Lurcher
I have a question on the recording, since that's mine. To clarify, we need to send it to Peter? The transcripts, or the audio?
Brandon Sanderson
The transcripts.
Lurcher
Of all three days?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. Only the things you're going to post, they're gonna cut out almost all of this. Run it by him. There's a question I'm trying to remember where I flubbed yesterday. I can't even remember what the question was. A lot of times, you're sitting here, and you're just, like, brain dead as people are coming through, and they say something and you're like "Yeah, uh-huh."' And then, you're like, "Wait, no. That's not even the question they asked." I'm pretty sure I got the important words right, but send it through him. It's a practice that I want to get in the habit of doing.
And he sometimes will have all these things all in the notes, so he gets them, and can add them to make sure they're in the notes, for continuity and stuff.
Questioner
The Ryshadium mounts. Are they actually-- Is there an actual bond, like the Nahel bond?
Brandon Sanderson
They are slightly Invested through a symbiotic relationship on Roshar that gives them better-than-average animal intelligence.
Questioner
Why did you make Adolin kill someone?
Brandon Sanderson
Adolin's on the edge. He was just really frustrated with this guy who tried to murder his dad multiple times. Adolin demanded that it happen. It wasn't me forcing it to.
Questioner
Because I was reading that during my creative writing course. Everybody in there was wondering why I was so mad...
Brandon Sanderson
You can slap him around sometime, if you want. But he made the call himself.
Lurcher
Reading Mistborn: Secret History, Kelsier sees fauna and flora in the Cognitive Realm. How does that work, are there people thinking about...
Brandon Sanderson
You'll see, there's actual... there's an actual ecosystem in Shadesmar.
Lurcher
Even if people aren't really--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. Well, think about it this way. The places people are thinking about will create landscape that this stuff can grow on. Where they're not thinking about it, there's just not going to be anything there, so nothing is going to grow.
Lurcher
What happens when a Reshi island dies?
Brandon Sanderson
So, it becomes that big old shell, and eventually-- shells, they last a long time, but people are gonna move off of it.
Lurcher
Will people try to get the gemheart?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, people will try to get the gemheart.
Lurcher
Can you burn a metal wrapped in another metal, if both are Allomantic? Like, the inner metal, could you just burn that before?
Brandon Sanderson
No, you're gonna have to work your way through the outer one.
Lurcher
And what if it was a non-Allomantic metal? The same?
Brandon Sanderson
It's gonna depend on how thick it is, and stuff. But I would say, if you wrap it in a non-Allomantic metal, that's not good for getting to the metal. It's viable, but it just depends on how thick it is, and things like that. Like, sometimes things have been plated to keep the access to the metal off, but usually you would want to do that in aluminum, to make sure.
Lurcher
What would have happened if the Lord Ruler survived to take the power from the Well? Would he have tried to fixed Scadrial?
Brandon Sanderson
By that point in the Lord Ruler's life, he probably would not have. He would like the world where it is, and he was not 100% cognizant of how far he had fallen from his original ideas. So, it would not have been, I think, a good thing. It may have been not as bad as the disaster that followed, in fact I know it would not have been, but in the end, Scadrial needed to go through that eventually. So it would have just delayed that.
Lurcher
So, would he just kind of use up the power? Held it, and let it--
Brandon Sanderson
He would have done something with it. Maybe with the Southern Continent or something. But he wouldn't have fixed anything, he probably would have made things a little worse.
Lurcher
Another what if. What if Kelsier hadn't scared Vin away when Hoid was-- What information would he have told Vin?
Brandon Sanderson
So, he would not have revealed terribly much of use to her. He was there trying to find out things for him.
Lurcher
In the battle of the Tower, Eshonai is fighting Dalinar, Dalinar removes his helm, and she recognizes him. She acts like she wants to speak with him. Possibly to negotiate. If Kaladin hadn't shown up and saved him, what would have happened?
Brandon Sanderson
There's a chance they would have worked it out. Not a really good one, but there's a chance.
Questioner
What inspired the sword stances in The Way of Kings? Windstance and stonestance--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, it was old-school, what they call-- the old books that you would see-- sword training guides. Where you would see a guy in a stance, and then go like this, and things. I just thought they were really interesting, and I developed the stances around that.
