Advanced Search

Questioner

What is a sparkflicker and what are they used for?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh good question... You'll be interested in this. Sparkflickers are-- Herdazians, their fingernails are stone. A sparkflicker is so they can start fires. They're actually flint-and-steel-ing. So a sparkflicker is a fire-creator using their actual fingernails.

Questioner

So they don't have a martial application?

Brandon Sanderson

...Not really. I mean the sparkflicker, no. The nails? Yes, if your fingernails are rough. But there is a deep implication to that that I don't think people have quite picked out yet.

Blightsong

Have larger landgoing greatshells existed above a chasmfiend?

Brandon Sanderson

Larger than a chasmfiend... the ones that wander around out in the islands of Reshi could go on land. So yea, it is possible that there are larger ones. They do better in the water, because of how big they are, but the high oxygen, low gravity, and symbiotic bonds with the spren allow some mega fauna that is just really large and just could exist on earth, so yea.

Questioner

Are you worried, because of the length of the Stormlight Archive books, that the movies will not be able to encompass them fully?

Brandon Sanderson

What a well-stated way to say that... So, movies. Hollywood. Bless them, they try. No, seriously, like, there are a lot of really creative people who really are passionate about books in Hollywood, just none of them have any money? I'm exaggerating, strike that from the record. But we've sold the rights to people that we trust. Otherwise, we wouldn't sell them. It's always a gamble. We're never sure if it's gonna work. Like, even people who are really well-intentioned. The Golden Compass movie is a great example of this. Really good intentions. Everything about that movie should have worked: great actors, great design. And the movie was boring. And, it's like everybody tried really hard, and it just didn't work. And I know how that feels. I tried really hard on Apocalypse Guard, and it didn't work. And, so, yes, I am totally worried about that. But the thing about it is, if I don't risk that, then I can't ever have a good movie, 'cause I'll never have a movie.

Now, would we rather Stormlight be a television show? Probably. And I think the chances-- So, what I've been saying is, let's just hope that the other fantasy television shows do well. Let's hope the new Lord of the Rings one does really well. Let's hope that Pat Rothfuss's show goes really, really well. If a bunch of these things get made, and they're good, it improves our chances, and things like that. I've constantly said, I would rather a television show. But, you know, I wouldn't have thought that the Lord of the Rings films could be adapted as well as they were. And they worked. So, who knows. I'm willing to roll those dice, and see what we end up with.

Questioner

What's your most asked question?

Brandon Sanderson

"When's the next of blank coming?"

Nazh8

What does CP4 stand for? A bunch of people on 17th Shard are wondering about it.

Brandon Sanderson

There's nothing really exciting here, I'm afraid. It's a rank, like E6 or the like in the American military. Only the Windrunners use these, as they decided on ranks that one could earn while advancing as a squire. The old stories say that some squires never advanced to full Windrunners, and it felt it would be good to continue to promote these individuals to different ranks within squirehood. It stands for Commission Placement.

Questioner

In Rithmatist, when Joel goes to see if he’ll be chosen as a Rithmatist and the chalk outline thing comes out and looks at him.  What was it thinking?

Brandon Sanderson

You will find out eventually.

XavierRDE

Since when did your start to plan this specific development for Rysn? Was it something that existed from her inception?

Brandon Sanderson

Rysn wasn't in my very first outlines; I decided upon this path for her when working on Words of Radiance, as I realized I really wanted one Interlude character that I returned to, and showed a longer story across several years for.

ImKrypton

If there was Any shard to be offered to Hoid, it would have been this one [Whimsy].

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid is far too calculating and deliberate for Whimsy. It might seem his style on the surface, but a deep dive into who he is would show that it's very much not who he is.

DeJeR

Will we ever see the world or magic system for Whimsy?

Brandon Sanderson

Some day, hopefully.

BrandosSmolder

Was there any inspiration here [The Library of Alexandria] for the Palanaeum? I assume if I ask about the burning of the library I'll get "rafo", but what about the size?

