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Way of Kings

I will soon release three different test's on your knowledge of the Cosmere. You will be tested on: A cosmere case study Shadesmar and Spren Knight's Radiant powers and how they work Study the effect of a shard shattering/splintering on an area of the Cosmere The systems and structure of the Cosmere Allomancy Any questions please ask, just as long as long as they don't spoil the actual questions and are instead focused on the topics:

Guys, so I got back from a vacation and I totally forgot that Cytonic had come out… then I remembered… So I’m like kinda obsessed… it’s pretty great. I love it so far! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!

Time to yeet in some random art without context.

Hi everyone, I had to sign up to make this post since it's something that's been bothering me a whole lot, and that's our dear Shallan Davar. In the first book, she was alright. I actually enjoyed her studying with Jasnah and all the spooky stuff that happened with Pattern. But by the second book, everything started going downhill so fast. By the time the split persona thing started coming out, it was too late. I absolutely despise Veil, she's such a tiresome character and is essentially just Shallan's powerfantasy (that has plot armor and cannot fail, of course). In RoW, I get actual physical cringe from reading her chapters. The personalities "taking her over", and other characters having to deal with that to not offend her is just so awkward. Poor Adolin, he was my favorite character in the series but now he's just delegated to a body pillow for Shallan. I won't even dare hope that she gets killed somehow, since apparently she can just casually take a crossbow bolt to the head and shrug it off, thanks to her super awesome radiant powers. This ties into another major gripe I've been dealing with in Stormlight - how there's just no stakes anymore. Everything's so meta, the world doesn't feel nearly as real and intriguing as before. I suppose nothing good ever lasts though.

FYI: I have only read Stormlight Archive, Warbreaker and Mistborn Era 1 and Secret History. This theory is based on what I know about hoid till now. Anyone who has read the other cosmere works, please correct me where I am wrong. Hoid usually is very content with he does. He seems to be in control most of times, nothing really surprises him anymore. He is one of the oldest beings in the cosmere and one of the most knowledgeable. His persona is of a chaotic trickster with no allegiance to anyone. And that is very much true to his real personality. But Roshar is where we have seen him be most... human. Rosharans surprise Wit a lot. For ex he is flabbergasted about something when he sees young Shallan at the marketplace ( we have no idea why. Not important to the theory, just mentioned it) He is at a genuine loss for words when shallan hugs him years later. I don't think he expected for shallan to be affectionate towards him. He is again shocked when Kaladin asks him for a story, saying that 'no one has ever asked that'. Also hoid is at his most wholesome with Shallan and Kaladin, giving them very heartfelt therapy- story sessions.'Accept the pain, don't think you deserve it' and 'You will be warm again' can make me tear up. He is very helpful this time for protecting the planet( instead of Mistborn where he accelerates the danger). He also has a romantic interest in Jasnah. He is also very open about his belief in a god. The main theme is that hoid is developing actual human connections with the Rosharans, something he has never had before. This will end only in tragedy. Because taravangian Brandon has confirmed that Taravangian completely ' hornswoggled' hoid in the epilogue. Hoid did feel true terror there. He did lose some of his memories. Hoid, for the first time, has been actually hurt in a confrontation. Brandon also said that Hoid will find out what happened in the lead up to the contest. (Prolly with the metalminds) This dude has not felt fear in maybe 7000 years, who says Hoid won't overreact? Because hoid was really motivated in having rayse- odium bound to the system. And todium has proven himself to be far superior of a threat already. There is also a lot of foreshadowing that Hoid will betray Roshar. When he talks to Dalinar, he says 'i will burn this world down to get what I want, even with tears'. He repeatedly tells shallan and Jasnah not to trust people. At the end of RoW, Dalinar has to choose between trusting odium and wit I think we will see Hoid betray the people of Roshar in a cruel,stone-cold way just to make sure todium stays bound. I don't know exactly how, but it will happen. The good guys will have to fix what he did too and some damage could be irreparable. He will definitely lose all his friends and this time, he will have genuine sadness and tears. This time? Yes, because hoid has definitely betrayed Roshar before. During the first desolation. We know he knew the heralds (as midius). Isn't it interesting that stonewards are associated with topaz and they swear an oath to be where they are needed? Two things common with hoid? Also doesn't rayse seem just a little too angry when he reads 'cephandrius' name in the contract. Like he really, really hates hoid for some reason. Is it because all of this has happened before, like this? Hoid bring up the idea of the oathpact and the heralds. Because whose plan was this exactly? Who the heralds bring up the idea of eternal torture themselves. No this seems cruel enough to be hood's idea He was meant to be the the tenth herald, the stoneward-ish herald, but the moment the oathpact was created, his business was done and he left the planet, leaving the Rosharans to panic. Taln steps up for the job and the rest his history. I think in this case Hoid knew that taln was going to pick his place. But what he did was still a betrayal. He just doesn't care much This time, he will care What do you guys think?

