Excerpt from Words of Radiance: Chapters Six, Eight, and Nine

[Swimmingly]

Kill them all isn't necessary. Maybe send them all away?

Slave race since out of time, regarded as animals. Unstable culture with leaders toppling like ninepins. Strange apparitions and manifestations of magic in a highly superstitious culture. Already devoted to war.

"Hey, look guys, these slaves you think of as animals are actually scheming monsters planning to kill us all. Now, I'd like you to pat them on the back and ask them to leave your house, knowing exactly where you and your family live."

How is the average person going to react?

[Natans]

I like Rothfuss like any other men, and I believe that he is very good in his style, but after Martin I kind afraid to commit to any author that have long book production length It's is very anoying wait 4/5 year for a sequence. In this Brandon it's one of the best. The man are write machine.

 

Second I think that Brandon are much more cinematografic his fight sequence are like good movies, and his books are full of emotion. I'm not stoic but I can't remember recently any other book that made raise from my chair like WOK do it in the Tower Battle. That was awesome I still got goosebumps every time I read that scene, what I wouldn't do get that part of the book turned in a movie or animation =)

 

 

 

Slave race since out of time, regarded as animals. Unstable culture with leaders toppling like ninepins. Strange apparitions and manifestations of magic in a highly superstitious culture. Already devoted to war.

"Hey, look guys, these slaves you think of as animals are actually scheming monsters planning to kill us all. Now, I'd like you to pat them on the back and ask them to leave your house, knowing exactly where you and your family live."

How is the average person going to react?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like this probably

Edited January 22, 2014 by Natans

[Bloodfalcon]

I agree partially with this. Brandon's biggest strength is definitely his ability to set up a plot. The Sanderson Avalanche (or whatever it's called) at the end of each of his books where everything comes together in a beautiful climax is just wonderful. TWoK's last hundred pages were probably the best of any book I've read just for sheer gut punches and revelations left and right.

 

I'm not sure I can reliably say that Brandon is better than Rothfuss, they're just really different writers. Major points in Brandon's favor for being able to put out a book every year, though. I don't browse Rothfuss forums.

Hey, to each his own! I appreciate Rothfuss for so many things, but plot organization and planning are huge for me, and Wise Man's Fear felt really choppy - distractingly so. Cringeworthy wittiness can be attributed to characters, but plot falls on one man. I don't have a problem rating authors better than one another, especially when I would buy up any piece of writing from either in a heartbeat or ten. 

[don_karma_II]

Why is Rock mentioning the Amethyst sphere that Kaladin gave as a 'him' ? Shouldn't he say it? 

[ccstat]

Why is Rock mentioning the Amethyst sphere that Kaladin gave as a 'him' ? Shouldn't he say it? 

This stuck out to me too, and initially I was going to speculate that the sphere's gem had captured a spren similar to the gems that power fabrials. Since Rock seems more aware of spren in general, it made sense that he might notice. But this doesn't work given Syl's lack of reaction--I really think she would both notice and object to trapping spren. For now, I'm chalking the "him" reference up to cultural personification, similar to the way a boat is usually "her".

[Cad]

But this doesn't work given Syl's lack of reaction--I really think she would both notice and object to trapping spren.

This made me picture Dalinar learning about Kaladin's path to a KR by having Syl see one of the fabrials, turning visible and going off on Navani. Lmao

[Argent]

I was also surprised to see that there is apparently a second Eshonai interlude in that same set. I hope that's true at least here, and possibly for other interlude sets as well. 

 

Brandon said that each SA book will have a "main interlude character" - one side character that shows up in all of the interlude groups. In The Way of Kings it was Szeth (damnit, even after all this time I keep trying to type Sazed...). In Words of Radiance it's Eshonai - he told us so somewhere sometime.

