Your favourite moments in WOR? (spoilers)

[cybera]

"Kaladin, stretch forth thy hand!" - I enjoyed that one immensely. The whole scene really is awesome but that "thy" just made it really funny for me for some reason.

[Ephemera]

Shallan's flashback with Hoid made me tear up. The hug she gave him later--and his adorably awkward reaction--was both poignant and hilarious

[Jimmy moon]

Hands down the most powerful moment of the book for me was Shalan's "The sorrow... of being crushed so often, and so hatefully, that emotion becomes something you can only wish for... of wishing they'd hurt you... of screaming and scrambling and hating as those you love are ruined..." Then she smiled.

 

Other parts:

Really all of the scenes with Shallan's father, he was such a twisted, scary character. And finding out about the sacrifices he made in the end was just amazing.

 

Wit talking to animals was great.

 

I laughed the hardest at Kaladin's "Heralds save us if we don't have sculpting competitions!"

Edited March 11, 2014 by Jimmy moon

[Delightful]

My Just-finished the book strongest impressions/best moments off the top of my head (please excuse spelling/grammar. Overemotional. I will attempt to fix up my spelling when I'm a little more awake. )

 

 

The moments that I had to put the book down and cry:

 

1) Jasnah dying. No I did not see this coming and no I did not think she was still alive. I didn't really think I liked her much, till she was dead and after a wordless freak-out my first coherent thought was "So we NEVER get more of her character? EVER? No awesome scholarly-ness?" And I started bawling again. (When she came back though. I sort of gasped at her name, then everything kind of....floated along. I just dont get how she survived being stabbed directly in the chest. At least she's had some time now to devote to spren politics  )

2)Kaladin imprisoned. "Never again Syl." That HURT.

3)Shallan poisoning her father with the blackbane her brother had carried to commit suicide because of how her father treated them. And then, strangling him so personally with the very necklace he gave her, while singingi that sweet lulllaby. I was dying to know what happened in the chasms, but it took me ages to recover enough from that to go back to reading.

4) SZETH HAS STORMING NIGHTBLOOD! I do *not* see this ending well.

 

The good:

 

Cannot get past the gorgeous gorgeous cover. Specifically ordered the US version, actually, just for the cover. Internal artwork is beautiful (chasmfiend is terrifying!) but oh the cover.

 

1) When Lopen's mother is yelling at Elhokar and he MOUTHS THE WORDS WITH HER!. Just the cutest family detail

 

"You're in my home now!" she said, and Lopen mouthed along with the words. "In a Herdazian woman's home, nobody's station means nothing besides her own...."

2) Sebarial's mistress (forgot her name) "Almight knows you're not the first stray he brought home. Some of us even end up staying." SO MUCH characterisation in those two lines.

3) Shallan storming HUGGING WIT AND HE DOESNT KNOW HOW TO RESPOND. We have never yet seen Hoid speechless. So of course Shallan could do it. Just imagining that priceless look on his face....In addition to Hoid running off giggling like a child after pulling off the driver-swap. Oh Hoid. You are weird and mysterious, a little frightening, hilarious and amazing.

4)When Shallan landed in the Frostlands, woke up with Tvlakv and his crew leading, and despite her grief acts as Jasnah would and starts sorting herself out. I finished that chapter so proud of her, like I've never felt for a character before.

5) Lopen. Lopen. His arm can regrow. I just stared at the book with my mouth wide open, grateful no one else was in the room.

6) Kal finally becoming a Knight Radiant. Happy Dance for many minutes, grinning like a loon. It was great! That being said, when I thought he lost Syl......that was horrible.

7)The Interludes. So half the time I wanted to skip them and get on with the story. That being said, the Reshi Isles being Greatshells blew me away. Still awed by the whole worldbuiling of the Rysn interlude. Then, Taln was just so perfectly done, entirely dialogue and his mad monologue, and it was just wonderful. The way they, + the ghostblood Jah Keved war reveal really made it seem like everyone was at war, much mroe so than WoK did. Then, casually mentioned riots in the capital, from the interlude (forgot the ardent's name) that was a great story by itself - and darn it, I want to know more about Elhokar's wife, and what she's been doing in Kholinar all this time.

