#maps stormlight

[cosmereplay]

Maps cover by cosmereplay

I wrote a parody song about Maps! It started out with "wouldn't it be funny if Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was about Maps the bridgeman" and it quickly got sad. Just imagine Kaladin singing this over his body I guess. Cover art by @dragontrill

[knight-of-skyloft]

RoW ch. 74:

RoW ch. 92:

[boneskullravenriver]

Shallan is in desperate need of a drone.

[fiendkeep]

5. Map

More stormlight archive, with the sacred throuple

[il3x]

can you believe Les Friction wrote Dark Matter without even knowing about Odium

"Tear down the hallows Take back eternity,"

"Don't stop, don't think, don't look back You're a bolt of lightning in the sky now Don't stop, don't think, don't look back I've pulled you in, prepare to die now"

"Bring me your soul, bring me your hate In my name you will create Bring me your fear, bring me your pain You will destroy in my name"

[bingusreads]

my fav books of 2024!!!1!

may 2025 bring more reading shenanigans.

[shouldprobablybereading]

[ohhhmio]

reading Oathbringer cuz i wanted to be happy... instead i murder it💀

idk what i did i'm so sorry.

[aokozaki]

[holding copies of Chaos;Head NoAH and also some Brandon Sanderson Cosmere books] What do you mean you can have powers without first being deeply traumatized?

Trigger events are just such a natural way of powers happening to me that whenever i read anything else with superheroes im confused when people just like. Have powers.

[jennydolfen]

"Some people take lives. Other people save lives. He wasn’t done yet." (Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings)

New fandom alert 😱

My daughter made me start to readlisten to the Stormlight Archive, and in order for me to cope, the bestest of daughters drew up a full reader of characters, maps, relationships, headings, and EVERYthing I needed.

She's already pointed out all the mistakes so you don't have to. 😅 Also, I'm only about eight hours in, so no spoilers please. (Though she's already taken care of that, too. 😊)

[mistywitcher]

a dear friend bought me a puzzle of the map of Roshar for my birthday and I have spent over a week doing it.

It has become one of the most enjoyable projects I've done, while also becoming the bane of my existence.

ITS JUST OCEAN. ALL THE PIECES ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SHADES OF BLUE. ITS KIND OF LIKE PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE.

this being said, the actual map part was great fun, and I've been listening to Stormlight as I do it, which has really solidified my knowledge of the different places.

Will update when it's done!

[onlycosmere]

Brandon Sanderson: Nazh was born, as a character and as a concept, out of Isaac annotating maps, and wanting to have somebody... 'Cause Isaac was our original cartographer, been doing the maps ever since Mistborn, of basically all of the Stormlight books, until he started bringing some people in to do some of them.

Not just Stormlight, but all of the Cosmere books.

So if there's a map, or (particularly in the Stormlight books) ephemera, Isaac has had his hands in those, and he likes to add little easter eggs, and he came up with this persona of this character who was doing this. And we knew we wanted these to be in-world artifacts, but we also knew that we needed somebody who was kind of recovering these for some thing, and I'm like, "Well, this works very well with Khriss, probably compiling these and finding artifacts from planets and bringing them back to Silverlight."

And so, that's kind of where Nazh was born. I borrowed him once before for Secret History; he makes a small appearance in Secret History. Larger appearance here. Isaac and I have talked through his history and his future, and as early as years and years ago (probably seven, eight years ago), I'm like, "What about this?"

And that's when Nazh joined Starling's crew in his current incarnation.

Isaac Stewart: I think it was with Alloy of Law where we realized we need somebody annotating some of these, now and then. One of the reasons was, when you're doing a map of a city the size of Elendel, we couldn't really put these tiny street names, and things like that.

So we're like, "Well, we need somebody annotating this." And many things crashing together, but that was one of them.

[cosmerelists]

Top 10 Reasons that Kaladin is a Cat

I already argued that all Stormlight characters are cats. But while writing that list, I kept coming up with reasons why Kaladin specifically is a cat. One might argue that he is most feline of all Stormlight characters.

Which is exactly what I am about to do. So here’s why Kaladin is DEFINITELY a cat.

1. He likes to be high.

As I pointed out in my original list, Kaladin LOVES heights--just like cats do. He’s happiest when he can be taller than everyone else, high up in the sky.

2. He’s good at climbing.

Cats are very good climbers, and so is Kaladin! There are two scenes in which Kaladin must scale an impossibly vertical wall, which he does using Stormlight. Cats use their claws, but it’s basically the same.

3. He hates to be wet.

Kaladin is NOT fan of the rain. He may be pro-storm, but he hates the Weeping, during which a continuous drizzle makes everything wet and gray and sad. Cats also do not like being wet. As you know if you’ve ever had to wash one.

4. He hates to be locked up.

Cats do not like closed doors. If you dare to cut off their divine right of passing through any doorway, they will scream their displeasure. Kaladin is also not a fan of closed doors--like when he was locked up in prison for a while and found himself very unhappy in captivity. 

5. He once tore a piece of paper to shreds just to be an asshole.

Have you ever had a cat look at you directly in the eye as it knocks something beloved off of a shelf or scratches your couch or violently attacks the Steris pin you just got from your Cosmere box (that last one might just be me)? Well, this reminds me of when Kaladin was in the slave wagon, and the slave trader guy asked him to help with directions and handed him a map, and Kaladin just tore it to shreds. Very justifiable and cat-like behavior, if you ask me.

6. He is not impressed by you.

Cats are not impressed by kings, as the saying goes. And neither is Kaladin. In Book 2 when he found himself working for the Kholins, he spent his time being DEEPLY unimpressed, especially by Adolin. It was like Adolin had a cat-bodyguard.

7. He has self-healing abilities.

Cats use their purring to self-heal: apparently it helps them. Kaladin uses Stormlight, which is less cute. If only he purred instead.

8. He pretends not to be hurt.

It is very difficult to tell if a cat is injured--they’re good at pretending that they’re not. And even before he could just wave a hand to heal himself, Kaladin also had trouble admitting when he was too hurt to move around. I’m thinking especially about the end of Book 2 when he hobbles around while everyone else is marching to the center of the Shattered Plains, all the while thinking to himself that he probably shouldn’t be moving around. But he does anyway.

9. He is very graceful and tends to land on his feet

In fact, Kaladin likes to land in a straight-up hero pose.

10. He likes to pretend he’s solitary, but he needs friends.

Cats are supposedly solitary creatures, but if you’ve ever had a cat, you know they tend to want to be around you. Maybe they’re just chilling in the windowsill across the room, but they’re still hanging out. Cats in the wild sleep in a big pile. They’re actually more social than their reputation claims. And in a similar way, Kaladin tries to give off big solitary energy, but really, he does better when he’s around his friends, even if he’s just sulking at the table while Adolin and Shallan talk. 

[useless-prophet]

Mapping Radiant Orders (Stormlight Archive) to the Fears (Magnus Archives)

Because I really like categories, and some of the orders/fears just work together so nicely! And also, both end in archives, which just makes me happy for no real reason. Yes, I know there are 14ish fears and only 10 orders, so some fears will just have to sit out :(

Windrunners: The Vast. Endless sky to fall through... forever... especially since the use of Lashings is not technically "flying", but "falling" towards a different direction.

Skybreakers: Though the Vast does fit the flying part of their powers, the Hunt better embodies the determination of Skybreakers to hunt down whoever breaks the law, to any end necessary. I mean, just look at Nale and what happened in Edgedancer.

Dustbringers: Dustbringers want to break things, and have the handy dandy surge of Division to do so. Desolation is the first fear that comes to mind, given the common themes of destruction, but I could also see a pretty strong relation to the Stranger. Dustbringers don't break things for the mindless purpose of breaking things, but to find out how they work. The inside. Sounds a little like the mechanical contraptions and the changelings of the Stranger? Except the Stranger usually breaks people, and the Dustbringers... well, actually, they probably could as well.

Edgedancers: A tricky one at first, because the edgedancers are so darn good all the time. But given that their oath is "I will remember the forgotten", the step to Lonely, while a little paradoxical, is not a large one - most Edgedancers (like Lift), were once the people who were forgotten by society.

