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I can't believe you've gotten all that out of these parts of the book. Especially since several of your thoughts get proven right or wrong only in The Lost Metal. Great stuff as always, pik_d. Lost Metal spoilers:I think nobody but Ruin/Ruin's inheritor can control people spiked with normal metals, but I'm not sure this is ever explicitly established in the text. Also, it's amazing that pik_d immediately keys into the fact that it must be a breeding program instead of stealing their powers through spikes based on that one comment.
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Oct 6, 2023 15:46
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I’m halfway convinced that pik_d is a performance art piece: someone who’s read the entire Cosmere and already knows what’s going to happen, and is feeding this thread a steady mix of correct and incorrect “predictions” for funsies on a reread. I’ll take my tinfoil hat and Alex Jones subscription now, please.
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Oct 6, 2023 16:42
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Grundulum posted:I’m halfway convinced that pik_d is a performance art piece: someone who’s read the entire Cosmere and already knows what’s going to happen, and is feeding this thread a steady mix of correct and incorrect “predictions” for funsies on a reread. I’ll take my tinfoil hat and Alex Jones subscription now, please. Before you put that hat on let me soothe those feelings away by telling you my millennial rear end doesn't have nearly enough energy to pull off something like that, as funny as it would be
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Oct 6, 2023 19:59
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Torrannor posted:I can't believe you've gotten all that out of these parts of the book. Especially since several of your thoughts get proven right or wrong only in The Lost Metal. Great stuff as always, pik_d. That latter item seemed like the most natural explanation to me at the time as well.
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Oct 8, 2023 06:52
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The Sunlit Man's book is gorgeous, I wasn't expecting the black page edges.
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Oct 8, 2023 16:24
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Does anyone know if the prose version of White Sand that you get with the website's newsletter covers all of White Sand? The file name is "White_Sand_II_Full_2.7.03" so I'm wondering if it's just the 2nd section. My White Sand Omnibus still hasn't arrived and I'm pretty close to where it falls release date wise, so I'm wondering if the prose version would be OK for now or if I'd be missing out a lot.
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Oct 9, 2023 00:19
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The white sand getting sent out is a combination and rewrite of whitesand 1.0 and its sequel
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Oct 9, 2023 00:42
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Never cared for White Sand, it's the one Cosmere thing I never even finished, unsure why just couldn't get into it.
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Oct 9, 2023 00:57
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pik_d posted:Does anyone know if the prose version of White Sand that you get with the website's newsletter covers all of White Sand? The file name is "White_Sand_II_Full_2.7.03" so I'm wondering if it's just the 2nd section. I found the prose version markedly superior to the graphic novel version - it's unpolished, but still better. Especially from the perspective of someone who loves digging out the secrets, mechanics, and references. There's just a lot less information in the graphic novel, for my money. Less interior monologue - plus, it's much tougher to try to link unlabeled static visual representations to pre-existing objects, people, and concepts that you have only ever seen before in your own mind, if that makes sense. Like, a tall, dark-haired woman in a corner of an illustrated marketplace spread could be Jasnah, or could be just a random extra. Sando and the artist might think it was perfectly clear, but that's depending on the reader to do a lot of work, imo. Spotting connections in the prose books doesn't mandate fuzzy visual-match games or adjusting to a new artist's style, just a recollection of keywords or characteristics.
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Oct 9, 2023 07:33
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The original graphic novel version is best because it's the only one with the boombox. They "corrected" the artist error later instead of simply canonizing that Taldain is the DJ planet.
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Oct 9, 2023 18:45
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Ojjeorago posted:The original graphic novel version is best because it's the only one with the boombox. They "corrected" the artist error later instead of simply canonizing that Taldain is the DJ planet. Well I'll be reading the Omnibus when I get it, but I'll make sure to mentally add that back in. Also didn't realize that the WS Prose version is about as long as The Final Empire, I might get the Omnibus before I'm finished with the prose version.
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Oct 9, 2023 19:15
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I'm still not 100% certain what White Sand is and at this point, I'm afraid to ask. A graphic novel? A novel? Both? Neither?
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Oct 9, 2023 19:23
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Mordiceius posted:I'm still not 100% certain what White Sand is and at this point, I'm afraid to ask. Both it seems. White Sand prime was written, then the White Sand prose that you can get for free from the newsletter seems to be a rewrite of WS Prime and its follow up Lord Mastrell. Then the graphic novel has a few other rewrites/changes. WS (prose) is about the same wordcount as The Final Empire, Elantris, and Warbreaker, and some people seem to like it better. pik_d fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Oct 9, 2023 |
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Oct 9, 2023 20:33
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Mistborn Bands of Mourning Chapters 17-31 & Epilogue (Part 3) The Southerners had me so confused for a while. I really thought they were going to be from another world in the Cosmere, with one of them being sighted around one of the teleportation pools, but I guess they're just people that Sazed didn't know about when he was fixing the world. I had to think about that for a while and I realized that since the world was so hot, Sazed wouldn't be able to use the mists to see if there were any people in other parts of the world until things settled down. I'm still not sure why he didn't "fix" their physiology afterwards. He still had the power of the shards. Instead he sent Kelsier, posing as the Lord Ruler/Soverign to give them some technology to adapt. The whole time Wax, Wayne, Marais, Steris, and MeLaan were infiltrating the base with the "ship" I was worried about things going wrong. I thought Telsin might have been brainwashed and eventually turned on Wax, but I didn't see her as the one who recruited Edwarn. I also figured that they'd get back to find Steris captured but she was fine. I also thought the ship was a rocket, since Wayne had read about them earlier. The airship and lifeboat reveal caught me off guard, but was super fun. Necessity being the mother of invention definitely rings true for the Southerners, who didn't have the fertile lands of the Basin to coddle them and provide an easier life. (Words of Radiance spoilers) So Iyatil is a Scadrial native from the Hunters group, I do wonder if she's Metalborn in any way. (Words of Radiance spoilers) The broadsheet story of Nicelle made me wonder if metal from other worlds works. I think it might, given the Ars Arcanum says metal is only the catalyst to start an investiture. Though Nicelle says when she leeches she only removes the power, not the metal. I'm curious why any remaining metal can't be used as a catalyst again? (Shadows for Silence) Also, the man she fought made me think about Shadows for Silence a LOT. There was a ghost-adjacent gun, and his swear of choice was "Shadows!" (Shadows for Silence) Ettmetal sounds like sodium the way it explodes when it comes into contact with water. I somehow doubt it is though, given that the other real metals get their real name, and how it powers things. The translator medallions being Connection and rewriting the wearer reminds me of the Emperors Soul and Forgery, but on a much more basic level. Shai's Forgery can clearly do this, but also manipulate it to suit Shai's needs. It's also related to Soulcasting I suppose, and Transformation. Different ways to all do something very similar. It's almost surreal hearing Marasi talk about the three spears as if they really meant something specific. One of Ham's thugs speared the Lord Ruler twice which did nothing, then later Vin rammed one through him after removing his metalminds. Marasi says the first was by a beggar, the second a worker, and the third a prince, and that they didn't hurt him. Not quite right, but close enough for a religion. The whole Temple of Doom thing was weird, especially with it being a two part bluff, with the shattered case above and the fake bands below. Wayne's kleptomania finally worked out, I suppose? I know I didn't post thoughts then, but I had suspected that the bands wound be on the statue, but as actual bands, not the spearhead. Given that it's a spearhead though, I don't think the Bands of Mourning were ever the Lord Rulers, but some conspiracy of Kelsier and Harmony given that the statue is of Kelsier. Also, if they were the Lord Rulers, I don't think they'd have run out so quickly, since he'd have had 1000 years to fill them. I guess in a way I sort of got my Mistborn that I wanted to show up, though not permanently, unless Kelsier shows up in the flesh. Wax's chat with Harmony was fun, if a bit scary. I'm wondering if the red haze he's fighting off is Trell, which he should know about really. The back and forth about Lessie was brutal. It very much felt like something Sazed would hate but accept, considering