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Being fans of Brandon Sanderson, we suffer a terrible curse even as we enjoy his blessings. The author we adore creates brilliantly, breathtakingly well-designed worlds. We fall in love with his worlds. We wish to explore them to the fullest extent. We wish to see more of them than even his prolific novel-writing can sate. One world that I and many others have fallen in love with is the world of the Reckoners. If you're on this board then you've likely read at least Steelheart; I think we've all gaped in awe at the vividly realized world of heroes and tyrannical supervillains that Sanderson weaved for us. To be honest, my heart fills with sadness whenever I contemplate how we will only be treated to three total novels set in this world. I weep at the thought of how much of the Reckoners' world must by necessity be forever unseen. Darn it, Kobold, I hear you saying, why are you depressing us? Why are you pointing out these sad, sad things! Well my friends, I am saying them because I've been doctoring my melancholy with a vivid fantasy that I'd like to share with you: "The Illustrated Guide to Epics." Great authors like Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin put out compendiums detailing the histories and landscapes of their worlds. What if Brandon Sanderson created a similar compendium of the Reckonerverse? While his massive workload might very well prohibit this, I can't help but give a wistful sigh at the idea. (And rest assured I'd lay down good money to read it. If you see this, Mr. Ahlstrom, be sure to tell your employer that I said that. ) A few things I'd like to see in such a compendium, if one were ever published: An in-universe point of view; the book could be written in the form of David's notes about various Epics, detailing both his categorization system and the amount of knowledge he was able to accumulate on them. Bonus points if his (in)famous metaphors are brought up at least once--"Obliteration melted San Diego like a scoop of buttery ice cream laid on top of a nuclear reactor while a giant hairdryer blows on it," for instance. A detailed map of the Fractured States, marking the territories of various Epic tyrannies. We know that Steelheart and the Coven at least laid claim to large portions of land; wouldn't it be nice to know the boundaries to their kingdoms, or to learn about the other Epic nations scourging the land? Bountiful information on the many Epics known to David. Definitely more detailed accounts of Epics we've seen in the books, like Steelheart, Nightwielder, or Newton, but I'd also like to see bios of Epics who are either mentioned only in passing or not heard of at all, such as the Snowfall, the Pink Pinkness, or the nameless Epics responsible for the destruction of Oregon. And last but not least, a general overview of how the world in general responded to Epics. Have all the world's countries succumbed to their tyranny? Are there still human strongholds in the world? Those are just a few things I'd like to see in an official guide to the Reckonerverse. Does anyone else have anything they'd really like to see?

So...Hi. Anyway, I was wondering what calamity was. It's not a shard because it's not part of the Cosmere, so is it just the first Epic, (who is a super-powerful Gifter) or something different? In Firefight, Tia is revealed to be a rocket scientist at NASA, (Prof and his friends take a field trip there) After, Prof and his two friends are revealed to be Epics. This raises two questions. One, is this a coincidence? Two, if it's not, why isn't Tia an Epic? Or is she? Anyway, I think that NASA is connected to it somehow. Did they create Calamity? Find it in space? Open a wormhole? (Question 3: Is Calamity Darth Vader?)

No, this topic's not about the Reckonerverse characters re-imagined in a kindergarten setting. (Though for the record, if we ever have that conversation I want to be a part of it.) This topic is for discussing a new WoB about Epics, and attempting to decipher what it could possibly mean. At the Reddit AMA, Brandon Sanderson was asked whether Epics could have children, and whether their children would in any way inherent their parents' Epicness. He responded like so: For a long time, I believed Epics were sterile. I believed this largely because of the info on Epic genetics we received in the first book, informing us Epic DNA is mutated from the normal human genome. I assumed that such mutants would be incapable of reproduction. I was, in a word, wrong. Not only can they reproduce, but their children can in some cases inherit Epicness from their parents. But how exactly does that work as a mechanic? Do they inherit the same powers as their parents, or do they gain new abilities of their own? Do they inherit the same weaknesses? How many Epics have sired or given birth to offspring since Calamity first rose? As a side note before I turn over the reins of conversation to you guys, I'd like to place my bet now that Night's Sorrow, long speculated to be in the final book, is a child, and possibly the spawn of two Epics. We'll see if I'm any closer to the truth now than I was about Epic sterility.

