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TGG posted:[RoW is] a drat good book and it goes hard in a bunch of spots but that was my biggest WHAT THE gently caress of the whole book. Yeah, it’s going to be fun when 81sidewinder hits that part. Can’t wait for their post.
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May 15, 2024 23:36
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| # ? May 18, 2024 17:48 |
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M_Gargantua posted:Ahh dang that’s a big surprise that’s been spoiled. TGG posted:Ah drat, that was the one thing I didn't get spoiled on as I just blitzed the book in a day and a half, bummer you got spoiled on the biggest RoW twist. It's a drat good book and it goes hard in a bunch of spots but that was my biggest WHAT THE gently caress of the whole book. Ehhh it's a big thing but it is, in the end, a single moment. I'm sure that moment will still go hard. I can know a detail without understanding how we get to that point or how it happens. It was my fault for watching a Tiktok from an interview where Brandon was talking about his favorite villains he's written. 81sidewinder posted:Oathbringer Part 5 was everything I wanted this series to be as far as the 'small moments leading to big payoffs at the end'. Peak Sanderlanche. Probably the most similar to a Wheel of Time book in that regard. Extremely minor WoT spoilers - The battle at the end very much felt like the Last Battle chapter of WoT with the 1v1 moments happening while others fight the ultimate evil and others fend off the hoards and it was just perfect for my tastes. Love that feeling of controlled chaos. Nice to be immersed in a story where there is a plan for a satisfying conclusion. I'm surprised you didn't like the Shadesmar stuff. It definitely was a little slower than other parts, but I liked how it fleshed out the Cosmere in general. If anything, it made me want an entire book set there and exploring that setting. (No, I'm not counting Secret History)
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May 15, 2024 23:48
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Mordiceius posted:I can know a detail without understanding how we get to that point or how it happens. Putting the journey before the destination? I've never heard of such a thing.
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May 15, 2024 23:53
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81sidewinder posted:Thoughts about these theories after Oathbringer - And are you sure Lift is perpetually a kid? If you've read Edgedancer, go back and read the opening chapter again. What upset her enough to run away?
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May 15, 2024 23:58
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Without going too much into my Oathbringer thoughts - I loving loved the Lift/Szeth pairing. It probably won't happen, but give me a book with the two of them going on adventures. 
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May 16, 2024 00:06
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RoW is a bit of a divisive book, I personally enjoyed it a bit more than WoR but it can be a bit thick if you don't really dig the science of the cosmere. It has some fantastic moments and I am so excited for book 5.
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May 16, 2024 01:17
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CapnAndy posted:Spoilers through Oathbringer: Are we ending up with King Dalinar? I seem to remember somebody else wearing the crown of Alethkar by the end of the book. Did you miss that? Good points. I needed to read that page with King Dalinar again, and I absolutely misremembered that - we are almost certainly going in a different direction than what I posted before. Shallan suggests Jasna here, I'm guessing Will revisit Edgedancer too, thank you Mordiceius posted:I'm surprised you didn't like the Shadesmar stuff. It definitely was a little slower than other parts, but I liked how it fleshed out the Cosmere in general. I'm sure I will dig the lore on re-reads, but it's just so light on plot. Really wanted it to be this to be the big moment in the love triangle, but that came later. Mordiceius posted:I loving loved the Lift/Szeth pairing. Same, same. Brings out the best in both characters
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May 16, 2024 04:00
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A Sneaker Broker posted:Whoop Whoop. Welcome to the Sando craziness. I would suggest you read Warbreaker before Word of Radiance. Please post your thoughts FOR EVERY CHAPTER while you read every Brandon Sanderson book. We eat those thoughts, opinions, and feelings up. Ask any questions as well. Welcome aboard! I took your advice and am on Chapter 27 of Warbreaker. Warbreaker first 1/3 spoilers Just learned that Lightsong is a gently caress up alcoholic amnesiac detective like my favorite boy Harry Dubois (Disco Elysium) and his story went from mid to supremely interesting. Can’t wait for him to gently caress up some sanctimonious priests/Gods. The mercenaries and the sabotage campaign are fun. The reveal that the God King is a man child was fun. The incredible edginess (pun not intended) of the Nightblade is fun. Enjoying the book so far. I still think “BioChroma” is a very jarring phrase in the fantasy universe but I’ll allow it. The descriptions of heightening and colors are cool.
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May 16, 2024 04:56
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Warbreaker is such a fun book, should be up there on the must read Sanderson lists. One of the most fun magic systems, tons of Cosmere links, great characters and while the writing lacks in some parts and the ending has some hiccups it is a good little book.
