Calyx

Exactly! I've always imagined that a lot of dustbringers would be Engineers, but a surgeon - or any type of hard scientist, really - would fit as well. These are the exact professions where people would want to take things apart to see how they work.

Fair enough. I think we can say that the time jump will not be too long - decades at most. I believe Brandon has confirmed that the backstory characters will be Renarin, Jasnah, Lift, Taln, and Ash. I know he hasn't committed to each viewpoint character being alive during 'their' book (e.g. Eshonai in the upcoming Stormlight 4), but it would be super weird if they were all dead. I think its more likely these characters will still be directly involved in the action, and that limits the time jump to a max of about 30 years. I hope this is true! Perhaps there will be problems that need to be dealt with on the other planets of the Roshar system for there to truly be peace. Also, I've always wanted to see Jasnah and Khriss interact, and Jasnah would make a great worldhopper. I could see this being interesting, but I imagine it would be hard to walk the line between writing odium!Dalinar for people who have read Stormlight and for those who have not. This is Brandon we're talking about, though, so I guess this concern is somewhat irrelevant.

We know very little about dustbringer personalities. We've got Malata, who is vaguely sinister but we really know nothing about and have barely seen her interact with others, though I believe Shallan expressed some distaste for her. And then we have the dustbringer quotes from the epigraphs: Honestly these quotes - particularly the first one - make the dustbringers seem like awesome people. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all of the thoughts Lirin would record for posterity would be about his family.

I like this as well, though I had thought the new dustbringer was going to be that Herdazian general that Lirin is looking for in the scenes Brandon read?

I like it (well, I hate it; see Reason #2), it would certainly be an interesting story with a lot of symmetry. Though, based on his other novels, Brandon doesn't generally seem to employ symmetry in arcs. I'm thinking here about Mistborn and Warbreaker, though certainly it is a debatable point. You say this confrontation will occur in Book 5 - any thoughts for what will happen in the back 5? Since we know that Taln and Ash will be more significant there, it seems weird to think of Odium being defeated at #5. I don't know how long the shard would take to corrupt Dalinar, but I imagine it would be fairly slow, making it unlikely that he would be the villain of the back 5.

This would be fascinating - there is so much spren distrust of humans that is based on previously bonded spren having died that this is sure to change things up. What would happen to spren prejudice if the only way to revive the dead spren is via a Nahel bond? And there has to be more to the story of the Recreance than what we (or in-universe people) know so far. If something like that were revealed in the real world, the reaction of most people would be a collective shrug - "Eh, sounds bad, but it was a pretty long time ago... nothing to do with us now." There has to be more to it.

I love: Egwene - her chapters in the middle-later books (where she is becoming Amyrlin) are some of the only redeeming ones. Her arc throughout the entire series is fantastic, and I love that she never looses her curiosity. Siuan - I enjoy her arc as well, from her scheming with Moiraine, to her being cast down, to her scheming with Egwene. Perrin - I like Perrin because while he is generally competent he seems to have almost no idea. He is also excellent at bringing people together, even people who initially hate him (and one another) come to respect him. I especially like his interactions with Galad and, of course, the hammer forging. Aviendha - Aviendha is fun to have around, and I always enjoy her chapters. Particularly her relationship with Elayne. Mat - But only after the Aiel wastes. Before that he is a whiny idiot who never does anything to help. After that he is awesome and highly competent despite his best efforts. Lan - Seriously, who doesn't like Lan? The most badass character. I do wish we had gotten a little more time for closure between him and Moiraine at the end. I hate: Seanchan - There are some individual Seanchan that I do like (Egeanin and Tylee are the only ones that come to mind), but overall their culture is disgusting. I was sickened by their treatment of Egwene at Falme, and by the concept of Damane in general; dehumanizing people is somehow even worse than just enslaving them. Despite their increasing involvement across the series, this initial impression was never challenged. They suck and Rand should have wiped them all out. Tuon - Tuon is easily the worst character that doesn't serve the Dark One (including Elaida and even Padan Fain), though she is obviously evil. Confronted with evidence that the Damane are no different than her, what does she do? Comfort herself by relaxing in the room where new Damane are broken. No idea what Mat sees in her, I hate reading chapters from her perspective (except for instances where she is slowly realizing how awesome Mat is). Cadsuanne - For reasons I can't figure out, everyone (in book) acts as though she is intelligent and competent. Not sure why, because she screws almost everything up. Plus she is super annoying. Nynaeve - I absolutely loathed Nynaeve in the first few books for her extraordinary arrogance and lack of empathy or patience. Also the braid tugging. She does get better across the series, and by the end I did like her, but along with Mat she is terrible in the first few books. She is down here, rather than in the upper list like Mat, because of how much longer it takes her to not suck.

By convincing people to leave and helping them evacuate? I know his father opposed this previously, but things are worse now. Alternatively he could try to get them supplies, temporarily assist his father in his clinic, or help out in any number of ways, even if he isn't directly removing them from their situation.

Yeah, I assume it would have to be a pretty slow building thing. But I could imagine them rebuilding their friendship while working together protecting people of their town. At any rate, we know that Kaladin and Laral will be interacting, and their past has been far more fleshed out than another character (Tarah) that gets continuously mentioned in these discussions.

From the recent excerpt Brandon read, it looks like Kaladin and Laral will be in the same place once more. If Roshone is dead - and for some reason I assume he is - there is the potential for eventual romance. Kaladin will likely try to protect Laral when he sees that she is now a servant, and I think she is unlikely to put up with that. Laral has clearly matured into a fairly strong person; in Oathbringer, it was clear she held the respect of both Roshone's soldiers and the townspeople, and now it looks like she is helping Kaladin's father. Maybe she can help Kaladin realize that he doesn't need to protect everyone?

I feel like we know so little about Cultivation, what she is doing, or what has to do with her. It is apparent, though, that she is deeply involved in a lot of stuff; even with Dalinar, who is clearly the most honor-involved character.

Obviously Yomen is intelligent and diplomatically skilled, but his position would have made him such a natural enemy of many of the other prominent survivors. Breeze and Ham seem to have spent most of their lives involved with schemes targeting nobility. Spook was also steeped in that culture. Though I guess its true that the least understanding of the group - ie Kelsier, Dox - weren't around either. As you say, I'm sure he was able to integrate well eventually, but I think it would be interesting to see exactly how the world gets rebuilt.

Tanavast and Cultivation's holder were romantically involved: So if Kaladin is a literal (rather than figurative, as many have suggested) descendant of Tanavast, does this mean that he is also a descendant of Cultivation? Kind of hard to imagine Honor sleeping around.

I like Yomen as well. He was clearly intelligent and one of the most thoughtful characters, perhaps even up there with Sazed. I love it when he seems to realize what is actually going on. However, many of the chapters in that section were difficult to read; I didn't like Vin feeling (and being) so helpless. I am curious how well he got on with the other important people - i.e. Spook, Breeze, etc. - after Sazed remade the world. Clearly his descendants are still members of the elite, but unless I'm mistaken the only people who would have known and respected him were Elend and Vin, who both died. Can't imagine integrating into the rebuilt society was comfortable for him.

I like this theory - it would certainly explain why the spren seem somewhat alive but vacant in the cognitive realm, and if true would suggest that the only way to restore them would be to provide investiture, most likely via a Nahel Bond. Seems like an understatement - since when has Brandon allowed Stormlight characters to have "happy fun times" ?

I think we're getting into territory where we don't have solid information. While I agree with you and @CrazyRioter that the most likely way of reviving Maya is via Nahel Bond, we don't know this for sure. And if Maya is revived without a bond, and possibly without the inclination to form one ever again due to what happened last time, I don't see why she should continue becoming a sword. All that being said, I think this path is fairly unlikely (though amusing) and venturing somewhat off topic.

