Sharder Origin Stories

[Kasimir he/him]

1. Okay so this one's a little weird. Basically a bunch of things came together for me - Mistborn really did not seem interesting to me, and the hard magic selling point was whatever. But I was a hardcore WoT fan thanks to this girl at high school, and Robert Jordan passed in late 2007 but then it was announced that Brandon Sanderson was going to be continuing the series. And that's when I said, "Okay, let's check out his Mistborn work I guess so I know if I feel optimistic about WoT going on." I started in maybe early 2008, then got hospitalised mid-to-end 2008 which was right after I finished the first Mistborn book, so I then had lots of time to do nothing except read. And that's how I finished the Mistborn trilogy, Elantris, and I think the free early draft of Warbreaker, and then kept reading.

2. Words of Radiance released, I really enjoyed the book and found 17S when Googling. I joined because I was high on the hype/excitement from the book and wanted to find more fans to enthuse about the books with. Hung out on the general forums, then found the Sanderson Elimination subforum a couple weeks later, made friends there, and never looked back.

3. Funny story. I wanted a new username that wasn't the same ones I'd used many times, and I'd just gotten out of a university physics lecture on the Casimir Effect. Then I decided I wanted a harder letter than C so swapped it out for the K. Then I stuck with it through the years.

[Through the living jeff he/him(straight)]

14 hours ago, Through The Living Glass said:

Why Davey?

…It’s a long story

Spoiler

PM if you really want to know

 

[Cash67]

14 hours ago, LessName said:

A.) So you see, this super cute guy (*cough cough* @NameIess) came over with the rest of his family to my family’s house for a play date, if you will, hardly spoke to me, but recommended Brandon Sanderson books, and that Tress was a good one to start with. I decided to start with WoK, because the cover looked cool.

B.) So you see, this super cute guy, (we’re still talking about the same one, and by this point we’re dating) said I should join the Shard to do shenanigans on TLT.

C.) So you see, this super cute guy, the one who invited me to the Shard, I just did his username backwards.

 

Edit: I feel obligated to add that NameIess and I got engaged January 26th, 2025, and will be getting married later this year.

Quote

Yooo congrats! You picked a good guy. 

 

[Experience he/him]

A. My dad was a fan of Wheel of Time since before I was born, so he was always reading Sanderson and had a collection of all his books, so I read WoK when I was...12ish? and got hooked immediately. 

B. iirc I had been studying coppermind for a little while and found the shard through a google search maybe? Anways I stumbled upon SE first and quickly spread out to the other areas on the shard as well.

C. There's a point in stormlight where Wit talks about Experience and it was used in a similar way to the Wisdom setance, so I thought maybe Experience could be a shard. 

 

 

[AltonicKeys he/him]

A. Me and a friend were talking, and they heavily recommended Stormlight. I got hooked and read the first four. Decided if Sanderson wrote Stormlight, maybe that other, unrelated series "Mistborn" is just as good. Third book, epigraphs mentioned "Adonalsium." I looked it up on the Coppermind, and then realized the Cosmere was a thing. It was wild.

B. Was looking into Roshar glyphs and languages on Coppermind, and it referenced someone's translation on the Shard. Then I started reading theories, and decided to make an account in case I was smart enough to come up with my own

C. I kinda forgot?? I know I came up with it on kind of a whim. I think it involved a joke about someone named Alton (Probably the chef Alton Brown) and keyboards. Younger me wasn't very humorous, by the way.

[Wittles he/him]

A. I was at Barnes & Noble and remembered someone trying to get me to read Mistborn a few years previous, so I bought the trilogy. No regrets

B. I can't remember entirely, but I was feeling kind of lonely and looked at the forums and they looked fun so yeah

C. I wanted to go with Witless, but that was taken, so that turned into Witless of Shinovar, then the wonderful haly started saying witless rhymes with skittles, so now I'm Wittles

[Through the Living Hope]

On 2/23/2025 at 9:42 PM, LessName said:

A.) So you see, this super cute guy (*cough cough* @NameIess) came over with the rest of his family to my family’s house for a play date, if you will, hardly spoke to me, but recommended Brandon Sanderson books, and that Tress was a good one to start with. I decided to start with WoK, because the cover looked cool.

B.) So you see, this super cute guy, (we’re still talking about the same one, and by this point we’re dating) said I should join the Shard to do shenanigans on TLT.

C.) So you see, this super cute guy, the one who invited me to the Shard, I just did his username backwards.

