A Man With An Agenda

This book quite literally sat on my bedside table for two and a half years. I brought it home from work the day it was released in hardcover in November '17, employee discounts are a beautiful thing, and it just sat. I loved the previous books, but I never felt in the mood. Then the mass market came out and I thought to myself, the Stormlight books I have are mass markets, so let's go ahead and buy that and donate the other one to the library.

So I did. And it sat some more.

I don't know what took me so long, but it was worth the wait. 'Oathbringer' is a behemoth, but still lighter, at least in tone, than previous books. Epic showdowns and mental anguish occur, but nothing felt as world-shaking as the revelations we've seen. I think Sanderson backed off so he could save momentum. This is only part three of a planned ten-part series after all.

'Oathbringer' focuses on Dalinar's backstory, in particular his lost memories of his wife, which had been supposedly lost after a bargain with the Nightwatcher, an entity that grants boons for a terrible, Monkey's Paw-esque price

Shallan, meanwhile, has the dissociative break we've all been waiting for, while she, Navani, Adolin, and others explore the city and attempt to form a coalition to defeat the Voidbringers.

Kaladin does some brooding. 

This was a lot of fun and finally broke the ice on my long-frozen reading mental state. I held off reviewing this for awhile thinking I'd come up with something more to say, but, afraid not.

Stormlight Archive

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