Hi!! I'm a long time reader, and crazy obsessed fan.

So I showed the show to some friends who have never read the books, and they really like it which is awesome, but we were coming up with acronyms for all the different characters. Lan: Legendary Asian Ninja Rand: Redhead antisimp noble dude. (antisimp because he and Egwene are drifting apart in the show as of episode 4) Mat: Manly alone time. (Not sure where this one came from.) Perrin: Perfectly Exquisite Really Really Interesting Nihilist Egwene: (not an acronym, but) Egwana, like the lizard thing Moraine: Motherly or rambunctious actually intelligent nice expediciant. Most of these make zero sense, but I thought they might be a little bit funny.

It smelled of... peaches.

I'm using an "Incorrect Quotes Generator" for Spensa and Jorgen, and I'm not disappointed... these are gold.

There are now 8 works in the Rhythms of Desire Collection! All these fics feature singers, listeners, and/or Fused in situations that range from romantic to explicit. Please be kind to yourself and everyone around you - beware the ratings and the tags! The Rhythm of the Lost - Rated Teen, 1100 words Dul and Mazish gain sapience and take Mateform together. The Rhythm of Tension - Rated Mature, 3000 words Several months into their relationship, Renarin and Rlain visit the Listeners together. Renarin is looking forward to getting to know Rlain's childhood friends a little better. Five Rhythms - Rated Mature, 6500 words A series of five interrelated vignettes, exploring Renarin and Rlain's relationship through Rlain's forms - Scholarform, Mateform - and through rhythms - Anticipation, Mourning, Victory. Felled By You, Held By You - Rated Mature, 6000 words (new!) During their research, the tension and curiosity between Navani and Raboniel grows until neither of them can (or want to) deny it. If We Have Each Other - Rated Mature, 15,000 words A couple weeks into Mateform, Rlain and Renarin struggle with the conflict between Rlain's desire for touch and Renarin's aversion to it. Research - Rated Mature, 2000 words Raboniel and Navani discover the Rhythm of War, which leads to an entirely different avenue of research. Sexy Sociology - Rated Mature, 9200 words Set in a future Roshar AU, Rlain is an exchange student in Kharbranth, where Renarin is a classmate in Dr. Sja Anat's Sociology class. Pegged for Destruction - Rated Explicit, 2200 words Lezian the Pursuer is on the hunt for his latest target. Leshwi has taken an interest in the same target and will not allow Lezian to complete his horrible goal.

I haven't gotten that far yet. Why they decided to implement a lives system, I have no idea. Every third time I die, I restart at the beginning of the game and have to walk all the way back to whatever dungeon I'm at. And those dungeons are hard. I only beat the first one by making a save state right outside the boss so I didn't have to restart every three deaths.

Hmmm, my understanding is that Podbean and a variety of these podcast apps always go off the RSS feed. Individual podcasts don't manually post these to any of these services nor do these services actually host the audio file itself. So either it loads off of the podcast's RSS feed (which hasn't changed). Many simply grab iTunes's information, and iTunes is just grabbing from the same old RSS feed. I am not sure why it wouldn't be loading the new stuff on Podbean as there is plenty of stuff on the RSS feed itself. You should be able to subscribe directly on most apps via the RSS feed: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:102123174/sounds.rss Anyway, I will try to figure out why this might be happening, but I really don't know currently. I looked at Podbean's entry and it does link to the correct RSS feed, and the RSS feed definitely has the most recent stuff there... I couldn't hazard a guess as to why it's not working on Podbean's end.

I think most people here wouldn't consider that too overpowered when compared with Lerasium (which allows literally anyone to become an insanely powerful Mistborn), but there's a big issue with how many people keep misquoting this WoB: Brandon has never said "all people" should be able to use Atium. Only "all allomancers." The relevant WoP shows that maybe Peter understands it to mean "all people," though the fact that he doesn't correct the questioner's presuppositions could just be an oversight. So, a twinborn could potentially become immortal with enough pure Atium, but not just any ferring (or even full feruchemist), let alone any random House Lord/ Robber Barron who can afford to buy it. In any case, I think Brandon's making a mistake by trying to retcon this. Allomancy was created by Leras, so it makes sense that it would have a stronger connection with him (and his godmetal) than Atium. Atium also seems to have a shorter gestation time relative to other godmetals (especially Lerasium), so it makes sense if its effects are mildly less powerful (in the periodic table of godmetals, Lerasium would be something hyper-dense like uranium, whereas Atium could be closer to gold or iron). The big issue with this retcon, however, comes down to worldbuilding. Mistborn become a lot less uniquely threatening in Scadrial if literally any single Pewterarm thug with Atium could stand toe to toe with them (admittedly with a disadvantage, since they can't burn tin/iron/steel/brass/zinc). It also doesn't actually solve the disparity between Lerasium (which anyone can burn) and Atium (which only allomancers can burn). A lot of the mystery in Hero of Ages gets erased without the sign of sixteen, and Leras loses all relevance (which is a bit awkward after his intervention at the Well of Ascension). It just seems like he isn't particularly proud of his old work in Mistborn, so he's going to George Lucas it into something "better."

