It’s the end of an era. I’ve finished up Wind and Truth and I have thoughts. Let’s talk.
Synopsis
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare—and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray.
Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide—Adolin in Azir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah in Thaylenah. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade. He is accompanied by Kaladin, who faces a new battle helping Szeth fight his own demons . . . and who must do the same for the insane Herald of the Almighty, Ishar.
At the same time, Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain work to unravel the mystery behind the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram and her involvement in the enslavement of the singer race and in the ancient Knights Radiant killing their spren. And Dalinar and Navani seek an edge against Odium’s champion that can be found only in the Spiritual Realm, where memory and possibility combine in chaos. The fate of the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.
My Thoughts on Wind and Truth
Wind and Truth felt like coming home. Returning to Roshar with some of my favorite characters absolutely thrilled me. The characters were great as always. I felt a lot of growth in them, especially Kaladin. I also loved the focus put on Szeth. He quickly became a new favorite character, and I loved the flashbacks to his early life. However, that led to flashbacks to almost every character’s early life and that became a lot to process. I liked them but a huge chunk of this book was spent in the past.
As much as I loved this book from an emotional standpoint it could have used a little more editing. Toward the middle things started to get a little jumbled. There were a lot of things happening all at once and I think a few of the side plots could have been trimmed down. Most of the plotlines did come together at the end though so I do appreciate that.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It had some flaws and if you read the Goodreads reviews others will point them out in great detail. But honestly, this series is too close to my heart. I was able to overlook some of the things that bothered a majority of people, and my ratings are based solely on my enjoyment, and I liked it. He left it a little open ended to set up for the next arc and I can’t wait to see what is to come.
My Rating: 4/5
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Reading your review has made me realise how much I’ve forgotten from the previous books as I’m struggling to recall of those characters. I really need to reread the first four books I think to get the most out of this one but I’m not sure that I’ve got the energy to do that.
That’s understandable! They are hefty books. I watched some recap videos on Youtube before I started reading Wind and Truth.
That sounds like a very good idea
I love Sanderson. Even his unpublished stuff. I think what he’s doing with the concept of the Cosmere is absolutely AMAZING.
You probably figured this part was coming… BUT-
For me, this book was 100% predictable, lazy, and 1300 pages that could have been sprinkled easily into the first 4, without the 4 year gap, leading to the 6 year wait until book 6, for what amounted to less than a 24 hour period of reading without anything important being removed.
Champion Gavinor? We knew it was going to be someone important and familial. The spiritual realm twist was a nice touch but it very much felt like it was a rushed scene. I would have rather read a few chapters on the grooming there, than some of the repetitive “Adolin is the best fighter EVER!” scenes we got how many looks at?
Kaladin giving therapy to…. Anyone? I really thought a big chunk of the book was going to focus on that aspect of the story…. Instead we got typical Kal “muh feels are attacking me! I don’t know what to do! It’s too much for me!” albeit less drastically in the first 4, only to end up with him being “good enough” to come to the place that Occam’s Razor said he would end up.
Id go into more, but don’t want to spoil anything if people still haven’t finished… But for me, the book felt very Goodkind, Sword of Truth”y to me, where one could pick up Wind and Truth without having read ANYTHING else, and not be totally and completely in the dark.
I get that and I respect your opinion. Like I said in the review though I rate on my enjoyment. I’m a mood reader and even if there are technical issues I can still vibe with a book if I’m enjoying it. I’ve been in a six month reading slump where nothing I read suited me so to return to a world, and characters, that I loved was a good time. I feel like this book was mostly a bridge to the next arc and I do think it could have been edited better but nonetheless I had fun.