#am I cancelling the spren?

[shouldprobablybereading]

It would probably be too uncomfortable to address but I wonder if the radiants realize the implications of everyone having spren around. Like the gag of syl and pattern lacking boundaries and watching people poop and have sex is really funny when they’re less sentient and there’s not a lot of spren around

But we already have situations like pattern spying on and essentially recording navani and dalinars makeout session, being fully willing to replay that to shallan. Again funny gag because shallan has morals enough to go “ew that’s my (potential) inlaws”. But it should mean that technically the entire unseen court could do similar which is certainly something

[rughydrangea]

Okay I gave today up and canceled my meeting (which I was not ready for, so I think it was for the best) and spent the entire day reading Oathbringer. Which I finished! I have a gazillion thoughts, and I will put a few of them under the cut, to spare anyone who might be a fan of The Stormlight Archive from spoilers, and to spare all non-fans from long, rambling thoughts about books they don’t read.

I was very emotional through a huge chunk of the book, but I cried actual tears exactly once: when Dalinar refused to let Odium claim the responsibility for his sins. And just in general, I absolutely adored the Dalinar flashbacks, getting to know Evi (and now that we do know her a bit, how much of her can be seen in her sons, especially in Adolin, is just so heartbreaking) and also coming to understand why nobody likes or trusts Dalinar. Because like... honestly, I wouldn’t either! And I think this specific encounter with Odium made me so emotional because so much of the struggles of the three main heroes of these books (Dalinar, Kaladin, and Shallan, at least for now) is about how you live, let alone try to be a good person, when the weight of existence is so crushing. And Kaladin and Shallan have their own demons from the past (and present) for sure which make that struggle tough, but Dalinar just has the weight of years, decades, of being a glorified murderer weighing him down, and seeing him own that past, and seeing how his knowledge of who he was is a key part of what gives him the strength to try to be better, just really got to me. Also, seeing him actively remember Evi, who he loved without ever being in love with her, who he had abandoned because it was too hard to remember, who he finally was strong enough to show the respect of memory to, was so freaking beautiful.

Also because I never shut up about how much I ship Kaladin and Shallan, I guess I should be sad that she married Adolin, but like, Adolin is such a nice young man (...when he isn’t stabbing people through the eye), and he loves Shallan so much, and he’s so good to her, and he makes her so happy, that I’m not sad. Like... it’s still not my ship. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good ship, you know? (Also, this is book 3 out of 10, so we have much plot left ahead of us!)

ALTHOUGH, as happy as I am that all three personae are in favor of Adolin, the fact that Shallan still needs Veil and Radiant really worries me--not to mention the fact that ‘Shallan’ herself is also somewhat of a persona. What I’m the most excited to see play out in future books is this identity struggle. I really hope my girl can find a way to be at peace with herself, whole.

Speaking of Adolin, his budding relationship with Maya is freaking destroying me. When she saved him in Shadesmar, I freaked out. Like... she’s dead, but they are still bonding somehow, and I love it so much.

Though I must say the Shadesmar scenes, which brought with them the full corporeality of the spren, reminded me that the true OTP, the ultimate OTP, is and must always be Kaladin and Syl. Not in a romantic way (though her attempts to be his wingman are so beautifully awkward? And his fear that she will not leave him alone even for sexytimes seems to me to be very valid!), but just in the way that they are pure soulmates who share this very pure intimacy. What stood out to me the most about their interactions in Shadesmar was how much she touched him, trying to ground him and show him that he’s not alone and that he’s loved, and that was A LOT.

Okay, Dalinar did a ton of epically shitty things in his flashbacks, but the thing that made me the most personally sad was absolutely the fact that he constantly called Renarin ‘the other one’ and couldn’t remember his name half the time. And like when he meets baby Renarin for the first time, the way he’s just like, ‘well, this is not as exciting as meeting Adolin was’ made me so indignant, like, God, the fact that Renarin turned out basically stable is just a miracle from the Lord. (Also as a younger sibling myself that first meeting scene really stung!)

Shallan’s unkillable crush on Jasnah is beautiful, and also hashtag relatable.

I read part one as it was posted on tor.com, so this is from that section, but WOW Kaladin finding his parents and his new little brother was just a punch in the feelings.

Minor character I found the most captivating: Venli!!!! I can’t wait to see what I assume is her inevitable conflict with the Fused/Odium now that she is a Knight Radiant (or does she have to swear the second oaths to get that title? I confess I’m fuzzy on the specifics).

My only complaint is, and here you can clearly see my bias, but I wanted more Kaladin. I have a problem, and that problem is that I love Kaladin Stormblessed a little too much. But overall, it’s a solid 4.5/5, what a delightful reading experience, definitely worth throwing all my responsibilities aside for!