The status of Aether of Night

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Okay so Aether of Night is an unpublished book of Brandon's, which he sends out to readers who ask for it.  We thought it was going to stay that way, due to various concepts being cannibalized from it (one of the Shards, Decay, became Mistborn's Ruin).  Then Peter drops this bombshell on Reddit:
 

Actually it might be un-cannibalized. Some concepts went into Liar of Partinel, but now that book won't ever happen in that form. So there could still be one or more Aether books in the future. But it would be a ground-up rewrite like happened with Mistborn and Stormlight.

 
I responded:
 

Wait, really? That's pretty big news, even just possibility of it happening. I presume the Shards of the world would change then? Since Decay got reworked to be Ruin and such?

 
To which he replied:
 

Yeah, Decay is essentially Ruin, so lots of things would change there. But the magic of the Aethers, especially, could get their own book later.
 
There is a reason that Aethers are already canon. I don't think anyone has figured that out yet. But the backstory Brandon gives them could change in the future, or could end up never materializing.

 

So, how do the rest of you feel about this?  Why are Aether's already canon (pretty sure one showed up in Mraize's treasure trove)?

[Slater he/him]

My question is what happened to Liar of Partinel? It looks like it's been scraped and Dragonsteel will cover both Hoid and the Shards backstory.

 

As for Aether, the concept with the twin taking over and leading the Imperium against an unknown threat always sounded awesome to me, but I never wanted to read it because it wasn't canon. But it becoming canon in a new way would be absolutely awesome.

 

But given the recent State of, and how much work for it will have to be done from the ground up, if it happens it wont be for a LONG time.

 

Also curious about what Shard they would use to replace Decay.

[Chaos he/him]

From what I understand about Liar, it was written just before he got the Wheel of Time project, and at the time, Brandon wrote it very experimentally, with first person and much less outlining than he usually did. It didn't turn out well at all and then he got the Wheel of Time. I believe he said it'd take a total rewrite to do the story justice (probably because it was Hoid's backstory and it just didn't do it well enough). So we will never see Liar in its 2007 form because Brandon is so dissatisfied with it, which means we will be dissatisfied with it, because the mystery of Hoid is one of the central mysteries of the cosmere

[Shardcellist]

Maybe it's just that I finished Aether of Night mere hours ago, but this is the best news I've received all week!

So, would the basic story, setting, and characters remain the same with only the writing being redone, or will everything be completely different (I really like it how it is now...)

[Shardlet he/him]

 Why are Aether's already canon (pretty sure one showed up in Mraize's treasure trove)?

 

I think it is reasonably safe to say that the appearance of an Aether on stage on WoR is precisely why Aethers are canon.

Edited December 24, 2014 by Shardlet

[WeiryWriter he/him]

I think it is reasonably safe to say that the appearance on an Aether on stage on WoR is precisely why Aethers are canon.

 

I think you mis-understand my point.  Their appearance in WoR may /show/ that they are canon but it doesn't say /why/ they are canon.  That is the question I was trying to ask, as Peter points out that he hasn't seen anybody figure it out.

[Chaos he/him]

This is getting dangerously close to talking about unpublished works that not everyone has access to. Don't worry there will be an Aether and White Sand forum pretty soon. Especially with this topic around

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

As far as Aether's being canon... what if what Nale used to heal Szeth wasn't a Fabrial, but was an Aether? 

 

Just because Szeth assumes it is a Fabrial and Nale says he could use a Fabrial to heal him, doesn't mean that it was one. 

 

I have another thought, but it would get really into the Aether's and mechanics so I'm sure I can't post it because of what Chaos mentions above. 

[Chaos he/him]

Yes, let's delay that topic for a bit more. Thanks

[Galavantes]

So I know that they are distributing Aether to people who ask for it. Just like Peter will send you a copy of White Sands if you ask. My question is can someone who already has it provide a link  (or email it)? When Peter sent me White Sands he said that I could give it to people but not post it anywhere. 

Only reason I ask is that it took me 6 months to get a reply to my request for White Sands, and I'm sure that with Brandon becoming more and more popular I prefer not to bug the Sanderteam, but would very much like to read Aether.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

The only way to get it is by emailing Team Sanderson, we are not supposed to share either book.

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

So I know that they are distributing Aether to people who ask for it. Just like Peter will send you a copy of White Sands if you ask. My question is can someone who already has it provide a link  (or email it)? When Peter sent me White Sands he said that I could give it to people but not post it anywhere. 

Only reason I ask is that it took me 6 months to get a reply to my request for White Sands, and I'm sure that with Brandon becoming more and more popular I prefer not to bug the Sanderteam, but would very much like to read Aether.

 

Keep heart! I took me over a year to get both books from Team Sanderson and that was well before they were near the popularity level that they have currently achieved!

[WayneSpren he/him]

I want to read Aether and I sent a letter a month ago (via signing up for newsletter) but he hasn't answered yet. Help, please?

[WeiryWriter he/him]

I want to read Aether and I sent a letter a month ago (via signing up for newsletter) but he hasn't answered yet. Help, please?

 

I'd just wait, it can take a while for them to get back to requests like this.  Especially since Team Sanderson has been super busy recently.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

I would like to know about the Aether magic system (and that WoP) but i'm not particular interested in the story. Would it be possible for one of the Admins who has read them to inbox me a brief summary of it? (If not, that is totally understandable)