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ccstat

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  1. ccstat

    Chapter 31

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 31 (Daughter of Traitors)
    Title: As a Venli chapter, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The listeners weren’t ever characterized as traitors, as far as I recall. Yes, they rejected the Fused and Unmade, but that hasn’t been treated as betrayal so far. Not to say it won’t be… The other possibility is that it’s talking about Timbre, since there was a mention of the spren betraying/abandoning the listeners when they gave their nahel bonds to humans. But that feels less likely to me.
    Epigraph: “If you can, as you suppose, maintain Odium’s prison for now…” Um, this sounds like Hoid has delusions of grandeur. I’m sure he’s influencing things, but to say that he’s the one maintaining Odium’s prison feels pretty disingenuous to me. It’s discounting not only everything the heralds and the modern protagonists are doing, but also Cultivation’s efforts and all the other mess of the Ghostbloods, etc. I’m not willing to concede that Hoid is the one who is protecting the Cosmere from Odium.
    The Deepest Ones (makay-im) get the surge of … whichever one messes with solids. I haven’t gotten a grasp yet on tension vs. cohesion.
    Finally we get someone walking to Urithiru! People keep talking about how Nohadon did it back in the day, but nobody’s actually tried to follow in his footsteps. Now we get the first pilgrimage, and it’s an invading force containing Venli. Nice. No idea where Abamabar might be or if it’s farther/closer than her starting point.
    Well, that’s blunt. Nomon is directly named “Honor’s Moon” by the singers/listeners. Presumably Salas and Mishim have equally straightforward names?
    The Edgedancer-like Fused who use friction/abrasion are called the Flowing Ones (shetel-im). Appropriate.
    I’m concerned about Venli’s title as Last Listener. Is that just because she’s high ranked, or have they found and done something with the others who escaped at the end? (I really can’t remember who led that group right now, that Eshonai allowed to escape.)
    This is fascinating, and obviously has at least some basis in realmatics. It really makes me wonder what’s going on with Bondsmiths. Is this extra surge perhaps part of the reason that Honor fell first to Odium? That extra bit of power invested in the system weakened Honor enough to make him an easier target? Also, we know that listeners predate the shattering, so it can’t be any innate reason that they are unable to access Adhesion. It’s got to be a spren difference, but what could leave it inaccessible when the others clearly can be used via alternate means?
    I really like seeing this outside perspective, even (especially?) because everything we’ve seen from at least the main cast of Radiants has been dominated by introspection. This is utterly false as a criticism where they are concerned, but entirely reasonable for Raboniel to make.
    The value placed on ambition among the singers makes me want to see them interact directly with the Ghostbloods for a compare/contrast session of how they recruit and advance their membership.
     
  2. ccstat

    Chapter 30

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 30 (The Betrayal)
    Sorry to leave everyone hanging for *checks* five weeks. This is ridiculous that I’m taking such a long time to get through a Stormlight book. Doing these liveblog entries is enough of a barrier though that I don’t tend to read unless I have a sufficient chunk of time available and my wife is at work. (I’ve also been working on some writing this month, which has filled a few of the time slots that would otherwise have been dedicated to this.)
    Anyway, onward and upward. Let’s see if I can remember what was happening last time.
    Epigraph: That whippersnapper Harmony just doesn’t have the cred to get people to listen to him. Nobody cares about Odium.
    WHAT!! How is it that I stopped for over a month right before this reveal!?! How could I do this to myself? Shallan has used a hologram radio before, and it’s one of the memories she’s blocked out. Presumably this precipitated the murder attempt? I don’t know yet, I haven’t gotten past the first sentence. This is huge! Aaaaah!
    Okay, if I were Feather doing one of her live reaction voice recordings (that we no longer get because she’s been promoted to beta reader), you would have just been subjected to me reading a page aloud with little squees and gasps and “Come on, Shallan!” and “Go Veil!” I really kept expecting it to cut away and leave us only with implication, but Shallan actually remembered something! She let herself/was forced to recall it and retain it. This is a big step (which she’ll reject, thereby strengthening Formless, but that’s just narrative inevitability).I particularly love this sentence: 
    I am very curious whether the lurching, caught-between-moments feeling she had was purely mental. She is currently in the manifestation of the cognitive realm where mental effects presumably have a disproportionate impact. Did something happen that would have been visible to an outside observer?
    And also, Mraize is doing his best to come across as scummy. “Yes, I will openly say that I’m trying to train you like an axehound.”
    Veil’s assertion that you can’t kill spren sounds very suspect. Not only did we see Kaladin kill one in a previous book (and Syl get upset about it), but even if Shallan doesn’t know about that she’s not the type to treat things as axiomatic that way. This is Veil, of course, and not the scholar, but she is the one who seems much more in tune with the realmatic side of things, intuiting how stuff works. She should know better than this.
    “We must bind [Sja-anat] to us,” says Mraize. His use of “bind” in speaking of spren is quite concerning to me. It’s not just an alliance that he’s proposing here I’m sure.
    Well, that was fast. And suspiciously simple. Did Mraize pick up on her counterintelligence ploy and bluff his way into guessing gloryspren? Has he just framed one of her suspects through being a better spy than Veil? Or did the plan actually work and uncover a planted Ghostblood?
    And of course the (supposedly confirmed) suspect is Beryl, the lightweaver introduced with just the sort of personal history that screams “important secondary character.” Calling it now, she’s either not a spy or she will be redeemed/flipped to Shallan’s side before they leave Shadesmar. I am leaning toward the first option as most likely.
    I do not recognize these caravan people. Their outfits don’t sound like those we’ve seen on any other shardworld. 
    Oh, Tukar. I should have thought of that the first time Adolin guessed it. Yes, Tukar is a problem. I’m disturbed by the way they are described, the ever-enwreathing shadows making them appear skeletal. What has Ishar done to these people? What sorts of oaths have they become victim to? Because that’s the possibility my mind leaps to when the herald of bondsmiths sends thugs to travel through the shadow realm of thought.
    Oh, and an honorspren is already here. Glad Adolin explained who Notum was, because I definitely didn’t remember that name. Impressive that Adolin recognized him, though. It’s been a year, and the “spren/humans/whatever all look the same” trope is expected to be in full play.
    Oh, good. Veil picked up on the spy reveal being too easy and convenient. 
    Aaaaaa! Pattern can see Formless! And she can see back out! Horror movie vibes are happening right now. 
    Another mention of spren ignoring deadeyes. I’m now fully primed for Maya to turn the tide against spren enemies later in this book, or to be sent on an infiltrating mission to retrieve something. Probably both, honestly. Good job, Brandon. Foreshadowing accomplished.
    What kind of spren is a Reacher? I don’t remember. They would have been on the boat with Notum, but I really can’t recall.
    ...after a quick check of the coppermind, they are lightspren, with a bronze statue appearance.
  3. ccstat

    Chapter 29

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 29 (Cage Without Bars)
    Epigraph: Sazed is looking for a “sword” (or perhaps a champion?) who can act for him when he by his nature cannot. Is this talking about Wax? I would imagine not, since one of the recent books--I think it was Bands--talked about Wax being his hand of Ruin, while someone else would be his hand of Preservation. I don’t think “both protect and kill” is talking about the same dilemma Kaladin faces. Then again, we’re still waiting for the conclusion to Era 2, and a lot could happen. Marasi seems to have turned down the job in the climax of Bands, so we’ll have to see.
    Well, that’s the title right at the front “A ship was a cage without bars.”
    Ua’pam is doing a “curious gesture” rubbing his knuckles. Is this related at all to Unkalaki cultural gestures, or is it purely a peakspren thing? It makes me think of Herdazians and sparkflickers, but that’s obviously a superficial association.
    I love that Adolin and Veil have game nights. She knows all the gambling card games.
    I also love Thaylen words. “Kdisln vintage” may sound like something you’d only say when drunk, but that’s actually the pronunciation you use when you’re sober. I bet the Thaylens start adding in vowels when they slur their words.
    Why don’t we get a picture of Shallan in her cultivationspren disguise? I hope this is a repeat of the melting face from that time she got shot in the head in Kholinar. I don’t actually remember that noblewoman’s name, though. Have to go look that scene up later.
    The statistical distribution of gemstone quality isn’t something I’d thought to consider before, certainly not as an ominous sign. Thanks, Jasnah. I always want more indications of conspiracy on your doomed little planet.
    Sword katas with Maya! Adorable as always. I can’t help but see the parallel to Adolin’s best bro Kaladin who is back in the tower trying to revolutionize care of mental health patients. Adolin is over here in Shadesmar slowly proving to people and spren that the deadeyes aren’t as dead as they seem, and the best way to help them is to treat them like people.
    This makes me wonder if awakening Maya is going to truly be a unique event or if doing so will open the path to (possibly many) more dead blades being revived. This could have a substantial impact on the numbers of allied spren available to oppose odium (or defect to him, I guess, given the Skybreakers example). The shortage of honorspren might end up being resolved in the long term not by recruiting the reluctant but by resurrecting the lost.
    Lots of caravans come through this town, and humans aren’t unusual in them? How many worldhopping traders actually are there? This is starting to sound a lot more heavily traveled than I thought.
    Hmmm. Veil isn’t good at using stormlight, to the point that she can’t easily heal a hangover? That’s a further separation of their abilities than I had expected to actually be shown in the text. I may have confirmation bias here, but I’m seeing a whole lot to support my theories about their split. 
    What is Veil up to? I thought “have time alone” was talking about alone-with-Adolin, but she’s taking over from Shallan and sending Adolin on ahead, so that’s not it. Got to be sneaky spy stuff, though I can’t imagine what she has to do except maybe contact Mraize, and I thought she was supposed to wait until later in the journey to do that.
    Yeah, Mraize phone call time. I wonder if he’ll be upset at her contacting him too soon or if this was expected and I just misinterpreted what he said when he gave her the radio.
    The cube can talk? I have so many questions right now. This isn’t just Siri or Alexa, this is a self-aware device. Tell me more!
    You know what would be funny? If instead of a spy, Mraize hired someone to move the radio around so that it looked like it had been tampered with. Nobody has been using it to contact him, they’re just gaslighting Shallan to feed her paranoia. I can totally see that as a possibility that Mraize would consider. It’s more likely he has a real spy, just because it’s hard to see him passing up the opportunity for more reports and information, but I’m putting the fake-spy idea at a solid 30% possibility right now.
    How do you maintain a building constructed of manifested bricks and stones? Do you just have someone come by once a month to add new pieces to all of the holes that have opened up as the structure times out and reverts to beads? This doesn’t sound like it is actually cheaper or easier than importing physical materials. 
    Hmm. The spren merchants are speaking Azish and Alethi. Is that the local lingua franca? Do they pick a Rosharan language and assume that worldhoppers have translation abilities? Are they just able to speak whatever the passing humans do? 
    Regarding the ashspren, who gave rude gestures in Shallan’s drawing--do they do that to all humans? Is it just the Radiant-affiliated ones that they don’t like? The local Rosharans?
    Fearsrpen look like multi-legged eels… I don’t think eel is the base I would start from to describe something with a bunch of legs. And passionspren have mustaches? Plural? That is very weird. I think I need a picture.
    I think it’s very sweet that Adolin is jealous of the time that Veil (and presumably Radiant) are in control, like he’s competing with her alternate personas for Shallan’s time and attention. That’s not the relationship I would have predicted for the four of them at the end of Oathbringer.
    Adolin has officially let his fashion sense undermine his daily life. Adolin! You have fallen victim to the classic blunder of removing essential utility in pursuit of ephemeral esthetics! Do not give up your pockets! At least on Earth women can carry a purse or clutch. On Roshar, noblewomen have safepouches. You don’t get anything except maybe a saddlebag if you’re near your horse. Giving up your pockets is not worth it!
    Maya is trying to help the other deadeyes! This is huge! She has so much more life now than she has had in the past, starting to display initiative.
    New deadeyes. That’s bad. Especially since the fact they met one in the first town they entered means that statistically this is not a unique or rare event. Even taking into account the influx of population to Urithiru and the possibility that the Cryptic was following someone there, it’s very ominous.
    When Kaladin almost killed Syl in Words of Radiance we seemed to get confirmation that simply betraying oaths is enough to turn a bonded spren into a deadeye. However, I suddenly start to see parallels between the slave-form parshmen and the deadeye spren. Is there an external force that is reinforcing the death of these spren? We still don’t know much about the Recreance. Could it be that the method of sealing away Ba-Ado-Mishram to lobotomize the listeners had side effects to directly affect nahel spren? It can’t be a direct side effect due to the Skybreakers persisting (and possibly others). My first thought was Darkness executing would-be Radiants, but those deaths really shouldn’t have created deadeyes according to what we know. I’m going to go ahead and guess that one of the Unmade has been tasked with enforcing death on bonded spren it encounters, with a correspondingly deleterious effect on their human. I realize though, that we have no evidence to support this so far.
     
