Words of Radiance Discussion (Full spoilers for WoK & WoR)

[Ded As Ned]

I might even hit that up if it's on a day I can make the trip up from western Kentucky.

It can be a BWB: Bluegrass Edition meetup!

Sweet! I've been thinking we need to do one of those sometime... (btw... not going to make it to Nashville for the game. Going to the beach next month and figured our money [heh, such as it is] is better put off for that).

[Rhom]

I met BluRay at the last signing. He was working in Lexington for a few months, but has moved on. I've been to exactly two signings in my life, my first was GRRM for ADWD.

JoeBeth handles it pretty well. You have to buy the book in advance and you're given a ticket with a letter on it. After the discussion portion, they have you split up and wander the store; they call up groups of 25 or so alphabetically. Keeps waiting in line to a minimum.

I'm all for it. Sanderson was pretty cool at the AMoL signing too; he said once everyone had been through the line once, he'd stick around to do personalizations after even if it ran to the wee hours of the AM.

[MisterOJ]

Sanderson really is great when it comes to interacting with his fans.

The coolest thing he does, IMO, is whenever he's travelling through airports, he stops in the airport bookstores, finds any of the ones he ha written and signs them - sometimes even leaving a little "prize" inside. He then posts to his twitter and/or facebook what airport and gate number the signed books can be found in. How awesome is that?

[Rhom]

Sanderson really is great when it comes to interacting with his fans.

The coolest thing he does, IMO, is whenever he's travelling through airports, he stops in the airport bookstores, finds any of the ones he ha written and signs them - sometimes even leaving a little "prize" inside. He then posts to his twitter and/or facebook what airport and gate number the signed books can be found in. How awesome is that?

I've seen that. I always wonder how the random person working the airport bookstore feels about it. Some random dude comes up and starts scribbling in the stock? Does he flash ID and say "No, No... It's cool, I wrote the book." :lol:

[Ded As Ned]

I've seen that. I always wonder how the random person working the airport bookstore feels about it. Some random dude comes up and starts scribbling in the stock? Does he flash ID and say "No, No... It's cool, I wrote the book." :lol:

Didn't know that, is pretty cool! I'd bet he has had to flash ID... but I'd wager he asks/informs the clerk before hand.

[C0bR]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WFthriA382HWK8KnpMjHmcgBl5uMPDM94g0V6nUxx6U/edit?pli=1

A short part of WoR prologue. Jasnah's POV from the night of Gavilar's assassination.

[Rhom]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WFthriA382HWK8KnpMjHmcgBl5uMPDM94g0V6nUxx6U/edit?pli=1

A short part of WoR prologue. Jasnah's POV from the night of Gavilar's assassination.

Glad to know that he released that. I generally don't read the pre-release chapters of books, so I don't know if I'll get to it or not.

On my re-read, I'm into the Adolin/Dalinar chapters now. Which means I've come across Sanderson's Cosmere droppings. I don't know how I feel about it. I know there is lots of speculation on the intrawebz about it, but I don't know where all the info comes. So far it seems like some random but seemingly significant stuff in towards the end of the Mistborn trilogy and a couple of random and insignificant things in Warbreaker and Elantris.

I don't know that I would even know that Wit had any significance if it weren't for the online community. Which is what makes the Ishikk interlude seem even more random other than showing us the culture of the Purelake.

On that note, I had forgotten that Wit was Hoid until doing the TOR re-read of the Ishikk interlude where they discuss the symbols before each chapter. The Ishikk interlude features the masked man in all four positions. The first chapter with Wit's appearance is a Dalinar/Adolin POV and the masked man icon shows up in the symbols. I was looking for Hoid and couldn't remember him at all, and then near the end when Wit showed up I remembered it.

Speaking of the TOR re-read of the interlude, they discuss the three searchers/foreigners at the Purelake and their place as travelers of the Cosmere; but don't talk specifics. In fact, at one point it mentions the "Thinker" has a scar on his forehead and says readers of Mistborn should recognize him... but I don't!!!!! Can anyone enlighten me there?

I skimmed some of the comments on that discussion, and I saw that one of them is identified as being from Elantris by his speech patterns, another is apparently from a world that Brandon has thought up but hasn't actually written about, and then there's the third that is from Mistborn.

I like the thought that there is an overarching "cosmology" to Sanderson's work, but I don't know if I like it being so readily obvious that I'm missing something.

[Ded As Ned]

Glad to know that he released that. I generally don't read the pre-release chapters of books, so I don't know if I'll get to it or not.

On my re-read, I'm into the Adolin/Dalinar chapters now. Which means I've come across Sanderson's Cosmere droppings. I don't know how I feel about it. I know there is lots of speculation on the intrawebz about it, but I don't know where all the info comes. So far it seems like some random but seemingly significant stuff in towards the end of the Mistborn trilogy and a couple of random and insignificant things in Warbreaker and Elantris.

snip

I like the thought that there is an overarching "cosmology" to Sanderson's work, but I don't know if I like it being so readily obvious that I'm missing something.

Yeah I'm aware of it as well from the interwebs, but since I've only read his WoT books and tWoK to date, I'm completely in the dark. I picked up that Hoid was Wit and had some special powers and such, but that was about it. I was completely in the dark with the Purelake interlude and did a lot of head scratching until the TOR re-read got there. The chapter graphics and the letter fragments largely went over my head until I started poking around online as well.

