News

Merry Christmas, everyone! This week we are beginning catching up on Words of Brandon, and we're starting with the Skyward AMAs. So you know what that means: it is time for Shardcast to misread/make fun of people's Reddit usernames! Also, we have Words of Brandon on screen for those of you watching on video! Look at that production value! There's a new working title for Stormlight 4, us arguing over Hemalurgy, and more!

State of Sanderson 2018 is out and here is our podcast talking about the news, Children of the Nameless, and the future for Brandon. We discuss the increasing trend for collabs in Brandon's works. We also talk about our feelings on this year. We have some fantastic memes, and learn Evgeni is sometimes creepy. Lastly talk about Tolkien for no reason, and as usual, are super pedantic.

This week on Shardcast we are returning to Skyward, and we're here to do our predictions for the sequel of Skyward, Starsight! We also get in-depth on the lore of the Skyward Universe. Of course, we additionally discuss... Pacific Rim? Guardians of the Galaxy? Yeah, we talk about a lot here. This episode features probably our longest Who's That Cosmere Character yet, because we're dumb sometimes. 

With Koloss Head-Munching Day still a week away, many of us were managing our hype so it reaches its peak on December 19 when Brandon writes his State of Sanderson annual blog. This year, however, we get an extra present - the reveal of the much-discussed "Secret Project" that popped up on Brandon's progress bars a while back. Well, wonder no longer, as io9 has published an exclusive - and Secret Project is now officially Magic: Children of the Nameless, a Magic: The Gathering novella Brandon wrote for Wizards of the Coast!

This week on this totally not late and definitely on time episode of Shardcast, we are dealing with the Davars! We kept up with the Kholins, the most influential family on Roshar, so it's time to look into the most influenced family. We talk about all the Davars, the weirdness and mysteries still to be determined, and some ideas for the future. Also, the Seduction Vector and Pokespren.

Happy holidays! We're back with another set of Coppermind objectives! What better way to enjoy the holidays than to complete a Coppermind objective or two?! November brought with it the release of Skyward. A number of awesome editors have helped get these articles moving, but we're going to put an emphasis on these for this set of objectives to keep it moving. If you're more of a cosmere person, have no fear! We've also got several wintery, holiday-themed cosmere articles that need attention! As always, we're happy for any help we can get, so don't be shy. If you're new to editing the Coppermind, don't worry; we'll help you out with guides and plenty of assistance. You don't need experience, just the will to help out! We'll also provide awards, because everyone loves fake internet points.

This week on Shardcast, you learn perhaps way, way too much about us. We're talking about our biggest crushes in the cosmere; our baes, our beefcakes, regardless of how irrational they may be. I almost spat out water. We also discuss the pronunciation of "duchy" and try to kick each other from the call. Who is your biggest cosmere crush? Comment below!

It's the fall, and as usual a new 10th Anniversary Leatherbound is nearly upon us, this time, with the Hero of Ages. We say nearly upon us, because it turns out there is a paper shortage, so Dragonsteel doesn't have the books yet. They can't guarantee anything before Christmas. But, regardless, preorders for numbered copies are starting Monday 11/26, 12:01am (Mountain time) via Subterranean Press, Mysterious Galaxy, and the BYU Bookstore.

This week on this Thanksgiving's Day Shardcast, it's time for us to dig into pronouncing so many things in the cosmere. Friendships will be shattered on this episode (just like perhaps your family arguments will today!). We actually will have each word we are pronouncing displayed on screen so you can see all the action, and then watch our reactions as people do... interesting things. Put how dumb we are at pronouncing things in the comments, snootiness fully allowed! 

This time on Shardcast, not only are we talking about our Skyward reactions (short answer: it was really good), but also we are on VIDEO for the first time. So please, comment below on our ugly/extremely attractive mugs, the quality of video editing, and anything else. I'm very new to editing! All future Shardcasts will be on video, but the audio only version will always be available on Soundcloud and the RSS feed as usual. I think you get a lot out of video in this one, from seeing Grace's deep love for Jorgen, and me looking completely perplexed at something Ben says about the ending.

