Sofia
Is Odium is still influencing Vyre after all the Taravangian stuff?
Brandon Sanderson
That's a RAFO. Odium will have interesting, different relationships with a lot of different, interesting people in the next book.
Found 1672 entries in 1.535 seconds.
Is Odium is still influencing Vyre after all the Taravangian stuff?
That's a RAFO. Odium will have interesting, different relationships with a lot of different, interesting people in the next book.
And your name is Topaz, huh?
Yes, it is.
Topaz is a great name in the cosmere, because.. I if you know Wit/Hoid? Topaz is one of his aliases. It was the first name I came up for with him, when I was a teenager. I named him Topaz.
Would Hoid's spirit web seem more similar to that of a savant or a regular human?
Oh, neither one, but it would be weirder than a savant.
You've mentioned in the past that Jasnah has some interesting brain psychology going on. I suspect if I ask you to elaborate too much, I'll get RAFO'd, but can you share if it is more due to nature or nurture?
Little of both. I would go nurture on this one, but let's wait till I write her book to really dig into it.
Can I get the Hoid sense of humor question real quick?
Yeah, where'd he get his sense of humor?
Yeah, because he doesn't really have one in like Mistborn.
You will find that eventually. It depends on the character he's playing. He had it in Mistborn, he just was not playing a character that was conducive to that.
Fair enough, 'cause he's very different in--
Yeah. In Elantris too.
How does Vasher lose [Nightblood]?
I will eventually answer that, but I am not answering it yet.
I am not entirely sure… I don’t think his intentions… might not all be good…
Your instincts are good.
In Hero of Ages, I don’t quite understand why… the point of Hoid is in Fadrex, going around the city, gathering information…?
Not many people do! It’s an intentional secret, I have to wait a little while longer to explain it.
Would it be possible to have a "Shardgun"? (Shardblade in the form of a gun)
RAFO!
In [The Hero of Ages], what spooked Vin off from meeting Hoid? (My theory is Ruin's infulence, because he didn't want Hoid interfering(sub question that just occured to me. Was Ruin aware of Hoid on Scadrial?)
And
What would Hoid have told her if they had talked?
Ha. Well, by this point Hoid had been to the Well--getting there just before Vin--and had retrieved something from it. That should have been enough to get him to leave the planet entirely, but he got involved in events. (He tends to do that.) It's pie in the sky, but I would someday like to do parallel novel to the Mistborn series with Hoid in the background like they did in the second(?) back to the future move. I don't know that I'll ever be able to do it, but we shall see. I would answer this question there.
In a previous question you said that when Pattern talks he makes vibrations in the air that can be picked up by a recorder. When Syl talks to just Kaladin, and is only appearing to just Kaladin, could that audio be recorded?
RAFO.
Would Sunmaker's backstory... if you asked too many questions about his backstory, would you get RAFOd the crap out of?
Sadees? Yeah, probably.
Was there something special at Urithiru before the city was built?
RAFO.
I like that question, I hadn't thought of that.
I actually had thought about that one.
Long, long ago when Hero of Ages came out you listed four Shards other than Ruin and Preservation. You said we interacted with two directly. One is a tough call, we've never met the Shard itself but have seen its power. The other one we've not met directly but have seen its influence. My questions:
-Is the Dor the "tough call" one?
-Do you count Hoid in this list of four shards? It makes a difference for the theories, Brandon! You don't even need to say if he is bound to a shard, rather just if you consider him in this list.
RAFO, and no, Hoid is not included in the list.
So, when you were starting to write your books, did you have the idea for-- Like [???] magics tied together or did you have that from the beginning?
Oh, excellent question. So, he's asking about the Cosmere, where all my epic fantasies are tied together. Where did that come from. I can trace a few paths back in my brain where that came from. What I can say is that it was built in from the beginning of the books you have been reading. But you remember, those weren't my first written books. I wrote thirteen novels before I sold one. Elantris was number six. Way of Kings was number thirteen. And so-- I love this idea of a big, connected universe. The first person I can remember doing it, that blew my mind, was when Asimov connected the Robots and the Foundation books, which I thought was so cool when I was a teenager.
Another path that I trace this [concept?] also, though-- I don't know how many of you guys did this, but when I'd read a book--I still do this, actually--I would insert behind the scenes a kind of character that was my own, who was doing stuff behind the scenes. Like I would insert my own story into the story, just kind of take ownership of it in a strange sort of way. I remember doing this with the Pern books. I'm like "Oh, no, they think that person is who they think they are, but nooo! This is this other person!" And so I had this kind of proto-Hoid in my head jumping between other people's books.
