Search the Community

Hi Sanderfans/Sharders, I will be posting a series of "scrolls" about Moshe Feder, Brandon's Tor editor, on my blog. Moshe was the person who "discovered" Brandon and acquired Brandon's sixth novel Elantris in 2003. In 2005, Elantris became Brandon's first published novel. Moshe has kindly agreed to be interviewed for this series. Here is the first "scroll" in case any of you are interested to check it out: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/08/moshe-man-behind-copper-mind-scroll-1.html This is the first scroll in what is expected to be a multi-short scroll series on Moshe. A future planned "scroll" will document half of Brandon's twin inspiration for including characters like Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, who all suffer from various mental health issues, in his Stormlight Archive series. Moshe himself is one half of this inspiration, and I will be documenting Moshe's bout of bipolar that he wants to share in order to help raise awareness about mental health issues. When I asked him if it would be a painful thing for him to share, he had this to say: "Not painful to share. It’s a duty to help fellow sufferers and to work on reducing stigma. When I was Corflu (fanzine fan con) GoH, it was a major part of my speech." Hope you do enjoy the series if you decide to check it out! Warmest Regards Sharon Hooper

When reading through Words of Radiance I noticed a similarity between the map of the Shattered Plains and the picture at the beginning of The Way of Kings that depicted the glyphs for the KR and their surges (see pictures below). Both of these images appear to have two dragons facing each other (or at least what I think are dragons, for they look a lot like what I would imagine a dragon looking like). In the case of the KR picture, you can see the entire body of both the dragons, while in the map of the Shattered Plains only the heads can be seen, yet they are unmistakably the same heads as the ones in the picture of the KR. If you think they look like something else be sure to comment it! I am unsure about what this means, but I believe that it most likely has to do with the reason the plains are shattered in addition to something about, most likely the founding of, the Knights Radiant. There is also a glyph repeated, forming a frame, around the side of the picture of the KR. I have drawn it so it can be seen easier. I am unsure what this glyph means, though I am pretty sure it is important as it is in the very first page of the Stormlight Archive in addition to being displayed largely on Sanderson's webpage, or if the meaning of it is known. If the meaning of it is known please tell me! Here are the photos that were talked about. I have circled and labeled the parts I talked about for your convenience. KR: Shattered Plains: I apologize if it is hard to read. Look for the text and then follow the arrows from them if you cannot find the circles.

So I read some things saying that Stormlight Archive will be 5 books, and others saying it will be 10 books. Which one is correct? (I found both sources on the Brandon Sanderson website)

So.... spoiler alert..... if Dalinar has bonded with the stormfather, and the stormfather is who infuses gems with light, and if Dalinar can control his new spren enough, can he change the way highstorms interact with the world? Ex. frequency, strength etc the point I am trying to get to is if he can learn to exert a certain level of control through his nahel bond he can essentially control the amount of stormlight given (which would control one of the most valuable things on roshar, currency) he could change and possibly crash the economy based on his will alone. also does this mean that he can hold out long enough that all surgebinders starve and go powerless? Same with shardplate? Does he get an unlimited amount of stormlight directly from his spren? Does he have unlimited bondsmithing potential while destroying the economy and making all magical forms of attack and defense (besides shardblades) useless? No radiant police force to stop him after they run out of stormlight.... It is a very good thing that Dalinar is a level headed, well rounded, honorable man.

Okay am I the only one here who thinks this whole Helaran killed by Kaladin is a little too convenient..... Well. It just seems to me that Helaran dying on a battle field only six months after his father ordered his death by assassination a little to coincidental seems to me that whoever it was that died in that battle at Kaladins hands may not perhaps be Helaran and that may perhap turn up in next book right around the time that Shallan figures out that Kaladin was the one who killed the shard barer. More than likely he will show up to help convince her to work more closely with the ghostblood... It's a legit theory I mean the only eviadance that we have that Helaran is dead after all is what his shard blade which he wielded once years ago and the fact the dead guy had red hair... I doubt the ghostbloods would leave a tool like a shard blade to be used by only one person and as for the hair colour the dispute took place on a boarder near the horneater mountain ranges where everyone's hair is red. Also who else would have enough influence to convince her brothers to leave there home and go to uruthiru without an argument or a fight. I think Helaran is alive and I think he's going to turn into a major pain in the chull... Just saying.

I'd like to preface this by saying that I always was and still am a huge fan of Sanderson's work and I have a lot of respect for him as a writer; This post is partly to give criticism and partly to have others convince me that this was a good decision. So I'm sorta writing this from memory because I don't have a copy of Oathbringer at hand, I would appreciate any corrections as I'm no Archivist. As I'm sure most of us know (I actually just found out earlier this morning), Kaladin's final fight with Szeth has been altered from the original to state that Kal hesitated and Szeth died because of the storm instead of being stabbed through the neck. This is a good point, and we'd already seen Kaladin take some huge steps towards holding this ideal in his heart above all else... But at the end of Oathbringer, when Kal is tasked with protecting Dalinar from Amaram, it feels like Kaladin is using he excuse of protection to take his vengeance. It just feels wrong to me, and against Kal's oaths. He should not be glad to have the opportunity to square off with a demon from his past, that is more of an act of vengeance. In the end, Kaladin would have killed Amaram if given the chance, and he feels no remorse when Rock does the killing blow. Given the far more personal nature of this conflict, this honestly seems like an even worse act of vengeance than what happened to Szeth originally. So how is this any different? Again I'm writing this all from memory and I would appreciate clarification.

For school, I have to compare and contrast a specific part The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. I am writing my essay on the plot structure. Ideas would be appreciated. I already plan to write about how they both focus around a character, WoK around Kaladian and WoR around Shallan, and tell that character's backstory through flashbacks. However, more ideas to help me out would be great.

Not all of you may remember, but before the prologue of WoK, there was a section that took place 4500 years ago. It detailed the abandoning of the Oathpact, the pact forged by the Heralds to defend humanity from the Voidbringers. This moment was never important until now. So why was the section taken from Kalak's point of view? Why not Nale, Jezrien, Ishar, or Taln himself? Is this fact important? Am I over thinking this? Let me know what you think below along with any theories.

Hey all, I am working my way through my reread of The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance in preparation for release day, and I have stumbled upon something I thought might be noteworthy, but could be entirely coincidental. In the Axies interlude of WOK, it is mentioned that one of the many things that separates Axies, and Siah Aimians in general, from the human population is that their shadow extends towards light sources, not away. In Jasnah's prologue for WoR, when she is having what may well be her first interaction with Ivory, she notices her shadows extending toward the light, not away. This causes her no small amount of panic and terminates in her first(?), unintentional trip into Shadesmar. Does this indicate a relation between Siah Aimians and Elsecallers, or is Ivory (who always, so far, appears ink black in the PR) non-verbally trying to teach Jasnah that she has a link to Stormlight by extending himself, disguised as her shadow, towards the gemstones? Or is it somewhere in between?

Okay, here's what I'm basing this theory on. First, from what I understand, we know that Hoid was present, at the Shattering of Adonalsium. Next, we know that Hoid was offered a Shard, and refused to take it. (please note that this is my personal understanding, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Now, here's my evidence. This all comes from the chapter heading of Part 4 of WoR. These chapter headings are a letter from Frost to Hoid, in reply to Hoid's letter to Frost, through the chapter headings of one of the parts of TWoK. Here are my quotes: "Is not the destruction we have wrought enough? The worlds you now tread bear the touch and design of Adonalsium. Our interference so far has brought nothing but pain." (Chapter 66, "Stormblessings") This seems to me to be Frost expressing grief over causing the Shattering of Adonalsium. Because what else would happen if your God was killed, than chaos? "However, it seems to me that all things have been set up for a purpose, and if we--as infants-- stumble through the workshop, we risk exacerbating, not preventing, a problem." (Chapter 68, "Bridges") This, to me, seems to imply that they countered Adonalsium's diving design, in shattering him. "He bears the weight of God's own diving hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context. He is what we made him to be, old friend. And that is what he, unfortunately, wished to become. (Chapter 71, "Vigil") This I think, is the most telling of the quotes. "He is what we made him to be..." How else would they have made Rayse full of hatred, than Shattering Adonalsium, and giving him the Shard of Odium? You, however, have never been a force for equilibrium. You tow chaos behind you like a corpse dragged by one leg through the snow. Please, hearken to my plea. Leave that place and join me in my oath of nonintervention. (Chapter 74, "Striding the Storm") Let me refer back to the first quote, "Our interference has brought nothing but pain." Although this could be referring in general, to Hoid's interference in important events, but based on the context and the other quotes, I'm going to go with he sowed chaos by Shattering Adonalsium. More Implications: If Hoid directly shattered Adonalsium, with the help of Frost, and neither of them received a Shard (I'm assuming Frost isn't a Shard), then it was in order to prevent some terrible thing from happening, not to grow in power. (Although I'm sure that those who helped him had that as at least a secondary motive.) Conclusion: Hoid shattered Adonalsium, with the help of Frost.

