Ahriman

I noticed it breaking down and rebuilding but I didn't know that was supposed to be Kaladin, or that the original faces were supposed to be Heralds. I don't know what any of these people look like and I don't look at pictures, so I usually forget there's even a graphic at the beginning of a chapter and just go for the words. So thank you for telling me what that actually meant!

Given the amount of discussion and reflection among many white Americans and Canadians over their history, me being one of them, I was really invested in finding ways for them to understand their national identities and value their herirage while also trying to find a way forward for both humans and parsh, some form of justice. And maybe that will happen but I feel like it's been dropped for now. And I completely agree about the less human/in tune with nature stuff, I've seen plenty of things where humans are colonial and greedy while nonhumans are the opposite, and it rubs me the wrong way. All the victims of colonial societies are just as human, and colonialism isn't an inherent part of being human. But I think Sanderson did pretty well with having the singers being their own complete society with its own history. Their kind of relationship with the land works, I think. Yes, that was the most satisfying part of the book for me. Lots of potential there and I'm curious how any humans who find their way there will be treated.

You, my friend, have just determined how I'll be spending my weekend. I looked that up on Steam and I like all those tags.

Unfortunately no, or I'd be writing it myself. I'm sure if a writer sat down for long enough they could at least lay out a set of patterns or instincts for them to follow. Or maybe replace some human instincts and behavioural patterns with insect ones, so suddenly life becomes cheap since everyone lays thousands of eggs, or fathers get their heads bitten off, or birth is always fatal for the parent but still desired. I think it would also be easier not to make them major characters, or at least not characters interacted with terribly often. Adrian Tchaikovsky did something like that in his Final Architecture books, where there was a race that was so hard to follow that even with translators it wasn't entirely clear what they were saying, or if they could understand human concepts. I don't remember how that went in the long run. We've gotten very off topic here though, sorry about all that.

I'd thought we were having a conversation rather than an argument or debate, but I see what you mean. I honestly would sometimes prefer to have characters so alien I couldn't understand their motives.

I don't know that I've ever related to a human character either. Relating to characters isn't something I look for very often.

That seems very odd (alien?) to me, but you're probably right. Is that the best we can do? Obviously we can't realistically figure out what a nonhuman intelligence would be like, whether or not such a thing exists, but to me the whole point of having nonhuman beings is to have things that are, on a fundamental level, not human. Maybe some writers have tried this and I haven't seen their work, but I'd like to see science fiction or fantasy where there's something you truly can't form the kind of relationship with that you could with another human, something that just can't be understood or fully seen eye to eye with. I get that's not what Sanderson is doing, I'm just always a bit disappointed when the interesting, strange alien creatures all end up acting like regular people with a new paint job.

I get that, I just find it odd that fiction in general so often wants me to see all nonhuman beings as people and not as something fundamentally different and alien. If all these things are just humans with different bodies that's much less interesting to me. Spren and singers and kandra become less compelling to me the more human they seem. And I'm not saying interspecies romance shouldn't ever be acceptable, I just find it odd when questioning it isn't treated as reasonable.

I feel like the whole Parshmen thing has gotten swept up in other issues, which is disappointing. In previous books, it felt like one of the driving forces in the book was much of humanity reckoning with its imperialist past, discovering and accepting that what land they have was taken from others so forcefully that the old occupants nearly ceased to exist. Given the relevance of that concept to North American societies, I hoped that would continue to be explored. But instead of making them important characters in their own right, they've just been snapped up by the other imperial power of Odium. That's a shame, since I found that much more compelling than the mental health angle. Also, this is my favourite typo ever.

I thought that was cool too. I also like how it ended up being permanent. Sometimes "everyone gets healed all the time" removes the depth and impact.

I've made most of the complaints you're talking about, but funnily enough I usually like Shallan quite a bit. I also think she's too much of a mess to be let out of the house, but that's part of the charm. I also think the Dalinar/Retribution parts of the ending are intriguing, but other aspects of the ending (like Ba Ado Mishram's release coming so late and doing so little) really did frustrate me. These books always have pacing issues, due in part to their size, though I don't think that should be dismissed as a legitimate problem. The language was especially jarring in this book; there is a certain literary style people tend to expect from the genre, and although we know Sanderson won't give us that it seems he's going further and further from that to something that's very hard to take seriously. It's not just language, but also his choice of emphasis and punctuation. As for LGBT stuff, there will always be people who complain about that, especially if it appears after the beginning of a series. That being said, I think I remember a comment about Azir having gender paperwork before, and that character's deal was summed up in a single sentence that felt more like a comment on Azir's bureaucracy than anything else, so anyone harping on about that is being far more dramatic than they need to be.

