Colateralwar

I think it is clear that at some point there is going to be an epic fight between the champion of odium and someone else (probably Kaladin or Dalinar, I think). While this fight probably will not happen in Words of Radiance, I just wanted to throw in my two cents for a possible candidate. Moash. Reasons? none really. I just get this feeling that Mr. Sanderson is setting up the friendship between Kaladin and Moash to end in tragedy, possibly with one having to kill the other. My sense of drama compels me to take this to the maximum and declare Moash to be Odium's champion. Who do you think will be the champion? I find it highly doubtful that Mr. Sanderson would suggest this and not use it at some point (though it doesn't have to be for the conclusion of the series).

So, the back cover of Words of Radiance makes specific mention of five people: The Windrunner, The Lightweaver, The Bondsmith, The Explorer, and The Assassin. Most of these are clear. Kaladin is the Windrunner, Shallan is the lightweaver, Dalinar is the bondsmith, and Szeth is the assassin. But I'm not sure who The Explorer is. I think it might be Eshonai, but I'm not quite sure. This has probably already been asked, but I couldn't find the answer so I thought I would ask.

Also, to my knowledge, there is no indication that The Way of Kings takes place too long after HoA. For all we know, this could be only years following the re-structuring of Scadrial and the rise of Sazed as Harmony. Just a thought.

I think it is almost certain that Kaladin will get shards at some point, but because he is a master spearman I Don't think it will necessarily be a sword. At the end of The Way Of Kings, the honorshard held by Talenel'Elin is described as a spear or pike rather than a sword. I think that either Kaladin will come to possess this specific honorshard or somehow come to possess/create a new shard in the shape of a spear. It's a part of who he is, a sword just wouldn't fit.

I dont think Adonalsium had a "bearer". All together, the sixteen shards compose a whole human personality, complete with all the facets, problems, contradictions that we all suffer from. It was only after the shattering that these shards required a host since they were not complete in and of themselves. Just my two cents

I think that the piece about his blade glowing is a strong indicator that something important was going on. I think that there was definately more going on with Gavilar than we know, and I think it is entirely possible that Gavilar will have a book of his own where the flash backs are dedicated to him. As for the part about Taln and his blade, I think that he was dead. I am aware that many believe he was alive and the blade remained simply because they were Dawnshards. However, it is well established throughout the book that blades only remain when not being held by their user under two specific conditions. 1: The bearer dies, or 2: The User wills the blade to remain. Mr. Sanderson has always been very straight up with his readers. IF he wanted to suggest to readers that Taln was still alive, even with the blade remaining, then I think he would have included more foreshadowing to show that the blade COULD actually remain without the user willing it to.

I sort of just assumed he was.

Not that I know of, but Sanderson has stated that there are three major types of magic on Roshar, one for each of the three Shards present (Honor, Cultivation, and Odium). Each type contains ten specific magical talents. Surgebinding is linked to Honor. Then there is Voidbinding and one as yet unnamed type of binding. Voidbinding does not strike me as linked to Cultivation, and therefore most people associate it with Odium.

I think you could be right, perhaps the Thrill has something to do with Voidbinding.

I think it is fairly clear that there is something important about the thrill. It is mentioned too often and in too serious of circumstances to mean nothing. However I get the distinct impression that there is something very sinister about it. Specifically because of how Dalinar describes it. Despite the face that the man was a ruthless warlord in his earlier years, Dalinar is arguably the most noble person in the series thus far. I would say it was Kaladin except that he is clearly not over his extreme prejudice against Lighteyes, and justified or no this places Dalinar just ahead of him I think. As such, I think we can use Dalinar's reactions to the Thrill as a pretty honest indicator of their intent. If Dalinar sees it as wrong, it probably is.

I love this theory, I think It is a great idea. Also, during the visions, all of the Knights Radiant's Shardblades and plate are glowing in a way that they no longer do. During the vision of the day of Recreance, Dalinar sees the shards loose this glow when they are abandoned by the Radiants. If this theory holds, then maybe the reason the shards lost their glow was because they were now separated from their bonded holder. In addition, during the scenes towards the end of The Way of Kings when Kaladin is fighting off the Parshendi, Syl takes on a very similar glow as she flies around him. I very much doubt that is not important. And Nohadon mentions that the Radiants were made up of individuals bound to spren other than Honorspren. I think that, if this theory is correct, then perhaps Death Spren were the spren responsible for the Blades.

I have a theory on what Gavilar meant by his last comment to his brother. He told Dalinar to "Find the most important words a man can say". I believe that Gavilar is referring to the Ideals of the Knights Radiant. It is stated several times that Gavilar had begun acting strangely before he died. Sadeas attributes this to "The Way of Kings", which Gavilar had been reading. I think that, perhaps, Dalinar was not the first to receive those visions. Perhaps Gavilar was getting them first. If this is the case, then Gavilar would have gotten the same command from Tanavast to reforge the Knights Radiant. I don't think it is a stretch that a King with the power that Gavilar had would have been able to discover information about the Radiants, especially the Ideals. In addition, the primary command of the visions was to "unite them". Now, Dalinar took this to mean the Highprinces, but perhaps Gavilar took it to mean a grander scale than that. Many comment that it was odd that Gavilar sought a treaty with the newly discovered Parshendi rather than conquering them. I also seem to recall somewhere in the book someone mentioning that Gavilar had sought treaties with other nations surrounding Alethkhar, like Jah Keved. Also, I think it is worth noting that he explicitly says "most important words a man can say". Not tell or read, but say. This fits with our experience with Kaladin saying aloud the Ideal and further awakening his power as a radiant. Any thoughts?

