Thoughts on Wind and Truth. SPOILERS

[Ironwill2112 he/him]

So I really enjoyed WaT. But apparently nobody else did. I get that some of the dialogue isn't as good as it was in the previous books but it wasn't THAT bad was it? To be fair though I am not well read, and don't have a lot to compare it to. Most of what I have read is Brandon Sanderson. 

So did y'all like Wind and Truth?

[Aeoryi she/her]

unfortunately, Wind and Truth really didn't feel like another Way of Kings, another Words of Radiance, another Oathbringer, or another Rhythm of war. Yes it was good, but it wasn't outstanding compared to any of the four books before it. And I totally get it- there were very high expectations going into reading it. 

There were some parts of wind and Truth that I really really liked, including

Spoiler

the ending where El guts a fused and Venli outsmarts Odium

kaladin becoming an herald

Szeth getting an ending that gave him peace, not godhood 

All of the shinovar stuff & flashback scenes

Seeing the oathpact and the arrival on roshar

Mraize versus shallan

I could go on. But there were a lot of things that didn't feel great. For example the usage of the word "therapist" or the kinda confusing ending to the much anticipated contest of champions that left much feeling empty. (I also had to reread it multiple times to understand what happened)

There also sometimes felt like there was just... too much going on at once. At lot of the stuff with the dawnshards felt somewhat out of place in the book and having five different characters in the spiritual realm kinda just made it a "why have multiple" kind of deal. 

Either way the book was actually quite good overall. The quality is definitely there. Just it's missing that little bit of extra... bonus good feeling that really has become signature to the stormlight archive

[Frustration]

WaT overall was decent, I'd say better than 60% of the books I've read.

But most of the rest of SA was 90% or more.

WaT had the potential to be good, but it had so much weighing it down that if it wasn't for the cosmere attached to it, I honestly don't know if I would be excited for SA6.

1. The Dialogue was really bad, even for Brandon
2. The characters all felt off, except for Shallan of all people, who is usually the worst offender for this
3. Too many characters given PoVs that they didn't need
4. Related to number 3 the Rlain/Renarin subplot was a lot of added bloat that didn't contribute to the story as it should have. I know Brandon was setting up for book 6 there, but it could easily have been left for book 6.
5. The contest sucked. I remember when Gavilnor was first theorized, and thinking: that would suck. And I was right. I also remember thinking that Brandon would be too smart to do that, but I was wrong there. Massive letdown for three books of buildup.
6. Brandon still isn't funny. A chull head? Really?
7. Plot holes. So many plot holes.
8. Zero consequences. Like absolutely none. Adolin loses his leg, but gets a prostetic one that's just as good, Dalinar dies, and that's it. Nothing else bad happens.
9. The combat was really mid. Like Adolin and Szeth had some good fights, but where's the equivalent to Kaladin at the battle of the tower, or Adolin vs. Four shardbearers, or Kaladin vs. Amaram?
10. The villains were all terrible. Stormlight never had great antagonists, but all the villains here were bad even by SA standards.

[GG0z He/Him]

It was good nonetheless. No matter what anyone says, it was a good book 

[Deception He/Him]

The unnecessary POVs were annoying, but I think overall the book was great. 

[Frustration]

For the people who liked it what in particular would you say made it good?

[Aeoryi she/her]

10 minutes ago, Frustration said:

For the people who liked it what in particular would you say made it good?

It is stormlight archive. It has characters we love.

[Through the Living Wrath he/him]

4 hours ago, Frustration said:

For the people who liked it what in particular would you say made it good?

I thought it was cool.

 

I think the ending was very very very satisfying

the action was cool

and yeah

[Grubfriend He/Him]

The Shattered plains plot was killing me. It wasn’t doing much and I wanted more Shinovar content.

People poisoned the well on Shallan by that point, so I couldn’t enjoy her chapters and the secret agent stuff.

Reneiran and Rlain. I wish they were friends, they fit as misfits and it so works, but I feel like the relationship was shoehorned in.

I liked Shinovar, felt like Kaladin tried to hard to connect with Szeth, but and I want Nightblood to get his own book so bad now.

[GG0z He/Him]

7 minutes ago, Through The Living Grub said:

The Shattered plains plot was killing me. It wasn’t doing much and I wanted more Shinovar content.

People poisoned the well on Shallan by that point, so I couldn’t enjoy her chapters and the secret agent stuff.

Reneiran and Rlain. I wish they were friends, they fit as misfits and it so works, but I feel like the relationship was shoehorned in.

I liked Shinovar, felt like Kaladin tried to hard to connect with Szeth, but and I want Nightblood to get his own book so bad now.

Warbreaker

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

On 6/10/2026 at 5:44 PM, Frustration said:

For the people who liked it what in particular would you say made it good?

I liked the pacing (I just thought it was really fun); I liked Kaladin's and Adolin's character arcs specifically; I really liked getting to learn about Rosharan history; and I generally had a fun time reading it even if retrospectively it could've been better in places

[Schizoposting]

I think that the reason why people hate Wind and Truth, is because it's a deconstruction of the Stormlight Archive as whole—for instance, instead of having epic fights, Kaladin spends his time healing others. And instead of having a grand triumphant victory, the ending concludes with an ignoble defeat, with it turning out, that Honor is no better than Odium.

While no book is perfect, I think that it's overall, a very strong book. Primary, for its themes, but I also liked its pacing, prose, the lack of bloat compared to previous books, and it had some excellent moments, like the prologue, the debate, Honor's flashbacks, Kaladin's duel with Nale, the contest of champions etc. The biggest weakness however, in my opinion, would be the Adolin plot line, which was extremely predictable, and generic, although it was by no means bad. 

Overall, I'd say that Wind and Truth is the third best book in the series, only behind The Way of Kings, and Words of Radiance.