Kraków signing

Event details
Name
Name Kraków signing
Date
Date March 21, 2017
Location
Location Kraków, Poland
Bookstore
Bookstore Empik Bonarka Bookstore
Entries
Entries 65
#in-progress
Upload sources
#2 Copy

Questioner

Any chance of any new Wheel of Time materials?

Brandon Sanderson

Not likely... not definitive, it's up to Harriet. I'm worried that he wouldn't want us to do anymore.

Questioner

<Yeah, that's the thing>

Brandon Sanderson

And so, I have told her that I don't think I would want to do anymore, but if Harriet came out and said "I really feel we should do the prequels", then they could happen, I think it's very unlikely, but...

Questioner

The prequels were <written> by Jordan?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, he did, he has a little bit about them, not very much but a little bit. He did want them to come out sometime, so it’s possible.

#3 Copy

Questioner

I wanted to ask, is the Shardbearer [Vessel] of Odium a human?

Brandon Sanderson

Not any longer.

Questioner

Ok, that's... I didn't expect that one.

Brandon Sanderson

 But what the answer to your question you really want to know is, was he originally human?

Questioner

Yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. That's a good question! But I don't think he counts anymore.

Footnote: Rayse is the Vessel of Odium
#4 Copy

Questioner

What’s your favourite kind of music?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say… at the end of the day… epic orchestra. But I will listen to basically anything. If you look on Spotify I have this playlist that I used when I wrote the third Stormlight book and you can listen to that, it'll show you a lot of my favorites.

Questioner

*Inaudible* 

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I'm "mistborn1", I think? If you google, if you search for Stormlight 3 soundtrack, you'll find it.

#5 Copy

Questioner

(translated) What’s the Allomantic symbol for the metal that comes from Trell?

Brandon Sanderson

*Laughs* Ooooh, Isaac knows, but it hasn’t been revealed yet, so you get a RAFO, I don’t have any more cards, but R A F O *probably he has written it*, good question!

#6 Copy

Questioner

Is Hoid a Sliver?

Brandon Sanderson

A Sliver, no he’s not, good question.

Questioner

Well, I get the RAFO card.

Brandon Sanderson

He... see, the problem is, “Sliver” is really difficult to define, because it has variety of meanings, but I would not call him one. So that’s… it’s arguable, but I would say no.

Questioner

He's not Sliver.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

#7 Copy

Questioner

What's the "skycolor" about which Khriss said in the White Sand?

Brandon Sanderson

What's the what? Skycolor?

Questioner

It was mentioned in White Sand prose.

Brandon Sanderson

What about it?

Questioner

What it really is? Because she mentioned it and that was only one sentence. Skycolor?

Brandon Sanderson

(seems still confused) Skycolor?

Oh. Oh! RAFO.

#8 Copy

Questioner

So first, about Trell… He was first mentioned in the books in the first Mistborn book. Did you know what role he'll be playing in the future books?

Brandon Sanderson

When I wrote it? When I actually wrote Mistborn, no, by the time I’d done revisions and finished the series, then I knew. Mistborn was very exploratory, the first book, once I finished it then I build the outline to fit it, that’s very common for me that I write a first book without an outline and then I build the outline around it.

Questioner

Will Nalt, brother of Trell <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

The brother? So there’s something very weird happening with Trell, very very weird, that I’m not going to explain quite yet, so that’s a RAFO.

#9 Copy

Questioner

I recently read Patrick Rothfuss’ the Name of the Wind; there’s Sympathy <inaudible> Awakening. Is there a link <inaudible> to the Awakening <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

We actually were writing at the same time. We both were interested in the same things… No, no, he wrote his first, but I haven’t read it until I’ve written Warbreaker, but his was first. We were both interested in the same concepts… I think it’s a really great magic system. <inaudible> I wrote Warbreaker in 2006.

Questioner

Oh, because I checked the release date, and yours was 2009 and his was 2007.

Brandon Sanderson

Yup, but I wrote in 2006 on my honeymoon, actually. But yeah, it was after I read that, his magic is really cool, I like it, it is a good job, I like how it’s hard magic and a soft magic.

#10 Copy

Questioner

I was thinking, was there <inaudible> Allomantic metals <inaudible> random or was there something behind it?

Brandon Sanderson

I wanted the metals that had an alloy, that was commonly used and is easily accessible to people in a pre-industrial society.

Questioner

When they go and discover more of the periodic table, is there a chance they’ll discover <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

There is a chance, yes.

