You cheered when Kaladin turned back. I cheered when you said you’d be starting WoR right away! Love the videos, can’t wait to see you enjoy the rest of your journey.
I'm on my first reread and into the last part of Oathbringer. I am really loving reading each book back to back because I'm following things a lot better, and things are hitting so much harder. You're going to keep loving this series!
Watching you talk about this definitely takes me back to reading WoK the first time. I am glad you enjoyed it so much. You are making me all excited about it all over again. Keep reading, even when the books make you want to put them down. Redemption will come.
great reaction as always, you got some really good predictions for the next book, I like it. Sometimes you are really good at pickung up clues (shallans shardblade), and sometimes you are still very confused (the shards on this planet). I am not sure at what point you should understand what is going on, so I guess we should not explain that right now. You should understand more at the end of the second book. so just keep reading and enjoy.
In my opinion, you learn to love each character more once you read *their* book. You know how Shallan's book is next; after reading that book, Shallan was my favourite character. Then same thing for the main character of the 3rd book becoming my favourite. You don't need to know who the "main character" of the book is before reading, but you can always identify them because they are the ones with the flashback chapters.
You are right, I can't believe I forgot to talk about it, I had forgotten all about Szeths storyline by the point this scene rolls around, so much was happening elsewhere. it was a great addition and obviously begs the question, what is Taravangian's motives and endgoal.
I had a lot of the same feelings at the end of book 1. What a strong finish. The payoffs were all the more satisfying for the slowness of the build. Words of Radiance (book 2) is at least as good. It benefits from all the groundwork of “Way of Kings,” and carries forward all the same strengths and then some! I’m at the beginning of book 3 now.
Congrats man, this is such a good story - all ur predictions, ur always thinking in exactly the right way its really cool to watch. Fun fact - you're saying Shallan the way Sando says it lol. And good choice, you kind of have to go straight into WoR after WoK, it is known :-)
I would read way more if I wasn't making the video's! They force me to slow down as it takes a while to prep them and edit, so there is a period that sometimes stretches over a couple of days where I am at a stopping point, but don't have time to make the video, which is very frustrating because I really want to know what's going on next.
For your prediction on the Shards, the only thing I will say is that not every grouping of Shards has the same kind of opposing natures as Ruin and Preservation from the Mistborn series.
So confidently wrong in so many places but that is the the joy of hindsight. I knew from your earlier videos you would love Bridge 4 going back to save Dalinar and the repayment via Oathbringer. It is so meaningful and doesn't feel out of character for either.
congrats on finishing! super interesting theories as always I think this doesn't really spoil anything so small hint: you've seen Shadesmar before (in a different book)
I’m glad you liked this book! You will probably be able to see at this point that, massive as it is, this book is basically the prologue to the series. And the series is amazing. Enjoy Words of Radiance!
Always a fun listen. Enjoy Words of Radiance - it's VERY good. When you do jump to something different, I'd think you'd want to consider Elantris as that world becomes slightly pertinent the further you get into the Stormlight Archive series. Elantris is a marvellous book, but it's an early book too in his career - so his magic system just isn't as filled out, and his characters while wonderful are just a bit flatter than the well designed characters in his later books. Still, it was the first Sanderson book I read, when I heard he would take over the WOT and it has a special place in my heart. The other book to consider is Edge Dancer as that one occurs chronologically between books 2 and 3 on Roshar.
I think I will stray away from Sanderson between WoR and the next Cosmere book I read, a little pallet cleanser is always a good thing long term. thank you for the suggestions
I think the Elantris books will have a shot at being on the level with Stormlight. The first one has issues, but it was an early book. The world of Sel has so much potential. I'd say that might end up being much more like Wheel of Time, though much shorter.
Sel as a whole has a lot of potential (Emperor's Soul is one of my all time favorites) but IMO Aon Dor is the single least interesting magic system in the Cosmere. I have some minor hopes that the two Elantris Sequels fix this by showing some limitations on the powers, but given all the WoBs Brandon has given about it, I doubt it will.
I debated whether to leave that in or not because my face is so gormless whilst trying to get it, but ultimately it was quite funny to me so I left it in.
