Recent entries

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1505 Copy

    Questioner

    Because Zahel was especially Invested when he died, he became that other soul. Does that mean that Elend wasn't actually...?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Zahel is a special case. What happened with him is, on his planet, he was specifically chosen by the Shard to be Returned. That happens, you don't have to be specifically Invested for that. The god gives them that. Now, to become a Cognitive Shadow, which is what certain people in the cosmere are, you need a powerful amount, an enormous amount.

    Questioner

    So not the bead?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not just being a Mistborn, not just... he wasn't even close to being where he needed to be, if you want to end up as a Cognitive Shadow. You need to do some special hoops. We're talking, drawing forth the power of a Shard, or being endowed with the power of a Shard, or a certain number of Breaths would do it. There is a threshold that you could get, you're gonna end up as a Cognitive Shadow.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1507 Copy

    Tim

    Nightblood's intent is to destroy evil. Since it consumes Investiture, does it view Investiture as evil?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it does not. Nightblood has trouble deciding what is evil. It is getting better, more and more, but it wouldn't view Investiture itself as evil.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1508 Copy

    Questioner

    Which series have you enjoyed writing the most?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Probably Wax and Wayne. It is just pure joy. I save up Wayne quotes for years, and then find places for them in the books.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1510 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Taln still part of the Oathpact?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Oathpact has been broken. There's a ghost of it in existence, fragments, but the death of Jezrien has broken the Oathpact. More than death, super death.

    Questioner

    Is that in the books? Should I know that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, he's at the end of Oathbringer, his soul gets sucked by the knife they give to Moash.

    Questioner

    I didn't know it ended the Oathpact though.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, that did break the Oathpact. If one of the Fused were to die, they would be reborn immediately. The Oathpact is a goner. They would have to form a new Oathpact, or something like that.

    Questioner

    Before it was broken, was Taln still involved with it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1512 Copy

    Questioner

    Mistcloaks. Do they have sleeves?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They usually do not, but there are ones that do. Every mistcloak is built by the Mistborn, or commissioned, there's no standardized what a mistcloak even looked like, they're all kind of like individually built.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1513 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering, are there dinosaurs on Ashyn? Or were there? Because there's chickens...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, right. There are reptiles. The Rosharan system is younger than some, but not as young as Scadrial. So I'll RAFO whether there were dinosaurs. On Roshar itself, there are no oil deposits caused by mass extinction events in the past.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1514 Copy

    Questioner

    Are you gonna do more [White Sand Graphic Novels]

    Brandon Sanderson

    We're gonna do a full omnibus, and then we're talking about what to do with Darkside, 'cause there's a story there that I want to tell. I might involve Isaac in it; he's my art director who art directed this entire thing. There should be another story in the world. We're not sure if it'll be graphic or if it'll be print.

    Questioner

    I have a copy of Darkside, I just didn't bring it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, not Dark One. Darkside of White Sand, the other half of the planet. Dark One is a different thing. Khriss is from Darkside in this world, and she's really relevant to the Cosmere as a whole. She shows in up several of the other books. She shows up in Bands of Mourning, Khriss from this, and she's also in Secret History, and she shows up here and there. She's really relevant to the Cosmere, particularly some future stuff. And so we want to tell more of her story also.

    Questioner

    In Rhythm of War, when they're talking about like the sand from another planet, is that from here?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is this, yes. So, white sand will charge, basically, off of any active Investiture, kinetic Investiture, and so you can use it to tell if something is using one of the magics nearby. And so it's become... you can just take it offworld and then use it kind of like a Geiger counter. So it's made its way all over the place. It shows up actually in Oathbringer as well.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1515 Copy

    Questioner

    In Warbreaker, the royals, their hair color changes. When I was reading Mistborn, I noticed there was different times that Shan Elariel's hair was described as black vs auburn or different things like that, was that...?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's a typo. There are times where if you watch that'll be a clue, that one is not.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1516 Copy

    Questioner

    Have you based any of your characters off kids, like your kids or anybody else's?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have not based any off of kids yet. I've based ones off of friends, but the kids... Most of the series I started when they were too young. I think eventually they will get some books.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1520 Copy

    Questioner

    What are dragons like?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In the Cosmere? They are sneaky and long-lived.

    Questioner 2

    Will they have wings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They do have wings, depending on what form they're in. They are natural shapeshifters.

    Questioner

    Are they Cognitive Shadows or are they people?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are people.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1521 Copy

    Questioner

    I was just wondering if there's anything you can tell me about the Dustbringers?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Let's say that the Dustbringers have the most variety among Knights Radiant. Them and the Willshapers would be the ones that, personality-wise and things like that, you're gonna find the most diversity. Dustbringers are famous for not agreeing with one another about almost anything.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1523 Copy

    Questioner

    Can you tell us anything about the Darkside of White Sand?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. We are hoping to do a story set there once the omnibus is out. It might graphic novel, it might be print. There is some very cool stuff about the way that the other sun works, and the magic involves tattoos. It's very nifty. We will get to it eventually. So, there you go. 

    Questioner

    If you do a graphic novel, will you release the prose like you did for the first one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There might not be a prose if we do a graphic novel. I haven't written-- One of my goals is actually, now the graphic novel's done, is to do a straight up revision of the prose and actually make it match the graphic novel and match current Cosmere continuity, and then actually release a print edition of it. I think it's more likely that we do a prose edition of the second book than a graphic novel, but I'm not sure which one it would be.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1526 Copy

    Questioner

    My friends and I have been endlessly debating whether Wit knew what happened to him at the end of Rhythm, when he said "that went exactly as I planned," if he knew he was gonna get duped? Or if he got hornswoggled?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He legitimately got hornswoggled. One of the opening chapters of the next book is going to be him realizing that. There's a little teaser for you.

    FanX 2021 ()
    #1527 Copy

    MangoMongo

    Those spren bodies that were brought into the Physical Realm by Ishar. Could an Awakener make it Lifeless?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is within the realm of possibility. 

    MangoMongo

    What about Forgery?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Forgery would be a little harder. Because you'd need to know what went wrong to make it go well. I'd say Forgery could accomplish this.

    YouTube Livestream 35 ()
    #1528 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is a scene in Rhythm of War between Wit and Jasnah. This scene has Wit doing a weird linguistic trick with his sentences that I'm not sure if people have figured out, but it is not just alliteration, it is deeper than that. And it is not something that you're supposed to pick up on. You're just supposed to be able to feel like, "Oh yeah, Wit is doing somethin' weird. He does weird stuff." But if you follow it, it follows a very interesting... it's like he's made his own poetic form and is trying to follow it. And the fun of this scene for me, part of the fun of writing it is, Jasnah picking up on that, Jasnah doing it as well, him trying to constrain the conversation so they can make these little quips, her saying "please don't do this anymore, we gotta really be serious," and him saying "okay" but then doing it anyway more carefully and subtly with the last sentence that he gives. Which, I don't think this is something that people are going to get. I didn't expect you. But it says something to me about Wit. He gave his word and he immediately broke it, because it was too fun for him to not break it. He just had to see if he could break it in a way that Jasnah couldn't see. And Wit is bored by normal human interactions, to the point that he must put constraints upon himself to keep himself engaged in normal conversations, even ones that are full of import and emotion where he maybe shouldn't be acting like this. And that is one of his failings. And these sorts of things are basically, like that one there is mostly there for me. I don't think anyone will pick up on it other than "something weird is happening."

    Maybe I'm wrong, and the cosmerenauts out there are like "oh, we got this exactly, Brandon." I won't say what it is, in case people want to actually figure out what the literary form he has created for himself to follow, what it is. But that sort of thing, I do not cut, as long as it's not too distracting. Once in a while, it is too distracting, and so I do cut it. I made up a word in Wax and Wayne that I really liked; not a fantasy word, just a derivation of another word. And the whole writing group hated it. And when I got back to it in revision, I'm like, "All right, I'll just cut this. The whole writing group hated it." Sometimes I will, if it's just too distracting. Sometimes I will leave it in and be like, "I'm creating a word here. You guys just deal with it."

