What I want to see out of Horneater

With the State of the Sanderson 2024 finally in our hands, we got further confirmation of the schedule of Cosmere books coming to us over the next few years. While we’ll have to wait until 2031 to get the next mainline book, the next in story from the Stormlight Archive that we’ll get is 2026’s Horneater. Let’s take a look at what we know about the novella so far, what hints and clues we have from the books already published, and end with my hopes and dreams for this last taste of Roshar before we hit the drought. 

What we know

To begin, let’s take a look at what we know so far. During the Words of Radiance kickstarter, we got a few hints at what the book will entail:

• The book will be set post Oathbringer (it's fair to assume it’s pre-Rhythm of War).
• Rock is the main character.
• The story is largely about his return home to the Horneater Peaks.

This is a great setting for a novella. We know a lot about the Horneaters and their culture through Rock, but we have yet to see what the culture is like first hand. We see only a few Horneaters outside of Rock and his immediate family, so it will be interesting to meet other characters and explore their homeland.

That about wraps it up for hard facts, but we can infer quite a bit from what we learn in Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. This article has no spoilers from Wind and Truth. Here’s a recap of some of the threads we can pick up on.

Reason for leaving

Rock believes he broke the law of his people. During the Battle of Thaylen field, Rock saved Kaladin by using a shard bow to slay an unmade-bonded Amaram. Participating in the war was something that Rock had very loudly refused to do up until this point, only wielding a weapon to attach bags of spheres to the top of bridges back in the bridgecrew days. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of Horneater familial and societal structure:

First and Second sons are needed for making food.

Third sons are craftsmen.

Fourth sons (and presumably beyond) are warriors.

Rock started his life as a fourth son, hence his aptitude with the bow, but after losing his brother, he became a third son and began his study of cooking.

By wielding a bow in combat, Rock broke with his cultural tradition. This results in him choosing to return to the peaks to face judgement for his crimes.

Leaving for the peaks

Rock left with Skar, Drehy, his wife Tuaka and younger children with Gift and Cord choosing to stay in Urithiru. 

We don’t know much about what happens after they leave, but in Rhythm of War chapter 114, we get a snippet of detail:

“All of Bridge Four came, except for Rock. Skar and Drehy had relayed the news after returning to the Shattered Plains – it seemed Kaladin wouldn’t be seeing Rock again.”

Bleak. This seems quite final and would imply that Kaladin believed there was no chance of him ever seeing Rock again. Does that mean he’s dead? Imprisoned? I suppose we’ll find out.

Vivenna

If you didn’t know that “Azure” was Vinvenna, my apologies, but all the clues are in there. The last time we saw Vivenna she had just left the Kaladin, Adolin, Shallan and their Spren while traveling shadesmar, with the goal of reaching Cultivation’s perpendicularity on the Horneater Peaks. While we’re not 100% certain if she made it, we do know that she stayed in Last Integrity for quite some time, leaving around 1174.9.9. This is very close to the time that Rock would depart for the peaks, and my guess that we’ll catch up with her during Horneater. 

My top three hopes

I love Rock, and I can’t wait to dive into this novella. Even though it's two years away, it will be like a tall glass of water during the Stormlight drought we are about to wade into.

Here’s what I want to see.

More Horneater culture

Rock and Cord are amazing characters, but they are two hues of a single shade that will make up the Horneater people. I want to see Horneater cities, more stew, more Horneater White, more Spren worship… There is a lot to love about the Horneater culture, and I can’t wait to dive in.

Vivenna

I will be disappointed if we don’t cross paths with Vivenna and learn more about what’s been going on in the post Warbreaker Nalthis. The inclusion of these characters and prominence of Nightblood on Roshar has been so incredibly important to the story but we know so little of WHY they are even there in the first place. This is a great opportunity to close up these gaps and give us a view into what’s been going on with Nalthis, and why Vasher was on Roshar to begin with.

Rock, Worldhopper

My boy can’t die. Rock is too wonderful of a character to have his story cut short. Granted, dedicating an entire novella to his death is a more than appropriate gesture from Sanderson. 

My dream though is to see Vivenna whisk rock and his family away from Roshar and travel the Cosmere. Don’t even make it obvious: end the book with a cliff hanger and have him show up in some random book a few years from now. Please Brandon, don’t take Rock away.

The journey

We have a few years to stew (heh) over what might be coming in Horneater, and my guess is that future spoiler streams might eek out a few extra details from Sanderson in the not too distant future. In the short term, we can only sit and wait for 2026 to come, bringing with it one of the brightest lights Bridge Four ever brought us. We’ll get at least one more chance to see Rock, which is more than Kaladin (apparently) will get. Here’s to hoping there’s more.