Texside

Yeah, that makes sense. Hopefully they'll expand it. It'll be nice to see the full picture.

Oh, that's amazing. I love it. Really good use of mechanics there, too, and great opportunity for the scholar. How have you liked character customization and advancement?

Oh, that sounds fantastic. I like when noncombatants get to have their big moments too. I'm excited to try it. Haven't had a chance yet but I'm gonna keep an eye out for a group or try to run Stonewalkers when it's out.

And then he became an Elantrian to boot!

It's definitely worth asking Brandon, I think.

Yeah, definitely -- me and @eriwancoselyn swapped to DM's and I realized I was looking at the story and not the prose. I'm inclined to agree that there was a change there.

Oh heck. Didn't the last Adolin chapter indicate he was learning to read, even? Or am I imagining that?

I'm wondering how much of this is Sigzil trying to justify a desperate, spur of the moment decision after the fact. Like, it seemed like -- in Wind and Truth -- he just jumped to that conclusion out of absolute terror of Vienta being killed by Moash, after she was grievously injured. At the time, he probably thought about it for half a second. But then he had decades to think about it: to add meaning to his decision, to reinterpret it, to ask why he made that choice. And contending with the guilt after, with Vienta never wanting to see him again and the terrible knowledge he could have condemned her to be a Deadeye forever. So, I'm not sure how much his later reflections show what he was thinking at the time, rather than how he processed it later (or failed to).

That's my understanding. I think it would be like Taravangian loaded Dalinar from an earlier save with different choices.

Sorry, I was attempting to respond to your arguments. I think I didn't understand them clearly. I evaluate prose by judging whether it accomplished the four points I raised in my previous post; I'm looking at whether prose clearly and concisely communicates the plot and characterization, and with a turn of phrase that I find entertaining (with an acknowledgment that "entertaining" is absolutely subjective).

Likewise, I loved it! I thought it showed an incredible amount of inconsistency on Taravangian's part. And this may be absurd to say about a person who is a Shard, butI thought it helped humanize him. And showed the dangers of a Shard being humanized. It's a promise of good future drama, and I liked it.

Hey, whoa, before we keep going: if you think I'm attacking you or trying to argue with you for sport, I apologize. I'm getting a sense you're angry. I may not be swayed by your arguments, but I respect we like the same thing and we're both having fun with Brandon's works. I realize text is imperfect for communicating tone, though, and I may be picking up something that's not there. I'm going to avoid block quoting your reply piece-by-piece since I agree, I think it was leading to going around in circles. I'll try to offer a more thorough idea of what I saw. I don't agree with your principle argument that "modern language breaks a scene because it's not consistent with the world we were shown in the early books." I don't think it was inconsistent with that world; I was never taken out of the story, and found the extreme cases made sense (e.g., Kaladin calling himself a therapist after talking to Wit, Lift using Zahel's swearing). Now, I admit, had I not had those examples... I'd have been like "why on earth did Lift drop the s-bomb?" and probably had something taken away from the story as a result. Since I think I didn't explain it well, let me try again to say what I think objective methods of evaluating a story are: That the plot is internally consistent. That one event logically leads to another; that what happened has a clear reason why it did. That the plot and setting are clearly explained and easily understood. I think a good story is one I don't need to re-read a dozen times to get what happened, that I can trace the events that occurred, and that what happens feels consistent with the details of the setting. That characterization and character development is logical and consistent. I want to see that what a character did in Chapter 1 leads to what the character did in Chapter 50, and I can understand how they got there. That the story is engaging and evokes an emotional response. By this, I mean that the events of the narrative are ones I find interesting. I admit this is more subjective, but I do think it's important, so I'm including it. In Wind and Truth, I didn't find the use of modern language to impact those. It didn't bother me -- it didn't render the plot less consistent, make me misunderstand the plot and setting, did not hurt characterization or character development, and didn't result in my disengaging from the story. I understand there was a shift from earlier books, and I apologize if I said there wasn't; I just don't think that shift is significant to my personal enjoyment of the book or my understanding of its quality. I respect your opinion on the matter! Seriously, I appreciate your perspective -- if I understand correctly, you feel that the use of more modern language compared to the earlier books resulted in you feeling Wind and Truth was inconsistent and lower quality -- and it's good food for thought for me! I didn't have my opinion changed, but I don't feel our time was wasted having this talk. I think it's worth considering, because what doesn't bother me will bother some (and vice versa!).