 

Edit: I feel obligated to add that NameIess and I got engaged January 26th, 2025, and will be getting married later this year.

Awww that's awesome! Congrats!

[#1 Taln Fan he/him]

On 2/23/2025 at 9:42 PM, LessName said:

Edit: I feel obligated to add that NameIess and I got engaged January 26th, 2025, and will be getting married later this year.

Congrats!!!

[Wierdo he/him]

My friend used the 
"Your face reminds me of someone special to me.."
"Who?" 
"My horse."
Line on me, and- I was intrigued, he told me it was from TWoK, so, I read it after like, 3 months of putting it off, and, after a year, I restarted, and, read the entire cosmere at the time within a semester

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

1. I thought WoK looked cool and like something I wanted to read. I had already read Steelheart, and I read Tress for school. I started with Alcatraz, and I thought that was pretty funny. I had wanted to read WoK for a while, but it was never available at our public library.  
2. I was rereading the Cosmere for Dragonsteel, and I was into Oathbringer when the Stormstrider showed up. I was very confused, and I remembered the 17th Shard, because I had searched on it before. 
3. I picked it because it was a shortened version of something like That one Worldhopper that nobody knows the name of. It was supposed to be about the Worldhoppers in the background, that show up but nobody knows who they actually are.

[Keke They/he]

A.) First get into Sanderson

Let’s see, i read Alcatraz when i was like 8-9. Then after i was finally old enough my dad let me read skyward at like 11-12. Then from there i read reckoners mistborn, etc etc

B.) Find the Shard and get involved in it? 

I found the shard originally during my reaserch and kept seeing it. So one day i was like, mmm lets check this out. I first talked in the nonadult club then from there @Through The Living Glass and @Bird Furious taught me the works, i spent most of my time in tlt until i explored more. 

C.) (bonus question) Pick your username?

oooh. So sarcasm spren (my first name) was cause i am VERY sarcastic. And like spren. I have gotten in trouble for my sarcasm before. And then thee insane came from my total insanity. 

[KnightSkye Reforged They/Them]

1. My Dad introduced me to the Alcatraz books, and then a friend who had read mistborn handed me the Final Empire cause she saw similarities between alivening and hemalurgy. From there I read everything.
2. I was researching Awakening and found the coppermind, and from there found Arcanum, and from there the Shard. Then after about a year of reading theories and lurking, I decided to join.
3. So, my Radiant order is Windrunner, and the name of the Spren OC I invented for myself is Skeylarin. She goes by Skye. And so I am the K ight of Skye, or KnjghtSkye, which is also a play on words if you say it out loud of  night sky.

[Lord Stormer]

First.

I got into Sanderson way back in 2015/16 - I was 14 - when I finally to decided to purchase Steelheart at a bookstore. I did not remember much of the details, but that day (like always) I sought for a space opera novel that is not set on Earth. Calamity has not been released, so I'm confident about the year. I desperately wanted to not return home empty handed, but I can be insistent and very specific. It was not a fitting option, but I relented. The read was rather a skim - 400 pages done in 3 days or so - but oddly I remembered the plot more clearly than others read around that time. Honestly, it was only good.

Sanderson was out of my thoughts for the next 4-5 years, but I still sought for that specific space opera. I roughly imagine it as unique like Lord of the Rings without the fantasy setting, but that would purge worldbuilding. The usual sci-fi are too hard and too Earth-centric, but I have troubling issues with Dune (which I haven't read) and Star Wars (regarding worldbuilding mechanics). Astronomy is my prime interest for already more than 15 years - and I would draw fictional planetary systems at a very early age. Guess I'm born a worldbuilder.

I'm still trying to get the appropriate book, and I remembered seeing Skyward on the shelves during 2019-2021. Interested to buy, but I only done it April 10 last year. It's spectacular, and ended up reading all four books. Honestly again, I am disappointed at the direction from Starsight onwards, though the series is satisfying.

During my read I learned about Sanderson's main works, and took interest in the Cosmere - especially Mistborn or The Way of Kings. Of course they're not the genre I'm seeking, but the reviews were overwhelming. I read the latter first since The Final Empire was not available on shelves. Don't tell me to buy books online - I live far in Asia. When I ordered Lord of the Rings volumes few years ago, I spent more on delivery cost than the paperback, then waited at least 6 weeks to arrive.