Epics are hot. And this time, I don't just mean Obliteration. Here's a description of Deathpoint: And here's Big S himself: So that's at least two different instances of Epics being noticeably more fit than a normal human being. From an out-of-universe perspective, I feel that this detail is meant as a reference to a certain trope from comic books, in which male characters look like they should be lifting weights at a circus and female characters look like Barbie dolls that have undergone extensive plastic surgery. What I can't help but wonder is whether there's also an in-universe reason for this phenomenon. Does whatever DNA-voodoo that goes on in Epic mitochondria affect their appearances somehow? Do Epics feel an urge to hit the gym more often than a normal human? Was Calamity a fitness nut who only selects people who fits his high standards, with more muscular individuals like Steelheart receiving the best powers?

Being involved with the Reckoner’s RP I did a lot of thinking about weaknesses, both for my own Epics and to a lesser extend for those of others. I always wondered if a weakness fits with what we’ve seen from the books. In those musings I noticed some trends, some of which can be spread across all weakness and with some it’s just that none of them go against it, even if they are closely related to the topic at hand. Naturally, the small sample size means a lot of this in conjecture but given that we now know there’s some order to weakness there might be even more. On to the list! The root trauma: This one is a given, the books downright tell us that these roots exist. I just want to take the chance to point out that in my opinion the term “fear” as used in the books isn’t ideal and if anything oversimplifies the matter. Looking at the known origin of weaknesses we know they always come from something in the Epics past that left a scar on them and not just something they just happen to be afraid of like spiders. Even more looking at Mitosis, the Epic who’s reason for being written was mostly to hint towards the fact that weaknesses are connected to their past, his weakness didn’t really come from fear. He hated his situation in life and it ate him up from the inside but I wouldn’t exactly call that fear. Just wanted to get it out of my system that I like the term (psychological) trauma more in this context. Generalization: Pretty much what it say on the tin. Weaknesses are connected to an event but can be triggered without all the details matching up. E.g. Megan reacts to fire not burning houses, Newton doesn’t need to be complimented by her parents, Steelheart didn’t have to be confronted by that one specific guy etc. A part of this is also that weaknesses can’t really disappear, the brand that Sourcefield was poinsioned with as a child may be out of business but that doesn’t mean similar drinks can’t be created. Lack of intent: From what we have seen it doesn’t matter what someone is thinking while doing something or why they do it. Only what they do seems important to triggering weaknesses. E.g. Steelheart had no clue what he actually did, when he pulled the trigger but the explosion still counted as his attack and could harm him. The compliment David gave Newton was obviously insincere, yet it still allowed him to kill her. External/lack of control: This is admittedly one point I’m less sure about and it might simply come from the lack of data points, but no weakness we have seen requires the Epic to think something or do anything specific, it’s always just something around them, be it an object, people with certain qualities etc. Always something they have no control over, which also plays into the lack of intent. Repeat: This one is impossible to prove and more something that seems logical. I simply think that if an Epic is in the situation that his weakness originates from, then his weakness should trigger, which puts a limit on how abstract a weakness can be in relation to the event in question. These are the patterns I noticed and I while again there is little hard proof but no Epic breaks these rules and they make sense with the theme of trauma/fear that weaknesses are connected with.

So, we know from Firefight that your worst nightmare (or greatest fear) becomes your weakness. Heres the question: If you became an epic, would you be able to overcome your own personal weakness to rid yourself of the destructive effects of your epic powers? My answer: I do not think that I would be able to overcome my fear. I have a very rational fear of spiders. It is a rational fear because I have a reasoning for why I fear them. My reason was, when I was in the 5th grade, my grade went on a field trip to a summer camp for three days. While we were there, this guy kept chasing me holding spiders, which caused me to panic (he also attempted to put them on me and a girl in my cabin claimed to have put a spider in my bed. I never found out the validity of the latter). Ever since, I have been absolutely terrified of spiders. I have tried many times and numerous methods to get over my fear, and nothing has worked.