Episode 4 was the best one yet, and the biggest divergence from the books. Just guess to show that book "faithfulness" isn't always best. The books do several things better, that a TV show simply can't do. But its easily doing some things better. I think there's room for improvement, but for the most part this show just keeps getting better.

I know I have one LG with Burnt - that one is definitely on the backburner (sorry, couldn't resist the pun ) The idea was complicated (tldr; Murder on the Orient Express where players can send in any action they want) and the rules need to be simplified for it to be playable and that takes time and energy we don't have right now. But that wouldn't have been marked (feb-may) anyway.

See, I agree with this completely - but I am *very* concerned that Brandon's trying to write love here. His romances are often lacking some subtleties, and I think he might actually believe he's writing a romance here, where in reality their relationship is something more complicated. It definitely doesn't read to me like a hetero ace interest - it reads like an allo person's idea of an ace person in a romantic relationship. (I would love for Brandon to prove me wrong here, though.)

I, too, have some Cytonic memes! Here's a non-spoilery one: This next meme has Cytonic spoilers under the cut: And finally, some miscellaneous incorrect quotes between Jorgen and Spensa that don't really pertain to Cytonic but I thought were too funny not to post. Spoilered for length; there are no Cytonic spoilers.

I really like your review of Cytonic! I agree 100% with your feelings about Spensa, but couldn't articulate it. You put it so much better than I could have. Posting this here so I don't clutter up the Cytonic reaction thread even more

My interpretation is similar. Basically, in that moment, Rayse recognizes Dalinar as someone he killed -- either Tanavast or Adonalsium (the latter lines up better with "we killed you," rather than "I killed you," but the former makes more sense given Dalinar's direct connection to Honor). Probably there were spiritual shenanigans via connection, so Rayse literally felt, heard, and/or saw that former deity in Dalinar. I don't think we need to assume there were additional shardholders between Adonalsium and the 16 that killed him (aside from dawnshard holders, of course).

I got my question asked! My breakdown: If I wasn't 100% behind Soulburner being a videogame before, I am now. I think there's a not small chance that Soulburner is actually the PS4 game Forspoken. Reddit sniffed out a couple of sources a few months ago, and the information from that speculation has been proved accurate. Add in Brandon's comment about doing a call with a videogame company earlier this week, and it feels like there's something brewing. This also matches up with Brandon not being able to tell us anything IMO. The only problem is why Brandon would have an NDA so far into this project when others seemingly don't. And that's something I can't answer. Other things of note: I asked Steven Bohls if he and Brandon have any cool ideas for the next Lux book in terms of cool settings or cities - he mentioned that Book 5 will most likely be set in the New Orleans bayou/deep swamp area. (Or at least that's what he'd like.) It will most likely be a shorter book, at around 100k words overall; and there's a good chance that Mizzy will be a major POV character in the next book. Fun fact - Mizzy was supposed to show up in Lux, as Jax was supposed to go from Boston through New York, meet Mizzy and see Regalia flood the city, and then end up in Texas. This part ended up being cut as it was too tangential to the story. (Wingflare's original gimmick was going to be sound and a sound effect, but this was cut - as were most sound effects - as it felt too much like a gimmick.) Brandon currently wants Lux to be a trilogy, and the second book in that trilogy may be released sometime next November. (The two have ideas, but they were waiting on some sales reports and contract stuff first, and that may have just arrived this past week.) Dan is writing the novelization of Dark One at the moment. It's not following the outline, so don't expect it to end up like the graphic novel (sadly). Dan is planning on this being about a 100-120k novel overall. Janci unofficially announced more Skyward novellas, with a surprise POV character for one of them coming up. Brandon will give the official announcement tomorrow/today. This isn't really big spoiler-y or surprising news, as Janci a few months ago mentioned that there were things she couldn't talk about related to Skyward and that we can infer from there, and then Brandon mentioned that he had talks with Janci during his 11/19 SandoWriMo update - the one where he also talks about a meeting with a videogame company. Brandon Q&A tidbits, all paraphrased: Hoid should not be a Rosharan and Yolish Lightweaver, as it's getting close to something related to Dawnshards. There are other Surges related to Yolish magic. There are other Godmetals that can be used/burned by anyone. The "Crown, Tower, Spear" Death Rattle has not happened yet, either on-screen or off-screen.