Reading Way of Kings was a self-challenge, because I'm not so familiar with modern fantasy and the pages are daunting. It starts slow, but to make it short, at the end it lives up to its reputation. Now I'm reading Wind and Truth.

Second.

The Shard was easy to find after knowing Sanderson, but I felt it was not right to create an account early, so I waited until I finished the Way of Kings.

If you want to know why I am here, it has much to do with the space opera I'm seeking. Sometime before reading Skyward I realized that I would never find a fitting novel. So I'll write it. My dream to become author is as old as my pursuit. Recalling again how I got here... I feel blissfully fortunate. Sanderson has provided the right resources. I am aware of the Reading Excuses section of this forum, and I wish later to submit my drafts and receive feedback. But there are rules and standards, and I worry that I would get into trouble if I do not meet requirements. There are questions I'm eager to ask.

Over the last year I've worked the outlines, the worldbuilding, and changing drafts, but I don't want to rush. That was a motive to sign up to the Shard, but for most of the time being I'm just going to post on topics like everyone else.

Edited March 12, 2025 by Lord Stormer

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

I have a very boring story.

My family are all Sanderfans

I saw the Shard and decided with my low impulse control that I should join

And my name is a character in one of my creative writing projects

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

1. On of my teachers recommended Skyward to me in 2023. I read the series and in ~April 2024 I was kinda bored and read all of Mistborn, both eras. It wasn't until December that I figured that the Cosmere was a thing so, tired of Dune 4, read the rest of the Cosmere in on stretch. I finished WaT a few weeks ago.

2. For a while, I found answers to questions here on the Shard. I didn't actually create an account until recently though.

3. I was up to that scene in WaT when I made my account

[Honors Spectral Image She/her]

Mines not very interesting @Kaladin Stormcursed told me to read stormlight in the summer of 24 and I’ve been obsessed since

[The Great Wyver She/Her]

a) My step-uncle (i think, i have so many family members its confusing) got me the Mistborn era 1 set, and I decided to read it, and vuala, I got addicted.

b) I just saw this while searching up Mistborn stuff, and was like "oh why not" and made an account.

c) I just thought of "wyvern" (because my zodiac sign is dragon and so on so on) and just removed the N. Not the most inspiring name, but it works.

Edited April 29, 2025 by Wyver
added c)

[___ He/Him]

a) I used to scroll through Libby to find audiobooks, and I came across the Alcatraz books. for a few years those were the only ones that I read, and then got into mistborn and the rest of the cosmere from there.

b) Whenever I had a question about the cosmere I would look it up and there would always be a link to the shard. I started looking at it more, and thought it sounded interesting so just joined.

c) Me and my sister were playing the mistborn deckbuilding game, and there was a card with vin and tensoon on the front. she said "Is that that guy, sneak spooky spook guy or something" and I thought that the name was funny.

[clowncarcrash]

1. I forget why, but after a long hiatus of not reading books, I saw Brandon Sanderon's name came up on reddit on highly recommended authors, so I checked out Mistborn. For the longest time, I really really got irritated with fiction books, because I get frustrated when I imagine something wrong in my mind and I have to correct my beliefs. I remember reading The Final Empire for the first time, and I imagined ska as the Gelflins from the Dark Crystal for some reason. But yeah, I got over it and now I enjoy fantasy fiction.

 

2. I think I heard about it by checking out the coppermind. 

3. I played dota for a long time, and I'd always change my handle to compound words. Clowncar stuck with it, and I think i add crash whenever clowncar is taken elsewhere. 

[aetherbound he/him]

1. I read Alcatraz and the Rithmatist when I was really young (single digit age), then my dad decided to get me the Stormlight Archive as a birthday present when I was around 9 or 10. I still don't know why he gave me them at that age, but I loved it and ended up reading the entire Cosmere.
2. The Coppermind and Brandon Sanderson's website led me here, I lurked for a while, then finally created an account in 2023.
3. I couldn't use my normal username of Bookwyrm because it was already taken. The Lost Metal had come out very recently and I thought Aethers were cool.

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

35 minutes ago, aetherbound said:

1. I read Alcatraz and the Rithmatist when I was really young (single digit age), then my dad decided to get me the Stormlight Archive as a birthday present when I was around 9 or 10. I still don't know why he gave me them at that age, but I loved it and ended up reading the entire Cosmere.
2. The Coppermind and Brandon Sanderson's website led me here, I lurked for a while, then finally created an account in 2023.
3. I couldn't use my normal username of Bookwyrm because it was already taken. The Lost Metal had come out very recently and I thought Aethers were cool.

