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You spent a long time talking about why the fused were scared to perma-kill (or trap?) Jezrien. My reading of that scene was that they were just scared of the knife that was going to do the stabbing. It is a potent artifact with the power to kill or capture a cognitive shadow with an inherent respawn ability. It is no wonder the fused wouldn't want to touch it.

I haven't looked at it yet. What is the timeframe in which you are hoping for feedback? Work is extremely busy this month and I doubt I will be able to make time for this until things calm down a bit. If the timing works out, it might make more sense for me to read through a later draft after you've Incorporated some of the suggestions from other readers.

Another sharder (Kearin on discord, not sure what their handle is here) recently pointed me to Life Ore Death by Obloquy, and I'm enjoying it a lot. It takes a full feruchemist from shortly after the Catacendre and dimension-hops her into the DC universe. The interactions between the Metallic Arts and DC powers are interesting and well thought out, and the main character's backstory is not only awesome but also fits well enough into the gaps of Era 1 events that I am adopting it as headcanon.

Agreed. I've added @Nohadon, and I'm happy to add @MoHaam if they post here themselves. Thanks for tagging them so they know it's an option.

Neato! I'm interested to see how the multi-media approach works out. In that respect it's similar to the kingkiller adaptations currently in the works. I'm not quite sure what "dark and twisted" means in the context of a Sanderson project. I wonder how that "multi-volume" projection impacts his publishing obligations, since these apparently fall under his Random House works (Reckoners, Skyward, etc.) From the article, this quote by Brandon is interesting. I wonder what visual storytelling techniques made it start working.

Excellent points, @Jess. I agree with all of your arguments here. I also strongly agree with Ian's point at the beginning about how distilling a shard's being into a single word is a pointless exercise that often gives misleading ideas about the nature of the shard. Supposing that the entirety of the power can be encapsulated in a single word sets you up for all the mistakes that come from oversimplification. To take a round-about approach to things, I have several points that lead into each other. I think it is significant that all of the shard names we know have a connotation of action. For example, Kelsier's experience of Leras' shard (things unchanging, one note held for eternity, all moments compressed into one) could easily be described as "Stasis," but instead the shard is called "Preservation." The connotation is that things aren't just staying the same--rather, some agency is actively preventing change. The same can be said for Cultivation, Honor, Devotion, Dominion, Endowment, Ruin. These are words that have verb forms and a strong feeling of volition. This makes a lot of sense when we remember that the shards need a mind to direct them. A dropped shard will seek out a vessel, and if that investiture is left untended then it will develop intelligence on its own. A lot of the discussion in this cast was about how much of an influence the vessel's mind has on the interpretation of a shard. To paraphrase several stances (at the risk of putting words in others' mouths): Some say the shard itself is Passion, but when held by Rayse the more appropriate name for the combined entity is Odium based on how the shard expresses itself. Others say the opposite, that the shard alone is more closely aligned to Odium (since that is what everyone else calls it instinctively) but since Rayse's mind filters it as Passion, that is a more accurate name for the entity he became. Still others argue that the vessel's influence is transient and doesn't impact the identity of the shard, so whatever name it would have alone is necessarily the same regardless of the vessel's interpretation. I don't know the best way to say this next part, but I'm starting to wonder if the essential volition of a shard, the need for a directing mind, means that the names we apply to shards are only meaningful or applicable to the combined entity. So, when Leras drops Preservation that pile of investiture retains its realmatic "flavor" of keeping stuff the same and out of convenience we continue to call it "Preservation," but it isn't truly Preservation again until the next vessel picks it up. Perhaps the unheld power Leras dropped would be better named as Stasis until it acquires a mind to direct it. I'm not entirely convinced of this idea, but I think it has some merit.

Feeling super relieved today. For several months now my wife has been showing symptoms that pointed to multiple sclerosis. Her mom has MS, so we were pretty sure that was what was going on. Well, she had her MRI last week and today was the followup appointment. Turns out there are zero lesions to indicate MS, and her symptoms are actually caused by something much more benign (cavernous hemangioma) that doesn't result in chronic or progressive debilitation like MS. Whew! It's a huge weight off, and I feel like I actually have the emotional energy now to address all of the craziness that is happening at work. Feel very blessed & fortunate.

I'm sensing a theme here :-) I enjoyed the initial section where we get May's reflections on the main cast. I thought I had a good idea of where this was headed, and then the chapter took an immediate turn into entirely different territory--and it was loads of fun! a super boring babysitting job. (I'm not gonna argue with May.) I'm looking forward to the next episode. Out of curiosity, is the pile of goop supposed to be WalDo or a new, unrelated individual?

