Tor.com and Macmillan Audio are pleased to offer the following audio excerpt of the first half of Chapter Seven from Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance, book two of The Stormlight Archive.
SPOILER WARNING
This audio clip contains a MASSIVE spoiler for Words of Radiance. For the sake of those who want to wait until the book is out, or who want to limit themselves to the other excerpts already available, we ask that you please discuss the events of this chapter in this post only and in our forthcoming spoiler review of the book.
Seriously, this one’s a big one! There’s a reason we held it until the very end!
Just to note: The audio player is supposed to appear directly above this line of text. If your mobile device or browser does not support Flash elements you may have issues seeing the player.
Just to reiterate: Until the book is out, let’s keep discussion of this chapter’s events strictly within this post and tomorrow’s spoiler review. This is a real book-shaker of a spoiler, and we wouldn’t want anyone to stumble across it accidentally.
Now for some spoiler space!
More spoiler space.
And Spock riding a pegasus unicorn.
Chat away!
Actually got my copy today, need to stop shopping and get home and read it.
Oops, thank you Waterstones
Could there be some soulcasting trick that allowed Jasnah to appear dead? Maybe create a false body out of something else in her cabin for the assassins to “kill”? I know I’m grasping at straws, but I don’t want her to be dead!
first, Thank You Tor!!!!!!
I’m at home thanks to ice today, and friends hints have me goin nuts about this chapter.
Second, where is the file? I’m not seeing it. On an iPad, does that affect it?
Edit: Logged onto PC. Listened.
What the?! Please let that be a trick…
And Tor, give us more. Please????
WHAT THE FUDGE SANDERSON HOW DARE YOU. FUDGE FUDGE FUDGE.
Oh my God Jasnah.
What just happened.
What did I just listen to…. Light…
Have to agree with risleyp. I feel like it’d be a waste to kill Jasnah so soon and Sanderson is usually more careful about killing major characters.
agreed, no way she’s dead
oh shit.
Jasnah is one of my favorite characters so I too hope she is still alive. Throughout the whole scene I kept shouting in my head, “Stupid Shallan! Throw her some spheres!”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
What the FRANCE! I was excited for Jasnah and Shallan to make it to the shatter plains, anf now Jasnah is dead! If Brandon Sanderson was in my office right now, I’d punch him square in the mouth…not really, this isn’t right.
If she is dead, I’m guessing it is to drive the Alethi even more ‘mad’ with anger, as the Parshendi (obviously?) could be blamed for killing both Gavilar and now Jasna. And, the delay in arrival is just because the boat or crew is lost, and Shallan as to find new transport, or at least repair the ship.
Or, she’s alive, and has to recuperate, hence the delay in arriving at the shattered plains.
WAT
Let’s not forget, Jasnah does have access to the Transportation surge. That doesn’t do her much good if she is caught unawares, but it does perhaps raise the specter of hope.
Also, after listening to this excerpt, I’m glad that I’ll be reading the hard copy. I’m not sure why or if it’s just me, but I found Pattern’s voice in this to be almost unbearably grating.
@15 – I agree that Pattern’s voice was grating. I’ve never actually listened to an audio book before and I thought that I would have a hard time following. But surprisingly I was able to drift right into the story and visualize it in this excerpt. I may have to consider audio books in the future.
Oh and one more time for good measure
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
@jeremyguebert No, it’s not just you at all. I was listening to the clip at work, using headphones, and nearly fell off my chair laughing when Pattern starts “Mmm”-ing and whatnot. Grating, yes, but also freakin’ hilarious, which is probably not quite the effect BS was going for when writing the scene.
This isn’t working on iPad/iPhone, the player doesn’t show up – any advice guys? I don’t think I can make it til the end of the day!
Agreed about Pattern’s voice, he sounds like Billy Bob Thorton from Sling Blade…”I like the way you talk, UMM HMMM.
Isn’t on of Jasnah’s abilities illusion? Stormfather I hope this is a tirck and she isn’t dead!
Pattern isn’t grating. He’s unintentionally hilarious. I kept picturing the monster from Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” every time he talked.
This was way too short, I better get my ebook at 12am tonight.
Loving the comments! It sounds almost exactly like the reactions of the beta readers. This one’s a shocker, that’s for sure.
Oronis @20 – Jasnah’s Surges are Transformation (soulcasting) and Transportation (but we don’t know exactly what that means yet). Shallan has Illusion (which has a different formal name, but I’ll let you find out about that) and Transformation.
