2020 Cosmere BR (Currently reading: Edgedancer)

[Maria]

A little late to the party but I started this last night! It's my first Sanderson. The writing style I find kind of unimpressive, but that may be because a recent read of mine had such flowery writing 😅 (Rothfuss').

I'm through ch. 2 and now the 3rd chapter is from another perspective. I wish the author wouldn't switch between perspectives as much. We've had four perspectives so far already

Anyways, the prologue explained the magic system quite a bit. (view spoiler)[ Vahr having to die rather than surrender himself to the court was sad. I don't get it, though. Torturing him into giving his Breath away shouldn't exactly count as voluntary. It is not. He's being tortured into it.
I wonder if Breaths can increase at all? Even though you can recycle them after every task, it has to be done precisely or it would be wasted. That means the world can either retain its Breaths or lose them. Can it ever gain any?

I don't know what to make of Vasher. He's a nobleman but he isn't? Could he be an illegitimate son of a nobleman? (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

Glad you managed to join us Maria. I'm still about halfway through it too. Yeah, definitely think that has affected your perception; I quite like Sanderson's prose, it's heaps better than a lot out there, but I totally get where you're coming from, as Rothfuss' writing style is a lot of what makes The Kingkiller Chronicles such amazing books.

Don't worry, 4 perspectives is as much as it gets lol.

(view spoiler)[ Well the fact is, Vahr did give the verbal command to give up his Breath which is what is needed regardless of the manner of how he had to.

And you 'll find the answers to your questions about Breath as you read more. (hide spoiler)]

[Lucija]

Sandee wrote: "Lucija wrote: "Sandee wrote: "ahhh that makes sense. another one too @Lucija [spoilers removed]"

Sure keep them coming :) My brain needs the exercise with all the lazing around it's been doing lat..."

Hey Sandee, sorry for the late reply, been a bit busy lately
(view spoiler)[No, I don't think we know who the first Returned was. To my understanding the First Returned had some descendants (somehow) and they became the royal line. At one point there was a war and the royal line had to escape to the mountains. And I think those people were just regular folks (I mean kings and queens, but not Returned), as far as we know. Sorry if I'm misinterpreting your question. (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

Finally finished this! I feel like it's taken me ages!

(view spoiler)[ I didn't anticipate Denth, Tonk Fah and Bluefingers turning out to be the bad guys...

I wish we had learnt more about Vasher and his past- particularly about the others he worked with and what happened with the Manywar- he seems really interesting. I didn't expect him to be a Returned either!

I also wish we had more of Nightblood, he was cracking me up. It'll be interesting to see how Szeth reacts to him, they'll make such a contrast lol.

Vivenna did get a tad interesting when she finally learnt some humility and spent some time as a beggar but her part still wasn't as enjoyable as the rest. I don't know that I'm looking forward to her showing up in Oathbringer tbh, unless she's drastically changed..

Oh bless Lightsong, he came through in the end. I kinda thought that there would have been a bit more to his backstory really after all that mystery surrounding it.

One thing I don't know, is how Susebron managed to use his breath; he's obviously not been trained in it or anything, and he couldn't speak until Lightsong healed him... how did he know what to say and do? And to command it so well... that didn't quite add up. And I would have like to have known how the priests were transferring the breath from God king to God king. It was also a shame that we didn't get his experience of the outside world for the first time. (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

@Lucija

(view spoiler)[ Yes, I forgot to say that, Siri and Susebron's time together and the conversations they had were some of my favourite parts, I found their blossoming relationship really cute.

In chapter 20 Siri begins to explain the letters to God King and says that S is Shash. Wasn't that also Kaladins brand. And now that I think about it, what was that Heralds name that destroys all art depicting her. Wasn't it something similar?

Yes, I also noticed that. Shash was one of Kaladin's brands yeah, I was wondering if it's related too, but maybe not if they're in different worlds and have different languages.... Regarding the Herald- I don't know that there was a Herald with that name but I can only sort of remember a few now lol.

[I liked the progression both of the sisters had throughout the book, both basically became what the other should have. Siri becoming this important and self assured queen - that was supposed to be Vivenna in the beginning. And Vivenna particularly had a nice character progression - from an uptight princess to an amazing Awakener.