There's been an update to BrandonSanderson.com's store for the holidays with a few new items. There are signed Oathbringer hardcovers (personalizations will start again in January), a Doomslug shirt (which is absolutely adorable), and some new lanyards. The two new lanyards are a cosmere one and a Skyward one, and you can get both of the new ones for $12. There's also a Glowing Kaladin t-shirt.

This week on Shardcast, we are discussing one of the mysterious figures in the cosmere: Frost, a real life cosmere dragon. We discuss the letters involving him, the Traveler, the Dragonsteel sample chapters, and the in-world Seventeenth Shard. Also, Pokemon and quantum mechanics. For some reason.

Skyward is the first of a quadrilogy of books by Brandon Sanderson. This Top Gun/How To Train Your Dragon mashup is a YA sci-fi story that tells the story of Spensa, the daughter of a coward, and her battle against both the alien Krell and the very Defense Force she is trying to fight for.

Until Brandon Sanderson, I was mostly a sci-fi guy, with Brandon being my first foray into fantasy. As such, I was very excited for my first ever Brandon sci-fi (I haven’t read much outside of the Cosmere). Brandon has said before that he doesn’t see much difference in the way he writes his fantasy and his sci-fi, and I have to agree, Skyward is a Brandon Sanderson novel through and through.

Badali Jewelry, makers of all sorts of amazing jewelry from the cosmere, from Stormlight, Mistborn, and Elantris, is having a fall sale until November 22nd. Not everything is on sale, but a lot is, from the Steel Alphabet rings we reported on, Aon pendants, Cosmere symbol pendants (which I am currently lusting about), and also some pins. There's a huge variety of things there. Be sure to check them out.

This week on Shardcast, not only do you get to continue getting some spicy Words of Brandon from the Legion release--which remind us of how crazy these weird stormstrider things are--but you also get some bonuses. That's right, you also get a special edition podcast of Tasercast, as well as Dresden Files Cast. Did we know where that would lead us today? Not even remotely. We also learn about Heralds and their bodies (which is a great sentence to say out of context), the classics of Gavilar's black spheres, and also... bears. 

We're back with another set of Coppermind objectives and a special award up for grabs this month! We've made some terrific progress on all things Stormlight Archive since Oathbringer released nearly one year ago, and much of the thanks for this goes to all of you who chipped in on objectives--both big and small--over the last few months. As always, we're happy for any help we can get, so don't be shy. If you're new to editing the Coppermind, don't worry; we'll help you out with guides and plenty of assistance. You don't need experience, just the will to help out! We'll also provide awards, because everyone loves fake internet points.

So, apparently last week on Instagram (the... place for your book news?) Brandon posted that last week's batch of chapters would be the last of them. My apologies for being misinformed and getting your hopes up last week in the last release that you might get Chapter 17 today. Indeed, more chapters did not arrive this morning, but yesterday we did get a short bonus chapter, Chapter 15. 

If you are looking for a new series to read, have you heard of this Brandon Sanderson guy? He writes some pretty great stuff. We're fans. Among his best and most popular is his Stormlight Archive series, and if you're in the US and Canada, you can get the first three books, The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer for $2.99 a piece. This sale will end November 5th, but what a killer deal. 

Today on Shardcast, there's yet more Words of Brandon, this time from the Legion release party, and boy do we have some real good ones. We get some actual, real-to-goodness confirmations about Nightblood, including some longstanding mysteries being discussed. It's exciting! This Word of Brandon episode is not one to miss. We also get upper and lower bounds on how many Desolations there are! Are you not entertained! Some theories are also destroyed in this one. 

It's Wednesday, so you know what that means: more Skyward! This time we're back to three chapters, Chapters 12-14! As usual you'll need to scroll down to the newest stuff. One's a short chapter but this is still a meaty week for Skyward. Discuss it in our discussion topic! There's only one more week of Skyward previews left, because Skyward comes out November 6th!

