PiedPiper

I'm not saying they're averse to Nightblood for the same rationales as for other Blades. There is a plethora of reasons to be wary of Nightblood.

There's no official explanation for this yet (I searched Arcanum), but it's possible that Szeth's highspren refused to manifest as a Blade as long as he was carrying Nightblood, similar to how many other intelligent spren take offense at Shardbearers.

I would argue that it isn't ethical, even if most fabrials -- except the half-shards, and those are especially bad -- only trap lesser spren. My first argument is this: it's seen as inhumane to keep your pet in a small cage, or to make it do things it doesn't want to do. The authorities get involved when they're notified of animal abuse. It seems to me that there's a good parallel here between pets and smaller spren, even if Rosharans don't see it that way. My second argument is the "slippery slope" point: when do they stop? For the sake of debate, let's say Rosharan scholars have come to the consensus that it's okay to trap lesser spren. This could provide an easy transition similar views about sapient spren. If they already do it with one kind, what's to stop them from expanding their research for the sake of science? Yes, Roshar would develop technologically much more slowly if its governments banned spren fishing, but many, including myself, would argue that human development should not come at the detriment of other species.

Welcome to the Shard. US or UK covers? Favorite world (not counting the story that takes place on it)?

Posting at mid-morning, because it's late at night somewhere.

@Honorless I'll give you that one, but I still didn't enjoy it. Maybe someday there'll be some big reveal about Shallan's family and I'll go back and read his interlude and go OOH! But for now, I still think he's kinda meh.

Nan Balat. What was up with that interlude? All he did was torture cremlings and ruminate on his feelings of inadequacy.

Oh my Adonalsium, you're absolutely right. I can't believe no one's thought of this before! I think you missed one crucial point, though, and that is that each shard must be a cytonic, seeing as it's the only way they could move between planets so quickly.

@Robinski I have seen his lectures -- but yeah, I've started a major rewrite of the whole thing, and have done serious cuts in viewpoints after realizing that sometimes the switch isn't even necessary. I've realized that I haven't taken into account that other people don't actually know where this is going. Thank you for your feedback.

So I've been reading WoK Prime really slowly -- just started with chapter 2 -- and oh Almighty, crem is crom. You're reading this and rolling your eyes, but it really is a huge difference. Crem as a word just seemed to make sense in defining the mud-ish stuff left over from storms. Crom sounds like cookie monster's younger cousin.

My favorite boat is the original Wandersail, because it was the only ship ever to sail into the Origin. Of course, could easily change when Rysn's novella comes out; you never know. As of now, though, we don't really know enough about most of the ships to choose a favorite based on actual designs, so I'm going based off the stories they're centered in. Also, second on Rysn being one of my favorite characters. I'm worried about her sailing: what if they encounter some rough waves and she gets thrown off her seat? By the way, thanks for making this thread! This is going to be so fun! (Also, you accidentally posted this thread twice. Maybe take down the earlier version?)

Awesome! I would have loved it if my teachers had done this. Welcome to the Shard -- a couple questions: US or UK covers? Favorite magic system? Favorite cosmere planet (not counting the actual story it takes place on)?

Thanks for the WoB. Still not sure I buy it, but at least I know we'll have a Dustbringer somehow.

Ash -- the Herald for the Lightweavers? Will become a Dustbringer? Maybe seeking self-mastery will make sense for Ash, but I dunno... sounds a little far-fetched to me. Besides, wouldn't that mean major spoilers on the cover of her book?

For those who don't know, each hardcover book so far has been colored in keeping with the Order that its flashback character belongs to. You need to know that to understand my question: Brandon has said in the past that one of the back five is going to be Ash. Problem is, we already have a Lightweaver book. If Ash and Shallan each have a book, there will be two red books in the series, and based on what each of the other books is planned to be (Venli/Eshonai for Willshapers, Szeth for Skybreakers, Lift for Edgedancers, Renarin for Truthwatchers, Taln for Stonewards, Jasnah for Elsecallers), we will end up having no Dustbringer book, which not only means no orange-ish book, it also means no Dustbringer flashbacks. I'm an Elsecaller. I know we're getting Jasnah. But all the Dustbringers will basically be relegated to being a secondary order if there's no book for them! (NOT saying I don't think the Dustbringers are important, just that not having a book is a BIG DEAL that needs to be solved.) Am I just over thinking this, and the book colors weren't that important to begin with? Or is this a problem? Because I feel like it's a problem.

@Mandamon thanks for your feedback. I'm trying to work on separating each POV into a complete storyline so there's less jumping around.

I'd decided while I was writing this have the arc spread out over several chapters, so what I'm thinking I'll do is consolidate each of the character sections into one chapter at a time, that way there's a better sense of progress throughout. Thanks for your feedback and your advice about drawing the chapter arcs (funnily enough, I do exactly the same thing with musical phrases when practicing piano); I think I finally understand why everything is so confusing.

Oops -- sorry, I was confused as to which series he was asking about.

Oh man, that map! And the double eye, too. Wow. I cannot get over the fact that it's spelled Dalenar. Pg. 4 -- "two living sons"? Did Dalinar Prime have more kids in this version that died when they were young? Pg. 4 -- "Meridas was of a lowly rank". Dalinar is a lot more pompous in this version. Wait, sorry -- it's Dalenar. I can't tell if Prime Dalinar is meant to be old or young Dalinar. His voice as a character isn't very distinct. Pg. 9 -- so Plate is specifically made of steel in this version? Do they even have steel on Roshar? (I'm just gonna decide right now that putting the word Prime after anything means I'm referring to the WoK Prime version, while leaving it alone defaults to the version of SA we have today. Also, if there's a character in modern SA who has a different name in WoK Prime but is obviously the same person, I'm going to use their name in front of the word Prime interchangeably with their WoK Prime name.) Pg. 9 -- "Shardplate's Awakened Strength" woah, woah, woah! Are Breaths a magic source in Roshar Prime? You can see here where Warbreaker was meant to be a SA prequel. Pg. 10 -- "he was nearly as fine as his brother had been". Who's brother? Dalinar's? Aredor's? Did Adolin Prime have an older brother who died (as per my first comment on pg. 4)? Pg. 11 -- getting used to the way Dalenar is spelled, though it's still jarring when I think about it too hard. Pg. 12 -- Thoughtgiver? I thought at first maybe the Heralds had different names here, but is it possible that Thoughtgiver is Returned? Pg. 13 -- can he please stop using the phrase "dampen his frustration"? Pg. 13/14 -- wow, that was a bad way to write Merin's entrance. Pg. 14 -- Why does Dalinar Prime refer to Jasnah as Lady Jasnah? She's his niece! Pg. 23 -- so they did have an older brother. Interesting -- wonder if we'll get a flashback. All in all, I enjoyed this chapter. I'd give it a 6-7/10.

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Roshar Stop at the history section -- major spoilers there. I skimmed the parts before it; should be fine.

Quite possibly. As someone with ADD, I can tell you that Syl has a lot of the same symptoms that I did: fidgety (her tendency to take different form fits this based on her thought process when deciding to do it), lack of impulse control, and easily distracted/sidetracked from her goal. I am, of course, not a doctor, so I'd be the wrong person to give a definite diagnosis, but in my completely unprofessional opinion, she probably does have some kind of attention disorder. The other disclaimer I'll put here is that we have no idea how spren work. The symptoms Syl exhibits could mean something totally different for her since she's a "tiny piece of [a god]."

Dang it, when you tell me all the answers I can't ask you! That's okay... US or UK covers? Favorite magic system? What type of acting do you mostly do (classics, musical theatre, TV/Movies, etc)?

@Eggdogg good choices.

Dang it, I thought you were talking about boats and I got so excited, but also a little confused because I can count on my hands the number of boats specifically mentioned in the books (Skyward doesn't count; that's space and technology) and none go into too much detail on mechanics. Oh, well. I guess, just to contribute, I appreciate Sazed and Tindwyl because they were sweet together and they spent their time doing cool nerd things, which I loved. Also, Ship it or Rip it is Shardcast if you want to look for that.

Hi there! We start all 17S introductions with interrogations: favorite Sando book? Favorite magic system? Favorite character? Have you tried his non-Cosmere works? What order are you? UK or US covers? Welcome to the Shard.