Govir

5 hours ago, TousenShadowForged said:

seb and pal remind me of the two drunks couple  in the malazan series who turn out to be lesser gods 

And here I thought you were talking about the toast of the upper crust and headliners on the society pages: Frank and Sadie Doyle.

14 hours ago, Sebarial said:

I will let those I cannot protect die to protect those I can. 

I really do think the 4th oath has something to do about failing to protect people or not protecting everyone, and being ok with it. I don't know the exact wording, or even have a guess. Tthe epigraph with the Windrunner from the past who can't say the 4th eludes to *not* protecting people.

11 hours ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

I think there will be a moment when Shallan is very vulnerable, and these surrogate parental figures will betray her, kind of like the scene in the 80's movie Cloak and Dagger, where the kid who played Elliot from ET discovers that the kindly old man and woman that have been helping him out are really the evil super spies.

 I don't think this will happen.

Warbreaker spoilers

I think Sebarial is what he seems: a guy who bucks normal society pressures (i.e. non Alethi mistress, focused on commerce more than warfare, etc.) And as someone above mentioned, the way that he honored his "deal" Shallan cornered him into makes me think he is at the least a good guy (not good vs evil, but good vs bad).

On 11/8/2018 at 9:37 AM, Govir said:

I just can't shake the feeling that Doomslug is part of the ship

@junior - I just reread Skyward, and I think you're right. Spensa was the biological component of the Cytonic Hyperdrive at the end. I still want Doomslug to be part of the ship in someway, or at least related to it (e.g. maybe she was a stowaway or a pet of the original pilot).

1 hour ago, ZenBossanova said:

Pairing them up was his original plan, but it didn't quite mesh, so he threw it out. And I think it is stronger for avoiding that cliche. 

The seeds are definitely there. Either Sanderson didn't do as good a job excising the arc from the first book, or he's setting up for future books. I tend to think it's the latter.

Multiple times later in the book, Spensa starts thinking of Jorgen in what I would consider a "romantic" way. Each time, Spensa thinks to herself "Why am I thinking of Jorgen like that?". Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but at least one of the scenes implies she's daydreaming about being Jorgen's date to a fancy dinner party.

And although we don't get any viewpoints from Jorgen, I think he's falling for Spensa too. The scene where Spensa talks to him in the carport / hanger (where she tells him about the eyes), his responses to her are definitely crush material.

Like I said, with the setup in Skyward, I think the only thing that can keep them apart is if one of them dies. And since Spensa is the main character, that means Jorgen. There may not be time for a true romance(i.e. boyfriend/girlfriend dating), but I think Jorgen is the one Spensa will continue to turn to for emotional support. He actually seemed decent at it in the scene I mentioned above.

I'm rereading Skyward, and there was a line about the "Human Empire". That swayed me to thinking that Humans started to take to the stars after Jason Write found out what he did at the end of DE. I don't think the Humans *started* the war, they simply wanted to expand and explore. The implication that I get is that the war didn't start directly after DE. It sounds more like humans spread out across the stars, and then later the Aliens attacked. Which raises the question of why the aliens waited. My assumption would be that they didn't have the technology to wage war immediately, but were able to develop it later by either playing ball with the humans to get their tech, or actually spending time developing their own tech due to what they perceived as a threat.

EDIT: ho boy. Apparently this was already brought up over in this post. It was my next tab to catch up on

18 hours ago, Journey Before Pancakes said:

Am I the only one who thought as soon as Spensa saw Jerkface and started describing him that it would turn into eventual coming around and possible love interest?

It feels like the tropey pairing to me, and as such I was against it from the get go. But, during my reread it definitely seems like that's how it'll play out. I think the only out is if Jerkface dies.

On 12/1/2018 at 0:41 PM, PandACT said:

Someone commented on the Skyward that they heard M-Bot as Alan Tudyk and I love it

It took me a long time to connect that K2SO is the other sassy robot that I was remembering when reading M-Bot's dialogue.

9 hours ago, junior said:

I'm going to disagree here.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Immediately before the hyperdrive gets used, Spin makes a comment that she feels herself "becoming" M-Bots processors, and M-Bot makes an announcement that states "Biological Component Engaged".  Spin mentally merging with M-Bot appears to be what brings the hyperdrive on-line.  We still don't know exactly how it happened, though, so the next book might start out with some trial and error about this.

 

Fair enough. I just can't shake the feeling that Doomslug is part of the ship. We don't see any other slugs, and it seemed like neither Spensa nor Rig had seen a similar slug (although they had the word for slug, so it's possible there are slugs on the planet).

