Vine

The scene with Wayne at the party definitely implies that bubbles are of a fixed size: I don't think we have any references for changing the distortion ratio.

Precisely

Ok, let's say that you are a pulser and that you are falling off of a high cliff. You realize right away that you are falling, and so you put up a slow time bubble. Gravity continues to affect you normally, but you proceed though time at a slower rate than the rest of the world. A simple formula for the position of a falling object: v=g*t, where v=velocity, g=acceleration due to gravity (9.8m/s), and t=time. How fast you are going depends entirely on your frame of reference. Say that you are able to slow time by a factor of 1:100, 1 second for you takes 100 seconds in the outside world. So, your velocity depends entirely on how much t you personally have experienced. As you fall you accelerate normally relative to the speed bubble (assuming that the bubble is fixed in space relative to the cliff [not necessarily true, see trains]). So after falling for 1 second from your perspective your speed is v_p=g*1. But from outside the bubble the same 1 second took 100 seconds, which means that your apparent velocity(relative to the world) is v_w=g*1/100, a much slower speed. That speed is so much slower that (if someone noticed you), they would be able to try and get help for you. But what happens when you reach the bottom of your speed bubble? In our universe you would undergo spagetification as parts of your body come out of the slow time zone and begin falling much faster. But I don't think that's the case, see: this theory. Assuming that you come out of the slow time as a unit, you would accelerate (relative to the world) to your personal t, so if it takes 2 seconds to fall through the bubble, your velocity(relative to the world) just after exiting would be v_w=g*2. So you undergo apparent acceleration from the world's perspective. from your own perspective, you are going at v_p=g*2 as well, because that is the t that controlls your speed. Therefore, from your own perspective, it takes just the same ammount of time to fall while you are burning as when you are not; but the world moves much faster that you do while you are inside the slow time bubble.

It shouldn't, but we don't get red-shifting either. Knowing that it's a problem, you could probably engineer systems around it (debouncing all power/data lines; heavy data packet redundancy; etc.)

I don't think that we can use the compression of space time to explain what we are seeing. First, Photons are fundamentally different from objects. Photons are Bosons, carriers of the electromagnetic force. 'Objects' as we commonly use the term are composed of Leptons and quarks (electrons, protons, and neutrons). They are different, See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model . Plus the way that most people think about photons is wrong, it's not like a stream of little balls, it's a stream of wave packets. And for situations like this, where we have light traversing a boundary, its much easier (and more accurate) to just think of it as a wave. So on the red-shifting, if I'm reading you correctly you are saying that over a 20:1 (20s inside, 1s outside) boundary, there won't be much red-shifting. Unfortunately, that is not the case. To simplify, let's think of it as a 10:1 boundary. Say you have a bucket of 10 oranges, and you throw them out of your speed bubble. If you throw them at 1 per second (1Hz) they will emerge from the outside at 10 in 1 second (10 Hz) that's an order of magnitude jump in frequency. Say we have a simple light source, a candle, one component of the light has a wavelength of 666nm, or a frequency of 450THz (4.5*10^14 Hz). Coming out of the bubble, the frequency will be increased by the same factor as the oranges, so 450THz becomes 4500THz. This is 67nm, or in the near UV range. Going the other way, the same red light on the outside would become 45THz, or 6700nm, or in the mid IR range. That's some significant red-shifting. So, if we accurately treat this as a hard geometric boundary, there should be loads of red-shifting, and some serious pancaking/spagetification as objects move through the boundary. But, these are not the affects that we have seen, so some other system must be at work. Thus my theory about the boundary treating 'objects' differently.

I've been thinking about this problem for a while now, and the only solution that I can come up with is that temporal bubbles don't affect a geometric sphere of space. They are more like a field with the property that any 'object' that is all or partially inside the field is affected by the temporal change. When an 'object' passes through the boundary of the temporal field it transitions to the new reference frame all at once. This avoids the pancaking that really should happen if the bubble is a hard boundary. And because 'objects' passing through the barrier do decelerate to match the world frame, they experience the 'jostling' that Wax felt when they fell through the bubble. That could also explain the deflection of bullets as they pass through. Another plus for this theory is that it could explain why there are no red shifting effects. Because light is not an 'object,' it is not affected by the temporal field. Now, this whole theory hinges directly on how we define the word 'object,' and I don't have a good formal definition, but I suspect that it has something to do with both the physical and cognitive aspects of objects. I also have some unformed theories about how this relates to spren, but that requires more thought.

I suspect that the reasons for that are mostly the unfamiliarity that most western audiences have with the idea of a non theist religion. I've always had a hard time getting my head around the other forms of religious practice (I wanted to say 'worship' here, but that isn't really accurate). The problem is particularly sharp in the US, where all religious conversation goes on through a Protestant lens. Though looking at Alloy of Law, I'd say that Pathism gets closest to that form. Unfortunately, in a universe with active deities, Theist forms would tend to be the norm (at least, that's what my western bias tells me:).

A quick thought on why Dalinar might not be exhibiting a spren yet: Shardplate/blade. There's some evidence that the shardplates and blades have been 'corrupted' by Odium (thus the thrill), and therefore might inhibit the formation of fully realized Honor based powers. Plus we saw how Syll was happy when he relinquished his armor and blade. It's not difinitive, but it holds together under a first order analysis anyway.

Does anyone know what typeface was used in the US hardback printing of The Way of Kings? I couldn't find it listed anywhere in the book. I found it to be very clean and readable, with subtle Latin serifs. It also has a very nice ligature between 'T' and 'h'. Thanks!

Dear Sir, I would greatly enjoy an advance copy of this book Regards Vine XIV

All this talk of Ellen Page and Summer Glau for Vin makes me sad They get suggested for every film like this. (And firefly was fantastic but that doesn't mean that Summer Glau is perfect for every role) I was thinking that Hailee Steinfeld (from True Grit) would be a prety good choice for the role. Her voice is a lot like how I expected Vin to sound. She might be a bit young right now, but the movie won't happen for 2 years at least, so there's plenty of time to fix that.