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  1. ccstat

    Chapter 49

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 49 (Soul of Discovery)
    Epigraph: Yes, I would expect someone in your situation to have trouble focusing on the right knowledge, when everything is so tangled and obfuscated, and you must hide your discoveries. Good luck, Navani, I believe in you!
    Busywork to buy yourself time to think and get organized. Makes sense, but Raboniel will anticipate this. I vote for boldness!
    Is Navani mistaking Venli for a Fused instead of a Regal, or is there another Fused down there with them? Ah, whoever it is seems to be insane like most Fused, so it’s not going to be Venli. Don’t underestimate any of them, though. 
    Still not sure why garnet is the telepathy stone. Maybe just by analogy, where it serves as the tower’s blood? Feels awkward as a reason.
    Sibling hid from Re-Shephir for centuries? That’s storming impressive….and Sibling just discounts that as unimportant. Time doesn’t matter to them.
    Radiant spren “think like humans because they want to be humans. I do not pretend. I am not human. I do not need to care about time.” Methinks the Sibling doth protest too much. Who are you really angry at that you want to relish the distance between yourself and humans? Is it Melishi? Someone else?
    As an aside, this is a good point to bring up that I’m having a hard time remembering to keep Sibling agender. I gendered it as female in my head up until it was introduced, and I’m taking a while to recontextualize that.
    “We are not friends, human. You are a slaver. I do not trust you.” Well, good. Nice to see we can rely on each other here.
    Navani sees the human thought processes that the Sibling follows. She sees through the protests just like I did, except with actual analysis instead of just intuition and skepticism. You go, Navani!
    The shield is soulcasting air into glass, in an ongoing manner rather than the one-off that most soulcasting uses. That’s fascinating, and a workable method for preventing someone from just breaking the wall that you’ve erected--constantly recreate it.
    The tower is called Ur. That gives us half of the palindromic name. What is the central bit, then? I also like the connection to our use of “Ur”, both as the ancient city and the “ur example” etc. It’s a fun linguistic overlap.
    The Sibling was harmed when the Unmade were bound and the listeners enslaved. Specifically, they lost the Rhythm of their Light. And Honor couldn’t or wouldn’t help them.
    So, which lights/rhythms were affected? Surely it couldn’t have been everything except Stormlight, right?
    On second thought, though, that might be the easiest way to implement it. Give a sample of “permitted” investiture to act as a key, and shut down everything that doesn’t match. It’s the same as Ur’s suppression field, except scaled up to Bondsmith epic proportions.
    Lift got caught! Oh no! Mraize, you are on my list, now. And she’s in a ralkalest cage? Not good.
    Hmm. Sibling’s awareness of the tower is mediated by the Connection to radiants. That’s interesting mechanistically.
    ---
    Kaladin sneaking through the tower didn’t seem like a big deal to me, until I realized he was doing it in complete darkness. Syl doesn’t illuminate her surroundings, so even though she can guide him she can’t help him see. This is a terrifying situation to be spelunking through what amount to twisted caverns. At least they are sized to fit a person walking, but it still holds a frightening risk of getting hopelessly lost.
    Kaladin’s mind jumps to them using collaborators from Amaram’s army or some other group outside the tower, rather than finding actual Alethi soldiers who will cooperate. It’s possible that he’s right and those uniforms are stolen, but I find it much more likely that the new overlords are forcing humans to do what they wish.
    Lirin and company are safe, so that’s good. I wasn’t expecting otherwise, but it is great to have confirmation.
    More lashing practice. I guess he hasn’t tried the Reverse Lashing much, since he mostly just loves flying. Oh, now that’s interesting. I hadn’t clued into it previously, if the hints were there, that the reverse lashing can be selective in what it targets. The explanation in Way of Kings was that objects in motion are naturally more affected, which is why the arrows were attracted to the bridge he was carrying but clothing, rocks, and bridgmen were not. I wonder if this is a new aspect to the magic that Brandon decided to develop, or if it’s something that we just didn’t learn before because Kaladin didn’t have the practice and terminology to share it. I’m honestly leaning toward the retcon/new idea side of things, but either could be the case.
    Ah, getting supply from the ardents running the mental ward. Makes sense, and it looks like he’ll be coming back for more. Bet you a skymark that his eventual resistance involves all the soldiers he’d been starting group therapy with.
    It’s obvious that the Sibling is facilitating this little telepathy session, but I’m curious whether that’s necessary. It’s certainly possible that the garnet veins could function for that purpose if infused and operated by someone with the right knowledge/ability. 
    I’m really not understanding the priority here. Why is figuring out the oathgates the first thing they need to do? I would absolutely send Kaladin after Lift first, get two free radiants on your side. (Although I suppose that’s largely because I know that it’s the Ghostbloods not the listeners that have captured her. Navani doesn’t have that information and it would be bad to tip off the occupying force just to get a second asset.) Okay, I take it back. She’s acting reasonably.
    I’m not sure if Kaladin sneaking around to investigate the oathgates is going to lead to a Vyre or Pursuer confrontation first. If this were a different kind of book I would expect Vyre to save him from the pursuer before having a talk of his own, but that doesn’t really jive with what we’ve seen from Vyre so far. I’ll put it at low odds for now.
     
  2. ccstat

    Cover and Prologue

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Intro post here. Beware of spoilers.
    COVER
    We have cover art! Michael Whelan does it again and the release on tor.com of the new cover art for Rhythm of War means I have the impetus to go ahead and start this live blog.  I know that multiple chapters have already been released, but I've been busy with other things and haven't made time to enjoy the hype.  In addition I have tried to keep myself spoiler-free.
    It's worth noting that the artwork for the chapters that are being released as preview material will not be available prior to the release of the book, and that's disappointing to me. I'm looking forward to going in and deciphering text and enjoying the amazing artwork that Isaac and others have contributed. Once the book actually comes out you can expect that to be my first stop. Probably not the chapter headings though I don't usually get into how the Herald's contribute to or foreshadowing chapter. At least not until afterwards. 
    So let's take a look at the art now. Obviously the sun in the sky and the highways of light make it very clear that we are in shadesmar now. The bismuth crystal type of patterning behind Shallan is very different than what I expected, and it makes me wonder if Shallan is attracting the cryptic’s cousinspren, whatever they are. I’m referring of course to the theory that windspren and honor spren are related in a realmatically significant way, and that other Radiant spren have similarly important lesser spren that (may or may not) contribute to shardplate. 
    In addition, the surroundings are much more alive and verdant than I expected. It's reminiscent more of what I would expect in the chasms with vines and rockbuds and similar life. It's interesting that that aesthetic or ecological imprint is reflected in shadesmar.
    The person behind her on the back cover is obviously not Kaladin because he's not holding a spear. I'm presuming that’s Adolin, except that he's holding a sword and it's not Maya. It's possible that it's Renarin, which might make more sense if you're sending your Radiants into shadesmar, but I'm actually a Shadolin shipper, so I'm hoping that this is reflective of scenes in the book involving Shallan and her new husband. Plus, cover art is only representative, so Maya doesn’t have to be part of Whelan’s painting. Maybe she’s off to the side and he brought a mundane sword with him just in case.
    Moving on. That Tower in the background is very geometrically uniform, in stark contrast everything else in the area. I suspect that it's something to do with the high spren or spren society and is a construct of shadesmar rather than a reflection of something in the real world. It is on dry land which should correspond to an oceanic or watery area in the Physical Realm. The only candidate for a real world location that I can think of would be the origin which in my mind is distant enough that there's no reasonable expectation that they could see it from an easily accessible location on continental roshar.
    I think that’s as much analysis as I will give of the cover for now, other than to say it’s very pretty, I’m thrilled that we get a Shadesmar scene, and I’m glad that highstorms aren’t the only visual trademark of the series.
     
    Prologue
    Before jumping in, I think I did hear that this was going to be a Navani chapter. I'm eager to see how much she knew about Gavilar's actions and intentions. Not that I actually expect this chapter to reveal much. 
    Okay, Navani. Let's see what you were up to the night your first husband died.
    WAIT, STOP! WHAT AM I THINKING?! I can't just start with the prologue. I saw the cover art, but not the back cover copy. 
    In case you don't know, the blurbs on the back covers are written as in-world text from the perspective of the Sleepless (a.k.a Dysian Aimians, a.k.a. creepy bug swarm gestalt consciousnesses that have been on screen as every suspicious cremling in the series). So, has the cover copy for RoW been released yet? Let's go find out.
    Amazon: nope.
    B&N: nope
    Tor: don't see it
    BrandonSanderson.com: sadly, not even here.
    I have put in a request to the 17S discord, but unless they come through for me I'm going to have to assume it's out of my reach for the time being.
    I guess that's okay. I mean, I'm already skipping straight past Dawnshard, the Rysn novella that is supposed to come out right before RoW releases and will obviously involve the Aimians and (unless Brandon is even more of a massive troll than we already know him to be) the Dawnshards. So, I guess I can skip more vague interpretation of ambiguous cremling speak for now.
    Very well, on to the actual prologue.
    (I hear you. You’re saying “It's been how many paragraphs, and this guy still hasn't read any actual words from the book?” Sorry friends, this is the stream of consciousness and hype that you get. :-) Still, it’s probably about time to move on, don’t you think? )
     