It's very common, but it's interesting to me because I often find that nonhumans in fantasy/science fiction are too human. To use your Mass Effect example, I did find the concept of romance with aliens in that game sonewhat offputting (though I wish I could have played as one), and I was disappointed that mistrusting aliens in general was treated the same as racism. I've always found the general comfort with interspecies relationships odd. Not necessarily bad, but I've always wondered why "Is this acceptable?" is rarely treated as a decent question within these narratives or in real-world discussion of them.

It's a huge thing. Tanavast was awful at being Honor! And Cultivation spent the whole time confused and scared of what she'd cultivated, so while I think she still has schemes (Lift), I think she also genuinely messed up big time. It's a little disappointing; I'd like to see some Shards doing well out there.

I feel similarly. The visions were interesting to me but they didn't feel like they had the right gravity. And the prose was so much worse than usual, it's like there was no editing at all. Which made it harder to enjoy the parts that were mostly good.

That would have been perfect honestly. Weird, pointless, arbitrary rules are a big part of the Skybreaker philosophy he breaks away from too so it would even be all literary and thematic.

Parts of this book were enjoyable but I can't give it higher than a 5/10. My favourite parts were the debate with Jasnah and Venli's plotline. Those both felt well done and satisfying. I'm also fascinated by this fourth moon and look forward to finding out more. The drops of information he feeds us every book about other Shards are a big reason I keep reading, and we got those in this book. I was happy with that, although didn't really need whole chapters in all caps. I like the developments at the end with Retribution and the larger cosmere, but it did feel like Dalinar ended his storyline by betraying everything he'd stood for previously. I know there was no way to win, but I'm getting tired of people taking a third option every time an awful choice presents itself. From the standpoint of the wider cosmere, I'm excited to see what happens with Retribution. From the standpoint of Roshar's story, I would have preferred he'd killed Gavinor. I was expecting some things to be answered in his plotline (Unity, "we killed you") and while that might come later I think that not having that in the first semiseries was a mistake. The Gavinor thing itself was fine. When he talked about hearing his father sometimes I figured Odium was prepping him, but I didn't expect him to be aged up. Sanderson got me with the fake kid. It could have been more compelling, but I think the point that Odium could have picked any random victim worked well enough. I enjoyed the visions in the Spiritual Realm for the most part, but even though they were interesting a lot of them felt like answers that weren't necessarily revelations. We learn interesting things about the Oathpact and human history, but they don't seem to have much impact on things. This, like most sections, could probably have been edited down a bit. I was disappointed by Ba Ado Mishram and El. Both are very interesting, and the ending of the last book seemed to set El up as a major figure for this one, but neither character got to do very much. Mishram's backstory was interesting and important but she was released so late that she didn't get to do anything. El did things but I don't think the story would have been different if he'd been replaced by another Fused. Seemed like a waste. The Shallan's mother thing was odd. I guess it was a common theory, but in the book it felt odd that it had never come up, especially her suddenly having been at Shallan's wedding. It seems strange to put such a big twist so late in the first semiseries, when it doesn't have any meaningful impact on the narrative and there's no space for a reaction to it, or to the fact that Taln didn't break, despite what everyone thought. I liked Szeth's flashbacks. Did not like his present. The therapy arc was awful, in my opinion. I'd liked where it was going in the last book but the quality of writing seems to have taken a dive for this part. It also bordered on feeling like a video game with the boss fights. I'll echo what others have said about things like Szeth skipping an oath feeling jarring, though since he immediately renounced it I don't much mind. I've never been a huge fan of Sanderson's writing style, but it's never annoyed me to the level it did in this book. There's always been slang but it seemed more pervasive, and it ruined the mood of some dramatic moments. The italics and ellipses felt much more melodramatic than usual. It also felt like everyone talked in the same "Standard Stormlight" voice. I noticed that especially with the Sibling and Maya, who went from unwilling or unable to speak much in the last book to sounding as quippy and teeny as everyone else in this one, and in Szeth's spren, who switched to the standard voice the second his air of mystery was broken. The writing has gotten grating to the point that I'm not sure I'll want to read the next book.

