Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive)

[Dragonus45]

So who here is excited for the latest book in the Cosmere? I've been rereading the last two books and Edgedancer all week to go in with fresh details.

[Velaryon]

I'm looking forward to it, but also not sure when or how I'm going to fit it in with all the other stuff I have to read. I don't travel enough to get through the audiobook in a reasonable amount of time, and I have to read a lot of YA novels for work reasons, so I may just have to work my way through it a little bit at a time over a long period.

[Majin]

I'm looking towards it. Gonna get the audiobook tomorrow.

I only read one or two of the preview chapters, so don't know much about what's going to happen.

[Douglas]

My preorder should be showing up at my door tomorrow.

[Fishybugs]

I also preordered it...can't wait for it. Just read Edgedancer this week and really enjoyed it.

Such a great world he has built...multiple worlds, really...

[Zea mays]

Spoiler: pic

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Yep. Getting my audiobook tomorrow. Something to listen to while I load my boxes on the moving van and drive across the state.
No one better try talking to me.

[Eldan]

Couldnt have this on audio. The illustrations are too good.

[Seerow]

I have ebook pre-ordered so I can start reading at midnight tonight. Then a signed and numbered copy from Weller books that should show up on my doorstep tomorrow or shortly after so I can better enjoy the illustrations and reread. And most of the next week off work with this as the main reason.

Yes I might be a little excited about this.

[Dragonus45]

Couldnt have this on audio. The illustrations are too good.

Yea that is the one downside of the E Book copies, the illustrations are hard to make out sometimes. That said with audible I happily get both.

[Pronounceable]

I can finally gloat that I read Oathbringer more than a month ago. I have the copy for actual legitimate reasons instead of being a filthy pirate too, which is a big plus. It's better than the last one in my professional opinion as a nerd. Y'all should hype up.

AMA!!!
(actually don't, cos I won't answer)

[Shadow of the Sun]

Already finished reading it. Will probably read it again before the week is out.

Book was very good. Very much Sanderson Avalanche, too.

[Dragonus45]

I had planned to post chapter by chapter as I read it but I wound up getting caught up and destroying the whole thing in one sitting.

[Weimann]

Everything's coming out this week. Oathbringer, two RPG books I've been waiting for and the new HotS patch all in the span of three days. Talk about frontload.

I got the book in my bag now, though. After work, it is time.

[The New Bruceski]

Open the book and immediately find a typo in the table of contents. That's it, pulp the run.

[Seerow]

My hardcover still hasn't arrived (Weller! Why?!), but this is why I had an ebook copy as well. Burned through that in the first day (read nonstop from roughly 9am until about 4am, for a 19 hour binge read).

Still digesting it internally, but overall I loved the book. There were a few things I wish had been handled differently, but the overall story was there and there were a lot of great little moments as well.

Spoiler

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Top things IMO were Bridge 4 PoVs during part 2, and Jasnah eviscerating Amaram verbally. Shallan's descent into insanity, and Kaladin failing to find the words (which I strongly suspect will relate to letting go of those you can't save) were excellent.

Biggest shock was Elhokar's death. And subsequently how well Dalinar seemed to take it.

Biggest disappointment was the fallout of Adolin confessing to killing Sadeas.

Similarly Amaram turning into a literal monster, then dying shortly thereafter. I hold out some hope that he comes back, but I suspect if anything comes back it will be the Unmade he swallowed, not Amaram as himself. It just seemed like after bonding with an Unmade he should have been a bigger deal.

Oh on that note, why was Rock so shaken after shooting Amaram? Yes, he is a pacifist, believe it is not his place to fight. But on the Shattered plains, when they encountered the Storm Form listeners, Rock took up a spear and said it was okay to fight these things. Unless I am grossly mis-remembering. In that context, why would he feel bad about killing something even worse?

[Tom Tearcamel]

I loved it, but Azure really, really needs a viewpoint interlude in book 4.

Spoiler

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Now that Szeth is working with Dalinar, Sword Nimi is bound to cross paths with Zahel, and I need to see the fallout.

Spoiler: Warbreaker Spoilers

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The the very observant, will have noticed last book that Zahel was Vasher, and to those that did so, Vivenna sticks out like a purple panda this book. When the name Highmarshal Azure popped up I instantly thought Nalthian, but I guessed that Vasher had left the plains. But as soon as she turned out to be a woman, I laughed out loud and yelled “V!” I was 96% sure it was her, and only 5% sure it was Battar (from the Herald arch, and yes there is some overlap in that VenDiagram )

But it seems so hard to keep the cross-series stuff just Easter Eggy fluff for the Cosmere-aware minority. (Or are we the majority by now?) if I wasn’t Cosmere aware I’d assume that Szeth’s strange blade (and Azure’s) had something to do with Odium not

Spoiler: Tangentially related stuff you learn from people asking questions in book signings.

