Renarin is a Truthwatcher - this name makes excellent sense as a name for his abilities, particularly the ability to see possible futures (presumably by tapping Odium's access to Fortune). However, Renarin is presumably the first of his type, having bonded an enlightened/corrupted spren. Other truthwatchers simply have access to Illumination and Progression in the ways other radiants do.

Is this just a convenient fictional convenience? Giving the order an apt name for our main truthwatcher rep Renarin even though his abilities don't match those of others of his order? Or is there a better in-canon explanation for the origin of the order's name. I can't think of another order who's name sticks out so much, except maybe the willshapers.

Not 100% sure how post visibility works, so I’m just throwing it all in a spoiler tag.

>!Immediately after Melishi imprisons BaM, Navani says (paraphrased from the audiobook) “this is why! why the power refuses another host!” As if she’s just had some big revelation. I just don’t see how that knowledge follows from what’s just happened in the story. Could someone please explain to me? To recap what I know in the story at this time:!<

>!1. Honor is all about oaths!<
>!2. Honor has melishi imprison BaM!<
>!3. Honor has not, to my knowledge, taken an oath to not harm BaM!<
>!4. Tanavast is currently the vessel for honor!<

>!Honor not taking “another” host implies that something eventually happens to Tanavast, but we don’t know what that is currently, so how can Navani be so extremely confident considering she doesn’t even know what’s happened to Tanavast. It’s also odd for her to be this confident in this piece of knowledge considering the only person who can really answer the question of why Honor won’t take another host is, well, Honor. And he hasn’t said anything about that.!<

Wind and Truth?

Any theories?

I don't remember are they still in Urithuru?

Can the edgedancers still do all the healing?

Are the radiants serving Odium now?

What happen's to Kal's family? And how might they deal with that Kal is now "dead"?

So till now he uses her to spy on gaz and all in earlier chapters but rn he is not using her very effectively like spying on other talking like sadaes and all?

I’m reading the audiobooks so forgive misspellings, because I’m terrified if I look up the spellings I’ll spoil something 😅 Are soulcasters and fabriols the same thing? Like don’t they both turn one thing into another? And if they are the same thing why the fuck would Sanderson give them two names? I’m positive shardblades are something totally different and just a weapon at least as far as they’ve been used. I’m a little past halfway in The Way of Kings

Greetings everyone, i finished the series a couple of days ago and there's a question that keeps bothering me:

Kaladin becomes a Herald and while his body and soul go with the other nine Heralds to the Damnation, his mind goes somewhere in the Spiritual Realm (sorry for eventual naming mistakes, i did not read the english version) to help the other heralds and prepare for the "Last Return".

My question is: how is the last return going to happen? Their minds are not on Braize, therefore they can't yield to torture; even if they did, the Fused are already on Roshar and can be reborn in Retribution's new storm, therefore what difference does it make (sure, with the new pact the spren are protected, but what about everything else)?

(I feel like Taravangian, I don’t know if I’m stupid or intelligent yet LMAO) The diagram at the beginning of the chapter mentions: wanderer, the wild piece. Its Wit, isn’t it…….. He has to be the Cosmere easter egg guy, and he seems like he is beyond whats going on. I don’t know if he is meant to be 4th wall’ish, but he comes off to me in that way.

He knows everything, and I have the feeling he has been doing things that it takes reading the other books to know. He uses techniques foreign to the magic system taught in Stormlight (unless I’m missing something). Stormlight doesn’t have “magic flutes,” etc., or the fact he immediately can make characters like Shallan or Kalladen be in a trance or mind control them to go from strongly described as one way when first talking to him n then all the sudden inviting of him. It seems like the writing is doing that on purpose. But I only remember the flute being there once or twice, so I’m probably just overthinking. But it just seems like something is up.

Also, Wit is just obviously suspicious beyond the scope of just this series. I don’t know if it’s meant to be that way on purpose, and I’m just saying something that’s a “no duh” type of situation. If Wit is something more, I want to read the other books if he is in any other ones.

Again, I was already thinking these things, but it was one of my many, many, many theories on what’s going on. That diagram text opened my mind.

