Link Von Kelsier Harvey

Ah, that was not shards in general, but the powers of Ruin and the powers of Preservation specifically that cannot create alone. Other shards may have the power to create on their own.

It's Peter!

Well, when these guys got together to make a website, they were originally gonna call it Hoid's Compendium. But then Brandon recommended 17th Shard instead. All we know about the in-world 17th shard comes from TWoK. It is presumably an organization with knowledge of/ties to Adonalsium and the shards. Some members of it (who seem likely to have originally been from Sel) are looking for Hoid during TWoK. Why it is named as it is, we have no clue.

If you read the books really carefully, you'll notice that Hoid actually appears in every single one. He's even mentioned by name in all of them except WoA. Remember Ruin and Preservation? Remember how Sazed said they belonged together. That's because they are pieces, "Shards," of a being/entity/thing called Adonalsium. We don't know much about it, except that at some point it shattered into 16(by the most common theory) pieces with names like Ruin, Preservation, Endowment, Odium, etc. Most of these pieces are currently held by people who were (presumably) around when it shattered, or by those who inherited them. Example: The person who originally bonded with Ruin was named Ati. Hence, Atium. But now that shard is held by Sazed. There's a list on this forum of all the shards we know of as well as the names of the people holding them. Hoid was present when Adonalsium shattered, but as far as we know doesn't hold a shard. The planets these books take place on are called: Elantris: Sel Mistborn: Scadrial Warbreaker: Nalthis Stormlight Archive: Roshar (duh) That's actually most of what we know. The Elantrians on Roshar theory is entirely based on speech patterns and a specific word being used. And is still just a theory. Most of this is very very subtle stuff, and there is a great deal that we only know because people asked Brandon questions. If I missed anything the other people around here can certainly fill you in. But yeah, this is THE place to get your cosmere questions answered. (Oh yeah. This shared universe? It's called the cosmere. ) *Silius posted while I was writing this, but I still think it's a good summary.

Oh, don't give me all the credit. Someone (too lazy to find out who) was putting this info on TWG, but everyone just seemed to be brushing it off like nothing. I thought maybe he was wrong and everyone knew that. So I checked it myself. But, yeah, the original guy who noticed this posted it on TWG. *Edit* It was Munin in the very first post of the thread you link at the top of this one.*Edit*

That's a good point! I was walking through the BYU bookstore today, and I stopped and grabbed a copy of Elantris. I flipped through it until I found an instance of Galladon using "Kayana." Then I opened a copy of TWoK to I-1. (It's great that this bookstore gives Brandon his own shelf.) There it was. The exact same word. That does a lot to convince me of the validity of this theory. And since Chaos has convinced me that my objections don't hold up under scrutiny, I will subscribe to this theory.

I just had a thought. The letter-writer (Hoid) states that the letter recipient (who seems to have authority over 17th Shard members) ignored events on Sel. Specifically, he ignored Odium's visit to Sel. If he doesn't pay attention when powerful shardholders do terrible things to a place, and he seems to follow a non-intervention policy, he probably doesn't pay much attention to worlds when there aren't malignant shardholders. This makes it seem, to me, that recruiting Elantrians (like Galladon) to 17th shard is extremely unlikely. Just something else to think on. Though honestly, if this theory turns out to be true, I will be the first to say, "Awesome."

I forgot about that. I feel smart. In my defense, Elantris is the only book of Brandon's I don't have access to right now. It's been a while.

That would make Hoid a Mistborn. Which, while awesome, seems unlikely.

I don't know... they're Elantrians. Can Elantrians change their physical appearance? One way this might work is that, being so far from Elantris, they return to their original appearances. Across an ocean, their powers are significantly reduced. Several light-years away? They could lose their powers completely. So...I went from disagreeing to thinking it could work over the course of this post.

