Arcanum Unbounded release party

Event details
Name
Name Arcanum Unbounded release party
Date
Date Nov. 22, 2016
Location
Location Provo, UT
Tour
Tour Arcanum Unbounded
Bookstore
Bookstore BYU Bookstore
Entries
Entries 124
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#2 Copy

Slowswift

When you take a memory out of a coppermind it starts <degrade away>.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Slowswift

Would that happen with someone who has an eidetic memory?

Brandon Sanderson

Well... no. With the exception of, a photographic memory is disputed by science. In the cosmere they exist, magically enhanced. But there is science in our world that says these aren't real things. So, I'm not sure. You'd have to go to the science and see if they're actually real.

Slowswift

But if it is real, then it would...?

Brandon Sanderson

Then it would not degrade. It's the brain's own failings that are causing this.

#4 Copy

Questioner

Broadsheets of Bands of Mourning. The story that Allomancer Jak's sidekick... in it, there's this <part>, "After disembarking the the lift, I walked to the location where my foe would have hit the ground. I found no trace of him, and though no one witnessed his fall, a young white-haired man was there and offered to tell me a story. I declined." Is that Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson

So, there's a reference to a young white-haired man offering to tell a story. Whenever those words combine together, chances are very, very good that Hoid is involved. Yes, that is Hoid, but one thing I have to tell you is, not everything in that story... you are getting a story which was written by somebody, and then turned into a thing for a broadsheet. So, there have been some inaccuracies perpetuated in the broadsheets. So, yes, that's where that came from.

#5 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

For instance, Lopen did become king of Alethkar. For a short time. Because he and his family hid King Elhokar and, at least in his perception, convinced the king to abdicate for a short time so they could not lie when they said "We don't have King Elhokar with us." This is canon, okay. And, so, Lopen became... In his mind, at least, they got the king to agree for a fifteen-minute "Lopen is king of Alethkar" abdication, so that they wouldn't have to lie (because it was very important to them), so they could get him out of danger when some people were looking for him. That story, some day I might write it, I don't know if I'll ever be able to. But when he says (I think he references that at some point in one of the later books) "I was king," he really was!

#10 Copy

Djarskublar

*inaudible* [I asked if it would be possible to recall Breaths from an object that you had not placed there if the Awakener who did place them there had no Identity at the time.]

Brandon Sanderson

So, this is a very detailed, specific question, if you didn't hear it. It's dealing with the idea of Investiture and Identity, and things like this. If you can unkey the magic with Identity, for almost any case, it's going to make it much easier for other people to use. That's gonna be a blanket statement through the cosmere. If you can blank your Identity, it's at least gonna be able to be used by someone else with a blank Identity. Sometimes it's keyed, so the blank will not work with somebody who is themselves keyed. But if you can blank and they can blank, you can almost always guarantee the magic will be able to be used.

#11 Copy

Djarskublar

So, say you have a gold/gold Twinborn and they worldhop to Roshar and they study the magic and do the whole Khriss and Nazh thing for a while so they know a lot about the magic, but they've also left themselves a lot of options with what they can do. So then they manage to pull up a gold shadow of them having actually become a Surgebinder and then kind of meld themselves with that shadow a bunch, could they change their Cognitive Identity enough so that they could, like, tap a lot of gold and grow the spren and actually be a Surgebinder?

Brandon Sanderson

Unfortunately, no. It's a good question, but no. That won't work for a couple of reasons. One of which is, simply creating Investiture is not something that can happen, right?

Djarskublar

They are a gold Twinborn, so they can tap a lot of gold...

Brandon Sanderson

They can tap a whole bunch, that's true, they can do that, but simply having it is not gonna create a spren because the spren is from a different god, right, a different Shard.

Djarskublar

So if they had Regrowth cast on them, would that do it?

Brandon Sanderson

*hems and haws for a second*

Djarskublar

A really, really big Regrowth, like in the middle of a Highstorm.

Brandon Sanderson

Hmmm, this, you are getting to the realm of plausibility at that point. I still don't think gold is the way to do it. I think you just get all that Investiture. It would become sapient by you sticking a whole bunch of Investiture in, and then you can bond to that. But it's not like people gain what you would have done. Does that make sense? That's just what's going to happen, is you're gonna, you can create a, potentially create a spren that way, but you are more likely to end up with something like Nightblood. But you could potentially create a spren, but I mean you're just gonna end up...

Djarskublar

So there are other, more optimal ways to do that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, go bond a spren. (evil grin of course)

Djarskublar

But you can't easily bond multiple, and if you did this you could maybe get multiple.

Brandon Sanderson

Nyeaaahhh... The spren still has to choose. If you want to be a Surgebinder, the choice is being made. You can't fake your way into it. Decision and Honor are too much a part of Surgebinding for you to be able to fake your way into that. Other magics you might be able to do that. Other magics that don't require, like... Surgebinding works because a piece of Honor or Cultivation or a mix has chosen you specifically. There is will from the actual Investiture involved in it in Roshar. So it's not something you can cheat your way into, right. But cheating your way into Breath might be easier.

#12 Copy

luckat

What is something that you would have put in the Nalthian essay if you had one in there?

Brandon Sanderson

I probably would have talked about how close some of these scholars are on Nalthis to understanding all of this. They're probably the closest to understanding the nature of the cosmere of anyone outside of the people who are actually worldhoppers. I probably also would have given some hints where the pool is.

#18 Copy

Lightning

If you have a metalmind, you have, like, weight stored in it, and you want to transfer it to a different metalmind, can you just transfer it directly? Or does it pass into you, and then you lose some of the power, and then it goes...

Brandon Sanderson

You don't have to draw it completely out. You are gonna lose a little in the transfer. But it's not as much as you probably think. You can kind of do a little hack thing where it goes through.

#25 Copy

Sunbird

Alcatraz, the Dark Talent. How far ahead did you decide that specific ending? I know you always knew it was gonna end up at the altar, but at what point did you decide Attica's fate?

Brandon Sanderson

That was right at the beginning. I was using some mythology, and things like this, and that was the big part. So, if you go back and look, I knew Alcatraz, when I wrote the first book, before I outlined the rest of them, something terrible happened. Something actually terrible happened, which is why he refuses to accept... 'cause he failed in some major way. It had to be a real and kind of awful thing in order to justify the way he is. Because otherwise, you're just like, "You're an idiot." And this turns him into something that had really traumatic, and so you could understand it. And I was worried about that being in a kids book, but I'm like, "It says what it has to be." I knew it was infiltrate the <library>, altar, Attica. But I didn't know all the details, just like I usually don't for the Alcatraz books. Those are supposed to be improv.

#28 Copy

Viridian

Why did Hoid give the memory coin to Wax? What was his intention?

Brandon Sanderson

He thought that certain information was being kept, and certain lies were being perpetuated. And Hoid was a fan of that information being out.

Viridian

I'm still suspicious.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, you should be suspicious of Hoid's motive. He and Kelsier do not get along. Let's just say... Kelsier did not want that information to get out.

#29 Copy

Questioner

First of all, on the [Arcanum Unbounded] endpapers, what's the position of... Where is it from? What's the reference point?

My friend asked (and I was there with him asking my own question) Brandon and Isaac at the Provo release where the perspective on the end papers is from – Brandon confirmed that it was from Silverlight, after checking with Isaac. There was some wonkiness in the response though – Isaac said something like as it was “imagined” from Silverlight, and I tried to get clarification for what that meant (is that because Silverlight is mobile?), but stayed pretty vague (got the impression he was maybe saying there was some sort of artistic license taken?). I consider it confirmed that it is from the perspective of Silverlight, but that that there is more going on there. 

Brandon Sanderson

Reference point in this, I believe, is Silverlight. But it's not how they would exactly see them all. But it is done by someone from Silverlight. Right, Isaac? This is done by someone from Silverlight? And that's gonna be kind of our reference point, but they are imagining a place... right?

Isaac Stewart

They're imagining a place where the constellations would look like this. There iss an actual place where it looks that way. *talking over one another*

sillyslovene

Is that because Silverlight is mobile? Or is that because...

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Questioner

You say "imagine." I just wondered what "imagine" means.

Brandon Sanderson

I'm saying, I'm not sure-- *to Isaac* Did you set that from Silverlight?

Isaac Stewart

No, no. It is set from a point in the cosmere itself.

Questioner

So that they can say they can see all of them in one--

Isaac Stewart

So, that is an actual night sky somewhere in the cosmere.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, okay. Yeah. I now know what he's talking about.

*inaudible* [1:11]

Isaac Stewart

*inaudible* [2:12]

Questioner 2

I've been meaning to ask you this 'cause you did the artwork for it. How can you have more than one planet habitable in the same solar system? Don't planets have - I mean I know it's *inaudible* [1:28]

Isaac Stewart

Well there's always a belt in the solar system where *inaudible*

Questioner 2

And more than one planet can stay there? 'cause I thought that planets - I don't know the right word but it's like -

Isaac Stewart

No that's fine. There's actually - if there's a planet that's within its habitable zone - it's a zone, so if there are two planets in there, then they both get habitable.

Questioner 2

And they come - 'cause I thought that - that one of the definitions of a planet is that they move everything out of the way, like one of the reasons that they *inaudible* planets is that they move *inaudible* out of the way. Like, it doesn't have strong enough attraction to either pull things in or move *inaudible* 

#30 Copy

Questioner

Given Sanderson's Laws about limitations...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

What would you say are any spiritual, cognitive, and or physical limitations to a Returned's healing ability?

Brandon Sanderson

That they can do it once.

Questioner

That they can do it once, and that's it?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, right? The Returned get one heal and then they die. That's a pretty big limitation. Like you have to choose really well. However, what they can heal is bounded by cosmere limitations on healing, but it is a supercharged version.

Questioner

Okay. Could you define more cosmere limitations on healing?

Brandon Sanderson

Cosmere limitations on healing can be affected by your own perception.

Questioner

Okay. Cognitive stuff.

Brandon Sanderson

Cognitive stuff. And so there's a part of that, and... But that's really-- cognitive interferes. And if your spirit is gone? Right? Cosmere healing, you know, if your spirit is passed on you just get a dead body even though you've healed it.

Questioner

So potentially Vasher, having a much greater cosmere knowledge than others could potentially have a much greater usage of that healing than regular--

Brandon Sanderson

Well the healing-- What I mean by that is yourself. You impose limits. So the person being healed can impose some limits on the healing working. It doesn't happen as often as I'm making it sound. But, you know-- why Kaladin's scars have not healed, right? So Kaladin being hit by a Returned would still not heal his scars. He's got a major hangup about those scars.

Footnote: The questioner seems to have been asking about cosmere healing in general for Returned, but Brandon focused on their ability to give up their Divine Breath to heal somebody else.
#31 Copy

Ward

When Harmony Ascends, he admits he doesn't have a good view of the Spiritual Realm. Does he develop a better one over time? And are there other Shards that already have a very good view of that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. But it is still something that is hard to grok, so to speak. In canon-- in science fiction-- hard to understand. But he has a much better understanding, and the other Shards, some of them have a very good understanding. The thing is, the difference between the Spiritual Realm and the Beyond is not something that is immediately obvious.

Ward

So, the Spiritual Realm is not the Beyond?

Brandon Sanderson

No, Spiritual Realm is not the Beyond. There are three Realms of existence. The Beyond, some would say... There are philosophers would would say, the Spiritual Realm and the Beyond are one, that the soul gets sucked into and joins the Investiture. That's the idea of the One. But, most people would say the Beyond is not...

#32 Copy

Ward

At the beginning of Way of Kings, when Kaladin thinks he's being irritated by a windspren, he's like, "Oh, windspren are all like this." Are there other types of spren that have similar personality quirks, that elemental spren...?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, there are, like flamespren. A lot of the elemental ones have quirks, you'll see more quirk to them than the emotional ones. And the difference between them will come up a little more obvious as the series progresses. You're more likely, for instance, to find quirk to a riverspren or a flamespren than you are to a fearspren.

#34 Copy

Questioner

Do you have any idea what the ratings on the movies are gonna be? Like, is it gonna be R, or...

Brandon Sanderson

I will push for PG-13 with the bit of power I have. I mean, they know, like... I don't have power over that. But that's part of the discussion, when I say, "We can't do Game of Thrones with this. It is not appropriate for my books and audience to have content like that in the books." So, like I said, they know. I can't guarantee

#35 Copy

Questioner

In Stormlight, Dalinar mentioned that <if he can die, he's no longer a god>, so to speak. And throughout the cosmere, gods died *inaudible*. Is there an omniscient, omnipotent, actual God in the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

Is there an omniscient, omnipotent God in the cosmere? Some people believe that there is. You guys laugh about this, but I don't mean it to be a laughing thing. There are certain questions I will not answer in the cosmere, specifically because it would too much undermine some of the characters' beliefs. And I want to treat characters respectfully. So whether there is life after you pass into the Beyond, and whether there is a God of gods, an omnipotent, as we would define "monotheistic God," are questions that I don't answer, and I let the characters deal with. Because if I answer that, then the character discussions about this are meaningless. Not really, but they kind of are. So there are a couple things I won't answer about the cosmere, because the characters don't have these answers.

Questioner

<Do you know the answer>?

Brandon Sanderson

I know the answer, yes.

#36 Copy

Questioner

Demoux. Him, also being in the Interlude. How is that one...

Brandon Sanderson

He is part of a group called the Seventeenth Shard. [They] are cosmere-aware and travel around the planets and have a kind of pact of non-intervention. Which they aren't doing a very good job on, because they brought the common cold to Roshar.

Questioner

How did he actually find out about this?

Brandon Sanderson

I will give you [a RAFO card], because I will answer about the Seventeenth Shard eventually.

Questioner

So all these questions are actually going to be answered?

Brandon Sanderson

The Seventeenth Shard will have a big role to play in future books.

Questioner

Is Hoid part of the...?

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid is not part of the Seventeenth Shard. They're trying to chase him down.

#37 Copy

Questioner

With Warbreaker and Stormlight Archive, Vasher and Zahel. How does that transition occur?

Brandon Sanderson

He went to Roshar because he knew ahead of time, that you could get Stormlight, and how easy it was. So he made his way there because he was tired of sucking people's souls to stay alive.

Questioner

How did he know?

Brandon Sanderson

He, as part of a group of scholars, stumbled upon the nature of worldhopping long ago.

Questioner

Could he be the same group of scholars as Jasnah?

Brandon Sanderson

No, it's a group of scholars on Nalthis who were studying magic, Investiture, and stumbled upon the means by which you transition into the Cognitive Realm. So, he actually had experience with Shardblades before, and that was part of how he built... well, he was part of it, but really...

Questioner

So, is Nightblood kind of like a Shardblade? Is a Shardblade?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood is an attempt to make a Shardblade using a different magic. And it turned out poorly.

Questioner

Speaking of Nightblood, how did that transition from Nalthis?

Brandon Sanderson

I have not answered that yet. Eventually, you will find out how they ended up on Roshar.

#39 Copy

Tsidqiyah

On Sel. It costs about 50 sacrifices to become immune to Aons. Is that number essential? Or if someone with 50 Breath was sacrificed...?

Brandon Sanderson

That number is not essential. But you would have to hack the magic system. You need that much Investiture. So, 50 peoples' souls worth. But if you knew how to hack the magic, Breath could substitute there pretty easily.

#40 Copy

Shadow Guardian

Nightblood, being a sentient object, could he give away his Breath? 

Brandon Sanderson

Ah, Nightblood...could not give away his Breath. It's a good question. It's because that Breath is making him...like something weird has happened to him where the metal is Invested almost to a Hemalurgic or Feruchemical way, right? Like it's no longer just an object with a bunch of Breath. It's become permeating the whole thing. So it's more like the soul of a person, the part of the Breath they can't give away. Like when you give away your Breath, you retain some of your Investiture, you can't give that part away. It's the same thing. 

Shadow Guardian

Cuz I imagine it would be kind of like a Lifeless where that Breath is probably stuck so close that it would not be removable by an Awakener at least.?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, Yep. It's stuck in there, yep. I mean there are ways to get the Investiture out, but it's not the simple "We give it away" thing. Yeah, he can't just give it away. 

Shadow Guardian

<inaudible> corrupted or? 

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that is part of it, that is part of what that means. 

#41 Copy

Questioner

How did Vasher/Zahel and Nightblood get separated? 

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, how they got separated is part of the story and so it will come up, that's a RAFO.

Questioner

We'll eventually find out though?

Brandon Sanderson

You will eventually find out, that is a part of the story that is relevant. 

#43 Copy

Questioner

Was Elantris built before or after the prologue of Way of Kings

Brandon Sanderson

*Pauses* Go to my notes and find out. I would have to actually specifically look that one up. My instinct says.....oh boy.

Questioner

Yeah, because they're both really old.

Brandon Sanderson

They're really old. They're both really old. I want to say that the prologue is older, but I don't know for sure, because I know things on Roshar are older. But, the prologue happens late in things on Roshar, so it's still old. So I'm gonna go with, I think this but I'd have to actually get the outline and look at the timeline. 

#44 Copy

Questioner

Have you heard any updates on the Steelheart Screenplay?

Brandon Sanderson

Uhh, last I heard from the Steelheart was two weeks ago...a week ago? They are shopping for a revision. They are- This is their next set of revisions. 

Questioner

So they finished their first and are on to the second?

Brandon Sanderson

Mhm.

#45 Copy

Questioner

If an Allomancer drew Nightblood, would it eat the metals first?

Brandon Sanderson

Only if they were burning it. 

Questioner

At the time, otherwise it would go straight through and eat them?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah it would just eat them. Yeah. If they were burning the metals, it would burn through the metal, and he would take the power instead of you gaining whatever ability you were trying to get from it.

Questioner

Who he be able to use the metal power or would he just eat it as...?

Brandon Sanderson

He would just take it as raw Investiture. 

#47 Copy

Questioner

If Marasi could burn duralumin, would that make time go faster or her bubble get bigger? 

Brandon Sanderson

This is on tape so I have to make sure I do this right.

It is less about the size of the bubble and more about speeds. You can expand the size and change the size of the bubble, so it's possible that you could use duralumin for either one if you knew what you were doing, but the speed is the more relevant part. So, I just wanted to say that correctly. 

#50 Copy

Questioner

The universities of Silverlight, where is that headquartered?

Brandon Sanderson

In the city of Silverlight.

