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So ... this is it then. Storms!

Finally got back to Alloy of Law in my re-listen. I love this trilogy. I've always hated that all three books are about the size of one regular Mistborn book. Anywho, I've been thinking about Cadmium, because Marasi(sp?) says it's useless, but I don't think it is. In fact, the more I think about it, the more useful it becomes. Not in fighting, of course. But not everything in life is about combat. In fact, very little is. My thoughts about Cadmium is that you just need to use it every time you have to wait for something. Literally, every time. Put laundry in, burn cadmium to skip the hour it takes to wash, then put it in the dryer, skip the hour it takes to dry, then fold the clothes. You gotta go to a dinner party? Go ahead and get ready, then burn a bit of Cadmium to speed up to when you need to leave. Waiting in line at starbucks? Depends on how small you can make a bible, but if you can just surround yourself and no one else, just lightly burn Cadmium in ever so short bursts until the person at the front of the line leaves, then stop and move up a step, rinse and repeat until its your turn. The things bout Cadmium is that you are not aging while you are in the bubble, but the rest of the world is. For a Slider burning Bendalloy, the more they burn the faster they age according to everyone else around them, though it burns quickly and you won't be using it very often. But Cadmium burns slowly, and lets you skip time. Think about how much time you waste in a day doing nothing. If you could get a job where all that was required was for presence, like as a receptionist or a retail employee stuck at the check out counter, you could literally fast forward any time you're not helping a customer and cut the amount of time you are there down tremendously, but still get paid the same. Your sleep patterns would be off, depending on how much you use it in a day, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, because according to the rest of the world, you just don't sleep as often. Depending on how much you use, you may not need to sleep but once every three or four days, as you could just skip nights when everyone else is sleeping and go straight to the morning. And you wouldn't "Lose" time. if you're going to live to be 80 years old, you still live all those 80 years, it just takes 300 years for you to live those 80 years. From outsiders, you eat less food and need less sleep. The biggest downside is that you'll have to get used to the idea that you'll outlive your relatives by a wide margin, depending on how much time you skip. You'd have to be selective as to what times you skip and what times you enjoy.

(Spoiler because this ended up being pretty long)