    PROLOGUE (for real this time)
    Title: “To pretend” There are a lot of things that could mean. I'm going to guess initially that it has to do with her relationship with Gavilar. But obviously I have to actually read the chapter to find out. 
    First impressions bear that out. She’s peeved at not being consulted about things.
    Maratham. That’s a new name. Pretty sure we haven’t met her before.
    Ooo, burn! I’m starting to get a picture here.
    Hm, that bit about Navani requisitioning grain from Amaram. Or more accurately she “had been able to pry them from his grip.” It makes me wonder how much Navani was involved in trying to arrange his pairing with Jasnah and how much of that was just Gavilar.
    Aesudan is outside by the fountains, clearly up to something. Do we get to find out why Jasnah was about to assassinate her? (Or why she might have held off?) I like that she has no sense of style, just gaudy wealth (at least in Navani’s eyes.) 
    Aesudan is chatting with ardents. Is that a diagram connection? A stormwarden connection? There are conspiracies everywhere, so we have plenty of options for our suspicions. (Yes, I know the diagram isn’t a thing yet, but they could still be allies of Taravangian, pointing at a future diagram connection. But, yeah, that one is a bit less likely.)
    Oh look! A new swear! In case you don't know, I curate a list of compiled profanity from Roshar in a thread here on 17S. I will be paying particular attention to any of those that crop up and making note of them as I go. This one is just an intensified version of the ubiquitous “Storms” but it’s got a great feel to it.
    Hm. Aesudan meeting with a master artifabrian… and apparently she’s not upset by Navani’s appearance. This might simply be a genuine meeting rather than something covert.
    That’s right, Navani. It is totally her inadequacies that are ruining your relationship, nothing to do with your judgemental attitude. Nope, not your fault at all.
    Bahahaha! Aesudan can’t escape the science talk fast enough. 
    *snerk* I can see how Navani would lose patience with this woman. 
    As vapid as she is, how was she enough of a threat for Jasnah to send Liss after her?
    So, Gavilar invited the master artifabrians to discuss spren capture. Definitely not suspicious. He couldn’t possibly be doing something nefarious with that.
    Sad day! Navani didn’t get to talk to Ardent Kris, and after tonight she probably never will :-(
    Drunk Dalinar strikes again! I have to say that’s pretty impressive that he would manage to drink everything set aside for this massive banquet.
    Gavilar’s associates are “uncommon figures,” arriving without warning, going unnamed, and (probably) looking ethnically ambiguous. You have nine guesses who might be involved.
    This is a repeat, but nice to see again, especially the golden keys association being confirmed. (Previous instance had the longer form Vedeledev). As the patron herald of the Truthwatchers, that’s got to be significant somehow, but for now we only have speculation.
    Hmm. Navani has it bad for Dalinar. She doesn’t seem conflicted in the slightest. She is pining and can’t stop herself. Glad we know it works out for them eventually.
    Jaw drop. WHAT? This isn’t just some random worldhopper casually talking about planetary travel through the cognitive realm, this is Gavilar demonstrating that he is very much In The Know. (And yet he is still wrong enough to want to cause the final desolation. Sheesh). 
    Importantly, he’s talking about trying to go farther than Braize. His ambitions aren’t limited to the local system, and he has a glimpse at the wider cosmere, not just the underpinnings of Greater Roshar. Wow. I’m not sure how much there is to pull out of the wording in this little exchange, but I’m sure we’ll be coming back to pick it apart over and over.
    Oh. Smooth move, Gavilar, appropriating your wife’s personal space for your conspiracy meetings. That will make her happy with you.
    Oh, it’s these two dudes. Nale and (iirc) Kalak, yes? Clearly this conspiracy is a lot more involved than I thought. I got the impression from prior books that they were not working directly with Gavilar. Hmm. What are the heralds’ motivations here? Are they looking for ways to sever their oathpact more completely? Make a permanent escape from Greater Roshar? That’s the only thing that immediately springs to mind.
    I wonder what Gavilar knew about them?
    Yep, he definitely knows they are heralds, with that reference to Ash. How is it that the conspiracies just keep getting deeper? The layer-upon-layer of reveals is something I love, but after three books you would think that we’d have at least an idea of the goals of the obvious players. I’m not asking for a treatise on Ghostblood politics and planning, here, just an idea of who knows the big secrets. Especially since until we found out about the Skybreakers I thought the answer was “nobody.”
    Well, that’s interesting. Looks like I’m right about Kelek’s motivation at least. More to the point, Nale already knows that Gavilar is gonna die tonight, and I still don’t know if he’s causing it or simply permitting it. That whole business with the Listeners conveniently happening upon Szeth just in time to send him after Gavilar is pointing some serious suspicion at one or more of the heralds, but which? I don’t know.
    Yeah, the lack of trust Gavilar is showing here for Navani is such a stark contrast to where we left Dalinar in the previous book. All three books, really, but especially after their marriage Dalinar relied on Navani a great deal, sharing his fears and ambitions with her. This is an important narrative foil to that, and I’m expecting the next chapter (or at least the first one featuring the Kholin family) to hammer that point in even harder, since not everyone comes into these books invested enough to notice the comparison without at least having it shown in the same book.
    I was just about to comment on how slimy Gavilar seems, when he pulls this. I guess that answers my earlier question about who supported the match with Meridas. Glad to see that Jasnah has her mother on side.
    Low blow, Gavilar. Low blow. That kind of abusive relationship is not surprising in Alethi culture or in the marriage of a king, but I think you just got onto my list. I’m cheering for Szeth tonight. You have a chance to redeem yourself in book 5 when we get your perspective on the night, but I’m not expecting you to do anything but dig yourself deeper.
    Ominous. Does that mean he’s trying to take the place of a herald? What type of immortality has he discovered?
    WOW. Navani painted a prayer for Death Gift Death. She will have some complicated feelings when her prayer is answered in the most literal way possible.
    This whole passage with Navani’s shock and processing her feelings is very well written. 
    Oh, smooth. Give him your jewelry to cover up the fact you just tried to rob his corpse. I like it
  3. ccstat

    Chapter 48

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 48 (Scent of Death, Scent of Life)
    Flashback time :-)
    Still 9 years ago, by the heading. 
    I love that Eshonai describes the humans as living relics. That perspective is utterly at odds with the human conception of things, not only in the ethnocentrism each side brings with them, but also because the listeners have an oral history that tells them about the humans, while the opposite is obviously not the case.
    It’s also fascinating and tragic that she doesn’t recognize the parshendi as listeners. They don’t listen to the rhythms, so they can’t possibly be related despite the physical similarities.
    Klade and Eshonai teaming up to talk to the humans. Go team!
    Well, there’s the title: old plants die and new plants grow in their place. A bit heavyhanded as a metaphor, except that it’s ironic because Eshonai doesn’t see it yet.
    This has got to be Jasnah, but I was initially confused at her position being described as “surgeon’s assistant.” She’s got the scholar thing down, obviously, but she’s being far less subtle with her questions about nahel spren than I would have expected.
    Dalinar = warform human. I didn’t know that was a theory, but call it confirmed. Nice, Eshonai!
    Ah, so the confusion about their gods and the chasmfiends was a language issue. When you define “worship” as “respect” you are bound to get a different answer than you suppose.
    Eshonai’s continued misapprehension about the scale of the world is somewhat comedic but more painful as a reminder of just how isolated her people are and have been.
    It strikes me as interesting that Eshonai doesn’t recognize the soulcaster at all. The listeners have shardblades, but no ancient fabrials. Why is that? We learned before that the human assumption about listeners soulcasting their food was wrong, but I didn’t think it was wrong to the extent that they’d never encountered a soulcaster. I mean, it makes sense, but it’s an intriguing point.
    For some reason I’m surprised to hear Jasnah refer to the False Desolation as such. I thought that name for it was based on more recently discovered knowledge. I may have to review who knows what about Rosharan history.
    “As if the Rhythm of Awe had been given life.” That’s a good description of a chasmfiend.
    Honestly, I was expecting Dalinar to start running at the chasmfiend to attack it as soon as it emerged. That he’s standing back and talking about it first shouldn’t be a surprise, but I guess he has a little more sanity back then than I gave him credit for.
    She calls the spren that follow chasmfiends ‘chasmspren’ which is odd, except that if they really only see them in company of the greatshells in the chasms, it could make sense. Humans see them with skyeels first, so they have a different association.
    Gavilar perks up at the mention of ruins. What was he looking for at this time? I really don’t have a sense for the timeline of his development. (Honestly, I still don’t know much of what he was up to, but I know even less about the timing.) He asks her about the Radiants too, as though that aspect of things clinches his interest, but I get the sense the ruins are his focus. It’s got to be the oathgate he’s searching for, but how much did he know? Why did he think to look for ancient cities? If he knew enough to do that… you know, I was going to say something about the one in Kholinar, but I’m remembering that it was locked and Jasnah couldn’t get it open. So it makes sense he’d look elsewhere.
    Ooo, crafty. Give your tentative allies (a.k.a. exploitable resource) better weapons so they can conquer their rivals for you. It’s irresistible for Eshonai’s tribe, and so this is the point where tragedy begins to loom.
  4. ccstat

    Chapter 47

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 47 (A Cage of Forced Spirits)
    Epigraph: and now we’re citing the undertext. This really convinces me that despite the title we are dealing with a human author rather than a listener. New working theory: this is Navani’s research notes while working under Raboniel. The comment here about “answers are all that should matter” is her own doublespeak and misdirection while working under the enemy; the previous excerpts make a lot of sense in that context, describing that she’ll keep her notes in the same way she’s used to despite working with a very different collaborator in very different conditions than she ever has in the past. 
    I’m much more comfortable and confident in this working theory, and expect it to hold up much better than my wild guesses in the previous chapters.
    Skybreakers. Great. At least Dalinar took most of the Windrunners with him to help in the aerial combat. Honestly, it feels like we’ve seen too little of the Skybreakers so far, even though it’s only been since the end of Oathbringer that they decided to side with Odium. There hasn’t been opportunity to show them fighting, and they’ve been doing so for a year since the previous book, so it’s not really a failing in the story, but it sort of surprises me that it’s been this long before we see combat against them.
    The Mink’s glee at being up in the air for good vantage over the battle is adorable. And also slightly concerning. I’m looking forward to seeing him and Dalinar work together.
    Three hundred yards is a pretty high vantage point. It makes sense to be both high enough to see the whole battle and to keep out of range of weapons, but still. Very high.
    It’s fun to see them being tactically minded, even if it’s all illusory through prose. 
    Dieno is the Mink’s name. I don’t remember if we learned that before.
    Huh. Escape boat waiting in Shadesmar. That is not a tactic I considered, but I really like it.
    Hm, message from Navani is conspicuously missing the key information about an occupying force. I’m not surprised, just intrigued by what they will manage to communicate.
    Glad to see that both the Mink and Dalinar sense something off. As for the concern about Azimir’s potential siege, I’d forgotten that they still hadn’t figured out the way to connect peripheral oathgates to each other. It was mentioned earlier in this book, even, but I’m going slowly enough that I forgot about that detail. For some reason I was thinking cities with oathgates were able to contact each other directly now.
    Cord assigned herself as one of Dalinar’s bodyguards! Awesome!
    Cord shooting Nale in the face mid-speech is great. Bit of reader catharsis, there.
    Nale can see at a glance that Dalinar has no Blade. That’s a reminder of how far Heralds are beyond the current Radiants, and makes me quite concerned about Ishar. Ooo, yes. He manhandles Szeth, casually catches an arrow from a shardbow that was fired mere feet away. He’s out of their league by a long, long way.
    The exchange between Jezrien and Nale is hugely fascinating. They were enemies before the oathpact formed, while Jezrien and Ishar were allies and came up with the scheme together. Lots of respect on both sides. 
    Dalinar can see the Oathpact. Jezrien’s bond is the only one fully broken, while the others are simply “impotent.” ...except for Taln, whose bond still has full efficacy apparently. That’s interesting.
    And now Dalinar is asking about reforging the Oathpact, something that readers have been speculating about for a while. I look forward to seeing what he and the Stormfather conclude, because that will doubtless give us new directions for our speculation.
    Stormfather is surprised by how much Dalinar can do as a Bondsmith, which is odd because he’s bonded to Bondsmiths in the past. Most likely it is a result of Tanavast’s death and some of Honor’s power becoming available for Dalinar to wield--supported by Stormfather’s declaration that Dalinar “wields the power of gods.” But it’s also possibly related to his blessing from Cultivation.
    With the resolution for Dalinar to explore his powers more, I can see why Brandon might have planned to make his book number 5 instead of 3, swapping with Szeth. I can only guess that there are a lot of awesome Bondsmith moments in book 5 that this book will give us the setup for.
  5. ccstat

    Chapter 46

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 46 (The Weight of the Tower)
    Epigraph: I still don’t know who this could be. In a fit of insanity I almost assigned it to Taravangian, but Raboniel is still the best fit despite everything. I don’t believe it’s her, though. I guess Venli could fit, at a stretch--we were just reminded she does research. Oh, wait. Is this her memoirs / study journal of her early form research? That could actually work well. She’s not really the writing type, but she did have a partner in her research back in Words of Radiance, and apparently Eshonai’s record keeping suggestion got their mother’s approval so Venli might have adopted it. I’m still not convinced, but it’s a better working theory than I had before.
    Why is this a Raboniel and Navani section if Kaladin gets the chapter icon? I mean, obviously it’s going to be split for viewpoint, but Brandon usually waits to do that until he’s approaching a climax. Oh, well. Let’s check in with the former queen.
    Well, that’s a big info drop. Navani is appropriately awestruck, and sees the implications immediately. I love seeing smart characters, and this is shaping up to be an enthralling match of wits between Navani and Raboniel.
    There’s a lot more information changing hands quickly than I expected. I thought there would be more stalling. I trust that both of them have already identified which secrets are most important to keep.
    It’s a very different prospect to try to lie and keep secrets herself, as compared to leading a conclave of scholars to misdirect as a group, while under constant observation. Good luck, Navani.
    I’m also looking forward to seeing Navani start to parse out the different rhythms. She’s going to need to quickly learn to read Raboniel’s moods, as a matter of self preservation, so she has the motivation. 
    Raboniel’s insistence on decorum feels like a compulsive act based on ingrained arrogance rather than a decision to keep her underlings in place. I wonder if that’s exploitable?
    ---
    What is this vision of, and more importantly who is showing it to Kaladin? Vyre’s interlude indicated Odium was going to send a particular spren to manipulate him, while we also know the Sibling led Kaladin to this refuge in the tower.
    Oh, you’ve just made an enemy, whoever you are that’s sending this vision. Showing Kal Tien’s death is not going to help you here.
    And now they are showing him all of Bridge Four killing each other. Yes, this is his weak point, but really. It’s a bit too heavy handed if you don’t want him to rally and swear your utter destruction.
    Oh, harsh. Waking up to have Syl far away is rough. 
    Radiant spren can’t pass through walls… it’s never been a problem in the past because they were always summonable. But now it might be possible to actually isolate Radiants from their spren in the tower.
    Oh, and that’s really a very bad thing since Raboniel already told Navani that she’s looking for  a way to capture nahel spren and prevent them from bonding any more Radiants. This could get messy.
    ---
    And because the maps are not particularly helpful on their own until the story catches up, I’ll include the map of Emul in this entry:
    My main comment is that it’s strange for Sesemalex Dar to abut against Odium’s controlled portion of Emul. I would have that Ishar kept a greater buffer zone between his main city and the occupying forces. Similarly, why is his army all the way over by the border with Marat? Shouldn’t it be closer to him? Unless he’s powerful enough on his own to not need an army (unlikely), or unless his other forces just aren’t annotated since they aren’t relevant for Dalinar’s campaign (much more believable). 
    I was going to comment on the proximity of Urithiru or Yeddaw to various other things, but then I look again at the scale of this thing which is very much continental in scope. It’s covering everything from the Southern Depths up to the Purelake, so things that are nearby on the map are not necessarily close to one another. 
    The names are interesting, but aside from some frequent double consonants (including four different qq names) there’s not much I can draw from them.
    It’s also worth noting, though, that Urithiru’s location is only identified thanks to Nazh’s annotation. So this map is something that hasn’t been updated with recent knowledge by the native Rosharans.
  6. ccstat

