Llarimar

When the guy named Cob popped in, I actually thought the same thing! I just finished The Wise Man's Fear, and it was great - thought not as good as Sanderson.

Hiroyuki Sanada as Zahel/Vasher?

This is perfect. If they decide to develop Stormlight with an East Asian cast, everyone should campaign for this. Although he might be too old...

He would be a perfect Kaladin, just based on that picture. And maybe Prince Zuko/Rufio (Dante Basco) could play one of the bridgemen, like Lopen or Skar.

Yeah, he'll definitely be watching T more closely - at the very least, he won't take him for granted anymore or assume he's just an innocent old man. But even if Dalinar knows that T isn't quite what he seems, he certainly hasn't comprehended the depth of T's manipulation, the existence of the Diagram and his involvement with both Cultivation/Nightwatcher and Odium. So maybe Dalinar will be more wary of T, but certainly not wary enough, considering that he is basically Odium's puppet now (or perhaps Cultivation's puppet... it's hard to tell with Taravangian).

I agree with this, I think it's possible that it will just never occur to Szeth to tell Dalinar about the Diagram and the hospital killings. I don't think he'll consider betraying Taravangian unless Dalinar specifically asks him about it - Szeth is very self-aware, but sometimes it seems like he isn't very sharp. Political subterfuge and manipulation just really don't fit his character.

That would be awesome - Mr. T tried to do some damage control after Szeth joined Dalinar, by revealing he tried to have Dalinear murdered. But T didn't tell Dalinar about the Diagram, or the killings in the hospitals - both of which are things that Szeth knows about. I don't think T's alliance with Dalinar will collapse, however - I think his supposed alliance will be important moving forward, especially since Odium will try to manipulate Dalinar through him. I can easily see Szeth telling Dalinar everything, and then Dalinar just sort of dismissing the whole thing or ignoring it after doing a brief, obligatory investigation and deciding that T is still trustworthy.

Yeah, that makes sense. I still feel like his reintroduction was a little rushed, but that was kind of necessary during the fight - there just isn't time in the middle of the battle for them to stop and ponder on the return of Szeth. What annoyed me was that after the dust settled, no one imprisoned Szeth or questioned him - maybe those things did happen, but it isn't mentioned. As far as we know, Dalinar just enlists him as personal bodyguard and no one seems to care, which to me was really unrealistic. I would like to see this resolved in the next Stormlight book - a conversation between Szeth and the other Knights Radiant where he explain why he willingly assassinated dozens of monarchs, and how he came back to life after Kaladin killed him.

Did anyone else think it was weird how when Szeth pops up during the battle for Thaylen City, everyone is just sort of okay with him being there? What Lift thinks: What Dalinar thinks: What Jasnah thinks: This last quote by Jasnah almost seems to be bordering on humorous, as if she's saying, "Hahaha, the Assassin in White, what a joke, I never thought I'd see him on our side! Sure, he brutally murdered my father, and half the rulers of Roshar, and then was killed himself by Kaladin so he's basically a zombie as far as we know, but we'll take all the help we can get!" This was just really weird to me, and seemed like a major oversight. You would think that at least Jasnah would be threatened by Szeth - she seemed to have a really close relationship with Gavilar, why is she so nonchalant about meeting his murderer? And why are they all okay with Szeth becoming Dalinar's bodyguard and joining the Knights Radiant - do none of them think for a moment that he might be trying to stab Dalinar in the back while no one is looking? Nobody has questions for him, nobody attacks him, nobody screams because he's apparently come back from the dead. I feel like the comeback of Szeth is supposed to be really cinematic and cool - he sweeps onto the battlefield, clothed in white, wielding a black sword, redeeming himself... and everyone is so awestruck that they conveniently forget the fact that he is the most feared, notorious and dangerous criminals in the world, and HE WAS KILLED by Kaladin as far as they know, so why is he even alive? I get that they're in a tight place and they're not going to interfere if Szeth is helping their cause, but everyone seems so unfazed by his appearance - they're mildly surprised, and a bit confused, but then they get over it almost immediately and he's just one of the gang as far as they're concerned. Did anyone else feel like the return of Szeth was really rushed, and that it was weird how easily everyone just accepted him as a good guy?

Haha, that's great. I'm kind of sad that Szeth actually just has normal Caucasian eyes - I sort of liked the idea of him having big baby eyes - I though it was a great element for an assassin character to look innocent and nonthreatening instead of menacing and violent.

