Unless he gets more depth and becomes more interesting again Im kinda feeling like he just should have had some extra resolution with Kaladin at the end of Rhythm of War and then died at the end.
His character is being handled so poorly by Brandon. There is literally no reason for him to be alive just randomly getting two scenes to kill a character and fuck off.
I need to say it somewhere spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler TALN WAS THE FIRST TO JOIN THE NEW OATHPACT! HE WAS THE FIRST! THE MAN WHO DID NOT BREAK! the balls on that man are Cosmere-sized.
@@CosmereHorizons it's very specifically pointed out and I found it amazing! As soon as the Heralds were called, Taln appeared and was the first to enter. He didn't even know the new Pact was different--for all he knew, Taln was signing up for a new eternity of torture. Your review was probably my favourite so far--one thing I will point out though, this was very much a mental health book I think. It makes reading it odd since I think we were all expecting a magic fight book with big magic and explosions and stuff, but instead it changes the way we're supposed to see every book that came before, tells us (spells it out veeery slowly) that it's always been about broken people, and the promises they make, and exactly how they can be better. It's more evident here than ever, and to be fair yes the prose gets in the way of the cool--but it also makes it so the book *exactly* spells out how to approach some (very basic, but not less important) mental health. I think all the space afforded to spelling out a simple, but not obvious, message will help a lot of younger readers. If I'd had this book a couple years ago in my teens, I would absolutely have wept. It would've broken me.
Imo the point of that debate wasn't to show how smart she is or for her to convince Fen not to join Odium. It was to completely strip her of everything she thought she was so she can grow into something else..for better or worse
I think Kaladin's arch was my favorite for the whole series. In the beginning of this book he was trying to redefine himself. He thought he had to choose between being the soldier and the therapist. And he had to realize he could do both, because in the long run, he still wants to protect.
The Jasnah debate was great imo. Yes, she's smarter than that, but Todium played her perfectly to counter or nullify her strengths Giving her warning so she stayed up all night preparing made her go in fatigued, which would have been OK against another smart human, but fatal against a god. Then saying she will make his points for him put her on the back foot, made her doubt and rethink everything she says And lastly he forced her into scholar mode, and we've seen many times how Fen reacts better to straight human emotion and realism than politics and wordy speeches The words in the debate might have had some room for improvement, but the story of it was perfect
Yes! When Odium proposed a debate I groaned, but it was great! It made perfect sense for the characters. I was, if not convinced odium was right, was convinced that Fen joining him was a reasonable decision for her. And like you said Fen likes straightforwardness, it felt very true to character all around.
Loved the way you distilled Kal's arc. I think I'm the odd one out that thinks what Brandon did with him makes perfect sense: he'd completed his revolution around the "hero's journey" and as he's making his second go around the journey wheel, he played the mentor character in someone else's story "hero's journey", which is a cool intertwining of the stories. Even the scene where he fought made sense to me because it didn't seem reasonable the he would leave szeth to die given the paths he's taken. It's not like he's chosen to be a pacifist, just stepping back from something that's unhealthy for him... Until the changes within him continue to grow him to a place where choosing to embrace both the healer and the warrior is also representative of becoming an integrated and fulfilled person... I love it so much, I'm getting goosebumps
You're explaining it really well. Everything I love about Kaladin in this book is summarized by what you just said. I think I need to sit with it more so I will love it even more on a reread
Im very glad to find a review that matched my feelings almost spot on. I loved the book and was surprised when i saw some negative reviews. Agree with you 100% on Jasnah. Regarding Therapy being elementary...Kaladin has only just started getting his own head around how to deal with depression, of course his understanding is going to elementary. Also im certain that most people who complain about the level of therapy would also be the people that would complain if we got deeper into, citing that it shouldnt be a self help book, it should be a fantasy novel. Also if he added more depth, it would increase the word count in an already absurd 1300+ page book. Which people already complain is too long. I felt that the therapy was streamlined for us and that Sanderson found a very nice balance between introducing the themes and not letting it get in the way of the plot. We got enough to get a wise understanding but not too much to overload us. Anyone that uses this atgument is just trying to show off.
Man i couldn’t put into words why the criticism towards kaladin therapy bother me so much but you 100% hit the nail, although i haven’t gone to therapy myself so I suppose i don have the experience to talk about the topic, but from my point of view is insane that people expects kaladin to be a certified therapist after like two weeks of trying to help people with their mental health problems.
Dude, your set up, editing, and overall presentation are WAY better than 395 subscribers. I looked down and saw that number and was SHOCKED there weren't three zeroes after it.
@@coreymiller7317 Hahaha, thank you!!! The growth on the channel has been far more than I could have expected but I’m excited to see where this thing goes!!
I feel like people are only focusing on the negatives more than the positives. There are a lot more positives in the story. I was happy that it subverted my expectations of Kaladin. I was sad when Dalinar died, but it was necessary. Great review.
I actually really respect this take. The subverted expectations is why I think I will like it more on a reread because I will have my expectations set accordingly!
Well, let’s consider the incredible amount of hype the book had and the instant!! best seller status. So if something is so well sold you expect to be better than the previous ones, right? Yet the prose dropped significantly. The story… not that bad but for example you can’t be serious that in 2 days you cure mental health problems as Kaladin did. So far Brando Sando’s goal was to represent mental health not to make a magic joke of it. “Let’s talk and all the sudden it all will be ok”. ☝️Really? That ruined the rep part he built for 4 books. So we can go on.
@@nazimelmardi I do believe that it was more than two days. I don't think their mental health is cure. They're learning how to deal with it. The timeline has probably been accelerated. People do get talked out of suicide in less time, but they are still dealing with their depression. Everyone deal with their mental health differently. Some are more severe than others. We had seen Dalinar, Shallan, and Kaladin deal with their mental state for four books. The writing definitely gone down a little. I don't read Sanderson for the writing either.
@@Blackhobbit86bro, he literally just talked out a mental health patient out in a few minutes from his state to an other state. (The Herold) You might be able to talk out someone to not jump off from a bridge because most of the cases these are cries for helps the real attempts? You can’t stop. They will succeed. I personally had a person who I was with on a trip this year with our friends and next weekend he shot himself. We didn’t know he had any issues. He was happy and was on a trip in the mountains with us. That’s how reality works. You can’t stop if someone wants to do it. But if it’s therapy you can’t change things in minutes. Or even in 1-2 days. The person has to get to the conclusion. And someone who dealt with it for a thousand years just decided that “ok, from now I do it your way?” That’s not a thing or anyone could convince him over the centuries… the same goes to our favorite assassin. He needed only some kind words and he started to think about his life because he never did it before? Bro. What we had about Dalinar is pretty good. He had to live a full life cycle and experience everything until he realized what’s his worth and how he could be better. That’s a really good arc in mental health combined!!! with story. And that’s the other issue with this book. The mental health is pushed too much. It’s boring basically because it’s explained and we don’t need this much information. That’s just one of the unnecessary info dumps. This book is 1400 pages and one of the reasons is mental health over the top not really fitting into the story that good as before. We can take any character in this book and every single one of them is discussed only based on their mental health. It’s now boring. Adolin: “poor guy always compared himself to daddy” - we heard it before it’s repetitive. Don’t write it 3 times into this book. Also we heard it that he likes to remember the names of the soldiers (that’s not a good idea for high level military officers by the way), also repeated in the book not once. Everything is repetition. The last 10% was really good but everything else was very strange even in comparison to the other books of his. And I read his books from the release of Elantris. I feel that he is now going too far with selling whatever because he knows we will buy it. Quality really doesn’t matter.
This is my favorite stormlight book. I didn’t want to say that at first, to make sure it’s not recency bias, but if you disagree hear me out This book was jam packed with amazing moments. Gav coming out 20 years older, szeth getting pulled into shadesmar for a 2v1 out of nowhere, shallan infiltrating the ghostbloods, kaladin vs nale, adolins ENTIRE arc, jasnah vs odium, taln fighting back And more But the main thing that impressed me was that I found three times where a moment all the way from 13 years ago, the way of kings, became relevant to the plot in this book. Kaladin playing the same song that wit played for him to nale. Odium bringing up the time when jasnah killed three men in the streets of karbrahnth Gav watching Dalinar attack elhokar in the spirit realm
My read of the mink part was that that greatshell was one of the reshi isles greatshells and perhaps all of them attacked and reclaimed herdaz. Its a pay of to the begining of the wandersail nevella, between the Lopen and the reshi kings son
Of all of the reviews I’ve watched for Wind and Truth, this most aligned with my own feelings. Thanks! Especially thank you for reminding me of the dropped thread about the Elsegate Unmade. I’ll be a bit sad in the future if it does become a threat to Taravangian but we missed some real character establishment. Maybe just one more El POV to show a conversation between them would have been great for both characters. But overall I’m thrilled how all of the arcs resolved and to see what comes next!
As a former debate kid the first big lesson I learned was not to get put on the defensive. That was my biggest problem with Jasnah’s debate scene. She’s supposed to be the best at this and she made a fairly elementary mistake. I’ve seen people saying that this was to show her weakness and I can agree with that. My other issue was Odium “letting her think she was winning” to put her at ease. This threw me off since we know Jasnah almost never lets her guard down. If Odium is the ultra intelligent debate beast we are supposed to believe he is then why did he try to bait her this way? It shouldn’t have worked.
These points are valid really actually, as someone who never debated I was able to suspend my disbelief but I totally understand where you are coming from
I really liked this book. It may be the easiest read and best paced book in the series. Only felt bored during the Jazz-nuh chapters. It did wonders for Adolin and even more for Shallan. I hope she becomes more like-able, since she was bottom tier until book 5. I can’t love WaT due to the copious amount of therapy speak in the characters’ heads. I get the prose complaints but for me it’s just the fact that everyone was so self aware of their mental health issues using so much professional therapy talk it just drove me crazy. I don’t mind knowing what is going on in someone’s head, or being told rather than shown, but I just hate the therapy self talk.
I largely agree with most of this. I thought the destruction of Kharbranth was an amazing moment, but greatly cheapened by the reveal at the end. I’m working my way through the book for a second time before making a review. But I will say it seems like there were more “half measures” than I expected. Sanderson seemed like he wanted to drastically change the status quo AND keep lots of options on the table for things in the future and characters to keep around. It almost felt like he was fighting with his own hard magic systems at times. Thank you for your review. This was a nice video.
I wonder how much of that had to do with the thing where he wrote multiple endings for the beta team but then kinda mixed and matched stuff to create this final version. I think I liked the part where kharbranth is safe in the spiritual realm. I've heard people complain that it makes look weak and less credible of a threat. But I disagree. I think it is important to show that he is, in the end, a hypocrite (and not the good kind like Dalinar) and that Dalinar ultimately had a better read on him than vice versa. Coupled with the fact that he has mind wiped the population and planted false memories, it makes his danger more credible, i.e., he wants to create a 1984 style "utopia" when he talks about bringing order and peace to the Cosmere. Regarding the "Blackthorn", I initially didn't like it on face value. And I am still unsure about the greater implications this has on the mechanics of the Cosmere. That being said, i think it will be interesting in the long run to finally have the version of dalinar that everyone feared. A version where he learned the wrong lesson because it didn't come with time and effort and it will be important for the shard of honor to see it so that it can appreciate and learn the lesson he was trying to teach about change and redemption. I will reserve judgment on it until we get the second arc. I've heard people say that this should have been put in later books as a reveal. But I feel like people would have complained even then. Hell people even complain about kelsier being brought back. So imo it's neither here nor there. But I get why people would be upset.
I feel very similarly. I enjoyed the book the whole way through to one extent or another. But at the end I still somewhat felt disapointed that it was not the book I wanted or expected it to be. It is an incredible experience for what it is but it could have (perhaps should have) been so much more.
I was getting through the cognitive realm chapters because of the pacing and seeing where he was going with that, but what was all that for? The contest felt like a lot of build up to not what we expected. Having 3 people give up oaths seems like an odd choice too.
