Hakusho Slick

I bought the book and am done within about 7 hours, with a two hour break in the middle, so hopefully that gives you an idea of the pacing. It feels good to be in the first wave of finishers, I've been quite late to the party on other Sanderson books. Enough about that, here's my take: Book is good confirmed. There was a distinct tone-shift from Skyward, which really worked to make the universe feel a bit bigger/more alive. Spensa's character growth in this one was welcome as well, even if it does remind me of a streamlined version of a certain flying bridgeman circa Oathbringer. No spoilers but if you know, you know. The ending was a little jarring due to the fake epilogue (Brando's sneakiness has gone meta now), it felt like a nice wrap-up and prep for the next book followed by "sike, here's the real ending, and it's a cliffhanger." I had previously guessed that doomslug makes the hyperdrive work, and slugs like mushrooms, hence the mushrooms, so that reveal had a bit less wind in the sails, given that I think most of us were on the same page with that one. That said I certainly didn't call Jorgen being a cytonic, or that the delvers can be reasoned with. My only other gripe is that we got a lot less of Skyward Fight in this one-- those characters needed some love as they felt a bit undercooked in the first one. I'm also a bit hesitant about the setup for book three here; Spensa on foot with her talking ship replaced with a talking drone, but I trust Brandon to handle that well. That said, Starsight itself was a great setting for a spy thriller, and I really liked seeing the our leads out of their element. At some point, more dogfighting is gonna get stale; I'm glad he gracefully sidestepped that. All in all I can't wait for the next entry, these books are a lot of fun. Perhaps I'll try not to binge the third one like I did the last two, but then again, no I won't.

@KandraAllomancer This theory is quite good and feels like something Brandon would do. It also fits with Brandon's desire to distinguish himself artistically from Robert Jordan-- bbeg is dead halfway through and there's no Tarmon Gai'don that we work up to at the end, the back 5 are more about sociopolitical stuff and "fixing/uniting" Roshar to prep for Outer Space Time seen in Mistborn Era 4. (I like that, btw. Brandon doesn't want to rehash WoT and that leads to great creativity.) One thing I'd add is that there will likely be some kind of Christian-God analog in Stormlight. See: Sazed as Father, Vin as Son, Kelsier as Holy Spirit. That also feels like something Brandon would sneak in there. Perhaps this is where Adonalsium comes in: the people of Roshar turn away from their two warring gods once things are dealt with, and instead seek out Adonalsium, mirroring the Israelites' story of abandoning Baal and other Pagan deities as lead by Moses (Dalinar?). This, I'm not too sold on. It certainly seems like something Brandon would do-- borrow themes from another Christian era, sure, but still a tale with a lot of Christian baggage. Good stuff all around.

A quick Google reveals CREM stands for "CAMP Responsive Element Modulator." CAMP stands for Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate, which is a cellular messenger molecule, and Responsive Element Modulator refers to a gene that codes for parts of it. This is some ADVANCED molecular biology here. Brandon is definitely dropping some hints as to what Mother Cultivation is up to on Roshar... Unless there's yet another deeper level I'm not seeing here...

Hey, no need to feel old! Sanderson is for all ages, I'm just a little baby. Your Name WAS decidedly moving, in that it turned me into a babbling fool for 15 minutes, but I agree on 5 Centimeters-- gorgeous but a bit odd in a way that detracts, I think. Garden of words was great though. For games, I'm more of a multiplayer guy. League, Destiny 2, and Smash Ultimate on the dorm room couch are my go-to's right now. So grateful to Brando and the community for all these awesome new friends I'm making.

I've contacted the hospital that issued my birth certificate, evidently I have a long lost brother who's 10 years older and lives in Scotland. Definitely check out some Satoshi Kon if you haven't, Millenium Actress is a favorite of mine. Also check out some Makoto Shinkai, not as consistently great but definitely some gems in there. And there's the Shinkai. Children Who Chased Lost Voices is Best-Ghibli-Not-Ghibli, I think. I've gotta say though, my favorite might just be The Wind Rises just purely for the aesthetics. Incredibly gorgeous film.

Oh man I've gotta say that season two is my favorite for the pure political intrigue but I can guess why you picked season three (no spoilers!). Now all you gotta do is tell me you're a fan of Hayao Miyazaki and/or Satoshi Kon and I will honestly launch an investigation into a sibling switched at birth...

Oh yeah, I think we'll get along fine. It usually takes me months of getting to know someone before I get them onto both the Sanderson and Expanse hype trains, but here, seems like people are already on board. I think that the Expanse would be getting a lot more buzz if there wasn't so much amazing stuff coming out right now. Which was your favorite season?

Thank you for your service, @1stBondsmith. Journey before destination.

Yup I just wasn't thinking. Sorry bout that. I'm predicting this whole thing will get wrapped up by the end of the front 5, with a 10 year time skip for humans and allied Singers to get used to each other before the back 5 and a new round of stuff to get through.

Yeah, that seems like a safe bet. I predict Dalinar will Unite the remaining Singers with humans against Odium, preventing a genocide to help atone for his previous one. Did I double post on this post or are you mentioning another post I made? Not surprising that I double posted since I'm coming from Reddit where that's more the norm, but if it's on this post it's definitely some kind of bug/accident since I only see my original and a bunch of replies. Edit: ooohhhh, I figured out what you meant about double posting. Yeah I figured it was the norm to do a separate reply per person who commented originally. Bad habit. Thanks!

@RShara Thanks for linking me to the thread, I don't know how I missed that one. I'll be sure to check it out. Sorry for double posting, I'm coming from Reddit where that's often the norm instead of editing the original post. I'll be sure to do that in the future. Thanks for showing me the ropes! Have a good one.

@Ixthos Yeah, I think the question is whether we can support the man he is without first forgiving the man he was. I think that in the case of Dalinar we can and do, but that would be rare outside of fiction. It makes for a compelling character, but in reality we would have no way to see the regret, remorse, and possible redemption from Dalinar without being inside his head. Either way it was great writing.

@Solant Yes I am definitely on Team Dalinar since he's shown himself to be a good person when considered in a vacuum. I can root for somebody without forgiving them, which I think is where many people are with Dalinar. That kind of realistic, nuanced reaction to a fictional character is rare, which is why I like the character so much.

Thanks for such a great response. I think I'm in the same place with Dalinar-- I wouldn't forgive him in real life, but I can't hate him since he's clearly shown real remorse and steps to atone. That's why he's my favorite character-- a monster, perhaps, but a very well-written one. As for the Rwandan genocide example, I find it to be inspiring. I understand why you say you would never forgive a perpetrator of a genocide, but I'm still in the gray area on this one. Dalinar might be the only circumstance I've seen that I could see myself forgiving him. It's tricky to reconcile that with the Dalinar we all love, and having his main motivation be to seek redemption by saving the world from a greater evil is powerful to say the least. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

Thank you for mentioning this. I did a brief search to see if this topic had been brought up already, and didn't see that it had-- I guess I used the wrong keywords. If you think this thread should be locked to replies let me know-- I'm new here and less familiar with the etiquette.