Olmund

Fair point, Feruchemy (a heritable art) is different from an art granted through a temporary bond to another creature, though my point was that all invested arts involve connection -- so that doesn't seem to be enough. Like I said initially, I wouldn't be surprised to see Aviar eventually gaining new powers after prolonged exposure to Roshar, but I don't think it would be an instantaneous process as might happen with a direct bond to a splinter.

This is a good point. Imagine having to maintain a railway in an area where the landmass is constantly stretching/warping/expanding to accommodate new minds/settlements/ideas in the physical realm -- it would be a nightmare. It would be like plate tectonics in our world (which does provide minor/major disruptions from time to time) but on a much more frequent basis.

Yes, Lift is a cool character, but I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think she's going to be the big cheese of Book 5. Here are some counterpoints to the points outlined in the OP: Counterpoint 1: Lift's book is in the back half, so it would make sense if Brandon holds off on most of her major character moments until then (especially dealing with her past and the implications of old magic) -- I think that for Book 5 it's more likely that she'll have a significant role on par with her roles in Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. Counterpoint 2: Szeth has had one major interaction with Lift -- that's really not much to build off of. Szeth has had much more interaction with Taravangian, or Nale, or even Kaladin given their repeated confrontations. If Szeth and Lift had been paired together at all during Rhythm of War, we'd definitely be looking at a different situation. Counterpoint 3: Aviars have access to investiture, yes, but they are not pure splinters like spren and seons. They are biological entities which gain their powers through a symbiotic relationship with an invested parasite -- which is also a biological entity. According to the OP's interpretation, we should expect feruchemists and awakeners to suddenly manifest new abilities on Roshar, which we don't really have any evidence for. I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but I would expect something like that to require a lot of time and exposure to the rhythms of Roshar -- possibly over the course of many generations. Ninja'd. I see how it is -- short posts reign supreme.

Other threads have discussed this pretty extensively -- check out those if you want lists of fan names. On the intentionally blank podcast, Brandon made it clear that he's going with KoWT, and later he said "Knights of Woeful Truth" was the frontrunner...which is fine for those who are already invested in the series, but is pretty clunky and likely to turn off potential newcomers imo. Personally, I like "Knights of Withered Truth," or "Knights of Waning Truth" better, though I'm sure many would think those are much worse than "Woeful Truth." In any case, I know I'll buy it and love it even if it's titled "Kingdom of Wishful Thinking."

This is true, but I thought I'd point out (since I don't think it has come up in this thread yet) that the way Navani describes it as "two quintives" means that they are just using a pentatonic scale -- something very common in real world music (both ancient and modern, outside of western classical music). All the tones in the (more popular) pentatonic scales harmonize well with each other, unlike eight tone or 12 tone scales, so that is why pentatonic scales develop independently in so many cultures.

I believe Taravodium will put pressure on Dalinar by making it difficult to meet all of the terms of the contract. Things will happen in Shinovar which make it extremely difficult for Dalinar to return to Urithiru (i.e., someone close to him like Navani/Jasnah/Adolin/Renarin will be captured, so to leave Shinovar will mean abandoning someone he loves). Taravodium will riot Dalinar's forces (and possibly send them fake orders) to attack Odium's champion (he won't do the same for his own forces, because he doesn't want the Odium shard to be weakened by breaking the contract). Finally, he will send a champion that he foresees Dalinar won't be willing to kill -- whether it's Gavilar, Gavinor, or someone else. Why all the terms of the contract? Mainly for narrative tension -- Dalinar needs the champion duel to happen, so threatening the duel is an excellent way for the author to build suspense.

Yeah, I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Gavinor as a back-half villain; he lived through hellishly traumatic circumstances where his mother literally became a monster and tortured him with voidspren, then his father died during his rescue. He gives me major (spoilers for 20-year-old Fire Emblem games) At any rate, it's almost certain that the shadows of Gavinor's past will haunt him, and that he will have a major role in the back half.

Ha! I did get her to read Emperor's Soul and Mistborn while we were dating -- but SA is quite the commitment. If that's your acid test for finding a potential spouse, more power to you.

While I do think it's likely Shallan killed both her mother and the other Skybreaker acolyte, it's worth mentioning that Shallan is an unreliable narrator -- and when she says she killed "them" there's a chance that she counts the other's death as her fault even if he was killed by her father (because it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been a radiant). That said, her quotes make far more sense if she did kill both.

