still having trouble focusing on Wind and Truth. The thing is, what Brandon generally is superb at is the climax. Without the build up and establishing the beats for the characters, the climaxes will feel half-baked, and it almost certainly will not improve a less-than-favorite book experience.

Basically don't do what I did as an impatient teenager reading Hero of Ages and skim to the point that I was ½ to ¾ of the way through the book before I realized who the actual villain was or core mechanics of the magic system that the plot was hinged on.