Aethling

That is a really tough question until we know exactly how far he goes in AMOL. In a perfect world, I would like them to finish the prequel trilogy to give some backstory. Also, it would be nice to actually see some adventuring beyond the wastes. At the very least, it would be nice to see exactly how accurate Avi's visions were, but that would probably take another 3 to 4 books unless they are done like the Eddings prequels that cover thousands of years each.

I have only read the first two of the LOtR, but I would not say it was anything like the Belgariad. I put my LOTR aside before I got to the final book, but I have read the Belgariad and Mallorean multiple times each. Some elements from Eddings may have become standard in contemporary fiction, but I think that is because he helped to make them popular. I do adivise to stay away from his Dreamers series unless you don't have anything at all to read. Each individual book is good, but all four books use exactly the same plot. It was the last series he wrote, and he was pretty old by then. Belgariad/Mallorean are great. Elenium/Tamuli is great. IF you start on the Belgariad, it is a full twelve book series though. Bel/Mal each are 5 books, and the two prequels add much to the history leading up to the first book in the Belgariad. I have been reading the second Mazalan for a few days now. I will have to say, it is not living up to the first book. When characters refer to a previous conversation, you might want to have that conversation take place on screen, or else it makes the readers completely lost. One of the central characters is also a 15 year old girl that spreads easier than peanut butter. One of the reasons that I found the first book so good is that it did not include that sort of stuff. Also, book two is a completely different story arc from book one. After reading up on the series on wikipedia it looks like he jumps back and forth for several books. I have already bought the third book, but unless it is as good as the first one, I will probably stop the series there.

Architecture at the very least would look inverted to us. Instead of steel inside, it will probably be more external. Instead of buses and the like, I see more streetcars. Cans will probably use non-allomantic metals or be mostly glass jars. Trains will probably be much more highly developed. I am not so sure about the state of airplanes. Most of those these days are made out of aluminum, and we know how rare that is. Ceramics will probably be used for most things that we use iron or steel for household usage. Solar power will be almost universal. Copper will probably rival aluminum in price due to its importance in electricity, though we may see a gold based electrical grid. It was pretty useless in the economy last we saw. Imagine an electrical grid with hundreds of thousands of miles of GOLD wiring. The communications grid will probably be mostly fiber optic. I can't imagine a world where sand is more expensive than gold. Cars will probably be made from ceramics or titanium. Dirt and sand are about the cheapests things imaginable. Heat will be provided without wood, gas, coal, oil, or electricity. We already see some of that with the limelights used at the balls. Quicklime and water should be cheap and relatively abundant.

Spren V. Spren fighting doesn't really have any relevance to them being physical. A better example would be when she attempts to keep the Highstorm away from Kaladin, but even that really doesn't prove much because she was largely useless. Syl doesn't have any independent intelligence either. At one point she offers to do something for Kaladin, but she tells him it would make her revert back to her original state. Non-Corporeal, lack of independent intelligence. I just cannot see where the shards would affect her. Maybe other Spren. Fire spren lock into a size when measured, but they still change shape. Nightspren, are only theorized in the book. Rotspren, maybe. Kaladin shows that some substances keep them away or drive them out. Deathspren are doubtful as they seem to only appear to the afflicted and only at the weakest moments. Lifespren seem to avoid humans. The only references I can remember are ones talking about plants. I still think that Syl's hatred of the blades goes back to them being of Odium as has been theorized.

The problem would be catching a spren to put the theory to test. I do not see Syl just standing around. After all, she does spend much of the time as nothing but wind blown weeds. The small girl form seems to be intangible. I can't recall Kaladin saying he felt her, just saw her. She only spends one scene as a fully grown woman. I doubt it would cut her though. She has always seemed more ghostlike than solid to me.

Vin proved that Atium can be beaten. Szeth does not have to close into range to lash something. He set a trap in one scene where the soldiers became stuck to the floor. Kelsier can't push or pull stone or wood. Kelsier does not have a weapon that can cut through solid stone. The rioting/soothing is a good point, but I do not believe it would be enough to overcome.

