Arran

There must have been some guards who observed Szeth's abilities and survived during his assassination of Gavilar, and the Alethi must have done extensive examinations and analyses of all scenes later on to determine exactly what Szeth did - think CSI Alethkar. Also, considering the havoc Szeth has wrought around the world as he killed important leaders, all news/rumors concerning his powers must spread quickly and widely via spanreed. The king of Jah Keved, at least, was expecting Szeth to come for him and had prepared as best as he could.

As long as Szeth can use his Shardblade, then IMO he's definitely got the advantage in a duel between him and Kaladin. One nick from that, and Kaladin permanently loses the injured limb. If Kaladin could somehow force the Shardblade out of play, then I see him and Szeth as roughly equal. Maybe Kaladin could try hitting Szeth's Shardblade-holding wrist with a Stormlight-enhanced punch or kick. Szeth's wrist would regenerate due to Szeth's Stormlight, true, but for that time plus ten more heartbeats Kaladin wouldn't have to deal with the Shardblade. After that... Szeth might have a superior knowledge of Lashings at the moment, but if Kaladin and Bridge Four can perform enough experiments, that gap will swiftly close. And Kaladin can definitely absorb Stormlight more quickly efficiently than Szeth, which IMO is Kaladin's greatest advantage over Szeth. So, whether or not Kaladin can force away Szeth's Shardblade, I think the best thing he can do is absorb as much of Szeth's Stormlight as he can and force Szeth to withdraw due to unexpected lack of "magical fuel."

Thanks for taking the time to answer, guys. The reddit option looks interesting, but I'd feel guilty given that it's supposed to be focused on AMoL. As for his tour, I'm a Canadian lacking in time and money, so that option is out. Ah, well. Maybe after Brandon is done with the first draft of Words of Radiance, he'll have time to relax a little and do another Q&A here. And I certainly prefer him to be focused on writing the book rather than on answering questions.

It certainly seems that spren are attracted to a person acting and thinking in accordance to the quality/ideal that spren represents, and that the bond begins forming then. But I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it is when the person faces some great trial, especially of the kind that makes it difficult or even seemingly impossible to keep upholding the quality/ideal, that opportunities come to majorly strengthen the bond, sometimes with the spren's help/encouragement. When Kaladin was at his lowest and despairingly contemplating suicide, Syl convinced him to keep going, and she began to rapidly develop her consciousness/memories thereafter. At the battle of the Tower, in part thanks to Syl's words, Kaladin resisted the temptation of fleeing from the battle and abandoning Dalinar's army, instead choosing to throw away his men's potential freedom to go rescue Dalinar's army. I think this act of selfless honor created the opportunity for Kaladin and Syl to strengthen their bond anew, so that when Kaladin shortly thereafter was once more confronted with the nightmare of helplessly watching his men get slaughtered, he and Syl were ready for the next major expansion of their bond – the Words of the Second Ideal. Shallan fits this theory, too. It was when Shallan was panicking and under great stress that she directly contacted whatever spren she's associated with and made her first Soulcasting. And it was when she was despairing after the discovery of her theft and the apparent doom of her family's hopes that she figured out much of the truth about Jasnah's Soulcaster, how Shallan herself could contact her spren(s?), and how she could visit Shadesmar and Soulcast on her own.

Last September, Brandon very generously answered many questions by members of this site in a Q&A that lasted several days. To my sorrow, it was only shortly thereafter that I found and registered an account on this site. Since then, and especially after a reread of The Way of Kings, I've come up with several questions I'd love to ask him. So I was wondering if there's any chance of a new Q&A with Brandon sometime this year, or at least before the publication of Words of Radiance? (Apologies if this is the wrong forum to ask this question.)

Yes, it seems like Kaladin talked the matter over with his men, but first wanted to inform Amaram of his decision and have it be officially accepted by the army's commander before letting Coreb take up the Shards. Perhaps. It's true that if Kaladin had put on the armor right after killing the Shardbearer and kept it on until he returned to camp, Amaram most likely wouldn't have been able to steal the Shards. But ultimately my point was that as long as Kaladin and his men remained isolated from the the rest of the camp, Amaram and his lackeys had an opportunity to steal the Shards.

