Sign in with Facebook
Kogiopsis's Reviews > Words of Radiance
Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)
by
by
Kogiopsis's review
bookshelves: fangirl-alert, favorite-2014-reads, teary-eyes, flawless, kickass-ladies
Sep 16, 2011
bookshelves: fangirl-alert, favorite-2014-reads, teary-eyes, flawless, kickass-ladies
March 5th: Done with first readthrough. It was, in fact, more perfect than expected. I only cried a little bit; mostly afterwards I just have this feeling of intense satisfaction.
I will probably still wait to review until I've read through twice; I have a lot that I think I want to say but I haven't fully processed it.
August 10: It's obvious to everyone that I'm not gonna get around to a reread for a while, right? Cool. I'll do it eventually, because I have a lot to say about this book, but it'll take a lot more time and energy than I have right now.
4 MARCH 2014: IT'S OUT! I'm going to leave this review up as-is until I can replace it with an actual review of the book; as I'm going to be reading it twice (one speed-read before Sanderson comes to my area for a signing, one thorough re-read afterwards) that may be some time.
18 December 2013: Review rewritten/reorganized to be more coherent and remove out-of-date info.
19 January 2014: Links added for TOR-released chapters. There will be two more chunks posted on the website before the book comes out.
21 January 2014: First of those two remaining chunks released at noon EST. I feel pretty comfortable saying we'll see the last set of chapters - the ones Peter Ahlstrom has been hinting at by saying we haven't gotten the 'hooks' yet - at the same time on the 28th.
28 January 2014: I was right. Links updated below. Note that now all the chapters we know to expect have been released; this may be the end of preview material.
RELEASE DATE: March 4. This is pretty much set at this point.
COVER/FLAP DESCRIPTION: can be found here. If you're not sure who's who, title explanations are under the spoiler cut: (view spoiler)
As of this review update, the version Goodreads has on their page for the book is the old version. There are obviously major changes between the two, but both provide interesting hints towards plot events.
READINGS/EXCERPTS:
- Eshonai interlude (Audio, part 1 (excerpt starts at 12:30), part 2 (overlaps somewhat with first part); transcript)
- Shallan flashback (Audio, transcript)
- Rysn interlude (Writing videos: prewriting, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve; transcript)
- Taravangian interlude (Excerpt)
- Jasnah prologue (Transcript)
- Kaladin, chapter 2 (Transcript)
- Dalinar flashback (Transcript)
- Ym interlude (Transcript)
- Lift interlude (Excerpt)
- Teeny fragment of conversation involving Dalinar (Excerpt, sort of)
-Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 at TOR (Excerpt)
- Chapters 3-5 at TOR (Excerpt)
- Chapters 6, 8, and 9 at TOR (Excerpt)
- Chapters 10, 12, 14, and Interlude I-1 at TOR (Excerpt; note that Ch. 10 and Interlude I-1 were previously released in audio as Red Carpet, Once White and the Eshonai Interlude; however, there have been changes in the final versions.)
As of right now, everything released via the Steelhunt is also on this list, so if you don't have a code you're not missing anything. One note: Everything marked 'excerpt' can be considered correct re: spelling and grammar, because it comes from an official source. Anything marked 'transcript' may have misspelled names or inaccurate punctuation. Obviously, any and all of these portions are subject to change before the final version.
I will probably still wait to review until I've read through twice; I have a lot that I think I want to say but I haven't fully processed it.
August 10: It's obvious to everyone that I'm not gonna get around to a reread for a while, right? Cool. I'll do it eventually, because I have a lot to say about this book, but it'll take a lot more time and energy than I have right now.
4 MARCH 2014: IT'S OUT! I'm going to leave this review up as-is until I can replace it with an actual review of the book; as I'm going to be reading it twice (one speed-read before Sanderson comes to my area for a signing, one thorough re-read afterwards) that may be some time.
18 December 2013: Review rewritten/reorganized to be more coherent and remove out-of-date info.
19 January 2014: Links added for TOR-released chapters. There will be two more chunks posted on the website before the book comes out.
21 January 2014: First of those two remaining chunks released at noon EST. I feel pretty comfortable saying we'll see the last set of chapters - the ones Peter Ahlstrom has been hinting at by saying we haven't gotten the 'hooks' yet - at the same time on the 28th.
28 January 2014: I was right. Links updated below. Note that now all the chapters we know to expect have been released; this may be the end of preview material.
RELEASE DATE: March 4. This is pretty much set at this point.
