GreyPilgrim

The list I remember reading somewhere is: Arc One: Kaladin Shallan Szeth Eshonai Dalinar Arc Two: (in no particular order) Taravangian Jasnah Navani Taln Another Herald I do remember Brandon saying somewhere that he was considering another Kaladin book, but it sounded extremely unlikely to me.

That was merely wishful thinking. I know Stormlight is special in the amount of art in it. I can only wish that something similar would appear in Brandon's other books, even if it is not as fitting in them.

If this is what we get when Whelan and Inkthinker collaborate (to an extent) I hope we see more like it in the future! This is definitely the best piece of art for the SA yet! Can't wait for 8 books after these of great art! Is it too much for me to hope that all of Brandon's future books have this level of art in them? The Stormlight books are shaping out to be so beautiful that basically everything pales in comparison.

I too hail from the wonderful state of Massachusetts. I agree with TheShogun on Boston being a lovely city. (Except for the drivers.)

I will not sit down for this blasphemy, the two of you! Feel the wrath of the Grey Pilgrim! Just kidding. I love Tolkien's work, and totally respect your opinions. I do agree that the opening of the Lord of the Rings is a little dry the first time through. I really respect the world and mythology though. But again, nothing against you for not liking it. More on topic, I have never been able to get in to the Narnia books. Maybe it's all the religious allegory. I don't know.

I hadn't heard of the fewer hours myself, Natans, though I did the math. 1.1 times our year is about right, based on what I did. We know Roshar's gravity is about 0.7 that of Earth. Assume the two planets are equally dense. 1/0.7=1.43. This is the relative volume of Earth to Roshar. To find the relative 2-dimensional proportion, the square root of 1.43 is about 1.20. 1 divided by that, to find the proportion of Roshar to Earth, is 0.83 (5/6). Assuming Earth and Roshar rotate at the same rate, a Roshar day is thus 5/6 one Earth day, or 20 Earth hours. There are 500 days in year on Roshar. 500x5/6 is 416 and 2/3, thus that many Earth days in Roshar year. 416 and 2/3 divided by 365 is about 1.14. So, 1.1 is a good approximation. So my point in the previous post is kind of irrelevant. What I love is that Brandon must have done the same exact math when he decided Roshar was 0.7 Earth's gravity.

I agree with Feather, particularly with regards to the whitewashing. Although I do want to note that while Kaladin is 19-20 in Roshar years, that translates to significantly older in Earth years. If a Roshar day is the same as an Earth day, and Rosharans age at the same relative age as us on Earth, then Kaladin is about 27 in Earth years. If neither of these is the case please correct me.

To this whole topic, I reply: There's always another secret.

I'll have to get used to this one... I've had the original as my phone lock screen since August, so the new one looks kind of wrong to me for now. Is there a full painting spread yet? Because I really hope the Szeth on the pile of bodies has been modified.

Bartbug: You're right. I am basing everything off of what we have seen thus far and the potential effects of them. Shardlet: i guess what i mean is understanding of the mechanics of the cosmere, not just awareness overall.