    General Reddit 2021 ()
    #1529 Copy
    Screenshot 2021-09-09 225240.png

    LuckyJim

    I've been really curious for a while about the modern Skybreakers and how they operated while in secret. To keep things short and avoid RAFO territory, what were the modern Skybreakers doing for their fourth ideal crusades? I'd imagine they must have been different from the sorts of crusades classic Skybreakers did, since their main purpose and general methodology seems to have shifted. Was it just stuff like "I will eliminate such and such radiant" or did they have other important missions that could qualify for a crusade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Their crusades can actually be rather varied. They are different these days, but often involve joining and trying to help law enforcement in various countries. Watching tor Radiants was actually not often part of it, since Nale did that--and it isn't until recently that it's actually come up.

    Miscellaneous 2011 ()
    #1530 Copy

    Deus Ex Biotica

    Does anyone know anything about [A House of Ashes, a set of companion stories for the Mistborn Adventure Game]? Was it vetted by Brandon Sanderson, and thus capable of giving us some new canonical data, or is it going to be pure (albeit probably very well-written and exciting) fanfiction?

    Crafty Games

    We have indeed been working with Brandon to build the game - as much as his very busy schedule allows, at any rate - and he and his team have read and signed off on all of it, including this novella. That said, it's labeled very clearly as a "Companion to the Mistborn Adventure Game" for a reason. It has the seal of approval, but it's understood that the world and full canon are his and his alone. We hope he incorporates some of this into his work, but at the end of the day it's his choice what is and isn't actually true. 

    Kurkistan

    I plan to treat it as second-order canon: Can be overruled by direct quote from Peter or Brandon or textual evidence from Brandon's books, but otherwise assumed to be true.

    Crafty Games

    This is absolutely how you should view it.

    Hope that helps!

    JordanCon 2021 ()
    #1532 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    I just outlined a non-genetic magic system that I think is kind of interesting. I don't know if I'll ever get to write this book; I outline a lot of books that I don't get to write. But it was a really interesting idea for a magic system where a child was chosen by society when they were a newborn to gain the powers. You know, kind of for the good of society. And being one of these people, instead, I thought... Like I said, the implications are really interesting for that narrative story, is that you're forced, even from childhood you were chosen by everybody. You weren't born to it; but how do you choose a newborn? They just chose one, and now you've gotta live the rest of your life (Hope you picked a good one!) dealing with these implications. That's been very interesting to outline and think about, the effects on the character.

    Questioner

    Is that Cosmere or non-Cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That one is Cosmere.

    YouTube Livestream 33 ()
    #1533 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    The first one [reason for starting Mainframe] is to publish audio originals that match the audio format. I'm working on one of those with someone right now that, just, you couldn't write it in another format. It just doesn't work.

    YouTube Livestream 33 ()
    #1534 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    It [Lux] starts during the events of Calamity, the third Reckoners novel, and goes past the events of the end of Calamity.

    Steven Bohls

    Ultimately, what we decided was to start it around middle of Calamity, and then have it go past the end of Calamity with kind of the promise that we'll see post-Calamity as the story progresses.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And if people really like this book, we have plans for how to kind of integrate it a little bit more into some of the characters. It was important to us that this one be standalone; that if you haven't read the first three, this one stands on its own, it introduces the premise again but it works on its own. And so you're not gonna see a ton. You'll see little easter egg connections that we're building toward; hopefully people really enjoy this and we'll do some more with this.

    YouTube Livestream 33 ()
    #1535 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Over time, those three [Lux] novellas morphed into a single novel. Each draft, they were more like that, until finally, we were just, like, "This is just a novel." Because originally, it was, like, three novellas about three different characters. Then it was three novellas about one character doing three different missions. Then it was three different novellas taking this one mission and breaking it into three parts. And then its, like, "Okay, it's just a novel."

    YouTube Livestream 33 ()
    #1536 Copy

    Steven Bohls

    One night at Magic night, he [Brandon] said, "Hey, one of these days, maybe we should talk about doing a co-author project. I have this idea for a middle-grade fantasy."

    Brandon Sanderson

    Which you can't reveal, because some day I'm gonna do that one.

    Steven Bohls

    I won't, I won't. So I went home and started thinking about some ideas, and I met with him the next Magic night and said, "Hey, I have some ideas about that book." And he said, "Actually, let's hold off on that one. There's something else that's kind of coming up right now. Audible is interested in continuing the Reckoners series."