Chapter 11

Tbh I wasn't really feeling twok in early chapters and Szeth was awesome but shallan and dalinar earlier pov didn't really hooked me

Kaladins first bridge run was horrible but after reading dust of dream i am not easily shocked I just read the part and wasn't really moved

But the chapter 11 decisions brought tears to my eyes

Kaladin having enough with life and deciding to go to honor chasm , even gaz (f this guy) showing a shred of dignity and human decency

And syls pure innocence convincing kaladin to try onece again, it was this moment for me, that I will absolutely love this series

This series obviously has epic moments with Szeth dalinar Adolin and kaladin having epic stands against unbelievable odds but this is the chapter I love to revisit even though it barely had any action or "plot relevance" just because how heart warming it is

I'm just past the passage in Oathbringer where it's been brought up that there are rumours that Renarin might be learning to write, and how unmasculine that's making him be perceived. I would like to remind the Alethi that this man walked out into an arena with five shardbearers, unarmoured and barely knowing how to wield a blade. Not only was he vastly less skilled than his opponents, he also had to deal with the blade screaming the whole time, something he just thought was a him problem. He did all this, without knowing that one of the shardbearers would take it easy on him, all because he saw his brother was in trouble and couldn't sit by and do nothing. Renarin is one of the bravest characters in Stormlight, and it exemplifies how stratified Alethi society is, that all he did in the arena is forgotten about just because the man might possibly be learning to write. IN THIS HOUSE, RENARIN KHOLIN IS A HERO!

I'm talking about Retribution. Do you think Odium and Honor will split before Book 10? I personally would prefer them not to, because that seems to imply the reductionist idea that Odium = evil and Honor = good.

Also, will Taravangian remain the Vessel for its entire existence, or are we going to see more Ascensions? I'm personally very inclined to believe that Jasnah is going to become the Vessel of Retribution, occupying a kind of moral middle ground between Dalinar and Taravangian. I'm also very interested in seeing a depowered Taravangian deal with all the things he did in WaT (and presumably will do in the timeskip).

What are your theories about this?

I just finished the Stormlight Archive series (audiobook) and I've just received the physical copies of the books. I want to reread my favorite moments, so tell me your top 3 best moments to reread! Personally, I think mine are:

1. The battle of Kaladin and Adolin against the 4 Shardbearers,

2. Kaladin and Bridge Four saving Adolin and Dalinar,

3. Kaladin returning to his hometown as a Radiant.

(im french so im not sure if the traduction of the name is right)

I just re-read WoK after cramming in the 5 books for the first time last year. A few things stood out to me, and maybe they've already been discussed, or revealed in the books but I've forgotten.

• I am getting a lot of hints that there is some sort of gemheart inside each parshman/parshendi/singer. There HAS to be a reason why the parshmen were so erratic when anyone disturbed their dead, and Sanderson alsways has good reasons for people doing things. I bet the gemhearts in the parshendi. Much like a spanreed, there has to be some internal mechanical link such as a gemstone that each parshendi has to keep them on rhythm and such.
• There was a passing comment by a bridgemen during a chasm duty, where one of them responding to fears of voidbringers, says essentially, "what, is a voidbringer going to eat our heart"? That kindof stood out to me like a sore thumb and I bet there is something long term about void bringers eating the hearts of the victim, and if humans are the voidbringers, they may have discovered gemhearts of the parshendi in the past and consumed them for stormlight.
• There is something going on with Adolin. As we read in WaT, the way honor was understood was beginning to be realized as rudimentary by Dalinar in the end. Keeping one's word just for the sake of keeping it doesn't make sense all the time... in the same sense, we have Adolin instinctively being right about multiple things, such as not wanting to trust Sadeas, threatening sadeas' troops who were abusing the prostitute (using fear/summoning his shardblade to enforce what is right is not something I could see an "honorable" person doing). We also hear multiple times in WoK that it is wrong to kill one to save 10, but is that wrong? Especially if the one who must be killed, such as Sadeas himself, will inevitably lead to more death and division if he is kept alive. Then the way he starts bringing Maya back to life... I think Sanderson is going to use Adolin as the Honor 2.0 example.

Do you guys think that the ardent will “update” the religion now that Kaladin has replaced Jezrien as a Herald? If so, then how?

