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[OB] Part 2 Reactions


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SO MUCH GOODNESS! First and foremost, I am soooo happy for the support group that is Bridge Four.

 

Also, anyone else pick out the etymology of Kaladin's name?

-in = born unto (From Dalinar's flashback chapters where Adolin and Renarin are named.)

Kalad = eternal (from the page of glyph translations. The first part of ever storm.)

So, Kaladin is "born unto eternity"?

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14 minutes ago, TheGoddessBeyond said:

SO MUCH GOODNESS! First and foremost, I am soooo happy for the support group that is Bridge Four.

 

Also, anyone else pick out the etymology of Kaladin's name?

-in = born unto (From Dalinar's flashback chapters where Adolin and Renarin are named.)

Kalad = eternal (from the page of glyph translations. The first part of ever storm.)

So, Kaladin is "born unto eternity"?

Yup. We actually already had out-of-universe confirmation that Kaladin's name meant "born unto eternity".

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Time to get to Toasters Awards for Part 2!

MVP POV character: Dalinar. The most interesting stuff went down in his chapters. Information about the Heralds, and the meeting with Odium. It was awesome.

MVP non-POV character: Odium. He appeared in one chapter. He is the incarnation of hatred. And I like him, after this. Strong writing, Brandon.

Most Badass Character: Taln. The guy is in tank mode deluxe. He took torture like a total champion for half a stormin millenia. Hope Amaram treats the guy well.

Character in most need of Facebook Messenger: Mraize. Just consider it. His letters would be much easier to deliver if he had a phone. Also, I bet that he would love creating a hidden Ghostbloods group on Facebook and send people creepy memes.

Most Irritating Character: Jasnah. She should take notes during meetings for a change.

Most Bullied Character: Stormfather. He protests all the time, and no one cares.

Most Dead Character: Graves dethroned Sadeas, on account of the fact that Sadeas still has a head, something Graves really can't brag about.

 

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On 11/14/2017 at 9:47 AM, Steeldancer said:

OH MY STORMS IT'S HARMONY HE'S TALKING TO ALL THE SHARDS HOLY FRICK ITS SAZED I LOVE YOU SAZED (although not as much as Taln)

Ok. I finished part 2.

damnation. 

Odium. 

And LIFT HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I LOVE YOU LIFT. 

So, stuff. Moash. And the oathpact. 

So who are the slivers of the Almighty? The spren, probably. 

The spren really did become better as a result of Honors death. 

So Dalinar is a lot more powerful? Craziness. 

Odium wants OUT. hm. 

Well, that was pretty awesome. Moving on. 

I missed the harmony part. Can you please explain what happened? How the hell did I miss it

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4 minutes ago, Rawrbert said:

Just got to Chapter 36 - Hero, and froze, my finger pointing with a dramatic quiver at the words "As white as a sun at night"

IF THIS ISN'T VIVENNA THEN BRANDON IS JUST TROLLING US

Well, apparently Brandon is trolling you in particular. Who are you referring to though? Evi?

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2 hours ago, Leyrann said:

Well, apparently Brandon is trolling you in particular. Who are you referring to though? Evi?

Eeyup. And just now got to the epigraph of chapter 54 - "I can perhaps even be surprised, I think."

Is.... Is Sazed replying to the letter from Hoid on Frost's behalf? The implicatons are boggling!

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My thoughts on this glorious book so far:

Aona and Skai clearly broke the rules - shards were supposed to stay apart (plug for my old theory - but the undying love they had before becoming Vessels just wouldn't let them separate, no matter how risky it was).

I don't know why, but something seems off about Lopen and his many similar cousins.  That he was oddly off looking under rocks for things hit me with a weird thought - can the Sleepless ONLY be cremlings?  Any possibility that Lopen is more than JUST a Herdazian?

Spoiler

Evi, you're so clearly from Nalthis (But might you be a certain special certain person from Nalthis?) Your personality doesn't seem to line up, but let's see if we learn more as this book progresses.

My theory on the wicked thing of eminence - the Heralds, who were supposed to "die and reincarnate in damnation" to end a desolation, didn't do that.  Only Taln went back.  Do we really believe that ONE Herald all by himself somehow held off the voidbringers for longer than ever before (4,500 years)?  My thought is this:

The Heralds sold the Knights Radiant out. Instead of the Heralds going to Damnation, now the KR/Surgebinders go to Damnation where they're tormented in eternal conflict/war with the voidbringers. This was so wicked because the Heralds didn't act honorably in making this arraignment - they were selfish and didn't want to go back to suffer any more.  KR must suffer in their place, and once they learn this secret, they give them shards the dueces.

