Jebus's Oathbringer First Impressions

That is good mate.

Finally someone from a relatively official position of "17th Shard" something who can acknowledge that there were some holes in there.  Firstly, the book was amazing and I just posted another Link to quote which I thought was great.

But in my eyes, the book was just didn't start very well resulting in problems all the way through the end.  So, it was Part 1 which dragged a lot more than Part 4.  It was the foundation of Part 1 that undid so much of the other good work.

Moash disappeared with a shardblade at the end of WoR.  Yet, nobody mentioned him again other than a slight thought bubble by a Bridge 4 guy.  Then he comes and kills the king.  Kaladin still can't be bothered explaining.  Navani was distraught about Jasnah for half of WoR.  Here, Szeth is giving sentry duty to Dalinar and Navani is happy for him to do that even though he had killed Gavilar (Navani's husband, Jasnah's father and Dalinar's brother).  Yep, makes perfect sense....not.  The whole war against the Parshendi started with Szeth's actions, and here he is sitting primly in Urithiru and Kal is all cool with that either.  I can go on.  BS could have left Szeth in an indecisive position or had him march on a side quest, but I think the whole tying loose ends for me unravelled it.

I agree with you on the other bits of the book having such great writing.s.  And also, I agree regarding Venli.  Such change of personality rarely happens.  I still don't feel anything for her despite her supposed binding of a willshaper spren.  Just devalues the whole argument on fighting against Odium.

Didn't see Elhokar's end.  Didn't expect Moash to turn into Vyre.

So many other foreshadowy bits in the book that need talking about:-

• Noahdan feeling like Taravangian to Dalinar in his non-stormfather dream
• Nightblood urging Szeth to kill Nale because he is evil and it being surprised when Szeth says he is good.

Looking forward to your next video!

14 hours ago, Wax said:

Finally someone from a relatively official position of "17th Shard" something who can acknowledge that there were some holes in there. 

Don't worry, when you start chatting a bit more with the other staffers, they have very similar issues!

And yeah, I hadn't even noticed that no one mentions the Shardblade and Plate that Moash stole. Navanis lack of reaction to Szeth is forgivable imo, simply because we never get to see Navani reacting to much. But yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking "Why is everyone so okay with Szeth being there?".

Also I'm glad someone agrees with me on Venli! I was starting to feel I was alone in my dislike of her!

And thanks, I look forward to making it!

20 hours ago, Overlord Jebus said:

But yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking "Why is everyone so okay with Szeth being there?".

I think it's another case of "why does nobody react to Voidbringers" from Edgedancer. When asked about that, Brandon said he was saving that stuff for Oathbringer... it could be the same here.

Not that I agree this is a good way to resolve this (it's jarring for me, to be honest) but that's probably what it is.

Szeth is a Radiant now. The decision to swear his ideal to Dalinar seems like the first time he actually made a choice for himself rather than be someone else's play thing.

Also, as a bondsmith, Dalinar couldn't just ignore Szeth's oath. In accepting Szeth, Dalinar made another step toward uniting them.

I'm not sure when exactly but for some time I was expecting Szeth joining the good guys. I agree that it'd be nice to have more details and see more interactions between him and the rest of radiants but I guess it'll be delved into in the next book.

As to Moash's Shardblade and Plate, no one really asked when Kaladin decided to award those to Moash. Why should they question Kaladin's decision now? At the time, Kaladin himself wasn't sure what to do about Elhokar. Seeing Moash killing Elhokar send him to a dark place.

Please correct me if I made any errors. I don't know how you lot are able to keep all those details, plots and subplots in your minds

Very nice first thoughts. I agree with a lot that you said.

I've seen several people try to explain why Szeth was welcomed in and appointed Dalinar's body guard no less and none will convince me that this makes sense in the context of the book. I can see allowing him to fight in the battle they needed all the help they could get but is this redemption for assassinating Gavilar, killing several other world leaders and attempting to kill Dalinar? I'm not saying that this shouldn't have happened there just should have been something onscreen to make it believable in my opinion. 

I also agree it felt like part 3 really drug on. There were some good parts but it just lasted way too long and then Kholinar ended abruptly. Part 2 was good for me maybe a little long on some of the POV but overall I liked it. I would have gladly sacrificed some of part 2, 3 and even 4 though for a little more after the battle in part 5. Everything seemed ended abruptly after the battle with very little to no discussion between characters after seriously major events,

Felt the same way on the Moash chapters and sorry to say Venli as well. I barely cared about Eshoni if I am honest but liked her over Venli. I'm sure Brandon will do something to peak my interest in the next book at least I hope so. 

One other thing is I did not like the interludes nearly as much as I did the first two books. Probably because it was Venli. I liked the Rysn one and then the creepy one with the Soulcaster but that was it. 

Overall really liked the book but feel like there were some problems for sure and probably more than the first two books.