My recommendation is to definitely take a break after WoR, no matter how you're feeling. It's probably the best book in the series and OB has some pacing troubles that can be a hard blow after WoR (still an amazing book, and my personal favorite flashback sequences, young Dalinar is what I dream to be, except that one thing, you’ll know when you get there) Some questions that I think the answers will be fun to reflect on: Who do you think the narrative is building to kill Sadeas in the end? I know you said he doesn't die in the next book, but who would be the coolest to kill him later on? When, if at all, do you think Kaladin is going to reveal that he's a Surgebinder to Dalinar/the wider world. Who do you think is most likely to also become a Surgebinder? If the answer to the last question wasn’t anyone on Bridge 4, do you think any of them will? Do you think we've seen any heralds other than Taln and the prelude?
I really dislike when people try and pre-condition others to have the same opinion about the books as them. There are many many people who like OB more than WoR. In fact, every main book in this franchise has a significant chunk of the fanbase that puts it as the best one. Giving advice that is so heavily rooted in your personal opinions on the books it more likely to be bad advice than it is to be good advice.
@ctom42 Oathbringer is my second favorite if I'm not giving WoK first book bias. It has pacing troubles. Even Brandon agrees and says he wishes he had done it differently. I understand what you're saying, but OB can be hard coming off the end of WoR and that could negatively color his opinion of an otherwise great book.
boy if this ain’t true. i stormed through Stormlight 1-2.5 and charged right into oathbringer, and Part 1 was pure agony for me. only just got out of it recently, and I’m hoping the rest of the book will make it feel worth it :)
@@shughes5778 Comments like this, pre-conditioning him to expect issues can be just as damaging to his opinion of the book. Personally for me RoW had more pacing issues than Oathbringer. It's all subjective. Brandon has mentioned things he would change in all of the books, not just Oathbringer, and I've seen large portions of the community praise it as their favorite. Personally I found each book better than the one before it and had no issues marathoning through all of them. I've also done multiple rereads and stick by my opinion. Stop trying to force your opinion on others. Let them make their own decisions for what they will do. Giving advice like this is fine when someone asks for it, but is just straight problematic when it's unprompted. You are just as likely to hurt someone's experience as you are to help it, good intentions or no.
I'm just going to step back. You make reasonable and good points that I simply disagree with and neither of us are likely to change our simple preferences no matter what logic the other uses.. Have a nice day.
👏👏👏 congrats on finishing, always fun to listen. Unfortunately I've shot ahead and am starting book 3. As for taking a break in between books, there are a few short stories on roshar. Edgedancer takes place between books 2 and 3, and Dawnshard I believe takes place between 3 and 4. Also, one of my favorite parts of these books is how insane the epilogues are. It only gets better from here.
I noticed u keep saying Brandon was influenced by wheel of time. And while there is some truth to that. I think u r missing how much Brandon Influenced wheel of time.
I know he finished the last 3 books but didn’t he just start publishing in 2005? Wheel of time began in 1990 with the majority of the books complete by 2005. Seems difficult to suggest he influenced them unless you are speaking about the last 3? Maybe I am missing something
@@conorreads A detail on the Wheel of Time connection. Brandon never would have had the clout to publish the Stormlight books (well, mostly WoK), at least in the form they're in, without the success that was finishing WoT. He's talked about how they never would have given him end page illustrations, a Michael Whelan (no idea how to spell it) cover, etc, without the boost WoT gave him. Stormlight is essentially Brandon leveraging his success for everything that it's worth.
@@conorreads basically just in its endings. no offense to robert jordan but i generally found him to be much worse at endings. and the way brandon was able to wrap up the wheel of time with something that i would argue is really close to being a sanderlanch of sorts i think elevated the wheel of time more than it would have been even with robert jordan at the helm.
