Recent entries

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4101 Copy

    Questioner

    My question was about Hemalurgy. There was a disagreement on the last Shardcast. When spiking a Mistborn to charge a Hemalurgic spike, does it matter how the Mistborn is killed or is what power is stolen based only on the metal?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So you want to place the spike in a specific place.

    Questioner

    In the donor. In the recipient, not the donor.

    Brandon Sanderson

    In the recipient. And you want to use the specific metal and so basically if you aren't precise about how you spike, you risk taking the wrong thing within the same family. Some of those, that's not as big a deal, but for some it is kind of a big deal. And so you want to be very precise, you'll get something, but if you're not placing the spike in the right place and going into the right place, then you risk it.

    Questioner

    You risk stealing the wrong thing.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. Now if you're going off of somebody who's not a Mistborn, you can be a little more flexible, but you still have the danger that you're not going to end up stealing the power, you're going to steal something else. So, precision is advisable, how about that?

    Questioner

    Yeah. Because the question was kind of specifically about, like, we know that atium spikes can kill-- can steal pretty much any power.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. You want to be super precise with your atium spike.

    Questioner

    So, part of the question was like, exactly, if you just killed a Mistborn, you stab a Mistborn in the heart with an atium spike, and you're not placing it immediately--

    Brandon Sanderson

    What do you end up with? You are rolling the dice, let's say. Not as big a roll of the dice as you might think, but you still are. You might not get what you want.

    Questioner

    And then when you place the spike on the recipient, if you like tore that spike out again and put it in someone else, you're not going to be able to get more than one power out of it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. No, and if you place the spike in the wrong place, then you're going to end up with interference and things like this where the spike might just not work the way you want it to. Taking a spike and putting it in the wrong place in someone is not going to make them have a different power, in other words.

    Skyward Atlanta signing ()
    #4102 Copy

    Personification

    Was there a similar things like the ten Highprinces were like-- What were the different roles that each Highprince could hold?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Highprinces were more like warlords fighting for and squabbling for land, they were not good at anything like that. So they were more like warlords.

    Personification

    But the Highprince roles though?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, the Highprince of? Yeah. They did have the official things like that and when it was working, way back in the day, you could probably align them-- I don't even know if you could align those to Radiants--

    Personification

    I wasn't saying the order of the Knights Radiant, I was saying just like, what role did they have?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, they would be pretty official, but if you're going back in the day, to where it actually worked, then they would have distinct roles that they would fulfill, and they would kind of be like-- Imagine the cabinet of a country.

    Personification

    I was wondering if I could have some specifics on the names.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, I can't do that right now. I might be able to dig that out of the notes, but I've remained flexible on some of those things because I don't want to name them all, specifically.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4105 Copy

    Questioner

    What inspired Hemalurgy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So Hemalurgy was probably-- It's hard for me to say, because it's been fifteen years, but I think I started with the image of the Inquisitors with spikes through their eyes. At the same time I was trying to work up a third magic system to go in the trilogy so I could have one magic, two magic, three magic, and I wanted one that was super creepy and evil. And I built it around those two ideas.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4106 Copy

    Questioner

    I know you have Dragonsteel planned and Hoid will play a role in the cosmere, does it have like a behind-the-scenes Hoid story like Secret History?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is possible, but I don't have it on the list to do right now. 

    Questioner

    Just in your head maybe, someday.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmhmm. Secret History was like that too, I wasn't sure I was going to get it out. We will see.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4107 Copy

    Questioner

    So, any idea when we'll get the sequel to Warbreaker?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have no exact promise. My goal right now is to get Stormlight 5 out, right, and then alternate Mistborn, Elantris, Mistborn, Elantris, Mistborn. Warbreaker will have to wait and see how that plays out. I do intend to get to it, but it's entirely possible that this won't be something I do until after Stormlight 6.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4108 Copy

    Questioner

    Did you always envision the way that Legion ended?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, I did not. That is one I worked out-- I didn't have an ending in mind for Legion when I started. So when I sat down and said, "What ending am I going to write?" This is the one that evolved out of that, but that one was more-- I outlined the story, but it was more of a discovery written ending.

    Questioner

    It was fascinating. I loved it, but I was really surprised.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is perhaps one of the oddest things I've done.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4109 Copy

    Deana Whitney

    What would Rock's favorite vegetable be in a soup? Like the Earth equivalents?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ooh! Well, see, Rock is gonna base it based on the soup, because he's a chef. But if it's his perfect favorite, he's gonna want something crunchy, so he's gonna want like—

    Deana Whitney

    Well, I know he'll want the, the essentially the equivalent of crawdads.

