Spriy
I've been wondering if the Ars Arcanum for Mistborn 7 will include a guide to speaking High Imperial.
Brandon Sanderson
No promises, I'm afraid. I like the rules for High Imperial being kind of vague.
Questioner
Is Moash intended to read as being interested in men?
Beyond some of the things he says, I relate a lot to his feeling of alienation even within his marginalized group, as a queer poc.
Brandon Sanderson
I wasn't intentionally coding Moash as queer - but that doesn't mean I didn't do it on accident. I see him as straight, personally, but having gone so far down a dark path he basically feels nothing anymore.
LewsTherinTelescope
You've said before that, while the Ten Surges arose due to perception of what things are fundamental forces, there were "seeds" that influenced what people perceived as fundamental. Is knowledge of the Rosharan Shards and Dawnshards the "seed" referenced here?
Brandon Sanderson
The Shards yes, but I wouldn't say the Dawnshards were involved directly--but the Shards were influenced by the Dawnshards, so... It gets muddy.
LewsTherinTelescope
It's a plot point in Hero of Ages that gender-neutral pronouns were used for the aforementioned Hero because they were neither male nor female:
The prophecies always used the gender-neutral, he thought. So that they could refer to either a man or a woman, we assumed. Or . . . perhaps because they referred to a Hero who wasn’t really either one?
However, even this paragraph uses the male pronoun "he".
In Shadows of Self, it's again brought up (by MeLaan, this time) that Sazed is not quite either gender:
“Not really. Wow, you blush easily, don’t you? I’d have thought you’d find this natural, considering that your God is basically a hermaphrodite at this point. Both good and evil, Ruin and Preservation, light and dark, male and female. Et cetera et cetera.”
But the books continue to use the male pronouns (though normally they use Capitalized Male Pronouns or just the name "Harmony").
So my questions would be:
- What pronouns should be used for Sazed/what gender does Sazed identify as: he/him? they/them? Or does Sazed not particularly care and he, she, they, etc all work just fine?
- If Sazed's pronouns would indeed more accurately be they/them, might we see characters in Era 3 starting to use They/Them in place of He/Him, as Basin society grows more aware of this topic?
Brandon Sanderson
Sazed always saw himself as a "He." So a lot of the records refer to him that way. He'd accept they, though, and might even see himself a little more this way now. What you suggest here is something I've considered--with him having two Shards, they is a good pronoun for other reasons too.
Oyeresu
The first thing in Stormlight that really blew me away was the blandness of the soul cast food.
Was the blandness due to the relationship in our world between the food source and its microbiome? If you stripped all bacteria from chicken and beef you'd have a hard time telling them apart from taste alone, so it would make sense that a soulcaster turning stone to meat would just be making cells of the grain or meat and skipping the bacteria that give it flavor.
If that's why, Would a really microbiologist/food scientist soulcaster be able to mix in the bacteria to make tastier simulcast food?
Brandon Sanderson
This is indeed part of the reason! There are others, though. Soulcast flesh, for example, doesn't actually have much fat--it's pure muscle, as fat/oil is a different essence. Another factor, I figured, would be water content. I decided that simulcast grain would taste stale for this reason.
These are both things you can compensate for as a skilled soulcaster, but the devices (rather than the radiants) aren't equipped to do this.
Mojonero
In Era 1 there was an imbalance between Ruin and Preservation because humans had a bit more Preservation than Ruin in them. After Harmony became a thing did this imbalance become [ir]relevant because both powers turned into one, or is it something Sazed had (or has) to deal with?
Brandon Sanderson
This is a RAFO for now--should come up in Era 3.
xland44
Speaking of Rithmatist, is the reason for the lack of a sequel still due to further research being necessary? Or is it just due to schedule?
Peter Ahlstrom
Both, plus Brandon really wants to find a good writer with Mexica heritage to coauthor it with.
Lostboy289
Im confused. Why does the heritage of the person writing it matter?
Brandon Sanderson
Because what Brandon wants to do requires a lot more research than he is up for. Someone with a personal connection is more likely to have already done the research.
teknopathetic (paraphrased)
I had asked if the Nahel bond was named after "El".
