Honorless

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Welcome to the Shard!

Welcome to the Shard! Heh, I like all your choices to these questions!

Greetings, fanta! Welcome to the Shard!

Welcome to the Shard! Hope to see you around on the forums! P.S. don't click on my profile till your done with the book, you might get spoiled!

Interludes! Huh, looks like this book has tighter interludes than the preceding books. I rather enjoyed visiting other parts of Roshar in them. Szeth PoV, we'll finally see his Highspren. Heh, they really are a "personification of the Law, capitalized", perhaps they are spren of the kind of worldview that personifies a perfect Law, a creed to follow, kind of like a friggin' One Piece character, especially the Marines and their Justice. I can certainly see how they got the name "Highspren", geez. Szeth is... kind of dead inside and using Dalinar as a crutch to make choices. Oo, Szeth's dad Neturo also wields an Honorblade and was a shepherd (agriculture is considered a higher calling in Shinovar than warriors), so he's reasonably high-class. Chiri-Chiri is a completely sapient being! The dead Lanceryn are warning her via Rhythms... how? Dawnshard spoilers Rysn confides in her Babsk, and then Chiri-Chiri speaks and gives her a heart attack. Taravangian talks to Renarin. He had gotten Szeth's attention by asking for an Oathstone and tries to convince him to use Nightblood on Rayse in a Vision, bemoans that intelligent Taravangian does not understand people and that shows in his plans, then tries to convince Szeth to give the sword to Dalinar. But Szeth is just dead inside and paranoid. Wow, Ulim is interesting as is hearing about Aharietiam & Taln, Ba-Ado-Mishram & the False Desolation, the Listeners from the other side's perspective. He's manipulating Venli with her ego, her fears and desires for her people, and heightened emotions of the new Rhythms from having a Voidspren in her Gemheart but not all of it is manipulation, which is why it worked. She wants to show the Listeners how far ahead the humans are in comparison to themselves to light a fire under them. The Everstorm is a sort of Perpendicularity via which the Voidspren are crossing over, and it sounds like it really is in the Nexus of Imagination (Ah, I just looked back at Nazh's map and saw that it was pointed out) Venli, Lirin, Hesina & Rlain plot their escape, but are on different pages. Kaladin has become a symbol of hope to the humans of Urithiru. We get a better understanding of Lirin here, he's a cynical, defeated pacifist. Part 4 epigraphs seem to be Taravangian. With Navani's discoveries in the next chapter, I'm sure that the previous epigraphs were from Raboniel. We get Cultivation's Vessel's name! Koravellium Avast. It doesn't sound Rosharan, and Avast is the same suffix that Tanavast's name has. She Who Brings the Dews at Dawn is likely a title, not the meaning of her name. The seasons of Shadesmar! That's interesting, they're based on the Rhythms too, ah the crystalline trees attract Lifespren too and shine to an unheard beat. Okay so Lasting Integrity is a hollow structure, with buildings and parks on the inside surface of the walls. So spren have access to the Surges that they give. Deadeyes are being drawn to the place at Adolin's trial approaches... The city is friggin cool, but we don't get any illustrations, which is appropriate as Shallan has withdrawn and isn't drawing. There are people from Nalthis here, and Shallan realizes that Azure was from here; and a Horneater tribe (might get covered in the Horneater novella). She finally fully acknowledges the existence of other worlds! Shallan has withdrawn, Formless is very close, Radiant and Veil are worried. Oh, Pattern was the spy after all but I'm sure he had a good reason to do what he did. Pattern wanted Shallan to meet some Cryptic Deadeye but Shallan refused, finally emerging after suppressing Radiant who had directly asked about her past again and directly asked Pattern if he had lied to her. A mysterious person named "Sixteen" who looks "Shin" hmm... that can't be Restares, I say that as a reader. Restares was from Roshar and 16 would refer to the Shards, nor would he draw that much obvious attention. Ashynites sound like nuclear bomb survivors from Raboniel's accounts of the Shadowdays. Navani and Raboniel discuss the Rhythms of the Lights, and Navani realizes the Rhythms are the emulsifier. Towerlight is a harmony of Honor's stately tone and Cultivation's stark staccato tone that builds up. Tidbit: Lifelight is better for growing than Stormlight, makes sense, but it is the rarest of the Lights, it seems. Navani refutes that humans weren't children of Roshar, they've lived here for thousands of years and hears the Rhythms from the spheres. Navani and Raboniel join together in singing the Rhythms of Honor and Odium, joining Honor's orderly tones with Odium's which is chaotic but with a strange logic to it, and they harmonize it. And it is the Rhythm of War, corresponding to black-blue Light."War" is the not the name it's given but the name it simply has. That War is a mix of Honor and Odium makes sense because that is where wars come from: for honor and from hatred of others. Cultivation too would have belonged here, if she was just growth, because growth begets conflict from the need for more resources but she's not just growth. Raboniel thought Stormlight and Voidlight were each other's antithesis and that's how Odium killed Honor, but she also knew of Towerlight and hypothesized that if Stormlight and Voidlight could also be mixed like Stormlight and Lifelight could, she would know for sure. Navani realizes that Gavilar's sphere was anti-Voidlight. I'm pretty sure most of us thought Odium had a Dawnshard and he used that to Splinter Shards. Raboniel hypothesize that anti-Stormlight (or perhaps anti-Honor's-Rhythm) was used to Splinter his power. Navani realizes Gavilar was planning to kill Odium. Wow, that's too many signs that Rayse will be killed and/or Odium will be Splintered probably in Book 5. If either does happen, I'll be very happy as then the back half would be about defeating hatred itself not the big bad god of hatred. The Rhythms might've been how Adonalsium commanded the Cosmere. Reminds me of Silmarillion! I thought the Rhythms might be able to disrupt the Vessel from accessing the Shard's power not shatter the Shard's power itself! That was a lot to take in! Huh, this flashback chapter is set in the same time-frame as the prologue flashbacks of the first five Stormlight books, in the Kholinar palace. Axindweth was working with Ulim to smuggle in the Voidspren. She's a Worldhopper, huh and left the planet after someone revealed her to Gavilar, the Heralds Nale & Kelek? Restares? Can't be the 17th Shard or Khriss & Nazh... Felt maybe? Now that I think about it, Axindweth sounds like a Terris name... Shalash was here too, I'd forgotten, she'd destroyed her effigy and Kelek had mentioned her. Nale could see Ulim and followed him to find her! Hmm... splitting them apart just results in their essence reforming in Shadesmar later on, becoming a Deadeye is also going to prove reversible soon, is there a way for humans to kill spren at all? Hmm so Nale had apparently decided to switch sides even while he was working with the Sons of Honor? Or not. Huh, his appearance frightened Venli and convinced her fully that another Return / Desolation was on the way again, over her previous distrust of Ulim after he left her in the palace. She realized he was addled and tricked him that his (& the Sons of Honor's) actions caused enough of a Connection to form between the worlds to form a bridge. We do know that Gavilar could send things to and from Braize in the prologue. He told her that Gavilar was planning to betray the Listeners (for the Shards?... Because he knew what they were?) and told her about Szeth & Jezrien's Honorblade! Ulim realized the opportunity and went inside Venli's Gemheart, twisting her to start a war between humans and Listeners, to make them desperate enough to listen. So this is where it was all kick-started. With the way Shallan's chapters are going, I think she's going to fully remember her past here, what with Restares, Ghostblood past, Formless). I'm not sure about reintegrating Veil and Radiant, but I'll miss them if that happens, as weird as that sounds when they're all the same people. Oh sweet Pattern. Huh, Wit helped him? With sharing info to the Ghostbloods? Definitely good reason then! Oh the Ghostbloods spied on him, that's how Mraize knew; Shallan in still skeptical but I believe him: he's Pattern! Wit was spied on and Pattern was talking with Wit. Shallan withdraws again, I was getting worried about Radiant and Veil after her last chapter, strange I was more worried about them than Shallan. But then who killed Ialai? Ah, Shallan asks the same questi... huh, it was Formless, wasn't it? Oo, Azure had visited Lasting Integrity, I was disappointed not to see or hear of her with Notum. So she left? Hmm... Is the cube an Aether? Huh, Jezrien's blade is with Moash, Nale's with him, Taln's is missing, the others were all supposed to still be in Shinovar but apparently aren't. Mraize thinks Restares is dangerous, huh.... wait a min, is Restares Kelek? He's short too and a Herald hence dangerous. The judge for Adolin's case... is it an Inkspren? They want Adolin to represent himself and despite Adolin's wording pin the whole Recreance on him, which is just ridiculous! Huh, but Adolin's tutor is an Inkspren and she gives the same warning as Syl, that honor can be a matter of perception. She's very pragmatic, doesn't want to Bond, is more honest about the why: fear for her life and distrust after previous incident of the Recreance, nothing loftier about spren and human nature or out of grievance from the past, just caution. Oh no, the high judge is a spren, the high judge is a human... the high judge is The Judge, isn't it? It's Nale? Hfff it's "just" Restares, thank god! How did Restares get the respect of the Honorspren? Is he Kalak after all? Called it! Seems I was wrong about this part's epigraphs, it's not written by Taravangian but Kalak. Rlain deals with some peasants, it was exactly as stereotypical as it sounds. Ooh, they found some camps! The Listeners survived! (I'm taking this as confirmation) Noooooooo I need