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This review is spoiler-free for Cytonic but does contain spoilers to the end of Starsight. I like Cytonic, the third Skyward novel, but didn't love it. The book does what it does well, but I expect Cytonic to be a divisive book, even moreso than Starsight was. In fact, if you didn't like that Starsight didn't have Skyward Flight characters, this book might be even worse for you. At the end of Starsight, we see Spensa hop into the mysterious nowhere, and well, that's exactly what we get in this book. It's another Spensa adventure in a new location, where we learn more things about the world and meet a bunch of characters. For those of you who really like Spensa and delving (heh) into cytonic, magic, and lore stuff, I think you could really love this book. I liked Cytonic pretty evenly throughout the book. Brandon makes it easy to get absorbed into the story, and I cruised through the novel quickly. The worldbuilding, as usual, is fascinating, and there new mysteries introduced as well as old mysteries getting solved in very satisfactory ways. In many respects, the worldbuilding is the highlight of this book, which really carried me through it rather than the characters or plot. Those of you who watched the Starsight Reactions episode and Brandon Beefs Shardcasts know that I really liked 95% of Starsight, but I had major issues with an aspect of the ending. I felt deflated and unexcited about the future of the series. Well, Brandon did it: he actually solved one of my huge issues with Starsight, which in my opinion was sorely needed. I am genuinely surprised he pulled it off considering how much I hated that last five percent of Starsight. There is a worldbuilding decision made that even though it made sense, it lowered the tension in most of the book, which made many combat sequences weaker because of it. I don't know about you, but I loved in Skyward the existential threat and danger I felt every time Skyward Flight lifted off. For much of this book, especially in its middle, I did not feel that, so combat sequences felt off without that tension. I think this lack of tension is this book's biggest flaw. Rarely did I feel like Spensa was in actual danger, so some moments that were supposed to be big deals did not land. But the other big flaw of the book is really baked into the core premise of the book: Spensa is in the nowhere, so it can feel somewhat like a sidequest. In that sidequest, there's another objective that feels like yet another sidequest, which we spend a good chunk of the book on. This, combined with the lowered tension for most of the book, is realistically the biggest flaw of the book. Along with that, we don't get to see a lot of old cast members. It's essentially the same issue you could have had in Starsight. I love the Skyward Flight crew a lot! The interplay with them and Spensa was fantastic in Skyward, and I did miss them in Starsight, which had a different crew who I liked, but didn't like as much as the old side characters. Well, there's new side characters here, and though I also liked them, it's hard for me to get particularly invested in them when each new book it seems like the old side characters aren't really in the next volume. Will I see these in the fourth and final book in the series? Maybe Brandon can pull it all together, perhaps, but I'm skeptical. Fortunately, if you miss the Skyward Flight characters, there's a solution: three Skyward Flight novellas! The first two, Sunreach and ReDawn, are already out, with the third, Evershore, coming out December 28th. They are ebook and audio-only for now but there will be a collection of all three novellas coming eventually. I do think these novellas are mandatory reading, because otherwise this series feels disjointed. The novellas and Cytonic complement each other fantastically. Love Spensa and M-Bot? Well you get a lot of that in Cytonic. Do you miss the other side characters? The Skyward Flight novellas give you loads of that. I actually think the plotting in the novellas is superior to Cytonic and as a whole, better than this book. So, that's a lot of complaining, but don't get me wrong, I did actually like Cytonic. It's hard to go into detail because the nowhere is so mysterious, and this is spoiler-free, so it's hard to not be vague. But really: the mysteries and lore in here are fantastic, and oh man, I loved the ending. I am a very ending focused reader, and it was by far the best part of the book. I felt that tension and dread again. It was intense and emotional, and makes me incredibly excited for the next book. Considering how after Starsight I wasn't sure if I'd even like the rest of the series, I must say, Cytonic did the legwork and I'm into this. In that respect, I suppose I have to rate Cytonic above Starsight, if I was ranking the books in the series. Your mileage may differ, however, since endings do really make or break a book for me. We will have our usual reactions Shardcast on Cytonic coming December 4th, and we will get into the spoilers and more specifics about this. Having many people on the show comment on the book will be interesting, because I said, I expect this book to be divisive and different people could feel vastly differently from my view. I'm so curious how you all will feel as well, so hit up our Cytonic spoiler board and our spoiler channel in our Discord server and let us know what you felt about the book.

