Lady Radagu

Oh. Boo. I assumed that this was a bonus chapter we were being given in addition to the ones tomorrow. I guess I should read more carefully. Also, I've realized that I need a Doomslug the Destoyer plushie in my life.

Yes, at this point, the plot twist would be if it did turn out that her father had a completely unprecedented bout of cowardice and tried to run away. Meanwhile, I have three pet theories. 1) He wasn't running away, he was running to. Chaser had always wanted to make a break for the stars, and something happened during the battle that presented him with an actual opportunity to break through the shield to reach them. I'm not wild about this, because it still requires him to purposefully ditch his fellow pilots in the middle of the battle, and represents a conscious choice to abandon his famiy in pursuit of a whim, even if said whim represents a lifelong dream. 2) He, too, had a sentient ship. It woke up for the first time in however long smack in the middle of the battle. Despite what the builders intended, said ship was more of a lover than a fighter, took one look at its surroundings, and high tailed it out of there, overriding any manual control that Chaser had, as well as his coms. This is not super likely, because Spensa's ship is a unique relic, whereas her father presumably had one of their own freshly built ships, but maybe it contained some critical parts which were salvaged from an older ship. 3) If Chaser was flying away from the battle, then his teammates had to make the concious decision to stop shooting at the Krell long enough to chase after him and shoot him down, rather than waiting to arrest and deal with him later. I guess it's possible that they were concerned he would escalate from Coward to Full Traitor and start shooting at them, but baring that, that seems to me to be really bad strategy. So maybe something else happened, and he was shot down as a cover up. Maybe all of the other pilots took an oath of secrecy, for the good of their fledgling nation. Maybe the real reason they didn't want Spensa in flight school was because she would be sufficiently motivated to uncover what really went down. Maybe I really just need this book already so I can quit spending all if my time coming up with wild theories!

I hope this is just a test, of courage, or calm under pressure. I'm worried that it's real. Given the statistics for those who make it through flight school, sending up a cadet squad on their first day sounds like a death sentence. I'm worried that this is happening because if Spensa, and trying to figure out if Admiral Ironsides is so desperate to solve her Spensa problem that she's willing to sacrifice a whole flight of cadets, including the son of the great Jeshua Weight and two or three other celebrity kids, just so she no longer has to worry about the monumental problem that is The Coward's daughter.

Way back right after Words of Radiance was first published, someone made a humorous list of predictions for book three. One of them was something along the lines of "The fourth Wind runner Ideal turns out to be 'I will not move in on my best friend's girl.' Kaladin refuses to say it." Obviously that's not the mystery Ideal (I agree that it's something about accepting that one can't protect everyone), but it stuck in my head well enough that I spent a lot of time chuckling at Kaladin's inability to say the Words so soon after he began admitting to himself that he was interested in Shallan after all.

I'm in town with my husband and youngest baby, and we have our wristbands. So excited for tonight! Also, we will he cosplaying as parahmen.

The Sas and Nahn brands were given by Amaram, and he spent pretty much the entire book not being over that. Even after Dalinar entraps Amamram in front of Kaladin, there's still the fact that Amaram just gets to walk away (for the time being, at least). Unlike Dalinar, Kaladin doesn't see Amaram's reputation being broken as any kind of real resolution, and I doubt he'll overcome his perception of being branded by Amaram until he overcomes Amaram. The Shash mark came later. Even if he's over that final failure that sent him to the Shattered Plains, he might decide to keep that one on purpose. Walking around with "Dangerous" tattooed (well, branded) to your forehead seems kinda pretty frikkin awesome.

So my run on sentance reaction was that this was a pretty fun book, and it zipped nicely along, ooh, Hi there, Hoid!, and all in all it was more serious than Alloy of Law, but it was so good to see these characters and this world again, some interesting worlbuilding here, and some good cosmere bits, hmm, going to ignore that forshadowing because I really don't want to think about the implications, and Brandon wouldn't do that, and HOLY CRAP, SANDERSON! That was COLD! It was one thing when you killed off Kelsier. My heart ached when Tien was discarded in an eyeblink. And I thought you'd hit your threshold for dark when Deathpoint killed that mothers baby in her arms, in excruciating detail. But Sanderson! That. Was. COLD! Also, you go, Aradel! Woooo!

I had similar thoughts. Odious things may be at work here.

Got my Weller Books copy in the mail today! Yeah, I read it, and am now anxiously awaiting midnight!

