What's a Seawolf?

Going into this book, I was expecting book 5 of 5, when it is very clearly book 5 of 10. (Arguably book 5 of however many Cosmere books there are going to be.) Nothing wrong with that, I just expected more conclusions than open ended questions. All told the first three Stormlight books will always hold a special place in my heart, and I still consider them to be three of the best books I've ever read. I really did not like Rhythm of War and so going into the conclusion of the first arc I was worried. Wind and Truth...was better than Rhythm of War. Significantly so. But it still doesn't hold a candle to the first three books. The ending felt too rushed and shoehorned, both the Dalinar part/Contest of Champions and the reforging of the oathpact. The latter felt very handwavy, both in terms of the sudden lack of torture and the heralds showing up all willing to do it again. (Also the Wind needed more build up in earlier books, and the threat to the Spren needed more exploration and time devoted to it.) The Dalinar part...I still don't know how I feel about it. The power of Honor coming to him then him leaving it happened way too quickly, and I don't know if I buy either occurrence. It felt like the Unite Them/Unity plotline has so much more to explore, but instead it seems to have been cut short. Where the book really lost me was the whole Spiritual Realm adventure and hunt for BAM. The hunt for BAM was a complete waste of time. BAM did nothing and there was a lot of pages devoted to her, building her up, only for nothing to happen. The lore dumps in Dalinar/Tanavasts sections were nice, but that was a lot of pages devoted to...what, exactly? I also felt, being the final book of the first arc, there were too many extraneous viewpoints. I get Renarin, Rlain, Sig and Venli may all be important in the back half, but let them get pages in the back half. I really didn't care about any of them, although Vienta seemed like a really cool spren. (Venli at least has the excuse of being a flashback character in the front 5, although I maintain you could cut her out entirely from RoW onwards and nothing of significance or value would be lost.) Even Shallan-who I love-was basically wasted in the SR. First it seemed like we were going to rehash the Formless plot, and then we fasttracked the Ghostbloods. Speaking of, that was incredibly disappointing. The Ghostbloods were incredibly anticlimactic and did...nothing? I would have rather Shallan gone with Adolin and been hunting Ghostbloods as they tried to kill her husband for revenge. The structure of the book was also a problem. The beginning was excellent, doing a great foreboding job of setting the stakes for the end of the world. You KNEW the contest of champions was going to have bigger stakes than some lines on a map, both by virtue of the storytelling and that Brandon made it clear this was the end of arc 1. So spending so much time in Azir and the Shattered Plains seemed...frivolous. I get we needed some battle scenes, but again, it just seemed superfluous. I would have much rather had the contest in the middle of the book and the last half of the book be about the fallout. (Such as the Spren beginning to be unmade/destroyed, to build up to needing a new Oathpact.) All that said, there were some fabulous character moments. Everything Kaladin, Adolin and Szeth was great. I may have thought the Azir part too long and ultimately unnecessary, but Adolin remains a joy to read. (And he survived!) Kaladin and Szeth (and even Nightblood) we're likewise fantastic. I wish I could say the same for Dalinar and Shallan, but again, the Spiritual Realm really did those characters a disservice. Jasnah is a character I never really liked, but felt she was very good in this book. She needed to be taken down a peg or two so she could grow in the back half of the series and that happened in a satisfying and believable way. All told, I'm torn on this book. I devoured it pretty quickly so I definitely enjoyed it, unlike RoW, but I think that is solely due to the characters. The plot of this one, the resolution, how it was handled...it felt like it needed a fresh outline and serious editing. It's possible my expectations were just set too high because of the legendary status I give books 1,2 and 3. Still looking forward to the future of Stormlight and the Cosmere, but it definitely feels like the quality has been declining for a while now. (And that has nothing to do with the prose arguments I see some people making, I've never had a problem with the way Brandon writes.) Here's to hoping the next Era of Mistborn recaptures some of the magic.

I think there will be some kind of 'council' or group that ends up holding the combined Honor/Odium Shard. Definitely Dalinar and Mr. T, probably Navani, maybe a couple others.

Just want to say how much I love these two chapters, and how reassured I am after finding RoW immensely disappointing. Also, Kal and Shallan's promise, that better be Sanderson giving a little wink and nod and saying 'no matter what absurdity happens to these characters this book, it all ends well in the end.' Or at least that's what I'm really hoping.

