Lorna

First, let me say I am insanely eager to read this one, and the cover is brilliantly done.

As I read the blurb on Subterranean, I was thinking, This is going to be Awesome! 

Then I got to this part...

 

But there’s a catch. The corpse is that of a pioneer in the field of experimental biotechnology, a man whose work concerned the use of the human body as a massive storage device. He may have embedded something in the cells of his now dead body. And that something might be dangerous…

...and the ancient human need to believe that death is not the end.

...and I'm thinking OK, so boilogical warfare? AI? genetic manipulation... Wait. Hold it. PLEEEASE tell me this isn't some zombie spin-off!  *gag*

I supose if anyone could pull it off and make that cleche seem fresh, original, and suspend my disbelief, it would be Sanderson. But still.

edited spelling and stuff.

WoR spoilers

Amazon kindle for pc downloading now! :D

Bye bye everyone

Here we all are, hovering... salivating... foot-tapping... nail- chewing... ANY TIME NOW!!!

I noticed that guy too!

Ch. 53  "Dunny"

...

One poor man from Eight was crawling toward the others, an arrow through his thigh. Kaladin walked up to him. He had dark brown skin and brown eyes, his thick black hair pulled back into a long, braided tail. Painspren crawled around him. He looked up with as Kaladin and the members of Bridge Four loomed over him...
... The bodies of bridgemen lay scattered, ignored. “Look at that! Who cares for them? Not Sadeas. Not their fellow bridgemen. I doubt even the Heralds themselves spare a thought for these."...

“Hold this with your hands,” Kaladin instructed. “And don’t walk on it. I’ll check on you before we march back to camp.” “How…” the man said. He didn’t have even a hint of an accent. Kaladin had expected him to be Azish because of the dark skin. “How will I get back if I can’t walk on the leg?” “We will carry you,” Kaladin said. The man looked up, obviously shocked. “I…” Tears formed in his eyes. “Thank you.”...

 

Sanderson, Brandon (2010-08-31). The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 745, 746). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

(Emphasis mine.)

WOW thought this was a thread on the stormlight archive turns out it's on Nazi Germany.....I'll come back later

My thoughts exactly. I know its a hot subject, but can we stop flying off topic at every opportunity to discuss Amaram's ethic and moral values or lack thereof? I don't mean to sound rude, but its becoming rather tiresome. Personally, I came looking for juicy ideas and speculations about The Stormlight Archive, and would rather avoid page after pages of moral debates. Suffice it to say, there is a vast deal going on behind the scenes that we are unaware of.

Thank you for keeping it friendly, though. that is a relief.

Of this we can be sure: all is not as it seems. And the reveals will be, respectively: surprising, intriguing, infuriating, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, and totally awesome!

This is, after all, Brandon Sanderson.

This woman comes to mind. She appears in the Palaneum when Shallan is hiding in an out-of-the-way place trying to figure out how to use the soulcaster. Pailiah, perhaps? Seems a fitting place for one with the attributes of Learned/Giving.

 

A light flickering through nearby bookcases startled her, and she tucked away her folio. It turned out to be just an old, berobed female ardent, shuffling with a lantern and followed by a parshman servant. She didn’t look in Shallan’s direction as she turned between two rows of shelves, her lantern’s light shining out through the spaces between the books . Lit that way— with her figure hidden but the light streaming between the shelves— it looked as if one of the Heralds themselves were walking through the stacks.

Sanderson, Brandon (2010-08-31). The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, The) (pp. 502-503). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

being overlooked. So

At the risk of sounding slightly insane...

Look at all those little gray lines among the pages... so beautiful. *Wipes away a happy tear*

Bring on the sketchbook in its artistic splendor!

Well, most bad guys have some 'greater good' that they are aiming at and use it to justify all the horrible things they do. People overall are great at justifying their actions no matter how bad. Doesn't change the fact that their deeds were terrible and wrong. So to me, Amaram is still guilty for what he did.

 

 

 

Which to me shows that Sadeas was the one who really believed he was doing the right thing. Doing the wrong thing when you know it's wrong, now that's worse.

 

Is Amaram beyond redemption? No. But I think it will be much harder for him to be redeemed than for Sadeas, because Amaram knowingly wronged Kaladin and his man. Sadeas needs to realize his mistake (not strong enough word, I know) and change his views, but Amaram needs to change as a person much more. 

8000 soldiers abandoned to be slaughtered, countless hundreds of bridgemen thrown to the enemy like so many rags, former friends and allies betrayed to death, and he didn't bat an eye! He had the filthy gall to be disappointed when Dalinar and Adolin survived with 2653 of their men!

Such was not committed from merely ignorance or misguided views. Scarce claim he has on good intentions. Even had that been so, strong disillusionment and stronger remorse could not redeem him from that ocean of blood!

If Sadeas has no regrets, I doubt its him thinking he did right. More like he's not feeling bad about it because his conscience is beyond dead.

As much as I detest Amram's deeds, they pale in comparison. At least his conscience is still speaking to him. There may be some hope yet.

... Obviously a raw subject for me. I just finished rereading the Tower battle the new scene of Kal walking the hauntingly sparse warcamp.

High prince of snakes, indeed. Don't throw him to the whitespines - that would be to merciful.

"I will bear the burden of....?"

Leadership? Responsibility? The sound of it hits my noodle right though. I like it muchly, which will probably make it wrong.

Edit* vowels are interchangeable, aren't they?

I was thinking along those lines, that it would be about personal responsibility.

