View original postI don't know why "River of Souls" was left out. I think they could have tweaked that story some more to eliminate the obvious clues to Bao's true identity, and build up suspense for the revelation.
I haven't read that, it'll depend on if I can find it somewhere because I don't really feel like special ordering the anthology, but I'm not sure if I'm happier with it included or not. I'm fairly happy with having no idea what Demandred was up to, how he got the loyalty of the Sharans. Mysteries like that, so long as they don't actually interfere with the narrative, typically add depth to the world by allowing for the existence of more than is actually contained by the story. I've found that 'explaining' things is frequently one of the easiest ways to draw all interest out of something. I guess Star Wars' Boba Fett is probably the poster child for this, but the Asmodean question is an easy example from The Wheel of Time. Knowing the answer didn't bring anything to anyone.
View original postThat's so disappointing. I thought that more of this stuff was RJ's idea, if only B-Sand's execution. I'm actually kind of miffed that he had the temerity to invent his own characters, like Androl, beyond the tiresome fan cameos. The obviously warped real world names were bad enough with Betse the waitress from LoC or Charlz Guybon in KoD. The sheer number of them in there was (contrary to Leigh Butler's assertions)NOT something you overlook. Every time a stupid made-up-by-Sanderson name appeared, it jolted me out of the story, and finding out that these are all shoutouts to intrusive fans only makes it more annoying. Maybe anonymous Maiden #2 could have been Adelin, who disappeared after the dolls incident, despite being one of the more significant Maidens before that, instead of being a cutesy shout-out to an intrusive fan. The people who are invested in the story and could actually remember these sorts of details are cheated to satisfy ONE fan, who happens to have met Sanderson.
Well, at least that means she didn't die. Hurin only appeared long enough to be added to the deadbook 
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Incidentally, what was the point of Bornhald telling Perrin that Fain killed his parents? Did I miss something?
. *NM*