Series: Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson ("Way of Kings")

[Wen]

I just checked the library and this is such a popular one. I am number 11 in line>_< but they have 6 copies...

[Gabi]

Jemppu wrote: "I so want to too! It's right there in my library, taunting me! Alas, I'd rather need couple shorter ones to try and reach the even 50 for the end of the year perhaps."

Usually I wouldn't go for two audiobooks in a month, but since it's X-mas time and my father already gave me some money for books, I'm indulging myself in another audiobook. And the longer, the more for the money I get. So over 1000 pages is a bargain :).

[Jemppu]

Gabi wrote: "... my father already gave me some money for books, I'm indulding myself in another audiobook. And the longer, the more for the money I get. So over 1000 pages is a bargain :)..."

Lucky! And clever :D

[Jemppu]

Wen wrote: "I just checked the library and this is such a popular one. I am number 11 in line>_< but they have 6 copies..."

A wild guess: it's so long it gets re-loaned a lot.

[Wen]

Jemppu wrote: "Gabi wrote: "... my father already gave me some money for books, I'm indulding myself in another audiobook. And the longer, the more for the money I get. So over 1000 pages is a bargain :)..."

Luc..."

Gabi, that's so smart:)

[Wen]

Jemppu wrote: "Wen wrote: "I just checked the library and this is such a popular one. I am number 11 in line>_

A wild guess: it's so long it gets re-loaned a lot."

Maybe has gone missing too...oh, no :)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Wait can I get an example of tacky fantasy tropes? I'm so curious what that means, you both said it!

[Gabi]

For me it wasn't particularly fantasy tropes, but the high drama writing of Kaladin's "evolution" into a more than human being, the lengthy descriptions of fighting and Szeth's powers, which reminded me of Manga. These three points could drive me away from a book - or at least cause an inner moaning - but absolutely not here. Quite the contrary. Sanderson caught me against my usual reading preferences.

ETA: in fact he thankfully refrained from typical fantasy tropes like lost heir to the monarchy or evil villain.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Ahh gotcha, that makes sense

[Gabi]

Words of Radiance:

I did not like (view spoiler)[Jasnah being stabbed :(! I hope this doesn't turn into ASOIAF, cause I abandonned that series cause of too many deaths (among others). (hide spoiler)]

Yet I loved (view spoiler)[

"If I toss something upwards, it does come down."
"Except when it doesn't."
"It's a law."
"No," Syl said looking upward, "It's more like … like an agreement among friends."

:D! (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Just a short shoutout for Shallan! She may very well be the best written female character I've ever encountered in this kind of Fantasy novels. - She's my girl!

[Jemppu]

Gabi wrote: "Just a short shoutout for Shallan! She may very well be the best written female character I've ever encountered in this kind of Fantasy novels. - She's my girl!"

👍👍👍

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Gabi wrote: "Just a short shoutout for Shallan! She may very well be the best written female character I've ever encountered in this kind of Fantasy novels. - She's my girl!"

Yes! I love her so much. (view spoiler)[ I love that she has agency and her own plans. I love that she's conflicted and messes up sometimes. I love that she's both flighty and hyper-aware, that her trauma is very much centered in her response rather than as the impetus for someone else's story. I also like that she's still part of an oppressive society and is trying to find a way to bend those expectations to make room for her as she is. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Allison wrote: "Gabi wrote: "Just a short shoutout for Shallan! She may very well be the best written female character I've ever encountered in this kind of Fantasy novels. - She's my girl!"

Yes! I love her so mu..."

All of that and (view spoiler)[I love that she is an artist, that her drawings are part of the story and that she hasn't this badass label (I even hate this word) everybody seems to feel the need to turn women into, if they are not depicted as the "harmless medieval sort" (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Absolutely! I'm so glad you agree ^^

[Gabi]

:D I LOVE the bickering between Kaladin and Adolin.

