Arran

I can certainly envision Roshone spitefully intercepting any correspondence between Kaladin and his parents. And yes, I hope we'll see them again at some point. I'd love to see how they'd react to Syl and the news that Kaladin is now a Knight Radiant.

As for Amaram... I keep wondering what he would have done had Kaladin claimed the Shards for himself. I could certainly be wrong about this, but I always had the feeling that it was only after Kaladin refused the Shards and stated his intent to give them to the best of his remaining men that Amaram decided to steal them for himself, rationalizing his crime with something along the lines of "if the Shards' rightful winner won't claim them for himself, why should they go to a lesser fighter than me, who also has other Very Serious and Important Threats to deal with?"

Hardcover for me. I very much enjoyed the cover art, maps, and drawings in Way of Kings, and felt that they - along with the fantastic story - were more than worth the price of a hardcover. Sanderson is one of the very last authors whose books I still buy in physical format, however. The great majority of my new books are now digital versions that I read on my Kindle. Lots of books do take up a lot of space, whereas my Kindle is so small and neat.

Ookla the Tardy:

Good point. I do not think Kaladin, the master spearman, should discard his spear, learn the sword and all that, when he is already about as dangerous as a shardbearer and can train more. I see no advantage in him being given shards, especially when Sylphrena opposes them.

It's Shardblades that Syl seems to hate; we don't know her feelings about Shardplate. Also, while Kaladin is indeed very dangerous without Shards, one nick from a Shardblade and he loses a limb. For that reason, I hope he'll get a suit of Shardplate, if not a Shardblade.

1) The setting is very different from the fantasy version of medieval Europe, with other token real-world cultures sprinkled in, that we usually see. Roshar is its own setting, with its own geography, architecture, culture, weather, flora and fauna. Some fantasy authors can still make good use of the typical medieval setting, true, but since I've read a lot of fantasy novels, by now it most often feels that they're merely rearranging well-worn, all-too-familiar bricks to build a slightly different building from other fantasy authors'. Sanderson, by contrast, took the time to create entirely new bricks, and with them built a setting as different from the fantasy norm as Kaladin's highstorm-resistant childhood home is from the typical medieval farmhouse.

2) The main characters of the Stormlight Archive have already started encountering each other and interacting by the end of WoK, and it certainly looks like most, perhaps even all of them, will be gathered together not all that far into Words of Radiance. Contrast this with George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, where there is IMO too little interaction between the main characters, and what little interaction there is is rarely positive/helpful/beneficent for the characters in question. Heck, by the end of book 5 of what is still planned to be a 7-book series, Daenerys Targaryen has yet to directly interact with a single one of the original POV characters from book 1.

3) What most impressed me about The Way of Kings was the plotting. Over the years I've come to the realization that for me, a work of fiction has to have at least one major "gradual buildup -> exciting climas -> satisfying resolution" plot sequence for me to be truly happy when I finish reading the last page. The Way of Kings delivered that in spades. Once I reached the beginning of Sadeas's betrayal of Dalinar and his army, I simply couldn't stop reading. I read for three straight yours to find out how it was going to be resolved. It was the first time in practically half a decade that a novel had so captivated me. ASOIAF, on the other hand, has IMO failed to deliver a single full buildup -> climax -> resolution sequence in the last two novels, which has greatly contributed to making me become apathetic about a series I once regarded as the pinnacle of modern fantasy.

4) And the icing on the cake of fantasy goodness that is Stormlight Archive is Sanderson's amazing writing speed. Yes, by the time Words of Radiance is published it will have been more than three years since Way of Kings' publication, but that's only because Sanderson was mainly occupied with finishing the Wheel of Time series during that period. After Words, I expect we'll see new Stormlight Archive novels at a considerably faster pace. That's something that, as someone who became quite exasperated by the long delays in other fantasy series **coughASOIAFcough**, I very much look forward to.

