Rebecca Lovatt
Switching topics, your battle scenes are completely epic. Do you have to do a lot of research learning different battle stances and techniques?
Brandon Sanderson
I've done a lot of that in my life up to this point, so I draw on that. I write the scene and then I go to the experts. I read through sources and try to look for where I've done it wrong. I can usually do it right enough on the first write because of my experience, so that the first write is not fundamentally flawed, it's only flawed in little places.
I do a lot of reading of tactics and things like The Art of War, which was a very big help. A great place to get this type of thing is from good historical novels, but there are some good pop culture books as well. There's one I'm going to look up and email you about because I always forget the author, that you can read to give you an idea how different cultures have approached war.
It's sitting on my shelf--I can picture the cover, but now the name escapes me. Guns, Germs, and Steel is a famous one that is very good, but there is a better one on the history of warfare. I'll have to send the name of that to you later. [Confirmed later: it is A History of Warfare by John Keegan.]
Anyway, the pop science, pop history books I look at are more accessible than straight history books. They're written to be readable, for a mass audience, and they give me just enough to write the basics, and then I can polish the edges by going to an expert.
Rebecca Lovatt
Not one where you have to read through the dry crusty pages.
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, and really what you are looking for is the concepts. How different cultures fund a war, how they treat a war, and then you really only need some basic tactics. What are the different types, why would people use cavalry and what was the importance of cavalry. You get that from reading the history of warfare. I remember when I read how important the stirrup was as an invention, being able to fire bows from horseback, and why that changed warfare.
Suddenly I could construct a battlefield where I could say oh, okay, now that I understand why the stirrup is important, I see why this unit is important, why having a cavalry is important. I can now have them enter my battlefield in a way that undermines what someone else is trying to do, because I know the importance of the stirrup. Learning just a few fundamentals like that is essential. What the difference was between the way the Romans approached war and the way a medieval army approached war, and why the introduction of peasant warriors was so important, and things like that.
Rebecca Lovatt
As well as the importance of stirrups, and how they can support the huge magical armor.
Brandon Sanderson
I still needed magical horses for that armor, but it's nice that I can have magically enhanced armor and make it all work together. The other big thing people have to remember about Roshar is it's point-seven gee, which helps a lot with things like this. 70% Earth gravity.
Rebecca Lovatt
Yeah, I feel like it might be a big more difficult with our gravity.
Brandon Sanderson
It would be definitely more difficult. In fact when they get off the planet it's going to be a different experience for them, going to something like Scadrial where they have Earth gravity.
Rebecca Lovatt
So is that something we are going to be seeing?
Brandon Sanderson
Eventually, but not for a while.
Rebecca Lovatt
Because I was thinking when the Cosmere starts concluding, just multi-Cosmere world battles kind of things...or?
Brandon Sanderson
These are in the works.
Rebecca Lovatt
No worming out information by coming up with theories on the spot?
Brandon Sanderson
You may come up with all the theories you want, but I'm not giving you any information.