BRANDON SANDERSON'S

COSMERE AS OF 11/2/21

PRESENTATION BY NATALIE ANDERSON

WHAT IS THE COSMERE?
The cosmere is a fictional universe that contains many of
Brandon Sanderson’s adult fiction. These stories have the
same mythology, operate on the same principles of magic,
and even have some characters that travel across
worlds(See Hoid). Some of the books/series in the
Cosmere include the Stormlight Archive, Mistborn,
Warbreaker, Elantris, and a ton of short stories.
A common comparison is the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
if there were no Avengers movies. The characters all live
in the universe, and some characters show up throughout
the books, but there will not be an Avengers-style meet up
where different sets of characters band together against a
common enemy.
However, you do not need to know anything about the
Cosmere to enjoy the stories contained in it.

Cosmere Constellation Map by Isaac Stewart

VOCABULARY AND THINGS TO KNOW
• Perpendicularity- A sort of ‘portal’ that allows people to travel from one planet to the other. Usually requires presence of a Shard
• Shards- Effectively gods; magic comes from their power, or Investiture.
• Investiture- The energy that powers the various magic systems
• Adonalsium- The power of creation; was broken to create Shards
• Realmatic Theory- The structure of the Cosmere, comprised of three realms
• Physical- The normal world, what exists in the moment
• Cognitive- How an object or person sees itself
• Spiritual- The idealized version of an object or person
• Cosmere- A fictional universe that contains several books and series
• Worldhopping- Fairly self-explanatory; the ability to move from world to world in the Physical Realm. Requires either use of a
Perpendicularity or some other form of Investiture
• Sliver- A human that had held the majority of the power of a Shard but no longer does
• Vessel- Someone who is currently holding the power of a Shard
• Splinter- A piece of Adonalsium that is not held by a human. The opposite of a Sliver or Vessel
• RAFO- An acronym meaning ‘read and find out.’ Used by Brandon Sanderson when an answer to a fan-posed question could include
spoilers
• Koloss Head Munching Day- A Scadrian holiday celebrated by fans on December 19th, marking Brandon Sanderson’s birthday
DROMINAD SYSTEM

• The Drominad system is

unique because
STORIES IN THE
DROMINAD
SYSTEM
- Sixth of
the Dusk
ROSHARAN SYSTEM
• Roshar is system, planet, and continent
• All animals are basically crabs, and all birds are chickens
• Also, there are hightstorms- basically weekly hurricanes that blow across the
continent(which means pretty much no dirt)
• And little fire; gems charged by the highstorms are used for light and currency
• And Pokémon! Not really. They’re called spren
• Shards(more about these later) include Honor, Cultivation, and Odium
• Humanoid species include humans, Parshendi, and parshmen
• Investiture is accessed through
• Surgebinding
• Bonding with spren gives the person certain powers, depending on the type of spren. Comes from
Honor
• Voidbinding
• Not much is known about Voidbinding, but it is to Odium as Surgebinding is to Honor
• Old Magic
• Grants a unique ability and a unique curse by seeking the ‘Nightwatcher’

• And there are ten ‘angels,’ called Heralds

• Each book in the series has a ‘main character,’ which really means the character with the
most flashbacks
STORIES IN THE ROSHARAN SYSTEM

• Books
• Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Oathbringer
• Short Stories
• Edgedancer
Arc One

• First five Stormlight books Kaladin

• The main characters of these books will include

Shallan
Kaladin*, Shallan*, Dalinar*, Eshonai, and
Szeth
• There will be a climax for these five books

*Written as of January 2019

Szeth
Eshonai

Dalinar

Art by botanicaxu, anadia-chan, ex-m, Ben McSweeny

Arc Two

• Last five Stormlight books

Ash, or
• The main characters of these books will Shalash

include Lift, Renarin, Ash, Taln, Jasnah Taln, or

Talenelat
• Possibly in that order
• There will be a climax for these five books,
which will also be the climax for the series

