Hey guys. Just wanted to get some of my thoughts about my relationship with Shallan as a character on the stormlight archives, from the perspective of a plural person.

So, some context. Circa November 2020, stuff happened, which led to my tulpas (Thomas, Harper, Lily, Charly and Willy) manifesting. And I say "manifesting" and not "were born", because they were always here, its just that not even they knew they were here before that, if that makes sense. 2020 is just when they came into awareness. But looking back they WERE here.

We had ups and downs but eventually reached a balance, and currently we take turns to front and do the things we want. We are happy.

So, May 2022, I was on a mall with my family, and I pick up a big thick book off the shelves of a bookshop. "The Way of Kings". 1200 pages, quite expensive, and I had never heard of it. But SOMETHING about it called to me. It had been a while since I had a long book to read so I said "might as well".

Let me tell you, I did not regret it. Kaladin and Dalinar all imemdiately grabbed me. Shallan... well, Shallan's chapters felt more like a chore to do than something I looked forward to, I just did not like her. You can already see the irony coming can't you?

By november of that same year, I had devoured TWoK and had purchased WoR. And even when Veil appear it did not hit us. We did not realize that Veil was an actual fully different person, and not just a mask Shallan had. I guess we were too blinded by disliking her. And once again her chapters felt like a chore and not something to look forward to, especially her flashback chapters.

Oathbringer however... well, when Radiant appeared, it hit us. It hit us like a truck. "She is like us".

I guess I was too shaded by plurar representation in media. Almost every case of multiple personality is treated like a disease, something that the good guy needs to get rid of. And DONT GET ME STARTED on the "secret evil personality trope". I hate it with my guts.

But the way Shallan, Veil and Radiant speak, how they switch, how they act... I can only think of one other piece of media that comes close to this accurate of representation for us: Moon Knight. Its a fun show, highly recommend it.

So yeah, suddenly Shallan went from being my most disliked character, to us loving her, but not because I liked HER, but because I just liked what she represented for us personally.

2023... was a rough year for me. Went through depression, my partner as well, had a vocational crisis, and overall not a fun time. And this all began to manifest into a sixth tulpa that was... well, not a good person. I dont want to call his name, so lets just call him E.

E tormented us for months, and we never allowed him to front, for obvious reasons.

So then I star Rythm of War. And lo and behold, there was Shallan, and Formless was right there. Mirroring our sturggles. Suddenly, Shallan's chapters WERE what we were looking for. They WERE what we wanted to read. We still loved Kal, Dalinar, Navani and the rest... but we needed Shallan for guidance.

I know its dumb to look for guidance on a fictional character, but I did it anyway.

Then, Shallan and Veil fused... and I legitimstely cried, I cried because Veil was dead, and Formless... formless was dead too. We knew she would return, but she was dead for now.

I legit had to put the book down for a couple of weeks after that. Sanderson seemingly had fallen into every pitfall of the trope: fusing is the ideal objective, evil personality, and all that.

Then I started getting better. Broke up with my partner (believe me, it was for the best), changed what I was studying for uni, and managed to... reduce E, until he was no longer a threat. And only then could I continue reading.

I liked RoW, but I think it had the lowest lows and the lowest highs of the series.

2024 was my year. I started studying something I actually like, I got together with my high school crush, got several creative projects off the ground, and was having a good time.

And now, we started reading WaT a couple of weeks ago and I cannot express my joy when I realized... Veil is STILL THERE. She does not front, but she IS there for Shallan, advicing, laughing, being there. It also helps that Shallan is finally growing on me, she is still a dumbass, but she tries to do better.

Yes, Formless is back as well, but Shallan, Veil and Radiant, along with our favorite Himbo Adolin can take her on. They are strong.

I am halfway through the book, and knowing Sanderson we WILL cry about it, but its gonna be good in the end.

Edit: For those saying I am faking it, look up tulpamancy, its an actual practice going back to tibetan monks. And for those saying that I am mentally ill, my therapist IS fully on board with it, she says there is nothing wrong with it. Cope harder haters <3

Hey all!

