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Although some readers have felt dissatisfied with Sanderson’s prose, I always love his writing and storytelling style. His writing is vivid, and the scenes are constantly easy to visualize in my mind, with emotionally impactful and hard-hitting passages placed at the right moment. A cooking machine that succeeded at creating a noodle will never top me feeling awed by a chef cooking a delicious noodle for me.
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He begins the book as a lone warrior, painting nightmares solo even as his colleagues band together for their patrols. He describes his former friends to Yumi with no small dose of disdain, clearly hurt by something that happened in the past. His energy for the first half of the book is grating, and it led to a longer-than-usual reading time for me. Yumi has spent her entire life in strict obedience, granting her the power to summon the spirits that bestow vital aid upon her society. But she longs for even a single day as a normal person.
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Cat Magic
The resulting story ranges from comedic and heartwarming, to sentimental and even somber. While the characters begin untangling the mystery’s threads, they are drawn closer to each other, and the question of how their story will resolve looms ever larger. Back at the Noodle Pupil, Yumi drinks broth to warm herself as the others comfort her. Nikaro feels worn out, after being drained by the nightmare and helping heal Yumi.
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After an hour, she stops and considers how she hopes to visit Torio City for the Festival of Reveals, dressed as an ordinary person. Yumi's warden, Liyun approaches the shrine and announces they should wait until the next steamwell eruption before proceeding to the place of ritual. Yumi tries to suggest her interest in attending the upcoming festival, which Liyun strongly discourages. Disheartened, Yumi asks to proceed to the place of ritual. One of endless night, surrounded by an even deeper darkness. Filled with nightmares come to life, twisted shapes that slink to windows and ease open doors, sliding across floors to look down on helpless faces.
The Cruel Stars
The worldbuilding grows more detailed than this—and I’m doing my best to avoid spoilers, so I’ll not go into specifics—as the plot thickens. It works well, and I found it interesting, but I do suspect that readers unfamiliar with Sanderson’s other work may lose track. Now, all alone and with no one he knew left alive, he chances across humans among the concrete wilderness. No, these are stone-age like tribespeople—three women whose tribe has been slaughtered by a Great Beast. One who can harness the power of the crystals and its magic-giving mists. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings.
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As a reader, I was disappointed reading a word-for-word telling of what happened instead of discovering it through the events of the book. Nikaro finishes his painting and then turns to the vortex of smoke, with a dark shape inside reaching outward him. He drops his brush, takes Yumi's hand, and urges her to believe that she deserves to live on for herself. Life gave birth to art, and art gave birth to life.. Because ultimately, people choose what is meaningful to them. In Kilahito, emergency services have arrived and are taking care of the painters and the Torish people, as the latter begin to evaporate.
These were several issues Painter is dealing with, and that resonated a lot with me. His insecurity, his aspiration to be needed, to do good, and of course, his passion for art. To solve what has happened to them, Yumi and Painter must live each other’s lives.
He thinks he must have been dreaming, but Yumi sits up next to him. Painter reaches for her, and realizes that he has become as ghostly as Yumi had been before. Long Chao is the son of a hedge mage — a heretic cultivator.
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He tries bamboo at first, before realizing it will not work on such a stable nightmare and switching to something resembling the child's mother. This causes the monster to flee, and Painter steps up to the window--which prompts the child to cry and wakens the parents. Painter tries to reassure the father, and encourages them to visit family in another town in case the nightmare attempts to return. Nikaro then departs toward foreman Sukishi's office, but feeling unnaturally tired he returns home instead. He enters his apartment and then opens the windows for fresh air to clear his clouding mind.
At one point Painter slips, causing him to open his eyes, and he catches Yumi staring at him. They touch again, by accident, and this time notice an exchange of emotions that comes with it. Painter reflects on his situation, recalling he needs to report the stable nightmare still, but decides for now all he can do is help Yumi. They realize she has been able to interact with the water without realizing it, but aren't sure of the implications.
Izzy then brings attention to the upcoming spaceship launch. This is the first Yumi has heard of this mission, and quickly moves to speak with Painter. She approaches the bar to see Design working to lengthen his Connection to his body, extending the range they can be apart from one another. Design says she will look for a device that can shed some insight on Yumi's Connection to her world. They discuss the spaceship mission and both wonder if it might be related to what the spirits have done to them. When they arrive at the shopping center, Yumi is concerned when she realizes she needs money to pay for clothing, but Akane offers to pay and make Nikaro reimburse her.
Nikaro tasks her with painting the bamboo stroke one thousand times, and she begins this without question. Eventually there is a knock at the door, and Yumi answers it after Painter gestures. Akane invites Yumi to dinner, and insists she can't stay in the apartment all day. Nikaro has Yumi pretend that she is studying for exams, and Akane leaves.
After the prayers Painter wants to take a nap, so Yumi pokes him to keep him awake. She explains they must spend some time in meditation, though her method of meditation is foreign to Nikaro. As Yumi meditates, his presence distracts her however. Eventually Liyun returns and they proceed to the place of ritual. While bathing earlier, Yumi had come to the conclusion that the spirits must have sent Painter because he has a natural talent for stone stacking. Her hopes are immediately shattered the moment Painter begins attempting to stack stones.
They share a beautiful view and an intimate moment at the top, nearly touching hands, then descend. After this they leave the carnival and head back in the direction of Painter's apartment. Yumi expresses forgiveness to Nikaro for his lies to her, and she urges him to forgive himself. She pauses, takes out the painter supplies, and paints the scene from the top of the Jotun Line, but with their hands overlapping. Yumi gives it to him as a memento to remember her by, when they return to normal.
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