Cool!

I got stormlight early as well…

Bookwyrm is currently away. He’s on a proselyting mission, actually.

[ChipsAHoid He/Him]

A.) my mom gave me and PianoSavant Mistborn and told up to read it. And I loved it.

B.) I was lurking for like a year after PianoSavant joined but my parents didn’t think I was old enough till recently

 C.) I came up with it for- guess who- PianoSavant’s birthday party and thought it was clever. Before I was gonna be Tunabrain the Ghostblood but then I realized that that was like Thaid so that wouldn’t work

Edited June 30, 2025 by ChipsAHoid

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

On 2/22/2025 at 9:49 PM, #1 Taln Fan said:

Cuz I'm curious, how did ya'll 
A.) First get into Sanderson
B.) Find the Shard and get involved in it?
C.) (bonus question) Pick your username?

I first got into Sanderson in 2020, because two of my friends wouldn't stop talking about Stormlight 24/7, and I always felt excluded so I eventually asked to borrow TWoK. A few months later I'd finished all the Cosmere, then started binging Shardcast and reading the non-Cosmere stuff. I think I browsed the forums a bit but didn't make an account till later. I joined the discord on August 20, 2021 (funny coincidence, that was the same day that Punny became staff), and I sent ~300 messages there my first day xD Made a forums account a month later, and started editing the Coppermind around the same time. Got very addicted to Copperminding, and got made Keeper the following March.  4 years later I'm still just as addicted to both Sanderson and the Shard, and I'm glad to be here 
* I originally made my username co-president-of-the-taln-fanclub, but I decided that was too wordy and shortened it to #1 Taln Fan 

A.) So, funny story, my mom gets me books she thinks I would like from the library, and one day, she gets me steelheart. I look at the cover, and think it is going to be some lame superhero-ish book, and don't read it for a while. My mom keeps pestering me, and eventually I cave. I pick it up, and then the next thing I know, I has finished it, and was asking my mom for book 2. Fast forward to me having finished steelheart, and I go up to my mom and am like "I want more books like that" and my mom says, "okay, more books by brandon sanderson" (paraphrased). I thought I had heard that name before (I had), and my mom says my sister has a brandon sanderson book. So, I go over to my sister, and, turns out, she was willing to lend me the book she bought. She bought Mistborn. People said it was better than steelheart, and I didn't believe my sister. But I was willing to give a chance to the creator of Steelheart. So, I bring to the Yosemite trip my school was going on. I decide to read it on the bus ride there, and at Yosemite. I don't really get into it until the bus ride back. That is when I fell in love with the cosmere.

B.) In the future, I really like Mistborn (and the whole cosmere), so I look up a Mistborn font. Little do I know, some person name @Claincy has a blog about this! So, I go check it out, and I get interested. I leave it alone for the rest of time. Fast forward some more, and now I have a cool theory about Mistborn and a craving to talk about the cosmere. So, I look up some Mistborn stuff, discover The 17th Shard again, and get into the THEORIES! @Treamayne helps me out with my intro post, and @Entr0pic is my first Shardbuddy! I get introduced to the RPs through the amazing Cosmere RP (good times) and thats how I got here

C.) As for my username, I was pretty confused on what my username was gonna be, so I just looked at my Minecraft username and stole that.

[SpartanBrigade He/Him]

A: I went on a skiing trip in Colorado back in 2022. I got talking with the instructor’s son and we talked about books and fantasy and he recommended Mistborn (and also a load of other books but I only remembered Mistborn which sucks cause evidently he has good taste). I honestly thought it sounded weird but when I got home I didn’t have anything else to read so I checked it out and it was absolute peak. After finishing Era 1 I went and read the whole Cosmere over the next years.

B: I used the Coppermind a lot to learn about Investiture and Realmatic Theory and such. On the home page of the Coppermind there’s the link to the 17thshard and since none of my friends read Sanderson I joined so I could talk with fellow Sanderfans.

C; I’ve used the username SpartanBrigade for years on basically every online platform so I just figured if it ain’t broke 

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

A: My uncle is a major Sanderson nerd and gave me mistborn, dint read them for a while, then got back into it and read the whole cosmere in Abt 8 months
B.) I read on the Coppermind to clarify some things and found the 17th shard
C.) It's been my username for about 8 years now, and I use it for about everything