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mewse
May 2, 2006

Hiro Protagonist posted:

So, as someone who read that without thinking, whose only read the first book, and plans to read the rest, how hosed am I?

Just forget what you read. There is a *lot* of context built into that spoiler that you don't know about yet, so if you're able to ignore and forget it then you'll be fine.

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Hiro Protagonist
Oct 25, 2010

Last of the freelance hackers and
Greatest swordfighter in the world
Fair enough, I just have a terrible history with remembering spoilers. Like, I heard a spoiler for the Final Empire's ending years before hand, and I couldn't forget it.

NinjaDebugger
Apr 22, 2008


Hiro Protagonist posted:

Fair enough, I just have a terrible history with remembering spoilers. Like, I heard a spoiler for the Final Empire's ending years before hand, and I couldn't forget it.

I suggest learning to enjoy the change from enjoying not knowing where things will go to enjoying spotting how they get there. That's what I did, and now I don't have to give a poo poo about spoilers!

Benson Cunningham
Dec 9, 2006

Chief of J.U.N.K.E.R. H.Q.

Tunicate posted:

The pits of hathsin were supposed to take 300 years to regenerate.

Aol is 300 years after MB

WHY DO YOU PAY SUCH CLOSE ATTENTION?

But seriously, that can't be a coincidence.

Evil Fluffy
Jul 13, 2009

Scholars are some of the most pompous and pedantic people I've ever had the joy of meeting.

Tunicate posted:

The pits of hathsin were supposed to take 300 years to regenerate.

Aol is 300 years after MB

The reason for Atium existing doesn't exist anymore though so if it's there now it's for an entirely different reason. Namely Sazed decided that for the sake of balance atium still should form because it lets him balance out any excess Ruin with the Preservation in humanity. Though as Harmony I imagine he has full control over both things and that it would take something on a god-like level, namely another shard itself, to shatter Harmony back in to Ruin and Preservation.

Sazed was beyond careful in his actions and "oh whoops guess I let this godly material just show up again" would be very unlike him as Harmony. Not to mention if the Kandra still exist in any form, or were remade in some way, they might be back to acting as collectors and keepers of it.


Hiro Protagonist posted:

So, as someone who read that without thinking, whose only read the first book, and plans to read the rest, how hosed am I?

It's still a good read despite that poster being a massive dick.

I had someone spoil the "Young Griff" thing before I got to A Dance With Dragons and it sucked but didn't make the book any worse (or better :v:).

mallamp
Nov 25, 2009

Book that's spoiled by knowing its ending (basically book that you're reading just to finish it) is not worth reading anyway. Sanderson is close to such author (and actually Elantris is such book, Warbreaker comes close too), but there's plenty of interesting stuff (other than dadjokes) along the way too, especially if you enjoy the cosmere and 'magic physics' stuff

vrath
Jul 6, 2015

Buy 1 get 1 bottle of Lysol FREE!
Elantris wasn't really just about the ending. There were a lot of relationships that were built, and themes communicated other than the non obvious ending. Sanderson does have a lot of non obvious outcomes in his books, but that does not mean his books are a journey to the end. Elantris was one of his first books, and in my opinion probably his worst in comparison to his other works, but it is still more than its ending.

I like that Sanderson puts in the non obvious ending. Something that I've come to terms with in most fantasy novels is that there will be a happy-ish ending (with some exclusions) putting a bit of a twist in that a reader could figure out while reading, which I actively try to do when reading sanderson is an added bonus, not a detraction from the value of the work.

mallamp
Nov 25, 2009

Someone compared crime/mystery/thriller books to watching a clockwork that's slowly ticking until it stops, and Elantris made me feel that too. Ok, there's some decent religious commentary but mostly it's a big magic system mystery clockwork.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
I feel compelled to link again to tor.com (I'm not paid by them, I swear!), because they try to reason out how to use Allomancy to create FTL travel:

http://www.tor.com/2015/07/07/how-can-we-use-mistborns-allomancy-to-travel-faster-than-light/

quote:

In the fantasy world of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn book series, magic users known as Allomancers, Feruchemists, and Hemalurgists can bounce themselves back and forth between metals, store their own luck away for a rainy day, or (bloodily) steal these powers away from others. In the first Mistborn trilogy, the characters with these powers make war in a somewhat Victorian setting and not once does an Allomancer think “what if I propelled myself so far and so fast that I left this entire planet entirely and visited another star system?”

But we do. Because an Allomancer’s magical manipulation of a fundamental aspect of the universe may hold the key to connecting ALL of Brandon Sanderson’s books!