    Aubree Pham

    She's trying to write a cosmere food article...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah. But there are-- like, if you can get like a... radish, that's going to crunch, he's probably going to look for that in a soup, because that's going to be closer to what he likes. Something that's got some variance in the texture.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4110 Copy

    coltonx9

    How are the floating cities in Ashyn held aloft?

    Brandon Sanderson

    By local magic... So basically, I can tell you how it works, because I'm not saving any secrets here.

    One of the diseases gives this power. The reason it's called The Silence Divine is right now, the way I've devised it, is this power also causes hearing loss. So you have this virus that does this weird thing, but also gives you the power. And so there's a conclave of them, a chorus of them that keep the cities aloft. And that's why the book, if or when I write it, I guess it can't be a virus in this case. Whatever disease they have, someone develops penicillin and can potentially cause the city to come crashing down. That was the premise for me, but that means it needs to be a bacteria, not a virus but it needs to be a bacteria that stays with you long, so I have to work out exactly how I would make these diseases work.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4111 Copy

    coltonx9

    How many kings have had a Wit?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is common for a king to have a Wit.

    coltonx9

    Has Hoid been more than just Elhokar and Jasnah's Wit?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He has been. Most Wits, historically, were a little more fool-like, more court-jestery. Wit does not think highly of that. But there have been others in the past that were more like what he would think what a Wit should be.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4114 Copy

    coltonx9

    Are there types of Investiture that the larkin can't consume?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I would say that there are, but it's going to depend on the state they're in. Pure Investiture, a larkin is always going to probably be able to grab, but lots of people can get pure Investiture. Kinetic Investiture they're are gonna have a good chance at being able to grab, but they can't get everything.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4119 Copy

    Questioner

    Moash killed a god? One of the Heralds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He did. One of the Heralds. And trapped his soul so he couldn't be reborn.

    Questioner

    That's what it is. Trapped his soul, didn't actually kill him?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's killed him-- It was like, extra killed. The Heralds are bound to a cycle of rebirth that happens-- that they wanted to make sure didn't happen that time.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4120 Copy

    Questioner

    I have a question about the epilogue in The Way of Kings. You have Wit give this interesting, kind of philosophical-- sermon-thing on novelty. I wonder, what do you think about what he's saying, do you--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Usually those little things that Wit will do, he does one at the end of each book, are things I've thought about. I don't always one hundred percent agree with Wit. He tends to hyperbolize in order to make a point, but I do think it's really interesting that novelty is so important to us. Even if you did something independently, but come up with it after someone else, then it's not considered as great an art, right? Which is really, really, really interesting if you think about it. And I love that idea, and I like talking about that sort of thing, so these-- All of Wit's little monologues--there's one, like I've said, at the end of each book--is something I think about, but he goes off in his own direction sometimes.

    Questioner

    I've used that little monologue in some philosophy class that I've in, such as philosophy of art.  

    Brandon Sanderson

    I did take a-- I took a lot of philosophy classes, if you can't tell, during my undergraduate years. I was quite fond of philosophy. Though the philosophers were all really needed to learn how to write. Man, those guys just, I mean, paragraphs like this that don't really even say anything. I love the ideas, but man, they could use editors. But, yeah, I enjoyed my philosophy classes, and I really liked philosophy of art in particular, it's very interesting to me. The whole Oscar Wilde's intro to Dorian Gray is my favorite speech on art, that all art is, by necessity, useless. Stuff like that really, really gets me going.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4122 Copy

    Questioner

    You always come up with new ideas for books, when you have so many to write as is, that you've recently started to go from saying things like, "Whenever I get to this book," like the Threnody novel, to, "If I ever get to it." Would you ever let another author write for Cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is possible. Isaac [Stewart], my art director and long friend for, you know, fifteen years, who's been collaborating on the visual style of Mistborn, really wants to write a Mistborn novel set on one of the Southern Continent places off by itself and I'm intrigued by this idea, 'cause he's somebody I've worked with for so long. So we might see how that happens. So far I haven't been willing to collaborate on any Cosmere stuff, but it's p-- I could see it happening.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4123 Copy

    Questioner

    In White Sand 2, you changed the artist. 

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, that was-- we didn't want to do that, I actually hate doing that, but it was with-- keeping-- meeting deadlines and things we were having trouble with the old artist, and so we just needed to make the switch so that we could get the books out. And that's the thing I like the least about the comics industry, artists changing, it's really-- yeah. But it is something that had to happen, so we made the call. We do intend that the sec- now this artist will do the book three, so we shouldn't change again, but, yeah.

    With the Dark One comic, which we're working on right now, one of the things I've said up front is we need an artist to make sure that we don't ever change, because I really don't like doing that, I like the same visual style. 

