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Hey, look at this ultra dead forum here. I feel a little bad just making a post about my feelings when the last post that wasn't a response to necromancy was 3 years ago, but I don't care, because my life is a TRAGEDY! Jokes aside I really liked this book, and I'm glad I read it. I had kept hearing people talk about it from time to time, and I was eventually convinced to read it after hearing that it was essentially an ex-cosmere book after I had made a joke about The Reckoners secretly being a cosmere book. Anyways, moving onto my actual thoughts, I really really like rithmatism as a magic system. I'm pretty good at math and geometry is one of my stronger math areas, so a geometry math system just makes me happy, ignoring the fact I have abhorrent handwriting and would make a terrible rithmatist. I also really like the springworks technology. Clockwork machinery and mechanical systems are some of my favorite aesthetics ever, so the fact that there are clockwork creations everywhere in this world of math magic is just the icing on top. The imagery is as impeccable as always. The scene where the wild chalklings crawl out of Harding's mouth is probably one of my favorite descriptions in the book, as eerie as it is. There isn't much that I can say about this book that I didn't like, but if I were to pick something, it would be the characters. Not that I think the characters were badly written or anything like that, but they didn't resonate with me as much as in other novels. All in all, I really like this book and it saddens me to think that a sequel is still a ways off. I know the sequel has been a topic of debate for some time now, and now I see what the outrage is about. I think between books like Elantris and Warbreaker, this is definitely the most cliffhangery of the endings. However, I did look around a bit and saw that Brandon said that he might work on Rithmatist 2 after Stormlight 5, which if that can be trusted is moderately soon, plus I can't really complain about him working on Stormlight 5 since I kind of want that more anyways... Uh, I hope you enjoyed my rant. I only wrote this because I saw other people writing their thoughts about other books in other forums. Anyways, I hope anyone reading this has a great day and whatnot.

So I was actually introduced to Brandon Sanderson through the Reckoners, so it had been a while since I had actually read it. Now that I've literally read the entire cosmere save for the prime novels, I decided that it would probably be nice to reread the Reckoners series to see how it feels now that I'm more familiar with Brandon's writing style. So I've finished my reread and I can't help but notice how similar some of the things in the Reckoners are to the Cosmere. Even though epic powers are a little too random to be an MoI, they still have some similarities. The connection to Calamity is a big one, the fiddling with connection feels very cosmerey to me and I can't help but think about how similar it is to spiritual connection. There's also the whole thing about taking the power for yourself and how the powers and weaknesses are so dependent on perception. Also Calamity is just a shard, Larcener is a terrible vessel and the intent has overtaken him. What intent does he have? No idea, but he is overflowing with shardic behavior. Now all that's left is for Kelsier to randomly show up in front of David and invite him into the ghost bloods, then we'll see him running a ship or something in shadesmar in Stormlight 8 or some crap like that. I hope you all found my joke rant entertaining, this has been brewing in the back of my mind since I finished rereading Calamity and I thought it was pretty funny.

So I was scrolling through the forums yesterday when I saw a topic discussing what the most useful twinborn combination would be in the modern day. After thinking about it I decided that F-Zinc would be my preferred Feruchemical power, and I realized that F-Zinc has been heavily underutilized. Mental speed is an amazing power for basically any situation, whether it be scholarship, combat, politics, sports, basically anything that takes a brain, which is most things. I imagine compounded zinc would have a similar effect of atium, not seeing the future, but being able to take in and calculate everything around you so fast that you can anticipate everything that's about to happen. Combined with rioting I think it could make for someone particularly threatening. I really want to see F-Zinc be utilized more in the future because it really is just an awesome power, and I can't stop thinking about the possibilities of compouned zinc.

I've been rereading Mistborn and some of the things that steel inquisitors do make me giggle. Specifically I remember thinking it was a little funny that they had a whole celebration after converting Marsh. Mind you they were dismembering people but I just thought a bunch of these monsters rejoicing like this was funny. I also think the fact that they have to sleep so much is a bit funny. Like one guy can return from slaughtering a whole family, but then he has to go to bed because he sweepy. Uh please don't think I'm psychotic or something I just saw a bit of humor in how unapologetically evil these guys are.

