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Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 71 (Rider of Storms) Icons: Jezrien for Stormfather, Ishar for guiding? That’s mostly based on the fact this is a Dalinar chapter, and I thought in the last one that we were overdue for some tactical intel from the Stormfather. Epigraph: This feels like it should be deep and meaningful, but it’s kinda rambly. I guess I just have to wait for the last chapter to deliver the meaning (though at a guess the final one will be from the undertext). No clues about authorship here. Dalinar is becoming more and more suspicious of what’s going on at Urithiru. Fascinating that the Tower suppression extends to dead blades as well. That bond is weak enough that it’s not surprising, but it is interesting that the blades still register as “Honor” enough to count for the Tower’s IFF. Insightful Dalinar realizes he was emotionally dependent upon the Thrill–and that recover from that is as long-term a prospect as recovering from his alcoholism. Laqqi is an interesting town name. I don’t think we’ve seen much in the way of naming conventions from Emul yet. I remember noting lots of Qs on the map, so it fits. Yep, the Stormfather is blind to the tower. Also, he’s apparently inexperienced enough to not be able to recognize problems from a distance so he’s going to take Dalinar with him for a look. Seems like millenia of watching the planet would make you a pretty observant fellow, but I guess he’s not used to paying attention to the little folk. So the riding the storms thing that Kaladin did early on was analogous to Dalinar’s highstorm visions, just with a live stream rather than a recorded message. A hijacking of perspective, rather than any actual physical/cognitive travel. Hang on, are the landsquid living in the mountains? Why is Dalinar the one narrating this continental overflight, rather than Shallan? We need our ecologist for insight into the things that really matter! Oh, at least Dalinar tried to get a closer look. Turns out he didn’t have time with the passage of the storm. This argument about the nature of a storm is neat. Stormfather has a point that the soul of a storm is to be impersonal and grand. A “storm with mercy” is fundamentally a contradiction in the cognitive aspect that defines spren. And yet, Dalinar has a good point too. The Stormfather by virtue of being a spren at all has transcended that impersonal nature and gained volition. I’m also intrigued that Dalinar can create lightning and thunder by shouting while he rides the storm. How much can he affect the world he passes? Cycles of storm altitude? That’s an interesting phenomenon. Not surprising at all, but the meteorology of Roshar is weird enough that I’m not at all sure what to predict. I want to know more! Oh, I thought Kaladin leaping out the window would be the tipoff, but it looks like Dalinar is going to fly inside and see the occupying force. What I’m suddenly wondering, though, is whether his sight is strictly physical or if he’ll be able to see/interact with the Sibling. Ah, nope. He had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of a dark hall. That was not useful. Oh, so he did talk to Kal, and he managed to pull winds together sufficiently to throw him onto a balcony when he fell. Nice. Dalinar wants Bondsmith training and Stormfather thinks there’s someone who knows how to help. Please tell my that’s not why Ishar’s in the chapter icons. We don’t want the insane god emperor as a mentor. Oh. Apparently we do, and not just as an emperor but as an ally. I don’t see this going smoothly. And Shash and Taln are supposed to make introductions? I’m not sure if that will be good or bad. It’s something more than just walking up to Ishar and saying “Hey, you ever thought about actually helping us?” Wait, Shash had round Shin-like eyes? I don’t remember that from her earlier descriptions. We know that at least some of the heralds had characteristic Rosharan epicanthic folds, right? I’m pretty sure Nale and Kalak did, and Taln as well now that I think about it. Does this say something about Jezrien and Shalash’s origins? Shash: “If anyone (except me) is still sane, it’s him.” Very convincing of your own sanity, there. Also, I like the insight into her anti-artwork obsession: It makes a lot of sense where that would have started and how her inherent patronage of art would focus the resentment in on that particular mode of reverence.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 70 (Well) Icons: Double Shash. Based on my suspicion at the end of the last chapter, I’m going to guess that this indicates a trap or ploy on someone’s part, in line with the illusions created by Lightweavers. (Alternatively it could indicate violence based on the garnet=blood essence connection, but I find that less likely) Epigraph: I dunno. I got nothing. We’re back to research note mode, but these are clearly in the mode of Navani’s current research, AND have no connection to Venli’s research into forms. Yet, this is in the main text not the undertext. There are apparently only two chapters left in this book, before the epigraph sources will switch, so the answer has got to be coming soon. I am doubtful it will make this mess make any sense together. (Also, this is from the final page of Rhythm of War, so it’s near that culmination as well.) Is…is Kaladin dreaming of Braize? How? He’s not been doing anything lately that would connect him more deeply to the oathpact than he was before, and I can’t think of a vector for Braize’s tortures to reach him outside of that, since any voidspren would simply alert the singers of his location. It’s not just a regular nightmare, is it? It’s awfully specific for that. That last nightmare figure–what did it take? A spear, in which case it would be Moash? Something invested, in which case it would be…? I don’t know. Can’t read too much into it yet I guess. Oh, it was the spear after all, but it was Dabbid taking away the physical spear. Hmm. Don’t die, Dabbid! Dabbid, I am so proud of you for being willing to try! Kaladin, you’d better respond appropriately to this. He talked! Yay recovery! (incremental step though it may be) Oh, good. Navani sees the trap. Now she just has to figure out how it was set and warn Kaladin that it is being sprung. Why did they time the trap for the middle of a Highstorm? That sounds like a poor choice, even if the tower is largely above the storms. Kal certainly likes his disadvantaged fights. Is this aggravated protagonist syndrome or something? Or is he just looking for precise million-to-one odds so he can be sure to succeed? Go Syl! I didn’t think she’d be able to work the fabrial directly like that. And she’s communicating through drawing glyphs in the air. That’s not something I’d have expected of her either. Oooh ow. Diving into water under forced acceleration from a counterweight yanking on your arm is not going to be a fun time. Neat to see that it works much better in a neutral buoyancy environment, though. Thinking ahead, would it be effective as an EVA tool in microgravity? The resistance of the water in this scene works better for it since it dampens momentum in an enclosed environment, but in the open reaches of space that might not be a hindrance. Not sure how reference frames would translate “horizontal” motion with this type of device, though. Would it be orbital, moving parallel to the ground of the nearest planetary body? Would it be a true vector of acceleration? Figuring out orbital mechanics under fabrial power sounds like a job and a half. Putting a lid on the well… smart of them. Not an ideal situation for Kal to be in, here. It’s okay, Kaladin. I had never considered the problem of inhaling Stormlight while free diving either. In fact, I’m kind of curious to check the forums and see if anyone had speculated about this prior to the release of Rhythm. This can’t be the first highstorm since the occupation. They come much more frequently than that. So, if the Stormfather passed over/under/around the tower in that time, why was he not able to report the invasion to Dalinar? Did he not bother to look? Is he blinded somehow? I didn’t consider that possibility. Is this corruption analogous enough to what Sja-Anat does for Shen to qualify under both criteria? He gets a corrupted spren, just not one from the Unmade. Rather, he gets one touched by the Lady of Wishes, putting him in yet another category of ambiguous affiliation.