I'm wondering what made Hoid think Dalinar would have heard of Adonalsium. Or maybe, and this just now occured to me, Hoid is planting the word in Dalinar's head so that when he eventually does find out about Adonalsium, it might occur to him to seek out Hoid to find out what he knows.

Even if he's not a member himself, he still holds authority or influence to order 17th Shard members around. Pg. 368 makes that clear. Preservation used the number 16 to show the people on Scadrial that something was up. And it is now the commonly accepted theory that the shards number sixteen total. 17th Shard then, seems to be an organization made up of functional immortals who gained their power from some other source, and then chose the name they did because of their concern with and knowledge of the actual sixteen shards. Perhaps they presume that their combined power as an organization might equal the strength of a true shard. So, in summary, I agree that the recipient and letter writer are not shardholders, but think it extremely likely that the recipient is a member of, and possibly in charge of, 17th Shard.

I kinda assumed that it must be Hoid, writing at roughly the same time as the events in the book. He mentions specifically that folks from 17th Shard are chasing him, and we meet these people in one of the interludes. Ishikk has been searching for five months during the book. Even if it took them a little while to hire him once they got there, we're looking at a few months, max. Who knows how long it took Hoid to notice he was being followed, and how long before he decided to write a letter. That, and all the epigraphs in the book seem to have been recorded during or, at most, slightly before the book. Anyway, in my brain at least, epigraph writer = Hoid writing contemporaneously with the rest of the book. Back on topic though, Odium's killing of Aona and Skai seems to make sense. I subscribe to this theory until someone presents a better one.

Oh, Dalinar has a Crowning Moment of Awesome at the end. Szeth is, unfortunately, mostly in the interludes. As for the Kaladin flashbacks, yeah, I kinda rolled my eyes and then pressed forward whenever one popped up, but the rest was brilliant. Then I look at the map on the bookmark, and realize that 90% of the story takes place within the confines of two dots on that map. The next nine books have a lot of room for expansion. When I read the epigraph on page 275, I almost had an aneurysm. Then the conversation between Dalinar and (Character name) at the feast similarly broke my brain.(/rambling)

I don't know the answers to most of those questions, but we do know the release schedule. At the signing in Provo someone asked him, and he said, (Paraphrase) " Once I finish TWoT, I'll write SA two and three. Then I'll write something else, probably the sequel to Elantris or Warbreaker. Then two more SA, followed by another from a different series. Then two more SA, etc, until the end. Hoping to get two books out every three years." (/Paraphrase)

Well, they pass out the books at midnight. I assume there will be time taken to personalize copies, and then raffles and games. I heard something about a 3:00 AM ending time, but that might have been a different signing.

If you want anything resembling a low number, you need to get there ASAP. They started passing out numbers at 8 this morning, and those who got them need to be in line by 9(!) tonight or they forfeit their number.

How many are already there? Must. have. low. number.

Agh! I forgot completely about pulsers and sliders! Those do sound fun.

I'd be a pewterarm. It's just so all around useful. The other ones have kinda limited applications if you're not fighting somebody. Second and third choices are Atium and Tin.

Who else is showing up at 6:00 AM to get a low number? I AM. Oh, make sure you read the new blog post Peter put up. Numbering rules changed. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

I had almost forgotten completely about Shadesmar until I saw this. I remember a lot of hubbub about it on TWG when Brandon mentioned that Hoid uses it for... some unspecified purpose. But now I remember and I'm even more excited about this book! If that's possible!

I guess I'll go first! I'm a student at BYU and a regular lurker on TWG where I go by almost the same name. (The username box here wasn't big enough to accommodate my Roman Numerals.) I don't post much, unless I really believe I have something to say. I've been on TWG for several months now, and have just cracked 150 posts, but I visit and read the new posts almost every day. So, even if you don't hear from me a lot, know that I'm here. I will most definitely be attending the release party for TWoK at the BYU bookstore, so maybe I'll actually meet some of you in person. *Gasp Shock* And, uh, I've never done this before but... FIRST POST!