Pechvarry

Quite honestly, I just feel like characters from every other series I've ever read just annoy and frustrate me. This was never so obvious as it was in WoT, where seriously half the series could've been avoided through simple communication between the protagonists. Rothfuss isn't much different. I enjoyed the books so far, but Kvothe is infuriating. And everyone always praises his beautiful prose but it often feels pretentious to me. For a silence in three parts, you sure are rambling a lot, Pat. However, I absolutely love his first transition from "The Inn" into the story proper. And now that I think on it, it's only the sequences at the Inn that feel like rambling poetry. Kvothe's story is transparent enough. But I still think he's obnoxiously self-centered. EDIT: Oh, and this is weird, but I feel like an author's ethos really leaks through their narrative. I felt like Frank Herbert had a strong Nihilistic streak in him when I read Dune, and I feel like Rothfuss social perceptions are basically "Reddit culture" all wrapped into a single man. Meanwhile, Sanderson's writing focuses a lot on ethics without feeling preach-y in the slightest. And that appeals to me.

Last I knew, that was a theory floating around, and not one very high on evidence. Unless there's some WoB I'm completely unaware of. And I didn't mean that as science fact -- I'm putting forth an idea. If Skybreakers can choose not to feel emotion, then it would make sense as the explanation for the Thayan guy.

I bet zombies have a very blank identity, making them rich targets for Forgery. I'll use my combat stamp to get close and start making friends. This is now my horde of zombies. I'll need to make sure to write in commands to have them stamp each other every day, in staggered shifts. This is all in an effort to survive, in style, with as little relative power as possible. Because anyone can say "I'm a god and I win" but where's the fun in that?

Not sure how much I'd like it, but it would be interesting if Vasher turns out to have been a worldhopper who happened to die on Nalthis (perhaps a direct pact with Endowment) and Returned. In which case, a few hundred years without his ancient memories would simply be a setback.

All the orders have special non-surge talents, and knights tend to have traits that emulate their "patron" Herald. I won't be surprised to find the skybreaker bond helps the human to turn off emotion. Which means big T's man (the bald thaylen) is also a skybreaker.

I posted before about the Sanderson drinking game I thought up but would never do: every time a single eyebrow is quirked, arched, raised, etc. It's been like that his entire career, with a marked decline post WOT (where he added more snorts and grunts). Count how many "bah" statements come from Sigzil. The "new" mannerism that's really bothering me in its ubiquity: narrative interruption. I don't mind when someone talking or even thinking (the stuff in italics) cut off with a hyphen for some action to take place. The offender is when its the rest of the text. Like in the middle of the 3rd person description of a scene or some past culture, it- Something moved. I wish I had an ebook of WoR so I could search for "it-"

Szeth will need Investiture to use Nightblood at all. Because Nightblood doesn't grant Surges itself, he obviously has to gain some method of holding Stormlight. Ergo, it seems like a pretty safe assumption that Nalan/Nin intends Szeth to become an actual Skybreaker. caveat: Nightblood, as with Honor Blades, feeds on Investiture. It is therefore entirely possible that like the Honor Blades, NB can enable a similar system. In this case, it would basically be giving him Nalthian sDNA so he can Breath up Stormlight, Vasher style. But that's stretching a lot of a foreign magic system into The Stormlight Archive so I'm leaning towards my first statement.

Iyatil is basically the perfect diametrical opposite of how one would describe Khriss. Except skin color, apparently.

Yeah but immortality is easy on Nalthis. She has the skills and the means to get plenty. If anything keeps her from immortality, it would be her friend that keeps eating them all.

Look at Taln's PoV. What is it dominated by? What has obviously broken him? Torture. Unending torture. Something isn't right, but I can't see how that's not a Herald.

I just want to note that as a Dustbringer, Adolin would become the most dangerous man on Roshar. Great mobility, though not Gravitation level. Almost Dalinar level in how to move in Plate, easily Kaladin level with a weapon. Now give him the ability to explode stuff. This seems like a good enough reason to put Adolin's ascension as late into the books as possible. Do not expect him to start making oaths until book 7. @lol_king: skybreakers are obsessed with the law; not intrinsic right-from-wrong. We can see this pretty much any scene that Nalan walks into. Can someone upvote eveoryjoy's post that I accidentally downvoted?

I really like all of Moogle's points about being a Willshaper. I notice that, as far as Shallan is concerned, the symbolheads have gone away. They aren't popping up in her drawings or whispering to her. The renewal of her bond is the only culprit. This makes me wonder if big El has finally passed the first "phase" and a spren has bonded (note that the spren always seems to bond before the human is even aware of it). Perhaps it's as Grinachu says, and the Cryptics are watching several people with latent bonds. In which case, it's mostly coincidence that it happens to be a Cryptic on the "other side" in Shallan's case.

I didn't get a HUGE amount out of my time in line. My ears turned red and I stumbled on the English language and I really wish I had recorded his precise answers. The following is paraphrased: Q: Could you make a Spike from a Lifeless? A: "Oooo interesting!" He said their soul is so drained there wouldn't be much left, so you could only get the barest hint. Q: But you COULD technically get a charge A: Yes, but it would be very weak. Q: I asked him to clarify a past WoB we went 'round and around on in the past. Basically, what happens when non-Nalthians come to Nalthis. A: they cannot use their own soul to Awaken but could do so with obtained Breath. Q: So anyone could start Awakening once they received Breaths (this is what it sounded like he was saying so I put it to him simply) A: You would probably have to jump through some hoops to Awaken (talks about systems needing rigged up to work on different planets), but anyone can benefit from a Breath. Essentially said "it's not that easy!" Very cool. Glad I went. Wish I had formulated better what i wanted clarified for my second question.

Nalan is weird. He is hunting fledgling KRs and killing them, but he seems to use any crime he can find to justify his actions. So it seems he has an agenda, but has to convince himself it falls into his "portfolio" so to speak. Here's where he gets weird, though: Szeth. Nightblood isn't enough to really keep Szeth on the screen. After the incredible mobility of the Gravitation Surge, pretty much any other power isn't comparable. To my reading, Nalan saw in Szeth the perfect candidate to attract a spren for the Skybreakers. If this is the goal, Nalan is acting against his earlier plans! Perhaps he finally realized there's no stopping their return, and decided to embrace it instead by making one of the orders his own.

While Szeth's Stormlight may very well be more in-line with Pewter (I'm led to believe this is the case, with it providing less speed, strength, and durability but as much grace, more combat awareness, and a much stronger healing factor), it's obvious from Words of Radiance that real Knights Radiant blow Pewter clean out of the water.

I believe there's a line in The Way of Kings where someone mentions that the "Death Rattles" have always been a very occasional thing but, since Gavilar's death, have dramatically increased in frequency.

I have to point out... Way of Kings alone is 387k words. The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is 473k. The entire Harry Potter series is right around 1M words, while Stormlight Archives to-date probably totals close to 800k. Just sayin'. -- Huth section was definitely very moving for me. Probably the most, in fact. I really liked Hoid visiting Young Shallan (and being surprised by her!). I felt like there was something extremely important about this god-like entity looking on at this child, knowing how much she struggles, and showing genuine empathy.

Err. Stupid birds fly off if not trained. There's likely a Ryshadium connection, as you mention with the Rysn example, but I wouldn't say anything about Darkness' bird implies intelligence. In other news, for some reason I assumed the bird was really unhealthy and for some reason being close to Lift forced her to Regrowth-ify it. I blame the forums for making me aware of her Surges before I was supposed to.

I... Think the correct response to your question is RAFO. But yes, it does.

I called and asked if I could buy other books there and they said "that should be ok.". Not quite a 100% guarantee. And Peter on a unicycle? It's amazing how unsurprising I find this. Btw, I'm trying to make it down there with my wifey.

Correction: Shallan directly compares Mraize to Hoid (the cheerful messenger). I find this an intentional counterpoint, so I still agree with the rest of your assessment: they're far from the same person.

Should maybe be in a different thread, but this makes me think of Mraize. I don't find it a coincidence that Shallan immediately thinks of Hoid when she first meets him. Hoid mentions "the hunt" to young Shallan, which is also obviously a thing with Mraize. Basically. I think he's the anti-Hoid mentioned earlier with his relics that appear to be from other planets. If he's the second blind man, he's probably the friend Hoid seeks, but now spends his time hiding from.

If Adolin gets a flashback book, it will be part of the back 5, meaning there will be a time gap for us to explore all of his problems (since he sure hasn't been broken yet). That said, the problem with "jealousy spiral" evil Adolin is... That story has been done. A lot. Loss, tragedy, cool. But Game of Thrones can keep their "everyone betrays everyone" protagonists. Remember: Adolin can throw a shardblade. I think it's time for him to fight his self-worth problems by binding 3 shardblades and asking Aunt Navani to kit him out in experimental combat fabrials.

K, thanks for the answers, all. Now to see if we can get off of work in the first place...

Is the signing portion typically held in a portion of the store for ticketed events? Because that would explain it -- come, shop, buy book, then walk over to the signing area and show my fresh receipt. But if it's "get checked at the door," it'll be a bit awkward. "Hey, if you let me in I promise I'll go shopping before I talk to that dude over there." I think my wife could be done with Way of Kings if she pulls herself away from Mass Effect.