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This may or may not be in the the right place, but I was just wondering if anyone can confirm a date when a Soft Cover of WOR will be released. This may sound weird, but I love to read books in soft cover form because I love to track the decay of the spine as proof of which books I truly enjoyed the most...The more the spine is falling part, the more I have re-read them. I know, that's weird and most would be appalled by this blatant destruction of a book. Anyways...lol...any information would be greatly appreciated (Mod, you can move this thread accordingly if needed.) Thanks. T.

What is with all the Dalinar hate? Anyway, I don't think any of the four mentioned, including Dalinar, are likely to save or destroy Roshar at this point. We have only read book one of five from one arc, that will eventually be two arcs with ten books total. The only character who I doubt will be the destroy Roshar is Kaladin, because of his internal questions on WOK and also from what I samples I have read of him in WOR. He would need to go through changes that would completely destroy his character journey in WOK for him to become the one who will destroy. Dalinar could be the destroyer, but not because he is stupid. He trusted Sadeas because he misunderstood the visions, and didn't you as well the first time you read them. Dalinar's mistake is completely understandable. And for all we know Taravangian maybe making a similar mistake as well. Being a genius does not make incapable of making mistakes, in fact it often makes you able to make even bigger ones. I don't think Taravangian is completely evil. However, he's not the hero of Roshar either. Anyone who will kill the innocent for the greater good should not be in power. Some will say, but killing people is the only way he can learn what he needs to save Roshar. Baloney. He could leave the dying in their own rooms and get about as much information. Much of the time the samples are worthless. It's easy to say that there was nothing else he could do when you aren't the one being killed for the greater good. Yes he knows he is doing wrong for the greater good. That doesn't make it right. What if he saves the world, but then there is a shortage of food and too many survivors? What if he decides he must kill twenty thousand so the rest can eat? He would do it. It would be no different that taking people off the streets and opening their veins until they die, just so you might get a few sentences of confused prophecy. I think Taravangan isn't a good ruler. He has kept Kharbranth free, but it is not peaceful. You think Jasnah would have needed to be play vigilanty if the city of bells was peaceful? He decided he needed to be hero of the world and so went to the Nightwatcher which resulted in him being an idiot half of the time. Whoever is running Kharbranth when he is incapable, isn't doing a very good job. I honestly think he would let Kharbranth burn if he felt it was for the greater good. Still, I agree that we need to see more on him before passing final judgement. But killing people just because you think their life is worthless is hard to place in a good light. Their life was not worthless to them and no person has the right to judge whose life is worthless, I don't care how smart they are. Leading people who choose to fight and die, even to a foolish death, is better than killing people against their will. Yes, Dalinar made a big mistake, but everyone one of his men chose to be there knowing the risks. They didn't curse Dalinar for his mistake and when Dalinar went missing they stayed until his fate was known. Where as those being killed for the greater good by Taravangian. I think On my second read through this was the quote that struck me the hardest. I think I would do what the Shin sailor did as I died, if I realized they were doing this to me. How could you want a person who kills people like this in power? That's an awful leader. Ultimately, even if Dalinar is the one who will destroy Roshar, killing him won't save Roshar. I don't see how it could.

Make sure you read this absolutely true and accurate story before you decide to go back and kill Hitler.

Alright, so I don't believe anybody has done this yet, so I'll go ahead and post it. I've organized the Death Cries into various categories in the hopes that we might make a little more sense out of them. And with that sad little intro behind us, let's move on! Please note, this now includes spoilers for Words of Radiance, especially the Confirmed section. Continue at your own risk. Original quotes, mostly in order, complete with chapter name and notations. Sorted by time pre-death Sorted by notation comments on usefulness. Recognized Events. Confirmed Events. I plan to add to this list as I get more time and see more connections. For now, speculate on what we have.