Yeah, in hindsight having Szeth, Sigzil, and Dalinar all give up their oaths was a weird choice and kinda cheapened the big moment when Dalinar did it. I think it could have been cool if Sigzil had a moment where he “knew what he needed to do” but couldn’t do it (kinda like when Kal failed to swear the 4th ideal in OB but this time it’s Sigzil unable to break his bond). This would lead to Vienta’s death and the symbolic death of Sigizil as the leader of the Windrunners and would hint at or foreshadow someone breaking their oaths without actually doing so. Idk, maybe this wouldn’t be a much better change, I just felt that Dalinar breaking his bonds was really the big, awesome moment and it would have been more impactful if the concept was more novel instead of the third time instance of someone breaking their oaths.
@@jacobyoung9981we already knew what was going to happen with Sig, so not doing it was impossible. There is the entire Adolin storyline spreading you that oaths are not the only thing off importance. We have the entire cognitive realm arc showing that oaths and honors dogmatic adherence too then is one of the key reasons we’re in the need we’re in. And you have Zseth learning that he can think for himself and does not need to rely on an outside compass. The entire book leads up to these things they don’t come out of no where or cheapen anything.
@@TrickieRickyThat’s fair. I guess my point was Sigzil’s spren could have been killed instead of him breaking his oaths (I don’t think sunlit man specifically said he broke his oaths, although I could be misremembering). Regardless, I personally think having two other people renounce their oaths made Dalinar’s moment less shocking and novel, thereby cheapening the moment for me. Subjective difference of opinion, we can agree to disagree. I do like your point though that a major theme throughout the book was that oaths should sometimes be broken if it is right to do so. I still think this theme could have been present without requiring three characters to renounce their oaths, but you make a good point nevertheless.
For me, I didn’t mind the over explaining. I am the kind of reader where things can go way over my head, so I enjoyed having it explained to me. 😂 overall, I love when a book subverts my expectations where it feels earned, and I think Sanderson achieves that with where the characters end up. In my head, I was seeing a clash of Gods but I’m thinking that’ll be the end of arc 2.
Why do people think it's bad???? I find that really confusing. It's one of the few modern series that isn't Grimm dark or really nihilistic! Not doing the types of tropes that make me start to hate quite a bit of modern fantasy! Ahh... Proes and expectations... Ahh.... Did the audiobook the first come through... So I can multitask. I think the proes might have seemed a little better than it really was with good voice actors! As far as expectations I haven't heard some rumors that made me think they were just going to kill off most of our favorite characters so.. This was better than that! 😁 One of my biggest issues was Moash having no transition between guilt and immense pain and buying in completely in a scene, without having the pain taken away or dealing with the guilt in any way... He just became a cardboard cut out villain all of a sudden. All of his complexity was just gone.
I think you nailed something that’s been bugging me since I finished the book. Since this book is a conclusion of sorts, I think I was also expecting a big finale where every character and storyline comes together. And this book just isn’t that. Maybe I will like it better on a reread now that I know what this book is.
You voiced my thoughts on this book very well! As a budding author myself that holds Brando Sando as my idol, I was quite disappointed to see the overexplaining/padding in pretty much everywhere. The mental health stuff didn't concern me much at first, though the more I read, the more some... "off-note" rang in my head about it. Your explanation makes sense. I like the simple prose, but as someone who's been in a critique group that have whacked me on the head many times for over-explanation in my prose (likely because I obtained it from Sanderson), I'm surprised Sanderson (for all his resources and experience) got this much overexplanation through in the last book (of the first arc) of his magnum opus. Also I didn't like the Blackthorn thing at the end either. I think I actually scrunched my face up when listening to it. I SHOULD like it. The idea sounds amazing! But eh... Seems cheap to do it so soon after our Dalinar died.
I definitely feel you when you talk about expectations not being met, and i learned my lesson with Rhythm of War. I went into that thinking it would be something very different, and was surprised and frustrated when most of the book was Kaladin without powers in Uritheru doing a Die Hard movie. That being said, going back and rereading it, i actually really love Rhythm of War, now that i know ehat to expect, and now i really enjoy the Die Hard Kaladin stuff. I feel like it really prepared me to be more open and trust where Brandon was going with Wind and Truth, so i didnt let my expectations get in the way of the story. I think a reread will really help settle some of those frustrations. As for the prose, i think the majority of the blame falls to Brandon's new editor, who might not be as comfortable giving Brandon feedback and correction as his previous one
@@masonandreasen8050 Really good point about Rhythm of War That’s why I think a reread of Wind and Truth would be great Also yeah I heard he got a new editor, I feel as though the criticism will ultimately help brandon address the issue and the future books will be even better
I think writing feels even more off because we are generally used to see him get better and not worse, especially after quality we got in the secret projects.
Finished the book last night and I’m very satisfied with where things ended. I was expecting essentially “a loss” to Odium in this book because there’s a time skip and 5 more books. As far as where every character ended up, I’m very happy with it. I love how certain events or “lessons” from WoK and WoR became relevant in this book (for Jasnah and Dalinar). Adolin has been my favorite character since WoR so this book was amazing for him. Adolin is the most organically developed character in the whole cosmere I think! For the negatives, lot of over explaining, bloat, and dialogue that comes across very immature at times. But that doesn’t take away from my love of the story. I’ve come to expect this reading Sanderson and am able to roll with it. Over explaining and bloat can be seen in Oathbringer and RoW (and Mistborn era2). But that is Brandon’s style and I’ve come to expect that it is what it is. I still love the characters, I love the world and I love the story being told so I’m not going to let the other things take away my enjoyment.
@@stefanie3225 great way to express the problems with it, it definitely is his style… while i think it was a little too much in this book I have faith in him to make adjustments for the future
Finished the book at 7AM on New Year's Day and... yeah. Love it or hate it, there's a lot to say. Right now, I THINK I love it. I had simillar problems to the ones you brought up, but DAMN does this book hit. (And Adolin rulez.) But this is such a big book. Time will tell how we really feel about it. Anyway, great review. Easiest subscribe ever. Looking forward to more stuff from you.
Adolin was my favorite character in this book the entire time, his internal drama and the juxtaposition of how he thinks of himself through the eyes of his father with how he comes off to everyone that serves with him. The Szeth flashbacks were great as well, but probably my favorite part in the whole book was the debate with Jasnah and Todium, so many great character moments and such my great writing. Loved it. For me it was an 8/10. I wish I woulda got more Kaladin. My only real complaint.
I love that you kept replying and adding on. You get my energy... it's literally how I film my videos lol. I agree with the Kaladin statement. Yes yes yes I agree with everything you said.
I think the biggest factor that magnifies the negatives so much for people is that when a book is this anticipated and people have Invested (pun intended) this much into something they develop a headcanon for how they want the story to go. Then, when the story doesn’t follow their headcanon, it’s immediately a turnoff. I started the SA in May and only finished RoW in September, so I didn’t have too many established expectations and found the book spectacular.
I agree with this a lot, actually. Expectations are a huge part of the disappointment in this book's plotting. Which is why I think this book will be much much better for me on a re-read.
That's exactly what happened to me. I read The Way of Kings 13 years ago. Imagine all the expectations I had for Book Five over those years. My disappointment was crushing.
@@fcyrax4503 To this day thats why I havent even TOUCHED A Song of Ice and Fire. I love to theorize but the prospect of having to wait so long for an answer tells me I would develop such a head canon that anything else would feel like a different book
I loved Adolin’s character. But I wasn’t very engaged with the whole defense of Azir plot. It seemed obvious to me that the city was going to fall but they were going to hold the throne to save the city at the end. And him slaying 6-8 singers with his sword in a melee and fighting Abadi the Monarch on 1 leg made me roll my eyes. I felt like there should have more of a consequence to him losing a leg than him having slightly worse balance.
First video I watched of yours and I really enjoy your takes and explanation of your thoughts! Well done. It also helps that I agree with many of your sentiments (you just put it more eloquently than I could have)!
While I've seen quite a few critical reviews, I have seen very few outright negative ones. Even my review, which comes off as rather down on the book, still ultimately landed at a 4 out of 5. I think we can be critical of the things we enjoy and I feel you did an excellent job of balancing your reaction to various elements in your review. I do think the books have been going down in my personal enjoyment since Oathbringer, but I am going to stick with the series and want to read the last few Cosmere books I've yet to get to, so the shortcomings of the book clearly weren't bad enough to get me off the series. Like you, I was just expecting something different from this ending. Felt there were too many monologues and too much in the way of directly stating characters feelings. Would have loved to see the characters come back together at the end for a big finale.
Got to massively disagree with most of your points on negative. The whole point of this book is to set the stage for SA6 onwards. You came in as you say yourself with expections you seem to have set based on your own preferences and are bothered that those wasn't met. I really enjoyed the book. Dalinar did die, Ret has just made a copy based on the memories of Dalinar. It's not him. He's very dead. This is a warped clone creature that lacks physical form. The characters being spread was one of my favourite parts of the book. We're not watching a cheesy avengers flick where they all meet up at the end and go "It's Kaladinin time" and we Kaladin all over the big baddy. Oathbringer did do that and it was surprisingly good because it built for a whole book, but it makes sense for this to the Empire Strikes back to our episode IV. I do agree he over explains the feelings at some points, mainly around Renarin and Rlain. It feels very much like straight white man is afraid to be misunderstood when writing an LGBT romance which is a shame when he did Wax and Steris so well. Adolin's whole arc was so good because he wasn't around other radiants. All our MCs are radiant at this stage so makes sense he goes off by himself. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
To add to your Dalinar point, it specifically said that it was basically a cognitive shadow of the Blackthorn that a piece of Dalinar Connected with when he broke the vision and protected Evi.
Thanks for being so respectful about your disagreement! I think this book will go only up in my mind due to my expectations. Because on re-reads I'll have my expectations set accordingly, which will help!
@@CosmereHorizons I think he describes it like a spren - “the Blackthorn… it was a legend…. for things people thought about came alive.” He also describes Dalinar’s soul as slipping away into the Beyond which imo implies either he is dead dead or his soul has been taken up by some other power.
Give the man his editor back. Bro writes the most cringe, terrible humor in history and then every other character starts clapping and mentioning how witty and cool that was. The tone shift from his earlier works to this is quite jarring (even tho he always sucked at writing humor and romances).
Great review. Perfectly put into words a lot of the things I was feeling without knowing why. Definitely had that "this book feels off" feeling but still had a blast reading it and so excited to go back to finishing Mistborn Era 2 and super excited for Era 3 and the Cosmere going forward. Particularly Lyft and Zahel. Seeing 2031 for Stormlight 6 stings a little though 😂, but I get it, writing books takes time
I know, getting 4 secret projects in a year and then having to wait seems tough... but then you realize Sanderson has been spoiling us lol I just feel bad for the song of ice and fire fandom
@CosmereHorizons True and its not like its 6-8 years of wait with nothing, its like 6-8 books in that time 🤣 Not to mention, I still have 2 Mistborn E2 books, Elantris, and Warbreaker. I just started Sanderson's books early last year.
Adolin’s arc was great right up until he somehow defeated a being thousands of years old on a freaking peg leg. I don’t care how good Adolin is. He should barely be able to walk, let alone dodge and weave after having lost his leg THAT DAY and stumping around on a peg leg. It made no sense and really took me out of the story. If you wanted to make him lose his leg, why not make him fight the fused with both legs and then somehow defeat him, yet need to sacrifice his leg to do it. Would have made way more sense. I have a lot of other issues with the book, but it also had some of the highest highs in SA (and some of the lowest lows). Sits with RoW toward the bottom of my SA ranking.
Honestly thats a good example of what bothers me most about sandersons writing. Sometimes things are so unrealistic, and characters stand no chance. And then they come through it anyways. I cannot believe he put a crippled person unarmed into a fight vs an ancient fused, with shard plate and shard blade. It pulled me so out of the epicness of that moment. This happened at the end of mistborn for me too, and secret history made that worse. Just a few little moments in other stormlight books too.