    Chapter 45

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 45 (A Bold Heart, A Keen and Crafty Mind)
    Eshonai flashback! Notably, we haven’t seen any flashbacks in the first two parts of the book. Does that mean that Eshonai’s bits are going to be confined to part 3 only, in a departure of format from the previous books? Or does it mean that her parts were too spoilery to include until after the Urithiru invasion? It’s really hard to imagine the second one being true. This stuff is nine years old and there isn’t much from the listeners back then that would impact our reading of current events, at least assuming that Brandon wants to space out his reveals to the end of the flashbacks.
    Anyway, that title. Except for “crafty” it seems like a description of the Willshaper virtues, or just virtues in general. Crafty is unexpected, especially in reference to Eshonai. Oh, unless it’s a split description? Maybe the first part is about Eshonai and the “keen and crafty mind” is about Venli. That could jive with the chapter symbol which shows two listeners: one holding a blade and one talking to a spren. 
    “She found this to be flat out ridiculous.” Good, because I was thinking the same thing. Mapping the world steals its secrets and is therefore a bad thing? Sounds like someone woke up in idiotform after last night's highstorm.
    In the eyes of a listener, lifespren look like green balls with white spines poking out (as compared to the no-spines version that humans see.)
    Oh, you went all the way around the forest, did you? Obviously the world isn’t big enough to have two rivers. --Not that I’m sure she’s wrong, just that it seems like the setup for getting her very lost.
    Conquer is a weird word to use here. They aren’t trying to fight humans at this point, and the ancient cities should just be ruins. What do they need to do to conquer one?
    Also, I realized that this is presumably the moment she meets Gavilar for the first time. It will be interesting to get the other side of that.
    The Song of Making Paper--a good reminder that nearly everything they have is oral tradition.
    Oh, I get it. The listeners are living in small family groups and tribes. There are inter-clan conflicts over the cities. I hadn’t thought about the way their war with the humans would serve as a unifying force or how fractured their society might have been before it started.
    I like that phrase, “turned their faces to the storm.” I wonder if it is idiomatic or just a direct description of what happened. I’d be interested to see if it is used/applied in other situations.
    Instead of sitting by the fire and complaining, she would experience the beauties Cultivation offered.
    The listeners obviously have known more about the major figures of Roshar than the humans did, but I’m curious about what their traditions say about Cultivation, as well as honor. As far as I remember the only thing we’ve heard so far is that Honor and his spren betrayed them by creating nahel bonds for humans instead of listeners.
    Hm. I know it’s not the case everywhere, but I’m used to “river” being used to refer to constant feature of the landscape rather than a temporary or periodic one. There’s places in the world where streams are really only present after rainfall, but the regularity of highstorms would make that a different beast on Roshar.
    (On that note, I was already feeling bad about predicting that Eshonai didn’t realize she was lost and had found a different river. It discounts her intelligence and experience for the sake of a joke. This idea that rivers usually don’t exist constantly really kills the idea, which is probably a good thing. Eshonai would be able to tell what was going on.
    Riverspren have carapace?
    Weird cremling = sleepless? Who knows? They look like regular ones too, supposedly.
    Scattering flamespren to ensure the embers won’t reignite. That’s an application I hadn’t considered, and a neat companion to the medical progress based on rotstpren.
    Yup, there’s the human meeting.
    ---
    Ninety one stanzas about forms? That’s a lot of forms. Way more than I was guessing. They really did lose a lot when they abandoned the old ways. 
    Almost didn’t realize we’d switched over to Venli. It’s shocking how that change in association taints my impression of “dutiful daughter with loving relationship to her mother” with a cast of “jealous sister” even without anything changing about the scene beyond my assumption of which character it was.
    Aww, Venli thinking her mother is perfect is just such a wholesome moment. I love it. It’s also nice to see that Jaxlim (we didn’t know her name before, right?) still has all her faculties at this point, though of course that’s tinged with the sorrow of her looming senility.
    What does it mean for them to be a First-Rhythm family? I really don’t have a good guess without more information.
    It’s a strange parallel to see the parshendi being warlike on the shattered plains and compare that to the Alethi. There are more similarities in culture, or at least situation, than I anticipated.
    The (non-city) listeners are living in hogshide tents? I’m surprised that they farm hogs. I wouldn’t have thought that an Easter Roshar activity or a listener activity.
    Ah, Jaxlim says Eshonai has a bold heart, which means the title is indeed speaking of both sisters. Oh, there it is in the next bit of dialogue. She compliments Venli’s keen and crafty mind.
    Oh, Jaxlim is the keeper of songs. I sort of thought that all of the listeners tried to learn the songs to some degree, and it was just personal interest that made Jaxlim focus on them. While that may also be true, she has a designated position within their society to remember and teach the oral tradition.
    Hm. Venli’s comparison of Jaxlim’s coloring to “marbled stone” as a compliment makes me think of Urithiru and its strata. But surface stone is mostly crem covered, and except for the windblades at Kholinar we haven’t seen any marbled rock. Shallan’s family quarried marble itself, so it’s possible that the ruins at the shattered plains were built using marbled/stratified stone, but that’s not the apparent norm on Roshar. I’m curious where the listeners stand with respect to stone and their interaction with it. It’s certainly not going to be anything like the Stone Shamanism of the Shin, who I would think more likely to consider natural stone for comparisons to something beautiful.
    Huh. Their dad is gone, “seeking the eastern sea.” Is that abandonment and wanderlust or just misfortune on a journey? Also, what was he looking for? I like that Venli takes after her father physically but identifies with and emulates her mother, while the inverse is true of Eshonai. It makes them more complex as people.
    The singing together and the reverence Venli has for her mother is more wholesome goodness. Yay!
    Wait, Venli helped discover warform (or maybe did it singlehandedly) ?! Wow. I had no idea. I thought her research had yet to bear fruit besides the voidspren treachery. You go, Venli! I am suddenly excited to have her in proximity with Navani for the fabrial science and spren research sessions. Her time as envoy made me forget that she started out as a researcher.
    Yes, looks like it was a personal success to rediscover warform. Neat.
    The desire to be bold like Eshonai is woven in here very well to convey a natural envy/respect for her sister.
    Hm. The Five. I don’t think that’s a significant numerology association, but it’s hard not to look for one. As far as I can recall, the latest WoBs as of Oathbringer had pretty firmly indicated that the number associations were primarily planetary rather than shardic. I.e. 10 is important for Roshar, not for Honor specifically, and 16 is Scadrian not of Harmony or its constituent parts. However, it’s also sort of an emergent property of shards plus planet, so hard to say. The Nine who lead the Fused are therefore a Braize connection rather than an Odium connection specifically, though the two are probably interlinked in some way. With that in mind, I’m going to avoid speculating about the Five being half of ten or possibly a Cultivation associated number. It’s probably just cultural.
    On that topic, though, I do have to wonder about the three bondsmith spren. It’s natural that there would be one for Honor, one for Cultivation, and one that’s a mix, but at the same time it makes me wonder if there’s more to it realmatically as opposed to simple math.
    Okay, other listener families include Pure-Song, and Fourth-Movement. Combined with First-Rhythm I have even less of an idea of those derivations than I did before.
    Poor Venli, stuck in Eshonai’s shadow.
  7. ccstat

    Chapter 44

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    PART THREE! 
    Here we go. I’ll note again that I’m hyped about the inclusion of Eshonai in the POV list at the start of this section. And also Renarin, obviously. He has been horribly underrepresented so far, and I’m hopeful that he’s actually a regular viewpoint rather than just once or twice. I don’t feel confident that we’ll actually get answers about Glys yet, but maybe we’ll be fortunate. 
    Also, if the ketek pattern is to hold, this will have to be the section where we get our epigraphs from the eponymous Rhythm of War. I’m looking forward to that, but also a bit hesitant because the awkward cadence of the listener songs in Radiance really didn’t work for me. I’d prefer blank verse over that. I know Brandon based them on poetic forms from other languages or something, but if that’s the case he should have left out any attempts at traditional English rhyme. Anyway, let’s see what they contain.
    Oh, and speaking of keteks, this one isn’t making sense yet, and may not even be one. 
    “Songs of Home” certainly doesn’t fit the center line that you would expect.
    Anyway, Chapter 44 (Tinder Waiting for the Spark)
    Epigraph: Wait a minute. This is not a received wisdom or an oral tradition. This is someone writing or dictating a book. My first wild guess jumped to Khriss, but there’s no way she’s going to be suddenly prominent, and the title must necessarily be a listener or singer. Oh, Storms, it’s Raboniel isn’t it? No, I don’t actually think so--there’s not nearly enough arrogance here. I just hope we find out before the end of the book (preferably before the end of part 3).
    I thought we’d jump into the Dalinar/Renarin sections first, but it’s nice to get some continuity with Kaladin. I like that he’s most bothered by what he’s leaving behind rather than what he’s up against.
    Kaladin navigating the cavernous tower by his own glow is a cool image. I guess that is one advantage to leaking Stormlight all over the place.
    Yes, sink into the nostalgia of the good old days, running bridges on a death march. That will cheer you right up.
    What is it that gave Kaladin the sixth sense for when the Pursuer was coming, when Syl herself couldn’t sense it? The Fused seems to sense him, too.
    Kaladin is really good at being the underdog, isn't’ he? He tends to get into these situations with some regularity, despite how much power he accrues.
    Well, that’s me wrong again. I honestly thought the Shardblade mutilation of spren was enough to kill or maim them permanently. So much for that theory. It only took me four books to let it go.
    The flashback to past slave escapes is a good reminder of the experience that Kaladin has in this kind of evasion and pursuit--which means he knows how dicey it is going to get. It doesn’t help that he’s carrying someone on his back.
    Neat image. I don’t recall if we’ve seen these before, though i think we have.
    Sibling to the rescue! I didn’t think it was going to be helping much, but I guess it’s capable thanks to Navani and it is much more inclined to support Radiants that artifabrians.
    It’s notable that spren make it a whole lot harder to hide when you’re scared, etc. I thought that a few times through this chapter, and it was good to have it noted directly in the text and also factor into the chase sequence.
  8. ccstat

