praetextus

Umm I guess I'll start then. That was a lot of words to pour into one's brain, and thus my full processed reaction will probably need a re-read. I feel the main downside to reading fast is you don't get as much time to process in-the-moment. A couple thoughts for now (and yes, spoilers): Not a surprise but very happy to see it play out that way: - I was picturing that this book would end with, at best, a very incomplete victory for Team Radiant, and more likely a crippling loss. Taravangian has been low-key my favorite in this entire series thus far, and I think it would have undercut him as the primary antagonist for him not to come out essentially victorious here. So very satisfying to see him reach essentially the apex of his tragic arc. And I am very excited for him and his Blackthorn cognitive shadow side-kick to have many wonderful adventures to come throughout the Cosmere (okay I should not be so excited for this; it casts many doubts upon my own moral compass, and yet, I am extremely excited and it will be fantastic) - Kaladin climbing his way up Maslow's pyramid of needs. I had a feeling that Kaladin would end up throwing himself headfirst into the Oathpact because...Kaladin. But (as Kaladin is also up there on my favorites list) I was dreading him being crushed by the process the way we saw him broken down in Book 4 (and Book 3, and Book 2, and...well, one gets the idea). Not a criticism, as I understand the writerly logic, but...it was very satisfying to see him continue to grow into himself and his own needs, and to enter the Oathpact as a positive choice instead of a self-destructive sacrifice. Definitely a surprise, but in the best possible way: - I did not expect to like Szeth anywhere near this much. I came to respect and understand Venli in Book 4, but I never came to like her. I see this as a sign of Brandon's growth as a writer to be willing/able to put unlikeable (polarizing?) characters in the protagonist position, and in many senses I expected Szeth's sections to be even more like this. Either that, or a character arc that completely recast his personality as a reaction to trauma. Again, maybe my strange personal opinions, but I like that Szeth was, from the start, a rule-obsessed little kid who annoyed people as a result. And to see his recovery to not become a totally different person, but just a more functional and better adjusted version of himself. - Dalinar's arc coming to a close. Based on some of what we saw in the Secret Projects, parallels with friends on Scadrial, I couldn't imagine this book ending without Taravangian getting a pet Blackthorn to rampage around with him. But Dalinar has come so far that it would have been exceedingly grim to see him backslide into his prior bloodthirstiness and lack of self-actualization. But I didn't expect any of the last parts with Gav, and the way that he redeemed his past failures with Gavilar (is anyone actually sad about this though??) and Elhokar...fantastic. I was not prepared for this and now I am sad: - Jasnah is ending this book near the bottom of her character arc. Maybe I should have been prepared for this, given that she needs to have room to grow and overcome challenges, but she is also my favorite (yes, I have many favorites), and I didn't expect things to turn out so very badly for her. - Gavinor. Enough said. I do not even know what to think, but apparently I need to re-read everything again, yes EVERYTHING: - Hematurgy, but...Voidlight? What will the Heralds think of next? - Time dilation as a result of two Shards mixing? How do we think about compounding multiple shards on Scadrial, etc, and what does this tell us about different types of Investiture