Argent

I see. I could buy that.

Heh. I imagine if I had discovered the Cosmere today (instead of years ago), I'd be so overwhelmed, I'd give up on the whole thing.

I am going to need to a WoB on this one.

Kelsier is a cognitive shadow, same as (or at least very similar to) the Stormfather. And while the latter calls himself a spren, I think we have a WoB that he is not entirely correct. Cognitive shadows, the way I understand them, are kind of like "people spren", which makes them so much more than regular spren. Kind of how a water puddle and the ocean are both bodies of water, I think.

Done with Pratchett's Going Postal. Really good book, I just find it difficult to say why. I loved it, it was a pageturner, I went through it pretty quickly (when I actually got a chance to read), but I can't quite figure out what made it so good. Moist von Lipwig, the protagonist, is definitely solid, so that could be a big part of it. I've moved on to the next one in the series, Making Money. I'll finish this one, and maybe a short story or two, and then jump right into The Bands of Mourning.

I don't know if I agree with this. Vin's influence on the development of social structures has assured that noblewomen have things to do outside the bedchamber.

I think I am familiar with the artist, he (I think?) does great work. And I love the sketch better than the final version, but not enough to actually complain about it.

My gut reaction was to dislike it, but I don't actually have a reason for that. I too would've liked a middle tier for people who ask questions (probably with a restriction that the question has to be answerable in a few words, and has to be specific), but I can live with this. Of course, my opinion is colored by the fact that Brandon comes to Chicago fairly often, so I get to ask my own questions more often than many of the other Sharders.

How many of the books have you read? Because there is some information on this in Shadows of Self.

Brandon hands them out during signings mostly.

The Alethi pronounce "J" like you do, so you are correct for both Jasnah and Jezrien (also Jah Kaved, for example).

Satsuoni informed me that there are, in fact, better versions of those images floating around. Higher resolution. The text is still blurry, but definitely more readable. Check this and this.

You know, MeLaan could probably demonstrate fully.

Looks like some special people got their grubby hands on The Bands of Mourning earlier, and they were foolish kind enough to post photos of the broadsheet that came with it on Twitter. They are far from perfect, of course, but we have a pretty clear quarter of the entire thing on one photo, and another that shows everything else but is unreadable except for the headlines. Still, a treat.

It makes some sense, but I don't see any reasons for spren to just up and go to the next planet.

I've been going through the December tweets, I found one exchange noteworthy. Apparently there are some spren on Scadrial. Actual authentic Rosharan spren. Did we know this?

And he didn't even need my vote! I saw the nomination thread go up, decided I'll check in a few days, and the next time I checked was when the winners were being announced... So I don't even know what the competition looked like this year.

Yay for Rashekin! Yay for Steris! Seriously, big yays for Steris. I am starting to like where her relationship with Wax is going, even if the two of them probably don't recognize it yet.

Sounds reasonable.

Are you kidding, that's half the reason I am sticking with the show! I actually didn't know the world is supposed to be a postapocalyptic Earth, not until I saw these episodes. I find this one of the best things in those two episodes.

So that show is out as of this week, and on MTV too. If you didn't know, the show is based on Terry Brooks Shannara series, books that are a bit of a name in the fantasy genre (which I actually haven't read because of poor feedback). But the show. The first two episodes aired on January 5, and are in fact available for free on YouTube. I saw them both last night, back to back, and my first and strongest reaction was along the lines of "Wow, this story is so cliched, I can literally predict what's about to happen with almost perfect accuracy." Mild spoilers: And it is - there is the male protagonist who is orphan, but also descended from kings (bonus points for being the last living descendent). There is the wise and powerful wizard druid who must guide our hero on his quest. There is the rebellious princess who (kind of) beats the boys at their own game, and also runs away. There is the cunning rogue who seduces our hero just to steal his valuables. There is a dark force that was imprisoned in a magical prison ages ago, and is now awakening, but nobody believes in its existence. There is - and this is my favorite - a scene where our male protagonist must fetch his future love interest the female protagonist from the nearby waterfall, where he finds her bathing, and he is being a complete bumpkin about it, and she manages to ambush him, and they bicker while their older mentors are being attacked. Which has not one, but two TV tropes! All this being said, I kind of enjoyed it. Perhaps I enjoyed how blatantly cliched it is, but it wasn't an unpleasant experience watching it. I intend to come back next week, maybe treat it as a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Most likely simply a description of the shaft. As opposed to a spear made fully of metal or something.

If the "Feruchemy gene" were dominant, the obliteration of all Feruchemists would make it impossible for the magic to come back. What you are likely thinking is recessive - where people can carry a trait, but not express it (because it's being suppressed by a dominant copy).

Went through Monstrous Regiment in a couple of days and am now reading Going Postal. Monstrous Regiment was easily one of the best Pratchett books I've read.

The events at the end of Lord of Chaos were pretty critical for him. It's when he really starts changing (for the worse), I think.