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ccstat

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  1. ccstat

    Chapter 40

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Stuko Stem
    Um, why are we using those chess terms again when this is a Szeth chapter? Is there some analogy to the tactics being used in Azimir? Does Szeth play Towers? 
    Icons: Tanat, Vav
    I’m really not sure. Maybe their inverses of not-dependable and not-healing will match the decline and moral abdication of the stone shamans? Very wild guess here.
    Epigraph: Sleepless say that the Heralds are rejected by their blades, which does in fact lend credence to the idea of new people being chosen to take up those blades in the future.
    The training camp is abandoned. Even more ominous than the empty homestead. I’m with Kaladin, though. “How does your society even function?” If all the people who perform violence are disaffected with society… well, I guess having eight(?) of the honorblades to ride herd on the mundane soldiers would allow for some very skewed power dynamics. The state would still have a monopoly on force in that case.
    Szeth does make a good point that the role of Shin soldiers is functionally the same as the Radiants (or as soldiers in any non-Alethi society) in terms of their contributions to the collective and the sacrifice required. Except, of course, for the fact that Shinovar ostracizes those people and constantly tells them to hate themselves.
    There are people here, they’re just hiding in the dark and silence because they are afraid of the GROUND EATING THEM? What!? That’s a very bad sign.
    And of course all the soldiers followed an Unmade’s voice north (or another primordial spren, counterpart to Wind, I expect). 
    Um, can I please get a different voice actor? This sounds like Emperor Palpatine to me. 
    Szeth’s response of “no, I definitely shouldn’t listen to Kaladin when he tells me not to slaughter hundreds of people” is eminently concerning. What is up with the Skybreakers and highspren?
    I wouldn’t have thought a lack of wind mattered at all, except with the primordial Wind speaking to Kaladin, it’s suddenly a very big red flag to have it excluded from a place it ought to naturally be.
    Okay, square this circle for me, because the ostracization of Shin soldiers makes even less sense now. Your society is tasked by the Heralds with the hidden secret truth that the apocalypse is coming, and on that day your people will be the ones who must fight and stand in the way of the destruction of the world. You must train and preserve traditions to this end. As such, you promptly…decide that violence is anathema and anyone who participates in it is a blasphemer. I’m sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of complete and utter nonsense that just assaulted my ears. 
    The title of Truthless for Szeth when he was cast out does take on a new connotation, if the Truth he was rejecting was the Truth of the Heralds about the enemy still being around. Except that Szeth told us the opposite in the previous books. He said he was vindicated by the Everstorm and the singers, so what the heck is even going on with this belief system?
    Fights to the death to claim an Honorblade in single combat… this is so weird. I can see hints of a logic but I’m going to need a lot more explanations.
    —
    Okay, so we’re into the more exciting section where we start alternating viewpoints. Being back with Adolin again, that means the chapter title does still refer to the battle tactics. Let’s see how badly this goes.
    Direform are about what I expected–big strong berserkers. I wonder what spren is involved?
    Good on the Azish troops for holding out! 
    Adolin again showcases his mastery of the sword, and there’s a good bit of fighting and tactics. Important notes: Dousing Heavenly Ones with burning oil is a viable approach, and the archers could pull it off. Not all of the Fused are advertising their presence, and the combination of Adolin’s instincts and Maya’s attention is good at warning him of the danger. Maya can shapeshift!!! Not a ton yet, but she lengthened beyond her usual dimensions, and I expect her continued recovery will expand that ability even more. 
    And now there’s a Fused out for revenge. I don’t remember him wounding this one, but I’m sure it wasn’t fun to be on the other end of his sword.
     
  2. ccstat

    Chapter 39

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Between Two Realms
    Something funky is going to happen with the oathgate, or we’re going to get a metaphor for the no-man’s land that develops between the besieged armies.
    Icons: Chana and Jez
    Destruction and death, I’m betting, and Adolin is still trying to be in charge. Oh, I’m hoping that Chana isn’t here for her Spark essence, because that would mean they light the fires way too early. It’s actually more likely that she’s here for bravery, because my “Dustbringer/Releasers=Destruction” association is just from me, no the Alethi symbology.
    Epigraph: First of all, the Sleepless have again made mention of foretelling the future. That’s significant for a bunch of reasons. How are they doing so? Is it an aspect of a Shard or of their innate physiology and attunement to perception and thought across vast distances, which could mean they also dip into all three realms? Is that related to the Vorin taboo against telling/guessing/betting on the future?  Second, if this is going to be the final confrontation of Honor and Odium, it feels pretty clear that Honor is going to lose the fight. We’ve got five whole books left, after all.
    Huh. Adolin thinking too much about a scar made it permanent in his spiritweb. It makes sense, but that’s a pretty short time period to own something like that.
    Hmm. Is Truthwatching making people nervous because of Renarin’s weirdness? Or because of the future sight taboo? Or something else?
    May (the ex not-quite-a-girlfriend) is flabbergasted at how much everyone likes Adolin and how his friendliness boosts morale, loyalty, and discipline. It’s cute in some ways, especially to see how much Adolin truly has the power of friendship (i.e. real Edgedance potential), but on the other hand, why were you dating him if you don’t appreciate that aspect of his personality? Okay, stupid question. He’s rich, heir to a powerful family, and a famously good fighter. There’s lots to recommend him. But still, glad he ended up with Shallan instead.
    May’s excitement to get armored up and start shooting things, and the glee of being in command of an archer squad, is also quite adorable.
    Adolin’s charisma continues to shine. Complimenting the women, remembering their names, giving them trust, and arranging to smooth out the chain of command. Good work, young Kholin.
    It’s intriguing to continue seeing the sharp divide between men’s and women’s roles in Alethi society, but have them so closely intertwined on the battlefield. Definitely a kingdom of warriors.
    Maya can see both sides at once and report on it to Adolin? That’s particularly convenient in this specific situation. It’s probably got good utility regardless, but when the enemy is invading from Shadesmar and staging their force there, it is absolutely a benefit.
    Maya reports that Adolin’s (dead) plate missed him and are perhaps somewhat bonded to him. I didn’t really expect them to have survived with enough identity to be revived even to that small degree.
    And Maya calls Adolin out on his need to be independent from Dalinar in his successes. She continues to be way chattier than I anticipated, and I love it.
    So the voidspren serving as scouts is a general tactic now. Hate it when the enemey is competent. This is going to go poorly for the Azish allies.
     
  3. ccstat

    Chapter 38

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Those Who Subtract
    Szeth meets the raiders and their consequences, and likely has low self esteem.
    Icons: Ishar and Shash
    With the raider attack, this has got to be the blood and sinew essences. Not a good sign.
    Yeah, finding the heathen stonewalkers sitting on a stone and by the rock that your family semi-blasphemously moved is not going to make you immediately discount the idea of retributive fate.
    They’re eating Molli! Oh no!
    Good continuity that Szeth primarily notices the metal they carry: armor studs, steel helmets and swords. But I’m just as surprised as he is that they are Shin rather than Easterners.
    Oh, wait, he’s right? They’re actually the local guards and just behaving badly? I’m not sure I believe it yet, but it’s a valid possibility and arguably a more impactful experience to have for his growing worldview.
    Okay, first, props to Szeth for being brave (foolhardy) enough to speak up and argue with these soldiers. That takes a lot for a kid.
    Second, this whole “those who subtract” thing is way more broad in scope than I expected. Soldiers are responsible not only for fighting people but also for butchering animals and turning trees into lumber? That’s a wide range of skills and responsibilities, and a very liberal interpretation of what’s destructive when, as the soldier says, those very materials are immediately used to sustain life and construct buildings. It can’t possibly be an effect of Cultivation’s intent, since we know she has Ruinous aspects to her cycle of growth, so this is a uniquely Shin cultural idea. I’m waiting for some indication of how this actually allows society to function if they actively denigrate those tasks. How is harvesting crops different, I wonder?
    Uh oh. Who is speaking to “Sunken Eyes”? Is this an Unmade? A lowlier spren? Another Odious influence? Something else entirely? Nothing at all and he’s just got intrusively violent thoughts? Sure sounds like an outside influence.
    Hold up, Szeth almost bashed the guy’s head in with a rock? Specifically, a holy rock that he miraculously/unfortunately discovered? Eesh, that would have left a huge complex. “He would not do so today.” Trauma averted for… probably not very long, but good job resisting.
    Oops, spoke too soon. He’s getting attacked now and the red eyes mean there’s definitely some bad mojo going on. 
    Ouch. So he kills a guy in self defence using a stone, he immediately hears a voice in his mind. I’m starting to think there’s more to the stone-spren connection than I credited before. But more importantly, I’m starting to think that the oathstone Szeth has been carrying around for years might be the murder weapon from that night, which would be all kinds of messed up. 
    He certainly comes by his issues honestly.
     
  4. ccstat

    Chapter 37

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: People Who Build
    Well, that sounds like a culture clash explanation for Kaladin is incoming… except no, this is an Adolin chapter, not a Team Shinovar one. Do the Azish have anything like that? Or is Adolin just going to be musing about the construction of his newest battleground? I’m probably speculating way too much.
    Icons: Jez and Kak
    Kak for resolute defense, and possibly for the metal essence when they’ll be fighting under the giant brass dome? Jez for leading, since Adolin is going to be commanding the defence…sort of, except under the primary leadership of the Azish bureaucracy and local generals, so that’s probably a point of friction as well.
    Epigraph: What do you mean “impending events” in Iri? We know about the “plague” (which honestly remains a very disappointing WoB that it’s just the common cold not something more serious to live up to the ominous hints throughout the series so far), and that’s more of a past/current event than something that could be considered impending. Oh wait, was that limited to the Purelake? I had in mind that it was more widespread, but Iri is potentially further afield than the epidemic would have reached yet. Do we know of anything happening in Iri? I vaguely recall some deaths among noble families, but I could be misremembering. Sounds like something to pay attention to going forward.  Regardless, “The age of transitions” sounds more encompassing than just a shift in what the Sleepless are up to.
    Nice to see Adolin being all diplomatic, and also kind of funny to recognize the culture clash even as he tries to be accommodating.
    Also, it still gets to me sometimes that Emperor Yanagawn is Gawx, the random thief kid who the Azish bureaucracy installed since nobody else wanted to be assassinated. He continues to exceed expectations for everyone involved.
    Turning everything into bronze is definitely a tactic I hadn’t thought of, even if it turns out to be nonviable. The enemy can soulcast too, though, right? How useful is this dome actually going to be? Battlefield control against Fused has got to be difficult.
    The Connection-based translation spell is doing a good job. I’d honestly forgotten that Dalinar put it in place.
    Maya’s still being talkative. I love it! 
    Oh, I thought that Stems business was an Azish bureaucratic speech that Adolin had clued into via the Connection magic. Turns out it was chess openings. That’s neat, especially that it’s a continent-spanning game not just a local tradition. But at the same time shouting at the Emperor for not knowing how to play chess when he’s been cramming everything else about leadership is not the smoothest move, mister diplomat. Even if Yanagawn approves.
    Oh, Adolin. Your fashion obsession is adorable. Yes, of course everything admirable about you in this moment is down to the cape.
    Colot, rejected by the honorspren. Ouch. I wonder how that impacts his chances for a different order? Hanging out with Adolin could give him more opportunities, I suppose. (Maya might put in a good word for him?)
    Oh, Adolin’s ex is going to be his battle scribe. That won’t be awkward at all. “We never dated. Unless you ask her.” Yeah, that’s not a good sign, dude. I still ship you with Shallan of course, but it makes you sound like a bit of a playboy jerk.
    Regals in stormform and direform. Have we noted the latter yet? I don’t remember. Certainly doesn’t sound promising.
    Good news: May Aladar is being professional and nearly friendly about this, and is happy to contribute.
    Bad news: Maya is being judgy and Adolin just admitted to dating every young noblewoman at the Shattered Plains. 
    Good news: their banter is great, and Maya is in a good mood.
    What is Adolin’s secret anti-thunderclast weapon? I ask because Chekhov needs to know what just got put up on his wall. And I am ever so excited to see whatever it is in action!
    I also note that horses were used to pull the cart it’s in. I wonder if that’s a common thing in the military, since Chull are so slow? I expect only high-priority carts get that sort of extravagance.
    I didn’t realize that all of Adolin’s troops were irregulars–either reactivated retirees or other veterans who haven’t seen combat in a while. That’s going to make things a bit trickier, not to mention the lack of Shards.
    Huh. There’s the title drop and it’s from Highprince Aladar being proud of Alethkar’s direction under Dalinar who is building alliances rather than perpetuating infighting. That’s not at all what I expected.
     
