HonorIsDead he/him Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 (edited) Quick preface, I wrote this quickly one night as a way of introducing my dad to the cosmere, a way of explaining what to look for while reading with out giving any real spoilers. It pretty much sums up what happened to create all the shards we see running around the cosmere. let me know what you guys think, and if you have suggestions be sure to let me know. Its in spoilers because of length. Spoiler History of The Cosmere Once upon a time, in a universe not unlike our own, there existed a being of unimaginable power, a being named Adonalsium. Adonalsium was divine in every possible sense of the word you can imagine. He was incredibly powerful, and made up of equal portions of every divine intent from Odium to Endowment. He was neither benevolent nor maleficent for to be either would be to throw off the perfect balance he maintained and lead to cataclysmic events. This being created the universe we know, including one very special planet where he placed his greatest creation, mankind. Now over thousands of years the people grew, becoming a highly advanced society. As they grew they also became aware of the being who had created them all. One day a group of sixteen people decided, all with different motives, decided it was in their best interests to kill god and divide his power between themselves. We at are not sure as of yet how they managed to kill god, but based on the end result it is often assumed that they somehow forced Adonalsium to do something that destroyed the perfect balance between his intents and causing him to shatter into sixteen different intents which were then taken up by the Yolens who had conspired to overthrow him. Having got what they wanted the sixteen new hosts, or vessels, barely in control of their intents, took some of the people of yolen as a base for new life and split up to colonise their own planets, some in pairs and others alone. Over time the divine intents, which were not intended to be held by mankind, overtoom the will of their vessels, leaving them as puppets. It forced them to do whatever it was that aligned most closely with goal of their Intent regardless of cost. And that about sums up the events that bring us to the broken, crumbling, modern day worlds we see throughout the cosmere now. Please let me know any suggestions you guys have. Edited January 4, 2017 by HonorIsDead 4
DarkJester Posted January 3, 2017 Posted January 3, 2017 I like it. I could be wrong, but I think there may have been more than 16 present at Adonalsiums shattering though. Hoid was present at the event and though they urged him to take up power with them, he refused. There is a letter wrote to Hoid as well in WoR that is from someone asking him to join in his oath of non interference. Not sure who this is but it's obviously someone in the know. It is possible that the author of this letter was present at the shattering as well. Still though, it is a pretty good run down of things, at least to my understanding. 1
QuantumSpren Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 3 hours ago, DarkJester said: I like it. I could be wrong, but I think there may have been more than 16 present at Adonalsiums shattering though. Hoid was present at the event and though they urged him to take up power with them, he refused. There is a letter wrote to Hoid as well in WoR that is from someone asking him to join in his oath of non interference. Not sure who this is but it's obviously someone in the know. It is possible that the author of this letter was present at the shattering as well. Still though, it is a pretty good run down of things, at least to my understanding. It's Frost, a dragon from Yolen.
DarkJester Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 Really? Man I really hope Brandon releases that story some day... I love stories with dragons, as long as the dragons are intelligent. I hate when dragons get portrayed as just huge lizards... 1
Oversleep Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 3 hours ago, DarkJester said: Hoid was present at the event and though they urged him to take up power with them, he refused. I don't remember anything on that part about Hoid being urged to take power (and refusing). Do you mind linking a source?
Spoolofwhool Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) Remember that Dragonsteel isn't canon. Edited January 4, 2017 by Spoolofwhool
Jondesu he/him Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 6 hours ago, Oversleep said: I don't remember anything on that part about Hoid being urged to take power (and refusing). Do you mind linking a source? That's from Secret History, actually. Spoiler It's Khriss talking and not necessarily accurate info. She at least was sure Hoid was in on the conspiracy but refused to take a Shard. 1
Bromo_Sapien Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 We have a WoB on it as well: http://twg.17thshard.com/index.php?topic=7302.msg0#msg0 1
DarkJester Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 Thanks guys. I knew I had read it recently, so it had to be in AU, but I couldn't remember where off the top of my head. Have an upvote.