Questioner

Does that happen to be in Shadesmar like the IRE are?

Brandon Sanderson

A lot of people think that it is what they call (the fans) The Restaurant At The End Of The Cosmere. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I haven't talked about where it is yet.

Questioner

Will we see more of that in novels?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, Silverlight will be referenced. I have a story brewing set in Silverlight.

#51 Copy

Questioner

Kelsier talks about a myth that seems similar to ours, about the grand maze of Ishathon, which seems to parallel to the labyrnth myth.

Brandon Sanderson

There are certain things from being a student of folklore, I know about certain myths that show up multiple times in different cultures, and I know how frequently myths show up in different cultures. So, I will frequently add in cosmere versions of these myths, knowing that different cultures on our world have spawned them independently, feeling it's likely they would spawn on-world in the cosmere. So, when you see a Cinderella myth, if I ever use it, which is the single most common myth throughout all cultures. I'm not saying "Oh, someone's been to Earth and found Cinderella." I'm saying, "People have developed this myth independently." But, yes, that is coming from my folklore background.

Questioner

Is it a Scadrial-specific myth, or is it a kind of a cosmere cosmere...

Brandon Sanderson

This one, in specific, I believe is Scadrial-specific.

#52 Copy

Questioner

So, there's a line in Elantris that has always fascinated me. Raoden is reading really old books, and he says that some of these books mention words such as "frequency" and "pulse length." I'm a physics major, this reminds me a lot of quantum physics.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it does!

Questioner

So, my question is, how much is quantum physics a part of the magic in the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

Here's the thing. I don't know quantum physics well enough. That's a rabbit hole; I am an armchair scientist, I do not have a degree in physics. And so, while I really like it, I build it in... When I'm doing this, what I usually do is I build in cosmere versions, so I can't be held accountable to getting some little thing wrong. So, yes, quantum physics is important. But, in some ways, some of the things in the cosmere are more like the pop science version of quantum physics, what everyone thinks quantum physics is but really isn't, are actually some of the things in the cosmere. The fun, awesome version of quantum physics. I try to make some of it as accurate as I can, not having a physics degree. But I have to be aware that... I am not writing science fiction, I'm writing fantasy, so there will be things that you're like, "That's not quite right," but it works in the cosmere.

Questioner

Anywhere I should keep my eye out for more stuff like that.

Brandon Sanderson

In Words of Radiance... when was the interlude, is it in the first book? The spren, they took their measurements. That's part of it. We're gonna have, just, little things like that around that are relevant, but I'm not gonna dig into it deeply until [Mistborn] Era 4, probably.

#53 Copy

Questioner

Will we see the Moon Scepter again?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I intend for you to see it again. But I've already said what it does, I believe. It's a Rosetta Stone for the different symbols on [the world of] Elantris that mean different things.

Questioner

So, it's more specific to Sel?

Brandon Sanderson

It's specific to Sel, it's specific to understanding the magics on Sel. It helps figure out how the different magic systems do the different things they do on Sel. So, it does have Aons along one side of it. You probably will see it again, but it will probably be in cameo. Hoid got the information he needed off of it, from that.

#54 Copy

Questioner

I asked about The Lopen, and it was a public Q&A, so I was trying not to be spoilery. But some of the things he said at the end of Words of Radiance, where he knew a lot about background processes. I asked if I should be suspicious of it, and you said, "Yes." Was that in reference to him becoming the king, that you revealed? Or is it because of something else that he knows about?

Brandon Sanderson

Background processes of...?

Questioner

It seemed he knew more about the squires, the process of being squires

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, Lopen. Lopen knowing more. No, that's not about being the king. You are supposed to be suspicious of it because Lopen has been paying a lot of attention. He didn't have foreknowledge. It was completely accidental he ended up in Bridge Four. But once he did, he decided, "I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna learn about it." And he has been the one actively pursuing becoming a full Knight Radiant. He's the only one of the team who's actively been doing that. That's why you are supposed to be suspicious. There's not an ulterior motive. He is proactive.

#55 Copy

Isaac Stewart

The symbolism [of the Threnody symbol] here has a lot to do with the star system. The three rules, right? I'm not gonna spill it out here. There's the three rules. So, each of these symbols has something to do with the three rules, and also different things that are found in the sky. I'll give you one of them. The eye is the sign of Purity. And then, I'd might as well. This is silver. This stands for "Do not run." And this one is the blood. Which, there are stars in the sky that are red there, so that's the star.

#56 Copy

Questioner

Is there a particular period of history you feel influences your writing a lot?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, early 1900s.

Questioner

Specifically America, or global?

Brandon Sanderson

Global. But, you now, America obviously is gonna have a big influence. It really starts for me, Renaissance through industrial revolution, to the beginnings of the modern era. Because, the idea of science being something wonderful that you can study, that is a big part... like, Newton believed alchemy was real, and tried to apply science to it, and couldn't make it work. That sort of thing is really cool to me. That era, moving into the modern era, where science is, like, a wonderful thing that people are discovering, is really cool to me. I'd say that's my biggest influence. I remember reading an essay by somebody who studied ditch-digging in 1910. And had been, the science of ditch-digging, and applied it to ditch-diggers and taught them to ditch-dig better, and how science can help a person dig ditches. Like, everyone's life was improved by science. That's a really cool era to me.

#57 Copy

Questioner

You mentioned that you're not doing another Emperor's Soul book. I wanted to know, what would or did happen if [Shai] ever tracks down the Imperial Fool?

Brandon Sanderson

So, you might see her again in books. She did eventually track him down. So, I might include her in books. I won't write a sequel story to Emperor's Soul, but you have not seen the last of Shai. You will see cameos. And it's entirely possibly I will sneak one into a book somewhere, or something like a scene. She did eventually track him down.

#58 Copy

Questioner

Is Teft going to become a squire?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, the next book will involve all of Bridge Four trying very hard. But, I can't promise that anyone specifically... but, Teft has had a viewpoint in the first book. Teft did get his viewpoint in the second book. He will have one in the third book, also.

#60 Copy

Questioner

Elend and Kelsier's relationship, what would it be like? I was thinking it would be, like, playful annoyed exasperation?

