Shard Breakdown According to World

[Shard Obsessed]

Hey guys, first post here and I don't see a thread for this already so thought I would start one. I saw on the twitter chat today that Brandon confirmed another shard name, and it got me to wondering just how long it'll be before all of them are revealed....will we have to wait for Liar of Partinel or Dragonsteel (one of which is the presumed story of Adonalsium's shattering, I believe) or will we at least have hints of the others by the time Brandon writes those stories?

Taking a look at the distribution we know so far (and please correct me if I'm wrong), we have locations of eight confirmed, with two more alluded to.

Ati (Ruin) and Leras (Preservation) were on Scadrial of course, the setting of MISTBORN

Endowment is on Nalthis, setting of WARBREAKER

Rayse (Odium), Cultivation and Tanavast (Honor) were on Roshar, setting of THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE

Aona (Devotion/synonym) and Skai (Dominion) were on Sel, setting of ELANTRIS

So that's the eight confirmed, half of the total shards. In addition, I believe Brandon's confirmed in Q&A's that there is one shard on the world of THE SILENCE DIVINE, and I'm guessing it's unlikely we'll see much about that shard before that book.

Also, I believe Brandon's confirmed in Q&A's that his unreleased work WHITE SAND is set on the world where Bavadin is located. No mention though if there are any other shards on that world.

That's two more loosely confirmed though.

The only other projected cosmere novels he's talked about though are the LIAR OF PARTINEL/DRAGONSTEEL books and possibly AETHER OF NIGHT, though I think people have made mention of him being unlikely to ever publish AETHER OF NIGHT unless its radically reworked, due to it contradicting cosmere canon in part now.

So eight published locations and two more confirmed, so six shards still to place. So possibilities:

1) The remaining six are split between the worlds of WHITE SAND and DRAGONSTEEL

2) There are more shards on both of those worlds, but also some on/in worlds and books Brandon has yet to mention, perhaps because he hasn't created them yet - ie, he could be leaving a couple of shards unassigned to a particular world at this point, so he doesn't cut himself off from the possibility of coming up with another series or shardworld he wants to write in the future.

3) There are some shards that aren't rooted to a single world but are instead world hoppers like Hoid and the Seventeenth Shard. So for instance, while there's only one shard on Nalthis NOW, another 'new' shard could be on it by the time the WARBREAKER sequel happens, or could debut in the next ELANTRIS or MISTBORN book for instance.

Anyways, since I don't think its likely we're going to get another Shard name out of Brandon any time soon, I was thinking there are similar, more harmless questions we might be able to ask, to get more clues. Some will get RAFO'd I'm sure, but one or two might get an answer.

For instance:

1) What's the earliest book where we'll have all sixteen shard names accounted for?

2) Are any shards going to show up in future works on worlds where they haven't been previously? IE, a new shard in the Elantris sequel, checking in on Sel after learning of Odium splintering Aona and Skai.

3) Do you have all sixteen shards linked to a specific world at this point?

4) Is Roshar the world with the most shards present, or is there another world with more than three shards on it?

5) Is the presence of another shardworld (world of SILENCE DIVINE) in Roshar's solar system going to play a role in THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE? (In which case, we might find out more about that world's shard before that book is published).

Any other questions along similar lines you guys can think of to ask Brandon at signings or events? The way I figure it, we might not be able to find out who all the Shards are ahead of time, but if we can figure out where the last six shards are located, we can at least know what books/series we have to wait for to finally see them all. Kind of a timeline for answers, in absence of actual answers.

[DariusJenai]

I think the Stormlight Archive is supposed to bring most of the Cosmere together. So, we'll probably at least learn of the other Shards during those books, even if we don't actually have stories set on their worlds, I expect we'll learn somthing about them.

[Chaos]

I think the Stormlight Archive is supposed to bring most of the Cosmere together. So, we'll probably at least learn of the other Shards during those books, even if we don't actually have stories set on their worlds, I expect we'll learn somthing about them.

Not exactly. Brandon's said that the "main" cosmere arc goes like: Dragonsteel, First Mistborn Trilogy, Stormlight Archive, Second Mistborn Trilogy (concurrent with SA), Third Mistborn Trilogy.

