#and a syl from oathbringer:)

[taravangians-storming-balls]

Some personal highlights from dragonsteel

- a syl cosplayer giving me a blackbane leaf and going "I think this is important?" and then running off

- the really tall load bearing stoneward at the worldhopper ball who kindly put his phone back up to record more after the group of like 10 short people behind him asked him to because viewing through his phone was the only way we could see anything. Truly was there when we needed him

- the tiny lift cosplayer who ran up to my partner and went ELEND!! and then turned to me and went VIN!! and then insisted we follow her over to meet another vin cosplayer she had collected

- being told by a friend that someone described us as an "elend and vin who were tearing it up on the dance floor" at the ball

- the gaggle of amaram cosplayers who I never saw apart from each other. They gave us some glowing spheres

- the oathbringer sword you could pose with being literally 40 pounds

- kaladin cardboard cutout. I do in fact only go up to about under boob height on kaladin.

- spinning in circles with my friend and other vin cosplayer to effectively create a car wash brush with our mistcloak tassels

- walking literally anywhere in the con and hearing card trading deals happening. If you have your cards out someone WILL ask you if you have herald 7

- pattern cosplayer asking brandon a question at the spoiler q&a. He looked really cute standing up there. You could see his little pattern silhouette over the crowd

[lamaery]

17 - forest 

Our protagonists hiking through the weird, glassy forests of Shadesmar. :) image description: image of the group travelling shadesmare in Oathbringer, hiking through a forest of weird glassy plants in various spiky and bulbous shapes and with life spren bobbing in the air around them as small green glowing lights. In the back to the left are Pattern and Syl apparently in deep conversations. Syl is carrying a long harpoon over her shoulder. In from if the walks Shallan in her white coat, throwing suspicious and interested glances at the vegetation. In front are Adolin and Kaladin, with Maya packe between them. Adolin holds her hand causally while saying something to Kaladin and looking into the direction they are heading. Kal is in uniform, carrying a second harpoon, and bag strapped over one shoulder and across his chest. Adolin wears fashionably adapted lighteyes clothes and a rucksack on his bag. Both men sport proper beginnings to a beard.

[tenebris-lux]

Something I’ve been thinking about since Oathbringer:

~ chapter 101, Oathbringer

That was Captain Ico, the Reacher, or “light spren” as he would be called in the physical realm.

I’m wondering if his daughter is Timbre, the spren that bonded with Venli. In Rhythm of War, Venli referred to Timbre as “her” at one point (from what I’ve read so far). And their bond is an unusual one.

It would also be reminiscent of some of Syl’s story, which is revealed around this part of Oathbringer: she essentially ran away and bonded a human.

Two rebellious lady spren, chasing dreams/ideals.

[crowsintheforest]

it's been a few weeks, by the time I post this, since I finished wind and truth. mostly I wanted to write out my thoughts as best I can, think on it some more, because for the first 48h after I finished I mostly was just laying around like

this got out of control so putting my thoughts behind a cut. tl;dr, book good, I have lots of thoughts, can't wait for 2031 or whenever we get book 6 (and also the next mistborn trilogy, ghostblood trilogy, my guy)

overall, I really liked it! sanderson makes very breezy high fantasy books: characters who are easy to love, big world-shaking plots with strong small-scale interpersonal stuff, themes of love despite the horrors, and some of the most fascinating magic systems around. we got to see a bunch of that last one all tossed together, with all the world hopping going on.

it's been really neat seeing sanderson improve as a writer. while I don't think this is necessarily my favorite sanderson book (or my favorite stormlight, for that matter), WaT shows off how much he's grown as a writer and a storyteller. using 1400 pages to maximally show 10 days of story, across multiple perspectives, nations, and worlds, gives him a lot of room to expand to a breaking point, and he manages to hold it all together, even weaving themes of the power of collaboration and interpersonal responsibility, the false promise of acceptance without responsibility, the value of redemption through choosing over and over again to change, and how kaladin stormblessed is able to be exactly where he's needed at just the right time.

(extremely minor nitpick, but I do wish he'd lay off of using literally so often)

the plot was fine, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to keep track, even with fifteen billion things going on (if you're reading this far, you probably know what this book is about, but here's my best shot: over the course of 10 days before the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny of dalinar v odium, dalinar and navani try to figure out why Honor died and end up with the worst babysitting gig; shallan tries to do a stabby and gets sucked into said history along with rlain and renarin, who are just figuring themselves out a bit; kaladin and szeth go on a murder road trip to szeth's home of shinovar; adolin tries his best to keep azir from falling to odium's forces; and venli desperately tries to find a home for her people and herself).

that was long. so I think the easiest way for me to do this is go character by character. so let's start.

I wrote so much I'm sorry

kaladin stormblessed: my emotional support bridgeboy going out there emotionally supporting the most mentally unwell people in this book. his dance with syl was a bright spot (even as szeth got kidnapped for murdering), and he's grown so much. I called him taking the herald position pretty much from the moment it opened for szeth, but that didn't make the journey he's on any less glorious. he's finally going to get a fucking break and hopefully help himself and the others heal. herald of second chances indeed.

also kudos to kal for getting tf out of the line of succession dalinar tried to en-dad him with by fucking off to a completely separate planet. maximum avoidance of lighteyed-ness through maximum acceptance of responsibility. I love him so much.

shallan davar: comparatively, not quite the depth I would have liked for shallan? but like kaladin, a lot of her emotional growth and development was in oathbringer/RoW, so getting to see her cut loose and accept herself, and use that acceptance for maximum output/knife was great. she and kelsier are going to fuck each other up and I am going to giggle with glee.

adolin kholin: I loved adolin before this book, I loved adolin during this book, and I will love adolin forever. his journey in this book is an interesting parallel to dalinar's and kaladin's, accepting his relative lack of supernatural power but also embracing his role as a leader and a helper. he helped maya! he helped his armor spren! he helped yanagawn!!! he used a candelabra in a duel!!!!! finally, he made the leap about oaths v promises before dalinar did, which strikes me as very adolin and also deeply sad because dalinar's dead and adolin never got to tell his dad about his realizations.

quick ot3 aside: I'm not okay that it's kaladin's gifts to shallan (boots to ground her) and adolin (a sword to support him) that got them both through their wedding. I'm not okay that kaladin is the first person they think about to improve themselves, after their spouse. I'm not okay that kaladin thinks of them as inspiration, and hope, and the drink with friends he's never going to get because his body's fuckin buried in shinovar and no one knows he helped to reforge the oathpact. I'm not okay about any of this.

dalinar kholin: so that oaths v promises thing? that dalinar has to accept because, as navani told him halfway through, he's gotta listen before he jumps, even when they're in agreement? yeah. breaking his oath to force a cosmere-level intervention, and make the other shards deal with odium. trading his life, his soul, his freedom, and his legacy, so that others might survive. and he dies protecting his grand-nephew. one of my favorite war criminals in fiction. I'll miss him very much.

