Shardcast: The Brandon Sanderson Podcast

Welcome back to Shardkeepers! This time with Edgedancer being standalone, we can pretend this podcast on analyzing Edgedancer is timely, and not months late. Yup, we are finally analyzing Edgedancer, nearly a year late, but shhhh, we were all very busy in the spring. So we're a bit out of practice (if we were ever in practice in the first place). There's absolutely no Oathbringer spoilers in this podcast, though we did need to cut some out of it, which we'll post as outtakes later. There are some Mistborn spoilers about some general Shardy things. We almost have all the gang together: Kerry, Ian, and I return, but we also have Alyx (FeatherWriter) in it. So of course instead of talking about Edgedancers we end up talking about Renarin and the Truthwatchers. We do talk about Lift, and Lift being awesome, but we also talk about Nale's name. That's a good 30% of this podcast. We talk about how terrible the Sons of Honor are, how crazy the Heralds are, and how Honor clearly isn't good all the time. We have a good philosophy time on Shardkeepers. You also get some hard-hitting analysis that you expect from Shardkeepers, such as, "don't put fire near wood." We're really killing it today. We hope you enjoy this. We kind of got a bit off track near the end, where Kerry abandoned the Shardpact and we were left to our own devices. Like with Roshar, it didn't end well. Thanks to Botanica Xu for the wonderful art of Nale and Lift :)

Today we have a special episode of Shardkeepers, our analysis podcast, where we are talking solely about Oathbringer predictions. Strap yourself in: this one's a long podcast, but you know what, Oathbringer is a massive tome by itself. We recorded this a long time ago, prior to all the sample chapters and the beta read, so we know no special information. A few of us did see the first Dalinar flashback, but that's it. Obviously, there are Stormlight spoilers for Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and also Edgedancer, and some minor mentions of other books. We have a little different crew this time. We have Ian and Eric, and joining us is Alyx of Splintercast fame (and notorious Renarin-lover, of course), as well and Josh and Mi'chelle, the founders of the site. Also joining us is the periodic meows of Alyx's cat, Dalish, that the mic did pick up. And you know what the best part of this podcast is? With Part One of Oathbringer coming out Tuesdays, you'll probably get to laugh at how silly our predictions are right now!

"You guys thought we could get through this podcast without Feather developing a crush on the bad guy? Aww, that’s cute. It has just happened. Now I’ve realized he probably dresses completely my style. That’s unfortunate. Alright. Guess we have our trash fave for this book. Ay, welcome to the dumpster. We’re back." We did it everyone! The last part of Edgedancer, and what a trip that was, huh? I struggle to figure out what’s going on with “listening” that everyone keeps telling Lift to do, and come up with a theory before the reveal, just barely. A conversation with some cremlings. Wyndle achieves his dreams after blatantly hinting at it. Also! I didn’t recognize it at the time and Google betrayed me by not bringing it up, but the Shardfork/Shardspork joke is actually one of mine which I forgot about, since apparently I have the worst memory. But yes, there’s been a “Shardsporks” card in my Cards Against The Cosmere deck since 2015. Ha! I also babble about video games and the Cosmere, which if you want to know more about those ideas, I did actually type them up here because I have no self control. Mistborn is Dishonored and Stormlight is Destiny, I can’t make these things up. Also, I briefly get on my soapbox regarding Renarin’s visions, and if you’re curious what that’s all about, that theory can be found over here. And I think that’s it. Just a reminder, there will not be a Splintercast for Oathbringer, unfortunately. Just want to warn you guys in advance, but yeah, that one’s not going to be happening. This could be the last Splintercast for a little while, but don’t worry, we’ll be doing other fun podcasts over here still! Keep an eye on the news box! Links: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/57039-video-games-and-cosmere-parallels/ http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/46585-renarins-visions-and-truthwatching/

"I'm the worst Cosmere fan. What is wrong with me? Gosh dangit. I'm the worst at Cosmere. FeatherWriter's cancelled. Let's just... wow." Welcome back to Splintercast. Today, Lift is hot on the trail of Darkness, also known as Nale/Nahlay/Nail/Nalan, because who the heck knows how to actually pronounce that name. Definintely not me. Featuring: Her Pancakefulness, reunions with old friends from Nalthis, and Feather maybe starting to care a little about Szeth. I also tell a story about trying to mail a present to Botanica through the Chinese postal service and the harrowing experience that that was. Loads of fun. If you haven’t checked out Bota’s Cosmere art, you’re missing out. It’s all fabulous. http://botanicaxu.tumblr.com/

"Look, like the most tangental reference to Renarin just happened, and I’m like… on the verge of tears. That’s a lie. There actually are tears in my eyes." And in case that pull quote up there in italics didn’t give it away, this week, Feather talks about a character who does not even appear in this book. Somewhat at length. Because she has problems and 90% of them are Renarin Kholin. In other, non-Renarin related things, Wyndle is dropping unsubtle hints, Lift makes it into the city, eats someone’s breakfast, meets a weird guy who may or may not be Hoid, and my cat who was not even in the room while I recorded audibly cries through the door. Dalish, please. Kitty, could you not? I also talk some about Len, one of my characters, who Lift reminds me of in a weird way in that they’re really not all that much alike, but the parallels keep popping up. And that's today's episode, and we'll have another one much sooner than this one's break.

