ScarecrowBoat716

I was unfortunately spoiled on this plot point by the coppermind wiki. When I read the Sazed epigraphs that named the new Shards, I went to the vessel list on coppermind to see if they had been mentioned before. I happened to see next to Odium that Taravangian was the vessel. So that was pretty disappointing for me, that scene would have been a lot more impactful if I didn't know it was coming. Kind of frustrating that the wiki puts a massive spoiler like that on an otherwise innocuous page...

This is why Kaladin's slave brand doesn't heal, right? He still sees himself as a slave. If Rysn became a Radiant a few years after Dawnshard I bet she would remain paraplegic too, once it's settled in as part of her Identity.

What if that's the point, though? I like the theory that Adonalsium allowed the shattering to happen. What if he realized a being like himself, full of contradictions, could not create a varied enough universe? Maybe he allowed the group of 16 use the Dawnshards to shatter him and take up the shards, and told them as a condition they must spread to different worlds (a condition some of them obviously ignored). I don't know how someone besides Ado could have used a Dawnshard without his allowance considering it takes the power of a deity to wield them. And as far as we know the beings that shattered him were not deities at the time of the shattering. What if the "different" Dawnshard (per WoB) was Hoid? Ado secretly gave him a Command to make sure his postmortem will was enacted, so now Hoid wanders the universe to ensure worlds with multiple shards are kept safe. I'm newer to the cosmere so if there's a WoB that contradicts anything I've said let me know.

This is an impossible question haha. It depends on how I interpret the question. Weirdly enough, the first one that comes to mind is Ruin. The one line from the whole cosmere that sticks with me is when Ruin says something to the effect of "I was trapped for 1000 years. But 1000 years isn't a long time. Not long at all." I felt a chill in my bones reading that. Brandon knows how to write a good villainous god. Dalinar's vision of Odium might be my favorite scene in the whole cosmere for similar reasons. He makes the reader understand how terribly vast a being like that would be. Under the normal interpretation of favorite character I'd go with Kaladin. Not exactly thinking outside the box with that one but how can you not root for him? Other names that come to mind are Vin and Lightsong.

Since I've read the entire cosmere collection over just this past year, I really enjoyed the little connections in Dawnshard. 1) So it seems like aluminum has the ability to block or inhibit all forms of investiture. Unless I'm forgetting something I don't think that was made clear until now. I feel like aluminum will eventually be the key to all the magical systems transitioning to futurist worlds. We already see the beginnings of that with storing Identity on Scadrial and now on Roshar using aluminum to upgrade existing technology. The possibilities there seem endless. 2) I like the little call back to Rock being proficient with a bow and arrow in Way of Kings. It was never explained, but now we know he was likely trained to shoot the Bow of Hours. Not important in the grand scheme of things but I love how Brandon Sanderson has the most minute details worked out well in advance. 3) The tones/buzzing of the Sleepless is clearly reminiscent of the parshendi rhythms. And I can't help but wonder if that even ties into the rhythmic pulses Vin hears from the Well of Ascension? A possibly cosmere connection there, or just coincidence? Like somehow in the spiritual realm there are waves of investiture or something like that, and certain invested beings can read them? I'm fairly new to the cosmere so apologies if I'm misinterpreting or forgetting something here.

I'm 28 years old. When I was younger I used to read all the time. It was my main hobby as a child and adolescent. But with the advent of the internet and streaming services I kind of just stopped reading for the last decade or so. I think I read a total of 3 books over that time. So back in March of this year when it settled in that we'd be in quarantine for a while I decided to try reading again. I had never been much of a fantasy reader but I remembered reading the LotR books as a teenager and enjoying them so I thought it was the right genre to get me started. I went into Barnes and Noble and just perused the fantasy section. I saw the cover of Way of Kings, thought it looked interesting enough and I saw it had very good reviews on Amazon. Little did I know I had just set myself on a path of rekindling my old passion. So of course I'm immediately floored by how good the writing and the world building is. I finish the whole thing in a week (which in the context of my busy life is lightning speed) and I'm like who the hell is Brandon Sanderson? I do a little research and realize I've just accidentally stumbled into a vast interconnected universe which is exactly what I need to get through the quarantine. Fast forward 8 months, I've finally caught myself up on the entire cosmere collection. I've also preordered several books from John Gwynne and I plan on making my way through the Wheel of Time after that. Anyways, that's my mundane story of how the Cosmere has made me a passionate reader again! Reading this forum after I finished each book was a delight. Now that I'm fully caught up I can hopefully discuss the new releases with you all as they happen.