Night 2: A Need for Exploration Right, left, right, left, rightleftrightleftrightleft... Someone was in the hallway with him. At least one person. There had been a red X a ways back, and then he’d glimpsed a shadowy figure, and now he was... running after them. Like an idiot. He had no idea where he was going, he’d probably get lost, and yet. He couldn’t just not know. That was why he was a Scout - exploring. Discovering new things. Running after them at high speed, even. Tnaidar could see the figure ahead of him a little more clearly - a long grayish cloak and dark hair was all he could make out, but he was catching up. He silently thanked all his long, tedious hours of exercising. That fitness could prove vital now. Speaking of vital... he grabbed a pouch on his belt as he ran. His escape plan - just in case. He’d nearly caught up when he found himself running into a round chamber - with each door blocked. On one side was a man and what looked like... some kind of strange spren that he didn’t recognize. Another, two women looking at him grimly. He recognized both from the camps, but he’d dismissed them as scholarly types. As he skidded to a halt, trying to understand what was going on, he heard Max Mercury’s voice from behind him, crying “Now!” Something went over his head, and his last glimpse was of the two women coming towards him. He wasn’t sticking around to find out any more. He broke the item inside the pouch he was still holding - And just like that, he was in Shadesmar. Thankfully. Still best to leave the area for a bit, in case anyone could travel here like he could, but... he sighed. He’d return eventually. He had to - surely just given a little time, they’d explain what was going on! And besides, his curiosity compelled him. He could always escape again, and until then... he needed to know. To learn. To understand. Tnaidar the Scout smiled. Someday, perhaps, he would understand every mystery in the Cosmere. “...with all due respect, Brightness, I will not allow this matter to rest. Nolan was killed by those...creatures...and even if you did not care for him personally (though that scarcely seems possible), you will surely recognise the wisdom of attempting to discover and neutralise a definite threat to our safety. I propose a thorough search of the thirty-eighth floor with enough Radiants that we can deal with the shadows if they show up. Perhaps Nolan was taken by surprise, but confronting these things head-on is far simpler—I was able to destroy their essence in the Cognitive Realm when they attacked. Give me a team of Elsecallers and we’ll return here with a far safer Urithiru.” Radler looked down at Kareana, who was sketching a glyphward in the accumulated dust underneath her. She looked up, feigning surprise. “Oh, are you done?” Radler sighed. “Brightness—” Kareana cut in. “I understand your arguments, Radler, as you’re quite fond of repeating them. I’m sorry about your friend, and understand that you want to avenge his death. It’s a noble sentiment. But you are letting your grief cloud your better judgement here. Answer me this: Why should I send a squad of Radiants whose loyalties are still untested (and which we can ill afford to lose) on a mission against a foe we know next to nothing of how to defeat? A foe, moreover, aligned with Odium?” “I could have been mistaken about—” “You’re fooling nobody; I trust your initial report of the events, and you said that these shadows were extensions of something whose Investiture is tied to Odium. Unless you want to tell me you lied about that?” He sighed again. “No.” “In that case, among a party we know has been infiltrated by those loyal to the Lord of Hate, you would have me bring some of its members into contact with one of his minions, that they might more efficiently coordinate to slaughter the rest of us? No, for the final time, Radler. I will not allow it until at least the reinforcing party has been sent up by Brightlord Kholin, and we are sure that this group remains uncompromised.” “Very well,” Radler acquiesced. “But I do hope you are aware that you cannot stop me from venturing there alone.” “I would call it folly of the highest order,” Kareana replied grimly, “but I indeed will not stop you, if only because you would rather martyr yourself than chafe under my restriction. You may go, but I will forbid the other Radiants from joining you, and I do not wish you luck, for it will not help you where you go. Return alive, if you can.” Radler inclined his head. “I will certainly try, Brightness.” Turning suddenly, he strode off, leaving Kareana with a crudely sketched glyphward in the sand. Mercy. It would be needed in the coming days, for all of them to live. She held out a finger, from which a spark flew, and the flame slowly kindled, spreading along the prayer like a snake and sending it up to the Almighty. He who has ears, let him hear. Radler narrowed his lips into a thin line, careful not to let Kareana see his fury. That cremling! Why was it so hard to see that shadowy creatures killing in the night were a danger? If he was a gambling man, like the dead Taladir, he would pin responsibility for Locke’s death on the odd shadows as well—it was a carbon copy of Naihar’s execution, the throat slit perfectly in the victim’s sleep, and Nolan had taken a knife to the back in the same manner as Aruana. If there were imitation murders, though, why hadn’t Taladir’s death inspired a copycat, or Krask? So much didn’t add up about the shadows, yet something needed to be done. He strode over to his satchel, heavy with fully lit spheres and cut gemstones, along with other, smaller quantities of foreign Investiture. He hadn’t had occasion to use it yet, but if anything was going to demand that he be a one-man Radiant army, this was it. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he turned, avoiding Kareana’s gaze by keeping his eyes downcast as he walked. He strode quickly through the meeting ground, keeping to the sides of the wall, when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. Radler kept walking. He was not about to start chatting with Errdal about this decision, or anyone else, for that matter. “Oi!” came the reply, and the sound of jogging footsteps hurrying to catch up to him. “You’re not just ignoring me like that.” “Actually, I am, Errdal,” Radler said hotly, “and for once I’d like you to not intrude on what I’m doing. Your help has been invaluable, but this mission has to be undertaken alone.” “The same mission which earlier called for a team of Elsecallers to help you? You’re going to need every man you can against those shadows, Radler, and I’m also not going to stand by and let the leading member of the Council go on a suicide mission without at least being able to report your death with a clean conscience.” Radler suddenly smiled. “You know, Errdal, I’ve really had my share of arguing for this morning with Kareana. Fine, and your help will be appreciated. But I have one condition of us going together: if anyone’s not getting out of that floor alive, it’s me. Not you, not the person who’s been watching us while pretending to read who clearly wants to join, me. Clear?” Errdal nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips. “You’re observant as always, Radler, and clear enough, though I wish it were otherwise.” He turned to the young woman who had strode up to them. “Who are you?” “Ellira,” she said, with no small degree of haughtiness, “and I’m not helping for your friend who got killed. But I do agree that those things up there need to be observed, at the very least, and I’m generally good at staying hidden.” She turned to Radler. “Using Tin to watch my eye movements is downright cheating, by the way.” Radler grinned. “I suppose it is, at that. Your safety isn’t guaranteed, though, and I hope you have a plan for fighting off those shadowed creatures.” Ellira rolled her eyes. “I’m aware.” “Good.” He paused awkwardly, surveying the small team. “Well, best not to waste any more time than we have to.” He turned and set off at a brisk walk to the intact eastern lift system, and the others tailed him, making their way down the tower. “No, I cannot open this door without using Stormlight, and I’m not announcing our presence boldly to whatever’s in there,” Errdal hissed. “If whatever you did with your Scadrian Investiture earlier didn’t work, I’m not sure anything is unjamming it.” “It’s not jammed, it’s locked, and has two thousand years of crem buildup to boot.” Radler kept his voice down, with some effort. “I’ve removed that, but unlike you seem to think, my line of work never involved lockpicking, and from the sound of it, neither did yours. We’re stuck, as your Shardblade is also, incidentally, a dead giveaway.” “Well, we aren’t giving up on secrecy now, or you wouldn’t have been so adamant about us entering from the thirty-ninth floor instead of the lift system directly. Is there another door?” “None that go into this side room, which is the only place on this floor not visible from the central chamber. The lift system would put us too close to the shadows, and the other lift is broken.” Radler threw his hands up, turning to Ellira. “Any insights?” “I don’t know about insights,” she replied, “but this door is magically locked?” “Not magically, no,” Radler said with a frown. “If that were the case, we’d have opened it already.” “So the lock is conventional?” she said with mock patience. “In that case—” she strode up to the door, thrusting a small, thin object into the keyhole and twisting it—“you really should have made that clearer ten minutes ago.” The door opened slowly under her watch, but surprisingly noiselessly. She bowed. “After you, of course.” Errdal shook his head, entering the room with the stealth he could manage. Radler did the same, but was surprised and impressed by Ellira, who was actually noiseless as she crept through the door into the musty chamber. “Now what?” Ellira breathed. “We observe,” Radler replied equally quietly, “and don’t move or make noise. I’m not rushing in.” Falling silent, he took his own advice, casting his eyes around. They looked to be in a closet or storeroom of sorts, which was not occupied by any inky shadows he could immediately see, thankfully. Or was it a mere storeroom? He almost fancied he could