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 69 (Pure Tones of Roshar) Epigraph: What the heck? Who is even the audience of this book? Up to this point it was self-directed research notes and musings, but now she’s addressing someone directly? It seems like something Ulim might have said as a taunt, but he’s waaay down the list of possible contributing authors. I am so confused right now about the framework and context of these words. Hm, not exactly cymatics. I forgot about that method from the earlier fabrial science lectures. Where are we going with this, Navani? The title of the chapter is portentous enough that I’m expecting a lot from your little tuning forks. Promising that we’re getting out the blast shields. This is how you know real mad science is about to go down. Fun musical theory tie in. Thaylen musical scaling is the closest match to Earth’s western music tradition, with an apparent diatonic scale. Alethi have a 5-note scale (even spacing? We don’t know). And most importantly for the title and the fabrial science taking place, the ancients (Dawnchant connection?!?) had a three-note scale corresponding to the resonant frequencies of stormlight, voidlight, and (not tested yet) lifelight. I’m very interested to see how the music theory plays into their various combinations. Does “tower light” get its own tone or a harmonic? And, thinking ahead to the extension to other shards and combinations thereof, do we need to start with a 16-note scale? What about after Harmony’s creation–do we still have pure tones or do we need to deal with harmonics of some kind? DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS, NAVANI! Aaaa! Oh, I guess it was okay. Maybe don’t use such charged phrases if you don’t want us to panic about apocalypses, please. I do not like the idea of Lift being used as a source to siphon Lifelight from. I also do not like that the Sibling still can’t see her. I was hoping Raboniel would at least let her out of the cage. According to the Sibling, the lights don’t mix–they “come together as one” to make a new thing rather than a mixture. I am having trouble imagining a successful method of achieving that with tuning forks that isn’t just wild speculation. What causes Venli to vanish from the Sibling’s sight sometimes? Navani thinks Shen would make a good bondsmith? That’s interesting, especially since the Sibling seems to be considering it. Except that Shen seemed to be earmarked for one of Sja-Anat’s offspring. Is there going to be a bidding war? A bitter showdown between competing spren? (Or more likely, will we find another listener to take up that mantle?) Oh, apparently the shield has to come down and the candidate Radiant has to touch the pillar. That’s a tall order under the current occupation. That’s unexpectedly philosophical, though I don’t think the Sibling means it to be so. What is the point of true conversation if not change of some sort? At least from a human perspective, changing perspectives or understanding is entirely the goal of any communication. What then would a self-professed “unchanging” spren wish to get out of talking? That didn’t take long. I distrust this coincidence. The Sibling gives up the location of a node to Navani, and shortly thereafter it is conveniently discovered by the Fused? Someone has a way of spying on the Sibling’s communication without tipping them off. Best bet is Mraize at this point, but it might be Raboniel if she’s being extra crafty, or someone new.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 68 (One Family) Title: I can’t help but think of the song from Tarzan, “Two Worlds, One Family” That’s creepy–the listeners had tales of “souls of the dead said to wander the storms, searching for gemhearts to inhabit.” That’s remarkably accurate compared to most of what was handed down from pre-Recreance days. Unfortunately, it is very much true. Jaxlim bugging Eshonai for grandchildren is great, especially as a mood reset. The link between puberty and formtaking is odd and unexpected. Why would not adopting a form at that point limit their options later? Especially since we know a whole continent of slaveform who suddenly achieved another form later in life. To the extent that it is true, I have to guess that it’s an effect of the gemheart itself. Maybe without acquiring a spren to house there, it doesn’t retain the necessary shape internally? Unrelated: 7-8 years old is a much earlier maturation that humans, even accounting for the 1.1 Earth year correction. Good to note, and possibly to analyze later. So Eshonai gets the new form rather than Jaxlim. That’s bittersweet. Looks like determination is the correct passion to bring for a painspren bond to become warform. That’s not the combination I would have predicted, but it makes a lot of sense. Also worth cataloging: workform comes from binding to a gravitationspren. Is the pure note of Honor that she hears related to restoring the lost form, or her own exultation in the moment? Or is it something about her specific form? I might have expected a Rhythm, but why is this form so closely aligned with Honor? Eshonai: “Look at these muscles! Armor and strength and an imposing physique!” Thude: “I can sing bass notes now!” Looks like it’s not just down to a form’s mentality. Hm. So the first workform heard Cultivation’s tone, but only on the initial unlocking event. I am curious why the two forms were associated with the shard they were, and whether future unlocking events will be similar. Interesting that warform comes with an instant “band of brothers” mentality. It’s practically soldierform in that way. That timing of the attack is fairly ridiculous. Oops. Notably, the whole attacking army is wearing white in the traditional listener fashion–it’s not just for assassinations apparently. It’s also very ritualized. Combining that with the smaller populations, their “battles” are very much skirmishes. Deaths are not something they experience nearly to the degree of most human societies, much less the warmongering Alethi. --another swear for the list. Eee. Venli is already breaking the deeply held tradition tying the Shards to the land and to not use them on other listeners. I was already thinking about the disruption to their governing council by the addition of new forms, not to mention the change in warfare. Multiple things are changing at the same time, but this is how you break things badly. Looks like not everyone is excited about someone finally achieving warform. Sharefel responds with the Rhythm of the Lost. Oh, except he’s sad he didn’t get to do it himself? Good. Eshonai is wise enough not to let the Shards change hands right away. This ritualized warfare is such a painful contrast to the tragedy of the shattered plains. There is an easy analogy to our world (which is obviously intended and worth considering) but the loss of the listeners is worth considering on its own as well. “Did you learn to give speeches by talking to trees?” Burn. Oh, well done. For the chapter titled “one family,” in which the first steps of uniting the listener tribes are taken, end with sisters becoming further estranged, failing to take time to give each other support and acclaim. This is a great juxtaposition to where that unity is failing, where the dream is weakest and falling apart.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 67 (Song of Stones) Icons: Double Kak–we’re getting Willshaper shenanigans! Yay! Can I hope for power training for Venli? Epigraph: Who are you addressing? This is getting disturbing. Who is trying to prove intent with this? Am I being unreasonable to expect the escaped listeners to show up again? It’s been close to two years since the Everstorm was summoned, and you’d think that at least Odium and/or the Stormfather would have found them at some point in that period. They escaped and we never saw the bodies, which by fiction standards means they absolutely have to turn up again in a surprise for everyone. Except, as Venli just reminded me, they escaped into the chasms in the middle of the clash of two storms. They were largely the infirm and incapable, including Jaxlim. We wouldn’t expect to find their bodies after that. Is there really no Lost Legion of listeners? Wait, now she’s calling the spren she freed way back then Ulim, which is a name I recognize. So where did the name El come from? I don’t want to check the coppermind because there are doubtless spoilers for the flashback material I haven’t reached yet. If I’ve been calling that spren the wrong name for however many chapters, I’m going to feel pretty dumb. I’m glad Venli is still watching for Sleepless, even if she doesn’t know that’s what she’s guarding against. I’m also glad that Venli is testing both Stormlight and Voidlight. I don’t know if both will work for her, but I’m expecting so and I’m eager to see the differences in action. Hm, one main difference right away: Stormlight infuses the whole body, while Voidlight lingers in the gemheart. That is bizarre to me, especially since both appear to be equally well contained in faceted gems. Ooo, the Song of Prayer lets them conjure voidlight to fill spheres? Sounds like Odium is taking a direct hand in supplying his followers. Voidlight acting on the passions is an obvious effect in retrospect, but that’s a physical/emotional divide that I didn’t really expect. Both are delivered through massive storms, and Honor is intent-focuses enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it had an equal focus on emotions as on actions… though now that it’s been shown I can certainly come up with arguments about Honor being about performance of appropriate actions, not simply internal decisions. This rock she’s talking to is much more loquacious than anything else our soulcasters etc. have spoken with. It’s almost certainly due to her listener nature, but she’s getting a very understandable conversation here. This song of the stones is cool, Venli, but if you accidentally do cymatics to the corridor you are in, it’s going to draw some attention. A new swear for the list! It’s been a while. This one is by Venli: This intricate diorama that the hallway is performing for Venli is far more than I expected from her first attempt at actual surgebinding. I want to analyze the Dawnsinger stuff, but I keep getting distracted wondering how the Sibling relates to the tower they occupy, whether something like this would normally require their permission, etc. I do love that the stones are nostalgic for pre-humanity Roshar, and are eager to be shaped and reshaped. I wonder if she’d have gotten the same response anywhere else, or if the stone of Urithiru is somehow special in that regard. That seems to cover the shaper part of willshaper. I’m guessing Venli’s affinity for the elsecalling side of things is lesser, and won’t show up for some time. Oh, these aren’t cousin spren, these are more Reachers, come to find Venli’s squires. This could get awkward for sure, especially since it doesn’t seem that the spren of the order known for going walkabout are likely to wait for instructions on when and how to bond.

