Strong Storytelling, will upset Kaladin fans

Oathbringer is book three of five. The first five books in the Stormlight Archive tell their own story. Later, another set of five will tell another story. Sometimes all the heroes win in the middle, sometimes they fail. In this book, we have both wins and losses. In one book, you have three small novels going on, with important points of view from many people.



Sanderson dives deeper into the cultures of Roshar and the conflicts that have nothing to do with the “bad guys.” Instead many of the conflicts are inside different characters own heads and hearts. This aspect of the story will be hard for many fans. This aspect of the story is important. Awareness of bias and of mental health issues is important. It’s rare to see them addressed so directly in an adventure fantasy.



But in this book, Kaladin, the hero of book one and book two – is not the star. He has growth, but not the awesome growth of power leveling up I think many fans were hoping to read. Instead, Bridge 4 as a whole, is given more points of view and room to grow. Sometime these are painful in heart wrenching ways, but in beautiful character development ways.



Dalinar’s flashbacks will make you look at him differently. It will be hard to see a hero in such a different light. Journey before destination everyone. His journey is a strong one.



The ladies of the Stormlight Archive are given more room to grow here. But at times it is a backward growth. At others it is wonderful to see them breaking the molds of Voirn culture.



Once you turn the page on Part 5, get ready for a rush of a ride. You will not want to put the book down for the final act.



Many important magical questions are answered in this volume of the Stormlight Archive, but it raises more questions. Some of the questions answered, were not the ones many fans were hoping to see addressed, including myself. I hope readers will appreciate the story that was written, for what was written. Not criticizes it because it was not the story they were expecting. I know I love the book, even if there are a few bits I wish were different. But the characters are not perfect people. They would be less interesting if they were.



I love that that the art is included even for the audio book. That is an extra special treat. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading do their typically awesome job narrating the books. I’m glad they kept the voices of the characters the same from the first two volumes of the books.



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