Darkness (paraphrased)
Chapter 4 Kaladin noted a legger with a deep purple carapace near Tvlakv's wagon. Would that be a suspicious legger?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
That's a suspicious legger! (Later definitely confirmed it to be Aimian)
Chapter 4 Kaladin noted a legger with a deep purple carapace near Tvlakv's wagon. Would that be a suspicious legger?
That's a suspicious legger! (Later definitely confirmed it to be Aimian)
Will we learn more about the corrupt lighteyes in Kaladin's past? Katarotam? *silence* Will we learn more, just yes or no is fine.
Ehh... Yes. In general, yeah.
Ok. Um… did Taravangian arrange for his granddaughter to be trapped, so he could see Jasnah soulcasting?
Um he used an opportunity, that he could've gotten to through… in a multitude of ways, in order to… check on some things. But it is his granddaughter and she really was in danger.
Yep, he really did seem concerned.
Yes.
Further on in that… do different gemstones hold a different flavor, or different "frequency" of Stormlight?
Umm…. Nnnnnnnnooooooo… But kind of? Here's the thing: So with the gemstones on Roshar… scientifically some of these gemstones are just really close to one another. Like chemical formula and whatever. But, their cognitive selves and their spiritual selves are gonna be very different because of human perception, right? (sure) And so, the answer is both a no and a yes because of that. So people's perception has sort of changed how the magic works, to an extent… but it's the same amount of investiture, just with slightly different flavorings.
Right, so… is it easier for a Soulcaster to turn rock into smoke with a smokestone as opposed to a ruby?
So… Soulcasting… is gonna really depend on whether you're using a soulcaster.
First is for a Soulcaster, second is for a Surgebinder.
A Surgebinder is far less constrained than someone using a device accessing surges, right? A Knight Radiant is far less constrained than somebody using a mechanical means of accessing magic, and I would include Honorblades as a mechanical means of accessing a surge.
Cool! So with the whole Jasnah scene, she inhales Stormlight, for using Soulcasting. So how is it the Soulcaster appears to glow more fiercely instead of growing dimmer in that scene?
Um… heh heh heh… So… this is perception on Shallan's part, watching and kind of resonating with the Soulcasting, and some weird things are happening that she sees, and not necessarily anyone else is seeing.
I love that! Alright… Also, did Taravangian recognize that Jasnah was not Soulcasting traditionally? Like was it the hand sinking into the rock that gave it away?
Taravangian knew and already suspected.
How many memories can Shallan store at once?
I don't have a specific limit written down anywhere.
But there is kind of a generalized upper ceiling?
I would say that there is a generalized upper ceiling, but it's not something I have defined.
How close is Elithan to Adonalsium's actually name? Does Adonalsium have a proper name? It seems more like a title…
Um… Yeeah… RAFO.
Is logicspren a type of radiantspren?
RAFO… but that's a RAFO because that question isn't specific enough, but I'm not going to tell you why.
What’s the story behind Vedeledev's Golden Keys, or are we going to hear it?
Vedeledev's Golden Keys are more of a mythological thing like the sword that forbade people from entering the Garden of Eden, things like this that, they have existed but they're more symbolic… does that make sense?
Yep. So the Chapter 8 death rattle *reads it quickly* we stand atop the mount, blah blah blah. Is that referencing the words of an Aimian?
RAFO.
Is there any Spiritual or Cognitive effect on the subject of Shallan's memory collecting?
Well… …
Simply from taking the memory, not from the consequences of seeing the pictures or anything.
Right… no, I would say no, but there is a sliiiiight Spiritual Connection happening. So, so… but it doesn't really have an effect on the person. I mean, you could say, you could make the argument that any slight Connection like that does have one. But I don't want you to read that much into it. So the answer is yes, with an asterisk of no.
Ok. Ishikk and the Purelakers… are they actually fooling Vun Makak, like, at all?
Umm… I'm going to RAFO that.
Ok. Ishikk says, in response to the "outsiders" saying "this is a fool's errand", he says "you've got the fool part right." Is Ishikk more aware than he seems? Is he laughing and making a subtle Hoid joke?
No.
Does Szeth's connection to the Honorblade allow him to maintain a warrior's fitness as a normal person would need to?
Uh…. Noooo… I'm gonna say he… he… no. I'll just say that.
Are the quartz and iron in Szeth's oathstone specific to Szeth's in particular, or to oathstones in general?
I'll RAFO that.
Ok. The Thrill of Battle and the Thrill of Contest are noted as "distinct". Do the two come from different sources?
No.
When a darkeyed person obtains a Shardblade. Does their new eye color reflect the specific type of blade they bonded?
Yes.
Ok. Is Kaladin going to meet up with Jost again?
RAFO.
Is Cusicesh stuck in some kind of loop? Were his actions maybe recorded somewhere long ago?
Mmm RAFO… yeah…
Does the location of the Ghostblood tattoo correspond to some kind of rank?
No.
Did any metal break off when Gaz lost his eye?
Did any metal break off?
Like… in him…
Oh in him… you mean… no he doesn't have a Hemalurgic spike. Gaz is mostly what he seems to be.
Was it Syl or was it Kaladin himself that made things stick to his hands in the beginning? Are honorspren able to use a rudimentary form of the adhesion surge?
Yes, they are. Windspren are too!
Was Ivory watching when Shallan was in Jasnah's bathing chamber and that whole swap thing kind of went down… what did he relay to Jasnah…?
Umm… he would've been there… but I don't have an answer for that, mostly because I haven't considered it.
Did the person Sigzil tried to kill actually die, and then afterward become not dead?
We'll RAFO that, mostly because I intend to dig into Sigzil's past more.
Ok so you're probably going to RAFO who it was?
Yeah… mmhmm… but we do get a Sigzil viewpoint in this next book so…
Good! I like Sigzil.
Previous to the heralds giving up, could the Desolations be mathematically predicted, kind of like highstorms?
Umm… no.
Will Jasnah's sisters show up in the present day arc?
Jasnah sisters… Oh… OH! The other… Veristitalians. Um… yes. You will actually meet two more Veristitalians in the next book!
What does antiseptic look like in the Cognitive and would it frighten away any rotspren or grinders there?
Mmm… no it would look like a bead unfortunately. You could manifest it, like how you see Kelsier doing with stuff but really… no. Maybe if you got some antiseptic in [into the Cognitive Realm], the rotspren might recognize it but just the soul of it, no.
If i was holding Szeth's Oathstone would he understand my commands?
Good question, I don't believe anyone has asked it before. No, an Oathstone doesn't have any magical properties whatsoever.
Does Vasher have a different way of getting access to Stormlight than everyone else? Given that he has no spren, no honorblade and he isn't a squire?
Yes. He can use Stormlight to stay alive, but it doesn't let him Surgebind.
Could Szeth get access to this method?
Yes
And use it to fuel Nightblood?
Yes he could.
Can you tell me what that method is?
*smiles*
From Secret History, does Hoid have all the magic from the universe you've created?
He does not have all the magic. He did take the bead of lerasium, and you have seen him use Allomancy. So, he is confirmed to have used Allomancy.
Did you change Gawyn's fate?
Yes and no. Gawyn was the most written character by Robert Jordan. I made small tweaks, but he was mostly written. Harriet has said not to specify which characters were killed by whom, but I can say that about 1/3 was Robert Jordan, 1/3 was Harriet, and 1/3 was me.
Regarding a certain dragon mentioned in Stormlight Archive, and dragons in general in the cosmere: is functional immortality a natural part of a dragon's lifespan?
The way I have written dragons in the cosmere… ALL dragons are naturally functionally immortal. They can be killed, but they don't age.
Will we see more of Szeth in book 3?
Szeth has 6 chapters in the third book, mostly in the last part. You'll be reading along and be like, "Where's Szeth?" But that's just where I could fit him in.
When does the next Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell happen?
There's a book in that world about an entire expeditionary team that sails forth to destroy the Evil. The book starts with a person holding to the plank of a ship as the entire fleet sails back while it's being destroyed.
Do you ever go to India?
