Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

This thread is open to discuss Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson.




n Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance.

Dalinar Kholin's Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.

Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realizes that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar's blood-soaked past and stand together--and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past--even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.

Catching up?

Book 1 discussion thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Book 2 discussion thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Book 2.5 discussion thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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I will start this in a few days. Will be just on or after the 1st :)

I'm so excited!! got my copy a couple of weeks ago and it's just been staring at me from my TBR pile

I'll hopefully be done with book #2 by then :-)
May join a little late but not like that's unusual hehe.

I will also start a little late.. maybe from Jan 6. It'll probably be mostly audio so I will likely be a lot slower.

I’ve bought the kindle version as I really couldn’t engage with the audio on the first two books. I noticed for this one the audio is even longer (55 hours!) so this will take me some time to read. Well over a month I would say which means it hits into UNO and will slow me down…. I’ll do what I can to not leave this sitting there while coloured covers call me 🤣

55 hours? That is long indeed!
I think book #3 is something like 200 pages longer than the first two. In my editions anyway.

New Year’s Day and we have no plans. So I’m by the pool and have started reading 😊🎉

Prologue
What a start! Just when we think we have been given all the pieces of what happened six years ago. (view spoiler)[Eshonai is such an interesting character. Looking forward to learning more about them this book (hide spoiler)]

Moving into chapter 2. Dalinar is the only one to mourn Sadeas! It’s funny and really sad at the same time. (view spoiler)[ Will Adolin admit to him what happened? I hope not. With the ever storm and voidbringers coming that seems like an unnecessary distraction for Dalinar. (hide spoiler)]

I’m intrigued by chapter 3. This is the first time we have gone back so far. And who is/was the archer?

Chapter 7
I enjoyed seeing Kalladin (view spoiler)[ back home and how he also recognised that he has been a few different people over the last five years. Nice that he has a brother but also concerning as to what he may do to protect him. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 9
Storm light is such an important commodity now right at the time that it is so hard to get spheres due to the change in storms.
Now that (view spoiler)[ Shallan has shown that she can “combine” with Danilar I wonder if that means that if she is near Lift then she can get storm light from Lift eating? I feel like they won’t get far if they don’t find a new way of getting storm light!

Now.. this new murder. Does that mean someone saw Adolin (Renarin?) and so did this to throw people off the scent? Or maybe it is an attempt by someone who doesn’t know about Adolin to have more deaths to help Dalinar look innocent as Sadeas wasn’t an isolated incident? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 11

We get to see (view spoiler)[ Dalinar again as the Blackthorn and I’m not liking him! Considering the man he has become he was just a terrible brute back then. I wonder if he changed slowly with wisdom or did the visions really start to change him as they did Gavilar? That scene of how he gets the shardblade was awful. (hide spoiler)]

Finally started this!!!

One thing I'm wondering about is whether this book is going to reveal why Dalinar can't remember his wife... clearly there's something going on with that!

I've been wondering why this book is called Oathbringer considering Dalinar doesn't have the Blade anymore, but with flashbacks to his past/youth... maybe that's why

Judy wrote: "Finally started this!!!

One thing I'm wondering about is whether this book is going to reveal why Dalinar can't remember his wife... clearly there's something going on with that!

I've been wond..."

Yes I suspect we will get much more of his history and the sword.

I did expect to see Jasnah’s POV by now but I guess I need to be patient (I’m at chapter 18)

Hopefully, we will soon learn what deal he made that required him to wipe her from his memory. That is a very curious thing to do.

Having now read the first flashback chapter (ch3) I get why Dalinar doesn't like his past self lol

Chapter 4

ohhhhhhh Dalinar (view spoiler)[never won his Plate, but acquired it through marriage? this feels like one of those things Sanderson is so good at - it rarely feels like information is actively withheld but then something like this is revealed and I'm SHOCKED (hide spoiler)]

Judy wrote: "Chapter 4

ohhhhhhh Dalinar [spoilers removed]"


Yes wasn’t that curious. And I keep thinking about how he designed this series as ten books split into two groups of 5. So we aren’t even half way through that first set. Still many reveals to come!!

Chapter 15

Shallan is so different from when we first met her! And Pattern had me LOL when he was chaperoning in an earlier chapter.
Intriguing that (view spoiler)[ she needs to become “Radiant” and not Shallan to use the sword. I wonder if this will change or will always be part of how she uses Pattern as lies are a part of that power.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 16
Oh. The end of that chapter was unexpected!