  4. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Cryptics (image here)
    Before anything else, I have to say how much I love the little sketch at the bottom of the page.”I’ve never seen a cryptic running. I expect they would look very silly.” Indeed, yes. I’m sure Ben had a great time drawing that one, and I like it as a moment of lighter-humored Shallan layered on top of her naturalist observations.
    Their hands being only obsidian or marble, black or white, suggests something connected to their relationship with lies and truth, but I’m not sure if the connection is more than aesthetic. I hadn’t thought that their robes/bodies also shifted, but it seems that they do split/fold/fracture as the cryptic moves. 
    There are a huge variety of fractal shapes that the cryptics could have as their heads. Of the ones shown in the picture, the one in the lower right with the nearly sphere-like appearance is the creepiest to me. 

    Ashspren (image here)
    Rude gestures, huh? That adds a lot of character to the description and image, and as obscene motions go this is an inventive and evocative one. I’m expecting to get an additional commentary in the text on the cultural context and what the spren think it means, but just the description itself is enough to catch the gist.
    I’m not sure from the drawing whether the ashspren have eyes that are typical of Rosharan humans or if they are even narrower. Compared to the herald portraits and the folio pages, these seem to be on an extreme end (and to enable a very condescending /  wily set of facial expressions). 
    The ripped pants of the female ashspren here, along with her slightly tattered cloak, are interesting associations with a spren of destruction and decay. Notably, the other spren in the illustration has much finer clothing that lacks ragged edges. It’s not possible to tell from the picture whether the spren follow safehand norms, though my suspicion is that they do not.
    I do love that mental image of ashspren in the physical realm, burning through things but leaving the object unharmed behind them. It’s similar enough to draw comparisons to Pattern and the other Cryptics, but still very unique.
  5. ccstat

    Chapter 28

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 28 (Heresies)
    Icons: Chana and Pailiah, representing obedience and learning, are appropriate to the title--which presumably means we’ll be dealing with the ardentia this chapter.
    Epigraph: “Other shards I cannot identify, and are hidden to me.” Does that mean that the foregoing portion of the letter is exhaustive of the list that Sazed has been able to contact? Or is he skipping some over? I’ll need to go back and count/list the ones that have been mentioned and those that have not. Autonomy sticks out as one he did not talk about and who is the prime suspect for “encroaching” on Scadrial, but I’m wondering if this indicates that there are multiple enemies.
    “Standard violet ink.” I’m not sure if this is the first time it’s been mentioned, but I definitely missed it before this. I love that the alethi are basically all writing their letters with purple gel pens. I wonder how long violet has been the standard--presumably it has something to do with the available ingredients and known recipes for ink. So were all of Shallan’s historical studies in the Palaneum using texts in purple? Or did they use pink/red/green/blue in different periods and geographic regions? Presumably there were specific authors who wrote in individualized colors, which adds a whole extra layer to my mental image of their libraries, their calligraphy, and their art.
    Measuring the difference in mass to a paired / inactive spanreed to calculate its partner’s distance? That’s very cool. This is a patented Mark Watney “science the rust out of this” moment.
    I was about to make a guess from the “heresies” line that the conspiracy theorist on the other end of the line would be a devotee of Ishar, but the very next line talks about what humans do. I’m currently predicting that this is a Siah Aimian (not Axies) since we haven’t seen any of them yet, the Sleepless are hands off and appear organized, and the spren are too obvious--and wouldn’t be able to communicate by spanreed as easily.
    But let’s make note of the other strange phrasing: “What is this you do, putting fabrials in a pit and connecting them to the blowing of the storms?” What pit is being referenced? OH! They are describing the wind turbine at the top of the elevator shaft. I was imagining something smaller scale, but this is fairly obvious. Never mind.
    Everyone packing up and sprinting to the next spot, to triangulate locations in the tower. I’m grinning at the image.
    The likelihood of a spren doing the writing is slightly higher.  I’m not as committed to my Siah prediction at the moment. Anyway, this bit about promises makes me think of Syl’s comment back in book 1 about the laws of nature being agreements between friends, and the analogy I drew at the time to lesser spren as subcontractors that get hired by nahel spren using stormlight currency to perform surgebinding.
    “Ash’s mask”--a new swear to add to the list. Appropriate for the herald of the lightweavers.
    Oh, Navani thinks it’s Glys, doesn’t she. That’s why Pailiah is at the top of the chapter. I’m not sure how I feel about that--either the possibility itself, or the suspicion. The more I think about it, the more reasonable the guess seems, but I also rather hate how estranged Renarin is from his family even a year after that beautiful hug with Jasnah at the end of Oathbringer. Does Navani really need to do this cloak and dagger  facade? Couldn't she just go talk to Ren? You know, her son!? (Well, nephew/stepson, but this family is supposed to be close.)
  6. ccstat

    Chapter 27

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 27 (Banners)
    Epigraph: How can there be “a wound upon the Spiritual Realm where Ambition, Mercy, and Odium clashed” anyway? The Spiritual Realm is supposed to be divorced from location and even time. How would a breach in the Spiritual Realm be localized to Threnody? Or maybe it’s just saying that the other two realms were damaged in such a way that the Spiritual Realm bled through? It doesn’t sound like that’s what he means. It does indicate that something especially weird is happening on Threnody, beyond what I expected. Upcoming Threnody novel should be interesting in that respect, though I doubt we’ll get too many answers. It will probably focus on its own little horror story rather than dropping tons of info relevant to the wider Cosmere.
    Hmm. Szeth is disguised by lightweaving, maintained by another radiant, but Nightblood’s sheath (presumably aluminum” couldn’t be disguised that way and had to be physically concealed. It’s strange to me that the sheath would not disrupt a lightweaving in physical contact with it (on the rest of Szeth’s body, hands, etc.) and only resist changes to its own appearance. Navani describes it as the lightweaving not “sticking to it.” We know that lightweavings can create hologram-like constructs in the air and aren’t limited to covering physical objects, so it’s interesting from a mechanics point of view how much that sheath interferes and how much it doesn’t.
    “Almighty send” I’m pretty positive we’ve had that construction in a previous book, but I’ll add it to the list just in case. I can only positively remember instances of “Heralds send” or a specific herald.
    How old is Gavinor? I was imagining a two or three year old, but he’s acting a bit older than that.
    “She held his hand for a season, then let him go.” These two are adorable. Also, “for a season” is an interesting turn of phrase for Roshar, which has very temporary seasons consisting of essentially several days of similar weather, stretching out to possibly a string of weeks if it’s especially persistent. If an English speaker said “for a season” I would interpret that as a long time, but this feels like only a bit longer than “for a moment.”
    Really? This goodbye with Jasnah is the most awkward hug you’ve ever been a part of? This doesn’t sound like the definitive quantification I expect from a rigorous engineer such as yourself, Navani. Surely your strangely dysfunctional family back when you were married to Gavilar provided you with plenty of awkwardness.
    Navani calling Dalinar “your uncle” when speaking to Jasnah makes the most sense in terms of what they would be used to and also in terms of the formal relationships of the royal family, but there’s also the step-father thing going on that has got to make it weird to know what to call each other.
    Sebarial! We’ve missed you. I love that Navani assumes his improved wardrobe is either thanks to Palona or Adolin. Definitely no other possibilities there. Though, to be fair Adolin is the Kholin highprince, so he would have access and clout (in the Alethi view) to help influence that decision. Of course we all know that Sebarial is very purposeful in how he appears to others, so it’s a little surprising to me that Navani doesn’t see that.
    Turinad? That’s is name? I don’t think we’ve seen it before, but I’m probably just forgetting. Because Turinad is a pretty incredible name and it deserves to have been used before now.
    Oho, Navani has discovered ambition beyond marrying Dalinar. She’s not content to just run the kingdom for the famous warrior, to just be a patron of the arts and sciences. I am excited to see what you decide to pursue, my dear.
    Oh, and his nickname is Turi. That’s adorable.Also, why has it taken this long for Navani to give the man some relationship advice? He’s been with Palona for years!
    Here, finally, is the textual description of the atrium to accompany Shallan’s drawing. This is a massive, magnificent place.
    Oh, neat a scale model of Urithiru. Is it a control center or just a map? 
    And now we get a cliffhanger with the anti-spren-slavery pen pal trying to call her. At least it looks like the next chapter continues with Navani. Unfortunately, it is late now and I’ll have to get to it another day.
  7. ccstat

    Chapter 26

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 26 (A Little Espionage)
    Epigraph: Devotion and Dominion are dead, their power shattered. Yes, yes, news at 11. 
    Shallan surrounded by cryptics every time she breaks out the sketchpad :-) All the other Lightweavers must be jealous-- “No, I can be artistic too, I swear. Come back Pattern… no, not you, my Pattern. The one with the fractally, no, not you. Pattern! Stop ignoring me.”
    Hm, yeah, maybe flashbacks to that period where you were haunted by freaky symbolheads would make you uncomfortable. I have to say, that remains one of my very favorite chapters / scenes of WoK. Creepy and evocative, with a horrifying cliffhanger. It would stick with you even more if you were the one who lived it.
    Veil says “No.” I know this is supposed to be a touching moment of self-discovery and rebuilding trust with her alternate selves, but this bit just strikes me as petulant stubbornness. “Come out of your room, Veil” “No.” “I’ll let you catch a spy~” “Don’t wanna!” Sorry, maybe my sense of humor is off kilter tonight.
    Okay, it did develop into a more mature conversation than it felt from that initial exchange. But then at then end, Radiant snarking about Shallan claiming ownership the trio’s “humor” is back to funny town.
    Pattern is famous. He studied humans, went on a lecture tour. I wonder if he ever met Wyndle on the road for a chair exhibition.
    Harsh sense of humor you’ve got there, Pattern.
    See, there are two problems I have with this mole hunt. The first is their assumption that the agent is one of her lightweavers. “We have three specific suspects.” Yeah, that pretty much guarantees that it’s someone else. Second, they’re starting with the “poke the guilty conscience with a stick” approach. That’s not how you make your allies happy with you, and is bound to cause problems (though at least one of the suspects will end up feeling closer to her because of opening up and sharing something personal.
    Oh, I just realized. What if Shallan poking at her people like this leads to them uncovering/confronting more truths about themselves, thus letting them advance in their Radianthood? I’m almost convinced this is what will happen, and that the discomfort some of them feel will be played off as “Oh, she was just trying to help us succeed. Thank you Shallan, you are a wonderful mentor!” You know what, that works so well I’m going to make it my official prediction. To go even further on a limb, Beryl will be the one to reveal her truth and advance, while Ishnah will be the one to credit Shallan with brilliance. I expect lots of internet points if I’m right about this bet.
    The difference in ability to sense the souls of objects inside beads, with Shallan>Veil>Radiant, makes me wonder about their other nahel abilities. Is Shallan the best at lightweaving between the three as well? Or can Veil do it without drawing things, making her more flexible? More interestingly, have all three struggled with soulcasting to the same degree? How about manifestation of plate? Is her current truth the barrier to that or has one of them already made it that far on the battle for Thaylen Fields?
    Ishnah was “old enough to be seen as a full adult. Young enough to not believe it yet.” That is a disturbingly accurate description of what it feels like. I was in that stage for at least a decade.
    That conversation with Ishnah went about how I expected, except for the dejection at the end. I pegged her more for angry.
    The stone of the cognitive realm is “eager” to be something else. Is that because it is undefined by anything in the physical realm?
    So, when we’ve seen soulcasting in the past (in the physical realm) the soulcaster always catches a little glimpse of Shadesmar while they are casting. Does the process differ when the soulcaster is already in the cognitive realm? Is it easier/harder to perform in that case?
    This is the second time Veil has surfaced to say or think something, despite her obstinacy in trying to stay in the background and coach Shallan through these conversations. The first one was a thought about how manifesting items in shadesmar works; this one was about the mechanics of soulcasting. I think we found our surgebinding member of the Three. 
    Oh, here’s another comment from Veil surfacing, this time in commiseration with Beryl. Fitting.
    I wonder if Veil says this when Shallan is with Adolin, too. 
    Formless is a he? It’s a small detail, but serves to add just enough otherness to up the fear factor here compared to previous mentions.
    I like the clue of Pattern humming when people lie near him, especially because of how utterly ambiguous it is as a clue. He hummed when Shallan made a mistake in her drawing, when she lied about becoming Radiant, and also when Beryl was being self-deprecating. For Beryl, what does that mean? Which part was the lie? We just can’t know.
    All of that adds up to… Red Herrings Galore! Hooray!
    I do very much appreciate that the mole hunt conversations are primarily turning into a vehicle for Shallan’s character development. All of the tension here is coming from her internal conversations with Radiant and Veil, with the character exposition about the other Lightweavers being a useful background for the scene, an impetus to keep things moving. My complaints about the mole hunt are largely sidestepped because that’s not the main point of the plot development, even if it is the excuse for it. (I wonder if this is obvious in general to readers, or if I think too much about structure of writing? Regardless, I appreciate the writing skill that’s going into making this sequence what it is rather than what I expected.
    “You were the child of rocks” … “I appreciate your sediment.” Please, Shallan take pity on the man. That’s enough puns for one day. 
  8. ccstat

    Chapter 25

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 25 (Devotary of Mercy)
    Epigraph: Great Googly Moogly! More shard names? What inspired Brandon to give us this sudden windfall? Whimsy, Mercy, and Valor now, in addition to Invention from the previous chapter. Not much information about them beyond hints, though I really want to see what kind of magic system Whimsy inspires. (Maybe that’s the magic kite story that was mentioned in the State of the Sanderson?) Valor is willing to entertain another entreaty from Hoid, and is at least looking forward to a conversation with him. I’m quite concerned about how Mercy is (in Sazed’s view) going off the rails. I do not want to see a corrupted/insane shard with that divine attribute. It makes sense as an extension of the whole “Preservation isn’t purely good, despite human connotations,” and fits in with Brandon’s cosmology extremely well, but it’s quite ominous.
    I will also say that titling a chapter “Devotary of Mercy” and giving clues in the epigraph that the vessel of Mercy in the universe may have gone off the deep end is not an encouraging portent.
    Oh no. The Devotary of Mercy administers the asylum. This is not something Kaladin will like seeing.
    Teft’s comparison of walk-throughs of the tower and true exploring is interesting and worrisome. “You might never see the things looking back at you.”
    Yes, Kaladin. I totally believe that you’ve “gotten over” being a lighteyes. Definitely only Teft here who is still bothered by that.
    Summoning a shardspear looks like a very effective way of circumventing bureaucratic paperwork, I must say. Looks like there are some benefits to your status after all.
    Syl: “What are we doing? Actually, I don’t care. I need to tell you about PUPPIES!” Yes, Syl, you are adorable.
    The whole chapter was building to this choice of Kaladin’s to take over the mental patients, so it’s not a surprise in the least. His thought process about empiricism is not what I expected, though. I guess that’s why he’s doing this rather than one of the edgedancers. They have the skill and disposition to listen and to care, but they would only have the staying power to help a handful of people, and they would do it all in an individualistic way. Personalized, directed caring. In order to revamp treatment of these people at an organizational level and in a systematic way, you need a compassionate leader. That’s the Windrunners, through and through.
  9. ccstat

    Chapter 24

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers
    Chapter 24(Full of Awe) 
    Epigraph: Invention--that’s a new shard that I haven’t heard of before. It’s possible it popped up in some of the WoBs I missed in the past year, but I’m gonna guess this is the first mention. S/he is hiding or otherwise unreachable, which makes me think of the mystery shard that just ‘wants to hide and survive,” though that’s pretty tenuous. Endowment isn’t ignoring Harmony, which sounds like it makes her an exception.
    Title: Related to awespren? Herald icon is Palah, which doesn’t seem to relate (divine attributes learned and giving) so I dunno.
    If the sun doesn’t move, how are they keeping time? Radiant says the day “occurred” rather than dawned, but what indicated the transition? It sounds like an environmental change of some sort rather than an arbitrary measurement with a clock fabrial.
    Shallan arguing with herselves is great as usual, and I continue to be intrigued by what is lost in the shifts between personas. For example, Veil and Radiant’s inability to draw makes little sense unless Shallan is actually creating schisms in her spiritweb.
    She’s listening to the churning of the beads--is that just an effect of the boat’s motion, or is the sea of souls affected by tide-like forces? It seemed fluid enough the times that Shallan or others fell into it. Is it in motion like the physical ocean?
    The Ghostbloods are interested in Ba-Ado-Mishram specifically? That’s ominous. Are they looking for a mini-Shard? One that is easier or safer to treat with than one of the 16?
    It occurs to me that we don’t know for sure if BAM was released. I assumed so because the singers have their minds back, but it could just as easily have been an effect of Odium arriving rather than BAM escaping. I know I predicted that she was the presence that had taken up residence in Shinovar, but maybe that’s not possible? I still think she’s the most likely, but it’s also a possibility that she’s still trapped somewhere, and that’s what the back cover copy was talking about for Shallan’s quest--the Ghostbloods sent her to find Ba-Ado-Mishram in the Tower, not Restares or the Sibling. Hm. Now that I spell that out, it seems even more likely. I think I’ll revise my Shinovar prediction. Who are we missing? 
    Ashertmarn, Yelig-nar, Sja-anat, Moelach, and Nergaoul are accounted for. BAM is no longer in the running. That leaves three. 
    Re-Shephir who fled from Urithiru in the last book. She’s a good candidate, assuming that we’re just lacking any decent news from Shinovar to describe something recognizable.  Chemoarish, the Dustmother. Not much is known. Dai-gonarthis, the Black Fisher. Not much is known, to the extent that Hessi doubted his status as an Unmade. From those choices, I’d go with Dai-gonarthis as the most mysterious and therefore least likely to be recognized by the Stone Shamans with their oral history and connection to the Honorblades, but we’re in the realm of pure speculation at this point.
    Oh, if BAM is still trapped in the gemstone, maybe that’s why the Ghostbloods are interested. That would presumably allow them to transport her out of the Rosharan system despite the heavy connection she has to it. Then again, Yelignar is trapped now and stealing his gem doesn’t seem like it would be beyond them. So it can’t just be that.
    Veil’s method of persuasion to get Shallan to come out is wonderful. I am deeply disappointed that Shallan ripped up the picture of unibrow Adolin before Nazh could collect it for us. Maybe we should contact Ben and ask him for an outtake or bonus content of that sketch.
    Shallan just casually talks to Adolin about the Ghostbloods and her conclusions? Despite Veil having confronted her right before this about keeping Ghostblood secrets from Adolin. I’m confused. What secrets is she still keeping? 
    Oh, this is the first time she’s telling him the true story behind meeting Jasnah? That’s fun, but also makes this seem like a direct response to Veil’s challenge. She’s trying to unburden herself of secrets, at least to her husband.
    Ah, the title was just about bad puns. Nothing to do with spren after all… though maybe the herald icons are telling us something about Paliah’s sense of humor?
    The mistspren seems to confirm that BAM is still imprisoned, and that Nale and Kakak were present at the binding. 
  10. ccstat

    Chapter 23

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 23 (Binding Wounds)
    Epigraph: Nothing to say.
    Once again a good depiction of depression in its various stages and forms. Also a nod to chronic pain as experienced by Mil. 
    Syl reading Kaladin’s book for him is cute. 
    Jasnah takes time to soulcast medicine? That’s awesome, and a level of specificity/precision I might not have expected of soulcasting. I can’t wait for someone to bring that ability to bear in true medicinal chemistry or perhaps materials science. Want to test or prototype something new? No need to spend months or years figuring out how to synthesize it. Just call up your friendly neighborhood Elsecaller and ta-da!
    The stormlight efficiency of oathgates depends on the level of the operating Radiant? That’s unexpected. Also, Jasnah does have plate, I guess. She just doesn’t show it off. I guess we’ll get to see it when she leads the army into battle.
    The worldhopper flu strikes again! The Purelake Plague is underwhelming, both to me and to the surgeons of Roshar. Interesting that there were no analogs native to Roshar, though. So many things are described as giving flu-like symptoms because those respiratory infections behave similarly in many cases. I would not have thought the biome of Roshar to be so far removed from ours that none of their diseases follow the same pattern.
    Plaguespren are a thing? As distinct from the rotspren that follow infections… that would be very useful epidemiologically, and it also makes me wonder again what sort of plagues Roshar gets.
    I am not sure whether Teft is primarily following Kaladin out of loyalty here or if Kaladin’s recusal has given his followers tacit permission to admit they aren’t okay and need mental health support. I mean, both are happening and both are good. I hope this will prove a benefit to the rest of the Order, but for Teft, which one is the driving factor here? I’m inclined to guess the second, but the first is his excuse to himself… but we’ll see. Hmm, Kaladin seems to agree with me, at least, but he’s hardly an objective narrator.
    --another construction similar to swears even if it doesn’t strictly fit the category. I’ll add it to the list.
     