szeth-son-neturo: did not expect him to give up his oaths in his apotheosis. in retrospect, very well foreshadowed, and I love that it is a decision that he took into himself, with hope for a future he never thought he deserved. his pokemon trainer journey through shinovar had some great fights in it, but idk, for all that he was the flashback character this time around, I don't feel like I learned anything new about him. maybe this is the end of his story, and I'm okay with that. hey sando can we meet his wife in the next books, she seems cool (and helped him bury kaladin's body for their first interaction, that's wild).

navani kholin: needed more of her. not sure how, and what we got was good, but...agh. I think she suffers the most from the condensed timescale post-RoW.

gavinor kholin: lol sanderson pulled an angel-and-conner on us. I had to put the book down for this one, I was giggling so hard for the wrong reasons. goofy ass twist my guy. based on a rugpull of navani losing the kid that I didn't entirely accept. can't wait for adolin to run into him in the future

sigzil: reading this book after reading the sunlit man was an exercise in emotional devastation and I will never get over sigzil finding himself, finally, and then willingly giving it up to save his spren and his comrades. fuck moash, seriously.

lift and vasher: what a duo. good luck with this one, vasher, you're going to train up a terror. you deserve it, after, what, Mad Sciencing your way to anti-light? for someone so smart, you're a dumbass.

hey btw where is vivenna, can't wait for that reunion (aka vivenna trying to gut vasher, which he deserves, what the fuck were you doing with gavilar my dude)

renarin kholin and rlain: much like navani, I feel like they kind of got the short shrift, although theirs feels less bad I think? navani felt like her continuation got cut short, but renarin and rlain both feel like their story is just beginning. which is probably the point? anyways, I like them both very much, more please. gay love saved the planet.

venli: really liked where we ended up with venli, who not only came to terms somewhat with her past devastation against her own people, but made the call to reach out to her enemies in order to forge peace. something about renarin and rlain's decision for a chance for the future via freedom of the imprisoned over continued oppression in the name of stability; paralleling venli and the singers' choice to reach out to jasnah, their oppressors and enemies, to mark their own space and nation? it's so good. I'm probably the most excited about this particular plot/nation-building moving forward.

thaidakar: kelsier what the fuck are you doing and why did you inquisitor one of your eyes, you know what happened to your brother (oh no now I'm sad about mistborn series 1 again)

jasnah kholin: you know what I realized, writing all this up, that led to jasnah's downfall? she hasn't really changed this whole series so far. journey before destination, you know? unlike pretty much everyone else, she thought she'd already finished her journey. she's the fourth ideal pretty much before the series even starts (maybe? I might be wrong), she's the smartest person in the world, she's taken steps to fill what she thinks is her weakness (strength on the front lines). but she never acknowledged that she could be fatally flawed, that she made terrible mistakes in what she thought was good, and never reconsidered her position as potentially hypocritical. I know we're getting jasnah flashbacks late in the series, so I'm excited to see where she goes in the future, but boy her shit got rocked by fen and odium.

hoid: lol. lololol. looooooooool.

[tanoraqui]

ALRIGHT, CRABS AND CRAB-FRIENDS, it’s time for our favorite periodic event: Tanoraqui liveblogs binge-reading the new Stormlight Archive novel!

the tag remains: #my fave horse girl books (Kaladin is the horse, Syl is the plucky teen horse girl in the made-for-tv movie…there’s a post about it somewhere in that tag).

I actually aim to be slightly less singly fixated on it, this time, because while that was super fun for Oathbringer, it was ultimately less so for Rhythms of War? But also, we all know that once I hit the like 80% mark I will no longer be sleeping.

Note: I have NOT reread anything in advance this time—aside from catching up on the Wax&Wayne books to whet my Cosmere appetite. Which worked! But these books are so long. And so full of elaborate red string theories, in a way that almost loops around to boring sometimes. I need to be pretty feral to go for one.

Which I am, now, so…

[opens to the fifth (and final?) prologue POV of the night Galivar died] [Nikki Minaj “Starships” bass-boosted & blasting on speakers] LET’S DO THIS ONE MORE TIME!

[realclaramorrow]

my (admittedly not very good or coherent) thoughts on wind and truth so far, divided by characters and kind of organized by storyline?

not all of us can read that fast, wind and truth spoilers up to chapter 80 below

- I love adolin and yanagawn's friendship, they are so important to me. he's teaching him towers and theyre genuinely friends and he got noura to begrudgingly approve and gah. I love them dearly. I would like lift to be able to talk to yanagawn again too. adolin trying to learn everyones name is so emotionally intelligent of him. I love that that one guard (hmask?) got to tell adolin that he saved his son, sweetest moment ever. me son you!!!!!! adolin is so much smarter than so many characters (and readers) seem to think he is, his head for battle strategy is almost unmatched and he's an incredible leader. may aladar is an icon and notum coming to help was very satisfying. his growing bond with maya is not only healing her but its healing my heart. I dont know if in the future they can bond like aliveEye spren and person can but that would be neat. adolin would make a fantastic edgedancer.

- sigzil the man the myth the legend himself is crushing it with an awful situation in narak. his plot is the most anxiety inducing to me because they are not getting shit for help and the everstorm is literally parked right there. the engineering being key to his strategy is very cool to me because no one else is doing anything like that. also, vienta being able to calculate the lashing force and distance needed to kill one of the new fused (forgot their names. the belt guys) is epic and theyre such a duo.

- venli and co. in the chasms is going to play into the battle for narak most definitely. chasmfiends being chill with them is so awesome and cool. chasmfiend pov chapter when. pure tones of roshar save the day? also want rlain reuniting with these listeners so he can a) see his friends and the remnants of his people and b) chew them out for letting him go be a spy with absolutely no protest

- dalinar is getting on my nerves, I understand he's under a lot of pressure but he's being such a dick to the stormfather. in character yes but MAN do I wish both of them were better at communicating. the spiritual realm storyline is very interesting and the way he's going about it is putting me in physical pain.

- loving the navani time but I low key miss the scientific toxic lovers thing she had going on with raboniel. I dont see how she puts up with dalinar, because he's a blundering ape. also, I share adolin's opinions about oathbringer's publication of the razing of rathalas.

- little gav is a revenge hungry angel but an angel nonetheless

- CHANA DAVAR CANON???????

- shallan has grown so much and I'm so proud of her :) I love getting details about her backstory and I love that formless wasnt a one and done defeat. she has to keep fighting her. just as veil was created to hold difficult memories I think radiant was created to battle shallan's imposter syndrome and self confidence issues. it would be cool if radiant was also integrated by the end of the book, but at this point its clear shallan still needs her. great investigating of the ghostbloods and ba ado mishram. it pleases me. dalinar take notes.

