Wind and Truth

The Stormlight Archive #5

by Brandon Sanderson

The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive.

Dalinar Kholin has challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions, and the Knights Radiant and the nations of Roshar have a mere 10 days to prepare for the worst. The fate of the entire world―and the Cosmere at large―hangs in the balance.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy

1330 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2024

About the author

I’m Brandon Sanderson, and I write stories of the fantastic: fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers.

The release of Wind and Truth in December 2024—the fifth and final book in the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive series—marks a significant milestone for me. This series is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre, and it’s the type of story I always dreamed epic fantasy could be. Now is a great time to get into the Stormlight Archive since the first arc, which begins with Way of Kings, is complete.

During our crowdfunding campaign for the leatherbound edition of Words of Radiance, I announced a fifth Secret Project called Isles of the Emberdark, which came out in the summer of 2025. Coming December 2025 is Tailored Realities, my non-Cosmere short story collection featuring the new novella Moment Zero.

Defiant, the fourth and final volume of the series that started with Skyward in 2018, came out in November 2023, capping an already book-filled year that saw the releases of all four Secret Projects: Tress of the Emerald Sea, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and The Sunlit Man. These four books were all initially offered to backers of the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time.

November 2022 saw the release of The Lost Metal, the seventh volume in the Mistborn saga, and the final volume of the Mistborn Era Two featuring Wax & Wayne. Now that the first arc of the Stormlight Archive is wrapped up, I’ve started writing the third era of Mistborn in 2025.

Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, four of the five Secret Projects, and various novellas, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.

I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which had its final book, Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, released in 2022. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.

Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the three stories in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. These two novellas are also featured in 2025’s Tailored Realities. There’s a lot of material to go around!

Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.

I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.

Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com—and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Reviews

[Clace · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Billion Stars!

“An oath could be broken, but a promise? A promise stood as long as you were still trying. A promise understood that sometimes your best wasn’t enough. A promise cried with you when all went to Damnation. A promise came to help when you could barely stand. Because a promise knew that sometimes, being there was all you could offer.”

Absolutely speechless!!

Tropes;
-Found family
-Heartbreaking arcs
-Healing Journey
-Action packed battles
-Intriguing politics

“Perhaps the question isn’t ‘What use is art?’ ” Wit mused. “Perhaps even that simple question misses the point. It’s like asking the use of having hands, or walking upright, or growing hair. Art is part of us, Kaladin. That’s the use; that’s the reason. It exists because on some fundamental level we need it. Art exists to be made.”

Brandon you need to give us answers!! guys, when he said that he would conclude arc 1 with book 5 I thought he meant giving these characters a somewhat proper end with like at least answers but he left us on a cliffhanger and now I cant wait for 7 years for him to like publish the next book!!! like I dont even know if I would be alive Brandon!! 2030?? that's so far away like I was jumping up and down thinking that if I die after 2024 I would die at least knowing that I had read Kaladin's arc and his ending but that didn't happen so like Brandon if you're reading this just like give me special services and write me the books first and yes that would be so much better, I will not share it with anyone and die happily PLEASE BRANDON LIKE PLEASE I CANT-

okay now that the embarrassing rant is over lets move on to the actual book- look did I get what I want? No. but I wasn't expecting for it to go my ways because let's face it Brandon does what he wants and it bloody worked!! I loved this book so much like you dont know how much I miss reading this book, being in this world, reading about these characters and I honestly can't give two fucks about why other people didn't enjoy it or why they were underwhelmed, what matters is I enjoyed it and that I felt like this was the perfect way to conclude arc 1 and it honestly has me excited with that same energy and that same buzz for the next book so I think that it was wise for Brandon to pull this move. I'm writing the review rn but the first para was written a month back and lol now that I have calmed down, I think I can wait because we are being fed everyyyy year!! like secret project 5 this year?? horneater novella next year?? new skyward spinoff?? Elantris sequels??? mistborn era 3?? like this midpoint was so high and I honestly loved it and I cant wait for the other books in this series because I know that I will love them as much as this!

2024 was not a good year for me. Life was weird and not how I wanted it to be. My anticipated books were flopping and everyday I would just wait for this book because I know this would be that one anticipated book that would not let me down, so I started a grand plan which was to reread every single Cosmere book and I am sooooo glad that I did because it made me appreciate everything about this universe I formed a deeper bod with the character and this finale' hit sooooo hard. I have heard people complain about Brandon's prose but I love it sooo much, the way he writes, the way he explains, the characters he creates are so hard not to love like my heart screams for this series like you see my reviews and how much I yap but they dont fully encapsulate what I feel because there's so much that im feeling when I visit this series and everything starts hitting me and it's just so beautiful. Every book in this universe has such memorable scenes, the just keep on playing in my head and just refusing to leave and uff it's breathtaking.
Every stormlight book has like five parts and I was expecting the same here but I was so happy when I found out that it was divided in ten days and every day was going by so quick and the tension was increasing at the end of each chapter so like there was this feeling gnawing at me wanting for answers while also dreading the end, hoping that it would never come and honestly authors who write sequences that make me feel like this immediately go to my auto-buy shelves. My E-book had around 2000 pages and you should've seen the stupid smile on my face when I saw the page count because honestly I hate long books except for when its my favorite series. I feel like he started off this book so strong with how everyone was preparing for the duel and there was this theme that played into it where you know about something bad that's going to happen but the characters are unaware and you just want to scream so yeah that was there and then the days progressed and everyone was fully placed in their own stories and you would start feeling like its the end and ahh I knew my heart was about to break!!

The emotional aspect that this book delivered hit so hard, like how does Brandon do it, it was so well done weaving with the world building, the lore and oh my god we got so many answers, we got to feel and experience so many things and this journey was so precious because there will never ever be a journey that will be like this like it's like one of those shows that you watch and love and think of shows similar to it but find none because I dont think even Brandon can top this series. I dont think Brandon needs an editor and I do think the world building in this series is more impressive than other high fantasy series, bite me bitches.

"Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do"

Moving on to the characters;

Kaladin Stormblessed aka the love of my life and the bane of my existence. Did his story end with a love interest and happy life? No. Was me expecting that delusional? Absolutely one thousand percent yes. But honestly can my guy just get a break, pretty please Brandon :( I would love to see more of his new journey but when the scene that put him in this journey was happening I was yelling NO at the top of my lungs because I honestly dont know how everything would be like ugh I dont wanna spoil but if anyone has answers just please let me know but besides that whole fiasco lets talk about how much I loved this character in this book and how I would do anything for this character, This journey that Kaladin took was so important like I honestly wanted to see him fight and be in battles but I also liked the way he was trying to bring szeth to a better place and I really like that journey I feel like it was very much needed for him and the events that took place after them were soooo good.

His journey was so unexpected tbh because during the beginning when Dalinar asked him to be their heir, I honestly the ending would go somewhere along the lines of that not him embracing that role, Im just happy that he's happy and ykw this book made me not hate the concept fo kal and syl that much and I think I can see it going somewhere in the future books but if there's anyway to avoid that I would gladly pray for that. Kaladin being annoyed at Nale was the highlight of this book and him giving death glares would never not be funny but honestly I need his level of patience because I would not have survived a trip with a person like Szaeth without throwing hands. His final meeting with bridge four and shallan and Adolin was so cute and istg if we don't get more moments like those I will riot Brandon.

