Bridging the gap in knowledge

[ImSleepyEsse]

This may be the wrong place to post this, but I couldn't find a more suitable one and I just found/signed up for this website. Please move as appropriate if that's ok.

I just finished reading the SA books so far, completing RoW last night. I picked up WoK just before RoW came out so I've been on a steady SA diet and, as I'm sure is not unique, was quite sad at finishing the last available book.

One of the things I figured I could look forward to, which I have been vehemently staying away from to date, is forums/discussions/spoilers for SA; thus I was at least excited to be able to read the discussions now that I was done with reading the books.

From a quick glance through a few threads, I have been confronted with a bunch of "extra" information that people seem to have, or at least stuff that I wasn't able to glean from reading the books myself. Just one example (which is the latest I happened to scan over, may not be the best) is someone talking about the Herald Ishar being the first to be tempted by Odium to Surgebind on Ashyn which led to the human's destroying it etc. I had no idea about almost any of that (apart from the basic fact that Surgebinding destroyed the human's home planet and they "switched gods").

So the question is how have you guys filled in all this extra information about the universe and the happenings in it? I suppose I could buy that it's all able to be inferred from the books if you look deeply enough but I'm not convinced and for now it feels like going from having read the SA books to reading these forums isn't a smooth transition. Please advise.

[+Invocation]

Some of it comes from Words of Brandon (WOBs) that can be found on the Arcanum (https://wob.coppermind.net/ or the second-to-last link at the top of the site). Be advised that there are spoilers for the entire rest of the cosmere and every other Sanderson book in there. Some of the other details are things based around guesses to fill in the blanks of things happening in and around other cosmere books/planets. And I'm sure some of it has come through pure exposure to theories and guesses here.

[+mdross81 he/him]

Welcome to the Shard, @ImSleepyEsse

As to your question, for the most part it’s what @Invocation said.

Though I will point out that the particular example you gave about Ishar comes directly from RoW chapter 111. 
 

Also, have you read any other cosmere series or standalones? Some of the things you’re seeing might come from other books, novellas, short stories, or even graphic novels in the case of White Sand.

[Aspiring Writer]

4 hours ago, ImSleepyEsse said:

This may be the wrong place to post this, but I couldn't find a more suitable one and I just found/signed up for this website. Please move as appropriate if that's ok.

I just finished reading the SA books so far, completing RoW last night. I picked up WoK just before RoW came out so I've been on a steady SA diet and, as I'm sure is not unique, was quite sad at finishing the last available book.

One of the things I figured I could look forward to, which I have been vehemently staying away from to date, is forums/discussions/spoilers for SA; thus I was at least excited to be able to read the discussions now that I was done with reading the books.

From a quick glance through a few threads, I have been confronted with a bunch of "extra" information that people seem to have, or at least stuff that I wasn't able to glean from reading the books myself. Just one example (which is the latest I happened to scan over, may not be the best) is someone talking about the Herald Ishar being the first to be tempted by Odium to Surgebind on Ashyn which led to the human's destroying it etc. I had no idea about almost any of that (apart from the basic fact that Surgebinding destroyed the human's home planet and they "switched gods").

So the question is how have you guys filled in all this extra information about the universe and the happenings in it? I suppose I could buy that it's all able to be inferred from the books if you look deeply enough but I'm not convinced and for now it feels like going from having read the SA books to reading these forums isn't a smooth transition. Please advise.

Become obsessed, and all answers will reveal themselves to you. 

[ImSleepyEsse]

@mdross81 "Though I will point out that the particular example you gave about Ishar comes directly from RoW chapter 111"
So it is! Just found and re-read it. I guess those words from the Stormfather went over my head.

 

@Aspiring Writer yep and that would be consistent with things in general that you take a deep interest in. I consider myself a capable learner (if I do say do myself) and one of the reasons for that is I try to utilize resources of experts and absorb as much advise as I can in order to get on the right path

Thank you guys I had no idea about "Words of Brandon" and will check it out presently!

[Rushu42 she/her]

You can also get a good amount of overview information that's been compiled on the Coppermind, which often helps me when I've forgotten specific details about things. Those articles will generally be citing the books themselves or WoBs. Of course, they also contain spoilers, so if that's something you're avoiding you should be careful.

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

I would warn you that reading SA alone is not enough; expect lots of spoilers from Warbreaker and Mistborn to abound as well due to crossover elements. There will likely be some minor Elantris mentions as well. Also an (in)famous Sixth of the Dusk 2 reading.

Welcome to the Cosmere!