ByDanielD
We hope everyone had a lovely weekend, and that you’re ready for some science: today’s chapters feature fabrial science with Navani and Rushu, and some cultural anthropology by way of flashback with Szeth! Don’t worry, there’s action too — Shallan’s team begins their infiltration of the Ghostblood hideout in Narak.
To best enjoy this article, first read chapters 23 & 24 of Wind and Truth over at ReactorMag.com. This article may contain major spoilers for all the previous Stormlight Archive books.
Shallan enters the Ghostblood hideout in a disguise. Navani shows the Sibling their new, cruelty-free fabrial design.
This was a tense read — I was on the edge of my seat when they were trying to get the masked guard to come over to them. It helped that the plan made sense, as that only added to the realism, and therefore the emotional impact, of the scene. Shallan’s internal monologue being so full of doubt also adds tension, as now we’re also thinking about all the things that could go wrong.
Despite all we know about spren, so much of them is still a mystery, so Gaz drawing angerspren while pretending to be angry was interesting. Can spren be tricked? Or perhaps a good performance actually causes the performer to feel the emotion they are trying to portray, and that is enough to draw the spren.
Brandon Sanderson is the master at setting things up and using them later, and in this chapter we get the payoff for learning Shallan can put her armor on someone, but that the armor can’t move when she does so. It’s a clever use of the armor, and saves Shallan’s life — her almost getting stabbed is a good reminder that she’s new to the whole “fighting people” thing.
Speaking of things Brandon is good at, the way Shallan recognizes her prejudice towards Shin people and mentally corrects herself was very nice to read.
Stop that, Shallan thought, taking the mask from Red. You need to stop comparing all Shin people to children. It was a bad habit.
And while we’re on a roll with complimenting the author, I also want to point out that he accomplished something I thought was impossible: correctly writing someone being choked unconscious and then waking up shortly thereafter. Books, TV, and movies are all frequently guilty of using someone getting knocked out serve as a transition to a new scene. Most of the time, minutes or hours have passed between KO and wake-up. But unless the person is seriously injured, people who are knocked unconscious wake up in less than a minute. If they don’t, they’re very likely going to be suffering from serious brain damage.
It was a bit heartbreaking that this scene ended where it did, as I’m nervous for Shallan and really want to know if she succeeds in her mission! Hopefully we get some closure in next week’s chapters.
This part of the chapter was very reminiscent of Navani’s parts of Rhythm of War — she doubts herself a bunch, and does a lot of cool science. She’s growing though; at multiple points in her internal monologue during this chapter, she recognizes her own abilities, and/or stops herself from questioning them.
The conversation Navani has with the Sibling in regards to Dalinar’s plan to take up the Shard of Honor reveals very important info. I’m not sure that we knew before that there was any issue with Shardic power not being paired with a vessel, but apparently there is:
Great danger. We do not think as humans do. To separate the power from those who are attached to the Physical Realm… that should frighten you. It is not so terrible a thing for part of me to despise you. But for the power of a god to? Dangerous. For all of us.
Brandon had mentioned in a signing that Shards without a Vessel could achieve sentience, which is part of why Devotion and Dominion were forced into the Cognitive Realm after being splintered by Odium. The Sibling bringing this up could just be a Realmatic Theory lore dump — but it could also foreshadow the Shard of Honor becoming sentient. Scary, but exciting!
This chapter features a big breakthrough in Navani’s relationship with the Sibling — getting her to admit that their methods with the flame spren are an acceptable compromise means at least one Bondsmith won’t be fighting with their spren all the time.
There are also major implications from the experiment with the domesticated flamespren. While it isn’t clear yet if Rushu is actually bonding with Bippy (great name, by the way), if lesser spren can form bonds with non-Radiants, does that mean that it would be possible for things like Shardplate to be used by non-Radiants? We know lesser spren make up Shardplate, so it doesn’t seem impossible. Such a thing would be a major boon in the war against Odium.
Based on the conversation Rushu has with the Sibling, I suspect we’re getting another carefully-researched representational character, this time for non-binary people. The way Rushu responds to the Sibling being non-binary all but confirms it:
“Navani tells me,” Rushu said, “that you are neither male nor female.”
“It is true.”
“Could you tell me more about that?” Rushu asked.
“To a human, it must sound very strange.”
“Actually, it doesn’t,” Rushu said quietly. “Not in the slightest. But talk, please. I want to know how it feels to be you.”
I love this. Epic fantasy series have room for lots of characters, and there’s no reason not to make those characters unique in different ways. Sanderson is always respectful and careful in how he portrays different kinds of people, and I’m looking forward to getting to know Rushu better in Wind and Truth. I’m also hopeful that her conversation with the Sibling is covered in the book, as I’m as eager as Rushu to learn more about the Sibling and the history of Urithiru.
26 years ago, Szeth danced around his family’s stone, and discovers a new stone.
Our first Szeth flashback! These should be particularly interesting, as Shinovar is still mostly a mystery even after four books on Roshar. While much of it is familiar, and the plants and animals are either Earth-like or actually what we have on Earth, there’s a lot of new stuff to learn as well.
This is especially true in regards to the culture of Shinovar, which seems to revere stones and the concept of “adding” to the world. Like on Nalthis, color plays a distinct role: only people who add can have a “splash” of color on their outfits — presumably everyone else can wear only plain clothing. Adding seems to be any kind of creation or cultivation; so a farmer would add, while a butcher would subtract, presumably. There’s a reference to the Farmer with a capital F, seeming to be some kind of god or revered figure.
Syl and Kaladin being amazed at Shinovar’s plants in the previous chapter, followed by Szeth and his sister speculating on the weird plants and people of the rest of Roshar, is a funny parallel. Also, Szeth is secretly a poet:
Strict, methodic motions at first, as per the moves he had memorized. He stepped and spun, dancing in a wide circle around the large boulder. Szeth was as the limbs of the oak, rigid but ready. When those shivered in the wind, Szeth thought he could hear their souls seeking to escape, to shed bark like shells and emerge with new skin, pained by the cool air—yet aflush with joy. Painful and delightful, like all new things.
Or maybe it’s just Brandon trying out new things. This chapter has alliteration, as well, with Szeth counting the “molasses minutes and syrup seconds”. We saw this with Tress and the Emerald Sea, too — Brandon really stretching his prose muscles more than usual. While his simple style does make the books easy reads, I’m happy to see that he’s getting a bit more poetic at times; when well-handled, such techniques can only serve to elevate writing.
The monastery being a “Stoneward” monastery caught my eye — clearly it’s in some way related to the Radiant order, perhaps only in tradition rather than there actually being Radiants with bonded spren there. It sounds like that’s where people train with the Honorblades — the proximity to Szeth’s home makes perfect sense, as we know he ends up there eventually.
The chapter ends with the rock that is almost certainly the same rock Szeth mentions in chapter 22, the one that led to him meeting the Unmade. Perhaps the discovery of the rock is why Szeth has to go to the monastery…
It feels like every chapter in this book is going to contain at least one important secret. It’s going to be a long wait until next Monday, that’s for sure. Let us know what you thought about today’s chapters in the comments below!
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