It's from the ultimate list, but I've wanted to know ever since I read it. Anyway, obviously, I did not go to bed and did some transcribing after all. Here's what I got. Me: Does being the donor of a Hemalurgic spike have any implications for your afterlife? Or how about the recipient? B: Um, that is actually going to depend on...okay, yes, it has implications for the afterlife. Yes. Yes. Me: Okay, so are there a bunch of Scadrian souls wandering the afterlife with holes their personalities or memory or identity? Some with extra parts tacked on? B: So, it has implications, but they're not exactly the ones that you're assuming. Um, so, in the Cosmere, there is dead, and mostly dead, okay? And this has been shown several times. So, once someone dies, there is a period before they transition. Right? Sazed talks about this um, in, in Mistborn 3, um, and so, most of the implications are before transition. Does that makes sense? Post transition, you're going to have to ask the philosophers, and the theologians, who are the ones that, that talk about the..that. So there's an afterlife, and there's an after-afterlife. Not as many implications for the after-afterlife. Middle? Yes. Me: What exactly was Shai's Soulforging of Ashraven comparing itself to to see how well it sticks? His Spiritual aspect? His Cognitive aspect? B: It's more Spiritual. Much more Spiritual. Me: If Shai were to gain a Shardblade, then she gave it up, could she create an essence mark that represented the history where she still had the Blade? If she then applied the essence mark could she summon the Shardblade or a copy of it? B: So, um, doing that sort of thing, like rewriting herself even to be an Allomancer., or something like this....this is possible, but, in order to gain the Investiture she wants to have, she will have to input that much in Investiture, which her current magic system is not capable of doing. Okay? Alright, so, rewrite so that I have a Shardblade would require some sort of hacking of her magic system, which is currently impossible to her in her current situation. Me: So, if she had had a shardblade and gave it up, she could not rewrite herself to have that back without more input? B: Um, she could....Yes, exactly. Now rewriting, yes, that would be a lot easier than just rewriting herself so that she had a Shardblade. Me: That's what I was asking. B: Yeah, but what you're asking about would be much easier and that probably is within her power, but what that would do is, yeah, that's totally within her power. It would create some weird implications where she's summoning it, and someone else summons it back from her, cause the Shardblade thinks it's held by two people. Me: So it wouldn't be a copy, it would be the same blade. B: Yes. Mmm hmm. So that's it. We got there rather late, and only got the tail end of the reading, so I'm glad I'll get to read the transcript eventually. And because we got there so late, we didn't get our turn until near the end, but it was fun meeting and chatting with so many other fans. Last of all, I just want to say that every time I meet him (this is my third signing so far), I am so impressed by what a classy guy he is. Even when he's tired, he's so congenial, and not only doesn't seem to mind answering similar questions over and over, but genuinely loves chatting with each of his fans. I know this sounds totally fangirlish, but he is just. so. cool.

I mentioned this is another thread, but I am pretty positive that David was granted epic powers, he just doesn't realize it, because he didn't do the usual "rending" that normally follows obtaining Epicness. Megan faced her fire fear, risking death (even if she had a backup plan, she still knew she could die), and was freed from the corrupting influence of her powers, but she retained the powers themselves. She regenerated, and could still make dimensional illusions. When David was being Epic-ized, he looked at the water and decided that he would drown himself (arguably his biggest fear at the time, and certainly he had had more than one near death experience in the water) rather than go on a killing rampage. Then he rejects Calamity tempting him, and assumes that he didn't get any power. I think he just rejected the corruption. He has the powers, he just doesn't know what they are. And he's a High Epic, because he has two miraculous escapes fromc ertain death between there and the end of the book. First, on page 392, during his confrontation with Obliteration. There is a burst of heat so powerful it overwhelms the forcefield. Half of David is vaporized. A fraction of a moment later, he's regenerated. He never thinks about it again. Probably busy being overwhelmed, and if he put any thought into it, he'd just write it off as having imagined the forcefield failing or something. Certainly, as the fight continues, the force field fails more and more, and he is left with several injuries. But none of them are mortal, and like Megan, it's not unreasonable to assume that his protective/regenerative powers are only triggered as a final protection against death. Then, on page 410, when Phaedrus tries to crush him with a force field, the way he killed Val, David magically teleports outside fo the field without seeming to move (or maybe he teleported the forcefield away from himself?), much the same way that Sims teleport out of their beds when they're blocked in on all sides and the bed catches fire....not that I would know anything about that. Anyway, right as that happens, Megan is regenerating, so it's put down to her interference. On the next page, Prof tries again, and the forcfield magically teleports itself to surround Prof. David credits Megan, and while she is supposed to be capable of greater feats right after she regenerates, I don't think she was there in time for the first save. Pretty sure it was David. He's just an unknowing epic.

I also got the feeling that she was reffering to the surgery. Epics can "gift" their powers with machinery. Regarding David, am I the only one who thinks he DID get his epic powers? He's a high epic, but he doesn't realize it because he didn't do the usual rampage. Right when thee powers should have taken hold, while trying to resist, he looked at the water (which had nearly killed him multiple times over the course of the book, and was most certainly his weakness) and decided he didn't fear it, he would rather drown himself than go on a "rending." Boom, fear faced and negated, and without that initial rampage, he doesn't recognize his new abilities. Except that later, twice, he miraculously cheats death. First, when confronting Obliteration, he notes that the forcefield momentarily fails, and half of his body is vaporized. And then it's back, regeenrated a fraction of a moment later. It's never mentioned again. The force field continues to break down, leaving him injured, but not mortally so, so if his power is regenerative like Megan's, it wouldn't activate. Later, Prof tries to crush him with a forcefield, has him trapped, compresses it, and magically, the shrunken field is somehow outside of David, as though he teleported himself out. Megan is in the process of regenerating, so he likely puts it down to her influence, but my money says David has epic powers.

Yeah. I'm pretty weak. But I didn't get back home until nearly 5:00am, and then I had to take care of two little boys today on pretty much no sleep. And Firefight beckoned.... That was me! In theory, I have it recorded, but I don't think I can transcribe tonight. Maybe. I should have it up by tomorrow.

Peter just tweeted our picture! Edit: Well, I thought he did, but I can't find it. Maybe it will show up later. Anyway, we got codes! Edit Again: Ha! It's up now!

Good point. And there's no way we'll make it by 6:00. Boooo.

Very last minute, but DH and I are road tripping down there right now! Not sure if we'll quite make it in time for the reading, though, as the weather has been spotty. Anyone else?

Well I, for one, would hesitate before using it as a shard-toothpick.

If you're looking for a cheaper way to get Shadows for Silence, Dangerous Women appears to have been split into paperback releases - found part 3 (the part with Brandon's story) at B&N a couple of days ago for $7.99. Also, When I asked Brandon on facebook a couple of weeks or so back, he said that Shadows would eventually be released by itself, but they have to wait for their anthology contract to run out, and he wasn't sure how long that was. At least 18 months.

Yeah, there probably should be an act in that last sentence. He didn't do a reading, though; as far as I know, he never does at the Idaho Falls B&N, but I think that's the store's decision rather than his.

We were at the very end of the line, but it was so much fun! I love what a good sport Brandon is about staying until his fans are done, even though it was two hours past the official "end" of the event. Also, his kids are adorable. Anyway, we got three questions. This isn't quite verbatim, but I did my best. Q - Were there Cadmium/Bendalloy and possibly Chromium/Nicrosil mistings in the Final Empire? If yes, were the mists Snapping those too? A - Um, yes, there were, but since the mists were trying to create a pattern to be a sign, and people didn't know all the metals, they (the mists) had to use substitutions. They were acting the way we've seen other cognitive shadows, who are deceased. Q - Since Horneaters don't really go for Vorin dresses, what would your average Horneater guy and girl wear? Anything special to differentiate a Nuatoma and their retinue? A - I'm going to have to RAFO that. We're actually working on the sketches for those, and until they're finalized, I don't want to say anything to canonize them. But we will get you that information. Q - How do Shallan's memory blinks work? When she takes a memory, is it of what she sees in the instant before her eyes close, or is it while they're closed? A - It is what she sees right as they're closing. Nothing cosmere-shattering, but there you go.

My husband and I are attending this too, assuming the weather isn't too bad. I guess I should make up my mind what I want to ask him.

How about stickrolled? Is that okay? And what better way to destroy all "evil" in hearing range than to belt out a little Rick Stick Astley? Surely it would be at least as effective as his usual method engage all bystanders in a fight to the death.

When food takes on an entirely new dimension. Everytime you eat chicken, you think "Mmm, exotic chicken from Shinovar!" You figure you could live with the Vorin gender food system, because you're the one with the sweet tooth, and your husband prefers spicy things. You eat jam and wonder what it says about your personality. You've eaten crab meat and though "This chull is pretty good!" You've made choutas and baywraps. You eat Asian food with MaiPon sticks. You eat your morning oatmeal and wonder why you have soulcast food for breakfast all the time. Te stew you're having for dinner isn't crunchy, because the other bridgemen won't let Rock put in any horns or shells. Drinking juice makes you feel ostentatious, even if it does need ice. You stick to the orange koolaid, because you don't want to get drunk. Well, maybe just a cup of the blue....

Now I have this mental image of the house from UP, with the balloons replaced by bridge four.

I've spent the last few days studying these new revelations, for they contain a point of concern, in the fifth paragraph: I am a stick? Those four words have caused me to question the basic tenants of the doctrine of the stick. I'm having a crisis of faith! Someone enlighten me!