Happy to see a positive review! I really enjoyed the book and its my second favorite ending, 3rd favorite overall behind WoR and Oathbringer. Seeing all the negative reviews was getting me down.
For me, it's my 3rd favorite and my 3rd favorite ending lol. Seeing the negative reviews is a bit of a bummer, I will be making a video soon discussing the hate about it. Don't let anybody's negative reviews get you down, if you liked the book, great!! Trust me when I say there are a bunch of people who agree with you.
Excellent review of the main points in the book, after reading it I felt the same, that it was very good but didn’t come together as I thought it would. Happy to see your video though as it feels like a lot of the negative reviewers are narrow minded in their reviews and are broadly branding the book as ‘trash’ Excited for the next 5 books, keep up the good breakdowns!!
So this was nice, because I just uploaded my review and people in the comments seem to have read a different book from me, and watching this review where I basically agreed with everything was validating Also just really good review man
I feel like there's fear (or even shame) to criticize this book out of respect for Sanderson. Every "good" aspect mentioned in several reviews are just superficial, "stuff" that the Stormlight Archive was already doing fine. It's a sluggish book, with some token characters, terrible prose and I will say what people can't... it's a money grabber.
I have the same feelings. The Szeth/Kaladin was like a videogame. Go from boss to boss and you know they will get to the final boss. They won't fail. It's not that kind of story. Kaladin doing therapy is useful to some readers who have never heard of it, fair enough but it was very dumb. Many of the dialogues were stupid and there were too many modern terms. Hodium that doesn't kill his family and brings back blackthorn well...I didn't like that. These will be things for books 6-10 to address. With the sex scene in the shower, you knew from the start Shallan would be pregnant and so would probably not die. Not really subtle. Sunlit Man spoiled the arc for 3 characters: Kaladin is mentioned as alive by Seized and Wit is also alive. You know they won't die in Book 5. Adolin's arc. I knew from the moment you had the bad guy naming himself that he would be the big final boss so nothing would kill Adolin until that fight and once we got to the fight it was clear he would not lose because of Maya coming back somehow. Jasnah had to lose because Adolin was not. With the Shattered plains you could tell the singers/radiants would play a key role for the good guys. So he did 1 win, 1 lose, 1 draw. I liked the endings that change everything for roshar. No more stormlight/stormfather, hodium is whole and free, no more war loop. Kal is an herald, seiz leaves, Adolin has the new spren without bond. So I was ok with the ending but jesus, why didn't they work on editing this thing? The answer is probably that they wanted to sell as many copies for Christmas. That's all.
I liked how it ended. but It felt like a YA series after a certain point to me, Im a big brandon sanderson fan. I will always like his work. I do crave more realism in his series. Adolin had alot of plot armor near the end. I had to suspend my disbelief to not be upset. Why did the singers not just kill adolin and friends im the hallway of the throne room? like sure a duel is cool writing, but its them winning an empire. They had literally hundreds number advantage. Im expected to believe no other fused or singers would aact on their own in this cirucumstance? instead they follow the orders of a crazy fused. Why did L not do anything about venly taking narak? the contest had no mention of a 3rd party of keeping land, or am I mistaken? Also the mental health of nail, and ishar changing so quickly was wierd to me. I understand its due to the reminants of odiums power affecting ishar, kinda like how the lord ruler was corrupted by ruin over the years. Reguardless it felt hollow.
@CosmereHorizons haha absolutely. Your ability to speak coherently and fluidly for long periods without cuts is impressive! Look forward to watching more. I still think this is a 5 star book and sets the stage for the next part of the series.
Awesome video 💯‼️ Awesome review 😊 It has made me want to read this series. Which is book 1 ? Do you annotate your books ? If you do annotate your books, what’s your process ?
The Way of Kings is book 1! (Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War, Wind and Truth) Absolutely amazing series and I highly recommend! I do not annotate my books, however that was before I was doing reviews for them. I am going to re-read them all soon and will use little sticky notes and put them throughout the book.
Adolin was the highlight for sure. His experiences trying to navigate two cultures and their military doctrine was nuanced, Towers needs to be a game IRL, kaladins arc definitely touched close to home for me. Some of the representation seemed a bit forced tho, and the contemporary prose was a bit immersion breaking at times. 8/10
I'm in chapter 10 and i'll never mentally recover from what just happened, Kaladin used to be so damn cool, why is he talking like a TikTok influencer 😫
Completely agree with your negatives. I felt so conflicted after finishing the book. I trust Sanderson and will let him cook. But he really does not need to explain so much, like you said. I’m most worried about Kaladin in the next arc. Ultimately, I think Brandon just tried to do too much in this book and rushed some parts to make sure he got characters where he wanted them.
Yeah I love Szeth glad to see he's still alive. Glad to get his backstory been super curious about Shinovar. I love the dynamic between Szeth and Nightblood. I think the character and dialogue of Nightblood was off which really bugged me. More rounds of editing required in future. NIGHTBLOOD WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT FOOD. HE/IT ONLY CARES ABOUT DESTRUCTION.
I understand the negative points and I saw them too, it just didn't bother me much when reading the book. It's an amazing book, on par with the other 4 books and I loved every second of it. Sandersons prose is not 100% how I would phrase things, but they are his books so I can accept that without it leaving any negative feelings for me. I think the main issue for people who didn't like the book was they probably had the wrong expectations.
Mink is extremely easy to explain…he got away. On your re-read pay attention to tarvangians thoughts at the end. I am hoping it will explain and help us theorize about Mink in SA6. fyi - I understand your frustration because those were my pain points as well. Oh well! Hoping Brandon takes these criticisms and improves on them by hiring a better editor.
SPOILER.... Dalinar did die. Todium couldn't hold onto his soul as it was claimed by an even higher power, mayhap the God Above All? That thing Todium created, the twisted cognitive shadow? That isn't Dalinar or Dalinar reborn as the Black Thorn. That was Todium, feeling defeated and sorry for himself, trying to make himself feel better. Maybe it will become something more, gain it's own freedom and agency, but it reminded me of one of the last scenes from the Penguin finale where Oz has his gf pretend to be his mom and tell him she was proud of him. Todium needed a Dalinar who affirmed his beliefs, fake or not. And I love how Dalinar denied him at the end. More than anything, Todium, and especially the part that is Taravangian, wanted to be right, justifying his cruelty and expediency at committing mass murder for the good of all. His ego couldn't stand being wrong, and that only gets worse as he becomes Todium. That's why he was obsessed with hearing Dalinar admit he was wrong, he needed that validation, not wanted, needed it! And Dalinar not only denied him, he made him realize that even he agreed with Dalinar that on one if not many Dalinar was right and he was wrong. The scene where he wiped out Carbranth was shocking enough, but to find out that he actually saved it, that they were hidden away, because he loved them and couldn't sacrifice them no matter what, the way he wanted to force Dalinar to strike down Gav. He knew then and there he had lost the argument and Dalinar, dead or not, had won.
Yes Dalinar dies in a literal sense, but he will almost certainly have a role in the second half of the books. So did he really die? Or did he just lose his physical form? Cause I for one think Kelsier is very much alive
The book not bringing everyone together sucked, I think, in a purposeful way. It was bittersweet for most characters. It's not a win, because they can't just win here, it's not a loss, because it's not over yet. They all get together and they don't win but they also can't lose... I'm not sure how I'd write that. I think they had to be on separate journey's, some succeeding some failing in order to land where the story needed to land at this point.
I literally just finished the book, and I reaaaaally liked it. The ending has SO MANY cosmere implications, and man I loved how pretty much every arc ended. But man, there’s so many awful choices. Why did he hype up El at the end of RoW, for there to be next to nothing about him in this book? Where tf did the elsegate come from? Where was like anything about Vyre? Instead, Brandon chose to spend hundreds of pages talking about how characters feel, which is honestly the worst aspect of this book. The plot and characters and everything like that about this book is incredible, but it literally felt so padded with mental health slog. SHOW us, don’t TELL us, PLEASE Brandon! Like yes I am very very happy to learn about how Szeth changed! I LOVED his character in this book! But I don’t want to read 50 pages just explaining all the changes his mind is going through!
I agree with this and have a very similar feeling towards it! Yeah I can't really answer your questions about El and Vyre, that was all dumb, BUT the else gate is the black fisher. From the interlude when El and Odium talk about the black fisher.
@@switchprocontrollersplatoo7240 Oh it's an unmade, the likes of the thrill, ba-ado-mishram, and other unmade we've seen. It somehow has the ability to make elsegates no there is no more information than that I'm sorry lol
It's a mixed bag. Shallan, renarin, and rlain could be deleted from the book and it wouldn't matter. They really didn't do anything. Jasnah, szeth, and adolin were great. Kaladin not so much, I did enjoy him dancing with Syl and the music with nale, but there were so many cringy limes out of him. The contest was underwhelming... Dali are words were a let down and the ending is nonsense. Dalinar could have just negotiated a release of odium as that is the main thing he wants, I just don't think he needed to renounce his oaths he does it to make the other gods fight, all he had to do to make that happen was agree to let odium out as it was already implied he could do. Also him doing that essentially murders the storm father which seems like a character assassination of who dalinar is. And overall this one had the least emotional impact
Wait you're so right. Why didn't he negotiate with odium about his release, limiting the damage Odium could do to Roshar in the process? Considering Odium is not Rayse anymore, but Taravangian.
@sam3895 it also kills me that there was no reason for dalinar to lose. If dalinar lost he became odiums servant, implication: dalinar can lose without dying, therefore he can win without killing gav. Dalinar became honor just drop gav in shadesmar and dalinar wins. Or any other myriad ways a God could render a human helpless. Also why was odium not his own champion? If he was not allowed then dalinar would have been disqualified when he became honor. Why were the details of the contest a surprise? Why did odium get to set the nature of the contest? Dalinar was essentially like let's have contest, but odium gets to pick all the rules, he could have in theory picked a master ballerina to have a dance off with dalinar, and dalinar would have had to do it and lost. Nothing about this ending works.
So much great stuff and I mean SO MUCH but put together really clumsily at times. I got really tired of every character over explaining their feelings in such a clinical unnatural way. I like where pretty much every character ends up too but every character is set up in such a cool way at the end of the story that I’m really disappointed we’re gonna skip the next 10 years of these characters lives. Also, as you said, because everyone was separate at the end the sanderlanche didn’t hit anywhere near as hard as previous books
It needed more revisions and just time to bake. Brandon's their BIG author now though and they want to get it pushed out the door. It also had to line up with the Dragonsteel event. I also think we can definitely tell that his long-time editor retired a few years ago. In the end, with Brandon's plan for the cosmere he doesn't really have time to push back books now. I'd love for every book to he a 10/10 but I can understand, especially with this book being essentially the halfway point. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Little too much of a focus on the therapy and stuff. Some modern terms felt odd and characters acted strange at times. But overall I enjoyed it, was easily better than rythym of war but not quite as good as 1-3.
I pretty much agree with everything you said. This book was underdeveloped and needed stronger editor and probably couple of extra weeks of polishing. However there were so many great moments and unexpected things I loved! I would also say it’s more positive than negative. Good mid series finale. But yeah it’s a weird book. At one point I enjoyed the Venli chapters at best. Yeah the Lift got cool interlude! Agreed on the main characters. I enjoyed everything you said just not Jasnah. I studied philosophy and that discussion was… not the best handled. He could have had someone to look at it (again, rushed production). But I had larger issues with Jasnah, not feeling any of her chapters. I think he is going to make her believer, maybe even crucial in reforming the Adolnasium. But that’s just my theory. Also my pet peeve but I was so frustrated by Tavanast pov chapters being all caps… it just grinded my gears 😂 Loved the Shinovar story line too! (What are you? I am his therapist! What is that? I have no idea… was so funny IDK). Flawed but cool. So many cool details! So many great moments. I just hope Brandon does get a new and good editor especially for these Stormlight books. Excited for space age era since I grew up on space opera and really liked what he did with Sunlight Man.
