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Have you read the Jasnah scene that may or not end up in Oathbringer? http://www.tor.com/2014/08/06/stormlight-archive-scene-after-words-of-radiance/ If Hoid's worldhopping works similarly, then maybe he really didn't have any way out. This is not to say that the luck thing isn't also true. Getting stuck in a giant creatures stomach in a place that you cannot hop out of is very unlucky, indeed. And, man, that is really unlucky for Hoid. He would get digested, heal up, then start to get digested again. Over and over and over.

It had its moments. The action scenes remain pretty awesome (Quinn vs. the Widow, for example), but they really need to give us more, story-wise. For example, why is Quinn's son considered so incompetent--even by his doting mother? The main strike against him right now seems to be that he ordered an attack on the Widow when he shouldn't have. That may have been a tactical blunder, but it doesn't seem so far removed from what Quinn himself might do (in fact, it seems more like it is exactly something that Quinn might do). Then there's the brain tumor plot. Last week, he killed the doctor because he knew about it; this week he's volunteering the information to that doctor's daughter. I guess we're supposed to figure out that the scene of him staring at his x-ray is him regretting his haste in killing the doctor? That's not how the scene read to me. I figured that it was just like, "Oh, crap. I'm going to die. Brooding time." But when he just out and tells Veil that he's dying, we've got to figure out some way that his confession makes sense. That seems like another example of the weird circles they take the plot in. First we have M.K. escape, get snatched up by the Widow, then end up back with Quinn. Yes, it accomplishes something, but it feels like the story is going in circles. The tumor is a subtler example, but it's still sort of a circular plot trajectory. "I'm sick; better go to the doctor!" --> "The doctor knows I'm dying; better kill him!" --> "I'm dying; better go to the doctor!" And his actions do actually make sense. One can see a despot flying off the handle when he finds out he's dying and killing his doctor, only to calm down and decide that he needs one after all. But the viewer has to imagine that into the story. The show itself doesn't give much insight into his motivations. One interesting thing I've noticed is that some reviewers have said that Quinn's character is just cartoonishly evil, with no complexity. I kind of thought that there might be something complicated to the character--something about the way the character is acted makes me think that even though he's ruthless, there's more to him than a 50s comic book villain. I think both of us are just reading things into the character that the show isn't providing. And that's an issue. You shouldn't have to make educated guesses about extra information that isn't in the show, just to make the plot and characters make sense.

Sorry, double post. Browser being weird.

I'm pretty sure that he just passed out. The Coppermind says that he didn't die, but I don't really understand their reasoning--that Honorblades disappear when the person bonded to them dies--because that's not what happens when Szeth dies. Is the blade still bonded to Jezrien, then? I don't know.

Dalinar does have reason to feel guilty about his behavior at that feast, though. If I recall correctly, Gavilar asked him to mind the codes that night, clearly acting like he sensed something would go wrong. He could have restrained himself a little. Honestly, though, his prohibition on drinking really is coming straight from the codes, and it really would be ridiculous if he tried to use that experience to justify preventing others from having a couple of drinks. The logic there would be, "I drank four bottles of wine when the king had asked me to be on alert, so now you can't have two glasses of wine when no one has asked you to do anything but relax."

For all the corners of the Cosmere that are big and flashy and would require a huge budget to depict, there are a ton of settings that would require little more than some unusual wardrobe work. Consider Sixth of the Dusk, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, Ishikk's interlude... How about an Alloy-era story on Scadrial, out in the Roughs? It would be more or less like a Western. There are a ton of shows on television right now that depict superpowers in the vein of what most Mistings can do. An episode with Forgers on Sel wouldn't take too much. Now, sure, a massive battle out on the Shattered Plains, with Shardbearers and Warform Parshendi jumping everywhere--that would probably be difficult to pull off.

It's been confirmed, actually. In fact, Vasher was originally written for The Stormlight Archive.

