Shadesmar

WaT has not had enough time to really sink in for me, but my initial response is positive. One of my favorite bits is Kaladin's 5th oath. From day one, when thinking about which order I would be most interested in, I have been drawn to the Elsecallers. But I convinced myself that I couldn't possibly be an Elsecaller, because at points in my life I have made decisions that prioritize my mental health and happiness over being "the best I could be." I was trying to avoid driving myself to burnout. I couldn't maintain Jasnah levels of competence and perfectionism with everything I do. But Sanderson acknowledged real human limits with Kaladin's 4th and 5th oaths. And with Szeth's 5th oath, I think. So I assume it is the same for all orders. Usually we read fantasy for the escapism, but in this case I appreciate the realism. The characters start as superheroes with extreme views and abilities. Seeing them come full circle and acknowledge limits was cathartic for me. I really need to reread the debate between Jasnah and Taravangian. I forced myself to keep moving and reading to finish the book, but this is the first time I have ever felt compelled to stop and deeply examine a character's philosophical arguments. I agree with what some other people said about the presence of Wind, Stone, and Truth being a little jarring and out of left field. Hopefully events in later books make it make sense. I cannot yet rank WaT amongst the other Stormlight books. I will probably wait a year or two and reread it. But after rereading the rest of the series, this is how I would rank the first 4: 1. WoK (good all the way through) 2. WoR (first half was a slog, but second half was an amazing Sanderlanche that captured my imagination) 3. RoW (odd in a good way; I loved the Navani/Raboniel bits; I enjoyed the reread more than the initial read) 4. OB (the book as a whole was a slog with a few standout amazing moments. I liked the battle of Theylen Field and the character arcs for Elhokar and Szeth, but that was it)

@Aon Tia Thank you! I don't think I can pick a favorite book, but Jasnah is definitely my favorite character. The way she views the world is similar to they'll way I do, but I am no where near as awesome as her! @GoWibble Thanks to you, too! Probably allomancy. I love the rules. I am not artsy enough for the Aons, and I'm not sure I like the idea of relying on a judgemental spren. Breaths are a bit too... undefined, I guess.

I loved RoW. I still think Brandon is the best thing for fantasy since Tolkien. I particularly enjoyed he Raboniel/Navani dynamic, and the cosmere stuff. I've seen several people here commenting on the increase in cosmere crossover stuff in RoW. There are 2 things to keep in mind: 1. Brandon has said that one of the reasons he wrote the earlier cosmere series/novels as standalones was that publishers would not buy a 30+ book series from an unproven author, so he had to break it down into smaller series. But that shared world has always been the goal. 2. He has also stated that the core sequence of the cosmere, in chronological order, is Dragonsteel, Stormlight, and space-era Mistborn. (Sorry I don't have sources for those at the moment.) Since Brandon is now more established, and Stormlight is one of the core series of his giant crossover dream, I fully expect the amount of crossover in Stormlight and Mistborn to continue to increase. Overall, I was more satisfied with my initial read through of RoW than I was with OB or WoR. From personal experience I know that doesn't mean I will like it better in the long run, but for now I'm just going to enjoy it. Compared to previous Stormlight books, I felt like the flashbacks in RoW were weaker, except for Eshonai's chapter at the end. This didn't really bother me. As important as the flashbacks were in the first 3 novels for characterization, I actually never really enjoyed reading them. Too much angst. While I do appreciate what Brandon is trying to do with Kaladin and Shallan's mental health as a plot, I think it's getting a little old. I can only take so many 1000s of pages of stagnation on that front before it gets a little exasperating. Thankfully they both seemed to make progress by the end of the book, which is refreshing. As long as they don't slide right back in the next book. RoW really drove home to me the fact that you can't just swear an oath to advance as a radiant. You have to live it, either by taking action to follow through or being in a situation where you come to an understanding. And this makes sense. For orders with standardized oaths, those oaths will become common knowledge after a while. I did take the KR orders quiz, but I'm really curious to see what oaths resonate most with me, as we learn more of them. I'm not convinced they will 100% match my quiz results. I found it interesting that so many of the bridgemen and Shallan's deserters became radiants. Seems like more of a right place right time kind of deal than carefully choosing the best fit. I suppose one could argue that the spren don't have time to be choosy. But I quite like it, as it implies that the spren are only "human."

I made this account a while ago but I'm pretty sure I never posted, so hello! Edit: Looks like I joined in 2014. Wow. 6 years without posting.