Timewaster's Guide Archive

Really, Peter?

Because Lawhead's characters remind me a lot of Brandon's, in that they're well-rounded, and that there is considerable character development over the series arc.

It probably also helped that I was not at all familiar with Celtic mythology, so if there were "tropes," they meant nothing to me.

The triology is really about leadership: What does it take to be a leader? How is a leader's character formed? How does a person learn to believe in themself in a way that inspires others to do the same? Brandon's books also remind me of that aspect.

And then there were the gnomic passages (as in rhetoric - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_%28rhetoric%29) - those reminded me of LoR.

But to each their own - glad we have such a wealth of choices.  I want to look up some of the others suggested here.

I totally could not read beyond book 6 - had to force myself to get that far.

From there on, I've used the online synopses - and now Leigh Butler's Re-Read - to get up to speed for Brandon's books.

By book the end of 6, I hated all the characters and wanted them all to die - or maybe grow up, or get counseling, or join a 12-step group, or something.

Really, I'm a Brandon fan, not a WoT fan (hey, you can't like everything), so I fully confess that I'm in the minority in this thread. If Brandon hadn't stepped in, I'd have never read any of these books, so it's better than nothing, eh?

While I'm happy for my many friends who are hard-core WoT fans, I just lost patience with the repetitive incidents of hazing (naked people beating each other with sticks; I wondered a little if it was related to Jordan's time at VMI) and the excessively florid descriptions.

Now I realize that these are things that draw some people in to Jordan's style - if that be the case, more power to you.

I'm just thankful to all the folks (including you TWG readers) who've contributed to the Encyclopedia, etc., because you have saved me a boatload of pain.

"Led" - past tense of the verb, "to lead"

I cannot tell you the last time I read this word in a news story, e-mail, or (sorry) post on this or any other forum. It's even wrong in many books (but none from TWG authors, as far as I know).

When I read something in the news like, "Yesterday, Maj. Xyz lead the Nth Brigade in an offensive against [generic enemy combatants]," it just makes me wonder - When did this happen? Because "lead" is present tense, but it says it happened yesterday...

Am I the only one to notice this? - that a fine and legitimate word has met a premature end at the hands of the evil spellcheck, which is too dumb to know the difference?

Or is this a recognized change in the language? - I confess that, to me, "prioritize" will never be a real word, and "creative" will never be a noun, so I may just have to use the one new term that's worth its weight in gold: "Whatever."

I agree with many posters here, that the Shardblades (in use during WoK) have an evil feel. I wonder if they aren't - metaphorically - a two-edged sword, that gives an advantage in battle, but leaves the bearer open to evil somehow - like maybe, the more you use it, the more arrogant and hostile you become. If a person had great stength of character within themselves, they could fend off this evil influence longer than others. I wonder if it's not a coincidence that the Alethi nobles prize Shardblades so much, and have such character problems - the influence to evil would be both cause and effect.

Hmmm - What if the Knights Radiant gave up the Shardblades because they were evil, or had somehow become a conduit for evil?

Or - What if the Shardblades were immune to evil during the Oathpact, but once that was broken, Odium began to be able to work through them somehow?

Re: the Dawnshards - I wonder if these aren't actual shards - broken pieces of something, like if a huge crystal got broken. [Confess that I'm thinking of "The Dark Crystal" ... where are the Gelflings?  ]

I very much like unreal's theory re: Parshendi being infused with the spirits of men.

And I like Melriken's theory re: champions, especially in that battle at the Tower. Whether or not that's exactly what the prophecy referred to, it could be related.

I assumed that the creatures described as "horrors of rock ... dozens of feet tall" were the thunderclasts, which we see at the very beginning of the book ("a dying thunderclast"). I picture the Parshendi body-armor more like an insect's shell - flexible, chitinous - not like rock at all.

Also, I did not assume that all Jasnah's quotes referred to the Voidbringers - I think some of them refer to other enemies, like that "Midnight [something]" in one of Dalinar's visions. (Sorry for the imprecise quote - a friend has my copy of tWoK now.)

I realize this theory is kinda out there, but when I read about the Parshendi -vs- the Parshmen, it just *feels* like something Brandon would do.

My theory: The Parshendi are not actually enemies, but will become allies instead. They are the "help" that the Almighty sent (mentioned in one of Dalinar's visions).

- - The Almighty has caused them to evolve so that they have "armor" that prevents the hive-mind control that normal Parshmen fall victim to.

- - The dark sphere (that Gavilar gave Szeth) does summon thunderclasts. The Parshendi gave it to Gavilar to keep it from their non-armored cousins during the coming Desolation.

- - But then why kill Gavilar? Maybe, as he interacted with him in the visions, the Almighty discovered that Gavilar was the "wrong" brother - from the descriptions of their personalities, he seems more over-aggressive whereas Dalinar seems more "Honor"-able, so to speak. So the Almighty chose the younger brother, and led (by visions?) the Parshendi to remove the elder one. This reminds me a little of the Jacob/Esau story in Jewish history.