GreySpren

The Shallan one is incredible!

I can't say I fancy many of Brandons female characters. The one I would probably pick is Allrianne. She's this pink little thing, as Vin describes her, but that hides a very perceptive woman and I like that quality in a girl. Most of Brandons female characters are very 'first impression' kind of girls, but Allrianne(if I spell her correctly) is actually a girl, that is able to see the good in a man as is the story with Breeze. She also has a very bright personality, that is also something I enjoy. BUT she is with Breeze and he's a bro, so that's a no go. The other one is Siri, I find her similar, but she's with SusebroN and that's a no go too... I guess what I'm trying to say is, that I dislike girls and people in general with brooding personalities, not to mention girls who have guy personalities. I like positive girls with bubbly and feminine personalities.

This is very curious! But Brandon himself says, that it's a side of him. I've read Final Empire a week ago and it's still fresh in my mind. The Kelsier chapters do indeed show, that he enjoyed killing those noblemen, but they also show him as a very decent person. I don't think, that he would have enjoyed killing just anybody. At least from what his chapters depict him. There was kindness behind the danger, that much is unmistakable. However I will admit I am not certain he truly cared about the skaa. If he was a complete psycho killer, he would have never sacrificed himself, it makes no sense, I don't think he did it to become a god, I don't think he cared about that. Has Brandon ever given any insight why he made that decision?

Sociopaths care only for themselves. Kelsier was perceived to be one, even by his friends, but he never really was that. He wasn't even that careless with his killings. He did what he felt must be done. He did it for Mare's dream. Up until his very end everyone thought he was a maniac with a massive ego, but it turns out that what he did. he did of necessity and with purpose. He sacrificed himself so that people can be free of the Lord Ruler. Vin always criticized him in her mind, but in Well of Ascension, she did the same thing, killed hundreds of skaa guards and noblemen, killed Straff, she killed all the way through. But I don't know, I guess she felt sorry? Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical? I mean Kell was upfront with his hatred for the noblemen, but he didn't just kill them for fun, he killed them because he had to. Vin also had to kill them, and in the end she did it just like Kell. Actually out of her and Elend, it was Elend who kept true to his word and his intentions, even though he was completely wrong to let greedy people basically usurp him and he even admits it at the end of the book.

Ok, so it has been bugging me a bit while reading book two. I truly dislike the way Vin and Elend were practically useless, while the whole time Vin was insisting in her head that Elend was a better man than Kelsier was, and that Kelsier was brutal and careless. Which of what I've read I don't see it as true. In fact Vin seems much scarier and unstable. Not only that but after all her moaning about Kelsier, she managed to get manipulated and killed hundreds out of pure anger. To me Kelsier made The Final Empire a more interesting book. It's not like he had all the answers or was all powerful beefed up with Duralumin. He was Mistborn for 2 years and in that time he took the empire down on it's knees. He did what he had to do, despite how it looked to his friends. And in all that he had a more vulnerable side, which was left unexplored. Fastforward to book two and it's all inner monologues of Vin and Elend moaning and for what? I understand, that it's completely normal for them to have their inner struggle, but Elend was a nobleman, that was basically still that and Vin was a street kid turned king's consort and Mistborn. Both of them have had their struggles, yet I don't feel they've felt loss the same way Kell did at the Pits and before, and he had no one to save him and make it better the way Vin had. So it's like these self doubts came out of thin air. All in all Vin is becoming increasingly more powerful, but I struggle to find her battles and her character exciting. I don't really have that feeling, that I want her to win, that I want her to succeed, like I do with Kelsier or Kaladin. Every time she does the right thing, she just slumps back into mentally ill mode and degrades for no apparent reason, then out of nowhere she's back at full mental and physical capacity and she's kicking chull. She's the most illogical of all of Brandons characters. I mean going by the logic of Vin, Kelsier was the one who was supposed to be brute forcing his way to success, yet what he achieved was a result of his meticulous plan. Actually she was the one depending on raw power and intimidation, prowling all dark and scary around Elends enemies. God I hope book 3 will have less whining. I wish I had more free time to bite it right now. I wish Kell was alive, he made things interesting...

Amaram appears like someone who could be easily manipulated. He really, really wanted those shards! That had nothing to do with saving the world, that was pure lust. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out that someone's been nudging him in the "right" direction, giving him that justification for his horrible actions, that he needs so much.

I actually get the feeling there's a lot more going on with Dalinar's wife. Especially with the indication, that she's "not very smart". Many people judged Dalinar himself similar. She may not really even be dead for all that we know. I mean I was pretty sure Jasnah was dead and look how that turned out. Also now, that Dalinar has bonded such a powerful spren, what happens with the Nightwatchers curse? Is it removed somehow?

I can't pick one over the other simply because they are very different and I like them for different reasons. The obvious choice would be WoR, of course, simply because there's a lot more going on, we get a lot of plot development, but on the other hand WoK gives us the needed context to understand a lot of what's going on and the drive behind many of the main characters. I think WoK builds up the story and WoR unfolds it. I really enjoyed reading them back to back recently. The wait for book 3 is truly painful!