AquaRegia

Welcome, fellow geezer geek. I'm a retired chemistry teacher, with similar fond BBS memories. Have you read Sanderson's other works? If so, which are your favorites? If not, be VERY careful in the forums - spoilers abound. Wait: you say you've read the ENTIRE Stormlight Archive (four 1000+ page novels) in 2+ months? You, my friend, are a power reader. Luckily for you, Brandon is a power writer LOL

Welcome! Heroically facing the end of everything is definitely better with friends. I'm letting my subconscious work on my favorite pun/joke - watch this space.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! It is gratifying to hear that truly GOOD translations are being done, and thank the Heralds for the clever and erudite folks who do them. I didn't even THINK about the fact that LORD VOLDEMORT was an anagram for Mr. Riddle's given name... in English. Honestly brilliant that the French version of the family name evokes "jeu du sort," which means "twist of fate" or "game of chance." YES I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets a native American vibe from the Listeners. I will certainly look into that film. Thanks! I read Mistborn Era 1 AND Era 2 both - three times - without realizing those names were French-inspired. Once someone here told me, I was mortified and felt pretty stupid... and boy do I HATE feeling stupid. Vin? Kelsier? Demoux? Valette Renoux??? How did I miss it? I mean, I don't speak French, but I'm not UNEDUCATED, for rust's sake!

Why do you think Odium has to choose one or the other? He already HAS an army of Fused... and he wants an immortal Blackthorn to lead them.

I'll dispute this. Long before he was Radiant, Dalinar was THE BLACKTHORN. The most capable, ruthless and feared warrior in a culture of warriors. Hardly "just a guy".

What I'm saying is that your statement here is incorrect. Ash's hair is NOT white, it is black. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Shalash

I think I'd rather have a living Sprenblade that 1) grants me instantaneous healing 2) telepathically anticipates my needs and turns into whatever shape I need at the speed of thought and 3) is an intelligent agent who can invisibly scout, communicate, and help me solve problems, rather than an Honorblade that 1) expends Investiture at a much greater rate and 2) does some unspecified things I don't know how to use or really even understand. I'm not Ishar. ;-)

I agree the story of The Girl who Looked Up is almost certainly an allegory for humans leaving Shinovar for the first time. (The wall isn't to keep the monsters OUT, but to keep the monsters IN. I love it.) While it's possible that it was somehow partly inspired by Shalash in particular, her hair is explicitly described as black, not white.

Szeth is approaching his 4th Ideal as a Skybreaker, does not yet have a living Sprenblade, and his bonded spren seems to have no problem with Nightblood. Just saying.

I think, in the case of that Kaladin scene, it's just referring to the fact that Kaladin has been in similar-feeling situations before. It FEELS like deja-vu to him because he's felt those same emotions and played out a similar scenario multiple times - trying to save Tien (who died), trying to save the runaway slaves (who were all killed), trying to save Bridge Four from certain death, etc. - and not meant to imply actual time travel. At least, that was my interpretation.

Welcome to the Shard! Happy you found us. I agree that Brandon's ability to write SO MUCH, and with such high quality, seems almost superhuman. His characters are always so real-feeling, authentic and believable... and the funny bits are FUNNY. I can see how Lift's unique vocabulary skills would present a problem for a non-native-English reader, but I really get a lot of enjoyment from it. May I assume you are reading the novels in English? I know there are French translations; it would be fascinating to hear the thoughts of a true bilingual reader regarding the differences between the versions. How are those nonsense words Lift uses handled in translations? How about the nonstandard contractions used to show vernacular speech (e.g., stormin')? How is POETRY handled? I always wondered about things like rhyming riddles in the Harry Potter novels... how does one translate THOSE into other languages? I'm embarrassed by my monolingualism.

Much-needed comedy relief. Without funny characters like Design, Pattern (all the Cryptics, really), the Lopen/Rua, Nightblood, and Lift/Wyndle, this series would be WAY too heavy for me. The unrelenting darkness of Kaladin, Dalinar's and Shallan's past, and the looming end of the world would be too much and I would not be enjoying it nearly so much. Characters who know how to laugh, and at whom we can laugh, are absolutely necessary to remind both protagonists and readers that laughter itself is worth fighting for.

Thank you! Honestly I'm just happy that my initial estimates were both within 1%, as I've never taken a course in probability in my life.

Hahahaha! Welcome. I suggest you give it a week or two to settle, then get your hands on Arcanum Unbounded and read the stories in there.

The scenes we have been discussing - Szeth breaking the gems containing Sja-Anat's children and Navani's research, for example - explicitly describe GEMSTONES, not spheres.

Welcome. This is certainly the place to be if you want to dive deeper into the Cosmere. The Coppermind (link at the top of the page) is a fantastic resource for answering questions... just keep in mind it's FULL of spoilers if you have not read everything already, so use it with caution.

All my spheres are on the table: Gavilar is definitely coming back, and here's a summary of why I think so. I agree Odium's Champion is a highly likely role for him.

Agreed. Adolin may have problems - low self-esteem, daddy issues, clothing fetish - but "anger management" is NOT one of them.

She has ALWAYS has the Testamentblade, ever since we've seen her. She used the Testamentblade to kill her mother, and also to kill Tyn. Kaladin does not hear screaming when Shallan lends her to him because Testament IS STILL BONDED TO HER ORIGINAL RADIANT. Testament is not a "dead for 2000 years" Recreance deadeye, but something new and different. It's possible that the activation of the Oathgate at the end of WoR is the very first time we see Pattern summoned as a Blade... but it's also possible (Shallan being well known as an unreliable narrator) that it's still Testament. We do know - through Adolin and Maya in the Battle of Thaylen City - that even Recreance deadeye Blades can be summoned in less than ten heartbeats under the right circumstances.

I'm surprised that YOU were surprised that there is no football forum. We are nerds who read 1000+ page fantasy novels for fun; I'm willing to bet the majority of us think football - and sports in general - is silly at best. You'd have more luck with a quidditch forum here. I'm partial to the Holyhead Harpies myself.

This simply strikes me as good evidence that Testament DIDN'T catch up to Shallan in Kharbranth. I agree it seems odd that Jasnah never remarked on the gaggle of Cryptics around Shallan, but we don't get much insight into Jasnah's thoughts at the time, and maybe she simply didn't see it as remarkable. I think there are some VERY important differences between Shallan and the ancient Radiants, not the least of which are 1) they were adults and she was a child, and 2) their spren apparently chose to cooperate in the breaking of their bonds, whereas Testament presumably got blindsided.

Goodness! You have SO MUCH to look forward to... but so long until I'd suggest you freely roam the forums LOL I'd avoid any forums until you finish Oathbringer, Elantris, Warbreaker, Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages. That's a lot of reading. Then there is Edgedancer, Rhythm of War, Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, The Bands or Mourning, Arcanum Unbounded, Dawnshard... important things happen in ALL those as well. Plus there are all the years of WoBs ("Words of Brandon") that we throw around, which also contain major spoilers. *sigh* It's not that I don't want you to be able to enjoy the forums... but since pretty much everybody here has read EVERYTHING, we just assume everybody knows everything. Reading what might seem to be an innocent post or topic could end up spoiling a really important secret or plot twist, and rob you of that enjoyment. And that would be a shame, because secrets and plot twists are among the greatest things about Brandon's writing.

After that lovely introduction, I don't see how we could possibly NOT get along. Welcome! I will second @AonEne's cautionary advice - stay away from ALL the forums until you finish the books, otherwise you'll ruin some tasty surprises. What Sanderson work have you read so far? If you post a list here, we can make better recommendations about which forums might be safe... although honestly this whole place is kind of a spoiler minefield for newbs.

It might certainly provide him with a powerful incentive to get away from Scadrial altogether: "I'd like to be somewhere where people aren't thinking about me all the time!"