AquaRegia

I like it.  There can be no doubt that something is going on with Maya and Adolin that cannot be explained by the "regular" Nahel bond mechanics, and this seems as likely as any other idea at the moment.  Take my upvote!

5 hours ago, Master Silver said:

Maybe these things would have made RoW worse and made it feel like the book dragged at the end, but it might have made Wind and Truth better. Thoughts?

That's a very reasonable idea.  Personally, I do not think the inclusion of these 10 or so chapters would have made me feel that RoW "dragged", nor do I think it would have been made worse.  I OFTEN feel good novels end too abruptly, leaving a feeling of unfulfillment (apparently that's not a word).

I'll have to read the rest of WaT, however, before I can make a judgement about whether it can be improved. 

On 9/5/2024 at 12:02 PM, Bridge Boy said:

On 9/4/2024 at 12:40 PM, Bridge Boy said:

... everything that needs to be written to get from one plot point to the next is utter trash.  The pace is rushed, the dialogue is awful, the characters no longer speak or interact as real people do, and the setting is completely lost. Truth be told, these pre-release chapters have been worse than most fanfic.

It is becoming more like a super hero comic book in terms of character depth and decision making. I suppose for some that may be a good thing. For me that does not work and feels like a departure from where I thought the series was going based on the first two installments. I expected characters that feel real experiencing fantastical circumstances. 

On 9/5/2024 at 6:23 PM, Darvys said:

So yeah, not quite sold on this book start to be frank, hopefully everything gets smoother once the threads are untangled and each arc gets kickstarted, because everything being set up IS exciting, and it would be a colossal shame if it was squandered with subpar storytelling.

Completely agree.  I just commented to my honey yesterday that the shift in style and tone - from The Way of Kings to these preview chapters - is ENORMOUS.  tWoK was truly epic, weighty, atmospheric, and THAT'S what I want from a fantasy series.  These chapters feel more like Brandon's juvenile works, e.g., Skyward or Alcatraz.  Nothing wrong with those, of course... but it's not what I want, nor is it what the first two novels promised.

I chuckled, of course, at the Evil Librarian, but that entire chapter does seem somewhat forced and awkward.

My hope is that there is simply SO MUCH STORY to be told in this book that Brandon has been forced to rush through the opening chapters, turning the world descriptions, atmospherics and mood-building way down.

1 hour ago, basement_boi said:

Dude that’s actually hilarious!
Does this mean that Shallan will be more stable now that she doesn’t have any free electrons… I mean free spren bonds?

Maybe... but, I mean, we don't know she's not capable of forming a triple bond.  Shallyne?

24 minutes ago, alder24 said:

1) Syl learning to write and gifting Kaladin the Way of Kings...

2) ... a known ability but was unavailable to Lightweavers before. Was it enabled by her double bond...?

1)  New guess at the in-world author of Knights of Wind and Truth: Syl.

2)  OK, from now on, I will mentally replace the name "Shallan" with "Shallene".

17 hours ago, Bluepanther512 said:

Are there any physical descriptions of Starling besides her pink eyes and albino skin that I missed?

 

Edit: And her silver manacles

1st page:  "tizzy of white hair".

1 hour ago, Pemur said:

Couple thoughts and questions I had after listening to the sample chapters.

Since the ones above are lowkey confirmed to be Scadrians, does that mean that they permanently took care of the Trell problem somehow? Will they shatter Autonomy in era 3 or will Harmony absorb Autonomy or something?

Also about the perpendicularity that used to be on Dahatri, does that mean that there was once a shard there (Maybe the last shard)? Or that the aethers can create perpendicularities too?

These are two very good questions which had also occurred to me.  There's always another secret, storm it!

When is Mystery Hunt this year?  Is there a topic?  Any other Puzzlehunts coming up?

I guess I'm in the mood.

I have just a few observations.

1) There are 16 shards.  In order for each one to have a single distinct and characteristic color for its Investiture (and YatNP implies some may have two), Brandon will necessarily have to look outside our traditional ROYGBIV set of color names.  I like the "stygian violet" he's invented for Odium.

2)  I do not think it is a coincidence that Roshar has three moons - one green, one blue, and one violet.  We know these moons are not natural, and their orbits are not stable over astronomical times.  I doubt that WaT will shed any more light (see what I did there?) on the mystery of Roshar's moons, but I very much hope they will become important in the second SA series.

I was also a bit surprised, but it's still a good title - many layers of meaning in there!

