Pagerunner

There's a signing in Prague at the end of the month: https://brandonsanderson.com/upcoming-events/#23149 Looks like there will be more information coming out on Brandon's site, eventually. Anybody planning on going to this? Anyone planning to record the signing line?

Glad the flashback sequence is done. I'm hoping that one of these scenes winds up as the "something" that Brandon will read at the Skyward 2 release.

There was nothing in the ebook, at least.

I'll focus on the differences from the prose version, and what we may be able to learn from them. The most notable change from the prose was Drile's survival, of course. This was something Rand did in Wheel of Time, didn't he? Convert his greatest adversaries by promoting them to positions of power? I don't remember if it was Tear or Cairhien (or both). That bumps Dirin off the hierarchy, opening him up to go to Darkside instead of Kenton. This indicates a change in what Brandon had planned originally for the next entry in the White Sand trilogy; with Kenton staying on Dayside and picking up a powerful Number Two, there must be something interesting happening. Which is odd, because, on the other hand, the revolt in the Kerzstian capital was cut. We get a line from the Lady Judge that hints at a loss of support, but nothing like what we actually saw in the prose. The scenes on the boat are new, as well. Baon potential to become a Sand Master is interesting. I don't think his appearance in Way of Kings had any hint of this. The big "FA-TOOOM" seems a little excessive, almost reminiscent of Raoden's first Aon (from Elantris) or the first usage of Stormform (in Words of Radiance). As I understand it, the Investiture used for Sand mastery should come from the sand, so there wouldn't be anything to get "pent-up" with a lack of use. Right? But on the other hand, the sand never runs out of Investiture, the Sand Mastery runs out of water, so that could indicate the Investiture is coming from somewhere else, the sand just needs an initial influx to turn white. And if Baon is drawing from a different source of Investiture than the Sand Masters do, then that could be why he had such a violent first application. Kenton's inner monologue during the duel about feeling the sand is also new. I haven't had a chance to look through the prose to see if the similar earlier, post-overmastery inner monologue was already included. It seems to hint that more is possible with sand than just Sand Mastery, that you can communicate with the sand and have it accomplish other effects. This may be the true mechanism for slatrification (which received no mention in this volume, unless I just missed it), how you get the sand to transform into water. You just gotta know how to ask it nicely. The ominous cloud faces make their return. That panel with the Lady Judge, with the distinctly female face, seems intentionally obvious, cluing in anyone who has missed them so far. (Which, to be fair, includes me. I wasn't keeping an eye out for them for most of the book. I saw the other face in the final panel.) It brings Bavadin to mind, since Brandon has referred to her as female, despite the Sand Lord being referred to as consistently male. On the other hand, there could be an intelligence similar to the sand; I wonder if that's a hint that Cloud Mastery is a thing, that there are microscopic lifeforms in the clouds, as well. Also, Hoid is absolutely making fun of us. Total fourth wall break there: the farther the 'creation' (graphic novel) gets from the 'creator' Brandon, the 'more [we] must guess at the truth that is there." Rude. What's he going to Darkside for, anyways? And lastly, much of Gevin's harsh treatment of Khriss got cut. Which didn't fit all that great in the first place, to be fair. But the scenes it colored afterwards, like why she said he was 'holding her back' or why she was so quick to give up on him, didn't change that much, and now don't make a ton of sense. But that might just be from the context of the prose; I wonder if someone going in blind would have the same reaction.

TWG 100%: Brandon 100% (116/116), Peter 100% (116/116), Isaac 100% (75/75), Ben 100% (38/38) 17S 100%: Brandon 100% (103/103), Peter 100% (109/109), Isaac 100% (109/109), Ben 100% (98/98) Reddit 78%: Brandon 99% (131/132), Peter 99% (104/105), Isaac 96% (22/23), Ben 10% (9/86), Adam 93% (13/14), Store 75% (3/4) Twitter 41%: Brandon 99% (124/125), Peter 15% (19/125), Isaac 14% (19/132), Adam 34% (19/56) Blog 100%: Brandon 100% (211/212) Social Media Total: 81% (1435/1774) Theoryland Review: 10% (121/1183) Events and Signings Review: 0% (0/397) It might look like I got nothing done, but that's not true. I have a whole bunch of stuff on-deck and ready to get added, but then entry addition got a teensy weensy bit broken. But it'll be better soon. I've got Ben's Reddit review beyond the 50% mark. Here's a preview of one I've got yet to add about the safehand: Y'all can calm down about it, now.