While trying to resolve the Continuum Hypothesis, I accidentally solved an entirely different, and arguably much more important, set of problems, namely the question of justifying the axioms of set theory: the ZFC axioms firstly, and arbitrarily many axioms of higher infinity besides. This is how I did so. (Btw, I happen to wonder how far Brandon Sanderson will take his set-theoretic Easter eggs. There happens to be a form of set theory interwoven with graph theory, which seems relevant to the notion of Spiritwebs. So will these eggs manifest most strongly in stories/substories involving the Cognitive Realm, or is there, after all, a mathematical side to the Spiritual Realm too? And if so, will it be a form of set theory that constitutes this Spiritual aspect? Supposing it is a form of set theory, will Sanderson (obliquely or not) bring up, say, the intricate doctrines of large cardinals? (Will he bring these up even if his set-theoretic Easter eggs reach their apex in the Cognitive Realm only?)) Preamble: the choice between set, type, and category theory as a foundation of mathematics I am choosing set theory as my foundation of mathematics. It is said that category theory and type theory go together very well, in the end, even such as to say that categories are effectively reducible to types. However, in light of the historical fact that set theory won out over type theory, but has not won out over category theory, I am going to assume the following: a term refers to a set if the referent has elements; it refers to a type if the referent has tokens; and it refers to a category if the referent has elements and tokens. That being said, typology adverts more to the logical sphere, whereas elementhood is more distinctly mathematical. So a category is mathematical inasmuch as it has elements. Nothing seems to have actually been gained, then, in providing a foundation of mathematics in category theory instead of set theory. The fundamental understanding of set theory's internal justification In the pure theory of knowledge, there is a problem, the problem of the regress of reasoning, with four "mathematical" solutions: either the regress ends in self-justified axioms (foundationalism), the regress forms loops (coherentism), the regress is infinite (infinitism), or the problem is unsolved (skepticism, which corresponds to J0 in justification logic). Coincidentally, the elementhood relation can be sequenced in all four of these same ways, viz. there are well-founded sets, looping sets, infinite descending elementhood chains, and then the empty set-theoretic object, that which has no elements. My fundamental claim will, then, be that well-founded, looping, and descending sets are all justifiable modulo the positive solutions to the regress of reasoning. By implication, then, although descending sets are justifiable somehow, it is not permissible to axiomatize this justification. Justification by inference from axioms is per se nota well-founded justification, so that only the well-founded sets are justifiable in terms of the axiomatic method as such. And although I have a model of a justified descending set, my focus for the remainder of this discourse will be the axiomatic hierarchy. This is because it is modulo that hierarchy, that solutions to various other problems of set-theoretic justification with which I am familiar, have appeared. Justification values Frege proposed that truth is not a predicate of an assertion, but is the reference of that assertion (if it is otherwise factually correct). This is the notion of truth values. Likewise, in my theory of set theory(!), there are justification values. Truth-theoretically, the values are made to coincide with 0 and 1 on the numerical side of things, with fuzzy logic usually also having every other real number between 0 and 1 as a possible "degree of truth." There is no such bracketing required for the doctrine of justification values, and this allows us to formulate the initial axiom of infinity in a novel way, one that wears its justification on its sleeve. This is to have that axiom be, "The assertion that the initial level of infinity exists, has a justification value equivalent to that level." More concisely, have j(S) be the justification function, which takes sentential inputs S and outputs the degree of justification S has. So say: ∃S(j(S) = ω), with the very S in question being ∃ω, so that j(∃ω) = ω. This happens to turn the entire question of justifying any axiom of infinity on its head. If every higher infinity makes possible a higher infinite degree of justification, it follows that the stronger and stronger axioms of infinity are all the more justified than the lower ones, down to the axiom of ω. Not that the initial principle is therefore unjustified: it too is infinitely adequate to the question of its own existence, of course, here. Specific justifications of large-cardinal axioms The above might not be good enough to "explain" the justification of specific large-cardinal axioms, however. Granting that this is so, I would say that we can intrinsically justify, in a Gödelian way, at least some of these axioms, not by analysis of the iterative concept of sets, but by analyzing the concept of justification itself. In other words, replace ZFC's standard background logic with a justification logic. Then you open the door (as far as I know) to at least the following axioms: The model-theoretic characterization: every set theory of a certain form has an initial worldly cardinal assigned to it. ZFC with justification logic is such a theory. So there is a justification-theoretic worldly cardinal (and it is justifiable to assert that this cardinal exists). The proof-theoretic characterization: every set theory of a certain form has a proof-theoretic ordinal assigned to it. Sometimes, to "identify" this ordinal, one has to imagine a much taller, but still countable, ordinal, that figures in what is called a "collapsing function," this function being the one through which the "identification" of the proof-theoretic number is given. Those much taller countable ordinals can be "shadows" of genuine large cardinals. ZFC with justification logic is a theory such that those shadows and their counterpart large cardinals figure in its proof-theoretic analysis. So there is an (otherwise uncharacterized) justification-theoretic large cardinal. The infinitary-logic characterization: some standard large cardinal axioms can be formulated in terms of infinitary logic. ZFC can be assigned an infinitary justification logic for its background. So there are large-cardinal characterizations available modulo this assignment. These inherit the intrinsic justification of the logic (again), such that it is sufficiently justifiable to assert that these (they are called "weakly compact" and "strongly compact") cardinals exist. Bonus points: when you introduce strongly compact cardinals, for example, you get some other types of large cardinals below the initial strongly compact one, and you get a sizable amount of those types, too. (You don't get these with the worldly cardinals, and although it is "probable" that the proof-theoretic mirror cardinalities are much greater than the smallest model-theoretic ones, I could tell you nothing about the interim between the mirrors and the worldlies, whereas I could at least attest to measurable and inaccessible cardinals in light of the strongly compact ones.) From what I can tell, you can do a lot more with this justificatory template. I've "rambled" long enough for now, though, so I'll leave it to the interested reader (if there are any) to ask me about that "lot more," or to go seeking for it themselves.

Really agree with your comments @Jofwu. I’m really enjoying the show! Not only do the changes make a lot of sense for a TV show adaptation, but having new possibilities in the show actually gives me the chance to be surprised by the Wheel of Time all over again, which I find exciting!

I like it. Makes a ton of sense, and nothing I can think of rules any of it out. Fits well with my speculation that Jasnah and Hoid are heading towards an ugly breakup, followed by an EPIC "evil ex" dynamic - two powerful, resourceful, and dangerous people who used to love each other but are now bitter enemies. Nothing would get Jansah fired up more than Hoid betraying her trust and throwing all of Roshar under the bus.

Nynaeve and Lan, though I find all the male-female interactions in WOT a bit screwed up. They have so much contempt for each other, it makes me sad.

No luck cracking this one yet, which is frustrating because we’re told that it doesn’t move. And our characters use its fixed position to navigate, but they never tell us just how they’re using it. OB 112: I mean, c’mon Brandon, just tell us that they’re keeping the distant sun to their right or left or behind them or heading towards it. In RoW 75 there’s another missed opportunity. Adolin is looking out from Lasting Integrity describing what he sees in different directions. But again it’s not clear which direction the sun is: It seems like maybe we can infer that - since he’s seeing the beads reflecting the light while looking toward Tukar - the sun is in that direction? Which would be North I think. But it’s not clear, and light and shadows seem to behave strangely in Shadesmar so who knows.