Questioner
What's your favorite Magic color deck? Favorite combination?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm playing blue!
Questioner
So, you have this [Mistborn] trilogy, and then you have the trilogy coming after, and then--
Brandon Sanderson
Another trilogy.
Questioner
Another trilogy. Is there any sort of date or time?
Brandon Sanderson
No. The Wax & Wayne books will finish very soon. I'm working on the last one of those. So those two will be complete. Then it might be a little before I jump to a 1980s level.
Questioner
So, I loved your Shadows for Silence story. It was just so creepy, and I like how you included the family history aspect of the name. Do you think you'll write another story in that world?
Brandon Sanderson
I will.
Questioner
I am so excited! It was really cool to see you write a more creepier story than your other books. I really liked that change.
Brandon Sanderson
It is gonna be nice and creepy.
Questioner
I am assuming in the next [Elantris] book, you plan on addressing... the bad guy of Fjordell?
Brandon Sanderson
Wyrn? The next book will take place in Fjordell. It focuses mostly on Kiin's family, that's Sarene's uncle. They are the main characters in that one.
Questioner
Do you plan on keeping most of those characters? Like Raoden, Galladon?
Brandon Sanderson
You will see of them, but it's kind of more of an Anne McCaffrey style sequel. In this one, new main characters, with the old ones a little more in the background.
Questioner
When were you planning on having the fourth Wax & Wayne book?
Brandon Sanderson
So, it'll be the next Cosmere book I write. I probably won't get to it until earlier next year. So well see when the publisher decides to publish it after I turn it in.
Questioner
What is your favorite class of Knights Radiant.
Brandon Sanderson
Ooh, probably-- see, that's hard. I like them all. I would probably, if I were to choose one for myself, probably choose Bondsmith.
Questioner
I'm curious. Are any of those rare metals from Mistborn on any other world?
Brandon Sanderson
So, not those exact metals, unless they've been taken off-world. But there are other metals like them that you could find.
Questioner
So they could have Allomantic lore?
Brandon Sanderson
They theoretically could...
Let's just say it's not a coincidence that you find Investiture manifesting as metal on other places. Such as Shardblades, as well.
Questioner
So, the end of Bands of Mourning. When Harmony is showing Wax, kind of, what's going on outside the world. Is that Odium?
Brandon Sanderson
That's a RAFO. Here's your card.
Questioner
Vasher is called the first Returned. Was he actually the first?
Brandon Sanderson
He is not the very first person to Return. The lore surrounding Vasher and the first Returned and things like that is not strict on the world. Meaning, it's been many, many years.
Questioner
Do you purposefully take ideas from the Book of Mormon and turn them inside out, on their head, so no one knows where you got the ideas from? Like when you have Kelsier saying, in this moment, and he defeats the Lord Ruler, just in Ruler's capital city, and like how in the Book of Mormon when the Lamanites, besieged Zarahemla, because no one else can see it coming?
Brandon Sanderson
So, I don't intentionally take, usually, from the Book of Mormon. There's a lot of unconscious things coming out. The only thing you can say is that I based The Way of Kings a little bit on King Benjamin's speech.
Questioner
Are there ever any Coinshots or Lurchers that get motion sick?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, that does happen. It's kind of like being left-handed in Roshar. There are certain things that are not a good match.
Questioner
Is [Nightblood] like, the Shardblades, kind of thing?
Brandon Sanderson
It is. So, what happened is: Vasher, who was involved in the creation of Nightblood, visited Roshar and came back with this knowledge, and they tried to create something.
Questioner
So he based it off those?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. And they got it kind of right.
Questioner
Did the Lord Ruler ever have any children?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, he did.
Questioner
Where did you come up with the idea for spren?
Brandon Sanderson
So, the spren are based a little bit on Platonic philosophy, and a little bit on Shinto philosophy. And it's kind of a melding of those two concepts.
Questioner
My friend is mad at you about the last of the Librarians series.
Brandon Sanderson
Okay, well, it's not the last. Because, tell them to look at the page at the very end end, some people missed, another character-- Alcatraz wrote the last one, another character refused to let be the ending. She is going to write an actual last book. There's a last page hidden in there.