El the Fused, in the middle of the climactic battle in Book 10, turning into the Elend Basin and smacking Kaladin upside the head with several hectares of fertile agricultural ground would be pretty memorable.

Hello!! Welcome aboard! How've you liked the Cosmere RPG?

Yes, but I disagree that what you're describing is an objective marker of quality -- I don't feel it is. I would rate the consistency of the plot movements, evoking emotion through events and actions, the ability to surprise and impress to be what makes it good. I don't think use of modern language would make or break a scene; I don't think trying to pick examples is going to matter because we'll be judging it differently. Yes, I believe the professional author knew or cared about what he was writing and did a deliberate choice to use more modern language. I certainly think about what language I use in a professional capacity. Ah, no, I was disagreeing with you -- I think Dalinar, Navani, and Fen talk differently than Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin. I realize you may disagree, but this is what I felt was the case after my analysis. It's fine if you disagree, but that would be a matter of analysis and interpretation, which is ultimately a matter of opinion. It's fine if we disagree -- but we do disagree, and it's not something you can "prove" to me. Yeah, but I expect modern language out of Brandon's writing. Heck, it's something I like about Brandon's writing -- it's direct, it's modern, and it's often (to me, which, again, is subjective) pretty funny and consistently moving when it should be. It's not Lord of the Rings, and I don't want it to be. I'll read Tolkien for that; the man was a linguist and a master of that craft. I don't expect that from Brandon, because it's not what he's going for, nor what I go to him for.

Excellent choice! His character arc is fantastic.

I think it's likely though we'll need confirmation still. His interactions with Jezrien after the humans' arrival fits with El's remarks when he mercy kills Jezrien's gem. I think we need it to be said still, but... we're getting Herald POVs next arc. I'd be surprised if Ash can't confirm it.

This plot point was one of my favorites in the ending. It's so good and it's so juicy.

I'm looking forward to the reunions. We have a great set up where a lot of characters -- Shallan and Adolin, Adolin and Renarin, Jasnah and Navani, Kaladin and everyone -- are separated. At least some, maybe all, are going to be reunited on page. And it'll come when we, as readers, are also reunited with them when Brandon is back to writing Book 6. It's gonna be some powerful moments. I'm here for it.

Welcome! Who's your favorite Stormlight interlude character? (Minus WaT ones for folks dodging spoilers, of course.)

Oooh that's a fantastic point. I didn't consider that -- they're going to have trouble. It makes me wonder if they're going to explore non-fabrial technology or not. They've got an agricultural advantage but... I'll be curious to see how it shakes out.

Connect immediately made me think of Connection, the concept. You might be onto something there.

I'm not sure this would be useful. We might have very different ideas of what would make a conversation good. I don't mean that as an insult, but what I value and consider great is likely different than what you do. And vice versa! And that's okay. I'd probably say her conversation with Chana was my favorite though. I'd need to reread it to be sure. No offense dates back to 1829 based on quick research. It looks like it has roots in Shakespeare though I'd need to do some more research than I can right now to verify that.

I'd need to think a bit. Off the top of my head, I thought the example you gave showed her being intelligent. But, I can't think of an especially intelligent one at the moment (largely since I'm replying to this between work tasks, so can't quite check my book). I think it's natural, myself. I'm not a linguist -- I'm an archivist and historian by trade -- but I felt like the characters who are younger use language I'd expect from someone younger. Dalinar, Navani, Fen, and such didn't use more modern language and idioms. I think Brandon changed those idioms as he learned new ones but it didn't feel it of character. Pardon! The dangers of phone typing. I meant that I didn't find the use of modern language in Book 5 to be a sign of bad quality writing.

I'm afraid I didn't find a loss of intelligence or depth of dialogue there. I read it as Shallan feeling more comfortable and using more natural language as she grew into herself. I did notice the shift, yes -- it just didn't bother me. Using "ex," modern swears that Lift picked up from Zahel, therapy, and the like did not strike me as particularly out of character. I chalked it up to (in-universe) shifts in language due to more world hoppers and generally following a trend of Brandon liking humor like that (see Adolin and Shallan's conversation about poop in Plate in WoR). I imagine how Brandon talks has changed too which has an impact. But, no, I didn't find it a sudden shift or unnatural. Agreed, but I don't think this one is a sign of bad objective quality.