Where are you getting this information from?

Tor.com preview chapters have begun: https://www.tor.com/series/rhythm-of-war-brandon-sanderson/ We're starting to accrue bits and pieces of Stormlight Four. Here's what we've got so far, aside from the . (Fair warning, the earlier it is, the less continuity editing it went through.) March 30th, 2019. Planet ComicCon. A chapter about Lirin. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/386/#e12628 May 15th, 2019. Bonn, Germany. A rewritten version of the Lirin chapter. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/388/#e12676 July 20th, 2019. Video reading at SDCC. A scene with Venli. https://www.tor.com/2019/07/20/sdcc-brandon-sanderson-stormlight-archive-4-excerpt/ August 31st, 2019. DragonCon. Part of the prologue, from Navani's viewpoint. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/394/#e12852 October 15th, 2019. ICON. More of the prologue. https://clyp.it/lidyohcy November 26, 2019. Newsletter exclusive fiction. Stormlight Four excerpt. November 26, 2019. Starsight Release Party. Eshonai flashback, very rough in continuity. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/402/#e13303 December 10, 2019. Amazon released the publisher's summary. (This is the out-of-universe summary, not the back-cover in-universe text.) February 15, 2020. LTUE, Provo, Utah. Lift interlude. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/412-ltue-2020/#e13628 July 7, 2020. Newsletter exclusive fiction. Syl interlude. July 23, 2020. Kaladin scenes from chapters 7 and 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lRDdxUy5iE July 2020. Amazon released an updated publisher's summary. August 6, 2020. Newsletter exclusive fiction. Dawnshard prologue. Brandon's also been regularly releasing lengthy update posts. I'll summarize the goodies from each of them: January 2nd, 2019. Discussing outlining in broad terms. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/absjnj/stormlight_book_four_update_1/ February 6th, 2019. Update on outline progress. Tentative title revealed: The Rhythm of War. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/anttqr/stormlight_book_four_update_2/ April 16th, 2019. Introduces the concept of plot "Arcs," which focus on relatively isolated groups of characters. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/bdzor2/stormlight_book_four_update_3/ June 20th, 2019. Part One (of five) written. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/c30ijp/stormlight_book_four_update_4/ August 26th, 2019. Arc Two written. Graphic of which Arc fits in with which Part. (https://i.imgur.com/tcE4p4Q.png). Flashbacks may switch from Eshonai to Venli. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/cvvs75/stormlight_book_4_update_5/ November 6, 2019. Purely a writing speed update, no juicy bits. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/du30gp/stormlight_book_four_update_6/ January 10, 2020. Book's done. Brandon might take a break from revisions to write a Rysn novella dealing with Aimia. https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/emxhgo/stormlight_book_four_update_7/ And then, we've got various miscellaneous tidbits. January 5th, 2018. One-year gap between Book Three and Book Four. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/315-general-reddit-2018/#e8979 September 19th, 2019. Wit will have a cooler epilogue than usual. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/360-legion-release-party/#e10802 August 28th, 2019. 90% confidence on Rhythm of War title. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/379-general-reddit-2019/#e12847 September 9, 2019. Kaladin and Jasnah will share a scene: https://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/1171220837103362049 September 26, 2019. Flashbacks will be a mix of Venli and Eshonai. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/380/#e12961 and https://wob.coppermind.net/events/380/#e12962 October 15, 2019. We'll learn more about how fabrials work. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/395/#e13408 October 18, 2019. We will get pictures of all Radiant spren except Bondsmiths. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/397/#e13108 and https://wob.coppermind.net/events/398/#e13249 October 18, 2019. Potentially more Azure. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/397/#e13137 October 26, 2019. Two more fashion pieces for the art. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/398/#e13250 January 10, 2020. Rysn interlude hasn't been written yet. Content will depend on whether or not her novella gets written. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/406/#e13578 January 25, 2020. During a YouTube Livestream, a first look at a Taln art piece in the style of OB's four Heralds. It may go in Stormlight Four, it may not. https://imgur.com/a/Dl7G3PA January 25, 2020. Shallan's sketchbook pages will be Radiant spren, both Physical Realm and Shadesmar appearances. Nazh will have a second page of glyphs. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/411/#e13869 April 1, 2020. Venli/Eshonai are the flashback characters, but there's a third character who have a viewpoint focus in the present storyline. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/415/#e13633 June 12, 2020. The "pillar of the outline" scene is one of two or three through the entire series. The next one won't be until Book 7 or 8. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/408/#e13813 June 16, 2020. Rysn has a "very different sort of interlude" that references but does not spoil the planned Dawnshard novella. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/430/#e13976 June 16, 2020. We will meet a new Lightweaver named Stargyle. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/430/#e13985 July 28, 2020. Part 1 is plotted like a climax of a book, relating to the events that occurred in the intervening year. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/406/#e14086 I will endeavor to keep this up to date as new information or additional excerpts come out. If there’s something new, or anything important I’ve missed, please feel free to ping me.

Aha! That does rule out Ishar. So if he is a Herald, he must be Kalak. I think he is a Herald, based on the "getting worse" line, unless he's a Skybreaker and there's something going on with the Skybreakers that's being kept hidden from us.

Ishar may not have taken the role of Tezim yet. In Edgedancer, we learn that "things had changed over the last few years."

I'll take that wager. I think she catches him talking about making them, but I don't think she sees him in the act. I'd bet black spheres, whatever they are, come from Braize.

The relevant WoB from the following Q&A has been transcribed: There's another one that hasn't been transcribed yet, but the audio is up for it (about Szeth trying to assassinate Prof from Steelheart), where Brandon tosses out a throwaway line saying Gavilar had plenty of time to get ready for Szeth's attack. Which doesn't fit with the 'established' narrative, where the Parshendi decided to kill him that night because of his conversation with Eshonai. Which... I guess we already knew that Gavilar was aware an attack on his life was imminent, since he thought Szeth had been sent by the Ghostbloods. But it's not like he got ready for Szeth personally. (Although, Nale did seem to be aware of Szeth, since his companion was talking about him. So he could have warned Gavilar. [Boy, oh boy, the rabbit hole goes deeper and deeper.])

Some audio from DragonCon is up and ready to be transcribed: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/394-dragoncon-2019/ More will be going up throughout the week, so stay tuned and check in regularly if it looks like everything has been done. Not all signing lines got recorded, it seems like. So if you were there and asked a question, please (oh please oh please) share it with us in the thread! (Yes, anonymous lurker, I'm talking about you! Go ahead and make an account. I know you've been thinking about it anyways.) There was a reading of the Stormlight Four prologue, which has been transcribed. In case you missed it, we've been discussing it here:

Jasnah's prologue from Book 2 identifies the "ambassadors from the west" as Nale and his associate. And it seems like they're the ones coming to him for help, rather than the other way around: Let's work backwards. The Heralds are the ones who want to travel. (Gavilar is addressing them, at this point.) And they want to travel farther away than Braize. What's Gavilar's evidence? There is Connection binding something "from Braize," but doesn't anymore limit travel between Braize and Roshar. Voidspren or Fused are the options I see. With the Oathpact still in effect, and Taln not going to return for another five years, that's got me leaning towards Voidspren. Ulim, in particular. All that being said, I don't think anyone has figured out how to get all the way off Roshar, since Nale is still there, and he appears to be the one asking in this scene.

