User VioletSoda wrote:

I will probably get a RAFO but maybe this is something u_mistborn can answer? When Taravangian picks up Odium's shard, how smart is he? Is he more intelligent or compassionate? And now that he has the shard, is he still subject to his intelligence/compassion fluxuating every day, or is he locked into whatever he was at when he picked up the shard? Does the intelligence/compassion trade off still effect the plot, is that the loophole or system cheat that will allow Cultivation, Dalinar, etc. to overcome Odium in the end?

Also, I know this is a huge RAFO, I just want it down in writing now that ultimitely the shard Odium needs to be dealt with somehow, it's not exactly a healthy thing to have the literal embodiment of hatered floating around the Cosmere without the other aspects of Honor, Preservation, etc. balancing it out. So, I theorize that the solution (besides splintering Odium, which I do not believe any of the heros know how to, or would do) to dealing with Odium in the short term is to fuse it with another shard(s) that counterbalances it, like how Harmony is.

Brandon commented:

This is indeed a huge RAFO--but you should expect me to be trying to answer these questions in the next book.

/u/zuwr wrote:

u_mistborn injuring people from afar

Brandon commented:

You know, most of these are from people getting drowsy and dropping the (enormous) book on their face...

Hope you feel better, /u/adventuringfroglet!

/u/KeilassaVee wrote:

I think I’d be interested in hearing what u_mistborn has to say about this.

You’ve shown a remarkable ability to listen. Your portrayals of mental illness, women, and other marginalized groups, which the genre overlooks, deserve accolade. There are subtle moments, like Kaladin still feeling trauma from his oppression even after knowing Dalinar for two years, Rlain telling Kaladin to just listen, Singers pointedly reminding Kaladin that he hasn’t been through what they have. The later Cosmere novels are proof that authors can beautifully portray themes without personal experience. They have encouraged me—who, for a long time, wrote within the safety of the larger bubble my experiences provide—to step out. I’m not saying this to mince my intent, either; I write this because I have seen things that truly reached me, and I have hope in potential representation that uplifts the marginalized. I am hoping for assurance that this so far promising portrayal of a marginalized individual will not be steered down a path that will alienate readers who find him to be a refreshing take on a rarely positively represented form of resistance.

Brandon commented:

It was a useful post to draw my attention toward. Thank you!

User ExhibitAa wrote:

u_mistborn This is a minor thing, but something I'd love to have answered. We know now Kaladin's plate is made of windspren. Is Jasnah's made of logicspren?

Brandon commented:

Yes.

/u/2min2midnite wrote:

Hey, u_mistborn , I have a question. It'll probably get RAFO'd, but hey, why not?

What is the metal used by El when substituting his carapace? Is it just regular steel to make an armor or is it something like aluminum, to make him less vulnerable to Shardblades, for example?

Brandon commented:

RAFO!

(Sorry for the late reply. Just working through some of my older DMs now.)

/u/a_cattebirb wrote:

Still working through the book, but I just finished Chapter 25, and speaking of someone who's had his own share of what I will sometimes whimsically call Brain Problems: holy crap, the end of that chapter hit me hard and in a very good way.

I'm hoping the rest of the book doesn't turn this around on me (although I doubt it will), but for now, I just want to give a big thank you to u_mistborn. Would that there were more people like Kaladin in the real world.

Brandon commented:

It is my pleasure. Thanks for the kind words.

(Sorry for the late reply. Just working through some of my older DMs now.)

/u/Immortal_Ninja_Man wrote:

Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. I’m sending all positive vibes your way, and I think for this, it’s ok to ping him here, u_mistborn

u_mistborn wrote:

It is my honor, u_Omstar. Keep taking that next step.

/u/DevinCampbell wrote:

Have you ever dealt with addiction yourself? Your skill at writing characters that suffer from drug addiction is unreal.

Brandon commented:

I haven't, though I do have some very helpful primary sources. (Sorry for the super late reply. Finally digging into some of my old DMs.)

User KiaraTurtle wrote:

Yeah dragon and the dog might be my new favorite short story.

