Llarimar

@ROSHtaFARian2.0, I think you make a very good point that adds to the discussion, which is that hatred from a higher group and reactionary hatred from the oppressed group are not the same thing, and that a distinction needs to be drawn between them. I don't want to make it seem like I'm playing devil's advocate, because I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but there's one argument you express in particular that I take issue with. This does sound logical - if the superior group initiated the hatred, and they did so baselessly, then only they can choose to stop the hatred, because the oppressed group never asked for it in the first place. However, I think it's very important to remember what @Calderis said in response, which is that showing blind reactionary hatred towards all members of the oppressing group is not the same as productively fighting against that hatred, and it does indeed worsen the situation. Just because one group of people begins displaying hatred towards another group, that does not give the oppressed group justification for violently hating them in response. Then you get into a "You started it! No you started it!" circular argument where the original reason for the hatred eventually becomes glossed over, and the only thing that matters is the "us versus them" mentality. And once both groups - the oppressors and the oppressed - begin viewing each other in broad faceless categories, then any chance for reconciliation and mutual respect is lost, because everyone feels justified in their grievances, and they stop seeing the humanity of the other side. You can see this very clearly in the example with Kaladin and the lighteyes. Kaladin hates the lighteyes so intensely that it doesn't really matter why he originally started hating them - yes, he has plenty of reasons for hating lighteyes, but it really comes down to the fact that he hates them ideologically, and he can't see beyond that. The actions of Amaram and numerous other lighteyes have so scarred Kaladin that he has developed an ideological hatred towards the entire caste, and refuses to believe that not all of them are like that. For example, in tWoK, Dalinar is a great champion of honor and dignity for all people, and Kaladin is unable to see this - it takes him a very long time to trust Dalinar and work together with him, because of the fact that he is so blinded by his hatred. Throughout all the Stormlight books we've seen so far, Kaladin really struggles with this. He cannot move past his disdain for lighteyes, even though numerous lighteyes he has met - Dalinar, Adolin, Shallan - are all good people who respect Kaladin, and are doing little or nothing to actively fuel the hatred between the two groups. His hatred is making the situation worse - even though it was "started" by the superior group, Kaladin is contributing a great deal of fuel to the fire to keep the hatred alive. So no, the oppressed group is not powerless. If there are people in the superior group (like Dalinar) who are trying to heal the wounds of hatred, they can only do so if people in the oppressed group (like Kaladin) are likewise willing to let go of their reactionary hatred as well. Respect and compassion are required from people in both groups for any real progress to be made. This can be seen in people like Kaladin's parents, who taught him to respect all people and even wanted him to marry a lighteyes girl - it was only Kaladin's experiences later in life, not his childhood upbringing, which soured him on lighteyes. Kaladin's parents do not show hatred towards lighteyes, and are able to see the good in them, and Dalinar does not show hatred towards darkeyes, and is able to see the good in them as well, and it is this mutual compassion from both groups that is required for the systemic hatred to heal.

Thanks for clarifying, you're totally fine! I should try to read Warbreaker in Spanish, or one of Sanderson's other books. I've studied Spanish for six semesters at school and so I probably would be able to understand a lot of the material, especially since it's not super heavy literature.

Oh yes, I had forgotten him. Thanks for clarifying!

First of all, this was a good quiz, I enjoyed taking it. Here are my results: 47% Bondsmith 47% Elsecaller 39% Stoneward 35% Lightweaver 29% Edgedancer 22% Skybreaker 17% Dustbringer 16% Windrunner 11% Truthwatcher 0% Willshaper I'm surprised by Bondsmith and Elsecaller at the top, I had guessed I would be a Lightweaver. @Dunny, just a question, does your profile name happen to be from A Wizard of Earthsea?

Sometimes I end up adding the names of fantasy characters to my custom dictionary, just because it annoys me that they are red-underlined. Weirdly enough, most character names from Game of Thrones (even minor characters) are not auto-corrected in Word, even though it does autocorrect Lord of the Rings characters and characters from other prominent fantasy series. That's got to be one of the greatest evidences to the prominence of a fantasy series - if the fictional names of the characters are added to the automatic dictionary. Hopefully Stormlight gets there someday.

