Shardcast: The Brandon Sanderson Podcast

"I don’t think it was him. I don’t think it was. I’m pretty sure he was dead. But... maybe... Augh! I don’t know! I’m doubting everything!" I would like to issue a formal apology to my new son, Allik, whom I assume to be a Hemalurgic experiment in this chapter. Listen. We all make mistakes. Allik, I didn’t mean it. Please forgive me. Like also that mistake of me talking myself out of a theory I’ve held since the beginning. Oops. Also, burning questions such as: was Preservation the ultimate prescriptivist? (Probably, that dirty language-keeping Shard.) Thankfully my rabid linguist senses get distracted by making some new Connections later on. Sign me up for duralumin ferring, guys. I also talk about The 100 which... was a great show and then started making some stupid writing decisions in the time between when I recorded this and when it got released. Dangit, The 100. And get sad about Cullen. My Dragon Age husband. Listen. And rap a bit of Hamilton. It’s a multifandom mess up in here. (Slight spoiler war

"Don’t lose your guns, Wax. I feel like I’m babysitting him. Like every time he loses his guns, I’m like ‘Go get those back. Pick them up. What’re you doing?’" In which a whole heck of a lot happens. The end of Lady Kelesina’s party and we flee into the countryside with our heroes to try to see what exactly the Set is up to. There’s an absolutely beautiful Waxteris moment (which, yes, is the ship name that I belatedly decided on.) Expect much squeeing. I also set sail on the S.S. WaynLaan as well, because huh, those two certainly have a remarkable amount of similarity. And my pet theory about Telsin Ladrian gets mentioned again, but we have yet to see if such a theory will be proven true or not. Also EEEEE SOUTHERN SCADRIAL STUFF. YEAH. So cool. So so cool.

"God bless. Harmony bless. Maker bless. Every... every deity just bless Steris Harms. Let’s just be real right here. Honor? Uh, Endowment? Like, all the Shards just need to like, group together, call a truce real quick, and bless Steris Harms. Kay? There we go. So it is decreed." This episode of Splintercast, Feather discusses RP and how she really ought to get around to joining Mistborn: The Inquisition. Listen, guys. I love RP so much, but I like chat RP. It’s gotta be fast. Instant responses. Wait, you’re here to hear about Bands of Mourning? Oh, okay I guess we can do that too. Cliffhangers continue to be my nemesis, but hey at least we got some fancy party infiltrations and a firefight in a graveyard. Steris is, of course, perfect, like usual. Dalish is cute and then naughty and must be exiled. And I’m upset that we haven’t talked about MeLaan recently. Also a bizarre conversation about my past and future selves, which drifts frighteningly close to Homestuck. Which is ending... today. 4/13. Happy Home

"Shut up, Wax. Not everyone has to go out and like, vigilante justice fight crime with their Allomancy. Maybe some people like to juggle, all right?" In which my commentary on these chapters contains significantly more jingle bells than one might have expected. What can I say? The kitten wants what the kitten wants. And usually that’s jingly feather toys. Anyway, this week on Splintercast, Feather gets confused about gondolas. Wax continues to be an uptight old man who needs to chill, and Wayne perfectly embodies the struggle of the older generations against all those dang millennials and their cell phones and twitter birds and not immediately payin’ off all their student loans. Good times. Also strange coins arise from strange beggars, and I immediately pick up on the fact that there’s shenanigans going on there. I love it when I pick up on shenanigans. It makes me feel competent. And just when you think you’re safe from me gushing over Steris, I’ll smack you with a hard dose for this week. I also hone i

"[Sputters] I don’t... even have words for what I am feeling about this development at the moment." An episode that has it all. To quote myself: we’ve got some firefight, some cutes, some canoodling, deep snogs. Steris Harms continues to be perfect while Wayne continues to be on my bad list. We see some devices which double as plot devices for the first time. Yeeeeeeee. Also. I can’t figure out how the heck one is supposed to pronounce the word “Scadrial.” [SKAY-dree-ul]? [SKAD-ree-ul]? We just don’t know. Your weekly dose of Steris fangirling contained within, as well as some discussion of cosmere books in other languages. Because those are just cool. In other news, keep an eye on the news box here this week, because you’ll soon see another non-Splintercast post from me! Oooh, what could it be? It’s a surprise.

