Author Topic: Warbreaker: Free Ebook  (Read 234570 times)

Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #870 on: August 23, 2009, 04:36:26 PM »
How Vasher got back to his Returned form DID change in the published version. He didn't use a command. Also, Lightsong only had the one Divine breath. When you give it to someone, it heals them, it doesn't give them the Fifth Heightening.

[EDIT: I asked Brandon about Susebron's tongue, and he said that it would not have been possible for him to regrow it anytime he wanted to. Brandon will be exploring the limits of the self-image modification of Returned in the sequel.]
« Last Edit: August 25, 2009, 08:15:15 PM by Ookla The Mok »
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Batchman

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #871 on: August 26, 2009, 06:06:11 AM »
I think this one is still my favorite book in what I have read so far. The story is cool, the characters are (for the most part) likeable, and the magic system is interesting.

And I have now ordered the HC release to go with reading it on line.

I will have to start rereading it when the annotations start pouring forth ... but I'll hate waiting for them!  :P

menandore

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #872 on: August 26, 2009, 05:45:53 PM »
My apologies if this has already been discussed before (am I a terrible person for not reading all 29 pages...?)

I've got a couple mechanics questions:

-Infant Returned? Really?  I disbelieve.  Unless the criteria for Returning aren't as straightforward as "died doing something heroic".

-Is there some reason Vivenna couldn't have put one breath in some object, the rest of her  breaths in a shawl, and taken the one breath back to avoid becoming a Drab?  Although I suppose she might not have known how bad losing all your Breath is for you.

Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #873 on: August 26, 2009, 08:04:44 PM »
I think the characters in the book don't clearly understand why Returned happen. I assume the second book will go more into that.

And you're exactly right. The only reason Vivenna couldn't have done that is that she didn't think of doing it. That's the way Vasher gives one breath to that little girl later.
All Saiyuki fans should check out Dazzle! Emotionally wrenching action-adventure and quirky humor! (At least read chapter 6 and tell me if you're not hooked.) Volume 10 out now!

happyman

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #874 on: August 27, 2009, 08:58:30 PM »
My apologies if this has already been discussed before (am I a terrible person for not reading all 29 pages...?)

I've got a couple mechanics questions:

-Infant Returned? Really?  I disbelieve.  Unless the criteria for Returning aren't as straightforward as "died doing something heroic".

-Is there some reason Vivenna couldn't have put one breath in some object, the rest of her  breaths in a shawl, and taken the one breath back to avoid becoming a Drab?  Although I suppose she might not have known how bad losing all your Breath is for you.

I think that Vivenna didn't know how to get Breath back at all at this point, even if she had thought of it.  Denth deliberately kept her in the dark on how to use her breath most effectively, probably so she couldn't get too independent-minded.
Nature hates being reified.

JakobLayn

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #875 on: September 30, 2009, 07:02:39 PM »
Thanks Wielder yes i meant LightSong hehe my bad
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stridera

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #876 on: September 30, 2009, 07:15:57 PM »
And you're exactly right. The only reason Vivenna couldn't have done that is that she didn't think of doing it. That's the way Vasher gives one breath to that little girl later.

I wasn't sure if he gave her a breath or not, but I do know that he caused her to forget what happened.  (Later on in the book he tells Denith that he knows how to make him forget, so I'm guessing it's the same thing.)  I don't know what was involved but I know it involved having the little girl speak a command.  ("Repeat after me, and mean it.")
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RedMaij

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #877 on: November 05, 2009, 05:56:40 AM »
Hey, just wanted to chime in and say I loved the audiobook, and after checking the main page to see if there is going to be a continuation, I noticed that you have the book online for free.  I read your explanation, and I appreciate what you are doing so much that, even though I've bought the audiobook already, I just ordered the hardcover as well.  Great work!

By the way, loving The Gathering Storm so far.  You were definitely the right choice.

sinisterroo

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #878 on: November 27, 2009, 02:00:39 AM »
After finally having time to read this book, I went and read through it in one sitting.