I've added both of you. Do you have a non-Ookla name you'd like me to use, or is this your semi-permanent username? "China" is good enough--it's all about how specific you are comfortable with being. Feel free to PM me if you want the map marker moved from where I placed it.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 66 (Bearer of Agonies) Icons: Why Jez and Ishar, not Taln? Isn’t the title one of Taln’s primary epithets? Epigraph: Oh, lovely. Now we have an indication that the author of the main text and the undertext are probably the same person after all! Gah! Why is this so convoluted? I am really failing in my author sleuthing. Why would Connection be the thing that Honor neutered about the Bondsmith abilities? They seem pretty potent even without that. Connection is a huge source of possibility, of course, but how was that the thing that doomed Ashyn? Finally we’re talking to Taravangian. But you didn’t bring Renarin along to help blind Odium, so I don’t know how helpful he’s going to be. This is a delightfully enlightening conversation, and I love the dynamic so much. I’m too caught up in it to comment along the way, though. The “imitation of an imitation” line is particularly good, with the triple meaning of the room, their role as humanity’s defenders, and finally Taravangian’s own feeling of inadequacy compared to the day he wrote the Diagram (not the the last is a conscious reference for him) On the surface it looks like they are arguing over utilitarianism vs moral absolutes, but given the complexities of the situation I have no doubt this is going to turn interesting very soon. Yes, of course Mr. T recognized his own assassin. I’m honestly shocked the pretense lasted this long. Glad Odium isn’t checking up on him often anymore. I like that Taravangian called out “oaths define morality” as a very Honor-bound position, and that other systems of morality are possible while likely remaining incompatible. Not that Dalinar accepted that. On the other hand, good for you, Dalinar. I’m glad you are sticking to “means must match the ends” arguments. I appreciate the “Old Friend” moniker that Dalinar sticks Taravangian with. It is a well-used title, and a trope that I’m particularly partial to (see my user profile). Glad Szeth at least recognizes that there are further plots afoot. I’m curious to see when the next stage of this one will play out. On reflection, I think the icons at the top are both meant to be Dalinar’s position. I don’t see one of them as representing Taravangian unless it’s Ishar’s fallen state–and we know too little about him to use that.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 65 (Hypothesis) Icon: I’ve got no idea why Vev is here. Doesn’t connect to the title in any way I can see. Epigraph: Wait, what? This doesn’t sound like any of the people that I have postulated as authors of the main text. Who would be thinking of God in this way? Not Venli, not Raboniel. Not Jasnah, obviously, but I’m still favoring her for the undertext so that’s not an issue. Navani possibly, but she really doesn’t make sense to me as a main text author unless she’s engaging in some double-speak in earlier entries due to being observed. Yeah, I’m just confused. Why do I have to revise my guesses (hypotheses! Look, title relevance!) every single chapter? I’m glad Navani thought to cipher in decoy messages. It’s what I would have suggested after her previous chapter. Mostly I’m surprised that they are equating light with Light (a.k.a gaseous investiture) and I am very curious if the discoveries will translate between the two very different substances. Huh. Already we have some screwy physics going on with Light, and that’s just from acquo\iring a rudimentary spectrum. I’m shocked that a simple prism can separate “emulsified” Light in such a way that they would not recombine into the same admixture. This implies that the investiture itself is being split by the prism, not just the light it emits. But that sort of physical filtration would render it far more susceptible to interference than I would expect from the effects it is able to exert on the world. Hm, and we just got confirmation that some of Navani’s writings–specifically those about Gavilar–were written in a staged manner. So if she is the author, then the idea of doublespeak in the epigraphs has some support here. I’d need to go back and read them again to get a better sense for things. Ah, and the character beat of recognizing her own scholarship gets shoved into the foreground, with a callback to Gavilar’s hurtful comments in the prologue. I’d say “called it” but the foreshadowing was obviously already in play. The insane Fused is staring at the wall… not a good thing, with the hidden garnet band there for communicating with the Sibling. I’m betting it gets noticed in the next scene where this Fused appears. Now I’m more baffled than before about what could be in Szeth’s sphere. Anti-investiture? That’s quite the hypothesis, and one I can’t wrap my head around. There’s so many reasons why it shouldn’t work… and yet… If combining Odium and Honor is possible, Raboniel will abandon the Tower. Whatever she wants to do with it is definitely bad news. Oh, that’s heartbreaking about the daughter Fused. I’m also relieved that Raboniel seems to have misinterpreted that comment, because I’m more convinced than before that the daughter knows something about the Sibling. I hope that Raboniel didn’t partly cause the sanity problem by being her usual Lady of Wishes self.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 64 (Personal Reminder) Icons: Wit’s around somewhere. Epigraph: Maybe the undertext is Jasnah, rather than Navani? The writer can’t leave Greater Roshar, implying a spren bond. She also has access to Wit’s insight on artifacts like the one she describes. I’m a bit lost about what the chain might be, though. It’s from the “lands of the dead” which makes me think of Threnody first, though it could be Sel if that’s a reference to dead shards rather than the shades. What sort of “Cognitive anomalies” would one use an anchor for? This experience of Jasnah seeking out personal understanding of war is a great sequence. She’s analyzing her own feelings, but not escaping from them. Pile vines, huh? Add that to the flora of Roshar catalog. I like the limited asymmetry of these armies. The Fused have apparently adapted to regimented warfare, with an advantage in surgebinding but a disadvantage in cavalry (and other mobile troops, perhaps?) As someone who has not been to war myself, I too have difficulty envisioning what 40,000 enemy looks like, or blocks of 5,000 spearmen advancing together. Ah, a new Fused. Magnified Ones, surge of Progression. Let’s see how they use it. Hm, something Jasnah isn’t confronting about herself. First, I’m more surprised than I should be about that. Second, what is it? Her bloodthirstiness that she denies in her own mind? That’s my current guess. Yeah, Jasnah didn’t manage to hide her abilities very long. Swift summon of Ivory, shape changing Ivory, healing a stab through her eye, reshaping her Plate… not sure how much the subterfuge is helping here. Was her helm’s scream audible to everyone or just her? Because that would be an even bigger giveaway. (Also, further evidence that multiple cousin spren make up each set of Plate. Hm. Soulcasting oil on your enemies to immediately set alight is certainly a tactic. I see we’re abandoning subtlety now. Can she perpetually see the cognitive forms of spren? Is her Elsecaller vision similar to listener sight in that way? “Why am I breathing again?” –questions you don’t usually ask yourself. #RadiantProblems. It’s not the Thrill, I’m pretty positive. Is her hyperfocus supernatural at all, or just herself? I’m leaning toward the latter, but I think we’ll find out for sure soon. She’s surprised that people are exhausted after fighting nonstop for two hours? I think she needs to spend more time around normal people…but I guess that’s what this whole thing was about, in part. Not sure she took away the right lessons. Jasnah’s reluctance to “remove” her armor despite “dismissing” her helm suggests that manifesting Plate is neither instantaneous nor trivial, even for those who have achieved the requisite tier of Oaths. Interesting to see that Jasnah is not as farsighted of future developments as I might have expected from her. She’s brilliant but not prescient and cannot predict the outcome of magitech arms races on war doctrine. Ooo, yes! Jasnah-Wit dialog is fun, but a conversation with the Mink is what I’m excited to see. (How did that happen, anyway?) What!? The Sleepless fooled Wit? That is some tricksy skill. More importantly, why are they at odds with what Jasnah and Wit are doing? What is their stance on anything, and when can we learn more? Sleepless in the Ghostbloods? That’s going to complicate a lot of things. I’m betting that’s what was going on with the one Venli spotted. However, the thing that I’m focused on right now is slightly less grave…how did they get their tattoo? Did they have to tattoo each member of their swarm intelligence? Grow one into the required logo? Just arrange a few into the right shape on occasion? And, of course the chapter cuts off before anything of import about Thaidakar can be said. Now we’re just being teased.