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Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 26-34 & Part 2 Interludes (Second half of Part 2) The epigraphs have some good information about spren and even a mention of the Voidbringers entering the listeners songs. Interesting that the listeners are too close to the Cognitive Realm for the spren to use them, so they turned "traitor" and sought out the humans. Seems like everyone things everyone else is some kind of traitor, humans, spren, now listeners. The final stanza seems to even be about Odium, with their gods being splinters of a soul (Adonalsium, or specifically one of the shards?) who seeks to take control. These chapters also had me thinking there was a real chance of Eshonai meeting up with Dalinar, but her converting to stormform at the end has squashed that completely. She has changed so much that the "old" her is screaming somewhere deep inside her. Stormform to me seems like it is distinctly of Odium in the way that Honorspren is of Honor. This is very much getting close to the destruction mentioned in Navani's journal epigraphs. I'm also curious about Eshonai's red eyes, Thude says something about the songs, but I don't see anything obvious. I do remember that Thunderclasts also have red eyes, and one of the death quotes in WoK mentioned red eyes, but also "they are the rocks" so that's more pointedly the Thunderclasts. So much of the lore is mixed up, mostly because the old ardents literally changed the Vorinism religion, but I'm finally convinced that the Stormfather/Rider of the Storm is a massive spren. I also liked the conversations between him and Kaladin and Eshonai. The Stormfather seems convinced that men will fail, and Kaladin will eventually kill Syl. I hope he's just distrustful of mankind, and it's not some kind of inherent effect from the bond, though Pattern seemed to have a similar worry. Shallan is continuing to learn how to be a strong woman in this world, still pulling from Jasnah (who isn't dead) and also learning some ruthlessness from Tyn (who is dead). I really was wondering if Tyn was going to try to take Shallan captive when they arrived at the camps, but she didn't take her own advice and trusted Shallan just a bit too much. Really should have screened the spanreed messages better. Shallan did say a few things that made me wonder exactly what they meant though. quote:Ten heartbeats. But for her, it didn’t have to be ten, did it? No. It must be. Time, I need time! Why would it not have to be ten for her? That's very out of nowhere as far as I can tell, is she just not used to it? Was there a time when it wasn't ten for her? And she's alive because of it again? Does that have to do with one of her parents death? I could come up with various scenarios to fit it, but there's so many ways to approach it. Shallan's got a lot to juggle going forward, even with Tyn out of the way I'm guessing she'll further use her illusion powers to see what the Ghostbloods are up to, I'm wondering if Helaran will be among them. Shallan also has to deal with the fact that, eventually, she'll meet up with Adolin, Dalinar, and Kaladin will be there. I can't wait for his double take when she's not a Horneater. I do wish that either Pattern or Syl had said something about the other, but I guess neither saw the other spren. Why do I feel like Teft disappearing is important? I don't think I see him again in this part of the book. I haven't been suspicious of him until literally right now when Brandon goes "Hey isn't it weird that this guy can't be found??" The "Son of Honor" line that the Stormfather calls Kaladin brings me back to "Child of Tanavast. Child of Honor." from WoK. Back then I wasn't sure what that meant, but if Honor is the Almighty's shard, then is Tanavast the Almighty's actual name? A lot was all happening at the same time before Szeth showed up, Pattern and Syl having similar reactions really set the mood though. Then the fight scene itself had a few small lines that feel very important. Dalinar catching the Shardblade was wild. He doesn't even have Shardplate anymore, though I do suspect that him listening to he Almighty's answering machine could be spren related, which would make him a new Radiant like Kaladin and Shallan and Jasnah (who isn't dead). Szeth's realizations that he isn't as special as he thought/feared/hoped is the main thing though. It absolutely rocks his perspective. It seems his Truthless title seems to be from him claiming something about "them" (the Heralds? Voidbringers? Radiants?) being back. Brings me back to his prologue in WoK. quote:He had heard that the Voidbringers could hold [Stormlight] in perfectly. But, then, did they even exist? His punishment declared that they didn’t. His honor demanded that they did. I might also have to consider that Szeth is a Voidbringer, though he can't hold Stormlight perfectly. Maybe he's a Herald of Odium, instead of a Herald of the Almighty. I feel like I should