Excerpt from Words of Radiance: Chapters Ten, Twelve, Fourteen and Interlude 1

[Michael Portz]

The drunk just asks "have you seen me" or something like that. 

 

Also, Szeth was a respected member of Shin society before he was truthless. He could have been a great warrior. i think we now also know him to be around 38 years old. That's like twice as old as Kaladin was when he mastered the spear. It's not hard to believe Szeth has had a lot of time over 38 years to train in any abilities.

 

Of course being a respected member of the Shin society would  NOT mean him being a warrior, but a farmer instead :-)

 

[TYPO]

Edited January 29, 2014 by Atastor

[Delightful]

LadyFeatherWriter, *love* your reactions, mainly because mine were almost the same - especially the end of chapter 12 :'( :S. Pleeaase keep going with them!

 

I find it interesting that we now have two confirmed 'earth' animals on Roshar - chickens and horses. Horses from Shinovar, sure, but where are the chickens from? How do they survive highstorms - soulcast chicken coops?

 

I got the impression from Shallan's chapter that it was her father who was the killer. Then again, the entire section is vague enough to mean practically anything. :/ Will have to wait for more.

 

Tapping the gem to break the bond with a sword- I don't remember Dalinar doing that with Oathbringer. And shouldn't Kal have done that for the Set he won, or was that just unclaimed at that point?

 

 

Known Interludes Taravagian, Lift, Ym, Rysn, at least 2 Eshonai.

 

In the last book we got what? 4 blocks of 3 interludes with 1 Szeth interlude per block. If this rule conrinue we have 10 interludes characters beside Eshonai, I bet that Szeth will get at least one.

 

14 - 4 Eshonai - 1 Taravagian - 1 Lift - 1Ym - 1 Rysn - 1 Szeth = 5 "secret interludes characters"

 

I think

 

I was curious about how Dalinar/Adolin/Shallan/Kaladin are *all* in the same part this time, rather than Kaladin/Shallan or Kaladin/Dalinar/Adolin groupings. Now I wonder if Szeth, or maybe Navani has a proper viewpoint in the other Parts.

 

 

PSS: Now that all is said and done i understand the "hook" that was alluded sometime ago, I want the book now and a few 15 chapters aren't enough =(

 

OH. Noooow I get that!

Edited January 29, 2014 by Delightful

[Tarion]

Chickens are another Shin animal - This was confirmed in one of the Rysn interludes. 

I'm a bit disappointed that Sigzil's attempt at doing some proper science was interrupted. 

I suppose it had to be sacrificed for story pacing. 

I think it's more than that.  Here, he discovered that he doesn't have enough knowledge or the right setup to do real science.  There are too many variables.

 

But he doesn't have to.  A lot of the work has already been done.  The Ardentia and artifabrians have been using infused gemstones for power for a decent chunk of the last 4000 years.  Hell, I bet Dalinar himself could tell you a fair bit, just from "feeding" his armour over the years.  

 

They'll already know how much a specific sphere can hold and how the cut of the gem effects it.  I'm fully expecting another chapter of "Eurgh, we just don't know enough" before Shallan drops the knowledge in passing, as if it's completely well known, and frees Sigzil to focus on the new variable - Kaladin's power.  

[SpiteMalice]

New poster and one of the 54 lurkers. Consider me called out :-).

I'm willing to give Amaram a chance. At the end of WoK51:Sas Nahn, he appears to feel guilty and references "weights" he carries that a spearman can't begin to understand.

I also suspect that his devotary applied pressure to take the shards "for his men".

[Duskshard]

Notes from my reread of Shallans chapter.

 

• Shallan blames herself. (for her mothers death/murder? for all the deaths?)

 

• Her father wipes blood from her cheek. (She was close enough to at least one of the bloody bodies to get blood on her face)

 

• She's frozen in shock at whatevers just happened

 

• He say "pretend it never happened" "I'll protect you" (Implying that she's done something wrong and needs her fathers protection? Would her father be so understanding if she'd just murdered his wife, Shallans mother?)

