Words of Radiance Reactions (SPOILERS)

[conn]

Solid book.  My first reaction was that I'm glad we won't have too long of a wait for the next book.  I think there were flaws, but going back over some of them, I can appreciate them a little more.  For example:

 

Interludes: In general I find them annoying since I want to get back to the main story.  I like Eshonai and Taravangian's however.  Lift's was too long, but going back, I liked her more.  She was funny, especially calling her spren a voidbringer and breaking in to places to eat their dinner.  I'm glad she will have a larger role.  I like Rysn, and I assume we'll see more of her, but it was a little too long.

 

Cosmere - I don't mind there being Easter Eggs, but I think people who knew more from the other books may have enjoyed parts of this book more.  I had forgotten the parts from WB since I read it so long ago.  However, I've pretty much caught up on all of it after reading these posts, so maybe it won't matter in the future.

 

Kaladin - I liked his fight in the duel and the ending.  His hating light-eyes was very annoying at times.  It may be understandable, but I thought it slowed the story.  Did he consider that killing the king when Dalinar was away at a dangerous battle could/would lead to Sadeas taking control?

 

Adolin - I think his journey will be similar to his father's, but will just be shorter.  Dalinar would have killed Sadeas when he was younger, but matured as he grew up.  I'm also very glad Sadeas is gone because that political intrigue plot would have been annoying if it continued into book 3.

 

Shallan - Always liked her.  The relationship with Adolin/Kaladin could be troubling.  Could she have been a little more persistent in getting Dalinar's or Navani's attention, especially since the fate of the world was pretty much at stake?

 

Jasnah -  I'm glad she was gone because Shallan needed to be on her own.  I don't really mind if nice characters don't die or comeback, but I'm a little tired of Szeth and his revival cheapens Kaladin's victory.

 

[Kersplattle]

Interesting internal reaction to the book. First I'd say I wasn't helped by the build up and the pre-releases, it made the book hard to start. I first had to skim the first chapters to put them in context, read chapter 7 and take that in, then skim to 13, etc.

As a first immediate reaction to finishing the book I was a little disappointed I have to say. The WoK was beautifully crafted and one thing I did like about it was that we knew nothing much about the world (both Roshar and it's cultural milieu) so reading was an act of discovery, and BS I thought did very well not to explain too much so things were revealed slowly.

WoR. In contrast has an established world, and with the early Jasnah chapters we get a lot explained, I wonder if it would be better to make Jasnah less knowledgeable, or perhaps wrong in certain areas so the mystery continues and intrigues; but that's more taste than a real criticism. We also get, to my mind, a rather too rapid a development of Shallan, from somewhat unworldly 17 year old to immediate near master of circumstances, I found that transition abrupt. I did like the explanation of how she brought the deserters around, by transformation, that works for me as a device. But the rest is perhaps a bit serendipidous, though I did call the rescue by the Santhid ! Then, more on Shallan, bantering in the King's council chamber in front of the assembled high Princes, again, such a fast transition. Though Shallan's murderous tendencies are also shown, and with the end of book revelation about her mother and father (and I certainly didn't call that, although in mitigation I hadn't foreseen the transition of bonded spren to shardblades applying to Shallan such a long time in the past) there's more to her than is immediately apparent.

Shallan and Adolin, I like it. I like Adolin as he develops, more so I have to say than Renarin who is still a bit of a mystery in this book. His remarkable stoicism over handling his shardblade despite the screaming of the temporarily revived spren not withstanding. I feel he has a lot more character development to come.

Kaladin's part is dark, the flirtation with the "dark side", the violation of his oaths, all story development and the working out of his hatreds, hard work, not always fun, but very credible. I wonder just how dead Syl was, was she revived or was she just nearly dead and mostly mindless ? Can the existing shardblades perhaps be revived in some way ?

In retrospect though, I appreciate the work better. I would perhaps originally have given it a 3.5 compared to WoK at 5.0, but I'm revising it upwards, probably to a 4.5. I still feel there's a tad too much explanation, it doesn't unfold into the imagination like WoK, but that was a very hard act to follow and ultimately WoR delivers almost everything we wanted. Not too sure about the stray Cosmere references, I'm not a huge fan of the rest of BS's oeuvre and although it can add a bit of depth, it is bringing in "alien" concepts that don't immediately fit into the Rosharian landscape. Maybe that will flesh out in later books.

Final query, what does it mean that Lopen can absorb stormlight, is he about to become a Radiant, or a radiant squire ? Lopez as a radiant would be an interesting concept ! And how many Parshendi survived the battle and the aftermath, any ?

There's a lot more comment I could make, but that's where it's at after 4 days of it. I'd been complaining that it took a long time to obtain access to the book, and funnily enough the Kindle version arrived less than a day before my hard cover copy was couriered in ! So started on the kindle and finished in the hardcover.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Kersplattle

[veriviette]

^Shallan's fast transition was the same problem I had with Vin, but I think Shallan might have been more understandable, given her kind of ability? to turn lies or possibilities into truths. Especially since she explicitly used Jasnah as a kind of model, and then people--like Dalinar--started seeing Jasnah in her. Possibly a personality disorder in the future? Just kidding though; I think Shallan already has more than enough to worry about.

 

I'm surprised that a lot of people are really happy about Sadeas' death; I mean, I can understand it, and I'm actually pretty glad about it too, that he won't be a nuisance anymore, but on the other hand I'm really horrified that Adolin did it, after spending a majority of the book being so noble. And that he covered it up so well afterwards; there was something just, worksmanship-wise, so great about how BS made how he covered it up so bland and unordinary.

 

I haven't read Warbreaker yet so I didn't even react to Nightblood showing up, but I'm guessing from all the spazzing that this is a fantastic, amazing thing? When I first read Nightblood's line I heard it in Deadpool/Nolan North's voice, and I wonder how off about that I am.

Edited March 9, 2014 by veriviette

[laeelin]

 

Solid book.  My first reaction was that I'm glad we won't have too long of a wait for the next book.  I think there were flaws, but going back over some of them, I can appreciate them a little more.  For example:

 

 

Interludes: In general I find them annoying since I want to get back to the main story.  I like Eshonai and Taravangian's however.  Lift's was too long, but going back, I liked her more.  She was funny, especially calling her spren a voidbringer and breaking in to places to eat their dinner.  I'm glad she will have a larger role.  I like Rysn, and I assume we'll see more of her, but it was a little too long.

 

I love the interludes, but I do skip some of them (when they are not part of the main story) and come back to read them after finishing the rest of the book 

 

They have an interesting effect on the book, and I love how many of them are short stories that are (almost) unrelated the the storyline.

 

On the way home tonight I played the "Lift" interlude for my wife, and now she is planning on reading Way of Kings!

[Awesomeness Summoned]

Well that's kinda cruel of you. Get her hooked on Lift only to have her discover Lift won't appear again until the next book is released 

[Seloun]

WoR. In contrast has an established world, and with the early Jasnah chapters we get a lot explained, I wonder if it would be better to make Jasnah less knowledgeable, or perhaps wrong in certain areas so the mystery continues and intrigues; but that's more taste than a real criticism. We also get, to my mind, a rather too rapid a development of Shallan, from somewhat unworldly 17 year old to immediate near master of circumstances, I found that transition abrupt. I did like the explanation of how she brought the deserters around, by transformation, that works for me as a device. But the rest is perhaps a bit serendipidous, though I did call the rescue by the Santhid ! Then, more on Shallan, bantering in the King's council chamber in front of the assembled high Princes, again, such a fast transition. Though Shallan's murderous tendencies are also shown, and with the end of book revelation about her mother and father (and I certainly didn't call that, although in mitigation I hadn't foreseen the transition of bonded spren to shardblades applying to Shallan such a long time in the past) there's more to her than is immediately apparent.

 

The point about Jasnah is almost certainly why she gets Put On A Bus. A lot of the challenges in WoR would have been minimized if she had made it to the Shattered Plains (the Epilogue somewhat lampshades that). Also, no reason for Shallan to come out of her shell.

 

I'm not sure I agree that Shallan's changes were really that sudden. I really think it was pretty well foreshadowed even from WoK; despite her innocent demeanor, she's incredibly devious even from the very beginning. Her flashbacks are also to explain that she's really been doing this (both her buffing and hiding) for a long, long time - it's as much remembering as anything else.

I don't think Shallan was actually all that super-competent in the book. She makes mistakes (if not fatal ones) in her dealings with the Ghostbloods. She misses the implication of Adolin's challenge (though that may be plot-enforced idiot ball-holding). She doesn't really do that much during the first council meeting besides bluff Sebarial (this is really not that far from how she dealt with the bookstore owner when Yalb gave her the opportunity). Her major wins are mapping the Plains and figuring out the Oathgate; the former is just a good use of her Memory ability, while the latter is something only she could have really done anyway (Kaladin being elsewhere).

[Morsk]

I enjoyed the story. The biggest surprise was all the secret societies. It looks like this will be a big source of conflict, so we'll get more than just Knights fighting Voidbringers. I hope spying on these people becomes a major activity for Shallan. Also the Unmade are already around and have been creating the Thrill, etc. I didn't expect that at all.

