“Listen. Remember. The question is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.”
Look, I know we have all been saying it’s ‘journey before destination’ this entire time… but STORMS is Wind and Truth just one hell of a bold, epic, satisfying and beautifully bittersweet destination to end the first arc of The Stormlight Archive at. Sanderson’s storytelling and imagination are truly out of this world, and with this book he proves more than ever before that he deserves to be lauded as the king of modern epic fantasy.
From the very first page, I just felt myself torn between wanting to pace myself to savour every single scene and throwing all responsibilities out the window to devour this book as quickly as humanly possible. The ticking clock element with the 10-day countdown made this 1300+ page doorstopper honestly criminally addictive, and I personally think it’s easily the most well-paced of any of Sanderson’s books, Stormlight Archive or not.
Whereas the previous instalments sometimes featured some POV characters, interludes or flashbacks that sometimes failed to keep my full interest, there was not a single chapter in Wind and Truth that I didn’t feel invested in (okay maybe I could have done without Venli, but that is no surprise). Szeth’s flashback chapters were everything I was hoping they would be and then so much more, the build-up of tension and dread towards the cataclysmic contest of champions had me in a chokehold, the exploration of the Spiritual Realm excited me to no end, all the revelations about the true history of Roshar, the Heralds, and the Cosmere as a whole cracked my brain in the best way possible, and every single character’s personal journey (no matter how predictable or devastatingly shocking) felt totally earned and just had me feeling all the feels.
Sure, there might have been a few moments during the first two days that made me slightly nervous and sceptical, especially concerning some immature humour and a frustating level of repetitiveness and lack of subtlety in some characters’ personal growth and mental health journeys (looking at you, therapist Kaladin). However, from Day 3 onwards, I think Sanderson really hit his stride and delivered some of his most genius storytelling that we have seen to date. The second half of Wind and Truth is just absolute insanity in the best way possible, and there were multiple times during the legendary Sanderlanche where I said to myself: “This has to be one of the best chapters I have ever read, period.”, only for the next chapter to take it up another notch.
Moreover, one of my favourite aspects of The Stormlight Archive is how it has always shone and continues to shine in its authentic representation of all kinds of diverse life experiences (even if it sometimes feels a bit on-the-nose), but my queer heart was absolutely singing with joy at seeing the adorably sweet and innocent queer love between two significant POV characters in Wind and Truth. It’s exactly these themes of limitless and unconditional love, unity, friendship, family, redemption, hope, and resilience that give The Stormlight Archive so much heart and keep the tone from ever getting too depressing, despite the tragic world-ending stakes. And if things do ever get too serious and dire, we can always count on my favourite Golden Retriever himbo Adolin (who maybe has my favourite storyline in this entire book!?) to be his delightful goofy self and the legendary Wit to come in hot with the quotes and make everyone smile and feel warm again.
Sanderson truly outdid himself with Wind and Truth, and I can only applaud him for the insanely bold storytelling decisions that were made to get to this midway endpoint for The Stormlight Archive. This book definitely has its flaws and I can see it being very divisive considering how many shocking and bittersweet losses, sacrifices, and diabolical twists and turns it contains, but I personally adore it with my whole heart in all its perfect imperfection. Even if you are not a fan of Sanderson’s craft, there is simply no denying that he delivers a truly unparalleled masterpiece of fantasy storytelling in Wind and Truth that deserves nothing but respect and praise.
No matter how long it takes until we get to return to Roshar, I will be there day one, because this mid-series finale only reaffirmed that Sanderson deserves my full trust and faith in his insanely ambitious vision for both this series and the Cosmere at large. These characters will live rent-free in my brain until eternity, and I can’t wait to return to them all (you know, those who made it out alive) to see how their journeys continue in the second arc of The Stormlight Archive.
Thank you, Sanderson, for taking us on this journey. Life Before Death. Strength Before Weakness. Journey Before Destination.
Wholly agree on being skeptical through day 2, but then day 3 forward being incredible.