Jofwu

That was (is) @Artemos!

I feel that it's a bit premature to say that he has chosen silence as his answer. I think he'll inevitably have something to say about it. In the meantime, I'm hesitant to make assumptions on his reason for silence. I do hope that Brandon says something about all this soon, but at the end of the day I believe the work he does in his fiction is far more powerful than a Tweet and a black square for his Instagram followers. He has done, and will continue to do, far more to eradicate racism in the world than I ever will.

Apologies if the response is a little slow sometimes guys. We like to discuss sensitive issues before taking action, which requires some discussion. And lots of the staff are asleep or busy with their day jobs at the moment. The staff, at large, doesn't feel like Edonidd was genuinely comparing nuts to human lives, but that they were making an attempt at a ridiculous comparison to make their point without touching sensitive subjects - a comparison we also find pretty tasteless. If we thought the comment was made with malice in mind, we would've hidden it and taken action, but as it is we believe it was just a poorly phrased comment. However given the potential for it to be taken badly it has now been hidden. Racism is not accepted on the Shard. Please continue to report if something makes you feel uncomfortable and be patient with us as we sort this out. If the staff feels that someone crossed a line, we will contact them privately to have a discussion. That's not something that will happen in a public forum. I can't speak for the entire staff on this, so let me take off my moderator cap for a moment. I'm also disappointed Brandon hasn't said anything on the matter yet. I do hope that he will, and I can only speculate why he hasn't. These are all totally valid opinions to have. I think the users here who are defending Brandon simply know what he stands for and believe there's a good reason he hasn't said anything yet. Some users think there's not a good reason. We can disagree about all this and still assume the best in one another.

I'm pretty sure Petar said on Discord that they had the same brief as the UK cover artist. And it sounds like the brief was fairly, uh, brief. So I wouldn't put too much stock in the fine details. The artists definitely haven't read the whole book. The exact thing they're wearing, carrying, etc. could be 100% artist's interpretation. Heck, just look at how different that 4th artist's cover is. Not that speculation isn't fun and worthwhile. I'm honestly kind of expecting the US cover to be the same "scene", so that will be interesting. I SUSPECT Dragonsteel's thought process is: We don't have Shallan on a cover yet, and we NEED Shallan on a cover in the first 5 books. Can we assume she will work on the book 5 cover? Or should we include her now? Now seems wise. Shadesmar is a cool setting that'd be perfect for a cover. Shallan goes to Shadesmar in this book. Let's give the artists a vague description of a Shadesmar scene. (or maybe not even a specific scene)

Bulgarian cover(s): https://imgur.com/gallery/343xYRl More details:

Not geostationary/geosynchronous, that would mean they'd always be in the sky for one particular location and never move on. But you're thinking along the right lines. Problem is to make this aspect work requires other contradictions. It's all explained here: https://www.17thshard.com/forum/blogs/entry/683-why-roshars-moons-dont-make-sense/

You're asking about the basis that they rise and set the same time everywhere? I don't think it's ever explicit, but it definitely seems to be Brandon's intent if you consider it as you read. It's mostly just in the way they are spoken of, as if their schedules are familiar regardless of whether you're on the Shattered Plains, Alethkar, Jah Keved, or even Shinovar. Szeth mentions, for example, that the time between Salas and Nomon is the same in Shinovar as it is in Jah Keved (and as what we observe on the Shattered Plains). If the moons followed realistic movement on the orbit they are suggested to have, they would be rising and setting during the daytime in Shinovar.

Didn't see a forum post for this yet... https://www.brandonsanderson.com/alternate-stormlight-symbol-reveal/ TLDR: New minimalist design for Stormlight logo Created upon request by Tor for something simper for marketing purposes Marketing will make use of both symbols (old one isn't dead) This is a Space Era symbol for Roshar (other space age planetary symbols will come in time) I made an SVG for anyone who may have need of it. Attached below. Love it? Hate it? Biggest complaint I've seen is the loss of the numerology of the number 10. It kind of makes me wonder if there's a reason for that, considering the symbol is meant to represent Roshar long after the final book. Probably a long shot, but maybe the number 10 won't be quite so meaningful on Roshar when the series concludes? Or maybe there's no deeper meaning on why. I think my biggest personal complaint is the hilt. Feels kind of blocky and plain. In general, I'm totally on board with a more minimal logo for some purposes. I can definitely see how it will be useful. And I'm psyched that they came up with an in-world rationalization for it. Stormlight_Archive_Space.svg

Codex Alera (it has some romance subplots but isn't the main focus, at least for the most part) Robin Hobb maybe? The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix

I've been a really big fan of the idea of using an H for one of the words. Making all the acronyms perfectly symmetrical is a nice nod to the in-world love of symmetry. I feel like using an H for one of the words is an even deeper nod though. Plus it gives Brandon more flexibility. And it makes the easter egg a bit harder to spot, which makes it cooler and more fun when people catch it. I'm also a big fan of keeping the T on the end. Brandon originally referred to book 4 as "The Rhythm of War" and then later dropped the "The". I'm fully on board with saying "articles don't count". Sure. But he dropped the extra article so that RoW would be symmetrical with WoR without needing an arbitrary "articles don't count" rule. Don't stop now! Also, with the book being Szeth's and a potential T-word in the title... I really love the idea of that final word being "Truth". That said, my favorite acronyms are HoWT or KoHT I suppose. What words should those be aside from that "T" for Truth? I haven't been able to come up with anything I love. I toyed with the idea of making the "H" be hallowed as a nod to Stones Unhallowed, but I can't come up with anything I love.

Spanreeds are a relatively recent invention, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for this to be "an old general's trick".

Yeah, that's mostly due to just not having enough people helping with Coppermind. The timeline stuff is partly that, but also partly an issue of just not having anything definitive to cite.

@Honorless You might feel that way regardless, which is totally fair, but when I share it with a newer reader I usually turn a lot of unnecessary things off: https://paleocrafter.github.io/reading-order/#/?categories.plan=false&categories.apocryphal=false

Thanks for the heads up! Here's the current version: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zq5bJoKE83ggDCjH43i1hZi0CIpB2iAx7v37zQPVFK0/edit#gid=856252766 Updated the referenced post in case that happens to anybody else. @Karger We kind of toyed with adding some of it. I think Weiry has a user page with some of it in there. The problem is we don't like putting things on Coppermind that's just speculation, and there's a lot of that in my timelines. (note the error columns) Words of Radiance is a special case because it lists some explicit dates. The other books unfortunately aren't as clear.

A question from Brandon's team concerning JordanCon was posted on Reddit:

u/Aradanftw on Reddit put together a post converting Roshar's spheres to US Dollars. So this is 99% their work and not my own! But I thought it was interesting and something that I might want to reference more often down the road. Perhaps I'll remember to add more things to it. My main "contribution" was a push to reduce the values by an order of magnitude. The diamond chip was originally set at $2, based on the price of a loaf of bread. I'm not sure Aradanftw was entirely on board with this opinion, but the prices I've posted below are 1/10th of that. I'll admit that I'm not great with economics and inflation values, so I'm happy to be corrected on this. But it seems to me like we should compare the prices to Earth prices at a similar level of technological development? So I'm thinking we should look more at 19th century (-ish) US dollars rather than 21st century US dollars? The price of bread in early/pre-industrial society is different than modern society. Even now you can go to non-Western developing countries where a bit of bread is going to be a lot less than $2. And, admittedly, part of the drive for this is that $2 as you SMALLEST denomination of currency seems off to me. Aside from that price shift, I've also reorganized everything from lowest value to highest, and reworked some of the details. So assuming 1 diamond chip = a loaf of bread = $0.20, we've got the following prices: Rosharan spheres to US Dollars: 1 diamond chip (smallest denomination) - $0.20 Apothecary bandages, per armlength (1 diamond chip) - $0.20 Candied fruit (1 diamond chip) - $0.20 Shallan's trip to the Palanaeum (2 diamond chips) - $0.40 Bridgeman slave daily wages (1 diamond mark) - $1 Bridgeman daily wages (2 diamond marks) - $2 Tozbek's sailors' daily wages (1 ruby chip) - $2 Shallan's slaves' daily wages (1 ruby chip + 5 ruby chips toward slave debt) - $2 + $10 toward slave debt Apothecary needle and thread (2 diamond marks) - $2 Soldier's daily wages (5 diamond marks) - $5 Bowl of firemoss, each (1 garnet broam for three bowls)- $6.60 per bowl Adolin's tip to Kaladin (1 emerald chip) - $10 Apothecary larmic mucus (2 ruby marks) - $20 Mraize tips Mem for getting the aether from his suit (3 ruby marks) - $30 Apothecary lister's oil (2 sapphire marks) - $50 Palanaeum alcove rental (2 sapphire marks) - $50 Shallan's mistaken offer for candied fruit (1 emerald mark) - $50 Apothecary knobweed sap, per bottle (2 sapphire marks) $50 Copy of Words of Radiance, found by Gaz (2 sapphire broams) - $200 1 emerald broam (largest denomination) - $200 Shallan's weekly stipend (3 emerald broams) - $600 Renegotiated price for Shallan's books (2 emerald broams and 3 sapphire broams) - $700 Tvlakv's trade wagon and 5 slaves (5 emerald broams) - $1,000 Artmyrn's initial offer for Shallan's books (10 emerald broams) - $2,000 Shallan's aluminum necklass (10 emerald broams) - $2,000 Gaz's debt (80 ruby broams) - $3,200 Wikim and Balat's knives, each (20 emerald broams) - $4,000 Dalanar's offered price to purchase Sadaes's bridgemen, each (60 emerald broams) - $12,000 Palanaeum chit of admittance (1,000 sapphire broams) - $100,000 Sadaes would reject even if Dalinar this much for bridgemen, each (1,000 emerald broams) - $200,000 Again, I'm not ecoomist or historian, but I think these sound somewhat reasonable? Could be shifted around a little one way or the other, but I think the order of magnitude feels right. There are people (in extreme poverty) in our world who live on $2 per day. The wages for the sailors does seem a bit low, but both they and the bridgemen also essentially have free housing and (presumably) meals. So that's more of a stipend than a wage. Seems like a very reasonable wage for what is essentially a pre-industrial indentured servant? The minimum pricepoint of $0.20 STILL seems weirdly high, but I don't think we can go much lower. The bread doesn't seem bad, though it's odd to me candied fruit costs the same. What do you charge for a non-candied piece of fruit? Do people just not do that? They'd buy more than one piece? Perhaps the people at the bottom of society tend to just barter goods directly instead of using spheres. Books costing a few hundred dollars apiece seems somewhat reasonable? I expect books cost even more, prior to the printing press. But then Roshar is a bit more culturally developed despite that technology, so demand is probably bringing that price down. Dalinar's offer to buy the bridgemen is crazy. There were about 1,000 bridgemen I believe, which puts the total cost (if Sadeas had agreed) at $12 million. Apparently Dalinar could afford that (if only barely) while Sadeas's counter-offer of $200 million was going too far. So that's interesting. EDITS: 2021-08-17 I saw someone point out a WoB in which Brandon says that 1 dollar = 1 clearmark "sounds about right". (https://wob.coppermind.net/events/75/#e4380) Now, this is the kind of detail that I REALLY don't think Brandon is likely to remember off the top of his head, especially in the middle of a signing. So I don't put much weight in this. But it's something and it's exactly what I had here. So that's nice. Thanks to Caleb Richards on Facebook for catching an error on the cost of the Palanaeum alcove rental. Had $500 when it should have been $50. I did a quick search through Dawnshard and Rhythm of War and didn't find anything of note to add. Didn't get any transactions in the book where the spheres exchanged are made clear. So this should be up-to-date through RoW.

Updated my Stormlight Archive timeline again this weekend. Not an exciting update, but figured I'd write a post anyways. The main changes on this version involved reconciling my timeline with (what I understand to be) Karen's timeline from the Oathbringer beta read, which Alice and Lyndsey have been referencing on their Tor Oathbringer Reread. They're almost through the entire book now, so I had quite a bit to work through. I shifted around a few of my dates to match Karen's where possible... Unfortunately, there are several things that I strongly disagree with, and so I have stuck with my own dates in these cases. At some point I want to write up my issues in a concise way and send it to Karen. Some are relatively meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but others could potentially matter in one way or another, I think. Of course, it's worth mentioning that this is just supposedly the beta timeline--entirely possible the final/official timeline has many things corrected. In any case, my main issues include: I may have mentioned this previously, (I pointed it out to Peter loooong ago) but Shallan's OB Part 1 chapters are off by a couple of days, relative to when the Everstorms and the first highstorm are referenced. Several of Dalinar's flashbacks seem to be a little off. For most it's maybe within reasonable rounding error, but there was at least 1 or 2 that's clearly off by a few years. Maybe a typo? I finally worked through all of the Moash stuff, and I think some of her dates there are a little odd. The biggest and most complicated problem is Oathbringer Part 4... I was concerned that the Shadesmar sequence didn't line up right, and it seems I was entirely correct. There are references clearly linking the Shadesmar group from the day they enter to the day they reach Celebrant. The time spent on Honor's Path is a little vague. And then there are clear references linking the group from Honor's Path to Thaylen City. There's not any contradictions. The problem is that the travel times on the two Shadesmar ships is HIGHLY inconsistent. They spend something like 2 or 3 days traveling from Riino's lighthouse to Celebrant... And then they spend several weeks traveling from Celebrant to... somewhere nearly Thaylenah. The exact locations of the lighthouse and the place where the group abandons ship are not entirely clear. But honestly, if you look at a map and pick a borderline-unreasonable, best case scenario for each... It doesn't make sense at all. Especially considering there's an explicit mention that Honor's Path is significantly faster than Ico's ship. Oh well... Maybe I can convince them to make an edit for the 10th anniversary edition. That's all the negative stuff. I was pleased to find that I was fairly close (or dead on) with most of my dates--particularly for the Part 3 finale. Peter also answered some questions I had about a few minor things, so those are worked out. I've added Kaladin's Oathbringer memories/flashbacks, so with the Moash stuff done that should be everything from OB! The reread hasn't quite covered the end of the book, and it LOOKS like Karen shifted the Battle of Thaylen City back an extra day from where I have it. But I'm going to say we're good enough for now. Unless there's some major WoB or new revelation, the next stop will probably be a Stormlight 4 update!

A Teft PoV in chapter 115 heavily implies it was Kholinar's. Seems like there might be another, but I can't remember where.

Tor Reread for chapter 110 came out today and confirmed a timeline issue I was afraid of... It appears Karen has the following dates: Chapter 97 (Shadesmar group leaves the lighthouse on the lightspren ship) = 1174.2.4.1 Chapter 101/102 (group arrives in Celebrant and leaves on the honorspren ship) = 1174.2.4.4 Chapter 110 (group abandons Honor's Path and begins making their way to Thaylen City) = 1174.2.7.4 That's 3 days from lighthouse to Celebrant and 20 days from Celebrant to wherever they jumped off. Map, to the right, for reference. This just doesn't really make sense to me. We don't know exactly where the lighthouse is or exactly where the group abandoned ship. But with reasonable approximations... The second leg is definitely a longer journey, but it's NOT 6-7 times further. Even if they didn't go through channels--if they circled all the way around the isthmuses (isthmi?) to the east--it wouldn't be that much of a difference. And this is on top of the fact that Honor's Path is explicitly stated as being faster than Ico's merchant ship. (2nd paragraph of chapter 108) The dates for Chater 97 and 110 are set pretty hard, I believe. Might be able to shift them a day or two. To make this work, I think the two Celebrant chapters need to shift much later. More time on Ico's ship and less time on Honor's Path. I don't think there's anything that would prevent making that change... Nothing that ties chapter 101/102 to some other event happening elsewhere. There are references to time passing that would need to be adjusted. (e.g. 99 says they will arrive in Celebrant after 2 days) There are references to how much Stormlight they have in their spheres that would need to be adjusted. (their chips would be long dead when they reach Celebrant, and their marks too probably) I'm not sure what it implies about ship speeds. If you go pull the actual distances, what are the average speeds of the ships? This might make Ico's ship really slow... But then, if that's the case, Honor's Path is currently depicted as moving at a snail's pace so... It is what it is. Maybe worth considering whether it's possible to shift 97 and 110 as much as possible though, if it appears the ships are moving very slow. Relevant chapters: 99, 101, 102, 108, 110

This topic is reeeeeealy out of date, so I've made an updated version.

Intro to the Cosmere So, you've read some of Brandon Sanderson's books, and you liked them enough that you want to talk about it with other fans online. But then it doesn't take you long to realize that you have no idea what everyone's talking about. Shards of Adonalsium? Realmatic theory? Worldhoppers? "I don't remember any of this in the books I read!" Fear not! This page is for you! What is the Cosmere? The Cosmere is the fictional universe in which many of Brandon Sanderson's novels take place. Stories set in the Cosmere share an underlying theorem of magic, a creation myth, a cosmology, and a few other key concepts. Characters and cultures can (and do) cross over between worlds. While early connections merely consist of a few scattered Easter eggs, they become more obvious and meaningful with time. Seeing and understanding it can greatly enhance your experience with his books -- there's a reason we can't stop talking about it! We've designed this page to point out all of the main things you may have missed, or that Brandon has said in interviews with fans, so that you can discover the secret world hidden in Brandon's books and be ready to participate in the discussion as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. For a more in-depth answer to this question, keep scrolling. For Brandon's own short answer to this question, see the FAQ on his website. For the complete list of works set in the Cosmere, see here. A note on spoilers: This post may contain minor spoilers for some Cosmere books--particularly Mistborn and Stormlight Archive. Links to the Coppermind wiki often contain many spoilers. If you haven't read all the books, we would encourage you not to read beyond the reading order recommendations! Does it matter? Knowledge of the Cosmere is generally non-essential to understand and enjoy Sanderson's work as each story/series stands on its own. That said, understanding the Cosmere can enhance your experience and give you something extra to chew on if you'd like to dive deeper into Sanderson's universe. So if you start looking into the Cosmere and find all of this to be overwhelming or uninteresting, that's totally okay. Take your time, or just don't even worry about it! Sanderson ultimately has plans for some books that will involve the overarching story of the Cosmere more directly. At this time, experiencing the Cosmere primarily involves connecting the universe's basic concepts and identifying characters who show up in unexpected places and seem to know more than they let on. Reading Order There is no “right order” to read the Cosmere in. Publication order is a common suggestion, which allows you to experience the books as if reading them from the start, but you should read the Cosmere in whichever order you most enjoy. If you want to try something new, branch off to a different world or series. If you really like the series/world you've been reading, then keep going down that road. Most reading orders will point out a few books that can be considered “starter” books. From these you can dive deeper into a particular series or branch off to something new. Some commonly recommended starting points include: Elantris -- If you like the idea of reading in publication order, this is where you should begin. This is the first book Brandon published. Mistborn: The Final Empire -- The original Mistborn trilogy (Era 1) is the most frequently recommended place to start. Warbreaker -- This is a standalone book that's available for free on Brandon's website. The Emperor's Soul -- This Hugo Award-winning novella is a great way to experience Sanderson's strengths with very minimal commitment. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) -- This epic is far from complete and requires the reader to place a lot of trust in Sanderson--it opens with a lot of worldbuilding and a slow start. But if truly epic fantasy is your thing and incomplete series don't give you pause, this is perhaps Brandon's finest work. For an interactive reading guide, see this page. Brandon's own recommendations can be found on his website. Two final notes on reading order: We highly encourage reading Warbreaker sometime before Words of Radiance. We highly encourage reading Mistborn: Secret History after The Bands of Mourning. Adonalsium, Shards, and Investiture Adonalsium and the Cosmere A long time ago, there existed an entity called Adonalsium. Very little is known about who or what Adonalsium truly was. Adonalsium's touch suffused the Cosmere, and many worlds, such as Roshar, were grown by it and bear its design. It was the source of all of the Cosmere's magic and was said to control the powers of creation. One day, Adonalsium broke into sixteen fragments in an event that became known as the Shattering of Adonalsium. Why or how Adonalsium was shattered remains a mystery. The Shards of Adonalsium Sixteen of those who were present at the Shattering took up these fragments, or Shards, and became godlike themselves. They went their separate ways, (well, some did) creating worlds and seeding the Cosmere with more life. The magic of the Cosmere continues to stem from these Shards. Each Shard has an "intent" that it strives to fulfill, which gradually molds and warps the holder of the Shard, the Vessel, until they are absolutely incapable of acting against it. This nature is so dominating that both the Shards and the Vessels are usually referred to simply by the Shard's intent. Note, however, that the intent of a Shard cannot be precisely conveyed in a single word, and there is some room for interpretation as to what each Shard's intent incorporates. Some Shards include Ambition, Autonomy, Honor, Ruin, and Devotion. Though these demigods may appear godlike to mortals, they are neither all-powerful nor all-knowing. Shards may be Splintered--a process which leaves the Vessel dead and the power of the Shard dispersed. Shards are also able to subdivide themselves into avatars, each with a distinct identity, though the exact nature of these entities and how they relate to the Shard and its Vessel is unclear. Investiture, Splinters, and Slivers Investiture is the catch-all term for magical energy in the Cosmere. Investiture, which comes from the Shards, is the power source for all of the Cosmere's magic systems. Most humans in the Cosmere have some innate Investiture, which makes up their soul. Humans generally obtain magical powers when their spirit (sometimes called a spirit web) becomes suffused with Investiture. A Splinter is a portion of a Shard's Investiture that has been severed from it, either willingly or unwillingly. Sometimes, these Splinters will develop sentience and sapience, and they can become highly intelligent beings. (Note that non-Splintered Shards can still have Splinters.) A Sliver, on the other hand, is a person who once held a significant portion of a Shard's power. Holding that much power stretched and expanded their soul. The Worlds There was an original world named Yolen. Yolen was home to three intelligent races (human, dragon, and Sho Del), and is the planet that the original sixteen Vessels came from. All human life in the Cosmere either came from Yolen or was modeled after it. After the Shattering, the Shards spread and settled down on many different worlds throughout the Cosmere. Planets where one or more of the Shards settled down are sometimes known as "major Shardworlds." Other planets, where there is still life and some magic, but no Shards, are "minor Shardworlds." Major and minor Shardworlds include the following: World Stories First of the Sun Sixth of the Dusk Nalthis Warbreaker Roshar The Stormlight Archive Scadrial Mistborn Sel Elantris, The Emperor's Soul Taldain White Sand Threnody Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Worldhoppers and Notable Characters A small number of enterprising individuals in the Cosmere have learned how to travel between these worlds. These worldhoppers have a huge variety of backgrounds and motivations. Some worldhoppers are acting individually while others are part of an organization, like the Seventeenth Shard. Hoid Among the Cosmere's worldhoppers, there is none so prominent as the ever-mysterious Hoid, originally of Yolen. Hoid, which isn't even his real name, is thousands of years old, having been present at the Shattering of Adonalsium. Whatever happened to Hoid in his past, he's no longer exactly human, at least in the traditional sense. He has a way of knowing where he needs to be at the right time, and he uses this to subtly influence events behind the scenes. Hoid's true motives and goals are as hidden as his real name. Hoid has appeared in every Cosmere novel so far, though he is often in disguise and will occasionally use pseudonyms, such as Dust, Topaz, Cephandrius, and Wit. Trying to spot him in every book is part of the fun of the Cosmere. He seems to prefer disguising himself as a beggar, an informant, a storyteller, or a jester, so look for him to be playing one of these roles. He is also often, though not always, described as having white hair and an angular, hawklike or arrowlike face. Among many other things, Hoid has the ability to Lightweave (create illusions), he can heal from extreme injuries, he doesn't age, and he has a way to dilate time so that he doesn't have to wait as long for important moments. The planned series Dragonsteel will tell the story of Hoid's origin and the Shattering of Adonalsium, and Hoid is planned to be a main character in the final Mistborn trilogy. Khriss and Nazh Khriss, from Taldain, is the worldhopper who writes the Ars Arcanum at the end of each book, and she's the most knowledgeable of anyone—including Hoid—about the Cosmere as a whole. Khriss has been described as dark-skinned, with her hair woven into tight braids. Nazh is her assistant, a worldhopper from Threnody, tasked with collecting various maps and drawings from throughout the Cosmere. They are often included in the books with his personal notes to Khriss in his distinctive handwriting. One of his most identifying characteristics is his tendency to use Threnodite swears, such as "shadows". He has also been described as lanky, with a narrow face and sand-colored hair. The Three Realms Almost everything in the Cosmere has a body, a