Brandon Sanderson

Kelsier would have really come around on Elend, is my instinct. Partially because Elend came around on Kelsier. If you read the later books, he really understands a little more. He's much more of a realist than he used to be. Which Kelsier would appreciate. I would imagine that Elend would be a little frustrated with Kelsier. But Kelsier would just start treating him like a minion, rather than someone to... And that's a sign of affection. If he orders you around, that's a sign of affection.

#62 Copy

Questioner

Hoid. Does he show up in Sixth of the Dusk?

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid is not in Sixth of the Dusk. I kind of made the little rule to myself that I should not just try to shoehorn him in to everything. On a thing like Sixth of the Dusk, there's no reason for him to be there. In fact, it would be really hard for him to get there. Threnody even harder. So, he's not in Shadows for Silence either.

#66 Copy

Questioner

Axies the Collector, is he a kandra-like species? Are they common throughout the whole cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

So, the Aimians reside on Roshar right now. They are... I would not say kandra-like, in that the other species of Aimian has more kandra-like qualities. There's two that used to live there, before it was Scoured. But they are a different species; they are not human.

Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Shapeshifters, there are multiple types of shapeshifters, but... even, you would call the Royal Locks a type of shapeshifting. So, shapeshifting is a common thing in the cosmere. Having the ability... Once you know how the magic works, you will see why. So, there are other, kind of, species of shapeshifter.

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Questioner

With Vasher on Roshar, is he collecting more Breaths, or just burning through slowly what he has collected?

Brandon Sanderson

He can use Stormlight instead. That's why he came to Roshar.

Questioner

Did he come voluntarily?

Brandon Sanderson

He came voluntarily because he was tired of sucking souls. Roshar is where he decided to "retire."

Questioner

How many Breaths <does he have now>?

Brandon Sanderson

He has the same number that he left with. Which, there are clues to what level of Heightening he at least has, in the books.

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Questioner

I'm trying to figure out the chronology of the cosmere. The first thing that happened is with Elantris?

Brandon Sanderson

So far they are chronological order except for White Sand. And then the Alloy books are getting out of chronological order, we're jumping back and forth. But the first introduction of each book is chronological order, with the exception of flashbacks and things like that. But the actual main line of each book, chronological except for White Sand and the Alloy books.

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Questioner

Are you having any cameos in the movies?

Brandon Sanderson

If they let me, I will do a cameo in each movie.

Questioner

Speaking part, or not?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably not, but who knows. What I've suggested to them is that they kill me in an imaginative way in each book as recompense for killing off characters.

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Questioner

It seems like we need a ton of Radiants since, like, yesterday. Are these ones gonna get really buff? Or is Lift gonna recruit? Are there lots of shoemakers and Lifts that haven't been found that are gonna come out of the woodwork?

Brandon Sanderson

There are some that haven't been found. That's part of the point of the interludes, is to show "This is happening other places."

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Questioner

Does Rayse have a personal... or did he have a personal relationship with the other [Vessels] before the Shattering?

Brandon Sanderson

Some of them, yes.

Questioner

So he doesn't personally know them all?

Brandon Sanderson

He knows them all, but "having a relationship with" is different. They were all in the same place.

Questioner

He knows who they are but he doesn't necessarily interact with them?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Not necessarily. They weren't part of a homogenous group before this happened.

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Questioner

Is there some sort of dead Shardic power on Roshar that is manipulating everyone to be evil and, sort of testy, and stuff like that?

Brandon Sanderson

Do you mean the Thrill?

Questioner

Yes, but not just the thrill. The way that they treat everything like a game.

Brandon Sanderson

That is specific to Alethkar, in that region. That is mostly the fault of the Thrill. Like, if you go to Azir, they don't act the same way.

Questioner

So that's just a cultural thing?

Brandon Sanderson

It's a cultural thing enhanced magically by a certain ancient spren.

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Questioner

On the Roshar system diagram, each planet had the sigil of a certain Radiant. I was wondering why you did that

Brandon Sanderson

We're using Roshar itself as a frame of reference, and that is how people on Roshar have named the planets. And they can't see them all, I don't believe, but the naming convention sticks.

Questioner

And thats why you added the sigils?

Brandon Sanderson

Mmhmm. I don't think they've discovered them all on-planet, but since other people off-planet know about them... and in the old days, they knew about them all.

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Questioner

Do the Shards know each others' weaknesses? Like the metal blindness or anything?

Brandon Sanderson

They are not aware of every specific, but they know generalities.

Questioner

So they know that they do have weaknesses.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Questioner

So would Odium have taken advantage of Honor's weakness to Splinter him?

Brandon Sanderson

You could say that, yeah.

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Questioner

Hoid worldhops between places. How did he do it on Scadrial? With Ati's body?

Brandon Sanderson

So, there were two perpendicularities on Scadrial.

Questioner

I know he uses the pools, but how did he do it with Pits of Hathsin? There was no pool? The body was there...

Brandon Sanderson

So, it doesn't have to be going through the pool. What happens with a perpendicularity is, where there is a massive collection of Investiture, it pulls a conduit through. So, if you know what you're doing and where you are, you can get through that.

Questioner

So you don't have to use the pools, just where there's a huge concentration...

Brandon Sanderson

A huge concentration of Investiture will warp the realms.

Questioner

So can anyone worldhop that way, then? If they know what to do?

Brandon Sanderson

If they know what to do, in a perpendicularity, anyone should be able to get through there. But as proven with Raoden, if you don't know what it's supposed to do, nothing happens. He gets dumped int he pool, he thinks he's gonna die... nothing. So, it's more than just being there.

Questioner

That's how he went from the Physical to the Cognitive, so I was wondering how did he do that at the Pits of Hathsin, when there shouldn't be a pool there

Brandon Sanderson

Well, that is the equivalent.

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Questioner

In all the Cosmere books, on all their worlds, the only thing <brazenly> different about the ecosystems than Earth are the things affected by magic. So, in one of the books, you mentioned, like, a dolphin. Why is everything the same?

Brandon Sanderson

So, there's an in-world answer and an out-of-world answer. The out-of-world answer is that every book has something we call a learning curve, so that is what makes it harder to get into the book. And learning curves, usually, if they're written well, have great payoffs, but also act like a brick wall when getting into your book. And so certain books, I have designed to have shallower learning curves, so you can focus on learning all these new characters, and the situations, and the political situation, but not have to learn entirely new terminology for the setting.