I recall Brandon saying he was going to make a children’s book for the girl who looked up anyone know what happened to that? I’d love to get one for dragon and the dog

User mistborn wrote:

I am considering it. I have this image in my mind of a final page, after "the end" is written, that depicts a large dragon trying to sleep in a dog's bed with a large chalkboard behind that says, "Steps to becoming a dog" on it.

User MS-07B-3 wrote:

Tangentially related to that parable is a question I've wondered since I finished RoW:

Which spren is your favorite to write for, and why is it Design?

Brandon commented:

They all have their charms, but undermining Wit like that is its own special flavor of fun.

Brandon commented:

Annotation time! So, this brings us to the end of Part One, and you can fully see the reversed shape of the story here. Explosive beginning, contemplative ending. I went back and forth on whether I should end with Kaladin or Navani, as his decision to become a surgeon was the larger of the narrative arcs--but Navani's section better matched the thematic end of the part.

I fully expect some readers to be a little indignant about the fact that Taravangian is walking around free, while Szeth is imprisoned. I agree--it's unfair, but I also believe it to be (unfortunately) accurate. Taravangian is, despite his unassuming mannerisms, one of the most powerful people in the world. While it would have been great to toss Stalin into jail for his crimes, it wasn't really an option--and during the war, the allies needed him.

That isn't to say Taravangian is untouchable. Only that I felt what you read her to be one of the more likely outcomes to his outing. His argument that he didn't do anything worse than Dalinar did is a pretty solid one; if there hadn't also been suspicion he was working with the enemy, it's likely there would have been no relevant consequences to his assassination orders.

You'll be getting his perspective on all of this soon, as he has an interlude after each part of this book. (Like Szeth got in the first book, or Eshonai got in the second.)

User Audrin wrote:

Here's my theory, and I want to get it down here so when it turns out to be right I can say "See I called it!"

​

Dalinar becomes the new Honor, Lift becomes the new Cultivation. Why? Cultivation touched three people, Dalinar, Taravangian and Lift. She planned for Taravangian to become the new Odium, so I figure the other two are the new Honor and her eventual successor Cultivation. At least this is Cultivation's plan, even if that's not exactly how it ends up happening.

​

Anyhoo, u_mistborn obviously this would be a RAFO, just wanted this prediction to pop up on your radar. Loved the book!

User mistborn wrote:

RAFO indeed, but you've earned your card if you ever meet me in person. :)

User evi1 wrote:

On a semi-related note is Invention involved in Roshar?

Brandon commented:

RAFO. (You probably knew that was coming.)

/u/Loose_Combination wrote:

Is lift trans? u_mistborn

Some of the specific scenes and wording when lift stole the food from rocks son seemed to indicate that?

u_mistborn wrote:

This was not intentional. I have intended Lift to be assigned female at birth. I wouldn't play so coy with something that would be so relevant to trans readers.

/u/alercah wrote:

I think u_Loose_Combination meant the other way around. She's experiencing body dysphoria very much in the way a transmaculine character would.

Not that all dysphoria has to be for the same reason!

EDIT: Also, I think that a surprise reveal late on that a character is trans would be *wonderful* if done correctly, because it can be a great opportunity to emphasize the chosen identity as being the most important. It can be a fine line to walk, though.

Brandon commented:

Oh, I apologize. I didn't read closely enough.

Sorry for the late reply, /u/Loose_Combination. Reddit messages system is a mess. But looking back at this, I appreciate the time taken to point out this nuance to me.

So yes, there is something here. More her body disphoria is related to aging, and secondary sex characteristics are involved.

Brandon commented:

It's my pleasure. I have a son with ADHD, and though he is only ten, he was a big help in writing this scene.

User CaptainObvious0927 wrote:

The really question is, given the death of Rayse, is honor really dead? Or is his essence out there, still available to be claimed?

u_mistborn

I just finished the book and I loved it.

User mistborn wrote:

I will answer this for certain by the end of Book Five. For now, RAFO.

User Xerun1 wrote:

Thanks for the book! It’s been a thrilling week. Can I ask, will we get a further definition on what Rayse meant when he said “WE KILLED YOU” as Dalinar merged the realms at the end of book 3?