Just a thought, perhaps we will see more of Azure as well, since she was heading to the Horneater Peaks to try and get into the Physical Realm through Cultivation's Perpendicularity. Although the next book will take place a year after Oathbringer... so whether or not she made it through the Perpendicularity will probably already have been resolved. Either way, I'd definitely like to see more of Rock, and of the Horneater Peaks in the next book. I think that they're very important to the worldbuilding of Roshar and the way that the three Realms interact on the planet.

I have always imagined that the destruction of was Ashyn was unintentional - the result of the KR becoming too powerful and overconfident, and stretching their powers to dangerous levels. But I don't think that the destruction of Ashyn was ever their intention or the intention of any Shard. I have a hard time believing that Odium actually wants to destroy worlds - that seems much more like the goal of a Shard like Ruin. I think that Odium wants to gain power and kill the other Shards, but I don't see how the intentional destruction of Ashyn or Roshar would serve him. On these two examples (the Shattered Plains and the parshmen), I have always imagined the Shattered Plains to be an unintentional action, while the enslavement of the parshmen was intentional. With regards to the parshmen, it makes sense that the KR would want to lobotomize the entire race of people which could host the reincarnated Voidbringers, and if the enslavement of the parshmen was intentional, it would also make the grievance against the parshmen much more serious, thereby increasing the moral conflict in the books. I view the Shattered Plains, however, as an unintentional action, and in many ways a smaller-scale version of the destruction of Ashyn. Some people have suggested that the Shattered Plains were created by an extreme version of the surge of Lightweaving, used to create powerful vibrations in a symmetrical pattern, like the cymatics Kasbal shows Shallan in WoK. I imagine the destruction of Ashyn happening for the same reason - violent, powerful vibrations, caused possibly by Lightweaving, which tore the planet to pieces. In both of these examples - the destruction of Ashyn and the Shattering of the Plains, I see the actions of the KR as probably unintentional since there doesn't seem to be any logical reason for why they would have done it. I also don't think that the Surgebinders who destroyed Ashyn were loyal to Odium or controlled by Odium, because I don't see any reason why Odium would have wanted Ashyn to be destroyed. If the Shattered Plains and the destruction of Ashyn were unintentional actions, that definitely may have been a factor in enacting the Recreance. If Surgebinding cannot be controlled and results in such large-scale unplanned disasters, it makes sense that that the KR would have wanted to bury their powers.

I've not heard of that before. Maybe Warbreaker is split into multiple parts in other languages. But Nightblood is present throughout the entire novel so I would assume that he appears in every part if there are multiple parts.

There is not a "4th Warbreaker story" - there is only one Warbreaker book and it is not very long. The sword that Szeth gets in WoR is a big part of Warbreaker, and as you say... As well as the sword, there are also a few characters from Warbreaker that appear in OB. As other people have said, I would suggest reading Warbreaker first, just because it will make those "easter eggs" much more exciting. However, you definitely don't have to read Warbreaker first - you will still be able to understand OB perfectly well without reading it.

The lack of spiders in Roshar is a missed opportunity, I think, now that you point it out. They seem like they would be naturally suited to the harsh environment (as long as the spun their webs on the leeward side of houses and plants), and some of them have carapace body parts as @I am Witless pointed out. Insects in general is an area in which most fantasy authors fall short, I think. For being the most numerous lifeform IRL, you hardly see any insects in fantasy worlds, and when you do they are usually flies or beetles or something - insects we are used to, instead really fantastic unheard-of species. Brandon focused on with crustaceans in Stormlight, and birds in Sixth of the Dusk, but we haven't seen a lot of insect species in his books. The cremlings in Stormlight are sort of insects, but they are just "cremlings" - not a lot of variety there (even though there is a lot of variety within the cremling species). I just thought - a good example of gigantic, fantastic insect creatures in a fantasy world is the Studio Ghilbi movie Nausicaa if anyone has seen it. The whole world in Nausicaa is overrun by enormous insects and a toxic jungle. And of course as far as spiders go, there is always Shelob from The Lord of the Rings.

