We Need to Talk About Wind and Truth

Welcome to my uncut, unscripted, and unhinged review of Wind and Truth!

People have been talking about these book for nearly two months, and a lot of negative criticisms have been made. Are they true? Let's take an objective look about what everyone has been saying so far and try to give a balanced response.

The first half of the video in NON SPOILERS. The second half of the video HAS SPOILERS. You have been warned.

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00:00 Intro
02:50 NON SPOILERS
19:05 SPOILERS
34:15 Coming Up Next

[cronkthebookguy]

Gotta say, I am just loving this comment section!
Every other Wind and Truth comment section on the internet is either, "It's the best thing ever!" Or just, "It's so awful, terrible, atrocious, *vomits* "
But here, you guys are having balanced discussions of pros and cons. You're giving specific examples to your points. You're discussing it with maturity and respect. You're being kind to the author and to each other.
I feel like such a proud mumma hen right now! 🥰🥰🥰 Good work, team!

[senseweaver]

I've got a bad feeling about this...

[cynicalnoloc]

Appreciate your non-spoiler bit as I have not dug into the book myself yet but liked your thoughts, opinions, and critiques. You are great, Cronk

[hannahbrennan]

Overall, I enjoyed it, but it did drag more than a bit in places. I know one of the Knight's Radiant ideals is Journey Before Destination, but I think Sanderson took that one a bit too much to heart.

[McrMana]

Probably my least favorite of the 5 but I still liked it. A lot of stuff didn’t really surprise me but it was satisfying to experience with a few switch ups here and there. There were a few times where it felt like Sanderson wanted to have his cake and eat it too and it feels a little cheap sometimes.

[happycroissant]

I am currently on chapter 121, and totally agree with Michael’s comments about jumping around POVs and binge reading it vs reading it over weeks. I have a hard time focusing on the plots and building an emotional connection, because as soon as I start to, we shift to another POV. Still loving being in the world and with the characters, but can’t help feeling a little frustration.

I’m so glad Michael chose to share his thoughts! He always seems to articulate the same things I’m feeling in a much more comprehensible way. 😂 Love this channel.

[JAAAY]

I disagree with the idea that all the open endings are bad. I like that they are not immediate life or death cliffhangers. But, having everybody be happy and wrapped up in a bow would feel wrong given what happened with the Contest.

I do agree that some of the writing was a bit on the nose and using more modern day language like therapist can throw you out of it.

*SPOILERS*
The thing I hate probably the most though is that Taravangian pulls out an older version of Dalinar from the spiritual realm to serve as his Blackthorn. I hate that. I don't think Taravangian should have any access to Dalinar now that he is dead.

[JakeTSloan]

Great video! I think there were valid criticisms of W&T, but overall I still loved it. It is in the lower half of Stormlight in my opinion, but a “bad” stormlight book is still a GREAT book.

[BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Incredible discussion! I was engaged with all the plotlines and didn’t even mind the open ended nature of the ending. The prose choices and overexplanation of character feelings continually took me out of my immersion though which would be my two biggest critiques of the book.

[pixiestyx]

I also loved the book. I think Brandon has earned our trust by always being clear with his communication and timelines, and following through with what he says he will write. I'm just enjoying the ride.

[edwinleskin]

Open ending? That critique makes no sense to me at all. Things seem quite clear cut to me. We got a new [redacted] and the conflict on roshar is done. The next steps begin.

[anoushkaps]

"i don't think we've got that kind of relationship yet." HAHAHA HELP THIS WAS SO FUNNY

[TheValentino]

i loved the book, i went in blind without seeing any review or even watch or read any predictions and i love it, English is not my first language and it took me 15 days to read it. but again i loved rhythms of war and a lot people didn't like it.

[GeekShiek]

There were some decent high parts, but it felt like all of my least favorite sanderson qualities came to the front here. It felt roughly handled compared to some of his other work. Im still on board, and im interested to see how WaT reads after all 10 books are out

[lachlankidd]

I personally think the ending was one of the strongest aspects of the book. Spoilers for Wind and Truth (and some for Sunlit Man) below.
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First, I disagree that their was a lack of resolution. Each of the character's arcs were (at least mostly) resolved before the end. Adolin's independence, Szeth dealing with his traumatic past, Dalinar's mission to unite, etc. I would even go as far as to say 3 primary viewpoints were fully resolved for the purposes of Stormlight: Dalinar, Szeth, and Sigzil (we know that he goes worldhopping after this with Aux).

Second, the expectation that Sanderson has set up for the endings of his books - especially Stormlight - is that a crazy plot twist (or several) will occur that have massive implications for the following book. So going in to the final book of an arc, knowing that there will be a time jump, I expected the biggest example of that to happen, not for that to be subverted. It was never going to be like Mistborn Era 1/2 which had very few recurring characters between eras and a long time jump, we already knew that at least a significant portion of characters would be returning in the second arc.

I also think it's important to note that each of the characters had very hopeful endings, even if they weren't happy, which is probably a part of why I'm satisfied by the end.

[hammerandthewrench]

i hate this book, unfortunately, even more than the rhythm of war. I'm sad, I really liked the 1st 3 but what strange shift. I will always respect an artist and will not tell them what the should have done but my feelings for the series has fallen to all time low. I hope everyone enjoys the second arc but I will not be reading that. I invested too much time into this series to disappointed, never again lol (no offense to anyone who LOVES this book, you are valid, this is just me.)

[arabellawillow]

I think we care about your opinion because you have a very clear way of explaining why you feel the way you do. And your entertaining while you do it 😅 I think I mostly felt very similar to you about WaT .. thanks for doing this one 🤙🏼

Congradulations on the release of your trilogy! 🎉

[LouiseXSparrow]

I agree the cliff hanger is a problem with this, it was really built up up as the end of an era and although it is, its also very much a middle book which left it as disappointing. There was q more satisfying ending to each of the first 4 books, and I think how people feel about this is going to depend a great deal on the next book in 8 years time. Another thing was that its really getting to the point where you need to have read the rest of the Cosmere books... I think it needed to be a satisfying series in its own right before we got to that point.

With the pacing and length, I think it could have been two books because honestly with so many plotlines some of it felt rushed and underdeveloped. Personally I loved the R&R plotline, but for those characters it felt like it came out of nowhere, I think we needed to spend more time with them and their order and bring them to the fore earlier.

[TravellingGoof]

Your reaction has been my first view into what W&T has been like. I've seen zero review, reactions, or responses until this point, but I saw yours and trusted your voice. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book!

[lightningtiger]

I really disagree with the whole Sanderson didn’t earn his audience’s trust. I think he has done this with other series where we’ve reached satisfying conclusions, but it’s this one where he’s consistently asking his audience to go along with him. I think it’s because this is the /biggest/ series that we want that conclusion so badly and the fact he just doesn’t do that is a bit frustrating.

I will say that I actually do like opening endings as much as satisfying conclusions. The fact that we have to just sit with this feeling for years, but we know we will eventually come back is a unique feeling that I’ve only ever gotten from the ending of the First Law and the Age of Madness by Joe Abercrombie.

Great video, by the way! Really love how you broke down your feelings and thoughts even without a script.