ljósmóður

Here in the UK we're taught French from France and my exposure to native speakers comes from several school trips to France many moons ago. I have a strong regional accent (which probably isn't what most non-Brits think of as an English accent - I sound nothing like the queen or anyone from Downton Abbey!) which means I speak French with a passable accent at best. I haven't read any Reckoners yet ( - a heinous admission for 17th shard, I know!) so I shall watch out for Abraham, the false swearing Quebecer when I do. When you say you are colourful with your cursing, I'm reminded of the Merivingian in the second Matrix film, swearing in French with a large amount of colour and fluency!

^ Me too, except that I say all the "J" names in SA with a "Y" sound (oh, except Jezrien. For some reason, he's my exception to prove the rule). In our house, Renoux is said with a big flourish and an awful French accent (apologies to Maxal for the mangling of her beautiful native tongue ), thanks to the fact that I, my husband and our 12 year old where at one point all reading different Mistborn books at the same time, leading to discussions like this one over pronunciation.

via Imgflip Meme Maker WoK spoiler:

Sorry, little bit O/T but are US versions of SA published in one volume? I have the UK paperbacks and I have 4 books: WOK, Vol. 1 & 2 and WOR, Vol. 1 & 2. I can only imagine the damage that could be done if the two volumes were combined in one hardback . Ouch! And back to the main topic !

"The Almighty save a man when his female relative collude about his future," Adolin said with a sigh." Sure it's all right for Jasnah to run about into her middle years without a spouse, but if I reach my twenty third birthday without a bride, it's like I'm some kind of menace. Sexist of her don't you think?" "Well she wanted me to get married too," Shallan said. "So, I wouldn't call her sexist. Merely ... Jasnah-ist? She paused. "Jasnahgynistic. No, drat. It would have to be Misjasnahistic, and that doesn't work nearly as well, does it?" (WoR, ch 49)

This line: "Surgebinding and Shardwielding can return; the magic of the ancient days can become ours again." would suggest not to me. The shin named Szeth "Truthless" and banished him for daring to speak of surgebinding & magic returning to Roshar. The quote above seems to imply a longing for those powers so I think a Shin speaker is unlikely. (In the interest of maintaining my total indecisiveness on this thread, I will not say it's an impossibility but I do think there are other more likely candidates!) Edited for spelling.

Do you have a baseball cap of invisibility? Because that would be a) amazingly cool and very useful.

As you can see - you weren't the only one! But, as you can also see, I wasn't sure due to the tone the speaker takes regarding Desolations. I'm being terribly inconclusive on this thread - I've already suggested at least three different possibilities without reaching a definitive conclusion!

Some good arguments being made here. For me - it's about my personal response to the characters as I read. Amaram makes my skin crawl whenever he's in a scene. It's visceral. I don't like Sadeas but I didn't have such a violent personal reaction to him as I did to Amaram. Amaram is too much like real-life fundamentalists who believe that the ends justify their means. I don't like real life fundamentalists either. There is nothing scarier than someone who honestly believes the dangerous rhetoric they are feeding other people. Edited for spelling.

Granted - you are now living in the Sahara desert. I wish to be finished my current book so that I can start Elantris, which I got at the weekend.

The Theory Tent: With regular shows at 10, 12, 2 & 4, featuring different Sharders expounding their favourite espoused theories. Guests entering the tent get popcorn ('cos why not, really!?) and a giant inflatable thumb which they can raise to give upvotes to an appealing theory.

I don't even care get that I get sick on roller-coasters - and waltzers ... and, actually, anything that moves. I still want this so much. My ideas: SA: The Bridge Four obstacle course. Take your bridge across chasms, collect some salvage, dodge Parshendi arrows. Successful completion is rewarded with a bowl of Horneater stew. The Navani "fabrial" ride. Get raised high in the air in a giant, floating fabrial (and possibly dropped from high altitude just for, y'know, fun! ) Alcatraz: A sandpit! For the younger Sanderfans or the small people belonging to Sanderfans. A shooting range. Try out Sing's ancient weapons. Have your photo taken with well-spoken, literate dinosaurs and their books. Rithmatist: An ice-cream parlour! An Arts and Crafts station. Draw your own chalklings. Warbreaker: A game of Tarachin, scaled down for non-Returned guests. A maze - make your way through underground tunnels and find the Lifeless army at the centre.

I'm far from being a cosmere expert but it looks like a good start to me. One thing though: I think you meant Warbreaker not Nightblood. Otherwise: nice work!

One more thing that lends itself to it being the NIghtwatcher is the boon/curse structure of the "prophecy" - one to save/ one to destroy. If the Stormfather is of Honor and the Nightwatcher is of Cultivation, do we know who the Cusicesh is of? And I like your flimsy proof - I would like it to be true!

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I assumed that spren were eternal but their sentience wasn't so all the spren with nahel bonds have existed pre-recreance but not all of them would have had personhood / "sprenhood" at that time, at least not in the physical realm. So, with regards to age, they are all old but their consciousness might not be? The speech might also be made by a spren who was not themselves 'old' but who knew the history of spren interaction with humans. A spren historian, maybe a Jasnah-type spren .... ooh, a Veristitalian spren! Which, maybe, brings Ivory into the frame too. Although I still think Glys is possible too.

I forgot about that episode but yes ... it is really, truly an amazing one. Beautifully paced and scripted and proper intelligent sci-fi. Just amazing (and sad). Have you ever seen early cybermen (around Patrick Troughton's time?): https://mindreels.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/cybermen.jpg I don't know if creepy is the word or whether downright weird is a better definition . I think it's the blank expressionlessness (is that even a word?) that does it.