  5. ccstat

    Chapter 36

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    NOTE:
    Okay I think it's pretty telling that I stopped for months after I got to a Szeth flashback chapter, and then didn't find the motivation to pick it up again. Which is sad because  prior to picking up this book I was really looking forward to getting his backstory and learning about the Shin society in particular. Unfortunately I'm really not feeling it. Hopefully I'll get over that. 
    Also despite successfully avoiding nearly all spoilers in the many months it's been since the book came out, I have heard several complaints about Kaladin and Szeth’s arcs in particular. As I'm not super enthusiastic about them at the moment, that lack of a sense of something to look forward to in this aspect of the story is impacting my eagerness to read. 
    With that said, I recently reread a particular fanfiction* that got me excited about the cosmere again so I'm hoping that I last a little longer in finding time to make it through wind and Truth and to continue making these blog posts. 
    Alright, on with the chapter. 
    Chapter 36 
    Title: Correct Answers
    Icons: Betab and Ishar – heralds of wisdom and piety, or maybe guidance in the case of Ishar
    I remain confused about the geology of Roshar, and especially Shinovar. It makes very little sense to me that small stones and pebbles would be lacking lower down on the slopes of the mountains while being present up above. Even lacking the highstorms, normal weather patterns and rain ought to cause small rocks like that to make their way downhill. 
    Szeth is remarkably self-aware for a young child, to realize that he wanted to be put to work. I will say I'd practically forgotten about the rarity of metal on the planet. The lack of knives is a good reminder of its value and scarcity. 
    I kind of like the way that The Farmer is capitalized as a reminder of hierarchy in Shin culture. Normally, The Cook is also capitalized. I'll keep my eyes out for more positions with apparent honorifics.
    The measuring ladle is a fun idea. Having a multipurpose tool like that to handle each specific recipe adds some interesting color to the world. 
    Oh, but actually cooking is a matter of taste. Surprise. Understandable how a child like that could be shocked at altering the recipe. 
    “Colors-nimi” feels a little too much of a direct translation. Like, if someone were to belabor the specific character meanings of a name or title translated from Chinese into English. It would serve to make it feel foreign and exotic, rather than convey the feel of the address. Contrast it with Brightness from the Vorin speakers. I could see “Colors-nimi” being used when an outsider to Shinovar is the POV character, but when it’s a native speaker of the language… I don’t know. I'm probably being hypercritical.
    The Farmer criticizing the extra pepper is the perfect outro to that semi-philosophical conversation. Made me laugh.
    Molli the sheep is missing! Oh no! The question is, will Szeth run off on his own to look for her, leaving him away from his village when the raiders attack, or will the favorite sheep die?
    (I mean, both is always an option, but that feels a little like overkill at this point. It's not like the rest of his life is lacking in trauma.)
    Ah, yup. He's looking for the sheep.
     
     
    * The fanfiction is Life Ore Death by Obloquy, which I believe I've mentioned before. It's a crossover where a feruchemist character gets sent to Earth in the Young Justice universe, derailing a number of things there. I love the character, the writing, and the magical theorizing.
  6. ccstat

    Introduction and Index

    By ccstat,


    Intro
    Hello again! 
    I am incredibly excited to once again document my mad ramblings as I read through the newest installment of the Stormlight Archive. I had an entirely enjoyable time doing so for both Oathbringer (link to Google Docs) and Rhythm of War (link to 17S). Doing this force me to slow down and really appreciate all the elements of the books, and I'm very glad that I did. Fair warning, these reaction notes and analyses make for a prolonged reading experience, so it will be months before I reach the end. It's a large undertaking, so while I did complete similar for Starsight (link to Google Docs), I ended up abandoning my attempt to post reactions to Lost Metal (here on 17S) since I couldn't budget the time for reading and note taking. Don't worry, though, I'm far more invested in the minutiae of the Stormlight series and I will absolutely by finishing this one!
    As with WoR, I have kept myself entirely spoiler free and avoided all pre-release material, readings, etc. I'm also out of date on most WoBs since shortly after the WoR release. As usual, I expect to be hilariously wrong in many of my predictions.
     
     
    Spoiler warning: Be aware that I'm likely to discuss elements from all published books across the wider cosmere. 
     
    Index (this will be updated with links to each post)
    Pre-reading commentary
    Art
    Cover, Endpages;
    Shallan's Sketchbook Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, ...
    Navani's Notebook Part I, 
    Fashion Folio: Takama, 
    Other: Azimir Dome
    Chapters
    Prologue
    Day 1: Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
    Interludes: I-1, I-2
    Day 2: Chapter 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
    Interludes: I-3, I-4
    Day 3: Chapter 34, 35, 36, 37, 
     
  7. ccstat

    Chapter 35

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here.
    Title: Memories like wine
    I have fond recollections of “Dandelion Wine” by Ray Bradbury, and that’s what this calls to mind. This feels like a different metaphor, though. Bradbury’s book was about preserving and distilling (pleasant) memories for later. The vibe I’m getting here is more like… Szeth has been gone a long time, so his memories have aged and become more potent with time? Or you can be drunk on memories and fail to see clearly in the now? Or…
    Icons: Jez and Nan
    We’ve got a windrunner and a skybreaker on a roadtrip.
    Epigraph: Oh. Ooooh! It’s the sleepless. Referencing the Dawnshard and its passing makes it obvious, but the stewardship they mentioned in the last chapter—is it for Roshar as a whole? Specific items and locations they needed to guard? I’m guessing the broader meaning.
     
    Szeth getting lost trying to navigate his childhood neighborhood is very relatable. I have that same problem, and my home hasn’t been abandoned.
    I’m not sure I quite buy the progression of “no metal available-->weapons are ineffective-->develop pacifist society-->Build moral system that compels violent people to remove themselves”. I mean, it’s a neat culture for a fantasy story, and maybe if you have the honorblades backing up your central authority that’s enough monopoly on violence to force the rest of the world to follow your lead? But it feels like it’s skipping some steps, and a lack of metal ore doesn’t seem like a sufficient obstacle to weapons development. There’s certainly no shortage of perfectly effective wood/shell/stone weapons on Earth. Yes, Szeth makes a good point about the power imbalance when facing other countries, but that doesn’t really seem to have been a deciding factor in Shinovar’s recent history.
    Doesn’t really matter, though. The point is that Szeth is wrestling with accountability for his actions and starting to ponder the validity of his Truthless status. Yay introspection.
    Szeth addressing his bonded highspren as “Spren” is such a cold contrast to basically every other character we know. Syl, Wyndle, Mayalaran, Pattern, and all the rest that we’ve met have a much closer personal relationship with their humans. Even Sibling and Stormfather, despite their sometimes antagonistic interactions, are more…involved? Invested? Can’t find the right word, but none of them so far have been quite this distant.
    It does make sense for the law-bound highspren to set arbitrary rules about when you are permitted to use surges, rather than relying on the strength of the bond to simply provide the powers. And here’s a useful clue that Division (which apparently can set atmospheres alight) was directly related to the fall of Ashyn.
    Szeth being nauseated by fakely over-friendly Kaladin: also relatable.
    Kaladin says, “Let’s work on your guilt complex.” The highspren’s advice: “don’t have emotions.” Yes, that will definitely keep him away from Odium’s side, exactly like the rest of the Skybreaker order… Oh, wait! That’s right, they all switched sides because Nale’s “logic” told him Honor wasn’t worth serving anymore. So maybe take your advice and shove it, Mr. Spren.
    Also, Szeth’s selective translation is what miscommunication is made of. “My spren agrees with you” indeed.
    Oh, never mind. Szeth is trying to translate more of the intent after all. Shouldn’t have assumed that was the end of the conversation. However, “I should be a sociopath when killing people” probably won’t endear him to the resident windrunner.
    There’s the skybreaker disconnect: “You chose to follow the law. It’s not like it’s the only option.” “Um, yes it is. Duh.”
    Ooo, Nightblood getting in on this self-reflection business. “Taravangian was nice and old, but I killed him.” Szeth and Kal in unison: “No, he was evil.”
    It gets better. “I almost killed you, Szeth, but you’re not evil.” “…”  Valid points about judging good and evil, though.
    If I don’t stop I’m just going to quote this whole nightblood section. She’s hilarious. “I haven’t seen Yesteel for a few weeks at least.”
    Disappointing that none of them ID’d Vivenna as Azure here. But, “You’d like her because you’re super grumpy too! Syl says you need a girlfriend.” That’s probably the best part of the whole chapter. I’mma stake a claim here that nothing else will beat it out.
    (Even so, “I want a sword that can talk” is a great origin story for sword-nimi.)
    ---
    As ominous statements go, that one’s a banger.
    Oh, nicely followed up with a foreboding premonition of “the end of all spren.” Good indication of where a bad outcome could lead. (Not sure if that would be a consequence of Odium or of gluttonous Nightblood, though. Obviously the first option is the intended implication, but…)
    This whole conversation between Syl and Kaladin has the shape of something that should be meaningful, but it’s really not landing for me. Maybe it’s because the “I’m not worthy of you, should we break up?” bit feels shallow for these two people. There’s no chance of it actually happening, so the stakes are absent, maybe?
    There’s the title drop. Memories are like wine because they ferment when bottled up, which builds pressure in the vessel until it explodes. Gotta say, that’s not nearly as poetic a metaphor as I expected.
    Szeth knows Kaladin is the villain, and he’s not going to fall for that old line.
    Oh, disappointing. Szeth doesn’t give a direct answer, even in summary. Just says “Next flashback chapter will explain it.”
  8. ccstat

    Chapter 34

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here.
    Title: For the good of all Roshar.
    Um, maybe Adolin is gonna give a speech?
    Icons: Jez and Taln
    Leadership and stalwart determination, perhaps? This is gonna be a slog for Adolin and his troops. Also, the arch bearing the icons is definitely crumbling.
    Epigraph: Time to start a new series of bad guesses for who’s talking and when. Ending of a stewardship makes me immediately think of the Heralds abdicating, either now or in the past. My instinct for found documents would push for a historical work, but I made that mistake last time. I’m going to guess it’s a current author.
     
    The oathgate spren’s equanimity to being converted is disconcerting. “We’re helping you now, but we’ll stop soon.” No insistence on switching sides now, when they could refuse to help, but also a certain eagerness to being transformed.
    Colot is a former Windrunner squire in the Cobalt Guard. I didn’t expect squires would quit, even when spren are in short supply. I guess it makes sense, though. They find that they can serve better elsewhere, or their ideals are not as compatible as they thought they were. I wonder if squires ever shop around between orders?
    Oh! Well, if I knew this before, I’d clearly forgotten. The entire oathgate platform transfers when moving between physical locations, but going to or from Shadesmar only transfers the control room. That is way different than I was expecting, though I vaguely remember that being a plot point now that Adolin brings up the escape from Kholinar. I forgot that there were other people who didn’t traverse with them. Well, the upshot is that this whole defense of the oathgate is suddenly a whole lot more feasible. If the enemy can only pass through that small room, there really is a chokepoint after all.
    Maya! She’s talking! The tower apparently helped revive her a ton more than she had already achieved, and she is growing fast. Talking! And she can see through Adolin’s eyes, plus their bond is strengthening. Nice. Can’t wait to see what not-Radiant bond they land on. Bonus points if it takes inspiration from the Rhyshadium.
    Yeah, that tactical breakdown makes sense. Singers are tougher, so you want formations on your side. And that’s ignoring any Regals or Fused they bring along. Good to know that the fire is a losing strategy, too. It was one of the first things I thought of, so I’m glad Adolin addressed it from the start.
    Nice that Colot is convinced so quickly of Adolin’s conclusions. We’ll see how the Azish respond, since Adolin is here as support not a commander.
    Of course he’s wearing a cape. One that flutters fashionably in the wind. Because what else would you expect of him? Shallan’s sketch, suggesting he’d like it if she got one, makes even more sense than before. Aww, and Maya likes it too! If she watches through his eyes, does she read fashion folios with him?
    Woah. All their bronze armor is soulcast? I mean, obviously, if I’d thought about it I’d have realized they don’t really have the option to smelt metal ore, but it’s a very different take on natural resources than I’m used to thinking of. The Azish use bronze in everything because they have a soulcaster that specializes in that material.
    Kattari are sidearms, apparently. Makes sense.
    Not surprising that empire and civilization took root in the west before making its way to Alethkar. The more potent highstorms have got to have an impact on your ability to establish permanent settlements and high population centers.
    Another mention of the Sunmaker. Still don’t know much about him. New fact: he conquered Azir but couldn’t keep it.
    Kushkam isn’t happy about the Alethi, and I can’t blame him. Of course he isn’t impressed by Adolin’s “for the good of all Roshar” line, but to his credit he can immediately tell that Adolin means it.
    The whole thing is surrounded by residential apartments full of civilians. That can’t possibly help the situation.
    Yeah, Adolin is having flashbacks to all the people who weren’t able to escape Kholinar with him. Lotta guilt going on here. I definitely should have remembered that part of Oathbreaker. I feel bad that it didn’t make that much of an impact on me when it’s clearly a big deal.
    And he’s thinking of his mom! We have so little about her. Hard to tell if this recollection is genuine or overly rose-tinted, but she sounds like a very kind woman. Hopefully this tendency to seek advice from her memory is a habit and we’ll see more of it as the days proceed.
  9. ccstat

    Art: Azimir Dome

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    ART: A Study of the Oathgate Dome of Azimir
    Hold up. Who even drew this? It’s not Shallan’s sketchbook or handwriting. I’m on a plane right now and can’t compare, but I’m maybe it’s Nazh? P.robably not. He usually just collects this stuff rather than drawing it out himself.
    This whole structure is enormous. Far larger than I was imagining. But that only makes it less defensible. I do not see this battle going well at all. Yes, you can set up a killing field and ambushes and such, but your ability to maneuver is hugely limited by the teleportation area, and the distances are large enough that this really can’t qualify as a choke-point. Regular armies would be bad enough, but when you’ve got Fused who can pass through solid objects and reshape stone, there’s no way that dome is going to last long.
    I am not really a weaponry and armor buff, so I don’t have anything intelligent to say about the Azish infantry and archers, but they look very neat. The Kattar blade is curious, particularly in that the light infantryman who is holding it also has a longer sword belted at his waist. Versatility, and probably a fascinating fighting style. 
    The extra tall helmet on the heavy infantryman is odd. I would expect that to be a liability. Oh wait, he’s got a Kattar sheathed at his side, too. Must be a general-purpose stabbing implement in Azir.
     