You're not taking into account that Dalinar is literally the only Alethi who follows the Codes. Adolin isn't whining; he's trying to make his father see reason. Sure, from our perspective as readers, Dalinar clearly is taking the moral stance, but from the perspective of most of the Alethi characters, he's just being ridiculous. Also, Adolin doesn't want to get drunk on duty. He wants to be able to relax with a drink when he is not on duty. He doesn't want to dress flashy. He wants to dress in a way that doesn't make him a laughing stock. Fashion is important to the Alethi court, and while that is pretty shallow, expecting to Adolin to magically transcend the conventions of his society is pretty unrealistic. As for the dueling, that's part of his religious calling! Imagine if your parents suddenly said that you had to start dressing in tights and breeches and powdered wigs. And they vaguely said it was important and read passages from an 18th century etiquette book at you, which you didn't really understand. Every single one of your peers laughed at you. Their parents thought you were ridiculous. Even the oldest members of society don't remember a time when what you are doing was remotely traditional. You and your entire family are a laughing stock, and you're hearing whispered rumors that your family members should all lose their jobs and probably be carted off to asylums somewhere. That is what it seems like to Adolin. The fact that Dalinar is right and Alethi society is corrupt and in need of a good shaking up has no bearing on how Adolin perceives it. He is not acting like an immature child at all. And I'm not a big Adolin fanboy or anything. His character does annoy me at times. But "whiny" is a major misread of what is going on.

He's back, but he's chilling in an insane asylum. It's turns out that being tortured for 4,500 years isn't good for your mind.

Is your real name David? And are you from Newcago?

I think Rysn, Lift, and Axies will all be important. Axies probably less than the other two. I think Eshonai fits with Szeth as being someone who is obviously important--Taravangian, too. I doubt we'll see Geranid and Ashir or Ishikk again--at least not as anything but very minor characters. Baxil's mistress will definitely show up again, but I don't know about Baxil himself (though you never know: I certainly didn't expect Gaz to resurface the way he did). Poor Ym... Well, we can all agree that his story is probably over. Nan Balat will probably show up again, but I don't think he'll be all that important. I'm not completely sure of that, but I think he really only got his own interlude because we needed to get a little bit of insight into Shallan's background during The Way of Kings, even though it wasn't her book.

The Final Empire was my first Sanderson book, but I like The Stormlight Archive better than Mistborn.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was pretty blown away by news from a SoS signing indicating that the entire Cosmere might be up for an adaptation. Of course, the immediate question is, how is that even done? Which properties get adaptations? How does the whole thing get tied together in a way that makes sense to viewers who have never read any of the source material? And then I got an idea. What if the adaptation takes its cues from White Sand? The White Sand graphic novel isn't really an adaptation of a novel so much as it is the story. The graphic novel is the canon version of White Sand. This is my idea: We get a "Tales from the Cosmere" anthology series (no, that wouldn't be the title--hopefully--as it is stupid), where each episode is like a Stormlight Archive interlude or one of the Cosmere novellas. The series would tell new stories from our favorite Shardworlds, filling in details in the overarching story of the Cosmere and dodging the problem of getting all of our favorite characters and plot details exactly right. Granted, there are some hurdles to clear in taking this approach. All of the Cosmere books have the problem of explaining fairly complicated magic systems without dumping a bunch of exposition on us. It would be a challenge to do a show where each episode had to face this challenge anew. I still think it could be done. The books provide good examples of how to do it--a new magic user gets lessons from an experienced one, etc. If it was done well, the show could work on a number of levels, where book readers would know exactly how the magic onscreen works, while it would just be a cool spectacle for the uninitiated. For example, to appreciate seeing an Elantrian draw an aon that shoots out a fireball, one does not need to know all the intricacies of how it works. It's just extra cool if you do. Thoughts?

I've always wondered how I would have reacted to Elantris if I had read it before Mistborn. I know it's all a matter of opinion, but I'd say that liking Mistborn better than Elantris is probably the more common opinion. When I read Elantris a second time, I realized that it is much better than I remembered. Based on my reaction (though, of course, I don't know if you'll react the same way), I'd recommend reading Elantris first. The story does come first, chronologically, anyway. To be fair, that doesn't really matter, but still...