Brandon Sanderson

It was an inspiration.

ccstat

Are gems in those mined or exclusively from gemhearts?

Brandon Sanderson

Some are mined. Mining is not easy on Roshar.

Necarion

One other speed bubble question. Is the speed of light the same inside and outside a speed bubble?

Brandon Sanderson

Um, yes. The speed of light is the same. Good question, you're trying to figure out the FTL.

Necarion

Also, it would eliminate the redshift if the speed of light…

Brandon Sanderson

If the speed of light were similar. That's one thing we considered, but it felt too unintuitive, plus it's just not how I imagined things working. So, no it is not, but that's a good question. It is something we considered.

Questioner

Just wondering if I could ask what the name of Azure's sword was?

Brandon Sanderson

I'll RAFO it now. That's mostly a RAFO because I have several names that I have not-- it's a TBA, sorry. I was gonna stick it in, and then I just didn't. I wasn't satisfied.

dragonssleepinfire

In Words of Radiance--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes?

dragonssleepinfire

After Eshonai bonds the stormspren, she starts hearing this screaming voice in her head.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes?

dragonssleepinfire

Is that her voice?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, um… It is a combination of her voice and something that is happening with Roshar, and at the end of the next book you'll get a big clue.

luke.spence (paraphrased)

You mentioned that human can’t bond Honorblades, but Nalan tells Szeth that his bond with his Honorblade has been broken. Can you clear this up?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Humans CAN bond Honorblades. There's a crucial difference between Honorblades and Shardblades. When you drop an Honorblade, it does not disappear, even if it has been bonded. A Shardblade will disappear when dropped.

[conversation about the inhabited South Pole of Scadrial, and whether there are currently any other inhabited landmasses]

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. (Obviously.) :)

Questioner

When it comes to regeneration, what's the limit-- when Lift resurrected Gawx, was he actually dead?

Brandon Sanderson

He wasn't dead.

Questioner

So, you can't actually bring the dead back from the dead.

Brandon Sanderson

If you could bring someone back with CPR, you can bring them back with-- does that make sense?

godminnette2

I would also like to point out that both Shallan and Adolin wondering what kind of places could have such names, after being told by Azure last book that she came from a far land other than Roshar, is mildly amusing to me. They do have a lot on their minds.

Brandon Sanderson

That is true. They MIGHT start putting some things together in relation to Azure later on in the book, fortunately.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Ninth - target audience

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

"Honestly I want everyone to read my books"; WoK/SA is targeted at epic fantasy lovers, Mistborn is more approachable for heist novels, Alcatraz books are written at himself at age 13 (kid too clever for their own good but convinced that books are boring).

Brandon Sanderson

OreSeur and Vin discuss their interview with Dockson

This series, in total, is about trust. About what it costs to trust people, and what you earn by trusting. In book one, Vin learned to trust–and she learned one of Kelsier's prime beliefs. That it's better to trust, and be betrayed, than to always worry about everyone around you.

The theme, then, for this book is service and friendship, and trusting those you serve. Elend has to earn the trust of his people. Vin has to earn the trust of the kandra who serves her.

OreSeur's explanations about the Contract are mixed with Zane's worries and problems with being Straff's tool. This story is, in part, about what it's like to serve–what it's like to be a tool–and the difference between a good leader and a bad one.

i_am_barry_badrinath

Do you need to read it [Dawnshard]? Like, I went back and read Edgedancer, but it definitely wasn’t required to read the main books. Is this the same, or do you def need to read this to understand ROW?

Brandon Sanderson

If I write something as a novella, I consider it non-required reading. It will expand, add context, and will usually give more backstory to a side character or two. Consider them extended interludes.

blazingwhale

Will it be coming to audible?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, eventually--probably not for a year or so.

Brandon Sanderson

PART SEVEN: FILM/TELEVISION/VIDEO GAME UPDATES

The film/television world is a strange place right now, with COVID, and a lot of things slowed down or got stalled. So there are no big updates for you on anything here, though I’ve still broken everything down here by series. Basically, I’m afraid I have to tell you there hasn’t been motion on any of them.

