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Mordiceius posted:I mainly liked the video since it showed the map and where everything is. Another problem of the audiobook is being unable to easily reference a map when different countries are named. Also, being able to get a visual for the different ethnic groups. That’s fair. I feel maps in fantasy novels are ultimately pretty useless beyond some general context of scale, though I don’t do audiobooks and in turn can take my time with visualizing the setting without having to hit rewind or losing my focus. My youngest has ADHD so I totally understand the need for some auxiliary guide of sorts. Excited for the ongoing updates, it’s genuinely fun to read everybody’s realtime reactions!
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Jul 26, 2023 01:57
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Maps in fantasy usually are mere fluff, but I think for Roshar it's a bit different. In that you know it makes a big difference whether you're in the East or the West, due to the peculiar weather/climate of the planet.
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Jul 26, 2023 02:04
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Mordiceius posted:All in all, I still I know nothing about terms that are clearly important (Knights Radiant, Desolations, Voidbringers), but I at least have a better idea of the general culture/geopolitical climate and what is "normal" in the world.
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Jul 26, 2023 03:03
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Mordiceius posted:Yeah. I think I get extra prickly because I've tried to read the Malazan Books in the past and people told me "Yeah, you won't understand what's happening in most of the books. You gotta finish the series and then reread it to understand what's going on." Needless to say, I did not make it far. Malazan is...not the best series to read on audiobook. I mean, I can't read audiobooks because I find myself zoning out, no matter how engaging the narrator, but Malazan is really, really, really not great for audiobooks. It's a dense read and on the "how accessible is this book to new readers?" scale, Erikson is pretty far towards the "not" side of that spectrum. That said, you don't need to reread Malazan to enjoy the story. I love the books and I'm sure I'd get lots out of a reread but they're long, damnit, and unskimmable so I can't quite compel myself to find the willpower/energy/time to carve out of my schedule for a reread. There are lots of little connections and things that I definitely would have missed and I still only have the vaguest idea of how warrens and holds work but anything important to your understanding of the story and the emotional arcs, Erikson will make sure you understand. Stormlight Archive, on the other hand, is just a lot of world building to begin with. There are factions and cameos from Significant People running around doing their thing in the background but all of the main things you need to understand will be explained very clearly and you will be reminded of it multiple times so you will get it. If you trust Sanderson to land the endings (which he generally does) just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.
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Jul 26, 2023 05:15
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Leng posted:Malazan is...not the best series to read on audiobook. I mean, I can't read audiobooks because I find myself zoning out, no matter how engaging the narrator, but Malazan is really, really, really not great for audiobooks. It's a dense read and on the "how accessible is this book to new readers?" scale, Erikson is pretty far towards the "not" side of that spectrum. Exactly, Journey before Destination
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Jul 26, 2023 14:29
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socialsecurity posted:Exactly, Journey before Destination You said the thing!