details! What happened when he took Mateform! Tell me! Lol, Rlain bemoans everyone's racism! Rlain meets Dabbid again, who must've been confused after the Sibling went quiet (and can I point out how icky it is that any Cognitive entity can just take advantage of mentally vulnerable people) Oh he's been taking care of Kal & Teft after the well, and Kal hasn't woken up from Vyre's visions. Kal is tortured in Visions that resembles Braize. This and worse are what the Heralds had to endure for thousands of years. Wit pulls him out and puts up a little bubble of light as shelter for a time, a fire, and some stew and tells a story that he says he heard in an inn that can only be found by the lost. I love Wit's stories: Fleet, Wandersail, The Girl Who Looked Up, now The Dog And The Dragon. He seems to confirm that the Lanceryn are Yolish Dragons, their bodies are now canonically lined with Dragonsteel. Edit: apparently he wasn't referring to Chiri-Chiri the Larkin but to Koravellium Avast, the Vessel of Cultivation. He confirmed on Reddit that she's a Dragon. Ha! Wit is tired of Rosharan lack of fluffy animals. Kaladin still doesn't get it and thinks it's Shinovar. Ha! Wit's flute was with Lift last we saw in her interlude. His Cryptic, Design is adorable (are all Cryptics this adorable!?). Kaladin shows his Stoneward side. And Kaladin could also have been an Edgedancer, Brandon agrees. Kaladin's just that awesome. Poor Eshonai, she never even got to see the ocean... And so the War of Reckoning on the Shattered Plains began Mraize wants Veil to trap Kalak's soul, like Jezrien's was. He said Thaidakar is also afflicted with the same condition as the Heralds... Thaidakar is Kelsier, isn't he? If she goes through with this, she could disguise herself as him with her Lightweaving and save Adolin and convince the Honorspren to join the coalition. Did Venli just... casually harmonize the Rhythms of Odium and Cultivation... The stones remember how Urithiru was once the mountain Ur, and consider Odium as much a part of Roshar as Honor or Cultivation. Wow, Lirin is really trying very hard to make himself unlikable. Ooh, she finally frees Lift to heal Kaladin! Heh, I think I sense a Dabbid PoV coming. Navani goes through with making her trap fabrials. She wants to create Anti-Voidlight, seeing the possibility of not just saving the Tower but killing Odium himself. The black-blue Light corresponding to the Rhythm of War is called Warlight. Raboniel shows her the metal they used for centuries to drain Radiants of Stormlight and after Ba-Ado-Mishram's fall realized that if spren could be captured in a gemstone then so can Heralds, so that dagger was made of this metal too. It's an Investiture conductor. It's not one of the Allomantic metals but Odium's godmetal Raysium! It's gold-white in colour. Navani discovers force multiplication of conjoined fabrials by moving the half a spren to a larger gemstone. They use White Sand to measure Investiture (wasn't there a WoB that Breath will be used as a unit of measurement for Investiture?). Oh Dabbid was mentally handicapped way before the Bridgeruns. He took the fall for some Lighteyed woman's affair. He didn't speak because for the first time, he fit in, because they didn't think differently of him. I'm now extra mad at the Sibling for taking advantage if him. Lift healed Kal then Teft, they both finally woke up! Flashbacks have reached Words of Radiance. A moment shared between sisters. Dammit, I feel so bad for Eshonai Adolin's sham trial begins. Ah, the Sibling terminated the Bond early before the Recreance. Adolin justifies Kalak writing as a man with him being holier than an ardent *rolls eyes* Is he... writing the epigraphs? Ah, half the Inkspren died in the Recreance and the rest saw and survived, no wonder then... heh, Adolin's Inkspren law tutor, Blended, is equating being bound by one's words to honor and to her humans are still invaders after seven thousand years. It becomes clear, it's less a matter of honor, more of immediate self-preservation and a long, long memory for these spren. Hah! Well done, Notum. Shallan swipes a perfect gem. Ooh! The Ire's Investiture, Connection, Fortune juice holder tech! What did Eshonai see? A Stormstrider? A Chasmfiend? Are the Stormstriders Chasmfiends or some other Greatshell? I think I recall a WoB that they were spren... Ah, Timbre! Order upon chaos, seeing how things work, Navani's such a Dustbringer. Raboniel and Navani measure static and kinetic Investiture with White Sand. They talk of other worlds, Navani gets it, that they are other planets. A storm bars the way to Braize / Damnation, which is barren, devoid of life, a dark sky from a thin atmosphere, stormy winds shaping the broken landscape and a lot of insane souls. Ooh, Raboniel knows a bit about electromagnetic fields. The Rhythm of War was written by Navani and Raboniel, together. Raboniel admits she's trying to turn the Sibling into one of the Unmade. (confirmation that all Unmade were unique spren). Raboniel's gift to Navani: a musical instrument. Cymatics... I don't get it. Adolin had a good showing at the trial, pointing out the spren were as human as himself. Veil and Radiant outvote Shallan, Formless emerges! To fulfill Mraize's plans, kill Kalak and impersonate him... while in bed with Adolin, lol Teft's right, they were finally on break! Ugh! Flip back into a coma... hmm... I'm assuming Lifelight is better at healing than Stormlight. Phendorana appears at the same size as a human, interesting, she's been good for Teft. How did the Envisagers know that much? This smells like a set-up. Rather than break, Kaladin has been tempered, yet again. Huh... Heralds if captured in a gem, lose Connection to the Physical or Spiritual via the Oathpact bond and with Honor Splintered, they degrade into ordinary souls and pass on into the Beyond. So Jezrien is dead by accident. We finally get the answer for a minor question: what's Relayform. Raboniel and Venli talk about serving Odium and why they fight. I like the Fused's interpretation of Odium as Passion, though Rayse can never embody that, as has become obvious over the course of this book. Raboniel's gift to Venli: a map of the Shattered Plains with the surviving Listeners' campsite marked. Shallan (the aspect, well... person too technically, oh you get the point) became Formless, locked Radiant and Veil away, but the latter could still speak. Adolin philosophises on the concept of weakness (I really wish he'd learn to read, he'd enjoy it immensely). I wonder how Shallan's Spiritweb reflects her personas (like could you Hemalurgically exorcise them, how do they compare with Soulstamps) Veil says Formless isn't a new persona (so she was created in Shallan's childhood! Did Formless kill Ialai?) Veil calls "Formless" Shallan, and previously it was implied that Formless was male so... hmm... this isn't the real Formless. Oi! Don't be mean to Pattern! Pattern tells her what Hoid told him to tell her, that she is loved and that she deserves to be loved. Radiant killed Ialai! To protect Shallan from having to do it, when she saw Veil preparing the poisoned needle. Veil confronts Shallan, telling her that she's afraid that everyone will leave her if they really knew her, so she's leaving them first. She's seeking an out from her life. If she becomes who her darkest mind tells her she is then it'll all be over. She repeats what Adolin said about strength and weakness, that weaknesses make people stronger. Veil reveals her purpose: to be the veil to block Shallan's memories. Veil unveils some of Shallan's memories... with a different Cryptic! Shallan tries to escape even harder, but Radiant tells her strength before weakness, and Shallan sees herself turning her previous Cryptic into a Deadeyes. Goodbye, Veil... Shallan tells Kalak she was there to kill him but she won't. Sekeir puts Kalak into isolation seeing his disposition change- -and takes his place as the judge and puts himself into the crempile of most despicable characters in Stormlight, by bringing Maya to manipulate Adolin and the audience. But Maya spoke, shocking them into silence and revealed that the Recreance was planned together by the Radiants and their spren. The Inkspren revealed she wanted to know the truth of the Recreance and arranged this. The Recreance spren did not know the result of breaking Oaths. The epigraphs have reached the end of Words of Radiance, into the Everstorm. Venli admits her weakness. That was a lot of emotional manipulation by Odium though, a lot more than I thought would be. She's far from innocent but she was twisted Venli helps but ultimately decides to use the Radiant break to escape the Tower, the survival of the Listeners pushing her back into putting herself first, or perhaps an excuse but not one that's completely false Huh, Kalak pleads in his writings to free Mishram having known imprisonment himself and her having been vital to Roshar Navani uses the math of music from the cymatics to search for the opposite of Voidlight's music, with the idea of polarity. She found the Rhythm of anti-Odium! Anyone can use the plate because it was created with Intent but to hum it, one needs Intent and knowledge of what they're doing. The Rhythm hurts Raboniel to hear. Navani uses a vacuum tube to separate some Voidlight, to isolate it from the Rhythms of Roshar so she can reverse its polarity. The Rhythms are not part of the Investiture itself, they hear it from the Shard. The Rhythms are how Investiture is Commanded. And she just created anti-Voidlight. The two Rhythms sound the same to humans but Listeners and/or Fused can tell the other is unnatural. Navani left, hoping Raboniel would blow herself up by trying to inject Voidlight into the anti-Voidlight sphere and she does! But she survives. Raboniel flips the Raysium of her second non-blown-up dagger so it injects Investiture instead of sucking it out, fills it with anti-Voidlight and kills her daughter with it. (...so is Nightblood made of anti-Investiture?) Raboniel reveals the extent of her manipulation and why she was seeking anti-Light, now she'll look to create anti-Stormlight and kill the Radiants' spren. That. Was. AAAAAWWWEEEEESSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME! Absolute whirlwind! Who said this book doesn't have a Sanderlanche?! This book has multiple Sanderlanches!

