Author Topic: Warbreaker: Free Ebook  (Read 234722 times)

dawncawley

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #525 on: April 13, 2007, 12:55:26 AM »
I know he is revealing a lot  in this chapter, but I don't think we have very many more to go, so it kind of makes sense. Plus, I am not sure we have gotten down to the nitty-gritty, so to speak.

I really liked the twists and turns, and to be fair to EUOL, Siri and Seb don't really have a prayer of getting away at this point they are totally overwhelmed by Lifeless. No reason that Bluefingers shouldn't feel safe telling her the majority of his plans. Like I said, I don't think we have heard all there is to hear about their plans.

I can't wait for the rest. :)

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #526 on: April 18, 2007, 07:04:09 PM »
Chapter Fifty-six

Three chapters remain after this one, one of those three being a short epilogue.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2007, 07:06:39 PM by EUOL »
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amyface

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #527 on: April 19, 2007, 12:51:48 AM »
So, nightblood feeds on your breath until you don't have anymore then kills you?

I'm not sure what happened to the cloak here. Didn't she say "Your Breath to mine," which would take the breath out of the cloak then it wouldn't be able to do anything. but then she gave it a command. I think this is backwords.

I'm curious what happened to Vivena after vasher fell... wasn't she left in that room too. Did tonk take her somewhere? Should that have been explained here, or will that come up later? It just seemed like she disappeared...
Dude, no no really, DUDE!

vadia

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #528 on: April 19, 2007, 03:35:04 AM »
I think she took the cloaks breath, and then gave it back the same breath with a command.

When I read
Quote
“He just fell out a three story window, plummeting toward certain doom,” Denth said.  “Of course he’ll live!  Send the squad for the front doors to slow him!”  Denth glanced at Vivenna.  “You, princess, are far too much trouble for what you’re worth.”
   “So people are fond of telling me,” she said with a sigh, raising her bloodied hand to her shoulder again.

I had the rather rude thought:
Quote
Helloooo rule 3; kill her.

By this I mean he's realized that she is too much trouble and has harmed his plans a lot, once she had a clue and there she's standing helpless before her.  It would take nearly nothing to kill her -- not even a minor delay. 

Unless she's killed behind the scenes, it seems silly to let her live to try to get in his way again.  Furthermore it would be poor for his bloodthirsty reputation to just say something along the lines of "hunh, she's gotten in my way, I guess I'l just let her go and do it again."

dreamking47

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #529 on: April 19, 2007, 05:06:20 AM »
Clearly Denth wanted Vivenna alive or he would have just killed her initially rather than stabbing her in the shoulder.

Anyway, I liked the chapter, minus a few niggles.  I've enjoyed how you've broken the POV pattern from the earlier chapters and are just going with the flow now, it makes the story feel more immediate and urgent.  Also I like how even with all the action there are still some mysterious bits added.  Vasher's thought about his fight with Denth -- "I just about had him!" -- was interesting, I wonder what trick he intended to play (the same one he used to defeat Arsteel?).  And Denth's comment -- "I've always found it funny that we bleed, just like regular men" -- did he just mean people with lots of Breath who have lived a long time, or something else?

Niggles:

- I still wince whenever Vivenna talks about her week being poor.  Partly because -- admittedly, somewhat illogically -- the idea that Vivenna feels like she could come to understand what it means to be poor and homeless in just a week feels to me like a slap in the face towards those who have been poor and homeless for much longer, or on a recurring basis, who have tried to work their way out and were rejected and forgotten.  It just doesn't feel earned, true (granted it doesn't need to be earned or true for the story to work, but it does undermine Miss "That’s why I’m the princess"'s character).  Also, in this case, partly because I find the moral recap unnecessary: "Yet, her recent past gave her the strength to push down her fear," etc.  I should, and I do, already understand this, without needing to be told it, just from watching her over the past few chapters.

- From page 2:
Quote
Denth reacted immediately, cutting the rope out of the air with his dagger.   The pieces of it twisted and wiggled

That's a sharp knife!

- From page 3:
Quote
"They're going to send Lifeless marching on your homeland," he said.

How does Vasher know this?  Did Denth tell him, just as Bluefingers told Siri?  Didn't these people read Villainy for Dummies?

- I don't know exactly how high up this third story window is, or what the acceleration due to gravity on this world is, but Vasher sure has a lot of time to do stuff while falling.

Random questions of the moment: whatever happened to Jewels and Clod; and given Jewels's impassioned defense of the Hallendren Gods, did she know what the true plan was?

MattD
« Last Edit: April 19, 2007, 06:00:41 AM by dreamking47 »
"It had blood in it.  That makes it a good metaphor." -- Tonk Fah, in EUOL's Warbreaker

Astounding

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #530 on: April 19, 2007, 05:33:49 AM »
Can't wait to see what happens when Seb wields Nightblood with all those breaths.  He could sure make a dent in the lifeless army.

Qarlin

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #531 on: April 19, 2007, 06:02:01 PM »
I too am curious as to what happens to the cloak, but I want to know how Denth got it off him; if it wraps him up as good as the rope almost killed Tonk, then he should be incapacitated for a while, leaving Tonk (if he could take it off) to either get him out or take care of Vivenna.

That knife would have to be insanely sharp to cut a flying rope. A regular knife wouldn't have the force to cut it in mid air. The dueling sword, I could see, but not the knife. The rope would wrap around it (and prolly his hand too). That said, unless it's going to constrict his hand off, everything else that happened could basically remain the same (adding a part where he gets the rope off his hand).

But on another note, if she could tell the cloak to "Grab Denth," how come she didn't just do that to the two pieces of rope, sending one to grab Denth and the other to grab Tonk? Even specifying around the throat or make them unable to move or something like that.

So when someone Nightblood can tempt grabs him, he sucks their breath out, and then kills them. What happens when someone pure draws him (assuming they can get over the nausea)? And what would happen if someone were able to convince Nightblood that he himself is evil?

What if a Returned draws Nightblood? How much breath do they officially have for Nightblood to eat before killing them?

And if Vivenna is to die, why make it happen "off screen," as it were? Her character is important enough that an offscreen death like that (if she died there) would be anticlimactic.

vadia

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #532 on: April 20, 2007, 12:59:06 AM »
Why would Denth need Vivena, he's been paid already.

The point of a lot to do while falling is quite good.
it puts  a damper on my suggestion which would have been that Vivena tells Vasher to catch her as she jumps out the window. 
But I suppose you could just push it up a couple of floors to . . . say the 6th story floor.

dawncawley

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #533 on: April 20, 2007, 05:51:32 PM »
To me it seemed that everything Vasher did on the way down would have take much less time to actually "do" than it took to describe it. Maybe that was just me, but I wasn't bothered by that part at all.

As for what happened with Viv, I am a bit curious about that. Heck, let's be honest, I am dying to know what happened with her after Vasher fell out the dang window. When he comes back up, only Denth is there waiting to finish their fight. I want to know where she was, darn it! I agree with those who said if you are going to kill her, out of the picture doesn't quite feel right. So, that leaves me with the question, still, of where the heck she is.

I am anxiously awaiting next week, and am so glad that we are almost to the end. I love the increased pace as the story works toward the conclusion. It doesn't let you stop for breath, much less for putting the book down to go do something else. :)

firstRainbowRose

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #534 on: April 23, 2007, 04:28:07 AM »
(sorry for not posting... I think I'm going to change my prefs so it tells me when everyone posts, and not just new ones so I get them... *glares at the system*)

Well, I was intrested to find out that you could use the color from blood and use your Breaths.  Very intresting...

I agree that we need to find out what happened with Viv...

I also hope we find out more about Astrial.  I've had that carrot dangled in front of me for a bit too long, and if I don't find out more about him and how he died (and how Vasher killed Denth's sister... unless I'm just being stupid and they're one in the same, or same situiation.) then I will have to write many fanfics, until everyone is nuts and forces it out.
"The custom of royalty in referring to oneself is to naturally employ the royal 'we'. We are very happy, we are very sad, we are bored and suffer from ennui. For a royal prince there's no such word as 'me', It's always 'we'. So rightfully I should be two or three, don't you agree?"

