Wind and Truth
ends the first arc of The Stormlight Archive. That might just be the best summary as to
what this massive tome of a novel is. It’s
Brandon Sanderson’s longest book thus far by word and page count, breaks with
the previous four installments’ general formula, and feels like it is meant to
be a proper ending. This is technically
the place in the series where if someone wishes to, could jump off because while
the final 50 pages or so wind things down for what is coming next (and partially
what came in The Sunlit Man). As
a novel it’s a lot, it’s possibly got some of Sanderson’s best and worst tendencies
in one novel creating somehow an incredibly satisfying conclusion. Unlike my other reviews for The Stormlight
Archive, I have only read Wind and Truth once since it only just
came out and as of writing I only just finished reading it. This review will contain at least some spoilers
for where the characters end up, but I will be avoiding discussing everyone’s
eventual fate outside of in perhaps the vaguest terms so if for whatever reason
you need convincing to read this you can go in largely unspoiled.
The general structure of Wind and Truth is ten
sections, each corresponding to a day leading up to the contest of champions
between Dalinar and Odium. There are at
least three plots happening in this novel as Sanderson is jumping between the
most point of view characters for the longest time. One of these plotlines, that focusing on
Dalinar and Navani is actually split into arguably three subplots with
completely separate groups of characters also going along with the plot, in a
way to fill in the history of Odium, the Heralds, the cosmere as a whole, and
the personal tragedies of each of our characters. There is an argument that that makes this
have five separate plots being balanced throughout in ten sections, and for the
first time the balance is one of the aspects of the novel that feels off. It makes sense, because of the amount of
characters involved some have already had four books worth of story arc getting
close to completion, much of Kaladin’s arc for example really came to a head in
Rhythm of War and his arc in Wind and Truth doesn’t have nearly
as long to go as say Szeth’s arc, Szeth getting the flashbacks and being
ironically paired with Kaladin in this one.
Kaladin’s arc is actually becoming comfortable in his role as a
therapist and essentially being in charge of bringing mental healthcare to
Roshar. Being paired with Szeth makes
for an almost buddy cop dynamic that after a particularly slow start becomes
fascinating as Kaladin has to pull Szeth from the depths that he was in earlier
in his development. Sanderson plays this
revelation of how Kaladin and Szeth are paralleled as a reveal that the reader
should see coming a mile away, even if for Kaladin it’s played completely straight. It’s certainly a good reveal and then informs
Kaladin’s approach to Szeth in an interesting way, but it is the obvious
approach. In retrospect, much of the
major cards Sanderson plays in Wind and Truth are obvious ones, the end
of Kaladin’s story is an ending that Sanderson has kind of done before though
here it is refined. Partially because of
the prologue to The Way of Kings coming full circle before the resolution
really helps tie it together and make it distinct from the similar ending. Perhaps the oddest thing about Kaladin’s plot
is that the language surrounding mental health feels too close to Earth
language when much of The Stormlight Archive has struck this balance
between English and fantasy speak for things, making it awkward when Kaladin
muses on being a therapist and using the word therapist.
Speaking of repeating ideas, the actual conclusion of Wind
and Truth with the contest of champions thematically feels similar to the
way The Wheel of Time ends, something that shouldn’t be as surprising as
it was since Robert Jordan has influenced all of Sanderson’s work, and of
course Sanderson finished The Wheel of Time after Jordan’s death. Dalinar in particular comes to a revelation
that leads to the ending of the arc in an interesting way, but a way that feels
entirely like setup for where The Stormlight Archive is going. Sanderson uses Dalinar and Navani catapulting
through the visions in a way to reveal exactly how Dalinar can win a no-win
scenario and who Dalinar is as a person.
I believe at one point the plan was to have the flashbacks of Oathbringer
be Szeth’s backstory and Wind and Truth to be Dalinar’s which slightly
holds back this plotline for me because the reader already knows the different
facets of Dalinar, but I also do not see any way Sanderson could have written this
book without Szeth’s flashbacks either.
The time travel vision sequences also are largely where Shallan’s
plotline in this book takes place, a plot where we finally resolve what the
Ghostbloods have been doing on Roshar, get one final really big reveal about who
her mother is that has fascinating implications. Sanderson leaves this large group of characters,
including Renarin and Rlain who also view flashbacks and get the romantic arc
of the novel (kind of, Sanderson already kind of struggles with romance and
same sex romance is an even bigger struggle).
It leaves everyone in a very interesting place for where the series is
going while concluding their arcs.
The dark horse, at least for the larger fandom, is
actually Adolin’s arc. While Adolin hasn’t
gotten his own book of flashback chapters since he doesn’t have a particularly
hidden cast, he has been one of my favorite characters of the series and his
arc here comes to the conclusion of discovering what it means to be a proper
leader. His role in Wind and Truth
is holding Azimir against Odium’s forces in the ten days leading up to the contest. This is where Sanderson gets some of his best
material in anything he’s ever written, at least in my eyes redeeming much of
the weaker aspects of the novel. This is
the classic small force holding against impossible odds, following the story
arc beats almost exactly, but Sanderson uses it to really give Adolin his own
sense of identity and pair against what he had done with Renarin in Rhythm
of War. It could very easily been a
novel on its own and I would still be very happy with how things go. It’s this plot that also helps make the contest
and the climax work the best, something that Sanderson was clearly attempting
to have done through the several hundred pages of lore that makes up a lot of
this book. Also Jasnah gets a single
chapter near the end of the novel that is honestly devastating and again goes
to tie everything together.
Overall, despite some missteps and some issues with
the language not quite fitting the rest of The Stormlight Archive, Wind
and Truth is still fantastic. It
very well might actually be the weakest installment of The Stormlight
Archive, and hints in places at an author who needs to recharge, but it’s
still an incredibly satisfying ending to this first arc and potentially could
be an ending if books six through ten never come. 9/10.
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