I'm reading The Stormlight Archive for the first time

[Wandering Shade]

5k words! Nice job.

And yeah, you're supposed to be wondering about those things. Why the Parshendi ordered Gavilar's assassination and why Kaladin wasn't injured. The book does jump around quite a bit, but as it goes on you get consecutive perspective chapters more often, so you can look forward to that.

[Amira]

Chapter 7

I feel like not much happened in this chapter. Shallan drew some pictures and talked to an ardent. I expected Jasnah to catch Shallan in the act and maybe rip her picture, but that didn't happen. I still don't see where this can possibly go except Jasnah getting more and more pissed.

[Anomander Rake]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:44 PM, Amira said:

Kaladin becomes a bridgeman. I'm really waiting to see what happens with that spren, now we know her name, Syl. I'm curious to see what happens next with the bridgemen, although this book seems to jump between different situations every chapter instead of some kind of plot developing within a certain situation. I can only assume this is because things are still ramping up?

You mentioned thrones, think of it like how we follow Ned and Dany and Tyrion in the first book, one goes south, one east, and one north; everyones got their own jobs but the main story thread is there.  Its that, except in Brandon's case we get our reunions a lot sooner XD

the way things tie together starts to become clearer soon.  also worth remembering that Thrones is earth analogous and Stormlight is not - Brado's gotta spend a good chunk of time introducing Roshar - which while wonderful in its own right, is unhelpful to plot development

Edited April 9, 2022 by Anomander Rake

[Amira]

That's cool, because right now I can't imagine how Kaladin's and Shallan's plotlines could come together.

Anyway, chapter 8.

I was a little disappointed to get another Shallan chapter as I was hoping to get back to Kaladin, but I was kinda impressed that Shallan actually managed to accomplish her goal of getting Jasnah to take her on. Of course, Jasnah might have a different motive than what she's revealed so far. I wonder if at some point Shallan will start feeling guilty about the plan of stealing Jasnah's soulcaster, since she's not a fan of cheating and such in general. I'm curious to hear more about Shallan's Memory magic. She seems not to consider it anything special and I wonder if it's because she's not very worldly, or if it's actually just a normal skill that people on Roshar sometimes have, and they don't even think of it as magical? I mean, Kaladin seems to have no idea he's got something magical going on with him, dodging arrows and all that. It's like he's too preoccupied with all the people dying around him that he wasn't able to save.

 

Chapter 9

Nice, back to Kaladin. Syl left, so that disproves the theory that she was the one protecting him. I hope Kaladin will try and do something to change his situation (rather than something external happening to him).

[Morningtide]

I love hearing your experience! It's been so long since I read Way of Kings for the first time - I think it's been over 2 years - so it's cool to see it again

[Amira]

On 4/12/2022 at 10:37 PM, Morningtide said:

I love hearing your experience! It's been so long since I read Way of Kings for the first time - I think it's been over 2 years - so it's cool to see it again

Thank you!

Chapter 10

Flashback to Kaladin's childhood. Nice to finally find out who Tien was! It feels almost like the start of another plotline, and I'm curious to see how Kaladin ends up becoming a soldier despite his father trying to make him a surgeon. My theory is that Kaladin's surgery knowledge will come in handy at some point

 

Hm, my rep says I'm an Obligator now; wonder what that is...

Edited April 16, 2022 by Amira

[CameronUluvara]

1 hour ago, Amira said:

Hm, my rep says I'm an Obligator now; wonder what that is...

Evil priest warrior tax collectors from Mistborn.

Have you been reading the Death Rattles at the beginning of every chapter? What do you think of those?

[Treamayne]

On 3/28/2022 at 6:08 PM, Amira said:

Aw, thank you!

Chapter 4

Back to Kaladin, yay! So really now it seems like Cenn's chapter was just a third prologue disguised as chapter 1, and we're going to alternate between Kaladin and Shallan,

<Snip>

Speaking of powers, what happened to those supposed powers of Kaladin's that Cenn noticed??

I didn't see anybody mention this when scanning through the thread - but on the "Part X" page (Part 1-5) you should see a list of names. Those are the Viewpoint characters for that Part. When you experience something different (e.g. Cenn's viewpoint) you know not to expect them to develop into a main character (cause "Cenn" wasn't in the list of Part 1 viewpoint characters):

Spoiler

From my eBook version of TWoK

 

At the start of every chapter, you should also see some awesome artwork. The center image is specific to the character whose viewpoint that chapter follows. So, as you go along, if you pay attention to those things it can help give you an idea of what to expect.

 

2 hours ago, Amira said:

Thank you!

Hm, my rep says I'm an Obligator now; wonder what that is...

All of the various "titles" are from various Sanderson books, in this case Mistborn (Era 1) - The Final Empire, Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages.

Edited April 17, 2022 by Treamayne
SPAG/Formatting

[Amira]

13 hours ago, CameronUluvara said:

Evil priest warrior tax collectors from Mistborn.

That sounds vaguely familiar. I'll reread Mistborn after Stormlight.

 

13 hours ago, CameronUluvara said:

Have you been reading the Death Rattles at the beginning of every chapter? What do you think of those?

I wasn't sure what to make of those. It seemed like mostly something to help create the atmosphere of war and people dying. I wonder why the ardents are collecting them, and if they have a purpose in mind (are they trying to find out what happens after death, thinking that people who are dying would be able to tell them?)

 

12 hours ago, Treamayne said:

I didn't see anybody mention this when scanning through the thread - but on the "Part X" page (Part 1-5) you should see a list of names. Those are the Viewpoint characters for that Part. When you experience something different (e.g. Cenn's viewpoint) you know not to expect them to develop into a main character (cause "Cenn" wasn't in the list of Part 1 viewpoint characters):

  Hide contents

From my eBook version of TWoK

 

 

Oh dang! I didn't notice that, probably because at the time I saw that page, I had no idea who Kaladin and Shallan were, and with kindle I don't tend to flip back usually.

Thanks for pointing this out!

Edited April 17, 2022 by Amira

[Bnaya]

On 11.4.2022 at 1:37 AM, Amira said:

That's cool, because right now I can't imagine how Kaladin's and Shallan's plotlines could come together

Minor spoiler, just about the timeline and expectations

Spoiler

Afraid they will come together only in the second book, Words of Radiance, but they will be more connected to each other as the book goes on.

 

[Amira]

Chapter 11, last chapter of part 1.

That was a beautiful chapter. I wasn't surprised that Syl saved him and restored his fighting spirit, but nonetheless it was very satisfying to read Kaladin deciding to fight again. Kinda weird how he feels completely helpless until he decides he's not, and then he finds there's actually stuff he can do (like threaten and bribe Gaz). I remember something similar happening in Name of the Wind, haha. Looking forward to Kaladin starting to be more active and seeing what his plan is, but now we have three interludes, and one of the names listed was Szeth, and I am very much looking forward to reading about him again.

 

Had a really crappy week, didn't get to read, just when it's getting interesting, ah well.

I really liked the first interlude. Some guys are looking for Hoid, so of course I'm interested. Worldbuilding was really cool, I like the Purelakers. Hope we hear more about why these people are looking for Hoid. Also, I pretty much know nothing about Hoid except that he has white hair and seems to show up in lots of different books?

[Wandering Shade]

I mean, that's just about all you need to know. But don't worry, you'll meet him before the end of the book.

Yeah, the Purelake is awesome and Ishikk is great. Those people looking for Hoid are very interesting too, since all of them have also shown up in different books.

[Amira]

30 minutes ago, Wandering Shade said:

Those people looking for Hoid are very interesting too, since all of them have also shown up in different books.

Ooh, now I'm even more interested!

[+Invocation]

3 hours ago, Amira said:

I like the Purelakers

Agreed, if I ended up on Roshar at all, I'd like to live in the Purelake.

[Wandering Shade]

2 hours ago, Amira said:

Ooh, now I'm even more interested!

Yeah when I first learned that I became uber interested. And then I realized I actually knew one of those characters but somehow didn't recognize him lol

[Treamayne]

14 hours ago, Amira said:

Ooh, now I'm even more interested!

 

11 hours ago, Wandering Shade said:

Yeah when I first learned that I became uber interested. And then I realized I actually knew one of those characters but somehow didn't recognize him lol

Since you are avoiding spoilers, I will spoiler tag this and you can decide to look or not:

You may recognize one or more of these foreigners if you have already read:

Spoiler

One appeared in Elantris

One appeared in Mistborn Era 1

One appeared in White Sand (Prose and Graphic Novel)

Look for:

Spoiler

Word patterns or nouns/verbs that don't fit the setting(s)

Cultural references that don't quite fit - i.e. Makabaki is a common Rosharan nationality known for (Earth Analog) a dark African skin tone 

 

I only guessed right on 1 of 3 on my own, and then it was my second read through (probably because it was right before Words of Radiance released and I had just re-read all the cosmere books out at that time in anticipation of the release)

Edited April 25, 2022 by Treamayne
SPAG

[IcaroRibeiro]

Loved to read your reactions, thank you so much for sharing it

[Amira]

On 4/25/2022 at 11:20 AM, Treamayne said:

You may recognize one or more of these foreigners if you have already read:

  Reveal hidden contents

One appeared in Elantris

One appeared in Mistborn Era 1

One appeared in White Sand (Prose and Graphic Novel)

Look for:

  Reveal hidden contents

Word patterns or nouns/verbs that don't fit the setting(s)

Cultural references that don't quite fit - i.e. Makabaki is a common Rosharan nationality known for (Earth Analog) a dark African skin tone 

 

 

I read about 70% of the first Mistborn book a while back. Apart from that, The Way of Kings is my first cosmere book.

 

On 4/25/2022 at 1:00 PM, IcaroRibeiro said:

Loved to read your reactions, thank you so much for sharing it

You're welcome! Thank you all for following along!

 

Second interlude.

Shallan's brother is creepy! I find it unsettling that he likes to kill animals. Reminds me of Ender's brother in Ender's Game. I felt like this interlude was not so much a recounting of events, but rather hinting at events. The moment something happened, the interlude ended!

 

Third interlude

Szeth is the most interesting character in this book so far. I really wish he had more chapters. My favorite part was that section about how he speaks like a lighteyes and knows way more than his masters. As I mentioned before, about Kaladin, I enjoy characters who go from a high social standing (or at least from being very worldly) to a low social standing, partly because I went though something similar in my own life and I identify with them (for me it happened in a number of ways, one example being that when I was a kid my family went from upper middle class to lower middle class), partly because I want to see how they get themselves out of the mud whenever they do figure their way around, which usually happens in these stories. (I hope I'm making any sense.) Anyway, I wonder what happened to Szeth to make him Truthless (is that the term that refers to him being bound by the Oathstone?).

Also, I realized the first part is called "Above Silence" and I have no idea why, even though I read all of it. Can anyone clue me in?

[Wandering Shade]

14 minutes ago, Amira said:

Also, I realized the first part is called "Above Silence" and I have no idea why, even though I read all of it. Can anyone clue me in?

The names of the different parts in each book form a ketek, a symmetrical poem.
I believe the one for TWoK is "Above silence, the illuminating storms   dying storms   illuminate the silence above."
Each part doesn't really align with what happens during that part of the book, though the keteks do relate to what's happening in the book over all.

[CameronUluvara]

There’s a page in the back that talks about keteks, and that one in particular, without spoilers if you’re interested. 

[Amira]

Hey guys, I did not abandon the book, I just have to help a friend with something for three weeks and have zero time to read.

Looks like I'm a babsk now. Wonder what that is...

Edited May 6, 2022 by Amira

[Treamayne]

3 hours ago, Amira said:

Looks like I'm a Babsk now. Wonder what that is...

You'll get that info in a future interlude in this book

Edited May 7, 2022 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Amira]

Chapter 12

Let's start with the fact that we met Wit. I know Wit is Hoid's other name, but this guy had black hair instead of white. My suspicion is that it is him and he dyed his hair, especially with that one sentence about him knowing things he shouldn't.

Dalinar and Adolin are listed as two POV characters for part 2, and this chapter alternated between both of them, which was kind of interesting. I wonder where Dalinar's visions are coming from. At first I thought 'unite them' meant to unite the Alethi and Parshendi... it might still be true and he's just misinterpreting.

[PurpurPhönix]

Glad to have you reading again! it's been fun seeing the book through a first timer's eyes

[Amira]

On 5/16/2022 at 11:12 PM, PurpurPhönix said:

Glad to have you reading again! it's been fun seeing the book through a first timer's eyes

Thanks!

Chapter 13:

Honestly, I felt bad for the chasmfiend, it was minding its own business and the humans just had to come and kill it...

Great battle descriptions, and the shardblades are creepy but cool.

I feel like Adolin should try to become the great man that he wants his father to be instead of obsessing over whether or not his father is doing a good job of it.

 

Chapter 14

Yay, back to Kaladin! Very realistic how his attempts to get the men to train failed, and cool that he found something to do anyway. We'll see if it was productive or not. Syl changing is interesting, perhaps some kind of magical bond is forming between her and Kaladin? Can't wait for the next Kaladin chapter. I wonder when we'll finally find out about Kaladin's magic. I assume that the same thing that protects him against arrows gave him the extra stamina.

 

Chapter 15

I think we all approve of Wit picking on Sadeas. We finally find out who came up with that horrid bridge idea. I tend to side with Adolin; Sadeas seems like a shady fellow; I wouldn't trust him. My guess is that Elhokar's worries aren't just paranoia, and someone actually cut his saddle. It's cool that they talked about Gavilar's message that Szeth wrote for him. I'm very curious about that.

 

Chapter 16, back to Kaladin's childhood.

I'm not sure if Laral was being a jerk or trying to help Kal discover the career he really wants. Very interesting to find out that if a darkeyes kills a shardbearer and takes his Blade he becomes a lighteyes. My theory is that Kaldin will achieve this at the end of the book.