Elegy

I think the discussion about how many planets they could have visited misses the point. One could have visited just as many planets and not have seen as much of them as the other. Sigzil might have just seen more on the planets he's been to. I don't think it's solely about how many worlds he's seen. I'm also fairly certain that both have visited almost all worlds in the cosmere that can be visited. After all, Khriss talks about "dozens" of planets. Hoid could live another ten thousand years and never have visited a thousand planets, since the cosmere just isn't that big. He has had enough time to visit just about every one of those dozens of planets. He just might not have seen as much of the planets he's been on. Regarding that, I think it's also important to consider that Hoid's Fortune leads him to places where important things are (potentially) going to take place, but he might not see much more of these worlds. We have mostly met him at important cultural places like Hallandren or Luthadel. Sigzil, however, is not guided by Fortune, he seems to be on the run and out to hide - which is a far better reason to find places in the cosmere that others haven't seen because they didn't have a reason to, like Hoid.

Finished Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (of Japanese Breakfast). That was fantastic, although at times hard to read. I did not expect the prose to be this great, given that it's the debut book by a musician, but then I found out that she studied Creative Writing for a few years, so that makes sense now. One of the best and most emotional books I've read in the last few years for sure.

My personal guess is that the wisdom and survival Shards are among those that have already been revealed (mind that the Shard's Intent is only tangentally related to survival, which the concept of Prudence is not, in my opinion it's closely related. So it could also be Invention and they found out something that makes them hide, for example). I'd probably go with Justice as an opposite of Mercy. Although that might be included in Honor, but there are other Shards with Intents that are kinda close to each other. Invention is probably not just a science Shard but also an artistic Shard as well, since as an artist, you have ideas and invent something, create something new. There's a lot of Invention in creating something like the Cosmere with all those intricate concepts. Then again, of course there is a lot of science in creating a work of art (Brandon teaching at BYU being a good example of that). Virtuosity I understand as some kind of perfectionist Shard as well. Like, the Shard that can't stand when something isn't virtually perfect. I don't think it's about "becoming a virtuoso" because that is closer to Ambition or Cultivation. Virtuosity would be closer to something that expects everything to be accomplished in the first place. Maybe the stress of that is what made her splinter herself? She would have been savage as a reviewer, I'm sure.

I have to admit that I also gave in to the excitement and read the full sample in both cases as of now. But I don't regret it at all! In both cases, it was just enough to get a good look at what the respective book aims at and is about, but not enough to make me frustrated that I will have to wait. Brandon really chose good point to end these. So with this experience, I will probably go on and just read all of them, as that means I can safely watch the complete livestreams and browse the forum

I think he means "right now" as in, "as I have it right now", not "right now in the cosmere". His plans - especially regarding the Shards and their vessels - are always in flux so what he has in mind now could be very different once he writes Dragonsteel. Otherwise, the word "as" doesn't make as much sense. What he says seems like an abbreviation of "I have only 1 dragon right now as Shard" to me, rather than the other way, in which case it would make more sense to write "is" instead of "as". There's also the question what he would mean with "right now" if he means in-world Cosmere. There only one "right now" in this world, but several "right nows" in the Cosmere. It seems more logical to just say "by the time of Stormlight" or something like that, since he jumps through the Cosmere timeline with every new release. The Shardcast also interpreted it this way, I think, and didn't mention the other way of reading it, so it seems like it might be the more intuitive way to interpret the sentence. That said, it's still possible that he meant it that way. It wouldn't be the first weirdly phrased WOB. So it's still possible, but I find it very unlikely given the phrasing

There's also the Aon Ial, which means "Help" or "Aid". "Irial" could be a blending of Ire and Ial, then the -i could possibly signify a plural or something like that. In that case it might mean "Old Helpers". But even then there's the question why they call themselves "old". That only really makes sense if they had already been old when they called themselves that. Which would mean that this story would not take place shortly after they were formed, but when they were already old. But that's geasping at straws. Similarities like that can always be coincidence:

I'm guessing this one: A possible hinted connection to Taldain could mean that the planet could have an avatar of Autonomy, maybe?

The madlad did it in only 3 days! https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/most-funded Now everyone who looks for the most successful Kickstarters will be greeted by the sneaky, angular, punchable face of our very favorite worldhopping storyteller Hoid.

I'll go with one chapter each. I want to know what they're about and what they will feel like narratively, but I also want to keep as much of the experience of reading them the first time as complete as possible.

There's some ideas here: (The topic is closed for commenting though since it's too old.)

