Sorry, Canada, for the delay in writing and posting this review.  (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this.)

Oathbringer is the third installment of the Stormlight Archive.  If you haven’t already, check out my double-feature review of the first two books here.

Verdict: Contemplative and lots of fun

I’m late to the party, but it’s my kind of party!

Brandon Sanderson’s Oathbringer continues the Stormlight Archive, taking a sharp turn off the battlefield and into the mind.  Dalinar, Shallan, and Kaladin each have robust storylines, yet their most interesting contributions to the overall arc of the book are psychological.  Dalinar tries diplomacy to unite the world against the Unmade and the Enemy, even though his natural inclination is to lop off heads with a sword.  While developing this new skill set, Dalinar learns things about his past… that he has mysteriously forgotten.  Shallan investigates a spate of stabbings as her identity falls apart, while Kaladin journeys home while trying to confront his own confusion, doubt, and misery.  Clocking in at over one thousand pages, Oathbringer bursts with plenty more plot, characters, and side stories.

The more books I read by Sanderson, the more his philosophy and outlook become clear.  Special people get special powers.  What counts as special?  Is it something you are, or something you do?  What if those powers are used for evil?  What if a wonderful, moral person doesn’t get those powers?  In his various series, he flips, twists, and transformers the special-people-get-special-powers concept.

Oathbringer reveals that “specialness” in the Stormlight Archive is “brokenness.”  Broken people are the only ones that spren bond with to produce a Radiant.  Some speculate that the “brokenness” referred to in the novels is mental illness.  “Brokenness” strikes me as broadly encompassing both mental illness and severe emotional trauma.  Some of the characters do meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM 5) criteria for a mental illness, while others arrive at complex mental states through magical intervention.  A third group grapples with personal struggles not defined as mental illness—such as the feeling that one has betrayed one’s principles.  All of it is very human and deserving of sympathy.

Another feature of Sanderson philosophy springs to view in Oathbringer—doubt and knowledge in a society where we may not have the full story.  We know the Radiants abandoned their oaths and killed their spren, but why?  Is it related to the Heralds?  What you don’t know can hurt you.

What’s next for the series?  I hope that Sanderson continues to surprise us with the next installment of the series.  Oathbringer is recommended for fans of epic fantasy.