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The Way of Kings Spoilers


JenniferL

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I can't find the original thread on this topic, so I'm just starting a new one. If anyone can find the old one and bounce it up for me, I'll merge them.

 

Anyways, I finished this last night. Very good book. Shallan is my favorite character so far, but Dalinar is close second. I was kinda "meh" on Kaladin's story.

 

As for the parshmen/Parshendi being the Voidbringers, I don't buy it. I've read too many Sanderson books to think it's that easy. "There's always another secret". But it's intriguing nonetheless. I'm also very interested in the nice old man king who was an evil mass murderer the whole time. I want to know more about that.

 

Very good kick off to a series. You know I like a book when I start thinking of what the costuming would look like. So if you see me at Dragon*Con with my left hand tucked inside my sleeve, you'll know why.

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i just finished too, i liked it um do we know what the pictures are on the inside cover? and i agreed i liked Kaladin i felt his story kind of dragged on but i liked it. I still have no idea what is going on except tarmon gai'don is coming and shin is going to kill alot more people. But over all i liked it i'll think of some questions to post later

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i just finished too, i liked it um do we know what the pictures are on the inside cover? and i agreed i liked Kaladin i felt his story kind of dragged on but i liked it. I still have no idea what is going on except tarmon gai'don is coming and shin is going to kill alot more people. But over all i liked it i'll think of some questions to post later

 

Those illustrations are maps. The front inside cover is a historic map of Roshar. The back inside cover is Shadesmar. The symbols represent the Ten Essences and how they relate.

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Can anyone explain what is going on with the bridgemen? I don't understand why/how they are moving these bridges, and what the purpose is. I do gather that they are fighting a war with the Parshendi. I'm on chapter 10 btw. Ok thanks.

 

Typing from my phone. Forgive me any sloppiness.

 

The Shattered Plains is filled with many, many rifts in the ground, making hundreds of islands that need to be crossed. Near the Alethi camps are permanent bridges, but further out they're at too much risk of Parshendi sabotage. Bridgemen in Sadeas' camp carry lightweight, sturdy, portable bridges to allow the army to cross from plateau to plateau relatively quickly. As there are many plateaus, the army will nreed to cross many rifts in the ground. It takes 25 bridgemen minimum to carry a bridge (which are carried underneat ferom around the sides by men). The bridgemen in Sadeas' camp arent allowed shields or defenses, so assaulting a plateau the enemy has already reached can be a bloody affair as the bridgemen need to set the bridge across the chasm while under concentrated archer fire. Sadeas takes twice as many bridge crews as necessary to cover for casualties. You'll find out reasons for this method later.

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Can anyone explain what is going on with the bridgemen? I don't understand why/how they are moving these bridges, and what the purpose is. I do gather that they are fighting a war with the Parshendi. I'm on chapter 10 btw. Ok thanks.

 

Typing from my phone. Forgive me any sloppiness.

 

The Shattered Plains is filled with many, many rifts in the ground, making hundreds of islands that need to be crossed. Near the Alethi camps are permanent bridges, but further out they're at too much risk of Parshendi sabotage. Bridgemen in Sadeas' camp carry lightweight, sturdy, portable bridges to allow the army to cross from plateau to plateau relatively quickly. As there are many plateaus, the army will nreed to cross many rifts in the ground. It takes 25 bridgemen minimum to carry a bridge (which are carried underneat ferom around the sides by men). The bridgemen in Sadeas' camp arent allowed shields or defenses, so assaulting a plateau the enemy has already reached can be a bloody affair as the bridgemen need to set the bridge across the chasm while under concentrated archer fire. Sadeas takes twice as many bridge crews as necessary to cover for casualties. You'll find out reasons for this method later.

 

Cool, thanks a lot. I figured it was something like this. It's hard for me to imagine how they would set the bridge down over the gap and pick it back up again after though. Also, whenever they are under enemy fire, somebody must be coming through to fight them and push them back. Anyways, I just finished Book 1, but I am planning on taking my time with this book.

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Can anyone explain what is going on with the bridgemen? I don't understand why/how they are moving these bridges, and what the purpose is. I do gather that they are fighting a war with the Parshendi. I'm on chapter 10 btw. Ok thanks.

 

Typing from my phone. Forgive me any sloppiness.

