Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere Book • Page 57

Words of Radiance is my favorite of the four, but honestly I loved them all. I have a hard time seeing the criticisms people have because they just don’t hit that way for me, I’ve thought they were all consistently excellent.

 

Just finished oathbringer and it FELT longer than the others. I might take a break before RoW!

 

RoW was tough for me bc I read the preview chapters when they came out so by the time the book came out I had spent months slowly reading it

 

^ this is why I don’t read the preview chapters (@Nick)

 

And it does so by being the best of the three

 

I love rereading these as some things are so obvious on the reread. Like I don't know how I missed Shallan had a shardblade the first time in the way of kings. There are multiple references to 10 heartbeats before it's revealed in WOR. I'm bummed that I haven't gotten to participate in theorizing and discussing but I'll make sure to read era 2 before 3 to partake in any discussions there. I'm sure plenty of people picked up and argued / discussed my spoilered reveal in between books.

The only part I don't like on WOR so far and this may be explained is the coincidence of how Shallan ran into Tyn and how exactly her plan unfolded, and why she went along with the fraud with her and not the truth. Seems a bit convoluted / too convenient at the moment but I don't remember how it plays out and what other reveals I'm missing. But just how they happened to run into each other in what's supposed to be a massive plain seems a bit far fetched. I don't mind some of the other character meetings.

 

Just got to “I promise you, Kaladin, you will be warm again.” in my RoW re-read. This book is so much more rewarding on a second visit.

 

Today I learned there's a theory that Lirin is going to be become Honor. I think I would legitimately throw the book at the wall if that happens.

Their evidence:

Lirin shows attributes of each Radiant order and has remained in the bounds of every single oath of which readers have learned thus far. These are all the facets of Honor.

Some are blatant, as in Rhythm of War when he states a Bondsmith oath word for word. For other oaths, one has to read into the following:

Lightweaver - Reference Wistiow's will conflict. A "good lie."

Truthwatcher - The scene where he holds a lantern and faces down a mob. Compare this to Renarin's "allomantic gold" thing much later with Moash.

Elsecaller - Oaths unknown, but Lirin has the same Jasnah feel where he follows facts, not superstitions.

Windrunner - Very obvious. It's suspected that he's been telling readers the fifth ideal since The Way of Kings.

Edgedancer - Again, pretty obvious, in his work as a surgeon helping the commoners.

Skybreaker - Readers may argue Wistiow's will against this. However, the laws that Lirin follows are his Hippocratic oaths as a surgeon.

Stoneward - Little is known but it remains suspect that this is in line with Lirin's insistence to stand with Hearthstone when Kaladin tries to move him.

Willshaper - There's a parallel from his pacifism as a means to achieve freedom from conflict for society to Venli's desire to escape the cycle of violence.

Dustbringer - No known oaths, but the sprens' tendencies are actually super in line with surgery.

 

I am keeping everything spoiler tagged above ^.

I blazed through Words of radiance, read the last 350 pages or so in about 4 days which is lightning for me so I'm onto Oathbringer. I remember that I didn't enjoy that one as much as unlike the back stories of the prior 2, I remember the flashbacks being tedious, drug out and predictable but lets see how I feel on a reread.

Rhythm of war I haven't read before so I am excited to have 2 new books to devour. I can't express how much joy I've felt rereading the first 2. The series has just clicked for me now. I always felt it corny when people would literally stand up and cheer at movies or books etc. but man, if I haven't been moved to do that a few times in the first 2 books.

It's also great on a reread and to read peoples opinions as so many people find Shallan annoying and I love how the book is self aware of that and the more you know why, the more understanding it is, but it's pretty bold looking back to make a character like that and just know your readers will have the patience and faith in you to keep going.

Lift though... we'll see how her oathbringer sections are on a reread... I just think she's annoying and completely out of place

 

Working my way through Mistborn era 2 (halfway through Shadows of Self right now) so it'll be a bit before I can click on those spoiler tags, but I'm really excited to get there eventually.

 

I won't make it through era 2 and I'll read that after. I am sure I will miss out on some context but I feel it'll work vice versa with any stormlight connections being revealed in a mistborn read.

I plan to go - Oathbringer / Dawnshard / Secret History / Rhythm of War. I am okay at this point if Wind and Truth becomes a holiday read and not a release day read. Those pesky algorithms that are pumping stormlight / sanderson memes into my feed will be annoying though.... I didn't even search them out, my wife knows I'm obsessed and starting sending me stuff and now it's just there constantly. (She doesn't even read the series).

 

Had to unsub from the Cosmere subreddit because 20 chapters are already out and I'm terrified of seeing spoilers.

 

FWIW - you don't need Secret History for Rhythm of War.

You do need Secret History by the time you start The Lost Metal. Which, timeline wise, I think Mistborn Era 2 all takes place after Wind and Truth.

 

Thanks. I think I just want to read secret history to understand a bit more about the over arching storyline of the cosmere. I have been meaning too and probably should have already. Maybe I will push it to after Rhythm of War but I'd like to have the knowledge of it before finishing this first stormlight arc in it's entirety.

 

good luck with your reading! I’m jealous you get to experience a few of these for the first time!

 

Yeah Secret History isn’t needed but it’s a great little book worth reading.

 

I disagree. The full impact of Shallan's storyline is lost without Secret History.

 

I actually think Secret History is one of the most important books in terms of understanding the Cosmere. At least it was for me.

Also the character interactions are all top-tier.

 

Finally decided to read all of the cosmere. I LOVE super long series with lots to dig into. Heck, my two favorite series are Star Trek and One Piece.
I’m a little bit into Mistborn and love it so far.
Sorry if it’s been mentioned in the thread already, but
I’ve seen so many different reading orders posted online. Can I just read all of Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, then Stormlight Archive? I don’t want to go back and forth between series if it’s just small stuff being “spoiled”, especially if both Mistborn series are already done.

 

Do whatever you want except you must read Warbreaker before Stormlight and Mistborn 7 could be really confusing without a few of the novellas, but personally I’d go close to chronological:

Mistborn 1-3
Elantris
The Emperor’s Soul
Warbreaker
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer
Oathbringer
Dawnshard
Rhythm of War
Wind and Truth (out in Dec)
Mistborn 4-6
Secret History
Mistborn 7

Tress and Yumi take place in the future of these events and kinda can just be read whenever. White Sands takes place before all of this, but again, can just be read whenever.

The Sunlit Man takes place way after everything else (maybe even Mistborn Era 4), but can be read between Rhythm of War and Wind and Truth and fit quite well. (I just did this on my Stormlight reread).

 

Thanks, man. I’m screenshotting this lol

 

No problem! You can find Emperor’s Soul, Secret History, and Edgedancer (and some other shorts from other parts of the Cosmere) in the Ars Arcanum collection, btw. Which, iirc, is “written” by a character in White Sands who is annotating information about the planets around the stories.

 

The collection is called Arcanum Unbounded. Most/all of the Cosmere books have an Ars Arcanum at the end, written by Khriss from White Sand, who’s cataloguing the magic and characters and stuff. Worth reading each of those as well.

 

Just finished my Oathbringer re-read, now onto RoW. Not very confident that I'll be able to finish it before December.

 

This is exactly what I'm doing.