ccstat

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 98 (An Unwholesome Shade) Icons: Ishar and Shash. Coming up with a creative way to meet Ishar? Epigraph: Musings of El. Having just gone back through the Rhythm of War notebook epigraphs from part three, the identity of El is a question at the front of my mind. Looks like we may get an answer by the end of the book. “I look forward to ruling the humans” doesn’t really sound like an Unmade necessarily (since I don’t get the impression they have designs on ruling things) but we know so little about them I won’t rule out that possibility yet. Most obvious option is that he is a Fused, but Navani already cast doubt on that. A sleepless perhaps? One working with the Fused? Or what about the Siah Aimians? We have only met Axies so far. There could be others with very different plans for their ageless lives. Where did the Horneaters get goose feathers? Do they have sadistic long necked chickens on the peaks? I had completely forgotten about the burial customs of the Alethi where nobility were directly soulcast into statues, then returned to their homelands. That is so weird to me. I guess it means that you have a good likeness of your ancestors to remember them by? Shipping statues overland has got to be inconvenient and a huge sink of effort. Only the highest tier of nobility would command that sort of observance. “Singer and human bodies smelled the same when they burned”–that seems odd, given the crab people thing. Surely there’d be different chemistry going on inside? Huh. the soldier’s patches have their names on the back, serving a similar function as dog tags here. Emul reveres archers, which strikes Dalinar as bizarre. I want to learn more about the sort of influences that would promote that hierarchy. I’d forgotten that the Iri had allied with the Fused. I guess it will be a while before we learn more about Evi’s heritage and family. “Stargyle the Lightweaver”--where did that name come from? He’s described as Alethi, I think. Did we meet him earlier in the book under Shallan? I don’t recall the name at all. Oh, Dalinar thinks it’s a stupid name too, and is sure it’s a self-chosen one. That makes sense. From his height…is this Vathah? Whoever he is, he grew up a pigmenter’s son before joining the army he later deserted. So, color is his thing. Ishar is with the army? That’s unexpected. Also, he looks Shin. I need to look again at the descriptions and figure out the relationships between the heralds, and which ones look like offworlders. It’s probably just indicative of the distribution that arrived from Ashyn, rather than any timeline of arrival, but it’d still be worth doing. Ishar magically draws the glyph for mystery, to entice Dalinar closer. That’s a weird thing to do for someone who denounced the new radiants in such strong terms. Szeth wants to do the same thing, apparently. He didn’t seem to realize that one or more heralds came from his ancestry.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Part V start (Ketek, Epigraphs, and speculation) Before I start in on the final section of the book, let’s take a moment to address a few things. First, the Ketek: That repeated “Knowledge” in the middle doesn’t quite match the form we’ve seen from past keteks, as I recall. Isn’t there usually a single non repeated word in the third line? Man, my Alethi poetic analysis is rusty. I’m a bit surprised to have the entire second half of the ketek appear in the final section of the book–I was starting to think it wasn’t a ketek at all. It feels like something that should apply to Jaxlim and the Keepers of Songs, but keteks are a human thing. I don’t see non-Vorins becoming enamored of symmetry to the point of composing these. The listeners already have their own songs without downgrading to human poetic forms. I’m not sure how to interpret the interplay between the concepts here. I’ll have to wait until it shows up in context, probably in the epilogue. Second, let’s revisit the Part III epigraphs, excerpts from the Rhythm of War notebook. The authorship was bugging me way too much, but now that we have both the context and the authors, I might get more out of it. Here’s a chapter-by-chapter commentary on the epigraphs. Page 1 Navani has done this shared notebook thing before. It’s a standard or at least a common format for collaborations, though her research partner is a new twist. Word choice suggests this is Raboniel, but it’s not explicit. This person has hopes for the outcome. A direct response in the undertext to the previous comment, presumably by the other partner, but that’s not certain. This person professes to only care about getting a scientific answer, which sounds like Navani Page 3 “Fevered state” sounds like that rush to complete things at the end of Part IV, but this is only on page 3 so I’m not sure what Navani’s referring to here. Raboniel (in undertext) advises detachment and to “abandon lesser connections.” Page 6 Navani has deja vu about the rhythm/Tone. Not sure which one she means, probably Honor’s. Raboniel (in undertext) is surprised at Navani’s familiarity with the rhythms and acknowledges that humans may belong on Roshar after all, since they’ve been here for thousands of years. From what we’ve seen in the story, that doesn’t mean she’ll be any more compassionate in prosecuting her war and trying to genocide the nahel spren. But maybe she’s more willing to accept the survival of a subjugated humanity? Raboniel laments that it’s more complicated than the simple answer of Stormlight and Voidlight annihilating each other. Navani encourages results-focused scientific thinking. Raboniel (in undertext) defies that, argues that scientists are not dispassionate observers of the cosmere but perform their work with hope for what they might discover. Navani (in undertext) reflects on the oddities of working with an ancient being who has not lived all their thousands of years on Roshar and thus is missing modern developments. Page 10 Raboniel says the emotional influence of the Rhythm of War will be of interest to someone named El. Last time reading this I got confused and thought it was a shortening of Ulim, since I was going on the theory that these were Venli’s research notes from the Shattered Plains. Now, I have no idea who it would be. I don’t remember the Pursuer’s actual name, and can’t think of any other Fused that would take an interest. Oh, Navani (in the undertext) has the same question I did. “Who is El?” She says they probably aren’t a Fused, given the lack of title. My way-out-there guess is that it’s one of the unmade. Kelek shortened Ba-Ado-Mishram to just Mishram. Maybe this is an abbreviation of Yelig-nar? I know that’s a stretch. Page 13 Navani wants to know about the sand from Yolen Raboniel (in undertext) explains about the lichen that grows in the sand. Notably, she says “I am told,” so she hasn’t really investigated it herself. Also, I hadn’t previously paid attention to the statement here that the sand can be propagated by cultivating the lichen to grow into new sand. That means trade with Yolen is not the only source for this, and someone in the cosmere probably has a profitable little lichen farm for selling to interested parties Raboniel (still in undertext) talks about other offworld items–specifically something that resembles the necklace from that Shadesmar marketplace, which she says is meant to “anchor a person through Cognitive abnormalities,” whatever that actually means. Page 21 Navani is questioning the nature of God due to her research into Investiture Raboniel (in undertext) says gods/shards probably can’t be destroyed. Page 27 Raboniel says “don’t mourn for what has happened,” presumably meaning the early failure to create an anti-Light Yes, Raboniel is now leaving Navani to her own devices. Final page Navani thinks about opposites and what that could mean for sounds that have meaning and intent. Navani thinks about her new title as Voice of Lights, and says that means she must express their desires, then connects that to the idea of Intent. You know, the first time around I didn’t make the obvious connection to Venli’s job as Voice to Leshwi. Navani’s title draws on that, but makes her Voice to all the lights, which is much more of an honor than I gave the name credit for. It’s not a recognition of esoteric, scientific accomplishment, but a position that makes her the interpreter for the powers of deity. Navani thinks about Intent. Third, the cast list for part five includes the usual suspects, plus Vyre and someone named Lezian. No clues at this time on who that would be, but I’m going to go out on a limb of wild speculation to guess that it is a personal attendant to Ishar. That seems like the sort of person Brandon might give a perspective to, and the name could be vaguely Tukari. Okay, I’m making that part up. I don’t know much about naming conventions in Emul/Tukar besides that they use a lot of double Qs in place names. The use of an X might be more consistent with Azir (compare Gawx, Zawfix) but there is also Sesemalex Dar, so Xs aren’t necessarily rare. Anyway, that’s my guess.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Interlude I-12 (Taravangian) Compassionate Vargo on top, with more Vev in the icons. “Loving” is getting a bit of a workout over the past chunk of chapters. I can understand Taravangian’s struggle to say things without outright betraying his deal with Odium, and thus invalidating Kharbranth’s protections. It must be a struggle to figure out how to thread that needle when his own mind is unreliable, especially since Rayse told him that the agreement is one that he honors in spirit, not in letter. There will be no rules-lawyering his way through loopholes. Taravangian forced to slowly create a new mastermind scheme without his prior superpowers is a comic book trope that I didn’t know I needed injected into this story. It’s refreshing seeing it apply to a character so different from the standard protagonist role/demographic. There’s nothing in the Diagram about Nightblood. But he did get an agent to interview “a former bearer.” That’s got to be Azure, since I don’t see Zahel being particularly free with information. I wonder what they are both up to these days? We haven’t seen either around recently, especially Azure. I hope she shows up at some point during the last part. Luring Szeth and Rayse into the same place sounds like something that will immediately depart from whatever you planned. It’s worth a shot, but seems insufficient as a measure against Odium. A weird cryptic? No, Sja-Anat. Very cool. I was not expecting that. How is she projecting herself so far? It’s a neat trick. Taravangian’s fear is convincing and a good reminder that the Unmade are more potent than “big spren.” Sja-Anat knows about Cultivation’s touch, and speculates that the Old Magic was a cover for her to be able to influence things directly without everyone noticing. A fair conclusion, I’d say, though there’s probably much more to it. “Exposed” is an interesting word here. By pulling against his power, Rayse the vessel emerges close to the surface and can potentially be struck separately. So, Odium isn’t watching Taravangian all the time, or anyone else. And as Bondsmith Dalinar is scary enough that most voidspren spies keep their distance. That gives a bubble for plotting in. Corrupted spren to lure in Odium sounds like a bait that is removed enough from Szeth/Nightblood that it shouldn’t trigger any suspicions. I can see the first elements of this plan. It will need a lot more to become useful. I am intrigued by this line. I have a lot of questions about what binds Odium to act more circumspectly with those who haven’t made such deals. Is it his nature? Is it some sort of pact between the shards of Roshar? Is it the threat of Cultivation responding if he extends himself? It doesn’t really make sense with what I know of shards.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Interlude I-11 (Adin) Icons: Jez. Not sure why. Adin is a new name. I’m not sure what nationality it fits. Oh, it’s an Alethi kid in the tower. Makes sense, it’s a shorter version or at least shares roots with Adolin. We know that Kaladin didn’t like his name because it made him sound like a lighteyes with that extra syllable in the middle, so it feels obvious in retrospect that a darkeye kid would have a simpler form similar to Adolin. Wants to be a windrunner, hence the chapter icons. His plotting to draw the attention of spren is cute, except every time he mentions it I think about how the spren in the tower are all suppressed and there’s nobody around to watch him even if there were enough honorspren to be looking for a bond and even if his attempts to attract them weren’t mostly ridiculous. He does have the core concept that it’s attitude that matters. My favorite though is how he’s competing with the girl next door for being the most spren-worthy. Adin’s dad has been tending the Radiants, but also doing something with the tower’s resistance after curfew. No hints on what that something is. I guess having crem around and available makes for convenient starting materials for pottery. I don’t love the idea of working with it as my job, but I’m not really a hands-on laborer type by experience. I’m sorry, run that by me again? I don’t think I quite got the flow of logic there. I’ll ask my son to explain it to me, I guess. His dad knows how to handle this. “Windrunners have to eat, so they respect plates. You should do pottery until you can fly.” Didn’t Master Liganor already arrive? Oh, he arrived at the front door, but hadn’t come into the back room yet. I guess I didn’t think of it as a shop with attached work area, but more as a single open room (which it isn’t). That double entrance threw me. Alalan as a name matches conventions, but I’m betting it’s a cameo for someone with an IRL name like Alan. (There was another windrunner mentioned recently that was also an obvious cameo. Kati or something? But I’m out of touch with the fandom and those close to team dragonsteel, so I’m not sure who either would be.) Adin can tell that things are coming to a head today, and he convinces his dad to bring him along, on the argument that the Radiant room will be safer than the shop. I’m going to say that’s probably a bad argument, but the whole tower will get pulled into this mess, so it’s still potentially better to have the family members together. This was a fine interlude, but honestly kind of forgettable. It feels like a letdown to have it be another perspective on events in the tower without revealing anything substantial. The interludes in general are ideal for expanding the world and exploring distant people and situations. Getting a civilian view of things and a child’s view of spren/Radiants was good, but probably not enough to justify an interlude in my opinion.