@@shughes5778 oh if we are talking about financially and not in terms of his writing i totally agree with you. brandon has been quite clear that much of his financial success has been at least in large part due to that opportunity which gave him a jump start.
you are correct that each stormlight book has a "main flashback character" the first is Kaladin, the second is Shallan, the third is Dalinar, the fourth is the parshendi shardbearer, the fifth is szeth. it is not a 100% that a character having flashbacks means that character will survive through the entire storyline. there's also some small misunderstandings, Shards are the "gods" of the world. shardblades/plate are ancient weapons/armor used by the old knights radiant. Dawnshards are intentionally vague. as far as we know they are a form of magic power that was used to split the original God into the 16 shards. we don't know a lot about them, but there are 4 in the whole cosmere. there are 10 heralds and they were each given an Honorblade (separate from and prior to the existence of shardblades), crafted directly by the shard Honor, who the Alethi revere as the Almighty.
The amount of near misses is so fascinating, and you even got one prediction completely opposite
Shhhh. But there's more truth to that theory than there seems if you think about it.
Edit: hint, OB reveal.
Enjoy Words of Radiance. It just might be my favorite book ever.
It's the highest rated epic fantasy novel in the world
Soulcaster refers to both the device and the person who uses one, and by extension the person who can soulcast even without a soulcaster (device)
And a soulcaster (the device) could also be referred to as a fabrial.
@@Kevin_850 Soulcasters are a kind of fabrial
So excited that you're reading WoR next!
It's not only my favorite Sanderson book, but also my favorite book ever! You'll love it!
You cheered when Kaladin turned back. I cheered when you said you’d be starting WoR right away!
Love the videos, can’t wait to see you enjoy the rest of your journey.
Thanks Chilelli, I appreciate it!
Loving these videos; you're making all kinds of connections that didn't occur to me initially.
when I tell you that I cried when Kaladin was debating whether to help or not
I'm on my first reread and into the last part of Oathbringer. I am really loving reading each book back to back because I'm following things a lot better, and things are hitting so much harder. You're going to keep loving this series!
Watching you talk about this definitely takes me back to reading WoK the first time. I am glad you enjoyed it so much. You are making me all excited about it all over again. Keep reading, even when the books make you want to put them down. Redemption will come.
great reaction as always, you got some really good predictions for the next book, I like it. Sometimes you are really good at pickung up clues (shallans shardblade), and sometimes you are still very confused (the shards on this planet). I am not sure at what point you should understand what is going on, so I guess we should not explain that right now. You should understand more at the end of the second book. so just keep reading and enjoy.
I think I have better grasp on the shards on the planet now, thanks Degrad!
In my opinion, you learn to love each character more once you read *their* book. You know how Shallan's book is next; after reading that book, Shallan was my favourite character. Then same thing for the main character of the 3rd book becoming my favourite. You don't need to know who the "main character" of the book is before reading, but you can always identify them because they are the ones with the flashback chapters.
It's good to right into WoR. Though I do think a break between that and Oathbringer (before or after Edgedancer) might be good to do!
No mention of Taravangian? I think that's one of the most important reveals at the end of this book!
You are right, I can't believe I forgot to talk about it, I had forgotten all about Szeths storyline by the point this scene rolls around, so much was happening elsewhere.
it was a great addition and obviously begs the question, what is Taravangian's motives and endgoal.
Did you skip discussing the Taravangian reveal, or did I just miss it?
Congrats on finishing WoK, I think you'll quite enjoy the next book.
Not sure I even mentioned it, so much happened. But it was a good reveal, I had guessed it was on of the Alethi princes
AND this is only the beginning of your rollercoaster ride.
I had a lot of the same feelings at the end of book 1. What a strong finish. The payoffs were all the more satisfying for the slowness of the build. Words of Radiance (book 2) is at least as good. It benefits from all the groundwork of “Way of Kings,” and carries forward all the same strengths and then some! I’m at the beginning of book 3 now.
The fly: "Life before death."
lol
Congrats man, this is such a good story - all ur predictions, ur always thinking in exactly the right way its really cool to watch. Fun fact - you're saying Shallan the way Sando says it lol. And good choice, you kind of have to go straight into WoR after WoK, it is known :-)
You are the man Aldan, as always I appreciate you watching brother
Glad you are continuing right away, this series is so tough to put down
Agreed hotshotmama (great name)
The absolutely wild predictions are amazing. Of course, not telling which ones, but you'll have a lot of fun watching this back afterwards, lol.
Love to see this, but just take your time man, dont burn yourself out!
