Aethling

I don't have my copy of Warbreaker, but doesn't Vasher explicity state they were all Returned?

Hoid does have a habit of getting involved with central characters. He did it in Elantris, Mistborn, and Warbreaker. Now he has done it with Kaladin, Dalinar, and Sigzil in SA. I can't believe that is just coincidental. He didn't overtly interact with Wax, but I would imagine that the newlyweds will play important roles if Sanderson does continue that novella series.

Ruin was proscribed by the pact with Preservation. He saw it as a game. He didn't need to kill Preservation as he was guaranteed the right to destroy as part of the pact. Except for the shatterings, it appears Odium works primarily through humans, getting them to kill one another and reveling in the bloodshed and hatred that arises. Ruin did work through people, and there was bloodshed, but he was also able to control outside events more directly than we have seen Odium do so far. I still believe the statement about Odium being the worst was more of a point of view of the writer. Afterall, the writer is trying to convince someone to join in the battle. One common way to get assistance from others is to make your enemy appear to be worse than they actually are.

I think Devotion was filling the role of love. That is one of its lesser meanings. The letter was also talking about the people that took up the shards. It says that Ati was one kind and generous. He was changed by the shard's intent. We also have to think that he was talking about Odium being the worst remaining. By this time Harmony has tempered Ruin. It could also be a perspective thing. Who was worse, Hitler or Stalin? Some would argue Hitler, while others would argue Stalin. The shards are probably like that. I imagine people that know them argue about their intentions, indeed the Letter says pretty much that exactly.

I think that just falls into you reading too much into it. I do not believe many authors would have looked into scientific data to determine whether or not there could be a lake in a certain place. I assume you are talking about the one at the eastern edge of the Almoth Plains. That one appears to have mountains around at least half. Snow runoff would go a long way to keeping it with water. Don't forget there is always the possibility that it is fed by an undergrown river or stream. It looks like one of the rivers coming out of it is heading north too. That is rarer on earth than the southbound ones, but they do exist. Sometimes a lake is just a lake. I can't even remember that one being mentioned in the text. It could just be an artifact of his imagination for the map.

Actually, there is a scene on or about 213 in the HC edition where Wax and Miles are talking and it explains it fairly well.

Tineye might want something that would have a high alcohol content to numb their senses.

A few years back some guys at work and I were talking about something for me to read after I finished Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I borrowed the first book from one of them, and then wound up getting the rest for myself.

Bought it for Kindle yesterday, so it is available now.

An Alloy is a mixture. Wax is a mixture of noble and policeman. There is a mixture of frontier and urban elements. There are several ways the title fits the work.

Sanderson said Kelsier was just a profound meddler. Vin and Elend probably could have hung around, but they wanted a chance to be together in peace.

True, but would he really have left Lan alive if Jordan said he was to die? It is probably going to be a secondary major character that has been around for a while. I doubt Galad or Gawyn. Juilin, maybe. Logaine, maybe. I am actually beginning to lean toward Rhuarc. He has been around from fairly early in the series, he hasn't been in the last few books all that much, and he almost certainly will take part in the fighting at the end.

Lan might work for what you said about Nyn, but would Sanderson actually do that twice. Remember, he did pretty much the same thing with Elend and Vin. I would certainly hate to see it just because both of them deserve some happiness. Nyn may not even play that major a role besides being trusted by Rand, she isn't even the most powerful channeler around Rand at the end of Winter's Heart. Thom and Moraine have just met again, so that one would be pretty short time too. It could be someone like Rhuarc, he has all but disappeared for the last few books, but he would almost have to be there for the final battle.

I highlighted some stuff in red that you might want to look at for better wording or to remove completely. You might want to abbreviate the racial names after the first usage just so you don't keep having to type all those apostrophes. It also appears she is putting on makeup over a face that is covered in fur, but that is just the way I saw it with the rest of her being described. Not really much of a reason to mention her bare breasts more than one time, it doesn't really contribute much to the story you have written. If you need help describing the machine, try reading City of Ember and The Omen Machine. You might get something out of Anathema as well. I think I remember there being a description of some sort of machine in there, but I got sick of the book after about 60 pages. If a common word exists they are generally better than a word that is very rarely used. Helping someone's vocabulary is always good, but don't go overboard. You can avoid wordiness by using precise words, but it may hurt more than help if your readers have to keep a dictionary at hand to understand what you are trying to say. Words like salubrious, riparian, pessary, perambulation, and natatorium are all legitimate words, but can make you come off as showy. I know you didn't use any of them, but you will probably see what I am talking about in the highlights. I Love... (_).doc

I wouldn't read too much in to the "fury" references. How else would you describe something like the power of a super-hurricane? Even parts of the Bible talk about God's fury. Not too many would classify those as references to a god of hate and destruction.

I have always thought Sanderson channeled Eddings at times, but if Nyn does to Rand what Garion did to horse, that would be just a bit too obvious. There are any number of different interpretations for the dying and living again. It could be something as simple as Telamon leaving and Rand becoming a power himself, not just as reincarnation of someone else. Wasn't their also a scene where Tuon says that her past self is dead when she takes the new name? We also have Min telling him that the ex-damane would help him die. That in itself does not sound like something malicious. She may know some fancy form of CPR. Goodkind is often accused of stealing from Jordan, it would be funny to see Rand resurrected by a version of the MS breath of life. Two more months and we will know one way of the other. I just want to know what male character that Sanderson left alive that Harriet had him go back and kill. It would almost have to be a major character. I think we can rule out Rand. If Jordan had him dying, I don't see Sanderson changing that. There is black prophecy about Perrin having to die, but the Light winning would instantly invalidate that prophecy. Mat has already died at least once. I am still not convinced that he actually died at the hanging, but then neither is he as late as Winter's Heart.

