Fifth of Daybreak

I just lent out my book, so I don't have the exact quotes and references, but on the lines of Prof never engaging of contests, we have Exel directly contradicting that. In their conversation when listening to the radio signal, Exel mentions that he once saw Prof lose to bluff in poker, and so they had empirical evidence he doesn't know everything. I could see maybe Exel saying this offhand as a joke, but it does seem to be a large disconnect between his story and Tia's.

Well, characters as two dimensional as David was in Steelheart aren't the norm for Brandon, especially considering it's from his perspective. We learn so much more about David's flaws in Firefight, and flush him out better as a character.

You can have one of my spoken 'thank you's then. I've got a few extra

Silently? I said 'thank you' out loud five times, and my brother texted me from halfway across the country saying how happy he was that it was finally addressed.

After he's taken out we'll have to find someone to write Oblit a nice Obit since Excelwas killed.

Would you like me to move this over and then you hide this thread?

Megan routinely changes squirrels into Lifeless squirrels, simply because she can.

I think the bigger difference isn't the coma, but rather the mindset he entered the coma in. Up to this point, I'm fairly sure we haven't seen any children become Epics, and I think that's one of the main reasons that Dawnslight was benevolent, not the coma, but the childlike mindset. Calamity might not being able to distinguish a coma from a waking person, and since Dawnslight was an adult, I doubt that Calamity is omniscient and can read minds enough to determine that sort of difference in a person. I'm interested to learn more about Calamity and his(?) limitations.

We definitely need some WoB on Instabam. Not even a hint of anything other than the awesome name!

The wait drags on but the reading goes by so fast. Though I'll have the rest of the WoT to read after I finish Knife of Dreams (I put it aside to read Firefight.) So honestly, I loved this even more than I did Steelheart. There were some large surprises in Steelheart, but I felt like it was pretty straightforward as far as narratives go. The story line for the entire book can extrapolated from the first sentence in the prologue. It was really discovering the world that was more interesting. Super hero as a genre has become one of the norms, and this nuance on it had not been overdone yet. It was a fun story with action driving it. But much like revenge itself, it felt hollow with only bloodthirst being the driving force behind moving the plot forward. I feel like Firefight has more soul where Steelheart was lacking. Don't get me wrong. I cared about the characters in Steelheart (I missed Cody and Abraham, but that's about as close to a criticism as I'll give to Firefight,) but I didn't really feel like I knew David until Firefight. Besides his pluck attitude and gift with colorful comparisons, he was a very vanilla character to me. He really grew into his own during Firefight, and I think that's partially because he didn't know himself. His journey of self-discovery seemed very genuine to me, reminiscent of some of the feelings I had myself at that age, especially when discovering my own shortcomings. This kind of beliveability to the character allowed me to better immerse myself into his perspective, and experience the story through his eyes. Last summer, I took my very first paid vacation ever, and went to New York City. I live pretty near Chicago, and have been there many times in my life. I think what really stood out to me in this book was how the culture and ambiance Brandon depicted in Babilar, and its stark difference between Newcago very much mirrored my own feelings for both places. Chicago is a great place to visit, and I don't mean to bad mouth it in any way, but it doesn't have that same feeling of life that's in NYC. The unique culture and vibrant lifestyle in Babilar just felt right to me, comparing my own experiences to what David feels in the book. While much of Steelheart was action driven, I feel as though most of the more important pieces of Firefight are completely driven by emotion, and by character development. I felt the same confusion and despair as David did interacting with Megan. I've been playing a board game called The Resistance lately, which is a little like Mafia. I have a large amount of empirical proof that those you love can lie to you easily and believably. I got the same sinking feeling I got when losing one of those games several times throughout the book. Betrayal, grief, and just a smattering of guilt for trusting them. I was stuck most of the book trusting in Megan, while getting ready for the rug to be pulled out from underneath me. I had guessed Regalia's overarching plan somewhere around page 200, but that was also when I was speculating over whether or not Val was Megan in disguise. (She seemed to get really grouchy every time Megan had been around.) The scenes between her and David always seemed real to me. When David mentioned the safety being on as proof of true love, I was in tears from laughter. Megan pointing a gun at David is the closest thing they'll ever have to "their song." When Megan showed up in the base, and Val was there, I knew everything was just about to explode. If Megan wasn't Val, then Megan was being stupid, and David being stupid is pretty much the driving force behind every plot point since he first decided that interfering with an assassination attempt was a good idea. I assumed that Prof was keeping an eye on David, and the "come to Jesus" talk Prof had with him just sent red flags parading around inside my head. I was still hoping for a resolution to the Megan plotline that wouldn't give me anxiety, but that wouldn't have been any fun would it have? The subtle theological discussions thrown in are fascinating, and I'm looking forward to going back and giving them a closer look. One such moment was when Megan was talking with David about Steelheart and used the phrase: "you don't get a pass for murder just because you're not as bad as you could be." The hypocrisy of that statement had to slap Megan across the face, and the fact that David still hasn't recognized that in regards to Megan just shows his own character flaws. I'm hoping that the next book will see him addressing his hypocrisies, as he already has started to. For instance, I only felt wretched when the showdown with Knoxx ended. It felt too much like David was on a slippery slope headed for torture, which would push his character past redemption in my eyes. Val already seemed to be to me. I don't know much about the Knoxx guy, but that sort of street justice just makes me ill, especially in light of recent events in the United States (not to open up any cans of worms here on the forums, I'm not trying to make any sort of statement other than my own personal discomfort.) David's ambush also was too far for me. I just feel like David just decided that since he was an Epic it was ok, but I wish he knew more about Knoxx's personal crimes before acting like that. The Reckoner's had always hit Epics before based on how bad they were. For many of these reasons, I feel like Firefight was a battle for the Reckoner's soul, and I'm still not sure if it was won or not. I don't accept that Prof was the entire soul of the operation, though it was mostly his corruption that caused it. What's left of the Reckoner's can still act with soul. Cody and Abraham both seemed to have personalities that would balance Prof, while everyone in the Babilar sect were freshly wounded with the loss of Sam. While one sect may be lost, there still an entire network out there not emotionally unbalanced and working without oversight. Unless his first act as High Epic is to completely destroy the Reckoner but that's talk for later. Again, Brandon wrote a very well constructed book in my opinion. He had sufficient foreshadowing for Megan's reappearance, as well as her increased control of reality for it to not feel like a forced ending. Her wish to be free of the powers seems like a legitimate piece of character development after going through her "rehab" stint in Steelheart. She acts very much in conflict with herself through most of the book. The Calamity reveal was very shocking to me. Seems like something that would be common knowledge if all you needed was a telescope to find that out. (I do recall maybe a rumor or something from Steelheart? Not sure, might look into it later.) But the interaction between Calamity and David left me with huge expectations about the next scene, which were immediately flattened. There was a small period where I felt as though the book would end in a disappointment, but when conflict began again immediately, I was willing to look past it. Conquering a fear really is a huge turning point for you. I won't tell a long story, but I remember the day I was the most scared when I tried to start a strike in sixth grade. After that, I never had any problems performing or public speaking, and it became one of my biggest strengths. Now it's just spiders I need to watch out for! I'm not sure what else to say about the book. I don't want to focus on the action scenes, much as I loved them, because I really feel like the merit here was in the emotionally provocative scenes. Steelheart was fun, and it was quirky, and I loved it for that. It had some emotional ups and downs, but really it was just an action story. Firefight seemed like a war of emotions and philosophies. But in the end, every book just leaves one unquenchable emotion: the thirst for more. IMPORTANT EDIT: The best part of the book was when Megan corrected David on using similes. I literally said "thank you" out loud at least five times to no one in particular. I lost count. At least five.

I'm at work on a twenty four hour shift, meanwhile my Weller Book Work's copy arrived at home a day early.

Awesome thanks. I never thought to expand the release event. I've been checking that page pretty regularly too! Have an upvote for making me feel foolish while being incredibly helpful!

“Nightblood becomes a t-shirt. Let it rule! Let it rule!” —Collected on Kakevah 1173, 22 seconds pre-death, by Diagramists. Subject was a darkeyed Selay man of unknown profession. “They come from the store, two new shirts, my heart in their hands, and I know that I have seen true glory.”—Collected on Kakashah 1173, 13 seconds pre-death, by Diagramists. Subject was a rickshaw puller. Also Redbird, that was my exact reaction on Facebook today.

Anyone know if Brandon is planning on touring at all after Firefight is released, or if he's planning another promotion like the Steelhunt? I missed out on a Newcago postcard and I'd love to meet him again and get more Sanderswag. (That's a word now.)

I decided to do a small tribute to Robin by going dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire for Halloween. Miss you Robin.

Sorry for the delay on this, I've been fairly busy lately. I'm starting up a messaging thread between everyone who seemed like they might be interested.

So for everyone interested, do we want to try to be more interactive and explain our story ideas, or should we just do a weekly check in on word counts and post mysterious comments about how awesome or terrible our projects are going? I'd like to do weekly word count check ins here at the very least.