There really isn't any more information about it, but there may be some clues. I've noticed that religions in the Cosmere tend to have some grains of truth to them and reflect what is actually going on with the Shards, even if that reflection is somewhat distorted. The Vorin doctrine on the Tranquilline Halls may be in some way related to this. That is, Honor originally had a safe place for his Heralds to rest in between Desolations, but Odium overtook it and turned it into a nightmare. If it was already locked in as part of the Oathpact, I have the feeling that Tanavast would be blocked by his own Shard's Intent from changing the terms of the deal that kept his Heralds immortal.

It looks like someone is onto his tricks. That topic got frozen before a single reply could be added. That guy has to be a total troll, though. It seems like he fully understands the books and is specifically criticizing things, as if he does not understand them, that he knows will make fans angry. He claims that the magic systems are arbitrary and not planned out well. He alleges that the book was written much too quickly for it to be any good. He ridicules the "I am a stick" scene, which is a near-universal fan favorite. He ridicules everyone's grammar while simultaneously ignoring any and all grammatical conventions himself, and he accuses others of not arguing the point at hand and using personal attacks, when this is in fact his primary tactic. I'm not sure what would make someone want to troll the Sanderson fandom, specifically, but it looks like he wants to.

She can kind of fly. She generally has trouble staying aloft and landing, so it ends up being a lot more like jumping really, really far.

They all have only one Breath; it's just a strong one. I'm about 90% sure of that. Where are you getting that it's worth 2-3 regular ones, Yata? I thought it was more powerful, but I got the impression that it was maybe 1.5 strength or something.

47% Truthwatcher 38% Willshaper 37% Lightweaver 37% Dustbringer 16% Edgedancer 5% Elsecaller That's a weird distribution, but okay. If I could choose from those, I guess I'd go with Dustbringer. I wouldn't even complain and try to make people call me a Releaser. So what if it sounds like voidbringer? They try to bring the void, but I bring them to dust. \m/

Yeah, I noticed that. He responded to Vander and me, and what he said is more nonsense. He has to be a troll. No one could possibly be that dumb.

Isn't it awful? He has to be a troll. Such an odd troll, though. Where does the motivation to become an epic fantasy troll come from? Particularly when you clearly have read a considerable amount of the material. I mean, he can't be serious, right? Every single thing he complains about is actually the opposite of what he says. It still made me really mad. I'm the guy (Daniel Clouser) right before Vander, at the end of the thread--the one who calls him dumber than cabbage and garden gnomes. I feel that neither comparison adequately expresses how stupid this guy is.

Oh, man. I just came across the most egregious example of an infuriating non-fan today on Goodreads. I'm really not sure what to think of this guy. He must be a troll or something because I just can't understand how anyone could be so dense. This guy is like the Platonic form of dullardry (it's a a word now, okay?). If you want to see for yourself, this the thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2251585-i-am-losing-interest-really-fast?page=1 But I really suggest not even reading it. It will just make you angry. This guy seriously doesn't understand that Shardblades aren't around in the Physical Realm when the bearers dismiss them. That was clear in the prologue to TWoK, even though nothing else was yet. He makes fun of the description of a Highstorm blowing leaves ahead of it on the Shattered Plains because he doesn't think there should be leaves in the "desert" (yes, he doesn't understand that it's not a desert at all). He criticizes the magic systems, somehow having gotten the impression that Surgebinders can just do anything that Brandon finds convenient for the plot (also, he thinks it is all called soulcasting). It just goes on and on and on. Technically, this guy doesn't count as a non-reader, but wow. The most infuriating non-reader could never make me as angry as that.

It is almost certainly tied to the Divine Breath and has nothing to do with reaching the 5th Heightening. The Idrian royal family retains a modicum of the ability because they are descended from the Returned, and they don't have any Breath beyond the one they were born with.

I imagine that's a reference to the end pages, not actually the cover. The map of Roshar could be confused for a map of Europe, if you are woefully ignorant.

I've successfully gotten someone into The Wheel of Time and The Second Apocalypse, but I haven't had much luck with the Cosmere. My girlfriend has read a couple of them, but she's never caught the obsession, and I wouldn't say she really retains much memory of any of them. She did read Shadows of Self, even though I told her she should at least read Alloy of Law first. Oh well.