 

---

 

Now, on the topic of Soulcasting being more dangerous now than ever before. I agree that it's very possible that the reason for this heightened level of danger lies somewhere in Shadesmar, or is related to the death of Tanavast / Splintering of Honor. I have two alternative and equally feasible explanations, however:

1. Soulcasting in and of itself is a pretty dangerous Surge. You could do all sorts of nasty things with it. We've seen how deadly Szeth can be, but with all his skill and magic, the dangers he poses are kind of avoidable. I am not saying it's easy to avoid them, but even if he Lashes you in some random direction, you still have a chance to grab onto something and wait for the Stormlight he Invested you with to run out. On the other hand, for a Soulcaster (Elsecaller or Lightweaver) blood is one of the easiest essences to work with - how easy would it be for Jasnah to turn your blood into anything? At a distance. That's pretty unavoidable. I imagine an inexperienced Soulcaster might run into issues to this.
2. There are no Heralds to teach the Radiants how to do stuff properly and efficiently. In all of the previous Desolations they've had teachers. Now they don't. So, of course it would be more dangerous to Soulcast now than ever before - in modern Roshar nobody really knows what they are doing.

[Rew]

 

Brandon said that each SA book will have a "main interlude character" - one side character that shows up in all of the interlude groups. In The Way of Kings it was Szeth (damnit, even after all this time I keep trying to type Sazed...). In Words of Radiance it's Eshonai - he told us so somewhere sometime.

 

 

Does that mean Eshonai is going to have some neat artwork specifically for her, a la the shamed-swordsman for Szeth?  Hope so...

[Argent]

Hopefully, but not necessarily. It could be something as simple as a piece of gear (similar to Kaladin's chapters' spears).

[PeterAhlstrom]

There seems to be one more Kaladin chapter than the current draft, but otherwise it is spot on.

The split of Kaladin's second chapter that I suggested didn't happen. Instead, the issue that was meant to fix got fixed in a different way.

[ccstat]

Brandon said that each SA book will have a "main interlude character" - one side character that shows up in all of the interlude groups. In The Way of Kings it was Szeth (damnit, even after all this time I keep trying to type Sazed...). In Words of Radiance it's Eshonai - he told us so somewhere sometime.

Yes, but from the example of Szeth in WoK, I assumed there would be one Eshonai chapter per set of interludes. The twitter picture indicates that there are two Eshonai chapters together in the first interlude. If that's not just a misplacement in the draft version, this is a break from the pattern we've seen.

 

I have two alternative and equally feasible explanations

Another possibility is that soulcasting requires one to visit Shadesmar, and the spren there are much more hostile than they used to be towards human interlopers.

[laeelin]

Yeah about that think like this, the Alenthi society, a very Militar Nation, discover that the parshman are potential bringers of the Apocalipse and that only way that their can survive it's send they away, what they will do ? Send away Thousands or millions of enemies that are still docile but hat later could turn violent ?

 

I think that they would kill the parshmen out of fear and a in the must inhuman way, like mass burnig o something like this.

 

This is a very Alenthi thing(kill first ask question later.....) i believe.

 

I think everyone is wrong about this... 

 

The are expensive - but dangerous - property. Sell to a kingdom you don't like would be the plan

[2dark]

Chapters contine with nice pace of the story, albeit a bit slower, also, good thing there will be onlyone more batch of chapters, I can't force myself not to read, but the word count we got is geting pretty high:)

 

Let's see.  Shallan's spren has started growing in mental acuity.  Pattern's cool, I wouldn't say he's attracted to lies so much as the complex interweaving of truth and falsehood in the statements of others.  I'm not entirely sure that the Parshmen will necessarily have to become evil if they somehow trigger a change, despite what Jasnah believes.  Soulcasting is more dangerous now since Tanvast died, and Honor was Splintered, but it's not as bad as Shadesmar on Sel.  And we are left with a cliffhanger.

 

We are given an explanation of how a true Shardblade loan works.  The true owner can resummon the Blade to themselves at will.  This add a bit of a hiccup with my theory that Helaran was loaned the Plate and Blade by the Ghostbloods, but maybe they simply didn't have anyone among themselves who was considered the true owner, and the two came more or less entirely out of some sort of storage.  Dalinar suspects himself as the one who left the message on the wall, which makes sense to me.  Amaram is coming soon.  Ever since the Morse code snippet Brandon gave on reddit, it seemed like Amaram and Dalinar were old friends, and this will doubtless cause some issues for Kaladin.  Also, (if I'm correct) Dalinar's elder son being provisionally engaged to the little sister of the guy who tried to kill Amaram should be another interesting topic.