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Jul 26, 2023 15:34
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Stormlight WoK chapters 12-19 (first ~half of Part 2) The epigraphs in this part of the book make more sense than in Part 1 where it was all just people last words. I'm still missing some context here but this is definitely to and from individuals who know about the different worlds and shards. The "element" being guarded might be a shard? Ati and Rayse might be individuals who have enhabited other shards, like how Vin did and Sazed probably still does. Kaladin and Syl are an interesting combo, there's clearly some vaguely parasitical relationship going on, with Syl becoming more and more sentient as she spends time with Kaladin. I still want to figure out if any spren can do that with any person, or if Kaladin is unique in that. I really liked some of Syl's characterization like her devious smile once she understood sarcasm, though I worry about her being upset that she's now very different from other spren. Also loving RIP to Kaladin's flirt game when he was 12, but that was probably all of us. Kaladin is also definitely using the spheres to give himself strength, but without knowing it like Szeth knew what he was doing. After reading Dalinar's most recent chapter, with him living in the eighth epoch and meeting the Radiants, I am wondering if Kaladin and Szeth are potential Radiants/Heralds. I also think that Dalinar is going to have to identify them since he knows that the modern day Shardbearers are cheap immitations of the Lost Radiants. I also think a new Desolation is coming, based on him being shown what it looks like when one came in the past. The interactions between Dalinar and Sadeas are somewhat interesting. The voice in Dalinar's vision urged him to work with Sadeas, but there's obviously friction between Sadeas and Dalinar's family. I feel like a few of the Highprinces are just spoiled rich kids, the way that "the contest" is the only thing that matters to them, including the King and Dalinar's own kids. I did like that after reading Warbreaker, I got "The title of the thing in the thing" waaaay earier than Warbreaker's last few pages "Oh yeah I'm also known as Warbreaker" "Oh cool" thing. And Dalinar's sword is Oathbringer, the title of a future book. I really want to read more about the text of the in-universe The Way of Kings. Honestly, Adolin, with all of his concern, seems like he may inadvertantly be Dalinar's biggest threat. Well, that and the threats on the King's life. I wonder if he suspects Dalinar given those flashes of anger that flare up. I also have no clue who actually is trying it. Could be Sadeas, could be another Highprince, Wit, the Parashendi, I have no idea. Speaking of Wit, he's got the vague feeling of Hoid with him knowing too much, but since I know know there's other world hoppers they can't all be Hoid. Progress so far: 
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Jul 28, 2023 02:26
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pik_d posted:Stormlight WoK chapters 12-19 (first ~half of Part 2) You've got all the hints you need to piece this one together. You've come so far!
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Jul 28, 2023 02:38
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M_Gargantua posted:You've got all the hints you need to piece this one together. You've come so far! Oh, my theory is that Rayse is inhabiting Desolation, which is what I assume the Roshar shard is named. I don't know if he took it after something happened to Ati, but that seems to make the most sense in terms of this book. I don't think I know who is writing, or receiving, these epigraphs, though I do think the recipient is also in a shard.
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Jul 28, 2023 02:44
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M_Gargantua posted:You've got all the hints you need to piece this one together. You've come so far! As for the rest of it, man I am biting my tongue, because you're on some very interesting paths.
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Jul 28, 2023 04:22
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Hero of Ages and The Way of Kings (chapter 22) I went back to read the end of Hero of Ages to see what happened to the body of Ruin. It's just not mentioned (much like Marsh's body). When I first read the book I assumed Sazed turned Ruins body into dirt, but maybe not. The only thing that makes immediate sense is that Ati was Preservation and Rayse was Ruin, somehow escaped death, and is now in Desolation. This is of course assuming that The Way of Kings' epigraphs are concurrent with the text of the book which very obviously (from Mistborn era 1) might not be true. But then also Rayse visited Sel per one of the epigraphs I read last night. I don't know how that fits into this theory at all. That and the Shattering of what I think is Devotion and Dominion. pik_d fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Jul 28, 2023 |
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Jul 28, 2023 12:32
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pik_d posted:Hero of Ages and The Way of Kings (chapter 22) yeah, this is perhaps the single biggest meta-narrative in the cosmere and trying to make these kind of connections has been one of the main things that has driven the fan community to obsessive lengths for the past decade eke out fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Jul 28, 2023 |
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Jul 28, 2023 12:42
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pik_d posted:Hero of Ages and The Way of Kings (chapter 22) Hero of Ages ch82 Ruins body shows up along with Vin's but Sazed doesn't recognize its significance.
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Jul 28, 2023 13:25
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Mr. Hasty posted:Hero of Ages ch82 I mean in the epilogue it's gone. After Sazed takes the power it's not observed anymore.