https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/transgender-day It's the trans day of remembrance

Hmm... it's not just about celebrating accomplishments but things specific to men's welfare. Higher rates of mental illnesses like depression, suicide. When you are the "default" group, your specific issues and needs might not get enough attention: so men's health. It's also about wars & economics, where men do dominate but also about the societal pressure to conform to societal roles assigned to being a man, you know the drill. And why not celebrate the role men play in our lives? Most soldiers and menial workers are men. Our fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, & friends are men, and we appreciate them. I, as a gay man, am doubly appreciative of men: same team and batting for the same team! It also celebrates trans men. It isn't a reactionary group like straight parade. It's rather funny, a lot of my female friends knew of this day and wished me well. I mostly got this reaction from the guys, if they even knew of it at all. That's something worth noting and talking about too, I feel. The lack of space and language to talk about men's issues.

Happy international men's day, guys! Take care of yourself!

Finally some meat in the epigraphs again! The texts from the eponymous books always take a while to get to the juicy bits! "It would have been so easy if Voidlight and Stormlight destroyed one another. Such a simple answer." Sounds like an interesting individual is writing these. So how do Stormlight and Voidlight interact? Lemme guess, they can be mixed. Things have slowed down in Part 3. This must be what the reviewers were talking about. Part 2 was quite the rush! Felt like an early Sanderlanche. Kal's chapters are still short here, and he's trying his best but reading Kaladin's chapters still got a bit too close for comfort. All of that's pretty accurate and on a relatively more relatable scale than his chapters were in Way of Kings. And yeah I can see why people would get frustrated with his chapters here, that's how it goes. Dalinar is regretting being an absentee father and trying to be close with Gav, the recent friction with Adolin probably didn't help. Ugh, he's starting to get on my nerves. Finally some Renarin time! He's had another vision. Aw, I was hoping to get a Renarin chapter header. Glys can hide within Renarin, which I hadn't initially noticed in OB. He, also points out what Dalinar was beginning to realize, that while Odium agreed to a contest of Champions, he never agreed to a time and can delay indefinitely. Funny how in OB they were trying to get time, that which is dross to gods but the most precious thing men can have, is now against them in a drawn-out conflict against immortals. Renarin is aware his foresight clouds Odium's foresight (like Atium in Mistborn). Renarin and Glys plan to have another Bond a Corrupted / Enlightened spren. Renarin is... a lot wiser than I was expecting him to be. Hmm, he's of all three: Honor, Cultivation and Odium. Okay, Syl isn't depressed, just grieving. Aye, aye spren are people too, they can choose who they want to be. Dabbid to the rescue! Syl agrees that she probably could become a syringe or other tools. Kaladin does a Spiderman impression... or Lift impression. Ah, the skin immune to Full Lashing threw me for a bit before I realized it was talking about Invested beings resisting being affected by foreign Investiture. Huh, the Windrunners are all beginning to stir (I think the same would be true for Bondsmiths, aside from a Bondsmith of the Sibling). Secretspren and Chaosspren, we saw the former in Kholinar, warning of uses of most Radiant Surges, the latter is normally invisible but not with the tower's dampening field, so Venli is free to practice her powers. They found Rlain! Eshonai's first meeting with Dalinar who warns her about humanity. This flashback chapter felt meatier. I think the first Eshonai chapter was heavily edited & cut or written while keeping the readers in mind, that they might get annoyed if it's Eshonai not doing anything plit-relevant, just exploring, living a simple life. But the character focus is back with the plot focus in this chapter. Venli's first meeting with the Rider of Storms and Ulim who was in the gemstone she was given. The Everstorm came from the south, the Nexus of Imagination? Epigraph namedrops the in-world Rhythm of War and mentions someone named El. It's difficult for spren to change their color but Syl managed to make her dress red like a Voidspren. The Sibling begs and pleads with Kaladin to save him as Venli had accidentally realized where the nodes were hidden. It's difficult to sneak about when you're a famous hero, poor Kal. Kaladin eludes Lezian the Pursuer with a little help from Syl and knowledge from prev encounter that Lezian can only store enough Voidlight for three bodyjumps at a time, which he's very frivolous with. As Raboniel counted on, he couldn't attack an unarmed foe, plus there's only two options: destroy the gem to prevent the Corruption but weaken the barrier or fight there alone. Yup, the Sibling is acting kind of like a petulant child and expecting others to die protecting him. Kaladin used the Pursuer's hunting instincts and locked him in one of the Tower's hidden rooms. The Tower dwellers gawk at Kaladin, well he is a hero, a source of hope & he has a certain gravitas. Raboniel is removing either the Stormlight that Navani injected, the Sibling's Light or Voidlight mixed with either Stormlight or the Sibling's Light from the tower's system, Kaladin breaks it & Raboniel lets him escape... Raboniel is a very fascinating character! Oh my god! This chapter! Voidspren in a cremling?... one of the Sleepless? Lirin & Hesina will take care of the unconscious Radiants, I fully expect this will come back to bite the Fused... Hmm, I hope Lirin doesn't do anything regrettable. Venli & Rlain talk, so many feels... Raboniel & non-crazy Fused are rifling through Dalinar's socks (yes, you read that right). Mraize gives something to Raboniel that shocks her, then hands over Lift! We have a term for Cultivationlight! It's Lifelight. The Second Ideal of the Willshapers! "I will seek freedom for those in bondage" Venli's Words are not accepted... by Cultivation herself! Epigraphs mention White Sand from Taldain! Ah, the silly project can be of help here, should've seen that one coming. We now have a term for the Sibling's Light! Towerlight! A mixture of Stormlight & Lifelight. Raboniel wants to create a mixture of Stormlight and Voidlight, but compares them with oil & water, Navani tells her oil & water can be mixed with an emulsifier. The Sibling is still being unreasonable, distrustful, presumptuous & hypocritical and does not want to divulge the location of the other nodes. Have I mentioned I do not like them? Because I don't. Kal & Syl therapy group! Good god, Kaladin's been under so much pressure for so long, the break was doing him good, now this tower occupation and Vyre's Visions. Looks like Dabbid's getting better. Hmm... can Odium look inside the Tower? I don't think he can, Taravangian had to let him in back in OB and he doesn't seem to be paying attention. Or maybe he's bound more tightly to Braize then he wants others to think in general, he's probably expending as little power to watch over as many operations as he can, comfortably, and no more. Though Odium isn't omniscient he should be able to see what's happening in Urithiru & Shadesmar. It's probably easier to see the Physical and he can't see through the Sibling, that must be it. Is that why so many fabrials use ruby? They're the easiest to access as they can breed ruby Gemhearts. Is it just me or could the fabrial flight gloves could be made into effective fabrial cuffs? What slowed down his Stormlight healing? Navani thinks it wasn't the Corruption, was it Raboniel's blade? Chain from the land of the dead (probs just Cognitive Realm)? Is it the same silver chain we saw in Celebrant? It can "anchor a person through Cognitive anomalies"? Who brought it to Shadesmar? Vasher? Nalthis is the world that comes to mind when mentioning Cognitive Anomalies. A Jasnah chapter! Even we as readers expect something inhuman from Jasnah at this point, lol. Her first time being in a war. Jasnah has Plate confirmed. That's true, she'll never know what being an actual soldier is like, it's good that's she's respectful of that and trying to gain some perspective and practice without their forces' distinct advantages. The momentum & maneuvering of battle formations, the... purpose? and imagery is done as beautifully as Way of Kings' first chapter. The final type of Fused we saw in OB: the Magnified Ones, with the Surge of Progression, which let them grow carapace with extreme precision and speed, didn't give their name in their own tongue though. Air Soulcast into oil appearing even inside people's