I would read way more if I wasn't making the video's! They force me to slow down as it takes a while to prep them and edit, so there is a period that sometimes stretches over a couple of days where I am at a stopping point, but don't have time to make the video, which is very frustrating because I really want to know what's going on next.
For your prediction on the Shards, the only thing I will say is that not every grouping of Shards has the same kind of opposing natures as Ruin and Preservation from the Mistborn series.
I am coming to realize this, it makes it much harder to make assumptions now that is out of the window
So confidently wrong in so many places but that is the the joy of hindsight. I knew from your earlier videos you would love Bridge 4 going back to save Dalinar and the repayment via Oathbringer. It is so meaningful and doesn't feel out of character for either.
Yeah I love those justice moments, you rock Raea
I just finished book 1 as well and the predictions you gave would be really cool if thats the route thats taken. Excited to continue the series
It's not, really, but words of radiance is at least as good as WoK. Truely epic.
congrats on finishing! super interesting theories as always
I think this doesn't really spoil anything so small hint:
you've seen Shadesmar before (in a different book)
Oh wow, I'll think on it
I’m glad you liked this book! You will probably be able to see at this point that, massive as it is, this book is basically the prologue to the series. And the series is amazing. Enjoy Words of Radiance!
Always a fun listen. Enjoy Words of Radiance - it's VERY good. When you do jump to something different, I'd think you'd want to consider Elantris as that world becomes slightly pertinent the further you get into the Stormlight Archive series. Elantris is a marvellous book, but it's an early book too in his career - so his magic system just isn't as filled out, and his characters while wonderful are just a bit flatter than the well designed characters in his later books. Still, it was the first Sanderson book I read, when I heard he would take over the WOT and it has a special place in my heart. The other book to consider is Edge Dancer as that one occurs chronologically between books 2 and 3 on Roshar.
I think I will stray away from Sanderson between WoR and the next Cosmere book I read, a little pallet cleanser is always a good thing long term.
thank you for the suggestions
Words of Radiance is actually the top rated book of all time on Goodreads I think
wow, surprisingly I don't use Goodreads at all, but I know I should, I know that's a big deal to be the top rated book on there though
Not all shards bear a direct opposite
Interesting
@@conorreads Did you look up what Odium means? Cause it's opposite is certainly not truth.
Oh wow, I thought it was a name, didn’t realize it was a noun also. That’s interesting
@conorreads Latin for the win. (Apparently, it was straight up Hatred in earlier drafts, but he didn't like the sound of it)
Love it.
I think the Elantris books will have a shot at being on the level with Stormlight. The first one has issues, but it was an early book. The world of Sel has so much potential. I'd say that might end up being much more like Wheel of Time, though much shorter.
The Emperor's Soul is so good and shows how much potential Sel has!
Sel as a whole has a lot of potential (Emperor's Soul is one of my all time favorites) but IMO Aon Dor is the single least interesting magic system in the Cosmere. I have some minor hopes that the two Elantris Sequels fix this by showing some limitations on the powers, but given all the WoBs Brandon has given about it, I doubt it will.
10:43 He's not trying to get a fly, he's just really bad at applauding.
I debated whether to leave that in or not because my face is so gormless whilst trying to get it, but ultimately it was quite funny to me so I left it in.
You're pronouncing Shallon's name correctly now. 🙂
Brunch so0o late tot he party 🎉😅
My recommendation is to definitely take a break after WoR, no matter how you're feeling. It's probably the best book in the series and OB has some pacing troubles that can be a hard blow after WoR (still an amazing book, and my personal favorite flashback sequences, young Dalinar is what I dream to be, except that one thing, you’ll know when you get there)
Some questions that I think the answers will be fun to reflect on:
Who do you think the narrative is building to kill Sadeas in the end? I know you said he doesn't die in the next book, but who would be the coolest to kill him later on?
When, if at all, do you think Kaladin is going to reveal that he's a Surgebinder to Dalinar/the wider world.
Who do you think is most likely to also become a Surgebinder?
If the answer to the last question wasn’t anyone on Bridge 4, do you think any of them will?
Do you think we've seen any heralds other than Taln and the prelude?