Im scared to see where his character is going to but I hope he finds peace and happiness but I am also quite excited t see where his journey will take us cuz Its gonna be so new and honestly I cant envision Kal in that role specifically being the leader, but lets see how brandon handles that.

“Would that any of us," he said, "could protect ourselves from the costs of heroism. But, again, if there were no costs, no sacrifice, then would it be heroism at all?”

Adolin Kholin, is the most precious man there is to ever exist like the character development that he went through was so immense and strong and so beautiful to read like actually go back and read book 1 and compare that version of Adolin to this Adolin, there was always this sense of righteousness and kindness that was explored more throughout each book and his honor which was just so strong. SO to read about him and his story!! it was amazing. Also, the things Adolin was willing to do for Azir, the way he was fighting and his monologue was pretty fun to read like I remember spamming Hoda vms of how much I love him and how much I dont want anything to happen to him and I can safely say that book 4 and 5 really solidified his place alongside Kaladin's as my favorite characters of all time because they are just so well written.

The relationship strain that was felt between Adolin and Dalinar was actually needed and the way it was delivered was so good like I came to terms with Dalinar's actions and was making my way to try and forgive him but seeing Adolin's reaction to it and to see a hole in the image that his father maintains hit so hard and I actually was on Adolin's side and ufff it was so conflicting because at one side I wanted for them to talk things out and work out but the other wanted Adolin to hate his father for what he did. The conflict between them was such a well addition to this book. Adolin's need to prove himself in front of his father. Uff I love him so much you don't understand!!!!

Also SPOILER There being no stormlight and Adolin loosing his leg?? HEAL MY MAN RTFN!! SPOILERS END

The romance between Adolin and Shallan was added such a light and fun mix to this story and I loved the way it was unravelling and lmao not Brandon writing a fade to black scene (it was just passionspren rising) but it was sooooo good and I love how their relationship evolved and now that they're MARRIED I LOVEEEEEEEE THEM. I love how both of them get on Dalinar's nerves and I absolutely love them but I actually need to knowww if they'll meet again because when the book ended Adolin was at Azir and Shallan in the cognitive realm so please Brandon let them meet once again. DONT KEEP THEM APARTTTT. Also I love his relationship with the spren it was really good.

You think that kid who starved didn’t want to eat? You think her parents didn’t want to escape the ravages of war badly enough? You think if they’d had more Passion, the cosmere would have saved them? How convenient to believe that people are poor because they didn’t care enough about being rich. That they just didn’t pray hard enough. So convenient to make suffering their own fault, rather than life being unfair and birth mattering more than aptitude. Or storming Passion.”

Shallan Davar, since the start of this series. Shallan has been one of those character who has occasionally given me a very hard time but with each book I related to the character more and started understanding her and with this book Shallan grew into such a powerful character and the way she took control of her personalities and took action was really fun to read. Although I do feel like her story arc kind of took a backseat in this book but the parts of it that we got to read were soooo good and I honestly enjoyed. Her journey with Renarin and Rlain could have been expanded more but there were already so many things happening but it was definitely one that I wanted to see.

Ba Ado Mishram is a character who I wanted to know more about and the event including her were so conflicting and I dont even know where to put her so her being in Shallan's arc made me enjoy it so much more, if it was ever to be adapted on the big screen I definitely Mishrams scenes would give me jumpscares because it was so creepy when described in the book. Also that one blessed appearance that we got to see, it was more like a cameo and I loved it so much. It has a link to it's own story so Im wondering if Shallan could possibly be have a small role in it. Unlikely but still possible but no expectation for that.

“A virtue is something that is valuable even if it gives you nothing. A virtue persists without payment or compensation. Positive thinking is great. Vital. Useful. But it has to remain so even if it gets you nothing. Belief, truth, honor … if these exist only to get you something, you’ve missed the storming point.”

Dalinar Kholin PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAINPAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN

Besides the pain, his arc was the best one to read after Adolin for me. There was so much that unraveled here. Things about Honor and the stormfather also things about the heralds and everything related to it and it was so good to read to finally get answers that I was longing for and the way he made us experience rather than us just being fed the information we actually got to see what happened which included the conversations between honor and Odium which I wanted to experience and I am so glad that Brandon chose this way rather than just feeding us the information also the whole conversations with the heralds and the previous bondsmith was so well done. The whole past journey that Dalinar had was amazing. Navani Kholin Her arc was intertwined with Dalinar's so I honestly had the same reactions to her arc's. I do feel like RoW was her strongest appearance.

The most useless award goes to that dumb bitch Cultivation thanks for nothing bitch.

“Ideals are dead things,” Kaladin said, “unless they have people behind them. Laws exist not for themselves, but for those they serve.”

Jasnah Kholin, Honestly she ate. I love Jasnah and her as queen is amazing and during the whole of RoW I was craving some Jasnah scenes and this one delivered on that so well. I liked how much her character has progressed as well, little as compared to the others but I always liked Jasnah as she was, so it should be no surprise that I liked her here as well but one moment that really made her stand out in this book was her conversation/ debate with Odium. It was so good and it was so well done, it was so tense and it had me at the edge of my seat definitely one of the stronger moments of the book! I loved it Wit, He always is there at the right moments and I need dragonsteel soooo bad. I would get so worried when Wit wouldn't know something and would be terrified lmao and him bringing weird objects and trying to find loopholes was amazing lol. Travangian, is such a cunning villain, like when you think that you have him figured out he pulls out a wtf card and slaps you across the face with it. I think that's the best way to describe him, he terrified me.

“That should have made him an anxious, stewing pot of nerves. Instead he tipped his head back, sun warm on his skin, and acknowledged that while he didn’t feel great, someday he would feel great again. For today, that was enough.”

Szeth, He was the main focus of the book I think because of the past chapter and idk I was expecting something more traumatic when I first read about him but lol it started with rocks but oof his story did get deep and I did love how his character got a lot of page time and developed and the end where he finally achieved what Kal wanted him to. The darkness that enveloped him was so immense and the way it took so long to get him out, the conversations him and Kal had felt so real to read and honestly it was amazing. bridge four without rock and Teft and kal the crew felt a little hollow but sazed's scenes with leyten had me screaminggg, the whole renouncing scene had my heart stopped and that leyten scenes almost tipped me over to tears and MOASH I HATE YOUUUUU

“I’m a storyteller,” Wit said, with a flip of his fingers. “I have the right to redefine words.” “That’s stupid.” “That’s literature.” “It’s confusing.” “The more confusing, the better the literature.” “That might be the most pretentious thing I’ve ever heard.” “Aha!” Wit said, pointing. “Now you’re getting it.”

Plot, There was so much going on in this book, so many different stories taking place and then finally interconnecting but every single one of those plot points were done so so so so good and I loved reading every single one of them because I feel like I developed such strong feelings for the characters that whatever was happening felt so interesting and so good but honestly tho the whole lore dropping made everything 10x better Action LOVEE those scene so much, they were so well described and the World building as usual was the star if this book because without it, it would feel incomplete, it felt like missing piece of puzzle that fit perfectly in and Sanderson never goes wrong with his world building. I was so in love with it.

Overall, It was one of the best reads of the last year!

