Стефан’s review of Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5) > Likes and Comments
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This review should be published because you said it perfectly. As much as I love Sanderson and the amazing parts of this series, the glazing and lack of editorial refinement has gotten out of hand, to the point of being a detriment to Brandon’s art. And I’m tired of all the mental gymnastics people are performing to justify or overlook the glaring issues with this series. I know Sanderson can do better, but it feels like people are settling for the bare minimum with him.
I love this review, and agree wholeheartedly. I am in the same boat as you, in that I was disappointed enough with this book to want to leave a review. I think you did a much better job outlining the problems with it than I did.
The other recent Cosmere books I've read seem to suffer from the same kind of lazy storytelling. Maybe Sando needs to ditch the alpha/beta/gamma/etc. readers.
Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, it really sometimes feels like I'm crazy for holding these opinions when everyone seems dead set on ignoring any faults with these books. That's why I wanted to write a review, to summarize my own thoughts to myself and see if I'm the only one thinking them. Good to know I'm not alone!
Thanks for the review! It has lots of merit and I'm finally relieved to see there're people pointing those possible cons out.
I love the series wholeheartedly, and have been following the Cosmere franchise over a decade, but that makes me even harder to ignore the problems from WaT and recent secret novels (pacing issues, lazy storytelling, out-of-place prose, insonsistency with characters, fart jokes and bad humor, forced fan service and fan-directed YA romance with less to none reasonable foreshadowing).
I did beta reading for this book and had been disturbed by super mixed feeling for the most part of the year. I really want to love the book but I have to give a 3.5-star rating. There're highlights there indeed (I quite enjoy the main plot with Dalinar's choice and the ending, which is still worth the read, and I'm okay with Brandon's info dump), though I feel for the first time I couldn't immediately say I'm a big fan of it, which is a bit sad for a long-time reader.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Cosmere, which is why I'm miffed to see the low effort and the wrong direction (in my opinion) Brandon has been taking recently. There is a lot to love here still, but I think it could have been much better
I really loved the first two books but the last one was just a huge disappointment to me. And for many of the same things you pointed out. One thing that bothered me is that I feel like Sanderson didn’t know what to do with Kaladin so all but killed him at the beginning of the book, so Kaladin and Szeth could just go on an afterlife journey in all but name. Kaladin was my favorite character but he was killed in opening.
This is one of my favorite fantasy sagas of all time, the genre of literature that I most enjoy reading for a long time, but still, despite everything, I have to say that I agree with you on almost all points. Sanderson in his eagerness to grow, has left many important things by the way and this has been happening for a long time, as much as it hurts us. I think his mistake has been trying to please too many people, including his editors, because his writing with some editing and focus could have been much better. In this book especially, I feel that I have half of the book left over . Thanks for your review
You did a great job organizing your thoughts and I agree on all points. Thank you for expressing them in an informative, interesting way. Honest reviews are needed and don’t take away from other’s enjoyment. I personally am not sure I’ll continue reading the Cosmere.
Summarized how I felt about this pretty well
You got many of your points wrong.
How could the short interludes be irrelevant when we got go see the pov of Taravangian? Like his pov was one of the best in this book.
A single chapter to get to Mishram? Bro it was not essy to get to her so i dont know why you would purposely lie about this point?
Shallan being annoying with her trauma with faceless? Yeah that was annoying!
The reveal that her mother is a Herald? It was done right! Shallan was surprised but then turn out she did see her at her wedding but erased that memory. What did you expect to happen because of that info? For people in the story to gasp in shock? They dont even know about it!
Kaladin being a therapist...whats wrong with it he started as an apprentice surgeon. Hes a soldier that was retired by order of the KING so WHY would anyone be angry at the clearly ptsd suffering soldier for retiring? A HERO who saved them countless of times! I sense you have np idea what the hell you are talking about buddy.
Some of your points are right but then you drop the ball in so many of your other "criticism" with fake info.
Dalinar did not see Gavinor for 20 years? Buddy its the kid who did not see Dalinar for 20 years ! You got that wrong too smh.
You hit the nail on the head with your points. I'm trying to sum up why I feel quite so disappointed in this one, and I think it's mainly that there's no consequences. It feels like there's no point to even reading when everything resolves itself out of sheer convenience.