This is 3 or 4 questions in one, so bear with me here. I'm sure someone else has noticed this, but I just started rereading WoR, and on the page that has sketches of Bridge Four's tattoos, there's a note that reads, "I had to spend hours watching bridgemen to sketch their stupid forehead glyphs so you could have them, my friend. I'm pretty sure this is how they were designed. -Nazh" So, Nazh is on Roshar during WoR. Do we know which character he is posing as/does he appear on screen? Also, why does Khriss(I'm assuming he's writing to Khriss, but correct me if I'm wrong) want to see the glyphs of Bridge Four? By these sketches, Nazh also seems to be fairly talented at art, is there any other Cosmere art we know of that's drawn by him?

I was doing a reread with a few of my friends and we noticed that jam is mentioned in almost all Shallan chapters in The Way of Kings. May be it is used as a setup for what happened at the end of the book. But when the first time Shallan met Kabsal, she blurts out that she loves jam. It is not as if her love for jam later on in TWoR is because she was mooning over Kabsal. But oddly, jam is never mentioned again in WoR - it might be because of what happened at the end of TWoK. But still... jam is not even mentioned in her flashback chapters. At the rate with which she was mentioning jam in TWoK, it seems odd from BranSan that Shallan chapters never mention jam again in WoR.

I'm listening to the audiobook, so I don't have the exact page number or anything, but there was a part in Words of Radiance that was a flashback to when Shallan was 14, and Hoid makes an appearance. When he first sees Shallan, he drops his drink, and then drops his jaw in Shallan's direction. Now, I know Hoid is a little strange, but the way it was described made it seem as if he was truly caught off guard by something. Will somebody please shed a light on this scenario for me?

I'm rereading WOR and I came upon a short passage where Rock shoos away an ardent that is trying to sketch bridge four members... This is right after Kaladin comes back from patrol outside the war camps. Could this be Nazh? Do we have a WOB on this?

