phoenix2563

8 hours ago, Shqueeves said:

Hoid

  Reveal hidden contents

Stan Lee

Or

  Reveal hidden contents

Where's Waldo

 

Or

59 minutes ago, Darkness said:

I demand... Nothing actually... I am grateful, and I demand nothing

Exactly.  In addition, we should all be grateful that we serve... I mean read an author who is so adept at cloning himself to give us new books to devour so regularly too

20 hours ago, FiveLate said:

 I might come back and lurk at some point, but my days of posting are over.

I do hope you reconsider.  I haven't been active again for long but I thank you for your insights into my posts and I hope that I have been insightful to yours.  From what I have seen you contribute a lot, in a good way.  

9 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

Welcome back! I just moved to a city an hour and a half east of Houston, so we might run into each other at the signing.

I will be there!

9 hours ago, Calderis said:

Still feels weird to be considered one of the knowledgeable ones, but thanks. 

Welcome 

Oh but you are sir.  Have much respect for your ideas and theories.

Just now, Oversleep said:

Fool! You should have trusted that someone! Now you're just a new spike to my collection AHAHAHAHAHA!

Well one of the reasons why I spent so much time lurking is so I could become as invested as humanly possible before taking such risks.  Even Nightblood is starting to become a bit jealous of me.  So your spike did not work, sorry

5 hours ago, Oversleep said:

It's not a widely known thing but what gives us our Cosmere knowledge is eating special 17thShard cookies. You want one? I have one to spare...

Someone told me not to accept cookies from anyone here, but since you are the "Most Ancient" I guess it must be ok.  Thanks!

6 hours ago, Extesian said:

Welcome more I'm glad you're feeling comfortable enough to actively post and try not to feel intimidated, it was others answering my questions that taught me! Don't be afraid to propose theories that may be wrong, that's part of the process

I was never afraid to post theories that were wrong, just those that could be disproven quickly through the books or current WoB's.  Anyway, I've gotten over my self-prescribed hump now

4 hours ago, maxal said:

Thanks for mentioning me and welcome to the Shard. I have to ask, how was Zelany? I wanted to read it, but was off-put by the crappy cover.... 

Zelazny was amazing.  Do not be put off by the cover.  It's basically one of the best books out there I know which addresses parallel worlds well, with a bit of fun with time manipulation as well (not quite time travel, but closer to what Brandon uses with the 2nd era Mistborn books).

Hello, I am an Elantrian (hence the name phoenix) who has found my way to Roshar within the past few years, after briefly visiting Nalthis and Scadrial. Tried to visit Taldain but the way appeared blocked off.  Oh well.  Mostly glad that that strange man with the pointy face was able to guide me off of Sel in the first place!   Not really sure why he took such an interest in me.  Any way, I have found that my skin appears to be like everyone else here, which is strange.  

Right before completing my journey to Roshar, in the realm you call Shadesmar I was rescued by a strange, inky fellow, who I now know as Preston.  I had been injured just before entering shadesmar in Scadrial, but had tidied up the wound fairly well and thought I would be ok.  Little did I know of the beasts of this realm that are drawn to pain!  I had been so careful up to that point of my journey as well.  Grinders, I believe they are called.  Anyway, thanks to Preston, now my spren companion, I was able to escape that realm somehow even before arriving at the perpenicularity my map had been leading me to (it is always best to be prepared!).  

I gave since learned that I am an Elsecaller due to my attraction of this spren, and have spoken things recently and astonishingly, I have noticed an expansion to my initial abilities.  Any other Elsecallers here I could receive some advice from?

Oh and yes, would love any upvotes and wish to join the order for further training.

P.S.  anyone know a way to access the DOR from here?  I want to use my previous knowledge and experiences in the most prudent and beneficial way, and this would help a ton.

Whenever I watch a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, I totally think of Rock when I hear Drax talk.

So, hello everyone.  Never officially introduced myself, but since I have officially "reactivated" myself over the past month I thought this would be a good time for an introduction.  

I am from Houston, TX (and very lucky to live by a bookstore Brandon likes to frequent) and besides the hot/humid weather around this time of the year love living here.  I have a family of four and they keep me plenty busy especially since my kids are still very young.  I am an accountant by trade, and enjoy reading, video games (especially the Final Fantasy series), travelling to different cultures and cooking (not in any particular order).

I started reading fantasy primarily in college, when I had a roommate who was really into it.  My first high fantasy thanks to this roommate was Amber by Roger Zelazny (still my favorite too), then it was onto Eddings, the Deathgate Cycle, Tolkien and finally the Wheel of Time, which is how I eventually discovered Brandon.  And I have been hooked ever since.

Found out about the 17th Shard soon thereafter, but you guys were so knowledgeable I was a bit intimidated.  Eventually I did make my first post after I got my first personalized WoB during the Allow of Law tour in 2011.  Then I went back to lurking.  

