Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - kari-no-sugata

Pages: 1 2 [3]
31
I was reacting to the suggestion that Brandon would rely on magical magic rather than logical magic, when logical magic is one of those things he's earned a reputation for.

I have some good news - that's not what I intended to mean with my post at all. I very much appreciate the detail and in-world logic Brandon goes into - it's a luxury readers rarely get in fantasy. I was wondering out loud, not complaining. I'm also fully aware that those who have only seen the publicly available preview (like me) have only read a tiny percentage of just the first book, and that it would be unreasonable to have everything explained fully on introduction. I regret not being able to convey this earlier.

If there's any interest, I could re-explain what I was getting at.

32
A couple of random thoughts...

When I heard about a world so afflicted with storms that everything living had to shelter to survive, one of the things I wondered about is food - the humans in this world are clearly living above the subsistence level, but what's the source of their food? It seems like the topsoil is mostly gone, so intensive farming would be impossible. However, enough plants seem to have adapted that basic grain crops might well be practical, though it's hard to imagine that working above a subsistence level without some kind of special locations / technology that can protect the soil and the crops from the intense storms. Foraging would be similarly difficult. Of course, there's more to food than crops - I wonder how much of the world's food is fish and seafood in general? The seas would likely be reasonably protected against the storms (though hurricanes can do a lot of damage), so those living by the sea should be able to make a living off it. Maybe raw fish would be rather popular though, since if plants are scarce then so would be wood and hence fire, unless there is some magic alternative. And then, on page 13 we learn that "Emeralds were the most valuable, for they could be used by Soulcasters to create food"! Magic created food? Well, that sure can change some things though I'm sure there's some complications. But, if they're the most valuable then that still implies that food availability is a major problem.

On a related note, Shallan has been chasing Jasnah for nearly 6 months but during that time has only gone to 6 different places where Jasnah might be during that time. ie on average 1 month's travel is required between what are presumably major places, which also gives a feeling of a sparse population to me. Though maybe I'm reading too much into things.

I like the imagery of Shallan having to strain her neck looking up at the top of Kharbranth. Rather than simply describing the height, it gives the feeling of looking up at a skyscraper from the base.

Maybe I'm being too picky, but I kinda wonder about the practicalities of the skyeels. I don't have a problem with 'flying fish' - after all birds are descended from dinosaurs, and it's not hard to imagine evolution turning today's flying fish (gliding fish to be more precise) into true fliers. However, from the drawings, I wonder about the power-to-weight ratio of the skyeels - would they be able to generate enough lift to take off even? Unless there's some trick they're using specific to the world it doesn't seem very practical. They'd also have to be warm-blooded to have enough endurance to fly for more than a few minutes a day. Some of the text seems to imply that they don't exactly fly like birds though - they 'undulate' rather than flit about. Fast enough to be predators though. Still, it definitely feels like I'm being too picky when we're using to flying dragons in fantasy  ;D

On a more general note, I think Brandon's prose has improved (for me at least). One problem I had with his prose initially (in earlier books) is that it tended to feel at times like something a Hollywood scriptwriter would produce. To me, this tended to "break the spell". From this point of view, "The Gathering Storm" was a big improvement and it feels like Brandon has recycled his efforts there into "Way of Kings", and quite possibly improved again.

33
let's see... It looks like that prophecy was made in 1171, 4500 years after the prelude. Or maybe it happened in the year 1171, a long time before the prologue. By a pregnant lighteyed lady.
It seems these prophets die almost immediately after prophesying. Perhaps they have to be dying to prophesy. Agh! I wish I knew when these chapters took place.


The dates for all of them are in the year 1171. But between them we have "x years later" and "y months later" and the like. So, I think it's intended to be clear that they are independent of the 'real' time of the 'current' story. To me, they feel like achieves of some major world-wide catastrophe... though personally, I'm rather curious as to just who is doing this and why... and how do they have second accurate precision on time of death, considering the technology level of the world? I would not be surprised if this is some recording of "the enemy".


34
Ooh, I seem to be able to join in this discussion early. I hadn't been able to read what had been previewed before so I had ignored this thread. Being able to join in the fun early made me feel like registering - so, first post!

Firstly, on typos and such, I haven't spotted anything beyond what's been reported so far (here or on the comments on the Tor site).

I don't have time for much in the way of comments since I need some sleep (1.30 am local time). Just some quick random thoughts: starting each chapter with a death is rather interesting, particularly with the curiously precise time to death. Brandon seems to like main female characters who also blush a lot - doesn't feel odd for Shallan considering her background (ditto Siri) but felt a bit out of character for Vin. Looks like Shallan's sketches will be pad out the book a bit - sweet idea, and doesn't seem forced. I have this vague feeling that spren might be a bit like the mist from Mistborn (ie semi-intelligent distributed part of a god-like being), and that maybe we shouldn't necessarily assume that how the people of the world categorise them are how we should ultimately categorise them.

Overall pacing felt a bit like start of Warbreaker, but more intense and greater sense of depth.

Pages: 1 2 [3]