If you receive Brandon Sanderson’s newsletter then you were in for a treat this week, as a longer more polished version of the opening chapter of Stormlight Archive book 3 was included in the email!
Sanderson originally read a rough draft of this chapter at Salt Lake City’s FantasyCon in July. The most recent version is twice as long, and can be read below.
It’s a Kaladin chapter and Words of Radiance spoilers are immediately present. Proceed with caution!
Kaladin trudged through a field of quiet rockbuds, fully aware that he was too late to prevent the disaster. The knowledge slowed him, pressing against his shoulders with an almost physical sensation, like the weight of a bridge he was forced to carry all on his own.
The land around him should have felt familiar. Instead, it seemed wild, overgrown, alien. After so long in the stormlands—those eastern lands that bore the brunt of the storms—he had almost forgotten the sights of a more fertile landscape. Rockbuds grew almost as big as barrels, with vines as thick as his wrist spilling out and lapping water from the pools on the stone. Grass spread in fields and came up to his waist, dappled with glowing lifespren. The grass was vibrant green and slow to pull down into its burrows as he approached.
Kaladin shook his head; the grass back near the Shattered Plains had barely grown as high as his ankle, and had mostly come in yellowish patches on the leeward side of hills. Almost anything could be hiding in these fields. All you’d have to do was crouch down and wait for the grass to sneak back up around you, and you’d have a perfect ambush point. How had he never noticed that during his youth? He’d run through fields like this, playing catch-me with his brother, trying to see who was quick enough to grab handfuls of grass before it hid.
Something caught his eye, and he turned toward it, startling a patch of grass around himself. Kaladin felt drained. Used up. Like a . . . a mighty storm that had lost its fury, and was now just a soft breeze. His dramatic flight had begun with more Stormlight than he had thought he could hold, and a wealth more tucked into his pockets and pack, in the form of gemstones. It ended with this, a limping, exhausted trudge through fields. Perhaps he could have flown all the way to northwestern Alethkar from the Shattered Plains if he’d been more practiced with his powers. As it was—despite bearing a king’s wealth in gemstones—he’d run out of Stormlight somewhere in Aladar’s princedom.
He’d traveled hundreds of miles in half a day. And it still hadn’t been enough. This last bit—not thirty miles to walk—had been excruciating. So slow! He would have passed this distance in an eyeblink before, but he’d been walking for two days. He felt like a man who had been winning a footrace, only to trip and break his legs a handspan from the finish line.
He neared the object he’d seen earlier, and the grass obligingly pulled back before him, revealing a broken wooden churn. For turning sow’s milk into butter. Kaladin rested fingers on the splintered wood; only the wealthy had access to enough milk for this sort of thing, and a churn would have been locked up tight before a storm. He glanced to the side at another chunk of wood peeking out over the tops of the grass, like the hand of a drowning man reaching toward the sky.
Syl zipped down as ribbon of light, passing his head and spinning around the length of wood. He could sense an inquisitiveness to her motions, even though she hadn’t manifested a face yet. Was he mistaken, or was their bond growing stronger? His ability to read her emotions, and she his, improving?
Perhaps it was just familiarity. “It’s the side of a roof,” Kaladin said. “The lip that hangs down on the leeward side of a building.” Probably a storage shed, judging by the debris he’d spotted in the field.
Alethkar wasn’t in the stormlands, but neither was it some soft-skinned, stormless western land. Buildings here were built low and squat, particularly outside of big, sheltered cities. They’d be pointed eastward, toward the storms, and windows would only be on the leeward—the westward—side. Like the grass and the trees, mankind bowed before the storms. The alternative was to be ripped apart, for the Stormfather did not suffer the insolent.
But, then, these objects—ripped free in winds, deposited miles from their origins—had not come free in a highstorm. Another more fell wind had done this deed: a storm that blew the wrong direction.
The mere thought of that a panic rise inside of him, a feeling like he got when watching a hail of arrows fall on himself and his men. The everstorm, as it was called, was so wrong, so unnatural—like a baby born with no face. Some things just should not be.
And, the most troubling part was that the storm itself was not the worst of their problems.
He stood and left the debris behind, continuing on his way. He had changed uniforms before leaving—taking the Oathgate to the Shattered Plains, then streaking into the sky and rushing in desperation toward Alethkar. His old uniform had been bloodied and tattered, though this one wasn’t much better. A spare, generic Kholin uniform, not even of the old Cobalt Guard. It felt wrong to not bear the symbol of Bridge Four. But, then, a lot of things felt wrong to him these days.
I swear I recognize this place, he thought to himself, cresting a hill. A river broke the landscape to his right, but it was a small, impermanent one—it would flow only following a storm. Still, trees sprouted along its banks, hungry for the extra water, and they marked the route. Yes . . . That would be Hobble’s Brook. So if he looked directly west . . .
Hand shading his eyes, he spotted them. Cultivated hills; they stuck out like the balding crowns of elderly men. No grass, no rockbuds. They’d soon be slathered with seed-crem, and lavis polyps would start growing. That hadn’t started yet, most likely. This was supposed to be the Weeping. Rain should be falling right now in a constant, gentle stream.
The everstorm that had blown through early in the morning had swept the clouds along with it, stopping the rain. As much as he despised the Weeping, he was not happy to see those rains go. They should have lasted another seven days, but the wrong-way storm had apparently disrupted them. Another unnatural effect.
Kaladin had been forced to weather the thing in a hollow of rock, cut with his Shardblade. Storms, it had been even more eerie than a highstorm.
He crested a hill, inspecting the landscape. As he did, Syl zipped up in front of him, a ribbon of light. “Your eyes are brown again,” she noted.
It took a few hours without touching Stormlight or summoning his Shardblade. Once he did either thing, his eyes would bleed to a glassy light blue, almost glowing. A few hours later, they’d fade again. Syl found the variation fascinating; Kaladin still hadn’t decided how he felt about it.
“We’re close,” Kaladin said, pointing. “Those fields belong to Hobbleken. We’re maybe two hours from Hearthstone.”
“Then you’ll be home!” Syl said, her ribbon of light spiraling and taking the shape of a young woman in a flowing havah, tight and buttoning above the waist, with safehand covered.
Kaladin grunted, continuing down the slope.
“Do you like the new dress?” Syl asked, wagging her covered safehand.
“Looks strange on you.”
“I’ll have you know I put a ton of thought into it,” Syl said with a huff. “I spent positively hours thinking of just how— Oh! What’s that?” She zipped away, turning into a little stormcloud that came to rest over a lurg clinging to a stone. She inspected the fist-size amphibian on one side, then the other, before squealing in joy and turning into a perfect imitation—only pale white-blue. This startled the thing away, and she giggled, zipping back toward Kaladin as a ribbon of light.
“What were we saying?” she asked, forming into a young woman and resting on his shoulder.
“Nothing important.”
“I’m sure I was scolding you,” Syl said, tapping his shoulder with her fingers in a pensive way. “Regardless, you’re home! Yay! Aren’t you excited?”
He shook his head. She didn’t see it—didn’t realize. Sometimes, for all her curiosity, she could be oblivious.
“But . . . it’s your home . . .” Syl said. She huddled down. “What’s wrong? Why are you feeling like this?”
“The everstorm, Syl,” Kaladin said. “We were supposed to beat it here.” He’d needed to beat it here.
Storms, why hadn’t he been faster? He’d spent much of the day before at a forced march, as fast as he could manage, not even stopping to sleep. Perhaps that was why he felt so drained, like even lifting his arm was a chore.
Being without Stormlight after holding so much was part of it too. He felt like a hogshide tube that had been squeezed and squeezed to get the last drops of antiseptic out, leaving only the husk. Was this what it would be like every time he used a lot of Stormlight, then ran dry?
The arrival of the everstorm in the morning had caused him to collapse, finally, and give in to his fatigue. That had been the ringing of the bell, the notice of failure.
He tried to avoid thinking of what he’d discover in Hearthstone. Surely, someone would have survived, right? The fury of the storm, and then the worse fury after? The murderous rampage of once-servants turned into monsters?
Oh, Stormfather. Why hadn’t he been faster?
