The Brandon Sanderson (Cosmere) and other Fantasy novels thread

Robby

Up till now I've been hesitant to make a Brando Sando thread, because generally everyone is at different places on all his books, and the Wheel of Time thread has contained his stuff pretty good, everyone know to look for it there.

But I was about to post another video and well…. thats a lot of Brandon specific content in a row that isn't even remotely WoT related. And he's doing a lot of big projects and weekly updates and stuff.

So... lets give this a go.

Discuss your Mistborns and Stormlights and Warbreakers and Cytonics and Alcatraz and whatever else he does. Make suggestions on other fantasy authors your enjoying. Next year we're all going to be getting simultaneous books on a regular schedule so maybe that can be a thing.

]

I'm also putting "and other Fantasy novels" into the thread title so we can get other focused reccomends, rather than the "what are you reading" thread which is all over the place and generally only like a single sentence.

Remember, everyone is at different points and has read different books, so if you're talking about anything really specific use spoiler tags.

Shiebs

I’ve read most of his Cosmere stuff

And I have the first Skyward book that I plan on reading eventually

Any other suggestions for books by him that are worth reading?

Satsuki

I have a confession: I've never read Wheel of Time.

Right now I'm more stuck on Naomi Novik and Patricia Briggs.

Robby

@Shiebs:

I’ve read most of his Cosmere stuff

And I have the first Skyward book that I plan on reading eventually

Any other suggestions for books by him that are worth reading?

I really enjoyed the first Reckoners book, the later ones a little less so.

I haven't gotten around to the Skyward series or White Sands yet.

Do NOT read the Alcatraz books. THey're very very much aimed at 10 year olds and are lacking most of the things you want from him. Those are okay as audios because the narrator did a really good job making the humor land, but I could not actually get through reading them.

The Legion novellas are okay. If you've got most of the Cosmere covered though then you've got the bulk of his work already.

@Satsuki:

I have a confession: I've never read Wheel of Time.

Right now I'm more stuck on Naomi Novik and Patricia Briggs.

That's okay, WoT is ridiculously long and is really rough in the middle. As good as it is, it's hard to recommend, for the same reason One Piece is hard to recommend to new readers. It's just SUCH a long term commitment. I gladly recommended it 20 years ago, its a lot harder now.

I just discovered Naomi Novik a few months ago with the Deadly Education. I tore right through that and immediately went out and got the just released sequel, and want the third part NOW. I also bought the first Temaire book and I'm in the middle of Uprooted. She's won me over and I'm going to try to get through her back catalog, it's not too overwhelming right now.

Satsuki

The rest of the Temeraire series is fabulous, you'll love it. I love the Scholomance series because it's like a Harry Potter without being Harry Potter and entirely it's own thing, and so far doesn't have HP's (author) problems.

Jabberwok

Naomi Novik is fantastic, Deadly Education is one of the best fantasy books I've read in years and the sequel is also good. I haven't read Uprooted but I did read Spinning Silver and that's pretty dang good too, but definitely less YA-y.

If you like the Scholomance, I'd strongly recommend the Locked Tomb series, which exists at the intersection of sci-fi, fantasy, gothic horror, and memes. The first book, Gideon the Ninth, is pulpy genre-mashup excellence and wildly original and the sequel Harrow the Ninth is incredibly ambitious and a worthy sequel. Seriously, I can't recommend these enough.

I'd also recommend the Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty, which start off as a fairly boilerplate romance in which an Egyptian girl is kidnapped by a broody djinni only to run face-first into a much more interesting nest of political intrigue and generational trauma. The first book is very good, the second book is wonderful, and the third wraps things up a bit too neatly for my taste but is still pretty satisfying.

Robby

Other fantasy books I'm reading laterly.

Neil Gaiman Reader: A collection of short stories. Been reading this off and on since September, just a story here or there. Gaiman is one of my all time faves. I don't love everything he's done but he's always good.

