Carcinios

One thought I had on how the King could loan his shardblade even whilst bound to the blade: - we know that a shardblade does not disappear when driven into rock. - I don't think this was ever explicitly stated to only apply to rock in the ground. -There could be some sort of stone disc or ring that the blade is driven through preventing it from vanishing and allowing it to be used by someone else whilst Elhokar was effectively summoning the blade.

Ian Irvine's 'View from the Mirror' and 'Well of Echoes' quartets cover most of what your looking for. They feature a dynamic world that takes a really interesting look at alternative forms of government (more so in 'Well of Echoes') They do have a chronology but the two quartets stand independently of each other so I would recommend starting with Geomancer (The first book in WoE) and then read a 'View from the Mirror' as a prequel. Hope that helps

I think the thing that struck me most was the elegance of the magic system in this story. I really felt the skill of crafting required to make the cakes. In a way it saddened me that Montague with all that skill at his disposal ended up using his art for something as petty as revenge. That said, I wonder could be a way to develop this idea; maybe introduce another baker who uses his art for more altruistic purposes (there is a lot to explore here with what different essences do to people and what happens when you mix multiple essences in a single cake). As some others have mentioned the king didn't quite gel for me. It might be helpful to think about what might motivate somebody to be that carelessly unpleasant. If you could anchor the conflict between Montague and the king in a more substantial disagreement then it would give Montague more definition as a character (Either more potently evil or more likeable as a character, depending on what effect your after) So yes would like to read more from this world

So hello Reading Excuses, My names Tim Hubbard. Born and live in the UK and have been writing slowly in my spare time for about six or seven years. I am currently working on a project 'Atlantis' which places the classic legend in a more High Fantasy setting complete with some magic systems I have been working on. I think one of my favourite fantasy books/ authors has got to be 'The Curse of Chalion' by Lois McMaster Bujold. as stand alone books go it is without equal. Needless to say Rothfuss, Jordan and Sanderson are the ones who fill the majority of the fantasy section on my shelves. One last thing (and this is probably coming from me being a technophobe) but I couldn't work out how to read other people's submissions I am assuming there is a mailing list somewhere but a friendly pointer in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Greetings Everyone. I am one of that later generation of Jordan fans who picked up WOT round about the time book 10 was published. A small group of us in Cambridge (UK) spent hours theorising over it for about 7 years before we all went our seperate ways. I made the natural progession to Brandon's work and have fallen in love with it. Alas no longer a student I don't have as much time as I would like to spare but in the time I do have I am an amatuer writer (Reading Excuses looks particularly interesting) and a vigorous but almost certainly deluded proponent of the theory that Ishikk is the herald Ishi. Anyway I look forward to picking through some wild theories and maybe coming up with some myself.