So when I sat down to write Elantris, I said "Well, I want to do something like this". All the people I've seen doing this before-- and they've done it very well. Michael Moorcock did it, and Stephen King did it, and things like this, I'm not the first one to connect their books together, not by a long shot. I felt like a lot of them, they kinda fell into it, and as a writer, having seen what they did, I could then do it intentionally, if that makes sense. And so I started out with this idea that I was just gonna have this character in-between who is furthering his own goals, and built out a story for him, and then I went-- After I did Elantris, I wrote a book called Dragonsteel, which isn't published, and it was his origin story, for this character. And then I wrote some more books, and so, of course-- and things like this. Eventually Elantris got published and the other ones didn't, and they weren't as good as Elantris was. And so I took them all as kind of "backstory canon", and moved forward as if they had all-- they were all there and they had happened, but nobody else knew but me. Which allowed this cool foundation for you like "wow, that stuff has happened", because I had books and books of material that I could treat as canon in this way, to let me know where thing were going. So it wasn't planned-- It was planned from the beginning, but not the beginning of my writing care. From about book six was where it started.
I started writing my first novel when I was fifteen years old. I didn’t have a computer; I had an old, electric typewriter. It would remember your file on a disc, but it was really just a printer with an attached bare-bones word processor. (It had a tiny LCD screen at the top that could display three lines at a time. You could scroll through and edit bit by bit, then you hit print and it would type out the document.)
The book was terrible. It was essentially a hybrid of Tad Williams and Dragonlance, though at the time I felt it was totally new and original. It did have a wizard who threw fireballs with smiley faces on the front, though, so that’s kind of cool. At its core were two stories. One vital one was the tale of a wise king who was murdered by assassins, forcing his younger brother to take up the mantle and lead the kingdom while trying to find/protect the king’s son and rightful heir. The other was about a young man named Rick, originally blamed for the murder.
I still have some of these pages. (Not the entire book, unfortunately.) I used to hide them behind a picture on the wall of my room so that nobody would find them. I was so anxious about letting people read my writing, and was—for some reason—paranoid my family would find the pages and read them, then make fun of them.
Over the years, many ideas proliferated and matured in my mind. I began writing books in earnest (I never finished that one I started as a teenager.) I grew as a writer, and discovered how to make my works less derivative. Most of my ideas from my teenage self died out, and rightly so. Others evolved. My maturing sensibilities as both a reader and a writer changed how I saw the world, and some stories stood the test of both time and internal criticism, becoming stronger for the conflict.
Rick became Jerick, hero of the book now known as Dragonsteel. (It was my honor’s thesis in college, and will someday be rewritten and published. For now, the only copy available is through interlibrary loan, though it appears to have vanished.) Jared, the man who lost his brother and had to lead in his stead, protecting his nephew, slowly evolved into a man named Dalinar, one of the primary protagonists of The Way of Kings. Some of you may be curious to know that the character many now call Hoid also appeared in that ancient book of mine.
These two epics—Dragonsteel and The Way of Kings—have shaped a lot of my passions and writing goals over the last two decades. For example, in my last year of college I took an introductory illustration class to try my hand at drawing. My final project was a portfolio piece of sketches of plants and animals from Roshar, as even then I was hoping to someday be able to publish The Way of Kings with copious in-world illustrations of Roshar and its life. (At that time, I was planning to have an illustrated appendix, though I eventually decided to spread the pages through the book.) Fortunately, I was able to hire artists to do the work in this book instead of forcing you to look at what I came up with . . .
Well, finally—after two decades of writing—Tor has given me the chance to share The Way of Kings with you. They’ve taken a risk on this book. At every juncture, they agreed to do as I asked, often choosing the more expensive option as it was a better artistic decision. Michael Whelan on the cover. 400K words in length. Almost thirty full page interior illustrations. High-end printing processes in order to make the interior art look crisp and beautiful. A piece of in-world writing on the back cover, rather than a long list of marketing blurbs. Interludes inside the book that added to the length, and printing costs, but which fleshed out the world and the story in ways I’d always dreamed of doing.
This is a massive book. That seems fitting, as it has been two decades in the making for me. Writing this essay, I find myself feeling oddly relieved. Yes, part of me is nervous—more nervous for this book than I have been for any book save The Gathering Storm. But a greater part of me is satisfied.
I finally got it published. Whatever else happens, whatever else comes, I managed to tell this story. The Way of Kings isn’t hidden behind the painting in my room any longer.
What about... Doomslug? What's up with Doomslug?
Doomslug will be answered pretty soon... Doomslug is relevant.
Did Odium have something to do with Adolin killing Sadeas, 'cause in Thaylenah he said that he had been preparing Sadeas' troops for a long time.
RAFO
Nananav, from Oathbringer. Worldhopper?
RAFO.
So, Hoid was there during the Shattering of Adonalsium. Odium is going around, like, destroying other Shards. We know that Hoid is collecting and has pieces of some of the other Shards.
Yes.
Since Hoid was there at the original Shattering of Adonalsium. Is there an echo image of the original Adonalsium in Hoid?
Uh, that's a RAFO. Here's your card. But it is a valid theory.
I have a two-parter on that.
You can ask me the next part, but it is a RAFO.
Is his end goal trying to join as many pieces of Adonalsium together to *inaudible*
Um, that, I will give a "that's a very good guess." And that is what the books seem to indicate is happening.
Does Hoid pay taxes?
Hoid does not pay many taxes at all. If he pays taxes, it comes in the form of something you wouldn't want to get from him. He pays taxes like cats pay taxes.
Are the Svrakiss cognitive shadows?
RAFO. But you expected that.
Now, I can share the Dawnshard theory I am currently running with, and you can super RAFO it (while also providing a cryptic teasing hint that will frustrate for years?). But before that, thank you for this book. It's not quite Secret History level stuff, but it's fantastic in a very similar way, and I am genuinely happy, and giddy, and also not a small amount of confused :P
But theory. So, I am thinking that the Dawnshards are Commands in the way "Let there be light" is a command, and the four of them are enough to explain everything. If one of them is Change (something into something else), then other plausible options might be Create (something from nothing), some form of Destroy (something into nothing), and... Stasis? Maintain? Remain? something like that.
Super RAFO! Nice theory.
Ooh, another "identity of the Dawnshards" theory, triggered by OP's "Let there be light" comment: I don't suppose the Dawnshards are in any way related to Maxwell's Equations (of which there are four), which govern electromagnetism? I used to have a t-shirt that said "And God said: <Maxwell's Equations>. And there was light," which is what got me thinking.
That's a big old RAFO, but mostly because I'm trying to stay tight lipped on the subject of Dawnshards.
When did Vasher find out about Shadesmar and travel to Roshar?
I will try to cover this in the sequel to Warbreaker when I write it. So for right now, you get a RAFO card.
Is there a spren for the Everstorm?
RAFO. Good question.
Most of the Shardblades and Plate abandoned by Radiants during the Recreance are somewhere, missing. Are they mostly, kind of in the same place?
It's a good question. RAFO.
Unity is capital. Is there a reason for that.
*hands over a RAFO card*
Hoid the Storyteller Tells Us the History of Hallandren
This whole scene came about because I wanted an interesting way to delve into the history. Siri needed to hear it, and I felt that many readers would want to know it. However, that threatened to put me into the realm of the dreaded infodump.
And so, I brought in the big guns. This cameo is so obvious (or, at least, someday it will be) that I almost didn't use the name Hoid for the character, as I felt it would be too obvious. The first draft had him using another of his favorite pseudonyms. However, in the end, I decided that too many people would be confused (or at least even more confused) if I didn't use the same name. So here it is. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about . . . well, let's just say that there's a lot more to this random appearance than you might think.
Anyway, I love this storytelling method, and I worry that Hoid here steals the show. However, he's very good at what he does, and I think it makes for a very engaging scene that gets us the information we need without boring us out of our skulls.
Is everything he says here true? No. There are some approximations and some guesses. However, all things considered, it's pretty accurate. All of the large bits are true.
Are the Heralds native to Roshar?
RAFO (Man, you're good at asking those, aren't you?)
How can splintered seons like Mraize's leave their planet, while spren cannot?
That is a big mystery in the Cosmere, so it is a RAFO. This is actively... The answer to that question is a big step toward doing what Mraize wants to do. And they haven't figured it out yet. There are lots of theories. And indeed, Elantris and its magic systems tend to be the oddball among Cosmere magic systems in a lot of ways. This is all related to how things work and the various things that are odd about the Elantris magic system. So I'm going to RAFO that with a "why don't you theorize along those lines?" They are trying to figure it out, and obviously they do, because (spoilers) I have read things that indicate that this is possible in the future.
