Wind and Truth Full Book Reactions (Cosmere Edition)

[bdoble97]

I can not wait to see new fan art 

Adolin with his shardplate leg

Kaladin with his cape and honor spare. With Syl full size next to him

The Stormwall he sounds awesome 

And so much more 

[Treamayne]

51 minutes ago, bdoble97 said:

I can not wait to see new fan art 

You can always support the 17th Shard/Coppermind/Arcanum by supporting the Patreon to have access to regular Fan Art polls and Commissioned art.

[bdoble97]

4 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

You can always support the 17th Shard/Coppermind/Arcanum by supporting the Patreon to have access to regular Fan Art polls and Commissioned art.

I didn't know this was a thing thank you 

[smokeesid]

I have to say that the novel is very badly written. I mean the writing is poor. Brandon tries to show but he fails constantly but he continues to try. Didn't he realize at the time of writing that he is getting failed at showing. You can't be at cognitive ease while deciphering what he is trying to show. Mark of bad writing. I guess he was in a rush and has made a rule to make these novels more than 1000 pages long

[bdoble97]

Do any of you think that Brandon will miss Stormlight too much and give us a Stormlight novel other then the Rock one. I Need to know what Shallan is going to be doing, Will Kaladin and Syl become a thing she is thebonly women I can see him being with now that he is a Herald. I cant see some not having some one to love. Not having someone is a really sad and depressing life in my opinion so I wabt Kal and Syl to be together some how. What's Adolin going to do. His arc I think was my favorite of the book. I don't want to wait 7 years and have these characters that I love be pushed back and become background characters. To me they are just to important.  Also if Shallan is pregnant I hope she has twins don't have any reason for why I just like rhe idea. 

[Ashbringer he/him]

Just to put this somewhere - I noticed there being an Amputee and Prosthetics Expert in the acknowledgements before the book.

Couldn’t figure out who that was for for a while…

[Gidrons]

On 1/30/2025 at 11:08 AM, Seana said:

 

I loved Dalinar. It was not what I would have done, this ending. But I liked it. He did it! He beat Taravangian and got the rest of the Cosmere to be forced to deal with their problem.

 

I've gotten so used to the unpredictable, brilliant endings to Sanderson books that I was hugely disappointed with this one.  At any time in the last 5,000 years they could have turned Odium loose and let the other shards deal with it.  Just the threat to turn him loose should have united the shards, even without giving it the second shard.  

I admit I don't know all the intricacies that so many posters here are aware of.  Nevertheless, my opinion now is that Brandon struggles with the all-powerful, see-all gods' point of view. 

I'd like to think this all part of Cultivation's master plan, which we haven't realized yet.  Hard to think it could be so short-sighted as to replace stupid Rayse with genius Taravangian, knowing the shard would eventually corrupt.

Other things I don't understand-

Why did Honor go from unspeakable hatred toward Odium to paring up with it in such a short time?  Hard to believe Dalinar's brief hosting convinced it to do so.

Why couldn't all the other see-all shards (except Harmony and maybe Autonomy) have seen this possibility and stopped it before it happened?

I suppose once Odium was released from his oath and became Retribution, it was free to vaporize Wit.  Why stop there?  It could vaporize anyone throughout the Cosmere.  Why does it need armies?

How does Honor reconcile his nature with Odium's desire to conquer the galaxy and destroy the rest of the shards?  The original agreement was to all stay away from each other.

Why do the other shards need five more books to unite and wipe out Retribution?    Actuarily, I'll be dead by the time book 10 is published so I'm not buying anymore of them.

[Soccorro]

8 minutes ago, Gidrons said:

At any time in the last 5,000 years they could have turned Odium loose and let the other shards deal with it.  Just

The worst this is: this is exactly what Odium asked Dalinar to do in book 4. He literally ask Dalinar to free him and let the rest of the cosmere to deal with him, but Dalinar refused because it’s supposedly bad and irresponsible to burden others with your problems. It took 1500 pages for Dalinar to make full 180. All events of the last to books are now pointless and everyone who died in those books died in vain 

[Vambram he/him]

26 minutes ago, Gidrons said:

I've gotten so used to the unpredictable, brilliant endings to Sanderson books that I was hugely disappointed with this one.  At any time in the last 5,000 years they could have turned Odium loose and let the other shards deal with it.  Just the threat to turn him loose should have united the shards, even without giving it the second shard.  

