darkanimereal1

Has anyone seen this video yet? Highstorm sighting in Wyoming.... http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/19/313968112/whoa-watch-a-spectacular-supercell-take-form-in-wyoming?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140519

She's witty enough.

Huh, this is probably completely unrelated, but I find it interesting that the idea of "immense gravitational pull" could apply to Roshar, which actually has a lower gravitational force than Earth.

If Roshar is upside-down, then it would be rotating clockwise (with regard to the sun--it'd still be rotating counter-clockwise with regard to its poles). But then the sun would still rise in the west, which it's not doing. (Unless they call "down" north? I don't know, that seems a little too far fetched.) Right? I could be visualizing this wrong. I was using a pen to try to imitate the rotation of Roshar and then figure out its orientation with regards to the sun, so I could have messed up somewhere. I know a lot of people have mentioned this, but the rotation of the landmass is weird. If you look at a picture of a hurricane in the northern hemisphere (like Katrina), it rotates counter-clockwise. Roshar (the continent), however, also rotates counter-clockwise, despite being in the southern hemisphere. So there's something really weird going on there. Also, I find it really strange that the highstorms are one gigantic wall (gigantic enough to cover at least half of the globe--the southern hemisphere--in one sweep) rather than being a swirling shape like a storm on Earth. I wonder what a highstorm would look like from a satellite image...

So that begs the fun question: how do shardpools manifest themselves in Shadesmar?

Dude, I totally hear you. Honestly, I think I was rather harsh on Adolin after I first read it too. Because it's like, SHALLAN AND KALADIN ARE SO AMAZING. Hahaha. But I've had a solid week to let it all simmer and stop obsessing over them, plus to read through twenty pages of other people's opinions, so I've gone a bit softer on Adolin since then. Def not trying to rip you down, just wanted to throw my own thoughts in I hear you on this, too. I'm totally not disagreeing. The vast majority of their relationship is built on physical attraction. Which isn't wrong, and there are other parts to it as well (like I pointed out). Still, I agree that I don't see enough depth in their relationship to indicate that they have enough to make a long term thing out of it. I mean, who knows. Could change in book three. But I do agree here, too Actually, when I said "Shallan knows all too well what it’s like to kill someone in the moment," I was actually referring to her killing her mom. I agree that there are major differences between Sadeas' murder and the murder of both of Shallan's parents. In fact, there's major differences between the murder of her father and mother as well. Adolin killed Sadeas in cold blood. Shallan killed her mother in (what I assume to be) unthinking, reflexive self defense. But Shallan had quite a bit of time to coolly assess and then execute her father's murder (this time not in self defense, but to protect her brother). I guess what I'm saying is that, although I really don't think that Shallan will be in any way okay with Sadeas' murder (to the contrary--the fact that Adolin killed him in rage actually seems very similar to Lin Davar's problem. Lin killed his second wife in a moment of pure fury, and I doubt that Shallan will be able to sympathize with that in any way, shape, or form), she at least knows what it's like to kill someone in a moment without really thinking it through: her mom. Again, the murders were fundamentally different, but I guess all I'm saying is that she at least has a similar situation. I'm not sure exactly how that will translate into their relationship, but I do think it will become important. Haha, I guess what I'm saying is that I agree with you, but for different reasons? Oh well (I think I just enjoy discussing the romantic subplots way too much and am finding any excuse I can to continue to rant about them. Because I'm a hopeless romantic, and Brandon did not disappoint, in my eyes. There is so much complexity and detail worked into the relationships--not just romantic, but all of the character relationships--and having been an English major I'm just reveling in the chance to get to do some high profile analysis of this type of thing on my favorite fantasy series )