Lift
Jasnah

Renarin

Art by Isaac Stewart, ex-m, Andrew Payne

Animal Life

Chickens Chulls and Other Stuff

Art by Lane Garrison, Marianne Eie, Casta, and Ben McSweeny

SCADRIAN SYSTEM
• Has one major planet, Scadrial
• Has changed orbit at least twice
• Extremely technologically advanced
• Two shards- Ruin and Preservation
• Scadrial- and the people on it- did not seem to exist before
the shards arrived
• Investiture is very easily accessed by mortals
• Some ways that Investiture is accessible include
• Allomancy
• Consuming certain metals gives certain
individuals different abilities, such as enhanced
senses or influencing the emotions of others
(unlocked by surviving immense trauma!)
• Feruchemy
• Attributes- including knowledge, weight, and
speed can be stored in certain metals by certain
individuals to be used later
• Hemalurgy
• Metal spikes can be stabbed through people to
give others their Allomatic or Feruchemical
 • Mistborn Era One
• The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
STORIES IN THE • The Hero of Ages
SCADRIAN
There are a lot. More on the way!SYSTEM
• Mistborn Era Two
• Alloy of the Law
• Shadows of Self
• The Bands of Mourning
• The Lost Metal(?)- Unwritten
• Mistborn Era Three
• So far unwritten
• Mistborn Era Four
• So far unwritten
• Short Stories
• The Eleventh Metal
*Note: All the Mistborn books are in the same series, • Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
which is divided up into eras. Read the eras in order,
and the books in each era in order for best results! • Mistborn: Secret History
ALLOMANTIC METALS
PHYSICAL PUSH PULL PUSH PULL MENTAL
EXTERNAL Steel- Pushes On Iron- Pulls On Zinc- Enflames Brass- Dampens EXTERNAL
Nearby Metals Nearby Metals (Riots) Emotions (Soothes)
Emotions
INTERNAL Pewter- Tin- Increases Copper- Hides Bronze- Hear INTERNAL
Increases Physical Senses Allomatic Pulses Allomatic Pulses
Physical
Abilities
EXTERNAL Duralumin*- Aluminum*- Gold- Reveals Electrum*- EXTERNAL
Enhances Wipes Current Your Past Self Reveals Your
Current Allomatic Future
Allomatic Burn Reserves
INTERNAL Nicrosil*- Chromium*- Cadmium*- Bendalloy*- INTERNAL
Enhances Wipes Target’s Slows Down Speeds Up Time
Target’s Current Current Time
Allomatic Burn Allomatic
Reserves
*Largely unknown until after the end of Mistborn Era One
PUSH PULL PUSH PULL
FERUCHEMICAL METALS
PHYSICAL COGNITIV
E
Iron- Stores Steel- Stores Zinc- Stores Brass- Stores
Physical Weight Physical Speed Mental Speed Warmth
Tin- Stores Pewter- Stores Copper- Stores Bronze- Stores
Senses Physical Strength Memories Wakefulness
Duralumin- Aluminum- Gold- Stores Electrum- Stores
Stores Identity Health Determination
Connection
Nicrosil- Stores Chromium- Cadmium- Bendalloy-
Investiture Stores Fortune Stores Breath Stores Calories
SPIRITUA HYBRID
L

*Largely unknown until after the end of Mistborn Era One

MISTBORN ERA ONE
A Steel Inquisitor

• Technology level is about typical fantasy level Coins used in the

• Ashmonts- basically volcanoes- cover EVERYTHING with ash Final Empire

• The sun looks red

• There are mists that come out at night and kill people
• The Lord Ruler? More like the Immortal Tyrant of the ‘Final Empire’
• He’s got some freaky magic Secret Service guys called Steel Inquisitors, or just Inquisitors
• Three main races
• Skaa- the slave race. Considered less intelligent, forced to do almost all labor, regularly executed or killed by…
• The Nobles- Supposedly the descendants of those who supported the Lord Ruler during his ascent to power one thousand years ago.
Live in comfort and political intrigue.
• Terris- Mostly live off in the mountains, mostly ignored by the Lord Ruler, although they are subject to breeding programs, and some
eunuchs are employed by the nobles as stewards
• Aaaand then there’s Kelsier
• Half noble, half skaa, Lots of Magic, his existence is technically illegal, all crazy
• “hmm, I’m planning a revolution, I’ll put myself down for ‘general mayhem’ and go kill rich people by shooting money at them”
• dude calm down Art by Luaru
MISTBORN ERA TWO

• Ye Old Wild West

• Some people are Twinborn, or someone with at least one Allomatic power
and one Feruchemical power
• Set 300 years after Era One
MISTBORN ERA THREE

• It’s the 80’s!