I absolutely loved it! The biggest strength of the book is the characters. The main four all had moments to shine, and they did it wonderfully. I was really hoping Wayne would somehow become a kandra worldhopper and chill with MeLaan, but his sendoff is one of the best I've read. Loved the family/father moments with Wax, and I like the thought that these characters got to live semi-normal lives for a good chunk of time. My favorite chapter might actually be Wayne's chapter with his accountants Oddly, one thing I liked in this book and loathed in Rhythm of War was all the crossovers. I need to do a reread of each, but for RoW I wanted my Stormlight to stay Stormlight focused. Here, I was enjoying all the 'non-Mistborn' happenings. Maybe it has to do with the setting, Scadrial is a developing world obtaining new technology almost daily, so the new powers did not feel so out of place? Whatever the reason, I enjoyed that part as well. Either way, Brandon needed to make a choice, keep all the cosmere stuff in the background or go all-in on crossovers, straddling the fence was not going to work, and it looks like he's made his decision. What this means for Stormlight 5 only time will tell, but I'm more hopeful for that book than I was after RoW. (Though it is getting hard to recommend these books to others without them first doing their homework. The original Mistbron trilogy can be picked up and loved by anyone, I feel for TLM to be truly enjoyed you need cosmere knowledge.) Really curious to see what's going on with Sazed. I like the idea that he's becoming Discord because of the nature of his Shards, and don't know if he was being honest the entire book about being blinded etc. Definitely setting up some kind of Kelsier/Sazed conflict which could be really interesting. I did want to hear more about what Marsh has been up to, as he is theoretically one of Sazed's most valuable pieces. Also, Kelsier is one of my favorite characters in literature, so I was hoping to see more of him, he was mostly sidelined this story, but I feel like he's going to be a major player in Era 3. Was MeLaan on Roshar at the end? And have we encountered/heard of Sho Del before? I was initially feeling trepidation about the gap between SA5 and SA6, but now I'm really looking forward to the new Mistborn trilogy and whatever other cosmere works Brandon produces during that timeframe.

I have a few, though I'm not sure what's unpopular and what isn't: -Shallan's 'secret.' Really, that's it? You killed your spren? After the reveals in WoR I expected something so much worse. The whole plot point with Formless and even the trial fell flat. There was a decent amount of time spent on promising looking side characters as well that ultimately went nowhere. -All of Venli. She barely did anything with or learned anything about her Radiant powers, and she was at best an unsympathetic hero. Her flashbacks were easily the most unnecessary of the four flashback viewpoints, and she is basically a bystander for all of the important plot points. I expected so much more, both from her and Willshapers in general. She could be written out of the story right now, and nothing would be lost. -Navani's 'science' - the nitty gritty details of discovering the anti-magics felt a little too hand wavy and not as clean as I'm used to from Brandon. My eyes kind of glazed over when the 'technical' details kept coming up. -A general lack of lighthearted moments - I feel the story really missed the normal doses of Rock, Lopen and (as of OB) Lift. -The part three Dalinar and Jasnah scenes - while they contained some interesting moments, it felt like filler, a plot excuse to get them away from Urithiru. I see why it was done, but I can't help but feel the story would have been so much better if the two of them were at Urithiru the whole time. -A general lack of 'high' moments: Completely personal preference here, but nothing in this book came even close to 'Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do' or 'You cannot have my pain!' or the Tower or the fight at Thaylen City or the onset of the Everstorm/Kal's arrival.