He forced himself into a double march again, pack slung over his shoulder. The weight was still heavy, dreadfully so, but he found that he had to know. Had to see.
Someone had to witness what had happened to his home.
The rain started again about an hour out of Hearthstone, so at least the weather patterns hadn’t been completely ruined. Unfortunately, this meant he had to hike the rest of the way wet and accompanied by the constant patter of a light rainfall. Storms, but he hated the Weeping.
“It will be all right, Kaladin,” Syl promised from his shoulder. She’d created an umbrella for herself, and still wore the traditional dress, instead of her usual girlish skirt. “You’ll see.”
Her reassurance did little to budge his sense of dread. If anything, her optimism only highlighted his mood—like a piece of dung on a table surrounded by finery only made it look that much more nasty. It wouldn’t be “all right.” That was just not how his life went.
The sky had darkened by the time he finally crested the last lavis hill and looked down on Hearthstone. He braced himself for the destruction, but even still, it shocked him. Buildings without roofs. Debris strewn about. Some houses had even fallen. He couldn’t see the entire town from his vantage, not in the gloom of the Weeping, but the houses he could make out in the waning light were hollow and ruined.
He stood for a long time as night fell. He didn’t spot a glimmer of light in the town. The place was empty.
Dead.
A piece of him scrunched up inside, huddling into a corner, tired of being whipped so often. He’d embraced his power, he’d taken the path he should. Why hadn’t it been enough?
His eyes immediately sought out his parents’ home near the center of town. But no. Even if he’d been able to see it in the rainy evening gloom, he didn’t want to go there. Not yet. Instead, he rounded toward the northwestern side, where a hill led up to the citylord’s manor. He would start his search here; this was where the parshmen had been kept. When the transformation had come upon them, here was where they would have begun their rampage. He was pretty certain he could run across Roshone’s corpse and not be too heartbroken.
He passed the hollow buildings, accompanied only by the sound of rain in the darkness. He went to fish out a sphere for light, but of course he’d used up all of those. They were dun now, and wouldn’t be refreshed until the next highstorm—weeks away, assuming normal weather patterns. Not something one could assume any longer.
He shivered in the chill and walked a little further out from the city, not wanting to feel the holes of those gaping homes upon him like eyes. Though Hearthstone had once seemed enormous to him—it was a town of some hundred buildings, far larger than the numerous tiny villages surrounding it—there was really nothing remarkable about the place. It was one of dozens of towns like it in Alethkar. The larger towns like this, though still very rural, served as a kind of hub to the farming communities spreading out from it.
And, because of that, it was cursed with the presence of a lighteyed ruler of some import. Citylord Roshone, in this case. A man whose greedy ways had ruined far more than one life.
Moash . . . Kaladin thought. He’d have to face what his friend had done at some point. Now, the betrayal was too fresh, and other wounds would need nurturing first. More immediate wounds.
Kaladin climbed up to Roshone’s manor, a very familiar path. Once, he’d come up this way almost daily. Back when they’d had a different citylord. That life was surreal to remember. A past that almost didn’t belong to him any longer.
“Wow,” Syl said. “Gloomspren.”
Kaladin looked up and noted an unusual spren whipping around him. Long, grey, like a large, tattered streamer of cloth in the wind, it wound around him, fluttering as if in a phantom wind. He’d only seen its like once or twice before.
“Why are they so rare?” Kaladin asked, continuing his hike. The manor was just ahead. “People feel gloomy all the time.”
“Who knows?” Syl said. “Some spren are common. Some are uncommon.” She tapped his shoulder. “I’m pretty sure one of my relatives liked to hunt these things.”
“Hunt them?” Kaladin asked. “Like, try to spot them?”
“No. Like you hunt greatshells. Can’t remember her name . . . Anyway, the hunts were grand things. Quite the endeavor.” Syl cocked her head, oblivious to the fact that rain was falling through her form. “What an odd memory.”
“More seems to be coming back to you.”
“The longer I’m with you,” she said with a nod, “the more it happens. Assuming you don’t try to kill me again.” She gave him a sideways look.
“How often are you going to make me apologize for that?”
“How many times have I done it so far?”
“At least fifty.”
“Liar,” Syl said. “Can’t be more than twenty.” She looked at him expectantly.
“I’m sorry.” He sighed. He needed to be on with it. No more delaying.
Wait. Was that light up ahead?
Kaladin stopped on the path. It was light, coming from the manor house. It flickered unevenly. Candles? Someone, it appeared, had survived. That was good, but also worrisome. What if it was the parshmen—or whatever one called them now that they’d transformed? Voidbringers would probably do.
They could have slaughtered the people of the town, then set up here in the manor. He needed to be careful, though as he approached, he found that he didn’t want to be. He wanted to be reckless, angry, destructive. If he found the creatures that had taken his home from him . . .
It was supposed to have been safe. Far from Kaladin, far from his new life of pain and lost friends. “Be ready,” he mumbled to Syl. She was his Shardblade now, his weapon, like the spren companions of the Knights of old.
“He stepped off the pathway, which was kept free of grass or other plants, and crept through the night toward the lights. The manor was occupied. The light he’d spotted earlier shone from windows that had been shattered in the everstorm, which would have come upon the city not only from the wrong direction, but at a completely unexpected time. No Stormwarden could have predicted this. The shutters would not have been put on windows, and people wouldn’t have known to stay indoors.
The rain muted sound and made it difficult to spot much about the manor other than the broken porch, ruined windows, and shifting light. Someone, or something, was inside, though. Shadows moved in front of the lights. Kaladin reached the side of the building, heart thumping, then rounded toward the northern side. The servants’ entrance would be here, along with the quarters for the parshmen.
The rain muted sounds, making it difficult to pick out specifics, but he did hear an unusual amount of noise coming from inside the manor house. Thumping. Motion. Each sound put him further on edge.
It was now fully night, and he had to feel his way through the gardens up to the building’s side. Fortunately, he remembered this place well. He’d spent much of his youth up at the manor, playing with Laral, the old citylord’s daughter. The parshmen had been housed in a small construction at the side of the manor, built in its shadow, with a single open chamber with shelflike benches inside for sleeping. Kaladin reached it by touch and Syl zipped up in front of him, giving off some miniscule light—enough for him to make out a gaping hole in the side of the building.
Well, that wasn’t a good sign. Kaladin felt around it, rain patting his shoulders and head. The entire side of the building had been ripped out, and the inside was apparently empty. He left it, scouting through the gardens—full of chest-high ridges of cultivated shalebark—looking for some sign of what had happened.
Sounds from behind.
Kaladin spun with a curse as the back entrance of the manor opened. Too far from the parshmen quarters to seek cover there, he dove for a shalebark mound, but it was pitifully small. Light bathed him, cutting through the rain. A lantern.
Kaladin raised one hand—no use hiding—and stretched the other to the side, prepared to summon Syl. Then he hesitated. The person who had stepped from the manor was human, a guardsman in an old helm with spots of rust on it.
The man held up his lantern, pale in the face at having seen Kaladin. “Here now.” The guardsman fumbled with the mace on his belt. “Here now! You there!” He pulled free the weapon and held it out in a quivering hand. “What are you? Deserter? Come here into the light and let me see you.”
Kaladin stood up warily, still tense. Someone, at least, seemed to have survived the Voidbringer assault. Either that, or this was a group investigating the aftermath.
Still, it was the first hopeful sign he’d seen since arriving. He held his hands to the side—he was unarmed save for Syl—and let the guard bully him into the building.
*grabby hand motions*
Kaladin! Syl! Sanderson!
Kaladin go see you parents! They miss you!
I love that we get to see bits and peices of the writting process. It kind helps with the long wait.
Off-topic, but tor.com, why you gotta use the icky old cover art for the banner?
On-topic, WOO NEW EXERPT.
Oooh, I’m so excited! I kept scrolling slower and slower to savor each little paragraph and hoping that Kaladin would find someone he knew. I’m just a tiny bit put out about the guardsman, but at least it didn’t end on a cliffhanger!
“Gloomspren”! Heh. Axies should hang around Kaladin, his spren catalogue would progress with hitherto unprecedented speed. And that tidbit about spren hunting other spren is very intriguing and a bit disquieting.