• With Allomancers and stuff
• And it’s just 80’s tech level, sadly
MISTBORN ERA FOUR

• Still set on Scadrial, but with spaceships

• And The Hoid is a major character*

*There’s a whole slide on him coming! Don’t worry!

SELISH SYSTEM
• The main planet is Sel
• Empires mostly don’t know about
each other
• Vast oceans and huge continents
• Two shards- Dominion and
Devotion
• Influenced languages,
alphabets, traditions, and
religions
• Both shards were destroyed
• Together known as the Dor
• Magic is dependent on physical
position
• The landscape itself seems to be
somewhat self aware
STORIES IN THE SELISH
SYSTEM
• Books
• Elantris
• The Emperor’s Soul
• Short Story
• The Hope of Elantris
 ELANTRIS

• Imagine waking up one day and you’re shiny and magic and
your skin is silver and get to go live in paradise
• It’s a magic force called the Shaod
• But ten years ago, it starts turning into people into
zombies
• And if you get hurt, you feel that sensation forever
• imagine stepping on a Lego
• ouch
• And you get sent to Elantris, the ex-paradise
• So this princess is off to get married to a guy she’s never
met
• And he’s been taken by the Shaod, but they just tell her
she’s dead
• Meanwhile he’s in Elantris, trying to make a better life
for the zombies, trying to figure out why no one can do
magic anymore Art by Shuravf
 THRENODITE SYSTEM