I admit I don't know all the intricacies that so many posters here are aware of.  Nevertheless, my opinion now is that Brandon struggles with the all-powerful, see-all gods' point of view. 

I'd like to think this all part of Cultivation's master plan, which we haven't realized yet.  Hard to think it could be so short-sighted as to replace stupid Rayse with genius Taravangian, knowing the shard would eventually corrupt.

Other things I don't understand-

Why did Honor go from unspeakable hatred toward Odium to paring up with it in such a short time?  Hard to believe Dalinar's brief hosting convinced it to do so.

Why couldn't all the other see-all shards (except Harmony and maybe Autonomy) have seen this possibility and stopped it before it happened?

I suppose once Odium was released from his oath and became Retribution, it was free to vaporize Wit.  Why stop there?  It could vaporize anyone throughout the Cosmere.  Why does it need armies?

How does Honor reconcile his nature with Odium's desire to conquer the galaxy and destroy the rest of the shards?  The original agreement was to all stay away from each other.

Why do the other shards need five more books to unite and wipe out Retribution?    Actuarily, I'll be dead by the time book 10 is published so I'm not buying anymore of them.

 

14 minutes ago, Soccorro said:

The worst this is: this is exactly what Odium asked Dalinar to do in book 4. He literally ask Dalinar to free him and let the rest of the cosmere to deal with him, but Dalinar refused because it’s supposedly bad and irresponsible to burden others with your problems. It took 1500 pages for Dalinar to make full 180. All events of the last to books are now pointless and everyone who died in those books died in vain 

I completely agree. Winds and Truth was a complete disappointment for me. I really enjoyed the first 4 books, and I have enjoyed all of the books in the Mistborn world. However, at the age of 60 years old, I cannot wait until 2033 for the next Stormlight Archive book to be published. Even if I decided that I wanted to wait that long, I doubt that I would buy the next SA book. Sanderson's WaT book ruined the Stormlight Archives for me. 

[NYB]

Honestly, I'm only half way through, but I am disappointed because of the "romance". There is such an emphasis on gay relationships, while personally, I have no qualms about people's decisions, but here it only detracts from the book. You can look at it a number of ways. (1) This is set in a medieval time period, in which open gayness was unheard of. (2) Even nowadays when its accepted, it isn't common. Why does everyone that didn't have a prior relationship now have to be gay? (3) WaT isn't a romance (or gay romance), its an adventure fantasy. In every one of Brandon Sanderson's books, the thing that draws me to reading them is the lack of plot holes, and I can just let myself get wrapped up in the fantasy world. With each of these numerous scenes, I am ripped out of this "fantasizing/imagination" and reminded that there is a political agenda here too. A "good story" is interrupted by unrealistic romances. (4) This leads into the idea that I read books to take a break from politics and enjoy a good story, which is ruined in WaT by the constant reminder of the political/social agenda that "being gay is normal".

Please don't take this the wrong way, I have nothing against people who make choices in their life to do whatever they want, or for it to be more accepted in society. I am only saying including this in a major fashion, especially as prevalent as it comes up in WaT, detracts from the book.

Yes, I think that adding this detracts from your books, but yhank you Brandon Sanderson for making such great books. The world you created is quite amazing and enjoyable to explore.

[Argenti he/him]

9 minutes ago, NYB said:

Honestly, I'm only half way through, but I am disappointed because of the "romance". There is such an emphasis on gay relationships, while personally, I have no qualms about people's decisions, but here it only detracts from the book. You can look at it a number of ways. (1) This is set in a medieval time period, in which open gayness was unheard of. (2) Even nowadays when its accepted, it isn't common. Why does everyone that didn't have a prior relationship now have to be gay? (3) WaT isn't a romance (or gay romance), its an adventure fantasy. In every one of Brandon Sanderson's books, the thing that draws me to reading them is the lack of plot holes, and I can just let myself get wrapped up in the fantasy world. With each of these numerous scenes, I am ripped out of this "fantasizing/imagination" and reminded that there is a political agenda here too. A "good story" is interrupted by unrealistic romances. (4) This leads into the idea that I read books to take a break from politics and enjoy a good story, which is ruined in WaT by the constant reminder of the political/social agenda that "being gay is normal".

