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truthwatcherblog · 3 days ago

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I hope most of the Arc 1 Stormlight flashback characters get to take a backseat to the other characters in Arc 2. Except Venli. I am forever fascinated by Venli and I wish she had more chapters in Wind and Truth because I miss her. Okay this turned into a really long Venli appreciation post

First of all, her jealousy of Eshonai and her pursuit of power are both super interesting motivations. I like having a character who’s a protagonist who also wants power and was easily tempted into doing bad things, I think that makes Venli much more interesting. She was misled but she also very much wanted to be powerful amongst her people.

It’s also completely understandable that she wanted to pursue power in the way that she did because her people were suffering. They faced constant loss against the humans. Plus, she really wanted a way to save her mother. That’s where everything started even if it spiraled into a pursuit of power. Plus her role in her society as the keeper of songs, which she enjoys but also wishes she could do more with.. oh Venli I love you

Her arc in Rhythm of War with becoming a Knight Radiant despite being on the “bad” side, especially when paired with the entire Raboniel storyline, is great even though I wished it could’ve been a bigger focus. I love that people love Navani and Raboniel, I love them too, but as a result Venli’s arc gets overshadowed. She sings with the stones of Urithiru! She connects to one of the ancient, pre-shard gods! That’s so cool and I didn’t realize that’s what was happening at the time but it was setting up for the reveal of the older gods in Wind and Truth.

Oh oh I also think the Reachers and Timbre are so cool, the only type of Radiant Spren we’ve seen who still feel the betrayal of humanity but also see the necessity of forming new bonds, so they decide to bond with the Listeners. Not humans, but not serving Odium either.

When she finds Rlain and he’s like oh I thought I was the only one Venli I’m so glad you survived. And she’s so guilty because he doesn’t know that she was the one who was responsible for so much of what happened to their people. The guilt she feels, but also how that guilt powers her development.

The inherent loneliness and tragedy of her being the Last Listener, charged to use the story of her people as propaganda to get the more reluctant Singers to join the war effort even though that’s the opposite of what the Listeners wanted. Even though that goes against the songs she was taught to sing, to keep for her people. The happiness when she discovers that her people are still out there, that some of them survived.

I also wish Venli had gotten more of a role in Wind and Truth, though the book was already juggling a lot of storylines. The new Listener nation, situated around Retribution’s Perpendicularity, is fascinating to me. I hope that it’s revisited in the next arc, I mean it definitely seems like it’ll be important.

She and the Listeners are probably going to be one of the only people who have access to surgebinding on Retribution-ruled Roshar. They’ll be able to use Voidlight gemstones to fuel their powers while all the human Radiants will be relinquished to Urithiru (except Lift, and I also wonder if Renarin and Rlain will be able to use Voidlight because their spren don’t follow the normal rules… but I digress). They also have the only stable Perpendicularity on Roshar. That means if any off-world forces, worried about Retribution’s formation, want to access Roshar, they’ll need to get through Venli and the Listeners.

#i love venli she’s fascinating #venli #wind and truth #wind and truth spoilers #cosmere

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cosmerelists · 1 year ago

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My Top 10 Favorite Cosmere Characters

Today is my birthday, so it's time for a purely self-indulgent birthday list! I thought I'd just share my own personal Top 10 Cosmere characters, which will just prove once and for all that I am SUCH a Stormlight girlie.

[Spoilers for Stormlight, Mistborn Era 1 & Era 2 and Shadows for Silence]

#10: TenSoon

I think I almost like TenSoon better in Era 2, when he's, like, an immortal quasi-divine figure who also happens to be a big, fluffy puppy. I like it when characters from different eras interact, so I was quite taken by having Wax meet TenSoon. I was also a fan of TenSoon back in the original series though, especially as his loyalty to Vin developed. And I'm one for a tragic sacrifice, so the kandra trying to kill themselves to avoid getting taken over by Ruin--that was a powerful moment (and I'm big fan of the fact that they did not, in fact, die. It was still a heroic sacrifice!).

#9: Silence

It's hard to say how much my love for Silence is part & parcel with my love for Threnody which, for whatever reason, is my favorite Cosmere planet. I like how Silence interacts with Threnody--the sheer horror and fatalism of living right on the edge of that forest, being a mother and a bounty hunter, keeping your dead grandmother in a back room...

#8: Adolin

I think Adolin is one of those characters I like because of his relationships with other characters. Especially Maya--I really love the relationship Adolin has with his sword, and when he and Maya fight back to back using the kata...that's one of my favorite scenes. I think he and Shallan are cute, and that he and Kaladin are cute, and that the three of them are a triad in their hearts. Also, and this will be a theme throughout this list, I love competent fighters and good fight sequences, so Adolin's duels really put him near the top for me.

#7: Navani

Rhythm of War really made me love Navani, I think. And not only because of that unhealthy yet somehow alluring relationship she had with Raboniel. We'll see throughout this list that I just like really competent characters, and Navani is such a smart and cool inventor of stuff, from watches to pain management devices to flying ships. And knowing what she went through with Gavilar and how she was made to think she wasn't smart or worthwhile only to have Dalinar and Raboniel recognize that yes she was smart and good at things and now she's cracked the code to make god-killing weapons and has bonded the Sibling and she's just so cool.

#6: Sazed

Honestly, I really love Sazed both before and after his ascension. I heard that people aren't always fans of Harmony, but I find him just as fascinating, if not more so--the idea of trying to balance such discordant shards in one being. But Sazed is, I think, my favorite character from the Mistborn Era 1 books. He is so sincere and smart and competent and deals with so much shit all the time. And I think he's doing his best.

#5: Jasnah

Like, Jasnah is just cool. She's so polished. So competent. So deadly. So smart. I think seeing Jasnah through Shallan's eyes for so long really made me respect and fear her as much as a reader can respect/fear a book character. That moment that she and Dalinar bonded over the book after Gavilar's death--very sweet. Kinda disappoited that we didn't get much with Jasnah & Elhokar--hard to remember they're siblings sometimes. In conclusion, I am both excited and scared to get more of her tragic backstory soon.

#4: Leshwi

Listen, I like cool fight sequences and enemies who bear a deep respect for each and duel a lot but never from a place of hatred. So, I was basically made to like Leshwi and how she interacts with Kaladin. But I also just like Leshwi's interactions with everyone. Leshwi and Moash? Awesome. "Hey you killed me once. Respect." Leshwi and Venli? Heck yeah. "I am slowly feeling you out and trying to see where your loyalties lie because they might intersect with mine." Once I am thrilled that Lewshi is joining the Listeners now. I want her to form a Radiant bond SO BAD.

#3: Steris

I seem to recall Brandon Sanderson talking about Steris as a character you don't like at first, but later you grow to love her. But if I remember correctly, I feel like I always liked Steris? Like yes, the marriage contract was a lot, but it was also so thorough and honest (and, honestly, funny). And then she just grew on me from there. As someone who makes a lot of lists, I also feel a kinship with Steris.

