eveorjoy

Historically accurate, but it still stinks. In fact it proves my point. Freemen whether, former slaves or not, in the US were kidnapped and sold into slavery. Kaladin is not safe.

I love how everyone assumes Renarin is going to be in a love triangle with Shallan and Adolin. That assumption depends on Adolin falling in love with Shallan. I really don't think they are going to work. I would not be surprised if they a broke up by the end of the book. We are going to learn about the horrors Shallan has forgotten in WoR. She might have to face and move past them before any relationship will work. Also, love triangles are getting old. A few comments. Prologue * I wonder if Jasnah's original target was the Eloikar's wife or someone else. There could have been other reasons Jasnah wanted Liss to watch her sister-in-law. She may have had a completely different target in the first envelope. * Amaram and Gavilar were conspiring about something, working against the Ghostbloods perhaps. However, whatever they were doing most likely was not a good thing. We learn from the prologue "To Question" and from Eshonai's reading that Gavilar was trying to do something the Parshendi were willing to kill to prevent. But according to the prologue "To Kill" they were most likely too late. I wonder if Amaram will try to continue Gavilar's work in the WoR. I also wonder if he will try to enlist Dalinar's aid to do so. * Amaram and Jasnah have a history. * Jasnah saw what a Windrunner can do. I wonder how she will react if she happens to notice a certain darkeyed Captain glowing or climbing up walls. * Jasnah has a history with the Parshendi. If for some reason the Alethi decide to sue for peace, she could talk to them, if she is over what happened to Gavilar that is. Chapter 1 * I went back and looked at the Shardhunt sketch as soon as I saw the title. * Despite being betrayed, Jasnah does what she can to help Shallan's family. Yet another reason Jasnah is one of my favorite characters. * Further proof Jasnah has issues with men. A bad experience with Amaram perhaps? I hope not. I've assumed Amaram's betrayal of Kaladin was a momentary lapse of his otherwise honorable nature. If Amaram hurt Jasnah in some violent way, that would make him a complete hypocrite who only pretended at honor. I'd rather Jasnah's history with Amaram be more mild than that and her overall distrust of men blooming from various experiences with more than one man. * I have a feeling that WoR will be a guide to Shadesmar and the Cognitive part of the Realmatic theory. Awesome. * Jasnah knows that she and Shallan are potential KR. I wonder if she will happen to notice this about Kaladin too and try to help him learn his powers. * Shallan has horrors in her past. Bring on her flashback chapters. *Shallan joins the polar bear club (people who swim in really cold water) in a gown no less. Yet another reason she is one for my favorite characters. Chapter 2 (I read it from the Steelhunt, but finally I can talk about it. Yay!) * Kaladin could be framed as a run away slave and so could the other members of Bridge Four despite the tattoo. In fact, those without a brand could be giving themselves future problems with a tattoo on their foreheads that proclaims former slavery. Some have said here and in other forums that Moash was wrong to put the Tattoo on his arm. Some even assume he will betray Kaladin because of this. I agree with Kaladin that Moash's choice was sensible, but I digress. Still, the Alethi system for freeing slaves stinks. A former slave must carry a paper with them the rest of their lives to prove their brands don't matter anymore. And if they lose the paper, then hopefully the clerks in the place they were freed still has a copy. Otherwise they are screwed. * Kaladin is not very confident about his or his bridgemen's situation without Dalinar. He expects Adolin to sell them back to Sadeas as soon as Dalinar dies. If Dalinar does die in WoR I expect the Bridgemen to clear out before his corpse is cold, unless Kaladin finds I reason to trust anyone else. * Kaladin believes everything he has can still be taken from him, including his powers and his men. I think Amaram could threaten Kaladin to silence to protect his Bridgemen. * Kaladin doesn't hate all lighteyes, just the ones in power. Kaladin doesn't seem to have anything against Rind, most likely because he is a Tenner. Kaladin seems to distrust power over eye color, therefore I don't think he is racist or eye-colorist.