- rlain making a soul projection of him and renarin kissing and renarin being like holy shit we do NOT have time to address this was so funny. I love them too. my weird little autistic queers. they're so othered from their respective peoples that theyre each other's people. shallan is tired of their flirting after literally 1 second. they're meant to be. rlainarin canon I love gay people (and trans people. shout out that one trans blacksmith in azimir and that one person that desperately wanted to talk to the sibling and was immediately like "so what is not being male or female like")

- kaladin's journey of self care here sure seems like the way to swearing the fifth ideal, and syl being on her own journey that way is so so fantastic. spren learning how not to live for their radiants is very poetic to me in a way I can't explain right now because tired. nale gets on my fucking NERVES. I know people that argue like that and I hate hate hate them. whats up with the wind? want more info about the old gods of roshar, made directly from adonalsium. sequence with kaladin dancing with syl and the wind is absolutely gorgeous. kaladin's realization that szeth is like tien instead of like himself was heartbreaking and a great example of dramatic irony. the observant reader (me) sees him treating szeth as a man who chose to fight instead of a boy who was forced to (because reader gets the exact years ago and the ages and such) and goes NO KALADIN NO

- szeth is becoming one of my favorite characters. I love knowing about his backstory as well. the culture of shinovar is so interesting to me. the splashes? stone being sacred? the Farmer, their monasteries (I LOVE monasteries), the ritual of pilgrimage? adding and subtracting? love it all. also szeth being like "thank you kaladin I can finally off myself" and kaladin being like "no?????????" was kind of hilarious. his spren is a piece of shit. I really dislike that highspren. most unhelpful spren ever. also, is the voice odium or an unmade or the stones (like the wind) or a secret fourth thing? (edit: I haven't read much further but I'm an idiot, its obviously ishar because of the spren) I have such feelings about szeth but you need to just know them as I project them from my heart to yours.

- jasnah kholin the love of my life has finally broken up with my competition (Wit) and she's also figured out that the ships dont actually have soldiers in them which is so so smart. back to the scholar roots. best leaders are always academics (like sigzil) or genuinely caring people (like adolin and kaladin) (dalinar watch your back. however, I acknowledge that he cares). jasnah is the smartest person in this damn book and her pointing out her own fallacies and internally discussing the effects of her as a general and knowing how everything about her affects how she is percieved a role model for women all over eastern roshar shows it. I appreciate jasnah freeing slaves and learning from her mistakes and actually trying and stuff but its upsetting that this is definitely brandon's extent of addressing lighteyed privelage and displaying that complex relationship. I have read very very good fanfiction about this, in which it was good to see that other people agreed that "bridgeboy" is a much more offensive nickname than "princeling" (because of the power imbalance and racial connotations of "boy")

- why are we doing hemalurgy on roshar rn. (also aluminum negating investiture everywhere is cool and awesome.) moash is really only one letter away from marsh. also, I'm losing hope for a redemption arc for him. can't tell if its good or bad narrative for a story with overarching morals of second chances to have moash not be redeemed. on one hand, it's not realistic to redeem everyone. on the other, I don't think he's beyond redemption and I think it would tie up that storyline in a nice little bow. but in real life, nothing ends in a nice bow like that. teft's story ended beautifully, and its tragic he died, but he had reached the end. I think its interesting when characters are purposefully killed off before completing their arc or veer in a different direction because it leaves the audience unsatisfied and feels more empty and like a real untimely death. my feelings about moash are complex, but as someone invested in these characters I want him to be redeemed

[nevertheless-moving]

Scene from stormlight au 27, oathbringer to way of kings time travel au

“They didn’t bring their own bridges. They’re doing the tower assault with Sadeas,” Kaladin said in disbelief.

“So much for the Blackthorn’s honor, huh,” Moash said, sneering.

“That, and Sadeas is going to betray them,” Kaladin hissed, moving them further from the ears of passing soldiers. “He’s leading the entire Kholin army into a trap.”

Moash’s eyes widened, turning to watch rank upon rank of blue uniformed soldier march across Sadeas’s bridges.

“Then, this is the battle, the one where we…” Moash trailed off uncomfortably.

The men seemed to have largely decided that remembering a future wasn’t the same as predicting. Still it made them significantly more uncomfortable than the frantic radiant training in the chasms. He could hardly blame them, it made Kaladin uncomfortable too.

“It’s happening same as you remember?” Teft asked under his breath.

“Almost the same.” Kaladin grit his teeth. “It seems that since…El wasn’t able to convince Dalinar to change his plans, the idiot decided to come along for some storming reason.” He nodded at the figure in golden shardplate, massive shard hammer stapped to his back, nearby gold and blue standard waving in the wind.

“I think he gave up his blade,” Syl said, hand up in a humanlike gesture to shield her eyes from the sun. “It’s hard to tell from here, but…I don’t think he’s bonded with one anymore.

Moash froze. “Wait…the highranked lighteye who your friend replaced…El is King Elhokar?”

“I promised him I wouldn’t…” Kaladin shifted uncomfortably.

Moash grabbed his shoulders, leaning in close. “Kal, are you telling me King Elhokar is dead?”

“I -“ Memories of a palace floor, red with blood and light through crystal. Moash, spear in hand, those he swore to protect, killing eachother -

“I watched him die,” Kaladin whispered after a long pause, not meeting Moash’s eyes. “Please Moash, don’t ask me about this, not now.”

Syl tsked in disapproval, but didn’t say anything.

Moash let him go, stumbling back, watching the golden armor with an unfathomable expression. Kaladin wanted to say more, but didn't know what, and Matal was shouting at them to lift bridges.

At the next stop, he had word spread around that this was it.

“If things happen the same…”

He considered trying to reach Dalinar. If he revealed himself, flew over - but no. It was like Elhokar said. Dalinar was convinced that the Almighty himself had told him to trust Saddeus.

He could perhaps claim to be a messenger from the Heralds, explaining the vision? The radiance would help, Elhokar might back him up.

But even if the idea didn’t tie his stomach in knots, what if he ended up causing an outright civil war with his accusations? Tens of thousands could die before any desolation hit. Perhaps the King’s presence would be enough to give Sadeas hesitation in his treachery, but somehow Kaladin doubted it.

No wonder knowledge of the future is forbidden, he thought anxiously as they ran across another plateau.

“It’s not the same,” Syl whispered in his head, not showing herself, perhaps dancing in the air above the bridge. “I still don’t understand what happened, but this isn’t telling the future, not the way that’s forbidden.”

The men muttered softly amongst each other. A handful of the squires might manage a wobbling escape through the air, but they didn’t have enough stormlight between all of them to get away. They would have to bring the bridge, which would mean waiting until after the battle, a few of them flying back to rescue the wounded afterwards.

“The men are in agreement,” Sigzil said quietly. “If your friend is unable to stop Sadeas’s betrayal, then we will protect them.”

Kaladin’s heart swelled with pride as he looked over the men, meeting each man’s eyes and receiving a quiet nod from each in turn.

“They know there’s no guarantees? No certain reward? That they might be throwing away a much more sure chance at freedom for death?”

“They know,” Sigzil replied.

“We’ll still have to march with the retreat,” Kaladin said. “If we just stay there then we’ll be cut down, either by the Parshendi or by our own army. Probably both. If we can fake a few injuries during the initial charge, or temporarily avoid healing any that me or the squires get, it will help our case when we fall behind. Tell the rest of the squires to try and save their stormlight, if they can.”

