Elwynn

Okay...let's try this again. It's docx, so let's see. edit: I must be doing something really dumb, lol. I'll just go ahead and email it to you. Post it for me? And maybe a pm saying what you did so I can just follow along in the future? edit 2: It's sent. Let me know if I'm also email incompetant.

Well I transcribed it best I could. Really chilling. I've never attached anything to a post before...so hopefully this works. edit: well that certainly didn't work. How do you attach a word document? Or would it be easier if I just emailed it to someone and they can modify/convert it however they like so it actually works? About to eat dinner, I'll check back later to see if I should just email it to someone.

Not me either, just thought I would post and ask to see if we would have anything from it. Going crazy over SA2, and after reading those tweets from you guys.... Just post the audio, I'll transcribe the whole darn thing before the weekend is over, nothing but time this weekend. Dying to hear it for myself after reading the tweets.

Is anybody going to that tonight? There's always another secret...that we can pester out of him with endless questions about the cosmere and upcoming books! Kidding of course, BS is amazingly informative to us, always giving us great tidbits to think on for a while...so anybody going to be there?

Yup, I got that same thing. Had to re-edit to get rid of it. Weird.

I'd like to see Jasnah get the picture of a voidbringer to Dalinar with just a telegraph. Just finished reading...you addressed that. Just the first thing that popped to mind when I started reading the thread. edit: cause I have an ichty trigger finger

Ya, that's the one thing that makes me doubt it's the black sphere. He was always talking about being honorable and the Way of Kings, I can see how that could be something he let slip. Especially when taken with the 2nd quote below, what was he going to do with the sphere, try to soulcast it maybe (fabrial wise)? But how does something like that slip out when you haven't told your closest allies? On the other hand, he was noticeably different to everyone...always talking of honor and the book. Just listened again, killed him..."in a desperate gambit to stop the parshendi gods from returning. Well...that hadn't worked out." "if he had lived to do what he told them that night, all would have been lost." are the quotes she says about him. Listening to the first quote, it's BS that stresses that word, and it's hard not to draw the conclusion that the parshendi gods returned anyways. Which seems slightly contradicted by the second quote, but... Something cool to consider with the quotes above? When Szeth murders Gavilar... Too late for what? So maybe he was talking about the Ghostbloods or something he was going to do in regards to them that set the parshendi off. So Szeth is too late, Gavilar has already done something...which coincides with the assassination failing to fully prevent Gavilar from bringing back the parshendi gods, which would match up with the first quote from the new reading.

It was indeed a very cool reading. I'm far more curious about their old gods than stormform, since it could be/lead to so many different things, but... Gavilar was going to do something that would bring back the parshendi gods? Big question is why you would hate or fear the return of your own gods. Probably is the unmade/voidbringers/something that puts them on the wrong side of the desolation, and I think you are probably spot on about the dark sphere (voidlight sphere) he gave to Szeth being the trigger. Only...he never even told his brother or the other Alethi about the sphere. So what if Gavilar had started sharing his fascination with 'The Way of Kings' with the parshendi? Since his own people obviously didn't think much of him becoming so intrigued by it (even his own brother), perhaps he reached out to the parshendi and shared the book and his feelings about it with them. Well that would lend some credence to the heralds or even radiants being their 'old gods', but only thing I can think of that they would fear from their return is the betrayal of the KR, or another desolation. I don't know...just listened, haven't thought about it much. My prediction from the new info: Eshonai and Dalinar do start talking about things, maybe making strides towards a peace effort...and then the assassin in white (Szeth) shows up to kill Dalinar and the Alethi naturally assume it was the Parshendi again. Things would devolve quickly from there, but right now that is what I see happening. Definitely going to think about the old gods and gavilar quite a bit more though.

That is pretty interesting...especially when you think about 'Starfalls' chapter with female Radiant talking about fighting changing you, even fighting against the ten deaths. She also says this just prior to that...'...all who can fight are needed, and all who have a desire to fight should be compelled to come to Alethela. I read that as a link to Thrill as well. Alethi genetic trait left over from the radiants maybe?

