I'm reading The Stormlight Archive for the first time

[alder24]

23 minutes ago, Yzar said:

Just to wrap up this discussion , I had my doubts due to this quote in ROW:

I think I know where the confusion is, RoW spoilers:

Spoiler

There was a year-long break between the events of OB and RoW, and Kaladin's encounters with Leshwi happened during that break, off-pages. No book nor novela shows us those battles.

 

[Amira]

Hey guys, if you're wondering where I vanished to, I have a lot on my plate at the moment. I hope I'll be able to get back to reading soon, but unfortunately I'm not sure exactly when :/

[Voidmaker he/him]

2 hours ago, Amira said:

Hey guys, if you're wondering where I vanished to, I have a lot on my plate at the moment. I hope I'll be able to get back to reading soon, but unfortunately I'm not sure exactly when :/

Take your time. We're happy to wait.

[Cash67 he/him]

We are on your schedule @Amira, not the other way around!

[Treamayne]

On 10/4/2023 at 8:38 AM, Amira said:

Hey guys, if you're wondering where I vanished to, I have a lot on my plate at the moment. I hope I'll be able to get back to reading soon, but unfortunately I'm not sure exactly when :/

Take your time and I hope things are gong well with your animation.

On 9/10/2023 at 6:43 PM, Amira said:

By the way, I finished Yumi.

I'm not sure if you are planning to do the group read thing with SP4, the way you did for previous Secret Projects, but I wanted to give you a heads up that there are significantly more references to Cosmere works you have not yet read. If you do read it, then I hope you will post a reaction post in the non-Spoiler section so we can get an idea of how the books reads to fans that have not yet "read everything."

Good luck and hope to see you back soon.  

 

[Trutharchivist he/him]

15 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Take your time and I hope things are gong well with your animation.

I'm not sure if you are planning to do the group read thing with SP4, the way you did for previous Secret Projects, but I wanted to give you a heads up that there are significantly more references to Cosmere works you have not yet read. If you do read it, then I hope you will post a reaction post in the non-Spoiler section so we can get an idea of how the books reads to fans that have not yet "read everything."

Good luck and hope to see you back soon.  

 

I can answer that: Amira quit our reading group, too, for the same reason.

I have no idea when she's going to read it. Anyway, I join all of you in supporting Amira - good luck dealing with things! Hope to see you again when you can!

[BinarySecond]

Please continue to make updating us a secondary concern

[Amira]

On 10/6/2023 at 9:15 PM, Treamayne said:

I'm not sure if you are planning to do the group read thing with SP4, the way you did for previous Secret Projects, but I wanted to give you a heads up that there are significantly more references to Cosmere works you have not yet read. If you do read it, then I hope you will post a reaction post in the non-Spoiler section so we can get an idea of how the books reads to fans that have not yet "read everything."

I'll make sure to let you know my thoughts on SP4 one way or another.

Anyway, SA3 chapter 31: Kaladin finally decides to leave the parshmen and report back to Dalinar. He tries to save the people stuck in the storm and... sorta gets a new power of holding the storm back? It was very cool, but seemed a bit convenient. Or maybe the windspren just wanted to help him because he's a windrunner so they feel an affinity toward him? Anyway, after in book 1 he got to ride the storm in his dream, it's really cool that he finally got to ride the storm irl. Though speaking of that dream, it turns out not to be one of the powers of windrunners. Do we ever get an explanation of how that happened? At this point I'm honestly not sure where this book (Oathbringer) is going - it seems like the characters are mostly trying to adjust to their new location and new circumstances and everything they have to deal with. But it's also kinda interesting, so I don't mind the disorientation. Does make it harder to come up with theories of what will happen next.