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May 16, 2024 05:08
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81sidewinder posted:Good points. I needed to read that page with King Dalinar again, and I absolutely misremembered that - we are almost certainly going in a different direction than what I posted before. Shallan suggests Jasna here, I'm guessing
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May 16, 2024 05:30
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Ojjeorago posted:The rest of the thread waiting for you to get here:
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May 16, 2024 14:41
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Man, the VA's for Lost Metal sound like they've actually aged a decade since the last book, which matches the timeline for the book as a happy coincidence.
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May 16, 2024 16:50
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OATHBRINGER - Part 5 & Final Thoughts I'm just gonna spoiler this whole post. Because I know it is going to be long and wordy and some what masturbatory because I have to share my vision for how I imagine that scene would play out if adapted into an anime (I have incredible thoughts when stoned, okay!). Starting with interludes 12-14 - First, more Venli. I find myself incredibly conflicted on Venli. I find her kind of annoying. I know she's the flashback character for Rhythm of War, so I'm hoping that turns my opinion around on her. Up to this point, however, there has been an annoying arrogance to her scenes. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be finding her a sympathetic, but I'm not. To the subject of the Singers as a whole, I feel great sympathy toward the formerly enslaved Parshmen and how they're trying to understand and make their place in the world. I have far far far less sympathy for Venli and Eshonai's group of Listeners from the Shattered Plains. I understand why they felt the need to assassinate Gavilar, but it feels like they made every stupid decision they could along the way. Again, maybe Rhythm of War will have me regretting my words and deeds. More Rysn! Yay! I like Rysn. I liked how her scene basically felt like an intro into that final conflict. I look forward to seeing more of her in Dawnshard. Teft has it rough.  Part 5 The final Dalinar flashback finally reveals that the "deal" with the Nightwatcher never actually happened and that it was Cultivation taking action in the end. That was a surprisingly fun twist. The Dalinar flashbacks in this book have been a loving delight for the mixed emotions they caused me. For the duration of the first two books, we see Dalinar as a man trying to do right and we hear about "The Blackthorn" without fully grasping the significance. I feel like if I had known about Dalinar's past before getting to know his present, I would like him far less. His initial flashbacks were great in a "Haha look at this funny barbarian man" but they quickly transition to "This man is an abusive monster and gently caress this guy" before ending on "He is an utterly broken man" and we get to see him put the pieces back together. Chef's kiss. There's only so much I can say about Part 5. It was incredible. It was action. It was jawdropping. One thing I found interesting about it is, despite the stakes, I actually found it less stressful than the climax to Words of Radiance. I think this was because of the frequent perspective shifts. This isn't a good or bad thing, more of an observation. With both the climax to Words of Radiance and with Oathbringer, I felt like there was this sense of "oh no, everything is hosed" but with Words of Radiance it feels like a "and then we escaped at the last second, the end!" vs Oathbringer being "and then we fought back!" The latter is far less stressful. Both are exciting in their own ways. One thing I loved about Part 5 was how something would go wrong, the characters would pivot the plans without knowing that those actions were already hosed too. Dalinar and crew were playing checkers while Odium was playing chess. They weren't even playing the same game and Odium's plotting was beyond what they could ever imagine. Oathbringer definitely kept me guessing too. Leading up to the Perpendicularity moment, I genuinely had no idea how they were going to get the Shadesmar people over. Let's talk about that scene. The moment of Unity. While I was incredibly stoned the other night, I was imagining how I would want to see that adapted in an anime, and I feel like it would go something like this: quote:Dalinar is on his knees before Odium. Odium continues to berate Dalinar and inviting Dalinar to give over his pain. Dalinar is sobbing. He hears the voices and screams of the people from The Rift. It is a chaotic noise that overwhelms him, almost blocking out all sound. Apologies for that moment of self-indulgence, I just felt the need to get that out there. I think one of the reasons that Oathbringer felt less stressful toward the end is that the Perpendicularity moment felt like that was the moment of victory and everything after that was the heroes doing cool poo poo and fighting back. After Dalinar summoned the Perpendicularity, I had zero worry about anything bad happening to our characters. Sure, the fights were tense, but that moment of Unity was such a great triumph that everything after that felt like a victory lap. Anyway, continuing from there - Kaladin - The Kaladin vs Amaram fight was the fight I didn't know I wanted but something that felt like it obviously had to happen at some point. I love that Kaladin won the fight but Amaram had that last gasp only to get fuckin wrecked by Rock. Shallan - Is doing cool poo poo with her lightweaving and I feel like we're starting to see people unlock some true potential of their power. Adolin - Is a big dumb himbo and I fuckin love him. I'm so glad he brough up the love triangle poo poo and we finally put an end to that. Jasnah - is so loving cool. I love her. Renarin - I want more time with Renarin. He is such an interesting and mysterious character and deserves more time in the spotlight. Szeth - The stuff with Szeth and Lift put a big dumb grin on my face every time they were together. I would loving love a novella of just the two of them going on an adventure together. The most perfect team-up in the series. Moash - gently caress that guy. While Oathbringer is not a perfect book (I would argue no book is) and I definitely had a handful of complaints about elements while going through it, those complaints were minor. And honestly, a lot of the things that happened in Part 5 gave me a greater appreciation for those moments of frustration. The literal only weak spot, in my opinion, was the Bridge Four chapters in Part 2. I feel like they both took up a long of time but also weren't enough. I like the idea of diving into details of the members of Bridge Four, but I didn't feel like it was enough for me to really fall in love with the characters presented. If anything, they needed more chapters, but that would have absolutely destroyed the pacing. I would have loved to have a "Tales of Bridge Four" book that was just a bunch of stories of all the members. I feel like, in general, Bridge Four is in an odd position and Brandon struggles to balance their presence. This book was long. And it felt long. This book felt like far more of a journey than either of the books that came before it and I loved it. It took me just over two months to get through this book, but for some reason it felt like longer - this book feels like something that has been with me for longer than I can remember. This book left me exhausted. There were so many moments where I felt such overwhelming emotion. What a beautiful triumph. quote:The most important words a man can say are, "I will do better." These are not the most important words any man can say. I am a man, and they are what I needed to say. Next up will be Dawnshard, but I'm actually taking a few weeks break before I start that. Mrs Mordiceius has started Oathbringer recently (and is already through Part 1) so I'm waiting for her to finish it and then we're going to attempt taking on Dawnshard and Rhythm of War at the same time so we can talk about them as we go. In the end, I think I would still rank Oathbringer below Hero of Ages and that's only because my own personal biases. Mistborn Era 1 was my intro into Sanderson and also my return to reading (or at least listening to) novels. So it will always hold a special plate in my heart that I don't think anything could unseat. If I was to try to strip away that personal nostalgia bias, I would probably put Oathbringer right on the same level with The Final Empire. pre:|------------------------------------------------------------------| |-------------------------COSMERE RANKINGS-------------------------| |-Novels----------------------------------Novellas & Short Stories-| | | | The Final Empire | | The Hero of Ages | | Oathbringer | | Words of Radiance | | The Lost Metal | | Shadows of Self | | Warbreaker | | The Bands of Mourning | | The Way of Kings Edgedancer | | The Alloy of Law Mistborn - Secret History | | The Well of Ascension The Emperor’s Soul | |--------------------The Line of Recommendation--------------------| | Elantris Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania | | The Eleventh Metal | | The Hope of Elantris | |------------------------------------------------------------------| -----Not Listed----- Dawnshard Rhythm of War Tress of the Emerald Sea Yumi and the Nightmare Painter The Sunlit Man Wind and Truth Isles of the Emberdark Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Sixth of the Dusk White Sands Mordiceius fucked around with this message at 23:47 on May 17, 2024 |
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May 17, 2024 23:43
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Mordiceius posted:OATHBRINGER - Part 5 & Final Thoughts Also, now that you know the full context of Dalinar, it's fun to think back of the scene you saw repeated over and over for the first three books, where someone uses the Blackthorn as a rationale for why they won't cooperate with Dalinar -- either because they're Alethi and they think Dalinar is weak now, or because they're not and they don't trust him. It paints all those interactions in a whole new light, now that you know that the Alethi were agitating for the return of an abusive war criminal and the non-Alethi were quite rightfully scared shitless of an untrustworthy monster.
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May 18, 2024 01:03
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CapnAndy posted:Venli is annoying and smug. That's the intended reaction. Yeah, I was thinking about the other day. I remember thinking "Wow these Alethi are all war criminal assholes." and the jokes on me because Dalinar is worse than all of them!
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May 18, 2024 01:23
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I mean, aren’t the Alethi (spoilers through Oathbringer, I think) literally possessed by a deity that instills them with bloodlust and battle frenzy? It’s been a while since I read Stormlight, so maybe I’m misremembering.
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May 18, 2024 02:31
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Mordiceius posted:Yeah, I was thinking about the other day. I remember thinking "Wow these Alethi are all war criminal assholes." and the jokes on me because Dalinar is worse than all of them! Was worse. That's the key. Dalinar is an interesting case study about redemption and forgiveness. Especially in the reader's eyes. Introducing reformed Dalinar and contrasting him with all those Alethi "war criminal assholes" as you call them was an extremely inspired move. But even if one thinks he doesn't deserve forgiveness, it makes sense that while his past continues to gently caress him over, those that do look beyond that past surely do it with the right reason, what with the literal apocalypse going on.
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May 18, 2024 04:02
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Torrannor posted:Was worse. That's the key. Eh, he's just genociding more socially acceptable targets
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May 18, 2024 06:42
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