spoilers thoughts on Aether of Night

[Honorless he/him]

2 minutes ago, Karger said:

Nothing yet.  Aether predates the Cosmere.  If it were re-adapted I would say splinters of some kind.

Yeah, but oh well, this is going by taking Aether as canon, even though it's not... yet

Did you get the feeling that the Former might've been lying about the Shentis? That they actually did have some ability? Am I the only one who thought that? 

[Karger he/him]

4 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Did you get the feeling that the Former might've been lying about the Shentis? That they actually did have some ability? Am I the only one who thought that? 

Maybe.  I personally think any ability(s) they had(ve) would be subtle.

[Honorless he/him]

@Karger, and what about the High Aedin belief that only they could bond Aethers?

Were they misled? Was the magic changed? Was there something about the High Aedin that made them better hosts for the Aethers? Or was it all just a method to consolidate power?

 

What did you think of the end-scene? What are the chances that these events were foreseen by the Former and he used it to release his sons from millenia of imprisonment?

[Karger he/him]

8 hours ago, Honorless said:

 

@Karger, and what about the High Aedin belief that only they could bond Aethers?

Were they misled?

 

Pretty sure this is a yes.

8 hours ago, Honorless said:

What did you think of the end-scene? What are the chances that these events were foreseen by the Former and he used it to release his sons from millenia of imprisonment?

Possible.  I personally don't think so.

[Honorless he/him]

3 hours ago, Karger said:

Pretty sure this is a yes.

huh, why? How? By whom?

[Karger he/him]

3 hours ago, Honorless said:

huh, why? How? By whom?

I thought it was pretty clearly the church.

[Honorless he/him]

40 minutes ago, Karger said:

I thought it was pretty clearly the church.

They did hide two entire Aethers... makes sense

Finally, did you like the main characters: Raeth and D'na? (I think you too probably liked Darro)

Edited November 22, 2019 by Honorless

[Karger he/him]

1 hour ago, Honorless said:

Finally, did you like the main characters: Raeth and D'na? (I think you too probably liked Darro)

Darro is great even if he has been mostly cannibalized by Adolin.   D'na was a fun she reminds me of some family members.  I think Raeth was a bit cliche even if I actually do like him.

[dbulick]

I think Elantris is objectively a better written book than either White Sand prose or Aether of Night.  With that said, I liked the potential and magic system that Aether had more than either of the other two books listed.  White sand was probably technically a better written book than Aether, but I did not like it nearly as much.  The characters in Aether were more interesting IMO, and I like the concept of the Aether magic system a lot.

[Honorless he/him]

On 12/17/2019 at 9:27 PM, dbulick said:

I think Elantris is objectively a better written book than either White Sand prose or Aether of Night.  With that said, I liked the potential and magic system that Aether had more than either of the other two books listed.  White sand was probably technically a better written book than Aether, but I did not like it nearly as much.  The characters in Aether were more interesting IMO, and I like the concept of the Aether magic system a lot.

Agreed, Aether's magic, specially Ferrous and Bestarin were very intriguing. But it's characters weren't as strongly written and feel a little off in their reactions, especially the main pair. The whole story also felt... taut. Drawn like a drawstring without delivering. White Sand prose was also very taut but Kenton's situation kind of justified the prose, here it just created a divide. The characters of Elantris felt a little... stiff, a bit unmoved in a way. I loved White Sand prose, except that I felt that the Part 3 of its Graphic Novel counterpart was better than the prose version, even without the extended voyage scene.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Honorless

[Rorzikel]

On 11/21/2019 at 10:19 PM, Honorless said:

@Karger, what do you think the Fell Twins were?

On 11/21/2019 at 10:22 PM, Ookla the Prolific said:

Nothing yet.  Aether predates the Cosmere.  If it were re-adapted I would say splinters of some kind.

I think they were literal children of a shard after they ascended, perhaps each given a large splinter after the fact.

Quote

Paladin Brewer (paraphrased)

Are Shard Vessels able to have children?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes they are.

Paladin Brewer (paraphrased)

Even Sazed, with his body being a eunuch?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, though technically all of Scadrial are the children of Preservation and Ruin.

Librarypalooza (Feb. 27, 2016)

[Eternal Khol he/him]

     Aethers were created because Agaris and Makkals "first gifts were too easily manipulated" these first gifts were the Gol and the Virus that creates the Shentis

      Also, there's no indication that the Shentis are "altered by the Aether of Night" It just say that it was a "virus" made by Agaris to slowly kill off Makkals Followers

 

Ferrous and Bestarin were the first two Aethers.

Then Amberite and Verdant we created because the first ones weren't enough.

And finally Luminous and Night

 

 

It also suggests that as the Aethers were created they grew in purity. So in terms of purity it went Bestarin-Amberite-Night

How purity affects the Aethers, I dont know, but we can leave that up to speculation

Edited January 14, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Honorless he/him]

1 hour ago, Eternal Khol said:

     Aethers were created because Agaris and Makkals "first gifts were too easily manipulated" these first gifts were the Gol and the Virus that creates the Shentis

      Also, there's no indication that the Shentis are "altered by the Aether of Night" It just say that it was a "virus" made by Agaris to slowly kill off Makkals Followers

Weren't the first Shentis transformed (& rendered infertile) by contact with the Aether of Night itself?