  10. ccstat

    Interlude I-4

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here.
    Title: The Wrong Lesson
    Not sure who will be the one learning the wrong lesson in this chapter, but I suspect the Fused.  Or maybe Cultivation.
    Icon: Double Vav. Loving/Healing, for the passionate part of himself? Maybe it’s Vargo himself who decides he learned the wrong lesson from caring about people. For the character icon, same as last time, this is the double-sided frowning sword version of Mr. T.
    Oof. Bringing order to the galaxy cosmere through the power of the dark side pure rage. Not really hitting heroic notes here, Vargo.
    Hm. Cutlivation is being manipulative, as per usual, but I’m going to accept her words themselves at face value. She wants each Shard to garden their own plot of the universe, wants to convince Odium not to eat or murderize everyone. T isn’t convinced, still thinks he should be in charge of it all.
    Title drop: C wants him to learn “the right lesson” from Rayse’s mistakes. Smart money says that they will continue to strongly disagree about what that lesson should be.
    Intriguing that apparently all three of the Rosharan gods are problem children that the rest of the Shards wanted to keep locked away. That’s the first indication we’ve had that Roshar as a system is problematic, not just Odium himself.
    Two of the Sixteen are hidden. Odium thinks Valor’s absence is the most notable. Little (infuriating) breadcrumb to generate RAFO questions.
    I don’t know about this solution. Whereas Sazed’s multiple aspects have deadlocked him into inaction, Teravangian wants to instead let his kindness and cruelty take turns. That kind of vacillation will allow for a lot more activity, but it’s arguable how much would ever be accomplished when you work at cross purposes with yourself. 
    Part of me wonders if that unpredictability is what Cultivation is hoping for, rather than her “preferred” peaceful outcome.
     
  11. ccstat

    Interlude I-3

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here.
    El. Time to check in with our creepiest of creepy dudes.
    Icons: Jez and Nalan. Gonna guess this has to do with ruling (El is presumably in charge of a bunch of stuff now) and suffering.
    Um, there are clear split priorities here. El hopes for the guards he’s about to betray to not lose their careers when he steals from the vault. Why would his actions that are (presumably) on Odium’s orders/behalf be breaking with the rule of the Fused, who are (presumably) on a pretty tight leash given Odium’s countdown to the champion fight?  Something is very interestingly askew.
    Oh, apparently the Nine were expected to have issued a warning not to obey El, so this is a long-standing difference of opinions. The plot thickens.
    El choosing to treasure his emotions internally without releasing them into the rhythms is an interesting take on valuing Passion. Weird perspective to think that sharing/manifesting your feelings lessens them.
    El is pretty critical of the Fused-created social structure hypocritically rewarding and punishing passion in different contexts. Which, fair, it’s absolutely an abuse of the system and departing from their professed utopian values. But at the same time, that’s kind of what happens when ideologies start interacting with the real world and people have competing interests. 
    Stealing Jez? Bold move.
    Wait, no. Murdering Jez with anti-light? My first thought was “Woah!” but after only a second of reflection I have to wonder why this is something he has to sneak to do. Pretty sure Raboniel was planning on finding a way to inflict perma-death on the radiant spren and the Heralds, and I doubt the rest of the Fused would have been opposed. Why isn’t this something the Nine already did? Does killing him open up a gap in the Oathpact that someone else can fill? Does it unravel the oathpact and set dominoes tumbling on any of the later oaths, upending the foundation for the Fused’s permanence? I’m probably speculating way too much when El is going to tell us in a sentence or two.
    Chills! And questions! I suddenly want to know more about El and all these millennia-old relationships. There’s a reason I chose “old friend” for my profile tag. Such a rich trope throughout so many stories.
    Ha! I love it. He’s got jokes.
    I really got caught up in this convo with the “new Odium”—quite compelling. Not a ton to say about it yet, beyond curiosity about the job El is about to get.
    Notably, El really has been stripped of rhythms. From the wording so far in this chapter I thought it was a personal choice, and previous to that I thought it was something forbidden to him, not fundamentally removed. I definitely need some clarity on this.
    Why is Natanatan so important? I presume that’s the prize that Odium needs and his goal for wanting the Shattered Plains. 
    Hm. First of all, HYPE for Dai-gonarthis. We need more info on these unmade, and as bad of news as this is for the good guys, I am excited to see the Black Fisher. Especially because of the mention of an Elsegate, which sounds Except, wasn’t Dai-Gonarthis responsible for the death rattles too? Am I remembering wrong? Because fast travel and portal generation seems like an odd match to wringing out prophetic death visions. I can see a way to square that relationship, but want to know if I’m right about them belonging to the same entity before I do too much theory crafting.
    Very curious that El posits the only alternative to an Elsegate is a corrupted Elsecaller or an Honorblade. I assume he means corrupted as in “spren enlightened by Sja-anat” rather than just “defected to our side.” Either way, though, it suggests that this is an application of surges that isn’t available to Regals or Fused. Why would that be? They aren’t missing any of the Elsecaller surges, and even if a Fused is limited to a single surge rather than the pair that radiants get, wouldn’t “Transportation” be sufficient for getting where you want to go?
    Uh, that’s not good. They’re headed to the perpendicularity in the Horneater Peaks, which is bad news for the Unkalaki. If I recall, Odium’s people already controlled that area, but using it as a staging ground for a massive assault is another matter. Also, “I will pay her price later” doesn’t suggest that Odium is flush with funds. Maybe you shouldn’t go into debt to the Black Fisher to get your miracle door. Just saying, this sounds like something that could backfire.
    El’s fascination with humanity is making me very nervous. It seems like a good thing for him to not desire their annihilation, but he’s bent on “helping them realize their passions,” which…I mean, we already had the Thrill driving Alethi war-mad for generations, and humanity is pretty good at overcoming inhibitions to cater to their own desires. This reminds me of the “Lady of Wishes” reputation that preceded Raboniel. She didn’t really live up to the horror, tempered as she was by Navani and her reasonableness, but I have a feeling that El might.
     
  12. ccstat

    Chapter 33

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
     
    Title: The Conflux of All Darkness and Sorrow
    Just gonna say that sounds a little melodramatic as a title. We’ve got some emo or chuuni influences here. Lots of edginess in that superlative. It is ominous with regard to what their Spiritual Realm journey might have connected them to, but if it really matches the description of the title, that feels like a bit too fast of an escalation to me.
    Icons: Ishar and Jester. 
    We got bondsmith shenanigans and worldhopping, especially if the vision of Ashynn’s exodus is still on the itinerary.
    Epigraph: “May you have the courage someday to walk away.” This feels like it should have thematically gone with a Kaladin/Szeth chapter, but maybe it will tie in to Dalinar’s probable rejection of divinity by the end of the book? 
     
    Lift. I forgot she was hiding in the vents. Did she get sucked into the vortex? 
    The perpendicularity shows her an alternate self who didn’t lose her mom and isn’t afraid of growing up. Sounds like a version that couldn’t have existed with the war and everything, but teasing her with seeing her mom again is fairly cruel.
    I’m suddenly wondering what pieces we’re still missing about Lift’s encounter with Cultivation. Are there more portions of herself that are payment for what she received at the goddess’ hand? I remember this being debated some in the fandom, but I’m pretty sure there’s still room for secrets and reveals.
    Hm. Lift recognizes that the vision is a reflection of her desires, not of an actual lost possibility. And what?! Her mom’s not dead? What the heck? So she’s been lying to herself and everyone else, and mom just left rather than succumbing to a wasting disease like we thought. Is this more secret society stuff? Because good grief we’ve got so many complicated intersecting plots already. Not to say that I’m opposed to more complications, but it feels like it would be more fair to Lift’s emotional journey if she has to confront a mundane abandonment or dead-beat mom rather than a dramatic tie-in to cosmere-spanning schemes.
    But my heart! Lift’s fear of aging is tied to wanting to be recognized if her mom ever does come back. ;o;
    And now Gav is following her around in the air vents. Great. Looks like the babysitting adventure is taking a detour by way of dimensional displacement.
    Lift recognizes a sleepless watching her (and everyone else) in the vent, and still has the audacity to wonder what it tastes like. And she’s been low-key trying to catch one and find out ever since meeting what’s-his-name during Edgedancer. That is based.
    The whirlpool of the collapsing singularity sweeps them up… and Lift loses her grip on Gav. I need to adjust my expectations here, because this babysitting trip just became substantially different than the duo adventure I thought we were about to get.
    Wit saves the day! “You both owe me” so he grabbed her and Gav, right? Right? Nooo! He was talking about Lift and Wyndle, so Gav is lost in space the spiritual realm. The rescue mission keeps gaining extra steps!
    The sleepless didn’t get pulled in, even in part. Nor did the Malwish corpse from Shadesmar. Did it lose its investiture upon death enough that the vortex had no hold on it? Curious.
    Lift stealing off-world curses is perfect for her. 
    Also, literally the opposite of all her Edgedancer listening jazz.
    Plus, she calls him out right after. Wit is not in any position to criticize someone for confusing other people.
    They’re going to lie about Dalinar disappearing, and Wit immediately starts glowing? Really demanding disguise coming up. Wit trying to impersonate Dalinar legitimately rather than as a caricature is interesting, and Lift and Wit working together to run the country has a whole lot of potential hilarity.

    {NOTE: This is the point where I’m now picking the book back up again after. <checks> 8 months? I’m not even sure if I can call myself a Sanderfan at this point. This is a pathetic pace. I’ll probably ramble about this off and on going forward, but I don’t really have a good excuse for taking so long aside from the process of notetaking feeling more daunting than just reading something else. Apologies to anyone who is actually following this.}
     
    Kaladin being terrible at cooking is somehow super funny to me. His whole spiraling depression after that, not so much, and I know I shouldn’t be but I’m rather annoyed at Syl’s pick-me-up speech here. It simultaneously trivializes things and misses the point. I dunno, maybe I’m falling into the melodrama trap because it’s been so very long since I read the lead-up sections and now the emotional beats just aren’t landing for me. But for him to feel like he’s completely lost talking to Szeth, and Syl respond by prompting him with “how about you be a therapist full time? That could be your calling, right?” It doesn’t seem like Kal should respond super positively to that suggestion. 
    It could be that I’m just not invested in the Kal/Szeth plotline right now? It wasn’t the reason by any stretch, but it definitely was a contributing factor to me not feeling motivated to continue the liveblog project when I was choosing between reading more Wind and Truth versus something else on my list.
    Regardless, kicking the stupid non-moving grass because it won’t get out of his way is a good image and really conveys his thought process well.
    Very illuminating thing for Szeth to admit here, both in that his audience is a Windrunner who can’t imagine not helping people, and because of what it says about Szeth’s progression towards the Skybreaker ideals. (I wonder if Nightblood is even paying attention.)
    Also super critical of me, but it feels like maybe music shouldn’t really call to the super-ancient spren. It humanizes it too much, for something that has basically ignored humanity for four books and however long before that. Sure, woodwind instruments have that association, but there’s a pretty big divide between natural gusts of wind and a person’s breath.
    Oh, well, I guess Wind is about to just trash my whole argument:
    So I guess it’s Mr. T’s ascension that makes the difference here, and it’s not just Wind that’s being affected but a whole class of spren. Sure, I’ll accept that reasoning. Nice that Wind is trying to warn them about Odium having a new vessel, even if Kaladin doesn’t understand.
    Wind saying that it’s up to them and Kal to somehow preserve a shred of Honor hits harder when just a few pages ago Wit predicted that Dalinar failing to appear for the cage match with Odium would destroy the rest of Honor that Dalinar is standing in for. 
    Okay, that cliffhanger cutting off with Ishar’s sudden appearance is pretty steep. Well done.
    —
    Lopen’s spren Rua is a shortie? Huh. Can’t say I expected physical differences that extreme. Oh, he looks like a kid? That’s even less expected. 
    Nice to see that Lopen is being competent.
    Oh! And now Rua turned one arm crystalline, to match Lopen’s thought process. That’s way more physical mutability than I expected on this side. I figured the physical realm was fair game, but that in the cognitive realm their forms were pretty fixed.
    Okay, it looks like I misremembered something. I had thought that Navani got pulled through the perpendicularity too, but apparently not. She’s still running the tower. Wait, no. That’s definitely Wit in disguise! Love it. I thought he’d be impersonating Dalinar, but it makes sense he’d be able to pull off an administrator better than a warlord. (And enjoy the outfits more.)
    —
    This description of Ishar as the prototype for the ardentia is spot on, except apparently I forgot that they aren’t drab brown. He’s wearing blue robes with gold trim? I’ll have to go back and read other descriptions from earlier books, but my imagination of ardents seems to have been infected with fantasy depictions of ascetic monks.
    Ishar thought Kaladin was insignificant after the events of the first four books? How? I guess that confirms at least that he isn’t in contact with the sleepless cabal, since they’ve been watching our main characters this whole time.
    He considers Szeth his servant? Hm. That’s a thinker. An important piece, probably. Interesting that his moment of lucidity at the end of the last book apparently killed the Tezim persona permanently. But also worrisome that he still thinks he’s ascended to the Almighty.
    Even more concerning? His claim to take the other heralds’ pain is disturbingly similar to Odium’s relationship with his Fused and Vyre. That kind of parallelism could be a useful contrast, but is more likely to be a weakness.
    Also, jerk move to help the rest of the heralds but not share Taln’s pain when the dude has been suffering for you ever since you tried to break the oathpact. Not cool, Ishar.
    However, Kaladin’s repeated “Let’s talk about your feelings” feels incredibly inept. Surely you don’t just walk up to someone and say “I know you’re cray-cray, can I try to invent therapy on you now?” Some sort of small talk wouldn’t go amiss, you know?
     
