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I read stuff that was probably a little more mature than I should have been when I was a kid, too, but The Second Apocalypse is a lot more messed up than anything I ever read as a kid. I know a lot of adults that I would warn away from the series.

Speaking of the age thing, I probably should have issued a similar warning for The Second Apocalypse. You really should not be reading that if you're a kid. People talk about ASoIaF being dark and gritty, but it seems as mild as The Chronicles of Narnia, compared to The Second Apocalypse. Seriously.

Well, we can imagine how the Surges we haven't seen in action are going to work, but we don't really know how it will work out in practice. Based on the descriptions of how Kaladin and Szeth viewed their Windrunning abilities, they kind of thought of their Lashings as variations of the same thing, even though two different Surges are involved. So when Bondsmiths work with Adhesion, is it going to seem like something different--especially if it interacts with Tension uniquely? The speculation on the Coppermind seems to not be following your line of thought on how Tension is going to work at all. That's not to say that you're wrong, but it's at least very uncertain how these Surges are going to turn out when we see them on the page. Stonewards are in the same boat, with even more ambiguity as to how their Surges will work. It looks like a lot of people are thinking that both Stonewards and Bondsmiths are going to have some abilities that are similar to those of Scadrian Lurchers, so that's a very different direction for Tension-based powers to go.

Okay, so I have an idea for how the main, flashback character might not match the Order that the book is dedicated to. It will have to be Shalash's book, specifically (though I can see how something similar might also work for Szeth). So, Shalash isn't exactly a Lightweaver, except that she is the head of the Order. We don't yet know enough history to say whether the heralds would truly be considered part of their Order or not, but one must at least concede that there is a strong association there. We must therefore assume that something is going on with Shalash and the Order she is associated with because we know that the Lightweaver book has already happened. Now, with only one Lightweaver for reference, I don't know how accurate it is to say that they're the artists' Order, but it does seem like Lightweavers generally do at least have the artistic temperament. What has Shalash been doing in the artistic realm? Destroying art. While I'm sure that there are some modernist schools of artistic thought that would judge her campaign of destroying all representations of herself as a valid artistic statement (and, sure, I can see that), I believe that her actions are antithetical to the spirit of the Lightweavers' brand of art. I therefore believe that if her book is not about her changing Orders, it will be about her coming to accept her place at the head of the Lightweavers after a personal crisis that sees her flirting with joining the Dustbringers. Yes, the two Orders aren't direct opposites on the Radiant chart, but they are probably opposites in many ways. The little we know about Dustbringers suggests that they are all about destruction (if for a good reason) in the same way that Lightweavers could be said to be about creation. Thus, her book could cover a lot of information about the Dustbringers by way of her interactions with full members and by the internal struggle that pushes her closer to the temperament of a Dustbringer than a Lightweaver.

I don't think we have enough information yet for me to have a favorite order. For example, what can Truthwatchers and Bondsmiths do? Do we have any idea, going into Oathbreaker, what kind of stuff we'll be seeing Dalinar do with his powers? Renarin was seeing the future somehow. What's the deal with that? It's probably the "something extra" granted by the combination of his Surges, but it's still a big mystery. Are all the Truthwatchers going to be able to see the future, or is the "something extra" an individual thing (or is the future sight not even that something extra at all)? Beyond that, it's clear that people of particular temperaments tend to fall into particular Orders, so I'm sure the personalities of the various Knights will strongly influence which Order shakes out to be whose favorite.

It's been a few years since I read them, so I don't know. I liked them all the way through, as I recall. I do remember that each volume takes place 15 years after the last, and it worked really well for the series. It's not a typical epic fantasy story, in a lot of ways, but I really liked it. I don't recall that there's anything in the way of action and adventure in it, though.

I guess it all depends on what you mean by "Sanderson-esque." ASoIaF, LoTR, and The Kingkiller Chronicle don't strike me as being particularly Sanderson-esque, even though there is a lot of overlap in the readership. So it sounds like you're interested more in epic high fantasy than someone that might remind you of his writing (not a criticism, by the way; just clarifying). Everyone above has already mentioned the usual suspects, like Brian McLellan and Brent Weeks. If we're just talking about big, epic fantasy, then there's a lot more to recommend. Here's some I have seen mentioned: The Second Apocalypse by R. Scott Bakker The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb Now, I haven't actually read The Malazan Book of the Fallen, though I intend to get back to it one day (I gave up partway through the first book because I didn't like any of the characters). It's one of the most popular epic fantasy series out there, so I had to include it. Also, I don't quite know what to say about Thomas Covenant. I guess I'm glad that I read it, but it's frustrating. It's not just that the title character was intentionally written to be an unsympathetic character. I get what the author is doing there, and I can respect it, even if it gets really annoying. It's also the writing. Beyond most of the characters speaking in flowery, pseudo-archaic language, the word choice outside of dialogue can be grating. I swear, H.P. Lovecraft would tell Donaldson to chill out with using "eldritch" all the time. The rest of the series I mentioned are awesome, though.