@Lamora Okay, I'm a rather big Shalladin fan (just wanted to point that out as context for this post). That being said, I think that there are a few things you're misreading about Shallan's relationships. I think the general picture you have is pretty much right, but some of the details you pointed out I don’t agree with. First off, although I do agree that Shallan was far more honest with Kaladin than she ever was with Adolin, I wouldn't go so far as to say that that's a deal breaker. I mean, I’m fairly certain that this will be the case: I really don’t picture things working out between Shallan and Adolin. However, one of the things that I love about Brandon more than anything else is his ability to take my expectations and completely shred them to pieces with fantastic twists. Interestingly enough, one of the biggest twists in WoR (for me personally) was the development of Shallan’s relationship with Kaladin. Based on TWoK, I did not expect this. However, it was hinted at in WoR even before the two of them met (see my earlier post about the horses), so I wasn’t very surprised by the progression of their relationship as the book went on. Honestly, this kind of bummed me out, I think mostly because I was taken off guard. I was expecting not to be able to see where his plot was going, and there were a lot of things that happened in this book that were obvious from early on (not all, but a lot). That being said, I don’t think we should be lulled into a false sense of complacency. Just because Adolin and Shallan’s relationship has been very shallow so far does NOT mean that there is zero chance of them staying together for the long run (which, from your wording, is what you seem to be implying). Both Adolin and Shallan have a lot of character growth to do (Adolin in particular), and we know for a fact that Brandon is “fond of conflict in relationships.” (That is word for word what I overheard him telling the person in front of me at the signing ). Based on all of this, even though I agree that it is highly unlikely that things will work out between Adolin and Shallan (due to their rather shallow relationship and Shallan’s inability to be truthful with him so far, as well as a myriad of other reasons), I wouldn’t quite write it off just yet. I highly agree with what you said: Sanderson knows how to surprise. Now that I have that generalization out of the way, I also wanted to comment on a few little things. I actually disagree with this. True, the vast majority of Shallan’s thoughts about Adolin (particularly from her PoV) are physical and very shallow. But you’re forgetting a key part of the scene when Shallan defended Adolin while talking with Kaladin. I don’t have my book on me, so I can’t quote it, but I think Shallan does admire Adolin. He’s very genuine and makes people feel at ease (Shallan points out him playing around with the others--I think they were kids?). She’s rather sarcastic when she tells Kaladin, “Oh yeah, Adolin is so hard to get along with.” I think this is one of Adolin’s traits that Shallan is really drawn to. Adolin is very personable and friendly. So even though Shallan tends to focus on the physical attributes, I think she’s well aware of his other ones as well. Okay, I have mixed feelings about this. You make a good point when you point out that Shallan probably won’t find Adolin a match for her intelligence-wise. This has been discussed at length in the thread already (I mean, what hasn’t? We’re at almost 20 pages now. Lol). This is one of the biggest reasons I’m fairly certain that Shallan will wind up with Kaladin and not Adolin--Shallan and Kaladin have the same kind of intelligence, and they’re both very witty and quick with quips. The quips, in particular, are key. Since her mother’s death, quips have been the way that Shallan shows her love and affection for those around her (starting with her brothers). The fact that Adolin doesn’t get this and Kaladin does (or at least seems to) indicates to me which one will win in the end. HOWEVER. (…Yes, the caps are necessary.) I don’t think Adolin is pathetic, and I don’t think Shallan does either. Kaladin was purposely speaking in a roundabout fashion so that Adolin wouldn’t realize he was being insulted. That’s a pretty sly way of insulting someone, and not particularly nice. How can someone defend themselves if they don’t realize they’re being attacked? In fact, based on Shallan’s reaction, she seems to think that it’s Kaladin, and not Adolin, who is pathetic in that situation. And I agree. Beyond that, Shallan points out at least once (I think a few times) that Adolin is not stupid. Because he isn’t. He’s very smart, just in different ways. Just like Kaladin and Shallan are both strong people, just in different ways. There isn’t just one kind of “smart,” and then you’re either intelligent or you’re not. And Shallan gets that. However, like I said, I think Kaladin has the same kind of smarts as Shallan, which makes them fit together more nicely. As for Adolin killing Sadeas. Um, not quite sure I agree with your assessment. I think it will definitely throw a wrench in Adolin and Shallan’s relationship. However, Shallan knows all too well what it’s like to kill someone in the moment. For different reasons, yes, but she still knows. So I’m not quite sure that what you’re assuming will be true. And her family… I have mixed feelings on this (not just what you said here, but what a lot of people have said). Shallan’s family is very tattered, and I also think they’re very vulnerable. I wouldn’t be surprised if they play a much bigger role in Shallan’s relationships than everyone here seems to assume. Just because her family is currently promised to arrive safely at Urithiru doesn’t mean much. I mean, it’s Mraize who made that promise. Mraize. I have a feeling there’s going to be a catch. All of this being said, I completely agree with your very first point: I think if anyone can pull of a love triangle (in any form), it’s Brandon.

So, I remember Brandon saying somewhere that "Stones Unhallowed" as an in-world book is a very different kind of book. He didn't say much else, but hinted that it wouldn't be like other in-world texts. Of course, now I have to try to remember where I heard that (I've been listening to a lot of his readings/general Q&As from signings in the last week). If I can find it, I'll post a link.

