BookCon 2018

Event details
Name
Name BookCon 2018
Date
Date June 1, 2018
Location
Location New York City, NY
Bookstore
Bookstore Javits Convention Center
Entries
Entries 41
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#1 Copy

Questioner

If you could have any two characters cross over from different series, which ones would they be?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, you will be seeing that as it happens, right? Because Stormlight and Mistborn are in the same universe, so you will see. If it were not limited to the Cosmere, then I'd be very interested in seeing Moiraine from The Wheel of Time.

#4 Copy

Questioner

How long is the [Skyward] series going to be?

Brandon Sanderson

Skyward is a trilogy. And I usually write--you'll find my style for a trilogy is the first one stands very well on its own, and the second two will have more cliff-hangery sorts of things.

#5 Copy

Questioner

If a Thaylen and Alethi had a child, how would their eyebrows look?

Brandon Sanderson

Their eyebrows would probably have streaks of white. You would just see the kind of hybridization how bushy and long their eyebrows got. The color would breed kind of half-way true.

#6 Copy

Questioner

*Inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

I loved writing Steris. Part of the fun was, I wrote her in Alloy of Law knowing that a lot of people were going to have an opinion of Steris they would have to change over time, and I liked watching fans come to that realization.

#7 Copy

Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

We are doing more graphic novels. Now that I've experimented once, we've got some sweet stuff on the way that we should be announcing later this month.

#8 Copy

Questioner

*Inaudible*<how long it had been like that...or just a weird thing>

Brandon Sanderson

I was so excited to be able to do that.

Questioner

How long were you sitting on that secret?

Brandon Sanderson

I've sat on that secret since the first book. I don't know if you've read Arcanum Unbounded and the scene in there, but I was building in all these little things, it was a lot fun. But it took me forever to get that book written.

#10 Copy

Questioner

What is the weirdest thing you've ever been given at a signing?

Brandon Sanderson

All the normal things: license plates, swords, armor, pens, lots of pens. Weirdest thing-- I need to write these things down when I get them. Sculptures... stickers, I would ask my wife. I'm going to go with license plates, that is pretty odd. They got two, put one on their car and gave one to me.

#11 Copy

Questioner

What was your inspiration for kandra?

Brandon Sanderson

So, I knew that I wanted to do a shapeshifter, but I worried about the whole-- The first idea was that you take the bones of the person you killed, sort of thing. I worried that that would be too-- I wanted a limitation on that. So I'm like, "Well, what if they can't kill people? Why can't they kill?" and I kind of extrapolated from there. But the first idea was that idea of you can become someone if you can get their bones first.

#12 Copy

Questioner

I'm in <a MFA and> one of the things I'm interested in is writing multiple perspectives. So how do you go about that and make the characters sound distinctive?

Brandon Sanderson

I think really distinctive viewpoints is a big part of it, particularly in the third-limited. It's much easier in the first to distinguish them in some ways, though it's harder to keep track. But in third limited you want to make sure your viewpoints are really distinctive. I always ask myself the question, "How would they describe a cup of water?" Would they see that as if they are thirsty, or how would they describe that thing...

Third limited gets away with a sort of more general voice of the narrator a little bit, to kind of lean on that as long as the focus on descriptions and voice and thoughts of the characters.

#13 Copy

Questioner

For the Stormlight series specifically, I feel like there will be things I don't really fully get until I start to get until the second or third read-through,  how do you keep all that straight?

Brandon Sanderson

I use a program called Wikipad, which is a personal wiki. I just do a lot of outlining in a wiki, it's like wikipedia but only on my computer... I have the ability to--now I can hire continuity editors. So it gets better and better the further I go along.

#14 Copy

Questioner

So Kaladin's in charge of the Windrunners, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Is Lift in charge of the Edgedancers?

Brandon Sanderson

You'll have to see in the next book. Lift is the first Edgedancer they've found. Lift is not so good at being in charge of anything... So I wouldn't probably say the first one discovered has to be in charge. Different Orders of the Knights Radiant lend themselves to different styles of organization. Like, some of them are a lot more disorganized than the Windrunners, who you'll see have a very militaristic organization to them.

#16 Copy

Questioner

Just a minor request: Kaladin have some semblance of long term happiness? I know he struggles with depression and PTSD, but just a little bit of-- as happy as someone struggling with that can be?

Brandon

I think you can be very happy when you're struggling with those things. There, obviously, are things you have to learn and things you have to work with, but it is, I think, totally possible that he could. Whether or not I'll do it-- I'll take that as a request.