Pagerunner he/him Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 On 1/3/2017 at 8:23 AM, HonorIsDead said: Quick preface, I wrote this quickly one night as a way of introducing my dad to the cosmere, a way of explaining what to look for while reading with out giving any real spoilers. It pretty much sums up what happened to create all the shards we see running around the cosmere. let me know what you guys think, and if you have suggestions be sure to let me know. Its in spoilers because of length. Hide contents History of The Cosmere Once upon a time, in a universe not unlike our own, there existed a being of unimaginable power, a being named Adonalsium. Adonalsium was divine in every possible sense of the word you can imagine. He was incredibly powerful, and made up of equal portions of every divine intent from Odium to Endowment. He was neither benevolent nor maleficent for to be either would be to throw off the perfect balance he maintained and lead to cataclysmic events. This being created the universe we know, including one very special planet where he placed his greatest creation, mankind. Now over thousands of years the people grew, becoming a highly advanced society. As they grew they also became aware of the being who had created them all. One day a group of sixteen people decided, all with different motives, decided it was in their best interests to kill god and divide his power between themselves. We at are not sure as of yet how they managed to kill god, but based on the end result it is often assumed that they somehow forced Adonalsium to do something that destroyed the perfect balance between his intents and causing him to shatter into sixteen different intents which were then taken up by the Yolens who had conspired to overthrow him. Having got what they wanted the sixteen new hosts, or vessels, barely in control of their intents, took some of the people of yolen as a base for new life and split up to colonise their own planets, some in pairs and others alone. Over time the divine intents, which were not intended to be held by mankind, overtoom the will of their vessels, leaving them as puppets. It forced them to do whatever it was that aligned most closely with goal of their Intent regardless of cost. And that about sums up the events that bring us to the broken, crumbling, modern day worlds we see throughout the cosmere now. Please let me know any suggestions you guys have. There are a lot of assumptions going into your writeup, but most of them aren't an issue for laying out the big picture. But I think for an intro to the cosmere, it's focusing a little too much on the story of the Shattering, which is what Dragonsteel will be, and less on how the stories we actually have now are connected. Here's the concerns that I found about the history: "...in a universe not unlike our own..." I'd actually say the cosmere is very much unlike our own. You don't mention the Three Realms, or Investiture, which are essential to how magic functions in the cosmere. I understand you don't want to go too in-depth on what the books will cover (Emperor's Soul,, especially, has a lot on Realmatics), but one big tangible connection between the books of the cosmere is how the magic systems operate on the same underlying principles, and I'd lay a couple of hints regarding that. "...Adonalsium was divine in every possible sense of the word you can imagine..." I don't think we know this, and considering Hoid seems to believe in a God Beyond, I think there are definitely some scenarios where Adonalsium is a super-Shard, but not the capital-G-God. It doesn't change much for laying the groundwork of the cosmere, but don't be surprised if this statement is contradicted. The key phrase for describing Adonalisum, to me, comes from "The Power of Creation." (And I think I recall a recent WoB, maybe from a signed book, that Adonalsium had an intent of creating life, but I can't seem to find it. Any help?) "...made up of equal portions of every divine intent from Odium to Endowment." I don't think the sixteen specific Intents existed prior to the Shattering. Adonalsium could have Shattered in different ways. Adonalsium just was, and then he was broken into 16 parts; I don't think he was 16 parts together, balanced, that were separated. "...kill god and divide his power between themselves..." On the recent AU tour, I believe someone asked if the Vessels taking up power was part of the original plan, and they were RAFOd. Khriss thinks they were trying to kill Adonalsium, but maybe that was just the end goal, to destroy Adonalsium, but they found they had to take up the Shards. Again, it's an assumption of Dragonsteel plot points. "...they forced Adonalsium to do something that destroyed the perfect balance between his intents..." I haven't heard this theory before, and, like I said above in #3, I don't think it jives that Adonalsium had 16 separate Intents before the Shattering. I like the idea, that they needed to turn Adonalsium against himself. But, once again, it's a Dragonsteel plot point. "...taken up by the Yolens..." You haven't defined what Yolen is in your explanation, so you should probably not refer to it. Also, the adjective form of Yolen is 'Yolish.' "...Barely in control of their Intents..." That's true for some Intents, like Preservation and Ruin. It might not be so for others. Autonomy, especially, might grant its Vessel quite a bit of... autonomy. "...took some of the people of Yolen as a base for new life..." In Arcanum Unbounded, we learned that only two systems (Scadrian, and one other) were colonized after the Shattering; the others all had humans created on it by Adonalsium (and, I think, is what Frost refers to in the second letter as the 'touch of Adonalsium' on the worlds Hoid visits). Most worlds were populated before the Shattering, including ones that don't have a Shard on them. "...puppets..." See #7. I think they've all been twisted, but not all of them to the degree of Leras and Ati. "...broken, crumbling, modern day worlds..." I wouldn't characterize them all this way. Original Trilogy Scadrial, sure. Roshar appears to have thrived without magic, Nalthis isn't broken, Elantris is crumbling but the rest of Sel is flourishing, Taldain is different but hasn't crumbled. So, to stay away from Dragonsteel and the history of the Shards, I'd structure an intro more like this (pretty much backwards of the way you approached it): A universe of magic, with many planets (description of a planet or two, like Roshar or Final-Empire-era Scadrial) Different magic systems (describe a few in non-spoiler ways), but all tied together through Realms, Shards, Investiture [Lay out that there are fundamentals to the magic to look for] Most people on these worlds live their lives without knowing the others exist, but... talk about worldhoppers [Lay out that there are connecting characters to look for] Where did the Shards come from? And what are they trying to accomplish? [Lay out that there is an overarching story behind the other stories] That takes the focus off of the mostly-unknown history of the Shards (which is laid out as relevant to any given story in the book it's needed for), off of what Dragonsteel will be about, and onto how Brandon's books are actually connected (pantheon of gods, similar magic fundamentals, and worldhopping characters). I hope I'm not making you feel bad with all this text - my goal is quite the opposite! It's a challenging task, trying to introduce someone to the concept of the cosmere... at some point, it's almost easier to say "Trust me, read all these books, and then you'll understand why I wanted you to read them." I'm trying to share some thoughts on what, exactly, is needed for such an introduction. I don't think giving the history is the best approach, but instead, maybe you want to find a couple non-spoiler connections (like Felt the spy appearing in Mistborn and Stormlight, or how Sand Mastery and Surgebinding need something to provide the Investiture) that are tangible examples of how the books are connected. 5
DarkJester Posted January 4, 2017 Posted January 4, 2017 Pagerunner I haven't had a chance to read that yet but have an upvote just for the dedication and typing that much.