see, through the light filtering in from an open window, the outlines of decaying shelves around him—were those heaps of rot and decay old books? It was a library, or at least it had been one—Nolan would have gone insane thinking about all the knowledge that had been lost to time. Considering it, Radler wasn’t sure that he wasn’t going insane too. Another door to the library led out, presumably to the main structure or chamber—what that was, he still had no idea. It was fashioned almost purely of metal, and Ellira was already oiling its hinges. He took the liberty of trying the handle, and to his surprise found it unlocked. He hesitated for a brief moment. “Are we sure that we’re ready?” Two grim nods of assent. There was nothing more to be gained by staying still. Radler breathed deeply, and turned the handle, bracing for a rush of shadows at the very least. Nothing. Perhaps their secrecy had paid off, or the figures somehow needed rest? Either way, he was not about to complain. He motioned Errdal and Ellira to remain silent as they emerged into a...hallway? It was not the enormous round chamber he had expected from his initial glance into the structure when he had grabbed Krask’s bag down by the broken lift next to the main door and ran back to help Nolan—there, the shadows had barred his progress. But they were not down by the main door either. Radler felt his skin crawl. He felt something here, which was choosing to stay unseen. His heart throbbed, but he would not pass up the chance to look around while he could. Glancing left, the hallway continued for a while, and there looked to be tile mosaics of the ten Radiant spren as decoration, with more abstract images closer to a round, bowl-shaped chamber at the end of the hall. The broken lift system was more or less right in front of him, between him and another metal door which he assumed was the other library. So much for secrecy, though we did make less noise than just waltzing in the door. And how many times when going to another level did we pass through this very room quickly, without thinking, when danger lurked here all along? The thought made his skin crawl even more. Looking right, he saw little but the main set of gates he had tried to enter earlier, and another door which led to the other rooms on the level. He assumed the working lift was somewhere in them. The floor was of stone blocks, and the ceiling was far up and poorly lit, though he fancied there were designs painted on it. With no other choice, he looked left again, and swallowed. A Shadow was spreading from out of the chamber, splitting and coalescing into the humanoid figures which had attacked him and Nolan earlier. They were indeed not allowed to go further, it seemed. Beside him, Ellira gripped her daggers, and Errdal summoned his Blade, drawing an eyebrow from the young woman. For his own part, Radler drew his conventional sword and charged, though it was not ordinary steel he would fight with. The groups clashed, shadowed figures dissipating as Radler Lightwove challengers for them or destroyed them in the Cognitive Realm. They seemed more...potent...here, but were still defeatable. Errdal’s Shardblade clove a swath around him and Ellira, who he was essentially defending. The girl was quick with her daggers, though, Radler mused, even if they did little damage to the shadowed figures—she saved her own life, and Errdal’s, several times with her defences, though Radler suspected she only did the latter out of necessity; should Errdal fall, she would also in short order. For his own part, he was busy not dying, and quickly returned his focus to the shadows. He blocked a shadowed figure’s sword with his own, then Soulcast its essence—what little it had—out of existence. As he did so, he noticed the crowd of shadowed figures thinning, or perhaps consolidating, as he approached the chamber. He drove his sword into another figure, watching it writhe and fade away, and quickly ducked as Errdal’s Shardblade swung around, taking out a figure who had crept behind him. He nodded thanks, and decided it was high time to get at the heart of what was in the chamber. Drawing in about a quarter of his remaining Stormlight, he sent out a pulse of pure light and energy. Strangely, the shadows dissipated, melting away as they touched the blast of Investiture. In the Cognitive Realm, though, Radler saw them retreat instead, fusing with something much larger. He stepped into the bowl-shaped chamber with trepidation, the wrongness he felt in Shadesmar not gone. The shadows, after the initial assault, had not meant to kill them. Then what would? A twenty-foot column of oily black essence greeted him as he entered, seemingly rising out of the stones. WORLDHOPPER, a voice came. GHOSTBLOOD, SHARDBEARER. WELCOME TO MY CHAMBER. A pause. THOUGH YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE DISTURBED MY REST. NONE OF YOU MAY ESCAPE. The essence split, and the shadowy figures resurged, Errdal frantically throwing himself in front of Ellira to protect her. Radler stood dumb, feeling a great weight press down upon his mind. At last, however, he recognised his foe: Re-Shephir the Unmade, servant of Odium. Had he been alone, he could perhaps have dealt with her, defending himself while warring in the Cognitive Realm. But with her threatening his friends, he had no choice. He would hold to his word from before. “Errdal, Ellira, flee this spawn of Damnation! I will hold the exit by the stairs.” Errdal looked at him aghast, lowering his guard for a brief instant, through which a figure slipped, stabbing him in the side. He swore, chopping it in half with his Blade. “But we came here to—” “You’re being overwhelmed, you fool! Get out of here, take that fool girl, and let me hold the exit!” He speared another Shadow, desperately trying to keep the hostile presence away from his mind while retaliating against the figures. It was exhausting, and he could only keep it up for so long. “Remember what I told you earlier? What I made you swear?” Errdal nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Then run!” Radler yelled, doing the same, throwing the Midnight Mother’s pressure off him at last and resuming engagement with her shadows. This time, there really seemed no end to them. Ellira and Errdal were sprinting for the metal door to the library, cutting down everything in their way. Radler back-pedalled slowly, careful not to let any shadows slip past him. His Stormlight was dangerously low, but if he was correct about the shadows being confined mostly to the chamber, there would be no need to save any—Ellira had made it through the door, and Errdal stood at the entrance, vaporising the last oiled black figure which had crept past Radler. Two other emaciated creatures crept past him, which he let by without thinking. Axehounds? He couldn’t waste time thinking about that. Errdal still held the door open, though, peering anxiously out at him. The sound of running footsteps told him Ellira had kept sprinting—she was clearly the one with more brains, out of the two. “Close the storming door!” Radler gasped. “I’ll make it out by the front, or not at all!” His last Lightweavings collapsed. He was out of Stormlight. “GO!” Drawing his sword, whose aluminum coating would still kill anything that went near him, he continued backing towards the front door. The shadows refused to engage, instead circling and advancing slowly. Radler gritted his teeth. He would just have to keep retreating towards the door, face towards his assailants. He stepped backwards one foot at a time, and still the shadows did not engage. But why? They could have easily rushed him by now. Suddenly his back foot stepped on nothing. The empty shaft, of course, how Krask died! He overbalanced, teetering forward, and now the shadows rushed. He tried to hold them back, but without Stormlight it was hopeless. Two of the figures locked swords with him, shoved, and he was weightless, falling into the abyss. A long fall, and a short ending, unless he broke it. Reaching into his belt, he downed the last vial of metals, then dropped his sword, Pushing it past him. He felt it hit ground below, falling through the rapidly growing square at the bottom of the shaft. Before he landed, he Pushed on it with all his might, slowing his descent to a manageable speed. He hit, cracking ribs against the rocky mountaintops. But he was alive—the corpse of Krask next to him wasn’t—and presumed dead. That could prove useful, if he survived the coming days. For now, though, he was without food in the barren mountaintops, and it was a long way down to find humanity. He would make it, though. He had to warn Darrel at the very least of the fresh danger which Odium posed to Roshar’s peace. Opal Lion (Tnaidar) was lynched, but survived! Radler is presumed dead! He was a Loyal Knight Radiant! Vote Count Opal Lion (6): Amber Vulture, Emerald Falcon, Magenta Albatross, Scarlet Octopus, Taupe Gecko Magenta Albatross (2): Coral Swan, Mauve Crocodile, Violet Axolotl Saffron Iguana (1): Amethyst Scorpion, Plum Rhinoceros Sunburst Toucan (0): Saffron Iguana Night 2 has begun and will end in 23 hours, at 1am Pacific on the first day of 2020. Player List 1. Amber Vulture: Jashi, Stormwarden 2. Amethyst Scorpion: Jesh, Lost Axehound 3. Chartreuse Penguin: Taladir, Gambler Radiant Worldhopper 4. Coral Swan: Germaine, Scholar 5. Cream Tuatara: Dfyan, Scholar 6. Emerald Falcon: Sein, Inquisitive 7. Indigo Weasel: Adhom Inem, Ardent 8. Ivory Dragonfly: Krask, Conspiracy Theorist Sympathizer Worldhopper 9. Magenta Albatross: Jonan Wikim, Lost Axehound (Gren) 10. Mauve Crocodile: Sernes, Paranoid Scout 11. Mint Heron: Sam, Once a Darkeyes 12. Onyx Flamingo: Kir, Kleptomaniac Scout 13. Opal Lion: Tnaidar, Scout 14. Pearl Chameleon: Purrl, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend 15. Plum Rhinoceros: Logalog, Scholar 16. Quartz Zebra: Arauna Khadal, Adolin’s Former Girlfriend Sympathizer Worldhopper 17. Saffron Iguana: Merinira, Scout 18. Sage Kangaroo: Gilglin, Ardent (Devotary of the Mind) 19. Salmon Meerkat: Cadamum, Ghostblood Recruit 20. Scarlet Octopus: Max Mercury, Past Lives 21. Sunburst Toucan: Tafud, Slightly Crazy 22. Taupe Gecko: Brana, Scholar 23. Turqoise Gorilla: Bomer, Gambler 24. Violet Axolotl: Adi, Anxious

