XenosHg

Coming from another point of perspective, after reading Warbreaker, Elantris and Mistborn trilogy, Reckoners' first person narrator is shocking. The books are shorter and might be easier, but it doesnt mean they are worse - just, a bit different tones of good. The author himself points out that his writing style includes much lore from the start and fast resolutions near the same % towards the end - it's just easier to feel slow in the book 2 times longer.

Please tell me if kilometers of text are not liked here, and I'll try and cut this message. Seems it's uncommon here, but I started with spoilers on Warbreaker, specifically on Lightsong's character, who seemed very funny, and his relations with Blushweaver, and the "god who doesn't believe in himself" idea, and also "gods get themselves perfect bodies, so every goddess is buxom as hell". And many others. Then I read it and I totally love it. Funny characters, many unique ideas and twists, all those "inversion" plots (I also liked Elantris "triangular" structure, but less so), and action, and characters again - for me, interesting characters are the first and most favourite part of virtually anything. So, after Warbreaker I went to read Elantris - it's an earlier work, and it feels so. It's good, it's consistent, but it does at times feel marysue-ish. Like, how come Raoden was the only person to actually understand that you can grow the seeds that everyone has? Why didn't anyone organize it right from the start, before people started getting mad from pain? (Charisma overload allowing him to accomplish anything, that I can imagine.) Every person they meet has some skills they need right now? Still, it's an interesting book, original, with sympathetic characters, and a cool way to resolve conflict. After that chronologically comes Mistborn, which is a great book.. Actually no, it isn't. It's a great series of books, but that makes it.. a bit longer to read. Also, only the first book has been published in my native language, and some people don't know english good enough to read fantasy, and while I still recommend TFE, the story might lack closure for them. And, while Elantris has been translated, Warbreaker hasn't, and it fills my soul with sorrow to see no progress for 7+ months on last 1/3 of a book that I read in 2 days, including occasional food and sleep. Probably, my sense of humour gives additional experience - I cannot help but laugh when heroes think what to do with enemy's army - and a second one appears. And when they decide to stall them against each other... Someone immediately discovers a THIRD one! Not sure if it's supposed to be this funny. (And those notes about hemalurgy being "messy"?) After Mistborn I nearly got to Cosmere's next (chronologically, dismissing warbreaker) .. doorstopper. Is it me, or does every next book become larger than the previous? Better sidestep and read the Reckoners. I'm one of those people who liked these 2 books, because they liked David's metaphors. I also love my own - they are not as original as his, but I keep pride in them. Now I've opened Alcatraz.. It seems to me that the author's main criteria for "younger audience" are "less pages" and "First person narration" - can't tell if there are other differences. Going to read other books later. (Well, everything I can get.)

Well, first, David is able to see Calamity from earth like it's up close, seemingly like a something with maybe fiery wings. But, if Calamity can show itself, it might also be able to hide itself. Or it doesn't have actual human form, and changes it as needed. And also Calamity is either some unique Awakener epic, whose power is to create powers that he doesn't have; or he's a Gifter epic, and has all those powers that he gives to people. Maybe even more powerful. Including Megan's reality warper powers. Also, it apparently doesn't need food|water|air. So, maybe it's a reality warper who makes alternative versions of people, only with thematical superpowers (what with "take this power, it's yours"). Or alternative versions of himself, with any superpower possible. Maybe Megan can reason with it. Maybe Calamity originally was some kind of a comet, or a portal. So, people tried to watch it, investigate, wait for any changes. And when they tried to look at it, it didn't have any discernible shape. So, after waiting and observing, they decided to send someone on a ship to take a closer look, and that person got near and activated calamity's powers. So, he became the first epic, and that moment calamity activated and started giving people agressive superpowers, and the ensuing chaos made it impossible for people to know about that theoretical Nasa astronaut. Or maybe Calamity's the Phoenix force. Or a time-travelling Epic from the future. Or time-travelling Epic David from the future.

As far as I can tell, fear is not always connected to trauma of some kind, it might just be fear. Phobia. Irrational, maybe. Claustrophobia - the fear of closed spaces. Agoraphobia - the fear of large open spaces. There must also exist a fear of large bodies of water. If a person is afraid of spiders, or slimes, or snakesit doesn't mean he was bitten by one - he just might be afraid. Or severely grossed, or feel something subconsciously unnatural about it. Also, it's mentioned that David's Epic powers were supposed to be thematically connected to water - and to the Spyril. It wasn't mentioned whether Regalia knew about his fear. She even teased him about powers be more liberating than technology/ Would she even give him superpowered control over something he fears? It's like making Megan an actual Fire epic, why would she fear fire if she can control it?

I like the idea of inventing etymology for a non-existent word! From the already-mentioned point of russian language, sOLntze (as the Sun) can be used as a form of address, like "honey" or "dear", and can be convincingly used sarcastically in a dialogue. The sLOn part, meanwhile, means "elephant", and as a possibly intentional mistype, it's part of a popular pun around "calling your girlfriend an elephant". So, in this setting, it can possibly get to mean something like "clumsy meddling bastard"

1) Someone mentioned that Hemalurgy can transfer not only Allomancy and Feruchemy, but other magic powers from Cosmere. So, can it steal Awakening powers? And, since their respective shards are on different planets, do you need to transfer an Awakener from Nalthis to Scadrial for hemalurgy to work, then kill the donor with a spike and pierce the acceptor, and after that - to send the resulting Hemalurgical Awakener back to Nalthis for his new powers to start working? And, since Breaths need to be given voluntarily, are they lost when you hemalurgically kill their host? And, since someone mentioned that Hemalurgical Feruchemists might have access to the metalminds the original Feruchemist filled - can Hemalurgic Awakener take the Breaths back from something the original Awakener invested into? 2) What gives off allomantic pulses that Seekers hear while burning bronze? Each metal has a static one, Preservation|Mist spirit has a changing one, and I believe that Reen|Ruin also had one - but that might heve been a deception. So, are those pulses connected to the Powers? Does Atium give a pulse? What do you hear when listening to a Mistborn burning different metals together, do they overlap? Can he make a melody by burning and extinguishing different metals? Or use different metals like a Morse code for a fellow Seeker? 3) Where was a story about the specifics of Kelsier's Snapping and escape? 4) If there's an afterlife in Mistborn books, then did Kelsier meet Mare again, and if yes, what does she think of his adventures? (and of his kinda being a god-voice for a couple of weeks between Preservation's death and Vin's ascension?) 5) I'm a bit afraid to ask this question due to site rules forbidding anything sexual.. But still, since author's annotations for HoA mention that Snapping is all about powerful emotions - not necessarily pain, fear or, maybe, as i suspect in Kelsier's case, despair, but, rarely but possibly, something like very strong laughter.. Does physical arousal count as an emotion, and could some woman orgasm into Snapping?