Sorry if anyone is finding these annoying. I am just trying to bring some life into the forum and possibly introduce people to new books or series. This Series by Michael Scott follows two fraternal twins and their weeklong adventures to try to learn elemental magics and stop "Elders" from returning to the Earth. It takes many historic and folk lore characters and brings them to the modern world as Immortals that have been given the gift of a vastly extended lifespan. You will see Billy the Kid, Machievelli, Dr. John Dee, Nicolas Flamel and his wife, Shakespeare, Joan of Arc, Comte de St Germaine, and others fighting on different sides, some trying to prevent the elders return and some trying to foster it. Many of the Elders will be familiar as well from folklore or mytholocy. Hel, Odin, Mars, Prometheus, Aten, Anubis, Isis, Osiris, a Greenman, and others play the parts of good and bad elders. While the series is well-written and interesting enough to keep you interested for the entire six book series, it does have some significant holes that I still am unable to believe were not caught by beta readers or the editor. Sometimes facts change from book to book or even from one page to the next. To me this is just sloppy. Another example is that the author mistakenly attributes something done by one character early in the series to a completely different character in the series. Again, this is sloppy and just plain bad fact checking of the author's own work. I did invest money to get the entire series, so it did manage to engage me for the duration, but the sloppiness of the author's on creation is irksome to me, but it may not be to you. This is a good little adventure and makes a perfect interstitial reading exercise. You can read the entire series in a week or less if you really try. While I do like this series, I will be honest and state that I will probably never buy another one of Scott's books. Oddly enough, it has nothing to do with the sloppiness I mentioned above. What it has to do with is that the author wrote two ebook short stories involving Billy the Kid and Joan of Arc that he expects you to buy separately. To me, these should have been included in the books of the series or given away as free to entice new readers or reward his loyal readership. Other authors have written short stories involving their works and made them available for free, Scott should have followed this instead of trying to milk the profit.

Kelsier beats Dalinar. Shardplate may not be affected by pushing/pulling, but a coin going through the air will definately affect the plate. Hit the plate several times with coins or pieces of metal and it will break down. Since Dalinar is close combat, it wouldn't even be a contest. Kelsier beats Wax. Atium and Duralumin decide the battle in a few seconds. Wax beats Dalinar. See above for Kelsier. Plus Wax has guns. Szeth beats Kelsier. Szeth lashes Kelsier to a floor and just takes his time to stab him. Szeth beats Wax. See previous. Dalinar beats Szeth. We have seen that Szeth has more difficult times with skilled Shardwarriors. None is more skilled than Dalinar. This one would be the closest of any of the battles, but I feel that Dalinar being the most skilled warrior on the shardworld would win. The Champion would really depend on the seeding. Unless Dalinar faces Szeth in round one, Szeth takes the title.

Well, throughout literature and fantasy writing "Shade" has essentially been a spirit or ghost type manifestation, so this make really good sense. This is something that is so obvious now that you have laid it out that it is a wonder this has not been noticed before. Good catch there....

Well, we do have a character that is semi-corporeal, flitters around as wind or leaves, can change form, is female, and has a symbiotic relationship with humans. I very, very much doubt she is Cultivation though. I like the idea that Cultivation is hiding somwehere in Shin lands. The society seems to have been made deliberately peaceful, even unnaturally so. That would enable them to determine someone under Odium's control much easier.

When talking about the Thrill, the authors are just taking a known phenonenom and carrying it over into their books. Also, Kaladin does go into a battle rage very early in the book when he is fighting the boy in his hometown. That is the major reason he wanted to become a soldier for so long, just to be able to feel the rush again. To get back to the original topic, there has to be a reason that Hoid talks about eye color being a good reason for leadership divisions. Even in our world, there are noted differences color perception between people with blue eyes and brown. Blues are supposedly better at picking out variations of color and have better natural night vision.

I always pictured the Thrill is more of a battle lust. Dalinar specifically states, "The Thrill-the enjoyment and longing for war-was part of what drove the Alethi as a people." That seems to indicate that is is part of the racial makeup of the Alethi. That fits in neatly with what is said later about the Alethi being the vanguard or defenders. Either way, battle lust is something that is not that uncommon in sword and sorcery fantasy. Chereks have it as part of their racial makeup. Elend is essentially on an Atium fueled battle lust at the end. Percy uses it all the time. Matt does it at least once. Kvothe calls the wind twice while in what could be considered a battle rage, though it is not as extreme. Richard does it throughout the series both with and without his sword. Eragon does it at least once that I can remember. Josh has minor battle rages in the Alchemyst series. Those are just from the bookshelf that I can see. Even modern soldiers have been known to experience battle lusts or rages.

Definately try some non-Sanderson. Eddings is on a level by himself. The first Mazalan book by Erikson is really good. You might want to consider downshifting a little with a YA series or two. I use them to break up the epics when they start getting drawn out. Fablehaven and Percy Jackson would be great for that. Tolkien is overrated, but should be read by any true fantasy fan. Riyria Revelations by Sullivan is another series good for inter-epic changes.

Oh, it is almost a given that there is a reason for the colors. Wit/Hoid says something about it being a good reason in one of his later scenes, and we know there he has been around the block a time or two. Page 998 of the hard cover, when thinking about the different forms of government/leaders, he states. "In this case, it just happened to be a good one." That itself is fairly telling.