    And that's the end of Day 2. Time for some interludes to see how everything is about to get worse. El and Odium? Sweet!
  13. ccstat

    Chapter 32

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Cords of Light
    Pretty obviously the anchoring ropes of power Dalinar and Navani are using for their experience, but I'm also holding out hope that Cord (Rock’s daughter, guarding Ryan) will show up too.
    Icons: Ishar and Jezrien
    Bondsmithy things and Stormfather visions is a safe bet, but if we're peeking in at the migration, I'm rather suspecting both of those proto-heralds to appear personally.
    Epigraph: This sounds like garbage. A king leaving his people with the “gift of his absence” so they can grow? That's not how government works. Abdication isn't like letting your kids grow up, Nohadon. These excuses are detracting from the rest of your parable.

    Yay! Navani's sense for the rhythms makes her the one to guide Dalinar here. 
    —
    Oh, I was wrong; the guards really were the ghostbloods, and not just some random agents but actually Mraize and company. 
    How did Mraize see her looking, though? Oh, wait. I was slightly confused in the last chapter, thinking they were talking about the guards Dalinar posted outside the room, not the ones Shallan brought with her. It makes a bit more sense now how they got in position. 
    Woah, Radiant can step out of Shallan fully? As a solid lightweaving? That’s pretty awesome. Too bad this came after Veil reintegrated, because I would have loved to see an actual face-to-face between her aspects. It’s a decent force-multiplier in a fight, regardless. 
    Also too bad that Radiant can’t wrestle well enough to keep hold of Iyatil. Pattern’s reaction to the fight is kind of hilarious. Testament I can understand, and I’m actually encouraged to see that she has enough of her self present to shy away from violence and hide, but Pattern’s “oh goodness, me” pose is supremely unhelpful.
    Shallan grabbing the anti-Light knife and thinking she’s won, only to immediately take a dart to the eye. Iyatil must be thinking “brought a knife to a blowgun fight, did you?”
    Lieke died? Doesn’t have a spren or healing? I wasn’t expecting that.
    But the windrunners immediately get diverted because of hostages. Typical and disappointing. Iyatil is taking way too much pleasure in manipulating them like that. It makes me wonder quite a bit about what she’s been up to off screen in the time since Shallan first met her.
    It’s a dramatic scene, and it kind of drives home the reminder that Iyatil is the babsk and Mraize the trainee, but I’m not sure why Iyatil advertises the fact that Mraize still has his dagger. Was it simply gloating, or was she bringing it up as a way of prompting him to attack the singularity the way he does? I’m guessing the latter, though it could also just be a writing convention to make the villains more engaging.
    Trapping Dalinar and Navani in the Spiritual Realm without a tether on what should have been their brief test run does make this much more exciting, though. I’m betting that the “power, wind, and screams” coming toward them is the onrushing vision, but it also makes me wonder who else might have gotten dragged along (presumably all of the people still in the room with Shallan) and if they all ended up in the same place.
     
  14. ccstat

    Chapter 31

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    {NOTE: Big delay, many apologies. I dropped off reading the book in the middle of Ch 33 and am only picking it up again now.}

    Title: Experiment
    Dalinar’s gonna make a door.
    Icons: Battar and Jester 
    Jester might be for Wit’s presence and influence, since he is playing a major part in this endeavor, but it could equally be indicative of the attempt to cross to the Spiritual Realm, which abuts to all the various Shardworlds, not just to Roshar. Battar, patron of Elsecallers, is appropriate here even though we’re relying more on bondsmithery to cross between realms.
    Epigraph: Again, I feel like we’ve belabored the point a bit. The acknowledgement of domestic violence as a situation to justify escape is a slightly unexpected inclusion on the list, anchored as we are in the feeling of parable and Nohadon’s pre-modern sensibilities, but it’s a good touch.
    Again, Shallan’s instincts don’t quite match my own. She sends a messenger to Dalinar, but immediately goes herself into Shadesmar. I would have thought that planning together in the physical realm was the better first step. Aren’t the Shattered Plains far enough away that they don’t expect Mraize to arrive for some time?
    It’s adorable how Shallan is so overwhelmed by the artistic beauty of the Tower in the spiritual realm that she can’t even function–she immediately trades off with Radiant so that she can gush internally as rapturously as she wants while Radiant actually gets stuff done. Radiant simply acknowledging “hey, it’s pretty” before moving on is such a contrast.
    Wait, Isasik joined the windrunners? That’s crazy! 
    Oh, it’s not the same guy. Isasik the cartographer just shares a name with Isasik the Windrunner. No wonder there are so many variations of Isaac throughout the cosmere. It’s just a super common name.
    Hmm. All of Teft’s former squires have apparently sworn vengeance on Moash. Not that I disagree, but the narrative weight is such that if they do go after him they’re all gonna die. I’m concerned about their choice.
    Ooo, the uniforms are changing! Props for picking something not associated with any Alethi or Veden nations, but white and gold is a bold choice for several reasons. Keeping a white uniform clean and presentable has got to be a terribly difficult task. Not to mention that the white and gold color scheme has already been associated with Odium (not that most people will know that). Hmm. Autonomy’s “men of red and gold” are obviously different, but I wonder if the gold has any sort of connection beyond coincidence?
    The beads following her call her “Other Shallan” when she’s Radiant? That’s hilarious to me, and adorable. You’ve got some good armor there, Miss Davar-Kholin.
    Oh, Shallan suspects that Mraize and Iyatil will arrive via oathgate. That explains her rush. I was imagining them using some sort of fast travel technique on the Shadesmar side that would get them here quickly, but not instantly.
    I’m not quite sure what it is that Renarin is showing understanding for here. I do like that Radiant is reevaluating her opinion of him, but I feel like I missed some subtext to this conversation.
    Good on Rlain for calling this out. He’s more assertive than he ever has been before, and it’s a good talking point. I feel bad that inside I’m undermining the seriousness of the discussion by waiting for Pattern or Testament to chime in about pattern identification.
    Huh. So in the cognitive realm Glys is overlaying Renarin as a pre-cog style afterimage, but possibly only when using his Truthwatcher intuition? That’s got interesting parallels to Szeth’s wounded soul and to the Rhyshadium music spren overlap, while still being pretty distinct from both. I wonder what it says about the altered nature of the bond to “enlightened” spren.
    —
    Not gonna lie, I'm quite jealous of Navani’s “don't get tired” super stamina coming from the Sibling.
    She leads them through a swarm of gloryspren, which really highlights how many otherwise rare spren are flocking to the tower. It partly makes me wonder if all of these spren are manifesting physically, or if Navani's companions might not all see the gloryspren as fully as she does. 
    Well, that answers that question: Gav is leery of the gloryspren and won't talk until they back off. He's traumatized by spren in general? I won't say that's unreasonable, but I'd expect his trauma to manifest more towards specific features or types of spren. Kids can easily become Phobic towards dogs, for example, but I don't think it's common for dog attack victims to be afraid of all animals. 
    More to the point, though, what of the tower did he see? Just earlier in the conversation with Lift, she specifically mentioned that the little column of light that the Sibling manifested would be invisible to other humans. Was she wrong? Does Gav have greater than normal sensitivity to the cognitive realm? 
    Nice try, Navani. We may still need to add a slight bit of nuance to this worldview.
    It's interesting to see Navani's mental distinction between God who is the power behind Shards and is worth revering, and the Vessel who is dead and/or fallible. 
    Wit wants to start with viewing Ashyn, and probably the Exodus to Roshar? Jumping right into the deep end I see. Not really a fan of incremental experimentation. 
    Finally, an explanation for Stone Shamanism, though I guess we can't complain too much about the wait since we haven't seen anything of the religion itself yet. 
    And Wit successfully distracted them from follow-up questions by casually dropping the fact he was present for that migration. Then refuses to comment further on that. Classic Wit.
    Navani would much prefer to have Khriss as magical advisor. It makes me think of another story I love where a character who has studied magic her whole life has to work with one who is naturally talented but knows none of the theory or limitations. To quote her, “Save me from instinctive ritualists!”
    The moment with Wit describing his connection to the Spiritual Realm is surprisingly tender and sincere. I'm proud of Navani for drawing that out of him so gently, and of Wit for letting down his masks for a moment. 
    “The deity who insisted he was not” is a good descriptor for Wit, Navani. Good job.
    —
    Shallan has determined her life goal, once this apocalypse thing is dealt with: she wants to do a thorough study of human-spren symbiosis (probably expanded to include the other races of Roshar as well, though she hasn't thought that far yet).
    “A grand illustrated tome explaining the intricate details of the bond”--is this what it sounds like? A giant art book of spren lore that will be published between this and the back five Stormlight books?! Yes please!! Sign me up. 
    Renarin needs to consult Shallan about Mishram and his vision? As usual I'm so about these dances of identity, but I'm not sure why she would be the expert in this instance. 
    —
    Renarin is so overwhelmed by everything, and I feel sorry for him, but his descriptions of the spren ecosystem all around the tower are fascinating and I need more! It's reminding me that everything on Roshar is basically a tide pool, with accompanying aesthetics. So awesome. 
    Oh, so that's why Shallan grabbed Renarin; she thought he'd be able to see people bonded to Sja-anat’s children. She needs to work on her tactful terminology though. 
    Oh wait, Renarin called her on that being a deflection. What's the real reason? She thinks enlightened spren can lead to Mishram’s prison, and she wants Renarin to help her race Mraize there.
    Yay Glys! Reducing sensory overload isn't an application I’d have thought of for a truthwatcher spren but it makes sense and is a valuable quality of life aid for Renarin.
    Harsh, but not wrong.
    Oh, he keeps going. This critique is great.
    Two extra souls in the walls. Gav and the governess? Maybe Lift?
    Wait, any spren can learn to hide inside their host, even on the Shadesmar side? That changes my expectations significantly. 
    Yes, Lift is in the ducts. Shallan thinks the guards are ghostbloods in disguise? I won't say that's impossible, but it feels like a red herring.
     
  15. ccstat

    Fashion Folio: Takama

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    I do really like the comparison between the traditional and modern styles, with a clear distinction drawn between the practicality of one versus the aristocratic finery of the other. The stiff, starched collar of the undershirt as well as what I’m imagining as gold thread adorning the sash of the modern dress in particular give a lot of character to the outfit. The open chested look with the weapons and travel pack give a much more rugged look (but still fashionably attractive, as appropriate to a folio page).
    Is the “singer version” of the clothing that Renarin saw himself wear in that vision similar to the traditional takama, then? I’m going to have to read that description again.
    It is interesting to me that the “takama” is apparently the whole body outfit, including the layered top. I had imagined that term referring just to the skirt and sash.
    As nice as these fashion pages are, I have less to say about them.
  16. ccstat

    Chapter 30

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
     
    Title: Not Alone
    This took me a minute to figure out because I was trying to figure out what the POV symbol was for. Who is a human-singer teamup? Renarin and Rlain, that’s who. Which means we might finally learn something about Renarin and his powers, or at least lay the foundation for his sub-order of enlightened Truthwatchers and how he and Rlain will get along.
    The stained glass crystal background is pretty sweet. Not sure about their palms-up pose, which to me is reminiscent of prayer.
    Icon: Palah
    Yup, we got truthwatchers.
    Epigraph: Another good aphorism. Honestly, I’m surprised we’re sticking with the fourth parable all the way through this set of epigraphs. I assumed we’d cover two or three different ones.