Just finished the book. Most sensible review, I agree with most points
Legitimately laughed out loud in my car at “she had become the change she wanted to see in the world”
Some serious dips in writing quality at times.
Agree completely - I feel quite let down by this last book.
Rocky wrote: "I think a piss in the wind has better character then Abercrombie."
Incidentally, so do I, I just thought I'd use a better known example people often praise for its character work. That being said, while I personally dislike the character work in Abercrombie's books, you still can't argue there's more of it in Best Served Cold than there is in any single Stormlight book
Excellent review that articulated a lot of what I was feeling. I agree this is perhaps the worst stormlight book, and it's to the point where my excitement for the Cosmere has diminished significantly. I'm glad there's going to be a long wait for the next Stormlight book, I hope it allows Sanderson to really pinpoint these issues a lot of his fans are feeling and figure out the means to work on them in the future books.
Solid review, Stefan, but my question is, do you write or are you part of a writing group? I tried to message you to ask this but got an error so I sent you a friend request instead. Cheers!
Excellent review.
I concur on almost all the points.
The only place where I differ is the relative ranking of the books within the series, I thought this was better than OB and RoW but nowhere near as good as TWoK or even WoR.
I miss TWoK :(
For me, the last 20% of the book and maybe some of the POVs (Szeth, some Dalinar) kept it above Books 3 and 4 in terms of reading experience. But the writing...oof it jarred so much.
Will I be back? Don't know. Unless the writing improves, no, because the other reason why I used to read Stormlight - character work - has gone downhill.
Will I reread? No.
Again, great writeup.
Chrysalis wrote: "A truly fantastic review, respect."
Thanks friend, much appreciated!
Saurav wrote: "Excellent review that articulated a lot of what I was feeling. I agree this is perhaps the worst stormlight book, and it's to the point where my excitement for the Cosmere has diminished significan..."
I think as he's moving more towards sci-fi and the interconnectedness of the Cosmere it will get worse. Part of the reason why I felt compelled to publish this review is the hope that fan criticism will reign him in a bit, so that future books may be better. That being said, seems Brandon is doubling down on everything despite the criticisms (you can check his reddit responses from the past few days), so sadly I don't have much hope. But there is always a chance, and yes, hopefully the break and the shift in narratives will allow for some improvement
zerogravitas wrote: "Solid review, Stefan, but my question is, do you write or are you part of a writing group? I tried to message you to ask this but got an error so I sent you a friend request instead. Cheers!"
Hello friend, I can't imagine why you'd be having these difficulties, I'm very new at goodreads so I can't say I know how many things function here. That being said I've added you as a friend now, so hopefully you won't have any difficulties any more.
To answer your question, no, I am not a published author. That being said, I have had an idea about a fantasy epic which I think is very engaging (at least to me) that's been budding in my head for many years now, and I hope to sit down with myself and develop it in 2025. Here's to hope, eh?
Paromita wrote: "Excellent review.
I concur on almost all the points.
The only place where I differ is the relative ranking of the books within the series, I thought this was better than OB and RoW but nowhere ne..."
I will agree that Wind and Truth is far more fun than both OB and ROW. However, I think it also has by far the worse prose and content creep of the lot. I also really enjoy OB's final climax, which makes up for a lot of the flaws that would otherwise bring the rating down. All in all ROW and Wind and Truth are probably on par with eachother
Wow, I came here intending to skim this review and ended up reading the whole thing. You made many great points and identified problems (with the last book especially) that I had trouble putting a finger on. I agree with your summary at the end—Stormlight definitely could have been a “top 3 fantasy series,” and I thought it would end up being my favorite series of all time from the first few books. I was so disappointed with WaT that it took much of the magic out of Roshar for me. I have a lot of respect for Brandon Sanderson, and I hope that he will heed the concerns you so thoughtfully expressed. Thank you for taking the time to write such a great first review!