The Fifth Season- NK Jemisen. I heard many many good things about this one. The entire trilogy won the hugo and the nebula three years in a row which has never happened before. And I… really really hated the book. Half of it is written in second person which is certainly... a choice. And a lot of it hinges on two big moments that apparently surprises most people, but I figured out both things very very early on. I don't have a desire to read the sequels. It it wasn't written in second person maybe I'd like it more. I do kind of want to read the Hundred THousand Kingdomms though, the author is definitely talented, but... WHY second person? Why? .

Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastards 1)-Scott Lynch. Basically a bunch of thieves doing thief stuff. THe main characters were all a lot of fun and have great banter and chemistry. The story is two halves, Locke's Childhood, and a modern day caper that involves mob bosses and magic. I really liked the childhood half of the story but the modern day part less so. I liked the book overall but don't know that I need to see the sequels, but I could see it really clicking for other people. Though I have now become aware its supposed to be a 7 book series, its only on book 3… and that came out 10 years ago. Yeah, not diving any deeper.

Rage of Dragons- Evan Winters. Heard a lot of good things about this from first time author. I was not impressed, his first timer-ness really showed through. The prologue was nearly 50 pages long and added little, and the overall writing style is weak. The main character once he shows up goes through a very… anime style power up system. I can see people having fun with it, but it just felt very amateur to me.

Black Leopard Red Wolf- Marlon James. THis one was written in a very VERY hard to read style. The author chose a very specific kind of voice for the narrator and it just… makes things really rough. The actual story is really good and neat and has an african based mythology and magic system, but it is a HARD read and its tough to recommend because of it. Maybe it'll be better when it eventually becomes a movie. Read the first chapter in a bookstore or a library before you get this one, you'll know within a page or two what I'm talking about.

Up next on my pile after I finish Uprooted will be Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn... which is apparently Sanderson's all time favorite book. (Or it least it was a few years ago.) So I need to check it out on that merit alone.

Also planning to get to Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay which is supposed to be amazing.

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Jabberwok:

The first book, Gideon the Ninth, is pulpy genre-mashup excellence and wildly original and the sequel Harrow the Ninth is incredibly ambitious and a worthy sequel. Seriously, I can't recommend these enough.

I've heard good things! It's on my list but my list is also very, very long.

Aside fromm ione offs, there's Temaire and Malazan and CHronicles of Pyrdain and…

Satsuki

@Jabberwok:

Naomi Novik is fantastic, Deadly Education is one of the best fantasy books I've read in years and the sequel is also good. I haven't read Uprooted but I did read Spinning Silver and that's pretty dang good too, but definitely less YA-y.

I actually liked Spinning Silver better than Uprooted, but of course they're both good.

While not a "joyful" read I will keep considering myself a bad Women's College graduate if I don't get off my ass and read The Handmaid's Tale. Then there is the imposing pile of books that is Terry Pratchett . . .

Robby

@Satsuki:

Then there is the imposing pile of books that is Terry Pratchett . . .

The upside to the Pratchett stuff is that, while there's a lot of it, they're generally brisk quick reads. And its not like its one great big story, you don't need to read them back to back, you can space them out as long as you want or follow down specific character groups you like. I'm nowhere near getting through all of them, and I'm fine with taking it slow given there's only so many.

Best advice for Pratchett is DON'T start from the beginning. The early books were just kind of fantasy parody and really don't reflect at all what he became. Start a few books deep then go back later. That later books assume you know the world already so the first dozen or so are a good idea.

From the first dozen, cutting out the clunky start and direct sequels, that leaves you with

Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids, Guards Guards, Moving Pictures, and Small Gods, are all good starting point. Mort is good but it helps to have Death as a side character before you see him as a lead. (Wyrd Sisters did nothing for me as its a really weird MacBeth… thing.)