@feezec
I’m sure that’s the newer cover art for WoR that they used for the banner.
The older cover art had Kaladin’s hair longer and the instead of punching the ground he was just playing around stormlight. Also a slightly different spear stance was used in the older one.
@kei_rin: actually they changed the graphic here after feezec posted that comment. :)
@PeterAhlstrom
I was wondering. Just shows that I wasn’t playing attention to the graphics when I saw the article.
Quick work on the cover change.
I can’t wait for the next installment! Is Kaladin the Miles O’Brien of this universe? Forever doomed to be dumped on?
*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* (Pitch inaudible to human ears)
Kaladin @emo
Please get over it. You’re in the army now. Be all that you can be.
This excerpt, it’s too short. What a tease.
Ooh, ooh…Honorspren hunting Gloomspren. Well, the Cognitive Realm is a dangerous place. IIRC, Painspren (or is it Fearspren?) terrorize the other spren there.
I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so excited!
I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so excited!
I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so excited!
I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so excited!
I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so excited!
Hah. I like that line.
“He was unarmed save for Syl.”
As if that doesn’t make him one of the most dangerous men in Alethkar by itself.
@10
It is not emo. It is PTSD. Which is common for the army.
@12: Smiling and agreeing with you. She’s so cute, it’s easy to forget how dangerous she can be. @13: I agree. Sanderson really is good at writing what I call “Depressed yet active characters.” @10, Ways: I <3 you, but you are trivializing the trauma Kaladin has been through by calling him emo. Like he’s a 16 year old middle class student who has never experienced real pain or loss. People with PTSD, or just regular depression go through cycles. Really makes me wonder how close Brandon is to person(s) with depression (family, friend, self, etc.). Kaladin happens to be in a down cycle right now. He was riding high on all the Stormlight energy, just to literally and figuratively crash when his destination is almost in sight.
His purpose in life is to protect. Yet, in his mind, he has failed to protect his parents. So he has caused the death of even more family members. I REALLY hope he is proven wrong before we get too many chapters into Book 3.
But I also believe we will not get another Kaladin preview for a really long time. Sanderson left us at an almost GRRM like made-for-TV-cliffhanger. NOOOOOO!!! Curse you!!! Yet so happy he is a much faster writer than GRRM.
@Mods: Why does my formatting keep getting erased? I type and space out everything, click “Preview Comment”, then have to reformat everything again. Happening on all thread posts.
Alright, I’m finally posting here.
This chapter helped sate me, but I’m a little pissed at Kaladin. I appreciate that he is traumatized, with PTSD and whatever other mental disorders he may still have from Amaram’s betrayal and his subsequent slavery, but he’s just not my favorite character to read as a result. He keeps beating himself up about stuff, it’s his Thing. And I’m sick of his gloominess bringing me down.
This is still just a tease, even if it is longer than some excerpts he’s released before (if not the longest by any means). Finally he reaches the point where we might find out what’s happened in Hearthstone and… BAM! He’s arrested (and without stormlight). I don’t have real fears that he’ll be in for a prolonged imprisonment, given that whole Shardblade thing. It does feel a bit like a GRRM cliffhanger, as Braid_Tug @14 said, but I’m not buying it (just as I don’t buy most of GRRM’s any more). Kal will be free, either exhonorated or using Syl, soon.
Well, or he’ll have a long emo arc of imprisonment again. Bleh. But I trust BWS.
I understand the Kaladin frustration. It is the same frustration that splintered rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan when Lord of Chaos came out (oh, little did we know). But this is the first chapter of the book. If we have Kaladin-in-a-box the entire book, that is something different.
@14 – Braid_Tug – Sorry for the inconvenience! Would you mind sending an email to webmaster@tor.com, letting us know if it’s just spacing that’s getting lost or also other formatting (bold, italics, whiting out spoilers etc.)? Please also include which browser/operating system you’re using.
Well. The world is a cruel, cruel place. Even though the email hit my inbox before 9:00 a.m., I didn’t see it until late afternoon, and then only got to read about a quarter of it before duty called. It was an excruciating evening, knowing I had this chapter waiting at home…
And he’s too late, and we still don’t know what happened in Hearthstone. (Other than the storm, of course.)
Aaaaaaaugh!
FWIW, I don’t see him being imprisoned again, except by his own choice. It wouldn’t make sense; he knows perfectly well that you can’t imprison someone with a Shardblade.
@12 – my thoughts exactly when I read this last night.
Finally had the opportunity to read this! I’m not surprised the guard sees him as a deserter, considering his generic uniform, but I hope that Kaladin is just going with the guard to prevent needless violence, and doesn’t convince himself that he deserves to stay locked up (with Syl, his imprisonment is only as long as he lets it be). Perhaps he’ll be able to get some vital information from the guard before he ‘escapes’, too.
And, Brandon just likes taunting us with these tidbits!
Gloomspren
Reactive eye hue
Wrecked Hearthstone
Syl holds a grudge
Kaladin pulls a Shallan
::sigh::
Shouldn’t we have at least gotten the chapter art, so we knew the relevant Herald(s)?
Really, really torturing us, Brandon. Thank you sir, may I have another?!
@17, Stefan – email sent! @21, Freelancer – LOL. That needs a like button. Since Sanderson said he wasn’t really going to work on SA Book 3 until January, I’m really happy to get this little tidbit. And I don’t really see it as the guard putting him in a prison.
My thoughts go more in the direction of a grandparent forcing you inside, sitting you down at the table and interrogating you. It’s not prison, but you may not want to be answering grandpa’s questions. Then when done, grandma will feed you and send you to sleep. Things will get sorted in the morning / next chapter.
Well, fingers crossed in my head.
It would be interesting to see, if his gloomspren attract unbonded honorspren. These honorspren come, at first, just for the Gloomspren Hunt, but then stay because of his Honor. Considering Syl is the only honorspren to defy the Stormfather and bond a human, this could be the way we get more Windrunners.
@15, 18, 20, 22: I’m also in the he’s-not-imprisioned camp. The way I read the last couple paragraphs was more along the lines of Kaladin going along with the guard to gain entry to the manor and find out what’s going on. There was also the part in WoR where he said something along the lines of never letting anyone imprison him again. So I hope that’s not where this is going….
Aside from all my internal squeeeing, this seems to have answered a question I had, which was about whether the everstorm is also infused with stormlight – looks like that’s a no.
25. Geordielass
Actually, that brings up a good question. Honor and Cultivation both use Stormlight… so what does Odium use?
Day is made!
Just makes the wait harder to endure… Now I want to know what happens xD
It is apparent to me that Kaladin is merely playing a game when he allows himself to be shepherded into the mansion by the guard. He needs information on what happened to the Parshmen and Laral’s fate, so he plays along. Surely the guard and whoever else is in the ruined mansion (since Voidbringers appear to be absent) are no match for Kaladin should he turn against them. This selection, however, only whets the apetite. Will he find Laral alive? If so, will she go with him to find his parents? Will he find them alive? Will he find the bright gemstone lamp that his father had and restore his stormlight? Will he take them to the broken plains Oathgate, or to the closer one in Alethkar? If the latter, whom will he find there, and whom will he allow entry through the Oathgate? So many questions and dramatic possibilities to continue the story: the adult Kaladin meeting his parent(s); Kaladin-Laral vs. Kaladin-Shallan (hopefully the latter from what we know). Some are disappointed with Kaladin’s moodiness and feelings of failure. However, I find it engaging that fantasy ‘superheroes’ show weakness and self-doubt. It makes them more human and subjects of empathy. In the end, what matters is that they overcome their weaknesses and do what’s right and needed.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be imprisoned…there’d be nothing keeping him there (unless he’s really reluctant to expose himself as a shardbearer). That said, he’s showing up dark-eyed, travel-stained, branded as a slave, and yet carrying an obscene amount of money. I imagine he’ll be presumed a deserter and a thief, which won’t endear him to anyone.
