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Chaos, Great idea consolidating all of the OB info from the signing. Attached is my picture of the quote from Brandon. My question was, "Name a member of the 17th shard that we do not know is a member." His response was, "So... Iyatil was once in the 17th shard." Exciting! Any thoughts on who else could be or has been a member?
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Wow, that was a great release party! I got a few questions answered by Brandon: Q: You know the principle where someone who has two powers actually has three powers, because of resonance? A: Yeah? Q: How does this apply to Harmony, who has two entire Shards? A: RAFO Q: It seems like the Diagram Cult derives their entire moral authority for the atrocities they commit from the notion that "this is a very, very smart plan." A: Basically, yeah. Q: And they're filling in the gaps with information gleaned from Death Rattles, despite knowing full well that they're coming from one of Odium's Unmade spren. This seams very, very dumb. Have they ever considered the possibility that they could be being fed disinformation? A: Yes, but they figure that the benefits of having access to someone who can see the future outweigh that risk. And even if they are being deliberately given bad information, knowing what subjects they're being misinformed about tells them something useful. Q: You've said before that in Shadesmar, the world is flat, and that this would present trouble for a hypothetical Radiant sailing around the world, because they'd reach a point that corresponds to the edge of the map and their spren would have trouble following. A: Yeah. Q: That "discontinuity line," is the Origin of Storms located on it? A: That's a very good question... but no. Q: If the Parshendi are "Listeners," would it be proper to call the Aimians "Watchers?" A: Some people would say that. I wouldn't, simply because the name is already in use in the Marvel universe. Q: So... ettmetal is Harmonium. A: Umm...? Q: You already revealed that one. A: Oh, you're right. I did. Q: And its chemical properties are similar to Cesium, exploding violently on contact with water. A: Yeah. Q: And people are made of water. A: Yeah. Q: Which means any attempt to swallow it, spike someone with it, or even just wear it as jewelry will not end well. A: Yup. Q: Why would Harmony choose for his god-metal something so inharmonious? A: He didn't choose it. His metal is so unstable because Harmony is made of two powers that don't mesh well. So, a few fun answers there. Did anyone else get any good answers out of him?6 likes
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I learned that Ryshadium go to the Beyond when they die, but not everything alive does, necessarily. Hopefully someone was there recording.4 likes
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Happy Oathbringer day, Lets not ruin anyone elses by spoiling the book for the people that may not read as quickly as you, or that may not be as fortunate to have obtained the book on the first day. I love you all my Bridge 4 Bretheren. Happy Reading.4 likes
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We reported yesterday that the Mystery Project is likely Skyward, and it's confirmed! Brandon spoke at the release party last night and said it is Skyward. It's YA. And not only do we have it, we have it on video. (What? We have a YouTube channel? It's been an eternity since we've used it.) Brandon said that if you're going to one of his signings to not watch this, so you can experience it live. Please respect his wishes! Oathbringer High Resolution Art For those of you reading Oathbringer on Kindle or other ereaders, the art is pretty low resolution there, so Brandon posts the art from the book on his website. Though you can't find it as a direct link, you can find it with some URL manipulation. Since it has art from the entire book there could be some spoilers, so be aware of that! I'll put it in spoiler tags just in case, but I hope you find this useful to find the art!3 likes -
HI, I've been a fan of Brandons works for a while, and have practically lived on the coppermind wikia and made countless theories and realizations throughout his books but SOMEHOW never came across this. I feel like Kaladin staring at a sphere and going " Why isn't this working..." In summary I'm very glad to be here, especially with the upcoming release of Oathbringer tommorow, and can't wait to get to know some of you better. Upvote so I can win a shardblade and become lighteyed, but please don't kill my friends and put me into slavery. (It will come back to bite you in the butt)3 likes
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I must admit that I was unsatisfied after completing the book. Not disappointed mind you. As a book, it is a literary work of art and IMHO, unequivocally Brandon's best work to date. Having followed his career since the Elantris days, it is both a joy and privilege to experience his craft grow with each passing piece of work, from writing style, story lay out, characterisations through to pacing. It's a triumphant culmination of all the learnings he's amassed through the years. As a fan however, I didn't feel as fulfilled as I did when I finished either TWoK or WoR. The reason I suspect is because of how scattered the PoVs were in the final chapters. With the action coming thick and fast, it was understandable that you'd want to flash cut to events that were occurring simultaneously, but the unfortunate consequence of this was that I felt being forced to let go of the character emotions just after having been engrossed in the moment. It was as if I was Eddie Murphy in Coming to America being asked to play all the different characters in sequence on screen without the time necessary to get in character. In contrast to TWoK and WoR where the focus was on a subset of the main cast, the more extensive PoVs allowed me to immerse myself in the given situation and appreciate what was happening to that specific character, which resonated better with how the story unfolded. While the pacing of how the events were laid out was fantastic, I felt the balance just wasn't there to absorb the full spectrum of emotions from all the different characters. On a more personal level, I had hoped that the Kaladin Shallan romantic tension didn't fizzle out as quickly as it did after all the extensive seeding that happened in WoR and the early parts of OB. Although it might still change until she confesses her dark past to Adolin. I suppose I'm not fussed who she ends up with, but had hoped the seed would mature to more of a story between the cast. Ultimately it was a dream ride and represented a book that delivered on not only all my expectations but exceeded them easily. Can't wait for the next one!3 likes