I really dislike when people try and pre-condition others to have the same opinion about the books as them. There are many many people who like OB more than WoR. In fact, every main book in this franchise has a significant chunk of the fanbase that puts it as the best one. Giving advice that is so heavily rooted in your personal opinions on the books it more likely to be bad advice than it is to be good advice.
@ctom42 Oathbringer is my second favorite if I'm not giving WoK first book bias. It has pacing troubles. Even Brandon agrees and says he wishes he had done it differently. I understand what you're saying, but OB can be hard coming off the end of WoR and that could negatively color his opinion of an otherwise great book.
boy if this ain’t true. i stormed through Stormlight 1-2.5 and charged right into oathbringer, and Part 1 was pure agony for me. only just got out of it recently, and I’m hoping the rest of the book will make it feel worth it :)
@@shughes5778 Comments like this, pre-conditioning him to expect issues can be just as damaging to his opinion of the book. Personally for me RoW had more pacing issues than Oathbringer. It's all subjective. Brandon has mentioned things he would change in all of the books, not just Oathbringer, and I've seen large portions of the community praise it as their favorite. Personally I found each book better than the one before it and had no issues marathoning through all of them. I've also done multiple rereads and stick by my opinion.
Stop trying to force your opinion on others. Let them make their own decisions for what they will do. Giving advice like this is fine when someone asks for it, but is just straight problematic when it's unprompted. You are just as likely to hurt someone's experience as you are to help it, good intentions or no.
I'm just going to step back. You make reasonable and good points that I simply disagree with and neither of us are likely to change our simple preferences no matter what logic the other uses.. Have a nice day.
👏👏👏 congrats on finishing, always fun to listen. Unfortunately I've shot ahead and am starting book 3.
As for taking a break in between books, there are a few short stories on roshar. Edgedancer takes place between books 2 and 3, and Dawnshard I believe takes place between 3 and 4.
Also, one of my favorite parts of these books is how insane the epilogues are. It only gets better from here.
Oh you are flying ahead, did you prefer WoK or WoR? (Of course no spoilers as I am only 200 pages or so into WoR currently0
I noticed u keep saying Brandon was influenced by wheel of time. And while there is some truth to that. I think u r missing how much Brandon Influenced wheel of time.
I know he finished the last 3 books but didn’t he just start publishing in 2005? Wheel of time began in 1990 with the majority of the books complete by 2005. Seems difficult to suggest he influenced them unless you are speaking about the last 3? Maybe I am missing something
@@conorreads A detail on the Wheel of Time connection. Brandon never would have had the clout to publish the Stormlight books (well, mostly WoK), at least in the form they're in, without the success that was finishing WoT. He's talked about how they never would have given him end page illustrations, a Michael Whelan (no idea how to spell it) cover, etc, without the boost WoT gave him. Stormlight is essentially Brandon leveraging his success for everything that it's worth.
@@conorreads basically just in its endings. no offense to robert jordan but i generally found him to be much worse at endings. and the way brandon was able to wrap up the wheel of time with something that i would argue is really close to being a sanderlanch of sorts i think elevated the wheel of time more than it would have been even with robert jordan at the helm.
@@shughes5778 oh if we are talking about financially and not in terms of his writing i totally agree with you. brandon has been quite clear that much of his financial success has been at least in large part due to that opportunity which gave him a jump start.
Brandon has said multiple times that WoT was essential in teaching him how to write the way he writes. There's definitely THAT influence.
Again, you have very interesting, but very wrong predictions. Enjoy, WoR, its my fauvorite BS novel, so far.
you are correct that each stormlight book has a "main flashback character" the first is Kaladin, the second is Shallan, the third is Dalinar, the fourth is the parshendi shardbearer, the fifth is szeth. it is not a 100% that a character having flashbacks means that character will survive through the entire storyline.
there's also some small misunderstandings, Shards are the "gods" of the world. shardblades/plate are ancient weapons/armor used by the old knights radiant. Dawnshards are intentionally vague. as far as we know they are a form of magic power that was used to split the original God into the 16 shards. we don't know a lot about them, but there are 4 in the whole cosmere. there are 10 heralds and they were each given an Honorblade (separate from and prior to the existence of shardblades), crafted directly by the shard Honor, who the Alethi revere as the Almighty.