Kyzkle

I was perusing the web today after casually reading about some new AI research (side note, people have some ridiculous ideas about how AI works, with very little understanding) when I ended up reading about Karl Popper one of the greatest modern philosophers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popper%27s_three_worlds Not going to lie, it actually blows my mind how similar this is to realmatic theory. For people who are more familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of the cosmere than they are with our own reality (i.e. all of us here), Popper describes reality as three seperate worlds: World 1 (the physical world), World 2 (the mental world), and World 3 (the world of objective truth). It's not identical, but it's unsettleingly close to realmatics. I can't help but wonder if Sanderson was influenced by Popper, or if he just happened to come up with a theory that is nearly identical to one developed by one of the most respected philosophers in the scientific community, then decided to use it in his fantasy world rather than be bothered to publish it.

So I'm at the philadelphia signing, and looking for interesting questions. Anything you've been burning to ask?

Wow, I wasn't even planning on going to this signing (I thought it was actually in philadelphia) but then it turns out to be all of 5 minutes from my house! Now to actually get a hardcopy of the book to get signed!

Lift's cognitive presence is part of it, but he was also sent long before Syl came and before Pattern managed to gain physical form. He's had a lot more time to adjust to the physical realm. There is also the fact that Wyndle was sent to bond with Lift by a group he refers to as "the circle" who apparently had a bunch of protections in place to help him maintain his memory. It wasn't perfect, but Wyndle says it helped a lot. Edit: ninja'd by melancholy...

As Radiants progress they become much more efficient, and Kaladin never held very much of it until the end of WoR. A second ideal windrunner is like a full-power mistborn burning all enhancement metals at once and compounding health, and that's just while HOLDING the light. No ordinary inquisitor could match that without serious compounding of speed and strength, and that's ignoring the shardblade and lashings. Put Marsh against a second ideal windrunner, and it COULD be a fair fight. The advantage in lashings isn't the ability to launch the opponent into the air; it's the ability to rapidly alter the terms of engagement. It's basically the equivalent of a mistborn fighting in a steel cage, being able to push and pull on any object they want. Even burning atium, Marsh would have to contend with constantly changing frames of reference and would end up spending most of his time watching the shardblade to dodge it. A clever windrunner could take advantage of this to just pull out the lynchpin spike while he was watching the blade (like Zahal). Push the windrunner up to the third ideal, and even Marsh dies, no contest. Healing is on par with, if not better than compounding, and all other enhancements are practically at savant flaring levels for a lerasium mistborn. Add the fact that pewter can only improve the ability of it's user to endure punishment while stormlight actively improves the body's ability to handle it, and there's no way the inquisitor could hope to outlast the windrunner physically. The only advantage the inquisitor could maintain is zinc, and even that could be mitigated by proper combat training for the windrunner. With a mutating shardblade, there is just no way the inquisitor could hope to get a hit in, let alone actually do damage. One hit to the spine, and it doesn't matter how much they're compounding; they need someone else to bring them back. Push the windrunner up the fifth ideal, and I don't see how anything in the known cosmere (other than shards) could kill them. Armed with near-impenetrable self-healing plate, a weapon that morphs to suit the need of the moment, and complete control of space-time (assuming they learn how to create a gravitty bubble) and you've basically got a demigod. The only thing I could see matching them (other than maybe a skybreaker or dustbringer) would be a natural feruchemist who became a lerasium mistborn and recieved as many spikes as possible, with a full set of (normal) shards. Either that, or whoever's managed to convince Nightblood that surgebinder's are evil.