Favourite Doctor: I love Tom Baker too but "my" doctor, based on the timings and when I watched it regularly, is #5 (Peter Davidson, aka Father-in-Law to #10 ... way to mess with my head ).New Who: I loved Matt Smith but didn't think he was well served by his scripts. Plus, here in the UK they kept messing with the scheduling so the show would be on at a different time every week and seasons were split in half so that story arcs, which were confusing enough, became baffling. Favourite Monster: Daleks (as long as they're not the diabolical "disco daleks" of the Victory of the Daleks, affectionately named the "jammy dodger" episode in our house). Honourable mention to the terrifying Weeping Angels. Favourite Companion: Classic: I had a soft spot for Ace and her love of explosives! Modern: Martha - I really wished she'd lasted longer and been better developed. Favourite Episode: Classic - Caves of Adrozonai. Modern: The Doctor Dances/Empty Child. Interestingly, we showed our older children (aged 10 & 12) some classic Who when it was on TV. They were transfixed, despite the wobbly sets and monsters that looked like sock puppets! They adore Tom Baker and are official K9 fans! We showed them some modern Who and they were completely bemused. They found it far too frenetic and kept asking what was going on! I think there was something to be said for the very leisurely pace of classic Who compared to the whizzy bangs of the reboot!

I can't decide if this needs spoilering or not. But, to be on the safe side:

We don't have this on the back of the UK WoK (well not the paperback edition which I have anyway), just a traditional editor's blurb so that's the first time I've read that. Is it repeated on the back of WoR or does the second book have a different blurb? Just wondering if we're meant to read as referring specifically to WoK or whether its a statement that is supposed to span the whole archive. If so, I agree with Maxal that it's odd to only reference the four characters who are bought to the forefront in book 1 and not the other characters who will (presumably) become more prominent as the books progress. Initially, I wondered if it might have been written by one of the Sons of Honor (so, Amaram?) because it references wanting the return of the Heralds and "honor in the hearts of men" but then, they're trying to bring the Desolation, not prevent it so that theory is probably not a valid one.

Yes. This interpretation makes a lot of sense to me too - thinking of the necklace as a symbol of how family-centred Adolin is. And I do like how all his rituals tie in so beautifully with the Edgedancer oaths to go with his Edgedancer blade.

I thought of the missing chain as being just a precious memento rather than something that would grant Adolin extra powers. I wouldn't want it to be that, to be honest. I thought its significance was as a literary device to explore Adolin's character and the ways in which he matures through WOR. He's a master duellist - he's chosen it as a calling and he's pretty darn good at it! He is always superstitious and observes rituals before his duels, like talking to his blade and eating chicken ... and carrying his chain. He loses the chain, has a really rough duel but (with help) still manages to defeat 4 combatants . I thought the lost chain served as a metaphor for Adolin growing in confidence and realising that his skill in duelling is his own and doesn't come from all the different rituals he observes. Plus, the fact that it was his mother's chain, means that by not relying on it he's stepping out of his parent's (read: father, in particular) shadow and taking steps to becoming a future highprince in his own right. But then I'm a former English teacher so I see symbolic imagery in everything ! On the topic of the third book: I'm really excited to think it might explore Dalinor's past. After Kaladin, he's one of the characters I felt most engaged with. There are enough hints that he was very different as a young man and I think his strange visions and total shift in mindset through WoK and WoR will seem even more poignant when set against his brashness as a young man. The only thing I fear is that some of the flashbacks are likely to contain large amounts of violence which I'm not a great fan of reading. But there's a quote about Gavilar and Dalinor creating the kingdom by wading through blood so I can't see that there's a way around exploring that. Unlike Doctor Who, however, you can't read a book whilst hiding behind a cushion (it's too hard to hold the book at the same time!).

I suppose the whole "mist" thing is more Mistborn than anything else and so it is going to work best for that series. But, I actually really love all the UK covers I have and my OCD means that I appreciate the thematic approach to the covers!

I'm happy to share: I was the big 4-0 last month! So, just out of my thirties. I married when I was 23 and had my first child when I was 27 and my youngest when I was 34 so I've had a very long period of transitioning into adulthood! I know plenty of people who are very content at our age (I think you're similar but a little younger than me?) but who are child-free so I think age is definitely part of coming to feel secure in your own self. But for me, certainly, I always knew I wanted a family and so what I am doing now feels "right" to me. It's that sense of being in the right place, doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing that makes me happy.

I'm happy where I am now. I didn't hate being a teenager. I was lucky - despite being somewhat unprepossessing and a bit of an oddity as a teenager, I had enough people around me who loved me and accepted me as I was so I didn't really feel my oddness! But now, I'm where I always wanted to be. I'm married to a really special man and I have beautiful children. I don't currently have a career but I was never very career minded so this doesn't feel like a void in my life at present! It hasn't been plain sailing to get here. Like most people, I've had some dark times along the way but, even those, I wouldn't swap because they've brought me to this place where I am very content.

+1 I identify as socially liberal (and politically left-wing) but also as a Christian. It can be a tricky balancing act sometimes for certain but, to me, my belief in a fair and equal society in which the poorest are protected and human rights are respected grows out of my faith. Because I believe that humans beings were created purposefully by a loving creator, I believe that each and every person had intrinsic worth and that their worth should be nourished and nurtured. Jesus is my model for how Christians should respond to their society and I think sometimes the church forgets that He was pretty revolutionary in his response to the poorest, the most vulnerable and the dispossessed.