Well, after all the references to how weak this novel was in the series, I can say that I agree with most of the assessment, but mostly because there was so much more that the book could have been. It was very hard to get into the core of the book. I've read online before about the prologue and how important it is to keep it as short as possible, or even dis-include it completely if possible, and I completely understand after this. It makes me thankful for Brandon's interlude chapters. In fact, I think the way he's organized the SA so far shows how much he learned from tWoT. The continuous perspective chapters work well about three quarters as often as it frustrates me. Having the seperate sections of the book, and knowing whose perspective will be explored was comforting, and kept the story flowing even when the action wasn't necessarily present. I'm less convinced in this book that the events that took place necessarily needed to happen. There are key points that needed to be hit, but at the same time, there was a lot of filler too. I definitely can understand why Brandon is planning on having a gap in time between the two halves of the SA after slogging through the last couple novels. I feel like that could've streamlined it just a bit. Granted, the time lapse couldn't be as significant as Brandon is planning, but just a small lapse in time between CoT and WH would have shortened a few storylines. One that I remain unconvinced of its necessity in this book was Elayne. I felt like after the huge expanse in scope this story has taken, turning our attention into Andor was disappointing, and almost a step back. She's gotten a very large amount of screen time, and it continues to chafe that Aviendha continues to be overlooked as far as seeing from her perspective. Although, while I say that, Elayne's pregnancy and internal struggle with the effects were a highlight of the book, at least as far as comic relief went. One thing that truly goaded me was seeing her discussion with the Seafolk when making the second bargain. Her bargaining power was so much greater when bargaining for the Bowl of the Winds, so how did that end in such disaster when she obviously is an accomplished stateswoman? Mat's story arch was fairly interesting. Tuon intrigues me, and at the end of the arch, when Renna ran off, I thought there was a good amount of excitement coming, and I raced ahead to catch the action....only to be disappointed. There was an inordinate amount of buildup that culminate in a three page horse chase, with an ending that I felt was very anticlimactic. Perrin...oh Perrin. "The abyss also gazes into you." I think the entire book was worth it just for that one moment. Not because I liked it, but because I hated it so much. It was out of character, but completely justified by the events leading up to it. The emotional reaction that I endured when reading that scene was incredible, and illustrates that Jordan truly is a spectacular author, no matter how much I bash some of his decisions . My heart fell to floor when Perrin's ax took the Aiel's hand, and I felt something akin to what I'm sure Perrin was feeling afterwords. So.....is there just not going to be anything explained about So Harbor? Rand destroyed the Taint...but he still gets channeling sickness? Very confusing and frustrating to get no further information on that. On that note, I think my biggest disappointment in the book was how much it was stressed that events happened simultaneously as the cleansing, but for no well established reason. When Aes Sedai and Asha'man were reacting to it happening my thought was "oh cool, characters are reacting to events as they happen. Most are assuming wrong as to what this is. There's going to be some sort of fallout from this only because no one knows what's going on. (Yes, I know it prompted the Aes Sedai to decide to reach out to the Asha'man, but nobody asked you hypothetical response to my statement.)" As each character had responses to the 'beacon' I got more and more excited, as soon there'd have to be someone doing something because of it. Then, it was gone, and the only ones who even batted an eye were the Aes Sedai. What the????? We get no reactions from any of the Asha'man that the taint was gone? No weird magical residue affecting Saidar and Saidin? So when a circle of thirteen women use a ter'angreal, without any men, there results a channeling disruption effect, but when two of the strongest channelers in the world link, and use the most powerful Sa'angreal ever made, destroy the taint on the one power, and take out Shadar Logoth to boot, nothing happens? That was MADDENINGLY disappointing. The taint has to have been more closely tied to the Dark One than his control of the weather, but still, pretty much nothing. Also, no reactions from the Forsaken after their crushing defeat, in which one of them is killed? I just felt like there could have been so much more to this book that was overlooked. While it was slightly interesting to learn about winnowing, as I'd never heard of the practice before, the point that the Dark One's corruption was causing havoc was more than well illustrated by the Aes Sedais' preservings failing during the march to Tar Valon. Events like this could have been glossed over, and more time could have been spent moving forward some of the side plots, especially as more and more of them are added without sufficient progress on the ones that exist already. After reading through ten books, I think that an equally appropriate title for the series would be 'The Wheel of Incompetence." Especially when it comes to the Forsaken. At first it was intriguing to watch them scheme against each other, but now it seems that even the Forsaken who left themselves out of those struggles are just as incompetent. Mesaana sends Alviarin away from the tower, lets Elaida get out of hand, does absolutely nothing about the army camped outside, and ignores summons. Right. Great job there. Then Shaidar Haran showed up. Making hints that Shaidar is literally the Dark One's hand in the world was a cool revelation, as I had figured it was more a title, like the Mouth of Sauron. Then his armor came off. The casual use of rape for the second time in the series is a serious problem for me. I think at this point, we know the Dark One is evil, and this revelation, that he uses rape as a punishment, doesn't add enough into the story to justify its usage, especially along the sexism that's prevalent throughout the series. The last feeling I've had that I want to illustrate is that I really felt the tragedy of Jordan's death reading this novel. I cannot imagine having set up the incredibly intricate story that he did, and not being able to see my vision come to fruition. From what I've read, he was supposed to have only one book left after the Knife of Dreams, and that is heartbreaking. While my posts may have been filled with nitpicks and complaints, I hope that it is understood that I only analyze and criticize so closely because it is something that I've truly enjoyed and to help develop my skills as a writer, by seeing the techniques he employs that both work and don't. Even after reading several arguably weaker books, I still finished with an excitement to keep going, and a fervor to see the strands of the pattern woven into a conclusion. Having that feeling as a reader, it only stresses how much more elevated that disappointment must have been for him. I may not have known your works while you were still with us Robert Jordan, but I grieve for your loss, and for our loss of you.