I just hope he’ll keep his head (difficult to do when facing up to an emotional past) and rally through. It might be tough to read for a bit, but I feel like Kaladin always gets his “crowning moment of awesome” in the end. :)
(For the record, I believe that at least one of his parents and Laral are both alive, and I’m VERY excited to meet them. Even if it starts out rough, I really want Kaladin to have a loving support system including people that don’t hero worship him. Adolin and Shallan are close, but not the same as a parent.)
Braid_Tug @14
PTSD and depression are definitely not trivial and it wasn’t my intent to imply such. Kaladin is a well-written character exactly because his response to his life is very realistic. Like MDNY @15, however, I want to see him get beyond his gloominess. It’s starting to remind me too much of Perrin’s PLOD, even though their situations are not very comparable. <3 you back, apologies if I touched a sensitive nerve.
I doubt he will be imprisoned here. Do they even have police or prisons here? Besides, this is his hometown. Once he gets into the light, he will probably be recognized. Now, how will that go?…. I want to know.
There is probably nobody in the village because all survivors gathered in the city lord’s house.
Indeed. Given that there were some villagers who have served a term as soldiers, I wonder why they have such an ineffective guard on watch, though. Either transformed parshmen weren’t as dangerous as feared – maybe they need time to get used to their new intelligence and learn to employ it? Transformed Parshendi had their previous experiences and skills to call on, parshmen wouldn’t have had that. Or was Hearthstone so
massively devastated that the codger is the best they have?
In any case, I strongly suspect that Kaladin’s parents don’t live in the place any longer. I bet that they got a “killed in action” letter from Amaram about him, and with both their sons gone, there would have been nothing to hold them in the town where they have suffered so much and have been so little appreciated.
Kaladin promised that no-one is going to lock him in a cell again, EVER, so he is obviously playing along to get peacefully into the manor where the survivors and wounded probably have gathered in hopes to find some shelter/protection. What I am worried about is the moment he meets his parents again (for I refuse to believe that they are killed off so lighthandedly) and they might believe that he is a deserter and a thief, at best – for, as noted out, he was reported dead, he has slave marks on his forehead, he wears a simple uniform which is in tatters, and he has no stormlight. He does have Syl, and that might make a difference proving him innocent (hey, not anybody has a spren-turning-into-a-shardblade-and-making-your-eyes-glow, right :) ). But if such a suspicion might arise for his parents, it would be heartbreaking, both ways. Not to mention there’s Tien’s death, even if the deserter-suspicion theory proves to be invalid, and Kal’s feelings over his responsibility and failure to protect his baby brother. But Isilel might be right, they might have moved, I never thought about that possibility before.
But yeah …. I agree with everyone who bless and curse these tidbits – they are oh ever so welcome to help me through until more comes, and yet – to wet the appetite and then leave us craving for more like that, very cruel! :)
Oh, one more thing. Is it some weirdness of mine, or is there anybody else who thinks after seeing BBC’s “Musketeers” that Luke Pasqualino might make quite a good Kaladin if they ever brought it on screen? :)
35. Celebrinnen I have not seen the Three Musketeers, but a quick image search says he looks about right. If you see a Youtube video that shows him in action, let us know!
The Parshendi only change (normally) if they are outside. It may well be, that these parshmen were safely inside at the time.
@35
I just started watching BBC “Musketeers” and was thinking the same thing about him.
@36
A really quick youtube vid search brought up this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9wElv8hkpw
I think it shows him in action well enough.
I don’t get the adoration here. Is this typical of Sanderson’s work? The dialogue is clunkier than the transmission of a ’49 Chevy and repetitive sentences like this, “After so long in the stormlands—those eastern lands that bore the brunt of the storms—he had almost forgotten the sights of a more fertile landscape,” make me scratch my head.
The stormlands are the lands that have storms? Okay….
And this bit, “The mere thought of that a panic rise inside of him, a feeling like he got when watching a hail of arrows fall on himself and his men.” The first clause makes no sense and second half reads like it was written by a 12-year-old. That’s simply bad grammar (“himself”) and poor construction (“like he got”).
Without having any preconceived notions of this story, my impression is that this needs serious editing and the author needs to buy a thesaurus. I’m going to point out that the emperor has no clothes here: This is not good writing.
Could it be possible that syl’s relative she refers to is another person she previously had a nahel bond with? One of the old Knights Radiant maybe? Perhaps the gloomspren are the same or at least have a relation to the spren that Dalinar was chasing in his vision @@@@@ the purelake which animated the Thunderclast hence the comments about the hunts being grand things/Quite the endeavor. Or maybe I should just loosen my tin-foil hat lol.
Dash @38 – Unfortunately, the blurb preceding the actual story leaves out what Brandon said in the email newsletter: this is a very rough draft, unedited, unrevised even by himself, much less by his editors. Yes, it contains odd artifacts in a couple of sentences which were clearly reworded on the fly. By the time this shows up in the next book, you’ll find a lot of wordings have been changed and all the typos corrected. The thing that has everyone excited is the story itself – a hint at what’s coming next for characters we have come to love.
Frankly, I’d be embarrassed to release anything in that form, no matter how rough it is. I’ve never read any of Sanderson’s books, and this makes me want to stay far away from them.
People may be tremendously excited to read the continuation of this story, but there’s no tale I like well enough to overlook such amateur writing. I don’t know how anyone can look at that and not think it’s genuinely terrible.
How does a professional author even write something that bad in the first place? I guess I expect someone who makes a living at this to be better than average on the first pass.
Have you ever seen Harlan Ellsion do his writing schtick in a bookstore window? Someone hands him an envelope with a couple ideas written on it and he sits down at a typewriter to churn out a fully-fledged short story. No corrections, no cross-outs, and he writes prose that is publishable from the jump.
I wouldn’t let this stuff into an 8th grade writing class. I certainly wouldn’t *show* it to anyone.
@42: If you’re going to be a negative-nancy and post just to hate on material we’re all enjoying, please go somewhere else. I think Harlan Ellison is beyond boring, his writing trite, and his odor is nauseating. So, obviously, you just can’t see eye to eye with everyone. However, I’m not going to go find areas of the internet where people are enjoying him and create posts just to insult with my haughty-taughty opinion.
@42, Out of interest, what’s your experiance of writing fiction, either proffesionally or for your own amusment?
@43,
Unfortunately, there are lots of insecure people like @42, who try to hide their own feelings of insecurity by looking to put down other people’s opinions and trying to start flame wars. I hope everyone here just ignores him.
mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore i want mooooooooooooooooooooooooooore
ok im done. to the guy complaining about the grammar and sentence structure shut the hell up most people who read these previews dont care about it especially when its in a form meant as a teaser to a beloved book series of a well respected and well known writer. (one whom was choosen to finish one imo of the best fantasy series and longest ive ever read) instead of being a ass and making judgements on something thats meant to reveal story why dont you go to your local library and check out one of his boooks and make the comment again this time not in ignorence
is any one else hoping Kaladin gets with Shallon cuz there was some sexual tension between the two i mean opposites attract. i dont have a dislike for adolin but i have to root for kaladin getting on that cuz i feel like they would be better for each other and because adolin is kinda an ass granted normally i would be inclined to like that character type but Kaladin is…. well hes a badass and can beat the living snot out of the dimwited brat js my opinion and all any others?
My guess is that Kaladin and Shallan will not end up together. But he really does need someone like Shallan. Her over-cheerfulness balances well with his melodramatic gloom and PSTD.
I better be careful about making too many theories, or I am going to be seriously confused when the book actually does come out.
And don’t rag on Adolin. He is pretty bad-ass himself. I don’t think he is broken enough for a surgebinder yet, so if he becomes a surgebinder, he needs to have a serious fall and redemption arc. My vote is exile (for the murder of Sadias) and life as Robin Hood, returning as a Dustbringer.
Moooooooooore lol
Idk if they’ll end up together but I have to hope although I don’t think syl will like pattern very much considering they’re complete opposites.
