Brandon Sanderson Community discussion
Words of Radiance: Done
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Mike
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Mar 11, 2014 07:17AM
The man with the scar was at the feast in the prologue of the Way of Kings (and Words of Radiance as well for that matter), that'll be when Szeth saw him I imagine.
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Yes, I think so too, although it is not mentioned anywhere. Jasnah is the one who mentions that she saw a person fitting Nalan's description.
Ok thanks it could be there that he see him I guess.earlier some people said that he and zeth could be (not true k r) but he is defiantly a herald so why would he work against them in anyway? And why try to take lift?
Unless he is now somehow corrupt with void spren.
The Skybreakers are essentially the KR police. They made sure that the KR didn't screw up. Now though, it seems like the Skybreakers are more worried about stopping the coming Desolation (which they failed). One point in this theory's favor is, Shallan's eldest brother joined the Skybreakers and then was sent to kill Amaram. Amaram is part of the "Men of Honor" and is trying to bring the Desolations back again. That's in direct conflict with the Skybreaker's objective, so they tried to take out one of the group's leaders.
Eon wrote: "Yes, I think so too, although it is not mentioned anywhere. Jasnah is the one who mentions that she saw a person fitting Nalan's description."No, Szeth's prologue does mention him very briefly. From the prologue:
[Elhokar] was in conversation with two men, a dark-skinned Azish man who had an odd patch of pale skin on his cheek and a thinner, Alethi-looking man who kept glancing over his shoulder.
Seemed to me like if you had EVER done anything, and I mean any little thing wrong in your life, then Nalan (Justice) judged that you were not worthy of being a KR and had to die.
Amazing book. Got it two days later in England than you guys but my god. True brilliance ! I doubt I'll read another book that good until book 3 comes out. But come to think of it . . How can you top that?
Lol, sounds about right Benjamin!
The only things that Sanderson truly lacks, are prose and the ability to properly describe a battle from a military strategy standpoint, imo. His narrative is good and strong, but he doesn't mess around with making everything sound like a song in book form (which is both good and bad).I personally get annoyed by how he focuses on one on one combat rather than actually describing the ebb and flow of a battle.
Everything else is exemplary.
I think dialogue is a weakpoint for Sanderson. Compare how his characters talk with, say, Scott Lynch's work. They are miles apart. That said, I did think some of the interactions between Kaladin and Shallan were really good in this book. I loved the shouting match they had when Shallan first wanted to present herself to Dalinar. And frankly comparing almost anyone's dialogue to Scott Lynch is unfair, that guy can really write banter.I agree that prose wise, Sanderson definitely isn't as polished as some of his contempraries. I thought WoR was better than WoK on that front, but it still had a couple of stumbles. Admittedly, Brandon doesn't aim for the same sort of poetic beauty you get from Gaiman or Rothfuss. He aims at clarity and simplicity, which he mostly achieves.
Now if someone could combine Sanderson level plotting and skill at arranging climaxes, with Rothfuss's descriptive writing and mastery of tone, and Lynch's dialogue I'd be a really happy man.
I don't know Luke. While reading the final battle I was able to visualise what was going on. Although it was more from messenger updates and reports so I guess you do have a point. As for conversations, it seems that he tries, successfully in my opinion, to reflect the personalities of the characters during the speech. Kaladin and his crew would always talk plainly apart from Rock who had his own 'horneater' tone.
Whilst Adolin and Shallan were completely different. More in keeping with their respective personalities and relationship.
Also jumping to mistborn, Ham and Breeze would have very consulted conversations.
I just came across this quote from Shallan.. "She paused, noticing what she’d drawn: a rocky shore near the ocean, with distinctive cliffs rising behind. The perspective was distant; on the rocky shore, several shadowy figures helped one another out of the water. She swore one of them was Yalb.
A hopeful fancy. She wished so much for them to be alive. She would probably never know.
She turned the page and drew what came to her. A sketch of a woman kneeling over a body, raising a hammer and chisel, as if to slam it down into the person’s face. The one beneath her was stiff, wooden . . . maybe even stone?”
Is she able to draw 'truths' even though she is un aware of them? and is the woman the herald 'Shalash' who I believe is the woman in the WoK interlude destroying art (of herself). If so, what does it mean for her powers?
Hugh wrote: "I just came across this quote from Shallan.. "She paused, noticing what she’d drawn: a rocky shore near the ocean, with distinctive cliffs rising behind. The perspective was distant; on the rocky..."
I have been wondering about the drawing truths as well. Not sure though. Yes, definitely Shalash, but not sure as to her intentions. Maybe she wants nothing to do with the heralds and is trying to erase herself from their history?
Or guilt that they failed and yet still worshiped.And she feels she is undeserving.
It's a good theory
Maybe she drew of Shalash because she'd just prayed to Shalash 5 minutes earlier, and somehow got a vision because of it?P.s It's Chapter 30
The frustrating thing is Brandon has said that we won't see a whole lot about the Heralds until the last 5 books.