Shiebs

Oh man I was a huge fan of the third stormlight books ending

! When the main characters Fight off the army of fused and parshendi and there’s like 10 of them against an army, I got total first Avengers movies vibe, which I absolutely love, it was so damn cool, I love the whole few soldiers vs an army trope, and Brandon Sanderson did an amazing job with it in this book
! Again it reminded me of Avengers which is my favorite movie of all time

EDIT: Do I need to spoiler tag these?

Jabberwok

The third Stormlight book was an incredible emotional rollercoaster that's been the absolute highpoint of the series so far for me. Brando Sando's a master of delivering exactly what you expect and want and then going 120% beyond it. That's most evident in Words of Radiance but the lore-expanding stuff in Oathbringer with the different planes was absolutely mind-blowing when I read it. Might be my favorite of all of his books.

Shiebs

I wonder what this is all leading up to? All these different planets and magic systems, I can’t even imagine what the endgame conclusion will be,

Robby

We have some inkling of the "big picture" with the deities that were running around ages ago.

We already know that some of the series like Mistborn are going to eventually get to a space faring era.

And Hoid, despite beign one of the most important recurring characters, has his story scheduled for the far back end of the Cosmere. Maybe that amkes sense because thats just not stuff we should know while Stormlight is running?

Frot eh State of Sanderson 2019

[hide]Elantris 1
Elantris 2
Elantris 3
Mistborn Era 1: Book One
Mistborn Era 1: Book Two
Mistborn Era 1: Book Three
Stormlight One
Stormlight Two
Stormlight Three
Stormlight Four
Stormlight Five
Mistborn Era 2: Book One
Mistborn Era 2: Book Two
Mistborn Era 2: Book Three
Mistborn Era 2: Book Four
Warbreaker 1
Warbreaker 2
Mistborn Era 3: Book One
Mistborn Era 3: Book Two
Mistborn Era 3: Book Three
Stormlight Six
Stormlight Seven
Stormlight Eight
Stormlight Nine
Stormlight Ten
Dragonsteel Book One
Dragonsteel Book Two
Dragonsteel Book Three
Untitled Threnody Novel
Untitled Aether Book One
Untitled Aether Book Two
Untitled Aether Book Three
Mistborn Era 4: Book One
Mistborn Era 4: Book Two
Mistborn Era 4: Book Three[/hide]

He says that's not necessarily the order he'll be doing them, (Stomlight will obviously be spread between them since those are going to take 15 years) but its clearly his rough intention, especially since he's putting Mistborn 4 at the end of it instead of just after 3.

I believe after Stormlight 5 (which will take all this year to write and half of next to rewrite) he intends to do mistborn era 3 in one go? And then start cracking out the one offs like Elantris and Warbreaker.

Of course, his kickstarter secret books, three of those are Cosmere… and he's given the go ahead to one of his really close friends to do a Cosmere spinoff title... (and if he's willing once then he likely will be again) so who knows where it'll all eventually go.

Robby

Dangit Brandon, what now?

This unveils tomorrow, kickstarter still has two and a half days to go.

"I was so impressed with the response to the kickstarter, I did another book!"

Seriously though, between the swirling mist and the Kelsier quote, its probably something Mistborn related. Bonus novella? Isaac finished his book set in the universe? Movie/show/game announcement?

We know Brandon was personally working on a treatment last year…

Robby

They actually talked in stream yesterday. Live action projects are still a ways off but they think they have some solid momentum on them.

So that's not the surprise. Nothing huge. Much smaller than yesterday's guesses. But still neat.

Jabberwok

Personally I think both Mistborn and Stormlight would function better as animated series. Stormlight in particular is very anime.

All I really want is a Cosmere Dynasty Warriors game. It's a perfect fit! Is that really too much to ask for?

Shiebs

I just hope if they do live action they do it right

Mr. Zoro

@Robby:

Best advice for Pratchett is DON'T start from the beginning. The early books were just kind of fantasy parody and really don't reflect at all what he became. Start a few books deep then go back later. That later books assume you know the world already so the first dozen or so are a good idea.

I second this.