 

The Shattered Plains is filled with many, many rifts in the ground, making hundreds of islands that need to be crossed. Near the Alethi camps are permanent bridges, but further out they're at too much risk of Parshendi sabotage. Bridgemen in Sadeas' camp carry lightweight, sturdy, portable bridges to allow the army to cross from plateau to plateau relatively quickly. As there are many plateaus, the army will nreed to cross many rifts in the ground. It takes 25 bridgemen minimum to carry a bridge (which are carried underneat ferom around the sides by men). The bridgemen in Sadeas' camp arent allowed shields or defenses, so assaulting a plateau the enemy has already reached can be a bloody affair as the bridgemen need to set the bridge across the chasm while under concentrated archer fire. Sadeas takes twice as many bridge crews as necessary to cover for casualties. You'll find out reasons for this method later.

 

Cool, thanks a lot. I figured it was something like this. It's hard for me to imagine how they would set the bridge down over the gap and pick it back up again after though. Also, whenever they are under enemy fire, somebody must be coming through to fight them and push them back. Anyways, I just finished Book 1, but I am planning on taking my time with this book.

 

They set it down on one side, push it across the chasm, wait for the army to cross, then they cross and pull it over, pick it up, and then carry it to the next chasm. Archers will cover the bridgemen, but they often hit the bridgemen themselves. The army stays out of range until the bridge is set. then there's a cavalry chaRge across the biridges followed by infantry. anyway, much of the questions you'l have will be "read and find out" ones. sanderson will further explain everything

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Can anyone explain what is going on with the bridgemen? I don't understand why/how they are moving these bridges, and what the purpose is. I do gather that they are fighting a war with the Parshendi. I'm on chapter 10 btw. Ok thanks.

 

Typing from my phone. Forgive me any sloppiness.

 

The Shattered Plains is filled with many, many rifts in the ground, making hundreds of islands that need to be crossed. Near the Alethi camps are permanent bridges, but further out they're at too much risk of Parshendi sabotage. Bridgemen in Sadeas' camp carry lightweight, sturdy, portable bridges to allow the army to cross from plateau to plateau relatively quickly. As there are many plateaus, the army will nreed to cross many rifts in the ground. It takes 25 bridgemen minimum to carry a bridge (which are carried underneat ferom around the sides by men). The bridgemen in Sadeas' camp arent allowed shields or defenses, so assaulting a plateau the enemy has already reached can be a bloody affair as the bridgemen need to set the bridge across the chasm while under concentrated archer fire. Sadeas takes twice as many bridge crews as necessary to cover for casualties. You'll find out reasons for this method later.

 

Cool, thanks a lot. I figured it was something like this. It's hard for me to imagine how they would set the bridge down over the gap and pick it back up again after though. Also, whenever they are under enemy fire, somebody must be coming through to fight them and push them back. Anyways, I just finished Book 1, but I am planning on taking my time with this book.

 

They set it down on one side, push it across the chasm, wait for the army to cross, then they cross and pull it over, pick it up, and then carry it to the next chasm. Archers will cover the bridgemen, but they often hit the bridgemen themselves. The army stays out of range until the bridge is set. then there's a cavalry chaRge across the biridges followed by infantry. anyway, much of the questions you'l have will be "read and find out" ones. sanderson will further explain everything

 

yes but the problem is, how does the side not being pushed not fall down the chasm. Like turn two glasses over and try and push a tooth pick across the gap just by pushing it from one side...it falls. I had the same question but i figure it is worked out i just did not understand

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Just finished.

Wow

 

I reminds me when I first read tEotW. I had a trade paperback that didn't have one of those "this is what the book is about" blurbs on the back so I had no clue what it was about. I couldn't find any description what WoK was about just some general world stuff.

 

I have to say, I thought WoK was better then tEotW.

 

I was thinking Kaladin was going to be the part of the "next generation" of Heralds but at the very end, guess not.

 

Disappointed the next book in the series won't be out until 2012.

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I just finished as well. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot.

 

Kaladin was my favorite character. I found his scenes to be most fun to read. I also feel like his character is the one you get to know the best. Other parts of the book were just as good, though. The pacing was excellent. One of the nice things about it is that the viewpoint goes back and forth, so there's no tedium of reading through a certain perspective.

 

As for the bridges: I think my questioning of it was mainly wanting to confirm what was going on. That's because when I first read it, I was really surprised at bridges being the method the armies mobilized for war. When I saw the detailed map of the Shattered Plains, that helped clarify it. And I read in an interview with Brandon Sanderson that Roshar has low gravity - or high gravity; something about the atmosphere - that makes the bridge system feasible. The only other time I questioned it was when they had to fight all the way on the Tower, which seemed like a long way to go.

 

Anyways, I read this faster than I expected to because it hooked me from when I last posted and disappeared to finish it. It was a good read. The stories are completely different, but comparing WoK and EotW, what I like better about WoK is mostly writing style and pacing. The Way of Kings is just more engaging and easy to read. It has enough detail and description to make it imagineable and picturesque, but not so much that it bogs it down. And yeah, the jacket blurb is fairly accurate, and I didn't have one of those when I read EotW either...

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Can anyone explain what is going on with the bridgemen? I don't understand why/how they are moving these bridges, and what the purpose is. I do gather that they are fighting a war with the Parshendi. I'm on chapter 10 btw. Ok thanks.

 

Typing from my phone. Forgive me any sloppiness.

 

The Shattered Plains is filled with many, many rifts in the ground, making hundreds of islands that need to be crossed. Near the Alethi camps are permanent bridges, but further out they're at too much risk of Parshendi sabotage. Bridgemen in Sadeas' camp carry lightweight, sturdy, portable bridges to allow the army to cross from plateau to plateau relatively quickly. As there are many plateaus, the army will nreed to cross many rifts in the ground. It takes 25 bridgemen minimum to carry a bridge (which are carried underneat ferom around the sides by men). The bridgemen in Sadeas' camp arent allowed shields or defenses, so assaulting a plateau the enemy has already reached can be a bloody affair as the bridgemen need to set the bridge across the chasm while under concentrated archer fire. Sadeas takes twice as many bridge crews as necessary to cover for casualties. You'll find out reasons for this method later.

 

Cool, thanks a lot. I figured it was something like this. It's hard for me to imagine how they would set the bridge down over the gap and pick it back up again after though. Also, whenever they are under enemy fire, somebody must be coming through to fight them and push them back. Anyways, I just finished Book 1, but I am planning on taking my time with this book.

 

They set it down on one side, push it across the chasm, wait for the army to cross, then they cross and pull it over, pick it up, and then carry it to the next chasm. Archers will cover the bridgemen, but they often hit the bridgemen themselves. The army stays out of range until the bridge is set. then there's a cavalry chaRge across the biridges followed by infantry. anyway, much of the questions you'l have will be "read and find out" ones. sanderson will further explain everything

 

In response to the bolded: is it not the Parshendi archers who attack the bridgemen, not Sadeas' troops misfiring?

 

I just thought of another question: what type of bridges do the other armies, besides Sadeas' and Dalinar's, who we already know, use ?

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Can anyone explain what is going on with the bridgemen? I don't understand why/how they are moving these bridges, and what the purpose is. I do gather that they are fighting a war with the Parshendi. I'm on chapter 10 btw. Ok thanks.

 

Typing from my phone. Forgive me any sloppiness.

 

The Shattered Plains is filled with many, many rifts in the ground, making hundreds of islands that need to be crossed. Near the Alethi camps are permanent bridges, but further out they're at too much risk of Parshendi sabotage. Bridgemen in Sadeas' camp carry lightweight, sturdy, portable bridges to allow the army to cross from plateau to plateau relatively quickly. As there are many plateaus, the army will nreed to cross many rifts in the ground. It takes 25 bridgemen minimum to carry a bridge (which are carried underneat ferom around the sides by men). The bridgemen in Sadeas' camp arent allowed shields or defenses, so assaulting a plateau the enemy has already reached can be a bloody affair as the bridgemen need to set the bridge across the chasm while under concentrated archer fire. Sadeas takes twice as many bridge crews as necessary to cover for casualties. You'll find out reasons for this method later.

 

Cool, thanks a lot. I figured it was something like this. It's hard for me to imagine how they would set the bridge down over the gap and pick it back up again after though. Also, whenever they are under enemy fire, somebody must be coming through to fight them and push them back. Anyways, I just finished Book 1, but I am planning on taking my time with this book.

