The Ten Core Shardworlds

[callumke]

To the admins, I hope this is in the right place

I met Brandon today in York, UK. You will soon be able to see a picture on twitter of the cookie I have him. Since I knew it was thanksgiving, it was a thanksgiving-themed cookie.

After getting books signed, I asked him a few questions, listed below as best I can remember them.

Q. Are there 50 Allomantic Metals?

A. "Nearly. Does Harmony have a metal?"

Q. Is that an alloy of Lerasium and Atium?

A. "You're along the right lines."

Q. What is the definition of Investiture?

A. "RAFO. Investiture is off the table as far as questions go."

Q. You have said before that all the planets had their names before the arrival of the Shards. Is Roshar the planet's name before the Shards arrived?

A. "Yes."

Q. How do Roshar natives know the name of the Cosmere?

A. "RAFO"

Q. Is Shallan's memory a Surge?

A. "I want to wait for the right opportunity before revealing more surges."

Q. You have said previously that the Stormlight archive will include Lightweaving. Is that still the plan?

A. "Yes."

Q. Have we seen a Roshar native in tWoK who can use Lightweaving?

A. "Yes, we have seen someone who has potential." He seemed to be trying to say that they don't know that they can use it.

Q. How many Heralds appear in tWoK?

A. "More than you might expect. Some have appeared, some have been mentioned but not appeared."

Q. Can you tell me something about the Cosmere that you haven't told anyone before?

A. "There are inhabited planets in the Cosmere that don't have any Shards there. There may be inhabited planets that only have a Splinter of a Shard. There are 10 Core Cosmere planets, which tell the overarching story of the Cosmere."

Q. "Are all the Cosmere books so far set on these 10 core worlds?"

A. "Yes"

Q. Are there any of the 10 core worlds without a shard?

A. "All 10 core worlds have significant Shardic Influence."

These last few questions seem particularly important.

10 Core worlds?

Sel

Scadrial

Nalthis

Roshar

Taladin

Yolen (The Liar of Partinel & Dragonsteel)

The planet of The Silence Divine

That still gives us three more core Shard worlds...

DIscuss!

Edited November 27, 2011 by FireArcadia

[Wispsy]

Awesome nice work

Heralds appear to have been mentioned alot lately, Kinda makes it sound like we clearly missing one. The ones I know of are;

Jezrien - Prologue

Kalak - prologue (my iBooks is messing up so it's from memory but I think it's these 2)

Shalash - smashing stuff

Taln - end

Also it seems likely sigzil (aaah so many names i think its this one) is the one who can probably use light weaving as he seems to have been hoids apprentice for quite some time

One other thing, looks pretty likely her memory is a surge, suspected it was, but he coul just be intentionally throwing us off I guess lol

Edited November 24, 2011 by Wispsy

[Windrunner]

Q. Can you tell me something about the Cosmere that you haven't told anyone before?

A. "There are inhabited planets in the Cosmere that don't have any Shards there. There may be inhabited planets that only have a Splinter of a Shard. There are 10 Core Cosmere planets, which tell the overarching story of the Cosmere."

Q. "Are all the Cosmere books so far set on these 10 core worlds?"

A. "Yes"

Q. Are there any of the 10 core worlds without a shard?

A. "All 10 core worlds have significant Shardic Influence."

Can I just say wow! Here I was hoping for maybe eight Shardworlds, and there are ten important ones! Also, worlds with Splinters and some with no Shardic influence at all! It makes me wonder if maybe Nalthis had no Shard on it until recently, just inhabitants left over from the Shattering.

Sel

Scadrial

Nalthis

Roshar

Taladin (Silence Divine)

Yolen (The Liar of Partinel & Dragonsteel)

The planet of White Sands.

I'm pretty sure that Taldain is the name of the White Sands planet, home of Bavadin and whatever Shard he holds. We don't know the name of the Silence Divine planet.

[callumke]

I'm pretty sure that Taldain is the name of the White Sands planet, home of Bavadin and whatever Shard he holds. We don't know the name of the Silence Divine planet.

Thanks for pointing that out, have edited it now.

It makes me wonder if maybe Nalthis had no Shard on it until recently, just inhabitants left over from the Shattering.

I was wondering if the Shardic Influence could refer to Sel; is a Shard still a Shard if it has been Splintered? In which case, there are no Shards on Sel a the time of the book Elantris, but two whole heaps of Shardic influence.

Edited November 24, 2011 by FireArcadia

[Argent]

I am more interested in Harmony's metal. The way I see it, it is not exactly an allow of Lerasium and Atium. Both of those metals were the physical manifestations of Preservation's and Ruin's power - their bodies, if you will, since Shards' power and body are one and the same entity. So, if there were a Harnomy metal (Sazedium? Sazium?), it would be something new that combines some of Preservation's and Ruin's common traits and manifests them as a harmonic metal. Kind of like a Venn diagram, I guess, where the overlapping area is the new metal.

