LewsTherinTelescope

Pretty much. It *could* be cool to have a system with a sort of shared power pool, basically a way of enforcing the choice between quality and quantity of power. Thing is, when quantity gets too low, quality gets absurd. Yeah, she seems a cool enough person, from the little we see of her.

I didn't notice it myself, but that's a thing I've seen brought up in regards to Brandon's writing pretty often, so doesn't surprise me if an early draft had it even worse.

I actually ended up asking in a response after posting this here, forgot to post his answer. His answer: Copy-pasted: So I think it's mainly behind-the-scenes things. But it wouldn't surprise me if the Five Scholars did visit Sel.

There was a discussion in the Discord about the time gap between Warbreaker and Stormlight, so I decided to PM Brandon about it. The messages: Or as copy-pasted text: Not sure if this was already known or not, but I didn't find anything on the Arcanum about it, so I figured I'd ask him. Not sure why Elantris affects this. Unless he just means it as an example of timeline things being subject to change.

Yeah I'm sure (she seemed to be pretty much past prisoner status by the end of the written chapters), but it still leaves a weird taste in my mouth. But you're right that at least she wouldn't still be a prisoner at that point, it would've been much worse if she had. Yeah. Aether had an even worse thing along those lines imo, he... does not seem to have had a proper grasp on this topic at the time. I am extremely glad he seems to have realized his books had problems in that department, and I don't think any of his published books have those issues any more, at least that I can think of.

Definitely lower quality than the published books, but not as bad as it seemed people said. I'd be curious to see what exactly happened at the end, but Peter's predictions in the final annotation all make sense to me. His comparison of Hess to Preservation is interesting. I didn't catch any similarities, but Preservation as the bad guy and Ruin as the "good" (or less bad) guy could be cool. Now, for some thoughts about what is written (not in any particular order or grouping): As Peter said many times in the annotations, there weren't a whole lot of downsides to the power, as long as it wasn't too diluted. I do actually think a system like it could be interesting to see, but it would need a lot more limitations. The main character being able to just instantly pick up on any skills needed doesn't make for an interesting challenge. I kept misreading the doubled consonants as single consonants (with the exception of Vvenna, because I was used to Vivenna from Warbreaker already). The fact that Mistborn has "koloss" probably doesn't help lol. Prisoner-to-romantic-interest always feels icky to me. While it didn't get to a romance stage, I have little doubt that it was going to become one. So I'm glad I didn't have to read that. Also, Devin making a joke about her being too tall to rape was... no. Sanderson's romances in generally usually aren't amazing to me, but I'm so glad he's at least improved, and even has a couple I like in his more recent books. Aether is actually the main one where I really hated some scenes (I didn't mind the relationship in the book, but that first scene was just weird), but as I mentioned, the whole trope this book's romance followed is one I hate. Siri's plot is I guess basically lifted and moved to Warbreaker without too many changes, the obvious exception being that she's not in disguise in Warbreaker. I accidentally clicked Chapter 22 first, so I got spoiled that Hime dies. But that's not exactly a shock. I think I probably would've expected him to die at some point even without it (the only real way for his Oath to end was either for him to break it or him to die due to it). And the King's betrayal was pretty expected as well. Peter complained about Vvenna's character in the annotations (or at least I think I remember him doing so). I agree that Vivenna in Warbreaker was better, but I really didn't mind Vvenna much, even at the more boring parts. Felt kinda necessary for her arc, so I just thought "well, presumably she'll start to understand eventually". I do agree that I liked Warbreaker Vivenna more. Took way too long to reveal the powers imo. It was... kinda obvious, and I assume intentionally so. I'm surprised we never got any explanation or rumors of what the Mythwalker actually was. Perhaps he was trying to do something similar to what he'd later do in Aether, Sanderson of course got in his obligatory "maladroitly"s. I STILL have yet to hear the word used outside a Sanderson work, as far as I can remember. Was Siri's bethrothed (whose name escapes me) intended to be Dalinar but dead the whole book? I definitely got Dalinar vibes off him (or well, hornier Dalinar vibes). I see that's a sort of trope Sanderson really likes (which isn't surprising, since iirc wasn't he from Sanderson's very first novel he wrote as a teen, before even White Sand?) I did get kinda bored for most of the book, and honestly as I got towards the last chapters I figured I wouldn't mind the lack of an ending, but the final written chapters did make me want more. Although, Warbreaker offers a likely end to Siri's plot, and I feel like I can predict a potential end for the rest (assuming Sanderson didn't have some crazy twists planned). In addition to the things that were transplanted to published books, a few things felt like possible inspiration for things in Aether as well (though most are different enough that they're probably just based on similar ideas than actually based on Mythwalker): So far, I'd say Way of Kings Prime is the best of his unpublished works, followed by Aether, with Mythwalker in third. Although I haven't actually gotten to reading White Sand Prose yet, and haven't gotten my hands on Mistborn Prime or Final Empire Prime (which I've heard he occasionally will email out?), and of course have not read Dragonsteel Prime. Aether is still probably my favorite though, even if I couldn't tell you why. And as usual for my posts, I'm tired and typing on a phone, so apologies for typos or weird phrasings.

I will probably read it at some point then, thanks. I've read through the Coppermind article on Mythwalker, and while even in the article I can see some major differences, [Aether of Night] (do I need to spoiler this since we're outside the Aether subforum?) Thanks for this opinion on the book. Now that I actually look at it, it does look pretty short (unless the chapters are VERY long), so I'll probably read it and will be able to judge it myself lol.

Got it, thanks. (I know it wasn't finished, I just wanted to be sure, since I'm trying to reread pretty much everything right now.)

Curious if reading Mythwalker before a reread of Warbreaker adds anything. I expect it's not gonna add anything plotwise, considering that it was apparently extremely different, but idk if it might make it more enjoyable in some other way. Idk.

First, is this the right subforum to post this? I'm not sure, but for now I'll put it here. Please point me to the correct place if this isn't it. Anyway, the PM: Non-screenshot below: I guess I should add this to the Arcanum database, right? Would I put this post as the source, or what? Honestly, kinda a shame. If Shards did have beads there, then that combined with this WoB could have some weird (and probably very very bad) results.

Request it in this thread and wait for an admin to send it. Sign up for the newsletter on Brandon's website, and the newsletter will contain a download link.

Maybe the interlude will be about Rysn, but follow someone else's PoV, so that we don't get any spoilery internal thoughts? Idk

Another possibility for the spoiler (should this discussion be a separate thread, since the whole point of this was OP being worried about NOT wanting spoilers?):

Never happened onscreen, but that was Meridas at some point.

Perhaps he was inspired by Wheel of Time lol Ah, that's why he felt familiar! I kept feeling that he seemed like another Sanderson character but couldn't remember which one.

Yes, but from the sound of it, she did it very obviously and everyone knew it was Soulcast (sorry, "Awakened"). If he had naturally dissolved, however... But who knows. I can't imagine he'd be gone for the whole series, so if he didn't return then, he may have later. Side theory: Nale mentioned that maybe Taln got back by getting an Elsecaller to return him... and "the Elsecaller" was expected to be the key to everything. Perhaps that was part of how he was going to return, or perhaps she was going to bring someone there?

Probably it was going to dissolve into smoke, revealing him to be a true Herald. I don't think I saw him, but I'm also not particularly observant. But since this was written early on, I assume he's probably going to be a very very small reference, and maybe not even by name? Maybe one of the lords at one of the parties?

Yeah personally I'm doubtful that but I was trying to think of things that could possibly occur in later books based on tWoK Prime. Personally, I hope it doesn't, as seeing would be nice, and I think a certain individual is the most likely candidate for someone who would do that. Now THAT would be interesting indeed. Perhaps Maybe The other one you brought up: I'm still curious where this would have led if tWoK Prime had had a sequel. But it could possibly hint at something in the published version as well, yeah.

The first thing that pops out to me that it might spoil is but that's something that I've seen as a pretty common theory. Something else that might be possible but doesn't feel likely to me is Out of curiosity, what two things are you thinking of? And yeah, Book 6 is probably close to a decade off. Book 5 I think he said he plans to start writing January 2022, so would probably finish midway through 2023. From there, he plans to write two Elantris sequels and three Mistborn Era 3 books. Assuming a year a book, that gives 5 years after 2023, so 2028 would be when he's free to start Book 6. And that assumes he starts immediately. He hasn't said anything on it, but I'd probably guess he'd write something lighter for the 6 months after finishing Stormlight, to start Mistborn E3 Book 1 early 2024, meaning 2029 would be my guess for when he'll start Stormlight 6? And that's assuming he doesn't write other things, like the Nightblood novel. Of course, I imagine his schedule isn't set in stone, so he could always start sooner or later than that. But like you said, it's gonna be a while.