be able to nail this down. Syl also claims he doesn't have a spren, though I'm not 100% convinced she's correct. She also mentions his Shardblade seems different, so I'm leaning towards him being a Herald, but I'm not sure of who. However, what I'm hoping he notices is that he now has a reason to stop considering himself Truthless. I don't think he'll do that immediately, he might seek more proof. But if he's no longer Truthless, he doesn't have to care about his Oathstone anymore. I do feel like Odium is manipulating his life in a similar way to how Ruin manipulated people over on Scadrial, so he won't let go so easily if that's true. Zahel is Vasher. (Full transparency, someone I know who has read the series confirmed this for me after I got here.) I was getting some vibes off him already, the cheek thing had me side tracked that he was the assassin from WoK's prologue and Ym's interlude, but the "Green from the ground" thing was like a signal fire for me. It just screamed Awakening magic system to me, not sure I understand the actual metaphor though. I looked back at Zahel's mentions, and he wore ropes like Zahel, he's ageless (fifth Heightening), can recognize when people are approaching him (first Heightening), and he's got similar swordfight abilities, and has a "strange accent" according to Kaladin. He's Vasher, and he's gonna train Kaladin. I love it. Taln is a big loving mess and someone needs to unscramble his brain. Interesting that Hoid just hosed off after a while though. Progress so far:
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# ? Sep 2, 2023 00:15 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 06:49 |
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pik_d posted:
These are the best, never stop.
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# ? Sep 2, 2023 01:07 |
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pik_d posted:Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 26-34 & Part 2 Interludes (Second half of Part 2) Interesting... fake edit: one of your latest guesses is 100% on the money, but I'm not gonna say which one
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# ? Sep 2, 2023 01:31 |
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pik_d posted:Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 26-34 & Part 2 Interludes (Second half of Part 2)
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# ? Sep 2, 2023 01:54 |
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CapnAndy posted:Ha, I knew you were gonna get that one, if not quite this quick. The metaphor doesn't make sense, so don't worry about it. Idioms don't translate well. He's going to keep on using color-based idioms and the clues will get increasingly more obvious from there, but you got it right out of the gate. I had been looking at him with a close eye already, because I thought he was the assassin that killed Ym and showed up in the WoK prologue after looking back at it. I am leaning away from this now, but it just made me focus on Zahel. I mean, do I want to believe Vasher is also killing nice old men like Ym? I do not, and also the clothing was different, so it seems very unlikely, but the descriptions Ym and Kaladin gave me of each of them weren't mutually exclusive (one focused on skin and clothes, the other on hair, eyes, and accent). Kaladin not placing his accent had me thinking about him being a worldhopper, and his general grumpyness gave me big Vasher vibes, but I wasn't confident enough before the direct reference to color in the surrounding environment. I'm sure there's other worldhoppers I'm missing. I'm still suspicious of Baxil's art destroying mistress, Jasnah's (who isn't dead) assassin Liss, and Sigzil just by association with Hoid. Slanderer posted:Interesting... You mean in addition to the Zahel is Vasher one? pik_d fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Sep 2, 2023 |
# ? Sep 2, 2023 02:34 |
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You caught Zahel being Vasher way earlier then I did. Shallan's stuff is very hard to figure out with what info you have, girls been through some poo poo and can be unreliable as a narrator. It is mentioned in a one-off line early on though that the Vaden have distant horneater mixed ancestry so kinda.
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# ? Sep 2, 2023 04:29 |
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Also re: Shallan (spoilers through Oathbringer, I wanted to allude to it outside spoiler text but couldn't without it being needlessly dicky and vague), that moment when she kills Tyn is extremely important not just because it's the first hint we get that she's got a live Blade, but because in retrospect, we can clearly see Radiant emerging for the first time. Not as a fully formed alter yet, but the clipped stoicism of "Difficult things. Yes. I believe I told you." is her speech patterns, and wouldn't you know it, it's right when Shallan has to hold her Shardblade.
