Scattered

No need for a rant, I could not possibly agree with you more!!!

Lol, well it definitely works!

Ryan - well, I don't remember the monk kid, but it's not him. If you didn't like Liveship Traders you probably won't like the others either, but they definitely have a different feel to them, I think. Shivertongue - I actually just started The Magician King this morning. That sucks about the depressing ending, but if it's as good as the first like you say, at least it will be worth the read. I know exactly what you mean about Malazan. I have never felt that way about any other series of books, where I just didn't care about anyone or anything the author was talking about. At least in The Blade Itself I kind of liked Logan and Glokta, but Logan's story didn't have a payoff at all, and Glokta's wasn't worth the time I put into reading it.

Did you read the Farseer trilogy and Tawny Man trilogy too? I'm not sure who the one character you liked was, but there is one character from Liveship that shows up in both the other trilogies, which take place in a different part of the country with different characters.

I agree with your point about rehashing the arena, I thought it was a strange move too, but the whole experience of it is really so different, and everyone's motivations are different, so it didn't really bother me. Plus it's a necessary step leading to the events in book 3, which is a whole different animal. Lev Grossman is adult fiction, and the book is great, I just thought it had a depressing ending. Although there is a sequel out now, so maybe that will improve things. The Blade Itself trilogy was even more disappointing. I loved the books all the way through - I couldn't wait to see how everything was going to work out. But then nothing worked out and it was completely awful. I have never been so disappointed by a book series before. I actually gave them away because I know I will never want to read them again.

I don't even remember a time when I WASN'T reading fantasy books. My mom read The Hobbit and LOTR to us, a chapter every night, before we even learned how to read. After that, my dad would happily lend us books from his extensive fantasy/sci-fi collection whenever we asked. I read Narnia and The Dark is Rising series, and short kids books like Of Two Minds, but I think the first adult book that I read myself, or at least the one that sticks out the most in my mind, is Caverns of Socrates by Dennis McKiernan, followed shortly by the Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony. And ever since I've been making my way through Asimov, Eddings, Farland, Feist, Card, Goodkind, Herbert, Greg Bear, Tad Williams, Crichton, Gaiman, and all the rest. I recently discovered that on my train, I'm known as "book girl".

I don't want to turn this into a Hunger Games thread, so I'll keep this short and spoiler-free. I loved it for these reasons: 1. A protagonist that isn't constantly trying to be noble or do the right thing. She's in it to survive, no question about it, and anyone that gets in her way better watch out. She also doesn't spend a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, which happens in fantasy novels quite a bit these days. 2. As far as love triangles go, there's almost no swooning at all. In book one, her feelings are barely mentioned. In books 2 and 3 it becomes a larger issue, but it always takes a backseat to whatever goal she's trying to accomplish. There are other things going on in the novel besides "which boy will she pick?". Also, the boys in question aren't constantly snapping and snarling at each other, which is refreshing. 3. The Capitol. I think it's extremely realistic to have a group of people so desensitized that they can watch this and relish it every year, without ever thinking about what it means to the people involved. Some of my favorite parts were the scenes that showed the character growth in Katniss' prep team. Did anyone read The Magicians by Lev Grossman? That was another one that I didn't like the ending.

I didn't like the way the Farseer trilogy ended either, but it's actually a trilogy of trilogies. The next one is the Liveship Traders series (which doesn't have Fitz, but has a different character from the first set in them), and then is the Tawny Man trilogy, which picks up with Fitz and the Fool and everyone else you know and love, and it actually ends much better than the first trilogy, in my opinion. And in reply to Joe ST, I actually loved the Hunger Games, but I didn't care for her other series, Gregor the Overlander. I liked the books themselves, but I hated the way it ended.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I read the first two and just couldn't bring myself to read the third.

I think that's a great summary of all things spren, and I agree with just about everything you said. I especially like the note about the Trigger being related to abilities, when the Truthspren ask Shallan for her identity. But if that's the case, then what is Syl taking from Kaladin in exchange for what she's giving him? As far as I can tell, she's attracted to things he's already doing, not asking him for anything else. The other thing that I would love to know about spren is why they take on a fixed aspect when someone records their measurements. I feel like this is really important, but I can't figure out what it means. I assume it has something to do with their Cognitive aspect. And does it only apply to measurements? What else could you record about a spren that would then become fixed? Could you use this to manipulate them somehow? Is that how they get trapped in gems? And have we seen spren that are affected by this, and we just don't know it yet? Are all spren somehow affected by how people perceive them? Hopefully you've got some thoughts on this, because it's been bugging me ever since I read the book.

