Isles of the Emberdark Reading Discussion

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

What I’m wondering is why this is the first we’ve heard of the atrocities of the sleepless. Did it all happen after Yumi?

[Dofurion]

22 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

What I’m wondering is why this is the first we’ve heard of the atrocities of the sleepless. Did it all happen after Yumi?

It seems that its Rosharian side is the most peaceful.
As narrated it seems that the other hordes assimilate the local biosphere.

[The flying spider]

Just wanted to bring back a theory from when there was a reading a few years ago and still works now dusk describes the radiant as 7 feet tall and thinks that it's an alien  which implies it could be a singer the other option is that it is simply an alethi.

Edited March 22 by The flying spider

[LewsTherinTelescope]

4 hours ago, Aredor said:

I think that they're actually Dragonsteel. It's not based on anything, but it would make sense for dragons to be limited by it. 

Might not even need to be a magical limitation, if you slap an unbreakable shackle around their wrist then they might not be physically able to expand into their draconic form. Then again, suppose you could just chop off her hand then heal it back with a fabrial or something, but maybe that's not widely accessible or maybe she's just behaving herself (or simply does not want her hands chopped off for any period of time, like any sane person).

[Lego Mistborn]

8 hours ago, Aredor said:

I think that they're actually Dragonsteel. It's not based on anything, but it would make sense for dragons to be limited by it. 

Dragonsteel would make sense if it weren't for the fact that it grows on dragons bodies naturally(or is implied to do so).

There's also no reason in my mind that aluminum shouldn't apply to dragons. They're ancient and powerful, but plenty of other people are powerful and affected by aluminum.

8 hours ago, Collateral said:

I found the description of shadesmar interesting: "an endless black plane with no curvature or horizon." Has the "sun" finally set? 

More like they're in an area without a cognitive notion of the sun. The Emberdark is far away from the centers of thought and civilization.

[alder24]

OMG. That was a loooooot. Yolen? Dragon PoV? Frost??? YES PLEASE! Then SotD2 as a secondary story? Yes, please! I was wrong and I'm glad. I wonder if there is something more to albino dragons, that's a weirdly specific detail for others to be superstitious in the future of Cosmere. 

SotD2 is almost unchanged. Not many things were new here, mentioning a perpendicularity was a new thing.

But then Starling exiled with silver on her arm? On a spaceship in Shadesmar? With Nazh as a fully aware Shade? I guess he knew the proper rites. An Aetherbound with a dead Aether? A new humanoid species with feathers - just to remind us that Brandon isn't finished with creating new wacky aliens. Sleepless that are invasive and destructive - this explains why Masaka was tired of wars if they were the ones raging wars all over Cosmere. Hoid and Xisis? Is Crow the capitan? And Silverlight was mentioned, we might be able to finally see it! Almighty above, there was sooo much stuff in that reading, it's crazy! I want it now. I love to read from a dragon PoV!

 

6 hours ago, The flying spider said:

Just wanted to bring back a theory from when there was a reading a few years ago and still works now dusk describes the radiant as 7 feet tall and thinks that it's an alien  which implies it could be a singer the other option is that it is simply an alethi.

Rosharans are tall, their feet are longer than Earth's feet, thus they are 7ft tall by Earth/Cosmere standard. But I also did wonder if it was Singer, because Dusk mentioned there was a "timbre" in his voice - a detail that wasn't there on the original reading of SotD2. 

[Aredor]

2 hours ago, Lego Mistborn said:

Dragonsteel would make sense if it weren't for the fact that it grows on dragons bodies naturally(or is implied to do so).

There's also no reason in my mind that aluminum shouldn't apply to dragons. They're ancient and powerful, but plenty of other people are powerful and affected by aluminum.

Here's the thing: I don't think that Aluminum shackles would hold for very long against someone who was really trying to get free. Both Aluminum and Silver will eventually break after a concerted effort on anyone's part. It's been twelve years since Starling was banished, if she really wanted to get free from Aluminum or Silver then she would probably be able to do so. Dragonsteel is one of the only metals we don't know a whole lot about in the Cosmere.

That does bring up an interesting question. Starling is given a very nebulous instruction on how to get free. Will she, in the story, break free on her own or will she be released by... Frost? Xisis? Koravellium Avast, she who brings the dews at dawn? (I'm out of dragon names now..)

Also, does anyone know if the Emberdark is mentioned in any previous books? 

[anna]

29 minutes ago, alder24 said:

 But I also did wonder if it was Singer, because Dusk mentioned there was a "timbre" in his voice - a detail that wasn't there on the original reading of SotD2. 

It's hard to say since humans are starting to pick up the rhythms on Roshar. So while it's probably a Singer, if this is far enough in the future it might be a human.