There are a lot of jumbled thoughts bouncing around in my head, so I'll try to make sense of them. Overall, while a good book, I think it was the weakest of the four Stormlight books by far. Absolutely loved WoR and OB, and really enjoyed WoK, but RoW fell a little flat. Part of my problems with the book admittedly come down to my own expectations, which were sky high coming off of WoR and OB. But right now, post RoW, the stakes feel so much smaller than they did throughout OB. I think part of that is the details of the contest of champions, but I also don't think it's a stretch to think that when the contest goes down, it's going to be nothing like the contract stipulates. (Like I said, a lot of jumbled thoughts.) Anyway, first my main problems with the book: -Nightblood being used to kill Rayse, and how it was done - Yes my jaw dropped, and yes the implications are harrowing, but I don't like the concept that a relatively unknown item (for Stormlight) was used to ax a big baddie in such an unheralded way. For a villain as built up as Rayse, I would have liked to see him go out some other way. It felt very Deus Ex Machina for non-Cosmere readers. (I don't think Stormlight can be considered a 'standalone' series anymore.) -Shallan's 'secret.' Really, that's it? You killed your spren? After the reveals in WoR I expected something so much worse, but it basically went by with an annoying whimper. The whole plot point with Formless and even the trial fell flat. There was a decent amount of time spent on promising looking side characters as well that ultimately went nowhere. -Venli. This was not Venli's book, no matter what the official sources say. She barely did anything with or learned anything about her Radiant powers, and she was at best an unsympathetic hero. Her flashbacks were easily the most unnecessary of the four flashback viewpoints, and she is basically a bystander for all of the important plot points. I expected so much more, both from her and Willshapers in general. She could be written out of the story right now, and nothing would be lost. -Navani's 'science' - Not to be confused with her overall journey, which I really enjoyed - but the nitty gritty details of discovering the anti-magics felt a little too hand wavy and not as clean as I'm used to from Brandon. My eyes kind of glazed over when the 'technical' details kept coming up. -A general lack of lighthearted moments - I feel the story really missed the normal doses of Rock, Lopen and (as of OB) Lift. -The part three Dalinar and Jasnah scenes - while they contained some interesting moments, it felt like filler, a plot excuse to get them away from Urithiru. I see why it was done, but I can't help but feel the story would have been so much better if the two of them were at Urithiru the whole time. -A general lack of 'high' moments: Completely personal preference here, but nothing in this book came even close to 'Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do' or 'You cannot have my pain!' or the Tower or the fight at Thaylen City or the onset of the Everstorm/Kal's arrival. But there was still a lot I liked about the book: -Kaladin - really enjoyed his journey this book, even if parts of it was hard to read at times. -Shallan and Adolin - Despite my earlier complains about parts of this arc, I still enjoyed reading most of these points of views and seeing their interactions. Dabbid, Rlain and Teft - All were outstanding this book, for a variety of reasons, with Dabbid being perhaps the most unexpected positive outcome of the novel. Navani - With the exception of the aforementioned, I really like Navani's journey throughout the book. It was pretty obvious she was going to end up bonding the Sibling, but it was still done in an exciting way. The flying ship - I mean, they built a storming flying ship. Raboniel and to a lesser extent Leshwi - great villains, and Raboniel's story was fascinating to read. Just like Navani, you knew she was using Navani for some horrible purpose, but you still sort of liked her along the way. Cultivation's endgame - Just what the heck is it, and is she really the big bad of Stormlight? Was Mr. T ascending part of the plan or an accident? If accident, a happy or unhappy accident? Dalinar and the Stormfather interactions - always good when the two of them are 'arguing'. Really can't wait for Dalinar to learn more of his powers. The brief bit we saw of Ishar unchained has terrifying potential. Stealing bonds, forcing spren to be bonded against their will? It almost feels like their is no upper limit to Bondsmith powers. Things I'm still mixed or uncertain on: All the cosmere references - If you had told me before reading this book that it would pump the cosmere connections into overdrive, I would have been overjoyed. But having read it, I kind of miss my Stormlight focused Stormlight, if that makes sense. Wit falls into this category too, this was the first Stormlight book where I didn't fully enjoy his character. The Sibling - Although interesting and sympathetic at times, not as interesting as the Stormfather or as mysterious as the Nightwatcher. The ending - As with my thoughts for the book as a whole, I don't fully know how I feel about the ending. After OB, it felt like anything was possible, now it does not. Which I admit is foolish, because if I had to guess, the contest of champions will happen early in book 5 and everything after that will be one giant unknown crazy storm. But sitting here right now, for whatever reason, I'm less excited about the future of Stormlight than I was at the end of books 1,2 and 3.

I read this as Ba-Ado-Mishram.

Congrats on making it to 1 million! I can't remember how I found my way to the Shard but I can't imagine experiencing Brandon's books without this place. The theorizing, back and forth and deep dives all of you do on a daily basis has made this incredible journey all the more memorable. If I had to pick just one memorable moment, it would be the Oathbringer preview chapters. The daily threads and instant theorizing (May Aladar!) was an incredible experience. The Oathbringer release and reading chapter by chapter or part by part reactions and predictions from everyone was so much fun too. Of course, the most memorable moment is going to be when my grand Cosmere prediction comes to pass and everyone reads on in shock and horror:..

