Jofwu

I don't read this as a contradiction. The implication is that the Shards affected humans indirectly. Consider how she writes that they influenced the alphabets, for example, which presumably includes Aonic. It's my understanding that AonDor didn't exist before the Shards were splintered, considering the magic is based on the interaction between their leftover power (the Dor) and geography in the Cognitive Realm. So from my perspective, this is the only way to interpret the essay.

Okay, now that I'm looking into things a bit... Could we get a http://coppermind.net/wiki/Coppermind:White_Sand article status page? That would probably help us a lot, and as best I can tell that's something that you guys need to create? Hopefully it's a simple task.

Got it. Yeah, I see what the new privileges can do. Thanks to both of you!

I started making a collection of artwork on the Stormlight Archive subreddit, listed such that it's spoiler-free to use. If anyone wants to add to it I'd be thankful. Or even just suggestions that I can incorporate! It's not intended to be exhaustive though. Not looking for EVERY piece of art. Just enough to satisfy new readers. It should preferably be as true to the book's descriptions as possible.

Yeah, I can certainly see why it's not up to date. On top of everything else it seems to receive less attention from fans- due to the medium, I presume. It looks like a citation for White Sand Vol. 1 would actually use "ws1" rather than "white sand". Is that correct? Presumably that will link to the summaries I've been working on? Regarding CAPTCHA... Whenever I want to edit a page, I am required to check an "I am not a robot" box and solve a CAPTCHA (something like "click on all the images that show street signs") in order to save my edits. It's pretty annoying to do, especially for minor edits. Good question about a profile... I did create one, but apparently I got signed out somehow before making my edits yesterday. Unfortunately, it seems I have the same requirement even when signed in. I made a minor edit just to make sure it wasn't a one-time thing for a new user. Doesn't seem to have helped. My guess would be that it's set up to require a certain number of edits (or some other criteria) before no longer requiring it? Or maybe it's required of all users besides staff? Anyways, it's not the end of the world... Just an obnoxious hurdle, so I was curious if there's a way around it! Quick questions regarding user pages... Doesn't seem like I'm able to create/edit mine (definitely signed in). Just says "There is currently no text in this page" and "you do not have permission to create this page." Another thing that doesn't particularly matter, but I'm curious how I can get into that. Lastly, I'm curious if its possible for normal editors to make any changes concerning Categories? Or more specifically, the tables/lists that show up at the bottom of pages? Say WS Vol 2 releases and introduces some new city that ought to be added under White Sand Places. I assume that's something only the admins can do? Thanks for clearing some things up for me! And I'm glad to help out.

So I finally got around to reading White Sand Vol. 1. Then I hopped onto Coppermind out of curiousity... only to discover that there's almost nothing written about it. The series isn't even listed on the Editor's Corner page. I started work on the chapter summaries and would like to fill in more if I can. I've got three questions: First, I know there are a lot of guides and such for creating and editing articles. I need to work through those. Is there anything I need to read ASAP? And is there anything I should know that isn't very obviously linked on Coppermind? Second is how long do I have to put up with the CAPTCHA? Is that step something I have to go through with EVERY single edit? Or do editors get more leeway eventually? Third is more specific. I put together a little "White Sand" symbol (below) to be used on WS pages (same way there's one for Mistborn, SA, Elantris, etc.). How do I upload that and display it at the top of WS pages? Is it something I am able to do?

I finally opened my copy and read it through this weekend. For context, I've read everything in the Cosmere except for what's in AU. So basically all of the major novels. I haven't read White Sand Prose. I was a little disappointed. I'd probably give it 4/5 stars if I let my Cosmere-love take part in the vote. But more objectively I'd give it maybe 2.5 or 3 stars. ART I actually liked the art style for the most part. I thought it was visually appealing. Even the barren settings were fun to look at. But I've got two main art complaints. First, the art FREQUENTLY doesn't seem to describe what's happening very well. Biggest example of this was Kenton's surprised comment about the Kerztian ambushers not wearing armor and having bald heads. I flipped back to the battle- any other page with Kerztians- and found that (a) they NEVER wear armor and (b) some of them have bald heads. What's the deal? There are other situations like this as well, and it even carries over into more subtle (but still important) issues. For example, I often found that facial expressions didn't match the dialogue. My other art complaint is that too many characters (particularly the Sand Masters) are very indistinct. I usually had to determine who I was looking at based on dialogue, which is annoying in a graphic novel. DIALOGUE/STORYTELLING I think the weakest part about the volume was the dialogue. First, I'd say there were some minor issues with awkward dialogue. Hard to say if this is Brandon's fault or Rik's (?), though I'd guess the latter. Characters often said things that seemed uncharacteristic or out of place. Take the case where Kenton snaps at Khriss, for example, after they were ambushed. Where the heck did that come from? I saw zero indication (prior to that moment) that he was frustrated or upset. And this really carries on to much bigger problems. The flow often felt confusing and disjointed to me, particularly with characterization. For example, I got the sense that Kenton is a really serious guy over the course of the first two chapters. And then when he starts guiding Khriss and her crew he makes that awkward "Magic!" comment with a goofy grin on his face as he uses his powers behind her back. It completely threw off what I knew about him. This doesn't just happen with characters. The magic had me totally confused, for example. There's all this talk about what they can do with their magic, but all we ever see is them flying around in tornadoes. Well, that and fighting... but the fighting just looks like they're throwing generic magical power around. And while I can tell part of it is SUPPOSED to be a mystery, I'm entirely lost on why Kenton randomly lost his powers... And then randomly became super-powered out of nowhere. Made no sense, especially given his lack of personal confusion. I felt like I missed something. CONCLUSION I frequently felt like I was relying on my general understanding of Sanderson's style to get through the book. There's a lot of time with awkward bits of jarring narration to help you along. I felt like these were somehow overdone AND not enough at the same time. Probably because the art itself was just showing what happened rather than ADDING to the story. I felt like I was able to look past some of the bumpy parts and see what it would feel like as a typical Sanderson novel, and that helped. I think if I came into this with no Sanderson background, I would have finished volume 1 with a lot of confusion and little motivation to pick up volume 2. Edit... First, one thing I forgot to mention was that I'm not particularly well-read in the world of comics and graphic novels. I feel that part of my discomfort and confusion is likely due to that inexperience. Second, I started to read again from the start today and I find myself enjoying the second time much more. I still notice a lot of awkward points. Characterization that feels out of place, awkward transitions, etc. But I guess having the whole story in mind makes it easier to gloss over these without getting hung up.

A user on Reddit compiled a list of changes from Kwaan's original text to the version corrupted by Ruin. I was going to recommend that he put this on Coppermind somewhere. What would be the right page for it?

Quick question first... Where is this coming from? The amazement at Scadrial's technological development is confusing me a little bit. I was under the impression from Harmony that their world is actually lagging behind, right? Does Harmony just have really high expectations? Is he wrong about their tech level? It comes across like Khris is just impressed that with where they're at given how much they've had to deal with... But that just doesn't fit, in my opinion, with the tone offered by Harmony. Am I the only one getting that sense? Do we know when Arcanum Unbounded is being written? Because this all makes me wonder if it's dated sometime after Mistborn Era 2.

Some ideas... spren (or a particular type) Shards (known history, holders, etc.) a particular type or subset of Allomancy/Ferruchem/Hemalurgy Cognitive Realm (or Spiritual Realm)

@Brandom Glitch I'm not sure what you have in mind, but I think it would be pretty cool if you did some brief videos on narrow topics. Basically very focused and to-the-point videos that explain everything we know about a particular subject. The idea being somebody trying to wrap their mind around the Cosmere could pull up your videos and get a nice overview of certain topics. For example, you could do one about Hoid that points out all of his appearances, everything we know about him from the books, and some interesting WoBs. Personally, I prefer videos that are focused and relatively brief. I don't have a whole lot of time to sit and listen to podcasts, where somebody rambles on about something that could have been said in a fraction of the time. I'd also recommend holding back on personal opinions and theories- at least until you have more followers.

@Jondesu, Yeah these are a pretty notable tourist attraction in Colorado, I think. The "blades" part of the name is what makes me think they are something like this. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if Brandon got inspiration from these- I know he's talked about similar inspirations in the past.

I've always imagined something like Garden of the Gods, but much more massive in scale. For the "wind blades" at least.

In Words of Radiance we see Hoid dump some powder into his water, and presumably it's metal. Is there a WoB or any evidence to suggest which metal it was? I had assumed he was using emotional allomancy on Shallan, but a Reddit thread had a lot of people who seemed to assume he was using Bronze. Just curious if we know what he was doing or not.

In the "full disadvantage" duel, why are Kaladin and Renarin allowed to jump into the arena? This has always bothered and confused me. It seems like the dueling rules are fairly formalized. And Adolin apparently agreed to battle any number of opponents. So why does the judge say nothing when Renarin and Kaladin jump into the arena. Seems to me like this would disqualify Adolin's victory...

It's always bothered me that the Diagram was simply written "on a day of brilliance". You don't see the future just by being smart enough. If Tarvangian's situation is as simple as is described, something else was definitely at play with the Diagram.

Ah! That's what I was looking for! The way I read this, it doesn't make sense for the children to be slaveform. Klade comes across as totally perplexed. If their kids were the same way, they'd have said things like, "Oh, why are they like that? They should have grown up and taken a form by now. Why haven't they done this?" Instead it seems that they are totally baffled by this "form that is not a form".

