#Dalinar would have counted but the universe loves him too much

[sedgewicke]

Powerful, dignified, emotionally constipatedstoic men who seem like they have everything figured out and all their shit together, but are actually hot messes who have Way Too Many Emotions that they have no idea what to do with (probably combined with some nonspecific, undiagnosed mental illness) and are generally just barely keeping it together under a veneer of being Totally In Control.

Is a very specific fetish of mine.

[the-vibes-are-off]

The Stormlight Archive Volume 1: The Way of Kings’ Review: Chapter 28 + Interludes 1-4 - 1-6

Hello hello hello, I am back, again, with another edition of ‘This Book Delights in Not Respecting the Structured Chunks I Planned to Write on’ bc naturally there had to be ONE chapter in between the previous part and interludes so they’re getting smushed together. No cool accompanying image this part bc all I have done is sit inside and do nothing so enjoy Twilight and mess (and technically Twilight counts as research for my final year project as I’m doing it on vampires so technically I’m working rn). 

Honestly, I think Brando delights in making me forget that Szeth exists only for him to re-emerge and fill my head with his stupid ass name (see one of the previous parts for my inital anger and outrage). All in all tho, I do love the interludes, they have such a palate cleansing vibes after the end of chapter 28 that help you kind of get over the wtf before moving on to the rest of the story. I will never understand when I hear that people skip or disregard them.

Spoiler Free Zone: 

With being so busy recently, I honestly forgot what happened in chapter 28 bc I read it so long ago now it seems but it does not disappoint skimming over it again. Not necessarily the whole chapter, I honestly didn’t have much tabbed, but the Dalinar character development and tHE END?? besties...

Brando’s book structuring is great. Minus the interludes (which again if any of you out there are skipping these ur so wrong for that), this feels so much like a Victorian three volume novel, which for those unfamiliar (tho it kind of speaks for itself) was a form book release under the serialisation umbrella that was popular at the time (for example the Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, as the two were too short for a traditional three volume release, were released together in the three volume format). Naturally this is my lit student side coming out but I feel like this isn’t done enough and it makes for an interesting structure. Ok, nerd moment over.

The interludes themselves, I mean, always iconic. I love the world building element it brings as even having a multi-perspective narrative, considering how expansive the universe is, is limiting to the possibilities you can explore in this. READ THE INTERLUDES AND APPRECIATE THEM. 

*SPOILERS BELOW (I FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO THE KEEP READING THINGY TY EVERYONE)*

Spoiler Zone:

And now, the epigraph for this part had me like so ready for this chapter. I was like thinking this shit right here just feels like theres something coming. Now initially I was a little disappointed bc I was thinking this just feels like an average chapter like I’m not seeing anything I feel like tabbing am I missing sections???

Then Navani comes in and starts chatting up my home slice Dalinar and I am like I was sensing tension earlier but more in the traditional sense over romantic tension like what is going on. But like this isn’t the climax I know it isnt.

BUT DALINAR ABDICATING ??? I know its bc like everyone is disrespecting my guy and he needs Adolin to fill the role so nothing like shady can happen but I was like floored man. For it to be then followed by interludes? Bro like just shoot me bc I have to read them its who I am.

It was interesting to see different character perspectives and locations etc in the interludes tho it always is. I love how Brando uses his writing at times to portray clear moral messages like in interludes 1-4 with the farmers as a respected population amongst the Shin and how Rysn finds that odd. For that to be followed by Vstim establishing that its not strange and just different and that should be respected was just such a lovely moment to see. 

A little bit obsessed with Axies tbh bc frankly if there were little spirit creatures that appear with what seems to be a wide range of idk what to call them like states of being or occurrences idk stuff and things basically I would be studying that shit too. 

And then, the bane of my existence, the bastard that haunts my nightmares: Szeth :|. Idk WHY his name passionately enrages the very core of my being but it does. Not to mention that I am actually invested in his story bc wtf is this now with some random geezer materialising from the shadows with the head of his former master? OF COURSE I would eat that shit up man. (I do applaud Brando tho for clothing him like a slut but acknowledging how impractical it is and making it an annoyance that was extremely iconic). 