As far as adolin and shallan (I really should actually read the book to get the spelling of their names down I like the audiobooks and reading once and another listen of every book upon new release) I don’t think they’re compatible shallan will (IMO) get tired of adolin and he as you mentioned hasn’t been broken enough to become a surgebinder although I’m thinking he might become an oath blade bearer and that will slowly start to drive him mad with power (too much stormlight has to have side effects) I feel like he’s going to go Darth Vader at some point. He and shallan don’t fit she killed her parents he will never understand that kaladin does, the two of them already are closer to one another then adolin and shallan I’m also of the opinion that adolin will pick up on this and like I said jealousy of not being a surgebinder in combination of kaladin being above him will play a part in either breaking him or making him go dark side
And I like adolin I was like oh damn when he messed that guy up in one of the duels he was like a tiger playing with his food toying with him and then just slaughtering him so nonchalantly. Adolin is probably one of the best swordsman in the series.
If he were to fight with kaladin in a one on one fight to the death him with plate and kaladin using a regular shardblade kaladin would lose but if he used syl with just enough stormlight to heal and no lashing and the like he’d kick his ass but that’s just me so far
I don’t have a dislike for any character especially not one like adolin but I’m holding out for him and kaladin going Ham on each other and kaladin putting him down over shallan sadly sanderson has said no more kaladin based books so :'(
While I anticipate a more intense relationship developing between Kaladin and Shallan – there are repeated indications in WOR of that mutual fascination and admiration, I am not sure what direction it will take. It could evolve into a romantic relationship at the expense of the prior Shallan-Adolin commitment and infatuation. It could also become a fraternal type relationship akin to that of Harry and Hermione in the Potter series. The killing of Sadeas by Adolin need not sour the relationship with Shallan since she, far more than others, should be able to excuse the killing of someone representing a clear danger to them and their family. What happens to that relationship will likely be governed by how Adolin reacts both to the rise of Shallan as a leading figure and Radiant, and to the aftermath of the killing. I see a Kaladin-Shallan pairing as being great for Kaladin given her optimistic outlook vs. his strong tendency towards self-flagellation – particularly, if he doesn’t find his parents alive upon his return home. Shallan, in turn, needs Kaladin’s passion and devotion to compensate for the pain of maternal betrayal in her childhood. Another evolving relationship of interest is that between a returned Jasnah and her former ward, Shallan – particularly, if Shallan pursues an involvement with Mraize and the Ghostbloods (Jasnah’s would-be assassins).
i think you may be right sir, as far as the ghostbloods go i think shallan is going to come clean with Jasnah about everything and they’ll develop a sister like friendship so either she procrastanates and lies then comes clean or does it from the very start of her return im thinking she comes clean from the start and jasnah lets her continue as a double agent or they go confront Mraize together and get blackmailed into some plot i can see the ghostbloods letting jasnah in cuz of the possible information she can provide among other possible happenings
as far as kaladin’s parents go i think that (taken from someone above) either his parents are alive or they moved away i dont think them dying would be something kaladin can deal with nor would it be something sanderson would do hes not GRRM (thank the stormfather) and wouldnt kill them maybe kill one but definitly not both that just doesnt fit. im thinking its
one:they moved away and hes going to find his childhood crush
two:he finds them fine and they have an emotional reunion and its all good then they get attacked by something or they get hurt
three:he finds one dead one alive as far as guessing which survived, it could go either way his mom helps him become a hero and forgives him for letting tien die or his dad is alive and he forgives him and helps him overcome his issues with surviving while his friends always die either way both parents provide diferent things and having either will effect the kind of character he becomes
adolin is a bit of a hothead hes not going to like shallan being so close with kaladin (regardless of their relationship type) and will be jealous. i feel like hes going to at some point be the one who tells her that kaladin killed her brother in an effort to drive a wedge and it will have the opposite effect driving shallan into kaladins arms because she’ll see him in a negitive light
i feel like someone is going to take the place of Sadeas. a new character who was in another princedom and who will want to avenge him and will be a surgebinder or carry an oath blade. next book is going to have so many new characters and elements i cant wait
ps i wanna see more hoid im relistening to warbreaker it was my first sanderson book i always loved it i like almost everything by sanderson and unlike other writers there isnt any out right real world politcal themes or bias’ just story and the occasional poop joke LMFAO
pps please dont point out any if there is id rather not see it as it will ruin one of the few good writers in this genre. (diferent genre i know) Stephen King is crap now everytime i read his books all i see are bias political themes and if i wanted to hear/read about that id watch the news
I dont think Shallan and Kaladin are suited. I know there seems to be an attraction between them but I somehow feel that even if there is a temporary relationship between them, in the end it will be Adolin and Shallan. I think Adolin has started on his journey to acquire some rough corners (he was to smooth :) ). Facing the fact the he has killed Sadeas in cold blood, that his girlfriend is so much more awesome than he is :)… and that his girlfriend is more interested in a former bridgeman….that everyone he is close to has a spren …..i mean he is literally the only one left in his family if you dont count the former queen…..even the king ….I think Sanderson is going to toughen up this guy a little. He doesnt have issues like Kaladin but he hasnt really had any competition in his life yet
Why in polish edition by Wydawnictwo MAG cover is not by Michael Whelan? :(
@52 Foreign editions generally have different cover art.
Some typos and grammatical errors, but otherwise great first chapter! Looking forward to that new addition to the Stormlight Archive. Great work Brandon Sanderson, keep it up!
I’m just commenting so this will show up in my feed. Good teaser for a book that won’t come out for a couple of years – AAAHHHH!!!
I’ve read so many damn book in my life and almost everyone I’ve hated the love story or the triangle or whatever. First of all i hate to read about noble rich boys like adolin even though i do like him more since he killed sadeas. Bout damn time. Still he’s way too insecure about being betrothed to a knight radiant that it will be one of his downfalls. I mean come on people he’s obviously going to become a bad guy in the end which makes me like him even more. Even so. The dialog between kaladin and shallan is probably some of the best I’ve ever read. Like i said i hate romance But this time I’m actually intrigued. Shallan needs a passionate man that can keep up with intellect she has. She crazy so she need someone who has been through alot and will understand her without judgement. And if BS make this out to be adolin will make shallan a better person i will puke and burn the book for spite. Im tired of writing about this shot so im out. But final thought though, kaladin is going to take her flying and make her wet. Team bridgeboy!!!!!!
First, a question for Brandon. I first discovered the Stormlight Series through Audible audio books. What are your thoughts on audio books? Do you think they add or detract from your work?
I listen to audio books in lieu of radio while in my car. I am still an avid reader, so audio books aren’t my sole way of “reading”. If the narrator is good I think audio books lend a new depth to the experience. However, part of me feels like I have somehow cheated myself by not “turning a page”. I plan to turn pages on Stormlight books one and two while waiting for three. Audible offers “immersion reading” which, for me, is more distracting than helpful or entertaining.
I find all the characters in Stormlight very “real” in their depth, flaws, hopes, and struggles. Each character acts upon what they perceive is “a greater good”– and are not primarily motivated by self- interest. The villains are not all bad and the heroes have their flaws as well.
This will be a series that I will re-read frequently. Each of the books reveal a new insight each time I read them. I love allegory (this has not always been beneficial–especially while in college). Sometimes a zebra is just a zebra. Whether intentional or not, I found many instances of “deeper meanings” or symbolism while reading the series. From the senseless hacking of, or warring over rockbuds to the evolution of the chasm from a place of death and dread to a place of discovery, power, friendship, and escape. The series has everything a serious reader enjoys in a great book, fantasy, magic, mystery, war, humor, intrigue, struggle, hope, and (yes, Kaltain from post 56) romance. Diamonds with the most facets shine the brightest.
Thank you for sharing your literary talent Brandon. I sincerely hope the Stormlight series will not end as a trilogy. I would love a story from the viewpoint of the Parshendi. I also would love to know more about Syl and her story. She is one of my favorite characters. (p.s. I would also like to know the story behind the female “safe hand”. )
@56 I feel your evidence on the matter is rather thin. Adolin did commit murder, but so did Shallan, Kaladin, Jasnah and Dalinar. I found nothing to indicate, in the Sadeas’s murdering scene, he was going to the dark side. Jasnah and Dalinar are arguably much darker individuals then Adolin.