Some additional quotes:
“nothing is easier to sell someone than the story they want to hear.”
.
“The thing is, the deepest truths always sound a little trite. Because we all know them, and feel foolish being reminded.”
.
“And so, in the face of the most awful darkness he’d ever felt, Kaladin Stormblessed took a deep breath.
Then stood up.”
.
“Welcome, Kaladin Stormblessed. Herald of Kings. Herald of the Wind. Herald of…”
“Herald,” Kaladin said, “of Second Chances.
.
“If you assume I will crusade against religion or other Shards simply because they exist, then you make a mistake. The same mistake made by all who give petty, casual thought to my heresy. They assume I replace religious ideology with an ideology of their absence. That is not the case. I am against dogma of any variety. God, nationality, or philosophy—when you become a slave to it without capacity to change or reconsider, that is the problem.”
.
“I will not lie, and promise you that all future days will be warm. But Ishar, you will be warm again - and that is another thing entirely to promise.”

ran out of space :( but yeah I absolutely love this book and would recommend for sure!
___
Ummm??? It's not finished 😭?? Bitch give me book 6-10 now I'm not waiting 7 years for that you can't leave me on a cliffhanger and expect me to wait 7 years because I SIMPLY WONT 🧍🏻 Brandon 👹 I. HATE. YOU
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I cant believe it's in my hands 🥹 I hope this is everything I hoped for and ahh cant believe the last stormlight book until the next arc begins in 7 years 😭Kal, Adolin and Shallan here I come<3

-Buddy reading with Hoda.

[Стефан Солев · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Stormlight Archive is probably the most important fantasy series in the past 15 years. It is therefore frustrating how conflicted I am about it, conflicted enough to write my first ever review. This is however, more a review of the series as a whole, rather than Wind and Truth in particular.

SPOILERS below, on all 5 books of the series

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things to love about this series. The ambition and the creativity poured into it are nothing less than inspiring. The decision to couple character's psychological growth with their progression in the magic system through the oaths was a stroke of genius and makes for some seriously amazing moments throughout the books. But I will not focus on the positives as too many people here have repeated them, and have in fact been glazing these books blindly.

Instead, I would focus on other things that are, to me at least, either a mixed bag, or thoroughly frustrating.

THE SCOPE

I'm sorry, but there are simply too many things happening in these books. If done extremely well, that can be a good thing. But it isn't done well. Whole story arcs, like the murder of Sadeas, or Dalinar wanting to become High King, or whatever the hell Sja-Anat is doing, are brushed aside quickly, with minimal or forgettable consequences. Other things that happen don't exactly need to happen, like half the things Shallan has been up to these 5 books that I can't help but feel were utterly irrelevant to anything. In this last book, a whole heap of pages is devoted to the freeing of Ba Ado Mishram, which was set up as something that would be very hard to do, which turned out to be super easy. She led them to her, and all they needed to do was to shatter a jewel. You could have done it in a single chapter, instead we get a hundred pages of it. The whole Ghostbloods plotline felt utterly irrelevant every step of the way. Most of the many interludes felt vastly irrelevant every step of the way. The plotlines around the listeners and Venli were irrelevant every step of the way. And that isn't to say that these storylines aren't fun, that they aren't entertaining or worth reading, sometimes they are. And a book, a fantasy book especially, should indulge itself from time to time. But these books do it far too much, they buckle under their own weight of everything going on, half of which is irrelevant or only slightly relevant to the grand storyline. For example, the Yanagawn interlude that took up dozens of pages. Would it not have been better to piece together how he got the throne through dialogue with characters like Adolin? Imagine a series that focused solely on Odium and Honor, and perhaps the Heralds as a secondary storyline, much like how the first two books felt. Would have been much tighter knit and better, as these plotlines were the most interesting any way.

THE LENGTH

The smallest of these books is 1,100 pages. Now I have no problems with this, and have even read bigger books and series. The problem is the plot very often moves at a glacial pace, and all the books could be trimmed by about half with nothing lost in the reduction. Some would argue all this is necessary to lay the groundworks for better worldbuilding and character growth, but that isn't really true. A single Stormlight book is larger than the entirety of the Lord of the Rings, or, for example, Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. Can anyone honestly claim that a single volume of Stormlight has more worldbuilding than the entirety of LOTR, or better character work than Best Served Cold? Not in good faith they can't. It is even more frustrating when, in all that length, big character moments like the reveal that Shallan is the daughter of a Herald are brushed off in a couple of paragraphs. On the other hand we get hundreds of pages exploring the gay romance of Renarin and Rlain, because Brandon wants to prove to his fans that he's not a regular Mormon, but a progressive, open-minded Mormon, and one of the good guys TM. We get hundreds of pages explaining the science behind how fabrials work, how each metal casing affects them, and other things literally no one cares about.

THE CHARACTERS

Stormlight is universally praised for its character work, and indeed there is a lot to like here. Dalinar and Kaladin are obvious standouts, and their character moments will resonate and be remembered for years to come. Even Jasnah got a good crashing down to earth moment in the last book which she sorely needed. However, to me the character work is spoiled by looking at characters' psychology as a pampered kid from a wealthy area of California in the 21st century would. Every single character has a mental disability, be it depression, multiple personality disorder, autism, sociopathy, etc. And they're all hyper focused on it! The world is literally burning down beneath their feet, but instead we have to read about Shallan switching personalities every 5 minutes and obsessing about it. I promise you Brandon, as someone that has struggled with some of these issues, we do not hyperfixate on them, especially not if important things are happening in our lives that otherwise need our attention. The paths they take are also frustrating to me. The great warrior Kaladin become a therapist? Is this a joke? And we explore his therapy not through the person he's treating (who's also a POV character, but only for the action scenes), so we can get a look inside how he's receiving this therapy, but through the therapist himself obsessing about how he isn't doing a good enough job? And then all it takes for the therapy to be successful is soup, a song and the wind whispering encouragement, because no amount of discussion and debate would help, since his patients, both Szeth and Nale are literally immune to common sense? The character path Kaladin took is truly tragic. He was literally supposed to be the bridge between listener and human, because he walked among them and saw their point of view and their honor in character like Leshwi. Kaladin embodied the three principles of Protect, Lead and Heal. In the last book the first two were brushed aside completely. He had a whole falling out with his father over whether or not one could fight and kill to protect. Instead we get him accepting his father's wish to become a healer. Adolin and Dalinar are the only consistently good characters throughout the 5 books.

THE PROSE

I know, I know, everyone and their mother has already criticized Brandon for his prose. But it really is deserved. One moment you're reading a nice sentence, the next you're reading a TikTok comment. It is jarring, and I know Brandon can do better. It seems he isn't even trying most of the time and just churns out each sentence as it first comes to him, which is astonishing considering he has a whole company and scores of beta readers helping him, as well as (allegedly) preparing several drafts of every book and them being extensively edited. For his world, any world, to have an inner consistency of reality, there has to be a unified tone both in the prose and in the dialogue. Here we have it in neither. I get Brandon wants to complete 874 books before he dies, but maybe writing 20 books and making them the best they can be instead is preferable. And for the love of God someone stop him from attempting to write humor, or at least force him to make it a tad more sophisticated than poop and fart jokes. The POV shifts every 2 sentences in Wind and Truth were also very jarring and ruined any tension.