Chapter 17
Kalladin is the best. (view spoiler)[ I’m so glad that these ‘Parshmen’ have awakened but not taken on war form. And have their own spren… Things are definitely different to what their known history suggested should be happening (hide spoiler)]

Finished chapter 10

I really loved Kaladin's homecoming!

Also lol about Adolin (view spoiler)[he kills Sadeas and now someone copycat kills another guy and he's supposed to investigate... not such a good secret to keep now I guess (hide spoiler)]

I can't help thinking Renarin will have a huge part to play here. (view spoiler)[I don't think anyone really has any clue what he can do so far (including himself) and I also think he keeps a lot of what he knows/is capable of secret? I don't really trust him at the moment... (hide spoiler)]

Have we heard of what the "Oathbringer" text the excerpts at the start of chapters are from? Or who wrote them? They're very curious to me...

I won't be able to read much tomorrow and I'm kind of upset about it hahaha, got immediately sucked into the story again and want to do nothing but devour this all day long!

@Judy

No idea about the excerpts yet - they are curious. I love how each book (and parts) have different ones that tell their own story. I can see this being a series I re-read and notice a lot more of what is going on!

We haven’t learnt much about Renarin yet, you’re right. I suspect he will become very important

As an aside..

Audible just recommended book five to me

62 hours and 48 minutes

#faints

Hehehehe, so many more hours to go!

And it doesn’t feel like he is just writing for the sake of it. Every moment has a purpose.
Amazing, really

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "And it doesn’t feel like he is just writing for the sake of it. Every moment has a purpose.
Amazing, really"

Yeah! It never feels like he's being unnecessarily wordy

Chapter 11

(view spoiler)[While he's horrible and I'm not enjoying reading these flashbacks much, I did find it VERY interesting that Dalinar did win Plate himself now, after we earlier heard that he got some through marriage… now what is going to happen to this set, I wonder?

It was also nice to learn more about what Plate can actually do for you and that it’s not just armor

Also thinking about how he and Sadeas were like… friends… maybe not friends who actually liked each other that much but clearly they were close... I knew they had been allies but I don't think I grasped it had been only Dalinar, Gavilar and Sadeas at the start! (hide spoiler)]


The very end of chapter 12: (view spoiler)[NOT TARAVANGIAN! I had just been wondering a couple chapters ago when he would return to the story and of course this is his time to shine... ohhh we're only 10% in and it feels like things are already Happening! (hide spoiler)]

I started this finally. Started working too today and was looking forward to listening to this during the drive.

Please forgive any spelling mistakes as I'm listening to Audio

Prologue: (view spoiler)[For all the talk of Gavilar, isn't it just annoying that he decides on something that will affect one another country without even having a discussion with them! Wow (hide spoiler)]

Just finished Chapter 2 and it really is sad that Dalinar is the one who mourns Sadeas.

Prologue

Thoughts and responses to previous comments.

(view spoiler)[I'm not even surprised that Gavilar made a decision for an entire continent without discussing it with anyone. From what we've learned in book #2, the family also took the throne for themselves at some point so imposing their will seems kind of what they do.

In retrospect, when Dalinar refers to himself as a tyrant and he wants to live up to his brother's reign and expectations... it kind of shows what Gavilar was like, doesn't it.

What I was not at all expecting was that Eshonai had any actual hand in what happened six years ago! And I think I agree with her. Gavilar's reasoning was not entirely ... sane, I'd say. (hide spoiler)]

And linking from this to Chapter 1:
(view spoiler)[The phrase "unite them" might not refer to the kingdoms.. I'm more and more getting the impression it's supposed to mean the Radiants. They are sort of flocking to the Shattered Plains, or maybe now Urithiru, though the way there seems a little difficult for now. Especially in the light of Darkness/Nin/Nale hunting down Radiants and killing them before they come into their full powers. Though maybe that might now change, considering the end of book #2.5. (hide spoiler)]

Yes “unite them” could mean so many things…
Back to the prologue of book 1 even…

At the end of Chapter 14 now.

Agree about Shallan - her growth is good to see
Adolin -(view spoiler)[ Curious who the copycat killer is and why? Also, is this plot there for Adolin to confess to Shallan and grow closer? (hide spoiler)]
At this point I'm very curious about the (view spoiler)[parshmen transformation aka non-void bringers? Is this the part where the synopsis portion - Kaladin to come to terms with their slavery comes in? Honestly what can the slavers say? Especially now when the power imbalance is being rectified or even swinging the other way. (hide spoiler)]

I need to wait till lunch/end of the day to resume. Dang it!