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# ? Sep 2, 2023 05:21 |
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Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapter 37 Not here to post thoughts on the chapters, this is just a little bonus side tangent of me trying to figure something out way before I have all the necessary info. I've been looking at the Heralds and the Radiant orders and a few other things trying to sort out where people fit. I noticed in the eipgraph of chapter 37 that it mentioned the Stonewards who followed Talenelat exemplified resolve, strength, and dependability. Looking over some of my notes, I saw the ten essences chart that I coped from the back of Way of Kings and noticed the match I've highlighted. So I've mapped out that those other devine attributes (and body focus) would go with, and I like what I've come up with. Jezrien's protecting/leading attributes are extremely Kaladin, to a fault, so I think the windrunners have to fit there, which means Szeth is also probably there, given that he and Kaladin have both shown to use the Gravitation and what Binding (I believe) surges. Vedel (Vev) has the eyes as the body focus, which screams Shallan to me, so I think her order lies there. Jasnah mentioned the Lightweavers, so I think that's what they're called. They've got the Transformation and Illumination surges. Jasnah herself has to be on either side of the Lightweavers since they share the Transformation surge, and I'm making the assumption that the order of Orders is the same as their numbering system. Jasnah doesn't seem that obedient, and it was pointed out multiple times she had nice hair, so I think she fits into whatever Order is in the Palah position. Just and confident do seem to fit her. Syl named the Skybreaker Order when Kaladin was talking about finding his own justice with Amaram, but I'm not sure which Herald/Devine Attribute that would fit, but it sounds like a bit of a hot head. Chapter 36's epigraph mentioned the Releasers, which sounds like an Order as well. They've apparently got their own slur, Dustbringers, which they really don't appreciate. Not sure how these last two fit in.
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# ? Sep 3, 2023 05:32 |
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I don't know if this is an error in your copy of Way of Kings or you did this. Spoiler for your chart: You have the Divine Essences for #2 and #5 transposed. The other 8 are correct. Nothing big, but it may affect your theory crafting.
Fezz fucked around with this message at 16:14 on Sep 3, 2023 |
# ? Sep 3, 2023 08:32 |
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There was a bug for that in some printings iirc.
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# ? Sep 3, 2023 10:05 |
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Fezz posted:I don't know if this is an error in your copy of Way of Kings or you did this. Spoiler for your chart: You have the Divine Essences for #2 and #6 transposed. The other 8 are correct. Nothing big, but it may affect your theory crafting. I double checked and it looks like #2 and #5 are swapped, Nan and Shash. This makes Jasnah's Learned and Giving, and she's definitely Learned but I'm not convinced about Giving. Thanks for the heads up.
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# ? Sep 3, 2023 15:44 |
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pik_d posted:I double checked and it looks like #2 and #5 are swapped, Nan and Shash. This makes Jasnah's Learned and Giving, and she's definitely Learned but I'm not convinced about Giving. Thanks for the heads up. No problem. For me, glad we sorted that out, especially my mistake. Glad we didn't compound the error. Jasnah spoiler. Jasnah will give you some of her boot. See those bandits she soulcast in WoK.
