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Vasher explained to Vivenna that Returned have 2 types of breaths: their divine breath and the "regular" breath.

I found myself only caring about Susebron and Siri. It was like a, "oh darnit" moment every time a scene started from another person's POV. Vivenna wasn't all that interesting to me at all. Lightsong was too over the top for me. Vasher was kind of meh.

I can't speak for others, but I usually at least do a little googling or read reviews of the author whose books I am about to read or have read, particularly if I haven't read anything from the author before. Any googling of Sanderson's Cosmere related books will give you some understanding of the bigger picture and then it will be up to the reader if he wants to continue digging.

Well I shouldn't say all, but some of Sanderson's female protagonists all seem to act and speak the same way regardless of age or social status. Siri, Shallan, and Sarene all seem to have the exact same witty, sarcrastic, almost arrogant remarks, particularly towards men. I'm almost inclined to say Shai is the exact same way, if to a lesser degree. Is this something that others have noticed?

Lou Anders has said many times on Brandon's own Writing Excuse podcast about the Hollywood Formula that the antagonist must be in direct opposition with the protagonist, specifically the antagonist must try to prevent the protagonist from reaching his or her goal. If Hoid is the antagonist, who is the protagonist? If Hoid trying to put all the pieces of the Shards together is a "bad" thing, who are the "good" people that have been working to keep the Shards apart?

How do we know forgery only works on Mai Pon? Not that I am disagreeing with you, I just don't remember reading it in the book. Is this another WoB that I missed?

60% done Emperor's Soul. Essence Marks seems very much like metal minds. ...........And done. In his post script Sanderson mentions the magic system is very similar to that of Elantris. Which part specifically? I still feel Essence Marks and metal minds are essentially the same thing. From a timeline standpoint, where does Emperor's Soul relate with Elantris, the book?

So my best bet is to read through all of Words of Brandon?

Was the chasm line causing Dor to fail supposed to be a big reveal? Raedon and Galladan sure acted like it was. I just assumed that was the case from the very beginning because the alternative, magic failing and causing an earthquake, just didn't make any sense. Though I didn't know exactly how the chasm line caused the failure of magic until Sarene discovered that Aon's related to Arelon's landscape. Interesting use of the word chasm as chasmfiends live underground.

Just finished Elantris. It was kind of so-so as I expected based on reviews and what Brandon himself has said about this book. My main reason for reading it was to learn more about the Cosmere. From the book itself, is the only Cosmere related information the introduction of Hoid? Is it possible to learn everything from the books? How do we even know the Elantris planet is called Sel? There was no reference to it in the book as far as I can remember. I did a search through the e-book and there was indeed no Sel word. I don't really want to read all of Brandon's interviews and stuff. I'd rather just try to piece everything together myself, even if it means waiting for all his books to come out. Next up, Emperor's Soul. I will have to give Mistborn and Stormlight Archive a re-read in my finer detail later.

Good question. One could make a case that everything we coin intelligence is simply a matter of what we have memorized. Am I smart because I know 5 x 4 = 20? Maybe not, but for this one fact at least I know more than someone who does not know this multiplication fact. Doesn't the mere fact that I know something that someone else doesn't make me smarter (ie. more intelligent) than the other person?

There seems to be 2 instances where Brandon has associated learning languages quickly with intelligence and genius - Kaise in Elantris and Stephen in Legion. I can't remember now, but I believe Hrathen in Elantris also said something about Fjordin (the language) being a superior language. Of course just because Brandon wrote that in his books doesn't necessarily mean he agrees with it. From a personal bias stand point I can say that learning English is a lot easier than learning Mandarin, at least in terms of reading and writing.

Yes or no, the ability to learn languages and read books quickly is a sign of intelligence?

Personally I thought Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians and Legion were not to Sanderson's standards.

I didn't remember either until I looked up some characters for further evidence. Tevidian is Vin's father! Surly Brandon doesn't do anything by accident, right?

Is there a particular order we should be reading these books in? I know they can all be read separately but in terms of timeline, is there a good order? I'm guessing since Elantris was written first it should be read first? I've only read the Mistborn Trilogy and Stormlight Archive so far.

Hi everybody. I am embarrassed to admit I have only read 2 Sanderson works related to the Cosmere: Mistborn and Stormlight Archives. I shall fix that soon enough. Anyway, I noticed in the two works there are very similar names. For the main characters at least, the ones with similar names seem to have similar roles or at least similar abilities in the book. Is this simply a coincidence because the names sound cool or is there something else brewing in the background? I'm sure people far smarter than I have made some connections if there is any, but I couldn't find it in the search. Here's a quick list I compiled, please excuse any misspelled names. Kaladin, Kelsier Veil, Vin Shallan, Shan Szeth, Sazed Elhokar, Eland Taravangian, Tevidian Mraize, Marsh Zahel, Zane What are your thoughts?

What if we find out Kaladin is Dalinar's illegitimate son? Or possibly Dalinar's mysterious deceased wife. Then Kaladin + Adolin would be half brothers!

Remember Brandon said originally there was no Adolin, only Dalinar. So maybe Shallan was supposed to end up with Renarin when Brandon first planned it out.

"The one who makes no sense" implies there is only one. Mraize and Hoid, if both are world hoppers, seem to be the same, no? It also seems that Tavangian knows about Mraize so Adrotagia's guess that it is Mraize seems to be wrong. Good question.

Do we know 100% that the madman is Talenel? The only real evidence it seems is the madmans own mad ramblings, his reaction to Shallan sucking in Stormlight, and Amaran's worshiping of Talenel. None of that is real solid evidence I don't think.

Yeah I'm inclined to think he's trying to put everything back together. Going on a hunt for the sake of a hunt doesn't seem all that fun or plausible.

When the highprinces first meet Shallan...... “What I’m having trouble understanding is why anyone would want to be closer to Sebarial than they need to be” – Dalinar “Oh, Uncle Sebarial is quite tolerable, once you get used to him. Like a very annoying noise that you eventually learn to ignore.” – Shallan I thought this particular exchange was quite funny, though that doesn't really seem like something Dalinar would say. It's more of a Shallan / Wit line, no? Also, why is it that no one (except Rock) can see Syl unless she wants them to but everyone seems to be able to see Pattern?

Couldn't Dalinar's vision / dream be similar to Shallan's when she remembered / saw herself killing her mother? But for Shallan's, it seems Pattern set it all up. So I guess the question is, who set up Dallinars?

Do we have any artists here who are trying to recreate the room and diagram?