Is It Worth it to Read Aether of Night?

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

Hey everyone. I have my manuscript copy of Aether of Night, but I'm wondering, is it worth it to read? I have so many books I want to read, and no time for them all. In this context, is Aether of Night worth reading?

[Yezrien]

I'm 180 pages in (out of 762), and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's rough, obviously, but it's not bad. It's only 150k, so shorter than most Brandon books, and the part I've read is pretty action-packed, so it moves much faster than Elantris or Warbreaker.

There's some interesting magic too. It often feels like a very early version of Roshar. If that interests you, check it out.

[Nashan’Elin he/him]

It’s a good story, has some interesting ideas. And since Aethers are Cosmere canon in at least some from, it can be good to understand their origins if you want to. 

[MistbornAlpaca he/him]

Thanks, @Belzedar and @Nashan'Elin, I might just have to check it out!

[PrincessMorpheus she/her]

I LOVED Aether of Night.  Totally worth it. 

[Weltall]

I would say it is for a couple of reasons. First, even though it is an early work and the manuscript isn't fully copyedited, it's still a fun story in its own right. It's got some flaws that Brandon's acknowledged but the story's perfectly enjoyable on its own terms and it's got some fun characters and neat concepts. I've read it and the White Sand prose and while the latter feels a bit more polished, I had more fun reading Aether, if that makes sense. It's also very worth reading if you're interested in seeing how Brandon's grown as an author and how some things that we're familiar with in his published works had their origins in earlier pieces like this. For example, the meta-plot of Mistborn Era 1 had its genesis in Aether and we can track some of the development of the spren of Stormlight Archive through a chain of unpublished works.

As mentioned we've also been told by Peter that Aethers are already canon to the Cosmere, even if the novel Aether of Night itself is not. If you keep an eye out, you'll be able to spot the evidence for this in one of the published books:

Spoiler

It's the chunk of crystal in Mraize's trophy collection in Words of Radiance that catches Shallan's attention.

And lastly, since Brandon has announced plans to eventually do something with Aether, it might be worth reading sooner or later, just so you can compare the original to the (undoubtedly far superior) final product, whenever we get it.

[Nick-DC]

On 03/11/2017 at 3:18 PM, MasterJack said:

Hey everyone. I have my manuscript copy of Aether of Night, but I'm wondering, is it worth it to read? I have so many books I want to read, and no time for them all. In this context, is Aether of Night worth reading?

I get what you're saying. So little time and so many books to read - games to play - life to live. I suppose it depends on how much you enjoy BS's writing. Personally, I'm captivated, and a chance to read a piece he wrote way back when, before he was published, has to be a definite 'top of the pile' peach. After, of course, I finish Oathbringer.

[Ammanas]

I hope this doesn't come across as sarcastic, but I always recommend people read it and find out for themselves. If you don't like it than drop it and read something else. Sometimes I will revisit a series/ book I dropped and find out time has made a difference.

[KnightRadiant301]

Reading all of your comments, I'm so excited to read it!

[groovedoc]

has anyone created a serviceable summary of the plot / important aspects?

obviously not a substitute but interesting for Cosmere lovers with little time 

[Weltall]

Not that I'm aware of at least. It would be a lot of effort for something that wouldn't be suitable for inclusion on the Coppermind (unpublished and not canon) and it's all subject to revision depending on what Brandon ultimately does with the rewrite, so there's probably not much motivation to do something like that. And the draft comes in an easily searchable/scrollable format which makes it handy for casual skimming.

On the other hand, we Sharders are an obsessive lot so it's always possible someone has written up a private summary for themselves.

[Julien he/him]

So this might be a stupid question, but I was wondering if the manuscript of Eather of Night is in physical form or e-book. It is probably most likely e-book but I just want to make sure. 

[+Invocation]

6 hours ago, Julien said:

So this might be a stupid question, but I was wondering if the manuscript of Eather of Night is in physical form or e-book. It is probably most likely e-book but I just want to make sure. 

It's a Microsoft Word doc.

[Meadosmead86 he/him]

I am enjoying it so far can see that it's Brandon's very early works but it has the basic seeds that have seen him go on to be an incredible author of fantasy only issue I'm having is reading on my phone so I keep closing by accident and having to find my place everytime lol