Ookla

When I check on the price for WaT on Amazon and find out it's cheaper than the $25 gift card I have on my account, so all I have to pay is shipping, and it's due to arrive the day finals week is done! I'm so excited guys; I get to spend my whole Christmas break devouring that book!!!

Well said! As someone who only remebers to catch up on sample chapters every few weeks, I don't think I would have noticed any problems for this exact reason. Thanks for articulating it so well!

Aye. Obsidian is hard, and so it's difficult to scratch, but it's basically just glass so it'll shatter fairly easily. If you want something tough and difficult to break, the research I've done says jade is a better option. So... it might be possible to break it? And if it is breakable, and it isn't infinitely thick, I'm tossing my vote in for the underneath being some Hidden-World-esque birthplace of spren. I mean, it's the Cognitive Realm, so if we're going deeper down into the realm of thought itself...?

I intentionally avoid dedicated romance, because I find romance tropes inherently distasteful. In that way, I think Sanderson does romance better than most other authors I've read (except for Shannon Hale in The Books of Bayern and Jill Bearup with Just Stab Me Now). Now, how much of that is a result of having watched far too many Hallmark movies against my will, I don't know, so objectively you may be right about him not being the best at romance, but subjectively from my point of view, he does a pretty effective job (I love the relationships between Vin and Elend, Siri and Susebron, and Shallan and Adolin! Yumi and Painter are no slouches, either, but I do find their relationship a little more teenager-y and cringe. Not crazy so, but their story definitely carries more of the typical romance tropes.). Of course, it's possible that I just dislike romance tropes, and so I might dislike "good" or "great" romances sheerly because of that. (shrug)

Good point! I hadn't thought of that; that makes way more sense.

Hello and welcome to the Shard! If you could have any Cosmere character to be your room mate, who would you choose and why?

While I mostly disagree, I did think Shallan swearing her next oath so soon after Veil re-incorporated felt a little rushed.

Hmm... I hadn't thought of that. Syl is as hilarious as ever, though, and I'm honestly a bit excited!

I don't think I've ever thought about this before. I just... read. I do know that I dislike audiobooks, because audiobook narrators (even the greats like Michael Kramer and Kate Reading) never get the characters' voices right, like I have them in my head. For example, I hate Kate Reading's interpretation of Lift, not because it's bad, but because the Lift I imagine sounds way less whiny and way more me. Often, if I can see myself in a character's position, or really like a character, it's because that character's voice in my head sounds very similar to my own voice. The rest of the time, the characters don't really have voices (love ya, Dalinar, but you're basically just words on a page to me, unlike Lift, Shallan, and Jasnah, who have my voice in my head, but with different intonations). I do read quite fast, which does mean I occasionally miss details of the story, but I feel like it's the sort of fast that is like eating a bowl of your favorite dessert. Some people savor it, I chow it down as fast as I can because I want to get as much as I can as fast as possible. Ice cream doesn't linger in my bowl, it disappears within a few minutes. Maybe I'm missing part of the experience, but I'm usually so excited to consume the story that I don't care--anything I miss the first time 'round, I can pick up on the rereads.

Ah, I see. Sorry for misunderstanding; it's been a long day. Thanks for clarifying!

I think you're right about the representation aspect, but I'm not sure about Shalladin. Shallan is already married, after all. Then again, if Adolin were to die... But even then I'm not sure it would work. There may be other plans for Kaladin and Syl.