Questioner
So I know that there's going to be a second Mistborn trilogy. Is Alloy part of it?
Brandon Sanderson
No. This is foreshadowing the second trilogy. I may do some more books with these characters.
Questioner
So is the second trilogy in the same time period?
Brandon Sanderson
It will be a little future forward from this. More like mid–20th century.
Questioner
So is there a third law of magic?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes there is. I don't have a pithy way to say it yet.
Questioner
Do you want to try to describe it anyways?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, the best magic systems are interconnected with the world, the society, the culture, and the development of the setting as a whole. The next level you want to think about is how does your magic affect your gender roles, how does it affect your governments, your religions, all these things.
Questioner
And how those things affect the magic?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. But I don't have a pithy way to say it, so once I come up with a good pithy way to say it, then I can actually write it.
Questioner
I was wondering if you meant to do the arms thing in the beginning of Mistborn with Sazed.
Brandon Sanderson
I did, I did. I feel kind of silly because it actually is a pun. And the entire Mistborn trilogy is therefore based on a pun. The first paragraph of the first chapter, like, the first epigraph. But you know, if you can't tell from me naming my character Wax and Wayne, that I have a slight problem with puns.
Questioner
Can one person have possess than one Shardblade?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. A person can possess more than one Shardblade.
Questioner
Can spren die?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, spren can die.
Questioner
Okay, so Syl, she's been around for at least a few thousand years, right?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
How does she forget her memories? Is it in connection to humans that makes it so she remembers things?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
And she's what, a Bonding Spren?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find out. She's an Honorspren, but you will find out.
Zas
Is that bond the Nahel bond?
Brandon Sanderson
There is a certain amount of... It is a symbiotic bond that is gained by Syl. And things gained by the person bonding. And the stronger presence in the physical realm, and the ability to think better in the physical realm is a part of that bond. She is mostly getting [something] of the physical realm. Without the bond, it is very hard for her to think in this world.
Questioner
Because she's windspren?
Brandon Sanderson
That's part of it. That's part of something else.
Questioner
Shallan. What the crap are the headless spren?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find out! Read and Find out! I did just finish her flashback sequence, which is the first thing I wrote for the second book.
Questioner
The Words of Founding. What does it contain besides the religions, technological advancements, and layout for Elendel? Is there anything special in there?
Brandon Sanderson
There's some other cool stuff in there that eventually I'll talk about.
Questioner
But nothing specific?
Brandon Sanderson
Nothing I'm going to be able to...
Questioner
I was going to say general outlines. Does that cover the basics of it?
Brandon Sanderson
That definitely covers the basics of it, yeah. There was stuff from Sazed's metalminds. A lot of that stuff that was in there. Basically everything that was in there, he tried to get in the books. And then some other additions. Such as Elendel, which he created as a basin for life and things. And stuff like that. They are very interesting. These guys are here recording everything I have to say. So I have to watch myself.
Questioner
How does one make sense of Spook's High Imperial?
Brandon Sanderson
One thing about High Imperial, or Eastern Street Slang, is that it was devised by those who spoke it in order to be intentionally obtuse. So it was hard for people to understand. And so there are a lot of nonsense words thrown in the middle. But, it's also got reversed grammar. ‘Wasing the wanting of doing the thing' is ‘I wanted to do that.' But you can also throw random words in there. As long as those parts are in there, it'll make sense to those they're speaking to. ‘I wanted to do this. Wasing the wanting of doing the thing.' You're putting everything into a gerund. You're starting with the verb and the tense. And you're turning everything into ridiculously bad gerunds. That's it in brief.
Questioner
I heard you're doing another Mistborn Trilogy? Any estimate when the first book might be?
Brandon Sanderson
I might do some more Alloy of Law era things in between, they are not the second trilogy, but I will do them. The second trilogy will come between the break between the first sequence in the Stormlight Archive, and the second sequence of the Stormlight Archive. it's two five book sequences, and during that break I will stop and do the second Mistborn trilogy. So it will depend on how quickly I am able to write those.
