Arondell

Just to be clear. In the spoiler section you have there he doesn't actually say the codes. He mentions them and then states a number of other ideals he got from the Way of Kings. The Alethi Codes of War: Readiness The officer will be prepared at all times for battle. Never drunken on wine, never without his weapon. Inspiration The officer will wear his uniform when in public, to look ready for war and to give strength to his troops. Restraint The officer will refrain from needless duels, arguments or squabbles with other officers in camp, to prevent injury to men who may be needed to command. Leadership The officer will require no action of his soldiers that he would not be willing to perform himself. Honor The officer will not abandon allies on the field, nor will he seek to profit from the loss of his allies. As far as I can tell none of his actions so far violate the codes. Ok you could argue the part about "needless duels" by letting Adolin fight for the shards but you would have to argue how "needless" it is since he has a specific strategic purpose in allowing it.

In the rock climbing scene it doesn't appear that speaking the ideal alone did anything. The description of the feeling after he inhaled seemed much the same as prior descriptions. Was it a stronger feeling then before or was it just because this was the first time he intentionally infused? The text doesn't make it obviously clear. It certainly wasn't as dramatic as when he later spoke the second ideal. Maybe someone can ask Mr. Sanderson at some point.

Life before death, Strength before weakness, Journey before destination The first ideal is the only one that is common to all ten orders. Kaladin first learns of it from Teft when he was first trying to consciously breathe in stormlight. I don't believe it actually has exactly the same import as the following ideals. It is more like a motto that is supposed to define the Radiants as a whole. Both to themselves and others.

Well looking at the Mistborn series almost every major character had magical abilities. I'm trying to think of a major character that didn't and having a hard time thinking of anyone.

If he is as hyper-paranoid as your implying he is the last person I would want in power. A certain amount of paranoia is good for those in positions of power and influence. The awareness that simply being the king will mean that there are those that will try to harm you just because you are the king. On the other hand, in my opinion, the level of paranoia your implying verges on madness.

Blackmailed? What line in that scene even implied that Dalinar was going to blackmail Elhokar with the information about the strap?

This is actually a fascinating description of that scene. Especially since it leaves out some of the most important parts and kind of skews the intent of the scene. A very cryptic description. "If I'd wanted to kill you, Elhokar, I could have done it a dozen times over. A hundred times over. It appears you won't accept loyalty and devotion as proof of my honesty. Well, if you act like a child, you get treated like one. You know now, for a fact, that I don't want you dead. For if I did, I would have crushed your chest and been done with it!" What I saw here was an exasperated and powerful high prince telling his oblivious idiot of a nephew that suspecting him of wanting to kill said nephew was childish behavior. Given some of Elhokar's actions that ultimately led up to this scene I can't help but agree.

Actually what I expect of him and all the high princes is that they would obey their oaths. You know. The ones where they swore to obey the authority of the king? If they are refusing to obey the legal orders of the High Prince of War to fight in a unified fashion then they are breaking both the letter and spirit of those oaths and are in a functional state of rebellion already. I do find it interesting that Taravangian seems to think that Dalinar is likely to succeed in his efforts to consolidate the power of the crown.

The reasonable one? Which one would that be? Dalinar : What if I can bring the others around? What if I can prove to you that they’re worthy of trust? What if I can change the direction of this kingdom, and this war? Will you follow me then? Aladar : No. I'm sorry. That reasonable one? By rejecting Dalinar's authority as Highprince of War he is by proxy rejecting Elhokar's authority. Which is arguably an act of treason since Aladar and all the highprinces swore an oath to obey Elhokar.

This part I find a little hard to accept. The nature of the shards tends to cause their holders to become rather monomaniacal. I think after all the time Tanavast had held the shard of Honor he would probably of been incapable of breaking an oath or ordering others to break their oaths. It would be counter to the purpose of Honor. Much like Laras the original holder of Preservation was incapable of actually fighting Ruin since to do so would have been counter to the purpose of Preservation.

Favorite typo ever.

My personal and not likely hope is that Tor duplicates Baen's e-ARC model.

I don't find it baffling. In and of itself the murder and enslavement of men who just saved your life because you want something one of them has is a loathsome act. It should generate a strong emotional response. Was it the act of a psychopath? No. On the other hand just because Amaram felt a little guilty about it doesn't make him any more or less deserving of disdain.