Chapter 26

Since my last update at chapter 17 I’ve been listening to the audio. It does make it easier how it syncs to kindle.
Shallan is becoming so different (view spoiler)[ not least because of how she now takes on different personas. Loved the bar scene!!
(hide spoiler)]

At the end of this chapter I actually said “ohhhh” out loud haha. I had been wondering about (view spoiler)[ Dalinar and “the Thrill”. If everyone who uses shard blades gets this way it is no wonder so many of them have been complete bastards. Maybe they all werent so awful to begin with but have been corrupted by the blades. Dalinar had a lot of strength and love for Gavilar to be able to stop himself.
I still want to know what changed to make him lose “the thrill” in book 1 (or was it 2?) when on the shattered plains. Was it part of him getting the visions and connecting with a spren? He spent decades as a killer and then very quickly it seemed couldn’t hold that blade anymore (hide spoiler)]

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "At the end of this chapter I actually said “ohhhh” out loud haha. I had been wondering about (view spoiler)"

Yeah!!! I've started compiling a list of questions I have that I think will be answered eventually... Where does Plate come from? What is the Thrill actually? Will the spren from "regular" Shardblades be freed? (this is probably one for later books in the series)

I also finally got around to listening to the audio for a bit and made a lot of progress yesterday! Up to chapter 29 now.

I find reading Veil's POV super stressful 😅 not having a great time when Shallan is her, I have to admit! The whole Ghostbloods situation stresses me out... had to stop reading mid-chapter last night because it just wasn't the right vibe for bedtime reading

End of Chapter 2

Dalinar's very last statement in this chapter: (view spoiler)[Yes, yes. We would indeed very much like to know what you can do, Renarin.....! (hide spoiler)]

Palona made me grin. "Don't tell me you weren't all thinking it."

Up to and including Chapter 13

So many things from you to comment on already :-D

Kaladin: (view spoiler)[A little brother! How lovely for him - and he could finally cry - and how scary at the same time. I do wonder as well what lengths he might go through to protect him. One of the many things where he might be very vulnerable and fallible. (hide spoiler)]

Dalinar: (view spoiler)[Oh wow, I am not liking the Blackthorn either! Very much not. He just killed and pillaged wherever his brother told him to go, without reason it seems. I can't help but wonder what he did to the boy..... since the scene cuts and we next see him with Oathbringer.

I wonder what brought on the change in him - besides the most obvious Oathbringer probably. Or maybe it will take something else yet for him to see that what he is is not a good person.

Their trio was an odd one. Gavilar and Sadeas scheming, Dalinar doing the drinking then conquering. A very odd combination, and I'm sure we haven't yet fully understood what was really going on some 30ish years ago. I'd actually be quite interested in reading something from his point of view. (hide spoiler)]

The excerpts: (view spoiler)[My guess is either Jasnah, because of some of the things that were mentioned, such as heretic, or the Sunmaker, the original owner of Oathbringer. (hide spoiler)]

Adolin/Renarin, etc: (view spoiler)[I think Renarin might know the truth. Not necessarily because he has observed Adolin, but because of his power(s) as a Radiant. Though I like the theory of him committing a copycat murder to cover for his brother, I also don't see him doing that. My guess it was the Ghostbloods. It would be an interesting means for blackmail for Shallan - exposing her fiancé with all the consequences it would bring. (hide spoiler)]

Pattern (view spoiler)[chaperoning is hilarious (hide spoiler)].

I'm slowly catching up. Hopefully I won't be too far behind you guys after this weekend :-)

Nice!
I’m still finishing Cormoran Strike 7 which has been really hard (not the writing which is great but the subject matter). Can’t wait to get to the end and focus on this book

End of Part I and Interludes

Part 1
Chapters 27 - 32

Shallan is kind of worrying me at this point. (view spoiler)[ She seems to ejoy being Veil so much - and Radiant a little - that she is kind of forgetting herself. It is almost becoming a multiple personality disorder. I'm not sure this will end well, especially as she is keeping all these versions of herself secret.
The darkness and the pictures she drew also... what is up with that? And how her and Renarin could feel it but Dalinar could not...

I also expected more when she found out Kalladin killed her brother. Something else she is now oppressing and not processing?...

I'm glad Kalladin is on his way back. And of course I can only imagine how the reunion will go now Jasnah is also there!!
(hide spoiler)]

Interludes
More new people! (view spoiler)[ I was super surprised that Eshonai was dead. Have I forgotten that? Did we know that happened? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 37

Bridge Four!