Brandon Sanderson
El's name comes from the same root, but is not the originator of the term.
Rayborne
From what we know, the Ghostbloods want a way to move investiture offworld. Could Thaidakar/Kelsier's reason for doing that be so that he can find a way to go offworld, given that he's Connected to Scadrial in (I assume) the same way investiture is Connected to a planet? Put in a more generalized way, is a cognitive shadow just investiture with a person's mind imprint, and if so would it be possible to move it (and the shadow themselves) offworld assuming the Ghostbloods find a way to do it?
Brandon Sanderson
Wow! Great question. RAFO!
Spriy
Is the guy in Lasting Integrity named Sixteen a worldhopper? (The kandra worldhopper, perhaps?)
Brandon Sanderson
He is a worldhopper, but I won't reveal anything more than that currently.
graciemoo
Does White Sand take place before the Way of Kings Kalak Prelude?
Brandon Sanderson
Not in the current timeline, but most of that isn't in the books explicitly yet, so we allow it to remain fluid until canonized by in-book events.
Evilsmiley
Was Elantris built before the Shards were [Splintered] on Sel or not?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, in my outline right now Elantris existed before Odium did his dirty work on Elantris.
It's unlikely to change, but I do have to point out this isn't strictly canon yet, and likely won't be until I write the Elantris sequels.
ArgentSun
Can you tell us who the [Skyward] novella characters are?
Brandon Sanderson
I want to make certain Janci is comfortable with me talking about the novella characters before I announce it. I'll chat with her, and maybe put it in the next update document.
TXPX
I just wanted to ask you if the Elantris sequels are still in the pipeline between SA 5 and 6 or is Mistborn era 3 the only thing in that timeframe?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to have to see. My goal is to write Mistborn era three straight through, without publishing the first one until the last one is done. If so, I'll need a break between books, but I don't know if I can squeeze Elantris sequels in there or not. I plan to try, but we'll see.
Cann0nFodd3r
Any reason why you are going with that strategy for Era 3?
Brandon Sanderson
I feel that the method I used for the original trilogy lent it some interesting advantages. I want to try the process again, and see if it works for me the same way. Mostly, I like experimenting with different kinds of story-making processes, and this is a good opportunity to play with this one again.
CompetitiveCell
Would Moash have the potential to become a Dustbringer?
Brandon Sanderson
That's a RAFO, I'm afraid.
CompetitiveCell
In Stormlight, we are presented with a society which is fundamentally unjust in its workings. Whether we see the darkeyes/ lighteyes divide as an analogy for race or class, it forms a caste system wherein the privileged caste is able to imprison, kill or enslave the oppressed caste without cause or trial (Kaladin and his first squad, Moash’s grandparents).
...
The message is not improved by the subsequent arcs of Moash and Kaladin. By RoW, Kaladin has given up most of his class based outlook and integrated into the privileged caste, as a de jure lighteyes. Meanwhile, Moash’s anger at an unjust system is shown as playing a significant role in his eventual corruption by Odium, eventually reducing him to a child kicking caricature.
Brandon Sanderson
I will say this: in my opinion, one of the important parts of creating a sympathetic protagonist is to make certain the things they're saying, the things they're worried about, or the things they're advocating for have a real foundation to them.
The problems with Moash are not the things he finds unjust in the system. And you should be uncomfortable with the momentum a historically tyrannical system has, and the sway it has over characters we like among the Radiants. I believe Wit had something to say about this in the last book.
LareaMartell
Can you tell me what the Alethi word for "peace" is, so I can make a glyph out of it? I'd love to use it for a personal project.
edit: is it Ororo? Since Adolin's name is made up of "adoda", meaning light, and the suffix "lin" meaning, son of. And Oroden means child of light, So that would make "den" the suffix here, and thus oro the first half of the word for peace, if i'm correct, leading to Ororo?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, you are correct, though the Alethi would probably write it and use it in names as Oroho, pronounced "Or-oh-ho." But you could write it either way, or simply as Oro.
Oversleep
Two characters who I believe Brandon absolutely butchered in terms of what their setup was and what happened to them.
[...]