Well, I finished The Wheel of Time again. I'm moving right on to The Great Ordeal. I won't bother rereading the other five books now. The Unholy Consult comes out in one year, and there should still be two more books yet. I'll hold off on a reread.

So, from the sound of things Snapshot is not Cosmere?

I haven't seen anyone talking about this show here, and that's a shame because I really enjoyed it. It was just released on Netflix on Friday. It's only 8 episodes, but it is the perfect length for the story it tells. It's very much an 80s nostalgia show, and I've seen it described as something like a combination of 80s Spielberg with Stephen King, which seems pretty accurate. There are a lot of direct homages to to E.T., and the showrunners said that they were also influenced by Akira and Elfen Lied. I generally hate horror, but this is more suspenseful sci-fi than horror, even though there are definitely some scary moments. The soundtrack is awesome. The score is 80s-esque synth, and other songs are all from the period. Being that the show is set in 1983, that's stuff like the Clash and Joy Division, not the more over-the-top day-glo pop one usually associated with the decade. I sat down to watch an episode or two last night and ended up watching the whole thing. It was a lot like watching a novel unfold visually than just watching another TV show.Highly recommended.

It took me a while to get through the beginning of Dune myself. Once you push past that, it's fairly easy going, as I recall.

Okay, so it was once, but I'm pretty sure he said "drinks." I'm going to go with lots of drinks--enough to make Cultivation angry at Hoid forever. If there's anything I've learned from reading The Wheel of Time four times, it's that women in fantasy books are universally scornful of men going out drinking (unless that woman is Birgitte).

It seems like it would be very odd for all of the books to follow a pattern of one major character per Order, then suddenly not do that for one or two books. The scope of The Stormlight Archive, with all of its characters and lengthy volumes, seems to merit that kind of structure to keep the narrative cohesive.

Ah ha! So I'm just going to take that as confirmation that Cultivation didn't approve of Hoid taking Tanavast out carousing until something is released that proves otherwise.

I bet that Shalash is going to change Orders. She'll be the Dustbringer.

Where did we find out that Cultivation was Tanavast's lover? If that's true, it could certainly explain why she doesn't like Hoid, since he apparently liked to go out drinking with Tanavast.

That's a sample cover from Monstress. Yes, it's a cover, but the art on the inside is exactly the same:

I picked up volume one of Monstress and volume six of Saga at the local comic book store today. If any of you are into comics, you should definitely check both out.

Yeah, Lightbringer is really good. The approach to magic is Sanderson-esque, for sure. I keep meaning to get back to Malazan eventually. I gave up partway through the first book because I hated all of the characters and didn't have any kind of a grip on what was going on in the world, how the magic worked, etc. But I've definitely heard good things. Allegedly, the payoff in the last book is well worth it.

Picked up paperbacks of Runelords 1-5 for $9.75. Not bad for 5 books.

The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker. Been waiting several years for this one. I also bought a paperback copy of The Way of Kings, but that's not for me. I sent it to a stranger, though one connected to me by a single degree of separation. It's a Facebook pyramid scheme-type thing (except a good one!). Basically, I "liked" a friend's status, and she sent me the address of the previous participant, along with her own. I send the first person a book, then post the same status. When people like my status, I send them my friend's address and mine. They will send my friend a book and post the same status. When people like their status, those people will get my address, and I get books.

I don't think so. See, all Kershtians wear symbols on their foreheads, based on their caste (I can't remember if that's what they call it in-universe, but it's the same idea). Usually, they're on those medallions that we see many Kershtians wearing. The "X" has long been a symbol of the priesthood, and scarring it into their foreheads instead of wearing it on a medallion is just this new warrior-priest caste showing how extreme they are. Actually, they apparently existed a couple of hundred years before the time of the story, so maybe they're bringing back a tradition rather than starting a new one. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that you're assuming that the antagonists in the story would not be aligned with Autonomy. Considering that we know very little about Autonomy beyond the fact that Bavadin is probably a villain to at least some extent, this is probably not a safe assumption to make. It is tempting to assume that a Shard would be "on the same side" as the magic users who access its Investiture, but that isn't a good assumption, either. In most cases, the Shard's relationship to magic users is pretty neutral. There are cases, like with Endowment, where the Shard actively tries to work with those accessing its Investiture, but the opposite could also be the case. Autonomy could be working with the radical Kershtians, in direct opposition to the sand masters.

All right, moving on to A Memory of Light!

Oh, crap! I just realized that the next book in The Second Apocalypse comes out on Tuesday. Argh! I need to finish this reread, read The Prince of Nothing trilogy again, and reread the first two books of The Aspect Emperor so I know what's going on. It's been too long since I read that series. Noooooooo! Too many books.

Towers of Midnight!