#11 Copy

Questioner/Translator

How are you feeling now that you're near science fiction since you're known for fantasy novels. <inaudible> Young Adult?

Brandon Sanderson

Most of my books are what we'd call hard fantasy anyway; which is fantasy that uses science fiction's styling to build it's worlds. So I don't know that for me there's a hard line between science fiction and fantasy. There certainly isn't a hard line between my interest on one side or the other; I like all kinds of speculative fiction. Though I will say that I have trouble making anything normal. Legion is a good example which is a psychological thriller that ended up being science fiction and a little bit fantasy.

#12 Copy

Questioner/Translator

Would you like to be a ruler of the world even if you knew that it wasn't a real world?

Brandon Sanderson

Nooo... no, no, no. I could not be trusted.

In fact the Steelheart book came because of something related to this. For those who haven't read it, it's about what would happen if people started gaining superpowers but only evil people got them.

And happened because I was driving on the road and someone cut me off and I imagined using superpowers to blow up their car and I immediately realized: "I could not be trusted. At all.".

#13 Copy

Questioner/Translator

So this is the question about White Sand. Why did this text become the basis of a comic - this one particular text - and how was the work going on converting White Sand into a graphic novel?

Brandon Sanderson

So White Sand was the very first book that I ever wrote, or at least a bad version of White Sand was the first book I ever wrote. I started it in 1994 and it was terrible. But I liked some of the ideas so years later I gave it another try. And it became my 7th or 8th book; I can never remember which came first: White Sand or Dragonsteel. And it was much better but still not quite where I wanted it to be. So I never ended up publishing it.

When a comic book company in America came to me and asked if I was interested in doing a comic book, it <immediately> sprung to mind. Because they wanted to do an adaptation of one of my books except I didn’t want to do a book that was already published, I wanted something for readers that was new. And I’ve always felt that White Sand was close to being good enough, it was just too long, it needed an edit. So the primary process for adapting it with Rick, who is a UK graphic novel writer involved him taking my text and cutting it way down to just the dialogue and the actions. And he did a fantastic job, we’re very pleased with that, but he did most of the work on that.

#14 Copy

Questioner/Translator

There are games, comic books and films had been made or are being made based on your novels. How do you coordinate work so there are no, lets say, errors in it and tell something about <that experience>

Brandon Sanderson

Coordinating to make sure there are no errors: I wish that Hollywood would let us do that! Mostly they kinda do what they want to do and then send us what they've come up with. I am working with one company right now that seems like that they are willing to listen a little bit better.

<Throughout> other things that hasn't been particularly difficult. <For> the RPG, I am a gamer, I love RPG and so it's very easy to work with them. In fact where it came from is they came to one of my signings and said "Do you want to make an RPG?" and I'm like "Yeah, I want to make an RPG!". So we had some brainstorming sessions where I told them my favorite styles of game and they built rules that they've thought to match Mistborn and kinds of things I wanted.

We'll see what happens with the movies. They are in development and they're very early in the process.

#15 Copy

Questioner/Translator

How do you create such a complex character as Legion? How, where did you get the aspects from and did you consult any psychiatrists?

Brandon Sanderson

Legion came from a conversation I had with friend of mine named Dan Wells. And he loves to write stories about... horror stories about people who are dealing with mental disability. And I told him what if there was somebody who was schizophrenic and the people they saw helped them out instead of inspiring their paranoia. And he said "that doesn't sound like a horror novel, you should write that, Brandon; it sounds like your style of novel". And it's true: if you haven't read Legion, it's about a guy who sees hallucinations of people who all help him solve crimes. And the inspiration is really all the weird voices that authors have in their heads about all these characters.

#16 Copy

Questioner/Translator

How do you like Poland, especially Kraków?

Brandon Sanderson

I love Poland, especially Krakow. The food has been delicious so far. I haven't actually seen much of Krakow yet but I'm going out doing tourist things tomorrow.

#17 Copy

Questioner

<strangling rilinquist> Are you planning to create a novel in the future?

Brandon Sanderson

Shadows for Silence? This is one of my novellas, called Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell. I am planning one novel but I'll have to fit it in my schedule, I have lots of things to do.

#18 Copy

Questioner

How many hours a day to you spend on writing and how much do you sleep?