Truthwatchers: Ah, what could make a better match than the Truthwatchers and the Eye. Both committed to seeking truth and knowledge, while the Eye represents the ideals of a Truthwatcher taken too far, such seeking truth is not merely a tool to create positive change in the world, but an end within itself.

Lightweavers: Again, Stranger is vaguely tempting because of the Lightweavers' capacity for disguise, but I think that Spiral better represents the illusory aspects of their powers in tricking the mind, as well as the deep lies that Lightweavers often have to confront within themselves.

Elsecallers: As an order whose oaths deal with reaching one's self-potential, Elsecallers are... difficult to lump into a fear. The surge of Transportation matches the Spiral's connection with doors, but Elsecallers are anything but unsure of one's own mind. But Elsecallers do make excellent strategists and scholars because of their rational nature, meaning that the Web is not a bad fit.

Willshapers: Willshapers are all about freedom, self-determination, and the capacity to choose whatever route you want to walk. The Vast and the Lonely fit into the idea of exploration and freedom against being bound by society or a greater power, but we've already used those. The Buried is the opposite of the Willshapers, but unlike the Edgedancers, I think that there's such a difference in ideals between the two that they can't be reconciled in the same way. If you have a solid argument for a better fear, I'd love to hear it.

Stonewards: You know what's always there for you? A Stoneward. You know what's also always there for you? The ground, if only because you're trapped inside a cave that's slowly crushing the air out of your lungs and will never let you go. The rocky resemblance is just too good of a fit.

Bondsmith: Another hard one. Unity is not really a big theme among any of the powers, except maybe Corruption in the sense of a hive and some of its twisted feelings of love. But there is something that all living things are united in - death, aka the End. Is this crazy to map them to? I don't know, it's the best I've got.

Some of the orders just don't work that well with the fears, but I gave it my best shot. Opinions? Arguments? I'd be glad to hear them :)

[cosmik-homo]

Ok hopefully last stormlight post today i rly do need to emotionally regulate but.

I asked my mom (already finished the book, we chat) if she'd seen Nazh's funny map updates and she was like the what? And i was like. On the maps. And she was like oh the text is too small i cant read those. So every time i ran across one i come and read it to her. And. Idk it does help to know there's a finny little worldhopper out there

[cosmerenewbie]

cosmerenewbie reading journey update

(07/11/24)

I have finished The Way of Kings. I finished it around two weeks ago! The ending was craaaaaazy.

Spoiler free thoughts:

a somehow satisfying ending to a book that felt like 1000+ pages of exposition. gave me a *massive* book hangover, I was craving WoR sooo bad after.

Spoiler-y thoughts (under cut)

The parshendi are the voidbringers??? Taln is back???? God is dead, & Odium (who tf is Odium) killed him????? Hello?

I started Words of Radiance a few days later, & am still getting through it!! I am a little over 400 pages in (right at the start of part 3.) so far I am liking it as much as TWoK, but is it definitely different. I am really liking the focus on Shallan, she is soooo fascinating. That being said, she is a bit less likable than Kaladin (which I understand is likely intentional), & so I have definitely been taking WoR a bit slower compared to TWoK. To be honest, starting WoR so shortly after TWoK might not have been the best move.

I ended up taking a break partway through to read other things. I have adhd, & it can be important for me to have palate cleansers & not try to force myself to read something I’m not feeling at that moment.

During this break, I’ve started Elantris, which I am really enjoying. It feels a lot more light-hearted that WoR, which is nice for the mood I’ve been in. While it is a bit clunkier that the stormlight archive, I am engrossed enough by Sanderson’s amazing world building to not care too much.

So far, my current thoughts on Elantris are:

I <3 Sarene

I want a Seon!!!:(((

Theological elements go hard (is this smth Sanderson is known for? Bc hey also went hard in TWoK)

Why is the map in the book so shit

How can a book w such a dark & lowkey gross premise feel so cozy & lighthearted

Cosmere homies pls interact!!! I want to make friends who also like these wonderful books (as asking a friend to get into the Cosmere is admittedly a bit of an ask)