    Interlude I-6

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Interlude I-6 (Taravangian)
    Title: “A boon and a curse” Surely that doesn’t mean we’re going to see him on a bad day, right? Hmm, actually I don’t think I paid any attention to the chapter icon last time. It’s similar to the kings you see decorating many playing cards. There are two, one upside down compared to the other. One is holding a sword with eyes open, another has eyes closed/sad and grasps a vine or cane, presumably symbolic of nurturing. Looking back, the previous Vargo interlude had the sword rightside up (clear eyed, intelligent, cruel) while this one is flipped the other way (downcast, compassionate). So he’s on one of his less intelligent days, but going by the title he may be about to realize the fan theory about which one of those is intended as the boon.
    (images: intelligence, emotion)
    Looks like Mr. T has already contemplated the question of boon vs. curse, but when he’s smart he assumes he already knows the answer.
    He’s so old :-( Constantly plagued by exhaustionspren, joints painfully creaking, heart about to give out… he’s been spending himself for this task.
    “A god made you what you are.” Surely you’re not going to tell us that you saw Cultivation too, are you? I can buy her hand in your situation, but I think having all three of the prominent Nightwatcher visitors be secretly blessed/cursed directly by Cultivation is a bit of a stretch.
    The diagram can’t see Renarin... the obvious answer is Glys, but realmatically why would that matter? Presumably it can account for beings aligned with any of the three flavors of investiture dominating Roshar, so it’s not just as simple as Odium or Cultivation or Honor being immune. Similarly, all Radiants and nahel spren are mixtures of Honor and Cultivation, so admixtures themselves are not the issue. Is it because Sja-Anat is betraying Odium and acting against her supposed nature? Is she doing something specific with the spren she enlightens that shields them from connection/precognition?
    Good callback to the vision where Renarin was the blindspot. I’m glad Taravangian remembered that right before the next vision started.
    So much for capturing Nergaoul. I guess Odium can directly inspire the Thrill anyway? Great.
    What is the light that Taravangian sensed? I thought it might be Odium’s disguise slipping, but he suppressed it to hide. I’m not sure how that works.
    What was Odium’s original plan for the Blackthorn? Taravangian seems to think it’s more than just conquest of Roshar. Would corrupted Dalinar have led the charge across the cosmere? That’s a terrifying thought.
    Wow, “dumb Taravangian” is quite clever. Good job manipulating Rayse into showing you what you wanted to see!
    And he has a further insight about Rayse’s (former and lingering) humanity. “Slow to think but quick to understand” indeed.
    And he’s smart enough to look for the name an obsessive brilliant schemer would plan around..and he finds Szeth. Obviously we know it’s probably due to Nightblood, but I wonder what everyone in-world is going to make of this?
    Brilliant idea that the “capacity to save mankind” comes down to the capacity to understand Odium. His vacillating days of brilliance and compassion showed him how Odium thinks and how to anticipate him. It’s not either that is the gift but rather the experience...the journey. Good grief, did Sanderson just subvert his own foil for “means over ends” by making Taravangian’s journey the thing that mattered?!
    Also, I am impressed with this chapter because i still don’t know if it is going to end with triumph (Taravangian makes the decision to talk to Renarin and Dalinar) or tragedy (he has the opportunity but doesn’t follow through).
    Oh, on the page turn I see that Taravangian immediately figured out the Nightblood connection. Good on you, Vargo.
    And it looks like we get a mix of triumph and tragedy--he has to follow through on the betrayal, but he’s planning to make the strike that matters.

    Also, unrelated to this interlude, but I turned the page to see the title page of Part Three, on which the POV list includes Eshonai! Hype!
    Taravangian_Chapters_-_Emotion.svg
  9. ccstat

    Interlude I-5

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Interlude I-5 (Lift)
    Lift! It’s Lift! Hooray! 
    I know Lift is a divisive figure among Stormlight readers, but while she occasionally feels a little over the top she almost always lands really well for me. I’m excited to see what she’s up to now. My main worry is that she’ll be dropping lots of hints about Dawnshard, which I am still waiting to read until after finishing Rhythm. (I don’t actually know if Lift goes on the mission to Aimia, but I’m kind of guessing that she does? Where did I get that idea? Did I hear it somewhere or am I just making things up? Nobody knows.)
    Plus, having just seen Shallan’s cultivationspren page, I have a lot of visual references for Wyndle looking ridiculous when he tries to be serious.
    (As an aside, I’ll make another plug for the Stormlight X Worm crossover fanfic called Leaf, which I recommended and linked in my intro post. I’m not sure how well it holds up if you aren’t familiar with the dark superhero world of Worm, but the character of Lift is presented very authentically to how she appears in Edgedancer especially.)
    Anyway, on to the interlude!
    I suddenly realized that I don’t know where Lift is. Did she follow the army? Did she stay at the tower? Ah, looks like she’s still at Urithiru, and this is pre/peri-invasion. But with her unique nature, she’s bound to interact oddly with the Sibling’s suppression field. At a guess? She’s going to end up stealing Raboniel’s lunch.
    Aww, people think her kleptomania is cute and leave food out for her. That’s adorable, except Lift wants to actually steal stuff, so she’s all frustrated. I wonder who left this particular basket. I want to say Rock, but he’s gone.
    Hah. Wyndle the whineyspren. That’s alliterative and therefore almost punny. Good job, Lift.
    Yup, Everstorms bother Lift because she’s too close to the other realm.
    I do not feel good about a hideaway that is reached through a tunnel so tight you have to negate friction to get through. Lift, this is what we call a bad idea. To use a purely random example, what would happen if a scheming Fused decided to turn off everyone’s surgebinding? Or, and hear me out on this, what if you grew slightly larger? You know, that thing you’ve started to admit might actually happen despite the Nightwatcher’s promise?
    Bahaha! It’s Rock’s son. And he wrote “love” on the jar of jam. Someone’s got an admirer!
    I’d forgotten the boy’s name, so I’m glad Wyndle mentioned it: Gift. However, this is bad for two reasons: first, it sounds silly to talk about Gift and Lift as a potential couple. Second, you can’t make a shipping portmanteau out of their names. And it’s not worth trying with a proper unkalaki name. We’ll have to come up with something descriptive, and that’s less likely to catch on, especially when we know so little about the other half of the potential relationship.
    Yes, Lift. That is definitely you. Can’t think of anyone who would disagree.
    I’m with Wyndle on this one. There’s something inconsistent about that metaphor.
    Ah, she’s recognizing that the passageways have been shrinking over the past year. No other possible explanation.
    Lift has a strange old flute in her collection. Surely it’s not Hoid’s from Way of Kings? If it is, it’s only because so many people asked Brandon about it. Actually, even if it isn’t that’s probably the reason she has one here.
    I initially thought this nest might be the hidden place on the fourth floor where Sibling told Navani they could still see a cage, but the description really doesn’t match that as far as I can tell.
    Oh no. She’s growing. And a full inch? When was the last time she measured?
    Wyndle captures my own incredulity. Lift stop eating? I very much doubt the possibility. Then again, it does convey the gravity of her displeasure.
    That capital letter on Connected is what we like to call significant. But why was it important to create her that way? I want to know more, Wyndle! Oh, wait, you keep explaining. Thanks! So, the disconnect allows her to escape the perception-dependent shaping that other spren undergo. 
    Hmm. Presumably, that is mentioned here because it makes her unique, even compared to the Stormfather and Sibling?
    Confirmation that Lift met Cultivation, not just the Nightwatcher. Brandon has phrased answers to say that Lift got her boon from the Nightwatcher (as opposed to Dalinar) but I guess Cultivation intervened as well. And Wyndle just said that she’s not using Stormlight, but Cultivation’s investiture, which is another good indication that Lift will be less impacted by the suppression effect. Not totally immune, I expect; the nahel bond is still an implementation of Honor’s power via Ishar, and most nahel spren are a mix of Honor and Cultivation even if the fuel for their granted abilities is Stormlight.
    That sounds like you get a cognitive/spiritual forcefield around your soul, plus maybe some added resilience or feedback loop.
    Yup, no stormlight for you. You’re luck you still fit through that tunnel.
    Whose chickens are fighting in the sky? Is the green one Mraize’s? But then who else would have a chicken? (Initially I thought the red thing Lift saw was a voidspren. Surprise murder chicken is better.)
    She bit the chicken! Ha, take that! Such a perfect thing for Lift to do.
    Does the healing (regrowth) still work because it’s closer to cultivation that her other surge, or is it more of the loud vs. quiet abilities being suppressed differently?
    I love the image of Lift randomly chatting at cremlings since she doesn’t know which are sleepless and which are just bugs. 
    I’m starting to think that the red chicken is Mraize’s. But if that’s the case then who sent the green one? It’s still a mystery.
    Very good, Wyndle. Love the brainstorming.
    Hm, I don’t recognize this old guy. A stormwarden perhaps? This is obviously a targeted killing, not just some opportunistic looting/mugging.
    Oh. Oh, that’s not good. I was right, the green chicken did belong to Mraize, and now he’s hunting Lift. 
    And worse, that’s where the chapter ends! What is this?! Storming cliffhangers!
     
  10. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Shallan’s Sketchbook Part IV (Cultivationspren)
    Cultivationspren! (Image here)
    First thought on seeing the page is, "Why no Mayalaran?!" I guess it makes sense to not feature a personal connection like that in a scholarly work, especially if Adolin might object, but still. It would be nice to get her picture.
    At the same time, these living spren are great to see. That upper left portrait looks like it could definitely be Wyndle, even though the one in the bottom left corner is supposed to be closer to his physical realm appearance. (It’s a little goofier than I was imagining for him.)
    The crystals are more prominent in their hair (and in the physical realm manifestations) than I pictured. Also, what’s going on with that spiky thing between the two full-body portraits? Is that a less-common physical realm form? Or is it a close up of something? I can’t tell.
    The crystals are supposed to be perfectly clear, but with lots of reflections. I’m wondering if those are meant to be bright light / lens flare reflections or faceted mirror reflections with lots of tiny images.
    I really like their clothing, both in style and in the subtle patterning of the cloth.
    That the interweaving of the vines is so fine as to be barely visible to the human eye is unexpected, especially with the physical realm descriptions but also with the more prominent corded vines making up the faces here. Seeing the smooth texture of the hands, though, I’m led to believe that the heads and faces are a special case.
     
