Lost Lobo

This is an excellent plan. If you wish to catch all of the cross-referencing as you go, you can also consider spicing it up by following the publication timeline: https://www.discworldemporium.com/reading-order/ pulling out the one-shots if you wish

Thank you for breaking this out for me. So, the order of events would seem to run: Pre/Proto-Elantrian.... (ahem?) "channelers" (?) of AonDor create the city of Elantris to concentrate/focus the power, making themselves (presumably) into Elantrianesque entities, possibly with Aona and Skai's help. Odium kills them; the Splintering / Effects of the Splintering / Something causes these people to disappear Teod crosses the Straits and sets up camp The concentrated flow of AonDor still needs a release, so, when those humans become Connected enough to the local geography to be conduits, they start becoming "modern" Elantrians. The hangup I have is, the localization of the power (it's expression through the specific geography) is supposed to be a result of the Splintering. It seems as though we would have to flip #1 and #2 and add the disappearance as a separate event Odium kills Aona and Skai Pre/Proto-Elantrian.... (ahem?) "channelers" (?) of AonDor create the city of Elantris to concentrate/focus the power, making themselves (presumably) into Elantrianesque entities * Something causes these people to disappear (perhaps an origin story for the Ire?) Teod crosses the Straits and sets up camp The concentrated flow of AonDor still needs a release, so, when those humans become Connected enough to the local geography to be conduits, they start becoming "modern" Elantrians. *If this is done with Aona and Skai's help, it would have to have been some kind of information they passed before they died, to be used after they were no more. (SA Spoiler):

Something is on my mind, and, I am hoping ya'll can explain to me / point out the Resolution I am missing: The Coppermind entry on Elantris (here) notes that the city of Elantris was empty when the Aonic people's showed up, and, after a few decades of living there, some of them started going through the Shaod. However, it also notes that Elantris was clearly built by Elantrians, as only they could have made the Aons that made the city work. But, we find out in Elantris that, without the actual city of Elantris itself to channel AonDor.... people don't become Elantrians. They become Reod. So, we appear to run into a bit of a chicken/egg problem: the city is needed to create the people who had to pre-exist the city in order to build the city. (?) My first thought was "well, Elantris could have been built pre-Splintering of Dominion/Devotion, when the rules were different. Okay, except, AonDor is part of a magic system that is tied to the specific local geography, and that geographic specificity is supposedly a result of the Splintering. From the cited WOB: Assuming the Coppermind is reading that correctly (and, on its face, that seems like the most direct reading), then, are we not left with a chicken-egg problem in the city of Elantris?

Respectfully, I think you may be leaning in a bit stronger on this point than is entirely justified. ....and would be equally so with any nation whose current government was the result of a previous major rebellion, especially one that was explicitly ideological. In-world the vast majority of the population is enslaved in Era 1, and is free in Era 2, though class differences still remain. In this, they more closely resemble Europe. The Elendel basin appears to be European (England, especially), while the Roughs are made more to resemble the American West. It may be worth noting that slavery did not provide the material wealth to kickstart American capitalism - quite the opposite; the South's political insistence on older social and political structures (they wanted to recreate feudalism) led them to strong opposition to capitalism as a Yankee innovation, and they were much the poorer for it. Slave-based agrarianism turned out not to be much of a growth engine; but the shipping, industrialization, and classic Liberal free trade model of the non-Slave Northern states did. And turns out to also be a bit of a gift with an edge, since the ease of life it creates has hindered innovation and growth relative to the Southern Continent. There is some interesting room here to see how Brandon is playing with "Agriculture" as a Resource Curse. ....and this is where I get off the train. You stated that he doesn't have X in his world, and then accuse him of downplaying the role of X... which you already stated don't exist in his world. It would be like complaining about the lack of Confucianism on Roshar, or accusing him of downplaying the role of Middle Ages Islamic expansion into the Mediterranean in Elantris. Sorta. They had a brief French Revolution, period in areas in between the death of the Lord Ruler and the Catacendre. This period was cut short by Elend in Luthadel, but ran more of its course in Urteau (which is a more French sounding name, anywho), before Spook was able to end Quellion's Reign of Terror (Quellion, worth noting, went by "the Citizen" and was distinguished by wearing a bright red shirt; both of which are callouts to the French Revolution). We don't know how The End Of History is going to look in the Cosmere, yet, but, for Brandon's basic take, we can possibly look to his Mormon faith, which has obvious overlap with how he treats Deity. In Mormonism (any LDS out there, please correct me if I'm off, here), they don't refer directly to the Eschaton, but Liberal Democracy is considered more of the current holding pattern. The end of history in terms of Governance is a Theocracy, ruled directly by a returned Jesus (Adolnasium Redux? all the Shards powers recombined like an allomancer on SterHoids?). I think (?) Brandon has been pretty upfront that a Cold War, used by Harmony/Discord(/Kelsier?) to drive innovation and technological growth will be the backdrop for Era 3, which sets up the space age for Era 4. The Problem of Evil is that an Omniscient, Omnipotent God who was purely Good seems incongruent with a universe filled with Bad. Shards are not Omniscient (they retain the need to focus their attention), not Omnipotent, they are not inherently purely Good (Sazed is a broken human being who struggles with depression, self-doubt, anger, loss, ennui; and of the Shards we've met thus far, he may be the best of them), and their Intent is heavily shaped (controlled?) by the shardic powers they bear (in Sazed's case, Preservation and Ruin). I don't think I would say that Brandon is implying (or working from the assumption) that the existence of Conflict means that God must be either morally flawed or restricted in his powers - that's not his belief system IRL, after all. You may be projecting your own position a bit, there.