#2: Shallan

The first two times I read through the Stormlight Archives, I was all about Kaladin. But the third time, I really started to realize just how much I like the Shallan chapters. I think Shallan is a great character with a great arc--and I love the way she sort of grows into herself and her powers. Plus, I enjoy the slow reveal of how much she's already done--she already has a shardblade. And two spren bonds. And many murders under her belt. Quite the resume. And I really love Veil and Radiant, but especially Veil. The scene during the Oathbringer climax where she holds hand with her alters while constantly creating other alters to let them be killed legitimately makes me cry. She holds back a whole army by herself! She's amazing!

#1: Kaladin

Kaladin was my favorite character pretty much from the very moment I started reading Cosmere books (I started with Way of Kings), and he has never been dethroned in my heart. First, there's the simple fact that I love good fight scenes and fantasy heroics and people who gain the power they need at the very last second...and Kaladin does those things like every other chapter. But also, Kaladin is just such a good character. I love how he's not just a shallow fantasy hero--he has depression, and invents therapy, and struggles with guilt, and doesn't always make good choices. Sometimes the Kaladin chapters are tough--Rhythm of War was downright painful sometimes with just how much Kaladin was suffering--but even so. I will always look forward to the Kaladin parts the most, and like many, I deem Kaladin my #1 Cosmere Blorbo.

#Cosmere #Cosmerelists #TenSoon #Silence #Adolin #Navani #Sazed #Jasnah #Leshwi #Steris #Shallan #Kaladin

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knightsgaydiant · 2 years ago

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Leshwi is such a fascinating character because on the one hand, I feel like I have no idea what her deal is. But on the other hand, I do know she has chemistry with every single character she comes into contact with. Every. Single. One.

Kaladin- obviously, got that warrior’s bond, Moash- absolutely, Raboniel- fuck yeah, who doesn’t love a little homoerotic rivalry?, Venli- for sure, Lezian- why the fuck not

What is Leshwi’s deal??? And why is everyone (including me) in love with her???

#leshwi #crab thirst #stormlight archive #row spoilers

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randomseacucumber · 26 days ago

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Wind and Truth reactions: Day 4

Chapter 43

Ooh, do we get to see the Spiritual Realm now?

Okay, so this is similar to Dalinar's visions in the first book

Oh my god, Ashyn

Chapter 44

I just noticed that the faces on the arches seem to be wearing away...

Pattern is so silly <3

Chapter 45

I'm still really enjoying Szeth and Kaladin's dynamic

It's definitely cool to finally see Division

Szeth, do you need a suicide hotline number???

Chapter 46

This is really interesting

Hoid is literally everywhere at all times, isn't he?

I do definitely subscribe to the theory that Chana is Shallan's mother, and the consistent emphasis on her red hair just feeds that

Chapter 47

Oh, a new chapter header! A pen and a spear. Curious. I wonder who it's for...Sigzil, maybe?

Yup, Sigzil POV

Chapter 48

Yay, more Szeth backstory!

Ooh, very interesting. Shinovar's society is definitely still fascinating to learn about

Chapter 49

Oh shit, Formless is back

A big part of this series is treating mental illness with empathy and respect, and I really do love that

Chapter 50

Hmm, this does raise questions about how Surges worked on Ashyn

Chapter 51

More Szeth backstory, again!

Fun family bonding time! (Not)

Chapter 52

Honestly, I'm concerned that Adolin is just too cute too live

I'm also worried for Kaladin

Sigh...yeah, I do think that Syladin might potentially end up being canon (again, no hate to those who ship this, I just personally don't want Kaladin and Syl to be in a romantic relationship)

Chapter 53

Well, the Voice sounds ominous

Interesting, interesting, interesting

Chapter 54

It's cool that we get to learn about Rlain's childhood

On a more positive note when it comes to shipping (for me), I could definitely see Renarin and Rlain becoming canon as well

Oh, end of Day 4 already?

Interlude 7

I was actually wondering where Moash was, but here he is!

Well, he seems to be having a very bad time!

Interlude 8

Oh dear

Okay, Day 4 is done. I'm getting close to the halfway mark. So far, this book is sitting at about three stars. There's been some interesting things that have happened, but a lot of the story has also been a bit of a slog. However, I am hopeful that there will be some crazy twists and turns closer to the end, because that would definitely boost my rating.

I'm also wondering where Venli is? We finally encountered Moash, who I was also wondering about, but there's been so sign of Venli, which is odd, considering what a big role she played in the previous book.

Anyway, on to the next part!

#Ivy reads Wind and Truth #wind and truth #cosmere

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lunaticbookblog · 3 months ago

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Stormlight Archive 1-4 Reread

With book 5 coming soon, I decided to do a reread of the first four books now that I’ve read the rest of the Cosmere to see it again, fresh, with the broader context. This series really pays off on reread. In my opinion, coming back through a second time equalized my enjoyment of each novel. Not that any of them were bad on first read - individually, they are my favorite Sanderson novels to date, so saying I enjoyed one more than another is still comparing within my top 5 - however, a reread has made determining my favorite Stormlight book extremely difficult. Maybe impossible.

For myself, I stand by the reading order for Cosmere introduction. Mistborn is often the recommended starting point. At the advice of a friend, I started with Stormlight instead and am glad for it. I would not have read more Cosmere if I started with Mistborn. Well of Ascension would have been a DNF, and probably would not have picked up Stormlight. Which would be terrible, as it’s one of my favorite series ever now.

On reread, I think either Stormlight or Warbreaker is the correct place to start. Or, to read Warbreaker before Oathbringer. Oathbringer was my least favorite of the four on first read. With context from Warbreaker, it was more enjoyable. And then read Dawnshard before Rhythm of War. Edgedancer, though it is chronological before Oathbringer, can be saved for after finishing ROW.

Oathbringer might still be my least favorite of the four, if only because Dalinar’s are my least favorite flashbacks. But it has my second favorite Sanderlanche. Nothing quite hits like Way Of Kings. And where Rhythm of War was my third favorite originally, because on first read, I found Venli chapters difficult to get through. On reread her perspective was fascinating and filled with lore. Her character seems so incredibly emblematic of the themes of Stormlight, where anyone at anytime can change to be better than who they were at the start. So on reread, the ROW experience felt significantly more balanced and made me love a book I already liked. Way of Kings on first read felt slow in parts, where I was so invested in Kaladin’s story and then bored by Shallan. This was not the case on reread, where it is Shallan’s chapters dropping hints of the overarching plot set against Kaladin’s more personal journey.

Overall, Stormlight is amazing. Kaladin owns my heart. I spend almost as much time wondering who Shallan is as she does. Unclear how I’m supposed to make it until December.

#book blog #bookblr #stormlight archive reread #cosmere #cosmere spoilers #stormlight archive #stormlight archive spoilers #Mistborn #Warbreaker #reread 2024

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lost-boys-chapter · 5 months ago

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ok I'm here with my lukewarm thoughts !!

- shallan and adolin splitting up ?? tbh I know a lot of us were like... how are they gonna get back to the tower in time for the contest so will they just be sidelined which ik was cleared up in the preview chapters, but now it def feels like shallan is taking a lead role w renarin and rlain but adolin will not be super important in this book. I was kind of hoping that we'd see more of the arc between him and maya but I think that's unlikely if he's not Paired Off with anyone. that might be a good sign for his survival though seeing as he's far too beloved to sideline for most of the book and then kill off. hopefully.

- sigzil AND venli mentioned in the description?? in the same sentence?? what world have I entered into?? I'm glad branderson isn't sidelining the listeners entirely but I'm very confused as to why these two were chosen to pair off together. I've not read sunlit man but I know in it allegedly sig talks about making a huge mistake and I don't think that bodes well for him if he's a major character in this book. tbh I feel like he's one of those characters who's minor enough that he can develop into a lot of things so I'm concerned. also interesting that they're fighting on the shattered plains. could def b a bit of a thematic callback to twok. hopefully we get to see a bit of leshwi if there's gonna be a listeners focus here aswell?

- don't have much to say about the in-laws hangout that is shallan, renarin and rlain other than I am excited for it. ive never super understood why everyone loves renarin so much but I'm hoping we'll see him more in this book (as I believe a wob confirmed?) so I can finally join the renarin fan club. the ba-ado-mishram/recreance mystery being solved is one thing I'm looking forward to in this book too.

- I'm absolutely fascinated by the mental image of kaladin not only giving szeth, the most fucked up mortal we know, therapy, but also giving therapy to ishar, the most fucked up immortal we know. like. he only just invented it this feels a bit ambitious. however the idea of those three sitting in a circle group therapy session wise makes me giggle.

- speaking of I'm so excited for the shinovar roadtrip!! it's like the only part of this book we've had advance warning about so I've had time to get hyped over it. kaladin and szeth feels like a dangerous combo but I hope they come out of this not only alive but also friends. it would make my year brando, please.

- we've had too many mentions of the spiritual realm already for it not to play a big role in this book. interesting that both shallan & co and the bondsmiths seem interested in it, albeit for separate reasons. I presume this means the shallan arc will happen before the contest arc or vice versa bc otherwise it feels very convenient that everyone just remembered this third realm exists. I have a super strong gut instinct that someone is gonna try to use the spiritual realm to change the past and get refuted in a very 'journey before destination' kind of way. no evidence for this just pure vibes. other than that we alr know that ba ado mishram is trapped there from the preview chapters so we'll def be going there atleast once. I find it very funny that this wasn't theorised abt at all bc we all just assumed it was inaccessible but why would brandon not throw a spanner in the works

- kind of forgot where we left off with jasnah except she killed a guy and is dating an immortal. hope she's slaying it and continues to slay it. excited to see her in this book now that I've decided I actually like her

- tbh, I feel like the part of the book I'm least interested in is the contest. like. it will be very cool and I have no doubt that brando will pull it off but there's only so many ways that can go and many many possibilities for everything else that I'm 👀👀

- in other news, I've calculated that if I read 2.72 chapters every day from now until december 6th, I will finish rhythm of war in time for kowt. that feels... unachievable, but we're gonna try!

it concerns me that I have this much to say over three paragraphs of text. im worried that when the actual book comes out I'll have to put it down at the end of every page to spend 15 mins making a tumblr post. however in the meantime if yall have thoughts on my thoughts or other takes I would v v much love to hear them bc I love talking about the cosmere !

I'll have more 2 say later but I'm literally VIBRATING at work over the wind and truth description. the description. lord help me when the actual book begins to drop

#cosmere #stormlight archive #kowt #kowt spoilers #kowt speculation

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warrioreowynofrohan · 4 years ago

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The Stormlight Archive - Choice and Common Ground in Rhythm of War

I would say that these are the two themes that are most central to the narrative and character development in Rhythm of War.

Choice is central in several respects. It is at the heart of Venli’s arc, as she gradually - prompted by Timbre - moves towards choosing to act against the forces of Odium at last to reveal herself as a Radiant, as well as to confess her past choices to Rlain. Her position as the first new Willshaper, the Radiant order primarily focused on choice and freedom, further emphasizes this.

But even more importantly, Rhythm of War is about the need to allow people the dignity of their choices, including the choice to risk or sacrifice their life, without treating them as objects or victims. We see this most vividly in Maya’s declaration of WE CHOSE! at Adolin’s trial, when the Honorspren are endeavouring to exploit her by presenting her as a victim of the Knights Radiant, and deny her agency by using her to make a statement that is the opposite of her real feelings.

We see it Kaladin’s vision of Tien, where he learned that his brother made the choice to go with his companions to their death in order to support them. We see it in Teft, who chose to stay with Kaladin as emotional support, and who later chose to fight, and died because of it. To regard other people’s deaths as a personal failure, as Kaladin does, is to deny that they have any part in their deaths, that they might decide something is worth fighting and dying for and would not regard their own deaths as a defeat, and it’s a crucial element in the realization that enables Kaladin to say the Fourth Ideal. Lirin, like his son, has difficulty with this: when he sees that Kaladin is inspiring people in Urithiru to resist, he sees in it terms of Kaladin is going to get these people hurt or killed, and can’t see past that until he follows Hesina’s advice to listen to them and to understand why Kaladin’s actions inspire them to choose to hazard their own safety.

The second major theme is about finding common ground between people with great differences in their goals and convictions. We see it with Navani and Raboniel, who are opposite sides of the war but share a fascination with Roshar and a delight in learning more about it, as well as the grief of a mother for her children and who - despite Raboniel’s numerous and severe betrayals - find genuine mutual respect and understanding. We see it also with Navani and the Sibling, and this theme is why Navani is the right person to bond the Sibling - because her story (with the core metaphor of oil and water) is about bringing together people who have strong and real differences. Likewise, the humans and Leshwi’s Fused find common ground in defending the unconsious Radiants, after reminders throughout the book of the mutual respect that Kaladin and Leshwi ferl for each others. And finally, the theme of common ground is crucial to the arc between Kaladin and Lirin, where they are at last able to find recociliation in the understand that, yes, they do have deeply differing moral perspectives on violence, but that doesn’t prevent them from loving each other or being able to respect each other’s convictions and ways of protecting.

#brandon sanderson #the stormlight archive #rhythm of war #row spoilers #kaladin #navani kholin #mayalaran #lirin #tien #raboniel

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st-just · 4 years ago

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Semi-coherent thoughts on Oathbringer

So, overall probably the most even of the series so far, I’d say? Not to say I didn’t like it – I really, really loved the finale, and there were plenty of great lines, but my god were there a lot of pages spent on nothing happening (honestly it kind of reminded me of the latter volumes of ASOIF, in that sense) – then again, I suppose that is kind of just the nature of these 1000+ page fantasy epics. There were some setting reveals that really were fascinating, and legitimately a bit surprising. Going to have to take a break from the series until the friend I got Rhythm of War for is done so I can borrow it, though I suppose that’s no huge loss compared to the however many years everyone else had to wait in between them.

So in terms of pacing it’s...bad. Or, well, that’s probably a bit unfair. There’s absolutely plenty of fat to cute, but again I do think that might just come with the territory of committing to like a dozen POVs across a tree’s worth of paper (though there were absolutely like 100+ page stretches where I’m not actually sure the plot meaningfully progressed). That said, honestly the main pacing issue isn’t so much the bloat as, like – okay, Dalinar’s arc was a pretty consistent throughline, but for Kalidan and Shallan it kind of felt like there was one whole story in Urithiru, and then from the mission to Kholinar and the journey through the Cognitive Realm felt like its own separate novel? I mean, not sure if that makes any sense, but it really did kind of feel like there was a whole additional first act of table and stakes setting once they arrived in the city.

