Questioner
I wanted to ask whether cake has a soul? In Realmatic theory, stuff has souls. So, somebody turns wheat into flour, and flour has a soul. Do they come together when I bake the cake?
Brandon Sanderson
...So, this gets into some weird cosmere theory stuff. The level that if you are a student of philosophy, you'll recognize just wearing on the sleeve where this one came from. This is a mashup of Shinto beliefs and the theory of the forms by Plato, and kind of its own weird thing, that became Realmatic theory in the cosmere...
So, in the cosmere, things take on an Identity and a soul based on how people perceive them. It's human perception that is creating a lot of this, because the various powers that made the universe have this sort of desire to be sentient. And power left long too long in the cosmere starts thinking, that's just how it goes, and starts thinking of itself the way it is perceived. So, that cake, as soon as its created, the disparate parts of the souls start being thought of as a cake, and start gaining some traction as a cake. If you left that cake alone long enough, which wouldn't take too long for a cake because people don't look at cake and think "Oh, a bunch of wheat and flour." They think "Cake." That thing will start having a combined soul of the various bits of power, and the longer you leave it, the more permanency it's gonna have as a Spiritual artifact in the cosmere.
So, yes, cake has a soul.
Questioner
Shallan's personas. How would they be viewed in the Spiritual Realm? Would they be an individual? Or would they be seen as being slightly separate?
Brandon Sanderson
They would be seen as an individual.
Questioner
So, I was gonna ask about which character the next book would focus on?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, no, that's not spoilery... I said from the get-go I am perfectly all right writing a flashback sequence for a character who has already died in the books. So it's not telling you any spoilers to tell you who the various characters are. So, the front five are Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Eshonai, and Szeth. Those are our front five. And our back five are Lift, Jasnah, Ash, Taln, and Renarin. And, not in that order. I've flipped the order quite a bit as I've been going. 'Cause Dalinar was gonna be book five, and now he's book three. So now Szeth is book five, and Eshonai is book four. Right now, Lift is book six. But the back five, I'm not concerned about, other than making sure I'm setting up the right things, and it's gonna come together.
Questioner
Yes, or no. With all of the cosmere books that have been put out, do we have enough information to deduce the Ghostbloods' motives?
Brandon Sanderson
Ummm... *laugher* I would say yes, but it's not like you are a fool if you haven't gotten it.
Robert Jordan once answered a question like this saying, "Well, the answer should be intuitively obvious to the casual observer." Which I never thought was fair. Like, no, it was not. Szeth, some people guessed it. And some people will guess this. A lot of the foreshadowing in my books, it's this weird thing where, when you do proper foreshadowing, and then people have three years between books, they're gonna figure some things out. Which presents a really interesting challenge to me as a writer, because, like, there are big things that get revealed in Oathbringer, that people who have been steeped in the world for the last seven years... they kinda knew this would happen. We get the beta readers, and they're like, "So? Doesn't everyone know that?" But at the same time, the casual reader, beta readers were like "Holy cow! This is a huge revelation!" And books need to work both for the person who has been really steeped in it, and the person who's reading along that maybe doesn't want to go get all the spoilers from all the fan guessing. So it is this weird balancing act that, as a writer, you have to perform, particularly with the longer books in the longer series, where you want to make sure they're engaging to the hardcore fan, but not overwhelming to the person who maybe hasn't reread the books since the last one came out. And I don't know that I have that balance figured out, but it is something I think about a lot...
Questioner
Back to Stormlight. Is there significance to the color of moons?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, there is a significance to the colors of the moons in Stormlight, but it is not a major player in theories. There is a significance, but it's not, like, one of these things that you're going to read book seven and be like "The colors of the moons! It was there all along!" Sometimes, I put stuff like that in, right? It's not like that.
Questioner
When Skybreakers are about to decide to follow Dawnsingers. Why now? Why not before?