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Jul 28, 2023 13:31
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Without spoiling anything, you're way overthinking that scene
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Jul 28, 2023 13:33
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Minor spoiler about Cosmere timeline that I'm pretty sure is never actually said in the books Mistborn Era 1 is 300 years before Stormlight
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Jul 28, 2023 13:38
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M_Gargantua posted:You've got all the hints you need to piece this one together. You've come so far! CapnAndy posted:Yeah, you absolutely know the answer to that one. Literally, with zero information other than what you already have, you know this. That's your hint. Ok, it took me putting all the names from the epigraphs together. @Mordiceius maybe don't click unless you see the connections already. I honestly don't know Elantris, Hero of Ages, Way of Kings chapter 22 I first noticed the Aona = Aon, then somehow Skai = Skaze was next, before realizing the Ati = Atium connection. I'm not sure about Rayse. This is confusing though. Ati was described as kind, but that's not Ruin at all, though Atium was Ruin's body. And Rayse is still a mystery to me.
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Jul 28, 2023 14:22
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pik_d posted:Ok, it took me putting all the names from the epigraphs together. That is a mystery that will become more clear as the nature of things is revealed.
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Jul 28, 2023 15:01
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pik_d posted:Ok, it took me putting all the names from the epigraphs together. You're on the right path here
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Jul 28, 2023 16:12
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Finished SP3/Yumi and the Nightmare Painter thoughts This was excellent, I really think Sanderson does his best when no one in the book hits anyone else in the book with a sword.
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Jul 28, 2023 16:36
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Sounds like I need to read Elantris because I read the first mistborn trilogy and Way of Kings and have no idea what people are talking about.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:27
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smackfu posted:Sounds like I need to read Elantris because I read the first mistborn trilogy and Way of Kings and have no idea what people are talking about. You should read Elantris, yes.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:37
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For all of its faults, its many many faults, it does have one of Sanderson's best written characters. If the entire book solely followed him it would be a huge winner.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:51
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Unfortunately he gets less page time than either of the other two characters - Sanderson’s Perfect Boy with no flaws, and the most boring princess ever.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:52
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pik_d posted:Ok, it took me putting all the names from the epigraphs together. You've basically understood all you can understand at this point, you need further information from the books to make more progress. Torrannor fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Jul 28, 2023 |
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Jul 28, 2023 20:03
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smackfu posted:Sounds like I need to read Elantris because I read the first mistborn trilogy and Way of Kings and have no idea what people are talking about.
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Jul 29, 2023 02:08
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smackfu posted:Sounds like I need to read Elantris because I read the first mistborn trilogy and Way of Kings and have no idea what people are talking about. Also make sure you get the 10th anniversary edition, and there is, for some insane reason, an extra epilogue AFTER the deleted scenes and post script that is very easy to miss.
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Jul 29, 2023 02:13
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Stormlight WoK chapters 20-28 & Part 2 Interludes (second ~half of Part 2) So I certainly got some context for the epigraphs. I'm thinking the author is Hoid, who might or might not be Wit. He talks about the recipient's friends from the 17th Shard tracking him, which I think are Grunt, Blunt, and Thinker from the preivous Interlude and they were looking for Hoid. I still think Rayse is "in" the Roshar Shard. (as a side note, Roshar, Shard? Hmmm.) But now there's a Bavadin running around somewhere? I also think there's a connection between what epigraph writer is worried about, and Szeth's new master in the Interlude at the end of this part. That master wants chaos and death, while epigraph writer seems to want to prevent some disaster. Kaladin and Syl have done a lot of growing here, but Kal is still stuck as a slave. He's made some moves at least, got Rock on his side and is winning over most of the other guys. He's also got a bit more income from the knobweed sap. I'd really like him to make his escape in Part 3, but I'd also like Dalinar to meet up with him and realize what he's about. I'm also still waiting for Kal to realize that he's using Stormlight. Or maybe Syl could notice it? I still think Kaladin (and Szeth) are potentially Radiants or Heralds. Speaking of Syl, Taft saw her, but maybe she was reacting to the wind of Kaladin moving the spear? And that made her visible to others, since she was actually acting as a windspren? People can see spren all the time when they're naturally occuring. I'd also like to say that I believe Kaladin killed the Shardbearer from chapter 1, where Cenn had his POV before dying. Kaladin talks about winning Shardplate not actually working out if you're not already in power. I'm guessing Kaladin turning down whatever consolation prize someone gave him is what he's referring to when talking about why he's a slave. Dalinar's weird potential decline is coming to a turning point, though I don't know which way it's going to turn. I really want more visions from him, or at least to see what he's going to do post-abdication. Dude's really hosed up though, he literally cannot remember his wife, his sons think he's got Roshar Alzheimers, he's not even sure himself, his dead brother's wife, the literal King's mother, is hitting on him, and he thinks he's failing at whatever the voice in his head wants him to do. The magic instant messaging magic was cool, and it's nice to know that the chasmfiends are baby voidbringers. This is somewhat similar to the visions Dalinar had where there were smaller monsters acting as heralds for an upcoming Desolation. I'm more convinced than ever that a Desolation is upcoming, and Dalinar has to convince people of this. Or at least help prepare people who can help (Kaladin, Szeth) as Radiants/Heralds. The Parshendi having orange blood and the ability to grow carapace armor is wild, did not expect "No, really, these guys AREN'T HUMAN" quite so blatantly. I really want to meet some of them, I bet they're nowhere near as bad as the Alethi think they are. I'm super curious about all the spren and their place in the world, so I want more of this Axies the Collector guy. He's got some wild control over his body, clearly not human, and seems long lived or immortal. I briefly considered that he may be Hoid, but I still think that's Wit. Excited to see Szeth take a bigger role in the story, he's definitely been sent to kill some people I've heard of. I wonder if this new master is even someone from Roshar, Szeth couldn't pinpoint the accent. I'm assuming this plot is whatever Hoid/epigraph writer is worried about. Gonna be on the lookout for any deaths mentioned as news/rumors in the next Part of the book. Top 10 Rock moments: 1-10: That time he put poo poo in all of Sadeas' food https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr8glaM4ruM Progress so far:
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Jul 31, 2023 18:58
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I love these posts and I wish you had more free time to read and post.
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Aug 1, 2023 08:43
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stramit posted:I love these posts and I wish you had more free time to read and post.  And I so badly want to post/comment, but I know it would be spoilers 
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Aug 1, 2023 09:51
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Man reading the summaries makes me want to go back and reread TWOK, there's so much detail I forgot about and I remember my impression of the many characters at the time, which has changed so much since.
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Aug 1, 2023 15:20
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I am laughing quite heartily at the sound of an entire forums thread biting their tongues. pik_d really is at a point where we can't say loving anything, it's great.
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Aug 1, 2023 19:03
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I can say something! I'm greatly enjoying pik's readthrough, thoughts, and conclusions. Also kinda jealous at their speedy progress
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Aug 1, 2023 19:15
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pik_d posted:Stormlight The Way of Kings Prelude - Chapter 7 Since pik_d has been sharing WoK in these chunks, I figure I might as well share my thoughts at the same points in the story - to allow some compare and contrast between me and pik_d. For the record - I've never read Wheel of Time, but I have read all non-Stormlight Cosmere novels. So these will likely not be safe for pik_d viewing. As I've already mentioned in this thread - I didn't like the triple prologues. It ends up taking drat near two hours in the audiobook before the story "begins" and is out of prologues. They didn't do much for me other than be a confusing slurry of Fantasy Proper Nouns. I'm sure I'd get something from them if I went back to them now, but I'm listening to an audiobook, I'm not going back. They definitely feel like they were intended for people who have the book in hand. I did find it amusing that Gavilar mentions Thaidakar before his death - since I know that's Kelsier. That's