I have quite enjoyed the Stormlight Archive series; Wind and Truth is the fifth in a 10 novel series. It is hard to summarize a book that sits right in the middle of a really planned out high fantasy series, but for folks who are not familiar, I will try. The series is set on a word called Roshar, and the background for everything is that the majority of the human population has been at war with another species for eons. Even within the humans, there is a strictly enforced caste system and terrible infighting. Separate from these people, ideas and concepts like anger or honour can have physical form and sentience on Roshar; these are called spren and can team up with people to practice certain magical abilities. The series follows characters from those three main groups as many of them try to find a different path than endless warfare, both physical and mental.
I appreciate Sanderson’s prolific output, but I feel like as with many long running and popular series (*cough* G.R.R. Martin *cough*) the books start to sprawl and the editors seem to lose control. With the Stormlight Archive series, Sanderson seems to be intent on building out quite an extensive world, which is fun. However, he is widening his focus PLUS there is a four year gap between this book and the last PLUS the book is just so long. It’s a lot to take in, and I had to do a fair amount of background catching up to recall who some of the characters were and what some of the references meant. I do not have as much patience for that kind to thing as I used to have, so in that way I found this book a little irritating.
In terms of this book, there were a few aspects I particularly enjoyed. In particular, I appreciate the characters reflecting on their mental health; one of the focal characters suffers from depression and over the series has learned to better understand himself, manage his depression, and now is working on helping others with their own mental health struggles. This storyline is explicit, not implied, and it’s such an interesting approach in a high fantasy novel. The other aspect I appreciate is that many of the men characters are reflecting on their feelings and past behaviour, and are actively working to change and be better people. It is genuinely interesting to see how they progress and how their focus changes to become both better romantic partners as well as supporting their communities and peoples. Adolin and Dalinar, in particular, think a lot about forgiveness, regret and actively demonstrating love and appreciation – it’s quite refreshing.
One aspect I continue to not enjoy, however, is the lack of development for the women characters. There are simply fewer of them, they generally don’t demonstrate particular development over the course of the series (Shaman being an exception) and all of them are somehow involved or defined to a certain extent by their relationships with the men. It is consistent and a little discouraging. I would also note I think this book contains the first romantic/sex scene I have ever read in a Sanderson book, and it was kind of hard to follow and not particularly compelling.
This is not a series where you can kind of pick up any of the books and pick up enough to be able to enjoy it on its own. The Stormlight Archive has a lot of lore built in, and it can be overwhelming. This particular novel was not my favourite, but I do enjoy them overall also will read the sixth when it is released in a few years. And will be irritated anew, probably.