Khyrindor

Dalinar would be my second guess, but I don't think Sanderson is trying to hide who's writing it, nor does he need to. I thought it was Dalinar in the first three chapters, but the reference to being thought dead, and it all starting when the writer saw into the Cognitive Realm, that has to be Jasnah. Dalinar's journey definitely didn't start with a glimpse into the Realms (that we know of), nor does he seem interested in the scholarly nature of the Realms as we know Jasnah to be. I briefly entertained the notion that we are being mislead, but I don't think Brandon would do that without reason, so I will remain believing that it's Jasnah for the time being. Also, note that I'm still reading through the first six pages so I haven't had a look at everything else people have said.

Won't read through everything on here yet till tonight or tomorrow, but I wanted to throw my two cents in without being "tainted" by all the ideas on here. * The obvious choice for the chapter epigraphs is Jasnah, so that's fascinating. My first guess was Dalinar. * Glad to see the Stormfather is remaining somewhat "aloof". Some were worried that he was becoming too "buddy-buddy" with Dalinar. * *Facepalm* I apparently switched the storms around in my head and forgot the Everstorm was going the wrong way. I do wonder why it's silent though. Perhaps Dalinar is just too far away from the lightning to hear it? * The enemy rides this storm??? That's terrifying. Is Odium on Roshar now? * Yaaay! Dalinar admitted a secret to Navani. Good job, Dalinar, I'm glad that didn't take you all book like someone else we know. *Cough*Kaladin*Cough* * Some delicious new information. He married her for the Shardplate. She was taken hostage. I wonder by whom? Maybe some other Highprince during their conquest? * Oooooo a somewhat Vorin wedding. And by the Stormfather himself. I wasn't expecting it but it does make sense. Still frustrating that Kadash is still hesitant to accept it. I expect more trouble by the church. I certainly hope Kadash isn't one of those zealots like the Sons of Honor. Also some more teases at Dalinar's past. I definitely don't remember Kadash being that important to Dalinar from the first two books, but I'll look for that in the reread. * So Elhokar is in Urithiru... I wonder if the other kings know that, as they refer to Dalinar as the de facto king of Alethkar. Elhookar doesn't seem too happy with Dalinar, but in a way that he senses it's right anyway. I smell drama. * Okay, here's the Kaladin "Chapter 1" from before. But luckily it keeps going. * Syl's aunt hunts gloomspren. Very cool. Maybe that's why they're so rare. * I am glad to see that Kaladin's depression is still a part of him, but I sense that he's not letting it own him this time. He still has the self-rejection and guilt, but something is different. I didn't want the same old storyline with him struggling through it dominating this story. He's dreading things like facing his parents, but he knows what he has to do, and he knows the cost of focusing more on his own shortcomings in the face of the Everstorm. * Yaaasssss his parents are alive. I knew it! Also, Kaladin just throwing the guard away. Yaasss. * Shockspren. I love all these new spren we're seeing. * Heartwarming reunion. Basically what I expected, but I know that there will be some drama. Dang it Kaladin, suck up some stormlight and summon Syl to show them all who's boss so that they stop accusing you of all those things. * "We had to dedicate your spot to something else, Kaladin." Hmmmmm is there a new child? Or another person staying with them? That would be interesting as well. * Mara, the apprentice. Very interesting. Maybe she's staying with his parents? Now, was Vivenna called Mara as a cover name in Warbreaker, or am I just remembering Nyneave? * "Something else you need to know about-" grrrr. Don't cut her off I need answers. * "Perhaps it was time, for once, to stop letting the rain dictate his mood. He couldn’t banish the seed of darkness inside him, but Stormfather, he didn’t need to let it rule him either." Yes, good job Kaladin that's real growth. * YES PUNCH HIM KALADIN. Storms, I wasn't expecting that but I hope it doesn't cause too much problems. As soon as he summons the blade they'll all realize he's in charge now. That was badchull. Oh my.

You could try contacting Team Sanderson in an email, I'm sure Adam can clear it up for you as well.

This is HUGE! Finally, confirmation that you need to use metal everywhere in the Cosmere for Spiking.

Any Sharders got any juicy questions in yet?

The top one is a (signed) photograph of Brandon pouring glowstick liquid into a weird puddle. It was for a convention/fundraiser thing a few years back (possibly part of a calendar). The bottom one is a painting of Patrick Rothfuss with a sonic screwdriver that I believe you can find at tinker's packs. I also have Steve Argyle's print of Vin on the wall to the left of those, and the cosmere star charts to the right of the book shelf.

My Sanderson Shelf (+ a few). A few of my books are missing in this picture, including White Sand Vol 1, one of my Emperor's Souls, and Snapshot. (Also, notice the Advance Reading Copy of Way of Kings that we won from Tor) Book 8 of Wheel of Time is signed by Robert Jordan, and most of the Sanderson books are signed/signed and numbered. My best number is #26 (Shadows Beneath) followed by my Elantris 10th anniversary edition (#91). A few trinkets up there as well, some coin books, a little tree, bookends from the British Museum, signed RAFO card, etc. I have another bookshelf, but it's disorganized and small so I don't think I'll post it just yet.