Since then, I have gradually caught up with all Brandon's Cosmere books and most of the published WoB's.  Honestly, it was probably @Pagerunner's Reddit compilation, plus my recent Stormlight re-read that made me feel "ready" to start contributing again.  Some of you guys just know so much!  (Looking at you, @Calderis, @maxal, @Extesian, @The One Who Connects, @Pagerunner.  Anyway, my confidence is up there enough now that I have begun posting again, and have really enjoyed the discussion so far!

5 minutes ago, b4dave said:

Would Taln be subject to the same madness as he was the only one to uphold the oath pact? I think he would be the only one exempt from it...

Yet, the one who calls himself Taln is clearly mad nonetheless...

Maybe this has already been mentioned, but what about when you find yourself on the 17th Shard forums more than social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, etc?)

Excellent points above.  However, one should note that Taln's particular form of madness doesn't seem to fit the same mold as the others.  Taln should be Dependable/Resourceful.  However, we have only seen him repeat the same words/phrases almost mindlessly and occasionally responds to threats around him (aka catching Iyatil's poison dart aimed for Amaram).  How is that "madness" in any way related to his attributes?  

Or maybe this is part of what is "off" with Taln that Brandon keeps hinting at?

Regarding the Heraldic traits, I think @FiveLate is on the right track, but I have a theory that is a bit more involved.  Not sure if this will mess with the argument or not.  

I think that just as some of the radiant spren are primarily of Honor (ie Syl) or primarily of Cultivation (ie Wyndle), I propose that some orders draw their primary attributr from one shard with the secondary attribute related to the other shard.  I think that Cultivation's attributes are related to atributes that are "cultivated" over time, almost like skills, which would include Wise, Learned, Resourceful, Builder, and Honor's attributes are related to actions/choices made by a person, including Honest, Careful, Protecting, Pious, Giving.  Here is my full listing below based on this (Primary attribute indicated by *)

Honor:                Cultivation:

Protecting*        Leading

Just*                   Confident

Loving*               Healing

Resolute*           Builder

Dependable*     Resourceful

Honest               Creative*

Obedient            Brave*

Giving                 Learned*

Careful               Wise*

Guiding              Pious*

Thoughts?  @FiveLate don't mean to hijack your thread with this theory but thought it fit well into your line of thought.

Intentional or not, Adolin has actually opened himself up to Shallan more than any other woman he has courted.  This could have a major impact to him at a deep level later on if the thing between Kaladin and Shallan grows.

8 minutes ago, Firerust said:

Granted. You now have the final copyedit of Oathbringer. Now the only language you are only able to read is Latin.

Opus hodie est satus Anglis tum classes!

1 hour ago, Drake Marshall said:

I wish for a small bag of clearmarks.

Granted.  Here is your bag of clearmarks.  Your cognitive aspect is now tied to them.  Each one that you lose track of will cost you a piece of your mind.

I wish for the final copyedit of Oathbringer, fully accessible and in English to arrive at my doorstep tonight for my reading pleasure

37 minutes ago, Topaz said:

Is there any upper limit to the amount of Investure that could be stored in an object?

If there is an upper limit, I think the answer probably is whatever Nightblood's upper limit is, if any.

26 minutes ago, Calderis said:

Kaladin is a Windrunner. Let's keep him that way.

Completely agree.  If anyone should get two orders, it should be someone like Szeth, who I am all for having more screen time, since he is just awesome when he's in action.  Reading a Szeth scene feels like watching a fight scene from a Chinese movie (think "Hero" or "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon").

I'm with Calderis on this one.  I think Odium came to Roshar originally to target the shards Honor and Cultivation.  Why the Desolations and not just target the Shards directly?  Because on Roshar, the investiture is powered primarily by the thoughts of men.  To destroy as much civilization as possible would be in effect a weakening of the shards' power. and make them easier to destroy.  

The Heralds would be the champions chosen by Honor to specifically lead the fight against Odium's forces during the Desolations.  The Oathpact may have been related to the bond made between the Heralds and Honor that fueled their power (since they are linked with a shard with an honorable intent, they would need to act in an honorable way to access the investiture fully).  Their immortality would come simply from the fact of them having slivers of Honor.  Since their torture on Braize somehow keeps the Desolations at bay for a time, this again is the honorable thing to do to subject themselves to this.  I think later on, the effects of the Oathpact, in conjunction with the actions leading to Honor's splintering,  may have accidentally been instrumental in capturing Rayse somehow, to where he can no longer leave the system. 

I'm partly grasping at straws here, but I have a hard time seeing a need for champions of Honor without the threat from Odium first.

Edit: After re-reading your post, I actually agree with most everything, just I still think that the Heralds and the Oathpact were in direct response to Odium coming to Roshar.  But you may have meant that anyway.