mind, and a soul, and each exists in one of three Realms. The Physical Realm is world of the body, where physical objects exist. This Realm is the only one that normal human beings consciously perceive. The Cognitive Realm, also known as Shadesmar, is the world of the mind. The Cognitive Realm is strange and alien: Water is solid, land is fluid, and shadows point backwards. Thoughts and ideas take on real form in this Realm. After a person dies, a leftover impression of their mind, their Cognitive Shadow, will linger shortly in the Cognitive Realm before passing on. The Cognitive Shadow can sometimes persist for longer periods of time, however, by various magical means. Worldhoppers have learned to use junctions between the Physical Realm and the Cognitive Realm called perpendicularities to cross between them. Often, these perpendicularities can be found where the power of a Shard is concentrated into a pool of liquid that fans call "Shardpools." The Cognitive Realm is of particular interest to worldhoppers because distances are compressed there in places where there is little or no mental activity (such as outer space), meaning worldhoppers can use the Cognitive Realm to actually walk from one planet to another. Depending on the Shardworld, the Cognitive Realm can be an extremely dangerous place. The Spiritual Realm is the world of the soul. Once you reach the Spiritual Realm, there's no such thing as space or distance anymore, just Connection between people and places. Those who peer into the Spiritual Realm can see all the branching possibilities of the future. The power of the Shards resides mostly (usually) in the Spiritual Realm. Chronology While in most cases we don't know how many years take place between books in different series, we do know the chronological order of most of them. In order, they are: White Sand Elantris The Emperor's Soul Mistborn Era 1 Warbreaker Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Stormlight 1-5 Mistborn Era 2 Stormlight 6-10 Mistborn Era 3 Sixth of Dusk Mistborn Era 4 For more information, see this post. More Resources The best way to dive into the Cosmere is to find a fan community to interact with. While you may see a lot of confusing conversations going on, just ask questions and you'll be caught up before you know it. The 17th Shard offers both forums and a Discord chat server to this end. The other two important resources to be aware of are the Coppermind wiki and Arcanum, both operated by the 17th Shard. But beware that BOTH of these resources include heavy spoilers for all of Brandon's books! The Coppermind is a wiki covering all of Brandon Sanderson's works, with an emphasis on the Cosmere. Just dive right in by searching for pages that interest you, or by browsing through the page categories. Arcanum is an archive of everything Brandon has said publicly about his stories, drawing from interviews, social media, book signings, and more. There's a LOT to learn about the Cosmere just by hearing directly from the man himself! Search for specific terms or browse entries by tags. We could always use help adding more information to the Coppermind or transcribing audio on Arcanum, and you don't need to be an expert to help. Stop by the #coppermind and #arcanum channels in our Discord server to help out. There's no better way to learn more about the Cosmere than by helping improve these resources! Note: This is an update to the original Cosmere 101 topic by @Zas678. Feel free to recommend additional content, but please avoid major spoilers!

Hey everybody, After some extended discussions among the staff, we've decided to lock this thread and document for a few reasons. Brandon has been emphatic for years now that he strongly prefers for people to ask questions of personal interest. He can tell the difference between the question a fan is passionate about and the question a fan is reading from a a long list they found online. In this year's State of the Sanderson, Brandon explained that, due to his growing popularity, he will be scaling back on fan interactions at book signings. With this change, it's more important than ever that we encourage people to make the most of their time with Brandon. We at the 17th Shard want for Brandon and his fans to have good, meaningful interactions, and we no longer feel that facilitating an "ultimate list of questions" is conducive to that. That isn't to say this list was a bad idea from the start. The growing size of the fandom has simply changed how we are able to interact with Brandon, and that's okay. Brandon deserves more recognition, and we're always excited to see more people experiencing his books. Besides, the whole thing is a mess of uncurated, out-of-date questions at this point. People are always welcome to share their question ideas for feedback, or to ask for help formulating an interesting question. We do not mean to discourage this at all! You are more than welcome to do this elsewhere on the forums or on Discord! Feel free to contact the staff if you have any questions or concerns with this change, and thank you for your understanding.

2020 plans, hopefully.