So this flashlight is made of aluminum. So obviously, I could not affect the flashlight itself with iron or steel. Could I affect the battery inside it?
No.
Could I like, pop the trigger?
Yes.
And then is there a connection between Aviars, copperclouds, aluminum, and the yellow spren, life sense, seeking?
Yeah, yeah all that, there are some relationships there.
So they all pretty much would affect each other?
Ummm, yes, yes.
In Bands of Mourning, Hoid says he technically owns the place of the mansion. Is he referring to the mansion or Scadrial? Or something else?
He's referring to the mansion itself.
Is Mraize's Aviar from First of the Sun or is it from another planet?
If it's called an Aviar, its origin is First of the Sun.
So the color of the green chicken. In Sixth of the Dusk, there's a green and white Aviar and there's a green and red type of plume. Is green important?
I'll RAFO that.
The Patji lake, theoretically, could an Aviar fly into the lake on its own and enter the Cognitive Realm? Like, have a bird catcher on the other side waiting for the bird to fly in and catch it?
Theoretically... I'm going to RAFO that, but it's not a big RAFO. It's more along the lines of, I'm going to get into the mechanics of how things go through Shardpools in future books. Um, what you just described is not outside of reason.
And could also, one of the grubs or one of the parasites or the rotten fruit, whatever, could that have fallen through the lake?
That is plausible. The question is, once it gets to be a non-sentient thing, how does going through the--- to the Realms work, and that's where it starts to get-- that's where you get your asterisk. Like, just a piece of fruit falling. I'm going to asterisk that one.
Evi, in Oathbringer, she uses strange idioms and you mentioned you wanna be on the lookout for people who use strange idioms... Is Evi native to Roshar?
Yes... Her people are related to the Iri, who are not native to Roshar. But she is not Iriali herself. And all the Iriali, they are native to Roshar, people who are born now, even if their people aren't. So Evi-- You can say, right, like, no humans are native to Roshar. But, yes, she was born on Roshar.
...Would she might have some of the same blood in her that Vivenna and Siri would have?
Viviena and Siri... Oh, from... Ah, I'll RAFO that.
You said it's been revealed for Patji's intent. Where has that been revealed?
I've talked about it.
You've talked about it? Okay. So you have to go hunting.
You may have to make a few connections.
My question is, if you had two nicrosil Mistings, who, feeling like breaking the universe, and they got together and they touched each other and advanced each other's magic power at the same time by flaring nicrosil, what would happen? Would it cause a feedback loop?
*hands RAFO card* Well I'll go ahead and give you one right there! You got one!
So Hoid, was he considered a Lightweaver pre-Shattering?
Yes, that would be an appropriate term. There are lots of different terms that would also be appropriate.
But was it basically the same thing?
Well, no Stormlight. No spren. So, not a Knight Radiant. But, similar magic. But you've also seen Elantris magic do this. So there are-- there are certain things that-- I'll just stop there.
So I was curious. I really enjoyed your Snapshot book. Is there any way you're going back to that?
Probably not. What I do with those novellas is I write them specifically to get an idea out of my head. I could not promise a sequel and things. But there is a film in the works. MGM.
What's your most asked question?
"When's the next of blank coming?"
Are you doing a Warbreaker sequel?
Yes. But I've determined that I can't do it until I at least have the Wax and Wayne sequence done. So it will probably not happen till after Stormlight 5. So you got a little wait on that. Because I'm going to do Wax and Wayne and then the next Stormlight. There's a chance I'll do it in between 4 and 5 but we'll see once we get there.
So Wax and Wayne aren't finished?
One more book, Wax and Wayne.
I thought they were just going to be a trilogy.
I wrote the first book as exploration. So I view the books two through four as a trilogy, with the first book kind of being like, "Do I want to do something more with this?" So there will be four.
So is there a connection with K's? Where the characters...
You mean names with K's?
Yes...
I'm going to say it's more coincidence. It has to do with what I like to name people. Kaladin's original name was Merin and it was just bad. So I eventually settled on something I liked. I just like the sound of it. If you dig down into it, most of the names in the cosmere do not have similar linguistic roots. Some do. I'm just going to chalk it up to coincidence.