  11. ccstat

    Chapter 22

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers
    Chapter 22 (No Use Talking)
    Epigraph: These letter segments are too short. It does sound like Sazed may be more open to helping than he seemed from the last correspondence.
    Alright, this has nothing to do with the chapter at hand, but I was thinking about how Mraize was bugging Shallan about getting the Ghostblood tattoo. She was rightly hesitant, and correctly pointed out that it probably wouldn’t stick. But what if the physical tattoo isn’t the point? What if there’s something realmatic about that symbol? Could it possibly be tied to Selish-type investiture, such that it would leave a persistent effect on her? We already theorized that there was a possible tracking function to it when Mraize knew about her carving it into the table at the pub in Oathbringer. It feels like a stretch, and I’m probably just engaging in baseless conjecture--more likely, it’s just the mental commitment of taking that step. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting (and worrisome) possibility.
    The oathgate spren call the Sibling their parent? What is the relationship between the various spren and the big three (Stormfather, Nightwatcher, and Sibling) ? 
    So Jasnah hasn’t mastered the return portion of Elsecalling yet, more than a year after making it back at the end of Words of Radiance. I’m not surprised, since she clearly hasn’t earned her plate yet, but it’s interesting that that step in particular is the difficult one. Why is it harder to return to the physical realm than to enter the cognitive?
    The otherworldly image of Urithiru as seen from Shadesmar is striking. It’s clearly heavily invested--the whole tower, not just the central gem pillar--and that manifests on this side. The swarms of emotion spren raise some interesting questions about spren travel through the cognitive realm. How did so many of them get here through the bead sea? Also, did they come only because of the people who rediscovered the city, or did the tower itself sustain some number of them even through its long abandonment?
    The nahel spren descriptions are good to have, but nothing jumps out to me here. Except that yes, Mistspren are actual nahel spren as speculated from the preceding sketchbook page (rather than cousin spren). Maybe we already knew that and I forgot? It’s also odd/amusing to me that the cultivation spren is described as aloof when that is antithetical to the calling of an Edgedancer.
    Why are the masked spren the ones associated with Truth? That seems very strange to me from my Earthling sensibilities. I’m not sure if this is actually a contradiction or merely a case of culture clash that will be explained.
    Oh, also, where does a name like Ua’pam come from? Is it related to a human culture and language, as there are some potential similarities to the Unkalaki, or do spren have their own languages and naming traditions (relatively) independent of the minds that spawned them?
    More Maya! I’d forgotten her name was longer than that: Mayalaran. Adolin is wonderful for treating her like a person. You go, Adolin!
    Oh, Evi was from Rira, not Iri. I guess Zu isn’t going to be someone who knew her after all.
    I wonder if Adolin will be able to convince the Mistspren of Maya’s comprehension and personhood, as the spren seems to possess an ability to tell when someone speaks what they believe to be truth. Will that entice it to learn more, or is it too used to people believing contradictory things that it won’t care and will write him off? It does make me worry about the Truthwatchers in general, and Renarin by extension, that their Truth is more subjective than objective. It’s not surprising given that every order has subjective morality, but it feels like that is an easy lever to exploit if you are Odium and have access to true believers who can speak damaging truths or even received falsehoods without lying.
    Is Gallant’s afterimage at all related to Szeth’s? 
    Pattern with the group hug! Just there to remind Adolin that someone else came along with his marriage to Shallan. I wonder if “I like having arms” is going to be the next “No Mating!” meme.
    Aaaa! There’s a potential hostile force hiding in the secret tunnels, and you just say “yeah, they’re probably on our side.” NO! That is not how you keep your city safe, young highprince.
    “They resembled chickens” Thank you, Adolin, that was a singularly unhelpful description of the gloryspren. What kind of chicken? This could go anywhere from hawk to kiwi or emu to sparrow.
    All these conversations are fun. I like seeing Godeke’s devotion, and his life in the ardentia shining through. It’s a good counterpoint to the doubt and questioning so pervasive in the main cast. Stump is great, valuing her nickname as a title of endearment. 
    Syl being worried about the reception they are going to get from the honorspren makes me suspect that this group will be spending some time in jail when they get there. Good think Adolin practiced that a couple books ago. He’s a jail-attending pro!
    Yeah, Ua’pam the peakspren has a very similar manner and mannerisms to Rock. I’m going to go ahead and assume a very close tie to the Unkalaki.
    Yeah, that all sounds like bad news. The honorspren thing is going to impact this particular voyage, but I’m gonna guess that the Shinovar Unmade is Ba-Ado-Mishram, the one who gave the listeners forms during the false desolation and who Sja-Anat described as exceptionally clever. She is most likely to be behind “strange things” that manifest in both realms.
    Wait a minute. Tukar? Lasting Integrity isn’t the counterpart to Sesemalex Dar, is it? Because going to the home of insane Ishar sounds like a terrible idea. Okay, just checked the map. No, Sesemalex Dar is located at the corresponding location of the Oathbound Spires in Shadesmar, which makes a lot of sense. There’s no other Tukari cities on the continental map of Roshar, but sneaking a peek ahead at the Emuli map later in the book, there is a human city at roughly the same location as Lasting Integrity: Linder Mar. However, looking again at the Sea of Souls map, Adolin and Shallan’s path goes straight by Lasting Integrity without stopping, and continues on toward the Expanse of Vibrance (Nalthis, correct?). I guess that gives some indication of how well this expedition will go to plan.
    What did Shallan discover about Mraize’s radio? Her lie about the paints was painfully obvious. More than that, I’m disappointed that she’s not telling Adolin more. I thought that he knew about the Ghostblood stuff at least to some degree. They have a good working dynamic of trust.
    Maya is helping take care of Gallant! She’s coming out of her shell and they are bonding! Aaa this is wonderful! Can she please be part of the group hug next time? Pattern, that’s your job.
    Oh, we get a little Shallan snippet of her observations. Someone appears to have used the radio and put it back in the wrong orientation. I’ll tentatively accept her explanation and say that, sure, there is a spy around. However, I want to float the possibility that something so obviously invested might experience changes during the transition to Shadesmar. The Shardplate couldn’t even come, and some of the travelers look different than they did before. Surely it’s not too much of a stretch to say that the radio could have undergone a reflection or rotation when moving between realms.
  12. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers
    Urithiru
    The first Urithiru sketch already featured in Oathbringer, but the scale of this place is insane. Very worthy of its mythic stature. I do like the cutaway sketches that give a sense of the internal space as well as how it would be used. I can really imagine those inward-facing balconies becoming a thriving neighborhood community. It’s interesting to me that the main atrium at least does not close off between tiers. I’m really not up on deciphering the numeric glyphs, and decided it wasn’t worth it at this time since i don’t know what units are being used to measure things. Presumably the dimensions will be given in Rosharan feet (slightly larger than Earth’s imperial foot) but I’ll save that for when I look at the discussion threads in the 17S forums.
    Mistspren (image here)
    Those masks are really creepy, when you realize that there is no face behind them. The interesting thing here is that their physical realm form looks like glinting lights. Are they cousins to the truthwatcher spren, or are they the nahel spren themselves? The description matches what Ystim and Stump described. I guess we’ll find out shortly.
     
  13. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Okay, so first I want to say that the key I was using switched the L and R characters in the Alethi women’s script, which made this transliteration much more difficult to puzzle out until I’d realized the error. 
    It is interesting to see what sounds are used phonetically and which English spellings are directly transliterated (e.g. the C in “space” uses the K/C letter, while the one in “entrance” uses an S) but we already knew that there are nonstandard spellings by comparing Jasnah and Navani’s writings, so it probably doesn’t tell us much. 
    I will also say that when I read Alethi women’s script, I frequently mistake one height of character for another (e.g. A for O, or P for B). It makes me suspect that their language is constructed in such a way that homonym-like words in which a single vowel or consonant differs are either rare or are linguistically related to one another. Then again, that’s probably just my own outsider’s view. “Why are their letters so similar? Don’t they know that’s confusing?” “No, they handle it just fine, in the same way that you don’t get confused between a P and an R despite the similar shapes.” “Oh, okay, I’m just a dumb foreigner. Sorry.”
    Anyway, I don’t have much to say about the notebook pages themselves. I do think it’s cool to see that these engineering solutions are iterative as one would expect--for example, Navani’s comment about switching from two wings to four fins. As for the spren entrapment, it’s nothing that wasn’t already in the chapter (in contrast to WoK where everything was new and a cool reveal for those who took the effort to decipher the pages) but the whole thing feels much more ominous when written in a foreign script. 
    I’m sure the translations are circulating already. Still, here’s what I deciphered:
    Fourth Bridge (image here)
    The Fourth Bridge is not as pretty as my fanciful designs but it is thrilling to see the ship coming together. The final build follows these designs with some changes my engineers suggested Cutaway showing levels below main deck for carrying people and supplies. Kaladin’s old bridge embedded in the deck. Possible design for next iteration of sky carriage. Maybe add soulcast crystal over the top. Stairs might fold up into a table to save space and weight Latest tests show we need four fins instead of two wings Main entrance works like a drawbridge. I hope the fans will lessen some of the horizontal load. The Arnist Method (image here)
    The Arnist Method begins with luring the spren to the gem. For example, to attract a flamespren create a fire nearby. Allow the spren to inspect the gem. Quickly drawing out the stormlight pulls the spren into the gem. The spren becomes trapped inside. Anist hoop A pewter cage surrounding the gem can be adjusted by twisting rods hooked to eyebolts. The thicker the cage the more heat the fabrial generates.
  14. ccstat

    Chapter 21

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 21 (The Seething Knot)
    Epigraph: Oh, nope this is Sazed after all. Presumably a second letter, then. Has Hoid been contacting everyone again, or just the people he thinks are most likely to be sympathetic?
    Adolin is delightful. I love how he’s justifying his fashion obsession with an appeal to Alethi manliness. “Oh, yes. Picking the right outfit is exactly like fighting a duel, with the same preparation and instincts. Absolutely identical skillset, here.”
    Ah, here’s a good quote to encapsulate it: “I’m not fussing, I’m strategizing.”
    Adolin has one hour to fill before he leaves. I hope the task he’s “checking off the list” is saying goodbye to his brother. It would be a good counterpoint to their ritual before the duel in Words of Radiance, and we always need more Renarin than we are given.
    Oh. Well, more bromance with Kaladin is acceptable, I guess. I’ll just headcanon that goodbye to Renarin was a bigger priority and got taken care of before the fashion strategy session.
    Haha. All the young women are chasing Stormblessed by coming for medication. And Adolin totally called it.
    The Nalthian coin is cool. I wonder if it’s depicting Kalad or someone else? I also like that Adolin is allowed to see past the facade Kal puts up.
    Come on, Adolin. You know better than to deliver such an obvious invocation of foreshadowing. Murphy loves straight lines like that one.
    I love it.
    Shardplate can’t be transferred to Shadesmar using the Oathgate, but it can be teleported across the continent. Is that a contradiction? Oh, I guess not. In my mind the teleportation worked by traversing the Cognitive Realm, but obviously that can’t be the case for instantaneous travel. It’s a Spiritual Realm traversal, which doesn’t mess up the degree to which a spren is manifesting in the physical vs cognitive as long as the destination matches the starting point. Moving into a different realm, though, would affect the spren themselves. It’s not a function of investiture density, since they can make one trip but not the other.
    Beryl substituting for Stargyle at the last moment is suspicious, and I’m chalking it up to “necessary Red Herring.” It was fairly obvious when the characters were introduced that Brandon was more invested in Beryl’s story than in Stargyle’s, so I was surprised that she wasn’t selected. My assumption at the time was that she would get some screen time back at Urithiru or on the Emuli campaign, but now it seems like Stargyle was used specifically to manufacture a bit more attention for her by way of this swap. I’m not buying the spy implications, though.
    Are the rainbow colors in Gallant’s eyes a general Ryshadium trait? If so, are they related to the musicspren bond?
    Palafruit--named after the herald? Seems odd if so.
    Adolin has a conversation with Gallant, then says “I talk to my sword too. Funny thing is, she eventually talked back.” He is definitely Edgedancer material with all this listening.
    The intentional obtuseness about bringing along all those swords is entertaining, but what is the real purpose here? Are they for trading? Maybe a cultivationspren likes swords the same way Wyndle likes chairs?
    Zu is in Iriali name. I should have made that connection from the hair, but didn’t. Surrogate mother figure, anyone? Perhaps she knew Evi? Plus maybe we’ll actually get to know something about the Stonewards now.
    Zu’s people thought her cursed by a god the Alethi don’t know/worship. Is that one of the two brothers from the Reshi interlude (Vun Makak or something like that)? I’m not sure how culturally similar the Reshi and Iriali are. They’re neighbors so there ought to be some parallels.
    Oh, I hadn’t realized/remembered that Iri was occupied and/or defected to Odium at this point. That’s unfortunate.
    Felt is coming along… presumably he got here by way of Shadesmar originally, so it will be interesting to see if that comes into play during this expedition. Or if his Scadrian origins are revealed to anyone. Is his wife Malli native Rosharan? I’m pretty sure we don’t know anything about Felt’s family or lack thereof from his brief Mistborn appearance.
    Oh. Looks like I misread something last chapter. Stump is a Truthwatcher not an Edgedancer. Probably fits her better… actually, did we already know this from the novella? I think we did. That was her thing--healing kids and “knowing when they were lying.” I’m pretty sure at the end Lift had a conversation about what kind of spren she saw and it was different from Wyndle’s appearance. Man, I’m forgetting all kinds of stuff. 
    A cache of soulcasters discovered in Aimia? More Dawnshard clues!
    Is Shallan’s inability to master soulcasting an effect of her inability to confront her truths? Or is it just an aspect at which she is less talented?
    This conversation with Dalinar finally brings out some deep feelings from Adolin--about Evi, in particular. I am glad to get to see this, and to see that Adolin is not forgiving about what was revealed in the autobiography. It’s also neat that he managed to turn the confrontation into a meta moment, with Adolin rejecting the dichotomy between Journey vs. Destination as personified in Dalinar vs. Taravangian. So much of the book looks to be about that philosophical debate, it’s interesting to have the premise questioned at this early stage in the book. Much more nuanced treatment than one might expect from a book featuring “personifications of morality” as the arbiters of magical power.
    Dalinar’s expectation that Adolin become a Radiant makes me feel bad about rooting so hard for him to awaken his blade. No pressure, dude! (Although you definitely have to revive her. Yeah, I lied. Lots of pressure, I’ll just feel guilty about it.) It will be interesting to eventually see what role he takes. Despite his dueling and other combat ability, I expect Maya will be uninterested in returning to battle. I’m getting way ahead of myself, but I do wonder what he will do to further mend that relationship once she awakens.
    Wait, Why are there dedicated oathgates to each of the ten dawn cities? As far as I can tell they each allow the user to select from a choice of destinations. Is it simply a matter of organization so that incoming and outgoing transfers can be coordinated safely when many are in use? Or is there something about the construction of the oathgates at Urithiru that only permits each one to transfer to a specified target?
    Swinging the whole thing upside down by moving along a different axis, in order to dump them into shadesmar, is cool, though.
     
  15. ccstat

    Chapter 20

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 20 (The Unseen Court)
    Epigraph: A letter! Who is this one from? Relative youth, but not Sazed since we heard from him in the last book. So I’m guessing this one isn’t a Vessel. The first letters were to/from Frost, also not a vessel, so that’s not unprecedented. Without knowing more I’m going to go out on a limb and guess this is the president of Silverlight University. Seems as likely as anything else I could guess.
    Header: Taln and Ash. Do they appear in this chapter? Is it an association with Shallan and Adolin? Hoping for the former (especially since we’re all hoping for Adolin to go the edgedancer route when he awakens his blade.)
    As you know by now, I am very much here for the internal conflict of Shallan’s aspects, so this chapter opening is fun for me. It does make me wonder, though--how much of the harmony she’s achieved so far is dependent on her radiant abilities? Either through actual magic or through the ritual reinforcing her divisions of personality, she actively transitions between the three aspects, accompanied by visible lightweavings each time (if the scene at the tavern is any indication). That’s not strictly necessary, since we saw her shift personas while talking to Ialai without compromising her disguise, but it makes me wonder what would happen if Shallan were deprived of stormlight. Would she have difficulty shifting? Would Radiant and Veil start to fade (less likely) or merge (more likely) as the barriers between her selves broke down?
    The Veden version of the takama is the vakama? That’s original. And the only difference is pleats in the skirt? I can see why that would be an important distinction to the over-militarized cultures of Alethkar and Vedenar, but it comes across as very silly to me.
    This frames it in a very understandable way. Given Shallan’s mother turned on her to the extreme that she did, and Shallan was forced to murder her father, she’s got trust issues to an incredible depth. 
    I also think it’s fascinating that the two personas Shallan has created to inhabit and help buffer her from the world are both lacking the fear of betrayal that is at her core and is presumably her final truth to confront. That means that her Shallan persona retains all of it, possibly at an enhanced intensity.
    Yeah, I’m very amused by Radiant giving advice about staying in control of your illusions rather than letting them control you. Nice to see the order expanding, though twenty is still fewer than I would have expected after a year. I guess my expectations go thrown off by the “strength of squires” Windrunners.
    Oh, the Unseen Court is the Lightweaver group? I was expecting that to be a spren reference.
    Stump joined? Really? I am shocked she didn’t stay at her orphanage, or at least her city. I’m excited to see she’s an Edgedancer now, though. I look forward to seeing her interact with the rest of the cast. She’ll be an interesting contrast to Lift.
    I kind of hope that there really is a spy among Shallan’s people. If there isn’t and Ialai was assassinated at range by someone else, this is going to be a frustrating mole hunt with no payoff. I’m not entirely sure what to suspect, but I’m leaning towards this being misdirection by Mraize to keep her occupied.
    What is this attack of nausea? Oh, no. Veil forced herself to the surface? And did so to countermand Shallan’s decision after Veil and Radiant had both asked her to be in charge on this matter? Eeek. That will definitely disrupt their balance. At the same time, I’m glad it has an obvious cause and isn’t an unrecognized attack.
    Oh dear. Radiant was acting as peacekeeper to preserve the compact, but in practice she abetted Veil in taking over for a full day and keeping Shallan suppressed. Looks like those trust issues aren’t going away any time soon.
    I wonder where Mraize’s inter-realm radio comes from. It’s inconveniently bulky, too. I misread it the first time and was imagining something substantially smaller.
     
  16. ccstat
    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    A Portion of the Southern Sea of Souls
    Map image here.
    I want to reiterate that Nazh is a gem. He’s much more present on this map than some of the others, with lots of annotations. I love it. 
    First of all, what is that creature in the top left?! It looks reminiscent of a larkin but is clearly a creature of the Cognitive Realm and looks awesome. A less fanciful rendition of this absolutely has to appear in one of Shallan’s sketchbook entries in the future. I will petition for this.
    The city names are great, and you can guess which spren might have founded each one. Oathbound Spires, Justice Untarnished, Lasting Integrity, Brilliance Eternal… and of course Perpetual Sobriety. I would have predicted Nazh’s reaction, but to have it spelled out on the page is delightful.
    I do wonder if there is anything to be gleaned about the spatial arrangement of the spren locations and how they are analogous to physical realm cultures. Do cryptics congregate where they do because of something on the other side? How far back do you have to go in human/listener history to see the seeds of spren cities and the divisions that have formed there? Is the influence of spren on people and singers now strong enough to perpetuate those cultural differences?
    I also really like the idea of a spren settlement called “Nameless.” That has some fascinating realmatic consequences that I want to see explored, even if only in an interlude.
    ...actually, Shallan’s path passes directly through that location, so it looks like we’ll get it in-story. Woot!
    I am also particularly enthused by the label of Nohadon’s stairway. It’s been speculated that these were a feature in Shadesmar, but we haven’t gotten to see them yet. From what we saw of Navani’s researchers, they regularly visit the cognitive realm around Urithiru so these will have been known by now. I’m slightly disappointed that we don’t get to see Dalinar’s reaction to learning about them for the first time, with his focus on Nohadon, but seeing Shallan and Adolin descend them to start their journey should be just as good.
    I will note that even in Shadesmar it is impossible to walk to Urithiru, given the fact that it is isolated in the bead ocean. So he was still exaggerating with poetic turns of phrase even if part of it was literally possible.
     
  17. ccstat

    Interlude I-3

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Interlude I-3
    Taravangian. Yes, this is definitely new header art. 
    Title: “Into The Fire” Just going by what Odium said in the last chapter, this is probably a reference to being called up to actually do some betrayal. Dun dun dun.
    Is this the usual form of deviation from his initial prediction, caused by multiplied butterflies, or is it a larger divergence now that at least one Shard is actively participating?
    Interesting that his internal thoughts seem to show him working to quash doubts and regrets. Also interesting that he has foreseen the moment he'll be called up. Do the companions he’s sent away include the ones that are supposed to monitor his daily fluctuations? 
    Savrahalidem? Who’s that? I’m guessing his daughter, but we haven’t seen that name before. Ah, yes, confirmed as his daughter, nickname Savri. Cool.
    Seeing Mrall and Adrotagia so affected by his impending death is a good, humanizing touch. These aren’t just co-conspirators but also friends and family.
    “It was a death sentence” to be surrounded by the coalition’s armies when his forces betrayed them. Right, that sounds like neither Taravangian nor Odium have been paying attention to the Blackthorn’s recent metamorphosis, or to the fact that Alethkar currently has a queen, not a king. Especially in light of the fact that Taravangian is apparently our throughline for the interludes this book, I’m entirely confident that he will instead be captured and interrogated--by Jasnah, no less.. I’m looking forward to those conversations.
    The Diagram is being dismantled? I didn’t see that coming. I like that he’s sending away his too-loyal underlings on a ‘secret quest.’ Much better than silencing everyone who knows too much. I’m also expecting that to pay off in unexpected ways before too long. “Oops, I sent an opposing force to Shadesmar to race Shallan and Adolin for their goal. Oh, and it’s lead by Danlan. Definitely no way that could have repercussions elsewhere.” At least, that’s my first guess. 
    I wonder if the physical diagram and its (presumed) copies will also be destroyed?
    I like that imagery and his self-sacrificing attitude. It mirrors what he told Szeth at the end of book 1, and his views on kingship as relayed to Dalinar.
    Ooo, that’s cold. I didn’t think about how Vedenar was being used as patsies here. Their Highprinces are colluding knowingly with the Fused, and they will continue the rebellion after Taravangian’s removal, BUT they don’t have any actual promise from Odium that they will be spared. That’s just Kharbranth. 
    Shallan is from Vedenar, right? I imagine she’ll have something to say about this. At least one of her will. (The Fourth?!?!)
    Aww, a parting gift of jams. Good work, Maben.
    Hm, the Diagram says that one of the Unmade is established in Shinovar. Does that mean the Shin are under its sway or is it possibly a more subtle actor? Good thing Szeth’s book is next.
    Confirmation (outside of WOB) that Dova is Battah. Um, I thought it was Battar--is that just an Alethi form of her name? Is Battah correct (i.e. the one she actually uses?) Oh, wait, this is that silent h thing standing in for the palindromic letter. Interesting. Is this perhaps where that idea first came from? People used “Battah” and the devout said, “No, she’s a holy herald, of course she has a mirrored name. It’s probably just an h because of modesty.” Which then evolved into the near-mirror forms of other names. This is probably too neat of an explanation for how language actually evolves, but it’s an intriguing possibility.
    Yes, he burned his copy of the Diagram, so no answers will be readily available to his interrogators. That’s not a guarantee that other copies won’t survive.
     
