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Has Brandon ever said if we will ever learn more about the magic system on darkside from White sand, either in the graphic novel or a prose version? I really want to know what's going on with scythe, he sounds very Lord rulery to me. White sand (prose) is one of favorite cosmere stories and it ends on such a cliffhanger! I hope he goes back to the world some day.

The epic fantasy genre is still relatively young, at least compared to other literary genres. The foundational work of creating an entirely new category of literature, one defined by the creation of an entirely new fictional world where the story takes place, is attributed to J.R.R. Tolkien. Everything Tolkien had done have become standard fantasy tropes: dark lords, medieval settings, elves and dwarves. Of interest here is the medieval settings part, which defines so much of the fantasy genre: fantasy world settings are mostly based on Europe, around the medieval time period in thought and technology and the nobility. I'm not referring to the quality here, which is it's own trope, but the idea related to class & bloodline & the divine right of kings. Brandon Sanderson is Mormon, so the portrayal of religion in his works is something that has been discussed a lot. You can find answers to most questions you might want to ask him regarding this on his site itself and there's plenty of discussion here on the forums, on reddit, etc. The trope of nobles and commoners in his works, however, is something that is not discussed enough in my opinion, and when it is, it's usually mentioned as a throw-away comment: "yes, we get it, Brandon, not all nobles (are bad)" This trope has evolved over time from its origin, the divine right of kings. In the Lord of the Rings the only difference between the line of Kings and the line of Stewards is their pedigree. Some people are apparently inherently superior and thus have the right to rule over the rest of them. Let's not get into the other critiques of LoTR like race or apologetics (I suggest looking into CS Lewis for more on this). Denethor was a bad ruler not just because he was a bad ruler but because he wasn't the rightful ruler. Aragorn comes and he's the rightful heir and everything's chill now. The themes are still kinda there in Sanderson's works too, the trope has been transformed but not truly subverted. In Mistborn era 1, book 2, Elend institutes a constitutional monarchy which is still very skewed with only 1/3 of the representatives being skaa. This assembly then boots him out, rightfully through Elend's own laws but Vin goes on a rampage of murdering and/or forcing his competitors to submit to his rule. In book 3, he decides that the time for debates and legislatures is later somewhere in the indeterminate future when the crisis is over. I do understand what the stakes were that motivated him to do the things he did. I'm simply pointing out a plot point. In era 2 of Mistborn, the legislative branch is divided into two halves: half elected and half aristocrats. The main protagonist is one of the aristocrats and one of the overarching character arcs for him was about accepting the responsibility of being an aristocrat. There are forces from outside of Scadrial who are involved in trying to topple this system. In Warbreaker, the God-King of Hallandren, Susebron was a figurehead ruler with the power being concentrated in the Court of Gods. The other main characters all belong to the ruling classes as well: two princesses, one of them also the queen, a member of the Court of Gods, and an enigmatic former ruler. The antagonists wanted to overthrow the system but are thwarted at the end by Susebron who comes into his powers after having been educated by the princess-queen and given back his tongue by magic. Hallandren's future looks just a bit brighter with its rightful ruler in power. In The Stormlight Archives much of the story revolves around the Kholin family, who reunified the broken kingdom of Alethkar. The idea of fighting against the Lighteyes does exist but that stuff is less important than unifying under them to face a greater threat. Also, Lighteyes are mostly descended from the ancient Knights Radiant whose eyes glowed the colour of their Order, that's where both the colour and the notion of superiority came from. In Elantris, the kingdom of Arelon moves on from plutocracy to monarchy, but we shouldn't worry because Raoden is pretty chill. ~spoilers for Aether of Night~ I'm not saying that these issues might not get resolved in future sequels. The Mistborn era 2 broadsheets seem to be hinting at civil unrest and discontent. And if @asmodeus's theory* is right, it might become a major plot point in eras 3 & 4 Stormlight might not just be about the fight against Odium but a fight against hatred. And again, I'm aware of the plot, circumstances and characteristics behind these noble characters. I'm just pointing out that these were actual plot points in the stories. Brandon has broken quite a few tropes in his prolific career but for now at least, it seems, that this is the trope that would not break *asmodeus' theory: Also, go read Powder Mage you guys! Edit: There is a subversion of this trope in Sanderson's work: White Sand. Making the Diem less dictatorial and more accountable is one of the most integral parts of the plot.

I have a crazy fridge theory about our Stalker Musician and Guitar. Now it's generally thought that the Musician is Hoid, and we know that Hoid has a love for musical instruments (at least in the Stormlight Archives). first he uses a flute that he is very fond of which he gives to Kaladin. Then next we see him he has a Guitar that seems to have more than one player. I subject that Hoid either got or has the guitar in White Sand, the very one we see in fact, took it with him on his Cosmere Grand Tour before eventually managing to awake it on Nalthis. I also believe that by the end of Part 3, that Guitar and Musician will have a role to play. But we shall see.

