In Tress of the Emerald Sea, Tress (I think asks one of the other pirates about the “Devil with nails in his eyes”. Is this a reference to >!Marsh since he is thought of as the devil of Scadrial?!<

You know how some fantasy properties have magic items or artifacts that characters can pick up to gain more or new powers? Some examples would be the one ring, Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility, Dr. Strange's eye of agamotto etc.

I've been trying to think of such examples in the Cosmere. The two items that come to mind are Nightblood and the bands of mourning.

But then I realized that Brandon Sanderson is big on creating magic tech. So combining fabrials, metalminds, awakening, aons placed on objects, and regular tech, you could probably come up with some really cool and powerful magic items. So what would be some such "artifacts" you would like to see?

Here are mine:

• Perpendicularity opener - An item that would allow anyone to open a perpendicularity like Dalinar does.
• Matter/energy/investiture transformer - Matter, energy and investiture are connected and can be transformed into one another. So this would be a device that allows you to feed it matter or energy and turn it into investiture you could then use to power your magic.
• Fabricator powered by investiture - Similar to the previous example, but in reverse, this would be a device that you feed investiture and it transforms it into an item for you. We know spren can transform into different things you could use, so this would be copying that process. Imagine you feed this device with a jar of the dor and it transforms it into a shardblade. This is similar to what the chorus does on Canticle, but better and more powerful.

What are your examples? You don't have to explain how they would work, just give us cool ideas.

This is only when people hate him for his nonviolent beliefs. Yeah he's a pretty radical pacifist but it's nothing compared a lot of the people at any given Quaker meeting.

I'm on chapter 75 of RoW, and originally my schedule had me finish it by today then read Sunlit Man this week to be ready for WaT on Friday but that's not gonna happen.

However, I could still finish RoW by Friday, should I take the time to read Sunlit Man or just jump straight in with the rest of the world?

Sorry for the bad title. So do you think Rashek sent Kandra south to the southern countries? Keep tabs on them and such. Was the south hinted in earlier books by chance?

Okay. So. I have no idea what it means, why it would happen, or any of the implications if I am correct. I just have a few very explicit examples of relationship dynamics that feels way too coincidental to be an accident by Sanderson.

1. Both Shallan(radiant technically) and Adolin kill their respective gendered Sadeas.

2. Dalinar and Navani both become bondsmiths even though Rlain is CLEARLY the best choice. I understand this also involves moments of necessity but coupled with the surrounding information it lends credence to my theory.

3)Dalinar has explicitly stated that the Alethi war machine is comprised of a strong scribe(wife) and general (husband) to make up an ideal war oriented force.

4)Parshendi group together in war form with their once mates.

5. thought of this while typing do Wit and Jasnah fit into this dynamic? Seems like they could.

No idea why any of this could be important or how it could drive what happens in the next 6 books.

Would love to know your thoughts.

I'm rereading Oathbringer and while it is lampshaded with Navani it is interesting how Melata is really just used in rotation for opening the oathgates.

Outside of the one time Melata talks to Shallan, there's no interaction with her, nor any from Dalinar, Kaladin, his squires, or any of Shallan's people.

Lift at least gets interaction with Dalinar.

But Melata is just on the outskirts.

My idea is that you would have to use a metalmind fabrial. >!Specifically a duraluminmind that is somehow linked to a Stormlight Invested gemstone, the duraluminmind would store the Connection to Roshar then it would be able to be taken off world.!<

!Further off this idea for Radiants is kinda like a DnD genie in a bottle. Stick the radiant spren into the gemstone, though you would have to use a nicrosolmind too, you could store the spren in the gemstone and the Surgebinding Investiture and the spren and knight's Connection to Roshar. This could completely store everything about the Knight's Radiant so it could very dangerous getting off world but as soon as you escape the Rosharan system then you get the Connection and Investiture back, release your spren, and get to destroying worlds-I mean bringing honor to the wider Cosmere! Just an idea but it might not work due to the Connection's that would need be stored could completley destroy the Nahel Bond or if a Radiant spren is stored within a gemstone it could could also destroy the Nahel Bond or could make them a deadeye.!<

Ok bear with me this is my first time flagging spoilers so if this doesn’t show up right I apologize. Also this is very spoiler heavy for warbreaker and mistborn and therefore for the rest of the cosmere.

