Shadows of Self London UK signing

Event details
Name
Name Shadows of Self London UK signing
Date
Date Oct. 19, 2015
Location
Location London UK
Tour
Tour Shadows of Self
Bookstore
Bookstore Forbidden Planet
Entries
Entries 50
Upload sources
#4 Copy

Questioner

It must be very difficult to write Dalinar, since it's--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah he's a very different person, it's kind of brutal to write him now. But it works, it's a good counterpoint.

Questioner

*inaudible* Shallan and Kal are both younger, so you have less to write about than Dalinar?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah the flashbacks cross about 20, 30 years with Dalinar so it is a challenge. But you get to see a lot of sweeping changes in his personality which is really fun.

#6 Copy

Questioner

With spikes, would you be able to actually transfer Breaths, when they get to the other planets?

Brandon Sanderson

So spikes rip off pieces of the soul and so Breaths are not going to be part of the soul. You could maybe get a divine Breath but I haven't really decided on regular Breaths, they're kind of stuck there in the Physical Realm which is not a thing that spikes are dealing with. Divine Breath, potentially, because that's something that's actually melding onto your soul. But, you know, when you're using the Breaths they reach through to the Spiritual Realm so, maybe if you got it while the Breaths were kinetic, right, while you're using them, then you might be able to rip them off. I'm not a hundred percent certain on that one.

Bystander

There's still things to decide upon.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah there's still things, like I have to kind of see. My instinct says no right now. But, you know, how they interact is not something that I have-- Yeah.

#7 Copy

Questioner

I make cocktails, and I want to make cocktails based on the characters, have you got any ideas? Particularly Kaladin and Vin, what would they drink?

Brandon Sanderson

...Kaladin and Vin, ah boy. Vin wants something simple, I mean she's going to want something to relax, so maybe something fruity and simple. Kaladin, he'll want something stiff, right, something hard...

The next one actually has a mixed drinks scene. Fortunately, you'll be happy to know, I went to a bartender friend to get some advice on how to make it work, so... If you make Kaladin's stiff and blue, that might be good because of Alethi blue.

#8 Copy

Questioner

So I take it that a spren exists simultaneously in both the Physical and Cognitive Realms...

Brandon Sanderson

They do.

Questioner

But are they conscious simultaneously of what's happening in both.

Brandon Sanderson

No, they do have to transition.  

Questioner

They have to transition. And does a spren's intelligence affect its ability to transition? So like a more intelligent type of spren finds it more difficult to move over-- 

Brandon Sanderson

Yep-- But the moving over creates a lot of-- Yeah, like some of the ones you'll sometimes see, you'll think that they are--  Some of the spren that aren't intelligent are actually mostly in the Cognitive Realm and you're seeing a manifestation here, but they're not really conscious of what's going on here, they're responding to stuff in the Cognitive Realm.

Questioner

Ok so they could be pretty damn clever but there's no one to talk to?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

#10 Copy

Questioner

I finished Shadows of Self and TenSoon is still wearing the dog body, why is that?  

Brandon Sanderson

Because he found he liked it.

Questioner

Really? Because he hated it so much.

Brandon Sanderson

He did, he actually changed back and just didn't like it, he couldn't adapt. So he went back to what he had found very familiar now.

#11 Copy

Questioner

Why are there so many Kholins that are Radiants? Is there a story reason or...

Brandon Sanderson

There is a story reason, kind of. So the Kholin family is in Alethkar, which was the hereditary-- one of the homes of the Knights Radiant. It's still kind of in the forefront of the-- how shall we say-- the collective unconscious and things like this. Plus there's--

Questioner

And then they are on the forefront of that.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I mean-- Yeah. And so the spren, some of them are naturally looking for where a lot of Radiants used to be. So it's just a higher concentration of spren around the area, if that makes sense?

#12 Copy

Questioner

Could you have a good conversation with Adonalsium, back in the day?  

Brandon Sanderson

Back in the day? I actually have to RAFO that because I actually haven't said whether Adonalsium was a force or an individual. So it is an excellent question, no one has asked me that before, but it's not one I can answer.  

Questioner

That was a bit of a sneaky one, because it seems like it would be an easy one to answer, but it gives away too much  

Brandon Sanderson

It does.

#14 Copy

Questioner

Are the Unmade seeking anything on Roshar?  

