Fires of December / SP6 (Spoilers from the reading at Nexus)

[Lightspine]

I saw somebody in the r/Cosmere reddit thread make this observation but there wasn't much discussion about it, which is a shame: There's a few specific parallels between December's "first life" and the "Dog and the Dragon" story. (Here's the reddit comment, also here's a link to a transcript of the "Dog and the Dragon" story for easier reference if you want to compare these points)

• December is raised sleeping in a corner with the innkeeper's dog
• December's parting warning to the innkeeper will save their youngest child from falling into a well
• The family in the Dog and the Dragon have 3 children, and the Dog learns to read alongside the youngest child. This mirrors how December learns to read in the Reeve's family.

Now, the parallels aren't perfect (for example, the "youngest child" in the Dragon and the Dog story is paralleled by both the innkeeper's youngest grandchild and the Reeve's youngest, and December doesn't learn how to plant seeds or "fly") but I think they're still quite notable. The reddit comment used these as part of their theory that December is a dragon. I'm not entirely on board with that but I still think that this is a cool observation worthy of more discussion. Let me know any parallels I missed!

Edited December 20, 2025 by Lightspine

[WestwardWind]

Those are smart parallels, but if you are right, then it raises a continuity question; when would this take place? Does it take place post or pre Stormlight Archive?

[Schizoposting]

33 minutes ago, Lightspine said:

December is raised sleeping in a corner with the innkeeper's dog

I feel like the first chapter was influenced by the beginning of Assassin's Apprentice, particularly the part about December sleeping with the dog, since Fitz also slept with dogs, instead sleeping of in a proper bed.

33 minutes ago, WestwardWind said:

Those are smart parallels, but if you are right, then it raises a continuity question; when would this take place? Does it take place post or pre Stormlight Archive?

This probably takes in the future of the Cosmere, like the other secret projects, since Hoid references modern medicine. 

[First of the Tide He/him]

3 hours ago, Schizoposting said:

I feel like the first chapter was influenced by the beginning of Assassin's Apprentice, particularly the part about December sleeping with the dog, since Fitz also slept with dogs, instead sleeping of in a proper bed.

This probably takes in the future of the Cosmere, like the other secret projects, since Hoid references modern medicine. 

When Hoid tells the story and when it happens are very different. we already know that it is told after the other SPs, as that is how sanderson is releasing them:in the order hoid tells them. your quote of modern medicine, i believe, only tells that this is told late in the cosmere, and not necesarily that it happens late in the cosmere.

[Schizoposting]

10 minutes ago, First of the Tide said:

When Hoid tells the story and when it happens are very different. we already know that it is told after the other SPs, as that is how sanderson is releasing them:in the order hoid tells them. your quote of modern medicine, i believe, only tells that this is told late in the cosmere, and not necesarily that it happens late in the cosmere.

For the other secret projects, at least, Hoid only tells the stories a few decades after the actual events transpired—so still in the same basic time frame. Now, it's possible that this case is different, but I think it's unlikely. 

[First of the Tide He/him]

this, from SotS: 

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Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter are the two other books in the series, but they don’t have specific numbers, as I feel they can be read in any order.  (December takes place before the other two chronologically, though Hoid is telling it to people after he told the other two, if that makes sense.)  

 

[Schizoposting]

1 hour ago, First of the Tide said:

this, from SotS: 

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Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter are the two other books in the series, but they don’t have specific numbers, as I feel they can be read in any order.  (December takes place before the other two chronologically, though Hoid is telling it to people after he told the other two, if that makes sense.)  

 

I think that we agree actually, Secret Project 6 takes place in about the same time frame as the others, even though Hoid tells the story later. 

As an aside, while I'm not entirely opposed to Hoid's Travails, I think that they risk getting repetitive, given how similar their structures are. At a certain point I would rather get the Threnody novel, or Silence Divine, than yet another story narrated by Hoid on a world that nobody cares about. 

Edited December 20, 2025 by Schizoposting
Formatting

[ChipsAHoid He/Him]

On 12/20/2025 at 1:12 AM, Schizoposting said:

that nobody cares about. 

Wow sorry to be contesting another point so soon but I do enjoy the backwater worlds

It can showcase cool concepts that can’t really fit in with any other huge plotline

Beyond that I love magic systems and these are a great way to get many more cool ones

Like the spores and charred, both of which I find fascinating 

Also I love Hoid’s narration

Tbh it’s just that I like a diverse and varied Cosmere

I do agree though I really do want some more out of Threnody, I’m intrigued by the Evil 

[Schizoposting]

Just now, ChipsAHoid said:

Wow sorry to be contesting another point so soon but I do enjoy the backwater worlds

It can showcase cool concepts that can’t really fit in with any other huge plotline

Beyond that I love magic systems and these are a great way to get many more cool ones

Like the spores and charred, both of which I find fascinating 

Also I love Hoid’s narration

Tbh it’s just that I like a diverse and varied Cosmere

I do agree though I really do want some more out of Threnody, I’m intrigued by the Evil 

In principle I don't oppose having a greater diversity of worlds, but given the size and ambition of the Cosmere, as is, and the fact that Brandon has a finite amount of time, it would be better for him to focus on worlds that are narratively important, like Threnody, rather than on worlds that are literally never mentioned again. If it wasn't for the greater Cosmere as a whole, I would not be so opposed to more Hoid stories, so long as they're good. But again, I also don't want Brandon to be like Terry Brooks and repeat the same basic story, again, and again, and again.

