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Brandon Sanderson

Vasher Uses Straw Figures to Find the Tunnel

I wanted to bring the straw men back into the book, as I felt I needed to show you—and Vivenna—just how capable Vasher is with Breath. He's leaps and bounds above most people. I think this book gives a skewed perspective, since we don't see any ordinary Awakeners. We see those just learning (Vivenna) and we see one of the greatest masters of the art to ever live (Vasher).

With his practice and years of Awakening, he's able to get Awakened objects to do things that others wouldn't be able to. The straw men are a good example. As for why he apologizes, well, he doesn't even know that himself. I think it's because he realizes that Breath can make something sentient and aware, like Nightblood, and worries that the straw creatures become (even just slightly) more than just mindless automatons.

Spoolofwhool

What does it mean for an object to be considered "Invested"?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, that is a matter of some discussion among scientists. Usually it means, to most of them, like a-- so, let me see if I can explain this-- So all things are built from Investiture.

Spoolofwhool

Right.

Brandon Sanderson

Right? Um, when they're using "Invested" they're talking about kind of like saturating a solution, in that-- yes, it's built out of this material, but you are-- there is more in it than-- like, it's a little bit like supersaturation, but not quite. Because it can s-- yeah, anyway.

Spoolofwhool

So getting, like, more Investiture in the spiritweb or in Cognitive than normal?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, more than just the creation of it. Like there is lingering Investiture that could be drawn out. Or more stuffed in. It's--

Spoolofwhool

But there are limits, right?

Brandon Sanderson

There are limits. We kind of run into that in Feruchemy a little bit, and things like that. But yes.

Questioner

Will we ever see such things as... in the future Mistborn books... the unkeyed metalminds, will we see something like people donating <brothers>?

[From notes and Polish clarification: Can unkeyed gold metalminds be used in hospitals? That people would just turn them in so others can heal?]

Brandon Sanderson

You're likely to see such things in this. Not a RAFO. <It takes> figuring it out, <they didn't figure it> out yet.

It's possible, they didn't figure it out yet.

Brandon Sanderson

One edge of the paper was covered with wild scribbles

Ah! Scribbles on the package. See, they’re there in the first few paragraphs.

Questioner

When planning multiple eras in Mistborn, did you know, for example, all the metals and magic when you published The Final Empire? Or did you leave open areas that you hinted at so that you could later explore and fill in the magic?

Brandon Sanderson

Final Empire is an excellent example, because it established what my model became. I wrote Final Empire, having an idea, but not have the entire nin-book sequence plotted. Not even the three-book sequence. I wrote that one and said, "Let's just write the book and see if it works." This is generally what I like to, rather than planning out the whole series. The exception to this was Stormlight, which needed the entire series planned out first. But with Mistborn, I was able to write the first book having ideas of what I wanted to do, but just make that book right. And then I sat down and said, "All right. The first book worked. I have the characters where they work. Now let's build the series." And when I did that, I went into a lot more depth on the metals.

But I did still leave... I knew, basically, what the other metals were gonna do, but I didn't have the mechanics down. Because I wasn't sure if it was gonna work. Playing with time, and all the stuff in Feruchemy where I'm playing with Connection and things like that, these were all kind of fundamentals of the cosmere that I wasn't 100% sure how I wanted to play out. So I basically kinda did the "best of both worlds." I left those holes knowing what they were probably going to be. But I was very careful not to give too much about them in the original trilogy, just in case what I wanted to do didn't end up working.

And that's worked out pretty well. I did manage to finish writing books two and three of Mistborn before I released the first one, so I could make sure that the continuity on the narrative really worked. Still, there are some things that I would change. I was much younger as a writer back then. I think some of the stuff in the third book, though it clicks together, it doesn't click together quite as well as I wanted to. Ending of the first book, I've talked about before. But I'm pleased with that process. Though every author has to use a different method, I do suggest trying that one. It's worked very well both for Mistborn and for Skyward. Worked a little worse in Reckoners, to be honest. Because the first book, I did not deal with any multi-dimension stuff, but I built it in after. Wrote the first book, went back, made sure the first book worked, then I wrote book two and three. And I was never quite satisfied with how the interdimensionality worked in that series. I think the magic system ended up cutting a few too many corners. So, in that case, doing it from the get-go from book one, instead of writing book one and then building it, might have worked better. Book one remains the strongest of the Steelheart series, I feel, because of that reason.