"I don't know what I am either. A bridgeman? A surgeon? A soldier? A slave? Those are all just labels. Inside, I'm me. A very different me than I was a year ago, but I can't worry about that, so I just keep moving and hope my feet take me where I need to go." - Kaladin "I seek the truth. Wherever it may be, whoever may hold it. That's who I am." - Shallan "I remembered what kind of spren I am. I bind things, Kaladin. I am honorspren. Spirit of oaths. Of promises. And of nobility" - Sylphrena "That was an illusion, a dream. I am that child who grew up in the shadows." - Vin "I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that shatter. I am the end." - Ruin "I am emotion incarnate. I am the soul of the spren and of men. I am lust, joy, hatred, anger, and exultation. I am glory and I am vice. I am the very thing that makes men men" - Odium "I am … I was … God. The one you call the Almighty, the creator of mankind. And now I am dead. Odium has killed me. I am sorry" - Honor Edit: ninja'ed for Honor & Odium

I am sorry : szeth At times when he killed someone in twok... I am honorspren : sylphrena I am, I was god and now I am dead : Honor “Passion, Dalinar Kholin. I am emotion incarnate. I am the soul of the spren and of men. I am lust, joy, hatred, anger, and exultation. I am glory and I am vice. I am the very thing that makes men men" : Odium

"I am" moments in the Cosmere: Spoilers for the Final Empire Spoilers for Hero of Ages as well as Mistborn Era 1 overall: Major Spoilers for Oathbringer: Major Spoiler for Words of Radiance: Do you have any others?

Hi everyone, I hope you are well! At the time I am posting this – I wrote this up in advance – it should hopefully be new year here, so I hope you are all having a wonderful new year or tail end to the current one! I hope you have a wonderful and blessed time :-) I am writing this because I feel like sharing something about how I write, but still don't feel comfortable sharing a lot of detailed about my settings. So this is the result – I would like to share my own “genres”, the informal models to how I write, and the philosophy behind them. They aren't really full on genres, but they are a guideline to me personally, though to someone else they could just be seen as a hybrid of existing genres, or subsets of them. Either way this is how I approach writing. They are the names I gave to the ideas of what I write. Both individually or all together, what I write is a mixture of these three. I think that everyone who writes because they enjoy writing does so because, at a certain level, they either want to emulate what they have already read and enjoyed – and so to spread that joy further by both taking part in making something similar to bring joy to themselves, as well as to allow what they have made to add to the volume of the things they love and so bring joy to others – or because what they have read isn't quiet what they themselves want, and so they write to make something which does match what feel should be there for others to read. So we write either to emulate what we like, and or to make sure the itch that hasn't been scratched can indeed be scratched. I think I fit into both categories, along with the enjoyment of reading encyclopedia entries, and so my three genres are a reflection of the genres I myself enjoy reading, and all three are a mixture – with different emphasises – of both hard and soft science fiction, fantasy, and mystery, with all four of those present to various degrees, so all have at least a little fantasy, a little mystery, and so on. So, without further ado, the three genres I personally use as a model are: Cyberlamp Cyberlamp is a combination of the various punk genres – cyber, steam, diesel, magic, and so on – along with the pseudo-fantasy of Girl Genius's gaslamp fantasy, itself a type of steampunk. It is the idea of amazing technology and its aesthetics, the idea of what technology or technological magic can do, while looking cool doing it. The idea that something amazing can be done – a portal, an energy weapon, robots, or even just a radio, which itself can be amazing to people who have never even considered the possibility before – and done with something beautiful, or if ugly, ugly for a reason, that is amazing. A large machine, or small. A machine with many moving parts, or none. One that seems to defy physics, or one that might be an organism in an ecology. Common place to the inhabitants of the world, or exceptional and rare. So long as it inspires awe, to me that is Cyberlamp – technology with a consistent aesthetic for a given origin that does something interesting, and possibly, hopefully, amazing. Tribe Tech Tribe Tech blends well with Cyberlamp in that it is how the technology touches the culture – what sort of people would build a given machine, what species would design it and use it? It is the idea that a given species has needs, and those needs are met with technology, or magic, or something that uses both. It is the idea that within a species there are different cultures with different attitudes, and so they design and use machines that are both similar to those others of their kind use, as well as those that are different. What philosophy is reflected in what they build, and what philosophy does their technology encourage them to embrace? What branching off points were there that made a people go one way while others went another, and how do those cultures interact? And, if they are a people using a certain machine, did they in fact build the original, or are they living in the ruins of another culture, and have repurposed something they don't understand? Or, perhaps, is that other culture still around, and so there is friction between the groups, between philosophies, between ideas? How then does their culture – their language, dress, family, beliefs – touch the others, and shape and be shaped by their technology? And, last but not least, Cosmic Hope Cosmic Hope is the opposite of cosmic horror. Cosmic horror is about the fear of the unknown – strange aliens with alien attitudes, or powerful monsters that don't care about anything smaller than them, which destroy lives and societies when they move, and minds and faiths when seen. Cosmic horror shuns both science, claiming no science can understand the alien world outside of human civilisation, and religion, claiming no faith is true, and those that come close to truth are a threat to everyone by drawing the attention of things that could destroy life in a moment. I reject that view. Cosmic Hope is instead about the opposite. Cosmic horror has aliens that are alien, and powerful creatures that are a threat to all live. Cosmic Hope has those also, but with this key distinction – those aliens aren't always hostile even when they are alien, there are even more powerful beings than the monsters, beings that both frighten them, and have our best interests at heart. It embraces both science and faith, religion and reason, and while there are dangers, terrible, monstrous dangers, there is also hope and awe. Cosmic Hope is about exploring strange worlds, dimensions, realities – the universe is full of wonder! – facing the monsters there, but also gaining an understanding of some of them, and while there are monsters that can't be defeated by humans or aliens, there is someone out there, beyond them, who is stronger then they are, as frightening to them as they are to us, and who is looking out for our interests, even when we shun or reject that help, and bring the monsters to our door. There is terror, dark, malignant terror, but against that terror there is also a much brighter, stronger hope. These three blend together easily, and in many ways touch one another to the extent that one being written requires the others to be as well. The distinction, however, is that of emphasis. Cyberlamp focuses on the technology, the aesthetic of that technology, and what that technology can do, especially with other pieces of technology. Tribe Tech focuses on civilisation and how that technology shapes it, just as it shapes the technology and both interact with other cultures and so on. Cosmic Hope focuses on the unknown and the strange, but with the reminder that in the end everything is in hand and will be brought to vibrant order, though there is darkness that first must be overcome. Those are my three genres. Thank you for reading!