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# ? Sep 3, 2023 16:17 |
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Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 35-45 (Start of Part 3) I already posted some of my thoughts about the early epigraphs of Part 3, but there was some other good information recently, especially that one of the Orders "entertained great subterfuge as the expense of the other nine", assuming that wasn't revisionist history from the ardents. When I hear "one of the Orders" I immediately think of Taln being the only one who died, so the Stonewards. But also Syl holds some grudge against the Skybreakers of Nalan. My little chart is filling out a little, the Bondsmiths probably have Kaladin's bonding/Full Lashing ability in common based on the name, so my guess there is Ishi led them. I liked the levitating platform that Navani was supervising, but the description of the Soulcasters (the people) really caught my eye. They've used the Soulcasters (the fabrials) so much that their eyes sparkled like gemstones and the skin has hardened to something like stone. That is quite reminiscent of the Thunderclasts, but in person form. I don't want to throw accusations of Voidbringers at everything, but these guys are on my list now too. I am really really enjoying the love-hate triangle between Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin. Shallan and Adolin instantly went stupid for each other, fumbling over words and complimenting each others hair, and they both think Kaladin is an annoyance. Kaladin also isn't too fond of either of them, it's so fun. I am a little disappointed that Syl and Pattern haven't noticed each other. It makes a lot of sense that Kaladin and Shallan are sniping at each other given how opposed their spren are. It's going to be even funnier when they realize they're both new Radiants. I wonder if Zahel noticed Pattern on the training grounds. Sebarial and Palona also seem really fun, though I'm not sure how long they'll be important. I like how different the feel is with them compared to Dalinar and Sadeas though. Sebarial doesn't give a gently caress about fighting, too much of a hassle, not profitable enough, too messy. Then he puts up a wall of rudeness to keep anyone from figuring out what he's really about. I do think Shallan needs to be more careful about her disguises though. Sebarial instantly noticed she looked different on their way home, and later on Shallan noticed her disguise wasn't complete with a bit of her nose "fuzzy". No one noticed, but I feel like it's building up to something, much in the same way Kaladin noticing more and more signs of Chasmfiends in the chasm he trains in has to be a sign that he'll have to fight one down there eventually. That's been coming since The Way of Kings. Shallan is also meeting some fun people, both in her flashbacks and in the Ghostblood chapter. I'm pretty sure they're both Hoid though, Mraize and the unnamed messenger. The messenger from the flashback is obviously Hoid, with the weird story, the axe"hound" question, and the black hair and blue eyes like Wit. He also very clearly noticed something in Shallan, asking her about spren, lies, and Stormlight. Mraize had a slightly different description but I already know Hoid can disguise himself, his descriptions on different worlds has been quite different. I'm also seeing some connections between Moash and the Ghostbloods. I was confused about Mraize saying that Amaram's life belonged to someone else, but I'm wondering if Moash let the rope down for the Ghostbloods, (I guess it wasn't Renarin!). He may have mentioned that Kaladin wanted revenge for Amaram having his squad killed, which Mraize/Hoid is probably fine with. I'm also now looking forward to Kaladin and Shallan (maybe in disguise) running into each other at the Ghostlboods hideout, or at Amaram's place. I was wondering about Kaladin's suspicion about Moash at first, if only because Kaladin was also wondering where Teft had disappeared to for a few chapters. Teft's answer of going to the market during a highstorm is still somewhat suspicious. I thought Brandon had put this in to show that Kaladin's mind was racing, looking for danger where there wasn't any, but then Moash confessed to wanting revenge against the King. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think of Teft from all this, he's been one of Kaladin's best friends, maybe he was reporting on what he knew of Kaladin's progress to someone. And Renarin has joined the crew, that was really unexpected, especially since I still was suspicious of him at the time. The seizures thing feels important. I have a wild theory that it's related to Dalinar's curse from the Nightwatcher. I'm still not 100% sure if Dalinar forgetting about his wife is the boon or curse, but maybe he asked to forget her and the Nightwatcher gave Renarin the seizures. I really love getting to look at all of Shallan's sketches, but Firestorm was begging for a hot rod paint job. It's even in the name. Progress so far:
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 19:21 |
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pik_d posted:not 100% sure if … forgetting … is the boon or curse These are two diametrically opposed things, though. If it’s the boon, why would he have asked for it? If it’s the curse, what could the boon have been?
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 19:33 |
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Grundulum posted:These are two diametrically opposed things, though. If it’s the boon, why would he have asked for it? If it’s the curse, what could the boon have been? Well, he may have asked to forget depending on his headspace at the time. Or he may have asked for something else and ended up forgetting her as some kind of monkey's paw. It really depends on how he felt and what he was going through at the time. Renarin having seizures seems like a more concrete curse though, unless the boon was saving his life from these seizures killing him.
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 19:39 |
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Entertaining thoughts as always. You're such an astute reader, you're noticing so many more things than me in my first read throughs. Although our reading methods are quite different, I race through the books in 1 day (typical Mistborn books) to 3 days (Stormlight Archive, Wheel of Time back then), and then reread at a much more sedate pace. One thing though, you could hardly be more wrong about one specific detail.