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that Nightblood is basically an Endowment Blade (Endowment is Nalthas’s (the planet from Warbreaker) Shard (a person who... bla bla the Devine that had been broken into 16 aspects bla, bla (there’s a rabbit hole you can fall into explaining this crap))

I’d like V’s sword to be invested to have the sentience of a smart dog that can follow commands and know who it’s master is. Not the terrible sapient innocence of a cheerful child completely incapable of understanding morality but with the unquenchable desire to DESTROY. Nightblood always reminds me of that old twilight zone episode with the omnipotent child.

But yeah, tons of stuff like that (That I love,) feels to me that it could confuse other people.

[The New Bruceski]

Spoiler: Warbreaker Spoilers

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The the very observant, will have noticed last book that Zahel was Vasher, and to those that did so, Vivenna sticks out like a purple panda this book. When the name Highmarshal Azure popped up I instantly thought Nalthian, but I guessed that Vasher had left the plains. But as soon as she turned out to be a woman, I laughed out loud and yelled “V!” I was 96% sure it was her, and only 5% sure it was Battar (from the Herald arch, and yes there is some overlap in that VenDiagram )

Spoiler: Warbreaker question

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It's been a while since I read that book, is she the one who got betrayed by the comic relief mercenaries? Azure's comment about trusting people once and getting burned for it made me think of that.

Finished the book yesterday. Sanderson isn't subtle, but he weaves a good story with plenty of space for surprises and old threads to show up again.

[Mechalich]

Easter Eggy fluff for the Cosmere-aware minority. (Or are we the majority by now?)

I have to say, I feel the infiltration of Cosmere stuff - a series I have not read and don't intend to read - really undercut Oathbreaker hard. It obvious that stuff from outside this intricately developed world is infiltrating it and breaks the complex rules setup for everyone in bizarre ways.

Spoiler

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In particular, it seems to really hurt the big reveal that humans aren't native to Roshar and effectively stole the land from the parsh/listeners by undercutting the moral quandary, since by that point it's already been revealed that there are other worlds where humans live, which offers a workaround.

[Shadow of the Sun]

As someone who is involved with the entirety of the Cosmere... to be honest, if you're not interested in reading the other books, you probably shouldn't be reading The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson has basically said that it is his epic, and a place where a lot of his Cosmere works will intersect - something that was quite obvious in the first book, when Wit started being a regular character.

I'm on my second readthrough now. Still enjoying it. I feel like some of the complaints people have had are logical, but conflict with what I think the core theme of this book is, and as such make sense when you think of them in terms of the book as a whole.

[Mechalich]

As someone who is involved with the entirety of the Cosmere... to be honest, if you're not interested in reading the other books, you probably shouldn't be reading The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson has basically said that it is his epic, and a place where a lot of his Cosmere works will intersect - something that was quite obvious in the first book, when Wit started being a regular character.

I'm on my second readthrough now. Still enjoying it. I feel like some of the complaints people have had are logical, but conflict with what I think the core theme of this book is, and as such make sense when you think of them in terms of the book as a whole.

Well, first of all, Sanderson is on record as claiming that the works can be enjoyed on their own - it's in the foreword to Oathbringer. If that's untrue that's a problem, because the Stormlight Archive is not an independent series and doesn't stand on its own. Especially given the mammoth size of the series. Wit's presence from book one didn't indicate anything to people who hadn't read other works - he could have easily fit within the cosmology of the Stormlight Archive entirely - a logical guess based on just Way of Kings would be that he was one of the Heralds.

Above all, much of the cosmere stuff, in Stormlight Archive, particular in Oathbringer where it is way more obvious than it was in the previous books, is just handled poorly. Wit is that annoying character type - the guy who clearly could tell the audience all the answers but simply won't for reasons that he will also not explain, and there are other oddities as well.

Spoiler

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It's particularly bad with Azure during the Shadesmar parts. She makes it clear she's from another world, and then no one asks her about that at all even though they spend weeks traveling with her on ships and therefore have every excuse to press her for all her secrets. She doesn't even really refuse to talk about it, it's just that no one, including the highly inquisitive Shallan, bothers to ask.

Azure in general is a really unfortunate intrusion into the book. If she had just been a random radiant from one of the other orders as she was initially implied to be who happened to have been to Shadesmar before that would worked so much better.