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Books 1-3 are standalones and book four is the sequel of all tree of them.

Wait what? Do you have a source on that?

That is a good point. I quickly skimmed the Interludes again, and I don't see a time where she refers to Chaser as a coward (she does in the first interlude, but it's out loud. I can chalk that up to keeping appearances, even when she's talking to Cobb). But she definitely refers to Spensa as a coward in her thoughts. Until the third interlude. Then she refers to her as a defect.

I'm not sure there is a good answer here. I assume it's to not reveal too much too soon, but I think that defect could have worked in place of coward in the parts of the story that are Ironsides' thoughts.

Sounds like a good question to ask Brandon if you get the chance, although if it's in an open forum you may want to try phrasing it to avoid spoilers.

• @yulerule: If you haven't read Defending Elysium, I think you should. It can be found for free on Brandon's site. If you have read it, read my first spoiler section below.

• 3 hours ago, Geraden said:

  • I particularly love the "empty box with a display" that is described for where the Cytonic hyperdrive is supposed to go in M-Bot. We are told by Rig that it's not there, just empty housing with a display, and we are meant to believe the previous pilot took it for some reason.

Spoilers for Defending Elysium:

• And here's my shortened reaction: I absolutely loved this book.

• My main question is not about Skyward though, it's about reading order. And I'm going to put this in spoiler tags too, because I'm overly cautious. Go read Defending Elysium if you haven't. It's pretty short :).

• The humans that were fighting in the war appear to have been enslaved, which means it doesn't make sense that the Krell can't wipe out the humans on Detritus.

• Editing in a quote from the spoiler free review by @Overlord Jebus

Quote

Unfortunately, it’s those plot revelations that I think this book is at its weakest. Skyward starts off by setting up several major mysteries to be answered throughout the book and I unfortunately felt that they didn’t always pay off as well as they could.

When you say the answers to the major mysteries didn't pay off as well as they could, do you mean because you were able to predict them? If so, do you think that is because this is a YA novel? If not, do you have any spoilery elaboration?

I personally like each of the reveals. From your spoilers above (also, spoilers for Defending Elysium):

Haven't finished (I'm on Chapter 23 atm), and haven't read any of the replies here, but I just want to say:

I can't stop reading M-Bot as Mmm-Bop. Please send help.

I hate being spoiled so, I'm still going to put this in a spoiler tag to combat any type of preview feature.

I'm only on chapter 17, but I was throwing around this theory in my head if the connection had been what it is. Mostly wanted to get this in writing to see how right or wrong I end up being.

On 11/1/2018 at 5:33 PM, HeyLookItz said:

There is kind of a spoiler at the end of DE, in that the aliens (Varvax?) were suppressing their populations, which might be connected to skyward. Also, DE is the only novella I can think of with an interesting FTL method.

Hmm, now that you mention it, I could see how the spoiler at the end of DE ties into Skyward.

I forgot to mention this in my original post.

The enemy's gate is down!

8 hours ago, kmosiman said:

Any thoughts about the sensors in Spensa's helmet?

Mainly that I don't trust it. If we're talking DE, then I definitely think Cyto is involved. But we haven't seen anything that ties it to DE in my opinion. There were too many alien races in DE for it to boil down to a single one now. If it's not DE, I don't know what's going on with it  maybe they really are monitoring her vitals because she isn't eating in the mess / Igneous (sp?). But then why only in her helmet? Definitely seems battle related like others imply. 

My money is on HARRE, although I still haven't read it yet. This is based on a different thread that explained the basic plot of that novella.

On 9/20/2018 at 1:58 PM, frett said:

Maybe someone can ask him at his next signing.

He's been doing AMAs on Reddit each week since the preview chapters went up. Lucky for you, someone already asked him about it.

Quote

 

BoldFontOfYouth

On The Orville, the enemy space aliens are called the Krill - any connection there?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe? The word Krell is one of those ones that pops up in SF now and then, as an homage to The Forbidden Planet. (Which is why I chose it.)

I can see a network being more worried about using the actual name, and making the creators go with something similar but not the same. You'd have to ask them.

source

 

7 hours ago, Alejo_arg said:

the PC thought humans would wipe out everything and was protecting the other races

Defending Elysium spoilers

Wow, they're really bad at keeping a consistent schedule. I wasn't expecting this until tomorrow afternoon. And if it's just chapter 15, then it looks like we won't get chapter 17 until the book releases next Wednesday.

