Words of Radiance - Spoilers for sure

Jadira Paerael

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The person left behind is Talenel'Elin (the Herald who shows up at the end of WoK and the "madman" from WoR) - this is stated outright in the WoK prologue. Odium and the Almighty (AKA Honor, AKA Tanavast) are two of the sixteen Shards of Adonalsium.

As for what's left... There's a ton. Gathering the new batch of Knights Radiant and training them; resolving the situation with all those competing factions - the Diagram, the Ghostbloods, the Skybreakers, the Sons of Honor and the 17th Shard, not to mention Wit/Hoid and other potential world-hoppers; everything to do with the Heralds - we know Talenel'Elin is back, and we've seen definitely seen Nin (who gave Szeth Nightblood, and Adonalsium only knows what that combination will do together), almost certainly seen Ash and might have seen others (one of the theories making the rounds right now is that Zahel/Vasher is actually Ishar); everything to do with the Parshendi/Parshmen - can they be saved/redeemed? Extra spoiler if you aren't digging into the information about this series:
The fact that the fourth book is going to be Eshonai's the way WoK was Kaladin's and WoR was Shallan's suggests there's a lot more to come about them
; whatever else Sanderson has yet to reveal, which I'm sure is extensive; and of course, the actual climax of the war against Odium.

Two books in, Stormlight Archives is already my favorite fantasy series ever. It's absolutely brilliant.

My thoughts exactly, Raam!
 
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Ok, done!

Things it turned out I was right about

* Jasnah's alive (started considering that when it became obvious that she must've had Transportation as her second Surge, and after I got over thinking she was dead :look:)
* Szeth had an Honorblade

I just don't know what to say, everything's so amazing.

Did anyone else, btw, notice that Wit had "Perfect Pitch"? Does that mean that he has the power of Awakening? I thouht it felt like a very strong reference to Warbreaker. And what is the gemstone he's after?
 
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Regarding Eshonai:
The fourth book has been confirmed to be hers, but I've also read that Brandon said somewhere, just because a certain book contains someone's flashbacks doesn't mean they'll be alive in that book. So she might or might not be dead; the fourth book will just contain flashbacks of her life.

That said... I think she probably survived somehow. :laugh:
 
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I'm pretty sure she survived. As opposed to Jasnah's "death", I don't even think we're supposed to believe that Eshonai is :P I mean, if Kaladin and Shallan could survive a very long fall thanks to their Stormlight, I'm pretty sure Eshonai could, with her Stormform and Plate.
 

Taika Vinh

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I'm pretty sure she survived. As opposed to Jasnah's "death", I don't even think we're supposed to believe that Eshonai is :P I mean, if Kaladin and Shallan could survive a very long fall thanks to their Stormlight, I'm pretty sure Eshonai could, with her Stormform and Plate.

^Agreed!

And there's something interesting coming from her internal struggle, I'm sure. I mean how her "true self" or how would one say, was horrified about the stormform self.
 

Raam Sho'am

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One of the theories I had while reading, and which I still believe, is that Venli (Eshonai's sister) secretly rediscovered Scholarform, which in turn led to her discovery of Stormform.

Here's the relevant stanza from the Listener's Song:

Scholarform shown for patience and thought.
Beware its ambitions innate.
Though study and diligence bring the reward
Loss of innocence may be one’s fate

That really sounds like Venli to me.
 

Megana Vallentin

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Just finished! I need to let it percolate in my brain a bit before I do a second read, may even go back to Way of Kings first.

I really loved it though, I feel like this is the culmination of everything Brandon Sanderson has written thus far.

Jasnah lives! Yay! Actually...just about everyone lives, don't they? :look: I was expecting more death, and pleasantly surprised not to find it.

Sadeas's death is one I was glad of.

Nightblood, YEA!!

Dalinar being a Radiant....soooo well deserved. I hope Adolin gets something eventually, I feel sorry for him right now.

I missed the thing about Zahel being Vasher, though I feel I shouldn't have. I think I was just reading too fast.

I'm still having trouble with all the names, not of the current characters but of the Radiant orders and Heralds and all the old things.
 
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Just finished! I need to let it percolate in my brain a bit before I do a second read, may even go back to Way of Kings first.