Regardless, it's been an effective method. It worked very worked Mistborn. It worked very well for Mistborn Era 2. And it has worked really well in Skyward so far.

Ahoymatey

Brandon, I just wanted to confirm that you did have a couple of cameos as Slowswift? Or was that mean to be someone else?

Chaos

I'm pretty sure Slowswift is Hoid. The Ars Arcanum says he "bears a striking resemblance to a storyteller", which I take to mean Hoid.

Brandon Sanderson

Slowswift is an homage to Grandpa Tolkien. A study of his personality will reveal why that name was chosen for him.

Hoid appears in that same chapter, but Vin doesn't meet him. Something he does spooks her. She's just too darn observant for her own good.

Questioner

I just finished rereading through Legion, and I was curious what led you to write so much about religion and that sort of thing. As a religious person, I really appreciated the fair way that you dealt with it in those books.

Brandon Sanderson

Being religious myself, it fascinates me, and the different ways that people intersect religion. Having one person who had all of these different personas that can all have different, varying levels of interaction with religion and the divine was also really fascinating to me. It offered me an opportunity that I probably couldn't do in any other story.

Questioner

What Skyward-inspired cosplay are you most excited to see at upcoming cons?

Brandon Sanderson

Doomslug the Destroyer, obviously.

clyguy

Do shardpools grant, basically, easier access into the Cognitive or Spiritual Realm--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Chaos (paraphrased)

For people really into the obscure workings of the politics of the Final Empire, we asked about the legality of assassinations.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It turns out that you have to ask the obligators' permission to assassinate someone--and permission, of course, means bribe in this context. The Steel Ministry can say yes or no. Presumably more high level people would cost more money to be killed. Of course, if the Ministry says no, you can always risk it and assassinate illegally, but you'd have to be very careful not to get caught. Even with legal killings you need to keep things quiet. Brandon said the Steel Ministry has much more corruption than governments in our world. Corruption which we would abhor is commonplace in the Final Empire.

Argent

These recent AMAs have made me wonder about something. With the kind of public presence and interaction you have with your fans, you create a imbalanced sense of familiarity between yourself and us, your fans - we often feel like we know you well (or at least know much about you), while you, for the most part, don't know us beyond the few words we exchange at events. With this in mind, have you had to change the way you interact with people, online and off - and if so, how?

Brandon Sanderson

I recently watched a video essay on the idea of parasocial relationships, which is a topic getting some attention on things like Youtube right now. And, while I thought the essay was interesting, I have to say...I kind of disagreed with everything they were saying. (Not the data, but the conclusions--which generally centered around the idea that these relationships were somehow false or dangerous.)

Yes, the relationship is imbalanced like you say. But the video essay was making these relationships as some kind of scary or false thing--and I just don't see it. I do think you know me by reading my work and by interacting with me here. I don't think you see a false version of me, and I think you probably do know me pretty well, all things considered. And part of the reason I read book (and why I write them) is because it lets us get inside of the mind of someone different from ourselves.

If there were big things I wanted to change, I'd talk about them. Honestly, most of what I see from the fans seems pretty healthy to me. We in sf/f can take things pretty seriously, but we do it because it's fun and we like to obsess about things--but most everyone can step back when we need to and deal with real life too.

So...don't know if that answers your question or not, Argent. But I think you're used to that kind of thing from me by now... :)

BusinessCress

In Stormlight Archive, all three main characters, Dalinar, Shallan and Kaladin, suffer from various mental health issues. Is that a normal psychological condition for all Radiants or the lead three is an extreme example of how people break?