Hi All, I know I'm late to the party, but I've finished RoW only a few days ago and wanted to share my thoughts on it. Overall, I think the best way to describe my impression of the book is to refer to the general from the beginning of it, who said "the world is changing and I'm not sure if I should be happy about it or not". In a lot of ways, I feel like all the building blocks I was given before did create a tower, just for it to be immediately knocked over. And while there were individual awesome moments in the book, the sum of the parts was lesser than the whole. That said, I am aware that it's the 1st readthrough and I'll probably change my mind about some of the things during the re-read I'll try to break down my thoughts per character and hope I manage to cover the main points without forgetting anything (which will probably happen). Warning - Long post Navani "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" - I didn't feel like she's a strong enough character to be a main POV. For me, her main role in this book is to provide the info dump (of a LOT of new information) and most of her chapters read like a physics lecture (and equally boring). In character personalization terms, I liked her even less. For the entire time we've known her, her thing was that she's "not a scholar". However, with the lack of explanation of what "a scholar" IS, I read it as academic achievement. As is- her expected role in life (noblewoman, wife of the king, etc) prevented her from going to college and getting a degree. I understand that this is sore point for her, apparently to a level where her entire identity is tied in this concept, but I never got a feeling that she's not a scholar because she tried to be and was lacking in some way or that she thinks she's just not smart enough. There was an attempt to bring some other self-esteem issues in earlier chapters but the main beat is still the scholarly thing and it remains to be the beat she marches to for the rest of the book. Once she gets the opportunity to just sit and study, she discards all other concerns and just ENJOYS the opportunity to study (I know that she also makes traps and stuff, but it feels like an afterthought to THE KNOWLEDGE). Her devotion to knowledge for the sake of knowledge (and disregard of any implications and potential harmful uses for her discoveries) actually reminded me of Jasnah and her mindset. This is why I agree with the tower spern- In my opinion, Navani is still not worthy of the bond. I know that she had a personal breakthrough and finally managed to get that desired official MA, but that doesn't relate to the reasons the spern didn't want to bond with her in the first place. The spern has issues with the fact that Navani is developing technology that kills spern. To which Navani constantly replies "sure, we'll find a way to work around it. Someday. In the meantime, look at what new cool thing I discovered, that's potentially even more dangerous to you and spernkind". For me, the only reason Navani managed to bond the tower is that for the tower it was a choice of bonding Navani or dying. Life before death in its finest. Navani's strength as a character, for me, was always the small moments like when she misses her son or being so overwhelmed by grief that she runs outside to write a huge glyph, or fears Szeth (because, honestly, he's terrifying and for some reason everyone else ignores it), and I wish we had more moments like these from her in this book. * Apparently, she's also a genius as she's learned all of science and discovered quantum physics in only two weeks. Dalinar - his time in the book was mostly a setup for the next one so I have nothing much to say about him. I did like his interaction with Syl - it was adorable! I will say that I, as a reader, have no idea what was possible to do or not so stormafather shouting "it's impossible" all the time was pointless after a while. Renarin - It's starting to get annoying how he always shows up, says something cryptic, and then we don't hear about him again until the next time he does it. I suspect that he's not getting any screentime is because spending time with him will reveal some "big secret" that is planned to be grandly revealed in later books. Jasnah - I like her and she's usually one of my favorite characters, but this time I got the feeling that the book is leaning heavily on her superior intellect to a point she's a bit like a computer that's trying to learn human emotions. In a way, she's trying to be more like Navani (emotions over intellect) while Navani is going through the opposite process. She also reminded me of Taravangian, in the way that he has emotions completely separated from intellect (though in his case, the separation is manufactured). However, while the smart Tav belittles the emotions of the stupid Tav, the smart Jasnah is actively trying to learn emotions. Plot-wise I have no idea where she's headed but I don't think she'll stop at being the queen. Maybe she'll pick up a shard? perhaps Odium himself? Adolin- Nothing to say except that he's awesome It is convenient though, that Maya was called as a witness. I wonder what would have happened if it went any other way. His father issues also parallel those of Kaladin in a nice way, though I'm not sure what Adolin thinks Dalinar wants him to be (unlike Lirin, where it's clear what he expects from Kaladin). Shallan - Ugh. Just ugh. I am so done with her. I know there are theories that she's going to be a world hopper, and what can I say except- bon voyage, Shallan. Bon voyage. Storywise- I did think that formless was the spy and that she wrangled Pattern and the others to play along with her and the truth seemed a bit underwhelming since the formless buildup seemed waisted. I also thought that the big secret she's trying to forget was the existence of another (now dead, by Shallan's hands) sibling. Or that the mom is not her real mom (since the real mom is dead, again, by Shallan). The second spern reveal is also underwhelming, mainly because it was an option that was never presented to us. They did meet the deadeye earlier in the book, but without any context to the meeting, the final reveal felt disconnected. It is believable, in terms of world-building, but it felt like it came out of the blue just for the surprise effect. I also have a question about the early bond- I know we haven't seen any children boding spren (aside from Lift, but she didn't say the ideals until much later) and I certainly don't belittle the pain of a lonely child, but shouldn't the ideals come with INTENT? I mean, it's not enough to just say the words. They also have to mean something so that implies an understanding of greater ideals, something I'm not sure a child under 11 is capable of. In the end, I feel like Shallan didn't make much progress herself. She did react to outside events that forced her to face whatever issues she had, but that's because she had absolutely no other choice. No change felt like it originated from within her and any personal growth and