I am a trans woman who really loves this universe, and the recent excitement around Renarin and Rlain made me think if there was anything relating to trans people on words of Brandon. I was happy to find some hints and clues and teases about cool stuff in the future, and I wanted to share my findings with whomever wants to know as well. Here are my takeaways, with sources from the Arcanum.

1. Transgenderism in the Cosmere is Cognitive and somewhat Spiritual, which means that a transgender person in Cosmere is given a body which does not match their Mind and Spirit. Perception, though, seems to take precedent (see #3)

   1. WOB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/360/#e10913

2. Transgenderism is treated respectfully in the Knights Radiant as they are very progressive compared to societies at large.

   1. WOB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/427/#e14065

3. Transgenderism in the Cosmere seems to be tied to how a person Perceives themselves.

   1. WOB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/109/#e1411

4. The Reshi King is transgender, which we of course stan. I personally missed this somehow, and I did not read Dawnshard so it completely missed my radar. Looking into it, though, it seems to be very well done and not offensive at all.

   1. WOB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/444/#e14326

5. the Kandra are very gender fluid culturally and seem to be able to travel freely along the gender spectrum. This doesn't necessarily relate to transgender people, according to Brandon, which I agree with. Still, it is cool to see and gives non binary people some representation, which is equally as cool.

   1. WOB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/361/#e11478

6. There would be a disproportionate number of trans people among the Knights Radiant due to the journey of self discover we go on (yay)

   1. WOB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/444/#e14326

7. Finally, Brandon wants to treat us transgender folk with respect and give us accurate representation. He mentioned it multiple times.

   1. Not wanting to be offensive or hit a “mine”: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/249/#e7306

   2. Not wanting to be offensive again https://wob.coppermind.net/events/80/#e5316

   3. He wants to do it right, but is focused on Rlain and Renarin https://wob.coppermind.net/events/509/#e15946

It’s all but confirmed that we will get a main character who is trans, and I’m very much looking forward to that. I also wanted to express gratitude and excitement because this world, and these books have been incredibly important to me. It’s not often that I get to look forward to something like this, or to even be acknowledged. There have been times in my life, even before I realized I was trans that I would read these books and they helped me through many a rough patch. As I go on my admittedly arduous journey of self discovery I can relate to these messages of hope and hardship even better.

To have an author who respects and sees me and my people who are part of the fandom is a very rare and special thing. Despite what anyone's views, beliefs, or realities are - it’s a wonderful thing for Brandon to do. On the off chance that you see this, Brandon, thank you for giving this trans girl some joy!

I hope in the future we get some cool, strong, and well written transgender characters. I also hope their whole character doesn't revolve around them being transgender and they just exist well in whatever world/story they find themselves in. I think the Reshi King so far is a decent example of this as he is not a Lightweaver (expressed by some as being disproportionately represented with transgender people due to the self discovery journey. Personally I am crossing my fingers for some transfemme Willshaper since that's what I am lol

Anyways, thanks for reading, and hello to any trans queen/king/otherwise royalty reading this :)

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P.S: I do not write this post to give us trans people any kind of exceptionalism or to be "woke". I just wanted to highlight how important representation is for us since we, too, read books, watch movies, and consume media. And for a lot of us, it is a form of escapism and a coping mechanism for hardship - just like many others who are not trans. I also want to spread awareness and positivity at how careful, deliberate, and respectful Brandon Sanderson is being with his books. It always strikes me as a sign of exceptional intelligence to be able to reflect and represent like he does. Finally, it's a little rally of "yay" for myself and other trans folk. We need the positivity, especially with crappy stuff happening in the country for us right now :)

As the title suggests, Wind and Truth was a massive disappointment to me and it makes me worried for the future of the Stormlight Archives. From an author who I have a great deal of respect for, this finished product just feels sloppy, rushed, and incomplete. I know I'll probably be downvoted to hell, but I need to voice my criticisms among the only people who will understand what I'm talking about.

Major issues I have with Wind and Truth:

1. The POV Changes. The book is just all over the place. Having one or two POV changes each chapter completely pulled me out of every scene just as I was beginning to get invested in it. I'd get maybe three pages of really interesting Adolin content, before being shunted to a completely different mood with a Kaladin and Szeth scene, before being shunted again to yet another completely different mood with a Dalinar scene. These characters practically exist in different books altogether, and the inability to spend any meaningful time with one character before we're shunted to the next one ruined so many scenes that I wanted to love. The existence of multiple and thematically different plotlines isn't inherently bad, as I believe Sanderson has done this quite excellently in The Way of Kings, but to have the focus character change multiple times a chapter is simply FAR too frequent.