A dozen more plateaus, a dozen more hushed conversations. At one point Kaladin turned to look at the Kholin army, only to find the King already staring at him. He felt a confused buzz of panic intermixed with relief run through him as they made eye contact for a moment.

I’m not alone in this. But my backup is Elhokar - how am I going to protect him - he’s probably the safest man on this battlefield, a Radiant in Shardplate with a full Kingsguard - he might be able to get the army to cut through to the landing sooner, reduce the casualties - another Shardbarer would help with that anyway - I can’t believe this is the best he could do - I absolutely can - surely he could at least change the battle tactics - but that would require strongarming Dalinar and Sadeas -“

He saw Sadeas ride up next to the King at multiple points throughout the long march. Maybe trying to convince him to turn back?

Perhaps his presence will be enough to prevent disaster. The men and I can escape another day, after we have a little more training. We’ll come back once everyone’s a squire, and their slavebrands heal. If we end the war, then there won’t be bridgemen anymore. Maybe I can convince the King to end slavery; he already passed that proclamation for bridgecrew shields...

He watched, groaning as the Kholin army, eight thousand men, among them three in shardplate with standardbarers, managed to get themselves cleanly surrounded, then abandoned.

Kaladin, again, pushed his way through to look at the eel himself.

The men tensed with barely restrained anticipation as the order to withdraw was given, hidden by bandages and unfaked exhaustion. Kaladin's wince came honestly as they lifted the bridge, narrowly resisting pulling in light to heal the cut on his arm.

“I’m sorry Old Friends,” Sadeas murmured. “I’ll make sure the Kingdom we built stays together, with a strong leader.”

Matel eyed the still dripping bandage with a pleased expression.

They staggered along behind the green coated army, screams at their back like a time keeping fabrial.

“I might be able to make some of the Parshendi army retreat, if I’m obvious with my powers,” Kaladin said, as Sadeas’s army slowly moved out of sight, bridge four looting the dead for weapons and gemstones with expert skill.

This time, Kaladin asked Matel to wait, for his bridge not to be left to angry Parshendi seeking vengeance if they fell behind. It was a slight risk, but - no, the idiot brightlord’s eyes were already lighting up, and bridge four didn’t even have to make it to the chasm edge before being fully abandoned.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Teft said, the rest of the men murmuring eagerly in agreement.

“You know you don’t have to -“ Kaladin offered one last time.

“We know, gancho,”

“Fly on, get out of here!”

“Life before death, life before death.”

“Let’s save those honorable idiots!”

“Show them what bridge four can do!”

Kaladin breathed in a quarter of the emeralds Elhokar had smuggled him on his last visit, nodded, then lashed himself back at the battlefield, quickly outpacing the men charging behind. Their honest cheers and whoops helped him believe for a moment that not all was lost between him and the men who he considered brothers. It had taken a little time, but they had started getting used to the even more haunted, slightly heretical man who had replaced their Captain.

As he had hoped, Elhokar was already leading the men to the chasm’s edge - with any luck they might reach the landing before the bridge got there.

He heard cries from the Parshendi as arrows flew his direction. With ease he pushed Stormlight into a borrowed shield, letting it fall, filling the sky with light before falling into shadow as a full volley engulfed it.

As he had hoped, the front ranks of archers were breaking. Better still, the second and third ranks had seen. Cries of Neshua Kadal spread throughout the army, and Kaladin dared to breath in almost all the rest of his remaining stormlight, blazing like a second sun as he lashed himself in an obvious arch above the Parshendi.

More cries, Listeners scrambling to get away at the edges; their song taking on notes of fear and awe. Mixed in with Neshua Kadal were various Herald’s names, as the Kholin army obviously spotted him.

He landed in a cloud of dust and stormlight on a rock formation between the chasm’s edge and the desperate human army. Forming Syl into an overly massive, unwieldy Shardeblade, he carved a massive boulder of cremcovered rock, then breathed deep, pulling in extra stormlight from the bravely approaching warpairs. He sent the boulder tumbling upwards and slightly to the side. Parts of the battlefield fell still, eyes drawn again upwards to the impossible.

A meteor, glowing with pale blue light before quickly fading to grey and falling with fury.

A tremendous series of crashes rang through the battlefield, the boulder rolling over the Parshendi troops awaiting bridge four’s arrival, clearing the landing and scattering terrified listener ranks before crashing into the chasm beneath with another earthshaking series of booms. He thought he could hear the crack of bones and carapace beneath the clamor, but it was likely in his head.

The Parshendi closest to Kaladin charged him desperately, but he took them down with ease, lashing them to fall amongst their own army, shouting and terrified but alive. One femalen managed to get within his guard, scoring a hit that quickly healed. He retaliated by burning her and her partner’s eyes out with a single swipe.

Come on, he thought desperately. Run, just, run.

Behind him, he saw his crew setting bridge four, having crossed the plateau with incredible speed. Some of them glowed faintly, and he could see another ripple of retreating Parshendi, though several lines of warpairs rallied, daring to charge them, likely hoping to overwhelm the small group and toss the bridge.

Across the battlefield, more listeners were falling away, warsong taking on notes of fear and confusion; but he could still hear the sounds of fighting and dying, his men at the chasm edge, the Kholin army almost on top of them. He flew to another rock formation on the armies buckling eastern flank, chopping one, two, three boulders as ammunition. Some of the infantry must have had gemstones on them, as light streamed from gems in both directions when he took a desperate, reaching gasp of stormlight.

Three more boulders fell among the parshendi in three directions, shaking the plateau, and finally, incredibly the song transitioned fully from uptempo vengeance and battle to retreat. In an absurdly short amount of time, the space around the Kholin army was empty, space where minutes earlier superior forces were crushing doomed Alethi invaders. It was everything that Kaladin could have hoped for, and it still left him stunned. Ten thousand Listeners, routed by a single windrunner.

The true voidbringers would never have run like that.

The Kholin army looked about in shock, calling out praise to the Almighty, to the Heralds - praise clearly shouted in Kaladin’s direction, much to his discomfort.

You did it! Syl said in his head. You protected even more of the Kholin army, and you avoided killing as many Listeners as possible!

Thousands still died. And the Alethi are going to see me up close soon. A radiant bridgeman. A man with slavebrands and a Shardblade. How soon before their adulation turn to confusion, then fear and hatred?

Exhaustionspren spun around him as he slumped, nearly falling to his knees. He caught himself at the last moment by summoning Syl as a gleaming metal staff, leaning heavily on her to stay upright as the last of his stormlight steamed away.

They won’t see me if I just stay up on this rock formation forever, he thought deliriously.

Syl sighed, staff buzzing slightly. “Nothing makes you happy, does it?"

A thump sounded behind him, and Kaladin spun to see Elhokar grinning at him, armour leaking stormlight in dozens of place, but no pieces missing. He smiled weakly at the King, cognizant of hundreds of eyes below on them. He moved slowly towards the king, who met him part way. He stumbled at the end, and Elhokar caught him, steadying his arm with a gentle gauntleted hand.

“I did try and stop my uncle,” he said. “He just…wouldn’t listen. The best I could do was join, and even then I half thought someone was going to tie me down to keep me from coming. I hoped Sadeas would change his plans if I was on the battlefield, but I might have made things more tempting.” He turned pained eyes into the distance.

