AquaRegia

I've been thinking the same thing. MB Era 1 was medieval/renaissance fantasy. AoL was 1880s, SoS 1910s, BoM felt like a WWI-esque spy thriller. It makes a lot of sense for TLM to introduce WWII-style themes, including, but not limited to, Investiture-based nuclear weapons.

Khriss is described as wearing her hair in braids, while Marasi's mysterious "thief" has straight hair. I don't think it's Khriss... my #1 suspect is Shai as well. "The Haunted Man" palling around with Nicki Savage is confirmed to be Nazh, however, so it's not impossible.

Ooooh, cool, you think it might be Shai? Interesting. Is there any confirmation she's in TLM?

The Wax and Wayne swag box (on sale now at Dragonsteelbooks.com) includes a sticker pack with the obvious familiar characters... but who is the one with the glasses on the left?

Is this still being discussed?

I thought they were terrific, and enjoyed them immensely. Agree they are quite different from all his other work.

I'm somewhat bemused by the reluctance of the 17S community to discuss this. I first posed the question - on 3 June - here. That topic has over 300 views, and one reply (from Chaos). I appreciate (and share!) the respect given to Eric and our team of mods; they absolutely deserve it. They do a fantastic job of keeping this place friendly and welcoming. I also understand that they continue to discuss this issue amongst themselves, and that some sort of announcement is forthcoming. That said, I don't see why the rest of us can't at least TALK about it. A 10-second search on eBay gives 3000+ results for Brandon Sanderson items, including signed and special edition books... it's not like a market doesn't currently exist. I have an eBay account, but I'm no longer a big fan - I feel like their fee structure has become very opaque and onerous. I'd love other options. Personally, I'd be happy to give away stuff I don't want, as long as the recipient is willing to pay for shipping, but I can't - and wouldn't attempt to - mandate that for everyone. Perhaps Chaos and the mods eventually decide that we can't even TALK about selling or trading stuff here. Then this topic gets locked or deleted, no harm done. Am I missing something?

My son got Mistborn as a gift back when it first came out. He's got pretty good taste, so when he suggested I might like it, I gave it a try. "Holy crap," I thought, "this guy is head and shoulders above any other recent fantasy author." I think we read Warbreaker next. Here we are 15 years later and nothing has happened to change my mind... in fact, I just keep getting MORE impressed. I really enjoyed Butcher's Dresden Files novels, but did I make an account on a Butcher fan site? No, I did not. 'Nuff said.

I've seen some other questions about this, so I'm interested in community thoughts. In a few months, many of us will begin receiving swag boxes; nobody knows yet exactly what they will contain. I expect to get some things I don't especially want... but those things may be very valuable to another SanderFan. How is this situation best addressed? It looks as if Chaos and the mods will soon be announcing a ban on the use of this site to buy/sell merch, which is fine. Believe me, the last thing I want is for swag sales to cause any trouble here... and I can certainly envision the possibility of trouble. But the problem remains. How do we solve it? Are there other ways people here have regularly used to buy/sell/trade items? What options exist? Please discuss.

I interpreted Raboniel's reaction to the gift as demonstrating that she recognized it as an offworld artifact, thus revealing Mraize as a representative of a Worldhopping organization.

Kudos on your magnificent work. I see no holes. When I think back about all the fantasy stories I've enjoyed over the years that ended up not really making much sense in the end, I'm filled with awe at what Brandon is doing here. To have so many layers of story, history, legend and myth - so seemingly mysterious and scattered at first - remain coherent and consistent over SO MANY novels (and short stories) verges on the superhuman. Yes, I'm very impressed by this amazing scholarly effort by @Mzuka, collecting and connecting all these ideas. I never could have done it. Yet this isn't research into "real" myths or history, which are created randomly by countless people over thousands of years; everything we cleverly manage to "figure out" was MADE whole cloth from the mind of the BrandoSando. The way all the myriad disparate details eventually fit together and make sense is what keeps me coming back to the Cosmere. Well, that, and the amazing, believable, relatable characters. And the action. And the humor. And the astute exploration of current social and philosophical themes. And... Ugh. It's possible Brandon has soured me on all other authors.

My first post here. Just finished a novel titled The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - highly recommended! The author does a terrific job of weaving flawed yet relatable characters in a near-future multiverse story. It's not "high art" or true hard SF, but it's not intended to be. It only took me three days to read - a fun three days! It's complex enough to be really interesting, but not so dense that it gave me a headache. Some of the plot twists I saw coming, while others really came out of left field... yet they made sense. At turns funny, tense, horrifying, and heartwarming, it had many of the same features that make Sanderson so enjoyable to read for me.

Nothing anyone says about why they like or dislike a work of art can be refuted; we each like what we like, and we're different. MB Era 1 was epic fantasy, thus people who prefer that genre prefer those novels. MB Era 2 was intended to be something different, shorter, funnier, "pulpier". I love them all, but when I want to read for just an hour and really have fun, I'll always choose Era 2 over Era 1. I agree that Wax is implausibly good at everything, but despite all his expertise he's still flawed, haunted by his past and fighting his own character defects. For me, this makes him a relatable character who is a lot of fun to read. Based on the progression of Scadrial shown in the first three novels (roughly 1880 - 1920), my guesses regarding the style would include 1) WW1-era political/spy thriller, 2) roaring '20s adventure romp, including early Northern Scadrial aircraft, or maybe even 3) WW2 type race for the ultimate Allomantic weapon, a la the Manhattan Project. I expect inspiration from Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones, and possibly a little James Bond. I also expect it's going to make me laugh out loud a number of times.

I apologize profusely for my failure to talk you out of a pen purchase. ;-) It's interesting that you bring up the issue of peer-to-peer transactions on 17S, as I posted this a few months ago and it seems to have everyone, including Chaos, stumped.

It's a Hongdian, straight nib fine point... pretty much one of these: https://www.etsy.com/listing/708928628/personalized-hongdian-1850-black-forest

@Slowswift @Coolmint thank you both, and you were doubly right: when I unscrewed the body I found that the true problem was that I was out of ink LOL A few quick piston twists and everything is right with the world. Cheers!

@legolasgalactica that's an interesting question, and its ramifications frighten me a little. We've certainly seen evidence that spren sort of work this way, and Syl and others explicitly agree - the more people view a cognitive entity a certain way, the more they BECOME that way. We may see the same with the Heralds: Nale, Taln, and Ishar have almost become caricatures rather than people - the weight of centuries of worship as ideals? Ash seems to be waging a war against people's perceptions of her. So there is some sense of perception affecting them, but I'm not sure about adding to their power. Vasher, as Zahel, may have the best insight into how Cognitive Shadows are affected by perception over time. I recall he describes how the Intent of the Investiture slowly takes over... does he say anything about the perceptions of people having an effect?

I have experienced a fountain pen "feature" that you all probably know about already: ink feed problems after several weeks of nonuse. I left for vacation at the end of June and returned today (19 July), so my pen sat untouched for about 3 weeks. I find ink flows while the nib is moving in some directions, but not others; I can draw a perfect series of half circles, instead of a continuous spring coil. I don't want to waste half a bottle of ink drawing scribbles, waiting for it to clear up... should I soak the nib in water? Alcohol? Do I need to worry about diluting the ink that's already in the pen? Or is a more aggressive remedy indicated?

I love Moash as a character. All the best villains in fiction have believable backstories and motivations... the "bad guys" are always the "heroes" in their own stories, e.g., Taravangian, Raboniel, and coming soon, Jasnah and/or Hoid! Were we not all on the same page with Moash at the beginning, when he was filled with rage at the injustice of Lighteyes rule? Did the Lighteyes, in fact, deserve to wield the power of literal life and death over the Darkeyes just because? Was Elhokar, in fact, deserving of his position and worthy of the loyalty of good people during WoK and WoR? That was such a realistic crisis of conscience for both Kaladin and Moash, and neither of them can claim to have resolved it without fault. Every decision Moash has made has been, to me, a rational one, based on his previous experiences and emotional states. And he has not blindly maintained the same position in the face of changing evidence; now that he "knows" ALL of humanity is fatally flawed and doomed, he's doing the best he can. Yes, I hate the things he has done, but I love the ride he's taking us on, and I can't wait to see where we go next! That said, I expect him to die with, at best, very minor redemption.

As my pfp implies, I'm a reasonably competent guitar player... if one allows "reasonably competent" to include folk and classic rock. ;-) I've been in bands that have performed on actual stages for actual paying audiences, although I'm not currently playing out. My last band imploded because - well, it's an all-ages-friendly site, so let's just say for a very rock-n-roll reason. I can enjoy listening to almost any genre of music, but jazz and classical are not my thing when it comes to playing. Kudos to those of you who do them! I think everybody should be able to make some kind of music.

I've been having essentially the same issue, including the double posts.

I had a feeling that this might pose some problems. Is there anything I can do to help find solutions?

I, for one, would LOVE a stuffed Soonie Pup.

Starting in January, I'm going to be getting Brando swag boxes in the mail, containing nobody-really-knows-yet-what. It occurs to me that I may not want every item, while others might want them very badly. Nobody I know IRL is a Sanderfan, so this is the obvious place to look for enthusiastic trading partners... is there an established protocol for Sharders to sell things to each other? I do not want to do anything against forum rules or community standards, but if get a t-shirt I know I will never wear, I'd love a fellow 17th Shard member to be able to have it. Let's discuss the ins and outs of how that might be handled.

Sounds like this party is going to be amazing and I wish I could attend LOL Be sure to post some pics afterward!