Chrono

Here's an interesting question: the Shattered Plains are pretty far from Hearthstone, which is in the Northwestern-most tip of Alethkar. What is Kaladin going to do if he runs out of Stormlight? I can totally imagine him barging into some house, asking people for spheres, sucking out the Stormlight, and shooting off again. Cue the "What in Damnation was that?" looks.

I love Shallan after this book. Way of Kings was excellent, and I liked Shallan then, but I love her in this book. Her character development did seem a little rushed, especially with the whole Ghostbloods subplot, but that's a minor thing to me. Where her character really shined is in confronting her past and forcing herself to acknowledge that she can't pretend to be the innocent little girl anymore. She has to man up, so to speak, and face herself. And I suspect that it will not be an easy journey at all. Also, in regards to her being rude towards Kaladin, she was embarrassed to meet him, desperate to talk to Dalinar, and all around nervous about meeting her future betrothed. It also didn't help that Kaladin was also acting rudely towards her too. In those circumstances, I would have snapped too.

I always just imagined it as a burrito, or similar to the lettuce wraps that you get at P.F. Changs. Although, apparently it's chunks of meat in a meat sauce, wrapped around with flatbread. Screams burrito to me.

Good point, Argent. I didn't really think of that as "death", because Shallan was able to use her Soulcasting abilities before talking to Pattern again, but I guess it could make sense. Similar in the way to how Kaladin's sucking in Stormlight when the bridge fell could have killed Syl, Shallan Soucasting could have brought Pattern back. Or the Cryptics she saw were trying to get her to bring Pattern back.

I like parts of this theory, except for the fact that the Cryptics seem to be ignorant of morality. Shallan's revelation at the end of WoR to herself was emotionally very painful. These are the sort of truths and lies that Pattern needs for her to grow. Admitting to herself that she killed her mother because of who she was is going to make Shallan grow. Pattern comments multiple times that Shallan can't keep lying to herself; eventually, she will have to confront her past and change for the better. Now, are the Cryptics as noble and morality seeking as the honorspren? Probably not. But Pattern, in essence, forces Shallan to acknowledge parts of her life that she finds distasteful. He has to do this, otherwise presumably the bond will weaken and break. He also talks multiple times about how Shallan will kill him, but that he is resigned to his fate and is determined to learn as much as he can before his eventual death. Now, the question is: if Kaladin "killed" Syl by going against what they thought was right, can Shallan "kill" Pattern by denying his existence and creating a massive lie for herself?

I was honestly shocked at what Adolin did. He didn't really kill Sadeas in cold blood, he did it in a rage, so... hot blood, I guess? Anyway, any other example of killing like that in the series has been done with a decent amount of calm and planning. Shallan did not just suddenly lose it and hack at her father with her Shardblade. She poisoned him, then strangled him calmly. In essence, it was like she knew what had to be done and did it anyway. Jasnah did not "just" go into the alleyway to kill the footpads. She planned to do it from the start. Nalan planned to kill Ym and Lift, even though Ym was the only one who died. To some spren, planning to kill like that is okay, notably with Shallan and Jasnah (Syl is obviously an exception). Pattern and Ivory certainly haven't seemed to object. But I just don't think that Adolin is going to get a spren anytime soon. He's on shaky ground here, trying to become better than what he was. Going off like that is not only not honorable, it's frankly dangerous and illogical. If he was logical and thoughtful, like Shallan and Jasnah, he would have either found another way, or he would have planned to kill Sadeas from the start. He could, however, become a Skybreaker. However, I'm wary about this choice, because it didn't seem very just, what Adolin did. He didn't remove Sadeas because he was threatening lives, he killed him because he was very, very angry at him. That doesn't seem like justice to me. Food for thought, though. However, this could lead to Adolin's soul being cracked. Dealing with the guilt over having gone off like that can warp people. Really, it all depends on whether Adolin feels bad enough about it to try and change, or if he reasons that it was the right thing to do and that he is justified. Edit: Grammar Edit 2: Added in some stuff about Skybreakers.

Kaladin mentioned that it took him two week's wages to write a terse note back to his family stating that Tien was dead. Now, granted, Lirin and Hesina have more money than Kaladin, but perhaps while Kaladin was gone, times were hard and they had to spend all the spheres. Now that it was clear that Kaladin wasn't going to Kharbranth to become a surgeon, Lirin may have given up and started to spend them, especially since their family was starving before Kaladin left. As for Shallan, it makes sense that she didn't put two and two together about Helaran right away. She was in the middle of a highstorm and was under intense pressure to save the world after. Now that she's starting to relax, I think it will connect soon. And I'm excited to see how she'll handle it.

I knew that Zahel was Vasher ever since I popped on to the forums. I think Chaos said it was "someone we knew," and I thought, "Grumpy man with scruffy beard and uses expressions that often deal with color? In the same book as Nightblood? Could it be...?" Man, I knew that some sort of twist like this was going to happen, but that took me off guard.

