The Stormlight Archive Thread

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by The Blackfish, Jun 28, 2015.

  1. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    I love his POVs and when we interact with him through other people’s POVs on his stupid days.

    With that said, do not read this spoiler until you have finished

    fuck Taravangian
     
  2. Blackterno

    Blackterno Well-Known Member
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    I’m about halfway through The Way of Kings. To this point I think it is just ok. Am I correct in assuming that things pick up significantly?
     
  3. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    Nah we're all obsessed and it's one of the highest rated books on Goodreads bc it is just meh

    Jk. All the books pick up significantly as they progress (although to be fair, I don't think I was ever "meh" on TWoK)
     
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  4. Damion

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    WoK was a hard book for me to get into as well. Think I read about a 1/4th then put it down it down for a few months. Only forced myself through back to it because I kept hearing good things about it and was rewarded greatly.

    Do not fret Shallans chapters were a chore for us all in the beginning but keep pushing and it will get better.
     
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  5. I<3privatedances

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    :bow:

    Just finished Warbreaker, found a free pdf that Sanderson made available.

    So Hoid is Wit and Nightsong is now Szeth's sword are there any other characters that appeared in Stormlight Archives?
    Also is the Warbreaker world part of Roshar?
     
  6. Damion

    Damion Fan of: Firing Butch Jones
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    different world but part of the Cosmere universe I think just about all of Sandersons series tie into Cosmere
     
  7. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Have you finished Oathbringer?
     
  8. I<3privatedances

    I<3privatedances enjoys himself in the champagne room
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    I have
     
  9. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    youve seen two other characters from Warbreaker. Should be pretty obvious as to who one of them was, and she mentions the other. Let me know if you just want me to telll you
     
  10. I<3privatedances

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    definitely. Vivenna and Vasher?
     
  11. The Blackfish

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    yes any guesses as to who they are in Stormlight Archive?
     
  12. I<3privatedances

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    Vivenna as Captain Azure and Vasher as one of the Skybreakers
     
  13. The Blackfish

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    Nailed Vivenna. Remember that her, Kaladin and Adolin all did the same morning kata which they all learned from the swordsmaster they shared
     
  14. I<3privatedances

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    Zahel, is he Vasher?
     
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  15. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Ding ding ding

    easiest way to spot world hoppers is by their curses and sayings. Zahel and Azure both use color based sayings and curses, not to mention Viv chose a color for a name. Also Zahel is initially described as wearing seemingly worn clothes held together by a belt wrapped around his waist
     
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  16. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    There are other things too, it was obvious upon my reread.
     
  17. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Posted this while reading

     
  18. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Finally finished, very solid. Love this series. I rated WoR higher than TWoK and Oathbringer, but still Sanderson continues to be my favorite author for so many reasons. I think Shallan is the weakest character in the trilogy and has been consistently in every book imo. Thought the Shadesmar side quest drug on too long. Seemed like Sanderson had a GRRM problem of getting all his characters in the same spot at the same time problem.
     
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  19. rcragg82

    rcragg82 Well-Known Member
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    I posted the same thing a few months ago. I started and stopped Way of Kings probably 3 times and took me about a year to finish. The first 2/3s just took me a long time to get into.

    However, the back 1/3 is amazing and I finally felt I knew where the story was going and into the plot/characters. I then immediately downloaded book 2 and about 75% of the way through it and will get the 3rd book by the end of the month.

    So TLDR; yes, it starts slow and then picks up.
     
  20. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Maybe it's just because I'd read Brandon's other books before starting TWOK, but I don't remember thinking it started slow at all. I was hooked pretty much from the jump. Maybe my reread is distorting my memory.
     
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  21. The Blackfish

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    I thought the same thing, and I'll have to check Goodreads, but WoK may have been my first Sanderson book
     
  22. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Oathbringer was another example of the Sanderson Avalanche. Slow starting/middle that combines multiple plots all converging into a cascading climax of resolving plot lines all at once rather than throughout the book.
     
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  23. jkun

    jkun UGA, United, Falcons, Braves, Tennis, Chelsea
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    Was so sad when I finished this. Few small parts I'm undecided on but overall loved it. Just really enjoy the universe and want to keep reading more
     
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  24. Blackterno

    Blackterno Well-Known Member
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    Once I slugged through the first 2/3 of the book I really thought it picked up and it became great. I think it was the early storylines building up the Shallan character (and to a degree Jasnah) that made it slow. Kaladin’s story great pretty much from the start. Dalinar’s story was a little slow getting started but then picked up big time though. I loved the last 25% and have already started Words of Radiance.
     