One specific interpretation stands out to me:  "Wind and Truth" seems to be a clear reference to the Shinovar mission of Kaladin and Szeth - the Windrunner and the former Truthless.  I freely admit, I'm looking forward to the adventures of Kal, Szeth and Nightblood more than anything else that might be in the novel.  I recently reread some earlier scenes, looking for appearances by Hoid; when he meets young Shallan at the Middlefest Fair (WoR ch. 45), there is a Thaylen merchant with a talking "chicken".  Shallan calls it a "voidbringer", and warns the man that "you'll draw the eyes of the Unmade upon us!"  His response?  "These things are common in Shinovar.  If they attracted evil, all of Shinovar would be overrun."

Delicious foreshadowing, anyone?

This makes a great deal of sense, thanks to all three of you!

If I'm not mistaken, while we certainly see Hoid ACQUIRE a bead of lerasium, we don't see him SWALLOW it.  I certainly agree it's by far the most likely explanation that he wants it for himself... but is there any confirmation that he has, in fact, become Mistborn?

Rereading MB Era 1 (so good!) and something jumped out at me.  In Mistborn: A Secret History, when Kelsier is stuck in the Well of Ascension - this would be during the events of WoA - Hoid is passing through and says to Kelsier

"You did what I needed you to, but..."

To what, exactly, is he referring?

The first thing I thought of, the obvious assumption, was freeing The Final Empire from The Lord Ruler.  But a) Kelsier didn't actually DO that, and b) do we have any reason to think that Hoid "needed" that to happen?  We, after all these years, still don't really know what Hoid's game is.

One thing Kelsier DID do, undoubtedly: lay the groundwork for a new religion.  Was THAT what Hoid somehow needed, or was it something else?

It seems safe to assume that Hoid knows about the deal between Ati and Leras, and that he knows how the Well of Ascension works.  Had Rashek lasted one more year, Ruin would have stayed locked in Preservation's prison for another thousand years, unable to directly affect events, but also unable to be permanently removed from the picture in any way.  Are we supposed to infer that Hoid has arranged for Rashek to be taken out, as step one of getting rid of Ati?  While that's exactly what ends up happening, it seems like a low-percentage play, even for Hoid.  And we don't see Hoid being involved in any of the other steps, at least, not on screen (although it is implied, through Kelsier, that he spends time in the Terris Mountains, either shortly before or during the time the Inquisitors reportedly wiped out the Keeper leadership).

What do you think?

Main reason for lack of response, I think... previous topic with plenty of math:

I always recommend reading things in order of publication whenever feasible.  While don't disagree with @Treamayne , The Sunlit Man does contain MANY Stormlight references (some of which are pretty spoilery), as well as significant MB Era 2, Shadows of Silence, and Warbreaker references.  It is definitely the most Cosmere-connected of all the Secret Projects.  No MAJOR spoilers... but do make an informed decision.

I assume it's OK to discuss the October pin (#10)... I was both happy and unsurprised to see our favorite Windrunner Bridgeboy.  It's a nice pin, too!

I will refrain from talking about November's pin (#11) (yes, I got my box already), other than to say I was considerably surprised, in a pleasant way.

For #12, I'm still leaning toward Kelsier, but no bet.  #11 demonstrated that my pool of candidates was a bit small.  As noted by @The Isochronism, there will be more pins!

There is a lot to like about these ideas.  Certainly everything about Canticle seems to point to an unusual origin; Shard involvement is easily imagined.  An intentional design for Shade-free living?  Could be.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever know (unless through WoBs).  I won't be surprised if Canticle never appears in another story.  I think Brandon may leave all these questions unanswered.

Also, don't the last few chapters of TSM clearly imply that the Shade-removal mechanism of "leaving people for the sun" is no longer going to happen anymore?  Everybody seems happy about the Sunheart-recharging plan; no more sacrifices, no more lotteries... which means, going forward, LOTS of Threnodites will peacefully die on Canticle without being turned into Sunhearts.  The Reliquary, the Ghostbusters™ Containment Unit where Shades end up (and made USEFUL!) seems to be the real solution to the Shade Apocalypse.  Presumably, as long as they can keep building new Reliquaries, they can keep Shades from overrunning the planet.

I hope this doesn't count as a necrotopic, as I just finished TSM yesterday and have thoughts about these interesting observations.

On 10/2/2023 at 9:14 AM, therunner said:

Regarding Deadeyes, where did you take that from?
Implication from Scadrians that Rosharan mercenaries can carry Blade and be un-Oathed?

On 10/2/2023 at 9:23 AM, robardin said:

Ah, I see, maybe that is what the OP meant about "deadeyes still exist" - the implication that people expect a Rosharan with a Blade and gallivanting around the Cosmere to be a mercenary.