That is a good point about Dalinar. He assumed that his curse was forgetting his wife, but I don't think that he ever says what he assumed his gift was. Losing his memories could be seen as a gift and a curse, because his memories caused him so much pain, but Dalinar couldn't have known that because the pain was erased when the memories were. As far as Lift, I don't know exactly how old she was when she visited the Nightwatcher. Here are two conflicting WoBs... So... maybe Brandon is just speaking generally in the first WoB - perhaps Lift isn't actually thirteen, but she is around that age. The second WoB also seems to say that Lift stopped aging when she was ten, which is a surprise to me because I was under the impression that she kept on aging normally after visiting the Nightwatcher. My guess is that Brandon is answering vaguely here - the number 10 is significant to Roshar in general, but I don't think that 10 years old was when Lift stopped aging, because she has inteed continued to age - I believe she makes this observation herself in Edgedancer. I personally don't think Cultivation was involved with Lift's boon/curse, even though some people do. I think that some people overstate Cultivation's possible influence and her level of manipulation - they speculate that she was involved in the boon/curses of all the main characters who have visited the Old Magic - Dalinar, Taravangian, and Lift. However I am inclined to think that at least in the case of Lift, she was not involved, mainly because Cultivation says herself to Dalinar that she rarely intervenes with the Nightwatcher's boon/curses. There is also a WoB where Brandon basically says that Lift's boon/curse was a "strange answer," given by the Nightwatcher, in response to a "strange question" - not the result of intentional manipulation by Cultivation, but just another boon/curse from the Nightwatcher. As far as what Lift's curse actually is, I have two theories. Her curse could be that she can only derive Stormlight from food, and cannot draw it from spheres like other Knights Radiant. If that is correct, then her boon/curse would be seen as two sides of the same coin, just like Taravangian and Dalinar. My other theory is that her curse makes her unwillingly enters the dreams and the nightmares of other people when she sleeps, making sleeping unpleasant for her. I proposed that theory earlier on THIS thread - some people didn't agree with the idea, but I still think it's a possibility that Lift's curse has something to do with dreams.

I am inclined to think this as well, although I have been confused as to what extent different beads can represent parts of the same thing. When Shallan and company are sent to Shadesmar, and she is trying to find a bead that they can solidify and stand on to escape the platform, she grabs one bead that represents the entire palace of Kholinar. So... is there one bead that represents the palace, and another bead that represents each room within that palace, and more beads to represents the turrets and the flagpoles and the doorknobs and everything else inside the palace? My guess would be yes, because people view the objects within the palace individually (so they would each have their own sphere), even though they also view the objects as part of a larger whole. But then the question is raised... how large of an object can a bead represent? If there is a bead for the palace, could there be a bead for the entire city of Kholinar? It makes sense that there would be, since people view both the palace and the city as single objects (albeit with smaller objects inside of them). And if there is a bead for the capital city, could there also be a bead for the entire country of Alethkar? My guess is no, because I think that if people view something as an object, then it has a bead in Shadesmar, but people don't view Alethkar as an object, but rather as an expansive region and location. Yes, the palace is also a location, you could say, but it is much closer to being an "object" than the entire country of Alethkar is - although the separation of "object" versus "location" does become fuzzy, think, when you include objects as large as the palace.

There are a few earlier threads that have discussed this topic - here and here. The second one of these actually brings up the possibility of the story being from Elantris.

If I ever write a fantasy series (which is a goal of mine), I will finish writing and editing the entire thing before I begin sending it to publishers. Not only will it give the publisher confidence that the author knows what direction he's going in, but it's good for the fans because they know that every 12 months or so another installment will be regularly released. Wasn't The Doors of Stone supposed to be released this year? Sigh... I don't like Rothfuss as much as I like Sanderson, but I do plan to read Book 3 of Kingkiller - the longer he takes to finish it though, the more my patience will wane.

This is a really interesting idea. I like that it delves deeper into the character of Aesudan, because I feel like she hasn't been fully explored in the books and I have wondered why Brandon kept her offscreen so much and underutilized her before killing her off. It would makes sense if he were trying to shroud her in mystery. Several people have noted the implications for Aesudan if she has darkeyed parentage. But... what would it mean for Kaladin if he were to learn that he is related to the Alethi royalty? He is becoming more open-minded about lighteyes, but his disdain for them in general is one of his most distinctive personality traits, and he especially hates the supremacy of lighteyes. It may be difficult for him psychologically to realize that he is related to Aesudan and Gavinor. Or it could alternatively help to further heal his distrust of lighteyes, and bring him closer to the ruling Kholin family - which would bring him closer to Adolin, and possibly... Shallan, on a side note? Not that I want them to end up together necessarily, but that's one of the first things I thought of when I read this thread. If Kaladin were considered "part of the family," it might mean that he would become closer to Shallan, as her marriage with Adolin (inevitably) struggles.

Ah! You're right, @EddyJ (in your post below) - I was confusing the two of them. It's been awhile since I read the book and their names are similar! I think I'll just remove my original post since it's not really relevant to the discussion. My bad!

This is my thought too - that the honorspren are just peeking at the Physical Realm. But as Lightspine says... Quite a large portion of Oathbringer took place in Shadesmar, and yet there is still a lot that we don't know about the connections between the two Realms. No spren in Shadesmar are shown peeking into the Physical Realm, like the honorspren seem to be doing on the Shattered Plains. For higher spren, can they glimpse at the Physical Realm intentionally, or can they only inadvertently be drawn into the Physical Realm because they are attracted to certain characteristics, like lower spren? Did the "honor" of the Bridgemen (and Syl's link to Kaladin) draw them into the Physical Realm, in the same way that Syl was drawn to Kaladin by his honorable behavior, or did the spren intentionally visit the Physical Realm to observe the Bridgemen of their own volition? Of course, we saw Shadesmar through the eyes of humans, and so perhaps the spren have the ability to see through the Realms when the humans wouldn't have noticed it - but you'd think it would still be something that Syl or Pattern would at least have mentioned. EDIT: Or maybe not, of course... spren don't seem to offer information unless specifically asked.

This is what I was going to say - perhaps at some level, Wyndle is choosing to let Lift touch him. He shapes himself to adapt to her touch, such as when she scales the wall in WoR. Perhaps it needs to be a reciprocal action between the two of them working together - she can only touch Wyndle intentionally. If Lift could unintentionally touch any spren as if they were a solid object, I feel like she would be bumping into them constantly whenever it starts to rain, for example (rainspren), or whenever a breeze blows (windspren), or if she happens to walks into a cloud of the Thrill. EDIT: Or perhaps, as Zellyia says, this is just something special between Lift and Wyndle, and the circumstances would be different if she tried to touch another spren. I don't think we've really seen Lift touch any spren aside from Wyndle.

This is a bit long, sorry... There were a lot of people who were disappointed by TLJ (just judging by online fan reception, and conversations I've had with friends of mine), and I think that most of them disliked the movie for the reasons that @Patrick Star listed - the characterization of Luke was a big letdown and there were numerous plot holes and storyline issues. While these things did bother me however, I disliked TLJ for a different reason. I think that Star Wars means different things to different people - for some people, they love the characters and the stories in Star Wars, which is why they were disappointed that Luke Skywalker was whiny and disgruntled in TLJ and that the plot had numerous holes. However, the reason why I love Star Wars is because of the distinctive imagery and the worldbuilding of the Star Wars universe. For this reason, I have never hated the prequel movies as much as some people do, because the prequel movies are filled with fascinating cultures and planets and very distinctive imagery, from Coruscant to Naboo to Geonosis. Entire Star Wars videogames have been made based on 10-second clips from the prequel movies, because every location in the movies is so visually unique and memorable. The prequel movies are also very different from the originals - there are no "recycled" planets or locations. The sequel trilogy, by contrast (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) has been completely the opposite in my opinion. Every planet, culture and location has been a knock-off of the original trilogy. Starkiller Base is the Death Star, Moz Kanata's hideout is the Cantina Band, Jakku is a worse version of Tatooine, the salt-flats planet at the end of TLJ is basically just Hoth and the costumes and weaponry of the First Order are exactly the same as the Empire. There is almost nothing unique or different about the sequels, whereas everything about the prequel trilogy is different and unique from the originals. At the time of the prequels being released, I think the fact that they were so different may have been off-putting for fans of the originals, but now, fans of Star Wars just view the prequels as part of the universe. I feel like the entire sequel trilogy has been an apology for the prequels, as if Disney is saying "Sorry George Lucas screwed up so much, here are the follow-up movies you actually wanted," but in doing so they have made the sequels a literal knock-off of the originals, thereby removing everything that I personally love about Star Wars, which is the uniqueness and the distinctive imagery of each movie. Both the original movies and the prequels have very unique planets and distinctive worldbuilding, and they contribute a great deal to the Star Wars universe. The sequel movies on the other hand contribute almost nothing to the Star Wars universe in terms of worldbuilding and the larger universe. So there are many reasons why I dislike TLJ, but that is the main one - I see them as much less heartfelt and "real" than the George Lucas movies, because all of the planets, cultures and imagery are much less memorable and less imaginative. Basically, they seem less like creative, exciting science fiction movies that you can love and cherish forever, and more like big-budget money-producing Disney movies that you forget shortly after leaving the theater. Oh, and also, I hated the whole casino sequence with Finn and Rose.