"The Long Earth" series faces and handles some of these questions (and agrees with you on some of those things). I'm looking forward to seeing how Brandon handles things like trade - it's not just destinations that are no longer rare, it's gotta be easily exploitable mineral deposits on less-advanced versions of Earth(s).

Yeah, all the interplay and how awesome it was between series really set me up well for the Cosmere cross overs. Bonus: (SP1 Spoiler) As for various orders? Oof. Here's a tree: (citation, in case that matters, here; I am newish myself) As you can see, there are a lot of options to choose from. Wizards - ridiculousness, mostly centered around Rincewind, the Disc's worst and most cowardly wizard. Witches - fun, with lots of call outs to deep roundworld (read: earth) fairy tale lore Death - fantasy hero saves the world, usually with Death (as in, the grim reaper) as a supporting character City Watch - Ever try to be a beat cop in a city that basically works like self-ordering anarchy (which is legal! ish.), in which your villain may made out of stone, or a basically unkillable vampire, or a freaking dragon (immediate citations: disturbing the peace. arson. loitering with intent. general intent.)? I'm underselling it, this is in many ways the "core" series of the Discworld series. Moist Von Lipwig - my favorite character. A Con-Man is captured, and, for his punishment, forced into government service (it turns out there is a surprisingly large overlap in necessary skill sets).

You can't go wrong with it I do recommend reading in order, at least within the various "series" within the broader Discworld "Series", if you can (if your library can support it). I'll admit, I'm a little jealous; you still have it all new in front of you. Fun

I hear that. I'm a full grown adult with a job, and I still can't buy all the books I want to. FWIW, I will second @The last Fae in the Woods when it comes to Terry Pratchett (both Discworld and Good Omens).

You are welcome! I'm sitting on that link myself, thinking it will be my "fun" money for next month or so. I have the three previous ones, so, it's harder to justify than a brand new book. I quote their entire post, and then delete the text in the quote box that isn't addressed to me

I was in Jordan a few years ago, and walked into a shop where a man made knives, swords, etc., for the Jordanian military. I didn't realize I needed a sword, mind you, until I walked into his shop, and suddenly realized that I NEEDED a sword. So I'm looking at the different kinds he has on display, and asked about the thicker-backed single-edged one in the back. "Oh, no, mister, you don't want that sword." "Why not?" "Mister, that sword is for the (mime's cutting off a hand)... it is... it is for the executions". "OH. Now I DEFINITELY want that one." He made me one by hand - took him a couple of weeks - it has my family named etched in Arabic in acid along the blade. Also got a Hashemite Dagger for my wife and each of my kids' with their names on them in Arabic too. Thing hangs above my mantleplace :). For purposes of the thread - I was public schooled while growing up, and, hated all of it except for a couple of extracurriculars. The wife was homeschooled until high school, and we've been homeschooling our kids for about 8 years, with Classical Conversations.

Welcome, Argenti! Try here: https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?PRO=C132295 for the new White Sand omnibus

That was how I took it, though, I think there is an additional layer: IIRC, at one point in the letters, we learn that Hoid had the chance to pick up a shard, and refused. It seems likely he saw Shard-holding as something that was too restrictive, too controlling, and too likely to end up owning/overtaking the vessel, and wanted to retain and maximize his freedom of action. Basically, Hoid knew becoming a shard wasn't going to be all it was cracked up to be, and let/encouraged 16 other people take up that infinite set of powers-as-punishments instead, in order to achieve a goal.

My apologies - wasn't tracking the multi-quote-frowning bit :-/ Food is expensive with inflation - love Lift, but, don't know if I can afford her. Within that monetary theme, I tend to view Lopen v Wayne like asking if I'd rather have a quarter, or $0.25. It's the same picture. Lightsong would be chill, but, unlikely to be really interested in engagement. Lift would be the most fun. Lift it is, and, I'll just buy a lot of potatoes.

1. Whoever Brandon wants to win, wins. 2. Depends on Fullborn v Windborn's relative levels of Investiture / Storage / Metals. 3. Assuming full investiture / storage / metals for both... likely a Fullborn. Not just particularly because of the insane speed / strength / healing, but because, more broadly, they have full access to two complete magic systems, whereas the Windrunner only has access to 1/10th of one.

It would be a fun piece of meta (in the "for-those-who-obsessively-track-these-things" style) if we ever got Michael Kramer implicitly acknowledged as a problem for some of his subjects. Favorite non-POV.... that is... hard. I'm such a huge fan of Teft, but, that doesn't count. Same/Same Gaz.... Generally, the "broken soldier who has done things that were wrong, but who ends their story redeemed" motif, when done well, is just so fantastic. I pulled over to the side of the road, and wept. ....there are so many fun characters, light-hearted characters, rich characters.... but... since I'm thinking in that vein, today I'll go with: Teofil. Howdy! It was a long, good, ride. I loved the depth, and the history that were in it. Favorite Character: So, everyone has a different take, and I understand that people's personalities will impact them strongly in this area.... that being said, I think I can say with confidence that the correct answer is Matt. Favorite Scene:... so, one of the reasons I ended up liking Brandon more than Jordan was how Brandon writes women in his stories. Jordan seemed sometimes to only know how to write variations on a single, almost flat archetype (and that archetype was "kind of a b----") for women. Even though Jordan was writing them to have their own power and agency, and that was great to see in a serious way in high fantasy... his female characters seemed to spend all their time "glaring knives" or "nailing people with their eyes", or some such. It was irritating. Jordan really wanted to emphasize that the arrogance of the Aes Sedai was a major vulnerability and... he achieved that goal. And one of the most irritating was Nynaeve. I did. not. like. her. And yet. .... oof. Chills.