I never like reading Kaladin mope, but it wasn't bad enough that I stopped reading. I hope WoR was the last of it for a while though.

No one staying dead doesn't bother me (yet!) because I at least feared Syl and Kaladin really dying. There were clues all the way from Chapter 7 that Jasnah didn't die. (No body, 8 & 9 epigraphs saying "loss" instead of "death", Shallan & Kaladin surviving ridiculous things, etc.) And even when Szeth's eyes burned out, I expected Odium to send him back. But Syl, I was really worried about. Even when epigraphs and cover art guaranteed Kaladin would get powers back, I thought he might get a new spren, and Syl would really be dead.

I like Szeth becoming increasingly insane. He's my favorite for Odium's champion, and hope to see him become far more insane as the story goes on.

Sadeas' death was hilarious, and I wonder if Brandon was trolling us with it. Sadeas had just threatened us even more than Adolin: he threatened to make us read him do the exactly same thing in Book 3 that we'd just spent an entire book putting up with. Then less than a page later, he's dead. Yay!

The cosmere tie-ins interest me. I hope readers who don't "get" them can accept them as backstory, mysterious artifacts, mysterious wanderers, things fantasy always does. e.g. "Elves made this 5000 years ago on the other side of an ocean," vs. "This sword is from another world. It uses weird magic." I don't see how it's any different and would annoy people. But I'm not in the best position to tell.

[Cheese Ninja]

Actually Morsk, Navani still doesn't know Jasnah is alive at the the time of the journal entries, the chapter 7-9 epigraphs are dated as Jesesach (1-1-3), which would be chapter 89, since it says they'd arrived in Urithiru a week ago, which would have been on Ishishach. (10-10-3)

[AerionBFII]

Just finished, a constant few days of epic crammed reading and fist pumping. Now just need to wait for number 3 is out in 2015 or 2016?

 

Best parts:

Shallans character building.
LOPEN!!!
The arena fights.
Kaladin vs Szeth and their equally epic entrances.
Meeting Lopens cousins.
Pattern asking shallan inappropriate questions
The entrance of the sword master! (one of the best characters)
Hoid....in general
The Epigraph letter. (old reptile)
Darkness being creepy as hell
The men of Bridge 4
Sigzil's face when Rock implied he had met a friend of his
Sebarial hahahaha what a guy
The mystirious ghostbloods and members
Taravangian diagram.
Shardblade revalations
...
...
...
Did i mention LOPEN!!

 

 

 

Things on the horizon:

 

I sense an epic love triangle on the way.
Kaladin's epic return to his hometown.
I think Adolin will be trying to cover his chull in the next book (over a certain knife to the eye) so to speak.
We find out what Herald that swordmaster is?
Dalinar having his handsful trying to convince the insufferable world leaders.

Shallan finds out Kaladin killed big bro.

Renarin growing a backbone.
Jasnah and Hoid on a road trip of epic scholarly/action packed/Romantic road trip.
Amaram trying to refound the church and a bromantic relationship with Taln.
Szeths retribution.

 

 

 

Problems:

The nerve of Kaladin losing that flute

Edited March 9, 2014 by WEZ313

[israel8491]

Yay, reviews!

 

I was in a uniquely unfortunate position in that I am currently in Israel, where the book isn't out yet. Luckily, my parents visited me from the US on Thusday and I gave them very specific instructions on purchasing WoR. I spent most of the weekend reading the book. Sorry, Mom and Dad.

 

There are precisely two other books that made me cry. The first is My Sister's Keeper (don't judge please). The second is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This book made me cry twice. Both times were more out of relief than anything else. The first time was during Kaladin's duel with Szeth, when he regained use of his hand. The second was Syl's return. So not emotionally prepared for that.

 

In other news, Syl is officially my favorite character. Kaladin is second.

 

But what truly characterized this book for me was how much time I spent laughing. From "Boots!" onwards, I couldn't stop giggling or even laughing out loud (that doodle Shallan did of Adolin with the words "sigh" written beneath was pure comic genius). I didn't expect this book to be so funny. Heartbreaking, exciting, awesome. But not funny. For me, the humor made the book even better.

 

I loved this book. Maybe it's because I'm coming off of a massive reading high, but my goodness it was brilliant. A lot of people complained about the lack of Dalinar POVs. Dalinar quite frankly bored me in WoK, so his reduced role in this book was a huge plus. Instead, he was replaced by Adolin. Adolin was kinda sorta there in WoK but didn't make much of an impression on me otherwise. In WoR, Adokin really came into his own, becoming a fully developed character. His rivalry and blossoming friendship with Kaladin was beautiful to behold. When they got out of prison and shook hands I put the book down and did a little dance.