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That was possibly the most intense thing I've ever read. I bought this book at 10am, and now it's 5:30 pm and I'm done. Adolin and Shallan are perfect together, and none will ever convince me otherwise.3 likes
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Rayse is Fuhrer Bradley confirmed?3 likes
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I agree; I'll edit these later this month or next month.3 likes
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Foolish mortal. You think a mere 12 hours can stop me? I had to *hem* *hem* *hem*. Sorry ‘bout that. I flew out here! The whole time Brandon has been like, “If you are sane, you’ll probably just leave with a signed, non personalized copy. That is the smart thing to do.” You know you’re a Sanderfan when you spend that whole time thinking, “Well, good thing I’m not sane!”3 likes
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Oathbringer has given us a much more in-depth look at Odium's forces, particularly the Unmade. Unquestionably, one of the most interesting of the Unmade is Ba-Ado-Mishram. This is a promising villain. The mindless Unmade are terrifying enough, let alone an Unmade that commanded Odium's troops. Surely she has to be a major villain in this book series. However, a question remains. Where is she? Both of these are possibilities. However, returning to Damnation seems unlikely, the rest of the Unmade seem fairly active. We've seen evidence that Nergaoul, Moelach, and Chemoarish have remained active, if subtle during the Era of Solitude. In fact, we know that it is impossible that Ba-Ado-Mishram was destroyed during Aharietiam or returned to Braize afterward. These epigraphs are from the gemstones left behind in Urithiru, from around the time of its abandonment before the Recreance. So Ba-Ado-Mishram was still alive around the time of the False Desolation, allowing the singers to take on the forms of power and providing Voidlight. A strike team went to go to imprison her, and nothing has been heard of her since. Since the arrival of the Everstorm, she has made no appearance at either Kholinar or the Battle of Thaylen Fields, the two largest direct conflicts so far. So it seems possible that they succeeded. So, if she is imprisoned, where could she be? We know that she is crafty and that she provides Voidlight, which seems to have been entirely absent in Roshar since her imprisonment. With one notable exception. Gavilar's dark spheres have long been a subject of discussion. Some have considered the possibility that those spheres contain Unmade. Given what we've seen this book, I consider that to be unlikely. We have at least six of the Unmade accounted for, with only Dai-gonarthis, Chemoarish, and Ba-Ado-Mishram absent. What are the odds that Gavilar happens to have two perfect gems each containing an Unmade and that he values them so little that he's willing to give them away? The most simple explanation is that these spheres are charged with Voidlight. Where could Gavilar have gotten it from? The easiest answer prior to the Everstorm and the new Desolation is that he got it from Ba-Ado-Mishram. Gavilar seems to give additional credence to that idea. The spren he refers to must be Ba-Ado-Mishram. How does he know about this? He's presumably seeing the same visions that Dalinar did (I'm making the assumption that he bonded the Stormfather because there is no evidence so far of a connection between Gavilar and the Nightwatcher and the Sibling remains elusive). Dalinar knows nothing about the capture of Ba-Ado-Mishram from his visions, so how does Gavilar? Gavilar has long seemed to know things he shouldn't. He even mentions a new storm here, something that did not appear in Dalinar's visions (one may make an argument about the destruction of Kholinar vision, but that doesn't match the description of the Everstorm, more like a metaphorical wave of destruction in my opinion). Gavilar has also taken the Stormfather's visions in a much darker direction than Dalinar, trying to trigger the Desolation to unite Roshar rather than prevent it in the first place. It has long seemed to me that he may have been in contact with some sort of nefarious force that was manipulating him to its own ends. The fact that Gavilar has Voidlight, implies that he was at some point in contact with Ba-Ado-Mishram, who has the ability to provide Voidlight. Even if Gavilar was not being manipulated, he must have come in contact with Ba-Ado-Mishram to gain the Voidlight and perhaps learn about how she was imprisoned. So the question remains, where is she? The Fused are destroying a portion of the palace for a specific reason. I believe that the reason is that Ba-Ado-Mishram is imprisoned somewhere within or below the palace in Kholinar. Gavilar as a budding Bondsmith came into contact with her somehow and she spoke to him and gave him Voidlight. Gavilar may have intended to release her to trigger the Desolation or he may have been following her instructions to start it some other way. The question remains, why was she imprisoned beneath the palace? Well, when the ancient Radiants captured her, they needed to put her somewhere. Urirthiru is the obvious choice, however the city was failing by that point. The Radiants were abandoning it in droves. Where else could they put the prison? Perhaps in the capital city of Alethela, the ancestral homeland of the Radiants? Where else could have been better defended? When the Radiants fell, this knowledge was lost and the location of Ba-Ado-Mishram's prison was forgotten. The Fused focused on taking Kholinar first to ensure the return of their finest leader, who will become a real problem for humankind in the next few books.2 likes
