According to Lanfear there are two sa'angreal more powerful than Callandor. CK is one, maybe LTT was using the other. I agree it's extremely crazy LTT created the highest mountain in the world unaided.

 

Like the Ring of Tamrylin?

 

I doubt LTT would have risked taking such a powerful sa'angreal with him to SG.

 

I'm pretty sure the two sa'angreal Lanfear referred to were the two CK.

 

She said there were two more powerful that a man could use, ruling out the female CK.

Thanks, my mistake

According to Lanfear there are two sa'angreal more powerful than Callandor. CK is one, maybe LTT was using the other. I agree it's extremely crazy LTT created the highest mountain in the world unaided.

 

Like the Ring of Tamrylin?

 

I doubt LTT would have risked taking such a powerful sa'angreal with him to SG.

I'm pretty sure the two sa'angreal Lanfear referred to were the two CK.

point of view :)

Like many others, I'm going through a WoT reread. Having got very excited about the release date, I thought very carefully about the number of books, the other commitments I have and started tEotW mid-August. I'm now on the Fires of Heaven, and am thus at least 1 book ahead of where I should be to time it with the release of a Memory of Light. Suspect that after this (full reread) I may read Feet in the Clouds again, although that's a long way off, as it will hopefully convince me to start running again after the Winter break.

You belong to the Yellow Ajah!

Members of the Yellow Ajah focus on Healing, mostly the body with the One Power, but there are also those who seek to heal the mind in mundane ways. Yellows are firm in their belief that the One Power is the best method of Healing, and it is often said that they will try to Heal anything they come across. While Yellows care about the well-being of others, they can often be very arrogant, too self-assured and even flamboyant at times.

This is your result in its entirety:

Yellow Ajah: 7

White Ajah: 4

Gray Ajah: 3

Brown Ajah: 3

Red Ajah: 3

Green Ajah: 3

Blue Ajah: 2

This did surprise me, I thought brown would be higher up, and flamboyant is one of the least likely words I'd ever choose to define me. On the other hand, Nynaeve so yay

Robin Hobb

Assassins series

1. Assassin's Apprentice
    
   
2. Royal Assassin
    
   
3. Assassin's Quest
   

Follows Fitz, the illegitamate son of the heir to the 6 Duchies. Fitz tends to act as a catalyst for major events and has a role to play in the war with the Outislanders.

Also

The Liveship Traders

1. Ship of Magic
    
   
2. The Mad Ship
    
   
3. Ship of Destiny
   

Same world as above, but based around ships that live (explained properly in the books).

And

The Fool's Trilogy

1. Fool's Errand
    
   
2. The Golden Fool
    
   
3. Fool's Fate
   

Back to the 6 Duchies and follows some of the characters from Assassin.

All for adult readers

EDIT to add:

Alan Garner

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

Classic fantasy set in Cheshire :), melds classic myths in with the modern world (well modern when it was written)

for younger readers - this was the first fantasy I ever read and I loved it!

EDIT to add:

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaids Tale

Apocolyptic future where females have lost pretty much all rights.

better for older readers, I read it for the first time when I was to young.

Great OP Luckers :) and generally a great discussion, thanks!

I'm going to try to trim down some posts, otherwise this will be really, really long.

Or when she was there to save his bacon when he got himself sliced by Fain. Or when she taught him why he led his forces to disaster trying to repeal the Seanchan in PoD.

So, by this I assume you mean after she'd distracted him in the middle of a battle with fog that was killing people by slapping him that allowed Fain to sneak up and almost kill him? Or how, despite knowing that even if he didn't have the sword with him then, that considering he's destined to use it in battle it might be a good idea to see if he knows about the flaw?

I'm not necessarily arguing that Cads was wrong about the balefire, (and it's worrying that Rands initial reaction is to use it,) from what we know balefire is necessary in some situations, she didn't know that, but she was aware they were in a battle. Slapping someone in that situation, probably not the best idea.

She shoulda/coulda mentioned the flaw in Callandor earlier.

When I was in my early 20s, I recall that while I had older friends, the moment that one of them spoke to me about myself in a way that was based on their knowing better than I, from the POV of years of experience, I immediately went into a knee-jerk reaction. "You can't tell me!" And I would become insufferable. I had not learned to listen! At the time, I thought I was right. Looking back, even in those cases where I was right, I could have been more patient with them as they were only trying to be helpful. Now, fast peddle 30 years, 30 more trips around the Sun, and at 55, I have learned to listen, for the most part. It took me years and though I am more patient now, I still joke that I am working on patience.

Agreed, with reservations. It seems that in some young people (myself especially) that being told to do something, even if I know its the right thing to do, depending on how it's said/suggested/told can make me want to do exactly the opposite. So given that Cads has more experience, generally has a good grasp of understanding people and that the world rests on one young mans stubborn shoulders... Given this can't Cads find a way to suggest he does something that doesn't put his back in every time?

...he wanted an excuse to kill Cads. Her apologizing probably would have given him an excuse in that moment. I don't get what you mean about similarities. Why should she alter her behavior? If you mean she should have seen that Semi could escape and devine where Cads had hidden an object that I don't beleive Semi should have even known she had....I don't think you can blame that on Cads. It seems like the only faults you guys can find with her is that she's not quite smart enough to anticipate every single action/reaction possible in the universe! Oh, and if you mean that Cads should have changed her image because it was similiar to Semi's? Not at all. Everyone from teachers to the president to dictators use certain images of authority to lead. That doesn't mean just because one does something horrible with that ability another shouldn't use it for positive things.

You misunderstood me. There's a difference between apologizing (which is something you do with people you care about whose feelings you've hurt) and taking responsibility for your faults (which is something you do with coworkers and superiors). THAT's the adult thing, every child can say that he's sorry (though most don't, and I agree it also takes a measure of maturity to apologize). You admit fault, and you make corrections so that you will never make this particular mistake again. And, like didymos, I simply don't buy into this "he just needed an excuse" theory. He already had his excuse. He waited to see how she'll react, and upon hearing her "I suppose you'd like an apology now" weakly @#$@ed response, decided to do his worst. He wasn't yet at the point of killing innocents, I think.

Lots of posts about whether or not Cads should have apologised, and this isn't really directed at the two posts above, they were just the ones I clicked on. I don't think anybody is arguing that Cads acted stupidly (or at least most people aren't) or that she didn't try her best. But in this case her best wasn't good enough. Obviously a fake apology is worthless, but why can't she admit that she made a mistake. Yes, the enemy had knowledge and abilities she couldn't have known they had, but it was still a mistake. (I also know that other characters, Rand included, made mistakes and didn't apologise, but we're not discussing those on this thread). I also wonder if there's a cultural difference amongst the readers showing here. As an extreme example, I'm English and sometimes apologise if soemone steps on my foot :) Generally it's if they apologise first, and in that case it's generally a polite acknowledgement. I'm not saying this is the way to go, it's quite frankly ridiculous. But in this case, from my cultural awareness, and upbringing Cads made a mistake and should apologise and there's no reason for it to be sincere. I apreciate that other cultures/upbringings would disagree with me, I'd also be happy to accept an acknowledgement that a mistake had been made, but she keeps backing away from it.

No, it wasn't, was it? I wonder why not?

VoG anyone? Rand with the CK is worse off than he is without it.

Yes and no, Rand used the CK as a balance against the TP.

- which to me is the prime reason she allows Alanna to accompany her. Also, if you were Cads, and you knew there was a hairbrained AS running around with a direct bond to the Dragon Reborn, a bond we know could be used to compel

Actually we (and Cads) know that she doesn't have the strength to compel Rand through the bond.