    Renarin liked the pre-awakened tower better. At a first guess he's talking about how it was easier to find solitude, except that it's in direct opposition to title. Oh, no he liked the chilly and thin mountain air. He must have been hanging out with Rock too much. All this muggy lowland air is getting on his nerves. 
    A harvest every two months is an insane crop yield. Presumably the farmers will have enough hands to keep up with it, but yeah that's probably what you need for the tower's megalopolis.
    Oh, I see. The Tower is doing all the work, obviating the knowledge transfer Rlain labored to share about enhancing plant growth with stormlight and song. 
    Woah, hold up. The rhythms get harder to hear the longer Rlain is in the tower? That's the opposite of what I would have predicted. I'd have thought that the extra investiture would make them stronger. On the other hand, possibly the Sibling's presence is strong enough to somewhat drown out the ambient rhythms of Roshar? Except it's not just while he's in the tower, it's an effect that magnifies with the duration of his stay in the tower. So more like a loud noise making someone temporarily deaf, rather than simply overwhelming the other noises. Is this a thing that happens around other exceptionally powerful spren?
    Rlain's black and red skin is accompanied by a red and black beard. Does the hair color match the underlying skin and follow the same patterns? I would assume so, but that's not certain. 
    Rlain's knowledge is still helpful. He understands which plants to cultivate in which arrangements to keep them all well cared for and correctly pollinated by cremlings. 
    Glys and Renarin have a close telepathic/empathetic bond, similar to Navani and the sibling and in contrast to Syl or Pattern. Renarin just says “not all radiants” are like that, but how common is it? Is it based on the type of spren? Simply individual nature? 
    Rlain’s panic at conversation feels more pronounced than his social discomfort in past POV sections. Granted he shows up extremely rarely, but his challenges in the past seemed more to do with expectations and not during the traditional mold than with general interactions. This just seems overemphasized to me. 
    Drehy here to be spruce of Renarin’s crush/interest in Rlain. Yay for friends. Also for verbal digs at spren companions. 
    Talla’s preferred form is a blue chicken, which is very strange. Birds are uncommon on Roshar, and the place where they are common (Shinovar) is apparently almost devoid of spren. How did Talla come to that preference? 
    This relationship talk is fine, but not capturing me. And Renarin's issues do feel extra emphasized. It's fine–this is his introduction in the book after not seeing him for a couple years, so we need to reestablish his character. But if it's like this every time he's going to start feeling rather one-note.
    And it cuts off just as his vision starts. We still weren't learning much about how he and Glys do things. It seems like he still has very little control over his powers, with this vision coming upon him suddenly and without prompting.
    Hm, just got distracted by a tangent. Add a resident associated with Sja-anat, will Renarin be able to achieve shardplate in the standard way? Will he have to attract enough enlightened spren to form his armor, or can the non-”corrupted” type function for him? For that matter, is there Anthony different about Glys’ blade form, assuming it exists as expected? 
    Rlain has self-image problems, which is hardly surprising for a species that changes forms with accompanying thought process alterations. The fascinating thing here is that he's able to be more himself despite the influence of the form (presumably an influence that originates with the bonded spren). This is very reminiscent of the way Timbre kept Venli’s bonded voidspren captive inside her gemheart and mediated the influence (such as the new rhythms) it expected on Venli. Except here Tumi doesn't have to work as hard. 
    I somewhat recall Timbre needing to also enter the gemheart to enforce the imprisonment, but that doesn't sound right. Was that a thing? 
    Tumi is in fact within Rlain, so maybe that is a thing. I guess a gemheart can house more than one spren. But do listener/singer-bonded nahel spren have additional obstacles to manifesting as blades or otherwise outside of their radiant’s body? 
    It's little wonder that there's a cultural barrier between listeners and humans. Just from the way Rlain is interacting with this lone awespren, he sees it when humans don't, and sees a different shape than they do when it does appear more physically. That plus the rhythms means that humans and listeners are constantly reacting to different stimuli, and will seen very odd to one another even when they are trying to communicate in good faith. 
    From the outside, humans can't tell anything is going on with Renarin, but Rlain sees the vision occurring as Renarin being encased in a distortion of the air.
    That's interesting. Rlain entering the distortion had him entering the vision directly. I presume the reverse would also be true if Rlain got a vision? Could a normal truthwatcher join them as well, or is it restricted to their enlightened variety? Anyway, I wasn't expecting that to happen. Rlain apparently was, but Renarin is shocked. He's also very grateful to not be alone. (Seems like he could have talked about it more, but obviously Vorin sensibilities make future sight extremely taboo, so it's hard to really fault him.)
    Oof. That edgy cynicism cuts deep, Renarin. Fortunately Rlain is not quite that jaded yet.
    Glys' appearance (to Rlain’s eyes) is weird: a red lattice dripping beads of light upward into the sky. What does Glys look like to Renarin? Does Tumi look the same? I presume that Sja-anat's touch is unique for each of her children, not necessarily a uniform effect. Speaking of which, what does a regular truthwatcher spren look like? 
    Ren on a throne in traditional garb, but in his bedroom? Interesting place to keep your throne. Still, this vision lets him share an intimate setting and parts of himself: the books and the wooden models. 
    Huh. It's not traditional Alethi wear, it's singer garb. Probably indicating what Ren would look like as a king under Odium.
    Glys tries to explain what causes the visions and what determines what they see: 
    Glys then explains that the listeners predated Honor and Cultivation on Roshar, and Rlain (despite having just asked “what’s older than the Shards?”) immediately attunes the Rhythm of the Winds, which he associates with being ancient. That’s a strangely persistent bit of culture to last across millenia and the huge changes between eras of Roshar’s history. Especially since in any other culture wind would be more likely to be associated with ephemerality and transience. It really speaks to how fundamental the storms are to the everything on Roshar, but also to an underpinning of Wind in the magic of the planet.
    Rlain asking the big questions. I’m betting on yes to both, but there are obvious differences to the spren that would be available primevally compared to those that are around now after having been influenced by millenia of people’s thoughts. Those differences in singer forms would be fascinating to learn about. 
    And Glys suggests that’s an answer they might be able to get from the Bondsmith, who conveniently will be delving into the past via the Spiritual realm. Sweet! At least the fans will be fed interesting lore.
    The windows in the hallway are all the same? Oh, never mind. I misread that. They are mirrored right and left, but those duplicates change as they go down the hall: Renarin on a throne, the Everstorm, Dalinar facing a golden figure on top of a cliff above a collapsing city. Renarin recognizes that last one from Dalinar’s vision descriptions. If he’s right that would make the figure Honor, when I am pretty certain it would be Odium based on the coloration and the future clash that we’re expecting between the two. 
    Nice that Ren is trying to hum the Rhythms and connect with Rlain that way. I feel like Navani isn’t getting credit though in Rlain’s assessment–Renarin definitely isn’t the first human to be doing this.
    Next window: 12 people in a grass field with a feeling of peace. Not sure who the rest will be in the Shinovar adventure, but I’m guessing the other Honorblade trainees and Szeth’s family will figure. Oh wait, they’re not all Shin (or Shin-like worldhoppers). Instead, some of them are recognizably from different Rosharan ethnicities (Makabaki, Unkalaki) and one has deep blue skin in a richer shade than either Natan or Siah Aimian. Weird. Best guess is that it is Azure, with some name symbolism showing up, unless she does some Awakening that results in interesting color effects. Overall, I do not know what to predict from that.
    Oh dear. Mishram infested the vision. Very freaky!
    And just as they escape the compromised vision, Shallan shows up to recruit them both. I’m not sure I would have predicted those two as being her preferred team, but I’m not opposed to the direction this is taking.
    Note:
     
  17. ccstat

    Chapter 29

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    A Lift chapter! Huzzah! I saw the feast POV symbol and got confused for a moment. I’d almost forgotten which symbol was hers.
    Title: Secret Handshakes
    Lift is gonna make up some secret handshakes. I can’t wait to see how impractical they are.
    Icon: Vev
    Edgedancer in the house.
    Epigraph: Don’t apply judgements or aphorisms to situations they don’t fit. Fair.
    I’d criticize Shallan for how long it took her to recognize elsecalling, but she’s got a giant ballista bolt through her ribs. She gets a pass.
    Whaaat? Her painspren are the wrong color when she’s got anti-stormlight in her? How in Braize does that work?! I am so confused. Are the spren feeding on the light somehow? Surely there aren’t alternate versions of each spren waiting to spring into existence for whatever flavor of light they encounter. 
    Okay, that’s hilarious. I hope that Alethi has the same double meaning for ego so that Shallan’s joke is as good in the original. I’m only slightly disappointed that her alter-egos didn’t chime in here in appreciation.
    I was confused for a second about how she got off-world armor before remembering she was wearing Aleen’s clothes. 
    Oh, that’s good. Erinor the stoneward figured out the secret exit and they managed to capture most of the fleeing ghostbloods. I thought that part of the operation was a wash.
    A sweet sentiment, if a bit charged for modern spren and for Shallan’s history in particular. There’s some uncomfortable subtextual implications there.
    Iyatil isn’t going to be happy to have all her trophies confiscated. If she makes it out of the spiritual realm, I guarantee she’s planning a heist to get them back.
    Little Shallan apparently experimented with peering into (and possibly reaching into??) Shadesmar before she suppressed all those memories. Tell me more.
    Ooo, she can peer through and see them making their escape towards Urithiru in a madra-pulled boat. Can they notice someone watching like this? Can anyone? That seems like a method of spy-observation to be aware of and think about counters to.
    I don’t know why I didn’t really analyze it before, but Shallan is right that her corporeal transfer to Shadesmar breaks the established rules of Radiant order delineations. I kind of wrote it off before as me not fully understanding what the surges can do, but this makes more sense. She explains it as the increased link from a second nahel spren allows her to pull herself through, which I buy. 
    Glad she is planning to get backup. Since Lift is the next part of the chapter, does that mean she’s joining the spying/exploration party? Or is she picking someone else? 

    I wasn’t too concerned about Lift’s exploding chamber pot instructions until it turned out she’s teaching them to 5-year old Gavinor. Navani is in for a headache.
    Lift is jealous of Baramaz, the pretty Edgedancer who is in charge of the order. And she apparently has a crush on Sigzil. We are getting actual teenager fun times with Lift this year. Poor girl. At first I thought her interest in Sig was because of his past association with Wit, but it’s very clearly the attraction sort of interest. 
    I love it. I’d say “never change, Lift,” but I’m not going to undermine your entire character arc like that. Instead I’ll just say “good luck, I’m rooting for you no matter what you decide to chase.” It’s especially funny because when she engages her listening skills Lift can have some of the most poetic way of speaking.
    And of course Wyndle has expanded from chairs to footstools. Seventeen poems about Iriali footstools feels like it might have exhausted the source material, but I suppose that if you love something you can praise it in many ways.
    Hm. Lift has been hanging out with Zahel, and has been listening to the way he talks, including both profanity and more profound characteristics I’m sure. I still don’t know what to think about Zahel after the earlier hints he may be more involved than it appeared, but I trust Lift to notice if something is off.
    Nobody has seen Zahel since the attack on the tower. Does that mean he missed the entire occupation, or just that he’s been missing since it was retaken? I assume the first. That’s another strike against him.
    Glad that Lift has made an extended effort to befriend Gavinor. Her abandoned child senses were tingling, and for good reason. He is struggling with feeling unwanted 😞
    The Sibling “liked Lift on account of her being awesome.” I didn’t think of that. Lift’s use of her special light (is it Towerlight? Cultivationlight?) would endear her to them, wouldn’t it.
    Lift wants to go rescue her chicken–the one she met for like five seconds before Mraize stuck her in a cage. That sounds like a motivation to include her in the spy crew!
    Oh, she’s not particularly interested in Sigzil, she’s just generally noticing the boys. Drehy’s tight uniform is doing it for her, too.
    Fascinating info about spren familial structure. I’ll just copy it out here:
    In that context, it’s worth remembering that Syl is the “last daughter” of the previous generation who were apparently children of the Stormfather directly, rather than descended through a line of honorspren. It also goes against my previous assumption that many spren emerged from collective perception. This goes back to Navani’s scholars thinking about farming domesticated flamespren–how does all of that life cycle stuff work? And are sapient spren like those who bond Radiants different from the elemental and emotional spren in that regard?
    Lift being a friend by offering to help Gavinor take bloody revenge. Sure, it’s concerning, but it’s what they both need.
    Lift has no interest in hearing Wyndle’s commentary about her burgeoning adolescence. 
    Yup, Sibling’s got her back. You’re out of luck, Wyndle. Take your cues from Lift and stop telling people to be mature.
    “You’re a building. Can’t respect someone that people fart inside of.”
    “Oh really? Let me tell you about skin mites and gut flora.”
    Well played, Sibling.
    This teasing banter between Lift and Sibling, pulling in little Gav, is fabulous. Wyndle is ever the straight man in this comedy routine.
    Aww, Lift acknowledges Wyndle’s friendship with the secret handshake she made up for Gav. Very sweet.
    Oh dear. Gloomspren. That’s another new one, I think. If we’ve seen it before it would have been around Kal, though.
    Wait a minute. Lift was hanging out with Gav talking while his nursemaid was off grabbing herself some snacks? Is the world backwards? Is everything a lie? Well, I suppose that Lift did spend half that time chewing on random food she’d stuffed in her pockets so maybe that was an overreaction. 
     