"I am offend!" Shallan basically taking the boots from Kaladin was so freaking hilarious, I nearly dropped the book. Pretty much any Kaladin/Shallan interaction. Highlights including them listing out reasons why being in the chasms was great, talking about their pasts in the highstorm, and Kaladin seeing the most beautiful thing in his life. I nearly died in that last one, because he's thought that no one has ever felt the same way as him before, and Shallan proves him dead wrong. And it was glorious. That aside, Kaladin hiding Elhokar with Lopen's mother is absolutely comedy gold. Also, Kaladin standing up to Moash to defend Elhokar, because it's the right thing to do. Realizing he was selfish in not defending him made me cheer in joy. And the fact that, without Stormlight, he stands up and tries to defend him after being punched in the gut by a Shardbearer which resulted in terrible internal injuries, suffering a side wound and a horrendously torn up leg, and getting over the grief of losing Syl. That takes superhuman levels of awesome to do. And of course, all the epic fight scenes. Especially whenever Kaladin heals from a Shardblade wound.

Shinovar has a mountain range to the west, true, but it's also right on the coast. Living in an area where there were a lot of hurricanes and tropical storms, this is BAD. If you let the storm build up enough momentum over open water without anything to break it, the storm is going to be massive and probably ten times worse than any other highstorm. Shinovar maybe can pull through okay, but the damage is still going to be very severe in sections, especially where the mountains don't extend far enough.

After the Diagram talks about wiping out the Parshendi, I just assumed it was because of that: if Dalinar engages in peace talks, the Everstorm will come and oops, you've got an entire civilization ready to kill you with lightning and highstorms. Kill them all before that happens, problem solved.

Considering how much of an apparent chick magnet Adolin and Kaladin both are, I'd say this is gonna devolve into a Love Dodecahedron.

Inkthinker, I swear it says in The Way of Kings that the bridges are constructed out of Makam wood, which would presumably come from a Makam tree? It's in a Kaladin viewpoint somewhere in there.

"Where am I? Why do they follow me? Those lines, those beads, ever shifting and changing, unknowable and knowable... Almighty, why have I been cursed to join those that have deserted you?"

To be honest, I never imagined the Lord Ruler growing another head when he got decapitated. As Miles shows, Feruchemical gold is fast. Wayne takes longer because he has to spread the energy out over a longer period of time, similar to how we bend our knees when we land a jump to spread out the impact energy. If the Lord Ruler did survive decapitation (and considering Miles survived a shotgun blast to the head at point blank range, it's far from impossible), then the wound would probably just seal up itself right up after the blade passes through the neck. Kind of more like two zippers one after the other that are pulled at the same time: one opens the zipper, one closes the zipper.

The ending of Well of Ascension was a huge punch in the gut for me. Elend gets stabbed, Ruin is released, and Elend becomes a Mistborn. All. In. A. Row. I nearly chucked the book in rage and sorrow. I was like, "What? They went through all this crap and they're supposed to save the world, and now it's screwed? I just... don't understand..." Another thing that nearly killed me was Taravangian, Dalinar giving up his Shardblade to save the bridgemen, and the reveal that Shallan killed her father. I literally had to read all of these multiple times, just to fully comprehend what just happened. I'm really hoping that WoR has more of these wham moments. Can't wait!

That's a shame, eveorjoy. I'm an aspiring author, too, but I'm far from finishing my first book, so more power to you. If I was able to write full time (which would be wonderful), I wouldn't have any time to look on the forums. Keep in mind that authors have deadlines that they have to meet, otherwise the fans and the publishing company gets mad. Brandon's been working his butt off trying to get WoR finished. Hopefully, there will be no more delays with future books.

I really love those French covers. They're awesome. I love the look of the Chinese Cover, since I am professedly a sucker for stained glass. It's lovely to see the artists come up with their interpretation of the book, and it shows that they actually, you know, read it.

I'm not a huge fan of Jasnadin, but that's just my personal preference. Is it possible? Absolutely; if TV and Romantic Comedies tell us anything, nothing stands a chance against True Love. Is it likely? That's where it gets thorny. The Power of Love certainly could help Jasnadin, but I'm just not sure Brandon would use this pairing. We'll just have to see. BTW, I ship Shalladin, because I always imagined it would be something like Anna and Kristoff from Frozen. Sarcastic and snarky guy who's a bit of a loner but has a heart of gold hooks up with timid and bright chick with red hair. And there will be no jibes about his unmanly blondness. That's just my opinion, though.

I'm curious, Silver: Did you use Amazon Prime or just the regular Amazon? I just ask because I ordered using Prime and I desperately want my copy to arrive on time. To have it come early is beyond hope for me.

I love Lopen. I really hope he becomes a KR, just to see the look on everyone's faces. Hopefully a Dustbringer. Because it would be just too cool to see a one armed man who sasses everything blow stuff up.

Whenever I hear Pattern called a puppy, I always have this image of Shallan feeding Pattern treats or something. Like, "Oh, good boy! You knew that sphere was a stick on your first try! Have a treat!" Why I think this, I have no idea.

Dang, I'm jealous. Best to keep this a secret. I feel bad for the poor new person that screwed this one up. Hope he doesn't get let go from his job for this. Otherwise, happy reading!

When you're in a hurry to come up with a birthday gift for your sister and you quickly buy The Emperor's Soul and hope she becomes a Sanderfan too.

Buy. I hope it doesn't happen, but something tells me that it's going down.