Please don't take this the wrong way, I have nothing against people who make choices in their life to do whatever they want, or for it to be more accepted in society. I am only saying including this in a major fashion, especially as prevalent as it comes up in WaT, detracts from the book.

Yes, I think that adding this detracts from your books, but yhank you Brandon Sanderson for making such great books. The world you created is quite amazing and enjoyable to explore.

This isn't medieval earth. It's Roshar. Society is different, hands are taboo. Why is a gay romance being normal the thing that strikes you as odd and takes you from the story, not the crab-people, crab-dogs, flight, or the actual god of hatred? Two characters being gay isn't an agenda or suddenly unrealistic. I get not liking a romantic subplot, I've rolled my eyes at enough myself, but you seem hung up on the "politics" of it. Were Waxillium and Marsi political because they dated?

Ultimately, It's people being in love; Assuming you're talking about RlainxRenarin sure, it's a bit odd they fell in love what feels like overnight, (there were early hints if you knew what to look for.) but you've gotta remember that we don't get to see literally everything. They had known each other for months. People have fallen in love over shorter times. Heck, Adolin and Shallan have gotten married already.

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, NYB said:

A "good story" is interrupted by unrealistic romances.

1 hour ago, Argenti said:

Assuming you're talking about RlainxRenarin sure, it's a bit odd they fell in love what feels like overnight, (there were early hints if you knew what to look for.)

I think part of the problem is:

• Newer fans don't realize Renarin has been written-as and planned-for a homosexual romance since 2002, and this specific romance has been implied and foreshadowed since 2014

If they did not have that information and background, WaT feels like a reaction to "mainstream media in the 20s" rather than a planned event more than 20 years in the making. Also, I think adding the Sarqqin scene (meant as a throwback to Sigzil's scene in Oathbringer - Ch 35) muddled the author's intent some - especially amongst those unfamiliar with the background not in the books.

1 hour ago, Argenti said:

They had known each other for months

Technically closer to two years since Renarin Joined Bridge 4 before the Everstorm.

 

Edited February 19, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Argenti he/him]

43 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

I think part of the problem is:

• Newer fans don't realize Renarin has been written-as and planned-for a homosexual romance since 2002, and this specific romance has been implied and foreshadowed since 2014

If they did not have that information and background, WaT feels like a reaction to "mainstream media in the 20s" rather than a planned event more than 20 years in the making. Also, I think adding the Sarqqin scene (meant as a throwback to Sigzil's scene in Oathbringer - Ch 35) muddled the author's intent some - especially amongst those unfamiliar with the background not in the books.

 

Yes, I 100% agree. 
 

44 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

Techincally closer to two years since Renarin Joined Bridge 4 before the Everstorm.

 

I was completely guessstimating, but I knew it was way longer than some people made it out to be.  Thanks for a real estimate.

[NYB]

1 hour ago, Argenti said:

It's Roshar. Society is different, hands are taboo. Why is a gay romance being normal the thing that strikes you as odd and takes you from the story, not the crab-people, crab-dogs, flight, or the actual god of hatred?

Evrything was slowly built up with things being "normal" and within the "physics" of Roshar; everything you meantioned I can accept being normal in this world. That's the beauty of creating a universe - if done well, you can describe what's realistic. Yes society is different, but as meantioned in Oathbringer, being gay was unheard of in Alethi culture, (even if it was more common in Azir). After establishing that, it feels out of place for there suddonly to be every other person meantioned to be gay.

1 hour ago, Argenti said:

I get not liking a romantic subplot,

This is definitely a part of it. I think the other books did better with keeping it as adding to the story instead of being to forefront with it.

1 hour ago, Treamayne said:

Newer fans don't realize Renarin has been written-as and planned-for a homosexual romance since 2002, and this specific romance has been implied and foreshadowed since 2014

I didn't think of this. I still stand with what I said before, but I guess not as intense as I originally thought.