I started with Guards Guards and enjoyed it, then went back and started from publication order and… oof, that was rough. Despite the first book being like, a third as long as Guards Guards, it took me forever to finish because it didn't keep my interest very well. 2nd book was a big step up, and 3rd book was alright. I can see the small benefits of the publication order, though, since some of the world-building stuff builds on each other (like how a certain Ape in Guards Guards came to be), but it's nothing that's super-essential, as far as I've read.

Satsuki

I bought my first N.K. Jemisin novel at my local bookstore yesterday. Let the journey begin . . .

Satsuki

Dude, I finally finished The Last Graduate (Scholomance #2), which I had been avoiding finishing because I heard it ended with the most horrible cliffhanger. And they were right. I'm not going to survive until September (release date of #3). I'm not.

! FUCK me if that's not an amazing climax. That's where you have your blood rushing in excitement almost like you're watching The Avengers: Endgame. I'll re-read it like twice to fully absorb it all. But GODDAMMIT Orion! Why do heroines always end up loving the psychos?! (nothing against Orion, he's a great character). This actually would make a good anime, really. Either a miniseries or a movie. And if HBO Max wants something to fulfill GoT's place, this would be a great one.

Robby

@Satsuki:

Dude, I finally finished The Last Graduate (Scholomance #2), which I had been avoiding finishing because I heard it ended with the most horrible cliffhanger. And they were right. I'm not going to survive until September (release date of #3). I'm not.

I kind of saw that ending coming, especially with the title of the book. It was actually a bit kinder than I was expecting, there's at least some hope.

Jabberwok

I saw it coming from a decent ways off too, though committing to that level of abruptness is certainly ballsy. Book 2 was good but it lost a little something by virtue of not having that much conflict for El to have to adapt to- most of the back half of the book was just training with a few minor changes to plans.

Satsuki

I did spend most of the climax waiting for the other shoe to drop, I just didn't expect it that way.

Robby

@Jabberwok:

spoiler

I do have to say that the moment where

spoiler

Shiebs

Any other authors that make hard magic systems as good as Brandon Sanderson?

Robby

@Shiebs:

Any other authors that make hard magic systems as good as Brandon Sanderson?

Okay, I'll start with the one that will devour all your free time and take you forever.

Worm by Wildblow is a web serial about a young girl who develops super powers. She has the "crappy" power of controlling insects…. and does fucking amazing things things with it. (I use the swear there because its important to emphasize) It's dark, internally consistent, and features characters that use their abilities at least somewhat intelligently. The smart characters tend to fare a lot better than the flying bricks that would normally be the main leads. It's also really long. All of Wildblow's stuff is SUPER good, top tier... but too long to be traditionally published. It is absolutely amazing and I wish I had the time to re-read it.

https://parahumans.wordpress.com/
Fans have also put together a fan-made audiobook version. And we had a thread for it here on this forum but I don't think it ever had any traction.

WHen I say it's long, I mean it. It's like 1.7 million words. So roughly the same length as all four Stormlight Archive books, or the first 6 WoT books.

If you end up liking that Wildblow has done other series since and puts out work on a weekly basis, so he'll likely always stay ahead of you. Pact, Pale, Twig, Ward, that are also good… but Worm is the one people know and talk about.

Lightbringer by Brent Weeks is a hard magic system pretty similar to Sanderson's works. 5 volumes, I have only read the first one, I want to get around to the others.

Mother of Learning is about a novice mage who gets stuck in a month-long time loop. The magic system is something of a mix between D&Dish schools of magic and anime-style training exercises. We learn more about the magic system as the protagonist does. Lots of fun twists on the genre in there, too.
https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/1/Mother-of-Learning

Andrew Rowe writes a lot of hard magic systems. Check out Sufficiently Advanced Magic, and if you enjoy that his War of Broken Mirrors series is fun as well.

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers by Ishio Yamagata is fantastic if you enjoy fantasy mixed with mysteries. The general premise is six legendary warriors are prophesized to come together and defeat the great evil…but seven members show up. So one of them is a fake. Six books, all released by Yen Press. Another one I need to finish. It also had an anime that adapted the first volume which is how I was introduced to it.

Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steve Erikson is a good series, but VERY hard to read the first time. He throws you into the deep end and does not explain anything and you have to pick up world building and lore from context and a lot of people find that difficult and offputting. As if he started on book 8 instead of book 1. I'm working my way through it but its rough. Supposedly the payoff is fantastic and rereads are super good, I've only heard positives fromtm hose that have finished it… but I know it ends up on a lot of people's DNF pile.

EARTHSEA by Ursula Le Guin's is fantastic. It's more soft magic than hard, but it does have rules and is a fantastic brisk read of a series regardless.

I would recommend Patrick Rothfus's Name of the Wind, but he has a GoT problem where he's two books deep into his trilogy and its been 11 years since the last book and the final volume might never come..

Shiebs

Thanks Robby! Man between those books and the ones you guys listed on the page before there’s a hell of a lot to read

Satsuki

Isn't that the story of every geek or nerd in existence?

@Robby:

EARTHSEA by Ursula Le Guin's is fantastic. It's more soft magic than hard, but it does have rules and is a fantastic brisk read of a series regardless.

Everything Ursula Le Guin is fantastic. She also writes great sci-fi. The Left Hand of Darkness is a different kind of sci-fi and also a must-read for anyone who is or has friends/family who are LGBTQ.

Shiebs

I know you guys have given me a ton of recommendations and I’m still reading wheel of time (on book 5 of 14) so it’s gonna be forever before I get to any of these but…… does anyone know any really good fantasy westerns with cool magic systems? I love Westerns, and mixing it with fantasy just sounds awesome to me

I did read a bit of the dark tower but I never finished it, but I’d really like a cool fantasy western

After this I won’t ask you guys for anymore recommendations until I read at least a few of these

Jabberwok

The Wax and Wayne books are an easy answer, since the main character uses a pair of guns in conjunction with magic to fight. However, the series largely focuses on how his preferred cowboy approach clashes with industrializing society.

Another option is Seven Blades in Black, a story about a vengeful mercenary with a magic gun living in the arid wastes between a magical empire and the rebelling tech zealots. It's got a large number of magitek/punk themes mixed in with the Western stuff but it might scratch your itch.

Shiebs

Thank You!

Robby

@Shiebs:

I did read a bit of the dark tower but I never finished it, but I’d really like a cool fantasy western

Despite what the first book would have you think, Dark Tower is NOT a western. It really isn't.

(Honestly the first book is probably the weakest in the set and the worst first impression.)

Shiebs

Oh man, awesome news guys

https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/elden-ring-publisher-interested-to-work-with-author-brandon-sanderson-3196362

Robby

@Shiebs:

Oh man, awesome news guys

https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/elden-ring-publisher-interested-to-work-with-author-brandon-sanderson-3196362

That was on the livestream when they sent him his Elden Ring gift package. Its not really "news" or any sort of announcement, its just a website making a headline based on very very little.

"Hey, you publicly said you were a big fan of this franchise and would like to work with us. Well we'd like to work with you too maybe." is literally all it is right now. We saw him getting that note live, it's nothing yet. Just two parties reaching out to gauge interest.

It happened at the 11:30 minute mark, and the actual "news" potion at 15:45. that's all there is to it right now.

Shiebs

@Robby:

That was on the livestream when they sent him his Elden Ring gift package. Its not really "news" or any sort of announcement, its just a website making a headline based on very very little.

"Hey, you publicly said you were a big fan of this franchise and would like to work with us. Well we'd like to work with you too maybe." is literally all it is right now. We saw him getting that note live, it's nothing yet. Just two parties reaching out to gauge interest.

It happened at the 11:30 minute mark, and the actual "news" potion at 15:45. that's all there is to it right now.

