VirtuousTraveller

How this man continues to churn out such imaginative stories with rich world building and characters is magic in itself. Brandon, this secret project was outstanding. Thank you for sharing it with us! My main reactions are captured in what Coriniroc said above, and are less about Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and more about this phase of Brandon’s work in general: I 100% agree! That said, I felt the cosmere references were SIGNIFICANTLY better incorporated than they were in The Lost Metal. Seeing how these references were used in Tress and now Yumi, I feel very confident that Brandon has the ability to pepper with finesse - The Lost Metal was rushed and didn’t live up to the years of waiting, to me specifically because of the cosmere reference dumping that made it almost unreadable in places. I haven’t liked Design from the beginning, and while I admit that she was less obnoxious than she in previous entries, I still just can’t stand the unsubtle “I’m outrageous and annoying but it’s silly so LAUGH HA HA!” trope that became more prominent in Wayne, is becoming so in Lift, and was a primary color throughout Frugal Wizard. Hoid likewise has moments where it’s just too much, not because Hoid isn’t a “too much” character (I think we all know he’s absolutely meant to be “that guy”), but when Brandon seems to be trying too hard to make him sound too much. The little asides (not every one) sound like a fan fiction version of who Hoid has been up to this point. At least no one yelled “hot damn!” in this story! Those points out of the way, there’s really nothing to dislike in Yumi - the tragedy was strong, and the hidden backstory as to why Painter didn’t have any friends was well executed. It felt overly emo at points, but that’s the genre this felt like intentionally, and it came through organically. This is a book I’ll reread again in the future for sure!

I know I'm a bit late to the reaction on this (but to be fair, my book only arrived a week or two ago), but some thoughts I didn't see from others here: Mythology - there was a very cosmere-like mythology presented in this story, however this thought is less about the quality of the mythology (it was ok) and more that I appreciated that my mind has now become primed to question myths BECAUSE of Brandon's use of mythology in other stories. I assumed Black Bear was another "upstream" person who somehow came to this dimension at some point in the past (and if Brandon wrote it that way on purpose, congrats you did great - if not, I'd say missed opportunity, but it didn't take away from the story that this wasn't expanded upon). No Memory Trope - as a big fan of Project Hail Mary, I felt A LOT of the spirit of this story was pulled inspiration-wise from this, and I'm really thankful Brandon highlighted that in the afterword. Language - I swear every time the words "Hot Damn!" or "Hell" appeared it felt out of place and it took me out of the flow of the story (I cringe even typing this). These little interjections didn't feel genuine at all, and so it was swearing for the sake of making a character seem tough because they swear (I guess?) Overall not the worst book I've ever read, and I was generally satisfied at the end. I don't think this needs a sequel or a connection to anything else - it stands alone pretty well for what it tries to accomplish!

I had this exact same reaction when I read this. It felt like it was at least alluding to Kalad's Phantoms!

Absolutely 100% agree - elegance is a fantastic way to contrast how I feel Brandon has done this kind of cosmere connection work when it goes well, and in TLM it did not feel elegant.

I love how long this exchange went on until Brandon was finally like, "fans, just let it go. It was a just a comment I made once."

While I think TLM did a less than stellar job articulating Autonomy's motivations and behaviors, I would say that Autonomy wouldn't just unilaterally destroy Scadrial because that would be a violation of the people who live there's autonomy and agency. It would be ok if Autonomy could influence/manipulate the people into destroying themselves. Maybe? Also, was Trell an actual Avatar/splinter in this book, or was it specifically Autonomy/Bavadin that was meddling directly?