[Cosmere]>!Ok so I finished reading warbreaker and I just learned about how hemalurgy works. I have come to the conclusion that nightblood must have turned from steel into either a god metal(atium maybe) or perhaps nicrosil.!<

!I’m thinking seeing as it is sentient and imbued with investiture it may be itself a hemalurgist or feruchemist. I think this especially holds up if you remember vasher mentioning putting bones inside of an object to help awaken it.!<

!Forging of metals includes adding carbon to make it stronger which in history has literally meant adding human remains so perhaps the blade was forged with the remains of a feruchemist.!<

!think this would make the sword both a feruchemist and hemalurgist and thus able to use a metal like nicrosil. I also want to note that Nightblood absorbing breath during use sounds very much like hemalurgy….!<

Thoughts?

How would black holes manifest in Shadesmar? A pit ? a giant spire?

What would happen to a Bound Cognative Shadow or a Sliver if someone got a Duralumin Hemalurgic spike and ripped out their Connection to their respective World.
Or if they had someone with Ishars honorblade come over to their world and manipulate their connection, ether removing it or connecting them to another world?
Would do you think would happen, death? Them being yanked into another world?

Kelsier. I’m starting to think it’s actually maybe a Brandon thing than the character himself.

We know that Brandon has had trouble reconciling Kelsier and his pure dedication to “the ends justify the means” by him openly labeling Kelsier a sociopath (which by definition he is not) because at least in my opinion, he had a morale dilemma with creating this incredible character that was morally grey.

Anyway, it just doesn’t make any sense to me that the person (Sazed) that described Kelsier as “one of the best men he ever knew” wouldn’t be helping and guiding him to get his body back and protect Scadriel (and maybe even the cosmere as a whole now that he has the lay of the land from holding shards)

He lied to him directly after he took up the shards and talked to Kelsier in the cognitive realm which never sat right with me and continues to avoid helping Kelsier it seems. Granted I’m only half way through TLM but that’s what I’m grasping. I don’t know maybe I’m bitter because I LOVE Kelsier and I really really liked Sazed but I’m starting to think he was the completely WRONG choice to become God.

Reading the lost metal and I can’t help but think the guy asking if it was legal first indicates that these guys are skybreakers who are with the ghostbloods. Then again radiants stents supposed to be able to leave roshar so idk.

I’ve been wondering for a while now what made Brandon pick these particular names / natures / characteristics for the Shards of Adonalsium. I would expect a shattered deity to break into sub components that are still pretty primal in nature - i.e. core concepts, emotions, or components of the human experience. Along these lines, Ruin and Preservation made complete sense to me (though I’d have gone with Creation and Destruction) because they are primal forces. Autonomy also kind of makes sense (but I’d have gone with Freedom). With those as starters I’d have continued with things like Love, Fear, Hatred, Joy, Grief, Order, Chaos, and so on.

But the rest seem…I don’t know, just like..not obvious choices? Or just a bit off center? Like instead of Love we get Devotion. Instead of Hatred or we get Odium…except Odium more broadly represents “passions?” And then the rest just feel strange. Invention? Endowment? Virtuosity? WHIMSY?

To be clear, I’m not criticizing his choices - merely confused and curious why THESE names and THESE attributes. Brandon doesn’t make decisions like that lightly. So why?

Hello all, was just commenting elsewhere about Ash being Jezrian's daughter and all, and how much it would suck to watch each other die and be tortured for centuries together.

Anyway, I was wondering who might be interested in a dedicated short that took place there, during one of their times in Damnation. The novella would be short-- maybe as long as Secret History or Emperor's Soul, but would stand out in it's morbidity. Written on par with Blood Meridian or something, like really messed up.

I'd read it. Anyone else?

Is Tonk Fah a worldhopper or just a sleeper build? I’m rereading everything in preparation for WaT, like everyone else, and Vivenna notes that his muscles seemed to grow when they were at Grable’s restaurant. I know it’s unlikely that he’s actually a Terris keeper tapping strength in the moment but it would be nice to confirm the worldhoppers throughout the Cosmere.

So I recently finished reading sunlit man and there is one question that has been bugging me. If the world is getting burned up everyday how is there any water on the planet? Wouldn’t all the water be evaporated and even when it rained the ground almost certainly absorb most of it, resulting in net loss of water. Is this something that has been discussed before?

I have read all the books in the Cosmere and am wondering if there are any characters in the Cosmere, other than Shards, that could take on Rashek (Lord Ruler).

We are not talking about Rashek when he is overconfident, but when he intends on killing the other person as quickly as possible.