how he felt about losing Tindwyl before ultimately becoming Harmony. Steris got to step in and basically stop a war too, proving her usefulness even after giving the medallion to Allik earlier. This is all very tenuous, and I think Trell may want to disrupt any peace, but I believe they'll become stronger and I already can't wait to see Era 3 and what this world looks like. Wayne and MeLaan also got a very sweet moment, with her coming back into sentience when he saved her. Marasi also doesn't have to be fifth wheel! Allik has a thing for her, they can keep each other warm with a nice cup of choc. The Trell-Kandra that suicide bombed Edwarn is interesting. It's now the fifth being with red eyes in the Cosmere. The other four being the Deathspren, (Words of Radiance spoilers) thunderclasts, the Stormform listeners, (Words of Radiance spoilers) and (Shadows for Silence) the shades from Shadows for Silence, when angry. (Shadows for Silence) I think Brandon has a thing for giving dangerous beings red eyes. I also feel like the Set thinks they're in control when they really aren't. Trell is manipulating them through his own Kandra. I'm also totally fine with Edwarn being dead. I think he ran his luck basically out here. He fumbled Wax's death a bit, though there was some divine intervention there, then thought he could get the upper hand on someone with the Lord Rulers powers. I am a little curious how Kelsier gets his body back, since OreSeur definitely ate it, and then TenSoon still had his bones. Did Harmony give Kelsier back his bones and regrow his body later on? And what is the spike for, and why only one? I assume if Kelsier comes back to life he will still have his Mistborn powers, but the spike would help connect him to Harmony. He wouldn't need a big one for that though, earrings have been enough for others. When Kelsier died, the left side of his face was destroyed by the Lord Rulers backhand, but the spike is through his right eye on the coins and statue. I briefly thought maybe his face couldn't be reconstructed correctly but it's on the wrong side for that. At least I'll probably get these answers in Secret History over the next few days. Progress so far: 
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Oct 9, 2023 20:37
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Huh. Bands of Mourning spoilers:I'm not sure that Harmony sent Kelsier to the Southern Scadrians. I think he did it on his own. Although I could see an argument that maybe Sazed did send him. What do others think? The Lost Metal spoilers:Given the not exactly best relationship between Kelsier and Sazed, I'm leaning more into "Kelsier did it on his own. Bands of Mourning spoilers:The Bands of Mourning is the name people gave the Lord Ruler's metalminds, after the Catacendre, when Sazed's book informed them that Rashek was a Ferruchemist and Mistborn (what the fandom calls a Fullborn). And then Kelsier made a spearhead-shaped metalmind that made any user a Mistborn, and called it the Bands of Mourning. Probably as a metaphorical poke in the eye against Rashek.
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Oct 9, 2023 21:33
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BoM: How would Kelsier have known to go there though? My assumption, obviously without having read TLM, is that Sazed was able to find them with the mists and went "oh gently caress, these guys are in trouble, Kelsier go help them with some medallions, don't tell them you opposed their God though." Edit: After thinking about it for like 10 seconds, Kelsier held Preservation before things went completely to poo poo, so maybe he knew about them from his time as god.
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Oct 9, 2023 21:42
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(Late BoM reveal but not the final one) The whole deal with the Southerners getting overlooked by a drat near omnipotent god who became aware of them later and still has taken no steps to help is very strange and continues to rub me the wrong way. We know Sazed is capable of altering physiology, he did it for everybody to reset them to base human and remove the "always breathing coal dust" adaptations Rashek clumsily glued on. Why the gently caress is he letting the Southerners suffer? And for what it's worth, I also get a sense that Kelsier went there on his own, possibly motivated by the same "what the gently caress, Saze" sentiment that I have. (General Cosmere) Things with red eyes showing up across the Cosmere is deliberate; it means something. The spirits of Threnody aren't a straight example when compared to everyone else, but Threnody is a pretty hosed up place in general and nothing really works right there, so. Also, pik, regarding the final reveal from BoM, you seem remarkably unsurprised that Kelsier is alive.