I have never been to India. I would love to go to India, the trick is I have to be invited. So they'd have to have some kind of convention and invite me.
Please don't kill Dalinar! No questions, just please don't kill Dalinar.
*very seriously* You will enjoy this next book!
But… ehhh… it's gonna be painful.
Are we going to get a Jasnah book?
Lift, Renarin, Ash, Taln, and Jasnah are the back 5. Jasnah is book 8 right now, maybe book 10.
When will we next see Axies the Collector?
Axies is mentioned in the next book but you don't see him, so probably in book 4.
Will we see more of Lift?
You will see more of Lift in this book. There are even some Lift viewpoints.
Who is the most dangerous of Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar?
Hmm… haw… Depends on which era of their lives… Probably Dalinar is the most dangerous. But that's a really tough question! After Dalinar probably Shallan.
What inspired the Epics?
I got cut off in traffic and thought, "you're so lucky I don't have superpowers because I would totally blow up your car!" And then I started to think about how I couldn't be trusted with superpowers and what the world would be like if no one with superpowers could be trusted.
I just got a job as an editor. What advice can you give me about my job from the perspective of an author?
The editor's job is to figure out what the author is trying to do, and how to help them make a better book than the author has written. Get them to try out options even when they don't want to listen or change the parts that don't work.
How do you keep all of your information straight?
I have a dedicated database shared between me and my assistants. I use wikidpad and have two amazing assistants to make sure I keep it all straight, but I still mess up a lot!
RAFO on bronze/copper twinborns because I want to leave myself room to create things.
Renarin is not comfortable touching people, but he does touch Adolin. Is he healing him?
Renarin is not healing Adolin "with his powers". He's not really confident in his powers at all. You'll see him develop that way more in book 3.
Hoid has… a lot of things influencing that. I liked the Robots story in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books, I wanted to have a character that moved behind the scenes of each story like that.
Personal favorite scene is when Kaladin finally says the words of radiance. I waited a long time to write that scene.
What was the driving force for Kaladin?
Two things: one, being a surgeon and a big brother, another was writing a hero who never thought he was succeeding.
Do you every drop hints for things that never come to pass as you change and tweak the story?
Oh ya, all the time. Best example is Arcanum Unbounded originally had a different story that was foreshadowed through Mistborn Era 1, among others, but it just never fit in the story. It just didn’t jive once you start putting the jig saw together. You learn not to get too disappointed when that happens.
Nakomi?!?!
Nakomi is one of the things I'm not allowed to answer. Robert Jordan wrote the scene where she meets Rand coming out of the pit. I wrote the other one.
When will we return to The Reckoners?
Apocalypse Guard will come out sometime next year.
When you paint a shardplate, how do you change the paint job? Do you have to break the pieces to get it off?
You would use a paint thinner and it would come off alright. Actually, you have to reapply the paint pretty often as it would naturally wear off on its own and it would have trouble sticking to the plate.
Where'd you get the inspiration for the Shattered Plains?
I can't say specifically, but probably the cliff's in Southern Utah had a large bearing on it.
Apocalypse Guard is about this superpowered team that goes around saving entire worlds, but their intern without powers gets trapped on a doomed planet and has to figure out how to save it / herself.
[Stormlight Archive] and Mistborn both have screenplays. SA’s is WAY too long, which is why we're going to a VR platform as a pitch for movies. SA has a couple drafts of screenplays and I’m very hopeful that it will go into the visuals phase next.
Teaching has really helped me be more defined as a writer. Writing is done very often by instinct, and I've discovered a lot about my writing style and process by putting it into lectures and words. That especially helps when the writing is hard. When it's easy you just go with it, but when it's hard I can really pinpoint what's going on.
Apocalypse Guard is a first person, very quirky, fun person to write. I've written 50 pages so far in between SA work, and it was very refreshing and I'm very happy with it.
Oathbringer starts with all these characters and all this stuff coming from everywhere and you'll be like, "Woah!" But it’ll start to gel around chapter 11, so just trust me.
What's one thing you wished hadn't been cut?
There was a scene where Perrin, the Ogier, and everyone cleansed the Ways that had to be cut that I was sad about.