Kaladin is my favorite Stormlight character, so this chapter hit hard. However, from a writing perspective Kal speaking the 4th Oath will probably happen differently from the 2nd and 3rd. Those two happened at climactic moments and involved saving main characters. In OB, it looked like it was going to happen again but Brandon pulled a bait and switch. When Kal speaks the 4th Ideal, it seems like it will be a more personal moment this time around. Honestly, if Kal is going to be hanging around Urithiru, him spending some time with Lift might do wonders for his mental state. Plus I really want the two of them to have some screen time together, just to see how they interact.

"Kaladin knelt, bathed in that warm light. Yes, warmth. Kaladin felt warm. Surely… if there truly was a deity… it watched him from within that light." This reminds me exactly of the warm light vision that Dalinar receives at the end of WoR. At the time, Dalinar had a budding connection to Honor, but also a connection to Odium. (Being groomed for his champion and all.) Now we have Renarin producing a similar occurrence, and we know he has a spren that is part Honor/part Odium. The way this warm light is described, and the mention of 'if there truly was a deity,' makes me believe that this warm light is a side effect or combination of Honor and Odium, and a sign that the two will eventually be combined into one. (The same could be applied to Cultivation and Odium.) I'm more convinced than ever that at least two Rosharian Shards will be combined, and I still think 'Justice' will be the new Shard.

A lot to digest for just a single chapter: 1. It seems the Ghostbloods are going to be a major factor in this book, as opposed to a more background presence. I love it, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the battle with Odium will conclude in the front 5 Stormlight books, and the Ghostbloods will be instrumental in the back five as main villains. 2. House Sadeas and the various heads have been great antagonists in Stormlight so far, but I'm glad we seem to be moving on from them. Didn't need another book of Sadeas plotting, too many other things going on. 3. So the Fused have a fabrial that seems like it's taken directly from Mistborn Era 2. First major glance at the 'arms race' that the Amazon(?) description mentioned. If it can be turned around on the Fused, what happens if you activate it when a Teleporting Fused is mid-teleport? 4. My brain reads Godeke as Goku, and the image of little Lift dragging Goku to safety made me smile.

I know some of the other highprinces haven't exactly had a lot of screen time, but it was still odd to hear Thanadal was so casually killed offscreen. I wonder if there's more to his death than what is suspected. Maybe Moash added highprinces to his assassin's list? I'm really enjoying the 'new' Shallan and her constantly shifting personalities. Very curious to see where this Ialai and Sons of Honor plot goes, and if it's just the launching point for something altogether different or if they really are going to be main antagonists this book. Leaning towards the former. Glad to have confirmation that regular Truthwatchers can use Illumination like Lightweavers, and that Renarin cannot. And something's brewing between Kaladin and Leshwi. I don't think it's going to be romance, but there's been way too much emphasis on the 'honorable' Heavenly Ones for it to be coincidence. Why can't November be tomorrow?

Just when I thought we'd seen the last of the literal Bridge Four, Brandon goes and transforms it into a storming flying ship! I love how ubiquitous Windrunners and Edgedancers are now, and Lift trying to mimic the gracefulness of other Edgedancers is adorable. I have no idea what to make of the Shallan section. I thought a year of having a solid relationship with Adolin and having her brothers around would help her mental state, but she still seems in a not too healthy spot. I can't even fathom what truth her personas was referring, I thought we had learned everything there was to learn about her past. All in all, two fantastic chapters.

Syl mentions that Urithiru used to be filled with a strange kind of light. This seems to imply something other than Stormlight. Is it possible she's speaking about Voidlight? There are three Bondsmith spren, the Stormfather for Honor, Nightwatcher for Cultivation and the Sibling. Is it such a crazy stretch to think the Sibling is of Odium, and being the spren that powers Urithiru, the Sibling supplies Voidlight? Just because the Sibling is of Odium does not mean he is necessarily evil. Maybe he switched sides at some point in the past, or the Radiants found a way to co-opt him for their purposes. There also seems to have been some level of Bondsmith powers used to get humanity from Ashyn to Roshar, and if Odium had influence there it would make sense that one of his spren was on Ashyn as well.

Not sure if this was known or not, but Brandon confirmed on Reddit that Tor will be releasing a chapter (chapters?) a week leading up to release, similar to Oathbringer.