My thanks as well, Mr. Ahlstrom. Nice to know I didn't get bamboozled.

IMO even if Kaladin had claimed the Shards, Amaram and his minions could still have made their move at the same time they did in the book. Kaladin was caught completely by surprised when it happened, and IMO he wouldn't have had enough time to summon his new Shardblade before he was slain (and given that he'd have had such a powerful weapon just ten heartbeats away, I believe Amaram's lackeys would have killed Kaladin outright instead of just incapacitating him).

I'm very happy about Whelan's return. He's my favorite fantasy artist, and TWoK's cover is one of the most gorgeous pieces of fantasy art I've ever seen. I know one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I'm always happy when a book's high quality is matched by its cover's quality. I'm really looking forward to seeing what book 2's cover will look like.

One thing I wonder is if Kaladin had claimed the Shards for himself, would Amaram have let him keep them? Even if Amaram initially decided to do so, both out of respect for the "winner gets the Shards" custom and out of gratitude to Kaladin for saving his life, I'm certain his advisers would still have urged him to steal the Shards and have Kaladin and his men executed.

I have no idea if this is legit. I saw the link on another forum, and the blurb appeared to me to be at least plausible, though I had reservations (especially the KR being reformed so quickly). So I decided to post it here to see what people more knowledgeable than I about the series and Sanderson himself thought of it. Urithiru being found quickly in book 2 would also be odd, though spending time combing through its ruins and/or analysing whatever writings and magical objects might be found there would give a lot of compelling limelight to the more scholarly characters like Shallan, Jasnah and Navani.

I saw this link on another forum and thought it might be of interest here: http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/ProductDetailPage.aspx?sequence=6&group=search&keywords=sanderson+brandon&searchContext=&searchOrgID=&searchCatalogID=&searchMailingID=&sku=0765326361 The part that really surprises me is the apparent restoration of the Knights Radiant, with Kaladin as their leader. I thought the KR's restoration, with official approval and support from Alethi and perhaps other nations, would wait at least until the end of of book 3. Though if the Parshendi really strenghten themselves, Kaladin might have to reveal his powers to protect the human armies. Or it could mean that Kaladin decides to secretly reform the Order, while people worthy of becoming Knights Radiant start finding their way to him for one reason or another. Shallan and Jasnah, who both seem destined to become KR of other Orders, are already on their way to the Shattered Plains. In any case, I'm really looking forward to the interaction between those characters.

Speed reading... Now there's a skill I'm glad I don't have. When I read, and especially when I read fiction, I want to take my time so as to be able to properly picture the scene and the characters in my mind.

Sorry for contributing to the highjacking of your thread, KamKam. As for time jumps... Hmm, I thought Melanie Rawn did them pretty well in her Dragon Prince trilogy (the first book of which I believe was one of the novels that made Sanderson fall in love with the fantasy genre). There's a jump between books 1 and 2, and another between 2 and 3. No idea about her Dragon Star trilogy, as I haven't read it. The Lost tv show lost me (please forgive the pun) right at the end of the first season. IIRC, it was a two-hour special, and after a season of teasing and being fed tentalizing small crumbs of information, I was looking forward to finally getting a full meal of revelations. Instead, as I recall, we got two hours of being fed more crumbs that amounted to more questions, more unresolved situations, and, for me at least, not one substantive answer. I abandoned Lost then and there, and never looked back. I also hope that Stormlight 2 will be a bit shorter than TWoK, as I also found the middle to drag a little. Now that Sanderson has established the world and the characters, I'm confident we'll get our wish.