When it comes to philosophy the tension between odium and Dalinar is so real and so valuable. If you think that there was a clear choice for Dalinar, you haven’t understood the philosophy at hand. His whole philosophy (which I’d agree with) is that you must treat individuals as individuals. The means do not justify the ends. He said that was his philosophy and he lived by it, to the end. Some of your complaints about characters are understandable, especially when it comes to shallan, but beyond that I disagree almost completely. I say this only because I understand where you’re coming from and initially had many of the thoughts you have. I don’t have the time right now to flesh out why I disagree, but I might try to in the future.
How could you not like the Interludes?
The Interludes are (as always) some of the best parts of the book!
Perfectly summarised, well done. It’s pleasant when you find someone else has already manage to write exactly how you feel.
You can tell from his State of Sanderson comments that he is a master of the craft and is self aware of the criticism levied against him. However, his choices are deliberate and he’s past the point of anyone overruling him or reining him in. He’s suffering from success, has lost touch and spends too much time radiating instead of absorbing, as James Cameron would put it.
I can’t fault him. These criticisms don’t matter for his core fans. Only to those who felt that the promises of the first book specifically (genre, tone, character) were left unfulfilled.
Gabriel McHugh...you've said it perfectly. I was one of the hardcore fans, but I'm now done with the Cosmere. The many "things" identified in this thread and leading to the criticisms of W&T aren't going away. Sanderson stated he's writing his story...and he has every right in doing so. It's up to us if we want to spend our $$ and read it or not. I'm deciding not to.
I agree with this. It should have been called Wind and Therapy
Remco wrote: "How could you not like the Interludes?
The Interludes are (as always) some of the best parts of the book!"
I didn't say I didn't like them, I said they were superfluous. Now of course, fantasy books (and any books) need to indulge themselves from time to time, but Stormlight goes overboard and splinters itself across too many things. It buckles under the weight of everything it tries to do. And these interludes are irrelevant to the main story. Even if they are in some cases a bit relevant, like the Lift interlude, they say nothing that a skilled author would not be able to convey more subtly, through hints in the descriptions and conversations. Did we really need to see the story of Yanagon coming into power, or would it have been better for it to have been a revelation to Adolin, for example, in his conversations with him?
Thank you for describing my exact sentiments! Your summary is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying throughout my read.
God your comment comparing this series to LOTR and Best Served Cold is so spot on. In fact I alluded as much when I reviewed BSC. These books do not NEED to be 1000+ pages.
What dalinar did was best for the world tho, that’s the whole point of the ending, odium would’ve won no matter how the contest went, so he did the best option possible for roshar, what he did saves roshar for a time; and ruined odiums plan
Iphone wrote: "What dalinar did was best for the world tho, that’s the whole point of the ending, odium would’ve won no matter how the contest went, so he did the best option possible for roshar, what he did save..."
How do you figure? If he lost the contest he lost Azir, Shinovar, Alethkar, Herdaz and the Shattered Plains. On top of that he remained bound to Roshar. Even if he won he'd still not have Azir Shinovar and the Shattered Plains and would be bound to Roshar. What Dalinar did gives him all of Roshar, also nullifying all the sacrifices they all made for all those months of war, and doubled his power. He gambled that it opens him up to attack by the other Shards, but as I said, how much does Dalinar know about the other shards and what they will do? Even if they do attack Odium, it is more than likely that that attack will destroy all of Roshar, as we saw from Honor's flashbacks
Great review! I agree with all points made
God, so spot on.
RoW made me lose any faith and actively dislike most of the characters so I wasn't really invested in this book but I read it to see the conclusion of a 5 book long arc.
I thought despite all the ever mounting problems he must at least had an epic conclusion in mind.
I expected nothing and was still disappointed.
This is precisely how I feel. Thanks for taking the time to type up your thoughts!
Spot on ! These books do not need to be 1000+ pages long. Abercrombie’s work like you mentioned proves that, Sanderson desperately needs to start editing this book series. I also feel lot of this book is convenience to bring together plotlines so in the end they make sense …more like a after thought
"every single character has a mental disability" that's what did it for me. I read fantasy to avoid topics exactly like that. You said everything perfectly, I honestly thought I was the only one that went from love to strong dislike of this series.
That’s a great review! You summed up many of the problems with this book, and the series arc, in a clear and concise review. I couldn’t wait for this book, but it took a long time to get through a lot of superfluous information. Any chance you could forward your review to Brandon ?