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Interlude I-10 (Hesina) Alright, I’m excited for Hesina to get a turn. She’s been far more in the background than Lirin and needs a bit of time in the spotlight. Icons: Vev. Because loving is pretty much what we need from her right now. Tomat? Where is that? Oh, it’s her hometown. I don’t think we knew its name before. And we see that her parents are both high nahn and also forceful enough personalities that they bully the lighteyed citylord into doing whatever they want. Not really surprising, but I have a much more refined and snobby image of them in my head from the few passing mentions Lirin made of them. It’s possible that’s still the case, but this description feels less snobby than simply stubborn. Interesting that the singers repaired things that had been left broken for generations. There is a lot of industry happening right now with a motivated workforce. Lirin is trying to be supportive, but the stress is getting to all fo them. Lirin, I really sympathize with you trying to find the right answer. The problem is, she’s not going to believe the right answer because she knows what you actually think. Ouch. Lirin blaming himself for Tien’s death is not the form I expected this to take, but it makes way too much sense. I guess I hadn’t really considered his perspective before. I’m pretty sure that’s not what he said. Which thing did you interpret as cutting ties, Lirin? I agree with Hesina. Stop pretending Kal isn’t your son. This argument feels like it should for a couple who’ve been together a long time. It’s a bit of a pilgrimage to come take care of the Radiants. There are a lot of people here that cycle through for a chance to be close to them and feel a touchstone of reverence/resistance. Is the word choice significant here? Probably subconscious for the characters, but Hesina does use that word and it’s only come up a few times in a non-realmatic context. In fact, I should go back and search through the other books so far and see if there is any hidden suggestion at Cultivation’s influence. Noril (I’d forgotten his name–sorry guy) is definitely going to give a different perspective on Kal. I wonder if Hesina knows how much worse Kaladin’s depression has gotten since he left home. I’m sure Lirin hasn’t considered it. Asking everyone for their stories of the shash glyph is a good approach to helping him think about this from another side, but it’s not going to be fun for Lirin to confront.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 97 (Freedom) Icons: Nale. This one confused me at first, but in addition to Justice, Nale is associated with Confidence. Navani’s research coming to a head and giving her a shot of self confidence along with something tangible to contribute is a good fit for that herald to head the chapter (assuming that’s where it’s going, based on the preceding notebook page. Epigraph: So it’s both. Mishram (and that’s an interesting shortening of the name that I want to consider at length for patterns) is pitiable for the captivity she suffers, but her extended imprisonment may have adversely affected the underpinnings of Roshar and “all spren”. Which is plenty ominous and suggestive without actually giving any concrete clues on what to look for in speculating further. Thanks Kelek! You’re a gem ;-) (pun fully intended) Navani is going all in on this research thing. And yet, her notes still look as beautiful as the preceding art page. I get the sense that her idea of disorganization doesn’t match mine. My lab notebooks are way worse than that, especially when I’m in the middle of experiments with loose sheets of paper everywhere. Navani, I’m proud of you for learning to do things the right way. Oh, she’s looking specifically for the opposite of Voidlight. That’s obvious in retrospect, but from the prior chapters I’d been expecting her to be working toward the opposite of Warlight, the fusion of Honor and Odium’s investitures. What she’s actually doing makes way more sense, and could possibly even serve to counter/reverse the unmaking of the Sibling, if it chases out the voidlight that was already injected. Obviously you’re not going to make the antimatter version of the power your own side needs to win. She’s using a trombone and a slide whistle in her experimentation! This is delightful, and I have such a comedic mental image of how she’s using them in her meticulous science experiments. Please tell me that someone has made art of this. If they haven’t, I may need to see about commissioning something from one of the many amazing artists in this fandom. Hmm. I’ve noticed that the illustrious illustrator Botanica is following my liveblog (Yay! I’m flattered you consider it worth your time). I humbly submit this as a concept worth considering, if you haven’t done so already. EDIT: I asked on discord, and someone shared that there is in fact an illustration of this scene. You can find it here, based on the “oven kid” meme that I hadn’t known existed until now. Yeah, phase shifting the frequency of a tone isn’t going to directly phase shift the effect it has on physical objects or passage through a medium. I’m glad you’ve discovered destructive interference, but what you need is something that changes resonant nodes in a predefined medium, and I’m not convinced that’s even possible. She’s getting good enough with tones that she can manually draw out light! Go Navani! Look who’s an expert now. I’m not sure I even understand what she managed to accomplish with the plate. Is she changing the harmonics while leaving the root frequencies the same? Oh, so Intent is involved. I’m kind of surprised it works through the plate, then. It’s a step further removed than humming. Oh, smart. She’s devising a universal power converter to change investiture to the desired flavor in stepwise fashion: First remove the old flavor, then add a new one. If this works as she’s imagining it will, then the limiting factor will be Intent…the exact thing that gives investiture its flavor in the first place. It makes a great deal of sense, and emphasizes both the utility and the limitation. Gathering a group of people together to share their intent (hypothetically, all the captured humans in a giant tower city, to name a random example) you can process a great deal of investiture at once. At the same time, a planet’s entire population is not going to stack up favorably against the Intent in a shard, or even an Unmade. This will be a small-scale, precision tool rather than a cosmere-upending weapon. I do wonder whether the process would be able to halt at that middle point, the undifferentiated state. I’m guessing that any “neutral” investiture will quickly take on the flavor/intent of whatever it meets through simple resonance, but if it can be isolated would it correspond to original Adonalsium light, as an all-in-one sort of superposition? Or would it simply be raw power unaligned to any shard or other subdivision of the powers of creation? I’m sorry, Raboniel, you’re going to have to specify. Are you talking about the intent-phase-shifted tone she’s been designing to be antithetical to your very existence, or to her trombone playing? Because they’re both likely to set your teeth on edge. Hm, how cold would something have to get to effect the state of investiture? Does absolute zero function in the same way in the cosmere? Do you get Bose-Einstein condensates of investiture axi? I guess matter at the fundamental level has more quantum states to occupy? Raboniel’s care for her daughter continues to be a tender spot in her behavior that deepens her character. She is far different as an antagonist than I expected when she was first introduced. The final node is nearby and very small. Is it in the library, hidden among the gemstone memories? Nope, Navani’s scheming is not up to the task. Raboniel hones in immediately on the hidden plate. Not only that, the intent of creating the plate apparently trumps the intent of playing the plate, and it functions as Intended even when someone else pulls the bow. That’s both a good thing for future fabrial creations, and a bad thing for Navani’s current secret keeping. I was kind of expecting it to just sound like the regular tone when Raboniel played it. Oh, Navani thought the same thing, or at least wondered. The notebook is, in fact, named the Rhythm of War. Not that we needed confirmation, but it’s nice to see the book itself make an appearance in the text. Oh, right, the vacuum tubes. That will be a start to holding the light isolated, but I’m not clear on how the properties of the glass are kept from interfering. Oh, it’s a big vacuum tube. Several feet long and nearly a foot in diameter. I was imagining something substantially smaller. Hm, the tube is for meteorology and “barometric studies.” That’s a good enough justification for why they would develop such a thing. Oh, she supposes that physical sound is necessary to propagate the tones and rhythms of roshar, and that realigning the intent will fail without isolating it that way. Hence the vacuum tube. It’s good reasoning, but why would the metaphysical sounds of eternity that you hear with your soul be constrained to movement through air? In fact, we know that Fused can utilize their powers in the vacuum of space, so I have a hard time believing they are actually separated from anything up there. It worked! That’s cool, no matter what doubts I have to poke in her reasoning. And it’s a discovery and success she made together with Raboniel. I can see how this could be scaled up slightly, but it looks like once attuned to a tone, the change is permanent. How could you perform this without access to a vacuum? And how did Gavilar or his associates accomplish it? And finally, what is Navani’s true plan for her to be able to hide it under this revelation to Raboniel? Oh, is she going to give her notebook to the other scholars and have them build something? Sweet! Oh, wait no. It blew up? Why? Was it simple proximity and leakage into contact with voidlight? The previous sphere lasted years before it exploded under the manipulations of Navani’s scholars.What triggered this one? Navani didn’t manage to kill her, but it was a good attempt at assassination. Almost completely deniable as well. Raboniel tried to draw in voidlight with the dagger, as Navani expected, and the explosion was naturally violent. The daughter is nearly unharmed, the servant not quite dead. No fatalities from this bomb. Navani observes smoke and heat as well as pressure damage from the explosion. Also, the dagger was destroyed. Actually, I wonder if the lights even had the chance to mix and react with one another, or if the anti-Voidlight annihilated with Raysium before it ever had the chance to get there. Oh, wait, no. The anti-Light was in the pommel, with regular voidlight getting sucked in. It wasn’t a Light/Metal reaction. (Also when I write anti-Light I feel like I’ve suddenly switched to a DC universe with an anti-Life equation.) Did the plate survive? That would be bad if the bomb ruined her ability to make more. Oh, the vacuum tube was also fine. Thats the bit far more likely to have been damaged, but I didn’t even think of it. Oh, she’s going to inject it into someone. Has she told Navani that it’s possible to do that, or just written “reversible” in the notebook and expected her to draw conclusions? Who is she going to assassinate? It’d better not be Leshwi, and I will be surprised if it’s the Pursuer. At this point I’m expecting a mercy-killing of her daughter, which is somewhat understandable but will also be very messy. I am not comfortable with this. Ah, yes. It was indeed the daughter. I’m surprised there’s no reaction with the Raysium, though. Also, no explosion. Would it have been more dramatic if she’d stabbed the gemheart? Probably not, but it’s hard to say. I wouldn’t have thought much of this moment where Raboniel weeps if we hadn’t already seen Venli’s breakdown and learned about crying as opposed to attuning sorrow. This is true grief and relief, and I have to feel for Raboniel here. This is the “tenth name of the Almighty.” people swear by the description frequently, but this may be the first time it’s been directly invoked. Onto the list it goes! Navani feels the same sympathy, even directly compares Raboniel’s experience to her own grief at Elhokar’s death. Navani recognizes that the unmaking of the Sibling was a protracted process compared to what it needed to be, so that Raboniel could motivate her research. That’s got to be a bunch of mixed emotions. The daughter’s name was Essu. That’s worth remembering. Raboniel is going to contact braize (through visions?) to confirm it was a lasting death. Oh no. Raboniel sees the notebook unharmed, and instantly recognizes the assassination attempt for what it was. How will she respond to that? Also, she calls it “Our notebook” in a way that at first I thought was appropriating Navani’s work, but on reflection it really is appropriate. Just as the rhythm of war could only be created by their combined efforts, the Rhythm of War and its fruits belong to both of them. Perhaps not equally, but enough to make it theirs together. And obviously the anti-Stormlight is the next step, because what can kill a fused will kill a spren. And, conveniently, she has a bunch of test subjects lined up and waiting. Turns out that an arms race is not going to help when you are closely monitored and all of your research is immediately copied by the enemy. That edge didn’t last long. Huh. Maybe she didn’t recognize the assassination attempt. Small mercies. I guess that’s a bit of a downer ending to Part Four for Navani. Next up, Interludes!

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Navani’s Notebook Part IV Art here. Looking at the pictures before translating anything, I love the beauty of the scientific instruments, the musical equipment, and the spren or light being channeled through that tube. It feels like a naturalist’s notebook, and it’s wonderful. I can’t tell if the cymatic pattern drawn at the bottom has any similarity to the ones depicted previously. I’m going to guess no, but would need to open the prior images from Shallan’s notebook in WoK to really compare. How did the Thaylen create such a thing, and for what purpose? Why is that useful without electronics or incandescent illumination? What’s the point? Pretty awesome, though. Man, “cracked” and “might” gave me trouble because I was mixing up some of the letters. I’m not sure what sort of leakage is desired from a cracked gem, or why diamond is the chosen species. Is that so you can use different gems in experiments or for connecting to other things? Gems makes the most sense. So the vacuum tube can be regenerated multiple times as needed. That’s helpful. Why was “the” written multiple ways in that first line? (Th E versus T H E) I know we’ve established nonstandardized spelling between Navani/Shallan/Jasnah via the notebook pages, but so far each author has been internally consistent. An error? It looks like Navani hasn't gotten over her imposter syndrome yet. Also, this next bit looks like it’s a different hand. I thought this page would be something she tried to hide from Raboniel? Maybe not possible given that multiple days of experimentation would be necessary to make progress. Yes, see? Even Raboniel thinks reverse engineering a tone from a phase shifted pattern is kinda unbelievable. Sorry Navani, you pulled this one out of nowhere. Also, I initially mistranslated "Voice" but I love that she is calling Navani by the granted title now. (Also, AAAA! This means Raboniel has access to the research and its results! Aaaa!) Yay Navani! Progress. But is it realmatic or experience? Let’s see what Raboniel has to say: Wait, so did Raboniel add these comments after the fact? The fact that it was “kept hidden” suggests that the interspersed comments weren’t included initially, but only appended later. However, it does appear that Raboniel ends up with all of the research eventually.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 96 (A Thousand Lies) Icons: Vev again. Loving? Healing? Coming after the previous chapter, let’s hope it’s thematic healing for Venli. Epigraph: Wait, what? Why are we supposed to let Ba-Ado-Mishram out? (And presumably Yelig-nar as well, or any others that are caught.) Is it out of sympathy because “trapped forever” is a fate worse than death? Or is it because that’s a bad outcome for other reasons–power perpetuated, Intent sequestered, etc. If we let her/them out, how does that improve anything? Remember how we’re in a war against them? Oh, maybe it’s another piece of what is tying Odium to Roshar? Maybe he can’t leave while his Unmade are here? That seems unlikely. I’m going to go with the merciful interpretation, where Kelek is horrified at the idea of eternity in confinement. *** Actually, I know it’s not directly relevant, but before we jump into the chapterI want to note something I’ve been thinking about after the recent chapters: I’m not entirely comfortable with how close together Dabbid and Maya both regained their voices. It sets an obvious parallel to compare their situations, which really aren’t comparable. It’s a coincidence of appearance in how their injuries manifest, and with as much thought as I’ve given it so far (admittedly not a ton) I don’t see anything valuable coming from an attempt to compare or contrast the two. I think it forces a narrower reading of their characters and their traumas, and in this case that’s a bad thing. I suspect that to Brandon it was two separate stories that aligned in this place, and if anything he thought the parallelism was a degree of added depth, but that doesn’t seem to be the case from my perspective. I’ll wait and see if anything more is made of it, but for now I’m going to register that as a minor complaint of the book’s construction. I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. *** Interesting note that crying is less common when you can express your sorrow or pain through the rhythms. I’d make a comment about the Weeping (as in the weather phenomenon) but that name is clearly a human invention and not influenced by any of the same forces. She told the whole story? That’s a good thing, but it’s kind of long, right? How long are they sitting there talking? I’m not sure if Rlain has a point or not. Venli leading the Fused to the remaining listeners seems like a lower risk because don’t they already know where those “nomads” are? Why would they need Venli to do it? The notes idiom is worth mentioning, but also Ow. Props to Rlain for being willing to work with her despite what he just learned. That’s not bad reasoning that the rescue attempt will create enough chaos to cover for your group. I’m not sure that Timbre will be happy with you standing by while the attempt at freedom is made. That sounds like a suitably dramatic point to have a change of heart and speak your oaths. With that said, Venli doesn’t sound like she is doing much in the way of planning here. I guess that means the plan can’t go too wrong, if there isn’t a plan to start with? Silver lingings. And yes, Venli is hoping to see Jaxlim again. That reunion is the culmination she is looking for, whether or not it manifests in this story.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 95 (What She Truly Was) Icons: Forgot to do this part before I’d read a couple pages already, but Chach is appropriate for the association with destruction. Also for the inverted virtue of bravery→cowardice. Sad to see all of the listeners overwhelmed by the new form. Venli’s familiarity allows for resistance, which is fortunate for her. Heck of a time to have a change of heart or moment of realization. I like that it’s once again the rhythms that clue her into the way her reactions are not quite right. Wow. Conceit being seen as desirable. Good going, Venli you are definitely on the winning side now. *eyeroll* Oh no, is that Adolin’s horse? Sad times. The death in WoR was not built up well enough to have a big emotional impact, but this callback is still a mood killer. She’s going to watch Eshonai’s fall. And as she does it she reflects on the changes that have occurred. A reminder here that Eshonai was working to escape a war while Venli not only incited it but spent years doing her best to fan the flames. Sisters working against each other to the tragedy of all. She feels a void when Eshonai falls, no powerful emotions at all, not even weak ones. Odium has taken her passion. She can feel Odium’s joy in destruction and sorrow as the new storm builds. The violence of the colliding storms is really awe inspiring. And for Venli to watch it all through this open doorway cut in stone, shielded only by crem, is a striking image. With plateaus themselves about to be tossed into the air, as we know from Szeth and Kaladin’s fight, it’s shocking that she or anyone was able to survive this. The rhythms go crazy as opposing perpendicularities clash with each other. The pure tones of Roshar, of Odium and Honor meeting. Do they harmonize into the Rhythm of War for her, or will that only happen when there is union rather than opposition? And in the face of those storms, alone and terrified, she is forced to confront the fact that she is scared, powerless, and selfish, not a genius or a potential queen. Just a coward. Like I said, heck of a time to face all that…but, if this destruction of her home and her people wasn’t enough to get through to her then I’m not sure what would have been.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 94 (Sacrifice) Icons: Vev. Loving? Epigraph: Now you’re just being a tease. “Oh, yes, I know the secrets of the Recreance. I will tell them to you after five more paragraphs of filler to fit into epigraphs, so that the readers don’t learn anything interesting.” Resolving not to let Shallan rescue him would be the right answer if it weren’t tinged with such dejection and feelings of worthlessness. We love you, Adolin. You may think the world needs more Radiants, not Princes, but it absolutely needs more people like you. Kelek’s indisposed, Shallan’s incarcerated, and Sekeir has the knife. Not a great situation. Actually, I wonder if the knife functions any differently in the cognitive realm. I presume not, but it’s hard to say. Maya is the final witness. I guess that solves how she’s going to get to the trial. I was imagining her wandering in at the end, but that strained plausibility. This is much cleaner. I see. Sekeir has legal recourse to say whatever he wants until the witness shows herself able. She’s not a witness, she’s an object lesson and a chance to use his own words. That hurts. Adolin admits that Maya isn’t more than a slave, no matter how much he wants it to be otherwise. It has less stigma perhaps in Roshar where slavery is a matter of course, but he does not relish the prospect of being her slave master. Credit to him for not flinching from the reality of it. Not a good look there, Sekeir. The human is pleading for mercy for the deadeye that you are restraining and agitating.Your words will spin this for many, but the optics are not in your favor and your enemies will not be convinced. I guess a majority is all you need, so it’s a worthwhile attempt. (At least until it blows up in your face, but we haven’t gotten there yet.) Exactly. Sekeir’s grudge is against Adolin challenging his power and authority, threatening the system he’d built at Lasting Integrity. It’s not about Radiants and bonds, or about murdered spren. It’s about the humans who intruded on his domain and upset his control. This is a power move, and I have to admire it. By not rendering judgement, Sekeir says that the trial was a farce because precedent was so well established. He forces any critics to contend with the history rather than anything that was done in this event. At the same time, by declaring “no judgement” he has just removed the legal hold on Adolin when Maya does upend his whole argument. And here it is. What does she say? She says “We Chose.” Aww, and she says his name. That makes my heart happy :-) Sekeir tries to recover, spin it (or perhaps to make sense of it in his own mind as his worldview is utterly challenged), but Maya is having none of it. So good. Sekeir, the honorspren, Adolin–none of them are allowed to appropriate her sacrifice for their own ends. They don’t speak for her, they don’t take credit or blame for what she did. I feel it’s especially appropriate here that she is a cultivationspren, the companion spren of Edgedancers. Usually Edgedancers listen to the unheard, but usually that doesn’t mean themselves. Adolin here has lent enough strength to Maya so she can make her own voice heard by all. I love it. Blended is the only one hanging around. I would have thought Amura would want to investigate, given how much of herself she dedicates to the deadeyes. I like that Maya is the one invoking Strength Before Weakness. Usually the spren viewed with the sort of personhood to need that development and commitment. Silly thought: Maybe instead of the standard nahel bond, they’ll get one that’s somehow inverted. Maya will draw on Adolin for power and strength, and he will be allowed to grow in new ways by being drawn into the cognitive realm. Actually, this started as a silly thought with Maya wielding a little Adolin sword, but the more I think about it the more I like the concept. Nahel bonds in general are governed and constrained by whatever Ishar did to codify the oaths, but Maya has already broken those constraints and paid the price. She and Adolin could well be capable of forging their own path. Blended suggested this tactic, “playing both sides.” That didn’t make sense to me until she revealed the stake she had in it: trying to prove whether Maya was more alive than anyone believed when Adolin told them. Or rather, that they have a friendship. Blended confirms that the bond between Adolin and Mayalaran is not a nahal/Radiant bond, but that something is indeed happening. Very good point, Blended. If the spren were complicit in ending the age of Radiants, then the current spren may have far better reasons for avoiding humanity than simply fear of death. Adolin may have convinced them that humanity aren’t horrid monsters, but he probably hasn’t secured the type of help he was hoping for. You know, I didn’t really get why this is a big deal at first, because as a reader I’ve been assuming for a long time that the spren must have been complicit to some degree in the recreance for it to have been as widespread as it is. But in-world it seems that until this point nobody entertained the idea that it could be anything but murder. This is not like the anticlimax at the end of Oathbringer where the “humans are invaders” fell flat, but it is a reveal that hits very differently for the readers and the characters. Maya says they didn’t know it would kill them, though they expected terrible pain. Blended echoes Sekeir’s words, but with different intent: Maya’s judgement of Adolin was the only one that ever mattered. Is that something Blended went into this believing, or did she arrive at that opinion after all of the reveals from Maya? It matters because I would be much more charitable about the way she put Maya on display here if she started out with the belief that Maya should be given the opportunity to judge Adolin for good or ill. But if she couldn’t know Maya’s ability to push through as powerfully as she did, then Blended gets a lot less sympathy from me. Yay Adolin! Even now he’s working to reframe things in his mind away from self-centeredness and towards concern for Maya, respect for Maya. Definitely Edgedancer material. Hm. Adolin says he wants to get back to the Oathgate to share the news. But the map of their journey definitely continued south from Lasting Integrity rather than returning to Urithiru. So how are they going to know to go the other direction? Will news of the Sibling’s unmaking be spreading through Shadesmar?