I’m supposed to teach him to be a leader. Kaladin though blearily, and he forced himself to wave away the lingering exhausion. What would I say, if he was a squad sergeant under my command? The comparison was ridiculous, the sheer scale of lives on the line if the two of them failed making Kaladin nauseous.

“You did well,” Kaladin said softly, voice coming out more confident than he felt. “You can’t control everything; the important thing is taking care of those under your command to the best of your ability.” He nodded towards the Kholin army. “I’d guess more than a thousand soldiers are alive because of your actions.”

Elhokar straightened, grin returning. A single gloryspren spun around him like a golden crown.

“You were incredible,” Elhokar said, awespren replacing the glory. “I was practically unconscious when you fought in front of me before, but this time - you…you were like Jezrian come again.”

Kaladin grimaced in reply, then moved to change the subject.

“What next?” Kaladin asked.

The king blinked. “You’re asking me?” Then he flushed, looking down. “I mean…of course I’m king…it’s just…’

“You’re king. You’re my king,” Kaladin said encouragingly. “What do you think the threats to your men are?”

You have to coach him, you can’t just take command. He needs to take his own journey, for his own sake. He needs to be a King, for the kingdom’s sake.

“Some of the injured could still bleed out or succumb to injuries, but my uncle’s taking care of marshaling the survivors. The Parshendi could come back, but I doubt it. Obviously the desolation, but that’s a slightly longer term threat. Near term, Sadeas…Sadeas wants Dalinar out of the way,” he grimaced. “My presence here makes the situation more complicated. This…could mean all out civil war.”

Kaladin nodded, but Elhokar wasn’t done.

“And you and your men. Sadeas will want revenge on you, for helping us.”

He smiled at the King. Not long ago I doubt he would have thought of bridgeman as people. Then again, he does know they’re prospective windrunners…still progress.

“What’s the best way to handle Sadeas?” He asked, pit in his stomach already suspecting the answer.

“A show of force, before they get back to camp,” Elhokar answered promptly, gaining confidence as he spoke. “He should return already knowing he’s in a position of weakness, that his ploy failed utterly. If we wait to confront him at camp then I’ll either come off as an unbearably weak King, or I’ll be forced to discipline him publicly, which will back him into a corner and essentially force civil war anyway.”

Kaladin nodded again, swallowing back bile. “Fortunately, you have a man who was able to scare away an entire Parshendi army under your command.”

[peachdoxie]

It's clear now from the previews that it's not a coincidence Sylphrena the Ancient Daughter bonded Kaladin, nor is it a coincidence that she was the first honorspren to attempt a nahel bond. At first I thought it was her personality—that she was more carefree than other honorspren—but with the revelation that the wind itself is asking for help from Kaladin, it's clear that the wind chose Syl to bond him, specifically, as much as it probably chose him. Her personality may still have something to do with it, but I think it means that there's something metaphysically unusual about Syl. It could be she's the closest surviving honorspren to Honor, as part of the first ten children of the Stormfather, but I suspect it more has to do with her "sleeping" through the Recreance left her unchanged, somehow—like how all steel created after the nuclear testing on Earth has levels of radiation significant enough that warships suck before the 1940s are one of the best sources of radiation-free metal.

Quotes about the wind choosing Syl below

“I am the only honorspren who has come,” Syl said. “I . . .” She seemed to be stretching to remember. “I was forbidden. I came anyway. To find you.”

“You knew me?”

“No. But I knew I’d find you.” She smiled. “I spent the time with my cousins, searching.”

“The windspren.”

Words of Radiance Chapter 9

“It’s like when I first picked up a spear,” Kaladin whispered. “I was just a child. Were you with me back then? All that time ago?”

“No,” Syl said, “and yes.”

“It can’t be both.”

“It can. I knew I needed to find you. And the winds knew you. They led me to you.”

Words of Radiance Chapter 52

Syl walked up to him in the air. “They’re like I remember them.”

“Remember them?” Kaladin whispered. “Syl, you never knew me when I lived here.”

“That’s true,” she said.

“So how can you remember them?” Kaladin said, frowning.

“Because I do,” Syl said, flitting around him. “Everyone is connected, Kaladin. Everything is connected. I didn’t know you then, but the winds did, and I am of the winds.”

“You’re honorspren.”

“The winds are of Honor,” she said, laughing as if he’d said something ridiculous. “We are kindred blood.”

“You don’t have blood.”

“And you don’t have an imagination, it appears.” She landed in the air before him and became a young woman. “Besides, there was … another voice. Pure, with a song like tapped crystal, distant yet demanding…” She smiled, and zipped away.

Oathbringer Chapter 6

[honuofhawaii]

So I just finished the Stormlight Archive, and I love it! It’s awesome, great world building, interesting magic system, lovable interesting character. However, something I’ve noticed sometimes, emotional beats are skipped over and only mentioned to have been dealt with retroactively. Some examples:

Spoilers through Rhythm of War

In RoW:

We don’t see Shallan’s reunion with Testament. We only see after.

In the same chapter we find out that at some point Adolin and Shallan find out that Uratheru was invaded, occupied, and then freed.

At the trial we find out that Adolin knew about Kaladin’s near betrayal. I assume that means all the Kholin’s know, but when and how? Did Elhokar know that there was a time his hero really believed the world would be better off without him?

This one I get bc of the time jump btw Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, but Adolin and Renarin finding out that Dalinor killed their mother Evi.

Maybe it’s just me but I think Kal deserved some more awe and excitement from his friends at achieving the fourth ideal?

Again this happened in the time jump but a more full reunion btw Kaladin and his family. Bc we get one in Oathbringer, but like that’s kinda a “hi, Im alive, I’m a radiant, there’s a new desolation, gotta go”, verses where they are at the beginning of RoW. There’s definitely be a good bit of contact since then.

In Oathbringer:

Had Gavinor returned in time for the wedding, why do we only see Kal’s relief that he’s alive? I would have liked to see the Kholin’s’.

Speaking of Kholin reunion’s we only hear about. Jasna and Navani!!!

We completely skip over Kal being locked up again first with friends and then on his own, away from Syl who’s also locked up.

Oh, and I feel like we deserve a conversation between Shallan and Kaladin about Helarand.

This is not a full missing beat, but it would have been nice to see Adolin and Shallan’s wedding. We see the abbreviated heretical ceremony for Dalinor and Navani l, and I think it would have been an interesting contrast to see the tradition ceremony Adolin and Shallan probably had. (On a side note I love that Kal gave Shallan boots, that’s hilarious, but now I do want to know what he gave Adolin)

In Words of Radiance

I feel like it would have been good to see Elhokar mourn his sister.

Adolin’s POV after Shallan and Kal fall into the chasm.

Kal getting through his first proximity to Amoram unless he just avoided him…but I don’t know! We don’t see it, we aren’t even told what he did when he saw Dalinar talking to Amoram. We only know that Amoram doesn’t recognize Kal until after the duel.

