Timewaster's Guide Archive

I think the shin were the original people of roshar, and were left unchanged by cultivation, and they seem to have developed a culture that is the opposite of what the alethi have, perhaps so they would not care if people try and see the future, but maybe they have problems with the past and szeth was a historian of some kind so he guessed that the voidbringers were never defeated, and so the shin made him into a killer, someone who would be like the lowest of the low as a punishment, which would explain why szeth said his punishment demanded the voidbringers werent real, but his honor demanded that they were

Do you think, maybe, that this is where his label "Truthless" came from? I'm still confused as to why everyone calls him that, I was assuming something to do with the Shardblade but I was just taking a stab in the dark.

He said he plans to release 2 books approximately every 3 years...thus, 10 books...15 years.

Does this include WoT, Stormlight Archive and young adult books?

That's interesting, I hadn't heard about the 15-year span. You're probably right about the 4 other worlds, although there may not necessarily be 2 Shards on each (there was 1 from the Warbreaker book, and there's supposedly 3 on Roshar), it'll probably work out to average 2 on each world...assuming he doesn't want to add more books with 1 Shard each. We'll have to wait and see.

Like what Inkthinker said earlier:

Remember as well that the bridge is hollow inside, with sections reinforced and separated by supports.

The supports and reinforcements are already there. I think it would be quite sturdy (even if they made the bridges extra thick before running them out to the field). But as Inkthinker also said, I agree with his take on the Highprinces not wanting use such a tactic.

I think we may be looking at the issue from the wrong side. The reason that there are not soulcast bridges has nothing to do with how the magic works. They probably could soulcast bridges if they have the right materials to hand.

But individual Highprinces determine what goes into their camps, and they pay to have those buildings cast on an individual basis at their own expense. And that's an expensive process 'cause it eats up spheres and requires a specialist with a near monopoly on the process.

Bridges aren't cast out on the Plains because no one faction wants to shoulder the responsibility or expense of creating and maintaining them, especially if anyone else was allowed to use them. Remember, the Highprinces are only loosely allied under the King, and they're rarely interested in working together. Competition is at the heart of the Alethi nature, right?

It's possible that the lack of soulcast bridges is a factor of selfish politicking and bureaucracy rather than an issue of feasibility.  All you have to do is look to real-world politics to see how easy it is for smart ideas to fall to the wayside.

Thinking a bit ahead, if Dalinar manages to unite the Highprinces, perhaps this is something we could see in the books to come (barring any other story elements that removes everyone from the Shattered Plains).

Here's the problem I have with the "most horrific act" quote: Her reaction to someone else killing people (Jasnah Soulcasting the thugs) was a huge internal conflict. Now if she, herself, had done any killing (even excluding her father) I still think she would consider that an extremely horrific act on her part.

We know she killed her father, and we know she has a Shardblade, but that doesn't mean that her father had the Blade.

Ten heartbeats, to bring forth the fruit of her sin, the proceeds of her most horrific act.

Yes, she got it after killing someone, but it doesn't explicitly say (or hint at, really) her father. I think more things happened that night than we know, as we only get a few lines and hints throughout the book.

Edit:
Also, I seemed to have missed how we know that the drawing Shallan did of the dead guy was her father. Could someone explain to me or get me a quote from the book, please?

As time goes on, now that I've finished tWoK, I can't help but think of the "bigger picture" in all of Brandon's books.
But mainly about tWoK's part in all of it. We know the series will span 10 books, so it will be quite in-depth. I feel like it is kind of a central hub for the other books (as far as over-lapping characters, etc. go). One general theory I've been rolling around in my head is that, while the series will tell Roshar's tale, it will also kick-start this on-going story of Shardholders and gods and this 17th Shard group. With this, I came about the idea that during the time it takes Brandon to finish the Stormlight Archive, he may release other books that give bits and pieces and clues as to what's happening in the Cosmere. By the time he finishes the Stormlight Archive (and maybe these other books) we could be looking at yet another series, one that could involve characters and story elements from all of his books up until that point. This is all just speculation on my side, I really don't have evidence, but I would like to see some other people's thoughts on this idea.