Mardy

Okok, wild theory: I think in general a lot of the larger creatures on Roshar are more sentient than our human minds presume. And it is veeery interesting to think if their gemhearts could be inhabited by spren!! Would that be true of all creatures with gemhearts then? Maybe the lack of spren inhabiting gemhearts is because of BAM imprisonment? Completely unfounded theory, but what if all creatures with gemhearts used to be bonded to spren and/or sentient to a much higher degree, but when BAM was imprisoned, they all got slightly "severed" from their bonds to the world/spren and lost most of their sentience like the parshmen? I literally only thought of this theory right now after reading this topic... but how awesome would it be if Roshar was home to sooo many more sentient creatures??

I totally see what you're saying! It's like perhaps how some view the in-depth and high detail fighting scenes to be a bit "too much"? I myself meant to point out though that Brandon's type of writing that is perhaps "too detailed" in some areas, such as logically explaining science elements, is precisely what i love. I can totally buy that my personal preferences aren't the same as the majority of fantasy readers though! I'm a musician with a background in engineering with a mind that struggles to see big pictures but love details - therefore getting such in depth explanation of the science behind the magical elements, only serve (for me personally) to make the worlds Sanderson have created feel more real! Those details is what makes my heart believe in the story to an extent that other fantasy authors don't manage to do for me. I love the balance as it is, but i do see your point on how many would probably enjoy less factual details, and more story/personal focus.

Nice! Yeh there's something about Spensa's introduction when she says something like that felt like a personal attack in the best way hahah. I'm very much looking forward to reading the rest of them. (don't know how careful one should be with spoilers but rather safe than sorry right?) And I 100% would recommend reading the Wheel of Time. I will say though, it's pace and plot it more classic "high epic fantasy" than Sanderson's approach to fantasy. I read it when i was quite young and it was my very first "epic" fantasy think I'd react if I did a reread now at 26 years old feeling like it's a little... old? in certain ways. But it was the largest world I'd ever experienced in fantasy up until Sanderson's cosmere. I love it to bits, I really do, but it has a different "feel" to is than Sanderson's own work!

Ooh interesting turnout! Hahah ahh yeh he’s such a delight! And thanks for the heads up!! I’ll go find the rules section again and read up! Not an experienced forum-user! :S

Ooh I was just about to dive into the second book in the skyward series so i’ll def read Defending Elysium first! Thanks for the tip And yes! I took the quiz and was an Elsecaller! How about yourself?

What an entrance! Lovely post ^^ welcome, welcome! Hope you enjoy the rest of RoW! I can highly recommend listening to the podcast episode they release here after you’ve finished the book! Such a nice in depth analysis and discussion of what actually happened in the book!

Thank you!

Thank you! Yesss Wayne is everything! I day dream far too much about Lopen and Kal somehow meeting Wax and Wayne. The Wayne and Lopen dialogue would be insaaaane and Kal and Wax could have a brooding-stare competition hahah!

Ahhh yesss Sadeas! He deserves a mention too hahah. And yes i’ve read literally anything that Sanderson has written that i could get my hands on! The Reckoners series, The Legion books, the Rithmarist, is novellas: Firstborn, Snapshot and Perfect State. And also Skyward (though i havent read the second book yet). I kinda want to give Alcatraz a shot even though its for a younger audience but i have yet to do so. I found Sanderson through Wheel of Time initially and have absolutely loved him as an author ever since! Do you have any favourites among his non-cosmere work if you’ve read it? I lovelove Legion and honestly thought that the Rithmatist was very charming as well.

Ooh, good choices! And that's a tough one... Tonk Fah from Warbreaker or perhaps Telsin from Mistborn era 2. I struggle to dislike even the characters that i "dislike" hahah but those two are just crem...! Yours??

Welcome, welcome! Oh you're going to love diving deeper and deeper into it all Do you have a favourite character from the books that you've read?

Thank you! It's almost impossible to say right, but I think I have to go with Wayne. His wit, loyalty, kindness and sadness absolutely have me smitten. How about yourself? Who's your favourite?

Although i do see some similarities just like you say in the following and adoration of them both from "the people". Two things set them apart quite clearly imo. Kelsier kills too easily. And i think he carries an inherrent showmanship and selfishness within him that doesn't at all resonate with Kal. Kal's first "freeze" back as a kid in Amaram's army when he realized how easily he would be ok with killing people, kind of reminded me of Kelsier. But I feel like Kal actively knows and fears that side of himself and therefore doesn't at all allow himself to just be "brutal" in the same way Kelsier is. Thus solidifying their difference. But! When Kal is pushed by trauma (similar to the trauma of Kelsier losing his wife) by losing Teft at the end of RoW, we do see him go into Kelsier-murder-gear and rip that annoying fused apart in a bruuuutal and very Kelsierish way. So with all this, I feel like the two characters have some similarities, but again, Kelsier is instinctively a performer, showman, slightly selfish and brutal man. Kal has the potential to become a figurehead similarely, but not due to any showmanship, and although he might have the same brutality inside, he fears it, rather then let it rule. I see their personalities as fundamentally different and think that because of that, regardless if Kal ends up being a figurehead similar in status to "the survivor", their impact would differ and the storylines would as well! It is suuuper interesting to explore the similarities/differences between the protagonists of Sanderson's different works! Nice topic!

As "singular" book out of a series, I'd have to say The Bands of Mourning from Mistborn Era 2! Of the seperate series I'd pick the main Stormlight Archives series for sure. And of the smaller novellas I think I prefer the sixth of dusk, just cause it's so intriguing in many ways. tmi? yes, i talk (type?) too much... ^^ ty for the welcome though

RoW was in my opinion yet another example of Sanderson carving out a unique space amongst other epic fantasy authors. I feel like he drew "regular" fantasy readers in with epic fantasy style, big wars epic superhero stuff - and now i'm sat reading about a middle aged woman doing science while singing to herself chatting with an evil super-mom. I love this book so frickin much. His world-building, refreshingly varied characters and "logical" approach to magic systems is what has set him apart. I absolutely love that Sanderson is leaning into his personal style and letting it lead the way. The depth of the cosmere-ties that are being explored, not only by readers, but now by viewpoint characters in the actual book, really start to make it clear, that his works, although they work as stand-alone, truly are meant to show you a complete universe. I lovelovelove it.