Questioner
So where exactly would the second Mistborn trilogy take place relative to Alloy of Law?
Brandon Sanderson
Late 20th century era. Modern technology.
Zas
I've heard that's like... 50? years after Alloy of Law.
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, right around there. Roughly. Not quite information age, is what I was looking at. So there's no direct comparison, because the different technology aspects, but you would see it as something around the 80s. Maybe early 90s. Allomancer SWAT team is what it's about. First book is a Mistborn serial killer versus an Allomancer SWAT team. With deeper ramifications to everything.
Questioner
How do you come up with your magic systems? Do you just open the dictionary and point to a word, and say, "Oh, I'll make something with that"?
Brandon Sanderson
No, I'm always looking for something that strikes me. And I'm looking for things that haven't been done before. Things that will make nice conflict, that walk the line between science and superstition. If you will Google Sanderson's First Law, and Sanderson's Second Law, I have two essays that I wrote about how I do magic. They're both on my website, but Google will find them easier than trying to find them on my website.
Questioner
When is the next Mistborn coming out?
Brandon Sanderson
It will probably come out after the next Way of Kings. Next Way of Kings is next Christmas, the next Alloy of Law era book is probably the following Spring or something like that.
Questioner
Are you planning two more or three more?
Brandon Sanderson
I will do as many of those as strikes me. Because The Alloy of Law books are a deviation from the main world plotline. So those are for fun. I'm not going to commit to how many I'll do or not do.
Questioner
If you were a misting, what would you be?
Brandon Sanderson
I would be a Coinshot. Because I would love to be able to have that flight thing going on, jumping around.
Zas
Elantris. Where does it fit in the timeline in reference to Hero of Ages? Since that's what most other things are referenced to.
Brandon Sanderson
Right. Elantris is far earlier.
Zas
Like thousands? Or like hundreds?
Brandon Sanderson
It's quite... It's not thousands.
Zas
So Power of Creation. Is the Power of Creation this thing of power that powers Allomancy and powers the Aons, or is the Power of Creation just what each shard has?
Brandon Sanderson
I would say "each shard has."
Zas
So what's up with the regeneration issue? With Shards? Because they only have so much power they can access at a certain time, but yet they still have more energy. So how does that work? Is it just they have so much power they can use at any given time?
Brandon Sanderson
What are you talking about? Like which shards?
Zas
Ruin and Preservation. Since we know the most about them.
Brandon Sanderson
Ruin and Preservation were a specific instance, because almost all their energy was thrown into resisting each other. Keep that in mind. Even after Preservation was only a shadow, basically all of it was "Let's keep Ruin from destroying the world." So they were polar opposites. Set in balance. But slightly unbalanced in a couple of ways, that eventually, that slight imbalance... They are a special case, because of that.
Zas
So then why are they hesitant to directly fuel Allomancy?
Brandon Sanderson
Why are they hesitant to? What do you mean by directly fuel Allomancy?
Zas
You mention in the Hero of Ages Q&A that they can directly fuel Allomancy, like Vin does with Elend, but it requires expending their energy in a way they are hesitant to do.
Brandon Sanderson
Because it imbalances them more. Does that make sense? Like, if you are putting your energy here, rather than fighting the other force, you give them an edge somewhere else by trying to gain an edge here. And you have to make sure that's really worth it. Imagine a chess game. Is it worth sacrificing my pawn here to expose myself over here?
Questioner
So are Shards the most powerful thing in the Cosmere?
Brandon Sanderson
It depends on what you believe. The Shards are the most powerful things currently overtly manifest. There are those who would say there are other subtle forces being manifest. Most people in the know would say that Shards are the most powerful thing.
Questioner
Does Hoid believe that Shards are the most powerful thing?
Brandon Sanderson
You'll have to ask him sometime. Or see him get asked something like that sometime. There's argument to be made that right now Harmony is the most powerful thing in the Cosmere.
Zas
Does the power of Allomancy come directly from Preservation? Does that imbalance him?
