CaptainRyan

Excellent idea. I think this has some merit to it. Have an upvote good forum member!

Not to ruin anything but you should really read the novella. It might change some parts of your theory.

Out of everything Brandon did for that series THIS is your takeaway? Sanderson did a wonderful, if imperfect, job of finishing WoT. I, for one, am very happy he accepted that task even if it slowed down his stories. @OP: WOW! What a great catch! Thanks for the tidbit. Have an upvote!

This might be somewhat of a tangent but are we sure that there are only sixteen (16) base metals? I know that with the "God-Metal" alloys we can go beyond sixteen but do we have WoB that there are, for sure, only sixteen base metals?

I second this idea. Marasi is capable of handling "big" stuff; e.g. worldhopping. Her keen intellect and diverse skillset would definitely be welcome in one of the worldhopping organizations I am sure.

Did anyone else think "PARSHENDI" when they read Brandon's initial description of Allik? If that is not from Jasnah's notes then I will eat Wax's hat. I bet Brandon was giggling to himself as he wrote those lines knowing that we would immediately jump to the conclusion of a worldhopping Parshendi (pun intended).

Just a heads up if you are interested in an English-language story with a similar premise you might consider David Weber's "Multiverse" series. The first book is called "Hell's Gate". Quick rundown: There are two civilizations, one magically based and the other with early 1900s technology, that are independently exploring the "multiverse". The respective homeworlds of each civilization (both are geographically identical to Earth) have a portal that leads to an another Earth that is the exact same as their homeworld with the exception that there are no humans on any of the copies. Each copy has another portal and the next has another portal and so on. Each civilization has been exploring, and colonizing, these empty earths for quite some time until, one day, two small scouting parties from each side meet! *dramatic music* (magic land) -> | portal | -> empty earth -> | portal | ... | Hell's Gate| ... | portal | <- empty earth <- | portal | <- (tech land) It is a, imo, really interesting series with the biggest downside being that it is unfinished; there are currently only two books out. Also, the first book is REALLY REALLY wordy and descriptive. If you can handle that then you should be ok haha

Sorry, I meant that Ruin did not have a matching Physical/Cognitive representation like Preservation does (the mists). Ruin did indeed block out the Cognitive Realm's sun but, unless we make the stretch that Ruin's physical manifestation is the ash from the Ashmounts, there is no Physical Realm symmetry.

Good catch mate. *tips hat to Seerow*

@Jess, I really enjoyed Marasi in AoL and her character has only, in my opinion, gotten better since then. She seemed to click with Wax (and Wayne) during their time fighting against Miles. She has a bold streak in her that demolishes the "damsel in distress" role and, instead, lends her credibility when working with (and/or being with) Wax [shooting the bandits in AoL from the balcony, shooting the Mark's assassin in SoS etc.]. Also, as we see in SoS and BoM she is very forward thinking and accepting of new societal changes and advances and I think she could help balance out Wax as he seems to struggle to accept new things. Furthermore, and finally, her strong detective skills and use of statistics is a great complement to Wax's own detective skills. Seeing Steris evolve over the last two books has helped make her far more likable and enjoyable as a character but I never quite accepted she was as "good" of a fit for Wax as Marasi despite Brandon's, sometimes heavy-handed, attempts to move us in that direction.

New Mistborn: Secret Histoy spoilers

I bolded and underlined the word you used that might be a mistake - I had to reread this sentence several times before I guessed that you meant "spheres". At first, I was really struggling to remember any mention of Shadesmar being filled with spears or spearmen or something haha Aside from that, I like the idea that the Cognitive Realm is symbolically reflective of the shard... though I would have to wonder why there was no mention of anything involving Ruin in Scadrial's Cognitive Realm. Perhaps the only reason the mist was in the CR for Scadrial is because it existed in the Physical Realm as well and not because it was a reflection of Preservation. As for Nalthis, maybe those plants that generate colors for dye are everywhere?

