WaT- fairly divisive

So it’s been 24 hours since I’ve finished WaT.

It’s been the first Stormlight book I’ve read upon release. It took me around 18 months or so to catch up with some pallet cleansers in between.

However, what I’ve noticed is that people don’t seem to be as positive about this one. I think it even has the lowest Goodreads rating of the series.

I tend not to get caught up with the hype, as I only really discuss these books online, none of my friends really read. But my experience with WaT was a fairly positive one. I was really happy with some of the character work and it’s been amazing to see some of these characters grow and overcome a lot of challenges.

Positives:

I really liked the Tanner chapters. It was good to see how the rivalry came to fruition.

Szeth flashbacks were great and again I think Sanderson done well to shape him as a character, some of the prose was absolutely beautiful as well.

Kaladin is getting a break and his evolution as a character has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Adolin chapters were quite tense I felt. It was also nice seeing him cope with his difficult relationship with his father. As someone who had a rocky relationship with a parent growing up this really hit home.

Negatives

I personally felt the book could’ve been a little bit shorter. I think sometimes Brandon repeats himself a lot about common things we already know, instead of maybe going over things that was rather brief in the earlier books. I think it’s easy to miss certain names and events in the interludes and such.

Venli again proved not to be an interesting character. I know her story has to be told, but I just feel the characters from the singer end of the story bar Rlain don’t grab me as much.

I felt the Shallan chapters were a bit dry and skimmed. Like we get it you hate Mraize. The saving grace was the Chana revelation however.

Where is Rock? 😭😭😭

Overall:

I’m happy with where the story is going. I know this is officially the midpoint in the story and I feel the good guys are on the ropes. This feels very much like the end of Revenge of the Sith. Odium now controls most of the world and the good guys will need to conjure rebellion from the shadows. I’m very excited to see where this goes!