ETA: Gosh, I'm so regretting this not having as a BR. Ever so often I want to turn around, collar somebody and squeal: "Look at this scene … look at that … isn't that …" It's torture to read this alone! When is book 4 due?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

2020 I think?

But you should squeal, Gabi! Here or in your feed, I will totally look it up and jump in with you. I love these books.

[Rachel]

Well I’ll be getting around to WoR in 2019 but ai suspect you’ll be through Oathb ringer by then Gabi!

[Gabi]

Rachel wrote: "Well I’ll be getting around to WoR in 2019 but ai suspect you’ll be through Oathb ringer by then Gabi!"

^^' I fear you may be right, Rachel. I just can't stop listening to the books.

[Jemppu]

Fine! Now that the Nightrunner BR has been pushed forward, WoR shall become my first 'read' of the year, I suppose. It's been burning a hole on my Library shelf anyway.

Already squeeing over the continued bonding of the bridge crew over the tattoos.

[Gabi]

Jemppu wrote: "Fine! Now that the Nightrunner BR has been pushed forward, WoR shall become my first 'read' of the year, I suppose. It's been burning a hole on my Library shelf anyway.
."

Woohoo!

Question concerning "Words of Radiance". Did I miss something, or is it intentional that (view spoiler)[ I can't remember when Shallan did meet the Wit? When she hugged and thanked him, my mind was fast rewinding, which scene I might have missed. Did I? Or is this something that will be a topic later and I can stop torturing my brain cells about? (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

There is a scene with them. I forget when it is though.

[Gabi]

Allison wrote: "There is a scene with them. I forget when it is though."

Then I hope this will be in a flashback yet to come.

[Gabi]

Now I'm through. I have to let the last part of Oathbringer sink in a bit, and perhaps re-listen to it, cause unfortunately I had massive problems with concentration here (too many POVs? Too many battle scenes?)

I have a question: (view spoiler)[ Who was the person Moash killed? I fear there are way too many names by now that I keep forgetting. Yet the scene seemed ominous and important. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I did wonder at you being unmoved! (view spoiler)[ Moash killed the king, Elhokar! (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Allison wrote: "I did wonder at you being unmoved! [spoilers removed]"

;D That one I got - (view spoiler)[ I meant in the second to last chapter (I think it was the second to last), there he kills somebody, who his referred to as one of the greatest humans ever (or something along the line), while nobody is reacting to it. Unfortunately I don't get the name properly to look this character up (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

OH!

(view spoiler)[ Jezrien, the highest of the Heralds, patron of Kaladin's powers, the Windrunners. (hide spoiler)]

Man Moash got around a bit, didn't he?

[Gabi]

Thank you so much! I now have some serious wiki-reading to do to see if I got all the connections - cause of spoilers I didn't dare so far, but now I can :D.

Moash really frightens me!

But … (view spoiler)[ Jasnah! I love her so much! Jasnah rules … and now in the true sense of the word. The Almighty save the Queen. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yay!!

That connection, Gabi, is explored more fully in Edgedancer. It's a cute story, but the few revelations it offers really make Oathbringer more devastating I think.

I actually just pulled out my ipad to see if I could do a synopsis of the end because it was a total mindf*ck for me.

[Gabi]

I admit, I shied away from Edgedancer, since Lift is so far one of the few characters I don't care for.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yeah, there's only 2-3 things that it helps with. People also said to read Warbreaker first but *shrug*

I'll get there!

[Rachel]

Warbreaker is so good!

[Gabi]

Oh, in which way does Warbreaker tie into the Stormlight Archives? I just looked it up and it doesn't ring a bell.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Apparently all of his "cosmere" books will eventually tie into each other. But I'm led to believe a character you meet in Oathbringer is from Warbreaker.

Rachel, it's on the list! I can't only read Sanderson though, I got crap to do! People to go! Places to meet!

[Joon]

Looks like Sanderson's main 2019 project is writing book 4, which I guess is already outlined, so 2020 sounds about right.