Wow, I haven't seen that quote before. I wonder what happens when you burn Lerasium and you DO know what you're doing? I bet Hoid knows. I've been thinking about this and thinking about this, and I don't have any solid ideas, but I did have a stray thought that since burning Lerasium basically increases your link to Preservation, a shard that exists in the Cognitive realm (right? not Spiritual?), maybe if you know what you're doing you'd be able to chuck yourself into the Cognitive realm and travel through Shadesmar? Or converse with the existing Shards? See the world from their perspective? I don't know how viable any of that is. Turning into a Mistborn is a permanent thing, and those suggestions would all be for a limited time (unless it gives you a permanent bridge into Shadesmar?), so maybe the effect is something more permanent. Anyway, those were my random thoughts. Anyone else have some pet theories about this?

Welcome, Nihilum! I, too, am a former lurker, so glad to have you in the ranks. I have the same problem with not being able to put the books down. And I don't mean to go off-topic, but I saw your username, ProfessorMLyon, and just had to comment. I love those books!

I actually just finished reading Timeline by Michael Crichton, and I really enjoyed that.

I don't know about characters growing more childlike, but if you're looking for books where the selfish bad guy wins, I'd definitely have to agree with Yados. The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is exactly what you're looking for. Everyone's a murderer except for the court dandy, who's as selfish and childish as you could hope for. He tries to mature a little throughout the books, but it doesn't actually do anyone any good. I enjoyed the books until the end of the trilogy. The ending made me so depressed and angry that I gave the books away because I never want to read them again. The first book in that series is called The Blade Itself.

Oh my gosh I'm so excited, I love those books!!!

If you really want to see a flat romance, try reading The Belgariad by David Eddings, or the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams. They both use the love mechanism of, "I only met you briefly, and despised you, but now that you're gone the thought of your pretty hair/honest face just won't leave my mind." And that's how with virtually no interaction of any kind, characters fall in love. Now that's cheap. With Vin and Elend (and granted, it's been awhile since I read the books), I always felt like they had an opposites attract thing going on, so even though they're different, I never felt like they didn't make sense. As previously stated, they both obviously have a lot of issues, but I also feel like their relationship wasn't a main focus of the novel. Not the romantic part anyway. The part that Brandon was most interested in (it seems from the annotations) was Vin's ability to trust. That's why we have a lot of inner monologue and doubts - not because she doesn't feel something for him, but because despite those feelings, she doesn't know how to trust other people. I think the more romantic part of their relationship probably took place in the background, behind the scenes, because their feelings for each other don't actually drive the novel. Vin's conscious decision to trust is a major part of her character arc, so that's what took the foreground. Not to mention, how much romantic stuff do they really have time for? They just overthrew an empire and now they're desperately trying to hold it together. They don't exactly have a lot of time to go on dates, or even just be around each other without the weight of the world on their shoulders. I think that's got to make things pretty awkward. I also don't remember feeling like Vin was acting clingy, but again, it's been awhile since I read the books. And I disagree with the idea that just because a character is an idealist means he doesn't have any depth. I think it's much easier to have a character who's always looking out for number 1 than it is to have a character who has ideals and then has to struggle to hang on to them in a world where that's becoming increasingly difficult. I would much rather read about that, even if they don't succeed, than read about a bunch of selfish people who get what they want because they're selfish. I get enough of that in real life. I think the idealist has a much harder struggle, which is what makes those characters interesting.

Thank you so much!

Woo, an upvote and a cookie, all on my first day! (That's a mega awesome cookie btw, I can't see that image on my work computer, but now that I'm at home it looks absolutely magical.) And thanks for the good luck wishes! It's going to be a project, that's for sure, but at least I won't have to wait years between the books.

I know, but it seems to me that this explanation might be a bit of a red herring. Everything we've seen on investiture says that no one really understands it yet, and I think there might be a little more to it than just that explanation. Since magic in the Cosmere is basically an interaction between the Physical and Spiritual Realms by means of a catalyst, investiture seems like it would have to involve some of this as well in order to be switching metals' attributes around. And since the discussion involves that spiritual metaphysical superstructure, I thought perhaps investiture might be used as a way to alter this superstructure somehow, just as it alters the attributes of a metal, although really I think it's doing something more like altering the spiritual attribute connected to that metal. (Am I explaining this in a way that's making sense? It makes sense in my head.) I'm not sure exactly how this would work, but it just seemed like it might be connected somehow. Again, as always, I could be totally off, and I probably am, but I thought it was worth bringing up.

Why thank you!

Here is my introduction post, as requested. I started reading Brandon when Elantris came out in 2005. Ever since then I have snatched up every Cosmere book he's written as soon as it came out, like a bookstore-lurking ninja. And I'm planning to read the Wheel of Time just because Brandon's finishing it. I've been following you guys since before TWG went down, so even though I'm a new member, I am definitely not new to the Cosmere. And that's really everything that's important, isn't it?

Hey guys, I've been lurking for quite some time now, but never created a profile before because I have found that someone has usually already said anything that I would have to say. Today I made a profile specifically to reply to this topic. If one of the difficulties with time travel is that the time bubbles are anchored to the planet by some sort of spiritual metaphysical superstructure, is it possible that the feruchemist power of investiture will have something to do with this? I may be way off, but it was just a thought, and for once no one had already said it. ^.~