"I'm his therapist" I laughed out loud. Kind of cringed, but in hindsight it's just kinda funny. Also I really liked Venli at the beginning of her story. Just wasn't overly fond how it ended. But I totally see where you are coming from. He just sent out a newsletter responding to some of the criticism, check that out on the worldhoppers youtube page.
I loved the book too. Not Sanderson's best, but he stuck the landing brilliantly, and got me super pumped for Book 6. My main complaint about the Jasnah debate was the existence of a formal, notarized, official assassination doc with her sign. I have no experience with debates or hiring hitmen, but if she had an assassin in her employ, wouldn't just a name suffice? Maybe some additional instructions with specifics? Odium could've just tied the letter to Jasnah using her handwriting... it didn't need to be a plot-convenient device. This almost feels like JKR's time tuner or a bunch of other such bad examples. Once again, I loved the book... But these minor points were just too jarring and not what I expected from Sanderson in terms of air-tight plots.
I wasn't sure how to feel about WaT as I read through! But now that I've finished and had some time to consider I would rate it a B, -B. I love where many of our characters end up! Dalinar 's arc, Kaladin and Syl (Storm Queen 👑), Adolin, Shallan, and even Renarin and Relain! LOVE! Honestly I HATED Jasnah's story and felt she was completely out of character. If this is where she was heading, I would have liked to have seen more of these weaknesses throughout the series. Not dropped out of nowhere. I have high hopes for the future and I'm excited for 2033 😅
SHALLAN!!! In her final scene, when she talks about how she isn’t just surviving for herself anymore, or when she cradles her stomach don’t worry I missed it the first time too lol
I'm so glad to find out there are apparently a lot of negative reviews out there. I don't like when final books of series known for grand action veer into exposition-style-soapboxing.
I do agree in the sense of, I think this probably has the lowest lows out of any of the 5 books. At least in terms of writing. It almost doesn't feel like the same world as WoK, Adolin is saying dating instead of courting, goobering, Maya saying "Let's kicked some fused ass"
@@elijedic for me Adolin was great Dalinar/Navani/Gav was great Shallan/Relain/Renarin was great with a underwhelming ending Jasnahs debate worked for me Szeth and Kal in Shinovar was such a nice change of pace from the other plot lines and I loved it Sigzils/Venli was fine I’ll give you that lol with a weird/bad ending
@ Ok, well watch Sandersons writing lessons he has posted on YT. Specially his criticism of his own endings. The spirit world story lines are hand of god that he spends thousands of pages to justify. The problem with a super smart villain is it has to be super smart. The debate worked for you? Man it’s good as long as you don’t question it, lol. Dalinar and Navani just give up more or less to win? Szeth and Kal’s story line is not just bad but dangerous. It’s just so bad. More than anything else, only Dalinar gets some closure but then evil younger Dalinar walks out of the spirit world. It didn’t seem like an end to a part but just a cliffhanger. Did I read all of it, yeah man, reread the end in part because Shallan being stuck on the other side was silly to me. Also, the rest of it, I just couldn’t believe after going through his lectures that was how he ended it. Just a little arm chair expert thoughts here, it seems he suffers from having to many yes people around. It seems like group think, but maybe I am wrong. That’s the best he has. Will I read the next one? Only after reading a synopsis of the plot. The next part can’t be this bad.
Hey, welcome to UA-cam. Great video. I finished reading the book on Tuesday. I don’t feel disappointed, but I don’t feel excited for the ending we got either. The mixed sensations Sanderson conveyed may have been pretty much intentional, judging by the Esquire interview. Every character arc felt deserved in a way, and some characters I wasn’t sold with (Dalinar and Adolin) grew a lot for me. Regarding the writing quality, since the book came out in my language three days after the english release I read it that way and the translators may have fixed some things… except for the repeated use of the word “surrealist” in the text. You can say surrealism is a form of fantasy, but in my mimd it’s so inextricably linked to a very specific cultural moment in the real world that it took me out of the story. Other nitpicks were what I thought a lackluster Shin culture, the over the top fight with a prothesis, disappointment with Moash getting away and certain nerfing of Kaladin in this book. I had wished this book lifted the series to the level of WoK and WoR (after the slight bump in OB and RoW) and WaT didn’t achieve that. I’m content. Not happy, but content. And I’ll keep reading it.
I will say, Day 1 starts off with Kaladin spending time with his family and reflecting it picks up on day 2... also... if your only on chapter 7 why are you watching a spoiler review?
If you’re angry about Rlain & Renarin then you need help…. The book has plenty of issues - poor writing, stupid jokes, predictable events, and some questionable endings Everyone seems to be raving bout Adolin but I didn’t really care about his arc. Could have used more Venli and / or Lift…
@@jasonbrewbaker3932 i didn’t complain about rlain and renarin? I actually loved how their story played out! (Wish we would have gotten more Ba-Ado-Mishram closure) SO EXCITED for stormlight 7 with renarin as the main pov more lift i agree
@@CosmereHorizons yeah it wasn’t directed at you - just the ignorant people I’m seeing online who can’t seem to understand the difference between R & R versus the random other stuff that Sanderson does throw in which seem unnecessary and agenda fulfilling (specifically the trans and non-binary stuff). I too am very excited at the prospect of seeing more of Renarin and Rlain in the back half. But to be honest, the writing quality has gotten so horrible I’m really debating if I want to continue on…
@ drag down? Get a life. Their story/journey was uplifting and touching. I’m glad they found each other….im not sure what about love “dragged” you down
@jasonbrewbaker3932 we just have a large difference in what we're looking for in a series. I really loved the book but I just didn't enjoy the gay love story. You didn't seem to like the book but did enjoy the gay love story. I'm just not interested in reading that kind of stuff. I don't think that's crazy but we can agree to disagree.
Great video, nice to see the good and the bad talked about. I agree I'm happy with the story but the book is a mess. ZOMGfantasy channel has a great video about it. Hopefully, Sanderson can get better editing down the line.
Agreed! I actually watched this video which really helped me articulate why the book felt "off". But I also wanted to make a video that acknowledged all the good from the book too.
So I'm new to Sanderson. Please hear me out. My only book of his so far I'm familiar with is Elantris when I listened to it on Audible and that is wjat convicted me to read more of Sanderson's works. I recently became worried when I heard from multiple reviewers that in the fifth book was sub par pros, that Sanderson sacrificed quality for quantity, that the book included modern terms, and etc. I'm made up my mind that I'll gove SLA a chance but I'm praying that Sanderson takes these criticisms to heart and corrects his course in the next book. I already had my trust betrayed by Martin when I realized he'll never finish GoT so I don't want to leave SLA unfinished because Sanderson swallowed stupid pills andade his books "modern".
Sanderson has addressed the prose criticism already, so it is definitely something he will keep his eye on in the future! Which is promising... however let's just hope he realizes what to change.
I thought that book was terrible. Although the books have been steadily declining ever since words of radiance. But this was an all-time low. I’ve read everything Sanderson‘s done up until this point and I’m done
Ya I love the idea of once mighty duelist, now in the bottom of his profession. Then having to overcome that. But him beating an immortal being in full shard plate + blade with kitchen ware and a short sword is stupid. And he should have been trampled to death during the route. I wish he would have wrote it differently. There was some geninue good moments in that.
This book was just not well done. So many characters spent too much time on uncertain paths, other characters like el were basically forgotten about Aidolin was the only real high point of the book
So many opinions, so many view points and we all think we are right. WaT is my least favorite book of all of the Cosmere. It doesn't feel like Brandon wrote this book and it's very disappointing. We put up our take on the first third of the book anybody cares to join in over there.
18:43 he’s a Christian so everything can be solved with faith. He has to try to find a balance (he has to work real hard at it too) and bc he expects all his fans to be Christians too, he probably feels a need to explain REAL hard to his flock the secular/infidel ways of thinking these things through. As if the Christian is so big brained his discovering of non-religious thought is a brand new innovation that needs to be overcooked in the explanation.
Biggest let down in all my reading thus far. Id hesitate to give WaT above a 2/5, and thats only because after reading the first four I was invested and liked much of what came before. Now I actually like most of it much less and all together its like some YA entry level fantasy overcomplex nonsense minus any actual depth. WoK was epic, and then the downhill snowball coalesced into this utter disappointment. Hope everyone enjoyed it more than I.
The worst part about this book is
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I did not get to see Moash EAT SHIT
Dude I was SO hype to have Lopen show up and stare that man down ready to throw down. It hurt a little when everyone else in bridge four showed up
There's still more books to deal with Moash with. He has more bad shit to do and it's gotta be Kal that fucks his shit up!
Unless he gets more depth and becomes more interesting again Im kinda feeling like he just should have had some extra resolution with Kaladin at the end of Rhythm of War and then died at the end.
His character is being handled so poorly by Brandon. There is literally no reason for him to be alive just randomly getting two scenes to kill a character and fuck off.
I need to say it somewhere
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TALN WAS THE FIRST TO JOIN THE NEW OATHPACT! HE WAS THE FIRST! THE MAN WHO DID NOT BREAK!
the balls on that man are Cosmere-sized.
@@read2write228 OMG HE WAS?! THATS AWESOME
@@CosmereHorizons it's very specifically pointed out and I found it amazing! As soon as the Heralds were called, Taln appeared and was the first to enter. He didn't even know the new Pact was different--for all he knew, Taln was signing up for a new eternity of torture.
Your review was probably my favourite so far--one thing I will point out though, this was very much a mental health book I think. It makes reading it odd since I think we were all expecting a magic fight book with big magic and explosions and stuff, but instead it changes the way we're supposed to see every book that came before, tells us (spells it out veeery slowly) that it's always been about broken people, and the promises they make, and exactly how they can be better. It's more evident here than ever, and to be fair yes the prose gets in the way of the cool--but it also makes it so the book *exactly* spells out how to approach some (very basic, but not less important) mental health. I think all the space afforded to spelling out a simple, but not obvious, message will help a lot of younger readers. If I'd had this book a couple years ago in my teens, I would absolutely have wept. It would've broken me.
Yhhh i felt the same 🎉
Imo the point of that debate wasn't to show how smart she is or for her to convince Fen not to join Odium. It was to completely strip her of everything she thought she was so she can grow into something else..for better or worse
I think Kaladin's arch was my favorite for the whole series. In the beginning of this book he was trying to redefine himself. He thought he had to choose between being the soldier and the therapist. And he had to realize he could do both, because in the long run, he still wants to protect.
He truly does have such a full arc, and I love it.
The stormfather being instantly vaporized was unintentionally funny
i mean.... yeah lol
The Jasnah debate was great imo. Yes, she's smarter than that, but Todium played her perfectly to counter or nullify her strengths
Giving her warning so she stayed up all night preparing made her go in fatigued, which would have been OK against another smart human, but fatal against a god.
Then saying she will make his points for him put her on the back foot, made her doubt and rethink everything she says
And lastly he forced her into scholar mode, and we've seen many times how Fen reacts better to straight human emotion and realism than politics and wordy speeches
The words in the debate might have had some room for improvement, but the story of it was perfect
Yes! When Odium proposed a debate I groaned, but it was great! It made perfect sense for the characters. I was, if not convinced odium was right, was convinced that Fen joining him was a reasonable decision for her. And like you said Fen likes straightforwardness, it felt very true to character all around.
