IllNsickly

Hoid will always look like Michio Kaku in my brain. As for the rest of the characters, regardless of their descriptions, I make visualizations based on their personalities. Rock looks more like a Viking than a Polynesian Teft looks like a Sergeant I worked for when i was in the USAF. I think Szeth is the only character that I picture having the Asian complexion. Perception is a funny thing.

/cast Bandage Wounded Theory.

Crazy Conspiracy Theory.... What if Dalinar is both Odium AND Honor’s Champion. What if THAT conflict is completely internal for Dalinar. KR (et al) vs Fused and Listeners and Dalinar vs Himself.

@Calderis I am not unwilling to defer to your wisdom. However, Odium did state very plainly that he would adhere to both the ‘Spirit and Word’ of any agreement made. And he Chose Dalinar explicitly in word. Perhaps coming from Odium that isn’t worth even the length of time it took him to say it, but I think that will be important.

I think Jasnah is perfect as the Monarch (Regent?) of Alethkar. She isn’t cold or dispassionate, but she has an impressive level of mastery over her emotions. She considers her decisions through a heavy filter of logic. No Monarch rules Sovereign, so she will have advisors to temper whatever ‘Cold’ logic she applies to her decisions. Whether or not she is happy about the appointment is another question entirely. I have trouble picturing her accepting the position, simply because she has her own priorities and I feel like she would place the value of her own work above that of Ruling. Historically, if not outright stated at least implied, is that Urithiru was the Center of Alethela. Suggesting that the Monarchy is a relatively new structure. I contend that she will use that argument against her appointment as Queen. She may accept Regency, in lieu of Gavinor’s age of majority, but I don’t think she will accept Queenship.

@Subvisual Haze That you for expanding on my points! If Odium gets to chose again because his Champion ‘Just isn’t Performing’ it makes the whole thing feel cheap. After the Taravangian scene where we see the Golden light of Odium, I am suspect of EVERY scene where Dalinar sees and feels a Golden Light. Based on in world evidence, that is Odium’s hallmark. Odium has chosen and he chose poorly for his intentions. He now needs to exert his influence over Dalinar in an attempt to bring him back to The Blackthorn and someone who will fight on his side.

Odium already chose Dalinar as his Champion. No do overs. I think that now Odium has to try to figure out how to make his chosen Champion fight FOR him. I may be incorrect, but I am holding on to that.

A small aside to this. Kaladin managed to do SOMETHING to the Spren tormenting Gavinor in the throne room scene with Syl as a Shardblade. I can’t quote the scene, but I recall Syl saying that she didn’t think that even a Shardblade could kill a Spren, and it disturbed her quite a lot. But, yeah, I think of Thunderclasts as a sort of Golem. Animated stone, with the Spren being the source of animation. Smash the stone to pieces and the Spren can just uninhabit what’s left.

Moash... After Kaladin had his Epiphany and change of heart about Elhokar in WoR, Moash was directly involved in an attempt to murder Kaladin. When Kaladin sees Moash preparing to kill Elhokar at the end of OB, he freezes... Freezes because he is incapable of reconciling his emotions about what Has happened, what Moash had been prepared to do and what he he was doing directly in front of him. If Kaladin... No, Kaladin is not going to harbor any deep hatred or resentment of Szeth. He will have questions and trust will be difficult to establish, but Kaladin will be one of the easiest people for Szeth to reconcile with.

Hmm, I guess we have only seen a few hours of screen time for Szeth while he is with the Radiants. I sort of expect the big scenes involving the anger and animosity to happen in the year gap between OB and book 4. *Shrug* I am not at all surprised, though, that no one objected to his help during the battle. ‘The enemy of my enemy’ and all that.

Historically, there had always been contention between some of the different Orders of Radiants. Some of the Orders encouraged and accepted things that other Orders found completely reprehensible. I see the Bondsmiths as a sort of referee. Keeping the Orders that did not play well together in hand and on task.

I can get behind Honor and Cultivation being equal parts responsible for Gemhearts being a storage device for Stormlight. Minor corrections, however... We HAVE seen Kaladin absorbing Stormlight directly from Highstorms on several occasions. His fight with Szeth being the biggest that comes to mind.

Seriously... Good Eats meets High Fantasy. I am in lust.

I think naming him ‘Obligation’ even if a large number of readers never get it is kind of awesome. After all, he and Evi were seeking an alliance that would obligate Dalinar and Co. To provide support and defense.. A sort of nod to all of the fans who stuck with WoT for 20 years.

No one likes Campers.

