Stormlightning

I think that "Genius"/IQ wise, she's pretty much entirely ordinary. She's put in the academic work to have some significant clout, just the same as any researcher can do. She's also got some arrogance and aloofness going on that tend to make people assume she's smarter than she is, but I think she's got an entirely normal brain, intellect-wise. Which is something really rare in storytelling, so I love that she's this way. Genius in storytelling is an overused cop-out. This, instead, is very realistic to me. I don't think she's lacking in emotions either, though. We see in her POV in OB that she feels, a lot, like @cometaryorbitsaid. She just hides it on purpose. She wants to be emotionless, and so she spends a lot of time squishing those things down, which would naturally create the underdeveloped sense of compassion/empathy we see in her. But I disagree with those who fall for her emotionless-robot facade--they're seeing exactly what she wants them to see, but not what she actually is. On the inside, she's a LOT more unsure of herself than she lets on, so even that arrogance is a mask over someone who knows she's not any smarter than anyone else. She just believes that presenting this way will get her the sway and control that she wants in her life/world, and she's certainly right about that. And the emotional suppression stuff...there definitely seems to be a reason for it. I hope she comes to realize it's not the healthiest way to live and makes the effort to work through the trauma instead of doubling down on Machiavelli. For her, that's going to be waaayyyy harder than becoming a world-renowned academic was, though.

They don't print the books in-house, they have printers and binderies that do all that, so that's not an issue. However, they do all the fulfillment themselves, and if they have the capacity for that is the real question. My guess is that, currently, no. They don't. But they have plenty of time to ramp up their operation before they have to start fulfillment, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I expect Moash will find his own humanity again at some point before he dies. And to many, that qualifies as "redemption arc" or at least an attempted one. So If you consider that a redemption arc, then yes, I expect one. I expect him to realize how he's lied to himself and hurt people he loves, but I don't expect full-hero from him. Could it happen? Yeah, and that would probably make people who like to simplify things dislike it simply because it's a trope, but I care more that it's written well, and I'm confident Brandon would do it well if he chose that path. As much as I love to hate Moash and think he's a great bad guy and would cheer if he died ugly, I wouldn't mind a Sanderson-strength redemption arc at all. Like others have said, it's a big theme of the series that no one is beyond hope, and Moash would certainly strike something thought-provoking and probably deeply troubling to some people--but it's not good philosophy if it doesn't make some people uncomfortable! But this is kinda like how in WoR/OB Shallan thought about some passing attraction to Kal and visa versa a bit, and people called it a love triangle. To me it was just normal, believable considering-your-options humanity, but since then I've noticed that people like to simplify stuff in order to bash on it, like tropes are inherently cheap, and I'd expect that same thing to happen for Moash if he did anything marginally good. But I think Brandon could make it so he earned it fairly and open-minded folks would be on board.

I thought it was a well-done video, for people who don't actually listen to Brandon talk at stuff I think it would be pretty new. And those were some impressively old photos! Only thing I can think of is stuff about his company more generally. Do people know he has like 20 employees whose entire jobs consist of freeing him of other responsibilities so he can just write? Maybe talk about other authors like Dan Wells that he was friends with before they came into their own level of fame. People he's taught like Charlie Holmberg. He's building an underground lair. Big fan of ammonite. That's...all I got for now

There seems to be some indication that Leshwi might have had a proto-radiant bond with Riah which would also explain both why she's a shanay-im and why she's so fascinated by Windrunners. All of that considered...it seems strange she would fuse with a spren other than Riah. But she also seems to genuinely regret whatever rift happened between them, so maybe she did ditch Riah for a voidspren parallel. I'm *really* curious about what could have caused her to willingly walk away from that friendship. With what we now know about the Recreance, I feel like the betrayal of the singers--aligning themselves with Odium--actually was worse than the Recreance, the spren just don't realize it because 1) they had no one to explain that the Recreance was agreed upon by both parties, and 2) the outcome of the Recreance had more immediately obvious and permanent repercussions than the singer betrayal. But the singer betrayal seems likely to have been more selfishly motivated than the human betrayal.

One reason I think this is unlikely (although definitely not impossible) is that the letters between Hoid and Harmony in RoW include Harmony becoming aware of how other Shards might invade or sneakily influence his system. Of course, they also discuss Odium at length. I feel like by the time Era 2 rolls around, Harmony has a good grasp on who Odium is and would be able to recognize that influence. But in BoM, he tells Wax that he doesn't know what the red haze pressing in on the system is. We have no indication that he knows who Autonomy is, and considering that Hoid had to send a letter to First of the Sun to even think he had a chance of getting through to her, she's likely someone Harmony hasn't been able to get in contact with and who is actively cloaking her actions. So she still stands are the more likely culprit for "Trell" to me. Like I said, none of this is by any means conclusive, and it's a tiny distinction, really. But I think that if Dalinar was responsible for Trell we'd have more recognizable indicators than we've got.

It seems the only explanation. Mraize was somehow overhearing Pattern's conversations with Wit, and that was the implied reason. The Sleepless was reporting to Mraize. As for the WoB, I think that Thaidakar would still be very wary of the Sleepless, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't still take advantage of their...skills. Perhaps he knows that the Sleepless on Roshar pretty much stay on Roshar. It's hard to take over a cosmere-wide group when you don't have an interest in leaving your planet, so maybe he's more open to them than to Sleepless in other parts of the cosmere.

I'm inclined to think that Mercy helped Odium. I'm getting serious "euthenasia superfan" vibes from her. It would be a perfect twist on what is normally a virtue. The one that is hiding I feel like must be Invention, because Sazed said he hasn't been able to find him...seems like an intentional "he's hiding" thing.

In Elantris when Raoden falls into Devotion's Perpendicularity, he hears a voice. So I don't think this is a particularly unique situation. I'll grant that Odium's golden light is weirdly similar to a Dawnshard's light, though.

Check out Brandon's 2019 State of the Sanderson to find out more, but there is still an Aether of Night series planned.

WAIT ...is THAT why I started getting so much spam email after 2011?? I finally deleted that email account because I was getting literally 100s a day... Thank for you explaining that... /facepalm

Personally, I think Hoid dislikes both Rayse and his Shard's Intent enough that he has no interest in gaining power from them. Like, if there were some useful power he could access without risk I'm sure he'd go for it, but I don't see him engaging in a confrontation with Rayse to do so. While he may be gathering powers, I don't think his goal is to get a little bit of each one of them. It's bigger than that, and the powers are just tools in a toolbelt. Some powers, like lightweaving, he's particularly interested in, but others I think he's fine to let go of. Contrary to many popular theories, I don't think his ultimate goal requires him to get some sliver of power from each Shard. And even if his goal is as you said, I don't think Rayse would give him a second to talk if stepped on Braize. He'd take Hoid out immediately.

Odium wins at the end of book 5 and most of the main cast for the back 5 are Cognitive Shadows. Siah Aimians primarily live in the Reshi Sea and ocean of Roshar. They have epic Atlantis cities. Hoid is not trying to become the next Adonalsium and never was. Moash will be redeemed.

@aneonfoxtribute there will be a ticketing table at the high school starting at 5pm if you don't want to go to B&N. Waiting in line at B&N is mostly to get the low numbered books.

Sorry, I have no idea why my quotes look so ridiculous, and the site is being weird and won't let me edit the post.