"I’m so out of my depth all of a sudden! There’s so much worldbuilding happening! Augh! I feel like I’ve been thrown into the deep end, and I’m just trying to like, absorb as much of it as possible." Back at it again with the Splintercast! Let’s do Edgedancer, everyone! For those who are new to Splintercast, this is an audio-reaction podcast where I record my spoken reactions to reading Cosmere books for the first time, this time, the Lift novella from Arcanum Unbounded. I loved this novella, and I adore Lift, so this one’s pretty fun. The Edgedancer Splintercast will run four episodes (and yes, I do actually have all the episodes this time!) And should be coming out over the next few weeks. Stay tuned and stick around, and above all, keep track of those pancakes, everybody! If you like what you hear, drop a comment down below! I’m a glutton for feedback. It feeds my soul.

We said there would be a December episode, and here we are on New Year's Eve with one! This month we have an extra long episode as well: over an hour and twenty minutes digging through the Arcanum Unbounded essays and picking apart everything in them. Shockingly, we were more than able to talk about these for a very long time. We dig through each of Khriss's essays. I feel we could have even talked longer, but I'm sure we will mention them a lot. We also learn that I can't pronounce at least a thing, and Ian proves me wrong (fine, you win this time), showing he is probably the most competent one here. Next time we will discuss Edgedancer itself, and I think after that we will go through quotes from the AU tour. Our Hosts: Kerry (KChan), Ian (WeiryWriter), David (Windrunner), and Eric (Chaos)

What! A podcast from 17th Shard that *isn't* Splintercast Reads A Book? I know, it does seem crazy, but it's true. Welcome to the Shardkeepers Podcast, our theory podcast where we discuss all sorts of minutiae of the cosmere. As I learned when recording, this usually results in headaches, but we make that sacrifice for you. Today, we're going to talk about an amazing quote that we got earlier this year about Nightblood: Blightsong: How does corrupted investiture work, like Nightblood. Brandon: Oh, Nightblood. Again, this is a definition of what somebody feels is a corruption. For instance, there are spren people would feel are corrupted. But that is corruption where the mixing of different shards has changed things, and I think a lot of times when people say corruption, people are meaning the mixing of shards powers. Blightsong: So is there a mixing of shards power with Nightblood? Brandon: *smirks* RAFO. That's the natural question, I'm glad you asked it. There's [i]so much[/i] to unpack from this. Let's get started. On Shardkeepers you should expect massive spoilers from cosmere books. Beware! Here there are big spoilers for Warbreaker and Stormlight Archive. Joining me is Kerry (KChan), David (Windrunner), and Ian (WeiryWriter) who should better be known as the quote master, because I don't know how he finds those so fast. We're all thrilled to have awaken (get it? Ha. Hilarious) this podcast again. Again, you ask? Well there maybe was a Shardkeepers Podcast in May. Of 2013. But shhh, we do not speak of such evils. In seriousness, this is a real thing and we're excited to get this truly off the ground. The plan currently is to not bite off more than we can chew, so expect monthly episodes. Next episode will absolutely be about us unpacking stuff from Arcanum Unbounded, so stay tuned in December for that!

"I’m pretty salty about that. However, I’ll try to keep most of my salt contained to like, that one event, and not let it completely overtake this episode. Like, I don’t want this to be a salt-fest." The end is upon us! Unfortunately, as I said last episode, this is not my original reaction file, because for reasons unknown, that recording up and disappeared on me. It has fled. So instead, you get backup Current!Feather’s reactions, but hey, we’re gonna have fun with it anyway. We hit the climax of Hero of Ages, see some old and new faces, and Kelsier continues his deity punching spree. Bless him. Except then unbless him because he immediately turns to Hemalurgy right after the main events are over. Kell, how could you? I’m so disappointed. Little bit of a wrap up for this book on the end of this one, but if you guys would like me to record a full, three-book reaction of SoS, BoM, and MSH thoughts, please let me know and I’ll do that! If you have questions for me about my reactions or anything that’s happened over these last few months, write it below and I’ll see if I can’t do a little Q&A!

"Mistborn: Secret History. Also known as, ‘Kelsier Punches Literally All of the Deities.’" Our trip through the Cognitive Realm leads us to some unexpected new acquaintances as we start to leave Scadrial behind… Kelsier makes friends and cons them, because that’s what he does. I go back and forth on how to pronounce the word “Ire” before finally actually figuring it out and we finally figure out what gave Vin the heebie-jeebies before she met with Hoid in Hero of Ages! Unfortunately, I do have a bit of a confession to make. Despite the fact that the recording says that there is an episode after this… that data has unfortunately been lost. I don’t totally know what happened to the recording, but it’s no longer in my files. I am really upset to have lost it, but after thinking it over, I’m not going to leave you guys hanging right here at the end. Tune back next week for a wrap up and to hear my thoughts on the end! And I promise I will make 100% sure my good microphone is actually connected this time. Editing the quality on these past few episodes has been terrible, because it just came from my terrible laptop mic. Horrendous. I’ll do much better.