Timewaster's Guide Archive

I should have something to submit this coming monday, so long as i keep at it. (though, with this newly added deadline, i'm sure i'll have it ready)

ok, so i havent read the previous chapters, because i just (finally) got myself put on the reading list last week or so, however, given what i've read so far, i'm going to give my impressions

First off, i did notice some grammatical/spelling errors, and I went ahead and jotted 'em down as I read em, just so you don't have to hunt for em.

They are as follows:

“What else what I call myself?"

"Cumo began to walk siege wall,"

"Until Pyra made it up thew wall"

"making Pyra and Metu guilty for the live they"

"or the whole in your chest."


Now, onto critiquing.

Obviously, i'm not terribly familiar with how this apparent magic system works, but it appears that your characters attain godhood through some means. I have to agree with Asmodemon on the spies. If the siege has been going on for a while, and they have no way inside the walls anyway, i'm not understanding the reason for sending 5 armed and armored horsemen to go stand outside the wall. All that's going to do is cost you 5 men, and you'll learn nothing.

All in all, i think the dialog came across very well.

The part where Cumo leaps three stories just for the heck of it comes across as kinda weak to me. Mostly because nobody really does anything, it seems like. They just kinda look at him and ignore it. I mean, heck, no one even says anything to him, including the angered leopard attie (i'm assuming she can talk, since you said she's the goddess of the wild). I would assume that at least she would try to chew him out or something, even if he has to cut her off with a "sorry, im in a hurry" sort of bit. I can understand the servants not saying anything (what mortal questions a god?) but a goddess who (i'm assuming) has been around the block a bit, who is kinda vain, who gets splattered with blood from a new, young, reckless god? I would expect her to at least try to hold him up and chew him out or something.

There are no spren in Shinovar.

in so far that we know of. Remember Axies the collector stated that there are many spren who are nigh impossible to find/see. Just because we don't see any and the characters don't think they are any, to me, isn't a convincing argument that there aren't any, consider what we know from Axies.

That said, at this time, i don't think there is sufficient evidence for this theory regarding the truthless, there's too much about shinovar culture in general we don't know, and i don't think at this point they have a whole lot to do with spren in their culture (considering the previous point of discussion), and truthless means something to them, so i doubt being truthless has anything to do with spren.

Does the Great Book of Amber count? It's around 1300 or 1400 pages but it's 10 books crammed into one, chapters start on the same page as the last one to make it fit.

It's a single book, so i'd say yeah. Basically an anthology. Afterall, it's "longest book" not "longest single individual novel"

Quote from: Eerongal on September 17, 2010, 08:39:21 PM

Quote from: happyman on September 17, 2010, 07:48:17 PM

Quote from: Stormblessed on September 16, 2010, 01:59:22 AM

Quote from: ROSHtafARian on September 12, 2010, 03:24:57 AM

So basically, what I’m proposing is…what if Odium killed the Almighty BEFORE the founding of the Ten Orders and the Knights Radiant? 

I don't think the Almighty was killed before founding the Ten Orders. In the last vision the Almighty says that everything that has been shown he had seen himself (implying that he was alive). This includes numerous visions of the Knights Radiant. The earlier visions were also a lot clearer, with specific people and events.

The last vision, however, was what he SUSPECTED would happen, using his limited vision of the future. Thus the image was not so clear, just a city and an incoming wall of shadow. So I think that the Almighty was killed maybe during  Aharietiam (the last desolation), which would explain why there hadn't been a desolation since then.

When dealing with Beings capable of seeing the future, it's hard to say whether the things he "saw" himself were things he was present to see, or simply foretellings that he was absolutely certain of---parts of the mirror that were crystal clear, to extend his analogy.

There is certainly something odd about the visions, though.  The way the humans and other creatures could react to Dalinar's changes but the Almighty couldn't.  That's gotta be important.  I don't know what it means, but it *is* important.

IIRC, the exact way he said it made it sound as if he were actually there, not just saw it in some capacity, but i'm going from memory here, which is always dangerous.

my theory about the visions, though, goes something like this.

Basically, the almighty was able to impart some basic knowledge and personality to what are essentially "bots" in a "virtual simulation" of sorts (using metaphors here to make sense out of it). However, he couldn't impart all of his knowledge to anything (a god can hold a lot) and he was just leaving messages, so he couldn't write open-ended messages that would "fill in the blanks" as the receiver got the message.

Quote from: Andrew the Great on September 13, 2010, 01:16:34 AM

could you become a Radiant by constantly being drunk, and thus attracting the spren that scholar discovered? Hmmmmm.

ah, yes. The AleDrinkers division of the radiants! These are kinda the "frat-boys" of the bunch.

Except---the other humans he saw *interacted* with him.  His talk with that old king made that *very* clear.  It's only the voice of the almighty that couldn't respond.  I just don't understand the reason for the distinction.  Yet.  I've no doubt Brandon will come through.

Right. Like i said, he gave the actual people of the reenactment a bit of freedom in what they can do as far as interacting with him, like a simulation set up for him. Where as the almighty's messages are just that, messages that he himself recorded, as opposed to being interactive "NPC's" like in a video game. I would presume it would be easier for him to create a virtual representation of and knowledge of mortal beings as opposed to doing the same with himself (a god)

Ok, so bare with me haha.  On page 52 Kaladin states he was put into slavery for killing a "lighteyes." If those terms have no more meaning than what you stated, does that mean he was put into slavery for killing a person who had light colored eyes?

Essentially, but there's more to it than that (you'll find out later)

The alethi believe those born with light colored eyes were chosen by the almighty to lead. As a result, all of the ruling class are lighteyes, and the serving/working class are all darkeyed.

Anytime they say "Lighteyes" just think of some sort of ruler somewhere in the hierarchy (lord, duke, duchess, king, queen, prince, etc.), anyone with lighteyes is essentially one of these by birthright.

Just an FYI, These two designs have been suggested and endorsed by issac on 17thshard.com, i just wanted to put em here so people are aware of em.


4) Kaladin with shield pincushioned with arrows.  Glyph for the number 4.

5) silhouette of bridge 4 characters standing tall and proud with "bridge 4" on top

I kinda thought he asked for the pain over the loss of his wife to be taken away, and the Nightwatcher just wiped her completly from his mind. Pain gone, but now he'll never remember her...

i dunno, i'd kinda doubt this. Especially since he speaks how he had always wanted Navani, but stepped aside for Gavilar. It just seems like the "death of his wife" wouldn't be as big of a deal to him, considering his marriage was a shame, because he was just settling since he couldn't have Navani.

That's how i see it at least. That's why i dont really agree with the gift being anything relating to his wife in specific, and assume the curse to be loss of his memories of her.