It's the last bit of our "short," "surface-level," and "one-episode" series on the Kholins. We're finishing up Dalinar's family unit, and we have to talk about Adolin and Renarin and their family dynamics! And, of course, how it evolves after Dalinar's visit to the Valley or not. Guest starring: Kaves Kholin. This is also our 50th episode! How crazy is that?

Last week we all had a pretty brutal cliffhanger in Skyward, but now we get the resolution in Skyward Chapters 10 and 11! There's just two chapters, but action is pretty fun. As usual, that GetUnderlined link has every Skyward chapter released, so you'll have to scroll down to Chapter 10 for the new stuff.

We're back with Keeping Up With The Kholins, and this time we are talking about Dalinar's side of the family, and Dalinar's adult relationships, like Evi and Navani. It's a great wholesome experience except for all the horrible stuff. Nothing a bit of amnesia can't fix! Also, this episode features fantastic Shardcast Relationship Tips(tm), and literally the... best voice acting you'll ever hear. (Oh, there's also a lot of good character analysis.)

Last week, we got more of Skyward than revealed before, going from the prologue all the way up to chapter 6. Well, Wednesday looks to be the day for new Skyward chapters, and we get three more, chapters 7 through 9! It's actually in the same link as last week, so if you missed the last preview Skyward stuff, you can still read it all in one page! That's convenient. Once you do, you can discuss the new chapters in Discord or our forum topic on the chapters. 

Thursday, Brandon did an AMA on Skyward, and we thought we'd give you a quick rundown of what occurred in it. He also answered some questions on Facebook, which we also have. If you'd like to read them all, check them out on Arcanum for easy reading.

First up, Brandon "My Books Become More Books" Sanderson said that Skyward, though originally planned as a trilogy, may now be four books. Brandon says the first three will stand pretty well on their own, but the final one will be more reliant on the other three.

We're wrapping up FanX Words of Brandon on Shardcast today. Perhaps most interesting is that Brandon said Navani will likely be the prologue character in Stormlight 4, and Gavilar in #5! We also get some discussion of Shardplate, some RAFOs on Dawnshards, and Hoid and his Lightweaving. We discuss end-positive and end-negative magics for... no discernable reason? We make some Star Wars memes and pitch an "amazing" fanfic idea. Lastly, Argent propositions Hoid. This one is a fun memey episode.

You've been able to read the prologue through chapter 2 of Skyward on io9, and you could read chapter 3 from a signing, but today, you can now read it all in the same spot and up through chapter 6 on Getunderlined.com. Brandon's assistant, Adam, also says that they will be releasing new excerpts each week until Skyward's release until November 6th.

Yesterday, Brandon turned in the second draft to the sequel of Skyward. This is good news, as he said that he had to scrap large chunks of Skyward 2. Brandon figuring out how to make that book work is good news for all of us! He also updates us with what his plans are for the future. Writing on Stormlight 4 begins, for sure, in January! In the meantime, Brandon says he will get revisions done on a few smaller projects.

On today's Shardcast, we discuss the huge amount of things that Brandon has talked about in August and September events, in particular WorldCon and FanX Words of Brandon. There's so much to analyze that we are doing a second one of these next week, and then there will be Legion Words of Brandon soon too. 

This episode has some crazy bombs: a third storm, a Cultivationlight? What!

With the release of Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, we thought we'd do a spoilery Shardcast episode where we discuss our feels. There are things to talk about Lies of the Beholder, and so we dig deep into it now!

This week we have Eric (Chaos), Ian (WeiryWriter), the return of Evgeni (Argent) from World of Warcraft, and Grace (gatorgirl) whose microphone is somehow much worse despite the fact that she just moved and nothing else changed. It's a mystery.

