It's still great. Some parts are super fantastic.

The first two books had excellent structure: they weaved multiple stories together in great harmony, each chapter building up toward some overall goal. I think Oathbringer has less of a structure like that. There is of course a lot of plot and a lot of character development. But we also get a letter of a huge info-dump at some point, and there are long treks through relatively familiar territory that lack the intensity I got used to in the first two volumes.

And the trek through Shadesmar? I was dying to know more about Shadesmar! When we finally spend more than a few seconds there, it's all just a long hike with a bit of hitting some guys with sticks.

I think pacing issues and a weaker focus are acceptable in the 3rd volume of a 10-book epic. The plot is still moving fast and there are a lot of surprising reveals. If you compare the real world to the world of these books, the real world seems to have barely anything happening in it. Sure, human history has had some twists and turns, but nothing like what goes on in here. Sanderson's vision is far from being realized in full, but already true fans can easily have more information on the Cosmere than on reality. Lose yourself in coppermind.net/ if you like.

Being a third volume, Sanderson can rightly assume that everybody already loves all the characters. This means he can have some fun with them. I'm surprised how well the humor works. It's like he can just think "let's add a joke here to lighten the mood" and come up with a joke that actually works.

Anyway, when is the next book coming out? Oh right, I have to read [b:Elantris|68427|Elantris (Elantris, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475740953s/68427.jpg|2908871], [b:Warbreaker|1268479|Warbreaker (Warbreaker, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1240256182s/1268479.jpg|1257385], [b:The Emperor's Soul|13578175|The Emperor's Soul|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1343059311s/13578175.jpg|19161502], and [b:Edgedancer|34703445|Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive #2.5)|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499706661s/34703445.jpg|54097500] in the meanwhile, right? Seriously this guy writes faster than I can read. (Not complaining.)