Bloodfalcon

Hahahaha, I busted out laughing at this at work

Looking back on this thread in a week is going to be both sad and hilarious.

OMG Cousin is the name of his spren.

It seems like every time that I start a series at the beginning after hearing "you don't have to start at the first [media type]" I always end up regretting it. I did the same thing with Dr. Who and my friends think it was the biggest mistake of my life now that I am turned off of it. But you guys have definitely sold me back to Discworld, so thank you for that.

Huh. I thought we had already seen this quote in a sample chapter. Maybe not.

Swimmingly, are you in sales by any chance?

Would they have explained that the world is being carried by 4 giant elephants riding a giant seaturtle through space in any of the other books? I actually really enjoyed how they said it. The line almost made me decide to finish the book by itself. The one explaining a view along the lines of "It is logically mandatory for a world this crazy to exist somewhere in an infinite universe - so a world on the back of 4 elephants on the back of a turtle isn't so unbelievable when you consider that it is just where the dice fell." Really liked that idea in the same way that I liked Robert Jordan's use of "the Pattern" to say "everything that you find unbelievable about the events in this story is actually quite destined and repetitive on a larger scale. There is going to be balance eventually because there must be because that is the premise." Of course both of those are just my interpretations of much cleaner explanations, but you get it.

I enjoy the humor of it, I think I just have a hard time taking it seriously. Pretty sure I'll give it another shot eventually.

I wish there was punctuation for *understatement* Amaram has got a reputation that he clearly recognizes and values. He won't say anything. It'll be the conflict between Kaladin and Amaram that they never share with the Kholins but end up working out (violently or peaceably) at some point. Kaladin sees Amaram is friends with Dalinar, and Amaram doesn't want things getting crazy now that he is in a good place to sit on his reputation and grow his title in powerful company.

Howey's Wool is also really slow to start. The friend who recommended it gave me a general "feeling" that he had at the end of the first sequence and (to his dismay) I just about outlined the plot points dead on. A little predictability made the first couple sequences slow, but then it picks up. It is also a book based on an idea, but that idea grows pretty well so far. I don't mean to trash the book by saying this, but it saddens me a little bit that 3 people at the airport came and told me what a great book Wool was and encouraged me to keep reading. I can already see that it is not the same caliber as many others I've read recently that just don't make it that far into the general spotlight.

mine's not even close.

I agree, there would need to be a way to skip to the beginning of a sentence if it were possible. If not, then you'd have to be content with skipping back a certain number of seconds. Changing duration based on word length could be nice too, at least to start. It might contradict some of the research they claim, but I think it would be helpful. Again, I only really had problems with words that I didn't recognize, and I think if you started off reading a book with new characters and concepts as fantasy brings, you would be in a bit of a Pickle. Might take a repeat or two for every new proper noun.

Check out this speed reading tool that is being developed: http://www.spritzinc.com/ I tried it out in that header and read at 500 wpm with no problem at all. After seeing that, I immediately applied to be a beta tester so that I could pound through books like Words of Radiance in a fraction of the time. It is practically a necessity. When you encounter certain new vocabulary, the speeds can get a little problematic, but perhaps that means I haven't had enough practice yet. Regardless, if you used it for rereading purposes alone, it would be a great tool. Definitely something I'm going to keep an eye on, and I thought others might be interested.

That's really nice to hear actually. When I finish WoR, I won't have many new books on my plate, so I'm excited to actually focus on a large story. Glad it pays off.

You addressed my main concern - that the length would leave it a slow read at times. Glad I can put that idea to rest. I was hyped before...now I'm somewhere beyond that. A very calm confidence that I'm in for a really good time. It doesn't make sense, but that is where this review just put me. Thanks!

He also mentioned that the planets have something similar to souls of their own, so that might be what he was referring to. Those souls might have something to do with the individual Shards - that would make them all relevant.

I've been on a bit of an adventure recently. Prince of Thorns- I had a friend recommend it to me, so I began reading that, but couldn't finish. The main character is very dark - the whole book is - but it seems overkill after a while, and I have personal problems getting invested in a story where I hate all the characters. It's just tougher to motivate myself to sit down and read. Malazan - It's a long haul. I wasn't ready for it. I tried it on audiobook, got lost several times, relistened to the first few chapters over and over, realized it wasn't going to happen, put it down before I lost all hope. Hoping I'll pick it up again soon in a physical copy and really sit down with it they way it must be read. Discworld (first book)- This one was recommended by forum users here at 17thShard. I started off liking it. It started off strong with a world building infodump, which I love, but it just gets so silly that I can't focus. It really felt to me like a Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy with no frame of reference. I just got a little disappointed by what felt like purely random events for the sake of being purely random. Wool (by Hugh Howey) - I'm reading Wool now. It is post-apocalyptic and pretty far removed from the types of fantasy I have been reading. It's really good so far but it does start of pretty slow (I thought, though my friend would argue). Just hit a really good cliffhanger at the end of a segmented part that has me hungry to read more. Not finished, but so far I would recommend it. Halo: Ghosts of Onyx - Rereading this one right now with hopes of continuing the series because I didn't keep up with it. It's not as good as I remember, but still a fun read if anyone was trying to get into military scifi sort of stuff.

I follow this same philosophy. I've bought the Ender series probably 3 times, and Ender's game around 6 or 7. 100% worth it. Plenty of other books as well, including the Eye of the World a few times. Oh, and the Hobbit probably as many as Ender's Game. Considering the hours I log in those books, they have been well worth paying 10x their value.

Sounds like Puppy isn't getting much smarter at this point. WoR: If Puppies Could Talk

Yes. I can remember the face of the random kid that wanted to fight my best friend in 4th grade. I think Amaram is gonna have no problem with this one.

Mad respect if you can pull it off, bartbug and SirVarrock. Those books are great, but I think I would be burned out toward the end. I'm taking a different approach and reading a book that is very different from WoR. Reread WoK a couple weeks ago. Trying to go into it fresh and ready to go.

I'm on vacation this week and not really looking at the forums at all, but I had to log on and watch the panic after seeing that glimpse, hahahaha. My first thought was death, but I think it is going to be one of the two realizing their Skybreaker powers and accidentally harming themselves with it. It'll work out just fine.

Most of them do right now, right? Anyway, you've already mentioned it, Chaos, but the hard part will be deciding which rank corresponds with each level. Right now some of it seems a little backward. Like a Shardbearer being higher than a Mistborn? I think that is the case, which sounds off. Oh, also it would be really cool if hitting that rep level gave you access to the title, and you could then choose which one to display. Like I would Rather be a Knights Radiant than a Hero of Ages, honestly. That idea might be making it too complicated though.

This post is such a tease. I bet Teft, Sadeas, and Renarin die. I bet Adolin is responsible for at least one of them, too. Can't wait for the thing none of us could expect that has been mentioned by at least 3 knowledgeable sources so far. I just want to knooooooooow.