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Okay, with just about a day before Oathbringer is released, we need to talk about something important: What couples will we be shipping this time next week? This is no laughing matter. We could talk about the obvious couples, like Zahel/Vivenna, Dalinar/Navani, and Amaram/Laral (Kaladin doesn't have enough reasons to hate Amaram already). Instead, let's talk about some more esoteric portmanteaus we are going to ship. Here are my top 5 Super-Likely-To-Happen Couples: Szallan (Szeth and Shallan). Sorry to disappoint the Shadolin and Shaladin shippers, but this one is a forgone conclusion. Shallan is crazy. Super crazy. She also murdered her parents. Adolin and Kaladin love their parents too much to stick with Shallan after everyone finds out how she strangled her father (while singing!). Thankfully, all hope isn't lost for Shallan. There's another character who can totally relate to Shallan on a crazy-unhinged-psycho-murderer level: Szeth. Expect this heart-warming love story to bring you tears. I do. Venladin (Venli and Kaladin). Of the many reasons for Kaladin's time with the escaped parshment, one is so obscure, it's almost like it's not even there. He's going to have feelings for Venli. He's starting to see the listeners as people. He's empathizing with them. He's going to help lead and protect them, just like Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, Zak in FernGully, and Jake Sully in Avatar. In doing so, he'll help redeem one Parshendi who has been broken by her ambition. Kaladin may hate lighteyes, but that's not going to be a problem in this relationship. The WoB everyone will want is whether their children will look more Horneater or Herdazian. RAFO! Axi-ephir (Axies and Re-Shephir). Axies is all about the spren, so just wait until he meets Re-Shephir. Sparks are going to fly. He's an Amian with a habit of getting locked up. She's an Unmade with a history of imprisonment. Put 'em together it just makes sense! Like a snowman in summer! (My daughters discovered Frozen this weekend; those blasted songs are stuck in my head right now). Jasnaln (Jasnah and Taln). Jasnah embodies logic. Thematically, she needs someone who doesn't rely on logic. She needs the Kirk to her Spock. What better than someone who seems to lack logic completely? Good thing Amaram (hopefully) brought Taln to Urithiru. Trouble will start to brew when it turns out Taln may not actually be Taln, but Jasnaln will not waiver. At a crucial moment, logical Jasnah will sacrifice herself to save Roshar (and make some weird hand gesture which nobody will get), but Taln, knowing too well how bad the "needs of the many / needs of the few" can go for a person, will destroy an entire planet (Ashyn) in order to save her. Expect this couple to be as solid as rock (stone). Adolash (Adolin and Shalash). These are the best looking people on Roshar, and she's not going to have an issue with his murderous tendencies. She likes destroying stuff too!. Of course they're going to end up together. The Vorin nobility will be shocked at how quickly he breaks things off with the cute one (Shallan), but who can hate such beautiful people? Shalash will bring her adopted son to the relationship. Together, Adolash will adopt two more children before having their own child a couple years later and twins the year after that. It'll be quite the Kholin'Elin brood running about. They will publicly state an unwillingness to marry until Kaladin and Venli get the right to marry, but after almost a decade, they'll tie the knot anyways. Unfortunately, this one isn't meant to last, and they will break it off a couple years later. Hopefully, this story arc will satisfy @maxal. Well, those are my picks. Which ones do you guys think I missed? tl;dr Just wait until a certain (permanently) masked lady meets up with a humorous (and glowy) Herdazian!2 likes
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So in Oathbringer we learn quite a lot about the Unmade, particularly about Sja-anat. We get confirmation that she can “corrupt” (or as she calls it “Enlighten”) spren by injecting Odious Investiture into them. We also learn that she doesn’t like being on Odium’s team and wants to join Team Knights Radiant. We also see that she is growing more skillful in Enlightening spren. As she mentions in Chapter 97 in reference to the Oathgate spren: Compare this to the Chapter 97 epigraph: There is also the matter of Glys, who is likely the “son” that Sja-anat mentions to Shallan before they get sent to the Cognitive Realm. He seems to be a mistspren that has been “corrupted” with Odious Investiture, but yet he still seems to be able to form a Nahel bond and make Renarin a Knight Radiant. What if Sja-anat ends up doing the same thing to herself, only in reverse? Perhaps with the aid of Cultivation and Dalinar (as the person in control of Honor’s remaining power) she will be able to “corrupt” herself with some of Honor’s and Cultivation’s Investiture, freeing herself from the control of Odium and potentially granting her the ability to be a fourth Bondsmith spren?2 likes
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This pre-release review is specially approved, and contains no Oathbringer spoilers for any of its pre-release materials. It does contain some Words of Radiance spoilers that are also mentioned in the Oathbringer synopsis. Oathbringer is my favorite book. I know this will seem like an empty statement. We are on 17th Shard, after all. Loving a new Brandon book--especially a new Brandon cosmere book--is par for the course. But, with that said, I've thought about this for a long time, and I truly cannot think of a book I've read that has made me feel the things Oathbringer has. It has the highest highs, the lowest lows, and moments where your eyes go wide in amazement. "Is this really happening right now?" you'll say. Yup. It is. This is the third book of the Stormlight Archive, Oathbringer. I don't think I can overhype this for you. This is the best thing Brandon has written. It isn't even close. I imagine it might just be your favorite book, too. Expert Craftsmanship Oathbringer is a colossal 450,000-word book, longer than Words of Radiance. (Remember when Brandon said Way of Kings was long because it needed to be long, and the next books would be shorter? Bwahaha.) Is it too