Just read SoS for the first time.

[MoS03]

I have not read BoM or MB:SH.

 

As soon as I finished, I came rushing to the forums.  I read about this "effect" from Khriss, and you folks start talking about it here...

 

How long ago, exactly, did Miles stop feeling pain?

 

How long ago, exactly, did Wax begin being able to form his Steel bubble, and develop his investigative skills?

 

How long ago, exactly, did Wayne develop his abilities with characters?

 

 

Are these Savantisms, or Effects?

 

So, what exactly made each person stand out in ways that were markedly different than their peers, in ways not necessarily to do with their powers?

 

Wax: Investigation.  Bleeder, mentions that during her time as Lessie, she saw things that showed Wax to be a great investigator.  We see these very qualities often throughout AoL, and then SoS.

 

Wayne: Holy crap.  MeLaan learns from Wayne! We've seen him imitate old ladies, he catches on to who Bleeder is impersonating (despite Bleeder being a centuries old Kandra who is incredibly good at that very thing), and he casually strolls into any group of people anywhere, and immediately becomes one of them.

 

Miles: No pain, 'nuff said.

 

All powerful mental abilities granted them at some point in their lives.  Miles used to feel pain, and is quite young, isn't he? However, he burns gold always.  I don't think we saw much of Wayne's abilities in the prologue to SoS, and let's be honest, Wax started as a bumbling halfwit, not someone who puts a chemistry set into their study to test the composition of a bullet.

 

Does this theory seem possible?

 

I'd also argue that Wax's steel bubble is Steel Savantism.

 

The book itself, loved it.  There are some things I felt were odd.  Why would Spook write that book? The motive seems off.  Spook was influenced strongly by Ruin, why would he, of all people, be the one to want to preserve the Art?  I also felt that, during the first chase after Marksman, Wax held back from using his Feruchemy as he normally would in a fight against another Coinshot, and it left me feeling like that scene was only used to make Wax lose his gun, and felt disingenuous to me. 

 

The twist at the end? Ughnff. Right in the feels.  Marasi's gumption during the fight at the carriages, Wayne catching on at the last moment and leaving his gum as a clue, the reveal of who Bleeder was impersonating, all incredible, and I laughed multiple times out loud throughout the book.

 

Sidenote: Pg. 256, the newspaper layout.  "VISITORS from other WORLDS"  Looks an awful lot like a Listener.

Edited May 22, 2016 by MoS03

[Eki]

Wayne's impersonations have been confirmed to be fully non-supernatural, iirc. Nothing to do with his metal powers.

 

I think the same is true for Miles. He's just felt so much pain, and unlike normal people he doesn't need the pain to survive, so his body has shut that system off. Not sure if this has been confirmed or anything, but that's my feeling. In other words, it's not a result of being a bloodmaker savant, but rather by having dulled out his pain response over and over. A natural response to a supernatural power, so to speak.

 

Wax' bubble seems to be a result of his savantism, though. Pretty sure that's been confirmed by Brandon as well. I reckon his investigation skills are from normal experience, but steelsight helps finding evidence, I guess.

 

I guess Spook's point is that Ruin doesn't exist anymore, so it doesn't really matter if Ruin corrupted him before. Also, he lived for a very long time, and probably wrote the book decades after the Final Ascension.

 

I don't want to say too much about what the "Visitors from other worlds" thing is, because of spoilers from other cosmere places (including BoM)... It's a very interesting article

[MoS03]

I'm quite excited.  I live out in BFE, so finding copies of books is kind of a pain, and I'm also brutally frugal, so I dislike paying for shipping, haha.  I'm eager to be up-to-date so to speak for the Cosmere (2 more!), and then White Sand in June(?).