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How do you find an agent?
One way is to go to awards ceremonies or writing conventions, such as WorldCon. Brandon stated he met his agent while he was attending the Nebula Awards in NY. He was at a bar, drinking sprite, and talked to someone nearby who happened to be Jim Mintz, an editor at Tor, and also met his agent, Moshe Feder (who was at the signing as well).
Now that Bands of Mourning came out, and the Southern Scadrians. In Sixth of the Dusk, the people who show up, is that them? Because it sounds like the same technology...
…I've not announced it yet. But a lot of people are assuming that it was.
Well that's something, it's better than Read And Find Out. Thank you.
It is kind of a Read And Find Out though so if you want a card you can have one.
Was there a good reason for Elhokar to not speak his First Oath earlier or was he just plain stupid?
He wasn't ready yet. It can take a long time and he was hung up on his insecurities.
If a heroic guy was also an organ donor, what happens to his original organs when he Returns?
Will the recipient's heart grow three sizes that day?
Ha. Not a question I'd anticipated, but the body is healed when made Returned, so anything missing would be regrown. So everything is fine.
In the Mistborn books, there's no one who can do chromium Feruchemy. If there was someone who had both the Feruchemy and the Allomancy related to chromium, they could create infinite luck. So doesn't that mean they could just do whatever they wanted?
Well, we will deal with how exactly Fortune works in the cosmere at a later date. There's a reason I haven't shown somebody with it yet, because I'm saving that for later on. Let's just say that even the Terris people don't quite understand it, even during Era 2.
As a beginner, I would like to ask your advice on how to narrow that gap between my storytelling and story writing. (I have watched your online lectures on fantasy and sci-fi writing).
You phrase this in a great way, as the writing and the storytelling are two distinct skills that often intertwine.
Reading into your question, I think that what you’re asking is how to make the things in your head (the storytelling) work on the page (the story writing). I have to warn you, however, that a lot of times there’s a little more going on than I might have mentioned in my lectures.
The metaphor I often use in the lecture is how, as an early trumpet player, I could hear some music I wanted to play in my head (specifically when doing improvised jazz) but didn’t yet have the skill to make those sounds come out the front of the horn. This is a good metaphor, but it leaves something unsaid.
A lot of writers can imagine a perfect story, but then have trouble writing it down. My experience tells me, however, that much of the time, that story isn’t actually perfect in our heads. We pretend it is because we can’t see the problems with it when we’re imagining it—we gloss over the difficulties, the issues that are quite real but invisible until we actually try to put the thing together on the page.
So you have two potential problems. One is that the story in your head isn’t, and never was, as flawless as you imagined. The second is that your skill in writing isn’t up to telling the things that ARE working in your head. Both are eventually resolved through practice.
To finally get around to some practical advice like you wanted, however, there are a couple of ways to bridge this gap. One is to practice outlining. Now, I’ve often been clear that there is no one right way to write a story, and non-outlining methods are valid. However, if you really want to start looking at the structure of your story critically, forcing yourself to outline it first can really help. Plus, one big advantage of a solid outline is that you’re able to keep less in your head while working for the day. You can look at the outline, know what story beats need to be accomplished, and focus your mental energy on things like showing instead of telling and really nailing character voice/motivations instead of worrying if this plot point will end up working or not.
These fundamentals are another really great way to bridge that gap. Few new writers fail because they lack vision, originality, or ambition. They fail because it is difficult to write a character that is compelling. Or they fail because it’s tough to evoke a sense of wonder in exploring a new world while at the same time not bog the story down with unnecessary details. Practicing things like voice, showing instead of telling, and evoking setting through character can let you make the page-by-page writing interesting and compelling, which then serves to make your story work long enough for you to get to the grand ideas.
So, who is the character you're most proud of?
I would say, I am most proud of Dalinar. I spent a lot of time getting Dalinar to work. Either him or Sazed, both of them were very difficult at times to make work.
The saddest part about Kaloo, I think, is that he's not a real character. I had a lot of fun writing him, and when I was done, I wished that I had a full character to play with. Even in these few chapters, I got across a complexity for him that I thought was most interesting. (His line about acting the fool on purpose, as well as the one "The revolution rolled over us while we were still discussing what to have for dinner" are some of my personal favorites.)