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 63 (Practice) Title: I presume Kaladin will be practicing with the glove? Icons: double Chach. Obedience? Following instructions to practice? I dunno. Epigraph: Oh, that kind of sand. I’m not sure why Venli or Navani would have access to sand from Taldain, or who would have told Navani about how it works. Vasher maybe? There’s people around with the knowledge if they felt like sharing, and her scholars could potentially figure it out for themselves, but it’s weird. It does make me wonder, though, what sort of interaction we could get between that sand and cymatics. It’s almost worthy of a Dor-like effect if you can use that to arrange for specific, significant patterns of invested material. Syl confesses to her request to Dalinar, about wanting to feel human sadness. I’m glad that Syl and Kal continue to connect on meaningful topics. This companionship is getting deeper. Syl with the deep thoughts. I like it. I’m glad Navani was able to keep the appointment to talk to Kal, but I’m pretty surprised about that. I thought Raboniel would be observing her pretty often. It amuses me for some reason that they are quibbling over the Highmarshal rank. Oh, Navani’s got snark now. She’s understandably snippy, but I wonder who she usually aims that at. Yes, Navani appears to be largely unsupervised. She was able to talk Kaladin through replacing the fabrial rubies in the glove, then wait for him to climb twenty floors and explore to the correct room, then coach him through changing the paired rubies and walk him through using the device. That’s a long time to be standing in the back of her office trying to inconspicuously touch a vein of garnet and talk out loud without being noticed. Slow healing really is a different beast than the usual instant healing Radiants have access to. It will change the way fights proceed, the balance of risk assessments, etc. but will still allow for eventual recovery from injury.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 62 (Keeper of Forms) Alright, let’s see what this El dude is up to. Oh, not yet. Looks like we’re starting with Eshonai. So is warform achieved via painspren? I find it hard to believe that over the years of listeners going out into violent, deadly storms, not one has ended up attracting a painspren from injury on their way to change forms. This isn’t a form that should have stayed lost if it’s really painspren as the key. Still, painspren and warform are remarkably apt for one another. I appreciate the dilemma here with the Five asking about forming a government. How much of the dominant culture is it worth adopting? If you don’t meet them on their terms at all you will have to way to resist being taken advantage of, yet if you convert to their system completely you’ve already capitulated. It’s easy to see since we have examples of imperialism in our recent history to look to, but the listeners are at a distinct disadvantage in even recognizing the question. Void-corrupted Venli is a jerk sister. Hm, that reminds me that back in Rhythm of War we saw Eshonai being the dutiful daughter while Venli was busy with her “research,” which is opposite to how these flashbacks started. Is this point (perhapse later in this chapter, even) where that situation reversed? “Riddens of my life” is a sad metaphor. Partly for the violence it implies in the more energetic years, but partly just from the English translation bringing to mind associations like “be rid of” and “good riddance.” I can only presume/hope that the peaceful tapering rain at the trailing edge of a storm has more positive cultural significance. The irony here is painful. If we didn’t know that Venli’s motivations had already been compromised this would be a wholesome scene about two sisters trying to find a treatment option for their aging mother. Instead, it’s undercut by El and Venli’s subversion. I also think it’s interesting that the baseline listeners can’t even recognize the darker rhythms when they hear them. That doesn’t seem to be the case now.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 61 (Oil and Water) Title: I presume this is about the stormlight/voidlight/lifelight that Navani is going to discover don’t mix well? Icons: Betab and Shash, associated with the essences of oil- and water-based liquids this may be the most straightforward one we’ve had yet. Epigraph: Why are we talking about sand now? It’s the sand itself that’s interesting so it’s not anything to do with cymatics. Presumably Venli was shown something by El, Sand from… Braize? Somewhere else offworld? It’s the main text not the undertext, so it’s her words. So, “corrupted” spren. Are they really Sja-Anat’s progeny? I would default to trusting Syl in this case to recognize what’s been done, but “corruption” has been an inaccurate term both in books and as explained by Brandon, so there are other possibilities. I’m especially curious, though, about whether the corruption took place before or after the spren were captured in the spanreed gems. That would make a big difference in what is possible to interfere with. I’m surprised that Kaladin didn’t try to deliver the spanreeds via Dabbid. It’s good that Syl can analyze them at least to some extent, but we already had the first part of the heist movie. You can’t leave us hanging before the tricky handoff scene! Yes, Kaladin, good plan. Let’s jump off a cliff and hope that our flying powers reactivate before we hit the bottom. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of something that brilliant, but at least you’ve identified a drawback: you would be gone on a mission and unable to help. Yes, that’s definitely the only thing wrong. Oh, Kal gets to use the spider man glove, or however we want to characterize it. Stick spanreed rubies all over it, to give enough power, and he’ll have the gaudiest personal floatation device ever. I’m excited to see this in action. Brandon just loves to put Kal in awkward situations, doesn’t he? Ooo, show off Elhokar’s blade to hurt Navani. That’s an effective ploy, and once again spren make it really hard to keep a poker face. Sorry, Navani. Raboniel is not fooled. Hm, shardblades can cut through the shield, not just in the “pass through it” sense, but removing chunks of the visible light. That’s unexpected and a cool interaction. Fortunately, it’s regenerating. Ah, Raboniel thinks it’s fascinating as well. I’m in good company. I thought she was living up to her Lady of Wishes reputation, but I’m inclined to believe her that she genuinely didn’t know the provenance of that Blade. Her reaction reads to me like frustration at finding an unexpected variable ruin her planned manipulations. So the Fused hear the screaming of dead blades, and some of them are insane enough to enjoy that? Eeew. Oh, the shield is regenerating glass, not a hardlight construct. All the better to soulcast things with… I am amused that the crystal pillar is therefore encased in glass just like the currency in use throughout Alethkar (and other nations, but presumably not all of them, even ignoring Shinovar). It’s like one of those giant checks that get delivered for publicity stunts. “Here is the biggest Broam in the world!” Oh, maybe not quite. It’s in a half-state, according to Navani. Neither glass nor air. Still, the resemblance remains. I’m uncomfortable with how much progress Navani is helping Raboniel to make. “Oh, just add a third ingredient that can bind them together.” I’m excited that this forced isolation means Navani will be acting as a scholar not just a patron. She’ll discover that she does in fact have a talent for these things beyond paying skilled people to do good work.