I knew it wasn’t set in stone or anything but I thought the possibility of it happening was still worth mentioning on a thread dedicated to Brandon Sanderson (I also posted it on the souls thread)

But I’m still excited that it could happen someday, I’d love to see how From Software could make fun gameplay out of a Brandon Sanderson hard magic system more than anything else (if that’s the route they intend to go)

Robby

Anyone that went in on the kickstarter, the surveys went out today, so check your email. it mgiht be in spam or something. But this is how they confirm t-shirt szes and adresses and whatnot.

Proud to be the 123,127th on @BackerKit for Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson. Thanks @brandsanderson

andre

I'm pretty hyped for 2023 now!

Proud to be the 42,241st on @BackerKit for Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson. Thanks @brandsanderson

Robby

Man, I would have been one of the very first ones(well, first few thousand anyway…) and hopped onto the kickstarter within the first two hours but the shipping outside hte US was just so so bad it mmade me hesitate all month.

But then they kept adding bonuses and making them nicer and nicer volumes and its just... ah well. Took the plunge. 75$ per book is ridiculous but oh well they're deluxe first printing hardcovers.

Not like I'm getting the 100$ apiece leatherbounds for all of Mistborn and Stormlight...

andre

I definitely thought about getting those, but paying the measly 200 for the 4 hardcovers was irresponsible enough. Sucks about international shipping, though. You would think it'd be a little better for Canada.

Robby

@andre:

You would think it'd be a little better for Canada.

You'd think. Ship it to New York and its nothing. Ship it a mile further up, on the same truck, and it adds 30$ per package. It's ridiculous.

Shiebs

Do you think there will be some big bad who tries to collect all the Shards? Like Thanks with the Infinity Stones?

I don’t know why my mind alway goes to the Avengers but it does

Robby

@Shiebs:

Do you think there will be some big bad who tries to collect all the Shards? Like Thanks with the Infinity Stones?

I don’t know why my mind alway goes to the Avengers but it does

That might be TOO big and TOO cosmic a scale to hit upon. Definitely going to see more and more crossover as things go along… and we'll probably get a proper origin story eventually... but a big thing bringing what eammount to literal gods together might be a bit much.

Shiebs

@Robby:

That might be TOO big and TOO cosmic a scale to hit upon. Definitely going to see more and more crossover as things go along… and we'll probably get a proper origin story eventually... but a big thing bringing what eammount to literal gods together might be a bit much.

I wonder what his endgame is then? there’s got to be some big final epic battle or something right?

Will we have an Avengers like team up with characters from all the planets? Who’s the final villain? I just can’t wait to see where this goes

andre

@Shiebs:

Do you think there will be some big bad who tries to collect all the Shards? Like Thanks with the Infinity Stones?

I don’t know why my mind alway goes to the Avengers but it does

I say we already have 2, if not 3, great candidates for that. One of them is Hoid imo. He's nebulous enough that I could see it in his future.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Robby:

That might be TOO big and TOO cosmic a scale to hit upon. Definitely going to see more and more crossover as things go along… and we'll probably get a proper origin story eventually... but a big thing bringing what eammount to literal gods together might be a bit much.

It's precisely the kind of thing Brandon is building up to.
Potential spoilers for the entire Cosmere below:

! They're all splinters from the same God, anyway, so it's not farfetched to think Brandon will find some way to bring them back together or at least have it be attempted.

Robby

Sure, I'm just saying the raw scale in power difference between the shards and people is just… so huge. I can't imagine at this point anyway for that to be a battle.

I guess we'll have to see what kind of powercreep we get by Stormlight 10 and Mistborn era 4. Investiture and spren and magic swords and whatever else might all end up leading to some way to just flat out give someone the full owers of an entire shard, I dunno.

Mistborn era 1 spoiler

! Shards CAN die but thus far that's entirely been a self-inflicted sort of thing. And, we have seen that a human CAN basically become a new god and get basically all the powers after seeing what happened with Harmony taking both Preservation and Ruin into himself combined with his copperminds so… It's not impossible for someone to get those powers but it puts them so far beyond being human that would have to be very much grand finale stuff.
! It'd be really weird if that's the end game for say, kalladin.l

It's been a long long time since I read Mistborn though so I probably need to revisit that at some point how that we know the Cosmere rules a bit better.