Has Hoid tried to get to First of the Sun?
Hoid has tried before.
So do each Shard's perpendicularity-- is that, like are they their own individual color or is that sort of--
There is a small thematic connection. This is not to be taken as one of the bigger deals in the cosmere, but there is a small thematic connection.
What was your inspiration for Jasnah?
I had done several times, when I was designing characters in the cosmere, someone who kind of thought they were an awesome scholar but really wasn't. That's the kind of thing with Sarene and a little bit of the thing with Shallan. They're young people who haven't quite made it there yet, whose opinion of themselves is kind of beyond their actual skill level. Who would be, like, the scholar? Like, the ideal Rosharan societal scholar? And I built Jasnah out of that, and then took her in a way that would allow her to also be in conflict with that at the same time. Always a good source of writing a character.
Is Kaladin's name influenced by Dune?
I've read Dune many times, so maybe? It's more looking at-- A lot of Dune names are Arabic inspired, and I went to that region for a lot of the names. But I think the word "Paladin" was probably more in the back of my head. I didn't even think of it until I started writing it, and I'm like, "Oh I bet that's where I got it." But it's often kind of based off of like, Khalid, or things like that? Like a lot of the Arabic names go Khalid.
I was actually just thinking that the other day how the Knights are a lot like paladins.
It wasn't like, "I'll come up with the word." But after I started writing I'm like, "Oh I bet that's why the name felt right to me". But you can't separate an author from their influences, and I've read Dune like 5 times.
Would you be willing to admit the name of the Vessel of the Shard on Obrodai.
*gives RAFO card*
Is Patji related at all to Autonomy?
Yes.
...When a Shard vessel dies and they've held the Shard for a thousand years, how much do they remember about what they've done?
Depends on the shard. Usually, everything or most everything. It is not implausible that there are Shards that don't want to remember certain things. They have a large and vast mental capacity for remembering things.
Would Ruin be one that would be more likely to want to forget?
I think all of them would have things they might want to forget. It depends on whose personality would be more likely to make that actually happen.
Is Vivenna's sword in Oathbringer the same one that Vasher gives her in Warbreaker?
RAFO! But I'll give you a card.
Does physical proximity of two planets have an effect on how easy it is to worldhop?
Yes.
Hypothetically speaking, if some of the main Radiants were to die at the end of book 5, go to Braize and then spend the time in between 5 and 6 there, would they age?
There are lots of problems with that question. If a Radiant dies, they don't go to Braize. A Herald would, but a Herald is a Cognitive Shadow, so there's inherent problems in there. When you're a Cognitive Shadow, aging is different there, because you're basically a ghost. Even if you've been stapled to a body, it happens weirdly. So there's all kinds of flaws in that question.
If given the opportunity, which Shard would Kelsier want to punch next?
He would find it really fun to punch Honor. Really fun.
How do you pronounce Szeth's name?
Zeth.
Just the Z?
Yeah. There's a little bit of s...
And Sazed?
So, he says something more close to Saze-d. But Kelsier says Say-zed. And people just kind of go with what Kelsier does. I say Say-zed also.
First Mistborn series, second book. One of my favorite relationships was between Vin and TenSoon. And I was wondering if there was ever a version where they meet back up again.
...I never had an outline where they did.
Sah-zed, that's how you pronounce it, right?
Well, it depends on who you are. You can say it however you want. It's said all different ways in the books. Because he is Terris, and everybody's just kind of saying his name, right?
So Kelsier says Say-zed. But in world, he would say something more like Sahz-d, not Say-zed, himself. But I say Say-zed. You can say Sah-zed. Some people would say that.
I'm curious, did you have [Sazed's] end result planned out from the beginning?
Yes and no. Mostly what I would do is I would generally write the first book as an exploration. Then I will outline the series, make sure the first book matches the series, then write the rest of the series. With Mistborn I did more of a write straight through all three. And then make sure they all fit... So where I had that, it would be very hard for me to pinpoint, because I kind of wrote the three books as a whole.
