Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.

Chapter 71 (Rider of Storms)
Icons: Jezrien for Stormfather, Ishar for guiding? That’s mostly based on the fact this is a Dalinar chapter, and I thought in the last one that we were overdue for some tactical intel from the Stormfather.

Epigraph: This feels like it should be deep and meaningful, but it’s kinda rambly. I guess I just have to wait for the last chapter to deliver the meaning (though at a guess the final one will be from the undertext). No clues about authorship here.

Dalinar is becoming more and more suspicious of what’s going on at Urithiru.

Fascinating that the Tower suppression extends to dead blades as well. That bond is weak enough that it’s not surprising, but it is interesting that the blades still register as “Honor” enough to count for the Tower’s IFF.

Insightful Dalinar realizes he was emotionally dependent upon the Thrill–and that recover from that is as long-term a prospect as recovering from his alcoholism.

Laqqi is an interesting town name. I don’t think we’ve seen much in the way of naming conventions from Emul yet. I remember noting lots of Qs on the map, so it fits.

Yep, the Stormfather is blind to the tower. Also, he’s apparently inexperienced enough to not be able to recognize problems from a distance so he’s going to take Dalinar with him for a look. Seems like millenia of watching the planet would make you a pretty observant fellow, but I guess he’s not used to paying attention to the little folk.

So the riding the storms thing that Kaladin did early on was analogous to Dalinar’s highstorm visions, just with a live stream rather than a recorded message. A hijacking of perspective, rather than any actual physical/cognitive travel. 

Hang on, are the landsquid living in the mountains? Why is Dalinar the one narrating this continental overflight, rather than Shallan? We need our ecologist for insight into the things that really matter! Oh, at least Dalinar tried to get a closer look. Turns out he didn’t have time with the passage of the storm.

This argument about the nature of a storm is neat. Stormfather has a point that the soul of a storm is to be impersonal and grand. A “storm with mercy” is fundamentally a contradiction in the cognitive aspect that defines spren. And yet, Dalinar has a good point too. The Stormfather by virtue of being a spren at all has transcended that impersonal nature and gained volition.

I’m also intrigued that Dalinar can create lightning and thunder by shouting while he rides the storm. How much can he affect the world he passes?

Cycles of storm altitude? That’s an interesting phenomenon. Not surprising at all, but the meteorology of Roshar is weird enough that I’m not at all sure what to predict. I want to know more!

Oh, I thought Kaladin leaping out the window would be the tipoff, but it looks like Dalinar is going to fly inside and see the occupying force. What I’m suddenly wondering, though, is whether his sight is strictly physical or if he’ll be able to see/interact with the Sibling.

Ah, nope. He had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of a dark hall. That was not useful.

Oh, so he did talk to Kal, and he managed to pull winds together sufficiently to throw him onto a balcony when he fell. Nice.

Dalinar wants Bondsmith training and Stormfather thinks there’s someone who knows how to help. Please tell my that’s not why Ishar’s in the chapter icons. We don’t want the insane god emperor as a mentor. 
Oh. Apparently we do, and not just as an emperor but as an ally. I don’t see this going smoothly. And Shash and Taln are supposed to make introductions? I’m not sure if that will be good or bad. It’s something more than just walking up to Ishar and saying “Hey, you ever thought about actually helping us?”
Wait, Shash had round Shin-like eyes? I don’t remember that from her earlier descriptions. We know that at least some of the heralds had characteristic Rosharan epicanthic folds, right? I’m pretty sure Nale and Kalak did, and Taln as well now that I think about it. Does this say something about Jezrien and Shalash’s origins? 

Shash: “If anyone (except me) is still sane, it’s him.” 
Very convincing of your own sanity, there.
Also, I like the insight into her anti-artwork obsession:

Quote

“You should stop talking about us. Stop worshiping us. Stop painting us.”

It makes a lot of sense where that would have started and how her inherent patronage of art would focus the resentment in on that particular mode of reverence.