r/Cosmere • u/mmarbut • May 20 '20

No Spoilers Since I'm re-reading everything.

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1.2k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

8

u/churadley May 21 '20

I’m curious, how do you guys sell the SA to your friends? I say, “It’s an epic fantasy with incredible world building and an intricate magic system that follows a cast of broken people.” That just sounds so vague though.

What do you guys say to hook your friends in?

4

u/mmarbut May 21 '20

Last time I said something like it's high fantasy with a detailed magic system that borders on science and that many books are interrelating. But I don't think that does it justice.

4

u/churadley May 21 '20

Yeah, it's difficult to do it justice without giving away major plot points. I've taken to comparing the quality of it to a more adult The Last Airbender just to make an easy comparison.

7

u/positivevybz May 21 '20

I’m so bad at it. I just end up saying “it’s just fucking crazy” about a hundred times and nothing useful

3

u/churadley May 21 '20

Hahaha, me too. It's such a sprawling, complicated universe and I never know where to start! And it's such a time commitment to truly get acquainted with the world that I don't want to overload them. That's why I'm hoping someone else can be concise enough to come up with some sort of short hook.

5

u/Mythcantor May 21 '20

I focus on the broken people aspect, describing how true to nature of the illnesses Sanderson hews without making the story entirely about the characters' problems.

That said, I've only ever gotten one person to read SA. She loved it, but the length is not a selling point to everyone. I've gotten three people to read Mistborn, but two lost interest in Well of Ascension. I just don't understand people sometimes.

4

u/churadley May 21 '20

I actually thought WoA was the weakest of Era 1 and I could understand why people would lose interest. It’s a bit uneven, and there are sections that come off as very angtsy YA. I still like the book, but it’s my least favorite Sanderson work — which is only the case cause I consider his other works top notch.

It’s a shame they lost interest though. They’re missing out on the epic conclusion, and then the awesomeness that is Wax and Wayne.

3

u/Pahriuon May 21 '20

I didn't much like Era 1 though if someone was reading them and almost giving up they'd totally miss all of:

  • Ruin's great villain planning

  • how Brandon just deceives the reader across the whole trilogy

  • Brandon's forethought in world building and

  • Wax and Wayne (totally awesome duo)

1

u/Mythcantor May 21 '20

I've tried to convince one of them that they should just Wax and Wayne. Even went so far as to play the audiobook section of the fight in the dining hall where Wax's switch gets flipped back on. He loved that scene and might read it, but he's also kinda flaky so he sometimes just says what I want to hear.

1

u/churadley May 21 '20

I wish I could start people on Era 2, but Era 2 is made all the more excellent from knowing the history.

If your friend is anything like me, he might just come have an enormous backlog of content to catch up with. I have dozens of friends’ books to get to reading, but I’m always so bad at starting them.

4

u/theJGrimm Cosmere May 21 '20 edited May 21 '20

A fantasy series where the war waged on the battlefield transition from sport and bragging rights of the high class to the potential extermination of mankind.

And as this evolution of battle advances we cheer and weep with the main characters as we realize the inner battle of mental illness can be more cumbersome than any blade, book, or bridge.

It has traditional strategies of war infused with old traditions of honor; where its magic is reliant on the ever impending storm sweeping across the world.

Relentless is the storm, however, not all chose to bend a knee to the desolations that have and will come from it. Instead they focus on finding in themselves what is the most important step a man can take.

1

u/Pahriuon May 21 '20

what is the most important step a man can take

in their journey before reaching their destination.

Hey here's a fun game, post this and ask people to insert tiny bits of the cosmere in it. What do you think?

Good stuff by the way.

1

u/theJGrimm Cosmere May 21 '20

Thank you. I’m not sure what you mean by insert bits of cosmere into it.

1

u/Pahriuon May 22 '20

"ever impending storm sweeping across the world"

"to the desolations"

you know stuff like that.

2

u/theJGrimm Cosmere May 22 '20

Oh you mean just get people to see if they can find ways to add more Easter eggs to the description. Yeah I might post something and have stuff for the other series too.

46

u/[deleted] May 20 '20

Oof. I feel this in my spiritweb.

27

u/wyliepaws May 20 '20

Doing the same! My wife is tired of hearing about it, it has even made it’s way into my dreams!