Hoid is the only major player we know at this point and we're years and years from getting his story so only Brandon knows.

Shiebs

@andre:

I say we already have 2, if not 3, great candidates for that. One of them is Hoid imo. He's nebulous enough that I could see it in his future.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

It's precisely the kind of thing Brandon is building up to.
Potential spoilers for the entire Cosmere below:

! They're all splinters from the same God, anyway, so it's not farfetched to think Brandon will find some way to bring them back together or at least have it be attempted.

I don’t want Hoid to be a villain, I love him

I’m hoping we get to see other planets and other magic systems soon, there’s what 16 shards and we know of like 8 or 9 of them right?

Robby

@Shiebs:

I’m hoping we get to see other planets and other magic systems soon, there’s what 16 shards and we know of like 8 or 9 of them right?

From the wiki because they can say it better than me…

There are sixteen original Shards, with fifteen Shards (including Harmony) currently known. Two of the original Shards are currently unknown.

While most Shardworlds have only one Shard, Sel and Scadrial are both dishardic, hosting two Shards each.[19][44] Roshar, on the other hand, is the only known example of a world influenced by three Shards.[38]

2 in Elantris, 2 in Mistborn, 3 in Stormlight, 1 in Warbreaker, 1 in White Sand, 1 in a short story, and 4 named but unknown. Then 2 mystery ones.

Of course some shards are splintered or combined so it gets even trickier than that.

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Shard

Shiebs

@Robby:

From the wiki because they can say it better than me…

2 in Elantris, 2 in Mistborn, 3 in Stormlight, 1 in Warbreaker, 1 in White Sand, 1 in a short story, and 4 named but unknown. Then 2 mystery ones.

Of course some shards are splintered or combined so it gets even trickier than that.

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Shard

So possibly 6 more magic systems?

andre

@Robby:

Sure, I'm just saying the raw scale in power difference between the shards and people is just… so huge. I can't imagine at this point anyway for that to be a battle.

I guess we'll have to see what kind of powercreep we get by Stormlight 10 and Mistborn era 4. Investiture and spren and magic swords and whatever else might all end up leading to some way to just flat out give someone the full owers of an entire shard, I dunno.

Mistborn era 1 spoiler

! Shards CAN die but thus far that's entirely been a self-inflicted sort of thing. And, we have seen that a human CAN basically become a new god and get basically all the powers after seeing what happened with Harmony taking both Preservation and Ruin into himself combined with his copperminds so… It's not impossible for someone to get those powers but it puts them so far beyond being human that would have to be very much grand finale stuff.
! It'd be really weird if that's the end game for say, kalladin.l

Cosmere Spoilers below. Stormlight and Secret History.

! I'm not sure how much you've read, but what you say about shards is just completely wrong. Shardbearers have been straight up murdered.

It's been a long long time since I read Mistborn though so I probably need to revisit that at some point how that we know the Cosmere rules a bit better.

Hoid is the only major player we know at this point and we're years and years from getting his story so only Brandon knows.

As someone who has read every piece of Cosmere fiction widely released thus far, I truly believe he's already sowed the seeds. "Unite them" can mean a lot of things, but if it's definition is continuously extended, then the most natural ending points is the shards themselves. And Hoid is THE biggest possible character outside of Adonalsium . The next biggest players would be the shardbearers, and we know plenty of them at this point. I would argue that Thaidaker and Vasher would be on a level under the shardbearers.

Robby

@Shiebs:

So possibly 6 more magic systems?

Possibly? But theres been enough that, just due to being the same writer, or by design, we're starting to see some overlap in the internal logic.

I'm sure BS will do something else to keep things diverse, but where's your dividing line? Like Mistborn has Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy but all three of those are based around the same core.