healing. When left to her own devices, her progress was actually going backward and hiding (to a point she created yet another persona). Honestly, the best part was when even Veil (a fragment of Shallan herself!) was so fed up with Shallan that she threw the towel and just LEFT. Hilarious! ** We all remember that Shallan killed Ilai, right? which is funny since Shallan's husband killed Ilai's husband. Perhaps it's a couple's thing? A couple that murders another couple together and all? Going forward, I want the two of them to break up, perhaps on the grounds of her going traveling while he doesn't want to/ can't join. I don't actually mind them together that much but this breakup will provide him a chance to stand up for himself (and not play along with whatever crazy new idea she got) and for her to have a conflict from her "new life" that's not directly connected to her past trauma. Let's see how she manages in life when she doesn't have the past to fall back onto as an excuse. Venli- Just like Navani, I feel like her main purpose as a main character is the info dump, just from another point of view. Just like Navani, Venli is also not a strong character to pull of so much screen time since both were extremely passive throughout the book. However, Unlike Navani, who at least was passionate about science, I didn't get any driving forces in Venli that could make for an interesting read. We did get the flashbacks that were engaging, but today's Venli just wants to run and hide somewhere and cares for little else. Even the underground group she formed feels like a side effect of her wish to run away and less like a determined goal to save the listeners. It does change towards the end of the book, especially after she discovers her Listeners powers (which are really cool btw) but still, the overall arc was not an engaging read. Just to clarify, I did like her story and her personal struggles with her past self and the end resolution, I just think it's not enough to hold for half of the book. ** It is nice that some of the fused decide to go with her to search for the lost tribe, but how will that work? Aren't their powers directly tied to Odium? what will happen when they're not connected to him anymore? And aren't their powers directly tied to Odium? As in, he can pinpoint them regardless of where they are? Is that a good idea to take them to the same people who try to hide from him? Kaladin- I will confess that I did try to read the book when it just came out and had to stop. The problem was that I started reading it when I was in a difficult place in my personal life, and Kal's story was too difficult for me to handle at the time, especially since there were no other characters strong enough to provide a counter view to his encompassing depression. Now that I did finish the book, all I can say is that - that's some really depressing stuff. Seriously, how much abuse can he take? Poor Kal. I'm glad that we finally got the 4th ideal but thematically, I expected it to be something else. I know that the ideal was guessed for a while now, but based on the struggles he went through in this book specifically, I thought it would be something like "I accept that not all should be protected in the same way" or something similar to this idea. I mean, he did invent mental health! Either way, 4th ideal. Yay! (and another convenience that Dalinar chose this specific storm to join stormfather). ** Lirin - I get the hate. I really do. For me, it's less about the pacifism and more about how it's tied with the image he has of Kal. Nothing aside from Kal being a surgeon will ever be good enough for Lirin, regardless of the number of weapons involved. I mean, Kal could have decided he wants to be a merchant but it still would disappoint Lirin. I do find it interesting though, that for both of them (father and son) there is only one idea of what fighting is. Not one of them raises the option of other ways to fight, like being a lawyer, for example (and inventing the justice system), or being a reporter (and inventing journalism), or even doing underground graffiti (and inventing graffiti, I guess). ** Syl- she's still great. I'm looking forward to seeing how her relationship with Kal evolves now that she's a grownup. *** I think Kal is destined to die. I hope I'm wrong, but he's the Stormblessed and now people follow his ideal. I think he'll be Kelzeir of this world - will become the legend to fuel the resistance for the second arc of the war. Notable mentions: New Odium- So cool. Did not see it coming at all. What will that mean for the magic systems? From what I understood, the magic rules were made by the shards, but designed by the beares. What will happen now when someone else has the shard? Szeth- Was he always this crazy? I also mentioned this before, but how is it that Navani is the only one to fear him? I feel like it's the natural response to him (aside from the assassin thing, he's also extremely creepy). Also, to think that all this could have ended if he just told Dalinar that Taravengian wants to talk with him for some reason. Boo Szeth. Lift- has a chicken now! She's also growing up, and it will be interesting to see how she deals with it. I imagine with a lot of grace and poise. Moash- F* Moash. But also, when he got blind, I couldn't help but remember the Melorian books by D.Eddigns where some people got permanently blind after seeing "the true face of god". I'm sure there are many other literary (real or fiction) pieces that mention similar things, but the Melorian is what came to my mind. Wit - I admit that I didn't like the world-hopping existence in previous books, but I was fine with it now since it's finally part of THIS world and not just a basket of easter eggs. I'm not a fan of wordplays or the smug all-knowing-but-will-not-tell-you-just-because characters so Wit never held any special interest for me and was even annoying at times. I am happy that he lost his memories since now it feels like a fair playing ground for everyone. It also indicates that the cosmere rules have been changed, which might provide an unexpected advantage for the heroes. Speaking of World hoppers - I understood that the leader was confirmed to be Kelzier. Now, I remember him being sided with the good guys (even though he went about it in a very roundabout way), so I'm guessing the GB will be the misunderstood ones and their goals are actually very philanthropic. My guess is that they're trying to resurrect the original god/ create a new one but they want to be the only ones to do it (that's why they're targeting others who know about the cosmere). Why would they want to do it? Not sure. Perhaps because they want to have one true god since "things were better back then", or "this is the natural state of the world and what we have now is an abomination". In any case, this is the danger to Roshar everyone is referring to because for the creation of the god there will be a need to combine all shards, and what will happen to the worlds they created when the shards are called home?