    General Reddit 2021 ()
    #1538 Copy

    -MargaretAA-

    A ketek I made for a poem assignment in my summer class, entitled "Pay Attention."

    The price to pay heed to;

    hearing words of wisdom to learn and be taught, wearying never.

    Deny not what is above you.

    Young ones, search the wisdom of the old.

    Learn increasing thoughts of thinking--what to gain knowledge and understanding of?

    This is all fulfilled here:

    Pay attention to what matters most; it matters what attention pays:

    here fulfillment is.

    Of understanding and knowledge to gain, thinking of thoughts to increase learning.

    Old wisdom is searching the young ones.

    What is above, do not deny.

    Never wearying, teach to learn wise words of hearing;

    heed to pay the price.

    Now I am curious whether modern Keteks allow for more concessions on symmetry.

    I feel it's OK to call this kind of poetry ketek, as the spirit of it is there! Although, technically it isn't.

    Maybe u/mistborn could weight in? Assuming a modern Vorin society, would u/-MargaretAA- poem count as a Ketek?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I think that yes, such concessions are in the spirit of the ketek, which has never been so rigid as to not allow some individual experimentation and/or tweaking.

    YouTube Weekly Updates 2021 ()
    #1541 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will be stopping in a couple of days to work on a draft of the third of the three Skyward novellas I’m doing with Janci Patterson. Fun news here is that we have reached a preliminary agreement with my publisher of those books, meaning that we are going to still release eBook and audiobooks of those novellas in the coming months, but there will be a collection, a print one, in bookstores coming out some time, I assume, next year. If you’re a print book fan and you want to get these three novellas, I think they’re really sharp. Janci has done a fantastic job working with me on these. She’s a really great writer. I think that you’re really going to enjoy these.

    And these are three novellas about other characters in Skyward. The first one is about FM. The second one is about Alanik. The third one’s about Jorgen. And it’s taking place between books 2 and 3 of Skyward. I think you guys will really like those. We’re planning the first one some time late September, early October. I’ll keep you up to date on that. But the fact that we have a deal with the publisher makes me pretty excited, because I was hoping we’d be able to do a print edition of those. Again, more updates to come as things happen. We haven’t actually signed the paperwork yet, though we agreed to the deal. So we’ll see how this all shakes out.

    General Reddit 2021 ()
    #1542 Copy
    WOB Why Soulcast Food is Bland 2.png WOB Why Soulcast Food is Bland.png

    Oyeresu

    The first thing in Stormlight that really blew me away was the blandness of the soul cast food. 

    Was the blandness due to the relationship in our world between the food source and its microbiome? If you stripped all bacteria from chicken and beef you'd have a hard time telling them apart from taste alone, so it would make sense that a soulcaster turning stone to meat would just be making cells of the grain or meat and skipping the bacteria that give it flavor.

    If that's why, Would a really microbiologist/food scientist soulcaster be able to mix in the bacteria to make tastier simulcast food?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is indeed part of the reason! There are others, though. Soulcast flesh, for example, doesn't actually have much fat--it's pure muscle, as fat/oil is a different essence. Another factor, I figured, would be water content. I decided that simulcast grain would taste stale for this reason. 

    These are both things you can compensate for as a skilled soulcaster, but the devices (rather than the radiants) aren't equipped to do this. 

    YouTube Weekly Updates 2021 ()
    #1543 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Remember next week we have the new Reckoners novel, which is audio only right now. Why audio only? Well, Audible actually funded it. Audible’s the one that paid for us to spend the time and put this all together. There will be a print edition eventually. But right now we’re pretty happy with the fact that Audible, who had the audio rights to the previous Reckoners novels, they wanted more. They were really excited by the idea of getting more, and they’re some of the ones that pushed for it. This wouldn’t exist without Max at Mainframe who is my business partner over there, who is running that side of things really well and making audiobooks. And without Audible wanting a fourth Reckoners novel, which I wanted to do but just didn’t quite have the time or motivation or things like that. Eventually we’ll get an eBook and an audiobook, a print book, and an eBook out eventually. For now, audio original.