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Shallan’s Sketchbook Part V (Reachers) See image here. I’ve gotta say that this spren in particular does not match what I would have expected. It’s very a different appearance than I feel matches my mental image for Timbre. In fact, I don’t have a problem at all with the descriptions of Reachers working on the ships etc. It’s merely the association with the physical realm form that creates the disconnect for me. I do love the character designs though, both physiology and clothing. They definitely look like statuesque golems, idealized forms of people. The comment about their pupils dilating despite appearing as a single piece of worked bronze helps to convey that this is a life form that does not conform to our expectations from the physical realm. I do wonder whether Timbre has adopted a form closer to listener in appearance, or whether that is beyond her personal choice. Fashion Folio #2 (Envoyform Fashion) Image here. Every time I look at this picture I love it more. In contrast to the previous folio page, which I thought borrowed too much from human aesthetics, this one very gracefully highlights the carapace, the skin striations, the silhouette that all depart from the human norm. As the caption suggests, the fashion is very much supplementary to the body itself. And it’s delightful that we see Envoyform here, giving us an image of Venli’s current appearance. I admit that I was picturing her much stockier than this lithe figure, and I’ll have to reevaluate my mental image. I also wonder about the flowers and chains in her hair. EDIT: I went to link the entry on the previous folio page and realized that I didn’t actually write my thoughts about it. Here it is now: Fashion Folio #1 (Contemporary Singer Fashions) The image is here. I need to start by saying that I love the way that the background and the clothing and the carapace patterns complement one another. The whole thing is exceedingly artful. The singer forms are also great. My complaint is that the poses and composition of the piece play heavily into human gender dynamics, something that has to be learned from the dominant culture. The singers have a significantly de-emphasized gender dichotomy, their multimorphism based on the fluid nature of the forms they can adopt. I wish they had been posed in a way that didn’t lean into the “human gaze” so much.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 60 (Essai) Epigraph: Oh look at that. Confirmation that the undertext is written by someone else. Presumably a human. Hello, Navani. Man, I have danced all around this thing. She's happy to see Rlain! But, because we can't have nice things, he's very much not happy to see Venli, if he even recognizes her. Also, a quick aside to remind everyone that "Mazish" sounds a whole lot like "Moash" so renaming him Vyre when he defected was stupid. This message brought to you by the local chapter of You Suck, Moash. We now return you to your regularly scheduled content that is actually relevant to the chapter. Direform. Are we in an RPG world now? *facepalm* What am I asking? Roshar was designed specifically to make anime swords a thing. I still think it's dumb to just use dire this way. Hahaha! "Szeth" vanished because the light weaving of him failed in the suppression field. This adds a grand new layer to his mystique. "Soft" and "warm" are not words I expect to be associated with cremstone, but you do you. Whatever you find comforting is fine. I like the etymology of essai. Neat that instead of staring someone down Regals will have a hum-off. Whoever attunes Destruction more convincingly wins and the other backs off. Is that really a voidspren in a cremling? Or did you just identify a Sleepless? Hm, further description doesn’t suggest connections to anywhere else, so I guess it could just be a run-of-the-mill voidspren. Seems unlikely, though. Yeah, Rlain isn’t making for a very good spy when people can actually talk to him. You’d think he’d be better at lying, but he didn’t really need that skill before since he was functionally invisible to start with. What are they doing with Dalinar's stuff? Mraize? I thought you were hiding out on the upper floors. What are you trying to pull here, and how much does Raboniel know about you and yours? Was it really the Ghostbloods who first delivered El to kick this whole thing off? If so, the Fused may be under the impression there is an alliance. I'm kind of looking forward to that inevitable betrayal if that's the case, though I doubt Raboniel will be at all taken in. Not that the Ghostbloods would have any qualms working with the Fused and their current order, but they are already trying to recruit Sja-Anat, and obviously have interests that don’t align with the Fused. Okay, so she doesn't know much about him yet, but he's making a move. I wonder what kind of light he’s giving her. Oh no! He's giving Raboniel a chicken, one that can presumably detect investiture. An Aviar-assisted Lady off Wishes will immediately figure out Timbre's secret. This is not good timing, Venli. WAIT Oh, no! Oh no! This is worse. I was totally wrong in that assumption. He gestured at his aviar not because it was the gift but so it would signal the others. The gift is Lift. This is very much worse! Hmm, and she was warned about Mraize. I do so love when two masterminds try to play each other. I hope at some point we learn who won this round. Also, it's been a while since we saw Iyatil. She's apparently still calling the shots. What's she been up to while Mraize has been doing things here at the tower? If we find out she’s been at Emul I’m going to be impressed. Words not accepted? Burn. Also, fascinating that Cultivation (or maybe the Nightwatcher?) is taking a hand in that gatekeeping. Usually the Stormfather is the one to rubber stamp these request forms or send them back. And yeah, Venli had a good idea of how much is left for her to internalize those words before they can be accepted. It's a lot. But she has the resolve now. Very nice turning point for the character.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 59 (The Lattice of a Growing Crystal) Title: Growing, huh? I misread it as glowing at first glance. Icons: Not sure what Vev is doing, but Nale is there so I’m guessing Kaladin is in for a tough fight. Epigraph: I feel stupid for my comments on the last chapter’s epigraph. This one makes it obvious that I was right about this being Venli’s early research journal. Presumably from the title and subject, it’s her research into warform. Not sure how I didn’t make that connection earlier. It’s right there in the name. My problem in the last chapter was that “modern scientific theory” doesn’t sound like something listeners would develop in their apparently subsistence agrarian society. I shouldn’t have assumed that phrase ruled out listeners. Now that I know what’s going on with the book, though, I wonder even more about the adoption of the undertext approach to writing. Why did Venli incorporate this Alethi tradition, and possibly even Alethi writing? Is her use of Alethi a way to disguise things from other listeners? I don’t think I understand that piece of it yet. I like Kaladin’s nonlethal approach at this point. Oh, and he gets to do grappling hook tricks with his flight unavailable. That’s fun and cinematic. Go Kal! I’m a little surprised the singers he faces are culturally Azish. They certainly fight well enough. That was a fun chase scene, and I got to the end and realized I hadn’t said anything about it. Must have been engaging :-) Exhausted, power suppressed Kal up against Pursuer and Lady of Wishes seems like not a happy day. I’m a little surprised there aren’t any mooks there with them, though. Oh, and they expected Kal to come and prepared for him. That’s definitely a bad matchup. Well, Kaladin lost more quickly than I expected, but he had some good moves. And is this Leshwi coming to the rescue or someone else? Oh, it’s Syl’s disguise again. Good work, Syl. You even fooled me! She’s very confident that a Windrunner can’t hurt her if she’s not an immediate threat. That seems like it could be a miscalculation. But it also looks like she’s got some of the same theories about Windrunner resistance being due to proximity to Honor. The stick-him-to-the-floor trick is a good tactic against a teleporter, but it’s not sustainable with the mismatch in light resources. Locking him in a closet is an even better idea. Yup, it worked, and we got to have a classing leap through closing doors moment. Very nice. He broke the gem, but now he’s stuck without a good way to escape. And Raboniel is living up to her Lady of Wishes reputation. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s not poison. I’m just stabbing you for science.” Oh, the growing crystal of the title is not the one in the fabrial, just a metaphorical one that is growing in a predetermined natural way. And she just let him go, so she can study him later. Doesn’t even need to catch and cage him, she’s that confident/patient. Creepy.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 58 (Spanreeds) Icons: Jez and Chach...a Windrunner stealing a ruby-powered fabrial. That fits. Epigraph: Modern scientific theory, huh? Thousands of years of tradition. Well, at least the undertext of Rhythm of War is authored by a human. And one working with Raboniel at that, which leaves Navani (duh) or one of her staff (unlikely). So much for my recent change in theory. Is there any reason to think that the main text and undertext would be written by different people? Raboniel, you turned off your plumbing fabrials. Not a smart move in a kilometer-high city complex, even if only the lowest floors are occupied. Kaladin locking the door with a magic broom should be humorous, but it’s immediately followed by a traumatic flashback. No jokes today. This heist just got more interesting. We’re not going to steal someone’s cell phone, we’re going to rob the regional communications hub. Syl and Kal can see the secretspren, and Syl knows that’s weird. Good, we have another advantage. Oh, unless the visibility effect makes Syl worse at hiding. That would not be advantageous. Good point, Syl. It is a heist movie! We’re going in through the air vents and everything! Oh, I guess that idea got rejected. Next up: impersonate the commanding officer. Yes, we’re going to hit all the tropes, aren’t we? Quality acting, Syl. Good work. Although it does occur to me to ask whether spren use the rhythms. That’s something that would immediately stand out to singers. Oh, and the air vents are go! As is the dangling from the ceiling trick! Brandon must have had a lot of fun outlining this sequence. Ah, and instead of exfil Kaladin gets to protect the spanreeds while racing for the next Macguffin (in this case the node that Raboniel is on her way to sabotage).

