In my last post, I talked about my favorite book in the Stormlight Archive, which naturally sets the stage for the follow up. Where I see diverse opinions about which book is the best, I see unity in choosing the worst book. I also want to be clear that I enjoy, appreciate and respect even the “worst” of Brandon Sanderson’s works. It likely comes as no surprise to most out there to hear that my least favorite of the Stormlight Archive is Wind and Truth. Obviously, the rest of this blog post will contain spoilers for Wind and Truth, and the four previous books.
I’ll start out with some of the things I loved in Wind and Truth, because it has some good elements.
Adolin’s and Yanagawn’s story was pretty awesome. We even see Dalinar foreshadowing this when he tells Yanagawn that he may one day be the ruler who stands alone way back in book 2 if I recall. That’s pretty cool. The siege of Azimir was my favorite part of the book by far. Yet, I do have a minor complaint. To me, it strained credibility that Adolin would survive that fight with a fused so recently after losing a limb. Brandon offered some narrative explanations about Zahel’s training and whatnot, but it still felt a bit like plot armor to me.
Jasna’s debate with Teravangian/Odium was great. This showed the kind of long payoff storytelling that I love with Sanderson when moments way back in book one turned out to have huge implications. Perhaps I enjoyed it in part because I personally don’t agree with a utilitarianism viewpoint where the ends justify the means, and seeing Jasna get crushed for that felt satisfying.
Retribution is going to be fascinating. I am excited and curious to see where the Voidlight Archive (As I hear the back five will be called) is going to go with this development. I am curious if Retribution is going to matter in the later books on Scadriel.
Now, on to a meatier discussion about the frustrations I have with Wind and Truth.
The Oathpact
This part of the story was my biggest disappointment, and it honestly hits so hard because I expected more from Brandon. When I read Sanderson, and I see something that feels off, I eagerly anticipate the resolution to the issue. The problem is that Brandon set such a high bar with Misborn Era 1. When I finished The Well of Ascenscion, I had a million questions and honestly felt confused. I doubted that the next book was going to wrap it all up. Then Brandon blew me away with Hero of Ages and the way it hit every “huh?” and put it all together. All through the Stormlight Archive, the nature of the Oathpact bugged me. As such, I had come to expect something delightful and engaging around its origin.
I really struggle to accept that a shard of Adolnasium, with the capacity to comprehend infinities and extrapolate distant outcomes would ever accept an arrangement like the Oathpact. How could none of them see the problem in dooming ten once-mortal, fallible humans to repeatedly endure torture for thousands of years? How could Honor be so dumb? As the series unfolded, I craved and anticipated a fascinating and satisfying answer to those questions. I expected Hero of Ages level wow moments, and got what feels like the weakest storytelling I’ve seen from Sanderson.
In the Oathpact, we get a scene that feels more like a bunch of guys drinking by a campfire when Honor says “Dude, Odium did something dangerous. Hold my beer. I have an epic idea that will be totes awesome.” There was no indication that they were in an inescapable plight, trapped by other failures and outmaneuvered into a desperate gambit to stave off defeat. It just felt like Honor had a whim, and nine guys said “Sure, condemn us to repeated torture. What could possibly go wrong?” At least Taln showed some reluctance. Where was Hoid? The figure whose magic puts him where he needs to be, was desperately needed at this discussion to shout “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” Even if Tanavast was the Cosmere’s equivalent of Jar Jar Binks (as it would require that level of bumbling incompetence to propose this solution under anything but inescapable duress), how could nine world leaders so casually agree?
Some may defend it by saying that they didn’t understand the nature of their pain with each return, to which I say that is a further demonstration of Honor’s sheer idiocy. As a shard of infinity, with incredible capacity to see and understand, he should have grasped the inevitable outcome and been completely open about it. Where’s the Honor in binding someone to an oath you don’t even begin to comprehend? I would argue that Honor’s intent would resist the betrayal the Oathpact represented. Regardless of if it was ignorance or deception, shepherding his loyal servants to that fate was antithetical to every notion of honor. Though perhaps that is something Honor’s intent still needed to learn?
I had similar hopes to see the Recreance make sense as it screamed “something is missing here,” when we first learned of it. That aspect of Wind and Truth was pretty good, which only makes the Oathpact feel even more disappointing. Maybe more about the Oathpact’s founding will come to light in the last five in the series, but that seems unlikely given the nature of the Spiritual Realm in the Cosmere. The story we got feels pretty authoritative.
Dalinar and Szeth’s Themes
I enjoyed Szeth’s story but ultimately found aspects of it very unsatisfying. It hits the worst when we see a ridiculous double standard with Dalinar vs Szeth. Why is it that Dalinar stands up and essentially says “No excuses. I own the atrocities I committed, and accept the consequences,” but Szeth gets to claim extenuating circumstances? When I look at both of their stories, I am inclined to say the complete opposite. Dalinar was under magical manipulation from the Thrill, one of Odium’s Unmade. Magic was literally messing with his brain and amplifying existing character flaws to an extreme. How is that not an extenuating circumstance?
Contrast that with Szeth. Szeth’s upbringing was tragic, and the society that molded him was genuinely messed up, but we see numerous places in the book where Szeth’s narration explicitly states that he knows what he is doing is wrong, but he does it anyway. He literally offloaded all responsibility for his murders and atrocities onto an unremarkable rock. There was no magic. There was deliberate choice. Szeth as a character always has chosen to defer his agency and his moral compass elsewhere. When that leads him to do terrible things, that’s on him. I don’t see extenuating circumstances there. Even his final triumph with “I am the law,” being the moment he stops deferring to others demonstrates that he always had that capacity, and thus he is accountable for what he did.
Even therapist Kaladin (another area where Wind and Truth didn’t work IMO, but this blog post is already getting long) stated that depression or other forms of mental illness don’t excuse evil actions, but they may contextualize them. I can understand and appreciate Brandon’s effort to show that context and circumstances matter, which is ultimately what Szeth’s story is trying to say. I just find Szeth’s extenuating circumstances to be pretty weak, especially compared to Dalinar’s. Seeing both of their character arcs and themes conclude in such close proximity with such incongruous contradiction did not work for me.
Cultivation
When Rythm of War ended, I saw Cultivation in a fascinating light. The way that shard had played such a long game to lead Teravangian to such a specific moment was awesome. Then in Wind and Truth it feels like she is now reactionary and panicking. Right now, that contradiction really bothers me. I hope there’s more to that story because it feels like she went from being a Chess Grand Master to a noob in a few short pages.
Blackthorn
I find the way Retribution gets access to an evil Dalinar to be supremely unsatisfying. Retribution doesn’t need him, and it feels like it really weakens the significance of Dalinar’s final choices. It also felt kind of hand-wavey to me in a way I don’t usually expect from Sanderson.
Final Thoughs
I reiterate that even the “worst” from Sanderson is still incredible work. If I spend more time on the critique, it’s because I learn as much if not more from critiques than I do from other analysis. Just as my issues with the Wheel of Time inform and influence my writing choices, I find it instructive to explore learnings from a book like Wind and Truth.