But I am an outliner, so I do know a lot of things ahead of time. You're asking me to remember back ten years, what happened while I was editing. I often say yeah I knew ahead, but the honest truth is it came in there somewhere. It might have been ahead. I would have to go look and see what my outline looked like.
Was it moral for Adolin to kill Sadeas?
Which morality scheme are you looking for?
Yours. Your personal morality.
My personal morality. It depends on the day. That one's on a line. I would say yes. There's a little bit of-- there's enough chaotic good in me. I would generally put myself in neutral good. But there's enough chaotic good in me to say, "Yeah, that guy asked for it. He betrayed you, he was threatening your family." I would side on Adolin's side, I think.
Opening a perpendicularity. Is that a Bondsmith power or just something special Dalinar did for other reasons?
Yeah, we will RAFO that.
Kelsier said to Vin, "Always make sure to burn off your metals before you go to sleep," because of toxicity issues. And when we get to Second Era, that just makes me think, because cadmium is truly nasty stuff. And most metals to burn them off, that'll be just fine. But with its effect, it would mean that trying to burn it off would shorten the night and you don't end up with any time to sleep. How does Marasi deal with this?
You measure very carefully and you deal with the side effects of being an Allomancer.
Is there any significance to Syl appearing to Kaladin in full sized human form?
To her? Yes. In world, I would not say a huge significance.
Is Azure Returned?
Azure is Vivenna. And RAFO.
*inaudible* Thom Merrilin *inaudible* what kind of story would that be?
Oh they would try to one-up each other. It would be one of these stories that kind of starts normal, and it spirals out of control and then just crazy insanity.
When is the second Rithmatist book coming out?
I put an update on my blog two days ago, so you can look in there. I'm having a lot of trouble writing it.
So I think you dropped like, so many cosmere bombs in Oathbringer. And I'm just low-key worried that there's not going to be much more to reveal. I hope that that's not the case and I just want a small confirmation.
There is still plenty to reveal. Remember it's two five book arcs.
So we're okay?
Yeah. I've still got a few bombs to drop.
Lift can do Regrowth and Wayne can Heal. If Lift puts Regrowth on Wayne, can he store it?
Can he store it? That's a RAFO. But you are thinking along very appropriate lines of theory.
If you were to try and Awaken a dead Shardblade with Awakening, like you can with a metal sword, would that be possible, or what would happen?
That would probably not work. Not probably. That would just not work.
Did Harmony give Ironeyes full Mistborn powers, or anything other than what he has with his spikes...
Just what he has with the spikes, I believe. No-- okay let's say this: Harmony did not do anything... That doesn't mean that Marsh hasn't done things himself.
Was Azure hunting the Herald or is she hunting Zahel?
She's out hunting Zahel.
Cephandrius is kinda like a bard. And Tanavast is almost a Paladin. And Ati we're thinking like a priest or cleric?
You're starting to stretch. You can definitely put Hoid into a bard category.
And then our final one was Preservation. Is he almost like a rogue or thief type person? Because he gives off that kind of vibe.
I'll RAFO it. You're going to have to wait on those until I write them out.
If you could go to any planet *inaudible*
Oh, they're often just terrible places, right? Maybe Wheel of Time after the end of the books. That would be a good one. Or I might pick early Age of Legends. That's it, do that. Early to mid Age of Legends, Wheel of Time.
If I'm a Mistborn and I change planet-- if I go over to Roshar, do I have to bring metal from Scadrial with me?
No, you do not.
Could I use Stormlight, and just have the same power?
Not-- not-- It would take some work.
Yeah, okay. Okay, but I could use steel from Roshar, and you can-- Okay, thank you sir.
What was the most outrageous things somebody has asked you to write?
A lot of times they'll have me write something insulting to their friends, just gleefully. That's pretty weird. Lots of inside jokes and things like that, that make no sense to me. You know, "From brain to sandy. Write brain to sandy! That's what we call you!" Stuff like that.
Why did you choose to write Marsh as a Steel Inquisitor?
Um, when I was doing the outline it is the thing that matched with the story I wanted, so--
How many books are going to be in The Stormlight Archive?
