Elegy

Relevant WOB that I don't think was mentioned yet in this thread:

They are one of my favorite bands. The two Wheel of Time songs are both on the album At the Edge of Time - so anyone who's interested could just listen to that one, since it's also a pretty good overview what they're all about. If you like metal music of the very melodic kind, there's a good chance you'll like it.

They are planning an omnibus release with all three volumes. It will include a bit of exclusive material (from what I heard it sounded similar to a proto-Ars Arcanum). They are also actively trying to clean up the mess, remove errors and improve the quality. So I'd wait for that one!

I think it's Brandon's best work that's not Stormlight or Mistborn Era 1. The way it tackles its themes (like the nature of art) is very thought-provoking, and it also makes them matter - because these themes (and the disagreements about them) mean a lot to the characters and their relationships (Gaotona and Shai, in particular). Shai is also one of Brandon's most nuanced characters. She feels very human to me. It's also just a well-rounded story and shows that great fantasy with outstanding world-building and interesting magic doesn't have to be huge and epic - you can accomplish all of that with just one room, if you're really good at it. Also, while I adore Brandon's twists, I really enjoyed reading a story of his that's suspenseful while not relying on reveals as much as most of his other work. It was kind of refreshing.

All connections are extremely behind-the-scenes and not evident at all in the stories themselves. You could read those two without any additional information and not even notice that they're part of the same continuity. (Although I recommend reading the prose version of White Sand instead, because the graphic novels just aren't great, to the point that Brandon admits that himself. The prose version is avaiable for free over a link in the official Brandon Sanderson site's newletter.)

I'd rate it higher than 7/10, but I definitely agree that Part 1 was the highlight of the book. Reading the first 10 chapters on the evening I got the book was unreal.

Well, since so many seem to dislike the nodes, I guess that makes my opinion not really unpopular! That was the reason why I didn't pick Hoidnah, because ouch. On the other hand, I might have a positive potentially unpopular opinion: I liked the Shallan-Adoline plotline the best of them all. If you just took those chapters and published them as a 100,000 word book (which is the typical length for Way & Wayne, Skyward, and Reckoners books), it would be a really tight, strong and satisfying narrative. Shallan is at her best with her constant back and fourth with her personalities, and Adolin is not just carried along for once but has his own conflict (in contrast to Oathbringer's Shadesmar journey, where he was just the third wheel on a bike beside Kaladin and Shallan). The only thing I disliked about that arc was how more than half of the team just vanished between parts without having done anything. I guess it was nice to meet some non-main character Radiants, but give them something to do! Probably not that unpopular as well, but I feel like many on here prefered other arcs.

I can finally get this off my chest: I never would have thought that Brandon would allow himself to use such a lazy, convenient, stupid and useless plot device as the nodes. He clearly didn't know what to do with Kaladin in Part 3 and had to find something for him to do while other characters move the plot along. So he introduced a random number of crystals with no obvious in-world reason to exist that have to be destroyed. It's so far below his story-telling ability, it baffles me. I'm not used to that, at least not in his Cosmere works, and especially not in Stormlight.

It was actually @Paintweaver who pointed it out to me. She knows those Hoid-Shallan scenes really well!

3 polls is the maximum for one topic, sadly - that's why I split this one into two threads. So I can't add any more for this one . . . If I get enough ideas for 3 more polls, I might do a third part. Last chapter is a good idea, I'll keep it in mind! I did interludes (per book) in the first thread (along with epigraphs and flashbacks):

(Here's part 1:) I initially wanted the Wit tales to be the third poll, but then I decided that I'll do that one separately eventually, once the spoiler policy changes, so I can include the non-Stormlight story as well! I went for the Whelan covers instead. These are the paintings in question (spoilered for size): Also, as a reminder, here's links to the summaries of the prologues (Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War) and epilogues (Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War). I also took Keteks and the Sleepless prophecies on the back covers into consideration, but I didn't think readers have strong opinions on those. Let me know if you think otherwise! These are my personal picks: Prologue: Way of Kings for me, easily, because Szeth. Epilogue: This one's a bit tricky for me, but I'll go with Oathbringer. Seeing Wit openly use a magic system from another series is neat, and him bonding a spren was such a nice surprise. Cover: Rhythm of War - I love the sense of space in this painting, as well as the moody colors. I love Way of Kings and Oathbringer as well. Words of Radiance is also good, but I don't like the colors quite as much and the poses of the characters look rather unnatural to me. Still a good cover, but I don't like it as much as the rest. The color combination of Way of Kings is so beautiful to look at, by the way. So . . . what do you think?