It gets very technical very soon, which I really liked. I'm wondering if it's people from Scadrial that visit the natives in Sixth of the Dust? The third method the article proposes doesn't sound implausible.

It will probably something else entirely, some insane combination of several world's magical system. Both Ferruchemy and Hemalurgy seem to have the potential to give other world's magic powers to a person from Scadrial, so I wonder what kind of insane shenanigans you could come up with if you are both a Ferruchemist and can use Awakening? On that note, can anybody get Breaths from the people on Nalthis? In any case, what could an awakened Metalmind do with it's stored power? The possibility of combining the different magics of the Cosmere could create really amazing results.

mossyfisk
Nov 8, 2010

FF0000
There's like a half dozen unknown metals that Harmony added to the whole system, so honestly it isn't worth thinking about that hard. It's probably one of them.

Edit: Never mind the fourth magic system that they use on the other continent.

Fezz
Aug 31, 2001

You should feel ashamed.
Well, it seems like Hoid has some amount of Breaths as he intimates that he has prefect pitch when he's visiting Kaladin in jail. So anyone can get them but only people native to Nalthis generate them. So you probably don't need to hemalurgically steal them.

JagGator
Oct 31, 2012

Torrannor posted:

It will probably something else entirely, some insane combination of several world's magical system.

It's probably related to the shardpools. Sanderson confirmed that the one in Elantris (where Elantrians go to "die") and the one in Stormlight (in the Horneater peaks) are related. Rock tells a story of seeing a "God" walk out of the pool (probably Hoid).

(on second thought, not Hoid because Rock would recognize him as Wit)

JagGator fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jul 7, 2015

M_Gargantua
Oct 16, 2006

STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES

Exciting Lemon
I wonder if the shard pools will become the simple key to cross planet transportation. If you can will yourself to not dissolve in them you could probably will yourself into any other shardpool.

Tunicate
May 15, 2012

JagGator posted:

It's probably related to the shardpools. Sanderson confirmed that the one in Elantris (where Elantrians go to "die") and the one in Stormlight (in the Horneater peaks) are related. Rock tells a story of seeing a "God" walk out of the pool (probably Hoid).

(on second thought, not Hoid because Rock would recognize him as Wit)

Nah it was hoid but while he wasn't in disguise.

Torrannor posted:

I feel compelled to link again to tor.com (I'm not paid by them, I swear!), because they try to reason out how to use Allomancy to create FTL travel:

http://www.tor.com/2015/07/07/how-can-we-use-mistborns-allomancy-to-travel-faster-than-light/


It gets very technical very soon, which I really liked. I'm wondering if it's people from Scadrial that visit the natives in Sixth of the Dust? The third method the article proposes doesn't sound implausible.

It will probably something else entirely, some insane combination of several world's magical system. Both Ferruchemy and Hemalurgy seem to have the potential to give other world's magic powers to a person from Scadrial, so I wonder what kind of insane shenanigans you could come up with if you are both a Ferruchemist and can use Awakening? On that note, can anybody get Breaths from the people on Nalthis? In any case, what could an awakened Metalmind do with it's stored power? The possibility of combining the different magics of the Cosmere could create really amazing results.


Brandon's given a couple hints (it involves timebubbles somehow), but has also said "you don't have enough information to figure it out, and I'm not going to reveal that yet"

DarkHorse
Dec 13, 2006

Vroom Vroom, BEEP BEEP!
Nap Ghost

Torrannor posted:

I feel compelled to link again to tor.com (I'm not paid by them, I swear!), because they try to reason out how to use Allomancy to create FTL travel:

http://www.tor.com/2015/07/07/how-can-we-use-mistborns-allomancy-to-travel-faster-than-light/


It gets very technical very soon, which I really liked. I'm wondering if it's people from Scadrial that visit the natives in Sixth of the Dust? The third method the article proposes doesn't sound implausible.