I like this take on May's character. Looking forward to future installments!

Does it retain the idea of household? That is, if I said "This is House Kholin," would that word apply? (Or to get Biblical, is it related to "House of Israel" phrasing?)

After reading the sample chapters that were posted with the cover reveal (news post here) I still can't guess what continuity the story is in. As much as I love Defending Elysium it just doesn't fit, in my opinion. Firstborn is a possibility, but also doesn't feel right. I am excited about the book, though. Those sample chapters paint a good picture of where things are expected to go, and I'm having fun imagining the twists Brandon will throw into the mix. (I also like that Peter gets an starfighter maneuver named after him this time, instead of a location. The McCaffrey nod is obvious, but I'm wondering if any of those other names are also tributes to authors. Anybody recognize them?)

The reading was from the prologue. In the main events she is 17 (per the sample chapters linked above). After reading the sample, I'm even more excited for the book. I still can't figure out what continuity it belongs in. The world doesn't match any of his other works that I recognize. An argument could be made for Firstborn, but I don't see it. That Brandon is being cagey about confirming any connections to other works makes me think that the reveal will be exciting for anyone who catches it.

Thank you for the kind feedback! I'm really glad you liked it. Naming him Gerund/Ing was super funny to me, and I'm happy with the timing of the joke. (I'm actually pretty curious what portion of readers will appreciate it. Of the three editors who gave feedback, one thought it was hilarious, one rolled her eyes, andone didn't even notice.) I'm flattered at the Rothfuss comparison. I hadn't thought about it, but that may well have been an unconscious influence on structuring the intro. @thegatorgirl00, I confirmed the Kindle Unlimited situation. Yes, authors get a royalty when you read via KU. The amount varies, though. As I understand it, there is a monthly pot of royalty money that gets split between all KU authors based on a monthly count of pages read, number of readers, and the list price. So I have no sense yet for how the KU royalty compares to a sale royalty in hard numbers.

Thanks for the correction on that R'Shara. You're right, those events were very separate. Not sure what I was thinking. I'll need to go back to my notes and see what the real question was before I did my rewording pass.

I already sent these question suggestions to Jof in a PM. I'll add them here. Have an awesome time at the con!

Great question! The short answer is no, that doesn't hurt the authors. I don't remember the numbers, but authors get a royalty based on the number of readers who get a book via Kindle Unlimited, just like we get a percentage off of each book sold. Basically, we may not make as much in royalties from a KU reader as from someone who buys the book, but the value of having you read the book is much greater than the loose change that trickles in from a single book sale. (This is especially true for things like this anthology, where the royalties get split between the contributing authors.) The important part is to have readers tell their friends when they like something, so that word will spread. You are never going to single handedly support an author by buying their books. But if you convince someone else to get my book, you've just doubled the royalty I would have gotten from you. If you get my book from a library and tell people you liked it, that's just as good. If you want to help the authors you like, the very best thing to do is buy a copy of the book for every person you know. In the event that you can't do that for every book release, there are three things that are almost as good. First, tell your friends. Recommendations from someone they trust are the most likely to get them interested in a book. Second, rate the book on Amazon (or other book merchant) and on Goodreads. Those sites influence a lot of people's buying decisions, so your recommendation will have the farthest reach there. Also, at least on Amazon, there are set thresholds for the number of ratings a book has to have before they will market it in certain ways. For example, once a book has 50 reviews it will start to show up under other books in the "People also read..." section. Third, if you plan to buy the book, buy it on release day. Release-week sale numbers tell publishers how much effort to put into marketing a book, and those numbers determine placement in best-seller lists, which is huge for visibility. (This one isn't as important in my case since Unspun is being published by a small indie press that has already made all the marketing allocations it plans to. Also because I don't have a publication backlist that would get a boost from having my name on a high-selling list.) Disclaimer: This is the first piece of writing that i am actually selling to people for money, so it's possible there are additional moving parts here I don't know about.

You've been added to the map. What problems do you mean? I'm guessing that you don't hold issue with the map project since you volunteered your location.