That said, there are some cool things happening behind the scenes on a few of these projects. I hope to have announcements sometime this year that will make you excited.

Stormlight

This is still owned by Dan Mintz/DMG Entertainment. There has been no motion this year.

Mistborn/Rest of Cosmere

I still have all of these rights, and have not yet sold them, though I’ve been working on a screenplay for Mistborn myself and have had some interesting opportunities behind the scenes. Nothing I can announce yet.

Legion

Still owned by Cineflix Media. No updates.

Skyward

Owned by Universal Television, purchased last year. I’m eager to see what they come up with!

Alcatraz

Optioned by Gaumont with Stuart Beatie, the writer of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, adapting for an animated series.

Dark One

Joe Michael Straczynski wrote a pilot for this earlier in the year, and we’re still shopping it around. It’s been a cool experience so far, working with someone who knows the business as well as JMS does.

Snapshot

Option lapsed this year. We’ve been looking for another home for this.

Steelheart

Option lapsed last year. No home for this yet either.

botanicaxu

How is the illustrating process for Stormlight 3 going? Is there any new guest artist? Will we see more new species/fashion pages/character depictions? I remember a WoB saying that there's a plan for Unkalaki outfit design. Is it still possible?

Ben McSweeney

We're still in the early draft process. Almost certainly, but it's not for me to say. Almost definitely/possibly/no idea. If there's an Unkalaki design, it might be slated for Dan.

yulerule

So, we have Shard names; Ruin, Preservation, Harmony, Cultivation, Honor, Ambition, Autonomy, Devotion, Dominion. Those are pretty much regular English words. And then we have Odium. That's a little more Latinate. It's not-- It doesn't fit the pattern.

Brandon Sanderson

So I don't really look as something as Latinate or Germanic, when I'm picking the names usually.

yulerule

But this one is more. Even in Devotion or Dominion, they're still more regular English. Why?

Brandon Sanderson

I just look for the thing that feels right. Remember, all these words are in translation. When you read the book, they were a word in the original language of the book, that then we have translated to English. And so, don't look to much about what's Greek, what's Latin, what's Germanic. I will mix those a lot. And that's just because I'm looking for the word that has right resonance in English, that I'm writing in. You might even find Latin and Greek mixes in some of my stuff. And that's not done to be like, "Oh, you should be paying [attention]." Usually, I'm just looking for a flavor.

yulerule

So it's the flavor-- Because I actually did have it - they're all translations, why not Hatred [instead of Odium?] 

Brandon Sanderson

Because Odium is cooler. It just sounds cooler. There is no answer other than "I like the word better."

yulerule

Is there any connection with the thought that it's not Hatred? Because in Oathbringer, he says he's Passion?

Brandon Sanderson

He would claim that he's Passion and not Odium. But that is part of why I chose it. Hatred felt too on-the-nose, because there is quite arguably that step toward just being all Passion, and that's what he claims that he is.

yulerule

His own perception of himself, can perception, in the cosmere, can that influence?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it can influence.

yulerule

So the Shard's Intent can--

Brandon Sanderson

Can be influenced by their perception and the holder's, yes.

Heartlight

What is Nightblood's opinions on gender, and who decided on him having he/him pronouns?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood is fascinated by gender, and trying to figure it out. Unlike spren like Syl, Nightblood has not self gender assigned as an influence of interacting with humans. That said, Vasher was probably the one who just started calling him He, so if you want to take the issue up with anyone, go to him.

IslayThePeaty

Does Ambition factor into Sel, either in the events we've seen on-planet or in terms of where Uli Da was ultimately spintered?

Brandon Sanderson

I'll RAFO this for now. Suffice it to say that this specific splintering has had far-reaching effects.

Questioner

Who's cleverer, Kelsier or Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on the situation and what you even mean by clever. Hoid thinks he's cleverer, so…

Adam Horne

He has a lot of practice, too.