Brandon Sanderson

The Unmade, are they seeking anything? Technically yes.  

Questioner

And are they attracted to something on Roshar?  

Brandon Sanderson

Um, yeees.  

Questioner

They are both of the above. And also you said--

Brandon Sanderson

The Unmade are not all necessarily sapient. Keep that in mind. Not sapient always in the way that we think of sapience.

#16 Copy

Questioner

Can Odium or any other [Shards] edit text like Ruin could? ...Or is that a special Ruin thing.  

Brandon Sanderson

This is possible for others as well. The trick about it is, [Ruin] saturated everything on Scadrial in a way that not all Shards saturate their planets.  

Questioner

Okay, what do you mean "saturate"?

Brandon Sanderson

Creating it, does that make sense? And so this was partially an aspect of the fact that everything on that planet, every atom was, y'know, had him in it... I mean he didn't create the atoms, let's say that, but yeah... The whole planet's existence and particularly the people on it are [Ruin], attuned to [Ruin].

#17 Copy

Neuxue

Does Roshar have a magnetic field?  

Brandon Sanderson

Um, Roshar, magnetic field, yes, it does. Yes. Yeah it does  

Neuxue

You said at one point that it is all one plate--  

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Neuxue

--that there's no tectonic activity. What is the interior of the planet like?  

Brandon Sanderson

That’s a good question... You're not going to get an answer on that one. It's a weird planet, let's just say that. It's a pretty weird planet

Neuxue

Are the diamonds naturally occurring?  

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but most are going to be-- They aren't-- all gemstones are naturally occurring, but most of, many or most of, the gems they are getting they are getting from creatures that grow them, not from the rock. Though there are mines on Roshar, you just have to-- most of them are on the leeward side of mountains, where the crem isn't being deposited.

Neuxue

So, diamond mines are about tectonics--

Brandon Sanderson

It was a created planet, keep that in mind.

#18 Copy

Neuxue

And I have one more question that sort of relates to The Wheel of Time, which I’m reading right now. So Shai in Emperor's Soul has a couple of different personas, right? And some of them have versions of her name. Were she to create a version of herself that is as chaotic and evil as possible, an embodiment of chaos that is capable of reaching throughout the multiverse and--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh Shai'tan! *laughs* I did not think of that, there you go Shai, that's where she came from.  

Neuxue

The most powerful character ever apparently.

Brandon Sanderson

That's right. *laughs* Shai, the Dark One.

#25 Copy

ParadoxicalZen

How exactly is the Moon Scepter linked to the Dor?

Brandon Sanderson

The Moon Scepter is-- I suppose I can canonize this, now. Okay you're getting one out of me. So the big thing about the Moon Scepter that it was-- It is a Rosetta stone for the [Selish] magics. Meaning it translates them from one to another, and what the different symbols mean, does that make sense.

#29 Copy

Questioner

Wayne's ability to heal himself, obviously doesn't mimic his natural ability because he can regrow fingers. So if he lost a limb, could he regrow the--just heal it roughly until he stored up enough Health and then regrow the limb at a later time? Does it have to be an instantaneous--

Brandon Sanderson

No, he could totally get that back.

Questioner

And if say somebody was born with an extra finger, could they cut that off, heal that up and have a whole fingers-worth of Health saved?

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on how they view themselves. Healing in the cosmere is based on replacing-- returning you to the state you view as your natural state... Almost every cosmere magic is going to work that way, unless-- There’s certain ones that-- Yeah almost everyone is going to work that way.

#30 Copy

Questioner

I read online that you stated that Instabam's power was over mashed potatoes. Is that actually true in your mind, and if it is would you ever consider writing that story in the same vein that J.K. Rowling did Fantastic Beasts? As a comic relief--

Brandon Sanderson

As a comic relief? I could totally see doing that. I just keep thinking that if people got to get superpowers, there have to be stupid ones, right?  People've got-- They can't all be “I can fly”, some of them are "I can control mashed potatoes" or something like that...

#36 Copy

Questioner

How come you don't have any gay, lesbian, or transgender characters in your books?