Awesome! I'm excited to share it, and I'm stoked about being everyone's first impression of the anthology. I have been wanting to ask the editor what factors went into deciding the order of the stories. Mine is the longest of the short-story-length pieces (7400 words) and one of the better ones (I might be biased), but I don't know if those factors were important, or if the order was determined more by tone (silly vs adventurous vs introspective), pagination to get the illustrations on the right pages, or something else entirely. It's silly, but one of the things I'm really looking forward to is the little "goodreads author" badge that I get to claim. And, of course, the instant fame and fortune that come from being a published author. Can't forget that. And yeah, CC are my initials. I've frequently considered switching to something more easily parsed or pronounced, but haven't settled on anything I like. I've used that username for everything social for almost 20 years (good grief!) primarily because it is unique and therefore available on any new site I join. Usually people who see that ccstat think I really like statistics, but it originally comes from a high school joke when a friend quoted a medical-based TV show, "give me 50 cc's, stat!"

The Amazon and Goodreads pages are live now! Links added to the OP. The ebook ($5) can be pre-ordered now, and the print version ($13) will be available for order on April 10. Pinging @Argent and @Extesian, who wanted to be notified.

I'm not the one to decide, but this didn't seem out of place to me. With Dalinar and Navani's wedding those family relationships got a bit more complicated. Add in that Jasnah tends to speak formally, and I don't think it's odd for her to say "my mother" to her uncle/step-dad even when Navani is present.

Not yet, but it will be soon. It is a small press, and last I heard the ISBN was still pending or something like that. As soon as it goes up on Goodreads I'll post a link.

A lot of good points @Subvisual Haze, though I'm hesitant to rely too much on the details of that system chart. It doesn't strike me as a particularly technical document. I do like your analysis of the orbit eccentricities and orientations, and it that makes a lot of sense. I particularly like your idea that Salas' "hesitance" is related to its slower velocity at moonrise. I'll have to take a closer look at how different periapsis points would influence the relative timing of the moons. For now, I think you are definitely on to something. Changing the length of the moonless "hour" may help the timing some, but for me the main problem is that east-west variation. In accounting for the breadth of the continent, and therefore the different time zones, it still appears that in Shinovar the hateful hour ought to occur in mid-afternoon, rather than after sunset when it could actually be dark.

I’m getting published! A short story I wrote is coming out in the anthology Unspun: A Collection of Tattered Fairy Tales, which is being released on April 10. I’ve read all the pieces and highly recommend the book. My story is called "Heart of a Thief" and follows the man who bought Jack's cow for a handful of magic beans. I had a lot of fun figuring out why someone would make such a purchase. Hopefully you will too! Edit: The book it's now available for order on Amazon and is listed on Goodreads. Here are the basics: Unspun is a collection of short stories about what comes after the “ever after” of classic fairy tales. You can learn more in my blog posts about the collection and about my story. Here is the publisher’s description: I want to gush for a moment about some of the other stories in Unspun. There are three that by themselves make this absolutely worth buying. One of these is a novella by Katherine Cowley. It is based on the less well-known fairy tale of Tatterhood, who is an ugly princess with a magic wooden spoon. The storytelling and worldbuilding and magic of Cowley's story are an excellent fit for Sanderfans, and the story itself is wonderful. It's about beauty and acceptance, about marriage and loyalty, and about coming to know yourself and others. Plus it features Tatterhood's awesome sidekick, a parkour-loving goat. Another fantastic piece in the anthology is by Jeanna Mason Stay and is about Gretel dealing with PTSD after what she experienced in the gingerbread house. The prose is simply beautiful and I love how every word puts you right in Gretel's mind. Jeanna wrote about the anthology on her blog here. The other story I love is by Kaki Olsen and based on The Nutcracker. The main character inherits the nutcracker from her mother and has to deal with the discovery of its magic at the same time she is dealing with her grief over her mother's death. The way her emotional state intersects with the excitement of the plot is perfect, and I really want to read more stories about these characters. Those are my three favorites, but the rest are also great. The pied piper tries to figure out what to do with the children following him, Prince Ivan's mother tries to understand how her unpromising son acquired a firebird and a wife during her short absence, and the little mermaid (now just sea foam) tries to speak to her family. There are also stories based on Rumplestiltskin, Snow White, and the Princess and the Pea. I am thrilled to have my story included with them. Overall the collection contains two novellas, seven short stories, and two shorter works (a poem and a piece of flash fiction). In addition, the cover artist drew illustrations to accompany each piece, which is something I am extra excited about. My experience with the editors was wonderful, and I can't wait to see the actual finished product. It will be available on release day in both print and ebook, and I hope you love it!

Ack! Thanks for the correction. I was mis-remembering, which is sad since that was my own question.