StormingTexan

The first book I’d say yes. There’s some violence but no language or explicit sex. Pretty much everyone is addicted to a substance called spice which is pretty central to the story so if you are sensitive to drug use that may not be considered clean. Some of the later books do contain some fairly explicit sex scenes.

That’s a fair point.

Yes! But stop after the first book.

As far as pacing I felt the same about Shadesmar but I think it was more the gap of when it was picked back up again that bothered me more. I am not sure I really wanted to see more time or more depth there I think we got what we needed. The Emul plot line however did feel like it lacked some depth. Not necessarily more Dalinar but I really thought we were going to get to see more KR orders using their powers in battle and we did no. I really wanted more Jasnah too. The Interludes seemed a little weird to me this time. There were a few good one churi churi and of course all the Taravangian ones but I guess I am more used to the format of the previous books where these are not so engrained with the main story and more random. The flashbacks just were not interesting at all to me besides the one Venli palace scene and the last chapter. These are all very minor complaints though I felt like the character moments in this book are some of the best so far. The Taravangian twist is also one of Brandon's best. I also loved all the Cosmere bombs.

I have been thinking about this more after this book and I do not think I agree with this. I think we will see something similar to the MB books between era 1 and 2. There will be a distinct conclusion/resolution after book 5 with some lingering implications like we saw in MB. The reason I feel strongly about this is there will be some considerable time both in world and out of world between the two series. I just do not see Brandon letting doom and gloom linger that long. For sure some characters will not have a "happy ending" but overall I think book 5 will end on a positive note. Of course just like you said it is all opinions at this point and man so many of ours have been wrong here on the shard

Ah ok that makes a lot of sense thank you!

So this was my take on it initially as well. The "I'm Sorry" note from Renarian for setting him up. Maybe I misheard on the podcast but I thought it was mentioned that Taravangian did not do what Renarian wanted which confused me as to what he did want him to do.

It is pretty clear to me I need to do a re-read . I accidentally spoiled my self coming here to post a reaction to part 3 and saw some thread titles about T so I kind of rushed through the last (and best) parts of the book. I have however re-read the scene where Taravangian ascends and I thought I understood what Renarin was trying to get him to do with the note and the spheres. Then I heard it mentioned on one of the Shardcast that T did not do what he wanted him to do so I am confused. He ends up breaking the spheres and I though that was what helped summon Odium but maybe I missed something?

Lot of good responses already and I agree with all of them. The Fused felt very one dimensional before this book and I really appreciated the individualism this book gave us. I loved the dynamic between Raboniel and Navani as well as Leshwi and Venli especially the scene about the spren bonding. Dabbid and Raln also awesome. Kaladin of course and I thought this book did an amazing job with his character growth. I loved the trial of course and Adolin is the man. One of my favorite scenes was Jasnah in the battle. I am realy hoping we get more of her POV in the next book she remains a badass boss lady.

I liked RoW a lot. It is currently my 3rd favorite but could possibly become 2nd with a re-read I think. I have found I appreciate the books a lot more after a re-read. That being said I think this was clearly a setup book for the final of the first 5 and I can see how people may not like it as much as others. I am in the extreme minority in that Kaladin is not my favorite character. I like him but I have a hard time relating to him I think. Not a bad thing though no one is going to find every character relatable. This book actually changed my feelings a lot towards him. Yes there was a little bit of the typical brooding after Dalinar relieves him of his duty but I feel like he finally really found himself in this book. I loved him taking on mental health and finding his calling while still realizing he can be there to "save the day" even if that means he cant save everyone. It really worked for me and I really liked his character growth in the book more than any of the others. Shallan is my favorite. I think I just have a thing for crazy redheads. This was not her best book in my opinion but I liked how her arc in it ended. I also liked Navani more in this book than any other. I think most people thought she would end up bonding the Sibling and that was exactly what happened after a little miss-direction. I actually think it is very fitting. What else will she be able to accomplish with the Siblings help? Who could have accomplished more? The only thing that really fell flat for me was the flashbacks except for two chapters I found myself completely uninterested. I am not super interested in Venli either so that may be part of the problem. I did really like the Fused in this book as they really felt one dimensional to me before this book. I love Raln and glad to see him take on a willing spren. I was really hoping to see more of the KR orders we have not seen a lot of in more action. I wanted to see Stonewards and Dustbringers in battles and thought that was where we were going with the plot in Emul so a little disappointed in that. Actually that entire plot line really fell short for me except Jasnah who is a close second favorite of mine and really really hope we get to see more badass Jasnah in the next book. I also missed Lift and The Lopen (even though Dawnshard made up a little for this) for their comic relief which I felt was really missing in this book. The thing that really made up for the few issues I had was all of the Cosmere bombs going on. I will say that this could be a huge negative for those that have not read all the books. I'll also say I think you cannot enjoy SA to it's full extent without reading all of the books. I know this goes against what Brandon says but I think he has kind of painted himself in a corner with what he initially wanted but has realized he cannot move the greater Cosmere story along without planting a lot more seeds. This book also (albeit in a really confusing way for me at least) answered the question that has been bugging me. How can this war end? As frightening as it is we now know that Spren and Fused can be killed permanently and not just by a certain black sword. Not to mention one of what I feel is Brandon's all time best twist with Taravangian taking over for Rayse. I feel like Brandon set up an amazing conclusion to the first five in a way I would never have expected. I have never anticipated the next book more than after this one and I think that was Brandon's entire goal here. All that being said I really do get your pint of view. I think we may be polar opposites as I actually did not like WoK on my first read of it. What Brandon is trying to do with SA is truly epic and each book has a unique feel focused on particular characters which will of course not resonate the same with everyone.