Hello my fellow cosmere inhabitants! I want to introduce myself by telling you about my not so mystical journey through the cosmere. My now Ex-Wife was reading a silly sounding book called "Mistborn". I remember her trying to explain the concept of Mistborn and Mistings, and saying to her "that sounds really stupid". Well, she insisted that i give the book a chance and that I'd "love it". And now, to this day I am so happy that I gave in and read the rusting book! I was hooked by the end of the first chapter, which was very strange for me because I do not enjoy reading. Well, I DIDN'T enjoy reading at least... But now I had found purpose. I binge read the first trilogy then waited patiently for the second trilogy, and ended up re-reading the first trilogy twice over. At this point, I was picking up on little things and realized that Brandon Sanderson is god among men, and he was tying up loose ends and answering questions that I didn't even think to ask the first time over. At this point in time, I was convinced that there could be no book saga greater than the Mistborn Saga... but then I had the opportunity to meet Brandon at SLC Comic Con. I was a little starstruck, but played it cool and told him, "I love your mistborn series, like, absolutely love it. What is another one of your books that you would recommend to me. I will go buy it right this second" Brandon in his wisdom told me, I had a lot of fun writing the mistborn books, but my very favorite book to write was Way Of Kings. So I bought the storming book. Kalak's breath, the book was HUGE. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into, but after some failed attempts at reading it, I reached out to audible and purchased the copy ready by the majestic Michael Kramer and the lovely Kate Reading. I listened to the book and was disappointed and confused listening to the first few chapters. It was confusing to me how it jumped from the Heralds over to Kaladin over to Shallan. I almost gave up on the book, until I started making sense of the jumping around. Then... I was hooked! Even though I live in Utah, in one of the higher elevated peaks, I still considered myself an airsick lowlander... I read through WOK and straight on into WOR. At the end of WOR, I started searching for the next book. The one that hadn't yet been written. My heart broke. I became shattered as if Odium himself had ripped me out of my world. I was broken, and didn't know what to do with myself and shrunk away... After some time, I decided to re-listen to the books. I also found out that Oathbringer will be out by the end of this year, and I decided to peruse the wiki to hear the speculation.. This is when I heard talks about Hoid. I have so many questions about him, but those can wait. I'm on my second time through WOK and WOR, and I'm nearing the end of WOR. I'll probably read WOK and WOR a third time before Oathbringer comes out, because I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING. I have become obsessed, I go to sleep thinking about the cosmere. I need to know everything about this universe. I'm getting ready to go back to read elantris and warbreaker for the first time.. I'm like an awakening Spren, I feel like I should have all of these answers, but I just don't yet. Anyway, Happy to be here.. I'll be as active as I can. I'll be here, even through a High Storm if need be because, Storm it! I love this universe!

So I was thinking about the orders of KR and what we don't know about them, and I just noticed a few things. Firstly i was reading the article about dustbringers on the coppermind and noticed that it said they called themselves the releasers (which I already knew) and hated when they were called dustbringers which was a name created for them by the public. That's the part I didn't know, I had assumed that they were just given that name or something but it turns out the only reason they were called Dustbringers is because the people likened them to voidbringers. The ACTUAL name of the order is the releasers. And that got me thinking. They're called the Releasers but what are they releasing? It made me think about how another order is called the Bondsmiths -- but what are they bonding? So along with this relation between these two orders -- one creating the bonds and one releasing them -- there's also the fact that we know that Brandon has said there's something weird going on with this order. Not only that but one of the only heralds we haven't found mention of is Chana, the dustbringer. We know that the surges of Releasers are Divison and Abrasion and we know this quote from the prelude But other than that we know very little about the Releasers and their powers. It is heavily implied from this quote that their abilities had something to do with fire and we already know what the surge of abrasion does so that leaves division to be the one creating this fire. What are they dividing though, where is this fire coming from? Well if you wanna be scientific about it, they could be dividing the molecules of people/things and thus creating a nuclear explosion making fire. Perhaps this is why people compare them to voidbringers -- because of destruction. This, however, is if we are thinking scientifically, and this is the cosmere so that's the opposite of what we want to do. We know that the cosmere has a third state of existence. Matter, energy and investiture. In our world you split matter to create energy through the reaction. But what if the dustbringers can use their surge of division to split the inherent investiture inside of a person? Or if they could perhaps separate the person and the investiture rather than just splitting it inside of them. I believe that this is why they are called Releasers because they can release a person or creature from investiture perhaps from a spren bond or, hmm... let's see... from an odium spren. Now we know that the bondsmiths did something to the voidbringers to make them into the parshmen so perhaps they bonded them to something to stop them from being able to change forms. The Releasers, as per the name, likely have the ability to release them from this bond and let them become the voidbringers once again. This last part probably will never be addressed however as the everstorm is doing that job anyway. This "theory" is really all over the place so I'm sorry about that I just made a few connections that I wanted to put out there before I forgot them so that they could be discussed. So who wants to discuss them with me?

So recently I was making my way through Stormlight Archive again and something I read in WoK too on a whole new meaning once I read a certain part in WoR. In WoK Kalladin the day after saving Hober and exhausting himself by caring a plank, he lays his 'bed' struggling to find the will to get up. Once he does this he says "Curse you Hav you can boot me out of my bunk even now." Because of this we think Hav must have been Kalladin's sergeant. But in WoR while Shallan is infiltrating Amaram's home she is stopped by a guard who claims that they are going to try to keep a secure perimeter even though they have no walls. When Shallan grows hesitant the guards companion says "Stop harassing the lad Have, you can't expect him to know rules most of the soldiers don't know yet." Could these two Havs be the same person?