Hey folks, we’ve added a direct link to the audio for those viewing on mobile devices. Should work for you now!
lol what a pick to wet everyones appetitie. There is a reason it is just a short part of the chapter not even the first part or the end. she is not dead.
Saw this had been posted and snuck an earbud in during class, thinking I could be discreet. Needless to say, my gasp at Jasna’s death gave me away. :'(
No way Ivory lets Jasnah die that easily…Syl stays by Kaladin through thick and thin and gets him out of some tight spots – surely Ivory can help out Jasnah in a similar manner…Come on Deus Ex Spren!
I hold out hope that she has enough stormlight in her to heal the stab wound. And maybe the “glimpse” we got a few days back about the darkness wrapping around her refers to Jasnah here.
Noooo. Let there be a twist please!
I’m almost certain Jasnah isn’t dead. The scene has a quality about it… of a trick being played. I’m pretty sure Jasnah faked it so assassins would stop hunting her. If she’s “dead” they’ll stop bugging her…
On the other hand, maybe this is a way to cut off any support Shallan has and make her come into her own, which could be interesting too.
Or maybe its a mix of both. Jasnah transforms something to look like her, and then transports herself. She’s desperate enough that she leaves Shallan to fend for herself. Shallan is left alone, learns a bit more of her abilities, then reunites with Jasnah.
Anyway, now I’ve lost all hopes of a slow considered read of the book. I’m skipping past the sample chapters.
Well… There goes my prediction of any Kaladin/Jasnah romance. Godammit! They’re such opposites. It’d be so good.
(She’s so not dead).
Brandon went all George R. R. Martin on us. D: The Jasnah Fanboy in me hopes this is fake.
“The woman’s skin had hardened to something like stone, smooth, with fine cracks. It was as if the person were a living statue.”
This is one of the Glimpses, and it gives me hope…
Agree with others that Pattern’s voice was offputting.
Feel a Jedi trick coming up. Got an evil Carl like laugh from friend who read the book already…
And someone else called it with the rare and valuable book being left on the bedside table while a ship is burning. Not good.
Listening to this was a terrible mistake.
Well. This is exactly half of the chapter. I’m not sure why the second half isn’t included…but the second half will only heighten your anxiety. So would the epigraph if they’d included that.
Book comes out tomorrow! I’ll be at the midnight release tonight, if anyone here is going.
OH MY GOD!!!! SANDERSOOOOOOOOON! She can’t be dead. She’s one of my favourite characters, she’ll be alive somehow and she and Shallan will find their separate ways to the Shattered Plains and be reunited there. Hoping so anyway. And I won’t get my copy till Thurday because I’m in the UK. Sob…
omg omg omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is that my heart breaking? I assumed she’d die in this book. but not so soon!!
@@@@@ 16 I’ve become completely hooked on audiobooks–great way to spend a commute or take the tedium out of household chores (my wife knows I’m in the middle of a good book whenever I offer to do the dishes on a regular basis). And Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are a fantastic narrating team.
For everyone who didn’t like Pattern’s voice, keep in mind that Sanderson writes “Pattern buzzed” not “Pattern said.”
Wow yeah just wow. It would be nice if this was a trick but I dunno. Wow. Yeah that explains why she hasn’t contacted Dalinar and is 2 weeks late. Shallan really needs to embrace that shardblade of hers and learn how to use it. Guess this means she killed her mother by accident. Wow. and how did these assasins get close to Jasnah when no one else could?
So just to recap, the day before the book is scheduled to be released, they drop this bombshell on our laps? One that happens in the first quarter of the book? Yeah, I’m calling shenanigans/marketing techniques on this one.
Is it me… or does Pattern sound like the aliens from Toy Story!
“Mmmm…. The claw Shallen…. the claw!”
Possible evidence for Jasnah surviving…
In the spoiler-free reactions to WOR: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/02/reflections-of-radiance-spoiler-free-reactions-to-brandon-sandersons-words-of-radiance
“Heh. No wonder they call her a heretic. Outrageous!”
I don’t recall anything in the first 6 chapters that would elicit that reaction for Jasnah, and she’s our most famous (only?) heretic… Seems like there’s more to come with Jasnah. May be in flashbacks, but I don’t see us flashing back to Shallan and Jasnah, since we have already seen it in “real-time” in WOK.
