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Shadows of Self
Brandon Sanderson
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SoS: Part 3 (Chapters 22-End)
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Stayed up too late reading last night and finished. What a tough finish for Wax, I did not see that one coming at all. Have a feeling there's going to be lots of brooding and second guessing from him at the start of the next volume. He's always been so sure of himself and that's probably now shaken.
Are we supposed to know who Trell is? He was mentioned at the end as a God who could threaten Harmony but I can't recall if we already know him from the last book or trilogy
The final battle between Wax and Bleeder was exciting, should have seen the earring twist coming since it played such a big role in the original trilogy.
Continue to love Wayne, and I feel Sanderson is getting better with his humor. Didn't feel as forced as it sometimes does.
It seems Roshar is considered the better world by most but I really love Scadrial. The magic is so cool and well defined, and I much enjoy this western setting. Makes me giddy with the thought of where he goes after this.
I really can't imagine a book with more Kandra. I always liked them, so I'm not complaining. I suspected who Bleeder had replaced, but only because I suspected everyone after the TenSoon thing. Or so I thought.I have to say Sanderson is an expert at the long game. The reveal of who Bleeder previously was, was no less shocking than any reveal in the first trilogy. Its a wonderful repeat of the twist at the end of Well and he managed it just as well. Not revealing everything until the last moment. I totally bought the concept that Bleeder was Tan until the final chapter.
Using shape-shifter does feel slightly like cheating however.
It was a bit of a downer to end on. I'm totally with Wax emotionally, though. Yeah, Harmony is working for the greater good, but Bleeder had a point too. I suppose we'll never find out how much of her behavior was due to the odd spike and how much was from personal hate.
Trelagism was a religion mentioned by Sazed in the original Mistborn, i think he suggested it to Vin one time.IIRC it was Trell who was worshiped at night and his jealous brother was the sun..daylight profane and all that.
I think it must be another Shard posing as Trell and causing trouble...
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Still no confirmation about my theory that Wax's Uncle is his father.
I did the audio, so I skimmed the Appendix. There was stuff about different combinations of powers. It sounded like it was being read from a history book. Was this written as Sanderson? Or some fictional character researching the magic? Hoid maybe?
This is one part I really wish I had the text for. Can someone with the text clarify?
I read the Ars Arcanum bit, it is written by a character who is most likely Khriss (She is from an unpublished book called White Sand)or somebody from the 17th Shard. It Doesn't look good anyway, it looks like the Author of it has a keen interest in Hemalurgy. Thats definitely going to have ramifications on the rest of the Cosmere..
I think you might have something there about Wax's Uncle being his father!
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I assumed it was Hoid but I'm not super well versed in the intricacies of the Cosmere
Well you guys can sign up to the 17thShard - it's a Brandon forum dedicated to the cosmere and non cosmere books of Brandon...it is amazing!Coppermind is like a Cosmere wiki... you guys should try them out there is an amazing amount of content!
http://www.17thshard.com/forum/
http://coppermind.net/wiki/Coppermind...
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I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I found it really easy to jump right back into the world and characters (the only tricky bit was trying to remember all the kandra stuff from the original trilogy). The main mystery of the book was fairly engrossing and then the revelations at the end of the book really put it over the top for me. The possibilities that went through my mind when MeLaan said that the hemalurgic spike was made of metal that Harmony didn't recognize really excited me. Plus what this Trell god could be (does Trell hold Cosmere significance?). At least the wait for the 6th book isn't that long.
I, too, like to check out the Coppermind wiki but don't really venture too far into the speculation forums. I'll leave that for others, and I'll just wait for the books.
I also enjoyed the two little peaks into the future of technology in the Mistborn world. First, when Harmony was complaining to Wax that they hadn't figured out radio yet. Second, at the party when I think Wayne accidentally pushed the foreign scientist into a new field of study. I have a feeling that could have ramifications in the future.
Yeah i see what you mean the Forums get super Cosmere heavy but they stock up on Q&A's with Brandon and little Cosmere tidbits not featured.Hahaha i get where you come from about the Technology, If Trell is not Bavadin i will eat my shoe LOL. Apparently the Sequel trilogy to Wax's story is Super major Cosmere heavy and Hoid has a big roll!!
Really wanting to see the Set get crushed in book 3. Where are the kidnapped girls? They didn't seem to get a thought in this book..Surprisingly Sterris grew on me aswell..
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That'll be interesting to see if you're right.
Geoff wrote: "I also enjoyed the two little peaks into the future of technology in the Mistborn world. First, when Harmony was complaining to Wax that they hadn't figured out radio yet. Second, at the party when..."The thing about the radio bothered me a little. That despite this being a fantasy world, it suggests that human society can only develop one way. (There is probably evidence that supports it, but I personally don't like it.)
Is that Harmony's agenda or will all of Sanderson's worlds be identical in 1000 years except for the use of their own magic system.
Will Roshar have stormlight powered computers and eReaders?
Will Elantris use Aons to create a nuclear bomb?
Dustin wrote: "The thing about the radio bothered me a little. That despite this being a fantasy world, it suggests that human society can only develop one way."I don't necessarily agree with that. We hear Harmony say:
You were to have had the radio a century ago, but you didn't need it, you didn't strive for it
and then
You don't explore. Why would you? You have everything you want here. You've barely progressed technologically from what I gave you in the books. Yet others, who were nearly destroyed...
It doesn't appear that Harmony is pushing technology at all. Also, he implies that technological advancement is based on the need of the people. Harmony is right. Elendel is, ideally, set up perfectly in this bountiful basin that has food, water, etc (although in this book we see that there is still a food shortage). They have everything they need and, apparently, have not done much exploring outside of their region. And then Harmony implies that a different region of Scadrial has advanced technologically due to the disastrous conditions from the first trilogy.
Roshar already has a long distance communication (reed-to-reed) while having very little else compared to Scadrial. Probably because there is higher level of travel and interaction between kingdoms in Roshar.
Will these different worlds end up in the same place technologically, given a long enough timescale? Maybe, but the more interesting part is to see how the priorities of each is different and where that takes them. How each magic system works also must play a major factor in this advancement.
The Lassie reveal was kind of a miss for me. I understand the impact it had on Wax but since I never invested in the character it didn't impact for me at all. I really liked Wayne in this one. I enjoyed seeing the world through his senses. His POV was probably my favorite part.
Interested to see how the world will change from the advancements you all discussed above.
Geoff wrote: "Dustin wrote: "The thing about the radio bothered me a little. That despite this being a fantasy world, it suggests that human society can only develop one way."I don't necessarily agree with tha..."
I read it, or more correctly, the narrator read it and from the way it was read and how I generally interpreted it was that he was expressing his disappointment that they weren't producing the results he wants. I remember him blaming himself for this lack in advancement. Confessing that he's protected Elendel too much since he became a god.
"You were to have had the radio a century ago, but you didn't need it, you didn't strive for it"
Seems to say, you're falling behind schedule because of my interference and sounds like he wants them to explore, wants them to develop the radio and not sit comfortably in Elendel.
I liked Wayne's point of view too - and the very last made me glad I joined "team Sterris" towards the first of the book. I guessed the Lessie reveal as soon as she shifted to Lessie - and I thought she had some really good points about Harmony (plus it made things feel a bit less preachy). I'm curious about the new metal, and, as was said above, what about all of the kidnapped girls? I do love the Mistborn magic system - hopefully my next fantasy book won't drive me crazy with its magic - that sometimes happens after reading Sanderson.
Dustin wrote: "I really can't imagine a book with more Kandra. I always liked them, so I'm not complaining. I suspected who Bleeder had replaced, but only because I suspected everyone after the TenSoon thing. Or ..."I didn't realize Bleeder was Lessie till the end. I thought she was playing Lessie to tug on Waxes emotions but was surprised when it was actually her.
So ultimately Lessie was a Kandra all along and when she was "killed" she just went elsewhere back to being a Kandra all that time?
I thought the final scene with Wax and Steris was really poignant.
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