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 93 (Strong Enough) Title: But strong enough for what? To attack a herald, or to let her husband be taken, or to face her own truth? Not that last one, since Formless hasn’t been around long enough to deserve that climax, but she could still go either way. Oh, who am I kidding. She’s on the downslope right now. She’ll make the aggressive choice. Icons: Nale. Presumably because Kelek is rendering judgement today? Epigraph: Wait. If the bond is broken by capture, how could Kelek feel the difference between Jezrien fading away and simply remaining captive? Obviously some aspects of the bond persisted for him to have that awareness. Oh dear. Formless is supplanting Shallan, not becoming a fourth aspect. Or at least she thinks she is. Hmm, and she appears to have less of a grip on Veil and Radiant than she thought. Aww, Adolin with the sweet affirmation. Who is stronger, indeed? Don’t let your struggle be a detraction from your determination and diligence. Formless doesn’t listen, of course, but someone surely does. Pattern perks up when he sees her? That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it sure strikes a sour chord. He’s not always the best at seeing through her aspects, though, so maybe he’s not fully aware of what’s happened. Radiant is trapped, but not Veil. That’s significant, for sure. But what is Formless planning to do after this “last gift” for Adolin? Is she planning to end herself, or just cut ties with Shallan’s life? And what does Veil think she’s figured out? Oh, I see. “A new persona couldn’t draw like that.” Shallan is trying to be supplanted, to reinvent herself. “How would she extricate herself from Adolin?” Yeah, no. Formless no longer gets a vote. You’ve messed with my ship, girl. Yes, Pattern thinks she’s Veil. His perception is sadly lacking for someone with a direct line to Shallan’s soul, but it definitely shows Adolin well in contrast. Formless is a fusion of the “best parts” of her three aspects. It’s the poorly constructed version of the organic healing we hope Shallan will achieve, built from what she envies most of her make-belief personas, or from what she hopes will paper over her combined insecurities. What it isn’t is an actual, whole person. I have to say, Formless seems much more fragile than I anticipated from the buildup she got. Huh. Formless being uncomfortable with the impossible box that is Lasting Integrity, to the extent that she avoids looking at the other three planes of the tower. That’s a remarkably apt yet subtle metaphor for her place in Shallan’s psyche. She’s in denial, trying to form a new identity without addressing the “impossible box” she’s created of her mind. I wouldn’t have noticed it except that it was a mention of something Formless “wasn’t got at,” which seemed pretty unlikely for her to admit when she’s trying to be her strongest, most capable self. Pattern, that was not how you retell a joke. I presume it was something about parroting Wit’s words, and that’s how you are like a chicken? You fail at second-hand jokes, Pattern. You should have gathered by now that I am all the way here for Shallan’s inner conflict. Yet, I have to admit that this sequence feels more than a tad forced. Formless shows up, and within a page we’re at “You deserve to be loved,” and she suddenly questions her life plan of throwing away the past to join the Ghostbloods. Subtle it ain’t. She wanted to spend time drawing it, but of course she wasn’t like that anymore. She needed to find all this disorienting and strange. Like Veil. Oh dear. If we needed any further confirmation that she’s drawing on the wrong pieces to construct herself, this is it. She’s so desperate to get away from her history that she embraces her invented weaknesses just to displace who she was before. The plan is to Soulcast the lock to the door? Since when does soulcasting work inside Shadesmar? I am not convinced this is viable at all. Radiant killed Ialai. Storms. This is some real Third Man type mystery stuff going on here. Literally, in fact. That’s more appropriate a comparison the more I think about it. Huh. So, how many recent things have been blocked from Shallan’s memory? I feel like it’s a bit of a cop out to have her unaware of what her aspects do. Guess I was wrong. Soulcasting is easier in Shadesmar, not harder/impossible. Weird. A small glass chicken is Kelek’s memento in the window. What type of chicken? Who was it from? Was it an Ashyn chicken or one further afield? I love that Veil forced herself into being through lightweaving that Formless didn’t want or intend. This dynamic is great. Veil is speaking aloud! They are making sounds with their lightweaving, which is something she hasn’t achieved since her mother died. (Unless the sound is mental, but I don’t think so.) How much of this argument is Kelek hearing? I kind of want to know what he thinks of it. Actually, is Shallan still wearing her Lusintia disguise while talking to Veil? Wait, but if Veil does this, we won’t get to enjoy her anymore :-( Shallan getting the memories back, and (I assume) losing the partition between some of her skills and talents is a good thing, something we’ve been building toward. But I’ll miss Veil. Yup. Shallan’s first spren is dead, and she remembers. Another one for the list! That’s really rough. Shallan killed her mom. Then her nahel spren. Then her dad. No wonder she’s messed up. But wait. If Shallan killed her first spren, then the safe really did contain a dead Shardblade. Is it still bound to Shallan? Does she carry that blade as well as Pattern? The screaming could be something else that’s hidden away in her mind. Hm. Radiant doesn’t seem to be getting a goodbye scene, but I sort of get the impression she’s leaving/integrating as well. Am I reading that right? Ah, actually I don’t think she’s left yet. We’ll have to see in the next chapter. Yes, go find your first Pattern! Oh, is this where we’ll get someone dual-wielding Shardblades? I could see it happening regardless, but it’d be even better if she is able to (eventually) revive Pattern the First following Adolin’s example with Maya. I’m proud of Shallan for making the better choice about Kelek. I was expecting Formless to be more formidable. Ah, yes. Protective custody “for your own good.” Definitely not house arrest. And that’s the it-gets-worse moment that allowed Shallan to make the right choice. She didn’t have to make it worse on her own.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 92 (A Gift) Icon: Vev. Just Vev. Loving/Healing, presumably, and that’s something that Venli needs more of, so I’ll support this. Epigraph: Why is Kelek explaining this to his would-be captors? I’m not sure sharing this information is a good idea. Interesting to note that yes, capturing one in a gem cuts off their bonds. So I was wrong last chapter in speculating about Syl. Venli is recovering/progressing well, if Odium’s rhythms are starting to feel unpleasant to her. Relayform for scouts. Could a description have really been that hard to include? Venli’s honesty to Raboniel is refreshing, but also highly dangerous. She is too perceptive by half…is the usual phrase, but that’s underselling it. Oh, and there it is. Raboniel notices the wrong rhythm in her words. Venli covers it well, attributing it to her lost people in a way that is plausible, but it’s still a rhythm she shouldn’t be able to hear. That’s going to haunt her. Raboniel is almost done here and wlll soon be leaving the tower. “If you survive what comes next, there is a chance you may find some peace of your own, Venli.” That’s pretty ominous. Is that “what comes next” referring to the war in general, or more specifically to the chaos that Raboniel is about to unleash? It sure sounds to me like the second one. A report from a flying human scout–I had forgotten that the skybreakers were working so closely with the Fused. Sounds like many of them are on detached duty in various parts of Roshar, rather than all fighting together. I continue to be confused by Raboniel’s character. Her giving the “lost legion” to Venli like this is something I would not have expected of her. I am not sure if she’s really that complex a person, or if it’s just that her motivations remain obscure, but she keeps surprising me. Oh, wait. Elderly. Is Venli’s mom still alive? I was sure that she at least would have died, but from all the flashbacks I think we must be building towards that reunion.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 91 (Worth Saving) Icons: Jez and Vev–healing and windrunners. Looks like a Teft chapter. Epigraph: Okay, this one is worth quoting. This is sure sounding like Shallan/Formless will go through with it, which is how we get access to this note. But there are a couple things that make me think it’s misleading, beyond Brandon’s penchant for doing that. First, the apparent audience of the note. It doesn’t sound like he’s addressing the Fused or Odium’s forces. It sounds like he’s addressing an assassin from another faction whose reach may or may not exceed its grasp. And why would he do that when from what we’ve read so far he doesn’t seem to suspect that involvement? Is this a lie left in place for Shallan to find after he escapes? Is this a lie given to Shallan to deliver to Mraize when she doesn’t follow through? Or is it genuine? I can’t guess yet. *** That’s a new usage for that swear. Onto the list it goes! Teft saw Dabbid’s joy, but heard Rlain’s. Does that mean he’s also recognizing rhythms now? From familiarity or attunement? I want to know! Wait, Teft has been in the army for thirty years? I knew he was an old veteran, but I thought that was on the order of 10-15 years, not 30. Wow. Also, I’m proud of you for making it seven months, Teft. Good work! What? Where did Syl go? She can’t have been lost in the fighting like Teft says, because she was with him heading into the storm. The only things that could separate them are her own choice to go a long way away for some reason (unlikely, but can’t be entirely discounted), Odium’s visions of Braize (highly likely, except shouldn’t it have worn off by now?), and her being captured in a gem (doubtful, because Raboniel would be doing stuff to her that would be evident somehow, but we saw witht he conjoined rubies that existing bonds can survive transfers, so capture wouldn’t necessarily eliminate the nahel bond with kaladin. Um, actually that may not be true, because Nergaul and Ba-Ado-Mishram are obvious counter examples. This parenthetical is getting too long, though, so that’s the end of my speculation for now.) Hmm. The comatose Radiants had comatose spren as well, so no updates for “while you were sleeping.” Okay, so the expectation was correct and Lift’s revival of the Radiants is temporary. That suppressor field is no joke. Wait, Phendorana thinks he needs to go back to the location where he lost Syl, in order to wake her up again? This sounds like a contrived side quest. Looks like Navani has had zero contact at all. That makes it tricky to coordinate a rescue, among other things. So, no comment on what the Fused have concluded about Lift vanishing from her cell? That seems like something someone should mention. And isn’t that a notable coda. All these people are struggling with their own demons (or Voidbringers, as Teft said a moment ago) and I applaud Brandon for including it so organically. Hm. Interesting note about Kaladin’s eyes reverting to dark. Not sure why that’s important, except as a guide for how to imagine things. Is there another connection we’re supposed to make about how long they've had their spren suppressed? Huh. The Envisagers came to Teft’s village 45 years ago. That’s well before any of this new Radiant business started, and before the Sons of Honor nonsense. They were remarkably well informed and accurate in their understanding for a group that had supposedly persisted since the Recreance. Could they be a breakoff of the Skybreakers? Or perhaps they learned from the Stone Shamans but drew different conclusions? Not really a variant, but I’ll stick it on the list for completeness sake at this point. Lift needs a chull-worth of food to wake the Radiants. Is this her dream? Does she get to eat a buffet, convert an entire chull (or equivalent weight) into Stormlight to just eat and eat and eat? Living your best life, aren’t you, girl? I agree that leaving the Radiants at the mercy of someone researching spren unmaking and anti-light is probably not a good move. I want to know what she’s planning, but not enough to want her to succeed to any degree. Everyone agreed not to do anything rash, “even Lift and Dabbid.” Why am I suspicious?