THE WORLDBUILDING AND MAGIC

This is more of a personal gripe. Lately it seems every fantasy book has strayed into the realm of medieval sci-fi. The world is another planet entirely populated by novel creatures. The magic system is actually science, here's a list of strict rules and a DnD chart showing the different types of magic, their weaknesses and strengths vs other types. Gone is the folk feeling, gone is the mystique of these worlds, gone is the sense of the forgotten past of mankind, of a young earth with many wonders and unexplainable things happening, of deep magic tapping into the very essence of the world and the human spirit. Instead, here's superheroes flying around blasting each other with lasers and devices for which we have to explain the exact process of creation, lest we be accused of actually including magic in a fantasy book. Because it's far more "realistic" if we have a device that emits heat because it has a fire spren locked in a copper casing and in a rhomboid shape, rather than if we just say it emits heat because it's magic. And listen, I get it, it's very fun to worldbuild, but what have we built exactly? Brandon is good at cosmology and magic systems, but doesn't seem to try much in other aspects. The human nations are caricatures, you have one nation of warriors, one of bureaucrats, one of Buddhist monks, one of merchants, etc. There are no differences in the way of life, architecture, culture, views, it's just one characteristic blown way out of proportion, and the different names they use to call the Heralds and Honor. Like can anyone tell me any difference between Jah Keved and Alethkar, two great and powerful nations, after reading 6,000 pages about this world? Even the spren in Shadesmar, a completely different form of life altogether, live exactly as humans, they take on human-like forms, they have buildings, markets, courts, currency, etc. The world feels utterly foreign, but not in an evocative way that can make you care about the world, or make you nostalgic about a forgotten place you half-dreamed of once, but in a way a slum in India would feel foreign. There's no cows, or dogs, or even trees, but there are 76 varieties of crabs in different sizes for your enjoyment. Meanwhile, it really is a question how anything survives in a world that's being destroyed by a storm every week, and even more a question now since at the end of Book 5 the Sun itself got blotted out. Thankfully, every human nation joined the guy that blotted out the sun and is literally named Hatred and openly discusses waging an endless interstellar war, because they'd be safer this way. Things have also gotten progressively more modern and 21-century-USA, as we have not only trans and non-binary characters, but also things like we see in Szeth's flashbacks, sibling rivarly, sibling resentment, love affairs and divorce. I get these things happened in the past as well, and I also get Roshar isn't Earth's past but a different planet, but the implementation still feels like I'm reading a Wattpad fanfic. It is probably the combination of the character's mentalities with the prose being what it is, that have progressively given each book a stronger YA feeling

THE PLOT

Journey before destination, Brandon says, then proceeds to trample on that principle. Everything that happens in these books feels like a plot contrivance. Brandon wanted to get to point X, so he made up a million excuses to get there. Why can't the God you're fighting simply destroy you all with a snap of his fingers? Well he made a promise, and he's a god so he can't break it. Why did he make that promise? He didn't want to get destroyed in a fight with another God. Would that God have fought him? Not really, if he did the planet would have been destroyed. So why does the promise exist? Mumbles. The flashbacks are utterly frustrating as well. Show, don't tell, is the basic principle of storytelling, so Brandon shows nothing and spends 1/4 of each book in flashbacks where every plot point and character trait is revealed. It was especially egregious in the last book, where literally the entire history of the world and the whole plot were revealed through a flashback from God. Talk about Deus ex Machina eh Brandon? And if that wasn't enough Deus in this Machina, we get another mysterious being that's wiser and knows more than he should that told Dalinar how to resolve the final conflict. On top of another mysterious ancient being that's been guiding them the past 5 books whilst trying (and failing) to be funny. Meanwhile they have yet another God that's Dalinar's spren, but he refuses to tell them anything actually important or relevant because he's concerned how they'd take it, so he lets the world burn down instead. Oh, and there's yet another god in this book, whispering guidance in the wind, just in case the others weren't enough. Other plot contrivances abound. Like when the spren are all about to be destroyed, but the God they came out of can't destroy them because some random 10 people formed a pact? Why? And if he can't destroy the spren from Honor, why can't he destroy the spren from Odium at least? Or the unmade which are the greatest shards of his power and some of which are actually challenging him? No one knows. It is also frustrating how anticlimactic everything is. The Everstorm that's supposed to be a cataclysmic event? Barely an inconvenience. Shadesmar, a completely different realm of existence? It's actually just like our world, except the sea is land and vice versa. The Spitirual Realm, something even Wit was scared to enter and no one knew how to get back, especially when their tether was lost? Barely an inconvenience, just ask your spren to bring you back at any time. And I could go on and on. There is also something other reviewers mentioned, that no one faces consequenes for their actions. Not only that, they get excused for their failings, and everyone is 100% understanding of them. If on the off chance they aren't, like Adolin being angry at his father over his mother's death, that conflict soon resolves itself in the character's head. No one is angry at Shallan for not telling them about the Ghostbloods, no one is angry at Kaladin for moping around instead of fighting, no one is angry at Dalinar for his leadership mistakes, no one is angry at Jasnah for losing Thaylenah, etc. I will also mention that book 1 and 2 feel like a completely different universe to the rest. Everything set up in the first 2 books basically goes out the window, apart from the characters themselves. The setting is not there, the plot becomes something else entirely, the storylines are all novel, the lore gets either retconned or vastly expanded. It's no wonder most people prefer the tight knit story of the first 2 books, because it's barely the same story after that. I get there are hints are foreshadowings of what is to come, but the the two "parts" are vastly different. Take for example the oaths, vastly important to both the story and the character journeys in previous books. In book 5 they were easy, came to the characters in a second and without any struggle to accept them, only to be tossed away as unimportant a second later. It is especially egregious in the case of Kaladin, knowing how much he struggled with the first oaths, and the fourth one in particular. He now has the fifth oath come to him without any struggle, effort or growth. It was so inconsequential, when it was supposed to be the most meaningful and difficult, that I don't even remember what it was, despite just finishing the book, and despite remembering the other four all these years later. Also minor gripe, I don't think Wind and Truth had any Sanderlanche, nothing grand and epic in scope that stops you from putting the book down. Not that every book needs that, but it would have helped here, when it had so little going for it. Oathbringer for example, to me was saved by the climax, otherwise it would have been a much worse book

THE PHILOSOPHY

Every work has an underlying philosophy that shines through in the plot and the characters. Brandon takes it a step further as well, with characters often discussing the morals of their actions. Except it very often doesn't work in the context of the plot. Oh no, they enslaved the Parshendi, aren't they monsters! Shouldn't the Parshendi get revenge on them now?! Well no actually, because you told us they were actually so dull they could barely remember to fetch themselves water to survive, and therefore wouldn't have even survived on their own. Jasnah planned assassinations on evil people or potential liabilities in the war against the God of hatred, so naturally this means you should join the God of hatred instead, who has done far worse things, because Jasnah is a hypocrite. We spent years and countless lives liberating your nation from occupation, so naturally you would turn against us the second you've been liberated. I refuse to kill my grandson, whom I haven't seen for 20 years at this point and is raging for my murder because he's been brainwashed, so I'll let the God of hatred take over the world instead and make it hell, and even double his power in the process. Surely the other Gods, who are all selfish cowards, will all intervene at this point, and surely their intervention will not destroy my whole planet in the process. As a bonus I'll be killed in the process and won't even get a noble sacrifice because he made an evil copy out of me before I died, which will taint the memory of me forever. Great, we even went into grimdark here while attempting to prove how doing the moral thing is always preferable, even if it means sacrificing the greater good. There's a good way to make that point, it's just not this, not in this instance and in this story. Dalinar has effectively gambled his entire planet's existence and future for a 1 in 1000 chance, and while I'm sure Brandon will find a way to make it all work out well in the end, the character within the story has no way of knowing that, making it a huge, and not well calculated risk.

Overall, the Stormlight Archive is a good fantasy series, but it has glaring problems that most fans ignore, which I cannot. Blindly applauding anything any author does is inconceivable to me, and looking at how the books went down in quality from Words of Radiance onwards, it's obviously to the detriment of the work itself. There's a top 3 fantasy series in here somewhere, it's just buried in quite a bit of crem, and it could have been accomplished with a good editor, critical beta readers, and Brandon reigning in his desire to throw in a kajillion cool ideas inside, over seeing what is actually best for the characters and the story, and giving at least some thought to his prose.

I would probably give it a 3.5 stars rating overall for the whole series, but giving it 3 stars to counteract the insane glazing its receiving. Overall, I would sort the books as:

1. Words of Radiance 4.5 ⭐
2. Way of Kings 4⭐
3. Oathbringer 3.75⭐
4. Rhythm of War 3.5⭐
5. Wind and Truth 3⭐

Which gives the average series rating of 3.75 ⭐, carried by the first half of the series, let down by the second

[Hendrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dune Chapter 1 in the style of Brandon Sanderson:

Paul Atreides was sweating.

What time was it? Ah, yes, it was a week… a week before … before … what exactly?

In one week we are leaving for Arrakis, he thought. They also call it Dune. But I was born on Caladan.

The room was hot. He held his Breath.

Wasn’t there supposed to be some old woman coming to visit mother today?

It was warm. He was at the Castle. Castle Caladan, it was called. It was a pile of Stone. Yet it was his home.

26 years now. No… 26 generations.

The old woman came in. She entered Paul’s room and looked at Paul. Paul was lying in his bed. She looked at him, thinking he was sleeping. She stood before his mother, looking like a witch, her hair looking like spiderwebs. Her eyes looked like jewels.

“He is so small, Jessica”, she said. “Are we sure he is fifteen? Maybe in dog years”, the old woman mused.

“What is a dog?”, Jessica asked.

“Nevermind”, the old woman said.

[sad sanderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

edited, I decided to remove my previous review , I feel like it didn't get across what I was trying to say properly. I did not like this book, In my last review. I said that it felt like a " Disney like gay romance,"
not the most eloquent way of saying something. many people easily misconstrued that as " I hate gay people." that is not what I meant, I don't hate anyone, that is one of the tenants of Christianity, if you are confused see The Reformed Reader's review, he explains things far better than I could.
The real biggest issue with this book is that it doesn't feel like the other four, the gay romance is part of that, but really i didn't like the book before that. All of the characters just feel off. like I was reading a fanfic, whatever the case may be, this book gets one star, what it deserves.

[Smitty1423 · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off waiting a decade for the next installment is criminal but Wind and Truth being my most anticipated read of the year in the ending of the first era of one of the greatest fantasy series of all time…it delivered.

It delivers so well. All the main books from Stormlight intertwined and came to a head in Wind and Truth. I won’t go too far into spoilers just know I’m excited for Mistborn era 3 in the meantime.

So much sleep lost. No regrets at all.

Until next time Stormlight

Journey before destination.

5/5

[KJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

“How?” Ishar repeated. “What are you?” He gestured toward Szeth. “Are
you … are you his spren? His god?”
“No,” Kaladin said. “I’m his therapist.”

Oh shut the **** up.

Stormlight Archive has always been a flawed series, but the drastic drop in quality in Wind and Truth is just downright bizarre. This will be the last Sanderson book I read. I am done.

[helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

sanderson, i'm begging you, on my knees, pleading with you, PLEASE hire another editor

i'm still pissed off 6 months later, so one star it is.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

If contract law and sitting in on other people’s therapy sessions gets you horny, then you’ll love this one.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brandon Sanderson has supplanted Jonah Hill as the worst therapy guy in existence.

Predictions for book 6: Kaladin creates the DSM and establishes cognitive behavioral therapy as the Cosmere standard of care for mental health. Sanderson anachronistically uses the word ‘delulu’ in reference to Shallan. Odium realizes his problems stem from his relationship with his father and seeks to do better. Szeth’s journey of self-fulfillment continues and he and nightblood start a wellness podcast.

[The Reformed Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. My conscience and convictions disqualify me from continuing this book. Same-sex romance is an instant DNF for me. Disappointing, but on to something else.

*Edit*
To clarify for those intolerant of Christian values: It is quite a bit different in intentionality when Sanderson mentioned same-sex relationships in previous books. What I mean is that, yes, there was a passing reference to a couple in Oathbringer, and you can definitely see Renarin's preferences. The differences lie where in Oathbringer, he mentioned this to make the world seem more realistic in scope. For everyone saying that I "don't want homosexuals to exist," that's absurd. I don't see an issue in referencing that homosexuality is real in the same way that I don't have an issue when Sanderson talks about abuse in his books. It's real.....but it isn't glorified or promoted.

What I can't, in good conscience, permit is when the promotion of this relationship becomes a prominent plot point, story line, or focal point. I don't want to be entertained by the promotion of sexual sin, just like I don't want to be entertained by the promotion of blasphemy. Sanderson even admitted that he was taking a risk in that regard by including it. A risk that, from my worldview, was not worth taking

[♥♫☻Olivia☻♫♥ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well this was horrible, but at least I'm finally free.

[Baka · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't beleive I've just rated one of Brandon's book with 1 star. But it's well deserved. This book feels like it was written by Google Gemini or a commitee of alaphabet people. There is no Brandon in this book. Characters are out of character, story arcs have no goal. Its terrible. He might want to burn it and start anew.

[Jonah Evarts]

I don’t have a rating for this book since I finished I still don’t know lol

[Linsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is.... this is.... booooring

No but in all seriousness, absolute brain dump for a review, but this was honestly the most bloated book I have ever read. So many POV chracters, with most unnecessary. I think Adolin's plot was the only one that interested me because it was the only one that felt new. Instead, every other character's content consisted of a re-hash of the same "life lessons" they've spent the last 4 books learning. Self reflection doesn't count as plot, and makes for a very boring read.

I wanted to like this - I was once a huge fan of Sanderson but the formula is too old now. I did like the end state, to be fair. I thought it was an interesting way to end the arc, and I would be intrigued where the story as a whole goes. However, we could've got there in 1,000 pages less than this. The rating comes from the fact that I had pretty much no fun reading this. I was carried through by momentum and self-control (as can be attested by anyone who has spoken to me in the last week, as I've been moaning about how bored I am, but refusing to give up). I'm genuinely happy for the people who are still loving this, but I'm Sander-done. Ok, rant over.

[Christopher Schwab · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at ~22%
This was a mess
I didn’t want a Marvel movie
I miss book 1&2 Sanderson

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

damn. what happened to nuance? i liked a lot of it but felt like i was getting hit over the head with 21st century morals (not that i disagree with them! just felt weirdly out of place)

reveals were a little underwhelming tbh

will reread soon and might come back with a different take

edit: THIS IS NOT ABOUT RENARIN/RLAIN I THINK THEY ARE VERY CUTE!! if you are liking this because of homophobia then get out of here that’s not what i’m talking about. honestly it didn’t even occur to me that people would assume that

i didn’t like the way most of the characters interacted, it felt like they were all positioned to be morally “correct” and it made me miss arcs like kaladin’s attitude toward elhokar in book 2, dalinar’s backstory in book 3 or even shallan’s conflicts about lies in book 4. obviously the series is about personal growth and i’m proud of all of them for where they’ve come, but i like my characters complicated and messy and everyone felt sanitized here compared to prior books

[J.Marin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book nearly made me quit the Cosmere.

In 1300 pages or 62 hours you would think there would be plenty of time to tie up loose ends. You would think that there would be satisfying answers to the big mysteries provoked by book one.

Instead, most of the answers we get are extremely disappointing. This book reads like fan fiction, especially in the latter third of the book. There’s so much cringe that spoils what could have just been mediocre plot lines, but this is uncharacteristically bad for Sanderson.

I don’t know why the beta and gamma readers didn’t weed out the cringe at least, but the Cosmere-level implications are also thrown in the air.

This book made me lose faith in Sanderson. I was hoping for a Hero of Ages-level conclusion to the first arc of the Stormlight archive, instead I got a “Thor: Love and Thunder” conclusion

[Matt Fuller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was such a disappointment considering this was supposed to be an ending of sorts to this story. Not a fan of where a lot of the characters ended up and there was no major battle and the fighting that actually happens is boring and repetitive to read. Gone are the days of Words of Radiance and the epic Sanderlanches, there is one here but it is nonsensical, stupid, and leaves a sour taste in your mouth. I’m not sure if I can be turned around on this series with the remaining characters at play in the next five books. I will be forever thankful to Sanderson for The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance along with finishing the Wheel of Time, but I’m not a big fan of the direction he’s taking his books.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brandon Sanderson has dabbled in LGBTQ+ themes before, but with this book, he goes all in. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll probably enjoy it. Personally, I miss the days when his stories felt like genuine explorations of philosophy rather than thinly veiled attempts to push an agenda.

[Hoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

WTF WAS THIS!!! WHERE IS THE CLOSURE??? BRANDON I’M NOT PLANNING TO LIVE FOR SEVEN YEARS SO RESPECTFULLY GIVE ME BOOk 6 NOW ✋🏻

[Benjamin Höhne · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only good thing about self-help books is that they’re usually quite short.

This one is really long and the ‘psychological insights’ are presented in the most blatant and tacky way possible…

On a serious note though: Where did Kaladin go and which second grade actor, who really got into music therapy in some weekend seminar, replaced him?

Really suffered through this book most of the way. Adolin had some good moments with Maya but his daddy issues eventually got into the way.

But hey, at least Shallan made some real progress right? Right?!?

Journey before destination was a real struggle with his one…

[Mike's Book Reviews]

Full video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PuEj...

After a 4 year break, I was hoping to find that Rhythm of War was just a hiccup and Sanderson would return me to the sense of escapism I found with the firs 3 Stormlight books. Did that happen? Occasionally. But, sadly, not nearly enough times when considering the 1344 pages it took him to tell this story.

The character arcs are a step up vs the previous entry as Adolin, Shallan, and some others have more to do this time and we spend less time in the classroom learning The History of Magic in Roshar. But this is not a story that needed this many words to say.

In the end, I feel as if The Cosmere has reached the MCU Phase 4 to me in that "you gotta watch all the Disney+ shows to understand the movies now!" I didn't really care for Mistborn Era 2, I have no interest to revisit Elantris, and my favorite characters from Warbreaker are now in Stormlight Archive. So needing to read sequels to those books to understand Stormlight going forward is a non-starter for me and that makes this my likely exit point from the series.

I think this book does many things right and I talk for 10 minutes about them in the video review above. Sanderson has just continued his trend towards the YA market with this series for me and he has earned the right to do whatever he wishes with the amount of time and work he puts in. I just knew to walk away after Avengers: Endgame and I get that similar vibe now.

I appreciate everything Sanderson does for the community and he has gotten millions to read fantasy that never would have before and I think him for that. The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance will always be 2 of my favorite books ever and maybe they set the bar too high. But for those I thank Sanderson for the good times and wish him well on his future endeavors. I might try some non-Cosmere books going forward.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the conclusion of this book I find myself both happy and sad... Happy that I will never feel obliged to pick up another Sanderson story and sad for the exact same reason. Sanderson doesn't write stories that I enjoy anymore, instead he is focusing on building out a universe that is less interesting then the universe you already established in the first few books.

[Quentin Pelletier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Been a Sanderson fan for years. Unfortunately it was a real struggle to finish this book.

This book needed to be 30% shorter, It would have felt more focused.

Secondly it had too much going on...complexity doesn't necessarily mean clever.

Third, one of the most immersion breaking things people can do is talk about science in fantasy. While an attempt at exploring mental health, every time they used loaded terms associated with therapy and therapy speak it took me right out of the book. Might as well have been making pop culture references it was so immersion breaking for me. Also along these lines adding mental illness felt more like reading DSM-5 symptoms like a checklist than organically exploring mental health issues in the context of a characterization. Some characters had their personalities reduced to stereotypes and broad generalizations. Had there not been so much going on, he may have had more of a focused opportunity to explore and flesh things out instead of the shallow representation we got. It felt so ham-fisted.

We used to get winks and nods to the greater cosmere, and have a sense of wonder and mystery as planets are explored and stories unfold. He's thrown that away in a lot of his newer books where again it's about as subtle as a sledge hammer now. No mystery and wonder with world building.

I feel like he's a victim of his own success, and maybe he needs people to edit things more...or maybe this is what happens when you get quantity over quality.

It makes me sad, because I've loved his works and the Mistborn - final empire trilogy is one of my favs. Maybe I'll give his future works a try, but I doubt it...which is unfortunate.

[Mário Mokroluský · Rating 4 out of 5]

Which one will come out first?

1. Stormlight Archive 5
2. Winds of Winter
3. Doors of Stone

My money's on BrandoSando.

[Maddie Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATING BREAKDOWN
Characters: 4⭐️
Setting: 5⭐️
Plot: 4⭐️
Themes: 5⭐️
Emotional Impact: 5⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 5⭐️
Total Rounded Average: 4.75⭐️

This long-awaited finale to the first arc of the Stormlight Archive stuck the landing. When I consider his story elements—characters, setting, plot—it's tough to criticize much. When we get into the writing style and structure, I think there were some pacing issues due to repetition. Overall, the thematic beats are so strong and the emotional impact is high. It's everything I've come to want from Sanderson, and I'm so satisfied with this installment.

Specifically, no one does world-building like Sanderson. The scope is impressive. Roshar and the wider Cosmere are rich in believable detail. Particularly, Sanderson does the biome and cultures so well. I love that Roshar has its own weather, climates, vegetation, landscape, and wildlife and that each country has its own political system, fashion, food, religion, language, etc. This level of detail gives the characters more layers, allowing us to place them within the world and understand their nature/nurture makeup that much better. It's helpful because the other aspects of the character work aren't Sanderson's most sophisticated skill. He writes characters I am deeply invested in, because of what they've experienced on page. However, their inner thought lives are described in an obvious way sometimes, which feels unrealistically simple. Kalidan feeling hopeless, Shallan feeling guilty, or Navani feeling not good enough, are helpful descriptions, but ultimately I wish we saw more nuance and complication in their emotional lives. I tend to fill it in from my own empathy as I read through their experiences. The mental health focus in the series is done in a very obvious way as well, and while I deeply appreciate the representation, I don't always love how it's done.