• stabby stabby ghosts with triggers

• wow
STORIES IN THE
THRENODITE SYSTEM

• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell

 TALDAIN SYSTEM

Do I know much about the Taldain system? No. No, I do not. But
what I do know is this:
• Half of the planet is always day- called Dayside, half is always
night- called Darkside
• Dayside is
• Really sandy
• Some people (sand masters) can animate sand and turn it into water
• Darkside
• More technologically advanced
• Light mostly by UV light, so people glow!
• ok so maybe just their teeth and eyes and nails but still glowing people
 NALTHIS
• Nobody actually knows what system it’s in, but it’s in a system
somewhere and it’s really neato
• Lots of mountains and a singular jungle and at least one sea
• Investiture of the Shard Endowment
• Everyone has one Breath, but you can give it away and become a drab
• Drabs get sick and depressed easier and can’t tell when people are
looking at them but otherwise they’re fine
• With certain numbers of Breaths, you can do some cool stuff
• Two main countries
• Hallandren
• Color color color
• Jungle
• The Shard Endowment manifests itself here in flowers
• Idris
LEVELS OF AWAKENING
Levels are referred to as ‘Heightenings’
• First Heightening: • Fifth Heightening:
• ~50 Breaths • ~2,000 Breaths
• Can see how many Breaths others have • Functionally immortal
• Extends life
• Sixth Heightening
• Second Heightening
• ~3,500 Breaths
• ~200 Breaths
• Instinctive Awakening
• Perfect Pitch
• Immediately understand basic Awakening
• Third Heightening commands
• ~600 Breaths
• Seventh Heightening
• Perfect Color Recognition
• ~5,000 Breaths
• Fourth Heightening
• Beyond here it doesn’t really matter plus I’m
• ~1,000 Breaths running out of room so we know of up to Tenth
• Can sense other non-drabs Heightening
Art by Matthew Johnson
SO WHAT THE STORMS ARE SHARDS?
• Basically, this guy named Adonalsium was killed
• Sixteen facets of his personality were thrown throughout the Cosmere
• Each shard is a piece of the powers of creation
• Each is named after a specific intent, or primary motivation *Spoilers! These
• The powers of all the shards were taken by a Vessel(see vocabulary slide) Shards have been
• Ambition* killed by Odium!
• Autonomy
• Cultivation
• Devotion*
• Dominion*
**Spoilers for
• Endowment
• Honor* Mistborn! Preservation
• Odium(hate or passion) and Ruin were combined
• Preservation** into a single new shard,
• Ruin** Harmony
• Survival(?)
SOME OTHER PLANETS’N’STUFF
OATHBRINGER
• Ashyn
SPOILERS:
• There’s an unpublished novel set here Ashyn is the original home
• It’s in the Rosharan system but I didn’t include it there of the Rosharan humans.
‘cause I didn’t want to Odium is currently on
Braize.
• Braize
• Vax
• Also in the Rosharan system, see above • the notable thing is that we know nothing about it.
RAFOs all around.
• Veeery cold
• Yolen
• No life, only spren • Source of all humans, with technical exceptions I am
looking at you Scadrial
• Obrodai
• Hoid’s home planet
• There is at least one Shard on this planet and at least • there!! are!! dragons!!
one of them doesn’t want Hoid around • Where all the Cosmere Knowledgeable people come
from, or at least most of them
• Watery, perhaps
 AND… UH… WHO IS HOID?
needs a hug • Ah.
• You’ve noticed him He’s also got
• The Hoid. LOADS of
• Also known as magic and cool
• The King’s Wit, or just Wit stuff he can do.
• Cephandrius Maxatori And secrets.
• The Imperial Fool (There’s always
• Lunu’anaki another secret)
he HAD a flute • Roamer
but SOMEONE • Drifter
lost it
• Midius Plus he’s a guess who
• Topaz
great loves bacon?
• Dust this guy
• A coach driver storyteller
and really
old
• Various beggars/old men/ and knows pretty
much everything physically unable to hurt anyone
informants (including himself)
• Where’s Waldo
• The bane of your existence Art by botanicaxu and Isaac Stewart
 ALL OF THE BOOKS
•The Stormlight Archive: Oathbringer (2017)
•Written •Planned
•Elantris (2005) •The Stormlight Archive: Books 4-10
•Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
•Possible titles for books 4 and 5 include Rhythm of War
•Mistborn: The Well of Ascension (2007) and Stones Unhallowed
•Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (2008) •Mistborn: The Lost Metal
•Warbreaker (2009)
•The Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings (2010)
•Mistborn Era III Potentiall
•Mistborn Era IV
•Mistborn: The Alloy of Law (2011) •Elantris II  y almost
•The Emperor's Soul (2012, novella) •Elantris III(?) fifty
•Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (2013) •Warbreaker II: Nightblood
•The Stormlight Archive: Words of Radiance (2014) books!
•The Silence Divine 
•Sixth of the Dusk (2014) •Aether of Night
•Mistborn: Shadows of Self (2015) •White Sands, Volume 3
•Arcanum Unbounded (2016, includes many short stories) •The Liar of Partinel
•Mistborn: Bands of Mourning (2016) •Dragonsteel Books 1-7
•White Sands, Volume 1 (2016) •Hoid, which could be a trilogy or a stand alone novel
 WAIT, SO WHAT SHOULD I READ FIRST?

• To take full advantage of the many Easter eggs and

• It doesn’t really matter which series you start
whatnot throughout the books, here are some notes,
with first, but here are some good starting points from most to least noticable
• The Emperor’s Soul, Shadows for Silence in the • Mistborn Era I before Mistborn Era II
Shadows of Hell, or Sixth of the Dusk, all more or
less self-contained short stories • Warbreaker before Oathbringer

• Way of Kings, the first book in the Stormlight • Edgedancer before Oathbringer
Archive • Elantris before Mistborn: Secret History
• Mistborn: Final Empire, the first book in the • Mistborn: Bands of Mourning before Mistborn: Secret
Mistborn series (Era 1!) History
• Elantris • Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell before
• Mistborn: Bands of Mourning
Warbreaker
STILL CURIOUS?

Don’t worry, there’s still a lot to learn. More information can be found at the Coppermind,
the Arcanum, and 17th shard website, as well as Brandon Sanderson's official website.