Though, to argue in favor of bloat for a moment – I was chatting with @lifeattomsdiner bit back about The City We Became, and they mentioned that the size of the cast meant that you don’t actually really get to know any of the protagonists that well on their own. And I suppose that is the advantage of the 1200-page-per-volume epic cycle – even with characters you only really meet in interludes like Szeth, Vargo and Venli (incidentally three of my favorites), you spend enough pages inside of their head that you do really get to see what makes them tick and learn to love/hate them. Speaking of – props to Sanderson as an author, really – it’s vaguely astounding that he manages to keep track of that many internal monologues and actually make them seem distinct from each other.

Breaking things down by character a bit more – this book really did actually enjoy/get invested in Dalinar way more than either of the previous two, which again I’m told is more or less the expected reaction. Given the amount of tumblr brain poison I’m voluntarily exposed myself to, it’s honestly more than a bit of a nice change to see a character on a redemption arc who is actually unambiguously in need of redemption. Because holy shit, pulled, like, exactly two punches in terms of making the guy as genuinely loathsome as possible before he starts breaking. And, well, obviously he was on a redemption arc, but there was a bit near the end there where I really did think that the book was going to cut to black on an ‘end of Act 2, maximum darkness before dawn’ moment with, like, all the Skybreakers and him kneeling before Odium as the city fell. But I suppose that would be a bit much of a cliffhanger for a series with installments this weighty.

This was pretty clearly Shallan’s ‘getting over my personal bullshit’ book, like WoR was for Kaladin and WoK was for Dalinar, though spicing things up with increasingly severe DID as the book went on did make things more interesting at least. Also, I have no idea if this is actually true, but according to the friend who pestered me into reading these when someone asked Sanderson if he’d intentionally written her as bi he just kind of shrugged and said ‘sure, why not,’ which is fun. It was more than a bit, I don’t know, forced?, to have Wit just wander in from stage left and give her a desperately needed therapy session while she was in the middle of a breakdown and propel her development for most of the rest of the book, but on the other hand she’s pretty easily the main POV I’m most invested in by now, and the live triangle the text repeatedly threatened me with never actually became a thing, so I can’t really complain too much. Honestly super curious about the Ghostbloods and what they want out of her given, well, for a shadowy murderous conspiracy, everything they’ve wanted out of her so far has been pretty much entirely benign. Like, of the three major shadowy murderous conspiracies they’re easily the least problematic for the future of humanity at the moment. She should just commit and join for real imo.

As always, Kaladin’s POV is mostly good because it means we get more Syl, who is the single best character in the entire story I’ve decided. But also, I really quite liked his whole sojourn with the newly freed Parshmen and dawning realization that ‘wait these people are basically entirely right’. Also, the delicious delicious angst of spending however many dozens of pages getting to know them and then the wall guard and then the two groups killing each other in a confused melee while he has a mental breakdown. Easily best moment in the book (but then I’m a miserable person).

Adolin is honestly significantly more entertaining to follow than I really expected, though I’m still not like especially invested in him as a character. His relationship with his tailor was quite charming, though, as was the fact that he cares enough about fashion that he learned to sew. Honestly I was rather expecting/slightly dreading his main arc this book to be, like, inadequacy or insecurity over being almost literally the only member of his family that’s not a Radiant, so it’s kind of a pleasant surprise that he seems to have just accepted that (too well-adjust, I guess?). It is however extremely funny that the fact he just straight-up murdered one of the kingdom’s most important aristocrats and the major antagonist of the first two books seems to have resulted in absolutely zero consequences of any kind for him.

In terms of minor characters, the one I’m most invested in by a pretty substantial margin at this point is Venli, as she’s getting a front row seat to all the most interesting bits of the setting, ‘cultist growing increasingly disillusioned about return of ancient and terrible eldritch god’ is a really entertaining character arc just in principle, and because as of the end of the book she represents the morally objectively correct perspective and political line I’ve decided and will fight people about. Curious what sort of superpowers she’ll get. (Vargo and Szeth are still both great though, too).

The Unmade are really fun as a worldbuilding conceit/excuse for weird fucked up monsters. And it really is kind of funny that at least a third of the God of Evil’s nine generals/children/favoured beasts are, like, at conflicted or ambivalent about the whole ‘exterminate humanity and remake the world as a monument to my glory’ thing.

Really, on an extremely shallow and entirely aesthetic level, between the evil red crystal/lightning aesthetic, the remote mountain fortress as a stronghold of the heroes in the face of the coming apocalypse, tears into the realm of spirits, the quirky evil minibosses each handling corrupting/conquering a given center of civilization, etc, the whole thing kind of reminded me of Dragon Age Inquisition. Which reminded me of how disappointing the story to that game was, which made me like the book more by comparison, but anyway. Yeah, good book.

#books #oathbringer #stormlight archive #cosmere #brandon sanderson #in this essay I will #book review

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vergi1ius · 4 years ago

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Notes on Rhythm of War

Well that had more twists and turns than the chasms of the Shattered Plains.

1. Minor note that bugged me: Gavinor talked *way* too mature for his age. Mostly in that his sentence structures were way too complex.

2. I can’t believe Sanderson managed to somehow redeem Roshone. Dude really stepped up in a crisis -- not in a way that made him suddenly perfect, but in a way that demonstrated he was clearly growing toward something better.

3. New Shard names yay

4. Fascinated by all these new Lights. I’m not quite sure where Lifelight is supposed to come from, nor Voidlight. A comment from Venli seems to say Voidlight comes from a ritual prayer, which seems to imply it’s directly bestowed by Odium, which has... implications.

5. That Raboniel thought Storm and Void Light were opposites for so long seems odd to me. Where did Lifelight fit into that? On the one hand, it seems so rare that she might have passed over it; on the other hand, given she obtains some for Navani (from where, though?) and she’s aware of its Tone, clearly it must feature somewhere in her theories.

6. I wonder precisely when Odium integrated so much into Roshar. My first guess would be around the time of the Recreance, given that’s when the Sibling is first weakened. My other guess would be when Odium first arrived, or when the Singers accepted him, though that seems rather too early. But most likely it was something building up for a long, long time.

7. While Raboniel and Navani see the implications in anti-Lights for ending the war, I think Wit foresees something terrible from this creation (as per his discussion with Jasnah on the battlefield). In particular, the explosive force of combining a Light and its anti-Light is very likely to change the scope of warfare.

8. Wit is hilarious and I will quote everything he says.

9. Ace Jasnah confirmed. (I might have prefered aroace Jasnah, but whatevs)

10. FUCK YOU MOASH YOU BASTARD.

11. RIP Teft. I’m seriously gonna miss him.

12. I love that Kaladin’s Plate has Bridge Four on it.

13. “Journey before destination, you bastard.” This book has so many good one-liners.

14. Interesting that Urithiru’s defenses don’t work on the Honorblades. Also, Moash survives again >:( At least 1) He didn’t get out in one piece and 2) The new management deals with him differently.