Brandon Sanderson

I am very interested in mental health, and the way that we--as human beings--react to and interpret the world around us in different ways. This is a theme of the Stormlight books, but it's going to take a lot of work to do it justice--and I want to approach it from different directions. So yes, it's a theme, and these sorts of issues were common for Knights Radiant.

But I'd point out that they are also common themes for being human. And one of the correlations between orders of Knights Radiant is people who overcome, persist, and push through very difficult trials.

Brandon Sanderson

Sarene's extended internal narrative about Graeo remains in the book despite a slight dissatisfaction on my part with the section. It feels a little expository, and we've gotten implications regarding these things before. I'm not sure that we really learn anything new about Sarene's character here, we just get a few specifics about her past.

However, one of the nice things about a book like this–or, even, books in general, as opposed to movies –is that you don't have to worry TOO much about every scene and moment. I don't have to shave seconds quite as intensely as a film-maker might, or even shave words as much as an author of a shorter work might. I can afford a few diversions like this one, even if they ramble just a bit.

Brandon Sanderson

Spook's Delusions of Grandeur

Spook thinks a line here that my editor, and several writing group members, tried to cut. It's the line where, just in narrative, it implies that Spook had been the one to overthrow the Lord Ruler. It says something like, "It was much like that night, the night when he had overthrown the Lord Ruler" with the narrative making it clear that the "he" was Spook.

You have to remember that I use a limited narrator, not an omniscient one. When I'm writing a scene from a character's viewpoint, the text is colored by what they think and their view of the world. This line is deliberate, as by this point Ruin has his claws deep into Spook and is making him begin to think things that just aren't true. It's getting difficult for Spook to distinguish Ruin's fantasies from the reality, and for a moment he inflated his own part in the overthrow of the Lord Ruler.

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Fifty-Nine - Part Two

Kiin gets a little over-confident here by letting the two of them go on top. However, he doesn't know how powerful the Dakhor are. He assumes that his roof is unscalable.

In addition, he realizes how difficult a situation he is in. Dilaf has an army–Kiin's fortress house, no matter how well fortified, can't defend against them for long. He needs to do something, and thinks that maybe the negotiations will offer a way. So, he takes the chance.

Whoops.

Argent

Are there any other end-negative magic systems out there other than Hemalurgy?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Argent

Have we seen either the system or the world one of them is in?

Brandon Sanderson

Uhhhh RAFO.

Argent

RAFO? As in literal RAFO?

Brandon Sanderson

Literal RAFO.

Chaos2651

In the days of the Final Empire, how does one acquire a Kandra Contract? It's not like they can just walk up to their hidden Homeland and ask for their services.

Brandon Sanderson

Same way you would go about hiring an assassin. Secretly, using contacts who have used them before. You have to be in the know and well-connected, either with the upper-class or the underground.

ballthyrm

Would you like to continue your collaboration with Brandon Sanderson on a comic Book for example ?

Ben McSweeney

Brandon and I have discussed working on a comic together on multiple occasions. We both love the form, it's something I've done in the past, and I think together we'd make some amazing pages. But it also requires a lot of resources up front to cover overhead costs, and finding a way to make that happen has been tricky. I'm thinking we'll figure something out, but it's going to take a while. Crowdsourcing has opened up some very viable options, but it still requires a seed of core content that has yet to be created.

Questioner

So I've got to say, I love [Shadows Beneath] and I was wondering if you were doing any more projects like that.

Brandon Sanderson

Um, [Shadows Beneath], are we doing any more projects like that. Getting all four of us together to do something is tough. We have talked about doing one where we each write a story in someone else's world and I think that would be the most likely that you would see, like I write a John Cleaver story, and Dan writes a Stormlight story, and Mary writes a Schlock Mercenary story, something like that, but we don't have any immediate plans to do another [Shadows Beneath] where we brainstorm something on air like we did.

Questioner

Would that story be canon?

Brandon Sanderson

Would the story be canon? No, the story would not be canon. Most likely not. I mean, it's possible.

FieryXJoe

Would empty perfect gemstones left in Shinovar and New Natanatan during a highstorm have different amounts of Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson

Excellent question.