Oh my god, that's so true. Don't know how I didn't realise that. Totally agree that they both progressed and learnt a lot, nice character arcs. (hide spoiler)]

[Lucija]

@ Beena

(view spoiler)[Yes! I'm so interested to see Nightblood in Oathbringer and I'm so curious how he ended up being parted from Vasher.

And yes, I thought Lightsong's backstory was going to be a bigger thing too, but he had such a nice ending (that sounds bad haha I hate that he died, but it was very impactful).

And again I agree about Vivenna. I think she had a nice character progression, but everyone else is still more interesting to me. After all that she's been through and all that she became, she is still a bit bland as a character. I think we still need more time with the *new* Vivenna to see what she does with her new personality. It's been some days since I read Warbreaker and I can definitely say that she's the one you forget about. Lightssong, Vasher and Siri, they have strong personalities and you can easily describe them, but the new Vivenna? Uhh not so much.

One thing I don't know, is how Susebron managed to use his breath; he's obviously not been trained in it or anything, and he couldn't speak until Lightsong healed him... how did he know what to say and do? And to command it so well... that didn't quite add up.

It was mentioned a couple of times that when first starting to learn awakening the more breath you have the easier you can learn awakening. So having such a huge amount of breath certainly helped. And I think that a certain hightening gives you the ability to use breath instinctively (not sure about that one). There is also one other thing. It was said that when Lightsong healed him and his tongue he didn't just heal his body. That's why Susebron could talk even though he never learned how, so maybe it did something to his ability to awaken too. (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

@Lucija

(view spoiler)[ Yeah, I think Nightblood's gonna be a blast haha, hopefully see a lot more action out of him too rather than being thrown about lol.

No, I know what you mean, he did have a nice ending, it was fitting for his character, him believing he wasn't worthy to be a God all along and then he went and proved everyone else right about him by sacrificing himself.

Ha, bland is definitely the word for Vivenna. I suppose it doesn't help that we spent most of the book disliking her for being so damn uptight. You're right that we need to see more of the "new" her first.

It was mentioned a couple of times that when first starting to learn awakening the more breath you have the easier you can learn awakening. So having such a huge amount of breath certainly helped. And I think that a certain hightening gives you the ability to use breath instinctively (not sure about that one). There is also one other thing. It was said that when Lightsong healed him and his tongue he didn't just heal his body. That's why Susebron could talk even though he never learned how, so maybe it did something to his ability to awaken too.

Ohhh right, that makes a lot of sense. Damn, you paid attention! I think that totally went out of my head lol. (hide spoiler)]

[Lucija]

(view spoiler)[I suppose it doesn't help that we spent most of the book disliking her for being so damn uptight.
Yes, exactly!

No, I know what you mean, he did have a nice ending, it was fitting for his character, him believing he wasn't worthy to be a God all along and then he went and proved everyone else right about him by sacrificing himself.
Yeah! That's well put

Ohhh right, that makes a lot of sense. Damn, you paid attention! I think that totally went out of my head lol.
Haha lol, I have no clue how I retained all that (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

I agree about vivenna. It will be interesting to see her in oathbringer. I just hope she is more likeable than at the beginning of warbreaker. And nightblood...so impatient to read about it

[Sandee is Reading]

At first, I completely hated Vivenna. I was so tempted to skim through her chapters because I couldn't bear to hear her complaints about the Hallandrens and their culture. I'm so happy that she grew up as a character, she had the most profound arc out of all them. If she'll be appearing on the Stormlight archive, I would be happy. :)

[Maria]

Through ch. 10 so far

(view spoiler)[ Vivenna's perspective was really interesting! Poor thing is forced to do stuff she never would've thought of, just for her sister

I thought their contrasting personalities were really interesting. Like how Siri was fascinated by the colourful Halladren while Vivenna was disgusted.

Now we know that Breath can be given even if the receiver doesn't consent to it lol. (hide spoiler)]

[Maria]

Lucija wrote: "I'm currently reading chapter 16. I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but I feel like I'm reading really fast. But, maybe that's just because WoK and WoR were so long, so this one feels like..."