Hi all, this is my first post, so wish me luck! So on the last page of Firefight, Dawnslight gives a message to David saying: "dream good dreams Steelslayer." I've been thinking about this a lot, and what if it means that David has the potential to be an Epic, but since he has no identifiable fear that could be turned into a weakness, as he faced down water, he is not an Epic yet. If he ever gets one, then has nightmares about it, it could define his weakness, causing his powers to then manifest; you can't have an Epic without a weakness. Thanks for reading my musings.

So i have been reading multiple theory's about the world of Steelheart and i wove a few of the ideas together to make a single concept. Please let me know what you think: Most of this is pure speculation and after a few days of forum digging...collecting the best theory's. Much like David my analogies leave something ot be desired...take with a grain of salt. Epics: Candidates: People with great hubris or pride. Saw themselves better than others...apart..unique...but suddenly lose everything...triggering a fight or flight demand of Calamity. Trigger: Humans were gifted powers when they had a "Great need" for something. The need had to be so great that they were willing to give away everything (their soul/spirit/sense of self?) to gain the powers. Primary Powers: A solution to their "Great Need" Secondary Powers: A direct correlation to your skepticism. Secondary powers usually balanced or enhanced your primary powers. Imagine you and a friend making up a superhero. Non skeptics would just want 1 or 2 powers. Skeptics would be like "Sure...im invincible...but what if someone is far away (laser blasts)...well what if i need to get around fast (Flight)...well what if Bla bla bla. (This concept plays into weaknesses and steel heart and pride later on). Strengths: Situations where their most powerful. These are always situations/feelings from their past as a mortal when they felt their strongest. Weaknesses: Your darkest insecurity...internal weakness or fear. Often observed as an object or situation...in reality it's a state of mind that weakens the epic. Situations/feeling from their mortal past when they felt weakest. Overview- Basically all powers and weaknesses seem to be a direct feed into the psyche or mentality of the one gifted. Why Do we get powers?: Calamity itself is an epic/original epic/ source point to unlimited power. Calamity itself has discovered that using the powers brings out the worst in you and corrupts you, so calamity is trying to "Gift away" its powers to try and restore its own sense of self. basically : Calamity gives you your deepest desire for selfish reasons, but it can only give them to you if you want it bad enough and are willing to soil to do it. Note about powers: Powers are fluid...they gain in Strength as your confident and wane when you feel weak. (ex: Steel heart is the most confident and most indestructible when its Epic vs. Epic. Other epics lose to him or seem to have weaker powers when they fear him...or feel weaker. Additional example...there is no reason death point shouldn't have been able to kill steel heart except steel heart came in with so much bravado...it made death point question his power. )(3rd Ex: Tensors were "fake/smokescreen" and really just gifted powers to the team. Davids powers stopped working during the conflux heist because the professor was insecure about being able to protect his team...so his gift weakened. That's why he told david to "try again" and david said "he felt the power but it was harder to reach".

Just jumping into the forums. Originally I signed up to post a meme here that I based on the Stormlight Archive (att. below) but I intend to stay! And really I intended to join before but never got around to it. Just threw together a profile pic and feeling at home here already. IMO Stormlight Archive is Sanderson's clear masterpiece, but my personal favorite is Elantris currently. Favorite character Steelheart with Marsh as a second.

A question that's been lurking around in my mind for quite some time now is that are you born an epic or is there a certain age at which you become a epic. I have my doubts about David being an epic.. i mean he's definitely not one yet but if there is a certain age or a specific time in your life that triggers you becoming a epic then theres a chance David will become an epic in future sequels.