I don't care if they know what distillation is or not, and I don't know enough about alcohol myself to know what proof means anyway. What was really bad about that line was the fact that, like you said, it was in the middle of Ishar trying to suffocate them with despair. This isn't the time for quippy similies at all, it's a time for good emotional writing, and that line ruined any emotional impact the scene had. I remember in book 3 or 4 Shallan thinks about how she'd seen Jasnah "straight up execute somebody." I remember it because at the time, I thought it made me feel like I was reading a Facebook post from a teenager rather than a published novel that I should take seriously, but at least it wasn't in as jarring a place as the proof thing. What I mean to say is, the slang was present in previous books but it was more ignorable. It's ramped up in this one and it's used in too many jarring contexts. I've always just accepted that I'll roll my eyes at the prose a couple times per book, and considered it a worthwhile price for the good parts, but this was a much more intense eye rolling session than it has been with previous books.

These have been my two biggest complaints with the series. The pacing issues are glaring. It's probably to be expected with something of this size, but with books 3 and 4 it was especially grating. In this one there was a lot of bloat and the page space taken up by therapy speak or jumping between visions that gave us answers but not really revelations could have been given to other things instead (I felt like Ba-Ado-Mishram and El were underutilized, and I was annoyed at how little time Mishram actually got on the page). I've always felt like the biggest danger in Sanderson's writing is that sometimes he risks his books feeling like video games. Whatever Kaladin was doing in Urithiru in book 4 was the worst offender, but going around and having to defeat the Honorbearers of each monastery started to feel like a Zelda game or something, just replace the ocarina with a flute. The fight with Nale especially felt like this, like the classic unwinnable boss battle. That said, I did enjoy the Shadesmar and Lightweaver fights for being more interesting than just "People keep trying to stab each other and sometimes succeed." One thing I noticed early on was that as soon as a character is done being mysterious/imposing (Maya, Sibling, Szeth's spren) they all start talking in the same "standard Stormlight character" personality. Lots of ums and huhs and italics. I don't remember if this was an issue in previous books, but for most of this book people's speech mannerisms didn't feel distinct at all to me. Sure Lift might make up a word here or Zahel might use an offworld term there, but for the most part everyone's sentence structures and overall tone felt the same.

I guess another one of my unpopular opinions is that I like the lack of humour. I just don't usually think Sanderson is that funny.

The nodes just felt like a video game to me. Too much talking about the magic and how it works. Too much cosmere stuff. The scene with Wit and Jasnah just made him look like a moron and Jasnah look like a stereotype.

