Amira

Thanks for clarifying that! Interlude 5: Not sure what the purpose of this interlude was except for world building, introducing us to two new peoples on Roshar. Aimians sound very interesting and cool and I'd like to hear more about them! And now I get to use a spoiler box, look at that! SP1 sample:

Huh, pretty cool. Interlude 4: Turns out Roshar does have Earth-like areas, and that's where the horses and chickens come from. We also learned a bit about Szeth's history. So wait, are Shin and Parshendi the same? I thought the point of sending Szeth to kill Gavilar was to make it clear that the Parshendi killed him, but Szeth is Shin... I feel like I missed something.

I feel like Dalinar is stupid. Whether or not his visions are real, he is able to see clearly on some matters that others can't. It feels like he's throwing away his ideals because others are disagreeing with him. It seems like he's buckling under pressure and failing to recognize that.

This quote really does sum up so much of Kal's arc. Fighting is Kaladin's Smedry Talent! It even sounds like one! (FYI that was an Alcatraz reference.) Thank you everyone for answering my questions! Chapter 28: Gosh, Dalinar is so stupid. He could use getting some leadership advice from Kaladin. I hope something happens last minute to change his mind about stepping down. Maybe Adolin will convince him not to do it. On another note, interludes are next and we get Szeth again!! Can't wait!

I was wondering, how does one earn the title "Stormblessed"? Is this something I'll find out later?

Chapter 27 That was a beautiful chapter. Now that the bridgemen listen to Kaladin, I wonder how he's going to use their help to improve life for everyone / rebel / escape. It would be awesome if somehow Bridge Four gets handed off to Dalinar, since he told his man he could train one bridge crew, but I don't see how that could happen; I assume men aren't usually handed off from one brightlord to another. I feel like I'm Kaladin in my life, trying to lead people who've fallen through the cracks out of a bad situation while none of us have many resources.

Not a chapter update, but I had many doubts about my choice of starting the cosmere with the Stormlight Archive, and after hearing Brandon's explanation this evening during the live stream about where you should start based on what kind of reader you are, I am so happy I decided to start with SA, it sounds like the perfect option for me!

Turns out there's a live stream tonight and I found out about it an hour into it! How can I find out about the next one in time? Thanks!

Is this still happening? I'm a slow reader and would love to join

Chapter 26: Gosh, what's wrong with Sadeas? He insisted to tag along specifically so he could mock Dalinar?! I didn't realize that at the end of the day he's just a petty bully. By the way, on the first Dalinar/Adolin chapter I wrote that I thought Adolin should focus on becoming a great man himself rather than fixating on his father, but now that I've read more, I understand why he's fixated on his father, since Dalinar is the head of their house. I actually do suspect that the voice, in the visions and out of them, is Hoid, considering his talk of intervention. I was sad that Dalinar started questioning the visions. He can believe in them and still go on plateau assaults. His newfound repulsion is what's really going to stop him. Before, I saw a way forward - go on assaults, earn the others' respect again, then try to lead them like he wanted. Now, with the repulsion, he's in trouble. Poor Dalinar :/ One last thing I want to say is that the way they're always able to fit entire conversations within the span of ten heartbeats is very unrealistic. So far, my favorite character ranking goes: 1) Szeth 2) Wit 3) Kaladin 4) Dalinar

Interesting. How far did you get on that first try? I haven't felt disoriented yet. I just don't understand the thing with this forum chasing Hoid (lol), though I liked the part where he says they wouldn't know what to do with him if they caught him. I hope they catch him now! Chapter 25: Gosh, Roshar seems so harsh. Also, I'm seeing a parallel between Adolin's relationship with his father and Kaladin's relationship with his father. In both cases, the son is worried about what people are saying about his father, while the father doesn't seem concerned.