I like Brandon's idea of tying various works together in a larger cosmere, but unless he has it all fleshed out ahead of time (and I don't really see how that's possible), I'm not sure how well it can/will work in reality. Seems like some of it would have to be a stretch, but at the same time, Brandon seems to have a reputation for being very crafty at such things, so who knows? :dunno:

[Ded As Ned]

https://docs.google....xx6U/edit?pli=1

A short part of WoR prologue. Jasnah's POV from the night of Gavilar's assassination.

Thanks for that (it's very brief Rhom, like 1.5 MS word pages). Raises many questions, no answers.

I don't mind reading a snippet of material early, but I really spoiled myself on aDwD and assumed all the readings from cons and such had to occur in the first 25% of the book. Boy was I wrong... so I swore off reading any early Winds material... and alas, I have a problem apparently, cuz I've gobbled up everything thus far.

Must... resist... clicking... those damn summaries!

[Rhom]

I'll be honest... the TOR re-read is actually confusing me more than clarifying.

They are straddling the fence a little too much when it comes to discussing the cosmere or not. So it turns out that much of the discussion seems to be about meta stuff outside the purview of this specific book without providing any of the information to go with it.

Specifically, there's a lot of talk of someone named Odium who I assume to be some sort of greater diety in the trickster paradigm; but he would not seem to be specifically part of Roshar but rather the bigger pantheon spanning the worlds of Scadrial et al.

Another bit that I think would have been helpful is a breakdown of the appendix and the relevant information of the heralds/orders of knights radiant. There is a lot of discussion on naming variations and what reference they could imply and the various aspects and what they are associated with physically. Again, without a quick reference to look back to, it really just goes over my head.

[Ded As Ned]

I'll be honest... the TOR re-read is actually confusing me more than clarifying.

Specifically, there's a lot of talk of someone named Odium who I assume to be some sort of greater diety in the trickster paradigm; but he would not seem to be specifically part of Roshar but rather the bigger pantheon spanning the worlds of Scadrial et al.

Eh, all the meta stuff they go into I don't pay much attention to. Honestly that re-read keeps losing my interest more the longer it goes on. But I think Odium (not to be confused with Odin, the Norse trickster) is going to end up being the big bad in Stormlight... just based on the dictionary definition.

I'm more interested in the working of Roshar, but I think BS has left much of the specifics up in the air in book 1, so the bloggers are having to stretch into the cosmere stuff to find content. Maybe I'll be wrong :dunno:

[Migey]

Odin isn't the Norse trickster. That's Loki. Odin is someone else.

[Captain Sheepf*cker]

Odin isn't the Norse trickster. That's Loki. Odin is someone else.

Odin is the Allfather and in American Gods by Gaiman, he is a trickster.

[Ded As Ned]

Odin isn't the Norse trickster. That's Loki. Odin is someone else.

You're right. I'm always confusing Odin with Loki because of Mat Cauthon.

[Rhom]

Looking around the wiki a little more, I think I have a better understanding of the Cosmere.

But from that, it implies that Shadesmar can allow the "World Hopping" that I assume is how Hoid and others get from world to world. It also clearly states that Shallan and Jasnah both go there, so can they hop to other worlds in the Cosmere as well?

I don't have the book in front of me, but I really like how the chapter epigraphs in the middle of the book are telling one continuous story.

[Ded As Ned]

I don't have the book in front of me, but I really like how the chapter epigraphs in the middle of the book are telling one continuous story.

Which ones are those? Haven't started my re-read yet, sad to say. I remember the ones that are just before people die, and the ones that form The Letter, but seems like there were some different ones in another section? You'll have to refresh my memory.

[Rhom]

Which ones are those? Haven't started my re-read yet, sad to say. I remember the ones that are just before people die, and the ones that form The Letter, but seems like there were some different ones in another section? You'll have to refresh my memory.

The Letter. I didn't realize they were all connected sequentially until this read. The wiki has them collected in order as well.

[Ded As Ned]

The Letter. I didn't realize they were all connected sequentially until this read. The wiki has them collected in order as well.

I did pick up on that on my first read, so I went straight through and read it once I realized. Not that it made much sense. I wonder if the addressee will intervene as asked?

[Rhom]

I did pick up on that on my first read, so I went straight through and read it once I realized. Not that it made much sense. I wonder if the addressee will intervene as asked?

It all seems to be tied in to the cosmere and there is speculation that Rayse (the bad guy in the letter) could be another name for Odium.

[Rhom]

I'm about 300 pages from the end now... Man this is a long book.

I have outpaced the TOR re-read at this point. They should get to a chapter I want to discuss in just a couple of weeks. Its a Kaladin flashback and it says it happens "Five years ago." In the chapter is a talk about soldiers "fighting for vengeance on the Shattered Plains." By my understanding of the timeline, Gavilar was killed five years before the events of the book... therefore it would seem a bit premature to have references in a small out of the way town about soldiers off fighting. It just feels like maybe that was a mistake, but I'm not sure.

Otherwise, I've just hit one of my favorite parts of the book: Shallan running from the Symbolheads while drawing in her sketchbook to see if they are there or not. I remember that chapter really creeping me out the first time around. While it wasn't quite as unnerving this time, it was still very atmospheric.

ETA: One thing that bugs me about the theology of Alethkar is the safehand. Kaladin sees a whore with her safehand exposed and automatically starts feeling a little like he's seeing her naked. Why? What's such a big deal about the left hand? I'm okay with having quirks of society/religion, but I'd like to know the origin of the taboo.