long? No, there's absolutely no fluff in this book. It's jam packed with so many things. Oathbringer is all killer and no filler. Every scene feels like it belongs. I'm a guy who loves a tight plot--even more than I love worldbuilding--and this book is beautifully crafted. You won't be bored at all. Brandon walks a fine line of things of having events feel natural, but also doing some very unexpected things. There are things that happen in Oathbringer that I didn't expect we'd get until the back half of this ten book series. It's shocking what all happens in this book. Things vaguely referenced that many casual readers probably missed become absolutely central. Brandon explains these elements carefully, so even if you aren't up to speed on the craziness of Stormlight speculation, you won't feel lost here. There's still a depth to the book if you are heavily invested (get it?), and it holds up on a reread. It's astonishing that Brandon crafts something that feels so natural and effortless, because there are a ton of characters in Stormlight. Brandon juggles viewpoints really effectively and we see new viewpoints that add to the world a lot, but we never forget about our main characters. It's probably for this reason that this book feels so tight, because you'd think there's so much space in a book this big, but there's so much to do. Every viewpoint is precious and there's a huge amount to explore. You might even say it is almost too fast, maybe! This book is Dalinar's book, and we get a large flashback sequence from him. It has a lot more flashbacks than Kaladin and Shallan, and honestly I feel like we could have had more than we got, but Oathbringer is a lean story and everything has its piece in the grand story arc. Even though it's huge, when you read this book you'll see it really is one book. Everything is connected. Even though this could really be three shorter books, it's one connected whole. It cannot truly be split. It's one glorious, beautiful whole. Worldbuilding Of course, Brandon has always been known for his worldbuilding. He's been introducing us to the world of Roshar slowly, which sounds hilarious to say considering The Way of Kings had a big learning curve. But seriously, Roshar really has insane depth. Ten Orders of Knights Radiant, Ten Heralds, Ten Oathgates, who knows how many Desolations that happened millennia ago, the Recreance, the Voidbringers, and three Shards on Roshar. There's so much, and those are just the highlights. That alone is enough to keep us going for ten books, but wait there's so much more. How foolish of us. Oathbringer changes so much about Stormlight Archive. We get killer lore in Oathbringer. Things you've wondered for many, many years will be answered. You can really tell Brandon has been worldbuilding this for a long, long time. Things are insanely complex, but also, everything makes sense. There's so much clever, subtle foreshadowing that few have picked up on. Roshar is huge, deep, and you really can get lost in it forever, now more than ever. The beautiful thing is even though we get crazy lore in this book, there's new, absolutely freaking insane puzzles that we never could have expected. Seriously. You all have no idea. It's bonkers. How deep will the lore be just by book five? Words of Radiance ended with the summoning of the Everstorm, which would bring back the ancient enemy of Roshar, the Voidbringers. If you were worried about the Voidbringers being boring or one-dimensional villains, worry not. There's a huge amount of depth to everything with the Voidbringers. Nothing is quite as it seems. It's hard to explain how crazy Roshar is after everything we learn and everything that happens in Oathbringer. Simply put: it's bigger, more epic, and crazier than ever. But Oathbringer never is self-congratulatory on its lore; it is all in the service of this amazing story. Speaking of amazingness... The Avalanche One of Brandon's signatures in his writing is the Brandon Avalanche at the end of his books, where pacing gets very fast, and everything happens all at once. It makes for some amazing endings. You might thinking that you know Brandon's tricks. You'll know how this book goes down. Hah. That's funny. No, you haven't seen an ending like this one. If you were to compare Words of Radiance and Oathbringer's endings, it's not even remotely close which is more awesome: Oathbringer by a mile. The crazy thing is that this book has three separate climaxes. Part One alone has a completely satisfactory conclusion that you could read and say, "Yes, I got my fill, that was awesome." It has another. And then it has the grand finale. Let me try to explain: It starts with us finally seeing [REDACTED] go [REDACTED] the [REDACTED]. Then it turns out [REDACTED] didn't [REDACTED] [REDACTED] the [REDACTED], but [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]. You get [REDACTED] and it's immediately time for [REDACTED], and it's this epic [REDACTED] right away. Oh, and not only is it [REDACTED] [REDACTED], but just [redacted for swearing] [REDACTED] is [REDACTED]. It turns out [REDACTED] was the [REDACTED] [REDACTED] was [REDACTED] to be [REDACTED], and for a moment you [REDACTED]. All in [REDACTED] [REDACTED] was so [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] makes [REDACTED] [REDACTED] the [REDACTED]. All the while, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] are in [REDACTED] (because of [REDACTED]) at [REDACTED], fighting [REDACTED] and trying to get [REDACTED], but the [REDACTED] refuses to [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] tries to get [REDACTED] to [REDACTED], but [REDACTED] keeps [REDACTED]. All the while there's [REDACTED] [REDACTED] the [REDACTED]. Oh also there are [REDACTED], because why not, clearly more needed to be happening. But then, [REDACTED] (the actual chapter title), [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [redacted for swearing] [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] just [redacted for swearing] [REDACTED], or [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] faces [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], and it is so [redacted for swearing] [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED], reaches [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED] to [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED], and they are [REDACTED] into the [REDACTED] and it's so freaking amazingly awesome. You see [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. Oh, and that's just the first half of the avalanche because then [redacted for swearing] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] with [REDACTED] and it's just insane. The most intense thing ever. Hmmm... something tells me that isn't going to come across well with me needing to redact all of that. I did actually write that paragraph, but there was so much happening that it's just a small snippet of how crazy it actually is. Despair. Triumph. The feels are so real in so many ways. It's amazing and perfect and ties everything together brilliantly. Get Hyped This is by far the best Stormlight book and the best book Brandon has ever written. I'm sure there will be some characters’ paths that some will not exactly love, and stuff will definitely break your heart, but I think all of it is necessary and fit perfectly. Brandon's learned so much since Mistborn and The Way of Kings, and it shows. Was it worth the wait? Damnation, yes. I know it's so painful to wait, but given how ludicrously complex this book is, I think Brandon should take his time to outline these. (He's said recently he's outlining Stormlight 4, which he said could take a year and a half, and I do not doubt that.) These are colossal undertakings and I can definitely see why Brandon would get exhausted writing them, even if he loves what he does. I have some worries about the Stormlight Archive as a whole, but they are good problems to have. With Words of Radiance improving on The Way of Kings, with so much more happening, and Oathbringer bringing it to a whole new scale, will the next book be even better? Well, I didn't think it was possible to top Words of Radiance, and that was totally foolish thinking about it now. So, let's consider the alternative: what if the next books are so amazing that the first book is the weakest one? All in all, many of you are here because you loved The Way of Kings, but I imagine some were turned off from that one, and it could be hard to introduce our friends to this amazing series with The Way of Kings. Still, I suppose if our biggest problem is that the later books are so incredible that the earlier ones pale a bit in comparison, that's a pretty good problem to have. I'd happily take that over a beginning that has all the good stuff there, and then have pointless sequels afterwards. Things are looking really great here, both this book and the series as a whole. Oathbringer is, I daresay, a masterpiece and I can't wait for you to read it.2 likes -
When your dad has to stop before entering the doors to Barnes and Noble and remind you to stay calm when you find the Oathbringer books.2 likes
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One of the things that has been clear throughout the course of the Stormlight Archive is that the Heralds will play a crucial role in this series, particularly in the back half of this story, when they begin to get POVs. A longstanding theory has been that the Heralds need to be restored and returned to their former glory. Without the Heralds, there seems to be no hope of preventing an eternal Desolation, as the Fused are no longer held back when they are killed as they once were. However, with the final death of Jezrien the hope that the original Heralds will all return to their former roles is dashed. So the question remains now, what is the significance of the Heralds now that we know they will not all return to the Oathpact? The primary goal of this theory is to reconcile a few odd facts that appear unconnected but in actuality stem from the same issue. The first is Nale's assertion that Radiants will cause a Desolation. We now know the way that a Desolation is triggered. When any one the Heralds on Braize in the past yielded to the torture of the Fused a Desolation began. If they died during the fighting they returned to Braize instantly. Those who survive are required to return to Braize in a short period of time, otherwise the Voidspren and the Fused would no longer be held back and the Desolation would begin again. When the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, they quit being Heralds and gave up their Blades. This trick worked since they all did it. Now there was only one Herald and he was in Damnation, so the Oathpact held barely, since technically all the Heralds were on Braize like they were supposed to be. Taln's eventual break is what allowed the Voidspren to return. But what does any of this have to do with regular Surgebinders? How could they have triggered a Desolation? Luckily, Nale gets a little more specific. My belief is that this evidence indicates that "which comes next" to a Radiant is ascending become a Herald. In order for this to happen, it would require that person to take up a Herald's Honorblade. This is the danger that Radiants once posed. If one of them had reached the fifth Ideal and somehow gained access to an Honorblade, they could have inadvertently taken that next step and become a Herald. The second that occurred, the Oathpact would have been violated, because not all the Heralds would have been on Braize like they were supposed to be. This would instantly trigger a Desolation. In the past, when Honor still lived, he prevented this from occurring. But now he is no longer around to mediate this. For this reason, Nale has been hunting down Surgebinders so that they cannot take this final step. This brings us to another oddity, the Skybreakers themselves. Nale's explanation does not explain why the Skybreakers are exempt from this campaign of murder. What prevents them from accidentally doing something to trigger another Desolation once they reach the power of the higher oaths? Well, no Skybreaker has gotten there in a while. With the notable exception of Nale, no Skybreaker has gotten to the Fifth Ideal in quite some time. This is either a coincidence, or something is going on here. It is also worth noting while we are on the subject, that Nale has retrieved his Honorblade. The reason he excludes the Skybreakers from his purge is that he is there to personally run that order. No one has reached the fifth Ideal in centuries, which is odd