I need to do a thorough review of the previous prologues. Something's not adding up to me about the Sons of Honor. If they were trying to bring the Heralds out of hiding by restarting the Desolations... then what was Gavilar talking with two of them about? Without the rest of the Sons of Honor; this isn't the same secret meeting that Eshonai stumbled into last book. (Come on, Gavilar, step it up a little. How can you have had all these secrets when you can't get any privacy?) Was Gavilar merely using the Sons of Honor to further his own secret ends? But until I can put in the time for that, I'll just note a few peculiar lines that started gears turning in my head: Could be a throwaway line. Could be an Unmade influence. Again, could be a meaningless detail to give specificity to Navani's PoV. Or, is someone actively screwing with maps? I'm reminded of how Lin Davar and Amaram had extensive personal map collections. Could be a whiff of a conspiracy here, something big being hidden in plain sight by Stalin-ing it out of all the maps.

Looks like you got the transcription while it was in the middle of getting worked on. You may want to update your post once it's been completed!

Here's where you'll be able to upload audio files, once you've recorded them: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/395-icon-2019/ Signing lines tend to run long, so make sure you've got plenty of battery life in whatever you're using to record! Panels are nice to get, if possible; I suspect the Tuesday lecture and the Thursday Q&A would be most worth recording as well, with potential for updates/readings/juicy bits.

The schedule is up on Brandon's site; I updated my original post. Lots of signings, most of which are ticketed, so anyone going should make sure to figure out how to get a hold of tickets.

They've only been previewing it; still waiting for the Kickstarter to kick off. Could be any day now, now that GenCon is over.

TWG 100%: Brandon 100% (116/116), Peter 100% (116/116), Isaac 100% (75/75), Ben 100% (38/38) 17S 100%: Brandon 100% (102/102), Peter 100% (108/108), Isaac 100% (108/108), Ben 100% (97/97) Reddit 79%: Brandon 100% (131/131), Peter 100% (104/104), Isaac 100% (22/22), Ben 11% (9/85), Adam 100% (13/13), Store 100% (3/3) Twitter 42%: Brandon 100% (124/124), Peter 15% (19/124), Isaac 15% (19/131), Adam 35% (19/55) Blog 100%: Brandon 100% (211/211) Social Media Total: 81% (1431/1760) Theoryland Review: 10% (121/1183) Events and Signings Review: 0% (0/397) And just like that, we're back on target. Back to slogging through Ben's Reddit posts. This guy sure loves video games. I've only added one post so far: And, ironically enough, I also recently added this from Brandon This is what it's all about, boys and girls. All this stuff, these little bits, that have been lost and have to get asked again. Gives me the motivation to keep cranking. Because even the minutia is still relevant six and a half years later.

A little late, but the Stormlight Four reading and the Skyward Two reading have both been transcribed. (The latter could probably use a once-over by someone who read the first book.) Stormlight: Skyward:

No Kickstarter yet, but the latest update (attached to the OP) has a mockup of the shiny new dice: Anyone going to be at GenCon this year? Maybe stop by and get some more pictures? There will be a kickstarter-exclusive dice tray there that they'll be previewing. EDIT: die-by-die analysis. I could definitively identify twelve dice (based on the symbols), tentatively identify three others based on color and dice type (pure metals are done in a different style than alloys, with harmonium styled like an alloy for symmetry [I guess]), and there were five that I didn't want to hazard a guess on, since I don't know alloy colors well enough.

Brandon recently let it slip on Twitter that he'll be in France in October, for a signing in Paris and for an appearance at the Utopiales festival (which Google tells me runs from October 31st through November 3rd). There hasn't been posted on the website, so I don't know any details. But are there any French Sharders lurking around who could record one or more of these events?

