IAmAStik

I am a stick.

Not a world, but living in the Cog. Realm, specifically the city of Silverlight! Then I could hop around If I had to pick for ease of living, Scadrial in Era 2; life seems pretty easy there in Elendell (spelling?), or Tathingdwen as I love mountainous views. Otherwise, Roshar for the chance to become a Radiant—perhaps in Kharbranth, though Roshar seems like a pretty dangerous place to go at the moment (just finished RoW) How about you?

Throughout the series of Era 1, the ash is described as black: "The dry plants, the angry sun, the smoky-black sky." -Kelsier, Chpt. 12, TFE "the black flakes covered up everything beneath," Chpt. 61 and 63, HoA I absolutely love Sanderson's world building and the scenes he creates; it makes sense from an emotional point of view that things need to look dark and depressing. But the Lord Ruler should've known that black colored ash would absorb sunlight and heat up the planet more. White/reflective would've been more appropriate, though snow-like-covered landscapes might not bring as dreary a picture to mind. Perhaps gray would've been a good compromise.

Thanks for the replies! I still see spanreeds as highly useful even for short skirmishes/raids, where changing conditions of a fight necessitate quick coordination across different groups. But, then again, I am a stick. Difficult for me to change (views).

Is it terribly cliche to say Kaladin? Though I love the arcs of Dalinar, Shallan, Navani, Jasnah, Adolin, etc., Kaladin + Syl chapters are the ones I look forward to the most.

That's a terribly difficult question, as I have different categories of favorites from different works. Perhaps The Way of Kings is my overall favorite, though I love The Emperor's Soul just as much—just in a different way. I'm relatively new to Sanderson's books overall; looking forward to delving into the fandom! Do you have a favorite(s)?

In "Way of Kings", why didn't Dalinar have spanreeds during his battle at The Tower where Sadeas betrayed him to be surrounded by the Parshendi? Of course, Dalinar didn't have any allies back in the war camps that could have come to his aid in time, but he could have at least written to Elhokar and the rest informing them of Sadeas' betrayal. At the least, he could have dictated a heartfelt farewell to Renarin and Navani. Is it established that spanreeds aren't used during battles because only women could read and write? Spanreeds would be so much more efficient than runners in giving orders throughout an army, but was this addressed already somewhere? I suppose Tien was (supposed to be) a messenger in Amaram's army, so we do have some insight into this. Seems like an oversight of the Alethi; up to that point (in WoK), we've usually seen that they take whatever "tech" is available and use it to make war/fighting more efficient.

I am a stick!