Well darn. Definitely my favorite character to read. I would be super disappointed if she was taken away this early in the series. I want to get to know her better. I think the series would really lose out as a whole. Still, Shallan never confirmed her death, and Jasnah is a surgebinder.
@43
I heart you for pointing that out. :-)
Oh HARMONY NO
On another note, I was hoping that pattern sounded more like a Dalek.
My heart dropped to around my feet. Not Jasnah! One of my more favorite characters even above Shallan. Please not Jasnah! And thanks Chad @43 for giving hope!
Also maybe this from the reactions?:
–“I’m sure I must have breathed during the first part of this chapter, but once Shallan started drawing… I can’t guarantee it. I was certainly holding my breath when Jasnah walked in!”
I’m not sure though. I know Shallan did a lot of drawing as she always in the first few chapters, so it could be referring to one of those scenes.
43. chad9023
48. MimiMoraine
I think you two are absolutely on the ball mentioning those two quotes. They don’t prove she is alive, but it certainly makes the most sense that way.
@40 Jasnah’s door was sabotaged, it does not shut properly. They snuck assassins on the ship as new crew and ambushed her in her sleep.
@48 That is clearly where Shallan is drawing Pattern into being, followed by Jasnah being outside her door. Sorry, no hope from that one.
@48 MimiMoraine
You beat me too the punch! I was just coming to post that quote. I don’t recall this from one of the preview chapters so I am assuming it later in the book.
Argh!! Not cool! Not cool at all. Must have book now!
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43 & 48
you give me hope! also _______’s return was breathtaking. in this qoute: Gah. I finally had to quit copying every sentence that gave me a thrill—there are just so many. Oh, so many lovely things happening. ______ laying down his burden was superb. ______ charging was brilliant. _______ dying (sad face)—he died well, but how terrifying that death would have been! _______’s return was breathtaking. _____ crashing… (I’m running out of superlatives!) Ah. It was hard to remember to breathe during this chapter.
@50
You are very possibly right ChocolateRob–but at least to me, while I found that scene interesting I did not personally feel it was a breath-holding moment. A cool scene, yes, but there had been a lot of instances suggesting Shallan would find her spren soon, so to me it was not that surprising. But I could be wrong.
ErMahGEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRDDDDD!! I think I just about had a heart attack. The next 24 hours cannot go fast enough.
She is definately alive, look at that `non-spoiler`review
How does Pattern know about Shallan’s Shardblade?
Thanks for reading my musings,
AndrewB
(aka the musespren)
@48 I just copied that same quote to add here, but you’ve already done it.
This adio was from the first half of the chapter, so the quote from 48 must come from later in the book…I sure hope so.
I also remember reading something from a review (can’t seem to find it here or on 17th Shard) that said somethinf akin to “if you thought Jasnah was a heretic before…” Which I again take to mean that she is in the book further in (and hopefully not just as a flashback).
If I find the exact quote, I’ll post it here.
@53 Good catch on that one! I sure hope that’s the case!
Oh I bet Peter and Brandon are having a little evil chuckle in their lair…
Heh. I love unintentional misdirection… Anyone would think Carl and I had planned this.
::Mwahahahaha….::
I had a strong feeling this was the reason why they didn’t post this chapter (I mentioned it in the comments of the last set of excerpts). I’m about 90% sure she is still alive though. We probably won’t hear from Jasnah till close to the end (or climax) of the book. It allows Shallan to develop on her own a bit and find her own anwsers. Jasnah’s probably pulling a Gandalf and return more powerful than before.
Near. Far. WHEREEEEEEEVER YOU ARE!
And you know that my heart wil Go ON…
@61 – Oh no, not evil laughter from you, too. Carl has corrupted you! Only one more day of these shenanigans, then I’m hiding with my book until I’m caught up.
@63, HAHA!!
Oh, thank you for the laugh.
@Wet, you are enjoying this… almost too much… but you worked hard to earn it.
As did Peter & Carl, and the rest of Team Sanderson.
Brandon seems to prefer to stay away from tropes, or to turn them on their head, so I’m hoping this is a fake-out of the the “mentor occupational hazard” trope…
Just can’t wait to find out if we’re right or not!
I read one post where someone had already recieved their copy – I hope mine comes early!!
I’ll give you one freebie here… ChocolateRob @50 is correct. I realized I was holding my breath when Jasnah walked in after Shallan finished drawing her spren.