I didn't even think about the Liar of Partinel here. It's a pretty good guess, but I don't know how he could have ever managed to get his hands on an artifact from before the shattering of Adonalsium (this timeline could be wrong, but I think it's a safe assumtion). @Cardello The major difference between Hoid and Mraize is that Mraize is collecting trophies. They're marks of his exploits across the cosmere, to impress the realmatically aware and inform them that he, too, is a worldhopper. We're still not sure what he's after, but he is definitely pursuing goals more related to a safari hunter who wants to prove to the world and himself his worth. Hoid, on the other hand, doesn't just travel the cosmere looking for souvenirs. In fact, he even gives them away on occasion (like the flute to Kaladin). What we've seen him chase so far is both information and power. He's got a very defined goal, and will do whatever it takes to see it though. We also know that he's got a significant number of Biochromatic Breaths, and possibly the single object with the most potential in the cosmere: a bead of Lerasium. Mraize is clearly a very cosmere aware individual, but I wouldn't even put him in the same league as Hoid. Hoid is the single most powerful non-shard in the universe, but Mraize may not even know he exists. @ shardlet That's a good point, but I don't see the woman in the mask being the collector type. She seems much more focused on business than Mraize, while Mraize is a wannabe Teddy Roosevelt. (I can't see any reason she would want to kill a whitespine or a santhid) On another note, has anyone noticed the ghostblood tattoo on any other world? It stands to reason that if this cell has some worldhoppers in it who aren't as aloof as Hoid or the 17th shard, they could have cells active in other areas...

The sand was actually what first caught my eye, but we don't actually know anything about the sand, let alone enough to say that the sand from White Sand is at all special. I actually didn't even think of Shadows of Silence for the dagger, but that makes a lot of sense. My first guess for the flower was actually marewill, but it makes more sense that a worldhopping collector would want something more closely related to a shard. On the other hand, that makes two things from Halladran, so it could be wrong. I'm only inclined to agree that the crystal is an atium crystal because I can't think of anything else that it could be. They're described as being rather jagged in mistborn, which seems like something that would be mentioned here. The only similarity is that they're both fragile I was actually thinking that the branch could be the Moon Scepter, which matches Edgedance's guess of Sel. That leaves the hairpins to be identified. Are there any worlds we haven't guessed an item from yet?

So has anyone been able to identify any of Mraize's "curiosities" yet? I don't believe that they're not significant, but we may not have seen some of them yet. I'll include the passage here for reference: Any thoughts?

That's a good point, but I doubt he'd burn copper to hide form Odium. Even Vin could pierce a coppercloud with a bit or hemalurgic help, so I doubt Odium would have a problem. I'd say it's way more likely that he'd try to hide from the 17th shard. I doubt he would even need bronze on Roshar, as stormlight becomes pretty obvious when used.

I'm not actually sure that an inquisitor could be lashed, seeing as they've already been heavily invested through hemalurgy and their natural allomancy. I could be wrong about the mechanics of lashings, however. Regardless, shardblades make KR some of the most powerful people in the cosmere, so I'd say that they've pretty much got the win in any matchup. The inquisitor would burn through years of health constantly because they have no way of blocking a shardblade, and their strength, speed, and healing could be nearly matched by stormlight. There only scenario I could see the inquisitor winning is if hemalurgic spikes could block a shardblade. I'm not sure if this would happen, but it would even the fight considerably. Add in a metal buckle or two on the windrunner and abilities limited to Szeth's in tWoK, and the inquisitor would have a chance. As a side note, it occurs to me that Roshar is one of the most powerfully magical places in the cosmere. The KR, even as early as the second oath, are almost universally more powerful that magic users from almost any other planet. A lerasium mistborn or a VERY well-prepared awakener of one of the upper hightenings could probably match them, but I doubt anything but an inquisitor with near the maximum number of spikes (starting from a very powerful mistborn) could hope to match a full Radiant with a set of shards. The only drawbacks to the KR is that shards can technically be wielded by anyone, so most of their (fair) fights would be against other shardbearers. The monsters of Roshar are also proportionally powerful, so they're really not better off than any other planet.

I caught the "perfect pitch" thing right away, but I didn't even think about the stuff in his drink. We know that he's got a bead of lerasium, but he could have used it already to become a mistborn (and also possibly to gain other powers).

