happyman

Granted. Your curse is that all bikes fall apart the second you try to ride them. My wish is for the best haircut evar.

I actually did know that it wasn't serious, but, well, if anyone comes up with something really cool in this thread, we'd all gladly pretend otherwise, wouldn't we? Anyway, my suggestion is: The Fracking. Most people still don't know what fracking is, it seems kinda ominous (they've already made an environmental movie against it) and it sounds bad. So there.

Seriously, with the number of Epics running around, even if you had heard of him, that doesn't mean you realize how powerful he is or what he looks like. It's true that the news would cover the epics like they were going out of style, but eventually you run out of time, energy and manpower to cover all of them in enough detail that the man on the street could identify all of them.

Sorry, I still think that Rending is the best word for it. It's slightly archaic (but not so archaic, people won't have heard it) and has mostly negative connotations. I don't think we can say that for any of the other words that have been suggested.

He has a power far more potent than Allomancy: Author fiat. Vin never stood a chance against him, so it's a good thing she didn't try.

I'm guessing that even the weakest Mistborn/Lurcher/Coinshot would figure out that solid blocks of steel have more than one steel line if they got a chance to fight in Newcago.

Sorry, Talion, but I think that kaellok really understands true stickness better.

Yes, but are they the same alt-Earth? I doubt it (the back stories don't preclude it, but they don't really have the same...flavor), but we can't say for sure.

In these cases, the supply of the other metals becomes the problem. It's still the same problem, though.

Yes, but as noted, Radriar is from Infinity Blade. Clearly the Reckonerverse and Infinity Blade are in the same universe. (Technically possible, I suppose, but probably not.)

Minor Firefight spoilers (I am being vague)

"The Emperor's Soul" is probably the best quality/cost you can get in terms of Brandon's writing (Except for Warbreaker. Hard to beat free. I bought it anyway). It's short, but it works.

Senior Feesh, I think that your discovery that Galladon's father may have been studying Fjordell geography is actually a brilliant discovery. It's just the kind of thing that Brandon would hide right in playing sight. Given how the conflict between the two powers has been building, I would not be at all surprised if his research turned out to be very important to upcoming events. Raoden, at least, should be concerned about Fjordell's growing power (and ability to manipulate the Dor), and it would be awful stupid of him to not study (or have somebody else study) Fjordell geography. It's not curiosity any more; it's national security! And look, there's the resources right there. On top of it, any previous Elantrians who got a whiff of this would have been doing the same thing, so Galladon's father's behavior makes perfect sense. It was only lost because he went into a deep depression after his wife died---a realistic reaction.

Half a ton unlimited laptop battery is not a bane in the right hands.

This sounds perfectly normal to me. But then I just got back from "Into the Woods," where people sing at each other for no apparent reason. (Yes, I've seen the play. It just felt a bit weird, some of the audience-facing musical numbers turning into an in-world performance.)

Right. Forgot about the squirrel, although I believe Larimar said it wouldn't as well as Light song wanted because it was too stupid. I'll have to read that scene again to see if it sheds light on this.

Actually, this is an interesting question. Can you even command lifeless using a language different from the one they knew as a human? Sure, lifeless are more efficient using Breath than other Awakenings. That's partly because they are already very close to the shape of life (duh), but I wonder if you could really get it as low as one breath if they didn't have brains. After all, the brains give them a lot more flexibility than other awakened things, including the ability to change commands. Would that be anywhere near as effective if the commands weren't in their native language?

Probably. It has a certain poetry about it, a meter, that resonates with people. Yes, infinities are very strange. And if you believe everything Alcatraz says, you aren't paying attention.

I agree that the emphasis on his avoiding the NASA drawing and other games of (pure) chance are too big and too important to not be part of his fear/weakness. This too. Phobias can be strange, involuntary, and very real. However, I have to wonder if Calamity doesn't take that into account, and if a fear due to, say, an anxiety disorder, would count the same as other, more rational fears. It's a good question. (No idea about the answer.)

Not to mention absolutely ruining his metaphor about being a washing machine at a gun show. Clearly this cannot be allowed. ETA: More seriously, I agree with you. There's part of us that always wants the characters to get powered up, but with my rational mind, I know that it would make the story much less interesting, long run.

Isn't that simply given? In the first book, Tia mentions how add-hoc his system is.

ETA some needed uncertainty.

No need to guess, really, Blackhoof. People ask Brandon about his process all the time, and that's pretty much it. He's a meticulous outliner and always has targets (which he overshoots) when writing.