Part 3 done. All I can say is hooooly Heralds. The dude Ishar was masquerading as was Balsomething the advisor, correct? If so, I'm surprised I got it right. When I suspected he was a Herald, Ishar was my top suspect. The peasant who claimed to know Taln, combined with Taln not dissolving, tricked me. Completely. And then it was actually two Heralds?! And the Heralds themselves appear to be fooled, in this timeline. What exactly was meant by "the one who betrayed the others"? Does it mean he joined with Odium Prime? Does it mean he broke the Oathpact without consulting them? And does it still hold in the release timeline? I personally like the theory Ishar betrayed the rest already, and I'm very interested in the fact it appears to have been in the plans, at least at first. And when did they think Ishar died, to be shocked he was still alive? And the Heralds believe when they die, it'll be final, now? What's up with the Voidbringer Primes? I have so, so many questions. Some might be able to be figured out from later Stormlight books, some never will be answered, because it's been rewritten so heavily. This was exactly what I expect from a Sanderson book, even if it's an unpublished draft. Definitely better than Aether (although I stand by my previous statement that I want to see the Aethers fleshed out more than the Epellions, though that's reversed for the published novel - I think I would prefer to see the spren fleshed out more than Aethers. Although, didn't Syl originate in an Aether rewrite? So I suppose the spren are almost a spritual successor of the Aethers [yes, I know the Aethers do still exist in canon]). Edit: I forgot about the cuss filter lol. Because "holy storm" didn't have the same ring to it as the original non-book curse, I've changed it to a different one still based on the novels that sounds better to me (although I can't recall whether it was ever actually used in-universe).

Part 2 finished. Maybe I should've done chapter-by-chapter... so much happened. Curious about Meridas's backstory. He was probably someone important somewhere, but where? Who was the "witness" to the Traitor's innocence? Has there been an answer yet to who the mysterious third army was? Most of these I expect might be answered in Part 3, although it was gonna be a large series, like Stormlight, so probably not everything will be answered. I expect Dalenar will win the duel, but will it be a proper win, or will Elhokar do what Dalinar was considering and give himself up? I didn't expect to even consider the latter, but this chapter does show he seems to care, at least. (Sure, Dalenar could lose, but I doubt it. But it's not beyond possibility.) Curious about the guy (spacing on his name) who left to join the Vedens. The advisor. I half expect he's one of the Heralds, assuming that, like in the published books, they abandoned the Oathpact (as opposed to being Vyred). Part 3, here I come!

Yeah, this book has really made me see what Sanderson meant when he said that he plots the Stormlight books out as a trilogy-in-one. I'm still relatively early in Part 2, but imo it almost feels like a sequel more than a "Part", in some ways. (Though it doesn't quite have the pacing of a sequel either, but it feels a lot closer to one than most books have.) From the look of it, Part 3 is much shorter than either Part 1 or Part 2, so I wonder if it'll fit more with Part 2 than 2 did with 1, or if it'll just be like a shorter book to finish the "trilogy"?

This post will have reactions to Part 1, in the replies I'll post reactions to the other parts. I actually forgot that this was only Part 1. This just felt like such an ending to the book. But of course, it may be a draft, but it's still a Stormlight (or rather, Oathshards) book. Elhokar's being in on it took me by complete surprise. I had seen a WoB that in tWoK Prime, To move to another topic, the absense of spren has felt weird, considering the role they play in the published books. Seeing WoBs has spoiled certain things I know will come later: And of course, knowing how the Oathpact went in the published books, I can make a pretty good guess at what I expect has happened in this book (although who knows, I guess). Though the fact that the Church refused to say that it was over for a couple centuries seems odd to me. I imagine the rest of the book may answer that. Do keep in mind, all these are only based on Part 1 of the book. So far, I'd say it's better than the other unpublished novel of his I've read, Aether of Night. Although, I feel like Aether's magic interested me much more than tWoK Prime's has so far. But as this is Stormlight, I assume that as I go, I'll learn much more, and become more interested in it.