Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive #5), by Brandon Sanderson

  I finished Wind and Truth as quickly as I could... because I just didn't care. This book was something that I almost disliked, despite the great writing and smart ideas. Most of the many many characters I didn't care about or even remember that much and the ones that I did like were doing stuff that had little entertainment value. Even the big storylines make no literary sense if you think about it. What was that, Brandon Sanderson?

  From the reviews of the previous four books, I think the first and the third were the best. With such a disappointing fifth entry (in a series of ten!) I wonder if it makes any sense to invest in the story and characters for the next ten to twenty years.

  In this book, the worse symptoms of modern American writing rear their ugly heads. First, the all connected cinematic universe, just for the sake of it, the Cosmere, a concept that I hate with all my heart. How does a great writer like Sanderson not understand how limiting it will become? Second, the psychotherapy angle becoming part of a story. Listen, man, if I wanted to confront my inner drives and contemplate my emotions I wouldn't read fantasy stories, OK? And still, if I did and still read fantasy stories, I wouldn't want my main character go unto a pointless side quest doing therapy to other heroes. Any emotional trauma can be solved with a big big sword! Third, the noble family, where everybody is related to everybody, at least through adoption and alliance if not blood, and they all get special powers - as if high birth and implausible situations bestowing them with power were just a natural evolution of such special individuals. I am starting to get where Moash is coming from, now. And fourth, new magical mechanisms that no one knew about or cares much about, coming out exactly when the story needs them, like Dragonball level ups.

  As for the story I can't tell much about it without spoiling it. There is a deadline and everybody is doing their own thing until that deadline, some are ignoring it, some are actively influencing events, even if they shouldn't be allowed to and a lot of the stuff they are doing is just... pointless. Even in the eventuality they succeed, nothing much is changed. This is a book about McGuffins.

  And then there is the ending, which pretty much says "whatever you liked in the books so far, the next five books will be completely different". What's the point of announcing a ten book series, then, if you're going to split it into two five book series that have little in common?

  Bottom line: I waited four years for this. I am not happy. At this point I can't even say I am angry or anything, just severely disappointed. There is no bang, just whimpers.