I'm sort of boiling over with my reactions right now, and I'm actually writing a much larger list of thoughts on the book that I'll post eventually, but here's my gut reactions: I absolutely loved tWoK, but WoR somehow manages to be significantly better. The pacing was fantastic, the plot moved much more quickly than I had imagined it could, and while Brandon kept answering my questions about the world, he never made it feel like I knew enough. It was incredibly well done. That said, there were some parts that could have been better. The Shallan/Kaladin scenes were fantastic and led to a lot of character growth for Kaladin, but they felt a bit empty for Shallan. Seeded relationship there felt forced and a bit juvinile. One of the reasons I love Brandon's work is because he can get you to love a character while watching from their perspective, but he is capable of showing you why the other perspective characters dislike them. Kaladin always makes sense from his own perspective, but he really is stubborn and angry from an external perspective. Shallan and Kaladin's distrust of each other could have been resolved without the need for the weird mushyness. On the whole, however, Shallan's growth was very well done. She's grown more confidant, but knowing her history puts her actions and character arc into a completely different perspective. On the stuff I'm still freaking out about: Hoid was everywhere in this book, and they were all fantastic. From the out of place stories to walking out of the pools in the mountains (I'm not convinced they are shardpools, but I think they do have something to do with Hoid's time travel, if not worldhopping), he was more of an actor here than in tWoK. Combine that with how important the worldhoppers are becoming to the plot, this series is about to become very interesting! Vasher is teaching swordplay! I knew he was a worldhopper straight off, but I never made the Vasher connection until I saw Nightblood! Also, he seems to know Hoid by the name Dust, which makes me wonder how they know each other... Szeth now has Nightblood!!!! I still wonder which is more powerful: an honorblade or Nightblood? Will Nightblood absorb stormlight here instead of breath? Can it kill Szeth if he runs out of stormlight? How did Nalan even get a hold of it? Did Vasher bring it with him, or did Nalan go to get it? So many questions! Jasnah's back! I was actually convinced she was dead. When Syl "died" I knew it wasn't perminant because Pattern had mentioned that breaking the bond would actually only drive the spren mad, as she digressed back to a windspren. It was still a pretty gripping arc, though. The most fascinating and telling thing in this book, in my opinion, is probably the last bit: not that Jasnah is still alive, but that Hoid tells her, in a bit of a throwaway jibe, that there are many things that he knows that she does not (obviously) and that there are many things that she knows that he does not. Obviously there are trivial things she knows that the does not, but it strikes me that Hoid is there to find out that she learned in Shadesmar. Considering that he knew exactly where to find her and that he knew she was still alive, but he doesn't know what she's learned, I'd say that some pretty important stuff just went down behind the scenes. Anyway, I'm writing a much more in-depth reactions/re-read which I'll post soon. Edit: I forgot to add this, but apparently Hoid has gained a significant number of breaths at some point, as evidenced by his apparently recent gaining of perfect pitch (as he tunes his harp while Kaladin is in jail).

This one definitely sounds either sarcastic or in jest, so I'm betting it's said by either Shallan, Wit, or Renarin himself. If it's Shallan, it means that Renarin actually starts some sort of combat training, and possibly just did something impressive. I can't see her making fun of him for any reason. I think it's unlikely to be Wit, because he's off doing whatever it is he does offscreen (write the ars arcanum, perhaps?). If it is, though, he's probably mocking Renarin's decision to start training. Wit probably want's him to buck Vorin convention and become an engineer. I think the most likely scenario is that Adolin wants Renarin to start/continue training, and Renarin thinks it isn't worth doing because he has no talent for it. Something like this: Adolin handed the blade to Renarin... (some flowery nonsense about how sicknasty shardblades are) ... he placed the tip on the ground and turned back to Adolin, but the blade slid through the rock (metaphor for cutting, along the lines of "like a lightsaber through a greased-up Michael Moore). Adolin smiled, "Careful, you're a full shardbearer now, people will start to watch you". (Some sort of spren will probably start doing the electric slide around Renarin to make his emotional state blindingly obvious) "Yeah, and all the ladies will come to me and say 'Prince Renarin, would you kindly slay this rock for me?'"

I GOT IT! Just a guess, but what if this is a highstorm vision? That would be the easiest way for this scene to occur without spoiling anything plot-wise.

I don't know... All the beta reviews have a shocking moment that we don't know much about, but I don't think this glimpse refers to that. It may just be my inability to accept the death of a Kholin, but I don't think that Peter would have allowed a spoiler like that through. There's got to be enough going on here that we don't know to keep this from revealing any of the plot to us.

