Found 8 entries in 0.036 seconds.
Questioner
Why did you choose the cities you chose for Steelheart and Firefight?
Brandon Sanderson
I wanted to choose cities that I was familiar with. Like cities I had driven in, cities I knew my way around in, and things like that. Which-- It was really just based on that concept, though I've always liked Chicago because as a kid going to Chicago-- that was the big city close to Nebraska. It was the one I knew and it was like the mid-western big city, if that makes any sense. So I always felt a kinship to that. That's why I picked Chicago. I also wanted one with a lake so I could fre-- turn the lake to steel.
Questioner
...Have you chosen one for Calamity?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. I originally chose Montreal, and my publisher-- I actually said "We could do Montreal or Atlanta" and they like Atlanta better. So I decided to go ahead and go with Atlanta.
Questioner
I have a question for the world of Steelheart. How do the electric sockets work if everything is steel?
Brandon Sanderson
How do the electric sockets work? They needed to be rebuilt for the electric sockets to work, but you can also get down far enough where the builders, the machines, have rebuilt everything and so that wouldn't all have been turned to steel. Some of that has been dug out and reworked and rebuilt. There are some pretty crazy things that happened.
Questioner
I loved Firefight... what happens to Houston?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, what happened to Houston, yeah! *laughter* One of my favorite things is, like, destroying my favorite cities. I do this in my epic fantasy. If you've read The Rithmatist, I turned my hometown in Nebraska into the dark tower that all the evil comes out of. And Chicago, one of my favorite cities, has turned to steel. I just melted Houston. Because it's hot here, it kinda made sense to melt, but yeah. Sorry. *laughter* I apologize for melting you. But, y'know, you-- You probably got out. *laughter* You were smart enough to go "They're all evil. I'm going to go somewhere else." It was all those people from the political party you don't like that melted.
Questioner
Is Calamity actually a worldhopper?
Brandon Sanderson
Calamity, I didn't write this as a part of the cosmere. The main distinction is I didn't want Earth to be in the cosmere, I want it to be distinct. Once I stick Earth in, the cosmology and things doesn't work. The cosmere is a dwarf cluster, and it's a dwarf galaxy, it's a cluster of stars. It's a specific place, and Earth's not part of it.
Questioner
And are there established trade routes between Epic-controlled areas?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
Are they patrolled by Epics?
Brandon Sanderson
Umm, yes to an extent. For the most part you know that if you hit an Epic's trade caravan you're all dead, y'know? So they don't have to worry about it that much. But some are patrolled. Not by the Epics, but by their people.
Cognizantastic
Did any countries not pass an equivalent of the Capitulation Act?
Brandon Sanderson
Some did, some didn't. For example, Canada didn't… and things didn't go very well for them.
Cognizantastic
Are the areas where they didn't livable?
Brandon Sanderson
Well, livable is a broad definition. For some people, Newcago is livable.
Oversleep
Do you perhaps have a name for Reckonersverse or the multiverse of Apocalypse Guard?
I know Reckonersverse is one of the Core Realities but do you have a name for that specific one?
Brandon Sanderson
No name right now. I've been thinking about it.
Questioner
What's the etymology of "slontze"?
Brandon Sanderson
...This is from the Reckoners series, Steelheart. I wanted a fake Yiddish word. So I, you know, mention things like this, and it's not actually-- I-- It doesn't quite fit, but I wanted something that had the right feel, like that. I don't know why I wanted a fake Yiddish word. That just felt-- So I went through a bunch of Yiddish slang, and that's the word I came up with. So, that's what I do a lot, like "I want the feel of this."