From what I understand, there is not really much that is on his level, he would certainly have been able to stop the army at the end of Warbreaker on his own.

Also, as a Sliver he will probably be heavily invested, so shardblades or other abilities won't be able to do much, or at least less. His ability to compound steel and iron alone could be enough to take over entire planets.

The only things that come to mind off the top of my head would be Nightblood or Dawnshards, but maybe I forget something...

Of the all the 16, is Odium the most powerful?

If yes, why so?

If no, how was he able to kill 4 shards - Dominion, Devotion, Ambition and Honour? He won 2v1

And why is he going on rampage to kill all other Shards? One would imagine, a Shard like Ambition or Ruin would be more intent on doing so…

So I first read stormlight archived and loved it, but noticed there was a couple references that I just didn’t understand. Learnt that there’s a whole cosmere needed to understand it so I started mistborn.

However, I wasn’t super into the final empire. Thought I might enjoy well of ascension more and I did until that last act, where a lot of the narrative beats felt a bit contrived to me.

Just wonder what order you’d go from here. I’m fairly keen on going straight to book 5 of stormlight but if book 3 is important to the cosmere then I’ll go for that

I just finished Words of Radiance and I’m currently on Edgedancer. I’ve heard that you should read Warbreaker at some point, but I’m too invested in the Archive right now and I don’t want to shift my attenttion from it.

I don’t mind taking my time to find out things as I read the Archive, however, I want to know if Warbreaker has any new info that is not present on the Archive and if it would be worth diverting my attention from the main series.

Yesterday I finished WB, so today I started WoR. Note that I've read the Sunlit Man too early, but I'm going to reread it after I've finished the rest of the Cosmere. This is my thirteenth novel I'm reading.

I've seen that reading the RAFO way is the best way to gain knowledge thereof. Now I'm diving back into WoR. Have a pleasant sunday, y'all. And it's december 1, FFS, time's flying when you're having Cosmere fun.

Morgana

https://preview.redd.it/53p0j92vg74e1.png?width=3672&format=png&auto=webp&s=decd8e4d6b2c64c828b2b78ca014bfb455fe3501

In Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, we see painter's people make contact with UTol via space craft. Is this the earliest, that we know, of interplanetary travel without using the cognitive realm?

Elhokar’s order.

I have never seen people talking about this on here, but I personally liked Elhokar’s character, so I decided to ask. What do you think Elhokar’s order was going to be when he almost spoke the First Ideal? Maybe that is already known and I just missed something, but basically that is my question.

Oh man I really didn’t think this one would be a tearjerker 😭. And for most of it, it wasn’t. Auxiliary was being fun, so many references, I love threnodites and their resilience. But god that sanderlanche man. The sisters embracing, the death of aux crushed me big time. I knew it was coming but it still hurt. The whole “ending up in the same place but a changed man” got me. And now I finished all of the Cosmere, took me about 2 1/2 years. After WaT there’s not gonna be any next book to immediately pick up, so I guess that signals it’s time to start Alcatraz or the rithmatisr or finally getting around to Defiant.

My one disappointment is that rebeke and sigzil didn’t get to fuck I won’t lie. Like let my man have freaky canticle sex 😔

As with many people here, I ever reread much of the cosmere in preparation for WaT. Something has stuck out to me though. Each Shard seems to be associated with a number between 1 and 16, number of total Shards. I wanted to collect all of the known shards and their associated numbers here.

Absolutely Sure: Preservation - 16

• there are a number of reasons that a number 16 is tied to preservation, but the most evident example is in mistborn The secret history. When Kelsier is talking the cognitive shadow of Preservation, Preservation and said that he is going make 16% of the people taken by the most be sick for 16 more days than the others that were taken by the mists. Preservation explains that people will know that this is a sign from him since 16 is his number.

Odium - 9

• There are 9 Brands of Fused with the 9 Surges of Odium. There are also 9 Unmade.

Honor - 10

• 10 Orders of Knights Radiant with the 10 Surges of Honor. Also there are 10 Honor blades and the 10 barers of the Oathpact

Virtuosity - 13

• https://wob.coppermind.net/events/493-secret-project-3-reveal-and-livestream/#e15498

Unsure:

Endowment - 5

• There are 5 petals of the Tears of Edgli Flower

Ruin - 4

• It takes 4 spikes to allow Ruin to completely control a person

Autonomy - 1

• They are said to wish to remain alone(1)and untainted by the other Shards. (Definitely a stretch, but it's all I've got for Autonomy)

No Clue:

Devotion Dominion Cultivation Ambition

No where near enough information:

Whimsy Valor Mercy Invention Unnamed Survival Shard

Let me know if there is information I missed!