  18. ccstat

    Interlude I-2

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Interlude I-2
    Sja-Anat. Huzzah! I am really excited for this one. I spent a long time during Oathbringer trying to translate the Keeper of Secrets text, and we still only got ~60% of it worked out. Plus, she’s a fascinating character that we need more insight into, and who recently accepted an offer from the Ghostbloods. Secrets, here I come!
    Odium trapped the Unmade in “a halfway existence” fully in neither the Cognitive nor Physical realms. I hadn’t thought of that as a possible contributor to how they were “unmade.”
    Actually seeing Sja-Anat requires reflected light, like the mirror Shallan used or probably puddles of water. I can’t decide how much of a weakness that would be. Is it volitional on her part? Could someone searching for her find her with a mirror if she were trying to hide?
    So, her children (i.e. the spren she has “corrupted” like Glys) are also trapped in this between-state. I wonder how much that will help us understand what’s going on with Glys. Frankly, not much if we never get more information! Come on, Brandon! Renarin chapter, please. Or at least Jasnah explaining what they’ve figured out in the past year. We need info!
    Eeee. That’s disturbing.
    That last is an interesting title. Especially the inclusiveness of it. Not just the useful spren who chose to follow him, or a few that were unclaimed by Honor and Cultivation. I’m curious what this adoption entails.
    I am glad to see that Sja-Anat has her own agenda that does not align with the Ghostbloods. She’s using them for a distraction as much as for their utility. If her child makes it to Urithiru, I wonder if he’ll end up choosing Mraize or someone else.
    Awww. I am also glad to see this spren at least is grateful for his “Enlightenment,” though we still have no idea what that means.
    So, Odium is “one of the three pure tones of Roshar” as compared to the rhythms, which are less “resonant.” I don’t think I can theorize too much on how the rhythms relate to the shards and other investiture of the planet, but that insight is a useful one.
    This is the sort of intrigue I like to see, and I can’t wait for the realmatic payoff.
    Sja-Anat’s manipulations are golden. I am eager to see how she influences Taravangian and those around him. 
  19. ccstat

    Interlude I-1

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Interlude I-I
    Sylphrena! Hooray for spren interludes. (Sprenterludes?)
    First thing first, have to acknowledge the chapter header art with an interesting depiction of Syl. I’m pretty sure that even in Oathbringer the non-recurring characters didn’t get unique chapter art, right? With respect to this piece, it isn’t very similar to most of the fanart I’ve seen, even accounting for the consistent style across the various chapter headers. It does capture her wind affinity, with the blowing hair, and I appreciate that she gets Alethi eyes in this depiction. Her dress is patterned, which I wouldn’t have expected--generally I see/imagine her as translucent and mono-tone, with very little texture to her appearance. More intriguing, is the fact that she has some sort of massive burden on her back, in the form of a leather(?) backpack. Is this a “weight of her people’s future on her shoulders” allegory, or something more personal? (Is it the food she used to lure the rat into Kaladin’s boot?) It feels even more symbolic than most of these pieces.
    So, Cord’s full name is Hualinam’lunanaki’akilu. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time we’ve seen it in print. I like it. I have to say, though, this is just about the right level of weird name inclusion to have. Can you imagine a young, inexperienced Brandon trying to write a Horneater-focused book, where everyone has these long, poetic, often-skimmed names? Even better, make half the cast from Thaylenah, with their nigh-unpronounceable strings of consonants. Without nicknames like Rock and Cord from the Alethi, it would be nearly unreadable. I like the degree of worldbuilding color we get, and I’m looking forward to more Horneater characters, but we’d better meet them slowly because I have a pretty hard limit for being able to learn and remember new names of this type.
    Well, that’s confirmation, if any was still needed, of the deduction about plate being made of lots of so-called cousin spren. More interestingly, it suggests that the spren in dead plate are not tortured like the blades. Is it because they weren’t directly part of the Nahel bond, and so weren’t affected directly by the breaking of oaths? If so, then they would be locked into this form but not sundered by the Recreance. Alternatively, if less likely, it could merely be a function of their lower sapience. As beings of instinct rather than intellect, they don’t have a vested interest in the oaths and their status. They just keep doing what they do.
    Syl’s curiosity isn’t a general trait of honorspren? I wonder if that’s due to the generational differences or just a personality quirk.
    Intelligent spren are only 10,000 years old--how does that fit into the timeline? If I recall correctly, Aharietam was 4,000 years ago, with a cycle of desolations for centuries to possibly millenia before that, starting some time after humans arrived from Ashyn. So, that puts the appearance of sapient spren roughly around the time of the Shattering, which fits what we know otherwise. I wonder how long Roshar had existed prior to that time?
    D’awww. Thanks for validating her, Stormfather. 
    But seriously, don’t give Syl depression just because she asked. Adding more depression is not a helpful way to solve this problem.
    Interesting exchange about the expected defeat of Odium and about Kaladin’s potential to become the champion. It almost feels like Brandon needed someone with meta knowledge to step in and tell the readers that their theories might be wrong.
    Hm. First, I’m glad we aren’t going to get sad Syl. Second, though, this is interesting as a distinction. The lack of ability to me implies lack of knowledge. The most likely explanation here is that Stormfather himself is incapable of understanding the human condition well enough, so he can’t impart that to his children.
    On a separate note, I like the time dilation explanation for what we’ve seen happen in these frozen moments when the storm hits, between Kaladin’s early visions, the listener/singer form transitions, and now Syl’s conversation. 
    So, Urithiru is halfway across the continent so it’s not a real surprise, but it’s good to note that all of the crem has precipitated by the time the storm reaches that point. Rain and snow there is pure water.
    Foreshadowing! Cheerfully ominous foreshadowing at that. Good work, Syl.
    Hm. The really intriguing part of this is that a Bondsmith “bound other Surges” in the process of leading humans from Ashyn to Roshar. Does that mean “formalized the ten surges as they now exist on Roshar” or does it mean “used the magic of Ashyn, which I am calling surges since that’s the local terminology”? 
    Syl’s previous human was named Relador. Pretty sure we haven’t seen that name before either.
  20. ccstat

    Chapter 19

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 19 (Garnets)
    Title: I really don’t remember what garnets do in fabrials. Are they the opposing-motion counterpart to spanreed rubies? I know they soulcast blood, but that’s not the association we care about for a Navani chapter.
    Epigraph: Open exchange of scientific research? Looks like Jasnah isn’t the only one shaking up cultural norms and having a huge impact on Rosharan society. Industrial Revolution, here we come!
    Oh, it was the suppression fabrial that had garnets in it. I’ll have to look up later if they have a known function in human-produced fabrials, though.
    So, the suppression fabrial has a “corrupted” spren. I wonder if it’s specifically a Sja-Anat effect or something more general that could also be termed “corruption.
    Hm. The oathgate spren didn’t get a lot of screen time, but they didn’t appear particularly trapped to me. I wonder if I (or the viewpoint characters) just missed something or if the Oathgates are different from other fabrials. Those spren certainly weren’t insensate. More importantly, the idea that the ancient fabrials also imprisoned their spren is a shocking one. Until now I had been operating under the assumption that ancient fabrials were constructed using the willing participation of their spren, hence the objection of Syl and others to the modern versions. Apparently that’s not correct. 
    Assuming, then, that all fabrials utilize entrapped spren, what is the concern of the Navani’s mysterious pen pal? Merely the mass production aspect making fabrials more common?
    Oh, Navani is asking almost that exact question, making basically the same observation about the oathgate spren. I’m glad she isn’t actually putting the threatening letter out of her mind. She does seem to be making the same assumption I was before about ancient vs. modern fabrial techniques. I wonder if I’m jumping to unwarranted conclusions or if she’s just not seeing the question that way yet.
    “Masked Ones” as a name for lightweaving Fused is appropriate.
    Navani, the regal matron and queen mother, is getting bodily dragged around the room by experimental tech, and everyone’s just fine with it. I love this think tank lab.
    Wait, so the shardblade-blocking metal is pure aluminum? And they have identified it? Why not just call it aluminum earlier, then? Navani made a point about it being an unknown metal, which is what made me think it must be a different alloy. Was Brandon just having her speak in more general terms so that readers didn’t get bogged down in minutia, or is there a continuity hole here? 
    Aluminum required investigation after the expedition to Aimia earlier in the year that I won’t get any more information about until I read Dawnshard! Aaaaaa! I’m feeling impatient here.
    The weights in the giant shaft are obvious, and were basically my first thought. Using highstorm-rated windmills to ratchet them back up? That’s clever and gives a sense of real progress and industrialization. 
    I love how excited Falilar and her other scientists get when they see Navani’s big picture. She’s inspiring a lot of loyalty among her people, like a true Kholin.
    This naked aggression between Navani and Taravangian is unexpected. I was anticipating more of a spy thriller style deception and counter deception, but they are actually being rather open with each other. 
    Trying to outplay Taravangian and the Diagram is essentially a losing proposition. You mostly have to hope that his loyalty to Odium and the holes in the diagram leave a loophole for you to slip through, or that he’s misunderstood something from the death rattles. The real problem is that our heroes don’t know that the Diagram exists, and they are still trying to play against him on the regular stage of politics. I expect that he’s three layers deep and twelve moves ahead, so it doesn’t really matter whether they come up with a reason why Taravangian supported their proposal.
    That’s delightful, but would she really take something that had been set out for her? She’s much more into stealing than just being given stuff. Maybe they specifically uninvite her from these meetings to get her to come?
     
    You go, Wyndle! 
    Why don’t you want to send Lift as your envoy, Navani? She’d do great. She was able to reach Nale, so I have every confidence in her success with the honorspren. 
    Oh, sad. They turned her down for real. At least they’re sending an Edgedancer--that listening is going to be crucial in making a successful gesture at mending relations. 
    Shallan’s seeming reluctance as she volunteers herself and Adolin for the envoy--is that because she’s involving Adolin in Ghostblood business? Is it because she’s committing herself to Mraize’s mission? Or is it a calculated front for the purposes of the politicking at this meeting, trying not to appear too eager at this chance? I could see any of these being the case, and I kind of want Navani to be perceptive enough as (step)mother-in-law to see Shallan’s true emotions rather than the facade she projects for most people (a.k.a everyone, including herself).
    Interesting to see the greater political concerns through Navani’s eyes, everyone concerned that the Blackthorn is one step from becoming Emperor of half of Roshar. 
    Also fascinating that Dalinar’s book has become a religious text for disaffected Vorins. Not surprising at all, just a very fast development. 
    I do love that the primary demonstratively romantic pairings are Navani/Dalinar and Fen/Kmakl, both older couples. It’s a nice shift from the usual young love of most stories. I particularly like the comfortable chemistry between Navani and Dalinar, as seen in her unbuttoning her left sleeve here.
    Interesting comparison between Taravangian’s views of kingship to the ancient Radiants’ “watchers at the rim” imagery. I look forward to more engagement with Mr. T’s philosophy.
    Hm, so Navani is going to stay behind, along with Kaladin, while the rest of the cast is off doing army or envoy things. So it will be the two of them up against the strike team trying to turn Urithiru against them. In light of that, I’m hopeful that one of the triumphant moments of this book’s Sanderlanche will be Navani having a scientific breakthrough and powering up the right defenses in the tower. Then again, that is a very thin defense against the Fused, and I’m still expecting them to come out on top in this clash. I guess we’ll have to see if that’s something that happens in the first few parts or if it doesn’t resolve until part 5.
    And, that concludes Part One. I think I’ve laid out my expectations and interests enough going along that I don’t need a retrospective here. Onward and upward. (Also, since it’s the next page and I can see the interlude titles, can I just say I am absolutely stoked for Sja-Anat’s chapter? Oh, plus Syl and Taravangian? This will be a happening set of interludes. No random lighthouse keepers here. Can’t wait!)
  21. ccstat