At the expense of being downvoted into the void, I am still not quite sold on Steris and Wax. That being said, I genuinely enjoyed Steris' development and growth. She has really come into her own and Brandon has found a fantastic way to make her, and her quirks, shine. She had some of the most memorable moments in the book - firing a massive shotgun on top of a moving train at an allomancer and getting thrown off the side, prepping the hotel owner with a full description of many likely and unlikely scenarios, mapping out the usefulness of each member of the team etc etc. I truly enjoyed her character arc in this book. I was, and still am, pro Wax + Marasi. I have, however, seen the writing on the wall (book) and have accepted that Sanderson has chosen to go a different route.

Just to confirm - thanks to this novella we can safely say that Spook is the one who is viewed as the savior of the Southern Scadrians? That Spook used hemalurgy, at the behest of Kelsier, to prolong his own life and to help search for a "new string" for Kelsier?

Oh I do not think so. I am very new to this site as a user (only had an account for a few days) so I am still learning the ropes. I usually skip the news section and jump right to the forums. Sorry about that! I will be more conscientious and read the news as well as the forums!

Bless you. I am now the proud owner on Google Books and hopefully my boss does not walk by in the next little bit haha.

Loved this book! I was a bit let down by Shadows of Self but Brandon really showed his stuff in this one. I am sad that Wax + Marasi is not going to be a thing but Sanderson did such an amazing job of creating a believable Wax + Steris relationship that I have to concede and accept the inevitable. I am a HUGE fan of the airships! OMGOSH YES! Harmony giving a more detailed explanation to Wax was very comforting. I had pretty much worked it out but it is nice for Sanderson to write it out so that everyone can get back to thinking Harmony (Sazed) is awesome. I will be honest; I wish Telsin was dead. I dislike how often pivotal characters (both in this series and the others) do not seem to stay dead. Also, I think it would have been fitting if Wayne had finished her off in retribution for what he thought she had done to Wax. Finally... can we PLEASE get the last book sooner?! Finish SA:3 and then jump right back to this! Please!

@Chaos I would LOVE to read it but Amazon is forcing me to wait until the 30th. How did you access it already? Please tell me!

That... is an excellent point. On the other hand, if Harmony remade Kelsier why would Kelsier have a spike in his eye? Perhaps Spook only used the spike for his journey south? He might have removed the spike after and... done some pirate cosplay with an eye patch and it was never brought up in-book?

Friggin' iBooks has it and Amazon is making me wait until the 30th? I am seriously considering doing something I thought I would never do... buy an Apple product. What the rusts Amazon? RUST AND RUIN ARGHH!

I noticed that you responded similarly in the theory thread I started so I will refrain from engaging you in the same conversation twice haha. I will relink to the other thread and, if anyone is interesting in continuing the discussion of Spook as the Survivor then please stop on by! See: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/52556-bands-spoiler-identity-of-the-one-eye-spike-man/

I agree that he would have had to gone south at some point during his rule but I do not think that rules out [pun intended] that he simply did just go south at some point. He could have left for only a year (or two) and then returned. He was the Lord Mistborn; I bet he could do, basically, whatever he wanted haha. I certainly do not discount the possibility that it was someone else but I find it plausible seeing as we know that Spook was alive at this time, was interested in hemalurgy and had the resources to undertake such a journey.

I have a theory that it is Spook. See: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/52556-bands-spoiler-identity-of-the-one-eye-spike-man/

I am of the opinion that the One-Eye Spike Man (that name gets more awful every time I type it - sorry!) is actually Spook. IIRC, in HoA Spook's arms were scarred in a similar manner to Kelsier. Add to that the info we got from Steris in BoM about Spook living an unnaturally long time combined with the info that Spook was very interested in Hemalurgy leads me to believe that we did not see Kelsier in the flashback but rather that we saw Spook. See: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/52556-bands-spoiler-identity-of-the-one-eye-spike-man/

Ah, I did not realize that. Thank you for taking the time to explain that to me! Have an upvote! I am glad that in my newly created thread I followed the rule without understanding it haha. I would hate for something to be spoiled for an unsuspecting forum member.