1. Dalinar is the prime suspect for the murder of Sadeas, and Adolin struggles with his guilt and his protectiveness of his family, finally admitting his crimes and accepting the punishment in order to spare Dalinar. Adolin sees the shame in his father's eyes as he's led out of Urithiru to be exiled. In his absence, Dalinar comes to grips with it, and forgives Adolin, prodigal son style. 2. WoB says Kaladin's parents are alive, but may be in a less-than-optimal state. Kaladin arrives at Hearthstone too late to save the majority, only to find his father holed up with the rest of the refugees who finally (conveniently) got over their fears of medicinal practice. His mother may be unconscious. Roshone is dead, leaving a broken Laral in charge, who remembered Kaladin's father just in time to save most of the town. Kaladin's father can't speak to him after he find's out about Tien's death, leading to Kaladin not revealing his "status change" until absolutely necessary. 3. Kaladin takes the refugees with him to Kholinar, trying to figure out how to use the authority Dalinar gave him without his father finding out. Mom finally wakes up and catches Kaladin talking to Syl (who chose to show herself to her, because she know's what's good for Kaladin). This leads to complications, but his mother takes everything a lot better than his father. 4. Dalinar is mortally wounded, then healed by Renarin. 5. The Stormfather will finally be summoned as the biggest, most epic Shardblade, saving the day. 6. Hoid "educates" Jasnah. 7. Nale's change of heart leads him to confront Ishar, and many of the proto-Skybreakers side with Ishar instead, except Szeth. 8. Oathbringer (the sword) gains a new bearer. 9. Navani finds some new toys in Urithiru, leading to fantastic breakthroughs in fabrial technology. 10. The Ghostbloods are actually not as bad as we've been lead to believe, and Shallan is forced to choose between Jasnah and her new family. Some of those were random thoughts and some have been stewing in my head for a very long time. I'm probably wrong about them all, but I've put them down anyway to see if I'm right later.

I don't think it's been confirmed that she is a dragon, but it's an interesting theory (we know that not all the Shards have human Vessels). Some WoBs I remember are "Trell has been many things over the eons" which fits nicely with that weird one about Bavadin having entire pantheons dedicated to her, in which all the members are her as well (male and female). We don't really know too much about dragons yet, other than that they can appear as human, so we can't say for sure that that's what it is. I agree that something fishy is going on,, though.

Emperor's Soul: Alloy of Law: Shadows of Self: Bands of Mourning:

I'll give this a try, sounds fun. White Sand: Elantris: Mistborn: WoA: HoA: Secret History: Mistborn Over All: Warbreaker: WoK: WoR: Might do some more later. Enjoy!

"Shardpools" was a fan-invented term as well, though one that Brandon has taken to using. The all-encompassing term is actually "Perpendicularities" though they come in more forms than Shardpools. EDIT: Also, "Shardholders" as a name for someone who holds a Shard of Adonalsium is another one that fans made up, that Brandon started using. It was often confused with Shardbearers, so Brandon changed the name to Vessels in Secret History. We should be using that term now instead of the old one.

I feel like Moash's story would be much more satisfying if he became a bigger minor antagonist, fighting to choose his friendship of Kaladin over his hatred of the king. I don't want a redemption arc either, but some of that inner conflict at a key point wouldn't be amiss. I'd be okay with him having to die in the end as well (though of course Kaladin would feel bad about it).

I think we know enough by now to say that this probably wouldn't work. It might on Sel, but not off-world. Since you need the Dor to power anything, it wouldn't matter what kind of key you use, if there's no power to unlock. If you brought the Dor with you somehow, and did the Aon Rao trick, then it might work.

It's possible that he's an Amian of some sort as well, but I don't think there's anything to disprove it. The idea has been raised before, particularly on the "where's WalDo" thread.

Getting started on the Signing Line Thanks for posting!