2. The Cliffhangers. Similar to my prior issue, this book simply has far too many cliffhangers. It feels that in the last 300 pages, every single POV shift is accompanied by a cliffhanger of some form or other. A character proclaiming "I know the words!" or "It's over." or "I have an idea..." or similar such stupid stuff. Sanderson's cliffhangers are excellent when used in moderation, as the Sanderlanches in the prior Stormlight books all had me unable to put the book down. However, the overabundance with cliffhangers, paired with just how frequently the perspective changes, made this book genuinely exhausting to read. Surely there must be some way to end a chapter without a cliffhanger?

3. The Prose. Look, I know this argument is done to death, but Sanderson's prose is inexcusable in this book. In all prior books, he genuinely did adhere to his "Clear Glass" philosophy on prose; focusing on only using the words that best portray the story, with no extra flowers or fluff thrown in. In his prior works, this was done perfectly, at least to my tastes. His prose was simple and digestible enough to keep me thoroughly engaged and moving through the story at a rapid pace. However, in Wind and Truth, Sanderson confused "simple" with "modern." In many cases, he uses some modern day slang or phrase that feels completely out of place. For a man who has put a great deal of thought into how language and idioms would evolve differently on Roshar, he sure dropped the ball here. There were multiple instances in which I had to set down the book because the character wouldn't say that. Dalinar wouldn't describe himself as a "siege engine" because siege engines do not exist on Roshar. Kaladin wouldn't describe himself as a "therapist," even if he did hear it from Wit, because therapists do not exist on Roshar. With how hard it already was to feel invested in the TikTok-length scenes of this book, these random uses of modern day American language completely destroyed my already fragile immersion. I can only describe some of the writing as "Marvel-like," which I say as an insult.

4. The Spiritual Realm. For what was supposed to be a massive reveal literally 20 years in the making, the Spiritual Realm was a complete letdown. Sanderson used the most mysterious and dangerous layer of reality in his universe for... hundreds of pages of infodumping about his worldbuilding. Ultimately, what did Dalinar and Navani's visions of the past actually do to help them on their journey? Next to nothing. The only real visions that mattered were those of Honor's backstory, and those didn't happen until day nine. Everything else before that just felt like: "Look! The forming of the Oathpact happened in a shit-stained tent! Isn't that exciting!" None of this information felt truly relevant to the story, and with how cramped this book already was, this was an awful place to put so much exposition. Considering how Sanderson has confirmed that Taln and Ash will be backstory characters in future books, I wonder why he didn't decide to just divide this massive infodump between their two backstory arcs. It would be far more relevant to the story and to those characters than it was to Dalinar and Navani, who neither used the information in the visions nor really cared about their contents; as they only wanted to find some way to skip ahead to the next vision. Let me reiterate: The majority of Dalinar's plot in this book is trying to find a fast-forward button on a tv remote - and this takes him hundreds of pages to do.

5. The Ghostbloods. The Ghostbloods, as a plot point, truly didn't feel important whatsoever. Ever since the scene at the beginning where Shallan and the Unseen Court successfully infiltrate a Ghostblood meeting, almost catching Mraize and Iyatil, all pretense of their "secret plans and strength" fell away. The Ghostbloods succeeded in exactly 0 of their goals on Roshar. For them to be constantly hyped up as "just as dangerous as Odium to the fate of Roshar," they are a colossal letdown. Not only this, but Shallan suddenly viewing Mraize as a mentor figure felt extremely forced, as she's always had a distant and antagonistic relationship with the man. The Ghostbloods served only, as they have in prior books, to keep Shallan away from the rest of the story in her own little plotline for no reason. The only good things about Shallan's plotline in this book were the parts that the Ghostbloods had no involvement in; such as her interactions with Ba-Ado-Mishram, her giddily witnessing Renarin and Rlain, and her confronting the truth about her mother. All in all, this book failed to justify why Shallan should be focusing on the Ghostbloods as opposed to the whole world ending, and for that reason every mention of them was incredibly annoying to me.

