Secret Project 3 reactions

[Honorless]

3 hours ago, phraps said:

The Shard is Virtuosity, not Virtue - Virtuosity means being especially skilled in the arts.

Oh, thanks for the info!

[StormingTexan]

Clearly this is in the future and the Seventeenth Shard finally caught up to Hoid who is entertaining them from his cell with a story 

So I got to admit besides getting to see an Aether world I was not super hyped about the storyline of SP1 but man this one got me hyped right away! I think the WB is really interesting and the apparent ying/yang between these two worlds is intriguing to me. It may also be because this (at least Painter's part) is set in more modern times I dunno. I too thought it was physical vs. cognitive world at first. I wish this one was releasing first. 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by StormingTexan

[HSuperLee]

Alright, I am extremely excited about this one. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but now I'm going to be on pins and needles until it is released. I love the world building, and the feel of both of the planets, and I'm fascinated by the implications for the broader Cosmere. Also, I'm worried about Hoid. I understand that people seem to think Hoid froze himself in time, but there's no small part of me that is worried it was inflicted on him. Especially since this might be one of the only ways to incapacitate Hoid since he can't be killed and can probably escape most forms of entrapment.

[PurpurPhönix]

With Design having a full human disguise it sure seems like he chose this rather than it being forced upon him. Unless spren are normally visible outside of Roshar why would Design have needed a disguise in general?

[IndigoAjah]

4 hours ago, phraps said:

The Shard is Virtuosity, not Virtue - Virtuosity means being especially skilled in the arts.

I mentioned this on another post, I believe Painter and Yumi are on different planets in the same system. They're definitely in the Physical Realm, given the scene with Design.

 

I think the key is "natural" skill. So I presume the Shard's intent is around nature with no nurture

[cometaryorbit]

4 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

Oh, and one more to ride out on "fay, seon, or spirit." Why not use "spren" here? And also, who the heck calls them "fay"? (Notably not "fey," which is how I'm used to seeing fairies referred to.)

"Fay" is - I think - the older word, and "fey" for fairy is arguably a misunderstanding/conflation. ("Fey" was originally a separate word, meaning something like 'doom-laden', 'fated', etc.)

[Dreamwa1ker]

5 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

Clearly this is in the future and the Seventeenth Shard finally caught up to Hoid who is entertaining them from his cell with a story 

You joke but this was basically my theory as well after reading. Either that or folks in Silverlight, he's teaching or something 

[Lego Mistborn]

22 hours ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Giant. Crows.

Plus all that other stuff already mentioned. But giant crows xD In all seriousness, the cosmere infodumps were kind of insane, a Shard name, proof that Design can get off world (which we already guessed was possible but I don't think we knew?) and just general world stuff. I'm thinking the Nightmares and the Spirits are definitely connected in some way, like the Spirits are trapped as Nightmares until they're drawn by the Chosen or something. 

To me it doesn't really matter who Hoid's talking to since they're obviously extremely cosmere aware- someone mentioned Era 4 Rosharan and I like that idea but it easily could just be Era 4 anybody. This one probably takes the spot for my favorite of the secret projects (barely edging out Tress) but I think Four will inevitably end up being my favorite :P. I don't love body swap as a concept in general but this is different enough and most of my experience with the trope is bad movies, so I trust that Brandon can do better

The spirits tell Yumi that there is one person who can free them, and then she switches immediately with Painter who has the ability to do stuff with the nightmares. I think it is safe to say this(your theory) is the case, though Brandon may do what he is most famous for, so we still need to keep this at theory level for now.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Ta'veren Kaladin

[Nathrangking]

Just awesome!! Design you are divine. Poor Yumi trapped and a burn by Hoid!!

[Michael Portz]

22 hours ago, Honorless said:

?!?! Hoid is frozen in time like a statue?! Well, he got better, apparently. But. What. How? What! Wait... is this how his time skipping works?

 

Exactly my thought as well :-)

[+Oltux72]

21 hours ago, AerionBFII said:

Wait wait wait.