Eh, I'm not so sure about this. My first reaction is to feel the same way. But one of the things I love most about Brandon's writing is that his characters all develop in such amazing ways, which often are unexpected. Shallan's development, especially, in WoR was just wonderful. I think that the fact that Jasnah is so completely removed/seen as "above" all this is a good indication that we'll get some major character growth. I'm not saying this will 100% come in the form of a relationship (although considering how many times Shallan has expressed the fact that Jasnah never seems to notice men's eyes on her, this could very well be the case...). However, the small hint of "Jasnah's weakness" that we got in the chapter right before the Ghostbloods attempted to murder her on the ship indicates to me that we have a lot more to see in the way of growth as far as Jasnah is concerned. For starters, she needs to learn how to ask for help when she needs it, which in turn also has to do with being able to trust in and rely on others (both of which are hugely important things to learn in a relationship). So I wouldn't rule this one out yet.

Okay, one more thing I noticed. If you look at the KR surges chart compared to the (what we think is) the voidbinder surges chart, the glyphs representing the surges are all very similar. KR: http://coppermind.net/wiki/File:TWoK_Front_Endsheet.jpg Voidbringer: http://coppermind.net/wiki/File:TWoK_Rear_Endsheet.jpg The KR glyphs are symmetrical across the vertical axis, whereas the void surge glyphs are the same basic shape symmetrical across a diagonal axis. It just made me really question the shape of Roshar, which is symmetrical diagonally. I'm not exactly sure what it could mean, but I found it really interesting.

Okay, we know a few things about the highstorms. They take about one day to move all the way across the the continent. We also known that they generally come about every five days (once a week). Also, they have a list of what they think are predicted Everstorm dates from the epitaphs in WoR. Let me go find the link and I'll post it

At the Dayton signing, Brandon talked about this. I have it recorded, although I haven't been able to write up a transcript of it yet. Basically he said something like this: There WILL be a time gap between books, but not so long that the characters from the first arc will be gone. They WILL be in the second arc. Also, from a different WoB, we know that the Heralds will be more prominently featured in the second arc than the first.

I don't think we have proof yet that Cryptics are "Cultivantiony" (although I do tend to think they are). However, we know that Wyndle is closely related to Cultivation (he calls her Mother in a similar way to how Syl calls the Stormfather her father). We also know that Wyndle does care quite a bit about how Lift acts. Most of the time he's just fretting and complaining, but she also acts very closely to her oaths, particularly when helping out the new Prime. So I don't think that Cultivation-related spren care less about how the person they bond with acts. I think they just care about different attributes.

I just had a thought. What if the "skill" that Peter mentioned was knowing a foreign language? I know that Brandon has said that since Scadrial is his "Earth analogue" it had a lot that was familiar to our world. Roshar tends to be far more alien, so this may not transfer as well in this case (since Roshar has much less in common with Earth). However, what if one of the names on the map has some other meaning in a foreign language? Or even just sounds like a foreign word. In that case, it wouldn't be anything cosmere- or plot-shattering, but it still would be pretty cool, and may make sense why they were surprised no one had noticed it yet. For instance, we know that Elend's and Straff's names have Germanic roots. In fact, "Elend" in German means "misery"--or, as an adjective, "forelorn, miserable, woeful, etc." (I had long been hoping that this was just a coincidence, but it now looks like that was on purpose.) "Straff" means tense/firm. Maybe one of the names of the places is a little detail like that?

Have we? I don't think this is the case. It's been a while since I read TWoK, so I could be remembering wrong, but I don't think we ever actually see a "Symbolhead" in the physical world in TWoK. Only in Shallan's drawings. Pattern is the first Cryptic we see in the physical world. Also, Pattern looks different in Shadesmar--how he looks there resembles the Symbolheads Shallan sees in TWoK.

Actually, we have WoB that Kaladin's parents are alive. I do think, however, that they've left Hearthstone. My guess is they went to Hesina's parents. However, I really don't think things will be good with Lirin. This has been discussed at length in other threads. We haven't seen a lot of Elhokar growth in the first two books. I'm expecting to see far more in the coming ones. The scene in WoR when he goes to Kaladin's room indicates that Elhokar is not dumb. He sees what's going on, and he's struggling with constantly being a failure. I was actually going to start a topic about this, because I think he's a major character that people are overlooking. I can't blame him for feeling inadequate. His father united an entire country, his mother is a renowned engineer, and his older sister was a child genius and now the most important scholar in the world (at least as far as I see it). And yet every time he tries to do something it goes wrong. I think he is also on his way way to becoming a KR. He sees triangle spren in the mirror and corner of his eyes, just like Shallan. He also notes that Kaladin seems to have scared them off. With Kaladin leaving Urithiru, I'm expecting whichever spren were following him to come back full force. Elhokar's going to have a lot of lessons to learn, and my guess is that we'll get to see more come Book 3.