6. The Cakeisms. "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Well, Sanderson certainly tried his best... and proved this saying right. There were many cakeisms that felt completely baffling. Some felt like "Last Jedi" levels of unnecessary plot twists. Again, these ruined my immersion when they occurred, and I feel they could've been handled far better. Some I noticed are as follows:

   1. Szeth swearing the Fifth Ideal only to immediately break his bond.

   2. Taravangian destroying Kharbranth and then conveniently having Kharbranth secreted away to the Spiritual Realm.

   3. Taravangian in general being portrayed as both a man who genuinely weeps for the pain of all mankind and also delighting in the suffering of people he cares about (torturing Navani and Dalinar in visions; forcing Gav to endure horrific visions of Dalinar for 20 years.)

   4. Gav being both saved from the Spiritual Realm and secretly trapped there by Taravangian.

   5. Moash being shown as a pathetic wretch when his pain is returned to him, only to immediately become a mindless pawn again. (What's the point of returning Moash's pain if he's gonna go back to being a heartless killer in the same chapter?)

   6. Adolin losing his leg and accepting that he's no longer useful to the war effort as a duelist only to win a duel against a full Shardbearer a few days later.

   7. Battar joining Taravangian only to return with the other Heralds to reforge the Oathpact.

   8. Kalak being captured by the Ghostbloods only to return with the other Heralds to reforge the Oathpact.

   9. Dalinar being killed and escaping Taravangian only for Taravangian to conveniently have a spren-replica on hand to make his slave anyways.

   10. Dalinar taking up Honor only to immediately break his oaths and be abandoned by Honor. (I recognize that this was the right move, but this on top of everything else just felt like yet another annoying cakeism.)

All of the problems above are reasons why I worry for the future of this series. These are all flaws that a writer as experienced as Sanderson should have been able to fix. I don't know if these are caused by a rushed deadline, a too-gentle editor, ignored beta-readers, too much focus on side projects (secret novels) or some combination of the four. Either way, this does not feel like the same Brandon Sanderson who wrote The Way of Kings, and that terrifies me.

Ultimately, I call these issues to attention because I hope that someone at Dragonsteel will keep note of them. Whatever Sanderson's current method is no longer works. Wind and Truth desperately needed more time and attention than it was given. I do not have any meaningful propositions for how to improve his method, as I do not know enough about the man's actual workday. All I can say is that, as a customer and a diehard fan of the Cosmere, if this is the quality I am to expect from future installments of the series, then this may be my last Stormlight book.

AI posts get removed on this sub. But of course when someone posts GenAI there's going to be backlash from the community. It's the correct way to react. The fact that mods remove comments that are "not respectful" to GenAI is way worse than the comments themselves.

What qualifies as not respectful: "Why would we bother to look at it when nobody bothered to make it?"

Another comment was removed for attacking climate deniers: "Of course a post about AI attracts climate deniers, the people who are most adamant about not making good use of human logic."

Since when do we need to worry about hurting the feelings of people who are actively harming everyone else? I get that I shouldn't have applied the average Reddit attitude to this sub in particular, and I'm glad that this is the case, but I expect a lot more leniency than this when criticising something that is so clearly harmful.

Edited for clarity

I'm not going to reply anymore to comments about the ethics of using AI "art". Everyone knows what's wrong with it. It is used to appropriate someone else's content without adding anything meaningful, or to avoid hiring a real artist and still getting the job done. As a result, "the job done" gets increasingly worse on average, as human input becomes more and more rare in the content published, including pictures, videos, books, social media posts, etc. It's already hard enough to use some websites without finding unwanted AI content.

At the same time, real artists have to compete with an increasing number of machines that can print an endless amount of content, and it doesn't matter that the content is bad as long as it's more convenient for companies to employ the machines. In fact, if the AI content was good it would only mean there is even less reasons to hire real artists. The end goal for AI companies is to get to a point where if you want any digital art at all, you need to go to them. This isn't democratising art, it's just privatising it.

