Muggins

I hate love triangles in and of themselves, but I felt it kind of worked here early on, particularly as a way to add animosity between Adolin and Kaladin. Alodin fit the ideal in societal conventions; good marital/social standings, good looking etc. Kaladin was passionate and sexy, and way more appealing to my literary romantic brain (I have a weakness for romance novels. Am I an anomalie in the fantasy community? How many Fantastic/Romance readers exist?) Was Sanderson turning conventions on their head, or just misdirecting the reader? Is it going an ongoing issue? At this point I am happy to leave it as is, even if I prefer the other ship. But what was the point? I feel toyed with as a reader. Also Syl and Kaladin feels creepy to me, like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell in Hook. *Shivers*

I feel like Jasnah has made a strong effort to be an independent entity, and that Kaladin is trying to find himself and be happy in his own skin. Are we trying to pair them out of a need to pair two important characters? It feels a bit forced. Also, an age difference of more than 10 year seems a bit extreme... but that might just be society getting to me.

I was pretty disappointed with this book. I'd been so excited for it for such a long time, and it felt like a bit of a mess to me. The overall plot arc was just too chaotic. The plotting was a lot less cohesive than in the other books; there were several side plots that popped up and disappeared early on, that just gave the book a bit of a unwieldy nature. I felt it lacked forward momentum, and cohesion. It picked up near the end of part 3, but it just didn't work for me the way the first two books in the series did. There was such a huge setup for the Everstorm, but it felt anticlimactic. The murder investigation felt rushed, and a little pointless, and Kaladin's trip home, then time with Khen, Sah et al. and trip back to Urithiru felt disjointed. It also lacked emotional resonance for me. There was never that point where I couldn't put the book down and had to read all night. It took me a week to read this (I had an advanced reader copy) which is unheard of for me. I feel like most of the posts here have been pretty positive. Was anyone else super disappointed?

I work for a big bookstore chain, at the store level, but I read and review a lot of books for the company to help make decisions on what books to get behind, how to present and promote books, etc. I sent an email way back in the summer asking them to keep an eye out for this one for me, as it was probably my most anticipated book of the year. I was told chances were slim, but it was in my last package of ARCs.

I have an uncorrected proof and I restarted the book when it arrived. This was especially important to me as I had reread the first two books, and read Edgedancer between starting the released chapters and getting a copy of the book. That being said, I feel like the book really picks up in part two. Does anyone else out there have ARCs?

I have a weakness for bad romance novels and Shallan and Kaladin have all the traits of a classic romance plot. They start out hating each other; the boots situation, followed by a confrontation before initially meeting with Alodin and Dalinar. This is romance novel 101; banter and distain = sexual chemistry. When they are in the chasms together, they have a lot of conflict, a traumatic bonding moment, and some sexual attraction. After the chasm situation, there are hints of residual attraction. If it continues to follow said traditional romance plot, they will get together, Shallan will find out that Kaladin killed her brother, and it will cause the traditional romance plot separation of the love interests. Once this is overcome, Shallan and Kaladin will work through here issues and live happily ever after. That being said, Sanderson does like turning conventions on their head and shocking the reader. Howerever, so far, that doesn't seem to influence the romances in his novels. So who knows? I like Kaladin and Shallan as a couple, but maybe I have been conditioned that way because of my weakness for YA and Romance novels.

Thanks @CaptainRyan. I did read Warbreaker. I think Elantris is the only adult Sanderson novel I have yet to read. I've read most of his middle grade and YA as well (Steelheart and Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians), and I really enjoyed The Rithmatist; that one is probably my favourite besides The Stormlight Archive, which is probably my most anticipated book of the year by any author.

Hi everyone!! I'm new here, so I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I want to know which stories from Arcanum Unbounded I should read before Oathbringer. I know Edgedancer is a must, but which others? Basically, I have been doing a reread of the The Stormlight Archive in preparation for Oathbringer. I haven't read Arcanum Unbounded yet (I haven't read Elantris yet and was worried about spoilers). I was planning to read the Cosmere Collection some time over the next month, but found out I am getting an Advanced Reader Copy of Oathbringer later this week. This is fantastic, and I'm super excited, but it has thrown off my reading timeline. I know I'm going to want to start Oathbringer as soon as it arrives, and I'm short on time, so I want to make sure I read the right stories. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!