  11. ccstat

    Interlude I-4

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Interlude I-4 (Vyre)
    Here we go. Vyre. You know, Brandon is really going to have to sell me on this interlude. I am not the most ardent hater of Moash in the fandom, not by any stretch, but on top of being an unlikeable traitor (who kept eye contact with Kaladin while murdering proto-Radiant Elhokar, grrr!) he’s so much a pawn of the forces around him that it’s hard for me to get invested in what he’s doing. 
    Moash is doing the same “throw my shardblade” training exercise that Adolin did in the previous book, but failing at it while feeling like he’s so much better than the mere mortals. Not a good look.
    At least in Vyre’s hands the honorblade does indeed take ten heartbeats to summon. Presumably that’s confirmed as a true feature it shares with dead spren blades, as compared to living blades, though I doubt that’s the case for a bonded herald.
    Oh, he’s intentionally copying Adolin. I wasn’t sure.
    Huh. Outside evidence that Maya has been in tune with Adolin for a lot longer than we’ve seen her actively healing. I hadn’t expected that to show up in this PoV
    Yes, Moash. Having your emotions suppressed entirely is a sure sign of freedom. Definitely not manipulation. 
    It does show a bit of self awareness that he knows he would have been feeling anger and humiliation at holding the mythical weapon of Jezrien. Even Moash knows he’s a self centered, vindictive jerk.
    Khen is leaving because she doesn’t want to fight, which is not what I expected her to say. I thought she was going to say she was fed up with his obsessive, self-absorbed self.
    You know, seeing what I’m writing about Vyre, I think maybe I’m a bit upset about this guy. I’m not one to swear, but like the meme says, F(orget) Moash.
    Oh, I’d forgotten that Moash was originally a caravaneer. The mention of caravans initially made me think of Tvlakv and Kaladin’s slave cart, and I wasn’t sure where the positive associations came from.
    How big is this rock he’s carrying? I was imagining an immense cube of stone, but apparently he’s carrying this without stormlight assistance. Must be not huge.
    More self awareness:
    He knows that is what it’s really about.
    You know, this talk of chains and Vyre’s inability to move on puts me uncomfortably in mind of the Heralds who were bound to Braize. I wonder how much the mentalities are parallel? Especially since Moash is wielding the blade of the first herald to truly die. Is he becoming a corrupted replacement somehow?
    Fascinating that Vyre’s bridge four tattoo is still intact, despite stormlight use. He still views himself as a member of that group despite his repudiation of it and his attempts to hide the mark.
    Throwing himself into manual labor like this is an unexpected reaction. It makes sense, but it’s not what I would have thought Vyre would get up to with his new life.
    Huh. Odium’s guise as a hundred foot tall Fused is “majestic like a king should be.” Elhokar is still bugging you, isn’t he? Sounds like Kaladin isn’t the only “chain” you still cling to.
    Wow, hero worship, much? If they weren’t so diametrically opposed at this point, I’d be shipping this. But Kaladin isn’t that forgiving.
    Wow, that is dedication and loyalty, warped as it has become. Vyre is not fully your creature yet, Odium, no matter how strong the Connection is becoming.
    I’m very concerned about who Odium is going to send to get into the holes in Kaladin’s soul. And is he saying that you can manipulate a Connection directly, bypassing the immunities that may exist at either end? That’s sure what it sounds like. 
    Moash, are you intentionally… you are. You’re bringing up Honor Chasm and suggesting that you will drive Kaladin to it again. The first real impression you had of him was overcoming suicide, and now you’re drawing on that initial meeting to try to undo your whole relationship with him? Thematic, yes, but also a real dickish move.
     
  12. ccstat

    Chapter 43

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 43 (Men and Monsters)
    Epigraph: That is a remarkably welcoming way to ask Hoid to stop sneaking into your house.
    With the invasion becoming an occupation, Brandon has successfully parlayed the tension of imminent conflict with the Pursuer into suspense over when he will encounter Kaladin. This is an unusual emotional shift, since I’m more used to the clock ticking down to add tension instead of adding time to achieve a similar effect.
    That’s when you know it’s time for a nap.
    I like that Hesina is the one to immediately see the logistical problems with singer occupation. It’s not a matter of pride--without fabrials to enable their modern living conditions, the human city cannot function in basic ways.
    And Kaladin’s mind immediately goes to the strategy of the campaign. Control of the Oathgates is the crucial point for him.
    Neat that he’s seeing the evolution of warfare tactics in real time, as small squads and formations adapt to aerial assaults.
    I’m pleased that Kaladin also has his mental patients at the forefront of his mind. He’s claimed them in the ways that matter, not just spending time to try a career change.
    Lirin calling out Kaladin for his rage against the system:
    That’s entirely fair, despite the fact that Kaladin’s chosen path had such an outsized impact on the course of the world. If the journey matters, you can’t use ends to justify the path taken to get there. Could Kaladin have spent his time healing instead of fighting? It’s a really cogent point in this world of oaths and honor.
    Yes! This is what I was wanting from Kal’s dad.
    Suddenly I’m desperate for comparative studies of human and singer theories of disease and alternate approaches to sanitation. How have their different interactions with spren directed the course of their pragmatic discoveries? We’ve already seen many examples of how human society advanced thanks to a visual indicator of infection/disease. What do singers do when they can see those spren coming even sooner--and not necessarily from close to the infectious material?
    Kaladin’s assumption that the suppression field is less effective on WIndrunners feels way off base on the face of it, largely because I’m expecting it to be a bond strength issue (Raboniel even hinted at such). However, we know that there are other 3rd-oath Radiants out there including Teft. The idea that the Bondsmiths are less vulnerable has also been floated, and whether that is due to the nature of their spren being more powerful than the Sibling’s barrier or due to their main surge being purely of Honor is an unknown. That Honor-associated tenth surge is shared with the Windrunners, and the Windrunners are bound to honorspren, so it’s entirely possible that they are more resistant to the technique being implemented by Voidlight (i.e. an investiture incompatible with that surge and nature.)
    The wind responding to his mood is a very cool indication that “badassery is on the way.”
    Aww yeah! Pathos and decision making in one tight package. This is how you show a tipping point.
    And the Regal basically says “I can take him.” I thought these people were smarter than that. At least the warform singer knows what’s up. Maybe it’s just the corrupting voidspren that is clouding the other’s judgement.
    Yeah, the thunder strike probably means there’s no chance to keep this fight stealthy.
    And that is what I was both expecting and dreading about the reunion with Lirin. Sad day for Kal :-(
    I really don’t know which is which. Sixth would presumably line up with Shallash, herald of honesty, so maybe he’s saying “don’t lie to yourself” here? It sort of fits, but isn’t the most natural application in my opinion.
    Nice contrast/conflict between Lirin’s oaths as a surgeon and Kaladin’s as a Windrunner. I thought Kaladin was going to leave without giving a rebuttal. I’m glad he didn’t argue the point, but that was the heart of any points he was going to make.
    And, that’s a wrap for part 2. Interludes ahoy!
  13. ccstat

    Chapter 42

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 42 (Armor and Teeth) 
    Epigraph: come on, say something new.
    Before moving on, I should give my prediction for how the whole pillar issue is going to resolve. I don't think novani or ribonel would get what they want. Teofil was instructed to destroy the garnets and thereby remove the suppression effect, presumably from both Radiants and Fused. I predict that Navani will succeed in her task to help the Sibling, but won’t be able to reverse any of Raboniel’s changes before Teofil smashes his target, leaving both their jobs half done. Then the two researchers will separate, having gained knowledge of each other's actions.
    Also, I have to say that as much as the singers are sympathetic, it’s really hard to care about both sides succeeding when it’s Navani vs the Lady of Wishes. One of those is obviously the right person to root for, and it’s not the one who’s spent millenia earning a reputation for genius torture methodology.
    You know, the phrasing is a little ambiguous. If I didn’t know better I’d think that maybe Navani had acquired some of the Blackthorn’s propensity for violence.
    Looters in the middle of the invasion. Navani is not surprised.
    Huh. That calm moment in the highstorm (which we’ve experienced via listeners and Radiants so far) is considered mythical but also has a name: centerbeat. It’s obviously connected to the rhythms, even if humans didn’t know about them for any of the time that they’ve been using the term.
    Elthebar the stormwarden. The name just sounds funny to me, despite actually fitting well into Alethi naming schemes. On that note, we’ve had stormwardens around before, but I don’t remember their clothing being described: “pointed beard and mysterious robes.” Somehow I’d missed the idea that they play into mysticism. It makes sense if men aren’t supposed to be scholarly and if they are flirting with the taboo of futuretelling with their forecasts.
    Navani is trusting Dabbid to know what’s going on. That’s very cool of her.
    Why topaz and garnet? In soulcasting topaz is rock and stone, while garnet is blood and water-based liquids. Is there a relationship between that and power suppression for garnet and whatever it is that topaz will be doing?
    Oh, we get to see more science and fabrial tech. Let’s see how you do mundane stormlight infusion.
    I don’t think we’re going to learn anything more about gemstone size measurements. No idea what unit a kiv is except it’s small.
    Apparently the Alethi only know how to passively infuse gems, by letting stormlight pass between same-typed gemstones from small to large. But the Thaylen have secrets! Ooo, resonant frequencies. What’s the relation to cymatics? Does stormlight form shapes as it traverses the distance? Does the vibration need to be constantly maintained for the siphon to function?
    Interesting that the light behaves similarly near the tuning fork as it does for radiant inhalation. It appears that the frequency is the same for all gemstones: it’s a feature of the light, not the storage medium.
    So, the topaz was either a lock or an opening-closing mechanism. Now they are working on a sapphire, which does what? We need more fabrial info!
    -----
    Sleep deprivation is not making things better for Kaladin. 
    Rlain going to the singers is a good plan...except for when he inevitably meets Vyre. Moash will recognize him and it will not be a happy reunion.
    Syl with survivor’s guilt is sad, but not as sad as her feeling like she needs to put up a cheerful front for Kaladin ;_;
    -----
    The design of the ancient fabrial is confusing and fascinating. Navani wants to know what it does, and so do I!
    She’s going as fast as she can, Sibling. Maybe if you had talked to her sooner instead of sending cryptic and threatening messages, you wouldn’t be in a time crunch now.
    And there’s the Nalthis connection. It’s been discussed a lot before, but Awakening will have really interesting interactions with the polestones. Also a connection to Sel, perhaps, or at least soulstamps.
    Confirmation that Raboniel is trying to turn the Sibling into an Unmade. It’s apparently as simple as infusing the pillar in the right order with voidlight. That’s a poor design choice, Sibling.
    Hmm. If the process halts partway through, will the Sibling join Sja-anat as a third faction?
    “The Lady of Pains has stopped.” Dun dun duuuuun.
    -----
    A sad, valiant last charge by Teofil’s band: I really like seeing this from the other side. Raboniel’s awe at how well they do, and Venli’s comparison of the column to “a winding relentless chasmfiend, all armor and teeth” (hence the title of the chapter) are very cool and emotionally charged.
    Humans worked together cooperatively, “sacrificing individuality until they were practically spren.” I’m surprised Timbre didn’t object to that characterization too.
    And the Pursuer destroys Teofil’s chances :-(
    Hm, looks like my prediction was way off. Sorry Teofil, you will be missed. May you enjoy many valorous battles in the Tranquiline Halls. 
    The Sibling can still see “a room on the fourth floor, with a  cage in it.” What can that possibly be? It’s bound to be significant, even if not relevant to the current crisis. Something to do with Mraize? 
    We need more details about that old Bondsmith, of course, but right now I want to know what the failsafe did.
    It makes sense that they would destroy the tower maps, but I’m a little surprised at that.
    -----
    The Sibling can’t make stormlight; the tower runs on its own fusion of Honor and Cultivation, which remains unnamed and presumably has no other applications widely.
    Thankyou, Venli, for asking questions! Inquiring minds want to know!
    More connections between frequency, rhythm, and forms of investiture. Nice
    Also, that shield is far more literal than I expected. I anticipated a metaphysical shield around portions of the Sibling’s mind, not a forcefield blocking access to its heart.
    I wasn’t expecting Ulim to show up again. There’s no love lost between him and Venli. It’s fascinating that he chose to appear in human form. Why? What is up with that? Also, he’s a bloodthirsty little thing, isn’t her. Good thing Raboniel wants everyone alive to study.
    -----
    Hmm. Interesting connection between the Vorin taboo of gambling and the risky tactical choices one makes on the battlefield. This is another instance where I love Navani’s philosophical bent. I really appreciate the way she is taking responsibility both for her actions here (first resistance then surrender in hopes of protecting her people) and for the past with Gavilar’s conquest.
    I like this focus on her accomplishments and her service to the people. It’s only slightly soured by the inevitable comparison to Taravangian when he makes his expected betrayal and justifies himself to Dalinar.
    Raboniel’s ability to respect Navani and others, to offer fair terms of surrender, is disconcerting. If we hadn’t already been made aware of her reputation I would be rooting for her to succeed.
    You want to… hire her? That’s a different proposition than the enslavement I expected. Good on Navani for initially refusing, but the way it’s been set up she’s going to do exactly what Raboniel suggests and try to spy on the Fused and learn their secrets. Sadly, Navani is very much the underdog in this game of wits. Raboniel has too much physical power to make up the difference in any places that Navani gains an edge.
  14. ccstat

    Chapter 41

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 41 (The Most Dangerous)
    Epigraph: And now you say it doesn’t matter? Then why did I spend the last three chapters theory crafting about your semantics, Sazed? Hmm? Maybe you should only drop meaningful hints and not make fun of the fans who want to analyze your words exhaustively. Ever think of that?
    Venli must know that she is a main character, because otherwise choosing to stay close to the Lady of Wishes would be a very poor decision from a life expectancy perspective. Raboniel thinks the murals are a Listener style of art, if not made by them. I wonder if she’s going to destroy them in a fit of pique or preserve them for the tower’s new inhabitants?
    Oh, nope. I misinterpreted. She thinks the murals are too human and out of touch with nature. 
    The Pursuer is here, and is advocating genocide along with his single-minded search for Kaladin. Joy. Ah, and Raboniel wants to collect all the Radiants as test subjects. This just gets better and better. 
    I’m not sure why Venli jumps to the conclusion that the new rhythm is one unique to Raboniel and not just a rhythm she hasn’t heard before.Venli has an interesting interpretation of madness, which touches interestingly on the nature of spren: 
    And naturally, Timbre takes offense to that thought.
     