Brandon Sanderson

He has a lot of practice, yeah. Kelsier would lose patience with Hoid before Hoid loses patience with Kelsier.

Brandon Sanderson

Just a warning: as always, some of these were heard wrong by me, or by the person recording, or were mixed up during questioning.

For example, the one referencing the first 11 chapters was me talking about the first book, not the third. The question about Ivory also wasn't quite recorded correctly.

I usually don't have the time to go through all of these, but remember--word of Brandon can be very fallible for many reasons. I continue to be willing to answer these for fans at conventions and signings, but the community does need to know not to hold to them too strongly.

Jeremy (paraphrased)

There are hints in Words of Radiance that the Thrill is tied to an individual entity that Taravangian has studied, possibly one of the Unmade. Does this have anything to do with the hints of why the Knights Radiant turned away? Were the Unmade some of those who did whatever-it-was that tore them apart?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

[This is the one where he stopped me partway through asking, probably due to the wording]. Does it have anything to do with it? Yes. Is it the root cause or the primary reason? I'm not going to reveal that right now.

Questioner

We have a lot of fan theories about your work, and most of them are wrong by necessity.

Brandon Sanderson

...That is true.

Questioner

Are there things that are sort of directly designed to encourage or dissuade certain theories?

Brandon Sanderson

...As a member of Wheel of Time fandom growing up, I have experience on both sides of this now. And I decided after-- and this was partially looking at Robert Jordan's notes, looking at how he approached it, how it worked, being a fan-- I decided that that direction lies madness. Trying to stay ahead of the fans, trying-- if you try to twist so much that the fans can't guess, then that just means your foreshadowing is not going to work. On the other hand, doing too many in-jokes and things like this, it risks just making your book uninteresting, or not long-lasting.

And so while I read a lot of fan theories, and I even take them on occasion-- like Shardfork? That was totally a fan thing. Someone suggested that, I'm like, "Yeah, that would totally happen." But I kinda have to approach it from the frame of mind of "What would the characters do?" And I try not to actively write things that dissuade or encourage certain theories, I try to write what is best for the story. And let the fans then-- if they're going to guess, they're going to guess. If my foreshadowing is good, they probably are going to guess. At the same time, I know how insane they all are, 'cause I'm one of them, and I know they're just gonna go off on weird tangents. And that's just fine too.

So, it's this weird balance where I try to be part of the fandom, but make sure not being overly influenced by the fandom, and Wheel of Time gave me a lot of good practice on this. One of the things I really worried about with Wheel of Time was that the book would become a sequence of in-jokes for people who had read the series before. And yet, at the same time, as a fan, there were certain things I really wanted to see happen. I wanted to see certain characters meet up again after a long time apart, and I had been waiting for that for, like, a decade, and I was gonna make that happen, right? And I had to balance those two things, and that's just what I do with my books, even still.

Chlis

Is this book part of the Cosmere? Since it's based in Chicago I'm wondering if that maybe isn't the case?

Brandon Sanderson

No, most of my "breather novels" are not Cosmere. The Cosmere requires meticulous planning and continuity. That's not usually good for what I'm looking to do when I take a break from a big project for a small one, though occasionally I can fit in a novella or such.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Brandon also clarified that the oaths, with the exception of the first ideal, are not restricted to specific words. Rather, a specific idea must be conveyed for the oath to be accepted.

Brandon Sanderson

You can read Aether of Night. I gave that to 17th Shard to give away to people. You can read the e-book of that.

White Sand and Aether of Night are readable books. They both have big problems. Aether of Night has the problem that it feels like two different books. There's like, a romantic comedy happening at the same time as a dire war and invasion by dark forces, and the two books don't really work well together. It's like a Shakespearean mistaken identity romantic comedy going on opposite that.

