Wind and Truth

Wind and Truth is the fifth novel in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. The series follows a large cast of characters involved in an age-old war for control of the planet Roshar. Each novel explores the backstory of one character, using the device of flashbacks.

The inciting incident in The Way of Kings (2010), the first novel in the series, is the murder of the king of the nation of Alethkar. The murder is committed by the assassin Szeth, but a race of non-humans called the Parshendi takes credit for the murder, thus launching the War of Reckoning between the two races: Parshendi and humans. The primary setting for the war is the Shattered Plains, a vast and desolate area consisting of countless plateaus divided by deep chasms.

Kaladin’s flashbacks feature most prominently in The Way of Kings. Kaladin enlists to be a soldier to protect his younger brother, who soon dies. After a conflict with his commanding officer, Kaladin is betrayed and enslaved. He is assigned to a bridge crew that is responsible for placing heavy bridges so that soldiers can cross the chasms. While serving on the bridge crew, Kaladin bonds with a spren. (Spren are personifications of emotions and elements of the natural world, such as fire, water, pain, hatred, etc. Spren can bond to humans, and a human’s magical abilities depend on the type of spren that has bonded to them.) Kaladin inspires his crew to learn to protect themselves. In battle, Kaladin and his bridge crew rescue Dalinar and Adolin Kholin, members of Alethkar’s royal family. Dalinar buys the bridge crew’s freedom.

Shallan, a young woman, seeks an apprenticeship with another member of the royal family, Jasna Kholin. Shallan, like Kaladin, bonds with a spren and can use stormlight abilities—a form of magic brought by the violent “highstorms” on Roshar.

Words of Radiance (2014) is the second book in the series, in which the War of Reckoning continues. Kaladin and his bridge crew are personal guards for Dalinar. Kaladin joins an assassination plot against the current king of Alethkar (Dalinar’s nephew). At the last moment, Kaladin has a change of heart and prevents the assassination, turning against one of his friends from the bridge crew. Kaladin protects Dalinar from an assassination attempt by Szeth.

Flashbacks show that, as a child, Shallan summoned a shardblade (a magical weapon usually carried by Heralds or Knights Radiant). She summoned it in self-defense, without knowing what she was doing, and killed her mother. In the following years, Shallan and her brothers were abused by her father. Once again, Shallan committed murder to protect herself.

Shallan and Jasna’s ship sinks as they are sailing to the Shattered Plains. Shallan believes she is the only survivor. Alone, she crosses the Shattered Plains. Eventually, after meeting up with Kaladin and the army, she uses her powers to “weave” a disguise for herself so that she can infiltrate the group responsible for the shipwreck. She calls this disguise Veil; Veil becomes more than a disguise; she is an alter ego for Shallan. Shallan will later develop another alter ego named Radiant.

The third book in the series is Oathbringer (2017). Dalinar’s backstory and character arc are central. In the past, Dalinar accidentally killed his first wife; she snuck into a city to negotiate peace while he destroyed the city as an act of war. Now, Dalinar asks a powerful spren to erase his memory of the circumstances of his wife’s death. Later, through his radiant powers, Dalinar experiences visons of the past. He marries Navani.

Kaladin is captured by Parshendi forces while he is warning communities about the new Everstorms (major storms charged by voidlight, a form of magic associated with Odium). The Everstorms move in the opposite direction of the Highstorms). Eventually, Kaladin is released and begins training the order of Windrunners.

The capital of Alethkar is under siege. Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin are forced to retreat to another plane of existence: Shadesmar, the Cognitive Realm. Dalinar uses his powers to create a passageway between the realms so that they can join the battle for Thaylen City. Dalinar defeats a powerful spren named the Thrill. Shallan and Adolin are married.

Rhythm of War (2020) is the fourth book of the series. Navani’s backstory and character arc feature most prominently. Navani is a brilliant researcher who creates magical items called fabrials (devices that capture spren in gemstones to perform supernatural tasks). Navani bonds with the spren who powers the ancient tower in the city of Urithiru. This spren is named the Sibling. Urithiru is captured by the Parshendi. Navani and Kaladin work with the Sibling to plan its liberation. Venli, a Parshendi character, is part of the occupying forces.

Dalinar challenges the god Odium to a contest of champions to end the war. A king named Taravangian betrays the human coalition and starts working with Odium. Odium agrees to the contest of champions. Taravangian kills Odium’s current vessel and takes the power of Odium into himself.

After his hometown and family are rescued, Kaladin experiences the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dedicates himself to helping others with mental illness.

Shallan and Adolin travel to Shademar to convince more spren to bond with humans. Adolin speaks for humankind and convinces the spren that humans are capable of honorable action.