Chiming in, I suppose. I was a heavy Moash fan, for a long time. Even after the attempt on Elhokar at the end of WoR. Bitterness and Resentment make a perfect stew with Hatred. If it was slightly misplaced, I don’t blame him. Ultimate Authority is what ended his Grandparents lives. That Ultimate Authority is all that mattered to him. HOWEVER, he would have had nothing had it not been for Kaladin. That betrayal, the Salute, is what killed it for me. If he had simply done the deed and left, he would still have been redeemable in my eyes. That Salute brought Kaladin into the execution and, in his own mind, gave Kaladin some of the responsibility and guilt for it. I do not like that. Then the Jezrien kill. ‘Here, take this funny knife and kill the old man’ and he does it. That’s going to take some serious Redemption Arcing. Serious. Elhokar had been shown as a sort of a whinging, ineffectual figurehead who was incapable of ruling or even leading. Kaladin’s being complicit in the assassination attempt at the end of WoR, all he had to do was be somewhere else. Well, I didn’t disagree with Moash, so his involvement was sort of an ancillary thing in my eyes. His own indecision and internal guilt is what caused the Bond failure with Syl. his internal strife was initially over conflicting Oaths, and those conflicts made him realize what Elhokar meant to Dalinar. He corrected himself before his inaction was completely irrevocable. Evidenced by Syl reforging the bond. Kind of a lot happened in OB and I simply don’t think there was enough time for the conversation between Kaladin and Dalinar to happen. It needs to happen and Kaladin himself has to tell Dalinar face to face, but I doubt there is any great damage done, because at the penultimate moment, he made the right decision. TL;DR: Moash has some serious work to do if he has a shot at redemption. Kaladin needs to come clean to Dalinar. Even if it is just to clear the weight from his shoulders.

Having something like a troubled past myself, I voted Dalinar. Fictional character aside, his arc is the kind of story that makes someone believe it is possible. Also, Redemption feels like sort of like the Big Picture in SA. Let’s face it. Dalinar needs all the redeeming he can find. He’s made a hell of a start.

Highstorms aren’t consuming the water, though. They move it around, certainly, but I would imagine that on Roshar, all rivers still lead to the sea. The Purelake even has a drain of its own. No one is quite sure where it drains to, but it’s there. Storms don’t result in net-negative water, it’s going somewhere else. If the ocean levels have dropped enough to reveal substantially more landmass, there should be an equal volume of water somewhere else.

No volcanos. No Tectonic Activity on Roshar. Good question, though. Especially since there is no tectonic activity to push mountains higher... Where is the water going?

I voted deliberate. I actually chuckled at the exchange between them.

@Extesian Thank you for that. The biggest flag for me that Jasnah was still alive was the absence of her body the next time we see the room. As for Eshonai, I had some hope that she was still alive after being thrown into the Chasm, but when Venli and Co. found her remains and Shards, she was Dead. If she had somehow come back as a Spren or only been Mostly Dead, it would have cheapend death in the SA for me.

Jasnah was never intended to appear dead... There is WoB on that. But i am crem at finding those. we had enough evidence about Stormlight healing that it should have been obvious that she wasn’t dead from our 3rd person removed perspective. I knew that she hadn’t been killed.

Hmm... White is all colors in the light spectrum combined. This way of looking at it, Black is simply the absence of light. Or perhaps It is simply not reflecting any light back, absorbing any light in proximity. It has been a while since I read Warbreaker, so you might be closer with the simple mixing of colors. I just assumed it was something to do with light and didn’t give it much thought.

Lately has just been rereads of stuff. Here’s kind od a list. So, other things to read. I checked out the other thread and decided to post on this one instead. David Eddings: The Belgariad and The Mallorean, Belgarath the Sorcerer and Pologara the Sorceress, And I think there may have been one more; The Elenium and The Tamuli are all worth the reading. And just because I thought it was good 25 years ago, ‘The Losers’. Stephen King seems kind of obvious, but I LOVE the ‘Dark Tower’ series and most of his books are connected to it in some way. Orson Scott Card: the ‘Ender’ saga. All of them. Though, I haven’t read the ‘Formic Wars’ books yet, I see no reason to doubt their quality. Ian Irvine: ‘The View from the Mirror.’ I remember reading them 20 years ago when I was posting 4 day tours babysitting fences and Humvees. I had to search for the 3rd and 4th books, which makes me think they must have been worth the read. Anything by Kate Elliot. The Jaran comes first to mind, though. I cannot, in good conscience recommend either Patrick Rothfuss or George RR Martin. There are currently too many people bearing me ill will because I tricked them in to the torture of waiting for authors who are slightly less than prolific. Heh, at least I’m not alone. Craig Alanson: Expeditionary Force, I happily recommend it. There is a certain amount of recycling one-liners and banter, but the story more than makes up for it. If you do the audio thing, RC Bray absolutely brings this story to life. I also have a great liking of Dean Koontz. Most of his work is a fairly straightforward read, quick and enjoyable. I did like the ‘Odd Thomas’ books for the most part, but I like his more psychological needling and prodding stuff better. ‘False Memory’ took me a night to absorb after I finished it. Terry Goodkind is alright. The repetition of ‘The Sword of Truth’ gets to be a bit much after the first 3 or 4 books, but if you take breaks between then it’s not so bad. Just my additions to the conversation.

Moved to a more current thread.