I would also like to see Kaladin remain with the spear, or at least a polearm-type weapon, throughout the series. In most fantasy series, the "male warrior hero"-type main character traditionally wields a sword of some sort, so when I first read TWoK, I found it quite refreshing to see one with a very different weapon instead. Besides, we've already got an expert swordsman with Adolin.

And yes, a Shardglaive would be awesome.

FeatherWriter:

Actually, it's Gloom who's arguing that Kaladin might want to give that hypothetical Shardblade to Dalinar; I'm in favor of Moash, with Kaladin trusting Dalinar at least enough to expect him not to want/try to appropriate that Shardblade through nefarious means as Amaram did. IMO that's a lesser level of trust toward Dalinar than outright giving him the Shardblade.

You guys are probably thinking longer-game than I am. For a while I think Kaladin's going to be pretty mistrustful of Dalinar just on the fact that he's a lighteyes. There's a lot of character growth that needs to happen here, and I think it'll be a large part of Kaladin's character arc. Giving the blade to Moash? I think that's feasible—though again that's exactly what he tried to do before and it turned out horribly—but giving it to Dalinar? That's not something I'd expect Kaladin to be able to do for a long time. That's a major step of trust, and Kaladin's pretty damaged when it comes to lighteyes still.

I think Kaladin will continue to be mistrustful of the majority of lighteyes for a while, but why would he continue to mistrust Dalinar? Dalinar gave up his Shardblade to buy the freedom of Kaladin and the bridgemen. Amaram deliberately killed darkeyed soldiers to appropriate the Shards, while Dalinar deliberately sacrificed his Shardblade to save darkeyes. This is the exact opposite of what Kaladin had seen and understandably come to expect from lighteyes, and IMO proved from Kaladin's perspective that Dalinar's reputation for honor was well-founded.

Also, Dalinar has lived up to his reputation in other ways - sending the healers to take care of Kaladin's men ahead even of his own, assigning them well-kept barracks, being forthright about what he wanted from Kaladin and his bridgemen, and what they'd face if they accepted his offer to become his personal guard. Just this last proves that Dalinar has a lot of confidence in Kaladin - you don't entrust the safety of your family to people you don't trust.

It almost certainly worked the other way around. There was a WoB around here somewhere that explain how Kaladin's refusal to pick up the Blade played a big part in Syl's... affinity for him.

I'll take your word for it that the bond between Kaladin and Syl grew after he refused the Shardblade. But IMO that doesn't automatically mean that Syl didn't unknowingly influence his decision toward honor at that moment. She's deliberately done that a few times when sentient - begging him to live, to keep trying to help the men of Bridge Four, wanting him to save Dalinar's army - so her apparently vigorous hatred of Shardblades, even if Syl herself wasn't self-aware at the time, could IMO still have subconsciously affected Kaladin's thoughts/emotions when he refused the Shards.

However, let's say Kaladin kills a Shardbearer in an act of protecting Dalinar or someone else - whether this Shardbearer is Szeth or not - and he's presented with the same choice that he faced so long ago. There's lots of reasons why he shouldn't take it, but could he really listen to them? After how horribly giving up the Blade he'd won went last time? I don't think he's going to be able to trust any of the lighteyes enough to give it to one of them (though Kalarin shippers might argue that there are other possibilities), and trying to give it to one of his teammates is what he tried last time. With Amaram coming to the Shattered Plains, I highly doubt Kaladin's going to be willing to forget that whole experience. Faced with the pressures of his history, I can see a major pressure that Kaladin would take this Blade, if only to avoid repeating the past.

I think that should Kaladin win another Shardblade, he'd be comfortable giving it away for two reasons. 1) Moash has stated that he came to the Shattered Plains to win a Shardblade of his own, so Kaladin already knows that at least one of his men is interested in acquiring a Shardblade. Also, when he decided to give the Shards he'd won to his men, Kaladin wanted to give them to the best fighter among his remaining soldiers. With his new crew, the best fighter after Kaladin seems to be Moash. 2) Dalinar has already shown himself to be honorable, to the point of giving up his own Shardblade for Kaladin and the other bridgemen. I really don't think Kaladin will fear Dalinar "pulling an Amaram" on him should he decide to give up a second Shardblade he'd won.