mouths? Shouldn't perception as that being part of one's body + innate Investiture hamper that? Singers attuning Forms are definitely more Invested than normal humans too, yet it's this easy for her? Living Shardplate's as cool as theorised. Wit expressed his point better than Ivory did, but Jasnah wasn't really wrong either, as the Mink puts it: "It’s too easy to forget the cost. Not only to the boys who die, but to the ones who live". One of the Sleepless is working for the Ghostbloods! And skilled enough that their hordeling could mimic a pen and get through Hoid's defenses. minor Dawnshard spoilers They saw Hoid's letters that he'd been sending off-world. Hoid has met Thaidakar before many times. Wow, this chapter blew my mind! Stormlight passing through a prism produces a larger band of blue, Voidlight produces an enormous band of violet while the other colours are mere blips. Towerlight passing through a prism produces white-blue and white-green light from Stormlight and Lifelight but can't be recombined into Towerlight through a second prism. This experiment by Navani proved what was apparently just Raboniel's hypothesis regarding Towerlight. Raboniel wants to combine Stormlight and Voidlight, end the endless conflict, hmm... is she the author of the in-world Rhythm of War? The light Stormlight radiates is just Stormlight radiation. That must be why White Sand on Taldain takes so long to recharge, it's not getting getting much Investiture just Investiture radiation from sunlight. Matter and Anti-Matter, Investiture and... Anti-Investiture! So that's what was in Gavilar's violet-black spheres! It must've exploded when the experimenters put Voidlight in it! Navani thinks the same. Raboniel's daughter is also one of the mindless Fused... Since, Odium's only ever made one group of Singers into the Fused, what is their number? How many as sane? How many are in each Brand? Can you disrupt a Shard's Rhythm? To make it so the Vessel can't access the Shard? Ah, I think I figured out what the Rhythm of War is! I paid attention to the epigraphs this time (I've learned from the original Mistborn trilogy) potential spoilers? The Destruction of Ashyn happened specifically because of Bondsmith Surges? Melishi could also see Connections, no surprise, he had to be able to, he disConnected a whole lot of people. Hmm... if the Stormfather considers the past him, before he merged with Honor's Shadow less alive, less intelligent and he was still so annoying, and the Sibling too was annoying, and the Nightwatcher was specifically Unconnected by Cultivation so she wasn't affected by perception... she's going to be very annoying isn't she? Dalinar sees a reflection of himself in Taravangian. They continue their talk from OB about the why of Taravangian's actions. Taravangian tells him about his visit to the Old Magic (what is Cultivation's plan?) Taravangian does have a point though, he looked at the probabilities and took the path that had the best chance. Dalinar sounds like he wants to believe the worst of Taravangian for his own peace of mind. "the project was ultimately doomed" right after seek to change the form of a god. If it's Raboniel... she didn't succeed? As a Singer who can look into Shadesmar, Venli's going to be more effective in using Transportation than normal Willshapers, I think. Did the escaping Listeners die in the Chasms, it seems a possibility, one I hadn't really considered it before. I don't think Venli can use Voidlight for her Radiant powers, that's connected to her Regal form, and wouldn't Radiancy be blocked by the Tower's reversed defenses? Rlain is also with the fallen Radiants, that's good. Voidlight naturally goes into Gemhearts & enflames emotions, Stormlight naturally spreads across the body and makes one feel energetic, which makes sense as it's tied to ecological processes on Roshar. Ah, Odium put in a filter to control who could get his Investiture, you have to sing the Song of Prayer, and humans can't even hear the Rhythms so. Huh, Venli can use Voidlight as fuel to power her Radiant abilities! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH! Called it! "Listener", "Singer"... Listening to the Rhythms is one thing, Singing them another. The earth of Roshar speaks, eager to allow itself to be shaped by Radiants of the Willshaper or Stoneward Orders, and long, long before them, the Dawnsingers! That is how they created cities, shaped stone into buildings, tools. This was before they Bonded spren. "Old stones remember, new things came from old things", the Radiant ability came after, "new people from old people". There are Stonewards in the Coalition, do the stones not talk to them? Or has it just not been mentioned yet. I think, from what the stones said, that they could do something like this though they probably couldn't hear the pure Rhythms of Roshar, perhaps they simply didn't really try to listen or not of a high enough Ideal. Willshaper spren are around Venli, looking for her Squires. They could make a way out with stone-shaping! Eshonai was also getting jealous of Venli. Eshonai accidentally attracted the spren that she wanted for her mother... First time in Warform! The Rhythm of Honor is associated with Warform, and Workform with the tone of Cultivation. Gravitationspren for Workform and Painspren for Warform. The ten cities came with Shards (of the Plate and Blade variety, not the dietihood variety, and only eight)... so the Listeners left after the False Desolation, during the Recreance. Huh... only a dozen dead as the worst casualty during squabbles over the ten cities... Thude, Melu, I think I remember those names, the latter was also taken by the Fused. Eshonai wants to unite the Listeners, heeding Dalinar's warnings and her own instincts & common sense. Wow, we were told changing Forms is mind-altering, even those that are not one of the Forms of Power but seeing it is another thing. And it's so easy to imagine it happening too. Compared to the Forms of Power, this seems a more natural effect on the mind, I completely understand now why they wouldn't want certain Forms. Navani remembers the ancient three note scale and upon experimenting on them finds that that each note corresponds to one Light, which she still can't get to mix. She also realizes that the Lifelight for her experiments comes from Lift. She persuades the Sibling (who's still very unreasonably difficult to deal with but Navani has experience dealing with & maneuvering difficult people) to reveal the location of another node: the well in the atrium, and finds out that Raboniel is already there. Uh-oh, Raboniel is spying on her somehow, some Voidspren are still invisible maybe? The Sibling had a falling out with humans that made them and Melishi distant, and made it difficult for him to acquire resources to make more nodes. They just naturally produced Towerlight, Navani wonders if that is because Odium's Rhythm is part of the pure tones of Roshar. "the Edgedancer has been surrounded by Ralkalest", they too called it Ralkalest, an indication of where this knowledge came from? The Sibling can feel Venli but doesn't understand why, as this is the first time they've seen a Regal in Envoyform they think that might be it. Navani puts Rlain as a candidate for Bondsmith! Not a human (+100 for the extremely humanphobic Sibling), doesn't make fabrials (another +100 for non-threatening), is a Singer, can hear the Rhythms of Roshar. Hmph, Rlain is nice but Navani is truly worthy, imo. Not that having a Bondsmith is possible right now (they need to touch the crystal pillar) nor will it solve the Towerlight problem. Kaladin uses the flight gloves to mimic the Lashings and fights Lezian, tries to challenge Leshwi to take the pressure off then makes a run for it towards the node and Lezian locks him in the well. He breaks it but the Corruption of the Tower means he can't heal himself with Stormlight at all and begins to drown but swims towards and out of the reservoir into the Highstorm. Dalinar joins the Stormfather in riding the Highstorm! Well, that's a gorgeous scene... Heh, and unlike Navani, he stops taking crem from the Stormfather and rips into him for his unthinking brutality after two helpless trappers are killed in the Highstorm, telling him he's not just a storm and calls him a coward who hides from choices. He also manages to move back in the storm to Urithiru and finds Kaladin clinging, via Connection and saves him, learning what has been happening in the Tower. Bondsmith powers would not have worked at Urithiru, according to the Stormfather (Hmm but Bondsmiths have Adhesion too, and Dalinar's at the same Ideal as Kaladin, though apparently Kaladin is close to the Fourth), Dalinar needs more practice and a higher Ideal. He wants to seek out Ishar! Damn, Raboniel could hear the Sibling and Navani's conversations from the veins of garnet from the very beginning and played them both.

