Wind and Truth Review: Sanderson Delivers a Masterful Close to the First Arc of The Stormlight Archive

For me, 2024 has been a year full of the acclaimed bestselling author, Brandon Sanderson. I spent a good chunk of 2024 binging all his Cosmere series, during which time he became my favorite author.

And so, I spent the last several months being insanely excited (and nervous) for Wind and Truth, book five of the bestselling Stormlight Archive, which the dust jacket proclaims as the long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc.

I just finished reading it last night (4 days after its release, I might add.) So, did it live up to expectations? Is it a satisfying ending to the arc? Does it dethrone The Hero of Ages as my favorite book of all time?

Read my Wind and Truth review to find out!

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links below, which means if you make a purchase after clicking on one, I may earn a commission. Full disclaimer here.

Note About Review Format

I am not writing this review like I do others, because Sanderson is such a well-established, brilliant writer and I’ve read so much of his work at this point that it seems redundant to comment on things like epic world-building and unique magic systems – both of which he is an indisputable master at and are consistent throughout all his books.

Instead, I’m going to focus on specific aspects of the book that stood out to me.

If you want a more well-rounded overview of the Stormlight Archive and Sanderson’s writing style, check out my Stormlight Archive series review!

Wind and Truth Overview

6 Stars

Subgenre – Epic high fantasy

Series – The Stormlight Archive (Fifth Volume)

Judge a Book by Its Cover (And it’s… Plushie?)

We have to take a moment to talk about the stunning artwork of this book by the incomparable Michael Whelan depicting ol’ daddy Dalinar Kholin as he confronts Odium atop the tower of Urithiru. It is Epic with a capital E!

I was fortunate enough to snag a signed and numbered edition from the Dragonsteel website in the five-minute window the sale was live before it sold out. It came with a chull plushy, a bookmark with Kaladin and Szeth, and an enamel pin of Szeth.

It cost a small fortune between the exchange rate and shipping to Canada but I have absolutely zero regrets.

Plot

There’s not much I can say about the plot without going into spoilers, but suffice it to say it is very nearly the most epic book I have ever read, rivaling (if not quite surpassing) the plot of The Hero of Ages. (More on that later.)

At the end of Rhythm of War, Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a battle of champions. At the start of Wind and Truth, we pick up right where we left off, and Dalinar now has only ten days before he must face him, and so he and Navani travel to the spiritual realm in search of the power of Honor which might help Dalinar defeat Odium.

In the meantime, battles rage across Roshar as both sides try to secure as much land as they can before the showdown, and the book jumps between Adolin as he tries to hold Azir, Sigzil, and his knights radiant as they fight on the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah as they work to protect Theylenah.

The Ghostbloods are also on move, hunting for the powerful and dangerous ancient unmade Ba Ado Mishram – and Shallan is determined to stop them.

Kaladin and Szeth travel together to Shinovar as Szeth fulfills his quest to purge his land and unravel the mystery of what happened to his people, while Kaladin tries to help Szeth with his personal demons and deal with the insane herald Ishar.

The events of this book don’t just affect the fate of Roshar – the entire cosmere hangs in the balance!

Pacing

One of the most notable things about Sanderson’s work is that he likes to get into the nitty-gritty of the character’s minds, and is known to meander quite a bit in the plot before getting to the explosive “Sanderlanche.” (For the uninitiated, the Sanderlanche is what fans call the last few hundred pages or so of a Brandon Sanderson book, which are always jam-packed with plot twists, emotional gut punches, and highly epic moments.)

Because of that, some people find his pacing to be slow, although as someone who loves character-driven plots, this is something I enjoyed in his previous books.

However, the pacing in Wind and Truth is basically a 1300+ page Sanderlanche.

It’s as high-octane as they come, somehow action-packed throughout the entire book without sacrificing the character work.

To put it in perspective, I finished this book within four days of its release. Granted, I had been reading the sample chapters on Reactor in the months leading up to its release, which means I was already on page 320ish when the book came out. But that’s still over 1000 pages read in a few days, which I have never done before.

That’s how much of a chokehold this book had on me! When I say I could not put it down, I mean I was reading it every spare moment during the day and late into the night every night.

It was like a fever. A delightful, soul-crushing, epic fever.

Writing Style

One of the most common complaints people have about Brandon Sanderson’s work is his writing style, which I’ve heard is described as being like the prose found in an “airport novel”. That is to say, the prose isn’t flowery, lyrical, or particularly “literary.”

But that complaint has always bothered me because the point of prose in fiction (at least for me) is to depict what’s happening in the most profound and emotionally impactful way.

And Sanderson achieves this feat like no other author I have ever read.

In particular, there are passages in Wind and Truth that were so hard-hitting that on multiple occasions I found myself stopping, flipping back a few pages, and reading it again in order to more fully bask in it.

I’ll tell you a secret: there is a single factor for me that nudges a book from five stars to the elusive (and technically non-existent) Six Stars, and that is the emotional impact it has on me. Even books I absolutely loved often only have a mild emotional impact.

But this book had me legitimately giggling, crying, cheering, and basically feeling the entire gambit of emotions.

The Stormlight Archive is always full of poignant lines that make you cheer, gasp, or say “whaaat?”, but in Wind and Truth, this impact is tenfold.

Character Arcs & Themes

All the Stormlight Archive books have unforgettable character development, but Wind and Truth takes it up a notch. There is a massive cast of important characters in this book, each with their own demons to battle.

There are few authors who have written such satisfying character arcs (although Robin Hobb comes to mind!) and I can’t even pick which is my favorite. Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Szeth, and Adolin get the most time in the spotlight, but even more secondary characters like Jasnah, Sigzil, Renarin, Rlain, and Lift have a lot going on in this book.

I love how Sanderson develops each character as though they could have been the main character.

It’s hard to go into more detail without giving away spoilers, but some of the themes the characters face throughout this book include things like:

• Helping others without losing yourself

• Trusting in yourself to do what’s right

• Doing what you want, not what’s expected of you

• Oaths versus Promises

• Reckoning with a traumatic past

Favorite Moments (Warning: Spoilers Abound!)

Normally, I keep my reviews spoiler-free but as I am BURSTING to talk about this book, so I am going to include a section of notable and favorite moments under a spoiler filter.

That is to say, if you have not read this book, don’t click on the square below! If you click on the below, you will see MASSIVE SPOILERS! If you haven’t read this book, just scroll past it to the next heading.

I’m serious, don’t ruin it for yourself!

MASSIVE SPOILERS IF YOU CLICK THE GREY BOX BELOW

Honestly, there are a hundred other moments that made my heart swell or break. There is so much to unpack that I’m already looking forward to rereading it!

Does Wind and Truth Surpass The Hero of Ages?

Despite Wind and Truth being a six-star read, it does not quite dethrone The Hero of Ages as my favorite book of all time. However, it’s important to note that you can’t really compare the two books – The Hero of Ages is the end of an era and wraps up the series entirely, whereas Wind and Truth wraps up the first arc, but not the series.

In other words, there are still lots of questions and setups for more books by the time you finish Wind and Truth.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to epic fantasy series, Brandon Sanderson does. not. miss. The Stormlight Archive is an iconic epic fantasy masterpiece, with Wind and Truth living up to every lofty expectation I had of it. High praise? Yes, but I mean it. Few books have had such an impact on me and I think this final volume of the first arc is definitely not overhyped.

I can’t stop thinking about it and I am super sad when I think about the fact that it will be years before Stormlight Six comes out. In the meantime, I am excited for the next series in the Mistborn saga, Ghostbloods!

FAQ