I'd agree that this is probably about the stonewards, but I also think it's in one of Dalinar's visions. I can't see a powerful surgebinder just stumbling into the plot, and the description sounds like Dalinar when he's trying to understand their powers.

Or more accurately, he's not having problems with it. He could be lying, but it seems very Sanderson-like to have a character behave in a very mature fashion given a situation where cliche demands they handle it poorly.

Your actually sort of right. The Elantris Aon isn't the source of power itself, but it allows Elantrans to access the remnants of Devotion's power. As far as we know, (and this could just be personal speculation) AonDor can be used anywhere on Sel without the help of the massive Aon, but it can never be used elsewhere in the Cosmere because there is no power to draw from. We've got WoB that shadesmar on Sel is a particularly dangerous place because of some uncontrolled power. The closest any other Cosmere world comes to this is Roshar, where we have WoB that Spren have prevented similar circumstances by providing a "release valve" of sorts. Scadrial apparently came close when Preservation died, but they apparently have Kelsier to thank for preventing it. It may then be possible to use a weaker form of Selian magic on Roshar, assuming it's tied to realmatic theory and not the nature of Devotion. As a side note, I wonder if the Dawncities on Roshar have a similar purpose to the Aons on Sel? Each of the Selian magics are tied to their city of origin, (to correct my statement above, forgery is apparently tied to MaiPon) so could the Cymatic structures of the Dawncities have a related effect on Roshar?

I've got a somewhat related theory over here. I think it's also important to remember that even in Vorinism, they don't actually think that Jezrien has all that much to do with the storms. It was simply a title for him, and a bunch of sharders with whom I disagree seem to think he actually IS the storm (not to bash them or anything -- they could very well be right). As far as we actually know, Kaladin is the only person who's seen the face in the storm. It could be mere coincidence (or better yet, your theory) that both Jezrien and the leader of the Honorspren are called Stormfather. I think it's important to remember that Rosharans don't anthropomorphise the storms in the way we do. (they aren't nearly as cosmerically aware as us). Given how BS likes to play with what people in his worlds assume they understand, I'd say that there's actually a pretty good foundation for your theory. As far as we understand the Heralds, they didn't actually have spren. The spren apparently came up with the idea of bonding to form the KR all by themselves. That doesn't necessarily mean he didn't have a spren, we just have no reason to believe that he did.

I don't know -- he seemed pretty straightforward when he said it. I think the question was something about if Kelsier or Hoid would win in a fight, and he just said "Hoid is the most powerful non-shard in the Cosmere, so he would win". There wasn't much thought or hesitation put into it, so I can only assume it was more than just a technicality for the situation. (I could be wrong on the question, though. If anyone with a transcript could check that, that'd be awesome) On the question of contextual power: I was always under the assumption that Allomancy would work with any metal because the metal operates sort of like an enzyme to allow the Allomancer to use preservation's power, while the Allomancer's ability to burn metals is actually written into their sDNA. Feruchemy is tied to the physics of the Cosmere (and isn't actually directly tied to a shard) so it should work anywhere. Hemalurgy is the most interesting of the Scadrian magics, because we have WoB that it has some incredible effects when used on other types of investiture, such as Awakening and Surgebinding (It's also arguably the most secret after the fall of the Steel Ministry). Awakening, Forgery, and Soulcasting are related to an object's cognitive aspect, so they should work anywhere in the Cosmere as well. AonDor is the only location-specific magic I can think of, because it relies on the power left on Sel by Devotion. In fact, it doesn't work on most of the Sel itself. Surgebinding could also be tricky if you ran out of stormlight on another planet -- That probably makes Lift the most powerful modern Rosharan in the Cosmere, actually.

I thought that they feared him because he we surgebinding. It wasn't an instinctive fear, but a rational and focused one. The Parshendi believed that Gavilar was about to do something that would bring back the Old Gods, and Darkness says that he is hunting people who do things that could bring back the Desolations. Given that Jasnah believes the Parshendi are the Voidbringers, I think it's a common belief that the "Old Gods" are related to the Desolations (possible Thunderclasts or corrupt Spren). They don't fear Kaladin's surgebinding because it is incredibly deadly, they fear it because they believe he is going to bring back the Desolations by using it. It makes sense, then, that they would fear Kaladin, but do everything they can to kill him. On the OP's point, I think that Eshonai will meet with Kaladin at some point, but he won't be able to help them for lack of any real influence in the army (an easy mistake to make, because Eshonai doesn't realize that nobody in the army knows of Kaladin's power). Shen will probably set up the meeting, as he is steadily becoming more independent (bonding a spren, perhaps?)

Sooo many things... I'll try to keep this as orderly as possible: Kaladin's revelation that he's a Windrunner to Dalinar. He's already implied that he want to help Dalinar refound the KR, so it makes sense that this will happen fairly quickly. Adolin wins in duels. I really want Bridge Four to get the shards. I've got no idea why this would happen, but those shards need to be put to use somewhere! Also, the duels will be awesome as well. Nahel Spren revelations. Assuming that KR can see other bonded spren, Jasnah and Shallan's arrival in the shattered plains will be epic beyond belief. Given the hints that this won't occur until the end of the book, I think it may be the Sanderson Avalanche. This deseves some sup-points, though: Pattern and Syl! Both adorable in their own right, but they have an instinctive distrust of each other. I want to see them overcome their instinct and become best of friends! Jasnah and Kaladin! My guess is that Jasnah will freak out when she sees a darkeyed captain with a bonded spren guarding her family. No idea if it will be a positive or negative reaction, but it will be amazing nonetheless. Elhokar and Pattern! Elhokar will probably notice Shallan for the first time at some feast or some-such, but he won't think much about her until he notices Pattern hanging around. Given his history, He'll probably freak out and try to have her killed for "conspiring" with the Cryptics or something. Jasnah will probably have to talk him down. It will be fantastic. Szeth v. Kaladin. A fan favorite, but I doubt Kaladin can take Szeth on his own. He'll probably be helped by Dalinar or Jasnah, and it will be a great bonding experience for them. Darkness in the camps. Since Jasnah, Shallan, and Kaladin haven't don't anything illegal, Darkness doesn't have any excuse to kill them yet (that's my theory on why he hasn't finished them off already). He'll probably spend most of the book watching and threatening them. Maybe this is where Kaladin's slave brand will come into effect -- Darkness might assume he's a runaway and Kaladin will have to fight him off. Shen. So much Shen. My guess is he'll bond a spren at some point, then try to get Bridge Four to reconcile their differences with the Parshendi after whatever disaster Navani is talking about happens. He'll have a ton of rapid character development as soon as he becomes more intelligent, and Bridge Four will need to protect him from the rest of the camps. Kaladin's promotion. Kaladin always get's promoted. He's just that awesome. Now that he's already the highest Darkeyed rank, it'll be interesting to see him once he become the head of the KR or something. Wit's witless "wittiness" and his wandering whereabouts while we watch the wonderful yet weak Renarin work to welcome the wedding of his one brother. Why wouldn't we want to watch what Wit will do? Because alliteration! In all seriousness, I have no idea what Wit will do, or what he's been up to recently. What I do know is the he's amazing. He'll probably throw some knowledge bombs at a character that won't appreciate them again (def not Jasnah), and have an epic verbal duel with Shallan. There's really no way BS can go wrong with anything involving Wit. Amaram stuff. There's lots here, as well. He'll probably do everything he can to help Dalinar while still being loyal to Sadeas, because he really is a good person. Kaladin will probably flip out at his existence, and will be stopped from killing him by Dalinar and Syl. To top it all off, Adolin will probably give the shards he wins from his duel with Amaram to Kaladin without realizing the significance, because books work like that. Adventures in Shadesmar. There's got to be a lot of Shadesmar stuff in WoR. Shallan needs to learn soulcasting, and Jasnah will probably begin to discover transportation! Bridge Four Commandos. I can't wait for them to become a real fighting force, and get into some serious battles with real weapons, armor, and training. Shallan and Adolin! I refuse to turn their names into a portmanteau. I am, however, really excited for this! I actually think Adolin is a really nice guy, and I think his devotion to duty over making people like him is admirable. Shallan will get along fine with him, but they're going to be super awkward at first. It will be both adorable and cringe worthy at the same time. (Also, props to Shallan for not freaking out about an arranged marriage, and for being objective enough to realize she's not all that great at romance on her own!) The Parshendi. Can't wait to see what's the deal with Storm Form. Also, I'm betting Eshonai will have a meeting with Kaladin at some point (probably set up by Shen) to try to get the Alethi to back down. Kaladin will want to help, but won't have the authority or influence at the time. Sadeas dies horribly. This one has no foundation whatsoever. I just want it to happen. Wit's Epilogue. BS hinted that he says something about expectations, so I can't wait for mine to be blown away. Also, I want to see Wit's sword. Shallan's drawing of Kaladin. Because she draws everybody, and Kaladin is a striking person. I just want to see when it happens, and if she draws Syl in unconsciously. Kaladin and Adolin become Bros. They can't stay mad at each other forever, can they? King T's mission. We know he's on a boat, but have no idea where or why. I can't wait to see what he's up to! The Ghostbloods. Are they secretly an inner-city gang? Maybe a secret rap group? I need to know more! How do they relate to the Davars, King T, and Gavilar? The Black Stone. I doubt it'll be explained fully in WoR, but I hope they at least discover it at some point. Szeth will probably tell Dalinar just before trying to kill him. Jasnah is proven wrong. She'll have to confront the fact that Honor is (or was) real and not just a powerful spren, but I don't think she'll accept it yet. It'll be interesting to see what she does if her entire worldview is thrown askew. What's Taln up to? It would be awesome listening to a conversation between him and Wit. I assume they'll be seen together at some point, as Wit did find him. (Also, how did Wit know where to be? It'll probably be asked, but I don't think Wit will get into Feruchemy just yet.) More 17th Shard! Can you blame me for wanting us to show up again? Some meaty dialogue between sharders would be amazing, ut they'll probably just switch languages like they did last time... I can hope though! Cosmere crossover madness! I want Kelsier to show up and attack Hoid (apparently he wants to) who defends himself with his awakened blade. Throw in loads of Allomancy, Awakening, and some Aons and it'll be the single most epic moment on Roshar. Not likely, but I can dream, can't I? So that was a bit more than I intended, but I don't really care. I can't wait for March 4th!

