natc Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 Still, to go from civilization having been annihilated by the end of the world to light bulbs and automobiles in 300 years . . . if Elendel Basin wasn't so fertile that food resources were basically never a concern, on top of all the knowledge from the Words of Founding, I'm not sure it would've happened quite this fast. They're more advanced than even Roshar is after thousands of years since the last Desolation. It would've happened no matter what, but this seems a lot sooner than would've been possible without Sazed's help. I think Tellingdwar's point was that Sazed is learning the hard way that progress is not better than stagnation in all aspect. I believe Brandon does actually realize this. I recall a WoB saying that the most similar intent to Cultivation is Ruin. We're seeing exactly that here. As progress is being made in the heart of civilization, the rest of the more dated world is abandoned to rot because they only get in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 I will have to maintain my disagreement. 300 years is not such a short period. In fact, it matches what we see in Western Europe and the Colonies/States - if The Alloy of Law is the rough equivalent of the 1920s, then the Final Empire should be comparable to late 16th or early 17th century. Which it is. Brandon has referred to it as a kind of late Renaissance, which matches. This is not the most coherent argument I've put together, but I think I get the point across... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted October 1, 2015 Report Share Posted October 1, 2015 I don't believe the world ended in the 17th century and had to be rebuilt by a population small enough to barely fill out a town or two into a sprawling metropolis in 300 years either, but I'm not really the social sciences type, so meh. The entire geography changes, the plants are completely different, no Mist everywhere, no other people to trade with to speak of, and all that probably kept them alive was some caves full of stuff, impossibly fertile land all over the region, and a stack of books penned by God with information on almost everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) On a rather different note, more and more I am agreeing with Wax that Harms was a fool. Stalling for backup or evacuation is one of the most useful powers you can ask for in a firefight. Marasi has saved lives twice with it now. It's not directly comparable to bendalloy in application, because while it is suicidal to use it on just yourself, the point of cadmium bubble having a superior effective radius is almost certainly intended to be used to drag as many people into the effects with you as possible, unlike bendalloy where a smaller isolated area of effect is preferred when trying to fight large groups. Edited October 2, 2015 by natc 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witborn Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 I just realized this chapter reminded me of Heroes season 1 with Sylar. "Save the over-exuberant gold compounder, save the world." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 (edited) His first discovery was a small cache of bottles in the cabinet under the bathroom washbasin. Various forms of alcohol, the harder stuff, each a little gone. All save one, which was empty. Wayne gave it a sniff. Port. Not surprising, he thought. “But then some workers at the jeweler took her out, and she let herself drink. She liked that. Awakened memories of sneaked drinks as a youth. She wanted more, so she bought a whole mess of different kinds of spirits to try them all out. She liked port best, by the way.” “Makes sense,” Wax said. Does anyone have an idea why port in particular would be favorable to someone like Idashwy? All I could think of is that the higher sugar content of port wine might help Steelrunners feel more normal while storing speed. Also, some types of port are stored in steel tanks after fermentation, but that seems like a stretch. From the way Wax and Wayne discuss Idashwy's body they are placing her time of death before the killings :“The killer used a spike to steal Idashwy’s Feruchemical talent, then employed that ability to kill Lord Winsting and his guests." However, From chapter 1 " Aren’t you frightened, Winsting?”... He didn’t recognize her. Slender, with short golden hair and a doe-eyed expression, she was uncommonly tall. As someone else stated that her body was not digested, therefore, she had to commit the killings (or at least some of them, perhaps she thought she was exacting revenge for her brother's death and unwittingly provided someone with information about her abilities) and that someone, broke into her home and Spiked her. Well, we're very near the book release, so I suppose there's little point in adding to the speculations now, but I'll still do so anyway because what the heck. I believe Idashwy was killed before the massacre, and that the golden-haired girl was another woman with Terris blood who is working with Edwarn, the Set, and "Tan". Note that blonde females are not that rare in the story: Steris, Sophi Tarcsel, and that one constable who called Wax "Dawnshot" are all blondes, so the hair color may just be a red herring. Here's what I think happened: "Tan" (or whoever that creature is; might be a kandra) was tasked by the Set to hunt down Idashwy and collect her power for their little project, which is to give one of their members multiple Allomantic and Feruchemical powers through Hemalurgy. This member of the Set, it turns out, is a female of both Terris and Noble descent, one who is still relatively young and, unlike her brother, was successfully brainwashed by her uncle into embracing the Set's philosophy. I think Telsin Ladrian will become a villain. Now I will happily wait to see each of those speculations proven wrong. Edited October 5, 2015 by skaa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneWalker Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Perhaps the epigraphs are different from the Words of Founding and Saze just left both. Yes, I believe they are different. The epigraphs are the letter to Spook that Sazed includes with the words of founding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 @skaa Don't know much about alcohol since I can't drink, but does there need to be a deeper reason for her to like port in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 @skaa Don't know much about alcohol since I can't drink, but does there need to be a deeper reason for her to like port in the first place? Well, it was apparently noteworthy enough to be mentioned twice in the same chapter, so I just thought it would be cool if there was a deeper meaning behind it. That's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tellingdwar Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 From the Wikipedia page: "Port wine is typically richer, sweeter, heavier, and possesses a higher alcohol content than unfortified wines." Super sweet and gets you drunk fast? Sounds like something someone new to drinking would like. Don't think there's anything deeper here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymyth Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 From the Wikipedia page: "Port wine is typically richer, sweeter, heavier, and possesses a higher alcohol content than unfortified wines." Super sweet and gets you drunk fast? Sounds like something someone new to drinking would like. Don't think there's anything deeper here. Yep. It's super-sweet, like mead. Mead is delicious. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGen Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Super-sweet doesn't get you drunk fast so much as more sugar ferments into more alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Wayne is also Wayne enough to mention irrelevant details that he has discovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Wayne is also Wayne enough to mention irrelevant details that he has discovered. This is true. I read the book already. I won't say which things I got wrong/right, but I will say that I enjoyed thinking them up anyway. The great thing about making wild speculations in fantasy discussions is that it's tons of fun all on its own; and even more so when you get a few things right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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