 

A lot of people also complained about Kaladin's book-long snit fit. I came in expecting something really long and drawn out and dull, but I was completely engaged in his storyline. After WoK Kaladin trusts Dalinar, but he views him as the exception to the lighteyes. It makes perfect sense that he'd still be distrustful of the other lighteyes in WoR. He does trust Dalinar enough to tell him the truth about Amaram, but because of Dalinar's excessive behind-the-scenes planning, Kaladin has no idea that Dalinar really is investigating Amaram's claims and loses faith when Dalinar doesn't get back to him on it. It makes perfect sense he'd keep his surgebinding secret. And I was fed up with Elhokar back in WoK, so of course this whiny, immature king would grate on Kaladin's nerves. I loved Kaladin's development and his gradual trust of other lighteyes besides Dalinar. His realization that Elhokar was Dalinar's Tien was just beautiful.

 

Shallan... holy cow. Shallan. Poor Shallan. Poor everyone. Shallan's character really progresses amazingly in this book. She too is really coming into her own. The girl who was too intimidated by conflict to stand up for herself is now a master con artist, fooling a deadly organization and persuading a group of deserters to help her. I am so weirdly proud of her.

Eshonai's chapters were just depressing. Soooo close...

 

A lot of people also complained about fake-outs. I actually fell for every single one of them. I was truly convinced that Jasnah, Syl, and Szeth were dead. Syl dying freaked me out to a huge extent. I just love that little spren so much.

 

Speaking of spren, Pattern just didn't make the same impression on me that Syl did. Pattern is much less articulate and intelligent than Syl, and he just never made me feel attached to his character. Maybe he'll grow on me.

 

Lift is awesome (get it?). Third favorite character.

 

The world is expanding and changing and I have no idea where this is all headed. But I am so hooked.

Edited March 9, 2014 by israel8491

[ViZet]

Finished reading just several hours ago.

What can I say - Words of Radiance did not disappoint me at all. On the contrary, the amounts of "WHAT?!" I thought while reading exceeded those with The Way of Kings.

Really, it is hard for me to single out favourite moments. Hoid and sharp tongue. Kaladin and ethical problems. Shallan, ethical problems and sharp tongue.

Kholin family and their awesomeness. I should say, that after first book I had Dalinar as my favourite character and this tome just strengthened the impression. Because... well... Making mockery into aura of power? Creating a manipulative gambit? Fighting an experienced Surgebinder with effect without Plate? Catching a Shardblade with bare hands? Binding the Stormfather... the STORMFATHER and in an almost casual way?

Sadeas was damnation right to fear Dalinar's "resurrection".

Though the rest of the family is quite good too - even Elhokar has his moments. And Adolin... well, if someone doubted that Kholins take family protection serious - Adolin shows that. By the way, I consider such a death to be completely fit for Sadeas - he built himself as a magnificent opponent, might enemy... and was killed in a few moments without even a sword because he misjudged his adversary. Fit. Yes.

Szeth, another one of my favourites - few scenes, but all powerful ones. I haven't tried to predict anything about the book, but I have tried to imagine what happens when Szeth arrives to the Plains... and was mostly right.

But his final scene... new mission... and the fact that Szeth has plenty of questions to Taravangian and his own people now, and he has Nightblood... Terrifying combination.

I should admit, I did not recognize Vasher - mostly because I did not expect to meet him on Roshar. I still don't understand what he does here, and more - what he does here for dozens of years already.

And now...

Hard times.

Waiting for the Volume Three.

[Radda]

I finished reading it a couple of days ago and only now can organize my thoughts in a semblance of a review.

Right now I still love TWoK more, though Words of Radiance was awesome too. Maybe it'll change after the re-read that I'm starting right now. In general, though, TWoK just feels more structured to me, which is strange since WoR puts all the main characters in one place and sets a clear deadline. Maybe it's the lack of repetitive scenes, like bridge runs, through which you can track progression. It felt like characters in WoR did a lot of running around until - bam! - climax happened. The final climax was a bit less satisfying than in Kings, partly because I couldn't come down from it gradually. The book ended practically right away. Yes-yes, I know, they physically couldn't add more than a single page to it, still...

Anyway, I powered through lots of chapters which probably made a lesser impact than they could have, hence the re-read. And may I say what a great feeling it was when you check your progress bar and see that you still have so much left!

 

Jasnah's death - I didn't buy it right from the start (no body, no death) and my only thought was "She's better reappear in this book". It has been really distracting for a while, right until the Kaladin-Adolin-Zahel impromptu fight which was like a long-awaited gunshot after hours of heavy silence. It's one of my absolutely favourite moments in the whole book!

 

Kaladin. Spoiler-free reviews had me worried and I was bracing myself for lots of teeth-gnashing and headdecking, WoT-style. So it was a really great surprise when none of that happened. Not a single time. In fact, I completely understand where he was coming from, would probably do it myself, were I in his place. Also notable is how quickly he notices when something goes wrong with Syl and doesn't spend half the book blissfully unaware, thank god. In short, I loved his arc. Loved that there were setbacks and not everything went hunky dory after pronouncing two ideals. Loved that there was still a lot of him even though it's not his book. Loved his long way to friendship with Adolin and the fact that his confrontation with Moash happened now and not a couple of books later when it would've grown like a tumor.

 

Shallan. She didn't become my favourite but her growth was spectacular, even if a bit unbelievable at times. I loved how she'd grown to be so capable but still could make a mistake or fret about Adolin.

Her flashbacks were like a trainwreck and painful to read. I also feel cheated since we still have no clue as to how she bonded a spren and said the first ideal in the first place. Though feeling cheated is somehow appropriate when it comes to Shallan.

Sebarial and his household was great! I want more of them or characters like that.

Also, oh-no-no, she's firmly on her way to pairing up with Kaladin. But... but that would be so typical! It's like setting Harry with Jinny. I still have hopes for Adolin, though. Hang in there!

 

Adolin was interesting in The Way of Kings and ended WoR in a pivotal place. I can't wait to see what'll happen with him next. Fingers crossed for him to make right choices.

 

Dalinar was scarce but so impressive. Bonding Stormfather - how cool is that! His absence didn't bother me much, we mostly skipped a lot of politicking back and forth, pretended sickness and annoying Elhokar, probably.

 

Eshonai. Reading about her was also like watching a trainwreck. Hopefully she'll make some steps to get herself out of the stormform trap because I doubt I'll be able to read a whole huge book when she's like that and her situation is so hopeless.

 

Bridge four guys were my light and joy, especially Rock and The Lopen The moment when Kaladin finds Hobber after Szeth's attack is just ah-h... I missed Sigzil and I still can't decide if there was some special significance to mentioning Teft absence several times somewhere in the first part. Poor Teft.

Shen - I knew it, I knew it! Also is it just me or he really became exceptionally articulate for a dullform before his leaving?

Moash. I just hope he is not on a path to becoming Odium champion.

 

Illustrations were even better than in TWoK, and some of them in color, no less! I had a completely different image of a chasmfiend (like an oversized chull). The actual one looks so frightening. And did you notice the faint Aleti letters on the chasmfiend drawing (if I'm not mistaken). I wonder what they say.

Loved the fashion pages. I never thought Rosharian clothing looked so... well, modern. I actually like that it's so modern.

 

What I didn't like. I could've done without a couple of Sadeas's POVs and read a bit more about Renarin instead. It looks to me like Sanderson's reserving as much of Renarin as he can for future books.

I didn't particularly like Lift. Right now she seems more like a quirky and fun writing excercise than a person. Or maybe it's just her quirkiness that's bothering me because Axies the Collector was my favourite interlude character in the previos book. I just hope when her book comes, she'll be more balanced.

And the appearance of Nightblood. This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules. I know that there'll be a story connecting different cosmere worlds at some time but right now it was like "What's this, a crossover fanfic?".

 

Aaand now it's time for that reread.

[Mikanium]

Liked:

1) Nightblood appearing. I have a theory about that somewhere on the forums

2) The epilogue. It wasn't the fact that Jesnah was still alive, but the fact I get the feeling Hoid is going to introduce her into the cosmere and she will become a World Hopper.

3) Learning why shardblades could not be created by the Artifabrians.

4) The amount of mysteries that were cleared up in the first 6 or 7 chapters.

5) Shallin's flashbacks. I always suspected she killed her mother.

6) Pattern. I'm hard pressed to say who I like better, Syl or Pattern

7) The new Order of Radiants, the GonchoBringers. I LOVED that.

Disliked:

1) Sadeous's death scene. I'm happy it happened, but it needed more attention.

2) Listening to Michael Kramer read the numbers on the epitaths in chapters 84 and 88. (I did the audiobook)

3) It didn't seem real that Kalidin would ignore Syl as much as he did, almost killing her. It also didn't seem real that he would be so loyal to Dalinar yet not speak to him of the assassination plot.

4) Stormfather all of a sudden deciding to talk to people when addressed.

Confused:

Stormfather seems to care less about the Humanoid species, however, he was obviously pained when the parshendi learned the stormsong.

Where's Cultivation?