I totally agree with you! It was such a disappointment.
I just wanted to say, as someone who loved this book, I get it. I don't agree with a lot of your criticisms, but I also get them. I'm not going to argue because everyone experiences literature differently - that's the beauty of it, after all - but I just wanted to say as someone who is a big fan of this book and series that I understand your critiques. Happy New Year!
Fantastic review. This went from arguably my favorite series to something exhausting. My reading of the earlier books coincided with some taxing life struggles, and ironically provided far better “therapy” than this one. At this point I’m not sure whether I’ll read 6-10.
…Oh and Truth?! Truth is objective by definition. All who say, (or subtly imply) that it is subjective is lost and confused. I had high hopes that Brandon was gradually leading to this point, since it is such a badly needed reminder in this 21st century western culture. Sadly, we’re getting more and more moral relativism as this series wears thin.
Great review. I’d add that Sanderson needs to work on the dynamics romance can provide in conflict, inspiration, and excitement. It is wild that after 7,000 pages there’s almost zero intimacy, sexuality, or relationship awareness. It is only mentioned in a G rated fashion with Shallan and Adolin. The characters have become insufferable caricatures of mental trauma with no real relatability and the plot lines are a laborious slog.
Superb review. I did a first (probably last) reread of the series for this book and I must say I again liked the first 2 wholeheartedly but skimmed some in Oathbringer and then quite a lot in Rythm and even the last one even if I was reading it for the firs time. There is just too much padding and not enough tangible content. The last one is obviously written with the "Big battle for Cosmere" in the future books as the main point. After this one I still felt like I shoud give Cosmere a proper go and read for the first time Cosmere books other than first Mistborn trilogy and Stormlight Archive. And I must say I enjoyed most older books more than Wind and Truth. Elantris had some unnecessary padding and some short stories were useless, but all in all the other Cosmere writing from 2010 to 2024 is more interesting and imaginative than Wind and Truth or Rythm of War. And I must say that Max & Wayne writing is often even quite funny. Not all of the jokes but more than few.
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Dec 11, 2024 01:33PM
This review should be published because you said it perfectly. As much as I love Sanderson and the amazing parts of this series, the glazing and lack of editorial refinement has gotten out of hand, to the point of being a detriment to Brandon’s art. And I’m tired of all the mental gymnastics people are performing to justify or overlook the glaring issues with this series. I know Sanderson can do better, but it feels like people are settling for the bare minimum with him.
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I love this review, and agree wholeheartedly. I am in the same boat as you, in that I was disappointed enough with this book to want to leave a review. I think you did a much better job outlining the problems with it than I did. The other recent Cosmere books I've read seem to suffer from the same kind of lazy storytelling. Maybe Sando needs to ditch the alpha/beta/gamma/etc. readers.
Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, it really sometimes feels like I'm crazy for holding these opinions when everyone seems dead set on ignoring any faults with these books. That's why I wanted to write a review, to summarize my own thoughts to myself and see if I'm the only one thinking them. Good to know I'm not alone!
Thanks for the review! It has lots of merit and I'm finally relieved to see there're people pointing those possible cons out. I love the series wholeheartedly, and have been following the Cosmere franchise over a decade, but that makes me even harder to ignore the problems from WaT and recent secret novels (pacing issues, lazy storytelling, out-of-place prose, insonsistency with characters, fart jokes and bad humor, forced fan service and fan-directed YA romance with less to none reasonable foreshadowing).
I did beta reading for this book and had been disturbed by super mixed feeling for the most part of the year. I really want to love the book but I have to give a 3.5-star rating. There're highlights there indeed (I quite enjoy the main plot with Dalinar's choice and the ending, which is still worth the read, and I'm okay with Brandon's info dump), though I feel for the first time I couldn't immediately say I'm a big fan of it, which is a bit sad for a long-time reader.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Cosmere, which is why I'm miffed to see the low effort and the wrong direction (in my opinion) Brandon has been taking recently. There is a lot to love here still, but I think it could have been much better
I really loved the first two books but the last one was just a huge disappointment to me. And for many of the same things you pointed out. One thing that bothered me is that I feel like Sanderson didn’t know what to do with Kaladin so all but killed him at the beginning of the book, so Kaladin and Szeth could just go on an afterlife journey in all but name. Kaladin was my favorite character but he was killed in opening.
