Shivertongue

Ha! I was thinking the exact same thing earlier today about Stormlight! Well, it was more about how the Wheel of Time characters are so familiar and comfortable to me, and that I hoped that by the time the end of Stormlight came along I would feel the same about them. Actually, I liked Aviendha from the very first. She came across as a total REDACTED, yeah, but I could sense that it was... forced, kind of. I had something of a theory, around the end of Shadows, that she was the third of Rand's girls, but almost nothing to base it on but hunch. Also, I just have an intense fondness for the Aiel. ^__^

No matter when ya started, I'll add ya to the list And I know what you mean. I was thinking the exact same thing in this latest chapter of Shadow Rising. I'm not as annoyed with them as I remember being the first time I read it, though.

Just started The Shadow Rising. I love this one - easily one of my favorite books in the series. That might be 'cause we get to see a lot of Aiel, and I do love me some Aiel. xD

Hey Sharders and Shardetts. I am pleased to announce that the Coppermind Wiki, your go-to source for all the random Cosmere trivia you could ask for, is once again active and available. It's been down for a while, and I know many of you have felt the loss, both in not being able to readily know what zinc does Feruchemically, and in the countless hours you've spent staring at the screen, wondering, dreaming about the day you would be able to edit again. Well, my loyal underlings lovely community members, that day has come. The tab above will still take you to the error page for the old one, however, so until then, follow this ridiculously large link. The Coppermind Everything that was on the old remains on the new, from articles to accounts to those adorable cat CAPTCHAs I know you all love to all those redlinks begging to have a page made for them. It's all there waiting for you, like an old friend returned to town years after disappearing under mysterious circumstances. And like that old friend, it needs your help. Unlike that old friend, it doesn't want your money or the missing half of the mysterious amulet that somehow fell into your possession. All the wiki needs is your love. So, in the words of Joe, go edit the wiki!

I hear you there, about younger years. I'm only 26, I shouldn't be feeling this old. xD The spoiler tag is pretty easy. Take what you want to keep behind the spoiler, and in front of that type [spo iler], but without the space. At the end what you are trying to hide, type [/spo iler], again without the space. Hope that helps.

Ah, the Aiel... have I mentioned how much I love the Aiel?

I remember it worked for me the very first time. The Shienaran's had already been shown as very capable warriors, and that every man there suddenly became worried about a single Aiel told me Aiel were nothing to be messed with. And how casually he spoke of facing death... same with the women they encountered in the stedding. Based on everything I had heard about the Aiel, and the reactions of hardened soldiers, I was impressed without ever having to see anything. In other news, I finished The Great Hunt last night, despite efforts to hold the ending off for another day or so. Moving on to The Dragon Reborn soon.

Just got to where they met Urien, which was the very first on-screen appearance of an Aielman - not counting Rand, of course . He's only around briefly in this book, but I love his dialogue so much. "Bring your lightnings, Aes Sedai. I will dance with them."

...that was beautiful... ...excuse me, I have a bit of Ending of Something Wonderful caught in my eye...

You most certainly can. I'll add your name to the list - and be sure to post your thoughts on this particular reread, if anything comes to you.

I would like to announce that I HAS EMPLOYMENT AGAIN!

Finished Eye of the World about five minutes ago. Man, I love the ending to that book.

I just reached one of my favorite scenes from this book, where Rand meets Elayne and has an impromptu... audience... with Queen Morgase. I remember, the very first time I read EotW, that this is the scene where it really picked up for me, and I began to love the book. I had been enjoying it before, but this was the first time I had realized what scope the book had, and the first time I realized that this was a living world, and they outside of the viewpoint characters, people were living their lives and doing things we would never see. It was mind-boggling for me, at the time; that was the very first instance I had ever felt that with a book. Additionally, it's the scene where we first meet Elayne. Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion, I love Elayne. She has to be one of my favorite characters throughout the series. I also remember how the first time I read this, and even during my rereads, at this point in the story I don't hate certain characters, like Elaida or Child Byar. Even though both felt like antagonists, at the time it honestly felt as though they were good people, only in opposition to our protagonists because of their duties - Elaida to Morgase, and Byar to his Lord Captain. Of course, I know now that the former never held any loyalty to the queen, and was only there to serve her own interests. I expect to finish this book sometime tomorrow, if the pace I'm going at is any indication. At the very latest, I should be beginning The Great Hunt by Monday.

Just remember... anything that makes a reader take pause is something that can knock a reader out of the story.

I haven't made it this far in my reread yet - still on Eye of the World - but I had to respond to this. This is a section I have delved into a lot since the first time I read it, for a long time convinced that it was foreshadowing on Jordan's part. Something like, while Rand may save the world, something Thom did will give the gleeman all the credit. It was an idea that bothered me, because I thought that with everything Rand has had to go through, and everything he will likely go through, being remembered by history would be his reward. Then again, I never made the connection to Merlin. And it fits, though, with Rand being the one who pulled the sword from the Stone and became king....

I just chalk that up to magic and not worry too much about it.

I should have the starting award made by this weekend at the latest. I hope everyone has had the chance to begin, or know when they might. 5 months might seem like a lot of time, but they'll go by quickly.

I'd hope not, considering he's dead. Unless we're dealing with Mistborn zombies, I don't want to see Kelsier show his dead face in any story unless he's actually alive. Edit: And he'd better not come back from the dead either.

This is going nowhere, and only has the potential to go further nowhere. Closing topic.

I should think so.

Just DON'T get the audiobook of Black Prism. The guy who reads it is the worst I've ever heard.

That is the idea behind Codex Alera, in the beginning. It's a world where everyone, by a certain age, has gained elemental spirits - Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Wood and/or Metal - called Furies that aid them and give them various abilities. Most people have one, some people have two, etc. The main character, Tavi, has no Furies for some unknown reason, and thus has to accomplish things other people use magic for, with his own skill and intelligence. Excellent books. I would personally disagree with that. As shown in the Codex Alera example above, magic doesn't have to be rare in order to be special. I have a fondness for stories with the type of magic that everyone has access to, and everyone can use, and has become a part of daily life. In those cases, the only difference is that some people are better with it than others, or know more, or have more of whatever the power source behind the magic is. And, conversely, those that don't have the skill or the power or even the interest make up for it with other talents. In Codex Alera, for example, there is a character named Ehren. Ehren has only Wind and a small amount of Wood, neither very strong, and is a weak furycrafter in general. But he is incredibly intelligent, a decent fighter, and even his weak furycrafting comes in handy, simple because weaker furies are harder to detect than strong ones. It's a fascinating change, I feel, from the "magic is rare" idea. If everyone has it, then the playing field is more level, and those with skill or wits or whatever above the norm, be it with magic or without. Magic is common, but skill is rare. It's honestly how I prefer to do the magic in my books

Taz completely failed to live up to horror movie expectations...

I had no idea this was an open question until now. With every little scrap of info from interviews and speculation and wild theories and the like that is out there, it's easy to miss something - I know for a fact that I haven't read every single interview or random little question that has an answer that's sent speculators into a tizzy. I don't have time to read it all, and I'm guessing neither do many others. This isn't a matter of not paying attention so much as it is simply missing a piece of the puzzle, and might I remind everyone that we don't even know how many pieces there are, or which of them are actually ones we need. If we didn't make assumptions, we'd have no theories, and if we had no theories, there'd be nothing to make assumptions from.

Well, you get the first one just by joining.