Also, there was a particular situation when Amaram stole the Shards, namely that there were few inconvenient witnesses who saw Kaladin kill the Shardbearer for Amaram and his lackeys to get rid of. If Kaladin wins a Shardblade during a pitched battle against the Parshendi and decides to gift it to Moash or whoever else afterward, chances are that there'll be dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of witnesses to the event - far too many for a greedy lighteyes to falsely claim that he killed the Shardbearer and that the Shards are thus rightfully his.

I think I'll stand behind the general idea that the Blades changed when the Radiants abandoned them. Do we know whether the Blades severed people souls while they were still being wielded by the Knights? I am not sure if this isn't an entirely theoretical question, because of the Radiants were as good as ancient (and now corrupted) lore leads us to believe, then they probably didn't walk around killing people. But I have to wonder if the Blades aren't natively of Odium and it is the Ideals (or the Nahel bond, but the Ideals sound much more likely) that negate that effect. 

IIRC, Szeth reflected that Shardblades had been created to fight nightmarish creatures - i.e. Odium's creations such as the Thunderclast to fight against humankind during the Desolations. I rather doubt that Odium would create weapons designed specifically to fight his minions.

However, I do like the idea that the Shardblades' nature changed after the Recreance. Certainly the way they're used now - to slaughter vast numbers of beings who most often have little means of defending themselves such a potent weapon, and often in concert with the bloodlust of the Thrill - is more in line with what Odium represents than with what Honor represents. That would explain why Syl said that she hated Dalinar's Shardblade.

I wonder if Syl's hatred of Shardblades, even though she was not sentient at the time, somehow affected Kaladin when he refused to pick up the Shardblade he'd won after defeating that unknown Shardbearer back when he was in Amaram's army?

deddinty:

Well I hope you don't pick Szeth to try your luck against.

Don't worry. There's got to be some isolated Shardbearers who have only a Shardblade in Jah Keved, instead of all Shardbearers being near each other and surrounded by armies as with the Alethi...

I'd personally prefer a blade myself.  I'd rather have a hidden weapon than a visible defense.

Well, if my scenario works as intended, I'd end up with both.

This is exactly what I was getting at - in a fight, having Plate is a bigger advantage than having a Blade. The advantage of the Blade is that you always have it on you and it can't be stolen, and is easy to hide, whereas Plate has to be cared for, costs gems/money to fuel and repair, and must be elaborately put on and taken off.

I wonder just how effective a Shardblade is without the added strength of Shardplate. All 'regular' Shardblades that we've seen are essentially greatswords, one might even say oversized greatswords. So they've got to be slow and heavy, even if they can cut through anything (thus negating the potential problem of fighting in tight spaces). Yes, the wielder will have the advantage of surprise if he attacks suddenly and/or his opponent doesn't know that he has a Shardblade, but if the Shardbearer misses, his intended victim can run. True, the Shardblade's wielder can let it dissipate, run after his enemy, and then summon it back... but if that enemy unexpectedly turns back and attacks while the Shardblade is still some heartbeats away, the Shardbearer is, for a few crucial instants, just a normal man.

You're right that Plate is expensive to maintain in peak condition and requires time to be put on, but if you have a suit of Shardplate, finding a rich patron shouldn't be too difficult. Dalinar and Elhokar would almost certainly gladly accept the services of a Plate-only Shardbearer, and aren't likely to try to have that Shardbearer slain to get his Plate for themselves.

