Author Topic: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:  (Read 48464 times)

kari-no-sugata

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #165 on: June 11, 2010, 11:00:07 PM »
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".


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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #166 on: June 11, 2010, 11:15:31 PM »
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.

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.

I would not be surprised if this is some recording of "the enemy".

I don't think it's the result of the world-wide catastrophe, but a precursor to it. The Everstorm is the catastrophe, I'm pretty confident of that. Which is what is mentioned in the quotes.

Getting the accuracy down to the second is easy. If you are a higher power looking down on the scene of the world and recording everything. I believe whoever is recording these is looking for somebody specific, or that fits a specific criteria maybe.

This line out of Chapter I's quote slightly supports that theory:

Quote
Sample is considered questionable.

Sample of the recording of history? Sample of the person being looked at doesn't quite fit what he/they/it are looking for?

While on the subject of the quotes.. The number 10 is coming up way too frequently to be nothing. Ten orders. Ten gods mentioned in the prologue (which correspondes to the 10 beings in the prelude).
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Inkthinker

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #167 on: June 11, 2010, 11:40:46 PM »
Man, you guys are gonna like this book. You're just scraping the surface. 

:D

Goes to show how Brandon puts a lot of flavor in even a bite-size portion.

Peter, are they still planning to use Shallan's drawings as chapter bookends or are they interlacing them with the pages, now?

kari-no-sugata

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #168 on: June 11, 2010, 11:58:55 PM »
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.

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #169 on: June 12, 2010, 12:05:53 AM »
When the picture is blown up to a decent size, the biology of Skyeels may make a bit more sense. That notation ain't just for show.

There's a lot of plant life that has evolved to survive the highstorms, and some of it is edible and cultivated. That too will make more sense as more is revealed.

C'mon guys, there's one thing Brandon is pretty good about NOT doing, and that creating a world that relies on "magic does it" as an excuse for new and cool things. I'm not saying the man's a hard scientist, but he thinks stuff out better than that.


« Last Edit: June 12, 2010, 02:32:18 AM by Inkthinker »

Creative_Vortx

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #170 on: June 12, 2010, 12:45:37 AM »
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.

Don't forget that Brandon has been working on Way of Kings for a lot longer then he was with The Gathering Storm. I don't doubt that he learned a lot from working on the epic TGS but there wasn't such a long time between him finishing TGS and WoK that i'd make the assumption that that's the reason for the change in writing style. Style is hard to change when you're set in a certain way. Ask any artist.

Man, you guys are gonna like this book. You're just scraping the surface.   :D

I'll take that as confirmation that something in somebodies post is relatively close to some form of truth! BWAHAH.

C'mon guys, there's one thing Brandon is pretty good about NOT doing, and that creating a world that relies on "magic does it" as an excuse for new and cool things. I'm not saying the man's a hard scientist, but he thinks stuff out better than that.

Oh trust me, I've come to trust Brandon when it comes to his uses of magic systems. The guy is a genius.

There's a lot of plant life that has evolved to survive the highstorms, and some of it is edible and cultivated. That too will make more sense as more is revealed.

I've yet to see any reason why the plants can't be cultivated regularly. Just because they hide underground doesn't make them impossible to get to. Just.. difficult. Nice to know these people don't live off of just meat, fish and spren soup.

Thanks for the info Ink. Yay for more people to spoil things for us!
« Last Edit: June 12, 2010, 12:51:35 AM by Creative_Vortx »
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #171 on: June 12, 2010, 01:59:07 AM »
The drawings are all put between chapters. I think they put that one in the text in the preview just because they could and there was a good place for it. In the book that picture comes right before chapter 3.
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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #172 on: June 12, 2010, 02:54:23 AM »
Iam going out on a limb, and I think it is way too early to say, but I think that Dallet is Hoid. Just something about him smiling against all odds, it just seems like him.

Then again, Dallet is a warrior, which we haven't seen Hoid being yet.

EDIT- and Cenn as Ruin. (He is the red-haired shard from HoA, right?)

EDIT EDIT-
Never mind. I was writing as I was reading, and am displeased to learn that Kaladin thinks Dallet and Cenn are dead.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2010, 03:21:51 AM by Zany And Spontaneus! #678 »
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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #173 on: June 12, 2010, 03:02:49 AM »
Thanks for the info Ink. Yay for more people to spoil things for us!

Aw, I think I've been quite good about spoilers. 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.

But I suppose folks will find that out for themselves after August.


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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #174 on: June 12, 2010, 07:15:41 AM »
Sample of the recording of history? Sample of the person being looked at doesn't quite fit what he/they/it are looking for?

While on the subject of the quotes.. The number 10 is coming up way too frequently to be nothing. Ten orders. Ten gods mentioned in the prologue (which correspondes to the 10 beings in the prelude).

I think that "sample" refers to the quote itself.  They were calling the people "subjects", and I can't think of anything else that "sample" could logically apply to.  They could have changed their terminology mid-statement, but I just don't think they did.

Also, on the subject of the orders, what do you guys think that means?  Ten orders, like ten things someone told him to do?  Orders, like ten groups of people?  The first time I read it, I thought about it meaning the latter, but the second time, I assumed the former.  What do you guys think?
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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #175 on: June 12, 2010, 10:33:36 AM »
Iam going out on a limb, and I think it is way too early to say, but I think that Dallet is Hoid. Just something about him smiling against all odds, it just seems like him.

Then again, Dallet is a warrior, which we haven't seen Hoid being yet.

EDIT- and Cenn as Ruin. (He is the red-haired shard from HoA, right?)

EDIT EDIT-
Never mind. I was writing as I was reading, and am displeased to learn that Kaladin thinks Dallet and Cenn are dead.

gunna have to dissagree on the dallet part. Hoid is a small charecter with a key task in each book so far.

Cenn does not have red hair. The man to his side did.

"The soldier on the other side of Cenn nodded. He was a lanky, redhaired Veden, with darker tan skin than the Alethi. Why was he fighting in an Alethi army? “That’s right. Kaladin, he’s stormblessed, right sure he is. We only lost . . . what, one man last battle?”
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Valkynphyre

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #176 on: June 12, 2010, 04:49:08 PM »
These prophecies sound to me like they were recorded by priests or scholars of some kind. Think about it, an order of monks that collect people's last words and determine if they are, in fact, prophecies. As for one of them being unreliable, wasn't she a darkeyes?

Depending on who these priests are, it could just be discrimination.

But this is just me assuming things, carry on.

NEED NEED NEED NEED NEED this book.
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zas678

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #177 on: June 12, 2010, 07:29:30 PM »
I'm pretty sure it has been mentioned by Alphas that Hoid is going to have  much more screen time in Way of Kings.
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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #178 on: June 12, 2010, 09:52:55 PM »
Also, on the subject of the orders, what do you guys think that means?  Ten orders, like ten things someone told him to do?  Orders, like ten groups of people?  The first time I read it, I thought about it meaning the latter, but the second time, I assumed the former.  What do you guys think?

From the summary on amazon,

"It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them." 

So that pretty much confirms that they are not word orders, but group orders. Though you probably already knew that.

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Re: Way of Kings Discussion (prelude, prologue & chapters 1-3) :SPOILERS:
« Reply #179 on: June 12, 2010, 11:00:04 PM »
Lurker here, just wanted to play "Where's Hoid" after reading the sample chapters.  I'm thinking the porter that took Shallan on the ride through the city is a candidate.