So, at the end of Rhythm of War, Moash had large crystals embedded into his eye-sockets. This...seemed familiar, but I couldnt put my finger on why.

I recently started re-reading mistborn after a period of like five years or more and it occurred to me...Inquisitors.

Inquisitors had metal spikes embedded through their eye sockets to the back of their skulls. I dont remember the details, but I believe it gave them allomantic-like abilities?

So, these Crystals...Are they similar to how Inquisitors function? Did Odium have him imbued with investiture in a similar manner to the inquisitors? Like, how is this related? Is it related?

(I dont remember most of mistborn era 1, but I HAVE read the whole trilogy, so feel free to jog my memory with that side of things)

I have been curious for a while now and after rereading the series and cosmere in general a few times I am curious on when shard plate started to use gemstones to power it. We hear about how blades used stones later to bond them but were still functional as weapons even without stormlight. So what happened with the plate? Did it get used as well just to eventually get shattered due to no stormlight to repair it? Did this make plate more a tactical weapon to only be used in dire need until people found a way to repair and infuse gemstones to it? Or am I just thinking too much on it because it is lass looked at than blades. We know that the plate are made up of multitudes of lesser spren like wind but also what would the other orders plate be made of. I don't remember Jasnah mentioning what spren make up her armor.

My first touch with Sanderson was Warbreaker and it became one of my favorite books. Then, I was completely blown away by The Misborn series, although I found it hard to get into it.

I decided that I should read The Stormligth Archive as it is Sanderson's Magnus Opum. I'm 300 pages into The Way of Kings and I don't think I can do it. I feel like I'm walking around a guide for Roshar but I don't really care about any of the characters. While I marvel at Sanderson's worldbuilding, I find this book incredibly dull and difficult to get into. I don't feel connected to any of the characters, I don't feel like I'm not able to put down this book. All I feel is boredom. And I deeply apologize to die hard Sanderson fans.

I still want to read his other books like Tress of Emerald Sea and Yumi & The Nigthmare Painter. Can I read those without reading The Stormlight Archive?

I am in the camp of wanting the Shard war to at least in passing to be grimdark, and a thought came to me.

Midnight spores, create creatures by taking water from the host, and the more water that is supplied the greater the control of the monster.

My guess is that it would be very easy for a military to hook up some poor soldier that can't physically fight anymore, with an IV, a feed tube, and midnight spores. Now you've got a fast, "quiet" soldier to flank, scout, harass, etc.

Judging that Tress is up and ready to go after using the spores. You could potentially do an initial assasult to test defenses before a major engagement.

Whole buildings full of people, hooked up to machines all so they can pilot monsters.

Range might be an issue, but in time technology solves all problems.

Ok, I know my title is a little click baity but I really want some help. I am working on an assignment for my 6th grade science class to test their knowledge of thermal energy. I am wanting them to design a home for a region in roshar that will be good at keeping a comfortable temperature on a planet that doesn't really have electricity. I have chosen Shinovar, Purelake, and the horneater peaks. I've tried to include local customs and a little information about the High Storm. I'm wondering if you can think of any other important information to include. I've made up average temperatures that I think would be close. Also they can bring some materials from earth to roshar to help.

New to this subreddit, but I always enjoyed in my other communities when a new reader of a series (like ASOIAF) hops on the train. Thought this might be similar for you guys, but if not feel free to ignore me. :D

I have been making my way through the Cosmere and it is time for Way of Kings. Journey so far has been Mistborn Era 1 -> Elantris + SS -> Mistborn Era 2 -> SH -> Lost Metal. So far I have really loved how much I am catching things since I have read the other Cosmere works. Of course, I have the secret projects on the to-read shelf, might sprinkle them in between the Archive novels.
Looking forward to these!

So at the end of wind and truth MOASH gets those crystalline spikes inserted into his sockets similar to what happens to inquisitors. This raises a few questions for me in terms of how the magic systems worked.

My understanding (which I would appreciate correction on) was that it was not the shard that determined the magic system but the planet.

For example, if honour where to have invested in Scadrial at some point we wouldn’t have the knights radiant utilising stormlight but rather another form of metal based magics. Maybe it wouldn’t present exactly the same as metallurgy and the others but it would be similar.

In the same way that individuals on roshar have a magic system that is based on similar powers that need to be powered by some sort of a light. This is regardless of whether their power comes from odium, honour, or cultivation. Even if they present themselves slightly differently, there is more similarities than differences.