COVER/FLAP DESCRIPTION: can be found here. If you're not sure who's who, title explanations are under the spoiler cut: (view spoiler)
As of this review update, the version Goodreads has on their page for the book is the old version. There are obviously major changes between the two, but both provide interesting hints towards plot events.
READINGS/EXCERPTS:
- Eshonai interlude (Audio, part 1 (excerpt starts at 12:30), part 2 (overlaps somewhat with first part); transcript)
- Shallan flashback (Audio, transcript)
- Rysn interlude (Writing videos: prewriting, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve; transcript)
- Taravangian interlude (Excerpt)
- Jasnah prologue (Transcript)
- Kaladin, chapter 2 (Transcript)
- Dalinar flashback (Transcript)
- Ym interlude (Transcript)
- Lift interlude (Excerpt)
- Teeny fragment of conversation involving Dalinar (Excerpt, sort of)
-Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 at TOR (Excerpt)
- Chapters 3-5 at TOR (Excerpt)
- Chapters 6, 8, and 9 at TOR (Excerpt)
- Chapters 10, 12, 14, and Interlude I-1 at TOR (Excerpt; note that Ch. 10 and Interlude I-1 were previously released in audio as Red Carpet, Once White and the Eshonai Interlude; however, there have been changes in the final versions.)
As of right now, everything released via the Steelhunt is also on this list, so if you don't have a code you're not missing anything. One note: Everything marked 'excerpt' can be considered correct re: spelling and grammar, because it comes from an official source. Anything marked 'transcript' may have misspelled names or inaccurate punctuation. Obviously, any and all of these portions are subject to change before the final version.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Words of Radiance.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
September 16, 2011
– Shelved
July 29, 2013
– Shelved as:
to-read
Started Reading
March 5, 2014
– Shelved as:
fangirl-alert
March 5, 2014
– Shelved as:
favorite-2014-reads
March 5, 2014
– Shelved as:
teary-eyes
March 5, 2014
– Shelved as:
flawless
March 5, 2014
– Shelved as:
kickass-ladies
March 5, 2014
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 61 (61 new)
That's a shame; it's a really evocative title and fits well with the focus on Shallan and Jasnah. Also it would be cool if the titles of all ten books had something to do with in-universe books.
It would indeed. (and imagine if they re-issued leatherbound special editions - you could pretend to have the in-universe books instead of the novels.)
Anita--you referenced Shallon backstory. Am I missing an ebook or additional info on Stormlight Archives? Waiting for Highprince of War and want it now..so re-reading The Way of Kings.
Polo wrote: "Anita--you referenced Shallon backstory. Am I missing an ebook or additional info on Stormlight Archives? Waiting for Highprince of War and want it now..so re-reading The Way of Kings."All you're missing is the audio from readings Sanderson has done of his first draft at book signings. There are three; here is the Shallan flashback, this is the first part of a Parshendi viewpont chapter and this is the second. there's some other stuff in each recording as well, but yeah. There you go! enjoy!
Kewl!! Terrific, fabulous, thanks Anila!
the book will mostly deal with shallon..hope kaladin gets a shardblade!!
Akash wrote: "the book will mostly deal with shallon..hope kaladin gets a shardblade!!"
I'd be shocked if he did; I think the act of refusing one is what drew Syl to him in the first place, and if he took up a Blade he'd probably lose her. Besides, he's badass enough without one.
yeah your are right..syl also states that she hates shardblades!
Akash wrote: "yeah your are right..syl also states that she hates shardblades!"
I thought I remembered that, but I wasn't sure.
Either way, there's no way (view spoiler) and hold a Blade unless there's something about Shardblades we don't know yet... which there probably is. (view spoiler)
yes there are 2 heavy installments remaining..there's a lot to come!!
btw the herald that comes at the end ..is he the last herald that was left in first battle of the book??
He is!
From what I heard (with which I mean what Brandon himself said only last week or so in a youtube video) there are definitely going to be 10 books (at least that is his current plan) and we will kno in april if the book is gonna come out before christmas this year. That is going to be the case if he can finish his first draft until april. So we don´t really know anything until april. Also, he clearly said the the title The book of endless pages is only a working title, it will NOT be the final title of the book. I´ll post the link to the reference video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxFySr...
Theresa wrote: "From what I heard (with which I mean what Brandon himself said only last week or so in a youtube video) there are definitely going to be 10 books (at least that is his current plan) and we will kno..."yyyeah I... know all that? I really do need to edit this review; the original text is a year out of date now (see reference to AMOL coming out in January as if it were still in the future, which at this point it obviously is not). I just haven't had time/keep forgetting to do it when I do have time.
