Kingsdaughter613

It's not Elorin. The artist just isn't that great.

Sandlings eat the sand lichen. We are allowed to talk about sand lichen now that Brandon put it in the newsletter, right? Also, the sandling may not have been trying to eat Kenton. Perhaps they are territorial and it just wanted Kenton out of his sand?

Taldain is actually inaccessible for unknown reasons. At least in the current time. With regard to the magic system, I'm pretty sure I read a WOB a while ago that said the process of photosynthesis has something to do with the magic.

With regard to lichen growing, it may just need Sunlight. I actually think Dark side magic will be harder to transfer as, judging by the above WOB and the book intro, it should use some sort of plant that would need a high UV concentration to grow. Possibly this 'black light' too.

I am a graphic novel reader and I enjoyed it. You really can't read it like a novel though. Graphic novels are all about the images (or should be.)

I think this one suffers from the awareness that this was prose first. The words are telling as much of the story as the images. Some of my favourite graphic novels have entire pages without words because the image is telling the whole story. The first page really annoyed me because of that. DON'T give me a verbal description of the sand. It takes away from the image. The wind comment was extraneous. If there is wind show me! (I honestly think a better intro would have shown us the sands of Dayside, a brief glimpse of nightside, and a full double page spread of Taldain in space between two stars.) 

The art style does work, but isn't my favorite. We'll see if they stick with the same artist throughout. These books often switch and I'd like to see more styles.

All in all this was a good fun read. I did prefer the prose, but that had less to do with this being a graphic novel and more that this wasn't handled as well as it could have been. It felt like they were trying to squash a novel into a graphic novel, instead of letting it BE a graphic novel. Which is a pity, because then it could have been a great book instead of a decent one.

Khriss' entrance made sense to me... because I'd read the prose version. She's pretty arrogant and spoiled and sheltered here. The loss of her early chapters is probably my biggest con, as well as the abrupt transitions to Ais. They both needed a better intro.

Only certain elements of the MAG are. They do get some input from Brandon, so they are usually considered worth keeping in mind until Brandon reveals more.

Shardblades are Splinters. Nightwatcher and Stormfather are particularly large ones. So are Seona, Skaze and Returned. The Bands were close to being a Splinter, but didn't quite make it (that was how I recall it anyway.) Splinters are fragments of Investiture that have gained sentience of a kind. Sometimes a Splinter can become a Sliver but it does not seem to be common. [spoiler\] The Stormfather is the Cognitive Shadow of Honor and is thus a Sliver as well as a Splinter. [/spoiler]

All Returned are Splinters of Endowment, so you may want to add that to your theory.

Allomancy and Feruchemy are abilities written into the Sdna. Kell's Sdna didn't change so he is still an Allomancer. But using Allomancy requires the ability to ingest and burn metal which requires a body. Kell doesn't have one. Once he's gotten a new one I don't see why he would have any problem using his abilities.

If the above is about accurate it leads to some interesting questions regarding less physically oriented systems of investiture...

Or perhaps Traumatic Brain Injuries damage the cognitive aspect?

Indications to me are that Tan is not a psychopath; he's  psychotic. Mental illness opens one up to all sorts of influence, Shardic and not. It ALSO means that misinterpretation is very likely. It's entirely possible that Tan happened to come across Kell, Marsh and Saze having an argument, shattering an already weak psyche. Or he ran into Kelsier in the Mist (he's been known to visit people) then came across Marsh, and then his mental instability allowed him to hear/see something be shouldn't have. 

That Tan saw something is almost definite, but I think it's a bit early to say he's beeping directly manipulated by any one of the above. For that matter it could be our interloper's influence as well.

Personally, I want to know if he was burning electrum

My theory is that the spike is Atium and is conning Kelsier's soul into thinking it has a Connection to the Physical Realm. Then he just crosses over using Sazed's perpendicularity. This theory doesn't have much basis, but I love the idea that Kell is running a con on his own soul. It just fits him!

Not exactly. It depends on how you are using the term, as it can mean several different things.

Aluminum Ferrings couldn't (as they lack Atium Feruchemy.) A Fereuchemist could.

Since the Southerners are tribal 'King' is probably more accurately 'Chief' or something similar. If Kell told them he was a leader in the North, and probably used connection himself to speak to them, then they likely heard it as clan/tribe chief. Which then goes through connection translators again to come out as king. (My understanding of how connection translators work is that the personal meaning of the word is what translates. Some words mean different things or have different connotations to different people.)

As far as we are aware the Southerners have had only one King -Kelsier. Now if someone had only thought to ask Alik for the Sovreign's name...

I think Wayne is attracted to personalities, as opposed to physical attributes. So for him physical attraction would be secondary to the personality. Some people are like that (like me) where the gender (and other attributes) of the person is a distant second to who they are.

That was supposed to say transsexuality. My stupid computer 'fixed' the word. I'll go fix it. (Spellcheck..grrr...) My point wasn't that they don't count, but that gender identity and sexual preference are two separate things and writing a character who is trans is very different than one who is bisexual or homosexual. (HOW is that a slur? It's simply a more clinical term and is basically a description. Just like heterosexual.) Transsexuality is irrelevant in this conversation so I'm not including the T. I also feel that conflating the two is damaging to both groups. The issues faced are so different but by merging them the public gains a false impression that they are related or the same when there is really no connection beyond merged advocacy groups. So if I am referring to the homosexual and bisexual communities I do not include the T. If I am including the transsexual community as well I include the T. I don't know how well that came across and typos did NOT help.

(Note: do not try typing when two year old is wrecking house... Sigh... What did I expect from the kid who named his Stitch doll Ati?!)

To address your other point:

It's great your willing to take that risk. Not everyone is willing or capable of doing so. I would be afraid to. You wouldn't. That doesn't make me horrible or you a great, it just makes us different and that's wonderful. But you can't demand someone else take the risk. That isn't fair to them.

And doing it right is, apparently, hard, to go by all the awful ones I've read. Brandon has said he wants do it right and will not make a major character homosexual until he is certain he has it right. I'm perfectly happy to wait. A better question is why we don't have a homosexual writer writing a homosexual character. I'm pretty sure they'd do it well. A bisexual writer could write us a well done bi character. It's easiest to write what you know.

Hetero, I believe, means different, while homosexual is the same. Homosexual relationship means same sex relationship. So I'm not sure what you want?

The sexuality of the people involved has nothing to do with the meaning. I could be a lesbian in heterosexual relationship. Do I need a special term for that?

Brandon has said that he does not feel he is capable of writing such a character well just yet. He worked for years on writing women before he was published. I'd prefer he wait until he is comfortable with how such characters turn out on paper. You start with minor and work to major.

There's also the political issues. If I was an author I would refrain from writing an LGBQ character until it was no longer such a political topic. You can easily run into heavy fire from both sides. Why open yourself to attack?

Personally, I'd prefer waiting for it to be done right. So far most authors have disappointed me in that regard. I like how Brandon has written his LGBQ characters so far, and don't mind their lesser role. Ranette is wonderful and feels real. Would I like to see more of her? Yes, but not because of her sexuality. It's because she's a great character with a great personality and background.

And I did not drop the T by accident. Transsexuality is a very complicated matter and writing one would require both tact and a LOT of research. There are a lot of psychological and neurological components to it that are not present in homosexuals. (I've honestly never been able to understand why the T is there. Some trans people are LGBQ, but it is really not the same thing.)

Just reread the Mistborn trilogy, with pauses between books to read relevant SH portions. Then read all Wax and Wayne books so far. Now reading Joe Simon's autobiography.

The question was whether or not he'd show up. He 'technically' hasn't. Caused a nice chunk of the plot, yes, but that isn't quite the same thing.

I'm voting with three due to it being most accurate.

'There's always another secret' is the ONLY possible answer at this point...

I actually find Brandon's comment fascinating. (I've never seen the original before.) The implication is that Kell is aware of his psychopathy, even if he doesn't call it that, and actively suppresses it most of the time. Which actually makes me like him more than I already did.

We also know, via his viewpoints, that he chooses to leave his empathy on and is capable of both love and guilt. Since those are two of the biggest things psychopaths need to work on Kell is actually pretty well off. We also know he IS capable of self-sacrifice; whatever his motivation he was willing to give up his life twice to save others. Once when he died in the square, and again when he gave Preservation to Vin.

All of which is VERY reassuring. Kelsier knows what he is - on some level anyway - and chooses to control it. He only lets himself loose in 'appropriate' situations. (How appropriate depends on whether or not your a noble...) Quite a few law abiding psychopaths have joined militaries or similar professions.

Sooo... this thread has actually managed to reassure me about Kell... somewhat. I am worried about those he decides are his/Scadrial's enemies. (I think for Kelsier that's one and the same.) If a whole lot of Elantrians die via coin I will know who is responsible...

The problem is that we don't know how much of that was Kell and how much was the Southern Scadrians. At least part of it felt like a misunderstanding about Ruin and Preservation and how allomancy works. Then they need the compounders to survive, so of course they end up on a pedestal. And there are VERY few metalborn to begin with there. They is a good chance they worshipped them even before he arrived. People with special powers that no one an explain? Obviously divine!

Kelsier came out of nowhere to save them. He was 'imune' to the 'cold'. The South Scadrians lore gave me a very paganistic vibe; I doubt he had to do much to convince them he was a god. Odds are he wouldn't have had to do a thing actually... In fact he could have insisted he wasn't and they would probably have STILL worshipped him!

The one thing I think he may have done was make his name taboo. This would explain the 'titles to metalborn' somewhat. It's also a good precaution. Kell is worshipped in the North and South, but he's viewed very differently by both. This is one way to avoid negative knee jerk reactions by the North. His Southern statues even have his scars covered...

As it is, the Church of the Survivor's reaction will be interesting once they learn the truth. MAJOR theological upheaval on the horizon. Like a Civil War wasn't bad enough...

I've already preordered my copy! Though I'm not sure how I feel about Ais being a girl...

Actually the Rosharans lose for exactly the reason above. All that excess investiture has prevented many common illnesses from flourishing. Thus, Demoux's cold becomes a plague on Roshar. If the common cold is a plague, what would happen if a disease dangerous to Scadrians were deliberately introduced?