I don't have a problem as much with Renarin&Rlain (although I do think its over emphasized), but it seems like he goes out of his way to meantion things. The Sarqqin thing I actually think was done well - wasn't emphasized as being radical (and 

1 hour ago, Treamayne said:

meant as a throwback to Sigzil's scene in Oathbringer

) but other cases seems to obvious/unnecessary (Lyft in the tower, Kaladins run-ins with Sigzil and Drehy). Just off the top of my head. The small incidents that seem overemphasized, and with Renarin-Rlain thing, I feel is too much emphasis on gay relationships. This book seems to be more explicit about relationships, yet the only one that actually gets developed is Renarin-Rlain. Maybe his focus in this book signifies he'll be more important in later books? I just don't think it adds to the book.

[king of nowhere]

i had to wait nearly 3 months due to a big amazon delay, but I finally got my copy! soon i will be able to catch up with everything! woooo!!!!

just had to share my joy before reading

[Nitpicking]

On 2/18/2025 at 8:24 PM, Gidrons said:

Why did Honor go from unspeakable hatred toward Odium to paring up with it in such a short time?  Hard to believe Dalinar's brief hosting convinced it to do so.

Honor never had a problem with Odium. Tanavast hated Rayse (for good reason). Odium itself came to agree with Tanavast!

 

On 2/18/2025 at 11:50 PM, NYB said:

... Yes society is different, but as meantioned in Oathbringer, being gay was unheard of in Alethi culture, (even if it was more common in Azir). After establishing that, it feels out of place for there suddonly to be every other person meantioned to be gay.

But only a couple of those characters are Alethi, IIRC. We also have one asexual character (Jasnah) and one nonbinary one, Rushu. The Sibling is not Alethi. Rushu is an Ardent, a social category specifically created for people who don't fit into normal roles, and Jasnah is a defiant rebel against Vorinism and its rules.

[Treamayne]

On 2/18/2025 at 11:50 PM, NYB said:

but as meantioned in Oathbringer, being gay was unheard of in Alethi culture,

Pardon, but that is not what the scene between Kaladin and Sigzil says or implies. OB Ch 35:

Spoiler

“He wanted to fit in, I believe,” Sigzil said. “His broken Alethi already makes that hard. And then there’s the matter of Drehy…”

“What matter?”

“Well, he’s been courting a man, you see…”

Kaladin threw on his coat, chuckling. “I did know about that one. You only now noticed?”

Sigzil nodded.

“It’s Dru he’s been seeing, still? From the district quartermaster’s offices?”

“Yes, sir.” Sigzil looked down. “Sir, I … Well, it’s just that…”

“Yes?”

“Sir, Drehy hasn’t filled out the proper forms,” Sigzil said. “If he wants to court another man, he needs to apply for social reassignment, right?”

Kaladin rolled his eyes. So, there were no forms for that in Alethkar.

Sigzil couldn’t say he was surprised, as the Alethi didn’t have proper procedures for anything. “Then how do you apply for social reassignment?”

“We don’t.” Kaladin frowned. 

All Kaladin was saying was that Alethi don't complete forms for "social reassignment" to "document" their sexual orientation. Lopen makes it clear later that same sex relationships are easily tolerated - much more easily that the gender-based social norms of occupation and allowed activities. OB Ch 55:

Spoiler

“What about him?” Kaladin asked, frowning and looking around at the group.

“He’s been spending a lot of time with the scribes studying the tower city,” Natam said.

“The other day,” Skar added, “he was talking about what he’s doing there. It sounded an awful lot like he was learning how to read.”

The men shifted uncomfortably.

“So?” Kaladin asked. “What’s the problem? Sigzil can read his own language. Storms, I can read glyphs.”

“It’s not the same,” Skar said.

“It’s feminine,” Drehy added.

“Drehy,” Kaladin said, “you are literally courting a man.”

“So?” Drehy said.

“Yeah, what are you saying, Kal?” Skar snapped.

“Nothing! I just thought Drehy might empathize.…”

“That’s hardly fair,” Drehy said.

“Yeah,” Lopen added. “Drehy likes other guys. That’s like … he wants to be even less around women than the rest of us. It’s the opposite of feminine. He is, you could say, extra manly.”

