(I put a question mark after "Review" because what follows is less of a review and more of a narrative. Do with that what you will.)
Have we officially made this a book blog? No, I don't think so. I just come to this site to write whatever is on my mind when the fancy suits me, and for now, every time I get the urge to write, I want to write about reading. This blog won't be exclusively that (probably), but...well, I guess we'll see.
Anyway!
I did a "book haul" a couple months ago, and I decided to just go through those books (some of them, anyway—the ones I've read since July 2024) and go more in-depth on my thoughts. So, we're starting with Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, the third book in The Stormlight Archive.
Forgive me if I repeat a lot of what I said in that previous post. Also, spoilers will be in abundance, so proceed with caution. (I will not have spoilers for any of the books after Oathbringer or in other series by Sanderson, but there may be incidental spoilers for the first two books in the series, because...well, obviously.)
First, I suppose some background would behoove us. I read The Way of Kings (the first book in the series) back in the summer of 2015 and then followed it up with Words of Radiance that autumn. Oathbringer was not published at that point, so I had to wait. I loved the first two books a ton, so I couldn't wait for the next one in the series.
Unfortunately, by the time it came out near the end of 2017 and I got it for Christmas, I was in my senior year of high school, which meant I was neck-deep in two AP classes (one of which was English Literature), two foreign language classes, drivers ed, concert choir, Madrigals, seminary council, church service, and a part-time job. Reading for fun was not on my radar, let alone reading a 1,200+ page novel. To make matters worse, I had forgotten a ton of details from the previous two books, so I was just lost with a lot of references, short of the major plot points. After reading about a hundred pages or so, I said to myself, "You know what? I think I need to reread The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance first, and then I can get to Oathbringer."
That would prove far too lofty a goal for seventeen-year-old Odessa. Or eighteen-year-old Odessa. Or twenty-one-year-old Odessa...
I didn't reread The Way of Kings until the end of 2022/beginning of 2023. Well, let me rephrase that—I didn't start rereading The Way of Kings until the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, and then it took me until October 2023 to finish it. Words of Radiance took a lot less time...and by that, I mean it took me five months instead of nearly a year.
But, at last, in March 2024, I began reading Oathbringer properly for the first time. (I hardly remembered anything from my first failed attempt, except for one interaction between Shallan and Adolin, so it was pretty much like starting a brand-new book.) Since it was one I hadn't read before, I tried a lot harder to get out of the reading slump I'd been in since that senior year of high school; but, alas, I only managed a chapter or two a week, if we were lucky.
Still, progress was progress. It helped somewhat that I'd decided upon rereading The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance that Dalinar was my favorite character, so having a book that would dive into his backstory and focus a bit more on him than usual seemed pretty perfect.
And, you know, I was mostly right... Except for one thing.
Evi.
Most of the time, when I love a character, I can tell you precisely why. I love Kelsier from Mistborn because he has so much hope and determination. I love Hermione Granger from Harry Potter because I've always seen myself in her. I love Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings because he is good and kind despite a life that you could argue has taught him not to be. I love Dalinar because he sticks to his convictions, even when people sneer at him for it.
But I cannot tell you why I love Evi so much, or why I loved her so quickly. Seriously, from the instant we got her name—heck, even before we ever got her name—I just felt something for her.
I think that, maybe, part of it comes from the fact that I just always hated the idea she was forgotten by Dalinar. His feelings for Navani have always been pretty clear, and though Dalinar seemed to be under the impression that he must have loved his wife, even though he couldn't remember her, I was always like, "Well...if you were pining for Navani the whole time, that's not very fair to whoever your wife was, even if you did have feelings for her."
So, when Evi was introduced and the first couple chapters with her were filled with that pining for Navani, I felt vindicated, but not in a particularly triumphant way. I hated the idea that this woman, who was instantly sweet and gentle in ways not very many of Sanderson's characters are, came second. I hated it. I still hate it, if we're being honest, even now knowing how things turned out.
I really don't know why it galled me so much, but I was just indignant on behalf of Evi. Of all the characters in this series—heck, of all the characters in Sanderson's entire repertoire (that I've read, anyway)—she deserved to be well and truly loved and cared for, at least in my opinion, so the fact that she was just tolerated at first... Man, I don't know. It just made me sad. And, you know, I think he did come to love her in the end, even if it was a bit different from how he felt/feels for Navani, but I still wanted more. I wanted him to really, really, really love her.
I also knew that she was going to die, of course, and I just knew it was going to be awful. It had to be, obviously, because why else would Dalinar erase all of his memories of her? It had to be absolutely terrible. Still, I did my best to just enjoy the flashback chapters...inasmuch as one can enjoy Dalinar's flashback chapters.
