BOOK REVIEW: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

I have a complex history with the Stormlight Archive. I'm naturally a slow reader and I really struggled to find the motivation to finish book 2 of the series (Words of Radiance) because I felt that for the time I was investing in the series not enough was happening for me.

When I decided to give the series a second chance, this time via the medium of Audiobook, I found that I had a much more enjoyable time. I could listen at a much faster pace and I felt rewarded for doing so.

So, here I am, reviewing book 3, Oathbringer, over a year after I "gave up" with the series.

Fortunately, I found that Oathbringer had a substantially faster pace than the first two novels. It also seemed filled with meaningful stories that moved the plot forward. The world of Roshar is a vastly different one at the end of the story than it is at the beginning. A flaw of the first two novels that is resolved here in the third.

The strength of Sanderson's writing is in his ability to deliver meaningful character arcs and support them with those "omg moments" that make a book memorable. Delivering a novel where the core driver to keep you turning the pages is one of emotion and an attachment to characters who we have spent an ungodly amount of time with. Then it rewards you with moments that hit like a truck and, in some cases, are epic and cinematic. Or, heartbreaking.

But, this book still isn't perfect. Without going into spoilers, I didn't enjoy an entire section of this novel that takes place in the final third. It felt out of place, rushed, and poorly constructed. However, it is quickly followed up with the book's climax and all of a sudden you're caught up again in the epic moments.

Oathbringer has been my favourite entry of the Stormlight Archive and, finally, I'm excited for the next entry.

Final score: 4/5