  18. ccstat

    Chapter 28

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Obstacle
    Not sure if Shallan is the obstacle here or if she’s facing one. Glad to see it is in fact a Shallan chapter, though. I rather expected a POV switch again.
    Icon: Chach
    Destruction from the fight, is my first guess, but maybe it’s for obedience. Or possibly Mraize or Iyatil’s spren makes them an alternate version of a Releaser/Dustbringer. Still guessing they’re Elsecallers, but we have no actual evidence yet.
    Epigraph: “sometimes it is not weakness but strength to stand up and walk away.” Sure, I’ll buy that moral. Who in the story is it meant to apply to, though? Dalinar for turning down Honor’s power eventually? Restares for trying to nope out of Roshar? The Heralds in general for abandoning their oaths? Something else?
    Armoring up is a great idea. I’m concerned about the anti-Light, especially since it’s known to be lethally harmful to spren. Not asking Testament to kill again and using her as a shield is great, and something I highly approve of, but that also puts her first in the line of fire if Mraize shoots his hand-ballista. I do not want Testament’s conditioned worsened by having half her essence detonated in an explosion.
    Um, storm-faced? Is that an insult? A “stormy expression” is a thing and fits Kaladin’s dourness, but that doesn’t really match what I expect from a “[something]-face” insult or from the use of storms in a Rosharan swear.
    Shallan is at least worried about the effect of anti-Light on Testament, so she won’t unknowingly fall to that mistake. As predicted, Mraize is proud of her successes.
    Two of the other ghostbloods present have nahel bonds and are producing Shardblades. That’s more than I expected, honestly. It probably shouldn’t have been. Why not take advantage of the easy power-up, and/or recruit powerful individuals?
    Okay, I’m impressed with Shallan’s counter to the ballista bolt. Illusions failed to divert the shot, but intentionally depowering yourself entirely and dismissing your armor and weapons so that there’s nothing to set off the explosive is a brilliant and risky tactic. 
    I thought she was going to rip out the gem and then re-empower herself, but the arrow injected the light into her directly. That’s concerning! Can she use anti-Light for surgebinding? If so, she’ll be okay pretty quickly.
    Shallan has the same thought but decides not to risk it. She has some premonition that pulling in anti-Light would be bad even in the absence of Stormlight infusion.
    Iyatil is smart enough to try to ensure Shallan’s death, despite Mraize being willing to save it for another day, but fortunately the cavalry arrives. 
    The hole in the ceiling doesn’t seem like a Releaser technique, so that’s not the reason for the chapter icons. Yep, it’s a Stoneward, who is apparently Darcira’s husband. Interesting new instance of spren paying attention to the families of Radiants. I’m assuming it started with Darcira, but there’s no reason for that to be true.
    Yup, elsecalling. Lieke also disappeared, so either all three of them got enlightened inkspren, or one of them can carry passengers when they transfer. Presumably the second, but I can’t be sure.

    Oh, Szeth’s flashbacks are being relayed orally to Kaladin? Didn’t expect that. He doesn’t seem the type to really open up or reminisce. He’s not just teaching about his homeland if he’s sharing personal stories like that.
    I am increasingly confused about why spren appear to avoid Shinovar. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Different ecology shouldn’t matter. Presumably the storms still deliver stormlight despite being fully weakened by the time they reach that part of the continent. It can’t even be related to the presence of Unmade since that didn’t dissuade any of them in Kholinar when there were three of the unmade present.
    The softness of the soil makes Kaladin think the grass wants to swallow him. Szeth is fully on board with this interpretation.
    To Szeth’s eye, everything looks darker than expected. Kal can see wisps of shadow rising. Sounds like unmade business, which is sooner than I thought they would notice effects. Ominous that the effect seems concentrated at a monastery.
    They have ten monasteries, one for each Honorblade (though several would necessarily be empty).
    Oh, Szeth is going to spell it out for us: Talmut (Taln), Nin (Nale), and Ishu (Ishar) all have their own blades. 
    I wonder how many people are “elevated” and train with the Honorblades to learn the surges. It’s certainly more than the number of blades, but I don’t know how exclusive that cadre of surgebinders would be.
    But unmade encounter is for tomorrow. Tonight soup is on the menu!
     
  19. ccstat

    Chapter 27

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
     
    Title: What is Right
    I dunno, but Szeth’s whole rigidity of belief suggests that he’s not going to take well to whatever lesson of nuance his father tries to teach him here.
    Icon: Ishar
    Honorblades make an appearance?
    Apparently Szeth’s mom Zeenid teaches painting in town. That’s got to be rather prestigious given the Shin respect for color, though I’m not sure how they consider arts from the perspective of things that “add” in comparison to shepherding for example.
    Neturo has a long beard? That was not anywhere in my mental image of Szeth’s dad. His splash is interesting. He is of a status that earns him three colored elements, which he wears as ribbons on his wrists and beard, but all three are the same color and together constitute a single splash.
    A single rock is considered an anomaly, so my previous speculation about those determining the location of homesteads can’t be a general rule.
    Zeenid only gets one splash from teaching painting, compared to Neturo’s three-piece splash for teaching shepherds, so that answers that question. But Zeenid bucks convention by wearing an entire green skirt. The daring!
    And Zeenid shows up with a shovel (precious artifact!) to dig out the rock and move it. 
    The practicalities of reverence.
    A good lesson, but I don’t know that Szeth is going to internalize it with his complicated feelings about moving the rock.
    He decided to move it, but he’s not happy. 
    It’s only 8 inches long? I was imagining something much larger than that. How big is their original family stone, then? Probably not an actual boulder. Big enough that it can get chewed on by a sheep, but who knows what that means?
    I appreciate Neturo and Zeenid’s approach to orthodoxy. The shamans don’t tell us what to do, they share their teachings and then we choose how to show devotion. We decide what level of reverence is appropriate. It’s a very personal, perhaps casual relationship with their religion that I doubt most of the shamans would be happy about. Szeth certainly has misgivings.
    Ah, Szeth thinks this unorthodox approach may be why his family lives in a rural area.
  20. ccstat

    Chapter 26

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Hunting the Hunter
    Shallan doing her infiltration. At a guess this is suggesting she gets caught/recognized and Mraize does his gentleman antagonist thing and compliments her before trying for murder. We’ll see. Hopefully the chapter sticks with her long enough to progress the ghostblood thing and not just take us to the next cliffhanger. I’m looking forward to seeing how she handles the challenge of Iyatil. Breaking up the povs like this is a little irksome, but the frequent cliffhangers probably wouldn't bother me as much if it weren't taking me so long to read this while taking notes. 
    Icon: Battar
    Probably the virtue of creativity since that’s what Shallan is exhibiting and will need to get out of her current predicament. Then again, last chapter’s Jez ended up being (probably) because they were talking about Stormfather and Honor, in the non-chapter-header POV. So for all I know this could indicate that Jasnah’s gonna show up and do elsecaller things in the second half. 
    Epigraph: See, this is the introspective character I expect of Nohadon’s writings. “What’s the difference between abdication and desertion, and how am I like the blowing dust?” versus dictating a moral that we saw a couple chapters ago.
     
    Nods are a good start, Shallan, but that hasn’t gotten you out of trouble yet. Now you’re in a huddle with both Scadrians. What next?
    Pointing out a (fake) sighting of Sja-anat is also a good creative move. Iyatil’s reaction suggests that the ghostbloods weren’t expecting her right now, which calls into question how close this alliance currently is, and whether the unmade really was their contact earlier. 
    And speak of the devil, Sja-anat is back for a conversation. 
    That’s pretty convincing, except that she can’t possibly have missed the change in vessel, who those thousands of years of evidence don’t apply to. Maybe she really is in it for herself, for escaping Roshar, but maybe she’s considering Vargo’s side now. I’m inclined to trust her words here, from a narrative perspective, but it really could go either way.
    That is also a good argument. Notably, she says she’s trying to preserve a world (ostensibly Roshar) for her children, not flee it like I previously speculated.
    That’s a simple and obvious solution that I didn’t even consider. If you paint half of the glass spheres encasing your gemstone chips you get directed lighting. Sweet.
    Iyatil claims the trophy case as hers, which surprises Shallan. I’m not shocked myself, but it does make me wonder how much offworld travel Mraize has managed at this point. I was taking the trophies as evidence of his excursions but now I suspect he’s exaggerating how well-informed and experienced he is.
    Sja-anat is indeed the spy that told them about the spiritual realm. She was tasked with “watching the Bondsmiths”
    Iyatil and Mraize apparently have spren, specifically ones who “understand that realm.” I presume this means they got “enlightened” inkspren and are the Sja-Anat version of elsecallers now. Very curious to know what differences there are, not that we have much to base speculation on. Anyway, that explains the chapter icon.
    Sja-anat says that the spiritual realm is inimical to the nature of mortals, and they stand a risk of being lost despite the guidance of her children. She also warns them against trying to ally with Mishram.
    Mraize already has an anti-Light infused gem to kill Shallan with. I thought it would be harder to reproduce Navani’s breakthrough, but I guess the ghostbloods are experienced with manipulating Intent and disparate magic systems, and the vacuum tubes wouldn’t be too much of a hurdle for people of their resources.
    Oh, Shallan suspects he just stole it. I guess that’s also a possibility.
    Interesting that Iyatil confides in Aleen (Shallan) with her concerns about Mraize’s operation. It’s validating to me that she voices some of my own observations about how his approach differs from what we saw of the Scadrian chapter of the Ghostbloods, and echoes Felts own misgivings. The dissonance is real. But her friendship with Aleen and the trust to share those thoughts really stands out. 
    Also, this push for Mishram is Iyatil’s pet project, distinct from Kelsier’s plan and from Mraize’s ambition. 
    Aleen also has her own plans. I guess everybody does, but that people are open about using the ghostblood agenda for their own ends is more variety of purpose than I had imagined. Also, how about that big “control the Shards” bomb she dropped. That’s a Checkhov’s Cannon just ready to blow the crossover cosmere plotline to pieces.
    And Shallan is discovered. She lasted impressively long!
     