It will probably something else entirely, some insane combination of several world's magical system. Both Ferruchemy and Hemalurgy seem to have the potential to give other world's magic powers to a person from Scadrial, so I wonder what kind of insane shenanigans you could come up with if you are both a Ferruchemist and can use Awakening? On that note, can anybody get Breaths from the people on Nalthis? In any case, what could an awakened Metalmind do with it's stored power? The possibility of combining the different magics of the Cosmere could create really amazing results.
Ugh the author gets a lot of physics very wrong and completely misunderstands relativity in their explanation and I am oddly upset at their errors getting into my fantasy physics

CerealCrunch
Jun 23, 2007

DarkHorse posted:

Ugh the author gets a lot of physics very wrong and completely misunderstands relativity in their explanation and I am oddly upset at their errors getting into my fantasy physics

I laughed at this part:

quote:

E=mc²

What the equation means is that it would take this amount of energy to move this amount of mass at this speed. That speed is “c²,” which is the speed of light squared, which is 90 billion kilometers per second.

aparmenideanmonad
Jan 28, 2004
Balls to you and your way of mortal opinions - you don't exist anyway!
Fun Shoe
Yo dawg, I heard you like the speed of light, so we multiplied the speed of light with the speed of light so you can go the speed of light while you go the speed of light.

:ughh:

Jorenko
Jun 6, 2004

I think you're just mad 'cause you're single.
First look at Calamity: http://io9.com/first-look-at-the-final-chapter-in-brandon-sandersons-s-1716348338

The jarring first metaphor in a new Reckoners story, before you remember that that's a thing, is always a joy.

fadam
Apr 23, 2008

What's the deal with the fake swearing in Steelheart? The book opens with a shitload of people being disintegrated but characters have to say "slontze" instead of poo poo?

mewse
May 2, 2006

fadam posted:

What's the deal with the fake swearing in Steelheart? The book opens with a shitload of people being disintegrated but characters have to say "slontze" instead of poo poo?

Young Adult

New Yorp New Yorp
Jul 18, 2003

Only in Kenya.
Pillbug

mewse posted:

Young Adult

Mormon Author

Lobsterpillar
Feb 4, 2014

fadam posted:

What's the deal with the fake swearing in Steelheart? The book opens with a shitload of people being disintegrated but characters have to say "slontze" instead of poo poo?

They do it in Stormlight Archives ("Storms") and Mistborn, too. ("Rust and Ruin")

Khizan
Jul 30, 2013


He does that in all of his books, it just stands out more in Steelheart and the like because it's more of a contemporary setting.

mewse
May 2, 2006

I posted about it in here before but the reckoners books struck me as way more young adult than other stuff that was supposedly young adult like wheel of time, because of stuff like the protagonist angrily saying "I'm not a nerd!!"

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

mewse posted:

I posted about it in here before but the reckoners books struck me as way more young adult than other stuff that was supposedly young adult like wheel of time, because of stuff like the protagonist angrily saying "I'm not a nerd!!"

WoT came before YA became a huge "thing" thanks to Harry Potter. Lines between YA and general fantasy were much more blurry in the 80s. Today it seems like there's a much more distinct market with less blur between YA and adult.

Then again WoT has plenty of genre swearing as well. Plus vague sex references rather than an avoidance altogether.

Silver2195
Apr 4, 2012

Lobsterpillar posted:

They do it in Stormlight Archives ("Storms") and Mistborn, too. ("Rust and Ruin")

Mistborn characters say drat and hell as well, though. Even though it doesn't really fit the setting.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

mewse posted:

I posted about it in here before but the reckoners books struck me as way more young adult than other stuff that was supposedly young adult like wheel of time, because of stuff like the protagonist angrily saying "I'm not a nerd!!"

In what kind of universe is the Wheel of Time young adult?

mallamp
Nov 25, 2009

Torrannor posted:

In what kind of universe is the Wheel of Time young adult?
In universe where the reader was born 1980-1990

aparmenideanmonad
Jan 28, 2004
Balls to you and your way of mortal opinions - you don't exist anyway!
Fun Shoe
As someone who was born in '80 and frequented libraries, book stores, and game shops with YA fantasy sections...Susan Cooper, CS Lewis, and Madeleine L'engle are examples of YA fantasy authors who had stuff out back then. Stuff like the D&D books (Dragonlance, FR, etc.) was maybe a bit more ambiguous but WoT was definitely considered a grown-up series by the librarians and book store owners. I snagged WoT books 1-3 on recommendation from an older cousin because buying/borrowing "adult" fantasy blind was a good way to end up with embarrassing soft core porn back then.

computer parts
Nov 18, 2010

PLEASE CLAP
The Tripods was also a pretty good YA series, it felt very Hunger Games-esque.

its HIM
Oct 22, 2013

aparmenideanmonad posted:

As someone who was born in '80 and frequented libraries, book stores, and game shops with YA fantasy sections...Susan Cooper, CS Lewis, and Madeleine L'engle are examples of YA fantasy authors who had stuff out back then.

