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ljósmóður

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Posts posted by ljósmóður

  1. Awesome! If roughly 50% of the people on the forum are INTJ (ie. Evil mastermind personality) then we can safely initiate our plan to conquer the forum and force Brandon to finish Stones Unhallowed first.

     

    Well - I'm INFJ and apparently we're peacemakers and diplomats - odd the difference one letter makes!

     

    I'm feeling a bit inadequate after finding myself in the same category as Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa allegedly so I feel as though I should try and earn my stripes by appealing to all evil masterminds to act with restraint but ...... I REALLY want to read Stones Unhallowed so ......

     

    well,  all evil masterminds crack on with the forum domination. I'll just go and be quietly peaceable in the corner (and probably make a list of nice, kind things - I am VERY strongly "J",like 100% strength "J", no "P" tendencies at all so lists are a thing of beauty to me!)

  2. Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere - I couldn't find any threads about  it.

     

    So, in terms of the Cosmere, I've read all the Mistborns, all of the Stormlight Archive and Warbreaker but not Elantris, any of the short works nor the unpublished ones (yet!). And Mraize's "collection" in chapter 43 'The Ghostbloods' is bugging me! 

     

    I know Mraize is a worldhopper so I'm presuming that the things Shallan sees are all cosmere related? What are they and to which world do they pertain? Do we know?

     

    "A vial of white sand. A couple of thick hairpins. A lock of golden hair. The branch of a tree with writing on it she couldn't read. A silver knife. An odd flower preserved in some kind of solution ... That chunk of pale pink crystal." (p539, WoR, pt 1, Gollancz)

     

    So - the sand presumably comes from the unpublished novel of the same name? The hair, I thought, might be a sample of the royal locks from Nalthis, the flower - a Tears-of-Edgli (spelling!?) from the same.

     

    Am I right and can anyone help me identify the other stuff?It's one of those little cosmere treasure hunts that I'm itching to understand!

  3. I'm not a huge fan of Shallan - I found her somewhat irritating in WoK. But, she was growing on me in WoR when she seemed to be growing up somewhat and her flashbacks did a lot to contextualise her and make me feel a lot of sympathy towards her. Plus, her humour seemed more natural in the second book. But, just as I was warming up to her properly:

     

    She hired a poor carriage driver and two parshmen to take her to a meeting with a bunch of people she knows to be unsavoury at best and murderous at worst. She sends the carriage back without her and then seems surprised when the carriage driver and parshmen are slaughtered by the Ghostbloods. I know she's is upset and I know she feels guilty but I can't quite forgive her lack of foresight in this instance. I never did quite recover the same level of interest in her for the rest of the book (apart from the chapters in the chasms where I felt she came close to redeeming herself.)

  4. I do not want Kaladin to extract revenge on Roshone. Revenge, I feel, goes outside his character. I want Kaladin to walk pass Roshone, to see him and continue down his road.

     

    This - I want Roshone to get his comeuppance but I don't want it to be Kaladin who brings it. I want Kaladin to be occupying the higher moral ground. The only time I would want to see Kaladin involved in some sort of "revenge" against Roshone would be if Roshone was terrorising the people of Heartstone and Kaladin steps in to protect them as per his vows. Laral didn't make a huge impression on me to be honest so I'm not terribly invested in what becomes of her.

     

    I think the idea that his parents have left Hearthstone would be interesting. I certainly don't see that Roshone would have ended his campaign against them. There's the section isn't there (don't have my book to hand) when

     

    Kaladin signs up to protect Tien and Roshone shows a moment of grim satisfaction but when he gets back into his carriage, he is still bitter and his son is still dead. Revenge hasn't brought him any comfort or closure.

     

    Under those circumstances, I think he'd continue his campaign against Kaladin's parents in some sort of misguided search for peace and I think he could well have been successful in driving them out. That would take Kaladin to Kholinar - I'd like the reunion to take place there - it would be chance for us as readers to find out more about Kholinar and the queen and the circumstances there. I think both parents will be alive. Hesina will be overjoyed to reunite with her son but there will be some initial tension between Lirin and Kaladin, as Lirin struggles to make sense of how Kaladin has managed to merge the soldier/surgeon parts of his personality as a KR. I think it'll come good though - the bond between them is too strong for it to end badly. As for Lirin being a KR? Interesting possibility. I'd prefer him not to be, as it makes the relationship between him and his radiant son more interesting. If he is though:

     

    he'll be on Nalen's hitlist because of the stolen spheres won't he? Assuming, the herald is still in the business of taking out incipient radiants.

  5. Mine was Narnia. My dad worked shifts and when he was on nights my mum would let my sister and I sleep in the big bed with her and we'd have a chapter of a Narnia book together before going to sleep - so there are really happy, positive associations for me. I have loved reading them with my own children too. After that it was LotR - although not the Silmarillion or The Children of Hurin until I was an adult. Actually, I hadn't read the Hobbit until I was an adult either until my husband bought it to read to our children and was horrified to hear that I had never got around to reading it. So I did.  