"Yeah, you guys only thought I was going to be reacting to the book. You didn’t know you actually signed up for ‘Steris Appreciation Podcast 2016.’ Here we go.[/i] This week, featuring special guest star: my kitten who loves to sniff the microphone while she’s purring and interrupt me. She’s smol. And naughty. And I love her. Anyway, this week on Splintercast, Wayne talks to a jealous god. Feather realizes what a ridiculous shipper she is. Theories are put forth regarding Wax’s sister. Also, everyone is now evil. (Except for Steris, of course.) Sorry I don’t make the rules. All villains. All the time. Finally, chapter six leaves off with a truly unfair cliffhanger, which means I was suffering as much as the rest of you in waiting for the next episode. Dang Brandon, you just can’t do these kinds of things to us!

"Okay. Nothing’s going wrong. Okay? It’s the first chapter of this book. Everything can still go smooth! We don’t need conflict yet. We can have cutes. Alright? Brandon, I’m like, staring at you across the room. Don’t do this to me. Just give me a good, nice wedding." And now in earnest, the book begins. Y’all knew I was gonna get rekt over these opening chapters, right? Steris is my daughter and I love her and she deserves eternal happiness. Unfortunately for her, she’s in a novel written by Brandon Sanderson, which means everything has to go wrong. Of course. In other news, Wayne drops immensely on my list of favorite characters and I also pretend that I know something about the cosmere only to figure out I was dead wrong. Ha. Another day in the life of Feather reading these books right? Upvotes and comments are always utterly appreciated!

"Ha. You're not--You're not gonna follow the rules, Wax. Come on. Let's just go. Let's--Let's just do this. I'm curious, you're curious. Let's go. Out the window with you." Daaaaang, Feather. Back at it again with that Splintercast! Though I guess it probably doesn’t feel like we're "back at it" since Shadows of Self just wrapped up last week. Regardless! Here we go again. Now we're getting into Bands of Mourning and I hope you all are as excited for this as I am. We're in for a wild ride, so strap in. Sorry for audio quality being bad in this episode. Apparently Audacity decided that I wanted to use the crappy laptop microphone to record rather than the spiffy USB microphone that I had plugged in but okay, Audacity, whatever. Hopefully I caught it on the rest of these episodes because honestly, laptop microphone is terrible. Anyway, please enjoy! Leave comments and responses below if you are so inclined!

"I'm feeling it. I'm feeling this theory, guys. It would be so horrible. It would be so awful. It would wreck Wax so bad. And that's exactly why it should happen. Am I a bad person? Yeah. Yeah I am. I'm sorry... But I'm really excited." So, it seems that I missed a week, what with me travelling to meet Brandon and also happening to be rather supreme garbage. So, to make it up to you, TWO EPISODE END OF BOOK EXTRAVAGANZA. We're finishing this book in one long binge of two episodes. Let's do it, right? Anyway, in this episode, we get all the way through to the end. There's plot twists guessed, there's plot twists which throw me to the floor, there's threats to Brandon on behalf of Steris's well-being. And quite a bit of me cackling maniacally as horrible things happen to good characters. I'm entirely too gleeful about terrible things. Am I sorry about it? Probably not. Next week will start Bands of Mourning, which I know you're all excited about me reading, right? Also, hearing poor Past!Feather at the begin

"I'm feeling it. I'm feeling this theory, guys. It would be so horrible. It would be so awful. It would wreck Wax so bad. And that's exactly why it should happen. Am I a bad person? Yeah. Yeah I am. I'm sorry... But I'm really excited." So, it seems that I missed a week, what with me travelling to meet Brandon and also happening to be rather supreme garbage. So, to make it up to you, TWO EPISODE END OF BOOK EXTRAVAGANZA. We're finishing this book in one long binge of two episodes. Let's do it, right? Anyway, in this episode, we get all the way through to the end. There's plot twists guessed, there's plot twists which throw me to the floor, there's threats to Brandon on behalf of Steris's well-being. And quite a bit of me cackling maniacally as horrible things happen to good characters. I'm entirely too gleeful about terrible things. Am I sorry about it? Probably not. Next week will start Bands of Mourning, which I know you're all excited about me reading, right? Also, hearing poor Past!Feather at the begin