I have no doubt that Stormlight is important to the cosmere and the overall story arc, but I think the story will focus very heavily on Roshar. Dragonsteel is the origin story, and it seems as though the Third Mistborn Trilogy has a lot of space travel to other planets. I would figure those two would be more important in wrapping it together.

Shard Obsessed, good to see you here. I too am rather Shard obsessed. I'm so excited knowing about Dominion

I always assumed that Taldain (world of White Sand) had two Shards, which left five for Dragonsteel. I don't think this is too incredibly unreasonable if Yolen is indeed the origin world for these Shards. I can imagine that quite a few would want to stay and meddle with things there.

Then again, he said he didn't want to explicitly nail down the number of Shardworlds. So there could be more, I guess.

Technically, Shards can jump around. Brandon said that Sazed could go to Roshar, but he just has no plans to do so.

Those are all good questions. I like it.

[Thor]

Not exactly. Brandon's said that the "main" cosmere arc goes like: Dragonsteel, First Mistborn Trilogy, Stormlight Archive, Second Mistborn Trilogy (concurrent with SA), Third Mistborn Trilogy.

I have no doubt that Stormlight is important to the cosmere and the overall story arc, but I think the story will focus very heavily on Roshar. Dragonsteel is the origin story, and it seems as though the Third Mistborn Trilogy has a lot of space travel to other planets. I would figure those two would be more important in wrapping it together.

Shard Obsessed, good to see you here. I too am rather Shard obsessed. I'm so excited knowing about Dominion

I always assumed that Taldain (world of White Sand) had two Shards, which left five for Dragonsteel. I don't think this is too incredibly unreasonable if Yolen is indeed the origin world for these Shards. I can imagine that quite a few would want to stay and meddle with things there.

Then again, he said he didn't want to explicitly nail down the number of Shardworlds. So there could be more, I guess.

Technically, Shards can jump around. Brandon said that Sazed could go to Roshar, but he just has no plans to do so.

Those are all good questions. I like it.

Makes sense to me, though I suspect the Third Mistborn trilogy may have a large amount of crossover, especially if space travel has been around for a while before the trilogy begins. Thanks for posting that Cosmere arc list, Chaos! It will be nice for an extended chronology. Do you happen to know where the other books fit? Warbreaker is before SA and concurrent with Alloy, while Elantris is the earliest published work, but when does the main Dragonsteel series take place?

So you are saying Shard Obsessed, is if you get a RAFO, you would like to know how long it will be until you can actually RAFO? Sounds good to me ()...though I don't know how Brandon would take it.

[Link Von Kelsier Harvey]

I'm pretty sure Dragonsteel is the very beginning.

[Shard Obsessed]

Hmm, I thought there were two series/stories set on Yolen - LIAR OF PARTINEL, which was a two part story that kicked off the whole cosmere, and then the actual five book DRAGONSTEEL series that was centuries later. Are BOTH stories before the rest of the cosmere stuff, or is the five book DRAGONSTEEL series possibly later on in the cosmere arc?

[Chaos]

Hmm, I thought there were two series/stories set on Yolen - LIAR OF PARTINEL, which was a two part story that kicked off the whole cosmere, and then the actual five book DRAGONSTEEL series that was centuries later. Are BOTH stories before the rest of the cosmere stuff, or is the five book DRAGONSTEEL series possibly later on in the cosmere arc?

That was my understanding of it. I suppose it doesn't have to be the case, though.

Thor, this is how I have it. We know it goes Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, Alloy (concurrent with Warbreaker), Way of Kings. So I'd order it like so, with the assumption that Liar and the main Dragonsteel epic are both before Elantris:

Liar of Partinel

Liar sequel

Dragonsteel - Five books

Elantris

First Mistborn Trilogy

Warbreaker, Alloy of Law

Stormlight Archive - Second Mistborn Trilogy

Third Mistborn Trilogy

There are some books that are unsorted. The Silence Divine, for one. If I would place Silence Divine in the chronology (with no factual basis whatsoever, solely on the distribution of the books), I would guess it happens between SA/MB2, and the third trilogy. I don't know, because there needs to be a standalone in there

There are also the two Elantris sequels, but since the POVs in the Elantris sequel are in Elantris, it can't be more than 30ish years later. There'd probably be the same decade jump for Elantris 3. Since Alloy happens 341 years after Hero of Ages, I would venture that Elantris happened at least that long before Mistborn (however, there is nothing to back that up). Thus, in the chronology, the Elantris sequels would be next to Elantris.

