Iarwainiel I

Very nice! I can also picture it as a military uniform from one of Brian McClellan's Powder Mage books - maybe Adran cavalry. If you're looking towards a career in costuming, IMO you're gonna crush it!

On 5/26/2021 at 6:05 PM, aneonfoxtribute said:

I am aware of it but I think it does have spoilers? idr what it was but I remember that when I looked at the summary for a chapter, it had a link towards something I didn't actually know (I still don't think I know what it is yet)

You are totally right. Some of the information points aren't in sequence (i.e., skip back and forth between books) - - it is/was just a wiki, so volunteers added whatever & whenever they could. I was using it before Brandon's books came out, so spoilers were OK for me.

Have you tried the re-read that Leigh Butler did for Tor.com? https://www.tor.com/features/series/wot-reread/  If you just read the chapter summaries and skip any "commentary," and of course don't read the Comments, it might suit your needs. Maybe start by reading a couple of the chapter summaries from books you've read that you remember what happened, to gauge whether it will work for you?

Hope this helps

You probably already know about the online WoT Encyclopedia, but that's what I used when I was skipping books. I liked that character and place names are linked which made it easy to remind myself who's who and where's where [is that even an expression? guess it is now, LOL].

I'm guessing the same things as a lot of you for Wednesday's announcement.

For Thursday's, I wish it was Alcatraz 6; Rithmatist 2 would also be welcome news.

Btu since he said it "came from out of nowhere," and hinted we'd be unlikely to guess, I'm gonna go with something entirely off-the-wall:

• Guess 1: What if one of the online "masterclass" organizations has hired Brandon to teach a series of classes on writing fiction?
• Guess 2: What if the WoT people found some more manuscripts from Jordan and want Brandon to work on them? (REALLY hoping it's not this - IMO we lost too much time already to WoT: Stormlight shouldn't be postponed again! My feelings - ymmv of course.)
• Guess 3: Rothfuss has asked Brandon to help him finish the Kingkiller Chronicles, or to just write it for him altogether (again, hoping this is NOT it!).
• Guess 4: It's a TV or video game deal, but not for Mistborn ... maybe for Skyward?

I know - these are crazy / goofy guesses! It's fun to think up ideas of what the big announcement will be!

Welcome to the Shard @IggyTorlan !!

I agree with @The roamer , but I also think that you would enjoy "Mistborn Secret History" at this point, and that's in Arcanum Unbounded; it's also available by itself as an e-book (I think), so you might go that route.

Another strategy would be to read the standalones Elantris and/or Warbreaker, and get to know some of those characters before you head on over to Roshar for Stormlight Archives (SA). (Hope that's not too much of a spoiler!)

And once you start SA, IMO you should be sure to read Edgedancer in between books 2 and 3, and Dawnshard in between books 3 and 4 - those 2 novellas are awesome! and provide some important story points.

Happy reading!

This is an interesting theory - not saying I agree, but interesting to tumble around in one's brain, for sure.

I'm wondering if they are really people's faces (human faces), or are they spren faces that look like human ones (like Syl can do - she doesn't do that all the time, but based on the illustrations in RoW, we can guess at some things about Honorspren and the other True Spren types, maybe).

I've also always wondered if Cusicesh is facing east for the same reason that Puuli looks east every day in that interlude in Oathbringer.

So many mysteries yet in store for us Sander-fans!

Last week I bought the latest Bryant & May mystery, Oranges and Lemons.

I'm also re-reading the "Ex-Heroes" series by Peter Clines & discovered that I don't yet own book 4 (must've read it from the library), so that will be my next purchase.

Note: Both these book series have moderate swearing and other stuff that makes them more of a "PG-13" rating. I am old (hence my user name, LOL), but I know lots of my fellow Sharders are younger & I want to be sensitive to that. I love how our community is so diverse! in every way! I learn so much from everyone all the time - helps keep my brain young!

On 4/27/2021 at 10:19 AM, Ghanderflaffle said:

Alright, some progress has been made! I am currently in the middle of the meeting of Radiants Dalinar calls when Shallan doodles instead of taking notes. I’ve been having thoughts about the Defiant interlude. Are there any good theories around for who Puuli is waiting for? I’ve been thinking about it possibly being the Wandersail crew, since they are supposed to come from the Orgin. 

Part of what makes that interlude so great is that (IMO) you can't really tell whether Puuli is waiting for the good guys or the bad guys (i.e., beings that our in-world heroes would see as "good" or "bad"). You can't even tell if he's looking for people or spren or some kind of animals, or even if whatever-it-is will be coming from Roshar or from some other realm or dimension. It's just very carefully done.

@Aspiring Writer - Also, your signature is awesome!

On 4/24/2021 at 9:34 PM, Aspiring Writer said:

The official definition of Prophet: a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. 

We can change the word God to deity as the Cosmere has several gods of all sorts that can have prophets, but that is still required by the official definition.

And if you think we should just change what the role of a prophet is in this universe, then we need to have a discussion on words retaining meaning.

I am totally with you as far as words retaining meaning - I had to bow out of grad school because I could not do post-modern-Derrida ideas. I kept wanting to ask, "If words have no intrinsic meaning, why should I be paying you to teach me?"

That said, the word "prophet" (with a lower case "p") has other definitions ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prophet ), and some of those are what I was thinking of (I was careful to not capitalize "prophet" for that reason). For the capitalized "Prophet," I agree with you 100%.

Who said there has to be a "god" in order for someone to be a prophet?

I used the OT to illustrate my point, but I don't think we need to limit the role of prophet in that way for this fictional universe.

And prophecy and preaching can be 2 very different things.

I still think that the role of prophet fits Hoid, at least what we know of him thus far.

"Knowledge of Worlds" - not a likely candidate, but it's what I got.

I wonder if anyone will actually get it right based on this schema? If so, those folks should have a get-together at the SA5 release party! (which hopefully will be in-person like we used to do!)

Thanks for this  a fun thread!

I searched the Arcanum & can't find where Brandon has ever said anything on this, & neither does it seem like anyone has posted it here on the Shard, so I'm gonna be brave and theorize in public (amongst us Sander-fans, anyway). Please be kind, & know that I realize that I'm rarely if ever right about these things... Anyway, here goes:

What if Hoid's role in Cosmere history, post-Shattering, is like that of a prophet? - the "voice crying in the wilderness," etc.?

This came to me after reading (what some of us call) the "minor prophets" of the Old Testament in the (Christian) Bible - the books from Hosea to Malachi. Sometimes these prophets made their point using snarky and sarcastic humor, and some of them used their own real-life events to communicate their message.

I dunno - something about it just reminded me of Hoid.

YMMV, of course, but I'll be looking for indications of "prophet" on my next read-through.

And if one of you would like to pose this question to Brandon on the next livestream or event, please do - I always find out about those too late to get my questions in.

On 10/27/2020 at 10:47 PM, Starborn42 said:

I seriously can't decide. Book 2 was very different from book 1, and very different from what I expected. ...

I logged in just to say I appreciate that you wrote "different from." It's one of my grammar pet peeves when people use [the other word which I shall not mention] instead of "from" (I'm a business writer for my day job), and you have made my tiny language-loving heart very happy today. Cheers!!

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.

@Goatbringer thank you & your lovely wife for sharing this journey with all of us! Tay might be using the character's real names now, but she has given us 2 new ones: "Shnart" and "Roland" - love it! Be well! We'll look for you & Tay in 2023!

Just took this again - same top 3 KR Orders but in a different sequence from the last time.
There's a pretty big gap in my scores between those 3 Orders and the other 7 - no idea what that means, but happy with my results.

Bondsmith 85%
Edgedancer 84%
Windrunner 82%
Stoneward 55%
Truthwatcher 53%
Skybreaker 53%
Elsecaller 52%
Lightweaver 46%
Willshaper 46%
Dustbringer 33%

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!

@Kingsdaughter613 - Yeah, maybe that's why I'm having trouble. I stick to the published books only. I have a really mentally taxing job and too much else going on in my life to wander around in WOBs, podcasts, Reddit, annotations, etc. Maybe after I'm retired ... But until then I'm sticking to what Brandon publishes as canon, & that's enough for me. If I end up disappointed, well Brandon's only human - he's allowed a few stumbles.

But I'm VERY glad that everyone else has fun with all.the.theories! What a great community we have here!

List the Stormlight character you

1)      would like to be friends with most - Navani; #2 is Hessina

2)      feel is most believable in terms of motivation - Lift

3)      enjoy reading about most - Dalinar (IMO the best character I've ever read in any book, whatever my brain seems to mean by best, which I could not define for you but still feel strongly about it...)

4)      find most confusing/intriguing - Renarin; #2 is Wit

5)      find makes you laugh the most - Lift; #2 is The Lopen

6)      would like to punch in the face - Mraize; #2 is Nalan

7)      personally relate to most - Jasnah

8)      feel is emotionally most realistic - Dalinar

9)      shamelessly crush on the hardest - My aged brain doesn't go there anymore, LOL!

10)    is most like someone you know IRL - Jasnah

I am re-reading the first Mistborn trilogy, plus the Secret History, right now because of these very issues. Thanks for this thread @Mage !

Agree re: Kelsier being chaotic neutral - makes sense. And yet ...

Mraize put Lift in a cage and gave her to the Fused.

If Kelsier was the type of character to be OK with that in Final Empire, I would never have gone on to read Well of Ascension - I would have only ever read one book by Brandon and never become a Sander-fan.

My copies of the first trilogy are first edition - Do any of you know whether Final Empire was revised heavily enough after that to change the Kelsier character a lot?

There are more confusing things: As another person commented here, Kelsier went (far) out of his way and saved the southern Scadrians from (unintentional) genocide when Harmony renewed the planet. That doesn't seem neutral: that seems good, at least to me. In Secret History, he perceives the IRE of nefarious motives and takes action not just to throw a wrench in their works, but to save his planet and specifically to protect Fuzz/Preservation. And in Alloy of Law, Marsh says that Wax is "continuing [his] brother's work" and he "feels inclined to support that." My gut says that I can trust Marsh as a good guy; and if Wax is continuing Kelsier's work, are we saying that Wax is also borderline good/evil?

My biggest fear is that Brandon has ret-conned Kelsier to make him more of a villain than he originally was, just to fill a role that arose as the Cosmere developed. It's easy to imagine how that could happen, with Final Empire being so early in Brandon's career. But ret-conning always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I also am kinda bored with anti-heroes: if I wanted Deadpool, I'd watch that movie - it's just overdone in stories these days, IMO, though YMMV.

Ah well, we'll find out someday. Meanwhile, threads like this are fun, tossing ideas around.

17 minutes ago, The Unknown Order said:

It was a Stoneward spren, which is why I think Dalinar will bond it, he has a lot of the attributes. 

Cool - I didn't know that. And I agree with your idea about the loophole for living blades. I hope this comes up & gets resolved in Book 5!

I have wondered this very thing: whether Oathbringer will wake up.

I bet it does happen - I suspect (hope!) that all the deadeyes wake up.

But I bet it won't be Dalinar who bonds with that spren (wonder which KR Order/spren it would be?); I think it will be someone else, but no idea who.

Oh - I just thought of something: Oathbringer was hanging openly on the wall in Urithiru, right? And the Fused took over the whole tower? So would they have stolen it? They wanted/needed Eshonai's shards, so it seems possible.

Excited for [Skyward 3]! ... and part of that excitement is because it brings Wax & Wayne 4 that much closer. I expect the tweaks to the "Nowhere" title will relate to what the Nowhere actually is, in the Cytoverse. I have some theories, but I'm holding them close to the proverbial vest because if I'm right it would be a humongous spoiler & I will not do that to anyone. On the other hand, something like "In the Nowhere" would be sufficiently vague but still potentially meaningful, so that's my guess on the title.  (FYI, I am always wrong, LOL!)

Infinity Blade - all 3 games.

Especially since Brandon had input on the storyline for #s 2 and 3, and wrote novellas to bridge between 1-2 and 2-3.

The story was fabulous - I kinda wish it was an actual book as well as a game.

The gameplay was fun since it was gesture/position based, not a controller or mouse (it was an iPad game).

I also liked the humor (you could "upgrade" your armor to a bunch of cardboard boxes, or your helmet to a jack-o-lantern or a turkey's head, etc.).

Wish they could remake it - maybe this time have it use a controller and one of the standard platforms, not be tied to an Apple iOS.