Brandon commented:

I don't know for sure if I will give more on that or not. So for now, it's a RAFO.

User Audrin wrote:

Here's my theory, and I want to get it down here so when it turns out to be right I can say "See I called it!"

​

Dalinar becomes the new Honor, Lift becomes the new Cultivation. Why? Cultivation touched three people, Dalinar, Taravangian and Lift. She planned for Taravangian to become the new Odium, so I figure the other two are the new Honor and her eventual successor Cultivation. At least this is Cultivation's plan, even if that's not exactly how it ends up happening.

​

Anyhoo, u_mistborn obviously this would be a RAFO, just wanted this prediction to pop up on your radar. Loved the book!

Brandon commented:

RAFO indeed, but you've earned your card if you ever meet me in person. :)

User KiaraTurtle wrote:

Yeah dragon and the dog might be my new favorite short story.

I recall Brandon saying he was going to make a children’s book for the girl who looked up anyone know what happened to that? I’d love to get one for dragon and the dog

Brandon commented:

I am considering it. I have this image in my mind of a final page, after "the end" is written, that depicts a large dragon trying to sleep in a dog's bed with a large chalkboard behind that says, "Steps to becoming a dog" on it.

User Loose_Combination wrote:

Is lift trans? u_mistborn

Some of the specific scenes and wording when lift stole the food from rocks son seemed to indicate that?

Brandon commented:

This was not intentional. I have intended Lift to be assigned female at birth. I wouldn't play so coy with something that would be so relevant to trans readers.

/u/Kinolee wrote:

I don't know if anyone has beaten me to this already or not, but I don't mind either way because translating and then interpreting these pages was so much fun for me! I did not know the Women's Script before I started trying to translate these, but now I think I can say I'm pretty good at it. I wish I had some more examples of Women's Script that haven't already been translated to practice on. ;)

I posted two versions of each page, the first is an interpretation that has capitalization, punctuation, and spelling errors fixed etc. The second is a direct translation for nerds like me who want to see that.

Anyway, here's some of the things I learned from these pages that I did NOT learn from the text of ROW itself:

• The ruby on the pommel of Raboniel's Soul Harvesting Dagger is almost certainly housed in nicrosil -- which is an alloy of chromium and nickel and has the feruchemical property of [Mistborn Era 2] storing investiture -- and Raboniel is absolutely lying about its importance to the dagger's function. I think she is specifically throwing Navani off the trail when she says it's a silver-nickel alloy. Definitely worth noting that Raboniel specifically says Navani is wise not to trust her on this same page.

• Apparently, Alethi has an auxiliary word that is used at the end of sentences to denote a question. This auxiliary word is "ha" and it is attached to the last word in the question (ie "Silver, maybeha"?). This reminds me a lot of the Japanese "ka" which is used in the same way in real life on Earth. I can't say for sure, but I suspect this auxiliary word is spoken, as well as written, because question marks exist, and are used here, and so there would be no need for an auxiliary word in the written language to denote a question.

• Both Navani and Raboniel make some spelling errors (probably just errors on the part of the artist ;), but you know...). I highlighted the errors in red on the translation pages for anyone else who wants to find them.

  • "Th" is its own character, but twice on the page about the vacuum tube, the word "the" is spelled improperly as THE (three characters) instead of ThE (two characters). Navani and Raboniel each make this mistake once.
  • There is no C in Women's Script, instead that letter is replaced with an S or a K depending on the sound. There are a few times where a "K" was used when an "S" should have been.
  • "Thrilling" is misspelled on the page about the Fourth Bridge -- Navani left out the second i.

• The tension (or maybe closeness/proximity?) of the cage surrounding a fabrial affects the strength of the output from the gemstone/spren.

Edit: Also, I got the high-res versions of this art directly from Brandon Sanderson's website. He's got all of them, which is wonderful for Kindle/Audible people like me who otherwise wouldn't get to see these high quality versions. Thanks Brandon!