Thanks! Another theory I had and forgot to mention: Kalak's one colleague who got left behind is the stormfather

I went through all the chapters in part 2 and read that letter split among them. I guess this is why people say not to start the cosmere with The Stormlight Archive. I assume I would have understood more of what that's about if I'd read other books? For example, Sel is mentioned there, and I know that's a world that other books take place on. It's just that Stormight seemed so central, you know what I mean? Starting with it was just too tempting! Also, I went to the library and for the first time realized just how ginormous these books are!! No wonder it's taking me a while to get through them. By the way, do we know who the two characters on the cover are? Anyway, chapter 24. I feel like the best strategy for Dalinar would be to go on a few plateau assaults, remind everyone how good he is at it, and *then* try to recruit someone for a joint assault. I ship Adolin and Shallan. She could use marrying into a high house, and he has no luck with girls, so might as well try this one, haha.

Aww, thank you so much! I'm definitely going to continue. Chapter 23. Wait. Those guys from the prequel, Kelek/Kalak and his friends, they're the Heralds that we keep hearing about! And that Shardbearer that showed up at the end of chapter 1, he's the man Kaladin killed! Then he was denied the Shardblade, offered some dumb gift instead, refused it, and became a slave. That's why he's so sure it's all a lie. Am I close? I liked the part where Kaladin realized just giving the bridgemen their lives wasn't enough; they also needed something to live *for*.

Oh, wow, thanks for all the info! I won't look at the link. So I guess Szeth is a "major" character but not a pov character? I'm not as excited about flashbacks as I am about "current" content, but I will look forward to more Szeth. Right now he interests me the most, followed by Wit, followed by Kaladin.

Okay, I looked at this because I was dying to know. Thank you for answering. "You will see Szeth outside of Interludes" hm, but does he ever become a POV character? Wait, how do we know book 5 will have his flashback sequence?

Chapter 22 Another option is that Sadeas is sending the visions, feeding Dalinar a story that he knows will work on him and telling him to trust him so he could take Dalinar down. But this would mean Sadeas has an incredible amount of power, so it doesn't seem likely. Not sure why either Navani or Dalinar didn't tell Elhokar the hidden meaning of what he did. It seems like characters don't communicate as much as they could have in this book, though I guess this is Brandon's writing style, and some people are like that, so it's not unrealistic. Seems hard to be a noble in this world, every random small action has ten hidden meanings. Does Szeth ever become a main character? I want to hear more about him. Or maybe Sadeas is behind the cutting of the girth, that's way more likely than him being behind the visions.

Chapter 21 No idea what plant Kaladin wants to collect, either something he can sell or something he can use as medicine/antiseptic. Nice to see a few of the the others starting to support him. It makes a lot of sense that the guy he switched places with on the bridge run would be grateful. Not sure why Kaladin is so clueless when it comes to his 'luck', it seems pretty obvious that *something* is going on. Also not sure why Kaladin doesn't ask Syl to make herself visible to others so they don't think he's talking to the air. I look forward to seeing how he continues to transform the life of bridge four bridgemen.

Chapter 20. I think Kal's dad doesn't know the right things to tell him to help him feel better, which sadly seems to happen to many parents. Since this chapter was so short, I'll add another comment I forgot to say about the previous chapter. Dalinar had a brief chance to talk to the Radiants, and I wish he'd asked them how they pulled that trick making their helm disappear and 'falling' into the air. It would have been cool if he came back from a vision with knowledge about Stormlight magic It probably would have helped him gain back the respect he loses for having visions in the first place.