  21. ccstat

    Chapter 25

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Purposeful Danger
    See, the most likely/obvious interpretation of this is Shallan putting herself in danger for a purpose in attending this meeting. However we could all soon be purposefully dangerous in either threatening the ghostbloods overtly, or in the ghostbloods agenda using the danger that they pose to influence the course of events. That same interpretation could apply to other groups outside of Shallan's perspective.
    Icons: Jez
    Shallan is leading from the front for her Unseen Court? That's my only guess here. 
    Epigraph: I rather expected Nohadon to leave the moral as the previous one liner. Expounding on it like this, even though it's only a few sentences, doesn't match the image in my mind of Nohadon’s book being full of zen-like thought-provoking wisdom.
    Shallan is curious about the ancient builders putting a basement in the house, since that would risk flooding. Could the storms have changed at some point such that it wasn't originally as much of a concern? It seems ludicrous to suggest, given the way life on Roshar has so thoroughly adapted to highstorms as a phenomenon, but we also know that there was direct divine involvement in creating that ecosystem, and we've observed a recent change with the arrival of the Everstorm so the character, intensity, and frequency of the storms could theoretically have been different in the (human-scale) distant past.
    Are these the same trophies we saw before, or does Mraize have multiple collections? I recognize the aethyr and the sand, but none of the others. Maybe I'm just being forgetful or sense, but a red leaf that radiates heat doesn't ring a bell at all. There's no indication of what the horn/claw or egg belong to, but I've got dragons on my brain so I'm tentatively assigning both to that. 
    Sja-anat in the reflection is not something I was expecting. Can she project her presence at a distance, or has she actually traveled here? Is her alliance with the ghostbloods going to go through? Is the new Odium changing her calculations? Lots of potential answers here, and lots of ways the unmade could influence the outcome of this infiltration. 
    Finally Shallan crosses paths with Iyatil again. We've barely seen her in 5 books. If anyone is going to notice problems with Shallan’s again disguise, it will be the South Scadrian who actually knows the culture she should be emulating. 
    Stolen Purse is a great pseudonym, especially since it's so ambiguous as to what inspired the name. Could be anywhere from embarrassing to taunting, respectful to trivial. First impression is more towards the light-hearted meanings. 
    Icy Tongue on the other hand is not my favorite as a name. Her referring to Mraize as “love” also makes me consider her a try-hard, but it's hard to guess at tone.
    Wait, Shallan says these are nicknames not code names. Is she right? The Scadrian chapter that Marasi ran into had these sorts of names, so I don't think she's correct in attributing them to Mraize directly. 
    A hand ballista…what kind of specialized payload would Mraize and company be interested in delivering? Or maybe he's just showing off his Thaylen heritage? 
    Veil bringing Shallan out of her panic spiral, with Radiant then jumping in to help with the pep talk…these are the kind of moments I love about their inner dynamic. 
    Oh, Mraize is using it as a set piece to talk about technological advantage. What tool is he going to introduce to the team? 
    Hey, Shallan figured out (or was shown, but same thing) Felt’s subterfuge and his capture of Restares. That didn't take long. 
    Who is the “very special contact” who warned Iyatil ahead of time that Dalinar would soon be entering the spiritual realm? First guess would be Sja-anat, but maybe Cultivation is playing all the sides at once? “We thought we might need our newest recruit to nudge him.” And you just drop tantalizing bits like that. Can't be the actress, right? She's positioned to watch but not to influence.
    Hm, Cultivation gets name dropped right after, so it's less likely than before that she's the contact. And Mraize and Iyatil will be going as a pair to seek out Mishram, so (unless someone dramatic happens in about two minutes) Shallan will have plenty of opportunity to face off with them. 
    That is a telling question from Icy Tongue. Kelsier is specifically after Stormlight, which makes sense after seeing the importance of their Dor stockpile in Lost Metal. This search for Mishram is a side quest that Mraize and/or Iyatil are pushing. 
    Ah, an anti-stormlight payload, or whatever other flavor you want to make. That's a powerful game changer, whether deployed on Roshar or elsewhere. Interesting that Shallan immediately jumps to the weapon's lethality against Radiants and spren, rather than thinking about the utility against Fused. Makes sense, since she expects Mraize to consider her personally that major a threat and be looking for ways to tie up loose ends. Is this a weapon intended for her murder specifically? 
    Mraize says what we've all been thinking: Kelsier doesn't and has never believed in “no secrets”. In fact, that's kind of directly at odds with his ethos. Yes, trust inside a crew is crucial, but he's never been good at just telling people everything.
    Yeah, being addressed in the wrong language is going to require some quick thinking.
     

    Are the dancing vines actual plants from the greenhouse/jungle room, or are they spren that look like vines? Because if the rhythms affect real plants, then they are more impactful than I thought. 
    Really? Then I'm super confused about the chronology here. I thought Tanavast’s death was much more recent than that. For now I'm going to go with Dalinar being wrong or exaggerating. 
    I know I should be thinking of the God Beyond here, Dalinar's new faith, and I'm inclined to believe Sanderson will support that interpretation, but it's hard to ignore the fact that at least two local deities have been manipulating events all along, not to mention everyone else involved. 
    I'm glad that Dalinar and Navani are willing to call out Wit on his deflections. Dalinar calling him useless to his face is vindicating.
    Wit claims it's pretty ready to hide things from Shards, which is borne or by basically everything he's done on active shardworlds across the various series, but stating it plainly like that makes me highly concerned for Sazed and all the other vessels that we are trusting to have accurate information. 
    Wit says that Vin’s release of the power at the Well of Ascension is the most selfless thing he's ever seen. That's high praise for someone as old and well-traveled as he is, especially since he keeps finding his way to plot-relevant moments time and again. 
    Yay! Navani is going with him. I'm excited for that. Not sure how that will affect the Sibling, since distance won't be a factor. But Navani doing science on the Spiritual Realm while acting as her husband's anchor is a big step up from how I thought the party would split. I'm now much more interested in how the journey will progress. 
    That they are both Bondsmiths and can open the path together makes it even better. Much more evenly paired now. I know I complained about Navani binding the Sibling at the end of the last book, and I stand by what I said, but this does help to balance the power dynamic in her and Dalinar's relationship. 
    I'm being that this first foray won't go nearly as well as Wit predicts, but it can't go catastrophically or the ghostbloods won't be able to chase after them.
     
  22. ccstat

    Chapter 24

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
     
    Title: In the Dancing Ring
    That’s one way to euphemize a likely death dojo. Until told otherwise, that’s how I will picture the honorblade training Szeth’s family got.
    Icons: Ishar
    King of heralds, appropriate for a presumed introduction of honorblades and oaths, not to mention the extreme piety that Szeth presumably acquired from his family.
    I note also the color-swapped Szeth for these flashback icons. He’s still facepalming, but now he’s an assassin in black, not white.
    We’re going back 26 years. Is that the longest any of our flashbacks have gone? No, probably not. How long ago did Dalinar’s start in Oathbringer? Before his sons were born, so something similar to this. I’ll have to go check and compare at some point, especially if there is some potential Unmade action that would ripple across the continent and cause the sequence of events to matter.
    Szeth was attracted to the Wind as a child, just as Kaladin was. These two both being her chosen champions seems to have been a long time coming.
    He was also a weirdly melodramatic kid. The trees are hoping to escape their bark “and emerge with new skin, pained by the cool air.”
    Well, that’s a worldview in a nutshell. 
    Oh, he really is dancing. It’s not an artful phrase for doing combat katas or something. His sister is accompanying him on the flute. More Kaladin parallels.
    Brandon doesn’t really go in for alliteration very often, but this is a cool phrase. And I feel silly for pointing this out, but molasses and syrup are much more likely to exist in Shinovar than the rest of the continent, given the plants that live there. So it’s even valid as an in-character reference for content of the phrase, beyond matching the melodramatic style of internal narration that smol Szeth apparently has going on. 
    The dance is worship for a large rock they found. I didn’t really question it before, but I don’t think i have a good explanation for why stone is worshipable for these shamans. I mean, it’s religion, it has its own motivations, but… I’ll just leave that thought there. We don’t have any depth at all on this belief system or how it meshes with the Shin people.
    Yeah, the Wind is all over this thing. 
    They’re sheep herders? Not what I would have expected. Molli the sheep trying to eat the sacred rock is humorous, but Szeth’s “not again, stupid sheep” reaction is revealing. Rocks may be important, and people can’t walk on them or break them, but they don’t revere them to the extent of being offended at disrespect from the livestock.
    Elid-daughter-Zeenid. We have a name for his sister, and presumably for his mother as well. I don’t think we’ve met a female Shin by name yet, and I hadn’t been ready to assume they used matronyms for their daughters. That does seem to be the case, though.
    His friend is named Dolk-son-Dolk, which is unfortunate. Maybe it’s a noble name for Shin natives or something, but it’s so close to “dolt” that I can’t possibly take him seriously. That’s probably the intended effect, since Szeth immediately classifies both Dolks as idiots.
    That’s a revealing line. Culturally apparently they get to have one spot of color in their attire. Oh, and in the next line it says it’s a privilege afforded to people “who add,” which harks back to Rysn’s WoK interlude. 
    Ah, right. Wood is the normal construction material for shinovar, but rare elsewhere. 
    “What kind of training do shepherds even need? You just have to listen to the sheep.” I can’t decide if this is a special empathy thing for Szeth or a naive childhood thing.
    Oh my gosh. Szeth’s splash is a red handkerchief around his neck. He’s literally cosplaying as a cowboy while being an 11 year old shepherd.
    Wow, so much packed into this short line. First, it’s their family stone, implying that each homestead has (or wants to have) one big rock. Maybe the exposed stones partially determine where people live? Second, I like his appreciation of the color as a splash like he wears. It’s a good parallel. Then I was going to say something about the kind of rock it could be from the color, but we know that Roshar’s continent has a whole lot of artificial processes going into its creation, not the more familiar deposition, mountain building, and plate tectonics of Earth. So instead, I’ll just say for Third that the spren eyeball simile is bizarre. 
    Elid and Szeth’s speculation about the outside world is depressingly accurate for wild hyperbole. “People constantly kill each other out there.” Um, yup. It’s called Alethkar and everywhere their armies can reach. “Maybe everything has tentacles and wants to eat you.” Well, maybe not tentacles, but between axehounds, whitespines, chasmfiends, and other greatshells, i wouldn’t blame you for being uncomfortable with the wildlife.
    The family homestead is way more isolated than I thought. You can walk for days across the prairie without seeing anyone else. I’d assumed that Shinovar was way more densely populated than that. I guess I should have expected from calling it a “homestead” that it would be away from other settlements.
    Wait a minute. Going by Szeth’s description of an annual cycle for how they care for the sheep, does Shinovar have actual seasons? The storms dominate the rest of the planet so that “seasons” of spring, winter, etc are only days or weeks long, a transient weather pattern with no consistent sequence, but Shinovar escapes the violence of storms, the crem they carry, and may also have a seasonal cycle.
    Is that capitalized Farmer a deity? A noble-like title?
    There are frequent pirate raids to steal their sheep, perpetrated by Eastern Rosharans, and the people who train with swords never come to help because they protect the secrets of the Honorblades. I can totally get Elid’s frustration there.
    That’s a more dramatic response to the newly uncovered rock than I thought. It’s not just Szeth’s particular devotion at play, because Elid also gasped at the sight, then immediately ran to tell her Father. Stone is really important.

     
  23. ccstat

    Navani's Notebook - Part I

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Navani's Notebook - Part I
    A page from Navani’s Notebook! Finally! I love deciphering these pages and looking at the beautiful sprengineering sketches.
    The contents of this page are pretty obvious from the chapter we’ve just read, so before going through the text I’ll just appreciate the art for a moment. The oven looks elegant, especially with its little exhaust attractor at the top. Such a neat aesthetic. I wonder what happens with the smoke and gasses when they’re done with it? How/where do they empty the collected exhaust?
    The heating fabrial, on the other hand, is quite different from how I imagined it. The cage is much less prominent than I expected, and the gem itself far larger. That aluminum stopper looks like a cork more than anything. In black and white, with the gem’s facets deemphasized, it doesn’t have quite the inherent beauty that I think must be a general feature of most fabrials. Imagining it as a red ruby, glowing from within with a flickering flamespren flitting about, though, conjures the magic back into it.
    Those flamespren do seem incredibly individualized in form and posture and apparent temperament. The two facing each other at the bottom of the page really embody different aspects of flame, and I’m here for it. The one in mink shape is fun, too.
    Alright, into the meat of things. Sprengineering ahoy!
    Aside, I gotta say that this women’s script is coming back to me way easier than I thought it would I remember struggling with reading the first few notebook pages in Rhythm quite a bit more than I have with this one so far. Probably helps that I have strong expectations about what the text will say, but these letters are sticking in my brain remarkably well after however many years it’s been.
     
    Okay, “drawn” gave me some trouble. Took me a bit to figure out the W there.
    I like the analogies they are drawing between spren and humans in a psychological sense. Personifying the spren will help to engender respect and (hopefully) care.
    (Obligatory reminder that Roshar has had a robust slave economy for centuries, up until literally last year. So just because spren are seen as people doesn’t guarantee anything.)
     
     Sometimes the women’s script just looks beautiful. I love the way that word “individuals” appears on the page. Very elegant. On that note, I like the way the alethi notations here complement the artwork. Great job to the illustrators!
    Yes, collective nouns are like that. A few determined by these scientists should be promulgated, but I expect most to arise organically as people adopt their own. Most of ours come from inventive authors that somehow gained popularity, and I rather think that’s how most things will go. 
    Shallan better coin her “inspiration of creationspren” for the armor cheerleaders before someone else names them.
    That’s an excellent question. You can’t really breed spren, but if you train these ones will other baseline flamespren start to take on more of those characteristics as people’s perception shifts? Or if you have more flame and heat in the world, do you engender the creation of more flamespren? If they do multiply in your hands, are they spontaneously generating, or converting from an existing population, or something else entirely? 
    Man, if it wasn’t for this whole apocalypse thing, these scientists would be having the time of their lives. Maybe they still are, with patrons like Navani guiding and protecting them.
     
  24. ccstat

    Chapter 23

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
     
    Title: Compromise
    It’s a Navani chapter, so gotta be some negotiation about sprengineering with the Sibling.
    Icons: Vev and Pali
    Loving and Obedient, as motivators to compromise? Or maybe this is edgedancer listening and truthwatcher planning.
    Epigraph: Oh, here’s a conclusion to the parable: let people leave if they wish (like dust that travels between borders). A sentiment that applies both to the itinerants looking for a better country (and about the find out the one they’re looking for doesn’t match their expectations) as much as to the king who just abdicated (and is going walkabout across the continent and multiple realms).
     It’s worth remembering that Arahietam, or however we spell that, was caused by people wanting to leave, and that some of those heralds are still trying to get out of Roshar. Raboniel was at least partially motivated by wanting to release her daughter. I’m all for saying “open borders and free passage for everyone,” but let’s be cognizant of how we’re extending that metaphor.
     
