Use the Falchion

I like the logos! Losing the Coppermind and Arcanum logos will be bittersweet, but an ending can also be a beginning.

Well, I better get my questions for Brian, Dan, and Brandon ready! Assuming there will be time to ask, and I'm one of the lucky few within that time... Also, do we know what Janci is working on for NaNoWriMo? I doubt it would be more Skyward novellas this soon, but I'm pretty sure she started working on this current batch around the time Brandon was Cytonic, so it's not impossible.

Default name. I have far more important things to do in a new Pokemon game than worry about my rival's name. Like worry about my team composition and head-canon!

I definitely thought about that too. Given we're probably going to have more novellas between Cytonic and Book 4, I can see something happening there too. Being completely honest though, on my first readthrough and my current listen-through, I thought Kimmalyn was panicking because she wasn't necessarily into guys and was flustered from being put on the spot/hadn't told anyone yet.

Definitely the same here. I understand the choice, but I think it's also because Brandon has a habit of sometimes skipping over things that we as fans may find interesting. Had we gotten a novella or short story about taking back Platform Prime that also built up Spensa and Jorgen's budding romance, I think Starsight would have worked a little bit better. I actually liked the Alanik/Arturo stuff. Yes, I'm a little upset about Bryn being sidelined so quickly for a new romance, but she only appeared in one scene, so I'm not TOO upset. I think I liked it because it was more...cat-and-mouse than the other romances. Jorgen/Spensa and FM/Rig have a youthful naivete to them. Arturo and Alanik start out as two people fighting the same enemy but feel the need to watch out for betrayal, to two people who respect each other, to one feeling a little more than just respect. I feel like groundwork was laid well for the romance. Not to mention how much more Arturo we got in this. Naming his slug Naga after Fire Emblem the mythical name for a dragon shows us that he really likes myths and dragons; his willingness to confront Alanik shows us that he's sort of the "behind-the-scenes" man for Jorgen in addition to being his #2; and his relationship with Bryn reflects some of the same problems that FM had in Sunreach - when you're in the upper class on Detritus, people expect the Flight Academy to be a stepping stone at best or a phase at worst. Ironsides gripped about it once, and now we're seeing how it affects characters we know personally. Do I like the Rig/FM romance more? Yes, but I'm also sometimes a sucker for that cute naivete than I am the relationship Alanik and Arturo will probably develop. Ha! I feel like a great many of Brandon's fans do the same. True. I wasn't in the camp going "I need a sequel ASAP!" but I definitely think it had a solid ending as well.

Ah I forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder! Honestly, probably alongside or right above Starsight. The story is cool and there's a fair bit of fun worldbuilding, but its impact on me was minimal. I don't hate it, and my reread of it last month was really fun, but I'm just not attached to it in the way I am these other stories in the Cytoverse. In fact, it should probably go below Starsight because of that...but I'm not sure I can justify that either.* (Of Sanderson's short stories that I've read, I still like Firstborn the best.) *I don't hate Starsight, I actually liked rereading the book better as a whole than I did Skyward, weirdly enough. But it's just not my favorite Sanderson book.

New trailers are out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9kTVhIWwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPAYuCt7Eco

Skyward 4 Pre-writing at 90%! (Maybe if we're lucky, we'll see a Skyward 4 Draft 1 Progress Bar by this time next week.)

I highly recommend Skyward once you finish the Cosmere stuff! It has a lot of great characterization and action scenes, and some fun world-building. There are a triad of novellas coming out too (...well, one was released last month, one today, and one in December...) as well as Book 3 (of four) in November. It's definitely a great time to be or become a Skyward fan.

Just finished! I liked Sunreach, but I LOVED ReDawn. From the worldbuilding to the slick teleporting action sequences to the escalation of the Superiority to the hints at romance to the gut punch of an ending...yeah, this was the best novella of the bunch yet. I think it also fixes some of the complaints with FM's personality from Sunreach as well. Now for the all important question: Overall, I think I'd currently rate the Cytoverse: Skyward ReDawn Sunreach Starsight but all of them are great. I know right?! I think I'm more excited for Evershore than I am Cytonic right now.