Brandon Sanderson
Certain things built into a world are not the same. Not used in the same way. Meaning the energy of Preservation and Ruin inside of something living and growing—yes that's "of" them, but that's not direct force that they're using at that time.
Adam
Would a good example of that be Allomancy versus the blessings that Kandras have?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, yeah sure.
Zas
So you talk about the residue a Shard leaves on a Sliver. So what does that residue have? Like what does it do? If anything?
Brandon Sanderson
Well, one thing it can include is that people capable of noticing Investiture, would know there is trace Investiture from that event.
Zas
What effect does the world have on the magic system?
Brandon Sanderson
It always has an effect.
Zas
Marsh, as an Inquisitor, can see Ruin, and Vin sees Ruin, but they're not seeing the same thing. So how does that work?
Brandon Sanderson
In what way? How about this. I'll give you.... I know what you're getting at. And a lot of these things I know what you're getting at, I'm just trying to force you to... I'll just give you one on this. In some cases, Ruin would manifest directly, and you would see what he wanted you to see. In other cases, that might not be the case.
Zas
So the number of Shards that have been on Roshar is three, correct?
Brandon Sanderson
Correct.
Zas
People have been thrown by you saying that Odium is not native to Roshar.
Brandon Sanderson
Odium is not native... see that's the thing. Are any of them native? So if you dig the deeper question, are any of them native, ehhh, none of them are native to the planets that you've seen so far. What I probably should've said to be more precise is that Honor and Cultivation were there long before Odium showed up.
Josh
If Odium went to Scadrial, would he be blind to metal there? Because I think you mentioned more than once that focuses are actually determined by planet.
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to RAFO that. But that's one of those excellent questions. I'm amused people have figured out enough to be asking questions like that.
Zas
There's this crazy off the wall theory that Parshendi are dead people brought back to life.
Brandon Sanderson
Interesting. There will be Parshendi viewpoints in the second book, and you will be able to see a lot more of that.
Questioner
Are Parshendi like a hive mind sort of culture?
Brandon Sanderson
Parshendi are not a hive mind. I thought people might assume that.
Questioner
But because of the pairing, it seems like...
Brandon Sanderson
There is a connection. It's more Union than Hivemind. You know about Jung? Jung's philosophy was that all people are connected through <collective unconscious>. I think collective unconscious was actually one of his terms. So it's not hive mind, but there is—there's something the Parshendi can tap into that others.
Questioner
With the singing?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, like with the singing, where one sings over here, and one sings over there, they are actually in beat with one another even if they start at different times. So there is something there, a connection.
Zas
(paraphrased)
What about Aon Rii? Talk about Aon Rii. What are the random dots? Are they valuable metals?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Honestly, I don't remember. [laughter] I'll be straight up honest with you, I designed the Aons—When I designed the Aons, they all had things like that. Like "Oh, that's what this will be," but I was not as good about taking notes of things then. I didn't have the wiki that I now have. I didn't have all of that stuff, so I can say "Yeah, that's going to be valuable metals", and canonize it that way, but I don't remember what I was actually thinking when I designed it. It was my first time doing anything like that, like [?] sort of thing. I hadn't ever done anything like that before, so I was just flying by the seat of my pants.
In fact, there's a fun story about that, a story I don't think I told during the annotations, I might have. Originally, I wrote it, and used all the Aons as like little things about characters' personalities. Like Rao is spirit, and Ene is wit. Well, all the other ones were things like that, to the point that the traitor character, his Aon's the one that meant Betrayal. Like this, all the characters have little things like that. And then my editor saw it and said "Ah. Do you really want to give away everyone's personality? And who's going to name their kid Betrayal? And I was like "That was really stupid Brandon, why did you do that?" But at the time, I didn't know if I was going to have a dictionary in the back or anything, and so I had to go back and rename almost all of them. I left Rao and Ene, but I renamed almost all the—renamed the wrong word. I shifted all the meanings and things like this so that everyone would have a name that would make sense that you would name a person. And none of them meant anything more than what they actually mean.