“Yeah,” Drehy said.

Wind and Truth makes this more clear with the Sarqqin scene, where we learn that the Social Reassignment forms are actually used in Azir for Transgender, not sexual orientation. WaT Ch 60:

Spoiler

Adolin stopped by one taller woman, with good muscles on her, the strongest he’d seen so far. She stood with her eyes straight forward at attention.

“Name, soldier?” he asked her.

“Sarqqin, sir,” she said.

“Where’d you gain those muscles, Sarkuin?” he asked. Storms, he could not get that sound right.

“Blacksmithing, sir. I’ve apprenticed for seven years, and just been named master.”

“Impressive,” he said. “Like I’ve told the other women, if I let you in, you’ll have to live and work around men in what might be embarrassing situations.”

“I’m used to it, sir,” she said. “I have papers.”

Papers? He hesitated, then glanced at his scribe.

“One who has filled out the forms,” Challa the scribe whispered, “to live as a man.”

Ah. He’d heard of that. 

 

[Nitpicking]

On 2/23/2025 at 6:05 PM, Nitpicking said:

Honor never had a problem with Odium. Tanavast hated Rayse (for good reason). Odium itself came to agree with Tanavast!

I just came back to this because a couple of people liked my previous message.

It occurs to me that Tanavast would have been a better fit with Odium, and Rayse with Honor. Think about it.

[Master Silver]

On 2/18/2025 at 8:39 PM, NYB said:

Honestly, I'm only half way through, but I am disappointed because of the "romance". There is such an emphasis on gay relationships, while personally, I have no qualms about people's decisions, but here it only detracts from the book. You can look at it a number of ways. (1) This is set in a medieval time period, in which open gayness was unheard of. (2) Even nowadays when its accepted, it isn't common. Why does everyone that didn't have a prior relationship now have to be gay? (3) WaT isn't a romance (or gay romance), its an adventure fantasy. In every one of Brandon Sanderson's books, the thing that draws me to reading them is the lack of plot holes, and I can just let myself get wrapped up in the fantasy world. With each of these numerous scenes, I am ripped out of this "fantasizing/imagination" and reminded that there is a political agenda here too. A "good story" is interrupted by unrealistic romances. (4) This leads into the idea that I read books to take a break from politics and enjoy a good story, which is ruined in WaT by the constant reminder of the political/social agenda that "being gay is normal".

Please don't take this the wrong way, I have nothing against people who make choices in their life to do whatever they want, or for it to be more accepted in society. I am only saying including this in a major fashion, especially as prevalent as it comes up in WaT, detracts from the book.

Yes, I think that adding this detracts from your books, but yhank you Brandon Sanderson for making such great books. The world you created is quite amazing and enjoyable to explore.

I agree that the romance detracts from the book. Also, making Renarin be an autistic man with an interspecies gay roman from a blood line of warlords who is more of a pacifist is putting a lot of unicorns into one character. It definitely makes it seem very agenda driven (and to the detriment of the story). I think a Frodo and Samwise relationship might have served better and taken less space allowing for Brandon to close some loopholes and not rush certain things. Why not do a better job paying off the swearing of the fifth ideal for Szeth and Kaladin? 

[king of nowhere]

When ishar said "keep your children songs and rhymes to yourself, the adults are trying to save the world" it was cathartic. I've been wanting to say that to hoid every time.

Too bad he said it to the wrong person

[Master Silver]

On 2/8/2025 at 10:06 AM, bdoble97 said:

I can not wait to see new fan art 

Adolin with his shardplate leg

Kaladin with his cape and honor spare. With Syl full size next to him

The Stormwall he sounds awesome 

And so much more 

This is as close as I could get it. let me know if the picture works

Image Creator

Edited March 7, 2025 by Master Silver

[bdoble97]

7 hours ago, Master Silver said:

This is as close as I could get it. let me know if the picture works

Image Creator

Oh thats great. 

[AsherCrane]

My reaction to WaT. 

 

First of all, I liked this book. Didn’t love it. Thought it could be improved, but I liked it. I’m going to break down general points, then specific plotlines. I’ll try not to be too long-winded.