Though after all the speculation in this and many other threads, it would be quite funny if Adolin works really hard to revive Maya, she revives, and... he looses his sword, since Maya is now alive and doesn't have a Nahel Bond.

I don't disagree with you that Adolin has his own issues - in fact, I'd argue that the 'perfect' face he presents to the world is merely his conception of what other people (read: Dalinar) expect him to be. And as @Calderis points out, a person doesn't necessarily have to be 'broken' to become Radiant. Clearly you don't need to be as broken as Shallan and Kaladin are. I mean, look at Lopen. My earlier comment was more about narrative satisfaction - I think reviving Maya is something that Adolin will need to work really hard at for it to feel earned. I'd rather Maya revive after Adolin goes through something terrible and overcomes it than simply have Maya revive because he likes his sword.

I think it really needs to be earned. We don't get as much from Adolin's POV as other characters, and while he's clearly worked hard and cares about people - top duelist, lead plateau assaults himself to protect troops, jailed himself in protest, protective of Renarin, etc. - there is a sense that a lot of stuff comes easily for him. I could imagine a radiant arc for him that starts with him leaving due to anger at Dalinar after learning about the rift and eventually forgiving and returning after experiencing extensive suffering. It clearly can't be as simple as "Adolin really cares about his sword, then it comes back to life and he has powers now." Also, Lift and Adolin would be great together.

Where does it say that Hoid is unimpressed with the Ghostbloods? I remember him belittling the 17th Shard, but I can't recall an instance of him discussing the Ghostbloods.

Can we really say that Tarah has been foreshadowed? Given that she is a girl mentioned only once or twice, as far as I remember, and Kaladin clearly didn't feel that strongly about her, I'm not sure why people talk about her. Just because we know that at some point she existed and found Kaladin attractive? I'm sure there are tons of people who now find Kaladin attractive.

I agree, I think that would be a super interesting arc for Kaladin - thats why I wouldn't mind seeing him be surpassed by Teft, for example. I think this is a great idea - and we know from Brandon's recent reading that Lirin will be a part of the book! It would be terrible if The Lopen were the one to pass Kaladin... I like The Lopen, in small doses, but that would just be ridiculous. Other than Teft, I think the main options might be Skar or Drehy - they managed to save Elhokar's son and get everyone out of Kolinar, can't have been easy. I imagine they are now more than ready for spren of their own.

Yeah, that just seems cruel. On the other hand, I bet it vastly increases your enjoyment of Stormlight Archive books!

I would say no. Discovering Sanderson has encouraged me to read more fantasy, and even when I may not enjoy it as much as I do mistborn (for example), I still enjoy it. Some examples of books that I've read recently and enjoyed, despite having read nearly everything written by Sanderson: All Our Wrong Todays (Elan Mastai), Meddling Kids (Edgar Cantero), The Shadow of What Was Lost (James Islington), The Fifth Season (NK Jemisin), Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay), The Black Company (Glen Cook), Lucifer's Hammer (Niven & Pournelle). Now of these recent books, I'd say only Tigana and maybe Lucifer's Hammer are as good as most of Sanderson's novels. It is also true that none of the books have caused me to voraciously consume everything else written by an author the way that Mistborn did when I first read it. Still though, I can enjoy reading a wide variety of books despite Sanderson being perhaps my favorite author (hard to displace Burroughs and C.S. Lewis from childhood, though).

Is Shallan really on her fourth oath? And if she was at some point, shouldn't she have regressed? She still seems to be suppressing her various truths most of the time. As for Kaladin, swearing the fourth oath has been set up to be a pretty huge deal - his inability to do so led almost directly to Elhokar's death. I expect swearing the oath to be a huge part of his arc in book 4, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is his father who helps him do so. I have to admit, though, that Sanderson loves subverting expectations. The idea of someone like Teft actually surpassing Kaladin in radiancy, even if only temporarily, is interesting.