Books like this are rare We're happy to have you here with us, Chris

Welcome to the Shard!

Welcome to the Shard! Is the Way of Kings your first Sanderson book? You might want to reconsider joining us for a bit! There are so many spoilers here! But hey, the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive series just released, so you'll have plenty to read!

Welcome to the Shard! Welcome to the Shard! And we look forward to it! I believe that was Harakeke

Overcoming obstacles, facing adversities, perseverance. I'm thinking it's a synonym to @Pagerunner's idea for a Shard: Tribulation. As for the method of initiation into their Invested Art, (and it is the method of initiation that depends on the Shard's Intent not the magic's effects) I'm turning towards the same idea. I can't help but think of people facing challenges & tests to be granted access to Valor's Invested Art.

Okay, now onto the end of Part 2 interludes! It's nice to see Khen again and she's doing well. She seems to have gotten attached to Moash. We see Moash's nihilism again. Moash still feels for Kaladin, though it has been twisted by Odium. Honorblades do seem inferior to Shardblades so far. iirc Brandon said Honorblades don't need 10 heartbeats, it's just perception that makes it so. Odium is now also gunning for Kaladin. Vyre and Odium plan to give Kaladin Visions to break him, through the former's Connection to him. Hmm... this emotion consuming thing of Odium feels similar to Allomantic emotion dampening plus sensing which emotions his followers are feeling, is also possible with emotional Allomancy. I don't think he's consuming emotions in any way but something similar to what we saw in Mistborn. Odium is about Passion, Sja-Anat saw this, as Odium and Rayse had a split in their thinking. Rayse told her to stop questioning him, but Odium encourages such disagreements. We saw this back in Thaylen City as well. So those heightened emotions of Forms of Power / Regals might just be like Rioting version and giving one's emotions to Odium kind of like Soothing. Lift interlude, part of this was released early, like the Syl interlude. Lift had gone to the Nightwatcher to ask to not change, she always wanted to be her mother's little girl. Her Boon was granted by Cultivation but she's still growing (wouldn't granting her original Boon that go against Cultivation's Intent anyway?). I look forward to her flashbacks in Book 6. Wyndle said that the Nightwatcher is not Connected to the people of Roshar and isn't influenced by their perception. Wyndle seems to wonder if Lift converts food to Stormlight at all or if she converts it into Cultivationlight. We still don't know what exactly Lift got from Cultivation but we do know what she can do: convert food into Light to fuel Surgebinding but she doesn't seem to be able to use Stormlight from spheres; she also exists partially in the Cognitive. So she can see and interact with spren far more easily and slip into Visions. Lift has noticed "strange cremlings", seems Arclo is keeping an eye on her, as the other Sleepless weren't, according to him. Oh! Mraize & his Aviar killed the Bondmate of another Aviar but Lift saved the bird itself. Lift and Wyndle weren't knocked unconscious by what Raboniel did to the Tower. Lift couldn't use Abrasion but managed to overcome the block on Progression (this Surge must be to Cultivation what Adhesion is to Honor). Mraize is now hunting Lift. Who was the dead man with the Aviar? A Worldhopper presumably but why was he targeted by Mraize? Did he betray the Ghostbloods or was he from a different group? Two groups have access to the Aviar? His body looked different than how Lift remembered him looking, a Lightweaving magic from off-world? The Aviar ability? Congratulations to those who correctly guessed Taravangian as the main interlude character! I have to say, Taravangian's Boon and Curse are absolutely poetic: intellect or compassion but never both together. Today was a day of compassion. Again with the posturing, Rayse seems to like appearing grand, maybe he'd have been even better suited to the Shard of megalomania. And Taravangian noticed it. He baits Odium into showing off Fortune again! Looks like having Dalinar as his Champion was really, really integral to his plans. His complex plan fell to shambles. Renarin blocks Odium's sight, Taravangian's future is clouded by Renarin too! Ha! He saw that Odium is afraid of Nightblood Huh, Odium intends to continue using the Singers after taking Roshar. Because of their capacity to listen to the Rhythm and their gemhearts, I assume. They would make good troops. Shards are bound by oaths, the Veden simply expected rewards and did not make a deal. Do the Shin or Iriali have a deal? Taravangian saw that Odium had a wound or a sickness or something. Is that why he's called the Broken One? All of Kaladin's hardships, all of the things he's survived, they're not just his weaknesses, they're his strengths. This is in display as he flees with Teft. The Sibling also helped him hide. First flashback chapter! Ten ancient Singer cities near the Shattered Plains... what became the Highprinces' warcamps? There are multiple Listener families living as separate tribes at this time. Looks like Venli was jealous of her sister's freedom, not her sister herself. Eshonai wanted to not be tied down by her family, leaving Venli kinda alone and responsible. Venli does want power though, but who doesn't? She grew up on the songs of her people's lost Forms. Raboniel further tempts Navani and gets more information than she gives. Oh... the Soulcasters are spren, taking that form rather than that of a Shardblade! Kaladin is receiving Visions from Vyre. Lift could be of great help here as she's slipped into Visions before. The Sibling was always secretive and did not appear to humans, according to Syl. Can they even appear separate from the Tower? Dalinar used Connection to see parts of Nale's past and see the Connections joining the Heralds that comprise the Oathpact. Eight lines of light, with one still vibrant, which two are gone? Jezrien? Is the other one Battar, who's purportedly much more stable-seeming and came to Kharbranth to warn of the coming Desolation? Is it Ishar? He and Jezrien were the ones who knew the most about Realmatics according to Shalash. His Honorblade had the power of the Bondsmiths. Also, I still can't be mad at Nale for killing Radiants, knowing what the Heralds have been through for millenia. Seems like the Heralds might have inhuman reflexes, or at least Taln and Nale do. Ah, we saw why the Alethi had thought the Chasmfiends were Listener gods. Gavilar's interested in their songs of remembrance from the False Desolation and looking for the central ruin of the Shattered Plains, the city of Stormseat. Ah, sounds like the... Hog we saw in Sheler interlude was a Greatshell after all, it also reminded me of the Marabethian Greatshell Sigzil talked about so that was my first impression anyway. The Listeners didn't even know anyone survived the False Desolation. Wow the Sibling is pretty humanphobic. Humans should die to protect them but they don't want to fight with humanity against the same enemy! The spren really are just afraid of death aren't they? Death was something that happened to other people, now after the Recreance, it isn't. Ah, Mraize has captured Lift and put her in an aluminium lined box. The Sibling also seems to hint that she uses a different Light. So that's why Re-Shephir was in the crystal pillar room. The Tower's actual name is Ur? (I like it, very Mesopotamian! It came to be called Urithiru during the Silver Kingdoms. I keep forgetting how long ago the Heraldic Epochs were, mad respect to the Heralds for withstanding for that long!). Ah, the barrier works by the principles of Soulcasting, making air act solid like glass. The Sibling lost the Rhythm of their Light during the Recreance when the Singers were stripped of Connection and Identity, so they couldn't access their Investiture anymore (but they started withdrawing way before, from Melishi sharing his plans?). All Lights have Rhythms. Now the Rhythm and Light of Odium Corrupts them (could they become of all three? That would be interesting!) The Sibling can't see the whole tower anymore, but the Radiants act as nodes and let him see. A detailed explanation of the three Windrunner Lashings! Basic Lashing to change the direction (and intensity) of gravitation of infused target (sounds like one could also crush someone to the ground with it, not just throw them into the air), Full Lashing to bind or stick infused objects together, seems to work using atmospheric pressure (and Khriss agrees), Reverse Lashing: infuse something to attract (specific) objects towards it. It requires Command and visualization. Hmm... sounds like Awakening is really close to the fundamentals. Dawnshard spoilers Actually, with fabrials using metals, it seems we are delving into the fundamentals of Cosmere magic faster than we expected. Same goes for the Rhythms, which seems to be a... Metamagic, so to speak. Changing the Rhythm of something. Do Soothing and Rioting work by influencing the Rhythms of emotions then... Hmm... Dawnsingers, Singers, Listeners... Listening to the Rhythms of something versus singing a Rhythm or shaping/altering a Rhythm... Rothfuss' Naming magic gave me the idea. Gods, if this is true... that would be absolutely splendid! I mean, the Rhythms can encourage plant growth with a little Stormlight and the Rhythms called forth the Everstorm from Shadesmar. Colors are probably also as Cosmere-wide as metals judging by things that Brandon has said in the past plus what we've been told so far regarding gemstones in this book. The difference between colours probably doesn't come into play in Awakening due to Endowment making all colours equally usable (and from a writing perspective because Brandon doesn't want to go back and retcon, as per himself) Reverse Lashing also had a block, like Progression (...or to be more specific, Regrowth, now that I think about it) but like Lift, Kaladin overcame it and made it work. Navani contacts Kaladin via the veins of garnet. Hmm... I don't think the reversed protections are just affecting Stormlight users, it's affecting the very Surges, otherwise Adhesion would not be usable either and Lift still would've been able to use Abrasion with Cultivationlight, besides the Sibling uses their own Light not Stormlight. Voidlight spanreeds presumably using Voidspren or Corrupted spren. As for the Oathgate working with Voidlight, we Oathgate spren (who look like gigantic Inkspren and Reachers) can be Corrupted in OB. Hmph Dalinar the monarchist strikes again, ah, thank you, Jasnah! Dalinar is suspicious of what's happening in Urithiru, thank goodness. Oof, Ruthar gets a dressing down. Another reminder of the kind of person Dalinar was, killing people at feasts over perceived insults. Navani, Adolin, apparently Dalinar too think of Jasnah high on a pedestal. As we saw in OB, the awakened Parshmen got a Connection to their land, affected by perception. They are Alethi, they are Azish. They are warlike, they are bureaucratic. Venli wants to run, anticipating using the Radiant counterattack. If they do get free from both humanity and the Fused, where would they even settle? Back to the Frostlands, in ancient Natanatan? Leshwi, Lezian, Raboniel are hogging the screen, where are the Fused we saw in Oathbringer? Where's Turash whom Odium called an old friend in Thaylen City? Hnanan who gave Vyre the dagger? Hariel who took over Demid's body? Oh, Venli and Eshonai's mother got dementia, that's sad. Hoping that if you don't think about a problem, it will eventually go away on its own, how relatable. Who is Axindweth? That name sounds strange. Hmm... she probably doesn't actually know the Listener language and just using Connection. Lezian didn't tell Raboniel that Kaladin was still conscious, he has Kaladin's family. Venli found out & plans to tell Leshwi. Timbre can... suppress Venli's ability to attune to the Rhythms somehow? Then again she managed to capture a Regal Voidspren in a Gemheart. I like Timbre, she's bringing out the best in Venli. Ah, confirmation that the Reachers have decided to not Bond humans (and try Bonding Singers). Wait... can the Sibling sense Venli? She's a Radiant too. Hmm she's still on her First Ideal, I think. Is her Regal Form / Form of Power preventing them from sensing her? Timbre trusts Leshwi? She caught Venli humming to an older Rhythm not of Odium!

Bet Whimsy is last on the list, lol

Okay, as of Part 2 Part 3

Some thought it was Soulcasting, me and some others thought it was Cohesion. Part 2 spoilers