One thing that's bothering me however and I hope to get answered is something someone asked earlier in the thread and didn't get answered.

"Of course I didn't realize it the first time through, but now the reference to having up to the Fifth Heightening at any time makes sense ... Vasher could, as he did at the end of the book, revert back to Returned status with its accompanying mega-one-breath-equal-to-2,000-normal-breaths.  This raises a number a questions/presumptions.  Do all Returned have the ability to revert back to normal human proportions? (i.e., could Lightsong or Blushweaver or any of the other Hallandren gods have done the same thing?)  In this process, what happens to the uber-Breath?  Vivenna and others with Breath did not sense it ... has it been transferred to an object? or does it just become muted?"

happyman

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #879 on: November 27, 2009, 04:07:31 PM »
After finally having time to read this book, I went and read through it in one sitting.

One thing that's bothering me however and I hope to get answered is something someone asked earlier in the thread and didn't get answered.

"Of course I didn't realize it the first time through, but now the reference to having up to the Fifth Heightening at any time makes sense ... Vasher could, as he did at the end of the book, revert back to Returned status with its accompanying mega-one-breath-equal-to-2,000-normal-breaths.  This raises a number a questions/presumptions.  Do all Returned have the ability to revert back to normal human proportions? (i.e., could Lightsong or Blushweaver or any of the other Hallandren gods have done the same thing?)  In this process, what happens to the uber-Breath?  Vivenna and others with Breath did not sense it ... has it been transferred to an object? or does it just become muted?"

This has been answered, but I can't remember where from; I think it was answered at an interview.  It's somewhere on this site.  Anyway, the short version is (1) any Returned could do it if they learned how (it's a mental trick in which they convince themselves they are not divine) and (2) the uberbreath automatically gets hidden by the mental trick, although it is still there, keeping them immortal and still requiring a breath a week to survive.
Nature hates being reified.

Mellington the loony Gold Misting

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #880 on: November 29, 2009, 02:56:43 PM »
So essentially...Lightsong has been trying to do the same thing Vasher is doing for his entire Returned existence?

happyman

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #881 on: November 29, 2009, 04:16:17 PM »
So essentially...Lightsong has been trying to do the same thing Vasher is doing for his entire Returned existence?

Well, if you read closely, Lightsong wasn't all that committed to not being a god.  The perks were quite nice, and he got to exercise his razor wit.
Nature hates being reified.

Mellington the loony Gold Misting

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #882 on: December 01, 2009, 10:03:42 AM »
So essentially...Lightsong has been trying to do the same thing Vasher is doing for his entire Returned existence?

Well, if you read closely, Lightsong wasn't all that committed to not being a god.  The perks were quite nice, and he got to exercise his razor wit.

Plus having his high priest constantly reminding him that he's a god and arguing the matter with him would probably suffice to keep it from ever becoming remotely likely that he'd completely convince himself and accidentally stumble upon the trick.

Morderkaine

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #883 on: December 01, 2009, 11:23:29 AM »
My apologies if this has already been discussed.

A Returned can hide their Uber Breath and change their appearance back to that of a normal person if they convince their-self that they're not a god. Does this mean that in order to reveal the Uber Breath and restore their Returned appearance, a Returned must convince themselves that they are a god or can a Returned who doesn't believe they are a god simply choose which state they are in? Also, if a Returned's Uber Breath is simply one Breath, so strong that it grants the Fifth Heightening, could a regular person possessing the Fifth Heightening use the same Breath hiding technique to hide all those Breaths and change their appearance? What about a descendant of a Returned who reaches the Fifth Heightening?

Mellington the loony Gold Misting

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Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« Reply #884 on: December 06, 2009, 03:43:02 AM »
I think that we'll learn more about the nature of being a Returned descendant in the second novel.

Vasher implies that Vivenna could do more than just change her hair but I'm not even sure that he knows what she's capable of (she just never thought about it, I'm sure...and it's in his nature to think about such things, being who he is).