Two five book arcs. Five will be an ending, and then six through ten will kind of be another story.
The sword with which Azure fights? Is it a lot like Nightblood, maybe?
It shares some features, but is different.
What metal is Nightblood made out of?
Uh, RAFO.
Are you going to write books like, Way of Kings? Not the Way of Kings you already wrote but the Way of Kings in Way of Kings?
I am not planning to. Feels like it'd just be a lot of work for very little--
I do have a question about the Fourth Ideal of the Windrunners--
Mmhmm?
Does it have something to do with either killing or allowing people to die in order to protect others?
*RAFO card*
Aw, RAFO. *laughs*
When Odium says, "We Killed You," who is he referring to?
*Hands RAFO card*
What is the color of Autonomy's Shard, on Taldain?
RAFO. Good question.
How do you get the Asian themes in without it being so corny?
You try to break down... Use multiple inspirations and tie them together. Try to extrapolate. Try to look at what are caricatures and stray away from that. Being influenced by the philosophy and the thinking and the culture to create things that are similar but going their own direction will help you do that sort of thing. Justifying things in-world rather than just dropping them in. Take a look at the safehand, which is based off of not -- but as an Asian culture thing, when I lived in Korea, you didn't show the bottom of your feet to people. It was considered rude. That was really interesting to me, and creating a similar taboo but with different groups and different reasons, it was... You can see my experience in how it came out. Do things like that.
Is Koloss Head-Munching Day like Weasel Stomping Day?
Someone asked me way before I was famous, back when it was five or six people who read my books, like "Are there any holidays?" and I'm like "Yeah, Koloss Head-Munching Day!" And then the fans took it and ran with it. At the next signing, they said "What is it?" and I'm like "Uh, my birthday" and then it just became a thing.
What is it? What does it mean?
It means it's the day that the koloss go have some heads to eat.
What I want to know is how the koloss can make a decision on their own? To munch heads? Somebody has to tell them, right?
The thing about koloss is that they try to imitate and recapture being human. So they wear coin pouches and things like that, so they get it wrong. They know that holidays exist.
It's partially just a joke.
How much does the story change as you write it? I know you're an outliner, but how much does it change?
A great deal. I'd say 40% of it changes, 60% stays the same.
What is your favorite emoji?
You know, I don't use a ton of emojis. My children send me the poop emoji a lot whenever I get ahold of the phone and my response is usually like the *makes face*, you know?. So that's the one I probably use the most because it gets-because they like it. It makes them laugh when they send me. But I'm kind of old school. I'm more of an emoticon guy, right? You're gonna see a colon closed bracket from me way more often than you'll see an emoji.
What's your writing process?
I am an outliner, so I generally start with a really solid outline for the book I'm gonna write. I don't always stick to it 100%, but I do kind of keep it revised as I go. I work better from that. And not everybody's like that, but if you really wanna know my writing process, my BYU lectures are online. They're (*inaudible*) and comfier as opposed to mine.
Of all the series you wrote, which one's your favorite one that you've written?
I don't have a favorite. They're all my children.
And I betcha there's more to come, right?
Always.
Always.
Who would win in a fight, Odium or Harmony?
Well, why don't we RAFO that and you'll see.
Are you gonna come out with this map as a poster someday? *shows map*
We will do a poster eventually. We need to run out of the ones we already have, but we will eventually.
I actually *inaudible*
The other one is almost exactly the same. It's the underlying part that's different, because that one is part digital, part oil painting cause I'm still trying to finish it.
Is this all yours too? *shows something*
That's not mine, that's— Dan dos Santos are those and the ones on the back are Howard Lyon.
What would happen if <he> were *inaudible*?
Humans have tried doing that and it hasn't worked. And Hoid is— I would categorize him [as] human. Kind of.
What is this stuff that is coming out of the wall on the cover of Oathbringer?
Have you read Oathbringer?
I'm on page three hundred and...
Okay. It will make sense probably when you get to the ending, where that scene takes place. If it doesn't you can ask me, but you should get that answered.