HonorIsDead he/him Posted January 4, 2017 Author Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) @Pagerunner thanks for all the suggestions, as I said it was a quick little intro and the fact that I wrote it just before bed might not have helped. I am grateful for the help and will take your suggestions into consideration if I decide to do a revised copy, many of your suggestions were ideas I also had, I was just planning on putting them in follow up texts if I got around to it (worldhoppers, different realms) as for the assumptions I added I am thoroughly abashed, though I feel most of them are not of huge importance, some of them ,I realise now, could lead to confusion in the future when new books with new information are released. thanks for the help, and i'll see about writing a better version also, side note, what order would you guys suggest a newcomer read the books in to get as much off the cross referencing as possible? thanks Edited January 4, 2017 by HonorIsDead
Oversleep Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 (edited) 40 minutes ago, HonorIsDead said: also, side note, what order would you guys suggest a newcomer read the books in to get as much off the cross referencing as possible? thanks There's that topic: and here is my own order for the maximised cross references. Edited January 5, 2017 by Oversleep
Pagerunner he/him Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 2 hours ago, HonorIsDead said: also, side note, what order would you guys suggest a newcomer read the books in to get as much off the cross referencing as possible? thanks I always say publication order. Elantris/Mistborn/Warbreaker, there's not too much harm in switching around, but Way of Kings was a step change in cosmere connectivity. Reading about Ruin and Preservation is probably the best way for someone to learn about Shards, so there's a case to be made for doing it first. Recently, I found it pretty hard to go back and reread Well of Ascension after the Wax&Wayne books. 1
nervousnerd he/him Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 I think starting with some of the less actiony stories like Elantris or Warbreaker is a good idea because it feels like a treat when you get to the more intense action of Mistborn or Stormlight (which many people prefer). Also, I have always felt that while the Shard can shape a person, a person can also shape a Shard. While the intent of the shard seems to establish limits and rules, what a person believes that intent should do is also important.
DarkJester Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 Yeah, I'd recommend the original mistborn trilogy to start with. It gives you a good look at how Brandon world builds and rights. It will give you a close look at two shards as well as how they can interact with things. God, I loved the ending of that trilogy. After those, then yes, Elantris and Warbreaker are great. By the time you finish those, you should start seeing how the magic systems, though completely different, kinda follow similar rules. Once you've got that, then stormlight is great. There are quite a few other cosmere stories out that add depth to everything. The books are all great on their own, but it's their reread potential that make them great. By the time you finish the books, you'll want to reread them and see what you missed. There are all sorts of interesting things to find that are all interconnected, and for now, stormlight seems to be the primary crossroads for it. Not saying those roads don't travel both ways, just that stormlight is a treasure trove once you've finished the other books and know how to read between the lines.
HonorIsDead he/him Posted January 5, 2017 Author Posted January 5, 2017 9 hours ago, DarkJester said: The books are all great on their own, but it's their reread potential that make them great that's my problem, my dad loves reading, but he reads non-stop and almost never rereads a book unless its about finance, that's why I want to do some shardic backstory and worldhopper info for him so that maybe he can catch stuff the first time around as well as order the books to get the most out of them, things I missed (I read WoR before Warbreaker and so didn't get that big cross over at the end the first time through), though thanks for the help, i'll consider using it if for some reason I notice something in oversleep's won't work @Oversleep thanks, I think i'll use your order, I read a bit more of the link but I think yours will probably pick up on the most. thanks
Oversleep Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 15 minutes ago, HonorIsDead said: @Oversleep thanks, I think i'll use your order, I read a bit more of the link but I think yours will probably pick up on the most. thanks I'm flattered but you should check out the reading order graph in the first post of the topic anyway (that is if you haven't ).
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