Oathbringer

Did You Know?

• A 6-part GraphicAudio version of Oathbringer was released from April to September 2018.
• The audiobook version was published by Macmillan Audio on the same day as the hardcover.

Development

The third book in the series went through several working titles before settling on Oathbringer, which shifted the main character to Dalinar Kholin. It was first called Stones Unhallowed with Szeth-son-son-Vallano as the central figure, then Skybreaker. Before the book came out, Sanderson shared chapters and interludes on his blog, at conventions, and in a short fiction collection. He also gave regular progress reports on Reddit.

Tor announced on December 9, 2016, that the first draft was finished at 461,223 words. By March 15, 2017, the third of five planned drafts had grown to 514,000 words. The final draft was completed on June 15, 2017, and trimmed down to 450,000 words. On June 27, 2017, Tor explained how beta readers gave instant feedback and checked for story consistency.

Because the manuscript was so long, Tor had to use a different printing company and bindery than the one that handled Words of Radiance. The extra time spent on the book led Sanderson to write a novella called Edgedancer, which follows Lift and was first released on November 22, 2016, in the Cosmere anthology Arcanum Unbounded. The cover art, painted by Michael Whelan, was revealed on March 16, 2017, and shows Jasnah Kholin defending a city from an invasion while reaching for a Shardblade and soulcasting a hole in the wall made by a thunderclast.

Three days later, Tor discussed the cover’s details in a blog post. Sanderson shared the UK cover on Twitter on July 14, 2017. The hardcover edition included endpapers featuring four of the ten heralds, with two each by artists Howard Lyon and Dan dos Santos. Tor announced the book tour dates on August 2, 2017.

The prologue was released online on August 22, and the first 32 chapters came out in weekly installments from August 29 to November 7.

Plot

Six years before the main events, Eshonai and the Listeners visited Kholinar to celebrate a peace treaty. Gavilar invited Eshonai for a private conversation and uncovered a Fabrial device that can trap a Spren inside Gemhearts. Gavilar revealed his plan to revive the Gods who had deserted her people and gave her a dark Gemheart as a gift, instructing her to send a message to the council. Eshonai informed the five Listeners and decided to send an assassin to prevent Gavilar's actions.

Six days after settling at Urithiru, Dalinar Kholin, with his Bondsmith ability, revisited a vision with the Stormfather's aid. He discovered that the Almighty, killed by Odium, was named Honor, who warned about the Everstorm. Dalinar explored the ruins of Kholinar and caught a glimpse of Odium summoning nine corrupted shadowed Sprens called the Unmade. Dalinar planned to reunite Roshar against Odium.

He proposed marriage to Navani, and the Stormfather declared consent. After departing the Shattered Plains, Kaladin visited Hearthstone, reunited with his parents, and revealed himself as a Radiant. He investigated the Everstorm's effects and tracked escaped Parshmen, learning from Syl that the Everstorm had altered their physiques and intelligence, allowing them to rebond with Voidspren. The Voidspren guided enslaved Parshmen to Kholinar as a declaration of war.

At Revolar, Kaladin fled upon learning about the Highstorm, helped citizens shelter, but two Fused attacked him. He escaped and flew back to Urithiru following Syl's direction.

Reception

Reception of the series was mostly positive. The A.V. Club reviewer Samantha Nelson described the novel as both weighed down by its ambition and less complex than its predecessors. Reviews on Tor found the novel engaging, with Martin Cahill writing that it is a triumph of a novel. Publishers Weekly noted that Sanderson successfully balances introducing new elements and resolving some threads. A review in Paste by Frannie Jackson compared the novel to the long-arc storytelling of Robert Jordan, describing it as brimming with magic and mystery.