And Book of Endless Pages isn't even a working title at this point; he's rejected it entirely and is just referring to the book as 'Stormlight 2', at least on the website progress bar.
also worth noting: 'Highprince of War' was benched even earlier than 'Book of Endless Pages' was.
I guess this is one way to hijack the top review spot for all of time... hope you do the book justice and delete this once the book comes out so that real reviews can take its place.
Gunner wrote: "I guess this is one way to hijack the top review spot for all of time... hope you do the book justice and delete this once the book comes out so that real reviews can take its place."I was thinking that after the book came out I'd... write my own review, you know, using the space for what it's meant to be used for. I might even still snag the top spot; who knows? My WOK review is creeping up there, so it's possible. (and don't you dare bitch about that, considering that the current top review is a one-star which, while funny, is a cursory overview of content at best.)
In the meantime, however, I don't see what's wrong about providing information to curious fans. Nobody else was collecting it, and these tidbits are somewhat scattered across the web so someone needed to. Not to mention the fact that they built anticipation for the book itself!
I'd also like to point out that this got its 28 likes before I updated it with these links - I'm honestly not sure why. The people of Goodreads like what they like, I suppose, and it is not for you or I to question or criticize them.
(also, considering that the other reviews with text on the page are either variations on 'I'm excited for this!' or 'HURRY UP!' or some combination thereof, what would you rather have in the top review spot?
Hey, no complaints about what is here now. I guess I'm just cynical after seeing people hold on to the top review this way before. and i agree about that WOK top review.
Gunner wrote: "Hey, no complaints about what is here now. I guess I'm just cynical after seeing people hold on to the top review this way before. and i agree about that WOK top review."I've never seen people do this, personally, but if you have I suppose I understand the frustration.
Anila wrote: "I've never seen people do this, personally, but if you have I suppose I understand the frustration. "Yeah, it happens fairly frequently on popular books. I forget which is the one I saw most recently but the top review is still "OMG I'm so excited for this book!" with no actual review, just a long comment history. And since goodreads has no downvoting capability, that will remain the top review no matter what content is there until someone else's review trumps it, if ever.
I think the content you have here so far is great and I apologize for my earlier tone. I do hope that you will do the book its proper justice and remove this review when the real advance reviews start showing up, so they have a better chance of getting to the top.
I'm not sure if removing this review would negate the likes it's already gotten - it might; I guess we'll see. When ARC reviews come in I will consider deleting it, though. If I don't, it won't be because I'm coveting the top review spot, but because those who don't have access to ARCs should still have a way to get to these tidbits. Possible secondary option: shunting the content to a Tumblr post and changing this review to a hyperlink there.Either way, though, I don't think this is in any danger of drowning out ARC reviews when they show up. 28 votes is hardly a high barrier to overcome.
I'm pretty jacked for this book. Way of Kings seemed to have 2 characters they focused on, Kaladin primarily and the a big part on Dalinar. I hope they pick one of the other characters, like maybe the King's Jester, as a secondary focus.
Hoid? He's in just about every book Sanderson has written so far, though he is not often named...
Brandon wrote: "I'm pretty jacked for this book. Way of Kings seemed to have 2 characters they focused on, Kaladin primarily and the a big part on Dalinar. I hope they pick one of the other characters, like mayb..."
'whose' book it is is associated with whose flashback sequence was woven through it. WoK was Kaladin's, and it sounds like we won't get Dalinar's until Book 5. (at which point, Sanderson has made quite clear, he himself might not still be around).
Shallan, Dalinar, and Kaladin are still the main characters. Hoid couldn't be a major secondary focus for exactly the reason Gunner mentioned - he's too tied into the Cosmere at large. We'll probably see a lot of him, since he seems a lot more actively involved on Roshar than other planets, but since the Cosmere is supposed to be an Easter Egg rather than something you need to know about to understand things, we won't learn much about him.
Lora wrote: "Just FYI, I added the synopsis. :)"Thank you!
Draft Bar is at 95%!
So it is! On the other hand, that worries me because he's caught up to his prewriting now, so the pace may slow down...
I agree about the cover, loved the colours but... i think its the face, i loved WoK's cover because there were no faces and i thought thats how he wanted it, the reader filling in the details. Australian cover will no doubt be some boring white thing
Danny wrote: "I agree about the cover, loved the colours but... i think its the face, i loved WoK's cover because there were no faces and i thought thats how he wanted it, the reader filling in the details. Aust..."I actually asked Sanderson about cover art at a signing back in May and he mentioned that the no-faces thing is just something Michael Whelan (the artist) has been doing in his work lately; it doesn't seem to have been his decision.