Technically they saved each other. If Dalinar had not traded his shardblade I have no doubt Kaladin would have been beheaded and Bridge Four strung up. Maybe an awesome fight between Amaram and Kaladin is coming. I've imagined what it would be like. However, this is Sanderson we are dealing with here. Kaladin fighting Amaram is too predictable and I can think of several believable ways it can be avoided. If I can think of them I'm sure Sanderson has too. It would create great conflict for Kaladin if he had to work with Amaram for some reason. The truth is the prophecy could be about Waxilliam, Harmony, and Edwarn Ladrian (Wax's uncle) for all we know. (Yes those are Mistborn characters, but The Stormlight Archive seems to reference the Cosmere far more than any other Cosmere series.) Kaladin, Dalinar, and Amaram fit the prophecy and it is fun to speculate, however I doubt such a betrayal will happen in WoR. I think that is entirely possible. We have as much evidence that the prophecy is about the gods of Roshar as any other theory.

I don't think Hoid's letter is to Sazed. Hoid seemed to know the person he was writing to well, like they were old friends. There is no evidence Hoid has even seen Sazed, let alone spoken with him. I do believe he is writing another Shard, but there were 16 Shards originally. We only know of 9 maybe 10 . That leaves 6 to 7 shards who could be alive and receiving Hoid's letter.

That would be so awesome if Harmony showed up on Roshar, but I think he is too busy keeping Scadial in order.

What if is Cultivation? I have wondered why she still lived after Honor was killed by Odium. Honor is not the only god Odium splintered. Why leave Cultivation alive and how can he reign with her alive? What if she stood against Honor with Odium? It's an interesting idea, though it is most likely wrong. But at this point, based on what we know, it is as likely as Kaladin betraying Dalinar.

I think when Kaladin faces his next Shardbearer, be it Szeth, Eshonai, or Amaram, he will have a half-shard shield. I think this is one of the reasons half shards were mentioned in TWoK. I still don't think there will be a Amaram vs.Kaladin fight however. There is going to be less dueling in the camps as Dalinar enforces the Codes. I doubt Amaram will want to face Kaladin, because I don't think he would want to risk his life or his shards. I doubt Kaladin will try challenge Amaram because, he never wanted those shards, he might think Dalinar has a use for Amaram, and he might fear challenging Amaram will cause him to lose something important.

My 3 Wishes: 1. None of the major characters die in WOR. I can handle character death, especially if it enhances the narrative. Still, I want to have the story continue with these awesome characters through more than two books. And yes I know that dead characters can be revisited in flashbacks in later books. Still it will not be the same. Is it too much to ask that Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, and Szeth live past two books in a ten book series? 2. Kaladin becomes secure enough to trust again. He was on the way in TWoK, but some info that has been released about is character in WOR suggests that he still has a long way to go. I'm hoping he develops a friendship with Dalinar, despite Dalinar being a lighteyes and a friend of Amaram's. Kaladin also has never opened up to anyone about what happened. I'm hoping, if he doesn't open up to Dalinar, that he will at lease open up to Teft ot Rock. I suppose he does have Syl, but it would be nice if he could open up to a human. 3. That Eshonai and Dalinar sue for peace by the end of WOR. We need to get this war over with and start preparing for the Everstorm and Voidbringers. My Resolution: Find time to write my own stories more. My son will be turning one this coming January, so finding time to write was hard this year. Happy New Year!

My dream cast for a Steelheart movie (I am not a movie geek, so if you think of better actors that's fine by me.) The Reckorers David- Shia LaBeouf. The man is a far better actor than he gets credit for. He can play a good mix of goofy nerd and vengeance seeking action Hero. Prof - Val Kilmer. Val can give the roll the mix of tenderness, sternness, and darkness the character needs. Megan - Jennifer Lawrence. She can be tough as nails and yet have a vulnerably that makes her enduring. Abraham - Tom Hardy. Because Abraham was always carrying big heavy guns, he always seemed buff in my head. I loved Tom in "Inception." I think he could pull off the accent and if he was a bulky as Bane in "Dark Knight Rises" I think he would fit the part well. Cody - Ron Perlman, I just think it would be funny hearing Ron calling David "lad" with an American accent. Ron is also good at saying crazy things with a straight face just like Cody. Tia - Gina Torres. Tia seemed to be the main researcher and counselor of the Reckorers, well as second in command. I loved Gina in "Firefly" as well as in other rolls. I think she would bring and interesting angle to Tia. The Epics (I'm just going to cast the inner circle, expect for Firefight, and the titular character.) Conflux - Brian George. I think he could do well with Conflux's one scene, Nightwielder -- Ken Watanabe. Another actor from "Inception." I think he has the dignity and presence the lord of night needs, FInally, Steelheart-- Chris Hemsworth. Some have suggested Henry Cavill, because Steelheart is kind of evil Superman. Well I think Steelheart is more god like than Superman. So why not have him be played by the actor who played the god of thunder? Those are my picks. Maybe there are better choices, but it would be neat if a few of these actors appeared in a real Steelheart movie.

