digitalbusker

I am nobody's boss but I'm going to recommend that we all just Don't Think about the space tram. The space tram works fine as a way to learn the twist and a goal for Hoid at the end, but trust me if you think about it more than that it'll start to hurt. Please call your representative and tell them to support my Never Mind About the Space Tram bill this session.

Don't underestimate the number of Anglophiles in the history fandom.

Well if by "current dimension" you mean the one where the book takes place, it being the highest/most substantial would mean you couldn't get there from John's home dimension.

In the end I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would in Part 2. I probably won't reread it, but that's mostly about it being a standalone. (ETA: I read this after Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, due to Reasons, and I was interested to see stacks of rocks in the chapter icons and some of John's early wight interactions.) I want to be clear, I am NOT saying that people's reactions to the narrator are a one question personality test that says whether they're a Ryan or a John. I'm not saying that. (This is the part where I'm supposed to say "I'm not NOT saying that," but honestly that seems rude to the many probably perfectly nice people who just didn't vibe with the voice.) I hope somebody has compiled the little wizard comics. The giant strawberry made me laugh out loud. The other moment that did that was Ealstan figuring out how to fire a future gun. Anyway, four out of five: entertaining, strong ending, a good gift for the burnt out gifted kid in your friend group who needs to figure out what is and is not their responsibility and maybe cut some toxic friends out of their lives.

I have seen a lot of talk about Nikaro bringing Yumi back at the end: how he did it (Realmatically), how he did it (narratively), whether it was a satisfying ending, etc. Before you ask "how", ask "whether". Did Nikaro bring Yumi back? (Note that "Lies" in there. Even here, where Hoid is deliberately pretending this is That kind of story, he reminds us that the yoki-hijo is manipulated into useful martyrdom.) Then in the Epilogue when Nikaro ignores Hoid's narration and starts painting: And then after he finishes the painting and reaches into the smoke to take Yumi's hand: And the last line of the Epilogue: Did Nikaro bring Yumi back? No. He reminded her that the idea that she couldn't/shouldn't have a life of her own was a lie and talked her into coming back under her own power. (The painting was not nothing. It focused his Intent and strengthened their Connection, and we'd already seen that the emotional resonance of art can spark memory, but it didn't bring Yumi back. If anything, it drew her attention long enough for her to realize she could come back.)

The idea of a third yellow hion line has some problems: * The other instances of things being powered by hion are like electricity--powered by the flow of energy between the two lines. The idea of a third line that just goes into the father machine and stops there is qualitatively different. * The spirits don't split into three parts in other instances. * The hion lines that we see generated independent of the father machine (priming the prototype, Yumi and Painter almost touching hands at the carnival) are not described as having a third, yellow line.

I'm in awe of how quickly people pointed out the big problem with Taravangian picking up Odium, his preference for dispassionate logic, without realizing the fix for that was already in place, in the form of dumb-but-emotional Taravangian.

Lots of stuff to choose from, but I want to focus on something that seems like it should have been a bigger deal in world. A: Hey, did you hear? This guy took on like fourteen armed guys to save someone, and lived! B: Let me guess, a Radiant? A: No! No stormlight, no supernatural edge of any kind! B: Shards, then? A: No! No Blade, no Plate, just a steel sword and not even regular armor! B: Then he must have had help, right? A: Just a deadeye and his horse. B: Okay. Wow, fourteen, you say. That IS impressive... wait, is this Adolin Kholin we're talking about? A: Yeah, why? B: Yawn. I thought you had something interesting to talk about. Wake me when something unusual happens.

Do we think the other Heralds had moments of lucidity when Navani bonded the Sibling, too? Or was Ishar special for one reason or another? If they did, I hope we hear about it.

Keep on Writin' (These)!

Yeah, I think the best way to resolve this is "There will be as many as a hundred Voices in this meeting" once all the Fused are awakened, not "there will be as many as a hundred Fused total" once they're all awakened.

Maybe he skimmed the section of the shardic README about genotype vs phenotype and didn't realize that it was possible for the power to pop up again. Maybe genetic fiddling on that level was still beyond him (though apparently he did some fiddling with the skaa). My only point is that there was a window of time where he both recognized Feruchemy was an issue and had the power to do wacky things, which is a fact I thought was missing from the discussion on the cast.

On the question of whether the Lord Ruler might have had the foresight to scrub metallic arts genes from his sperm while holding the power: it was then that he created the Mistwraiths, so he clearly thought Feruchemy was an issue already. It's not impossible that his shard enhanced mind came up with "Might be useful to have kids someday, but better not let them have magic or they'll try to overthrow me."

Syl and Kelsier, because they both have lots of relevant experience in those roles.

There definitely does seem to be a thermal effect when stormlight is moving around. Kudos to this thread for collecting some good examples of that. On the other hand, the thing in the first post about Dalinar's armor freezing up was definitely the "stuck" sense of frozen rather than the "covered in ice" sense of frozen.

Why is Moash?

I think we can draw a line between lying and just being wrong, though when the person you're lying to is yourself it can get pretty blurry.

Probably a lot of good lies around his marriage, too.

I figure there'll be an Ars Arcanum, at least. How have the mods not already shut down the forum? We're done here, kids. It's not going to get any better than that.

I wonder if he's using Connection in some way. Either a medallion (could you recharge one of those by leaving it out in a storm?) or some Silverlight tech.

@vissy I read that smile as "Hold my beer and watch me destroy this fool," but it's entirely possible we'll get it recontextualized later.

@Blazenella, I'm with you on Kaladin during Words of Radiance. As a WoT vet, I'm allergic to plotlines where the inciting factor is allies not sharing information. (Although as a WoT vet, having one of those resolved in the same book as its introduction is quite refreshing!) It doesn't bother me as much on rereads, because I know it'll end soon, but the first time through I was headdesking all the time. I do think you're underestimating the difficulty of pacifying Kholinar by revealing everybody, but it would have been an interesting read.

Doesn't even crack the top five craziest Shallan theories.

I can't be the only one who read the Fused salute to Renarin as "Ya got guts, kid. We'll kill you quick."