Assuming Sanderson meant that Hoid is the most powerful non-shard through any book, that makes him pretty absurdly powerful. The Lord Ruler and Susebron were excessively powerful at their peaks, so if Hoid is hands-down more powerful than both of them...

While I seriously doubt this will be the case, it's a pretty fascinating possibility. What if Urithiru is on top of the highstorms? It would make sense for the home of Radiants to be so full of power that thousands of years later it is leaking this power back to Roshar. If we assume that highstorms weren't a problem before the Recreance (I'm pretty sure there is some evidence for this) then it is reasonable to believe Urithiru started to float around the world aimlessly since it was abandoned. It would be pretty awesome to see Kaladin flying a highstorm-city into an army of voidbringers. Pretty ridiculous speculation, but awesome nonetheless.

What if all of the "megaspren" are actually shards of Honor? We have WoB that raw investiture is very dangerous, and the reason Shadesmar is safer on Roshar than Sel has something to do with a "release valve" for all that energy. We've been assuming that the since the spren are so much more common than Seons, they are what allows the energy to slowly bleed away. What if we've got that all wrong, and the NIghtwatcher, Cusicesh, and the Stormfather are actually all spren that have taken up some of Honor's power? Spren are nothing more than ideas given life, so why can't power be given life in the same way? I don't buy that the Stormfather is Jezrien, simply because it makes no sense for him to want to get back into the game after breaking the Oathpact. And why would he want to provide power for surgebinding when most of the heralds want to keep surgebinding away? The Darkness quote that is used for evidence seems to me to support the theory that the drunked man in the prologue is Jezrien. It fits nicely with the corruption of the Heralds theory as well.