I do not recall this being implied.  First, the Scadrians asked Nomad whether he had sworn Oaths; he lied and said "no", which they seemed to accept.  Only THEN did they assume he was a mercenary.  When he later revealed his Blade, they (correctly) accused him of lying about being Oathed, NOT of having a deadeye blade.  Everything about the interaction seems consistent with the Scadrians assuming two separate types of Rosharans:  Knights Radiant (tread very carefully!) and mercenaries (potentially valuable employees).  Seems to me that the implications are

1). These Scadrians are reasonably well aware of the nature of Knights Radiant

and, separately,

2). Some number of non-Radiant Rosharans have spread out into the Cosmere as mercenaries, which, given the relative dominance of Alethi-style military tradition and training highlighted all through this novel, makes a fair degree of sense.  A small, well-trained cadre of Alethi spearmen could, like the 300, be a dominant force in a culture with lesser experience in combat.

I don't think we should draw any sweeping conclusions specifically about deadeyes from TSM.

Okay, you've had long enough.

Kaladin.  There HAS to be a Kaladin pin, right?  Bridge Four is the always the safe bet; I'll put 3 emerald broams on it.

Kelsier.  I'm less confident.  Beloved from way back (was it really THAT long ago?  2006??  Rust and Ruin I'm getting old).  No bet, but I'll not be surprised.

After that, it's a toss-up to me.  I can think of a dozen candidates, but none stand out.  Adolin, Dalinar, and Jasnah are all major characters; how can you choose one over the others?  Either Lift or The Lopen would make a super cute pin.  A Marsh pin would just be AMAZING.  Szeth?  Wayne?  Venli?  Honestly I can see any of them.  Personally, I would love a Raboniel pin.

What do you think?

2 hours ago, Firesong said:

I feel you misunderstand relativity.

I have no doubt this is true; I'm not sure ANYONE really understands it!  ;-)

What I meant is this, and it's more than just the problem of speed of light vs FTL travel.  The Theory of General Relativity essentially rules out the possibility of asserting that two events separated by long distances have occurred simultaneously; differing frames of reference can observe "A before B" or "A after B".  Add FTL travel to that, and you might end up with a time-travel mess of truly confusing and contradictory timelines.  If travel through normal space at relativistic speeds is affected by time dilation, but FTL travel (say, through the CR) is not, I think you may have invented time travel as well.

But I doubt Brandon wants anything like that.

May I say I love the fact that Wayne and Adolin were apparently born in the same "year"?  Lovely work!

In our universe, any attempt at a timeline like this (spanning multiple star systems) would be seriously problematic, as relativity renders obsolete the concept of simultaneity.  But I doubt it will be a problem in the Cosmere, mainly because Brandon will not make it a problem.

The YoS swag boxes have thus far contained collectible pins featuring

1. Vin

2. Hoid

3. Steris

4. Vasher

5. Wax

6. Raoden

7. Shallan

8. Khriss

9. Vivenna

with three more to come.  Who do you think they will be?  I have my guesses, but I'd like to hear yours first.

I can't think of any other author who has done a better job of showing the "shades of gray" we humans live in.  While Brandon's stories clearly have protagonists whom we root for, they are never perfect - they have flaws and weaknesses, and make poor decisions at times.  Likewise, his "villains" (if the word even applies) are never plain old evil; they have understandable worldviews and motivations, and their actions make sense in context.  In a way, every character is the "hero" of their own story.

Likewise, Brandon has shown a breathtaking ability to paint religion as the complex and nuanced human activity it is.  An unmitigated force for good?  Nobody with any sense could look at history and conclude that.  But always bad?  Millions worldwide are comforted and/or inspired to altruistic behavior by their religious beliefs.  Like everything else we do, it's complicated, imperfect... and sometimes beautiful.

The history and nature of the Shards in the Cosmere convinces me that one of Brandon's main goals as a writer is to explore the intersection of godlike power and flawed humans.  What an amazing job he's done so far, and I can't wait for more!

One of the lessons I've learned (or that I'm still working on learning, perhaps) is that humans are very complex.  Human emotions, human motivations, and human responses to each other are almost never simple.  The way you see someone can be colored very strongly by your own experiences or attitudes.  If you look for the good in people, you will see it.  If you look for the bad, you will see it.  Neither is ever exclusively true nor false.

I had no problem believing both the strengths and shortcomings of Nikaro, and believing the way Yumi felt about him.  Is this Brandon's BEST work?  I agree it's not... but I found it plenty good enough to emotionally carry me along.

Is there a compelling reason to believe that Ars Arcanum entries must be contemporaneous with the novel they appear in?  It's possible Brandon is playing loosely with time, giving us "more advanced" information when he thinks readers need it, rather than describing exactly what Khriss knows at the exact time each novel occurs.

I find it extremely unlikely that there are TWO long-lived entities both studying aethers at the bottom of an ocean.  I think Xisisrefliel = Foil,  99%.