This is one of my favorite fantasy sagas of all time, the genre of literature that I most enjoy reading for a long time, but still, despite everything, I have to say that I agree with you on almost all points. Sanderson in his eagerness to grow, has left many important things by the way and this has been happening for a long time, as much as it hurts us. I think his mistake has been trying to please too many people, including his editors, because his writing with some editing and focus could have been much better. In this book especially, I feel that I have half of the book left over . Thanks for your review
You did a great job organizing your thoughts and I agree on all points. Thank you for expressing them in an informative, interesting way. Honest reviews are needed and don’t take away from other’s enjoyment. I personally am not sure I’ll continue reading the Cosmere.
Summarized how I felt about this pretty well
You got many of your points wrong.How could the short interludes be irrelevant when we got go see the pov of Taravangian? Like his pov was one of the best in this book.
A single chapter to get to Mishram? Bro it was not essy to get to her so i dont know why you would purposely lie about this point?
Shallan being annoying with her trauma with faceless? Yeah that was annoying!
The reveal that her mother is a Herald? It was done right! Shallan was surprised but then turn out she did see her at her wedding but erased that memory. What did you expect to happen because of that info? For people in the story to gasp in shock? They dont even know about it!
Kaladin being a therapist...whats wrong with it he started as an apprentice surgeon. Hes a soldier that was retired by order of the KING so WHY would anyone be angry at the clearly ptsd suffering soldier for retiring? A HERO who saved them countless of times! I sense you have np idea what the hell you are talking about buddy.
Some of your points are right but then you drop the ball in so many of your other "criticism" with fake info.
Dalinar did not see Gavinor for 20 years? Buddy its the kid who did not see Dalinar for 20 years ! You got that wrong too smh.
You hit the nail on the head with your points. I'm trying to sum up why I feel quite so disappointed in this one, and I think it's mainly that there's no consequences. It feels like there's no point to even reading when everything resolves itself out of sheer convenience.
Just finished the book. Most sensible review, I agree with most points
Legitimately laughed out loud in my car at “she had become the change she wanted to see in the world”Some serious dips in writing quality at times.
Agree completely - I feel quite let down by this last book.
Rocky wrote: "I think a piss in the wind has better character then Abercrombie."Incidentally, so do I, I just thought I'd use a better known example people often praise for its character work. That being said, while I personally dislike the character work in Abercrombie's books, you still can't argue there's more of it in Best Served Cold than there is in any single Stormlight book
Excellent review that articulated a lot of what I was feeling. I agree this is perhaps the worst stormlight book, and it's to the point where my excitement for the Cosmere has diminished significantly. I'm glad there's going to be a long wait for the next Stormlight book, I hope it allows Sanderson to really pinpoint these issues a lot of his fans are feeling and figure out the means to work on them in the future books.
Solid review, Stefan, but my question is, do you write or are you part of a writing group? I tried to message you to ask this but got an error so I sent you a friend request instead. Cheers!
Excellent review. I concur on almost all the points.
The only place where I differ is the relative ranking of the books within the series, I thought this was better than OB and RoW but nowhere near as good as TWoK or even WoR.
I miss TWoK :(
For me, the last 20% of the book and maybe some of the POVs (Szeth, some Dalinar) kept it above Books 3 and 4 in terms of reading experience. But the writing...oof it jarred so much.
Will I be back? Don't know. Unless the writing improves, no, because the other reason why I used to read Stormlight - character work - has gone downhill.
Will I reread? No.
Again, great writeup.
Chrysalis wrote: "A truly fantastic review, respect."Thanks friend, much appreciated!
