Wind and Truth - Brandon Sanderson

Published by Gollancz/The Orion Publishing Group Ltd: London, 2024.
Book 5 of 'The Stormlight Archive.' Preceded by 'Rhythm of War.'

As of writing this post, Wind and Truth is the most recent book in Brandon Sanderson's epic Stormlight Archive series, although he has planned to write ten books all up. This book also finishes the first "arc" of the series; apparently there will be a time jump afterwards. Wind and Truth also takes place within the 'cosmere', Sanderson's larger universe in which many of his series take place. Without spoiling anything, by the end of Wind and Truth he has also begun to link some of these series together in far more open ways than he has previously done - it will be interesting to see how this changes the future of the cosmere going forward.

Focussing in on the plot: at the end of Rhythm of War a contest had been planned between a champion of the evil god Odium and the champion of Dalinar Kholin, to bring about the end of the war ravaging the world of Roshar. That contest was set for ten days from that point. The entirety of Wind and Truth takes place over that ten days, with each day becoming it's own section.

Ten days? That shouldn't take too long, right?

If you think that, you obviously haven't read a Brandon Sanderson book!

Near the beginning of Wind and Truth, our protagonists realise that Odium has found a loop-hole in the contract for the contest: if he can conquer the capital of any nation, then he will legally 'win' the entire nation once the contest takes place, regardless of whether he wins the contest or not. Odium's forces are moving into place to strike at numerous capitals, and our heroes must divide their own forces and do their best to repel the invaders. For ten days.

So, there are lots of battles in Wind and Truth, as well as negotiations, training, bartering... its all quite interesting actually. Adolin gets a much more prominent role this time around, helping the Azir empire defend itself. The fact that his shardblade, Maya, is beginning to 'resurrect' herself is also a fun element to watch for.

Separately, Kaladin has been sent with the assassin Szeth to investigate the problems happening in Szeth's homeland of Shinovar. Kaladin, who has been healing emotionally from his past trauma, is now helping other soldiers to face their past. In sending Kaladin with Szeth, Dalinar tells Kaladin that he hopes Kaladin will be able to do the same for Szeth. This subplot is quite interesting, as Szeth had been very messed up throughout the entire series, and Kaladin doesn't really know how to even begin! He also ends up counselling some other messed-up characters, quite unexpectedly, and this leads to some massive shifts in the direction of the narrative by the end of the book.

Overall, Wind and Truth does a difficult job, and does it well. It raises the stakes yet again, wraps up some important plotlines - even kills some important characters - and is both a clear ending to books 1-5 while being a clear escalation of events leading towards books 6-10. Sanderson has made it clear he is going to take a few years away from the Stormlight Archives to focus on other series (potentially to 'catch their plot up' to the massive universe-impacting events towards the end of this novel), but knowing the speed at which he writes, I fully expect to read another Stormlight Archives novel in the not-too-distant future. 

I will definitely be looking out for it.

Completed 3 April 2025.



(Stormlight Archives Series)

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