In fact, all the stuff from the non-spoiler reviews and other prerelease material that many of you are interpreting as evidence that Jasnah is still alive: None of it means what you think it means.
Ain’t that the truth…
@68 Wetlandernw and @69PeterAhlstrom:
I’m not sure I feel any better for knowing that, lol. Don’t take away my hope!!! :(
@69Peter,
Don’t you have anything better to do than troll all of us fans on multiple boards? We’re just desperate here…
She was asleep when this started. It could be Pattern playing with her dreams.
So…. I just lost anything that once resembled “calm” or “emotional stability.” This DOESN’T come from Jasnah’s potential death; I subscribe to the “see a ‘dead body’ 3 times before it’s real” theory of fantasy books and movies – which is to say I’m just not convinced yet. My headlong dive into excitement comes from seeing new stuff on Illusion-surging(/Lightweaving?) and even more teasing of Shallan’s background. I’ve taken tomorrow off because I’m fairly sure I will either pull an all nighter or I will pass out at some point while reading tonight. Unless @Wetlandrenw or @PeterAhlstrom can guide me to a midnight release somewhere near Seattle (HINT HINT), I’m going to likely end up buying an e-book version tonight and then the hard cover sometime later on. To make myself clear, I would GREATLY PREFER a hard copy, but I will take what I can get.
Time to re-read the online chapters so that I can make sure I’m fresh when the book is out…….
73: I’m hoping it’s Pattern playing with my dreams…
Jasnah probably my favourite character! It’s enough to turn one to religion… (not that Jasnah would be pleased with that…)
Damnit, I need my book!
I’m so confused, it’s not fair, im dying to know whats going on!!!
But I also won’t be getting my copy till Thursday :'(
She has Transportation as a Surge… maybe, just maybe, should could Transport herself back to Taragavangian’s hospitals.
Regardless, it is too early to see her go. Far too early.
I have to believe that she survives in some way. He left out Chapter 13 too so heres to hoping that Chapter 13 soulcasts and fixes Chapter 7. I can’t fathom why he would kill Jasnah this early in the Archive.
Jasnah, no!!! First Moiraine, now you! Seriously, the only thing that gives me some hope is the established fact that she is very familiar with assassins and their MOs and posesses healthy paranoia (viz Kabsal). So, a suspiciously damaged door should have rung some alarm bells. OTOH, she doesn’t have any illusionist abilities and I don’t see how she could have prepared a body double or why she wouldn’t have warned Shallan.
Interestingly enough, Shallan takes in Stormlight the same way Kaladin does, i.e. by inhaling – there has been speculation that surgebinders with different body focuses do it differently. So, why do their gems crack sometimes? And now that I think about it, Jasnah didn’t glow up when she killed those thugs either…
Does anyone else think the dead sailor will turn out to be Yalb?
@81
Yes.
Yes !!!!!! finally have the book in my Kindle :D :D now I can read chapter 7 …
@77 Why? So Taravangian can kill her slowly? (That was quite cynical. Sorry.)
How about she just not be dead? How about that?!
gauds@83
How did you manage to pull that off?? I would like to get hold of one too …,
kkchaitu@@@@@ I am in Germany, its past minight here :)
gauds@86
Ah, makes sense. Thanks for letting me know. about 5:30 hours to go for me … cant wait much further … I have pre-ordered the hardcopy and audible version … maybe I should get the ebook too (??)
@87 I’m jealous, I’ve got nearly 3 days to wait still. I won’t be coming on here after US release so as to avoid further spoiling. Don’t know what I’ll do with myself!
QueeenofDreams@88
I know exactly what you are going through. I was quite jealous of the folks in Germany as they got their book quite early. I wont be getting my book until tomorrow evening, which is why I ordered the audible book this morning – I could not hold out any longer. I hope time passes quickly for you!
Just a moment. The way Hoid moves from world to world involves the Cognitive Realm. So perhaps his body is not moving.
Why didn’t Jasnah notice the intruder? Was she, just maybe, in Shademar (Cognitive Realm) and so she didn’t notice? And if she is there, can she come back from the Cognitive Realm like Hoid?
There are a lot of ifs right there, and blatant speculation, but it is one possibility.
But honestly, as much shock as I have been in today, I am ready to accept it. She might just be gone.
Hmmmm. I wonder if this glimpse could have anything to do with Jasnah? Maybe she soulcast her body?