Unfortunately, all of this characterization is undermined by the fact that Kaloo is really just Raoden playing a part. I often develop characters in my mind based solely on their dialect–and everyone has a dialect, despite what you may think. Galladon's might be the most obvious, but–in my mind, at least–everyone in the book speaks a little differently. Roial is dignifiedly mischievous, Ahan favors flamboyant words, Kaloo favors frivolous words, and Ashe likes words that make him sound solemn. Karata is curt, Lukel likes to quip, and Raoden firm.
That's probably why I grew so attached to Kaloo–he had a lot of dialogue, and through that I created who he was in my mind. This tendency of mine to characterize through dialogue is why I had so much trouble cutting Galladon's frequent use of "kolo", which always bothered Moshe. Galladon's dialect is so much a part of who he is that each cut made me cringe.
Will Shai have a role in the next Elantris books?
Yes she will have a role in the future Elantris books or at least a cameo in them if not.
Do you know who Phineas Gage is?
No.
Okay, so he was a miner and had an iron rod shoot through his head...
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah…
...and it changed his personality and stuff.
Yeah, I have read about that.
So if like consciousness and personality can exist independently of a body, if something like that happened to somebody in the cosmere would it change their personality?
It would change their personality. Unless it were a hemalurgic spike but then that does usually twist you as well. Yes it still would. In the Cosmere most of these things will work the same way, because the body’s interpreting what’s going on.
Do we have yet to see a dragon from you? I was wondering if those were coming later.
I did put, one of my world has Dragons.
Is that Dragonsteel?
Yes it is!
What does this symbol mean? We tried to figure it out years ago and never quite got anywhere with it...
Can I just cryptically smile? Is that enough of an answer?
Mmm... What if you smiled cryptically, but also said something cryptic (but relevant!) too? ;)
It means something, yes. Is it earth-shattering? Probably not.
I noticed a very similar fire-starting tool in both Sixth of the Dusk and also in [Shadows for Silence in the] Forests of Hell.
Yes.
Is that any-- I know they have two levers you push together and they spark.
Right.
Is that any kind of random--
So I did intend there to be a connection there but it is not a connection that is supposed to be super meaningful. It's just that somebody figured something out, and Sixth of the Dusk is many years later. We have them in our world too. I did it deliberately because I wrote those stories so close together. I was like "Oh this technology has gotten around because the Ones Above have started visiting." But I don't think they're of a technology level that they couldn't have discovered it on their own maybe, so it's not supposed to be some big reveal.
Bluefingers Explains That He Has to Execute Siri
Bluefingers is right when he says that there's a good chance Idris will do better in the war than everyone assumes. Of course, the main reason they'll do better is because of how the Lifeless were launched without support or planning.
If this war were allowed to progress, Idris would be able to draw allies from across the mountains (as I mentioned earlier), and Yesteel's ability to create swords like Nightblood would end with T'Telir falling and then the entire world being cast into chaos and destruction.
Is Edgli the name of Endowment?
RAFO.
See, I like science, because you can be wrong with science. In SA4, you will have a character...a scientist..who appeared in the book we're talking about, talk about some of the things he got wrong.
There's been enough speculation that an Elantrian world hopper appears in Way of Kings and that an Elantrian world hopper wrote the Ars Arcanum in Alloy of Law to make it likely that by the time of both books, at least some Elantrians can world hop. So my question is, at the time of Way of Kings, does Sel have the most cosmere-awareness out of any of your Shardworlds (including ones we have not seen yet), or is there another Shardworld that's more aware of the greater cosmere at this time?
Sel is very cosmere aware at this point, but getting to and through Shadesmar (that's not the local term, by the way) is very difficult on Sel. That stunted them for a long while. They're still fairly far ahead.
"Your" wiki.
Oh dear, I can only imagine the contents, not to mention the chaos it would inspire over on the 17th Shard if it ever leaked. Once the Cosmere is complete in 30 years or so, do you have any plans for letting the fans peek at it?
When the Cosmere is complete, I will share it--or have instructions to share it when, hopefully in many years, I pass away.
On Earth, we have like snakes that have heat pits that can sense heat and bugs that see into ultraviolet. On Roshar, are there varieties of cremlings that can see Investiture.
Yes. <smug mhm-ing>
When Brandon says Scadrial's life is at its poles, does he mean hemispheres?