Also there’s a WoB about Kaladin picking up Jezrien’s traits/attributes:-

Questioner:-
“Wind and Truth’s postlude set up Kaladin and the Heralds’ return to Roshar for the back half of Stormlight. Once this happens, there are bound to be instances of conflation between Kaladin and Jezrien. As this happens over time, will Kaladin take up more of Jezrien’s traits as Kaladin’s Cognitive Shadow is influenced by Jezrien’s impact?”

Brandon:-
“Wow, what a great question. That’s an excellent question. The answer is yes, this could definitely happen. Now, it depends how aware people become of Kaladin as the replacement. But there is going to be pressure upon Kaladin to… All the Heralds are aware of this. The way that people perceive them sometimes influences them, particular when they’re in the Spiritual Realm. When they’ve got a body back, they’re influenced much less powerfully. There’s this stabilizing force to them. And they’re aware of it, but yes, that was definitely a… I wouldn’t call it a danger, but that’s an aspect of Kaladin’s life, now.”

I know the WoB is not related to my question directly but it does affect it.

What do you guys think?

Edit:- I’m talking about after the Return of the Heralds(I thought that it was obvious, my bad).

I am half way through WaT where Odium just destroyed Kharbranth with a tsunami. It shows that despite Cultivation and Odium’s own bounds put in place by Honor, he still has the power to alter the landscape and do as he pleases to Roshar itself.

So why is this the only time he does it? He can easily just cause a massive earthquake on the mountain underneath Urithuru to topple everything. On every battlefield he could just decimate the allied troupes before his forces get there with earthquakes and the such.

I feel like there is so much power he has as a God that he never uses. Same goes with just general reconnaissance. It’s explained he knows everything thats going on but that he can’t divide his attention and that’s why the main characters are able to put plans into motion even tho he knows about them. But why not? He’s a god why cant he divide his attention?

Unless I am missing something about all of this?

When did Dalinar recover from alcohol abuse? He is still using when Gavilar dies, but we don't see him drink in the series proper. I can't recall any portion dedicated to him wrestling with this demon specifically.

Sorry if the spoiler warning is overzealous. I remember knowing that Dalinar was an alcoholic in Way of Kings, but people don't seem to talk about it until Oathbringer, so I may be misremembering.

Just finished WoR and wanted to read the novellas that are in between WoR and Oathbringer before diving into Oathbringer. Was able to get Edgedancer but cant seem to Find Elsecaller and King Lopen ANYWHERE, not even on the official site!

In short I have two questions:

1.) Are Elsecaller and King Lopen NECESSARY reading material for Oathbringer or are they just nice supplementals?

2.) Where can I even find these storming novels!

Thanks to any who answer, Im hooked on the Stormlight archive and need more

How I discovered the Cosmere/Stormlight

I specifically remember seeing the cover for Way of Kings in 2013 at my aunt's bookstore. I didn’t know anything about the Cosmere or that Brandon Sanderson was a thing. But I was 9 and didn't want to read a 1k-page monster. And said parents of 9-year-olds wouldn’t let him, mostly because it was too grown-up for him and they couldn't afford it.

But then I saw some YT channels go nuts around 2020 as Rhythm of War book 4 in the Stormlight Archive was coming out and not being delayed (Can't blame them, honestly). I saw the title The Stormlight Archive, and it jumped right out at him. stuff like Mistborn, Red Rising, and A Song of Ice and fire/game of Thrones. And that got me hooked.

And then one of my favorite D&D YouTubers, Colby (AKA if Homelander had loving parents) from D4, had read it, so then I made the decision I would read it someday. Except I'd been put off by the fact that they were all 1K+ pages, and I'd never read anything that big. In the number of words, I mean all 5 books. Stormlight Era 1 is 1/2 as long as The Wheel of Time. Then, when the show got cancelled, I decided to read WOT. After A Fire of Heaven, I felt comfortable that I could do it. I read Red Rising, finally got The Way of Kings on my Kindle, and started reading, and the rest is history

Pros:

Mental Health REP

Redemption

Character arcs

Cons:

Pacing Inconsistancy

Dialog

Themes

Book reviews themselves.