“The woman’s skin had hardened to something like stone, smooth, with fine cracks. It was as if the person were a living statue.”
If a soulcaster can make almost any substance, and if she was suspicious of the broken latch, she may have soulcast a fake body and been sleeping under the bed or somewhere else altogether.
Stormfather….
One point to conisder… Jasnah as a character is too important to this stories mythology and structure. As a heretic, she offers one of the most interesting perspectives on a world where “God” is dead. So I find it hard to believe she’s completely gone.
Still not sure when I can put my hands on my own hardcopy but anyway:
Jasnah had to be removed from the picture somehow to make Shallan outgrow the scholar’s pupil role. She’ll have to cope by herself now and she’s already begun here. OTOH there’s most likely no Jasnah to confirm Shallan’s identity at the Shattered Plains, another problem.
But I LOVE the idea of the mentor figure being lost (dead) at the beginning of the novel. It plays so nicely to some clichés (WoR is the second book and it is not, and the mentor dies between the end of the first and the beginning of the second book: Gandalf, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Kelsier, not to look too far) and still, it’s the beginning… Can’t wait and have to.
And one of my first thoughts were, “Oh, poor Ivory!” Will s/he revert to the mindless state now?
Edit: @96: Jasnah’s still most likely going to get her book, so her point of view is not lost. And I’m pretty sure that even dead she’ll talk through her books. It’s hard to silence scholars :)
I’m not usually the ‘join discussions’ kinda gal and more of an ‘read em and leave em’ sort (if only because I always feel waay too lazy to actually reply other than in my head), but still, after listening to this….
1) I HATE that most if not all books are released later here in UK
2) JASNAH CANNOT BE DEAD MATE
3) I’m pretty sure we can all agree she’s one of the most interesting and brilliant characters AND WE’VE NEVER EVER EVEN HAD A CHAPTER IN HER PERSPECTIVE BEFORE (minus the prologue). This cannot be the end of her.
4) I’ve been WAITING for her ‘chapter’ so to speak since the VERY moment we got introduced to her. This cannot be the end of her.
5) The murder was so sudden, so simple, so completely out of the blue… Can’t believe she’d die that way, even if BS wanted to kill her character off, I still can’t believe he’d do it in that blasé kinda way. CAN’T BELEIVE IT. Won’t.
6) As previously mentioned, her character is one of the most important ones so far and seriously, I can see why BS WOULD kill her off, the drama it’d insue both for the focal characters and the implications on, well, everything… But as mentioned, NOT IN THAT WAY/ TIME/ SITUATION.
7) Have I mentioned I HATE HATE HATE that people in the UK get a copy TWO WHOLE DAYS LATER than practically everyone else?
Over all, my heart is breaking both because of this whole Jasnah situation and the ridiculousness that is the UK release date.
BLAH.
So far the thing that bugs me the most about the audio book is Yalb appears to be French. Why did they change him! He was Perfect.
She can’t be dead, the scene was short but the dagger hit the floor. Maybe it was an illusion and Shallan didn’t look close enough? What was Jasnah’s second skill?
Soulcasting and Transportation. So she might have soulcast a cadaver to fool the assassins, but it’s so far fetched it makes me laugh.
I haven’t yet read the whole chapter, nor the rest of the book (only the excerpts on Tor.com), but what we know is that Shallan is sure Jasnah is dead. And that’ll make for interesting reading for sure.
myself @@@@@ 15 – after (ironically) winning the audibook for this and actually listening to it, I find myself much less put off by Pattern’s voice. I don’t always like every voice/accent Michael and Kate do (Michael’s Elhokar made me want to smack some sense/maturity into the king…) I love how good a job they do of distinguishing between characters, and especially how they follow the textual cues for the speaking parts (e.g. if a quote is said as to be “stammered” instead of just “said”, they actually stammer when delivering the line). High quality work, here.
Somehow the direction in Stormlight audiobooks has not really been that top notch. First in Way of Kings the pronounciation of character names changed wildly between Michael and Kate and then in Words of Radiance Kate gives the ship crew a very heavy french accent practically mid sentence when none of them has spoken with that accent before in his book or the previous book.
The thing that makes me mad about this scene is that Shallan refuses to whip out her Shardblade and go save the crew, (even when Pattern suggests it) and instead chooses an action that in all likelhood results in the death of the crew (tied up, next to assasins, and left to drown). Her cowardice/inablity to face the demons from her past results in the death of innocent and good people.