I vary wildly between really loathing Cadsuane, and finding her kind of cool. She's a tricky one to place. On the one hand, she doesn't seem to have the Aes Sedai focus of "The Tower must be respected and powerful above all and what's good for the Tower is good for the world!" She genuinely seems to be working for the good of the world- as Rand says, she does what she does because she wants Rand to fight the Last Battle, and she wants him not to destroy the world in the meantime. She doesn't seem to believe that the Tower as an organisation knows what is best for Rand. Of course, she is arrogant in the sense that she believes that SHE knows what is best for Rand, and that SHE should be respected... but unlike certain other AS, she has been around for hundreds of years, and become a legend amongst AS- in a lot of cases, she really does know what she is talking about, and is right irritatingly often. The problem is, she is a bully, and she is hugely proud. If someone doesn't show her respect and, in many cases, deference, then she's quite happy to manipulate, scold, humiliate and bully them until they do. In some cases, this can be a good thing- being someone who isn't bowing and scraping to Rand, and telling him some harsh truths when neccessary, her figuring out how to deal with Semirhage, etc. In some cases- her treatment of Tam when he grows angry with her, her refusal to apologise after the incident with the a'dam, etc- it really, really isn't. She is quite willing how to teach other people- Nynaeve, etc.- to swallow their pride when circumstance (or SHE) demands it, but it seems like, in her opinion, she's gone through life, she's done a lot, she's past the point where she's going to swallow her pride for someone else- and the fact is, it is neccessary for everyone, in day to day life, to swallow their pride sometimes, but especially when dealing with someone as volatile as Rand has been up to this point. I think at the end of the day, she is working with Rand for the right reasons. Some of her advice is very helpful, and even some of her actions may have helped Rand, but her attitude in general towards him and pretty much everyone else is terrible, she IS a bully, and she has a bucketload of the AS arrogance. I can't wait for her to meet the Tower AS- those she hasn't already met at least. She is both terribly frustrating and extremely entertaining to read. She's unflappable and often sarcastic, she is quite real, as a character- the grandma who has been there, done that, seen it all, and, as a consequence, thinks she knows it all, and makes sure everyone else knows her opinion... and turns out to be right frustratingly often. There's a few things I want to see happen with Cadsuane for her to make the progression to a great character in the last book. - I want to see her in battle. This is an extremely powerful AS, one who has faced down a Forsaken, albeit shielded, from the Ajah that's supposed purpose is to prepare for and fight the Last Battle. - I want to see her speak- to the other AS, perhaps, or to some nations, or perhaps all of them- in support of Rand, at some point. They are working together, now, Rand has lost the hardness that she wanted him rid of. It would be nice to see them working together rather than fighting each other. - I do NOT, NOT want her dumbed down so that another character can look good. She's an unlikeable character, yes, and she makes mistakes, and I would be quite happy to see her called on them at some point, but do not dumb her down to do it. So, yeah... Cadsuane has the potential to be awesome. In some ways she is. And yet, half the time I still want to slap her :P She is a puzzling character.

Could have just read your post and left the thread, pretty much what I think but can't articulate (the bolded bits particularly). I'm also going to throw in that I want to see her meeting with Mat. Mat plays the fool, a lot, and also seems to shun responsibility. SO by previous reactions Cads threats him like a child of 6. Except then Mat shows how awesome he is. So what then? Cos immediately afterwards he'll act the fool again.

Anyone who holds nearly as much Saidin as Rand rings a warning bell for me. Two: Taim and Dashiva. Because Rand is the most powerful male channeler of all time; and anyone slightly weaker would probably be a Foresaken, whom we know were only slightly weaker than Rand.

 

But I didn't think that Dashiva was Osan'gar till it was stated in the books.

In hindsight is seems obvious, but I always rationalised that if it was possible to have people in the AoL as strong as LTT, then it should be possible now. Nyn's as strong as Moggy after all. I think I twigged him as a DF when I twigged he was close to Taim, but some stuff I can't remember from my first read through, so not entirely sure.