    Questioner

    Yeah, it's like an actor doing this huge thing--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah, and then you get a new actor, it's like-- who?

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4124 Copy

    Questioner

    I've seen a lot of forum posts about the mistcloaks themselves. What is the standard wear underneath those? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    So there isn't a lot of standardization, because Mistborn are rare and each Mistborn commissions their own cloak. Most of the time, I think you're going to find that they would wear a buttoning shirt with short sleeves. Probably something dark would be my guess, probably a dark gray. But it just really depends on the person.

    Questioner

    Okay. I was thinking about working up a Mistborn cosplay--

    Brandon Sanderson

    My theme for clothing other than miscloaks was a look a little of-- Dickensian London was my inspiration, so.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4125 Copy

    Questioner

    When Jasnah says she should've opened a pit, does she mean a chasm or a kind of Androl, Wheel of Time, kind of thing? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    Androl, Wheel of Time, what do you mean by that?

    Questioner

    When he opens a gateway? What does she mean by pit?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ha. *evil smirk* I'll RAFO that right now.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4126 Copy

    Questioner

    If you used Hemalurgy to steal Allomancy, Harmony gets some kind of insight into the person that was spiked? He can talk to them? And with enough spikes hear their thoughts?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmhmm. Yes. With enough spikes, take them over.

    Questioner

    So if you use a spike to say, steal Breath, would Endowment?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'll RAFO that for now. Good question though, I haven't been asked that yet. 

    Questioner

    If you stole Breath, would Harmony still keep the same effect?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's why I'm going to give a RAFO.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4127 Copy

    Questioner

    What was the thought process behind Shinovar being so similar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A couple of reasons. One is, by having some sort of Earth analogue on-world, I could give some contrast, and I could have a kind of an explanation for why they might use words like chickens and things until I can get to the big reveal. Like, if there weren't Shinovar there to act as a red herring, I think it would give away the twist very early.

    Beyond that, I like the idea of the people that are like us being the alien ones to the society. Kind of helps separate it and make it this is a different world, this is a different culture. So, it gave me a lot of advantages. Plus it also gave an explanation for how they could-- humankind create a foothold on this planet after coming across. So, lots of different thought processes behind that.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4128 Copy

    Questioner

    Is it possible for a Returned with sufficient knowledge, to sacrifice themselves to mend the Oathpact?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, not without work. It just wouldn't work naturally that way. So no, I mean technically any Investiture-- with that amount of Investiture, there's like, a chance they could do something like you want to do. But I'm going to say, kind of, would be no...

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4131 Copy

    Questioner

    Can you explain how the Well of Ascension worked? How it actually held him and why releasing the power released Ruin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is the sort of thing that I can't explain in a brief amount of time, but hit me with an email, all right? Say that I promised to answer this, keep pushing me and eventually we'll get an answer written out for that one.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4132 Copy

    Questioner

    So, who's your favorite Planeswalker or like-- color of mana to play?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Can I say my own Planeswalker? 

    Questioner

    That's because you did write--

    Brandon Sanderson

    I did! If you throw my Davriel out, because obviously I'm gonna pick my own, let's see, who is my favorite? Ashiok is probably my favorite, just because they have such an interesting look to them and I like the powerset, that's the way I like to play, and there's so much mystery about Ashiok, so Ashiok. If we're talking about one that's actually had a story written about them, I really love how they handled Urza, just because you'd expect Urza to be very Gandalf-y and wise, and he was kind of, you know, that black side to Urza was really cool to me. And so-- yeah, there you go.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4133 Copy

    Questioner

    In the reading that you did, the Nahel bond, has it changed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. So, spren were added, and things like that. What [Taln?] had would still be called a Nahel bond. A Nahel bond in the original definition means bond to divinity, but that's come to encompass a lot more in the cosmere, any time you're bonding with-- the bond between a soul and Investiture. But in the original version, it was more only with a Shard of Adonalsium or something like that.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4135 Copy

    Questioner

    I wanted to ask have you ever considered making any of your books into an animated series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would! If the right people approached me, I would certainly not turn that away. I think there are more people wanting to get series made than there are people making good ones, but I would jump on it if the right people came along.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4137 Copy

    Questioner

    How close is the enslavement of the parshmen to the Recreance, timeline-wise? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, fairly close, as timeline issues go, but still many decades.

    Questioner

    Did it play any kind of factor in the decision?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Absolutely. But we're not talking about it happening next year. But it was a factor, how about that?