The Lift Interlude has had me thinking about the level of awareness of the cosmere, namely Realmatics and Investiture, among the separate Shardworlds. While Way of Kings had a few hints at the cosmere, (it's been a while since I read through it, but the only instances that really stick out in my mind are in the Geranid interlude and Shadesmar), it did not seem to indicate that Roshar was heavily aware of its underlying principles. Jasnah does not really seem to understand the full ramifications of what Shadesmar is, and the ardents seem to only haver a very general sense of what the separate Realms are. There was no real hint of anyone on Roshar having knowledge Shards and/or Investiture. Lift's Interlude (at least for me) seems to change this dramatically. Wyndle and his "people" clearly have a much more thorough comprehension. (I'm sure this has been pointed out already, but I only briefly perused this subforum before writing this.) Darkness also has this knowledge: If he is Nalan, as many, myself included, believe, this means that the Heralds have/had a very thorough understanding also of the cosmere. That Wyndle (a spren) has this knowledge means that other sentient spren, i.e. honorspren and other bonding spren, likely also have it. How they have it is a mystery to me, one that I hope will be solved some day. Regardless, this could have great ramifications. As we see more and more new Surgebinders, something also shown by this interlude (I had sort of assumed that they would continue to be extremely rare but this may not be the case), it is likely that this information will be passed on in full to them. Roshar could this become a fully cosmere aware planet. Very fascinating. This excites me because it means that we may soon be given more thorough cosmere knowledge from the books themselves rather than directly from Brandon. I know that he has said that he will always try to keep this kind of stuff in low quantity in the books, it seems inevitable that the amount will increase over time. Thus do I come to my point: What level of awareness do the Shardworlds that we have seen have currently and which are likely to increase drastically in the near future? Roshar: Apparent from what I have just said, it appears that Roshar right now has the potential to have the most thorough comprehension beginning in the near future. Spren understand Realmatics and know of Shards, the Heralds (may) understand Investiture, Vorin ardents (likely other religious figures too) generally get Realmatis, and some Surgebinders can travel directly to the Cognitive Realm. Maybe it was obvious that Roshar would be the most heavily involved as it appears the Stormlight Archive will be Brandon's magnum opus and (in-world) that Odium, the biggest threat to the cosmere (so far) is focused on it. Regardless, there is some pretty big evidence. Sel: In my mind, Sel is second. In fact, I had thought (until now) that it was first. I have in my mind somewhere that Brandon had said that Sel was the most cosmere-aware. It is possible that it is most cosmere aware among the general human population, but Roshar seems to win by far considering other entities. It has been forever since I read Elantris, so I'm really rusty (I actually didn't know of the cosmere when I read it, so this is likely totally unfounded) but it gave us virtually nothing about the cosmere. This is not surprising, however, as it was the first book. The Emperor's Soul, however, gives us more than any other book so far, with its knowledge about the Cognitive Realm and the way objects view themselves. Plus, on Sel, we have (Kurkistan will be happy) forms in abundance. Scadrial: This is third. The knowledge given us from Mistborn is that of Shards and Investiture. While it has the most that we can analyze for cosmere benefit, its people know virtually nothing about any of it. Sazed seems to know more than anyone else. The Realms appear to have no recognition by the Scadrians, and they do not know what Investiture is. Scadrial's place is viable to change, though, since we will have a ton more books there with the information expanding in each. I bet by the third trilogy Scadrial will have passed Sel, maybe even Roshar. For the moment, however, it is third. Nalthis: And, last but not least of the major Shardworlds we know, is Nalthis. I haven't much to say here. Warbreaker gives us almost literally NOTHING to analyze. Endowment. That is about it. Oh, we can go into the Realmatic analysis of Awakening, but do the Nalthians really get this. No matter how scientifically defined Awakening is, Nalthis is lowest in cosmere knowledge of all the major Shardworlds seen to date. Anyone have anything to add, or to refute totally?

I agree 100%; the Wheel of Time posts are really great. They remind me once again why I really love Brandon so much as a writer. There is just so, so much about him that is amazing. Most obviously, there is the cosmere, which I would hazard to say is the main reason most of us here love Brandon's books. There is something truly special about the way Brandon has managed to create so many great worlds and tie them all together. I cannot wait for when the ties come to the forefront more and more. Realmatic Theory and the whole Shard concept are truly wonderful. I may not be a rabid theorizer, but I love all the possibilities the cosmere possesses. In addition, all of Brandon's separate worlds are fascinating in and of themselves. They all seem so very full, even though so far (Roshar excluded) we really only know a lot about a few different cities and countries on each planet. Despite that, they all have a feeling of completeness to them; they seem much bigger than what has been revealed to us (and of course they are). I love Brandon's openness with his fans. All the questions he answers, all the events he does, show us that he really respects his fanbase and enjoys interacting with us. Though I haven't any wish to read them, I love that he willingly gives out rough drafts of old books. I love things like the Steelhunt, which make him seem just so much more amazing. I have yet to meet Brandon in person, but to do so is on my bucket list. I greatly respect Brandon for all of these things, but I cannot with all truth say that they are what I love most about him as a writer. Most important to me is all the talking he does about himself as a writer. The annotations, for one thing, are a great example of this. That he goes and tells us everything that went into his books right down at the chapter level is amazing. I know of no other writer who has done such a thing (though I would love to know if there are others). I love to read about all the little things what went on in Brandon's mind as he wrote these wonderful books. I love to see how he has grown with each new publication, and I eagerly await to see how he will continue to grow in the future. I had always been a little disappointed that we had nothing in the way of annotations for Brandon's Wheel of Time books, despite the fact that they have been the most formative works of his career. This is why I was overjoyed to hear about the Wheel of Time Retrospective posts. He has alluded to much of what he tells us about in the posts before, but it is wonderful to hear it all in a more formal manner. I feel bad for any fans who have not had the chance to read Brandon's work in the Wheel of Time; I feel that they belong to him nearly as much as they do to Robert Jordan, and to try to understand Brandon's career and growth without having read them leaves a gaping hole. So far, we have seen relatively little of his writing since them; The Way of Kings was written concurrently with them, and The Rithmatist was first written before he began to work on them. I cannot wait to see what comes next, for so many reasons. I cannot wait to come to understand more about the cosmere. I cannot wait to learn more about the worlds of Roshar and Scadrial. But, above all, I cannot wait to see how Brandon will continue to grow and become even more awesome than he already is.

