Title: Wind and Truth
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Stormlight Archive #5
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 1344
Published: 2024, Tor Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5
Review Summary: I have never laughed out loud so much that I cried while reading before. I have never wanted to reach the destination while still wanting to keep the journey going this much.

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare―and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray.

Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide―Adolin in Azimir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah at Thaylen City. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade. He is accompanied by Kaladin, who faces a new battle helping Szeth fight his own demons . . . and who must do the same for the insane Herald of the Almighty, Ishar.

At the same time, Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain work to unravel the mystery behind the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram and her involvement in the enslavement of the singer race and in the ancient Knights Radiants killing their spren. And Dalinar and Navani seek an edge against Odium’s champion that can be found only in the Spiritual Realm, where memory and possibility combine in chaos. The fate of the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.

MY REVIEW

It took me a year, but I finally reached the destination. The midpoint destination. And I am crushed that I now need to wait another five years to continue the journey.

I’ve come to understand that opinions are very divided when it comes to Wind and Truth and I honestly can’t see any reason why anyone could have anything bad to say about it? It is long = more of the goodiness. It is funny = I laughed out loud on my train commute to work, so much that tears were running for 10 minutes (if you’ve read it, you know that I’m talking about Syl’s description of the female anotomy in Chapter 10). It is intense = more than a thousand pages spread over ten days means things are happening all the time across all characters and every single one is important. The sanderlanshe is not just at the end this time. It is dark = The ending’s cliffhanger was not a joke, the whole story arc was just an uphill battle and ended with an even bigger mountain behind the one you just climbed. It is light = Progress on internal levels within each character is beautiful, you’ve had so many thousand of pages to get to know these characters and it hurts! But you also feel joy with them as well as despair and sorrow and loss. Saying goodbye, knowing there are years left before I can meet some of them again, was brutal.

I have nothing bad to say about this book. It was amazing! I don’t care that Sanderson is pushing so much to show different types of mental illnesses. I don’t care that he is “forcing” same-sex relationships on the reader as he incorporates it so naturally within the story he tells. It is not forced. It is part of it all.

The only bad thing I have to say is: I do not want to wait. I am super excited about the TV adaptions and Mistborn Era 3 while we wait for Arc 2 of Stormlight. I absolutely loved Mistborn, but Stormlight is new level. It is the best thing I’ve ever read!

The scale doesn’t go higher than five. So let’s say eight this time around!