Shardlet

That same symbol is at the head of each of the interludes except for Szeth's.

I don't know about this idea. I think that their economy is way too dependent upon gemstones for them to only come from gemhearts. The conclusion of the scouring of Aimia would have resulted in an economic panic as well as massive deflation as the gemstone's they had would become enormously valuable since primary sources would have been depleted. Soulcasting would have become prohibitively expensive since that is the primary means for the consumption of gemstones. Majorly unstable economic basis.

Release is expected for 2015.

Since straight up quartz can be soulcast, I suspect that only the ten essence gemstones can be infused. Recall that Shallan is our source for the assumption/belief that the gemstones cannot be soulcast, but she doesn't bat an eye at identifying soulcast quartz at the Palanaeum or the thug who was soulcast to quartz by Jasnah.

I am dubious about the voidlight question. We don't have any kind of confirmation that voidlight exists.

Hi Taln. Welcome to 17S. The best link we have for a list of questions for Brandon is the aptly named Ultimate List of Questions for Brandon thread. The last few pages may be the best resource for you (it is quite a big thread). In any case click here to get there.

I would say coincidence to a point.

We saw at least two spiked characters in the trilogy where their spikes would not have been generally noted (likely three). Spook, Zane, and maybe Penrod (I don't recall off-hand if his spike was outwardly apparent after he "healed". So, Wax not noticing a spike does not seem like particularly substantial evidence against Tan being spiked. I mean, for a long time in TFE, they only knew about inquisitors' eye-spikes.

I'd have to agree with you Scrutiny. The confidence that Jasnah bears herself with is what gives her her power over people. I always laugh when I watch TV or movies when I see someone behaving furtively when trying to not draw attention to themselves. The best way to not draw attention to yourself in such a situation would be to act as though you belong there.

So far, he seems to be just as he is described in WoK. He seems like he is purely a world building character (i.e., info on places, Aimians, and spren).

I think that this is where intent comes in. I don't think that Kaladin's lashings would affect him if they were not intended to.

I'm not sure that the Thrill was necessarily corrupted. The comments of the blue KR in the Starfalls chapter leads me to suspect that the KR and other soldiers had to be trained to avoid being corrupted themselves. This suggested to me that the soldiers and KR (most notably the Alethelan ones) would be susceptible to the Thrill and they had to be trained in such a way as to experience what Dalinar appears to now experience (or at least at the Battle of the Tower).

I agree with Weiry that you can't judge Adonalsium effectively by the constituent shards it shattered into. For one thing, we only have half of that picture (we only know 8 of the 16). On top of which, I refer back to the WoB that FirstSelector referenced, if Odium is bad and the way he is because of the combination of selfish Rayse and the shard Odium, to make any reasonable judgement about Adonalsium we would have to know 1) if Adonalsium had a guiding intelligence (i.e., a holder), and 2) what was the nature of that guiding intelligence if it was present. Personally, I don't buy into the adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Certainly the likelihood of abuse of power is higher if there is nothing to check that power. But, I think that most abuses of power come because in many cases, those who seek power are those who it would be better if they did not attain it. There have been plenty of benevolent monarchs who came to power without seeking power and were just fine as monarchs. We don't often remember them because in many cases, nothing of significant historical import happened while they were in power. They ran their respective countries and ran them well enough that there were no notable problems or wars. It is the bad ones who abuse their power that we remember. And we remember them because they abused their power.

Brandon has frequently been asked if Hoid is a Shard of Adonalsium. However, I have never seen anyone ask, "Was Hoid ever a Shard of Adonalsium".

These are not new WoB. I just originally posted them in the wrong thread. It has only taken me 5 months to get around to fixing my mistake. I originally posted these in the Questions thread. He came so close to asking a great follow-up question: Was Hoid ever a Shard? But, alas, no, it did not happen.

I asked Brandon about whether Kaladin felt the Thrill in the Jost flashback scene and this was his response. Interpret it how you will. Source Personally, I don't think he felt the Thrill. But, I agree with comparing this scene to Shallan's Memory ability. I think they are definitely similar in origin. However, I don't think the Thrill at large is comparable to Memory. I think that the Thrill is of more Nefarious origins. That said, it should be noted that Dalinar's experience with the Thrill is changing from the nefarious Thrill to something apparently more pure. Source

I had my first (that I recall) Cosmere dream. I dreamed I was on a new shardworld with two new shards. One was Atonement (female) and the other was male and something to the effect of Remorse or something (I don't think there was an actual name, it just seemed that that was the intent). In any case, the central location on the shardworld was a crater-like formation that was upended onto its side. The formation was circular with two concentric tiers with the center tier recessed. In the center was a tall skinny rock formation like a stalagmite. The area was almost completely surrounded by a tall narrow ridge which was bare on the sides but had abundant grass and shrubs at the top. Inside the ridge valley was the ruins of some kind of building and there were two conglomerations of statues (like a dozen statues melded together). The statues were Christian statues (rather Catholic stylistically). The ridge area was surrounded on at least one approach by a shallow sea (likely influenced somewhat by the Purelake), the floor of which had volcanic rock fragments (irregularly shaped roughly 1 inch in diameter) and largish diamonds (up to about a centimeter in diameter). There were other islands or areas of land nearby (I started the dream on one of these). And then, I had the sharder moment. As I was contemplating what caused the crater formation, I was suddenly back in the sea and being taken by a cataclysmic event (origin event). There was a lot of falling rock and huge waves which killed me. Then reset and the waves and rock didn't kill me (aren't dreams great?). I travelled back to the crater area and founbd the same crater formation but flat to the ground (not upended). There was also a man and a woman in modern clothes and I knew who they were in the dream and was astonished at meeting Shards. The woman was speaking incredulously about something (presumably that which caused the cataclysmic event) and she apparently was a drama geek from northern Idaho. There was another person there as well a woman who was the companion of my dream self and she was standing in a shower of purple liquid that was coming from the ridge wall next to the crater. The male Shard urgently warned her not to stand in the shower because it was unclear what it would do to her. However, being the sharder that I am, I recognized that the shower was a manifestation of a shardpool and would result in her gaining powers. So like a diligent sharder I quickly moved to stand in the shower of liquid as well much to the chagrin of the man. So, unfortunately I have no idea what the powers would have been and I can't remember much of the events which happened. I know there was a lot of running and chasing through the buildings near the crater. But a lot of great setting details. And an interesting dream overall. I hope you got a kick out of hearing about it.

No problem. Look for it through your local library. Especially if you have an e-reader. Many libraries connect their members to an ebook lending library as well. I am on a waiting list for Dangerous Women with my library since I also am not interested in buying the entire book.

Kaladin has an innate ability with the spear/staff.

Welcome to a brave new world, Shash. If you are interested in seeing what the Shash glyph looks like, check out the beany in Brandon's online store on his website.

He is only sort of holding out. Back in ch. 21 Rock does tell Kaladin that the reason he can see Syl is because he is alaii'iku. He evades explaining what this means. But, it appears that it would be a well known phenomena to the Horneaters. Also, it should be noted that everyone has a part of them in the cognitive realm. Of course, you likely meant that he has a greater presence or connection to the cognitive realm than is typical.

I think it is capitalized because of the distinction and emphasis this sort of memory has in Shallan's mind. It is a distinct and particular meaning that is separate from a normal recollection memory. She is essentially taking a mental photograph which is stored until she draws the Memory later. After that, the Memory is erased from her mind, as it were.

I want the story in order in its entirety from start to finish. If it hadn't been for my desire to participate in the discussions here, I probably would not have read the pre-release stuff. I personally think that 10+% of the book is a lot to release as a teaser.

I would rather have a "someday you will know". Then at least you can somewhat count on it being revealed in one of the stories. A number of the RAFOs we'll never directly find out until Brandon thinks it is not a problem to answer a later question on the matter. They may never turn up in the stories.

Sure enough. I had never noticed that before. I'll have to peruse the maps again to what else I may have missed. Mind is marginally blown.