Throw The Way of Kings at your friend and blow her mind. 'Wait, you mean there's a world with one three ten thirty magic systems?!' <sound of synapses frying> But yes, Brandon's ability to create so many awesome and distinct magic systems the way he does is definitely a special talent. Possibly even his very own Smedry Talent.

Now I feel like Cadmium would be the best allomantic metal to have in everyday life. Waiting for a friend to come over? Cadmium! Flight got delayed a few hours? Cadmium! Got shot and EMS will need 30 minutes to arrive? Cadmium! That aunt who won't stop asking why you chose to become a gentleman explorer instead of running the family business came over? Excuse yourself, go into the bathroom and lock the door, and then Cadmium for however long she needs to take the hint and leave. Windows update been at 3% for the past hour? Burn through your entire stock of cadmium, come back a few days later, and find that it increased to 4%.

As Marasi showed us, it could be great for law enforcement. Aside from that, it could also be used in an emergency to give rescue services more time or in medicine for triage.

And then die as a foreign substance is floating in their blood. No, I don't think it would work, because there are multiple flakes in one vial. Sometimes, its' just dust, but it all burns at the same rate. In fact, ingesting dust allows you MORE access to the metal, because of having more surface area to burn. Spook choked down handfuls of tin dust, and it always burned at the same rate.

It's too awesome! Hopefully that means that this book's drafts will be quick and relatively painless, with no major scenes needing to be reworked. That would leave more time for Songs of the Dead drafts, Alcatraz 6 drafts (if needed), and finally, finally, FINALLY writing W&W4. Hopefully.

*starts at 40%*

*blink blink* Y'know, I can't say I was expecting anything in particular when I opened this thread, but I definitely wasn't expecting what I got. Quick business note: I think I may have accidentally "solved" the mystery of certain people not getting certain subs from people, at least for those using Gmail accounts to receive their emails. Turns out Gmail is filing some, though not others, under the "Promotions" tab for some reason. What I'm not sure is what's triggering that or how to stop it. But until then, if you don't get a sub and use gmail, try that first? I'll update the FAQ as well. Also! People have been sharing their baking efforts so behold, my efforts to use up turkey dinner leftovers in hopefully interesting ways: Southwestern turkey soup and turkey pot pie! Both went over really well, and also are, apparently, quite filling. So now, instead of having leftover turkey to contend with, I have leftover turkey, leftover soup, and leftover pot pie. Am I doing this "using up the leftovers" thing right? Next up, disposing of leftover cranberry sauce via cranberry muffins and a cranberry apple crumble.

Not luck exactly. Fortune is more inline with futuresight and similar things, atium works by Fortune to give an example. Not that it would make it any easier to take a fullborn on but it allows for a different avenue of attack without worrying about reality warping around you to benefit your opponent.

I'll agree with the others and say that you would probably be best served by a break from the Cosmere/Sanderson and come back refreshed. I do think that Oathbringer, while still being a great book, is the weakest of the SA so far. There have been threads here about it over the past few years. Some people loved OB, others didn't. I also shared your dislike of (what I assume are) the Dalinar flashback chapters. They felt too separate from the main story to my taste and I found myself getting impatient reading them. If you look at the flashbacks, I think it makes sense: Kaladin's flashbacks were in the first book, so it was really just our way to meet him. I personally skip most of them on rereads because they bore me. Shallan's flashbacks tied in a lot of overall mysteries of Roshar alongside Shallan's personal backstory/history. I always try to reread the books ahead of the next release and so far I've enjoyed reading all of hers even on rereads. Dalinar's flashbacks are primarily just his backstory. You have only read the first ~20% of the book so I won't provide any spoilers, but especially his early flashbacks dragged for me. They tell an important story for sure, but even though I like Dalinar I didn't really like reading it. I know there are people who loved it though. And be prepared to be frustrated with Shallan in this book. You could almost consider this book to be like her equivalent to Kaladin's time on Bridge 4. It's a huge test for her. It's not as obvious because she's not a slave forced to run into certain death once or twice a week, but it's just as hard for her.

I suspect it was the death of Gavilar that pushed them apart. Sadeas was, or at least appeared to be, genuinely loyal to Gavilar. As such, I suspect the supposed betrayal was entirely engineered by Tanelon and entirely false. Its possible, but seems unlikely, considering later Sadeas attempted to mislead an assassin trying to kill Gavilar, regardless of the personal danger involved in doing so. The power vacuum left by Gavilar's death, Sadeas' ambitious nature, and Dalinar's taking up the codes and becoming a different person overnight, is probably the key factors that pitted Sadeas against Dalinar, but only some time after Gavilar's death.