The plot arc of this series has been so unpredictable and Wind and Truth is no different. I couldn't tell where it was going, and I was so invested and stressed while reading. The stakes are so high. My love for the characters is so great. I desperately needed each character to have a satisfying conclusion. Sanderson never misses on plot payoff for me. Thematically, he delivers on character change and development, and he offers philosophical insight at the same time. This book focuses on truth, and the manipulation, corruption, and limitations of beliefs. It explores the fallibility of humans, and the dangers of truth without context, facts without experience, power without wisdom. There's so much baked in. I find myself weeping as I consider the real-world implications.

Overall, this is a nearly perfect book. There is some filler, it is longer than necessary, and characters do repeat themselves on occasion. There are some emotional moments that lost some impact because the delivery felt forced which landed cheesy for me personally. BUT what Sanderson does well he does SO WELL that the imperfections seem insignificant by comparison.

For those who read this far into the Stormlight Archive, you will not be disappointed.

[J Wolff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Badly in need of a new editor. Bring back Moshe.

[Mememomo · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you still haven’t read this book, I highly suggest you don’t waste your time, just pretend rhythm of war (which was also meh but way better than the shitshow this book was) is the last book in stormlight.

This disappointment of a book reads like Brandon made a checklist of every “big event” that he wants to happen, then wrote the book around it without any regard for consistency or continuity. Pretty much EVERYTHING that happens in this book is convenient for the plot, whether or not it actually makes sense, the characters have absolutely no semblance of agency over what is happening because they just exist to further the plot. Which of course, lead to characters acting “out of character” and weird interactions that seem obviously set up just to deliver Brandersons typical one-liners, but it doesn’t matter, as long as it gets us to the events Branderson wants to wow us with.

I wish there was at least ONE small thing in the first 80% that made up for how much of a mess it was, but nope. His prose is getting worse with every new book he publishes and the dialogue is AWFUL. This book needed to be edited a few more times before publishing. The typical Branderson over-explanation of simple subjects is so much worse in this book. There is no subtext, no subtlety, he does not trust his readers to infer absolutely anything. The use of modern slang and phrases is so much worse as well, and it was VERY immersion-breaking. Examples: Kaladins therapy speak, using phrases like “I’m game” or “goofy”, really Sanderson, REALLY?? “hodepodge” “barf” even OMBRE is used to describe someones hair at some point, OMBRE!!!!!!!!😭😭😭😭 At some point, he uses the word “unlosable” WHICH
IS
NOT
A
REAL
WORD
?!!!!!!!!
Everyone using the word “literally” to emphasize everything, EVEN THE 7000 YEAR OLD BEINGS??????????
The sudden changing of some terms was weird as well, no idea how none of his editors/beta/alpha/omega readers brought this up to him? Being so hell-bent on calling everything “wine” in the previous Stormlight books, but all of a sudden, now they call it Alcohol????? Fused were referred to as “Invested” once in the first quarter of this book, a term never used before to describe them, and then somehow they forgot this term and went back to calling them Fused again?

And the jokes… Oh my god the jokes… I absolutely hate Sanderson humor, and I sincerely doubt the intelligence of anyone (over 12 years old) who actually finds it funny!!!!!! My eyes are sore from how much eye-rolling they did reading the classic Branderson Mormon humor in the first 40-50% of the book until things got serious.

The heavy-handed and blatantly obvious insertion of modern therapy speak and modern gender/sex politics, how every character is politically correct, no one questions because that is completely realistic right????? A feudal society with gender segregation and where roles are so defined for each gender that there are “masculine” and “feminine” arts, dining tables, different written forms of communication, no one questions, absolutely NO ONE questions, because they’re all well-informed woke warriors 😍 Has Branderson ever interacted with a real human being outside the United States?!!!!!!!!!!!!!???? All of this while STILL being uncomfortable about men reading, but men suddenly getting married? Singer and Human relationships? Nope, as I said, everyone is a well-informed social justice warrior.

I liked the ending hence the 2 stars, but Kaladin playing traveling therapist, the terrible prose and modern language-use, Syl (who used to be one of my fav cosmere characters) dethroning Shallan for the title of the most annoying character ever, the pointless POVS of Azir and the Shattered plains, the horrible character interactions that just exist to serve the plot, far outweighs how good I thought the ending was.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Praying this was ghostwritten.
___________________________________

Some Thoughts™️

I'm willing to throw hands to defend Kaladin's place as one of the best characters ever written. That said, his therapist arc is trash—as is much of this book.

Each of the main characters in Stormlight suffers internally: Kaladin has depression, Shallan has dissociative identity disorder, Dalinar is an alcoholic, Renarin is on the autism spectrum, Adolin has daddy issues, Navani is insecure, and Jasnah is self-absorbed. Most of them also experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Stormlight Archive has, historically, dealt with these issues in an empathetic and hopeful manner, while managing to keep the external conflicts of Roshar at the forefront of the narrative.

In The Way of Kings, Kaladin finds the strength to live despite his pain; he also kills a Shardbearer, forms and trains Bridge Four, and saves Dalinar and Adolin. In Words of Radiance, Shallan's identity fractures and she learns to accept herself; she also survives a shipwreck, crosses a continent unaided, secures a marriage alliance, works for the Ghostbloods, travels the chasms, and discovers Urithiru.

Wind and Truth, unfortunately, smushes plot, conflict, and subtlety in the mud.

The only characters really doing anything are Szeth and Adolin, and each of their plotlines is more repetitive than Navani's internal dialogue in Rhythm of War. Adolin is my homeboy, but his entire POV in Wind and Truth is 1) fight impossible battle, 2) think about daddy issues, 3) play towers with Yanagawn. Szeth's POV, on the other hand, reads like the training course in Call of Duty: Kill an Honorbearer in a temple, kill an Honorbearer in your dreams, kill an Honorbearer with your powers, kill an Honorbearer with your sword . . . .

Shallan, Renarin, Rlain, Navani, and Dalinar spend the whole book floating in the Spiritual Realm to provide an unwanted history lesson. Jasnah continues to think about herself. Sigzil is drained of all personality and placed as a prop to make us, again, hate Moash. Kaladin plays the flute and obsesses over whether he can perform life-changing therapy in ten days—and for some reason, he can? three times?

Speaking of Kaladin, Sanderson would have to wear Thanos's gauntlet to be any more heavyhanded. (Marvel referenced with purpose; see Adolin's, "Unoathed, gear up!")

Nothing made me miss the warm camaraderie of Bridge Four like Wind and Truth. I missed laughter around the fire, sweat over months of training, bonds forged through communal mourning. Bridge Four restored so many men because each learned, in his own unique time and way, that he wasn't alone. Slowly, bridge run after bridge run, these men found the courage to hope again. To believe in something bigger than one bridge crew. That maybe each of them, through small actions, could make the world just a bit better.

In Wind and Truth, Sanderson bulldozed the quiet healing of Bridge Four with graceless authorial insertions. The reader was not asked to realize, with some afterthought, how far their beloved characters had come. Readers were told, like the outro of a 2000s Disney movie, exactly what healing had taken place, and why, and that they too should consider therapy.

I'm not unhappy that Stormlight's cast of characters underwent some much-needed therapy. I just protest my need to witness 1,300 pages of it. Especially when those 1,300 pages read something like this:

"I believe in you," Vienta whispered. "I . . . believe in us, Sigzil. We're what they want, for once."

"Live this truth," he said.