Tab Count:

Cute <3 - 1

Fights - 0

Sad ;-; - 0

Death - 0

Cool - 5

Wtf wow - 0

Wtf Why - 1

Slay Quotes - 1

Love this! - 3

Hate this >:( - 0

Lore - 1

Tab Total:

Cute <3 - 13

Fights - 9

Sad ;-; - 5

Death - 4

Cool - 13

Wtf wow - 3

Wtf Why - 4

Slay Quotes - 15

Love this! - 17

Hate this >:( - 5

Lore - 7

[squid-that-reads-a-lot-blog]

Oathbringer Review

A while back, I finished the most recent entry into the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.  Haven’t gotten around to writing a review yet.  Starting off, I have to say that I have similar thoughts to my opinions of the previous two books.  Sanderson is rarely incompetent and he does many things very well.  Like the previous two entries, there are several small arcs throughout the story that make the 1300 page count a little more digestible.  There is also no shortage of action and each major character has their own story arc.

Overall, this is my favorite in the series by a long shot.  The first two aren’t bad, the style just is not my cup of tea.  However, this book did a lot of things that I liked.  The part that I liked the most is the fact that the book focused a lot on Dalinar.  Dalinar is my favorite character in the series and the fact that he is so much older than the other two previous leads made his story arc so much more enjoyable.  Sanderson puts his characters through a lot of shit but it felt more natural in this book.  I feel like the backstories aren’t as important as who the character is, and when the characters are as young as Kaladin or Shallan, their inner monologues about their pasts can’t help but feel... whiny…

It could just be me, and they aren’t terrible characters, but I think this story arc is far better than the others.  It’s full of some fantastic emotional moments that crank it up to eleven.  My personal favorites have to be the flashback of the attempted assassination and the burning of the rift.  The first one made me laugh because it’s so insanely badass and over-the-top.  It’s like a scene straight out of a crazy 90’s action movie.  The burning of the rift is a whole chapter that I found grimly entertaining.  I was reminded of stories of those ancient Roman emperors who would drag their enemies behind their chariots after they surrendered.  Everything about it is so brutal and shocking that you feel a whole mix of emotions while reading.  Honestly this is where Sanderson is at his best.  It’s when really insane shit is happening that his talent truly shines.  

A few smaller things that I liked included some of the other characters.  While I felt like it was too late to make him really heroic, Ellokar felt a little less useless in this book.  He had some nice moments in the spotlight throughout the book.  Shallan also had a few good moments but I honestly think that Sanderson is not good at writing very feminine characters.  Every time he has a female character with a tough, masculine edge he does great but if they like pretty dresses instead of punching people he tends to falter.  While some of the choices that he makes in this book could be explained with the trauma that Shallan herself has experienced, it feels a little out of touch to me.  He often misses the mark a little bit when it comes to writing women like this and it is very noticeable in this book.  

As for a few other characters, I have some mixed feelings.  Adolin is obviously being solidified as this awesome, likable guy that does badass things with a sword but something feels a little off.  There are a few times where I feel like the book is going out of its way to say how likable he is and it makes me feel like he is going to die.  It’s sticks out to me because nothing has really come out of it and he is so wildly different from the other members of the main cast.  This seems like an odd choice to me but there’s nothing we can do about it for the next four years.  Other than that, I love the fact that he is a total diva.  It’s rare that I get a Legally Blonde vibe from a male character.  

A character that got kind of shafted in my opinion, is Jasnah.  I guess that she’s supposed to be this sort of mysterious character because she’s so smart but I have a hard time getting that.  It feels like she does very little and there are few times when her intellect is really shown.  We’re just told that she’s one of the smartest women in the world while she is busy doing… stuff…  I’ve been waiting for her to be cool and I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer.  She could be a really awesome character but I just haven’t seen that yet.  

Now let’s get to the problems I have with this book.  A lot of these boil down to my personal preference so some people might not be bothered by these as much as I was.  