I booted up my latest Three Houses playthrough. I'm still upset that my previous version of Hilda that I had spent the entire game training to get to A in Magic so she could use Bolting in the next playthrough was erased, but someday I'll redo it. I currently only have a few goals at the moment: Claude: Must master Assassin, Hero, and Wyvern Lord ideally before Part 2. I'm pretty sure I've done this, but I can't remember if it was lost with the Bolting Hilda save or not. Also an A in Riding would be very nice. Ignatz: Must master Dark Mage & Dark Sage, and Assassin. I'm thinking about the Mortal Savant class for him because of this, despite its downsides. We'll see what I decide. Leonie: Must become a Wyvern Lord by endgame, and must reach an A in Axes to wield the Axe of Ukonvasara. Caspar: Must gain A rank in Lances to wield the Scythe of Sariel. Lysithea: S+ Black Magic (have done before), and get a high enough Flying and Fist rank in order to use the Dark Flier and War Cleric classes respectively. Felix: ...something, but I can't remember what. Hilda: Definitely going Wyvern Lord route, but also possibly going Mortal Savant route. Will see. And taking a break from Three Houses, I booted up Tokyo Mirage Sessions#FE Encore. I was on the final chapter of the game when I booted it up. Since then, I've done a fair bit of side-questing, and really only have one or two more side-quests to go. Currently I'm just grinding out weapons until all the ideal skills have been inherited, and I can change at least two of the characters into their optimal classes. Or that was the plan. I'm honestly not sure I want to do that for the main character Itsuki anymore. Yes, Conqueror is the stronger and bulkier class, and Itsuki excels in that role and most importantly makes Chrom look so much cooler, but Great Lord also offers some really nice Magic buffs, and Itsuki's lightning spells are really handy. I had planned on changing his class and at least Kiria's class from Sage to Sorcerer. If I don't change Itsuki's class, then I'll give my second Master Seal to Ellie, as having her as a Sniper is more beneficial than Assassin at this point. (Her Special Moves are tied to her skill, and Sniper simply offers higher skill.)

Movies I've watched since the last update - just assume that if it came out this year or otherwise specified, it's new for me. Ran (1985) - 10/10 The Suicide Squad (2021) - 8/10 27 Dresses (2008) - Old movie for me - 2/10 Cinderella (1997) - Old movie for me - 9/10 Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) - 7.5/10 with a post-credit scene that bumps it up to an 8/10 007: No Time To Die (2021) - 8.5/10 The Assassin (2015) - 6/10 Gate of Hell (1953) - 7/10 Dune (1984) - 8/10 Dune (2021) - 8.5-9/10 Batman Returns (1992) - I remember parts of it, but I can't remember ever watching the entire movie - 8.5/10.

A new novella is right around the corner, so it's time for a new thread about reactions! Let's go ReDawn!

Interesting! My thoughts on seeing it was that they were lovers by the end. Their actions at the beginning of the movie such as finishing each other's sentences and stories, resting heads on each other/snuggling unconsciously (aka while drunk and/or passed out drunk) felt like passive movements - like showing the audience the love was there, but not in full bloom. This is contrasted with the at the end, where they repeat similar actions (resting head on the other's shoulders), but with increased and active intentions and more intimate physical touch (hand holding, arm-in-arm). And of course, the song playing as they leave arm-in-arm is a love song. It felt couple-y and intimate without being super PDA or out-of-world romantic. It felt real and in-line with the characters while still marking a Relationship Upgrade. At least, that's how it read to me.

Seconding Cosmere Conversations and Shardcast! The Sandersonian Institute of Cosmere Studies rounds out the trifecta for me. There's also The Cosmere Deep Dive Podcast, but I haven't listened to them much. All other podcasts that I've listened to that mention Brandon either involve the man himself in the production (Intentionally Blank and Writing Excuses) or are just book and/or pop culture podcasts whose hosts happen to be Sanderson fans and thus review Sanderson books (The Legendarium, Lit Literature, etc.)