 

They set it down on one side, push it across the chasm, wait for the army to cross, then they cross and pull it over, pick it up, and then carry it to the next chasm. Archers will cover the bridgemen, but they often hit the bridgemen themselves. The army stays out of range until the bridge is set. then there's a cavalry chaRge across the biridges followed by infantry. anyway, much of the questions you'l have will be "read and find out" ones. sanderson will further explain everything

 

In response to the bolded: is it not the Parshendi archers who attack the bridgemen, not Sadeas' troops misfiring?

 

I just thought of another question: what type of bridges do the other armies, besides Sadeas' and Dalinar's, who we already know, use ?

 

 

It's both. Kaladin comments on it a few times.

 

I'm not sure I recall what other types of bridges the other armies used. I assume it's some form of the one's Sadeas uses, as they'd want to compete with him, and Elhokar seemed to be giving Dalinar a "come on, maaaaan, everyone else is doing it" type of talk. Still, I can't be sure.

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Kaladin would have been my favourite, if it had not been for all those flashbacks. Those are the only real complaint I have about the book.

 

But since they are there, Kaladins story is somewhat ruined for me. Making Shallan my favourite.

 

And I agree with Jenn, no chance that the Parshendi/Parshmen are the Voidbringers.

 

But I must say, I have not been this excited about a start of a series since TEOTW.

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Kaladin would have been my favourite, if it had not been for all those flashbacks. Those are the only real complaint I have about the book.

 

But since they are there, Kaladins story is somewhat ruined for me. Making Shallan my favourite.

 

And I agree with Jenn, no chance that the Parshendi/Parshmen are the Voidbringers.

 

But I must say, I have not been this excited about a start of a series since TEOTW.

BS said at the Raleigh, NC signing that each book in the series will have flashbacks for one character. The next book could have flashbacks for Shallan or Dalinar. But no more for Kaladin.

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The flashbacks drove me crazy until about halfway through the book when I realized we were getting Kaladin's back story. I'd really like to Shallan's backstory. How did she get a Shardblade? My theory is that she killed her abusive father and took his. But you can never be sure...

 

Oh, and I think Jasnah is also very interesting. I'd love to see chapters from her POV later on.

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The flashbacks drove me crazy until about halfway through the book when I realized we were getting Kaladin's back story. I'd really like to Shallan's backstory. How did she get a Shardblade? My theory is that she killed her abusive father and took his. But you can never be sure...

 

Oh, and I think Jasnah is also very interesting. I'd love to see chapters from her POV later on.

wait.... i know she can soul cast without the stone but when did she have a shardblade i dont know how i missed that

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I am very much looking forward to Shallans backstory, but Kaladins bored me until the last few chapters. Mostly because it felt like the first 5 or 6 chapters just repeated the same things.

 

And a part of me regrets reading the damn book, since it will be years before the next one. *grumble*

 

 

 

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Really enjoyed the book and I really liked Kaladin and the whole bridgemen storyline. Dalinar was great once he got over stepping down as highprince.

 

Shallan was extremely boring until the last quarter of the book as I did not connect emotionally to her plight and did not care at all about her brothers or their estate. I understand this was Kaladin's book but Shallan seemed to be least sketched of the three main characters and so the payoff at the end wasn't as satisfying as it should have been. I do like Jasnah though and I thought Wit was excellent, perhaps my favorite character.

 

Although the map given at the front of the book is nice to look at, but it didn't help build the world for me as the cities in Roshar aren't labeled on it. It made it hard to grasp and separate the different locations Sanderson continually referenced, although many of the locations do stand out as being well thought-out and distinct.

 

 

It's a good introduction to what looks to be a long series. Some difficulty in giving a scope to the world held it back from being excellent but I look forward to reading the next installments.

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There is a map with cities in the front. It just isn't the cover map and its not colored, unfortunately. The map on the cover is ancient Roshar.

 

!!!!

 

Can't believe I missed that! The book already makes a lot more sense.

 

I didn't notice until I was about halfway through, either.

 

:D

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I said it before, but here it goes again - the Way of Kings of AWESOME!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Creator says he's dead - holly s**t!!!! I still get shivers from it.

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