Quick fact

[firstRainbowRose she/her]

Just a quick fact I've been told to post. Brandon said at the magic draft he did a while ago that the second MB trilogy takes place 50 years after the events of Alloy. When I asked him how that works since it's supposed to be an urban setting, he said that since their metallurgy is so much better than ours they would progress faster.

So, yeah, the end of Alloy could actually be set up for the second trilogy.

[whynaut]

That actually makes sense. I mean, in our world the difference in time between the first Model T and the first manned space flight was only about 50 years. I can imagine Scadrial making a similar jump.

[Kurkistan he/him]

That actually makes sense. I mean, in our world the difference in time between the first Model T and the first manned space flight was only about 50 years. I can imagine Scadrial making a similar jump.

It still seems a bit fast, though. I thought the next trilogy was supposed to be fully modern, as in 201X. Smartphones, particle accelerators, satellites, international flights, roughly modern concepts and implementations of computing, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, architecture, power generation, mining, gadgetry, etc.

In 50 years, you can't develop the kind of industrial base necessary to support a modern society using a relatively small population and starting at 1910 technology - even assuming instant discovery and application of each new branch of science or technology as they become possible - no matter how good your metallurgy is.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Kurkistan

[KChan she/her]

I'm going to take a leap of faith here and remind everyone that from the Edwardian era to our generation is only roughly 100 years, and that - most importantly - we don't know how long the Alloy series will be or how many in-world years it will span. It could very well be 50 years from the end of the final volume in the series.

Granted, that doesn't give us that much extra time, but if we consider that. plus estimating that the "about 50 years" actually means "50+ years," it at least gets us a little closer to the 100 we see in real life, which makes it somewhat more believable.

[Aiken Frost he/him]

It still seems a bit fast, though. I thought the next trilogy was supposed to be fully modern, as in 201X. Smartphones, particle accelerators, satellites, international flights, roughly modern conceptions and implementations of computing, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, architecture, power generation, mining, gadgetry, etc.

In 50 years, you can't develop the kind of industrial base necessary to support a modern society using a relatively small population and starting at 1910 technology - even assuming instant discovery and application of each new branch of science or technology as they become possible - no matter how good your metallurgy is.

Just think of the things we had in 1960. That was the decade we landed on the moon. We already had weapons that could destroy the whole human race without effort. We had already passed by the two greatest and most destructive wars the world have ever seem. That is "modern" enough to me.

Remember also that the society they have to sustain doesn't need the amount of things we needed. They have what? The population of a single american state? And the Elendel Basin was explicitly projected by god to have anything the people in there needed.

[Deus Ex Biotica]

I am surprised by this - not because it seems too fast, but because Brandon Sanderson has announced the intention to write several more Alloy of Law books. Since they will probably have time to end their own plot, such a short span is an interesting choice.

[KChan she/her]

Well, like Mi'ch suggested, the end of the Alloy series could end up doing double duty by wrapping up Wax and Wayne's adventures and leading us into the second trilogy at the same time. They're all in the same city, now, after all; there's no Universal Reset Button that needs to be pressed like last time, so there's no need for things like the massive fresh start we had at the end of the first trilogy. Life is going on as normal now, and Brandon can pick up wherever he wants to continue the story.

[callumke he/him]

I has hoped that the next trilogy would be as modern as possible; I would like to see a mobile phone without any (non-aluminium) metal in it.

Though I suppose that having it so modern might date the book very quickly. I doubt we will see much space travel, since there probably won't be a Cold War-like pressure to develop it. But I would like to see civilisation spread significantly beyond the Elendel basin.

OR perhaps there will be a space race, or equivalent pressure for something important, between Elendel and the other people. That could drive Scadrial in an interesting direction.

[KChan she/her]

I know the second trilogy sets up for there being FTL travel in the third, but last I heard, that involved explaining how some of the "newer" powers work. I don't know how space travel will play into the world.

Fun fact: I originally read "space race" as "a race (of beings) from outer space" for some unfathomable reason and was going to go on this rabbit trail about how technically, if you look at what the Cosmere actually is, you could technically call Hoid an alien from the perspectives of the people on Scadrial.

[callumke he/him]

Actually the point of "if Hoid is an alien" is an interesting once, from a Cosmere point of view. The answer would, I am sure, involve how exact Preservation and Ruin were in creating humans (and horses, and all the other common elements). Is there a genetic difference between a person from Scadrial and a person from Nalthis? If they have been isolated for a long time, evolution would push them in slightly different directions.

But I digress.

I am very excited for the second MB trilogy. and when I reread tAoL I will look out for more subtle clues. Though probably won't find many...

[TheChronicFeruchemist she/her]

Actually the point of "if Hoid is an alien" is an interesting once, from a Cosmere point of view. The answer would, I am sure, involve how exact Preservation and Ruin were in creating humans (and horses, and all the other common elements). Is there a genetic difference between a person from Scadrial and a person from Nalthis? If they have been isolated for a long time, evolution would push them in slightly different directions.

But I digress.

I am very excited for the second MB trilogy. and when I reread tAoL I will look out for more subtle clues. Though probably won't find many...

Well we do have a slight clue but it was way bat in either Hero or Ascension. I believe it was hero where it is said that the Skaa and the nobles were physically different races from each other, but in the years since the lord ruler's ascension they had become more alike due to inbreeding.

