Found 741 entries in 0.152 seconds.
I heard that in one of your books two people from the actual 17th Shard got married as members of the 17th Shard in your book.
Yes, shes right there. That's Mi'chelle, she's a beta reader. She and her husband met at a signing at a Barnes & Noble of mine. So they met at one of my signings, and they eventually got engaged at my class in BYU so I put their wedding in a book.
Have any other Shards--if the Shards were split, for some reason, to I guess protect, why is it that some of them clumped together, like Ruin and Preservation, and Honor and Cultivation?
Some are more naturally like that, but at the same time they also had personalities driving them, and it’s mostly the personalities.
Friends would have gotten together in the same place kinda sorta?
Yeah, or business associates how are “We can do something cool together”. Before Odium just hunted them done and y’know… But the personalities are driving most of that.
Could a hypothetical shard of double power split itself into two different single power shards at will?
RAFO I'm afraid.
*written* Could a Shard refuse to "fuel" a magic user? E.g. Could Preservation have refused to "fuel" Ham's pewter? (Please, for the question, assume Preservation is whole and undamaged.)
*written* No, but he could have interfered.
*spoken* So, the answer is "no, he couldn't." Like, if you just had the Allomancy going, like--
They can't shut you off?
They can't shut you off, but they can interfere with you using it. They could do other things. But, like, the magic, it would be like saying, "I refuse to let gravity work on this person."
But couldn't a Shard-- Technically, they can control forces--
No, they can't, but they can interfere with it, does that make sense? ...Gravity is not gone, but this person is being interfered with and their relationship to these sorts of things.
Kind of like if I throw your pen in the air, gravity's not gone, but I've interfered with something.
Yes, exactly. And you can, like, twist the gravity, so it's pointing... But the laws of natures, burning is, like, a law of nature, and things like that. And they can circumvent, and they can twist, and they can bend, but the laws of nature are still the laws of nature.
They can't just cut it off?
Yeah.
Are the requirements for a Shard to Invest in a shardworld what causes the manifestations that we see (spren on Roshar, lerasium/atium/harmonium/'trellium' on Scadrial, and Tears of Edgli on Nalthis) or are these phenomena the by-product (or intentional action) of the Shards' Investing themselves?
Yes.
What's the range influence of a Shard's power in the cosmere?
Ahh, it varies.
Is crem something like spren poop? Or similar, because I know poop is important.
It's more like... Yes, but it’s more like... Shard poop?
Could a sentient Invested object take up a Shard?
Highly unlikely, probably impossible--but impossibility is hard to judge.
I was just wondering if a Shard's intent can change over time without changing holders?
Without changing holders? The holder can have a slight effect on how the-- a big effect on how the intent is interpreted, but what the intent is stays the same. So it's gonna be filtered. The way it manifests can change, and you'll see that happening, but it is the same intent. When it was broken off, it took a certain thing with it.
Could a splintered Shard ever be reunited?
RAFO, good question.
Is the act of taking up a shard parallel to the act of Awakening? In broad strokes awakening gives a piece of a soul for power along with a purpose or compulsion. So, say, when someone takes up Ruin, are they operating on the same principle, taking a fragment of Adolnasium's 'soul' along with the command "ruin things"?
You could make this parallel, and argue it to many of the cosmere-aware scholars in the books, and they'd find themselves nodding.
Does the intent/personality of the Shard affect the personalities of the humans they create?
It has some very small effect.
Do all Shards have a direct paired opposite intent...
No, I would say no, they do not all have a directly paired opposite intent.
Do you ever go on the 17th Shard just to see what random heck is going there.
Once in awhile.
In the Letter, in The Way of Kings in all the epigraphs. It was mentioned that the author of the Letter was accused of perpetuating grudges regarding Rayse and Bavadin.
Yes.
That being said, are there any Vessels or Shards i.e. Bavadin, sympathetic towards Rayse's cause?
There are some who are more li-- more willing to go along with it than others, yes.