This was my favourite chapter - perhaps in any of the books so far! (view spoiler)[ I love Rock and now we are starting to learn so much more about him with his family and ability to see spren. Although he can’t see Renarin’s… plot thickens with that one.
And when Hobber drew in the storm light! Oh my - I had tears in my eyes 😊😆 (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 34

Till 32 (view spoiler)[Yeah, Shallan really is worrying. I read in reddit forums that the author brings in mental health into mainstream forms. That makes sense as Shallan seems to have DID - Dissociative Identity Disorder. That was shown when she pulls on Shallan over Veil and even her internal voice was saying it is you and not something she has to put on. Kalidan is probably suffering from Depression and PTSD or seasonal depression at the very least.

Also could explain why Shallan is avoiding thinking about Kaladin killing Helaran
(hide spoiler)]

Interludes (view spoiler)[ New characters and not sure why they are there but intrigued if the patron will play a role later (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 33 (view spoiler)[So underwhelmed by the reunion of Jasnah and Shallan (hide spoiler)]

@vi - I totally agree with you on chapter 33!

Chapter 43

I was waiting (view spoiler)[ for Lift to turn up! Finally!
And Moash…. Intriguing!

Just when you think you know how things are going along.

Pow.

(hide spoiler)]

Till Interlude:

@Karen re Eshonai (view spoiler)[The last we saw her, Adolin fought with her and manoeuvred so she fell into the chasm. And now she's dead. I'm sad about that. (hide spoiler)]

Till 43 (view spoiler)[ With what Stormfather said about Fused brings into light so many things. Esp what the spren with Venli said - she was defective - basically she Eshonai was still inside and would have fought

Moash! Teft! I didn't see that coming. (hide spoiler)]

Agree with you @karen. The Bridge 4 views are good.

We are about 33% in and it's moving along in a good pace. Can't wait for the last 20% when the pace really really picks up

Part 2

This was a much shorter part! The last few chapters gave some answers and started a lot more questions!

Lewshi - (view spoiler)[ Ok so the fused bonded with a spren to get their form. But now it seems the spren is actually what takes over them? I guess that makes sense when I remember back to Eshonai and when she became fused the part that was "her" was clamped down in her mind. Does that mean that Eshonai can also come back as although her body died she may find another? (hide spoiler)]

Moash - (view spoiler)[ His life is just repeating! I wonder what will happen when he and Kalladian next meet.....? He still seems to want to kill the King and is now creating his own little army. (hide spoiler)]

Rlain - (view spoiler)[ Probably the most interesting character development we have had in this book - in terms of more of an insight into him. I'm looking forward to more! (hide spoiler)]

Odium - (view spoiler)[ Well that was unexpected! (hide spoiler)]

Lift - (view spoiler)[ Being able to essentially come and go into Dalinar's visions. Curious. And she thinks she is protecting Gawx but is she actually making him even more of a puppet leader by making all these decisions for him? (hide spoiler)]

Vi wrote: "Till Interlude:

@Karen re Eshonai [spoilers removed] ..."

Ah. Thanks. I didn't think (view spoiler)[ she could die so easily so I didn't expect that to be the end! (hide spoiler)]

Part One is really very long!
Might get it done today, if work is quiet and I can listen to the audio for a bit. Otherwise, it will be tomorrow.

Soooooo much going on!

End of Part One


Shallan: (view spoiler)[I do not like her development (though it is well-written). It is very worrying indeed. Especially the fact that her Radiant persona is one who does not care very much about other people. I can understand that she enjoys being Veil as Veil can go where Shallan would probably not be able to go, especially now that she would be recognised. But not realising that she is all these people or playing a role at best, or using these personas for her purpose, and yet... worrying. She keeps too many things to herself and she is (not always so) subtly changing from the way she used to be. She is much less of a scholar. Urithiru should be fascinating, and the designs on the walls should be something she'd want to investigate further but somehow that all goes under in her scheming. But we tend to also forget that she is still quite young yet and was leading a very sheltered life before setting out to find Jasnah.

What I'm worried about is that she is going to be one of the Radiants to break her oath. Pattern seems to know that something like this is most likely going to happen. After all, Cryptics are all for truths and lies, and Shallan is very good at creating powerful lies. The Stormfather may be worried that Kaladin will kill Syl because he might betray her, but I'm actually more worried about Shallan. She is very, very fickle.