Yes, it was indeed mentioned on the first page.

That's kind of what I thought would be happening ever since BS said it was sort of a two part 5-book sequence. I always thought they'd be uniting and thinking they're fighting the desolation when end the end of the 5th book rolls around and they realize things aren't what they thought...the real problem shows up.

Visions are heresy, at least to the Vorin nations, because of the Sunmaker discovering there were no visions when the Ardents used that claim in the Hierocracy, trying to take over everything. (Another Byzantine reference!) Still remains to be seen whether the Sunmaker made up that claim or not, considering Dalinar is receiving visions. Would be interesting if Honor was warning them that long ago.

Have to chime in and recommend these books. Extremely good books, probably the best written first person pov I've ever read besides Rothfuss, but they are so drastically different it's hard to say. Kvothe tickles the beauty out of things when you're in his head. Jorg stabs you in the face with sharp awesomeness. The Builder's reveal is one of those easter egg type things that just makes you look at everything differently. The clues are there...pay attention! I couldn't stop smiling and going...Wow!...for a while after the red castle events. *WARNING* This book has some serious graphic references. However, they aren't graphic descriptions of these things...just pretty twisted references to acts and actions. For anyone who has read Dan Wells...this is like being in the head of John Wayne Cleaver...except Jorg thrives in it instead of holding back. But all is not as it seems! Extremely good character arc across the first two books. Okay. Rant over. Really, really good books.

People love the Heralds. Somewhere out west, can't remember where offhand, they worship Jezrien instead of the Almighty. Remember, everyone on Roshar thinks the Heralds helped them win the last desolation, chasing the Voidbringers off Roshar and taking the war to the Tranquiline Halls. Alethi men fight to win a place by the Heralds side when they die. Oddly enough, it seems everyone in the Vorin nations are still devout. Though the church itself has been stripped bare. No power allowed, only allowed to serve their highprince. But still seem to manipulate behind the scenes a la the ardent Dalinar spoke to about insulting the visiting dignitary.

Ah, see...that's what I get for skimming. Sorry about that. Carry on, carry on.

Very incorrect. At least it would seem so. Read the back of the dust jacket. There's also honor's quote and the epigraph referring to shards being a part of people's soul, and returning it to how it was. Makes more sense when taken along with dust jacket, but seems to be a power unto itself that we haven't seen.