[Ronnoc]

I read it the day it came out, it was brilliant and may be my favorite of the series.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Well, first of all, Sanderson is on record as claiming that the works can be enjoyed on their own - it's in the foreword to Oathbringer. If that's untrue that's a problem, because the Stormlight Archive is not an independent series and doesn't stand on its own. Especially given the mammoth size of the series. Wit's presence from book one didn't indicate anything to people who hadn't read other works - he could have easily fit within the cosmology of the Stormlight Archive entirely - a logical guess based on just Way of Kings would be that he was one of the Heralds.

Above all, much of the cosmere stuff, in Stormlight Archive, particular in Oathbringer where it is way more obvious than it was in the previous books, is just handled poorly. Wit is that annoying character type - the guy who clearly could tell the audience all the answers but simply won't for reasons that he will also not explain, and there are other oddities as well.

Spoiler

Show

It's particularly bad with Azure during the Shadesmar parts. She makes it clear she's from another world, and then no one asks her about that at all even though they spend weeks traveling with her on ships and therefore have every excuse to press her for all her secrets. She doesn't even really refuse to talk about it, it's just that no one, including the highly inquisitive Shallan, bothers to ask.

Azure in general is a really unfortunate intrusion into the book. If she had just been a random radiant from one of the other orders as she was initially implied to be who happened to have been to Shadesmar before that would worked so much better.

While you can enjoy each Cosmere series in isolation, a number of them make more sense in the broader context. Especially the Stormlight Archive. At least one other Cosmere novel is basically a prequel for the Stormlight Archive novels, and the inter-Cosmere interactions are so prevalent that not having the context really does limit how much you'll enjoy it.

As I said: if you don't want to deal with the other Cosmere stuff, you might be better off reading something else. Nothing wrong with that! But it is something you have to keep in mind.

Spoiler: Other Cosmere Stuff

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If there was only one other Cosmere novel you could read to help understand the Stormlight Archive, it's be Warbreaker, which was expressly written as a way to introduce some characters that occur in the Stormlight Archive, although only tangentially at the moment. Three characters from Oathbringer originally appeared in Warbreaker.

Also, as for the complaint that the Stormlight characters aren't asking questions of Azure... why would they? The majority of them don't know that other worlds are even a thing.

[Pronounceable]

Spoiler: so how bout them spoilers eh?

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There was so much to love. Especially Shallan, once again, gets the best damn chapters of the book. Also she'd become the go-to gal for taking on bosses for most of the book, which was all sorts of awesome, then Kal and Dalinar came from very far behind and acquitted themselves at the climax.

Speaking of bossfights: Shallan is totes the tank of the group. She walks right up to eldritch beasties and slaps them. You'd expect Kal to be tank but no, he's clearly dps, and a minion summoner to boot. His strength lies in dishing out the hurt, not taking it on the chin. Then the grizzled old veteran turns out to be the healer, with all his empathy for the unmade thing. Sure, the analogy kinda falls apart at that point. Whatevs, Shallan is the tank.

Then there's Szeth, the actual boss among our Shinies. Not only has he been the badassest character from like page 1, now he's done the gandalf thing. Not even counting sword-nimi, which might just eat Odium at some point. Wouldn't surprise me if that actually happened. Team Shiny just can't lose at this point.

Also, the buddy knight movie nobody expected: Szeth and Lift. One's an unhinged mass murderer, other's a slippery little girl. They fight crime. I've reconsidered my desire for a Lopen+Lift spinoff. There should be Lift & Szeth tv series instead.

Also also, there was so little of the potentially terrible love triangle crap and the whole thing gets wrapped up. I greatly approve.

Not much commentary so far. Prolly most are still reading.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Spoiler: so how bout them spoilers eh?

Show

There was so much to love. Especially Shallan, once again, gets the best damn chapters of the book. Also she'd become the go-to gal for taking on bosses for most of the book, which was all sorts of awesome, then Kal and Dalinar came from very far behind and acquitted themselves at the climax.

Speaking of bossfights: Shallan is totes the tank of the group. She walks right up to eldritch beasties and slaps them. You'd expect Kal to be tank but no, he's clearly dps, and a minion summoner to boot. His strength lies in dishing out the hurt, not taking it on the chin. Then the grizzled old veteran turns out to be the healer, with all his empathy for the unmade thing. Sure, the analogy kinda falls apart at that point. Whatevs, Shallan is the tank.

Then there's Szeth, the actual boss among our Shinies. Not only has he been the badassest character from like page 1, now he's done the gandalf thing. Not even counting sword-nimi, which might just eat Odium at some point. Wouldn't surprise me if that actually happened. Team Shiny just can't lose at this point.