to me. I believe that Nale has either secretly come to some sort of accord with the highspren that they will not allow the bond to progress that far or he has been quietly ending the lives of Skybreakers who have approached the Fifth Ideal. Nale's other safeguard is that he himself holds the Honorblade of the Skybreaker Herald. He went back for it to be doubly sure that no one will be able to inadvertently take up the mantle of a Herald. Note though, that Nale has not taken up the burden of a Herald again fully, otherwise the Voidspren would have returned long ago, since Nale has been on Roshar. However, despite having access his Honorblade, Nale has also seen fit to bond a highspren and become a Skybreaker himself. Jezrien is dead now, and it is clear the Heralds must rise again to trap the Voidspren and the Fused (although hopefully they come to a more permanent solution this time). I believe that our heroes, Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, etc, each one more or less from one order will eventually be the ones to take up their respective Herald's mantle. The only oddity here is that we have two Lightweavers in Shalash/Shallan and no Dustbringer, but perhaps that will be resolved in some other way. The reason that Brandon chose to have Nale have his Honorblade and a spren is to foreshadow that a Herald may also be a member of their own order, so we don't have to worry about our main characters losing their spren when they become Heralds. There is one more thing I'd like to touch on, but it's ranging into the speculative for me. I feel very strongly about the theory as presented so far, but this last corollary of sorts is a little out there. The final oddity I want to point out has to do with the death of Jezrien. When he is killed, something strange and very specific happens. And now we see his death from Shalash's perspective. The Fused are doing something very specific here. They do something to Jezrien's soul, which allows them to kill him fully. However, at least some portion of the Oathpact must have remained attached to his soul, because the bond between the Heralds was still intact, as evidenced by Shalash and Taln's reaction to Jezrien's death. That there is still something supernatural about the Heralds is certain, as they remain immortal (or close to it) and ageless as well. I think perhaps in this moment they stole whatever that characteristic of "Heraldness" was and trapped it in that strange dagger (there may be some variant of Hemalurgy at work here, or perhaps not). Now Odium both pieces, an Honorblade and the quality of "Heraldness" and maybe can now craft something new. I think it possible that Odium intends to craft a new Herald, one that is on his side. If one Herald were to intentionally refuse to return to Damnation, a Desolation could never end. So if Odium were to somehow make one of his supporters a Herald, he could ensure his troops could never be trapped again. Moash is the obvious candidate for this role, holding the Honorblade himself, but we have yet to see how the dagger will play into this. Perhaps Moash is not ready or perhaps they are waiting to prove himself yet again before entrusting such a responsibility to him.2 likes
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So, I downloaded this from Amazon at work, and spent most of the night responding to a gun scare and then my coworkers showing up late or not at all. I'd read the first book on Tor, and the audio interlude that came out Monday revealed the death of my favorite character. I pretty much read nonstop once I got home. I feel like my brain's been hit by a bus. There were so many amazing moments here. I can't even pick a favorite. Everything Adolin. Everything Renarin. Everything Jasnah. The two of them together in the last book. Dalinar learning to read and write. Vivenna! Shallan and Hoid--I was really worried for her. Drehy, Skar, and Shallan's henchmen turning up with Elhokar's kid! I wondered about that poor kid the whole time the protagonists were protaging around and I was so relieved that he wasn't left behind. I. . .I don't even know where to start with the end battle. I'm still processing. Favorite part was the relationships between siblings. Well-written sibling relationships are my favorite. For a while, I really believed in Moash. Thought he would manage to pull back from the chasm. Dammit. But Venli did. I wasn't expecting that. I don't even know where I'm going with this, I just . . . Wow. Book.2 likes
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I’m reading this book called Oathbringer. Anyone heard of it?2 likes
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A Sanderson Elimination game, you say? *strokes beard* I haven't seen one of those in a long, long time. But in all seriousness, I've finally found free time and inspiration, so I'll go ahead and participate as Lutha Erikell, a woman with much to hide and few places to put it.2 likes
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I'm utterly speechless. My minds is forfeit. How is there still three parts left? HOW IS THERE STILL SEVEN BOOKS LEFT??2 likes
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Did you know 17th Shard has a YouTube channel? It's true; we've had it for eons and did very little with it. But lo, there will be more video content. This I didn't expect, though, to actually get a reading from Brandon Sanderson from the Oathbringer Release Party. He revealed that the Mystery Project is in fact Skyward, and read from its prologue today. Brandon asked that if you are going to see him on his tour to not watch this, so you can experience it live. Please respect his wishes!2 likes
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This is clearly cosmere. The Krell are from Trell, and Stupid Raj McCaffrey is hoid.2 likes
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I recorded everything if you want to check it out. I video recorded the speech that Brandon gave at the first about nostalgia, change and progression (which was very interesting and I enjoyed it). Then I audio recorded the Skyward reading as a separate file. You can find them on my Facebook page or on my You Tube account - search for Random Angst. It was great to be there and to see everyone! I camped out and was able to snag book #55!
