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Brandon Sanderson

Part Two: My Year (Other Than Kickstarter)

All right, with all of that out of the way, it’s time to talk about what I spent the year doing! So here’s a rundown, using my spreadsheet of work done as a guideline.

I spent January doing revisions on Defiant…then wrote Stormlight 5 for (checks notes) the next eleven months.

Yup.

When I started the year, I had about 100k words written. I now have 450k written. Across eleven months, that’s a pretty good writing clip. Not insane, but respectable. I stopped a few times for revisions, but I spent the entire eleven months straight working on the book. It’s looking good, but I’m scheduled for six more months straight of revisions (which is the most difficult part of the process for me). So wish me luck!

Brandon Sanderson

Part One: The Kickstarter

A large part of this year was, as I’ve already mentioned, been dominated by fulfilling on our Kickstarter campaign. Now that it’s done, we’re all taking a deep breath and letting things wind down a little. So what’s next?

Well, if you didn’t see my video concluding the Year of Sanderson, I think it is time to slow down. That’s an idea contrary to the way business normally works—every corporation is always focused on growing bigger and keeping customers spending money. That’s never been the way I see things though.

I still remember sitting down with another author soon after I was given the opportunity to complete the Wheel of Time, and this person (a good writer, and wise in the ways of business) said to me, “Now, make sure you go back to them immediately and pitch another follow-up series in the Wheel of Time world so your future is secure. If I were you, I’d want to have a dozen books under contract, so you can keep writing these for the next twenty years.”

That might have been the smart business decision, but I rejected it immediately—because that wasn’t what the Wheel of Time needed. And when others came to me and asked if I wanted to do a follow-up trilogy, I told them what I’ve always said: Robert Jordan didn’t want it done, so I don’t think I can do it in good conscience. More isn’t always better.

In this case, we’ve had five(!) new releases in one year. I don’t want or intend this to become the norm. I might try something like it again someday, but in the meantime we’re going to slow back down. Next year, we’ll likely only have the one book release: Stormlight 5. In addition, we are not going to try to continue the subscription box. We put all our best ideas into this year’s boxes, and we’re extremely pleased with the quality of what we created. It’s time to be done.

That said, we do have two crowdfunding campaigns coming this year. Nothing quite as ambitious as the Year of Sanderson, but both (I hope) worth your time. First will be the Words of Radiance leatherbound campaign, happening on BackerKit this time instead of Kickstarter. That is in March. We will follow that with Brotherwise and the Stormlight pen and paper RPG later in the year, something that many of you have been asking us for. I’ll give Brotherwise some room to update you later on that, as well as time for my crowdfunding team to talk details about Words of Radiance.

So, we’re not stopping—and I hope you’ll find something to love in what we’re doing. However, we’re not also going to try to replicate the lightning in a bottle that was the Year of Sanderson. I’m happy to walk away from that experience victorious, and let the quality of what we created stand for now.

Johnny O'Neal

Since 2022, Brotherwise Games has been working in close partnership with Dragonsteel to create the Stormlight® RPG. The official tabletop roleplaying game of The Stormlight Archive, this is a truly ambitious project that brings together some of the world’s most talented fantasy illustrators and game designers. We shared an overview of the system at Dragonsteel Con, but we can reveal a few new details today!

The Stormlight RPG will launch with three books. The Stormlight Handbook is our core rulebook for GMs and players, containing all the rules you need to play. The World Guide is a setting book that explores Roshar in detail, from its history and cultures to its unique flora and fauna. It’s also a gorgeous art book packed with new illustrations of the world, from the Shattered Plains to Rall Ellorim and beyond.

We can’t yet reveal the name of our third release, but it’s a campaign book featuring adventure content that will take heroes on an epic journey across Roshar. While every aspect of the RPG has been developed in collaboration with Dragonsteel, this adventure concept came directly from Dan and Brandon. It gives characters the chance to bond spren, become Radiants, and play a pivotal role in events leading up to the True Desolation.   We’ve designed this game for every Stormlight fan, whether you’re a longtime RPG aficionado, a first-time player, or just someone who will enjoy reading through new lore and artwork. You can sign up be notified when the crowdfunding campaign goes live in the second half of 2024. This is a dream project for everyone involved, and we can’t wait for you to experience this fantastic game

Brandon Sanderson

Introduction

Whew, what a year! As I write this, the first of the December boxes are arriving in the hands of backers—meaning the Year of Sanderson has come to a close. By the time this goes live, I believe all of them will be shipped. Twelve boxes, with four books, delivered (mostly) on time!