So something I've noticed in the fantasy genre that I love is that my 2 favorite authors (Sanderson and Rothfuss) don't use the traditional fantasy medieval setting (that I love) of castles, knights, feudalism etc. Now there are plenty of great authors that do (GRRMartin comes to mind as one that does it right), BUT the truth is, a good story eclipses all minor details like setting. An example I always give is that Patrick Rothfuss could write about brushing your teeth and it would make a fascinating read, and Sanderson would make an intriguing plot with amazing characterization throughout the dental hygiene experience. But I digress.
My question (If Brandon would be so kind as to show up, and if not, if anyone has any insight) is why; why doesn't the cosmere have any traditional medieval fantasy settings? Mistborn has keeps, but the society is not the traditional technology and setting of the medieval time period, nor do any of the other worlds given us.
There are both in-world reasons and writing reasons.
The writing reasons are obvious. I grew up on a steady diet of fantasy in a faux-medieval setting. I felt that some of these stories were really good, and enjoyed them--but at the same time, I felt the genre had been there and done that. In some ways, GRRM doing fantasy with the eye of a true medievalist provided a capstone to this era of fantasy.
When I sat down to write, didn't want to write what I was tired of reading. Dragonsteel (which never got published) was bronze age, White Sand was industrial, and Elantris was (kind of) Renaissance. (As you noticed, Mistborn is somewhere around 1820's. I modeled a lot of the society around the fascinating culture/industry of canals as shipping lanes that happened in England right before railroads took over.)
The other big reason, writing wise, is that I feel some of the magics that I enjoy dealing with in my settings need a certain near-industrial mindset to be interesting. The stories I want to tell are about people applying scientific principles to magic--and about the commodification and the economics of magic. Those are early-modern era stories.
The in-world reasoning I have is that on some of these planets, those eras existed--but the books are taking place when the stories of the worlds start smashing into one another. In addition, however, the Shards have an influence on this, because of things they saw happen on their own home planet.
So I think [Kelsier] will ever get the Shard of Survival?
Uh, That's definitely a big uh... We'll find out eventually.
So, in Warbreaker, Awakened items have to emulate humans. Why is that?
It's a matter of perception on the people using the magic. And there are ramifications on the fact that the Shards themselves were all once humanoid.
Speaking of intents, Investiture, and what Shards can see, hypothetically if Odium were to go to Scadrial would some things not be visible to him, like, say, metal?
Metal would be hard for him to see, yes.
How aware is Odium of the Seventeenth Shard? Hoid mentions that he has to be careful to keep his head down as he doesn't want Odium to catch him. Given the history between the two that makes sense, but would Odium have the same policy for the Sharders, or does he not view them as a threat?
RAFO
I have a theory that each one of the Shards is related to a certain number. Preservation really likes 16, Honor likes 10, and Odium likes 9. Am I onto something?
Yes.
What do you have to do with the 17th Shard? I was always curious.
They wanted to start a fansite and so I gave them my blessing, gave them a name that would mean something once they started it. But otherwise I don’t have anything to do with them.
Do all the shards have a 'secondary' imperative of some degree, to create?
You could say this.
How do you decide what concepts become Shards?
It took a little bit of work. I basically brainstormed a bunch of attributes of deity that most people had in their religions and see which ones will adapt well to being these concepts.
Can a Shard and its holder be separated without the holder dying?
Yes.
How many Shards have existed on Roshar?
Three.
Sazed's obviously Harmony now, if he connected with the other Shards would he become the original Adonalsium 'cause all the intents are morphing, or would he--
There are theories that would happen, there are theories it would destroy him.
If a Shard's Vessel dies and drops a body and two people step in to take up the power, what would happen?
RAFO
Would it require a human-type person to have possession of one of the Shards? Would it interact the same way like if a dog were to somehow take it?
Yeah, a dog would probably not be able to do it. It's not outsi-- Yeah, a dog wouldn't be able to do it.
So there probably wouldn't be some huge dog tearing up the furniture?
Probably not. No, good question, but nah.
So what about other creatures that are intelligent but not human?
That's possible.
Do the Shards know each others' weaknesses? Like the metal blindness or anything?
They are not aware of every specific, but they know generalities.
So they know that they do have weaknesses.
Yeah.
