zmunkz

Oh could be. I never found the reference I was thinking of by searching for Renarin, maybe I'll try that next. Thx!

Welcome! I'm right there in the n00b club with you.

In the corridor when Kaladin finally says the words was fantastic! That and the entire chasm sequence with him and Shallon still gives me chills (although that was not a saying-the-words moment). I swear there was a scene in WoK that made a passing reference to Renarin seeing figures that struck me as similar to what Shallon had started to draw earlier in that book. I'm trying to find the reference now... but in any case, I too think the quoted scene hints at his proto-radiant status.

Definitely not. He was working on his thirteenth novel before his first sale came in (Elantris, his 6th novel). He spent eight years writing because he loved it, even though he had been rejected again and again. He strikes me as the definition of someone doing what they love for its own sake, and lucky for him, he's now getting paid 6-figure advances for doing it... but that was not the case for a very long time.

Ah, interesting. I've re-read WoK recently, but not WoR yet, so some of the details from the second book are a little fuzzy for me.

You might be thinking of Jasnah? When she is discussing shadesmar with Shallon in the beginning of WoR, she says how the spren speak of the human's betraying them (I think she is referring to the original Knight's Radiant). She also says that humans created the spren. What was the reason the Parshendi had Gavilar killed in the first place? Didn't it have to do with the fact he intended to re-unite the Knight's Radiant or something along those lines? It seemed clear they remembered things about that. Also, when Kaladin is glowing in WoK they often would stop their attacks and chant "Neshua Kadal" ... they seem to know what is going on and what it means.

That is a very odd sentiment you are expressing. I love how active he is with his fans, and I doubt it is slowing him down very much. As others have said, he is very prolific. He has multiple projects going at all times, and in terms of word count per week, I don't remember the number off hand (he said it either in a Writing Excuses or during a BYU lecture) but I seem to recall it was over 10K/week, every single week. Regarding the gritty, I hesitate to draw to strong of a distinction there because it makes it sound like Brandon's stuff is bubble-wrapped and PG. I've read all of ASoIF and no scene still gets me in a mini panic compared to the first bridge run chapter in WoK. That is the darkest most profoundly disturbing scene I've read (in the very best way). So in other words, I don't think it is a matter of gritty vs non-gritty content, it has to do with what is emphasized and how. GRRM emphasizes the gritty thing itself, Brandon emphasizes the character's experience of the gritty thing. I prefer the latter in general.

Way of Kings. As an novice writer, I tend to obsess over his youtube lectures when I might otherwise be reading, so I haven't actually hit all his published works yet. They are all sitting on my self though. I'm currently reading Elantris. Please.

Hello everyone! I signed up here about a year ago, but I never became active on the site. Hoping to change that now -- nice to meet you all

Yes, this entire sequence... I joined the forum just to say it, and am pleased to see how many people agree. I like these two -- from their banter when the meet in the woods, to their banter when they run into each other outside the meeting hall. It is a fantastic back and forth that starts with tension and anger and dislike, and eventually breaks into understanding and honesty. He wrote it brilliantly, and it was so unexpectedly fulfilling. I also liked the few random lines he injected later on, showing how much those events touched the characters as well... when Shallon is considering the things she likes in Adelin and suddenly seems to trip into thinking about Kaladin. For characters that have spent two books hiding who they really are, it was great to see them finally break free, and to each other no less. It was all very touching, and done with just the right amount of delicacy.