If you haven’t read Wind and Truth, book 5 of the Stormlight Archive, please skip this post. Spoilers ahead. Knowing someone else’s opinion about a book before you read it risks ruining your own interpretation.
I finished Wind and Truth last week and generally loved most of it despite a few unsatisfying bits. I don’t give books star ratings. Usually I post a short note about the book as you can see on this category page. I’m just writing this to process my thoughts, so it probably sounds a little more critical than it really is. Expectations were extremely high for this book, possibly so high that they could not be met.
I was hoping for more of an ending in the ending, but it clearly sets up the second arc of the series. I’m not sure I can fairly judge book 5 until book 6 is ready, and that is years away. The more I think about the ending, though, the more I like it.
The strongest parts of the book for me were Szeth’s flashbacks and Adolin’s storyline. These were great. I also liked how Dalinar in the Spiritual Realm was used to fill in the history of Roshar for the reader. Half the book was effectively a clever flashback that didn’t feel like a flashback. The structure of the book and plot were solid. Brandon Sanderson famously outlines the heck out of his stories before writing, and I can’t fault anything in the planning for this book.
The weaker parts were Kaladin’s and Jasnah’s viewpoints. Kaladin is such a well-developed character in the first books of the series. Way of Kings is one of my all-time favorite books. By book 5, there wasn’t much more to tell with Kaladin. His scenes in Wind and Truth often felt redundant and forced.
For Jasnah, hear me out… I think the book would’ve been better if all of her chapters were cut. There is so much going on in this book, spread across several different parts of the world, and I don’t think Jasnah’s role was needed. I wasn’t convinced by her getting outmaneuvered by Odium. 1300 pages is a lot. The book might’ve been stronger if it was just a little shorter, even if that meant sacrificing the viewpoint of a great character.
I liked Shallan’s story. Her character continues to grow. The ending sets her up for something, perhaps the most unresolved of any character. I was originally under the impression that book 6 would take place a generation or two later, but apparently it’s going to be more like a decade jump. I wonder if there could be a flashback or a novella to fill the gap from Shallan’s perspective.
Maybe another editing pass would’ve fixed the little things that nagged at me. Just more time to bake. I enjoyed reading it, though, and maybe on a re-read of the complete series I won’t notice the little things that pulled me out of the story the first time.
Can’t wait for Mistborn era 3. Brandon is drafting the entire trilogy before publishing the first book, which seems like a smart move, and hopefully will set us up for yearly releases when it’s all ready. It’s remarkable what he’s accomplished with the Cosmere.