About ch. 10 (view spoiler)[ i agree that wearing muted colours would be more suspicious than brighter ones in Halladren (hide spoiler)]

[Maria]

Beena wrote: "Read up to and including Chapter 18, I haven't done spoilers chapter by chapter because I feel like not enough happens to warrant that so I've just banged it all together;

Lightsong is a better ..."

Agreed! (view spoiler)[ he really is nicer than he gives himself credit for. I'm really curious about his previous life and how Llarimar knew him. I also wonder why they can't tell the gods anything about their previous lives. Surely the gods would all be curious about it, no? They should at least be told how exactly they died that made them Return.

I like that Lightsong questions his religion, too. Maybe he's like the reader in this, wondering why the Returned have to be worshipped like gods.

Also the part where Siri faked their sex - GENIUS! Haha. I am impressed she did it without bursting out laughing.
That's an interesting point about the God King being a pawn in all this. I do believe the priests are the bigger politicians in this. The gods just go on and do their bidding

Also about Vivenna- yep! She's going to do great things ahead, I feel (hide spoiler)]

[Maria]

Also, I feel like it was (view spoiler)[ Vasher that Vivenna saw in the arena. The ragged looking man who had a lot of Breaths (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I want to start Oathbringer a couple days before the 1st... Would it bother anyone if I start posting in here my thoughts as I go before the Warbreaker read is finished? Or should I get together an independent thread? Either way is okay with me. :)

Also... who's reading it too?!

[Beena]

You could post your thoughts if you wanted to Niki, the only thing is, they might get a bit lost as Anni, Rob and Maria are still reading Warbreaker, then we were going to read Edgedancer, then Oathbringer. So, I dunno, it's up to you, Rob's been going back and reading our spoilers, so that's possible and Choko read Words of Radiance after we finished and posted as we got into Warbreaker, but that was probably only just manageable as it was two conversations going on at once lol. But with more people it might get confusing haha. It would be a shame to miss out on your thoughts though- could you possibly wait to read it with us? No worries if you don't though, wouldn't want to spoil your fun!

So far everyone who wants to read Oathbringer includes; myself, Paula, Lucija, Choko, Anni, Iain, Rob...

[Rob]

I can start Oathbringer at any time. I just finished my reread of A Little Hatred and I'll pause in rereading Warbreaker for now if most everyone wants to move on. Also itching to read the new Abercrombie of course :)

[Rob]

Could also just break out Oathbringer as a start date anyway. there are a lot of people out there looking to join in on a group read of it.

[Anni]

Sorry for being so quiet lately... again! I already stood up Rob in our other Buddyread :D I'm currently on holiday in Denmark and Sweden and have far less time to read than I thought I would... I'm around 85% now and I really enjoy it. I was pretty shocked by Chapter 35, I haven't seen it coming at all! :O Can't wait to finish and read all your comments :)

[Beena]

Yeah, I think Rob's right, a new thread will probably be cleaner and more people will probably want to refresh their memories before Rhythm of War comes out.

Sorry for being so quiet lately... again! I already stood up Rob in our other Buddyread :D I'm currently on holiday in Denmark and Sweden and have far less time to read than I thought I would... I'm around 85% now and I really enjoy it. I was pretty shocked by Chapter 35, I haven't seen it coming at all! :O Can't wait to finish and read all your comments :)

Ah nice! Hope you're enjoying your holiday Anni!

[Rob]

I've actually gone back to Warbreaker while I wait for Oathbringer or for Trouble with Peace.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Okay, thank you that helps a ton! I know people had it scheduled to read a lot longer than I have, so I didn't want to hijack it by starting a new thread without asking first. I don't mind waiting at all - I would much rather read it with good company - but was wondering if we could decide on a start date so I can keep the group informed via bookshelf? Or would it be better to start a new thread and everyone just pops in when they're ready? Haha I must not be good at making decisions today. Feels like a Monday.

[Rob]

How about......Sunday October 13th? I mean I could start tonight (well after a certain debate), but know others are reading other things still and two weeks would give me enough time to finish them up.

[Beena]

I don't mind whenever, 13th's good with me. Hopefully Anni will finish Warbreaker soon, so we can fit in Edgedancer just before it.

Or would it be better to start a new thread and everyone just pops in when they're ready? Haha I must not be good at making decisions today. Feels like a Monday.