I want to believe you about this, and I partially do. I've twice brought to your attention posts that Calderis made in response to mine. The first time, you took action, said you spoke to him and he agreed the post was offensive, and took down the offending post. The second time, you ignored me. Maybe that was an anomaly. I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt. [Edit: I found out after this original post that action was taken on the second report just not communicated to me.] But I am finding it hard to believe the moderator treatment has been the same as it has been for less "favored" posters. I cannot know the answer to this, but have either of them been moderated (required moderator approval of posts prior to posting)? You admit they are repeat offenders. It would make sense that a repeat offender would be moderated at times, especially as I know others have been moderated for singular offenses. Given the extreme frequency of their posts, and the often slow speed at which I know others' moderated posts have been approved, I am doubtful this has been the case. I apologize if this is an incorrect assumption; maybe they have both been on moderated status a lot. What I do know is that you publicly chastise posters for bad behavior. This thread is an example, as it contains multiple posts of you chastising IronBars. This is not a bad tactic; public shaming is highly effective. However, I have never seen Calderis of RShara publicly chastised prior to the rather vague statement above. So even if I can take your word for that you are consistently responding to concerns about their posts and treating them the same as others behind closed doors, publicly the treatment is noticeably different. It's no secret that the moderators of this forum have a consistent bias, in general not liking criticism of the book and specifically having strong opinions on certain topics, as these views have been aired very publicly. From what I have seen, it is the posters whose opinions run contrary to the collective "moderator opinion" who are the ones publicly chastised. For instance, a moderator once brought in a friend as an "attack dog" to the shipping thread (the poster stated they were there to provide snarky comments), the moderator's friend got extremely heated and was reported. The moderator team on some level must have agreed on the offensiveness of the post, as it was deleted and then reinstated with revisions. No public chastisement was given. This is not an anomaly; it's been quite clear that biased treatment is to be expected. I disagree with almost every one a IronBars opinions. (I can't think of any I agree with actually?) But, I certainly understand and sympathize with his frustration over dealing with elitist, condescending posters and a moderating staff that appears to be blatantly biased. I give IronBars a lot of credit for sticking with their opinions on this thread. I wouldn't have been able to do it. I essentially stopped posting on threads other than the shipping thread in order to avoid interacting with many of the frequent posters here, who I saw were condescending of others and who treated me the same in my limited interactions with them. I had no faith the moderators here would respond to my reports even if I made them, let alone treat my concerns fairly. This forum is of course a private enterprise. You can censor certain views all you want. You have zero obligation to act in a manner that is not arbitrary and capricious. It is disappointing as someone who truly loves the author's work (and even more disappointing that this an official fan site, and thus carries with it the implication of being endorsed by the author), but people like myself and IronBars can choose not to participate, take our offending views elsewhere. And in the end, that may be the whole point.

I finished Starsight the other day, and the revelation about Doomslug and its species was pretty much what I expected. But at one point, I think when they were just going to Starsight for the first time, something weird happened. Spensa said "By who," and Doomslug responded by saying "Whom!" I took that as an indication that Doomslug could actually speak the language, but it hasn't been followed up on. What does everyone else think? Is it a typo, or something I've missed? Am I making a big deal of nothing? Or is there something else about the slugs? Maybe you really do have to be sentient to be cytonic.

She just started Way of Kings and I'm waiting for her to get to the part when Kaladin first uses Stormlight. Her mind is gonna explode. WoK spoilers

The man’s a machine. (or, er, a fabrial rather?)

I personally would prefer bendalloy to help me do things on time. Haza for my capability to sit around and do nothing.

Then I have no problem with this theory Here's a WoB I found that might help further corroborate it:

Let's compile what we know of Trelagism and Trellism. 1) Trelagism was a religion on Scadrial during its Classical era, before the Lord Ruler's Ascension. It was practiced by the Nelazan who lived close to the poles. They mapped out the various astronomical bodies visible from Scadrial. 2) They believed that Trell and Nalt were brothers. The latter was jealous of the former and cast his single burning eye (the sun) upon the lands to block out the Thousand Eyes of Trell (the stars) 1) Trellism is the belief in Trell. Is associated with a new metal which is described as silvery with distinctive, dark red spots. It has only been seen used Hemalurgically so far: on Kandra and to create Chimeras 2) Several members of the Set, in both high and low positions, are followers of Trellism, and the organization itself may exist for the purpose of serving Trell. Bleeder was also turned by Trell. 3) Trell has their own Faceless Immortals, who are described as having red eyes. A red miasma is how Harmony chose to represent Trell to Wax in BoM. They are also associated with "men of gold and red, bearers of the final metal" 4) There seems to be a strong element of anti-establishmentarianism in Trellism, namely: freedom from Harmony and social justice from the central government in Elendel or more broadly the Basin Now the most popular theory (and the one that I subscribe to) Trell is Autonomy or one of her Avatars 1) The stated motives of Trell's followers align well with Autonomy's Intent 2) White Sand spoilers 3) Trelagism's reverence for stars aligns well with Autonomy. She seems to currently be inhabiting Taldain's star. 4) The long day/night cycles experienced by the Nelazan is reminiscent of Darkside Dayside division of Taldain 5) Autonomy is said to have multiple Avatars. There is a thematic resonance with worshiping a multitude of astronomical bodies 6) Autonomy's star might be visible from Scadrial. 7) Trell is a Shard we know. It isn't Endowment. Honor, Ambition, Devotion and Dominion are Splintered. This only leaves Cultivation, Odium and Autonomy. The former two are embroiled in the conflict on Roshar. 8) Autonomy is stated to have a habit of interfering on other worlds by Khriss Trell is Odium 1) Has a track record of attacking other Shards. Odium is known to fear Harmony. 2) The break between Stormlight front 5 and back 5, during which the Wax and Wayne era books take place 3) Is known to corrupt Investiture (red) 4) Similarities with religions on Roshar 5) the agents of Trell align with Odium's Intent. 6) Alongside purple and black, gold is a colour associated with Odium. "Men of gold" might also refer to 7) Odium's forces comprise of several beings that may pose as Trell's Faceless Immortals: Both Autonomy and Odium 1) May have worked together in the past to Splinter Honor, and before that Devotion and Dominion, the former sounds like an opposite to Odium, the latter to Autonomy. 2) possible red herring in a broadsheet in era 2 "Vote for Passion, Vote for Freedom" 3) the break between Stormlight front 5 and back 5

Thanks guys! Special thanks to @Ixthos for the extract, I'd missed it completely. I thought it was an intentional omission on Brandon's part and had so many theories as to why, oh well!