Nonetheless, I agree with you in general - Kaladin's face here is just wrong.
(for all their dullness it's possible the Australian/UK covers will actually look better than this... we'll see.)
Joris wrote: "I can order the book! It's release date 1 nove 2013http://www.bol.com/nl/p/new-sanderson..."
Unfortunately that website is incorrect, as Sanderson only recently completed edits on the third draft of the book. Amazon is listing the correct date, March 4.
Anila wrote: "Joris wrote: "I can order the book! It's release date 1 nove 2013http://www.bol.com/nl/p/new-sanderson..."
Unfortunately that website is incorrect, as Sanderson only recently compl..."
Yeah that's right! Don't understand, I called the company and they get this information through the publisher... Think they are wrong as well, as you said he only finished draft 3. Checked his website also..
Bummer!!
Words of Radiance copy edit is complete!!!will the release date remain at 4th march?? or could it be moved up im literally dying!!?
Slick wrote: "Words of Radiance copy edit is complete!!!will the release date remain at 4th march?? or could it be moved up im literally dying!!?"
From what I've heard and what I know of Sanderson's process, I think March is pretty much set in stone right now. It's unclear whether the copyedit mentioned on his website is his own or the editor's; I'm guessing it's his, personally.
One of the things that's kind of an x-factor here is whether or not they're going to print galleys. On the one hand, it's only the second book in the series, so it wouldn't be too unusual; on the other, this one is actually longer than WOK in final wordcount, and printing galleys that big can get expensive. If they are doing galleys, I think we an be sure of the March 4th date. If not... it could hypothetically be pushed up, but I wouldn't bet on it. (apparently TOR really likes to have their publishing schedule laid out months in advance, so changing it now strikes me as unlikely no matter what.)
Not to make fun of Sanderson, but I'm happy to finally get any sort of word from him that isn't two words combined when it comes to the new character's order of Radiant. If not for you I'd have forgotten about the interlude since it wasn't up on Tor. It'll have to last me, lol
Stardrag wrote: "Not to make fun of Sanderson, but I'm happy to finally get any sort of word from him that isn't two words combined when it comes to the new character's order of Radiant. If not for you I'd have for..."If you're referring to Eshonai being the Explorer, then I have to disappoint you - that's not an Order. I'm pretty sure Parshendi can't be Radiants anyhow.
Why not? If being a radiant requires a bond and an order-and the parshendi themselves thrive on that-then it should be easiest for her to become one. All it takes is the right spren.
Stardrag wrote: "Why not? If being a radiant requires a bond and an order-and the parshendi themselves thrive on that-then it should be easiest for her to become one. All it takes is the right spren."Mostly because I feel like Interlude I-1, as well as the end of WoK, hint pretty strongly that the Parshendi aren't of Honor. Granted, given that there's antagonism between Honorspren and Cryptics there maybe more than one Shard involved in powering nahel bonds, but right now I think we've seen a lot of stuff to indicate that the Parshendi are going to be more linked to Odium.
Maybe its because you can be a knight radiant without being connected to honor, much like how Lift is bonded with a different kind of spren, but still considered an edgedancer, a class of Radiants. Also, Shallan is linked with a Cryptic, and she's also one of them. Seems like any spren can bond with a person, Parshendi just either bond more closely or take the spren within, let them out during highstorms and switch them to use a different form.
Eeeeh, there's a difference between being connected/of Honor and being bonded to an Honorspren - just as all Scadrian humans have some Preservation in them, but not all have enough to be Allomancers. What I mean is that it's very possible that Odium is the direct Shardic influence on the Parshendi, whereas I'm betting on the other races being an Honor + Cultivation co-creation. (Granted, this is all highly speculative, but given that the end of WoK revealed that (view spoiler) and the end of Interlude I-1 strongly correlates with that I don't think it's irrelevant.)I also think that the existing way Parshendi bond with spren, to create their forms, might supercede their ability to form nahel bonds. It'd be a bit overpowered, from a writing POV, for them to be able to both shift their physical form and gain Radiant powers. (unless there's a specific form they have to use to form the bond, and if they shift out of it they lose it - that could be interesting, but just tacking the bond on would be less so.)
Have you checked out the reread? While I did like much of what he showed, it also showed how the ending of WoK may have been put down only to mislead, especially since it's the first in a ten book series and the enemy might be so easily revealed. It seems a piece of Odium may also be the reason for the "thrill" shown in the alethi during battle.It always felt as if humans were put on the planet much like how preservation and ruin created humans on a different world. And that Parshendi might actually be a part of Roshar.