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 90 (One Chance) Icons: Four this time. Jez, Nan, Ishar, Shash. Notably, Palah is absent so I don’t think Maya will show up this chapter. Epigraph: I wonder if it would make a difference if he knew that the current threat to his life and freedom was coming from a different quarter than the Fused? Also, don’t do it, Shallan. I’m once again curious about the political situation of Lasting Integrity, that Notum was expelled front the forum (and perhaps the city?) for his statements, and that the ruling class is able to exclude all of the opposition from this event. Does that mean the trial isn’t actually that impactful, or does it mean that the ruling party is powerful enough to impose itself this way? At least some of the spren sympathetic to Adolin are able to watch from above. Hm. There are six of the “ten honored by storms” present today. I presume that’s the form the ruling council takes, and not just individuals worthy of respect, but either way… I wonder if that means that 40% are in favor of Adolin or neutral and were thus excluded, or if his support is less than that and the other four just weren’t available to attend. That’s a pretty good opening statement. Bold move to invoke Cultivation on top of Honor, but I can see it working. She is the surviving deity, even if her involvement is far less than Tanavast’s was. Ooo, very nice, Adolin. “I could answer, but you don’t care.” This was a good rebuttal, attacking their sense of fair play and honesty in providing a true trial. I’m glad to see it working. His next bit, calling on their similarities to humans, is also excellent. Addressing their fear, their irrationality, the way they are casting about for solutions. Oh dear. The deadeye cryptic is recent, and now we think it’s Shallan’s first. That will go over well when it comes out. Not this chapter, but presumably soon. *** I like this intimate moment of Shallan and her husband, and the reminder that when she is with Adolin she is only ever Shallan. Because he can tell, and she is the one that he married. Adolin can’t decide what he wants to do about this imprisonment. I love that he is considering the honorspren’s position and having enough empathy to say, “You know what, maybe it isn’t fair to ask them to fight a war.” He might be willing to give them their way there. Good thing he practiced being in jail back in WoR. Yay Veil! Don’t follow through with Mraize’s suggestion. She and Radiant agree. Except, that only gives Shallan enough motivation to finally let Formless free. Chilling that she does so on the heels of Adolin’s judgement: Even if Shallan isn’t letting herself remember, she knows who is being blamed here. And with that Formless says It is time. And the worst part is that Adolin doesn’t notice. He would recognize Radiant or Veil, but Formless is either too new or too insidiously linked to Shallan’s core for him to know that she has intruded on this moment that is supposed to be sacrosanct in their relationship. Plus, Formless then echoes the same words Veil threw at Mraize… Maybe you’ll be surprised. This is all sorts of bad for her. Not to mention that it can’t possibly reflect well on the “we don’t kill spren” thing to use a soul stealing dagger to assassinate the person judging the case. I don’t see that as a particularly convincing demonstration of their trustworthiness.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 89 (Voice of Lights) Icons: Kelek and Palah–Learned and Builder for Navani doing science things? Epigraph: Kelek thinks he’d be even more insane/fallen with more memories of his failures across his long life. I can’t really say he’s wrong, but it feels like the memories are incidental to his mindset. That’s got to be rough for Navani to be out of contact with everyone. Is she still allowed to send notes to people or is she entirely isolated to her lab, with only singers to speak to? Key terms there: static and kinetic investiture. I know kinetic has been in use in the fandom for a while, but I think this is the first time we’ve had a real term for its complement. The sand changes color in the presence of spren. I wonder, what is the limit of detection here? How little investiture leakage is enough to cause color change? Does the sand itself leak, such that a large amount of white sand could convert a small amount of black sand? Raboniel doesn’t know where the sand is from, which I at first didn’t believe but actually makes sense. It’s valuable enough to make the trading circuit, but it’s not a place people have been able to access for some time. Plus, Raboniel isn’t able to leave the Rosharan system any more than the heralds can. Actually, is that what she’s looking for with the whole anti-light search? Is she trying to find the same solution that Restares is seeking, so she can “get off this rock?” I imagine she has different motivations than he does, but the goal may well be the same. Oh, she just said that exact thing. Guess I could just read instead of stopping to speculate wildly…but then what would be the point of keeping this blog? Oh, that’s both funny and terrible. They sent Heavenly Ones to try to fly to Braize through normal space. I guess since they can reincarnate it wasn’t a huge burden to die of asphyxiation or decompression in space when their Light ran out. Still, that’s not the sort of space program I want to design my rockets. Electromagnets powered by stormform zapping! That’s delightful! I want to see singer fabrial science take off and have them build a maglev train powered by a team of stormform. What polarity do the gemstones have that would need to be swapped? Forget the idea of using electricity to effect the change, what even are you trying to accomplish here? Hm, it appears there is a ways to go before controlled use of stormform lightning can be used for actual sustained electric current. I love the tension of Navani only getting academic acknowledgement from her enemy, and for the encouragement to come from that quarter. I want Raboniel to tease out the insight that Navani doesn’t consider herself a scholar primarily because her first husband belittled her so much. It seems like the sort of hurtful bluntness that the Lady of Wishes would go for, and something Navani would struggle with because if it’s true then she’s agreeing with the enemy and letting them help her heal from that abuse. It’s a deliciously complicated possibility. We’ll see if it actually comes through in the text rather than just my imagination. Oh, now that is a mark of honor for sure. Navani no longer has to use elaborate titles to address Raboniel. That’s one way to prove sincerity of compliments. Is Navani recognizing rhythms now because she’s spent enough time in company with singers who use them, and is simply becoming acclimated as with any other language? Or is it deeper than that, and her study of Light and Tones has allowed her to begin attuning them? First, this is the confirmation that the Sibling is on the path to becoming another Unmade. Not something we want to happen, but it also isn’t necessarily disastrous. Going by Sja-Anat, they still have some degree of self-determination and volition outside of their patron shard. Actually, this is an interesting question. Going by the numerology, is the Sibling’s unmaking important for replacing either Sja-Anat or Ba-Ado-Mishram? What about Yelig-Nar? I wouldn’t think that the trapped unmade would stop counting toward the total of Nine, but the defector might. On the flip side, if they all still count, does adding the Sibling as a full Unmade change anything about the nature of the group? Do they become less in tune with Braize and/or Rayse? Will Sja-Anat’s departure be further enabled by a success with converting the Sibling? Second, it’s Significant that Raboniel considers this unmaking a “worse” thing. Wouldn’t she be in favor? I don’t think she recognizes the pain she causes in people as a moral wrong at all, so I’m not sure what about this is a line too far for her. Cymatics are ancient listener music? Navani gets a singer title? A Fused title? That is incredible. And Voice of Lights is appropriate. The sibling is not doing well. They can tell that they have eavesdroppers, though, which is an improvement. I’m still not clear on how that eavesdropping works. Okay, I’m calling B.S. here. You want to be able to reverse engineer a musical tone and rhythm from a cymatic pattern? A pattern that you generate to be a reverse-phased version of others you have seen? I do like that the cymatics weren’t actually the music, just a side effect that the singers didn’t expect, and I like that it is coming into play this way after being teased in so many places. I look forward to Navani discovering the connections to the Dawncities and how they work with Light. However, this whole flow of science in the other direction, extrapolating from cymatics back to sound, really stretches my suspension of disbelief. I know, I know. Why would that be the thing that makes me question stuff? It’s not like anything else has been improbable. I guess I’ll just hold out hope that it’s presented in a believable way.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 88 (Falling Star) Icons: Three again. Kelek doubled, with Nale and Chach Lightning being the key to catching stormspren...–I’m going to presume that it’s just a strong enough resonance with the nature of storm spren to pull them across, not that the power and mundane energy in lightning is enough to thin the barrier between realms. It’s pretty badass (are we still correcting that to bad chull?) that Venli was chasing down lightning strikes, though. I’m just imagining her running toward any flash of light in the storm, back and forth between points that keep drawing the lightning until she’s finally close enough to reach a strike zone before the spren disappear. That’s got to be a harrowing research project. (In my lab we would say “that’s what grad students are for” but I don’t think Venli uses assistants quite that way.) I like that humans are being favorably (?) compared to rockbuds. Yay stubbornness! Yes, yes you would. Except I have to say that on Roshar, that would doubly apply to Sleepless. Oh, is that what the title is referring to? Is this where she first encounters Timbre? Yelling at the Rider of Storms. I’d say calling him a traitor is a little too far, but without actually seeing behind the scenes, it’s not an unreasonable conclusion. And with how Restares suggested many of the nahel spren are considering defection to Odium’s side, I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question for the Stormfather to have possibly chosen that as well. By Vev’s golden keys, did she just encounter one of the storm striders? Are we actually going to get to see what they are? No, just a chasmfiend. Still, that kind of face-to-face encounter is pretty cool in itself. Hm. It is Timbre like I suspected, but I have no idea why there was a need for the chasmfiend to deliver him. (Her? I have been thinking of Timbre as female, but I think there were male pronouns used recently. I’m not sure.) Presumably spren could ride in the gemhearts of living creatures and influence them in that way, but why would Timbre need to do something like that? Is it to avoid detection/interception by the voidspren? Is it to help keep from losing their mind like Syl risked? Is it just to travel around better, since they probably share Willshaper’s joy of exploration? It’s weird. Although, presumably Timbre is the first one to even try forming a bond with a listener. Maybe the spren didn’t know it would work and had to test out some options with other gemhearted creatures?