It's the magnetic poles, which are not close to the geographic poles.
Is Harmony going to play a big role in Era 3 and 4?
RAFO.
I really like Sarene's explanation for why the country is in so much trouble now. You could wonder, perhaps, how Arelon lasted as long as it did beneath Iadon's rule. Her answer here–that the people were anticipating Raoden's rule–is a good one, I think. People can endure a lot, as long as they know that there is a defined end to their suffering.
<Does Jasnah know about Adonalsium?>
No, she is not specifically cosmere-aware.
Maps
Just like the other two books, the maps in this volume are brought to you by the talented Isaac Stewart—video game designer, writer, and all-around great guy. Isaac is a member of my writing group, and he started work on the maps for Hero of Ages early, since we knew we'd want maps of Urteau and Fadrex to replace the map of Luthadel (which doesn't have as big a part in this book as it did in the others).
I'm curious to know what people think, opening this book and seeing these two cities instead of the familiar Luthadel. Part of me still wishes I'd been able to set the book in Luthadel.
And yet, I worried that that setting was played out. In book two, the action came to the characters—but I wasn't certain I wanted them to still be sitting there, dealing with the problems life threw at them. I wanted them to be out proactively seeking to head off the end of the world.
That required them to leave Luthadel, and while I did find opportunity for a few scenes in the city, they aren't the focus of the book.
I like how both of these maps turned out, as they both have visual elements that were challenging to describe in the text. For Urteau, the streetslots are an unusual image, and I think the map helps get across the idea of the empty canal streets. Fadrex was an even bigger problem—it was tough to get down the descriptions of the rock formations around the city that provide natural fortifications. I think that the map here gives me a leg up on description, as it adds a visual image I can work from before I even have to begin describing.
I know some readers complain about how fantasy writers feel a need for maps, but for me it's always been a vital part of the experience. The map is an initial visual image that begins to pull you away from our world and deposit you someplace else. David Farland always says that one of the goals of fantasy—and reading in general—is to take you somewhere new. Maps are the gateway into doing this, and I'm happy to include them in my books.
You talk about dragons, are you ever going to write a book with a dragon in it?
Yes. There are dragons in the Cosmere. Hoid has talked to one. If you read the letters in the beginnings of the Stormlight books, there's one where he's talking to someone he calls, "You old reptile." That's actually Frost ,who's a dragon. The planet that Hoid comes from, there are dragons on. It's where I got the word Dragonsteel which is the name of my book. I just didn't end up publishing that book but they're still in canon. So eventually I'll do a new version of that book and release it. There are actually dragons off world even, but they can shapeshift in the Cosmere.
Will time travel ever be part of the cosmere?
Time travel is already part of the cosmere. Wayne... You mean, will people be able to travel backward in time? Nobody in the cosmere has yet figured out how to go backward at time. So, I will leave it at that.
*Something incomprehensible about emotion* Do you like to connect with your reader on an emotional level?
I do. So here's the thing: I am not an emotional person by my nature, and one of the only things that makes me feel very strong emotions is fiction. A really good piece of fiction makes me feel like the characters do, and the rest of the time, I'm just kind of - I won't say emotionless, but not emotional. It's not that. It's like some people have wild mood swings; one day they're a 20 and one day they're an 80, on a scale of 1 to 100, right? I'm always a 70, right? Like almost consistently always pleasantly happy. I don't know what depression feels like. I don't know what it really feels like to be sad. I've never really felt that - except when I'm reading a book. Does that make sense? So that's one of the reasons I write, because I want to be able to [go through] those emotions with people.
So the highstorms, they're just one storm that goes around the world or--
Well there are different philosophies in the world about that but-- The scientifically-minded believe their is only one storm that goes around the world. The lore says that there is a place the storms blow out of called the Origin. But the scientists don't believe that that is true.
*to be inscribed in a book* Could I have the name of an observed but unnamed spren?
Observed, but unnamed, spren? They’ve all been named.
They’ve all been named that have been observed?
Yes, someone will call it something so I will just say-- y’know. When they see them they refer to them by things.
Is Iyatil from Scadrial?
Her heritage is from Scadrial, but she actually is from Silverlight. It's more recent than my heritage from Denmark.
Is there going to be another Wax and Wayne book?
Yes, there will be one more.