[alder24]

12 minutes ago, Aredor said:

Also, does anyone know if the Emberdark is mentioned in any previous books? 

I don't remember anything, but that's probably what MeLaan saw in TLM epilogue 6:

Quote

MeLaan sat in a boat kept afloat by some kind of glowing substance on the hull. The blackness beneath was like a liquid, more viscous than water. It was supposed to be perfectly transparent—if a person slipped into it and sank, you were said to be able to watch them fall, and fall, and fall.

 

9 minutes ago, anna said:

It's hard to say since humans are starting to pick up the rhythms on Roshar. So while it's probably a Singer, if this is far enough in the future it might be a human.

That's true. I guess Singer's voice would be more melodic than just having a timbre to it. 

[teknopathetic]

I wonder if Nazh died intentionally and was given the sacred ritual that creates a Cognitive Shadow.

Nazh says in SH: Becoming a Cognitive Shadow like Kelsier is "an important rite ... with requirements and traditions."

Since Nazh died in formal wear, maybe it he was dressed for this ceremony? 

Edited March 22 by teknopathetic

[CtrlAltDepressed]

5 hours ago, Lego Mistborn said:

Dragonsteel would make sense if it weren't for the fact that it grows on dragons bodies naturally(or is implied to do so).

There's also no reason in my mind that aluminum shouldn't apply to dragons. They're ancient and powerful, but plenty of other people are powerful and affected by aluminum.

14 hours ago, Collateral said:

In the reading, Brandon emphasized when he said that they were 'like bracers' which is how metalminds are described. What if it is storing part of her Identity to prevent her from transforming? 

[Dofurion]

56 minutes ago, CtrlAltDepressed said:

In the reading, Brandon emphasized when he said that they were 'like bracers' which is how metalminds are described. What if it is storing part of her Identity to prevent her from transforming? 

I offer another alternative. What if they are bracelets like those of SP4 but instead of Brass they are Nicrosil?

[Through The Living Glass]

What was that?!

I NEED this book RIGHT NOW.

Nahz is DEAD?! *noooo* Frost, Dusk, and now Starling? I like it so far! 

[Arkangel]

I love the Firefly vibes the last chapter was giving off. I'm a big fan of a misfit crew, especially when they all have different powers/abilities and are different species to boot. Each member of the crew becomes so unique, with rich, lore-filled backgrounds.

Starling: A young dragon, niece of Frost, apprentice to Hoid, locked in her human form until she learns...something. Who put the bracers on her?

Nazh: RIP Nazrilof. Or not? He's a Shade...but a smart Shade...not a blood-thirsty murder Shade...but maybe he could be if he wanted to? I'm interested to learn the hows and whys surrounding his death and afterlife.

Aditil: An Aetherbound (yessss) with a dead aether and a broken bud. Character flaws mean room for sweet character development! Looking forward to learning more about Dhatri, her homeworld...maybe the Aether homeworld?

ZeetZi: Something NEW. A Lawnark! Feathered humans...fascinating. I instantly envisioned him as Abed from Community.

Chrysalis: Ship's doctor and resident Sleepless horde. Possible war criminal. Part of me is hoping she turns out to be our precious kawaii swarm from Komashi.

Captain: Crow? Please? It's Xisis' ship so this is entirely probable. Her disembodied voice seemed kind of intimidating like Crow.

The Dynamic: Mustn't forget the last member of the crew...the ship herself! Following in the thruster wakes of bucket-of-bolts before her, such as the Millenium Falcon and Serenity, Dynamic is a hodgepodge of Rosharan, Scadrian, and Dhatrian tech. No Awakened metalminds though...too expensive. I do love a ship with character.

[Etedbert]

The discussion of Scadrians turning planets into farm worlds to fuel expansion efforts got me thinking about what could have started the war between Scadrial and Roshar. What better world to make into a farm planet than the world with infinite easily accessible investiture, and a power system that allows the manufacturing of metals from other materials (soulcasting)?

Seeing the interest that the ghostbloods have in getting stormlight off world in the “present” timeline, it makes sense that as worlds become more cosmere aware, more scadrian groups would start trying to use Roshar. Assumably that would lead to increasing tensions until it eventually heated up into trade sanctions and travel bans, eventually escalating to all-out war. At that point we see the current blitz of expansion both worlds are undergoing to try and fuel the war efforts.

Seeing the (I’m assuming) skybreaker also makes me even more interested to see the conclusion of SA5, and how the radiants join back under what seems to be one group.

[Hoids4thApprentice]

Amazing! After secrret project 4 gives us a book about the one Hoid Apprentice we knew about (and the WoB's on Livestrams told us there were two more including a non human female that would have been the protaganist of the YA novel with Kite Magic!) WE NOW GET TO MEET STARLING in Secret Project 5! Yaaaaay!!!