In-world, most of these worlds were created by people or... who came from an original world. For instance, there was a planet that the gods from Scadrial (the planet of Mistborn), they came from this world, and they created what they had seen there. So the animal life there, they just created in their own world, because that was what they had a pattern for.

So in-world, there's a reason, they're all connected. But you'll notice that some of the ones with the steeper learning curve are the ones that have the weirder world, and Way of Kings has the steepest.

Questioner

On Roshar, the only area that isn't affected by the Highstorms, Shinovar, is basically like Earth, where everything else has changed.

Brandon Sanderson

That gives us a little bit of a frame of reference to contrast things with. There's some in-world things about that you'll learn eventually, but it gets us some ways for you to be like, "Oh. The grass looks like this because it is so different from the grass that this girl is pointing out. It's grass like ours." It's very helpful for establishing a conversation topic.

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Questioner

In Bands of Mourning, we learned that the Sovereign, who they confused as being the Lord Ruler, came after the Catacendre. [He] was their god, was their king and god. And then Kelsier looking for a string. Is the spike somehow connecting Kelsier's soul to Spook's body.

Brandon Sanderson

No, good question. It is connecting his soul with his body, his current body, but it is not Spook's body. That's a great theory.

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Questioner

In the Mistborn books, there's no one who can do chromium Feruchemy. If there was someone who had both the Feruchemy and the Allomancy related to chromium, they could create infinite luck. So doesn't that mean they could just do whatever they wanted?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, we will deal with how exactly Fortune works in the cosmere at a later date. There's a reason I haven't shown somebody with it yet, because I'm saving that for later on. Let's just say that even the Terris people don't quite understand it, even during Era 2.

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Questioner

Do you think that a Skyrim game of Stormlight Archive...?

Brandon Sanderson

Boy, I would love to make one. So, here's what I've been told. I don't know this industry well enough to say whether or not. I've been like, "Let's make Skyrim." They're like, "Skyrim was only profitable after it was out for four years, and its the most profitable game in that genre ever made." So, they're very worried about spending that much on a game. So, if we had a movie come out, yes. Until then, what you're more likely to see is something that feels open-world but isn't truly open-world. Like, something with an open-world hub that you go on missions through, is kinda like the closest we'll probably get if we do get a game made. That said, someone came and offered on an MMO for it recently, so I'm going to hear their pitch.

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Questioner

On Roshar, we're very aware of... there's humans and non-human species. Is that a unique phenomenon to Roshar? Or do we see that on other worlds?

Brandon Sanderson

You do see that on other worlds. Dragonsteel has one, so Yolen has one. Of course, Scadrial has them, but they started as human, so it doesn't quite count. Everyone on Scadrial started as human, but now there's been some divergent things. Meddling. Other planets do have things like that, but most of the cosmere is human. Based... coming from the origins on Yolen. But there is at least one planet where there's no humans. And I'm not talking about Braize.

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Questioner

What would happen if a Feruchemist got a metal tattoo? If he burned gold, would it pop off, or something?

Brandon Sanderson

Tattoos do not do well when you're being healed, so yeah. Tattoos are not... but there are ways to make sure that they stay.

Questioner

How?

Brandon Sanderson

It has to do with how you view yourself.

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Questioner

In the Scadrial essay, it says specifically that the Shardholders were humans. Does that imply that there can be nonhuman Shardholders?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes

Questioner

Are any of the Shards we have seen nonhuman?

Brandon Sanderson

The Shards you have seen? I will RAFO that.

Questioner

And that doesn't just count the way that Shards twist people.

Brandon Sanderson

No, no, no. There were three races on Yolen.

Questioner

And all the Shards we've seen, you're not gonna answer?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm not gonna answer, but there are three races on Yolen. There's humans, there's Sho Del, and there's dragons.

Questioner

So, kandra and koloss are considered different races?

Brandon Sanderson

They are considered different races, but they did not exist when Adonalsium was Splintered.

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Questioner

What happens if you overlap time bubbles?

Brandon Sanderson

Usually, it is additive. I believe. That's a PAFO. That's really a Peter And Find Out. I've nailed this all down with him, but I know we went back and forth on this. I think it's additive. Or, if it's different types, they just cancel each other. I'm pretty sure they're additive. It's possible he vetoed that for certain reasons. My recollection is that he didn't, but for some reason brain is saying "Wait a minute!" So I don't know why my brain is saying that. All I'm saying on that one is, if you read later on that I contradict that, it's because of something my brain is telling me I don't remember.

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Questioner

Is there a simple explanation of why bullets and objects that go through the time bubble wall are refracted at such random...?

Brandon Sanderson

There's two reasons. One is the outside-of-the-books reason, one is the inside-of-the-books reason. Outside the books, it made time bubbles too powerful. Limitations, that whole idea about limitations. In-world, what's happening is, there is a transfer of power that's happening right there. Which is what keeps light from irradiating people when it passes through a bubble. So, there's a transfer of energy, there's actually a thermodynamic process happening when you pass out of the speed bubble. And energy is being lost. And that has to do with cosmere physics.

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Questioner

I asked if there was there a pure form of Investiture that is not tied to any Shard, and you said that my question had some false premises. Can you elaborate on what I had wrong there?

Brandon Sanderson

The false premise, the main one, is that other Investiture is not pure. Investiture, by its definition, comes from a certain place. That's like saying, "Is there water that doesn't have hydrogen in it? Is there pure water without hydrogen? Can you take the hydrogen out, and make purer water?" That's the problem there. This idea that Investiture is impure because it's tied to a Shard is a false premise. That is pure Investiture.

Questioner

Is there Investiture that is not related to any Shard, then?

Brandon Sanderson

There can't be, because the Shards were what the original... it's like saying, "I've got four pieces of a cookie. Are there any pieces that didn't come from the original cookie." You just said, "There's four pieces of this cookie." What you really wanna be saying is, "Is there non-Adonalsium-origin power like Investiture in the cosmere?" Is that what you're getting at? Or are you getting at, "Is there one of the Shards that is not held by a sapient entity?" Like, you could be asking so many questions from these things that I don't know how to answer what you're looking for. So, think about those, and ask me some of those questions next time.