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 20:21 |
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Torrannor posted:Entertaining thoughts as always. You're such an astute reader, you're noticing so many more things than me in my first read throughs. Although our reading methods are quite different, I race through the books in 1 day (typical Mistborn books) to 3 days (Stormlight Archive, Wheel of Time back then), and then reread at a much more sedate pace. Torrannor posted:One thing though, you could hardly be more wrong about one specific detail. This is what makes it so fun, honestly. I'll have to come back to this to see what I said in that post that was so wrong, and figure out why I thought that.
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 20:31 |
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For me, it’s more about just finding time to listen to my audiobooks. It mostly just falls to my commute since it’s not something I can listen to while working and when I get home, I’m hanging out with my wife and not listening to podcasts. My fastest read, however, was when I was a teenager reading the Incarnations of Immortality series. I read all seven books in under three weeks. But those books were like 350 pages each.
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 20:38 |
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Mordiceius posted:For me, it’s more about just finding time to listen to my audiobooks. It mostly just falls to my commute since it’s not something I can listen to while working and when I get home, I’m hanging out with my wife and not listening to podcasts. Glad to see you checking in, how's your covid recovery going?
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 22:48 |
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Mordiceius posted:For me, it’s more about just finding time to listen to my audiobooks. It mostly just falls to my commute since it’s not something I can listen to while working and when I get home, I’m hanging out with my wife and not listening to podcasts. oh man. I remember reading those as a kid. I'm surprised I'm semi well adjusted because holy gently caress I tried re-reading those as an adult and it is hosed up
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 22:54 |
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Shallan sketching Adolin, writing "sigh", and double-underlining it, lmao. She's not always so stereotypical but goddamn, when she puts her mind to it, she's the girliest girl who ever twirled a skirt.
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 23:32 |
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CapnAndy posted:Shallan sketching Adolin, writing "sigh", and double-underlining it, lmao. She's not always so stereotypical but goddamn, when she puts her mind to it, she's the girliest girl who ever twirled a skirt. Continued Words of Radiance Chapter 45ish Yes, that loving killed me. I know it isn't, because Adolin literally said he wasn't going to name is blade, but I'm going to call his blade Sigh just because of that. The blade in the bottom right follows the description of Oathbringer, but doesn't match the other drawings of the sword. I thought I was really clever when I thought that was Oathbringer, but apparently this is (artwork from WoK)
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# ? Sep 4, 2023 23:52 |
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I finally opened up Yumi, and I just finished part 1. My main takeaway so far, compared to Tress: in Tress I found Hoid's narration and interjection to be very annoying, particularly around when he arrived in the story. It was too much. In this one, his style is a bit more... restrained? It shows up from time to time, but not to the point where it pulls me out of the story. I have other thoughts about Sanderson's use of 'voice' or 'style' or whatever, but I'm going to save them for later and just read the rest of Yumi now. Somebody fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Sep 5, 2023 |
# ? Sep 5, 2023 01:03 |
road potato posted:I finally opened up Yumi, and I just finished part 1. Spoiler is broken, fixed in my quote
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 01:22 |
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Of all things I expected from the first four Stormlight books, Adolin being my favorite character was not one of them. I'm a straight dude and I totally get Shallan's SIGH, the dude is just great.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 02:00 |
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TGG posted:Of all things I expected from the first four Stormlight books, Adolin being my favorite character was not one of them. I'm a straight dude and I totally get Shallan's SIGH, the dude is just great. He's got a bit of a temper, but that's understandable. He's a pretty stand up guy all things considered though.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 02:41 |
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TGG posted:Of all things I expected from the first four Stormlight books, Adolin being my favorite character was not one of them. I'm a straight dude and I totally get Shallan's SIGH, the dude is just great. It is refreshing beyond words to see a young, wealthy, powerful straight man who is aware of - and largely very honest about - his feelings beyond "competitive," "angsty," and "enraged." A couple of his later choices and approaches had my jaw on the ground because of how hard they break convention. I greatly appreciate Sando for choosing to normalize this behavior, instead of taking the path of the well-worn trope. e: also his humility and resilience when he isn't as quick on the uptake as everyone else, nerds gotta see that poo poo modeled more.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 02:50 |