I wasn't impressed when the Prologue lasted 97 pages, that's for sure.

After they use the Bowl of the Winds, the Asha'man and the damane both say there is something strange with the source in the area. The damane came down with a sickness, and the Asha'man had trouble controlling saidin.

Double feature this time boys! So I finished up the Path of Daggers, and said to myself "I'll just read the prologue, that's all. Just the prologue...Ok, maybe chapter one, then I'll post my reactions." Next thing I knew I was over halfway done and decided to make the two of them into one big post. I feel like it almost works out better this way. The two books seemed to be more companion pieces than separate novels. I can definitely see how people would be frustrated with these later books if they were fans when the books were first released. I was spared the agony of having to wait to read the next book, so I really didn't have any problems with these two. I could see how missing Mat for the entire book would annoy of great many people with that cliffhanger, but it seemed fairly obvious he would survive considering the number of side characters that were left behind with him. After reading through Winter's Heart, I was glad his story wasn't pushed in tPoD. The (relative) shortness of the book was refreshing, and the story flowed together really well. I'm equating these later books to be similar to A Feast for Crows and A Dance of Dragons, in that they are more about further establishing the characters' places and reactions to the events as they unfold. I'll try to keep this as well organized as I can, but the whole story is really starting to blur together. Aviendha chapters are absolutely splendid. I wish that he'd have utilized her more as a POV. I especially enjoy that there are specialties in the power that the Aiel have which the Aes Sedai think to be impossible. (It was especially gratifying to see Elayne attempt it and have it literally blow up in her face.) This may be weird, but I'm not sure how I feel about the Chosen not knowing that it was possible. The dynamic between the Aes Sedai, the Kin, and the Seafolk was interesting to watch develop, however, I found myself hating the Sea Folk. When I first met them, I had a much different impression of them. Since then though, it seems that they are only displayed in a pejorative light since the inital meeting. They used to be one of the bigger mysteries in my head, as they seemed to be calm, cool and collected, and willing to make sacrifices for the greater goal. Now I find myself not caring about them, as they are obnoxious, obtrusive, and uncompromising. I find myself able to relate more to the Seanchan at this point. Egwene was the most gratifying chapters for me in tPoD. Seeing her come to power and maneuver the other Aes Sedai is great. Suane in particular I think really has come into her own as a character, and is a great companion to Egwene. In fact, I think this story arch has been my favorite in the whole series so far. I particularly enjoyed seeing Aran'gar's reactions and that of Delana as Egwene unknowingly even outmaneuvered them. It was quite a shock to find out that Sheriam is either Black Ajah or controlled by the Black. I was quite sad to not see any Egwene chapters in Winter's Heart. It was good to see Elyas again, and him giving Perrin Marriage advice was absolutely priceless, even more so since he was correct. This revelation alone cleared up so much confusion for me. I just don't understand women the way Mat or Rand does. It surprised me that the wolves were that upset by the events at Dumai's Wells. It makes sense, however, I just thought that the wolves would know the risks of heeding Perrin's call, and would not hold that against him. Perrin didn't force that on them after all. I take back all the griping I did about Morgase's story arch, since it ended with Balwer in Perrin's service. I can't even pinpoint why, but Balwer is quickly becoming one of my favorite minor characters, right behind Lini. Their party meeting up with Perrin was not something I would have predicted, but it definitely is one of those events that just seem to click with the story. The Shaido capturing Faile and their party surprised me more than any other event to date. Rand...Oh Rand. Cadsuane can't teach you fast enough. I didn't think that Rand was going to fight the Seanchan, so his first chapter really annoyed me. When I caught up with him again, I groaned internally and prepared myself for some drudgerous (this is a word now) reading. Then there was all the awesome that was the campaign against the Seanchan. I hope that a good portion of Rand's poor decision making is because of the taint. Up until now, I hadn't been acknowledging his attitude as arrogance, but he crossed that line somewhere, and