Bands of Mourning release party

Event details
Name
Name Bands of Mourning release party
Date
Date Jan. 25, 2016
Location
Location Provo, UT
Bookstore
Bookstore BYU Bookstore
Entries
Entries 112
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#1 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

*discussion fades in* ...I doubt they would come to regret that. It depends on your threshold for characters with depression but--

Questioner

They haven't minded that so far. That's not an issue. I think they just want to make sure he doesn't end up leading the Voidbringers or something.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah I think you'll be okay.

#4 Copy

Questioner

If you were a Twinborn with both steel, would you be able to move faster than people could use atium to see what you were going to do?

Brandon Sanderson

So you couldn't move faster than their atium, but you could move potentially faster than their mind's ability to process what they're seeing. You might be able to-- but the atium does lend a certain ability of natural reaction, but you are still limited by your muscles, and things like that. So I think you could probably beat atium that way. That would be a valid way.

#5 Copy

Questioner

Is there a comparable way-- like you can become a Misting by burning an alloy of lerasium and some other metal--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Is there a comparable way of becoming a Ferring?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh… *carefully* Comparable within certain limits of the definition of that word, then yes.

Questioner

Just meaning, is there some in-world way--

Brandon Sanderson

There is some in-world procedure yes.

#7 Copy

Questioner

Could you use steel or iron to Push or Pull off Shardblades or Shardplate?

Brandon Sanderson

Anything that's Invested resists, the more Invested it is the more it resists.

Questioner

Okay, so you could technically--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

--if it was not charged?

Brandon Sanderson

Well-- Certain objects just have more Investiture and are more purely of the Investiture. A Shardblade's going to be really hard, but it's possible, it's just going to be really, really hard. Even more hard than an absolutely full Feruchemical metalmind because the Shardblade is being created directly out of the Investiture, it's basically all Investiture, it's not a metal that is Invested. It's going to be real hard.

#8 Copy

Questioner

So for most of your planets do you just assume that gravity is 9.8 m/s, and do you have a reason for that, or--

Brandon Sanderson

It just depends on the planet. Like Roshar… it's 0.7 Earth gravity on Roshar.

Questioner

Oh really?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, otherwise they couldn't lift those bridges, and you couldn't have the-- Even with the help of the spren, you couldn't have the giant beasties. So it's a high-oxygen, low-gravity environment. So fire acts a little differently on Roshar than it does on other planets. People are taller, like if you put a Rosharan next to someone else the low-gravity would have had that effect.

Questioner

Oh, I didn't even know that.

Brandon Sanderson

Generally you should assume when I'm using numbers they're in-world numbers. So, for instance, a Rosharan foot is actually larger than a foot in another-- Stuff like that. I have to do some jockeying of these things to not be completely off-putting and confusing to people who are not expecting-- to the casual reader, but like days. A Rosharan year is 500 days, but they're twenty hour days, I made an hour basically our hour just to keep it from being too crazy for people. But that means when it says Kaladin's 18 he's really actually like 20 years old and a little over, or something like that, I forget the numbers. Everyone's a little bit older than they sound but it works just for the average reader.

#9 Copy

Questioner

Does the word Adonalsium-- In your mind did you get that from the phrase "ad nauseum"?

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Questioner

Because the first few times I heard someone say ad nauseum I was like "Adonalsium? Did someone say Adonalsium?"

Brandon Sanderson

Good question, nope but that's not the origin.

#12 Copy

CarolaDavar

If the Stormfather were to turn into a blade for Dalinar, would it be bigger than other Shardblades?

Brandon Sanderson

Um… That's a RAFO. *people get excited* That doesn't mean that I'm going to answer it, that means that answering it would either canonize something I don't want to canonize or it would mean that it is something irrelevant and I don't want to send fans spiraling into-- and so... It doesn't necessarily mean that something that will be included in the books.

#14 Copy

Questioner

With the AonDor seems to based on the geography of the place, could there be AonDor based on other geographical features, like Kholinar?

Brandon Sanderson

Um… *hesitantly* Yes, but it's-- There's something weird about Sel that is making that happen that way on Sel. So...

Questioner

But you could have it in other places on Sel?

Brandon Sanderson

You could-- Yes, it does exist in other places on Sel but yeah.

#15 Copy

Questioner

I have a young game-development studio and we're interested in making a Rithmatist game because I think the magic system lends itself very well to tablets and mobile devices. So what type of prototype or product would you have to see to be able to say "Yes this is good or no this is "--

Brandon Sanderson

That is an excellent question. So the question is he works for a game development studio and he wants to potentially make a game from The Rithmatist. And he's asking how he would go about doing that. So, we have had about five proposals on The Rithmatist and we haven't taken any of them. This is mostly because the game studios who proposed them, none of them have actually been able to show us developed games they made on their own. They all were game studios that were still working on something. And knowing the little I know about the gaming world, having friends who are in gaming, I take people who have actually finished things with more respect.

So, I’ve sold video game rights before, except nothings ever been made, I've sold Mistborn and things. I sold it to the people who came and said "Look we have a bunch of games". So if you have actually built games then I am really interested in talking to you about the potential of doing a Rithmatist game. If you haven't actually built and released games I would suggest go and build and release some of your own games, let us see that you can do it, and then come and talk with us. And if you do have released games and it's all good come up and I'll point you at my assistant Adam and he can tell you how to get in touch with my agent and send a proposal to me and the agent at the same time and we'll look it over.

#16 Copy

Questioner

Who's going to make the Mistborn game, and when is it going to come out?

Brandon Sanderson

Who's going to make the Mistborn game and when's it going to come out. So they bought the rights to that like four years ago and then their game studio divided and the people-- the gaming guys were like "Yeah this happens" and they had an architecture but then it fell through and they said "Oh we're going to do it for nextgen" and since they said that we haven't really heard anything. So...

Y'know, this happens in gaming all the time, they're a good studio, they have lofty ideals, but most of the games they make are not on the scale of Mistborn. And so they have until 2017 to make something. I still have not seen any sort of playable architecture or anything like that… So we'll just wait and see... Their name is Little Orbit. They have mostly done movie tie-in games. There's a bunch of people-- It's the gaming industry out in California so three of the people there were from Interplay and three of the people there were from this studio and they've all made big games before but this studio itself, they just aren't being able to get it together to make a big game. So if they do-- I mean I really like them, if they get it going I'll be super excited to see it happen but once 2017 rolls around I probably won't renew their option and say "Well it's time to let this one lapse".

#18 Copy

Questioner

Why was Dalinar able to feel the Thrill during his visions from the Stormfather?

Brandon Sanderson

Why was Dalinar able to feel the Thrill during his visions from the Stormfather. Well that would indicate that the same reason he feels the Thrill now still was in existence. Well not-- I mean was still affecting him. Does that make sense? He was in the real world, his body was in the real world. Whatever makes him feel the Thrill was still affecting him. Does that make any sense?

#19 Copy

Questioner

Was the Rose Empire ever under threat from Shu-Dereth? And can you speak a little bit on fitting The Emperor's Soul into a world you'd already created?

Brandon Sanderson

So was the Rose Empire ever in danger from Shu-Dereth and could I speak a little about fitting The Emperor's Soul into a world I'd already written. So when I designed Elantris, I knew where I was going, and I knew a lot about the world. This is how I am in building. So when I wanted to do The Emperor's Soul I already knew where I was going to place it, I knew which magic system I was working toward, and things like that. So it wasn't terribly hard since I already knew what was over there.

The fun about that is that you should go look at the map commissioned, the one Isaac drew, that's done by the Derethi and see how they view the Rose Empire and where they put it on their map. And then you'll eventually get a map of the whole world, and let's just say they don't have a really accurate representation of the world and their place in it. As was very common for a lot of early societies, early European maps are hilarious.

#21 Copy

Questioner

When Galladon appears in Way of Kings why is his skin not silvery?

Brandon Sanderson

When Galladon appears in The Way of Kings why is his skin not silvery. That's a RAFO but there is a good reason for it.

#23 Copy

Questioner 1

So I hear that you have a director for Steelheart--

Brandon Sanderson

Do we have a director for Steelheart. So Steelheart was purchased by Shawn Levy's company, at Fox, Shawn Levy directed the film Real Steel, which I really like, he also directed the Night at the Museum films, which I enjoy.

Questioner 1

Do you have an idea as to when casting might start?

Brandon Sanderson

So the way this goes-- breaks down for those who aren't aware. First thing they do, usually, when they buy a property is they commission a screenplay. Which they did. Screenplay came in some time in January, I haven't seen it yet they are sending it out for a polish. Once they are satisfied with the screenplay, at that point that's when they go to the studio and try to-- Oh that's when they try to get talent attached. Usually a director, like Shawn Levy is enough talent if he says "Yup, this screenplay turned out good, it's my next project" that would get it a greenlight and they would go to casting. So it's actually going really well. If it weren't a studio deal, if it weren't through Fox, at that point they would have to get some talent attached and then they'd have to convince a studio to give up funding and stuff like this. But if Shawn Levy likes the screenplay and says "Yes I'm doing this" it will then go to casting.

Questioner 2

Would you have any option on the screenplay?

Brandon Sanderson

Would I have any option on the screenplay-- No I do not have any power over the screenplay. No. When you sell rights like this most of the time you just have to hope they do a good job. I feel I gave them a pretty good screenplay in Steelheart in the book itself so I'm hoping Steelheart the book works out as a film.

#25 Copy

Questioner

*audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

So Elend's name came from the Germanic word for misery and Straff's name means punishment. The question is did I do this intentionally. I didn't do either one intentionally. I don't speak German, what I did was I went to Germanic morphemes, I didn't even know what they meant, and just got a feel for "Okay this is Germanic, this is Germanic" and then put those aside and said "Alright can I come up with a bunch of names that sound Germanic" once that mood is in my head. Because English has a lot of Germanic influences I guess I did it too well and I named a whole bunch of people things that are actual words in German. *laughter* But you know I'm actually fairly pleased with that, it means I was doing my job. But you know I didn't intentionally make them mean anything in German, at least this time I didn't accidentally pick a swear or something, which I’ve done before. *laughter*

#26 Copy

Questioner

How did you come to know Joshua Bilmes?

Brandon Sanderson

How did I come to know Joshua Bilmes. Joshua is my agent, for those who don't know. So when I took the class at BYU, that I now teach, from David Farland, I was writing Elantris and he was very impressed with the book and he said "Look, you're writing to get published." And I said "Great, what do I do?" And he said "Well how much money do you have?" And I said "None." "Well borrow some 'cause I want you to go to the Nebula Awards because they're in New York and when the Nebula Awards," he said, "are in New York a lot of the agents and editors go and it's one of the best places to just go meet them."

So I managed to scrounge up enough money to fly to New York, I stayed in a friend's basement. It was actually the brother-in-law of Skar the bridgeman, Ethan Skarstedt, my friend he came along with me. We stayed in his brother-in-law's basement and took a train into the city just for the Nebula Awards. We couldn't afford the banquet so we just sat in seats on the side of it. And beforehand Dave said to me "Alright I want you to go, and when you get there I want you to go to the bar, 'cause everyone is there, and I want you to start talking to people." And I'm like "I'm like a Mormon kid, what am I doing in a bar?" "You're ordering a Sprite and you're talking to people, that's what you do in a bar." And so I went and I sat down and ordered a Sprite and started talking to people. Meanwhile Ethan went upstairs to the little lounge area where they also had a bar and ordered a Sprite and started talking to people. I ended up talking to Jim Minz an editor at Tor, who rejected the book I sent him. Now Jim is at Baen Books.

He ended up talking to Joshua Bilmes. He came down afterwards and said "Who'd you meet?" "I met this guy" Introduced him, they chatted, and then I said "Who did you meet?" "I met Simon Green's agent" And I'm like "Cool I like Simon Green's books" And we went up and I chatted with Joshua and he gave me a card. And then I came home and I sent him a book and he rejected it. *laughter* And I sent him another book and he said "Ah let me see more of this one" And then he read that and rejected that one. And I sent him another book and he rejected that. Then I sold Elantris to Tor and called him and "I've got a book deal" and he said "Well I think I'll probably represent this one." So he was very skittish of taking me on at first but he's an excellent agent and I'm very glad I ended up with him. But yeah Mormon kid trolling for editors and agents in a bar in New York, that's how it happened.

#27 Copy

Questioner

Where do koloss-bloods come from?

Brandon Sanderson

Where do koloss-bloods come from... Good question. So when two-- When a mommy koloss and a daddy koloss… *laughter* Any natural offspring from two koloss become koloss-blooded, they do not become full koloss unless they decide to take the initiation which involves the spikes.

#28 Copy

Questioner

So Nightblood is sentient, he can make choices, and now he is in Roshar. Could Nightblood bond a spren and become a Radiant?

Brandon Sanderson

Could Nightblood bond a spren-- *drowned out by laughter* That one's just a bit farfetched. *laughter* I rarely say anything is impossible but let's just say that one's pretty farfetched.

#29 Copy

Questioner

Do the Shards move-- Other than Odium do the Shards move around and have we seen-- Or have Shards moved to worlds after the events that we have read about?

Brandon Sanderson

Do Shards other than-- Do Shards move around? The answer is yes, there are several of them. Have Shards moved around after the events you've read about? Yes, there are Shards that have moved around after that.

Questioner

That have moved to the worlds we've read about?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a RAFO. I'm not going to tell you whether they've moved to the planets you've read about or not.

#30 Copy

Questioner

Of all the characters you've written which one has the most of you in them?

Brandon Sanderson

Of all the characters I've written which has the most of me in them. Boy, y'know every character is a bit of me and every character's got something that's very unlike me. Um, I really have trouble answering that. People have asked it of me before. Some days I think it's Jasnah, some days I think I'm arrogant to assume it's Jasnah. Any character I would mention it would feel like the things I like about them are the things I wish I would have, if that makes sense? I don't know if there's any one that is really just me. My mother reads the Alcatraz books and says that's me. *laughter* She really does. Like she loves those books because she says "No that's you". When I have no inhibitions and I'm not trying to be self important I just do stupid things like in the Alcatraz books so maybe Alcatraz?

#31 Copy

Questioner

I was at-- I think it was at Way of Kings or Towers of Midnight, and I think I might your dad?

Brandon Sanderson

Okay.

Questioner

At least I think it was your dad. He said he was your dad. *laughter* I realized like two years later that it might not actually be your dad.

Brandon Sanderson

It was, it was. *laughter*

Questioner

I'm relieved. Old, white hair, he said he was sort-of going to voice act Grandpa Smedry.

Brandon Sanderson

So my dad. She may have met my dad. And she really did meet my dad. *laughter*

Questioner

I realized like two years later, "Wait what if that wasn't really his dad? Just some crazy guy?"

Brandon Sanderson

My dad looks like--

Questioner

Your dad was very nice.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, he looks vaguely like Alan Alda. Much more when he was younger, now he looks like a grandpa-ish Alan Alda.

Bystander 1

So like Alan Alda.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, maybe like Alan Alda still is. So the funny story about my dad is-- She wanted to know if this was really him and he said he was going to voice act Grandpa Smedry. So what my dad loves to do is he likes to show up at my signings, particularly-- He had a job where he moved around a lot. He would be at home in Idaho for a weekend and then he would go and work somewhere for a week and come back-- One of those jobs, right? And so I would go do my signings and never know where he was, right? And so I'd be doing a reading-- And I did one once in, this was in Ohio--

Questioner

I met him in Portland.

Brandon Sanderson

You met him in Portland?

Questioner

The year someone brought you a massive box of Voodoo Donuts...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, yes, the Voodoo Donuts...

Questioner

...you don't like chocolate?

Brandon Sanderson

But I love Voodoo Donuts! I'm just not going to wait in line for it.

Questioner

But you don't like chocolate!

Brandon Sanderson

I don't like chocolate flavored donuts, I like a piece of chocolate, but like the chocolate flavoring they put on donuts is such fake chocolate...

Questioner

I think it was the CocoPuffs one.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. So anyway my dad, he'd just show up at places like this, and I'll be doing my signing, right? And I was doing a reading once in Ohio and there's a disturbance at the back, and I'm like "What is going on?" And people kind of part, and there's my dad signing books. *laughter* Seriously. He's just signing books, and he's just laughing about it like "Oh I taught him everything." *laughter* He's never read a science-fiction book in his life. He reads the books like, that we replaced over here for our signing that are religious books and stuff. He reads-- Oh it was the cart, the cart said religious books and they had stacks of my books on it-- He reads stuff like that, he reads biographies. My dad does not science-fiction.

Questioner

Has he read your books? I know he's read Alcatraz, because he was talking and quoting it.

Brandon Sanderson

He's read my books. He's read the Alcatraz books at least. This is my dad, he's signing my books... The other part of that story is that he then took off and like seven kids came through the line-- like twelve-year-olds that he had bought a hardcover for because he'd seen them with a ratty paperback and knew they couldn't afford one, so he just bought if for them. *audience awws* And he did that for just tons of kids in the line. And he will do that at the signings. If he sees some young kid with a paperback, he'll buy them a hardcover. So that's my dad for you. *applause* I'll tell him you applauded for him. I'll tell him that you remember him...

Bystander 2

Will you bring him back?

Brandon Sanderson

Will I bring him back? I'll tell him he has to come to the signing next time.

#33 Copy

Questioner

Do you have a layout of the cosmere, like everything is happening written down or is it just up here?

Brandon Sanderson

It's written down. Some of it's up in the head, some of it's written down. Most of it is somewhere...

Questioner

Somewhere?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah most of it's somewhere.

#34 Copy

Questioner

Is Harmony only able to see and watch over Scadrial or will he be able to see the potential of other parts of the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

We'll talk about that in an upcoming story. You'll get more clues about that very soon.

Questioner

Very soon?

Brandon Sanderson

Very soon.

Questioner

Like before the end of the night?

Brandon Sanderson

Poten-- Well not-- Potentially before the end of the night, yes.

#35 Copy

Questioner

Are Returned the same person-- like is a Returned the same person they were before they were alive or-- 'Cause it says in the book that it is a Shard that Awakens the body so is it the consciousness-- Well not the Shard--

Brandon Sanderson

It is the same soul.

Questioner

The same soul.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Questioner

I was wondering if it was the consciousness of the Splinter.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

#38 Copy

Questioner

I was wondering, how often are [???] life imitating art or intentionally put into place?

Brandon Sanderson

It's rare that it's intentional. Once in a while it is, for instance Nohadon is based off of King Benjamin.

Questioner

Nohadon?

Brandon Sanderson

The author of The Way of Kings, the original author. But more often it's just unintended

#40 Copy

Questioner

Is there a meaning for Adolin's name, like there is for Kaladin?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Okay, do you want to tell me it?

Brandon Sanderson

Honestly I have to look them up. So I don't have them off the top of-- I should. I just have to look them up. It’s like there's technically a meaning to almost every name but yeah.

#41 Copy

Questioner

If the spren turn into any weapon how come all the dead spren are Shardblades?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question.

Questioner

Read And Find Out?

Brandon Sanderson

It is a Read And Find Out.

#42 Copy

Questioner

What happened to Wax's horse that Wayne did?

Brandon Sanderson

What happened to Wax's horse that what?

Questioner

That Wayne did, it's kind of referenced.

Brandon Sanderson

The reason the horse bit Wayne, is that what you're asking? The horse just has a nice sense of who deserves to be bit.

#49 Copy

Questioner

I'm going through Hero of Ages...again and I noticed...when Vin takes the power of Preservation into herself the descriptions remind me a lot of someone who has been Invested with Stormlight--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

--are those powers very similar--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

--in how they operate?

Brandon Sanderson

Ye-- Definitely some similarities. You will see a lot of mist in Stormlight if you are looking. So yeah.

Questioner

It like puffs out like mist.

#50 Copy

Questioner

Any hints about what the Stormlight novella will be about?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm probably going to make Lift the main character if the scene-- if it works it will be Lift. If it doesn't I could pick a different character, but I have a nice little outline for what Lift has been doing in between and I think she'll make a very good novella on her own. I do want to write the short story King Lopen the First of Alethkar, but that one's only like 5,000 words so if I get that one done I'll stick it in too. If you watch at the end of Words of Radiance Lopen's going around claiming to be king and there's a reason for that.

#51 Copy

Questioner

I just had a question about the broadsheets, do you write all the content for those?

Brandon Sanderson

I wrote all the first one. And the second and third one's I'm like "I don't want this all to be in my voice I want it to feel like a newspaper" so I wrote a couple. Isaac wrote a bunch, Ben wrote some of them--

Isaac Stewart

Ben didn't write any.

Brandon Sanderson

So it was you who wrote the rest of them?

Questioner

Did you do the layouts?

Isaac Stewart

Yeah I do the layouts and then I give them to Ben to do some of the illustrations.

Brandon Sanderson

The really fun thing is Isaac wrote the Nicki Savage one in this one [The Bands of Mourning].

Isaac Stewart

It was really fun, I'm glad Brandon let me.

#52 Copy

Shadow Guardian

If an Awakener were to go to Roshar and were to bleed the color from a gem would that gem still be able to store Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson

Bleed the color from a gem… Um ye-ye-ye-yeah. This would interfere with its function on Roshar. It would probably still be able to hold Stormlight…

Shadow Guardian

Might not be able to be used for Soulcasting?

Brandon Sanderson

Yea-- It's going to… You know what no it would just change it. It would just bleed the color from it and turn it into a dusty quartz or something like that. That's probably what it would end up with, a dusty quartz. Because the molecular structure doesn't matter as much as the color for Roshar. So yeah you would probably still be able to hold Stormlight because a diamond can but I don't know, quartz might cut it. You'd probably end up with something that's not going to work so well.

Questioner 2

What about a fabrial that needs a specific--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah a specific-- A ruby wouldn't work any more, and it would let go whatever is captured inside.

#53 Copy

Questioner

Shardblades are essentially spren that have died--

Brandon Sanderson

Not all of them have died but yeah.

Questioner

Oh, my question was if they could be revived?

Brandon Sanderson

Um this… According to the understanding of those in-world it would require the same person who broke their oath. So it would be possible if any of them were still alive. I'm not ruling out other ways, but that's how it's understood by--

Questioner

It would be the traditional way.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, mmhmm.

#54 Copy

Questioner

So I was actually wondering, I keep finding myself thinking of new and exciting ways to break science with magic. How do you keep yourself from doing that constantly as you're writing?

Brandon Sanderson

You write the book the best way the book can be. You give it to a scientist. You say "What does this break?" and then you either take it into account, if you think it is going to work for the book. If not you come up with an explanation in-world and you move forward. We're writing fantasy, we don't want the science to ruin our book, we want the science to be something we considered. Does that make sense? Like when I made speed bubbles and Peter's like "Red shift! You're going to irradiate people." I'm like "Alright we're just going to have to say 'Speed bubbles are not irradiating people' ". And just be aware of it and write the best book you can.

#55 Copy

Questioner

What would happen if somebody used the color from a Stormlight-infused gem to create a BioChromatic entity?

Brandon Sanderson

So I just had this question actually and what we came up with was that would leave behind something that is like a cloudy quartz and is going to make it work not as well for holding Stormlight. That's our answer right now, I'm going to talk to my scientists and see what they think because draining the color from something doesn't just leave it white, or clear, it kind of ruins it, it's gray-ish, it's dun. It clouds. So I think it would ruin things for Stormlight.

#57 Copy

Questioner

Has a Hemalurgic Feruchemist ever used a Hemalurgic spike to tap power into it? Have they ever done that yet?

Brandon Sanderson

So a Hemalurgic spike is already Invested, so it's going to resist sticking anything else in it, particularly a magic like that.

Questioner

So if there's a pewter spike then a Feruchemist couldn't store strength in it?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. It would be difficult.

#63 Copy

Questioner

In Alloy of Law, Marasi goes to see Wax in his house and he was doing experiments, she describes him as being oddly-- looking oddly younger than he had before. Is that relevant or is that just because he’s excited about--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah it's more that, and more she had this picture in her head of him and things like that. There's no actual magical thing going on there. It's an excellent question.

#64 Copy

Questioner

So three Vin & Elend books, and then four Wax and Wayne, and five of the next ones?

Brandon Sanderson

No, we'll probably go back to three, but they'll be big, thick ones again. So... I haven't actually named the main characters of the next one yet. I'll have to think about that, so I can tell people what it is.

#66 Copy

Questioner

Megan's weakness was fire, she overcame it. David's weakens was water, I feel he overcame it when shooting at the window. So my conspiracy theory is that he didn't have to take power from Calamity because he overcame his weakness or he was never experiencing the negative aspects of being an Epic *audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

You are getting warmer... You're theorizing is wise and you'll just have to see where it goes. But yeah you are definitely getting warmer.

#68 Copy

Questioner

In the beginning of Way of Kings, the first one, you start and Gavilar has a sphere that he passes off to Szeth and says "Give this to my brother, keep this safe away from them". It says it's dark but has its own inner light, but it hasn't been brought up again.

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Questioner

Is it going to be brought up again?

Brandon Sanderson

It will be brought up again.

Questioner

How-- Is it important? Or is it more mi--

Brandon Sanderson

It's important… ish.

Questioner

Ish? Does it have anything to do with Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

#69 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

*after reading a personalization request* What do you mean by specifically what Paalm was doing, which thing?

Questioner

Her ultimate goal, we think, was to Shatter Harmony.

Brandon Sanderson

You think her ultimate goal was to Shatter Harmony?

Questioner

*audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

Her ultimate goal was to free people from Harmony, so I wouldn't say her ultimate goal was to Shatter Harmony. So what you're asking me is "Is Taravangian trying to combine Harmony?

Questioner

We thought that Paalm was trying to divide people from Harmony in order to Shatter Him. *audio obscured* Taravangian was doing the opposite, trying to gather his people so that he could pick up-- so Honor could come back.

Brandon Sanderson

Not really. Good question, once I figured it out.

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Questioner

What happens when a... spren picks up a Shard?

Brandon Sanderson

What do you mean picks up a Shard? Shardblade or Shard of Adonalsium?

Questioner

Picks up a Shard of Adonalsium.

Brandon Sanderson

A spren is a Shard of Adonalsium so it just--

Questioner

Picks up one of the big ones like could a spren do the same thing that Kelsier's spirit did after he--

Brandon Sanderson

*hesitantly* It's like you're asking if electricity can gain a charge of electricity and get electrified. Does that make sense? I mean-- It's a question that doesn't make a lot of sense.

If a Shard were to somehow-- They would just combine into a bigger Shard and get larger-- if that makes sense?

Questioner

The foundation of that question was I thought that maybe the Stormfather spren was basically doing what Kelsier's spirit did.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, um *sighs* Not really... It's really a not really There's some similarities but it's a not really. It's not quite a RAFO though. more of a--

Questioner

More of a "doesn't quite work that way".

Brandon Sanderson

--doesn't quite work that way but you're thinking along the right lines?

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Questioner

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?

Brandon Sanderson

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.

Questioner

So there probably wouldn't be some huge dog tearing up the furniture?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably not. No, good question, but nah.

Questioner

So what about other creatures that are intelligent but not human?

Brandon Sanderson

That's possible.

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Questioner

The three travelers in Way of Kings, we know who they are. Did they know about the cosmere in the books that they appeared in?

Brandon Sanderson

Uhhh…

Questioner

Cosmere or Seventeenth Shard.

Brandon Sanderson

I'm just checking each of them. No, no, and no.

Questioner

So something happened in their lives afterward?

Brandon Sanderson

Yep… That's an excellent question.

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Questioner

This is kind of a shot in the dark but is there anything you want to tell me about whoever writes the Ars Arcanum?

Brandon Sanderson

The person who writes the Ars Arcanum is a character in-world from a book that is been written but has not been published.

Questioner

Is it a book that has been announced?

Brandon Sanderson

It is a book that's been announced, the title is known.

Footnote: The Ars Arcanum are written by Khriss, a character originally from White Sand.
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Questioner

*audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

Honestly? I just, these days, say "It kind of looks something like this" and he [Isaac Stewart] reads the book and finds any references I've made and comes up with something. I can trust him to the point that I don't have to worry too much about it. On some I'll give him a shape. On Roshar I gave him the shape, and said "It's like this" and then I split things up. Because that one shape was very important to me. But like Mistborn I'm like "It looks kind of like this. Go for it."

Isaac Stewart

*audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah I sent an MS Paint thing.

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Questioner

My question is about Shai, is she going to meet Hoid in person? Like I read your State of the Sanderson, is it going to be another short story or is it going to be in the Elantris books possibly?

Brandon Sanderson

If I-- When I write future Elantris books you're likely to see her in those.

Questioner

Or before maybe in shorter stuff like this *audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

We'll have to see, like shorter stuff I can never say when the shorter stuff is going to happen because it's where-- I funnel the random inspirations I get now into the shorter stuff. And the big books I have planned, I just don't have room for more big books, so when I get an idea I'm like "We'll do a novella on that instead".

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Questioner

I'm the guy who asked about the game.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh right, so have you guys released stuff?

Questioner

No. I have an app, that's a level builder, that is technically published but it's *audio obscured* the guy who's doing the art *audio obscured*

Brandon Sanderson

Like I do wish you the best of luck. My friends at ChAIR, Epic Games, they were just BYU guys who got together to release their own game but I need to do it with people who have done things before.

Questioner

Oh yeah. After we get a couple--

Brandon Sanderson

After you get a couple games, if you come to me. Because I have some really cool ideas for how a great Rithmatist game would work. Like I think what you would want to have is pieces of chalklings that people could piece together, and then they have to draw their chalkling and they’d piece together their circle and then enter into a duel with someone else on their own iPad and you have to trace your circle. You trace it. And whoever get's done first get's a bonus to their strength or whatever, but whoever's most accurate also gets one. Stuff like that would be a lot of fun to be able to do.

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Questioner

So the surprise with Lessie at the end of the last book [Shadows of Self], at what point did you know-- Like did you know that in... writing Alloy of Law?

Brandon Sanderson

I knew that at the end of Alloy of Law. So what I do is I write a book, and then I go and build a series out of it. So I wrote Alloy of Law. I then built a series out of it, then I went and wrote the prologue to Alloy of Law. And then I released Alloy of Law. I did a revision too to make sure it was all in there. And so, actual writing of Alloy of Law? No. By the time I'd done the revisions on Alloy of Law? Yes. And then I built the three book outline that would be the trilogy you are now in the middle of.

And Mistborn had some similiar things where I wrote the first book, then outlined second two, and revised the first one, then wrote the second two. It works really well for me doing that with a trilogy, because you get some spontaneity for the first book, and you know how the characters are and you can build a larger framework for them.

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Seonid

I've heard about a Shard that just wants to survive, hiding off-- it doesn't have a planet it doesn't--

Brandon Sanderson

Right.

Seonid

--out there in space, trying to survive. Does it have the intent of like Fear, or something like that?

Brandon Sanderson

The intent is related but only tangentially. Mostly it just knows what's going on and is smart enough to get out of there.

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Seonid

I noticed that you-- Was that a retcon on the way iron Feruchemy works?

Brandon Sanderson

What do you mean?

Seonid

There's a researcher who talks to Wax, asking him about whether he's changing his mass of whether he's changing whether the planet perceives him-- affecting his gravity.

Brandon Sanderson

Right. It's more a re-- Defining something I didn't pin down strongly enough. I wouldn't call it a retcon because it's something that nobody really did until Wax, really, in the series. The only one really capable of doing that in the original trilogy would have been the Lord Ruler, maybe some of the Inquisitors, but we don't have viewpoints from them. So I wouldn't call it a retcon I would just say it’s something that didn't come up in the first series that now I have to make sure is clear.

Seonid

So is it Higgs field stuff going on?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Mmhmm.

Seonid

My idea was right.

Brandon Sanderson

Mmhmm.

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Questioner

Are you considering doing and more digital versions with the annotations kind of baked in, similar to Warbreaker?

Brandon Sanderson

I'd have to write more annotations for it to really be relevant and the time do that has just vanished on me. So maybe we'll get the original Mistborn trilogy done that way. But I'm less certain I will ever get any more annotations written.

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Questioner

How did people-- So apparently Zahel... who is teaching Kaladin Shardblade stuff... He's Warbreaker?

Brandon Sanderson

He is Warbreaker.

Questioner

How did people figure that out?

Brandon Sanderson

The color metaphors. He displays BioChromatic Breath. It's not that great because I didn't put a lot of color metaphors into the book, even though I wish I had, I've gotten better about adding flavor to books. But really he notices when Kaladin is coming to knock on his door before Kaladin gets there. That's one of the big clues that people got.

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Questioner

How has the process of portraying women changed from Elantris to the more recent books?

Brandon Sanderson

Portraying women? A couple of things. I would say the primary one is just getting better at characterization all around. And the other one has been kind of this-- *sighs* struggle to figure out how to make every female character's conflict be about her role-- Not just her relationships, that one's not as big a deal because-- I mean if you look at the male characters, they all have relationship issues too, right? But it's more like fighting against-- Like if every woman is fighting against society's expectations of her that becomes a cliche very quickly and there are plenty of people, of both genders who are fighting against society's expectations but people of both genders are like "This is my society, I'm part of this" it's not fighting against it it's "finding my place". It's very difficult though when you are writing characters in states of conflict. So, I don't know.

Questioner

I read Shadows of Self and Elantris back-to-back, and that was really interesting to see the differences between the first published and most recent published.

Brandon Sanderson

Right, yeah. Those books will have some very big differences.

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Questioner

I do have one question that I have no idea if you'll answer. Aronack?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Wow, you're going way back.

Questioner

Well it gets worse, I noticed the name both in Dragonsteel [Prime] and in some chapters from Liar of Partinel--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Was that a cannibalization? Or is that two separate appearances?

Brandon Sanderson

So Liar of Partinel was a re-envisioning of... Dragonsteel and so there were certain things I was changing but that's not one of them. That's the same person.

Questioner

So was that story arc just-- Okay it's just the same thing?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

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Questioner

We've got Kaladin's name meaning, do we have Shallan's?

Brandon Sanderson

Shallan is-- Her name comes from Shalash, the herald, so it's kind of like naming somebody Christian in a lot of ways. Or naming someone Michael, though Michael has a meaning. Shalash does too but it's so old-- Like-- Yes, it will have a meaning but really what you need to know is "she is named after the Herald Shalash", right? But I'm sure we can dig out what the meaning is because it does have a meaning... I mean Kaladin's has a meaning even though he's named after Kalak.

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Questioner

Given equal footing with weapons, who would win in a fight: Batman or Kaladin?

Brandon Sanderson

...Batman or Kaladin?

Questioner

Given that they have equal weapons.

Brandon Sanderson

Does Kaladin have Stormlight?

Questioner

Only if Batman gets Stormlight too.

Brandon Sanderson

Batman can't use Stormlight.

Questioner

Then Kal-- Equal footing. So if Kaladin gets to use Stormlight, so does Batman.

Brandon Sanderson

But he can't use it. See this fight doesn't make sense, because it's like-- You know-- Well, I mean, if you give Batman Stormlight does it make any sense? If you give a bunch of Batarangs to Kaladin, he's like "What do I do with these?" I don't know. Does Batman have time to prepare? Because if Batman has time to prepare... If Batman has time to prepare then he's in good shape.

Questioner

Maybe Batman just gets Shard-Batarangs and nothing else.

Brandon Sanderson

If he meets Kaladin on the field of battle, Kaladin's a soldier and Batman's not. Batman's not going to do well in a war.

Questioner

Yeah-- But if Kaladin doesn't have any powers, Batman has extensive hand-to-hand training.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, yes he does.

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Questioner

*referring to his personalization request* Just that one. Wayne is a wise man, wrapped up inside of a sad man, wrapped up inside of a silly man.

Brandon Sanderson

He likes a hat to be nice and stiff. To mean something. And a fedora is going to be too weak for him. Too... too floppy. It's not a hat you have to commit to, in Wayne's opinion.

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Questioner

Is it possible to Compound your Spiritual Connection to a location on a planet while storing your Spiritual Connection to all other locations on the planet to kind of pull yourself through the Spiritual Realm to that location?

Brandon Sanderson

That's not how that would work. Parts of what you say are possible, but the teleportation aspect wouldn't actually do anything.

Questioner

Was Hoid trying to Compound his Spiritual location in the scene you added in the 10th Anniversary [Elantris]? Was he trying to Compound Connection to that location to try to become Elantrian?  

Brandon Sanderson

...So at that point chronologically he was not an Allomancer.

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Questioner

The size of the metal, does it matter to transfer Allomancy or can it be really really tiny or really really big?

Brandon Sanderson

For Allomancy? Or what, a bead of lerasium? Is that what you're talking about?

Questioner

Yeah, when you're transferring the powers, like to make someone a Mistborn...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah it has to be-- The size of it is going to influence how strong a Mistborn you are.

Questioner

It couldn't be a sliver.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah-- Well it could, you'd just be really weak as a Mistborn.

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Brandon Sanderson

*referring to a personalization request* That is a R A F O, but you do earn a card for your RAFO... Now let me just say--

Questioner

I'm not asking about Nightblood, I'm asking about the Shardblades.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah-- Oh, OH. You're asking-- okay. You're not asking what other Shardblades made, but if somebody brought a Shardblade to another pl--

Questioner

Like if Kaladin went to Nalthis.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, his Shardblade would manifest exactly-- it would do exactly the same thing.

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zas678

Are twins more likely to be Allomancers?

Brandon Sanderson

They are more likely to share--

zas678

--to share Allomantic attributes.

Brandon Sanderson

--to share Allomantic attributes.

zas678

Does it make a difference if they’re identical or fraternal?

Brandon Sanderson

It does… Yeah, it does. Fraternals are still more likely. But identical are even more likely.

zas678

Okay so fraternal are more likely than siblings--

Brandon Sanderson

Than siblings, yes.

zas678

And identical are more likely than--

Brandon Sanderson

Mmhmm.

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Questioner

Why don't Northern Lights ever appear in the Era One Mistborn trilogy? If Luthadel is situated at the Magnetic North Pole?

Brandon Sanderson

It has-- ‘Cause as I understand--has to do with-- what is it coming off the sun--

littlewilson

Solar flares?

Brandon Sanderson

That cause the aurora borealis. It's not just the magnetic-- There's physics involved which are not relevant in the Mistborn world.

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zas678

It seems to me that members of the [LDS] church generally like Elantris a lot more than people who aren't in the church and why do you think that is?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven't noticed that but if that were the case… boy. I don't know that whole Raoden just pushed through it has some sort of tying your spirit to it and that's definitely-- I could see that being relevant.

zas678

I've been told it's Hrathen's struggle with faith.

Brandon Sanderson

I think they like the whole-- the whole evil missionary thing would be something thing that members of the church would be like "Ahh evil missionary?! That's cool!" *laughter* So I think that's totally possible but I hadn't noticed that specifically. I think that it is also a book that is less focused on the action and fighting. Like Mistborn is more focused on that, and so I would expect that there's that relevant issue, perhaps, as well.

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little wilson

Is the gender of a spren bonded to a surgebinder based on sexual preferences?

Brandon Sanderson

It-- A lot of people are curious about this one… Not strictly but there is an influence there. But it's not strict. In other words Renarin having a male spren does not necessarily mean--

zas678

What some think it means?

Brandon Sanderson

-what some thinks it means. How about this you are more likely to bond a spren of an opposite gender-- a spren who identifies as an opposite gender, because spren don't actually have gender. But you are also more likely, statistically, to like members of the opposite gender. Those things have a correlation. Whether they have a causation is not a thing I am canonizing.

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little wilson

How many Shards are whole at the time of [Shadows of Self]?

Brandon Sanderson

How many Shards are whole at the time of Shadows? I'm just going to RAFO that because-- because I don't want to do math right now.

Bystander

More than half or less than half?

Brandon Sanderson

At the time of Shadows? How many Shards--

zas678

Or about half?

Brandon Sanderson

Ha! *long pause* *really high and stretched out* Half-ish?

zas678

Half-ish?

Brandon Sanderson

Half-ish. It depends.

zas678

Give or take?

Brandon Sanderson

Give or take. Like it de-- Are there now only 15? Like what's the number? ...So-- I'm not going to-- I'm not going to--

zas678

RAFO.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, RAFO.

Event details
Name
Name Bands of Mourning release party
Date
Date Jan. 25, 2016
Location
Location Provo, UT
Bookstore
Bookstore BYU Bookstore
Entries
Entries 112
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