If you wanna hear what's been keeping me so busy lately, I'll put it in a spoiler box:

Spoiler

First and foremost, I started a new job. The commute is long, and I have no time and energy for anything on weekdays. As for weekends:
One weekend I went to an acro festival, which was a vacation I'd planned a long time ago. If you wanna see what I did there, here's a very short vid I made: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/io9V2pM1nXY
Another weekend I went to a writers conference to pitch to a literary agent in person and try and figure out why I've been querying for ten years without ever getting a single request. My pitch resulted in a request, so as instructed I followed up with a query... which has got me terrified that I'm back to square one XD
The next weekend I tried to catch up on chores, errands, sleep, and everything else... and I also got a new housemate.
This weekend I can finally breathe

 

[Treamayne]

On 10/21/2023 at 6:05 PM, Amira said:

If you wanna hear what's been keeping me so busy lately, I'll put it in a spoiler box:

  Hide contents

First and foremost, I started a new job. The commute is long, and I have no time and energy for anything on weekdays. As for weekends:
One weekend I went to an acro festival, which was a vacation I'd planned a long time ago. If you wanna see what I did there, here's a very short vid I made: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/io9V2pM1nXY
Another weekend I went to a writers conference to pitch to a literary agent in person and try and figure out why I've been querying for ten years without ever getting a single request. My pitch resulted in a request, so as instructed I followed up with a query... which has got me terrified that I'm back to square one XD
The next weekend I tried to catch up on chores, errands, sleep, and everything else... and I also got a new housemate.
This weekend I can finally breathe

 

Wow - congratulations on the job and the request!

Quote

Anyway, SA3 chapter 31: Kaladin finally decides to leave the parshmen and report back to Dalinar. He tries to save the people stuck in the storm and... sorta gets a new power of holding the storm back? 

Non-spoiler Spoiler

Spoiler

There is a reason - that reason is . . . foreshadowing.

Quote

At this point I'm honestly not sure where this book (Oathbringer) is going - it seems like the characters are mostly trying to adjust to their new location and new circumstances and everything they have to deal with. But it's also kinda interesting, so I don't mind the disorientation. Does make it harder to come up with theories of what will happen next.

That's okay. Some of the confusion should diffuse in Part 2. 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Elder]

On 10/21/2023 at 3:05 PM, Amira said:

I'll make sure to let you know my thoughts on SP4 one way or another.

Anyway, SA3 chapter 31: Kaladin finally decides to leave the parshmen and report back to Dalinar. He tries to save the people stuck in the storm and... sorta gets a new power of holding the storm back? It was very cool, but seemed a bit convenient. Or maybe the windspren just wanted to help him because he's a windrunner so they feel an affinity toward him? Anyway, after in book 1 he got to ride the storm in his dream, it's really cool that he finally got to ride the storm irl. Though speaking of that dream, it turns out not to be one of the powers of windrunners. Do we ever get an explanation of how that happened? At this point I'm honestly not sure where this book (Oathbringer) is going - it seems like the characters are mostly trying to adjust to their new location and new circumstances and everything they have to deal with. But it's also kinda interesting, so I don't mind the disorientation. Does make it harder to come up with theories of what will happen next.

If you wanna hear what's been keeping me so busy lately, I'll put it in a spoiler box:

  Reveal hidden contents

First and foremost, I started a new job. The commute is long, and I have no time and energy for anything on weekdays. As for weekends:
One weekend I went to an acro festival, which was a vacation I'd planned a long time ago. If you wanna see what I did there, here's a very short vid I made: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/io9V2pM1nXY
Another weekend I went to a writers conference to pitch to a literary agent in person and try and figure out why I've been querying for ten years without ever getting a single request. My pitch resulted in a request, so as instructed I followed up with a query... which has got me terrified that I'm back to square one XD
The next weekend I tried to catch up on chores, errands, sleep, and everything else... and I also got a new housemate.
This weekend I can finally breathe

 

My wife is almost exactly where you’re at in Oathbringer audiobook.  

[Amira]

On 10/21/2023 at 6:41 PM, Treamayne said:

Wow - congratulations on the job and the request!

Thank you!

On 10/25/2023 at 11:18 PM, Elder said:

My wife is almost exactly where you’re at in Oathbringer audiobook.

Cool! Even though with how slow I'm reading, I bet by now that's no longer the case

SA3 chapter 32: A short chapter about Shallan to end part 1. There was that one thing she said about the other Unmade "they will be normal to us, the way things always were" or something along those lines... What does this mean? I'm guessing one of them is the Thrill, but what might the others be? Hm... Anyway, the chapter ends with Jasnah returning, and everyone finally finds out she's alive! Except I have to wait for part 2 to see their reactions! Three interludes are next, and unfortunately Szeth isn't one of them

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, Amira said:

Three interludes are next, and unfortunately Szeth isn't one of them

Minor spoilers Re: Szeth (if you want)

Spoiler

• Hooray. . . He'll be a regular viewpoint character, rather than interludes only
• Boo. . . not until Part 4 of Oathbringer

1 hour ago, Amira said:

the other Unmade "they will be normal to us, the way things always were" or something along those lines... What does this mean?

You mean this quote: (Ch 32)

Spoiler

“So…”

“They’re out there, and always have been,” Shallan said. She felt exhausted, and her eyes were drooping in direct defiance of her insistence to Adolin that she was not that kind of tired.

“Surely we’d have discovered them by now.”

“I don’t know,” Shallan said. “They’ll … they’ll just be normal to us. The way things have always been.”

Nice deduction there, and you will get more information about this in this book.

[Amira]

Not much happens in the first interlude of Oathbringer, except we meet a man who is excited for times of change, and I think I'm a little like him. I like when a lot of revolutionary things are happening. Depending on how disastrous they are, of course.

[Elder]

On 11/5/2023 at 5:08 PM, Amira said:

Thank you!

Cool! Even though with how slow I'm reading, I bet by now that's no longer the case

SA3 chapter 32: A short chapter about Shallan to end part 1. There was that one thing she said about the other Unmade "they will be normal to us, the way things always were" or something along those lines... What does this mean? I'm guessing one of them is the Thrill, but what might the others be? Hm... Anyway, the chapter ends with Jasnah returning, and everyone finally finds out she's alive! Except I have to wait for part 2 to see their reactions! Three interludes are next, and unfortunately Szeth isn't one of them

As for the Unmade being normal to them, they’re probably associated with phenomena that people take for granted as being a part of the world they live in.  As Treamayne said, good deduction.   I can really only think of one other phenomenon off the top of my head that you’ve seen by this point.  I wonder if you’ll put it together before it’s explained….

[Amira]

On 11/8/2023 at 3:52 PM, Elder said:

I wonder if you’ll put it together before it’s explained….

I doubt it. I have no clue

SA3, interlude 2: we see the effects of the everstorm in yet another place, and it's nice to see Navani's translation of the Dawnchant is being useful. Now who is this patron they speak of? I'm going to guess... Taravangian.

[Treamayne]

Glad to see you back and hope everything is going will with you. You've started a trend, so now we have people doing similar read-blogs on Mistborn Eras 1 and 2 - which you can read and enjoy when/if you get to those stories again.

1 hour ago, Amira said:

SA3, interlude 2: we see the effects of the everstorm in yet another place, and it's nice to see Navani's translation of the Dawnchant is being useful. Now who is this patron they speak of? I'm going to guess... Taravangian.

Interesting theory - any reason why? Any thougths on the Alethi Romance Novels?

[Amira]

On 11/17/2023 at 10:22 PM, Treamayne said:

You've started a trend, so now we have people doing similar read-blogs on Mistborn Eras 1 and 2 - which you can read and enjoy when/if you get to those stories again.

OMG, this is so cool! I'm honored!

On 11/17/2023 at 10:22 PM, Treamayne said:

Interesting theory - any reason why? Any thougths on the Alethi Romance Novels?

IDK, Taravangian just seems like one who's looking for info no one's seen before.
I'm just glad I don't have to read those romance novels, haha.

SA3, interlude 3, Venli: Gosh, living with only those nasty rhythms seems difficult, almost like you'd have to be some variation of angry all the time. Eshonai is dead? I thought she was kind of a main character. I feel a little confused about the whole listener gods and forms of power. The listeners worked so hard and sacrificed so much to stop their gods from returning, and then one day they just decided to call them back? Did Eshonai not know that discovering stormform would bring them back? Did Venli know?

