Iarwainiel I

I just finished TLotR last night (19th time through). To me, all of western civilization could have existed to produce this one book - that's how much I love it. What I noticed new this time: the implied influence of Manwe (from The Silmarillion) at most or all points in the story where something important happened. (Manwe is an Ainu ((a step above Maiar like Gandalf and Sauron in power)), King of the Valar, and lord of air, wind, and clouds.) Next time, I want to watch for the influence of the other Valar throughout the story - especially Varda (queen of stars) and Ulmo (lord of waters). But that will be next year - right now, I need to begin my Stormlight re-read to get ready for Rhythm of War!

I agree with what many others have said - here are some that weren't listed when I started reading this thread: Shallan's date with Adolin where she asks him about his shardplate (you know the part). The story of Moash's grandparents, that explains why he hates Elhokar; this also tells how Dalinar sent Roshone to Hearthstone, "where he couldn't do any more harm" The interlude with Rysn, since her story is important later on. I also think she'll enjoy hearing about that "island" where people have different ideas about modesty. ;-) Explain to her how Dalinar puts Amaram in charge of the KRs, then read the part right before the army heads off and he takes that position away from Amaram - especially where Dalinar tells Kaladin "Not you, son." That was a real moment, for me - and since Tay hates Amaram, I think what happens will resonate with her. Kaladin swearing the 3rd oath, where Syl's voice is heard "He is Mine - I claim him!" and "Kaladin stretch forth thy hand!" And - I am really looking forward to Tay meeting Lift!!!

(My opinion) I would definitely NOT read "Secret History" before reading Mistborn Era 2, Bands of Mourning. At least, I would not want to have deprived myself of the insanely intense reaction I had to doing it in that sequence (trying hard to avoid any spoilers here). To me, this is a no-brainer - when Brandon himself waited till after Bands of Mourning was published, and said he had been waiting 10 years to share what's in "Secret History," at that point, I would follow the author's lead there. But, you probably can read the rest of Arcanum Unbounded right away without spoiling too much for yourself. If you don't mind spoilers, you can read pretty much anything. Personally I detest spoilers, but not everyone is like me. Maybe think about it this way: If you had just started reading Way of Kings, and someone told you what happened at the Battle of the Tower, how would you have felt? Would it have lowered your enjoyment in reading the book? If so, maybe use this as an opportunity to gain a little patience ... or to read a lot really fast. Hope this helps!

My favorites were always about "Spaceman Spiff."

@Goatbringer this recent post https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/89882-peeps-before-death/ (stunningly brilliant dirama! + tasty!) reminded me of this excellent LEGO creation https://www.tor.com/2014/03/21/the-way-of-kings-as-interpreted-through-lego/ When you get to the Battle of the Tower, maybe share these with your dear wife? [Now I want some Peeps, but the shops are all closed...]

This.Is.AMAZING!!!! The detail - Kaladin's slave brand, the marbling on the skin of the Parshendi, the colored foil for Adolin's shardplate ... It's posts like this that make me love the 17th Shard even more! Thank you @Aerim - this was a lot of hard work! Well done! Downside: Now I want some Peeps & the stores are all closed, LOL!!

Picture it with a wooden spoon in one hand and a ladle (for stew!) in the other!

Maybe - I have no idea what's traditional re: movie posters. I understand that the listing order refers to screentime, but does that always translate to where figures are on the poster, and/or their size? (Thinking of Thanos in the A4:Endgame poster...) That said, Moash would not have had a shardblade until late in WoR, whereas Renarin definitely would. And the figure holding the shardblade in the upper image is definitely not in the lower clifftop image, but Moash should be. I don't think we ever saw Renarin with a regular sword - he was training with the spear, same as the others. Moderators, please ask someone to check with Isaac and/or Zack & clarify this for us. Inquiring minds want to know!

The post from Isaac (on Brandon's site) says that the lower image is from WoK when Bridge Four was still in Sadeas's camp, and the upper image is from the WoR timeframe (not Oathbringer). So I'm pretty sure that Renarin is the one holding the shardblade in the upper image. That figure is not included in the lower image, and he wouldn't have been with them when they were still bridgemen. I think Moash is at the bottom right of the upper image. That figure is on Kaladin's right in the lower image (his "right-hand man"?), and the facial expression on both these figures seems (to me) to be angry/arrogant. I think the figure who's holding a regular sword in the upper image is The Lopen, since in WoR he wouldn't have had 2 hands to hold a spear but would still have been part of Dalinar's bodyguard. It's obvious which ones are Rock and Teft. Sigzil is the one with the darkest skin, since he's Makabaki. The others, I have no idea. I wonder if the figures for Leyten and Skar actually look like Brandon's friends who he patterned the characters after? Those are my impressions, anyway - I hope they tell us who's who definitively, at some point. No matter what, this poster is amazing!!!

Wax would go out at night and help the constables to enforce a curfew, if there was one. Steris would make lists! - inventories of toilet paper, disinfectant, food. You would definitely want to be quarantined in her house - she would be prepared! Wayne wouldn't stay in. He might find a style of hat that a mask could be attached to. He would seem to be nonchalant about it, but deep down he'd want to protect others from infection. Melaan would ... just be Melaan. She might also be thinking of whose bones might soon be available, and stash some away if transforming into that person looked to have strategic value in the future. (I'm assuming that kandra would be immune to disease in general; no idea if that's correct or not.) What a fun question @Renarin Kholin !! Thanks for starting this thread!

Wales. It's so green. I visited there once, years ago, and it felt like a place where my heart could rest.