15. After hearing Ash’s account of Ishar, it probably shouldn’t surprise me all the shit he’s gotten up to. Perhaps one could hope that between leading the exodus to Roshar, creating the Oathpact, and leading the defense in the Desolations, he might have become a better person: but it rather seems he’s retained some of his greatest moral weaknesses or else reverted to some earlier state of mind. Given hints from Dalinar, though, there may very well be something else at play.

16. Holy shit a Herald can fight.

17. Being able to manipulate Connections is rather terrifying. But I still feel like we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg as to what Ishar (and other surges) can do.

18. It seems clear to me that Ishar is bringing radiant spren into the Physical Realm by essentially rewiring their Connection to the Physical Realm, so that they essentially *become* Physical. Thus why those whose bodies are already more realistic survive better, and why spren like Cryptics come out looking so different: in particular, translating a Cryptic’s head into something physically possible is just too difficult.

19. That being said, while I’m fairly confident on *how*, I’m still not sure on *why*. I suspect he might be trying to either 1) force bonds with spren (though why not just adjust the Connection on a spren I don’t know) 2) find a way to kill sprens or spren-like beings (such as the Fused) 3) somehow extract surge powers. But Ishar does seem to be interested in how long he can keep them alive.

20. Wow. A line I’d thought was just a throwaway lie in WoR coming back in a terrifying way. It does make me wonder whether that was a (unintentially true) falsehood from Taravangian, or if he was actually being honest.

21. Also holy shit Cultivation. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the sheer amount of planning this must have taken her.

22. Like, seriously, the amount of planning to ensure that everything’s in place at a specific day and a specific moment, is just kinda staggering. I may have to do another post just to figure out all the pieces that Cultivation had to have in use at once.

23. That being said, that Taravangian 1) took up the same name (and therefore Intent) as Rayse and 2) hasn’t apparently changed Odium’s game plan at all leaves me very, very worried. On the one hand, Taravangian seems to be much craftier than Rayse (possibly in part because he’s new to the role, though that may be a double-edged sword); on the other hand, Taravangian’s goals seem to be different than Rayse’s (I don’t think “galactic conquest” is what most people have in mind when they say “save them all”, but props for at least having the good of those he conquers in mind rather than his own ambitions). I also suspect that Taravangian would be willing to absorb the other Shards, or even leave them alive if they will cooperate with him (or if he can’t absorb them and can find a cooperative Vessel).

24. Given that Taravangian is going through all the same motions as Rayse, I’m a little curious as to what Cultivation is doing and what she thinks of this. Though perhaps now that Rayse is dead she doesn’t feel the need to intervene in the war (given how little the other Shards seem to involve themselves in the international politics on their worlds).

25. YES Adolin x Maya!!!

26. That the Radiants of the Recreance discussed things with their spren, and that the spren agreed to their plan, seems like something we really should have seen coming. I’m a little less surprised about in universe, given that 1) most humans didn’t understand the nature of the Nahel bond and 2) none of the spren bonded were able to explain their reasoning. Or that none of those involved actually knew what they were getting into by breaking their oaths (or, perhaps as they thought they were doing, *ending* their oaths).

27. Over 2000 honorspren. That’s a full level of magnitude more than what we’d been led to believe had been killed from previous books. It makes me wonder 1) what happened to the spren of those who hadn’t reached the level for a blade yet and 2) *where are all those blades*?

28. I’ve been kinda wondering this about honorium, but where does one find raysium, and what about tanavast-ium and cultivation-ium? And how exactly do all three work / interact with the world?

#CFSBF #cosmere #rhythm of war #row spoilers #stormlight archive

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winterswolfchild · 4 years ago

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ROW SPOILERS - part 2 thoughs

Holy hell all my thoughts have just been overshadowed by Taravangian so let’s start there:

Taravangian just realized there’s a difference between the power of a shard and mind of the vessel!

Taravangian knows that Renarin is of key importance

Taravangian is going to fight back!

AAAAAHHH

Okay I’m calm now. Except everything else is pretty shitty right now

Obviously there’s the betrayal, then the invasion is going very well for the fused, Adolin decided to be taken captive by the honorspren and Shallan is crumbling because Pattern might be spying on her

Also Lirin and Kaladins relationship is breaking my heart

I was so excited for Teft and Kaladin’s therapy team, you go and protect people from the darkness of their own mind!

And to stay with happy thoughts let’s all have a moment for Adolin and Maya in Shadesmar. Adolin introducing her to everyone. Grooming Gallant, doing katas together (and fighting the tukari)

You just know she’ll be the way he’ll convince the honorspren

I wonder if Rlain and Venli will meet now that he has “joined” them. I would love to see the last two listeners interact

But Syl seems to be getting depressed, but not wanting Kaladin to know. Syl you have to let him help you, you don’t have to be strong for him all the time!

These two are a perfect match though...

Raboniel is scary but also fascinating. Kinda getting mad scientist vibes from her, though she seems saner than most fused. Which is , you know, scary.

Did Lift just steal Hoids flute? And why does Mraize want to hunt her?

Did Sazed/Harmony just refer to contacting Wax? Is he going to show up at some point?!

#row thoughts #row spoilers #rhythm of war #the stormlight archive #cosmere

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puddlejumper38 · 4 years ago

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Rhythm of War spoilers

Yes, I said I wouldn’t do this. I’ll try not to post regular spoilers and I’ll always tag with RoW spoilers, Rhythm of War spoilers and stormlight spoilers. If anyone wants a specific tag message me and I’ll add that too.

Anyway I’m all caught up with the chapters now and I have some Thoughts.

What prompted this was that I read the Moash chapter after posting a post defending this guy just yesterday and I.... I have no words. (EDIT: I have deleted my Moash defense post.)

Hoooooly shit Moash.

I.... no. I really don’t have any words. That was.... extreme. I don’t even have a flippant comment to be completely honest. I doubt I’ll be defending Moash again.

In other news I feel like I could grow to like Leshwi. It would be really interesting to see things from her pov.

The time jump annoys me a little. All these Radiants? Out of nowhere? And apparently we skip the whole now-having-two-Heralds-to-talk-to issue entirely? Look, I know I’m biased because I want more Taln but I feel like it should be a fairly big Thing for the characters to meet Heralds. Also love to hear them learning more about Nale from Szeth? But no.

I am... not loving seeing all of Shallan’s personas at once. I preferred it when they took turns. Also, there’s more??? In her past?? Hasn’t there been enough?

Ah, Kaladin. I think Dalinar has made the right decision there but it’s going to be hard on him. Interesting to see what role he’ll take on now. I hope he’s not just forced straight back into it by circumstances. I’d like to see how this plays out (I’d like to see him learn to cope a little better)

Is... is Venli a Stoneward? She must be, surely. If Bondsmiths are the other order that can manipulate stone. So Stonewards have the Elsecaller surge and the ‘stone’ surge? No, no, I think Willshaper, actually? I don’t understand enough about surges :/ .

Overall its fascinating though. Renarin is particularly interesting, I’m dying to see how they choose to use his visions and what his other powers manifest as. Showing a different version of a person? Reminds me a bit of Allomantic gold, actually, but definitely a little different. I’m looking forward to seeing what else he can do.

