Dalinar's "The Way of Kings"

[Bigtones]

Do any of you believe that the book that Dalinar has read to him will be made available for the mass public to pick up and read?

 

I would line up for that chance.

 

Thanks.

 

Also, would anyone in this forum be interested in purchasing something like that?

[Phantom Monstrosity]

It'll come out after Alendi's unexpurgated Journal, before the Hoid Personal Diaries, and in a box set together with the Words of Founding.

You can already pick up a Book of Endless Pages at your local office supply store.

[Observer]

It's basically scripture, and in any case writing it up would take time that could be used for writing Stormlight 2.

 

I kind of get the feeling that Brandon prefers to leave those kinds of things for the readers to imagine, or otherwise cannot fit it into the book (See: The Contract).

[happyman]

It'll come out after Alendi's unexpurgated Journal, before the Hoid Personal Diaries, and in a box set together with the Words of Founding.

You can already pick up a Book of Endless Pages at your local office supply store.

 

I thought that was the WoT omnibus.

[deddinty]

I'm expecting we'll get more quotes from it as time goes on, but I doubt it would ever be a stand alone book unless for some special event.  I imagine perhaps Kaladin we'll want to hear it eventually.

[hoser]

It's a neat idea!  Of the forty-one sections, we have two or three already.  I expect we will get some more in the remaining 9 books.  The parts we have are pretty short, so it would be less than 100 pages long unless our samples are unrepresentatively short.  By the end it will also be somewhat redundant. 

That said, I definitely want to read it just for the snark that the Alethi women would have written in in the undertext (or whatever they call it)!

[Voidus]

I'd love to read all the undertexts, although unfortunately I don't know if there would be any in Way of Kings since men could write at Nohadons time (From Dalinar's vision)

[hoser]

I'd love to read all the undertexts, although unfortunately I don't know if there would be any in Way of Kings since men could write at Nohadons time (From Dalinar's vision)

They had to have been recopied many times, presumably lately by women.  I think it must have been originally written in Dawnchant. 

 

Well, it would have been if Roshar, the book and Dawnchant actually existed . 

[Voidus]

But you wouldn't usually add an undertext to just a copy, that's the work of scribes rather than someone who actually had direct input on the original. It could be really interesting if they did though, you'd get to see the progress of how the book is regarded by society as time goes on, each scribe adding their own undertext.

[KChan]

I guess that depends on how seriously people on Roshar have taken the duty of copying texts. For example, look at some of the rules set forth for copying the Torah:

A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is added.

A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is deleted.

The scribe must be a learned, pious Jew, who has undergone special training and certification.

All materials (parchment, ink, quill) must conform to strict specifications, and be prepared specifically for the purpose of writing a Torah Scroll.

The scribe may not write even one letter into a Torah Scroll by heart. Rather, he must have a second, kosher scroll opened before him at all times.

The scribe must pronounce every word out loud before copying it from the correct text.

Every letter must have sufficient white space surrounding it. If one letter touched another in any spot, it invalidates the entire scroll.

If a single letter was so marred that it cannot be read at all, or resembles another letter (whether the defect is in the writing, or is due to a hole, tear or smudge), this invalidates the entire scroll. Each letter must be sufficiently legible so that even an ordinary schoolchild could distinguish it from other, similar letters.

The scribe must put precise space between words, so that one word will not look like two words, or two words look like one word.

The scribe must not alter the design of the sections, and must conform to particular line-lengths and paragraph configurations.

A Torah Scroll in which any mistake has been found cannot be used, and a decision regarding its restoration must be made within 30 days, or it must be buried.

(Source: Here)

If the regulations were anywhere near that strict, there's no way subext could have been added. However, if the guidelines were different (or there were none at all), it could be quite possible, and might be interesting to see.

On the subject of reading The Way of Kings itself, I'm sure there either is or will be a Coppermind page dedicated to a compilation of all the excerpts of the book we've been shown. That'll probably be the closest we can get to reading the actual book.

[king of nowhere]

Could be an intersting read, and would probably be short enough. However, if I were to pick a fictional document to read, I'd take the words of founding. They would be awesome.

If I had also the wot universe available, I may be tempted to pick the whole Karaheton cycle, the prophecies of the dragon. If nothing else, because they are at least 400 pages long, so I'd have plenty to read, and with afterknowledge of the events I would be able to understand them. I'd especially like to see all the foretellings that were needed during the breaking to prepare the ground for rand ("and lo, thou shalt send the aiel on a journey alone..." "and in this place you will build a massive fortress, and in the heart of it you will put callandor with a prrecise web pritecting it..." and so on and so forth). I like to get a "behind the scene" look.

 

Of course, that would be if those ddocuments actually existed. Brandon may be able to write the words of founding, but there's no way he can write 400 pages of prophecy about rand.

[Voidus]

I wouldn't mind reading some of Herid Fel's books, that'd be an interesting reading.

[Bigtones]

This is the type of stuff that really intrigues me when reading Fantasy...I love the lore to the point of obsession sometimes. I find the history of the nation sometimes the most compelling reason to continue on with the stories.

 

Just reading Hero of Ages as we speak and although I think I know the final outcome, the mini blurbs at the beginning of each chapter has hooked me almost as much as the actual story.

 

BS has officially become my new favorite fantasy author followed extremely close with Guy Gavriel Kay.

[happyman]

In a case like this, I have to say that in many ways, the text keeps its aura by not being fully known.  It also simplifies the world-building in constructive ways.  There is also the problem that familiarity breeds contempt, which is far too true.  We may be better off just imagining it.

 

That is, I suspect that the subject of the in-universe Way of Kings would not generally interest most of the readership.  The little bits we do get are interesting, but they are filtered by both the true author, and the in-universe speaker to be relevant.

 

In short, I think that the book is best kept at a slight distance, for its own sake as well as ours.