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 57 (Child of Odium) “All song and no crescendo” is one of the few idioms that really doesn’t work for me so far. Its parts don’t fit the role they’re given in that phrase, and it feels like it’s an attempt to port a familiar phrase into another culture by simple substitution. I’m gonna give this one a thumbs down. That’s uncomfortable how Eshonai is fitting into the blindspot humans have for their parsh slaves, but doing so with a feeling of exploration and without recognizing why that hole is there. Meeting this version of Dalinar is going to be interesting. This is far more philosophical than I expect from the Blackthorn. He’s not usually this self-reflective. Exactly when is this in Dalinar’s timeline? He’s obviously post-Evi, and I’m pretty positive he’s post-Nightwatcher, but I had in mind that he had returned to his former brashness at that point up until Elhokar’s death. Dalinar warning someone against Elhokar at this time feels out of character. I suspect I am just in need of an Oathbringer reread--at least the flashback sections--to get the context better, but with my current memories of his progression I didn’t think he had become critical of the Alethi until after Szeth’s assassination visit. I like the listener version of stormshelters. It’s not something that would be comfortable for humans, but it feels like a companionable atmosphere. I also like the way the covering is described as “animal carapace.” Because obviously that’s a thing that animals have, why would we need to specify further? It’s like saying leather on Earth. We don’t have to specify it’s from a cow or something else, because it’s the function that matters and everyone knows where leather comes from. Venli’s description of the rain is a neat bit of narration to externalize her anxiety. I’d forgotten that the listener’s call the Stormfather “Rider”. Good reminder. I’m currently predicting that Venli’s determination and combative mindset at this stage is going to unintentionally give her the key to the warform breakthrough, and that’s what will help postpone a mishap with the voidspren. Seeing the rainspren is a lot creepier through listener eyes than through human ones. I hope that any film adaptation of the series presents some scenes like that, where they can observe the predatory nature of the spren lurking out of phase with the physical realm. Ah, nope. I was wrong. Venli just chickened out when the Rider asked if she was sure she knew what she was doing. I’m glad she waited until after the perpendicularity passed to break the gem. Certainly chatty, isn’t he? I was not expecting the spren that came out to have so much to say. Oh, I guess it didn’t matter that she waited. The spren (I don’t remember his name) had a different plan all along. I didn’t realize that Venli had experience with a disguised spren in her gemheart before Timbre tried it. It’s trickier now since Timbre is actively suppressing/capturing the voidspren as an annoying roommate, which I doubt what’s-his-face has the patience for, but I’m curious what parallels she experiences and if that changes what she’s able to accomplish now. I’m glad Eshonai recognizes her sister’s jealousy for what it is, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Venli isn’t super subtle and Eshonai isn’t dumb. Oh dear. Cut off from the normal rhythms, heavily influenced by the void. Venli is in for a rough few years, even before the war starts.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 56 (Nodes) Epigraph: You know, I’ve been blithely assuming that if the in-world Rhythm of War text is modern that it would be written during the events of the current book, but there’s no reason that must be the case. If Venli is the author then this might well be her research notes from the Shattered Plains when she was working toward Stormform. Going by my (admittedly spotty) memory of the epigraphs so far, that could actually fit quite well. I’d need to go back and reread to form a firmer opinion, and I think I’ll wait to do that until I’ve gotten a few more chapters in. Raboniel let Venli install her personal inner circle in guarding the Radiants. That seem suspicious to anyone else? I’m curious about the Windrunner effect here. Are they being fed by something like the “strength in squires” effect from Kaladin’s proximity, or is it their nature as “pure Honor” spren that gives them a little more resistance to the suppression? I’d almost have thought that nature would make them more susceptible, so I’m hesitant to give that latter possibility much weight yet. “What we need is a surgeon.” Come on, Dul, be a little more transparent. Why not just say “The plot wants Lirin here. Let’s do that!” I mean, it makes sense, but after Leshwi just saved Kal’s family this feels like a staged moment/development. Wait, are the Fused using cymatics to locate fabrials? Talk about your callbacks. I am excited to see that come into play going forward in much more meaningful ways that Kabsal’s demonstration. Even if it’s not working right now, it’s obviously something they expect to be able to use. The screamers are called secretspren, apparently. I bet Mraize has a whole flock. Oh, the invisible watchers are called chaosspren, and they aren’t invisible anymore with the dampening field. Plus, they just answered my earlier question--the tower is too invested for the secretspren to work inside it. Radiants are safe from passive detection here. (Including Venli, as she just realized!) The fabrial of protection is new? Does that mean that the Sibling physically altered the tower when creating the shield? That doesn’t seem right. Oh, and they just found Rlain. (I mean, I can hope that the lost legion will turn up again, but I doubt it will be this soon. And we already know Rlain is around.) Can’t wait to see that interaction.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 55 (Friendship with the Open Sky) Epigraph: Yes, between this one and the last one, I’m heavily leaning toward Raboniel as our mystery author. Disturbing. “Spren are immortal, even if you kill them.” Thanks for the cheery thought, Syl. Is this the first time we’ve gotten a name for Syl’s previous Radiant? I don’t remember reading the name Relador before, but I’ve also been going through this book in fits and starts, so it wouldn’t be surprising if I forgot it. Hm, just did a search and I commented on this back in Syl’s interlude I-1. I’m just forgetful. Good work Syl, calling Kaladin out on his poor coping strategies. That one in particular was a particularly blatant contradiction. “Good, you’re confronting loss. I always just ignore things to feel better.” Aww, that was a very sweet paragraph about how spren are people. It’s obviously the reader’s view since we see these characters from the outside, but I didn’t even realize that spren would be dealing with that existential question of being a product of mankind. The soulcast syringe is cool. Makes sense that’s how they’d produce metal items. A Syl-syringe? Interesting idea. How about a Syl-scalpel, or clamp or suture needle. She could really help out with the surgeon thing in ways I hadn’t thought about. Dabbid being directed to Kaladin by the Sibling makes sense, but how did he get past the patrols and checkpoints? More hidden doors, I assume? Kaladin and Teft are still on an upper floor, correct? Alright, we get some wall climbing, since apparently the Full Lashing falls under the “quiet” form of surgebinding. Did we know that already from the Kholinar segment of the last book? Actually, do we have confirmation that the remaining abilities under the suppressive effect of the tower are the same set that don’t attract the screamer spren? It makes sense that would be the case, but I don’t think there’s enough data points to really conclude that for sure. Kal, why’d you take off your socks? I don’t understand this plan. Oh, are the socks a barrier to being able to infuse the boots? I wouldn’t have thought that was an issue. Interesting that the windspren are being attracted while he’s using Full Lashings rather than doing anything to do with flight. That seems to be a first for him. Well, that’s an answer to the reader at least. Not sure if Kaladin will conclude that they are using voidlight to power everything, since he hasn’t seen any of the other fabrials powered that way. Oh, he doesn’t need to figure it out. He can mug the scouts for their spanreed and let Navani do the thinking part. Good division of labor, and lets us have an exciting stealth sequence… soon. Since the next chapter is apparently Venli, it will have to wait.