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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1434 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 2, 2025

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Mainly because of a brief discussion of this series here a while ago, I'm nearing the end of book 4 of The Stormlight Archive. I'm not fond of fantasy, I'm not fond of Sanderson's writing, but I wanted something of reliable quality rather than risk disappointment like with several previous books. So, I was surprised by how engrossed I was by books 1 and 2. Since then, well, not so much.

One particular thing about Rhythm of War drives me mad, because half of the plot hinges on a specific event. There's this hardass commander* that is noted a dozen times per book to be a stickler for military codes, how the troops under him are visibly more disciplined than others, etc. And yet, when the bad guys launch a surprise attack on the single most important stronghold, they kill patrols and sentries on the ground level and then ascend for hours to the tower itself, without anybody noticing. How could his people have missed the outer perimeter going dark for hours? They have instant communications!

*Don't ask me to spell his name, I'm consuming the series as audiobooks. The irony is not lost on me, this is the only time I say: they should have centered female voices.

Dalinar is his name. Kaladin, Shallan, Renarin, Adolin, Jasnah, Szeth. Kholin. What else?

As for the series itself: Sanderson has yet to write a better book than The Way of Kings. Words of Radiance is really part 2 of the same stellar first book, but books 3/4/5 are not the same.

If there's another book of his that's quite good, it's Shadows of Self, one of his less-known works. I always loved that one.

Shadows of Self was the best of the Wax&Wayne series for me, before the Southerners arrive and Sanderson really starts modernising the setting. The villain is great and their goal is something that at least part of you can root for.

I really liked book 3 of the Way of Kings, though. Dalinar's backstory makes total sense, even though it's not what I expected at all, and it explains so much about how people react to him in-universe.

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