Amaram. Suddenly, completely out of left field, Amaram has been talking to Odium, betrayed all he worked and believed in, sides with Odium... And becomes inhuman monster nobody will lose any sleep over getting rid of. Seriously, what the hell?
Rayse. Similar complaint of setting someone up for one thing then just conveniently cutting out: Rayse. He's been set up, multiple times, in multiple books, by multiple characters, as the Big Bad (or at least close to it).
[...]
And after all that build up of Rayse and what he turned out to be... How am I supposed to believe Taravangian, the newest of the Vessels, is going to be any threat at all?
Brandon Sanderson
While I kind of agree on Amaram, I don't on Rayse--but it's useful for me to read this sort of thing.
The goal with Amaram was to finally let him be the monster on the outside he was on the inside--and so the sequence felt thematically right to me in outlining and writing. Since the publication, though, I've walked back this opinion somewhat. While the sequence works as intended, it's not quite right, and if I were doing the book over I'd try something different.
BigRed323
[Urithiru] looks like Minis Tirith
Ben McSweeney
There's a few things we did to help make the two cities less similar when compared side by side, but the likeness was always on our minds. It's hard to avoid, WETA did such a distinctive job with it.
Urithiru is way bigger though.
havfunonline
Did Straff have half-skaa children? Was Amaranta skaa?
Brandon Sanderson
He was trying to get allomancer children, so skaa mistresses wouldn't be as likely to provide that for him.
alercah
Did Navani swear more than one oath in the climax of RoW? Her words to the Sibling seem to follow the pattern of Dalinar's oaths very closely, and the Sibling implied they wouldn't bond someone who wasn't ready for at least the second.
Is this the fastest ever three-oath speedrun?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO for now.
alercah
Do regular people in the cosmere have an innate, subconscious ability to read the Spiritual Realm just a little bit, that might manifest as gut instinct or intuition?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, in the cosmere, there is some validity to "gut" instincts in some people with a closer connection to the Spiritual.
thebooksmith
Can you confirm if it's possible to reform Dominion by uniting the world please?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
montezuma300
I don't know if it was intentional, but I realized that the Kholin colors match BYU (Brandon Sanderson's university) and the Singer colors match University of Utah (BYU's rival).
Brandon Sanderson
Ha. Well, I hadn't noticed that.
The problem is that I'm a Cornhusker, at least when it comes to football. No offense to BYU, but you don't grow up in Nebraska during the Osborn era without some side effects. :)
PrincipleFriendly205
Mare's Flower.
*a tattoo of the Ghostblood symbol*
montezuma300
Can you confirm either yea or nay?
Ben McSweeney
I had not thought this was the case before, but Brandon don’t tell me everything and some of what he tells me changes over the years (we used to have a hard rule with fur on Roshar, for instance). And I was not part of the design process for this symbol, it was handed to me ready-to-go when I put it on the Shallan page.
I would not be surprised to learn what we have here is a symbol based on the picture of the flower, that whatever flower she had a picture of, it had three petals of a somewhat diamond shape.
But I don’t actually know, and I’ll have to ask around. Might be a RAFO.
montezuma300
What's the fur rule?
Ben McSweeney
Waaaay back at the start, the rule was "no fur" in designs, full stop. The idea being that any fur-bearing creatures were too rare to be used for their hides. At some point he relaxed that rule... fur is still relatively rare and expensive (I think) but it's not unheard of.
marineman43
So the Lost Metal will be done by this August and then released 16 months later? Why is that?
Brandon Sanderson
In most of publishing, 24 months is average from turn in to publication. Revisions, designing the cover, proofreading, etc... They take time. In the past, because my books are so successful for the publisher, they've pushed hard to shrink that timeframe. But it's been really hard on my team, as there's so much to do.
I've wanted for a long time to start getting back on a more normal schedule. Maybe not 24 months, but closer to 14 or 16. This will relieve a lot of pressure on the revisions, and make it feel less like my team is needing to work break-neck to get things done.
marineman43
Does this new emphasis on the more normal schedule affect your roadmap for the Cosmere as a whole (like as it's outlined in 2020 SoS for instance) or was the switch to a more reasonable publishing schedule already part of the plan?