8) Details linking up. Brandon re-using minor characters (Tvlakv, Gaz), and relating Moash's backstory to Roshone and now it all makes so much sense and is awesome.

9) Speaking of interludes but this demands a point by itself:

 

[Dalinar] managed to speak, via spanreed, with the emperor of Azir himself -  a new emperor, as Szeth had visited the last one. There had been no sucession war in Azir, of course. Those required too much paperwork.

Dalinar. talking about voidbringers. To GAWX! I lost it laughing at the one, along with the I-believe-already-mentioned 'edgedancers where the most refined and elegant'

 

and that beautiful beautiful last line:

 

"Perhaps," he said, looking up toward the stars. "Whatever else might be said, at least the world chose a nice night upon which to end..."

 

 

 

On a slightly negative note:
Dalinar talking down the Stormfather came across as a little lame to me. Like, seriously? Kal's struggled through depression and losing everyone he's ever loved, Shallan killed her own mother and grew up in a completely abusive houshould. And he goes out and yells for five minutes and BOOM he's a Radiant? And then Renarin. Maybe because I expected it due to Feather's WoB that he has a spren, but that just fell flat for me too.

 

and...Tarah. Oh Tarah. Who are you?

 

All's said and done, I give WoR 100000/10, right now I'm willing to say it's the best book I have ever read in my life. LOVED IT. Now, for a break and then a re-read. 

 

Kaladin flying for the first time (of course it is not so much "flying" as it is "falling with style). Totally had a Wax and Kelsier feel. Brandon really likes his characters to fly.
 

 

Definitely Wax. When he landed I completely expected him to lash himself upwards 3/4 so he'd be able to run and move lighter. Then he didn't, I did a double-take and I remembered, wrong character, wrong magic system, wrong world. 

 

 

[Nihilist]

1. Kaladin rebonding with Syl - I saw it coming though

 

2. Shallan admitting that SHE was the one who killed her mother. - Made sense as to the monster Father had become.

 

3. The appearance of Nightblood - I stopped...reread what Nightblood said and laughed.

 

4.  Dalinar bonding the Stormfather - The old man demanding the bond made me chuckle.

 

5.  The Lopen's last scene in the book. - This had me laughing...as I could imagine him trying to stick himself to the wall.

 

6. Epilogue - I saw this coming, though I wasn't sure how far into the series it would happen.

[WeiryWriter]

I was mostly meta-happy thinking of all the other Sharders who'd be going "SHARDSPEAAAAAAR!!!" upon seeing that.

 

Hehe, I was actually chatting with Windy when I got to that part and all I could say (after OH MY SYL!) was SHARDSPEAR! SHARDSPEAR! SHARDSPEAR!

[Lateralus]

"Voidbring" being used as a verb!

[Numb]

Did Hoid actually swap drivers? I thought he merely used lightweaving and his mastery of accents to fool them into thinking he swapped drivers. 

[kari-no-sugata]

Did Hoid actually swap drivers? I thought he merely used lightweaving and his mastery of accents to fool them into thinking he swapped drivers. 

 

That's what I thought too.

 

I wonder if he planned to do that from the start or decided to after being surprise glomped by Shallan...

[Nebty]

Oh man, there were way too many of them.

 

Shallan's big badass speech to the deserters.

 

"No apologize! Boots!"

 

Kaladin vs Shallan round 2

 

Shallan's flashbacks. Those were very difficult to read, but I enjoyed them a lot.

 

Kaladin jumping into the arena with four shardbearers, felling one with a surge-enhanced missile kick, and fending off two others with a shardplate boxing glove made out of a helmet. This is why I like you, Kal.

 

Finding out that Adolin had made the guards lock him up in solidarity.

 

Lift's interlude. I'm glad I hadn't read it beforehand. Lift and Wyndle were a lot of fun, and her going back for Gawx even though she knew she'd probably be killed was really moving. Lift's a good kid.