Haha! I think a new thread would be a good idea. There might be a few more people who want to read Oathbringer and as this thread is so long it might be hard for people to find where the spoilers begin for it.

[Paula]

the 13th is okay with me too

[Anni]

13th sounds good :) I'll finish Warbreaker tonight or tomorrow I think, we could maybe start Edgedancer on Monday? Or a little late, it's rather short

[Beena]

Monday sounds good to me for Edgedancer :)

[Paula]

yeah, me too

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Thanks, you guys are great. :) I'll get a thread for the 13th ready...

Oathbringer Thread

[Lucija]

Sounds good :)

[Anni]

I finished Warbreaker a few days ago :)

(view spoiler)[ Starting the book, I really enjoyed the world and the magic system. I think it's a much lighter read than Stormlight. I really liked Siri right frim the start and how her relationship with Susebron grew. Vivenna not so much...
I was pretty shocked by the revelation that Denth and Tonk Fah were the enemies all along!
Thw muddle part was a bit uneventful, I didn't much care for Vivenna, but liked that we learn more about Vasher in her parts. I alao really liked Lightsong, but his conversations with Blushweaver were going on my nerves to be honest. Before shit started going down I thought Warbreaker to be an ok book... Not bad, but definitely not as great as Sanderson's other books, but the last part changed my mind, so much happened that I haven't anticipated! I haven't expected Bluefinger to work against her the whole time, but it makes so much sense. I'm sad that Lightsong had to die, but I really liked his character arc and I think it was a really food end for him. I even started to like Vivenna, she's srill far from being the most interesting character, but I'm looking forward to see her in Oathbringer (to be honest I can't really remember her role there 😅) and I'm curious how the three ended splitt up! (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

@Anni (view spoiler)[ Yeah, totally agree with most of what you said! The middle part dragged a bit for me, I was just waiting for things to happen, it's like he left all the good stuff until the end lol. And Lightsong and Blushweaver's conversations annoyed me too! Can't say I can say the same about Vivenna, I only hope she doesn't drag Oathbringer down lol. (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

Nah, she won't! If anyone does it's Shallan maybe, but then you have all those Dalinar amazingness to balance it out :D

[Beena]

Lol, good to know!

[Beena]

I started Edgedancer yesterday, about midway through Chapter 6. It's nice to be back to Stormlight :D Got about halfway through the prologue until I realised it's exactly the same excerpt from Words of Radiance lol.

(view spoiler)[ Really enjoyed the part where Lift was giving that guard the run around when she was trying to enter Yeedaw (? Think that's what it was called lol). (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

i also starter yesterday and it's fun. I like lifts inners thoughts and her logic is so weird. Poor wyrden, who has to be with her all the time.
Beena(view spoiler)[yeah, it was so funny. Her logic of being hungry and eating again only to use stormlight and be more hungry...poor wyndle though. (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

Yeah it's strange being stuck in a 12 year old's point of view all the time, particularly a weird child at that lol. Haha, yeah I do feel a bit sorry for Wyndle but it's even funnier how much Lift doesn't listen to him or really even pay attention to what having him around and being "awesome" really means lol. Yeah, it is amusing seeing her use Stormlight for inconsequential reasons.

[Paula]

yeah, she ignored him completely and most of the time just makes fun of him.

up until chapter 13(view spoiler)[Szeth appears! He is not so sure what the herald is telling them is the truth which gives me hope that eventually he will help kaladin and dalinar. I'm also guessing Mik I think he is called is the one they are searching. I don't know if you all think the same , but sometimes lift resembles hoid in the cheeky things she says. (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

@Paula (view spoiler)[ Yeah, I wonder whether it's dawned on him that he's passed from one tyrannical leader to another... I don't know what is up with this Herald, they're meant to be good! Haha, she does a bit, doesn't she. Her cheeky comebacks make me laugh. (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

Finished!!
(view spoiler)[It wasn't Mik but the woman. I almost guessed it haha. I liked the ending, and I hope that finally that herald is going to help stop the desolations like the rest not just kill people that are needed. I don't know what was that guy with the little cremlings forming his body...I guess we will find out. Maybe they are the gods? (hide spoiler)]

[Lucija]

Uhh that was fast! I just started, was a bit busy lately

And, to change the topic completely, are you guys receiving notifications? Because mine haven't been active for at least 5 days

[Lucija]

ok, problem solved, I think it works now

[Paula]

yeah, lucija, my notifications didn't work. Now they do, and I have no idea what happened

[Beena]

Goodreads turned them off for a little while cos they were doing some mysterious maintenance...