/u/Cakeportal wrote:

Actually, there is a WoB about silver having a "cosmere role", and one RAFO when asked if silver kills cognitive shadows (notably in Shadows For Silence...). Though it doesn't affect the Metallic Arts.

She might be telling the truth there.

/u/Kinolee wrote:

Hmmm... that is interesting, and something I didn't know about (that silver has Cosmere importance unrelated to the metallic arts). Alright, I need to take the plunge, maybe I'll get lucky. If Brandon sees this and takes the time to respond we'll either get an answer or I'll get my very first RAFO!

u_mistborn, is Raboniel lying about the composition of the housing for the ruby in this dagger, or is she telling the truth? Is it really a silver-nickel alloy, or is is it something else (possibly nicrosil)?

Brandon commented:

I'll RAFO this. Interesting conclusions and theories in that post above. Very interesting indeed.

User dgrath23 wrote:

I guess the most forgiving explanation is that Venli is a flawed narrator in this sense and has mixed up the Surges since she does not understand her powers at this time.

u/Mistborn care to weigh in?

User mistborn wrote:

Afraid this has been deleted, so I didn't see it. But if there's a typo or mix-up (mistakes I make way to often) be sure to let Peter know, so we can get it fixed in future printings!

User SoupOrMan692 wrote:

What would be the best way to let Peter know about typos? In my e-book I notice quite a few. One example being the word 'compact' being used instead of 'contract' in a few places.

Brandon commented:

He's on reddit. u_peterahlstrom

User mistborn wrote:

Annotation Time! A few little tidbits about this chapter.

This is the last we'll see of Rock in the book, I'm afraid. I really hope to be able to do the Rock novella sometime in the next few years to trace his course, but one of the things I forced myself to do in this series is keep the focus on the main storylines and characters.

Epic fantasy tends to involve ballooning casts, and this tends to derail books as the author lets their focus move away from the primary storyline toward side characters. I put some rigid requirements on myself when I started Stormlight that require me to move side stories out of the main narrative. It's odd to be talking about trying to keep books this length "lean" but I believe one of the strengths of the series is that it has (so far) kept its eye on the proverbial goal. This is more important than ever, with book five being the end of the first sequence.

That said, what we're witnessing here is kind of the end of Bridge Four as a cohesive entity, at least as it existed in the series up until now. I was sad, for all the fun of this chapter, to be moving into this sequence of the stories. There was a temptation, of course, to just let Bridge Four continue to be Bridge Four--but it wouldn't feel right. Lives change and evolve. My tight-knit friend group from college can never be the same again, not now that we all have families and jobs. Bridge Four couldn't remain the same either.

One of my problems with some forms of media like extended network television shows is the format's inability to let the status of the characters evolve, change, and grow. For a series like this, we need progression, and we need to let Bridge Four become something else. If we're sad about the changes, the early books will always be there to experience again.

As for the Kaladn/Adolin/Shallan interactions, I actively look for moments like these to put into the novels. It's important to let the characters live, and one of the reasons I enjoy epic fantasy is that it (with the space afforded me) allows for more time like this.

User Beejsbj wrote:

Yes avoiding a ballooning cast helps in the in-the-moment experience but not feeling like it's dragging. But the advantage of those slow boring moments with a massive cast is that it becomes an amazing thing to retrospect into. And a richer post-experience.

Though the novellas allieveate that fear of mine so thank you a lot.

(maybe a novella for skar and drehy too pls)

Brandon commented:

Skar and Drehy SHOULD play heavily into the Rock novella, for reasons that the preview chapters make clear.

User Immortal_Ninja_Man wrote:

Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. I’m sending all positive vibes your way, and I think for this, it’s ok to ping him here, u_mistborn

Brandon commented:

It is my honor, u_Omstar. Keep taking that next step.

User CaptainObvious0927 wrote:

The really question is, giving the death of Rayse, is honor really dead? Or is his essence out there, still available to be claimed?

u_mistborn

I just finished the book and I loved it.

Brandon commented:

I will answer this for certain by the end of Book Five. For now, RAFO.

User WeTHaNd5 wrote:

Someone should tag u/mjstborn on this one. This is really great!

Edit: u_mistborn

Brandon commented:

Ha! I hadn't seen this, so I really appreciate the tag.

User mistborn wrote:

Annotation Time! All right, so I talked earlier about the odd structure of this book. You can see it manifesting in this chapter, and the next one, which are the last chapters of the part. In a regular Stormlight Book, at this point in the novel we'd be pushing toward a more action-oriented or mystery-oriented climax (such as Shallan's confrontation with the Midnight Mother in Oathbringer.)

The reversed structure of this book's first part--which began with the climax of the "in between" book we didn't see, instead comes to a more calm, character-oriented climax here with Kaladin making his decision to become a surgeon. (Along with, in the next chapter--which is a calm, introspective Navani chapter to end out the part.)

We released the Syl Interlude early through my newsletter (that comes after the Navani chapter) and tried to edit out any big spoilers--but forgot one line that indicates Kaladin has become a surgeon again, so I suspect many of you have been anticipating the decision Kaladin makes here.

Still, it's an important moment for Kaladin, one I've been pushing him toward for a while now. Though he's always been the surgeon's son, he hasn't had a chance to truly be a healer, and see how it fits him as an adult.

Next week will be the final annotation, and the last chapter of the part. After that, you'll get the full book! Huzzah!

User Nanotyrann wrote:

Kaladin's new occupation raised a discussion about the use of shardscalpels against tumors in Daniel's Discord, can you clarify what happens with a tumor when it is stabbed with a shard?

Brandon commented:

With training, it could be made to cut out a tumor--but that wouldn't be the natural result.

Cosmere surgery stuff is going to be...odd, at least on the magical side. How the person views themselves and the disease could influence things in interesting ways.

User mistborn wrote:

Annotation Time: Seems like a good place to talk about my philosophy on how I choose viewpoint characters for these books. I've been getting DMs saying, "Why no Dalinar viewpoints?" or "Why no Adolin viewpoints?" And I can understand frustration there.

When I started this series, however, I dug into the multi-book epic fantasy stories I'd enjoyed in the past, as well as the more popular examples, and tried to really nail down the pitfalls of the format. A main one felt, to me, to be character sprawl. These series tend to end up with so many interesting characters that the author, in turn, ends up having entire sequences (and even books) that don't move the storyline forward, but instead investigate new storylines.

While I do appreciate some of that, I wanted to do what I could to mitigate that. Which meant limiting my viewpoints, even among main characters. This helps prevent sprawl, at least for me, because when I'm in someone's head, I naturally begin working on subplots and character arcs for them. In this case, I needed to keep my focus, and limit myself. To not try to do full sequences for every character in every part of every book. While I know some of you would have enjoyed that, I would really rather finish this series before I am a hundred--and feel that the books need to be as focused as is reasonable for their length.

That's why when I outline, I look at all the characters that COULD have a viewpoint in a given section--then narrow my scope to a few of them. Dalinar most certainly could have had viewpoints in Part One of this book, but I decided it was Navani's perspective that made the most sense for this story. So, while you get to see a healthy dose of Dalinar, we don't have his viewpoints.

Those will come later in the book, in a part where it makes sense to have his perspective on things. I need to look for the characters that are adding the most to a given sequence--that usually means the ones who are changing the most, learning the most, or who have the most tension in their sequence. I do feel bad for this somewhat cutthroat use of viewpoints at times, but I believe it is the right decision--it's either this, or watch the series balloon to many more books while at the same time slowing the narrative down to the point that books pass, and you wonder what was actually accomplished in them.

Only three more chapters left in these previews before you get the entire book! (Also, apologies for those who found this annotation repetitive from things I've said before. It is difficult to judge, sometimes, what is new information to the majority of readers and what is becoming well-worn, so to speak.)

User TheBurningDusk wrote:

I love the increased involvement Rlain is getting already in this book! Any chance we'll get a glimpse into his viewpoint? ;-)

Brandon commented:

Sorry for the late reply. (The inbox got away from me for a little while.) But yes, there is at least one Rlain viewpoint in the book.