Questioner
Do you know if anyone is planning on writing any more about Alcatraz's story? Maybe not Alcatraz?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, one person. Bastille has refused to let it end. Alcatraz tried to end it in the most awful way possible, intentionally, so she's not gonna let him get away with that.
Questioner
With the Kaladin soundtrack, how similar is that going to be to other studios, like Two Steps from Hell, audiomachine?
Brandon Sanderson
Hopefully fairly similar. Two Steps from Hell tends to go a little harder than I think most of this album is going to be. I love it, but every one of them is, like, trailer music. That's what Two Steps from Hell is, right? And I think you'll find a few more quieter pieces on the Kaladin album, but that's what we're shooting for, a symphonic album like that.
Questioner
How long until the next Rithmatist?
Brandon Sanderson
Um, that's the slow one. Stormlight 3 taking as long as it has, that's what it has slowed down. I keep saying it's only gonna be a couple years, but-- I don't know, honestly...
My goal is to start closing up some of theses series in the next couple of years, so I'm hoping to finish off the Legion trilogy and Wax & Wayne next year, and just start closing some things off.
Questioner
Do you already know how The Stormlight Archive is going to end?
Brandon Sanderson
I do!
Questioner
Do you have all the details in mind, or do you just kind of have a general idea and you figure it out as you go?
Brandon Sanderson
So, I'm a planner. I tend to like having a pretty detailed plan. For something like The Stormlight Archive, that generally kind of boils down to: the next book has a five page plan, the book after that has a three page plan, the book after that a two page plan, one page, one page, and the last book we go back to a five page plan. So there is lots of wiggle room in one of these outlines, but at the same time, I've got touchstones and things I know I'm writing toward.
Questioner
Do all the other Smedrys get their Talents back?
Brandon Sanderson
You're gonna have to see. You've seen the, uh...
Questioner
Yeah, I did.
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, yeah. One more book coming. It will answer that.
Questioner
Does Wayne ever get married? Does he ever feel redeemed?
Brandon Sanderson
...I'm not gonna answer that one for you. That's a definite RAFO. Boy, it-- You'll have to see. Getting Wayne into a committed relationship with someone else who wants to be in that relationship would be a big first step. And let's just hope he can someday do that.
Questioner
I want to know if Kelsier and Hoid will ever get along?
Brandon Sanderson
They, uh-- that's a RAFO, but I wouldn't hold my breath. There are mashing of egos that just don't mesh well going on there.
Questioner
How long will Kelsier's story go?
Brandon Sanderson
Kelsier's story has some more stages to it. I'm gonna RAFO that... But the stuff that's happening right now is set up for a later story with him.
Questioner
My son wants to know if Hoid is a dragon.
Brandon Sanderson
He is not. But he knows some.
Questioner
I kinda got the sense, like, spren. Did you base them off of quantum mechanics?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, there's some quantum mechanics and some Japanese Shinto rammed together in there.
Questioner
I was just wondering if a Shard's intent can change over time without changing holders?
Brandon Sanderson
Without changing holders? The holder can have a slight effect on how the-- a big effect on how the intent is interpreted, but what the intent is stays the same. So it's gonna be filtered. The way it manifests can change, and you'll see that happening, but it is the same intent. When it was broken off, it took a certain thing with it.
Questioner
Is Scadrial losing mass when people burn metals?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, technically it is, but Investiture is another dimension to matter.
Questioner
So it doesn't lose mass, it becomes Investiture?
Brandon Sanderson
It becomes Investiture... Basically, when you go into the cosmere, we've got matter, we've got energy here. You've got matter, energy, and Investiture there, and you can get things out of Investiture back into matter, and stuff like that. There's always energy, there's entropy, there's always diffusement... it's basically, add to the laws of thermodynamics a third item, and that's how we word it.
Questioner
The Sleepless. When Syl is talking to Kal, and Kal just crunched up the leaves, and she says, "Is it the heart of a beetle that you have hidden in your hand?" Is that what she's talking about?
Brandon Sanderson
...Oh, the Sleepless? No, that is coincidence. Good question. Not a Sleepless question.
