IntentAwesome

Wild, unsubstantiated theory: Dalinar will lose the battle of champions and thereby become a slave to Odium, but in order to not have the remnants of Honor/Stormfather also enslaved, Dalinar will somehow transfer the bond to Kaladin at the last minute. 

And then we get to watch Kaladin/Syl/Stormfather shenanigans.

I joined this thread late and reading the beginning of this thread when everybody was saying “oh no, Brandon is sad and tired and behind on writing,” after knowing what had happened was some truly great entertainment. 
 

so, thanks for that!  

So, will the entirety of book five take place within ten days?

The contest of champions will be in ten days. The epigraphs of part 5 are written by El on the first of the Final Ten Days.

In a recent live stream, Brandon said that something he did in Rhythm of War would be a headache for himself and Karen. The mosT obvious headache would be squeezing 1200 pages of plot into just 10 days.

I appreciate Lirin’s character and development, and I do love that Sanderson is really diving into the father/son relationship. In the end, he showed progress and some capacity to understand a perspective other than his own. 

But being willing to just hand your son over for execution?!

And Hesina! She seemed so passive about her defense of Kaladin. She did not stand up for in that moment when her husband is suggesting they just let him die?!? She eventually got through to Lirin, but it just seemed like Kaladin deserved better from both his parents. 
 

Oh boy!

Did Rock just become our newest worldhopper?!?

And what's up the red/yellow light in Kaladin's eyes?

RIP Wit's memories. But wait! A certain ancient flute has made a reappearance! Could this somehow be used to restore Wit's memories?

And I've been waiting and waiting for the carved horse to reappear, I really loved that detail. 

For a minute, I thought I wasn't going to end up liking RoW. I actually took a break at the end of part 4, which I've never done with a Stormlight book, but Brandon pulled off an amazing conclusion that was satisfying. Overall, I agree with some of the challenges reviewers had mentioned. I struggled to be really invested in the new Singer characters; in fact, I'm not sure Venli contributed to the story at all, other than as an observer as someone already mentioned. I didn't much care about the flashbacks (except the beautiful scene with Eshonai/Stormfather at the end, really well done).

At the same time, the the other arcs felt rushed, almost trivialized. The campaign in Emul was literally just to keep Dalinar out of the picture and didn't serve an overall purpose. I enjoyed Adolin's story, but it felt so rushed that the big reveal didn't quite land for me. And I personally struggle with these types of isolation plots. My favorite aspects of a story are always character interactions and seeing them work together to solve problems, so I don't enjoy seeing characters isolated and unable to work together as much. I think it was written quite well, just not my thing.

On the other hand, there were some moments of truly great writing. I was impressed that I could feel the difference in Pattern's relationship with The Three, and even the subtle distance he put between Shallan/Pattern to create the tension and eventual question about Pattern's loyalty.

The conclusion to Kaladin's arc was amazing. (And could one of the amazing artists of the fandom please create the scene of Kaladin rescuing Lirin? Pretty, pretty, pretty please?Absolutely gorgeous imagery.) The Dog and Dragon story was delightful. (And was Kaladin in Braize??? Poor guy.)

TL;DR: I can't say I loved every aspect of RoW, but it sure was a wild ride!

Do books come out on Tuesdays?!?

Its supposed to be a stormy weekend and all I want to do is curl up with Rhythm of War. 
 

But no, it comes out on Tuesday when I have to do adult things like work.

I haven’t read all the theories posted, but I’m adding some of mine. They are probably not original, but here they are:

1. Nothing new here: Adolin will revive Maya, which will allow Team Dalinar to revive more shardblades and reassure spren to continue bonding, possibly changing the momentum of the war. 

2. From the Spanish blurb posted awhile ago,

3. I disagree with theories that the Mink is a traitor. For plot purposes, it seems awfully convenient that another skilled general has entered the story at a time when Dalinar will be away from the tower during an attack. As much as I love Kal and Navani, neither are military tacticians. Team Radiant is going to need a general to get them out of this mess. 