So time dilution techniques that Hoid uses are him being frozen in time and used as a coatrack? XD

He calls it an ailment. And complains that initially he remained concious. So this is an accident, illness or attack.

[Use the Falchion]

My Expat friend in Japan was...not as enthused about this story as many of us here. I was curious about what his reaction would be, and I figured it wouldn't be as glowing as some of ours, but he was not happy with this story at all. And I don't blame him. I initially shared a lot of his thoughts, but those faded as the story went on. I did point to some of Sanderson's influences to read, and he said he'd get to it later, but I don't think he'll be buying these books from Sanderson, despite liking Mistborn and the Stormlight books he's read so far, unless SP 4 makes up for the ground that SP 2 & 3 lost. 

[StarrFall]

Holy cow, lot of Hoid stuff to unpack with this one.  Given the nationalities named, I'm wondering if we are talking about Ashyn (Yumi) and Braize (Painter) in the Rosharan system, possibly set in time prior to (or at the same time as) human settlement on Roshar.  Also interesting how Painter traps the cognitive shadows in a similar way to how Rosharan scholars trapped flame spren by documenting attributes about them.  Hion lines seem similar to those the Eyrie had sustaining their cognitive stronghold on the outskirts of Scadrial's cognitive realm, which may mean that we are talking exclusively about Ashyn (with Yumi in the physical realm and Painter in the cognitive realm). 

Edited March 18, 2022 by StarrFall

[Frustration]

3 minutes ago, StarrFall said:

Holy cow, lot of Hoid stuff to unpack with this one.  Given the nationalities named, I'm wondering if we are talking about Ashyn (Yumi) and Braize (Painter) in the Rosharan system, possibly set in time prior to (or at the same time as) human settlement on Roshar.  Also interesting how Painter traps the cognitive shadows in a similar way to how Rosharan scholars trapped flame spren by documenting attributes about them.

It's not in the Rosharan system, or any of the systems we already know.

[StarrFall]

Just now, Frustration said:

It's not in the Rosharan system, or any of the systems we already know.

the floating cities mention for Ashyn had me thinking that was it, but just read further and now prepared to say I was wrong

 

[Lego Mistborn]

41 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

My Expat friend in Japan was...not as enthused about this story as many of us here. I was curious about what his reaction would be, and I figured it wouldn't be as glowing as some of ours, but he was not happy with this story at all. And I don't blame him. I initially shared a lot of his thoughts, but those faded as the story went on. I did point to some of Sanderson's influences to read, and he said he'd get to it later, but I don't think he'll be buying these books from Sanderson, despite liking Mistborn and the Stormlight books he's read so far, unless SP 4 makes up for the ground that SP 2 & 3 lost. 

What in particular was he not happy about? Brandon served a church mission in South Korea, and he says he feels a bond for the people there(yes, I know Japan is not Korea, but I think a lot of the terrible stuff they deal with from white people is the same regardless of where they came from) so I'd think that Brandon would not even consider putting in anything offensive. Also, I believe that Brandon would go back and get rid of anything that is derogatorily stereotypical, if it gets pointed out to him, he knows that kind of thing is bad.

[Use the Falchion]

1 hour ago, Ta'veren Kaladin said:

What in particular was he not happy about? Brandon served a church mission in South Korea, and he says he feels a bond for the people there(yes, I know Japan is not Korea, but I think a lot of the terrible stuff they deal with from white people is the same regardless of where they came from) so I'd think that Brandon would not even consider putting in anything offensive. Also, I believe that Brandon would go back and get rid of anything that is derogatorily stereotypical, if it gets pointed out to him, he knows that kind of thing is bad.

It wasn't about being offensive by intent, but to him it felt like Brandon was basing things off of what he heard or felt people of and traditions in Japan were like, not what they actually were. This bled into the linguistics as well. He said a couple of things that probably aren't worth repeating, but the crux of it was that it felt like orientalism, or the "othering of Japanese and Chinese cultures and peoples." which is ironic considering how little Brandon knows and reads/watches manga/anime and also how much Brandon respects and knows of Korean culture. It was cringey to him, and while he is curious enough to want to continue the story, that feeling never fully left him. 