And I haven't even talked about the environmental issue. Consuming an ungodly amount of energy and polluting to fuel algorithms that merely mimic the behaviour of a person. All the while global warming and fossil fuels are still a major problem. Although, like I said, some people that I was "disrespectful" towards are claiming that global warming is no issue at all.

Title, as a trans person, I've always wondered if Stormlight healing would essentially just be free top/bottom surgery for any trans people.

I suppose it would change depending on how their spirit web is layed out, but if they saw themselves as the opposite sex, would it give free surgery? Speaking of that actually, if the answer is yes, could a trans woman get pregnant and a trans man produce sperm? Because if their spirit web is of the opposite sex and they see themselves as should be being able to do that, would investiture help? Same with Returneds I suppose, didn't Vasher say in Warbreaker that they look the way the believe they should? (although I know the second part of the question wouldn't apply to them)

So when the lopen started forming his bond his arm grew back because he hadnt internalized it or whatever

If a knight radiant didnt identify with their assigned gender would their bodies change?

I'm an avid fanfic reader and writer, and I'd love to read or reread some of your favourites! Here's a few of mine; I decided to leave out stuff I've written. These are all rated Teen or General except for the last one, which is rated Mature.

Asexuality: The Meaning of Purple by BlindRadiant. Modern AU where Kaladin comes out to Adolin as asexual.

Bisexuality: Rhythm of Study by TrishyEves. A canon divergent AU in which Eshonai and Shallan are both wards of Jasnah, and their relationship deepens despite Shallan's gaffes.

Demisexuality: Comedy of Errors by Priscellie. Renarin asks Adolin for advice in courting Rlain, but Adolin gets the impression he meant Kaladin. Disappointed, but ever eager to support his brother, Adolin tries to wingman for his brother.

Nonbinary character: A journey of self-discovery by BlindRadiant. Kaladin joins a support group and discovers what it means to be nonbinary.

Transmasc character: the first step by natequarter. Jasnah suffers before becoming Radiant forces another change.

Transfem character: you'd be stars by SapphicSpren (eve_is_obsessed). Adolin wears a havah of her own design for the first time.

wlw characters: Feminine Arts by Raboniel (EverythingNothing). Lyn fights Leshwi and learns a thing or two.

mlm characters: Favorite Son by Rhythm_of_Lesbianism. Renarin comes out to his father in order to stop Navani from trying to set him up with ladies.

Drag: The Glamorous Adventures of Gilded Gloria by Sailorspren. Elhokar and Shallan are drag queens. Elhokar overcomes their anxiety to perform.

Pride parade: Urithiru Pride by BlindRadiant. Dalinar doesn't understand this new parade.

Pride crack: The Sexy Sapphicspren Search of 1175 by SapphicSpren (eve_is_obsessed). (Rated Mature!) Axies the Collector requests Navani and Raboniel's help to search for the elusive sapphicspren.

He was manipulated by a literal God to do terrible things. Sure Dalinar resisted those same manipulations but most men aren't Dalinar and he had help from another God who made him forget for awhile so he can become a better man so that when the grief comes, he won't be as easily manipulated.

Moash had NONE of that.

Edit: Holy shit this sub is so dogshit. I thought this sub was for discussion not a circlejerk smh. Why am I getting downvoted for asking a question jfc

I've been grappling with some serious concerns regarding the Stormlight Archive series, particularly its portrayal of the caste system and power dynamics. Throughout the series, we're presented with a world where eye color determines social status: Lighteyes represent the ruling class, while Darkeyes are the oppressed. We follow various points of view, but notably, only one main character is Darkeyes, while all other important Darkeye characters are seen through his perspective.

Kaladin's narrative vividly illustrates the privileges of Lighteyes and the injustices suffered by Darkeyes. His life has been shattered by their oppression, as have many other Darkeyes like Moash. What troubles me most is how Kaladin's justified anger and resentment toward Lighteyes are consistently invalidated by those around him. He's told he's wrong for seeking revenge or resisting, and the resolution of his arc suggests he should serve Lighteyes obediently, which is rewarded in the story.

On the other hand, Moash, who refuses to submit to Lighteyes and seeks vengeance for his family's murderer, is painted as a villain—a choice that I found satisfying, but apparently, the narrative doesn't support. It's alarming that the community often echoes the author's framing, with phrases like "Fuck Moash" while venerating Lighteyes characters like Dalinar, who, despite being a genocidal murderer, is portrayed as a hero.