 

The entirety of the chasm scene. That was probably the most powerful dialogue in the entire book.

 

Elhokar barging into Kaladin's room, laying himself bare and basically begging Kal to teach him how to be a good person. I never really thought much of Elhokar but damnation, that scene changed a forgettable character into an incredibly sympathetic one. I have high hopes for Elhokar's future development.

 

Dalinar badgering god into becoming his adorable spren sidekick. Nothing but the best for the Blackthorn.

 

There's more, of course, but that's just off the top of my head.

[+eveorjoy]

I have several top threes. All the lists end in most favorite.

Top 3 moments that made me laugh out loud drawing funny looks from anyone nearby.

3. Kaladin riding Dreamstorm

2. Shallan and Kaladin's shouting match outside the Alethi court.

1. Shallan, the Horneater princess, gets Kal's boots.
 

 

Top 3 moments that brought me to almost tears.

3. Adolin telling Kaladin he believes him.

2. Pitt's apology to Kaladin.

1. Shallan remembering how her mother died.
 

 

Best character defining moments.

3. Adolin killing Sadeas. (Adolin overall impressed me in this book. However this moment transformed him from a nice enough character to an intriguing complex character.)

2. Kaladin realizing that Elhokar is Dalinar's "Tien."

1. Shallan remembering how her mother died. (Yeah that was a big moment.)
 

 

Best moments of a character changing a disadvantage into an advantage.

3. Shallan convincing the deserters to protect the caravan.

2. Dalinar taking his humiliation at the feast as a chance to talk about his visions with the Highprinces.

1. Taravangian convincing Szeth Kaladin has an honorblade. (It is fortunate he woke up with some brains that morning.)
 

 

Best moments of sheer awesomeness. (Sadly Lift didn't make the cut.)

3. Kaladin's first flight.

2. Adolin and Kaladin's fight in the arena

1. Kaladin and Szeth's final fight.
 

 

Best lines.

3. "“Difficult things,” Shallan growled. “Yes. I believe I told you. I’ve learned that lesson already. Thank you."  

2. Oddly, Adolin smiled, seeming satisfied. “Ha! I knew there was something wrong with that man.”

1. “You sent him to the sky to die, assassin,” Kaladin said, Stormlight puffing from his lips, “but the sky and the winds are mine. I claim them, as I now claim your life.”

Finally the moments I will most likely listen to the most from the audiobook while I wait for book 3. (I also bought the e-book, but I would read that as a whole as opposed to returning to certain sections.)

3. Lift and Rysn's interludes. (A tie)

2. Kaladin and Shallan in the Chasms.

1. Part 5. (All of Part 5 is awesome.)

[Galladon]

1. Kaladin rebonding with Syl - I saw it coming though

 

Well everybody saw both possibilities coming, and since brandon likes to turn predictions upside down (in this case he could have easily used the next 2 books for some extravagant Kla-spren-bonding-quest or really anything like that), so the only thing is to extrapolate the possibilities and weigh them, which as the hundreds of discussions on this platform have showen is REALLY hard.(I know it sounds personal but it really isn't meant that way-sorry).

Well that beeing said I think I would have thrown the book out of the window if Syl had really died.

[Delightful]

Well everybody saw both possibilities coming, and since brandon likes to turn predictions upside down (in this case he could have easily used the next 2 books for some extravagant Kla-spren-bonding-quest or really anything like that), so the only thing is to extrapolate the possibilities and weigh them, which as the hundreds of discussions on this platform have showen is REALLY hard.(I know it sounds personal but it really isn't meant that way-sorry).

Well that beeing said I think I would have thrown the book out of the window if Syl had really died.

IIRC, from the beginning we had talk of spren dying not really meaning dying the way people die, so I knew that Syl wasn't dead dead. But I did know she was in pain, and that Kal had to get his act together or she'd never come back. So....I kinda knew she'd return, I just didn't know when or how. Although for a while I did wonder if Kal was gonna go evil on us. :'(

[The Count]

The moment that sticks in my head most is Kaladin's Gandalf moment:

 

"You.Will.Not.Have.Him"

 

Excellent stuff.