I usually wait to post until I can read several chapters together, I’m not someone who can evaluate early chapters entirely on their own. So I’ll do all three here. Prologue: Pretty boring to me, mostly because of the beginning, followed by a repetitive fight. The memories within the fight are very interesting though, as is Krathsteel itself. Loving that angle, the blades alive with their own memories. I found the idea of dying with the Fire in you being something so threatening a friend would kill someone close to them over, very engaging. I foresee some really tense moments in a close contest to the death. Attributing the blades to a creator, and not named for some material or area they come from was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting some sort of special mineral/area that specialized and held a monopoly on their construction. i.e the Emperor. I also enjoyed the acclimation to the climate the people have made, living underground for long periods of time could make for good setting and limited environment, especially if things get heated while everyone is in enclosed spaces. Swearing on their blades seemed a little cliché, but I’m rather interested at this point where it will take these characters. I love long term vengeance plots. Chapter 1: Pretty good. Short and sweet, though the action sequences are still pretty bland to me. Rank and file, non-explosive sort of reaction for me; which kills the tension. Just back and forth, Dalen seems extremely good for facing a similarly trained, elder warrior than himself, even though he supposedly worries about it in his own head…he goes on to dominate the fight. Stringing it out when he didn’t even have to. Loved Ganril showing up at the end—under cover it would seem. I’m gathering at this point Lan and Gan had a bit of a fallout and Gan is none too pleased. Very interest with where that will go. Though pretty short, mostly focusing on the fighting, I thought it set up the coming events of the first quarter or so of the book pretty well. I would really like at least some development of setting, the location of where they are, beyond a vague notion of some northern/southern arctic day-night cycles. We get nothing on the city, the mansion?/castle?/house? Not even a descriptive bearing on where the fight is taking place. A gaping hole in my interest in the chapter, nothing to really get me into the setting of the story. Chapter 2: Again, pretty good. I like the Purifier role, and Aiden’s conflict of caring too much. Dalen’s illness is a little bit of a surprise, but I like it. Coupled with Aiden caring deeply, it could either be a good ploy by Dalen or an interesting backstory. Rough society you’re setting up, though tying it with religion is sound, be careful to remember the differences in attitude as you switch viewpoints. It’s a great opportunity for some distinctive voices in the characters. Rasoa seems stiff, though admittedly we don’t get much of her here, so my opinion is open to change on her. Everyone seems to want to care about others, and Rasoa obviously sees it in Aiden the way she tries to reiterate their beliefs, but the guards cared, and then Aiden cares, it already seems unsustainable that an entire culture could keep up this façade with so many rebelling openly against it. We don’t know how long they’ve kept these beliefs, but know that you can’t hold down an entire people like that more than a couple generations, not when everyone openly wears a deviant attitude like that. The lower classes would very quickly begin to confide in each other and it all breaks down from there. I’m divided on the assassin in the castle. A snake in the nest is often exciting to read, but you have Gan hiding from Lan in the castle (that’s what I gathered anyway), and an assassin also hiding from Lan as well as hiding from his target Gan. A little convoluted so early on, but that’s not saying I’m not open to some clarity in development as a reader. Just seems tacked on, and everyone has the ability to hide so easily in a Great Lord’s own manor. Once again, a very noticeable lack of any sort of environmental bearings and aesthetic descriptions; hardly a setting at all so far. He’s in a castle with a barracks…looking out at fields of farms instead of city growing around it? Nothing to go on for the setting of their world. Does everyone always live underground? So far it’s really detracting from my immersion in a story I otherwise find pretty interesting to this point. Can’t wait to read more! Also, there is no reason you should explain the Fire any further at this point imo. The descriptive feeling of it in battle is more than enough to give the reader an idea of what it does to a person. Anything more, this early in the story would be an unneeded info dump. Let the magic of it unfold naturally through the story. I think you’re doing great with that so far.

You’re probably right, but I actually don’t think that’s the case. I’ve always thought that vision is one of the ‘fears’ visions of the Almighty, for several reasons. But it was so close to him dying he was able to foresee it with quite a bit of accuracy. The wording when he speaks…Buuuut now I’m hijacking the thread, maybe I’ll make a new thread about why I think that.

A little?!? lol I'm outright crying by the end of reading that. Beautifully put. Incredible man. I can't think of anyone better finishing the series. So many authors are so far up their butts to admit a mistake or two, to own up to the fandom when it happens. BS is one of the greatest modern authors, and a HCFF's dream of what is loved about an author. Very in touch with fans, and I hope that never changes. Oh, and I am thoroughly excited to get back to his work. A long wait, but well worth it. Glad he enjoyed it, and I can only imagine SA2 being that much better for it.

