Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him Posted October 17, 2023 Posted October 17, 2023 Was listening to the Sunlit Man reactions and thought of some things. For those who don't know, it's going to be about a group of people coming to the homeland on Threnody and trying to take it back from the Evil. The first seen is, from what Brandon has said, going to be survivors from several shipwrecks arriving on the shore of the Homeland. In the episode of Shardcast, they mention how the Evil might be a big entity, a cosmic force perhaps. They also discuss that the Admiral from the epilogue of Sunlit Man might be in the book. Here's my theory and pitch for what the book, The Night Brigade, could be. The Admiral is one of the two-five viewpoint characters of the novel. She's the leader of the whole group. Throughout the novel, the characters start to die, including the viewpoint characters. At the climax of the novel, there are only a few characters left, at least two pov ones, one being the Admiral. In the climax of coming to confront what could be the main entity of the Evil, almost the entire Night Brigade dies, except for a small group of people. The Admiral and maybe one other person has to go confront the Evil by themselves. They go do it and find the primary entity of the evil. They start to deal with the entity, negotiating a little bit after a little bit. Idk the specifics here, that would greatly depend on some of the motivations of the characters. The entity takes the other character, threatening to kill them. The admiral freezes as the Evil tells her that the rest of the brigade is starting to die. She has to decide. The entity's grip on the other character would probably tighten, bringing them closer to death. The admiral makes a deal, making it so that her night brigade stays in tact, that her friend is alive and that she can command shades. In return, the entity/evil will be given free reign of the homeland and, perhaps, the planet. This whole thing hardens the admiral and makes her feel super guilty. She could also have been a little more cheery and optimistic throughout the book, but that would be gone at this point of the novel. Thoughts on the idea? 1
PrestoTheMagnificent Posted October 19, 2023 Posted October 19, 2023 On 10/17/2023 at 5:41 PM, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said: Was listening to the Sunlit Man reactions and thought of some things. For those who don't know, it's going to be about a group of people coming to the homeland on Threnody and trying to take it back from the Evil. The first seen is, from what Brandon has said, going to be survivors from several shipwrecks arriving on the shore of the Homeland. In the episode of Shardcast, they mention how the Evil might be a big entity, a cosmic force perhaps. They also discuss that the Admiral from the epilogue of Sunlit Man might be in the book. Here's my theory and pitch for what the book, The Night Brigade, could be. The Admiral is one of the two-five viewpoint characters of the novel. She's the leader of the whole group. Throughout the novel, the characters start to die, including the viewpoint characters. At the climax of the novel, there are only a few characters left, at least two pov ones, one being the Admiral. In the climax of coming to confront what could be the main entity of the Evil, almost the entire Night Brigade dies, except for a small group of people. The Admiral and maybe one other person has to go confront the Evil by themselves. They go do it and find the primary entity of the evil. They start to deal with the entity, negotiating a little bit after a little bit. Idk the specifics here, that would greatly depend on some of the motivations of the characters. The entity takes the other character, threatening to kill them. The admiral freezes as the Evil tells her that the rest of the brigade is starting to die. She has to decide. The entity's grip on the other character would probably tighten, bringing them closer to death. The admiral makes a deal, making it so that her night brigade stays in tact, that her friend is alive and that she can command shades. In return, the entity/evil will be given free reign of the homeland and, perhaps, the planet. This whole thing hardens the admiral and makes her feel super guilty. She could also have been a little more cheery and optimistic throughout the book, but that would be gone at this point of the novel. Thoughts on the idea? This is a really good pitch, especially for a Threnody novel, which, if you want to keep up the themes from Shadows for Silence, would have to be pretty dark. Honestly, this would be a good pitch for a Dan novel.
Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him Posted October 19, 2023 Author Posted October 19, 2023 7 minutes ago, PrestoTheMagnificent said: This is a really good pitch, especially for a Threnody novel, which, if you want to keep up the themes from Shadows for Silence, would have to be pretty dark. Honestly, this would be a good pitch for a Dan novel. Heck yeah. It would have to be dark, but I think, if handled well, it could work well with Brandon's themes. I think that the optimistic protagonist would help Brandon be more comfortable with writing it. 1
PrestoTheMagnificent Posted October 19, 2023 Posted October 19, 2023 2 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said: I think that the optimistic protagonist would help Brandon be more comfortable with writing it. Yeah, for sure- I just can't see him doing that dark of an ending- which would also make it more fun if he did!
Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him Posted October 19, 2023 Author Posted October 19, 2023 13 minutes ago, PrestoTheMagnificent said: Yeah, for sure- I just can't see him doing that dark of an ending- which would also make it more fun if he did! the thing is, it isn't really an ending. The night brigade still exists and there story can be told after this. It doesn't have to be the final ending for the admiral. 1
Authorspren Posted October 19, 2023 Posted October 19, 2023 Oh no, I just had a realization that ties into your theory. The name "Night Brigade" sounds kind of like another military force that went up against impossible odds and lost. The Light Brigade. Might not mean anything, but Brandon likes his subtle foreshadowing. 2
Elegy he/him Posted November 8, 2023 Posted November 8, 2023 The Night Brigade novel is confirmed to be very dark for Brandon's standards: Quote gauzemajig Do you think you'll ever go outside of the established raunchiness of your books? I don't mean a murder sex party, but you know, straying a bit into the dark and gritty. It's just my opinion but I feel like you play it a little safe. Not necessarily a bad thing though! Brandon Sanderson I don't think I've crossed the line where I'm personally comfortable doing, but I think I'm close. Usually, I give a few characters (like Wayne) the ability to go further than others, as an acknowledgement that there are good people out there who don't happen to have my same prudish nature. I think the thing you'll see that is the closest is when (and if) I write the Threnody novel. For everything else, you'll have to settle for knowing that one of my quirks as a writer is that I do indeed play it a little safe--and probably will always do so. I'm very aware that my children, nieces, and nephews read my books. Beyond that, I feel that I'm an intentional and specific contrast to other writers in the genre--I consider it my duty to prove that (like many of the classic movies) you can write something that is for adults, and has depth, without delving into grittiness. This is not a disparagement of people like Joe Abercrombie, who I think is an excellent writer, or others like him--and I'm glad we have them in the field. However, my own path goes a different direction, and I think it's important that I also publish, proving to those who perhaps wish to be more circumspect in these areas that there is a place for them in the genre too. Xluxaeternax Does that mean that you recognize that the stories that take place on Threnody, a world of your creation, are stories that you are uncomfortable exploring because they are too harsh or intense? If that's the case I find that absolutely fascinating and very impressive- it's almost as if the cosmere is a real place with real people and you're just communicating their stories to us. I personally would rather you never told those stories instead of forcing them to be something that is untrue to what you created them to be. Brandon Sanderson A writer must be willing to do uncomfortable things; I fully believe that. Stories like Snapshot (my most recent novella) have done this before, and if I write the Threnody novel, I intend to do it well. (But also be very clear to audiences that it's darker than other cosmere books.) It's not about intensity--I feel other books are intense. Or even about violence or darkness. It's about how far the narrative needs to delve into these things, or the relationship of light and hope to the darkness. Dalinar's backstory in Stormlight is uncomfortably dark, and I won't pull punches from it. But it's balanced by the man he has become. In Threnody, some of the stories don't have that balance. /r/fantasy AMA 2017 (Feb. 10, 2017) Quote Questioner So, I loved your Shadows for Silence story. It was just so creepy, and I like how you included the family history aspect of the name. Do you think you'll write another story in that world? Brandon Sanderson I will. Questioner I am so excited! It was really cool to see you write a more creepier story than your other books. I really liked that change. Brandon Sanderson It is gonna be nice and creepy. Salt Lake City ComicCon 2017 (Sept. 22, 2017) Quote Questioner To get into the mind of Bleeder, was that hard? Brandon Sanderson Yes, to get into the mind of Bleeder, who is an antagonist in Shadows of Self, is probably the darkest I've gone in one of my books, and yeah. It was, but it was also somewhere I hadn't explored before, and so it was really interesting to me. Questioner It's my favorite character so far. Brandon Sanderson You will like, if I ever write the Threnody novel, you will like that one. Which is the Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, that book. I do have a book in the Cosmere sequence planned in that world, but it doesn't have that character. Skyward Houston signing (Nov. 19, 2018) So yeah, that will probably be the closest Brandon will ever do to grimdark. 1
Recommended Posts