    What is she saying about Tanavast? Is this some observation of how the early interactions between shards impacted Roshar?
    It also strikes me that this is a fitting description of what’s holding Kaladin back from his fourth oath. He refuses to let go of things he cares about enough to claim. It’s telling, then, that he must overcome this in order to approach closer to honor. Raboniel’s indictment of Honor fails.
    The idea that by acting in ways that aren’t advertised by your appearance you are inherently duplicitous (as opposed to multifaceted) is a fascinating cultural viewpoint for the singers. You can’t trust humans because they might not be what they appear.
    Oh, it’s Vyre that opened the Oathgate for them. Figures.
    I can’t help but think that the Lady of Wishes being impressed enough to hum to subservience is a bad thing, especially when the thing she’s impressed with is a fabrial that could arguably be described as a way to force a captive to work for you indefinitely.Hm, the partnership Raboniel seemed to be advocating didn’t sound as ominous as I expected… until this line:
    -----

    I’m feeling sorry for the visiting Thaylen scholars who are suddenly confronted with just why Alethkar has such a bloody reputation. I don’t envy them doing their science in the middle of a battlefield.
    What are those devices? They aren’t described well enough to guess, but Navani just got earplugs. Are these explosives? Something else? Oh, the earplugs are for the stormform Regals, because they cause thunderclaps with their lightning attacks.
    Ah, the pillars are lightning rods. Science for the win!
    -----
    Herdazian sand paintings? I need more art! (Talking to you, Isaac and Ben)
    Is this… self awareness, Kaladin? What is happening?
    Oh, Herdazians! I just thought of the Mink. I wonder if he’s secretly here somehow, ready to pop out of a hidden corridor and lead the plucky defenders? Not likely, his army is kind of important for the offensive against Emul, but I just realized he’d be kind of perfect for resisting the current invasion.
    Kaladin, I’m proud of you for making yourself back down. That’s not something you’ve had to do for a long time. On the other hand though, I don’t get the sense you are really internalizing the identity of “surgeon’s son” the way you intended to.
     
  15. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Notes and translation relate to the original image here
    That pillar is much smaller than I was imagining, especially after the action scene where Shallan evicts Re-Shephir. See artwork here, here, and here. I expected at least a double-height vaulted ceiling, but no, this looks like it’s only 12 feet high or so.
    Also not much like I imagined. I had in mind more of a gyroscopic form factor.
     
    I am glad that Nazh is specifying that things aren’t to scale, because I definitely envisioned a longer hallway and larger library rooms.
    This seems like a good time to point out that I love Nazh’s commentary whenever we get it, and I really want to see more of him and Khriss doing their scholarly compilations. It makes me wonder a lot how much time has passed between the events of the various books and the time that Nazh is trying to collect documents and artifacts for her.
     
    I also want to mention that the translation is much easier when it uses standard English spelling for its transliteration, as here in Navani's pages (compared with the hidden text from Shallan's sketchbook pages in Way of Kings, for example).
  16. ccstat

    Chapter 40

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 40 (In For All)
    Epigraph: So (in Sazed’s opinion) it sounds like we have an Ati situation here, where Rayse is merely a personality overlay on the destructive will of Odium. “It’s been thousands of years. Rayse isn’t going to stick to his personal goals that long. He’s been subsumed.”
    I am really worried about how many of the soldiers are going to die now that Navani gave them orders and there’s no functional mechanism to relay a surrender/retreat/stand down order. 
    The little crisis of “what title do I give someone who got promoted despite being darkeyed” is fun. Such a tiny thing to derail you during your pep talk about fighting an invading force.
    “Halls above” --I’m pretty sure we’ve seen that formulation before, but I’m noting it just in case.
    Navani is getting reasonable advice from her military captains, which is encouraging. I’m glad they’re not all yes men and that they’re not all bloodthirstily stubborn. But Navani is decisive, choosing the all-in plan.
    “By the blood of our fathers” -- again, this is similar to one we saw in Words of Radiance, but I’m not sure it’s identical. Added to the swears list.
    You know, I just realized that Raboniel is the researcher. Sure she does more torture and soul extration stuff, but that’s uncomfortably close to Navani’s fabrial expertise. I am eager for (but kind of dreading) the face off between the two of them. It’s a really fitting matchup and will draw out some interesting themes. Raboniel has centuries of experience, a proven will and penchant for cruelty. She also has options of personal violence that are not open to Navani, which gives her the choice to sidestep the engineering and esotricism if it looks like she’s losing that battle.
    Teofil is earning his promotion here. Also, “Anyone worth his stormlight” feels awkward. Have we heard this phrase before?
    Oh, that’s bad news. I was expecting there to be more non-Radiant shardbearers to shore up the defenses. Turns out there was only one and he already got taken out by the invaders. “May the Almighty accept his soul to the eternal battlefield” indeed. Not that it’s a particularly comforting wish for a non-Alethi.
    I’m glad Nightblood isn’t an option. That would have gone poorly for everybody. Good thinking Teofil, but for those of us with metaknowledge, that’s a really, really bad plan.
    “A small twinkle of light, like a starspren” she says. That hits quite a bit differently after seeing the majestic creature in shadesmar.
    Wow, that is a very different take than any we have heard so far. It’s a clever spot for Brandon to slip it in, too, since nearly all readers will be focused on the conflict at hand. I’m no exception, and won’t spend much time theory crafting this or trying to extrapolate / reinterpret what we know of the Recreance yet. Still, this strikes me as a profoundly significant line that will give us important insight into Roshar’s history.
    Not gonna lie, that’s a mouthful. Still, it’s an interesting data point. The Fused don’t acknowledge the tenth surge exists, and they can’t suppress it through whatever they did with voidlight. I’m not sure how the surge stuff all works in the realmatic sense with Honor and Cultivation both contributing (and with the magic of Roshar predating the Shattering) but it’s looking more and more that the Bondsmiths command a surge uniquely associated with Honor (and perhaps uniquely antithetical to Odium). 
    The significance of that surge still working is a bit lost on me, since even if it does govern the process of forming a nahel bond that won’t be useful at this point (unless the Sibling is immune somehow, and Navani gets to become a Bondsmith). I don’t expect that to be the way this plays out, but I’m not sure how that surge will be part of the solution.
     
  17. ccstat

    Chapter 39

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 39 (Invasion)
    Is this the first chapter with dual herald icons? Jez and Vev… I don’t know what the significance should be.
    Epigraph: Odium is more dangerous than Rayse because it has distinct intentionality? I don’t think I’m following the reasoning even though I trust that Sazed is probably right.
    I like that in conjunction with Kaladin’s realization of a meaning for “strength before weakness” in the previous chapter, he’s become so used to pushing through his own mental hangups that when it’s externally imposed by the tower he does the same thing without even recognizing that it’s a different force. His natural response is just to keep going.
    It also makes me wonder if the form of the attack is personalized to each Radiant’s own weakness. Tefts drug use and gambling, Kaladin’s depression… Is it less a suppression of investiture than an oppression of spirit? I’ll have to wait and see.
    Hm, maybe not. Lashings don’t work. So even if it is partially personal, it is at least a large-scale anti-magic field.
    Thank you, Red. That one is going on the swear list. On earth the back side of a moon is often considered the dark side, or the unknown due to our moon being tidally locked. That’s clearly not the case for this more anthropomorphized reference.
    WHAT!? Navani’s pen pal is the Sibling? I am shocked. Definitely did not see that coming.
    Also, very convenient timing that the Sibling got taken out just before it could deliver its message. Just like the witness in a noir film or the old sheriff in a Western, there just wasn’t time to convey that crucial piece of information, and therefore we get the rest of the book.
    Nahel spren seem to have been banished from the tower. If that’s part of the normal protections I’m confused about how the voidspren for the stormform and Deepest Ones, along with Raboniel, managed to approach enough to access the Sibling. Shouldn’t they have been excluded, at least the Deepest Ones’ rock phasing ability? I presume that the gemhearts provide a protective barrier that preserves some of their powers, but I would have expected the direct voidbinding to be inhibited.
    Oh, the Full Lashing (adhesion) works, while the other (gravitation) doesn’t. This sounds suspiciously like the detection of surgebinding in Kharbranth. Why are some abilities inherently high/low bandwidth? Is there an explanation besides rule of cool?
    So Syl clawed her way back. It was pretty obvious already, but that basically confirms that the strength of the bond correlates with resistance to being shut down by the effect. Even squires are affected, so it’s any degree of bond that makes one susceptible. The more tightly your soul is bound to your spren, the less your bond is disrupted.
    I was not expecting Leshwi and company to show up yet. How will that play out, I wonder?
    I didn’t remember there being veins of gemstone mixed in with the rock strata. It was probably mentioned and I just missed it or thought it unimportant, but that’s awesome. Nice to see that the Sibling is accessible from throughout the tower and not only in the pillar room. I can’t wait for Navani to do a fun garnet soul-dive (or more likely some macgyver engineering) to communicate with the Sibling. 
    Kaladin having flashbacks when narratively we expect a badass moment makes it hit all the harder. Him diagnosing himself in this detached way just drives it home.
    Kaladin himself expects to fight because that’s the pattern he’s learned. It takes a lot for Lirin to talk him down. I was not expecting the invasion to be so overwhelming, but (until Navani tries to save the day) it looks like Odium’s gambit worked marvelously.
     