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Questioner

Are you ever gonna make a book that's based on Earth, but in the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

No. The Rithmatist started that way, and I pulled it out of the cosmere, because I didn't want Earth in the cosmere. So, that happening tells me pretty surely I'll never do it.

Questioner

Out of curiosity, what Shard would have been on Rithmatist?

Brandon Sanderson

I will RAFO that for now, because it didn't get far enough that I had even really settled. Like, it was when I was designing magic, and doing the worldbuilding. When I started asking questions like this is when I kicked it out. I didn't even write any chapters of it before I kicked it out.

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Questioner

Can you Soulcast an Invested object?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but it's much harder. But humans are Invested, and you can soulcast humans.

Questioner

So, suppose you had a goldmind that was filled. And you tried to Soulcast into iron. What would happen to the Investiture inside it?

Brandon Sanderson

So, the Investiture would remain in there, but it's keyed to the wrong thing, so you wouldn't be able to get it. It'd be much harder to Soulcast that, by the way. The more Invested, the harder it is. But Soulcasters are used to it, because everything has Investiture, and most of what they're Soulcasting. They deal with this, so it's something they're kind of expert at. So, this is not outside reason, that it could happen. You could give it to your average Soulcaster on Roshar, and they could make it happen. You just wouldn't be able to get the Investiture out of it anymore.

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Questioner

Is the Nahel bond Hemalurgically transferable?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know what I've said on this in the past, but I'm gonna RAFO it right now, and give you a card. Because there's some things involved in this that I don't know that I want to dig into right now. Nahel bond would be used cosmerelogically to refer to any bond where the mingle of sapient spren mixes with a sapient Physical Realm being. Connection between a Cognitive or Spiritual Realm being and a Physical Realm being. And there's all sorts of things involved in doing that that I don't want to necessarily get into right now.

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Questioner

How much time does the Cosmere take?

Brandon Sanderson

Roughly 10,000 years is where the timeline so far.

Questioner

Is that number significant at all? Or is it just...

Brandon Sanderson

No, roughly. It's just a time. It's rough. It's not even 10,000 years. It's round figures. We're going roughly 10,000.

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Questioner

Could Lift be given a Hemalurgic spike that stores nutrition?

Brandon Sanderson

So... I'm not sure what a Hemalurgic spike that does nutrition... like, something that gives them the Feruchemical power of storing nutrition? Storing calories? That is not outside the realm of possibility. There are not systems in place for it right now, but that is not outside the realm of possibility.

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Emerald101

I was wondering if there is a unit of Investiture, like maybe something Khriss uses.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but I haven't canonized it yet. Good question. I will eventually canonize it, because I think that people will want it, but I probably won't do so 'til [Mistborn] Era 3, because I want the scientific way of talking about the cosmere to mirror how developed the cultures are, but some of the scholars are beyond where everyone else is. It can be measured. There is a unit.

Emerald101

Like, maybe grams of solid Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

It will probably be an in-world unit of measurement. Right now, to talk about it online if you want, the unit is probably gonna be based around Breath, because a Breath is a distinct amount. Whereas in most of the settings, there's not a distinct amount. Like, how much Allomancy, things like that. How much can a gem hold. It really depends on how the gem is cut, and how long the gem has been out. So... the Breath is a really easy one, so it's become the unit. But there will probably be a fantasy term for it. I might just call it Breath. That's why I'm not canonized yet. But if you guys wanna talk about it in Breath terms, that's probably the easiest.

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Questioner

I'm a figure skater, so Edgedancing really intrigues me, and I was just wondering if you would be basing that at all off of figure skating?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, yeah. I go watch figure skating when I'm writing Edgedancers. It's the closest thing we've got. So you can say that your art has inspired art from me. I can't think of anything in real life that is closer.

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Questioner

What is the Aon for communication.

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know it, but there is one.

Isaac Stewart

The thing I do is, if somebody asks me those, I go and look at the Aons that we already have, and see if there's one that is close.

Brandon Sanderson

If it's not named yet, and then we give it to you. So we can do that.

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Isaac Stewart

[The Cosmere symbol] does have a lot of... I don't think there's any spoilers of there. First off, we just drew a lot of things to find something that looked cool. The star in the center has sixteen points, representative of the Shards. And then, it's just kind of like, they're spreading throughout the universe. At least, in my mind, it's a representation of the Shattering, and then beings spread throughout the cosmere. That's kind of what that is.

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Questioner

Your favorite character, and your least favorite character?

Brandon Sanderson

See, this is a hard one to answer. Robert Jordan would pull a complete cop-out when people would ask him this. He ways say, "My favorite is whoever I'm writing at the moment." This is because, as the author, you have to get into a wide variety of characters' heads and write them. But, since you didn't say in my works, I can just tell you my favorite character of all time is probably Jean Valjean. I'm a big fan of morality as it is portrayed in those books. What I love about Les Miserables in particular is this idea that different people can be moral in different ways. It's kind of the anti-Game-of-Thrones, which is about how you can sympathize with people who are basically immoral. That's kind of part of the series. And this is about how people who are basically moral can still not get along. Which is a cool idea, and I love that. My least favorite character? Who is the protagonist of The Dead? From James Joyce? I don't know. That'd probably be my least favorite. Yeah, I copped out, too.

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Questioner

If you could have any actor play Kaladin, who would it be?

Brandon Sanderson

The thing is, I don't usually cast my movies, right? No, they are who they are in my brain. So this is one of the reasons why having somebody who knows the Cosmere make the films... My favorite films are, when the person gets chosen, you're like, "Really? Heath Ledger?" And then you watch it, and you're like, "Ooh, he really, really, pulled off the Joker. In his own way." And so, I don't have anyone that I would choose. It's really hard with Stormlight. Stormlight's the hard one, because... And I'm hoping they'll do this right, because they are a Chinese company. The Alethi are not Caucasian. They are, in my head, a blend of something Middle Eastern and Asian. My model for Kaladin (I chose a headshot, just so I can have it in my head, just to get the general feel), is part Hawaiian, part Japanese, part Arab. And so... we'll see what they can come up with. I'm interested. But I don't have a specific actor chosen.

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Questioner

In the Well of Ascension, Kwaan says that Ruin changed the words in the Feruchemists' metalminds. Ruin can't *inaudible* metal plates. I was wondering what the difference was?