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Oct 9, 2023 21:53
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CapnAndy posted:(Late BoM reveal but not the final one) The whole deal with the Southerners getting overlooked by a drat near omnipotent god who became aware of them later and still has taken no steps to help is very strange and continues to rub me the wrong way. We know Sazed is capable of altering physiology, he did it for everybody to reset them to base human and remove the "always breathing coal dust" adaptations Rashek clumsily glued on. Why the gently caress is he letting the Southerners suffer? Have you already forgotten this thread lore?? You were there! https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3334571&pagenumber=455&perpage=40#post533025514
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Oct 9, 2023 21:56
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pik_d posted:Have you already forgotten this thread lore??  Still, there's a gap between that and being back on Scadrial physically walking around.
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Oct 9, 2023 21:57
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CapnAndy posted:Oh yeah Tbh, I sorta forgot the specifics of that post, and also early in this book someone said that The Survivor held Preservation so I was primed for him being back in whatever form anyway.
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Oct 9, 2023 21:59
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Hoo boy. Bands of Mourning is a book that I have major problems with. I feel like it is one of, if not, the weakest of Era 2. Though many here really like it. Granted, I'd still probably rank it above Alloy of Law, if only because Alloy of Law is so brief. There is a lot of good in Bands of Mourning, but I feel like it's dragged down in significant areas (one of those being due to stuff from The Lost Metal). BoM Spoilers - I found myself intensely frustrated because booooooooooooooooy is this a book of endless fakeouts. "Marasi is shot! JK she's fine." "Wax dies. JK he's gonna be okay." "Wayne picks up a gun! JK he only shot because he knew she'd live." It feels like trying to do character development but backing away from any lasting consequence. I also had figured out that Telsin was evil when they were on the lifeboat. She seemed far far far to eager to get the bands. I feel like Brandon was not nearly subtle enough with her. Once they were on the lifeboat I was just counting down until she turned. Lost Metal vague, general spoilers (pik_d don't read) I also hate that the Bands of Mourning are introduced but then lol we can't use them again in the next book. They're basically worthless now. Come back in Era 3 for more. The most egregious thing to me was the Trell-controlled Kandra. The final line of the book was like "The Set had faceless immortals of their own." LOL JK THIS NEVER COMES UP AGAIN. I was expecting there to be the threat of having to sus out Kandra or at least have some Kandra-related twists but it is never mentioned again.
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Oct 9, 2023 22:24
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Mordiceius posted:Lost Metal vague, general spoilers (pik_d don't read) I also hate that the Bands of Mourning are introduced but then lol we can't use them again in the next book. They're basically worthless now. Come back in Era 3 for more. Yeah, that's a fair criticism. I wonder if these things were planned for Era 3, back when he only wanted to write a small book bridging the gap with Alloy of Law. But then Sanderson decided to introduce them in Era 2, while still being an integral part of the story in Era 3? That would explain why those issues remained unresolved.
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Oct 9, 2023 22:33
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e: nevermind
eke out fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Oct 9, 2023 |
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Oct 9, 2023 22:35
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At this point Cosmere is more confusing than Malazan. At least the books are straightforward and not being intentionally obtuse like Erikson. I've read all Cosmere but only because I got in on the ground floor. Is there a spoiler timeline of books like Malazan's? I'd like to use it for when I reread the Cosmere after reading Stormlight 5. for reference lol:  
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Oct 10, 2023 02:00
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17th Shard has a reading order, which includes the book links with optional spoilers. Doesn't look like it includes Sunlit Man yet. https://17thshard.github.io/reading-order/#/ Echophonic fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Oct 10, 2023 |
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Oct 10, 2023 02:08
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Echophonic posted:17th Shard has a reading order, which includes the book links with optional spoilers. Doesn't look like it includes Yumi or Sunlit Man yet. Thanks! Makes me dizzy but I'll work it out
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Oct 10, 2023 02:11
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Publication order is good imo you get the reveals as Brando wanted to dish them out.
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Oct 10, 2023 07:51
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stramit posted:Publication order is good imo you get the reveals as Brando wanted to dish them out. Yeah, this. It might be a good idea to recommend the Mistborn Era 1 to new readers, instead of them having to suffer through Elantris first, but after that, publication order is best.