I also completely disagree about your take on Adolin/Shallan/Kaladin as I find Adolin to be a much more passionate individual than Kaladin. I have always read Kaladin as a cold calculated individual as opposed to a warm passionate individual, but that is my personal interpretation so it is up for grab, so to speak.
Besides, Adolin has proven to be much smarter than he first appears. Just because he has not have the intensive surgeon schooling Kaladin has had does not mean he is stupid. In fact, he turned out being much smarter than Kaladin when it came to battle tactics and understanding the larger picture of a war. Adolin just does not see fit to display any of his intellect as opposed to Kaladin who never shy from stating how smart he is. Adolin does the exact opposite: he plays dumb most of the time, but when push comes to shove, he uses knowledge to get him further. I disagree he is not smart enough to connect with Shallan.
I also think you are jumping to conclusions in stating Adolin would not be able to understand: we do not know what Adolin is able to understand or not. Sure he has issues knowing his fiance now is a Radiant, who wouldn’t? Radiants are feared and hater all across Roshar… Based on this, Adolin reacted admirably I would say, even if a little insecure, but then again that is not the first time Adolin is insecure… He just not display his insecurities, he keeps them to himself and move forward.
I also disagree Shallan needs someone who has been through a lot… Shallan needs someone who will care for her as no one ever did. I find Kaladin to self-centered on his duty as a protector to actually care about someone external, but that is just my view of him. Besides, Adolin will most likely go to hell in the next book, so that will give plenty of occasions to emphazise with Shallan’s ordeal or the opposite. If someone can understand Adolin, it is her.
Finally, in a relationship that works, nodoby is making anybody “better”, they complement each other. On that specific aspect, I do find Adolin complements Shallan much better than Kaladin.
As I have read other stating: I will sink with this ship.
WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE WRITING YOUR MASTER’S THESIS IN THe COMMENT SECTION!?
holy fettuccine alfredo.
i thought it was going to be a long chapter due to how small the page scroller was on my browser, but NOPE. chapter only made up 1/10th of the page, and the other 9/10th was the comments section filled with a pletora of unedited graduate thesis.
shame on all of you. for getting my hopes up.
amazing chapter by the way. was not expecting kaladin to run out of stormlight on his fly there.
This is my favorite fantisy series by far. Better (in my opinion) than Mistborn, The Reckoners, and other series I have read. Just like in the Mistborn books, there were hints in the best places. Well hidden, they just fit and made sense. You read it again after a plot twist hits and you are like ‘AHHH! How could I not notice that!’ Like the Ruin Preservation thing in the second and third book.
I don’t care if there are grammar mistakes. What I care about is the whole picture. This was a wonderful teaser. By that I mean that it drove me insane because I have to wait until 2016 or something. Anyway, many questions but I have one big one.
In the first book, after Szeth killed Gavilar, which was one of the best actions sequences I have ever read, he left Gavilar’s Blade behind sayign that the one he carried was curse enough. So my question is, can a person, anyone really, bond to two Blades? Can a person summon two Blades at once?
Beside the fact, Brandon Sanderson, you have captured my complete intrest and everything with this story. I love it, the magic systems are just awesome, and every character, weither ‘good’ or not, tormented or not, human or not, and powerful or not, is a character better than any story.
I agree in sayign this is the best fatisy series of this decade. By far.
Brenin @60 – I’d have to look it up to be 100% sure, but IIRC Brandon has confirmed that it’s possible to bond more than one blade. However, you have to summon them each individually, so while you could wield two Blades at once, you’d have to spend the 10 seconds to summon the first, then the 10 seconds to summon the second.
In case you aren’t aware of it, we’re in the midst of a reread of Words of Radiance. Click on the Stormlight Archive tag, and you’ll find the index of all the SA discussions on Tordotcom, including the completed reread of The Way of Kings and the current Words of Radiance. Come join us!
The thing that worries me is that Syl is so child-like. In WoK she was maturing, her features taking on a less child-like cast, and that was good as their bond and relationship was slowly growing stronger. In WoR the relationship deteriorated and Syl’s personality rolled back to become more child-like. In this snippet, Brandon is signalling that all is not well. Yes, Kaladin has progressed one more level but he and Syl do not seem to be progressing in their relationship. I have the feeling that thongs won’t improve for Kaladin unless he pays more attention to Syl.
@42 – Sanderson’s early draft writing style tends to be a general stream of conciousness – get words and ideas onto paper and then clean it up afterwards. It’s something that he encourages and can work, depending on the person. A draft like this is really intended for someone familiar with the work, who is looking for more story and is willing to ignore the lack of polish. While you bring up a good point about how this is not tbe best way to engage a new reader, @41’s point is (gently) telling you that you aren’t the target market.
I think of it this way. I’m a lawyer and thus make my trade in words. But, when I’m writing my first draft of a document, I throw out every thought or point that crosses my mind – if I don’t, I’ll forget it. Then, I go back and begin the revision process. If I had people hankering after my next memo, they’d wonder if I was an idiot when they saw that first draft. Spelling, grammer, style, etc. is all optional. As it is, I’m typing this without going back to revise. And does this feel like it was written by someone who spent years learning to craft an argument?
In the event that you happen on this thread and comment, I would suggest that you give the series a chance. the story and writing are good and Sanderson, et al, do a great job of tightening the loose bolts.
@43-45 – How exactly are you engaging someone new to Sanderson? It’s a fair point – there is a lot of editing needed to the Sanderson’s first drafts to tighten things up. Just because a person doesn’t write fiction doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of spotting bad writing (which, if you’re not familiar with the story, will take you away from what you’re reading). I mean, do you ever read the Consumerist? Many of the current editors, especially those that arrived late during and after Ben Popken’s tenure, are atrocious writers. Their published posts are full of errors, incomplete sentences, missing words, etc. It’s awful. I don’t have a consumer focused blog, I don’t publish anything other than various comments on various sites, but I can still see, spot, and acknowledge bad writing. Did I notice the issues with this? No. I was too focused on the story and excited to see more Kaladin. Someone new to the SA series isn’t going to have that investment.
I’m ready for a new update on the Stormlight Archive … we haven’t had a new post since September!!!
Actually… we had a small one this week.
I’m surprised no one is mentioning jasnah. Kaladin was told to head to kholinar by dalaran in the end WoR, so he will most likely take everyone from the village and head that way and maybe somehow get the oathgate activated.
The real question is regarding what happens with jasnah. I think she will be headed to kholinar too and so will either meet up with kaladin in kholinar or on the way there. Hell, she might be in hearthstone already. (Jasnah and whit were headed to a town at the end of WoR) Either way, I believe there will be some contention when they finaly see eachother (Unless whit is still there to pour water on the flames).
Am I the only one hoping he bonds the honorblade too????
@69 the honorblade will give kaladin nothing. Most likely, kaladin will give the honorblade to dalinar since he is vulnerable without a shardblade of his own.
If and when jasnah and Kaladin meet I kinda hope that wit is not there… Of course you never can get enough of wit can you?
A whole year noooo!! gonna be good based on this thought.
I am scrolling through this chapter… up… down… up… down… Sssoo hard to resist the temptation! Aaagh! No, I am going to wait and see it in the book…. up… down…
If the new star wars movie had to be postponed for another one to two years just for me to get my hands on the next stormlight archive book I would so go for it.
I’m fairly fortunate to have stumbled across the whole SA series (a friend’s friend found the SECOND book in his garage earlier this year, and it got sent to me because apparently I am known for liking big books). . . . I read the second one twice, and then the first one once I could get to the library. Now, however, I have read each book 3 times and CANNOT wait for the third. At least I didn’t read the first when it came out. I wouldve had to wait a bit longer then. Anyway it is AMAZING (probly my first favorite series, though its hard to tell, as my other favorite, The Inheritance Cycle, is already a complete story). I read that this was sort of Sanderson’s “baby” project. . . . are his other books all just as good? And anything valuable in them with regard to the cosmere, Vorinism, Hoid, the Cultivation/Odium thing, etc.?