BTW, these are all compared to each other, not all fantasy as a whole. If it were, these are all 10/10 5-star books.

The Way of Kings: (10/10) S ★★★★★

(5/20/26-6/1/26)

This was a heavy read. It took me 2 and a half weeks to read the first book, and my goodness, it was slow.

Can I start with those opening chapters? What on earth was that? I get that you have to start with the Knights Radiant, their setup, and the death of Gavilar, which honestly made me realize Brandon Sanderson could write great small-scale action scenes. I always thought he was only good at massive epic battles, not smaller action scenes.

Then Chapter 1 comes along, some random kid starts the story, we meet Kaladin, the boy dies at the end, and then we jump 8 months ahead. What on earth? I get that it all made sense later, but I feel like that chapter could have been added somewhere later from Kaladin’s perspective. That’s just my opinion.

Speaking of Kaladin, what a character. If this is how good Sanderson is at character writing, I can’t imagine what the TV show will be like. Although I know this was the first book in a series and it’s 75 chapters long, I still think Kaladin had a few too many present-day chapters. I believe some of those excess chapters could have gone to Shallan or been cut entirely.

Bridge Four is how you do a Suicide Squad-style storyline. When Kaladin got assigned there, I thought it was going to feel like a generic suicide squad situation, but it was done perfectly. Every member feels distinct and memorable. They feel less like a found family and more like a found brotherhood.

You all need to be nicer to Shallan. I knew right from the start that this girl was damaged and either had D.I.D. or some form of anxiety, most likely social anxiety, and people still hate her because she’s a people pleaser. SYBAU.

Her arc of trying to rob Jasnah while also slowly growing to respect her was done perfectly. I also got spoiled beforehand that Shallan is going to become the main character of The Way of Kings, and I am so pumped.

Oh, Dalinar. He’s a good character, but my God, his chapters were so boring. They introduced these strange visions of the future, and Dalinar tried to discern what they meant while also dealing with PTSD, but instead they focused mostly on Alethi politics with only occasional hints of the stuff I actually cared about.

BRO!!!! I knew about the Sanderlanche and had already experienced it three times with Wheel of Time. I also knew Sanderson had planned this out as a trilogy on its own, so I figured I was either going to get three great Sanderlanches or one massive Sanderlanche. Somehow, I got both.

The ending was fast-paced and epic, and it had those fantastic character moments that make you fall in love with Kaladin and Dalinar. I am SOOOOO excited to see this on Apple TV if it happens.

Easily one of the best books I’ve read, and people say Words of Radiance is even better.

Words of Radiance: (9/10) A+ ★★★★★

(6/8/26-6/21/26)

So I'm going to be honest, I think Way of Kings was better.

Starting off with that opening sequence, I thought it was the right choice to make Shallan have the flashback chapters, and maybe this is just me, but I felt like Kaladin had the better plotline of the 2 main plotlines, but Shallan had the clear focus in this book. The action scenes that Words of Radiance has are much, much better than the way of kings had 2 big examples, where Adolin's duel was at the end of part 3 and the attempted assassination was somewhere in the middle, where Dalinar caught the damn blade. And Kaladin and Szeth's duel in the sky

I don't know if it's me or RAFO, but I don't love Sanderson's plot twists. The big example is Kaladin learning he killed Shallan's brother; it was more "Oh, who would have thought it?" and maybe it will come back later, but I have a feeling it won’t, but then you get into retroactive plot twists that reframe the prior narrative, like Shallan killing her mom in self-defense. I thought it was a great twist. But then you get the talking sword, which apparently is connected to Warbreaker, and a side character in WOR is an MC in Warbreaker, and after reading it, I'm just standing there like WHA??

I also appreciated Dalinar taking the backseat and sorta being a side character in this book. In the first book, I had a lot of problems with him and his chapters; they were so boring and uninteresting outside of the visions, and his PTSD here feels like he actually has progression. And Shallan, I was expecting to make me love Shallan in this and more; it felt like she stayed the same, and I'm hoping that she and the ghostbloods will get expanded upon in the future (And apparently the ghostbloods are big in the cosmere). What I don't like is that it felt like the book was set up to be Shallan's book but ended up being shifted to Kaladin.