I know I've kept quiet on this site the last few days, but don't let it fool you, I've been screaming on the inside from terror and joy for over 24 hours straight. I can't believe what's happening. Also: The kickstarter announcement was the first Sanderlanche in the history of YouTube videos. It was just as overwhelming as the endings of his books, and just like with them, I'm going to need a break for a few days to recover

Tanavast has also appeared to Dalinar at the end of Way of Kings, although, as with Rayse, his appearance could be modified to have a certain effect on Dalinar. We can certainly see it a an appearance though, and as long as we don't have evidence against it, I don't see a problem with using it as a stand-in at least. He also looks cool as hell. This argument cannot be applied to Leras and Ati who left replicas of their original bodies when they died on-screen. It's a bit more complicated with Cultivation since she is a dragon and therefore a shapeshifter. But maybe there is a standard human form a dragon can go to. We don't really know how dragon shapeshifting works. But stuff like the color of her scales when in dragon form is always purely speculative - as are the appearances of the other original vessels. There is this interesting bit about Bavadin though:

I think it's pretty much impossible to predict Shard pair namings. It's definitely fun to do it (and I'm not trying to stop anyone, in fact I have fun with it myself), but the name Harmony alone indicates that these pair names might be up to the specific situations in which these pairs are created. Harmony doesn't feel like something that specifically encompasses timelessness and destruction. It could also be a harmony between a number of things, like Ruin and Cultivation, or Autonomy and Honor, or Preservation and Invention. But Harmony was created as a result of the conflict between these two opposing Shards, and finally, they were in harmony. What I'm trying to say is: Cut Adonalsium into 8 pieces and one of them encompasses Ruin and Preservation, it probably isn't going to be called Harmony. That name is a reaction to how these Shards opposed and fought each other for millennia after the Shattering and were then united. In a similar way, Odium and Honor might be called War (which I still detest, since part of Kaladin's arc in Way of Kings was reallzing that war - even on the almost mythical Shattered Plains - was without honor most of the time. I think Brandon severely messed that one up) because these two Shards were at war for such a long time. The Roshar Shard combination names don't make any sense if it's any other way: Odium + Honor = War, but there already is Dominion, which has also been called Conquest by Brandon. So War and Conquest are two separate entities? Doesn't make sense. Conquest should be a part of War, if anything. Honor + Cultivation = Science, yet there's a Shard called Invention that would not be part of Science. Also implied: Cultivation + Odium = Freedom, but there is Autonomy, so there would be Freedom and Autonomy as separate entities. It only makes sense if you say that the names are strongly influenced by the way the Shards work on their individual worlds. Brandon called Devotion Love in the same WOB where he called Dominion Conquest, so there's no need for Mercy there:

I think this is an outgrowth of a pretty essential problem with Moash in the story. At the end of Oathbringer, we left him at a turning point. He didn't fully give himself to Odium in that book, even in his last scenes. Then there was the time skip and we returned to him as basically a changed character, since in the meantime, he basically lost all emotions I've seen many people claim that they don't recognize Moash, since he's become a cardboard villain who has seemingly forgotten that in the first place, his struggle was one for justice, in a way, and against the flaws of a system. These motivations have been diminished to him being without emotion and downright evil and stupifyingly toxic all the time. And I think that's a problem with the way Brandon wrote this character, because the off-screen changes in this character have been so strong that there are inconsistencies to his former self. Those can be explained by these changes, but since we haven't been shown these changes, only the result, it's hard to say what's deliberate and what's a writing problem. Which is an ambiguity that is, in itself, a writing problem, in my opinion.

That might or might not be true, but there's still just no way that one of the longest, most elaborate, most epic book series of all time would end on the note of "Well, we defeated Taravangian this time, but he'll be back in the last few books of another series". It would also undermine Stormlight's importance in the Cosmere completely. (Regarding Taravangian tricking Hoid, you also have to consider that killing Rayse off like that was a very bold step and Brandon was hard pressed to sell Taravangian as the new villain. That was an effective way to do that. I think you're right to some degree, but i don't think it has to mean all that much in the end.) Also, Brandon has killed off Rayse on the base of him having lost two times, and he felt there was no way he could be a threat a third time. Following that mindset, Taravangian would have to be defeated 2 times in the remaining 6 book to render him useless as an antagonist for space age Cosmere. It's hard to imagine that, considering the fast pace on which the story changes, on a book to book basis. Back before Oathbringer, everyone thought Rayse would be the back five antagonist. Then he already showed up in Oathbringer. Then people thought (me included, this time) he'd be the front five antagonist at the very least, instead he got killed off just the book after the one he first appeared in. People didn't ever think this would happen, since he had been set up as such a major, Shard-splintering threat, yet that didn't keep Brandon from finishing him off quickly. I don't think he'll drag Taravangian around for even the entirety of the back five, and just because he is shown as a threat, doesn't mean that Brandon will keep him around.