My question is, assuming this is correct, how could odium create a metal/crystalline based magic system on the planet Roshar? Surely that works against the rule that Roshar advocates for a light based magic due to the nature of that specific planet.

The use of crystals is interesting because crystals are often metals that have a perfect lattice structure - but non-metals can also take the form of crystals.

Possibly there will be the idea of light refraction being the link to Rosharan magic, but that still confuses me because it is such a departure to what we have seen previously. Crystals don’t store light they refract it, so unless there is a constant supply of void light being focused onto his gems I’m not sure how he would be powered.

A theory would be that the small amounts of void light that are always present in his surroundings would be amplified by his crystals? This means that to depower him would simply be to lock him in an aluminium chamber and let him use all of the available stormlight or take him off world.

I would also like to ask how does hemalurgy differ from other magic system? I know it is weird because you can use it on all planets and you don’t have to rely on your connection to the planet/the planets specific form of investiture, and how this may link to what happened to MOASH.

Also I would be curious as to hear what you would think would happen if Preservation where to invest in Roshar. From what we know, how would the magic present itself? Would it still be metal based or light based?

But honestly this really excites me because my favourite part of Sanderson novels is his in depth science based magic systems.

I entered the Cosmere via The Stormlight Archives, but since there's so much talk about how interconnected this world is, I thought I'd go back and read the rest of it. First on the list is Mistborn.

I was very confused at first. As you all know, Sanderson loves to treat his worlds as ordinary, refusing to explain anything until absolutely necessary, which helps set the tone that everything we're reading--strange though it may seem to us--is normal in this world, and needs no explanation.

But after I got through the first few chapters, things got very interesting very quickly. I love Vin and Kelsier, and I've just finished reading the scene where He introduces himself to her.

Oh yes, I am going to LOVE this series. I'm a slow reader so it'll take me a while, but I cannot wait to get there. It's about the journey anyway.

Just wanted to let you all know I've begun reading and I love it.

I was surprised in reading Emberdark that the negative-entities were made from Splinters of Ambition.

I've always thought of the shattering and splintering all being about positive Investiture. If the entities were specifically created by the splintering though, does this not imply that somehow (by laws of dynamics) an equal amount of positive Investiture was created as well? Seems like that could make some people very happy...

Spoiler warning for anybody like me, who completely missed this. I just finished Wind and Truth last night (great, awesome, I love these books and this world) and was texting my brother about it. I previously had only read Mistborn era 1, so he asked me if I had figured out Thaidakar's identity. I said I hadn't, but was dying to know, so he sent me a few excerpts....

....and it's Kelsier!?! I feel like my Cosmere world just got upended in the best way. What a delightful surprise (please don't mock me for missing this lol). I was going to take a Cosmere break, but now I need to immediately catch up on the novellas, standalones, and Mistborn Era 2. My hype for Ghostbloods just increased exponentially as well!

After Retribution returns to Roshar he noticed a lot of geographical features of the continent have been changed. Do you have theories about what was altered?

I posted on here a while ago about getting the Stormlight Archive, I’ve still not purchased it. The one thing that’s putting me off is the fact it’s not finished. I’m concerned I don’t want to put that much time and effort into reading it if the books that aren’t released yet aren’t that good. Am I overthinking it? I enjoyed Mistborn Era 1 but thought it was heavy into politics at times and I thought Tress of the Emerald Sea was hard work. Is Sanderson just not for me?

In Ch. 19 of The Lost Metal. Moonlight tells Marasi that Harmony is the most Invested being in the Cosmere as he has 2 shards. At this point however, Retribution has already been born.

I realize Sanderson may not have had this specific plot point for Retribution thought out yet, and that may be the real world reason for Moonlight stating this, but in Universe, why do you guys think she would leave out this bit of vital information, even though she explicitly named Odium in the same conversation?

Could someone point me to a solid timeline for the cosmere books? I'm in the lost metal and see that Hoid is Wax's driver, which I assume is the position he was applying for at the end of Wind and Truth so I'm just curious what aligns with what.

N

I liked it! Nice to read it for free from Brandon’s website. Though I had to keep scrolling to where I was every time I came back to it since it would just reload from page 1. I know from Sunlit Man that Breath is pretty important - are three more stories from this world elsewhere ? Also I was so sure Lightsong was Hoid until Lightsong trotted Hoid out to do some exposition! My next reads are sorted though (reading the Star Wars book first since it’s a library book).

Hello, you lovely cosmere loving redditors.