Brandon commented on this recently:

First off, I agree that it's not the duty of an author to portray an individual of a given group in a certain (positive or negative) way. Stories are about individuals and individuals are diverse, so the portrayals of individuals in stories should be diverse as well. I'm with you there. (EDIT: To be clear, I do not think that this -- looking for a mascot -- is actually what the other commentors in this thread are doing, I want that to be clear as well!) But, that said, constructive criticism means recognizing what the author wanted to do, evaluating whether they succeeded at it, and, if they didn't, point it out (in a respectful way). And I think Brandon just didn't succeed in what he wanted to do. For example, this is one thing he wrote for the annotations of Rhythm of War's first part: Which implies that she "cares" about Wit, on some deeper level, to some degree. That should go beyond "he's so old and he knows so many secrets". Which is essentially all she has to say (/think) about him. It's just not a believable portrayal of someone caring about someone else. And it seems like that's what he wanted to do with that scene. Instead, we got her thinking about him like he was some puzzle, instead of a person. And in the light of what he seemed to aim at, I do think that this just isn't good writing. In this case, he didn't do a good job making me understand her like he intended (as someone who "cares" in a heteroromantic, asexual way). That said, I haven't seen much "anger" directed at him for it, just disapointment, sourness, or lack of understanding (I share all of them to some degree). And most people who are annoyed by it still love the book as a whole (which I share as well!). I just think that this was sloppy in a way that we don't usually see from Brandon. The fact that this scene sticks out so much is a very positive thing to say about him, in my opinion.

Here we go again . . .

No: Edit: Both seem to have their home bases in Silverlight though, which is a bit confusing!

You can edit the poll when you edit your original post in the topic. In the deep blue box above the text box, there's the sections "Content" and "Poll", so that's where you can make changes to the poll.

Neat idea! I'd also add the "Arcanists"/Silverlight (Khriss and Nazh), and the Ire/Sel. My vote would go to the Arcanists - can't wait to see more of them!

I don't recommend playing it with a.) people that have started reading it and have not yet finished Oathbringer and b.) people that haven't read it yet but know enough about it to recognize the depicted characters. I mean, just the image of Kaladin flying is technically a spoiler until very late in Words of Radiance, so that alone is enough. That said, the characters aren't named on the cards (the Kaladin card is just called "Windrunner", for example), so if you don't recognize the characters, it will just be well-done fantasy images of people doing stuff that don't give much away.

That's a nice catch! Brandon once commented on connections like these - and generally, things like these are not coincidences: Regarding reincarnation, Brandon said that's not the way things work in the Cosmere: Which honestly surprised me, since he usually leaves those afterlife-questions up to the reader.

Well, we haven't had the chance to see a Shard without a holder gain sentience yet, so the back 5 might be a chance for that. Maybe that process takes 10 Rosharan years. . . . and Elhokar . . .

Thanks to you all for voting and commenting! You can read the epigraphs on the Coppermind - every book has its own epigraph page. Here's the overview.

I don't think any of the three main characters will die. It's too early for that. Judging from her work in Rhythm of War, Shallan seems to have a bright future as a spren scholar ahead of her and fits into the back five very well as a mentor figure in that manner. Actually, as it stands right now, Shallan has the best chances - besides Jasnah - to become an immortal world-hopping character that will still be relevant for Space Age Cosmere. It might seem like she's not liked (which isn't really true, there's just some very vocal haters), but Brandon outlined a lot of the Cosmere (including Stormlight 1 through 10) before even writing the first book, so that will not be a factor. He knows what will happen to the characters, and the audience reaction is not gonna change much about that. Dalinar was one of the first ideas that Brandon had for Stormlight, one of the very first characters he created, so I doubt he'll throw him away half-way through the series (even though his death would be technically plausible and fit with his redemption arc). As for Kaladin, his future points towards helping people that are suffering from mental illness, and his work there is not done yet. It's something for him to do between books 5 and 6 - something that won't be dangerous for him, but still fulfilling, since he can help people in a different way. Also, Hoid told him that it will get worse, then better, then worse, etc., which, in my opinion, would feel odd if he told him that like 10 days before his death. It makes it seem to me like Brandon intended Kaladin to have a whole life ahead of him. My guesses are: Szeth, Taravangian (yep, I say he's going to be a 10-day-Odium), maybe the Stormfather (since the Honorspren in Lasting Intergrity stated so explicitly that noone knows what would happen if he dies), Mraize, and maybe one or two more members of Bridge 4, but I'm not sure about that. Ishar is very plausible as well, but I think Brandon is going to keep most of the Heralds to be more important in the back 5. . . . and Gavilar, and Helaran Davar . . .