So would Odium have taken advantage of Honor's weakness to Splinter him?
You could say that, yeah.
Was Leras bonded to a being in the Cognitive Realm?
You mean like a Nahel bond?
Yes, or a similar mechanism.
Well, you have to remember that Shards interact with the realms in a different way, so...
Well, I more mean before Leras became a Vessel.
Anything before then is RAFO.
Could-- would Odium ever work with another Shard? Maybe not pick up another one--
If he were in charge. Yes, this is within the realm of possibility of what Odium would do. In fact, that may have happened at various points *sly smile*.
With the god-Shards, is it possible to put-- for someone to put one down without dying?
Yes, it is.
See *inaudible* and other signings that Hoid had both long life and lived through time when we was worldhopping, how about other members-- or not "other," just members of the Seventeenth Shard? Like are they time travelling or they have long life--
It is a mixture of both. Either, or, and.
And the RAFO question: where did they get it from?
RAFO! There are many methods and there is no one method, and you know some of them already.
How many different non-human immortals are there on Roshar?
Wow, very specific. Most of the Aimians count. They're both small races, but there are enough of them that there are dozens of each that count as immortal, and they're non-human. The two living Shards, I would say count as non-human immortals, and most spren count as non-human immortals. So there's a ton.
Could you tell me something about Cosmere, that we don't know?
Oooh boy, that is so hard, people ask this all the time and I keep running out of things... Was there anything I haven't added recently... There are Shards whose Shardpools are not on a planet they currently inhabit. At least one.
Are all the red-eyed characters influenced by the same Shard?
No. Good question! I was waiting for someone to ask that. You will come to learn what red means in the Cosmere. There is a meaning for red in the Cosmere.
Can a Shard go to a planet, create an autonomous Splinter, and then leave the system of the planet and then *inaudible*
Yeah, that's possible. In fact, that's happened. You've seen that happen.
How do you decide which Shards go with which planet?
I have an outline, and it’s kind of according to the outline...
If Calamity were a Shard in the Cosmere, what intent would he be?
Oh boy... Oh boy. Have you read this book?
I have not read Calamity yet?
I don't want to spoil it. Um... *pause* Yeah, I don't really want to spoil it. But it's kind of-- it's like "Vindictiveness" would probably be a good match. This-- Or "Judgement". Maybe Judgement. Calamity's got this impression that people will destroy themselves if he lets them. Does that make sense?
Yeah.
So it's not either one of those, but it's something close to that.
Does a Shard's power being manifested either physically or not (through metals vs through light) have anything to do with its individual abilities/powers?
RAFO. :)
Does each Shard have the same quantity or quality of Investiture?
Um, yes. They were equal proportions originally, how about that.
I don't remember what prompted me to write this, or what impression I had that made me write this, but I wrote: Anyone can take up a Shard. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I would not have written this if it was not crystal clear to me that this is what Brandon meant.
Can a Shard tell the difference between itself and its current holder?
Tricky question. Depends on the circumstances. The power as a whole, no. Pieces of it, yes. (Ala Spinozism.)
Any Shard can make aspects [avatars].
Can you give us the intent of the hide and survive Shard, or as an alternative give us the name of another Shardholder?
No. I gave you something good, you got a good one.
Did Demoux achieve immortality by manipulating his Connection age?
Demoux uses the same method as most of the Seventeenth Shard. That method slows aging by a lot, but doesn't stop it completely.
Has any of the Shards, outside of the Greater Roshar system, had a champion before, like...
Outside of? Yes.
And so are there any Shards that we don't know of that are Shattered?
Yes.
Four, right? Ish?
Eh... eh... Honor is gone.
And Devotion and Dominion.
Devotion and Dominion are gone. There are others. The question is, [is] Cultivation gone or not? I'm not-- I haven't answered that for you. There are others. So this is what I can't-- I'm not gonna <just> share the answer. This is why I'm not gonna give you answers on these things.
Is Harmony stronger than Odium?
Harmony has two shards. So by raw power he is stronger than Odium. Odium is much more warrior-minded and killing-minded, so I don't know if Harmony could actually beat him. But Odium is scared of Harmony.
