The Cosmere discussion

Hey guys! I feel like I’ve been MIA for a bit on here, I’ve been super busy finishing up uni classes and just trying to make it through life LOL.

I’m not sure if you’ve seen but some parts of Wind and Truth have been released online! If you have read or are planning on reading these before the books release date I thought this would be a good place to discuss!

I have not yet read them and am not yet sure if I want to pre-release date… still on the fence… maybe I’ll read the prologue (idkkk).

Do any of you plan to read ahead? Or have you yet?

If you haven’t seen this yet, here’s the link to the released chapters: https://reactormag.com/columns/wind-a...

I've read the prologue and the first 2 chapters... I'm not certain how much I want to read. When I saw that Kaladin was in a good place emotionally, I was really happy, and I don't know how much more I want spoiled before the December release.

I've read the parts already out, and you'd best believe I'll be reading the rest of those chapters the SECOND they're released online. I have no self control whatsoever lol

I just read the prologue, for those of you not intending to read ahead DO NOT CONTINUE READING< MAJOR SPOILERS….


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Okay, for those of you still here, WTHHHHH the prologue was so intense, I hate Gavilar even more than before now. Also can we talk about how the Stormfather is WEIRD in this, are we sure this is the stormfather? The way he appears to Gavilar is so strange and different than Dalinar… I feel like we are missing something here….

I wish Gavilar realized the things he did wrong more before his death, like I wish he felt guilt and stuff for being so horrible to his family, but oh well at least hes dead (hopefully for good?)

MAJOR COSMERE SPOILERS (if you haven’t read any of the rest of the cosmere books, specifically elantris, and mistborn, stop here!!!)

ALSO WHAT the causal Kelsier drop, plus the frickin ELANTRIS orb thingy! (I cant remember their names rn I’m too excited)— please tell me I wasn’t reading into it, thats definitely what that was right??? Soooo many cosmere goodies in just the prequel has me beyond excited for the rest of the book.

Anyways, this made me want to keep reading but also I don’t want to get too far before the release UGH I’m so conflicted

omg frrr I hate gavilar sm. that man makes me feel rage like no other. but yeah the stormfather acts WAY different talking to gavilar, it threw me a bit too. I think it's because after gavilar he realizes he was too trusting with him, and then treated dalinar accordingly but who knows with brandon sanderson lol. and the kelsier and seon (orb thingy!) were crazy!! I'm pretty confident it was a seon bc of something you read in shallan's wind and truth chapter.

and girl I feel the same way with reading it so far before the release date. it's a DILEMMA. I'm prob going to keep reading the chapters as they get released and then just reread them all when the full book comes out

Ok, but this prologue is what gave me the idea that Gavilar will be Odium's champion. He really wants power, and Taravangian has met him and knows his character.

Also, I feel that the Stormfather is treating the brothers differently because he's "once bitten, twice shy". He was very accommodating to Gavilar, but since Gavilar kind of betrayed him, he's much less accommodating with Dalinar.

SPOILERS FOR WIND AND TRUTH

okay y’all I’m officially caught up on all the chapter releases… and can I just say I’m NOT loving the insinuation that Kaladin is gonna die or like move on from the rest of them or something… like HELP

Happy Wind and Truth release day everyone!!!

I was at my local bookstore today right at opening to get my copy… it’s so beautiful!!!

If anyone is starting their reading soon and would like to discuss the book we can do so here!

Happy reading :)

What. A. Storming. RIDE. This book felt like a Sanderlaunche on steroids. From the first word to the last I was on the edge of my seat. The fact that Sando made a 1300 pages feel like 300 is absolutely astounding to me. The pacing was the best of any Stormlight books, probably because of the 10 day count down that he used, I LOVED that. Also the way that flashbacks were so seamlessly integrated into present day, bolstering the story line… just MMMMM so good. The fight scenes were glorious as always, Sanderson presented complicated and nuanced battles of sword, passion, wit, etc in a way that made them come alive. It was truly a fantastic ending for the first major arc, leaving me with so many unanswered questions but PROFOUNDLY satisfied nonetheless.

All that said, I do have to say in many ways this, IMO, is the weakest Stormlight book. Although it was probably necessary because this book is meant to be a sort of climax/conclusion, it felt almost stretched too thin focusing on the personal growth and self discovery of too many characters. Past SA books felt like they heavily focused on one or two characters, giving them beautiful and inspiring journeys of self discovery and growth. This book felt like it tried too hard, stretching itself too thin in the process. The relationships and personal discoveries between some characters felt too surface level and like they weren’t completely explored in depth. Alongside this, themes that I felt in past books had been explored with subtle nuance, (ie mental health) felt slightly contrived, same with much of the humor presented in this book. Don’t get me wrong, I love sandersons dry, witty humor, but I do think it’s best reserved for certain instances and certain people (wit, Lopen, Shallan). It felt a bit overused in this book. In summary, these parts of the books felt like they were trying just a BIT too hard, which made them seem a bit shallow or disingenuous.

These thoughts in mind, I must come back to a major lesson presented in Wind and Truth. Nothing is perfect, we may spend our time reaching for perfection but we will never get there. Humans aren’t evil or good, they are often a combination. they can’t always make the right or wrong choices, but instead must follow what they believe to be right and do the absolute best they can in any given situation. Therefore, I deem this book ENOUGH, I accept it and all its imperfections as the climax to the first arc of my favourite series of all time, a series that has, and will continue, to shape the person I become.

Life before death
Strength before weakness
Journey before destination

Wind and Truth was probably my second favorite of The Stormlight Archive. I put it second only to Words of Radiance. My reasoning is that WoR took a world that I had just been introduced to in TWoK and fleshed it out by introducing me to the nuances of the world, the magic system, and the growth of the characters.

Wind and Truth, to me, was the culmination of every major plot point since TWoK, wrapping up every thread that I had seen established since TWoK. The only part that I didn’t like (don’t hate me for this) was Rlain and Renarin’s story. I feel like it was something that was very rushed and it could have been better established if there had been more overt signs of a budding romance in earlier books. Other than that, I really enjoyed how their characters were both fleshed out and how it culminated in Ba Ado Mishram being freed by both a listener (singer) and a human. I don’t believe that Mishram’s release was necessarily a good idea, but I can see why it needed to be done since Honor couldn’t get past it until she was freed.

I honestly love how the ending shows that Roshar is now easily home to the most dangerous being in the entire Cosmere in with Taravangian’s ascension to Retribution. I’m so excited to see how the next Elantris books and Mistborn Era 3 fleshes out these Cosmere connections.

Elijah, I completely agree with you about Rlain and Renarin! I loved their relationship but it did feel rushed, almost forced in a way? There was no slow burn or build up. We got a bit of interaction between them in the fourth book but I don’t think the hints were overt enough. I feel like the realization that Renarin was actually interested in Rlain should have come in the fourth book and then been built up in the 5th. Also I have an issue with the fact that we don’t get to see a whole lot from Rlains point of view. It’s a bit cloudy how attraction works with singers outside of mate form and I wish more time was spent on that.

Outside of that though, I loved how the book concluded a lot of major character arcs, especially Adolin. The Adolin arc in this book was top tier.