No, they would not. Strength of the storm is not tied directly to the amount of Stormlight invested. (Though there are in-world easterners who would insist otherwise.)

leinton (paraphrased)

Do highstorms have a rotation? The way they're described, they do not sound like storms on Earth.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They do not, and that they are unlike Earth storms in their structure. They do not have an eye, unless you count going to see the Stormfather in them.

Chaos

In the Death Rattle, "In the storm I awaken, falling, spinning, grieving," have we seen it on screen?

Brandon Sanderson

Not yet.

GnomishViking

If you could be a character in any book, who would it be and why?

Brandon Sanderson

A boring side character writer, left alone to tell stories, and who isn't required to go save the world--because I'd be terrible at it.

Brandon Sanderson

Camon was originally far less competent than he ended up in the final draft. Originally, Vin was constantly (in this chapter and the next) thinking about how he was making mistakes when talking to the obligator and the crew. I thought this would establish Vin as an intelligent, insightful character–one who is even better than the guy in charge of her crew.

However, I eventually realized that this didn't work. Camon was too incompetent–the version of him in the first draft would never have been able to keep control of his crew. In addition, by making him so weak, it weakened the threat to Vin. It's always better to have antagonists be strong, if only to make the heroes look stronger by comparison. Though Camon is only a minor villain in this book, strengthening him made the story seem much more logical, and I really don't think I lost anything.

Questioner

The Luthadel guard in The Final Empire, the garrison leader, his name is Bevidon, which sounds suspiciously like Bavadin. 

Brandon Sanderson

It does. 

Questioner

Is there any connection there?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

operatar

Are you going to make more Wax and Wayne books in the Mistborn universe?

Brandon Sanderson

There is one more Wax and Wayne book, called The Lost Metal, that I'm working on. After that, we're going to jump a generation and do a 1980's era tech Mistborn.

brothertaddeus

C-cyberpunk Mistborn??

Brandon Sanderson

This one won't reach true cyberpunk levels, but I'm hoping to have the time to squeeze in a more cyberpunk-influenced sequence later.

Questioner

If the spren turn into any weapon how come all the dead spren are Shardblades?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question.

Questioner

Read And Find Out?

Brandon Sanderson

It is a Read And Find Out.

Questioner

After reading your entire bookology--

Brandon Sanderson

Bookology, I like that.

Questioner

It got to the point where I was running out of books so I went on your website and found your recommended reads and after talking to some other authors I found some other connections to you, David Farland, Brian McClellan. Is there anyone else you would recommend down the same track?

Brandon Sanderson

Ok, authors I would recommend-- I'm going to go in a couple of different directions because not everyone might like the same sorts of things. I'm going to tell you what I've been reading lately. Brian McClellan's very good, and Brian McClellan was one of my students but I can't really take credit for Brian because he was really good when he came to class in the first place. Brian's books, if you haven't read them, Promise of Blood is the start. They are flintlock fantasies and they kind of combine a little bit of hard fantasy magic, like I do, and a little bit of the kind of grimdark grittiness and kind of combine them together into this cool mix. So the magic isn't quite as hard as the magic I do, meaning quite as rule-based, but the grimdark isn't quite as grim as the grimdark tends to go. The mix works really well.

I read Naomi Novik's new book, Uprooted, which is really good if you haven't read it. It's kind of like a dark fairytale YA but really twisted, so it's not intended for a teen audience because it is pretty twisted, but it's like how the fairytales really were, it's that sort of thing, it's really cool, it's very well written. Let's see-- I'm currently reading Dan's new book, that's not out yet. But I Am Not a Serial Killer. If you haven't read Dan's books they are great and they are creepy. It's about a teenage sociopath who hunts demons, to get that whole "I'm a sociopath and kind of want to kill people". Not that all sociopaths want to, but he does. And getting it out of his system is going and killing demons. 

