The Harlem Worldhoppers

It's certainly possible. We know that Nightblood is definitely strong enough to kill a Cognitive Shadow such as a Herald. Storms, it's strong enough to hurt a Shard. I think Szeth will serve as a reflection of what Nale used to be, embodying the traits of justice and confidence. Furthermore, I think Szeth will progress to the Fifth Ideal in book 5 and will kill Nale in his attempts to save Dalinar.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Odium is perfectly capable of destroying Roshar but he would still be confined to the Rosharan system, preventing him from continuing to splinter other shards. As long as there is an Oathpact Odium will be restricted to the Rosharan system which is why he is opting for a battle of champions as if he wins it will release him. If there is anything he is searching for it would probably be the Dawnshards. My crackpot theory on the Dawnshards is that they exponentially increase the strength of surges similarly to how sa'angreal in Wheel of Time work. If this were the case then it would be cakes how useful the Dawnshards would be for either side in assisting the war efforts.

Welcome to the 17th Shard. Please ensure that you walk on the right hand side of Brandon's perpendicularity to avoid traffic congestion. You're gonna need some bigger Copperminds to study this Shard

Yeah Elend already had the cracks in his spiritweb from those childhood beatings but Brandon has said that anyone who consumes Lerasium will become a Mistborn. He doesn't say that becoming a Mistborn by consuming Lerasium is contingent on that person already having cracks in their spiritweb. It's definitely something I'd like to clarify by asking Brandon. That's an interesting theory. It seems that the longer someone has lived the more rigid their perception becomes and the more resistive they become to spiritual modifications. It makes me wonder about the lack of child Radiants. Maybe Pattern was encouraged by Cultivation to bond to Shallan in such early circumstances akin to how Cultivation led Glys to Sja Anat to be corrupted.

I feel like 2021 is a more realistic release date It also kills any Rlain for Bondsmith 2020 memes

That's exactly what I think. Lerasium is evidence of spirit web modifications without requirement of trauma. Anyone who ingests Lerasium will become a Mistborn. They do not have to be native to Scadrial or have pre-existing cracks in their spiritweb. A nahel bond can only be formed when there are cracks in a spiritweb and I believe that an external force could act to alter someone's sDNA to the point where they can form a nahel bond without having experienced trauma. I think Shallan forming a nahel bond so early is a good indicator that some external force was acting on her. It definitely does not seem natural. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Why don't you have to say the words if you're just bonding a Cryptic? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Every Order's First Oath is the same. Then the Second Oaths for the Cryptics go into truths, but everybody says the First Oath the same regardless of Order. Which should raise the question of... Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Did [Shallan] say it when she was a teeny-weeny, like in the cradle? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] That should raise a question. She wasn't teeny-weeny, but it should raise a question there.

Being a full feruchemist is ridiculously versatile. Have you ever wished to be able to watch a movie or read a book again for the first time? Now you can by storing your memories in a Coppermind. You could become a world class athlete by storing attributes such as speed and strength. In the 21st Century most people live a largely sedentary lifestyle which is perfect for storing physical attributes. For the sake of the question I'd imagine there to be an Earth equivalent of Elantris where you will be less powerful the further you are away from Earth-Elantris. For convenience this location could be where you currently live. If you can gather enough breaths as an Awakener you become functionally immortal, as in you won't die of natural causes. I myself would want to be a full feruchemist as it just has so many real world practical applications.

Generally books 8-10 (some people include book 7) are the so called slog. I started reading the series in 2013 after the series had already been completed so I just absolutely burnt through the books. People who were waiting a few years between books as they came out are the main people who complain about the slow middle. When you don't have to wait in between books it is a lot less noticeable. I personally didn't think it was a big deal for what it matters.

I did not initially like Shallan but she grew on me over time. I'm into my worldbuilding so I kind of enjoyed the infodump we got through her perspective in WoK. I have to disagree with you there, unfortunately. I think it is some of Brandon's best writing. Yes! I loved seeing her go through her trials and tribulations as she reluctantly starts using awakening. She was far more interesting than Siri in my opinion and I hope we see more of her. She is surprisingly one of my favouriute SA characters as well. On the other hand, I really disliked Eshonai's PoV. I hope the book 4 flashbacks are more centred around Venli's current predicament than Eshonai's past. I think it is currently the worst book in SA but may be looked back at as the best book in SA in retrospect. There were a lot of loose plot threads while it's predecessors were more self-contained. Looking at OB in the context of a 5-book arc and 10-book series is important when gauging its quality. I'd put SA with only 3 books completed ahead of MB Era 1 simply because of the Zane mess in WoA. I actually think Mistborn Era 2 is better written than Mistborn Era 1. Brandon's writing quality has improved noticeably in the time between writing those books. Well of Ascension drags MB Era 1 down a notch for me and I think that if it had occurred in a different series it would be lambasted as a poor book. MB Era 2 does not have nearly as big a scope as MB Era 1 which is a big part of why I think it is seen as worse (alongside nostalgia for earlier books). Brandon intended for Era 2 to be more of an Era 1.5, acting as a stepping stone between MB Era 1 and MB Era '2' which is now the 1980's MB Era 3. By looking at this context and how Brandon has evolved the world of Scadrial over time I think an argument can be made that MB Era 2 is better than Era 1. Keep in mind that MB Era 2 is not yet finished and we will see a cameo from the Sovereign himself . Agreed. I hate how most (mainstream) rap songs are incredibly materialistic and misogynistic. I do listen to the instrumental versions of some songs as when you take away the lyrics there are quite a few rap songs that have great beats. I liked The Last Jedi more than TFA simply because it actually had the guts to do something other than a re-skin of a previous film. I also got a sense of schadenfreude seeing the outrage over the movie Rogue One is actually a strong film. Some of it's main critics seem to simply be bitter about over-saturation of Star Wars films.