I forgot we had a Mandalorian thread! So far I think season 2 is even better than season one and the latest episode was just amazing and I have never watched any of the animated series. I am really glad we can stop calling him Baby Yoda as well.

Besides these two instances Shallan mentions Mraize has used the name Thadakar before when reading Iyatil's notes. Even if she does not know at the time he is the leader of the GB Mraize later confirms it to her. The Seon conversation is weird and I think it is more than just a reconfirmation for the readers. I do not think Shallan was talking to the real Mraize. It is also weird that Shallan "guessed" this when she clearly knew bit may be reading too much in to that.

I thought the palace scenes as mentioned above were interesting and the last Eshonai chapter was good because of its emotional impact. Other than that these were a miss for me. I didn’t like the split between Eshonai and Venli and they just kind of seemed unnecessary. I do agree with others that the flashback chapters in all the books are typically my least favorite (excluding Dalinar’s which I liked). I’m thinking Szeth’s may be interesting in the next book though because we know so little about Shinovar.

My head started spinning when this happened on screen. I always figured the living plate offered more than just protection for the KR but never thought of this. Will be cool to see if this is a WR only ability or if other orders have different plate abilities. Like an Edge Dancer can turn theirs in to a healing AoE.

Pretty much exactly what I thought.

Sure but I think Sazed would make sure his sword is as well.

Just read it. Whoa...

There are a few of these threads floating around and after reading them and the epilogue a few times now I am firmly in the camp of both sides of the coin (see what I did there). I have no idea who won and I think that was Brandon's entire point of this.

I kind of took this to mean what Dalinar later realizes with the "lands claimed after 10 days". Might be kind of moot though now that we have TOdium who has his own set of motivations. I like the idea it is not a simple fight but my problem with this is it seems more like a trail and for a trial you would have to have a third party make the final judgment. This does not seem to be part of the agreement at all and no idea who would be considered non-biased enough to be a "judge".

I see a draw as a win for Odium at least when Rayse was around. It is weird now that we have TOdium but Rayse realized he screwed up with the battle of champions when Dalinar would not become his champion. Of course the stakes have been drastically reduced but would ending in a draw nullify the agreement? If so Odium gets out of the stipulation he has to remain in the Rosharian system and is done with the battle of champions he now does not want. Of course this all makes more sense for Rayse no idea about TOdium. That is all assuming it can even end in a draw which I am not entirely sure it can.

Finished RoW yesterday still experiencing a little bit of a hangover from that. I started Ready Player 2 today for something light. Once done I will jump back in to Dresden with Proven Guilty. The series has been enjoyable but not sure I would say as good as I was expecting from what I have heard from fans of the series.

This sounds interesting but Gavinor is not a suckling child if we are taking the death rattle literally.

I agree there is something about Kaladin. Even not considering the berserker mode he also was only one of two (we pretty much know why Lift was) that remained awake after the tower was corrupted. It is easy to dismiss this as "he was close to the 4th ideal" but I think with everything else it further contributes to the theory he is something else besides a KR.

I would counter that Marsh and Kelsier have proved age is not that big a deal on Scadrial. Of course some things would have to happen,

I was expecting some kind of last ditch effort by Taravangian didn't buy that he was going to go away quietly to the great beyond after saving his city but never would have guessed this. It is probably the most shocking reveal I have read in any of Brandon's books. There was some minor foreshadowing with Nightblood when he talked about Dalinar bringing it to a vision but he seemed so "dumb" I never saw it coming that he would use it himself. Even when he did use Nightblood against him I did not see him taking the shard. Bravo Brandon you got me.