[Chaos]

This is awesome. I'm totally shocked, actually, because Brandon's said originally there was going to be 32 or 36 main cosmere books, and the known ones are at 37 with Alloy. interesting that there are other planets, which maybe don't get books.

[darniil]

harmonic metal

Heh. Vibranium.

Good thoughts, though. Makes sense. Although, if there's a "Harmony metal", that seems to suggest that the Shards of Preservation and Ruin aren't as distinct as they were at Sazed's ascension.

[callumke]

This is awesome. I'm totally shocked, actually, because Brandon's said originally there was going to be 32 or 36 main cosmere books, and the known ones are at 37 with Alloy. interesting that there are other planets, which maybe don't get books.

With AoL, we have 10 planned mistborn books

10 planned SA books

2 Warbreaker books

2 Elantris books

Liar of Partinel and Dragonsteel

White Sands

The Silence Divine.

That gives 28. What are the other 9 that give 37?

In terms of Harmony's metal, I think it makes sense for it to be an alloy of Lerasium and Atium. Brandon has said that, if Sazed wished, he could create Atium and Lerasium on Scadrial. Well, at least it was confirmed for Atium, and so I assume it is the same for Lerasium. If this is the case, it seems odd that, by having two shards, there would be three completely separate god metals. It seems far more likely that this is a metal that is an alloy.

BTW would an alloy of half Lerasium and half Atium produce a metal that makes a normal person into a full Feruchemist?

[CrazyRioter]

I think that makes sense, but it is not confirmed, and some people disagree.

[Deus Ex Biotica]

With AoL, we have 10 planned mistborn books

10 planned SA books

2 Warbreaker books

2 Elantris books

Liar of Partinel and Dragonsteel

White Sands

The Silence Divine.

That gives 28. What are the other 9 that give 37?

Strictly speaking, we have at least 11 Misborn books, given that there is intended to be at least one more with Wax and Wayne, too. And I thought there was going to be a full Elantris trilogy. That still only makes 30, though - I am also curious what Chaos' numbers include.

BTW would an alloy of half Lerasium and half Atium produce a metal that makes a normal person into a full Feruchemist?

There's been some discussion of that in assorted Threads. So far, no agreement.

-- Deus Ex Biotica

[Chaos]

Dragonsteel is the second big epic, seven books long, though the first two (Liar and its sequel) are offset in time from the main Dragonsteel arc.

10 Stormlight

9 Mistborn

3 Elantris

2 Warbreaker

Silence Divine

3 White Sand (it is a trilogy)

Dragonsteel: Liar of Partinel and its sequel, 2. Main Dragonsteel sequence, 7.

= 35.

With Alloy, 36.

(You can find Brandon talking about this in the Reddit Q&A, though he added wrong there)

Hmm. I thought for sure it was 37. I think Josh and I got into arguments on whether Aether of Night is still going to be a cosmere book. Maybe that's what I was thinking of.

[Shard Obsessed]

It's possible that since saying 36, Brandon decided on a couple other ideas which fit well into his greater cosmology which he hasn't talked about yet. Alternatively, the space travel Mistborn trilogy could include visits to shard planets that never get their own books.

[happyman]

It's possible that since saying 36, Brandon decided on a couple other ideas which fit well into his greater cosmology which he hasn't talked about yet. Alternatively, the space travel Mistborn trilogy could include visits to shard planets that never get their own books.

Actually, since we know that Mistborn is including space travel, it wouldn't be remotely surprising to have book centered or using multiple planets, including ones that were never "standalone," especially if no Shards were present on some of them. Also, if Mistborn goes FTL, there's nothing to stop the other parts of the Cosmere from doing the same. There's no reason for the climax to not include planets that have nothing to do with any of the places we have yet heard of.

[mycoltbug]

Last I had heard regarding Aether is Brandon was still up in the air on if it would be part of the cannon or not.

[Arcanist Lupus]

Since this thread has a lot of information/discussion on Shardworlds, I'll throw in my tidbit from Brandon's Houston signing. I asked him how much choice the Shards had on which planets they ended up on. He said that they had a lot of choice, but it was not absolute.

[Captain.Kaulu]

It's possible that since saying 36, Brandon decided on a couple other ideas which fit well into his greater cosmology which he hasn't talked about yet. Alternatively, the space travel Mistborn trilogy could include visits to shard planets that never get their own books.

Brandon repeated the 36 Cosmere Novels statistic to me at the Alloy of Law signing, so it appears to still be the plan. It sounded like Alloy of Law and any other "short" books don't count, however -- only "epic"-length novels are counted in the 36. (Non-Shard worlds of the Cosmere could, like Alloy of Law, end up being short "break" books that he writes.)

So ...

10 Stormlight

9 Mistborn (epic-length)

3 Elantris

2 Warbreaker

3 White Sand (assuming the trilogy info on it is still up-to-date)

1 Silence Divine

7 Dragonsteel

= 35 books. Meaning the other three worlds would all have to be covered in one book ... or, as was theorized, in cross-over books, like the space-faring Mistborn trilogy.