Hi everyone! Eric here. When we originally launched our Patreon, we designed it primarily as a tip jar. Well, after a lot of brainstorming, that is changing today, with new, actual tiers of rewards for you all. We also have some new patron goals, which we'll describe at the end of this post. Couple of quick things to note: None of your current benefits at the $1 tier are going away, there are just newer things for some higher levels! If you want access to a new tier you will need to change to it manually (sorry!). We can’t change your tiers in the background so if you’re currently supporting, for example, with $5 through the current "Hoid’s Tip Jar" you will need to change your contribution to be the $5 tier to access the new perks. The current "Hoid’s Tip Jar" is just going to be renamed so you won’t need to change anything if you’re happy to access just the $1 tier! If you already contribute $5 in the old, single tier, and you switch to the new $5 tier, you will not be charged more. Now without further adieu, let’s get to the exciting stuff, the new tiers! The $1s Above This has the same benefits as you have currently, which are: Patron designation on the forums and Discord Special patron forum and special Discord channel Shardcast outtakes and advance video access on some videos Ability to vote in art polls and suggest options for future polls The $5 Scholars All of the benefits above, as well as: Voting on when upcoming Shardcast topics come out. Generally, we have a set of a few topics we will record next in mind. With this reward, we will put out a poll every few months with those topics to determine which order we post these podcasts. This way we can prioritize what we are doing for you. This could also mean we have some podcasts recorded and we want to determine when we should put these out. (Note, all people, patrons or not, can always suggest Shardcast topics, and that won't change. We do have a pretty big list of ideas, though!) Monthly informal chat with Shardcast panelists on a Discord voice channel. Streams are great and we want to continue doing them regularly, but interacting with you in chat only goes so far. These informal chats will have several of us in a $5 and above patron-only Discord voice/video channel and we can hang out for a while. Quarterly Q&As with questions from you, livestreamed for patrons, with VODs publicly going to YouTube. Different from normal streams, these would be primarily focused on answering your questions, rather than chatting. Quarterly livestreamed actual Shardcast episodes. Finally see the boring stuff we cut away in editing! Honestly, many of you have asked for this, so we can definitely do this and show you how it is mostly not very exciting. Not every episode is a good fit for streaming, so we will start by guaranteeing it quarterly, but we may do more. Recordings are basically always on the weekends, around 10am or 11am Pacific. The $10 Heralds You're crazy awesome for supporting at this level (and hopefully not crazy from millennia of torture). This has all of the benefits from $1 and $5, as well as: Who's That Cosmere Character Priority Queue. Sending in WTCCs is very popular, and that's awesome. Slight problem: there's over 200 things in the queue, and we are very behind on it, which is not really a good experience for you. We will increase the WTCCs we generally play at the end of an episode to three, two from the regular queue, and a third from the new priority queue. We weren't sure exactly which tier ($5 or $10) to put this, and we are putting this in the $10 tier so the priority queue doesn't get too backlogged. After all, if we get a hundred things here, this isn't much of an advantage. Patrons at this tier can submit things via a Google form. You won't be able to submit more than one of these per month. Your name immortalized at the end of Shardcasts and videos. Ruin can never change it! When you are in this tier, your name will be included at the end of videos we create around that time period, thanking you for your support, immortalized in that video forever. Your name and a short blurb saying you're a kick-ass patron on 17th Shard's About page. For the duration you're in this tier, your name will be displayed in a section on our About page with your Patreon name and, if you submit a Google form, you can include a short blurb which will be displayed there as well. Have any ideas on other tier rewards we could do? Maybe eventually we could do a $16 or $17 tier. Let us know, and let us know how you like these new tiers! As always, you are awesome for any support you give. It means a lot. New Patreon Goals! Since we hit our $500 goal, we didn't really know what our next plan was for 17S and content. Now we have some ideas for new goals! $750 / month: Buying more fancy cameras for more Shardcasters! On Shardcast itself, we don't exactly need super fancy cameras, since it's compressed through the internet and captured on a small part of a screen. But for solo videos, no webcam can match the video quality of a nicer camera. These can range from $500 to $1000 (and, well, much higher as well, but we don't need a $7000 camera). With this goal, we will start buying some nice cameras for more Shardcasters so it is possible they can make nice solo videos. $1000 / month: Doubling the Coppermind art poll budget! With this, we will either commission two Coppermind art pieces per month, or one higher budget art piece. For example, this would enable us to sometimes hire more expensive, professional illustrators. Thanks for reading this! If you wanted to back us, you can find our Patreon below: Patreon