#Stormlight Archive #Rhythm of War #Rhythm of War spoilers #RoW spoilers #Stormlight spoilers #cosmere

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longroadstonowhere · 4 years ago

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another hundred pages down in rhythm of war

i’m fascinated by venli’s section, i’m so glad we get to see her at work, and how she highlights the colonialist nightmare the listeners’ culture has been subjected to - i should probably know what kind of radiant she’s gonna be based on the powers she’s described, but i’ve gotten well off my radiant game so i’ll just have to figure/find that out later

kaladin..... buddy........ he is really going through it

i cannot fucking believe moash tried to encourage suicidal ideation, like i’ve been pretty okay with moash up until now but god damn dude, that is a line that there’s no backing off of (i’m not saying he needs to die or anything, but there’s no ending i’d be satisfied with at this point that includes moash rejoining the urithiru side of things)

did love the bit where renarin came in and basically showed moash the light reflection of what he was, and how it actually gave kaladin warmth (and i sat there like ‘.....kaladin/renarin? i’d be okay with that’)

right now i’m in the middle of the scene where veil and adolin are keeping kaladin distracted from depression by discussing which ladies they can set him up with, and first of all, veil is decidedly bisexual and i love her for that (no idea what that says about shallan or radiant, since they are different people kind of), and second of all i love adolin going into fashion mode, like i’m so glad these two are married (or, well, kind of - i’m glad shallan and adolin are married, and that adolin has a good understanding going with veil and radiant)

the scene with ialai was interesting and honestly something i might study later for writing purposes because i am godawful at writing spy movie doublespeak scenes (my one attempt is in skaian shuffle and i wrote jane to be confused so i didn’t have to be clever, haha), and i’m interested to see how shallan handles things going forward

i am hoping we get to see jasnah soon, i miss my queen

oh, i do wonder what is contacting navani! like it seems to me it’s probably a spren? or maybe even an unmade? not human is what i’m getting at, but also the very concept of navani accidentally torturing hundreds of spren is devastating and not that improbable, so we’ll see where that goes

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radiantmists · 4 years ago

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rhythm of war part two thoughts

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (spoilers through the second interludes under the cut, and at the very bottom some comments based on what i have to assume is a major spoiler for the entire book, or close to it, though i'm warning again beforehand.)

well, last things first: taravangian's working against odium! i'm super excited about this, and very happy about the support for the concept that Taravangian's compassion isn't his curse, it's just the division of his intelligence and compassion that's sthe problem.

so we've been able to talk to the sibling, who is mostly trying to help despite genuinely feeling that what navani is doing is wrong. except now they're locked away, and navani is under the direct scrutiny of rabaniel and messing around with her is going to be risky. that being said, we're on our way to some very interesting revelations about how investiture works on roshar:

the stormfather is purely of honor. the sibling is a mix of honor and cultivation. the nightwatcher is purely cultivation

the sibling should not be able to function on pure stormlight, because it's purely of honor.

lift may not run on stormlight at all-- we already knew she can't pull it from spheres.

adhesion, which is somehow a fake surge and purely of honor, is not totally cancelled by whatever rabaniel did to the sibling. from lift's interlude, neither is regrowth when she uses it, which if i had to pick is the surge i would choose to be purely of cultivation.

as far as we can tell, people can still draw in stormlight with no issue, they just cant use it to power surges.

windrunners, who bond honorspren, are less affected by the fabrial: this applies especially to kaladin and syl, and we know syl is different from other honorspren, older. my money is that she's in some way more fully of honor than the others. lift, who's been hugely modified by cultivation directly, is also immune. the edgedancers as a whole are not immune and apparently are reacting as badly as anyone else.

...syl notes in the last set of interludes that she's different from other honorspren, mentally. is this a byproduct of whatever she did to sneak out of shadesmar, or of her being older? interesting.

To me, this all implies that whatever rabaniel did interferes with how cultivation and honor interact. lift, who seemingly only uses cultivation's investiture, can power the surge that seems most directly associated with cultivation; kaladin, probably closest to honor, can do the surge that seems to be entirely honor. the regular edgedancers aren't immune at all because they run on stormlight; the windrunners are somewhat but not fully immune because they're almost fully of honor, but cultivation likely had some hand in the way honorspren were made after the shattering.

Regrowth really is a very odd surge, compared to the others, which seem to deal with much more fundamental physical forces.

the fused do have access to regrowth while powered by voidlight, though. interesting.

speaking of: did navani's weird sphere contain some kind of... cultivationlight? or maybe it's some kind of combination, and that's why the sphere exploded right around the time of rabiniel's experiments (or the sibling was drawing on it somehow?)

on a more immediate level, the current tower resistance is as follows: navani, under constant monitoring but she has the best chance to figure out how to fix this shit. kaladin, who's a mess, being hunted by the pursuer, and who's about to start getting suicide-baiting nightmares from odium, but he does know how to fight! lift, who's amazing and knows how to sneak around the tower but is being hunted by someone who i assume has to be mraize. and rlain, masquerading as a singer (im so worried about him i hope he's okay).

if this somehow ends with kaladin killing mraize to protect lift before he can give shallan answers, i'm going to fucking SCREAM.

speaking of frustrating things: lirin turn on ur location i just wanna talk. Kaladin was actually rebuilding himself until this whole invasion thing, and i don't understand how lirin can look at a man who's that committed to doing good, sees exactly what it is that drives him to kill, and then calls him a monster.

I loved Kaladin's efforts to deal with mental health care! He's in the unique position ofhaving way more political power than any medical professional, darkeyes, or mentally ill person could ever have hoped to have, and I really want to see him come back to this once the world is burning down a bit less again, especially because it genuinely seemed to be helping him.

navani's plots have sorta been subsumed into this whole plotline, but i enjoyed what we got-- the little episode with the other scholars taking bets on whether she'd use tomor's fabrial was adorable, and i also liked how clear it is that they look to her to make things work.

moving on, uh... shadesmar stuff.

adolin's making some progress at waking maya! she doesn't talk but she shows a clearly unusual ability to learn and make independent decisions. i love it.

...also the thing with notum's horse implies that ryshadium are sentient enough to imagine spren. that's fun, and also terrifying.

adolin offering to stand trial for the crimes of humanity is fascinating, but all i'm thinking about is the episode of avatar where he agrees to stand trial for kyoshi, except in this case we already know that humanity did actually do the thing he's in trouble for. it would be unjust to punish adolin for it, but... i worry.

especially because there are, apparently, new deadeyes. this isn't extraordinarily surprising as syl was two skips away from death (though, im curious, does it work differently if the spren's never been a blade prior to dying? or are there just deadeyes wandering around who aren't tied to blades?) but it is very alarming.

and then there's the other thing: pattern is lying to shallan. i frankly don't think it's as simple as him being a spy for the ghostbloods; we saw even here that he's a terrible liar, and to have concealed this he'd have to have been pretty impressive.

on the other hand there was clearly some shit going on between shallan, her family, and the ghostbloods when she first got pattern. he's admitted that he has more exposure to humans than most spren. it doesn't look great, honestly.

i also appreciate that brandon is acknowledging how fucking weird shallan's timeline is. hopefully we get some answers about this.