I'm guessing that there has to be a slight genetic difference on all the planets that have a genetically passed down magic system. Though that is debatable. Hmmm.

[KChan she/her]

They all have different spiritual DNA, I'm almost positive, because of the nature of the Shards and their influence on the world. The reason the skaa and nobles were different genetically is because the Lord Ruler made them that way when he ascended; those changes were done away with at the end of Hero of Ages.

The "Hoid is an Alien" thing was a joke because Hoid is from a different planet. Please, please don't take that seriously.

[callumke he/him]

Depends upon how you define alien, really. You never know,

lightweaving could make a green monster look like a human :-P

ANYWAY

looking forward to the second MB trilogy

[TheChronicFeruchemist she/her]

True. I forgot a few sentences there.(I tend to forget people can't read my mind.) What do you mean by spiritual DNA? I am very intrigued.

[KChan she/her]

It's basically just that: DNA, only spiritual. It's a part of living beings in the Cosmere. On Scadrial, for example, one of the things it does is that it determines how Allomancy is passed down. Brandon has once explained that if you have identical twins, it's possible to have one be an Allomancer and one not. Their physical DNA is identical, but their spiritual DNA can still be different.

Cosmere-related Alloy pseudo-spoiler below:

In the Ars Arcanum, the writer references the "Spiritweb" - this is largely considered by Sharders to be a reference to spiritual DNA.

[TheChronicFeruchemist she/her]

I see. Thanks for the explanation.

[Arcanist Lupus he/him]

Our technological development over the past 100 years has been so shaped by the two world wars and the Cold War that I have difficulty imagining the path that Scadrial could take. I mean, the internet was originally developed by the military. Would it not have been developed if there wasn't as much military tension? Who knows?

[Guest Jacob Santos]

Our technological development over the past 100 years has been so shaped by the two world wars and the Cold War that I have difficulty imagining the path that Scadrial could take. I mean, the internet was originally developed by the military. Would it not have been developed if there wasn't as much military tension? Who knows?

I digress, but the Internet was not created by the military. Its precursor was basically a bunch of telephone lines linked together so that if one station was destroyed there was a redundancy in place to 1) tell that it was destroyed or at least not responding and get word out to other stations fairly quickly.

A neat concept based on the assumption that 1) if I'm attacked or about to be attacked, I want to know as soon as possible and 2) I want a redundancy in place so that if one (or 2) links are broken, then it doesn't bring the entire system down. It is conceivable that this basic idea will spawn inside of MB series. After all, all there seems to be so far is conflict and as paranoid as the upper-class appears to be, it would seem like an idea that someone would quickly implement.

They have electricity going to homes and skyscrapers. Technology already appears to be progressing fairly quickly.

Also you have the whole other side of the planet who appears to be progressing fairly quickly. Cold War? I believe one could be coming to MB to a theater near you.

[Inkthinker]

Not to mention that we've had a few times where we (humanity) might have progressed faster if not for some quirk of fate, society, business, or individual personality. We've come a LONG way in a century, but it feasible that we could be further. Throw in the advanced metallurgy of Scadrial and I'm willing to go along.

Though it'd be nice if he touches upon the social effects of rapid advancement. If society progresses to near-modern technology levels (with everyone owning a little computer in their pocket, and widespread connectivity on social and informational levels) within 50-60 years, it means someone like Marasi (who's almost certainly still alive at this point then, 'cause she's not that old and she's a Pulser to boot) would remember a time when the horseless carriage was still a controversial technology.

[KChan she/her]

You know, that's a really good point, Inkthinker. It'd be really fascinating to see something like that. Plus you're adding Allomancy and Feruchemy into all of that brand-new shiny technology. It's fascinating to think about how all of these things will affect Scadrial.

Though it does bring up an interesting, if only quasi-related question: is it possible for society to advance too quickly?

[Aeshdan he/him]

I was sort of expecting them to switch to silimatic technology.

[Satsuoni he/him]

You know, that's a really good point, Inkthinker. It'd be really fascinating to see something like that. Plus you're adding Allomancy and Feruchemy into all of that brand-new shiny technology. It's fascinating to think about how all of these things will affect Scadrial.

Though it does bring up an interesting, if only quasi-related question: is it possible for society to advance too quickly?

Probably not..

What I wonder is, will they be able to divorce human and allomantic power? Create, for example, a metal fueled (focused) electric station? Like the way tech is going in tWoK, where fabrials were originally just machines that mimic KR abilities, and are evolving into something else? Maybe Hemalurgy - powered Allomantic Robots can be created... (Ha! One can dream...)

[.S.A.M.K.M]

it seems all shard systems of magic has some way of making objects magic. so it machience cn use or produce the metallic arts, it will surly push tech into unique routes.

[Zas678 he/him]

I think that it is possible for a people to advance too quickly. I think that you will see a larger group of Amish-like people who like things "how they used to be" and want to go back to their roots. There is a good chance that this will include a lot of Sliverism, which (probably) still holds TLR in high esteem and wants things to go back to that way.

[LordXane he/him]

I wish I had my book on hand haha, but has it even been verified that The Roughs and Elendel are the only places where sentient life can be found on Scadrial? I remember seeing a map of Elendel, but I don't remember seeing a map of the rest of the landscape. Was there such a map?