Edited November 30, 2023 by Amira

[Treamayne]

11 minutes ago, Amira said:

SA3, interlude 3, Venli: Gosh, living with only those nasty rhythms seems difficult, almost like you'd have to be some variation of angry all the time. Eshonai is dead? I thought she was kind of a main character. I feel a little confused about the whole listener gods and forms of power.

Yeah, Venli. . . 

Like Szeth, in WoK, you should get a Venli Interlude in each section - so more to come.

Quote

The listeners worked so hard and sacrificed so much to stop their gods from returning, and then one day they just decided to call them back? Did Eshonai not know that discovering stormform would bring them back? Did Venli know?

I don't know if you really want to know. Spoilers nested in less spoilers:

Spoiler

You will get more in on this in Rhythm of War, since that is the Venli/Eshonai Flashback book. Brandon even prepared us before RoW with this WoB:

Quote

12 Nov 2016

Brandon Sanderson

I've said that flashback characters (which are the ones I've announced as having "books" dedicated to them) can die before their book arrives.

Stormlight Three Update #5 (Nov. 19, 2016)

Spoiler

Eshonai - no

Venli - Yes(ish)

 

 

[Amira]

SA3, chapter 33, Shallan: Okay, if in the interlude I felt like things weren't clear and seemingly contradictory, then this chapter was way worse. I felt like it was written in a hurry and not edited properly. You all are welcome to disagree, but so much here didn't work for me. The idea that Shallan would continue to hide away in her room and think about the Midnight Mother instead of going right away to talk to Jasnah and get answers simply didn't convince me. Even when Shallan did finally ask Jasnah how she survived, I felt like the answer was too vague. When Shallan last saw her, she thought she was seeing a dead body. How did Jasnah go into Shadesmar in that condition? It also didn't seem realistic the way Jasnah just swooped in and tried to be in control of everyone and everything again. It seemed a bit childish of her, in fact. Even if you're the boss, if you've been out of the office for a while during an unfortunate time when your employees had to completely transform the business, you should at least start by asking them to fill you in. Does Shallan even want to continue being Jasnah's ward? She's a Knight Radiant now, so it's not like Jasnah is still her only ticket to belonging with the elite. Finally, why would Shallan ask Jasnah if she was sure it was the ghostbloods who tried to kill her? Shallan already knows it was them, sent by Tyn...

Yeah, sorry I had so many complaints about this one.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Amira

[king of nowhere]

4 hours ago, Amira said:

SA3, interlude 3, Venli:The listeners worked so hard and sacrificed so much to stop their gods from returning, and then one day they just decided to call them back? Did Eshonai not know that discovering stormform would bring them back? Did Venli know?

they didn't "one day just decided to call them back". they were under extreme pressure when they decided it. they also weren't sure at all of what would happen. it's been millennia, and all they have are vague legends. they may not even have been sure of which forms were safe and which weren't. anyway, faced with unsustainable attrition from the alethi, the listeners tried to do something dangerous. seems reasonable enough.

by the way, you will gradually learn they were also thoroughly manipulated by forces way beyond their control. when you'll get listeners flashbacks, you'll get some more pieces of the puzzle.

incidentally, if they had just denied any involvment with szeth and his assassination ("how can we possibly be related to a shin shardbearer? on the night when we are about to sign an important and favorable treaty, no less"), then everything would have been different.

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, Amira said:

SA3, chapter 33, Shallan:

Yeah, sorry I had so many complaints about this one.

You are not alone in your analysis. Thus starts the "Shallan shuffle". . . (Minor Spoilers)

Spoiler

Shallan has some issues with progression and regression. For those that like that kind of story arc, they seem to really like Shallan. For many of us, a lot of her chapters just become . . . difficult in Oathbringer. WoB:

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

I'm gonna leave up to theorizing, <redacted>. And [Shallan] is regressing, and she's doing a... 1.1 steps forward, 1 step back, sort of thing, kind of frequently.

 

So, to the best of my knowledge, this kind of chapter is deliberate (on Sanderson's part) because he is building toward something - but not all of us enjoyed that journey. Please don't feel bad about your own reactions to that journey.