As far as general points go, I think Brandon tried to do too much between wrapping up several 1-5 character arcs and setting up new ones for 6-10. While I liked the base of pretty much everyone’s arcs, I feel like, by and large, nobody except maybe Adolin got enough room to breathe. The fast PoV switching made the story harder to follow, and whether or not it succeeded in giving the feeling that this was a fast-paced book, I feel like I want to separate it into 6 different plotlines and listen individually to get the full impact of any given storyline.

As others have said, the modern language also drew me out of the story, and a lot of the humor really did not land with me. Specifically the Chull head joke, Kaladin being “racist” over 12124’s name, and the “I’m his therapist” one. A lot of it may be down to taste, but it felt worse in this book than others.

Longer reactions spoilered to cut down space.

Kaladin

Spoiler

I liked Kaladin’s plot. A fair amount of it seemed to be him just reaffirming things in his head which was pretty boring to me, but his fight with Nale was one of the most engaging scenes in the book. His dance will Syl was a beautiful scene, and his standing up in the face of ultra-depression was powerful for me. I was almost choked up when he realized thay Szeth was more like Tien than Kaladin himself. That said, some of his therapy bits didn’t land for me, and I was annoyed at points where Nale seemed to be arguing logically, even if he was wrong morally to me, and Kaladin just reacted by claiming Nale was illogical. Particularly when Kaladin said it to Nale’s face right after deciding he’d help the Herald. Ultimately, after the first read anyway, Kaladin just doesn’t sound like Kaladin to me, and 10 days feels too short a time to justify it.

 

Szeth

Spoiler

I liked Szeth’s story. Again, it felt too short, but here I’m not even sure how one would make it better. For him I really liked the scene where he found the lamb made of Molli’s wool. That was a really touching scene. His fight with himself over whether he can really do what he wants and trust himself was really cool, and I connected very strongly with it as a person who tends to overthink things a lot and wish there was some metric where I could instantly know the right, or at least best, option. I also feel the concept of being responsible for the law when you choose to act on it was a cool idea. Goes against the “I was just following orders” excuse.

I do at the very least feel his modern interactions with his sister and father were too short. For how much the backstory built them up, they were barely there in the present. Another issue I had is that the story portrayed the concept of believing in yourself and that you yourself decide what is right and wrong is a tricky idea to put out there. It works for Szeth, because Szeth genuinely wants to do what is right, but depending on the kind of person who adapts this idea, the outcome could be worse. Finally… there was a line that really bugged me in his story. Paraphrased by memory, but as close to the original as I recall “Szeth didn’t think it would make him a deadeye…but it didn’t matter. This was Szeth’s choice.” 

I strongly disagree with the idea that his choice was paramount, despite potentially putting a person (and the series has been trying to show that intelligent spren are people) into a coma. 

I do like that Szeth settled down and became a farmer.

 

Szeth (Backstory)

Spoiler

Not much to say here. It wasn’t bad, but I feel like it was more spent setting up story mechanics than the other backstory chapters. It set up Siri… and then she was dead. It set up Moss… and then he died pretty quickly. It set up his sister and father, and then they barely existed in the present. It just doesn’t seem to have as much impact even as the Szeth chapters in past books. 

 

Side tangent on the Spiritual Realm

Spoiler

I loved the spiritual realm stuff in general, but it felt like everyone who was there had less story because they weren’t in the real world to have an effect on it. It feels like it cheapens their plots a bit to have none of their actions affect the world except at the end. That’s my only real issue with it. 

 

Dalinar (and Navani)

Spoiler

Aside from the above note on the Spiritual realm, Dalinar’s arc was… fine. It felt more shallow than the others, partly because of the amount dedicated to the visions’ content. I did like the visions! Loved them, in fact. I just feel Dalinar’s arc could have used more building up alongside them. I liked the bones of Dalinar learning to listen and not be as bull-headed, but ~50,000 words shared with the info from the visions just doesn’t seem enough. 

His ending felt mostly unsatisfying to me. I’m not going to call it bad until I see all the repercussions in books 6-10, but I wasn’t really happy about it. Part of that is because, having seen his arc in books 1-3 primarily, I genuinely wanted him to go through all five oaths. 