Let's see, what else have I really loved. I like Robin Hobb's books a lot, if you haven't read Robin Hobb. Brent Weeks, a very similar writer to me. Brent Weeks, The Black Prism. It seems like Brent and I must have read the same books, a lot of the, growing up, and have the same-- because we both kind of independently started doing this kind of epic fantasy rule-based wacky magic kind of thing right about the same time. I really really like NK Jemisin, Nora Jemisin, her books are very literary so if you're not on the literary side of fantasy-- but the new one is fantasic, it's written in the second person, at least one of the viewpoints is. It's like the only book I've ever read in second person that works. And some of my classic favorites are A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge, it's very Dune-like, in that it's a science fiction that blends the best parts of epic fantasy together with it, and if you haven't read that and you like Dune, you'll probably like A Fire Upon the Deep. There we go.

Questioner

Do you know the part in Wheel of Time when Mat is-- seems to be trapped in his *inaudible* ways before he meets Verin?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

In the town? I always think, when I read-- Every time I feel like-- Is it a <tone> war?

Brandon Sanderson

It is, yeah.

Questioner

Writing the characters?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Questioner

And is there any correlation between that and Legion and you?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah, most definitely. Legion is... You know, I'm-- I don't actually hear voices or see things. But there is this sort of part of you that becomes a different person all the time. I can see if I were more unhinged I'd be like that or like Shallan.

meramipopper

Could your ever imprint one of your maps onto a coin?

Did you ever think of a Mistborn map coin?

Issac Stewart

A Mistborn Map coin would be cool! (But probably too detailed, not to mention canonical at this point.) I did draw inspiration from the old maps I did to try to tie the design into the world, if even a little bit. A series of coins based on maps would be really cool, and if simplified enough, they might just work. It could be quite the series, even if they wouldn't be canonical, just collectible. If that ever happens, let's look into sending you one, definitely!

Questioner

How do you consistently create compelling magic systems?

Brandon Sanderson

How do I consistently create compelling magic systems? Well you will maybe want to read Sanderson's Three Laws of Magic, which are basically each essays on this. The short answer is I look for something awesome and what that means is I look for something no one else is doing, or a ramification of a magic system that no one else is using and I extrapolate from it. As a reader of fantasy, who loved fantasy, and still does, for many years I got very tired of seeing the same two or three magic systems in every book that I read. It was really frustrating to me as a writer because I felt fantasy should be the most imaginative genre, it should be the most distinctive and different. And so it was bothersome to me that there weren't enough people doing interesting things with magic and so I just started doing it myself.

Nightfire

Hey Mr. Sanderson, I know that A Memory of Light should be finished in the next couple years (at the latest). I know that you tend to work on multiple projects. Unless you are planning to do another (totally) new project can we expect another Warbreaker, Elantris, or preferably Mistborn book as you release the ten Way of Kings books?

Brandon Sanderson

I do like to work on multiple projects. During those early unpublished years, I was always hopping from book to book, and it became habit for me. It really helps me keep fresh, allowing me to try new things and experiment with my style. One of the hardest thinks about working on the WoT has been the number of side projects I've had to set aside because of lack of time.

And so, with The Way of Kings series (aka The Stormlight Archive) I plan to do the books on a 2-to-1 ration. Meaning two Stormlight books, followed by one random side book. Generally, you should expect three books every two years from me, as that's been my speed. So there should still be a Stormlight book every year, though we'll see.

Some will be new things, others will be in current series. My current plans are to do an Elantris sequel in 2015, for instance, and I'd like to do the second (and final) Warbreaker book eventually.

Chaos (paraphrased)

This one is a personal favor... See, for metals that have Feruchemy, this verb is "charge". A metal is Feruchemically charged. But, you've been using the term "charge" for Hemalurgic metals, too, which I think is confusing. Before Hero of Ages I called Hemalurgic metals "Imbued" metals. I humbly petition to have that be the official term, because it's just confusing otherwise.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Seventeenth Shard members use the term of Invest for all of those type of things. However, what they use in world is different on each world. For example Way of Kings [Roshar] is infuse.

