Argent

The fact that Fidelachius reacted to Murphy back in Changes, and the archangel speaking through her, are what the suggested a "job offer" - both the sword and at least one archangel agreed that Karrin was good enough for some Knighthood. She never actively accepted the offer though, she only used the sword on a few rare occasions and acted mostly as its keeper.

It might be a semantic difference. Are the Halls some literal (spiritual) halls, or are they the name of the realm currently "governed" by the Voidbringers?

I liked it a lot - which is not surprisingly for a Dresden Files book. I felt the plot was not as impressive as the one in, say, Cold Days, but the characters themselves, their relationships, were more solid. To name a few: Harry and Maggie. We didn't see as much of them as I imagine we will, in the future, but what little was in this book was beautiful. I am happy Harry didn't have to save her from anything (directly), or involve her into the action - he just spent some quality time with his daughter, and it was good. Harry and Michael. Seriously, Michael is Very. Well. Written. It's obvious to me that his conviction is true, he feels like a real person, not a book character. What he believes, the way he acts, those are all things that could belong to a real person. His dialogue with Harry early on, when Michael was telling him how arrogant he was, this was some good storytelling. It got to me. Harry and Murphy. Finally. Nicodemus Archleone. I am glad we got to see a more human side of him. He was never going to accept redemption, but it was good to know that he is not just a practical force of destruction, he does feel the feels. Other than the characters, in no particular order... I liked the Faerie Queens are, collectively, Hecate. It's always a happy day in the Dresdenverse when elements from different mythologies overlap. Archleone thinks he is out to save the world. Interesting. Mab, Marcone, and Hades - Hades! - screwing Nicodemus over and getting Mab's cold pretty hands on 80% of Hades' secret armory. This was good. It fit Marcone's unforgiving nature and Mab's love for deep schemes. The way Hades was portrayed also made me happy. I will need to find out whether the whole "Cerberus is Spot" thing could be possible. The trip to the Underworld. I must admit, I was mildly disappointed that almost no references to classical Greek myths were made. I was waiting for Harry to comment on how impressed he was with Orpheus (for example) for getting through the three gates on his own - or something like that. And the five artifacts / weapons. We have the Holy Grail ("a clay cup"), the Shroud of Turin ("a folded cloth"), and Crown of Thorns ("a circlet woven from thorny branches"). Those three are pretty much certain, and are all tied with the myth (devout Christians, don't stone me for this one) of Jesus' death on the Cross. If 3/5 are linked not only to the same religious figure, but to the same event as well, it's possible - even likely - that the other two also are. So the "ancient wooden placard, its paint so faded that the symbols could not be recognized" could be the sign (John 19:19 claims) Pilate wrote, whose inscription read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Finally, the "knife with a wooden handle a leaf-shaped blade." My best guess is that this is not really a knife, but a part of the Holy Lance / Spear of Destiny, the spear that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the Cross. Knives don't usually come with leaf-shaped blades, but spears kind of do; the wooden handle could be the part of the spear's shift the blade was attached to. If the spear was broken sometime in the past, its tip part along with the blade could have be repurposed as a knife. I am a little concerned at the incredibly strong presence Christianity has in this book, however. If the reason those objects are as powerful as they are is because of people's belief in them, then Islam should have power objects of its own - and other than the Gatekeeper (who, if I recall correctly, is from Arabic descent), there is nothing. Admittedly, I wouldn't recognize aspects of that mythology even if they were present, but either Dresden or the Internet would've remarked on something... So that's either coming in a future book, or Jim personally favoring Christianity over the other modern religions. Which seems like the kind of thing to cause outrage in the community.

Most likely. I imagine the original White Sand will be treated like Mistborn Prime is now.

Oh, did I post this in the general general discussion forum? Crem...

So, turns out becoming a redditor has its benefits. Found this (small) gem:

Maybe you just have a newbiespren?