I swear, if the Midnight Mother transforms into John Locke at some point, I don't know if I'll be angry that it happens, or angry that it doesn't!

That's it for tonight!  Time for sleep!

Edited by VirtuousTraveller
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Odium calling himself Passion definitely threw me for a loop. Maybe he is, the Stormfather is the one that has called him Odium right? Did Honor as well? I can’t remember, in the epigraphs he is just called Rayse so...

 

Either way, phew, that was good!

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Okay.  Least comfortable first.  Jasnah and Amaram.  She knew Amaram was dung before anyone else.  She knew and could not prove anything.  SO something happened.  Something happened to the point when she is at the height of her power, she gave him the Jasnah equivalent of "slontze, give me a reason to kill you."  Her mother tried to set her up with him when they were younger.  Something happened in her childhood that left her feeling alienated and wounded by her family.  And when she had a chance to stop thieves who were assaulting women in Khabranthian alleys, she murdered them remorselessly.  I really, really do not like the picture this is painting.

 

Lift, uplifting scenes, vexing the Stormfather and the butt talk.  Awesom.  Dalinar Freddy Kruegaring the leaders cool.  Odium taking the toys from Dalinar, and showing him how its done, was terrifying.

 

Oathpact.  The fused are literally ancient listeners that stayed behind after death, did not go on to the beyond, and went varying shades of insane.  Makes sense how highspren bonding humans would be viewed as a betrayal.  Also, SH:

Spoiler

An entire army of Kelsiers.  Never dying, fueled by their ancient grievances.  Not good.

The letters!  SO I figure Harmony, Autonomy are obvious.  Ish.  The first letter.  Could be someone we know, but I'm putting my money on the shard that wants to hide and survive.  

 

I loved the Bridge four chapters.  Teft made me sad.  Rock made me happy, but was likely my least favorite.  Sigzil, and the conversation about applying your expectations to others was gratifying.  Way to go Bridge Four, awkwardly breaking down gender barriers.  Skar.  Good man.  Rlain.  Rlain made me saddest of all.  The perpetual outsider.  Please Kaladin, listen to him.  Be a bit of an Edgedancer now, and hear him.

 

Shallan is giving me mixed feels.  She is progressing and regressing in equal manner.  I think she bothers me because she reminds me of me a bit, right after I first moved out.  So much freedom, no motivation, chafing at parental restrictions when the parents were there, affecting my freedom.  I was an idiot.  I almost ruined my education by doing what she is doing.  So I have empathy for her.  But she frustrates the hell out of me at the same time, because I want to shake sense into her as much as I want to shake sense into my younger self.

 

Odium, corrupting the visions.  And pointing out that the Heralds and other shards may be entirely useless.  That is going to play into the ardents exactly.  Because if Odium can control the visions, then they can no longer be trusted. And that busts us back to almost square one.  So how much control does he have?  Can he only do post-credits scenes?

 

Wow.

 

I'm so glad I caved and got the ebook, my Wellers copy has not yet arrived.  And I waited a whole day and then read part 1 again.  I feel so far behind!

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12 hours ago, Stampede said:

Odium calling himself Passion definitely threw me for a loop. Maybe he is, the Stormfather is the one that has called him Odium right? Did Honor as well? I can’t remember, in the epigraphs he is just called Rayse so...

It threw me too, though one of the earlier WoR epigraphs says this of Rayse: "He bears the weight of God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context." It sounds a lot like hatred--after all, one might think that passion, too, might count as a virtue that gives hatred context. But I suppose this could really equally refer to some other virtues like temperance, moderation, patience, empathy etcetera that might contextualise passion.

Still--Airsick Lowlander Second Class! This book is full of quotes I want icons of, already...

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On 11/16/2017 at 8:46 AM, Toaster Retribution said:

Most Badass Character: Taln. The guy is in tank mode deluxe. He took torture like a total champion for half a stormin millenia.

4.5 Millennia

 

On 11/16/2017 at 1:01 PM, Rawrbert said:

Just got to Chapter 36 - Hero, and froze, my finger pointing with a dramatic quiver at the words "As white as a sun at night"

IF THIS ISN'T VIVENNA THEN BRANDON IS JUST TROLLING US

I don't think so. Look at the barmaid that Veil points out was wearing wildly clashing colors, Theylen clothes when she isn't Theylen, and was looking for someone. 

I am calling this as Vivenna. 

 

On 11/17/2017 at 0:57 PM, Stark said:

Teft made me sad. 

That chapter haunted me. Seriously, haunted me and still does. I am almost a bit sad that they don't seem to be doing too much more with it. But I am not clear what kind of spren he was talking to either. Not convinced it was an honorspren. 

