Way of Kings Readalong: Week 3

It's week 3 of the Way of Kings Readalong! This week we are reading pages 406-600 (up through Chapter 42). The full schedule is below:

Dates	chapters
June 22 – June 28	Finish through Ch12 (page 210)
June 29 – July 5	Finish through Ch28 (page 405)
July 6 – July 12	Finish through Ch42 (page 600)
July 13 – July 19	Finish through Ch57 (page 810)
July 20 – July 26	Finish book (page 1002)

Again, you can tweet your thoughts and updates to me @spidersilksnow and use the hashtag #WoKRA. It's never too late to join! If you're starting late, you can always comment on older posts or link me to your posts whenever you have them up.

What has happened so far (spoilers!):

Kaladin & Syl:

After hitting rock-bottom last week, Kaladin has now bribed Gaz into letting him be bridgeleader of Bridge Four. He finds strength and purpose in putting the lives of his men first and trying his best to save the wounded and create camaraderie. At first his crew is reluctant to help care for the wounded, but with the help of Rock and a few others, he truly becomes leader of Bridge Four.

We also see flashbacks of Kaladain (then Kal) being torn between being a surgeon and becoming a soldier. His family wants him to be a surgeon, saving lives, but he doesn't want to be isolated and ridiculed like his father. Kal feels incredible when handling weapons, and gets a village boy to teach him how to fight.

Syl continues to grow, learning concepts such as sarcasm and death. She begins to develop a sense of "good" and "bad" as well, sensing Kaladin's misgivings about some of his actions.

Dalinar & Adolin:

Dalinar's fits and visions are increasing in frequency, and we experience one of his all-too-real visions as he battles shadow creatures and meets the Radiants. King Elhokar is sure someone tried to assassinate him by cutting the strap of his saddle before the battle with the chasmfiend, and begins to doubt Dalinar and Adolin's loyalty when they don't take him seriously. Sadeas proves himself a cunning rival by talking Elhokar into making him Highprince of Information. Adolin is sure this means Sadeas is going to frame his father for the saddle, but Dalinar trusts Sadeas and continues to try to unite the Highprinces. Adolin becomes increasingly frustrated with Dalinar's loyalty to the Codes, The Way of Kings, and his visions, and the two have a falling out. We also meet Queen Navani for the first time, a woman of politics and intrigue who knows how to get what she wants.

Thoughts and Predictions:

I really missed Shallan this week, but Kaladin is definitely growing on me now! Last week I was frustrated with his utter hopelessness, but the way he has picked himself up and given himself strength is inspiring. I love how he won over everyone with stew - food is definitely the best way to get to someone's heart!

There was a little bit of not-so-subtle hinting with Kaladin and the dun spheres. Somehow every time he had the spheres infused with stormlight for a while, the light would drain away. Add that to the fact that he feels this crazy energy and becomes immune to pain when he has arrows being shot at him...

I wonder what that means...

Clearly Kaladin is unconsciously channeling the stormlight into giving him super-strength the way Szeth does. But doesn't that require training? Coupled with Kaladin's "lighteyed" name, I feel like something is afoot here.

There was also the whole thing with killing a shardbearer to become a lighteyes. Does the eye color actually change when you get a shardplate, or is it just a title? Kaladin was musing how if he married Laral his children might outrank him if they were born lighteyed. So it's an inherited trait, but you can also earn your way up? Interesting...

My favorite character of the week is Rock. Oh, excuse me. Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor. Is it just me or does that sound Hawaiian? I love his jovial personality and his love of cooking. It's so great listening to his banter with Teft!

I really want to give Dalinar a giant bear hug. It seems like everyone's convinced he's nuts and too old to be of any use to anyone. He's trying so hard not to make the same mistakes he made in the past but when his own sons start looking down on him, man, that must be soul-crushing. I am a little frustrated that he clings on his brother's words so blindly, but he doesn't deserve the ridicule he's getting either. Adolin, on the other hand, seems way too eager for a fight. I suppose it's the "young and impetuous" thing (sidenote: loved Dalinar's comment about Adolin's relationships - "He continues to change partners like he's in a dance that involves particularly quick music" HAHA).

And what is Dalinar's vision? It seemed like he was actually playing a role in the past, not just watching like with most dreams. Maybe he takes over someone else's body in the past? So it's really a time-travel thing, not a magical vision thing. I definitely don't think they're just really bad old man hallucinations though!

Other stuff to check out:

In case you missed it, earlier this week I posted some AMAZING fan art for characters in Way of Kings.

Here are some links to Tor's Way of Kings re-read posts.

• Quite a bit of Adolin-bashing and interesting discussion on Vorinism in this one: Way of Kings Reread, Ch 18
• Discussion on Rock and the Horneaters, as well as why Dalinar is naive: Way of Kings Reread, Ch23-24
• A bit on Kaladin's past and Dalinar and Adolin's reconciliation: Way of Kings Reread, Ch25-26

What do you think of Dalinar's visions and his obstinacy about sticking to the Code? What do you think is in Kaladin's future now that he's growing stronger? Why do you think Syl is transforming? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!