Also, the buddy knight movie nobody expected: Szeth and Lift. One's an unhinged mass murderer, other's a slippery little girl. They fight crime. I've reconsidered my desire for a Lopen+Lift spinoff. There should be Lift & Szeth tv series instead.

Also also, there was so little of the potentially terrible love triangle crap and the whole thing gets wrapped up. I greatly approve.

Not much commentary so far. Prolly most are still reading.

Spoiler

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I feel like Szeth going to Team Dalinar is the most useful thing that could have happened for them. Most of the new Radiants are fumbling their way through using their powers, and Szeth has experience with all 10 surges. His experience will be invaluable in the future books, I think.

I'm more worried about them having to fight a bunch of Skybreakers - people with Radiant powers who are highly experienced and part of an extended tradition. Seems like that could be a big problem for Team Dalinar. I really liked how Nale's response to Szeth's choosing Team Radiant was mostly just "Yeah okay, but are you sure? Yeah? Okay, no hard feelings."

More Wit will be interesting, since he seems to be inclined to get even more involved. Overall, I'm looking forward to the next book, after having read through Oathbringer twice in a week.

[Eldan]

Should I read Edgedancer first? I wasn't aware that that one existed, so I hadn't read it. And I just checked three local online bookstores, none of them have it. Which is extremely annoying, as I have Oathbringer now and it's very tempting.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Should I read Edgedancer first? I wasn't aware that that one existed, so I hadn't read it. And I just checked three local online bookstores, none of them have it. Which is extremely annoying, as I have Oathbringer now and it's very tempting.

It's not necessary, but some plot developments will seem a little confusing without the context of Edgedancer. But you should be able to read Oathbringer and then circle around back to Edgedancer to enlighten yourself.

[Eldan]

Oh, good. For some reason, I found two online shops which even claim Edgedancer is not out yet. I have some more searching to do.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Oh, good. For some reason, I found two online shops which even claim Edgedancer is not out yet. I have some more searching to do.

I got Edgedancer as part of the Arcanum Unbounded collection, if that helps. Said collection also includes a lot of useful background knowledge about the Cosmere as a whole, so I suggest it if you have the cash.

[Douglas]

Yeah, look for Arcanum Unbounded. Edgedancer is included in it, plus a bunch of other short(ish) (for Sanderson, anyway) stories.

Edgedancer happens between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer, and contains two significant plot developments - one for Lift, and another for something else. I've read through part two of Oathbringer, and neither of Edgedancer's plot developments has come into play yet, so you could order Edgedancer or Arcanum Unbounded and read a pretty big chunk of Oathbringer while you wait for its delivery without missing or spoiling anything.

On a side note, could you all please mark which part of the book you're discussing when you post spoilers? It would be nice to be able to participate in at least some of the spoiler discussion without waiting until I've finished the whole book.

Minor part one point:

Spoiler

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Pattern as a chaperone for Shallan and Adolin was hilarious. Shallan obviously meant it just as an excuse, and then "No mating!"

[tiornys]

Spoiler: so how bout them spoilers eh?

Show

There was so much to love. Especially Shallan, once again, gets the best damn chapters of the book. Also she'd become the go-to gal for taking on bosses for most of the book, which was all sorts of awesome, then Kal and Dalinar came from very far behind and acquitted themselves at the climax.

Speaking of bossfights: Shallan is totes the tank of the group. She walks right up to eldritch beasties and slaps them. You'd expect Kal to be tank but no, he's clearly dps, and a minion summoner to boot. His strength lies in dishing out the hurt, not taking it on the chin. Then the grizzled old veteran turns out to be the healer, with all his empathy for the unmade thing. Sure, the analogy kinda falls apart at that point. Whatevs, Shallan is the tank.

Then there's Szeth, the actual boss among our Shinies. Not only has he been the badassest character from like page 1, now he's done the gandalf thing. Not even counting sword-nimi, which might just eat Odium at some point. Wouldn't surprise me if that actually happened. Team Shiny just can't lose at this point.

Also, the buddy knight movie nobody expected: Szeth and Lift. One's an unhinged mass murderer, other's a slippery little girl. They fight crime. I've reconsidered my desire for a Lopen+Lift spinoff. There should be Lift & Szeth tv series instead.

Also also, there was so little of the potentially terrible love triangle crap and the whole thing gets wrapped up. I greatly approve.

Not much commentary so far. Prolly most are still reading.

Spoiler: Spoilers part 5

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All that praise for the other radiants, but no mention of Jasnah? Her absolutely masterful handling of soulcasting put her right up there with Szeth for badassery in my book.

I gotta give the crown to Dalinar and his... half Ascension? Becoming a Sliver?... whatever he did to pull the realms together and supercharge everyone's Stormlight.