Locke Lamora

WoR was one of the best books I ever read hands down, it had major character development, very surprising and shocking turns of events and was overall a very complete piece. However, more I think about it, more I realize how much I have an issue with the big reveal at the end of the book. (Spoiler Ahead) Having read so many books in this genre, I came to admire the thrill of not knowing whether main characters are going to live through a chapter or not, whether an assassin is actually going to complete his mission and not being so confident in the stance; oh they are main characters, of course they are going to live through the series. Sanderson did an excellent job of that in the MIstborn trilogy and that is one of the main reasons why I admire him as an author. When Jasnah died in WoR, it really shocked me (I did suspect it just a little bit although not that quickly). You know when things get to be so comfortable with a set of characters, and you start picturing how everything is going to turn out, and how they are going to figure out their problems and what they are going to do, and then BAM.. everything shatters, you literary feel Shallan's loss and struggle of how to move on - that is what separates great works from good ones. Hence, it really bummed me down when I realized that she actually survived. Dont get me wrong, I love what she is going to bring to the series because she is such an interesting character. However, I dislike when characters conveniently survive like that. It kind of took me a bit out of the ending. So, I was wondering if I was alone with this mindset or if there are more people thinking the same way.

The reason I mentioned MoL was because I was so invested in the entire WoT for soooo many years that I had to mention at least one of its books I did forget one other book that truly rivals WoR in all out awesomeness in my opinion- Lies of Locke Lamora by Lynch! Regarding Kaladin, after going through WoK, even if he became the most annoying and stubborn/childish, all lighteyes-hating character, I would still be unable to dislike him. I mean, all main characters of epics this size have a book that they have to go through this annoying step in their development- think about the Dragon Reborn and Rand. I think the next tome is going to treat him a bit better.

I completely understand you haha although I think this addiction of thinking of Shallan's and Kaladin's relationship possibilities is slowly starting to leave me now that it has been a couple of days since I read the book However, I will never be tired of continuous rants about absolutely everything that can be speculated or analysed! And I totally agree with you, there are so many complex relationships that are not strictly romantic that have layers upon layers upon layers of complexity which can easily surprise you with some unexpected action that nobody saw coming (but once you realized why he/she did it, it makes complete sense). I honestly think WoR is my favorite fantasy novel up to date- that or a close tie with the Memory of Light.

@darkanimereal1 Ok, I have to admit, I was a bit harsh.. ok, really harsh on Adolin in my post. It has probably a lot to do with WoR still fresh in my mind since I finished it just recently.We all know what Adolin's last actions were, and to be honest, I was extremely disappointing with his character when he killed Sadeas, that is probably my main reason for the harshness. To his credit, I actually liked Adolin quite a lot in WoR, way more than in tWoK, because he seemed to have developed quite a bit, especially in his PoV's. That said, I wanted to bring a little bit of context to my argument. I have a feeling there are a few wholes in it I completely agree that there is still chance for Adolin and Shallan to continue/start having a functional relationship. I might have exaggerated a little bit in my statement about the shallowness of their relationship and I did not go over one of the very important aspects which is Adolin's own perspective. It can clearly be seen that Shallan is something else in context of his past relationships, from the time he sees her at the very beginning. Their conversations while courting also brought the sense of deviation from his past experiences, mostly due to Shallan's filtering failure she seems to be having a problem with haha. Which leads me to believe it will be devastating for him if he ends up attracting himself too much to Shallan just to end up being pushed away. Also, I forgot to mention that instance when Shallan literally hisses at him that she doesn't need protection right after she returns from the Highstorm which might evolve into a bigger issue because Alodin is used to being a protective figure (especially due to his brother). As you say, I might have also exaggerated on the shallowness of their relationship from her point of view as well. She does have something other than physical attraction in her relationship with Adolin, I just find it not significant enough to matter. Even before Kaladin came to the picture, I felt Adolin was more a distraction from the hardships she was enduring than anything else. It did grow eventually, so there is still a slight chance for them. But, if it continues to be driven in the physical way (both with looks and family situation) and she doesn't find a way to completely open herself up to him, its just awaiting a disaster. Or it would be a dysfunctional relationship with only Adolin being truly invested. Here though, I have to disagree (in regard of it not just being a wrench but a deal breaker). I read it more than once where people keep saying Shallan killed her dad in cold blood, which in my opinion is completely wrong. Shallan's father killed his wife and than started stabbing his own son and ordered an assassin to kill his other son; if someone did not put a stop to him, he would have killed more - making Shallan's actions more a self-defense than in cold blood. What other way would she have killed him but poison when his own son was not able to best him in swordplay and she was a sixteen year old girl. Adolin on the other hand, killed Sadeas completely in cold blood. Sadeas did what he always did, he bragged how he was going to ruin Dalinar and all of his plans. He did it multiple times throughout the book and he was as much a threat to Dalinar in the beginning of WoR as in the end, maybe even more so in the beginning. So, him killing Sadeas in the end was brutal and cold and even though Shallan killed before, I dont see her accepting this (unless Adolin twists the truth). I also remembered one of the most crucial points that I did not see anyone mention (although I did not read all 20 pages of posts so I might be very very wrong ) which is Shallan's most recant discovery that she was the one who killed her mother as well. Besides Allfather being a spren, that was the most predictable discovery in the epilogue in my opinion. Regardless, I have a feeling that this revelation is going to severely mess with Shallan's character and she might not even be relationship ready to begin with most of the following book. If that ends up being the case, Kaladin has far more chance to breach the wall she makes than Adolin. Regardless of anything mentioned above, I am glad we are all confident in one thing - Brandon is going to own it no matter what ends up happening

-Major Spoilers Ahead- I honestly don't understand why everyone thinks love triangles have to end up in disasters, I think they can be nicely pulled off (although, I admit, most times they are not), more so with the Brandon's increasing skill in writing ever since he finished the Mistborn trilogy. I think it is obvious by all ques we can gather from the WoR that Kaladin is somehow going to be involved with Shallan or that Shallan is not going to end up with Adolin at the very least. I mean, just using the theme of the book with the relationship between the truths and lies (all from Shallan's chapters), it is obvious that the only time Shallan was truly honest was with Kaladin. On the other hand, she all but lied to Adolin about nearly everything she was doing besides a couple of details she accidentally blabbed out. Her relationship with Adolin is all but unstable, ready to fall under any sort of pressure. Looking at it purely on basis whether they can work as a couple it is going to fail as well. Everything Shallan commented so far about Adolin was physical, it was either about his hair, eyes, hair again, his charm, did I mention his hair? Not once was she impressed by his personality as she was when she was talking to Kaladin. They not only bonded during that Highstorm, they understood each other and Kaladin was on a high enough level of intelligence to actually understand Shallan beyond the simple chatter. I mean, she had to explain to Adolin that he was being mocked and not praised by Kaladin on one occasion, how pathetic is that? If Adolin can not even think of keeping up with Shallan in regard of intelligence, would she really find him satisfactory? Furthermore, with Adolin's sudden lean to the darkside at the end (same temptation Kaladin avoided), would they really be a good pair? I personally dont think so. Finally, to the arguments that her marriage to Adolin would be the opportune thing to do for her family, she already abandoned her family for a greater cause once and it is obvious by the threat of Everstorm that nobody is going to be safe anywhere regardless of their means which all doesn't go in favor of her current engagement. Hence, I strongly believe that Adolin and Shallan are not going to end up/continue being together. Their relationship is too shallow for that to happen. With regard to who is she going to end up with, for now, Kaladin has the best chance. He is the only person (outside of her family) she ever talked about killing her father, which she will never be able to tell Adolin. They bonded in the Highstorm, he is intelligent enough to keep up with her thinking patterns and has the same background in suffering she has bringing them close together. Chapters after their Highstorm together from Shallan's POV can be seen to have been impacted by Kaladin in a way that she stopped calling him a bridgeman and started referring to him by his name and sometimes even mentioning him before mentioning Adolin himself. Not to mention that looking at it from Kaladin's perspective, it is the only thing to make sense. She did not open himself (entirely) to anyone, including his bridgemen. With the exception of a little detail about her brother; which, I do admit, might be a problem when (rather than if) she finds out. Finally, she is the only storming girl he thought about for last 2000 pages besides that T- girl he mentions from time to time. All in all, I am very curious to see where this is all going to go since Sanderson knows how to surprise when things seem to be very straightforward and predictable.