Tien'sPetLurg

mmmm. I bet they get to eat gluten there. If a mere smell can make you think of the Cosmere, you truly Are a big fan!

When your gluten free chocolate chip pancake looks like this and you think "it caught the Shaod."

When you see this: http://uncovercalifornia.com/content/2232-recent-bouts-extreme-weather-linked-weird-fluctuations-wind-patterns and think "Stormfather!"

I also thought this story could easily mesh with the Cosmere. For me, as a reader, I would be fine with Earth fitting into that scheme somehow. Upvotes!

I was surprised by this turn of events, but I also Loved it. There were No tears over Sadeas from me! I think Ialai will be very hostile and her scheming will impact things in the next book. Who will pet her? http://coppermind.net/wiki/Ialai_Sadeas

I've heard of this before. Like Water For Chocolate. I never watched the movie or read the book but when I read the summary, it certainly gets Weird. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_Water_for_Chocolate_(film) When I was Googling the words to try and remember the name I came across this as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simply_Irresistible_(film) At least there's a crab in it which could remind me of Roshar a little bit. Surely someone can take the food idea and make it Really good. I should Live that one. I think the idea itself is so tempting that it blocks my ability to explore the potential outcomes and embed it into a story. I would definitely read that book though! Any fiction I've written was mostly nonfiction with the names being changed. I don't think I could do world-building fantasy writing. That seems really hard to me. Maybe it's because I'm so new to the genre. I'm sort of disappointed when I learn of the various tropes. I'll get over that soon, I hope. *wink*

That is So Cool.

I agree with you. It's fascinating watching him develop his skills. He seems like a nice person too. If you are an aspiring writer, you are going to find this place to be a treasure box of information.

Waving hello! You can spend days in here pouring over information. It's insane ... But in a good way.

I thought I'd try it today. "There is simply no other disease that approaches this kind of prevalence." - Undoing Depression by Richard O'Connor PhD Well.... I suppose I could take that to be an insult.

It's an interesting question. I enjoyed the books very much before I had heard of the Cosmere. Once I became familiar with it, it added another layer of depth and complexity to an already rich experience. I wish I'd seen a particular interview with Brandon before I read Alloy of Law. I was just buying books without any research into the author and his thoughts, goals, etc. To be honest, that's how I usually live. I don't normally become a fan in the sense of visiting an author's site or consider going to book signings, conventions, etc. So when I read Alloy of Law, a part of me thought of it as almost a throw away novel. I enjoyed humorous nods to the "past" and the story itself was pretty good, but it was such a departure from the 3rd book in the Mistborn series. (Of course the 3rd book in that series was a huge departure/mental leap from the 1st book and my mind had been sufficiently blown.) It wasn't until the end, when an old character (avoiding spoilers as best as possible for anyone reading) was mentioned that I thought "It just got interesting!" and it was over. LOL But the interview Brandon did mentioned he wanted to write some kind of quick reads that could stand alone as stories. This made sense to me. I enjoy that he challenges himself as a writer to play with the complexity of story and language to suit readers of different ages, interests and attention spans. I see that he is constantly challenging himself to see just what all he can do rather than fall into a lazy pattern of doing what seems to work for him and come naturally. Or maybe all of this comes easily and naturally. If that's the case, WOW- That's talent. So, to get back to your question, my experience has been enriched by learning more about the author and the Cosmere. There are parts of WoK that probably don't make a lot of sense if you haven't heard of the Cosmere. I suppose the casual reader might just gloss over those parts? I think he's writing more and more so that readers will need to hear about it. (letters to Hoid, etc)

YES to all the things! Perhaps a way to silence or amplify sounds in general? I would also mute all motorcycles. This is also how I see the fixing and restoration of Things. It might involve telekinesis.

To eliminate the lessons we learn through negative experiences would be bad. I only wish to come to those perspectives and move through the process faster. Most uses I think of for magic involve ways to save time. Time is my most limited resource. If your world construct includes immortality, I suppose most of those ideas are not very good. I have wished to be in more than 1 place at the same time. I have wished to have 5 lives going at the same time. Teleportation, time travel, pushing a giant Pause button on Life: yes please! Maybe it's my double X chromosome but I tend think of my interactions with people more than other things. I have wished I could get in someone's head for a bit and just know what it's like to be them. What's their version of normal feel like? How do they see the world, or themselves or me?

Well I would say having a pre-determined set of people "off" themselves for the "greater good" in order to cull stupidity out of a population in order to save an intelligent remnant flies in the face of rational and logical. At least, if we are assuming these characters have similar DNA to our own...(don't we all know the smart or dumb one who doesn't fit with other DNA relatives? The savant born to low average parents? or the converse? Someone else mentioned how his idea can't account for future generations: natural selection/DNA combination/free radical damage..if that's applicable on Roshar). Or if we ignore that and look at T himself, on which day does he "make the cut" or does he get to be excused from drinking the Koolaid (or whatever) when he's below average? (Even if it's a 1 day only mass suicide, can he predict his above average intelligence days to a specific date? I thought he could not, hence the test?) My point is just that people can become delusional about their superiority at any IQ score as long as they have a sense of self. It is interesting that many refer to him as Diagram "smart" or diagram level intellect. The quote earlier about that version of himself being his only god... What if that mega brilliant being isn't really T's mental capability at all? What if all of that is being channeled through him? We have Dalinar with visions. His detailed memories of his wife are closed off to him. Couldn't the gate to the mind swing both ways? Syl gets to decide who sees her as well as How they perceive her form. I think allowing for the possibility that his hand scribbling the diagram could have been separate from his own consciousness makes his "lesser" days interesting. Not saying I'm right or wrong just pondering. It is easy for me to believe a person can disengage from empathy when considering data. It may come across as cold, but information in and of itself is not emotional. I always hope the empathy switch is turned back on before a final decision is made. :-) He is a very interesting character.

I thought about the relationship repair angle after I posted and went offline. So the idea of repair/ restoration could be interesting. One might have a knack for Fixing items. Another might be healing physical illnesses. Yet another might be character defects. That gets interesting: how do we decide which is a defect? Are those that "heal" them the enemy because a good idea w/ good intentions went poorly? Meh...that's probably been done to death. Hmmm. Well for my own tedious real life application, I think it would be Great to delve into a person, see where they are hurt or confused/emotionally blocked or off-course and be able to repair that for them. I wouldn't want to do it in a way that keeps them from learning something from the experience, just speed that process up significantly. Why spend 20+ years with Daddy issues (or whatever) if we can get to that new perspective/wisdom and repair more quickly? Sorry for syntax and format issues. Posting from my phone and it's not going very well. ;-)

I would like the ability to find things w- ease. (Items, knowledge, people) I would like the ability to repair relationships instantly.

I'm a lurg. We make our own cocoons. So I found this picture of a product that is similar to a cocoon and can be used for reading. They have a cooking module too. In my spot on the world, the reality of being in this bubble would not be comfortable. It would be hot and humid. Yuck! But it's the interwebz. Reality has no place here! Anyway, if you'd truly like to live life in a bubble (instead of the metaphoric one I construct around myself) you can see the product here: http://design-milk.com/cocoon-1-by-micasa-lab-a-transparent-bubble-you-can-live-in/

I love art. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

I'm just thinking "out loud" here. I'll preface this by saying, with more information, all of my thoughts are subject to change. (my disclaimer for Life and yet it parallels the topic in the thread too) Some thing/power/entity via the old magic determines where Taravangian falls on the spectrum of a higher level of intelligence vs being a drooling, knuckle-dragger. (flood of mental tangents as I try to hold onto my original point) When I read certain parts of T's story, it reminded me of spiritual possession. I suppose if there is an entity controlling whether it's smart or stupid day, that same being/force could actually implant ideas into his mind. That could be one route to take in story telling if we go to "it's all magic" with spiritual, cosmic forces that are personified. (tangent about Sanderson's meshing of intelligent design, creation, science, evolution) We have so many quotes about the close relationship of genius and madness. I can't verify this idea, but it seems I've read the abilities/tendencies are carried on the same gene (s). /But just because I have read something online, doesn't make it true. Drat!/ Our science (IRL) addresses mental illness by manipulating chemistry. That opens up plenty of creative opportunities to write how the beings on Roshar could be affected. (Much like the beings in the Mistborn world are affected by specific chemical reactions within the body and can seem to control them by force of will once they understand things.- grr tangent) Semi-related tangent: Have you noticed how emotionally uninvested (eek... the word Invest seems to mean more on this site than I necessarily intend) Shallan becomes when she starts going into extreme analytical mode during a time when she might otherwise be having an intense emotional reaction to an event? It's another method to dissociate from unpleasant emotions just as when she "zones out" and loses so much time in some mental fog. Anyway, socially, it comes across as a lack of empathy. It may be something more like a short-circuit in an area of the mind that allows access to empathy. T exhibits a similar quality. We haven't begun to address that affect Ego has on all of us. When you know so many things, it's easy to become frustrated by those who do not. From there, it's a short trip to elevating your opinion of yourself so high that you become drunk on ego (or air sick!) and lose sight of some obvious, plain truths that can be in direct conflict with rational logic. (I've experienced this more than once. I see it a lot amongst the famous who believe their own hype too.) Or we could just simplify this and say "It's the Devil!" I mean, T is involved in some Stuff. <- vague to minimize spoilage (multiple mental tangents about the movie The Waterboy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwTADnsFrPA)

I drink coffee more often. If I have tea, it's Twinnings Earl Grey w/ a tiny splash of milk and a bit of sugar and lemon. Or I drink Lady Grey plain. At night, I like peppermint or chamomile plain. There are some excellent varieties out there, I just don't think to buy them. Maybe when it gets cooler I'll buy some Harney and Sons organic passion plum.

WoT: Perrin's wife. Faile annoyed me. I wanted better for him. Tuon wasn't great but it was a cultural thing for me. Within those customs, she was ok I guess. I had hoped her experiences would improve her but...alas. I wanted to help Nynaeve pull her braid sometimes. (In the early books for sure) There are villain types that I love to hate. Where would our stories be without them? I tend to base my answer here on personality of the supposed good guys/gals. In BS Stormlight Archive, I really don't like the king, Elhokar. He's exactly the kind of person I loathe.

Hi! Which is your favorite book?