Board 8 > Stormlight Archive: Rhythm of War has arrived!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mac Arrowny posted...

Regarding Odium:

Is there any indication Taravangian's any more intelligent than Rayse was? His whole deal was that the intelligence he gained was the same sort of bonus intelligence shard holders get, to a lesser extent. Rayse would've had exactly the same thing.

Plus, Cultivation apparently has the best (or among the best, at least) future sight of the Shards, so I'd assume she knew what sort of stuff Taravangian would get up to after becoming Odium. I kinda suspect that part of her plan includes the new Odium killing her and Lift taking her place, but we probably won't discover the truth to that extent until book 10...

he already saw things Rayse didn't in the few chapters after he ascended. whether that's because he was very intelligent, had a fresh perspective, wasn't corrupted by the Shard's Intent, or Rayse is just stupid remains to be seen.

Dalinar has been touched heavily by all three Shards. Culti going for the Lift/Dalinar/T hat trick seems too obvious to me. I think it'll be something much more unexpected
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CoolCly posted...

Thaidakar. Seems there's rampant speculation that Kelsier is the head of the Ghostbloods, especially with that Word of Brandon fanning the flames. I think in terms of capability and style... yeah, it kinda does seem like Kelsier. But... the Ghostbloods are at best amoral, at worst deliberate murderers who will harm anybody and everything to achieve their goals. One of Kelsier's best character defining moments was being ashamed of how much he let his hatred of the nobility drive him to monstrous acts. That's not Kelsier on a normal day. Kelsier cares about people, and so I have a hard time imagining him being directly behind these assholes. All in all, it's very possible Kelsier is behind the ghostbloods but I'm not sure that I want him to be.

It absolutely seems in-character to me. Even in the first book, Kelsier is an antihero who needs other people around him to keep him in check. At his worst he is a borderline sociopath. His master plan of creating a false religion with him as the messiah was completely unhinged, and then it worked, and then he actually became that messiah. And when he does, he immediately begins plotting (and becomes a messiah a second time, by the way) and has about 300 years of plots by the time this series is going down. He's not exactly having a normal day anymore, and even so we already know becoming a Cognitive Shadow eventually starts to warp your personality. It all tracks.

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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

It absolutely seems in-character to me. Even in the first book, Kelsier is an antihero who needs other people around him to keep him in check. At his worst he is a borderline sociopath. His master plan of creating a false religion with him as the messiah was completely unhinged, and then it worked, and then he actually became that messiah. And when he does, he immediately begins plotting (and becomes a messiah a second time, by the way) and has about 300 years of plots by the time this series is going down. He's not exactly having a normal day anymore, and even so we already know becoming a Cognitive Shadow eventually starts to warp your personality. It all tracks.

Yeah it makes perfect sense to me that Kelsier would do this shit.

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Only ~100 pages to go!

hooray for being the slowest reader

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ExThaNemesis posted...

"In truth, it would be a combination of a Vessel's craftiness and the power's Intent that we should fear most."

Why do I have a feeling that this is foreshadowing something ominous.

I'm thinking about the most crafty character in the series....

Finished the book and just wanted to say I fucking CALLED IT!!!!

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It's still a little new but I loved EVERYTHING about the ending. It did drag on a little too long through the middle parts but I enjoyed the ride most of the way.

Kaladin absolutely STYLING on the Pursuer was fucking amazing. When he called him Defeated One I almost lost my shit. That was SO pro wrestling and I'm all about it. The way Vyre killed Teft and his spren was heart wrenching, but I could see the writing on the wall about that earlier on because Brandon hammered home just how long Teft had been off the moss and how long he'd been better and everything was too good to be true. Kaladin saying his fourth ideal was just an incredible all around scene. I'm so glad that he's finally been able to get over the death of his little brother and even though he's still got parts that are broken, we finally see a path to getting those mended.

As of now, I'm curious what the final battle for Book 5 will look like. I had thought Kaladin vs Vyre, but at this point Kaladin would god-stomp. Unless Vyre gets some powerups, I think it would still be more wise for Kaladin to be Dalinar's champion because he's the strongest unless Dalinar can figure out more of his Bondsmith powers but there's not much time.

It's weird after how long the timeskip between Book 3-4 were, we've got to pick up Book 5 pretty much immediately where we just left off.

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A couple other things

That scene at the end of Dalinar's conflict with Ishar, with the physical realm Spren, was utterly terrifying. The Stormfather shouting THIS PLACE IS EVIL GET OUT while they're looking at murdered spren was so out of place and horrifying that I loved it. That and the scenes in Oathbringer dealing with the Heart of the Revel made me think Brandon could definitely do a horror novel if he tried it.

