drzjj
I noticed some interesting things during my re read of Oathbringer after Rhythm of War and I am not sure if they are mistakes or not.
First thing is voices in Dalinar's head. In previous books he could hear Honor's voice (assuming this is indeed Honor) only in visions.
Because obviously Honor is dead and cannot talk to Dalinar for real. In Oathbringer Dalinar suddenly starts to hear this voice even outside of the visions and it's not the Stormfather.
Second thing is warm light that comes from a place beyond. Dalinar always says this light comes from a distant place, but in the final scene of Oathbringer (Dalinar rejects Odium) he can feel this light inside of himself.
So the question is: is this a mistake or was it done intentionally?
And the last thing I notice - Dalinar exhibits aspects of all three shards and he's been literally touched by all of them. Is it important?
Brandon Sanderson
The first one is intentional. Read into that what you will. Though I don't know if you're completely interpreting it right.
This second one is also intentional, and you are reading it correctly.
And yes, Dalinar exhibiting aspects of all three aspects of all three shards is important.
So one thing I was wondering about the slug genders, do you know what gender Boomslug is? Boomslug is always described as “it” in the book as far as I can tell, while the others are referred to as “he” or “she” at one point or another.
From what I can tell the characters basically guess/label the slugs as they see fit. I think FM thinks about how Spensa calls Doomslug she but it seemed to be an arbitrary call on Spensa’s part ... I don’t know how close the slugs are to real slugs, but irl slugs are actually hermaphrodites.
They are making it up.
Slug sexuality is not canon, but in my mind they are hermaphroditic, like banana slugs.
Which means they would all be both genders, technically.
Boomslug is tagged male at some point, but I don't remember when.
BurningDuck_DK
In Danish "herr" means "mister", though it's almost always shortened to hr. and "frue" means "missus".There's a slight caveat though, since "herr" is a honorific, while "frue" is a noun. The noun version of "herr" would be "herre", and the honorific version of "frue" would be "fru".
It would be interesting to know, if the names were intentionally taken from Danish, or if it's a very fitting coincidence.
Peter Ahlstrom
I'm not aware that it was intentional.
animalia555
There seems to be a lot of influence from Taoism/Daoism in Mistborn. Is this deliberate?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, it is. I really like philosophy. I really like world philosophy. I really like religion. I really like the intersections between religion and philosophy that you get in Taoism. These sorts of things you'll see popping up all over the place. It is kind of interesting, because a lot of the cultures of Mistborn are more European-influenced, but a lot of the philosophy is a little more Taoist. But in Stormlight, a lot of the cultures are a little bit more Asian-influenced, but the philosophy that's popping up is a little bit more European, a lot of the time. And that's just because it matched the narratives and what the characters, I thought, would actually be interested in talking about. Though there is the whole Shintoism influence on the worldbuilding of Stormlight, as well. Anyway, yes there is definitely some Taosim sneaking around thorough Mistborn, and that is intentional.
ChuckNorrisSaurusRex
If shard plate is made up of spren, what is Maya’s opinion on Adolin taking a dump in his?
Brandon Sanderson
She is a soldier. She understands you do waht you need to.
But also, humans are gross.
Elijah Stormblessed
Does anyone other than Lift use "starving" as a swear word or did she make it up?
Brandon Sanderson
Heh, she made it up. That is just Lift being Lift. There are a lot of things in these books that are just Lift things and that's one of them.
Mason Wheeler
(paraphrased)
Before the Shattering, the original 16 Vessels, how Cosmere-aware were they and were any of them worldhoppers?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
In the current continuity, they were not worldhoppers. Well... the dragons were the most Cosmere-aware. They might have been off-world. Might have.
Questioner
Have you ever thought about making the Steelheart series a graphic novel?
Brandon Sanderson
You know, we thought about it for a while. And then what we eventually decided is that we wanted to focus our graphic novel efforts on things that hadn't been published yet. There is actually a mini graphic novel of Mitosis, the short story, but that's the only one. That was when we were experimenting with it. It's not impossible that someday we will.
Steeldancer
This is hypothetical, it probably wouldn't actually happen. If a Knight Radiant goes to Nalthis, dies, gets Returned...
Brandon Sanderson
It could happen.
Steeldancer
Would they retain their spren bond?
Brandon Sanderson
Probably not, would be my guess. I've never had that question before, but I'm gonna say no.
Questioner 1
Why the number four, for Bridge Four? Is there a reason for...?
Brandon Sanderson
Nope, it just is what appealed to me. There is no greater significance, other than I wanted to do it, and it just felt right.
Questioner 2
We always wondered if it was because it's like bad luck in Asia.
Brandon Sanderson
It is bad luck, but I didn't pick it for that reason specifically.
Questioner
We want to know if Adolin is the hottest character.
Brandon Sanderson
If Adolin's the hottest character in the entire...?
Questioner
In the cosmere.
Brandon Sanderson
I don't know, Blushweaver's pretty hot. Adolin's pretty hot.
Questioner
I thought you might go with a Returned.
Brandon Sanderson
But the Returned are supernaturally hot, and Adolin is only naturally hot.
Questioner
With a Returned it's almost unfair.
Brandon Sanderson
It is unfair. If you're gonna go without any magical enhancements, Adolin's gonna be up there. He's got personality hotness and physical hotness, so yeah.
Questioner
Could a coppermind be able to memorize physical memory?
Brandon Sanderson
Ooh, never been asked that before. I am going to RAFO that, but in an "I need to think about it more" sort of way, cause I have actually never been asked that. My gut instinct says no, but maybe. I'm gonna have to really ponder on physical memory and the cosmere, and how that all works. Good question. Not often I get stumped by one like that.
Questioner
Is there gonna be a sequel to Warbreaker?
Brandon Sanderson
Someday, yes. I can't promise when because it's kind of a side project thing, but I've got it outlined, which is step number one.
Questioner
Are there any plans to revisit Threnody or some of the other worlds that were mentioned in Arcanum Unbounded?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. I have a novel on Threnody I want to write, and I have a short story and a novel I want to write on First of the Sun. We'll see if I can get to any of those.
Questioner
Is Adonalsium's God Metal aluminum?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
My RAFO question will probably be, will an Allomancer or a Mistborn take that chip of Honorblade that fell off and burn it?
Brandon Sanderson
*hands RAFO card*
Questioner
Will you give us a spoiler without context for the next Stormlight book?
Brandon Sanderson
Let's see if I can think of one. This is usually pretty hard for me. Let's see... Wit's very annoyed. He often is.
Questioner
Is there a metal that's the opposite to aluminum, that can store pure Investiture rather than blocking it? And is that metal dragonsteel?
Brandon Sanderson
Innately store it? RAFO! Not Feruchemically? Good question.
Questioner
Is Thaidakar a Cognitive Shadow?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes he is. Have you finished Rhythm of War?
Questioner
I have, yeah.
Brandon Sanderson
So you know who Thaidakar is, right?
Questioner
No. Does it say in the book?
Brandon Sanderson
No, but it calls him... It's Kelsier. They call him the Lord of Scars, someone else confirmed it, it's Kelsier.
Questioner
The "Lord of Scars" thing is what had us thinking, but we weren't sure if it was true.
Brandon Sanderson
It is Kelsier. He's been doing some stuff.
Questioner
Shallan has two spren. I assume the Shardblade she is using in Words of Radiance is Pattern. But had she sworn the Third Ideal at that point?
Brandon Sanderson
I will get this whole timeline explained for you. It's really intricate, though.
Questioner
When's the next book coming out?
Brandon Sanderson
Next book is Cytonic. Book after that is Wax and Wayne 4, book after that is Stormlight 5.
Questioner
When you were writing Elantris and you introduced Hoid, did you already have planned for him to be what he is now?
Brandon Sanderson
Hoid started appearing in books I was reading when I was fifteen; I would imagine him in other people's books. By then, I already had this character in my head that had been worldhopping between Anne McCaffrey's books, and David Eddings' books, and all those things. So I did know what I was gonna be doing. I didn't know where it would all go. I didn't have the whole cosmere built, but I did have him. He was my first D&D character. I'm being recorded; I don't even know if they know that, that I used Topaz (is what he was called back then) as my first D&D character. He's in my first book that I tried writing when I was fourteen.
Questioner
If you were in a Rithmatic battle, what would your defense be?
Brandon Sanderson
It would probably be a Knight or Shardbearer, even though it's a little harder... I don't know if you were talking about chalklings, or which defense I would use?
Questioner
Yeah.
Brandon Sanderson
I don't know. See, I name them all after my friends, so... I'd probably pick the Eskridge defense. That makes me pick one of my friends over another, but you know.
Questioner
On Threnody, is it possible for non-intelligent creatures to become shades?
Brandon Sanderson
It is possible, it doesn't happen natively.
Questioner
Is it possible to turn Breaths into... how does Awakening work on Roshar and Shadesmar?
Brandon Sanderson
You can still use it normally, as you would expect it, as the magic works. People are trying to figure out how to turn one type of Investiture into another, and it it is harder than it seems. They haven't cracked it yet.
Questioner
So they always have to bring their own form of Investiture?
Brandon Sanderson
A Returned can feed off of other Investiture, just like Nightblood can. One of the reasons to move to Roshar is: it's easier to get Stormlight than it is Breaths.
Questioner
That makes sense why Zahel, then.
Brandon Sanderson
That explains Zahel, right.
Questioner
Which is your favorite Unmade?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. We'll see, I don't know if I have a favorite yet.
Questioner
Is Sja-anat going to join the Knights Radiant?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
Are there other objects that we've encountered like Nightblood?
Brandon Sanderson
Nothing quite like Nightblood, though Azure's sword is Invested.
Questioner
How did Nale bring Szeth back to life?
Brandon Sanderson
Szeth's spirit had not moved onto the Beyond. It was basically Rosharan CPR. He repaired the body, and Szeth was not dead dead. His heart had stopped, but when his body came back together, it started beating again.
Questioner
Is Khriss going to make her appearance on Roshar?
Brandon Sanderson
So far, she's had Nazh do that, but she is in Shadesmar, or has been in Shadesmar at various points. So it's entirely possible. She lets Nazh do the hard jobs.
Questioner
What shattered the Shattered Plains?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner 1
What color are Spensa's eyes?
Brandon Sanderson
I don't have a specific color in mind.
Questioner 2
They're purple on the cover.
Brandon Sanderson
So we'll just go with violet.
Questioner
Could a mindblade break a Shardblade? Could a mindblade stop a Shardblade, or would a Shardblade stop a mindblade?
Brandon Sanderson
I think that a Shardblade would stop a mindblade. And whether the mindblade could stop the Shardblade or not would depend on the power of the cytonic and how strong their mind is.
Questioner
Is Odium gonna make Gavinor his champion?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm gonna say complete RAFO on anything about who the champion is.
Questioner
Are we going to learn the similarities between the two people, the surgeon's first words when they were born... <Demid> and Taravangian? The cord around their neck?
Brandon Sanderson
I'll just say, I didn't intend that to be something you look at and say, "Oh, it's the same!" What I mean that to mean is bad medical care. All three of my children would have died in childbirth if we didn't have modern medical care. My first one had the cord around his neck. The doctors have told us they would all be dead. I just think that's very common in a society like this. The things going on with Roshar is, Rosharans are innately tougher because of their Investiture, so they're more likely to survive traumatic experiences. It's not meant to say you should be looking for any other connection in something like that.
Questioner
In the Arcanum Unbounded, it says that a Rosharan foot is longer than cosmere standard. How does that compare to an Earth foot?
Brandon Sanderson
Longer. Kaladin is almost seven feet tall, by our measurements. We've got a height comparison, Shallan is about six feet tall. She thinks she's short. Compared to us, she'd be on the taller end. That's why if you notice people from around the cosmere that show up, they're often mentioned as short. Not Hoid, who's able to use magical means to change how he's perceived, but someone like Felt, and stuff like that.