Also I remember in WOK hes describing one of the Heralds weapons. It sounded like a spear or halberd not a sword.

I thought that too at first when Taln showed up in Kholinar. But then when I went back to confirm, I found it was described as looking like "an enormous spike", instead of "enormous pike" as I'd first (mis)read it.

Ill take all of the backstory Mr Sanderson will give us. And side story... and tangent andooooohhhh SQUIRREL!!!!

Me too. My biggest complaint is that I can't have the entire 10 volumes of masterfully written, beautifully illustrated, amazing and awesome Stormlight Archive dominating my bookshelf right now.

Thank you Brandon Sanderson for writing so much so well. Live long and prosper... for all our sakes.

Shallan was interesting, but she has such a dark past and secrets that I can't bring myself to trust her.

Kal is currently my favorite character. I liked his flashbacks even more this last read through. Seeing how Kaladin's history had shaped him was good. I found Tien's appearances golden and endearing. What was his gift that he could brighten Kaladin's darkest days? Even though I knew it was coming, it broke my heart when he was drafted, and again when he died.

I can't wait to find out what became of Kaladin's parents, and who was Tarah? What about his time as a slave?

I wish this were Dalinar's POV book. I'm quite invested in the Kholin family and don't want to have to wait until book storming FOUR! Oh well, at least we can be confident that Sanderson will make the journey worth it.

All that said, I'm still crazy eager for Words of Radiance.

I wish I could up-vote more than once. My kids wonder what all my laughing and awww-ing is about.

These are great for helping pass the time 'till March.

@ everjoy

That bit about Feather was golden.

Why would that story convince him he had a choice? There is no way to prove to him his faith is wrong. The people saw the corpse of their emperor and knew they were following someone who had long past. I don't think Szeth will see himself in the story like Kaladin did. The story is about taking responsibility for your life, and Szeth already does. His only choice would be to give up his faith and I doubt he would just because he heard a story. 

 

Kaladin was ready for that story, and Hoid is great storyteller on many worlds.

I didn't mean to suggest that Szeth would care about hearing the story. I just meant that since the theme seemed so similar to me I wondered if Szeth would suffer a similarly devastating self-realization. He has already begin to question in some ways.

I certainly can't imagine Kaladin meeting the Assassin in White and taking the time to say, "You seem troubled. Sit down and let me tell you a story."

Am I making any sense or just talking in circles?

I don't think the story fits Szeth, because Szeth blames the murders on himself. Where as the people in that story blamed all their murders on the emperor.

Yes, but he believes he has no choice. Will he find he had a choice all along and could have chosen different and bloodless path?

I also wish Rysn would bond with a spren at some point (given her WoR Interlude, she seems like the perfect fit for a Dustbringer: brave and obedient). Maybe next book?

Was it a larkin that chose her at the end of her interlude in WoR? Isn't that the critter that Darkness used to suck all of Lift's stormlight?

*Spoilers ahead*

Though Kaladin has dertermined to eventually let Dalinar know of his surgebinding abilities, I think Amram's presence will make Kaladin more reluctant than ever to reveal what he can do.

 

“Everything I’ve ever had, Teft,” Kaladin whispered, “the lighteyes have taken from me. My family, my brother, my friends. More. More than you can imagine. They see what I have, and they take it.” He held up his hand, and could faintly make out a few glowing wisps trailing from his skin, since he knew what to look for. “They’ll take it. If they can find out what I do, they’ll take it.”

 

WoR ch 2

     Amram has already robbed him of people he loved, his freedom, and his shards. Kaladin has every reason not to trust the man, and to distrust Dalinar by extension after this:

 

He finally stumbled to a stop outside the short set of steps into Dalinar’s bunkered complex of stone buildings. There, standing in front, the Blackthorn clasped hands with a tall man.

Square-faced and dignified, the newcomer wore a pristine uniform. He laughed, then embraced Dalinar. “Old friend,” he said. “It’s been too long.”

“Too long by far,” Dalinar agreed. “I’m glad you finally made your way here, after years of promises. I heard you’ve even found yourself a Shardblade!”

“Yes,” the newcomer said, pulling back and holding his hand to the side. “Taken from an assassin who dared try to kill me on the field of battle.”

 

The Blade appeared. Kaladin stared at the silvery weapon. Etched along its length, the Blade was shaped to look like flames in motion, and to Kaladin it seemed that the weapon was stained red. Names flooded his mind: Dallet, Coreb, Reesh… a squad before time, from another life. Men Kaladin had loved.

 

He looked up and forced himself to see the face of the newcomer. A man Kaladin hated, hated beyond any other. A man he had once worshipped.

Highlord Amaram. The man who had stolen Kaladin’s Shardblade, branded his forehead, and sold him into slavery.

 

WoR ch 12

Kaladin's life somehow keeps getting more complicated.

...Dung spren.

You know, I can see Wit provoking a fight by calling Sadeas' cronies that.

Regarding the shardspear... wasn't that how Windy died?

_{(Remember the Shardhunt?)}

Does it have chull dung in it?

No, just the heads. Courtesy of Lopen

I love that Italian place! Their Horneater soup totally rocks. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone important at the restaurant that night. When I saw all the chulls in the parking lot, I figured it must be crowded, so I ordered mine to go.

Strangely, when I got back to the barracks and opened the bag I discovered someone had eaten my dinner! Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks their food is awesome.

_{Edit: spelling}

Ditto, I can't view it either.

Could we get some more of these? I find them ridiculously entertaining.