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<>

Brandon Sanderson

Magic for me - in my books - is anything that breaks the fundamental laws of our physics. So new physics in another world... <>

Questioner

Can Parshendi bond with an honorspren? I mean, spren <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

They would have to choose, it's never happened before. On Roshar they would say it’s impossible. That doesn’t mean it actually is.

Questioner

Is Hoid an avatar from Autonomy?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Good question. He is independent.

Questioner

He's human, but he's more than human? He's changed from all the places he's been?

Brandon Sanderson

Even before that he's not exactly one hundred percent human anymore. But he's his own agent. He's not an avatar of somebody.

Questioner

In Secret History the Shard shows a relatively well-written foresight. Did Adonalsium have more of a pronounced version of that? 

Brandon Sanderson

Adonalsium was-- I would say, yes. 

Questioner

Did it have plans for after it's own--

Brandon Sanderson

That's a RAFO...

Questioner

Is a drab able to, on Roshar *inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Re-invest? It won't do exactly the same thing, but they could *inaudible*

Questioner

*Inaudible* How long will we have to wait for Arcanum 2?

Brandon Sanderson

A long time, I'm afraid. I don't want to write it until I have Stormlight 10 done, so it's a long ways off.

Questioner

*Inaudible*.

Brandon Sanderson

You will. And you'll definitely get some bits and pieces.

Brandon Sanderson

*reading a personalization request* Name a Shard not--

FirstSelector

Preservation... from the alternate [Well of Ascension] ending.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh! What do you mean by that?

FirstSelector

I thought that those four were-- the four mist-people--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh the four mist-people that's-- Oh... *sighs* I gotta RAFO that, right?

FirstSelector

Well it's not canon technically.

Brandon Sanderson

No it's not canon... Okay I just have to dig back deep... But there's stuff--

FirstSelector

Star.

Brandon Sanderson

There's a star, just remember the star.

*writes*

"Endowment was there*"

Questioner

<Can you tell anything about Mistborn movie?>

Brandon Sanderson

We are trying, I can't say it will actually happen, but we are trying to make one.

Questioner

*inaudible* find yourself foreshadowing in any of your books.

Brandon Sanderson

All the time. Like, the thing I love to do the most.

Questioner

Anything you found that we haven't found yet?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, yeah. But they can't really find it yet because the foreshadowing is for books way in the future. One thing I've mentioned that you can keep an eye on is the shapes the spren sometimes take, sometimes unconsciously, is related to certain connections that are going on.

Questioner

What’s your favourite kind of music?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say… at the end of the day… epic orchestra. But I will listen to basically anything. If you look on Spotify I have this playlist that I used when I wrote the third Stormlight book and you can listen to that, it'll show you a lot of my favorites.

Questioner

*Inaudible* 

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I'm "mistborn1", I think? If you google, if you search for Stormlight 3 soundtrack, you'll find it.

Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

So, I'll RAFO that but it's more of a RAFO in the sort of, uh I think you can theorize on this and come up with a ...

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The "substance" who compose Shardworlds's Cognitive Realm has not yet a Canon name, Essence would be nice but it may be confusing with the Vorin's Essences therefore he have to make a better choice.

Questioner

Are the [shades?] [from Threnody] all over the planets?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a RAFO. I [am not going? would have?] to tell what the Evil is, and things like that.

Questioner

So first, about Trell… He was first mentioned in the books in the first Mistborn book. Did you know what role he'll be playing in the future books?

Brandon Sanderson

When I wrote it? When I actually wrote Mistborn, no, by the time I’d done revisions and finished the series, then I knew. Mistborn was very exploratory, the first book, once I finished it then I build the outline to fit it, that’s very common for me that I write a first book without an outline and then I build the outline around it.

Questioner

Will Nalt, brother of Trell <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

The brother? So there’s something very weird happening with Trell, very very weird, that I’m not going to explain quite yet, so that’s a RAFO.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The old ardent in the Palanaeum is Pailiah.

Questioner

<Did the man Lift met is Hoid>?

Brandon Sanderson

It is Hoid.

In book three, right? In book three.

Oh *inaudible* Lift? *inaudible* No, that's not Hoid. So she references having talked to him but it's not someone she meets in this. In the beginning, she mentions him but he's not specifically in this. Right? Sorry, I thought you meant *inaudible*.

Questioner

*Inaudible*.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, of course, that makes sense. But yes, so, she met him - but she talks about him, she didn't - it's not him on the street.

(From my notes:

In Edgedancer, Lift references talking to Hoid but he doesn’t show up himself there. She met him, she talks about him but he doesn't appear in Edgedancer.)

Questioner

At the end of Oathbringer, *inaudible* Are they getting Shardplate anytime soon?