Questioner
Would a Shardblade be able to hurt Steelheart?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, I think it would.
Questioner
If the person feared him, would they still be able to hurt him?
Brandon Sanderson
Even if they didn't fear him, if you mashed Steelheart into the cosmere--which it's not, but if you did, the Steelheart magics would all have to work on the cosmere magics, which means that a Shardblade could hurt him. If you had a Shardblade, you could hurt someone even if you didn't know their weakness. That would be a way it would have to work. Now, if you were to mash them all into Steelheart's universe, then maybe not.
Questioner
Can Leechers leech on other types of Investiture across the cosmere? And how do people power their powers on worlds?
Brandon Sanderson
So, Scadrians can use metal from other worlds. The metal is considered a facilitator, a key for reaching the Spiritual Realm, and distance doesn't matter for the Spiritual Realm. All of the Allomantic powers, Leechers in particular, they do have an influence with the other magic systems. Even as simple as a Shardblade would be very difficult, near impossible to push or pull, because of the level of Investiture it has. Copperclouds have some interesting ramifications, as well as Seekers have interesting ramifications, and Leechers would work on other magic systems as well. It is a little tricky how it interfaces sometimes, but it'll generally do what you're expecting it to do.
Steeldancer
A while back, you mentioned that if certain circumstances hadn't happened on Taldain, that Taldainians... the people on Taldain probably would've been the first to space. Which interests me greatly, because they don't really have a magic system that is very conducive to faster than light travel.
Brandon Sanderson
I didn't say--did I say FTL?
Steeldancer
You didn't, that's true, but that doesn't change my question. So my question is, is there a method, other than Allomantic ways and Surgebinding ways, for faster than light, that could be achieved on any minor Shardworld, as long as they have access to Investiture?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, there is, but it depends on if you could get in Shadesmar. You could travel FTL in the Physical Realm through Shadesmar. Basically, just take a spaceship in Shadesmar and travel between Shardpools and you've achieved FTL. Because travel through Shadesmar, you could walk between planets in Shadesmar. So anyone who can get in and out of Shadesmar reliably can FTL. Ways in and out of Shadesmar are very rare, which is extremely limiting, but it is possible.
LittleMoss
What question about the cosmere does Khriss most want answered?
Brandon Sanderson
She would want to know what happens in the Beyond. Followed secondly by, how can you get Stormlight off of Roshar?
AmbrosíaWillReadOn
Did Kelsier ever consider remarrying, for any reason at all?
Brandon Sanderson
He has not. He never did in the... Let's say "no." No thoughts of remarrying.
Zane Borrow
Would you ever consider creating a sport in one of your series similar to a quidditch thing? Selling jersey and such? Mistborn Dodgeball?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes! In fact, the previous Wax and Wayne book has little hints about this, and the new one has another step forward. Obviously, Rithmatist is this; but they mean in the Cosmere and more of a formalized sport.
For those who don't know, part of the reason I wrote the Rithmatist is I'm like, "I wanna do a book where they use the magic for some sort of game or sport." But you can anticipate in Era 3 fully Metallurgic Arts-enhanced sports teams.
Questioner
In the fourth book of The Way of Kings, when Kaladin ascends to the fourth thought [ideal]. The only thing I don't like is that he projects the Shard [Shardplate], you know, to protect the kid and stuff. How - I don't know, that bugs me.
Brandon Sanderson
You are allowed to be bugged. And I give readers line-item vetoes. If you want to pretend that doesn't exist, you'll just have to imagine some of the scenes in future books differently.
Questioner
Well I mean, hopefully there will be an explanation for that or something, I don't know. As of right now, it bugs me, but everything else was awesome.
Brandon Sanderson
I'll try to explain it, we'll see if it works for you.
Questioner
In Skyward, Jorgen's original callsign, he asks to be "Jorgen." Is that also his real name?