Zu, Godeke and the Stump are being well-characterized, as are their spren, same goes for Beryl. The Mink was well-characterized too, from what we saw of him in Part 1. We are not as familiar with them, as they are new. Adolin and Shallan feel the same about them and the dynamics between the characters work. Vathah and Ishnah got greater depth here too. I think the large host of new characters is being managed quite well, contrary to some reviews. All of the Three feel like real people but she/they? are beginning to acknowledge that they are all one person, a coping mechanism, especially Veil and Radiant. Kaladin's chapters are completely character-focused in Part 2 but don't feel unnecessary at all. No parts of the plot feel stretched. It's all on point. The pacing is excellent. Only thing is it feels different from the other three books, more equally shared between different characters: it feels like it belongs to Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin, Navani and Venli. Way of Kings felt like Kaladin's book: past & present, sure he shared it with Shallan and Dalinar & Adolin but it was his. Words of Radiance opened up the can of worms that is Shallan but also felt like a continuation of Kaladin's book, with a bit of Dalinar and Adolin. Oathbringer was very much Dalinar's book but shared with Kaladin & Shallan, sprinkled with bits from the other characters. Here, no one person dominates. And that fits with the theme too, because of course it does. It's hilarious how loftily Shallan, Adolin and Navani think of Jasnah. Wow, the Starspren look absolutely gorgeous on the Cognitive side... but not as gorgeous as Adolin *wink* . Gallant is best horse. Adolin is best boy. Maya is best girl. Why are the Tukari fanatics attacking... Honorspren? Adolin can be terrifying, just like his father. Excuse me, what the-? Pattern is the spy? Please tell me Formless is the spy, that would be more comforting at this point! No, Pattern can't be the spy! I think Pattern was just going along with Shallan there. Pattern knows Shallan, he was there when Re-Shephir tried to separate them, he offered to let Shallan kill him so she could Bond a different Cryptic! What if it's one of the Edgedancers? Godeke's beliefs sounded very close to Adonalsium. Ah, challenging the honor of the Honorspren, I did see this one coming as the opening move. I have to say, this is Navani's second experience in nation-building. She's just as worthy, if not more, of being a Bondsmith as Dalinar. Urithiru's tunnels are protected by... Ralkalest. The Fused call aluminium Ralkalest? Did they learn of it from the Selish? The Sibling sleeps, as reported by the Midnight Mother (whom I look forward to seeing again!). The Sibling's protection still affects the Masked Ones' illusions at least. I don't think the Sibling is quite a Deadeye but even if they were, after seeing Maya... Hesina is quite multi-talented, I must say. Lirin is appreciating his son's pioneering into mental illnesses. Kaladin realizes doctors need to be able to read, without upsetting social mores, and he might just be able to bring that change too. Revolutionize medicine entirely. Kaladin also realizes and acknowledges that he himself is also getting better. Navani's critic was taking advantage of Dabbid, that's just wrong. Wait, is Raboniel Soulcasting type Fused then after all? A spear turned to dust upon touching her. Hmm we need to see red eyes of Radiants to compare them to the red eyes of the Fused and Singers with Voidspren in their gemhearts. Wait, Red who's a Lightweaver now, his eyes are now violet instead of red... garnets, the Lightweavers' associated gemstone, do come in many colours Raboniel successfully reached the pillar of a thousand gemstones at the heart of Urithiru and began Corrupting it. The Sibling would not just be of Honor and Cultivation anymore, but of also Odium. The Sibling's own light: white-red-green tried to resist but violet light still entered eventually into the garnets. Lots of rubies (for conjoined fabrials) and garnets in this book. The Tower's suppression effect was turned against the Radiants, making them collapse. Navani's critic was the Sibling all along... not dead, not asleep. The Radiants who're still conscious can apparently still take in Stormlight but not use the Surges. Adhesion still works. It affects the spren too, making them fade a bit. Kaladin and Syl fought through it due to how similar it felt to the darkness in their own mind. It affects spanreed too somehow. The invasion now begins. Did the weird Voidlight sphere explode? Or were they attacked by the Fused? Veins of garnet along the strata of Urithiru allowed communication with the Sibling. Spren-Radiant distance limit has shrunken with the spren starting to fade sooner. Stormlight isn't healing at full capacity, spren can't assume Shardblade forms (or change forms between spren and blade in general perhaps). Kaladin seems to think there's a mental aspect to the suppression, and yeah, I think he's right. The last time too, with Moash, it seemed similar emotions overwhelmed Kaladin. Huh, I bet Lift wouldn't be affected by the suppression effect! Maybe Renarin too! But they are oft forgotten. Hmm... more meritocratic promotions in the Alethi army. Haha, can't call a Darkeyes "Brightlord", they're not Lighteyes. The Soulcasters aren't working either but that was expected. I imagine the Darkeyed battalionlord is not gonna survive this but he's cool, there will be a price to pay in men's lives if they want to retake the pillar room. Hmm... crisis is when social mores are forgotten, the masculine and feminine arts and eye colour caste might come back again in peacetime though. Momentum is very important, so I agree with the decision, barricading themselves wouldn't work with the Fused powers and who knows what the other Fused would do to them if they surrender, not all are as honorable as the Heavenly Ones? "You were supposed to think I was dead. Everyone was supposed to think I was dead ..... No, the voice said. I really was asleep. Until … a Bondsmith. I felt a Bondsmith. But the tower is not functional, and I have not the Light to restart it." A Bondsmith! Is he referring to Dalinar? Or... The Sibling chose to go dormant? Light... Syl said Urithiru was filled with a strange Light. It glows differently in the Cognitive and in the crystal pillar. It's own Light? Cultivationlight? "You know too much, the Sibling said. It makes me uncomfortable. You know and do things that weren’t possible before ..... What you do is dangerous and evil, the Sibling said. Those ancient Radiants gave up their oaths because they worried they had too much power—and you have gone far beyond them. Hmm... I'm starting to wonder about the Sibling's role in the Recreance. The Sibling is afraid of Raboniel! She did invade Urithiru before. And she had also apparently unleashed a deadly plague with little regard for consequences to even the Singers. The Sibling confirms that those more Invested like Radiants with higher Ideals, like the Unmade in the past, could get past it's defenses. He calls Adhesion "Honor's truest Surge, the Surge of Binding and Oaths" and confirms it might still work. What would be the Surge closest to Cultivation? Progression? Would that Surge still work? Or is it perhaps Transformation? "Long ago, before I banished men from these halls, my last Bondsmith made me something. A method of protecting