The thing is, there is something VERY fishy about "Taln" ... This is the answer we got from Brandon at the Dayton signing: I have no idea what's going on, but it really throws Taln's identity into question. People have been speculating that the man who arrived at the end of TWoK is different from the Taln we see in WoR.

I could see this too. Honestly, as several people have mentioned already, it's Brandon. I'm sure I'll love what he writes one way or the other, because he always does an excellent job. For instance, when I first noticed that he was starting something between Kaladin and Shallan, my first reaction was, "Urgh! No! I don't think they'll work at all!" And by the end of it (particularly after the chasm scene), I was hooked anyways, because the writing and character development and attention to detail were all just beautiful. lol

Ooooh, that makes a lot of sense, actually.

I was the one who overheard that question at the signing. I was next in line and thought, "OH MY GOD, WE HAVE A WHOLE THREAD GOING ABOUT THIS." And I quickly whipped out my iPod and recorded the second half of his answer xD Anyway, earlier at the signing (my first time through the signing line), I had asked him a question and got an unexpected answer: I already knew that Kaladin had seasonal depression, but I thought it may have to do with the lack of highstorms (and thus the lack of Honor/stormlight). On the other hand, with Cryptics and Honorspren being on opposite ends of the spectrum, and the fact that Shallan loved the rain/Weeping so much, I thought it may indicate a closer connection with Cultivation. It looks like I was wrong. xD However, (and this is completely gut reaction and not at all scientific or anything) the fact that he gave Kaladin a trait from his wife and Shallan a trait from himself really indicates to me that these two are going to be a thing. I don't know, maybe that's really goofy of me to assume, particularly because Brandon is such an amazing writer and I don't think he would write himself or Emily into his books. But still, the fact that these traits are drawn from the two of them was kind of like a little flag to me. What do you guys think? Am I just crazy, maybe? lol

Okay, I think this is off-topic as far as the map is concerned, but I just had an idea (and literally ran online so I could share it xD). Brandon said at the signing last night that he got the idea for the highstorms from Jupiter (yet again, another instance of "Oh! I was just thinking about that yesterday!" lol). So what if it's less of the highstorm circling around the globe, and instead the globe rotating with the storm staying pretty much in place above it? ... Now that I write that down, it doesn't seem like it's really all that big of a deal. Oh well, I already wrote it up.

Okay, a few thoughts. I've been following this thread and have read most of the replies, so hopefully I won't be repeating anything. (Also, I have it set up so that every time there's a reply I get an Email. That way I can follow it at work without having to be on the forums. I have to say, I've been deleting 100+ Emails every day trying to keep up with you guys xD) The biggest thing is that I'm kind of confused about something after Brandon's revelation at the DC signing that the entire continent has been migrating west over the past millennia. Looking at the map, I would never guess that the East is being "worn away." It actually looks pretty stable compared to the more "frilly"/thinner bits out west. Maybe I'm just picturing weathering wrong, but I would expect to see a worn area be thinner and have more trailing wisps. Likewise, if the West is being built up, I would expect it to look more... solid, I guess? Maybe I'm just making things up. I was also wondering if the mountains could actually be caused by crem build up (since we know it's not plate tectonics). I'm not sure how much I actually believe this, since we know from Shallan's sketches that crem build ups tend to lean to the west/have a slicked-back look. At the same time, though, I'm not sure how the continent could actually be building up on the far west, since the majority of the western shore (Shinovar) is shielded by the Misted Moutains. Unless the crem is building up on the mountains themselves. Either that, or Aimia/Iri are the product of the shifting land mass, perhaps? Finally, I do think that there's something really important with the symmetry of the continent. I know you guys have discussed this at length, but the fact that the Frostlands "Dragon head" (yes, RShara, I see it perfectly ) is eating Thaylenah in almost the exact same manner that Iri/Rira are a gaping mouth toward the Reshi Isles, PLUS the fact that that there are two smaller bodies of water located in similar spots in both areas is too coincidental. Beyond that, if you look at the Purelake, it seems to mirror the Tarat Sea. Even the moutain ranges seem to be mirrored. I don't know, I'm sure I'm just repeating things now despite saying that I wasn't going to. But there's so much there.

Also, it was great to get to meet you old aggie! Loved your necklace

There were a few questions that I overheard, but I didn't get a recording of and I didn't quite catch everything. In particular, one woman in front of me said, "I really hope you're not going to do a love triangle between Kaladin, Adolin, and Shallan." Brandon's response (which he worded quite carefully) was, "I'm not a fan of the traditional love triangle. However, I am fond of conflict in relationships." And he left it at that xD For the other one, I didn't quite overhear what the question was, but I did hear Brandon's answer (paraphrased): "An invested object resists any attempt to put additional investment into it. Just like you can't pull metal that's inside a person's body. When the shardplate cracks, the streams of stormlight that you're seeing are actually the plate doing what it's supposed to: healing itself." [This is, I assume, as opposed to "leaking" or losing stormlight.] "So, theoretically, you could maybe pull a tiny fraction of that stormlight out, but you can't just stick your hand up to the outside of the plate and retrieve it. However, if you have the plate open with the gem exposed and you were to touch the gem, then you could pull the stormlight from it." This last one, especially, excites me, because it seems to indicate that Elhokar could be the one who weakened his own armor in TWoK (which I've suspected for quite some time).

These I already posted in the My Signing Questions thread, and then found out that we're supposed to post them here instead (Luke is luke.spence): [Note, I was so dumb and didn’t record the exact answers for these first two, so this is paraphrasing.] Me: So, the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous. Does this in any way have to do with the fact that the Purelake is so shallow? Brandon: No. I haven’t yet discussed the nature of the relationship between Shadesmar and the Physical world. Me: So, when Dalinar has his vision in what he assumes in the Purelake, he sees an obsidian fortress. Is that fortress in any way related to the fact that the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous? Brandon: No. Someone in line before us: Please don’t tell me you’re going to do a love triangle between Adolin, Kaladin, and Shallan. Brandon: [he phrased this very carefully] I’m not a fan of the traditional love triangle. However, I am fond of conflict in relationships. [Alright, these are from my recording, so word for word.] Me: The weepings--Shallan and Kaladin react very differently to them. Brandon: They do. M: It just seems to me that the Weepings feel very close to Cultivation. Brandon: The primary thing you’re noticing -- and I’m not going to say there’s not any magical influence -- but the primary thing you’re noticing is that Kaladin has season defective disorder and Shallan likes the rain. That’s the primary thing you’re noticing. I like the rain--my wife hates it. My wife gets depressed when it rains and I love when it rains. Me: Did Taravangian go to see the Nightwatcher before or after Gavilar’s assassination? Brandon: Um, oh man. I’m going to have to look at my timeline. I believe it’s before, but I can’t guarantee I’m right, because these things are all happening around the same time. Me: Because he says that Gavilar confided in him the night of. Brandon: Ooooh, you’re right. Nope, it’s after. It is after. You can send that question to Peter so we can confirm it. There might be something I’m forgetting about Taravangian. Luke: What caused a Desolation to end? Was it just the defeat of Odium’s forces? Because the Desolations start when the Heralds break under torture. Brandon: Because the Heralds can no longer be in existence. There is a certain period of time that they can be there, and after that, if they’re there, they will start a new one. So the Heralds do need to leave for a Desolation to end Me: Oh. So they’ve got a time limit. Brandon: They do. Otherwise the Desolation will start again. What they discovered is not all of them have to. As long as one remains, the Desolation will not start again. Luke: So, by the nine leaving, did that actually break the Oathpact for them? Did it change the cycle of Desolations? Brandon: They have not completely broken the Oathpact, despite what they may think. Luke: How much stormlight equals one breath? Do you have an actual ratio? Brandon: I have a ratio. It’s not on me. Me: Okay, that’s a Peter question again. Brandon: Yeah, well, I may not answer it even then. Luke: Are the Heralds actually aware that Taln is back? Brandon: Are the Heralds aware that Taln is back? Uh, you’re implying that this person actually is Taln. [The smile on Brandon’s face at this moment was the best, most excruciatingly awful smile ever. And we thought Peter was a tease.] Which is not guaranteed. It’s not guaranteed. However, the return of the Voidbringers does indeed indicate to them, in their mind, that he would have returned. Me: So they assume because the Voidbringers are returning-- Brandon: Because the Voidbringers are returning, would be a clue to them that Taln has returned.