Oathbringer Leeds signing

Event details
Name
Name Oathbringer Leeds signing
Date
Date Dec. 1, 2017
Location
Location Leeds, UK
Tour
Tour Oathbringer
Bookstore
Bookstore Waterstones
Entries
Entries 20
Upload sources
#2 Copy

Questioner

What's the concept of the safehand?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. There's a writerly answer and an in-world answer. Which do you want to know?

Questioner

Let's do the writer answer.

Brandon Sanderson

Writer answer, so. I am fascinated by taboo. I am fascinated by the fact that in Asia you don't show your, the bottom of your foot to people. It's terribly offensive. I am fascinated that in some cultures some parts of the body are shown and others aren't. Things that we would consider vulgar, to other people are not, and vice versa. It just fascinates me as a writer and when I approached the books I was looking for a ways that I could give a feel for a human culture but not one that we have seen before and the safehand grew out of that.

#6 Copy

Questioner

What's the character on [the UK Oathbringer cover]?

Brandon Sanderson

That is Jasnah. I think. I am almost 100% sure.

Questioner

I wasn't sure. There's a bunch, there's a few different characters that could all fit, so I wasn't certain.

Brandon Sanderson

I sent the same description of the scene near the end with the wall to both artists and that's basically what they came up with.

#8 Copy

Questioner 1

Do all Soulcasters risk turning into the element or is it only those using the device?

Brandon Sanderson

All Soulcasters have an affinity but the ones using the device are locked down much more than the Soulcasters who are Knights Radiant.

Questioner 1

So they are protected from being turned into--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh no they-- I wouldn't say protected... *clarification* Protected is the wrong term but that event, the savanthood and how it affects them and things like that is much less pronounced if you are a [Knight].

Questioner 1

Or is that counteracted by the healing as well?

Brandon Sanderson

Healing doesn't have to do with it because-- in cosmere terms there's nothing wrong with your body, your spirit is actually drifting, and so it's not hurting you physically by what's happening with the magics. So it's not the healing but if you have an active bond with a spren it takes a little different path. Let's just say, in simple terms--

Questioner 1

You are not losing body parts to smoke.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you are not losing body parts to smoke. 

Questioner 1

What timeframe does it happen for the normal Soulcasters then?

Brandon Sanderson

For normal Soulcasters? It takes-- I mean, you've seen it happening in the books. We are talking [about] a process of years even decades, depending on the person. It happens to some--

Questioner 2

Depending on how often they Soulcast?

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on how often they Soulcast, and it depends on the person. 

#10 Copy

Questioner

In Words of Radiance I think it was Nazh who was collecting the artwork for Khriss, is that the same person who... did the writeup of the glyphs and--

Brandon Sanderson

Who annotates. So, Nazh annotates almost all the stuff. That's almost always Nazh. Khriss almost always writes the Ars Arcanums.

Questioner

So there's not a new person also?

Brandon Sanderson

If you think it's Nazh, it's Nazh.

Questioner

So, specifically the one that talks about the glyphs and [how] he infiltrated--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that is Nazh. 

#11 Copy

Questioner

Why did they get a better copy of all the artwork?

Brandon Sanderson

We're going to talk about this with my publisher on Monday... The endpages... Let's just point out that the American print run is 300,000 copies--

Publicist?

The UK print run is originally 16,000 copies.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. And so print run drives price down. The US we sold, across all formats, we sold about 250,000 copies opening week. And in the UK, across all formats, I think they sold nine... thousand. And so it's just a difference in population and economy of scale. I'm going to try to convince the publisher to do some special editions of Stormlight that have the endpages. But I can't blame them if it's just not cost-effective...

The UK covers all matching is really a nice thing...

#12 Copy

Questioner

Could an Elantrian just write an Aon above Nightblood and then use it forever?

Brandon Sanderson

Use it forever? No. 

Questioner

Forever is pushing it.

Brandon Sanderson

No, no, I mean, Nightblood would destroy an Aon pretty quickly. It would pull power through it--

Questioner

It would be like trying to put too much power through a small--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, it would just rip it up to shreds. You'd get a little use out of it. He would eat the very structure of it, if that makes any sense.

#14 Copy

Questioner

This might be nothing, but the costumes they are wearing in Kholinar, they are a lot like mistcloaks. Is that a coincidence?

Brandon Sanderson

More a coincidence. Those aren't mistcloaks. If I can ever get them drawn out you'll see the difference between them.

#15 Copy

Questioner

What was Szeth's reasoning for following Dalinar? From what saw he's only met Dalinar once or twice and wasn't aware he is a Bondsmith.

Brandon Sanderson

It wasn't about being a Bondsmith. It was partially about how everyone reacted to Dalinar and partially... Let's see if I can explain this. 

Questioner

Was it, like, 'cause in--

Brandon Sanderson

Well, part of it was that. Definitely part of it was what he had seen and things like this. Part of it was how everyone, like-- he knew about Dalinar, right? He had fought Kaladin a couple of times. My own justification for it when I was writing this, 'cause I actually did think about this one, like, Dalinar has a magnetism to him. And Dalinar has a reputation. And Dalinar lived up to the reputation, and Szeth was just looking for something-- The reputation was in some ways more important than the man. For instance, there's a chance in that same situation that Szeth would have followed Amaram. Right? Fortunately he made a better choice than that but-- Anyway.

Questioner

You're thinking about a similar feeling of the honor because obviously Dalinar is really honorable toward the end and then he's got the same, Szeth's got the same--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Yes, but at the same time that gives a little bit too much credit to Szeth, to be perfectly honest.

#17 Copy

Questioner

Do Splinters require proximity to their Shards?

Brandon Sanderson

Do they require it for what?

Questioner

Function--

Brandon Sanderson

Function. It's very hard for most Splinters to leave the realm where they were Splintered, but this gets into tricky stuff because the Shard mostly occupies the Spiritual Realm, but what do you mean by the Shard? Because the essence of the Shard is in the Physical Realm, it's all across the cosmere, and things like this. Usually once something is Splintered it is difficult for them to leave that area, so yes.

Questioner

And in the system--

Brandon Sanderson

You see it with the-- I would call most Cognitive Shadows a Splinter in some ways. And you see it when Kelsier tries to leave, right. And spren would have the same trouble, and seons would have the same trouble. But at the same time is that a proximity to the Shard? Kind of. Things get very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey when you start dealing with the nature of the Spiritual Realm in the cosmere. 

#19 Copy

Megasif

In London I wanted to ask about Nightblood. The way he is Invested, is that a one-off-case kind of thing, or is it possible to do another of that level?

Brandon Sanderson

It was really bizarre, and I will explain it eventually and that will let you know why. It's theoretically possible to do almost anything so it's theoretically possible to do what he did but it'd be very hard.

#20 Copy

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Lift and Hoid disagree on bacon. 

Questioner (paraphrased)

Is this because food on Roshar is usually either Spicy (male) or Sweet (female), so salty bacon would just taste wrong to Lift?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

She just doesn't like the taste, please don't think too much into it.

Event details
Name
Name Oathbringer Leeds signing
Date
Date Dec. 1, 2017
Location
Location Leeds, UK
Tour
Tour Oathbringer
Bookstore
Bookstore Waterstones
Entries
Entries 20
Upload sources