Saurav wrote: "Excellent review that articulated a lot of what I was feeling. I agree this is perhaps the worst stormlight book, and it's to the point where my excitement for the Cosmere has diminished significan..."I think as he's moving more towards sci-fi and the interconnectedness of the Cosmere it will get worse. Part of the reason why I felt compelled to publish this review is the hope that fan criticism will reign him in a bit, so that future books may be better. That being said, seems Brandon is doubling down on everything despite the criticisms (you can check his reddit responses from the past few days), so sadly I don't have much hope. But there is always a chance, and yes, hopefully the break and the shift in narratives will allow for some improvement
zerogravitas wrote: "Solid review, Stefan, but my question is, do you write or are you part of a writing group? I tried to message you to ask this but got an error so I sent you a friend request instead. Cheers!"Hello friend, I can't imagine why you'd be having these difficulties, I'm very new at goodreads so I can't say I know how many things function here. That being said I've added you as a friend now, so hopefully you won't have any difficulties any more.
To answer your question, no, I am not a published author. That being said, I have had an idea about a fantasy epic which I think is very engaging (at least to me) that's been budding in my head for many years now, and I hope to sit down with myself and develop it in 2025. Here's to hope, eh?
Paromita wrote: "Excellent review. I concur on almost all the points.
The only place where I differ is the relative ranking of the books within the series, I thought this was better than OB and RoW but nowhere ne..."
I will agree that Wind and Truth is far more fun than both OB and ROW. However, I think it also has by far the worse prose and content creep of the lot. I also really enjoy OB's final climax, which makes up for a lot of the flaws that would otherwise bring the rating down. All in all ROW and Wind and Truth are probably on par with eachother
Wow, I came here intending to skim this review and ended up reading the whole thing. You made many great points and identified problems (with the last book especially) that I had trouble putting a finger on. I agree with your summary at the end—Stormlight definitely could have been a “top 3 fantasy series,” and I thought it would end up being my favorite series of all time from the first few books. I was so disappointed with WaT that it took much of the magic out of Roshar for me. I have a lot of respect for Brandon Sanderson, and I hope that he will heed the concerns you so thoughtfully expressed. Thank you for taking the time to write such a great first review!
When it comes to philosophy the tension between odium and Dalinar is so real and so valuable. If you think that there was a clear choice for Dalinar, you haven’t understood the philosophy at hand. His whole philosophy (which I’d agree with) is that you must treat individuals as individuals. The means do not justify the ends. He said that was his philosophy and he lived by it, to the end. Some of your complaints about characters are understandable, especially when it comes to shallan, but beyond that I disagree almost completely. I say this only because I understand where you’re coming from and initially had many of the thoughts you have. I don’t have the time right now to flesh out why I disagree, but I might try to in the future.
How could you not like the Interludes?The Interludes are (as always) some of the best parts of the book!
Perfectly summarised, well done. It’s pleasant when you find someone else has already manage to write exactly how you feel.
You can tell from his State of Sanderson comments that he is a master of the craft and is self aware of the criticism levied against him. However, his choices are deliberate and he’s past the point of anyone overruling him or reining him in. He’s suffering from success, has lost touch and spends too much time radiating instead of absorbing, as James Cameron would put it.I can’t fault him. These criticisms don’t matter for his core fans. Only to those who felt that the promises of the first book specifically (genre, tone, character) were left unfulfilled.
Gabriel McHugh...you've said it perfectly. I was one of the hardcore fans, but I'm now done with the Cosmere. The many "things" identified in this thread and leading to the criticisms of W&T aren't going away. Sanderson stated he's writing his story...and he has every right in doing so. It's up to us if we want to spend our $$ and read it or not. I'm deciding not to.
I agree with this. It should have been called Wind and Therapy
Remco wrote: "How could you not like the Interludes?The Interludes are (as always) some of the best parts of the book!"
I didn't say I didn't like them, I said they were superfluous. Now of course, fantasy books (and any books) need to indulge themselves from time to time, but Stormlight goes overboard and splinters itself across too many things. It buckles under the weight of everything it tries to do. And these interludes are irrelevant to the main story. Even if they are in some cases a bit relevant, like the Lift interlude, they say nothing that a skilled author would not be able to convey more subtly, through hints in the descriptions and conversations. Did we really need to see the story of Yanagon coming into power, or would it have been better for it to have been a revelation to Adolin, for example, in his conversations with him?
Thank you for describing my exact sentiments! Your summary is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying throughout my read.
