Amira

SA2 ch8, Dalinar: I feel like the plateau assault with Aladar was a success. Aladar joined Dalinar as instructed, and even decided to follow Dalinar's advice when it came to tactics even though Dalinar made it clear that it was Aladar's own choice. The only reason I have to say things are *not* going well is because of the impossible deadline of (now) 60 days. So they're going in the right direction, just not fast enough. Kaladin faced similar deadlines in book 1. I guess now it's Dalinar's turn. I've said this before, but Dalinar should ask Kaladin for leadership advice

SA2, ch7, Shallan: Shallan Soulcast the entire ship?! I have to say, I'm not sure why this was a good plan. Isn't land kinda far away? Jasnah is apparently dead, but here's the problem. Jasnah is on the cover of book 3. So she can't be dead. Maybe her appearing dead has to do with her other ability which we know nothing about? But I thought Shallan was the one who could create illusions... hm... Trying to guess what pulled Shallan deeper into the water at the end: The Santhid? Pattern? Jasnah's spren? Jasnah who's (surprise, surprise) actually alive? Something else entirely?

YAY One more thing I forgot to say about chapter 5 is that I'm very interested in seeing Shen's development. Can't wait to see where that goes. SA2, ch6, Shallan: Pattern is starting to talk, nice. So, um, Szeth has abilities too, but he doesn't seem to have a spren. I wonder what's up with that. Meanwhile Jasnah talks to Sallan about saving the world. Characters in books when civilization is in danger of collapse: let's save the world! Real people when civilization is in danger of collapse: oh well, it sucks. This is why I like books.

Good, I hope there's lots of stuff I don't know yet so I can discover it at the appropriate time SA2, Chapter 5, Kaladin: I'm glad Sigzil brought up testing Kaladin's powers again. I'm really looking forward to that. Things are moving slowly as this is the beginning of the book, but I hope I don't have to wait until the end of the book for Szeth to arrive on the Shattered Plains and make an attempt on Dalinar's life. Though if it's going to be a quality Szeth vs Kaladin fight, Kaladin does have some catching up to do. Also, my theory is that Syl and Pattern will hate each other, at least at first, because their spren types are enemies, right?

Which part? I mean, I know Kaladin learns to fly at some point... I seem to be bad at staying away from spoilers completely SA2 ch4, Dalinar: Interesting that Dalinar still has the visions even though the last one in WoK seemed like a wrap-up. It sounds like Dalinar believes he wrote the words on the wall himself, in his sleep (as in, the same force that sends him the visions made him write the message for himself). So I was thinking, Shallan + Jasnah are traveling to the Shattered Plains from Karbranth, and Szeth I assume set off on the same journey at roughly the same time. So my theory is that they all arrive at the Shattered Plains at once! Next chapter is Kaladin YAY

SA2 ch3, Shallan: Pattern is cuter than Syl, fight me Okay, so I know Kaladin is a windrunner, so Szeth is whatever's adjacent to that, kinda like Jasnah and Shallan are adjacent? So Kal's never walking on walls, huh? Straight to flying? But Szeth can sorta fly, by Lashing himself upward, then making himself weightless. Will we find out why it was important that Shallan drew Pattern? By the way, I finished the 2nd draft of my latest novel. Any advice where to find betas?

SA2 ch2, Kaladin: This chapter is called Bridge Four. The 6th chapter in WoK was also called Bridge Four. Will there be a chapter named Bridge Four in all the Stormlight books? I liked how Kaladin's Stormlight kept erasing his tattoo. If the magic heals him, then it makes sense that ink under the skin would count as an injury. I agree that it was important to explain why Kaladin wants to keep Dalinar alive and that he isn't playing along just because, but I didn't feel like it was very realistic that the other bridgemen started doubting Dalinar. They were the ones who believed he was a good guy all along, and he only proved them right tenfold by freeing them. I feel like their doubts were used as a plot device to make Kaladin explain his reasoning, but weren't very realistic. The part where Kaladin didn't want to reveal his powers to Dalinar because the lighteyes always find ways to take everything from him, on the other hand, felt very believable. And what's this about Kaladin's eyes temporarily turning light while he uses Stormlight?

