If the various Cosmere worlds are representative of different aspects of storytelling, then The Stormlight Archive would definitely cover that of "worldbuilding", of which Words of Radiance is very much a middle book.
It's not been a favourable read. It meanders a lot, spending too many words to say very little. This is actually quite disappointing as it was the tightness of Elantris, Mistborn and Warbreaker that attracted me so much to the Cosmere in the first place.
But it wasn't all bad. The set pieces, when they finally came, were awesome, as were the not so subtle easter eggs. On balance, I would say that the pay offs were just about worth it - I'm certainly not giving up on the Cosmere any time soon - but the book could have been so much better if it had picked a more concise path.
It's just as well that the Cosmere is made up of various aspects of storytelling.
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