Brandon Sanderson
Jorgen? Yes.
Questioner
So he asked for his real name to be his callsign?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, cause he is not quite as imaginative as he should be. It's supposed to kind of be a joke. Jorgen has trouble with stuff like that.
Questioner
I've been curious cause I couldn't find anything about a real name.
Brandon Sanderson
Yep, it is actually his real name.
Questioner
Jasnah was in Shadesmar for kind of a long time, right?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
Did she go somewhere and get other Investiture?
Brandon Sanderson
She did not manage to get off world. Good question. She's becoming cosmere aware, but really it's through Hoid. Before, she didn't really have very much awareness of that.
Questioner
How did she survive, like getting stuff to eat and stuff?
Brandon Sanderson
You can get it if you know what you're doing in Shadesmar.
Questioner
She's pretty resourceful, right?
Brandon Sanderson
She's pretty resourceful. Most of the time, you're gonna have to trade for it. There's actually caravans that go through Shadesmar. They almost always stop at Roshar to resupply through the Horneater Peaks. So if you know what you're doing, you could trade for food. They have food in a lot of the waystops and the cities and things like that because humans are coming through, and it's a thing they can trade them.
Questioner
A lot of those canned goods, those coming from Scadrial?
Brandon Sanderson
If it's canned, it's coming from Scadrial at this point. Taldain probably has the same technology at that point, but Taldain is closed. So the cans are coming from Scadrial.
Questioner
How old was Shallan when she killed her first spren?
Brandon Sanderson
I would have to look at the exact outline of that. Karen keeps all of the continuity timeline stuff, and I just kind of offload that part of my brain to her, so she's the one that would know. You can ask Karen some time when she's around.
Questioner
I've heard that you're kind of close with the Magic: The Gathering people?
Brandon Sanderson
I mean, I did write a story for them, I do know some people over there.
Questioner
Have they ever asked you about doing a set, like how they're doing D&D and stuff?
Brandon Sanderson
Different thing, but they asked me to write the story for the new Urza set that's coming out. (The Brothers' War, I think they just announced it last month.) And I couldn't do it, I just didn't have the time. But a Secret Lair is totally possible. That's something that we could probably do.
It's just tricky because mechanically unique cards are divisive among the community, and so the question is: "Do we want a Secret Lair that just takes other cards and reskins them? Do we want to wait until there are cards that are being made that would match the characters, and then reskin those? Do we want to see how people receive the Lord of the Rings set, and if they really like it, then maybe they would do something Stormlight?" Something like that. I really kind of want to see how all of this plays out with the Secret Lairs and stuff, which I really like, but I know they're divisive in the community.
Anyway, this is on everybody's radar, right? They're making fantasy properties into card sets. There's only a couple names that come up. It's Tolkien, then probably George, and Harry Potter, and then me, so they have talked to me. But a full set, there haven't even been talks about that. It's all just been like, "Hey maybe would you be interested?" That sort of thing. So don't hold your breath, but we'll see how the Lord of the Rings set goes.
Questioner
I read a lot of the Star Wars books, and they have a timeline in the front of each book. I know that you mentioned that you don't want to force people to have to read them in a certain order. Is that something that you've ever thought of?
Brandon Sanderson
It is. I've actually thought of starting to stick in the back of the book, a guide to the cosmere and stuff. It's just, finding the space for it in the books and all of that is tricky. I think we will eventually do it. But it's just one of the many things that I have to find time to do.
Questioner
Will Warbreaker have any more effect on the Stormlight Archive series?
Brandon Sanderson
I mean, Vasher and Vivenna are around, and Nightblood is around, so I would say yes, would be the answer.
Erik02847
If a listener were to Awaken something, would they imitate the listener or a human?
Brandon Sanderson
They would imitate the listener.
Erik02847
And would that change based off of their form?
Brandon Sanderson
It could slightly change based off their form. More likely it's just gonna about their culture and the way the person sees the world, but the way that the listener sees the world is changed based on their form, so yeah, it'll have an effect.