It really depends on how much knowledge the stormwardens have kept. Even today, it is hard to track stuff back further than a hundred years. Many records for weather before that just no longer exist, even if they did to begin with. Going back even 500 years is nearly impossible unless you get extremely lucky. If the Spanish Armada had not been thrown about, there probably would not be much if any writen evidence of the storm system that blew through, but because it did, it is one of the most famous storm systems in western history. Shortly after its founding, New Orleans was wiped out by a strong hurricane. We only know about that because the local governor wrote about it in his correspondence back home. There is no telling what type of weather patterns were around even shortly before the first Europeans came to the new world. We do know that there was a great period of decreased temperatures in Europe during the middle ages, but what would have happened if a fire had burned through the place where the records were kept? I think everyone probably knows the story about what happened around D-Day, but if not for that one event, would it have even made it to being written down? Knowledge can be lost fairly easily even today. Try to get some military records from WWII. There is a good chance you will be told they do not exist due to accidents at the warehouse where they were being kept. Basically, the wardens would have had to keep VERY in depth records, and the records would have had to survive for thousands of years without being lost, destroyed, or just plain misinterpreted. Even natural events can be predicted with some accuracy by primitive cultures. We even have a Hurricane season. The rythmic cycle of the storms may seem unnatural, but there may very well be a natural explanation, or the shardic power could be used to create an unnatural cycle with a perfectly natural phenonmenon. Crem may be harder to just explain away, but strong winds could throw up dust which is then caught in the storm's updraft. Throw in the mechanics involved with hail, and you would get a very moist soil-like substance finding its way to the ground.

We seem to be assuming that the storms are a product of the shards. The way I see it, the storms are basically high-powered hurricanes. Those occur naturally. It would make more sense to say that the shards may have worked with something already existing. I haven't seen it cited in a while, but we have a quote floating around somewhere with Sanderson basically stating that the magical systems are a product of the planet itself, with the shards effectively providing a gateway. Going with that, stormlight was already around and probably used, but the shards may have refined its uses. Cultivation could have worked with the storms to bump up their ecological value, and Odium upped their power to cause more destruction. If you take the hurricane view as I do, their increasing power can be a natural occurence as well. There are cycles along the Gulf Coast where you may go years without a powerful storm, but then have a monster. There was a large time gap between Besty and Camille and Andrew and Katrina. Probably around 2020, there will be another monster storm (I am not counting Sandy because the last I heard she was only a cat 1).

Doesn't Sazed say that Vin and Elend are happy wherever they are and at peace? That doesn't sound too much like a limbo. Endowment does interfere with the the afterlife. He gives the people a chance to return to do a task. Sazed may be able to do the same thing eventually. Endowment does have more practice time with his powers. I am not sure I would include the tranquiline halls legend as an afterlife, at least originally. To me it reads much more like a drive to retake lands that they were forced from. This drive might take on a religious feel over time, particularly several thousand years, but I have always thought of it as more and equivalent of Troy. History has proven that Troy actually existed, just not in they way it was made out to be. You might also think of it as Eden, except Eden has a roadmap for its location that is fairly well described. Don't forget that Sanderson was a big fan of the WoT when he was growing up. What does someone preparing to retake lands they think of as stolen from them sound like?

True, how true. Once Shallan gets to the plains, the partying can begin.

We don't know much about the world during Vasher's time of rule. It was probably something as simple as power attracting power for the 3 other than the siblings. If you share rare characteristics and beliefs with someone, it isn't all that hard to see you eventually meeting them, especially if you are motivated enough. People that like guns, may meet each other at a gun show. People that like history may meet at a local history seminar at their local library. There are any numbers of ways that people could meet.

True, but he never did remember his relationship with his high priest. He did come close, though. We also have evidence other than Lightsong that returned can get some memory when they come close to fulfilling their purpose for returning. How much of his memory return was "natural" and how much of it was just a nudge to get him going toward his purpose? Unless Sanderson says, or already has said, we will probably never know, but that is what makes his books so well-written. Even if they did both manage to survive for hundreds of years, what is the likelyhood that they would be able to find each other? What would be the chance of two non-knowing siblings sticking around each other for that long? It just seems to me that someone or something intervened.

We know that the current returned lose their memories. Vasher lost his pre-returned memories, or at least he said he did, but that could just be a more recent addition (relatively speaking.) We would need Brandon to say something about whether Vo lost his as well, but then he did father the royal line after he returned. Of course, that may not have had anything to do with him remembering his wife, but I don't believe that would be Sanderson's way. What I was imagining about the twins was more one dying, returning, and being taken care of by his family. That would develop a bond, and we know that people do return outside of the main region. There is nothing to back this up, but it has the benefit of being fairly simple.

1 would be a moot point. she could control herself, but she already does that without the adam. 2 that might be practical with the one holding the original leash having circle like abilities. I think one of the forsaken actually stated that an adam was a way to force a woman into a circle. 3 should present any problem other than the leashholder having to remain very good concentration 4 would result in some form of stasis as neither woman would be able to do something without the consent of the other. 5 would probably result in near constant pain as it is already hard to work for two bosses each wanting you to do something different with the same idea 6 would be rather pointless except for causing increased pain.

Apparently, it is against the customer agreement to use a fraudulent address on your account, and she used her friend's address for her account. I can't believe she didn't know this because she used a false address. If you do not agree with a company's policies, you do not have to do business with them. If you chose to do business with them, you can't complain if they find out that you are breaking the rules of your continued use of the account.