Worry not – nearly all fantasy/sci-fi fans have various concerns/peeves about the series they read, even those they love, and will take most opportunities to express them. I may be wrong, but I think your loss of interest in ASOIAF ties back to what I said in Feast and Dance being lacking in major buildup -> climax -> resolution sequences. In AGoT, in the way of such sequences, we had Ned's downfall and death, and the first large-scale battles between the Starks and Lannisters (as well as the exciting climaxes of Robb's crowning and the birth of the dragons). In ACoK, we had what I'd say was the biggest sequence of the series thus far, the Battle of the Blackwater, along with Dany's eventual visit to the House of the Undying. In ASoS, we had the Red Wedding, Joffrey's wedding, the siege of the Wall, the Lord Commander's election, Tywin's death, and Dany's march of conquest in Slaver's Bay, culminating in her takeover of Meereen and resulting in her decision to remain in Slaver's Bay. All those events felt, to me at least, momentous and definitely plot-advancing. But Feast and Dance, as I pointed out in a previous post, both failed to complete even one such major sequence, resulting in the frustrating feelings that nothing of major importance happened and that the series' overarching plot is going nowhere.

Another big problem that Martin developed is that IMO he is no longer able to include at least one clear, major buildup -> climax -> resolution sequence in his novels. In A Feast for Crows, we had the buildup and climax of Cersei's political downfall, but no resolution. In A Dance with Dragons, there were three major buildups (leading to what should have been the battle of Meereen, the battle of Winterfell, and the climax of the increasingly tense situation at the Wall), one climax out of three, and zero resolution. When I finished both books, I was left very much unsatisfied. By contrast, in TWoK Sanderson delivered what was the most satisfying buildup -> climax -> resolution sequence I'd read in years. Kaladin and Dalinar's storylines built up to the fight at the Tower, which had an exciting, multi-chapter climax, and were afterward resolved (Dalinar's confrontations with Sadeas and Elhokar, his and Kaladin's conversation). When I finished reading TWoK, I was happier and more satisfied as a reader than I'd been with A Song of Ice and Fire for over a decade.

I really don't think you need to worry about Sanderson and Stormlight Archive, Dionysus. Sanderson is very much aware of the problems Jordan and Martin encountered later on in their series as a result of having too many characters and plotlines to deal with: in Jordan's case, books where very little happens, and in Martin's case, having to split the cast in two books. Here's a passage from an interview Sanderson did at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist:

One thing I'm very much looking forward to is the interaction between the main characters. I was so happy in TWoK when Kaladin and Dalinar finally met, and even more so a little later on when they had a long conversation. In book 2, further Dalinar/Adolin and Kaladin interaction is all but certain, and now Shallan is on her way to the Shattered Plains where's she'll almost certainly meet Kaladin, Dalinar and Adolin. We'll get to see what most of the main characters think of the others, and how they evolve because of their relationships. I used to be a fan of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and one thing that eventually turned me off that series was how little direct interaction there was between the main members of the cast. Instead, it seemed that, for the most part, each character was off doing his/her own thing in his/her own corner of the world. Heck, after five books of what is supposed to be a seven-book series, Daenerys has yet to directly meet any other point-of-view character. Character meetings/reunions/relationships I'd been anticipating for years and years consistently failed to materialize. Robert Jordan's series also suffered from this problem, albeit to a much lesser degree. But one thing that really stood out to me was that by book 9, when they became intimate, Rand al'Thor and Elayne Trakand had never spent enough time together, either in-story or in pagecount, to realistically develop their relationship to that point. So this is one of my great hopes for Stormlight Archive: that the characters will spend enough time in each other's company that, however their various relationships evolve, it will feel natural instead of forced.

IIRC, Nohadon (in Dalinar's vision) outright stated that Alakavish was a popular Surgebinder who started a war right before a Desolation, and he discussed with his advisor what should be done about the Surgebinders. Apparently, the answer was the creation of the Alethi codes of war and the eventual creation of the Knights Radiant, who presumably hunted down those Surgebinders who refused to join and/or continued to use their powers for selfish purposes. So Surgebinding may now be linked to honor, but obviously that wasn't always the case.

I believe Sanderson has mentioned that if not for the experience at planning and writing epic-length series he gained while finishing Wheel of Time, he wouldn't have been able to plan and write Stormlight Archive. So I look upon his finishing WoT as an unfortunate but necessary delay... a delay that is fortunately over. Even if Sanderson does finish book 2 later than he'd like and it's published somewhere in 2014, I'm certain that books 3 and on will come at a faster pace, because I'm certain that writing a 10-book series with 3+ years pauses between new installments is not how Sanderson wants to proceed. As to this thread's original and subsequent posts, I agree that there's definitely something very wrong with current-day Shardblades and/or the way they are used. Certainly the mindset of the great majority of the Alethi and the way they approach warfare isn't conducive to honor. Something I find very telling is that Kaladin, certainly the most honorable warrior we've spent a lot of time with thus far, never feels the Thrill. He certainly seems to enjoy his skill with the spear, especially when he's practicing with it, but he never revels in the death/slaughter of his opponents. His foremost goal in battle is to protect his men/allies, not to kill his foes. EDIT: Another point to consider is Kaladin's reaction, or rather his aversion, when he was presented with the opportunity to wield a Shardblade after he killed the Shardbearer who went after Amaram. I can't help but wonder if even back then Kaladin was unconsciously being affected by Syl's own unconscious revulsion to Shardblades.

I like this theory, especially if Parshendi revert to being Parshmen after a Desolation's end. If the Heralds told the Knights Radiant and the rest of humanity that they had triumphed for all time before breaking the Oathpact, then humankind might have felt confident about making their former foes into servants since they believed there would never again be another Desolation that would turn their faithful servants into implacable foes.

So, there would have been no lighteyes at all until the first Shardblade wielders, and they then passed on that genetic trait to their descendants? Possible, but IMO far-fetched. Hopefully the second book will have some answers. But then wouldn't the great majority of the darkeyes the new Shardblade-armed lighteyes coerced into servitude have rebelled against their oppressors? Or maybe that did happen, and the lighteyes have over the years suppressed knowledge of those early rebellions until everyone came to accept as natural and even proper that lighteyes be in charge... even if they're unworthy, callous, selfish bastards like Sadeas.

Even if the Knights Radiant didn't share the info, I find it really strange that throughout history the rest of the world never found reliable a means to warn future generations that the Parshmen would someday turn into Parshendi. I attributed the fact that current-day Roshar didn't know about the Parshmen threat to the Radiants' disappearance since the last Desolation and the length of time since that event. Hmm, perhaps Odium's agents also played a hand in this by destroying all the direct warnings of the Parshmen threat they could find, and thus insuring that even obscure allusions to the Parshmen threat could only be re-discovered through the focused research of a scholar.

- Mockspren: appear when people make a mistake they feel foolish about. The guiltier the person feels, the more mockspren he/she attracts. - Greedspren: the bane of merchants trying to fleece customers. - Jargonspren: appear when a public speaker's words devolves into technical language virtually no one among his/her audience understands. - Gagagoogoospren: appear when recent parents go crazy enthusiastic about their newborn baby and expect everyone else, especially their families and friends, to share their new passion. This type of spren often appears at the same time as... - Unenthusiasmspren: though there are other circumstances, they notably appear when a person dearly wishes another one would shut the hell up.

Cheese Ninja: If you mean that all the first Shardblade wielders had dark eyes (and thus that lighteyes were excluded for one reason or another), I suppose it's possible, but it seems far-fetched to me. Surely there must have been worthy lighteyed candidates. Hmm, this gives me another idea: that the extremely pale eyes of the Knights Radiant are a method of signifying that they are worthy of wielding Shardblades, and that the "regular" light eyes are a sort of brand/warning to all others that the person wielding that Shardblade is unworthy of it. So if people came across a Shardblade wielder with regular light eyes, they'd know he wasn't a Radiant but instead a public danger and they should get word to Urithiru ASAP so the Radiants would intervene. I hope that's the case. It would feel very unfair if lighteyes were inherently better suited to bond with Shardblades than darkeyes. That's certainly a possibility (if it's outright stated in TWoK, I'm afraid I can't remember that passage at the moment). We know from real-world history that elites will go to great lengths to maintain and justify their power and privileges. Good question. Who knows, perhaps their descendants, bereft of the spiritual/moral guidance of their forebears, began acting for personal gain like the darkeyes who picked up the Shardblades following the Day of Recreance. Heck, perhaps the Kholin family, which is generally made up of good people, is among their descendants.