Well, it is possible for completely separate languages to use the same alphabet. We see that all the time in our own world. English, German, French, and Spanish use essentially the same alphabet with a few language specific derivations. Yes, French and Spanish were originally the same language and are still close enough that people who can read one can read very basic writings in the other. Even Japanese and Chinese use essentially the same character to a large extent. Japanese does have its own written language, but even some educated Japanese have a hard time trying to figure it out. IF you throw in the fact that there is more than likely a distant mother language that all of the others are based upon, it makes even more sense that they would share some of the same alphabets in the cosmere.

Admitedly, the first book is slow until he goes through the portal. I almost put it aside, but I thought it was really good after that and so was the rest of the trilogy. It didn't end like I wanted, but neither did the Mistborn trilogy.

Hmm, didn't notice Moraine, but that would make sense since she is the first user we have of balefire in the series.

Fablehaven is a YA series involving a brother and sister and their adventures around and concerning a series of nature preserves for magical animals and entities. I strongly recommend this series for both adults and kids. Each book can be read in a few hours by someone of relatively fast reading speed. Thus, it can be used as between book readings or you can treat the series as you would a larger book and read straight through. Because it is written as a YA, there is no sex and the language is very, very tame. This series is much better written than the first book in Beyonders. So much so that I almost didn't read it because I made the mistake of reading the first Beyonders book before this. While I will not continue reading Beyonders unless I can find them as clearance, I will have no qualms reading any future Fablehaven books if he decides to continue them as a second series or just adds to the original.

This 6 part series is about the adventures of a pair of thieves as they become entangled with kingly and then imperial intrigues all the while trying to track down the true heir of an imperial line that has been supposedly extinct for thousands of years. The difference that this series has from other fantasy series is that the main characters do not begin the series with even a notion that they are the "good" guys. Each "book" is short enough to be an easy read as interstial material, but it does not have to be only side material. One of the side characters is a madame, and a brothel is used as a setting, but none of the normal business is concluded on screen. The language is fairly tame, but you still might want to judge for yourself before you let a preteen read it on their own, but I would say that about almost any book put out these days. This series is not a YA series, but I would have no qualms letting teens read it. Like any series, it does have its flaws, but they are not very memorable after you let the series digest. The only major one I can remember is that a character leaves the room twice without reentering to leave the second time. I know that is very minor, but stuff like that tends to annoy me sometimes.

If anyone has not already read this trilogy, I highly recommend it. The series is about a modern man that goes through an ancient cairn to an alternate reality with heavy celtic influence.

Well, at the very least he will have a difficult time with Dalinar now that Kaladin has realized some of his power and Shallan and Jasnah are on the way back. Dalinar and Adolin both have much more battle experience than any of the bearers he has faced so, far as far as we know. Somehow, I feel they will get a pretty large advance warning of his coming through Syl. Recent fantasy has also had a history of having a disreputable character lose the dishonor through righteous acts. Hratghen did it somewhat in Elantris. Vasher is continuing to do it in Warbreaker. Verin redeems herself in WoT. The main character in Naked Empire does it (and he is from a non-violent society at first). Luke does it in the final book of PJO. Eragon's half-brother does it. Rand does it for an entire class of men when he cleanses the Taint. People these days still believe in redemption.

Well, neither Spook nor Elend wore earrings that I can remember so he pretty much had to spike them the other way if he wanted any influence. If I remember the conversation a few months back, the essential question was where would they have gotten thousands of charged earrings. I would be very surprised if Harmony just left the bodies lying around after going to so much trouble to reshape the world.

Oops, that one was so non-descript, that I completely forgot about it. Even the character that saw it didn't realize what they were doing at first. Neither of the scenes were graphic. That is the main thing I love about Sanderson, when he does write love scenes, they are completely tame for the most part.

Theorectically, I guess it would be possible for Cultivation to have changed hands. Why would it unless something very drastic happened. It might very well have happened, we just have no proof or even hint of it doing so.

They probably will survive. The Reds still hate them, but in a few generations that should be abated. There was a LONG history of both male and female channelers so it would basically be returning to an antiquated status quo. They may eventually move into the White Tower, but it will probably take several centuries. There is just way too much animosity and distrust currently. Unless the taint returns, there wouldn't be much of a reason to hunt them to extinction going forward. The Seachan is an interesting possibility. Don't they currently execute on sight? They cannot do anything about Rand with and Adam, but there is some hinting that he may go to the Seachan homeland voluntarily. One of the things that really disappointed me in the progression is that there was an abandonment of the division of the magic. There was one book where Jordan went into detail about the division of magic, but after that it seems to have become unimportant. By the division, I specifically mean the earth/air stuff. There have been some oblique references, but they do not tend to spend the time to study the depths anymore like the Adam scenes.