 

Shallan

Spoiler

I like Shallan, and her storyline. I do not think she had enough story left for this book. Despite being fully read up on the Cosmere, the Rosharan Ghostbloods felt more like a mechanic in Shallan’s plotline. So for them to be the main force in her plot here didn’t thrill me. More than that, Shallan herself primarily felt like a plot device for Renarin and Rlain’s plot much of the time as well. 

The only parts of her plot I enjoyed were the vision where she was in her past telling stories to her brothers, the wedding, and her conversation with her mother. Those parts were fantastic, and I loved them. 

 

Renarin/Rlain

Spoiler

Just… not my thing, really. I feel like it was overly focused on the romance, and yet again, we could have gotten more out of these two if they had more space to breathe, and they have been outside of the Spiritual Realm more to let any of their actions outside of freeing BAM have any consequence. Renarin has decided to work on reuniting and understanding the singers and humans, but he only interacts with one in the book, and it’s the guy he is into. It feels like missed potential. 

I did love their two backstory visions with Renarin feeling bad for needing someone to help, and Rlain feeling bad for not having someone to help. Those were really touching. 

 

Adolin

Spoiler

The best arc in the book. Near-perfect. The arc I most want to split out and listen to independently. The Towers games, the Thunderclast, the leg, the loss of the dome, the victory. Gold, all. My only gripe is that it felt like Maya becoming healthier was a result of her relationship with her and the fact that he spoke to her. So when the deadeye spren were just able to casually spawn and create the unoathed it felt like it cheapened that. 

 

Sigzil

Primarily felt like it was meant to speedrun him into TSM position. Went way too fast. Aside from that, it also seemed to exist to make Moash do literally anything in this book. Honestly my least favorite in the book. Needed way more space. 

 

Venli

Just kinda… there? I loved the chasmfiends part of it, and liked the trick to gain the listeners the shattered plains, but otherwise seemed to exist because Venli was important in other books.

 

Jasnah

No complaints. Flawless. As someone who didn’t overly like her or her philosophy since her lesson in TWoK, it was very satisfying. 

 

Other thoughts:

Taln had more of a presence! I want more of him. Ever since I went through TWoK Prime, he’s been one of my favorite characters in the Cosmere, and I hope the canon one is similar (Based on the visions, seems possible.) 

I do not know why the Battah, Moash, or El chapters were there. These characters barely existed, and whatever repercussions they had feel like they could have easily been introduced in the second half of the series. 

 

Ultimately, I ended the  book feeling like it should have been 2 books. One for the Spiritual Realm and Shinovar groups, and one for the battlefields. It would have given everyone the space they needed to breathe in their plotlines.

Edited March 12, 2025 by AsherCrane

[smokeesid]

Someone asked me if reading The Sunlit Man is better if we read it before Wind and Truth. I would say that not only Sigzil grow in WaT but Szeth's highspren also undergoes certain transitions and become what they are in The Sunlit Man. So I think my final thought is to read WaT first

Although I am only 50% complete in WaT

[Oraiyu]

I'm halfway through my re-read. The first time around I read through it far more quickly - I wanted that juicy lore and story progression. I left nuance and thinking points through for post-read discussions and this re-read.

At this point, even though I'm not finished, I did have time to think and digest. And so I feel ready to post this review. 

I would like to summarize my thoughts on some key characters and points. Feel free to ask me how I feel about any part or character I left out.

Lore

Top tier. A first and second person view of Shardic vessels and the Shards themselves and what makes them tick. What the Spiritual realm is like. Witnessing the 2 different Oathpacts. The healing of Deadeyes into something new. So many loose ends tied and deeper rabbit holes discovered.

Story / Characters

Interludes

Peak Sanderson. They were very well written and provided so much insight and quite a few cool or intriguing scenes.

Adolin / Azir Campaign

Again - peak Sanderson. We see just how much he cares for his troops and others. We see him struggle to step out of his father’s shadow and persevere despite constantly feeling like a failure - making the effort to concentrate on his strengths & wins. His relationship with Maya was great stuff. And he experiences what it’s like to be on the front lines in the most excruciating, stressful scenarios - but does so with so much determination. And I found whole Unoathed business to be really exciting - enough to overlook the corniness.