Darnam:

Interesting but... what is his duty? Kill Dalinar. Unless I'm mistaken, Taravigan (prolly spelt that wrong, too tired to look it up) didn't qualify that. He didn't say "kill Dalinar if you can" or "try to kill Dalinar and give up and come back if you'll clearly fail". I think in this case, unless King T gave him some order we haven't seen, his death wish and his duty are in alignment.

Losing a battle doesn't necessarily mean losing the whole war. If Szeth is forced to retreat once by Kaladin and co., he doesn't have to stop trying to kill Dalinar or go back to Taravangian. He only needs go far enough away to escape pursuit, heal his wounds, come up with a new strategy and new tactics that take into account Kaladin and whoever else stopped him, and try again.

darkanimereal1:

Honestly, I could believe that Sanderson would kill of Dalinar in book two. It seems waaaay to early for me, but Brandon has repeatedly said that just because a certain character's book comes later doesn't mean they won't die before then. And then the example he gives is that, even though Dalinar's book is book 4, there's no guarantee he'll live that long.

I hope that this is a red herring on Brandon's part. I would have little interest in reading the flashback chapters of a character who has already died. I would have no problem doing that if the book was a prequel wholly set in the past or if the character was seen through the POV of someone still alive, mind you, but I believe the flashback chapters of a character who's already died in a 'current-day' novel just wouldn't enjoyable for me.

Kaladin's flashback chapters were great because they showed us what ultimately led to him speaking the Words of the Second Ideal and starting to become a Knight Radiant. The past eventually led to and showed us why the character made a tremendously important decision in the current day, a decision that then had a huge and immediate impact in current-day events. To see the past of a character showing us why that character made a very important decision in the past (since the character would be dead at that point) just wouldn't have as much dramatic impact and corresponding excitement for me.

I'd take Shardplate. Then I'd go looking for some other Shardbearer that has only a Shardblade, and take it for my own once I've killed him. We know Shardplate can survive at least one full-on blow from a Shardblade on just about any individual piece. So even if my opponent wears the best normal full plate armor money can buy, that won't be of much use when I grasp his Shardblade with my gauntlet as he tries to slash at me, step in, and punch him in the breasplate or helmet with my other gauntlet. Given the power of Shardplate-enhanced physical blows, I'll probably crush his chest through his armor, or make his head all but explode in his helm. And then voilà, I'm a full Shardbearer.

Thanks for your answers. Looks like I'm probably not too much off the mark. I guess we'll find out more about the Parshendi Shardbearers in Words of Radiance.

I'm not so sure as OP that Kaladin will win, but I'm confident that Szeth won't win, if only because if he won that would mean the likely deaths of Kaladin and Dalinar - and I can't see that happening in just the second book of the series. My guess is that Kaladin will barely manage to hold off Szeth - and later try to replicate what Szeth does during the fight - until others, Adolin, Jasnah and/or Shallan, come along and force Szeth to retreat. Also, I think Szeth will have  an unpleasant surprise when Kaladin, whose Stormlight-absorbing and Stormlight-holding capacities are already quite high, drains a lot of Szeth's "magical fuel" early in the fight to power himself up, thus hastening Szeth's defeat. Some might think that Szeth won't retreat because he has a death wish, but I think his desire to perform his duty will outweigh his desire for death.

I've been wondering about this a while. I believe it was mentioned somewhere in TWoK (can't remember where) that "the Parshendi had Shardbearers – not many, but some," or words to that effect. What kind of number would that represent to an Alethi whose kingdom has twenty Shardbearers? And there's now at least two fewer Parshendi Shardbearers then there were at the beginning of the war, given that we know Dalinar killed two.

Of course, it could be that, for whatever reason, the Parshendi have revealed to the Alethi only part of the number of Shardbearers among their ranks. Also, the Parshendi apparently send only "full" Shardbearers (meaning warriors bearing both Shardplate and Shardblade) into battle, given that we know Sadeas had battled Parshendi Shardbearers several times and always had to retreat because he lacked a Shardblade. This could a sign that there's a common agreement among the Parshendi that warriors worthy of being Shardbearers should receive both kinds of Shards, which is IMO possible given their cooperative way of fighting and willingness to sacrifice themselves, or that Shardbearers bearing only Plate or Blade are kept from battle.