-Stick

Overall, I really liked this story and it went by very fast. Didn't even feel like a long entry. Of course, I'm also a sucker for music-based magic, so that helps. ;-) I have the same two problems @Silk does, and I think they're related to each other. First, the tension flags as the story progresses, and second, I'm not entirely convinced on the worldbuilding. You have a very high magic level, which you show by people doing ordinary things by magic. In fact they are concerned with shoring up the city with magic instead of a big architecture project. That works. However, I think it's too easy for them to perform (ha) the magic. This is shown when C. raises A. from the grave with little to no effort. They can even bring people back to life who have full faculties and the ability to do their own magic. That sends me into thinking about raising a necromancer, who raises more necromancers...etc. I think both of these can be solved by making the magic a little harder to use. Then you have the chance for more try/fail cycles in the story, and the worldbuilding gets a little more solid. You might also look at the length of the story. It's already almost 6k, which puts it above the comfortable short story level. You might try expanding it into a novella, which would give you some space to develop the characters a little more, have some try/fail cycles, and explain the worldbuilding better. I mainly say this because I want to read more of the story! It's really good, and I think could have a good chance at catching an agent's or publisher's attention at a slightly greater length. Notes while reading: Pg 1: okay, music magic. I'm on board... pg 2: "glockenspiel" --is that really percussion? I guess maybe. pg 2: I realized that not a lot has really happened yet, which I would usually fault a short story for, but I'm drawn in by the sense of wonder. Good job. pg 2: "They have their own A., their own Music capable of doing what we need.” --So each city is raised by a great master of music? The one in V. is still living while A is dead? pg 3: "it seems unlikely that the V. know much more about the practical aspects of their origins than we do." --Ah, sounds like their city's architect is dead too. pg 3: "I have broached this subject with them, and they refused to consider it.” --interesting premise. pg 4: "nothing to do with either of the magical domains" --a little bit Maid-and-Butler here, but gets the information across... pg 5: "Translucent Percussionists pounded insubstantial drums" --so zombie magicians can still do magic? That seems like it would lead to a big feedback loop... pg 9: “I can’t leave B!” --tension is good in here, but I don't actually know who B is. Wife? Daughter? Hired help? pg 9: "knocking E’s chimes to the ground." --this seems like a punishable offense in this world... pg 10: "“H’s daughter was,” --ah. Might be better to know this earlier to up the tension. pg 10: "She bought a ticket to S that night" --I don't know where or what this is, so it doesn't make a big impact to me as the anchor sentence to this section. --Edit: I looked back and realized this was where the necromancer was headed. Might need to make one more reference to it to stick it in the mind of the reader. pg 13: "Oh, but when you need it, then it’s not taboo anymore.” --good argument. pg 15: Good description of magic and magic users without being infodumpy. It gives a great perspective into the world. pg 16: "A. sat up from within her tomb." --hmm. I almost want more tension here. The song just works the first time. There's no try-fail. I'm not sure there needs to be, but if it was this easy, I feel like someone else would have snuck in and done this before. pg 17: Ah, the necromancer has to keep singing to keep the ghost around. Good limit on the magic. pg 17: the whole thing with the ineffectual lawmakers is comical, but I feel like one of them would have just run off to alert others. pg 18: “This won’t be terribly efficient,” she warned. “You’ll need to get me a set of new chimes for the rest of the job.” --why? Aren't these the ones she was buried with? I presumed they were hers. pg 18: "on account of the rust coating the chime" --oh, is this why? Maybe lead with this. pg 19: "it soon became obvious that A. herself had no objections to her raising." --okay, but it all seems a little too easy. pg 20: "a week of near-constant singing had put C. under a great deal of strain." --uh, yeah, I would imagine. Is this even possible? pg 22: It's a nice ending, but not great. The second half of this felt like things were too easy, and I wanted some more conflict.

Via his Twitter, he finished up about an hour ago, capping off at 474k words (Roughly 5 full length novels! The mad man).

Cycle 6 writeup to come later...again *sigh (being busy in real life can suck haha) _________________________________________________ Butt Ad Venture was lynched. They were a Loyal with no items. Lynch Results: Cycle will end at 1 PM CST on January 1st Player List: Black Market:

NINETY-SEVEN EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

(&%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I just held down shift its 97%)

Well, I mean, you haven't exactly come to the right place if you want unbiased opinions. You're come to a place full of people who are biased in favour of Oathbringer who will try to convince you to keep reading. But in my personal biased opinion, Oathbringer is the best book Brandon's ever written. I can at the very least assure you that you will view both Dalinar and Shallan very differently by the end of the book. Also, going off the one thing I definitely know you'd like, I can tell you there's a chapter from Rock's point of view later on. So maybe at least push through until then?

I don’t know if this necessarily counts as good news, but I saw a licence plate that said Salad, which made me laugh.

I believe the Dawnshards are epic-scale fabrials, designed for the purpose of terraforming. Roshar is covered with what looks to me like the scars of human experimentation. I think structures like the Windblades and Urithiru were probably Soulcast, or otherwise constructed with gigantic surges. The Purelake is also suspicious to me. And clearly Shinovar itself was Soulcast into being a piece of an entirely different world. Now there's a cache in Aimia of these ultimate devices, and anyone who used one as a weapon would be able to cause absolutely ridiculous levels of destruction.

So a little story setup: Kindergarten classes took a field trip to this Santa Storyteller thing....honestly it was extremely underwhelming. Santa was looking rustic and pretty neat, but for entertainment he told long disjointed deadpan stories ("Holly the green nosed reindeer" ??? I think he was making stuff up on the spot) and then would play parts of Christmas songs on his guitar, but the words weren't the same that everyone knew so kids were confused. So we've got like 75+ kids looking intrigued but also a little weirded out. The reason I put this story in this thread: At one part he's talking and holds up a small jar with red glitter in it. He says something like, "This is my sparkly love jar. Do you know what I put in this jar? It's something very important, and it lives in your heart." And he pauses for an answer. And into the silence one boy says, in this awed hushed whisper, "It's blood." And Santa turns and looks at him with this concerned look. And there I am frantically trying to smother the giggles.

