Windrunner he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 In case you have yet to see, Tor has released an excerpt of Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, due for release on December 3rd of this year. And boy is it fantastic. Just from the little bit there, you can see Brandon's fabricated another phenomenal world, unimportant though it may be. There is also a review, which goes more into the mechanics of shades. This is going to be a spoiler topic for both of those, so if you don't want to know until the book comes out, don't look here! My favorite bits: Silver gets its day in the sun Another mention of the God Beyond, this is the third different world to say a variation of that name (Shai's Unknown God is confirmed to be the same) The Evil - Potential opposing force to Adonalsium? Does the White Fox have a Splinter? Enjoy everybody, and happy discussion. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) Man, and here I was planning to skip this story. ( ?) Windy, could you refresh my memory? It's Cosmere, but a world with only a Splinter, if I recall correctly. Is that all we know? As for the White Fox having a Splinter, Silence is probably the White Fox, and I would hazard that her "breaking the rules" are just tall tales; especially since I don't think we have enough time in the story to both establish the rules and their impacts and a character who can break them--double especially if that character is our primary viewpoint. Edited July 24, 2013 by Kurkistan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Basically, all we know is that it is an unimportant side-world, that may or may not have a Hoid appearance to it. We know nothing about Shards, though I would be surprised if this world had a full one. There's obviously some sort of supernatural magic-y stuff going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callumke he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 I am unsure whether the God Beyond means Adonalsium, or an actual supernatural deity like the Judeo-Christian god (Yahweh, Elohim etc). The concept of the God Beyond might have come from Harmony and the words of founding, which might suggest that it is Adonalsium. But the sound of the Unknown God makes me less certain, Do we have WoB that the two terms refer to the same thing? One of the things I really like about the Cosmere is that it can be interpreted in a completely mechanistic, atheistic way if one would want to. Brandon hasn't answered if God exists there or not. ANYWAY The excerpt was good. My thinking is that we won't see Hoid on screen in a recognisable way - maybe more like the Well of Ascension, where Hoid is acting in the background (stealing Lerasium) but we don't see him "on stage". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Brandon has said Hoid isn't there, but Peter isn't so sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Man, and here I was planning to skip this story. ( ?) Windy, could you refresh my memory? It's Cosmere, but a world with only a Splinter, if I recall correctly. Is that all we know? As for the White Fox having a Splinter, Silence is probably the White Fox, and I would hazard that her "breaking the rules" are just tall tales; especially since I don't think we have enough time in the story to both establish the rules and their impacts and a character who can break them--double especially if that character is our primary viewpoint. Why were you planning on skipping this story? Also, I could see the White Fox being greatly exaggerated, but I am hesitant to label Silence as the White Fox. If so, she's dispacted at least dozens of men, and shouldn't be so terribly nervous when Chesterton walks into her bar. I'd figure that she's used to this sort of thing. It'd also be hard to be a bounty hunter while raising a child and running the waystation. I can see where you're coming from though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pechvarry Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) Quite sure it was stated that the world has no shard, but could be mistaken. Perhaps there is no afterlife because there's no shard, and everyone becomes shades or something. Edited July 24, 2013 by Pechvarry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) @Windy Sorry, that was a bit misleading. By "skip," I mean "not buy immediately and begin read within 12 seconds of purchase". I'm not a big fan of anthologies, and probably would have waited a month or two and gotten this one from the library. But now I know the story is really good... As for Silence == White Fox, that's just my reader-sense tingling. Conservation of detail and all. Edited July 24, 2013 by Kurkistan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pechvarry Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) I think we're actually led to believe Silence is white fox, since she's the only confirmed bounty hunter. In other news, the whole first paragraph makes me think of dragonsteel/liar. Fallen world being Yolen and it would feasibly possess pre-shattering magic still. The name "white fox" could be a nod (though not an in-world connection) to the fain life. Or the fallen world is just the afterlife and none of it has a cosmere meaning... EDIT: man in the corner is probably a complete red herring since it's such a cliche. But could be Hoid. Edited August 1, 2013 by Pechvarry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter he/him Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Why does this have to come out in December? I want to read the rest now. I like the idea that Silence is White Fox. She is supposed to be a "Dangerous Woman" and I like how it would be if she turned out to be the person all these people, who take her for granted, fear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pechvarry Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Tor has a spoiler free review which still manages some things people may consider spoilers. I'd paste a chunk into a spoiler tag, but I'm lazy and mobile. So I'll discuss it in a roundabout way. The Evil and the shades could be our first real look at Adonalsium's opposing force. Though that's still running on my flimsy assumption of there being no shard on this planet. As my thought