Well of Ascension: Alloy of Law:

While a PM or something like it might not be directly against the rules, I don't think we should do so. Just let it be something special for the few lucky ones. Yes, it would be something nice to share with the community, and yes there are only a few hundred active members here, but I just think this is something winners should keep to themselves. I can see someone sharing it with personal friends, but so few of the members here have actually met in real life that it is in a different spirit. I am not telling you what should be done with the codes, this is just what I personally think.

Hardcover and paperback for me. Never tried audiobooks, and I like the feel and look of a paper book too much to switch over to e-books (for now, I will probably switch eventually). I will continue to buy Brandon's books in paper, because of all the awesome art.

This is still my belief at this point. Based on the many parallels between Allomancy and Feruchemy, as stated in my initial reply to this thread, it makes most sense that the way to gain Feruchemy would be along the same lines as in Allomancy. Nothing at this point suggests otherwise (that I know of).

I would say that this is no coincidence; Brandon asked that his official fansite be called the 17th Shard, probably for the very reason that what we are doing is similar to what the fictional organization is doing.

Buy, if only because I really want this to happen. But a Fullborn, as you say, has so much potential, so much to explore, that I don't think Brandon will be able to resist. At least one of the protagonists of The Stormlight Archive will hold, or at least touch (ala Well of Ascension) the full power of a Shard at some point over the course of the series.

Sell. Maybe Wayne, but not Wax. Dalinar will die in the first Stormlight cycle (meaning before book 6).

I buy it. I think that Ironeyes will make an appearance in Shadows of Self.

That is a good line. Haven't read Alcatraz yet, but anything that starts with that must be good! For me, the measure of a great opening line is how well it gets me reading or the feeling it evokes in me. Szeth's opening line in WoK is of the "gets me reading type". Most of Brandon's are really. I love how the opening of Mistborn, "Ash fell from the sky" begins to world build with a significant element of the plot and really sets the tone of the series as well.

I don't know if this is obvious, I'm not tech-savvy at all, but what does it mean when it says search engines such as Google and Bing are online? Does it mean that site showed up in a search somewhere (basically meaning that those two are always online in the last 15 minutes)? Not important, just curious.

I am sorry if I have angered anyone. I was not aware that it is something that authors and editors prefer. Thank you for pointing this out to me.

Would Seran happen to be a reference to the Conventical of?

I was being mostly sarcastic, but I agree with the general statement that Kelsier did some extremely bad stuff when he was alive. The aforementioned killing of nobility is inexcusable. I would not in any way call him a villain, though. He had many great motivations, and those that were not so great were at least justifiable to some extent. I do not see how taking up Preservation "eased his transition into death", though. He had already been dead for several years by then, though he was not in the same place as other Scadrians go post-death. They go to the Spiritual Realm, but he was with Sazed. I have always assumed that this is referring to the Cognitive Realm. When you refer to easing his transition into death, do you mean moving from the CR to the SR? Because I do not believe that this occurred. Maybe I am over analyzing, but hey what else are we here for?