AquaRegia

Alloy of Law is a different kind of novel than Mistborn Era 1 - it's practically a novella. Two main factors conspire to result in a much shorter and simpler read: 1) we've already read three novels about Scadrial, and 2) it's obviously (now) the Sanderson planet most similar to our Earth. This means we don't need nearly as much worldbuilding as we are used to getting in other Cosmere works; we already know a lot about how Allomancy works, the mythology and lore of this time stem directly people and events we know very well, and the pseudo-turn-of-the-century situations and settings are much more familiar to us. I think it's supposed to be a relatively light, fun read - a detective mystery - with just a bit of groundwork being laid for connections to the grand story of the wider Cosmere. I feel the best feature of this series is the characters. Wax, Wayne, Marasi, and Steris are all complex, nuanced people whose strengths and flaws move the story forward in an interesting way. I also love the broadsheets! Both the text and artwork do an amazing job of placing the action in the context of a known historical period... plus they are an important part of the story, chock full of hints and easter eggs. If it's Allomancy-driven combat you are longing for, there is definitely more in the next two books, although I agree the fight scenes never quite rise to the epic level of those in Era 1. But I think this series absolutely measures up in terms of character and emotional content - perhaps not at the beginning, but very much so by the end.

I sit corrected, thanks. Someone else also recently posted a WoB confirming that Nightblood has indeed become more Invested over time.

I've also been wondering about this. The word "bearer" implies someone who could not only carry Nightblood, but WIELD Nightblood... which could only be someone Invested (or capable of being Invested); that narrows the field of possible candidates considerably. While "to bear" could also simply mean "to carry", I have a really hard time imagining a non-Invested person carrying Nightblood around without ever drawing it. Also interesting is a close examination of Azure's word choices: she says she's hunting a "criminal", described as "the one who brought it to your land", and later says about Zahel "warn him I'm looking for him." I assumed Zahel WAS the criminal... but there's nothing there to rule out the possibility that she's actually on the lookout for two different people.

If I recall correctly, there is no reason a Radiant can't leave Roshar... it's their SPREN that would pose a problem.

No, I'm simply calling attention to one particular anti-Shallan argument, which struck me as vaguely hypocritical. I've already tried to make clear in my previous post here (in August) that everyone is perfectly entitled to like/dislike anything they want, and it's not something that needs to be "blamed" on anyone. I'm not looking for a fight, and perhaps I should have kept my thoughts to myself.

That's fair, thanks for clarifying.

I'm making no effort to list specific members of any group. You are free to decide for yourself which groups you belong to. ;-)

I don't think Nightblood "stores" the Investiture that it eats; I believe that Investiture is returned to its Spiritual "home" in the same way any other expended Investiture goes back to where it belongs. So I don't think Nightblood is getting more powerful over time. I believe Szeth is still carrying Nightblood at the end of RoW, although we don't see this directly. I feel that if Nightblood had turned up missing, that WOULD have been worthy of mention.

Untrue. We do not know how bodies were provided for the Heralds when they returned.... but if they were indeed normal "true physical bodies", Kalak would have been able to walk away from Roshar and Worldhop to another planet, as he desperately wants. The fact that the Heralds are some kind of Cognitive Shadows, tied to Roshar, prevents this.

Some 17th Sharders: "I hate Shallan for victim-blaming the bridgemen" The very same 17th Sharders: *victim-blame Shallan*

Szeth will be in Shinovar - I agree he's not a good option. Gavinor is not a viable choice IMO. A 7-year old cannot freely consent to a duel to the death, not even in the Cosmere. I doubt Nale would ever willingly fight directly for Odium... but of the three you chose, he's most likely. You have omitted the person I see as the MOST likely candidate - Gavilar. Link to previous topic, rehashing not necessary:

I'm also a tiny bit disappointed - seems like, by process of elimination (and supported by WoB), the Stormstriders are some weird kind of spren. I really hope we learn more about them at some point. Kudos @Hoiditthroughthegrapevine for the lyrics LOL

The OB Chapter 120 passage doesn't indicate Radiant's Shardplate is any more than an illusion, just as the image of Radiant herself is. I still have not seen anything to make me consider that Shallan already has Plate. Roger that. Just part of the Shallan deal. I had forgotten this! OBVIOUSLY if those deadeye Blades were retrofitted with gemstones, their shape must have changed... and it seems clear that magic is by far the most likely way for that to happen. We've never seen any humans who knew how to manipulate deadeye Blades - the Blades themselves must have been willing to cooperate in some way. Strong evidence, I think, for the idea that deadeyes are not so "dead" as many think. That is a terrific observation! I'm not sure I'm sold, but it's a really interesting thought. I completely agree that unraveling Shallan's past is fascinating. I re-read the chasms scenes in WoR, and was struck by the fact that Pattern is COMPLETELY absent the entire time. He never speaks, is never seen, Shallan never speaks to him; the only time she even THINKS about him is when she wishes she could have used him to attach illusions to, "but that was problematic because - " (WoR Ch. 72). If the Blade being used was Testament, wouldn't Pattern be around helping save Shallan's life? I think this may be the most convincing reason to believe that it IS Patternblade in the chasms.

We don't know how far apart the systems involved are, so let's assume something typical from what we know about our real galaxy - say, 10 light years. Distances between inhabited systems are unlikely to be much less than this, and could be FAR more. Do you really think it took Vasher and Vivenna longer than 10 years to get from Nalthis to Roshar? He may be effectively immortal, but she isn't! Either way, I do understand that your point is to explore ways a VEHICLE could carry passengers through the CR; I just don't have any speculation to share on that right now.