And last time I checked, don't you have to have to be a descendant of someone to actually have powers in mistborn. You can actually breed out the powers in someone as opposed to this book where you can gain powers at any time. I think they all share their gods, but are just tipped in every kind of way with humans (Alethi and Shin for example) being balanced.
Much like how the (view spoiler)
I think the bond would be their physical form, especially with the (view spoiler) as opposed to the others whose power flows around them. pretty sure he'll find a way to balance it out like he usually does though. No, I wouldn't tack it on either. Way of kings already has some overpowered stuff, but he's doing his best not to fully unleash it yet or has kept it under control so far.
If you mean the TOR reread, then not really; I looked at the first few segments, then decided I could do more complex theorizing talking with my friends, and in less time. That said - the theory that Odium powers the Thrill has been discussed a lot in the fandom, as has the idea that humans aren't native to Roshar. There's no confirmation either way from Sanderson on either.As far as the ending of WoK being misdirection - but of course! I don't think anyone expects the reveals at the end of the book to be the complete truth; that just wouldn't be very Sanderson. Most likely, IMO, is that there's an element of truth to it, but the details are more complicated than expected - especially since that reveal is based on older texts, and anyone who's read Sanderson before knows how reliable ancient records tend to be in his worlds.
Yes, you do have to be descended from a Lerasium Mistborn to have allomantic powers, and from a Feruchemist to have feruchemical abilities, but that's actually a different thing from having an element of Preservation at your core. The only way for Ruin and Preservation to create intelligent life was for them to work together and give that life a core of Shardic power; allomancers or feruchemists just have a bit extra.
Whether or not something similar is true on Roshar depends on whether humans are native to the planet or not. If the Shards created them there, then the humans will be tied to at least one Shard; if they were brought from elsewhere (most likely Yolen), they might not be. Personally, I think Honor and Cultivation sound like a good creative pair, and I suspect planets where humans were extant pre-Shards will be rarer than those where they were brought or created. (I have the idea that Nalthis is one of the former stuck in my head, but I can't for the life of me remember where from or find confirmation one way or another. Might just be a 17S theory.)
I'm not sure what you mean by 'the bond would be their physical form' - that they wouldn't have powers expressed via manipulation of surges, but just a different form?
That's pretty cool. I'd talk to my friends about this if I could, but none of them read Sanderson... or high fantasy... or a lot of books in general.Well, I'm saying that parshendi--when bonded to a spren--effects their physical form along with their mental state. So if they do get to bond with a specific spren than it would infect them internally rather than external like the three radiant orders we've seen so far. So while someone like Kaladin effects the world around him through gravity as his main source of power,, the Parshendi's would be a power would be within.
I know the difference between having the power at your core and being descended from someone with it. I'm saying that despite what shardic influence is at your core, you can bond with the spren of a different type.
Ehhh yes but to some extent magic in the Cosmere is genetic. For Parshendi to be able to form nahel bonds, they would have to either have the SDNA necessary to start with or be altered (based on how Lerasium works, by the shard which powers the bonds - IE probably Honor). My thesis here is that because they are likely of Odium, and the Radiants (and thus the bonds) were created to fight Odium, they probably don't have that inherent capability, and Honor is dead so there may not be a mechanism to give it to them.(note: obvs Rosharan magic works differently from some of the systems discussed in that tag, but SDNA is a general principle of the Cosmere and so especially between entire species it is relevant.)
Makes sense. It's always been like that in the works that I've read from him. That's probably why he decided to call it a Nahel Bond over just saying the word bond since there are probably different ones. That's why I'm taking WoK in a different light form his previous works in that there are so many gods in play along with how humans gain their powers mostly through a bond--except for Szeth who might've gained them through SDNA from his people or another source of power. I guess it's because I think of them more as cultivation because of their ability to shift forms and adaptability. Think they can be corrupted since they bond with any spren no matter what God it is associated with? I'm still unsure if they kill the spren they bond with or not, but it's a thought.
Then again, it is only the first book, so I'm just grasping at straws here.
BTW, thanks for the link too. I enjoyed the read.
Ivan wrote: "Holy moly, you are fast."Sixteen straight hours of reading on the first day + having already read about 100 pages in pre-released stuff does make it easier... but yeah. :D Little bit.
(then again I know people who got the ebook, pulled all-nighters, and finished it by midday on the 4th, so...)
I saw that today. Ah well. I should probably take this review down, since the whole thing is out of date to the current state of the entry, buuuut I can't really be bothered at the moment.