Defending elysium reactions

[Koloss17 She/They]

I just wanted to make this because there doesn’t seem to be enough defending elysium content in here, an I think it gives cool insights on the main series.

when I read it, I thought it was really cool. It was a lot like era 2 mistborn, in a way. I also liked the whole mindblade things. I can’t wait for spensa to use it (if she is able to)! I also pieced together that the darkness was just the nowhere but without the eyes because the delvers weren’t there yet. There’s also an interesting evolution in cytonics from defending elysium to skyward.

[I Am A Fish he/him]

I was a bit confused. And very intruiged,

I liked the mindblades, AKA stabby-stabbers.

Mind swapping would be useful.

[+ILuvHats he/him]

I think it was a strong story, and my favorite non-cosmere short story that Brandon's written. It's touches on a lot of different science fiction ideas without diving too much into any of them, which makes the world feel expansive even without having read Skyward (and I read it before Skyward so I can confirm). The downside being none of the ideas are dived into very deeply. I love the revelation at the end about the nature of the aliens' society at the end, and although I'm not a well-read scifi reader, it seems original to me. Also, Jason is great, and the moral conflict he goes though is very interesting. The main critique I have is that I'm not a huge fan of how his blindness is treated. And I keep writing out why I feel that way, but I don't I think I'm doing a good job of conveying why. So maybe I'll come back later and edit this post once I clear it all out in my head.

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

It was... Interesting the revaluations were cool and we got flash hand kill we got air bending and we got an longer lasting lives? Not sure about that last one but it is very interesting I would like to see it made into a full 100-200 page story

[Starborn42 she/her]

Brandon Sanderson did say that the delvers are a new thing he created with Skyward. Jason spent some time in the nowhere in DE but sensed no delvers. This is why.

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

Agree! This thread was needed.

I suspect that the Delvers and the Eyes are not the same thing - that the Delvers are servants that the Eyes use. That's why the Delvers recoil horrified when Spensa shows then that Humans are sentient beings - they'd been "hired" as exterminators by the Eyes, and didn't know what they'd been killing. Or, at least that's my theory ... mind you, I'm almost always wrong. ;-)

[Starborn42 she/her]

On 05/09/2020 at 1:44 AM, I Am A Fish said:

I liked the mindblades, AKA stabby-stabbers.

I love that and I'm officially calling mindblades stabby-stabbers from now on. 

On 12/10/2020 at 11:29 PM, Iarwainiel said:

Agree! This thread was needed.

I suspect that the Delvers and the Eyes are not the same thing - that the Delvers are servants that the Eyes use. That's why the Delvers recoil horrified when Spensa shows then that Humans are sentient beings - they'd been "hired" as exterminators by the Eyes, and didn't know what they'd been killing. Or, at least that's my theory ... mind you, I'm almost always wrong. ;-)

That's a fascinating theory and actually makes sense. I have one where Delvers (which are the same things as the eyes) are dead cytonics. So my idea is that when they die, they see all the downsides of humanity and the lack of peace and such from the Nowhere and that's why they act so hostile. It's a long shot but ya never know  

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

14 hours ago, Starborn42 said:

That's a fascinating theory and actually makes sense. I have one where Delvers (which are the same things as the eyes) are dead cytonics. So my idea is that when they die, they see all the downsides of humanity and the lack of peace and such from the Nowhere and that's why they act so hostile. It's a long shot but ya never know  

I like that theory too! I wonder if these mysteries will be revealed in Skyward 3? or if we'll have to wait for Skyward 4? Either way, it's worth the wait!

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

I just realized that this thread is about DE, and my posts have only been about Skyward. Fixing that oversight now.

I liked DE the first time I read it, but after reading Skyward and Starsight, Defending Elysium became waaaaay more intriguing. In fact, I think I need to read it again, before Skyward 3 for sure.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Iarwainiel

[Listener she/her]

I just recently read DE and it was great. I especially like Jason's idealism about the Superiority and how it ended. It gave more insight into the human wars and a lot of info on Cytonics.. I do have one question, though. If FTL is the most advanced cytonic skill, why hasn't Spin gotten mindblades yet?

 

[legolasgalactica]

I'm nearly done with part 3 of skyward (none of the novellas yet) and only just found out DE was related. I remember reading it way back when and thinking it was pretty good but bizarre that the "Phone Company" is the main space power from Earth. I also finished it right before falling asleep and my dreams must have taken flight from there because my memory of the story was shockingly different from the summary I just read about it. I do remember wondering what elysium really was and how he was protecting it. I'll have to read it again as I remembered there being less characters--maybe only 2 and the hero having to sacrifice himself and his ship to stop the bad guy (angel or AI or something) from discovering the secrets of elysium... maybe I'm remembering a combination of 2 different and separate stories...

I also think the delvers are AIs gone crazy and that Mbot will be the cure.

Edited December 29, 2021 by legolasgalactica
Clarification

[King_Javascript101; he/him]

On 12/29/2021 at 0:42 AM, legolasgalactica said:

hero having to sacrifice himself and his ship to stop the bad guy (angel or AI or something) from discovering the secrets of elysium

I don't remember that

[legolasgalactica]

 

On 7/1/2022 at 1:02 PM, King_Javascript101; said:

I don't remember that

I didn't say that is what happened in the story--just that I had some bizarre recollections about it.  I just re-read it and have no idea where my weird memories came from. Must really have been dreams.