  18. ccstat

    Chapter 38

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 38 (Rhythm of the Terrors) 
    Title: That can’t be good. I’m not sure whether the actual reference will be to something that the one attuning it is terrified of, or of them channeling terror against others. More importantly, I am wondering if there are Rosharan entities that have been given the title of Terrors, and how those might relate to the Unmade or other frighteningly formidable beings.
    Epigraph: Sazed says Hoid was right to refuse a Shard, and that the shards themselves should be more frightening than the vessels. That combines ominously with the chapter title.
    Huh. I was really expecting Navani’s message to have been the final warning of the guardpost we saw slaughtered at the end of the chapter, but I guess not. (Makes the “silence from the dead” title more fitting, I suppose.) But what mechanism could have caused Szeth’s sphere to explode? I’m baffled, and also concerned that they just lost their two best experts on gems, lenses, etc. That’s going to set them back.
    Or am I jumping to conclusions? It just says the sphere was destroyed in the explosion along with everything else in the room, not that it was the cause.
    Navani makes a good point. This was fabrial experimentation, sabotaged (potentially) just as the spren’s messenger was discovered. 
    I also just had the image of the spren who is taking offense to all this as the head of Roshar’s PETA organization, advocating strenuously for fair treatment of even non-sentient spren. Navani’s argument of “they’re just animals, not people like the nahel spren” sound fairly barbaric in that light, even while I still sympathize with her position.
    Finally, and I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me before, I suddenly wonder whether this spren communicating with Navani is one of the Enlightened of Sja-Anat. It could contribute to the divergent perspective compared to other spren, it’s altered ability to interact in the physical realm, and be involved in the chaos as Sja-Anat seeks to hide her true actions by playing both sides.
    -----
    Two hours of running up stairs is horrifyingly exhausting. I am very glad it is Venli making that climb and not me.
    Gah, I didn’t think that subverting the defenses meant warping the spren at their heart. This is what we call “not good.” I’m sorry, Sibling. I hope Navani comes to rescue you.
    Also, until this point I’ve been considering the title of Sibling to refer to its relationship with Nightwatcher and Stormfather. The way Raboniel addresses it as Sibling makes me wonder if there is a closer kinship with the Fused and/or Unmade than I suspected before.
    -----
    That ironic statement by Teft of “this place is dead” is a bit too on the nose for me.
    Syl and Adolin set up Kal with Lyn: “Storming man. Storming spren. Bless them both.” Awww.
    The exchange with Rlain about the apology for desecrating listener bodies is very strong characterization. He responds respectfully but not accommodatingly until Kaladin gives an actual apology rather than just hinting at the sentiment. 
    Rlain (and Teft) calling out Kaladin for not participating in therapy himself is great.
  19. ccstat

    Chapter 37

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 37 (Silence from the Dead)
    Title: I presume this is to do with the library in the basement?
    Epigraph: Hoid is more scared of Rayse than Odium, and Sazed calls him out on it. That’s interesting.
    Full mobility in any direction, as long as I’m getting dragged around by my hand? Yeah, I’m going to go with “nope!” Thanks, Tomor, but I’ll pass. I do look forward to seeing whatever this changes into under Navani’s guidance.
    Oh, she’s going to test it. Not the most dignified of activities for the Queen Mother.
    Bahaha! He didn’t even think of a way to change direction or descend. The only option is to turn it off and fall, or to keep going the direction the glove is facing. This is not the mobility solution you are looking for.
    What does that even mean? Short as in lacking? She had plenty of personality? I’m sure this seemed like a clever phrase, but it really doesn’t work for me unless there’s something idiomatic in Alethi that it’s trying to point to in another “near-miss of translation” moment...which I don’t think this is.
    So she caught a patsy planting the replacement spanreed, but he won’t (can’t?) talk. It’s interesting that she’s specifically choosing a Lightweaver for help due to their ability to see into Shadesmar. Why not an Elsecaller, who are explicitly better at that? Are there fewer of them around? Did I misinterpret the assertion that interaction with Shadesmar is the Elsecaller’s specialty?
    Oh no. Is it Dabbid? Dang it, this spren just got on my nerves. Don’t bring Dabbid into this. I’m also concerned about how Kal will react and interfere or “help” Navani’s investigation.
    Um, explosion? What kind of things do they have that can explode lethally?
    ___
    Ah, Venli’s turn.
     
    Good line. Evocative but also a distillation of the personality behind it.
    I like the reminder that the passion and power of Odium remains tempting despite her understanding of the situation. 
    Huh. Aluminum/ralkalest lining on the passage into the mountain. I wouldn’t think that could work with how much physical power the Fused have on top of their magical abilities, but obviously it’s an integral part of the defense.
    I’d forgotten that Raboniel was the Lady of Wishes. Eee. I love that she’s been shown to be competent and savvy, along with hints of her apparently deserved reputation.
    Oh, there’s a Masked One along in the party. Spy games are go.
    The Deepest Ones strip before passing through the rock. That’s pretty good evidence that they can’t take anything with them, which is an interesting limitation that I presume is not shared by the Willshapers and Stonewards when they perform similar feats… but obviously I don’t know since we haven’t seen those orders do practically anything yet.
    ___
    Kaladin’s turn. I wasn’t expecting a fast-POV-switching climax already.
    And Oroden is right there. Potential tender moment turned into an implicit threat with the suspense of the ongoing attack. 
    Lirin uses stormwarden style glyphs for his medical charts. I wonder if there’s any cross-communication for that type of usage, or if they arrived at things independently?
    Yup, it was Dabbid. Things are really turning chaotic now.
    I do like that Kaladin is trying to establish decades worth of research into mental health in a matter of weeks. Coming from a modern society it’s easy for me to say, “Oh, good they’re trying pet therapy. Of course that would work.” But then I remember that a month ago they took the first one out of solitary confinement and I’m amazed at the pace of discovery. Good going, Kal!
    ___
    I don’t remember what Raboniel’s order was, but she sure seems like a Dustbringer/Releaser to me. 
    Whaaat!? This is my new prized addition to the list of swears. The Fused are old enough to still swear by Adonalsium? And in informal/shortened form? I need to know more. Suddenly I don’t want the Fused to all pass Beyond. We need interviews first!
    That’s a mood right there.
    Well, at least Venli realizes she’s not going to make easy allies on this trip.
    It’s going to take hours for them to ascend the tower? That’s a reasonable amount of time for the humans to mount a defense, assuming the message that got through was the one we just saw violently cut short.
    Ah, the title is talking about the worry of missed check-ins by patrols. A fittingly poetic way to put it.
     
  20. ccstat

    Chapter 36

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 36 (The Price of Honor)
    Title: Adolin’s wound is gonna be their ticket into negotiations with the honorspren.
    Epigraph: Sazed seems to be responding as though Hoid’s advice in the previous epigraph were personally directed, which makes it more interesting.
    Shockspren clustering around Notum--we now have the confirmation that was lacking last chapter. Yes, emotion spren are drawn to other spren, not just to humans/listeners/(sleepless, etc?)
    Hmm. The title could also be suggesting that leaving Notum behind might be the price of entering Lasting Integrity. I don’t think that will be the case, but that’s the foreshadowing vibe I pick up from these few paragraphs. Not sure I can call it a red herring since it’s not blatant enough.
    Glad that the Three are now in agreement about Beryl’s innocence. I was worried that plot point would drag on for too long and leave Shallan looking foolish.
    Godeke being a good Edgedancer, and nobody else appreciates it. I suppose that makes sense. As much as I love the Edgedancer ideals, I admire them primarily at a significant remove, in the context of fiction. Being able to actually listen, remember, and have compassion for your very real enemies is a lot more difficult than it is to like reading about someone who does those things.
    I’m really not sure what Stump is thinking about all of this. I doubt we’ll get an interlude since she’s so close to the main cast, but I hope that we at least get some more screen time from her soon. She’s a great character, and her reactions are different than the rest of the expedition’s.
    Pattern? Really? It’s ludicrous, and a bit too reminiscent of OreSeur. On the other hand, Pattern has been acting strangely in a few places. I predict that he has in fact been “spying” for Mraize for the express purpose of breaking down Shallan’s barriers and her unwillingness to rely on Adolin or others. He’s trying to push her to acknowledge her truth, and doing it in a terribly reckless way. He already said that he’d be willing to die for the knowledge he is gaining from their partnership, and that he actually expects it to happen. Moreover, he expects it to be sooner rather than later, if I remember the tone of that conversation correctly.
    Oh, Pattern. What are you doing? I do think it’s dumb that Pattern would be caught by any of Veil’s tricks, considering that he recognized the cypher even without being able to read. Any pattern with intentionality to it seems to stick out to him, so the orientation of the cube and the dust coating should not be things he would miss.
    Oh, her suspicions about Pattern being a spy all the way back when her dad was working with the Ghostbloods? That he subtly put her in contact with Mraize and guided her other interactions? That’s the kind of “oh rust” moment I love. I wish I were more convinced of it, but I still enjoy watching Shallan freak out about it. 
    The best part is that it works perfectly into my prediction of Pattern’s motives, because trying to uncover what happened between Shallan and Pattern back in the day might just be the kick Shallan needs to stop suppressing everything and actually go seek out her truths.
    Oh dear, the timeline doesn’t make sense? I thought we’d pieced things together pretty well, and I'm happy to have holes and misunderstandings filled in, but if we have to start doubting what we’ve seen I’m going to be a bit upset. Whose testimony are we throwing out?
    “Imperious” that’s the word I was looking for in the honorspren sketchbook page. Thanks, Shallan.
    Yeah, Pattern is terrible at this lying business. I don’t know how long ago he had this idea, but he sure isn’t the smooth operator that would be able to do this for a decade. Sorry, Shallan, your trauma is justified but unnecessary. Just kick him in the equations and tell him to cut it out.
    Interpreting the letters as a contract, that by reading them they imply a possible accommodation, is a very cool argument. I would love to see Jasnah respond to that, but she’d do so unsuccessfully. Good thing Adolin is here.
    Oh, yeah, Adolin rocks. “I’ve come to stand trial. Reject that!” Honestly, though, I think he had too much fun sitting in prison and texting Shallan a couple books ago. I’m not sure this version will be quite as fun without his bro Kaladin nearby (among other amenities). Guess I was wrong about the wound mattering, though.
    I’m really not sure who I want to have as the second person to accompany Adolin into Lasting Integrity. Stump? Beryl? Oh, are they counting spren too? That would stink to just be Shallan and Pattern. Good thing they don’t know about Veil and Radiant, or Shallan wouldn’t be able to come. Party limits are only enforceable if you can see the people.
    Pretty clear, though, that the best defence (and his key to getting back out of Lasting Integrity) is going to be Maya. Reviving her right in the middle of the Sanderlanche, to tie off both the character work and like five plot hooks all at once is something that I can totally see happening. I wasn’t really expecting her revival to be in this book until now, but there’s been so much emphasis on it and now it’s almost the only path forward for Adolin and friends. I predict it happens in… part 4, since Brandon has been trying to spread out his Sanderlanche, and we need time for the consequences to impact the ending.
    Ah, yup. Pattern counts, so it’s just the four of them entering Lasting Integrity... plus Gallant, so that brings the party up to eight total if we’re counting Formless. Wow. Put like that, the honorspren are doomed.
  21. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Shallan’s Sketchbook Part III
    Honorspren (image here)
    Wow, that mustache really catches the eye. After that, the clothing is both impressive and expressive, along with their stances. Ben hit this one out of the park. Both of the featured spren are an odd combination of welcoming and confrontational with an ambiguous mismatch between their posture and their facial expressions. I am really not sure how to interpret it other than “intimidating” and certainly “self-confident.” 
    I do especially love the individuality built into all of these character sketches. The other spren profiles had that too, especially the ashspren image, but it definitely stands out here.
    Shallan’s mention that clothing is even more indicative of a spren’s personal beliefs than would be the case for humans makes me wonder how that manifests and how varied spren beliefs are within honorspren society.
    That their skin and clothing feel human despite being composed of light is interesting, and the emphasis on their very real steel swords is… revealing.
    Also, that exceptionally regular block of a tower is present, the one on Michael Whelan’s cover art. Confirmation that it’s where they’re headed (and presumably where Restares is holed up). The cliff it is set on is imposing, bordering on ominous.
    Finally, the fact that the deadeyes walk across the bottom of the bead seas is a really horrifying thought. That image of hundreds of zombie spren shambling through the quicksand-like murk, forever in the dark as they follow their bearer through the populated portions of Roshar… it doesn’t really have that feeling of cheerful pep that Syl tries to convey when she’s in childish mode.
  22. ccstat