Brandon Sanderson

I do! This one [Shadows of Self] actually has one. Ranette is lesbian. Let's see, transgender is awkward because I have the kandra who are kind of no-gender and both, that doesn't really count, but it's kind of me testing the waters and seeing whether I can write someone who has fluid gender and not be offensive with it, does that make sense? So keep an eye on what I do with the kandra through the books. The other gay person is Drehy from Bridge 4, he's based on my good friend Ryan Dreher who is gay, and so you will see his husband appear in the series eventually as well, but we really haven't talked about that one yet, there really hasn't been an opportunity, but Ranette we've talked about and it becomes more and more obvious as we talk about it in the books.

#37 Copy

Questioner

What's the most cosmere-icly-significant in Shadows of Self?  

Brandon Sanderson

In the latest book Shadows of Self? Shadows of Self is not terribly cosmere-significant, the next book has a lot more.  

Questioner

So the middle series?  

Brandon Sanderson

No, no, no, The Bands of Mourning, the actual next one has some relevant stuff. Oh, what's the most relevant in this? The fact that Hoid is eavesdropping--

Questioner

On the carriage?

Brandon Sanderson

In the carriage. That's pretty cosmere relevant, but there's not a ton in this one. I wanted this one to stay really focused on Wax. You'll see some more worldhoppers in the next one and stuff, so keep your eyes open. They're hard to miss, honestly, in the next one.

#38 Copy

Cemci

Have we-- I think you mentioned in a previous signing that we'd already met one member of every Order of the Knights Radiant.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I think you have.

Cemci

My question is, have we met two Edgedancers? And is one of the Dustbringers a viewpoint character?

Brandon Sanderson

One of the Dustbringers is eventually a point-of-view character.

Cemci

Haven't been yet?

Brandon Sanderson

No, not yet, I don't think. But it depends if you count the Heralds as members of their order.

Cemci

I don't.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, see I would, because they're kind of heads of their Order. If you don't count them you have not met some from every Order.

Cemci

Have we met someone from the Dustbringers?

Brandon Sanderson

Well-- Dustbringers are really complicated. Really complicated. So that's the weird one. Okay? So let's shelve that one. You'll see why it's really weird later on.

#39 Copy

Questioner

How did you come up with the idea of windspren?  

Brandon Sanderson

Windspren in specific? I was thinking about the way the wind is often anthropomorphized, right? It's treated as if it's something alive. And that, for years, just stuck in my head. For a while there were only four windspren, one for each of the quadrants: the north spren, the south spren, the east spren, the west spren, or the west wind and things. But eventually I split them into many more, because I was working with the honorspren and things like that.

#40 Copy

Questioner

In Shadows... did we see a Shardpool? And was it Harmony’s or some other mysterious god who...  

Brandon Sanderson

So where do you think it is in Shadows?  

Questioner

In one of the newspaper articles.

Brandon Sanderson

I am RAFOing that, the whole newspaper article. So the newspaper articles, who knows what’s going on in them. They're tabloid-ish so maybe, maybe--

#41 Copy

Questioner

Have you ever thought about writing a horror novel?  

Brandon Sanderson

A what?  

Questioner

A horror novel.

Brandon Sanderson

You know, I've had little, vague things about, but never anything big enough. Like I'm most attracted in horror to the kind of cthuloid, dark eldritch style stuff, so if you saw a horror novel from me it would be along those lines probably.

#47 Copy

Questioner

In Rithmatist there's a Tower in Nebrask, why don't the Rithmatists just build a big moat of acid around it?  

Brandon Sanderson

You'll see, when I get there. They have tri-- Number one, a big moat of acid is really hard, you think about how much acid you would have to get in there? It's got to be enormous. Because remember the Tower moves.  

Questioner

Okay, didn't know that.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, the Tower moves, and so there's this huge swath they have to keep defended, it's enormous. But that's one of the big things, the other thing is you can't just leave them there because they will find a way across, 'cause they know how to cross boats and things now. Because they can get between the islands.

#49 Copy

Questioner

Miles spoke about people in red and gold, is that to do with Lightsong's colors is that connected in any way?  

Brandon Sanderson

Okay he spoke of people where?  

Questioner

While dying, Miles spoke of people in red and gold--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh red and gold.  

Questioner

Is that to do with the fact that Lightsong's colors are also red and gold?

Brandon Sanderson

No, good question.

Event details
Name
Name Shadows of Self London UK signing
Date
Date Oct. 19, 2015
Location
Location London UK
Tour
Tour Shadows of Self
Bookstore
Bookstore Forbidden Planet
Entries
Entries 50
Upload sources