Who wrote the Cosmere books?

[Bearer of all agonies]

Hello! I am here to discuss a theory that has been in my mind for a long time. It is:

Who will write the fourth Stormlight Archive booK? I know this sounds stupid, because it’s Brandon Sanderson, duh. But the first two books, the Way of Kings, and Words of Radiance, were written by Nohadon in the book, and the third, was signed Dalinar Kholin. I am wondering if Brandon will continue with this trend and have another character ‘write’ Rhythm of War, or if he will just not have a character write the book. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Edited August 27, 2020 by Bearer of all agonies

[+Bzhydack]

1 minute ago, Bearer of all agonies said:

Hello! I am here to discuss a theory that has been in my mind for a long time. It is:

Who will write the fourth Stormlight Archive booK? I know this sounds stupid, because it’s Brandon Sanderson, duh. But the first two books, the Way of Kings, and Words of Radiance, were written by Nohadon, and the third, was signed Dalinar Kholin. I am wondering if Brandon will continue with this trend and have another character ‘write’ Rhythm of War, or if he will just not have a character write the book. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

I think "Rythm of War" is one of the Parshendi ancient songs.

[Bearer of all agonies]

Oh. Well that makes sense. 

[Knight of Iron]

The in-world Words of Radiance wasn't written by Nohadon. Words of Radiance was written centuries after his time. Perhaps it is one of the tomes spoken of in the Parshendi songs.

[Elegy]

There"s a "Song of War" among the Listener Songs in the Words of Radiance epigraphs, so it could be connected to that one.

[Tesh]

I feel like it might be a book written by Shallan, maybe detailing the war between the Alethi and the parshendi, or maybe the war between the Fused and those who joined them and the rest of Roshar. If it follows after Oathbringer in that we know the author very well. It also seems like a title Shallan would choose.

I believe Brandon had mentioned in the past (Maybe in one of the live streams? Maybe?) that he'll be sticking with the titles being the titles of in-world texts that at least appear in the novel itself. It likely won't play a large role, but one of significance to one character or another in some way, I'm guessing.

[+robardin]

On 8/28/2020 at 4:29 PM, Elegy said:

There"s a "Song of War" among the Listener Songs in the Words of Radiance epigraphs, so it could be connected to that one.

Yeah, since this book is supposed to feature a lot more from the listener's POVs in the flashbacks (Venli and Eshonai), I've always assumed the title Rhythm of War referred either to one of the songs of lore of the listeners, or else to the "rhythm of Roshar" they attune to when fighting in warform, that Kaladin and others describe when engaging them in The Way of Kings.

[+Oltux72]

It may be Venli's (auto)biography or her writing a book about her sister. Or Rlain writing something. The only thing we can be reasonably certain of that is a Singer work.

[Fezzik]

I really hope it isn't a book. There are so many cultures in our world with an oral tradition, it would be validating to make at least one of the "archives" an oral history.

[RazeU]

I would have to say the most obvious answer is Venli or her sister. More likely Venli. But obvious isn’t always true... obviously. lol. 

[+Oltux72]

On 31/08/2020 at 8:48 PM, Fezzik said:

I really hope it isn't a book. There are so many cultures in our world with an oral tradition, it would be validating to make at least one of the "archives" an oral history.

Even after having become literate?

[IllNsickly]

On 9/2/2020 at 0:30 PM, Oltux72 said:

Even after having become literate?

I don’t think literacy will change how the Listeners and Singers pass their stories. 
 

Even if they do write them down, Oral will still be their preferred medium. 

[Kingsdaughter613]

On 8/31/2020 at 2:48 PM, Fezzik said:

I really hope it isn't a book. There are so many cultures in our world with an oral tradition, it would be validating to make at least one of the "archives" an oral history.

Judaism has written down its Oral Tradition to avoid losing it. (The Mishna) It doesn’t mean it isn’t an oral tradition. We still encourage people to memorize what they can, and some know the entirety by heart. When the Talmud (Mishna and Gemara) was burnt it was rewritten from memory because it IS an oral tradition. (Comparisons of the rewrites to surviving copies in the ME show remarkably little deviation. There’s a handful of words different, I think.)

 

Writing down an oral tradition to prevent its loss has historical parallels. It does not invalidate the oral nature of the tradition. The Mishna was written down in the centuries after the conquest of Judea and the subsequent diaspora. It makes a lot of sense for the ancient Parshendi to have done the same after the False Desolation for the same reasons we did: it was going to be lost otherwise.

 

Admittedly, Judaism is a little weird. Most Peoples  have a written or oral tradition, whereas we have both. So writing down our oral tradition may have been a more natural response for us than for a purely oral culture. It’s still not completely improbable though.

[Bearer of all agonies]

Ah, so know we know. I can't go into details, but yay! I was right.