probably something that will be important in 3000 pages. I agree with pik_d's view of the epigraphs. These "last words" bits seem incredibly pointless. They are so without context that it is doing nothing to increase my enjoyment of the story. The Mistborn epigraphs were mostly great (Well of Ascensions were kinda meh at times), but these are just... nothing. A whole lot of "yup, this person said something and then died." I don't care. I'm excited to get more into the lore of shards and all that. Idea of shards seems far more prevalent here and that's interesting to me. The jump from Chapter 1 to Kaladin the slave was... jarring. Which I assume was intentional. I'm wondering we'll get to see more of what happened there. I'm also hoping there is an explanation for why Kaladin is so "lucky." They mention multiple times how his squad would run suicide missions and do fine. He carries the bridge and isn't killed when everyone around him does. I am hoping there is a greater explanation here other than "yeah it was just random and it was just pure luck" as that would be profoundly disappointing. Shallan is someone I'm curious to see how things play out. I like her so far and she seems incredibly brilliant, though at times it feels like Brandon is trying to be a bit too clever with her, if that makes sense. And, to be quite honest, I find this business of her trying to steal the soulcaster... somewhat uninteresting. It's clearly just a stepping stone to something greater and I hope that it doesn't take too long to get there. I really hate the Parshman dynamic in this story. "Yeah, they're kinda just mute and docile and they like being slaves" just makes me feel incredibly icky. I hope there is something more to this because if Parshmen basically forever stay as humanoid beasts of burden, it will really taint my views on things. Oof - rereading what I just wrote, it comes across as incredibly negative. Believe it or not, I am enjoying the story - these are just the immediate things that come to mind. I think my largest issue is just how slooooooooooow this book is at the start. I'm 5 hours in to the audiobook. That's half the length of Alloy of Law. And I feel like barely anything has really happened in this story so far. You may say "Oh well it's a big book so the initial lead in is a lot slower" but I don't buy that. I feel like we have a little direction in one story (Shallan) and basically no direction in the other (Kaladin). I'm waiting for something - anything, to happen that really draws me in. I'm still waiting for the book to get its hooks into me. I'm sure it will, I'm just not sure how long it will take. I almost feel like I'm tapping my foot waiting for the book to catch up to my level of excitement to move forward. Arrath posted:Also kinda jealous at their speedy progress Yeah! Slow down, pik_d!!! 
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Aug 1, 2023 19:35
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@Mordiceius, at least you got your revenge on me by posting your own conclusions about stuff I've just read, then telling me I can't read them due to us reading the Cosmere in different orders 
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Aug 1, 2023 19:41
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Mordiceius posted:Since pik_d has been sharing WoK in these chunks, I figure I might as well share my thoughts at the same points in the story - to allow some compare and contrast between me and pik_d. The Parshmen thing is supposed to be gross, Sanderson is not the kind of writer to try to actually justify slavery in any form, it will 1000000% be addressed. Things will definitely start happening, book 1 is just slow though not as bad as 4. I feel you on the epigraphs, they are meant to be understood in snippets through like all 5 books but it's the kind of "prophecy" type poo poo I don't like and is a huge miss.
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Aug 1, 2023 19:53
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dalinar isn’t allowed to bang his sister in law until mormon jesus says it’s permissible
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Aug 1, 2023 20:06
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I'm reading through Oathbringer right now, having read the previous two years ago, and I don't even remember anything more than the broadest strokes of the preface-pocalypse. It's half a book of world building that still hasn't really paid off more than a vague history lesson after the gap, thousands of literal pages later. PS: Shallen continues to rule.
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Aug 1, 2023 20:23
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mewse posted:dalinar isn’t allowed to bang his sister in law until mormon jesus says it’s permissible really love how one of dalinar's main threats in the first book between ancient visions and a possible assassin is Navani trying to corner him in a room
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Aug 1, 2023 20:23
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I am finally getting around to listening to the audiobook of the Lost Metal but as a sports boy I desperately need fantasy writers who don’t care about sports to either not write about it or start caring
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Aug 1, 2023 20:26
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