In JordanCon 2018, Isaac Stewart (Dragonsteel's art director) did a panel on creating Stormlight glyphs. We don't have full video for it, but we do have some. We mixed that in with the audio so you can feel like you're there at the panel. If you're into glyphs, maybe this will be of use to you!

Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds is now out. If you aren’t familiar with Brandon’s Legion stories, they’re a mix of action, mystery, and a splash of a Brandon magic system. The first two novellas have been released before, but this omnibus is currently the only place where you can find the final story. 

Legion is about a man named Stephen Leeds who is perfectly ordinary except for one small detail: he see hallucinations of people he calls aspects. Each aspect is an expert in a different field and he uses them to solve crimes.

The Skyward tour dates have been announced, and Brandon is going to his usual west coast areas, as well as a new place: Alaska! If you can come to a signing, mention it in the respective topic in the Events forum so we can see who is doing what, and so you can meet up with other Sharders and Sanderfans!

We're continuing what was supposed to be a brief dive into Kholin family dynamics. Unfortunately we recorded for five hours about it, so "brief" didn't really come into it. Last time we discussed Gavilar and Navani's relationships, now we continue Gavilar's side of the family. We nerd out about how well Elhokar is written (so effectively a twerp), Aesudan conspiracy theories, and of course, Jasnah's amazingness. 

Welcome to Keeping Up With The Kholins, the newest reality show about your favorite and most powerful (and very Radiant) Rosharan family. Oh wait, it's just Shardcast. We're here to talk about characters in the Kholin family, their relationships, and what we feel about them. Adorably, we thought we could keep this to one episode. It will be four. 

Between moves, job changes, new universities, and a baby, the Coppermind staff had a pretty busy August… And yet it was a month full of terrific progress thanks to all of you! The hard work you've put in to help us reach our objectives is much appreciated! We're continuing the initiative this month, with a brand new set of objectives. As always, we're happy for any help we can get, so don't be shy. If you're new to editing the Coppermind, don't worry; we'll help you out with guides and plenty of assistance. You don't need experience, just the will to help out! We'll also provide awards, because everyone loves fake internet points.

The news is coming fast and furious this week. Brandon's store is having a fall sale, with a very exciting new item: the Rosharan foil map. It's a beautiful rendition of Roshar, and trust me, it's even better in person. It's $45 on sale now, but it looks like its regular price is $60. It's a special limited edition of 1000 unnumbered posters. Why pay so much for a poster of a map of Roshar? That's the "foil" part. It shines.

This week we talk about a Shard of Adonalsium that we think we know a lot of, but there's a lot of mystery about her: Endowment. We discuss her plans, what her Shard means, the Returned, the Tears of Edgli, Austre, and, of course, dragons. We also of course talk about Nalthian TSA agents, and are sad about how long the Warbreaker sequel will take to get in our hands.

Brandon announced yesterday that he will be doing a live reading and Q&A this Saturday, September 1st, at 6:00PM PDT for Read for Pixels 2018. Just follow this link to join the livestream on Youtube when the time comes, and if you log into YouTube you should see a chatbox to participate in the Q&A. Questions will be selected by a moderator. There's no news yet on what he will be reading, but Legion or Skyward are safe bets!

You can pre-order a signed hardcover copy of Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, releasing on September 18th, from Barnes & Noble at no additional charge. This collection includes the full trilogy of novellas, including the original Legion, Legion: Skin Deep, and, new with this release, Legion: Lies of the Beholder. If you've never delved outside the Cosmere, Legion is a great place to start--especially with the story now complete!

This time on Shardcast we are talking about all the weird things in the cosmere that were mentioned just a few times and forgot. Like Vax. We also discuss Senna, Lutha, Reya, a lot of Threnody, and a lot of Scadrial. Oh, and a lot of me complaining about the Lord Ruler's kids, because it doesn't make sense. But just know: Vax is the answer to all your questions. Where's the kandra worldhopper? Vax. Where's Vivenna? Vax. How's Stormlight 4 coming along? It's on Vax. Easy.