#17 Copy

Questioner

What is your favorite magic system you've read?

Brandon Sanderson

That I've read? I really like Melanie Rawn's Sunrunner books. Probably the best magic system is either Brian McClellan's, I really love Patrick Rothfuss'. Probably the best three are those, as far as magic systems.

#18 Copy

Questioner

Do you know when we're going to get Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know for sure. Your best bet at Nightblood is after Stormlight 5. I'll take a little bit longer break than normal between 5 and 6 because there are two five-book arcs, and I'm really hoping to squeeze Nightblood in there.

#19 Copy

Questioner

If you ever get the go for a movie or TV show, who do you want to pick as Kaladin?

Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin is a hard one to cast. Because all of the Alethi are going to be hard to cast, because they're basically half Japanese/half Arab... So I'm not sure. I've been thinking for Dalinar lately, the guy who plays Drax the Destroyer. He's half Filipino and he has just the right look for Dalinar. You gotta look at him not in his make up for Guardians of the Galaxy. Get a little silvering hair on him. That's my latest casting choice. But I do not have a Kaladin.

#20 Copy

Questioner

The reveal at the end of The Bands of Mourning was just the biggest surprise ever. I held off reading Secret History... When I read Secret History, it feels like reading Hero of Ages all over again. It was so great... Kelsier, what it's going to mean.

Brandon Sanderson

You'll see, next book. RAFO card.

#21 Copy

Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

You know, I read comic books, but I never really considered writing them. I don't feel I know that format well. I've done a couple graphic novels, but those I always give to a script writer for comic books who's practiced it, let them do it. I haven't really considered ever since I broke-in, because I'd feel like the basketball player playing baseball, you know. You might be okay at it, but might as well let the people who are really good at it, since they're really good at doing it.

#23 Copy

Questioner

I feel like you're the kind of person who sneaks little details all over the place. Do you have a favorite that you've ever snuck in somewhere?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah. Most definitely, the first line of The Final Empire. I have never been able to, so far, pull off as long a con as the first line of the first book being the climax of the third book. I do have some other long cons going, but they haven't paid off yet.

#24 Copy

Questioner

How did you know that Stormlight and Mistborn were going to be the focus [of the cosmere]?

Brandon Sanderson

A lot of writers figured out the *inaudible* exploration. And I had the advantage when I broke-in that I had written all these books before, and I was able to go back and say, "The Way of Kings, there's something special about--" right from the beginning, there's something special about that.

I was able to look back at say, Mistborn, which had I had tried the magic system. The magic system really worked, my best magic system. I know this has the best magic magic system, if I can match a plot to it that makes it a good book, I can make that magic system kind of the spine of what I'm doing.

...So I got lucky on that. In some ways, not publishing for a long time was the luckiest thing that could have happened to me.

#25 Copy

Questioner

This book seemed a little sadder, I thought Kaladin would reach the next level.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, he's still got some things to work out. 

Questioner

I was surprised that Elhokar getting killed *inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

At least, in this draft, it wasn't Dalinar that that killed him like in the original version... That didn't work.

#26 Copy

Questioner

Are we ever going to get Hoid's story?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Does... <Roial?> make it to one of the other books?

Brandon Sanderson

I-- That-- I have to RAFO that... Hoid's backstory is coming. It's going to be a while, but you're going to get it.

#27 Copy

Questioner

I just got done with Elantris the other day. Are all of the planets--is Shadesmar the same place? Can you access all planets from Shadesmar?

Brandon Sanderson

You can walk through Shadesmar between the planets. Yes. A little bit of bending of space/time in that, but yes.

#28 Copy

Questioner

How do you think Elend would deal being on Roshar with the fact that men can't read?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh man, he would have so much trouble with that. He'd have huge problems... Though he wouldn't look Alethi to them,  they'd be like, "Oh the Shin do weird things."

#29 Copy

Questioner

Who is your favorite character in Mistborn?

Brandon Sanderson

Hmmm, probably Sazed. The truth is, my favorite character changes depending on who I'm writing, and things like that.

Questioner

Okay, I feel better about it now.

Questioner 2

Breeze is my favorite character

Brandon Sanderson

Breeze is a lot of fun.

#30 Copy

Questioner

I was wondering what is your favorite book was to write?