I was born in '81 and until reading your post I had no idea there were YA sections in bookstores when we were young. I totally thought that was a recent thing. I'd consider the Shannara series YA stuff, and in junior high I always found those in the general Fantasy section. I read A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet somewhere around 4th grade; maybe YA back then was more heavily tilted toward the Y so I didn't look twice at it as a teen.

its HIM
Oct 22, 2013

mallamp posted:

especially if you enjoy the cosmere

On this note, as someone who has read a few Sanderson books (Mistborn trilogy / Warbreaker / Elantris) but was unaware of this cosmere thing: Is there somewhere I can get a good explanation/summary of it along with recommended additional reading?

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





its HIM posted:

On this note, as someone who has read a few Sanderson books (Mistborn trilogy / Warbreaker / Elantris) but was unaware of this cosmere thing: Is there somewhere I can get a good explanation/summary of it along with recommended additional reading?

Basically, all of Sanderson's worlds, except those on variants of Earth, exist in the same universe. Like you could, if you had a spaceship, fly through outer space from Roshar (Stormlight) to Scadriel (Mistborn). Of course, you'd need some kind of FTL to get there in anything less than hundreds of years. But you could do it!

All the magic on all the worlds comes from 'shards' of a god that was broken somehow. So they can all, in theory, work together somehow. It's common speculation that you could steal the ability to use stormlight using hemalurgy, for example.

Some people have found methods of traveling between worlds. A guy named Hoid appears in most (if not all) novels in the Cosmere. Sometimes by name, often not. The guy is everywhere. And he may be up to no good. Some people in Stormlight 1 (in the Purelake interlude) are looking for him. They're also worldhoppers.

The rabbit hole is only as deep as you want it to be. You don't really need to know any of this to enjoy the books.

Eventually he's going to write some crazy set of novels that really tie it all together, but for now, it's mostly little nods to this or that. Sometimes you get something blatant like Hoid or another character showing up.

There's a lot of info on the 17th shard website. http://www.17thshard.com/

Evil Fluffy
Jul 13, 2009

Scholars are some of the most pompous and pedantic people I've ever had the joy of meeting.
Having gone through Stormlight and Mistborn (and alloy) would reading Warbreaker and Elantris be worth it or would they, particularly Elantris, come across as not that good?

Tunicate
May 15, 2012

Evil Fluffy posted:

Having gone through Stormlight and Mistborn (and alloy) would reading Warbreaker and Elantris be worth it or would they, particularly Elantris, come across as not that good?

Definitely read Warbreaker. Elantris isn't terrible, but isn't great. Emperor's soul is fantastic though.

Superstring
Jul 22, 2007

I thought I was going insane for a second.

Yeah, it depends on how much of Sanderson's particulars annoys or charms you. His writing is definitely a bit rougher in his early books. If you're interested in tracking how his style has changed over time, it's definitely interesting in that regard.

Agreeing that Emperors's Soul (set in the same world as Elantris but in a distant and unrelated section) is great.

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


Tunicate posted:

Definitely read Warbreaker. Elantris isn't terrible, but isn't great. Emperor's soul is fantastic though.

I think it was mentioned earlier in the thread that Elantris is getting cleaned up and re-released for its ten year anniversary. Who knows what it will be fixing though, maybe not much. I like the book even though it can be rough around the edges. Hrthen is still one of my favorite Sanderson charecters and his story arc in the book is pretty badass.

DarkHorse
Dec 13, 2006

Vroom Vroom, BEEP BEEP!
Nap Ghost

Cartoon Man posted:

I think it was mentioned earlier in the thread that Elantris is getting cleaned up and re-released for its ten year anniversary. Who knows what it will be fixing though, maybe not much. I like the book even though it can be rough around the edges. Hrthen is still one of my favorite Sanderson charecters and his story arc in the book is pretty badass.
Elantris was one of the first Sanderson books I read (after he helped close out Wheel of Time) and I followed up with the rest in roughly chronological release order, and it's amazing the progress you can see him make as a writer. Even in Elantris, which has a lot of rough edges, Hrathen is an example of good characterization and the final encounter shows off the typical Sanderson Avalanche. They stick out all the more because of how flat a lot of the other characters are, but it's neat to see his development over several books.

Khizan
Jul 30, 2013


Hrathen shows better characterization than most of the characters in his later books, for that matter. I sort of suspect this is because it's an early book and he spends less time sperging out about the precise mechanics of the magic system and so has more room for things like that.

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Tambreet
Nov 28, 2006

Ninja Platypus
Muldoon
There's a short interview with Brandon from Comic Con here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGH9i3jGBbE

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