 

Kaladin has money now.  Syl was the only Honorspren who came.  Who did Syl's face change into momentarily there?  Another true face for her, or some extention of her past, now mostly forgotten experiences?  What exactly is the Stormfather?  Jezrien's cognitive aspect, separated from his physical body, after having tried to take up some of Honor's post-death Splinters?  I really don't know.  I'm assuming the "red lightning" spren Sil sees are the like the corrupted spren that animate the Thunderclast in Dalinar's vision, but I can't be sure yet.  Sigzil will soon get to take measurements of Kaladin's physical enhancements, which sounds slightly dirty out of context.

 

And my endless quest to figure out when in the Roshar year all this is happening makes no progress, outside of knowing that chapter 8 is two days after the chapter where Dalinar finds the note scratched into the wall.  I'm still thinking we're in the middle of month 7.

LOL

[Cheese Ninja]

I forgot about how Rock referred to the amethyst broam as "him".  That was interesting, the Navani's notebook line was "The cut and type of the gem determines what kind of spren are attracted to it and can be imprisoned in it." Rock could very well be talking about a spren inside the amethyst in the broam, or he might just be using a masculine pronoun for the broam, but I think the first is actually slightly more likely.

[Argent]

... The twitter picture indicates that there are two Eshonai chapters together in the first interlude. If that's not just a misplacement in the draft version, this is a break from the pattern we've seen.

 

I wouldn't use that picture for anything other than trivia. It's a draft, so anything there is subject to change - maybe two of Eshonai's interlude take place over a relatively short period of time, so Brandon originally wrote them one after the other.

[Fistsofrage]

I really don't think Rock meant anything by calling the broam a "him". He was just making it sound special since it would be what provided them with excellent spices for the food.

[PeterAhlstrom]

Go check how Rock talks in the first book.

[Fistsofrage]

Go check how Rock talks in the first book.

 

Uh oh. Speculation is afoot, what does this mean...

 

I assumed that since Rock was still going to use the broam to buy spices that it was just a normal broam but is there really more to it? Or is this statement actually agreeing that i'm right...so ambiguous. Guess I'll have to stalk Rock a bit in WoK and see if I can find out.

 

Edit: After much debate and confusion I think I'll stick with my original statement until further spoilers lol.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Fistsofrage

[marianmi]

·         Syl tugging her hair – The woman she saw in the market must have been Nynaeve  from WoT

 

Yeah, probably she was informing the people in the camps Lan will be passing through the Shattered Plains on his way to the Last Battle Desolation.

 

Death is lighter than a feather. Duty, heavier than a mountain."

[Fistsofrage]

Yeah, probably she was informing the people in the camps Lan will be passing through the Shattered Plains on his way to the Last Battle Desolation.

 

Death is lighter than a feather. Duty, heavier than a mountain."

 

Uh oh, WoT references. Well at least they're Lan references. Lan "the Man" dragon xD

[Natans]

Uh oh. Speculation is afoot, what does this mean...

 

I assumed that since Rock was still going to use the broam to buy spices that it was just a normal broam but is there really more to it? Or is this statement actually agreeing that i'm right...so ambiguous. Guess I'll have to stalk Rock a bit in WoK and see if I can find out.

 

Edit: After much debate and confusion I think I'll stick with my original statement until further spoilers lol.

 

Easy question, I believe this mean that Rock have the same problem to speak in Alenthi that i have to speak in english we are illiterate folls.  This thing aren't clear huh! Airsick lowlander =)

[Fistsofrage]

Easy question, I believe this mean that Rock have the same problem to speak in Alenthi that i have to speak in english we are illiterate folls.  This thing aren't clear huh! Airsick lowlander =)

 

Ahh, thanks a lot, I was starting to think myself into a hole lol.

[marianmi]

OK, I waited to post my findings, but I get a few minutes of free time now.

Here's few theories that might not have been discussed previously... Sorry for the length, but OH SO MUCH INFORMATION!

 

* Jasnah knowing about the oaths - probably Ivory told her about them, but not what they are, like Syl told Kaladin. Probably she only spoke one - "Journey before destination..." when she started researching the voidbringers after her father's death - maybe she swear to find out why he was killed or something, and then the words came to her? The idea is that I don't think she has spoken any of the Elsecallers oaths. Ivory must be frustrated with her

 

* Jasnah telling Shallan not to surgebind, but focus on her other ability - if she that herself, than she can Travel already. We'll probably see her doing that in WoR.