Anyway I can’t remember any specific ones in TWoK, but im sure there are some.

[swordgorl]

Wind and truth is an insane book and in the post-conclusion buzz I'm going to try and get out all my thoughts. And I mean All of them

General thoughts: How the fuck did Brandon manage to balance 3+ character povs per chapter for majority of an entire book that huge and keep them generally interesting and engaging? This book didn't quite reach the heights of others in the series but maintained a strong level of consistency. Character arcs were concluded satisfyingly. The ending is truly a rollercoaster in ways most sanderlanches, the sheer number of resolved plot threads is incredible.

Kaladin: I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Kaladin taking Jezrien's place. The more I think about it the more I think I like it. I liked his soup and his fluting, and I'm interested to see him return as a herald, having ten years of helping the others, I'm very curious to see how they read in the second arc (this will be a common point). His swearing the fifth was a little anticlimactic honestly, I wish he'd done a little more with it. The implications with the armor spren were interesting, I wanna see what that's about.

Dalinar: A fucking madlad. Interesting to see his continual bullheadedness catch up to him again. Gavinor being the enemy's champion was completely unsurprising but Dalinar's solution was compelling. I'm a bit disappointed his bondsmithing wasn't a bit more relevant in the climax but eh. Also fucking ooft with the blackthorn he accidentally gave form to lmfao. His relationship with Honor was interesting and I'm glad he went down fucking Taravangian's whole plan

Shallan: Glad she got more closure! Her mother being Chana feels like such a minor revelation all things considered, I can see why Brandon didn't really bother to keep it a secret. I'm sad to see Veil and Radiant taking more of a back seat, as I really enjoyed the Three's dynamic in RoW, but I'm glad they're not completely gone. The games with Mraize and Iyatil were clever. I wonder what she's gonna be up to for the next decade while stuck in shadesmar.

Szeth: Continues to be the funniest character. Wants more of Kaladin's shitty soup. Gets dragged into a fight in shadesmar while Kaladin's dancing with Syl. Has to be chaperoned by Nale because his highspren was a huge nerd (sorry Aux but it's true). Immediately breaks his oaths after attaining the fifth ideal before fighting the rest of the Honorbearers. The Shinovar roadtrip was everything I was hoping it'd be. Also on a serious note his becoming truthless was way more high stakes than I'd anticipated, I wasn't expecting a civil war. I hope those splinter Skybreakers have a good reason for not fucking doing anything during the war.

Adolin: He continues to be the best lad. Pushing Yanagawn to be a more active emperor is cool, and I was sad at how long Maya had to spend away from him (my favourite part of the book was her calling him a slut). Hope we get to see more of them as the Unoathed (I think that name kinda sucks ngl). Sad he never got to see Dalinar again but him reading Oathbringer is a really nice touch.

Renarin and Rlain: Finally, some good fucking homosexual behaviour in this books. I'm excited to see Renarin being more confident as well as controlling his visions better. Them breaking Mishram's prison was appropriate, and I want to see Rlain grow into his role as Bridger of Minds more. I wonder what Sja-anat is gonna do now lmfao.

Venli: Easily my favourite appearance of hers. I'm really glad the listeners took Narak, their plan to exploit the loophole was so funny. Their control of the perpendicularity is gonna be super interesting later on, I wonder if it has any special properties beyond typical Shardpools. I'm glad the listeners/willshapers will be more relevant in the second arc.

Taln and Ash: Sick fight scene. I was hoping to see them bonding radiant spren but oh well. Can't wait to see Taln in action again, and I'm curious how Ash's transition to Dustbringer occurs if she's maintaining her position as the Lightweaver herald

Navani: Nice to see her working through the last of her insecurities. She's going to wake up to a huge mess.

Lift and Zahel: I'm so fucking excited to see Lift learning under Zahel. I'd been wondering why he was actually in SA and I think this is it. Her going sicko mode was cool, I'm very happy that she's the first viewpoint for the second arc because competent Lift is gonna be so cool to read, such a compelling direction for her character imo. (Also Axindweth was a full feruchemist so I assume she had access to healing from goldminds, I assume that Lift made her burn though that instantly by tripping her which is hilarious)

Jasnah: Interesting arc! Taravangian completely undermining her philosophy means she'll begin the next arc from a new perspective, compounded by her losing Thaylen City. It was good for the "philosophy lesson" from Kharbranth was reexamined. Taravangian was at least partially right that she acts of Odium, but his expectations that she'll come to his side because of it is wrong; she'll grow instead.

Moash: Still a bit disappointed with how one dimensional he's been since RoW. Oh well.

El: He's interesting, I'm sure he'll be up to many shenanigans.

Tanavast: Bro fucked around and found out. Reading his chapters with the altered font was sick. He and Rayse really just made a mess of things both on Ashyn and Roshar. Really fucked himself with Mishram oof. Glad he got some redemption in the end.

Cultivation: Sis fucked around and found out LMFAO. I wonder if she expected Dalinar's decision, and also where she's headed.

Taravangian: He really made this book, Rayse would've been so lacklustre in comparison. As is a theme he also fucked around and found out, bro painted the biggest target in the cosmere on his back with no preparation while gloating at Dalinar. Retribution is gonna be scawy, I wonder what the plans to fight him will be, if it has much to do with Honor's growing awareness; will it spread to Odium? (Also his Dustbringers are chilling in fake Kharbranth I'm sure)

Wind, Stone and Night: Really cool to see these spren recontextualised as being so central to Roshar's history. I wonder if we'll see Wind will return to creating a Bondsmith. I'm intrigued to meet Night too.

Rysn: Hope she has a fun boat adventure and makes out with Cord on it

Sigzil: Bro had a rough time, and man is it gonna get way worse. Him meeting Aux was extremely funny.

Hoid: Can't believe this mother fucker. Fucked around and found out. Just has his dawnshard on him, I wonder if he had it before he was protected by the contract. I liked watching him get absolutely obliterated by Retribution, he deserved it.

Closing thoughts: Rollercoaster of a book, can't believe I have to wait 6 years to see what the fuck happens next. Kind of the ending I thought we'd see but certainly didn't get there the way I'd expected

[scienter]

Oh wow. I have so many thoughts about Wind and Truth chapters 3 & 4.

Who or what the fuck is the Wind? 🤔

“Is the wind a god?” Kaladin asked.

“When this world was created,” Wit said, long before Honor, Cultivation, or Odium arrived, Adonalsium left something behind on it. Sometimes it’s called the Old Magic. Sometimes that term is applied to the Nightwatcher, who came – with Cultivation’s efforts – from one of those ancient spren. Listen to the Wind when it speaks, Kaladin. It’s weaker than it once was, but it has seen so very much.”

Now I just want to go back through the series and note every passage mentioning Kaladin and the wind or a voice in the wind. I know there's a lot of them there.

Also, I've seen people mention this quote from the series:

"We took them in, as commanded by the gods . . . For their betrayal extended even to our gods: to spren, stone, and wind."

 So the wind is . . . a deity?