LerasiumMistborn

There has been evidence that Dalinar was able to heal with Stormlight (unintentionally) even before he said his oaths. How is this possible, and if Dalinar was able to do it, why does he have all these crazy scars? We know that Stormlight healing doesn't leave scars.

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

James Furr

If, instead of the 16, there had been 20 members at the Shattering of Adonalsium (with the same level of involvedness)...could it have Shattered into 20 pieces?

Brandon Sanderson

It's quite possible that a different number could have ended up working.

Arkadious4028

In your opinion, who would win a fight between a Fullborn (with compounding knowledge of the sixteen base metals) and Nicol Bolas?

Brandon Sanderson

I think Bolas is more powerful in his realm and continuity than your average fullborn is--but that said, we haven't seen any with real mastery of all the metals. But I'd say if you take the lore of the two universes into account, Bolas wins.

Questioner

How does time work in the Cosmere? Or a better question to ask: are any of the books happening at the same time in the Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm gonna have to look at the timeline. Most of them do not happen concurrently. Mostly they have been at distinct points. But the closer we get to modern and future era Mistborn world, the more overlap there is between them, just kind of by necessity 'cause they eventually start ramming together. So, the further we get in the Cosmere, the more likely things are overlapping.

So, I don't know that we've had anything actually overlap yet, in fact I'm pretty sure that we haven't, unless you count some of the short fiction might overlap. But even then, I don't think anything big overlaps, but it will start happening soon.

Genesis

Can someone using a medallion store Feruchemical traits in a separate metalmind (e.g. not the medallion itself)?

Can Inquisitors store Feruchemical traits in separate metalminds (excluding their spikes)?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and yes.

Questioner

Can a metalmind be made into a sentient object?

Brandon Sanderson

It's already got Investiture in it? Yes.

Questioner

The third Mistborn series will be the 1980s, and the fourth one will be the space opera one.

Brandon Sanderson

Yep, unless I do a cyberpunk in between.

Questioner

Do we ever see... I know in [The Bands of Mourning] is when we see the Allomantic grenades. Is that a setup to use, like, Allomantic engines for space travel at the end?

Brandon Sanderson

Yep. So, that is a setup for various uses of mechanical Allomancy and Feruchemy, is where we are pushing the technology. We're not there yet, but you should be able to extrapolate from some of those things for the future.

Brandon Sanderson

Next Projects

I've now begun Calamity, last of the Reckoners series. My goal will be to rough-draft it over the next three months. I have a tour between now and then (for Firefight) and a trip to Taiwan as well, so who knows if I'll make that deadline. We'll see.

Once that is done, I will dive into Stormlight 3. I'm still waffling on whether this will be Szeth's book, Eshonai's book, or Dalinar's book. The original outline calls for book 3 to have Szeth's flashbacks, but I am feeling that another character might match the events better.

I did some exploratory scenes for it this summer, though these may or may not end up in the actual book. I have been tweaking the outline, and am starting to feel very good about it. Writing the book should consume the entire rest of 2015, with a 2016 release. I do plan the Stormlight books to be an every-other-year thing.

Follow along starting next spring as I write the book and post updates on my website. I'll even try to do some screen capturing with Camtasia as I write, for those who are interested in watching for them.

That wraps up current and finished projects. 2014 was partially about me getting my feet underneath me after finishing The Wheel of Time and going right into Stormlight 2. I've caught my breath now, and feel good moving forward.

And, speaking of moving forward, it’s time for a State of the Sanderson tradition—we're going to play "What about the sequel to this book I love, Brandon!"

Here comes the big list.

Questioner

Are we ever going to get an official Cosmere timeline?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, we will eventually. We're really close to being able to release it, I'm not sure when we will. Um, the real trick is-- Like now that we're locking down White Sand, that's kind of like the last wild card because the novel version wasn't canon. So it's like where do we make sure this is, and stuff like that. So yeah we should be, once White Sand is out I think, everything we can lock down. The trick is, like if I release it there are certain-- like where is Sixth of the Dusk exactly? It's not something I want because that's got spoilers.