God your comment comparing this series to LOTR and Best Served Cold is so spot on. In fact I alluded as much when I reviewed BSC. These books do not NEED to be 1000+ pages.
What dalinar did was best for the world tho, that’s the whole point of the ending, odium would’ve won no matter how the contest went, so he did the best option possible for roshar, what he did saves roshar for a time; and ruined odiums plan
Iphone wrote: "What dalinar did was best for the world tho, that’s the whole point of the ending, odium would’ve won no matter how the contest went, so he did the best option possible for roshar, what he did save..."How do you figure? If he lost the contest he lost Azir, Shinovar, Alethkar, Herdaz and the Shattered Plains. On top of that he remained bound to Roshar. Even if he won he'd still not have Azir Shinovar and the Shattered Plains and would be bound to Roshar. What Dalinar did gives him all of Roshar, also nullifying all the sacrifices they all made for all those months of war, and doubled his power. He gambled that it opens him up to attack by the other Shards, but as I said, how much does Dalinar know about the other shards and what they will do? Even if they do attack Odium, it is more than likely that that attack will destroy all of Roshar, as we saw from Honor's flashbacks
Great review! I agree with all points made
God, so spot on. RoW made me lose any faith and actively dislike most of the characters so I wasn't really invested in this book but I read it to see the conclusion of a 5 book long arc.
I thought despite all the ever mounting problems he must at least had an epic conclusion in mind.
I expected nothing and was still disappointed.
This is precisely how I feel. Thanks for taking the time to type up your thoughts!
Spot on ! These books do not need to be 1000+ pages long. Abercrombie’s work like you mentioned proves that, Sanderson desperately needs to start editing this book series. I also feel lot of this book is convenience to bring together plotlines so in the end they make sense …more like a after thought
"every single character has a mental disability" that's what did it for me. I read fantasy to avoid topics exactly like that. You said everything perfectly, I honestly thought I was the only one that went from love to strong dislike of this series.
That’s a great review! You summed up many of the problems with this book, and the series arc, in a clear and concise review. I couldn’t wait for this book, but it took a long time to get through a lot of superfluous information. Any chance you could forward your review to Brandon ?
I totally agree with you! It was such a disappointment.
I just wanted to say, as someone who loved this book, I get it. I don't agree with a lot of your criticisms, but I also get them. I'm not going to argue because everyone experiences literature differently - that's the beauty of it, after all - but I just wanted to say as someone who is a big fan of this book and series that I understand your critiques. Happy New Year!
Fantastic review. This went from arguably my favorite series to something exhausting. My reading of the earlier books coincided with some taxing life struggles, and ironically provided far better “therapy” than this one. At this point I’m not sure whether I’ll read 6-10. …Oh and Truth?! Truth is objective by definition. All who say, (or subtly imply) that it is subjective is lost and confused. I had high hopes that Brandon was gradually leading to this point, since it is such a badly needed reminder in this 21st century western culture. Sadly, we’re getting more and more moral relativism as this series wears thin.
Great review. I’d add that Sanderson needs to work on the dynamics romance can provide in conflict, inspiration, and excitement. It is wild that after 7,000 pages there’s almost zero intimacy, sexuality, or relationship awareness. It is only mentioned in a G rated fashion with Shallan and Adolin. The characters have become insufferable caricatures of mental trauma with no real relatability and the plot lines are a laborious slog.
Superb review. I did a first (probably last) reread of the series for this book and I must say I again liked the first 2 wholeheartedly but skimmed some in Oathbringer and then quite a lot in Rythm and even the last one even if I was reading it for the firs time. There is just too much padding and not enough tangible content. The last one is obviously written with the "Big battle for Cosmere" in the future books as the main point. After this one I still felt like I shoud give Cosmere a proper go and read for the first time Cosmere books other than first Mistborn trilogy and Stormlight Archive. And I must say I enjoyed most older books more than Wind and Truth. Elantris had some unnecessary padding and some short stories were useless, but all in all the other Cosmere writing from 2010 to 2024 is more interesting and imaginative than Wind and Truth or Rythm of War. And I must say that Max & Wayne writing is often even quite funny. Not all of the jokes but more than few.