Is hoping to meet the 3rd apprentice in Secret Project 6 (whenever that may be) too much to hope for? 

Also very excited to get more 6th of the Dusk as I loved the original novella and the tease of the sequel we got a few years ago!

ZeetZi (the feathered human) reminded me of Brandons pitch for the unamed Secet Project from the 2020 and 2021 State of Sandersons that he said would be more beastly than his other works and would be 200-300K words. I wonder if ZeetZi is from that world and whether that world is also the same as Mythos (which got mentioned in the 2 most recent State of Sandesons and in The Lost Metal)?

[Green Hoodie Mistborn]

7 hours ago, Aredor said:

Also, does anyone know if the Emberdark is mentioned in any previous books? 

It is present on the Shadesmar map for the Sea of Lost Lights that Nazh made (https://coppermind.net/w/images/Sea_of_Lost_Lights.jpg)

But now I need to do word searches in my other Cosmere books to see if there are references I've missed

 

[JPGU]

One thought that I'm most likely wrong about but I can't get out of my head and I won't give up until it's confirmed that I'm 100% wrong is that Star is related to Hoid, as soon as it was mentioned that she has white hair and I remembered that Brandon said that hoid has dated a dragon was the first thing that came to my mind

Edited March 23 by JPGU

[Dreamwa1ker]

5 hours ago, JPGU said:

One thought that I'm most likely wrong about but I can't get out of my head and I won't give up until it's confirmed that I'm 100% wrong is that Star is related to Hoid, as soon as it was mentioned that she has white hair and I remembered that Brandon said that hoid has dated a dragon was the first thing that came to my mind

I also was wondering about the parents comment, and possibly her being half human. But I was wondering if she was Koravellium and Tanavast's kid from before the shattering. But the timing wouldn't work I guess since Starling is only like in her 80s (30 in the prologue plus the 57 year jump?) And she would have had to be ancient to have been born pre-shattering.

 

Though the albinism I'm thinking could be something special related to Fain life being white usually, maybe something about origin of dragons.

Edited March 23 by Dreamwa1ker

[Dofurion]

6 hours ago, Dreamwa1ker said:

I also was wondering about the parents comment, and possibly her being half human.

From the WoBs of the topic it seems that it doesn't matter if only one of the parents is a dragon, the offspring is considered completely dragon.

[JPGU]

9 hours ago, Dreamwa1ker said:

Though the albinism I'm thinking could be something special related to Fain life being white usually, maybe something about origin of dragons.

I also thought that it could be related to fain life but the way they talk about hers albinism and that Frost, who has been alive since before the shattering, had only seen two before, it seems very strange, and all dragons are fain so If that were the reason it shouldn't be so strange.

 

I also want to comment that it seems strange to me that both of Star's parents were albinos, so were they related or are they simply two dragons from different families that were born with the same special condition and then became a couple?

[Pemur]

Couple thoughts and questions I had after listening to the sample chapters.

Since the ones above are lowkey confirmed to be Scadrians, does that mean that they permanently took care of the Trell problem somehow? Will they shatter Autonomy in era 3 or will Harmony absorb Autonomy or something?

Also about the perpendicularity that used to be on Dahatri, does that mean that there was once a shard there (Maybe the last shard)? Or that the aethers can create perpendicularities too?

[AquaRegia]

1 hour ago, Pemur said:

Couple thoughts and questions I had after listening to the sample chapters.

Since the ones above are lowkey confirmed to be Scadrians, does that mean that they permanently took care of the Trell problem somehow? Will they shatter Autonomy in era 3 or will Harmony absorb Autonomy or something?

Also about the perpendicularity that used to be on Dahatri, does that mean that there was once a shard there (Maybe the last shard)? Or that the aethers can create perpendicularities too?

These are two very good questions which had also occurred to me.  There's always another secret, storm it!

[Bluepanther512]

Are there any physical descriptions of Starling besides her pink eyes and albino skin that I missed?

 

Edit: And her silver manacles

Edited March 24 by Bluepanther512
added descriptor

[Arkangel]

13 hours ago, Pemur said:

Couple thoughts and questions I had after listening to the sample chapters.

Since the ones above are lowkey confirmed to be Scadrians, does that mean that they permanently took care of the Trell problem somehow? Will they shatter Autonomy in era 3 or will Harmony absorb Autonomy or something?

Also about the perpendicularity that used to be on Dahatri, does that mean that there was once a shard there (Maybe the last shard)? Or that the aethers can create perpendicularities too?

Not necessarily. Shards play the long game. I fully expect the Autonomy conflict to extend into Era 4.