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 87 (Trial by Witness) Icons: Another triple icon set. I’m starting to think I am putting too much stock in this supposed departure from the norm. I’ll keep tracking it to see if anything important shows up, but in all likelihood this was just how Dragonsteel decided to do a more-or-less random set of chapters. Anyway, this time it’s Palah doubled, with Jez and Nan opposed. Epigraph: I suppose that loss of memory could be blamed for feeling dissolute or not oneself, but from what we know of the Returned on Nalthis I suspect the memories would have minor effect compared to the continuity of soul. Interesting that the weather in the cognitive realm directly affects the moods of spren. It makes sense, but it’s not something I’d have necessarily predicted. Ah, top of my list of encouraging things I hope my impartial judge will say to me. Only twenty honorspren deadeyes in the fortress, out of two thousand total. Did the others not gather to Lasting Integrity for the trial, along with the rest of those outside the fortress? Where are they now? I presume they are wandering the bead sea, as mentioned before. Still, only 1% is a lower number than I expected. Also, 2000 blades is a lot. It lines up with estimates of pre-Recreance shard counts, but we really have no idea where all of those could still be hiding. That the first argument focuses on deadeyes reinforces again that Maya will be the key. I hope Shallan doesn’t do anything rash before Mayalaran can make her case. Woah. Lore drop! Melishi ended his bond with the Sibling immediately prior to the incitement of the Recreance. How? Why? And why don’t the honorspren (or anyone else) know about it? Surely someone has gone to talk to the Sibling or learn about the Recreance in the past few millenia? Good line. Adolin, I had the exact same thought. Is Kelek writing anything related to the trial, or is he just doodling? Is…is that an apple? Where did Kelek get that, and how did it stay good? Was it manifested in Shadesmar? Can you eat a manifested item? I guess the answer might be pretty different for a herald and a mortal. What does he mean by “unchained” Bondsmith? I’m not sure what that term is meant to indicate. Haven’t we already established that Dalinar is subject to the same restrictions that Ishar implemented back in the beginning? Oof. Yeah, having your attorney be called as a witness for the prosecution is not an encouraging look.Blended is a good speaker, but I won’t quote a bunch of her lines. Good turns of phrase, though. I like Adolin’s rebuttal about bonds being natural, and I’d like to see him or someone like Shallan bring up the example of Ryshadium. That would take us into a lengthy digression that doesn’t actually serve to case, so it’s probably for the best that I’m not there to make the argument. Ironic, that he’s being tried by a fallen herald who embodies one of the ten fools, then…and that Adolin doesn’t seem to make that connection. Oh dear. Notum is the third witness. That’s a kick in the pants. Nice. Adolin succeeds by being himself rather than the man he thinks his father would be in his place. Reaching out to Notum is a good move, and wholly in line with who Adolin is as a person. Oh dear. I’m concerned about the effect this uproar is having on Kelek. It’s rough that something that can turn the audience to his side might have the opposite effect on the judge, even one as fickle as Kelek is currently said to be. I’d appreciate a little more elucidation of the political schisms within the honorspren. Kelek mentions several, but we don’t really have a sense for the balance and what nuances might exist. *** Wow. This is a horribly transparent ploy, and you are letting Pattern do the talking for you? This is one of those “so bad it’s good” plans isn’t it. Are honorspren just unused to deception to the extent they don’t look for it? I feel dumb for not recognizing this reference. What event(s) is she talking about here? So the Ire have an alternate method for storing Light. Is it more permanent and less prone to leakage? It’s jar’s or vats–what’s the mechanism here? I don’t recall if we got a closer look at this stuff in Secret History. Looks like they also have leak-proof perfect gems for storage. I wonder if that emerald Veil stole is going to be more valuable than the stormlight it contains. Probably not, but it would be a neat twist. And Pattern’s response is “Thank you for letting me lie.” Why didn’t he get to be involved in Kaladin’s heist scene? I mean, other than the fact he’s terrible at it.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 86 (The Song of Mornings) Wow. Watching the near-genocide of her people convinces Venli she made the right decision to incite this war? I am not a fan of this mentality that Ulim is effecting in her. (And I hope he really is to blame, because thinking of that as her native thought process is creepy and disgusting.) Yes, she’s feeling glee when looking at their losses. That is an Odium-influenced passion without doubt. She’s subverted Denshil, but was that by way of her scholar in-group or something else? Yes, putting your bravest listeners where they are most likely to be killed is definitely the way to prepare for victory in the coming war. Your logic is flawless, Venli. Hmm. She’s recognized her selfishness and decided it’s not a bad thing. She’s working to gain ultimate “freedom” by removing anyone’s potential hold over her, and she’s doing it at the expense of the people she started out trying to help. I feel bad for future Venli being haunted by these memories. This corruption of the freedom she seeks as a Willshaper is going to be a constant reminder of Odium’s lies, but more poignantly of how she fell for them and what it cost. The farming gemstones break when sung to–presumably because of the rate of stormlight flow? It’s notable that the breakages occur during active use through tonal manipulation of light. I guess that explains how they created enough gems for transforming so many of their people. A nice Roshar-ism for “speak of the devil” and equivalents. I suppose this one is specific to listener culture and language. I wonder what the analogous phrase would be in Alethi or other human languages? Looks like Ulim has been leaving her after all, so she doesn’t need as much babysitting as it seemed like in her previous chapter. The storm in Shadesmar blocked the path to Braize? Then how did the various voidspren get through? Oh, I guess it drew some with it. It’s just a gathering of power and malevolence, not a strict barrier. Hm. So the Everstorm that was summoned is a piece of the gathered storm from Shadesmar, broken off from the main body of Odium’s power for this purpose. That makes sense, and matches the fact that no previous Return involved this sort of storm. Venli is getting a bit full of herself to say the storm is hers for the fact of leading the summoning. It’s painful to watch her get managed by Ulim this way, but I guess hubris is a thing for a reason. What is the “better rhythm” that is a counterpart to Skepticism? Is it one of the harsher rhythms connected to Odium that she isn’t able to attune currently because Ulim is outside of her gemheart? Or is it something else, better in a different way that doesn’t match her deluded mindset? Yes, the jealousy is pretty bad. “I wish I could have gotten my nice things without you getting anything.” Dementia to the point that their mother doesn’t even remember her own name? That is sad progress. A remarkably salient point. Insightful, even. Gavilar wasn’t working with Odium’s agents at all, according to Ulim, and was actually trying to counter them. That’s an unexpected confirmation, and means the Sons of Honor were not being manipulated in the way I thought they were. It also raises questions about the source of Gavilar’s voidlight, as Venli notes. Eshonai wanted to receive a form fit for diplomacy, but it was Venli who eventually received envoyform. Sad–a classic missed opportunity for confession. Also, “you’re always right. That’s part of what I hate about you.”

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 85 (Dabbid) Icons: Chach (obedient/brave) and Vev (healing) makes sense as attributes of Dabbid and his actions in working to heal Kal Epigraph: meh. Nothing to comment on I’m not sure how I feel about Dabbid’s continued mutism being a deliberate choice to hide his mental slowness. It makes a lot of sense for the character and is a great examination of belonging, but it also feels like a retcon after three and a half books established that character trait. It feels like the wrong kind of reveal. Lift is great. “Fused still gotta poop, poor saps.” And Rlain just cannot comprehend anything she says has a point. Yes, Lift. Leaving food out to go bad is exactly like leaving a sword out to get stepped on by a baby. Definitely the queen’s fault you got food poisoning. Kaladin’s healing was even harder than reviving Gawx, presumably because Odium was taking a direct hand in keeping him ill. Was Odium interested in killing him or just in tormenting him? “Touched” as a euphemism for mental slowness is a very English term and feels strange to me to read in Alethi translation. It is certainly plausible either as a literal convergence in terminology or as a tone-appropriate translation, but it doesn’t feel natural to me to hear Lift say it, for whatever reason. Curing Dabbid’s mental deficiencies by bonding a spren, that sounds like a can of worms. Lift can wake up all the Radiants? How? That doesn’t sound like regrowth or healing directly, because the tower isn’t injuring them. It’s just suppressing something. If I were to guess, she’s giving them access to enough stormlight to resist the suppression…but that would mean that once it runs out the resistance will wear off and they will fall unconscious again. So as long as they have access to infused spheres they’ll be okay? That’s as good a hypothesis as any. I’m not sure what the realmatic explanation would be if this really is a one-shot cure. I'm disappointed in you, Lift. But I guess having access to super communication skills for each individual you're talking to allows for personalized insults as much as compassionate understanding. Wait, Wyndle is gone? Where did he go? And I guess this means Lift wasn’t listening to any second conversation during Venli’s chapter about breaking her out. Too bad. New swear for the list, and a really unique one compared to all the others we’ve compiled so far. Fun little mirroring of the “pulled from Damnation” bit, especially because this time it was more literal than Dabbid knows.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 84 (Scholar) Icons: Another 3-image header, with Palah being repeated, and Jez and Chach each getting a single instance. Am I reading too much into this? Palah being learned matches the title of scholar and the research Navani will be doing. Chach for destruction or bravery, Jez for protection? I’m not sure why this one deserves another departure from the established pattern. Epigraph: Hmmm. Does this use of Midius indicated Hoid (most likely) or the person that Hoid stole that name from? That’s not a very likely possibility, but it’s possible that some of the heralds also came from Yolen. Just throwing out some wild speculation. It’s nice to see that Navani was having a measurable effect on the research effort, even if it was unwittingly by providing access to the Sibling. Her contributions mattered, so she can expect to matter again–especially now that without her input Raboniel’s progress has slowed. Navani could have done science earlier, “but there had been a Blackthorn to seduce.” At least her priorities are in order. Her requisitions from Kholinar included “many gemstones bearing corrupted spren to power fabrials.” Somehow I totally forgot that Sja-Anat was actually in Kholinar and nominally working with Odium’s forces there, which means that Navani has access to her through the occupying Fused. She’s felt very distant, so I wasn’t expecting a direct hand in things that wasn’t part of hidden plots. My mistake, of course. She made Indiana Jones spike traps! She’s going to turn the pillar room into the Temple of Doom! I thought the heist chapters were fun, but now I can’t wait for the lost city adventure sequence. It’s a toss up for me whether Raboniel will be fooled by the disguised weapons. I suspect that she will assume a subversive, hidden function but won’t have the fabrial knowledge to know what each one does. Magnets to activate the traps is clever. I had sort of forgotten they had access to some of those mundane engineering tricks. Raboniel can’t make warlight by herself (as far as Navani can tell). So what’s different about Venli? Is Timbre close enough to Lifelight to help with that process, or as a surgebinder is that type of attunement restricted to Stormlight? Where does Venli’s talent and ability come from? Actually, the wording is more general than that: “The Fused couldn’t create it without a human’s help.” So presumably the Fused are too in tune with Odium to harmonize with Stormlight, while Navani at least is too deaf to directly manipulate Voidlight. With that backdrop, Venli creating Warlight would have been unsurprising, but the use of Lifelight in place of Stormlight for the alloying process is still odd enough to be worth noting. Why does Navani think that the mystery sphere contained Anti-Voidlight, as opposed to Anti-Stormlight or Anti-Lifelight, or any of the other options that she doesn’t know about? Is it just the color similarity? Because that doesn’t sound like it’s necessarily specific or predictive once you are dealing with “opposites” along arbitrary conceptual axes. Raboniel’s daughter (do we have a name? Is it the one Rlain invoked, perhaps?) is humming a human song. That’s intriguing. The spren reacts to the same tone as the stormlight, which isn’t surprising but is important. And the spren is too large to escape the gem the same way that light does. Wait, what? Releasing a flamespren from a split ruby results in two flamespren? That’s fascinating and strange. What’s going on there? Hm. Jezrien’s death was a complication to the anticipated capture. I had assumed that the herald capture/killing was at Odium’s orders, and that one outcome was as good as the other, but this sounds more like it’s a research project Raboniel is running, and she has plans for the souls she captures. Who is She Who Dreams, and what is her relationship to Raboniel? I’m very curious. The dagger only captured half the spren? That’s important. Oh, and the two halves remained conjoined? And not only that, but active? This is huge. In the drawing from the notebook, the gem in the dagger was a ruby. Could the dagger have worked to capture the flamespren if a different gem had been affixed? What else would change with interchanging the gems? How would that conjoining be affected? Huh. And the movement is amplified (possibly by an integer multiple of three) from dagger to free ruby. Hmm. Navani posits it’s a size difference (mass or volume would give the same ratio, so hard to say which is important) that causes the force amplification. Where did Raboniel get sand from Taldain? Presumably by trade or seizure, but with Autonomy’s isolationist stance that sort of export is going to be exceptionally rare, even by the standards of offworld items. That compliment is well earned, but feels premature after Navani only just resolved to try scholarship an hour ago. Even though we the readers have been expecting it for weeks of in-world time, Navani is facing it much more abruptly and won’t be able to accept it.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Navani’s Notebook Part III Art here. Okay, first thing to note, before I translate anything, is that this is almost certainly Shallan’s gemstone dagger from Mraize. And yet, this is Navani’s notebook. So how did it get delivered to Navani for study? Were the notes made during the course of this book (presumably in part V when the cast reunites)? Or Is this based on descriptions and sketches from Shallan, or possibly a different instance of that artifact type? Okay, transcription time: (Note: I made my comments as I deciphered the text line by line, so as you’ll see I frequently contradict my own speculation as I go.) Well, that answers that question. Apparently they are more common than I thought, and that is a very concerning discovery. Also, when did Navani see this in action and get close enough access to make this analysis? Where did Navani learn the word investiture? From Raboniel presumably? She hasn’t used it yet in the text, I think? Hard to remember for sure. Oh, well if she’s learning words like Raysium then she’s definitely getting a crash course in cosmere terminology. Also, is Raysium necessary as a component or could another godmetal work? Ah, the Raysium seems essential, and is a determining factor on the power of the blade, or at least its capacity to channel a soul of particular size/strength. Aaaaa! Line by line authorship changes. This is: Horrifying for Navani’s ability to keep scientific integrity in her notes, with this degree of oversight. Impressive that navani will express her doubts with this much candor. Confirmation that those stupid part 3 epigraphs were in fact a mix of authors penning the in-world Rhythm of War. No wonder it didn’t partition easily between Navani and Raboniel in tone or implied understanding. It was a conversation between the two, without attributions. And the temptation to split between text and undertext was a red herring, since they both wrote wherever they wanted. Impressive again that Nazh would risk acquiring this document. Presumably Raboniel is possessive of her research materials. I’m not confident in that last word. Is “ho” a question mark, and Nazh added the other one to the end? Scanning down the the next question mark, it is preceded by the same “ho” so I’m going with that interpretation. That is optimistic, Navani, and I suspect at least partially written as an encouragement to Raboniel that you are working in her expressed interests as well as your own. You think so, do you? Bold claim, Raboniel. (eyeroll) Um, I don’t recognize that as an allomantic metal. Silver itself is allomantically inert, but I sort of recall it being included in some of the alloys, so I could be wrong. However, nickel is not a base allomantic metal either, so it seems unlikely that this would be a realmatically active metal from what we know. Then again, I don’t trust Raboniel to be telling the full truth here. (Or to be fully knowledgeable about fabrial science, which we know Navani is better at than she is.) Hm. I wouldn’t have thought split rubies from spanreeds to be the first experiment. Although it’s certainly probable that there were others performed before this. Reversible, huh? So it is also a soul injector, not just a stealer? I presume that Raysium functions as a diode in these sorts of circuits, then? Who are we going to be injecting souls into with this, and will they appreciate being stabbed? This is probably the most realmatically dense notebook page since Way of Kings. The introduction of spren and fabrials probably trumps it since that was a bigger, more general reveal, but this one doesn’t have to teach us the alethi script and can just deliver information about fabrial science, about Navani and Raboniel’s research relationship, and about the authorship of Rhythm of War. I am so glad that I take the time to appreciate the art pages, and that Brandon and company give us such rich material in the books. Navani’s pages are also done by Ben, right, in addition to Shallan’s? I don’t remember for sure. Massive kudos all around.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 83 (The Games of Men and Singers) Icons: Vev for healing, Kelek for Willshaper shenanigans? Epigraph: It feels like a partial homage to Bilbo’s “butter scraped over too much bread” line, though it could just be coincidence with the similar underlying idea. The name of the tower being Ur came up back in chapter 49, but Venli confirms here that Ur has the same meaning as one would expect from Earth linguistics: “original.” Listeners have accelerated childhood and abbreviated adolescence compared to humans. Adulthood comes at age 10. That is bound to have some major impacts on culture and society. Hm. That’s interesting that the passions that appear to be missing from Odium’s “God of Passion” schtick are love and caring–the emotions most associated with passion in (modern Western) English culture. I’m not sure if Venli is correct in the general sense, but it certainly seems to have been the case for her experience. The ancient singers didn’t just reject the Fused, they rejected the Fused’s war, the conflict. That is an important clarification, Venli. Well considered. Venli, by searching for Cultivation’s tone, is able to instantly mix and harmonize Odium and Cultivation together, drawing on both or the combination of them. Is that helped by the fact that she has Timbre and a voidspren in her gemheart already? Or because she is in the tower where the Sibling has already been attuned to a mixture of Tower light and Voidlight? This was much faster, more instinctive, and more natural than the duet that Navani and Raboniel managed together. How important is that difference? I’m not sure that leaving a diorama of the “traitorous” listeners out to be discovered is the best move, Venli. You might want to clean that up. I wonder if Venli’s obvious spying on behalf of Leshwi is what has allowed her to hide her status as Radiant. Raboniel hasn’t internalized the idea of “always another secret,” so any of the things she might notice get written off as plotting by another Fused rather than the effect of growing Radiance. I don’t remember which one nightform is. A quick search shows I haven’t made a note of it in my liveblog yet, so it is possible this is the first mention of them by that name. If the Ars Arcana doesn’t have a list of Regal forms this time, I’ll have to do a dive through the coppermind. Leshwi has a deep respect for Raboniel’s plotting and says her goals are inscrutable to her, much less to mere mortals. I’m not encouraged about knowing which way she’ll push things. Let me expand my earlier statement. I’m not encouraged about anything to do with the Lady of Wishes. Odium at least seems to want the world to still exist when he’s done with things. Lirin is really struggling here with his principles. Claiming that Kaladin doesn’t want to be his son any longer is a poor interpretation of their disagreement, and a big stretch from what Kal said, but I can see how Lirin would think that’s what was meant. This argument with Rlain is rough. Go Hesina! That’s right, Kal’s mom is awesome, and her position isn’t in direct support of either side in the Kaladin–Lirin debates, so she can help her son without being conflicted. Oh, that’s exciting! I definitely didn’t see where Timbre was going with things, but a daring rescue of Lift sounds like an excellent swerve from this morose defeatism. Yay Timbre! How do Venli’s powers help get through the aluminum shielding? Is Lift not inside the ralkalest box any more? It’s interesting the different reaction that spren have to lies. Venli here hiding her Radiant status, the type of blade she has, her role in summoning the Everstorm, everything else, doesn’t seem to phase Timbre at all. Dalinar had so much angst about coming clean to those around him, Kaladin can’t lie to himself or anyone else without hurting his honor. Contrast with Cryptics who are attracted to deception of all types. I guess I wasn’t expecting to find a spren that simply didn’t care either way. Hm. The expression of surges is different for Venli’s Willshaping versus the Deepest Ones. They merge with the stone, while Venli displaces it. I think they’re still using the same surge, but I’m not certain. I may need to make another chart. I wonder what Wyndle was telling Lift during this conversation. I’d like to get his take on things. Lift seems to buy the “not a Radiant” line, but it’s hard to tell. She’s still looking for the chicken. Love it. Also, new favorite word is “buttress.” Prison is good for pondering the important things in life. I wonder if the further corruption of the tower has caused further suppression of Lift’s abilities, or if she remains largely immune due to her special circumstances.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 82 (Knife) Icons: Back to two heralds, following the usual pattern. Kalak and Nale. Hmm. Epigraph: Why was the previous one so long, and the rest of these relatively short? This one would be impactful if we hadn’t already had the 7000 year figure floated twice in the story recently. Yes, irony and all that, but the important information here is that Gavilar was a member of the Sons of Honor, not just their inspiration. The organization (and its name, presumably) predates his death. I had previously been under the impression that the Sons of Honor and the Diagrammists arose from Gavilar’s influence but not following directly in his path. While that may be true if he was keeping all these ridiculous secrets from everybody, it’s now seeming likely that the Sons were just continuing the work he’d already explicitly started them on. “First, open the cube.” This is not a good instruction to follow, Veil. This is obviously a specific countermeasure prepared against you. Best guess: a piece of jewelry that belonged to her mother, or a memento of Helaran. You do not need to be emotionally devastated right now. Oh, I was wrong. It was the gemstone knife to trap heralds in. I guess my paranoia about Mraize (and Iyatil! Don’t forget Iyatil!) may be a little oversensitive. Thaidakar has an “affliction similar to that of the Heralds.” Is that talking about their growing insanity from acting counter to the Intent of their nature under the oathpact? Is it talking about the oathpact that dragged them off to Braize and back to Roshar? Something else entirely? The vagueness is expected, but unhelpful. Hm. Kelek, whose primary virtue is Resolute, is manifesting insanity in the form of crippling indecision. This makes a lot of sense. It also explains why he would be easily manipulable compared to other heralds, but not really why it wasn’t worth attempting to capture the others in this way. In addition, it suggests that Adolin’s trial may not go the way anyone expects. It’s pretty clear to the reader that Mraize is leaving things out of his explanation and framing it in a pretty twisted angle, but going by what Shallan knows of the situation he’s being remarkably convincing. I hope She, Veil, and Radiant (and maybe Formless?) can see around his obfuscations. Becoming a Ghostblood is attractive because…it will bring her closer to reliving her lost memories? Because she’s always wanted a tattoo? What’s the end goal, Shallan? Ah, did I understand that correctly? Did Mraize just intimate that he’s aware of Formless and that he thinks she should give over control to that part of herself? Or was he talking about Veil? *** Bondsmiths must have pretty awesome potential, given how Kelek recoils from Adolin by the mere association with Dalinar. Kinda defeatist there, aren’t you. “Only thing to do is find a way off the sinking ship.” “Honor is dead. The world belongs to Odium now.” Not the attitude one would hope for from their divine protectors. Kelek seems to enjoy contradicting people. This trial might partially hinge on trying to get the opposite party to request something that Kelek can overturn with great pettiness. I’m hoping for a Kafka-style scene at least once in this Trial. As fun as that sort of resolution would be, the winning move is still going to be Maya appearing to overturn expectations. I’m looking forward to that, while also being concerned about how Shallan’s knife is going to poke things in the background.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 81 (Trapped) Hm. I’m not sure I get Eshonai’s mentality yet. Why would she need to reassure herself that warform wasn’t a prison? Where are we in the timeline? It’s a good opening, but I need some context. I didn’t realize that Rlain was part of Eshonai’s warform circle. Did I just miss it before when he was mentioned, or is this his first appearance in the flashbacks? He and Eshonai share a wariness about warform, but the way they experience it appears to be different. That’s absolutely valid from the emotion side of things, but I think this is the first time anyone has been described as attuning two different rhythms at once. In light of Navani’s hybrid tone experiments to produce harmonics from the rhythms, this feels significant. Also, as an aside, I like that depiction of the ocean as a network of streams. That’s something that could show up in a Wit story and be perfectly at home. I appreciate that Eshonai retains her interest in exploration and mapping even through the various forms she takes. That would be a fascinating (if nervewracking) way to discover your personality, by seeing what wasn’t lost as you transitioned into new phases and mentalities of life at regular intervals. I’m looking for Willshaper ideals in Eshonai’s speech, but it doesn’t feel like much of note. Yes, she invokes freedom, but it’s more to do with the listeners’ circumstance than with her evident desire to not be trapped on the Plains. *** The respect is understandable, after getting out of the confrontation with Nale, but the never “abandoning” her sounds more like he’s been babysitting to make sure she doesn’t have a chance to think clearly. I hadn’t really thought about Venli’s scholars all being her inner circle in working for the Return. I was imagining it just being her and Demid. Did she pick five because she was mirroring the council of five that leads her people, or was it just the number of voidspren she had available? The hubris of claiming that they would come out on top over the spren who have been manipulating everything is sad, but the part of this that really stings is the way she blames Eshonai for starting the war.

Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers. Chapter 80 (The Dog and the Dragon) Title: You mean an axehound? What are you talking about, Wit? Stop making up animals. Icons: As expected, Jester/Fool matches the title. Not sure why Jezrien is there. Epigraph: Yes, Jezrien was trapped in a gemstone. I like that Kalak is critical of the singer’s cleverness in taking 7000 years to figure that out. Kal feeling like the wind hates him because of power suppression is unexpected but totally makes sense as something that would feed into his depressive state. Are these hateful flashes of light the Sibling? Is it that far gone to voidlight already? Or am I jumping to conclusions? Wait, is this just a normal nightmare, not a power-influenced vision? The leaving Syl behind thing is so counter to his previous chapter that I can’t see where it would come from besides his own internal fear. Oh, hold up. This description sounds like Braize. How did he get to Braize? That would explain the pervasive Hate that’s everywhere, though. And it would explain why Syl is too far away. I worry about what effect this is actually having on Syl in the waking world. Obviously the bond is still intact, but the distance will have strained it heavily. If this is what happens to the Heralds, I can see how they wouldn’t last long. Notably, Kaladin is seeing visions of people he can’t protect. Those quotes about torture in Damnation where the heralds remember knives and the scent of burning flesh…there’s nothing that I recall specifying the torture was of them individually rather than, for example, being forced to watch a town of people be massacred while they stood by powerless. That’s not to say that physical torture of the heralds didn’t also happen (Kal certainly isn’t having a good time), but it definitely casts a new light on some of those passages. I’ll need to go back and read those with new eyes. Which tone is he hearing? Best guess is Honor’s but I’m not sure. The title and icons indicate this is a Wit chapter, so the light could well be Wit coming to the rescue, and he has access to all sorts of light. Could be any number of shard flavors. Yes, it is Wit rescuing him, though there’s no indication yet of the variety of light he’s using. Also, this is really not how one keeps a low profile from Odium. Nor is hanging out with Jasnah for a year and a half, now that I think of it. What’s going on there? Is he still trying to obfuscate his presence from the local shards? Hm. A vision akin to Dalinar’s but from Odium…and Wit doesn’t know how Odium found Kal. Aww, I miss Rock. Wit is being remarkably silent compared to his usual sort of intervention. Ah, and Kal asked for a story, totally making Wit’s year I bet. Very sweet. Let’s see what the offering is. I doubt it will live up to “The Girl Who Looked Up,” but that’s a supremely high bar. Wit’s Cryptic excitedly waving at Kal is cute. I need more screentime for this energetic bundle of patterns who is undoubtedly loving the many, many flavors of lies it gets to find by hanging out with Wit. And she tells puns. “I’m irrational” indeed. Yep, Kal gets an explanation of what a dog is. I hadn’t realized that dragon was also a word he wouldn’t know. I’d have assumed that it would translate into greatshell or something when Wit said it, since giant mythical monster is kind of a staple, but no. Yolen exists, and dragons are a specific thing that can be referenced in the cosmere, so Kal will need an explanation of that as well. Huh. Axehounds are the result of domestication, not a natural outgrowth of the ecology of Roshar. Obviously the species existed first, but the form it’s in now is the dog version, rather than the wolf version. I would be interested to know more about convergent examples of domestication. Hmm. I enjoy the description of a dragon through the eyes of someone familiar with Rosharan fauna. “Only four legs” and “small pieces of shell” are fun reactions. It does confirm for the first time the appearance of cosmere dragons: four legged, winged, large. European ideal, one might say. What!?! There’s a dragon on Roshar? Is it cultivation’s vessel, or is it someone else? Can we meet her? Oh, the cryptic’s name is Design. That’s got a very different connotation than Pattern, despite the many synonymous meanings. I wonder how important that is.Design’s approach to spoilers is endearing. The proof was valid. I hope she shows up in Wit’s future cameos. Can you imagine how that would have gone if he’d already bonded her before this? Wit is getting far too much mileage out of having a compliant audience. I bet he wants to say that to people almost as often as they want to say it to him. How can someone look assiduous? That’s a weird description for the illusion of a farmer’s child. That word is supposed to describe character and actions, not appearance. Also, Design is great. Oh, so Wit is still escaping notice and is open to being attacked if that fails. Actually, the specific wording is important here: Was it Wit’s interference with Kaladin, the act of creating the bubble, that violated the agreement, or is it his interference on Roshar in general? Given Wit’s comment about the vision “not playing fair” at the beginning, presumably his justification for stepping in, I’m left to assume that the agreement was about taking direct action against Rayse, and his activities with Jasnah wouldn’t qualify. Hard to say for sure, though. Hoid’s true power: annoying the protagonist until they get motivated to Do Something About It. Final verdict: a decent story, but fun mostly for the contrast to Roshar’s animals. Nowhere near as awesome as Girl Who Looked Up, but it does feature Design in the storytelling, which is a great redeeming quality.