Timespan for Stormlight Archives? (Spoilers)

[jrh1524]

Has anyone asked Brandon what kind of timespan the 10 books of the Stormlight Archives series is going to cover?  I suspect it'll be about a year or two timespan, since the desolation is hanging over everyones' heads, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Salkara]

So far the novel has covered over 4,500 years 

[Fireborn]

So far the novel has covered over 4,500 years 

lol

I'm really not sure.  I doubt we'll find out what kind of timespan we'll be looking at until book 2 so we can see what kind of gap we'll get between books.

[Lord Terrisman]

I'm guessing the time gap will probably be a little less than in between the Mistborn books ( because there was a year between each).  I think this because there still needs to be time for the events to set in but I'm pretty sure the whole Stormlight Archive series wont take place over the course of 20-30 years.

[Cheese Ninja]

1. “The love of men is a frigid thing, a mountain stream only three steps from the ice. We are his. Oh Stormfather…we are his. It is but a thousand days, and the Everstorm comes.”—Collected on the first day of the week Palah of the month Shash of the year 1171, thirty-one seconds before death. Subject was a darkeyed pregnant woman of middle years. The child did not survive.

1000 days doesn't seem like enough time for the series to take place in, given the bit we have so far.  I'm also a bit confused here, are the years 500 days?  (5 days a week, 10 weeks a month, 10 months a year)  And is a day in this series the same length as a day in our world?  Should we be multiplying their ages by 1.37 to get their age in our years?

[Munin]

1. “The love of men is a frigid thing, a mountain stream only three steps from the ice. We are his. Oh Stormfather…we are his. It is but a thousand days, and the Everstorm comes.”—Collected on the first day of the week Palah of the month Shash of the year 1171, thirty-one seconds before death. Subject was a darkeyed pregnant woman of middle years. The child did not survive.

1000 days doesn't seem like enough time for the series to take place in, given the bit we have so far.  I'm also a bit confused here, are the years 500 days?  (5 days a week, 10 weeks a month, 10 months a year)  And is a day in this series the same length as a day in our world?  Should we be multiplying their ages by 1.37 to get their age in our years?

You're assuming that the whole series has to take place before the Everstorm comes.

[Cheese Ninja]

Not exactly, what I said was: "1000 days doesn't seem like enough time for the series to take place in, given the bit we have so far."
We have various things to contend with, the inaccuracy of prophecies and the ability to alter/disrupt/inhibit the manifestation of a prophecy. 

We don't know the actual dates during the series, only in the epigraphs, which cover nearly(?) 1 and half years worth of time while the events in book aren't more than a few months, if that.  (Dalinar only has 4 visions during the course of the books, while highstorms are supposed to come ever other week or so.) If the Everstorm is that massive wall of destruction that Dalinar sees in the Almighty's vision, then I can't imagine much happening after that hits in the series. Edit: Unless the vision is just a metaphor for destruction.

Even the epigraph that I consider to be prophetic about Kalidan's chasm leap might have actually come after the fact, despite us seeing it earlier in the book than the actual event:

“Above the final void I hang, friends behind, friends before. The feast I must drink clings to their faces, and the words I must speak spark in my mind. The old oaths will be spoken anew.”—Dated Betabanan, 1173, 45 seconds pre-death. Subject: a lighteyed child of five years. Diction improved remarkably when giving sample.

Map of the Battle of the Tower, drawn and labeled by Navani Kholin, circa 1173.

There's one of our few vague/if solid dates.

[FollowYourMuse]

What we do know on the timing in the books:
The Vengance pact  and the War on the shattered plains has been going on for 6 years.
Shallan leaves home and meets up with Jasnah 6 months later in Kharbaranth.
Shallan spends an additonal 2-3 months with Jasnah before the end of the book.

7.5 years agoTien was 10 and  Kaladin was 12
5.5 Years ago Kal is 15
5 Years ago Tien and Kaladin are conscripted into the army ( 4 year term)
Tien dies 4 months after joining. Took Kaladin a year before he pulled out of depression. Kaladin now 16-17)
Kaladin is 19 years old at the time he is in the Slave wagon arriving at the Shattered Plains 8 Months after leaving* Amarams Army.


Szeth becomes Truthless.
2 years Later Szeth Kills Gavilar.
5 more years yater Szeth is owned by Took and is in Bavland and is 35 years old.

[Harakeke]

Once again, the illustrations have bits of meta-information for us hardcore fans...

In 1167, a not-yet-dead King Gavilar commissioned a map of Roshar from one "Isasik Shulin"  , as well as a map of Alethkar.
All of the illustrations referencing the Parshendi Campagin are circa 1173.
This includes Navani's map of the Battle of the Tower and the nameless spearman's map of Sadeas' camp.
Also in 1173, the painter Vandonas visited the warcamps and later painted a picture of them from memory.

Kaladin leaves Amaram's army five years after Gavilar's murder.

Which by my calculation suggests (with an estimated error of +/- 1 year)...

Year	World Events	Szeth	Kaladin	yBP	Kaladin's Age	Szeth's Age
(3332*)	Heralds resign	---	---	4,505*	---	---
1138	---	Szeth born	---	35	---	---
1154	---	---	Kaladin born	19	---	16
1156	---	---	Tien born	17	2	18
1166	---	Szeth becomes Truthless	---	7	12	28
1167	Gavilar comissions maps	---	---	6	13	29
1168	Gavilar dies	Szeth kills Gavilar	Kaladin & Tien conscripted	5	14	30
1171	First death visionrecorded	---	---	2	17	33
1173	Battleof the Tower	Szeth owned by Took	Kaladin leaves Amaram's army, arrives at Shattered plains 8 months later	0	19	35

*note: the prelude's date of 4,500 years before Gavilar's murder may be an estimate

edit: yeah, I'm definitely off a year someplace. Tien is 13 when he's conscripted "five years ago", according to ch. 44.

[Fireborn]

What does yBP stand for?

[Harakeke]

What does yBP stand for?

Sorry -- archaeology shorthand.  "years before present"

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I'm tempted to answer things like how many hours in the day, how long those hours are compared to our hours, how many minutes to the hour, etc. But I think I'll hold off a few months (or years...) and see what you can come up with just from the book.

But I will say that the "XX years later/ago" chapter timestamps in the book are only accurate to half a year. (Except for the eight months one.)

Also, "ago" is a moving target based on the timeline of the surrounding chapters.

[Harakeke]

If I recall... age is measured in terms of number of Weepings experienced (survived?), not by birth date.
Do we know when in the year Weepings fall?

[nomti]

If I recall... age is measured in terms of number of Weepings experienced (survived?), not by birth date.
Do we know when in the year Weepings fall?

Remember, seasons on Roshar last only a few weeks and don't follow any discernible pattern.  The only thing that repeats predictably is the Weepings.  So, they fall at the end.

[Cheese Ninja]

I'm tempted to answer things like how many hours in the day, how long those hours are compared to our hours, how many minutes to the hour, etc. But I think I'll hold off a few months (or years...) and see what you can come up with just from the book.

But I will say that the "XX years later/ago" chapter timestamps in the book are only accurate to half a year. (Except for the eight months one.)

Also, "ago" is a moving target based on the timeline of the surrounding chapters.

So if their days are 17.5 hours in our time, we don't need to really need to make any adjustments for them having more days in their years.  It looks like their hours might be a bit shorter than ours.  I wouldn't be surprised if there were 20 of their hours in a day, with the way the love multiples of 10 in this series.