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4138 Copy

    Questioner

    Do you have a favorite Smedry Talent?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I took a lot of these from things my mom does. Which are things that maybe I do also, like being late to everything, and being bad at dancing. Probably mine is being bad at dancing. But probably my true talent is the ability to use a lot of words to say nothing. *laughter*

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4139 Copy

    Questioner 1

    Are we gonna see more of the girl from The Emperor's Soul? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    You will probably see at least a cameo from Shai. But I do have a second story outlined now, but I don't know when I have time or would have time to write it, so we will see if I can make that happen or not.

    Questioner 2

    Will we have a full-fledged story on the other part of Elantris, that Shai is on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I think it's likely, but I can't promise it. But it's equally likely right now that we will-- I will outline a new graphic novel series, as to I will just do a story, but I can't one hundred percent promise.

    Skyward Houston signing ()
    #4142 Copy

    Questioner

    I know FOX bought the rights to Steelheart. Do you know if there is anything coming out of that? An update?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Alright. Big update on media properties based on Sanderson things. We'll start with Reckoners since you started there.

    FOX owns the rights to the Reckoners, they have been bought by Disney. We don't know what that's going to do to it, but FOX has always been very excited about Steelheart so we will see what happens. We do have the Reckoners board game that came out and is shipping to backers. It's not for sale yet to people who haven't been backing it but it will be eventually. Let's see-- let's go down some of the smaller projects.

    Legion is owned by a company out of Canada called Cineflix, and they are working very hard to make a television show out of that. They just bought the rights last summer, but last I heard they had a showrunner interested, so maybe some announcements about that.

    The closest to being published-- the closest to being a movie is probably Snapshot. You probably don't know what that is. It's one of my novellas, it's like a mix between The Matrix and the movie SE7EN, so it's very different from a lot of my stuff. It's very close, they have a script and the screenplay's really good, they have someone attached to direct but they haven't announced it yet so I can't announce it. That one is probably the most close, which is going to be weird when my first movie is a serial killer thriller, but y'know, whatever.

    The Cosmere books are owned by DMG Entertainment. They are a Chinese company that funded some of the Marvel films. They've moved into making their own films. They have been a wonderful partner. They are trying very hard to make Stormlight a television show and Mistborn as a movie. It's very hard to get epic fantasy things off the ground but they're making good progress, but there's nothing to announce yet. I think that is everything.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4143 Copy

    Truthwatcher_17.5

    Darksiders have almost as advanced technology as second Era Scadrians.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    But then we see Darksiders in The Secret-- in Mistborn: The Secret History. So are they gonna be the first spacefarers, are they gonna get there before Scadrians?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, where it is right now is that certain things have happened to Taldain that have isolated it and cut it off.

    Questioner

    Yeah, a little bit in Arcanum Unbounded talked about that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And some-- they're under-- going through some difficult times, let's say... So, I will RAFO whether or not they're going to make it first to make it to space, but let's just say they were well on target to making it first before certain events happened.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4144 Copy

    Truthwatcher_17.5

    Are you ever gonna make an official quiz that sorts people into Knights-- Knights Radiant? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    You know, I'm less likely to do a quiz and more likely to do a list of-- kind of attributes and traits and requirements. I feel that some people are more likely to be able to sort themselves than a quiz sorting them. Granted, it does depend on the spren also, so there are two parties in this. And so, you don't have absolute influence over which order you might end up in. But it is possible to be viable as a candidate for multiple orders and it also is going to depend on the spren.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4148 Copy

    Truthwatcher_17.5

    Are we ever gonna see a Twinborn who has Feruchemical iron and Allomantic pewter, and he's pretty much-- sort of like how Ham was training Vin about how to use her body, and we just gonna see this amazing martial artist on a massive scale?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is totally possible. I'm not gonna promise any given combination, 'cause the-- I've changed several times the powersets of characters while I'm planning, so.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4149 Copy

    Truthwatcher_17.5

    Are we ever gonna see more names for specific types of Twinborns?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I intend to do more of those as the Eras progress. There are so many to name that I don't know that I'll ever release a chart of all of them, and partially I don't want to canonize names because I might decide something sounds cooler for when I actually use that person's powers in a book.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4150 Copy

    Questioner

    I read Skyward, like, two weeks ago, I finished it in two nights. It was honestly one of my favorite books I've ever read, and I can't wait to see where it goes. 

    Brandon Sanderson

    Thank you! Book two is done. 

    Questioner

    I'm excited to see what-- I need to read, uh, about the "Defense of Elysium"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah, Defending Elysium, it's free on my website. It'll tie-in in ways that you'll find interesting. One of my very first short stories.

    Questioner

    I'm super, super excited to see it. I loved the whole idea of when they're peering into the stars, it's like they're looking back with hatred. It's awesome.