Your more or less right. Unless Amaram publicly confesses their isn't much that Kaladin can do legally. It seems inevitable that one way or another Dalinar is going to pick up on the hostility between Amaram and Kaladin and is going to want to know what is going on. If Amaram makes public accusations about Kaladin being a deserter...Well...I would hope given Kaladin's recent actions that at least some people, Dalinar in particular, would find the idea that Kaladin deserted in the face of the enemy hard to swallow. Amaram probably needs to step carefully just as much as Kaladin. Depending on how it plays out their might actually be a legal/social/political stalemate between the two of them. If/when Dalinar learns that Kaladin is bonded to an honorspren then Amaram's credibility with Dalinar would probably go right down the drain if he made careless accusations. Of course the other high princes will be circling like sharks smelling blood during all this.

Actually while he is most skilled with Windstance he used Smokestance, "as it was better with an imperfect weapon." Chapter 12? Least surprising cliff hanger ever.

Just to throw another wrench into this issue I would point out that the diamond market (real world) is heavily manipulated to maintain the high prices. Without such manipulation their market value would be far less then it is. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2524/is-a-diamonds-price-a-true-measure-of-its-value Edit : I would think that the general value of gemstones on Roshare would probably be higher since they can be used to make things. Making them more useful in general then real world gems.

Call me contrarian but I have the suspicion that any attempt at genocide wouldn't work. Regardless of the morality of the issue. If the Parshendi truly are the void bringers then they are effectively Odium's primary tools to achieve victory on Roshar. I can't imagine he would allow their complete destruction. On top of that both the Radiants and the Heralds before the Radiants showed up were either unable or unwilling for whatever reason to exterminate the Parshendi in any prior desolation. I suspect the agreement implied to exist between Honor and Odium in the prologue to WoK is still at work here. We the readers are working with far to little information to really make an informed judgement on the issue. As things stand right now I would tentatively favor the expulsion of the Parshmen. I wouldn't bother trying for genocide since it would probably be a waste of time and effort given the apparent time limit Jasnah thinks they are working with. Good luck convinving all the other nations of Roshare in following your lead. If the Parshendi turn out to be the void bringers they can decide after the issues of immediate survival what we can and should do about them in the long term.

I suspect that Amaram would like to be the kind of person who is always true and honorable but he feels that honor gets in the way of the best he can do. I'm actually having a hard time describing this. It is like he knows what the moral thing to do is and wants to do it but he feels that doing the moral thing would result in a bad outcome so he must sacrifice his own wants and do the immoral thing to properly serve his people. If that makes any sense. At least he has the good grace to look a little guilty about what he is doing. Of course part of this is because of his own distrust of other peoples motives and honesty. He didn't believe Kaladin wouldn't eventually demand the shards back. He couldn't even comprehend it really. When it comes to issues of redemption or revenge for Amaram I find I don't really have a preference. I do feel that if Mr. Sanderson goes the route of redemption for the character in order for justice to be had Amaram has to come clean publicly with what he has done. I feel anything less would be kind of weak. Unless it is an act of redemption that involves some kind of noble self-sacrificing death or similar fate.

I had the impression that the Lift interlude among other things was to show that that gender rolls in other kingdoms didn't match that of Alethkar. That brief scene with the Prime candidates arguing over who had the best(worst) essay or the best disqualifying reason comes to mind.

I think it is more like comparing someone who would kill anybody just because his master tells him too and somebody who would refuse to kill innocents under any circumstances. Important difference IMO.

A better term would be a symbiont or symbiotic relationship. One in which each receives a benefit from the other. A parasitic relationship would be one in which one side receives no appreciable benefit and might actually be harmed.(e.g. a tick.)

So it is likely that some/most/all of the bonded spren at the time of the betrayal of the Knights Radiant didn't actually die but instead lost their sense of self. A difference that the other spren still in shadesmar might not see as being one of any meaningful distinction. If this is the case I wonder what the reaction of the spren hanging out in Shadesmar will be to Syl.

So why was she floating around in the Physical realm and not hanging out in Shadesmar? Are all the Honorspren hanging out in the physical realm for some reason?

One thing I have noted is that while Syl seems to have developed to the point that she has started understanding concepts such as sarcasm her long term memory, outside of vague impressions, has remained largely lost. Wyndle's long term memory seems largely intact and it is implied that Ivory's is fairly coherent. So why the difference? I was thinking their could be a number of different reasons. 1. Some basic difference between Honor type spren and Cultivation type spren. 2. The loss of Honor in some way damaged all the Honor type spren. 3. The spren linked with Knights Radiant during the betrayal didn't all die and were instead damaged.(From a cognitive viewpoint loosing all memory of who you are might be thought of as the same thing as dying.)

I think it is fairly likely that others have been receiving the visions.