The motive for Nalan giving Szeth Nightblood doesn't make sense of Nalan's attributes, which are Just and Confidence. I understand that Skybreakers have some issues with Windrunners, but bringing him back to life and giving him Nightblade seems out of character

[flyleaffan]

So I loved it first of all.

 

Second, my boyfriend and I were pretty much at the same pace with the book but I shot ahead closer to the end. But somewhere in part 4 I was thinking about how Soulcasting works and how the body remains in the Physical Realm but the Mind goes to the Cognitive Realm. And I was thinking of a (somewhat far-fetched) way that Jasnah could still be alive. I theorized that she could have either soulcast her own body, somehow healing the wounds, or simply (but not really) soulcasting a new body somehow. And I'm so glad I was right that Jasnah is alive but I was completely wrong about how. My question for that is: Did Jasnah elsecall to get out of Shadesmar and her Mind stepped out of the Cognitive Realm, which basically had her body intact? It's kind of weird....I hope we get some answers about that. 

 

Also, I remember reading a theory on here or on TWG back in the day theorizing that Shardblades were actually spren and I completely laughed that off. Completely taken aback that that is actually the case. The fact that the living spren/shardblades can morph for their needs is really cool. loved that. 

 

I'm just wondering about Shallan's oaths as LIghtbringer. I don't remember her saying them. But the fact that Pattern has been with her from a young age may mean she said them a long time ago. For Kaladin to get Syl back and for her to change into a blad, he had to speak the second oath, so if the same is true for all orders of KR, it's possible Shallan has given at least 2 of her oaths already. 

 

So the fact that Szeth was revived I think is really cool but what is the deal with the sword? Who brought it to Roshar? 

 

And I'd like to think that Honor's splintering by Odium may have taken place on the Shattered Plains, causing the shattering. I love the fact that the plains are a cymatic field and that quote mentioning the cymatic even that caused them to shatter. 

 

Also, Zahel? He mentioned that the storms are heavily Invested so he knows much more than meets the eye. Could he be 17th Shard? 

 

EDIT: Also, I cried. I cried in the scene when Shallan and Kaladin talk about their pasts. It was so heartbreaking and relieving at the same time and I loved it but I cried. Thank you, Brandon for making this possible. I love when I cry reading books because the author did something incredibly right. The only other times I've cried reading a fiction book are both of Pat Rothfuss's books. 

Edited March 10, 2014 by flyleaffan

[virtualFudge]

What if Zahel is Vasher aaand a herald...?

[+rhaiynebow]

Loved this book! I wasn't sure how to feel about Shallan at the end of TWoK, but after WoR, I really like her! Although I did call her killing her Mother almost immediately, but NOT the part about her using pattern to do it! Jasnah is my absolute favorite character, so I was shocked and upset by her death but was holding on to hope that she had taken a jaunt to Shadesmar

My only issue was with Kaladin when he went all revenge mode and "killed" Syl. It doesn't detract from my overall love of the book because I'm fairly certain that's exactly how I was supposed to be feeling Of course all was forgiven when he went all KR instead!

Now, the torturous wait for the next book...UGH!

[Asperity]

I feel like the pacing was a bit slow, or, easier to see coming what with the deadline from the glyphs and Kaladin's intermission from his Windrunner powers, etc.

 

Barring that, I was very excited to see Nightblood at the end as I knew that he was going to show up somehow and was even more excited to spot the Cosmere references and reveals, which is the entire reason I'm interested in the meta-series.

 

Now for an agonizing 10+ year wait until the meaty books are released but I wonder how Cosmere-packed each consecutive book will be now.

[prognosis]

I just finished it, started yesterday.
 
Shallan was annoyingly successful, and Kaladin was still whiny. Through every moment of Kaladin decision-making my brain was going 'you-can't-do-this-you-shouldn't-do-this-this-makes-no-sense-whatsoever-oh-crap-you-did-it-anyway'. It was hard to sympathize with his misery after everything he did to make things worse. I was glad that Dalinar didn't have personality crises this time round.
 
I loved Taravingian's background and his situation. The trouble is that there's no good reason I can see for anyone to stop him (which most likely will happen); unless the argument is something like 'his Diagram failed to account for human emotion', which would be bad.
 
I need some context on Warbreaker's connection to this story. I've read the Mistborn trilogy, and I couldn't find any references to it aside from the name Hoid. Should I read Warbreaker? Do I need to?
 