One small but glaring problem I saw in the last book had to do with Lift and it shows up again in this book when Lift returns as well as the introduction of Szeth’s overpowered sword.  The way that they are written really rubs me the wrong way.  The vast majority of the books are written in this old style that you see a lot with epic fantasy.  You are stepping back in time in this alternate universe.  People don’t use all the colloquialisms that we do in everyday life.  Against this backdrop, modern words and phrases are rather jarring.  Sanderson sometimes does this in this series.  Usually it’s not bad enough to take me out of the story but with Lift and the super sword it is pretty egregious.  The sword is not all that bad save for a few moments but the constant use of the word ‘awesomeness’ with Lift gets on my nerves.  It is so out of place and jarring.  It reminds me of L.E. Modesett Jr. where they would use modern curse words and it was really out of place.  I wish he wouldn’t use words like that but ultimately it is a small part of the story.  

A big grievance that I have with this book that may not seem all that bad to others is the whole murder plot.  I read that scene in the last book where Sadeas is murdered and I was really waiting to see what would happen.  Ialai is set up as this incredibly dangerous woman earlier in the series.  The last time she saw her husband alive was when he walked off with a guy that hated his guts.  There’s no way she doesn’t know exactly who did this.  It might have been my expectations being too high, but I felt like this was such a lame story arc in the end.  This was one that could have had some real consequences for our characters.  Imagine how much trouble Adolin would have been in with this woman for an enemy.  Not only that, but his rash decision would have some serious consequences on Dalinar’s budding political career.  Does he punish his son for his crime or does he risk looking weak in front of his political opponents?  It would add some legitimately serious consequences to Adolin’s story arc and this sort of thing sounds like it would be right up Sanderson’s alley storytelling-wise.  But things didn’t go this way.  Ialai doesn’t do anything in this book.  There were so many chapters that talked about her extensive spy network and how dangerous it is to get on her bad side but it all seemed like it was for nothing.  In fact, the whole treatment of the Sadeas characters has been disappointing to me.  Toral’s betrayal in the first book didn’t really make any sense to me.  I felt like he really was warming up to a friendship with Dalinar again.  Politics had driven them apart but I believed that he could come over to the good side.  I think he could have made a great anti-hero with his crooked approach to the things that the team good-guy is trying to accomplish.  Appearance-wise, I also think that they are very well designed.  I always like it when an author gives the faces of their characters some character itself.  I have a clear image in my head of what these people look like.  The fact that they’re both really ugly but really happy together is kind of unique as well.  Team good-guy wouldn’t just be comprised of a bunch of pretty people if these two had the potential for some redemption arcs.  The fact that he just died and his wife is just sitting like a bump on a log just feels like a waste of two potentially great characters.  Sanderson could have something planned for Ialai, but I felt like this was a huge waste of potential and her potential time in the spotlight has passed.

The other big problem is just an extension of a complaint that I have with the other two books.  Sanderson doesn’t seem to have the knack for making characters seem quite as alive as other authors.  The coldness in his writing is one of the few things keeping him from being one of my favorite authors honestly.  He’s introduced this vast and expansive world but it feels strangely small.  I think a big contributor to this is that the plots rarely take the characters outside of one area.  It’s a problem that’s seen in the original Star Wars trilogy.  Action packed plots and fun characters in this massive universe but it feels so small because we just see this handful of people.  The whole Kolinar arc made the world seem a little bigger but that went away as soon as the characters left.  It’s strange because we get so many POV chapters from characters all over the map but they feel incredibly disconnected.  It’s a strange problem to have, especially when this series is compared so closely with the Wheel of Time series, where this was one of its strongest parts.  

One more small gripe I have has to do with the pictures.  All of them are great but I wish there was just one landscape in there.  The world is so alien to what we’re used to seeing that it would be cool to really see it through the character’s eyes.  I hope he gets one of these in a future addition to the series.  

I haven’t mentioned a lot of things about the book either because I’m not sure what to think about it, there’s not enough information, or the fact that it’s just good.  The good far outweighs the bad in this book and I could not put this one down (not easy when I got the huge hardcover copy).  Even with all my complaints, this is still a fantastic book that I would highly recommend. Full of action and badassery at every turn, this is something that I see people enjoying for a long time.