[dj26792]

People keep mentioning the space faring mistborn as a possible crossover, we know Hoid is a world hopper, what about the Dragonsteel books and that series is about Hoid (I think...?) why wouldnt the later books involve another world, or worlds as he learns to world hop and begins his journey.

[Zhevir]

I think I have read somewhere that stormlight archive will be set in 2 different worlds. If this is incorrect please correct me.

[Arcanist Lupus]

I think I have read somewhere that stormlight archive will be set in 2 different worlds. If this is incorrect please correct me.

I had not heard this, but it's entirely possible. It's also possible that the second world that's being referred to is Shadesmar, although that's not technically a world.

[Captain.Kaulu]

I think I have read somewhere that stormlight archive will be set in 2 different worlds. If this is incorrect please correct me.

Ah, interesting. Perhaps the Roshar myths of Roshar being a secondary world for its people, after they were kicked out of the Tranquiline Halls, are more literal than I suspected. Perhaps the original world they lived on was the other planet in the same system; the one Bavadin is occupying.

[firstRainbowRose]

That could also be a misunderstanding from the interview we did with Brandon back when WoK was going to come out where he said there were two worlds in that solar system. The second world though has a book all it's own (Silence Divine).

[Ari]

Last I had heard regarding Aether is Brandon was still up in the air on if it would be part of the cannon or not.

Just a niggle- that usage of canon has two Ns, not three.

That could also be a misunderstanding from the interview we did with Brandon back when WoK was going to come out where he said there were two worlds in that solar system. The second world though has a book all it's own (Silence Divine).

Heh, exactly what I was about to post before I turned the page.

Back on the original topic- I wonder if the reason that characters in the SA seem to know what the cosmere is has anything to do with the fact that they live in the same solar system as another Shardworld?

Also, more addition time: We have 16 shards of Adonalsium in the Cosmere, spread across ten core worlds. Presuming "significant shardic influence" means that the stories will all take place on a world containing at the time at least one shard, there will be a limited amount of stories with multiple shards involved, unless they world-hop in between books.

So far we have:

Roshar: 3

Scadrial: 2

Sel: 2

Nalthis: 1

or exactly half of the shards accounted for over four worlds, leaving two "spare" for multi-shard worlds, either on one three-shard planet or two two-shard planets. So we may be seeing a lot more books like Warbreaker where the conflict centres more around politics, factionalism, and the usage of magic, rather than epic conflicts between godly forces.

[dj26792]

Thats an interesting point, everyone has been wondering about books but in world, the worlds with multiple shards are a lot rarer than we've seen evidence for, as indeed are the worlds with even one shard, why are the shards where they are, with the shards they are with?

We know ruin and preservation were together because they were so perfectly opposed that they pulled each other together (essentially), but why would Hate (Odium), Cultivation and Honour be drawn together, on top of Bavadin's Shard (which we dont know the name of) which is close enough for us to expect it to have some influence even if we dont see it the WoK or even the entire SA. Also why Dominion and Devotion again I can't see a logic to that off the top of my head, it makes for a cool story, which is obviously why Brandon did it (I assume) but whats the in-world reason?

[Ari]

Another thought: 10 is an "arc number", to borrow TV tropes terminology, for the SA. Is it a coincidence that there are also ten shard worlds?

Thats an interesting point, everyone has been wondering about books but in world, the worlds with multiple shards are a lot rarer than we've seen evidence for, as indeed are the worlds with even one shard, why are the shards where they are, with the shards they are with?

We know ruin and preservation were together because they were so perfectly opposed that they pulled each other together (essentially), but why would Hate (Odium), Cultivation and Honour be drawn together, on top of Bavadin's Shard (which we dont know the name of) which is close enough for us to expect it to have some influence even if we dont see it the WoK or even the entire SA. Also why Dominion and Devotion again I can't see a logic to that off the top of my head, it makes for a cool story, which is obviously why Brandon did it (I assume) but whats the in-world reason?

Yeah, I doubt Brandon will answer questions about why the shards chose the worlds they did, so we should look for similarities in our rereads and as new books are released.

We can't really talk about why Sel's shards were drawn to Sel or how they relate to each other given that we only know one of their names.

[Arcanist Lupus]

Thats an interesting point, everyone has been wondering about books but in world, the worlds with multiple shards are a lot rarer than we've seen evidence for, as indeed are the worlds with even one shard, why are the shards where they are, with the shards they are with?

We know ruin and preservation were together because they were so perfectly opposed that they pulled each other together (essentially), but why would Hate (Odium), Cultivation and Honour be drawn together, on top of Bavadin's Shard (which we dont know the name of) which is close enough for us to expect it to have some influence even if we dont see it the WoK or even the entire SA. Also why Dominion and Devotion again I can't see a logic to that off the top of my head, it makes for a cool story, which is obviously why Brandon did it (I assume) but whats the in-world reason?

When I met Brandon at a signing in November, I asked him about how much choice the Shards had in choosing the planets they ended up on, and he said that had a lot of choice, but not absolute. Make of that what you will.

Edited December 7, 2011 by Sir Read-a-Lot