On my first read of Mistborn, I was a bit confused at the beginning as well, especially when Vin was still calling allomancy her "Luck". I was quite young at the time so perhaps I can blame that. The issue with the mysteries that you mentioned, is partially because it's the author's second book, and the fact that "there's always another secret" is highlighted a lot as a theme of the novel. Some of what you said about Sanderson trying to hook you in with giving you a glimpse of something and not explaining it makes sense. But at the same time, Sanderson is a very "show, don't tell" author, and while it can be confusing for the reader at first, Mistborn allows you to learn about the magic alongside Vin, which gives a convenient excuse for the author to "tell" about the magic through Kelsier's training. I just reread the first Mistborn novel this month, and each time I do, I'm blown away by the foreshadowing that Sanderson puts in there, Reen's voice, stuff about Atium, etc. You can clearly see that Sanderson has a plan in mind for the series, but it's very hard to guess it. A lot of the characters don't get any growth until the second book, which you probably found out, which is my only serious problem with the first book. In answer to your question then, though it may be a biased opinion, is yes, you should definitely keep reading. I'd recommend starting with Warbreaker. It's a little slow at the beginning, but even then you start to care about what happens to the characters. I also think it contrasts and reflects the first Era of Mistborn quite well. Instead of dark and depressing, it's light and colorful. There's a lot of humor in it, and the plot is very fulfilling in the end as it ties together. It was written before Wheel of Time was finished though, if I recall correctly, so you may not quite get the feeling of vast improvement like you did with the second Era. The Stormlight Archive is also excellent, and the characters are all much more interesting. It's one where you can see Sanderson's growth at writing character. It's also been described as the series that's close to his heart, the one that's been growing in the back of his mind for a few decades, so he's putting everything he has into it. I will warn, however, that the series is only two books (and a novella) in so far (out of ten), but each one reads like a trilogy, and has several climax points. If you don't like waiting for books, it may not be the series for you, but most of us here consider the wait well worth it (and Sanderson is a machine when it comes to writing, so the waits aren't going to be as long as the wait for Doors of Stone or Winds of Winter). The third book will be coming out in November, though, so we're already decently into the series. Anyways, hope my rambling wasn't too long. Welcome to the Shard!

Spren based themselves off the Honorblades, so I figure they were Blades first, which is why they're stuck in that form when they "die".

The location dependent thing is only because the Unmade that causes death rattles can only affect certain areas at a time. What happens is, the Unmade uses the spark of death to glimpse into the Spiritual Realm to see a possibility of the future. The Cognitive Realm isn't really used in this ordeal, which is why I think you're right that the fragment collected wasn't a Death Rattle, but wrong about whether they're bonding a spren.

I suppose that makes sense. Though, I think it's likely that the person in the hospital was truly a proto Lightweaver, and the amount of Radiants is what drew the Cryptics. I'm not even sure how they would be able to spy on Taravangian from the Cognitive Realm, unless they hear the death rattles as well.

Pattern was bonded to Shallan for a long time before she came to Kharbranth, as well, and I think Pattern would have said something if he had been spying on Taravangian before Shallan progressed in her Oaths (that is, if he remembered).

@Yata what I'm trying to theorize is why Elantrian's magic doesn't work in Teod, and why Dakhor does. I'm going to get into Secret History spoilers in here. Elantrians need the Dor for their powers to work. This presumably means that there is a huge buildup of the Dor in the Cognitive Realm equivalent of Elantris, because the Aons work there. Dakhor works in Arelon and Teod, but Elantrians need the Dor to draw upon in order for their power to work. Elantrians can live off the Dor's Investiture even off world, so long as they have built a pipeline of the Dor from Sel. We know this from Secret History (Or we think we do). This means that we can assume Elantrians can use their powers anywhere with the Dor. Elantrians can't use their powers in Teod. I theorize that this is because there is no Dor around that part of Sel, otherwise Elantrians would have power to draw on. The Dakhor must have Investiture inside of them at all times instead of drawing on the Dor like the Elantrians, otherwise they wouldn't be able to use it in Teod, like the Elantrians. Now, Teod is part of the Arelish culture, but no one from Teod becomes an Elantrian while living in Elantris. When you look at Aons, they always take the shape of the landscape of Arelon, not Teod. Teod is included in the culture of the continent, but not the magic. I think it's safe to assume that there is no Dor around Teod for Elantrians to draw on, but that they would be able to in areas of Fjordell that do have the Dor. I'm just stating what you know and then what I think we can extrapolate from that logically. I'm not sure where you're getting your facts from, but if you can back them up I'll believe you.

If they went to areas that had the Dor around them, then I presume they would be able to. Similarly, if they brought the Dor with them with a pipeline, they would be able to operate. We've only seen Elantrians travel to Teod, where their power didn't work. Another theory is that Elantrians constantly draw upon the Dor for their strength, while Dakhor could be drawing on their own strength, after being Initiated by the Dor.

When Odium Splintered Devotion and Dominion, he locked their power in the Cognitive Realm, where it melded into what we know as the Dor. At some point, the Dor also began to permeate the landscape of Sel (as the Cognitive Realm is still reliant on position), which led to the Dor basing itself of of the map shapes. The reason the Dor is only powerful in some areas is because, well, that's where the Dor is trapped on the Cognitive side of things. Elantris likely has a larger spot of Dor, as does Fjordell and the rest. Perhaps the reason the Dakhor monks could use magic around Elantris is that they were still powering it with the Dor that was there, and the reason it doesn't work in Teod is because the landscape there lacks the Dor's presence.

Brandon has recently said that the name will make sense once we read the book, so I assume that there will be an in-world book named "Oathbringer".