It is possible, but what the heck could Amaram say to Kaladin to make him even consider working with him, let alone turning on Dalinar? As I said, I have also considered this, but if it does happen I doubt it will be in WOR. Amaram's betrayal is too fresh for Kaladin to rationally consider working with the man. I think it is going to be a struggle for him not to lob a spear in the man's face as soon as he sees him. I like this theory. At this point Shallah betraying Jasnah as likely as Kaladin betraying Dalinar, but it is possible. I am so looking forward to reading Shallan's flashbacks in the next book. Shallan always seemed a bit unstable to me. Not crazy, just that the person she appeared to be, even to herself, was an act, which fits with the synopsis of the next book. I like the Szeth theory too. Regardless, I doubt we will learn the meaning of the epigraph in WOR.

Actually I have considered this. I don't think he would fight Dalinar. There are ways of standing against someone other than battle. I wonder what the heck Amaram could say to him that would make him even consider standing with him against Dalinar. I don't think blackmail would be enough. It also might not happen in the next book, but in a later one, giving Kaladin time to cool down and understand Amaram's reasoning. There are three more books left in this arc after all. The prophecy could be fulfilled in one of them. So upvote. We have no evidence, but it is something Brandon would do and not every event mentioned in the death chants happens in TWoK. Some could be hints to any of the nine books yet to come.

Oh I understand why he wouldn't talk to Dalinar. It is just a shame that he won't.

Okay then so the Desolation should start at the beginning of WOR. I wonder if we will see any of those monsters from Dalinar's visions, It would be nice if Mr. T would talk to Dalinar instead of sending someone to kill him. He might learn some useful information. And if the 1000 days predicted has past by the beginning of WOR then that vision won't be useful anymore.

Could be. I just tend to think storm to mean a storm, but it all could be symbolic. I guess we will have to see.

Excellent research. it does prove your point, quite well. However, the epigraph says Everstorm, not Desolation. It depends on your definition of Everstorm. I thought the Everstorm was that wall of dust Dalinar saw in his vision, but I could be wrong. I guess we will have to see how WOR expands on this.

Personally I would want to follow Cultivation. You can follow Odium if you want. However, everyone in the world will die if Odium gets his way.

I agree, but a thought just occurred to me. Maybe he let Kaladin live not just because he saved his life, but also because maybe he thought Kaladin could be useful in the future. He did bring down a shardbarer after all. That does say something of Kaladin's worth as a warrior.

@Moogle- I am not offended by your ideas or opinion. The only thing that bothered me was some of your judgements of the nature of my opinions and a somewhat condescending tone (not in your last post, but several posts back). I may appear to prefer pathos because I am a passionate debater. However, I prefer a logos based argument as well, as long as it applies to what is there. So giving me scenarios of what could be I won't agree with, but you are free to speculate. Honestly, if your opinion was that Odium should wipeout Roshar for the good of the cosmere, I wouldn't care. As wonderful and fun as this is and is to debate about, it is still just a book. So no hard feelings and I never down voted you. It seems you prefer Taravangain because: *He is really smart, half the time. *Kharbranth seems peaceful. *You take him at his word. And there is nothing wrong with that. I disagree that Mr. T has a date for the Desolation to begin based on the current evidence we have. Let's look at the death chant. If you make assumptions based on an Earth time table, then it seems that the Everstorm will come about three years from the date that this death chant was recorded. Making that assumption is already a mistake. Roshar has a different time table. This thread explains it in detail, but to sum up, a Rosharian year may in fact be 500 to 1000 days long. So we really don't know how many years Roshar has left. Secondly, we don't know when this death chant was recorded in relation to the story. It is the epigraph for the prologue, an event that occurred six to seven years before the main story. Thirdly, the woman isn't saying when the thousand days begin. She is merely saying thousand days and then the Everstorm. Assuming that is giving us a date is no different than Dalinar assuming Tanavast said yes you can trust Sadeas. Finally, if we assume that the woman's final words were proclaiming that the Everstorm was a year to two years off depending on what the calender really is, Mr. T was killing people off long before he got this date. So he hasn't been blooding people just because he knew he had little time left. As for Dalinar, he is still receiving dreams from Tanavast, his first chapter in WOR will be another dream. Now that he understands the nature of them I think he will be able to understand more clearly what Tanavast is trying to tell him. Maybe Dalinar's visions haven't given him that much information yet, but they are a lot clearer than the ramblings of the dead. In the end through, how useful either source of information is will not be shown until WOR and later books come out.