has dived head first into folly. It's impressive he was still able to pull a victory off despite going against the advice of his general and Asha'man. So...Bashere is going against Tenobia's wishes? That's interesting...if that storyline moves any faster. I had expected Rand to cleanse Saidin at the end of tPoD. That not happening contributed heavily to me reading through both books before posting this. The attack in Cairhien made a good deal more sense though for the sake of realism though. I knew that it had to be the work of Taim before it was confirmed in Winter's Heart. I knew he'd turn, but as I said last thread, I don't think he's one of the Chosen anymore. Moving on more into Winter's Heart. There were enough gems in this book to get me through it without paying too much attention to the stagnant storyline. Elayne bored me this book. While Egwene finding a way to turn her puppet status into the puppeteer was enthralling, I didn't find much excitement in the Daughter Heir inheriting her throne. The ceremony to make her and Aviendha first-sisters was splendid though, the channeling component, but especially the interactions forced on them. This definitely is my favorite piece of culture from the Wheel of Time so far. Far Midding intrigues me. I wish there had been more time spent in the city. Of all the cities we've visited, it seemed to have the most unique culture and government to explore, at least in the mainland, but it didn't get as much attention as I'd like. I'd love to learn more about the history of it, such as how they got the Guardian. Also, I thought it was a good twist to make it Cadsuane's hometown. I'm glad there was confirmation that Cadsuane's hair ornaments are ter'angreal. I've suspected that from the start, and I've been waiting to see what she could do with them. I do find it a little odd that she should be able to recognize Nynaeve's ter'angreal and establish what they do. After nine books of continuous talk stating that no one knows what they do, it seemed very odd. Especially that Nynaeve was able to pick out the exact ter'angreal that would be useful to her without knowing what they were. Thank god Rand addressed the fact that Lan gave him advice about protecting any woman he loves by leaving, and then did the exact opposite. So Mat went from having a royal rapist to having a royal stalker huh? I guess that's an improvement...kind of. I correctly guessed that he would kidnap her about a chapter before it happened. A little bit better than some of my other predictions being proven right EXACTLY as I make them. A little. I wasn't too impressed by Mat's story here though, other than Egeanin, Bethamin, and Domon resurfacing. As with the rest, it was necessary reading, and I enjoyed it, just not as compelling as it had been. Until the end. When it rejoined Rand in Far Midding, I was worried that the taint would wait another book. I was so happy to be mistaken. This is an event that I've been waiting for since the first book, and the scene didn't disappoint. Having Cadsuane show off her abilities was a cherry on top of my storyline progression sundae. The battle was very well executed, with a couple of nice revelations thrown in, such as Lanfear returning. On that note, my magic 8 ball says that all signs point to Moiraine still being alive. Can't wait for her to come back. It mentioned that Lanfear is the other one caught in the soul trap, so there goes my Asmodean theory. Did I pass the hint up already? Shadar Logoth being destroyed in the process of cleansing Saidin was another surprise, and pleasant at that. I wonder if that will limit Fain's magic death fog ability at all. Either way, in the game of "mess your day up" tag, it seems Rand is up. I was a bit disappointed they didn't address the anomalies in the source around Ebou Dar in WH. Unless it all just dissipated over time. I'm curious to see if the same will happen around Shadar Logoth, though it seems that it would've manifested during the battle if it was going to happen, and as remote a location as it is, I find it unlikely that anyone will encounter it. It was an intriguing dynamic to contend with, and I hope that there's more of this type magical disturbance to ruin people's day later on. I'm still waiting for Mat and Alludra to invent cannons/ballistic warfare. I've been expecting that since the Stone fell, and I was hopeful this book when they were mentioned together so often. It seems unlikely that he left Ebou Dar with her though. That's what I've got for now. More to come if I think of it. Edit: *Sigh* I need to stop posting this at work, it kills my formatting every time because of our stupid internet.

Ashyn 8 Nalthis 9 Roshar 13 Scadrial 15 Sel 5 Taldain 10 Yolen 11 First of the Sun 9

Every time an Oddish smiles, an Honorspren dies.