Brandon Sanderson

*laughter* I'm an insomniac, that helps a little bit. But actually I don't... I have a very good work-life balance. People think that I must be writing sixteen hours a day but I'm not. I'm very good with my time and I have no commute which saves me a bit of time. So I spend around eight to ten hours working a day. A chunk of that is answering interview questions or email or things like that. I spend maybe four hours a day with my wife and my kids, doing whatever they want and a couple hours goofing off.

What more can I ask for?

#19 Copy

Questioner

Do you listen to music while writing and what kind of music is it? Is there perhaps any song that is particularly connected to Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

I made a Spotify playlist. You can go on Spotify - I assume you can get it in Poland - and you look for Stormlight 3 soundtrack. That was the soundtrack I listened to while I was writing the third Stormlight novel. You'll know it is me when you look for it cause my Spotify name is "mistborn1".

And - because people are going to ask, so we'll answer it now - Stormlight 3 comes out in November in English.

Translator

*in Polish*

And it will come out in Polish when I translate it.

*applause*

Brandon Sanderson

So it's all up to Anna.

And I did write one more scene for it this morning that I needed to add, in Kraków, so when you read Stormlight 3 you can know there was one scene that was written in my hotel here.

It involves one of the Ryshadium horses, so you'll know.

Footnote: the scene in question is from Chapter 10 of Oathbringer
#21 Copy

Questioner

Three books or three authors you'd recommend to any fantasy reader?

Brandon Sanderson

If I were to recommend one, it would probably be the first Mistborn novel.

*laughter*

Translator

Apart from your books.

Brandon Sanderson

Terry Pratchett is probably my favorite writer. I really liked Anne McCarthy work and I think it translates very well to large or different types of audiences. I often give Name of the Wind to people, it's good introduction to fantasy, it's a really solid novel.

But of course there is also Wheel of Time. I genuinely recommend Wheel of Time to people who already love fantasy cause it's a big commitment.

#22 Copy

Oversleep

Will we see Scadrial in cyberpunk era?

Brandon Sanderson

I have plans for Scadrial cyberpunk but the problem is I don't know if I'll have a long enough lifespan to write all these books. So I'm trying to avoid adding any more books to the Cosmere outline until I get a little further along I'm gonna have to write; consider that Oathbringer turned out to be a quarter longer than Words of Radiance. I really need to be sure I'm keeping going and trying to keep from expanding too big. Definitely the 1980s one, some cyberpunk themes will bleed into it cause that's when cyberpunk started.

But maybe I'll see the new Blade Runner and I'll have to write one, so...

#23 Copy

Questioner

My question is for both of you: regarding the translation process, is word-for-word translation more important or do you go with the feeling and how much communication is done with Brandon during the process?

Translator

When I was at university, I had two lecturers. One said: "The original is sacred. You mustn't do anything too original. It's so important, you have to remember/take everything." and the other when I went fifteen minutes later to another class it was "Oh dear. It should read well. Forget the original, it should read well". So I think I found a kind of balance between those two stances.

Brandon Sanderson

And I always tell translators to err on the side of reading well rather than preserving the exact words. Particularly because, some of the languages we're translating into, you can't preserve exact words.

When Anna wrote to us I sent her to my assistant Peter, who is an editor and continuity editor and I let him interface with all of the translators because I would probably just ask him anyway to look the details up in our wiki. We do occasionally have to answer new questions, though, because for instance -- as Anna pointed out to me -- Polish has a lot of gendered words that aren't gendered in English and sometimes I'd use a phrase and would have to say whether this person was male or female.

#24 Copy

Questioner

Have you ever read any Polish fantasy or are you planning to?

Brandon Sanderson

I am planning to read cause I have this! *shows flashdrive* I was just given this flashdrive in Warsaw with a bunch of Polish writers translated to English and I plan to do some of that.

Before that my only knowledge of Polish fantasy was Spa... Sark... [Sapkowski] the Witcher guy! *laughter* I mean, everybody knows him though.

But, the Solaris writer I didn't know he was also Polish. Lem.

#25 Copy

Oversleep

Could you write [sign] the Alcatraz like Alcatraz?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. He signs upside down.

Oversleep

Would tapping Connection increase the steelsight?

Brandon Sanderson

No, probably not, there are arrangements that could make that happen but just tapping it, no.

#26 Copy

Oversleep

What if a Connector tried to store his Connection to his time of birth? Because I understand that’s how spiritual age works.

Brandon Sanderson

Right, Connection to his time of birth. I’m not sure exactly how he would manage that.

I don’t think that would work, I’m not sure how you would manage it. There are other ways to make, you’re along the right path, but that’s not exactly what, the terminology it's just not working right there.