White Sand just has the problem that it's about thirty percent too long, overwritten for what the plot actually is. We fixed that when making it a graphic novel, but some people like the prose version instead, so you can get that and read it. White Sand is canon to the Cosmere with the tweaks made to the graphic novel. I don't ever intend to rewrite White Sand, though I do intend to someday have other things happening on that world. So that one is canon. Aether of Night is not, even though there's a Shardpool and a Shard in it. The events that are happening in that book are not canon. Aethers are - you've seen them pop up here and there. But the actual events of the story aren't.

Katelyn Gigante

After the epilogue, when Odium took Hoid's memories, did he gain them or just remove them?

Brandon Sanderson

He removed them, he did not gain them. He excised them, he performed a little surgery on the Breaths. You have seen this happen before in the books, though I will not give spoilers to another book. It happened on a different world.

Brandon Sanderson

Miles as a God

I had to be careful about the Miles "Are we not gods?" monologue, as I feel this is a theme that's come up a little too often in the Mistborn books. The Lord Ruler had it, Kelsier had it to an extent, and Zane flirted with it. We ran into it with Spook as well.

I like that it's a running theme—this would be a real concern, I feel. In our world, we talk about one race or gender being superior, but in the end there's really no scientific basis for it. Yes, people are different, but I find no solid argument to one group being better than another. That hasn't stopped a lot of people from trying to prove it.

Well, what if there were something like Allomancy? It's the only major magic system I've done that is genetic. And in this world, you have the only solid argument of "Well, one genetic line is obviously superior to another." That creates for some troubling things to think about, I should hope. It goes further than skaa and nobility, as talked about in the first trilogy.

If you were Miles—who, by genetics, was practically invincible and immortal—I think it would be very hard to not to start thinking of yourself in this way. So it keeps popping up as a theme. (Eventually I'll really dig into it, rather than flirting with it as I have in most of the books.)

Questioner

In regards to the one-armed Lopen - which arm is missing?

Brandon Sanderson

*photo pause* I have always imagined it as his left, but I don't know if I ever said or canonized it.

Judean_peoplesfront

I'm currently on a reread of WoK and in chapter 57 Hoid says to Kaladin: "I've many [names]. I began life as a thought, a concept, words on a page. That was another thing I stole. Myself."

Do we know if this is Hoid breaking the fourth wall or is it just some kind kind of metaphorical reference to his presence at the birth of the Shards?

Peter Ahlstrom

The simple answer is that this does not break the fourth wall, but we won't find out why until years from now. So it's understandable that you would interpret it this way.

firstRainbowRose

Can we have a hint as to which book will explain it?

Peter Ahlstrom

Probably Hoid's origin story, which Brandon is writing after he finishes Stormlight 10.

Sam Script

So was Adonalsium a divine being or a pure force/essence of creation?

Peter Ahlstrom

RAFO

Questioner

What would happen if a Bloodmaker somehow burned stored <renewal>?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Argent

Is the mist spirit in Alendi's logbook the same spirit Vin sees?

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Kurkistan

Is it the same one Elend sees?

Brandon Sanderson

When? No. It is not the same one that Elend sees. There is a different mist spirit back then. Elend sees the same one Vin sees.

Kurkistan

And Alendi saw a different one?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. And originally my rules for what made a mist spirit were a little more lax than I eventually decided them to being.

Argent

But it still works…?

Brandon Sanderson

What is in the books, it still works and is canonized, and those are two different mist spirits. But if you find the deleted scenes—if you look at them—there are- I am exploring more with mist spirits and you’ll find out what that would have been.

coltonx9

Is Sja-anat-- Is she wearing a chiton, like a Greek chiton?

Brandon Sanderson

I'll RAFO that.

Questioner

We've been wondering how to exactly pronounce Sazed.

Brandon Sanderson

Inworld people say both. Kelsier says Say-zed, Sazed says something like Sayzed. (Sorry, I have no idea how to transcribe it ^^ Kelsier's intonation is more on the second syllable, whereas Sazed himself says it more in a slur?)

Jason

What can we expect from Dark One, specifically what kind of magic system?

