Wind and Truth

A brand new saga of magic and adventure by #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson.

The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the Number One New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive.

But if you ask these heroes why they risked their lives, don't do it on a stand in front of a crowd while you give them their medal. Because the truth is, they likely didn't do it for their country. Or even for their ideals. Consistently, across cultures, eras, and ideologies, war heroes report the same simple motivation. They did it for their friends.This is a good story, well-told, with characters I was rooting for. I'm a Brandon Sanderson fan, so I'm not surprised I liked this, but I wasn't expecting it to be so charming. The story is written from the point of view of a Cosmere character I am particuarly fond of, and it's written a lot like the Princess Bride--the narrator clearly knows a lot of things about the "real" world (and a few other worlds as well), and the narration is funny and sassy and great to read. It isn't in the same tone as Brandon Sanderson's other works, and that works fine for this tale. Don't expect the seriousness of The Stormlight series, and you'll be fine. Come in expecting to be told a <i>story</i>, not read a book, and you'll enjoy it a lot more. Tress' journey is fun and dangerous and full of quirky characters. The narrator is one of them, and again, seeing him was a delight. Tress herself is a lot stronger than she gives herself credit for, and her quest, while a pretty basic concept, turns into something more, as quests are wont to do. The ending surprised me with a few things, which is always what I want from a Brandon Sanderson book. I found the denouement sweet. There are tons of connections to the Cosmere, though the book is readable without knowing what they mean. They're just easter eggs, and it's fun to see them. I marked all of them in my physical copy just so I can go back and connect some things. Overall I loved this a lot and I'm glad to see the Secret Projects are going to be delightful.