I don't know why I didn't think rashek was the lord ruler for some reason... Once read the journal entries I thought the the "hero" became tainted by "the deepness" and it really wasn't him who was acting evil as the lord ruler but he was being controled. I also thought that when vin met the vile overlord he would show some kind of train of goodness or something since I was thinking he was tainted. I was pleasently suprised ^_^
The magic system is great, Ive still been trying to think of my own, but it still sounds too generic... Burning metals is such a cool thing, though I would find it odd to EAT metal... unless those beads of atium were a soft metal... arg...
Someone said a few things about the land being forzen due to the ash, but the sun is really big and red, wouldn't that imply that it's a LOT worse then our normal sun? The hint at the sun being closer makes it sound like the lord ruler managed to pull the sun closer. One Idea I have too is that the mist is the deepness but made so it doesn't "consume everything" like what I thought was implied by it being so evil and all.
I liked Kell... I'll miss him... when reading the first character he reminded me of was Toshi Umawaza from the Magic: the gathering Kamigawa cycle (which,for a wizards of the coast book, was pretty good). I like that sort of hero... Not so much an anti-hero as Toshi but still a similar attitude.
I can't wait for the sequal... Halfway through reading I was so exited on how good it was that I was fearing the end. It takes a REALLY good book for me to spend free time at home entirely for several days reading. Im so glad theres a sequal, if there wasn't I'd be annoyed that such a good book was over and I would have to search for a new one (which so far has taken me FAR too long to do, months to years between good can't-put-down books). Thankfully I have Elantris to read next time I go to chapters, but the wait for book two will still be hard as hell.
One question EUOL, Ive been thinking of becoming a writer (so many Ideas I need to put in some form besides memory) but everytime I want to write, it's like I don't actually want to do the writting part... Even when I do I seem to not continue it due to not "feeling" like writting... Also, when I think of how you and other authors write the all those things so perfectly I feel like I could never put things in ways that would make sense like that... Of course im only 16 and never attempted to write anything big ever before, I still think I SHOULD be able to do these things or I could never become a writter at all... Hope this doesn't sound annoying...