We'd heard all these things about the Blackthorn and Dalinar's reputation and everything in the previous two books, but actually reading about it in detail was...something. It was rough, which is, of course, the point. The ruthlessness and the callousness and the violence that defined the younger Dalinar was horrible. And, you know, some of it is so terrible that it borders on amusing. (The example that comes to mind is Dalinar stabbing a man, rinsing the knife in his wine goblet, and then instantly cutting a slice of meat and eating it.) But for the most part, I was just reading all of these flashbacks and thinking, "...Oh. This is the guy I've thrown in my lot with, huh?"
Anyway, despite all of that, I was moving forward very slowly in the story, until a glorious day arrived: July 17, 2024. The power went out at our house, and since I couldn't work on editing, I decided to read, as it had been a while since I'd even touched the book, let alone read it.
And for some reason, that night was the first shattering of the seven-year-long book burnout. I don't know if it was because the story finally clicked in a way that made me want to keep reading. I don't know if it was because I started tracking my progress on Goodreads right around that time, which gave me a bit of oomph. I don't know if it was because I finally stayed off of a screen long enough to rewire my brain and remind it that reading is fun and not a chore. Maybe it was all of the above. Whatever it was, I found myself reading pretty much every day, not because I felt like I had to but because I wanted to.
Besides Dalinar's story, I was modestly interested in the rest of the plot lines. At the time, I couldn't have cared less about the Ghostbloods. (No spoilers, but I have since changed my tune on that particular song for ✨reasons✨ we will discuss in another review...) The infiltration of Kholinar was interesting, and I was pleasantly bewildered by the arrival of Highmarshal Azure, whom I suspected came from Warbreaker (out of a pure guess, since I hadn't read that yet). Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin's work in the city kept my attention, though I did remember thinking, "Weird. This feels very much like the climax, but we're only three-quarters of the way through. Is this battle really going to last that long?"
And all of a sudden, things started to take turns for all of our characters.
First off...the Rift.
Like I said earlier, I knew that Evi's death was going to be awful. I had various theories running through my head, pretty much all of them either involving Dalinar killing her or Dalinar letting someone else kill her. I thought I'd prepared myself for basically every eventuality, even if it meant I started every Dalinar flashback chapter with my stomach twisting into knots.
Good grief, it was somehow a thousand times worse than I'd thought.
Just the mere fact that all of that happened was a pure nightmare. The reckoning at Rathalas is, in a word, horrific. I will never forget reading it and just staring at the page and thinking to myself, "Holy crap. I think Dalinar might actually be irredeemable for this." I've had my fair share of favorite characters who fall in the category of morally grey (my favorite character in the history of characters, in fact, could run for president of the club), but this was another level. This was revenge and retribution in the worst way possible. This was a point to make, and it was utterly inhumane. This was fury incarnate.
And when it was revealed that Evi was killed in the midst of that... I couldn't even keep reading. I finished the chapter and set aside the book, and I just stared off into space, feeling horrible. I wanted to cry, but there weren't any tears. I felt legitimately sick, which I'd never felt from a book before. I've read my fair share of tough books, and yet, somehow, the only one that has ever made me feel physically ill was Oathbringer, upon learning how Evi died.
I went grocery shopping with my mom and youngest sister pretty much right after reading that, and I was numb. I felt like I was on some other plane of existence, but not in an ethereal, transcendent way. Every time I went down an aisle of the store by myself, I had to pause and take a deep breath so I wouldn't dissolve into tears or straight-up puke in the middle of Walmart. I wish I were exaggerating, but seriously, I have never felt so off-kilter from a book before.
The rest of the day, I was inconsolable, and that night, I barely slept. I couldn't stop thinking about it as I tried to fall asleep, and then when I woke up four hours later to the sound of the sprinklers turning on outside my window, I couldn't go back to sleep because my mind was still just spinning with the awful imagery of Evi being burned alive. (I've always hated the idea of anyone dying in that way, so that probably didn't help.) By the time lunch came around, I thought I'd recovered, but nope—I took one bite of pasta and actually gagged because my stomach was still just churning.
To make matters worse, things weren't going so hot for any of the other characters at this point. Elhokar was dead, and Gavinor was left behind. Kholinar was lost. Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin, Azure, and the spren were trapped in Shadesmar. Taravangian's plan to manipulate the coalition had worked, and everyone was abandoning Dalinar, who had briefly fallen back into his alcoholism. All of Dalinar's flashbacks made me feel sick again because I just kept getting reminded of Evi, and by the time he'd gone to the Nightwatcher and gotten his memories of her taken by Cultivation, I was a mess. ("You'll take Evi?" makes me want to sob just thinking about it.) I still wasn't crying, though; I have no idea how I managed to avoid it, considering how awful I felt.