[ChipsAHoid He/Him]

6 minutes ago, Schizoposting said:

In principle I don't oppose having a greater diversity of worlds, but given the size and ambition of the Cosmere, as is, and the fact that Brandon has a finite amount of time, it would be better for him to focus on worlds that are narratively important, like Threnody, rather than on worlds that are literally never mentioned again. If it wasn't for the greater Cosmere as a whole, I would not be so opposed to more Hoid stories, so long as they're good. But again, I also don't want Brandon to be like Terry Brooks and repeat the same basic story, again, and again, and again.

Spoiler

Shhh shhh schizo can’t hurt you Sanderson is immortal he has Atium shhh it’s all ok…

That is fair.

We do need the big stuff secured first

I am curious though

Do you consider any of his works to be a repeat of a prior story?

[Schizoposting]

58 minutes ago, ChipsAHoid said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Shhh shhh schizo can’t hurt you Sanderson is immortal he has Atium shhh it’s all ok…

That is fair.

We do need the big stuff secured first

I am curious though

Do you consider any of his works to be a repeat of a prior story?

Well, Brandon has talked about how he first three Stormlight books are very similar in terms of narrative structure, while books four and five diverge from the formula markedly. If he hadn't done this, it would have gotten repetitive. Similarly, Tress was pretty innovative, compared to his other works, but releasing a hundred more Hoid's Travail's type stories would make it real boring (as an aside I have no clue why Yumi was narrated by Hoid—it just doesn't make narrative sense to me). Brandon tries to avoid this by writing in different genres, but I think it would be good for him as a writer to go beyond his usual formula of hard magic + weird worldbuilding + Sanderlanch. On a philosophical level, I think that artists should try to be innovative and push envelope; what point is there in doing what has already been done?  

[ChipsAHoid He/Him]

9 hours ago, Schizoposting said:

Well, Brandon has talked about how he first three Stormlight books are very similar in terms of narrative structure, while books four and five diverge from the formula markedly. If he hadn't done this, it would have gotten repetitive. Similarly, Tress was pretty innovative, compared to his other works, but releasing a hundred more Hoid's Travail's type stories would make it real boring (as an aside I have no clue why Yumi was narrated by Hoid—it just doesn't make narrative sense to me). Brandon tries to avoid this by writing in different genres, but I think it would be good for him as a writer to go beyond his usual formula of hard magic + weird worldbuilding + Sanderlanch. On a philosophical level, I think that artists should try to be innovative and push envelope; what point is there in doing what has already been done?  

I don’t think he intends to

I think he’s focusing a lot on Ghostbloods and using these as sorta a way to take a break and come back to his main series fresh

[Elite01]

My random unorganized thoughts 

-the demon is a spaceship that crashed. The “blood” is the investiture it runs on leaking out of the destroyed engine. (Not super likely I will be honest)

-this is mercy’s magic system/planet. We see that she has mercy for her husband on her deathbed, then has a different kind of mercy for the mayors wife/the same man etc. mercy could be explored in this book.

-this isn’t the first time someone has “lived two lives” there was a prophet who killed the demon and healed people 300 years ago right? Well December already has knowledge of healing and could do something similar. So I think the prophet did the same thing.

-super out there but I think Decembers mom was from Taldain. They keep mentioning December has lights/stars in her eyes which remind me of star marks that can be found in the dark side of Taldain 

[Vagatin]

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(You wouldn’t be hearing this if something terrible hadn’t happened to me during it, so kindly pretend to show at least some hint of empathy.)

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That was it. She withdrew, and we did not speak again during her lifetime

I guess hoid lost the ability to talk , or express himself in December's second life ?

[Through the living Wahr He/Him]

11 hours ago, Vagatin said:

I guess hoid lost the ability to talk , or express himself in December's second life ?

Thats actually a good interpretation of that statement, considering that something has to happen to Hoid, and what happened in his other travails (frozen in time, losing his sense of taste) seems to be on a similar level

[ChipsAHoid He/Him]

On 12/29/2025 at 8:14 PM, Vagatin said:

I guess hoid lost the ability to talk , or express himself in December's second life ?

Huh. I’d interpreted it as the first lifetime, don’t know which makes more sense

[Nitpicking]

Is it worth mentioning that Matin also has a nearly-Threnodite name?

Matin is a Latin word for the hour of dawn. In Catholicism, it's a specific time at which certain services are held, IIRC.

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

Okay guys. 