So is Nightblood going to act as a shardblade on Roshar? I just don't see how that would be possible. The killing of people will be easy as a shardblade, but what about dismissing it.
I can't see why vasher would give up nightbloodHe didn't like leaving it for too long before because of the trouble it would cause.
Also night blood basically ran on breath when it was drawn, is it going to use storm light in the same way?
And zeth is already on the edge madness, to now have a blade that constantly talks to you and tries to get you to destroy "evil"
That boy needs therapy !!
Deano wrote: "I can't see why vasher would give up nightbloodHe didn't like leaving it for too long before because of the trouble it would cause.
Also night blood basically ran on breath when it was drawn, is i..."
Szeth is actually pretty perfect for that sword. He does what is right, according to his personal code. Now, he finds out that the code was based on malicious lies from his people, so yeah, Nightblood is gonna get a fair amount of use in book 3.
Kenneth wrote: "So is Nightblood going to act as a shardblade on Roshar? I just don't see how that would be possible. The killing of people will be easy as a shardblade, but what about dismissing it."
Yes, Stormlight and Breaths appear to be similar. Brandon has stated that the reason that Vasher stays on Roshar is because "he can get what he needs easier on Roshar" which leads us to believe that he can subsist on Stormlight as easily as he could Breaths, and Stormlight is much easier to procure than Breaths.
Szeth has had his whole belief system pulled out from under himHe live by codes only to find out that he was lied to and that he was wrong to live by those codes!!
He's head would be so messed up by what he has already done that it would be nearly impossible not to doubt yourself for making the right decision and thinking are you being manipulated again.
As for night blood
That sword is unstable to say the least
"They look evil lets kill them" but he has no concept of what looks evil.
There is something in place that only allows NB to kill someone who is actually evil. The thing is, we don't know where that set of rules comes from. There are several times when the person pulling out the blade has been safe, due to them not fitting the "evil" profile. So, it (or at least something) does have a sense of evil. This will be great for Szeth, since he wont have to decide for himself who is evil and who is not, he can just let NB go crazy, and whoever is left standing must be an ok person.
Your right about someone holding Nb, then he knows if they have evil in them.But even that is a blurred line. He kills lots of people who are doing there job.
Three guards at the beginning of the book.
We're they EVIL!!
I doubt this. Maybe a degree of badness
But like most people have made bad choices at one time or another.
Szeth feels guilt for the rules he has broken and for some of the kills he made. But one might say he has done evil.
I think brandon has to be careful here as it could unravel and not make any real sense.
Also there are times when NB says they look evil lets kill them
And vash notes that NB is incapable of knowing who looks evil.
Your saying as szeth won't be able to decide who is evil, nb will.
If vash did that the body count in warbreaker would have been tripled!
Thanks for the input. Another question the woman that Jasnah met with just before Gavilar’s assassination, could that have been the same woman that Shallan trains as a con-artist. and Jasnah knew about the attack the whole time?
The female assassin had a shardblade, and no shardblade appeared after Shallan killed the con artist, so unless she gave it away, (or didn't really die) I doubt it.
What about the possibity of Mraize being a Worldhopper? I like this theory and the fact that he has the vail of pale (white) sand.What's the masked woman's deal?
I haven't seen any decent theories on her yet. Mraize calls her "babsk" which is a Thaylen word for "teacher" basically, so she probably holds seniority in the Ghostbloods over him.Most theories hold that Mraize is a Worldhopper, and possibly (not incredibly likely, but possible) the author of the letter in WoR.
What is the theory that he is the author? That would be pretty significant, especially considering that he is the student role.
It starts to get really deep into Cosmere lore, and mostly deals with unpublished books, so I'm not incredibly sure on most of that. Basically, the person that wrote the letter is "the Dragon", although who the dragon is, we don't know for sure. Some think it's Mraize since he's one of the few unaligned world-hoppers we know of (the other three in the purelake interlude are 17thshard, so they're definitely not the writers).
Just received my signed usa edition of worI had the beginning of the letter inscribed by bs too.
I'm well happy
I'm surprised though that the tor versions pages seem a lot thinner.
Good job I'm not going to read from this copy.
The books are in the car, and your letter is in the books, I triple checked lol.
Here's my question list for tonight. It's long, but better to have too many, than too few:1. After Kaladin betrayed his oaths, was Syl as dead as the spren that died during the Recreance?
2. Does Taln still have possession of his Honorblade?
2b. You mentioned that human can’t bond Honorblades, but Nalan tells Szeth that his bond
with his Honorblade has been broken. Can you clear this up?
3. What caused a desolation to end? Was it just the defeat of Odium's forces?
4. If the Parshendi/Parshmen are the Voidbringers, or at least their hosts, then why weren't they wiped out after the end of each Desolation?