And it was downright amazing to see someone finally get the better of Wit after all these years, and I hope that it wasn't just more 5D underwater gackgammon by Wit. I think TaravOdium coming right out and finding a loophole to thwart Wit establishes him as a more dominant presence right away and we needed that after Rayse had been getting clowned on for the past... IDK 3.75 books.

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State of the Sanderson!

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2020/


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Seems all television / movie stuff is stalled out thanks to COVID

Highlight is probably the audio company Mainframe he made to produce audio originals, including the The Original and audio episodes of Legion since the television show is stalled out. And the collaborations he's doing with other people for things like Skyward side novellas.

It sounds like this is kinda going *backwards* to the days of radio drama, which seems strange, but maybe in todays world of people listening to audiobooks and podcasts throughout the day while driving / working / exercising from their phones, this kind of content could make a comeback. Brandon might be a pioneer here if it works out.

It also sounds like he wants to grow his projects to be successful enough to create his own film company and just produce adaptations of his books himself!

Besides that, it seems the writing schedule for Brandon to take us to the end of 2026 looks something like this:

Skyward 3
Mistborn: Wax and Wayne 4
Skyward 4

Stormlight 5

Mistborn Era 3 - Books One, Two, AND Three

Stormlight 6

With a couple small projects thrown in there as he likes to sneak in.

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Wonder what the length'll be like on the Mistborn Era 3 books? For reference: https://preview.redd.it/atqgxuq744f31.png?width=870&format=png&auto=webp&s=07c75447e195f8f776ef66d14ba7b8861efb6ee5

SotS always so much hype.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Wonder what the length'll be like on the Mistborn Era 3 books? For reference: https://preview.redd.it/atqgxuq744f31.png?width=870&format=png&auto=webp&s=07c75447e195f8f776ef66d14ba7b8861efb6ee5

SotS always so much hype.

Honestly hope they're closer in length to the Wax & Wayne books because those are nice and tight. None of the bloat that Stormlight and the Era 1 Mistborn books can get up to, and while Sanderson being overly indulgent can be fun at times it's often hit-or-miss.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Well of Ascension. Why the fuck is the Mistborn book where next to nothing happens the longest one?

Still, gonna be rough waiting 2 years for the final Era 2 book.

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I would think it would have to be closer to the Wax and Wayne books to fit them all in that period, but maybe he'll see it as more of a "main series" and want to push it to 200k. I didn't actually realize how low the W&W books until now though! I felt they were lighter tone and scope wise but didn't really recognize the length.

Well of Ascension's weaknesses are probably due to Brandon still being a newly published author so I wouldn't worry too much about repeating that problem.

I'm gonna go ahead and speculate now that Brandon needs something to happen in Mistborn Era 3's finale before Stormlight Era 2 begins which is why he wants to push them all out in a row. He's left himself in a tight spot if that's the case!

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Also lmfao

Wit to [redacted]: Worry about your own stupid planet!

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CoolCly posted...

I'm gonna go ahead and speculate now that Brandon needs something to happen in Mistborn Era 3's finale before Stormlight Era 2 begins which is why he wants to push them all out in a row. He's left himself in a tight spot if that's the case!

Likely, although AFAIK Mistborn Era 3 should still be taking place after Stormlight Era 2 so it's still very strange. Given recent events it's probably getting harder for him to avoid having each series spoil the other as we get into more and more big reveals.

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He's been really cagey about what Stormlight Era 2 really means though, and says he'll talk a lot more about it after Stormlight 5. He's named the main flashback character for each book for the Era 2 books already which are all characters we have now, but it's still possible Era 2 actually does have a significant time lapse.

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ExThaNemesis posted...

It's still a little new but I loved EVERYTHING about the ending. It did drag on a little too long through the middle parts but I enjoyed the ride most of the way.

Kaladin absolutely STYLING on the Pursuer was f***ing amazing. When he called him Defeated One I almost lost my s***. That was SO pro wrestling and I'm all about it. The way Vyre killed Teft and his spren was heart wrenching, but I could see the writing on the wall about that earlier on because Brandon hammered home just how long Teft had been off the moss and how long he'd been better and everything was too good to be true. Kaladin saying his fourth ideal was just an incredible all around scene. I'm so glad that he's finally been able to get over the death of his little brother and even though he's still got parts that are broken, we finally see a path to getting those mended.

Yeah, that was such great showmanship. It's funny how other characters like Teft always comment about how much Kaladin likes to grand stand but we don't ever really see those kinds of thoughts from Kaladin's point of view. but goddamn, he knows what he's doing.