Why was Ais' gender changed from the prose to the graphic novels? And since it was changed, why were the gender dynamics on Taldain also changed from prose to the graphic novels? Wouldn't it have made for a stronger characterisation of Ais if she had to deal with being a Trackt, a Kerztian and a woman within that society? Why change that? Why did we get handwaved gender equality? The Daysiders, the Kerztians in particular were very patriarchal, the Darksiders were more advanced but were still patriarchal like on Earth. Why was this changed in the graphic novels?

I was wondering if there was a way to summarize the entire Cosmere in one sentence. My favorite that I have heard is "For storm's sake Hoid, what stormery are you up to now."

Just a heads up - the third volume of White Sand now has a cover, plot description, and release date of June 25, 2019 over at Amazon! And I think it's the best cover of the three. Check it: https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Sandersons-White-Sand-3/dp/152411006X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544615315&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=white+sand+vol+3

Does Hoid show up in white sand? and if yes, where does he show up? Because I don't remember seeing him at all

I had a theory. In Mistborn era 1 Sazed talks about a religious group, the Nelazan, who worshipped the stars, a god with a thousand eyes named Trell. Could it be that this religion actually originates from people who moved from Taldain to Scadrial, and the religion of The Sand Lord/Autonomy morphed into this.... And perhaps this exodus was led by Trell the construction foreman and somehow over time his name became associated with their god.

How old is Khriss during all of the books? And do worldhoppers age slower or something, because she is in secret history, era 2, stormlight, and of course white sand which must have come first. My guess is at least 230 years old during Stormlight.

At the end of White Sand [prose version] Kenton decides to chase after Khriss, and we're left without knowing how that turns out. As we know, Khriss later becomes a notable worldhopper. Has anyone here spotted anyone else fitting Kenton's description in other Cosmere works, indicating that Kenton also became a worldhopper?

I've been re-reading the Cosmere the last few months and I just got onto my Oathbringer reread. This time around I caught something that I hadn't seen talked about so I figured I'd point it out; When Shallan is exploring Kholinar as Veil she encounters Hoid telling the story of Mishim. He recognizes her through her illusion. Shallan comments that Hoid has a white and black jar in his satchel. This is a jar of White Sand and is likely how he identified her since the Kinetic Investiture of her illusion would change the sand's color.

Hey guys any Idea how can I get White Sand prose ?

Trell has been a character of interest in the Cosmere ever since the Alloy of Law book. There are tons of crazy theories on Trell and Trelagism, so I thought I'd share some of mine. Trelagism reminds me a LOT of the Shardworld Taldain. One one side it's constantly daytime - Dayside - and on the other it's constantly night - Darkside. In the religion Trelagism, worshipped by the Nelazan on Scadrial, they thought that night was sacred, as they could see the Thousand Eyes of Trell, which were the stars. This could be a reference to Darkside, and it's entirely possible some Darksiders travelled to Scadrial and spread their beliefs. White Sand takes place waaay before Mistborn. Trell, supposedly an Avatar of Autonomy, could have gone to Scadrial himself. In Trelagism, Trell was the stars and Nalt was the sun. This isn't something crazy, but I connected Nalt to Nalthis for some reason. Is this a coincidence or am I connecting two random things for no reason.

For those who haven't read volume two yet (what are you doing?), A regular dude named Trell shows up for one page, and is never seen again. I nearly fell off my chair when that happened. Any ideas of what this could mean?

There is a Kenton Street in Luthadel. Khriss. What did you do to Kenton. My idea is that Kenton died, and that Khriss was there while Luthadel was built, then wrote down Kenton Street as a memorial to him. Thoughts?

So one of the first things we learn about in White Sand is that Taldain is tidally locked to it's star. This means that the Dayside should be (very) much too hot to live on, and the Nightside should be (very) much too cold to live on. The only reason I can think of that makes at least a little sense is that some of the energy that should be given out from the sun is actually converted into Investiture, which is why Sand always turns white again, if left in the sun. For this to work, lnvestiture would actually have to be a form of energy, as there has to be a lot of energy converted for Taldain not to be too hot, and for it to be converted in the first place, it would have to be a form of energy. However, this means that the Nightside would be even colder. Taldain does not look like a very nice place to live. The only other explanation that i can think of is that Autonomy fiddled with the anatomy of the humans who live there (TLR 2.0) or that he fiddled with the planet, e.g. made the planet with varying levels of thickness in the atmosphere so that the thermal energy reflected by the white sand (some kind of effect, where infrared radiation gets reflected by the colour white, can't remember what it's called), and it gets bounced all the way back to the Nightside. What do you think?

Hey all, just got through my second read through of Volume 2, and something caught my attention the second time through. Was this something they changed or am I simply mis-remembering something? Other than that has anyone caught sight of our favorite trickster? Last I heard the musician from the first volume was the best suspect and I didn't sense any new contenders this volume.

I am currently listening to the Oathbringer audio book, I've already read it, and caught this phrase. I don't know if that is saying the jar itself was white and black, or if it's contents are. If it is the jars contents, I think that Hoid is a sand master, as once white sand is used, it turns black, until it is recharged. This is very little evidence, and I can't recall if there are any other clues like this in any of the other Cosmere books.

Hey i'm new is it possible to get a copy of white sand and aether of night,