[alder24]

13 hours ago, Amira said:

SA3, chapter 33, Shallan: Okay, if in the interlude I felt like things weren't clear and seemingly contradictory, then this chapter was way worse. I felt like it was written in a hurry and not edited properly. You all are welcome to disagree, but so much here didn't work for me. The idea that Shallan would continue to hide away in her room and think about the Midnight Mother instead of going right away to talk to Jasnah and get answers simply didn't convince me.

Yeah, there are things happening with Shallan that not everybody likes how it's progressing. It leads to something, you're gonna see it later.

13 hours ago, Amira said:

Even when Shallan did finally ask Jasnah how she survived, I felt like the answer was too vague. When Shallan last saw her, she thought she was seeing a dead body. How did Jasnah go into Shadesmar in that condition?

If you're interested, there is a short, deleted WoR chapter from Jasnah's perspective about that. It explains a bit how she survived.

https://www.tor.com/2014/08/06/stormlight-archive-scene-after-words-of-radiance/

13 hours ago, Amira said:

It also didn't seem realistic the way Jasnah just swooped in and tried to be in control of everyone and everything again.

For me that's the most Jasnah thing ever.

13 hours ago, Amira said:

Does Shallan even want to continue being Jasnah's ward? She's a Knight Radiant now, so it's not like Jasnah is still her only ticket to belonging with the elite.

Shallan agreed to train under Jasnah to be a scholar. She hasn't finished her training, she isn't a scholar yet and being a Knight Radiant  doesn't make her a scholar. Those are two separate things. 

13 hours ago, Amira said:

Finally, why would Shallan ask Jasnah if she was sure it was the ghostbloods who tried to kill her? Shallan already knows it was them, sent by Tyn...

True. But Shallan is working with Ghostbloods now, Shallan might want to know if Jasnah is aware who tried to kill her this time. 

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

This was a big chapter for a lot of reason, including all of your complaints. I wrote this three different ways and decided that I couldn't write it without being too spoiler-y. Your complaints are valid, and there are good reasons that you have them..and no..it wasn't written poorly. It was written on purpose.

[discorat she/her]

On 7/7/2022 at 8:44 PM, TheOtherDave said:

The resting heart rate of an “athletic”, middle-aged human male (on earth, anyway) can dip down to 47 BPM or so. For well-trained, battle-ready soldiers 10 heart beats could work out to as much as 12-13 seconds, which is a lot longer than it sounds if people talk fast (and they don’t need to stop & think about what they’re going to say). That said, you aren’t wrong…

The first time Sanderson does the “10 heat beats [a bunch of stuff happens]” thing, back when the chasmfiend attacks, I thought the “time stretching” effect was a great way to pull you into the scene (IIRC, people in suddenly dangerous situations have reported feeling like time slowed down), even if the timing was a bit long. I remember at least one other occurrence where Sanderson clearly didn’t keep track of time correctly. Unless, of course, Rosharans have lower heart rates than humans do IRL. Or maybe he doesn’t care and is just doing it for dramatic effect… having a countdown started like that does tend to add a sense of urgency to the situation.

More like 5-6 seconds. Someone thats near-death and fighting probably has a heart rate of 110+

[Amira]

 

On 11/30/2023 at 9:51 PM, Treamayne said:

Please don't feel bad about your own reactions to that journey.

Oh, I just know you all love these books so much, so I hate when I have to say negative things about them, haha.

On 12/1/2023 at 11:57 AM, JohnnyKaizen said:

This was a big chapter for a lot of reason, including all of your complaints. I wrote this three different ways and decided that I couldn't write it without being too spoiler-y. Your complaints are valid, and there are good reasons that you have them..and no..it wasn't written poorly. It was written on purpose.

Okay, all of you are saying stuff kind of like this, so clearly I need to be patient and find out more as I read, but I have to say I'm skeptical. I can't imagine anything happening in the future that could make me feel like this chapter works the way it is.

SA3, chapter 34, Dalinar: Yay, Dalinar finally managed to get through to one of the other leaders! I wonder if now he's gonna send visions to all the others, haha.

As requested by some, here's a thread for my Sunlit Man reactions

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Amira