I kept thinking about Syl's explanation of the wind at the beginning of Oathbringer. She said something about honorspren being connected or related to the wind, and that the wind had been with Kaladin since his childhood. 🤨

So much to think about . . .

“Listen,” Wit said. “Everything you’ve done—Kal, everything you’ve been—has prepared you for what’s next. It’s going to be hard. Fortunately, life has been hard, so you’re working under familiar constraints.”

Kaladin glanced to the side, where Wit was staring off into space, idly spinning the red flute in his fingers. Something in his voice… his face…

“You’re talking,” Kaladin said softly, “as if one of us won’t survive this.”

“I wish I were optimistic enough to think one of us would survive.”

NO, NO, NO! 🙈🙉🙊

I hope to god all the Kaladin-is-going-to die foreshadowing is a red herring. I don't want Kaladin to die an early death. Not after he struggled so much with suicidal ideation. It'd be a shitty end to his story if he dies as a hero/martyr after overcoming his self-destructive impulse to kill himself. Please be a misdirect! 🙏

“Simply trying to give you a proper send-off,” Wit said. “We’re at the end, Kaladin, and you are needed. I want you to march off to your divine destiny with a spring in your step.”

A PROPER SEND-OFF?

A DIVINE DESTINY?

What does that mean!?

Does Kaladin die? 😭🤬

Does Kaladin ascend? 😯🫨

Does Kaladin merge and/or bond with the wind?? 🤔🤯

“You know what first drew me to you, Kaladin?” Wit asked. “You did one of the most difficult things a man can do: you gave yourself a second chance.”

Wit gets it.

“I took that second chance… maybe a third,” Kaladin admitted. “But now what? Who am I without the spear?”

“Won’t it be exciting to find out?” Wit said. “Have you ever wondered who you would be if there was no one you needed to save, no one you needed to kill? You’ve lived for others for so long, Kaladin. What happens when you try living for you?”

Oh, I am SO ready for this next step in Kaladin's journey. I'd love to find out who Kaladin is beyond the battlefield. There is more to Kaladin than just being a soldier or a hero. It's one of the reasons why I want Kaladin to survive this book. I want to see Kaladin living for himself.

And yeah, I need to go back through and give all the wind references another look. I thought it was noteworthy before, but I believed it was just connected to Kaladin being a windrunner. But it looks to be something more than just that. Is it connected to the Stormfather calling Kaladin "Son of Tanavast" or Kaladin's "divine destiny"?

[jadejedi]

Stormlight Archive Rankings

Spoilers for Stormlight Archive 1-4 plus Edgedancer and Dawnshard.

Okay, I have just finished reading the Stormlight Archive for the first time. This was my first foray into Sanderson/the cosmere, which I know isn't always recommended, but this was right up my alley and I absolutely loved it. So, before WaT comes out in a few weeks, here are my current feelings about the series, characters, etc.

Books:

The Way of Kings (5/5)- this one absolutely blew me away. The emotion of that climax is hard to beat. It is just a perfect example of epic fantasy.

Rhythm of War (5/5)- I knew going into it that this wasn't everyone's favorite, which kind of made me think I would love it. And I did. I LOVED Navani and Venli's arcs in particular. This one made me cry the most.

Oathbringer (5/5)- This one I thought was paced so well right from the jump, which is important when you have a book this long. Again, I loved reading basically every arc in this book, even for the villain characters.

Words of Radiance (4.5/5)- Okay hear me out. I know this is a lot of people's favorite, but to me the pacing just isn't as strong. It lags a bit after the duel and there was definitely a bit of a slog in the middle, at least in my opinion. It's still very good and I definitely still loved it, especially Shallan's arc.

I'm not ranking the novellas bc they're impossible to compare to the main series, but I really liked Dawnshard (4/5) and wasn't as much of a fan of Edgedancer (3/5).

Characters (I'm going to forget some characters, but oh well):

Tier 1 (Characters I would die for, kill for, and follow into battle): Kaladin, Shallan, Syl, Adolin, Navani

Tier 2A (Characters I love and give a hearty salute): Dalinar, Renarin, Rock, Teft (RIP), Pattern, Rlain, Eshonai (that final POV of hers...), Rysn

Tier 2A (Messy bitches I love to watch): VENLI, Szeth, Raboniel

Tier 3 (Still cool): Jasnah (sorry to all the Jasnah stans, I just don't feel like I've seen enough of her so far), Wit, all of Bridge 4 not mentioned in other categories, Wyndle

Tier 4 (honestly kind of annoying): Lift (sorry Lift), the Lopen (though I find him less annoying than Lift)

Tier 5 (villains I love to hate): Taravangian, Moash, Amaran

Tier 6 (boring ass villains): Saddeus, Roshone

Top Moments (Incredibly hard to narrow this down to 5):

Dalinar trades Oathbringer for the bridgemen (WoK). I burst into tears while in the car. The emotional high of all emotional highs.

Shallan reveals the truth of what actually happened to her mother (WoR). I GASPED. I was shook. It puts her killing her father in a totally different light. Honestly, it was the moment that put her up with Kaladin in my favorite characters, because it just makes her so interesting and complicated.

Kaladin survives the highstorm (WoK). I mean. Come on.

Kaladin saves Adolin in the duel (WoR). So incredibly epic. Sanderson isn't really an author who generates quotable lines like some of my other favorite authors, but "Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do." absolutely slaps.

Navani and Raboniel combine the tones of Honor and Odium. This moment was surprisingly epic and very cool. And also very gay.

[lamaery]

9 - shield

Kaladin (and Syl) shielding human prisoners from the storm winds through sheer, albeit magically infused willpower. More of a colour sketch really. But I wanted to make something for this scene in Oathbringer for a while now. Especially since I haven’t seen many depictions of it. But what can we do? Kaladin has heroic moments of awesomeness like other people have breakfast.

[imonlyhereforcrem]

“Besides, there was … another voice. Pure, with a song like tapped crystal, distant yet demanding…” She smiled, and zipped away. ~Syl, Oathbringer ch. 6

Syl brings this up to Kaladin in reference to his time in growing up in Hearthstone. She “remembers” things about Kaladin from back then even though she hadn’t actually met him yet. I think Syl is saying here that another Radiant spren was observing Kaladin back then; a memory from before she left the Cognitive Realm to seek him out.

There are 2 spren that come to mind that are related to crystal: Cultivationspren and mistspren. Both of these orders have access to Progression which fits Kaladin the surgeon. However, mistspren (and Truthwatchers) are concerned with the powerful being truthful to those they lead. Kaladin “all lighteyes are deceitful/horrible abusers of unrightful power” definitely has interest in that sort of thing.

All this to say, I believe that Surgeon!Kaladin, the Kaladin that never left Hearthstone, would have been recruited as a Truthwatcher.

[hahahahawk]

A Pattern

Words of Radiance re-read

I feel dumb as a cremling for not realizing until now that every book in the stormlight archive series is named after a literal book that exists in-world.

I’ve previously been annoyed that book 1 is called Way of Kings even though Kaladin’s story would make more sense titled “words of radiance”.