    Chapter 18

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 18 (Surgeon)
    Title: I’m expecting more disappointment from Lirin this chapter. Maybe Kal will ask if he can go back to a healing role? I can imagine the response would not be encouraging.
    Epigraph: The Fused have a “stormlight draining” fabrial that relies on a second unknown metal (i.e. not the aluminum alloy used for blocking blades). By the analogies we’ve seen so far to the metallic arts it seems most likely to be chromium (the metal for Leecher mistings).
    Hm, Skar and Drehy accompanied Rock and his family back to the peaks? I wasn’t really expecting the honor guard (unless that was mentioned in the previous chapter and I’m just forgetting about it now--I really need to not leave so much time between reading sessions).
    More mysterious hints about Urithiru’s construction. The closed off rooms suggest actively manipulable stone, to create doorways at need. Given that we have two orders of knights that could have directly performed that function, on top of whatever responsiveness might have been inherent in the tower itself when powered by the Sibling, that much seems to be obvious. But it makes me wonder how much of the rest of the layout was permanent. Did the whole thing reformat itself at need? Or even at the whims of the Sibling? 
    This definitely piques my interest. Was this communication? Magical symbology (i.e. to accomplish a purpose as might be done on Sel)? Or merely a side effect of some realmatic process similar to the cymatic layouts of the cities on Roshar?
    I’m not surprised that Jasnah has already changed up the inheritance laws to do away with patrilineal descent, but on top of her resolution to do away with slavery this is a reminder that she is actively shaking up some major mainstays of Alethi culture.
    Okay, this rat-in-a-boot story is hilarious. Full props to Syl for an excellent surprise. I want more of these little interactions!
    That Kaladin is noticing the patterns in the rock strata tells me that they really have been here for a year. It’s quite a change from when Shallan was the only one who could navigate the hallways.
    I’m rather enjoying the way Syl is talking to Kal’s parents. It’s a change in the dynamic from the intensely private relationship most radiants we’ve seen have with their spren, and it makes her feel more like an involved character when she can talk to more than one person.
    Imagining Syl making her eyes extra large just to glare at Kaladin better is a beautiful image. Thank you, Brandon.
    Hm. Looks like my prediction was dead wrong. Lirin is beyond thrilled to have Kaladin interested in surgery again. 
    It will be good to see what Kaladin does with his time practicing medicine. I’m not at all sure what to expect. I’ll say again that the biggest disappointment of Words of Radiance was how fast Kaladin healed his shardblade-killed arm. At the time I really wanted to see him grapple with the prospect of being unable to wield a spear or a lancet, having both fighting and medicine taken from him. His relationship with medicine has always been important, but except for treating the wounded among the bridge crews, he hasn’t really done much on screen. I have high expectations for where this takes his character.
     
  22. ccstat

    Chapter 17

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Chapter 17 (A Proposal)
    Header: Navani chapter, with kalak. Significance: someone has bad breath? Yeah, not sure why I’m even noting the herald icons.
    Epigraph: learnin’ about Aluminum. Or, whatever alloy of it is being used in the Fused weapons. We know from Shallan’s necklace that aluminum is a known material on Roshar, and I would have expected the scholars studying this stuff to figure out that connection if it were just the pure metal. I think we can take that as evidence that the useful combat version is some modified material.
    When they make the map, Navani senses a feeling of flight, freedom. Is that a connection to the Stormfather, whose passage over the land gives Dalinar the details to fill in the map, or is it something to do with the Bondsmith-Lightweaver connection? Alternatively, is it something to do with Navani herself?
    “By Kalak’s mighty breath”--new version of the swear. (I like that it still preserves the possible morning breath joke.)
    They have Zoom/Enhance on their map! Radiants are sci-fi, confirmed.
    I am actually very shocked that the “Queen’s Wit” has stuck around. I was not expecting him or Jasnah to put up with each other, and it’s been a year. That is a long time to be in close proximity to Hoid. Plus, he usually does his own thing and steers clear of the current protagonists outside of special moments. Odd to see him staying so close to the action here. 
    It makes me happy that his continued presence means he’s presumably been able to continue coaching Shallan on occasion. Maybe he even got another hug at some point.
    Huh. So they know that the god-priest of Emul is Ishar, and that he’s insane. Honestly, it’s impressive just how many secrets the characters have uncovered. Often the readers are farther ahead than this. True to form for Sanderson, though, there are more secrets hiding all over the place.
    I’m still not sure how navies are supposed to work on Roshar. Highstorms and boats are not a good combination. I suspect Brandon has put sufficient thought into the logistics, though, and I’m hoping for a pirate interlude or something of the sort.
    So they know (or are pretty sure) of Taravangian’s treachery. That’s useful.
    I’m really confused about why the Skybreakers haven’t made more of an impact on the war so far. An entire order of Radiants, trained and ready, throwing in with the singers while the other orders are barely nascent. It should be a complete rout. 
    And I’m not surprised that the Dustbringers (Releasers?) are considering following suit. I do wonder how much of that is their general attitude and how much is Taravangian’s influence through his own loyal Radiant.
    Um, no it’s not. Maybe the Alethi are more open, but that’s not weird at all where we come from. But don’t worry. I feel confident in telling you that Wit and Jasnah are not an item.
    I like this saying. It’s not one I would have thought of, as an expression of vulnerability, opportunity, and hope, but it really works.
    Woot! Jasnah is going to emancipate all slaves! You go, girl. 
    On the other hand, this is not just social upheaval that is on the way. The economic structure of their society, already fractured by the loss of the parshmen, will suffer another huge blow while they are engaged in a prolonged war. This will have a lot of knock-on effects that I hope they can prepare for and mitigate.
    Oh, hell. The ardentia are all slaves. I hadn’t made that connection. Jasnah is really insistent on kicking all the hornet nests, isn’t she? This is going to be a disaster. A good disaster, and a smart move for Alethkar, but a disaster nonetheless.
    I’m not sure how the technical slavery of the ardents prevents the church from amassing political power. Sure, it’s one form of check, but I doubt it does anything to actually stymie them.
    Oh, I forgot that Ash was Jezrien’s daughter. 
    More hints about the Shin. Is that just setup for Book 5’s focus on Szeth, or will we get to actually interact with them in this one?
    I hadn’t thought about what might be possible with Ishar’s blade. Bondsmiths are limited by their “particular” spren, but if someone could wield the honorblade… I wonder if it would give Dalinar himself any resonance. His abilities are esoteric enough that the distinction between herald and radiant might actually be enough. It’s not just the granting of a surge, but deep realmatic manipulation of connection. I doubt that’s the direction it will go, but with the focus on Emul and Ishar it does look like we’ll get more Bondsmithery soon.
  23. ccstat

    Chapter 16

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
     
    Chapter 16 (An Unknown Song)
    Oh, hey. This is the first time seeing Navani’s chapter-header symbol. I like that shining gem. 
    Incidentally, I also paged back through to look at the herald symbols gracing each chapter, and much like Oathbringer all of the chapters so far have 4 of a kind (in contrast to WoK in which usually there were two heralds per chapter). I’m not great at analyzing the heraldic attributes as relate to the chapters, especially since they are often broad enough that half the heralds could reasonably chosen for any given chapter, so I’ll probably not focus on it at all.
    I also haven’t blogged about the notebook and folio pages that we’ve had so far. I did look over them at the same time I was looking at the herald portraits, and it may be worth adding my thoughts about them as well, but I’m going to wait until the next one shows up. 
    Epigraph: Not much to say. I’m curious how closely the Fused manufacture techniques match up with what the humans have developed, but it’s not a huge point of interest for me. Especially since the council meeting included several Fused saying that the humans had surpassed them. I’m much more interested in the ancient-type fabrial. If I were to guess, though, I doubt we’ll see any reveals on that front during the events of this book. (There’s a decent chance that we did get some in Dawnshard, though, just going by the title, so I’ll keep an eye out when I get to that.)
    Ooo voidlight inspection. To quote Mark Watney, “time to science the rust out of this!” 
    Oh, hey, that makes sense. Voidlight glows in UV, which would absolutely look bizarre to people who’d never seen that before. There’s probably an additional magical effect to its appearance, but at least now I have a good mental image for what they’re seeing, AND an expectation that it at least somewhat conforms to the science aspect of realmatics.
    I do wonder if there is anything to be said about Odium from the fact that his investiture manifests in a color on the edge or outside of the visible range. 
    Oh, so Szeth finally went and retrieved the sphere with the captured voidspren. I’m not sure why his is still infused, though. It’s been 8 years.
    “Assassin” That is a cold way to address him. Also, why is he in jail? That’s really stupid if they’re trying to keep him contained. Either he’s there because his code involves following Dalinar’s orders and was asked to stay there, or he requested it as a form of penance. Not sure I like either version.
    Navani decided “not to worry about” the mysterious person who snuck a spanreed into her private vehicle and threatened her to stop making fabrials or else. Nothing could go wrong.
    So the perfect gem containing Nergaoul is safely at the bottom of the ocean. The ocean constantly stirred up by supernatural hurricanes. Hurricanes that regularly blow house-sized boulders ahead of them and whip the ocean to a churning froth. Yes, that is definitely and completely out of reach and will absolutely not come back to bite you in a worse way than it did when it was passively inspiring armies to slaughter each other. Good problem solving.
    Dozens of spheres to illuminate his small stone cell and banish all traces of shadow.
    Hm. Szeth has requested tons of infused spheres. Is that to have stormlight for himself/Nightblood? Or is he still traumatized enough to request a shadowless room? 
    A lot of people have (deservedly) bashed the Sons of Honor. This is as good an indictment of them as any. Not only were their goals abhorrent and counterproductive, their camaraderie had negative value and their scheming was just as cutthroat internally as externally.
    And of course Navani takes that comment as directed at her personally. 
    O.O Well then. First, on the worldbuilding front I really like this element that would give added weight to a person’s last words or final requests. Second, this is important. Shinovar is a long way from here and from Kharbranth or the Shattered Plains, places where so far we have seen the death rattles. Is this just further evidence that Moelach wanders and spreads the effect across different parts of Roshar at different times? Or is there a separate entity present in the western part of Roshar who also causes prophetic visions at the moment of death? 
    If it is Moelach, then I have serious reservations about a culture that has based any significant portion of itself on information gathered from the Unmade. Obviously that’s a concern with the Diagram as well, but they’re already intentionally helping Odium. I’m more worried about the extent to which the Shin may have been unknowingly subverted.
    I can’t tell if Navani’s nausea and revulsion is entirely due to Szeth or if she is also reacting to Nightblood’s “evil detection aura.”
    Navani listing the various groups that are present at Urithiru, that she can see on the Cloudwalk--she calls out there being three different Makabaki local governments represented, and I realized we don’t know anything about the diversity of the various regions. So far, what little we know of most places is monolithic, or even just vignettes. That she mentions them in the same breath as seven Alethi high princes seems like a useful equivalence until we learn more. 
    ..and then she namedrops the Aimians. Human Aimians. I think this is the first indication we’ve had that there is a human culture with roots on those islands. So far all references have been to the Sleepless or the Siah.
    Little Gavinor is an actual character! Who talks! With lots of exclamation points! Seriously, though, I’m glad that he’s getting some time with Grandma Navani. 
    It’s funny to me that Navani is weirded out by getting salutes rather than bows. It makes sense, if those are the norms, but she’s the Kholin matriarch. She’s queen mother, the wife of the Blackthorn, and she directs companies of artifabrians and other artificers on military campaigns. There are a lot of ways to show respect for that. 
    It’s also notable that Dalinar is apparently a trend setter. He’s not the only man learning to read. What is the world coming to?
    These barometer measurements are interesting to me, in that I’m led to challenge the assumption. Why would pressure fall before a storm on Roshar, when the meteorology behind a highstorm is entirely unlike any of the storms we have here? Would you not perhaps expect a compression of air as the supernatural storm approaches? I mean, it’s established in this scene that that is not the case, but it makes me remember yet again that we really don’t know how highstorms work, what is at the Origin, or why they circle the planet in the way that they do.
    Confirmation that Szeth’s sphere has been glowing for 6+ years, along with a few interesting factoids: Voidlight drains more slowly from gems than Stormlight does; mined gems (at least some of them) have a more regular structure than gemhearts, allowing them to retain light longer.
    They keep commenting on the way the light looks different from Voidlight. Is it just the effect of whatever spren was trapped inside, or is this actually imported investiture from another shardworld? If the latter, then whose is it? Probably not from Sel, so Aona and Skai are out. The description doesn’t match either aspect of Harmony. The others… we just don’t know. I will wait to speculate until we get another clue.
    As a scientist, I kind of want a side story just following the scholars as they actually make the discoveries that Navani commissions them for. Hmm. A fanfic idea to keep in mind for later.
    Oh. Well, Rlain’s comments on the sphere are pretty definitive. This is a non-Roshar investiture for sure:
    I can’t decide if the pain is simply from an incompatibility with the listener forms, which have inherently grown with honor/cultivation, and been intentionally adapted for odium’s purposes. I’m leaning toward the other possibility, that it reflects the intent of the shard it came from, which would be...none of the ones we know. If we didn’t know what Ruin looked like already, I would posit that one, but it really doesn’t fit. Possibly Autonomy, but I’m going to bet on one of the ones that has been shattered previously, that we haven’t met yet.
    Shallan, that “well-connected” pun was bad and you should feel bad. Also, it was a lot more honest than I would expect you to be in a one-off quip like that. “I keep finding pieces of myself lying around, forgotten” indeed.
    Shallan and the Mink look like they will be a fun duo. Super spy shenanigans ahoy!
    Adolin has… gold-trimmed boots. Three pairs of gold-trimmed boots. Good grief, man--I do love your fashion obsession, but this is getting a little excessive.
    You do you, Adolin. Everyone is super impressed. Especially your mom, obviously. That’s what it means when she shakes her head like that while rolling her eyes.
    Did Adolin just sass Dalinar? What did I miss during this timeskip? His wife is being quite the influence. 
    Neat that they have chosen to use the singers’ own name for themselves, rather than the much more propaganda-friendly “voidbringers”. I’m impressed with that choice.
  24. ccstat

    Chapter 15

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
     
    Chapter 15 (The Light and the Music)
    Finally! On to the next chapter!
    Title: This is a Kaladin chapter, so I’m guessing it’s a reference to the things other people enjoy that he can’t because his life is suffering and depression. Sorry, Kal.
    Epigraph: So logicspren can reproduce any Boolean operation, timing gate, or similar mechanism based on the design of the fabrial they are used in. I see computers are on the way, and logic gates are very much a thing. Presumably a single captured logicspren could fully empower a control interface, an automatic stator, or any of a variety of governors.
    Wait, what? “In the weeks following…” We’re already getting a timeskip? 
    Oh, it’s only the 2 weeks he had to make a decision. It’s hard to remember sometimes that Rosharan weeks are only 5 days.
    I like that Syl is copying Navani’s airship without knowing what it’s for or even having one built yet. Is it just fun, or does she feel an affinity for it due to the windspren connection to its concept?
    Oooo, are we going to talk to Zahel? He is overdue for an appearance, and I had sort of assumed he would have made himself scarce once he knew Azure was looking for him.
    Syl’s take on hair is gross. Good thing she doesn’t have any.
    While this is funny in a “yeah, that’s a Rosharan take on a familiar concept” sort of way, that analogy is a little too specific for my liking. Do people usually keep weird relatives in the stormshelter? We already know that the treatment of those with mental deficiencies is particularly poor among the Alethi. Is it common for embarrassing family members to be hidden away? Or is this actually a comment on how humans would keep their parsh slaves, and saying that they are related in the same way? I’m probably overthinking this, but it bothers me that Syl would say this quite as glibly as she did.
    Hah! Zahel is doing laundry. (Does he use awakening to make it go faster, I wonder?)
    Lobberbeasts?! Tell me more!
    Woah. This is very cool. Rlain taught them the rhythm they can drum, which attunes lifespren to help their crops grow. I had assumed it was just the light and humans hadn’t bothered, but Kal’s note that someone would have noticed in the past several thousand years is a good one. The music is that missing ingredient. 
    I wonder what other rhythms can do to manifest effects in reality. Somehow I forgot that the Everstorm was summoned by singing, not by ritual. It should have been obvious that the drums and voices of the parshendi can have more magical effects, but somehow I didn’t think of it. Hmm. I wonder what rhythm they were beating at the party before Gavilar’s assassination.
    That music can work with stormlight as an alternative to crude fabrial effects is fascinating, and makes me really excited for the future Rosharan starships that are powered by disco.
    I’m very proud of Rlain’s choice to tell Yunfah he didn’t want a forced bond. I’m really glad Brandon made that narrative choice as well. Helping disadvantaged groups is one thing, but portraying those groups as needing the majority’s charity to succeed rather than being capable of excelling on their own merits is problematic. We can predict that this will be the honor (or possibly the attribute for another order) that will attract the correct spren for Rlain.
    I wonder what breechtree is. Is it named for the way it grows (breech into the wind, perhaps?) or is it related to its use--harvested to make breeches? No, obviously not the latter, it’s just a funny name and I don’t remember seeing it previously.
    You can’t see the grin on my face, but Zahel with (possibly awakened) laundry vs Kaladin is a fight I am going to love reading.
    Come on, Zahel. You use an idiom involving chickens and don’t even use the local word for chicken? You know, the only kind of bird that anyone here knows? How long have you even been here?
    And yes, the fight was very cool. Kaladin needling him about Vivenna is funny to me. I’d forgotten that they left her in Shadesmar, though. Zahel doesn’t seem to think it will be easy for her to pass through the perpendicularity at the Horneater peaks, which is a little surprising to me. She’s had over a year to try. 
    It also makes me a little concerned for Rock, but I’ve already made my prediction there. This doesn’t change anything.
    Okay, Zahel isn’t bothering to hide his awakening at this point. I wonder what Kaladin is going to conclude about it?
    Zahel semi-stealthily reclaiming his Breath from the laundry, and all I can think is “does he not thank them any more?” That was a defining trait for him, and it really says something about what he went through in the yet-to-be-written Warbreaker sequel if he lost his consideration for the constructs he awakens.
    Zahel drained a Rosharan scarf of color for his awakening, so I presume that to mean the color doesn’t have to be Nalthis derived, or more specifically Tears-of-Edgli derived. We probably already knew this, but I can’t think of a specific WoB.
    This whole conversation about Type Two invested entities (new model) is fascinating and far more direct than I expected Zahel to be. It’s a nice reminder that he was a scholar in his own way. I really like the fossil analogy, and I am super curious about where he got it. Presumably he would have had to travel to a pre-shattering planet, or maybe pick it up in Silverlight I suppose. But he treats it as a more precious possession than just something he collected as a souvenir. 
    :-( This is so revealing and so sad. He considers himself a pinocchio who knows he can’t be real any more, and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. 
    I really want to get Endowment’s rebuttal or at least her perspective on this. Did Zahel ever get to actually talk to her? I don’t know if we’ll ever find out for sure.
     
  25. ccstat

    Back Cover Copy

    By ccstat,

    Welcome to my liveblog of Rhythm of War! Index post here. Beware of spoilers.
    Back Cover
    Before jumping into this, I want to share something very cool that I learned this week. Did you know that the Coppermind has implemented a time machine function where you can access the articles as they appeared prior to the release of a particular book? That means you don’t have to avoid the wiki entirely if you are trying to stay spoiler free. Props to the Coppermind staff and contributors for making such a useful function operate (so far) in a seamless fashion.
    Now then, in addition to the art in the physical copy, I am also eager to get a look at the back cover. As you (probably) know, the back cover text of the Stormlight books is distinct from the publisher’s blurb. Brandon insisted on attaching in-world text to the books, and ever since Edgedancer we’ve known that these are written by the Sleepless. 
    Speaking of which, it just occurred to me that I’ve only looked at digital copies of Edgedancer and (cursorily, since I haven’t read it yet) Dawnshard. I have no idea whether the novellas also get in-world text equivalent to the bits on the full novels. I’m going to guess no, the Sleepless commentary is exclusive to the main-sequence books, but I honestly don’t know. I’ll need to ask someone on 17S. 
    Anyway, let’s take a look. The One Who Is Three is a great title for Shallan (and friends). She “seeks the captured soul.” Does that mean the Sibling, or something new that we don’t know about yet? 
    I’m curious how her internal division is an obstacle to finding this knowledge. I also note that “all people”  sounds a whole lot like shorthand for “humans, singers, sleepless, and Siah Aimian alike,” which means it’s something more than the whole crisis of morality that the Radiants faced when they realized humans were interlopers on Roshar. I can’t wait to find out what the next big reveal is. (Hopefully, as I haven’t been steeped in the pre-release theorycrafting this time around, it will be less anticlimactic than the last one.)
    The Fallen Soldier--sounds like Kal is going to have a rough time in this book.
    I’m curious if this is doing double duty and has literal meaning on top of the metaphor. Is Kaladin going to be cut off from Stormlight somehow?
    The Broken Sister--Venli’s ancestors are carrying her? Towards “that most important silence” ? I am confused. Is this a silence that stills the new (Odium-inspired) rhythms? Or is it a silence from all rhythms? Because that sounds like a dangerous repudiation of what makes a listener. I’m going to just have to read and find out on this one.
    The Mother of Machines--nice to see Navani get a part of the spotlight here. Especially since she’s called out as the “most important of them all.” I’m entirely unclear on how her “lies” are related to the secrets of the sleepless, but I guess that’s the point. I do wonder whether this is an indication that Navani has a nahel bond in her future, since the sleepless have been focused on proto-radiants in previous volumes of the Stormlight Archive. I suspect not--they just like the way she’s sparking the industrial revolution and changing the world--but I wouldn’t put a firm bet on that.
     
    And that's that. While I'm here looking at the cover I do want to add to my previous observations that the colors are really vibrantly beautiful in this cover art. I'm looking at the oil-sheen-like rainbow on the rocky outcropping and the shimmering spheres that make up the bead ocean. I love being able to look at all the little details up close. Thank you Michael Whelan for doing the art! You're amazing!
     
    (And as an aside I think it's hilarious that Nazrilof is credited for taking Brandon's photo.)
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