Agreed. We already know multiple characters - Hoid, Iyatil, Khriss, Nazh, Zahel and Azure, just to name a few off the top of my head - who have traveled from one star system to another by, as far as we know, walking through Shadesmar. Clearly, walking CAN be FTL, no spaceships, planes, or other tech required, as long as you know how to get into and out of the CR. This, of course, does not rule out vehicles ALSO moving FTL through the CR.

I read through the Battle of Thaylen City. While it is true that the Radiant persona is the "real" one, there is no mention of Shardplate in that scene, none at all. If you found some evidence elsewhere that Shallan has Plate, I'd love to see it... but I don't remember reading any, nor has anyone else ever mentioned any. Regarding the Testamentblade vs Patternblade debate, this post (in one of my all-time favorite topics here) collects every single mention of Shallan's Shardblades. There are not many. Color is mentioned only three times, and never once AFTER the chasm scene. While the garnet appearance of the Blade in the chasms can be seen as supporting the idea that it's a different Blade than the silver one that killed Tyn, that slim evidence is not enough to convince me 100%. A blade can be both silver and faintly glowing garnet. I still think it's possible that we've seen only the Testamentblade throughout WoR, and the first time Shallan summons Pattern as a Blade is when practicing with Adolin in OB, as described here.

My wife did notice that, and pointed it out to me during her recent reread of tWoK. The prominence of Kabsal's cymatics demonstrations made me confident that sound would eventually be very important somehow.

Maybe the Everstorm? I seem to recall mention that the Weeping is no longer reliable and the seasons (such as they were) had been disrupted.

Interesting idea! I also interpreted that quote figuratively, i.e., meaning that Sja-Anat granting "enlightenment" allows them to see things they could not before... but it very well might be a reference to a change in the deadeye state.

Yes, this exactly. As previously discussed in other threads, it's far too tempting to make assumptions that we've learned everything there is to know about "how things work", when in fact we have almost no data. Brandon suckers us in: he shows us a tiny bit of the magic system, and we happily say "oh, NOW I get it!"... only to find out later that that little bit was just the tip of a huge iceberg. Incomplete information about four or five Radiants simply isn't enough to infer all the underlying principles and rules. Plus, we've been shown over and over that characters, even the ones who act like they know everything, are almost always wrong. It reminds me of astronomers making theories about solar systems and planet formation in decades past. Makes sense for rocky planets to be close in and gas planets to be farther out, right? Should be a general rule. The problem is, we only had ONE solar system to look at. Once we started collecting data about OTHER solar systems, we learned that our ideas were all wrong.

I disagree - I don't think we can be sure we know any of these things. Some of them are likely true... but we don't KNOW. -Shallan at least had the 3rd oath with Testament when she was young: probably true. But even she doesn't remember what happened yet... the whole picture could change again when more of the past is revealed. -Pattern didn't show up until Kharbranth: Pattern says so directly, and I believe him much more than I do Shallan. Evidence supports this conclusion. -Testamentblade is the one to kill Tyn: yes. Many disagree, and I admit we don't KNOW, but I think the evidence for this is solid. -Patternblade is the one to Kaladin uses in the chasms and the one used to open the Oathgates on the Shattered Plains: I disagree here. It's possible, but I think it's more likely that this was also Testament. What are your reasons for believing it was Pattern? If it's because she says "Pattern" when summoning it, keep in mind she doesn't even remember Testament at this point. -At the Battle of Thaylen Field, she has Shardplate: I don't think so. She creates Lightweaving illusions of Radiant in Plate, but I don't think we've ever seen Shallan's physical body in Plate yet. -Something is wrong with Shallan's Soulcasting Ability: sort of. Her Soulcasting is more strongly linked to her Bond with Testament, and so has been badly damaged. The only time we see her do it successfully is when she seems to renew her Truths with Testament... or, at least, that's how some of us are interpreting the scene in Kharbranth. It's certainly possible that Lightweavers follow the same rules as other orders (3rd Oath = Blade, 4th Oath = Plate) but I don't think we know enough to be sure yet, and the training scene in RoW makes it clear that Lightweavers do not adhere rigidly to rules in the same the way other orders do... so it's also possible they don't.

1) Shallan is an unreliable narrator. We do not know enough about what happened with Testament, and some of what we "knew" was wrong. 2) Lightweavers don't swear "Oaths", they say "Truths". We do not know enough about how this works to judge what's going on. 3) Never in any Sanderson Cosmere work have we (the readers) had access to all the rules. We NEVER know the whole story, and neither do the characters. To sum up: Shallan's weird, Lightweavers are weird, the rules are weird, and we won't ever know everything. We'll know more when Brandon wants us to know more.

Everything you said was true, of course, but THIS was the most true. ;-)

I'm sorry that so many people seem to really fiercely dislike Shallan and her chapters. Of course you are perfectly free to like or dislike anything you please. I find her story fascinating - the "unreliable narrator" has never been done better IMO - and I do personally relate to her curiosity and desire to be a scholar and to her penchant for inappropriate sarcasm and levity. I don't relate to her trauma and her mental illness... but I am married to a woman who does. Believe me, the way Shallan represses painful memories, they way she compartmentalizes things, they way she relies on different parts of her personality (aka different personas) to deal with things, the way she straight-up lies to herself - all these ring true for me through a long relationship with someone who's dealing with similar things. I think Brandon has produced nothing short of a storming masterwork of how trauma-induced DID can work. I would encourage anyone who finds that they can't relate to Shallan's trauma and resulting extreme coping mechanisms, be thankful that you don't have the kinds of experiences which would make these things relatable. That said, it's not really anybody's fault if they don't find a particular character entertaining or enjoyable.