 

• She considers herself a monster, one who killed, murdered. Implying what she did wasn't in self defence?, or in defence of her mother? Maybe that's just a child's innocent view of what she has done, that killing anyone for any reason would make her a monster?

 

Could there have been 3 dead bodies? 

 

Father carried Shallan over the body of a woman in white. Little blood there. It was the man who bled. Mother lay facedown, so Shallan couldn’t see the eyes. The horrible eyes.

 

 

• The first body Shallan describes to herself as a woman in white. who had a little blood on her, but not no blood. (the way she describes her seems detached, like she doesn't know her) 

 

• The second the man, the one who most of the blood came from. (Also detached, someone else unknown to her?)

 

• Then she refers to the Mother laying facedown (A more personal connection to the body on the ground, possibly not the same one as the woman in white?) Horrible eyes. Burn out eyes? Killed by shardblade?

 

• Possibly 2 killed by conventional means, 1 killed by shardblade?

 

The strong box

 

They passed Father’s strongbox set into the wall. It glowed brightly, light streaming from the cracks around the closed door. A monster was inside.

 

 

• She sees whatever's in there as a monster as well. Maybe the weapon she used to kill/murder? A shardblade? if so why would it be glowing? Why wouldn't it of disappeared? Honorblade maybe?

 

• Could whatever's in there have any connection to the lullaby her father sang?

 

“Now go to sleep in chasms deep, with darkness all around you…

Though rock and dread may be your bed, so sleep my baby dear.

Now comes the storm, but you’ll be warm, the wind will rock your basket…

The crystals fine will glow sublime, so sleep my baby dear.

And with a song, it won’t be long, you’ll sleep my baby dear.”

 

End notes:

 

-No weapons or anything are indicated that could of caused such bloodshed.

 

-How long had passed between the start of the scene and the killings taking place?

 

-Was her father a witness to what happened? Did he arrive after it have happened?

 

So many questions from such a short chapter.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Duskshard

[Bloodfalcon]

Of course being a respected member of the Shin society would  NOT mean him being a warrior, but a farmer instead :-)

 

[TYPO]

Nah, it doesn't mean he'd have to be anything in particular. Warriors are lowest on the totem pole, but the question was about Szeth's life before Truthlessness. I don't think the community has disrespect for warriors or anything, they are just not the top caste. Brandon was making a point that Szeth has not always been Truthless, and he wasn't always evil or anything like that either.

[Swimmingly]

They are traded like slaves. Picking up a weapon in anger damns you to become one. They are the opposite of he who adds, they are he who subtracts.

[EvilNuff]

There are 89 chapters plus the prologue, epilogue, and 14 interludes. The Michael/Kate breakdown included things like Kate reading all of Navani's journal entries even when the chapter is Michael's.

 

Peter it is really cool that you stop by and give us details like this, thank you.

 

And Feather, your reactions were awesome thank you for sharing them!

[DocHoliday]

First and foremost, I accidentally down voted this post while trying to quote, if some one would correct it, it would be appreciated.

LadyFeatherWriter, *love* your reactions, mainly because mine were almost the same - especially the end of chapter 12 :'( :S. Pleeaase keep going with them!

 

I find it interesting that we now have two confirmed 'earth' animals on Roshar - chickens and horses. Horses from Shinovar, sure, but where are the chickens from? How do they survive highstorms - soulcast chicken coops?

 

I got the impression from Shallan's chapter that it was her father who was the killer. Then again, the entire section is vague enough to mean practically anything. :/ Will have to wait for more.

 

Tapping the gem to break the bond with a sword- I don't remember Dalinar doing that with Oathbringer. And shouldn't Kal have done that for the Set he won, or was that just unclaimed at that point?

 

I was curious about how Dalinar/Adolin/Shallan/Kaladin are *all* in the same part this time, rather than Kaladin/Shallan or Kaladin/Dalinar/Adolin groupings. Now I wonder if Szeth, or maybe Navani has a proper viewpoint in the other Parts.

 

OH. Noooow I get that!

Chickens are definitely from Shinovar, as Tarion pointed out.

 

My impression was that Shallon was responsible. The world ended and it was her fault. Kinda telling.

 

I don't think the jewel is necessary, just touching the Blade in general and saying 'bye' comes y to mind. Adolin crushes it to make a point. 

Kaladin killed the Shardbearer. Bonds don't get much more broken than that

 

Ya it'll be interesting seeing the characters from something besides POV. Adolin dealing with Kaladin comes to mind.

[Shardlet]

I don't think the jewel is necessary, just touching the Blade in general and saying 'bye' comes y to mind. Adolin crushes it to make a point. 

Kaladin killed the Shardbearer. Bonds don't get much more broken than that

 

Yeah, in the case of Adolin, it seems like it was a tradition to do that with shardblades (and plate?) that were won in duels.  An expression of triumph.  In the case of Dalinar and Sadeas, it was really a triumph of Dalinar over Sadeas.  Such an expression in that setting would, I expect, have been highly provocative.

[Moist_von_Lipwig]

So here are my thoughts on these chapters:

 

10 - This chapter raised a lot of questions

 

- Who was the other body?

- Did Shallan kill him? Did she kill any of them, or did she do something else?

- That Lullaby is certainly interesting, surely it must reference something. Similar to Jasnah using children's stories in here research in WoK.

- The Safe. What's in the Safe!? Fellow redditors should understand my pain with this one. Please don't be that OP Brandon.

 

12 - More Bridge 4 Shenanigans. Awesome

 

- The interactions between these lot just gets better and better, a shame to think that some of bridge 4 probably wont make it through the series.

- Sigzil and Jasnah are almost made for each other given their personalities.

- Lopen and rock are amazing, right Gancho?

- A lack of Syl in this chapter 

- That fight scene was great. Kaladin's abilities feel different from Szeth's somehow, maybe it's just how he's using them.

- That ending, that damnation ending. why must they torture us?

 

14 - Let's see Dalinar's plan get put into action.

 

- The dynamic between the brothers is brilliant, though Adolin seems more childish so far in WoR.

- Adolin feeling the thrill? very ominous. Though he had an interesting reaction to it.

- Adolin kicking This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules and telling the judge how it is.

- Renarin has a shardblade now, I don't like this. Though neither does Renarin apparently, so that's a good sign.

 

I-1 - Seen this before, but we get some interesting new details this time.

 

- Szeth has an honourblade, and the listners (they have a new name it seems) apparently know a bit about them. Did they posses one at some point perhaps?

- Parshendi spies, though I don't think Shen is one of them, at least I kind of hope he isn't.

- Who are their gods? Why does surgebinding risk their return? Is that why Gavilar risked the return of their gods? was he going to refound the Radiants?

- Stormform sounds both awesome and terrifying. I have this vision of them bringing a highstorm against the Alethi and Kaladin raising his hand and stopping the storm.

 

 

I think I rambled too much there.

 

Lady Feather, you're reactions were brilliant. You remind me of how I imagine Syl sounding.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Moist_von_Lipwig

[FeatherWriter]

Lady Feather, you're reactions were brilliant. You remind me of how I imagine Syl sounding.

 

Hah, my Syl voice is rather more high pitched than my regular voice. In fact, I'm pretty sure Syl's the highest of all my voices, though Allrianne occassionally gets high enough to break into that range. It's really hard for me to make Syl sound sad or serious actually, because the voice that I do for her is so suited to happy, mischievous, and bubbly.

[kkchaitu]

Which is why I didn't try... Figured recording my wordless screeches would get the point across better than *wordless screech*. Also, I'm like, screaming and then apologizing for screaming ALL at the same time. Woo.