The information about Helaran.. yes, it's worrying that she is burying that deep within her and not actually dealing with it, as per usual. But at the same time, there IS still the matter of Amaram having acquired Shardplate and Shardblade back when Kaladin killed a Shardbearer, and then he has supposedly only acquired it all at a later date, with witnesses? I'm not entirely convinced on the timeline yet.
(hide spoiler)]

Dalinar: (view spoiler)[Oh wow, the Blackthorn was not at all a nice guy. I've said it before but he was just such a horrifying dude that it needs to be said again. I cringed when he broke the horse's back, even if it wasn't his fault exactly that the poor beast couldn't bear the plate, but still.

I may not like Amaram, but he is not at all wrong to call Dalinar a hypocrite. I'm glad though that Dalinar saw the truth in this statement and accepted it, even if he didn't particularly like it. At least he knows himself well enough that he was and is willing to make the necessary changes.

As for the Thrill, I think it's definitely due to the Shardblade. Oathbringer, like so many of the older Shardblades, has a dead spren inside it. You need ten days to bond such a blade, and by then, you're so attuned to it already that being pushed toward violence, toward spreading the spren's own hatred of all mankind probably requires just a tiny little nudge.

Didn't the Thrill completely vanish from Dalinar during that fateful battle on the Shattered Plains where Sadeas left him and his men to die, surrounded by Parshendi. After all, it wasn't Dalinar but Kaladin who defeated Eshonai at the end of that battle. And Dalinar gave up Oathbringer right after returning to the warcamps after this incident to buy all the bridge crews from Sadeas. What I'm still uncertain about, but what I think wasn't yet mentioned in the flashbacks, is what caused him to stop being the Blackthorn thirty odd years ago. Sure, he nearly killed his brother while lost to the Thrill and

I am interested to see him use his new Shardblade in an upcoming battle. And I am very curious to see what he wants to do during the next highstorm. Visions that can be projected to other people.... it may be the solution to a lot of his problems, not just the one to unite the various monarchs. (hide spoiler)]

Kaladin: (view spoiler)[His interactions with the Parshmen have been very interesting. Especially when he was basically told he could shove his superiority elsewhere, even if they did finally accept his help in some areas. I wonder if the Parshmen the bizarre spren are regrouping are only composed of evolved Parshmen or if they are also the Parshendi who escaped from the Shattered Plains. Though I think the latter would probably not let themselves be lead by voidspren..

I also find it interesting that his men only retain powers when he is near but lose the ability to use stormlight while he's gone. (hide spoiler)]

@Eldarwen

I agree about Shallan. She is (view spoiler)[ living multiple lies, which is what Pattern always spoke about with her. I wonder if that is part of her bond and oaths? As time goes on she will continue to live different lies? (hide spoiler)]

Dalina - (view spoiler)[ Yes I remember he lost the thrill in one of the first battles in book 1 and was disgusted by all the deaths, but then managed to grab it back again before losing it later. Curious he kept it for 30 years though ... he was a very bad dude. (hide spoiler)]

Kaladin - (view spoiler)[ Yes the whole sharing power when near is interesting. I wonder if Navani can create a device to replicate that so he doesn't need to be close? (hide spoiler)]

Interludes after part 2

Kaza - (view spoiler)[ Omg. Is this the first time we have known about what happens to a soulcaster? I wonder if she will turn up again sometime ... I know she turned herself into smoke, but does that make her kind of like a spren I wonder?
And who is this cook and this island?! If Shallan is correct and they have basically hunted greatshells to extinction on the plains, then perhaps this will be the answer in future for finding gemstones? (hide spoiler)]

Taravangian - (view spoiler)[ So Dalinar's life is safe, but his position is not. So much seems to pin on him in this diagram. And what is this memory Taravangian has> (hide spoiler)]

Venli - (view spoiler)[ So now we understand why the everstorms didn't bring the voidbringers we expected. But now here they are. Things are going to get bad from here!! And what's the " little spren that looked like a little ball of light" that was near her and Eshonai? (hide spoiler)]

Btw, Any theories as to what the epigraphs were at the start of the chapters in part 2?

Interludes after Part One


Yes, (view spoiler)[we knew that Eshonai had died. Or rather, we knew she'd been manoeuvered off a cliff by Adolin in that final battle in the centre of the Shattered Plains. He nearly fell after her but Bridge Four grabbed on to him.

I had kind of hoped that she'd survived the fall, just like Shallan and Kaladin survived, but apparently not.

Buuuut, I do wonder why her spren is still around if she's dead... isn't that a tad odd? (hide spoiler)]


New people, yay! (view spoiler)[I found both Puuli and Ellista rather fun. Especially Ellista is a wonderful example of "the boss wants me to do something but I want to finish my book!!" hehehe. (hide spoiler)] Wonder if we get to see more of them?