I think it's an interesting idea that Jasnah may have visited the Nightwatcher, but I'm hesitant to believe it just because of the fact that so many characters already have visited the Nightwatcher. Dalinar, Lift and Taravangian have all gone to the Nightwatcher (which... I guess is only three characters but it seems like a lot because the Nightwatcher is so remote and I don't think a ton of people visit her). I may be forgetting a character who visited the Nightwatcher - perhaps Nale did in order to get his hands on Nightblood? If I remember correctly, the Nightwatcher vaguely mentions Nightblood to Dalinar when he goes to visit her, which at the time led me to believe that she had Nightblood in her possession, and that Nale must have taken it from her.

I was going to mention this if no one else did - the Shardblades glistening with condensation definitely has something to do with it. I can believe that Stormlight is connected to coldness or water - come to think of it I have actually had that thought before on my own (before I was reminded of it on this thread). I know I'm basically just restating what Szmit said, but it would make sense if temperature was important to using Stormlight, because there is a missing piece in the magic system equation, I believe. Other people have posted about this more eloquently in the past, but there needs to be a source of power and also a... reactant? Something that is used up in the process. For example in Warbreaker, the Breath is the source of the power, and color is what is use to activate that power. In Stormlight, we know the source of the power (stormlight), but I don't think there is something we have learned about that activates the power (like color in Warbreaker). It would make sense if this missing part of the equation was heat. Drawing in heat activates the stormlight, and because the heat is used up, frost and condensation appears (because coldness is left behind).

Haha I totally agree! I was greatly disappointed by The Last Jedi as well, and comparing that movie with my initial disappointment for Oathbringer, it's reminded me that I've been kind of spoiled by the quality of Brandon's books! I've come to expect a higher standard from Sanderson - OB was mediocre for a Sanderson book (in my opinion), but incredible by any other standard.

Yes, I would like to see this. I really think more screen time for Rock would be cool. And I would love to see this as well. I want the Shallan-Adolin marriage to fail, not necessarily because I want Shallan and Kaladin to get together, but because I think it would be very good for their respective character arcs if the marriage didn't work. I can see a lot of interesting plot threads moving forward for Shallan and Adolin if their marriage fails, but it would just be... kind of boring if it worked out and they stayed together. I personally want Shallan to crash and burn and have an emotional meltdown (I think it would be appropriate for the character development we've seen for her so far and would be unique for a Sanderson character), and the marriage failing would be the first step of that. As for whatever else I would add in Book 4 if I were Brandon Sanderson... I would like Ialai Sadeas to become a more important character following the murder of her husband and the death of Amaram. I want her to become vengeful and politically powerful after it is revealed that Adolin killed Sadeas. There needs to be consequences and repercussions from the Sadeas murder (that was one of my biggest letdowns about Oathbringer - the murder was barely brought up, and it was one of the most shocking parts about WoR).

This sounds like interesting and important work - I don't know a ton about medicine but I think it's admirable when people go into it as a career. When you say "oral products" do you mean like pills that you would swallow with water, or tablets that you chew, or something else? I have a sister who takes supplements, and she always hates taking pills with water because she thinks she'll choke - she much prefers the chewable kinds. Like you mentioned above, I am studying linguistics. I want to eventually specialize in Arabic and Semitic languages, although I am very interested in phonology as well (the sound systems within a language). So, I don't know... maybe I could study the phonology of Semitic languages? I'm still figuring it out, but I have a lot of interests within the field of linguistics. Just for fun, here's my profile name written in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). [lɑɹ̠əmɑɹ̠ liŋgwɪstspɹ̠ɛn] (Llarimar, linguistspren) Edit: Or maybe the double-L at the beginning of "Llarimar" is meant to be pronounced... in which case it would be [ləlɑɹ̠əmɑɹ̠].