I know, I'm reading it slower than Brandon is writing it

He was oblivious, but meanwhile enjoyed "looking at her" Chapter 17 Okay, the dimming of the spheres is a dead giveaway - Kaladin is somehow using the same magic/powers Szeth used, drawing on the stormlight without knowing it. Not sure how he can do this subconsciously, since Szeth had to be so deliberate about it, but I'll wait and see. As expected, Kaladin's surgery training came in handy. I think the bridgemen will finally start respecting him and following his orders more now. My guess is that some of them will help him pay for more medical supplies. I'm back! Hopefully life will let me read this book for once, but we'll see. Chapter 18 So the saddle was cut, but now there's the possibility that it was cut accidentally by a misplaced sharp piece of metal. Hm. My guess is that someone is actually after the king. I have a feeling that Adolin will like his father's idea of becoming highprince of war. The question is, can Dalinar pull it off before the storm episodes do him in? I hope in the next chapter about him we'll get to see the reaction of the people who see him during his 'episode', though it does make me nervous... Chapter 19 I'll try to guess who the voice in the visions is. Option 1: Hoid. I don't think this is very likely, it's just that he's the most mysterious character we know so far, and probably the most powerful one, though I'm probably not supposed to know that yet. I get the impression that he doesn't meddle *this* much, but I might be wrong. Option 2: Same person who's behind sending Szeth to kill Gavilar. This too seems like a stretch, because starting a war and wanting to 'unite' people are kind of opposite, but maybe the war against the Parshendi is supposed to unite the Alethi highprinces? We know this person likes to pull the strings from the shadows, so it's an option. Option 3: A new character we haven't met yet. Option 4: Kelek or one of his fellow 'gods', if they're still around.

Thanks! Chapter 13: Honestly, I felt bad for the chasmfiend, it was minding its own business and the humans just had to come and kill it... Great battle descriptions, and the shardblades are creepy but cool. I feel like Adolin should try to become the great man that he wants his father to be instead of obsessing over whether or not his father is doing a good job of it. Chapter 14 Yay, back to Kaladin! Very realistic how his attempts to get the men to train failed, and cool that he found something to do anyway. We'll see if it was productive or not. Syl changing is interesting, perhaps some kind of magical bond is forming between her and Kaladin? Can't wait for the next Kaladin chapter. I wonder when we'll finally find out about Kaladin's magic. I assume that the same thing that protects him against arrows gave him the extra stamina. Chapter 15 I think we all approve of Wit picking on Sadeas. We finally find out who came up with that horrid bridge idea. I tend to side with Adolin; Sadeas seems like a shady fellow; I wouldn't trust him. My guess is that Elhokar's worries aren't just paranoia, and someone actually cut his saddle. It's cool that they talked about Gavilar's message that Szeth wrote for him. I'm very curious about that. Chapter 16, back to Kaladin's childhood. I'm not sure if Laral was being a jerk or trying to help Kal discover the career he really wants. Very interesting to find out that if a darkeyes kills a shardbearer and takes his Blade he becomes a lighteyes. My theory is that Kaldin will achieve this at the end of the book.

Chapter 12 Let's start with the fact that we met Wit. I know Wit is Hoid's other name, but this guy had black hair instead of white. My suspicion is that it is him and he dyed his hair, especially with that one sentence about him knowing things he shouldn't. Dalinar and Adolin are listed as two POV characters for part 2, and this chapter alternated between both of them, which was kind of interesting. I wonder where Dalinar's visions are coming from. At first I thought 'unite them' meant to unite the Alethi and Parshendi... it might still be true and he's just misinterpreting.

Hey guys, I did not abandon the book, I just have to help a friend with something for three weeks and have zero time to read. Looks like I'm a babsk now. Wonder what that is...

I read about 70% of the first Mistborn book a while back. Apart from that, The Way of Kings is my first cosmere book. You're welcome! Thank you all for following along! Second interlude. Shallan's brother is creepy! I find it unsettling that he likes to kill animals. Reminds me of Ender's brother in Ender's Game. I felt like this interlude was not so much a recounting of events, but rather hinting at events. The moment something happened, the interlude ended! Third interlude Szeth is the most interesting character in this book so far. I really wish he had more chapters. My favorite part was that section about how he speaks like a lighteyes and knows way more than his masters. As I mentioned before, about Kaladin, I enjoy characters who go from a high social standing (or at least from being very worldly) to a low social standing, partly because I went though something similar in my own life and I identify with them (for me it happened in a number of ways, one example being that when I was a kid my family went from upper middle class to lower middle class), partly because I want to see how they get themselves out of the mud whenever they do figure their way around, which usually happens in these stories. (I hope I'm making any sense.) Anyway, I wonder what happened to Szeth to make him Truthless (is that the term that refers to him being bound by the Oathstone?). Also, I realized the first part is called "Above Silence" and I have no idea why, even though I read all of it. Can anyone clue me in?