[Paula]

Haha, well, thank God that those mysterious maintenances only lasted for a couple of days

[Beena]

I finished yesterday too (view spoiler)[ One of the highlights for me definitely has to be Lift turning Wyndle into a big fork to better eat her pancakes with, cracked me up! I love the irony that she's supposed to be this super-powered being and be able to summon her spren into any weapon and what she does is turn him into fork haha. It's such a great contrast to Kaladin and Shallan.

Really shocked that she got the Herald to accept that he didn't stop another desolation, didn't see that coming! I wonder how his mission will now change... whether it will be something that is suited to Szeth...

And totally didn't expect the Stump to be a knight radiant, I love that Sanderson has sort of turned what you expect to see against you. Like she wasn't an angel, they way she treated those kids was horrible, and yet she was actually healing for them and caring for the ones she couldn't heal. And did anyone catch the mention of the Cobbler? Remember there was a little interlude with him making shoes for homeless kids and he was healing them... Wyndle saying he could have chosen him instead of Lift.

Plus that old philosopher guy that turned out to be made of cremlings, that was weird and creepy lol, but will be interesting to find out more about them and their role in everything, apparently he's been around for years and he's been watching all of the radiants :/

Typical Sanderson, fits all the reveals in at the end! I also quite enjoyed encountering the Tashikk people and Yeddaw, Sanderson always amazes me with how creative his world building is. (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

Beena
(view spoiler)[Oh, I forgot to mention the fork thing. The shardfork scene was hilarious. I will love when she meets with all these other more focused and serious radiants. Another clash of personalities I guess.

Yeah, Stump was a surprise. I did catch that mention of the cobbler, nice little weaving of the interludes. Wyndle would have loved to be with the cobbler instead with this crazy girl haha.

Totally creepy. And so exited to see more of them. Roshar just gets bigger and bigger. (hide spoiler)]

[Beena]

@Paula, sorry I tried to reply to your end of book spoilers last night but Goodreads wouldn't let me post- it was at maximum capacity or something...

(view spoiler)[I don't think the guy made of cremlings is a God, just some sort of enhanced, weird being...

Oh, I forgot to mention the fork thing. The shardfork scene was hilarious

I know right!

I did catch that mention of the cobbler, nice little weaving of the interludes. Wyndle would have loved to be with the cobbler instead with this crazy girl haha.

Yeah he totally would have! (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

Don't worry, Goodreads also gave me some problems. That maintenance did more bad that good haha

[Lucija]

@Benna @Paula ahh okay, so it wasn't just me, good to know haha

I just finished too
(view spoiler)[Honestly, I thought Lift would be way more annoying haha I remember people said she is pretty annoying in this one, but I didn't notice it, mostly. I think it's because I knew what to expect when I started reading.
I liked Wyndle a lot and you know what? I liked him even more when I realized he is almost as bad as Lift sometimes. He's just complaining about how he had to abandon his gardening. And he just threw hints about him being a shardblade right at Lift multiple times and I remember thinking: Wyndel, my man, are you suppose to do that? And I love how afraid he always is. I just love that spren haha
And yeees, I loved that reference about the cobbler, Ym was it?
Nalan's change of heart was a bit sudden, I think. And I do wonder what he's gonna do now. Might be just another misguided thing.
And that cremling guy was weird. That whole scene with him at the end was a bit weird and I honestly have no idea what happened there.
Also, it was never really clearly stated, but did Lift get her period and that made her run away from Azir as she realized she is aging after all? Wyndle said something along the lines that it was his understanding it is a normal human thing and she wasn't wounded.
All in all it was interesting to see the consequences of book 2 ending in other parts of Roshar. And it was cool to see Szeth with Nightblood. (hide spoiler)]

When are we starting Oathbringer again? It's happening in another thread, right?