Thank you! And yes! Yay! Kaladin and Szeth are Windrunners, right? (If there's a spoiler in the answer, don't tell me.) Which symbol is Shallan and Jasnah's? I'm assuming that's what Shallan saw in chapter 1? SA2, ch1, Shallan: Why did that symbol appear on her drawing and again on the water? Why did it move on her drawing?? I'm very happy Jasnah is explaining about Shadesmar, although I wish her explanations were more practical and less scholarly, lol. I also wish she would give more answers to stuff I want to know, like why the symbol appeared to Shallan, and does Jasnah know anything about the symbolheads and who were those black creatures from the prologue who took Jasnah there? I'm glad Shallan ended up insisting to get in the water in the end, and got a chance to take a Memory of the santhid. I was right!! Chapter 2 is called Bridge Four and I'm VERY excited for it!

Wait, you feel like you don't know much about the magic system after 4 books?! Oh no. Words of Radiance, prologue (Jasnah): I like how when Jasnah sees something impossible, instead of starting to question her sanity, she's determined to find an explanation. Weird that Jasnah is taken to Shadesmar by these oily black spren and Shallan is taken there by the symbolheads. I would have guessed that they're actually the same creatures and each person sees them differently, except we've had hints that Elhokar also sees the symbolheads, so that guess is out the window... The Parshendi said Gavilar was about to attempt something very stupid. Now I want to know what it is. Do we find out in this book? Meanwhile, Jasnah overhears two men speaking, plotting something. The name Ash sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I heard it. First chapter seems to be about Shallan, which is too bad because I wanted it to be about Kaladin XD To celebrate my starting book 2, here's the unrelated bonus, the progress of my cross stitch project:

Thank you everyone for following along! It's been so much fun and I look forward to book 2! I renamed the topic from "I'm reading The Way of Kings for the first time" to "I'm reading The Stormlight Archive for the first time" so I can just hop right into Words of Radiance. In summary: I'll start with what I didn't like as much about the book. It was kinda slow. Some parts felt drawn out more than necessary, and the internal struggle, the back and forth, of some of the characters just isn't my favorite thing to read about. All the philosophical / moral questions also aren't really my thing. Oh, and Kal's flashbacks were too depressing What I liked: Szeth!! (Okay, you kinda realized that by now.) In all honesty, though, I enjoyed all three main characters: Kaladin, Dalinar, and Shallan. Kaladin was just amazing, and you probably all know what I'm talking about so I don't have to elaborate. His instincts for leadership were so fun to read about. Shallan comes across as sooo resourceful. She kept getting herself into impossible situations (convincing Jasnah to take her on the first time, stealing the soulcaster, soulcasting the blood, convincing Jasnah to take her on the second time (at the end)) and getting out of them like it's no big deal. And Dalinar, well, Dalinar pulled that thing where he traded his Shardblade for the bridgemen. I really don't need to say anything else. One moment I forgot to mention that I really liked was when, after Sadeas betrayed Dalinar, Kaladin was trying to find a reason to go save Dalinar. He FAILED to find a reason, and then just said, storm it, and went and saved him anyway. That was a spectacular moment. The worldbuilding, the setting, is so much part of the story. Like, to even explain Kaladin's arc to someone who hasn't read the book, you have to first explain what bridgemen are, what the Shattered Plains are, etc. etc. So that was really cool. I feel like I don't know as much about the magic system as I'd like to know, so I hope I'll find out more in book 2.

Epilogue: That guy came back! And died! The one they left behind! But the Heralds die repeatedly. Does that mean we'll see him again? That's it! I read the entire book! I'll write overall impressions tomorrow or something before starting book 2.

I'm not familiar with this expression. Not by this revelation, but I'll make a List of WoK moments that blew my mind (or that impressed or surprised me): 1) Dalinar trading his Shardblade for the Bridgemen 2) Sadeas ditching Dalinar on the Tower 3) The revelation that the most OP character (Szeth) doesn't have free will 4) Kaladin transforming the Bridge Four crew throughout the course of the book 5) Shallan drawing the symbolheads 6) Shallan going to Shadesmar Chapter 72, Shallan: The Parshmen are Voidbringers? What does that make the Parshendi? Also, if Shallan stays with Jasnah, what will become of her family? Chapter 73, Kaladin: That was one of my all time favorite chapters! I loved Kaladin talking to Dalinar; it makes me very excited for book 2. I also loved Bridge Four asking to learn Stormlight magic. Rock thinks it's impossible, but I really hope he's wrong. For both things (Kaladin's new position in Dalinar's army and trying to teach Stormlight to Bridge Four), I can't wait for Words of Radiance. Chapter 74, Shallan: Jasnah and Shallan will be going to the Shattered Plains. This feels like setting up for the next book. Chapter 75, Dalinar: That was scary and very grim. I'd have to go back and look at the chapter where it seemed like he was telling Dalinar to trust Sadeas. So the whole time he couldn't hear Dalinar, but at the end Dalinar asked who he was, and the guy answered him... was that supposed to be another coincidence? So God is dead... I wonder what it means. Also, Odium is a Shard, right? Does that mean the Almighty is another Shard, or something else?

