Select Rereading before completion

[Jalog1729]

I'm aware there are already a bunch of threads here about reading and re-reading order. 

However, I think I have something new to ask. (Not that I have any good answers).

 

Given the mammoth size of the Cosmere, I think it's fair to say that your average casual reader could take about two years to read everything published so far. This is only going to increase as the years go by. 

Of course, people are forgetful, and it's almost impossible to keep track of everything you've seen before (especially without spending time on these forums and Coppermind). 

Therefore, I suggest some partial re-reading during the initial reading, though ironically, this would mean it would take even longer.

This might mean reading shorter and enlightening novellas like The Emporer's Soul twice, or it could even mean reading WarBreaker before Way of Kings and again before Oathbringer to remind yourself of how awakening works. 

Or, and this is where it gets interesting, which Stromlight Epigraphs or Interludes would be most enlightening at certain stages to help keep people in the loop either for SA itself or even for Mistborn Era2 where connections are helpful too. Mistborn Epigraphs may also be helpful for reminders of how Hemalurgy works and such.

For reference, I just finished BoM and I found the Identity and Investiture explanations more confusing than I expected to. Also little things I only discovered online like 

Spoiler

Mraize's chicken being an Aviar I didn't get at all despite having read Sixth of the Dusk.

 

 

So, all that being said, my question is this:

Does anyone have a suggested reading order that includes selective re-reading of sections of books or even entire books?

 

On a slightly different note, do people have ideas of things they would say to readers? e.g. 'Look out for Hoid/storytellers' to someone reading their first Cosmere Or 

Spoiler

What do you think the Girl climbing over the wall story could represent?

 

 

P.S. I haven't read The Lost Metal, Rthymn of War, The Sunlit Man or Yumi yet, so please avoid spoilers for them. (Only having 4 books left feels so close! I'm nearly caught up for December :D)

 

 

[Treamayne]

Welcome to the Shard. Sharder FAQ here, if you need it. 

7 hours ago, Jalog1729 said:

Does anyone have a suggested reading order that includes selective re-reading of sections of books or even entire books?

I have a number of tools and techniques I share:

• For Mistborn Era 1 specifically, I use the Integrated technique
  • So much so that, as mentioned in my eBook Projects thread, I mention how I eventually combined all of Era 1 into a Omnibus with 11M, TFE, WoA, HoA and MSH all combined, and the MSH sections correctly placed through the narrative
• Also mentioned in my Projects thread, I created a Cosmere Guide epub that attempts a spoiler free list of Cosmere works' reading considerations 
  • Example: "Oathbringer-References to Elantris, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, Mistborn Era 2"
  • That way, they know that if it is a "reference" it is something that can come before or after (if you prefer to find the references in a re-read); but if it is labelled Spoiler (e. g. Sunlit Man - spoilers for RoW. Do not read before RoW) then they know they can expect spoilers if they read that story first.
    • This means that for your idea, each item in the list would mention the items that "connect"
• For plot reminders I often recommend one or both of the following:
  • Coppermind Summary Page (by-chapter, who was there and summary of what happened) - find them by searching <book title>\Summary in the search bar
  • TV Tropes has a more generalized summary, but I recommed the specific emotion pages for reminders of important highlights - like Awesome moments in Mistborn Era 1 (most books have at least Awesome, Funny, Nightmare Fuel, Tearjerker, Heartwarming moments pages)
  • Personally, I use these two to decide what specific scenes (if any) I want to re-read in whole; so that, rather than a "full book re-read," I sometimes do scene re-reads inspired by the above 
• Then there is the Master Project by Jofwu (I think, maybe Paleo too), for all of your Cosmere Connection Needs - I'll link it when I can find it again.
  • Unless it's the GitHub link (in the linked Cosmere 101 thread), in which case the link is broken now.
  • Jofwu has been kind enough to supply the current link

Hope that helps

Edited August 1, 2024 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Jalog1729]

All of this is wonderfully helpful; thank you.

I'll PM for details on Cosmere Guide.

I was already aware of the beautiful Master project. It's fantastic.

On 8/1/2024 at 4:52 PM, Treamayne said:

 

• Then there is the Master Project by Jofwu (I think, maybe Paleo too), for all of your Cosmere Connection Needs - I'll link it when I can find it again.
  • Unless it's the GitHub link (in the linked Cosmere 101 thread), in which case the link is broken now.
  • Jofwu has been kind enough to supply the current link

Hope that helps

I suppose what I was wondering about was a variation of the above where hints are given instead of direct connections. In that I want to be able to find the treasure in these books but SA in particular, is so big 

One small example would be seeing character overlap between WoK I-5 and WoR I-3. I found that on coppermind, which was cool, but I'd liked to have discovered it myself. But that's precisely my issue, I feel I'd need to start keeping through notes on all of the dozens of unusual characters that appear.

I'm aware I haven't really asked a question but yeah, that's my current thoughts.