This was a big year for us, full of grand ambitions—and full of Herculean efforts to fulfill those ambitions. Largely, we were successful!

As is my yearly tradition, I’m going to go over all the things happening in my world—giving a yearly retrospective, but also talking about how things stand right now. As always, this is going to be a bit exhaustive, but I hope you enjoy the ride.

Kristen Arden

If you had a Shardblade, what would yours manifest as?

Brandon Sanderson

Ka, the Windrunner, hers manifests as a pen. I’d probably end up with a pen.

Cosmeregirl

Favorite scene to write [in Yumi]?

Brandon Sanderson

I think my favorite sequence in the book is probably the sequence where Akane takes Yumi shopping. For whatever reason, there’s a change that happens right there with Yumi’s character that I really enjoyed writing, revising, and working on. It’s a big turning point for her.

Windrunner17

After the Shroud was destroyed, it’s said that some of the floating plants survived and were able to grow on Komashi. Is it your intention for the birds and butterflies and insects to have also survived to present day in some way?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I intend that you can find places on the planet where that would all still be the case. Give it a little bit of time; but then, yes.

Mistborn Taylor

When does the activation of the machines take place in the timeline?

Why can only women become yoki-hijo?

Since Painter was able to summon a spirit, is it because he “was” Yumi? Or is that actually a lie, and men can also be yoki-hijo?

Brandon Sanderson

I’ll RAFO all of that for now. This isn’t a promise that I’ll get to it, but we’re RAFOing it for now.

Megan Thee Cosmere

Now that the rest of the yoki-hijo have passed on, will there be a new yoki-hijo born? Specifically, will we see an individual with higher than Elantrian levels of Investiture and Colin Firth levels of historical drama talent?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

Where in the timeline does Yumi take place?

Brandon Sanderson

Pretty late. At this point, I think only Sixth of the Dusk is later than Yumi, timeline-wise, I think.

Questioner

Can Shards bleed? Will this take the appearance of something like the Shroud?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s theoretically possible.

Questioner

Who’s the least significant living Shard?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s a big ol’ RAFO.

Wyndlerunner

What else could yoki-hijo do in the past, aside from binding spirits?

Brandon Sanderson

That was their main job. What could they have done? Many things. What did they do other than bind spirits? Not much.

Diss the Chris

In Yumi, the outer edge of Kilahito and the Nightmares are being described as being completely nonreflective, and they drip with a black liquid that smokes. The same description has been given to the Midnight Essence and to Nightblood. Are these linked, and indicative of some kind of warped Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

They are significantly linked. (There you are; we’ll use “significantly” in that regard.)

Pagerunner

The audience of the book knows of the UTol system “for other reasons.” When will we, the readers, know about it?

Brandon Sanderson

Someday. Maybe. RAFO.

Questioner

Will UTol be significant to the future of the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

Potentially. Depends on what I end up writing.

Milk Choc 14

In Tress of the Emerald Sea, Hoid mentions that his most persistent nightmare is one where he unknowingly becomes repetitive and stale. Was this intentional foreshadowing for Yumi and the Nightmare Painter?

Brandon Sanderson

It was not. It’s more about one of my worries as an artist, is this idea of, “Am I just doing the same stuff over and over again?” You always will do this. When I look at Elantris and Warbreaker, I’m like, “I wanted to deal with the same themes from different directions. But does that mean I’m just repeating myself?” Any time you find a trend in your writing, it worries you. Overly such, I think. I think we worry about this too much, like we worry about unconscious influence, but it’s one of these things that bothers artists.

I didn’t know I was gonna write Yumi when I was working on Tress.

Adam Klaits

In Yumi, Hoid says he doesn’t know why the star was visible from Komashi through the Shroud. Do you know? And can you tell us?

Brandon Sanderson

I do know. It has to do, a little bit, with the same reason why the mist is transparent to some people and not others.

Legend of Zelda Fan 03

Is the Dawnshard mural significantly related to how Nightmare painting worked on Komashi?

Brandon Sanderson

Significantly related? I’m glad that you started putting words like that in, expert cosmerenauts, because it gives me less wiggle room. (I guess I’m not happy about that.)

Less than significantly related.

Fernican

At any point, did you contemplate the possibility that Yumi would actually die at the end of the book? Or did you know from the beginning that she would survive?

Brandon Sanderson

I contemplated it. This was a tough one for me, because the more artistic ending and more appropriate to the source material that was an inspiration to me is the ending where she dies. And Yumi’s been a Cognitive Shadow all along.

But why did I make the change? There’s a couple reasons that I decided to go that way. It’s not like I made a change; don’t take it like that. It’s not like I had an outline for one, and I went the other way. The outline always went this way, but there were times when I was building that outline. And there’s a couple reasons.

Number one: this is a gift for my wife. And as a gift for my wife, I want the ending that she will love.

Number two is: we do have this sense in our society that sadness is artistic. And I’ve rejected that notion, that artistry must be sad. You can see it very clearly in what we give awards to. Sad endings can be very artistic; but you know what has a really fantastic happy ending? Lord of the Rings. Granted, there’s some bittersweetness to it, but you know what? Frodo has been through hell. That’s the bittersweet part; he can never really be part of society again. But they all make it. Lord of the Rings wouldn’t be better if the fire just killed Sam and Frodo at the end. You know what? It’s better that they make it. And I’m okay with sometimes being like, “This is the ending that I want.”

And the last reason, one of the best comps for Yumi is obviously Your Name. I mentioned that in the epilogue. I made some very deliberate choices to make Yumi read differently from Your Name. The story I wanted to tell is: what if you had to watch someone else doing your job poorly; and you, kind of as a ghost, had to learn to coach them along. I also wanted these two to be bound together, so that the romance worked as a romance between them. Your Name is really awesome for its ending; it has one of these kind of more uncertain endings. I won’t say it’s happy; I won’t say it’s sad. More uncertain. It’s really appropriate for Your Name, because the two characters didn’t really know each other, ever. They knew each other’s lives and friends and families, but they didn’t actually have a chance to really get to know one another, and the ending to Your Name is a perfect nod to that. It’s a chef’s kiss sort of ending for that specific story, where two people didn’t actually know each other, but knew so much about each other. And I love that aspect of Your Name. I needed a different ending for this, because it is a very different style. It’s two people who actually got to know each other.

Lacrosse Demon

In the Yumi and the Nightmare Painter prerelease spoiler stream, someone asked about a third hion, colored yellow, which you hinted was a thing. Nothing like that appeared in the novel beyond the third color on the cover artwork. Could you expand on that a bit?

Brandon Sanderson

There could be a third theoretical color that would be relevant in this conversation. And it would be yellow. If there were a third hion line, it would be yellow. And there is not a third hion line, currently. I wonder why…

thegatorgirl00

How were the people of Komashi able to negotiate the spirits to remain as hion if they didn’t have any yoki-hijo? Was it just a myth that only the yoki-hijo were able to negotiate with them to begin with?

Brandon Sanderson

It wasn’t a complete myth. They were more interested in people with this Investiture and this Connection to them. The yoki-hijo were far, far more effective. But they weren’t the only ones who could theoretically negotiate with them. Plus, after what everybody had been through, some things have changed.

jofwu

Is Iron Seven Waystation a space station? A perpendicularity? Both? Or neither?

Brandon Sanderson

Iron Seven is gonna be an actual space station. It’s not a perpendicularity. It’s a place where you could logically get onto an FTL ship and get to a place with a perpendicularity. Expensive, but when has expense ever bothered Hoid?

Stormlight Memes

Noodles in Yumi: more like ramen? Or more like pho?

Brandon Sanderson

More like ramen.

Questioner

Why did you make Design hot?

Brandon Sanderson

This is what she wanted in order to explore the cosmere. She spent a lot of time making people’s brains break, and she wanted to get a different perspective on how human beings interact with her.

Questioner

How does Hoid’s prediction work?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Ben McSweeney

Does Hoid still feel embarrassment?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, he definitely still feels embarrassment now and then.

Cosmere For Dummies

Can Yumi travel offworld?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s a good question. And the answer is actually yes; which might be counterintuitive. But Yumi could travel offworld. That might give you a little piece in the puzzle of things to travel offworld.