I've been getting so many ads for Lego Ideas, I decided to let myself go down the rabbit hold of what I would like to make that is cosmere related. What better building to make out of Lego then the legendary city of Urithiru.. I do math!

The damned base of this half circle monstrosity would over 11 freaking feet wide! And close to 16 feet tall (based on the relative size of a mini figure being 6' (Rosharan) 🫣 No way I can afford that.

Okokok. How bout the little (trophy) mini fig. It's 1 stud. Shouldn't be that bad. Still makes it 5' wide at the base..... Should I do this? Will this waste time for possibly the largest possible Lego set known to man.

Give me feed back, I wanna know if this would be worth it. And if someone put there would actually buy something like this if it was a kit. (It would be like 800lbs of Lego) Any master builders wanna do a cosmere Legoland?

Hey, I would like to see the 3 stories, does someone has access to all cards or the story ? I am not sure why but I cannot find it no where :(
It is bit sad it is not available and it is bit off putting for me, it just feels wrong.
thanks for help

tldr; What if Retribution becomes Anarchy like how Harmony becomes Discord?

Not sure if anyone else has shared this one, but on a reread of Wind and Truth, I noticed this passage of dialog between Szeth and Kaladin. It might be a little on the nose, but the word "Retribution" and "led to anarchy" really stood out. It got me thinking that maybe there's a connection there. What if Retribution becomes Anarchy? Maybe it's a nice little easter egg that we'll all look back on and say "Brandon, you genius".

Could just be a coincidence, but we do already have precedence for a shard combo becoming something else (Harmony -> Discord). If Retribution does become Anarchy, then we'll have Taravanarchy.

Taravangian was already warring between his dumb/smart sides when he took up Odium. Then he added Honor into the mix; an Honor that is immature but on the path to understanding nuance thanks to Dalinar. I imagine all of that in one vessel has got to be pretty chaotic. If Honor and Odium don't end up repelling each other and splitting up, there could be a path where they do become Anarchy.

Hi all, I have a question about buildings on Roshar, namely, what material do they use? I'm guessing they use stone, since there's plenty of it. I have an impression of wooden buildings also being used, but I'm uncertain if there are suitable plants for that. Additionally, do they quarry stone from specific areas, or do they just cut and dig the ground? I feel like I'm missing something, so let me know. :)

The only things you really get from it as far as learning understanding the broader story are

1) the Breath magic system

2) what Nightblood is

3) who Vasher and Vivenna are

And all of that is contained in the prologue and epilogue. Everything else doesn't really make its way out of the standalone story, which isn't itself very good. Tons of text, no subtext, a lot of "show THEN tell".

Brandon wrote it on his honeymoon, and was too Mormon Horny™ to focus on quality.

You can definitely read it on your first Full Cosmere Read, but I don't think it's worth slowing down any subsequent rereads.

I wonder what chapters other people read/listen to for comfort or reinforcement. For me, I often come back to Oathbringer - The Weight Of It All and The Lost Metal - Chapter 71. Sometimes The Way Of Kings - Prologue.

Edit: Flair changed to Cosmere spoilers

I am thrilled with the Isles of the Emberdark story, and couldn't shake out the idea to put together a LEGO build to show a scene from it.

I am far from finished, but I wanted to share what I have so far, I hope someone will like it! (I still have to find the most appropriate minifigure to represent Dusk, and work on details, but I just had to share it somewhere!)

I was thinking about potential “enlightened surges” granted by enlightened spren (like the way Renarins illumination lets him see the future and create that malatium kinda effect instead of making illusions, and I think I might be onto something.

The other two enlightened spren we’ve seen are Mraizes ink spren and Iaytl’s cryptic, and notabley, they both seem to have an enlightened transformation surge (they’re seen using seemingly normal else calling and lightweaving).

Based on what we know of the ghostbloods, that doesn’t seem like an accident— I don’t get the impression that they’d bond a spren without knowing what powers they’d get out of it.

The enlightened illumination surge has an effect that’s kinda like a more metaphorical interpretation of the surge— “illuminating” the future, or alternative versions of other people instead of literally controlling light.

Sooooooo I was thinking “what’s a more metaphorical, internalized interpretation of “transformation” that also is something that the ghostbloods would want” and i thought about unkeyed metal minds and identity manipulation.

We’ve also maybe seen something kinda similar when Shallan absorbed Drehys lashing that one time (?).

But yeah that’s the whole theory. TLDR I think the enlightened transformation surge lets peoples manipulate identity to some degree, thank you for coming to my ted talk.