adolin and shallan's relationship continues to be adorable; the sequence with the starspren is lovely and i totally get why it's brandon's favorite chapter in this part. between this and part one, he clearly enjoyed how the shadolin came out in this book and i agree. the fact that his romances continue after the marriage, with issues beyond just jealousy, is one of my favorite things about sanderson books.

venli's whole set of pov's this part was about walking up to urithiru. i really do want to like her, but she spends a ton of time just following more dynamic characters around and observing in these first two parts, and if not for the juicy secrets rabaniel's been dropping, it would make me just want to get back to other characters. hopefully that'll change in the next few parts.

i was going to make a comment about how we havent even had flashbacks yet, but i just glanced at the POVs for the next part, so I guess those are coming. I do wonder if these eshonai flashbacks will be info venli knows, or what.

she did kill someone for the first time, and attuned the rhythm of the lost for the dead man. the whole incident disturbs her, and i appreciated that as the rest of our viewpoint characters are extremely accustomed to death. i'm interested in seeing how this affects her going forward.

the epigraphs are so exciting! sazed is writing to hoid again, but this time he's gotten his bearings and spoken to some new shards... ones we haven't heard from before! also he asks hoid to say hi when he's on scadrial, which, fair enough tbh. i dont remember whether hoid shows up much in mistborn era 2 but for some reason i have the feeling he is not going to oblige this request.

the epigraph where sazed mentions he wants someone who can both preserve and kill immediately made me think of kaladin. (i think this is what he ends up trying to do with wax, but shhhh) he and sazed would agree on a lot of things philosophically, i think. (omg au where kaladin ends up working for sazed?? i have no idea how this would work the idea just fascinates me.

...where are the heralds? did dalinar take them with him, or are they in the tower? if the latter, are they also passed out? probably not, since they're not radiants, right? although whatever they are is very investiture-dependent so who knows. vasher's probably alright.

why is odium afraid of nightblood? is he worried it could eat him?

lots of POVs for the next part, but no shadesmar crew, so i guess we'll find out whether adolin gets executed by honorspren later. i do wonder why so many pov's from the battlefront; i guess something more is going to happen along those lines than i'd really expected. crossed fingers for some actual insight into renarin, finally.

in light of said spoiler: holy god i hope that division (between taravangian's intelligence and compassion) doesn't continue, though I have the horrible feeling that it will. This puts sazed's discussion of the intent of a shard combined with the cleverness of its vessel into a terrifying light: a godlike being who is at his smartest when he's a complete sociopath is like, the worst case scenario, not even taking into account that the odium shard is uniquely suited to make people act on impulses. this is so bad.

but i can't know the full extent of that until i read the context, so let's move on!

#row liveblog #row spoilers #holy shit

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive is Built on the Shoulders of Giants

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When Brandon Sanderson wrote The Way of Kings, the first book in The Stormlight Archive series, he was ready to give up on publishing. Throwing away any ideas of what the market wanted, he decided to write something instead for himself. Now, 18 years later, Rhythm of War, the fourth book of The Stormlight Archive, marks Sanderson’s 25th novel (in addition to assorted novellas, short stories, and graphic novels), and something over seven million words of published fiction. He is, of course, not the only person who has enjoyed the epic fantasy saga.

That success was never a guarantee. Sanderson wrote 13 novels before he sold one: Elantris, in 2003. (It was published in 2005.) “The Way of Kings was number 13, the last of those unpublished books,” he recalls to Den of Geek. When trying to write for the market, he produced what he feels were some really awful novels, and beginning The Way of Kings was a way to return to the types of stories that he loved: big, chunky fantasy. “I love big epics,” he says. “I grew up on Anne McCaffrey and Robert Jordan and these really great, meaty epic fantasy series, which are my first love… I always wanted to do one of those myself.”

Rhythm of War continues the story of a war between humans and the parshmen (the singers) who are the native species of the world of Roshar. As powers of old have returned, the humans and the spren (magical spirits attuned to certain emotions or elements) have begun to reform the Radiant Knights. The singers have joined with powers to become the Fused, hosts to ancient souls in modern bodies.

The human cast includes Kaladin, a surgeon who became a soldier, benched at the beginning of the book due to his PTSD; Shallan, a woman with dissociative identity disorder who is also a master illusionist working in tandem for the heroes and a secretive spy enclave that claims to have answers to the universe; Dalinar, a Bondsmith who can heighten the abilities of others (among other gifts), and who struggles against pressures to become a high king; Navani, his wife, a queen who is more an engineer; and many others. This volume also reveals the pasts of singer sisters Eshonai and Venli as, in the present, Venli develops a secret plan for the singers’ independence, free from both human and the Fused.

The spren are one of the most fascinating fantasy inventions featured in the series, and their role is even more important in Rhythm of War as Shallan and her partner, Adolin, try to form a treaty with the honorspren to aid in the war. The spren, especially those who have bonded with humans, are reminiscent of the daemons from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, but they are also quite unique. Sanderson was partly inspired by Japanese kami, and the idea that everything has a spirit. In the world of The Stormlight Archive, the minds of people shape the energy of the world, the spirits that embody objects and emotions. By depicting the spren, Sanderson wants readers to immediately know they are in a fantastic world.

“When people have powerful emotions, they attract spren,” Sanderson explains. “They also fulfill a writerly need: a lot of times, as writers, we’re looking for [ways to] show, don’t tell.” The spren give Sanderson, he explains, a way to reveal the emotions of his characters without using cliched expressions and depictions, while at the same time heightening the sense of the world as fantastical. “It’s also just a lot of fun to write,” Sanderson adds.

Sanderson is well known for writing strong women. (In a favorite line from Rhythm of War, one character, trying to convince Kaladin to partner up, reminds him that he likes smart girls: “Is there really anyone who doesn’t like smart girls?” Kaladin immediately replies.) Sanderson’s inclusion of prominent female characters with agency as central protagonists in his work comes from the fantasy he grew up on: Anne McCaffrey, Barbara Hambly, and Melanie Rawn. The book that made him into a reader was Hambly’s Dragonsbane, which features a woman who gave up her career in magic to raise a family—a book that gave Sanderson insight into his mother’s own choices in life. When he finished, he recalls thinking: “Wait a minute, I think I just finished a fun story about slaying a dragon, and I think I understand my mom better.… That lesson stayed with me my whole life, and my whole career.”

Sanderson strives to create authentic depictions of characters outside his own experiences. “When I write characters, I try very hard to represent that character, and anything about them, as well as if that character could write, they would represent it,” Sanderson says. He hopes that when readers find a character they identify with, they read that character and think, of Sanderson: “Wow, he must be like me!” To do this, Sanderson relies on beta readers—especially in cases like Shallan’s dissociative identity disorder (DID). “DID is represented so poorly in storytelling,” Sanderson explains. “It’s really sensationalized a lot of times. I wanted to do it right.” It took many drafts and very patient beta readers to build Shallan into the fully fleshed-out character she has become.

While Rhythm of War has many moving pieces, it’s surprisingly accessible for readers who haven’t picked up previous volumes of The Stormlight Archive, while returning fans of course will feel right at home in Sanderson’s rich fantasy world. Sanderson intends all of his books to have a quality of completeness—he works to make sure that each novel has its own identity, and that the novels don’t blend in with each other. He did not design Rhythm of War with the intent that readers would pick it up first, but he’s pleased it also works that way. “I remember doing that as a kid,” he says, “not knowing the series even was a series, or not being able to find the first one, and being like, ‘Well, I’m just going to read this one.’ There’s actually a fun to that, a piecing things together.”