Loved the way you distilled Kal's arc. I think I'm the odd one out that thinks what Brandon did with him makes perfect sense: he'd completed his revolution around the "hero's journey" and as he's making his second go around the journey wheel, he played the mentor character in someone else's story "hero's journey", which is a cool intertwining of the stories. Even the scene where he fought made sense to me because it didn't seem reasonable the he would leave szeth to die given the paths he's taken. It's not like he's chosen to be a pacifist, just stepping back from something that's unhealthy for him... Until the changes within him continue to grow him to a place where choosing to embrace both the healer and the warrior is also representative of becoming an integrated and fulfilled person... I love it so much, I'm getting goosebumps
You're explaining it really well. Everything I love about Kaladin in this book is summarized by what you just said. I think I need to sit with it more so I will love it even more on a reread
Im very glad to find a review that matched my feelings almost spot on. I loved the book and was surprised when i saw some negative reviews. Agree with you 100% on Jasnah. Regarding Therapy being elementary...Kaladin has only just started getting his own head around how to deal with depression, of course his understanding is going to elementary. Also im certain that most people who complain about the level of therapy would also be the people that would complain if we got deeper into, citing that it shouldnt be a self help book, it should be a fantasy novel. Also if he added more depth, it would increase the word count in an already absurd 1300+ page book. Which people already complain is too long. I felt that the therapy was streamlined for us and that Sanderson found a very nice balance between introducing the themes and not letting it get in the way of the plot. We got enough to get a wise understanding but not too much to overload us. Anyone that uses this atgument is just trying to show off.
Actually that's a really good point with Kaladin being new to therapy!
Man i couldn’t put into words why the criticism towards kaladin therapy bother me so much but you 100% hit the nail, although i haven’t gone to therapy myself so I suppose i don have the experience to talk about the topic, but from my point of view is insane that people expects kaladin to be a certified therapist after like two weeks of trying to help people with their mental health problems.
He could of lwft a lot of things out. Many times I asked myself why are we reading...is this really what we are talking about in the final.
I’m quite surprised about all the negative reviews.
I really enjoyed the book! Thanks for sharing your point of view!
It seems like a lot of content creators are being hyper critical to show they aren't excessively biased.
Nah the book just aint that good on a writing level. @@Dynnen
@@mrlaw2729 The writing has never been great. It was serviceable. This book did feel like he was explaining himself too much.
@@Blackhobbit86 and he used too much modern words...
@@Dynnen Yall never beating the cult allegations
Dude, your set up, editing, and overall presentation are WAY better than 395 subscribers. I looked down and saw that number and was SHOCKED there weren't three zeroes after it.
@@coreymiller7317 Hahaha, thank you!!! The growth on the channel has been far more than I could have expected but I’m excited to see where this thing goes!!
I feel like people are only focusing on the negatives more than the positives. There are a lot more positives in the story. I was happy that it subverted my expectations of Kaladin. I was sad when Dalinar died, but it was necessary. Great review.
I actually really respect this take. The subverted expectations is why I think I will like it more on a reread because I will have my expectations set accordingly!
Well, let’s consider the incredible amount of hype the book had and the instant!! best seller status. So if something is so well sold you expect to be better than the previous ones, right? Yet the prose dropped significantly. The story… not that bad but for example you can’t be serious that in 2 days you cure mental health problems as Kaladin did. So far Brando Sando’s goal was to represent mental health not to make a magic joke of it. “Let’s talk and all the sudden it all will be ok”. ☝️Really? That ruined the rep part he built for 4 books. So we can go on.
@@nazimelmardi I do believe that it was more than two days. I don't think their mental health is cure. They're learning how to deal with it. The timeline has probably been accelerated. People do get talked out of suicide in less time, but they are still dealing with their depression. Everyone deal with their mental health differently. Some are more severe than others. We had seen Dalinar, Shallan, and Kaladin deal with their mental state for four books. The writing definitely gone down a little. I don't read Sanderson for the writing either.
@@Blackhobbit86bro, he literally just talked out a mental health patient out in a few minutes from his state to an other state. (The Herold) You might be able to talk out someone to not jump off from a bridge because most of the cases these are cries for helps the real attempts? You can’t stop. They will succeed. I personally had a person who I was with on a trip this year with our friends and next weekend he shot himself. We didn’t know he had any issues. He was happy and was on a trip in the mountains with us. That’s how reality works. You can’t stop if someone wants to do it. But if it’s therapy you can’t change things in minutes. Or even in 1-2 days. The person has to get to the conclusion. And someone who dealt with it for a thousand years just decided that “ok, from now I do it your way?” That’s not a thing or anyone could convince him over the centuries… the same goes to our favorite assassin. He needed only some kind words and he started to think about his life because he never did it before? Bro. What we had about Dalinar is pretty good. He had to live a full life cycle and experience everything until he realized what’s his worth and how he could be better. That’s a really good arc in mental health combined!!! with story. And that’s the other issue with this book. The mental health is pushed too much. It’s boring basically because it’s explained and we don’t need this much information. That’s just one of the unnecessary info dumps. This book is 1400 pages and one of the reasons is mental health over the top not really fitting into the story that good as before. We can take any character in this book and every single one of them is discussed only based on their mental health. It’s now boring. Adolin: “poor guy always compared himself to daddy” - we heard it before it’s repetitive. Don’t write it 3 times into this book. Also we heard it that he likes to remember the names of the soldiers (that’s not a good idea for high level military officers by the way), also repeated in the book not once. Everything is repetition. The last 10% was really good but everything else was very strange even in comparison to the other books of his. And I read his books from the release of Elantris. I feel that he is now going too far with selling whatever because he knows we will buy it. Quality really doesn’t matter.
ua-cam.com/video/F7FiUYs4ZfA/v-deo.htmlsi=Rm37ualiYXphKFhr
This is my favorite stormlight book. I didn’t want to say that at first, to make sure it’s not recency bias, but if you disagree hear me out
This book was jam packed with amazing moments. Gav coming out 20 years older, szeth getting pulled into shadesmar for a 2v1 out of nowhere, shallan infiltrating the ghostbloods, kaladin vs nale, adolins ENTIRE arc, jasnah vs odium, taln fighting back
And more
But the main thing that impressed me was that I found three times where a moment all the way from 13 years ago, the way of kings, became relevant to the plot in this book.
Kaladin playing the same song that wit played for him to nale.
Odium bringing up the time when jasnah killed three men in the streets of karbrahnth
Gav watching Dalinar attack elhokar in the spirit realm
Thanks you!
Wait til you go back and read the death rattle epigraphs from the previous books... so many of them happen in WaT
My read of the mink part was that that greatshell was one of the reshi isles greatshells and perhaps all of them attacked and reclaimed herdaz. Its a pay of to the begining of the wandersail nevella, between the Lopen and the reshi kings son
Yes! 100% agree with your opinions on Adolin, you put my feelings about his arc to words perfectly!
I love him so much omg
Of all of the reviews I’ve watched for Wind and Truth, this most aligned with my own feelings. Thanks! Especially thank you for reminding me of the dropped thread about the Elsegate Unmade. I’ll be a bit sad in the future if it does become a threat to Taravangian but we missed some real character establishment. Maybe just one more El POV to show a conversation between them would have been great for both characters. But overall I’m thrilled how all of the arcs resolved and to see what comes next!
As a former debate kid the first big lesson I learned was not to get put on the defensive. That was my biggest problem with Jasnah’s debate scene. She’s supposed to be the best at this and she made a fairly elementary mistake. I’ve seen people saying that this was to show her weakness and I can agree with that.
My other issue was Odium “letting her think she was winning” to put her at ease. This threw me off since we know Jasnah almost never lets her guard down. If Odium is the ultra intelligent debate beast we are supposed to believe he is then why did he try to bait her this way? It shouldn’t have worked.
These points are valid really actually, as someone who never debated I was able to suspend my disbelief but I totally understand where you are coming from
Great review! Can’t believe it’s only your 2nd video!
Thank you so much! There is much more to come!
Wow, I watched the whole video thinking you were probably a cosmere youtuber that has been doing these videos for years. Great job!!!
Yeah authors need to learn to let characters die. It's better that way.
Esp brandosando cause like all his favs are immortal basically, Kelsier is a good example
they have 5 more books. I'm sure killing them off would make it difficult to write a book. He isn't jumping generations like other book series.
I really liked this book. It may be the easiest read and best paced book in the series. Only felt bored during the Jazz-nuh chapters. It did wonders for Adolin and even more for Shallan. I hope she becomes more like-able, since she was bottom tier until book 5.
I can’t love WaT due to the copious amount of therapy speak in the characters’ heads. I get the prose complaints but for me it’s just the fact that everyone was so self aware of their mental health issues using so much professional therapy talk it just drove me crazy. I don’t mind knowing what is going on in someone’s head, or being told rather than shown, but I just hate the therapy self talk.
I agree with the show don't tell, I don't mind moving in the self help direction, just wish it could have been done better!
I largely agree with most of this. I thought the destruction of Kharbranth was an amazing moment, but greatly cheapened by the reveal at the end.
I’m working my way through the book for a second time before making a review. But I will say it seems like there were more “half measures” than I expected. Sanderson seemed like he wanted to drastically change the status quo AND keep lots of options on the table for things in the future and characters to keep around. It almost felt like he was fighting with his own hard magic systems at times.
Thank you for your review. This was a nice video.
I wonder how much of that had to do with the thing where he wrote multiple endings for the beta team but then kinda mixed and matched stuff to create this final version.
I think I liked the part where kharbranth is safe in the spiritual realm. I've heard people complain that it makes look weak and less credible of a threat. But I disagree. I think it is important to show that he is, in the end, a hypocrite (and not the good kind like Dalinar) and that Dalinar ultimately had a better read on him than vice versa. Coupled with the fact that he has mind wiped the population and planted false memories, it makes his danger more credible, i.e., he wants to create a 1984 style "utopia" when he talks about bringing order and peace to the Cosmere.
Regarding the "Blackthorn", I initially didn't like it on face value. And I am still unsure about the greater implications this has on the mechanics of the Cosmere. That being said, i think it will be interesting in the long run to finally have the version of dalinar that everyone feared. A version where he learned the wrong lesson because it didn't come with time and effort and it will be important for the shard of honor to see it so that it can appreciate and learn the lesson he was trying to teach about change and redemption. I will reserve judgment on it until we get the second arc.
I've heard people say that this should have been put in later books as a reveal. But I feel like people would have complained even then. Hell people even complain about kelsier being brought back. So imo it's neither here nor there. But I get why people would be upset.
I feel very similarly. I enjoyed the book the whole way through to one extent or another. But at the end I still somewhat felt disapointed that it was not the book I wanted or expected it to be. It is an incredible experience for what it is but it could have (perhaps should have) been so much more.
I was getting through the cognitive realm chapters because of the pacing and seeing where he was going with that, but what was all that for? The contest felt like a lot of build up to not what we expected. Having 3 people give up oaths seems like an odd choice too.
Yeah, in hindsight having Szeth, Sigzil, and Dalinar all give up their oaths was a weird choice and kinda cheapened the big moment when Dalinar did it. I think it could have been cool if Sigzil had a moment where he “knew what he needed to do” but couldn’t do it (kinda like when Kal failed to swear the 4th ideal in OB but this time it’s Sigzil unable to break his bond). This would lead to Vienta’s death and the symbolic death of Sigizil as the leader of the Windrunners and would hint at or foreshadow someone breaking their oaths without actually doing so. Idk, maybe this wouldn’t be a much better change, I just felt that Dalinar breaking his bonds was really the big, awesome moment and it would have been more impactful if the concept was more novel instead of the third time instance of someone breaking their oaths.
@@jacobyoung9981we already knew what was going to happen with Sig, so not doing it was impossible. There is the entire Adolin storyline spreading you that oaths are not the only thing off importance. We have the entire cognitive realm arc showing that oaths and honors dogmatic adherence too then is one of the key reasons we’re in the need we’re in. And you have Zseth learning that he can think for himself and does not need to rely on an outside compass. The entire book leads up to these things they don’t come out of no where or cheapen anything.
@@TrickieRickyThat’s fair. I guess my point was Sigzil’s spren could have been killed instead of him breaking his oaths (I don’t think sunlit man specifically said he broke his oaths, although I could be misremembering). Regardless, I personally think having two other people renounce their oaths made Dalinar’s moment less shocking and novel, thereby cheapening the moment for me. Subjective difference of opinion, we can agree to disagree. I do like your point though that a major theme throughout the book was that oaths should sometimes be broken if it is right to do so. I still think this theme could have been present without requiring three characters to renounce their oaths, but you make a good point nevertheless.
For me, I didn’t mind the over explaining. I am the kind of reader where things can go way over my head, so I enjoyed having it explained to me. 😂 overall, I love when a book subverts my expectations where it feels earned, and I think Sanderson achieves that with where the characters end up. In my head, I was seeing a clash of Gods but I’m thinking that’ll be the end of arc 2.
Why do people think it's bad???? I find that really confusing. It's one of the few modern series that isn't Grimm dark or really nihilistic! Not doing the types of tropes that make me start to hate quite a bit of modern fantasy! Ahh... Proes and expectations... Ahh.... Did the audiobook the first come through... So I can multitask. I think the proes might have seemed a little better than it really was with good voice actors! As far as expectations I haven't heard some rumors that made me think they were just going to kill off most of our favorite characters so.. This was better than that! 😁
One of my biggest issues was Moash having no transition between guilt and immense pain and buying in completely in a scene, without having the pain taken away or dealing with the guilt in any way... He just became a cardboard cut out villain all of a sudden. All of his complexity was just gone.
This looks like a new channel. And I gotta say you've hit the ground running. Great Video!! I look forward to seeing what else you put out. Subbed!
I am new! Thanks man, I truly appreciate the kind words! Stay tuned, I got good things in the works.
The book pointed out that Jasnah was tired, flustered and ultimately unprepared. She just did a bad job.
I think you nailed something that’s been bugging me since I finished the book. Since this book is a conclusion of sorts, I think I was also expecting a big finale where every character and storyline comes together. And this book just isn’t that. Maybe I will like it better on a reread now that I know what this book is.
You kinda look like how I picture Adolin, nice work!
Adolin is my favorite character in The Cosmere. This is the highest compliment I could ever receive.
@ he’s mine as well, especially after WaT :D
You voiced my thoughts on this book very well! As a budding author myself that holds Brando Sando as my idol, I was quite disappointed to see the overexplaining/padding in pretty much everywhere. The mental health stuff didn't concern me much at first, though the more I read, the more some... "off-note" rang in my head about it. Your explanation makes sense. I like the simple prose, but as someone who's been in a critique group that have whacked me on the head many times for over-explanation in my prose (likely because I obtained it from Sanderson), I'm surprised Sanderson (for all his resources and experience) got this much overexplanation through in the last book (of the first arc) of his magnum opus.
Also I didn't like the Blackthorn thing at the end either. I think I actually scrunched my face up when listening to it. I SHOULD like it. The idea sounds amazing! But eh... Seems cheap to do it so soon after our Dalinar died.
I agree with the... "I SHOULD like it! "But it happened less than 10 pages after Dalinar died, which I feel cheapened it.
I definitely feel you when you talk about expectations not being met, and i learned my lesson with Rhythm of War. I went into that thinking it would be something very different, and was surprised and frustrated when most of the book was Kaladin without powers in Uritheru doing a Die Hard movie. That being said, going back and rereading it, i actually really love Rhythm of War, now that i know ehat to expect, and now i really enjoy the Die Hard Kaladin stuff. I feel like it really prepared me to be more open and trust where Brandon was going with Wind and Truth, so i didnt let my expectations get in the way of the story. I think a reread will really help settle some of those frustrations.
As for the prose, i think the majority of the blame falls to Brandon's new editor, who might not be as comfortable giving Brandon feedback and correction as his previous one
@@masonandreasen8050 Really good point about Rhythm of War
That’s why I think a reread of Wind and Truth would be great
Also yeah I heard he got a new editor, I feel as though the criticism will ultimately help brandon address the issue and the future books will be even better
I think writing feels even more off because we are generally used to see him get better and not worse, especially after quality we got in the secret projects.
Finished the book last night and I’m very satisfied with where things ended. I was expecting essentially “a loss” to Odium in this book because there’s a time skip and 5 more books. As far as where every character ended up, I’m very happy with it. I love how certain events or “lessons” from WoK and WoR became relevant in this book (for Jasnah and Dalinar). Adolin has been my favorite character since WoR so this book was amazing for him. Adolin is the most organically developed character in the whole cosmere I think!
For the negatives, lot of over explaining, bloat, and dialogue that comes across very immature at times. But that doesn’t take away from my love of the story. I’ve come to expect this reading Sanderson and am able to roll with it. Over explaining and bloat can be seen in Oathbringer and RoW (and Mistborn era2). But that is Brandon’s style and I’ve come to expect that it is what it is. I still love the characters, I love the world and I love the story being told so I’m not going to let the other things take away my enjoyment.
@@stefanie3225 great way to express the problems with it, it definitely is his style… while i think it was a little too much in this book I have faith in him to make adjustments for the future
Finished the book at 7AM on New Year's Day and... yeah. Love it or hate it, there's a lot to say.
Right now, I THINK I love it. I had simillar problems to the ones you brought up, but DAMN does this book hit. (And Adolin rulez.) But this is such a big book. Time will tell how we really feel about it.
Anyway, great review. Easiest subscribe ever. Looking forward to more stuff from you.
@@FettMaster8 7AM New Year’s day?!! Dang! You are committed!
I agree, there is just so much book, time will tell how it will digest in my mind
Great review - I loved the book. Glad to see the new channel pop up.
Thank you!! Welcome aboard!
Adolin was my favorite character in this book the entire time, his internal drama and the juxtaposition of how he thinks of himself through the eyes of his father with how he comes off to everyone that serves with him. The Szeth flashbacks were great as well, but probably my favorite part in the whole book was the debate with Jasnah and Todium, so many great character moments and such my great writing. Loved it. For me it was an 8/10. I wish I woulda got more Kaladin. My only real complaint.
Oh and the Taravangian interludes were all so amazing, loved all of them, always looked forward to them.
ALSOO Kaladins ending becoming the Herald of KINGS cause he replaced Jezrien so he’s literally their leader like hell yes it’s perfect
I love that you kept replying and adding on. You get my energy... it's literally how I film my videos lol.
I agree with the Kaladin statement.
Yes yes yes I agree with everything you said.
I think the biggest factor that magnifies the negatives so much for people is that when a book is this anticipated and people have Invested (pun intended) this much into something they develop a headcanon for how they want the story to go. Then, when the story doesn’t follow their headcanon, it’s immediately a turnoff. I started the SA in May and only finished RoW in September, so I didn’t have too many established expectations and found the book spectacular.
I agree with this a lot, actually. Expectations are a huge part of the disappointment in this book's plotting. Which is why I think this book will be much much better for me on a re-read.
That's exactly what happened to me. I read The Way of Kings 13 years ago. Imagine all the expectations I had for Book Five over those years. My disappointment was crushing.
@@fcyrax4503 To this day thats why I havent even TOUCHED A Song of Ice and Fire. I love to theorize but the prospect of having to wait so long for an answer tells me I would develop such a head canon that anything else would feel like a different book
New Cosmere UA-camr with really great and well thought out takes? Sign me up!
Welcome aboard!
I loved Adolin’s character. But I wasn’t very engaged with the whole defense of Azir plot. It seemed obvious to me that the city was going to fall but they were going to hold the throne to save the city at the end.
And him slaying 6-8 singers with his sword in a melee and fighting Abadi the Monarch on 1 leg made me roll my eyes. I felt like there should have more of a consequence to him losing a leg than him having slightly worse balance.
First video I watched of yours and I really enjoy your takes and explanation of your thoughts! Well done. It also helps that I agree with many of your sentiments (you just put it more eloquently than I could have)!
In defense of not everyone coming together we have 5 more books to go. He was never going to resolve every story line.
Really good point actually! So excited for Stormlight 10 lol
While I've seen quite a few critical reviews, I have seen very few outright negative ones. Even my review, which comes off as rather down on the book, still ultimately landed at a 4 out of 5. I think we can be critical of the things we enjoy and I feel you did an excellent job of balancing your reaction to various elements in your review. I do think the books have been going down in my personal enjoyment since Oathbringer, but I am going to stick with the series and want to read the last few Cosmere books I've yet to get to, so the shortcomings of the book clearly weren't bad enough to get me off the series. Like you, I was just expecting something different from this ending. Felt there were too many monologues and too much in the way of directly stating characters feelings. Would have loved to see the characters come back together at the end for a big finale.
Got to massively disagree with most of your points on negative. The whole point of this book is to set the stage for SA6 onwards. You came in as you say yourself with expections you seem to have set based on your own preferences and are bothered that those wasn't met. I really enjoyed the book.
Dalinar did die, Ret has just made a copy based on the memories of Dalinar. It's not him. He's very dead. This is a warped clone creature that lacks physical form.
The characters being spread was one of my favourite parts of the book. We're not watching a cheesy avengers flick where they all meet up at the end and go "It's Kaladinin time" and we Kaladin all over the big baddy. Oathbringer did do that and it was surprisingly good because it built for a whole book, but it makes sense for this to the Empire Strikes back to our episode IV.
I do agree he over explains the feelings at some points, mainly around Renarin and Rlain. It feels very much like straight white man is afraid to be misunderstood when writing an LGBT romance which is a shame when he did Wax and Steris so well.
Adolin's whole arc was so good because he wasn't around other radiants. All our MCs are radiant at this stage so makes sense he goes off by himself.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Dalinar isnt dead. When it was stated he had been claimed by another, I think it’s safe to assume he may be taking up a different Shard.
To add to your Dalinar point, it specifically said that it was basically a cognitive shadow of the Blackthorn that a piece of Dalinar Connected with when he broke the vision and protected Evi.
Thanks for being so respectful about your disagreement!
I think this book will go only up in my mind due to my expectations. Because on re-reads I'll have my expectations set accordingly, which will help!
idk, it feels like making the argument that Thadikar isn't Keliser, by saying the Blackthorn isn't Dalinar
Which I guess is an argument you COULD make
@@CosmereHorizons I think he describes it like a spren - “the Blackthorn… it was a legend…. for things people thought about came alive.” He also describes Dalinar’s soul as slipping away into the Beyond which imo implies either he is dead dead or his soul has been taken up by some other power.
Give the man his editor back. Bro writes the most cringe, terrible humor in history and then every other character starts clapping and mentioning how witty and cool that was. The tone shift from his earlier works to this is quite jarring (even tho he always sucked at writing humor and romances).
I want to know if lift can still convert food to investiture.
Great review. Perfectly put into words a lot of the things I was feeling without knowing why. Definitely had that "this book feels off" feeling but still had a blast reading it and so excited to go back to finishing Mistborn Era 2 and super excited for Era 3 and the Cosmere going forward. Particularly Lyft and Zahel. Seeing 2031 for Stormlight 6 stings a little though 😂, but I get it, writing books takes time
I know, getting 4 secret projects in a year and then having to wait seems tough... but then you realize Sanderson has been spoiling us lol
I just feel bad for the song of ice and fire fandom
@CosmereHorizons True and its not like its 6-8 years of wait with nothing, its like 6-8 books in that time 🤣 Not to mention, I still have 2 Mistborn E2 books, Elantris, and Warbreaker. I just started Sanderson's books early last year.
Adolin’s arc was great right up until he somehow defeated a being thousands of years old on a freaking peg leg. I don’t care how good Adolin is. He should barely be able to walk, let alone dodge and weave after having lost his leg THAT DAY and stumping around on a peg leg. It made no sense and really took me out of the story.
If you wanted to make him lose his leg, why not make him fight the fused with both legs and then somehow defeat him, yet need to sacrifice his leg to do it. Would have made way more sense.
I have a lot of other issues with the book, but it also had some of the highest highs in SA (and some of the lowest lows). Sits with RoW toward the bottom of my SA ranking.
Honestly thats a good example of what bothers me most about sandersons writing. Sometimes things are so unrealistic, and characters stand no chance. And then they come through it anyways.
I cannot believe he put a crippled person unarmed into a fight vs an ancient fused, with shard plate and shard blade. It pulled me so out of the epicness of that moment.
This happened at the end of mistborn for me too, and secret history made that worse.
Just a few little moments in other stormlight books too.
Happy to see a positive review! I really enjoyed the book and its my second favorite ending, 3rd favorite overall behind WoR and Oathbringer. Seeing all the negative reviews was getting me down.
For me, it's my 3rd favorite and my 3rd favorite ending lol.
Seeing the negative reviews is a bit of a bummer, I will be making a video soon discussing the hate about it.
Don't let anybody's negative reviews get you down, if you liked the book, great!! Trust me when I say there are a bunch of people who agree with you.
Excellent review of the main points in the book, after reading it I felt the same, that it was very good but didn’t come together as I thought it would.
Happy to see your video though as it feels like a lot of the negative reviewers are narrow minded in their reviews and are broadly branding the book as ‘trash’
Excited for the next 5 books, keep up the good breakdowns!!
So this was nice, because I just uploaded my review and people in the comments seem to have read a different book from me, and watching this review where I basically agreed with everything was validating
Also just really good review man
I feel like there's fear (or even shame) to criticize this book out of respect for Sanderson. Every "good" aspect mentioned in several reviews are just superficial, "stuff" that the Stormlight Archive was already doing fine. It's a sluggish book, with some token characters, terrible prose and I will say what people can't... it's a money grabber.
I have the same feelings.
The Szeth/Kaladin was like a videogame. Go from boss to boss and you know they will get to the final boss. They won't fail. It's not that kind of story. Kaladin doing therapy is useful to some readers who have never heard of it, fair enough but it was very dumb. Many of the dialogues were stupid and there were too many modern terms.
Hodium that doesn't kill his family and brings back blackthorn well...I didn't like that. These will be things for books 6-10 to address.
With the sex scene in the shower, you knew from the start Shallan would be pregnant and so would probably not die. Not really subtle.
Sunlit Man spoiled the arc for 3 characters: Kaladin is mentioned as alive by Seized and Wit is also alive. You know they won't die in Book 5.
Adolin's arc. I knew from the moment you had the bad guy naming himself that he would be the big final boss so nothing would kill Adolin until that fight and once we got to the fight it was clear he would not lose because of Maya coming back somehow.
Jasnah had to lose because Adolin was not. With the Shattered plains you could tell the singers/radiants would play a key role for the good guys. So he did 1 win, 1 lose, 1 draw.
I liked the endings that change everything for roshar. No more stormlight/stormfather, hodium is whole and free, no more war loop. Kal is an herald, seiz leaves, Adolin has the new spren without bond. So I was ok with the ending but jesus, why didn't they work on editing this thing? The answer is probably that they wanted to sell as many copies for Christmas. That's all.
Robert Jordan and Marvel had a baby: Wind & Truth
@@tylerjohns HAHAHAHA this comment is so good
I liked how it ended. but It felt like a YA series after a certain point to me, Im a big brandon sanderson fan. I will always like his work. I do crave more realism in his series.
Adolin had alot of plot armor near the end. I had to suspend my disbelief to not be upset. Why did the singers not just kill adolin and friends im the hallway of the throne room? like sure a duel is cool writing, but its them winning an empire. They had literally hundreds number advantage. Im expected to believe no other fused or singers would aact on their own in this cirucumstance? instead they follow the orders of a crazy fused.
Why did L not do anything about venly taking narak? the contest had no mention of a 3rd party of keeping land, or am I mistaken?
Also the mental health of nail, and ishar changing so quickly was wierd to me. I understand its due to the reminants of odiums power affecting ishar, kinda like how the lord ruler was corrupted by ruin over the years. Reguardless it felt hollow.
WHAT A REVIEW!!! Keep up the content I can see you going so far with this. You share so many of the same opinions as me which I find rare!
@@Bookbro91 i’m going to assume that’s a typo for far…. lol
@CosmereHorizons haha absolutely. Your ability to speak coherently and fluidly for long periods without cuts is impressive! Look forward to watching more. I still think this is a 5 star book and sets the stage for the next part of the series.
I'm very surprised people didn't see kaladin moving in this direction...
Awesome video 💯‼️ Awesome review 😊 It has made me want to read this series. Which is book 1 ? Do you annotate your books ? If you do annotate your books, what’s your process ?
The Way of Kings is book 1!
(Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War, Wind and Truth)
Absolutely amazing series and I highly recommend! I do not annotate my books, however that was before I was doing reviews for them. I am going to re-read them all soon and will use little sticky notes and put them throughout the book.
Adolin was the highlight for sure. His experiences trying to navigate two cultures and their military doctrine was nuanced, Towers needs to be a game IRL, kaladins arc definitely touched close to home for me. Some of the representation seemed a bit forced tho, and the contemporary prose was a bit immersion breaking at times. 8/10
I'm in chapter 10 and i'll never mentally recover from what just happened, Kaladin used to be so damn cool, why is he talking like a TikTok influencer 😫
Sanderson "humor" running rampant without his editor.
Completely agree with your negatives. I felt so conflicted after finishing the book. I trust Sanderson and will let him cook. But he really does not need to explain so much, like you said. I’m most worried about Kaladin in the next arc. Ultimately, I think Brandon just tried to do too much in this book and rushed some parts to make sure he got characters where he wanted them.
I think Kaladin will be fine in the future. I can totally see him getting back on the battlefield as a herald.
Yeah I love Szeth glad to see he's still alive. Glad to get his backstory been super curious about Shinovar. I love the dynamic between Szeth and Nightblood. I think the character and dialogue of Nightblood was off which really bugged me. More rounds of editing required in future. NIGHTBLOOD WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT FOOD. HE/IT ONLY CARES ABOUT DESTRUCTION.
I understand the negative points and I saw them too, it just didn't bother me much when reading the book. It's an amazing book, on par with the other 4 books and I loved every second of it. Sandersons prose is not 100% how I would phrase things, but they are his books so I can accept that without it leaving any negative feelings for me. I think the main issue for people who didn't like the book was they probably had the wrong expectations.
Mink is extremely easy to explain…he got away. On your re-read pay attention to tarvangians thoughts at the end. I am hoping it will explain and help us theorize about Mink in SA6. fyi - I understand your frustration because those were my pain points as well. Oh well! Hoping Brandon takes these criticisms and improves on them by hiring a better editor.
Noted! Thanks!
SPOILER....
Dalinar did die. Todium couldn't hold onto his soul as it was claimed by an even higher power, mayhap the God Above All? That thing Todium created, the twisted cognitive shadow? That isn't Dalinar or Dalinar reborn as the Black Thorn. That was Todium, feeling defeated and sorry for himself, trying to make himself feel better. Maybe it will become something more, gain it's own freedom and agency, but it reminded me of one of the last scenes from the Penguin finale where Oz has his gf pretend to be his mom and tell him she was proud of him. Todium needed a Dalinar who affirmed his beliefs, fake or not. And I love how Dalinar denied him at the end. More than anything, Todium, and especially the part that is Taravangian, wanted to be right, justifying his cruelty and expediency at committing mass murder for the good of all. His ego couldn't stand being wrong, and that only gets worse as he becomes Todium. That's why he was obsessed with hearing Dalinar admit he was wrong, he needed that validation, not wanted, needed it! And Dalinar not only denied him, he made him realize that even he agreed with Dalinar that on one if not many Dalinar was right and he was wrong. The scene where he wiped out Carbranth was shocking enough, but to find out that he actually saved it, that they were hidden away, because he loved them and couldn't sacrifice them no matter what, the way he wanted to force Dalinar to strike down Gav. He knew then and there he had lost the argument and Dalinar, dead or not, had won.
I love how the book paints taravangian as a hypocrite and a narcissist that believes he must be right at any cost, what a character.
Yes Dalinar dies in a literal sense, but he will almost certainly have a role in the second half of the books. So did he really die? Or did he just lose his physical form? Cause I for one think Kelsier is very much alive
I liked it,but I’m distraught about waiting until 2033 for the next Stormlight book.
@@BoilingKoolaid Check out my what’s next for stormlight video! (Also stormlight 6 will be 2031 according to Brandon!)
The book not bringing everyone together sucked, I think, in a purposeful way. It was bittersweet for most characters. It's not a win, because they can't just win here, it's not a loss, because it's not over yet. They all get together and they don't win but they also can't lose... I'm not sure how I'd write that. I think they had to be on separate journey's, some succeeding some failing in order to land where the story needed to land at this point.
I literally just finished the book, and I reaaaaally liked it. The ending has SO MANY cosmere implications, and man I loved how pretty much every arc ended. But man, there’s so many awful choices. Why did he hype up El at the end of RoW, for there to be next to nothing about him in this book? Where tf did the elsegate come from? Where was like anything about Vyre? Instead, Brandon chose to spend hundreds of pages talking about how characters feel, which is honestly the worst aspect of this book. The plot and characters and everything like that about this book is incredible, but it literally felt so padded with mental health slog. SHOW us, don’t TELL us, PLEASE Brandon! Like yes I am very very happy to learn about how Szeth changed! I LOVED his character in this book! But I don’t want to read 50 pages just explaining all the changes his mind is going through!
I agree with this and have a very similar feeling towards it! Yeah I can't really answer your questions about El and Vyre, that was all dumb, BUT the else gate is the black fisher. From the interlude when El and Odium talk about the black fisher.
@ okay but what IS that, huh??
@@switchprocontrollersplatoo7240 Oh it's an unmade, the likes of the thrill, ba-ado-mishram, and other unmade we've seen.
It somehow has the ability to make elsegates
no there is no more information than that I'm sorry lol
It's a mixed bag. Shallan, renarin, and rlain could be deleted from the book and it wouldn't matter. They really didn't do anything. Jasnah, szeth, and adolin were great. Kaladin not so much, I did enjoy him dancing with Syl and the music with nale, but there were so many cringy limes out of him. The contest was underwhelming... Dali are words were a let down and the ending is nonsense. Dalinar could have just negotiated a release of odium as that is the main thing he wants, I just don't think he needed to renounce his oaths he does it to make the other gods fight, all he had to do to make that happen was agree to let odium out as it was already implied he could do. Also him doing that essentially murders the storm father which seems like a character assassination of who dalinar is. And overall this one had the least emotional impact
Wait you're so right. Why didn't he negotiate with odium about his release, limiting the damage Odium could do to Roshar in the process? Considering Odium is not Rayse anymore, but Taravangian.
@sam3895 it also kills me that there was no reason for dalinar to lose. If dalinar lost he became odiums servant, implication: dalinar can lose without dying, therefore he can win without killing gav. Dalinar became honor just drop gav in shadesmar and dalinar wins. Or any other myriad ways a God could render a human helpless. Also why was odium not his own champion? If he was not allowed then dalinar would have been disqualified when he became honor. Why were the details of the contest a surprise? Why did odium get to set the nature of the contest? Dalinar was essentially like let's have contest, but odium gets to pick all the rules, he could have in theory picked a master ballerina to have a dance off with dalinar, and dalinar would have had to do it and lost. Nothing about this ending works.
Sanderson is extremely overrated but you’re not allowed to ever criticize him especially his dreadful prose. Like that of a middle grader.
So much great stuff and I mean SO MUCH but put together really clumsily at times. I got really tired of every character over explaining their feelings in such a clinical unnatural way. I like where pretty much every character ends up too but every character is set up in such a cool way at the end of the story that I’m really disappointed we’re gonna skip the next 10 years of these characters lives. Also, as you said, because everyone was separate at the end the sanderlanche didn’t hit anywhere near as hard as previous books
It needed more revisions and just time to bake. Brandon's their BIG author now though and they want to get it pushed out the door. It also had to line up with the Dragonsteel event. I also think we can definitely tell that his long-time editor retired a few years ago.
In the end, with Brandon's plan for the cosmere he doesn't really have time to push back books now. I'd love for every book to he a 10/10 but I can understand, especially with this book being essentially the halfway point.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Little too much of a focus on the therapy and stuff. Some modern terms felt odd and characters acted strange at times. But overall I enjoyed it, was easily better than rythym of war but not quite as good as 1-3.
I pretty much agree with everything you said. This book was underdeveloped and needed stronger editor and probably couple of extra weeks of polishing. However there were so many great moments and unexpected things I loved! I would also say it’s more positive than negative. Good mid series finale.
But yeah it’s a weird book. At one point I enjoyed the Venli chapters at best. Yeah the Lift got cool interlude!
Agreed on the main characters. I enjoyed everything you said just not Jasnah. I studied philosophy and that discussion was… not the best handled. He could have had someone to look at it (again, rushed production). But I had larger issues with Jasnah, not feeling any of her chapters. I think he is going to make her believer, maybe even crucial in reforming the Adolnasium. But that’s just my theory.
Also my pet peeve but I was so frustrated by Tavanast pov chapters being all caps… it just grinded my gears 😂
Loved the Shinovar story line too! (What are you? I am his therapist! What is that? I have no idea… was so funny IDK).
Flawed but cool. So many cool details! So many great moments.
I just hope Brandon does get a new and good editor especially for these Stormlight books.
Excited for space age era since I grew up on space opera and really liked what he did with Sunlight Man.
"I'm his therapist" I laughed out loud. Kind of cringed, but in hindsight it's just kinda funny.
Also I really liked Venli at the beginning of her story. Just wasn't overly fond how it ended. But I totally see where you are coming from.
He just sent out a newsletter responding to some of the criticism, check that out on the worldhoppers youtube page.
I loved the book too. Not Sanderson's best, but he stuck the landing brilliantly, and got me super pumped for Book 6.
My main complaint about the Jasnah debate was the existence of a formal, notarized, official assassination doc with her sign. I have no experience with debates or hiring hitmen, but if she had an assassin in her employ, wouldn't just a name suffice? Maybe some additional instructions with specifics? Odium could've just tied the letter to Jasnah using her handwriting... it didn't need to be a plot-convenient device. This almost feels like JKR's time tuner or a bunch of other such bad examples.
Once again, I loved the book... But these minor points were just too jarring and not what I expected from Sanderson in terms of air-tight plots.
I actually 100% agree with you. Not the best, but stuck the landing and PUMPED for book 6
I wasn't sure how to feel about WaT as I read through! But now that I've finished and had some time to consider I would rate it a B, -B.
I love where many of our characters end up! Dalinar 's arc, Kaladin and Syl (Storm Queen 👑), Adolin, Shallan, and even Renarin and Relain! LOVE!
Honestly I HATED Jasnah's story and felt she was completely out of character. If this is where she was heading, I would have liked to have seen more of these weaknesses throughout the series. Not dropped out of nowhere.
I have high hopes for the future and I'm excited for 2033 😅
Great thoughts, I agree with the future! I did a video on what the future looks like for stormlight (It's a lot sooner than 2033 lol)
It was not what i was expecting, but the Adolin arc it's fucking good so I don't care
Szeth didn't die, Jasnah didn't actual die, Dalinar didn't die...only Elohkar and his dumb daddy lol
Dalinar died
@@itachiuchiha5771 Kinda, he came back but evil.
@@hammerandthewrench7924 That wasn't Dalinar though
WAIT WHO's PREGNANT!!?? How did I miss that?
SHALLAN!!! In her final scene, when she talks about how she isn’t just surviving for herself anymore, or when she cradles her stomach
don’t worry I missed it the first time too lol
I'm so glad to find out there are apparently a lot of negative reviews out there. I don't like when final books of series known for grand action veer into exposition-style-soapboxing.
It not a final book. It's a midway point.
The negatives were too obvious in this one
I do agree in the sense of, I think this probably has the lowest lows out of any of the 5 books. At least in terms of writing.
It almost doesn't feel like the same world as WoK, Adolin is saying dating instead of courting, goobering, Maya saying "Let's kicked some fused ass"
this goes so hard
Hot take: I hated Way of Kings
WOAH!.... that is a hot take.... i respect a bold hot take
Agreed bro
Every plot line was great? “Great”? Lol come on son
@@elijedic for me
Adolin was great
Dalinar/Navani/Gav was great
Shallan/Relain/Renarin was great with a underwhelming ending
Jasnahs debate worked for me
Szeth and Kal in Shinovar was such a nice change of pace from the other plot lines and I loved it
Sigzils/Venli was fine I’ll give you that lol with a weird/bad ending
@
Ok, well watch Sandersons writing lessons he has posted on YT. Specially his criticism of his own endings. The spirit world story lines are hand of god that he spends thousands of pages to justify.
The problem with a super smart villain is it has to be super smart. The debate worked for you? Man it’s good as long as you don’t question it, lol. Dalinar and Navani just give up more or less to win?
Szeth and Kal’s story line is not just bad but dangerous. It’s just so bad.
More than anything else, only Dalinar gets some closure but then evil younger Dalinar walks out of the spirit world. It didn’t seem like an end to a part but just a cliffhanger.
Did I read all of it, yeah man, reread the end in part because Shallan being stuck on the other side was silly to me. Also, the rest of it, I just couldn’t believe after going through his lectures that was how he ended it.
Just a little arm chair expert thoughts here, it seems he suffers from having to many yes people around. It seems like group think, but maybe I am wrong. That’s the best he has.
Will I read the next one? Only after reading a synopsis of the plot. The next part can’t be this bad.
dude literally bruh on god no cap
Hey, welcome to UA-cam. Great video.
I finished reading the book on Tuesday. I don’t feel disappointed, but I don’t feel excited for the ending we got either. The mixed sensations Sanderson conveyed may have been pretty much intentional, judging by the Esquire interview. Every character arc felt deserved in a way, and some characters I wasn’t sold with (Dalinar and Adolin) grew a lot for me.
Regarding the writing quality, since the book came out in my language three days after the english release I read it that way and the translators may have fixed some things… except for the repeated use of the word “surrealist” in the text. You can say surrealism is a form of fantasy, but in my mimd it’s so inextricably linked to a very specific cultural moment in the real world that it took me out of the story.
Other nitpicks were what I thought a lackluster Shin culture, the over the top fight with a prothesis, disappointment with Moash getting away and certain nerfing of Kaladin in this book.
I had wished this book lifted the series to the level of WoK and WoR (after the slight bump in OB and RoW) and WaT didn’t achieve that. I’m content. Not happy, but content. And I’ll keep reading it.
All valid thoughts! Thank you!
I'm on chapter 7 and already bored to death 😴
I will say, Day 1 starts off with Kaladin spending time with his family and reflecting it picks up on day 2... also... if your only on chapter 7 why are you watching a spoiler review?
If you’re angry about Rlain & Renarin then you need help….
The book has plenty of issues - poor writing, stupid jokes, predictable events, and some questionable endings
Everyone seems to be raving bout Adolin but I didn’t really care about his arc. Could have used more Venli and / or Lift…
@@jasonbrewbaker3932 i didn’t complain about rlain and renarin? I actually loved how their story played out! (Wish we would have gotten more Ba-Ado-Mishram closure) SO EXCITED for stormlight 7 with renarin as the main pov
more lift i agree
I'm not mad about it, but it's definitely a way to drag down an amazing book (in my opinion) to put a gay love story in the middle of it.
@@CosmereHorizons yeah it wasn’t directed at you - just the ignorant people I’m seeing online who can’t seem to understand the difference between R & R versus the random other stuff that Sanderson does throw in which seem unnecessary and agenda fulfilling (specifically the trans and non-binary stuff).
I too am very excited at the prospect of seeing more of Renarin and Rlain in the back half. But to be honest, the writing quality has gotten so horrible I’m really debating if I want to continue on…
@ drag down? Get a life. Their story/journey was uplifting and touching. I’m glad they found each other….im not sure what about love “dragged” you down
@jasonbrewbaker3932 we just have a large difference in what we're looking for in a series. I really loved the book but I just didn't enjoy the gay love story. You didn't seem to like the book but did enjoy the gay love story. I'm just not interested in reading that kind of stuff. I don't think that's crazy but we can agree to disagree.
Great video, nice to see the good and the bad talked about. I agree I'm happy with the story but the book is a mess. ZOMGfantasy channel has a great video about it. Hopefully, Sanderson can get better editing down the line.
Agreed! I actually watched this video which really helped me articulate why the book felt "off". But I also wanted to make a video that acknowledged all the good from the book too.
I love the fan boy energy 😁
lol
“Herald of second chances” and not “Herald of vindication” sucks
So I'm new to Sanderson. Please hear me out. My only book of his so far I'm familiar with is Elantris when I listened to it on Audible and that is wjat convicted me to read more of Sanderson's works. I recently became worried when I heard from multiple reviewers that in the fifth book was sub par pros, that Sanderson sacrificed quality for quantity, that the book included modern terms, and etc. I'm made up my mind that I'll gove SLA a chance but I'm praying that Sanderson takes these criticisms to heart and corrects his course in the next book. I already had my trust betrayed by Martin when I realized he'll never finish GoT so I don't want to leave SLA unfinished because Sanderson swallowed stupid pills andade his books "modern".
Sanderson has addressed the prose criticism already, so it is definitely something he will keep his eye on in the future! Which is promising... however let's just hope he realizes what to change.
I thought that book was terrible. Although the books have been steadily declining ever since words of radiance. But this was an all-time low. I’ve read everything Sanderson‘s done up until this point and I’m done
Same here I'll ready his old stuff before this marvelization and cosmere nonsense
You didn't like how horny they 2 men were? Lol
I felt like it was alot of virtue signaling even with like not taking the power.
Damn can you like explain what you don’t like? I’m curious, is the Cosmere gradually becoming more connected or something else?
@ honestly I didn’t like most of it. It’s like a Disney+ show. I read a lot of books this year and that was by far the worst.
adolin plot armor was ridiculous throughout these books and took me out of alot of azimir
Ya I love the idea of once mighty duelist, now in the bottom of his profession. Then having to overcome that.
But him beating an immortal being in full shard plate + blade with kitchen ware and a short sword is stupid.
And he should have been trampled to death during the route.
I wish he would have wrote it differently. There was some geninue good moments in that.
This book was just not well done. So many characters spent too much time on uncertain paths, other characters like el were basically forgotten about
Aidolin was the only real high point of the book
So many opinions, so many view points and we all think we are right. WaT is my least favorite book of all of the Cosmere. It doesn't feel like Brandon wrote this book and it's very disappointing. We put up our take on the first third of the book anybody cares to join in over there.
18:43 he’s a Christian so everything can be solved with faith. He has to try to find a balance (he has to work real hard at it too) and bc he expects all his fans to be Christians too, he probably feels a need to explain REAL hard to his flock the secular/infidel ways of thinking these things through. As if the Christian is so big brained his discovering of non-religious thought is a brand new innovation that needs to be overcooked in the explanation.
Biggest let down in all my reading thus far. Id hesitate to give WaT above a 2/5, and thats only because after reading the first four I was invested and liked much of what came before. Now I actually like most of it much less and all together its like some YA entry level fantasy overcomplex nonsense minus any actual depth. WoK was epic, and then the downhill snowball coalesced into this utter disappointment. Hope everyone enjoyed it more than I.
Can we just get rid of Wit/Hoid please I don't think he does anything
Yes it is. Sanderson had potential here and then he woked it right up.
can you elaborate on what you mean by “he woked it right up”?
LMAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you a goober
"Woke" used as a criticism, criticism discarded
I hated it . What a let down
Sugma 😂 kaladin went hard as fuck