    Chapter 35

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 35 (The Strength of a Soldier)
    Epigraph: no comment...oh, except that I’m now wondering if this advice to keep shard and vessel “separate in our minds” is general or targeted specifically at the Vessels themselves (since it was apparently given to Sazed) for the purpose of self knowledge and relationships with each other. Is it advice for handling the Shards and their interaction? Or is it just the mundane plurality of identity thing?
    And there goes Adolin being all Edgedancery again. Listening to Shallan, to Gallant… even to Ua’pam and Arshqqam now that I think of it, and all on the first page of the chapter. He’s basically a shoo-in, except for the fact that his bond will necessarily be different in consideration of Maya. I wonder what form that will take, since it’s obviously not going to be the standard nahel thing… INSPIRATION!
    Okay, predicting it now. Adolin will be the first of the new Heralds, replacing Vedeledev, or whatever her real name is. I suppose he might not be first if we need Dalinar to get promoted before that for Bondsmith reasons, but I really hope not. Adolin needs his chance to shine. He’ll ascend or whatever with Maya at his side but not as his blade. Too bad we’ll have to wait for book 7-ish to find out if I’m right.
    Aww, and Gallant is bonding with Maya too! Adolin really is the feel-good center of these books. There’s some of that with other characters, but his sections consistently have that wholesome vibe to them.
    Felt “seemed to have a sixth sense for traveling in unknown places.” Where does that come from? Is it just mundane skill? Because I can’t think of anything except maybe tin allomancy that would help with that. No other allomantic or feruchemic traits really fit that description. I suppose feruchemical duralumin (connection) might, but that’s a stretch. Do we have confirmation that Felt is a native of Scadrial and didn’t end up there from somewhere else?
    The Tukari don’t want to meet the honorspren. Would the honorspren recognize whatever Ishar did with them? Would they attack? I don’t know!
    Wait, were they following Notum instead? Why prepare for an attack here, then? What you just said makes no sense, Adolin, and it’s throwing off my own predictions because you seem like you know what you’re talking about. Oh, wait I misread it. I thought you told everyone to stay at the camp, but you actually said to have everyone follow you and be ready for a fight where you’re going.
    Adolin’s trick riding with Maya on board is an awesome image. Way to flex your skills, dude!
    I’m still not convinced that death for spren is specifically as described here, mind broken from too much pain. I believe there’s more to be revealed on that front.
    Adolin invites Maya to help, she’s scared for his safety (though he misinterprets it) and he understands her responses. Every interaction is that much more substantive. Keep on Listening!
    Adolin’s inferiority complex is a problem, though. Don’t you realize that by showing honor here and coming to Notum’s defense you are providing the one possible argument for your own credibility on this envoy? I guess it’s a good thing you don’t, since that would color your motivations and possibly disqualify you automatically even if you did the right thing anyway.
    Anticipationspren look like giant lurgs? Who gets excited about lurgs? Dang it, someone just said “Tien” didn’t they. Fine, I know when I’ve lost. I’ll just be over here muttering about nonsensical associations.
    The painspren is howling… in anticipation of the coming fight? Do they have an ability to know ahead of time where they need to be? It would make sense, especially in this case since the sensation of pain is largely about expectation and anticipation on top of the physical aspect. The alternative is that Notum’s pain is drawing it, but I don’t think we ever got an indication that emotion spren could feed from or were attracted to other spren.
    These Tukari may be untrained, but there’s still whatever magical junk Ishar did to them. Don’t get cocky, Adolin. Your wife will be upset if you get yourself killed. I do also admit to being slightly shocked when Adolin’s opening move was a decapitation. I’ve been reading superhero fiction lately, where the majority of people go out of their way to avoid lethal or even crippling blows, so this was a bit of genre mismatch.
    I really can’t tell how sincere you’re being here, Adolin. Is this a dig at Dalinar?
    Oh, stabbed in the stomach with a spear. That’s not a good thing. Maybe you should think about gaining some stormlight healing soon?
    Wait, he’s injured and suffering from blood loss. Is this Ishar’s magic doing stuff, or is Adolin just disoriented? It’s not allowed to be ambiguous! 
    And Maya came to the rescue! I wasn’t sure she would, this time. Oh, and the kata lets her actually save him, distracting and intimidating the enemy. Nice!
    Oh, but the Tukari leader got away. “Adolin didn’t win. But the Tukari lost.” That about sums it up, and it’s still a victory. Very sweet fight scene.
     
  23. ccstat

    Chapter 34

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 34 (A Flame Never Extinguished) 
    Epigraph: “Since we are all essentially infinite, he needs no more power.” That is certainly one way to view it, but it feels bizarre to me. Infinite doesn’t seem like the right word to describe shards, in almost any respect. I’d like to get Sazed to expand on what he means and on what infinite means to him (or what he thinks it means to Odium).
    They got Stump to help draft the diplomacy plans! That is a brilliant move and I highly approve. It’s possible that this will be diluted by having them ask advice from all the Radiants, but at least they are starting with the best choice.
    Oh, never mind. It’s not an individual discussion but a council with all the Radiants. Oh well, it’s a good move anyway.
    It’s fascinating to imagine Shallan sulking inside of herself. In contrast to the roles they played in Oathbringer, the aspects of herself in Rhythm of War are becoming more and more fleshed out as people, becoming true characters as much as any in the story. This musing by Veil about Stump’s characteristics and personality is one example of how she’s becoming fully realized and isn’t just a filter on Shallan’s thoughts and actions.
    “Dreaming-though-Awake” is a very cool name for a spren. I want to know more about the truthwatcher spren and why that naming system exists for them. Delicious flavor to the worldbuilding, and a good reminder that Brandon has come to do it very, very well. Little bits dropped in like this pique my interest where less experienced writers will drop a chunk of exposition and potentially kill that interest.
    How do they tell time in Shadesmar? The position of the sun never changes, and I don’t recall any other periodic changes that would indicate the passage of day to night. It’s been mentioned a little that it doesn’t turn to night like the physical realm, but they can still tell the difference. How?
    Glad to see that Beryl has been exonerated in Veil’s mind at least. I’m curious if Radiant will agree (or if Shallan will emerge to voice an opinion) and how that will play out.
    Shallan is starting to come out, and Radiant agrees with Veil. Shallan, please don’t discount Veil and Radiant’s contributions just because you are having an episode of crippling self-doubt. (Though I do love that self-doubt can manifest this way in such an externalized fashion.)
    It was better than insisting on believing the lie. No matter how expert they were at that particular trick.
    Yep, that’s a good way to put it, Radiant. I hope Shallan agrees.
    Boots callback. It’s a reminder of the funny scene and the relationships, but also a mention of how far they’ve come since that point.
    Shadesmar side has joyspren manifesting as a cyclone of color. That’s less animalistic than I was expecting, but also very cool. It does also make me wonder--the spren that have been described as dangerous so far include painspren and fearspren, among others. All of those have been ones associated with negative emotion. Is that just selection bias because others haven’t been showing up on screen or is there something to it? Would that joyspren be dangerous to the travelers? Are the predators and scavengers of the cognitive realm limited to those that are linked to negativity?
    I want a picture of that horse thing that Notum is riding. Apparently Shallan agrees, because in the course of describing it she emerged and replaced Veil, without even realizing she’d done it. I’m curious though if the creature has an aura of emotional impact or something, because Shallan’s reaction is extremely strong even for someone filled with fear and self loathing. Or at least, it’s strong in response to this one specific thing and not everything else.
    “Not all spren were imagined by men.”
    Oh, cool! More Adonalsium creations. Was that a musicspren?
    But wait, I’m confused about something. What’s up with Ryshadium? When Radiants or shardbearers cross over their spren manifest in their Shadesmar forms. But no musicspren appeared near Gallant when they went through the oathgate. Hmm. Fused either are their own spren or keep it trapped in a gemheart. Singers would presumably maintain the spren in their gemheart, not letting it manifest externally. So do Ryshadium have gemhearts for the spren to bond with? Radiants don’t, so it’s not required for the formation of a bond.
    That also makes me wonder about Venli as a special case. Timbre is acting as jailor to Venli’s voidspren. Would that mean Timbre is stuck in the gemheart if they cross over to shadesmar and she can’t manifest directly? Or would the voidspren be released and Venli opened to its influence? Or would Timbre be able to maintain the suppression even when manifesting externally?
    I honestly can’t tell whether it’s Shallan composing the poem about Adolin or if it’s Veil expressing Shallan’s thoughts through an expansion of her personality (presumably at the expense of the Shallan persona). Is this a cute shipping moment or is this an ominous harbinger of her own destruction?!
    Oh, it was Shallan coming closer to the surface. Adolin could tell! Shipping confirmed. Yay!
    Shallan is talking! Progress!
    That’s a wonderful addition to the list of swears. Thanks, Shallan.
    Also, a starspren! Brandon has been cagey about those in the past. Here’s our first glimpse and it’s a giant flying chasmfiend. Calling it now, these are going to have a huge role to play in the back five books.
    Another swear to add. This one is fun because of the phonetic similarity to our own “holy hell” in English but with the opposite meaning and an unironic use of “holy.”
    Starspren are only visible when viewed from certain angles or locations. That’s bizarre for sure. What does that mean and how does it work? And now it’s landing on the clouds. Do these clouds function like those in the physical realm? The starspren was trailing them in the way one would expect to be described in physical clouds, but the straight lines leading to the sun are obviously something normal clouds don’t do.
    Creationspren were hiding in the sketchbook satchel? That’s an interesting data point. They have learned that they can get food from this thing and have started following it around even when not in use.
    The starspren is posing for its picture. That’s hilarious and amazing and also kind of concerning. What are they attracted to? How is the crisp visual appearance possible despite the distance? The response to attention at a distance is understandable and fairly normal for spren, as Shallan mentions.
    D’aww, Shallan is so in love with Adolin that even the starspren can’t compete. That is a very sweet moment.
     
  24. ccstat

    Chapter 33

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 33 (Understanding) 
    Epigraph: We already knew Odium’s goal, but I think that was all from WoB and piecing together things from across the cosmere. Here we get it stated in plain text, even if couched in Sazed’s supposition. It feels like a lame reveal, but it’s good to have it out there for the less fanatical of fans.
    Kaladin realizing (i.e. internalizing) that advocating for someone and protecting them emotionally both count as protection for the purposes of his ideals is a good perspective shift. His whole thing up to this point was “can I kill to protect” because all the threats he was opposing were physical. I didn’t consider the thematic benefit of having him turn to an orthogonal set of questions, but it’s definitely expanding the philosophy of that question and his ability to explore it.
    Kaladin invents group therapy. Given the way therapy is treated in another fandom I belong to (specifically, fanfics of Worm), I am tempted to say that the good guys just won. Still, it’s a great start and I’m especially glad to see that Lirin is supportive not just in approving of Kaladin’s efforts but also in actively guiding them and setting limits so he doesn’t overextend.
    Aww, Kaladin is opening up to Hesina about more of his trauma. This short exchange is full of emotion, and I really feel for Hesina here. But it also shows that Kaladin is getting benefit out of helping, and not just in the expected “do good to feel good” way. I will be very happy if his relationship with his mother is a major factor in letting him heal enough to reach the fourth oath.
    Wow. short shapter. On to Shallan again...
     
  25. ccstat

    Chapter 32

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 32 (Of Three Minds) 
    Epigraph: Yes, Sazed, we know you’re stuck.
    Thanks, Adolin. Now we have something about Zu to be suspicious of. As if there wasn't enough suspicion going around in this plot thread.
    She says she can shape stone, which makes sense for her being a Stoneward, but is the obsidian ground of Shadesmar “stone” enough for that to work? What about if someone wanted to soulcast an item that was native to the cognitive realm? We know the Windrunner powerset isn’t useless in Shadesmar, and illusions work fine, but what about things that rely on the essence of physical objects?
    Getting chased by the Tukari isn’t a good sign, though. Lots of room for things to go dramatically wrong. (Bring it on!)
    Yes, I’m still enjoying Shallan’s inner struggles. You’re probably getting bored of me commenting on it, so I’ll refrain for the moment until something else happens.
    Yay for Adolin the diplomat! Thinking up new possibilities on his own. Good work.
    Okay, and here I am again talking about the Three, only half a page later. I love the rapid fire switching in this conversation. It’s courteous of them to announce who they are, but I’m doubtful that it’s necessary given Adolin’s demonstrated perceptiveness.
    Thank you, Adolin. I love your commentary :-)
    Veil is explaining things to Adolin, finally! 
    Aaaaaa! Aaaaa! Are we really getting that close to this blowing up?
    Okay, prediction time: Not this time, but next time Shallan retreats she will be supplanted by Formless. Veil and Radiant will have to work together for the rest of the book, right up to the Sanderlanche, to maintain/regain their own foothold, then to recover Shallan.
    And Veil likes Adolin’s answer.
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