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Ok so I just finished warbreaker and wow I loved that book. Have also read stormlight archive and mistborn era's 1 &2. So my question is do I need to read elantris before I jump into arcanum unbounded?

Has any one noticed the art in the Arcanum Unbound in the inside cover. The star map? I think that is a hint that there is a bigger bad guy out there than odium. It has a massive knight pointing a blade at a dragon. Also, most of the stars in the dragon are red, which is a sign of interference in the investure of those stars. I think that the shards split up because this bigger force is trying to take them over. That is why they made a pact to each go to a different world and not share worlds. That would also explain why Odium is so set on killing shards that do that sort of thing, he does not want the bigger fish to get them. Perhaps that is why Rayse took up Odium in the first place, so that he could basically police the other shards. It would be a very Brandon twist to have Odium actually be a sort of good guy who is just trying to prevent the end of the universe.

I was rereading AU today, and I noticed this little gem in Khriss's essay: When AU first came out, I probably thought it was a reference to the Heralds. But with Oathbringer's hindsight, it makes much more sense that it's talking about the Fused. Always cool to find the hints that Brandon drops. ETA: Although without a host, I guess they wouldn't technically be Fused yet.

Okay, one more time, Arcanum Unbound. I have read "Listened to on Audible", The first two Mistborn books, working on the 3rd right now of the first trilogy. From what I've gathered so far, there are spoilers both directions, and the spoilers for the Mistborn aren't as bad as they would be if I read era 2 THEN reading Arcanum Unbound. I have read both Stormlight Archive books, and they are my preferred novel, I have also read Warbreaker. My buddy introduced me to Sanderson before we came to Iraq, They have been an awesome distraction from the suck, and I love listening to them as I drift off to sleep, I've found that in a often darkly lit room listening is far superior to reading, Especially when I'm just a few nods from a full snooze, These make the Novels come to life in my head. I have not read Elantris yet, though I will have in when I get my Audible Credit in a day or two, after I finish Mistborn Hero of Ages. I have already pre ordered Oathbringer, and will have one more credit in November. In November, Is there any book I need to read, either before I read Arcanum Unbound? Or, to help bring more context to Arcanum unbound? Having assumed I've read all Stormlight Novels, The first Mistborn Trilogy, Elantris, Warbreaker. What beyond those books are in the Cosmere that will be required reading for putting the whole Cosmere together?

I just got my grubby little hands on a copy of Arcanum Unbound, and I'm tempted to dive right in. But for a lot of the worlds I...don't quite remember the main stories very well. For instance (Elantris spoilers) So anyway, the point is that I remember the gist of the story, but I probably wouldn't recognize any names or specific events if they were mentioned in The Emperor's Soul. So should I: A) Just dive into the short story and trust that it'll be mostly comprehensible even though I only remember the broad strokes of the original story. Read a summary of the original online somewhere to refresh my memory, then dive into the short story. C) Reread the original, then immediately read the associated short story. I'm thinking that A) is the best if, say, the short stories don't involve any of the original characters or events, would be best if a minimal familiarity with names and events is desirable, and C) would be best if the minutiae are important. In most cases I remember the broad strokes well enough (see my description above), though particular details often elude me. I've already read Shadows of Silence, so I know there isn't any prerequisite knowledge needed for that one, and I'm confident enough of my Stormlight Archive memory to probably be fine there (well, maybe. I remember Lift from her interlude well enough, and her spren Windle, and Darkness/Nalan, but, for instance, I forget the name of the guy who became king. Gax? Grax?). Anyway, if someone in the know could provide a quick summary of how much knowledge is required and/or desirable for each story, that'd be great. I don't want to miss out, but I don't want to do a bunch of rereading for minimal payout, either. I'll save that for if and when the sequel(s) arrive.

Alright, so I just finished reading Arcanum Unbound. If you haven't read it, this is me warning you now that this a theory that might have spoilers. Let's talk about the Rosharan system. There are ten gas giants, one for each essence. Khriss describes them as: This seems really weird to me. A persons cognitive representation is a manifestation of how an object is perceived in the mind. If this is the case, the planets should have huge cognitive identities- the heralds are essentially demigods. People use the names and personifications of the heralds all the time. Why do the planets that share their essences name and color, which should act as a focus point for their cognitive identity, not show on the cognitive plane? They are a huge part of peoples beliefs, whether or not you believe in the heralds- that planet in the sky are named after the ten essences, and this doesn't reflect in Shadesmar? It seems blatant to me that they are placed by Order- all uniform distance from each other, all the same size. I do not think they would be there for no reason. I propose this: Between Desolations, the heralds go to a place called damnation. The tranquiline halls have always been described as being above. From the description of torture we see before the breaking of the oathpact, is it possible that the searing is similar to what one might experience being on a gas giant? (assuming that either super healing keeps them alive, or that they're there only spiritually) Through some means, I believe that each herald is sent to their individual planets which are the damnation- which is a necessary component to keeping Odium bound within the Rosharan system (whether this is through some form of magic, or if the complex alignment of the planets keeps the asteroid field around the inner system to physically keep Odium trapped). When the oathpact was broken, this mechanism placed by Honor was also broken- which is why they lost their identity on the cognitive realm. I would go even further to say that these ten planets are the legendary Dawnshards. Scholars have found no records of the dawnshards because they are physically not on the planet. They were looking for swords when they should have been looking for the dawn in the sky. Without the Heralds supporting the Dawnshards in damnation, Honor feels Odium will break free because the cage is not being maintained. When used in the reference to the poem of Ista "Taking the Dawnshard, known to bind any creature voidish or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece, toward the grand temple above." The steps crafted by the Heralds are the ten planets, the "grand temple" is the tranquiline halls, the dawnshard is the piece of honor that manifests on the planets which has since passed out (like how shardblades died on the recreance) which is why Khriss doesn't see them in Shadesmar. Sorry if this writing is a little rushed, but I am curious to see if people have considered this as a possibility.

For those who've read Arcanum Unbound, you will know that recently that illustrations of constellations and solar systems of the cosmere have been released- and Mistborn fans might be aware of a foreshadowed space-age of Mistborn. I figure this is a good opportunity to use these two aspects for a game set after the events of Sixth of the Dusk, a cosmere space game. This is a small scifi cosmere game about scheming officers. Players start the game as junior officers with a credit total of zero. Credit totals represent how much a player is liked by the current captain of the ship. During the game players attempt to improve their credit total and work their way up through the officer ranks. The aim of the game is to be the captain by turn 20, and go down in history as the starship commander who saved (or doomed) their race- after all, history will only remember one of you. These rules are derived from a really old game called "Don't beam me up Scotty". If this is a game you could see yourself playing, put down a name. You are a Junior Officer. Being from the First of the Sun, you are probably not a worldhopper (Or Kandra )- but you might be a trapper, and you might have an Aviar (though these are very rare and don't provide a mechanical benefit). If enough people are interested, I'll start the game- presumably with each turn being a week. Dice are involved, I will roll myself and let you know the results. If anyone has any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. The Rules: