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Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Squallor on August 10, 2011, 05:05:24 PM

Title: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Squallor on August 10, 2011, 05:05:24 PM
http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/the-alloy-of-law-chapter-five
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Sir_Read-a-Lot on August 11, 2011, 03:33:52 PM
Oh, just publish the book already!   ;D

Chapter was amazing, as always.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Tortellini on August 11, 2011, 04:40:07 PM
Great stuff!

It's interesting - Peter said that they can't really end the previews before chapter 6. So there is one more chapter coming. This would already have been a great cliff-hanger right there, if you ask me. Apparently, the next chapter is going to blow our minds  ;D
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on August 11, 2011, 05:18:16 PM
Ending the previews on such a huge cliffhanger would just be cruel.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Cheese Ninja on August 11, 2011, 07:45:38 PM
Ending the previews on such a huge cliffhanger would just be cruel.
I'm not sure how to take this comment, do editors delight in tormenting the readers as much as authors?  Is it going to end on an even bigger cliffhanger?

I'm really interested to see how Wax and Wayne are going to fight together, since Wax can't shoot out of the speedbubble, is he just going to line up some shots, shoot when Wayne drops it, then they both dash and he sets up another bubble and they repeat the process?  If that's the case it doesn't really seem like Wayne would get much of a chance to use his dueling canes, so I'm guessing there's a bit more to their attack pattern.  Plus, I don't know if Wax has enough bullets for that.

I thought both Marasi and Steris could be kidnapping targets, glad I got that one right.  I wouldn't mind too much if Marasi gets kidnapped, but I hope Steris doesn't.  We've got a bit of an introduction to the kind of character Marasi is, but only hints of Steris's attitudes.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: ulysses sword on August 12, 2011, 12:55:28 AM
My guess to the fight? Wax lightly tosses several coins out of the bubble, directly in line with the Vanishers he is targeting.  They are going slow enough to not be deflected much by passing through the bubble.  Wayne drops the bubble, then Wax pushes all dozen or so coins directly outwards, towards their targets.  Repeat two or three more times, then relax in victory.  I'm sure there's something wrong with this, but I'm not sure what it is. 
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: CabbyHat on August 12, 2011, 04:41:19 AM
What I found most interesting was that koloss can apparently breed with humans. I guess it makes sense, since the original founders of the species were once human. Though that's interesting - I wonder if that means kandra would be able to have children with humans, or were they too thoroughly changed?
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Tortellini on August 12, 2011, 09:44:10 AM
My guess to the fight? Wax lightly tosses several coins out of the bubble, directly in line with the Vanishers he is targeting.  They are going slow enough to not be deflected much by passing through the bubble.  Wayne drops the bubble, then Wax pushes all dozen or so coins directly outwards, towards their targets.  Repeat two or three more times, then relax in victory.  I'm sure there's something wrong with this, but I'm not sure what it is. 

It sounds good, actually. My biggest concern is that it's 37 against 2! I know they are mistings, but any of the robbers could be, too. In fact, the train robberies already prove that they have some allomancers... Going against them directly seems foolish. Hope they don't regret it.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Inkthinker on August 12, 2011, 07:43:56 PM
What I found most interesting was that koloss can apparently breed with humans. I guess it makes sense, since the original founders of the species were once human. Though that's interesting - I wonder if that means kandra would be able to have children with humans, or were they too thoroughly changed?

I don't think so... a Kandra imitating a human is still (in actuality) a conglomeration of reforming muscle-sacs surrounding a skeleton. I don't think they have the capability to form the actual internal reproductive organs (gonads, or a uterus) needed to create another human being. The original kandra were human, but every generation since is an Awakened mistwraith, right?

Koloss, on the other hand, are more basically magically mutated humans. They presumably have all the organs and such they had when they're changed over by the spiking, and so it's not much of a stretch to imagine that they can breed both with each other and with un-mutated humanity.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on August 12, 2011, 09:54:50 PM
The original mistwraiths were human too. I always thought they should reproduce like amoebas when they got too big, but I think Brandon has denied that.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: CabbyHat on August 12, 2011, 10:17:55 PM
Yeah, you're probably right. I just find this so interesting; getting new hints of how the world's changed and what Sazed's been up to with its population since the original trilogy. I can't help but speculate. :D
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Inkthinker on August 13, 2011, 09:41:55 AM
The original mistwraiths were human too. I always thought they should reproduce like amoebas when they got too big, but I think Brandon has denied that.

Right, the First Generation, formed from the other Terrismen that accompanied Rashek. But by the time we got to the trilogy, we had up to a Third Generation, right? Aren't those all from uplifted mistwraiths?

How the heck do we get new mistwraiths, anyhow?
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Ari54 on August 13, 2011, 12:11:08 PM
Tensoon was from the third generation, but weren't there several after his? I thought the newest generation in the trilogy was the tenth, but I'd have to check to be sure...
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on August 13, 2011, 04:48:23 PM
I said the mistwraiths were human. The first generation *kandra* were from Rashek's party. The mistwraiths were all the other feruchemists that Rashek dehumanized. And I speculated on where mistwraiths come from.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Inkthinker on August 13, 2011, 10:00:49 PM
Oooohhh... I see.

Hm. Interesting.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Tortellini on August 15, 2011, 10:15:47 AM
I actually thought there was no way of getting new mistwraiths - at least under the Lord Ruler. What was there was what they had. Naturally, Sazed may have changed that. But since the Kandra are also immortal (except of course murder), it's not an immediate issue that they can't get new mistwraiths until they run out. Until then they can just recycle the spikes.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Chaos on August 15, 2011, 08:13:16 PM
I actually thought there was no way of getting new mistwraiths - at least under the Lord Ruler. What was there was what they had. Naturally, Sazed may have changed that. But since the Kandra are also immortal (except of course murder), it's not an immediate issue that they can't get new mistwraiths until they run out. Until then they can just recycle the spikes.

But the mistwraiths do breed true. Quote from Hero of Ages' epigraphs, emphasis mine:

Quote
When the Lord Ruler offered his plan to his Feruchemist friends—the plan to change them into mistwraiths—he was making them speak on behalf of all the land's Feruchemists. Though he changed his friends into kandra to restore their minds and memories, the rest he left as nonsentient mistwraiths. These bred more of their kind, living and dying, becoming a race unto themselves. From these children of the original mistwraiths, he made the next generations of kandra.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Tortellini on August 16, 2011, 08:46:12 AM
Oh, so I'm totally off... :) Thanks for pointing that out!
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: Aashyma on August 18, 2011, 01:04:26 PM
What I found most interesting was that koloss can apparently breed with humans. I guess it makes sense, since the original founders of the species were once human. Though that's interesting - I wonder if that means kandra would be able to have children with humans, or were they too thoroughly changed?
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Fantasy-Science-Fiction/Post-Questions-For-Brandon-Sanderson-Here/td-p/354645/page/3
^
Sanderson said in this interview that Kandra are forbidden from assuming human bodies after the origin.
Combine that with the fact that new kandra are formed by piercing a mistwraith with spikes infused with allomantric powers and you've reduced the likelihood of new kandra to a minimum.
Title: Re: Alloy of Law (Chapter 5)
Post by: rcfleming on August 18, 2011, 05:44:01 PM
In this thread http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/647-alloy-of-law-chapter-3-spoilers/

It's stated that Brandon might have changed the assuming human bodies prohibition, which makes sense with the kandra missionaries.