The Superiority believes the training ground was designed by humans to train to fight Delvers, while Spensa thinks it’s a Delver corpse. I think they’re both wrong. I think it was a half constructed Delver. Thats right, I think the humans not only meant to use the Delvers in the war, but also expected to be able to since they had designed them in the first place. The humans clearly had the technology to build Dyson spheres, and while Delvers appear to be the size of a planet, they are in actuality much smaller. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that humankind had the capability to build at least a few, though I don’t think they built all of the thousands that appear to currently exist. And if the Delvers were created, then what else could they be except AI? Think about it. The ban against AI always sticks out as the odd rule compared to limiting cytonics and wireless communication. Of course their use would be banned after humanity’s own creations turned against them. The question then is why and how the Delvers went rogue and came to hate life in the first place. Or rather, forgot that all these insects squirming around them are in fact intelligent life. Here’s a crash course on AIs. There are three types: 1. Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) - These already exist all around us, from our laptops to our phones. They are a basic stream of intelligence designed to perform a small set of tasks extremely efficiently. 2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) - A general purpose intelligence that can perform a wide variety of tasks as well as improve itself. It’s comparable in intelligence to the human brain. M-bot is an example of this. 3. Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) - An intelligence far beyond a humans, capable of comprehending abstractions impossible for the human mind to think of. This is what I think Delvers are. And if you want evidence, think of how Spensa describes the Delvers as almost completely alien to her, of shapes and ideas she can’t even wrap her head around. To me, that sounds suspiciously like the descriptions of ASIs I found. The development of ASIs is a very real concern in today’s world, since it will likely herald the singularity, which is a point in the future after which life will be so different as to be incomprehensible to us. In fact, experts on artificial intelligence place conservative predictions for the arrival of ASIs as a few centuries, while optimistic predictions place them arriving within some of our lifetimes. We’re talking about something that could change everything, for better or for worse. And they could be coming relatively soon because the growth in AI is exponential. The gap in time between the development of an AGI and an ASI is projected to be only a few years because by that point, AIs will be developing in intelligence at insane speeds. So, M-bot’s existence proves that ANIs were certainly within the human’s tech level at some point. But why do the Delvers hate intelligence life? How did they forget that these creatures all around them are in fact intelligent in the first place? Wouldn’t the humans have programmed them with that knowledge as well as safeguards to obey their creators? I have two theories. 1. During the process of improving themselves and catapulting from AGIs to ASIs, the Delvers minds were expanded to the point that all preprogrammed data became insignificant to them and was lost in the vast influx of new information. Essentially, they forgot. The data could have been recalled at any time, but the Delvers never thought to as it was simply a single grain in an ocean of sand. 2. The Delvers interpreted an order from the humans to involve deleting information about all intelligence life, or at least some vital information about them that led to eventually removing the rest. I think these two ideas or possibly some combination of them are valid explanations for how the Delvers came to be as they are. And, when the first one was created (or at least the first one went rogue), they found themself alone in a vast void, surrounded by insignificant insects. What could be their response to this loneliness except to reproduce? I don’t know if the humans had already created enough vessels to fill with AI or if the Delvers created more physical vessels for their offspring, but either way, a new race was born. There are a few gaps in this theory. The main one is why do we find them filled with alien glyphs as opposed to some form of human language? Maybe the construction of the Delvers was headed by lesser AIs built by humans, and these AIs had already built a more efficient language for communication. Maybe the humans wanted to simply release the Delvers and pretend they hadn’t created them, so they made the Delvers seem alien so they couldn’t be traced. I don’t know, but it’s definitely a flaw in the theory. I also suspect that the Delvers (rather obviously) had something to do with all the missing cytonics. I’m at a loss for any ideas on specifics though. Anyways, I think this idea has merit, but feel free to tear it apart. Edit: (sigh) Looks like the Starsight Release Party was updated on Aracanum this afternoon, and there goes my theory. It happens to the best of us.

That was a hard decision... My gut answer was Skyward, but I picked Starsight. Skyward was easier to enjoy. The story was simple, the bad guys not complex, the action fresh. It was a fun story with some powerful moments. Starsight is a lot more complicated. There are things about it that I liked less, but I picked it for two reasons: First, I thought this book was a masterful exploration of... cultures clashing? There's this whole soup of prejudices, culture shock, misunderstandings... I don't know how to begin breaking it down. I just know that every other scene addressed this theme in beautiful ways. Second, the expanded world that Brandon built here is amazing. The diversity of alien species and cultures, the magic, the delvers... It feels like Skyward all happened in a small shack with the lights off, and Starsight opened the door to reveal a whole world out there.

Aww <3 Love me some Elder Scrolls. Sheogorath, Molag Bol, Malacath, Hircine, Mehrunes Dagon, Mephala, Sanguine, Vaermina, Hermaeus Mora, Clavicus Vile, Azura, Meridia, Boethiah, Nemira, Nocturnal, Peryite For 17 I am guessing you mean Jyggalag (who is Sheogorath)? Edit: By the forgotten gods it took me way too long to remember Peryite!

#TeamHrathen #GyornToBeWild

Thanks brother! Finally had some time to do this, so without further Ado (ok, maybe one more ado), I present to you, The Paper Cut (spoilered because it's an animated gif):

I think it's really interesting that Iriali secular society would have a problem with homosexuality, despite the local religion approving of it. Usually in a given culture, sexual mores are at least related to religion and/or philosophy, if not explicitly outlined by it. It's very interesting to imagine a culture where the religious people are hippies and the atheists are conservatives.

When there’s a thunderstorm approaching and you run around the house screaming, “Highstorm! Highstorm! We need to get to a bunker, ASAP!!”

When you have yet another dream about Brandon coming to your school. I was really really excited because i thought it was real. Then i realized school doesn't start until August, and i was dreaming. *sigh* the disappointment. When your notebook you take to church is full of little doodles of Mistborn, Radiants, tKotC, Roshar, and ducks fighting unicorns, and prior fighting who are riding the ducks and the unicorns. When you name a baby bird you found Shallan. Sadly, it died, because i Wasn't allowed to take care of it. it has fallen out of a tree. I floated it down a river. poor baby robin. One of the first things i said to it was, "Keep cutting at those thorns, strong one. Make a path for the light." Hence the name. When you have KotC written on your calendar. I forgot why. If anyone can figure it out, that would be great. (It's on July 20). Whenyou use All of your upvotes for today on this thread.

I AM OFFEND! (Bonus points for references, right?) So me, actually.

When you are - 100% seriously - talking about similarities between yourselves and Shallan's personalities to some other people. (I won't ping you if you don't wanna come out and say you're one of those, but you know I'm talking about you )

I just finished reading it and while I do think it is a good story it is definitely not my favorite thing Brandon has ever written. Which is perfectly alright not everything will resonate as well with everyone, and I'm sure there is someone out there that will love Snapshot in the way I love The Rithmatist, that person just isn't me. I will admit that I did not see either twist coming (that Davis wasn't real or that he was planning to kill Chaz). I think part of my issue is that it could be argued that the ending is essentially "And it was all a dream", but then again there is the question on whether the people in Snapshots are real or not. @ccstat Makes a great point about it being fundamentally hopeful, but I don't know if I agree. Sure one person can make a difference, but in this instance the good guy dies whereas the murderer lives, which is kind of depressing. I do want to learn more about that world though.