Brandon Sanderson

...That's really hard to answer, I like different books for different reasons. The big ones are more satisfying, but a lot of the shorter ones can be funner. So, probably Bands of Mourning, from the Mistborn series is my favorite for the fun. But the Stormlight books are more satisfying. 

#31 Copy

Questioner

Can you sleep through a highstorm?

Brandon Sanderson

Some people can. I probably wouldn't be able to.

Questioner

So it's not impossible.

Brandon Sanderson

It's not impossible... The guys in Bridge Four? They can sleep through anything

#32 Copy

WeiryWriter

The Nightwatcher is described as having an amorphous, vague, humanoid form of dark green mist with a smooth, defined face. This is similar to how the mistpren are described (faces like porcelain masks and bodies of swirling fog). Did the Nightwatcher serve as the progenitor of the mistspren similar to how Honor, and later the Stormfather, were progenitors of honorspren like Syl.

Brandon Sanderson

One more time.

WeiryWriter

...Did the Nightwatcher serve as the progenitor of the mistspren similar to how Honor, and later the Stormfather, were the progenitors of the honorspren like Syl.

Brandon Sanderson

...Are you talking about author inspirations or in-world sort of things?

WeiryWriter

Either.

Brandon Sanderson

No, not in-world. And out of world, it's the reverse. Mist spirits came before. I ended up doing--

WeiryWriter

No, mistspren.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, mistspren. So you're saying the ones in Shadesmar... You're using terms for things, because I haven't given you other terms.

WeiryWriter

They are named mistpren in the books.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. So ask me one more time.

WeiryWriter

Did the Nightwatcher serve as the progenitor of the mistspren similar to how Honor and later the Stormfather were the progenitors of the honorspren like Syl.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, I see what you're asking now. I was thinking mist spirit the whole time. We'll RAFO that. More because-- yeah we're just going to RAFO it.

#34 Copy

WeiryWriter

At Emerald City Comic Con earlier this year, you stated that Singer gemhearts are a "milky white" color, and looked like bone/bone marrow. You also said they were related to something in Dragonsteel. Having read the sample chapters of The Liar of Partinel a while back, I couldn't help but be reminded of the skullmoss, which is a bone-white color. Are the singer gemhearts related to the fainlife in any meaningful or important way?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah they are very similar to Tamu Keks.

#36 Copy

WindRunner88 (paraphrased)

So far during The Stormlight Archive we've seen that the spren bond appears to have some distinct advantages (i.e. armor, more efficient Stormlight consumption, access to a variety of weapons) over what Tanavast via the Oathpact provided the Heralds. With the exception of Nale, and the fact that the Heralds had no need for Stormlight, can you please tell me one way in which a Herald had a distinct advantage over a level 5 Radiant of their corresponding  order?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Rebirth. *pause* The Heralds had access to raw levels of power that no Radiant could obtain.

#37 Copy

Dissentinel (paraphrased)

Would it be possibly to have a bunch of iron Ferrings store a bunch of weight into some iron, turn that iron into steel, and then use that steel to make guns as a cheaper alternative to aluminum?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah but the guns wouldn't be immune--

Ravi (paraphrased)

But they would be resistant, that little bit of extra time could be enough to make a difference.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah.

Dissentinel (paraphrased)

And the guns would be harder to see with iron/steelsight, correct?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, they would be. Do keep in mind however that we get a very skewed perception of the world and how important stuff like this is because the main characters of the books are Allomancers. This just isn't something that is important to the average person on the street. But this does relate to some things later on in the series.

#39 Copy

WeiryWriter (paraphrased)

So in the Way of Kings Ars Arcanum we get a really good explanation of the different kinds of fabrials. Then in Words of Radiance we get a new kind of fabrial, one that attracts certain substances, but they weren't discussed in the Words of Radiance Ars Arcanum. And they are not in Oathbringer's either.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah, so this is actually something Isaac has been bugging me about. There is no reason they were not included other than me being lazy.

#41 Copy

Dissentinel (paraphrased)

Is Spensa's race left intentionally vague in Skyward?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, it is.

Dissentinel (paraphrased)

So how do you feel about the new US cover, which depicts Spensa as white?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's something the publisher decides, it's out of our hands.

Footnote: Note: The last thing Brandon said is extremely paraphrased. This WoB was compiled almost six months after it was given. 
Event details
Name
Name BookCon 2018
Date
Date June 1, 2018
Location
Location New York City, NY
Bookstore
Bookstore Javits Convention Center
Entries
Entries 41
Upload sources