Brandon Sanderson
So this is a little complicated... Until they came back, by Nale's interpretation, then the law of the land was human. When they returned, the law of the land, in his opinion, became Dawnsinger. And at that point, it was his job to switch to them. It is his logic, but you don't have to agree with that logic. Because Nale's logic is maybe not the best.
Questioner
Can I expect any more from Sixth of the Dusk?
Brandon Sanderson
Eventually. I have a second novella planned for him. I just have to slot it in at the right moment. We'll see if it happens.
Questioner
Stormfather is the spren of the storm. What is the Nightwatcher the spren of?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
When Odium says "We killed you." Is that RAFO, or?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO... I'm just not confirming it or denying it, what it means.
Questioner
For a hardcore fan, one clue you'd give out... [About] Hoid, or Dragonsteel, or Restares.
Brandon Sanderson
...The problem is, so little of Dragonsteel is still canon. I've pulled so much out of it.
The Sho Del are still canon, and Hoid has an interesting relationship with several of them.
Questioner
Skyward. Is that gonna be a Cosmere story?
Brandon Sanderson
Not right now... I've decided mostly. It's possible I'll pull it out, but I feel like I need to reference Earth for some of the things I'm doing. That's kind of my baseline.
Questioner
Are you involved with translators?
Brandon Sanderson
I usually am. Peter does a lot more of it than I do. But we like to be very in touch. We try to be very involved...
Questioner
What are you reading?
Brandon Sanderson
Right now, I actually just started reading [Under] the Pendulum Sun... I read two chapters of it, it was very good. It's by an author [Jeannette Ng] who is British, who came to one of my signings earlier, so I looked it up... She came in costume, she came as Jasnah, and she's a professional writer herself, so I'm like, "I've got to read her book." ...The first two chapters were delightful. Missionaries going to fairyland, the land of the fae.
Hoidonalsium
So, there's a whole lot of things that happen in a very short period of time when Dalinar brings the worlds together. "We killed you" from Odium. Who is "we" and who is "you"?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Hoidonalsium
Is the sapphire in the white-gold blade specifically for Jezrien?
Brandon Sanderson
Uh, yes.
Hoidonalsium
Do the gems swap out, or are there different weapons?
Brandon Sanderson
I'll RAFO that one.
Hoidonalsium
Are they Dawnshards? Or blades of Odium, like Honorblades?
Brandon Sanderson
Those are not Dawnshards. Good question.
Hoidonalsium
In that one long rejection of Odium, how many Oaths did Dalinar swear before merging the Realms? And is "I am Unity" the fifth.
Brandon Sanderson
No, that is not an Oath. He swore one ideal in that experience.
Hoidonalsium
Okay. How many Oaths is he on?
Brandon Sanderson
The number you think. So, he should have just finished three, right? Or maybe four. I'll have to go look. It's the number that you think it is. I'm not being sneaky on you. There's nothing sneaky there. He doesn't get armor, so I can't remember where he is... He should be at three. "Life before death." "I will unite instead of divide." "I will stand up each time I fall." Yeah, so he's done three.
Hoidonalsium
Was Hoid's Cryptic the same one that was meant for Elhokar?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Hoidonalsium
Is there anything more to the Cryptic than Pattern? Like Shallan's Pattern?
Brandon Sanderson
There's more to every individual! But it is not a more powerful Cryptic or anything like that.
Hoidonalsium
Is Mraize's strange chicken Invested? Like the birds of Sixth of the Dusk?
Brandon Sanderson
It is an Aviar.
Hoidonalsium
What was the order of the Shards coming to Roshar and changing allegiances? Did humans come with Odium?
Brandon Sanderson
So... you're talking about on Roshar specifically? So, Odium had visited Roshar. The humans gave him more of an ear... The Dawnsingers would have considered him the god of the people who had come, but-- I mean, it wasn't like they necessarily brought him. He was capable of getting around before that. I mean, he did kinda come along with them, he was instrumental in what happened there.
Hoidonalsium
Okay, but he was separate, and after Honor and Cultivation had really settled there?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, he was after Honor and Cultivation had settled.