I assume you mean Kaladin? Chapter 71, Szeth: So Taravangian is the Big Bad. Is he also behind Gavilar's murder? And now we know who's collecting the pre-death quotes, though still not for what purpose. Once again Szeth falters and I have to wonder if his lack of free will is magical or not. I really hope it is. I don't want to lose my favorite character. I don't want to find out he's stupid enough to believe he has to murder all those people when really he doesn't. Next target is Dalinar; I assume we'll see that scene in book 2, and I can't wait to see Szeth go up against Kaladin. Kaladin had better hasten to learn more about Stormlight magic!

That sounds amazing. Chapter 70: Shallan killed her father?! So wait, all other Soulcasters have to use the fabriells, but Jasnah and Shallan have this special ability of Soulcasting without them?

Chapter 69 DALINAR TRADED HIS SHARDBLADE FOR ALL THE BRIDGEMEN!!!!! It was worth reading 1000 pages just to read that moment. OMG, that was the BEST. Right in Kaladin's face, too, LOL I cannot get over how awesome that was. That's the end of part 4. Next up is part 5, with Wit's pov??? And more importantly, SZETH!

Chapter 68 They did it! Also, this chapter is called Eshoni and we never learn who that is, so I assume it's the Parshendi Shardbearer

Chapter 67 I can't believe Matal fell for that. Of course we get Tien's flashback in the middle of the climax

Favorite character is Szeth, followed by Kaladin. LOL Chapter 66: Dalinar thinks he's going to die. I think Kaladin will make Bridge Four turn around and go back for him. When Sadeas tries to tell the other bridge crews to follow so his soldiers can stop Kaladin and co. the other bridge crews will not follow Sadeas' orders.

Maybe I what I wrote wasn't clear. I know Kaladin intends to fight. I haven't forgotten. I know Kaladin magically doesn't need any practice, it's just not super realistic, but whatever. I didn't think it's started yet. That being said... Chapter 64: What does the book mean the Parshendi could "somehow" tell Kaladin was the center of it all? Kaladin ran out in front insulting their dead. They haven't forgotten! Anyway, they are about to assault the Tower. Not sure I'm getting any sleep tonight. Are... you... ready?...! Chapter 65 Sadeas did what now?!

Chapter 63, Kaladin: Lately Kaladin has started having second thoughts about escaping. I wonder if they end up escaping or finding a different solution. Kaladin refuses to fight, because it will trigger his trauma if I understand correctly, but I think it's a dangerous move. Even with Stormlight at his disposal, practice could be beneficial.

Chapter 60, Dalinar: Dalinar speaking an ancient language in the visions could be so useful! Navani could tell him to say certain words while making certain gestures, for example say sky while pointing up, say house while pointing down, etc. With enough visions, she could translate the whole language that way! Chapter 61, Dalinar: Ooh, they heard about Szeth killing the king of Jah Keved! Stuff is heating up! Chapter 62, Kaladin: I was right! The only thing I didn't anticipate was him moving away from the bridge, but that actually makes more sense. If he stayed at the front of his bridge, it would have been more likely that the arrows would hit someone else. I'm not sure why he agreed to the idea of more bridgemen joining him in the new maneuver, though. They don't know he's using Stormlight. Without it, would they be able to keep up? We already know that Kaladin would have taken an arrow if the Stormlight hadn't diverted it, drawing it to his shield! So wait. Shen ditched their bridge. Shen "refused to run at the Parshendi"! Will they execute him? That's the rule, isn't it? Don't remember which chapter this was in: so it turns out I was right that one of the Heralds is the Stormfather, but it's Jezerezeh, not the one who got left behind.

Chapter 59, Kaladin: Oh, the juxtaposition of Sadeas reading The Way of Kings while his subordinates work to dismember Bridge Four limb from limb. Of course, Sadeas might be pretending, I don't know yet, although I don't think so. I feel like things are really picking up. Part 4 feels like it's moving a lot faster than the other parts because the two threads are so closely connected so it no longer feels like alternating between two completely different stories. Yay, Kaladin started learning to use Stormlight at will! I still have no idea what his plan is with those Parshendi remnants. Maybe if he wears those, the Parshendi will be so angry that all the archers will fire at him and completely ignore other bridge members and bridge crews?