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 54 (The Future Become Dust) Icons: Palah and Chach, truthtelling and destruction. Matches the title well. Epigraph: Combining Voidlight and Stormlight, and realizing they aren’t antitheses of one another… I want to say that this feels too scientific/scholarly for Venli, but the previous flashback just reminded us that was precisely her position before she set off the listener apocalypse, so it would be stupid to rule her out on that gut feeling. In fact, it hasn’t been demonstrated yet but I’m suddenly concerned about the path she might find herself walking as the de facto apprentice to the Lady of Wishes. Aww, poor little Gavinor. “Evil people… like Mommy?” Oh, my heartstrings. Obviously you don’t tell a kid this, but from what little we know of her, the answer may well be a simple “yes” not this nuanced “Odium made her do it” excuse that Dalinar responds with. No, Dalinar. Gav isn’t weird. I’ll have you know that plenty of young children want to go to bed. I won’t say it’s the majority, and it’s certainly not the stereotype, but it absolutely happens. It’s a sign of a healthy sleep schedule, and not uncommon. Nice to see Dalinar’s elitism shining through. No degradation of former nobility for him, no sir. Jasnah can stick her egalitarianism down with the darkeyed plebs where it belongs. Multiple orders of Azish scribe. I can’t say I’m surprised, but how do you functionally distinguish such tasks? More bureaucracy minutia, please! Hmm. The communal Windrunner stewpots attract “whichever soldiers felt most out of place.” It’s interesting that Dalinar has the insight to recognize this, and I wonder what he would do with this knowledge. It also strikes me as a bit of overlap with the Edgedancer credo of finding the forgotten, but again communal rather than individual, which gives it a Windrunner bent. Renarin’s interactions with Dalinar are very wholesome. We needed more of this. Dalinar reminding himself that Renarin is strong and was a strength to him when Dalinar was weak is particularly great. Oooo, we get to experience one of Renarin’s visions? Yes! I was expecting to be teased again with sparse descriptions. Also noteworthy that he can call them up again at will after they accost him. Oh, wait. He can’t do that to all the visions--only the ones that Glys manages to capture when they happen. How hard is that? How many can Glys hold onto? Too bad, I thought he was going to show the vision to Dalinar, but that’s not the case. He gets to see it again himself, but not bring others into it (yet). Hm, that’s a thought. I’m not sure if this is where Renarin is going with it, but the cycle of desolations is broken and the Fused can no longer be locked away. Possible outcomes: one side annihilates the other, the oathpact is reforged with new terms and new heralds, or they learn to coexist. Now obviously that last one is what would be ideal, but until now I’d been interpreting that as “everyone coexists...except for the insane Fused, who get exterminated by some means similar to what was done to Jezrien.” But Leshwi is our example of a reasonable Fused with whom a rapport is possible. Is it in the cards to remove some of Odium’s taint from the other Fused and deal with them as people rather than monsters? A blackness infecting both Dalinar and Odium? If someone else were seeing this I would have thought it was Renarin being a blindspot, but this seems more likely to be Sja-Anat’s influence. Which, now that I think about it, may be gaining entry via Glys and Renarin, so it could be him after all. Then again, it’s not at all clear yet. Huh. Guess I didn’t need to speculate. Renarin outright says it’s him. Interesting that he has deduced his own status as a blindspot, though. I expected that to be a mystery until Taravangian revealed it to them. For all that Renarin describes it in the same way as atium interference in Allomancy, I feel like it has to be more than that because Odium’s status as a shard should give him far more power to bring to bear on future sight, enough to overwhelm the interference from a single spren with precog abilities. More wholesome Dadlinar time. Very nice. They’re looking for more Radiant potentials to bond Sja-Anat’s children. That will obviously be a crucial point of leverage against Odium, but I’m unconvinced that they will be “like Renarin” in his blindspot ability or really anything else. Lots of unique individuals coming up. And yay! They can only be talking about Rlain as the next candidate. He does seem like the right kind of misfit for Renarin’s crew. I’m seeing a theme-within-a-theme here for liminal spaces in society being valued for their otherness.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 53 (Compassion) Header icons: Jez and Vav. Protecting and Healing. That matches the title, at least. Epigraph: Welp, this very nearly rules out a human author for the epigraphs. Not entirely, though, since the undertext isn’t necessarily written by the same author as the main text (as far as I remember it’s sometimes something akin to footnotes not intended to be read aloud, but sometimes also a note from someone performing a transcription, etc… I could be wrong on that, though). It’s important to note, though, that modern listeners didn’t have written language until… wait, what about the Dawnchant? Was that lost until returned by the Fused, or have I misinterpreted the bits from Venli’s flashbacks? Their oral tradition certainly sounds like a culture relying little or not at all on written words. Anyway, my point was going to be that the in-world Rhythm of War text could only have been written by a modern singer (most likely Venli, of course) but with the Dawnchant existing we can’t actually rule out prior generations. If the book is by Raboniel I’m going to feel disturbed. Relayform? What can they do? Their position in the central scouting operation is certainly suggestive, plus the name. That’s right, Venli. You bet Leshwi will want to know about Kaladin. What did Timbre do to block out all rhythms? Not just Odium’s but everything--that should be antithetical to the spren, shouldn’t it? Being a mixture of Honor and Cultivation, they… oh, wait. I forgot that the rhythms predated the shattering, as do the listeners. Hmm. Still, what did Timbre do to block it, and what other effects could that be used to produce? Timbre, are you sure? You want to tell Leshwi about being Radiant? That seems foolish. In the extreme. I’m sure this is going to come back and bite Venli for not listening to you, but I’m with her on this one. In the moment, I would have said you were crazy, too. “You are merciful...do not reveal this Passion to others.” Yes, I knew there was a reason we liked you, Leshwi, and it’s not just the shipping.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 52 (A Path Toward Saving) It's cool that Venli is devising a written language for the listeners from scratch. I forgot that she was basically their head scholar before all this. Oh dear. The senility is setting in, and it's so much more apparent in someone whose role in the community is to remember the oral tradition. That contrast of the sisters standing on the scout tower is a good image. Very symbolic of their characters, if a bit unsubtle. Yeah, it’s not just you, Venli. That happens to us humans all the time, too. This is the description used to emphasize that listeners from lots of different families were present to see the humans. But until this point I don’t think we’ve seen any indication that the skin patterning is familial at all, right? Certainly not in coloration, as closely related individuals have been shown to have different mixtures of white, black, and red. I guess we don’t have any more detail about the actual patterning. Is this a real inheritable trait or am I reading too much into this possible throw-away line? It’s also still surprising to me that warform wasn’t known to the listener families prior to contact with humans. I had not considered that as a possibility. The period of some of these rhythms must be quite long to allow for that. I wonder if some are linked to the moons? Or, more mundanely, the sun. Holy surprise Terriswoman, Batman! Hello, Axindweth. As much as I am predisposed to like the Terris, you are acting mighty suspicious. On which secret society’s behalf are you approaching our soon-to-be-betrayer / Odium’s patsy? Ghostbloods seem most likely at a first glance, but Sons of Honor is also possible given the timeframe. I will withhold judgement until we’ve at least gotten past introductions. Oh dear. That is a very painful lie to read when we already know how that turned out.