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No, Jasnah is the new monarch. I also got that wrong the first time I read it.2 likes
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Dalinar's arc was fantastic. I love his new oath too, those are words to live by. The moment that made me tear up the most was the return of Taln. After finding out he was tortured for 4,500 years the guy was happy. Happy that he bought humanity so much time. Taln, the truest hero in our world. I'm not a fan of where Shallan's character has gone. "Multiple Personalities" might make an interesting plot device, but it's a very contentious area of psychology. After how realistically Kaladin's recurring depression, Teft+Dalinar's substance abuse disorder and Shallan's prior avoidance mechanisms and panic disorder were displayed, I'm rather sad to see Shallan adopting a Hollywood-ized psychological disorder. Also, if she's set on Adolin now, it would be nice if Shallan stopped being unpleasant to Kaladin. She doesn't even have the thin justification that she's teasingly flirting with Kaladin anymore, at this point she's basically just bullying the poor guy. He's stoic enough to not call her out on it, but the teasing is so one sided at this point that someone needs to tell Shallan to stop acting that way.2 likes
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Adhesion does in fact function based on pressure and vacuum as its basis for sticking things. It's a pretty bad name, but then again "lashings" cover two completely different surges outright, so I suspect they originated from people who never studied their powers in depth . . .2 likes
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This was my train of thought for a while too, but it seems like "adhesion" is just a super bad name for the Surge, and it does actually work with pressure. I believe there's even a WoB on it, though I'm not sure.2 likes
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Jasnah knows. Wit told her. Holy cow. This book is SO GOOOOD AND I'M ONLY ON PART 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!2 likes
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So, the Part 2 Epigraphs seem to be 3 different letters all addressed to Hoid/Cephandrius from Shards or at least envoys of Shards. I was curious to see if there was any new information on Shards or vessels so I typed them up in full here: Dearest Cephandrius, I received your communication, of course. I noticed its arrival immediately, just as I noticed your many intrusions into my land You think yourself so clever, but my eyes are not those of some petty noble, to be clouded by a false nose and some dirt on the cheeks. You mustn't worry yourself about Rayse. It is a pity about Aona and Skai, but they were foolish violating our pact from the very beginning. Your skills are admirable, but you are merely a man. You had your chance to be more, and refused it. No good can come of two Shards settling in one location. It was agreed that we would not interfere with one another, and it disappoints me that so few of the Shards have kept to this original agreement. As for Uli Da, it was obvious from the outset that she was going to be a problem. Good riddance. Regardless, this is not your concern. You turned your back on divinity. If Rayse becomes an issue, he will be dealt with. And so will you. Cephandrius, bearer of the First Gem, You must know better than to approach us by relying upon presumption of past relationship. You have spoken to one who cannot respond. We, instead, will take your communication to us - though we know not how you located us upon this world. We are indeed intrigued, for we thought it well hidden. Insignificant among our many realms. As the waves of the sea must continue to surge, so must our will continue resolute. Alone. Did you expect anything else from us? We need not suffer the interference of another. Rayse is contained, and we care not for his prison. Indeed, we admire his initiative. Perhaps if you had approached the correct one of us with your plea, it would have found favorable audience. But we stand in the sea, pleased with our domains. Leave us alone. We also instruct that you should not return to Obrodai. We have claimed that world, and a new avatar of our being is beginning to manifest there. She is young yet, and - as a precaution - she has been instilled with an intense and overpowering dislike of you. This is all we will say at this time. If you wish more, seek these waters in person and overcome the tests we have created. Only in this will you earn our respect. Friend, Your letter is most intriguing, even revelatory. I would have thought, before attaining my current station, that a deity could not be surprised. Obviously, this is not true. I can be surprised. I can perhaps even be naïve. I think. I am the least equipped, of all, to aid you in this endeavor. I am finding that the powers I hold are in such conflict that the most simple of actions can be difficult. I am also made uncertain by your subterfuge. Why have you not made yourself known to me before this? How is it you can hide? Who are you truly, and how do you know so much about Adonalsium? If you would speak to me further, I request open honesty. Return to my lands, approach my servants, and I will see what I can do for your quest. Interpretation: Letter 3 is definitely from Sazed but letters 1 and 2 are a bit harder to pin down. Based on the tones, I would say letter 1 is from someone who may have been Hoid's friend while letter 2 seems to be more antagonistic. Letter 2's writer also seems to admire Odium, which is curious. Looks like we have another Vessel name! Since Uli Da is dead, I guess that must have been the name of Ambition's Vessel? The "bearer of the First Gem" is an interesting title. I'm guessing it probably doesn't relate to Roshar despite the gem reference but who knows? None of the letters seem to come from Cultivation in my opinion. The first disapproves of dishardic worlds (Cultivation's relationship with Honor would preclude this) while the second is approving of Odium's initiative, which Cultivation probably wouldn't be since Odium kinda killed her lover. The phrasing in Letter 2 is kinda odd with the many references to the sea and whatever the heck Obrodai is. There's not much information on Autonomy but the apparent antagonism of Letter 2 might fit with Bavadin since she has bad blood with Hoid and seems to have some sort of relationship with Odium based on Hoid's grudge against the two of them. The allusions to the sea are weird however for someone whose main planet is half freaking desert though. It seems like its written by an agent and we know Autonomy is meddling outside Taldain so maybe this indicates some sort of plot on Obrodai (whatever/wherever that is)? Any thoughts beyond those?2 likes
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If you aren't party of the mailing list, you probably missed this but from Mysterious Galaxy: I'll be going with the non-express line.2 likes
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@Walin, this game does look fascinating, and I understand your desire to play it. Following discussion with the other SE moderators, however, we'd like to remind you that inactivity can have a negative impact on the enjoyment of all players, and would ask that you don't sign up if you believe you're likely to go inactive during the game.2 likes
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Must be using an Australian file server...2 likes
