David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party > Recent Status Updates

Kaladin stumbled along. Though he didn't appear wounded, he stared with a glazed-over look. Those were the eyes of a man who bore the kinds of wounds you couldn't fix with bandages.

Heartbroken Kaladin breaks my heart! :(

You'd think after 800 pages I'd have an idea what to expect, but nope, Sanderson managed to shock me yet again! That scene definitely did NOT end the way I thought it would!

"All right," Shallan said, walking forward. "Guard this area. I'll see what I can do."

Taking on literal monsters like The Unmade. I love what a badass Shallan has become!

For a while, she'd been... everybody. A hundred faces, cycling one after another. She searched them for comfort. Surely she could find someone who didn't hurt. Couldn't she be somebody who didn't hurt, just once?

DAMMIT, SANDERSON, STOP MAKING ME SAD!!! :(

"Those statues are all Soulcast. They're favored servants of the house, turned to storming stone."
"It's a sign of honor and respect among lighteyes."
"It's CREEPY!"

I agree, that is unsettling! Here is a cute doggy playing with a statue to help alleviate the creep factor of that scene somewhat!

When you've just read a devastating, soul-crushing chapter and then you have to go out and adult and pretend everything's okay! :(

"You lie, Shallan."
"Veil."
"Your lies wrap other lies. Remember your Ideal, the truth you spoke."

Shallan has so many lies and false personas in motion! What will happen when her web of lies starts to unravel?!

A group of people approached in stark violet, with masks obscuring their faces.
"I prayed to the spren and they came to me!" a man at their forefront shouted, hands held high. "They rid me of my pain!"

Of all the freaky things I've read about in this series so far, the cult is the freakiest!

"You don't act like one another. I like Veil."
"Not me?"
"You're my boss. I'm not supposed to like you."

Yeah, I've had bosses like that, too


And coworkers, too, for that matter!

"It's not the one that I killed that got me my brands, sir. It's the one I didn't kill."
"That has the sound of a practiced explanation, soldier."
"That's because it is."

I love that Sanderson calls himself out for using the same dialogue. It's like Kaladin is on repeat!

"Ardents who fight hand to hand."
"Punchy guys. It's the academic term."
"Sure. Like swordy fellows. Or spearish chaps."
"I knew a real axalacious bloke. He was great at psychological fights."
"Psychological fights?"
"He could really get inside someone's head."

Even fantasy worlds have Dad jokes!

"Yes, yes. Aim for the sun. That way if you miss, at least your arrow will fall far away, and the person it kills will likely be someone you don't know."

Or maybe just put the bow down?

A day after being murdered in a brutal fashion, she found that she was feeling much better.

What a way to open a chapter! Sanderson knows how to get your attention! Unlike these guys

"So you flee? Like a coward?"
"The coward is the man who delays a necessary retreat for fear of being mocked."

Running away is brave? Then these cats are the bravest creatures ever!

"It's written entirely in a single rhythmic meter!"
"The allusions..."
"Such wordplay..."
"The momentum and rhetoric..."
"This is a work of art!"

These viziers are as enthusiastic about reading as I am! Which is why I look like this whenever someone interrupts my reading...

"Did you know about my powers?"
"I knew it once you did it. Yes, once you did it, I always knew."
"Do you know what else I can do?"
"Of course. Once you discover it, I will know."

That's... not very helpful!

Wishing Dannii Elle a very Happy Birthday today! Between her sublime reviews that display her passion for reading and the kindness she always shows everyone, it is people like Dannii who make GoodReads such a wonderful place! :D

"Don't like being lied to, huh?" he asked.
I deserved that and worse. "He didn't lie. He just... didn't say anything."
"Spoken like a professional liar," he laughed.

All these lies! Trying to figure out who to trust, it's like some kind of... game of lies... hey! Now the title makes sense!

"What did you see in me that made you think I could help you?"
"What I saw- the bravery, the hope- were lies. All of it. You're not the person I thought you were. Underneath you, there's a heart as dark as all Faerie's twisted creations."

OUCH! The feels are steamrolling over me right now! :(

"The audience means nothing. Your opponent is your world. Get distracted and you die. If you have to look somewhere, look inside yourself and find your strength. Find it and hold on to it. Nobody can take that from you. Your inner strength is yours and yours alone."

Must. Stay. Focused!

Sjora faced me, unlatched her cloak, and tossed it into the crowd. She strode to the center of the arena, each lean stride a proclamation of strength. Sjora's grin was a hook designed to slide right in and not let go.

Now THAT was a badass entrance!

It was probably a bad idea to taunt him, but in that moment, he was penned in and mine. I likely wouldn't get another opportunity to tease him, and I was all about seizing opportunities when they presented themselves.

Who can resist a good taunt when the opportunity arises?

After enjoying the first book in the series so much, the amazing Brittain and I are starting book two today. I'm so happy to be buddy reading with you again, Brittain! Friends forever! :D

"I had it reversed. I thought Brightness Shallan was the persona. But the spy- that's the false identity."
"Wrong," Shallan said. "They're both equally false."

I think we all feel like an impostor sometimes...

"Secrets," Shallan thought. "Secrets caused all this."

This makes me grateful that no one asks me to keep a secret!


Some secrets are so big, they'd shatter the world...

"I'm not to be toyed with. I'm a majestic weapon to be used only in majestic ways."

A majestic weapon like Syl deserves some majestic gifs

Shallan grinned. "Have you ever considered that BAD art does more for the world than good art? You learn more from bad art, as your mistakes are more important than your successes. Plus, good art usually evokes the same emotions in people, but bad pieces can each be bad in their own unique way."

Navani nudged him.
"What?" Dalinar asked softly.
"Stop scowling."
"I'm not scowling."
"You're bored."
"I'm not... scowling."
She raised an eyebrow.

This is Dalinar "not scowling"...

She had redeemed her people, not her sister. She was blessed.
"See, my sister? See what we can do, if you don't hold us back?"

Sibling rivalry at its finest

"Rules you yourself set out!"
"When I was stupid."
"When you were normal."
"Normal is stupid."

Wow... good thing I've never been normal, then!