(This is just a joke. You guys know I think you're awesome.) Well, since none of the others have followed my lead and posted a sticky thread introducing themselves, I'll do it for you! Because you, the loyal forum dwellers of 17th Shard, deserve to know who your overlords are. Chaos, also known as Eric, is the Lord Ruler of the Forums. He's a math geek who will randomly teach you calculus whether you want to learn it or not, with an unnatural obsessions with unicorns and Pokemon. He runs the forums, with the fellow moderators as nothing more than his cadre of Inquisitors, existing only to enforce his will (when he's looking). It's true. He pounded steel spikes through our eyes and everything. firstRainbowRose is obviously a fantasy character, as her name, Mi'ch, has the required superfluous apostrophe. She runs the PR for this site, but her most important duty is keeping the rest of us in line. Seeing as how I'm typing this post, you can guess how well she's doing her job. She and Rubix are engaged married <3 Rubix, also known as Josh, is The Boss. No, wait, that's Springsteen. Josh is The Czar. Or maybe The Tsar. Whatever he is, Josh is in charge of the entire site and everyone in it. When you agreed to the terms and conditions, you signed your soul over to him. He doesn't speak much, but this is because one word from his lips will wreak destruction upon everything around him. He is also engaged married to a fantasy character, firstRainbowRose. KChan is the newest member of the staff, and has yet to go through the degrading hazing ritual. She's a cosplayer - so don't get to close - with legions of fanboys at her beck and call. She also co-runs the Mistborn RPG, in which she has more characters than Eric has personality. She can use fist, guns, and rhetoric to flay the skin from your bones. Serious. Her friends are terrified of her. Kar isn't really a member of the staff. He's an Inquisitor on a treadmill, powering the forums with his powerful pewter-enhanced powerwalking. He also wields the mighty BanAxe, with which he will sever your head from your body. Or maybe just you from the forums. Either works. Shivertongue is Will, also know as me, the person typing this post. He is always right and never lies, so you can trust him with anything. He has amazing hair and a deep, manly voice that will make you swoon. He does the graphics for the site, as well as handles all merchandising. When there is stuff to actually merchandise, he will use his compelling voice and charm to make you buy everything. Even the 17th Shard underwear. And that's all of us! Your handy-dandy guide to the staff of 17thShard.com. Consult it often, for it is the unvarnished truth. I should know - I polish it daily.

Swing on by reddit to check out our giveaway contest in celebration of the completion of Words of Radiance! http://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/1toggc/in_celebration_of_words_of_radiance_being/

They distribute everywhere apart from the USA basically wherever Tor doesn't have distribution rights, however you may be able to order in personally. I live in new Zealand and we essentially don't get hardcover releases of Brandons books just big paper backs. Of course there may be other ways of getting a paperback.for example there is a book store here that exclusively sells American publications.even though we essentially only get UK editions of most books. Sorry I can't be of more help but good luck in your search

By that logic it isn't selfish for me to eat all the cookies in the cookie jar because I thought it over for a long time, felt bad about doing it and was talked into it by a friend. Actually, we really don't know what he has been doing with the shards. Amaram was famous before he stole the shards and we are only getting Kaladin's POV. I'm not saying he is selfish. We have no proof of that one way or the other. He is a criminal however. Murdering others for gain is never the right thing. I can understand the pragmatic justifications he used for killing his loyal men who hours before saved his life, but I don't agree with them. No he isn't completely evil, but he is at the least criminal. Criminals can be redeemed, but being a murderer is almost an irredeemable act. Hmm, then Hitler was right. His argument for killing people in the concentration camps was that they were wasting money through various means. I never knew Hitler was such a hero. Seriously though, killing someone and then giving all of their money to the poor is wrong. What gives anyone the right to do that? Which is the reason there will never be any justification for what he did. There were other options. He just felt he was of more worth than Kaladin and his men, and therefore took what he wanted. Maybe not selfish, but at least arrogant and classist. I'm sure he thought he had a good reason and I agree that the Amaram hate is to overt without more information. Still, no matter what good he does with those shards, all of it will be stained with the blood of those whose lives were stolen from them. I think the shards are corrupted anyway, but that is a discussion for another thread. Yes, but what if the first time Kaladin sees Amaram is when Amaram is being all buddy buddy with Dalinar? Kaladin is only beginning to trust Dalinar and he still has a general mistrust for people in power. Kaladin also has no proof that Amaram stole his shards and murdered Kaladin's men. He might say he isn't comfortable around Amaram, but I doubt he would say much more. What good would it do to appear to be making up a vicious lie about the man who made you a slave?