I wasn't going to even think about starting Stormlight until it was much closer to being completed...maybe book 7 or 8, but I read on his site that the series is really two five-book arcs. In that case, I'm much more willing to start now. He says book five will read almost like a final book in a series.

That said....it still won't be soon. I kind of want to do a full Sanderson re-read before I commit to Stormlight. I haven't even read the Second Era Mistborn books yet (again, wanted to wait until they were all done), and I can't do that until I've re-read the First Era books, which I may start next month.

I also want to give Warbreaker another shot as well. I did NOT like it the first time I read it. Hoping I like it more the second time.

I'm probably good on Elantris, I re-read that a couple years ago I think.

I'm not at all concerned about the Cosmere connections for all these books. By all accounts, right now the connections are so thin as to be almost unnoticeable to many, which would definitely include me. I'm certainly not going to remember every single character in every single book to the point where if a very minor character in one showed up in another I'd even notice.

[Michael]

Allison wrote: "Apparently all of his "cosmere" books will eventually tie into each other. But I'm led to believe a character you meet in Oathbringer is from Warbreaker.

Rachel, it's on the list! I can't only rea..."
This connected Cosmere concept is so exciting. I've only read Way of Kings so far, and am more than halfway through Warbreaker, so I'm still very much in the beginning of this journey.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Welcome, Michael!! I agree, I'm going to be amazed if he pulls it off in the way we all hope. I also have to get to Warbreaker at some point. It's on the list at least haha. Can't wait to hear what you think of the rest of Stormlight Archive!

[Michael]

Reading his interviews and watching his lectures really makes me think that he can pull it off. Sanderson is a writing machine, and I get the sense that he has a lot of this mapped out already. I'm already impressed by the broad connection he's given everything and am so excited to discover more about Cosmere's deities, which might give clearer hints to those links.

I also have to give him major credit for being one of the more transparent authors I've ever encountered (his year in review updates are amazing as a fan).

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yes!! I joke that Sanderson must actually be 3 Stephen Kings in a trenchcoat--I have no idea how he writes this much and still has time to update fans, make podcasts, teach new writers and all the rest. It's incredible!

[Michael]

"3 Stephen Kings in a trenchcoat" nails it. It's all even more impressive since he pretty much exclusively deals in hard magic systems. Everything comes at a cost, and there are restrictions to having powers. It's incredible.

[Jemppu]

To whom it might be of interest: a sneak peek to vol. 4 of Stormlight Archives from Comic Con read by the author himself.

[CBRetriever]

Just finished Words of Radiance and I'm happy. I was not a big fan of Shallan in WoK (i prefered Jasnah and wish part of the book had been written from her point of view)

I have to digest this for a it before commenting further

[Gabi]

oh, great! I'm just re-reading WoR, too, and I find myself not being able to put it down (but then, Shallan already was my fav in book one)

[CBRetriever]

I'm veering off course a bit to read Edgedancer as Sanderson recommends

[Gabi]

Yup, this time I will put in Edgedancer as well (didn't do it on my first read)

[CBRetriever]

the first part of it is directly from (view spoiler)[ the Lift Interlude story (hide spoiler)]

[Rachel]

I’m working through WoR right now as well....400-500 pages in (so funny that’s not even halfway!!)

[Bfgdhrubo]

I am reading the Way of Kings as well. 45% in according to my kindle.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

We're discussing Way of Kings as the club read! They're talking Words of Radiance. Come to the official threads if you'd like to talk about WoK without accidental spoilers :D

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

[CBRetriever]

OK, I'm 15% into Oathbringer and where's (view spoiler)[ Jasnah? She showed up in the Epilogue of Words of Radiance. (hide spoiler)]

So far the book is good. Edgedancer was pretty good though at times I felt (view spoiler)[ Lift needed an awakening from her spoiled brat mindset (hide spoiler)]