vineyarddawg

Oh, man, Kobold King, you're so right on with those deaths in Firefight. That was quite possibly the most traumatized I've ever been with a non-GRRM-related character death.

Hmm... spoiler tags would seem to be in order here, yes? With that said... (WOR spoilers)

This thread is a prime example of why I love this site! I have to be honest, in my first reading of the short story, I was rather underwhelmed. Well, I was underwhelmed on a Sanderson scale, that is... on the grand scale of all literature, I suppose I would have been "merely whelmed," but all of Brandon's previous works have set the bar a little higher for him in my mind. I suppose, going into the story, I didn't keep in mind that this was a novella-length work, so Brandon was naturally not going to be able to provide the kind of in-depth world exploration that we see in his full novels. But it seemed to me as though he spent a disproportionate amount of the small numbers of pages he had expounding on Kai's fantastical state... and Kai's state was essentially tangential to the story. So we spent half the novella learning about a state that really wasn't that important, then we raced through the last half of the novella in the (very, very different) state where all the action happens, and we find out all this new information that is barely explained at all, and about which many, many more pages could be written. Many of the reviews I've seen written in this thread, however, have really brought me around on the merits of this story. And the reviews are not just "ZOMG IT'S SANDERSON SO IT'S AWESOME," but they're a thoughtful discussion of what actually happens and why it's good (or bad). With this feedback, I can step back and really appreciate the story's arc, and even moreso, the fact that the "firehose effect" of all the new information at the end is exactly what Kai is experiencing, so it's appropriate for the reader to feel that, too. I suppose the final thing that bothered me was the overt sexuality and a veritable explosion of Earth-curses, which we don't frequently see in Brandon's work. But that's not the worst thing in the world, and most authors delve into the sex and cursing far more than Brandon did. It's just that most of his works use fantasy-curses and tactfully dance around the edges of the sex stuff, so it was a little jarring to see it so blatantly handled here. Overall, I'd have given Perfect State a C- before reading this thread. Now, though, I'd have to say the opinions and views expressed here have caused me to rethink my opinion. I think I'd now give it a solid B.

That game makes my head spin just after reading all the rules. I love it!

Well, that didn't take long! This is correct.EDIT: And that was pretty dang clever, Joe. I almost wish that had been correct.

He is risen! (He is not risen, indeed.)

Oh, Kai!

Nalthazar.

Bingo! EDIT: I figured my clues would totally give it away, but that was fine with me. I was just looking for something that fit the Da Vinci Code riddle.

Well, I just don't have any suspicions on anyone yet, and I don't want to random lynch. And poke-voting just ain't my style. So that's why I haven't voted this cycle.

No.

All no. The clue is not an anagram, and it's describing a specific character. Also, there's white text hidden in the clue. (Highlight the entire text box with your mouse and the text will show up.)

Is this the book that covers Stick's life?

Welcome to the 17th Shard!

Yeah, the absence of Tia is the big question to me. As long as she's not dead, I think she'll factor in significantly into the conclusion of the book. She might pretty much disappear until that time, actually. And that's a very interesting theory about the foundry being run by an Epic named Knighthawk. I like that theory. Makes sense.

Nope.

By the way, don't look now, but Brandon's been answering a few additional questions from the AMA over the last day or so. (No April Fools' joke!)

(You come upon a fortune cookie growing up out of a vine on the ground. You pluck it and open it, and on the little paper on the inside, you read the following message: WOOOO HOOO!) Nice one! Very tricky, Slowswift. Here's the next clue: O Draconian Devil! O Lame Saint! P.S. Find the Voidbringers

Congratulations, Gamma! I'm totally not surprised that someone from Team Odium was the last one standing. Yeah, Wilson was like a triple/quadruple/quintuple agent for a while. I second Jain's nomination. We wouldn't have crept right up to the very edge of winning if she hadn't pulled the strings so well. Well done, Wilson.

Ugh, politics, D'wag thought. I'd choose to be a spiked drab skaa bridgeman without an Aviar (whatever those things are) before I'd be a politician. I agree, we shouldn't kill on the first night.

Dawnslight Phaedrus/Prof

The touch of the master/The inception ceremony A shadowblaze

Welcome to the 17th Shard! And I think your username is awesome. I'm honestly kind of surprised it wasn't taken yet...

Regalia Spoiler guess: