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Skyward San Francisco signing ()
#3 Copy

Questioner

Is silver in Shadows for Silence similar in any way to aluminum in the rest of the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

*hesitantly* Yes, but not really. Silver is like silver, and aluminum is like aluminum.

Questioner

Does aluminum have any specific use in Shadows for Silence?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you could definitely find a use for it.

General Reddit 2019 ()
#4 Copy

mraize7

u/mistborn I know you were writing the sequel to [Sixth of the Dusk]. Any progress on Threnody's novel? 

Brandon Sanderson

Just some vague ideas here and there. Nothing too specific. Silver chain in Oathbringer is from Threnody, though. (They use them in Silverlight too.) I'll get a chance to explain what they are eventually. (I hope.)

Dragonsteel 2023 ()
#5 Copy

Questioner

So the Threnodites are described as having a smokey shadow something to their soul; we don't really know what that is. Is it more similar to the black smoke that comes from Awakened objects in Yumi and Nightblood? Or is it more like Midnight Essence in Tress?

Brandon Sanderson

It is more like Breath than it is like either one of those. More like Breath, but something's a little wrong with it

Dragonsteel 2022 ()
#7 Copy

Questioner

Having read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, that world has got a lot of problems, and I have to ask. When you get to the end of it, what hope is there for those poor people?

Brandon Sanderson

You know, despite everything that’s going on, they still manage to survive. That’s pretty impressive. I would say that there is a way out for them, a way toward more stability. Because the danger is a spiral of lowering population numbers because of things that are happening. When you’re dying and becoming undead, there’s certain curves, a multiplicative curve that is very dangerous to population numbers that happens whenever you are dealing with some sort of undead thing like that. But there are ways out.

Questioner

They depend on silver, which is a limited resource.

Brandon Sanderson

It is. But do know that, in the cosmere (it’s like when you’re burning metals), there are injection points of new metals into things that are possible to figure out.

But yes, they’re in danger. They’re definitely the Simpsons meme. That is Threnody as a whole. And maybe someday, I’ll be able to write a book there, and we’ll dig into some of these issues.

DragonCon 2019 ()
#10 Copy

Questioner

Is the Threnody novel--is the perpendicularity in a specific place or does it have to do with a set of circumstances?

Brandon Sanderson

Threnody does not have a perpendicularity.

Questioner

The way to travel...?

Brandon Sanderson

The way to travel on there has specifically to do with the fact that a Shard was killed nearby.

Starsight Release Party ()
#11 Copy

Questioner

So, Sel: Investiture has been pushed into the Cognitive Realm. Threnody: Has it seen something similar?

Brandon Sanderson

It has not seen... Okay. Yes, something similar. It would count. Something similar, yes.

Questioner

If that's the case, what would happen if you were to push Investiture into the Physical Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

It generally manifests either as a solid, liquid, or gas

Questioner

I thought about that. I was like, "We've seen that," but it seemed like a concentrated form. What if you did for like a whole Shard?

Brandon Sanderson

That would probably have disastrous effects. 

Questioner

That's why I was thinking for Threnody, but if it hasn't been that, then something else happened.

Brandon Sanderson

It hasn't been that. Something else happened.

Skyward Pre-Release AMA ()
#12 Copy

mbue

Do people on Threnody get really old or something? I can't work out the timeline of the events leading up to Shadows for Silence. She says her grandparents were among the first to reach the Forests of Hell, but also that the waystop has been safe for over a hundred years. Given Silence's age, her grandparents couldn't really have founded the waystop over a hundred years ago if life expectancy on Threnody is similar to other planets.

Brandon Sanderson

I'd have to look at the timeline myself. That might just be me not looking at continuity closely. I wasn't trying to imply people living very long.

ICon 2019 ()
#15 Copy

AviH

So, the Shades on Threnody, they're enforcing the Three Rules. Would something bad happen if they weren't enforcing those rules?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm gonna RAFO that. The book on Threnody will not take place in [the Forests of] Hell, it will take place on the continent where the Evil is, but I hope to get into some of the rules for Hell when we're there.

/r/books AMA 2015 ()
#16 Copy

mysteriouspenguin

You said that there are ten major Shardworlds. Are Threnody and First of the Sun (planets without shards) part of those ten? What other Shardworlds we know about are not part of the ten?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know if I've said specifically, but I think I've implied that neither one are major worlds for the storytelling narrative. (Though Threnody is more important by far.) I believe that I've mentioned the others all being major factors in the story.

/r/fantasy AMA 2017 ()
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Phyrkrakr

I just finished Arcanum Unbounded and I have to ask: Who's the "dangerous" guy in the corner of the waystop in Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell? That's not Hoid, is it?

Brandon Sanderson

This is not Hoid. I toyed with a cameo for him in the story, but decided that forcing him to be at every little point in all the smaller stories was just having him be there for the sake of having him be there. It's better for the cosmere if I don't force him into every story, but let him be involved in the ones where he has a legitimate reason.

Beyond that, getting on and off of Threnody is not particularly easy.

YouTube Livestream 30 ()
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C.K.

Will you delve more into the Threnody system?

Brandon Sanderson

I do intend to do more in the Threnody system. If I can get to it, there is a novel I want to write set on Threnody. I have, I would say, 30% of an outline, right now, for that book. Whether I'll have time for it or not is, like most other side projects, up in the air. But I do think that something will happen there, eventually. Isaac has a book that he's outlined that he would like to set on Threnody, because Isaac's gonna take a stab at writing some Cosmere fiction. If you don't know, Isaac is my art director, and basically my first collaborator in the Cosmere, way back on Mistborn. He was one of my very first beta readers and did all the maps and things, and now works for me full time.

Holiday signing ()
#19 Copy

Questioner

Are you going to do another book for Perfect State? ‘Cause that sucked me in.

Brandon Sanderson

A lot of people really want more.

Questioner

It made me so mad. "Stop writing novellas! I need more information on this."

Brandon Sanderson

The big secret on that is that Sophie, the one-- is actually his nemesis. So the robot was not actually a robot, it was a VR thing that she was controlling...

Questioner

So are you going to write another?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know if I will, I don't know if I will. So you didn't actually get to see Melhi, his nemesis getting to play with him in-person and things like that. So there's layers there that are kind of complicated.

Questioner

Like even with the cosmere novella you released Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, that one I was like "Why are these so short?!"  I'm not used to this.

Brandon Sanderson

That world is important to the cosmere, so that world-- Silence herself you won't see any much more of, but that world itself is very cosmere relevant.

Arcanum Unbounded Chicago signing ()
#21 Copy

Questioner

Will there be any more of Silence from the Forests of Hell?

Brandon Sanderson

The world is very relevant to the cosmere. I have several books planned there, I don’t know how many of them I’ll write. I will at least write one of them. Silence herself is not a character from the books. I designed that story and it matched the world so I put it there. But yes there will be other things from that world.

Words of Radiance San Francisco signing ()
#23 Copy

Questioner

For [Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell], did that take place in the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

It does. It's on a planet called Threnody. There is no Shard on that planet, however. So you can see the magic is very different in that the magic is something you interact with, not something you perform. Because there isn't a Shard there. But yeah, it is in the cosmere.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
#24 Copy

Rhandric

How many magic systems are there on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on your definition. Is Windrunning its own magic system, or is it a division of a larger magic system? Are the ten different Surges each their own magic system, or...it's really how...

Rhandric

If you assume the surges are considered one.

Brandon Sanderson

Well then you would have Surgebinding, and the Old Magic, those are two at least, and there are things that are not explained in those at all, and how do you count creating fabrials? Is that a science and not a magic? Is that its own magic system?

Questioner 2

It's a science, because anyone can do it.

Brandon Sanderson

So Awakening is not a magic, then? Awakening's a science? Because anyone can Awaken if they just get the breath.

Rhandric

That's one thing that stood out to me in your magic systems, because in all your other magic systems that we've seen so far there has to be some form of snapping to occur, and that's unique...

Brandon Sanderson

Not all of them because, um, let's see...

Questioner 3

BioChroma doesn't.

Brandon Sanderson

BioChroma does not requires snapping.

Rhandric

Actually wait, is there an active magic system on Threnody?

Brandon Sanderson

Threnody has a non Shard-based...it depends on what you call magic. Do spirits coming back to life count as magic? It's science to them, but it's goofy science.

Words of Radiance San Francisco signing ()
#25 Copy

Questioner

If Kelsier's [Cognitive Shadow] or a seon went to the Forests of Hell, would they be shades there?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that is the same thing. Now, you can see that there-- the people on that planet; their Investiture; the lack of Shard means that their Cognitive Shadows react differently.

[...]

In fact, the Cognitive Shadow is also the same thing as the ghost you saw in Mistborn, that was the spirit of Leras is the same thing too.

Words of Radiance San Diego signing ()
#26 Copy

Questioner (paraphrased)

For the Dangerous Women story, are you going to write anything again in that world?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That world will show up again. Silence probably won't, but the world itself, yes. It's called Threnody, it is one of the Cosmere worlds. There's not a Shard there but there are interesting things happening. There's actually been a character in other books who's from Threnody. It will eventually be clear who that is, but they have shown up in many previous Sanderson novels.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Would that be Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Hoid is not from Threnody. Good question though. Hoid is from Yolen.

Tel Aviv Signing ()
#28 Copy

Alyssum

So, Shadows for Silence... Threnody, or Hell at least, is based off of Judaism, right? And Shade sounds a lot like the Hebrew word for demon, Shedim. Is there a relation?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes... yes. But it's not an in-world reason, it's just in my brain, right?

Alyssum

Okay, so I was going to ask like... do they have chicken legs, which is how [Jewish demons are depicted]

Brandon Sanderson

No, they don't. But, you know, things like She’ol [Hebrew word, the Jewish interpetation of the afterlife in certain texts] and things like that, they're in the back of my head - mostly because of Stormlight. I would say, I hadn't thought about it before, but that's definitely an unconscious influence on me. But they do not have chicken legs.

/r/books AMA 2015 ()
#29 Copy

zotsandcrambles

Is the silver on Threnody imbued with investiture? The presence of a silver knife in Stormlight leads me to believe Threnodoic Silver is actively different than average silver and Threnody's silver could be used off-world in a way - say - Sel's silver couldn't.

Brandon Sanderson

I'm RAFOing most questions about Threnody for multiple reasons. It's a RAFO you shouldn't read too much into, however.

Tampa Bay Comic Convention 2023 ()
#30 Copy

Neal Ginsberg (paraphrased)

We have now seen shades across the Cosmere.  Please let me know if I'm thinking along the correct line. Is one of the reasons that shades form because their access to the Spiritual Realm has been altered or damaged?  

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.  You are definitely theorizing along the correct lines.  I can't verify the exact mechanism, but you're thinking along the right path.

Arcanum Unbounded Chicago signing ()
#31 Copy

Questioner

I’ve been fixating on this mass exodus. The Iriali, the Iri people, are they the people of the mass exodus? Or-- I've always wanted it to be the people of Threnody.

Brandon Sanderson

The Iriali are not native to Roshar.

Questioner

Okay, that's... what I've always assumed.

Brandon Sanderson

There is stuff going on on Threnody too, it shares some similarities.

Librarypalooza ()
#34 Copy

Paladin Brewer (paraphrased)

Is Threnody in the same planetary system as Sel?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

[No, they are not]

Peter Ahlstrom (paraphrased)

Folks, I hate to be a killjoy, but I just asked Brandon about this, and he says that he answered that question with "No, they are not."

Brandon says he specifically remembers this question, and he remembers saying that Threnody and Sel were not in the same system.

In any case, Threnody and Sel do not revolve around the same star. (And they're not in a binary system system either, for those trying to salvage something out of this.)

Shadows of Self release party ()
#36 Copy

Questioner

So Threnody, does it have anything to do with Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, I mean--

Questioner

Beside y’know that there in the same--

Brandon Sanderson

No, it doesn't. I mean, it's connected to the larger cosmere… You will find more. There are important people from Threnody that are involved in things. You've seen other people from Threnody in the books but I don't think like it's connected to Roshar in any special way

JordanCon 2016 ()
#41 Copy

Questioner

I currently have a pet theory--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah? What is it?

Questioner

That... there's a-- That there was-- Whatever the fourth Shard that Odium [Splintered]-- People-- The people who founded Threnody were--

Brandon Sanderson

So you should read Khriss' introductions to the worlds in the Cosmere Collection.

Footnote: The essay for Threnody in Arcanum Unbounded did reveal that Ambition, the "fourth" Shard Odium Splintered was dealt a grievous wound in the Threnodite system, and it's Investiture has had an effect on the planet and it's inhabitants.