I posted this on r/stormlight_archive but didn't get many responses and was wondering if someone knew of a WOB or something that could confirm or deny this theory, and let us be honest you guys are where I should have started anyways. I submit, though I have little proof, that Knights Radiant progress their abilities in a clockwise formation from the Knights Radiant Symbol. Kaladin (Windrunners): Gains control over Adhesion before Gravitation. Shallan (Lightweavers): Illumination and soon to be Transformation. Jasnah (Elsecallers): Performs Transformation before Transportation (though we don't know yet which she gained more control over before the other). Lyft (Edgedancers): Abrasion then Progression. Skybreaker Journeymen: Have control over Gravitation first... at least as I don't think we have seen Division yet. This does not mean that they don't have some control over the "second" ability initially as we saw Kaladin use gravitation to attract arrows to his hands and away from him in bridge runs unconsciously and Shallan used Transformation before she works Illumination at end of TWOK. I only postulate that they gain more control over the first before the second. Additionally, as someone pointed out to me, each order has one main surge. The second surge in my clockwise theory, Dalinar purpose is to unite and his second surge is Adhesion; Kaladin is one with the wind and Sylphrena is a cousin to the windsprens, Gravitation; Jasnah wants to gain true knowledge and to do so one must be willing to travel to new places, Transportation; Renarin sees into the future, Illuminating it; Shallan has to admit deep personal truths forcing her to change how she sees things (eh this one might need to be rethought), Transformation; Lyft, though she doesn't want to change herself, brings change to those around her (sidenote: I think that this is her curse) making those around her Progress and accept changes in the world. Until I know what Division entails I can't really make a guess for the Skybreakers yet, though obviously something to do with upholding the law. (This part has nothing to do with this post but if someone could point me in the right direction... Just re-listened to TWOK and noticed that when Hoid is speaking about what people view as important he mentions that he asked scholars once, are these the 5 Scholars from Warbreaker?)

***contains some spoilers for band of mourning, the emperors soul*** hello all i think this topic has been talked about before in terms of the link between soulcasting and forgery. however after i read the bands of mourning another peice of the puzzle slotted into place. My theory is that shallan being completely unaware can use her soul casting and connection to cryptic spren with her drawing ability to change a persons identity. For this im using Gaz and maybe Yalb as a example. Shallans Memory skill might come from her bond with the cryptic spren. They are described as being a infinite spren trying to see the truth of things (whenever i imagine pattern i always think of some ever changing fractal pattern), when i think of truth i think less of 'truth and lies' but more the mathematical, spiritual, cognatve and realistic truth of the cosmere. I think her Memory ability is part of this glimpsing the truth of a object's/person's reality in all three realms. i think she is able to hack into an object or persons idenity and seperate it and modify it. When she draws she is able to use the physical action of drawing to manifest this change. In this section she describes the charcol,page,and other tools as blood,sinew,skin. interestingly enough these terms are in the ars arcanum besides the heralds. Therefore important to all magic systems in the cosmere. As shallan is activley thinking of these in those terms it is having a reaction to her drawing in the cognative,spiritual realms as well. In Bands of Mourning we find out that a object/persons identity can be manipluated and changed when the Kandra are talking to the wax and wayne gang. Although they are talking in terms of investiture changing its not a long stretch to think of the process as working bidirectionaly, investiture could be used to change a persons identity. we see this with Hemalurgy and forgery for instance. In The emperors soul Shai tells us how Forgery works. Using a phsyical object (marks) and having to know the memoryand history of a object/person to change its identity. I believe when Shallan uses her drawings she literally is able to trim of a part of a persons identity and modify it. whenever she draws a person she has come in contact with she draws a positive aspect reaffirming and strengthening part of the person which was always there and undeveloped.In Yalb, Talakv and Gaz and her other guards (cant remember their names now ) she was drawing braveness and confidence and in likenesses that where different from the people that they had become. I believe when she shows these pictures and drawing to the people themselves, the idenitity within the drawing that shallan had cut and augmented and transformed instantly reaches out and rebinds with the orginal person. As Shai says when forging an object in the cognitive realm is how it is viewd and how it views itself and will always try an exist as a whole. In the novels whenever these peoples glance upon their drawings of themselves they always take a while like Gaz, Jasnah ect, this isnt them admiring the artwork this is the time which their souls are being repaired and changed with shallans transformation ability. when we last see Gaz in words of radiance he seems different and changed this could be due to shallans transformation seeping through his spiritual and cognative self and changing his outlook and self perspective. However i could be wrong as other theorys go and this could be a kandra in disguise.