It seems Sanderson attempts to draw a parallel between Kaladin and Moash's stories, suggesting that Kaladin, who chooses to serve the oppressors, is the hero, while Moash, who rebels and seeks justice, is the villain. Moreover, after the events of "Words of Radiance," Sanderson alters the dynamics of the universe, downplaying Lighteyes' racism and largely abandoning thr theme of the oppression faced by Darkeyes. This shift is further exacerbated by the transformation of Darkeyes into Lighteyes, which feels disgusting.

Since then, practically all POVs are from Lighteyes characters, who are portrayed as inherently good and just, as long as they're benevolent, their privilege is justified. Even Kaladin, at one point, as a slave, entertained the notion that it's okay for Lighteyes to rule based solely on their eye color, as long as they're as magnificent as they claim to be, which is absurd.

The resolution of Kaladin's character arc—choosing to serve Lighteyes despite their atrocities against him, his family and all Darkeyes—leaves me deeply unsettled. I suppose now I'm left rooting for Moash, but given Sanderson's trajectory, I doubt he'll have a satisfying resolution either. I'd even hate to see him undergo a redemption arc because, in my view, he's done nothing wrong and is the true hero of the story.

Apologies for the rant, but after reading the series multiple times and engaging with the community, I needed to get this off my chest, even if it's an unpopular opinion.

No spoilers in this post, I'm more than halfway through Wind and Truth and it feels like I'm reading a Marvelified fantasy book rather than what I used to read in Brandon' Sanderson work.

I remember reading Mistborn with a sense of awe and excitement but each Stormlight book seems to be an increase in bad jokes, Marvelified scenes with quips and one liners and flat-out cringe inducing scenes. The book feels too much modern to me - I'm not talking about nonbinary / gay / trans representation, which is absolutely fine.

But at the start of the series Roshar felt alien. Reading WaT, both in how the prose is written and what the characters are saying, feels like watching a Marvel movie for me. The writing feels cheap and simple, modern instead of archaic and alien, it feels like my day-to-day world with a bland medieval setting and some magic sprinkled into it. I'm also finding it increasingly difficult to follow....well pretty much everything going on because it is starting to get so bloated with characters, plot lines, Cosmere-related stuff and whatnot.

I often forget what happened a few chapters prior to Character X because in the meantime we've switched to other 3 POVs. I am completely lost regarding to everything Radiant/Herald lore related because there's just so much going on. I am starting to find it increasingly difficult to enjoy the series and follow the plot because I either get swapped to another POV or the writing feels so modern it takes me right out of the fantasy setting.

But I am not sure if there an actual change in Sanderson' writing style or my tastes have just changed and I don't enjoy this anymore. Mistborn was a blast, Stormlight Archive feels like witnessing enshittening in real time.

Does anyone else hate how self-righteous Dalinar Kholin is? Like I HATE Torrell Sadeas, but he was right in WoK when he told Dalinar that people hated how self-righteous he is. Then I started to lose it with Dalinar in WoR when used his visions from Honor and stared acting like a leader of some kind of religious cult, (oh sorry I meant charismatic-self-righteous religious leader, who claims divine knowledge to get what he wants). Then in Oathbringer, we learned about his past, which was a good thing. BUT then in RoW he had the audacity to treat Adolin like a child and compare him to Taravangian for killing Sadeas. Like I’m sorry Dalinar, but writing a book is not going to cleanse your dark past, and allow you to be so self-righteous. Adolin is twice the man Dalinar was, and three times the man Dalinar could ever aspire to be.

Edit: I’m not overly obsessed with Adolin or overly hateful of Dalinar Kholin. I am just really angry about how Dalinar continues to remain a bad father, I specifically refer to Adolin’s and Dalinar’s conversation before Adolin left for Shadesmar.

For his crimes on the Rift it seems he got way way too easy for it. It's not some minor armless accident it's literally genocide. Imagine modern dictators that murdered a lot people will be the leader of it free world.

I think Dalinar should never get forgiven for hot action. Even that we know he was the effect of the Thril it's still something that only he did while other was also under the effect of the Thrill.