BIG SECRET HISTORY SPOILERS AND BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE COSMERE!!!! (but I think the RoW section is still the best place for it) I didn't know what to title this, because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone scrolling past, but the real title is, "Why is everyone hating on Kelsier?" I guess I am still sorting out my feelings and recovering from the shock of discovering that Kelsier was Thaidakar weeks after reading it, so basically I don't know what I think. However, I don't think that Kelsier is that bad of a person. I think he was at his worst during book 1, and only got better throughout that book, and through SH. All the shardcast people keep saying how much they hate Kelsier, or they like him as a character, but think he could easily be the main villain of the Cosmere. I love shardcast, I disagree with them on this point. I don't think that the Ghostbloods are doing good things. Killing people isn't good, but in Cosmere books killing lots of people doesn't make them a villain (Dalinar, Vin, to name a few). Starting (or joining) the Ghostbloods feels like a very Kelsier thing to do, but I feel like he is not a bad person. Who saved Scadrial from the Ire and Ruin? Who saved the southern Scadrians after Sazed totally screwed them over? Kelsier. I don't know. What do you guys think? Is Kell good or bad, especially considering that he is freaking Thaidakar? Maybe you guys can help me sort out my thoughts and feelings.

I’m on page 350 and having a reeeeaally hard time getting through it. I liked Way of Kings a lot, Words of Radiance was a Masterpiece, but.... the ShallanXAdolin crap is almost like a cheesy Disney Romance with Pattern as the cliche animal friend there to make things funny and awkward. Not impressed. Kaladin’s side of the story is good, Dalinar’s drags a little. I actually prefer Shallan when she’s NOT herself... which tells me I have a huge problem with her character. I feel like the only way I can get through it is skim over Shallan’s chapters. Anybody else of have this issue, or am I alone in the Cosmere?

...was right after Steelheart. Not in Firefight. Not in Calamity. Right after Steelheart, exemplified in Mitosis. Mitosis spoilers follow. Also a barely structured rant that few will be interested in. The people of Newcago are the oppressed peasant class to end all oppressed peasant classes. They labor day in and day out in factories making goods for their Epic overlords. A lot of them live underground in a place called the catacombs. THE CATACOMBS. However badly your neighborhood sucks, remember that you don't live in a place people call the steel catacombs. So yeah. Aside from the Morlocks that live short brutal lives in the steel sparkin' catacombs, the people on the surface have to live in fear of a random Epic stopping by and murdering them for the crime of being noticed. Or having their building being noticed if Steelheart decides to make a random example out of them. The ones on the surface might as well live underground because the sky is pitch black 24/7. They don't even see stars besides the big bloody bullet hole in the sky that is Calamity. There are a few living in a privileged upper class, that isn't very privileged when it comes to a slontze like Fortuity picking out his victims. A prince among cattle is still classed as cattle. Everyone in this city lives a squalid existence against a black sky and cold grey surroundings. There is no green in their lives. There is no sun. There is only the Epic behind you and the Epic in front of you, and your entire existence is trying not to be noticed between them. These are people who walk with their heads down because looking up gets you killed and there's nothing to look up to anyway. Bottom line? You'd have to fly out of the universe, hit the Cosmere, and head to Scadrial to find another group of people as downtrodden as these poor unfortunate slontzes. But then the Reckoners kill Steelheart. Suddenly the entire class hierarchy of this city comes crashing down around these blokes. Everything changes overnight--oh, and that phrase makes sense for the first time in most of the children's lives. The immortal was slain before them. The insurmountable was made achievable. They see the sun for the first time in a decade. They see their tyrants cast down low and forced to leave town. They see the brutal totalitarian enforcement division turned into a peacekeeping division. They see life as they've never seen it before. Then comes Mitosis. An Epic like any other. A man--sorry, men who cannot be killed. And he comes in making demands, threatening to start slaughtering them like so many Epics like him have done before. And the Reckoners, for all they've been able to accomplish, can't stop him. But what can the Reckoners do? Tell the Newcagoans how to stop him for themselves. Which they do. By singing. They line up by the steel river and sing the worst song in the history of songs, all across the city, melting a High Epic in his glory. The goal of the Reckoners was never just to kill Epics. It was to teach the common people to kill Epics. To be willing to kill Epics the moment the opportunity presents itself. Mitosis demonstrates that they succeeded, with the most unlikely, downtrodden bunch of common people you could possibly imagine. Firefight and Calamity are just icing on the cake. It's Mitosis that proves that the Reckoners could actually win. It's Mitosis that makes for the uplifting epilogue to their mission. It's Mitosis that showcases the Reckoner organization's greatest victory. Sorry for the rant. Someone dissed Mitosis and I felt the urge to vent.