[Thunderclast]

Don't answer my questions if you think is spoils the other books. I am super new.
So I have read the prologue and a bit of chapter one and want to know if the question's I have are normal or if I need to go back to Brandon Sanderson books Also I could googles these or looked in the forum for answers but this is helping me formulat a list of question for myself to learn. plus wanted to do a first post besideds introductions.

1. Is there an explanation on how the yearing works? Burn's sleep?
2. Is the place were the prologue takes place on the map at the beginning of the book? Wanted to get a better visual of everything.
3. Why does the commander say "Hope the emperor knows what it means" when he learns that She's* (aren't emperors male? might of just misunderstood here) is changing her name to Laseen, does the meaning of a name matter?
4. Ganoes says Napan teachs him but is frightened when that lady shows up who is Napan???
5. So this Napan lady is a witch? who is in charge of the other witches and the commander is commanding an army of young sorcerers??? Why doesn't the commander kill the enemy napan there?

[HoosierDaddy]

Just read. You ain't going to figure out anything in 10 pages. We already told you that.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Thunderclast, on 16 February 2018 - 03:04 AM, said:

Don't answer my questions if you think is spoils the other books. I am super new.
So I have read the prologue and a bit of chapter one and want to know if the question's I have are normal or if I need to go back to Brandon Sanderson books Also I could googles these or looked in the forum for answers but this is helping me formulat a list of question for myself to learn. plus wanted to do a first post besideds introductions.

1. Is there an explanation on how the yearing works? Burn's sleep?
2. Is the place were the prologue takes place on the map at the beginning of the book? Wanted to get a better visual of everything.
3. Why does the commander say "Hope the emperor knows what it means" when he learns that She's* (aren't emperors male? might of just misunderstood here) is changing her name to Laseen, does the meaning of a name matter?
4. Ganoes says Napan teachs him but is frightened when that lady shows up who is Napan???
5. So this Napan lady is a witch? who is in charge of the other witches and the commander is commanding an army of young sorcerers??? Why doesn't the commander kill the enemy napan there?

1. Yes, but it will probably take you most of the book to understand this, don't worry too much, keep it in the back of your mind.
2. Uhm I can't recall if it was in the book, my copies in SA. Here it is on the wiki.
3. Yes, the meaning is explained. It is an implicit challenge by Surly, later Laseen, to the current emperor at the time of the prologue. Read on to see why.
4. Napans are a race in the books indigenous to Quon Tali. Napani is their language. It is understood that Surly is Napani.
5. hmmmn This stems from misunderstanding the word Napan. In this case, the Napan lady is Surly. You get a better gist of her later in the book.

Try a read through the first 'section' before asking things. A lot of stuff gets explained as you read. Try to just plow through and you'll see the clues in how people talk about themselves and each other.

[Gorefest]

My advice: don’t overthink this. It sounds as if you have gone into this series on the back of someone telling you that it is a very complicated series, instead of just approaching it open-minded as any other fantasy series. You are trying very hard to second-guess and read meaning into things. But even if that meaning is there, at this point you have no context whatsoever to piece it together anyway. So whomever told you that MBotF is a complicated series did you a disservice. Really, the best advice I can give you is to just sit back, enjoy the read without worrying too much about the details and things will start falling into place as you go along. The books are very rewarding upon a reread, but rereading each chapter straight after finishing is not going to clarify anything as you have no large-sclae context yet. It will just turn your read into a slog.

Of course feel free to ask questions in the spoiler-free forum threads if you think you missed or misunderstood something, but you’ll have to appreciate that if the questions are very detailed or specific the only possible answer we can give most of the time is ‘read and find out’. Things will become clearer and make more sense as you read on, no worries.

[Puck]

^This. But I'll see if I can answer your questions with only what info you already have in the prologue...

Thunderclast, on 16 February 2018 - 03:04 AM, said:

1. Is there an explanation on how the yearing works? Burn's sleep?
2. Is the place were the prologue takes place on the map at the beginning of the book? Wanted to get a better visual of everything.
3. Why does the commander say "Hope the emperor knows what it means" when he learns that She's* (aren't emperors male? might of just misunderstood here) is changing her name to Laseen, does the meaning of a name matter?
4. Ganoes says Napan teachs him but is frightened when that lady shows up who is Napan???
5. So this Napan lady is a witch? who is in charge of the other witches and the commander is commanding an army of young sorcerers??? Why doesn't the commander kill the enemy napan there?

1. Yes, but it takes its time, just keep reading. Think of it like our real-world Anno Domini.
2. No, it's on a different continent.
3. The fact that Surly has changed her name to Laseen, which means Thronemaster in her native tongue, can be interpreted as a challenge to the current Emperor, who has not made an appearance yet. Laseen isn't the Emperor.
4. Ganoes says a Napan teaches him. Napan is not a name, but a race. Surly/Laseen is a Napan and one with a shady reputation at that.
5. You've got it all garbled and I don't know how to disintangle it without spoilers. Just keep reading. Laseen is not a witch, but what is happening in the Mouse Quarter during the prologue has to do with witches, the only connection being that Laseen ordered the cull.

[QuickTidal]

Also Napan's are Blue skinned humans.

[Babblezen]

The best thing to remember is that, like in the real world, things are never as simple as 'this is that'. Most fantasy has spoon fed us this expectation which is why Gardens of the Moon proves to be challenging for most first time readers.

[Dutch]

You guys forget to mention the most important thing.

The "Timeline" is not important.

[Nevyn]

Dutch, on 16 February 2018 - 07:08 PM, said:

You guys forget to mention the most important thing.

The "Timeline" is not important.

He's 10 pages in.

That is more of a page 20 reminder.


To the OP, get used to being lost , and keep reading.

The only thing we can really clear up about your questions is that "she" and the emperor were different people.

The implication of that conversation was that the character named Surly was potentially a threat to the emperor, and possibly involved in what was going on and using it to her own ends. Surly is the she.

[ClarenceP]

Adhara, on 05 March 2018 - 09:00 AM, said:

Because he already suggested Hydromax to people and knows the answers will come at book 10... if they come at all.

Of course you're lost after 10 pages lol. That's the whole idea. Raise many questions in the beginning and promise the reader they'll get answers by the end. That's how books work. Why would you want other to spoil stuff for you by giving you answers now?

This post has been edited by ClarenceP: 24 November 2021 - 01:21 PM

[Adhara]

Because he already knows the answers will come at book 10... if they come at all.