4. From Dawnshard,

5. I have a hard time believing that they will fail to revive the tower after 2 whole books, which means they will likely save Urithiru from the enemy. But Team Radiant probably needs a major loss somewhere in the penultimate book. That likely means that Dalinar will fail in his offensive. 
 

6. The common cold has become a pandemic on Roshar, or Raboniel is going to release some new biological weapon, because 2020.

oh! And, Navani’s opponent is probably someone from the Vriztl Guild in Thaylenah because that name drop wasn’t coincidence. 

Ummm. Am I looking at a different image than everybody else? Pailiah is clearly wearing a glove on her left hand. 

And has Nightblood indicated to Szeth or whoever is currently holding him that he knows and has history with Zahel?

Oh yeah! I forgot about that project. So ARCs arrived at the end of September last time around. I wonder if they are on a similar timeline. 

Does anyone remember when we get the back cover blurb? Especially the bit that’s usually written by a Sleepless?

2 hours ago, Kalaksbreath said:

why does Adolin have white hair in this. it just looks odd to me.

I am not an artist, but visually I think the white hair blends well with the white details in his uniform and the white clouds. I think using a more natural blonde would likely clash with the color schematic. 

Yes, I agree about Venli’s role. We have already seen her start to teach about the Listeners. But they will need someone on the human side they trust and respect. 

Am i missing something? Brandon said the first chapters were available digitally, but I have not seen them? I've read part of the first chapter that he released awhile ago, but where are 2-6? I'd rather read them first. 

This excerpt has left me with so many questions and so much concern for Kaladin.

If he is now a surgeon, is he still leading the Windrunners? Bridge Four?

I’m having a hard time imagining Kaladin’s overall role in the story as a surgeon  

And, of course, what happens that forces Dalinar to step in? Poor Kaladin can’t catch a break.

Here’s an oddly specific one, but I want a Rhyshadium to pick Kaladin. And Kal, as his usual grumpy, I only trust my own feet self, is disgruntled about the whole thing. But the horse just keeps following him around until finally Kaladin has to admit he actually really likes his horse and they’re best friends. 

Why would he want them all to be in storm form? The purpose of storm form was to create the Everstorm, which they’ve already done. 

And I’m not convinced he actually wants to win the war. As the god of hatred, he is probably happy with a never-ending conflict. What he does want is to get out of whatever prison Honor trapped him and I don’t think outright winning will grant him that.  

Pretty sure the The Lord of the Rings was the companion book to the Silmarillion 

 I’m thinking the closest earth equivalent we have to flangria is imitation crab meat, since all Rosharan critters are crustacean-y.

And I like the naan idea, so a naan wrapped crab cake. 

Mourn's Vault is much closer to Hearthstone, which makes me concerned for Lirin, Hesina, and baby Oroden! Also, Mourn's Vault also seems like it could be in the general area where the interlude with Sheler takes place. 

Which is another thing that is easily missed: that Tien was in Sheler's company when he died.

Also, that a member of every order of Knight Radiant was present (assuming Ash will be Dustbringer) at the moment when Dalinar united the realms, as well as every flashback character (I think). 

Crusader 

Creed Crusader

Credo Crusader

Not a quip, per se. But just ran into this gem:

Quote

The clock fabrial on his forearm dinged, and Dalinar stifled a sigh. She'd learned to make it ding?

Oh, Navani. Because even the Blackthorn needs to be on your schedule.

Alright. Crackpot theory time.

Taln's Honorblade is in the palace. Not inside the place, in it. As in, part of it. What if the thing the Singers are tearing the palace down for at the end of the book is actually the Honorblade? And how did it get in there? Well, by someone who knew how to use it to "melt" stone.

Looking at you, Hoid. I know we have a WOB that Hoid didn't switch the blades. That says nothing about hiding it.