     

    I loved Terry Pratchett Discworld novels and went through a phase of reading one daily when I was a teenager! I was allowed access to the A-level English reading cupboard when I was 14 (containing the set texts for the students studying for their English Literature A-level at 18) thanks to an enthusiastic English teacher who wanted to challenge and stretch me. That's when I discovered Margaret Atwood's Handmaid Tale and discovered that I quite like dystopian fantasy that deals in real world politics. I was really excited when I got to teach it to my A-level class as one of their set texts. I loved how they responded to the end - they were so cross because they were so engaged with it! I love Oryx and Crake and its sequel too. I don't think they fall in to true fantasy but I'm not one for genres much. I read what looks interesting.

     

    Of course, honourable mention to Harry Potter but I'm another one who is too old to claim the boy wizard as my entree to the world of fantasy. I was in my twenties when they were published.

  6. Dalinar wearing unmatching pyjamas tops and bottoms???? SCANDAL.

     

     

    Never ever. And the pj trousers have a perfectly crisp ironed seams down each leg (just as well that I don't do his ironing!)

     

    For some reason Amaram is always white, and Adolin's skintone varies, even when I get everyones skin color right.

     

    Maybe because Amaran has some pretty unpleasant ideas about things like eye-colour?

     

    like assuming a brown eyed Herald must be in disguise because there couldn't possibly be such a thing.

     

    I know a lot of the light-eyes do but it seems more sinister when he expresses those views - like most light-eyes go along with the accepted reasoning but, when challenged, acknowledge that it's silly. Amaran embraces that sort of elitism / fundamentalism.

     

    I've realised something else: I have to actively correct my brain that HONOR is not a spelling mistake! Most American books are reprinted with British English spelling when they're published over here but none (as far as I'm aware) of Sanderson's books have been. And, of course, even if they had then Honor, as a name, would remain that spelling anyway. But that doesn't stop muttering that it should be honoUr (and coloUr in Warbreaker).

  7. I'm 7 months older than Brandon I believe! Which makes me anxious as I hope I'm still around for the end of SA! It also makes me unusual for the forum demographic: female, forty and with children of my own. *waves to the other parents*

     

    I graduated university with an English degree and have a post-graduate teaching qualification which I used to teach secondary English (aged 11-18 year olds) for four years before having my first child whereupon I became a stay-at-home parent. My youngest started school this year so I'm just returning to the world of work, although currently self-employed as a freelance writer/creator of reports with a side line in exam grading to pay the bills.

     

    Interesting to hear the debates around the teaching of literature. I'm a huge believer in good teaching fostering a love of books not quashing the desire to read out of children altogether. I think, done well, most literature can be opened up to most people. I used active techniques a lot when I was teaching. I taught Romeo and Juliet to a group of twelve year olds who all had profound and severe learning issues of one kind or another. They LOVED it and didn't want to stop when the class finished. We used lots and lots of drama and speaking work and plenty of interactive/media exercises. They're absolute favourite moment appeared to be the lesson we spent hurling Shakespearean insults at each - they definitely were able to see the use of Shakespeare in the modern world after that one! I don't teach any more but, personally, think a broad, rich diet of good quality writing (rather than "Literature" with a capital L) is the right of every child.

  8. I picture Rock as a Klingon, Syl is green, Spheres are large as plumbs. Alethi are white Europeans. Shardplate is an Ironman suit. Dalinar is ALWAYS wearing blue. Hoid is Petyr Baelish from Game of Thrones. I probably have several more misconceptions that i don't even realize are wrong.

     

    +1

     

    I now have a mental image of a Klingon in a kilt for Rock! I think I'm getting further away from canon-description not nearer! But yes, Dalinor is ALWAYS in blue, true fact that! Even his pyjamas will be blue (and buttoned and the top will always match the bottoms).

  9. Also, Wayne always had a Scottish accent. He actually sounded pretty much exactly like Scotty in my head...

     

    EDIT:
     

     

    ^This. It wasn't as thick, but Rock's accent was distinctly Russian during my first read. 

     

    Oh, and Hoid is basically Benedict Cumberbatch in my head.  :ph34r:

     

    THAT's who has been in my head for Hoid! I knew I was thinking of him as someone famous but couldn't put my finger on it. Of course he's Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock version).

     

    Wayne is definitely Aussie in my head (probably because of his name) but Rock is Scottish to me - I tend to envisage him in a kilt!

    .

     

    My biggest problem is the uniforms. While reading WoK I pictured gladiator or roman style uniforms in the beginning then realized they were more like 19th century revolution type uniforms as they were described. There was nothing I remember reading that should have made me think they were roman style but I still see Kaladin in a skirt. I think it is because the scenes where he is traveling in the slave cart reminded me of the movie Gladiator and it stuck in my head. 

     

    The uniforms are definitely a conglomeration of all manner of styles - there's definitely some Gladiator type stuff going on. I have the UK books, published by Gollancz. Cover Illustrations by Sam Green (props to him/her? I LOVE the covers for SA and Mistborn) so my pictures of the uniforms/armour are influenced by them. But, in all honesty:

     

    Kaladin, landing in his fiery glyph having just saved Dalinor, is all Neo / Matrix, long coat as pseudo-cape superhero uniform to me!

  10. SYL IS GREEN. I will not be persuaded otherwise.  :mellow:

     

    She does appear as a leaf quite a lot doesn't she so I can completely see where you're coming from with that.

     

    I have no idea if Pattern looks like black ink or if he looks like an pattern under the surface of things, but I will always see him as a black, ink-like, pattern flowing around over the surface of things

     

    I do too - although in his case, we have Shallan's drawings of him to give our head cannon some boundaries!

  11. All Sanderson worlds are so brilliantly created in such a lot of detail but, even so, there's always room for imagination to run amok!

     

    For me, it's spheres. I know from early on in WoK (don't have my copy to hand to quote) that they're the size of a fingernail and slightly flattened on one side to prevent rolling but I only noticed that on my second read through by which time they were thoroughly established in my "head-Roshar" as being the size/shape of Christmas baubles :ph34r:  :rolleyes: . In my head, most people are carrying unwieldy, lumpy heavy bags of spheres (I know, entirely practical for soldiers like Kaladin!) and anyone remotely wealthy would need a couple of parshmen pushing a wheelbarrow to carry their small change! I know it makes no sense but I can't shift my initial picture.

     

    Anyone else have things like that when reading fantasy books?

  12. Yes. I think so. It's hard for me to say whether someone who normally doesn't "do" fantasy would love it because I do love fantasy novels generally so don't have a problem with wading into very large tomes full of magic! But, I think the strength of the Stormlight Archive is that despite being resolutely fantasy (and specifically Brandon Sanderson cosmere fantasy at that) the characters are human with human qualities and failings, making human decisions (even the ones who aren't species-speaking human!). It's a brilliant example of fantasy discussing meaty issues (I think Mistborn did this too but SA feels deeper and more adult in its exploration of power/religion/war and pacifism and so much else). I worry that I've made it sound really worthy - it isn't it's a cracking read with some meat to it.

  13. Welcome to 17th Shard!

     

    Please excuse the terrible thing to follow:

    May you, with your Endowment, and in your Devotion, be a person of Honor in this Dominion, who shall not fall to Ruin, and instead be a person who shall survive through Preservation, having enough familiarity with Cultivation to not have feelings of Odium.

     

    Enjoy your time here, Stormblessed :)

     

     

    My goodness - that's a lovely welcome, thank you. No pressure then! A-don(alsium) know if I can live up to that!

     

    Welcome! It's amazing how Brandon's books can appeal to people of all ages; I haven't read his YA books, but I think a twelve year old would get just as much enjoyment out of them as a forty year old as... well, anything in between or beyond. He's an awesome author.

     

    Anyway, like I said, welcome, and don't worry about grading papers; you could always pull a Tolkien, scribble some scraps of realmantic theory on the back of one and hti a breakthrough or something.

     

    I agree - there's so much to enjoy about the plots and the pace but there's so much more going on in the background. I'm an English graduate so I like things going on in the background that I can mull over! I could do a Tolkien but it would need to be with less songs. No book, no matter how great, needs so many declarations of poetry!

     

    You should check out our puns thread Varyn, it's around somewhere :P

    Anyways, welcome to the 17th Shard, home to ponies, crazy people, theorists and more!

    Care for a welcome-to-the-forum cookie?

     

    Thank you (I think - I have heard things about the cookies buy hey what's the worst that could happen ..... *suddenly starts seeing blue lines everywhere*)

  14. Hi, I've been reading on the forum for a little while but thought the time had come to let you all know I exist!!

     

    I hadn't even heard of Brandon Sanderson ( :ph34r: ) until last October when I asked on a few sites about recommendations for Christmas books for my twelve year old son. Mistborn was one of the recommendations. Alas, we didn't buy him it (although he did enjoy the books we did select for him) but I told my husband that, never mind a 12 year old, wanted to read them and, on Christmas morning, Santa brought me the trilogy. Hurray! Which I'd read before New Years Eve - I'm not one for delayed gratification with books I love. Got hold of Alloy of Law not long afterwards and have read it twice (which is how I came across the forum as I was looking for what else Sanderson had written) although I haven't been able to reclaim any of the MB books from said 12 year old who is nearly as obsessed as me!

     

    My lovely husband, (the real life one, not my username one!) who knows me well, bought me WoK and WoR for my fortieth birthday at the start of the month and it's the only time I've cursed how quickly I read as I'd finished all four volumes inside of the week. I was especially gutted when I realised there won't be another one for at least 18 months so I'm consoling myself by re-reading them (and have read Warbreaker in the meantime). My head is now boggling with Cosmere theories and this forum is entirely responsible for the fact that I'm am grading English papers and am completely behind with meeting deadlines because I keep getting distracted by magic and cosmere and worldhopping and all sorts of things like that.

     

    Nice to 'meet' you all.

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