Yes? And when's it coming out?
I have it scheduled to be one of the things right after Stormlight 4 but before Stormlight 5. So i have to get Stormlight 4 done, that will take another couple months writing and about six months of editing. So you watch sometime around July on my website we should start seeing the Wax and Wayne progress bar pop up or the Skyward 3 progress bar. Those are the two things I need to write.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Siri and Susebron Discuss Mountains
One of the things I like about having wildly different plots and viewpoints put into one book is that I can use the viewpoints for different things. In the case of this section of the book, we've got death and tension in Vivenna's plot, and we have soul-searching and mystery in Lightsong's plot. Amid this I was able to sprinkle Siri scenes that are more relaxed, with her and the God King talking and falling in love. The scenes add a nice balance to the book.
I made Susebron get better at spelling quite quickly—this is only our second scene with him writing on his board, but already the spelling errors are gone. There is some small justification of this—he's able to use the artisan's script, and he's very clever; besides, the Hallandren alphabet is phonetic. But it still probably happens too quickly.
Having to slog through dialect is just too distracting for readers, however. I wanted to do it once to show his innocence, but I wanted to get past it quickly—as quickly as possible—so that it wouldn't distract from the story. I don't want Susebron to come off as too childlike; I think that would ruin the romance.
All in all, I think that these chapters are some of the most sensual ones I've ever written. I always think that hinting and reserving will always be better than over-the-top romance. The fact that the two of them are forbidden sex because of the danger of having a child, mixed with some of the conversations they have about beauty and their separate lives, makes a very nice tension that I'm pleased to have managed to work in.
Do the names of the Unmade correlate to the fragmentation of their spirits?
No. Good question.
When is the second [Rithmatist] coming out.
It is the most requested book I get, of a sequel. Oathbringer took a little bit longer than I expected, so I can't promise anything right now, but Rithmatist keeps staying right on the top of that list of to-do. I hope to do it soon.
What Order of Knights Radiant would you be?
I don't know. I've thought this before. Probably Bondsmith would be definitely my personality. But it depends. It depends on, if I were living in Roshar, what would my life be like, and things like that. A lot of people could be in multiple Orders, depending on the spren they meet, and where they go from there.
My only sadness concerning the Dakhor is that I had to wait so long to reveal them. I think that visually, they are very interesting. The concept of a group whose bones have been twisted and deformed by powerful magics brings interesting images to mind.
The Dakhor aren't majorly deformed, however–they still have all the pieces in the right places. Their bones have simply been. . .changed. Expanded in places, simply twisted to form patterns in others. Because of this, of course, they have to run around shirtless. It's more dramatic that way. Besides, we spent all this money on special effects–we might as well show them off.
Of all the things in the book, this one worries the most with its sudden appearance. I really did try to foreshadow this as best I could. If it’s still too sudden for you, I apologize. My suggestion is to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
I asked him if Kelsier had died on Roshar would he be able to communicate with people using death rattles.
He said it would be difficult to do, but that the source of the death rattles were something different.
The Voice Is Real
One of the most important events in this chapter was when Kelsier's voice told Spook "You're not in danger." This presents strong evidence that Spook isn't simply hallucinating. The voice knew who was coming before Spook did, and has information Spook does not.
The discovery of the metal vials in the burning house should have given enough proof of that, I thought. However, some alpha readers still had trouble. They wondered if Spook was simply making up all the things he was hearing.
Chapter three marks the end of the first "chapter triad."
The chapter triads are a major structural element of this novel. The viewpoints rotate Raoden-Sarene-Hrathen, in order, one chapter each. Each of the three chapters in the grouping cover pretty much the same time-frame, so they can overlap, and we can see the same scene sometimes from two different viewpoints. (Note the point in chapter two where Sarene sees Raoden being led to Elantris, wearing the sacrificial robes.)
We always follow this same format, going from Raoden, to Sarene, to Hrathen.
Until, that is, the system breaks down late in the book–but we’ll get into that.
And, you might have noticed that the Aons at the beginnings of the chapters stay the same for three chapters before changing. Each triad, therefore, has a different Aon to mark it. (I did a little bit of fighting to get this through at Tor. The final decision was theirs, but once they realized what I was trying to do, they liked the idea and approved it.) The placing of the Aons is a little bit obscure, I'll admit, but it might be fun for people to notice. (They also grow increasingly complex, built out of more and more tracings of Aon Aon, as the triads progress. There are some special Aons marking the beginnings of sections.)