I think Kaladin would have noticed Gaz in one of the bridge crews. Still it is possible.

Killing Gaz wouldn't prevent someone turning in bridge four. I think Skar is smart enough to realize that. Good theory though.

Interesting, My copy of Wok is an ebook and I got the quote from the Brandon's site. I wonder which is the quote Brandon intended.

Where do you get that from the text? Even when the humans knew what they were dealing with, having a lot more information than Taravagian, nine in ten died. Genius can only work with the information it has and the ramblings of the dying are not giving very clear information. A 1% chance of dying, where did you get that statistic from? At this point in the story, you have no way of knowing that anymore than we know if Dalinar, Shallan, Kaladin, or Szeth will be the destroyer of the Roshar. You don't know how many people Taravangain has killed. You assume the numbers are low, but the world is full of the lost and forgotten who pass on without anyone noticing. Kharbarnth is a city-state. Who is going to investigate the hundreds or thousands of unknowns who are missing there? He could have killed half of the poor who wandered into Kharbranth for all we know. You are just assuming the numbers are low, because no one is complaining, but this may not be the case. Now maybe he hasn't killed that many, but really we don't know. Also, Dalinar is getting visions from the Almighty and now understands the nature of those visions. So he has special knowledge and likely more than Taravangian does. Taravangian maybe a genius, but he still only has confusing information to go on. Dalinar is receiving clear information, that it appears at this point Taravangian is not. Then again maybe Taravangian is receiving visions too (I've read that theory), but then why bother blooding the poor to learn things the Almighty is explaining clearly to him?

This is the reason I trust Dalinar over Taravangian and there is a logical reason for this. When Dalinar spends my life for saving the world he is allowing me the choice to do so. I die of my own free will because it will benefit others. My live is not stolen from me, I gave it willingly seeing no other alternative. Where as if Taravangian murders me, I'll die in fear and pain and never know why. I'm going to die eventually, even if neither man sacrifices my life. No one is immortal. Logically, which is the better way to die?

I think we are just going to need to agree to disagree. My thoughts on murder are based on how I see life. Not better or worse than you do, but clearly differently. Let me ask you this. A serial killer intentionally kills someone and he is sentenced to life in prison. Another man accidentally runs over two people, and is sentenced to 32 months in prison. Should the second man be sentenced to life as well? Was the serial killer's sentence too heavy? I disagree. Amaram has a reputation of being honorable. People might think Kaladin was foolish for giving up the shards, but they would believe he gave them up willingly. If Amaram had been investigated, Kaladin and his men would have said, "Yes, Kaladin gave the shards to Amaram. He considered giving the shards to one of us, but Amaram explained why giving them to him was the best choice. Kaladin didn't want them and now they are with an honorable man who knows how to use them." I think in the end we will have to agree to disagree here too. Though I there are examples in the text that prove possible alternatives, digging too deep leads to speculation. I find it interesting how much you claim to dislike a pathos or emotionally based argument and yet your attempt to make up impossible scenarios of Amaram saving the world with the stolen shards drips of pathos. I think we both agree that Amaram is not as bad as Kaladin thinks he is. And if Amaram is a good as you assume, maybe he will try to compensate Kaladin for his suffering. Or maybe he will threaten Kaladin. Anything is possible. We will just need to wait for WOR to see.

The problem is that the way the blurp is written there are two people mentioned. From the back of WOK. I suppose that "one" could be the same person, but it doesn't read that way.