Was Taldain one of the planets of the Iriali Long Trail? Was Scadrial?
RAFO
There’s a character again that you've talked about in other signings-- That character has more information than Hoid about the cosmere. How does she have more information than Hoid?
Well, she is a very detail oriented person and takes the time to research very deeply into things. Where Hoid will often research enough as he needs to know to sound really smart and get what he wants. It is a matter of depth, if that makes sense.
Have we seen her?
Uhh, I don't know if you've seen her or not. I'm sure I slipped her in somewhere but I'm not sure... I think I may have, but I can't guarantee it.
How many kings have had a Wit?
It is common for a king to have a Wit.
Has Hoid been more than just Elhokar and Jasnah's Wit?
He has been. Most Wits, historically, were a little more fool-like, more court-jestery. Wit does not think highly of that. But there have been others in the past that were more like what he would think what a Wit should be.
Could the Heralds be considered the splinters or would it be the Honourblades they once held? Or perhaps are they something else entirely?
That's a RAFO, more because I don't want to dig into the nature of the Heralds until the second five books, and would rather not have people's eyes on them too much right now.
Who has the best and worst handwriting in the cosmere?
Hoid's is just terrible, but it can also be really beautiful when he wants to. But Brandon said he didn't have a real answer for this one.
Is Chiri-Chiri's kind descended from Yolen dragons?
RAFO! :)
Is Hoid a Sliver?
A Sliver, no he’s not, good question.
Well, I get the RAFO card.
He... see, the problem is, “Sliver” is really difficult to define, because it has variety of meanings, but I would not call him one. So that’s… it’s arguable, but I would say no.
He's not Sliver.
Yeah.
Can you tell me what Wit put in his drink in Shallan's flashback scene?
It was something that you or I would probably not want to eat in our world, but that Wit got some benefit from eating...
Something we've seen in the Mistborn books, perhaps?
[sounding pleased] Yes, perhaps like something you've seen in Mistborn.
What would happen if a Radiant spren went to the Physical Realm through a perpendicularity instead of the natural transition they usually do?
RAFO. It would normally just not work, but RAFO? ... You have some stuff in Rhythm of War that's like *various sounds of disgust*, but yeah.
In one of the Stormlight books, or Way of Kings, it says "3 of 16 ruled but now the Broken One reigns", so did they-- did the three of them have a pact?
That's a RAFO.
"--and then the Broken One reigns"?
That's a RAFO.
Since Order of the Windrunner has many members apart from the knights can the other non-knights member also possibly use gravitation ?
RAFO
Is Endowment's holder female?
RAFO :)
Was the reason Radiants could safely break oaths before the Recreance, without resulting in deadeyes, because the Bondsmith broke the bond for them?
RAFO! Good question!
Is Iyatil left-handed?
RAFO
Have you revealed what the primary effect is of burning lerasium is?
I have not.
Can you in the book?
No. I can write a RAFO though.
There is a metal used to charge in the last Mistborn book, is that lithium?
[Sounds like he's going to say "no" but then changes his mind] I'll dig into that, that's another RAFO. But I'm glad you're thinking along those lines. Let's just say that.
Is there a maximum amount of Investiture Nightblood can take? So like if he were to be thrown into-
RAFO.
If Dalinar summoned his perpendicularity during a highstorm, while the perpendicularity was open, would the areas that the highstorm was over not have spheres become Invested/full of Stormlight?
RAFO!
Who’s the least significant living Shard?
That’s a big ol’ RAFO.
Where would you place Hoid on this scale: http://i.imgur.com/z9fwRP2.jpg
If you have time, where would you place the other characters of your books on this?
Though I do like the D&D system conceptually--I think it leads to interesting discussions--one of the problems is that by putting a character into it, I would be making a value judgement upon their actions. Here's what I can say: If you asked Hoid himself, he'd probably say he was Neutral Good. The Sixteenth shard would argue that he's Chaotic Neutral. Frost would rationally argue him to be Chaotic Good, but there are those who even claim his motives far too selfish to be anywhere near "good," and probably deem him something akin to Neutral Evil.
Sixteenth Shard? Is this just a typo or a really stealthy dispensation of information?
Sorry. Just a typo.