But for the purpose of this thread, I'd like to focus what we know for a certainty given the number of Parshendi Shardbearers, and speculate from that point. My own completely subjective estimate is that the Alethi might have encountered 6-8 Parshendi Shardbearers since the start of the war, of which there are 3-6 left after the losses they've taken at the hands of Dalinar and the rest of the Alethi. What's your estimates?

I'm late to the party, but even so I'd like to suggest another possibility for Shallan to draw Kaladin and Syl: when he's training with a spear. From that scene in the chasm, he's really a sight to behold when he's training with his favorite weapon, and Syl likes being near him when he's doing that. So if Kaladin trains with his men in the midst of Dalinar's camp, by the time Shallan arrives there could already be word circulating about his amazing skill with a spear, perhaps to the point of drawing a crowd when he trains. This, coupled with Kaladin's unusual position in Dalinar's army and the tales of what he did at the Tower, could cause Shallan to mingle with the observers to draw him when he's training, and unknowingly draw Syl as well.

Thanks for the reassurance, PM.  Between Sanderson's other commitments and the AMA thread already being several pages down at Reddit, I was afraid I'd never get my answers.

Does anyone know if Sanderson intends to answer the questions he hasn't gotten to yet at the AMA? He hasn't answered mine, and I'm starting to fear I and all the others he also hasn't answered yet are out of luck. My understanding of those AMAs was that if the author couldn't answer all questions asked during the day the AMA is held, he'd try to come back and answer them at a later time. Am I mistaken?

K, just upvoted you guys.  I'm Phantine on reddit.

Thanks, I've returned the favor.

Sure. Have an upvote. I'm Kurkistan there too.

Thanks! I upvoted you as well.

Very interesting theory, Mr Atmos. I agree that some orders of Radiants likely weren't front-line soldiers meant to directly engage the Voidbringers and other foes of the Radiants. However, given the importance and value of Radiants, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that all orders insisted that their full-fledged members bear both Shardplate and Shardblade, if only as a means of defense should Voidbringers break through the front lines. Also, Shardplates seem to be as scarce as Shardblades in modern-day Roshar, leading me to believe that the initial number of Shardplates right after the Recreance was about equal to that of Shardblades.

Somehow it looks too... aggressive for Kaladin, especially with that lightning bolt overhead. And he looks older than I'd imagined him, too. I think this picture would be better suited for an antagonist instead of a protagonist.

Would it be too self-indulgent to automatically upvote other 17th sharder questions?

I'd be happy to upvote any other members of this forum whose questions haven't been answered yet in return for the same courtesy. It's frustrating to see my questions buried very deeply because I couldn't get them posted within 1-2 hours of the AMA's opening, especially since I'd spent several hours during the morning frequently and futilely checking to see if the AMA had finally started. I'm Arran03 at reddit - if you'd like me to upvote you, just post your reddit name.

Hmm, I think I'll use this opportunity after all. It's just too good to pass up... Here are the questions I'd like to ask him - perhaps this board's elders can tell me if some have already been answered.

1) How many Parshendi Shardbearers do the Alethi estimate there are?

2) With his army in the Shattered Plains severely depleted, couldn't Dalinar bring in reinforcements from his "home" army back in Alethkar? We know from Kaladin's flashbacks that Sadeas has a home army of about six thousand men, so it stands to reason that Dalinar also has one of similar size.

3) What are the population figures for Alethkar and Jah Keved?

4) How often will Kaladin appear in Words of Radiance and going forward in the series? I ask because he's by far my favorite character, and if he has as few chapters in WoR and subsequent novels as Shallan did in Way of Kings, I fear I'll be disappointed.