The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Please keep all discussion to the events and speculation to the Third Interludes.

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling things for your good read friends.

Please do not discuss events from later sections/books. Referring back to events from a previous section/book is fine.

Venli – I’m not into her interludes. She’s beginning to realize that she may have messed up

Sheler – Not a lot to go on in this one.

Mim – Another glimpse of the herald destroying the art dedicated to herself. She was interested when the Ghostbloods offered info on Taln’s location

Sheler is the guy who got Kaladin's little brother Tien killed by putting him on the front lines, to catch arrows that might otherwise hit a trained soldier. That Interlude is just karma dealing with the dude.

Thank you. I was never going to remember that. I thought it was just a comedic story.

I never would have remembered, either. Someone in the 17th Shard forums noticed it. I don't know how they manage, but they sure do sleuth out some crazy stuff (how to read the women's script in the illustrations, what the binary code from the Diagram in WoR means, the identities of the guys who meet Ishikk at the Purelake in that one TWoK interlude...).

Interesting about Sheler. I'm terrible at names and I only vaguely remember what happened to Kaladin's brother anymore. I'm curious what hog is.

I had no idea what was going on in Mims interlude. There is just so much going on in these books, it's a wonder people can keep it all straight.

The only way to do it to stay active on the forums. I don't do it year-round, but I'll pop into the 17th Shard every time a book is released, and because of the connections between all the books, someone will invariably say, "Hey, that's reminds me of so-and-so in Mistborn and that one scene in Elantris!" and it reminds you of all the details you would otherwise surely forget.

Anyway, Mim's interlude is like a sequel to Baxil's from TWoK. Mim's assistant and Baxil's mistress are both the same person--the Herald Shalash. Basically, all of the Heralds are completely out of their minds in the present day, and their insanity manifests itself in very particular ways that are unique to each individual.

Shalash's insanity manifests itself in a compulsion to destroy any religious representations of herself. Throughout the books, there are periodic mentions of a character showing up somewhere and noticing that there are only 9 of 10 Heralds depicted in the decor, that the statue of Shalash in a building has inexplicably been removed, or that someone has defaced just that one Herald's likeness.

Mraize acquired a famous painting of Shalash as bait, then got her to stick around when she is about to leave by telling her that he knows where Talenelat is. That is, of course, Taln, the poor guy who was left to uphold the Oathpact all on his own after the other Heralds decided that they couldn't take it anymore.

Thanks Daniel. That's really cool. Sadly I'll forget all that if she shows up again in the 4th book, but if nothing else I can revisit these posts.

I'm not sure I'm motivated enough to jump into 17th shard. I enjoy all of Sanderson's Cosmere stuff, but I'd be overwhelmed by the scrutiny the hardcore fans have.

I've lurked on the 17th shard forums but not extensively. I like to read the answers that Brandon gives at signings & other events, but I'm not at all interested in the (extensive) theory crafting that happens on the forum.