Overall I think Dalinar gets too much forgiveness for hot actions

He has been the highprince of Kholin house for the entire saga and then it seemed like he was going to abdicate for his son to rule and retire. However surprise surprise he ended up like mayor emperor of urithiru ultimate boss of radiants. Yes he is a good leader and I know that Adolin doesn’t want to rule but I kinda feel like a lot of problems he has are because people thinks he only wants power… and it’s kinda true. At least he is not so willing to let it go

I really enjoyed Way of Kings as well as Words of Radiance. Oathbringer also had some reallllly strong points. But at some point in the middle of Oathbringer, and then all the way to the end of Rhythm of War I started feeling like I'm just reading a bunch of video game quests or fight scenes. The Fused in RoW who can be killed 3 times before he has to recharge is so random and weird, or Shallan as Swiftspren gathering food to distribute it before she can "advance" to the next stage of her quest, Kalladin having to search and activate 3 nodes in the tower, etc.

Way of Kings is an amazing novel because we get to see so much happening with Kal and Shallan, their journeys are really engaging, and we get to meet a bunch of cool characters like Dalinar and Adolin and Szeth. Words of Radiance likewise, everything is building to a big apocalyptic event and all the plot points advance and story. But for books 3 and 4 it starts to feel disconnected and like a lot of scenes are just there so Brandon can showcase a new type of magic or a new type of creature. It doesnt do much for me but does anyone else feel this way?

For context, I am NOT a gamer either which may be why I don't enjoy these sort of "challenge" or "quest" side-adventures but I am sure it appeals to a lot of people too. Is this an unpopular opinion or have many people pointed it out before?

This Shadesmar part is making me so angry, man. So we get to Shadesmar, Kaladin is newly traumatized again, and Syl is now STANDING THERE IN THE "FLESH", comforting him and just generally being enjoyable, and he's still pining over THE WORST GIRL IN THE ENTIRE BOOK. One she is ENGAGED, and two, she disparages and bullies Kaladin basically whenever possible. Syl is sitting here being super supportive, HOLDING HIM, even encouraging him to go talk to her, doing whatever she can to make him feel better.

Just trauma bond with the hot spirit GF, my guy! Why chase after a, super annoying, regular human, when you can go have the best cope-sex of your life with a spirit you are magically bonded to who knows your innermost thoughts and emotions?

FUCK

No spoilers here, just some discussion of Shallan's wordplay. There is one mention below of a line in Book 4 that contains no plot relevance.

I understand Brandon has stated that what we read is how languages would be translated, his way of accounting for his more modernist prose relative to a Tolkien or Martin.

But Shallan's use of wordplay can only lead me to conclude that Alethi is in fact, English and must use the Roman alphabet (despite we've seen examples of the Alethi women's script.)

She makes a joke about the word "parallel" containing a "pair of L's."

I can not possibly justify this plausibly as a translation even with suspension of disbelief. There's a dozen other wordplay problems like this. But this is the most egregious.

Doesn't ruin the books. Just had to get it off my chest.

Thanks you!

WINDS and TRUTH SPOILER

Who is your least favorite character and why? This could be throughout any of the books.

For me it’s Renarin, he just cringes me out is all. He’s a great guy and very interesting character. He’s just so cringe sometimes it takes me out of it.

Just wondering how he feels about it since that's one of the main criticisms of the book and I'd frankly prefer the old writing style back, without so much "marvel humour". Did he explain the change or acknowledged it at all at this point?

Even with a big CGI budget and tight creative control, a live action production has so much going on that sacrifices are inevitable. Sacrifices in the story, pacing, continuity. It is almost impossible to make it perfect. Certain things, such as flying, are very difficult to get right for live action.

An animated adaptation, on the other hand, would not have to make the same sacrifices. Animated shows are also big productions, but there are fewer moving parts. An animated Stormlight adaptation could be perfect.

I also get the idea that a majority of the fans would prefer animated as well. What do you think?

EDIT: The comments here have swayed me on this. Even a perfect animated show would not reach near as wide of an audience. And there is a lot of value in having a work that we love become something that a general audience is familiar with. So I on that basis I think it is actually not a mistake. No surprise here that Sanderson was right and I was wrong.