The ending as well, and while it was awesome, it doesn't compare to the climax of a full character arc, and while Shallan still got one, it will never compare to Kaladin's. The side characters and villains took a big step up. Lopen, Moash, Szeth, and Eshonai were big upgrades, and Adolin getting a POV was like speed-running Galad's ARC in The Wheel of Time. At first, he looked like your average cocky Jamie Lannister, but he transformed into a much better character. And Renarin, not the king himself, being a knight's radiant, just puts a smile on this autistic boy's face.

Oathbringer: ★★★★★★ (11/10) S+

(6/27/26-7/7/26)

IT'S SOOOOO PEAK!!!! 😭😭😭😭

OMG, WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN!!!! Dalinar. Daddy Dalinar, I am so sorry I doubted you in Way of Kings and Words of Radiance as well. I thought you were a bland and basic character with a basic redemption arc, but after seeing your first pov segment in Oathbringer, I knew this was going to be a THRILL ride of emotions, and it most certainly was. I still think your chapters are boring and should have focused on you and not politics, but the biggest highlight was Dalinar. The absolute tonal shift from young to old Dalinar was insane and unlike anything I'd ever seen. Like seeing him actively contribute to Evie's death was a gut punch and reminded me of HIS death in Lightbringer (Red Rising 6), and how he treated this man is irredeemable if we saw this Dalinar first, but Sanderson chose not to, and somehow someway by some magic he managed to pull a full redemption arc for Dalinar in 1 book. This was by far the best flashback chapter in the series. Honestly, Dalinar, it reminds me a lot of guts from Berserk but in reverse. I also must say the murder mystery of who killed the soldier in Sadea's army kind of just got dropped 1/3 of the way through the book unless it gets picked up again in ROW. I feel it will never get picked up again.

Why did the middle drag on sooooo long? Like, every chapter was either Dalinar meeting with nobles or Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin in Kholinar goofing off. There were highlights like Jasnah sticking it to Amaram, and his ending—he deserved worse. Shallan, I think, got the 2nd best arc in this book, having a literal identity crisis and her constantly battling with Veil and Radiant, and seeing them all unite as one was kind of just a tearjerker. I also want to point out Wit and Shallan's panic attack and his finishing the girl that looked up to God; that shit hurt hard, it really showed me that Wit/Hoid wasn't just going to be the glue to connect the cosmere but an actual character. Lift just showing up every now and then, just being a dork, made me chuckle every now and then. Renarin is finally getting into the fight, and I now think Sanderson can write excellent villains. I thought Sadeas was just a blah villain, but now he is a goat. I'm going to say it: I didn't care for Elhokar; I thought he was just a boring, faceless character who could have had a great redemption if it were intriguing. When Moash killed him, I thought, "Oh no, he killed him. " Anyway, he was nothing to me. Like, I just feel worse for Moash than Elhokar, like he's clearly hurting and needs therapy. Also, I am convinced Azure isn't from Roshar. 1. She knows of Shadesmar. 2. Her hair turned gray randomly in Shadesmar. 3. Her name

Kaladin and especially Sylphrena kind of took the back burner for this, which was slightly upsetting. I really wanted to see his development with his returning family and with Syl, but nah, all over in the first part, although he's got a little brother. The world-building has a lot of the answers, with Dalinar actively going into his visions now, and he can actively study them and actually get a bunch of answers, like the heralds broke their oaths to protect Roshar. You mean surge binding could destroy Roshar!!! But I think second to all was that ending, Tarmon Gaiden 2.0, and Dalinar yelling, "YOU CAN'T HAVE MY PAIN!!!"

This is peak SCREW WORLD; being the number 1 book of GR, it *should* be number 1.

Rhythm of War: ★★★★☆

(7/24/26-8/1/26)

The 4th ideal, Shallan and Veil's reconciliation (This hurt to read in the best way possible), The dog and the dragon, and Teft's death and funeral. YOU DID NOT WANT TO SEE MY FACE WHEN READING THOSE CHAPTERS!!!!