Questioner

..It is actually canon that Era Two [of Mistborn]takes place between the first half and the second half of [The Stormlight Archive]?

Brandon Sanderson

Well I haven't written the second half of Stormlight so that--

Questioner

But does it take place after the first half?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes it takes place sometime after the first half, but it depends on how long I break and things like that, whether they overlap, maybe it takes place after 7, maybe it takes place after 5, maybe it takes place after-- Like we'll see when I get there how many years, because the timing on those is a little more tight.

Questioner

So they're more interweaved with those, those are closer to the same time period.

Brandon Sanderson

They are much closer to the same time period than other things, which is why I have to be dodgy on those ones, mostly just because they are on a similar timeline.

Questioner

Steris and Marasi. Did you plan the love interest to be [Steris] from the very beginning?

Brandon Sanderson

I did... Very beginning is a weird thing as an author to explain. Because the very beginning of that story, Wax didn't exist, it was only Wayne. Then I built Wax in, then I started building Wax's back history. Then I started building Marasi. Then I started building -- right? By the time that the outline for the four books was done, but even before that, when I was only writing the first one, I knew what I was doing, there.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How do you keep all of your information straight?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I have a dedicated database shared between me and my assistants. I use wikidpad and have two amazing assistants to make sure I keep it all straight, but I still mess up a lot!

Questioner

Is there any plans to do anything further with the Elantris universe in the near future?

Brandon Sanderson

There is. The idea is, when the Wax & Wayne books are done, to do Elantris sequels in that slot, where I've been doing them. There's only one more Wax & Wayne book, so it shouldn't be too long, but when we talk about my writing schedule, we have to talk in the scope of years.

Questioner

I really enjoyed The Emperor's Soul when I read it. It's, I think, one of my favorite things that you've written so far.

Brandon Sanderson

Thank you. I've been... I think, "You know, I should write another story about Shai," but then I'm like, "That one turned out so well." It's one of those things where it's like, "Don't ruin it by having a sequel," right? This is so perfect as its own little glimpse of something.

mikkomikk

Is Ishnah a kandra? Mraize said that she was just an assistant(maybe the original), but she seems to have a lot of practical experience and knowledge.. Seems like a kandra thing to be good spies :D

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

When will we find out about the other effect of burning lerasium?

Brandon Sanderson

Ummm, you-- I think it-- Ehhh, maybe eventually. I don't know. Not as relevant as it once was.

Ecuadorable

I asked for a clue about Rysn or Axies, and I got this!

Brandon Sanderson

Axies is one of two races from Aimia, but they are not related.

Questioner

So I'm wondering, how omniscient are the Vessels?

Brandon Sanderson

This is a difficult question to answer because they don't know everything, but they could theoretically. And so, the actual Vessel needs to apply the power and learn things. And they don't know the future exactly. Particularly, you'll notice some hints of this in Oathbringer. There are certain things that really foul with their ability to see the future. It's whenever we kind of get the equivalence of an atium shadow right? Reflection that reflects that someone sees the future, and then suddenly you end up with this kind of difficult chain to follow.

Questioner

Can you tell me who might be the most all-knowing out of all of them?

Brandon Sanderson

I will say the older they are the more they generally know.

Questioner

So probably not Harmony then?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably not Harmony.

Questioner

For the Saint in Skyward, I just love the funny prophet character. What was your inspiration for that?

Brandon Sanderson

So, the Saint in Skyward. Not giving any spoilers. When I was working on this character, I was really looking for something-- I look for linguistic cues. Because if you can have linguistic cues to who's talking and what the character's like, and something that'll characterize them through their language, that makes it so much better in storytelling, because you don't have to put that in narrative, you can put it in the flow of a conversation. And you'll notice, at least I've noticed, that a lot of the great screenwriters look for these sorts of things, so they can tag who is speaking, even if it's offscreen, by the way that they are talking, and I just love to do this. And a lot of these things come out of me taking a scene and working with it and casting different people in the roles and trying their voices until I hit on one that I say, "That's interesting, let's dig into this further", and that's what happened there.