Roshar seems to have an endless supply of badass mysterious men and women - Mraize, Wit, Zahel, Taln, the guy who killed Ym and tried to kill Lift (same guy, right?), Nalan, Iyatil... off the top of my head, there are several more, I'm sure. I actually enjoy it; I'm not complaining so long as they're reigned in properly. It's hard to value the average person in Roshar with all the superpowers flying around by the end of WoR. TWoK didn't have that problem, especially due to the bridgemen plotline. The bridgemen seem somewhat devalued by gaining stormlight absorbing powers, but I'll withhold judgement on that decision until book 3.
 
Back to Shallan... I had fun reading her, but I wished that everything wasn't so easy for her, especially the journey to the Shattered Plains. But I get why it was done that way, she's built up some much needed confidence over the course of the book.
 
The worldbuilding was brilliantly done, especially through the interludes. Brandon's created a huge expansive world, one with much to discover. This truely feels like ten books -and more- worth of material. He never loses control of the threads, however. I haven't seen this level of plot mastery since the Malazan Books of the Fallen. It's also a pleasure to learn more about the magic system, which is as well designed as Mistborn's was, but with greater complexity and more possibilities.
 
EDIT: I'm also wondering how the series is gonna last ten books with everything seeming on the brink of destruction by the end of WoR. It already feels like -WoT spoiler (Highlight to read, I don't know how to Spoiler hide it)-
 
Wheel of Time at book 13, with all the major characters having worked through most of their personality issues, and in positions of serious power with a lot of battle prowess.

 

Thoughts?

Edited March 11, 2014 by prognosis

[Mr Horrible]

@Prognosis; Some of Taravingian's ideas when he's at his most brilliant are utterly awful (wanting anyone below a certain IQ to kill themselves or only allowing smart people to reproduce). As far as I'm concerned this is enough of an indicator to throw his diagram into significant doubt (as well as it seeming to fail to account for Kaladin/the KR).

[prognosis]

That's what occurred to me as well. However, him being a hundred times smarter than any other time seems to make his plan a bit unquestionable. As I understand it, his plan would be as brutal and evil as it needed to be in order to succeed, but it would offer the best odds of success.

[Laryna]

I never believed any work could be greater than WoK, but WoR proved me wrong. It was an absolutely thrilling read, and considering the amount of stuff that's been revealed, I can't fathom what's going to happen in the coming parts.

First of all, Kaladin. Oh.My.Gosh. He is just so AWESOME (seriously, Kaladin should be using this word instead of Lift). In the previous book, Kaladin's parts were infinitely more interesting than those of Shallan, but in WoR, her's were almost as good.

And the character development.

And the fights.

And the ending.

Seriously, can anyone ask for anything more?

*Spoiler*

And I never did believe that Jasnah had died. Someone so important can't die so abruptly. Nevertheless, I was still screaming in delight at the epilogue.

[The Count]

OK, Just spent a very happy weekend in the sun reading Words of Radiance.

 

Well, what a rollercoaster of a book it is. Extreme emotional reactions to books are quite rare for me but at several points in this book I did one (sometimes several) of the following:

 

Laugh out loud, Whoop, Fist bump, Gibber, Shout Yeeeeeah BABY!, Get teared up, Murmur No no no... please no, Jump around the room in pure delight, Slam my kindle shut in disgust.

 

So the impact of the writing I that sense was fantastic.

 

Shallan's arc was good and she certainly did ALOT of stuff. infiltrating the Ghostbloods was great and I liked the twist at the end where Mraize turned it around on her. How her relationship with then develops in the future will be interesting.

 

I though the revelations about her past we a little predictable. It was really obvious to me that she had killed her mother. I also made the connection that her shardblade was a real one as soon as it changed shape for her in the chasms.

 

Having said that, I found the repressed memory arc to be very believable considering the horrific nature of her childhood. The way she killed her father was especially chilling in the cold efficiency of it. This also made her character progression during the main story much more understandable.

 

I have read people saying her progression was too quick, but I think the point was that she was never the fearful introvert we assumed in tWoK. She was always taking risks and pushing her boundaries as a child for the good of her family. Looking back, her decision to go to Kharbranth and try to steal the soulcaster was completely in character for her. Once she got over her (understandable) aversion to conflict, her recklessness reasserted itself and the rest is history.

 

I read it as almost like her repressed memories were pushing against her subconscious making her almost seek situations where she could punish herself and get the beatings she felt she deserved in the back of her mind.

 

I also felt an acute sympathy for Lin Davar, who broke himself and his family to protect his 10 year old daughter. HIs story was tragic and his death at Shallan's had was, unfortunately, inevitable.

 

Kaladin's story I found very frustrating to read, mostly because it was so realistic. He behaved exactly I would expect a 20 year may, forced to grow up too quickly and still crippled by the loss of his younger brother. He is headstrong, arrogant and blinded by his own prejudice, just like almost every other teenager only I have known.