Sir Banana Orange Cucumber

If Hoid ranked all his worst moments in a list, about where would him being a coatrack be?

Brandon Sanderson

Coatrack was pretty bad. But he would definitely rank losing his five senses (the important ones) as worse. That’s worse to him. At least as a coatrack, he wasn’t embarrassing himself. As it goes, middle of the pack of bad things, middle top (top being not quite as bad of bad things). He definitely wouldn’t do it again; he wouldn’t enjoy it again.

Simpatico

Could hion lines be weaponized? If yes, in what ways?

Brandon Sanderson

There are many ways you could weaponize hion lines. I think there are too many ways for me to say all of them, but the mere fact that you can pull heat out or put heat in using interactions with hion lines means you’ve got all sorts of possibilities for that. I think anytime you’ve got raw power that you can use in such a way, you can do all kinds of stuff with that.

You can weaponize them. I guess the question they’re asking, can you weaponize the lines themselves? Obviously, you can make the hion lines trigger artillery, right? Or things like that. Probably not what they’re asking. They’re probably asking, “Can you use them themselves as weapons?” Right now, the hion lines are too slow to grow to use in kind of a traditional action-oriented magic system. Hion whip is not something that I’m imagining you would use.

Seth Cran

How did the Yoki-hijo become so Invested? Are they selected like Elantrians? Is it genetic? Or otherwise just random?

Brandon Sanderson

It’s not random, but it’s not genetic.

LewsTherinTelescope

In Way of Kings, Hoid’s monologue talks about three great talents: invention, artistry, and intellect.

Brandon Sanderson

We’ll just stop that one right there. Hey, you’re smart. We’ll stop there. Special RAFO; I’m not even finishing your question. I know what you’re gonna ask, and you’re very smart. Go pat yourself on the back; you’re very smart.

Bye Nick

Is the Shroud made of Identity? Or of souls minus Identity? The passage in Yumi seems to imply both?

Brandon Sanderson

We’re looking more at souls. Souls minus Identity is the path you should be going down. I mean, there is still some Identity in them, is the thing, but yeah.

Questioner

Are Odium and Cultivation aware of Thaidakar?

Brandon Sanderson

Cultivation, yes. Odium… at one point. Depends on… Is Taravangian aware? That part’s a RAFO.

Duck Dad

Will we see Jason Write and the Phone Company again?

Brandon Sanderson

That is within the realm of possibility. I would call it more likely than not.

Questioner

Will you speak on the Sazed/Sigzil connections?

Brandon Sanderson

Nope.

Twilight Parsival

Is it possible that the Champion of Odium is not a native to the planet or Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

That is definitely possible.

Cannot Have My Pain

Did Harmony ever lie to Wax and/or Wayne during The Lost Metal?

Brandon Sanderson

I believe he did. I’d have to look through them all; I believe he did.

LeFlshe

At Dragonsteel this year, you confirmed that Nightblood is not a Dawnshard. However, its abilities seem to be far greater than that of Vivenna’s blade, presumably made with the same method. This disparity may be due to the person who originally Awakened the swords and leads one to believe that Nightblood, despite not being the Dawnshard, had a Dawnshard involved in its creation. Therefore, is Shashara, the person who Awakened Nightblood, a Dawnshard?

Brandon Sanderson

Excellent questions. You’ve got one faulty premise: Vivenna’s sword was intentionally designed differently to not get another Nightblood. So let’s keep that in mind. That said, I don’t know that they could make another Nightblood if they wanted to. But she definitely did not want to, and there’s a different process that they use nowadays for safer swords.

Questioner 2

Is Vivenna’s sword better or worse than Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends on what you want from the sword. Vivenna’s sword does not automatically suck the soul and Investiture out of anything it touches, disintegrating that which it touches, which is both a plus and a minus.

Ryan Graham

I’d love to ask if Mare at the Pits was a kandra.

Brandon Sanderson

I did not intend Mare to be a kandra.

Questioner

Does Axies have a Torment?

Brandon Sanderson

The Curse of Kind is slightly different, but analogous to a Torment from a Dawnshard. He did not hold a Dawnshard. But something similar is happening.