I will admit, though, that where Wind and Truth ends has my interest piqued. Assuming Sanderson gets an editor (yes, I know he has many, I just don't know what editing is taking place), I'd like to read the rest of the series. I maintain, however, that Wind and Truth could have been one paragraph long:

In the days leading up to the contest of champions, Odium's armies sought to conquer every free country. He succeeded in conquering every kingdom except for Azir, Urithru, and the Shattered Plains. Azir was defended in large part by Adolin and Maya, who provided Plate and Blades for soldiers who had not sworn Radiant oaths. On day ten, Dalinar took up the power of Honor, then broke his oaths, allowing Odium to wield both Shards and become Retribution. At the same moment, Renarin and Rlain released Bo-Ado-Misharm from her prison, in hopes that she would challenge Odium. Just after this, Kaladin took Szeth's place as the new leader of the Heralds, then disappeared with Syl to the new Herald prison. Because of these events, Stormlight no longer existed, Shallan was left pregnant and trapped in the Cognitive Realm, Navani and the Sibling were rendered dormant, and the Shards of the Cosmere had no choice but to take action against Retribution.

This approach lacks nuance, but so does Wind and Truth.

[D · Rating 1 out of 5]

As I write this review with the utmost sincerity and wish to adhere by the established rules within the novel, the entirety of this review shall be whispered for narrative purposes.

*jogs up to you*

What a mess. Too many characters speaking too loudly triggering too many avalanches of anachronistic disappointment. The book itself may as well be an Invested object; magical how such a monstrosity can be full of such unrestrained filler - not a new problem and not an issue inherent to Stormlight either. Stormlight('s first half) could have easily been a trilogy if there were any guiding hand in the background to stop the textual diarrhea. It genuinely amazes me that five books of such buildup still manages to retain the traditional rushed ending, like a bad anime. Kaladin's ending comes out of nowhere with little buildup to an asspulled external resolution - of course, I speak of Ishar (stupid character)'s reworked Oathpact, made even dumber through the plothole of Odium previously bombing a city with a Herald located within that he even more previously established an agreement with.

Let me start with this: The only character that Brandon allowed to be awesome and retain his dignity was Taln. He appears at the end of book one to herald the Return,rests to store his energy for three books, then we get exactly one (1) scene in book five with bad guys onscreen where Taln proceeds to calmly stand up then destroy everything that threatens.

The cast remains an ensemble of cardboard cutouts with no agency, only existing as devices to move the plot around: This means that we get a fifth book of everybody's favorite BPDemon Shallan -- the most fragile and weakest member of Stormlight -- hiding behind her magical alter egos as a coping mechanism for mundane social interactions and sometimes battles of which she is no novice but still treated as innocent and naive five books later. Much as her husband Adolin who, as you guessed(!), is still underestimated as a dumb nobleman's son five books into this abyss. Speaking of Adolin, remember how Gallant, Adolin's Ryshadium mount, was made out to be special and important? Four books of buildup into one very short scene where Gallant galloped in the air with some horse-like entities during a trip into Shadesmar. That's it. Gallant has been added to the list of characters not allowed to be cool (remember: everybody except for Talenel.) Shallan's character resolution was yet another unfulfilling and drawn-out-for-no-reason endeavor.

Hey, remember how Lift was making friends with Gavinor, Dalinar's grandson, throughout two books then turned out to be mysteriously absent from the Spiritual Realm arc where Gav was kept imprisoned and conditioned for 20 years by Taravangian? And then Odium paralyzed his Champion mid-battle so he could not fight back, receiving zero heavenly oathbound negative consequence or repercussion? Peppridge Farm remembers. And what about all of the OATH BREAKING in WaT?
If you follow surface-level cosmere lore, then you probably know that the Spiritual Realm is a mysterious and unknown plane, where even the Shards can barely navigate and are forced to tread carefully... until Wind and Truth! Where it turned out that this realm is no different than any dime-a-dozen mentalscape that mere mortals can easily and frequently manipulate, often to their direct benefit; and even a Shard can hide an entire unknowing populace, dead but not aware of their soul's enslavement--which presents startling implications to the cosmere that I doubt even the author would ever be aware of. And never forget that your first direct experience with the Spiritual Realm will forever bear the taint of awkward teenage homosexual interspecies flirtation. More pages to skim over.

*places a hand upon your shoulder*

Shardic Vessels? Not exempt to the one-dimensionality of the cosmere cast! Within the obligatory flashbacks, we see Rayse portrayed as your typical school bully, who does whatever he wants with little-to-no consequence. Tanavast, exemplified as a role model, one of the more trusted and amiable Vessels, behaves like a complete and total moron only exisiting to fuel the Tanavast vs. Odium plotline, repeatedly making one stupid decision after another for the purpose of moving the (past) story. We were TOLD -- never shown -- for four books that Cultivation (a long-lived dragon from Yolen, nonetheless) was a master background planner playing the long game for thousands of years, only for her to be comically out-witted by a regular human who Ascended and then during the ending of WaT immediately fled the system out of fear, with zero hesitation. Her entire plan boiled down to "talk no jutsu" but she failed her Charisma check. Brandon faces significant struggle writing characters smarter than he.

Please do not forget that the entirety of this review is to be whispered.

I can't blame the author for everything. A large portion of it comes from his longterm lore editor, Peter, being a yes-man, probably out of friendship bias. But, for example, another author I follow made a comment once that while he had an overall idea for his (series's) ending, his characters still surprise him sometimes. And that is something I know I would never hear from an author like Brandon. You read one book with x character and you know that is how x character will behave from then on, perfectly contributing to the tapestry of plot and never exceeding its boundaries or behaving out of lines. Never allowed to behave outside of pre-established parameters. Combined with the ensuing YA-level of topic and vernacular is often insulting. One thing I never expect from a Sando novel is to have a new word introduced into my vocabulary, or be introduced to any philosophical quandary that I would genuinely think about post-read. We, right now, exist within an era of "peak Sanderson" -- not stated as a compliment; he simply has reached the height of what he is capable of and, largely due to success and his surroundings (lack of any significant critique of his works within his inner circle) will continue to plateau. Improving in quality, or even writing something different in overall tone, is an impossibility. (To be fair, this affects many artisans).

I have no doubt that the "Wind, Stone, and Night" leftover remnants of Adonalsium's magic system will be important toward the later end of Stormlight and the cosmere but it was lazily handled. Much like waiting five books to mention that Braize can "attract souls" (whatever the h*ck that means) just because. Haha. The Unmade should have been edited out of canon. Taravangian "intellectually destroying" Jasnah, only to be revealed as a massive hypocrite a handful of chapters later, was embarrassing. Shinovar being small and practically deserted after four books of buildup, with Szeth easily clearing his side quest, was lazy. Running two parallel Szeth arcs (current plus flashback) doing the exact same damn thing was lazy.

Anachronisms because there is no quality control: doing their "thing", I'm his "therapist", "for real", Odium "parking" the Everstorm, etc. Like if Wind and Truth were fanfiction written by one of the 17th Shard fanboys. Every case of any character possessing any mental disorder is through a laughable and sensationalized one-dimensional lens. I can only imagine Brandon's entire perception of psychopathology stems from ignorant fanbase feedback. Awkward embarrassing Marvel-esque quips throughout serious scenes because people like Whedon and Brandon have never experienced any significant hardship or traumatic struggle.

The wind has blown out of my wandersails. As someone who has been following the cosmere since around 2010, I weep for what it could have been.
A tough review to write. But write. He. DID.

-The Shard Disappointment