5. Which map contains the easter egg?
6. Is Odium one of the three in the Epigraph: "Three of sixteen ruled, but now the broken one reigns"?
7. What can you tell me about the Dustbringers?
8. Is the author of the letter in WoR seen in either of the SA books?
9. How are the letters between Hoid and his “old friend” delivered?
10. Were creatures on Roshar changed by one of the shards in the way that Sazed changed Scadrial?
11. How much Stormlight would equal 1 Breath?
12. Are all the heralds aware that Taln is back?
13. How many parties were there to the original Oathpact?
LolGrill that writer mate
Can't wait to see the answers
Nice list. Im eager to see the answers as well.
I always assumed NB was stolen and Vasher came to Roshar to get it back. Knowing the damage it can do, he doesn't seem like the type of guy to just let it loose on an unsuspecting world. The way Mraize ended up in Urithiru shows he is a man of talent. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he's a Worldhopper.
Great list Luke but I thought the Everstorm moved on. Moving west to east. That's why Kaladin left. To save his parents from it. But my memory grows weak.
@Luke, so you are going to the one at Tyson's tonight? me too.I had some of the same questions but also
1) Since the Shardblades are essentially organic material (spren) and not actual metal would they be affected by Allomancy?
a. What about the Shardplate, is that something that is giving after the final oaths are given?
2) If an Elantrian bonded to a Seon was to travel to Roshar is that bond going to grant extra abilities acting as a Nahel bond? (since both spren and seons are considered splinters)
3) Do lesser Shell beast such as Chull have gemhearts as well, that are just not worth harvesting until the beast dies naturally?
And this is just my own theory to one of your questions: Hoid, who has been collecting items of power throughout the Cosmere, took Taln’s Honorblade when he first arrived at the end of WoK that is why he was waiting for him there.
I don't think Syl was dead, just hanging in the balance. Kaladin had said he will help kill Elhokar, but not actually done so. I think that whilst the deed had not been done, there was still room for hope that kept Syl alive."what is a man's life worth?" Dalinar asked softly.
"the slavemasters say one is worth about two emerald broams," Kaladin said, frowning.
Is this a hint about the breath/stormlight ratio?
If so, 2 emerald broams can keep Vasher alive for a day, with no need to make people drabs, and perhaps a similar situation for Nightblood; instead of draining people of breath, draining stormlight.
I Believe that another Oath for the KR gives them Shardplate. In one of his visions Dalinar noted the helmets could disappear at will, maybe like a Shardblade is dismissed. Similar to why the Shardblades scream to the radiants, the Shardplate could take stormlight from Kaladin and Szeth because there is not a proper bond - the Windrunners and other KR in the visions could wear Plate with no issues.
Somewhere I have come to the conclusion that although the Parshendi become stormform in WoR, it was not always like that. I get the feeling that that is only one of many possible Voidbringer forms, because they are Odiums' equivalent to the KR. I think they will be able to change to other Voidbringer 'forms of Power' after being initially awakened to Odiums' influence. I'm sure It was in WoR somewhere. Instead of bonding to the angerspren that made them into stormform, they can bond a load more as well to get 'Orders' like KR.
Thoughts on this?
Loving this discussion! More importantly though has brandon said when the next book comes out? :)
2 years. 12-18 months for writing and then around 6 months for publication. It should be out not next Christmas, but the one after that (approximately).
Because he had made several plc inflicting promises it caused his abilities to weaken. When he renounced his vow to help kill the king and spoke the words once again Syl was able to return as he had regained his honour. I too wondered about Shardblades. I tried to think whether or not the same screaming was heard by KR who wore the plate. The only two that came to mind were Renarin and Dalinar. During the duel, Kaladin heard screaming only when he touched the blade. And Renarin came out already with blade and plate both. And at no point did Dalinar mention in passing anything to do with screaming. So I don't think it's spren.
In one of Dalinars visions in WoK he is a farmer fighting creatures that are completely black. Then the KR show up and fight them off. Seeing as how the KR only come back during desolations it seems logical that the creatures were another form of Voidbringer. So I think you're right and it is whatever manner of spren the Parshendi used to become use Stormform.
ALTHOUGH spren are widely acknowledged to be splinters of Honour. And since Odium is still whole...they can't really be spren now can they?
Luke wrote: "2 years. 12-18 months for writing and then around 6 months for publication. It should be out not next Christmas, but the one after that (approximately)."On the plus side, watched a recent interview where he said that book 3 is on the fasttrack as his publisher said they don't want people to wait as long as for the Skybreaker as they waited for WoR. Two years is the go-to figure though.
Ok, so Brandon answered a TON of juicy questions. To make sure I didn't corrupt poor readers that don't want to know about cosmere theory and such things, I created a new topic:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
My post is REALLY long, but totally worth it.
So are you saying dec 2015I'd be happy with that.
You say honor has spren as honor is no longer whole and that odium is whole so can not have spren
But lifts spren is of cultivation and that's still whole isn't it?
Yeah, he made is sound like fall 2015 to December 2015 approx.