Madness Lemon

Whose idea was it for Moash to wear a black Bridge Four uniform? Did Rayse come up with it as a way of taunting the Windrunners? Or was Moash just feeling really dramatic that day?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s Moash drama.

Isaac will have to confirm this, because I might get the story wrong. Concept art, I believe he put a Bridge Four patch that was twisted and upside down and made corrupted on his uniform, and I’m like, “That’s going a little far, even for Moash.” He can order a black uniform, but… So, I think we took that off.

Questioner

Why was Honor mad before his demise?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Brent Wildboar

Is it possible for the Shards to be united back into Adonalsium?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

J Rundle

It seems that the Cognitive Realm on each world manifests as the primary way Investiture is viewed in the Physical Realm on that planet: beads of Stormlight on Roshar, and mists on Scadrial. Would a planet like Sel, that seems to have several different ways of interacting with Investiture (assuming you could look into the Cognitive Realm and survive) look any different based on the person looking in or the location that they entered the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question. Location would be a factor, the person looking in would not. Of course, it’s all kind of moot for Sel, but you could see changes in the Cognitive Realm based on location, based on different magic systems or different interpretations of the same magic system.

Letters Words

In Tress, Hoid says, “I’ve said those words. The words that proclaim, in bald-faced arrogance, ‘I don’t trust you to make your own decisions.’ I said them with sixteen other people, in fact.” Hoid seems to be implying here that only seventeen total people were directly involved in the Shattering of Adonalsium: himself and the sixteen original Vessels. Is this accurate? If so, does that mean three of the original Vessels held the other Dawnshards that Hoid didn’t have?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s an excellent question that I have to RAFO.

PanHeadBolt

In Bands of Mourning, it’s mentioned that the Malwish airship has a third type of bathroom in it, something not mentioned again in The Lost Metal. Are these gender neutral bathrooms? Are they for a third gender? Or are they for something else entirely?

Brandon Sanderson

We’ll delve into that later. You should assume it is along the lines of a gender neutral bathroom.

The Dragon Knight

Are we gonna see any dragons in action in the cosmere before the Dragonsteel novel?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe. Once again, there are some more Anne McCaffrey style dragons in the cosmere; maybe I’ll get around to doing that. Otherwise, if you want to see dragons in action… then we’re talking about… I mean, well, Cultivation’s been doing a lot!

Questioner

Will we see the Roshar kandra in Stormlight Five?

Brandon Sanderson

I believe you have seen the Roshar kandra be mentioned… no… RAFO.

MoriWillow

In the Spiritual Realm, does there exist an ideal of tables that is a separate entity from the spiritwebs of all extant tables? If so, did that ideal always exist, even before the invention of tables? Or was it born out of the people inventing tables?

Brandon Sanderson

The answer is no. This is where we diverge from Plato’s Theory of the Forms. Again, Theory of the Forms was a conceptual benchmark for me. I thought the Theory of the Forms was awesome, and it stuck in my head for many years and eventually gave birth to Cognitive, Spiritual, and Physical. (The first book really delving into that being Dragonsteel Prime, and it’s in the opening chapters of Dragonsteel Prime.)

But where it differs is: there is not a Platonic idea of a table in the cosmere. All ideals in the cosmere are filtered through the perception of sapient beings.

Falling Lore

In Rhythm of War Chapter 53, when Venli mentions that Leshwi seems to respect Kaladin, Leshwi hums to a rhythm that feels familiar to Venli, but she can’t identify it. What was that rhythm? And why did Venli’s powers fail to identify it?

Brandon Sanderson

So, this is at the point where Venli is not quite aware of the old… Both of them, what’s going on with them, is: there are rhythms of Roshar, and there are rhythms of Odium. And what’s going on is: Venli sometimes… Normally, when you become a Regal, you have all the rhythms of Roshar overwritten with the rhythms of Odium, and you can no longer use the pure rhythms of Roshar. And what’s going on here is: Venli used to know all of those rhythms by heart, and they’ve been stolen from her. And Leshwi is humming to one of those, instead. Not intentionally; kind of accidentally, because, again, they’ve been stolen from Leshwi, as well. And this just is an indication (and you’ll see them all around) that sometimes they’ll use the wrong rhythms, or the rhythms they’re not supposed to be able to use.