process goes something like: shard force lays claim to a planet, pressure of their investiture keeps The Evil out. Or The Evil is some sort of roaming cognitive aspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morsk he/him Posted August 3, 2013 Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 The concept of the God Beyond might have come from Harmony and the words of founding, which might suggest that it is Adonalsium. But the sound of the Unknown God makes me less certain, Do we have WoB that the two terms refer to the same thing?Brandon told us they're the same on Reddit. It's endnote #2 in the Coppermind's entry on God Beyond.One of the things I really like about the Cosmere is that it can be interpreted in a completely mechanistic, atheistic way if one would want to. Brandon hasn't answered if God exists there or not.I think Brandon is trying to write an "agnostic" setting, where it's not clear whether there's an Ultimate Being, Creator, etc., or not. It leads to much better characterization of faith and doubt than I've seen in other fantasy. But it leads to some odd questions about what's canon. Is Brandon writing so that the God Beyond is real, but doing a good job of hiding? Or is he writing ambiguously so that it might or might not be real? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamanti he/him Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 If, perhaps, the Evil is Adonalsium's opposite force, then very likely Odium could be the characterization of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan he/him Posted September 4, 2013 Report Share Posted September 4, 2013 I doubt it, since Odium is a Shard of Adonalsium. Unless I'm missing your meaning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamma Fiend he/him Posted September 4, 2013 Report Share Posted September 4, 2013 Definitely was a great excerpt! I'm going to have to buy this now (was undecided before this).And as for any theories of shards/slivers, it looks like we'll just have to RAFO.And while Silence might be the White Fox, that might just be a little too fast/obvious. She definitely seems dangerous though.Why you think she gives Daggon an extra slice of meat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masaru Posted September 9, 2013 Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 It's interesting how much Brandon uses "Silence" in the Cosmere. - Silence as a name here. - The Silence Divine forthcoming book. - 'Above Silence' and 'The Silence Above' as Parts in Way of Kings. I've always been fascinated by the fact that The Silence Divine takes place on a planet in Roshar's solar system, which makes me wonder if those Part titles relate to whatever is happening on that other planet. I know Shadows takes place on a less important Cosmere world... but I wonder if it's possibly in Roshar's system as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner he/him Posted September 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Unfortunately not, Brandon said that he told us all the names of the planets in Greater Roshar. Stormlight Spoilers They are Roshar, Ashyn, and Braize. Although I suspect that there are probably a few gas giants too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngy he/him Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 On the plus side, you just made me realize that the Part Names of the Stormlight Archive books correspond to the Ketek given at the end. (Gosh I am daft sometimes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 One of the things I love about Brandon Sanderson's books is if you think about it (maybe unknowingly), he made the perfect universe to be an atheist in. Every "god", is actually a fallible individual given tons of power. In fact we know very little about the nature of Adonalsium. As far as we know, it could have been the product of a very technologically advance race, that backfired and shattered. I forgot the philosopher's name, but it was once posited that technology could become so advance that it becomes indistinguishable from magic. So although unlikely given Brandon's own personality, there could very well be no diety (in the classical term) in the cosmere at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeiryWriter he/him Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 One of the things I love about Brandon Sanderson's books is if you think about it (maybe unknowingly), he made the perfect universe to be an atheist in. Every "god", is actually a fallible individual given tons of power. In fact we know very little about the nature of Adonalsium. As far as we know, it could have been the product of a very technologically advance race, that backfired and shattered. I forgot the philosopher's name, but it was once posited that technology could become so advance that it becomes indistinguishable from magic. So although unlikely given Brandon's own personality, there could very well be no diety (in the classical term) in the cosmere at all. I believe you are refering to Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction author? Clarke's Third Law is as follows "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Yep that is the one! Thanks for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cstryon he/him Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 I've always been of the mind that "magic" is science, just not understood yet by most. I was raised LDS (like Brandon! But I'm not really practicing). I've been taught that all matter is spirit, and spirit is matter. Brandon seems to touch on this with his Physical Spiritual and Cognitive aspects. If we assumed that there is no such thing as magic, than all this "magic" just isn't fully understood science. I personally think Brandon is going in this direction with his magic systems since there are so many rules and processes in them. The God Beyond just might be some scientific genius! Adonalsium could have been a person (or collection of persons) that had reached a higher level of existence becoming closer to the God beyond. He/she/they could have made a mistake, or was sufficiently attacked (by Hoid and the Dragon maybe) that they lost this power and was shattered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts