[OB] Main Focus of Fourth Book

[MountainKing]

She said the first one at the end of oathbringer.

[Ciridae]

6 hours ago, Procrastinationspren said:

I'm interested in Venli's progression as a radiant. Although she has already attracted a radiant spren, she hasn't sworn the first ideal yet (I think?). So I wonder wether or not she will progress fast enough in order to get her shardblade by the end of the book.

I'm not sure Venli could even have a Shardblade. Timbre is inside her gem heart, so it's an interesting question what would happen if she tried to manifest her as a blade. 

[WhiteLeeopard]

16 hours ago, Ciridae said:

I'm not sure Venli could even have a Shardblade. Timbre is inside her gem heart, so it's an interesting question what would happen if she tried to manifest her as a blade. 

Glys also stays inside Renarin's heart to hide, but can become a Shardblade when needed. At the momment my head canon is that Timbre is doing the same, hiding inside Venli's gemheart to hide from the Fused and trap the voidspren so it doesn't give them away, yet can come out and become a Shardblade once Venli reaches that point.

[Calderis]

3 minutes ago, WhiteLeeopard said:

Glys also stays inside Renarin's heart to hide, but can become a Shardblade when needed. At the momment my head canon is that Timbre is doing the same, hiding inside Venli's gemheart to hide from the Fused and trap the voidspren so it doesn't give them away, yet can come out and become a Shardblade once Venli reaches that point.

Agreed. If and when she reaches the point of summoning a blade, hiding her nature as a Radiant will be a moot point anyway. 

[IronBars]

Sorry for putting this here but seemed the most appropriate place, why is there a one year time skip between books 3 and 4 has it been said ?

[Fatling]

1 hour ago, IronBars said:

Sorry for putting this here but seemed the most appropriate place, why is there a one year time skip between books 3 and 4 has it been said ?

I haven’t seen any WOB on the matter, except the one where he says there will be a year time skip between 3 and 4. This does bring up the point that there was a year long gap between each of the Mistborn books, which I didn’t know, so it’s not like a totally novel thing Brandon has never done before

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sv15249
1)Flashback characters for books 4 and 5 are Eshonai and Szeth.In previous books "main" character got a role in all five parts of the book.Will it be the same for these two?Szeth and Eshonai are important, but had very little "screen time" so far.So, in their books will they get a huge role in main narrative?Or will they have flashback sequence only, but main narrative will still focus on our three main heroes(Kaladin,Dalinar,Shallan)?
2)How you deal with multiple POV's?Their amount increase with each book, which means less "screen time" for each character.I know, in series with such big cast, it's very hard to keep balance.What is your possible solution for this problem?Just don't say, you will kill some characters to free space for new ones George Martin style.
3)You said, there will be a timeskip between two parts of Stormlight.But will we have more timeskips between five books of each part?For example, between book 3 and book 4, or 4 and 5.Or between 6 and 7?I ask this, because in first Mistborn trilogy we had year long timeskips between each book.Wonder, will we have it in SA?
4)Is it possible, that main characters from first five will show up in last five books?

Brandon Sanderson
1) Having not read those books, I can't say 100%--but the original plan was to do it this way, and Book Three continues the trend. Shallan/Dalinar/Kaladin will continue to be very important, but I might pull back on side characters. We'll see.
2) This is the biggest challenge in writing epic fantasy. For me, I divided the series into two halfs (books 1-5 and books 6-10) with a focus on some characters for the first half, some for the second. But also, I do plan for certain characters to step back a little in other books. It's a balance I'm still juggling.
3) Plan is for book four to take place a year after book three, so there will be some smaller timeskips too--but the biggest is between five and six.
4) Yes, many of them will--and will still be important.


https://wob.coppermind.net/events/118/#e3708

Edit: found another semi-relevant WOB. It’s longish, so I only pasted the relevant part

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Mrrobot112

I heard it would be one year time gap(in world) between books 3 and 4, which make me think about structure of the book.Does it mean, something important could happen during this year, and then it will be explained in some form(maybe another set of flashbacks)?If so, it's hard for me to visualise the book structure: main timeline, Eshonai's flashbaks and another set of flashbacks for past year?Seems like a mess. Or it will be like Mistborn era 1 time gaps between each book?Main narrative just continues without getting stuck with one-year break, and nothing important happens off-screen. It will be nice to get some qualification from you, if possible.Cause now I'm a bit confused.

Brandon Sanderson

Right now, I've got it like Mistborn--we're checking back in a year, as I need to give some things time to progress in world. We'll see when I actually write it, though.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Fatling

[IronBars]

@Fatling thanks for that

[Zelly]

Curious to see interactions between Rlain and Venli.  There might be some accusatory fingers from him to her, depending on how well he knows her involvement in bringing about the new forms.

Two of the old listeners, neither fitting into the norm of their people (who are now essentially gone), trying to teach and inspire a new generation of listeners who have adapted human customs.

[Carla Bridge Four]

14 hours ago, Zellyia said:

Curious to see interactions between Rlain and Venli.  There might be some accusatory fingers from him to her, depending on how well he knows her involvement in bringing about the new forms.

Two of the old listeners, neither fitting into the norm of their people (who are now essentially gone), trying to teach and inspire a new generation of listeners who have adapted human customs.

I like to think that there are other survivors, and that Rlain will eventualy find them.

Hope is the last thing you lose, right?

[Zelly]

1 hour ago, Carla Bridge Four said:

I like to think that there are other survivors, and that Rlain will eventualy find them.

Hope is the last thing you lose, right?

I *think* in WoR a scout ran up to Eshonai at one point and said a group of listeners who refused the Transformation had run off. So hope, yes.

[(^_^)]

On 2.03.2018 at 4:49 AM, galendo said:

I actually think it's the other way around.  Originally, I think Eshonai was supposed to have the role now assigned to Venli.  I think that after Szeth's resurrection and Jasnah's pseudo-resurrection at the end of WoR, Brandon felt that bringing Eshonai back after having her fall off the cliff would be too much -- he's already made it clear that he thinks handling Jasnah in such a fashion in WoR was a mistake.

 

I really disliked way Jasnah was handled in WoR, mostly because right before her 'death' she was given extra depth to her character and relevant role in the story. On the other hand, with Eshonai her new role as Radiant with Timbre was clearly passed on to Venli, so unlike with Jasnah, there is no that "wait, that death smells fake". So what I'm saying is, I wouldn't entirely rule out Eshonai coming back in present time, since it's kind of weird to have 'main' character with more screentime in flashbacks than in 'real time'.

 

To that end, I want to make an observation. According to current knowledge about them, Fused are essentially souls of ancient Singer Radiants (or otherwise, Invested counterparts) that are either controlling their hosts, or more likely, getting 'fused' with them. Assuming fusion is the case, it probably goes something like that: Where Fused will is stronger than the host, he ends up in control of resulting amalgamation. When host will is stronger, he might keep on resisting like Eshonai did, and when neither is stronger, they end up mixing and insane, like many Fused we've seen. That is to say - Eshonai might have had enough willpower to become 'leading personality' in her Fused now that it's dead and returned to Braize or Everstorm, and because of that might still return in a way that does not make it cheap ressurection but important plot point. (Alternatively, she did not overtake her Fused, but by bonding with a Radiant spren, her cognitive shadow became strong enough to follow same rules those ancient Singers did instead of just passing into Beyond)

[MountainKing]

She bonded with void stormspren(not a stormspren of honor) and we have a WoB confirming she moved to the Beyond.

[Scion of the Mists]

2 hours ago, (^_^) said:

So what I'm saying is, I wouldn't entirely rule out Eshonai coming back in present time, since it's kind of weird to have 'main' character with more screentime in flashbacks than in 'real time'.

Eshonai is gone for good.  It has been (finally) put to rest in this WOB last weekend.  

Also, apparently Jebus has to eat a shoe.  

 

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Overlord Jebus [PENDING REVIEW]

Has Eshonai left for the Beyond?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Yes. I'll canonize this. I'm sorry. 

Overlord Jebus [PENDING REVIEW]

*sounds of horror and shock* Noooo, nooooo, RAFO it!

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

You wanted..that was a RAFO-bait but, so I never intended that..if you want to leave this one out there...But I never intended Timbre to be Eshonai's soul. When people said that in the beta, I'm like, "Oh, I guess you could see that, but I mean that's not how spren work, right?"

Overlord Jebus [PENDING REVIEW]

I was going to say, so you're saying Timbre is not Eshonai's soul.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

No. I never even thought they would make that connection. Because we saw Timbre in the previous book. I mean, I don't want to kill people's fan theories. But that one kind of blindsided me in the beta. I'm like, "Well I guess we'll go ahead and let people think that but...no." No.

You can leave that one off if you want to tease people and things. Some people really want to believe that.

Overlord Jebus [PENDING REVIEW]

I made a bet that Eshonai was not only still be alive after Words of Radiance, but would also become Radiant. And then the bet was if not I had to eat a shoe.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Oh no!

Overlord Jebus [PENDING REVIEW]

So I've been trying to get out of it for like...

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Well you could eat a gummy shoe or something like that. 

But no, I didn't intend this. No.

source

 

 

 

[Isilel]

I foresee several major plot-lines for Book 4:

1. Listeners - how their history and culture will affect what happens to the new singers and change age-long patterns of enmity between singers and humans. Eshonai's flashbacks to show us the past and flesh out some other listeners, who will be important in the present. Venli, providing an alternative to the new singers, instigating and leading their covert struggle against the Fused. Rlain, discovering the surviving remnants of his people and building a bridge between them and humans, likely becoming Nightwatcher's Bondsmith in the process.

2. Quest for the Sibling, whatever form it might take. It has already been strongly hinted that long-term occupancy of Urithiru may be impossible without waking up the Sibling and reconnecting them to the tower. And without Urithiru, anti-Odium side would have no chance.

3. Battle for the Horneater Peaks, which likely will lead to the battle for Shadesmar. Or vice versa. I strongly suspect that Our Heroes' adventures  in Shadesmar were setting up something significant - like sparking the resistance of sapient spren to the takeover by  voidspren and the Fused. In fact, I have a feeling that now that the Fused can be reborn from the Everstorm, the only way to delay their return or stall those coming over from Braize may be "killing" them in Shadesmar, before they can transition into the physical.  Mayalaran's revival may be part of this, or a set-up for the comprehensive alliance between humans, anti-Odium singers, Aimians and sapient spren in Book 5.

4. Ghostbloods. Shallan's plot for Book 4 has been heavily foreshadowed to involve them in significant ways. IMHO, they'll really come into the limelight as players and we will finally get some idea re: what they are all about, whether they serve some problematic foreign Shard,

Cosmere spoilers:

Spoiler

like Autonomy, possibly being part of the same over-arching organization as the Set. Or whether they are part of Kelsier's effort to learn more about the Cosmere and he is really their leader Thaidakar. Because their methods seem very familiar, in some ways. Or if they are working for Silverlight, perhaps? I could see the University being interested in disaffected Splinters of Odium, which are looking to become independant. I know that cross-overs are supposed to be somewhat of an anathema at this stage, except for obvious Warbreaker ones, but it can be conveyed with hints - like if we see Thaidakar and he is a charismatic, smiling blond wearing an eye-patch . Or if somebody uses expressions similar to those of the red-eyed "faceless immortal" at the end of BoM. Etc. I mean, the Ghostbloods have already been established as an organization where top people are worldhoppers, it can't be completely swept under the carpet now.

Whether or not Shallan delivers Sja-Anat to them and however their conflict with Jasnah develops, I still fully expect them to steal the Thrill in it's gem at some point . Because, let's be honest it is totally getting stolen, there is no way to "keep it safe", whatever Dalinar may fondly wish. Also, what with the Thrill being red, I am convinced that it is a corrupted Splinter of some other Shard, which could lead to interesting ways of dealing with it. Or, maybe, attempt at it's theft will move Szeth to desperate measures and they'll learn that the Unmade can be disposed of permanently via Nightblood. 

5. Taravangian - there are strong hints that he is not long for this world, so his plot-line may actually reach it's culmination in Book 4. Though somebody else may take over the Diagramm - from the PoV of it being a deep plot of Cultivation, it may be a good idea to replace him with somebody who doesn't have the same insight and can't betray the existence of the parts of it that are hidden from Odium. Or not. In any case, it will be fascinating to watch what he does now that his hopes of saving significant chunk of humanity through collaboration with the enemy have been proven futile.

6. Heraldic shenangians - Nale, Ishar, perhaps some others? Maybe Battar (if she is indeed Dova) hijacks the Diagram after Taravangian's death? Perhaps Nale will help the rest of the Skybreakers to "reconcile their oaths" in a similar way as he guided Szeth in chosing his Third Ideal and a good chunk of them will split? I'd really like some of the hitherto neglected female Heralds to some into the limelight and redeem themselves after a fashion, but that's probably more the material for Book 5. Etc.

[Zelly]

I just want to see Lift's interactions with pretty much everyone.

Shallan: Both trying to figure out who they are.  Big point in Edgedancer and obviously for Shallan's personalities.  Also both have absent mothers, though for very different reasons.  Each thinks the other is crazy, but also respects them.

Navani:  Surrogate mother for Lift?  She's smart and crafty enough to manipulate Lift pretty deftly.

Kaladin: .....Very different personalities clash (stormcloud vs rainbows), but maybe she reminds him of Tien?

Jasnah:  Can see them NOT getting along and Lift greatly trying Jasnah's patience.

Renarin: Buddies.

Adolin: He gets along well with everyone (except for Sadeas).

 

[WhiteLeeopard]

1 hour ago, Zellyia said:

I just want to see Lift's interactions with pretty much everyone.

Shallan: Both trying to figure out who they are.  Big point in Edgedancer and obviously for Shallan's personalities.  Also both have absent mothers, though for very different reasons.  Each thinks the other is crazy, but also respects them.

Navani:  Surrogate mother for Lift?  She's smart and crafty enough to manipulate Lift pretty deftly.

Kaladin: .....Very different personalities clash (stormcloud vs rainbows), but maybe she reminds him of Tien?

Jasnah:  Can see them NOT getting along and Lift greatly trying Jasnah's patience.

Renarin: Buddies.

Adolin: He gets along well with everyone (except for Sadeas).

I suspect Lift will be the mental healer of many KR. Maybe all Edgedancers were like that. So I wouldn't be surprised if she spends a lot of book 4 with Szeth, as he is so wacky even by our current KR standards that he needs all the mental glue he can get. 

[CrazyRioter]

I loved the way Lift and Szeth played off each other in OB and would like to see more of that.