 

Shipper and proud. Yeaaaaah. You should have heard the sounds I made when the Shallan/Adolin causal became a thing. (I have a feeling these recordings are going to become a thing so, expect more from me?)

 

This is hilarious!! Thanks for sharing and please do more recordings . BTW, I like your blog - hoping to keep up with the blog regularly.

[Argent]

Chapter 10: Red Carpet Once White

• Well. Okay. The shortness of the interlude is pretty, um... effective, I guess. It hits you well.
• The obvious questions:
  • How is this all Shallan's fault? I assume the "world ended" part is a figure of speech here.
  • Wait, Shallan is seventeen? 
  • It looks like it's possible that at least one of the people in the other room was killed by Shallan - else she wouldn't think of herself as "a monster who killed, who murdered." Either that, or she believes all those murders are a direct cause of her actions (and it was her father, for example, who killed all those people) - a very real possibility too. Still, the man and the woman (Shallan's mother) were killed in different ways - the man bleeds, the woman was Shardbladed. So maybe she did kill one of them - likely the man - and her dad took care of his dearest wife. Do I smell an affair?
  • What the hell is inside the strongbox, that it glows and makes Shallan think it a monster? Larkin is the only thing that comes to mind immediately, but I don't think they glow...
  • Stupid 11 year olds and their emotions. Can't remember anything with clarity and detail, free of melodrama!

Chapter 12: Hero

• Rock refers to the stone as "he." I believe his use of "him" in reference to the broam from the previous Kaladin chapter is simply a result of his culture attributing gender to inanimate objects (Germanic and Slavic cultures do the same). In fact, given that even after almost 8 years spent in the US I still forget to use the gender-neutral "it" on a (rare) occasion, I am pretty sure that this is the case, and not a result of Rock seeing the sphere's spren and identifying it as male or something...
• So, Kaladin is gancho, but Rock is mancha. Good to know, Lopen.
• "Stormblessed leader" automatically turns Kaladin in Kal-Jong Un.
• I really need to start putting together a vocabulary with all of Rock's foreign words. Mafah'liki is something like "spren," and alaii'iku is, for the lack of a better phrase, someone who can see spren at all times. Nothing new here, this is for my own reference.
• Oh, Stormfather, Herdazian humor. As punny as it was cheesy.
• Hmm, does Stormlight actually make it more difficult for things to grab you, or was Rock's difficulty in the grapple with Kaladin simply a product of Kaladin's... liveliness caused by Stormlight?
• Tuanalikana - fourth son and below.
• Man, Lopen is going to be fun to read.
• "That meant practice. Lots of practice. Unfortunately, the best way to practice was to find someone who matched or bested you in skill, strength, and capacity. " -- oh, you mean like someone with a Shardplate?
• "Dalinar is a lighteyes, part of him whispered. He wouldn’t think twice if he were revealing a secret you’d shared with him." -- oh, shut up already. No more depressed and paranoid Kaladin. Shush!
• Why, hello there, hero coming to the Shattered Plains. I wonder who he is. Somebody who can turn Kaladin's heart to ice. Hmm...
• Man, things are going to get even more interesting now that Amaram is here. But I can't help but think that his arrival is going to make me really sad for Kaladin, and then he is not going to want to talk to Dalinar, or Dalinar won't believe him fully, or something! It's a very annoying setback.

Chapter 14: Ironstance

• Oh, hey, Adolin gets his own... what should we call those? Chapter icon? Character sigil? Character icon?
• Aaand I already want to see the full text of this Listener Song of Listing.
• Oh, right, Adolin never named his Blade. I missed this detail - or, rather, wasn't consciously aware of it.
• Pialiah is the common name for Palah? This is the first time we see it, if it is.
• "They had expected word from Jasnah when she reached the Shallow Crypts, but none had been forthcoming." -- no bueno. I need want to know what happened!
• Battah... did we know this one?
• Hmm... Renarin used to call Adolin by his name, not "Brother." I think.
• Well, that was one... interesting duel. 
• Renarin, Renarin... do you have a spren telling you, suggesting, that you avoid the Shardblade? Is that why you grimace, or are we reading too much?

