cem

Kaladin's Stormlight addiction is something new, but their bond still starts much earlier than Kaladin's army days. Remember that unlike Pattern, Wyndle, and possibly Ivory, Syl didn't come to the Physical Realm through a group effort with a predetermined proto-Radiant. Her memory was pretty spotty when she said that. She also says she was with Kaladin during his childhood (the "yes and no" thing) in WoR. We also saw Kaladin using Windrunner abilities as early as 12 years old when he was fighting that older kid with quarterstaffs. So they at least had a rudimentary Nahel bond at that point. I would argue what initially attracted Syl was Kaladin's desire to heal people. Which is more in line with how I view honorspren. Syl hates killing, but sees it as a necessary evil at times.

That's a pretty good post Seloun. It's pretty much what I think about their relationship too. Though I should point out Kaladin disliking rain, and Shallan and Tien liking it have nothing to do with their Nahel bonds (possible bond, in Tien's case). Kaladin suffers from seasonal affective disorder. Shallan and Tien simply like rain. Edit: the WoB: http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=1080#8

Searching in User namespace would probably be the best you'll get. Like this.

Yep, I know. What I meant was until the author or the publisher announces a release date, the release dates on the internet shouldn't be trusted. Few years ago, there were rumors that it would be out this year, then Rothfuss said that wasn't going to happen and Goodreads editor pushed the date to 2016. And then again to 2017. There is no telling when it will be out at this point.

If I were you, I'd wait until there's a definitive release date for Doors of Stone. Rothfuss writes at about the same rate as GRRM and Kingkiller is a much smaller story than A Song of Ice and Fire. Goodreads shows the release date for book three as mid 2017, but it's been pushed, I think, twice already. That said, I think it's a pretty good series. Definitely worth reading.

Eh, the landmass is probably still occupied. I doubt committing genocide so thoroughly would be easy. Hoid says the everstorm would hit Shinovar that night in the epilogue. A week (5 days) passes between the first everstorm which is when Nalan talks to Szeth and the last chapter of WoR. As far as I remember, there isn't anything to indicate how much time passes between chapter 89 and the epilogue. But according to the released Kaladin chapter from SA3 (non-canon as of now probably), So depending on the speed of the everstorm, I'd say chapter 89 and the epilogue more or less take place at the same day.

Shinovar has a mountain range on its eastern side too. They seem smaller in the map than the western mountains, but the Shin should still be protected to a degree. Parts of Iri and south-eastern Roshar nations would probably get hit a lot harder. Aimia is absolutely screwed though.

With regards to the "creature in Tukar," there's a snippet in tWoK: I expect Mraize is talking about this guy, and he's a future player.

Some of it is point of view. Vaelin doesn't think too highly of her, so he emphasizes that aspect of her in the few time that he sees her. Apparently, sacrificing Vaelin for her brother also hit her hard. That being said, she is still pretty calculating and ruthless when she needs to be.

Both books are among my all time favorites, but I like The Way of Kings better too. TWoK is a beautifully structured book. Kaladin's arc is the linchpin in the story, which is especially great for me because Kaladin is the character that I both identify with and aspire to the most. Then you get Dalinar/Adolin, and it contrasts perfectly with the Kaladin/Bridge Four arc. Where you see the war in the Shattered Plains from the very bottom from Kaladin's point of view, you see it from the very top from Dalinar's. Then, Shallan takes you away from the war and gives you something entirely different. Szeth provides nice little mysteries. Kaladin's flashback ties directly to the plot of the book. In WoR, once Shallan joins the fold, all the arcs move parallel to each other, with deviations along the way (e.g. Shallan joins the Ghostbloods, Kaladin meets Graves, Dalinar fumbles at politicking etc.). Before her arrival, Shallan's story is somewhat repetitive of Kaladin's in TWoK, only with far less sense of accomplishment. This is very subjective, but I also don't like that the WoR is a more lighthearted book. I read anything by Brandon on the release day, but I just don't like the way he writes humor, plain and simple. It's often too silly or too sitcom-y for me. The boot scene, anything with Sebarial, Rock and co. messing around etc. were very cringeworthy. These were in TWoK, too, but they were rarer and provided a nice release at times. Besides, these guys are literally on a countdown to apocalypse. I feel like things should be getting darker, not lighter. There should be privation, riots, something. Poop needs to get real. Also, Shallan gets too much help from Brandon. Jasnah "dies" so Shallan can have a purpose. Sebarial is just there so she can have a position. Everyone, including people who are supposed to be scientists, act like utter morons so she can cleverly solve the puzzle and save the day. What WoR did very nice were the Crowning Moments of Awesome. The scene where Szeth attacks Dalinar for the first time, Kaladin and Adolin's duel, "you probably want me to be a spear, don't you?" etc. These are among the coolest pieces of writing I have ever read. I mean TWoK had its moments, but nothing comparable to WoR. These are just Red Wedding or Dumai's Wells level stuff. In between these moments, though, TWoK was consistently better. So, journey before destination.

