Wind and Truth – Day One Review

Wind and Truth is the fifth and latest instalment in Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy/sci-fi series, The Stormlight Archive, which is a part of the wider fictional universe this author has crafted, called ‘The Cosmere’.

Chances are that you already know all this since you clicked on this review, but it wouldn’t be a faithful review of a Sanderson book if I didn’t begin with a recap.

I felt that the best way to honour this giant of a book was by doing a marathon of reviews. As Wind and Truth is split across ten sections, each taking place over ‘one day’ of the stories’ timeline, I will be doing ten separate reviews detailing my journey through this epic.

As such, this isn’t a review that was written on December 6th, 2024, when Wind and Truth was first published—it’s not a DAY ONE REVIEW in that sense. It’s just a review of the section titled ‘Day One’ in Wind and Truth.

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The Prologue

OK, so straight off the bat, Gavilar is surprisingly mean. I believe this is the first introduction we have to this very famous, previously beloved character, and it was a real shock to discover how selfishly ambitious he is.

Luckily, it isn’t long before Dalinar enters the prologue—and shirtless, at that. We barely see Dalinar for the rest of day one, so I like to think that Sanderson chose to make Dalinar’s entrance just that little bit more special in exchange.

Day One

Past the prologue, we get into Day One.

Kaladin and Shallan are a big focus on Day One, which is great. Overall, it’s clear that Kaladin has really come a long way since the first book, and the question now is whether he can hold onto his progress.

(Szeth is also there, but I don’t hugely care about him and he’s not a driving force in Day One, thankfully.)

Day One – Shallan

Shallan, meanwhile, still has a long way to go. Journey before destination, eh?

On the topic of Shallan’s chapters, I really enjoyed the fight between Team Shallan and the Heavenly Ones. On one hand, it did feel like one of Sandersons’s main reasons to include it was to remind the reader how fights work in this magic system—which is important if, like me, you didn’t reread the whole SA before picking up WaT—but on the other hand, it was also a really good fight with lots of fun silly moments.

Days later, I still think about Adolin successfully fighting Heavenly Ones from his lashed Ryshadium.

Of course, it would be a crime to not comment on how Shallan briefly made Radiant real. This feels very dangerous for Shallan’s continued progress, but exciting for the future of the book!

Day One – Kaladin

The main event of Kaladin’s Day One is that Dalinar’s asks him to become King of Urithiru should the current monarchs fall.

Now, this is very important, and for me suggests a huge death flag for Dalinar and Navani, but it’s not as exciting as the romance flags between Syl and Kal.

Sanderson has tested a lot of romances so far in the Stormlight Archive, and this… interspecies? romance might be one of the most exciting.

Lastly, I have to just quickly mention Syl’s chull that she feeds grass. This image haunts me, and you probably deserve to be reminded of it.

Other Flags and Theories for Future Day

This is almost going to be a section about Wit. He’s extremely melancholy in this section and handing out death flags like sweets at a party, but he’s not alone in dooming at the end of days.

He suggests that either him or Kaladin won’t make the end of the book, and I’m inclined to believe it currently, but by the end of Day One I feel that Kaladin is more likely to survive out of the two, since Dalinar handing Urithiru to him in case of Dalinar’s death feels like a Chekhov’s gun.

Which begs the question; is Wit simply afraid, like everyone else, or is this truly foreboding his death?

Another reason I’m inclined to see this as a potential death for Wit is that I feel that his relationship with Jasnah will break down in this book. One clue towards this appears in Wit’s introduction; he’s reading a book and moping about the characters.

“Ah, Wema, […] You’ve finally noticed what a catch Vadam is? Let’s see how you screw it up.”

Here, I assume he’s reading a fiction book, and getting caught up in a situation that will mirror his own struggles with Jasnah. I am yet to see who is the Wema and who is the Vadam in this situation though I assume Wit is berating himself here.

Lastly, Shallan tries to make a pact between herself, Adolin, and Kaladin that they’ll meet again for dinner once all of this is over. Kaladin reluctantly agrees, but Adolin manages to slip out of the conversation… very worrying behaviour… especially given Kaladin’s final lines about how much Shallan seems to need Adolin. Perhaps her continued growth in this series requires her to part from him, and I don’t think she will do this willingly.

Based on Day One, I think the biggest death flags going forward are with Dalinar, Navani, Adolin, and Wit.

I’m excited/extremely fearful to see where this will go!

My Wind and Truth – Day Two review is now live!

My Wind and Truth – Day Three review is now live!

My Wind and Truth – Day Four review is now live!

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