I-1: Narak

• Why is the title the name of a place, not the viewpoint character?
• The ruins in the Shattered Plains are similar to ones in... Natanatan? Was there where Dalinar and Gavilar first encountered the Parshendi? Silver Kingdoms, ahoy?
• Wait. Did Eshonai just imply that the entire Shattered Plains were a single city? It could be read both ways.
• Huh. Why are the listeners' genders malen and femalen? What makes them different from male and female? 
• Wouldn't it be better if the listeners in the Hall of Art practice in workform instead of warform? I'd imagine it's more precise, if nothing else.
• Oh, that's why. Okay.
• Aaand here the genders are male and female. Maybe the previous addition of 'n' at the end of each is just some English quirk.
• So. Angerspren are pretty much the same as "spren like red lightning"
• Those Parshendi gods. We really need to learn something about them soon, the ignorance is driving me nuts.
• “He will not face you again,” Venli said. “You nearly killed him last time.” -- funny how that hampers relationships.
• I wonder if Eshonai and the other four who "hired" Szeth were the only listeners aware of the plan. Likely. If Gavilar had told them of his idea - whatever that was - on the night of the peace treaty, then they must have actually planned for peace. And only after the king revealed his plan did they decide that he had to be killed. Which means Szeth was already in their possession, though not primed for a kill just yet. Eshonai & co. sure act quickly...
• Stormform and the Parshendi gods are related. Somehow. Unfortunately all the hypotheses I have right now are baseless
• Hmm. There is more here. "The humans have Surgebinders" is an interesting thing to say. How do they know that? Oh, hurrdurr. Kaladin. Okay, they don't know that he is a rogue element. 
• BAM! As much of a confirmation as we can hope for that Honorblades grant Surgebinding powers. Good, good. 
• The comments about the Honorblades are interesting. The tone suggests that Honorblades behave differently from Shardblades, at least in regards to wounds. Venli makes it sound like an Honorblade couldn't have wounded her sister. Moreover, if Eshonai is offering the Honorblade is an alternative the to the source of the Surgebinding they've seen, and since they are clearly talking about Kaladin's spear (since it was he who wounded her leg)... It looks like Honorblades are not necessarily blades. Maybe. Venli's question "Was it an Honorblade that struck you, wounded your leg, sent you limping?" could be easily interpreted as "Stupid sis, it was a spear that wounded you, not an Honorblade. That guy must've been a Surgebinder, not some shmuck wielding an Honorblade."
• “Enough people of that form,” Venli said, “could control a highstorm, or even summon one.” -- whaaat?
• "[Dullform] was a form of low intelligence, low capacity. They used it now to spy on the humans." -- did we know this before? I remember talk about Parshendi spies in the Alethi camps, but where did that come from?
• It makes sense for the listeners' songs to be tied with their forms. Chapter 12's epigraph even suggests that each form has a specific... verse, or maybe a full song. Maybe that's how the Parshendi change - you attract the spren necessary for your chosen form, maybe put yourself in the right state of mind (though this might be more of a requirement for the spren-summoning part), and voala! Alcoholform!

Only 5 weeks left...

[kkchaitu]

Kaladin probably keeps the brands covered up, 

 

And not only is that cliffhanger the end of part one, going by this tweet  which still seems to match the excerpts, Kaladin's next chapter is chapter 16 in part two. Four interludes, two Shallan's chapters and Adolin's chapter all come before that chapter. I have a feeling Amaram and Dalinar never saw Kaladin and the next Kaladin chapter takes place days later.