 

On 11/18/2017 at 1:10 AM, Kasimir said:

It threw me too, though one of the earlier WoR epigraphs says this of Rayse: "He bears the weight of God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context." It sounds a lot like hatred--after all, one might think that passion, too, might count as a virtue that gives hatred context. But I suppose this could really equally refer to some other virtues like temperance, moderation, patience, empathy etcetera that might contextualise passion.

This really does beg the question: Is he Odium/Divine Hatred because of the Shard itself, or is that the way Rayse is channeling it? I think it is entirely plausible that it is the second. I don't think the shards come with lists of ingredients. If you have only seen the shard with one person, it might be hard to tell which is the shard, and which is the vessel. 

 

 

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My thoughts:

  • Shallan's identity crisis is really worrying me
  • Jasnah's a boss, although a little heartless, :mellow:
  • Bridge four was great! Wonderful choice to do some Bridge 4 POV's
  • Moash, not going where I expected him too, and I'm loving how he's finally seeing where he went wrong
  • Dalinar's flashbacks continue, and Adolin attempts to slay his first chull, as Renarin is being 'born unto himself' just fantastic
  • Renarin continues to talk to himself
  • Vibrating gemstones contain lost information in hidden compartments in the walls, YES!!!
  • Rock's family has arrived, :D And Teft is a drugee, :angry:

Looking forward to part 3 ya'll

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Alright folks, it is time to start reviewing the book on a part by part basis. Before I do this, I need to issue a special thanks to @kari-no-sugata whom warned me in advance of what to expect (and what not to expect) for this book. I thus knew there would be little Adolin in part 2 which allowed me to read it with a relative peace of mind. And yeah before someone mentions it, did I mess Adolin? YES. Oh mighty yes, I missed having him around and I hated him being literally eviscerated from the narrative. 

So first, the interludes for Part 1 since I am not sure where I should review them, I figured here was safe enough. So what was not my surprise to read the names on this titled page: Puuli, Ellista and Venli. Whom the heck are Puuli and Ellista??? So Venli is our interlude novella? I would think so, but I do not know yet for sure. I really like the Ellista one. You really expect the ardent to be looking for a quiet place to do some real world, not to read some frilly romance novel. It was priceless, I absolutely love it. Ellista is now my favorite interlude character, I hope to see more of her. Good one with this one Brandon.

And now onto Part 2. So. I had previously made the following theories: Kaladin would skip Part 2 because we would get Bridge 4 to tell his story; Shallan would skip Part 2 because Jasnah would fill in. Turns out I was halfway right. Kaladin skips Part 2 to the profit of Bridge 4, but Jasnah has her viewpoints there.

The first thing I have noted is how Shallan is reluctantly falling back into the role of a ward was nice to read. I also appreciate how she finally acknowledge she has been resting while everyone else is working. I'll admit it has annoyed me how she cuddled into blankets with hot tea while everyone else was working through the aftermath of her encounter with Re-Shephir, so having Jasnah back definitely put this to a halt. Speaking of which, all the time Shallan was interacting with Jasnah I felt like screaming: "Who cares about this boring column, why aren't you tackling the important topics? How about shipping?". :ph34r:

I loved the subtle hints towards Jasnah's past.. a mysterious illness, a dark room... I am intrigued. I also wondered if people started shipping Kaladin and Jasnah more actively as they started yelling at each other? I thought their view of things were very opposed.

I wished we had the Navani/Jasnah reunion.

Sigzil was fine and interesting though I'll admit I did not like how Drehy being gay was handled. It felt like Ranette and I did not like how Ranette was handled.

Rock's chapter was.... long. Sorry. It isn't I didn't think his viewpoint was interesting I just thought it was... long. I liked the conversation he had with Renarin. The characterization was very good, but I sort of got bored with it before I reached the end. I loved how Rock got to tell Renarin how his problem is he may be what they say he is, but it doesn't have to be a flaw. I am glad Rock got his family back, but still it was a long chapter. It was great to see all of the Honorspren come and look for more Radiants. I really wonder why Rock didn't point out to Renarin how he's the Radiant, not Adolin. I miss Adolin.

I can't stand Lopen. Sorry. What an annoying character, I don't get his purpose.

Dalinar's visions never were my favorite parts of WoK, so having them being played again wasn't my favorite part of Part 2. Those chapters were often long even if they did contain interesting information down the road. I liked having the Desolation and the Heralds being explained into better details. Lift popping in was funny though she and Dalinar really wasn't the pairing I was hoping to see.

I loved the pregnant Evi chaper how it seemed, even if for a short while, that Dalinar was mellowing. I felt those years somehow were the quietest years of his life.

Dalinar hates dueling..........

At this point I missed Adolin too much so I snooped ahead in the book :ph34r: I found the Born Into Light chapter and I read it. Baby Adolin :D And Dalinar's reaction was just... amazing. For a few moments, he was willing to give up a life of warfare to be with his newborn child. He gave him a grand name and the minute he was born, Adolin had to fulfill Dalinar's broken dreams, to be the one who never fails. Born into Light. That's quite the name. The whole time I was reading this chapter, all I could think of was the Lion King :ph34r: Adolin is Simba, Dalinar is Mustafe and Gavilar is evil Skar :ph34r: It just fit with Dalinar brandishing his new born son into his hands. I was really pleased Brandon gave us this scene.

And since I kept on missing Adolin, I went on and read the After His Father chapter... So did I love child Adolin? Of course. He was so adorable :wub: Evil flying chulls will remain one of my favorite quote :wub:  Little Adolin is energetic, imaginative, creative (build himself an armor) and invents stories for himself: exactly how I always pictured him. What hit me in this chapter is how Dalinar hasn't been around. He never even bothered to meet Renarin, he did not bother to name him and he did not also bother to come and visit Adolin. The boy did not even remember his father and was scared of him though I loved how Adolin said he would win his own Blade, someday even if Dalinar warns him it is OK to need help, sometimes. I wondered if Adolin would learn the lesson, someday.

Dalinar sound like he became a crap husband as Gavilar dragged him into battle once again, hence making Gavilar evil Skar once again.

Then I went back to the the sequential story...

I grew frustrated over some parts of the story... I did not like the Teft's perspective. Well, it isn't I did not like it, it was more I did not like what it implies. My perspective has always been Radiants were chosen based on their qualities more than their level of brokenness, but with Teft I felt the "spren" trailing him chose him because of his broken state or so it felt to me. I did not like this. He is a pathetic drug addict so the idea he might have bonded a spren before actually managing to drag himself out of it really put a wedge into my Radiant beliefs. So yeah, a bad chapter.

Then I missed Adolin again. Come on Brandon. Stop treating Adolin as if he were an interlude character, give him some perspective. Sorry. So I went and re-read the After His Father chapter to feel better :ph34r:

On the other hand, I really liked the Skar chapter and I was disappointed when he started to glow. I liked him being ordinary. I liked his backstory and I wanted him not to be broken, but overall a very good chapter. I hope his character pops back in at other times.

The flying testing chapters were interesting but this is when I started to feel like the story was dragging a little bit. And why isn't Adolin practicing flying with them? Did I say I miss Adolin? Really Brandon? I also grew really worried about Shallan flying away with Kaladin... I just want them to get to Kholinar already :ph34r:

After reading the After His Father chapter yet again, I kept on reading :ph34r:

The interaction in between Jasnah and Amaram was brilliant and priceless. She is considering assassinating him shall he proved too troublesome: she would have totally gotten Sadeas killed had she been around. This gives me the inkling there will be no downfall for Adolin: Jasnah will merely argue it had to be done and everyone will agree with her.

Odium... Am I odd if I say I like him? The Shard of Passion not of just hatred. I loved how he said he hated Honor because those trying too hard to maintain a reputation always had something to add. Like Amaram. Adolin said almost these exact words and that may be the first time I stumble on an argument in favor of him becoming Odium's pawn. I am thinking it is the balance in between all Shards which makes life possible, remove one and you have chaos, including Odium.

I am not sure what is the purpose of Moash... If it is to join with the Fused, then fine, this will be interesting but if it is to have him become a new Windrunner as he starts to train Kaladin's former Parshmen then I am ambivalent about it. I really didn't get why I was reading him, not my favorite POV. I thus named him Kaladin 2.0 because this is how he reads to me.

The Rlain chapter was really good. When he looks at Bridge 4 and sees a whole group of people complaining on how they do not fit and yet having no idea what it means to really, really NOT fit, it broke my heart. Yeah, I felt for him. He lost his people. He is the last one and no one can relate.
 
Now the interludes... I guess the Kaza one had interesting information, but I rushed through it because I wanted the rest of the story. Taravangian was interesting: he is plotting to undermine Dalinar. He is not to be trusted. Looks like Venli got the bad side of the deal.... and still no Eshonai? I didn't think was was dead-dead early on.
 
So that's it for Part 2 review. Next, I will do my Part 3 review. And yeah for those wondering, I did finish the book. Lot's of things to discuss, but let's do it within the proper order.
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2 minutes ago, Nymeros said:

The hell? Odium is Shard of emotions? ........What?

Well huh not maybe not really the Shard of Emotions, but he said he feasted on all strong emotions: they need not be anger or hatred. I felt without Odium, there were no emotions. I felt he had a purpose, much like Ruin had his.

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