The Set’s Red Eyed Immortals are Worldhopper Fused Maybe??

I just finished the Bands of Mourning , and after hearing The Kandra descriptions of the Red eyed monster that attacked him, and the epilogue at the end of the book with the glowing red eyes, they sound like either StormForm Parshendi or The Fused from Roshar. If this gets explained, hit me with the RAFO, but if not, I’d love to hear some Theory crafting.

I'm about to embark on a reread of the cosmere, so I made a tier list to for both people to have fun with and for me to know how I thought before it so I can look back on this, and possibly laugh at myself.

Objects are ordered within each tier, with left being best and right being worst.

Even the "d tier" is good in my opinion. I spread it out so that it was more visually interesting, but more realistically for me everything would be within S and A. The lowest rating I'd give is a 6/10, which is still positive for me, because I actually use 5 to mean neutral towards it, and below 5 to mean my feelings are negative.

So starting from the bottom and working my way up:

White Sand - No prose version, so I haven't read it

D - Tier

Bands of Mourning - I have read it twice. I love the beginning of the book, and Steris is easily my favorite character from era 2 aside from Wax, but midway through I have lost enthusiasm on both reads, though on the second read it happened later than in the first.

Eleventh Metal - I have read it once. It feels more like a prologue to Secret History than it does it's own story. It's a nice little read, but doesn't really add much for me.

C - Tier

The Hope of Elantris - I have read it once. I legitimately don't remember what happened in it. I remember it being essentially an epilogue to Elantris, and that I liked it, but I can't remember why so it's down here for being forgettable.

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania - I have read it once. A delightful little read, that largely suffers from the fact that I think the joke was done better within the Era 2 books themselves.

Sixth of the Dusk - I have read it once. A great ending and nice journey, but I wish it was expanded upon. largely down here by virtue of being a short story.

Dawnshard - I have read it once. The lore implications of this novella were amazing, but I remember being bored for most of the novella's runtime (readtime?). I imagine this is one that a reread will drastically change my opinion on.

Mistborn Secret History - I have read it once. I very much so enjoyed it, and was very confused. I read this novella before Elantris and Mistborn Era 2. But Kelsier is fun, and that gets it this high.

B - Tier

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell - I have read it once. Just a solid short story. Not really anything to say beyond that.

The Lost Metal - I have read it once. I imagine this would be higher rated for me if I liked Wayne. Unfortunately, I don't. Steris is great when she's present though, and Maresi's plotline is some great stuff.

Rhythm of War - I have read it once. My favorite characters are Shallan, Adolin, and Dalinar, who were all severely lacking in presence in this book. The Shallan/Adolin segments were amazing, but the Kaladin segments were overly long for my tastes. Lift is great as always. This book did succeed in making me like Navani though, which is cool. And once again, like with dawnshard, lore implications are great. Fantastic ending. A very solid book, but for me it failed to capture the magic of books 2 and 3. I think I'll like it more on reread though, with book 5 coming out.

The Alloy of Law - I have read it twice. The book with the best Wax and Wayne dynamic. The two are wonderfully chaotic idiot/geniuses. The villain is fun, and makes a cool use of his powers. Seeing the glimpses of how society changed between era 1 and 2 is very fun.

The Way of Kings - I have read it twice. I didn't realize how little actually happened in this book until I reread it. On my second read I realized what my problem with this book is, it feels like the first half of what should have been a massive book one (the second being words of radiance). I love depressed Kaladin, and this book keeps a great vibe of that throughout it. Basically it suffers from being notably less epic and high stakes than its sequels. Best prologue though.

Shadows of Self - I have read it twice. The Best of Era 2. Wax is still running from his marriage, politics are neat, Wayne isn't unbearable yet. Maresi is great. The Tensoon appearance is done well.

The Sunlit Man - I have read it once. My personal least favorite of the secret novels. Very solid story, but for me it constantly felt like it was in setup phase until the climax. Seeing the interactions of magic is pretty cools though, even if it is brief. I'll probably appreciate this one more when we're on Mistborn Era 4 and Stormlight Era 2.

A - Tier

Tress of the Emerald Sea - I have read it once. A lighthearted romp that I think successfully captures the feeling of Princess Bride Lite that Sanderson was going for. The Dragon scene is pretty peak. Its also nice to have a reminder that Elantrians are ridiculous when compared to the magic systems.