The whole Oath vs Promise debate is really intriguing.

I just want to say that I started this book thinking “If Adolin is not an Edgedancer a-la Maya by the end of this book, Ima be mad.” He wasn’t, and I’m thrilled at how Sanderson did end up finishing that arc.

My only gripe is the copy/paste “Maya sends good vibez” that comes every so often. I feel like he could have made that more substantial and given some sort of progression.

Taravangian / Odium

Amazingly written. Such depth! What a resolution to a character arc, while kind of launching the next one.

Kaladin / Sil / Szeth / Heralds / Shinovar

While I think it was too plodding and drawn out, and Kaladin came off at times as eye-rollingly cliche, shallow and preachy, I think their journey - inner and outer - was intriguing.

The Szeth arc - lore and all - was especially eye opening and really fits with his persona even as it was in WoK. I feel like I finally understand him.

Insight into what the Heralds are now going through was also intriguing.

Dalinar / Navani / Gav / Honor / Tanavast / Stormfather / Cultivation / Spiritual Realm

While it’s hard to understand or visualize, I think I see what Brandon was going for when depicting the Spiritual Realm, and I like it. This whole arc was a little bit too stretched out in my opinion. I did like Dalinar’s growth and change in perspective.

Seeing the historical events teased until this point in their full detail was lore-tastic!

The only downside - and I hate to say this - Gav was a whiny drag, and what became of him felt unearned (in the storytelling sense). I know that he’s an extremely traumatized child, and my heart goes out to him. But putting him in this arc really put a damper on it, and did not do Gav’s own journey justice.

Tanavast rubbed me the wrong way , and I felt like this was one of Sanderson’s poorer treatments - until I realized that this was the point! He was a reactive fool who just juggled situations as they came without making real use of that immense wisdom1. Once I saw that, my opinion of how he was handled became far more favorable. Same with the Stormfather, as he was basically implanted with Tanner’s consciousness.

Cultivation was a well-written counterpoint. It was interesting to see how she was finally revealed to not be as above evil as we thought she was - as she was ready to kill innocents to get TaravOdium to stand down.

The idea of Honor, and the Shards in general, as being just ideals instead of the ultimate good was an eye opener and an amazing paradigm shift. Portraying Honor’s own budding consciousness as an idealistic child without nuance was such a great idea and practically begs for a whole new world of plot ideas.

As I mentioned above with Adolin - the whole Oath vs Promise debate is really intriguing.

One of my favorite characters in this book is Homunculus Wit with his infinite recursions.

Venli / Listeners / Leshwi / Rogue Fused / Chasmfiends

The continuation of Venli’s arc and that of Leshwi’s, the rogue Fused, their relationship with the listeners and the lore of the chasamfiends really caught my interest. What we got of it was well done, to be sure. HOWEVER, it was severely undertreated. I’d rather have a lot of unnecessary bloat from other parts be used for fleshing out this arc and exploring the lore and relationships here.

Shallan / Renarin / Relain / Spiritual Realm

IMHO one of his most poorly executed arcs and character treatments. I’m sorry, but thats how I feel.

Shallan was kinda cool, but I felt like it was the same old same old.

Sanderson’s treatment of Renarin here possibly turned him into my least favorite character in this story, possibly in the Cosmere as a whole. The way he was written made him feel more like a stubborn, self-centered child instead of someone on the spectrum who’s struggling to just cope and manage living life and really trying to see other people’s perspective. Sanderson wrote Steris amazingly, so I know he can do better - and that just made my disappointment more acute.

That said, I did like Relain, though - and while I could probably have countered quite a few of his arguments against Humans, I do see his point and respect him for it.

Coming to understand BAM a little bit was pretty cool.

Conclusion

I really liked this book. There was plenty of plodding, and parts and characters I was less than fond of. All in all, though - I think Brandon did a fine job.

As for ranking - I’d put it third after WoR and WoK. RoW follows it very closely though.

Edited March 27, 2025 by Oraiyu
I forgot about Venli, Leshwi and the chasamfiends