I don’t think the Ire could have a fabrial. They couldn’t have gotten it to Scadrial. To get a fabrial off Roshar, you need to get a spren off Roshar, and while it’s been hinted that this is a thing people will figure out how to do in the future, it’s a plot point right now that they can’t do that yet.

I agree with you. My sentiments are starkly similar. Shallan was a fresh and interesting character, giving us a glimpse of world in TWoK- away from war and conflicts. I was even curious to know her past and despite her bad attempts are making jokes and pun, she was someone you can relate yourself. I liked her determination, her constant struggle towards betraying Jasnah and in end, accepting her mistakes and making promises to atone for it. In WoR, I had 'normal' affliction towards her. The flashbacks were awesome, simply superb. First part was amazing, startlingly brave of her but the moment she met Kaladin...uh, things soured for me the way she behaved. I mean how stupid can you be? You were ward of Jasnah Kholin and clearly aware of family/army crests. Couldn't you see Captain knots on his shoulders or understand he's a freaking Kholin guard who could've saved you from all Tyn drama? But no, her first thoughts was--- ooooh, a darkeyes, let me just go and torment his ranking because I'm superior! Letmme get his boots despite knowing that he's on guard patrol which NEEDS protection! But now, I'll just mope a line for his poor condition now and get done with it. I hated this interaction. But then Tyn scene happened for a reason and it was great. And the next banter between her and Kaladin was amazing, witty and somewhat sweetened back her arc. But then came Adolin...my dear, you just met him and the first thought comes into your mind his 'our children will have strangest hair colour'. Honestly, I would've loved if Shallan hadn't come between Kaladin and Adolin because clearly THEY are better without HER! In Oathbringer, she annoyed me. She annoyed me so, so so freaking much that I would've become Re-Shephir and send my Midnight Essences to wreck her little bedless room into pieces and bond Pattern for myself because he clearly deserves someone better who would just go and do her damn job, not parry between being the RADIANT and warding Jasnah's advice and dally between Kaladin and Adolin for no freaking reason. In RoW....truthfully, I skipped her parts in part 1. I had heard audiobook and focused on that Mraize chapter. Except that, everything she did was blatantly stupid and felt too conveniently forced. Pretty sure the Testament case spike in Brandon's mind while he was writing RoW because he gave no clear indication about such happenance. The whole Shadesmar plot was readable because of Maya, Adolin and Pattern and Kelek in end obviously. Compare that to Kaladin-Navani arc, I mean did you even get a moment to catch your breath? Their stories were THAT GREAT! Now that is a story, not making Formless and making foes without knowing their extends. I actually wish she gets taken off by an axe or gets her head chopped by GBs for her decision so that Adolin can at least be free of this being. Honestly, they shouldn't have married in first place. Adolin is waay better without her. Shallan is waay better without any plot, humming to herself to death.

Odium/Toadium- I win this contest of champions!!!! Dalinar- NOOOO!!!! A blazing white figure fell down from darkest skies, like a falling star, like the heralds from Tranquiline halls. A brilliant Shardspear gleamed brighter than the sun, brighter than the day ever saw and his body scintillated with hundred thousand pinpricks of light, like stars illuminating the blackest night. His eyes smoldered as the birth and death of star, brighter and brighter until pure white energy wafted over his skin- Almighty's true essence. And when he spoke, it wasn't Stormlight that puffed from his lips. Kaladin (giving some signature pose) - I.....AM.....HONOR! The Stormfather grumbled in surprise- Oh, damn....I have been missing that all along!

@ZincAboutIt

I could also have gone for a pun on lameness, but I didn’t want to come off as rude

OB spoilers!

WoR spoilers

Khriss: *idly exploring Scadrial* *glances up at a street sign as Nazh hasn't arrived with her map yet* Kenton Street: *exists* Khriss: surprised Pikachu face

Here’s mine

Even during a reread:

How rude of your ‘frieds’. Also, may I ask, are they deep-fried or just normal?

There are windspren and even Stick in Frozen 2.

My second post.

I might have broke it:

Alcatraz:

Probably not infinite, then. Infinity would screw with a ton of stuff regardless. Regardless, the original question was about why Shards aren't concerned about losing their Investiture to the magicks performed by Invested people. The answer is, we don't know, but we speculate that the Investiture is just automatically returned to the Shard (or harvested by it).