Lady Radagu

I think I have to agree with Shardlet. I was so excited to speculate that Kriss was the AAA, but it's impossible to have an original thought around here. Making notes in the form of the Ars Arcanum completely fits what I know of her character, and easily something "the most cosmere knowledgeable person" would do. That being said, I do not think that Iatil is Khriss. Iatil is described by Shallan as "tan-skinned," which is how people describe Alethi. Peter confirmed (somewhere on these forums, but I can't seem to find the link just now) that Khriss is dark-skinned enough to be thought Makabaki.

Yes, Hoid has a grudge, but The Dragon agrees with Hoid about everything Hoid said regarding Rayse. I'm assuming that includes the general personality assessment.

Thank you for the lovely avatar! You do beautiful work!

From Hoid's letter, I would guess that he was more of a sociopath than a zealot. Someone who despised others and had no qualms in expressing his disdain for humanity, his delight in their suffering. If volunteers, or shard preferences were solicited when the various vices and virtues were distributed, he'd have been first in line for odium.

So if she can get Pattern to manifest as a shard-screwdriver, she could make him sonic! I wonder how much stormlight that would take.

That's why the internet is here. Just channel your overflow onto the boards. Seriously, though, I had that problem after speed-reading HP 6, and while all of my other friends were reading it, they like "I'm on Chapter three!" and I practically had to gnaw off my arm to stop from yelling "Snape Killed Dumbledore!" "I'm really impressed with the magic system. I'd never thought about magic in that very specific way before." "And the worlds he builds? I mean, wow. That's some worlds right there."

Did anyone else hear Brandon using Hoid to voice some valid concerns? Pleading with his fans not to put him on too high a pedestal? Maybe Brandon is just another of Hoid's aliases. That's how he's come up with all of these amazing book. Brandon Sanderson isn't just an ordinary guy turned superauthor, he's a being from a parallel universe. The cosmere novels aren't really The Best Fiction Ever Written, they're a recounting of events as told by someone who lived it, who was there. It's kind of Alcatrazy.

Too much reaction to put here without a serious reread. My brain has melted, but in a good way.

Major Spolier

I also got Foundation-y vibes from the diagram. My favorite part about the diagram is the transcription, specifically, all of the "books" we see in the epigraphs.

I think Nightblood will be good for Szeth. Nightblood has always reminded me of a puppy. A terrifying, arguably evil, merciless, all destroying doom-puppy who leaves trails of death and destruction in his wake, but a puppy nonetheless. Considering Szeth's depression and nihilism, I think a puppy may be just what the doctor ordered.

Sorry for the extremely late reply. My son got a lot, lot worse (he is all better now), and I kind of forgot about this thread. But yes, that's my husband. I married Kaladin. You may all be jealous now.

Sorry, it's been a crazy day at the hospital with my sick boy (he'll be fine, just needs some help with his oxygen while his lungs heal up). Didn't really get to go over questions with my husband, but he did ask two of Kurkistan's questions. Sorry I wasn't able to go too and get more answers (I really wanted to ask about chromium/nicrosil and cadmium/bendalloy mistings in the final empire, among others), and his recorder wasn't working, so these are from memory, but he did his best to get convey them verbatum. He also got a code for going in costume, but Brandon said he was out of unique codes, so he just got a general use one. We still got the neat card, though. Anyway, Q&A time: "Yes, Aon Dor could cure a chronic condition like poor eyesight. But you would have to get the specifics of everything, kind of like they're equations, correct. You'd have to know a LOT about Aon dor and a LOT about the body to get it right." (Here Brandon paused in thought) "It's kind of like with computer programming." "First, good question. The way lashings work, it does have to do with pressure. But I can't go into it. I'm going to have to RAFO that one. Again, good question." So there you go.

Well, my boys are sick, so I can't make it, but my husband is still planning to attend. Questions to ask?

I can neither confirm nor deny this.

Assuming I'm Alethi nobility, but not undergoing a gender change, I think I'll go with the blade. I'm really more of a defensive person, so I'd prefer plate, but since everyone knows it's "unnatural" for women to be interested in war, I'd probably be expected to give my plate to my nearest male relative, like a good Vorin girl. So I'll pull a Shallan and have a secret shardblade.

I, too, got the impression that it just sort of strikes randomly, and is ongoing, rather like the Shaod. I don't think it's commonly known that using the powers makes you evil directly. I wondered if, rather than people living in fear that they would be "struck down" as an Epic and become evil, people would think to themselves that if THEY ever became an Epic, THEY would resist the temptation to abuse their powers, and THEY would finally be the superhero everyone had been waiting for. If such a person were ever turned Epic, I wonder if they would notice at all as their first forrays into exploring their new abilities turned them, and if they would care, even for a moment, before just giving in. I think that could be an awesome short story, not that Brandon doesn't already have enough else on his plate.

I discovered Brandon with Elantris, and I've been lurking for ages, including back on TWG. I never quite decided to make an account and login, because really, do I need another forum to waste valuable time in which I could be reading Sanderson books? Then I realized I was already spending so much time lurking that I may as well say hello. Sanderson's book are a Big Deal in my house. My husband and I both fight (but in a nice way) over who gets to read each new book when it comes out. Hoppefully the boys will be the same way when they're older - we took our eldest to the Way of Kings signing when he was only 17 days old. Alas, thats the only signing we've ever been able to attend, though I realize that still makes me luckier than many others. Hopefully one day we'll make another. Anyway, I just want to say that I love reading this forum with all of the neat discussions and ideas, and while I can't romise to be super active, I am looking forward to finally taking part.