So, you've read some of Brandon Sanderson's books, and you liked them enough that you want to talk about it with other fans online.... But it doesn't take you long to realize that you have no idea what everyone's talking about. Shards of Adonalsium? Realmatic theory? Worldhoppers? "I don't remember any of this in the books I read!" Fear not! This article is for you! What is the Cosmere? The cosmere is the fictional universe in which many of Brandon Sanderson's novels take place. Stories set in the cosmere share an underlying theorem of magic, a creation myth, a cosmology, and a few other key concepts. Characters and cultures can (and do) cross over between worlds. The connections in Brandon's earlier publications merely consist of a few scattered Easter eggs, but these become more obvious and meaningful with each book. Seeing and understanding these connections can add an extra layer to your experience with his books -- there's a reason we can't stop talking about it! We've designed this page to point out all of the main things you may have missed, or that Brandon has said in interviews with fans, so that you can discover the secret world hidden in Brandon's books and be ready to participate in some of the more complicated discussions as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. For a more in-depth answer to this question, keep reading. For Brandon's own short answer to this question, see the FAQ on his website. For the complete list of works set in the cosmere, see here. A note on spoilers: This article contains minor spoilers for some cosmere books--particularly Mistborn and Stormlight Archive. Links to the Coppermind wiki often contain many spoilers. If you haven't read all the books, we would encourage you not to read beyond the Reading Order recommendations section! Does it matter? Knowledge of the cosmere is generally non-essential to understand and enjoy Sanderson's work as each story/series stands on its own. That said, understanding the cosmere can enhance your experience and give you something extra to chew on if you'd like to dive deeper into Sanderson's universe. So if you start looking into the cosmere and find all of this to be overwhelming or uninteresting, that's totally okay. Take your time, or just don't even worry about it! Maybe this will help: You can think of the cosmere like Marvel's Cinematic Universe, but without the Avengers movies overtly tying everything together. You can watch all of the Thor movies without watching Guardians of the Galaxy, but Thor: Ragnarok is certainly a bit more fun with that extra interstellar context. And you can totally watch Guardians of the Galaxy without caring why a talking duck showed up after the credits, but if you want to be like one of the amazing nerds who gets a chuckle out of scenes like that… this article is your starting point! Sanderson ultimately has plans for some books that will involve the overarching story of the cosmere more directly. At this time, experiencing the cosmere primarily involves connecting the universe's basic concepts and identifying characters who show up in unexpected places and seem to know more than they let on. Reading Order Before we get into the weeds, let's talk reading. There is no “right order” to read the cosmere in. Publication order is a common suggestion, which allows you to experience the books as if reading them from the start, but you should read the cosmere in whichever order you most enjoy. If you want to try something new, branch off to a different world or series. If you really like the series/world you've been reading, then keep going down that road. Most reading orders will point out a few books that can be considered “starter” books. From these you can dive deeper into a particular series or branch off to something new. Some commonly recommended starting points include: Elantris — If you like the idea of reading in publication order, this is where you should begin. This is the first book Brandon published. Mistborn: The Final Empire — The original Mistborn trilogy (Era 1) is the most frequently recommended place to start. Warbreaker — This is a standalone book that's available for free on Brandon's website. The Emperor's Soul — This Hugo Award-winning novella is a great way to experience Sanderson's strengths with very minimal commitment. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) — This epic is far from complete and requires the reader to place a lot of trust in Sanderson--it opens with a lot of worldbuilding and a slow start. But if truly epic fantasy is your thing and incomplete series don't give you pause, this is perhaps Brandon's finest work. For an interactive reading guide, see this page. Brandon's own recommendations can be found on his website. Two final notes on reading order: We highly encourage reading Warbreaker sometime before Words of Radiance. We highly encourage reading Mistborn: Secret History after The Bands of Mourning. Adonalsium, Shards, and Investiture Adonalsium and the Cosmere A long time ago, there existed an entity called Adonalsium. Very little is known about who or what Adonalsium truly was. Adonalsium's touch suffused the cosmere, and many worlds, such as Roshar, were grown by it and bear its design. It was the source of all of the cosmere's magic and was said to control the powers of creation. One day, Adonalsium broke into sixteen fragments in an event that became known as the Shattering of Adonalsium. Why or how Adonalsium was shattered remains a mystery. The Shards of Adonalsium Sixteen of those who were present at the Shattering took up these fragments, or Shards, and became godlike themselves. They went their separate ways, (well, some did) creating worlds and seeding the cosmere with more life. The magic of the cosmere continues to stem from these Shards. Each Shard has an "intent" that it strives to fulfill, which gradually molds and warps the holder of the Shard, the Vessel, until they are absolutely incapable of acting against it. This nature is so dominating that both the Shards and the Vessels are usually referred to simply by the Shard's intent. Note, however, that the intent of a Shard cannot be precisely conveyed in a single word, and there is some room for interpretation as to what each Shard's intent incorporates. Some Shards include Ambition, Autonomy, Honor, Ruin, and Devotion. Though these demigods may appear godlike to mortals, they are neither all-powerful nor all-knowing. Shards may be Splintered--a process which leaves the Vessel dead and the power of the Shard dispersed. Shards are also able to subdivide themselves into avatars, each with a distinct identity, though the exact nature of these entities and how they relate to the Shard and its Vessel is unclear. Investiture, Splinters, and Slivers Investiture is the catch-all term for magical energy in the cosmere. Investiture, which comes from the Shards, is the power source for all of the cosmere's magic systems. Most beings in the cosmere have some innate Investiture, which makes up their soul. Magical powers are sometimes obtained when one's spirit (sometimes called a spirit web) becomes suffused with a larger amount Investiture. A Splinter is a portion of a Shard's Investiture that has been severed from it, either willingly or unwillingly. Sometimes, these Splinters will develop sentience and sapience, and they can become highly intelligent beings. (Note that non-Splintered Shards can still have Splinters.) A Sliver, on the other hand, is a person who once held a significant portion of a Shard's power. Holding that much power stretched and expanded their soul. The Worlds There was an original world named Yolen. Yolen was home to three intelligent species (human, dragon, and Sho Del), and is the planet that the original sixteen Vessels came from. All human life in the cosmere either came from Yolen or was modeled after it. After the Shattering, the Shards spread and settled down on many different worlds throughout the cosmere. These include: World Stories First of the Sun Sixth of the Dusk Nalthis Warbreaker Roshar The Stormlight Archive Scadrial Mistborn Sel Elantris, The Emperor's Soul Taldain White Sand Threnody Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Worldhoppers and Notable Characters A small number of enterprising individuals in the cosmere have learned how to travel between these worlds. These worldhoppers have a huge variety of backgrounds and motivations. Some worldhoppers are acting individually while others are part of an organization, like the Seventeenth Shard. Hoid Among the cosmere's worldhoppers, there is none so prominent as the ever-mysterious Hoid, originally of Yolen. Hoid, which isn't even his real name, is thousands of years old, having been present at the Shattering of Adonalsium. Whatever happened to Hoid in his past, he's no longer exactly human, at least in the traditional sense. He has a way of knowing where he needs to be at the right time, and he uses this to subtly influence events behind the scenes. Hoid's true motives and goals are as hidden as his real name. Hoid has appeared in nearly every cosmere novel so far, though he is often in disguise and will occasionally use pseudonyms, such as Dust, Topaz, Cephandrius, and Wit. Trying to spot him in every book is part of the fun of the cosmere. He seems to prefer disguising himself as a beggar, an informant, a storyteller, or a jester, so look for him to be playing one of these roles. He is also often, though not always, described as having white hair and an angular, hawklike or arrowlike face. Among many other things, Hoid has the ability to Lightweave (create illusions), he can heal from extreme injuries, he doesn't age, and he has a way to dilate time so that he doesn't have to wait as long for important moments. The planned series Dragonsteel will tell the story of Hoid's origin and the Shattering of Adonalsium, and Hoid is planned to