Yeah, I get that. Most of the interludes of the first 3 books don't tie into the larger Cosmere though, so I doubt that your perspective on them will change drastically. They're mostly just little pieces of world-building to get you into Roshar and show you some places that the books won't get to show you for a while. Without thinking much about it, I can only think of two heavily Cosmere-related interludes in total. I view the interludes (of the first 3 books, at least) basically as short story collections, each broken into four chunks. And looking at it that way, I think the Words of Radiance short story collection is fantastic

So there's a bunch of "traditions" with Stormlight books. And I'd like to know: Which book is your favorite in each discipline? Some reminders what you’re voting for, in case you forgot some of these . . . Interludes: Way of Kings: Szeth as main interlude character, Rysn in Shinovar, Axies the Collector, Ishikk at the Purelake, etc. Words of Radiance: Eshonai as the main interlude character, Rysn visiting the Reshi islands, Lift’s interlude, Taravangian’s first interlude, etc. Oathbringer: Venli as main interlude character, Rysn defending the vault, Kaza’s interlude in Aimia, Teft’s alcohol problems, etc. Rhythm of War: Taravangian as main interlude character, Chiri-Chiri, Syl, Sja-anat, etc. (you probably remember most of these) Epigraphs: Way of Kings: Death Rattles, Hoid’s letter to Frost, Jasnah’s Notes about Voidbringers, The Way of Kings Words of Radiance: Navani’s Journal, Listener Songs, Words of Radiance, Frost’s letter to Hoid, The Diagram Oathbringer: Oathbringer, letters from Endowment & Autonomy & Harmony, Gemstone Archive, Hessi’s Mystica about the Unmade, Dawnchant & The Way of Kings post-script Rhythm of War: Navani’s Fabrial Lecture, Harmony’s letter to Hoid, Rhythm of War, Kalak’s Journal, El’s Musings I might do a follow-up with Prologues, Epilogues and Wit stories. The site only allows 3 polls per thread, so this has to do for now. My picks are: Interludes: Words of Radiance. It has so many small beautiful stories. Eshonai's recurring interludes aren't my favorites (those would be Szeth), but there are so many iconic chapters among the other ones. Taravangian's first POV ever introduces his curse and boon, Szeth's interlude in Urithiru is just epic. Ym is my favorite one-off interlude character (rest in peace, he'd been right at home in Urithiru . . . sigh.) Rysn visiting the Reshi islands is still my favorite Rysn interlude by a long shot. Also, Lift's interlude is the longest ever, it's a good bit longer than a few Cosmere short stories (like The Eleventh Metal and The Hope of Elantris) and is so well-done. Epigraphs: Oathbringer. Everyone of them is great. The three letters are my favorite epigraphs ever. The Autonomy section in particular is making me excited and giving me headaches to this day. The Gemstone Archive has a lot of bits about the False Desolation and also some emotional moments ("I'm going to miss that"). Unmade lore is always great . . . and the fact that Part 5 changes from one book a another at the decisive moment in the story has such a neat additional effect. I just love it, in my opinion these will be hard to ever surpass! Flashbacks: Oathbringer (Dalinar): Well, I guess this is the easy one of them, but I still like the Kaladin flashbacks a lot. Dalinar's backstory just has such a wide range of emotions. Some scenes are badass, some are terrifying, other ones are heart-breaking. The perfect combination of everything, and Jasnah reading The Way of Kings to Dalinar is one of my favorite Stormlight moments to this day. So what do you think?