Oversleep

By the way Shadows of Self was my favourite Mistborn book. That ending was just emotional trainwreck for me. It was awesome.

Brandon Sanderson

It's weird because I think that the weakest Mistborn novel is actually Alloy of Law but I think Shadows of Self and Bands of Mourning are among the strongest.

#33 Copy

Questioner

Could you tell me something about Cosmere, that we don't know?

Brandon Sanderson

Oooh boy, that is so hard, people ask this all the time and I keep running out of things... Was there anything I haven't added recently... There are Shards whose Shardpools are not on a planet they currently inhabit. At least one.

#35 Copy

Questioner

Which one of the ten abilities on Roshar <inaudible> it depends on spren?

Brandon Sanderson

Which of the Orders?

Questioner

Of the abilities on Roshar.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, the abilities of the Knights Radiant?

So, this depends on which spren indeed. Each spren can give two of the abilities, and they're slightly different for each Order.

Questioner

If you could have one, which one would it be?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably Windrunners, cause I would want to fly.

Translator

I would prefer Regrowth it's very much for growing plants.

Brandon Sanderson

That would be very convenient.

#39 Copy

Questioner

Do you have any idea when you’ll finish this series?

Brandon Sanderson

So there’ll be two five-book groups, first five should finish fairly soon. But then there’ll be a break while I write something else and then I’ll come back to the back five, so i’m not sure, but the first five will have their own arc.

#41 Copy

Questioner

Is next Elantris any closer plans?

Brandon Sanderson

Not really unfortunately, I just have to get as much Stormlight done as I can, before I can do other things. It’s still probably after Stormlight Five.

#42 Copy

Questioner

Are you planning to resurrect Kelsier?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, how far have you read in this book?

Questioner

I have read it all.

Translator

So he's not really dead.

Brandon Sanderson

Well, it depends on what you count as Cognitive Shadow. So resurrect… no… but…

Questioner

There was this quote about the kite that was without a string.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, he’s looking for a string. He’s indeed looking for a string, so what’s actually going to happen is RAFO.

#46 Copy

Questioner

If I spoke the words <inaudible>

Brandon Sanderson

If you spoke the words it would depend on the spren to choose, but I think so!

Questioner

So, can I try?

Brandon Sanderson

Sure, go for it!

Questioner

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

Translator

So just waiting for the spren to appear.

Brandon Sanderson

*completely serious*

These words are accepted.

#47 Copy

Questioner

In Mistborn, Ruin could talk to you when you were Hemalurgically spiked, and Preservation could hear you. Do other Shards have different abilities?

Brandon Sanderson

It varies, but yes. But that was related to the way they created people.

#48 Copy

Questioner

Have you ever created a character, that you will then thought is too powerful?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I've never had that problem, I have written my characters in a problems that it was hard to get them out of. But usually I get together my friends and I brainstorm, and so far so good, but no, I have never got into that specific problem yet, because everybody's got a weakness.

#49 Copy

Questioner

Do you plan to kill Shallan and do you think she’s an awful person?

Brandon Sanderson

I do not think she’s an awful person, because she is a person, who has done the best she can in some very bad situations and we will see what happens, I can’t tell you whether or not she will live.

#53 Copy

Questioner

In all your books, who's your favorite character?

Brandon Sanderson

You know, I usually cheat on that question and I say "whoever I'm writing right now", cause I like them all, they're my children...

Questioner

Okay, but you have to pick one.

Brandon Sanderson

Probably Dalinar, probably but...

Translator

My favorite is Steris.

Brandon Sanderson

Steris is a lot of fun.

#54 Copy

Questioner

Is there going to be more Lift in the next book?

Brandon Sanderson

No, you’ll see some of her, she's reserved... most of her you'll see in the book 6 and on but you'll see little glimpses of her in the other ones. The stuff she has in Oathbringer is a riot, it's very fun.

#55 Copy

Mr. Suit

Is it possible to bring Adonalsium together again and was it the reason the Ire was on Scadrial?

Brandon Sanderson

This is a RAFO. There are people who believe it's possible and others who believe it's impossible. It’s one of the big questions of the series.

#56 Copy

Oversleep

You told me - when we were interviewing you on Friday to tell the 17th Shard to tell them you told us how the Cosmere ends and...

Brandon Sanderson

And I totally did, right! The answer is it ends well.

Oversleep

They wanted me to tell you that they were like mindblown!