I think December is the second coming of the prophet. 

Prophets see the future. But that is, in essence, what December did by living another life: she just got one, giant, 50-year-long vision of the future. And we also know that the prophet went around healing people, presumably from the sickness. Well, we saw December learn healing skills and go about trying to do just that. 

If she is, it raises up some questions. How is it that both times the demon has arisen, a prophet has come? Has this process happened repeatedly before in cycles, and people forgot about all but the most recent one? 

[Through the living Wahr He/Him]

If you are right, there is probably a direct link between the propet and the demon, maybe the freeing of the demon created a prophet to imprison the demon again.

I cant remember if theres a time give how long ago the last prophet was, so with enough time between them, the previous Prophet could have been forgotten by decembers time

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

On 1/13/2026 at 1:50 PM, Wahrheitswächter said:

If you are right, there is probably a direct link between the propet and the demon, maybe the freeing of the demon created a prophet to imprison the demon again.

I cant remember if theres a time give how long ago the last prophet was, so with enough time between them, the previous Prophet could have been forgotten by decembers time

It says the last prophet came three centuries ago, so it’s plausible. 

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If what the priests said was true, if a prophet truly had come to save the land three centuries before

 

[Schizoposting]

So, I'd like to discuss the preliminary cover art (which can be found here). 

From a purely aesthetic perspective, I think that the cover looks excellent—it's perhaps one of the best book covers that I've ever seen—and it's clearly very reminiscent of Celestial Eyes: the cover for The Great Gatsby. My only possible concern is that the cover may not be a very good match for the style of the book, although it's far too early to tell, given that we've only seen the first two chapters. 

Now, there's also an interesting detail here—in the cover December is surrounded by a multicolored river of animals, which seems to signify that the blood rivers are the literal lifeblood of Mountaincrest; this is further corroborated by the description, which states that the story takes place in "a forgotten land sustained by colorful rivers of demon blood". So, it seems like the demon is not all bad, and that the kingdom depends on them, for its survival. 

Overall, I'm very excited for this book, and I genuinely think that it has the potential to be Brandon's best book that's he's written so far; at the very least, it's his first book to have good prose.

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

1 minute ago, Schizoposting said:

Overall, I'm very excited for this book, and I genuinely think that it has the potential to be Brandon's best book that's he's written so far; at the very least, it's his first book to have good prose.

Those there are fightin' words

[listerfeend]

On 12/21/2025 at 11:48 PM, Schizoposting said:

In principle I don't oppose having a greater diversity of worlds, but given the size and ambition of the Cosmere, as is, and the fact that Brandon has a finite amount of time, it would be better for him to focus on worlds that are narratively important, like Threnody, rather than on worlds that are literally never mentioned again. If it wasn't for the greater Cosmere as a whole, I would not be so opposed to more Hoid stories, so long as they're good. But again, I also don't want Brandon to be like Terry Brooks and repeat the same basic story, again, and again, and again.

It does feel like, with a decade to go before we even get SA6, Elantris 2 and 3, Warbreaker 2, Dragonsteel, Era 3 and 4 of MB, and whatever he needs to do to tie up the entire Cosmere by the end, these distractions feel.... like just that. They are fun stories and are great for Cosmere building, but don't move the overall plot forward in any meaningful way. 

I also have a fairly minor quibble about his statement

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"December? That doesn't fit in the cosmere." It'll make sense once I do the reading"

No Brandon, it still doesn't make sense. Having Hoid say "t was a different word in their language, naturally, but I shall use a translation and call the child December." Doesn't explain why Hoid would be translating a name to a month on OUR calendar. Not at all. I was fine with all the modern science adjacent terms in KWaT (really, what else are you going to call therapy/therapists besides that? Brain fixers?) but it really feels like December is just... almost lazy. Brandon obviously isn't, he writes more than pretty much any author I've ever even heard of. But...December? C'mon man

[Through the living Wahr He/Him]

The thing is that using the word December conveys the feeling of the name the best, if he used the name of a fictional month, for example one of the months from stormlight, many readers wouldnt get that its a fairly odd name.

[Schizoposting]

4 hours ago, listerfeend said:

No Brandon, it still doesn't make sense. Having Hoid say "t was a different word in their language, naturally, but I shall use a translation and call the child December." Doesn't explain why Hoid would be translating a name to a month on OUR calendar. Not at all. I was fine with all the modern science adjacent terms in KWaT (really, what else are you going to call therapy/therapists besides that? Brain fixers?) but it really feels like December is just... almost lazy. Brandon obviously isn't, he writes more than pretty much any author I've ever even heard of. But...December? C'mon man

I legitimately don't understand this sentiment—absolutely nobody complained about the name Charlie, despite it also existing IRL, or the fact that the word Hemalurgy is derived from ancient Greek roots. That's to say, the Cosmere already has many references to Earth, so why are you (and others) so worked up about this particular one?

Besides, lore isn't the end all be all of things, and the name December is much better than something like Chachanan or Vinuarch.