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Oct 10, 2023 08:32
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Torrannor posted:Yeah, this. It might be a good idea to recommend the Mistborn Era 1 to new readers, instead of them having to suffer through Elantris first, but after that, publication order is best. Yeah I guess I should have nuanced that with something like: start with mistborn then go publication order, read the earlier ones any time when you are curious. More so because the first books are pretty weak.
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Oct 10, 2023 08:38
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Just got an email from Dynamite that my WS Omnibus has shipped! My plan was to finish Secret History tonight and start WS (prose) tomorrow, but if I get the Omnibus I'll be more than happy to read that.
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Oct 11, 2023 16:27
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The Sunlit man almost answers the one question I have gotten RAFOd more than once over the past few years - "How many Breaths are in an infused Broam" - and here Sanderson just finally defines the breath as the official unit measure of investiture.
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Oct 12, 2023 02:17
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After Yumi was a bit worried, that was easily that worst Sanderson book I have read, and at times it was hard to finish. But I loved The Sunlit Man, in contrast to Yumi this is so far my favorite Sanderson book.
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Oct 12, 2023 05:49
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The secret projects seem to have been very divisive. It feels like #2 received overall the most tepid reception. For #1/#3/#4, I've seen people both say each book was one of the best/worst books Sanderson has done.
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Oct 12, 2023 07:07
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Mordiceius posted:The secret projects seem to have been very divisive. It feels like #2 received overall the most tepid reception. For #1/#3/#4, I've seen people both say each book was one of the best/worst books Sanderson has done. Yeah I didn't like 2 and thought 1 was okish, it felt more like his YA books. But 3 was amazing, had all the the things you come to Sanderson for in a tight package.
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Oct 12, 2023 07:12
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Tress is sales-wise the most popular secret project by far, it hit like 7 on the NYT chart and NYT doesn't count kickstarter orders.
Tunicate fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Oct 12, 2023 |
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Oct 12, 2023 09:36
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I got the impression that most people loved Tress, but I also thought I was the only one who really hated Yumi. Maybe I will like Yumi better whenever I do a re-read, but overall I was very happy with backing the project, and there seems to be something for everyone.
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Oct 12, 2023 11:23
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Grundulum posted:I’m halfway convinced that pik_d is a performance art piece: someone who’s read the entire Cosmere and already knows what’s going to happen, and is feeding this thread a steady mix of correct and incorrect “predictions” for funsies on a reread. I’ll take my tinfoil hat and Alex Jones subscription now, please. While I know he already came back with a "lol, no," this reminds me of a happening on the old Gene Wolfe mailing list. There was a guy there who posted by the name Roy C. Lackey who has similarly very well thought out posts. He eventually got called out in a very cavalier way as potentially being Gene Wolfe who sees himself on the mailing list as a king overseeing his servants with a clever name (Roi see lackey).
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Oct 12, 2023 14:38
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Only halfway through Sunlit Man, but the secret projects have been some of my favorite cosmere books. I'd love for Brandon to get more time to just write single books about weird rear end planets.
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Oct 12, 2023 14:46
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Mordiceius posted:The secret projects seem to have been very divisive. It feels like #2 received overall the most tepid reception. For #1/#3/#4, I've seen people both say each book was one of the best/worst books Sanderson has done. socialsecurity posted:Yeah I didn't like 2 and thought 1 was okish, it felt more like his YA books. But 3 was amazing, had all the the things you come to Sanderson for in a tight package. Socialsecurity is echoing how I felt. 1 was good, 2 was not great, 3 knocked it out of the park and 4 was very good. I was surprised with #3 that Sanderson tackled a romance - which isn't usually in his wheelhouse, and I think that could contribute to a Sanderson fan rejecting it.
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Oct 12, 2023 15:04
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Jose Valasquez posted:Only halfway through Sunlit Man, but the secret projects have been some of my favorite cosmere books. I'd love for Brandon to get more time to just write single books about weird rear end planets. yeah sunlit man was really fun. as a whole the secret projects seem to have been a great excuse for brandon to write a bunch of future cosmere stuff that he plans to get to eventually and start getting in the mood for the weird places it's gonna go, which is exciting to me
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Oct 12, 2023 16:53
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