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  25. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Just finished my rereads to get ready for Oathbringer. In reading through the TOR reread, I didn't realize Sanderson changed the end of the Kaladin/Szeth fight in later publications.

    Instead of killing Szeth with the Blade, he hits his wrist and Szeth losing his tie to the Honorblade makes him fall. Kaladin/Syl then chose to let him fall. Not sure that I like the change, doesn't read as well, at least after the fact.

    Current:

    • Szeth did not parry. He just closed his eyes.
    • Kaladin drove his Blade into the assassin’s chest right below the neck, severing the spine. Smoke burned out from beneath his eyelids, and his Blade slipped from his fingers. It did not vanish.
    • Get that! Syl sent him, a mental shout. Grab it, Kaladin. Don’t lose it!
    • Kaladin dove after the Blade, dropping Szeth’s corpse, letting it fall backward into the stormwall. It vanished among the wind, the rain, and the lightning, trailing faint wisps of Stormlight.
    • Kaladin grabbed the Blade just before the storm consumed it. Then he Lashed himself back upward, passing along the stormwall, the windspren he’d attracted spiraling about him and laughing with pure joy. As he crested the top of the storm, they burst around him and zipped away, moving off to dance in front of the still-advancing storm.
    Replacement:

    • Szeth did not parry. He just closed his eyes to accept the attack.
    • In that instant, for reasons he could not have articulated—pity, perhaps?— Kaladin diverted his blow, driving the Blade through Szeth’s wrist. The skin greyed. Flashing with reflected lightning, the sword tumbled from the assassin’s fingers, then dulled as it plummeted.
    • The glow fled the assassin’s form. All his Stormlight vanished in a puff, all Lashings banished.
    • Szeth started to fall.
    • Get that sword! Syl sent to Kaladin, a mental shout. Grab it.
    • “The assassin!”
    • He has released the bond. He’s nothing without that sword! It must not be lost! Kaladin dove after the Blade, passing Szeth, who tumbled through the air like a rag doll, buffeted by winds toward the stormwall.
    • Kaladin furiously Lashed himself downward, snatching the Blade just before the storm consumed it. Nearby, the assassin dropped past him into the storm and was swallowed up, leaving Kaladin with the haunting image of Szeth’s limp silhouette being driven into a plateau below with all the tempest’s force.
    • Raising the assassin’s Blade, Kaladin Lashed himself back upward, passing along the stormwall, the windspren he’d attracted spiraling about him and laughing with pure joy. As he crested the top of the storm, they burst around him and zipped away, moving off to dance in front of the still advancing storm.
    Current:

    • “That was very nicely done,” she said. “Perhaps I’ll keep you around this time.”
    Replacement:

    • “I didn’t kill him,” Kaladin said.
    • “Did you want to?”
    • “No,” Kaladin said, surprised that it was the truth. “But I should have anyway.”
    • “You have his Blade,” she replied. “The Stormfather likely took him. And if not … well, he is no longer the weapon he once was. I must say, that was very nicely done. Perhaps I’ll keep you around this time.”
     
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  26. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Yeah I noticed that in the reread as well. The reviewer seemed to be surprised others hadn't realized that
     
  27. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Most people wouldn't buy multiple versions of the book, so I don't know why they would,
     
  28. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Sanderson has said multiple times on his podcasts he dislikes/is wary of reviving dead characters as it cheapens the emotional responses of future deaths because readers have already been tricked/cheated... and he did it twice with Jasnah (we assume she dies) and Szeth. I’m not surprised that he rewrote that part to avoid Szeth Dying.
     
  29. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    This is what he said on it

    Words of Radiance Tweak
    Moving on to Words of Radiance, as we were entering typo fixes for the paperback of this book, I made changes to a few lines near the end. This isn’t anywhere near as extensive as the changes in Elantris, but once again I figure I should be up-front about what I did and why I did it.

    This part is going to have some spoilers for the book, so if you haven’t read it, please stop right here. I’ll put a number of blank lines here to prevent accidental spoilers. Scroll down if you’ve finished the book.

    So, in Words of Radiance, I think the scene I worked on the longest both in my head and on the page was the final confrontation between Kaladin and Szeth.

    There was something I wanted to do, and took a stab at it in the text, then backed off because I couldn’t make it work. It was important to me that Kaladin refuse to kill Szeth at the end. Kaladin is about protection, not vengeance, and once he realized that Szeth really just wanted to be killed, I wanted Kaladin to hesitate.

    It didn’t end up working, and I moved on to a new version and submitted it. But this itched at me, and by the time the book was released, I felt I’d made the wrong choice for that scene. So I’ve taken this chance to roll it back to the previous idea, and written it in a new way, which I like much better.

    The events are the same, except for that moment. Szeth is now killed by the storm instead of by Kaladin, which I think is more thematically appropriate.

    The question this raises is about Szeth being stabbed by a Shardblade, then being resuscitated. I’m sad to lose this sequence, as it’s an important plot point for the series that dead Shardblades cannot heal the soul, while living ones can. I’m going to have to work this into a later book, though I think it’s something we can sacrifice here for the stronger scene of character for Kaladin and Szeth.

    As I’ve said, it’s dangerous to tweak your work after it’s out. I realize this, and I hope you’ll give me some artistic liberty in this case. (Besides, with Tolkien’s after-publication tweaks to The Hobbit being so good, I think there is proof in the genre that changing the text here and there isn’t always bad.)

    Thanks, and as always I appreciate you reading and supporting me in this crazy thing that I do.
     
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  30. BayouMafia

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    Finished part 3 last night. Not reading the thread yet for fear of spoilers but popping in to say that I love how he switches back and forth between POV’s in the same chapter in this series when shit starts to go down. It creates a frantic pace that matches the action in the story.
     
  31. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I like when authors do this for certain parts of the story, I don’t like it as much when it is a normal part of the structure/prose aka Malazan series. I think BS uses it really well in OB
     
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  32. billdozer

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  33. Heavy Mental

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    finished OB last week. Good book, liked WOR the best out of the 3 so far.

    Thought the Shadesmar part was super weird. Haven’t read other Sanderson stuff, seems like Azure was fan service to another series? Kind of odd to make her such a focus point. I also feel like Sanderson sometimes writes as if the book is an RPG on XBox or something.

    I agree with what someone said above about Dalinar just accepting the guy who killed his brother, and then turning the other cheek with Taravangian. Seems unrealistically naive behavior for a guy who used to be a ruthless warlord.

    Overall thoroughly entertaining and well-written. I love the little details, like Szeth referring to his new sword as “sword-nimi.” Their interactions are hilarious.
     
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  34. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Read Warbreaker
     
  35. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    Finally finished Oathbringer:

    I thought this one was pretty slow going for much of it but Part 4 was non-stop ignored my wife and child for the better part of a day to get it finished. I thought the Shadesmar portion took way too long. I thought the Adolin/Shallan/Kal portion dragged on too long and I could have done with less of am I Shallan/Radiant/Veil. One question though is and maybe I'm missing it is why can't Odium just annihilate everyone himself? I'm not sure what's keeping him from doing so." Also, Dalinar has said 3 of the oaths, Kal has said 3 and Shallan 2?
     
  36. Mr Mortisay

    Mr Mortisay Well-Known Member
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    I think lightweavers only have the two
     
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  37. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    I thought they got their special shardplate if you said another vow? I think the Stormfather mentioned it to Dalinar?
     
  38. a1ND

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    I finished the oathbringer today and really agree with everything nole23 said. I absolutely loved WOR but this was just too slow in the in the beginning, especially the Shadesmar part. I don't like how they didn't really get into Jasnah's story at all (during WOR, she was entirely lost in shadesmar till the end and now she can just do pretty much anything she wants, would have been nice to have some context here when there are 1200 pages in the book. Same goes for Renarin. His character is absolutely baffling to me yet he played a pretty big real in the end and i still have no idea what's going on with him

    while i don't mind flipping POVs to tell a story, putting in two paragraphs to a POV (especially Renarin and Jasnah) and then cutting away again made it difficult to really get into the story

    as a whole, oathbringer was my least fav of the 3 books so far. I did enjoy the ending though

    can someone tell me why Wit wanted the pattern on the wall at the end?
     
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  39. The Blackfish

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    The answer to your last question really depends on your knowledge of Wit and the cosmere in general, but at a basic level

    Wit wants to bond a spren and become a Knights Radiant
     
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  40. a1ND

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    thanks, i have read pretty much all the Sanderson books except WarBreaker. Will add that to my list
     
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  41. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Read Warbreaker right now while Oathbringer is fresh on your mind. It’s the book with currently the most obvious carry over
     
  42. a1ND

    a1ND Bold & Spicy
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    Will try
     
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  43. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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  44. The Blackfish

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    Just saw that. I may not actually reread it yet, but I will read all of the articles they put out
     
  45. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    I'm only a third through the book so I won't even do that yet.
     
  46. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    wat
     
  47. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    I've only read a third of the book so far, so I won't read any of their articles until I've finished Oathbringer for fear of any sort of spoilers. :idk:
     
  48. The Blackfish

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    why have you only read a third of the book so far
     
  49. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Because I didn't start it until mid January and it's 450k words long
     
  50. The Blackfish

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    but why

    oh yeah you were rereading WoR right?