[Aleksiel]

A minor, yet powerful scene: when Dalinar fought Szeth. He realized he wouldn't have been able to save his brother all those years ago, and found peace in that.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Aleksiel

[fievelgoespostal]

Sorry for the necro, but read all 6 pages and no one mentioned by 2 favorite moments.

 

The first was when they came to Dalinar to say he had come out of the chasms. Dalinar asked "Who?"  and they responded "Stormblessed". The chapter ends and the next one begins with "Dalinar ran the entire way" .

 

To me, Sanderson conveyed such emotion with those few lines.I had goosebumps all over reading that. Thats one of the few (if any) times you see that kind of emotion from Dalinar , and brought out such emotion from me. Incredibly well written.

 

The second was Shallan giving Kal her shardblade to use against the chasmfiend. I had forgotten all about her blade, and again...just another very well written and thought out scene.

[Tacticka]

1. The arena duel, hands down.

2. Everything Jasnah.

[Aether]

The first was when they came to Dalinar to say he had come out of the chasms. Dalinar asked "Who?"  and they responded "Stormblessed". The chapter ends and the next one begins with "Dalinar ran the entire way" .

 

To me, Sanderson conveyed such emotion with those few lines.I had goosebumps all over reading that. Thats one of the few (if any) times you see that kind of emotion from Dalinar , and brought out such emotion from me. Incredibly well written.

This is one of my favourite moments as well, and it brought a tear to my eye when I read it. Dalinar definitely seems to be treating Kaladin more and more like a third son.

 

I myself squeed through the entire arena fight and many of the similarly epic moments of the book, but the moments I tend to remember think the most of in hindsight are the subtle ones, such as Bluth's sacrifice, Gaz' redemption (especially considering how proud he was when he finally handed Shallan WoR), the small hints towards Renarin's troubles throughout the book etc.. Another one is Adolin's self-imposed incarceration, although that on is a tad more in-your-face. Adolin is just a sweet boy, isn't he.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Aether

[FeatherWriter]

Dalinar, just continuing to be the dadliest dad to ever dad. The Highprince of Dads right there.

[Aether]

Dalinar, just continuing to be the dadliest dad to ever dad.

For a second there, I read "deadliest dad", which I suppose is quite apt as well.

[maxal]

Strong Moments:

 

Pretty much everything featuring Adolin, especially the badass duel, the badass fight at the end and all of his interactions with Kaladin. I laugh myself out when he admitted to a very insistent Shallan he shitted in his plates a few times. I laugh again when he tried so hard to make a friend out of a very, very, very grumpy Kaladin. He was a strong character for me in WoR.

 

Kaladin horseback riding.

Kaladin playing the chaperon in the famoust Adolin/Shallan's date.

Injured Kaladin finally trying a chofa (? OK spelling here) and becoming even more bitter as he finds it delicious.

Kaladin finally coming in peace with himself and how to deal with his honor, ie getting Syl back.

Kaladin rescuing Dalinar in the sky and fighting Szeth at the end.

 

Shallan's trip to the Shattered Plain was also a great read.

 

Pattern's misplaced curiosity. Pattern in general. I thought he was great.

 

Weak Moments:

 

Dalinar bonding the stormfather.... I mean can the guy be even more powerful? He is pretty much the equivalent of the Almighty. I thought it was a bit much. I am happy he is KR, but did he have to bond the stormfather? Also, I felt it came out of nowhere.

 

Renarin becoming KR at the very end, out of nowhere. He was not a great character for me in WoR, which is sad since I rather liked him in WoK.

 

Shallan falling deeper and deeper and deeper into her lies... It seemed like it never ended, but I agree I'll give the poor girl a break. We'll see how she goes in the next book.

[Iredomi]

Okay...

I'm going to steal your format maxal haha

 

Strong moments

I really like the first and last duel scenes.