Claye

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #535 on: April 23, 2007, 04:27:26 PM »
I came a little late to the book, but I totally love it. I'm really intrigued about the significance of the royal locks and about what the freak is up with Denth and Vasher, whom I personally believe are both hundreds of years old, etc. , etc.  I also love that the main characters aren't "destined" to win. It's a lot more realistic, to me.  I really had just been expecting a bigger show of the magics, though. :'( I mean, Brandon normally has a lot of magic in his books, but this time it kind of seemed that he was struggling to put any magic but the royal locks in at all. Also, Bluefinger's betrayal is Wunderful! I almost never saw it coming. And, I wonder if Vivenna feels nauseated around Nightblood becuz she's purer, or if it's the royal locks?

firstRainbowRose

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #536 on: April 25, 2007, 05:09:44 AM »
I haven't thought yet of how the royal locks played into everything... that's something else that's had a great build up but not been touched as much lately.  *shrugs slightly*
"The custom of royalty in referring to oneself is to naturally employ the royal 'we'. We are very happy, we are very sad, we are bored and suffer from ennui. For a royal prince there's no such word as 'me', It's always 'we'. So rightfully I should be two or three, don't you agree?"

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #537 on: April 25, 2007, 07:38:07 PM »
Chapter Fifty-seven

Here's the first half of the climax!  My favorite chapter of the book, actually, though there are still some things about the Siri scenes that I want to tweak.  I'll say more once you've read the chapter. 
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dreamking47

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #538 on: April 25, 2007, 10:36:31 PM »
Good stuff -- I like the filling in of Lightsong's origin.

Also I like that you're making us wait to find out what happened to Vivenna; it keeps the tension up even as the conflicts in this chapter get worked out.

Other comments:

- What you bring up in the second paragraph is something that has bugged me -- I mentioned before how Pahn Kahl seemed to be treated in the text as a separate kingdom, rather than a conquered province, and the issue of Bluefingers' role is a more personal instance of that.  The very fact that he was able to secure such an important position in the Court of Gods seems to undermine the idea of Pahn Kahl people being treated as "second class."  That doesn't mean Bluefingers has no motive for his actions, but it seems to me that either 1) the "second class" treatment should be played up a bit more (Vivenna meeting more Pahn Kahl people in the slums; Bluefingers' position being some sort of traditional, compulsary role of servitude; etc.) or 2) the motive should shift to something like revenge for the original encroachment on the Pahn Kahl homelands pure and simple.

- The word "pagan" (p.10) seemed odd to me coming from Bluefingers -- it's a very vague word with many meanings, but to me, it has the etymological connotations of an older religion still practiced among the country folk, but not in the metropolitan centers of religious thought.  When Bluefingers says it, though, I'm not sure what he means: the polytheistic Hallendren religion, or just something generically different and bloody?

- Also on page 10, regarding Siri's comments: do they have stories is this world of princesses being sacrificed on altars?

- Page 12: so a Returned can Awaken and Command things?  Or is this a special property of the God King?  I had thought that a Returned could only use his/her Breath once, and only all at once.

I notice these comments all come from the Siri parts of the chapter so apologies if they are some of the things you're already planning to tweak.

MattD
"It had blood in it.  That makes it a good metaphor." -- Tonk Fah, in EUOL's Warbreaker

firstRainbowRose

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #539 on: April 26, 2007, 04:01:31 AM »
*lots of squeels*

first thought on reading "caused the manywars"  WHAT?!  HE WAS OLD ENOUGH?!  HOW?! WHAT?!  AND THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER?!   YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN!!!!!!

As for the rest, I thought it was great.  I liked how Siri stood up for herself to the end, and Vasher's way of beating Denth (although, we still don't fully understand who Arsteel so I hope that is taken care of).  Although, I really can't wait to see the epilogue, since it has to be a really long one to wrap everything up in a satisfactory manner.

Over all, I can't wait to get a nice copy that's all bound and see the pretty cover art... this is great, but my mum will kill me if I try to print it out, and it's not that pratical to carry around with me.
"The custom of royalty in referring to oneself is to naturally employ the royal 'we'. We are very happy, we are very sad, we are bored and suffer from ennui. For a royal prince there's no such word as 'me', It's always 'we'. So rightfully I should be two or three, don't you agree?"