Brandon Sanderson

That is a Read And Find Out, unfortunately... There are hints that-- if you look, there are certain people that it's implied already do have it. But I'm not gonna delve into that for another book or two.

Questioner

Can emotional Allomancy or Feruchemy affect animals, or not-humans? Is it only if they're spiked?

Brandon Sanderson

So, emotional Allomancy requries a certain level of <Investiturance>. So, the closer to being sapient something is, the more that emotional Allomancy could have an effect on it.

Questioner

Syl asks Kaladin if he had <problems> *inaudible*. Is that just a phrase she picked up? Or is it something connected *inaudible*?

Brandon Sanderson

Um... there is nothing special you're supposed to read into that other than Syl personality and interactions and stuff.

taveren

There is a metal used to charge in the last Mistborn book, is that lithium?

Brandon Sanderson

[Sounds like he's going to say "no" but then changes his mind] I'll dig into that, that's another RAFO. But I'm glad you're thinking along those lines. Let's just say that.

Questioner

Which one of the ten abilities on Roshar <inaudible> it depends on spren?

Brandon Sanderson

Which of the Orders?

Questioner

Of the abilities on Roshar.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, the abilities of the Knights Radiant?

So, this depends on which spren indeed. Each spren can give two of the abilities, and they're slightly different for each Order.

Questioner

If you could have one, which one would it be?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably Windrunners, cause I would want to fly.

Translator

I would prefer Regrowth it's very much for growing plants.

Brandon Sanderson

That would be very convenient.

Questioner

If I spoke the words <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

If you spoke the words it would depend on the spren to choose, but I think so!

Questioner

So, can I try?

Brandon Sanderson

Sure, go for it!

Questioner

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

Translator

So just waiting for the spren to appear.

Brandon Sanderson

*completely serious*

These words are accepted.

Questioner

Does *inaudible* know the *inaudible* of silver?

Brandon Sanderson

There is lore around silver. I would say no he doesn't, but people who were involved in the lore that eventually came to him did know.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The "perks" ("secondary effect born with interaction between powers") also has not a 100% sure name, but the main one at the moment is resonances....We will discovered a lot of the in the third trilogy where the Scientific Method would be applied to the magic.

Questioner

The Cognitive and the Physical Realms...do they stay connected to the Shardworld for the character they're related to, or can you go back and forth - like in Secret History, when he passes off of Scadrial and to the outskirts, within I guess the Cognitive Realm, is that something they could do with other Shardworlds?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

You do a lot of insider *inaudible* and you have *inaudible. How does that inform your process going forward *inaudible* the new books, knowing that you might someday have to tell people-?

Brandon Sanderson

So, how does it inform my new books, knowing that I put so much stuff on my website? On there, I have annotations for a lot of my books, chapter-by-chapter. I have a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff. I grew up in the internet era. Well, at least I became a writer in the internet era. So I'm used to having extra information. I remember waiting for Wheel of Time books, and like, "When is this gonna be done?" And nobody knew, it was all hearsay. So, when I developed my website, I'm like, "Let's put a progress bar on so that it's right there, and you can go to the source and find out when the next book is gonna be done." So I just started, from the get-go, doing this extra bonus material. I feel like in this genre... Science fiction and fantasy people are very tech savvy. I'm willing to bet that every one in this room could torrent the books for free if they wanted to. And instead they buy them and support me. It's a genre where I am directly supported by fans as a conscious choice on their part. So I feel that it's my part to give them everything I can as this sort of additional content with the book. Because it's not just the book, it's everything surrounding it that you're buying into. And that's just kind of a personal quest of mine. It does make me more aware of my process. Because I'm like, "Oh, they're gonna ask me where I came up with this character. Where did I come up with this character as I'm designing it?" And I'll write down some notes on, "This is what inspired me here." It gets much harder for me to talk about Elantris and Mistborn, 'cause I can't dig so deep into my my influences, even Way of Kings sometimes, because they go back so far. But books that are newer, I can be, "Hey, this is exactly where my influences came from." Because I am <so conscious> now. Good question.

Djarskublar

*inaudible* [I asked if it would be possible to recall Breaths from an object that you had not placed there if the Awakener who did place them there had no Identity at the time.]

Brandon Sanderson

So, this is a very detailed, specific question, if you didn't hear it. It's dealing with the idea of Investiture and Identity, and things like this. If you can unkey the magic with Identity, for almost any case, it's going to make it much easier for other people to use. That's gonna be a blanket statement through the cosmere. If you can blank your Identity, it's at least gonna be able to be used by someone else with a blank Identity. Sometimes it's keyed, so the blank will not work with somebody who is themselves keyed. But if you can blank and they can blank, you can almost always guarantee the magic will be able to be used.

Questioner

<Where in White Sand... Hoid?>

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid will become obvious as the White Sand books continue.