I am ashamed that this book took me a year and a half to read X_X. I can only best describe this book as like trying to eat an entire chocolate cake. It's big and dense and rich, full of lore and intrigue and character arcs... And I knew that I could only take so much info, or so many feelings, at once, so I paced myself. (I stopped multiple times to warn my husband - who read these books before me - that if Syl didn't come back, I was going to chuck the book at the wall!) I think there is something profound and beautiful about centering a magical world around "damaged" individuals, people who have to reckon with re-forging themselves after feeling guilt, loss, shame, disillusionment, trauma, etc. That magic can only find us in our moments of transition.

It's a shame that there is so much good writing here, but the book IS sooooo long. Because the series rewards a diligent reader with callbacks and foreshadowing and twists... but they didn't always land for me when, after 1,200+ pages, I couldn't remember the setup that was being referenced in the reveal. I could tell, even as I was reading it the first time, that this was a book that would read even better in a reread, once the reader knew what to look for.

Even so, I don't think my lapsed memory is the only reason why I missed things; I think Sanderson leaves things unsaid. The characters often reference their religion and ancient history in snippets, because it's common knowledge to them, but the audience is never given a nice neat breakdown of Who were the 10 Heralds, What were the 10 orders of Knights and around Which ethics or emotions did each rally, and What were the 10 original kingdoms and did each correspond to one of the chivalric orders? I'm a little frustrated that, after 2,000+ pages collectively, I still have the barest grasp of the mysticism that's enfolding.

And characters will leap from having inklings and intuitions, to having sure, large-scale, actionable knowledge, in a way that I couldn't follow. Shallan goes from only having an ancient illustration of an even more ancient mosaic that depicted the legendary holy city of Stormseat, to knowing for certain that it IS a map of The Shattered Plains, Stormseat IS the legendary city of Urithiru, and she just walks out into the plains, gets past centuries of crem-build up, knows how to unlock a doorway using stormlight and her shardblade, and then EFFING TELEPORTS an entire army through the doorway in the secret city to an entirely different country.... She doesn't make a mistake about its location or scale or purpose or any sacrifice needed?... She just easily BOOPS everyone across the continent? Or, Kaladin was barely scaling rock walls with his powers last book, and was struggling with his oaths for most of this book... but when he finds his way again, he suddenly understands Lashings without a hitch, and is flying through storms, changing his center of gravity every which way... It's a cool anime moment, but contains that trope of, "I just believed in myself a little harder, and my powers went Super Saiyan."

But speaking of cool anime moments, this book has some INCREDIBLY CINEMATIC MOMENTS!!! Funny banter, gasp-out-loud fight sequences, standing ovation I'm not crying you're crying found family moments... I could SEE the clash of Blue vs Red storms/armies; I could HEAR the imagined swelling symphony as everything comes to a head; I could feel the rush of Kaladin and Szeth streaking through the sky... For all that this book takes its sweet time getting there, it GETS there! I could reread the last 100 pages for the pure joy of "rewatching" my favorite scenes in my mind's eye. Unreal how astounding, engaging, and inspiring the end of this book is.

I am sooooo ready for Book 3. Let's GO!