Oh. There's White Sand, that trilogy. I have no idea where to place that.

It's important to know that when Brandon says "main cosmere arc", I am fairly certain that means stories that will deal more directly with Shards. The first Mistborn trilogy obviously qualifies, and Stormlight does as well. In Warbreaker, it doesn't matter so much, and same with Elantris. It's background for the world. So while other books may not be in the "main" arc, they are still important. Just as not as earth-shattering as, say, two Shards dying and a person picking them both up

[Thor]

That was my understanding of it. I suppose it doesn't have to be the case, though.

Thor, this is how I have it. We know it goes Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, Alloy (concurrent with Warbreaker), Way of Kings. So I'd order it like so, with the assumption that Liar and the main Dragonsteel epic are both before Elantris:

Liar of Partinel

Liar sequel

Dragonsteel - Five books

Elantris

First Mistborn Trilogy

Warbreaker, Alloy of Law

Stormlight Archive - Second Mistborn Trilogy

Third Mistborn Trilogy

There are some books that are unsorted. The Silence Divine, for one. If I would place Silence Divine in the chronology (with no factual basis whatsoever, solely on the distribution of the books), I would guess it happens between SA/MB2, and the third trilogy. I don't know, because there needs to be a standalone in there

There are also the two Elantris sequels, but since the POVs in the Elantris sequel are in Elantris, it can't be more than 30ish years later. There'd probably be the same decade jump for Elantris 3. Since Alloy happens 341 years after Hero of Ages, I would venture that Elantris happened at least that long before Mistborn (however, there is nothing to back that up). Thus, in the chronology, the Elantris sequels would be next to Elantris.

Oh. There's White Sand, that trilogy. I have no idea where to place that.

It's important to know that when Brandon says "main cosmere arc", I am fairly certain that means stories that will deal more directly with Shards. The first Mistborn trilogy obviously qualifies, and Stormlight does as well. In Warbreaker, it doesn't matter so much, and same with Elantris. It's background for the world. So while other books may not be in the "main" arc, they are still important. Just as not as earth-shattering as, say, two Shards dying and a person picking them both up

Awesome. Thanks again for confirming that. It is pretty much what I had in my head already though I didn't know the location of the other Mistborn trilogies.

[Wispsy]

elantris sequels could easily be much further apart then that (i dont really think they will be least im hoping not), galladon turns up in wok, thats a long time where he has been doing some interesting things with other elantrians xD

[Guest Jacob Santos]

Something to think about. Time is relative. If the planet (A) you are on is moving slowly through the galaxy it is in relative to the other planets (B, C, D) in the cosmere, then events on Planet A will progress slightly faster than events on the other planets.

Therefore, the timeline really needs to be split depending on the relativistic speeds compared to the timelines.

EDIT:

Brandon has stated that Hoid doesn't time travel (in the science fiction sense), so it is completely possible that some events are happening concurrently to other events and Hoid simply has to hop between planets. The fact that some are traveling faster or slower allows him to spend more time or less time than other planets.

EDIT 2:

It could be the reason that Hoid is gone for months from the Kings court when he was the Wit and still come back to him.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Jacob Santos

[Windrunner]

Liar of Partinel

Liar sequel

Dragonsteel - Five books

Elantris

First Mistborn Trilogy

Warbreaker, Alloy of Law

Stormlight Archive - Second Mistborn Trilogy

Third Mistborn Trilogy

A little off topic here but if The Stormlight Archive, and the Second Mistborn trilogy happen concurrently, then I guess that MIGHT (heavy emphasis here) have been where Hoid vanished to during the Way of Kings