OK, I'm gonna suggest something here & maybe we can all petition for it to happen, somehow. I want Brandon to use at least one of @Goatbringer's wife's names in a future book - i.e., that people from a Rosharan culture, in-world, call chasmfiends "rock lobsters," for example. There are lots of cultures we haven't met yet, so lots of possibilities. What say you all? Any Moderators/Beta Readers following this thread? Good idea? (If it's a bad idea, my apologies - I meant no offense.)

Maybe it's that he always saw the world as better than it was - - that, in his innocence, Tien saw what could be or could have been, not what was. And that he went on doing that, beyond childhood, when most other people would have begun the disillusionment that adolescence brings.

@Ammanas - I almost added your first quote ("Mighty are the Ainur...") to my earlier post! I agree wholeheartedly - these passages are pure gold, at least to me. I understand that some readers dislike Tolkien's archaic prose style, which is totally fine for them, but for me the way he uses language is a huge draw - one of the things that's his alone, and that would be nigh impossible to translate to other mediums like movies or TV. During my TLotR reread, I've been changing the "Location" on my Twitter account (which I use mostly for professional stuff) to be where I am in the book. Tonight, I'll update it to "Rohan." Just a little thing, but it's making me smile.

I've read The Hobbit, TLotR, The Silmarillion, and the Unfinished Tales, but after that the books seemed more scholarly - like if I was doing a PhD on Tolkien, they'd be great source material. I found that reading many different versions of the same legend was more confusing than enjoyable, so I decided to stop there. I loved The Silmarillion so much - kudos to you for pushing through & being able to enjoy it. Probably my favorite parts were anything to do with Finrod Felagund - especially his song in Tol-in-Guarhoth - and the creation myth (how every evil Melkor did was woven into the overall beauty), There's one line from the myth that is so profound & comes my to mind often: the third music theme which was "deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came." Did that line ring true for you as well? Glad to find another fan of Tolkien's books!

I'm reading The Lord of the Rings again (19th time). Right now the company has just entered Moria. There's always something new to notice, on every trip to Mount Doom.

I feel so validated! because that's exactly what I did. I forced myself to finish the 6th book, then used the WoT Encyclopedia ( http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/) and Leigh Butler's reread (https://www.tor.com/features/series/wot-reread/) to jump straight to Brandon's books.

I am 100% in agreement with you there. To me, it seems more like a kid's-level introduction to stories and literary elements that could be expanded on later in life. There were a bunch of weird opinions about the series when it first came out, but I guess that shouldn't surprise us, seeing as how back in the '70s there were people who thought that The Lord of the Rings was a book about the occult that "decent" people shouldn't read (despite Tolkien being a faithful Catholic!). No accounting for opinions, eh?

Nice work @ChickenLiberty ! I got Elsecaller, which I've gotten before on some quizzes. It's interesting to me because it's not what I would have predicted - my values and hopes for people align much better with Bondsmith. I guess one never knows...

Yay! I was hoping for another Tay installment! Your lovely wife does NOT disappoint! I had a couple thoughts re: these points: We're kind of not supposed to like Shallan at that point (& maybe not even after Oathbringer) - she is a very broken person & many people find her character difficult to sympathize with. But maybe "sympathize" is a good place to start. Also, I remember Tay saying "...because character development - that's why" about Kaladin: well it's a lot the same for Shallan, but she has a much longer path to tread. I imagine Shallan's hair not as Weasley-red but as closer to burgundy - the color some gals wear their hair these days (or did before they closed all the salons during this pandemic). Maybe that image will help? I suspect Brandon is using the word "breast" not with a sexual reference but more like the word would have been used in previous centuries - I doubt you'd find Shakespeare using the word "chest" in describing a woman (unless she was carrying a box full of gold & jewels, LOL). Me too!!

@FantasyFanitic this is a great topic - thanks for posting! I think people who read HP when they were young, especially those who were about the same age as Harry when each book was published, probably love the series more than those who were older at that time. The books would definitely have captivated me if I'd been a tween/teen then. But as a middle-aged person who'd read a bit of fantasy before, my immediate impression was that JKR cribbed many of her plot points and magicks from previous authors. It's almost like she set out to allow her readers to dip their toe into a bunch of different fantasy worlds and folktales/myths. A lot of it - more than you'd think - comes from Celtic or Norse mythology; and of course most of the "spells" are Latin that's been modified. But children wouldn't know that - it would all be new to them, and wonderful. I'd be interested to know if someone who grew up reading HP ever recognized JKR's sources when studying ancient literature in college/university. But IMO probably the best thing to come of HP is the rise in reading being "cool," and kids reading longer books than they had done in at least a decade. That and the way it has brought imagination and creativity to the fore are really worthwhile additions to our culture.

Endgame is now my favorite movie of all time - it toppled Raiders of the Lost Ark from that position where it had been since I saw it in the theater in 1981 (yes, I really am old). IMO Endgame is that good. Even the soundtrack is superb, and it's a total shame that it wasn't even nominated for All.The.Awards. Silvestri's use of leitmotifs (theme melodies) rivals that of Wagner in his operas, and I understand that's what the Russo brothers asked for. And - anyone else here yell "Yibambe!" along with the Wakandans in the final battle? If my friends were embarrassed, I totally did not care: I saw it 4 times & yelled it every time. I liked all the MCU movies so far. I've never read any of the comics, so maybe that's why (too busy reading Brandon, LOL!). I don't have TV, so I can't say anything about Agents of Shield or any other shows.

Today Brandon tweeted the UK cover for Rhythm of War - here it is:

Not really "favorites," but notable ones not yet mentioned are: The Master from Doctor Who Melkor (Morgoth) and the dragon Ancalagon the Black from Tolkien's Silmarillion Gudgeons from the Monster Blood Tattoo series by D M Cornish Fidelis Jes from Brian McClellan's Sins of Empire