I am not familiar with the "stone shaman" term, but I believe he was referring to the Alethi when he calls them Stonewalkers. He calls them Stonewalkers since they live outside of Shinovar (which has dirt and grass) and tread upon the stone, which is sacred to the Shin. What I meant by my comment was that he, as in Szeth, has never seen anyone else ever use these abilities. In truth I doubt he has even considered the idea that there are others with the same powers, and therefore would be stunned when confronted with Kaladin.

Good Point, hadn't thought of that. Although to be fair Scadrial was already falling to pieces... might be kinda hard to tell if something was further screwed up by his dying.

Szeth makes a clear point of stating that no one has ever seen abilities like his during the prologue. I think that, at the very least, being confronted with Kaladin, a man who possesses the exact same abilities (likely even stronger), would give him a serious pause -- most likely giving Kaladin the upper hand.

We know from the final vision that Dalinar received that all of the visions, save the last one, were events that Honor himself witnessed. Therefore, we know that he survived at least until the day of Recreance. I think that the death of Roshar's God, known or not, would have had a visible and powerful impact on the land. Therefore I think it is extremely important to ask when exactly Honor was killed? Was it right before Dalinar began receiving the visions? On the day of Recreance, when the Radiants abandoned their shards? Or some other key date. I think it stands to reason that his demise would correspond with some significant event, explaining it in someway. Any ideas?

I think you, and others, are most likely right. Windrunner just instantly stood out in my mind, no doubt because we don't know the names of the others (other than Lightweavers which simply doesn't fit). Regardless, Dalinar's involvment in the plot, specifically the visions given to him by Honor, make it fairly clear to me that he either is, or at some point will be, a Radiant.

I was recently re-reading The Way of Kings and found something. In the chapter where the Chasm Fiend attacks Elhokar and Dalinar saves him there are a few details that make me believe that he may be a Windrunner, like Kaladin or Szeth, or some other Radiant. The scene is told from Adolin's viewpoint and he describes his father moving faster than any shardbearer could, how his speed and strength are beyond what ever the Shardplate could explain, and even that he seems to be glowing. Adolin writes off the glowing as stormlight leaking from the plate, but I think it was actually Dalinar unconsciously using his abilities, very similar to Kaladin. Anyone else remember this or think there may be something to it?

Thank you for all of the feedback. I am aware of my issue with adjectives, its an instinct of mine I seem to be having some issues with. I only gave the piece a cursory look over for major typos before sending it out. Clearly I missed some, but I will try to be more conscious of this in the future. Thanks for catching the POV error. I had written this in 3rd limited so it's a glaring mistake. As far as Ellil goes, I attempted to emphasize that this tree is quite unique. It is towering over most of the landscape, and a defining characteristic of the "Reach-Willow" is that as the wind pushes on the trees their branches reach out behind them. In the case of Ellil they extend for an extremely long distance before finally tapering off. When Leto is running towards the town he is remaining on Ellil, but while there are many more trees beneath Ellil they are not nearly as tall. I am glad that the Taming has piqued your interest. This is a major plot point that will be explored in the coming chapters. Lastly, the epigraphs are penned by a character that has not been introduced yet. While the ". . .Anyway!" does seem odd this was intentional. The character in question is very unorthodox. Not necessarily insane, but certainly eccentric.

This post is intended for next week. I accidentally sent out my work prematurely, however feel free to post your comments. They are much appreciated. To clarify, Song of the Wild Sea is the name of the whole series while Tameless is the title of the first book in the series.

Oh, and 'Fall Stars Fall" is mesmerizing to me. But that may have more to do with the fact I am completely enamored with astrology and the night sky than anything else. Still, it provides me with a powerful image. I see a shadowed figure looking up at the night sky atop a large building, or a cliff perhaps, surrounded by licks of angry light from raging fires. I would definitely read the back, if not the first few pages, which is often the difference between a book sold and a book ignored.

Looks like this forum has been dead for a bit and I just joined so I figured I would add my two cents. I love the series title "The Death of Dragons", and I know its a little irritating for most authors to hear but titles do matter--that is a great one. I am less sold on the individual titles of the books, I have no doubt they could be reworked over the course of writing them, but I would at least pick up the first one in the series for a read. I absolutely love the title "Age to Age, We Fall". It has a quality to it that simply begs to be pulled from the shelf instantly. I am assuming that it is a Fantasy work, but even if it weren't I'm not sure I could stop myself from making an immediate impulse buy. My own works are as follows. Song of the Wild Sea First Verse: Tameless Second Verse: Heartless Final Verse: Shapeless The Dawnstalker Saga Book One: Horizon Book Two: Catching Stars Book Three: The Dawn I'm quite the fan of the trilogy structure, as you can probably tell. Right now I am switching gears to my Song of the Wild Sea series, having just finished the first draft of The Dawn I figured I needed a change of pace. Hopefully I will be able to get you all the first drafts of the Prelude for Song of the Wild Sea and the Prologue for Tameless for next monday!

Afternoon everyone, I'm new and was hoping to submit a piece for next week. Is there still room?