I really loved it though, I feel like this is the culmination of everything Brandon Sanderson has written thus far.

Jasnah lives! Yay! Actually...just about everyone lives, don't they? :look: I was expecting more death, and pleasantly surprised not to find it.

Sadeas's death is one I was glad of.

Nightblood, YEA!!

Dalinar being a Radiant....soooo well deserved. I hope Adolin gets something eventually, I feel sorry for him right now.

I missed the thing about Zahel being Vasher, though I feel I shouldn't have. I think I was just reading too fast.

I'm still having trouble with all the names, not of the current characters but of the Radiant orders and Heralds and all the old things.

I do what what Sadea's death will do to Adolin.

I'm afraid it'll spiral out of control, alienate him from everyone, ruin his relationship with Shallan and send her running into the arms of Kaladin :look:
 

Megana Vallentin

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Tazren Gaidin, about that last bit...

I did not like the implied Shallan/Kaladin thing. I hope it dies quickly. :giggle I hope it was just Sanderson trying to make them both have an about face and really trust each other instead of disliking/mistrusting each other, and then going a bit too far with it. About the time they were trapped in the cave and confessing their deepest secrets, I was all "GROAN bad romance novel plot!"
 
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Yeah. Romantic plots involving three people are soooo overdone and almost never good in any way. For all I care, Kaladin could go without a romantic subplot for the entire series, he's good enough on his own as it is. Although I guess there will be some stuff with Laral in the next book, if he reaches his home village.

And I actually like Shallan/Adolin. Feels like they go well together. I'm sure that Brandon won't let them be all happy and stuff, but I really hope he makes something great with it, whatever happens. Shallan is too good a character to be ruined by a bad romantic plot, it would just be horrible if it that happens. If there's one thing I'm genuinely worried that he's going to mess up, it's the romance. He's a fantastic author, but I don't really have a lot of confidence in him to handle that aspect to my liking. That's the place where his writing has come off as rather flat, earlier. And what's happened so far in Stormlight hasn't exactly inspired a lot of confidence.
 

Aduiavas Ida

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I am afraid that Adolin killing Sadeas can have very bad consequences. If his father discovers/Adolin confesses, I am afraid that Dalinar will feel that he has "no choice" but to condemn him :\ I hope not.

As for Shallan and Kaladin: DO NOT LIKE! Bad Romance plot. Good have-to-trust-people plot, but lets leave it at that.:indifferent: Please? :look:
 

Megana Vallentin

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We are all in agreement! :pleased-1:
 

Raam Sho'am

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The biggest fright factor of the Kaladin-Shallan angle: It might be setting things up for Adolin to die. I think Sanderson knows that romantic triangles are done to death, so if he does want those two together, Adolin's death is the most likely way.

Of course, I hope that's not the case, because my pet theory is that Adolin will become a Radiant by resurrecting the spren from his own Shardblade. Also, Shallan and Adolin work better as a couple.
 

Aduiavas Ida

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I generally just hope that there will never be any more romantic angles from Kaladin at all. It doesn't fit with his personality and the way his story has been so far..
 

Raam Sho'am

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Dunno, I can definitely see it happening, but only with a condom. After all...

*Puts on sunglasses*...

He's all about protection.

(YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
 

Asandra al'Terra

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I am half expecting Adolin to die - maybe execution for Sadeas' murder - but I'm uncertain. I also think Renarin might know about it because of the kind of Radiant that he is, which may ruin things! I don't know.

I have no idea how the triangle will go but I think it has to be resolved quickly. Honestly, I think it might just be an unrequited love thing - I don't think Kaladin is ready for a lover - but I can see him loving Shallan from afar and protecting her. Then again, he does seem kind of Lan-esque... and Lan did find his Nynaeve!

Also, I like the theory of Adolin resurrecting his Shardblade's spren, but that would imply that Adolin is, in fact, a resurrection of a Radiant, not a person of his own - because spren are only as dead as their humans' oaths (what Syl said to Kaladin).
 
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I generally just hope that there will never be any more romantic angles from Kaladin at all. It doesn't fit with his personality and the way his story has been so far..

There's bound to be something with Laral.

I would love to see a great friendship of sorts between Kaladin and Shallan, as long as it doesn't grow into something else. Completely platonic.
 
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