Don't get me wrong - yes, I would love to see the eventual crossover epic Marvel Endgame-like cosmere extravaganza. One of Brandon's best writing qualities is his ability to build up a story (or collection of stories) into a grand climax with incredible payoffs (think about how the flashbacks in any of the Stormlight Archive books feed into the building momentum of how each book finally concludes). Knowing that this is what I think makes Brandon so incredible is what made TLM feel off to me. Instead of building up to anything, the cosmere references felt included for...I don't know, fan service maybe? I know there's a connection to all these stories, but TLM in that middle section of the book managed to include references to Mistborn Era 1, Mistborn: Secret History, Elantris, The Emperor's Soul, Warbreaker, White Sand, The Stormlight Archive, the Aethers, Odium, Autonomy, splintering, slivers, Investiture, perpendicularities, Sho Del, and probably some I'm missing. Weaving storylines together is what Brandon does well. I thought Mistborn: Secret History was a fantastic example of Brandon weaving together crossover moments in a way that added to the story. Consider another example (reference to Stormlight Archive coming): My hope is that the eventual crossover will be more like Avengers Endgame (wow look at that it all paid off), and less like Marvel Phase 4 (leaning almost entirely on crossover and "look it all fits together it's a shared universe" at the expense of everything else). I said it. That's my opinion and it is what it is I totally hear you on this point, and I'm trying to be fair that what didn't work for me might work well for other people. What my "fan fiction" characterization is considering is that rather than Wayne being portrayed as a humorous character, he came across as a caricature of himself (i.e. "he-he fart joke" and "silly Wayne throwing his money away on ridiculous investments like electricity and the sports/entertainment industry!") Wayne had some really, really solid moments in this book, but I felt like where the plot/story wasn't as full as I felt it should be, it was full/stuffed with "oh look at that Wayne character, remember he's the funny one everyone!" content.

I want to say I liked TLM, because there were moments that I truly did enjoy. I think I’m seeing lots of similar feelings though to my overall reaction to some of the “overstuffed/overplayed” nature of the story… The middle section of TLM in particular felt almost like a fan fiction, as did the “big bad” reveal early in the story. Then again, we’ve got a bunch of really committed fans who pour over the books and interviews and Word of Brandon that by the time a book comes out, statistically it’s likely that the fan community will guess at least some of what’s coming next. Consider the difference between: I love Brandon’s writings, and I’ve loved all the cosmere books so far. That said, TLM fell a bit flat. No author will hit it out of the park 100% of the time, and Brandon has certainly spoiled us with nonstop high quality material so far. The argument that he enjoys doing multiple projects all at the same time because it’s his process, when the messy quality of TLM is what we get after waiting six years, makes me question the process a bit now. I’m glad he’s taking more time to get Stormlight 5 right.

@Chaos you may not know this, but as a huge fan of all things Brandon Sanderson, I am very moved by the fact that “Eric from the Shardcast” actually responded to a post I made on here =) I feel so special! Sincerely, thank you good sir, and thanks to all of you who work to maintain this incredible fandom community! It’s so much fun to be a part of a legend of literature like Brandon in real time with other people who love it too!

Hi everyone! I don't recall this being announced anywhere, so I apologize if this is old news, but there's a cyber Monday deal for all three Mistborn leatherbound books right now on brandonsanderson.com!

Will the Shard be adding an online store for said and future merch?

You mean..."Dying is easy, young man, living is harder?" (That's a Hamilton reference, for those of you who don't already view Dalinar as hip-hop George Washington in your minds)

What if Kelsier creates the Ghostbloods to combat the Set, which may be a manifestation of Odium/Taravangian's presence on Scadrial? Even the name "Ghostbloods" makes sense now that we know who is leading it - a cognitive shadow (ghost) who desires returning to a physical body in the physical realm (blood).

I think there’s a WoB that says that the Unmade are splinters of Odium?

Exactly! The Heralds exist in the Physical Realm on Braize with the rest of the Fused and voidspren until a Desolation begins. Then, somehow they are transported to Roshar, where they also exist in the Physical Realm until they are killed... ...at which point they return to Braize, and exist again in the Physical Realm. This “back and forth” process clearly takes a toll on mental stability, as seen in both the Heralds and the Fused, though do we know if the instability is more a result of them NOT continuing the cycle of back and forth like the Oathpact originally intended, or if the process caused it in the first place over thousands of years of experiencing it. We’ve seen glimpses of how the Fused and voidspren somehow left Braize through Shadesmar. The Everstorm was somehow moved from Shadesmar into the Physical Realm too. They use this storm as one way to get into the Physical Realm on Roshar. It seems this was the result of some kind of work around Odium figured out, not through the traditional “back and forth” process the Oathpact had in place. I wondered if it was the capture of Ba-Ado-Mishram that caused the brokenness the Heralds and Fused experience, but if Thaidikar is experiencing it too, then this doesn’t seem to be the case. In short, Ishar’s experiments may be an attempt to find a work around outside the Oathpact’s boundaries in an attempt to stop or reverse the cognitive decay he’s experiencing. This decay may be a result of the Realm-switching (or lack thereof) the Heralds have experienced over the thousands of years the Oathpact has existed.