So, I was listening to 17th Shard's mini-episode on Sunreach, and I had a horrible idea about the Taynix - what if the plot twice used in Defending Elysium was how the Taynix came to be? What if, when the Superiority was wiping out humanity, groups of Cytonic humans (or their allies) tranfered their minds into the slugs who also had Cytonic powers? This may have limited their speech and mental capabilities to a degree, but it also may have protected them from the Superiority for a time. ...yeah, this theory is dumb, and parts of it have already been used in other Brandon works, but I wanted to get it out.

Also, not sure if it's going to be a second update, but ReDawn's cover is out! https://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/1445439857623330817

Nice post! In the original Reddit post about the two audiobooks, Brandon hints that Prophetic Histories is the adaptation of the outline in novel form. This may indeed change, however, and it's far from a guarantee.

Humorously, if all novellas are roughly the same size as Sunreach, it would have only been about 250k words! Definitely agreed, but it also makes a weird amount of sense, given Brandon's collaboration titles this year. Lux was originally named Deathrise, and that only became important at the very end of the novel... Then again, nothing else revolving the story has that snappy of a title. Cytonic probably could have worked had the third novel not been called that, and Slugsearch just doesn't have that punch. Maybe Taynix? But would that give stuff away...?

Awesome! The sale is going on until next month, right? I'll probably splurge then. There is something funny about the Steel Inquisitors being the Queens. It just tickles me inside. Also, there was a slight missed opportunity for Clubs to be the King of Clubs! But a deck missing Vin and Elend as the King and Queen would have been unforgiveable, so I guess I'll let it slide

Thanks for the Mainframe newsletter link! I tried it yesterday and was having some problems with it, but your link to the sign-up worked perfectly.

Evershore Final Draft at 100% Skyward 4 Pre-writing at 20%!

Just finished! It was a good read, and did well to compact the story it told in as small a format as it did. Although it's different from the first two books so far in a lot of ways. Sunreach has a larger focus on a romance subplot that was brought up in Skyward (one directly, one indirectly and almost so subtle that I didn't catch it on my first readthrough) and then quickly forgotten by the time Starsight rolled around. It makes the novella feel "cute" in a way that the books are. It also makes the novella feel more YA, for better or for worse. Next up is the plot. This feels more like a continuation of plot threads in Starsight than it does expanding the universe. It feels like watching Black Panther or Spider-Man: Homecoming after watching Captain America: Civil War - you know these characters, their main gist, and some of their relationships; now go explore it in-depth. Meanwhile I was expecting it to be more like Doctor Strange or Shang-Chi or even Black Widow, where we explore a different part of the world in-depth. THAT BEING SAID, Sunreach told the story it needed to tell, and I'm happy it did. ReDawn is offering a bit more in terms of worldbuilding, and I'm really liking Janci's influence on the Cytoverse, so I'm very excited. Overall, this is a vital read for fans of Starsight who wanted more Skyward Flight, and just for fans of the series who were upset with how Starsight ended.

Sunreach comes out in three days, and there isn't a thread yet, so here is one. Post your thoughts below when it's out, or post your excitement/hesitation about it beforehand!

IIRC, the general theory is that he was so Invested upon his death (particularly with Breaths, as some of actions to some read like Life Sense and/or someone incredibly Invested) that he was able to survive on the Cognitive Realm long enough to stabilize. After that...well, I have no idea what he'd be up to, but if his experiences on Braize are any clue...nothing good. The corpse thing holds little weight given what we know about Cognitive Shadows and how they can return to the Physical Realm. All of this isn't me saying I'm for Gavilar coming back - I'm pretty neutral, although I do lean towards the idea that if Gavilar returns, it'll be at the end of Book 5 and he'll be a major character for the second half of the series, not as Odium's Champion - I'm just attempting to explain the theory a little more.