    If you want to see more sorts of things like this, let me know, like by go purchase the book. Let me know what you think of it. Lux is a big experiment. I really want to hear from you guys on if this is the sort of thing you want me to be doing more of.

    General Reddit 2021 ()
    #1544 Copy

    xland44

    Speaking of Rithmatist, is the reason for the lack of a sequel still due to further research being necessary? Or is it just due to schedule?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Both, plus Brandon really wants to find a good writer with Mexica heritage to coauthor it with.

    Lostboy289

    Im confused. Why does the heritage of the person writing it matter?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Because what Brandon wants to do requires a lot more research than he is up for. Someone with a personal connection is more likely to have already done the research.

    The Lost Metal Updates ()
    #1545 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Greetings, all! Brandon here with another update on your book. Short version, the rough draft is finished!

    Before I get on to the longer explanation, I want to apologize. I planned to give you an update between the first one (which you can read here) and now. Turned out, the timing around early July proved difficult, and by the time I had a chance to work on an update, the book was almost done. I figured I'd just wait until it was.

    That said, the book is finished at 149k words. It has an extra beefy epilogue, as this is the end of Era Two, and I wanted to make certain to linger just a little extra with the characters and the setting. I also thought that doing this book at 50% longer than the previous three in the series felt right. It is, hopefully, a very nice send off to what turned out to be one of the most rewarding accidents of my career.

    Plan is, I'm afraid, to publish the book NEXT year. I have been pushing hard to get things done this year so my team can get to a place where they have more time to work on books. Rushing to do production on each one and have it ready just a few months before publication is proving too difficult. I don't want my team to be stressed or burn out.

    So, our schedule looks something like this: I'll launch into a second draft starting on Friday, and do a solid revision ending sometime mid September. Then the book will go to my editor and beta readers, followed by two more revisions (one substantive, one a polish) sometime in spring when I need a break from Stormlight 5. Then proofreading and continuity can be done the rest of the spring with a turn in sometime in the summer for a publication in November. (This should coincide with the first two books being published as a leatherbound special edition.)

    I've already started turning my eyes toward Era Three, which will be my main big project following the completion of Stormlight 5. My goal there is still to write three novels, 200k words each, back to back like I did with Era One. We'll see how that works out! Between now and then, I still need to finish Skyward 4, Stormlight 5, and (most likely) the Horneater novella about Rock.

    I will plan to roll around and give you another update later in the year, perhaps once I know better my schedule for 2022 in regards to the third and fourth draft.

    Best,

    Brandon

    Miscellaneous 2021 ()
    #1546 Copy
    Grzegorz Stanisław Reiwer - Mare.png

    Grzegorz Stanisław Reiwer

    Why was Mare sent to Hathsin if she was a Mistborn and [Inquisitors] could make from her [a] new Inquisitor or [Hemalurgic] spikes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is one of the main things that made Kelsier suspicious, so it is a plot relevant point that (perhaps) I will answer some day.

    Footnote: Mare was a tin Misting, but not a Mistborn.
    #mare
    Sources: Facebook
    General Reddit 2021 ()
    #1549 Copy
    Rayborne.png

    Rayborne

    From what we know, the Ghostbloods want a way to move investiture offworld. Could Thaidakar/Kelsier's reason for doing that be so that he can find a way to go offworld, given that he's Connected to Scadrial in (I assume) the same way investiture is Connected to a planet? Put in a more generalized way, is a cognitive shadow just investiture with a person's mind imprint, and if so would it be possible to move it (and the shadow themselves) offworld assuming the Ghostbloods find a way to do it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wow! Great question. RAFO!

    JordanCon 2021 ()
    #1550 Copy

    Questioner

    If there were adaptations of any of your books, but you had to play one of the semi-major characters, who would you play?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have to think about this. Can I have acting lessons?

    Probably Breeze is gonna match me. With acting lessons, I could maybe do Breeze.

    Billy Todd

    I was wondering how well you would fit Sazed.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would fit Sazed probably poorly, I think. Get me a fitness coach, and possibly. I don't think it's impossible. I just think that sitting in a chair and telling people what to do is (for those who know me) a pretty good role for me. Brandon's life is grand ideas, and then those people *motions to Dragonsteel team members* actually having to make it happen.