IllNsickly

But how strong was his Coginitve and Spiritual presence? If her Stamp was even the slimmest sliver of close to the Physical Reality, how far of a stretch would it be for His True S & C self to find the Self that she created?

Like a Female Gnome Death Knight in WoW!!! I need to see if there is anything resembling a fork for a blade and upload a pic of my DK, now...

Dalinar. Everything Dalinar, since WoK. My favorite scene was Dalinar walking calmly into the Thrill. 'Hello, Old Friend'. How strong do you have to be to walk face first straight i to your lifelong addiction and face it? I know how strong I am not, and how much struggle there is even 10 years later. That hit me like a warm summer rain. I may have found a bit more strength from Dalinars character arc..

Well, there was that whole Chasm suvival thing. I'd consider that an EPIC first date. (Tongue in Cheek, here...) While I can see the usefulness of the Love Triangle, especially in Shallan's... Umm... Condition? They are always terribly painful for me to read through. I hope this is the cap that closes this particular Triangle.

Ok... Finished.. Damnation Employment even interfered with the AUDIOBOOK. Storms... Dalinar is my favorite character. Hands down. "I shall fear no Evil, for I am the meanest (insert favorite colloquialism here) in the Valley." Introspection is a Bastard. Though, I dig Cultivation's 'Big Picture' plan; Relieve His Burden for now, allow Him to grow. Then... Reality Hammer, STRAIGHT TO THE FACE. Awesome growth mechanism. I am honestly amazed that it didn't backfire. 'You cannot have my pain.' The Oath that hits me the biggest. There was more stuff said, but my first listen I didn't hear much right after this. Storm me if this wasn't his Oath. Teft, with his 'Even if the One I Hate is MYSELF' yep big ol feelers. UNITE THEM. I am a bit torn right now... I am sure it has nothing to do with the Alethi or the Radiants. My suspicions are now either; the Realms (which we saw) or the Races on Roshar (4? Perhaps 5?) Humans, Listeners, Crustaceans and Aimians (both flavours). Not dropping Hybrids in the list because, well, I'm not. I like Shallans growth here. Later in the book we see her change personas mid sentence (Shallan, Veil, Radiant) almost fluidly. Definitely a start at Merging, says I. On Bridge 4 producing high proportion of Radiants. When a Broken man inspires a group of Broken men to be Better, you should not be surprised when those men... Glow... Jasnah is exactly what I expected her to be. This is a Woman who has weathered some serious Storms. Whatever the business was with Amaram, her Father was Storming ASSASSINATED ~40 yds from her, someone has been trying to assassinate her for ?? Years. And then, when she finally accepts a Ward, her trust is betrayed (this is a Principle thing). Oh yeah, Sword through the heart, Shadesmar tribulations... And then plays Professor in the middle of the biggest battle we have seen since A Memory of Light. Jasnah's blood type is (Awesome+). Lift has a few Realms worth of catching up to do. Highmarshall Azure. We are on book 3 of 5 (10.) I feel like her introduction here is perfect. That is all. Venli's Redemption Arc. Just like I wanted to see. Gravy, with no lumps. Moash...... Well, someone had to take Venli's place.... Elhokar. I am sad. I SCREAMED at him in WoK 'YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS!' The very scene he begins to show it, Exit Stage Left. Sadface. Renarin... 'And he nodded.' Dude knows his head and spirit are not jiving. This man is NOT weak. He knows that he is a massive liabilty. He knows his cousin is ready to eliminate the threat he represents and ACCEPTS it. 'Strength before Weakness.' Renarin is Dalinars Son, in Will and Spirit, if not Physically. Adolin. Steadfast, Solid, Dependable. When he feels inferior or unnecessary, he is contemplative... Unless he sees a need for action. Then he is his Fathers Son. Minus the Thrill. I am in the 'Don't become Radiant' camp with Adolin. I want to see him help Mayalaran (?sp) heal from her Recreance wounds, but not to the point of Nahel Bonding. At least not in Arc 1... I want more internal stuff from Adolin. Does anyone else hear Balacavalata from Dr. Who saying 'NO!! Mayalaran!!' When Adolin calls his Blade Maya? I know I did.. Mraize is still Demandared in my reckoning. Bit parts, minimal screen time with highly suggestive backdrops... Yep, Demandared. Szeth is perhaps the most devastatingly Broken character to date on Roshar. We NEED his backstory. just my pennies on the pile. I definitely need a solid read through, E-Book style and another Audible go. I am not talented as an author, so I do not critique, I simply enjoy.

Umm... Clarification, please? The clues are in which book? 'Arcanum Unbounded' or in 'Oathbringer?'

Mine is still broken...

@The Invested Beard I used to feel the same way. Then one day, on one of my numerous cross country drives, I got sick of listening to the same cd's over and over (this was almost 20 years ago.) I stopped at a Major Bookstore to dig through their music and find something else and nothing caught my eye. While wandering around, because I do that at book stores, I walked past their Audio section and saw 'Goblet of Fire' for $14. I figured for that price it was worth it to try something different. Jim Dale completely changed my mind about Audiobooks. I was HOOKED. There are a lot of narrators out there who are not pleasant to listen to, and some that are merely OK, I'll grant you that. I definitely have my preferences and have even returned audiobooks because of bad narration. With jobs that involve a lot of windshield time, Audio is perfect for me.

I'm not happy about Eshonai's death. But, PLEASE let her stay dead. I am looking forward to a long angsty struggle in an epic redemption arc for Venli.

I should take the time to read Alcatraz, I think.

I listen while driving and calibrating fuel dispensers. I have plenty of time to listen.

Since this is COMPLETELY unrelated to Mr. Sanderson and the Cosmere, I am putting it here. There has been a little discussion about the Audio format for literature and this quote from Mr. King absolutely nails it for me. 'A suspense novel is more suspenseful — especially in the hands of a good reader — because your eye can’t jump ahead and see what happens next.' Stephen King. The tendency for my eyes and brain to jump ahead when 'Big Awesome or Big Crazy Thing' is happening is why I Love Audio. There is nothing that can replace the feel of the Real 'Smelling like Magic and Awesome and Perfection' thing Hardcover in your hands, I know... But for the sake of the Story and all of the Care and Love and Blisters and Deadlines that the author poured into it, I prefer to take the extra time and experience everything at the Narrators natural pace. Especially the Good+ Narrators. Man, they can pull you into a story.

It is for the Reading Faster reason that I prefer Audio as my medium. And I listen at 1x speed. When I have an E-Book or the Real (smelling like magic and dreams and perfection) thing in my hands, I DEVOUR books. I also miss a TON of information the first few reads. Nuances, hints and tidbits snuck into conversation or scene descriptions. It would be a minimum 3 reads for me to even begin following most of the conversations present on the 17th Shard or any other forums. Also, I LOVE the story. Journey before Destination. Even the 4th or 32nd time through a book, I take immense pleasure in it, start to finish.

I will have to go back and look as well.

At the end of WoR, I guess I didn't have any doubts about her death. What is this spren that emerged from her body, though? I bet that's gonna be a nifty thing.

And Hoid/Wit has always looked something like Michio Kaku in my brain.

I know the ethnicity is wrong, but Since first mention, I have Szeth in my brain as Rain, from Ninja Assassin.

@Grahamfactor Knowing who the 'Enemy' was and what the 'Wicked thing of Eminence' was would help tremendously and also likely ruin the fun of trying to Theorycraft. I hope we get more hints in OB, but I can't decide if I want to know for sure, yet. I like how you've listed everything out so neatly. I can barely translate my random thoughts into something legible. Also thank you.

“Centuries ago,” Demid said, “we escaped both our gods and the humans. Our ancestors left behind civilization, power, and might in order to secure freedom. I would not give that up, Eshonai. Stormform. With it, we can destroy the Alethi army.” This is from 'Narak' in WoR. I am having trouble finding the other reference, but this one serves as well. There are hints that what happened to the Listeners was Voluntary and what we know of the Recreance it appears to have been Voluntary as well. This is what got me thinking. Escape sounds fairly desperate to me and 'Desperate times, desperate measures.' Imagine a Really Big Parlay between Listeners and Humans. They realize there is a 'Great Big Wrong Thing' and severing the Bonds, both Listener and Radiant, is the only way to stop it. The final resolution would have been the Bondsmiths finally agreeing to find a way to sever the Bonds. The 'Wicked Thing of Eminence' might not be the Severing itself, but rather what led them to it. I am in no way glued to this theory, it's just something that started rolling around in my head. It is incomplete and full of holes, but I thought I would try filling it out a bit more.

I am a fair proofreader and am capable of some minor editing. Creative Writing, however, has always presented issues for me.

Ah, I thought the survival in a hostile environment thing fit nicely, though.

He wrote Hatchet, yeah? I like your style, good Sir.

I dunno... After hearing that Robert Jordan passed away and then finding out that someone (I was unfamiliar with Mr. Sanderson's work prior) was going to finish 'The Wheel of Time', I was far more hyped up than I am now. That may just be a symptom of Time Invested. I started reading WoT all the way back in 1993. I am excited to read anything new from Mr. Sanderson. But, yeah..

I am admittedly not up to acratch on which orders didn't abandon their oaths during the Recreance. Cheers to that. to your other point, though. Excepting Dalinars Vision at Feverstone Keep when the Radiants dropped their Plate and Blades, the only thing the Humans on Roshar know about it is that the Radiants 'Betrayed' Humanity. That information is heavily salted by both History and the Vorin Church. Nothing is really Known about the Recreance except that it happend. I dunno. It just feels to me like the Events should be connected somehow.

Ok... Just had a crazy thought and I haven't seen any speculation on it. Please feel free to shoot me down. I seem to recall (sorry, can't provide a quote) an Eshonai interlude that suggested the Listeners intentionally severed themselves for their Gods. The Recreance, we have been told, Humans intentionally severed their bonds with their Spren. Causing a great deal of damage and essentially killing their associated Spren in the process. I am getting to a point, maybe. With the advent of the Everstorm and subsequent healing of the Parshmens Spirit Webs, I began thinking. Usually a bad idea for me. However... What if the Recreance and the Listeners Severing were the SAME Event. Something drastically nasty came to light (Spren bonds and Listener Forms both.) And it was decided mutually by both sides that is was necessary? The Skybreakers would have abstained for, insert clever idea here, reasons and a group of Listeners, **idea reasons** possibly abstained as well. Crackpot idea built of Crem and Wattle, but I thought I'd throw it up. Dissect accordingly.