Brandon Sanderson

Because they're in the person's head before they're going in the plates. And he can affect the power as it's transcribed between. Because the power is partially him, the Power of Creation of that world. So there is a bit of him inside of every person, and as the power is going from person into plate... It's kind of like how people can hack your phone through your wifi. Does that make sense? So, that's what's going on there.

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Questioner

How long did you keep the whole High dialect being Spook... How long were you waiting to do that?

Brandon Sanderson

How long was I waiting to do High Imperial? Which is Spook's dialect, turned into a pseudo-religious ancient language. Oh, man, that was so much fun. And you know what, that was one I came up with pretty late in the process. Because, if you know about the Mistborn trilogy, Spook became a larger character as I wrote him. The biggest deviation between my original outline for Mistborn and the final of the Era 1 trilogy is that I added a big sequence with Spook in the third book that had not been in the original outline. So, it was pretty late that I decided that Spook would have an influence over that. I just laughed uproariously when I came up with it, so I knew it belonged in the books. But if you haven't read the new Mistborn books, High Imperial is an ancient and important language.

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Questioner

So, Mistborn RPG books. There's a side section that is written to help explain the book. But, the narrator's name is Brandon. Did you actually do that?

Brandon Sanderson

It's not always me, I'm afraid. The sidebars are all me. I wrote the sidebars. But, for some of these things, I just didn't have time. So we talked it through, and my sentiment is in there, but it wasn't me writing the campaign. Sorry. I have actually played it. In fact, I've got a good story about this. The Mistborn RPG, pen-and-paper RPG. We played with fans one time at GenCon. One guy didn't get into the game. He was so sad, because he had come in his Terrisman costume. And it was a really good one; he had shaved his head and everything, right? He was awesome. But he's also, like, five-foot-five, which is a short Terrisman. So, he was this awesome Terrisman, and I so said, "Don't worry. You can come and be my steward." So, as I played, he brought me water rolled my dice and did all these things. And I named him Tellingdwar. And then I put him in the books. So if you read them, Era 2, Tellingdwar is in there. That is my Terrisman steward from the Mistborn RPG game.

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Questioner

Can you tell us something about the Order of Willshapers that hasn't been mentioned?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I can't. Because, too many spoilers, in that sort of area. And plus, I don't want to lock down some of the things that... because I'm not sure how I'll represent them yet in books. I know what I'll probably do, but I have... there's certain things about it that, until I write a scene from someone's eyes, using the magic, that then is kind of when it locks down for me. So, we will stay away from that.

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Questioner

Is there any systems of Investiture of magic that you thought of and discarded?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I tried for a long time to do one that was sound wave based. And I couldn't find anything that felt interesting to me. Maybe eventually I'll manage to make it work. The problem was, everything I came up with either had been done a hundred times, or happened too much in a way that was only in the character's head, and I couldn't actually write about in an engaging and interesting way. So I discarded that one. The Rithmatist magic was originally cosmere, and then moved out of cosmere, because there were certain things that were breaking continuity, and I just decided I can't have that in the cosmere. So, I do that occasionally, where something that was meant for the cosmere goes out of it. But equally often, I start writing something, and say "Hey, this magic would benefit from the underlying rules of the cosmere," and so I move it into the cosmere.

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Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

So, zinc increases the speed of your thought. So, if he did that, he would spend eternity in a moment. And that would be, actually, a bad thing. That would basically make him look brain-dead to everyone else. So, he did occasionally speed up his thought, but that only gets you so far. It doesn't actually... like, speed of thought... you're still the same person. It feels like everything else is slowing down around you, but you don't move any faster. So, anyway. Zinc is not capable of doing that, at least, not in the way that you're hoping for it to be.

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Questioner

When you have an idea, how do you decide if it goes in a book, or if it gets split off into its own story? Specifically, Edgedancer.

Brandon Sanderson

For those who haven't read it yet, Edgedancer... a lot of people are expecting Edgedancer to be light and fluffy because it's about Lift. They're not expecting the deep Stormlight Archive relevance that the story has. So they're surprised, they're like, "This is almost like required reading for the Stormlight Archive." But, this is part of my philosophy for the Stormlight Archive specifically, which is that I will focus on a set of characters, and I will try to avoid the problem that happens in epic fantasies that I've read. I love Wheel of Time, but Wheel of Time very much felt like in some of its books that it got bogged down by side character stories. And this got the fans very frustrated. And I have an advantage on Robert Jordan in that I've read Robert Jordan. So I can say, "Okay, you did that. I can maybe stand on your shoulders a bit and say, 'This is really dangerous territory.'" And so, when I wrote Stormlight, I said, "I am going to keep the focus for the first five books on these characters. And I am not gonna let the side characters, even if they're important later on, become too dominant."

And so, things like Lift. Lift, during the first five books, I am not gonna put in a 50,000 word, 40,000 word sequence for her, because it would take the focus too much away. So in that case, I said, "I know what happened to Lift. I might be able to write all the stories about her. I might not be able to, but either way, they can't end up in the book." Because otherwise, we end up with a book that is ten of these side stories, and no progress on the main characters."

So, you do lose something int hat. You do lose some of the side stories. Which is why I'm happy I've learned to write the novellas. And when I'm writing the story, I'm looking at pacing, theme, what is moving us through the story, and what are the problems of the main characters. And anything to the side of that, I can put some in, but most ends up being cut and used for other things.

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Questioner

At one point, you mentioned that Kelsier scared you. Could you talk a little more about why?

Brandon Sanderson

So, Kelsier is one of my favorite characters. I like them all, whoever I'm writing, right? But one of the things that makes Kelsier tick is (and this was my original pitch for him to myself) in another story, he'd be the villain. Kelsier has this hard edge to him. He's one of those people that, when channeled wrong, he becomes the best and most interesting villain. But he happened to be in a situation that pushed him the other direction, and he became a hero. But he still has that edge to him. And there is a darkness to Kelseir that doesn't exist in most of the heroes in my books. Someone like Kaladin has a darkness to him, too, but a darkness that they're fighting against. Whereas Kelsier has embraced this darkness. It is part of what makes him him. So, Kelsier is a little frightening to me as a writer, just because he's a character that I can't guarantee will make good decisions.

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