Author Topic: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:  (Read 48416 times)

Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #15 on: April 03, 2010, 07:38:30 PM »
Lashing is not involved in most of them. But remember the first book only scratches the surface.
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zarepath

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #16 on: April 03, 2010, 09:17:10 PM »
Is it just me, or was anyone else a little underwhelmed by the prologue?  I was ready to be mind-blown by a crazy new magic system, but it all just came across as Diet Allomancy, to me. 

Plus, I'm curious as to what point in the prologue Brandon would stop reading and everybody would be like "OH MAN DONT STOP."  Right as he sees the other Shardbearer? 

All that being said, I was very intrigued by Szeth's curse, and the sense of the world's...largeness.  Something Brandon does here that he doesn't do in his other books is immediately start name-dropping proper nouns like nobody's business without offering a scrap of exposition.  And I think that works, because the reader only has guesses at the differences between all these proper nouns, but they're very much filled with a sense of epic-worldness (which is a word you can look up in the Zarepath Family Dictionary).

Anyway, I'm intrigued by the setting and at least one of the characters, but my first taste of Stormlight tastes too much like the fizzy, unsatisfying flavor of Allomancy Lite.  I'm sure there's lots more to it in the final book, but did anybody else feel the same way?


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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #17 on: April 05, 2010, 08:44:59 AM »
Actually, no, not at all.

Right off the top, Allomancy is internal; it only affects the person using it. It can make you stronger, it can pull or push you towards or away from metal, it can enhance your senses, it can show you the future, but it doesn't let you do anything to someone else.

 Szeth's ability is external; he uses it to affect the world around him, and while he can use it on himself, it doesn't really change him any more than any other target he uses it on.

Past that, what Szeth appears to be doing is essentially manipulating gravity, whether he recognizes it as such or not. That's unlike anything in the Mistborn books, whether it's Allomancy, Hemalurgy or Feruchemy.

EndOfDiscOne

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #18 on: April 05, 2010, 01:59:51 PM »
I'm also expecting Szeth in the prologue to be like Goku at the beginning of DBZ, where his power level is in the 400s and by the end of the series even the kids have power levels in the millions.

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #19 on: April 05, 2010, 02:02:57 PM »
Actually, no, not at all.

Right off the top, Allomancy is internal; it only affects the person using it. It can make you stronger, it can pull or push you towards or away from metal, it can enhance your senses, it can show you the future, but it doesn't let you do anything to someone else.


Soothing and Rioting.

I'd have to disagree that the shown magic was underwhelming. My problem is I'm a little annoyed, because I had something very similar to Lashing in one of my stories. That's the only thing really worrying me about a series with 30 different magic systems - how many are going to be similar or the same to things aspiring authors are currently working on or have developed? I know there are more than just thirty ideas for magic systems waiting to be discovered, but anyone who has something similar is going to be seen as copying Sanderson...

And about Lashing feeling like Allomancy Lite.. didn't even consider it until it was brought up, Lashing feels completely different than Allomancy simply because it feels different. We get to see three Lashings in the prologue, and I can't remember completely (brain's a little fuzzy from just waking up) but two of them affected the user and the third the people around him (if it was all three affected the user, refer to the 'fuzzy brain' comment). I can see how this feels like Pushing and Pulling with Iron/Steel, though. I saw it kind of like taking both much further - not Pushing or Pulling yourself with Allomantic anchoring, but Pushing and Pulling the world around you to reorient yourself or disorient opponents.
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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2010, 07:16:25 PM »
Actually, no, not at all.

Right off the top, Allomancy is internal; it only affects the person using it. It can make you stronger, it can pull or push you towards or away from metal, it can enhance your senses, it can show you the future, but it doesn't let you do anything to someone else.


Soothing and Rioting.

Whoops! You're right, I missed those two.

Although those powers affect someone's emotional state, rather than their physical one, so I still feel like it's a far cry from Lashing.

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2010, 07:57:13 PM »
Actually, no, not at all.

Right off the top, Allomancy is internal; it only affects the person using it. It can make you stronger, it can pull or push you towards or away from metal, it can enhance your senses, it can show you the future, but it doesn't let you do anything to someone else.


Soothing and Rioting.

Whoops! You're right, I missed those two.

Although those powers affect someone's emotional state, rather than their physical one, so I still feel like it's a far cry from Lashing.

Ima go with Ink on this one, I actually really like the magic system in the prologue. Can't wait to see what kind of creative things can be done with lashings. I wonder if you can lash to water. Since it's all connected could you turn the entire ocean into a gigantic gravity magnet? :D
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zarepath

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #22 on: April 06, 2010, 12:10:10 AM »
Okay, you're right, it's not just like Allomancy, or some knock-off of it in any way.  I think what I was trying to describe was my dissapointment in it being just another martial magic system--one seemingly designed to just make for cool fights.  (You can make up examples of how Lashing can be used for other things, I'm sure, but it does seem to be focused a lot around how it can be used in battle.) 

Allomancy was a martial artist's magic system, and made for intriguing and beautiful battles.  I guess I just didn't want the New Magic System (which I've only seen a little of, and is only one of 109234912 magic systems in the series) to be another "fighting" magic, because Sanderson's already written the most compelling "fighting" magic.  We don't have to reinvent Jedis every two seconds.

Again, I've just read the prologue, and I won't say I know exactly how Lashing works and is gonna play out in the narrative; it'll probably be fine.  I just know I wasn't as excited about it, when I first came upon it, as I thought I'd be. 

But when Kelsier first burnt tin in Final Empire, I was like "Woah, this sounds like an awesome magic system."  This time, I was like "Okay, so his magic makes him beat up lots of guys like a Jedi."  Szeth lands in the middle of a ring of armed soldiers sworn to die to defend their king, and he kills all of them without any of them landing a blow with a spear?  Does the arm holding his sword swivel 360 degrees around his body in less then a second, or did half the ring decide to wait their turn before they stuck Szeth in the gut?  That's really nit-picky of me, and I love me a dramatic "one awesome guy kills lots of extras in battle" scene, but it shows that this is all about making certain people seem really cool in battle, a lot like Jedis with lightsabers, at the expense of a little realism. 

I mean, I have to admit, I kinda like that.  But I just hoped that the first magic we'd be seeing would have a little more depth to it than "Use this to kill guys."  At the same time, there are traces of a lot of other interesting magical elements in the world, like the Shardswords and the mysterious nature of the Stormlight, that I did very much like.  Also, maybe Lashing only seems like too much of a martial magic to me because the entire prologue followed the steps of an assassin.

Maybe nobody else felt the way I did, and maybe it's very clear for everybody else how Lashing is nothing like Allomancy.  I just wasn't scrambling to sign my name onto the subscriber list for the Official Lashing Newsletter, and I kinda wanted to be. 


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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #23 on: April 06, 2010, 12:42:41 AM »
Again, I've just read the prologue, and I won't say I know exactly how Lashing works and is gonna play out in the narrative; it'll probably be fine.  I just know I wasn't as excited about it, when I first came upon it, as I thought I'd be. 

I can see it being very useful for changing a lightbulb. Just make the ceiling 'down' and bam! Crouch down and change the bulb.

Maybe nobody else felt the way I did, and maybe it's very clear for everybody else how Lashing is nothing like Allomancy.  I just wasn't scrambling to sign my name onto the subscriber list for the Official Lashing Newsletter, and I kinda wanted to be. 

Well, the Official Lashing Newsletter is an entirely different thing that the topic in question, and... oh, wait. Uh, you were talking about Lashing as in the magic system... weren't you...
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Creative_Vortx

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #24 on: April 06, 2010, 02:10:04 AM »
Allomancy was a martial artist's magic system, and made for intriguing and beautiful battles.  I guess I just didn't want the New Magic System (which I've only seen a little of, and is only one of 109234912 magic systems in the series) to be another "fighting" magic, because Sanderson's already written the most compelling "fighting" magic. 

I can see your point. BUT! If the world is as expansive as BS has led us to believe. I doubt that all the magic systems in this series will be fighting. I very much hope to see magic systems used for every day life. If every one of these magic systems is a fighting system. It could get a little tedious.
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zarepath

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #25 on: April 06, 2010, 03:23:28 AM »
Though, y'know, if there's an Official Lashing Newsletter authored by pirates or maritime sailors, count me in.

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #26 on: April 06, 2010, 10:25:13 AM »

I think some sort of martial-magic-arts action is going to be a part of any Sanderson series, but it's not all that he does with it. And discovering how that magic can be used in more creative ways than just beating people up is part of what keeps it interesting.


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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #27 on: April 06, 2010, 11:52:06 PM »
On topic: Loved just about everything in the prologue

derail: I was thinking about the shardblades, and because  I'm thoroughly obssessed with Hoid, SoA, and shadesmar, my mind kept wanting to automatically assume something.

I'm fully aware some alpha readers post among these boards, but for the rest of us, has BS stated anything about where shardblades come from through the summoning (10 heartbeats)?
I know Szeth refers to it as "condensation" iirc on the blade, and it took me rereading it several times before I realized I  was taking a leap of imagination. But my mind kept assuming that he had summoned it through/from the shadesmar (and in case I'm remembering it wrong, I'm talking about the near perfect reflection that is made up of water), and that's why it was wet.

Once I corrected myself on that, I couldn't stop thinking about Hoid and how BS said he's very adept at manipulating shadesmar (paraphrase). Maybe he just summons himself around or something. Which of course made me crack up laughing picturing him soaking wet everytime he shows up on a new planet.

Did I miss something in a hint about the shardblades, or could that be possible?

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #28 on: April 07, 2010, 01:34:35 AM »
Up until the preview, I don't think Brandon has talked much about Blades or Plate at all. It's probably all cached under RAFO (Read And Find Out).

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prologue for now) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #29 on: April 07, 2010, 07:12:52 AM »
I liked it, but I was a little underwhelmed as well.  (Sorry.)  Out of Elantris, Warbreaker, and Mistborn TFE, I liked this prologue the least, for a few reasons. 

Here, we're getting a *lot* of information dropped on us -- kingdoms and castes and religion and glimpses of complicated backstory, and in the middle of it all, a complicated fight and magic system we don't know.  This resulted for me in a choppy flow, because there were pieces that I picked up fast, but other pieces that were just confusing.  (And that's not why I read Brandon -- if I feel like reading something arcane-and-confusing, I pick up some China Mieville or Steven Erickson.)  So overall, for me, it made the fight and the magic system much less of a "wow" moment than either Mistborn or Warbreaker.  Sorry 'bout that.

One thing that I thought Mistborn TFE did perfectly was the gradual magic system reveal.  It starts out with just glimpses -- Kelsier burns down the noble's house, and we don't know how.  We realize that the magic is awesome, and then we're drawn into the world, and we're slowly primed to understand the back story, and ready to enjoy the magic system when it hits us.  Warbreaker does jump right in with the magic, but the flow and the new information rush seems more carefully calibrated.  We get glimpses of backstory, but it's not a drink from the firehose.  Here it just seemed like a little too much going on.  I'm vaguely hoping that this isn't really the prologue, but one of those fake-prologues that often come up as teasers.   (As I recall the paperback teaser that was used for Martin's ASOS was something like 8 chapters into the actual book.) 

I'm looking forward to the series, though -- it sounds like it's going to be very interesting. 
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