lwd24era Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Hello fellow consumers of Sanderson investiture. It's been awhile and I believe me, I know I'm late, but I've FINALLY finished(after re-reading WoK) Words. And my gosh, what an amazing book! I can honestly say I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying the Stormlight Archive. Back when I initially read WoK(shortly after it's release) I didn't like it that much. It was a good book, but I greatly preferred Mistborn. Now, on my second read through, I loved it easily 10x more, and Words at least twice as much as that. I am heavily anticipating the rest of the Archive, but confess myself concerned. The events of the 1st Scadrial trilogy left me a mess. And the SA is 10x the scope of it...*sigh* Anyway, my reason for posting is this: I have undoubtedly missed important stuff, easter eggs, cameos, etc in my read through. I come to ask you all to share with me stuff you loved most about the series thus far, something you think I should be aware of, or any and all haikus. Thanks in advance! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physicskid Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 I share your concerns about the fate of our major characters. I percieve a general consensus that Stormlight will rack up a body count similar to or greater than the mist born trilogy. Strangely i found the end of Hero of Ages to be fitting if not pleasant. There was simply no way all the main characters could survive without the feeling of a Deus ex Machina. There is a reason shakespeare mixed tragedy with his comedies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyLopen Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) One of my favorite parts(off the top of my head), is when Kaladin jumps in the dueling arena to help Adolin. It was just so awesome!! And, yes, the end of Mistborn really messed me up for a couple days. That's not to say I didn't like the ending, because I really liked it, just that I thought it was really sad. But, I'm really looking forward to the new Mistborn trilogy! Edited August 29, 2015 by TheMightyLopen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansalem Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Hands down my favorite scene so far is: "Oh storms, yes! Everyone, give the Lopen your spheres! I've got glowing that needs to be done." I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to anything more than the Lopen's glowing. Mostly because I actually guessed what he was doing when Kaladin first noticed him staring at his fist, one of the few things I actually did notice the first read through, and that scene was just really validating for me because Lopen is too awesome. If anyone deserves some glowing it's him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Knight Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 You know, I have to agree with physicskid. Hero of Ages would have been a much worse book if nobody died. I think that that realism in Brandon Sanderson works is what makes him a great author. I also agree with Ansalem. That is definitely one of my favorite scenes in the book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arondell Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Anyway, my reason for posting is this: I have undoubtedly missed important stuff, easter eggs, cameos, etc in my read through. I come to ask you all to share with me stuff you loved most about the series thus far, something you think I should be aware of, or any and all haikus. Thanks in advance! Well one point that you might not be aware of is that Mr. Sanderson has changed the ending of Words of Radiance. In the changed version Kaladin does not kill Szeth. Szeth allows his bond to his blade to be severed and "dies" falling into the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansalem Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Well one point that you might not be aware of is that Mr. Sanderson has changed the ending of Words of Radiance. In the changed version Kaladin does not kill Szeth. Szeth allows his bond to his blade to be severed and "dies" falling into the storm. Huh? Szeth definitely died. Nin resurrected him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Well one point that you might not be aware of is that Mr. Sanderson has changed the ending of Words of Radiance. In the changed version Kaladin does not kill Szeth. Szeth allows his bond to his blade to be severed and "dies" falling into the storm. One does not simply fall out of the sky through two hurricane-level storm systems (or worse), slam into solid rock, and not die. He just got brought back fast enough. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arondell Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 One does not simply fall out of the sky through two hurricane-level storm systems (or worse), slam into solid rock, and not die. He just got brought back fast enough. He was not brain dead as Naln points out. “Not if it is done before the brain dies. Like a drowned man restored to life with the proper ministrations, you could be restored with the right fabrial. If I had waited seconds longer, of course, it would have been too late.” Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 1062). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition. So I guess it comes down to how you define death. I, personally, define it as past the point of no return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Star Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 He was not brain dead as Naln points out. I don't know, Arondell. He seems to be pretty messed up in there. At least on life support. His reasoning skills don't seem to... exist. At all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Knight Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Well one point that you might not be aware of is that Mr. Sanderson has changed the ending of Words of Radiance. In the changed version Kaladin does not kill Szeth. Szeth allows his bond to his blade to be severed and "dies" falling into the storm. I HATE that ending! It removes all the drama, and leaves open the possibility that Szeth survived. (He obviously did, but that's beside the point.) It's much more dramatic and unexpected to come back from the dead than to survive a "two hurricane-level storm." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamEternal Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) I HATE that ending! It removes all the drama, and leaves open the possibility that Szeth survived. (He obviously did, but that's beside the point.) It's much more dramatic and unexpected to come back from the dead than to survive a "two hurricane-level storm." Actualy, leaving his death ambiguous is what I believe the only good thing in the new ending, since any there was no character development given to be Kaladin by having him miraculously change the course kf his blow so he wouldn't kill the assassin, since he expected Szeth to easily parry the feint while Szeth wanted to die. And letting he fall into the storm with no lashings after sparing him, because Syl though the blade was more important and she just didn't care, then mentaly insist the assassin could have somehow survived and refuse to say he killed him? Unbelievable. Stormfather, that was a long unneeded rant. Edited September 1, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 I HATE that ending! It removes all the drama, and leaves open the possibility that Szeth survived. (He obviously did, but that's beside the point.) It's much more dramatic and unexpected to come back from the dead than to survive a "two hurricane-level storm." Leaving open the possibility that Szeth survived is exactly the reason Brandon changed it in the first place. Yes the "coming back from the dead" is more dramatic, but even that gets repetitive three times in a row (as Syl, Szeth, and Jasnah are all presumed dead only to return alive at a later point). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaellok Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 To shift the topic away from the new alternate ending (which does things I don't approve of and dislike, both on principle and based on the changes themselves) and back on topic! Two of my favorite scenes that Sanderson has ever written are in WoR. The Chasm scene, which I have spoken of before, is just--beautiful. Start to finish, there is nothing that I can think of that would have made it stronger or better; there are no weak points to it (and while I may not be that great at building things, and thus may miss areas for improvement, I am a grandmaster demolisher. I can, will, and do break anything and everything, many times completely on accident. But not always. And so I am quite good at focusing in on areas that are weak or need improvement.) The only way to make it stronger actually occurs after the chapter is over, when Shallan and Kaladin are clambering out and arriving back in camp; I agree with Maxal that seeing that through Adolin's eyes would have been more interesting than Dalinar's. The flashback scene where Shallan meets Hoid, though--it's. I don't have the words. It plucks a string that reaches from my present and into my childhood. To circle back to the HoA discussion very briefly, the ending was quite bittersweet--but for it to have gone any other way would have made a weaker story. Those that died had to die, while those that lived had to live. And no one else could have been the actual Hero of Ages. No matter how sad or angry it makes us, the sacrifices the characters made were all necessary for the best outcome to happen. I do think it would be interesting for an author to play with what would happen if one of the main characters should die, but doesn't, and what that means for the world in a fairly actual/realistic take, but that's neither here nor there. Unless it is over there... And hidden Easter eggs! Mraize is a world-hopper, with various trinkets and trophies from different worlds--see how many you can identify! And, just in case you haven't read Warbreaker yet, you might want to. Because, um, yeah. Awesome world-breaking scary-future things. It makes the wait for Book 3 that much harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) A few Easter eggs and bits of trivia (note that there are many threads here about this kind of stuff, we are all bound to miss something): If you've read Elantris... ... you have have missed Galladon making an appearance. If you revisit the Purelake interlude you will notice that one of the characters there likes using the word "friend" a lot, which is exactly what Galladon's sul means. If you've read Mistborn (which you obviously have)... ... you will likely have missed Demoux in the same interlude. The third member of his little crew there is a character we haven't seen yet, but his name is Baon and he came from the Shardworld of the White Sand (graphic) novels, Taldain. If you've read Warbreaker... ... you may have realized that the Shardblade Szeth gets is, in fact, Nightblood. Adolin's old swordmaster, and Kaladin's current one, Zahel, also happens to be Vasher - note how his speech is filled with expressions about color, an artifact of his Nalthian language translating not-quite-perfectly into Alethi. Finally, regardless of the whether you've read any of the other books... Did you notice Hoid slipping a piece of metal into his own drink when he was talking to Shallan's father, Lin Davar? So he gets some quick access to Allomancy, likely emotional, likely so that he can spark some curiosity in Shallan so that she can go seek him out later on? Did you notice that Nalan (or Nin, as Szeth calls him; Nale is his real name) actually shows up as far as back as The Way of Kings prologue? Look for an Azish man with a moon-shaped scar on his cheek there. Did you notice that Hoid doesn't seem terribly after of Jasnah's Shardblade (or Sprenblade, as I have started calling the "resurrected" Shardblades)? One ought to wonder why the simple storyteller he claims to be is unafraid of a weapon that could easily sever his body and soul... Edited September 1, 2015 by Argent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwd24era Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 I share your concerns about the fate of our major characters. I percieve a general consensus that Stormlight will rack up a body count similar to or greater than the mist born trilogy. Strangely i found the end of Hero of Ages to be fitting if not pleasant. There was simply no way all the main characters could survive without the feeling of a Deus ex Machina. There is a reason shakespeare mixed tragedy with his comedies. Very true. I find it admirable that Brandon literally has a god be born at the end and still didn't use it as an excuse to save the main cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Knight Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Actualy, leaving his death ambiguous is what I believe the only good thing in the new ending, since any there was no character development given to be Kaladin by having him miraculously change the course kf his blow so he wouldn't kill the assassin, since he expected Szeth to easily parry the feint while Szeth wanted to die. And letting he fall into the storm with no lashings after sparing him, because Syl though the blade was more important and she just didn't care, then mentaly insist the assassin could have somehow survived and refuse to say he killed him? Unbelievable. Stormfather, that was a long unneeded rant. That's one of the things I liked about the original. Leaving open the possibility that Szeth survived is exactly the reason Brandon changed it in the first place. Yes the "coming back from the dead" is more dramatic, but even that gets repetitive three times in a row (as Syl, Szeth, and Jasnah are all presumed dead only to return alive at a later point). ... I had not considered that. Good point. When I first read the book, I didn't get that, but that's me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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