 

I am not sure that Kaladin's chapter is the last in part 1 since its chapter 12 and according to the twitter post, there should be 13 chapters, but I agree about the cliff hanger. I wonder what is in the 13th one, especially since according to that post, last chapter is Kaladin's. . Or maybe things changed since the post.

[Stoneward]

I am not sure that Kaladin's chapter is the last in part 1 since its chapter 12 and according to the twitter post, there should be 13 chapters, but I agree about the cliff hanger. I wonder what is in the 13th one, especially since according to that post, last chapter is Kaladin's. . Or maybe things changed since the post.

 

Things changed. There were 13, but 2 of the Kaladin chapters were combined. Peter explained this in another thread:

 

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.

 

[kkchaitu]

Things changed. There were 13, but 2 of the Kaladin chapters were combined. Peter explained this in another thread:

 

Ah, thanks!! I missed that.

[Scott]

I've gotta say I don't like Amaram much, but I have hope for him yet.  From the morse code paragraph Brandon posted Amaram knows about the voidbringers and is acting to prepare for them.  In addition, he's important enough that a secretive group sent an assassin after him with a full set of shards.  As readers, Amaram's decision to take the Shards for himself is inexcusable.  That being said.... if we were to put ourselves in his own shoes, leading an army, assassins in Shards attacking him, likely some secret knowledge as well, it would be very difficult not to make the same choice.

 

I'm hoping Kaladin's honor wins out over vengeance and Amaram becomes an important part of the story.  At the same time though, I'd love to see Kaladin stick him to the ceiling or take him for a flight superman-style and drop him a ways 

[Morsk]

• Huh. Why are the listeners' genders malen and femalen? What makes them different from male and female? 
• Aaand here the genders are male and female. Maybe the previous addition of 'n' at the end of each is just some English quirk.

The male and female ones were in mateform. It sounds like Parshendi mostly ignore biological sex, and consider it something latent that only comes out in mateform. I also wonder if "pairs" always have to be in the same form and have some type of special empathy from it, or if it's just a social convention.

edit: Actually this is sort-of confirmed by the early Eshonai reading:

[Venley] wore a robe, tied tight at the waist, that showed a hint of breasts. She was femalen, not a mating form, so they were small.

The canon version on Tor isn't clear about it though:

[Venli] wore a robe, drawn tight at the waist and showing a hint of breasts at the chest. This was not mateform, so they were small.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Morsk

[The Rooster]

I find it interesting that we now have two confirmed 'earth' animals on Roshar - chickens and horses. Horses from Shinovar, sure, but where are the chickens from? How do they survive highstorms - soulcast chicken coops?

Chickens are from Shinovar as well.  In the Rysn interlude in WoK her master trades with He Who Adds for chickens.

[Argent]

i just finished reading these chapters.. O M G. omg HOLY rust! THE HYPE TRAIN HAS ARRIVED, ALL ABOARD. God. Im hyped as f---. Its like reading WoK but from the ending to the begining.

 

Right, so we need to get married, like right now. The avatar constitutes a significant number of the reasons for this, but the comment carries it's own weight. If we have matching parts, that's fine, Illinois thinks that's okay now, so we are fine.

 

Also, this happened.

 

[Shardbearer]

Also on earth animals... didn't someone mention skyeels clutching rats?

[Tarion]

Also on earth animals... didn't someone mention skyeels clutching rats?

Good point.  In chapter 3 of tWoK, Shallan notices skyeels hunting for "rats or fish".  

 

Also, crabs - there's likely a fair amount of crossover outside of mammals.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Tarion

[Argent]

 

In the strange manner of Shardplate, the armor constricted on its own, like a skyeel curling around its rat, pulling to comfortable tightness around [Adolin's] wrists.

[Oxus]

Hi, Another called out lurker here.  I don't have much to add, because the breadth of knowledge here is intimidating and I'm still learning about the cosmere.

 

Just want to say thanks to everyone for their insight, you're making the wait for Book 2 more bearable, and much more exciting!