Readers who have been following The Stormlight Archive since The Way of Kings was released back in 2010 have been waiting eagerly (and patiently) for each volume; it’s been just over three years since the previous installment in the series, Oathbringer, was released. But, for some Sanderson fans, the wait for the series has been even longer. “Way back when I first sold Elantris,” Sanderson remembers, “my editor … said, ‘What else do you have?’” So Sanderson submitted The Way of Kings, though it was not quite ready for publishing—something the editor and Sanderson both agreed on. “Writing a 300,000-word novel is a special skill,” he explains, “and I had not practiced that specific skill yet.”

Somehow, Amazon got word that The Way of Kings existed and put up a listing for the title. As Sanderson became better known, he told fans that asked that he did plan to return to The Way of Kings, but in the meantime, fans started to post fake reviews for it, Sanderson says, complete with doctored customer photos. One fan created a book cover with an image of Elvis and a fake blurb from Terry Goodkind. Readers continued to express their eagerness with this sort of fannish love until the real version of The Way of Kings was published in 2010. (The fake listing has since been removed, after Sanderson made sure to take “copious screenshots.”)

Between the false listing and the publication, Sanderson worked on those skills to create a true epic. Part of the experience needed for such a creative feat came from taking on the final books of The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan’s death.

“I usually use the metaphor that I was like Sam carrying the Ring for a little bit to finish it off,” Sanderson jokes. “The Wheel of Time experience basically forced me to go to the writing books gym and lift weights much heavier than I was accustomed to.” (Sanderson’s work on completing the series led the current-in-development Wheel of Time Amazon television series team to enlist him as a consulting producer. He has read several of the scripts and given the team advice as needed. Though he is not able to reveal much about the project, Sanderson reports: “I really have enjoyed the process of enjoying with Rafe [Judkins], the showrunner, on the television show.”)

Working on The Wheel of Time book series helped Sanderson figure out what he wanted to accomplish with The Way of Kings and the subsequent books, avoiding some of the problems he’d identified in epic fantasy. With The Stormlight Archive, Sanderson explains, “I’ve tried to make it not feel slow. I’ve tried to make it feel like each book has its own soul.”

As for the real series’ reception: “The fans just latched onto it immediately,” Sanderson says. The series itself has so many moving parts, it’s hard to make a good elevator pitch, so Sanderson claims the series’ fans had to already trust him in order to begin. He recalls the pre-internet days when readers never knew when a new book in their favorite series was coming out; now, with the immediacy and accessibility of the internet, Sanderson tries to be upfront with his readers that each Stormlight Archive book will appear about once every three years.

To “hopefully keep fans satiated between volumes,” Sanderson and his team have also included pages of original art, and beautiful front-paper and end-paper portraits in full color in the series. “Why is there not more art in books for adults?” Sanderson wonders. “Why do kids get all the art?” Including original paintings, diagrams, and illustrations reinforces Sanderson’s deep world-building. Reprints of the earlier books in the series have sometimes even had art added as readers have asked for more detail about particular aspects of the world.

The series is planned to be ten books. “I do plan it to be two five-book arcs,” Sanderson explains. “Book five should bring us to a pretty major climactic moment in the series.” In the meantime, fans of Sanderson’s world can play in it themselves via the board game, Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archive, which features over 150 cards with art based on the world. With so much world-building already done for The Stormlight Archive, fans may wonder if a tabletop role playing game, similar to the Mistborn Adventure Game from Crafty Games, based on another of Sanderson’s series, is in the works. “No immediate plans,” Sanderson says, “but I’m sure we’ll do one eventually.”

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Sanderson easily acknowledges the influences and inspirations of writers who have come before. “I have an advantage over a lot of the epic fantasy writers of my youth in that I got to read all of their books and see what was working and what wasn’t working,” he points out. But, in addition to building from other writers, Sanderson is dedicated to exploring the real world through his imaginary ones.

“Fantasy is wonderful escapism. This is why I love to read it,” he says. “But it is also a path to understanding other people. That’s what I love about fiction, and that’s what I love about fantasy in particular. It’s perhaps too lofty for me to aspire to change the world through my goofy fantasy novels, but I at least want to try to represent the world accurately so that, when you’re done with the book, if you’ve read about people different from yourself, you have come to understand them a little bit better.”

Rhythm of War is now available to buy wherever books are sold. You can find out more here.

The post Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive is Built on the Shoulders of Giants appeared first on Den of Geek.

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randomseacucumber · 25 days ago

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Wind and Truth reactions: Day 5

Chapter 55

Is that Nazh's handwriting on the map?

Oh, the arch is crumbling even more...

Just when I was complaining about Venli being absent from the story...

Okay, I'm guessing the letter quoted at the beginning is from Frost, since he was mentioned earlier?

Ohh, Gavinor. Poor kid

I've seen some theories that he (Gavinor) will be Odium's champion, but I actually hallucinated those, right? He is a child

Anyway, this is definitely interesting

Chapter 56

Nalthis? Frost might not be the one writing, then. Is it Endowment, perhaps?

I'm happy that Venli seems to be happy

Chapter 57

More Szeth flashbacks!

Poor Szeth

Chapter 58

Okay, but do you actually have plans?

Chapter 59

Eighteen years ago...we're getting closer...

More about the Voice. Interesting. Unfortunately, I don't really have any theories for who/what it could be

Chapter 60

WAIT. Were the Shattered Plains formed because the fourth moon fell?

It seems so...damn, that is fascinating

Chapter 61

Yay, more Jasnah POV!

I love her so much. She's so interesting

Chapter 62

Yay, another Renarin/Rlain chapter!

So, Valor is a Shard, right? Has she shown up before?

The two of them really are quite adorable

Chapter 63

I don't really care about Sigzil or Adolin's POVs at the moment (though I do of course like them as characters). The Herald flashbacks and Szeth's quest are kind of the only interesting things

Chapter 64

Interesting

Chapter 65

Do the Ghostbloods really have nothing better to do? (Knowing Kelsier, probably not)

The nickname 'little knife' gives me cringe romantasy vibes, and for that reason, I am rooting for Mraize to die

Chapter 66

Ms. Endowment, please, tell me; what are Wit/Hoid/Cephandrius's goals?

Szeth, upon feeling a positive emotion: WTF???

I'm still really enjoying Szeth and Kaladin's dynamic

Chapter 67

Oh dear

Chapter 68

Okay, so is the Voice one of the Unmade?

Interlude 9

Ooh, Vasher/Zahel POV!

WTF

Axindweth??

Oof

Interlude 10

Well, that is slight omnious, considering that Taravangian has some twisted definitions of things

Another day down! I'm still a bit bored. I understand that there are many moving pieces in this story, but still, too much time is spent on parts that I don't think it needs to be spent on. Yet again, I'm hoping that things will improve as the Sanderlanche gets closer.

#Ivy reads Wind and Truth #wind and truth #the stormlight archive #cosmere

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