#57 Copy

Questioner

Does titles of the five books from the first arc create a ketek?

Brandon Sanderson

No. I actually considered it but it’s just too confusing so I actually tossed that out before I even started the first book. But I did consider it. It just was too confusing.

#58 Copy

Oversleep

Is gravity a physical aspect of the spiritual bond Connecting objects to the planet?

Brandon Sanderson

Gravity, like all laws of physics in the cosmere, works like it does here with an additional aspect in that mass and energy can become Investiture. So while you are Connected to the planet gravity is not a manifestation of that. But Investiture can override it because Investiture, energy, mass are all the same thing.

Oversleep

So can Connectors alter it, store it?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. You know I’m going to RAFO all that stuff.

#59 Copy

Questioner

Did Hoid use the bead of lerasium to rewrite his spiritual DNA or Web in a way other than just giving himself Allomantic powers?

Brandon Sanderson

His goal was to become an Allomancer.

Questioner

And did he use it to create other powers than Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson

It could not give powers other than Allomancy.

Questioner

Because it’s lerasium?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Oversleep

So he did burn it and become a Mistborn, right?

Brandon Sanderson

You have seen him use Allomancy…

Oversleep

Yes, because it’s creating a lot of <misunderstandings>.

Brandon Sanderson

You have actually seen him use Allomancy.

#60 Copy

Questioner

Have you ever considered giving your brain - when you die in a hundred years, [having] written thousand books, have you considered giving your brain to scientists?

Brandon Sanderson

Did you know that there's an app for Einstein's brain? You can download an app that has a diagram of his brain cause he did donate his to science and was dissected.

Questioner

Are you planning to do that?

Brandon Sanderson

Not right now but I'm an organ donor so maybe... I don't think they donate the brain to people.

#61 Copy

Mr. Suit

Can spren - like Syl - be pierced by hemalurgic spike? Will it give some effect?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. A spren can be pierced by Invested metal…

Oversleep

Could it be spiked?

Brandon Sanderson

Could a spike be used to give abilities to spren? That’s not going to work really well.

Oversleep

Could you steal from a spren?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you could steal the Investiture of a spren. Any Investiture can be used in a spike if you know what you’re doing. It’s actually not that hard to use one on a spren.

Oversleep

Because I thought you said Hemalurgy needs moving blood.

Brandon Sanderson

It needs, uh, yeah… there are places where spren have more physical form, more tangible form.

Questioner

Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

No, no, no, not Roshar.

Questioner

The Cognitive Realm on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, if you go to the Cognitive Realm on Roshar the spren act differently than they do.

Oversleep

So you could spike in the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah I’ll leave a RAFO with you on that. That’s your fifth one. So there are ways to get any Investiture into Hemalurgy if you know what you’re doing. But yeah this is not something that would be a common use for Hemalurgy. Let’s just say that.

Oversleep

We do not concern ourselves with common uses.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I know you don’t. But yeah Hemalurgy, when you’re spiking into somebody you… you’ll see when we get around to it.

#63 Copy

swieczq

Would someone with enough knowledge be able to use Autonomy’s Investiture if Taldain’s star was seen from his world?

Brandon Sanderson

So I’m on a world and I see Taldain’s star, what you're asking if someone could use the Investiture? Oh, OK I see. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. That’s good! You stumped me. I haven’t gotten that question before. I would say yes, if the light particles are reaching you. I mean technically you could use the light from one of those stars to power a solar sail so…

#64 Copy

Oversleep

Could a Feruchemist hide from Lifesense by storing and which metals?

Brandon Sanderson

So Lifesense on Nalthis, someone storing, what now, Investiture? Could they hide from Lifesense? Um, yeah that would work.

Oversleep

And which metals would they need to store, Investiture, Connection…

Brandon Sanderson

That would probably be Investiture, that’s theoretically plausible, hiding your entire sense, a little bit easier with a copper cloud, which is how you would normally go about it, but you could make your Investiture vanish to the point that… yeah I think that’s theoretically possible.

Oversleep

So Lifesense works on Connection?

Brandon Sanderson

Lifesense works by sensing… life, so it’s not necessarily just Connection because you can go off-world from Nalthis and still sense the life to which you are not Connected.

Event details
Name
Name Kraków signing
Date
Date March 21, 2017
Location
Location Kraków, Poland
Bookstore
Bookstore Empik Bonarka Bookstore
Entries
Entries 65
#in-progress
Upload sources