The way I see it, Amaram acted out of fear and distrust. His chosen path of action, to claim he defeated the shardbearer, has the massive weakness of being compromised by multiple eyewitness accounts. As such, any original intent he had to do good with the shards is tainted by his intent to commit what is, even to Amaram, evil deeds. Imo, he should've just cut a deal to have Kaladin give it to him in public. Y'know, just be a bit more honest and open about intentions. Kal's a nice guy, he'd do it for the proper reasons. We miss the point of the thread though. I think Kaladin will tell Dalinar if only because that's what a good subordinate should do in a war footing.

Actually I now know it wasn't trolling but a general lack of information on what generally constitutes Racism, since you apparently believe that people are racist towards the french(Which is a country not a race), Japanese(which actually is a race and a country but usually not differentiated between the greater Asian race), and African Americans which are a racial segment of African heritage that happen to live in the United States. I didn't say Species you did, just now. I said Race, and Kaladin and every lighteyes he has met are Racially the same. Adolin may be the farthest it gets due to his mother being from somewhere else so he may be a half mix. But the point is he is not Racist because he in not differentiating the races, Rock, and Skar may want to have a word with you on the matter. Kaladin is actually differentiating essentially between the ruling class and and the common people. This is going to become more note worthy as he starts to meet light eyes that he may actually out rank in some ways. I think Kaladin will have to grow to come to work better with lighteyes. It will probably be most of what he does in this next book just because all throughout the last one he was abused by those that ruled over him. A good plot line by the way So because it took him hours to come to the decision that it was worth murdering the men that saved him and tainting their names after killing them so nobody would believe that what had happened was different from what he said it was it wasn't selfish? Really? He wasn't selfish because he was talked into it? That is a way to avoid being selfish? Do you think that somebody saying, "Well my friend talked me into killing my roommate whom just bailed me out of getting kicked out by paying my way, but he wanted to spend the million dollars he just won on himself so because I was going to spend them on some charities and let everybody know that I was doing it just because I am that great of a guy. So because of all that I was doing the right thing." Yeah no. Amaram had many options; He could have elevated them to an inner circle status and had them be his personal guards, you know the kind of guard that actually guards you instead of murdering your soldiers at your whim. He could have talked Kaladin into giving him the shards for a couple of hours instead of talking to someone who talked him into murder and Theft. He could have done a dozen things. But his greed and selfishness got in the way. The only one he saw was himself in those shards and if this is an effect of what shards do to people then Syl is right to hate them. If it requires someone to have a moral responsibility to be near them and not be corrupted then that one aspect may be why there are Knights Radiant at all. So yes I think that Amaram was selfish, I think he is like most serial killers and think that it is OK because he has a reason. I hope he at least takes a spear to the gut, but I don't think he will because this is Brandon Sanderson. So we will see what happens.

Well, I certainly can't change things about the plot or characters now and I don't have much control over plot, though like I said, the pace picks up quite a bit. Eventually we get a feel for each other's writing and it will feel like there's a much more cohesive story as all of our characters become like gears, finally clicking into place and working together to move the plot forward. We're very reactionary here at the beginning, which gives a bit of a disjointed feel because at this point, we don't really understand each other's characters. However, nowadays, we all kinda keep track of all of the characters and understand how they work together. You'll start to see Sylvie and Seiko start having issues with one another, and as that developed, Ellie (Seiko's player) and I have had extensive conversations about their characterization and how they act around one another and what possibilities there might be for them in the future. We both like the idea of them foiling each other in a lot of ways, so both of us work to bring out that kind of characterization in a scene. We talk about possible kinds of resolutions and Gavin, the GM stays aware of what we're planning and where we maybe want our characters to go and constructs these scenes to help push and change our characters in those ways. It really becomes collaborative storytelling (which is something I think an RP system like DnD might never get around to making happen.) You can certainly comment on my work with Sylvie and Vee, (as well as another character that I play, when you end up meeting her). You'll probably be able to guess who that is when she shows up. I'll pass on anything you might like to say to the other players as well, though you certainly don't need to feel like you have to comment on them! I like hearing people's responses to what happens though. Megan (tinandpewterstrength) actually ended up giving us a liveblog while she read and it was super fun to read.