If you gave Lift an unkeyed Nourishment metalmind, could she fill it and then Tap it later for Investiture? What if you gave her an unkeyed Nicrosilmind - could she eat and fill it with food? Also, do we know if she can eat in addition to Breathing in Stormlight, or instead of? Fun question: Who would eat more at an all-you-can-eat restaurant; Sarene or Lift?

I assume I'm not the first to think Hoid's apparent "switch with a carriage driver on the way to the menagerie" was faked, using something like Lightweaving. The man's accent was described as "unfamiliar" by Kaladin. The character seems a little too stereotypical, and his description of Wit's supposed behaviour also seems like a parody of Wit's character, both of which would seem a grand joke to Hoid. It is unlikely Hoid got another worldhopper involved, as they all seem out to get him, or at least not to like him much. And he is known to like taking on disguises and characters. But... What does this achieve? Is it just a meta-trick, making them think they've been tricked one way by tricking them another, just so Hoid can laugh at the triplicity (duplicity +1) of it?

I'm afraid that Adolin's fight with Sadeas at the end of WoR will put him in danger of retribution from the Skybreakers. Does anyone else see that as a concern? He also has a personal vendetta against Szeth, is it likely Brandon will kill him off in the next couple books?

I've been thinking about adapting the Stormlight Archive into a YouTube miniseries. I intend it to be similar in style to the Vixen miniseries by CW. Each Stormlight Archive book will be a series and every couple of chapters will be an episode. But first I need a team of capable and committed people to make this happen. BTW production of the series will probably start in a couple of years where in the mean-time we will develop scripts, storyboards etc etc. I need people with animation, drawing, voice-acting, colouring, inking and video making skills. I hope for this project to become sponsored by Brandon Sanderson himself and to "get his blessings", permission etc, as well as Youtube, perhaps Tor.com and anyone else willing, might even create a Kickstarter project. I already have ideas for our "theme song" as well as how we will present the series. However creation of the series may be a tad bit difficult considering where we all live and our lives in general. ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO JOIN OUR PROJECT, JOIN THE DISCORD SERVER VIA -HERE-----https://discord.gg/RwrTufS AFTER SIGNING UP THERE, YOU WILL BE ASSIGNED A ROLE AND WILL BE ADDED TO MY LIST OF PEOPLE HELPING OUT WITH THE PRODUCT HERE--https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nHgZoswW_fJU-qsG58g5TBtBYewKQxwk8yNY07-0wGI/edit?usp=sharing IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMPLAINTS, FEEL FREE TO ASK IF YOU WANT TO JOIN PLEASE PM ME WITH WHAT U WANT TO HELP OUT WITH

I am sure most of us at least once wondered how do this two powers work. Not only these two seem very cryptic, but also there are almost no clues about them. The only thing I managed to find out about them for sure are some WoB (which I can't find anymore) that tension (if I remember correctly) can allow you to press your hand into a rock. That left me wondering even more, because the cohesion is what keeps a rock together, not tension. Only today I found out a possible answer to this question. The tension is the force that interact with object pressing towards another object, and provides the force of reaction. Then imagine that we take this force away. Suddenly objest starts act like rubber - if it has a lot of cohesion and wants to stay intact regardless the bending, or if it has small cohesion like for example glass, it would liquefy. On the other hand if you add tension to rubber and water it would start behaving like rock and glass. Cohesion on the other hand would allow you to determine how difficult it is to break something apart. (Rubber to water, glass to rock).