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Indeed. Normally I do a bit of post-game analysis, seeing which bit of the games worked and which didn't, but I think this time a fairly short summary is more appropriate. 1) The extra lives for conversions worked well and made people think about playing in different ways. This is good. The extra lives mean that people are happier to wait for more interesting potential converts, but at the same time, the Village is rewarded for finding the Seer early still. 2) At the end of the game, we had a 25% inactivity rate. That's more than the maximum number of Eliminators this game could have had (which would have been ~20%). 3) The Eliminators should not have won. Both DA and Araris tripped up, and in any other game it would have cost their team the victory. It's only due to point 2 that they still won. I'm glad people enjoyed the game, as well as the story. However, from a GM's perspective, the inactivity rate in this game was very disheartening. At this ridiculously high rate, any attempt at balance goes out the window because the GM cannot plan for it, and arguably should not plan for it. We as a community need to figure this out, and if that means having smaller-sized, simpler and shorter games, then that's a perfectly good solution if it leads to better games. I have had a few ideas which might lead to more activity within the games, and I've discussed them with Orlok and Wilson. Next time I GM (I believe it's an MR, which seems appropriate for these ideas), I will be using them, and it will be interesting to see what effect they have on the games...2 likes
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Hey all, I know like many of us, you ask for various things signed in your books that are cosmere questions. For Oathbringer, let's keep things centralized in one place (if only for ease of Arcanists inputting things into Arcanum). Please take a picture of the signed quote and the original question (usually on the invoice) No Oathbringer spoilers are allowed here, but if you ask an OB question, mark it in spoiler tags. Edit: This is for books that were not signed at an event. If your book was signed during an event please post it in the relevant event thread.1 like
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So all the art in Oathbringer is on Brandon's site. Very useful if you're reading the Kindle version. Warning, later ones could contain spoilers. (Yay for URL manipulation to find it!) https://brandonsanderson.com/books/the-stormlight-archive/oathbringer/oathbringer-art-gallery/1 like
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honestly, what I want is a mini-series on the Silmarillion. The Fall of Fingolfin, Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin are all stories that deserve a visual, at least imo they do. I'm withholding judgment on this till we have more details. That's not enough to go on with right now. If they try to make it GoT: the LOTR edition I'm out.1 like
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Welcome to the shard!! Have a free spike cookie and an upvote!!1 like
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I don't think Adolin has ever really gone head to head vs Kaladin with a spear or the Blackthorn.1 like
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"I'm the other one, Dalinar." That whole thing is chilling.1 like
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@hoiditthroughthegrapevine I understand where you are coming from, but the division between emotional and elemental spren in that conversation is very different from dividing the Surges into emotions and natural forces. We can see different emotional spren: Honorspren, fearspren, gloryspren, etc... And we can see different elemental spren: windspren, flamespren, lifespren, etc... But these do not correspond to specific surges. For example, Honorspren (a spren of emotion) form the nahel bond to make Windrunners, who get access to TWO Surges: Adhesion and Gravitation. Furthermore, honorspren don't correspond specifically to either one of those. When Kaladin is first experimenting with Adhesion, he can observe tiny "bindspren" gathered around the stormlight holding the rocks to the wall. Aside from that, every Order has two Surges and one bond, making any direct association of spren to Surge impossible. Finally, your breakdown of the different Surges is pure speculation. Adhesion is described as the Surge of pressure and vaccuum. Division is described as the Surge of destruction and decay. Abrasion is the surge of friction. Tension we haven't seen in action (well, that's debatable, as I think we see the effects in Dalinar's flashbacks, where he mysteriously keeps bending things) but in either case all of these are physical forces. We have seen them in action. Yeah, maybe you could draw metaphoric parallels to different emotions, but you can do that with ANY of the Surges.1 like
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Aside from not being aware of any evidence to support this, as @BlackYeti has mentioned, I don't really follow the reasoning. What are the "surges of emotion"? ALL of them are natural forces. That's kind of the point. By your logic, if Bondsmiths uses two "surges of emotion," then that means that Adhesion and Tension are both...emotions? Or emotion-based? I'm sorry but I don't see it. Each of the surges refers to specific natural forces.1 like
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So, I don't know if I ever shared this here, but a couple of days after this thread went on an 18 month hiatus in 2014, I had asked Isaac for clearer, higher resolution versions of the highprinces' glyphpairs, the ones on the warcamps map. He sent me this: Even if this is new to us, it probably won't get us very far, considering the recent reiteration that "glyphs are memorized, not read", but I thought people could at least enjoy clearer versions of those glyphpairs.
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"You don't want to run, stay here and burn."1 like
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Started and finished The Walking Dead today, as it was on offer for £3.99 on PSN. Oh. My. GOODNESS! What an excellent game! So incredibly emotional, and reminiscent of Last of Us (which I also absolutely adore).1 like
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I'd interpreted that as the one who hates was watching - meant Odium... but I've been VERY wrong before... especially where Brandon's concerned...1 like
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My guess is that she is going to need to confront this new lie she is telling herself in order to progress as a radiant, probably towards the end of this book. However before that happens she is going to begin losing her grip on reality, separating herself into more and more different people in order to hide from her problems1 like
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@AlexLas95 i don't know if you still want info here but my 2cents Personally i had no issues with the ending and actually loved the way epilogue leaves the story. BUT the three biggest complaints are that it: Felt Rushed. (But this is Sanderson's style this is just a different type of rushed) Was very Deus-Ex-Machina (Unless you guessed the deeper theme. All I will say on that is remember classic superhero comics were the inspiration for this series) Has a feeling of being incomplete. (Again this is vaguely reminiscent of the way comic books end leaving it open for the next instalment... at least the ones i have read) I will say read it and make your own opinions Also Apocalypse Guard is the same Multiverse and takes place after the events of Calamity but it is not a sequel trilogy. It may only have cameos of these characters if they show up at all.1 like
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A Song of Ice and Fire by a veerrryyy long mile.1 like
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