Oh, did I insult a cool character? I don't remember much from Mistborn; I read about 70% of the first book and never finished, I'll have to reread it from the beginning after Stormlight. I think I can rule out Hoid as the sender of Dalinar's visions. Chapter 55, Kaladin: Nice, the joint plateau assault was a success! I wonder how Kaladin plans to use Shen's protectiveness of the dead. I also wonder how he plans to use the rope; if he ties it to a permanent bridge, then as he said, it would get discovered. Glad to see Kaladin starting to notice certain effects of his magic like the quick healing. Do I have to wait for the climax for him to realize he can do magic? Ugh! Chapter 56, Dalinar: Gosh, for a moment there I thought Sadeas was going to die. Not that he's such a great guy, but it would have been really bad for Dalinar if his strategy (joint plateau assaults) backfired like that. It was kind of funny how Dalinar realized some of the Parshendi warriors were women, then went back to referring to all of them as men. Nice to see Sadeas beginning to respect Dalinar more. Chapter 57, Kaladin: Finally, thank goodness! Kaladin realizes he can do magic, and the first thing he does is... blame Syl?! And it turns out to be true?! It felt way too much like the main character making a totally random and not-so-logical guess that just HAPPENS to be right. Also, Syl isn't a windspren? Windspren don't make things stick together? Okay, I guess that makes sense. Sigzil is Hoid's apprentice?! Not a very good apprentice, I assume, if he ended up a bridgeman, right? Let's talk about Kaladin's reaction to discovering his magic (besides blaming Syl, lol). I really like his journey of discovery and how he realized that by believing he was cursed, he was avoiding responsibility for failing all the people who ended up dead after he tried to help them. That part really works well. However, if I was in a desperate situation and suddenly discovered new powers, I'd never in a million years say "Oh no, take this away, I don't want this, it must be part of my curse!" I'd say, "Thank goodness, another tool at my disposal, I needed this desperately!" I mean, I get what Brandon was trying to do, these powers are associated with the Radiants and the Radiants were sort of cursed, and Kaladin thinks he's cursed. But it's such a stretch. The number of times I have to suspend my disbelief with this book is starting to get to me. It's really hard to believe Kaladin wouldn't just be happy to have powers; he needs every advantage he can get. I must be disappointing you with all my complaints about this book. Guess I should have warned you at the beginning that I'm a very critical person! That being said, I am definitely enjoying this book despite all my grumbling, and intend to read the entire series. And I can't wait to read about Kaladin learning to use his powers. Heck, I've been waiting for that the whole book! This is my 100th post! To celebrate, here's a random, off topic bonus, the start of some cross stitch embroidery I've been working on: One more thing I forgot to say about the chapter is I really liked that note about how the other bridge crews now regarded Bridge Four like they regarded the rest of the camp, like people above them. It's like Kaladin has elevated Bridge Four. Really cool. Chapter 58, Adolin/Dalinar: Nice, Adolin is starting to see the sense in his father's ideals, and Dalinar has realized abdicating would have been taking the easy way out, and has now fully decided not to do it! Sadeas is really starting to turn, and meanwhile, Elhokar can see Shallan's symbolhead creatures?! Heads up, I was kinda spoiled about Pattern (Shame on me, I should know better than to look at anything relating to the SA online), though I still don't know enough for anything to make sense. Most importantly, Dalinar has agreed to use Sadeas' bridges as long as it doesn't put the bridgemen in danger. We come one step closer to Dalinar meeting Kaladin! Next chapter is about Kaladin, and it had better be all about Kaladin learning to use his magic!

Chapter 54, Dalinar: Yay, Sadeas agreed to do a joint plateau assault with Dalinar! Can't wait to see how it works out! Wit revealed to Dalinar that his name is Hoid, and said some cryptic stuff... I wish people in this book could be less cryptic. I wonder why Wit is leaving. Also Wit just name dropped Adonalsium. I wonder what was the purpose of that...

No no no! I really don't mind. I think it's great that people are having fun with it. That's what spoiler tags are for. Chapter 53, Kaladin: Why doesn't Teft tell him??? Does he have a good reason for not telling him? Will we find out what this reason is? Dunny dying was very sad. It's nice that Kaladin thought to help the wounded from other bridges, a good way to recruit new members when the higher ups won't give them any, although, will they heal fast enough to be able to join bridge runs?