 

I spent a good portion of the 2nd third of the book wanting to shake him, slap him and otherwise tell him that not everything is about him. For me, seeing Syl starting to act more like a windspren again, flighty and easily distracted, was absolutely heart breaking.

 

I was also glad that his resolution of his issues was quite adult and not too 'moment of revalation'. His time with Shallan, his realisation about Elhokar and his spotting of his similarities to Amaram all played their part in getting him back in the game.

 

He even got to go all Gandalf on Moash's chull... You.Will.Not.Have.Him... Brilliant.

 

The action sequences were, as expected, very exciting. The duel was great, as was the final Szeth battle.

 

Some of the things I am not sold on yet?

 

Szeths resurrection is a little bit Forsaken-y for me. I thought Shardblades were meant to sever the soul, bringing him back seemed a bit forced to me. Although that was obviously overshadowed by the total WFT moment in the appearance of Nightblood.

 

The love triangle setup was also a bit much for me.

 

Jasnah's return was totally expected but after the return of both Syl and Szeth, I felt that nobody of any narrative consequence actually died at all.

 

Would have been better IMO if someone had just stayed dead.

 

There are plenty of other points I could talk about (this is a very action packed book) but I will save those for other threads and discussion.

[kaos]

That's what occurred to me as well. However, him being a hundred times smarter than any other time seems to make his plan a bit unquestionable. As I understand it, his plan would be as brutal and evil as it needed to be in order to succeed, but it would offer the best odds of success.

Unless they misunderstand the diagram. Or it's wrong. Which I think they mention it has been a few times. And the fact that Dalinar didn't get killed means he will be opposing the Diagram which means it is probably even further off.

 

I mean the diagram (or at least smart Tarvawhatever) doesn't seem to get human nature. If a weird prophecy told you to kill yourself, would you? No. And in a way that's what the diagram probably tells a lot of people to do. They are likely going to fail to manipulate all the events properly, liked they almost screwed up when their Truthless met a Surgebinder. 

 

Anyway the plan is, at the very least, a good starting point I figure. But variables (Tarvas intelligence, Dalinar living, things he didn't know about (like what Hoids doing or Kaladin meeting Szeth.)) will make it obsolete eventually.

[prognosis]

It brings to mind Seldon's plan ( Foundation series ), wherein the broader picture would remain the same, while minor variations are accounted for by people who tend to the plan. But yeah, this particular plan can't survive so volatile an environment.

[CJ Feboris]

I loved the book, I don't think I liked it as much as tWoK, but it was awesome nonetheless. I think the major issues I had with the book was the lack of information relating to Shallan's bonding with Pattern, I wanted to hear her speak the oaths, I wanted to see her develop a little bit. I see why it was not included, but I still felt we were missing a lot by not having that story.

 

I have to concur with the comments about Kaladin's character being too whiny. Nearly 2/3 through the book, I got really annoyed listening to his hate, yeah, yeah we get it, he is broken and he is not whole yet, that is what the entire last book was about, can we move on a bit from here. 

 

I expected the Kaladin/Shallan connection even in the first book based on their temperments, but I think it might mean that Brandon will have to kill off Adolin at some point which is a bit disappointing and annoying. 

 

While speaking of Adolin, I love that Sadeas is dead, I don't love that Adolin did it in such a backhanded way that makes me like him less. He is such a good guy and Dallinar is not wrong in his assessment of Adolin, and then we have to get this darker Adolin. I suppose this is to make him a "rounder" character and not one-dimensional, maybe it is the breaks in his soul that he needs to become a Radiant, Brandon knows the truth and is going to make us wait for 18 more months before we get to know them...  

 

I really liked how the book developed the Radiant side of the world this time. I really craved more information on them after the first book and this book delievered on that count. 

 

I had to say that I never bought Jasneh being dead, even in the rush I was in to get through the book. It was all to jumbled and chaotic to know for sure, we know that Shallan can create illusions with her Surgebinding, there is probably something that Jasneh could do to make it look like she was stabbed through the heart and dead. It seemed transparent to me. I did find it odd that she took so long to come back to the story until I read some of the comments here, they are right she needed to be gone for the book to progress, especially the Shallan character. I thought it was quite amusing when Wit/Hoid talked to her and told her everything that she had been looking for had been found. 

 

I awaited this book like I awaited Christmas gifts as a child, and I must say I am not disappointed. There were times while reading it that I thought I might be, but I just kept going a few more pages and the Brandon awesomeness would show through. I am so thankful that he has chosen to share his stories, they are excessively diverting and all-around wonderful to be a part of.