The idea is making Odium believe his minions would lose an all-out war like the Desolations, so he would choose a champion, who would fight (in whatever way that fight would happen) the Rosharan's champion. Honor believed Odium would be bound by the outcome of that fight so that was the advice he gave Dalinar. He never said anything about a champion fighting Odium himself. If that was going to work, I'd imagine he'd have beaten Odium by himself, since he was almost certainly more powerful than any potential champion. Not to mention Devotion or Dominion. Relevant quotes:

A tangent, perhaps, with the rest of the discussion in this thread, but I find it strange how people believe Amaram is some epitome of evil. [rant] I think he is just so very average. Yes, he murdered because of greed. People murder each other for five bucks every single day. How many people are there even in the world who would not murder to get something as valuable as a full set of Shardblade if they believed they could get away with it? Not many, I would think. Yes, he is a religious nut who's trying to bring the apocalypse. He's hardly the first person who took his belief to the extreme, or who is just sure that he's the only one who knows what to do and wants to decide the fate of the world without giving a crap about what people think. Yes, he is a racist. Go anywhere in the world, and people are racist about someone. Yes, he abused his power. Well, that is what politicians do when there isn't anyone around to stop them. [/rant] Okay, I'm done. I think the reason Amaram turned into such a hate magnet is because it was Kaladin he hurt. Kaladin is loved so much (he's by far my favorite character too), people tend to adopt his hate of Amaram. Personally, I like Amaram as a character. I would say he is one of the most realistic characters Brandon has created, if not the most.

It is weird. But, the first one ended the same way too. Vaelin discovered this big great secret of the universe, then the next book he told the Aspects about it and just retired. I don't think there is any big mystery about it in Tower Lord either. I think Ryan did both to create suspense about the next book, which is a tactic I can't say I'm overly fond of.

Hi and welcome. The Emperor's Soul is a must-read. You should definitely squeeze it in your schedule ASAP. Also, Syl is the bestest.

I don't think it would be possible to Awaken a Shardblade such as we see in Roshar. One of the rules of magic in cosmere is that Invested objects resist further Investiture. So, say, an honorspren, a being that is pure Investiture and enough of it to be called a Splinter, should need, in my opinion, lots and lots and lots of power. I mean Vin needed the use the mist to fuel her Allomancy to Steelpush Lord Ruler's metalminds. I think Radiant spren would take something similar, and I don't think Vasher and co had it. Also there's this: http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=979#51 The last sentence. Sorry to poke holes in your theory. I like the idea, but I don't think it's likely.

Yeah, no way your husband is right. Ryan actually finished Queen of Fire before Tower Lord was published, so it's up to the publisher and their marketing people. He also said the next book would come out in July 2015 in an interview, but as I understand that's not exactly a definitive date at this point.

This has been argued before, though we didn't get a clear answer as far as I know. Personally, I don't think the initiation of the bond requires "being broken," its advancement does. And it wasn't just Shallan either. Kaladin managed to use the "being-guided-by-the-wing" passive bonus of Windrunners' when he was fighting Jost, and Syl says she has been with him since childhood. That happens when Kaladin's twelve, long before anything that could have broken him, unless his seasonal affective disorder was enough by itself of course. Those are all probably result of mental illnesses though. Not sure how that compares to Shallan's mom. She tried to carry out premeditated murder against her child. She may have been a Skybreaker since she seems to share their beliefs, so she may have believed Nale's claims. Most parents don't have to consider their child will bring the end of the world. I think it makes it a bit more complicated if your choices are (from your POV); a) kill your child, face the Desolations again in which case your child is more likely than not to die anyway whether you win or lose. Then again, I'm not a parent.

I don't think you're insane. Shardblades have less mass than steel swords. So assuming they're swung with the same speed, Shardblade should have less force behind it? Can someone who knows something about physics confirm if I'm making any sense? By the way, Mythbusters say the last clap doesn't work with real swords: http://mythbustersresults.com/episode78

I've read the first two chapters of The Slow Regard of Silent Things. So far, it's been a huge MEH. I'm not really surprised that I don't like it. Rothfuss has been putting out disclaimers that the book wasn't going to be for everyone since the very beginning, after all. I'll finish it, because I don't like leaving books unfinished. But I don't really enjoy it.

The Baldy Strikes Back

We actually were given the dates of all the highstorms during the WoR, except the one Stormfather sent to counter the everstorm, so it's probably much easier to figure out the pattern there. 1173090605 1173090801 1173090901 1173091001 1173091004 1173100105 1173100205 1173100401 1173100603 1173100804 So numbers of days between these highstorms are: 6-5-5-3-6-5-6-12-11 Which tells me nothing, really.

It's much better, actually.

That is confusing, isn't it. Almost as if there is something else going on. Hmm.

1) I don't see how that could happen. The man was rapidly descending into darkness, to put it melodramatically, the last we saw him. He isn't likely to get back up from there. There are some similarities between Roshone and Shallan's father, too, whom we know was under the influence of Odium. That makes me think Odium was messing around with Roshone too. And I don't think any kind of reconciliation after Tien's death is possible between Roshone and Kaladin. Kaladin will probably let it go and be the better man, to avoid what happened with Elhokar if nothing else. 2) I'm very curious about this too. I very much like Kalaral (Laradin?). I know Kaladin returning home as a hero to rescue his childhood love from an arranged marriage with the evil old man is somewhat cliché. But, we'll see what we'll see. 3) I don't think Syl would even consider that stealing, man. Wistiow did promise Lirin those spheres after all. And what Syl is very serious about is keeping promises. The act of falsifying documents in and of itself should not be a big deal to Syl as I understand her character.

Both sequels are better than the first book, man. I don't know that there's anything else to tell you. Except maybe, I don't like the magic, either, but I like the series well enough. Give the second book a shot if you don't have anything else to read. Or read the first book again in a year or two, maybe you'll like it then.