Okay, I finished the book a week or two ago and I've gotten most of my thoughts together, in no particular order. First of all, I read this without having read Dawnshard, and was confused at a couple points. Those were rectified when I read it after. I had wanted to see if the novellas could be skipped, because I hadn't enjoyed Edgedancer and couldn't even remember who Rysn was, but it makes a few things a little awkward, so I won't try that again. I still felt like the characters had figured a lot out in between books, which hadn't been stated (Ba-Ado-Mishram and the False Desolation, etc). Part one did a decent job of introducing how things had changed, although I have no idea how many of the Windrunners were new characters and how many were there in previous books, because I've officially given up on keeping track. I also appreciate Kaladin's failed romance being between books, because both romance plots and Kaladin's feelings bore me. Speaking of Kaladin's feelings, I actually liked him in this book, as opposed to just tolerating him. Normally I find all the mental issues in the series a bit much, but seeing him set up a real mental health service was very satisfying and I hope that continues. I also liked seeing him constantly outwit the Pursuer, although the Pursuer himself didn't feel like a great villain to me, more of an example of how mad the Fused are. Seeing as Leshwi's whole thing in this book was just watching Raboniel, and Raboniel herself was weird, this book felt a bit odd in terms of villains. I was hoping for more Unmade. Kaladin's plot with going to find each node and break it in time felt a bit repetitive too, and a bit like a video game. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I find Sanderson's magic, along with related plots, has that feeling sometimes. Shallan was interesting, but not particularly surprising. Ialai is dead now, but I've felt like all the Sadeas-related people have just died without much resolution, so I don't have much of a response to that. Watching Shallan develop another personality and figure out that she had killed the deadeye Cryptic was, like I said, interesting but predictable. I was glad to see her have a breakthrough and turn on the Ghostbloods, and I'll save my thoughts on Kelsier potentially being Thaidakar for the end. Very happy to see her coming to terms with Veil not being real. Adolin was satisfying. I've always liked a character who's just generally a good guy and doesn't have any major issues, although I still haven't given him a pass for killing Sadeas. I had hoped to see more of Shadesmar, and when we had an entire section without him and Shallan I was in a lot of suspense. Also, seeing where they were, I had just assumed they would finish up, come out in Tukar, and help Dalinar, so good on Sanderson for subverting expectations there. Maya was excellent in the trial, although I still don't want Adolin to be another Radiant. Speaking of new Kholin Radiants, Navani's plot was interesting. I loved Raboniel as a villain, but thought it was hard to believe that Navani would have trusted and underestimated her so much. Also, and this is probably an unpopular opinion here, I didn't care that much about the science. It's interesting but not that interesting, and I've never been as into dissecting exactly how magic works and gaming the system the way Sanderson likes to do it, so I felt that bit dragged on. Her bonding the Sibling was interesting since it was mainly self-preservation for both of them, and that should be something to watch. As far as Dalinar and Jasnah are concerned, that was probably the plotline that least interested me, but I don't actually find much fault with it. I liked seeing Jasnah acting like she suddenly had to prove herself, and I always enjoy whatever Dalinar does, although I thought it was a bit silly when he was yelling at the Stormfather for being a storm. Dalinar going to meet with Ishar was great, and the dead spren were incredibly creepy (and I'm only just now realising that if Adolin hadn't stepped in, there would be one more honorspren in that mix). Wit and Jasnah's relationship surprised me, and I thought the scene made Wit look surprisingly dumb. Also sure, I guess people like representation, but of all the characters, it's the cold, logical one who doesn't care about people's feelings who ends up being asexual? That seemed like a bit of a stereotype, as much as I love Jasnah. Taravangian becoming Odium was so sudden that I had to reread the scene. That was the one plot development that really surprised me. I'll find out how I feel about that in the next book. Moash sucks. Finally, Cosmere stuff as a whole. I didn't expect to find out four new Shards in one book, and Valor surprised me most of all of them. That was really interesting. But it's starting to feel like you need to have read other books to know what's going on in Stormlight, and I don't like that. I'm not the type to notice people from other planets or books, although I have read most of his other books. Kelsier being Thaidakar, which seems to be the case, really bugs me for that reason. I'm also a bit tired of him showing up anyway, but that's just me wanting people to stay dead. Also, Wit casually revealed that dragons existed, and that was a big surprise to me as well. Not part of the complaint, just something that threw me.

I think it's interesting that you've formatted this as a letter to Sanderson, although I doubt he'll read it here. Maybe you could find an email address to send it to if you want him to see it, or if you want to start a discussion that's fine too. I'm not sure what you mean by abusing readership, though. Most people don't tend to be personally hurt or affected by something that happens in fiction, and I wouldn't equate having a few unpleasant scenes, a quick character death, and main characters who hate themselves with Martin's work which, although I admit I haven't read it, certainly has a reputation for much more darkness and violence than is present in this series or any of Sanderson's works. I can see saying you don't care what happens if it's just going to be miserable no matter what, although I tend to find it quite an optimistic series, but it seems like you've taken some sort of personal offense from it. If I'm misreading what you said, I applogise, and I blame the hazy state of mind the holidays have left me with, but I fail to see how frequently making Kaladin miserable is abusive or detrimental to the readership in anyway. Also, have you finished Oathbringer? There are one or two things I want to mention, but they happen after that chapter. I don't want to spoil anything if you've only just read it and wanted to share your thoughts immediately.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It'll probably happen, but I really don't want to see Adolin become a Rediant.

I finished Starsight the other day, and the revelation about Doomslug and its species was pretty much what I expected. But at one point, I think when they were just going to Starsight for the first time, something weird happened. Spensa said "By who," and Doomslug responded by saying "Whom!" I took that as an indication that Doomslug could actually speak the language, but it hasn't been followed up on. What does everyone else think? Is it a typo, or something I've missed? Am I making a big deal of nothing? Or is there something else about the slugs? Maybe you really do have to be sentient to be cytonic.

I'm hoping for one of thr Windrunner squires to pass Kaladin in the oaths. I think it would be fascinating to watch Kaladin respond to Teft or someone else supplanting him. I'm also hoping for Dalinar to do something awesome and to see more of Cultivation, or at least her plans. And I'm hoping to watch Shallan's mental state continue to deteriorate, because it's really interesting to watch. And less puns.