be a main character in the final Mistborn trilogy. Khriss and Nazh Khriss, from Taldain, is the worldhopper who writes the Ars Arcanum at the end of each book, and she's the most knowledgeable of anyone—including Hoid—about the cosmere as a whole. Khriss has been described as dark-skinned, with her hair woven into tight braids. Nazh is her assistant, a worldhopper from Threnody, tasked with collecting various maps and drawings from throughout the cosmere. They are often included in the books with his personal notes to Khriss in his distinctive handwriting. One of his most identifying characteristics is his tendency to use Threnodite swears, such as "shadows". He has also been described as lanky, with a narrow face and sand-colored hair. Organizations Famous individuals aren't the only ones to keep track of, however, as there are several notable organizations at play in the greater cosmere. We know of at least one entire city that exists "between" worlds, called Silverlight, and it harbors the university that Khriss is associated with. Also headquartered in Silverlight is the Seventeenth Shard, a mysterious organization with an aggressive non-intervention policy where the Shards are concerned. Not every group shares these same opinions about not interfering with the rest of the cosmere, however. Significant among these are the Ire, an ancient order of Elantrians, and the shadowy Ghostbloods, who currently seek to use the True Desolation on Roshar to their own benefit. While their goals may be a mystery, their influence on the cosmere cannot be underestimated. The Three Realms Almost everything in the cosmere has a body, a mind, and a soul, and each exists in one of three Realms. The Physical Realm is world of the body, where physical objects exist. This Realm is the only one that normal human beings consciously perceive. The Cognitive Realm, also known as Shadesmar, is the world of the mind. The Cognitive Realm is strange and alien: Water is solid, land is fluid, and shadows point backwards. Thoughts and ideas take on real form in this Realm. After a person dies, a leftover impression of their mind, their Cognitive Shadow, will linger shortly in the Cognitive Realm before passing on. The Cognitive Shadow can sometimes persist for longer periods of time, however, by various magical means. The Spiritual Realm is the world of the soul. Once you reach the Spiritual Realm, there's no such thing as space or distance anymore, just Connection between people and places. Those who peer into the Spiritual Realm can see all the branching possibilities of the future. The power of the Shards resides mostly (usually) in the Spiritual Realm. Large amounts of Investiture can pull the three realms close enough together that perpendicularities form—junctions which allow worldhoppers to cross between the Physical and Cognitive Realms. Often, these perpendicularities can be found where the power of a Shard is concentrated into a pool of liquid. The Cognitive Realm is of particular interest to worldhoppers because distances are compressed there in places where there is little or no mental activity (such as outer space), meaning worldhoppers can use the Cognitive Realm to actually walk from one planet to another. Depending on the Shardworld, the Cognitive Realm can be an extremely dangerous place. Chronology While in most cases we don't know how many years take place between books in different series, we do know the chronological order of most of them. In order, they are: White Sand Elantris The Emperor's Soul Mistborn Era 1 Warbreaker Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Stormlight 1-5 Mistborn Era 2 Stormlight 6-10 Mistborn Era 3 Sixth of Dusk Mistborn Era 4 For more information, see this post. More Resources The best way to dive into the cosmere is to find a fan community to interact with. While you may see a lot of confusing conversations going on, just ask questions and you'll be caught up before you know it. The 17th Shard offers both forums and a Discord chat server to this end. The other two important resources to be aware of are the Coppermind wiki and Arcanum, both operated by the 17th Shard. But beware that BOTH of these resources include heavy spoilers for all of Brandon's books! The Coppermind is a wiki covering all of Brandon Sanderson's works, with an emphasis on the cosmere. Just dive right in by searching for pages that interest you, or by browsing through the page categories. Arcanum is an archive of everything Brandon has said publicly about his stories, drawing from interviews, social media, book signings, and more. There's a LOT to learn about the cosmere just by hearing directly from the man himself! Search for specific terms or browse entries by tags. We could always use help adding more information to the Coppermind or transcribing audio on Arcanum, and you don't need to be an expert to help. Stop by the #coppermind and #arcanum channels in our Discord server to help out. There's no better way to learn more about the cosmere than by helping improve these resources! So that's it for now! We hope this has been both informative and helpful. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here!