Also, @Chaos is going to be pissed you stole his thunder! (actually I don't think he will)

Edit now that I've read the chapter:

Doomslug the Destroyer. If I hadn't already preorder, I'd be sold.

Again, not much new to theorize on, but definitely some good sections that remind me why I enjoy Sanderson's writing.

Quote

I was getting pretty good at dodging between them, though I wasn’t certain how well that skill would translate once they started—you know—hurtling down from above with horrific destructive potential. But hey, baby steps.

Quote

 

He was . . . he was flirting with me, I realized, stunned. Or, well, trying to.
...
That was the strangest thing that had happened to me since starting flight school, and I spent my mornings talking to a slug.
...
The last time I’d had any romantic inclinations had been when I’d been eight and had given Rig a particularly nice hatchet I’d made out of a rock and a stick—then had decided he was gross the next week. Because, well, I’d been eight.

 

5 hours ago, Scion of the Mists said:

We have a brand new WoB that all but confirms that Defending Elysium is the novella:

I'm hoping we get Chapter 17 as part of the previews this week (assuming we're getting more). It would be nice to speculate from that before the full novel comes out, but I assume it is going to be fairly straight forward for anyone who has read the novella that shares a universe with Skyward.

I have not read HARRE, but from your description (and my reading of the other candidates), I agree with you. Neither Firstborn nor Defending Elysium feel like they would extend to Skyward.

But from what you say of HARRE, I can definitely see the mechanical evolution of the technology. This is also based on the fact that I get the feeling that the Ships used in Skyward are not made by conventional means. I'd have to reread the preview chapters to verify that, but their manufacturing seemed odd to me. I got a "3D" printed vibe from the story.

So, here's what I'm thinking. (Note: All of these are speculation)

1. The AI suits you're talking about are the Krell. The reason there are no bodies, is because there never were. The AI either naturally evolved to work without humans (which seems to be possible based on your spoiler comment), or were programmed to by humans. Then they did what AI do...turned against humanity. Of course, this doesn't explain why no one knows this fact. Especially given that they seem to know about very old literature.
2. The planet that the humans are on in Skyward was originally an SMRI world. Since I haven't read HARRE, I'm not sure what happened to them in that story, but I"ll assume they were defeated. I think the humans are making their ships using SMRI technology.
3. The ship that Spensa finds is an older AI ship, from the original fight against the SMRI. The fact that you said in HARRE the AI is semi biological dovetails nicely with my theory that the slug in Skyward is the AI. Because it's an older AI, it still requires a human pilot and doesn't want to kill them.

I've also been tracking down and reading the non-cosmere stories (which are just as good). I missed HARRE though, so I guess I'm going to have to go read that now.

7 minutes ago, mr.bug said:

Sounds fun but I don't think so "The slug dropped onto the rocks there. 'And you doubted me.'" The slug left the ship so wouldn't the AI have to be tethered to the ship at all times?

My thought is that the slug is an artificial being, which is normally housed in the ship. Basically the brains of the AI, while being removable. With that explanation, I'm thinking similar to how in Star Wars they have droids that lock into the X-Wings as extra processing power / AI.

Hmm. It oddly felt like not much happened in these three chapters.

Biggest things:

1. Rig washed out of his own accord. Sounds like mechanics are a separate thing, so I could see him turning up as one of those.
2. The other cadets know that Spensa doesn't have a bunk or access to the mess hall. They seemed pretty nonchalant about it. I would have expected more teasing (even though Cobb would have put the kibosh to it immediately)
3. Spensa is definitely going to be the most adept at the light-lance. That means we have Jorgen/Jerkface specializing in flight maneuverability, Kimmalyn/Quick specializing in destructors, and Spensa/Spin specializing in the light-lance (which totally reminds me of the wire used in Ender's Game, btw).

Random speculation:

The slug is part of the ship. That is to say, it *is* the AI of the ship.

56 minutes ago, OrangeJedi said:

It does feel like a TV show, most of the breaks end off on a cliffhanger (of some sort)

I'm reminded of the Oathbringer previews, although they weren't written specifically to leave cliffhangers:

1 hour ago, OrangeJedi said:

but I think that kicking someone out (maybe a girl so Spenca can get a bunk?) would be a really good plot point.

I'm not sure this would work. The admiral is specifically denying Spensa resources, so an empty bunk probably wouldn't be enough.

Second wild speculation time!

I think Spensa is going to eventually be actually kicked out, which leads her to spend more time with the ship in the caves, which leads her to flying it and doing / discovering something big. This forces the admiral to allow Spensa into the Force in order to also get the ship.