I know which thread you are thinking of - but you might be remembering my own reply (because that's exactly what I hypothesized) rather than a WoB. The WoB in question could be interpreted in one of two ways, if I remember it correctly - either as you (and I) suggest, or as "Sazed doesn't know enough about the Spiritual Realm yet, so he can't go make sweet swee love to Tyndwyl."

How much soap opera angst? All of it.

Finished Red Seas Under Red Skies. I was not disappointed, it was a good book, but it wasn't what I wanted - or expected. Which is okay, of course. Started Jim Butcher's newest installment of the Dresden Files (#15), Skin Game. I expect to be done with it by the end of the day. It's... Dresden doesn't need recommendations, if you like one, you like them all. Though I did feel like one of the big plan reveals (you know, the part near the end when the main character either figures the entire puzzle out or tells you how he maneuvered the different pieces so it all works out for them) was a little out of the blue. It wasn't foreshadowed well, at least in my mind. Or, rather, it wasn't foreshadowed as well as some of the other big reveals from the previous books (e.g. Cold Days was excellent in that regard).

Why can't I do that?

This would be... interesting. It's certainly intriguing that Roshar is the only world we know of where death is just the beginning of another life of struggle essentially. You don't go to heaven, you go a place to fight for heaven. This... anomaly in the classical model of things is probably the best support (along with Brandon being a troll) for this... hypothesis.

I just... why Asia?

Either Jasnah for, well, almost anything, or Shallan for drawing. Jasnah, because I understand her value as a scholar and wouldn't want to pass on such a great opportunity. Shallan because I've always wanted to learn how to draw and she sounds both pleasant and capable. And, ahem, eligible.

Meh, you shush. The closest thing to a spoiler is my Elayne comment, and I've intentionally made it vague enough to neither confirm nor deny anything solidly. I know how to thread the spoiler line

I am with Weiry on the Ten Fools - it sounds like something Vorinism would do, taking the Heralds and creating their symmetric opposites to illustrate the "badness" in the world. We, as humans, personify things. Kind of similar to how Christianity pitts the seven deadly sins against the seven heavenly virtues. I supposed it's possible that the Fools were real, but given Odium's general reluctance to choosing a champion, I doubt it.

Ungh. I definitely remember a couple of episodes where she mentions the square brackets. I did a quick basic search on the transcripts website and came back with 7.45: Microcasting and 9.7: Last Pass Revisions with Eric James Stone. You can start there and play with different searches if you want to.

Dalinar Kholin, Highprince of Human Resources.

The Wheel of Time in a nutshell, right here. Fain is going to be... weird. Hooboy. You are so right here, but also so wrong. I am just going to say that the Pattern-shaping abilities of the ta'veren is pretty difficult, if not downright impossible, to control. It will get explained a little better in later books (though not as well as I would've wanted), but one way to interpret this ability is to treat it as something that slaps the laws of probability around. I think he made a joke in one of the earlier books. Not sure though. I don't know about "most," but it's definitely a part. You underestimate the horror that is religious fanaticism

So, what kind of a doctor do I see if my tongue is tied in a knot?

I don't consider it anything special. The lullaby was composed by Brandon's stepfather, if I recall correctly, which alone should be enough to make it less plot-significant. It is contained within Shallan's flashback chapters, offering both an introduction and a conclusion, so I am even more inclined to believe it has no meaning outside of them. Plus, given Roshar's nature, words like "rock," "chasm," and "crystal" are likely to show up in culture.

So, turns out (hey, look, my country gets a mention!) that aluminum is really rare in nature. Didn't know that.

Maybe the chasmfiends don't pupate east of Narak, for example. I seem to recall something about them being somewhat localized.

They use them to grow food, not Soulcast it. Maybe there are other uses.

Wish I had a story to share. I just recruited 4-5 people. I think my biggest achievement is that one of them practically doesn't read any other fantasy (got bored of the genre or something), but still gets excited for new Brandon releases.