Chaos

FYI, Zas, I'm pretty sure you mean prologue, not prelude Here's some good reading on the subject: http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=7788.0 Reading that first interlude, it's hard to not think that the one Isshik calls "Thinker" is Raoden. Now, these could be different people from Sel, but I do think that they are from Sel, and I like the idea that these people are Raoden and Galladon.

As far as I know, the only thing we know about Adonalsium shattering is this: Brandon said that "Hoid was there when Adonalsium was shattered." This, combined with Liar of Partinel sample chapters, where a man named Midius stood over his dead master, Hoid, has led people to believe that Hoid is originally from the world of Dragonsteel. The epigraphs in Part Two of Way of Kings suggests that they all knew each other once. How you get a Shard is easy: you pick it up . I don't know. I think its interesting that Preservation had to seek out a particular person to take its power. The MB3 annotations suggest that Vin has some other unique properties. Perhaps these are necessary to take a Shard. I don't really know. As for Shard count, check out the Shard Total topic. Of the sixteen total Shards, I believe we know of nine of them so far.

I also subscribe to the idea that the epigraph author is Hoid. It makes too much sense for me to think otherwise.

Actually, looking it up in the book (page 751 of Way of Kings), its reversed. He mentions Adonalsium first, then talks about gibberish. Interesting theory, to be sure. Maybe there's a grain of truth in there.

Sounds fine to me.

Here's a question for all you smart, intelligent, and attractive people out there. What is the element? It's mentioned on page 211 of Way of Kings, Chapter 14's epigraph. Thoughts? It could be something like atium, used to bind Odium instead, however. Or, is it something else entirely?

I figure if we have individual theories, we can preface the topic with "Theory" Here's a curious phenomena you may have noticed: when the people who hold Shards (Ati, Leras, Rayse, etc.)--on TWG its suggested we call them Shardholders, as to not confuse them with the Shards themselves, and also to distinguish between with Shardbearers--refer to other Shards, they don't refer to them as their names. You never see Ati call Preservation "Leras". Furthermore, the Shards on Roshar always refer to each other as their Shard's name, rather than their true name: Odium, Cultivation (we don't know the Almighty's Shard yet because our info comes from the Almighty fairly exclusively). We know the guy who holds Odium, his name is Rayse! Why don't Shards just call him that? Perhaps because they just don't remember what their names were. After all, it's been said that Ati and Leras's minds had been well-molded into the Shard's Intent, and that takes centuries, perhaps millennia. This effect, where the person's mind gets molded to the Shard they control, could make the Shardholders believe their names are Ruin and Preservation, instead of their true names. More alarming is that the epigraphs in Part Two of Way of Kings (the letter) suggests that these people, Seventeenth Sharders or Hoid, most likely, have been alive long enough to know who these people actually were. Since the Cognitive effects of the Shards apparently take an extremely long time, this means that these people have been alive for just as long. Thus, I think we can safely say that whoever wrote the letter (probably Hoid) and its recipient do not have Shards, as if they did, they would eventually forget their names by now. Their immortality is separate somehow. I might be wrong about the Shards forgetting their names. It's not like Ruin wouldn't be reminded that his name is Ati whenever he looks at some atium. That is probably the one issue with this theory. But, maybe Ati at this time believes he is Ruin and not Ati any longer? A curious effect, for sure. This raises many, many questions. How does the letter writer know Ati and Rayse, and presumably all the other Shardholders? Peculiar. Thoughts?

The part two epigraphs are my favorite parts of the book, too, for the same reason.

This book is so pretty, I'd buy five of them if I had the money.

Nice! Good to see another aspiring writer here. Certainly, if you have questions, this is a great place to be.

Good to have you here, Nightfire! Certainly, if you have questions, this is a great place to ask them.

I agree with WolfBro. The Almighty is the one who references Cultivation, and refers to Cultivation as female. Thus, the Almighty is a separate entity.

I was under the impression that the Reod was naturally occurring. I like to think that Odium went to Sel prior to the events of Elantris. This way, it explains how the Dor doesn't apparently have a consciousness attached to it (remember, its described as a force, and it seems to be very neutral). Of course, I really don't know. The letter (those Part 2 epigraphs) is mysterious in origin. We don't know exactly who's writing it (I suspect Hoid), who he's writing it to, or most importantly for this conversation, when it happened. Though perhaps better evidence is in that list of Shards Brandon said we had seen, the one he posted in the Hero of Ages spoiler thread. He said: The two we've met directly would be Endowment and Aona. The third I believe would be Skai, for if you look at Elantris, you'll see a word derived from Skai, "skaze". It wouldn't be hard to think that, from that skaze reference (which Dilaf talks about, it can be implied Skai is where the Dakhor get their power. Even if I'm wrong about the placement there on that list, we know 100% that Skai exists on Sel. He belongs on the list. So, as for the fourth spot, what Shard have we never met, seen, but we have seen its influence? Well, Odium, naturally. Since Odium went to Sel, it fits. And, because Brandon posted this before the Way of Kings, we can be reasonably certain that Odium had already gone to Sel by the time of Elantris. At least, that's an argument that makes the most sense to me. As for what Odium did... he killed Aona and Skai, which I should think is no easy feat. Since the epigraph-writer in part two of Way of Kings says Odium's visit was "brief", I imagine he did that feat and left quickly.

Three Shards on Roshar, at least.

This thread is defunct for the interview, since it already happened. So, I think let's now make it a giant list for future encounters with Brandon.

Brandon doesn't answer whether Hoid holds a Shard, so I asked him if Hoid is one of the four Shards of that list. Brandon said he's not. Which, also, indicates to me that he probably does not hold a Shard. After all, if Hoid wrote the epigraphs in Part Two and did, in fact, hold a Shard, this suggests that Hoid would stop Odium, in which case Odium would know of Hoid's existence as a Shard and go to crush him. I agree that the Tears of Edgli are related to Endowment. However, I don't think you can claim that Austre is the name of the person holding Endowment. After all, Preservation was known as Terr to the Terris people. Austre might be his name, but it could be the name the culture granted Endowment instead.

I picked up Elantris from the cover, as well as the Card cover quote. From there, the back of the book had an interesting premise that didn't seem tired like other fantasy. That's how I first experienced his works. That cover really was gorgeous, however. Good to have you here!

Quite true. I'm sure Brandon is used to it, however.

Hey! Good to see you here!

I personally think Warbreaker is the best introductory Brandon novel, especially for people not versed in epic fantasy. I gave it to my mom, and she loved it.

The word "Skaze" appears in Elantris exactly once, so that may be where you felt it was familiar.

Welcome! Good to have you here! I'm quite jealous you were at the release party

Good to have you here, Silus! I'm sorry if I've let you and your fellow forumers post by their lonesome. I've been ungodly busy, unfortunately. But, I'm dropping down to 18 credits, so that should help matters. Wonderful posts, man. Look forward to seeing more

The acronym is BWS now? That's news to me! Good to have you here!

Good to have you here, Phoenix!