Each book in the Stormlight Archive is massive, and Wind and Truth clocks in as the biggest of the bunch. Despite its size, the book covers a time period of only 10 days, which is the amount of time left before the pending contest of champions between Dalinar Kholin and the god Odium. The outcome of this contest will determine the fate of Roshar and Dalinar knows in his heart that he can't win. This makes every different story line feel like a desperate race against time, and each main character has a role to play. In fact, there are so many different story lines and threads going on, not to mention flashbacks and travels through time in the spiritual realm, that it can be a bit overwhelming to follow it all. Even more so if it's been a while since you read the first four books in the series, but the real question is - does Wind and Truth properly end the first arc of the Stormlight Archive, or is this a new level of bloat coming from Sanderson, who seems to have no control over the scope of his own story telling?

It's actually a bit of both, but let's focus on the good first. The main characters are central to the story here, and no matter which are your favorites, you will be certain to spend some quality time with them. The book is structured as a countdown to the contest which means each story line naturally builds in tension, as the number of days left dwindles away. Sanderson also uses the Dalinar PoV, which is trip back in time through the spiritual realm, to expose key moments in the past of Roshar that fill in a lot of gaps and provide a ton of extra world building, which is almost hard to fathom for this series. Normally I am not a big fan of this technique but Sanderson uses it to great effect here. And finally I will also give Sanderson credit for sticking the landing of the first arc of this series and setting things up for a bit of an unpredictable future, ripe with possibilities.

Now let's talk about the not so good. The bloat is real and Sanderson has certainly lost his hold on the scope of his storytelling. Fans of his other works might love some of the ways he has made his overall Cosmere front and center to the story line here, but I am not one of them. I like the occasional reference to someone from another series, but I would also much prefer to return the days when the scope of this series pertained to the events on Roshar, and the rest of the Cosmere was just an occasional Easter egg. I also believe that scope creep leads to my next criticism, which is that each character feels a bit reduced down in complexity because there are just so many of them there is no room for complexity. You can keep your PTSD version of Kaladin the therapist, and give me back the OG version who protected Bridge Four, resented the light-eyes and found ways to succeed without becoming one of them. Too many of the great characters that made this series special just aren't what they used to be. And finally, this may be the end of the first arc, but it is far from any kind of resolution for the series, and it ultimately creates more questions than it answers.

This book, and this series, bring out so many emotions in me that is hard to write these reviews. The first two books of this series are probably the best fantasy books I have ever had the pleasure of reading, but as the scope has increased, my appreciation of the series has decreased. This one is better than the last two books, but not by all that much, and it certainly isn't a return to good old days. Of course if you have read the first four books, I don't see how you can skip this one, so you'll just have to find the time to give it a read and decide for yourself. If you haven't started this series and you are wondering if you should, that's a tough call. The good still outweighs the bad, and the good is REALLY GOOD, but there's a lot of hours of head scratching content you'll be consuming after book two, and that makes it a tougher recommend than it used to be.

For the audiobook version, as always Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are great, and the series would not be the same without them. Listening is a pleasure unto itself.