I'll talk more on chapter triads later. You can read more about my theory on the format in the critical afterword to Elantris (which should eventually be posted in the Elantris "Goodies" section.) I might also do essay specifically about the format and the challenges it presented.
Would it be possible to create a potential Vessel that has a Connection to all 16 Shards? Through a combination of birth planet, genetics, Hemalurgy--
You-- So, terminology. The Vessel holds a Shard. Lots of people have Connections to the Shards without holding them. So, I'm just gonna RAFO that. You guys got years and years left, before we're even gonna discuss things about-- But if I tell you now, like, what are you gonna ask?
So Drehy in Bridge 4 has been described by multiple people as long-limbed and lanky which reminds me of another type of person not from Roshar. Was he born on Roshar?
That right there is me describing my good friend Ryan… that we always joked was the missing link, and that’s a joke for every time he sees it, because he has long limbs. So that one is not-- that one is just an inside joke with me and my friends.
Okay, because the eunuch Terrismen are described like that--
They are.
--so I thought maybe.
That's a good question, but no, that’s just there because every time he reads the book he will crack up.
Do you have new stuff, or new ideas?
Yes—one is The Silence Divine, a world like ours where you gain magic by diseases; another is a world where the only superheroes are all evil super villains and a group of regular people called the Executioners [Reckoners] gather to hunt them down and take them out.
You said that Hoid knows all sixteen of the original Vessels. Was he ever involved in their little, "We're going to Shatter Adonalsium," thing?
Involved? Under loose definitions, yes.
My friend is eager to know whether power plants in Elendel use Allomancers to generate electricity. Do they?
RAFO.
If you were to die tomorrow, who would continue your series?
If I were to die tomorrow-- The issue is, being only two books into the Stormlight, then I'm not sure it would be right to finish it? I would probably just have the outlines get released. Because having someone finish eight books for you is a little bit different. But let's assume I get a little further in it, I do think the best choice right now would be either Brent Weeks or Brian McClellan, they write very similarly to me and Brian I trained... I would probably pick Brent, if Brent were willing to do it. We're friends, his books are very similar to mine, he's a great writer. So yeah, but let's hope I get a lot more books done. I hope I get through all of them, but it is wise to plan because I have had in my own life something akin to this.
So I goddamn loved Shadows of Self, to me it was the best in the series and showed what Mistborn could achieve when you combine what makes it unique with a different genre.
But part of the synopsis on the back in retrospect really bothered me, namely: "All the clues suggest the killer is a rogue kandra - a secretive, almost mythical figure who acts from the shadows - called Bleeder..."
Now yeah it's not that big compared to the reveal at the end of the book, but the reveal that the main suspect is a kandra called Bleeder, doesn't occur until over 100 pages into the book. So by knowing this ahead of time, it removes a lot of the intrigue of the early chapters.
Did this bother anyone else when they read Shadows of Self? I've advised people reading the series in future not to read the synopsis
If I had my way, all of the summaries we got would be in world documents like the prologue to Elantris or the things the Sleepless write for the Stormlight books. Marketing material is almost always terrible in this way--the one for Hero of Ages I recall spoiling a big twist.
They don't let me write these, usually, and complain/change them if I do write something to go there. Or they reluctantly put it on the hardcover on the back, but still write their own "flap copy" summaries. Then they leave what I wrote off the paperbacks. It's frustrating.
My question is about Bavadin. Is she a hive mind?
No, hive mind isn't the right word for it, but...
So she's not an Aimian or something like that...
She's not an Aimian. That's - that's a good question. No, she is not.
If you bond with a spren, can you turn it into an instrument like a trumpet and play it?
This is possible. Yes.
Straff and Cett Viewpoints
We also have brief Straff and Cett scenes in this chapter, mostly so that you don't forget about them. Things are working with them, bringing them closer to where they'll need to be for the next few chapters to work, but they're not really doing anything at the moment.
So we hop from them quickly, giving each of them a few poignant things to observe about the battle–and to let us take a breather from the action–before diving back in.
What caused the Sel earthquake? Could it be the fall of a Shard? Ambition? Will we see the Ire again?
RAFO on all!