me from the dangers I saw in men. He thought it would help me trust again. It did not" so Melishi was Sibling Bondsmith confirmed. He was the last Bondsmith, during the False Desolation, when the Sibling was withdrawing from humanity. Later confirmed by name, "Melishi I have hated you, but now I bless you" when Melishi's fail-safe protected the Sibling from Raboniel. Lezian the Pursuer wants to kill Kaladin while he's weakened but as we saw before, Kaladin can still fight. Raboniel has been granted her own Rhythm... What are the Rhythms? In Sja-Anat's interlude, she mentioned the pure notes of Roshar, of the Rhythms of the three Shards. The Everstorm also has a Rhythm. She wants to... take over the Coalition's Artifabrians. Kaladin is still protecting those who cannot protect themselves, whether he fights or not. Kaladin was also himself a slave and as a Darkeyes never owned Parshmen. He never benefitted from the system but it's an entire people's anger. Heh, people are taking the chance to steal some spheres, of course they are, lol. Hah! Lightning rods and water to counter Regals in Stormform! Hmm... a topaz, is it going to mimic one of the Stonewards Surges, Cohesion perhaps? We need a table on which gemstones are used in which manner within fabrials. "An infused gemstone touched to an uninfused one could be made to lend some of its Stormlight—assuming they were the same variety, and the uninfused gemstone was much larger than the infused ones. It worked a little like a pressure differential. A large empty vessel would take Stormlight from small full vessels." Heh, you tell em Navani! Keeping trade secrets at a time like this! So the Thaylens make the gemstones vibrate at a certain frequency using a tuning fork (Rhythms again?) to bypass the gem size limitation in transferring Stormlight. Hmm... it looks similar to a Radiant sucking in Stormlight? Do Radiants have a Rhythm too? Is that why specific Orders were associated with specific gemstones. (minor Dawnshard spoilers) Ah, Vyre, that answers the question of who's operating the Oathgates. Poor Rlain, a part of both worlds but belonging to neither. Other Listeners did survive, Rlain! Hah, a Listener remembers what the Fused seem to have forgotten, Odium came with humans and attacked the Singers first before humanity turned to Honor and Singers to Odium. Syl is falling to depression too... Sapphire and glass sphere (quartz aka smokestone? Hmm.. probably not, gemstones are encased in glass spheres to be used as currency after all, so this one is probably... neutral) and cage of unknown metal, what was this failsafe fabrial? The Sibling confirms that it's the colour of gemstones that matter, though we already knew from WoBs. Ah, they also just confirmed that the Unmade were other spren before they were Corrupted, though Sja-Anat's comment of "we were made, then Unmade" already hinted at it back in OB. Hmm... Raboniel needs to fill certain types of gemstones with Voidlight in a certain pattern. Where did she learn of this? Heh, I called it, the Darkeyed battalionlord was gonna die here. He and his men fought tenaciously and skillfully in a suicidal charge. They'd have made truly worthy Stonewards. I do not like the Sibling, he's as callous as the Stormfather was. Ah, the Stormlight is countering the Voidlight. So the Stormfather distributes Stormlight / Honor's Light, the Nightwatcher must produce Cultivationlight and the Sibling produces their own Light, Sibling's Light: a mix of Honor and Cultivation. Raboniel is a treasure trove of information! She thinks the Sibling is still asleep. Ah, Melishi's failsafe created a solid Stormlight barrier, the Corruption could still continue if they reached the sapphire that Navani infused with Stormlight but breaking the gemstone apparently takes care of that, just weakening the shield. Navani now surrenders. I don't think Dalinar and Jasnah would be able to come to their aid, I think Navani would have to somehow reverse the effects on the Radiants, and come to theirs. Oh hello again Ulim. Curious to see if you Bond and grant Voidbinding! Raboniel is eager to meet Navani. It's unsettling how often dead soldiers are younger than I am now. Hmm I think this section was well-handled. The philosophical weight of lives. Balancing honoring sacrifices, acknowledging the existence of national pride at said sacrifices and not glorifying war. This section reminded me of Goradel in the original Mistborn trilogy, and the execution lines & Karata in Elantris. Navani compares the Fused and the Alethi in war. Raboniel tempts Navani with just the right words. Lirin once again compares living under Lighteyes and the Singers and says it makes little difference. He's got a point but without fabrials, Urithiru isn't going to stay habitable for long. Without Urithiru and the Oathgates, the Coalition is not going to last. It'll be a divide and conquer. How is Kaladin still conscious? Willpower? He's still not a Fourth Ideal Radiant. Since he isn't unconscious, the Singers won't be able to identify him as a Radiant unless Lezian or Leshwi or Vyre see him. Kaladin is starting to see Lirin's point and not happy about it. He's been helping, healing, doing good and it felt good to do so but he also wants to fight for what he believes in. Lirin is just as stubborn as Kaladin. Hmm... Teft is much less insensate than the other Radiants like the Stonewards and Edgedancers. One of the Windrunners' Surges is working so Kaladin is starting to wonder about that. All the Stonewards, Lightweavers, Edgedancers, presumably Dustbringers and the few Truthwatchers were all knocked out. Oh, almost forgot to notice, the Stonewards (predictably) also have Squires. Kaladin can't help but be the big, damn hero! So many of the poor Singers were drafted into this war with no other options. This scene hammered it home better than the Kholins' talk of unblooded Singers & Regals, just as well as Venli's talk of Fused propaganda which worked because everyone is familiar with that irl, and this one worked because of how personal this scene was. Heh, Lirin could be a Windrunner or Edgedancer too, always trying to save everyone, even those who try to hurt him. Kaladin thinks how killing a Fused just means they'll take over a new body. Lirin can do triage but can he prioritize? Is it just his integrity for swearing an oath as a healer or is healing is his sanctuary... curious, what's Lirin and Hesina's past? Did he just call his own son a monster?! Does he not see? Screw this guy! This book is beautiful so far. I was expecting a book of consequences, a mix of an after-the-war and prelude to another war, of rising tensions and race to have the most resources. And it is all that but it is also a full on war book. I really don't see what the mixed reviews suggested I would see. And everything is moving so fast! Things I was expecting to see in Part 5, things I was expecting to see in Book 5, things I was expecting to see in the back 5 books and things I was expecting to see in the next Mistborn era are all already right here! My only complaint is that, at least so far, Rhythm of War feels as much a Listener's book as Words of Radiance or Oathbringer. It still works, especially working with the foundations that those books set but it doesn't feel as weighty in their focus character yet. Hopefully that would change soon, as we haven't even had a flashback chapter yet. And that changes in Part 3.

What about Mercy? I agree with Paleo & Pagerunner that the Wisdom/survival/hiding Shard is the same, possibly the same as the one not on a planet, So counting: Ambition, Devotion, Dominion, Honor, Cultivation, Odium, Endowment, Preservation, Ruin, Autonomy, Invention, Whimsy, Mercy, Valor, that leaves two Shards unknown to us.

Haha, Sanderson strikes again! Welcome to the Shard!

For those who're curious but haven't found it yet, here you go: It's at the 3:5:20 mark Hmm... delicate metal work embellishments, are the spacesuits Shardplate? The burning on contact could be the Surge of Division but it could also be a Brassmind perhaps. The launchpad is made entirely out of steel, the main spacecraft is in orbit. That sounds like mechanical Allomancy but could also be a fabrial. Decreasing weight by Feruchemy would also be useful. Feruchemy allows tapping Connection for language, they are probably using that as well. Huh, lots of people with Eelakin names are in the Mainland companies, makes sense I suppose, but I expected far fewer. First of the Sun now has electricity and modern industry & machinery (that rely on the Ones Above in one way or another) and medicine but oh no... Kokerlii is dead! The Ones Above waited before distributing medicine. Another Aviar ability: sounds like it allows one to see light outside of the visible spectrum. There's also security Aviar, no idea what ability they grant though. Also an error in the beginning: the First of the Sun natives did find out that the Ones Above were human already: when one of them (supposedly) choked on food and died. There's another group of visitors from another world here. They're wearing... a seamless metal suit, that sounds even more like Shardplate, but more sleek & modern. It's glowing "violet-blue", later expanded to "sky blue and deep violet" (Willshaper? Elsecaller? Windrunner? Skybreaker? Multi-Order or mixed with Voidbinding like Renarin? [RoW spoilers] Also, something to keep in mind: not all cultures had names for all colours irl). They're tall, like Rosharans. A glyph like a bird in flight... that sounds like a few of the Radiant Order glyphs but can't narrow it down more. So the Ones Above are Scadrians? [Mistborn + Stormlight incl RoW spoilers] And the Rosharans are acting at cross-purposes with them. Sixth thinks this man is not human, which could be true, not all Rosharans are humans. This could be a Singer in Envoyform to speak their language. "You have only one gem with which to bargain", heh, definitely Rosharan. So, a Knight Radiant, are they policing space or something? That would still have been in their own interests, maintaining power & monopoly, ah, nope, they are outright conquering other planets, competing with the Scadrians. Scadrians are expanding, with various vassal worlds, ooh! "Elevations & status" huh... sounds like some Vorin things might've survived till the space age. That escalated fast! Oh my god, Shardguns are a thing (what will the bullets be made of?) or is that a fabrial, but then how did it manifest from nowhere? What was that pack? Bullets or Investiture to power the Shardgun or both? Hmm... asking about laws, could be a Skybreaker. He seems to be using the Surge of Gravitation. "This alien arrived without a ship but didn't seem to need one to travel the stars. He had flown down from the sky under the power of, he assumed, his strange and magnificent armour." I don't think these are like humans and Singers, Honor aligned and Odium aligned, as the second alien seems to confirm they're from different worlds. Though I suppose if Roshar and Braize were being counted as different or something... and the steel platform could be a fabrial thing than mechanical Allomancy but I'm going with the simplest explanation on this First of the Sun has to choose between the two alien overlords... Sak showed Dusk a decades aged Vathi's corpse dressed in the uniform of the Ones Above, decorated with patches and award medals. The most prominent patch reads "Vathi, Colonial Governor of the occupied planet, First of the Sun", others for valor, for putting down rebellions. Also interestingly, Vathi's Aviar, Mirris could sense Sak's visions. Haha, Dusk doesn't recognize the medallion of the first man to explore Patji, the interaction between them is funny and so them. Dusk wants to find other weaker Shardworlds (their own system has others!) and join forces. He intends to do so via "the Darkness", the Cognitive Realm. They've sent expeditions into the Perpendicularity before too, none returned. So, their Cognitive Realm is hazardous, it's not just the Silverlight scholars stumbling straight into Patji from the Cognitive Realm and getting attacked by the mind-hunting creatures.

Brandon reads from the Liar of Partinel here: around the 1:30:00 mark It's from a later part of the book than was shared previously in the Word doc