Welcome to the Shard @Rhapsody! If you could use any of Brandon's magic systems which one would you choose and why? Which secret society on Roshar are you most interested in? Would you rather be able to burn one minute worth of Atium every week or be a full feruchemist?

I think he said something more along the lines of

Well said. I don't think Shallan fits the bill of a sociopath whatsoever. If anything, she is overly empathetic to the point where she has to compartmentalise her emotions in order to function normally. She feels intense guilt over her failure in feeding the poor in Kholinar, she creates the Radiant persona to wield a shardblade so she can avoid the emotional trauma that is a product of her killing her horrible mother in self defence. You can't look at Shallan's actions and say that she feels no remorse, no guilt for her actions. She seems to suffer from quite a bit of self-hatred which unfortunately causes her to lash out at Pattern and Kaladin when their very existence serves as a reminder that she cannot ever completely erase her traumatic past. Out of all of the characters that Brandon has written I feel like Shallan gets the most unfair criticism. The most valid criticism of her character is her prejudice towards Darkeyes which is more a reflection of her sheltered upbringing and the failures of Vorinism than it is a blemish on her character. Shallan used to be one of my least favourite characters in the Cosmere until I started to gain a deeper understanding of her psychological state and her presence as a highly unreliable narrator.

You're not alone there... Theres a WoB that some of the Aimians saw the scouring as necessary which I find quite interesting. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Did the Aimians want Aimia to be scoured? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] No. But, doesn't mean that they--some of them may have seen what happened as necessary. But certainly that was not a prevailing thing. I think the ultimate purpose of the Aimians is to protect the Dawnshards which is why they killed outsiders trying to travel to Akinah. They can't have their secret getting out.

Just a heads up @NiceBleach, the mods would prefer you to edit your post to add things on instead of double posting. We know that Dai-Gonarthis is the Black Fisher and may have been involved in the scouring of Aimia. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Unmade#Chemoarish

I have sympathy for Moash. Most actual humans who went through what he did would make the exact same choices if not worse when put in his position. I think he is one of the most human, most flawed, characters that Brandon has written.

We know Gavilar had multiple black spheres (Brandon has not canonised the number) so if BAM is in the sphere I think it is only a fragment from a splintered BAM. BAM as the unmade that provides Voidlight appears to be one of the strongest unmade (I think the complexity/strength of an unmade is proportional to the number of names e.g. Ba-Ado-Mishram>Nergaoul). Given this, it would require a large, perfect gemstone to trap it. The black sphere that Gavilar gives Szeth was found on his necklace and is not described as perfectly cut so I doubt it is large or perfect enough to hold an unmade against its will. If BAM was somehow splintered and these splinters were placed into separate spheres then the spheres required would not need to be perfect. If this were the case then it would be especially important that Szeth recovers his sphere to prevent the complete reassembly of BAM.

Beautifully put @Nathrangking Being a poet yourself, have you ever considered contacting Brandon in regards to writing poetry in his books? He doesn't write all of his songs and poems and will pay for people to write them for him.

I was wondering what some of the Radiant ideals would be for general occupations, social groups or hobbyists. Take the example of the Order of the Sanderfan First Ideal: Bands before Secret History, Warbreaker before Words of Radiance, read before finding out Second Ideal: *beep* Moash Third Ideal: Reckoners is not Cosmere Fourth Ideal: Follow the Word of Brandon as your one true religion Fifth Ideal: Upon reading, re-read until you die or until the inevitable hear death of the universe What orders/ideals can you come up with? Please discuss!

Some great recommendations here already. I would give the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks a shot as others have stated. After you burn through that you can always re-read Brandon's books an unhealthy number of times. I know I have...

'Guys I just think this Hoid guy is a cheeky Easter egg from Brandon. The books aren't connected, right?'

They really need to get their booster shots in the Shadesmar Apothecary TM the same way Hoid does. Now I'm imagining the irony of Hoid making positive changes through his interference while the 17th Shard who are trying to stop him are causing more harm by spreading diseases.

Reading over the Mistborn: Hero of Ages discussion thread and seeing people begin to realise the significance of Hoid and the existence of the Cosmere is something every Sanderfan should experience.

Oh I would be very happy if it were the case. I thought Brandon would not touch the wheel of time source material again but it is a third party that he is working with on the project which means there is a tiny possibility that he has been asked to return. It's more likely that it is an M:TG project but that won't stop me from irrationally getting my hopes up.

Definitely not Alcatraz 6. He can't talk about Secret Project before due to contractual obligations while he has talked about Alcatraz 6.

We know it's not Cosmere or Dark One or anything that Brandon has talked about writing before. Some people speculate that he is writing some stuff for Magic The Gathering as they have apparently been reaching out to fantasy writers. My personal hope is that it's something from the Wheel of Time universe based on the material that Robert Jordan left. RJ was planning on writing an outrigger trilogy post Memory of Light so there is a very slim chance that Brandon could write on it.