An important thing to keep in mind is that The Stormlight Archive is going to be a 4 to 5 million word story. There's a definite possibility that it will surpass the Wheel of Time in length. I cannot imagine that it will end without its central conflict resolved. There is just no way that we'd deal with Taravangian as a vessel for 6 Stormlight books and then space age Cosmere. I personally even doubt he'll survive book 5. Also, theres still a bunch of Shards left to be antagonistic forces. I've always thought that it's enough for Odium to be Stormlight's main problem. After that, he's gotten enough attention and the focus can shift to antagonists that haven't already got ten books worth of exposure by then - like, presumably, Autonomy - who is being set up as a major player in the Cosmere already, and whose Intent and motivations haven't been as thoroughly explored as Odium's - also, her having a bunch of avatars makes her have even more potential as to how much of her the books can explore. Keeping it at Odium would be a waste. That said, there's even more Shards than that. I wouldn't be surprised if Odium is dealt with in Stormlight 10, then Autonomy in Mistborn Era 3, then there's new, maybe non-Shardic problems. In the end, space age Cosmere has been described by Brandon as a clash of cultures first and foremost, moreso than a clash of godlike entities. Maybe being a Shard won't mean quite as much anymore in a galaxy with potentially several Surgebinding Dawnshards and whatever next the remaining Stormlight books might bring. Shards are bound by contracts, after all, so in a colonized Cosmere, which would be full of contracts between worlds and/or Shards, maybe all of them are massively confined by those. What I'm mainly getting at is that space age Cosmere will probably be a conflict between worlds first and foremost. I doubt these problems could be solved by defeating one or another major antagonist. The Cosmere has always been about clashs of human interests and worldviews, and how to resolve them - just throwing Shards at each other like toy robots would be too cheap. There's a theme to all of this. Of course, there will be antagonistic characters in space age Cosmere, but it's far too early to say what they will be. I just doubt that there will be one Sauron or one Emperor to kill and then be done with all the problems.

I think Moash's development could be an attempt to portray this very thing, the two seemingly contradicting sides of Odium. Odium loves emotion, especially negative emotion that those who feel it want to be gone. So he takes it, and what he leaves behind is the void and coldness. Moash was once an angry and sorrowful person, and Odium liked that about him. That's why he made him give up these emotions, leaving Moash an emotionless, cold shell of his former self, while Odium feasts on his emotions. So while the passion is closer to Odium's Intent, the fact that it devours emotion leads to the void as another central theme for him. But I agree that it's confusing, and I could be wrong.

Two relevant WOBs: And an earlier one, to show the change in approach:

As per the Threnody essay in Arcanum Unbounded, there is no stable perpendicularity on Threnody, so that can't be it

King Theoden from the Lord of the Rings movies. Making him way more doubtful and fragile and then giving him the full-on speech on the Pelennor really gave him a satisfying arc. Perhaps the biggest improvement over the books, in my opinion!

Knights of Woeful Truths sounds like a song title by a power metal parody band. I doubt the publisher is going to wave it through, and I sure hope so. It's a mouthful and doesn't fit with the punch of the shorter other titles at all. At this point, I'm starting to believe that he should drop the idea with the symmetry and just pick a title that works instead. Like Stones Unhallowed, what he originally had in mind for Oathbringer when it still was planned as Szeth's books. Kingdom of Wails would be kinda cool though if Braize plays a significant part, but I don't believe it will. Sounds pretty cool, and logical! But he's not going to go with two subsequent "of War"s.

Yeah, Brandon had a novel for this in mind. That said, he also planned Silence Divine as a novel and has since decided that he'll probaby write it as a novella instead (if he ever figures out how to make it work - he seemed to have problems with the magic system). So who knows how he'll do it, if he ever gets to it. Some things that I found noteworthy . . . I always imagined Kingmaker as a story about pre-Ones Above First of the Sun, since we haven't seen that yet, but now it's obvious that it's set around the same time as Sixth of the Dusk. I wonder if there's any kind of interaction between the two stories going on. Right now, I imagine it kind of like the relationship between Elantris and Emperor's Soul - same world, same time, but completely different places nonetheless and therefore largely separate. Not much going on in terms of general Cosmere information. But it's cool to learn more about the cultures on First of the Sun - since Dusk is so removed from civilization, Sixth of the Dusk didn't offer much in that regard. The omniscient narrator sure is different from what he usually does with his Cosmere works. It's a very different tone, but why not, I guess! Brandon has really grown as a writer. This is a first draft and it's full with inventive analogies and is really entertaining to listen to from a writing/language perspective first and foremost. I also noticed this with Cytonic to a certain degree, he's really come a long way since, say, Elantris.

So ... this is what I think: When it came out, Oathbringer alienated some fans because it moved away from what Stormlight was before it. Way of Kings and Words of Radiance were basically two halves of one huge book, one arc, and after the latter, people saw the tone, style and setting of that arc - the Shattered Plains, the bridges, the War of Reckoning - as Stormlight's identity ... when it really was the identity of that specific arc. Oathbringer opened up the world and story and lead it to new directions - the whole world scale politics, the oathgates, the Desolation. I think a lot of people didn't like it initially. I do feel like most have come around to it. Nowadays, Rhythm of War seems the most disliked by far - and contrary to Oathbringer, I don't think much will change about it. There's just too many problems that too many people have with it, and too many things that feel like they weren't as thoroughly thought-out as they used to. That's what the consensus feels like to me. I personally love Oathbringer, although Words of Radiance is my favorite (book ever).

Yep, they are different ratios: We don't know the rest though!

Yeah, it's admittedly not clear how exactly he meant it. I interpreted the "right now" as "if I don't change things", but yes, it could also mean "at the time of Stormlight"