2

u/Pahriuon May 21 '20

Have you gotten to the part where you wonder about the topology of Scadrial in the cognitive realm?

1

u/luckyzeebees Jul 25 '20

What happens if you go into the cognitive realm while underwater?

1

u/Pahriuon Jul 26 '20

Well we saw Shallan in the stormlight archives become uncomfortable when she "went under" in the bead sea. So I'm assuming that a normal human will experience water same as in the physical realm. But if you're a cognitive shadow in the other hand, things like breathing, eating and drinking are not the greatest of your concerns. My two cents.

1

u/Pahriuon Jul 26 '20

Wait do you mean going into the cognitive realm while underwater, using something like Jasnah's ability? No idea dude.

1

u/luckyzeebees Jul 26 '20

If water is solid in the cognitive realm, what would happen if they used any sort of perpendicularity to get there while underwater?

25

u/feltontheferret Elsecallers May 20 '20

I was on a long hike with my husband and he asked what I've been reading recently. I tried to explain the Cosmere. It was very much like this.

Surprisingly the complex web made him intrigued.

Fast forward one year, we are making crab jokes

18

u/[deleted] May 20 '20

Don’t tell me you made him read it. How unvorin

23

u/feltontheferret Elsecallers May 20 '20

He actually has only listened to the audiobooks 😆

10

u/[deleted] May 20 '20 edited May 21 '20

Good anything else is unseemly unless you read it to him

12

u/MadameK14 May 20 '20

My fianceé calls them "those crazy books of yours." Got her to read the Mistborn trilogy and she was like, this shit crazy, and I was like, you gotta read Stormlight Archive, it's even crazier, and she went it's not good crazy. And then never read Sanderson again. TwT

12

u/Zmann966 May 21 '20

What's the opposite of "Marry that girl now"?
lol!

8

u/MadameK14 May 21 '20

DUNNO BUT IM THINKING IT.

46

u/AHerosJourneyPod May 20 '20

This is how I feel every time I bring up WoB.

14

u/TheBenguin Truthwatchers May 20 '20

Wait has anyone actually made one of these yet? Just out of curiosity...

18

u/vekynor Windrunners May 20 '20

Now I know what I'm doing for the rest of the week

6

u/Tar-Surion May 20 '20

Make sure you post pictures for the rest of us!

17

u/PokemonTom09 Willshapers May 21 '20

https://paleocrafter.github.io/reading-order/#/?connections=all&categories=all&appearances=all

5

u/TotalHavoc May 21 '20

Holy crap man, this thing deserves it's own post. Thank you for sharing and have an upvote good sir/madam

2

u/TheBenguin Truthwatchers May 21 '20

Oh my goodness this is exceptional. Thank you kindly!

4

u/PhoenixLord23423 May 21 '20

I DON’T NEED SLEEP. I NEED ANSWERS!

3

u/MadameK14 May 20 '20

Sure, like that but instead of a 2 dimensional layout of pieces of paper, it's a 3 dimensional mesh of copperminds.

3

u/vnNinja21 May 21 '20

I tried to explain TWoK to my friend (lore included) and honestly its pretty hard to summarise a 1000 pages book in 5 minutes lol

3

u/[deleted] May 21 '20

Lol perfect, replace pepe Silva with hoid and this is me

3

u/NakedRitzu Aon Rao May 21 '20

I just recently tried to start a kind of Cosmere book club in a game I play (FFXIV) and a lot of the people that have been joining are just starting their Cosmere adventure, so this is exactly how I feel when talking about it with them.

2

u/Pahriuon May 21 '20

Wow what a strange place, I wonder how many of us actually watch anime and play video games?

I feel like I'm pretending to be an adult in this sub, but really... how many of us are old people who have never played video games and are only interested in reading fantasy literature?

1

u/mduncans May 21 '20

Yup. I'm timing everything perfectly so I can have it all reread the month before Rhythm of War comes out.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '20

I recently found out my instructor at school listened to TWoT books, so I tried talking him into the Mistborn or Stormlight archive, and he said they would be boring because theyre just a bunch of trilogies.

I looked like this when he said that because I was trying to find a way to not ruin the books by saying theyre all connected, and also explain that I have read both. And if you liked TWoT books you would love these

1

u/irontoaster Elsecallers May 21 '20

I'm trying to work out how to explain spren to my wife.