Gosh dangit, Brandon. Stop killing people! You’re as bad as Bleeder is! In which Current!Feather stays up late after working her two jobs full-time and part-time back to back to get this episode edited… only to listen to Past!Feather in the recording staying up late after working her two jobs back to back in order to read. Well. Some things never change. Past!Feather also seems rather attached to her incorrect pronunciations in this chapter. eh-LEND and eh-LEND-el, rather than EL-end and EL-en-del. Little does she know that in a few months, she’ll start reading The Final Empire to her housemate and try to change those to a more common and rational pronunciation after all these years. Oh Past!Feather, how little you know. We also appear to be nearing the end of the book, yet a clear avalanche is nowhere to be found. How mysterious. Does this bode ill for our intrepid heroes and what effect will this have on your Splintercaster’s delicate emotional balance when it does come? Let’s be real, it’ll probably b

On this episode, Wax and the crew are deep within their investigation of our mysterious antagonist, and trying to piece together the reasons behind her enigmatic actions. Meanwhile, the police are getting rather tired of putting up with all the Dawnshot’s antics, which honestly, seems pretty valid considering how much trouble he can be. I also happen to have some microphone issues because of course something has to go wrong, huh? Soothing parlors, Faceless Immortals, and belching contests await! Feel free to leave comments and reactions below!

“Whaaaat? I’m so lost. What’s going on? Brandon, you’re yanking me! I’m getting yanked over here!” After a brief break to let everyone gnaw on their new copies of Bands of Mourning for a little while, Splintercast returns to keep going through Shadows of Self! A quick reminder that there are to be no spoilers for Bands of Mourning or Secret History discussed in the comments, even under spoiler tags, until the spoiler ban is lifted. Thank you! We left Wax at a fancy party in the middle of a very interesting conversation, while Wayne and Marasi attempt to lend support. And then a new kind of support comes in, for which I am incredibly excited. Have you guys caught on yet that I love references to the original series? Because I definitely do. Please enjoy, and tell me what you think in the comments down below!

"I just need to give the God of the world a hug, okay? I'm just... I'm just gonna hug him. Anybody got a problem with that?" Another week, another Splintercast! In this week's episode, I flail over finding out more about our lovely villain for this book, squee over the reappearance of an original Mistborn trilogy character, and talk about the philosophical question of whether technological progression is inherently valuable. And of course, the most beautiful of fandom experiences: the sailing of a new ship.* I also happen to talk far too much about roleplaying and various campaigns. Oops. Sorry, not sorry. What, is anyone surprised at this point when I'm garbage? I didn’t think so. Once again, comments and responses are greatly appreciated as they are the lifeblood by which I am able to sustain my corporeal form on this plane of existence. Your written contributions to my continued reign of terror will be remembered in the days to come. *Editor's note: Not an actual boat. Nor is it an airship or spaceshi

This week, Splintercast continues reading Shadows of Self! The plot thickens, you hear more about Alyx's RP (because of course you do, this should be expected). And it's a long episode too: about fifty minutes long! You get a lot of Alyx this week. Too bad she couldn't write this. She said, "I'm too busy" and "two sixteen hour days in a row are the worst." What a slacker. (Just kidding.) Be careful what you wish for, Alyx! "I'd love to see an awesome lady villain," she says. Heh heh... Yeah, about that.

In a shocking twist, a lowly moderator has hijacked the news feed from the treacherous admins to bring you all this: the return of Splintercast! And this time, I, your intrepid hero FeatherWriter (also occasionally known as Alyx), am here to take on Shadows of Self! Perhaps a bit delayed... but well, hacking my way into the 17th Shard news feed is no small task. I thank you for you patience, dear listeners, and now we can get to the fun! For those new to Splintercast, I record my reactions in real time as I read new cosmere books for the first time, then edit them down to one cohesive, crazy listening experience. All in all, you can expect a good deal of running theories, in-the-moment commentary, shipping, crying, celebrating, and yelling at characters when they're dumb. And Steris appreciation. Someone has to appreciate Steris Harms and I am just the fangirl for the job. It's its own brand of craziness, but also a lot of fun. This first episode not only includes an introduction to Splintercast, and also

In a shocking twist, a lowly moderator has hijacked the news feed from the treacherous admins to bring you all this: the return of Splintercast! And this time, I, your intrepid hero FeatherWriter (also occasionally known as Alyx), am here to take on Shadows of Self! Perhaps a bit delayed... but well, hacking my way into the 17th Shard news feed is no small task. I thank you for you patience, dear listeners, and now we can get to the fun! For those new to Splintercast, I record my reactions in real time as I read new cosmere books for the first time, then edit them down to one cohesive, crazy listening experience. All in all, you can expect a good deal of running theories, in-the-moment commentary, shipping, crying, celebrating, and yelling at characters when they're dumb. And Steris appreciation. Someone has to appreciate Steris Harms and I am just the fangirl for the job. It's its own brand of craziness, but also a lot of fun. This first episode not only includes an introduction to Splintercast, and also

You've waited, and now you shall receive. Finally. Here is 17th Shard's exclusive interview with Brandon Sanderson, where for forty minutes, we talk about the Way of Kings, as well as some Mistborn questions, and a very important question about Voltron. The Way of Kings stuff is spoiler free, but once you get to the "Most Likely RAFO Questions", I highly suggest you have read the book before you listen to that part. The Mistborn questions are here because, hey, I run the Mistborn RP, and there some interesting questions to be asked! You should maybe read the trilogy before listening to that part. I hear it's good. In fact, that's usually because I'm the one saying it. You'll notice that while Brandon's voice quality is pretty good in the interview, the three of us (Josh, Mi'ch, and I) are ridiculously soft. This tends to happen when we give Brandon the good mic and we're passing around the bad one.

Hey everyone! KChan, Rubix, and I all interviewed Crafty Games, the creators of the Mistborn Adventure Game, about two weeks ago, and here it is! We blab with Alex Flagg, lead developer for Mistborn, and Patrick Kapera, the lead editor and marketing dude (also God King Emperor of Happy Happy Fun Time). And it was so much fun. We get a ton of information about the Mistborn Adventure Game. We hear Crafty Games' design philosophy, the mechanics, and essentially everything. We learn some very astonishing things about Feruchemy--Spiritual freaking metals--and we learn that there will actually be annotations in it, by Brandon, commenting about the book! How awesome is that? Also, we make fun of Somalia. (Sorry, Somalians in the audience.) All in all, we had a blast with Alex and Pat. They are genuinely nice dudes, so have a listen, enjoy, and buy a copy of the Mistborn Adventure Game, because we think it will be awesome. Just a note, in the interview, they say that the game will be out October 25th, but it will i

You know the sophomore slump, where the sequel is never as good as the first in a series? In this episode of Shardcast, we desperately try to avoid the sophomore slump with quotes and a better outline. Then, of course, everything Splinters. Fortunately, Kerry is able to put it together again and it's totally seamless. No awkward pauses or forced segues here, no sir. This week, we are discussing The Emperor's Soul, the cosmere novella which comes out in November, and speaking of souls, we also talk about the Spiritual, the Cognitive, and the Physical. That's right, we are digging into everything we know about Realmatics. So, of course, it comes out disjointed, because we pretty much know nothing about Realmatics. Fortunately, Will is here and adds crustaceans and waffles. Because you know what Realmatic Theory needs? Waffles. Apart from the madness, we impromptu theorize about Hoid worldhops, and come up with a darned good explanation about it and Shadesmar. So sit back, jump in a pool, and hear some mysteri