Timewaster's Guide Archive

Right, I'm not objecting to words having an effect so much as whether there's a good explanation for that. (Because so often this sort of thing stays unexplained and comes off as bad writing) It seems that there's room enough for the difference to be explained later when Brandon has some time to zoom in on the magic.

I honestly didn't think it was such a huge stretch for the difference between Kaladin before the battle and Kaladin during to be more about determination and practice (and dramatic license) than about magical words, but if the oaths really are somehow magical than paint me disappointed.

Kelsier also had access to some of Preservation's powers for a while after he died, although we're not sure if he exactly counts as a shardholder in the same way that Leras, Vin, and Sazed did. Endowment should probably be Living, not Alive, and because we can reasonably guess that the pool in Elantris is related to Aona, (s)he's has been tentatively referred to as Relief.

Unless I am completely mistaken that trope has a large presence already in this book/series- 
i.e. Kaladin reviving from near death and jumping the bridge after accepting/saying/making an oath of  the Second Ideal...-

I think there's a slight difference between having full access to powers you've been using all along, and a magic sword appearing out of nowhere without already being bound to you.

Yeah, worked out quite nicely that Brandon's refresher story ended up being of release quality and novel length.

Quote from: nomti on October 06, 2010, 02:43:47 PM

Remember how it works - you tell her what you want, and then she gives you what *she* thinks you deserve, plus a curse to go with it.

This. I would stay the hell away from the old magic unless it's for my life or my family. The farmer who asked for enough wares to get his family through hard times was the only one who did it right. Interestingly enough, his curse was the one that wasn't so bad in the end...

Which might imply that the severity of the curse is in proportion to the wastefulness of the wish.

In fact, I can't help but like Taravingian. Here's a guy who believes in the Almighty, as evidenced by his debate with Jasnah early in the book, knows he's completely dooming himself by his actions to whatever doom these guys believe in, and yet continues his actions because he believes his saving the world. And for all we know, he might be right with what he's doing. He calls these people his dear friends, and is still willing to sacrifice them. Evil? Completely. But he might be just what the world needs at this point.

Yeah, I would much prefer a Taravingian book to a Shallan, Adolin, or another Kaladin book, but I don't think it's happening. Some characters need to remain mysterious.

Actually, I find that this makes Taravingian even more disturbing, because he has been warned against this behaviour by an authority figure he clearly trusts but in his own self-aggrandizing arrogance thinks that ethics are for other people, not him, and he's got to do whatever it takes to win. He may have given up what he perceives as his ultimate reward, but by doing so he's undermined the whole foundation of what he believes in and no longer has a coherent philosophy to stand on. In short, he's not just a person going to monstrous lengths to do something that's probably good, he's also a hypocrite.

I'm not sure the herald images are supposed to relate so much to the viewpoint character as the content of the chapters perhaps.