 

* Syl and Ivory bonded w/o permission, and are both reluctant to be seen by other people. Pattern is a "lighteye" and possibly came with permission, so he doesn't care if he gets seen?

 

* There are lots of bonding spren "sightings" around surgebinders (bridge 4 know about syl, pattern is seen by everyone), but not so much in the KR visions. In the visions, all KR wear plate - so maybe spren fuel/inhabit the plate when it's being worn?

 

* Bonding spren - since they get dumb, they probably lose the Shadesmar connection - otherwise Shallan would go shadesmar and talk sense with Pattern. So Syl would not know what happened in the last year in Shadesmar, or if other honorspren were later allowed to come bond. It is curious that Jasnah saw Ivory in both physical and Shadesmar the first time she soulcasted.. but maybe Ivory was not yet in the physical, and appeared to Jasnah as a shadow from Shadesmar. E.g. gloryspren appear from cognitive then dissapear when they are not attracted anymore by ... a sense of glory... so they go back to shadesmar. That's how Ivory appeared as a shadow the first time, then Jasnah went Shadesmar, where she saw Ivory again. Then Ivory decided to cross over. Makes sense?

 

* Darkness and the Stormfather seem to be in agreement about surgebinders not being allowed to exist. And the Parshendi. Hmmm....

 

* Syl and Ivory were more ... articulate ... when they started talking, and they were able to tell their names. Pattern seems more lost than any of them were. He will probably remember his name and tell it to Shallan, but she will probably continue to call him Pattern. Also, Ivory and Syl seem to think akin to humans, Cryptics seem to be more ... alien. So they might not even have names

 

* Honorspren vs. Cryptics - maybe Honorspren were the lighteyes until the humans broke their oaths. Then honorspren lost their status (oaths were broken) and Cryptics rose to power (lies were told).

 

* Chapters 8, 9 seem so much smaller (especially Chapter 8) and are missing Navani's journal entries. Probably Chapter 8 continues with the letter content, and was cut to make a hook? Chapter 7 probably has the ship-wreck - they were maybe attacked by pirates working for Mr. T? Maybe Jasnah will do her thing and just Transport them to the Shattered Plains - or maybe she can't go where she has never been before?

 

* Syl never saw the red lightning spren before, and she did not react as when she heard the name "Odium" - I doubt they are spren directly influenced by Odium. Maybe they are more like "anticipation-spren", or maybe they are the storm-spren attracted by the Parshendi, to be used for their storm-form?

 

* Spren gets locked when measured correctly - Shallan is not measuring Pattern, but drawing him. Intent is important as well. Or maybe she is just very far from drawing him correctly, with his infinite fractal shape...

 

Go check how Rock talks in the first book.

 

Maybe he's talking like that because of the Horneaters all talk like that, throughout the history, all coming from the forgotten fact that gems are Honor's body ... so a gem is (part of) Him, the Almighty...

[Argent]

* There are lots of bonding spren "sightings" around surgebinders (bridge 4 know about syl, pattern is seen by everyone), but not so much in the KR visions. In the visions, all KR wear plate - so maybe spren fuel/inhabit the plate when it's being worn?

 

* Syl and Ivory were more ... articulate ... when they started talking, and they were able to tell their names. Pattern seems more lost than any of them were. He will probably remember his name and tell it to Shallan, but she will probably continue to call him Pattern. Also, Ivory and Syl seem to think akin to humans, Cryptics seem to be more ... alien. So they might not even have names

 

 

I like the idea of spren "infusing" the Shardplate. I am not sure how possible this is in terms of Realmatics, but I like it.

 

We don't know if Ivory is Jasnah's spren's "real" name. It sounds like something she gave to him - him being all black and shiny. Syl's name, unlike Pattern's or Ivory's, is not a name you can translate. It's just a name, not a noun that exists outside of it.

[Witless]

Just some thoughts:

 

My immediate assumption when Jasnah said Soulcasting had become more dangerous was it was a recent thing ie. within the last few years. Jasnah is a scientist it seems out of place for her to make such a definitive statement with out first hand experience.

 

How about "I will discover truths that are hidden" for the 2nd ideal of the lightweavers.