As far as Adolin/Shallan/Kaladin, I’m by no means certain but to me Kaladin and Shallan just seem to. . . . fit. The second book being the first one I read, I was introduced to Adolin largely through Kaladin’s eyes, and saw him indeed as a sort of talented but self-centered prig who had had no difficulties in life and was basically unprepared for serious calamities or responsibilities. I must admit, though. . . . he steps into some large challenges with undeniable maturity. He leads the army, defends his father, and in general engages in political activity with loyalty and integrity and humility, admitting when he is wrong and definitely willing to sacrifice his life. He has a depth and selflessness which surprised me. And yet he has had an easy life in the sense that he has always been prepared, equipped for his future responsibilities and supported by his father’s status, wealth, reputation, etc. . He has, as far as I can tell, never had to overcome anything truly revolutionary or unexpected in his life. Both Kaladin and Shallan have been broken, beaten, abandoned, and given responsibility for which they were neither prepared for nor wanted. And –the best I can tell– they embraced it because it was right, even though it meant an immensely harder path.
What can Skybreakers do that Windrunners cannot do?
Adolin has not yet experienced this. This is hard for me to put my finger on. . . . he has quality about him, but has not yet failed or –as seems to be a large theme– been truly broken. It seems in life that our full potential is often only unlocked if we have first been forced to look into the stormleavings of our failure, acknowledge it, and move on. Idk. I feel as if I am rambling. The suggestion that Adolin might be exiled for Sadeas’ death was one which had never occurred to me but is super intriguing. . . . I still kind of doubt it will happen but it could be very interesting. That would indeed provide for some interesting plot potential as to his character development/growth.
Despite Adolin’s growing maturity, Shallan has been through so much that I think he would simply not understand, or at least be unable to relate to on a level deep enough to help heal her wounds. If Adolin and Shallan had been stuck out in a highstorm, I do not think she would have felt prompted to tell him her painful history. There is something undeniably significant about Shallan, Kaladin, and their mutual understanding of pain and suffering and failure. They have a connection which links them on a level that is incredibly irreplaceable. I think Shallan needs someone of Kaladin’s immense passion to support and care for her. And her lightness, the courage with which she has to some degree overcome the ghosts of her past, can help him in a way no other beauty or lightness could. He is largely defined by his gloom, but he has so much passion for beauty and good hidden in there which is merely smothered beneath failure and suffering. His passion to protect and heal, his passion for the salvation of men and the brotherly love of his soldiers.
Kaladin and Shallan seem to fit so much better. I can imagine a greater level of committment and passion between them than I can between her and Adolin. They laugh, and hug, and kiss, and it feels genuine, but it all feels kind of. . . . surfacy or untested. Untempered. I always envision Adolin and Shallan eventually disagreeing on some fundamental thing and Adolin needing to be broken before he realizes she was right. By then though she is with Kaladin and Adolin has fallen for a darkeyes, perhaps one who saved him somehow when he was in his time of failure, and one who used to hate lighteyes. Also she is very courageous and hotheaded. That would be a cool story, but I shouldn’t let my mind run away with the story before I actually know what it is.
I actually hope Adolin stays non-surgebinder, because we need at least one main character like that and he seems good for the job. A book from Szeth, Eshonai, Rlain’s perspective would be interesting (the 4th one is slated to be something like that, right?)
And when do we get to know more about Lift?
@rhindon
Personally, I would say yes.I would recommend that you read either Mistborn or Warbreaker next. Warbreaker is a stand alone book that I think you can get for free on Brandon’s website and is more of a traditional fantasy story with some fun twists. It also has some characters who you’ve just met in Stormlight Archive. Mistborn is a series of 4 with two more coming out soon (the 5th book is actually coming out next week). Mistborn also is split into different time periods with the first three being in one time period (Renaissance) and the next three books being in a different time period (Wild west). The basic rule of thumb so far is that, if it doesn’t take place on Earth it’s part of Sanderson’s greater Cosmere universe. Which I think are all of his adult books out right now. His young adult books all take place on Earth.
Re Kaladin/Shallan/Adolin
While I agree with you that they both have gone through many hardships in life. I think that would help understand each other eventually. I don’t think that they would make a good couple. I think that Shallan and Kaladin would crash and burn if they were a couple but would support each other best as friends for many of the same reasons that you mentioned. I think Adolin could work out well for Shallan and he doesn’t have to have gone through the same hardships as her to be emphatic to her. Adolin is sweet with her and that might be just what she needs. Kaladin I don’t think can actually handle a relationship well. (I have reasons for this that I’ve gone into detail in the re-read) I think Shallan is someone who would need some romance in her life and I think Kaladin couldn’t do that.
Also, remember Adolin and Shallan have only know each other for something like a month on Roshar time- which would be about a month and a half earth time. There relationship is rock solid because it’s new. They still need time to build it. It feels untested because it is untested. We’ll have to read and find it lasts but I think it can.
Kaladin and Shallan have know each other even less. They just know each other from the chasms. A situation that put a lot of stress on both of them to rely on each other for survival. Yes it accelerated their understanding of each other but I don’t think it’s a good bases for romantic relationship. At least not yet.
As for your other questions about Skybreakers, Winderruners and Lift. Those are read and find out questions. We can speculate but until it’s written down no one knows. If you want to join us in discussing things like come over to re-read here at Tor.com. Just jump in at the chapter we’re on or go back and read the read the previous ones. A lot of though on all these topics has been given and a lot of ink spilled on. :)
@@@@@ Kei_rin
Ok thanks I will definitely check out both the books and the reread!
Regarding Kaladin and Adolin, you are possibly or even probably right, upon further thought. Adolin does have the ability to empathize well and Shallan doesn’t necessarily need full understanding, just a cheerful supporter, to help her forget. Adolin is far more stable than Kaladin in this sense. Also you are right at least currently Kaladin would not do well in such a relationship. I just felt connection and I must admit despite his constant gloom I am a firm Kaladin fan. Too bad he still seems to be not taking Syl seriously enough in this new chapter.
@79
No problem. :)
I too am a huge Kaladin fan! I love the gloomy boy, even when he’s being somewhat hardheaded or silly. And I do agree that Kaladin and Shallan have the start of an interesting relationship. I just don’t think that having that relationship bloom into love is necessarily what would make both the characters the happiest. I just want the people I love to be happy. If I were an author I would have trouble putting my characters through unhappy situations.
@77: Does everyone who has suffered hardships int their life need to be paired with someone having had some as well? Does someone who is “broken” needs to be paired with someone equally “broken”? Are the only people in the universe able to understand pain are those who suffered? Isn’t empathy a thing that do happen even within apparently sheltered individuals?
Besides, I feel you are forgetting a few elements into your discourse. Adolin is the older brother of a disabled young brother which must not have been easy every day. We always talk at how the disabled child feels/behaves/evolves, but we rarely talk of the “normal” one who lives through events he does not have the maturity to comprehend. We never talk of the sibling who is asked to be understanding, mature, responsible years before his time to compensate for the trouble encountered with the younger sibling. We hardly ever mentioned how the other sibling often feels: as if he was robbed of a normal childhood, always forced that he is to adapt to the sick one. These things may not have happened to Adolin as their world is rather different, but it also is impossible growing-up with Renarin didn’t leave some impressions. If anything, it has made him extremely patient and understanding.
Adolin also lost his mother as a child and while he likely didn’t kill her, it still must have been a sad event. His father was likely absent for a large chunk of his childhood, busy that he was conquering Alethkar. Afterwards, he went through two massive depressions : one following his wife’s death and another one, graver, following his brother’s assassination.
We could also talk how he has tried, for nearly 6 years, to get a woman to agree to marry him and he has failed. He was basically rejected by every single eligible young women Alethkar had to offer and while he does bear some responsibilities in this, it still must sting to know nobody loves you enough to pass the first impression. I should also add the fact he basically has no friends and those he called friends tried to have him killed or maimed. Look at how Kaladin deals with Moash’s betrayal, a man he has known for a few months… How would he have deal with Jakamav had he been Adolin?
So I whole-heartily disagree Adolin has never had any hardships: he’s had plenty, but he was not broken by any of it. He pushed through them seemingly unscathed, but he has dealt with unpleasant events. I thus do not understand how it is he is unqualified to understand Shallan’s sorry childhood.