I agree with you - there's definitely not one "correct" way to envision the Alethi and the people of Roshar, especially since Brandon himself has a hard time describing them. And I have likewise always pictured the Shin as looking like bald hobbits with big eyes, and also short of stature with sort of olive-yellow complexions - in other words not Caucasian, so it's surprising for me to hear that Brandon considers them the "most Caucasian" race of Roshar. As a sidenote, (this was mentioned earlier), I wonder what actors they would cast if they developed Stormlight into a movie. I'm guessing that the crazy complex worldbuilding and the magic system of Roshar have been the main hindrances with developing Stormlight, but I wonder if the casting problem is also one of the reasons. I hope that they wouldn't just cast all of the Alethi as white, but then what ethnicity would they alternatively choose? I think it would be really cool if they found all Arab actors for the Way of Kings, or all Indian actors - whichever it is, they should try to stay consistent in correlating certain ethnicities with certain races on Roshar.

Yes, I realize they're not Asian as in being from Asia - I'm just trying to correlate their description to ethnicities we're familiar with on Earth. I had assumed at first that the Alethi had an Arab complexion, which is why it surprised me that they also have epicanthic folds since we don't typically associate that with Arab people. I understand that Brandon isn't trying to make a 1:1 correlation between Rosharan and Earth ethnicities, but I think that most fantasy authors do have an ethnicity in mind when they make a race of people (Brandon is of course not "most fantasy authors," but I still feel like he has an idea for what these people look like and I think it'd be interesting to see what ethnicities he sees them as vaguely correlating with on Earth). And yes, India is a part of Asia - I think perhaps East Asian is a better way to express what I'm saying.

And there are also many "lighteyes" in Alethkar, while you obviously wouldn't see people with blue or green eyes very often in India, or any of the other places Brandon mentioned.

There is an Elantrian in Shademsar - he uses the term "Idos Domi" and has a glowing orb of liquid like the Elantrians in Mistborn: Secret History. Hoid also has a strange jar that is black and white - I didn't recognize it from another book, so I'm guessing it might be a reference to a cosmere world we haven't heard about yet. Chapter 67, page 676 hardcover: Perhaps someone else knows if this is a reference to something else from the cosmere - it didn't sound familiar to me. I suppose it could be invested sand from White Sand that has been partially drained, or maybe something from Threnody.

It makes a lot of sense that Brandon pictures Rosharans as Asian-Arab, or Asian-Polynesian, based on how he describes the characters in the books. I hesitated to use the words Asian or Caucasian when I posted this, because I can that the Rosharans don't nicely correspond to any ethnicities on earth, and these comments by Brandon really help to confirm that.

The Shin people of Roshar are always described as having "large eyes, like a baby." I have always taken this to mean that their eyes are unnaturally large - a quality we don't see on Earth, like Herdazian fingernails or the blue skin of Natanatan. However, I have started to think that Brandon actually might intend for Shin people to have typical, round, Caucasian eyes, while everyone else on Roshar has smaller, narrow eyes - like Asian people (I hope that's not racist somehow, it's just something I've honestly wondered while reading the book). There are two moments in OB that made me come up with this idea. First, when Dalinar encounters Odium for the first time, in Chapter 56, on page 547 in the hardcover version. And then later, when Kaladin encounters the Elantrian in Shademsar, in Chapter 97 on page 908. Now, having both Odium and an Elantrian described as "Shin" makes me immediately question that the Shin people have abnormally large eyes - because then I imagine Odium with big, baby eyes, and that really doesn't fit the image for me. I also think it's very unlikely that Rayse/Odium and this random guy from Sel have any sort of common ancestry that would account for them both looking Shin. Instead it makes me wonder if the majority of people in the cosmere have round, Caucasian eyes, except for the people on Roshar, who have smaller, East Asian eyes, so that whenever they see a non-Rosharan they immediately label them as Shin because of their eyes. This theory doesn't totally make sense, because there have been several worldhoppers - Hoid, Vivenna, Vasher - who are not mentioned as having Shin eyes. However, I think it's still definitely something to consider, and it might be a clue about the lineage of the Rosharan people and how their bloodlines changed after they expanded from Shinovar.