Elantris - I have read it twice. This may be getting boosted by the fact that my dad is currently reading for the first time in years, and is reading this book at time of writing (He has also read Mistborn Era 1 and Warbreaker). Hrathen is one of my favorite characters Sanderson has written period, and I like all three PoV characters quite a lot. Largely held back from being higher by me thinking that the lords turning on each other is a little contrived/rushed.

Edgedancer - I have read it twice. I liked lift in Words of Radiance, but this novella really sold her for me. Szeth is great here too. Nightblood is always a treat. Simply a very very solid novella.

The Emperor's Soul - I have read it once. Much like Edgedancer, this is here for being very solid. I just enjoy it, I don't really have any notes beyond that.

S - Tier

Warbreaker - I have read it twice. 4 great characters for PoVs, lots of importance for Stormlight, Nightblood, a simple but well executed story, this book is pretty tailor made for me. As a standalone it suffers from having to set up it's own plot, making the early sections drag a little, but aside from Hero of Ages, this book might have my favorite twist, when Vivenna returns to the house. I love the subversion of the God king trope that is Susebron.

Mistborn The Final Empire - I have read it twice. This was my first Sanderson book. For a while this was my favorite book ever written, until I read Hero of Ages and was blown away by the Sanderlanche. This book is a 10/10, like all my S tier picks. I love this book. This book is essentially the baseline against which I judge all others.

Mistborn The Hero of Ages - I have read it twice. I will never be able to recreate the feelings brought on by this book on my first read. I accept that. It makes me sad, but i do. When the earring scene happened I legitimately set the book down, and sat there letting the realization of all the foreshadowing wash over me. I thought I would never find a book with an ending as good as this one after I read it. I was wrong, but it is very rare for something to even be comparable, let alone better, even from Sanderson.

Mistborn The Well of Ascension - I have read it twice. The foreshadowing. So much foreshadowing. One first read this was my least favorite Mistborn book, but on reread this book is a goldmine. Everything is meticulously crafted. Realizing just how much Sanderson hid right under my nose hit me like a truck every time. The I AM FREE scene remains one of the best he's ever written.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - I have read it once. This book was exactly what I needed when I needed it. I don't read much in the way of romance, but right about when I wanted one, this book came to me. Essentially just a better version of Your Name, it scratched that itch perfectly. This book is basically exactly what I wanted out of the secret projects, an incredibly strong standalone book with subtle references to the greater Cosmere and a story and characters that leave me wanting more while feeling satisfied at the same time.

Words of Radiance - I have read it twice. The decision for first place was incredibly difficult. This book is basically the payoff to Way of Kings, Shallan's crumbling mental state is delicious, and the climactic battle in the sky is one of the most epic things I have ever read. The Honor is dead scene is great, Hoids best story, Fleet, is featured in this book. The last clap is here. This is a wonderful culmination to what is essentially the first arc of Stormlight Archive.

Oathbringer - I have read it twice. This book is above Words of Radiance for one section: The journey through Sahdesmar. Shallan at her lowest, as she is absolutely breaking, is my favorite Sanderson content. Hoid's talk with Shallan one of the best scenes he's ever written. I still get goosebumps when Hoid speaks of how the world is monstrous, but Shallan isn't. The you cannot have my pain scene is also fantastic. Dalinar's flashbacks are well utilized within this book, as well as this book largely gives us the fallout of Shallan's flashbacks from the previous. Moash becoming truly irredeemable, by stealing Elhokar's redemption, is another highlight. Kaladin failing to take the next oath is a powerful scene to me, and the final battle somehow manages to one up the clash above the highstorms in the previous book.

To those of you who read this full, rambly post, thanks for taking the time, and please share your thoughts on my list as well as maybe giving your own list in the replies. Also keep this Wind and Truth spoiler free, the reread I'm embarking on is to build up to reading it.

Ok so I’m currently half way through the sunlit man and I am so confused on why aux will say “the hero says…” “the knight says…” and then even will sometimes combine it like “uh nomad, the night says, this is kind of stupid” and then nomad responds normally. How do you guys interpret reading this? I’m on audiobook so maybe actually seeing the quotations would help but storms I have no idea what’s going on when he speaks like this. At first I was like “oh he’s translating” but then remembered it’s only in nomad’s head so that ruins that theory. Is this just how aux makes fun of nomad? 😵‍💫 help.