r/Cosmere

Hey so i think i interpreted the ending of wind and truth wrong. When Kaladin becomes a herald and Syl inherits her fathers power. Storm clouds appearing in her eyes and a regal attire forming etc etc.

Am i wrong in reading this as their bond no longer exists? Im reading in a lot of places they are still bonded which is incredible thats what i want. I read it and was gutted because i thought through circumstance they had been divided by responsibility and were no longer each others/bonded to one another. What actually happened?

Estoy leyendo Viento y verdad y estoy en el capítulo en el que los Sangre espectral escapan de Shallan yéndose a Shadesmar usando la transportación ya que uno de ellos es un nominador de lo otro, Shallan menciona como los puede ver superponiendo su visión del reino físico al de Shadesmar ya que puede verlo por su moldeado de almas, SIN EMBARGO, en "El camino de los reyes" Shallan al descubrir la verdad sobre Jasnah y enfrentarla, después de decir su primer verdad, sobre el asesinato de su padre, osea ser una radiante de segundo ideal, para demostrarle a Jasnah que lo que dice es verdad, ENTRA EN SHADESMAR, lo cuál es mala idea porque después Jasnah va a salvarla, pero logran salir sin perpendicularidad? Que fue ese suceso?

Hey everyone I need some help. I want to make a Kelsier Cosplay from his appearance in book 1, so far I have the mistcloak, a leather belt with vials for my metals and have even been able to find final empire coins. What I need help with is the rest, I have gotten myself a white suit shirt and a dark blue suit vest. And am planning on wearing beige trousers. Would that fit Kelsier or should I choose other clothes?

(I put spoiler here because I want to state DO NOT MENTION HIS IMPORTANCE IN BOOK 3 I HAVENT READ IT ALL YET 😭)

I'm on Chapter 19, Garnets. I find I'm struggling getting into this book and find it a bit bamboozling. I've dived into all the previous books and immersed myself. But I always have a break in between reading each Stormlight book, just to come back out into the real world for a bit before diving back into the Cosmere. Maybe I left it too long this time because I'm struggling to remember all the different characters from the previous books, to grasp all the different types of singers, to get my head around Heralds and different types of radiants, and side characters like Wit, the history and lore of the war from the singer and human perspectives, and the science of fabrials and different types of spren. It's so vast and complex in scope, with so many characters and story threads, that for the first time I'm finding reading a Brandon Sanderson novel to be as challenging as it is a joy.

Has anyone else had this experience with this particular book? And if so, does it just get better the further into it you get, or not?

Where do you go for reference and explanatory info without exposing yourself to spoilers that tell you in advance what the plot will be? I've been hesitant to google stuff online for that reason.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions from fellow readers!

Is the emperors soul and Hope of Elantris must reads before moving on, or can I skip them without much consequence? I’m going into Mistborn Era 2 next so if there’s info or context I would miss I’d like to know either way. I know they’re short which is why I’m wondering if it’s worth the time.

This essay primarily discusses the Shard(s) of Scadrial. Cosmere spoilers are present as this post relies on information in many recent Cosmere stories.

From what I have gleaned from Hoid in Emberdark, it seems that in the future, Sazed will give up one of the Shards he bears. Given Sazed’s nature, I initially assumed he would give up the Shard of Ruin, but this post carries speculation that it might be Preservation that he releases.

The prevailing candidate to pick up the second shard is Kelsier. Given his immortality, ambition, and his brief time bearing the Shard of Preservation, he is the logical successor. During Kelsier’s ascension in Secret History, where Ati taunted Kelsier, we learned that he was deeply connected to Ruin, prompting the initial assumption that he would inherit that Shard.

It was in a recent Word of Brandon that Sanderson mentioned different people during the Shattering would have created different Shards. With Harmony and Retribution forming new Shardic intentions, it follows that in a different Shattering of a dual Shard like Harmony means the power might change. It would have to be similar to the prior Shard, but the powers were merged for so long that they are not what they once were.

Bringing us back to Kelsier, the Survivor. I posit that the power of Preservation will, in Kelsier’s hands, take on the title and intention of Survival. Focused on Preserving itself and what it protects, while being willing to Ruin anything that threatens its Survival. It provides some context for the war, even. Kelsier is not known for his restraint, and if he were the bearer of Ruin’s power during a war, the Cosmere would bear much deeper scars than we have seen.