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Note: Hey hey! Look who’s back after a ridiculous hiatus. Yes, it’s me! Hopefully the next chapter reaction will be delayed by days rather than months. But you aren’t here to read excuses, so let’s get right back into it. Chapter 51 (To Sing Hopeless Songs) Epigraph: Maybe it’s just Venli’s chapter icon sitting above this one, but the epigraph is feeling more like a singer/listener than Navani. Still ambiguous though. I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself for not seeing things sooner when the reveal is given. Ah, Venli gets her team. Not sure which way she’ll try to lead them, but at least she has resources of (probably) reliable loyalty. Raboniel is really giving that Craving rhythm a workout. She uses it for a ton of things. Good answer, Venli, justifying your questioning of Odium’s wisdom. That sort of defense will serve you well and earn you points here. Hmm, and Raboniel is speaking almost like a collaborator. She’s none too impressed with Odium either, I think. Or, maybe impressed is the wrong word. She’s determined to be independent minded despite what he has to say on the matter. Stormsetter? Is that the same as someone in stormform? Ah, nope. He’s in “mediationform” whatever that is, so what is “stormsetter” supposed to be? Interesting that Venli is peering into Shadesmar in an active manner. I rather thought that listeners were constantly seeing a little ways into both realms, in kind of a visual overlay. Is this active peering an aspect of her form of power, or was I misinterpreting things before for the base state? Wait, duh! I already commented on this back in (*checks*) chapter 11. It’s not to do with her envoyform at all, it’s the Willshaper ability. Man, I feel dumb for forgetting that. I think Venli is overly optimistic that she will only have a few dozen people following her in the event she enacts her planned escape. When she says Timbre’s kind were treated similarly to the enslaved parsh, does she mean nahel spren in general? Or the Willshaper spren specifically? Actually, now that I think of it, why is Venli not being affected by the inverted protections on the pillar? At a guess, Timbre is being protected by the gemheart she’s hiding inside, but as reasonable as that sounds I don’t think I have much support for it beyond speculation. Not really a curse, but an idiomatic phrase of note: “never touched anything in her life without making a storm of it.”

Sorry for the delay, everyone has now been added/updated. I used your physical location on the map. If you'd rather be marked "in spirit" let me know.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. (Side note: Many apologies for the long delay. Between an intense work schedule and spending time on writing, it took me forever to get back to this. Hopefully I'll be able to make meaningful progress and not keep you waiting forever. Also, I want to actually read through this book. It's honestly a weird feeling to take this long to get through a cosmere book. I feel like I'm going to miss out on all of the theorycrafting and discussion.) Chapter 50 (Queen) Epigraph: “detachment is enviable; I have learned that my greatest discoveries come when I abandon lesser connections.” Yeah, that line doesn’t sound like Navani. I’m not giving up on my working theory yet, but it’s a mark against. Jester in the chapter icons. Wit is around, I guess? Oh, right, because he’s hanging with Jasnah, and she’s part of the campaign. Hence the chapter title, I presume. Why am I not surprised that the preeminent bureaucracy on Roshar is legitimately threatening cross-generational lawsuits? Mr. T’s daughter is named Savrahalidem. I don’t think I’d seen the long form of that name before. It’s harder to pronounce than I expected. Took me a couple times to get it out naturally. I’m fairly surprised that the false letters from Navani are working. Spanreeds necessarily transmit the writer’s own handwriting, and you would think that Jasnah and others would be intimately familiar with Navani’s hand. It’s not shocking that Raboniel would have access to someone with forgery skills, but to be prepared to emulate the dowager queen’s written word implies a lot of preparation beyond the martial side. Why are they uncovering spheres around the perimeter of the pavilion as the meeting ends? I don’t get it. Is it important to hold the meeting in semidarkness? I’m really not following the choreography of the group that way. Dalinar: “Hm, after this war, we should probably go fight another one to make sure Queen Fen can be an absolute monarch, without any of those pesky checks to her power.” On one hand, I like that he’s feeling confident in taking on Odium and that he’s looking forward to something after the existential war they are waging. Way to plan ahead! On the other hand… sorry, Dalinar. Many of us think that letting other people have a say in the government is actually a good thing. That is such an entitled approach to things, and I love it. Also, Dalinar, your unkalaki characteristics are showing through. If you do take that flight, I hope you bring Cord with you so she can commiserate about needing thinner, cooler air. Thinking about Evi? Oh, right, his memories aren’t blocked at all anymore. I like that he’s also becoming comfortable with those memories, despite the pain they bring him. Glad to hear that he at least tried to Connect with Ash and Taln, after what happened with Nale. It apparently didn’t work, but practicing with those powers is important and it shows that they are being intelligent about things. They’re still thinking about the contest of champions that Odium agreed to, but don’t know how to force it or what it entails: Yup, Wit has us covered. I can’t tell if Wit’s cannibal joke is a real anecdote or not. I think it is, and I want to know what planet it was on...so that I can never go there. Wit being surprised by Dalinar’s idea is unexpected. I wouldn’t have thought him one to overlook audacious solutions, or things that require realmatic understanding. He’s been counseling with Jasnah, and I want to see what their plans were before this idea superceded them. Jasnah thinks Dalinar’s penchant for tyranny is quaintly charming, as does Wit. “Endearing despot” indeed. At least she understands the direction that things appear to be going in the world. I wonder what her opinions are on the merits of alternate governmental systems, as she’s obviously studied such things. I wonder whether Wit has told Jasnah about his cryptic? He has a lot of secrets I doubt he’d share, but he also appears to be more open with her than most others. Is his status as Radiant one of those? Also, the idea of Wit staying behind at the tower… Would his bond to the cryptic open him to harm/suppression by the tower, or would his other sources of investiture protect him? I suspect the latter, but can’t rule out the former. Side note for swears: “Kelek help him.” We’ve seen this construction before, but not with Kelek, I believe. Might need to double check. Could be worth looking at the context later to see if there’s a reason different heralds are invoked in different situations or by different characters. For reference, this one was a Dalinar internal thought, asking for help with a specific need for patience/longsuffering. Oh, more intrigue from the highprinces. This should be fun. Well, at least Dalinar is taking steps to surveil Urithiru and get the clues he needs. Hm, looks like Jasnah is trying to provoke a response to the way she’s flouting Alethi gender roles. Not sure why this is the chosen venue for that, yet. Aha. I love that we get to see the Queen’s Wit in action according to the role they supposedly fill in Alethi society. In the past it’s all been informal insults and rumor mongering, but it’s very cool to have Jasnah explicitly defer to Wit so as not to lower herself (and to preempt Dalinar from doing something energetic, perpetuating the martial society she’s trying to curb). It’s more than that. Jasnah demanding a harsher insult repeatedly is a very foreign dynamic, and I love it. I do have to say, though, that having Hoid in the role of Wit takes a lot of the sting out of the “anyone can kill the Wit” tradition. I honestly don’t remember what the intended consequence to that was, though. Might have to go back to Way of Kings to take a look. Oh, Dalinar just reminded us: exile and forfeiture of title. Yeah, Ruthar’s an idiot. I have to say I’m shocked to see Dalinar step in as the mediator here, and moreso that he would outright call attention to Wit’s esoteric abilities/durability. Oh, I can see where this is going. Pretty easy to guess who Wit’s champion will be. Ruthar vs Jasnah sword fight is only going to be disappointing for how short it will be. Huh. It was indeed short, but not in the way I expected. I wasn’t thinking Jasnah would be less skilled, or that Ruthar would back out, or that Renarin would be called to heal him. Huh. She’d already accomplished the coup (if that’s even the right term for this) and the “duel” was just a way to formalize it and cow the man. Wait, you can’t taunt us with another Renarin vision and then say “we’ll deal with it later,” that’s simply not allowed! Renarin continues to be criminally underrepresented in this story, and that needs to start changing soon. We need Ren! We need Glys! We need Teravangian to start sharing the news about Odium’s blindspot! Oh, look at that. Dalinar is already thinking about how to create a similar trap for Odium. “What on all of Roshar could a god possibly fear or hate so much” that they could use as bait, indeed? Certainly not the enigma serving as Queen’s Wit. Honestly, though I’m a little confused about why Dalinar finds this intrigue so distasteful. He prefers the direct approach to manipulating people, sure, but he also has a pretty solid history of seizing and consolidating power by whatever strategy suits him, and of picking and choosing which traditions to grant weight. This production doesn’t seem like it should be that much of a stretch for him.