The Book of Leviticus

Kaladin: Depressed?

Shallan: Dead?

Kaladin: Deprived of sleep?

 ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT. 

SIT DOWN CHILDREN AND LEARN HOW TO BREW FUCKING ROCKET FUEL. This is going to be long as hell so I’ll put the goods after the cut. 

Note that this evolved from doing my best to figure out how to approximate Funranium Lab’s Black Blood of the Earth brew. I’d read the glowing reviews online, but being naturally cheap, couldn’t quite bring myself to drop the $$$. 

And then my eyes wandered to my shelf of virgin labware equipment and I went “Hey…I bet I can just make my own.”

Based on Herr Direktor’s notes on the Funranium labs website, I tinkered and fooled about and eventually came up with my own brew that, if not Black Blood of the Earth, will punch you in the face and leave you smelling colors. 

Let’s do this. 

But. But. The way I see it, at least. The main ‘problem’ - why it hits so hard - is that Elhokar was not supposed to die. Like. He was undergoing a very well written, believable redemption arc. This is not “Game of Thrones” or another gritty story where characters die left and right. Elhokar had all the markings of a hero of his own story, and an interesting character with lots of potentials. He could die later, after he had become the best version of himself, but not while he was only in the first half of the transformation process.

And yet, it fits the story. It’s Moash’s moment, the final proof that this guy has tumbled down and ain’t gonna fly. It hits Kaladin hard. It fits perfectly in the overall structure - it’s the midpoint, pretty much, the darkest hour of the story, the lowest low.

So this is still not “Game of Thrones”. This is a death that shouldn’t have a place in a more idealized type of fantasy, and yet it fits perfectly. It shouldn’t have happened, but it couldn’t not have happened, pretty much.

Shallan: I don’t have a son

kidnapper: then who the heck just asked for a chocolate milk with a straw and made us cut the crust off his pb&j?

Parshendi:

Each book has a different structure and focus (espionage, politics and religion) that help them feel separate despite the story being a continuous narrative

Everything connects. Both big events and small decisions turn out to be cogs in a much bigger machines things that are referenced in earlier books turn out to be vital later on and what i love is that every time you see a twist coming there’s another one that suddenly clicks into place and takes you by surprise.

Other than the plot i’d say the characters are also one of the strongest points. The supporting cast are a little under-developed but charming none the less. But the growth our main protagonists go through how they step up to face calamity and how that calamity also breaks them is some of the most emotional reading i have done, the main highlights being the relationship between vin/elend and sazed’s journey of faith

The power system is fascinating and very well balanced with strict limitations. the inventive way alloymancy is used both in battle and outside of it creates some great and tense moments of the story. And every time you think the rules have been bent it turns out it was all considered and explained later on. The power is fairly simple to start with but it keeps being expanded with each book.