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pik_d posted:I thought that was Oathbringer, but apparently this is (artwork from WoK) CK07 posted:It is refreshing beyond words to see a young, wealthy, powerful straight man who is aware of - and largely very honest about - his feelings beyond "competitive," "angsty," and "enraged." A couple of his later choices and approaches had my jaw on the ground because of how hard they break convention. I greatly appreciate Sando for choosing to normalize this behavior, instead of taking the path of the well-worn trope. His nascent inferiority complex is really starting to hold him back, and he doesn't even know yet that his stepmother has also gone Radiant. Hopefully he'll pick it up and bond Maya sooner than later. It'll be good for him. Also, I really want to see what that looks like -- I expect the Knights Radiant to look very different in the back 5, with traditional Knights but also Enlightened Knights, Singer Knights, and Deadeye Knights.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 05:25 |
Alright I started back up on the second Mistborn book after like a month break for a couple of other series. I'm like 80% sure these Koloss are absolutely carrying around a backup supply of Atium for the Lord Ruler. There's no other reason for Sanderson to hang such an enormous and bright red flag on these "coin purses"
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 17:46 |
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Nitrousoxide posted:Alright I started back up on the second Mistborn book after like a month break for a couple of other series. I wish I'd written down things I was thinking when I read the books.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 17:53 |
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TGG posted:Of all things I expected from the first four Stormlight books, Adolin being my favorite character was not one of them. I'm a straight dude and I totally get Shallan's SIGH, the dude is just great. It is trope breaking and refreshing to have the rich jock break stereotype and be a decent person. It's like Steve Harrington from Stranger Things who is initially portrayed as a high school bully.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 18:03 |
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Calling Adolin merely "decent" is a somewhat severe slur on his character, honestly.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 18:20 |
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He's ok
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 18:47 |
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mewse posted:He's ok Edit for content: Anybody else not really happy with the proposed SA5 title? I know we all wanted the book titles to form a ketek (TWOK-WOR-O-ROW-KOWT), so at least on that front, it's good. But what we got with book 5 is pretty weak in my opinion. Torrannor fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Sep 5, 2023 |
# ? Sep 5, 2023 18:52 |
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My Warbreaker box just showed and it's pretty cool. Looks like I was right about the pin and my assumption about one of the items. Seemed pretty obvious we'd get a Nightblood letter opener.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 20:55 |
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Echophonic posted:My Warbreaker box just showed and it's pretty cool. Looks like I was right about the pin and my assumption about one of the items. Seemed pretty obvious we'd get a Nightblood letter opener.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 20:56 |
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I'm not even sure it's the nicest thing in the box, it's a good one. Up there with the Misborn bookends and the Cosmere travel bag.
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# ? Sep 5, 2023 21:02 |
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pik_d posted:You mean in addition to the Zahel is Vasher one? Yes in addition to that. Probably a few things, but you hit the nail squarely on the head with something I hadn't fully squared away until later in the book edit: I'm not going to confirm or deny your speculation around Eshonai's red eyes, but I will say that this detail has cosmere significance and you're smart to pick up on it. keep that detail in mind in the future. Slanderer fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Sep 6, 2023 |
# ? Sep 6, 2023 04:27 |
My 8yo just finished tearing through the three extant Reckoners books and is eagerly awaiting the next one. I read and quite enjoyed Mistborn, but I don't necessarily know how they compare. I was always thinking Mistborn would be more like early teens kind of fare? But if Reckoners is only a bit behind in theme and language, maybe it'd sooner. Any thoughts on the relative age levels of the two series in question?
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# ? Sep 6, 2023 04:32 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 06:49 |
Rithmatist next probably. Mistborn is YA but is somewhat bleaker
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# ? Sep 6, 2023 04:39 |