Sazed, on the other hand? He gives up a source of tremendous power, fundamentally changing himself and damaging himself in the process. He seems to already be damaged and in the process of becoming Discord at the end of TLM. He has gone through some of the most significant and longest lasting transformations known to the Cosmere.

I speculate he would take on a title like Transition, a change or shift from one subject or state to another. The change Ruins the subject or state, while Preserving it in its new form. Sazed ascended from a mortal to the god Harmony. Harmony is transitioning to Discord. Discord will Ruin itself, and be Preserved as something new.

I appreciate feedback, speculation, alternative theories, or requests for sources. This idea sprang upon me, and I wanted to share it with this brilliant, wonderful community immediately.

Edit: The actual point of this little essay was whether or not my take at the titles of the new Shards was reasonable, not whether or not it was going to happen or how.

I've seen a lot of tier lists recently where WAT was placed as S-Tier. I love Brandon sanderson and have read everything in the Cosmere to date. I read WAT and really disliked it. It is the only book that I almost DNF.

I'm genuinely curious for all you fans who loved WAT, what did you like about it? Maybe it will help me appreciate the book better or gain enough courage to re-read it and see it from a different perspective.

I know there is a lot of controversy on this book

Please keep responses civil.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Hey so I have some general questions about the Cosmere itself:

• How did Nightblood stab Rayse? Doesn't Rayse have god-level reflexes and knowledge? Couldn't he instantly dodge out of the way?
• Why do some shards hang about to be absorbed, like Honor, while others just hang around in the air indefinitely? Such as Ambition and Virtuosity?
• During Wind and Truth, did Taravangian have the ability to literally listen in and spy on... anyone in the world at any time he wanted? Seems like he could have used that spying ability to tell his armies what the good guys' plans were.
• Why was Retribution!Taravangian able to end Hoid at the end of Wind and Truth, but he couldn't/wouldn't end any of his other enemies in that book?
• Why didn't Taravangian just kill the heroes while they were in the spiritual realm in Wind and Truth?
• Do shards only have the ability to kill everyone on their invested planet if that entire planet believes in them as their god? What if one person doesn't follow that shard, can that shard still click their fingers to end them?
• If a person wears a completely metal coat, can they go around being invisible to shards?
• Why didn't Autonomy attack the Southern Scadrians during Lost Metal? They're much more technologically advanced than the Northern Scadrians.

Hemalurgy as a magic system is still poorly understood nearly 20 years after it was first introduced to us. We know several rules of how it works but we don't really know the limits of what else it can do. When Mistborn Era 3 is published, I expect our understanding of the Metallic Arts to be fundamentally changed as we learn new details of what is possible and better things we thought we understood previously. I wonder if Hemalurgy has some major secrets waiting to be revealed?

OK so Hemalurgy lets you use a metal spike as a magical transplant, you drain an attribute out of someone and apply that attribute to someone else. Physical strength, eyesight, allomantic powers, feruchemical powers, even non-Scadrial abilities and attributes like Breaths can be taken. We have seen a couple of hints at extensions of this basic principle, this usually involves killing the 'donor' but can be done non-lethally with a weaker 'charge'.

Oh and if you take four hemalurgic spikes into a fifth person in just the right way they become a 12 foot tall blue-skinned mutant cave troll thing. Wait what? That seems very different to the first paragraph. That's not just stealing attributes, that's completely changing your bodytype and practically making you a different species. There's something odd with Kandra and their Spikes but that's starting from a weird amorphous state without a clear body layout so changes there are more easily explained with their own peculiar biology. And there's something a little odd about Steel Inquisitors but mostly because they have dozens of spikes giving them multiple powers in a way that should be fatal but it sortof harmonises to work together. Steel Inquisitors are odd but not in the same way a Koloss is odd.

I wonder if this will be reclassified as something different. "Type 2 Hemalurgy" or "Metamorphic Hemalurgy" or something. Perhaps we will learn about other transformations. Like those Chimeras we saw briefly in late Era 2.

Or maybe we'll learn that the transformation associated with the Koloss isn't really a form of Hemalurgy at all, it's a newly defined Cosmere-wide concept like Intention or Spirit-Webs that underpins the whole setting. Perhaps the Singer Forms are the same concept too, we might learn a new term like Mutagenation that covers Singer Forms and Koloss and Chimeras and those Dakhor monks with twisted bones. Maybe the Charred are another cousin-transformation, it's not strictly hemalurgy but it's accessing a transformation in a similar mechanism.

I have just finished Wind and Truth and I would love to listen to a new series. Currently listening to Tress of the Emerald sea and I was debating if I should give Mistborn another try… I remember really liking the first book but by the end of the second I wasn‘t very convinced anymore… The romance/relationship between >!vin and the prince (I think lol?)!< annoyed me so much that I could just not continue anymore. Does it get better again? The relationship probably not… but will the following books make up with a fire storyline? It‘s been a while since I listened to it so I do not remember all the details anymore. Wondering what y‘all would recommend:)

Edit: Okay yall convinced me. After I finish Tress I‘ll give Mistborn another try. Thank you all for your help!

I initially finished the Mistborn series and was recommended the order for the rest of the Cosmere. So I read through Secret History, Emperor's Soul and now Warbreaker. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Lightsong was my favorite charachter. From his humor to his character development. The moment he gave the God King his breath I choked up and tears rolled down my cheeks. Lightsong was truly the god king! And Blushweaver his queen. RIP to you both.

Siri's story was also good, though it gripped me the least. I enjoyed seeing the blooming relationship between her and the God King though.

Vivenna initially didn't interest me. It felt like a B plot at first. Until.... Rust and Ruin! That scene where she discovers the animals gave me shivers and made my blood run cold. When Denth and the mercenaries were revealed as the bad guys... wow... I was expecting it to go deeper than what was on the surface, but that dark scene shocked me. Loved the masterful story telling.

Vasher was clearly not a bad guy from the prologue. So it didn't surprise me when Vivenna joined him. Though I already figured he was a Returned about halfway through the book, I was shocked that he played so many roles in history. From being one of the 5 scholars, to being the main figure of the Manywar. His battle against Denth at the end was spectacularly done. I wasn't expecting Clod to be Arsteel and Denth to have the royal locks.

Nightblood, you beautiful sword you. I would read an entire book from his perspective. He had me dying with laughter!

As my last book before the Stormlight Archive, I have to say... Sanderson you brilliant man, if you ever see this: Thank you for another great adventure!

So, given our current understanding of Cosmere metaphysics, these two should interact strangely, right? If splinters have “expanded spirit webs” that allow one to hold more investiture but tune that investiture to what they’re a sliver of, and returned are given a splinter of Endowment, then shouldn’t the powers of this particular Returned be shaped by what they’re a splinter of? For example: slivers are said to have slightly expanded mental capacities and sense of connections left over after holding a shard, would this interact with or be influenced by their Returned powers? Would there be unique resonances or would resonances not form because the left over investiture from having held a shard just not be enough? It does seem that the abilities of a sliver come more from a change to the skeleton of their spirit web than being pumped full of investiture energy.

But by this point I’m rambling. How do you guys think this would work out? Would it even work at all? What models do you have for understanding Cosmere metaphysics and how does that shape your answers? If it does work, what’re some potentially cool combinations and what might they look like? I would love to hear what you guys come up with?

Edit: oh sorry SLIVERS! SILVERS! Can SLIVERS be Returned! I’m so sorry for the mixup. My bad.

So, I got very drunk the other night and apparently had the Cosmere on my mind. Because the next morning I found these words scrawled at the bottom of my calendar:

"Giant Kandra fighting Thunderclasts"

I think I get what I was going for. We know kandra can increase their biomass by eating multiple animals (Ten Soon eats a pig to give his horse form more muscle and bulk). We also know that Kandra can use artificial bones. THEREFORE, engineers could build a giant skeleton of titanium (coated in aluminum, of course) for a kandra, who would then eat entire herds of livestock to gain enough mass to use the giant skeleton.

Who else wants to see Harmony grow himself a Godzilla-like creature (which is legally distinct and different from the actual Godzilla) to help maintain the balance?

Towards the end of the book the group heading out from Luthadel ends up being just Vin, Elend and Spook.
It's Vin and Elend's honeymoon. They're sleeping in tents with walls made of fabric. Spook is a freaking tineye.

Spook heard everything.