Aether of Night
| Aether of Night | |
|---|---|
| Setting | Cosmere[1] |
Aether of Night is an unpublished, non-canon cosmere novel. It is also the tenth novel written by Brandon Sanderson.[2]
Plot[edit]
The book begins with a character named Raeth who is the eldest son of the emperor of the Imperium but because his aether is weak his younger twin brother Hern was chosen as heir and he was chosen to be a Dari, a form of priest. After the first wave of Forgotten kills both his father and his younger twin brother Hern who is the heir he assumes Hern's persona to keep order in the Imperium. He is forced to confront the mistakes that Hern made and try to win a war against an unknown and incredibly powerful foe. He must contend with the senate as well as those on the war council who Hern offended to try and win the war against the forgotten. He also must keep his identity secret because he will be executed if anyone finds out that he was impersonating an emperor. Raeth must also choose a bride to marry and deal with the brides who are actively competing for his hand. During the struggle of the first battle with the forgotten, he gets touched with a drop from the pool of the forgotten which both strengthens his aether and makes a mysterious voice in his head appear. "Aether" was a term used as part of the magic system.
Publication History[edit]
Original Version[edit]
The original version of the book was abandoned, as Brandon felt that it didn't strike a consistent tone between the almost Shakespearean comedy aspects and the utter destruction of the world.[3] As a result, elements were incorporated into later works, such as "Decay" becoming the Shard Ruin in the Mistborn series.[4] An attempt was also made to adapt the aethers into The Liar of Partinel, but that was abandoned.[5] Brandon has also mentioned incorporating a character named Darro into a potential Warbreaker sequel named Nightblood.[6]
Since the draft version of Aether of Night is unlikely ever to be published, Brandon's team used to send a copy to people who requested it via email, provided that they agreed not to share it or discuss it on public forums. As of July 2017, Brandon gave the file to the 17th Shard to distribute. They will send out the file after it is requested; however, the wait can still be several weeks due to high demand.
Potential Rewrite[edit]
It remains possible that the book will be published in some form, but it would be a complete rewrite.[4][7] Brandon has mentioned that the general mechanics of the magic system would be retained.[7] A substance called "aether" appeared in Oathbringer,[8][9] and in Rhythm of War,[10] and Aethers were later fully introduced in The Lost Metal,[11] leaving the door open for the story to take place in the cosmere,[4] and Brandon continues to list it as a cosmere work in his annual State of the Sanderson posts.[7][1] However, it is not high on the priority list since the story would fall outside of the "main" cosmere series.[12][1]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ a b c State of the Sanderson 2018
— Brandon's website - 2018-12-18# - ↑ TWG Posts
— Arcanum - 2005-12-01# - ↑ Words of Radiance signing Omaha
— Arcanum - 2014-03-13# - ↑ a b c General Reddit 2014
— Arcanum - 2014-12-18# - ↑ Salt Lake City Comic-Con 2014
— Arcanum - 2014-09-04# - ↑ Emerald City Comic Con 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-03-01# - ↑ a b c State of the Sanderson 2017
— Brandon's website - 2017-12-18# - ↑ Oathbringer interlude I-8#
- ↑ Idaho Falls signing
— Arcanum - 2018-12-29# - ↑ Rhythm of War Ars Arcanum#
- ↑ The Lost Metal chapter 39#
- ↑ Skyward Houston signing
— Arcanum - 2018-11-19#