Actually, this is really interesting and I think it reinforces my point above. Does anyone have a quote for the bold part? Yes, Eshonai has knowledge of slaveform during her POV... Because we're hearing from her many years after they've discovered the parshmen. My interpretation of this is that they didn't know about slaveform until the Alethi came along with their parshmen. The fact that they didn't understand how a Parshendi could "have no music" suggests to me that there's no way that their children have no music. I think children are born with that in them. Heck, they're called the listeners for a reason. They've got to be born with it.

I'm not sure if we know enough to really say. Can they pick one up while in the womb? Maybe mothers go out in a storm while pregnant? My best guess is that they just get a "piece" of their mother's spren. (I see no reason to assume that simple spren can't just divide like a cell) Maybe there are other ways to gain one? Maybe there are ways to get a form that don't require spren? Some of those may be wrong, and I just don't know. But those are some first ideas that come to mind. My opinion is more based on gut instinct and a sense of wrongness to the alternative than it is based on a logical compilation of facts. So I'll probably just assume this way until evidence strongly suggests otherwise. I dunno... The way Eshonai talked about slaveform... Her tone just doesn't quite fit to me. She talks about them as if they became something lesser than they should be- not as if they "reverted" to being babies/children, or something like that. Hey, perhaps it's actually something in between... Neither dullform nor slaveform. Some kind of "childform" that you grow out of around the time you first go out into a highstorm... And if you don't go out into a storm before some point then you shift to slaveform.

It seems very odd to me that they would be born in slaveform. That just feels so wrong... The way Eshonai talks, slaveform is really the absence of a form. It's an absence of something that makes them who they are. But I guess it's the only explanation for how Parshmen babies aren't born into dullform? So why not a more complicated solution? I imagine that babies of "normal" Parshendi come out in dullform. But if one parent (or maybe both) was slaveform then they have a slaveform baby. It makes sense to me that children born to parents with "forms" would receive a "form" of their own. But children born to parents without "form" would naturally receive no "form". It's almost like the Parshendi have a soul (to use the word loosely) and thus are able to pass on souls to their children. But the Parshmen, with no soul of their own, have nothing to give. As for the "where are the listener children" discussion... I think we don't see any because we're seeing through the eyes of Eshonai. They probably keep all of the kids in a certain place (for safety, teaching, etc.). And Eshonai doesn't come across as the kind of person who cares to take much note of children, even if she sees some of them around. Especially after she's in stormform, which is most of the book.

Is anyone aware of a reference where the WoA epigraph text (the 'correct' text inscribed on metal) is compared to the quotations that come during the book (the 'incorrect' text that Sazed wrote down on paper)? I know the epigraphs are all listed in the Coppermind wiki, but I'm looking for a format where "correct" excerpts are directly compared to corresponding "corrupted" text. I'm curious to see how specific passages were changed by Ruin.

@StormingTexan I really enjoyed listening to the DragonCon panel posted earlier this week... Somewhere in there he talked about how he sees us as his patrons, and that keeping us updated is part of his responsibility in that sense. I totally understand why most authors don't communicate as much as he does, but I sure do appreciate him for it!

I just realized that Brandon's Oathbringer update posts never make it into these forums. Or at least I don't see them posted anywhere. I expect not everyone here is on Reddit, so just wanted to share what he said last night: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/51u8qu/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_4/

Anything requiring physical labor would have to be a pewter/pewter twinborn. Imagine that pewter compounding power... You spend all of your non-work hours storing up strength, then burn it when needed as you work. Throw in being a savant on top of this and you'll be the most wealthy blue-collar worker who ever lived!

There was a thread not that long ago about this. Before seeing that conversation I had always assumed (like you) that the loss of his memory was the boon. Apparently most people seem to think it's the curse, from what I've read. But I looked over the text as best I could and didn't see anything conclusive either way. I expect it will be answered in Oathbringer. My assumption is based on the fact that Dalinar never seems very upset about the loss of his memory. You might say, "How can he be upset if he doesn't remember her." Obviously if all memory of his wife has been stripped away then he can't fully know what he's missing. But that just doesn't fit for me. He doesn't remember her or have any memories of her, but he knows that he loved her a lot and he knows that he loved her well. If someone shows up and tells you that you have a child you have never met then you're probably going to find yourself in an emotional hurricane. Now imagine how it would feel if you know (objectively) that you spent a number of years raising the child before someone erased all of your memories. I, for one, would be pissed. Any time I was reminded of this child that I have no memories about, I would be oozing with bitterness towards whoever took my memory away. The ONLY way it makes sense as a curse is if the boon is so very vital that Dalinar has come to accept the necessity of the curse. But even then... Just makes more sense to me that Dalinar loved his wife so much that, when she died, he went to the Nightwatcher to ease the pain. Probably didn't expect to loose all memory or the ability to hear her name... But I can see how he would walk away thinking, wow this sucks and I am such an idiot, but I guess I got what I asked for.