    There’s obviously a plan here, but “aw, shucks, the assassin isn’t getting close to us,” is one of those internal thoughts that should make you re-examine what you’re doing. 
    It worked though, at least partly. They know how many more ghostbloods are expected and their names, and have an even better view of the security measures. Radiant seems confident in taking down the assassin quickly and quietly, and I’m looking forward to seeing how she does that.
    Okay, that’s clever. Manifesting your armor around your opponent as a trap isn’t exactly the most subtle way to go about things, but if nobody is watching then it can apparently be quite effective. That Shallan did a drawing ahead of time to make the helmet hold this woman’s mouth closed is a nice touch of planning.
    I rather expected the armor spren working together and manifesting physically to set off the sand, but it appears that’s not the case. How does that compare to what the screamers detect? As I recall, they couldn’t even sense lightweavings, which the sand does.
    The assassin did almost get a stab in before being encased, which isn’t a surprise. That they just tip her into a wheelbarrow and roll her away is funny to me. Not sure how easy it will be to get the mask off without giving her a chance to do something. Agents like this are bound to have all sorts of out-of-context investiture abilities that our protagonists don’t know how to guard against. Then again, dogpiling her with corporeal spren seems like a good way to block a lot of that.
    Oh, yeah, Shallan definitely wouldn’t enjoy watching someone get strangled. I’m impressed that handing things off to Radiant for a couple minutes was all it took. Shallan from a year ago would have been a wreck from that reminder.
    I like the internal chastisement to stop infantilizing Shin and off-worlders just because they have round eyes that make them look babyface to east Rosharans.
    Shallan shows off her acting skills, and Gaz’s reaction shows that it’s a talent above and beyond most of the Unseen Court. You go, Shallan.
    Actually, I’m even more impressed that Gaz and Darcira each apparently took out a ghostblood watchpost single-handed without raising any alarms. How many watchers at each post? I was imagining a team, but on reflection it’s probably just a pair or possibly a lone watcher, depending on how those posts are disguised. So it’s still good work, but not quite the spy movie fight scene I was imagining.
     

    And back to Navani. This moment with her taking care of all the administrative items that her big important husband doesn’t…it’s very reminiscent of her flashback in Rhythm, where she was very much the queen of Alethkar for all the daily functions. Here she’s even more-so the queen of the tower, given her link to each mechanism that makes it function.
    It’s good that Sebarial’s in charge of the logistics. He and Palona are eminently competent, and they’re thinking ahead to how to do things without Oathgates. A secluded mountain fortress isn’t really convenient when all your trade routes require teleportation through dubiously loyal portals. 
    Did we know that Radiant soulcasters also stressed the gems they used as foci for their surgebinding? It makes sense, but I hadn’t thought about the focusing gems being a limiting resource for the non-fabrial form of soulcasting. I guess “more efficient and versatile” somehow became “no limits” in by brain, with no justification for that idea. 
    Do we know anything about the lighteyed vs darkeyed demographics of the Alethi people? Three quarters of the current radiants were apparently darkeyed before bonding their spren, but I don’t know if that’s an over- or under-representation of the populace at large. I would have guessed that statistically the harder lives of darkeyes would result in the cracks in the soul that spren come along to fill, but life is hard everywhere, especially when your nation is constantly at war. And there’s no guarantee that the struggles of a lower class individual will be any more or less attractive to one of the ten nahel spren than those of someone of means. Until we get some sort of overview of the trends involved I’m going to have to just say I don’t know, other than the fact that radiants demonstrably come from all walks of life.
    Well, that’s convenient. Navani can just command the irritationspren she attracts to go away. Her position gives her the privilege of hiding what she’s feeling, or even falsifying it by entertaining some spren of a mismatched emotion. All of them are constantly attracted to her, after all. I hope to see that leveraged at some point, or at least recognized by someone who wishes they could do the same.
    Huh. There’s still rumors flying around about Sadeas’ death. Probably Ialai’s as well, being much more recent. I forget who knows the truth about either of those events. Who did Adolin tell besides Shallan? I honestly don’t recall.
    I can’t help but smile at how irritated Navani is about being a Disney princess equivalent, surrounded at all times by her adoring spren friends.
    The Sibling isn’t particularly concerned about whether Dalinar becomes Honor’s vessel, but they do warn against letting it awaken on its own. Without a mind to guide it, it will be far more inhuman than any of the spren, and correspondingly dangerous. And it’s potentially worse since Honor is sequestered in the spiritual realm, away from physicality, time, and all those things essential to our existence and perspective.
    That does sound bad. Especially since I recently finished reading Defiant, the conclusion to the Skyward series, where Brandon explores the dangers of that kind of separation. The Delvers aren’t nearly so powerful as a Shard, but living in the nowhere (spiritual realm equivalent) did a serious number on their capacity for empathy with physical beings. That’s not something you want from any of the cosmere Shards, but Honor seems like a particularly judgmental aspect.
    Rushu! Haven’t seen you in a while. She’s brilliant and there’s a whole crew of male ardents pursuing her. My money is on her being uninterested, not oblivious, but her act is good enough that I don’t know for sure. 
    Ovens burning soulcast coal, huh? That mode of thought, of transmuting low-value waste products to high-energy, high-value materials is huge for engineering approaches to problems as much as for social approaches to scarcity and economics. I’m going to have to let Brandon abstract the results of that for us, because it’s hugely complicated and the exact limits will come down to author fiat. It’s a fascinating aspect of the magic system, though.
    Interesting that the relative “efficiency” of the modern fabrials appears to be primarily one of scale and implementation rather than an inherent mode of the science. Navani’s fabrials are space heaters that work on-demand for the area that needs it, whereas the tower’s central heating requires a large boiler to be constantly ready to supply heat to any of the rooms that require warmth. I can see several ways for this to end in compromise.
    Oh, that’s very neat. They created an aluminum plug in the central gem of the fabrial, which lets them exchange the trapped spren periodically. Now they’re farming and treating the spren like valuable draft animals, rather than harvesting them into perpetual slavery. It’s a model I can see working, though it’s as susceptible to abuse as any where the power dynamic relies on goodwill from the user. PETS (People for the Ethical Treatment of Spren) will have its work cut out for it.
    Ooo, sweet. Your thoughts mold the spren, so treating them well and naming them makes them develop individual personalities and act more like pets. It’s a single-generation form of domestication, and means that ethical treatment directly rewards the domesticator by making the spren more efficient and long-lasting. Rushu plans to train them to enter the fabrials on command. 
    And the Sibling gives permission verbally to the ardents along with Navani. That’s got to be a trip hearing the god of the tower speak to you and affirm your work.  Oh, and Rushu got Navani to swing an audience for her with the Sibling. Navani is using the opportunity to help Sibling care about individual humans (maybe–it’s a big ask).
    “There will be ramifications.” Sounds like a safe bet, but also understatement to the consequences of Dalinar and Stormfather yelling at each other in ALL CAPS.
    Unexpected. Rushu is curious about Sibling’s agender nature, and it sounds like a personal concern. She (they?) aren’t the person I would have expected to be the nonbinary representation for this book, but I can’t say I honestly thought about it after being somewhat negative about the way the singers appeared to be filling that role with their racial de-emphasis on gender. I don’t have strong opinions about this, just general awareness, so I’m not particularly invested in how Rushu tackles her identity and role in Alethi society. As an ardent she already has a leg up on finding a nonconformist space with less rigid expectations.
     
  25. ccstat

    Chapter 22

    By ccstat,


    Entry
    This is my reaction blog for Wind and Truth. Beware of spoilers! Index post here. 
    Title: Looking for a Third Option
    Seems obvious. What else can we try? How do we utilize the power of Honor without taking it up? 
    You know, hear me out. If a normal spren gives you a shardblade, what would a shard do if you Connected in the right way? Forget becoming a vessel, why not just grab honor by the hilt and smack Vargo with it? Okay, that’s facetious, but I’m being somewhat serious. In the previous chapter Wit made a point about needing to Connect in the right way to be sucked into the power and become the next embodiment of Honor. That means there are other ways to do things, right?
    Icons: Nale
    Either looking for more loopholes, looking at the lawful nature of the skybreakers, or the divine attribute of confidence, trying to find something that Dalinar can trust in
    Epigraph: What kind of a moral is “dust goes where it wishes,” Nohadon? That doesn’t even match the rest of your story. I could imagine plenty of themes it would resonate with, but it seems a poor fit to this parable.
    I am not even sure why the POV symbols are here, at this point. There are enough viewpoint switches within each chapter that very few of them can be said to belong to a particular character, and there’s little consistency on whether the symbol matches the first narrator or a later one. I guess we can assume that the indicated character will at least show up semi-prominently?
     
    Unmoving plants making Kal feel like time has stopped is an interesting reaction I wouldn’t have thought of.
    Hey, I’d forgotten that part. Spren are less plentiful in Shinovar, though I don’t know to what extent. Kal comments on the lack of lifespren despite the verdant greenery. 
    Overall, Kal’s impression of the flora is trusting and peaceful, making him think of the place as an idyllic utopia. I suspect he will be disabused of that thought very quickly when they run into the local inhabitants.
    Nightblood considering whether to take offense at an idle comment about inanimate objects feels silly until he responds to Szeth’s apology with “Oh, good! I won’t kill you then. Ha ha.” Then it’s just creepy, and it’s telling that both Kaladin and Szeth have identical reactions of caution when that happens.
    Szeth is uninterested in Kaladin’s therapy or attempts at digging into his thoughts. The closest he comes to engaging with the questions Kal asks is an outright rejection.
     
    When someone says “I’m not allowed to resent you,” it doesn’t really communicate “no hard feelings.”
    Hm. Szeth is well aware of the Unmade that is here, and says it’s been in Shinovar for years before the advent of the modern Radiants. It’s here openly to some degree, because the people have “embraced it” 
    Oh, he actually met it. It began “with a rock”--is this a reference to his oathstone? 
    He frustratingly doesn’t give us a name or description of any sort yet. Next chapter maybe?
     

    Dalinar regrets the antagonistic relationship he has with the Stormfather. Most other Radiants he knows are friends with their spren, but there’s resentment on both sides with him.
    Stormfather is back to using his ALLCAPS voice with Dalinar. 
    “Must you think so highly of yourself? You’re ruining everything!” 
    Now, that sounds to me like Gavilar’s hubris is poisoning Stormfather’s expectations here. Maybe it would help a little bit if you actually explained what “everything” is and what you want to accomplish.
    Stormfather says, “let’s take this outside,” which is gutsy. Even if you are the one constructing the space and providing the spectral avatars, it takes spunk to decide to throw hands with the Blackthorn.
    Um, were you there for the same prologue as the rest of us? Because that is explicitly what he was striving for. Just because he never said it out loud in front of you doesn’t mean that he was humbler than Dalinar. You get a little bit of a pass because he was being careful to hide his thoughts from you, and because you were out of practice with understanding humans, but still. Hearing you accuse Dalinar with this kind of blatant falsehood is irksome.
    Stormfather keeps speaking vaguely of “my plan” and “Honor’s plan” as potentially separate things, but sharing no details. I’ve had this thought brewing for a little while, but I’ll go ahead and air it now. Honor knew he was dying and that Odium was planning to splinter his power. He found a way to sequester it in the spiritual realm and arranged things such that if Odium wants to escape Roshar he has to pick up the remains of Honor on his way out. That would empower him, but also change his nature to someone bent on keeping and enforcing oaths, agreements, etc. (potentially including the spirit under which the original vessels parted ways after the Shattering?).  Meanwhile Cultivation thought the best way of changing Odium was to change the mind guiding it and orchestrated the handoff between vessels. Who’s to say whether Tanavast's shard power-up plan would have worked originally, or if it will ruin what Cultivation has accomplished. 
    In the vision, Dalinar angrily grows to become the same immense size as the Stormfather, and even develops his own ALLCAPS voice to argue with. I can’t really guess what that means realmatically.
    Stormfather says that time has broken the heralds… “I have broken them.” What role could he have personally played?
    The power of Honor might not accept someone like Dalinar, “after what happened with Tanavast.”
    And when Dalinar tries to follow up, Stormfather says he lied and it was worse than he told Dalianr before.
    Stormfather tells him to go ahead and seek the insights of the spiritual realm and see the past, but to definitely not seek the power of Honor. If he manages to navigate that realm, he will see “our shame.”
    Wit has Dalinar do some bondsmithy thing to Connect his clock to one that will stay in the physical realm, so he can actually track time while he’s gone on this quest. I also like the iteratively simpler explanations that culminate in “poke this with Stormlight, then poke that.” Thank you, Wit. Very mechanistic of you.
    I was worried that Dalinar would make the trip without Shallan, and then we’d have some completely separate incursions into the spiritual realm, but it looks like they’re just doing a trial run to make sure he can get the method right.
     
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