Brandon will be at DragonCon this year, starting on August 29th. No specific details yet, that I could find. Here's the page on his website. https://brandonsanderson.com/upcoming-events/#18021. Is anyone planning at attending? Anyone willing to record signing lines and/or panels? UPDATE 2: Here's where you can upload audio, if you record signings or panels. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/394-dragoncon-2019/ UPDATE: Here's the schedule. Thursday, August 29th History of Fandom & Crazy StoriesTime: 6:00–6:30 p.m.Location: Hyatt Embassy EFWith: Brandon Sanderson, Bill Fawcett (M) Time for those “Drink & Know Things Stories” as our panelists tell stories that may not fit into a typical panel. The History of Fandom is very much an oral history passed down. Circle round & listen to the tales of our history & legends. Friday, August 30th Male Stars of Fantasy/SFTime: 11:30–12:30 p.m.Location: Hyatt Regency VI-VIIWith: Nancy Knight (M), Kevin J Anderson, Michael Stackpole, Robert J Sawyer, Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher The best of the best tell their secrets of successful writing careers The Heroes of High FantasyTime: 1:00–2:00 p.m.Location: Hyatt Regency VI-VIIWith: Jim Butcher, Marie Brennan, Mercedes Lackey, Aleron Kong Legendary authors of High Fantasy meet and tell us their tales of adventure and derring-do! SigningTime: 4:00–5:00 p.m.Location: Marriott International Hall South 4-5This is a ticketed event. Booth SigningTime: 5:30–7:00 p.m.Location: Amerimart Booth 1513This is a ticketed signing. You can pick up your free ticket at my booth (1513). Saturday, August 31st Writers Of The Future: Story prompts, short fiction…Time: 1:00–2:00 p.m.Location: Hyatt International SouthWith: Brandon Sanderson, Tim Powers, Larry Niven, Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Robert J. Sawyer, Jody Lynn Nye How do you become one of the 12 winners to be published in the annual anthology? Writers of the Future judges discuss the Contest, tips on story prompts, and short fiction. Then in the 2nd half, enjoy Q&A with the judges. Come to this panel and learn how it can help you. An Hour With Literary Guest of Honor Brandon SandersonTime: 4:00–5:00 p.m.Location: Marriott Imperial Ballroom Booth SigningTime: 5:30–7:00 p.m.Location: Amerimart Booth 1513This is a ticketed signing. You can pick up your free ticket at my booth (1513). Sunday, September 1st Warbreaker 10th AnniversaryTime: 2:30–3:00 p.m.Location: Hyatt Centennial IWith: Brandon Sanderson, Dan dos Santos Would you like to destroy some evil? Or perhaps you’d rather talk about Literary Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson’s stand-alone novel & preview some of the gorgeous artwork commissioned for the 10th anniversary edition? SigningTime: 3:15–5:00 p.m.Location: Hyatt Art Show w/ Dan dos SantosThis is a ticketed event. Crossing the Age Boundaries: Line between YA and AdultTime: 7:0–8:00 p.m.Location: Hyatt International SouthWith: Brandon Sanderson, Jody Lynne Nye, Tamsin L. Silver, David Weber, Christopher Morgan (M) Monday, September 2nd Booth SigningTime: 1:00–3:30 p.m.Location: Amerimart Booth 1513This is a ticketed signing. You can pick up your free ticket at my booth (1513).

TWG 100%: Brandon 100% (116/116), Peter 100% (116/116), Isaac 100% (75/75), Ben 100% (38/38) 17S 100%: Brandon 100% (102/102), Peter 100% (108/108), Isaac 100% (108/108), Ben 100% (97/97) Reddit 72%: Brandon 100% (131/131), Peter 95% (99/104), Isaac 77% (17/22), Ben 0% (0/85), Adam 62% (8/13) Twitter 37%: Brandon 96% (119/124), Peter 11% (14/124), Isaac 11% (14/131), Adam 25% (14/55) Blog 98%: Brandon 98% (206/211) Social Media Total: 79% (1382/1760) Theoryland Review: 10% (121/1183) Events and Signings Review: 0% (0/397) A very busy summer caught me kind of unexpected. I'm currently catching up on the past six months or so of social media updates, before I can get back to working on the backlog. Here was a pretty cool thing Brandon said about the Iri recently:

The Szeth card was for something else entirely, not the Stormlight board game. That's a bummer that this Shattered Plains game is dead. I wonder if this had to do with a license expiring sort of thing. I know some fans have been working on their own board game prototypes; maybe this a sign one of them will get a shot? Or maybe a consolidation under Crafty (who I think has only the MIstborn rights right now, but I may also be making that up.) But regardless of what's going on right now, I expect something will happen (either a revival of this game, or a new board game) if and when a Stormlight movie or TV show comes out. The Shattered Plains is almost tailor-made for a wargame, and once it's been depicted on screen, I'm sure there'll be even more money in it for whoever can manage to pull together a good game.