I binged The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance in one day each, because I was still single back then. Got married, read the first two books aloud to my wife in preparation for the Oathbringer release, and then read Oathbringer to her -- which slowed things down considerably (took well over a month, and that was with some pretty long reading sessions). Same story with Rhythm of War -- re-reading them later on my own I got through both in a couple weeks -- with more free time, I could have finished quicker...but it's nice to savor them a bit.

I'd have to review the context, but it could be something as simple as Restares wanting to maintain control of as many powerful artifacts as possible. He was at odds with both the Ghostbloods and the Skybreakers, so he didn't want the shards to be taken/reclaimed by either of those groups. As for Kaladin holding a grudge, I think that if/when he finds out about that connection the answer is almost certainly "yes," though he has already sworn to protect those he hates if it is right -- so we'll see if he sticks to that. It's true that the Sons of Honor's stated purpose during Gavilar's time (i.e., to bring back both the radiants and voidbringers) seems to be at odds with Restares' personal interests, but it seems like he saw that as a necessary prerequisite for escaping from Roshar (which he already saw as a lost cause).

This was the subject of my earlier topic: I think there is some evidence to support the idea that cognitive shadows gravitate toward a "mature" form, (e.g., God Kings of Hallendren, Tien's connection-fueled spiritual apparition in RoW, etc.), despite having the potential to control the way they manifest in other ways. This could explain why Lift still ages despite being a cognitive shadow (or something akin to it), though it's certainly also possible that she is not a cognitive shadow and has some other connection to the cognitive realm.

I wouldn't mind if Moash had a redemption arc (I think Brandon could pull it off, though I also think he might not pull it off). That said, there have been several despicable characters who have been (at least partially) redeemed: Venli, Gaz, etc., -- and there were other interesting candidates for redemption that were killed off, i.e., Amaram (prior to the end of Oathbringer), Ialai Sadeas (prior to RoW), etc. I don't think we need to have every villainous character either redeemed or dead by the end of the story -- that would be too contrived and tidy. If Moash continues to be alive but irreparably broken (at least through the end of the first half), that would likely be more believable than trying to shoehorn him into a heroic (or semi-heroic) role.

Lift will undoubtedly have a big role in the back half, but I can't see her becoming the Kaladin viewpoint character (i.e., always having enough screentime to rival the primary viewpoint character in their own book) mainly for the sake of tone. Lift is a flippant, semi-ridiculous character in a very serious story, and I think she functions well as a someone who offers a fringe perspective as well as a healthy mixture of levity & suspense nearly every time she appears. Her character arcs will likely take her in a more "heroic" direction, but I don't think you'll see her lose much of her weird factor (since that's a big part of what makes her unique and appealing). If Lift did become the Kaladin of the back half, all but the most die-hard Lift fans would likely experience Lift-fatigue -- similar to Jack Sparrow-fatigue which killed more and more Pirates of the Caribbean fans as the series wore on -- and Lift already has many detractors who would likely be put off of the series completely.

This is not quite as crazy as you think. We know that Cosmere spiritual aspects are "timeless," which does not mean they cannot change, only that things that have happened, could have happened, and can (or will likely) happen all influence how the aspect manifests. This is baked into multiple Cosmere magic systems; allomantic atium/malatium/electrum/gold all borrow from the spiritual realm to show either future possibilities or alternate pasts/presents that could have existed had things gone a little bit differently. Renarin's voidish illumination surge seems to have a similar effect -- and one of the reasons Moash is so tormented when he encounters Renarins projection is because his current path is so incredibly at odds with what could have been if his decisions had gone a little differently; you could say his spiritual aspect is incredibly fractured, which is why he needed Odium to sustain him. If nearly all of Kaladin's possible futures involved him learning how to use a spear, it's not that strange that there would be a backwash effect especially as he became more connected to his spiritual aspect through Honor (i.e., his honorable actions connected him to the spiritual realm via honor). If enough of Kaladin's possible futures converged on an honorable, radiant path, a highly invested Spren like Syl who has a strong connection to the spiritual realm should sense that well in advance. Shards and their vessels can do this incredibly well due to their strong connections to the spiritual realm -- a big part of Ruin's plans hinged on what Vin would become long before she was born, as just one example (Rayse planned the same for Dalinar, etc.). Even the deadeye spren have enough of a connection to the spiritual realm that they seemed to sense something was going to happen with Mayalaran and Adolin, which is why they converged on Lasting Integrity during Adolin's trial. The key thing to remember here is that these are all possibilities -- not inevitabilities -- so the most likely outcomes can be confounded by tiny variables (as we see time and again in the Cosmere). In other words, the past and present reality (or the collapse of the wave function, if you prefer) does exist in the Physical/Cognitive realms and has the strongest influence on how a spiritual aspect manifests, but past/present/future possibilities also have influence on the spiritual aspect which (with enough investiture) can influence the physical reality as well.

As far as Jasnah secretly intending to betray her family/people (as of Book 4), I think that's incredibly unlikely. If she hadn't been inducted into the Knights Radiant and become obsessed with voidbringers, I could see her perhaps planning that as a means to an end (tear down Alethi civilization so as to free Roshar from its influence -- even if it meant destroying her family). I could see her making similar decisions at some point in the future (given very specific conditions and/or character arcs), but given that she has been crowned Queen at this point she would most likely see such a betrayal as completely at odds with her (and her peoples') best interests. The Hoid/Jasnah relationship could certainly go out with a bang (though a fizzle is just as likely at this point), and I could see either of them betraying each others' best interests with or without terminating the relationship when such a betrayal is discovered -- neither is loyal to the other above all else, and both seem to understand that about each other.

Avast, ye scurvy dogs! So, both Tanavast and Koravellium Avast both end in "avast," despite hailing from different cultures and being members of completely different species on Yolen. They also happen to be confirmed lovers before ascending to shardhood. Coincidence? Probably. But that won't stop me from a bit of wild speculation: Explanation 1: Chance. "Avast" was a common morpheme (or phoneme sequence) in Yolish languages, and the two characters had similar names by pure chance. The most likely -- and most boring -- scenario. Explanation 2: Name Change. Before ascending, one of the two took the surname (or family affix) of the other, as one might in a traditional marriage -- despite being members of different species. This theory is a bit iffy, because it would require them to have two separate naming conventions (one where the name is added as an affix, the other where it is considered a separate name) -- which is possible, given that they hail from two different cultures/species -- but it does add some needless complexity. Explanation 3: Inter-species Cultural Ties. For example, if the "Avast" dragons were revered as deities by Tanavast's tribe, and Tanavast's parents hoped he would join the priestly class of his society, they might have given him the name "Tanavast" as a pious-sounding name (especially if "Tan" meant something like "Defender" in their language, so "Defender [of] Avast"). That would mean that Tanavast could have been a priest or guard of Koravellium Avast at some point, which would explain how they came to form a relationship despite being members of different species. If someone more familiar with WoBs (or Dragonsteel Prime, perhaps) can add any insight or refute some of these potential explanations, be my guest.

I kind of see it both ways: On the one hand, investiture resists investiture. Awakening an invested object is extremely difficult, so you probably couldn't take a coppermind and awaken it to sentience in the way Nightblood was awakened. At the very least, it would require far more breaths/investiture to overcome the resistance. On the other hand, RoW spoilers: There are, of course, other theoretical options for combining the powers of Endowment and Feruchemy. For example: if Edgli was killed, and Sazed took up the shard of Endowment, I think it would certainly be feasible for him to alter the "heightening" magic system such that it incorporated feruchemical abilities to some extent -- which could then have effects on splinters formed and given sentience via awakening (like Nightblood was). Or if Sazed migrated to Nalthis and had a relationship with Edgli, similar to Tanavast and Koravellium's relationship (which produced the high spren on Roshar), that could also work. I can't really see Sazed doing either of those things, particularly the latter, but...you know. Hypothetically speaking. I'm not trying to ship Sazed with other vessels or anything, particularly the scariest non-explicitly antagonistic vessel we know of.

I appreciate the fact that you've taken initiative on this, and I hope more of our fellow linguistics nerds contribute (there have been some past topics on Rosharan ConLangs, but it's been a while). I can't make any promises, but I made a few notes a while ago and I'll share them if I can dig them out of a drawer somewhere. Just a quick note on /c/ in horneater -- I think it's very unlikely to be a voiceless alveolar fricative, because otherwise the language has a very straightforward transcription into Latin orthography. I don't see Brandon using the "c" character instead of the straightforward "s" character just for fun, and in real world orthographies /c/ is only ever allophonically realized as [ s ] and only that in a handful of languages. Its primary pronunciation is always something different -- usually [k] or [tʃ]. I'd say the most likely candidate for the pronunciation of /c/ is the affricate [tʃ], given the precedent of Malay and Indonesian /c/ being pronounced [tʃ]. If it is a fricative, it's more likely to be a palatal/velar/pharyngeal (or perhaps the Fijian voiced interdental that you mentioned). It could also be a palatal stop, as some languages do distinguish between velar and palatal stops (and IPA uses the character "c" to mean that sound).

True, surgebinding is limited by the available investiture, but I can think of instances in which an accelerated surge could have potent effects, especially in overcoming Tanavast's (already failing) safeguards: - Surge of cohesion accelerated to allow nuclear fusion (intent likely necessary). A small bottle of water could be transformed into a Hydrogen bomb. - Surge of division accelerated to allow nuclear fission (not as useful as above, since there are fewer heavy elements available). I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that accelerated surges could have other potent effects that people have mentioned here (lightweavers could perhaps overcome an arbitrary threshold necessary to transform their illusions into micro-splinters with fully trapped investiture -- similar to Re-Shephir's shadow creatures -- thus the illusions could potentially last much longer or exhibit entirely different properties). I think we'll have to wait and see (or RAFO) before judging the whether a duralumin-powered surge is "game-breaking" or not.

Because it's not just about closure for the characters -- it's about closure for the readership. Brandon has promised two separate entities in the SA -- a front half and a back half -- with a long writing hiatus and a corresponding timeskip between the two series. If the front half lacks closure, you don't have two entities -- you have one long series with a long, painful hiatus between the first and the second half.

Lord of the Rings does not feature a sequel series that takes place 15 years later with nearly the same cast. The major threat of LotR has been vanquished, and so it makes sense for the surviving characters to go on with their peaceful lives. Even then, most of the closure comes from the characters who actually have reached the end of their respective lives: Gandalf, Bilbo, nearly all the elves, and especially Frodo -- who sacrificed himself physically, mentally, and emotionally -- who then make their sea voyage into the (not quite confirmed) afterlife.

Are you saying Super Meatboy's eyes are actually the ends of spikes used to hemallurgically attach a soul to his body? ...on a more serious note, with a pure meat body I think you'd probably end up with something pretty lumbering and inefficient, regardless of the identity you affixed to it. Lifeless have a brain & neural pathways, bones to offer structural support, and so on -- yet they have little-to-no ability to express themselves and have to be carefully maintained (because even with investiture, rotten meat is still not a great material). We see Kelsier with a hemalurgically-obtained body, but I think we may want to hold off on extrapolating based on that single data point until we understand the mechanics behind it more fully. In any case, welcome to the shard!

That's my perspective. I believe Brandon will try to show that fighting against suicidal tendencies is truly worthwhile, despite the inevitable. Retirement is also possible, but I don't think Brandon will turn Kaladin into an immortal worldhopper -- because that certainly wouldn't "do justice" to those who struggle with extreme depression. Most would feel that immortality is not on the table for them. A heroic death is not guaranteed, but for a book demanding closure it is a very likely outcome. Kaladin is not the only candidate, but his death would offer the most closure. I wish that the gap between books 5 and 6 were confirmed to be at least 50 years -- that amount of time would offer much more closure in itself. As it stands, a 15 year gap means that nearly every character who survives in Book 5 will be around in Book 6, so a true sense of closure will be hard to come by.

That's fairly spot on for the first three books, but as of RoW it's pretty undeniably something else -- she went to Dalinar with the express purpose of understanding Kaladin's mental illness, wanting to feel what he felt despite the consequences. Dalinar refused, though he intuited that it may be possible. In the end, a bondsmith wasn't needed for her to achieve greater empathy for Kaladin (she seemed to achieve that simply by trying to strengthen their bond and unlocking pre-recreance memories she had sealed away), but the groundwork for a bondsmith playing a role in making a spren human-like has been laid (culminating in Ishar's experiments). It would be an incredible sacrifice for her, no doubt -- but her desire to become more human despite the consequences has already been established in RoW. Sorry for failing to give you proper credit. I agree that the Syladin ship has issues, and personally I don't think that's where the story is headed. I'm still fairly convinced Kaladin's story is coming to an end in the next book; his death is one of the few ways Brandon can offer significant closure for the first half of SA (since he was the main viewpoint of the first book, and has had a massive presence in every book since). The only thing that has me wavering in that prediction is that an honorable, meaningful death for Kaladin would run the risk of being too similar to Vin's sacrifice in HoA.