Edited January 14, 2020 by Honorless

[Eternal Khol he/him]

9 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Weren't the first Shentis transformed (& rendered infertile) by contact with the Aether of Night itself?

Here's all I could find on it

"“What of the Shentis.  Creations of your sons as well?” A virus, the voice said.  Made by Agaris.  It gave no visible disease, took no life.  It had only one effect, to give sterility.  Through subtlety he thought to infect Makkal’s people so that they would eventually die out and have no offspring.  But, while not as clever as his brother, Makkal was not a fool.  He discovered the virus and changed it, so that it bruised the flesh.  Then his people would know to avoid those infected.  I do not believe Agaris knows his virus lives on."

 

[Honorless he/him]

5 minutes ago, Eternal Khol said:

Here's all I could find on it

"“What of the Shentis.  Creations of your sons as well?” A virus, the voice said.  Made by Agaris.  It gave no visible disease, took no life.  It had only one effect, to give sterility.  Through subtlety he thought to infect Makkal’s people so that they would eventually die out and have no offspring.  But, while not as clever as his brother, Makkal was not a fool.  He discovered the virus and changed it, so that it bruised the flesh.  Then his people would know to avoid those infected.  I do not believe Agaris knows his virus lives on."

Thanks! I edited the topic accordingly

Btw, what're Sha & Lum?

[Eternal Khol he/him]

 

6 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Thanks! I edited the topic accordingly

Btw, what're Sha & Lum?

Sha and Lum=Order and Chaos=Light and Dark

It's also said that Order is the Luminous Aether and Chaos is the Night Aether

Example: "Makkal made Amberite and Bestarin from the Chaos"

So in short Sha and Lum are "creation itself" Agaris held Sha and Makkal held Lum

[Honorless he/him]

Can I ask for the sample text where Sha and Lum are mentioned? I have no idea how I missed these things

[Eternal Khol he/him]

3 minutes ago, Honorless said:

Can I ask for the sample text where Sha and Lum are mentioned? I have no idea how I missed these things

Here it is

"The fighting continues, the voice said, speaking as if it hadn’t heard Raeth’s request.  Their hatred is strong.  Their first gifts failed because they were too easily manipulated, so my sons turned to that which is creation itself.  Order and Chaos, Light and Dark, Sha and Lum.  From these they crafted gifts.  Dark, hateful gifts.  Powers that draw upon the essence of that which MAKES. Each time, the power was not pure enough, and the edge given to their people was not decisive enough.  Ferrous and Bestarin canceled one another.  More was necessary.  Amberite and Verdant canceled one another.  Then my sons did that which was forbidden, granting men Order and Chaos in pure forms."

[Eternal Khol he/him]

I'm sure the it works different, but Sha and Lum are also in Final Empire Prime

[Honorless he/him]

Thanks for this! 

[Eternal Khol he/him]

A lot of people i see talking about AoN seem to think that the Former was a early version of Preservation.

We know that Decay was adapted into Ruin but Brandon never said the same for the Former

To me its always seemed like "The Former" was a very early analogue of Adonalsium, back before Brandon knew exactly what he wanted it to be

 

What do you think?

Edited January 15, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Aon Tia she/her]

2 hours ago, Eternal Khol said:

A lot of people i see talking about AoN seem to think that the Former was a early version of Preservation.

We know that Decay was adapted into Ruin but Brandon never said the same for the Former

To me its always seemed like "The Former" was a very early analogue of Adonalsium, back before Brandon knew exactly what he wanted it to be

 

What do you think?

I agree. I also felt that former is like you know how people think if all the shards were to re combine they will probably form Adonalsium again who will be God of Creation. 
I also felt that former is basically what ultimately became Adonalsium and instead of having his kids fighting, it was decided to kill the god, make his killers hold pieces of shards.

[Eternal Khol he/him]

8 minutes ago, The traveller said:

I agree. I also felt that former is like you know how people think if all the shards were to re combine they will probably form Adonalsium again who will be God of Creation. 
I also felt that former is basically what ultimately became Adonalsium and instead of having his kids fighting, it was decided to kill the god, make his killers hold pieces of shards.

Finally someone who agrees

[Aon Tia she/her]

Just now, Eternal Khol said:

Finally someone who agrees

Yes I do.. the former - power of creation - Adonalsium makes total sense to me!

[Honorless he/him]

4 hours ago, Eternal Khol said:

A lot of people i see talking about AoN seem to think that the Former was a early version of Preservation.

We know that Decay was adapted into Ruin but Brandon never said the same for the Former

To me its always seemed like "The Former" was a very early analogue of Adonalsium, back before Brandon knew exactly what he wanted it to be

 

What do you think?

Could be, given that it was written at an early point in his career