The Chinese have a myth that the moon is populated by rabbits and beautiful women. Much to the disappointment of our astronauts, there were no such rabbits or woman when they got there. Just an endless desolate landscape. Now tell me, the Chinese are obviously a rational and clever bunch. Why do they used to believe such a stupid story? On the same breath, just because an entire culture believes that Honor created Roshar does not make it true. Perhaps some influential priest thought it would sound more impressive to say that their God created the world rather than came here with his followers like a refugee. A lot of time have passed since then. Real facts can easily be altered or lost in that time. Vorinism itself is suspected by this forum to be manipulated in a way by the Sunmaker to carry out a very specific agenda. What we do know is over four thousand years have passed between now and the last Desolation alone. Meanwhile, Buddhism is one of our world's oldest religion. If you take a modern Buddhist and transport him back in time to India or China, he would likely be stoned for heresy. Or think of the Trojan war, which happened roughly three thousand years ago. Obviously, a lot of things we know about it isn't true, such as the participation of the Greek Gods and Achilles himself, but there were a lot more. The Golden Apple, the Trojan Horse, whether the Greeks actually sent a thousand ships... Helen of Troy could very well be ugly for all we know. In fact, I think some scholars even question whether the Greeks actually won the Trojan War, that maybe it was just fan fiction on Homer's part. Now, if even we can't keep track of our own history, how could the Alethi do the same for events over four thousand years past? They aren't exactly known for their brains. I'm sure there are some truth here, but you should really take it with a grain of salt.

And your second upvote (assuming no downvotes)! I believe Mr. T. is saying that because he wants to unite the world under his leadership and a united, effectively led Alethkar will get in the way of his ambitions. I don't know that he is operating from some omniscient knowledge of what needs to be done for ther good of the world. Given that Mr. T's modus operandi is to deprive the world of all effective leadership (brutally and increasing collateral damage, where possible) and consolidate power in the hands of an ancient, occasionally-feebleminded serial murderer with uncertain succession prospects, I really doubt the scope of his judgements.

I hate to say it, but The Lord of the Rings. I just can't deal with Tolkien's writing style, even though I love the world to death.

I wasn't saying that the Heralds were created or defined by Nohadon. I said that I thought the Radiants were. The heralds are a group of 10 specific individuals that we see in the prologue to WoK. However, just as spren exist prior to having their dimensions measured and noted, the Radiants did as well. I believe that Nohadon saw a need for the power of the Radiants, and the Nahel bond in particular, to be regulated. In writing The Way of Kings, I believe that he did that - trapping a good deal of the power of the bond behind the gates of the oaths.

It's fascinating that Peter got an upvote for posting a single word, but I believe that he was referring to the OP and possibly the speculation that followed. Of course, this tells us nothing. Peter could think this is fascinating because it is so far out there it reeks of alien conspiracy theories, or it could be fascinating because it is so close to the mark. I'm pretty certain he isn't going to tell us which one it is though, because that would take all the fun out of it.

I did. Unfortunately, I live on the world where the Shard of Auto-Correction was shattered quite badly.

Shard of Filth. To prevent those upstart hygienists from preventing the barbarians from wreaking havoc with magic.

Shard of Hygiene. To prevent those dirty barbarians from wreaking havoc with magic.

Shard of love - your magic can only affect those you care about. Only way to actually combat with it is to "love thine enemy".

Crem is possibly the body of Cultivation.