I agree - the Tower was my favorite Sanderson scene ever. That whole section is just so vivid and cinematic - it's was extremely well-written, and a perfect climax for the action in that story. Whenever I think about how a cosmere book would look developed as a movie, I immediately think of that scene and how perfect it would be on a big screen. The Way of Kings is just great storytelling - the plot, the characters and the worldbuilding is all so believable and exciting. I separate the Way of Kings in my mind from Words of Radiance and Oathbringer, because the last two seem to be more connected in plot and there's much less wonder and mystery in them, while the Way of Kings is more of an origin story. Two perfect examples of this are Kaladin's slow realization that he's drawing Stormlight and Shallan's creepy experience with drawing Cryptics and then falling into the sea of glass beads - those are just compelling, mysterious, fascinating elements that couldn't be captured in future books because they depend on your unfamiliarity with the world and the magic system.

That's really cool. I was pretty shocked when Vivenna showed up in Oathbringer because I did not think she was important enough as a character to make a splash in the larger cosmere, but it makes sense if Warbreaker has been planned as a sort of prequel to Stormlight.

I also think Navani will bond the Sibling. Having her and Dalinar both serve as Bondsmiths would make for a really strong Surgebinder power couple, and would help them in their task of uniting Roshar. When Dalinar was depressed and inebriated after remembering what he did to his wife, and Navani took over for him in uniting the monarchs, I started to feel like she had a lot of Bondsmith potential. As far as the Nightwatcher (if she is indeed one of the Bondsmith spren), I have thought that maybe Taravangian will bond her. I've noticed it's a popular theory that Taravangian is possibly being influenced by Cultivation, and I wonder if he will eventually become aware of this and start trying to communicate with Cultivation/the Nightwatcher. The Nightwatcher seems like a different creature altogether than other spren or the Stormfather, and it seems likely that her bond with Taravangian would be very unorthodox and different from other Nahel bonds we've seen so far. Perhaps Taravangian's shifts in intelligence are a reflection of a bond with the Nightwatcher, as if she's choosing when he'll be intelligent in order for him to best fulfill Cultivation's purposes. Before I had read Oathbringer I thought that it was possible that Cusicesh from the Way of Kings could be one of the Bondsmith spren, although I think this is unlikely now since it doesn't really fit in with the Stormfather and the Sibling.

I think we can assume that the art of Awakening inanimate objects to the point of sentience has really improved since Warbreaker. Nightblood is definitely a rough creation, and in some ways a total disaster when you take into account he starts killing you when you draw the sword. They've probably just had a lot more more practice since Warbreaker in making animate swords, and have perfected the art of the Awakened-Shardblade. Vivenna definitely has a new sword and I'm not sure if Vasher helped her create it - it would depend on how much time has passed between Warbreaker and Oathbringer, and how skilled Vivenna is in the art of Awakening (because at the end of Warbreaker, there's no way she was skilled enough to Awaken a sword on her own). As a side note, I was kind of surprised by how many Warbreaker tie-ins there were in Oathbringer, especially since Warbreaker has really been a smaller book on the fringes of the Cosmere up to this point. I wonder if the Warbreaker characters will continue to be important in future books, and if there will be any more books set on Nalthis.

This is actually a really fascinating idea - I can totally see this happening. I think people forget sometimes that Jasnah tried to have Aesudan assassinated - she definitely has a dark side to her and would be willing to do things that Dalinar would never do. She almost brought herself to kill Renarin, so by comparison ordering Shallan's death or even killing her personally would probably not even faze her. At the very least, there will likely be some major confrontation and possible falling out between them about the Ghostbloods once Jasnah finds out.

Yeah, I totally agree - I hated Moash in this book. Giving Kaladin the Bridge Four salute was just terrible, I thought it was a deliberate slap in the face. Moash just seems totally dead inside - like he doesn't have any values or goals and he doesn't care what happens to himself or anyone else. I really don't see any way for his character to be redeemed.

Yeah, that's a good point. I can definitely see this plot thread going in a lot of important ways moving forward. I had seen his attempts to subvert cultural norms as a sort of a joint effort with Jasnah and to a lesser extent Navani, though, so I thought they probably could have kept it up without him (although the personal relationship with Kadash would be lost). As a side note, I thought it was amusing that they got ride of one heretic ruler just to replace him with another one (Jasnah). The church is probably pretty exasperated by that.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, especially since the Sibling seems to somehow be the energy source for the giant fabrial that powers Urithiru, and Navani is a fabrial scientist. I wouldn't be surprised if she is the one in the coming books to figure out what the Sibling is, and to awaken it.

I had thought it possible while reading the book that Dalinar would die and Navani would become the new Bondsmith. However I think the dynamic between her and the Stormfather wouldn't nearly be as good as it is with Dalinar.