soulcastJam

Sanderson's theology contains a historical figure who is a benevolent monarch. He gives a speech to his people when he is older, talking about the problems that come from having an unrighteous king, and also all the strain that is put on a king. He points out that if you could always have a good and moral king then it would be good to always have a king. But the negative impact of just one bad king is too great. So he sets up a system of elected judges with higher and lower judges (the higher can judge the lower, and a group of lower can judge the higher) that will go into effect after his death.

Being a body part isn't very useful. You can't see, hear, or even smell very well. All you can do is taste and feel rough vibrations. Plus, you can't move around very well. I suppose it might be useful to break into a morgue, if your cover corpse was dismembered. Take the place of a leg, wait until you're in the morgue, digest the whole corpse. But then, dismembering probably broke some bones. Better to just use a whole corpse... But then, can a kandra replicate a dead body? What if they just left out the heart so there was no blood flow? The body probably wouldn't function as a body, but that's kind of the point. They probably wouldn't be able to mimic decomposition well. This got a little dark... =)

Don't panic

I've seen several posts referencing the eyes as some unknown race of aliens with their own agenda. Personally, I've always thought that any being who keeps a consistent presence in/connection to cytospace (like when Spensa listens to the stars) is one of those eyes. And presumably every "civilized" race of aliens has any number of individuals logged into the cytospace at any given time. They may even designate some cyto-cops to take shifts looking for human cyto-activity. These would be the eyes specifically looking at Spensa.

She looks like she's taking a selfie!

Possible SA3 spoilers

This would be better with claws

I thought it was obvious from the beginning too, but that didn't make it less fun. =)

You don't actually need a parachute, since the things can hover. Just eject it and have a feedback loop with an altimeter and you can have it descend until it touches down relatively gently. This might never have been considered though, due to the toxic atmosphere of "die trying to save the ship or you're a coward". It's a perfect solution, but one that went against the culture.

There have been other occasions where mistborn speak so quietly only a tin-eye could hear them. And if you have tent cloth in the way, then there is at least a small inhibitor for Straff.

The problem with this theory is the assumption that it's possible to create an AI that can A) resurrect people, B ) find the souls of everyone who ever existed in spite of missing records, C) find the origin of the thought experiment, D) figure out if people long-dead supported it. It's so far a stretch that I have no fear of this basilisk at all. I think the world will end long before this is a possibility, and that fear should be placed in more rational, pressing monsters. Like the first person to floss in an open-plan office.

Some thoughts on tapping speed for a full feruchemist. How does increased/decreased speed work? Do the electrons in your nerves move quicker/slower? Does your reference to time change? Do you perceive time at the same speed and react faster, or does it feel like relativity where you pass more time than those around you? I was rereading WOA and got to the part where Sazed is filling several metalminds, and I was thinking, isn't there a better way? He's feeble, numb, can't see well, etc for an extended period of time. Why not store up some speed, then rapidly fill your metalminds, so you only have to deal with this for a couple minutes? If your perception of time follows relativity, then this still feels like a long time filling your metalminds, but at least you aren't vulnerable to outside attacks (such as disease) for as long.

This is awesome!

Maybe Vivenna was more careful with the command she gave it. "Be a sword," to avoid any failure to interpret correctly.

I don't know... Becoming the leader of the most powerful nation on a sphere in contest between three shards. I don't see how she could do anything bigger than accumulate power for this fight.

Really want to multiple upvote. This is brilliant!

Wait... Could you resurrect someone then? Let's say you stamp someone, they die, then you remove the stamp the next day. Hello life insurance fraud.

woah, that's an interesting idea

I am re-listening to WoK again, because, why not. I was wondering if the sun in shadesmar is actually the solar system's sun, or if it is something different. Everything else in shadesmar has a very different aspect than in the real world. So what is the light source really? And why do clouds streak towards it? Any thoughts?

Welcome to forums. Ignore anyone who tells you to beware of cookies.

I have met a couple from an arranged marriage. They look at western style marriage and the incredibly high divorce rate and say, "clearly that idea isn't working so well." I'm pretty sure our western sensibilities have become skewed. An objective observer would probably agree that arranged marriages are generally more successful, although I guess that depends on your definition of success. Arranged marriages often work because of the expectation of making it work. And free-will marriages often don't work because of the focus on individual freedom. Personally I like a blend of the two: freedom to choose my spouse, but the expectation to just make it work no matter what (almost). "Choose your love, love your choice" and all that. I think current western society has too much focus on passion and personal fulfillment. As to Brandon's take on romance, I think he has a different approach than most writers. I find it more realistic. That's probably because I think it's realistic to not fully understand other people's romantic choices. We all want to understand the psychology behind these things, especially when it's the viewpoint character, but it's also realistic not to understand our own personal psychology. Anyway, his romances work for me.

Friends, not fans. Hallows, not horcruxes.

Yes, but would he want to hang out with you? One of the points is that Adolin is the most likely to accept people like us readers as a friend.

Bahahahahahaha

I agree that Adolin isn't an incredibly exciting character to read about (at least compared to some of the others in SA), although I personally have never found him boring. He's more like a refreshing dose of optimism. That being said, I think that of all the characters in SA he would be the best one to be friends with. Sure, there is glamour to the other characters that he doesn't have (although he has far more of that than anyone I know IRL). I admit that he isn't much of an intellectual, so he isn't great for deep thinking conversations, but he is really fun to be around and is nice to just about everyone. Let's look at some of the other characters in terms of how they would stack up as a friend. And please, remember that friendship is a two-way street. Just because we think someone is cool or interesting doesn't mean we would ever mesh in real friendship. Dalinar - Way too busy to spend any time with you. Also, way too intimidating to actually be his friend. Jasnah - Does she have any friends? Shallan - You could be good friends with one of her personalities, but it probably would be difficult to get along with all of them. (Hmmm... Shockingly, the only one to achieve that is Adolin...) Renarin - A genuinely nice guy, but he doesn't talk much. He would probably make a really good friend if you put in enough effort to get him to open up. Kaladin - A pretty close second. He genuinely cares about people. He also both shines (and suffers) when things get really bad so he's nice to have around when the world turns against you. But he doesn't relax very often. Being his friend is intense. Szeth - Ummmm... nevermind. I'll just walk away... Stick - Cool, but only has one thing on his mind. Lift - Never stays put, never lets you get a word in edgewise, always steals your food, really afraid of commitment, but definitely Awesome.