This first came up in the Spren and Quantum Mechanics thread. To recap, in one of the interludes a pair of Ardents discover that Spren are affected by what is written about them. The relevant discoveries are as follows: 1. Spren vary in a number of attributes under normal conditions, the one in question being size 2. If a measurement is taken and written down, the Spren becomes locked in that size 3. If the measurement is then erased, the Spren begins fluctuating again 4. Taking or saying measurements has no effect, they must be written down. However, they don't have to be written down by the person who takes them 5. They have to be actual measurements, not random numbers 6. This definitely works in chalk on slate, other materials were not tested but are presumed to be the same. The following things are known to be unknown. They are of questionable direct relevance, and I'm mostly listing them so the main conversation in this thread won't be bogged down. If someone wants to theorise about them, please establish a dedicated thread. 1. Effect of taking multiple measurements and writing them all down from memory (not tested) 2. Effect of precision of the measurement (all were taken with the same tool and written down at the highest reliable precision) 3. Effect of inaccurate measurements, i.e. when the measurement is actually taken but the measurer reads it incorrectly. (not tested, though it might just work like an imaginary measurement) 4. Effect of outdated measurements (there was some time delay, but not much) 5. Whether this extends to other traits (according to the viewpoint character, this appears to be the case for Spren luminosity, but it wasn't tested) 6. The extent to which existing Spren are already constrainted by previous writings (inherently untestible, as of course it is impossible to be certain all written material concerning them has been found) Anyways, enough recap. On to... recaping Vorin religious practices. So, one of the central rites of Vorinism is burning prayers. As demonstrated with the huge Shash glyph, there appears to be no constraint on the form beyond that they must be written and lit on fire. The writing system generally used is glyphs, which is also the only system non-Ardent men are allowed to use. This is apparently considered the only way to actually communicate with the Almighty, which is mentioned to be kind of strange since he's supposedly all-knowing. Sometimes, unburned prayers are worn and ascribed supernatural signifigence, but this is apparently regarded as foolish supersition by the Ardentia. So, apparently the Almighty is incapable of recieving prayers until they are burned. And not merely in the sense that burning prayers is the proper way of doing things, as there is never any particular suggestion that alternate methods are acceptable if the Almighty has in his wisdom placed you in a situation where there is no fire. This, then, would imply that he actually cannot see the prayers before they are burned. And we know that the Almighty is actually the Shard Honor. The last bit of recap is the information on Shards from Hero of Ages. Ruin and Preservation were both functionally omniescient, with one exception. They were unable to see metal very clearly, instead seeing a blinding glow surrounding it. This was sufficent to prevent Ruin from being able to read the Lord Ruler's inscriptions. Finally on to the theory. Both of the Scadrial Shards were blinded by the focus of their magic system. It seems unlikely that this is a coincidence. It's unclear how much about them can be generalised to all Shards, since they were paired opposites and so probably had more in common with each other than with the other Shards. However, it isn't too much of a stretch to assume that other Shards also have difficulty percieving the focus of their magic system. So if Honor cannot read unburned prayers, that would imply that they contain the focus of his magic system. It could be specifically ink, except that writing in chalk had noticable effects on Spren. Taken together, those two facts suggest that writing is a magical focus. Of course, the Radiants don't appear to actually depend on writing to use their powers, but we've only seen a small portion of the powers of four orders. So there's easily enough Surges left for at least one of them to be entirely dependent on writing. What it does is an open question, though given Vorin gender roles I wouldn't be too terribly suprised if it were capable of biological alteration or saw heavy use in manufacturing. However, it's been thousands of years since anyone actually used it, and there's really no telling what parts of Alethi culture are actually sourced off the Radiants and what just sprung up over time. The big open question is what precisely constitutes writing as far as this is concerned. I suspect that burning prayers happens because the ink and paper burn at different rates, producing a glyph-shaped outline. The glyphs used in prayers are relatively simplistic, so the outline doesn't need to be too precise. The Alethi writing system is probably also impossible to percieve, since it's what affected the Spren. It's entirely possible that the Surge related to writing runs on rules similar to Awakening Commands, where the langauge doesn't matter so long as you know what you're writing. I doubt the prayers are actually examples of it in use, although I guess it's possible they'd have a specific magical effect if used by a member of the right order and backed by Stormlight. Personally, I figure they were always just prayers; whenever someone set some glyphs on fire Honor would read it and respond in whatever way seemed suitable under the circumstances. Now that Honor has lost its Shardbearer and is possibly Splintered as well, they're just paper.

I am shocked and amazed that no one has mentioned Baccano! .