Someone told me this isn't a good Kaladin book. GTFOH. He had the most development in a stormlight book since way of Kings, and oh, Amaram gets fired from his position, and that sets him up on his journey to the 4th ideal. It was sort of set up in Oathbringer and definitely delivered in ROW. Shut up.

Shallan shined like the brightest diamond ever. OMG, I will admit i think Sanderson kinda copied her arc from Oathbringer to this, but it worked WAYYYYYY more here because she is actually struggling with her emotions and using veil and radiant as a crutch to hide from them, and when veil and radiant leave/merge into her. The man tears. And people hate her for some BS reason, GTFOH. I did appreciate Dalinar taking a backseat in this because IMO i think he got a full arc already, and going forward it's going to be the best gravy ever.

Okay, Navani, Venli, and Eshonai chapters. Why were those so slow-paced? It's like a repeat of the opening to way of Kings, but it's just unnecessary and needless amounts of exposition (specifically with Navani's), and i swear there's a good arc in Navani's, but it's just muddied up with so much needless science bullcrap.

Venlis and eshonai. I swear i considered skipping these and i think skipped one because it was just so boring and a big pile of nothing. 1 thing sanderson does well is keep the plot focused and never veer off course, but Venlis's and Eshonai's chapters were kind of veering away from what we cared about in the rhythm of war and just made parts 3 and 4 a real drag.

Like they add to the singer's worldbuilding, but i just didn't care enough about these 2 to give a crap. And he even admitted it should have been omitted from the book and turned into a novella.

I'm going to say it RN: Moash is going to be redeemed in Era 2, and no one in the fandom is going to like it. I get it; he killed teft and Elhokar, but if dalinar can redeem himself after slaughtering the love of his life and a whole city, Moash can as well.

Wind and Truth: ★☆☆☆☆

(08/11/26-08/17/26)

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!!! 1300 pages of just blegh

Okay, starting off, this whole thing was just a mess. IDK if it's the fame or age or whatnot, but this is an abysmal excuse for a 1300-page tome. Like the plot and pacing were all over the place, and it seemed like Sanderson wanted to recreate AMOL and Oathbringer's endings. But he already juggled at least like 7 plotlines and character arcs. Like Nale, Sigil, Kaladin, Szeth, Jasnah, Renarin, Rlain, Venli, Shallan, and Dalinar. But it just comes off like he's trying so hard to finish this off, and it came off like how GRRM ended A Dance with Dragons and his problem with trying to get Daenerys to Westeros. But it's not GRRM; Sanderson and GRRM are on opposite ends with writing.

The plot was all over the place, and the plotlines are just insane and way unbalanced. Like Adolin's was rushed, Jasnah's was pointless, Kaladin's and Szeth's were bloated as hell, Shallan's got too little, and then Dalinar got, like, just the perfect amount. But after like the 40%, it just comes off like all of them except Dalinar are done poorly, and I don't want to read them anymore. The 10-day structure, while it brings good tension, just drags and drags considering the pacing of this, which is also all over the place. It single-handedly jumped from plot point to plot point every single chapter, and I don't think there was 1 chapter that was back-to-back the same plotline

The dialogue and the writing somehow got worse, and both were just okay at best, and the character writing took the backseat when I feel like most people who read Stormlight read it for the character arcs and not the worldbuilding questions. Plus, with all of the Cosmere tie-ins, there were many moments of confusion because I didn't read a certain Cosmere book. This thing needed humongous edits and a straight-up rewrite.

1/10 ⭐️ Just read the Coppermind summary

Rankings

(Ranked against each other; if this were against every other series, these would all be 10/10 except Wind and Truth.)

Top characters

1. Shallan
2. Kaladin
3. Renarin
4. Dalinar
5. Rock
6. Lopen
7. Syl
8. Jasnah
9. Adolin
10. Navani

Regarding the wider Cosmere

I don't even know where to go next. I never expected to be a big Cosmere fan from just 3 granted giant tomes. I really want to know who Thaidakar is, and everyone told me he's a Mistborn character, but also Tress sounds so delightful

"Shallan had killed her and sent her to Bratze, where she had broken and come back to Roshar. Initiating the turn, unleashing the Voldbringers, and starting all of thing"

So it was her fault!!!! Does she know this?!?!?!