Most of Shallan's flashbacks were gold, but especially the one where Hoid visited I had tears in my eyes by the end of that chapter.

The scene where Shallan summons her blade to kill Tyn was awesome.

Nightblood being given to Szeth

Sadeas's death ( I really enjoyed reading his character and man this death hit me pretty hard)

Ym's interlude, it was beautiful and tragic

Vargo's interlude was great too man I love that character now

The Ghostbloods seem super interesting loved that scene with Mraize at the end there

Also loved the reveal of Renarin's radiantness, I think we all saw it coming but it was great to see

Kaladin falling around the Shattered plains gave wonderful visual of his powers

Zahel's chapter gave me some feels poor guy misses Nightblood.

However my favourite part of the book would have to be the Taln interlude.

It was a thing of crazed beauty and I loved every line of it.

In fact I think most of the interludes were some of the strongest parts of the book which is by no means an issue for me haha.

 

Weak moments

However there was one interlude I wasn't very keen on...

Rysn's interlude, it started off very good and then when it came to the negotiation part it sort of fell flat for me...

Can't really explain why and but it bugged me and stopped me reading for a bit.

Jasnah's death: didn't believe it for a second and I absolutely hate fake deaths in books and sooo many of them happened in WoR, Eshonai and Szeth I forgive because it's not dragged on or anything (unless we're supposed to assume Eshonai is dead...)

Like I know Brandon said that not all characters would survive to their books but I have trouble believing that for the majority of characters so any of those characters feel immortal to me. Shallan, Adolin, Navani and Kaladin are the only ones at risk in the near future in my mind. Though I don't really want characters to start dropping yet if you're going to kill a character have them die forever and stop using supposed death as a tension builder that scene with Elhokar was especially cheap.

 

That is basically my one gripe but it was freaking brilliant book otherwise. And within context the deaths are pretty much forgiven, i just don't know what kind of precedent Szeth's complete revival sets though...

Overall  I think I would give it 8/10 close to a 9, definitely not my favourite work from Brandon but it's definitely up there.

[fievelgoespostal]

This is one of my favourite moments as well, and it brought a tear to my eye when I read it. Dalinar definitely seems to be treating Kaladin more and more like a third son.

 

I myself squeed through the entire arena fight and many of the similarly epic moments of the book, but the moments I tend to remember think the most of in hindsight are the subtle ones, such as Bluth's sacrifice, Gaz' redemption (especially considering how proud he was when he finally handed Shallan WoR), the small hints towards Renarin's troubles throughout the book etc.. Another one is Adolin's self-imposed incarceration, although that on is a tad more in-your-face. Adolin is just a sweet boy, isn't he.

 

im glad I'm not the only one. While it didnt bring a tear to my eye, that same feeling of emotion welled up inside that brings tears.

[Mikanium]

I'm answering this before I read anyone else's replies so I'm not swayed.

 

1) Kaladin finally stop whining, the glyph appearing behind him as he states 'The knights radiant have returned'

 

2) Lift and her Awesomeness.  

 

3) Realization that Hoid has used the Lerasium, and is using Allomancy on Roshar, Which 'pushes' a theory I made over a year ago that there is a pattern to the magic systems on all the shards.   My original theory is in my sig.

 

4) Pattern saying "Voidbringers have no pattern. Besides, I have read of them in your lore. They speak of spindly arms like bone, and horrific faces. I should think, if you wish to find one, the mirror might be a location where you can begin your search". I had to stop reading, and I was wheezing with tears in my eyes.

 

5) Syl changing from sword to spear to shield to hammer.  

 

6) Last, but not least, "The Lopen".

Edited April 29, 2014 by Mikanium

[Mikanium]

I also really liked "The Diagram". It's not a moment per-say, but I just have this picture in my mind of Brandon renting a storage shed somewhere, furnishing it, and actually writing all this stuff out all over the room in brilliant insanity.   I'd also like to know if he wrote the in-world "Worlds of Radiance" book completely.