Brandon Sanderson

the magic systems in Dark One, focus on, right now, on a person who can steal people’s souls and use them to make magic objects, mixed with an electricity type world, where the ground is electrified, and animals, plants and animals, have an, a symbiosis with electricity, like you’ll see a tree that has a Jacob’s ladder going up it, or you’ll see ah, a beast that uses spittle like a taser, that should be the next book that I work on for Random House after the Steelheart trilogy, so we will see.

Questioner

The last book, which turned into three books for The Wheel of Time, how much of that was yours and how much was notes from Jordan?

Brandon Sanderson

He left about a hundred written pages and about a hundred pages more of notes specifically for the last book. It really depends on the given scene. In Gathering Storm, if it was Egwene, it was either written by him or from his notes, and if it was Rand, it was mostly me. In Towers of Midnight, if it was Mat it was probably from his notes or written by him. He wrote the whole Tower of Ghenjei sequence, for instance. But if it was Perrin, it was me. He had nothing for Perrin, other than leaving Malden and then the Last Battle, so I had to fill in everything in between. In the final book, the meeting at the Fields of Merrilor was him and the very last chapter, which became the epilogue, was him, and a lot of the rest was me.

Questioner

So is Lopen able to regrow his arm because he didn't identify as being a one-armed Herdazian, even though he made all those jokes?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

Are you just getting these questions off of the 17th Shard?

Blightsong

No, these are mine.

Brandon Sanderson

These are actually yours? OK, i'll keep going then. If these are actually yours you can have as many as you want, yeah. Some people just go to the list of all the questions to ask Brandon and then they come and like "i'm just going to ask all of these" and i'm like "no, you can have three or four", but if they're your own questions you can have as many as you want.

Algafi

I also have the theory that Huio will swear Dustbringer oaths (taking spanreeds apart to see how they work and a badass Shardhammer). And I want to get my first RAFO so:

Can a KR swear 2 order oaths after obtaining a Shardblade?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Four

Smedry Talents

We’re hitting our stride now. I think that this is where the book starts to really reflect what I imagined for it. Here, we’ve got some genuine tension, some worldbuilding, and some utter silliness.

One of the early ideas for this book was a magic system where the characters had powers that sounded like drawbacks, but which could be used in ways that were clever and interesting. Grandpa Smedry shows this off for the first time in this chapter by arriving late for the bullets.

As you might have noticed, it’s a kind of metaphor. I find that often, our drawbacks are advantages in disguise. It all depends on how you look at it. I’m often fond of pointing out that arrogance misused will turn you into an annoying person–but if you channel that same energy into believing in yourself, you can accomplish some fairly amazing things.

It takes a lot of thinking to come up with the right Smedry Talents. They have to be things that you can explain in one sentence, and have to be hindrances that a lot of us feel that we have. However, I also have to be able to twist them around so that they can be used in interesting ways.

CosmereNinja (paraphrased)

would a non returned be killed using nightblood if it used up their breath, or would they just become a drab?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

yes and very quickly, no matter whether they are returned or not

CosmereNinja (paraphrased)

so the same would happen if they used nightblood on Roshar with stormlight

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

yes just the same

Lee Allen

When Kaladin helped Adolin fight in the arena, did Elhokar notice him Surgebinding?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. :)

Questioner

In Stormlight, how the hell does society work with one object standing for both the currency, the magic system, and light and power--

Brandon Sanderson

How does it work in Roshar with one thing spanning-- for the economy, the magic system, and... lighting up everything. They would ask, "How  you could possibly have three different things?" because it makes no sense to them. It totally functions, I think. The big distinction is you can't use Stormlight for lighting if-- Like that's something for rich people. You'll see poor people using candles and whatnot, because hanging out your spheres is not a smart idea in some other places. There are spheres that are a low light level that are worth about a candle or so, so if you put a candle out someone could just swipe that, it's worth the same amount. There's really no difference between putting out a candle and that. If you're going to put out a lantern you can put spheres in it and lock it up.