Questioner
After Kaladin challenges Amaram, and he gets thrown into prison, are those incarcerationspren that he gets stuck with?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. I'm being recorded, so I have to know if I want to canonize this. Yes. There's nothing more to it than that, I'm just not sure if I've been asked that question straight-up before. I just want to make sure that I've got the name right.
Questioner
Are Shin who are not Truthless allowed to use the Honorblades?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
Are all Truthless given Honorblades when they're cast out, or is Szeth a special case?
Brandon Sanderson
Szeth is a special case.
Questioner
You know how Wax has control of his Steelpushes? Well, if someone has an Ironpull ability, can get practiced enough to, in the Wax & Wayne era, swing through downtown Elendel Spiderman-like with controlled Ironpulls?
Brandon Sanderson
I've actually thought about that, and I went away from it, just because of Spiderman. I have to be really careful that I just don't go Spiderman-y. But I would say it's an in-world possibility that someone could do that, and it wouldn't be that hard if you've got the buildings. The trick is, most downtowns are not tall enough, and I would say in Elendel even now, there aren't enough skyscrapers that you could really go full-on Spiderman. But if you could, if you were, like, downtown Manhattan, you could do it.
Questioner
Are the Heralds from Roshar originally?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
"Most important words" that Dalinar had to say, were they the Words of Radiance?
Brandon Sanderson
You're gonna have to Read And Find Out. That one's not answered yet.
Questioner
Have the Parshendi been to Scadrial during the Wax & Wayne books?
Brandon Sanderson
So, the Parshendi as a group have not. I will not confirm or deny if individuals have been. Wax & Wayne books take place after Stormlight Archive books 1 through 5.
Questioner
Speaking of Way of Kings, when Shallan gets to Kharbranth, she sees two people in trenchcoats. Is that anyone spectacular or important or anyone like that?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
That's what I figured. I was hoping.
Brandon Sanderson
There might be things in that scene. I won't confirm or deny any specific instances of them.
Brandon Sanderson
When I write a fourth [Reckoners] book, it'll be a Mizzy book.
Questioner
Is Marsh happy?
Brandon Sanderson
Marsh is Marsh's version of happy.
Questioner
I'm just worried about him.
Brandon Sanderson
...He has never been a happy person. But he's in a better place now than he's been in other times of his life.
There's a part of Marsh that really likes skulking around and being an incarnation of Death in peoples' minds. He's not really one, but you know what I mean? There's a part of him, the part that's related to his brother, that really digs that, even if he would never admit it.
Questioner
How do they handle, like, trash and bathrooms in the Purelake? How does that work?
Brandon Sanderson
Fortunately, you have a couple of things going on here. You fortunately have low population. You have highstorms and driving and-- so, the waste is broken down really easily. The trash is a problem. But it's a pre-industrial society, so the trash is not stuff that doesn't ever biodegrade, and things like this, and you do have traders going through, and things like this. So, it all kind of works out. It's the low population that's really helping with a lot of this. It's not as bad, a big a deal as you would think it is...
All of Roshar has a slight issue in that you just can't bury things, but you do have the crem that comes down and hardens around things and creates a layer of stone, and things like this. In my opinion, the way I've worked it out, it all just kind of works out just fine...
It's no bigger a deal in the Purelake, in other words, than these other places. In fact it's kind of a smaller deal. Like, you might ask, like, traveling out on the greatshells in the Reshi Sea, they would have a harder problem in some ways, 'cause they have a tight population density on top of something that they also can't bury anything, and stuff like that. I just had to work out the ecology of the system to work.
Questioner
How accurate is the Vorin version of the afterlife?
Brandon Sanderson
How accurate is it? Well, the thing I'm not doing is confirming or denying, right? Like, afterlife in the cosmere, you have seen that-- As a person there, I would believe that there is an afterlife, and things like this. I would say the Vorin one is contradicted by many people all around.
Questioner
So, are Shauka-daughter-Hasweth and Ali-daughter-Hasweth two different people? Are they the same person?
Brandon Sanderson
They are different people. Good question. They do have very similar names. That happens a lot among the Shin, and I'm trying to make it not confusing, but I can't promise it won't be. There are a lot of similar names, and a lot of people are named similar ways, and things like that.