To address Calderis' concern, if the Heralds are tied to Braize (ie the Tranquiline Halls), somehow as long as they stay there the bridge between Roshar and Braize is weakened somehow to where Rayse can't touch Roshar the planet directly.

Well one thing's for sure and I do agree with you at least regarding Amaram.  The Ghostbloods definitely would be very chagrined if Amaram became the new high prince to replace Sadeas.  I wonder if they saw Sadeas' end coming to him, hence them targeting Amaram at the end of WoR.

Not sure if the Ghostbloods are following the Diagram.  The Diagram's ultimate purpose is to preserve humanity through the desolation (however accurate it may or may not be now).  We are not entirely sure what the Ghostbloods motives are, but it has been theorized (and is also my current leaning) that they are out to stop Odium at all costs for the sake of the Cosmere as a whole, Roshar be damned.  That could be why they are after the Sons of Honor, since in effect the Sons of Honor are erroneously helping Odium by their actions in helping bring about a new Desolation.

2 hours ago, FiveLate said:

If only the voidspen survived, and there were 3 of them I would expect him to say Two others.

To be clear, the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher at least (2 of the 3 Bondsmith spren) are NOT voidspren.  My understanding is that they are concentrated investiture of Honor and Cultivation respectively (well the Stormfather may also contain a sliver of Honor and/or merged with Honor's cognitive shadow but that is another topic).  Voidspren are of Odium alone and provide the investiture that voidbinding requires (ie the magic of the Voidbringers).  The Bondsmith spren based on my understanding are more like extremely invested spren, aka god spren.

On 8/17/2017 at 5:23 PM, WhiteLeeopard said:

Yes, true, sometimes I feel I forget the most obvious points ^^.

But then that goes on to enhance my original point. I know this has been discussed multiple times, but basically seems windrunners can kill their spren by accident, and others like lightweavers need to do it fully on purpose. Curious to see where the bondsmiths fall on that spectrum. 

I don't think the Bondsmith spren can be killed, at least not through the breaking of oaths, unlike the spren of the orher orders.  The quote below heavily implies that that all 3 of the Bondsmith spren survived the Recreance (guessing this is due to how powerful their minds are):

From WOR, ch. 75, Pattern discussing the effects of the Recreance to Shallan:

'"Not just one people,” Pattern said, solemn. “Many. Spren with minds were less plentiful then, and the majorities of several spren peoples were all bonded. There were very few survivors. The one you call Stormfather lived. Some others. The rest, thousands of us, were killed when the event happened. You call it the Recreance.”'

Now are the Bondsmith spren messed up in the head/emo/crazy as a result of the Recreance?  Probably (see: Stormfather).

There is a theory that Cultivation is still around, but trapped in some kind of prison, likely somewhere on Roshar due to her being invested there.

This theory is derived from the below WOB:

Q: Please tell me the name of holder of Cultivation

A: Hoid calls her SLAMMER... but that's not her real name

On 12/28/2016 at 0:22 PM, C1-10P (Chopper) said:

A lot of the books here are dear to my heart and I agree wholheartedly.  I am an older gentleman these days and remember an excellent series and author from my days of yore that I don't hear here often enough.  That Author is Roger Zelazny and the book series is the Chronicles of Amber.  The story of the Kingdom of Amber and the Courts of Chaos and the Pattern are masterfully done.  Corwin FTW!

I'll second the Amber series.  Very well written and he manages to juggle many difficult concepts (parallel worlds, time dilation, etc) nicely.  Don't see it recommended enough.  One of my favorite series of all time next to Sanderson.

I have also read and enjoyed (of which many have commented on) the works of Tolkien, the Wheel of Time ( which is how I discovered Sanderson), most of Eddings' works (Belgariad/Mallorean and others), LE Modesitt Jr (Imager portfolio, first 2 books of Recluse), Harry Potter, the Ender Quintett by Card, Rothfuss (though the wait is frustrating), some Tad Williams (though he can be hit or miss), some Lawhead, the Deathgate cycle by Weis/Hickman and the first book of Powder Mage trilogy by McLellan (which I plan to finish at some point later).

So I am wanting something to read and after reading up on all the fantasy authors out there, I am conflicted in who I should read first between the following:

Earth Sea Trilogy/Le Guin

Lightbringer series/Weeks

Demon Cycle/Brett

Disc World/Pratchett

Dragon riders of Pern/McCaffrey

Traveler's Gate Trilogy/Wight

Dragon Prince trilogy/Rawn

Dagger and Coin / Abraham

Craft Sequence/Gladstone

Old Kingdom/Nix

Codex Alera/Butcher

The Wars of Light and Shadow/Wurts

Farseer trilogy/Hobb

Gentlemen Bastard Sequence/Lynch

Pendragon cycle/Lawhead

Note that I don't want anything too dark/gritty (aka GRRM.  Had to drop the first book 1/3 of the way through).

Thoughts?