At the moment I’m having trouble remembering the supposed contents of both (in-universe) Words of Radiance and Oathbringer. Truthfully, I’m not 100% sure Oathbringer *is* an in-universe book. I thought it was Dalinar’s shardblade.

*checks the wiki* ok, it’s both his shardblade and his memoir. If pressed, that’s what I would have guessed.

And I suppose we’ll circle back to the contents of (in-universe) WoR soon enough in the book. Overall, the idea is cute and quirky, but I wish that WoK had a better connection to Kaladin. Though I guess that RoW isn’t Navani’s book either. It just feels out of step since WoR and Shallan are directly associated, as are Oathbringer and Dalinar.

***

I’m also bummed that the Book of Endless pages disappeared from the story.

Though I did think it was a magic book that Jasnah was giving to Shallan for her to sketch in, not anything (mundane and) religious.

***

When Syl (I think) talked about being uncomfortable with Cryptic spren, I thought she was just being snotty, that calling them liespren was a mild slur. (Or am I thinking of Jasnah talking to Shallan about Shadesmar/types of spren? Anyway, *someone* expressed those ideas)

But in this chapter it really struck me how Pattern *does* lie and engage in deceitful behavior. At several points he hides information from Shallan about her own past. In this chapter Pattern tries to hide his belief that Shallan will kill him, and they have a meta-conversation about him trying/learning to lie. And in RoW he executed the huge deception of communicating with Hoid behind Shallan’s back while they’re in Shadesmar.

It’s a shocking situation, since you’d think the Nahel bond would join beings so purely that lying between human and spren would be unthinkable. Adding on to that the contrast with Syl, who makes honesty a strict condition of her bond with Kaladin.

Sure, Syl is an honor spren and Patten is vehemently not, but it just seems like the nahel bond is a kind of intimacy that would preclude deception.

mmmmmmmmm! Fascinating!!

Does being a lightweaver mean you have to build a completely different kind of trust with your spren than most Radiants?

***

I have other thought about what Shallan is getting up to, but seems like it happens in her next (contemporary) chapter, so I’ll withhold my commentary until then.

[randomseacucumber]

So, because I am very excited to finally read Wind and Truth, I have decided that I will be doing reaction posts as I read. Each post will cover each 'day' in the book, plus the corresponding interludes. Obviously, this will not be spoiler-free, and spoilers for other books in the Cosmere may also appear. All reactions will be under a cut. I'll also be tagging these posts with #Ivy reads Wind and Truth, so if you don't want to see them, just filter that out.

Anyway...

Wind and Truth reactions: Day 1

Prologue

This is the only part of the book that was released as a preview that I've actually read, but that was, like, three years ago, so I don't remember much, and I'm sure edits have been made since then

Anyway, Gavilar is an idiot

I really should have re-read the rest of the series prior to this book's release, or at least watched some recap videos, but here we are anyway

One thing that stands out to me is that Sanderson's writing is a bit...immature? I've read almost all of his stuff, but for some reason, this is really the first time I've noticed this. It doesn't both me that much, though

Okay, so Axindweth worked for Gavilar. I remember being pretty curious about her in Oathbringer (?)

Navani deserves better

~It was Kelsier all along~

RIP Gavilar, you deserved it

I don't have a ton else to say about the prologue, especially since I've had a chance to process its contents before, but it's certainly interesting

Chapter 1

Kaladin!!!

I remember seeing people speculating that Syladin would become canon, based on the way Syl is being described, and I do hope that won't happen. Kaladin is a character that I've never felt the need to ship with anyone, but if I had to choose a ship for him, I'd go with Shakadolin. Of course, I do adore his dynamic with Syl, but I've always seen them more as a QPR than anything else. Obviously, no shade to anyone who does ship them, but I personally just hope that doesn't happen. Anyway, though, I'm not sure it will, based on the descriptions of Syl? I just think that she likes to play dress-up

Also, I completely forgot that Sanderson refuses to write curse words! Honestly, it's kind of charming

Shallan!!! (Gives her a hug)

Chapter 2

Oroden is adorable! I'm so happy that Kaladin has him

Okay, some interesting stuff about Urithiru

Nooo, not another poop joke!

I do quite like Kaladin's family <3

The wind is talking to Kaladin??? That's new

Okay, yeah, there is definitely emphasis on Syl looking older (sigh)

With the way everything is being framed...I'm scared for Kaladin

Chapter 3

The excerpts before each chapter are certainly interesting. I wonder who's writing them...

Maya!!!

Wit!!!

I love the Ghostbloods, but I cannot fucking take them seriously

Wait, who is Ba-Ado-Mishram again??

Oh, okay

Chapter 4

Kaladin learning to play the flute?? I love this

Hmm, interesting about the Wandersail

Okay, so we're just accepting that the Wind is talking to Kaladin, despite the Wind as a conscious entity not being something previously established?

The discussion of the Passions is really interesting. I'm not familiar enough with Mormonism to know how Sanderson might feel about the idea of salvation through works, but this discussion feels as if it's criticizing the idea. And honestly, it reflects some of how I feel about faith in general

The talk of hope makes me think of Kelsier

Wit is right! Sazed IS among the best!!!

Kaladin the therapist confirmed

The use of the word therapist does make me wonder about linguistics some, though. Is Wit using the same word he heard on another planet, or is he somehow translating it into the language of Roshar? How does that work?

Chapter 5

From page 54: "For her, it was the day when a set of parents had, for the first time, wanted her." I'm not crying, you're crying

Chapter 6

Szeth being unintentionally hilarious

Oh, the thing about the ancient snow is so neat!

I do feel like a lot of the dialogue here is somewhat unnatural. Everyone is talking like a therapist

I don't like the thing about Kaladin being in line for the throne. He's a good leader, but I really don't want to see him as a king. It just doesn't really fit for his character

Chapter 7

Adolin in the bestest boy. He better not die

Oh shit

Chapter 8

Yay, Nightblood!

Lift better get some page time

The rock in Kaladin's pocket...I wonder if Oroden put it there

Oh, good for Dabbid!

What did I just say about Adolin???

Chapter 9

The Knights of Wind and Truth excerpts are still befuddling...my best guess is that Sigzil is writing them

Okay, thank god Adolin is okay

You go, Shallan!!

Chapter 10

A pack human?? Syl, I love you

Sanderson's sense of humor can be so cringe, but in a way that's charming

Kaladin going off of this woman seems a bit out of character, but okay

Chapter 11

Hmm, Ba-Ado-Mishram seems interesting...

Adolin really is the bestest boy <3

I love the art at the end of the chapter. Of course Adolin makes friend with a spren horse

Chapter 12

Okay, yeah, I do think Sigzil must be writing these excerpts

Rlain!

Oh my god, the part with the tattoo!

Chapter 13

I'm still super curious about Sja-anat

Duel-wielding Shallan would be awesome

I am really, really scared for Kaladin

Interlude 1

Felt?? You were a Ghostblood all along??

RIP Kalak, I guess

Interlude 2

THIS is why Taravangian is one of the most fascinating villains I have ever encountered

Day 1 was definitely interesting, and I'm very much curious to see how things continue...