I did mention Brandon's time in South Korea as well as pointing out that Brandon is very open with his inspirations and the fact that this was indeed a rough draft that may need some revisions later on. But even Brandon would admit that sometimes, despite his heart being in the right place, some things just don't land or sound well to others (his first portrayal of someone on the autism spectrum in Elantris, Mat in Wheel of Time.)

It's probably not unlike some of the unfortunate implications in the Lunar Chronicles, or the annoyance for me (and several others) about how Americans are portrayed in anime or Japanese movies at times - annoying enough to pick out and say "that's not at all what we're like/how it's like/etc," but not enough to stop watching or reading. (Like, the first Psycho-Pass movie had a philosophical discussion that was supposed to be in English, but was so unintelligible by me and my friend, we thought the speakers were actually talking in a completely separate language.) 

[Eternal Khol]

On 3/17/2022 at 8:19 AM, Honorless said:

You know, this story kinda has a reworked Aether of Night feeling, now that I think about it.

you know, I was feeling that too.

The spirit that talks to Yumi very much gave me trapped Slaughter/Despair vibes. i don't necessarily think it'll be them, but maybe he drew inspiration from them

[+Oltux72]

13 minutes ago, Eternal Khol said:

you know, I was feeling that too.

The story line, yes. It just is the only story about assumed identities Brandon has done.

13 minutes ago, Eternal Khol said:

The spirit that talks to Yumi very much gave me trapped Slaughter/Despair vibes. i don't necessarily think it'll be them, but maybe he drew inspiration from them

That is strange. I'd say in terms of its Invested Art Yumi's world is basically Sel with fabrials.

[Eternal Khol]

3 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

That is strange. I'd say in terms of its Invested Art Yumi's world is basically Sel with fabrials.

its been a while since i read it so i made a mistake. It wasnt Slaughter and Despair I was thinking of. it was actually the Former

but, I didnt mean the magic gave me Slaughter and Despair vibes. it was the way the spirit was described by Yumi. it just reminded me of how the Former was described in Aether of Night.

[Amira]

I have to admit I really didn't like this one. The characters are both super passive and don't do anything about their problems. I just didn't enjoy reading about them. Tress was also a little passive at first, but then you see her starting to decide she's going to do something. I assume Yumi and Painter will do the same eventually, but meanwhile this was the project that made me change my mind about backing the kickstarter. What do you guys think? Am I missing something? I'm pretty new to the Cosmere. I actually started following Brandon on Instagram right before the kickstarter, because I like his Alcatraz books, and the next thing I knew all hell broke loose XD

[iceblade44]

Hm, I would say a slow burn at the start is the typical set up for Brandon's books. Especially ones with multiple viewpoints. So I'd say there is nothing wrong of being put off if it isn't your taste. 

 

I guess for myself, its something I'm more accustomed with so I don't really notice it now. Thats just my own view

[StormingTexan]

19 hours ago, Amira said:

I have to admit I really didn't like this one. The characters are both super passive and don't do anything about their problems. I just didn't enjoy reading about them. Tress was also a little passive at first, but then you see her starting to decide she's going to do something. I assume Yumi and Painter will do the same eventually, but meanwhile this was the project that made me change my mind about backing the kickstarter. What do you guys think? Am I missing something? I'm pretty new to the Cosmere. I actually started following Brandon on Instagram right before the kickstarter, because I like his Alcatraz books, and the next thing I knew all hell broke loose XD

Hmm I would say it is a little too premature to pass these judgments after only sample chapters. This is a brand new world with new characters as well as a stand alone full length novel. It will take a bit to develop. Heck you had to almost get half way through The Way of Kings before characters started taking action. That being said I didn't like TWoK the first time I read it for that very reason so I get the sentiment. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by StormingTexan

[Amira]

Thank you both for your insight!