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Finally done. Wow.

I'mma take some time to read all the spoiler posts in this topic now. First I just gotta say fuck yeah Kaladin, my boy!

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ExThaNemesis posted...

It's still a little new but I loved EVERYTHING about the ending. It did drag on a little too long through the middle parts but I enjoyed the ride most of the way.

Kaladin absolutely STYLING on the Pursuer was fucking amazing. When he called him Defeated One I almost lost my shit. That was SO pro wrestling and I'm all about it. The way Vyre killed Teft and his spren was heart wrenching, but I could see the writing on the wall about that earlier on because Brandon hammered home just how long Teft had been off the moss and how long he'd been better and everything was too good to be true. Kaladin saying his fourth ideal was just an incredible all around scene. I'm so glad that he's finally been able to get over the death of his little brother and even though he's still got parts that are broken, we finally see a path to getting those mended.

As of now, I'm curious what the final battle for Book 5 will look like. I had thought Kaladin vs Vyre, but at this point Kaladin would god-stomp. Unless Vyre gets some powerups, I think it would still be more wise for Kaladin to be Dalinar's champion because he's the strongest unless Dalinar can figure out more of his Bondsmith powers but there's not much time.

It's weird after how long the timeskip between Book 3-4 were, we've got to pick up Book 5 pretty much immediately where we just left off.

I feel like the contest of champions isn't going to be like what we expect. It got me thinking about who Taravangian would choose as his champion. Rayse may have been grooming Vyre, but I don't think Taravangian will do that.

There was this epigraph from Way of Kings that hasn't borne any fruit yet, and I wonder if Taravangian would choose a child as his champion to use a Radiant's nature against him. It's a duel to the death, and according to the agreement, Odium is bound win or lose. But perhaps a draw would void it, and that may be Taravangian's best out.

"I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw."


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Yankees posted...

I feel like the contest of champions isn't going to be like what we expect. It got me thinking about who Taravangian would choose as his champion. Rayse may have been grooming Vyre, but I don't think Taravangian will do that.

It seems to me that Sanderson is implying heavily it's this new El dude, from what little we know he's a Fused that fell out of favor under Rayse and the other Fused since he has great respect for humans, but that aligns him with Taravangian. That might be a little straightforward for him, but we also know it's less about the contest than the leadup so there is still plenty of room for swerves.

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gavilor will not be the champion
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Possibly! El is probably the favorite. I had always kept that quote in the back of my mind, and think it could apply here although I doubt it is very likely. I just don't think it will be Vyre

And yeah, I don't think Gavilor as the champion makes any sense. Is that a popular theory?

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Yankees posted...

And yeah, I don't think Gavilor as the champion makes any sense. Is that a popular theory?

It's the non-literal interpretation of the suckling Death Rattle applied to the champion. The literal interpretation, that of some random baby, is even worse
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Are you guys trying to say Gavinor or Gavilar? Gavinor is a dumb theory but man if he makes Gavilar work somehow that would be the fucking bomb.

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CoolCly posted...

Are you guys trying to say Gavinor or Gavilar? Gavinor is a dumb theory but man if he makes Gavilar work somehow that would be the fucking bomb.

Gavinor
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Guys I've read 3 chapters of The Way of Kings

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Well pretty much expected that next year is gonna be an off year for Cosmere stuff, kinda sad. I don't really have much interest in Sanderson's YA stuff. Maybe when its done.

Oh well, maybe I'll finally start some other series like Malazan or Realm of the Elderlings, both of which have been recommended to me several times (I've read Wheel of Time and ASoIaF)

I've thought about Skyward. Reckoners was dope so Sanderson does YA stuff that isn't bad. Also really liked Rithmatist.

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Skyward is definitely his best non Cosmere work.
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I HIGHLY recommend Skyward. See my tier list on the first page. Some of Sanderson"s best work.

A movie about it would be SO good. It's like 6th in line at best of his interest in having an adaptation made but if I had to pick one project to make it, it would be Skyward.

Starsight was ok

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Reckoners and Rithmatist are pretty good, but I agree that Skyward is the best. There's not much to think about...read it

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Skyward > Reckoners > Rithmatist. Wasn't a fan of Rithmatist.
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I must be easily pleased because I really liked Rithmatist but did still think it was lesser than Reckoners.

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For some reason I can't get with first person perspectives in anything. Tried getting past it and reading Reckoners but it didn't grab me.

Feels like I should try to broaden my horizons and read something new now that I have a tablet, but nothing seems to compare to the cosmere stories :(

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