@zas: Yeah, I remember reading that somewhere, BS talking about that conversation in the next book. I think that will be a great discussion, and an even better theme. @happyman: I hadn’t really thought of it applying to Kaladin’s responsibility that way. Very possible it could be a wake-up sign for him to stop blaming the Almighty for cursing him. Though I’d say that was partly underway for him anyhow. And Dalinar seems much more like a rep for the Almighty than Kaladin. It could definitely be an Alethi metaphor for what’s coming. Dalinar is trying to unite the Highprinces, Taravangian doesn’t want that…but does want a different kind of stability. And I can only see a revelation like this causing outright dissension and maybe war between Vorin nations, disrupting both of their plans. I think one of the key questions for Dalinar will be whether to tell the Vorin population or not. Likely they wouldn’t believe him anyways, certainly not at first. However, because I enjoy more tangible revelations that are already available to us… Could it maybe relate to one of the reasons the Radiants abandoned their places after being used by the people they served, and subsequently discovering Honor is gone. Great quote for that? That epigraph also happens to come at the beginning of Chapter 2: Honor is Dead. Weak, I know. But if they were beginning to twist the concepts of Honor to suit some of the deeds they were doing in absence of Desolations…followed by a complete lack of retribution (i.e. loss of power, guidance from the Almighty), they might have viewed it as okay/still honorable (the way Szeth speaks of being honorable) and it could have begun their downward spiral into becoming the ‘corrupted’ Radiants everyone remembers them as. Then…bam! They learn the Almighty is dead and are so ashamed of what they became they throw down their weapons. Actually, I like that. Could Hoid have been speaking about the Recreance? Warning Kaladin about the path he was on? The Radiants fighting in man-made wars, killing to preserve some perverted form of honor when they viewed other nations as stepping out of line/making dishonorable choices?

I think the title references Derethil going to the top room of the tower and realizing the emperor is dead. It's Dalinar 'in the top room' discovering Honor is dead in that vision.

Just to add to the discussion, and reinforce the OP... Even the KR, at the height of their power (Almighty 'missing' these times), felt the thrill. Check out the 'Starfalls' chapter. However, they seemed to have made an art of it, and possessed the means to counter it before it changed you. emphasis not mine! So I could see it being a perverted form of what it was, without the proper techniques/teachings to avoid it taking control. But I don't see the Shardblades being any different than they were back then. They never could sever living things, only dead and inanimate things. (or maybe you mean something different? That's just the way I read it.) In 'Starfalls,' Shardblades are still summoned the exact same way, still have the same battle advantages...'...he effortlessly sheared a monster in half...' and presumably still would do the same to a human spirit like they did outside Feverstone Keep. Though admittedly that would be after the corruption you're talking about right? THIS. IS. ALETHELA! Fighting is all they do. Seems to me their weapons would have been suited for honorable full-time warriors. And Shardblades don't seem to have changed one bit in the thousands of years since. I think Syl's problem stems from the creation of them coupled with the betrayal outside Feverstone Keep, the screams that Dalinar could hear. Certainly could have been corrupted by Odium, but the Thrill was around before said corruption (possibly a genetic Alethi trait), and without that to throw in with it, they just don't seem to be any different. The perfect weapon in the hands of an honorable defender.

Saw this one above in Windrunner's 'Edited' section: BS has confirmed that before, in the prophecies Ruin changed, but doesn't really matter. It's in TFE too, one of the epigraphs. Alendi wonders if his earings really are the 'piercings of the hero.' Someone ask him about the symbol from the 'Isasik Shulin' thread (zas and some others put some really great screenshots up). But they need to have their book on them b/c I just can't think of a way to phrase the question without having the book to show BS.

So awesome! Thank you for update. Szeth for book 3? So excited about that.

Nah, Sesemalex Dar is the place with the giant claw marks, the gouges in the ground. Kaladin passes over this and then remarks on the land of 'frozen waves.' I only said probably Azir or Emul because they're dark skinned like Sigzil. pg. 647 and 768 (hardback) spells it out. Seems like a wildly unique landscape, coupled with Midnight Essence vision; it drives me nuts! Of course we know when it occured, 8th epoch-337. I know what you mean...I find the first suggestion pretty hard to swallow. Just because he obviously didn't know he was in Natanatan. But Alethi like races inhabiting the place at the time, before any change in skin/hair color, is probably the best possibility...simply because of how obviously long ago it was. Unfortunately, no Nohadon name drops. I'm thoroughly obssesed with that man, wish there were more mentions of him. I'm having a hard time getting past the rippled land of frozen waves thing...so unique a description for stone to take. Can't find a connection for why Natanatan would share that same landscape. And Sela Tales ('skin ripples of the Selay'), just seems like it should share the land formation with the people...instead it's ancient Makabakam! Sanderson confuses the hell out of me, which is...of course...why I love him so much.