For days, I still couldn't sleep. Every time I tried, I just kept thinking and thinking and thinking about the stupid book and how hopeless everything was for all of the characters. I genuinely couldn't see how there could be a good ending to this at all. The only thing I could hang on to was knowing that, if Sanderson does anything with The Stormlight Archive, he makes arcs worthwhile. So, in my mind, that meant we would somehow learn that Evi was at peace. I didn't know how, but that was just the only logical thing: he would not have killed Evi like that if that was truly the end of her story.
At last, on July 26th, I sat down to finish the book. I felt like I'd been through a war myself, and we hadn't even gotten to the climax. I love a story where the characters are dragged through hell only to rise up even more victorious for it (lookin' at you, Shawshank), but this was pushing it. I could not imagine any of the main characters in worse positions, and though I knew it had to end at least somewhat happily, I couldn't see how. I couldn't even fathom it.
Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin just could not get out of Shadesmar. Kaladin couldn't say the Fourth Ideal. Adolin was bleeding out. Shallan's mental condition was terrible. Then, back in the Physical Realm, Jasnah was preparing to kill Renarin because of his corrupted spren. And worst of all, the Thrill had taken the soldiers at Thaylen City, leaving practically no one to stand against the singers and their army.
Dalinar went out to face Odium with nothing but a book, and I just felt despair. Another thing I really love in stories is when a character faces something or someone that they have no real hope of defeating but face it anyway because someone has to, and if it must be them, then so be it. So, for a moment, I was like, "Yay!", but then I went back to being miserable, because how could Dalinar even last a minute against what was basically the incarnation of hatred?
Then, of all people, Szeth showed up. As he looked at Dalinar and asked Nale if a Skybreaker could pledge himself to a man, I felt the first real glimmer of hope in days. "Yes," I literally whispered out loud. "Come on, Szeth, please." Dalinar had no one, but if he had just one person on his side, and if that person could be someone who had proven himself quite adept at fighting...well, maybe there could be a good ending somehow. I still wasn't entirely sure how, but I could finally start to believe it.
I kept reading. Lift was about to die, and then, all of a sudden, Szeth saved her. "Our master has given us a command," he tells her, "and we must fulfill it."
And for the first time in ten years, I cried while reading a book. I absolutely lost it. Partly because I loved seeing Szeth decide to join in with the Radiants, but mostly because I could hope again, at least for a moment.
Then things turned bad quite quickly, with Odium tormenting Dalinar and choosing him as his champion. But then...a single gloryspren.
"You cannot have my pain."
Ugh, I'm literally teary-eyed just writing it down. Dalinar stood up and faced Odium, and he refused to let go of the guilt again. He refused to forget the horrible, awful things he did and the thousands of people who suffered because of it. He refused to let Evi get taken away from him again.
And he heard Evi forgiving him. Instantly, the awful feeling that had been clinging to my insides ever since reading about the Rift just vanished, as though it had never been there at all. Evi was okay, and Dalinar knew it.
I just couldn't stop crying. He opened a perpendicularity and saved Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin. Jasnah refused to kill Renarin, which gave him much-needed strength and courage. The following battle, from every single character's perspective...
...was perfection.
There is not a single other climax in any book or movie that is as cathartic as this one. For me to have felt so awful and to have despaired so much when the battle began to then see every little thing play out in the most perfect way... It's indescribable. It is masterful how Sanderson was able to capture the bitterness and then the glory so well. It could have failed—it could have felt cheap or unearned at any point, but it never, ever did. Every single resolution of that battle was tied up in a way that felt like he'd been planning it from the moment he wrote the prelude to the whole series. And maybe he did.
The climax of Oathbringer is the most incredible climax ever. Done. I haven't decided if it's my favorite climax, but it is undoubtedly the best (inasmuch as I can view something like this from an objective standpoint, of course).
When I finally finished the book, I just sat there and wiped my eyes, feeling like I was floating. I could not believe how well the book had ended. I almost wished that the whole series had ended there, because it was just perfect. For the rest of the day, I was on a high. We watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 that night, and I barely paid attention because I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing the end of Oathbringer had been.
Let me say that again: I could barely pay attention to my favorite movie in the history of the world because I couldn't stop thinking about Oathbringer.
There are so many other parts of this book that I adored that I didn't even dive into here: The Girl Who Stood Up, Venli's growth, Adolin and Shallan's relationship developing, Rysn getting a bit more page time... It isn't my favorite of the series (that distinction belongs to book one), but it stands apart from the others for the way it accomplished what should have been impossible. I should have hated Dalinar so much by the climax that I shouldn't have cared what happened to him with Odium, but I did care. I cared with all my heart, in fact. He stood there and faced an entity he knew he had no chance against, and I had to admit that this man was still my favorite character of the series. It is incredible that Sanderson could write him in a way that makes that possible.
Five out of five. Even though the rest of the book doesn't hit the highs of the previous two, the ending more than makes up for it.
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