I do agree Shallan needs someone to support and care for her, but I disagree Kaladin is this person.
As for Adolin being unprepared for larger responsibilities, the man runs an entire army by himself. He was betrayed, nearly maimed, thrown down a ceiling, defeated by a foe he cannot beat: he has given in every single ounce of energy he’s got to achieve his task without having any supernatural help. When Kaladin does the same, we applaud, but we pass over Adolin, brushing him away because he does not get to give the killing blow. He does not get to win on his own. Most readers think it epic Kaladin stood up to Moash while on the binge of death as he managed to call back Syl, but they turn a blind eye on Adolin sacrificing his life to try to stop Szeth. They forget how he looked into his own death, defeated, kneeling on the ground and waiting for the killing blow… He had no other resources, no Syl to try to summon back, nothing. He knew he was going to die and he accepted it, simply being sorry he let his father down. How can the man willing to die for a cause greater than himself he, at times, does not even understand, but has decided to endorse be called untested or unprepared?
He was tested: he passed, but he is going to be tested, again. This time, he may not prevail though because there is just so much one man can cope with and the ending of WoR is telling us we may have finally met Adolin’s personal threshold.
Sincerely, Adolin deserves better than to keep on being seen through Kaladin’s unflattering eyes. He has been through stuff, but not poverty or enslavement. Does it make his own hardships lesser because he still get to be a prince? What about Renarin then?
Sincerely, had Kaladin lived Adolin’s life, who knows how he would have turned out? Perhaps not half as well as Adolin, but of course, he is the only one who can understand Shallan…
Edit: I also want to add it was Adolin, who was so battered he needed physical support to make his way to the Oathgate, who was still up on his feet, hours later, running around the tower, making sure everyone was sheltered and bringing extra blankets to Shallan. He was the one who made sure she rested when by all means he should have been the one resting in those blankets, but no. He would not have any of it and when Shallan tells him he should rest as well, he says: “Soon.”, which likely means, not now.
I’d say he is quite the caregiver and has repetitively put himself last, even when he deserved to put himself first.
need moreeeee
If we are talking couples; I think Jasnah is probably best for Kaladin. Only problem is the age gap though. Maybe Jasnah and Teft?
@84
Woot! Another Jasnah/Kaladin person. :)
Personally I don’t have a problem with the age gap. We see that age gap quite often in media but often it’s a older male with a younger female and it’s meant to be taken as a serious relationship by the audience. I think it would be interesting to see that relationship portrayed where it was meant to be taken seriously and not as a cougar joke.
Although I am tempering my expectations given that we have been given a few cues that Jasnah isn’t interested in relationship and/or men. This might be a for now thing that could change with interaction with other characters who we haven’t yet see her interact with or it might be that she just isn’t interested in that as part of who she is. When talking to Shallan she implied that she thinks the state of marriage to be restricting.
More Kaladin depressed.
I don’t like it one bit. Two books full of it, at the end of book one Kaladin seems to come around and now THIS!!!
Brandon Sanderson, please rewrite this. By all means, if he has this tendency, Kaladin can on occasion have his lows, be a bit emo when things go wrong. But repeating the same pattern for three books, THIS is not character development, it’s plain boring and pointless and I completely lose interest in the character.
Oh and by the way, Dalinar was a complete idiot for entrusting Kaladin with this fortune in charged spheres in order to help out back at home.
Guard marches him into the house, another of the men whacks him over the head from behind, robs him while he is unconscious, surprised and happy for what he finds in his bag and they leave him to die with a cracked skull. All because he was too depressed to defend himself, let alone defend others. No stormlight to heal him. End of story.
In a state like that he will break his oath again, killing Syl out of sheer depression, because he simply can not muster the energy to what he is supposed to do. Declare him unfit for duty and lock him up in the disabled Radiant loony bin where he gets therapy for his problems. Wow.
This is really annoying to read…. And I don’t want him to pull the Radiant heroics after a breakdown to save the day another time around, because we had that. Several times over!
At first, I thought that shallan and kalladin were made for each other, but now I’m not so sure. There are so many more opportunities for new characters to come into play that fit the bill for a pair with him. I mean, this is going to be a series almost or as large as TWOT and many more awesome characters can arise. Adolin, I have a sneaky suspicion that he will become a surgebinder, however in a different way. Has anyone noticed that he keeps talking to his sword? He is forging a relationship with a semi-dead spren. He will somehow find a way to resurrect that spren. I know it sounds like a longshot, but I have a feeling about it. Also, I think that there will be more than 10 surges now. Obviously we found out that Renarin is a surgebinder but shallan didn’t recognize the name of his surge. I think a few more may come out of the woodwork like that.
@88: You aren’t the only one who had this suspicion. The “Adolin will revive his dead-Blade” theory is horribly popular.
Nononononononono please don’t stop there please don’t stop there….(gets down on knees begging) please….
Love the first chapter. When is he going to come out with the full book?
@91 – Sometime early in 2017, likely.
@92: Nope. He said Fall 2017 to the earliest.
He said Fall 2016 at the earliest, in his State of the Sanderson blog post at the beginning of the year, but seemed to think early 2017 was more likely. Unless he’s said something different since then.
He said, yesterday, in Houston it wouldn’t be out before Fall 2017.
I personally love The Way of Kings and the Stormlight Archive because comments, such as these, aren’t vulgar and rude like they are on many other previews… mainly because the only people who have the desire to read a 1000 page epic aren’t those people who post rude comments. They don’t have a high enough IQ.
ERMAHGARD! The moment I read this, I nearly died. I’ve read The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance so many times, an excerpt like this is a lifesaver. Thank you Brandon Sanderson!
Made my year. It’s official.
Why did I read that? Why would I do that to myself. I won’t be able to focus for months until the next book comes out. Or even a year. Why cruel world???
@16, I think we are safe from that atleast. He has a shardblade so I imagine no prison would keep him for long.
@48 Who did Kaladin. killl? Shallan brother was the murderer. That was self defense. Szeth was a madman murder. a
Kaladin has been well written and realistic. Adolin is a big little boy. He has failed his one test.
Kaladin mistrust of the ruling cast is realistic. He has watch them attack his family and destroy people he has cared for. It would be unrealistic to expect any other reaction.
It seems to me as though this guard would be linked to Kaladin’s past. I find it hard to believe after everything he went through to save his home and family that he would, in turn, be intercepted by some stranger straggling around the village who just happened so to be hold up in the Brighteyes mansion. I would assume this guard will turn out to be Jost (the boy from Kaladin’s first fight in his flashback). Possibly not believe Kaladin in his explanation of his past and current predicament. Cause some trouble and pressure Kaladin to prove his abilities which he would be hard pressed to procure due to lack of stormlight. Draw out Stormblessed’s quest to find and save his parents, which will probably prove a hopeless endeavour for at least one of them, and eventually become a friend by the end of the ordeal. There are two very inventive story arcs I see for either survivors of this hypothesis (A continuation of many forms of pain and sorrow from his father until a peak event then awestruck love and a teaching of what it means to save instead of kill /or/ His mother obviously dealing with the pain and sorrow of loss but with a new gain and a secret knowledge and past dealing with the Radiants that she intends to teach to Kaladin).
My hypothesis is like Syl whirling around in the wind – slightly childlike, but trying to remember what happened in the past and piece the possible future together. I have no writing skill but am encouraged by the massive archive I feel brewing and being produced as we speak by this mastermind. I now write a little every day. The feeling of waiting for another treasure of his has me trying to create my own!!
Brandon Sanderson has awakened something in me that strives to create a work of art which could be considered comparable to his brilliant skill but completely my own! You can feel his passion beyond the words pressed on the page. Thank you Lord Brighteyes Sanderson for letting us be privy to your imagination and inspiring the likes of me and other more well rounded souls.
Nooooo!
It ended just as it was becoming interesting! I can’t take it!!!
Coming back to this in preparation for tomorrow. It’s just as good now as before, and I’m really excited to read the fully polished version. :D And to finally get to read on, maybe get an idea of who these people are…
It’s worth noting that this is the first chapter only in that it was the first one he released in draft form. It’s not actually the first chapter of the book.