Brandon Sanderson
We'll see. Stormlight 5, for example, is likely to still be on a pretty difficult schedule for everyone--it depends on how long it takes to write, and how much revision it needs. 2023 is where we really want to hit, but I'd be more willing to let this one slide (as it's the last of the cycle, and I don't want to rush it) than I have been with previous Stormlight books.
That said, the main way I plan to get ahead on things is to start co-authoring more non-cosmere books, like the Apocalypse Guard series, which I'll likely try to release after Skyward is finished. Also, Era Three is going to have an odd publication cycle anyway, with me writing it more like I did Era One. So...who knows? It's too early really to say.
kthulhu89
What was different with the writing process between Era One and Era Two?
reuben-625
Not Brandon, but if I remember correctly, Era One was somewhat unique because he sketched out the entire trilogy before publishing the first book, which left room for some really cool foreshadowing.
Brandon Sanderson
/u/reuben-625 is correct--though it went farther than that. Because I was newer, and had lots of lead time to get books ready, I wrote the entire trilogy in rough draft form before polishing and publishing the first one.
Yaron-hol
How cosmere aware will [The Lost Metal] be? (Compared to other books)
Brandon Sanderson
About in line with how the Mistborn series and the Stormlight series have both been going lately. So moderately aware, but not on Secret History's level.
havfunonline
For the next [Mistborn] trilogy, will you do a 1.0 draft for the whole trilogy straight away, or will you do something more like:
-
Book 1 1.0
-
Book 1 2.0
-
Book 2 1.0
-
Book 1 3.0
-
Book 2 2.0
-
Book 3 1.0
-
Book 3 2.0
-
Book 1 4.0
-
Book 1 5.0
-
Book 1 release
Brandon Sanderson
What you wrote above is very close to what I'm likely to do--though I might not do the 3.0 of book one until the 2.0 of book two is done.
Brandon Sanderson
Well, it's finally out! Yes, we're doing Kelsier in Fortnite.
So what's going on behind the scenes? Well, Donald Mustard (director of Fortnite) is a friend of mine. We worked on Infinity Blade together back in the day. So, he asked if I was interested in sticking Kelsier into the game--and I thought it was cool. So we've been working on that for a few months.
Like I said (and several of you confirmed in this thread) it's not something I expect my general fanbase to go crazy over--but it's nifty, and I hope it will be fun for those of you who enjoy both properties. It's also been a blast to work with the Fortnite team.
They'll release more, but don't expect a huge crossover event. It's just a little fun thing that I'm doing with my friend, who happens to have accidentally made one of the most popular games of all time.
lazymomo5
Are there going to be any Mistborn specific mechanics in the game? Like steelpushing or pewter vials to grant regeneration or something like that. I don't expect it to happen but it would be cool and also a new kind of thing for those who don't know about Scadrial Magic.
Brandon Sanderson ·
No Mistborn-specific powers right now. (I hope to be able to work more with Epic on something like that in the future, though.)
puhtahtoe
Will anything about this be considered Cosmere Canon?
Brandon Sanderson
Nope canon here. Fortnite is all about crossovers these days, and is explicitly non-canon for all of them. It has its own canon, granted, about grabbing things from other universes--so in Fortnite this can be canon. But in our canon, the cosmere is a closed system, with no links to other universes.
zvons
More as in more about the kelsier skin or more like other cosmere content?
Brandon Sanderson
Sorry. I meant "More about this specific appearance of Kelsier in Fortnite." Don't expect other characters or things for now.
thystephen01
Please tell me he has allomancy? I’d love to see the knights radiants in any open world game with their powers.
Brandon Sanderson
For now, this is just using Fortnite mechanics. I do have aspirations for more--and think it's not impossible that Epic and I will do something more like that in the future. But don't expect allomancy in Fortnite anytime soon.
Brandon Sanderson
So, for those who don't know, I'm good friends with the director of Fortnite. Before he made this came, he made a smaller game called Infinity Blade--and we collaborated on some story things for that. (Curiously, he and art director Isaac went to school together, which is how I ended up meeting him.)
Fast forward a decade or so, and one day he says to me, "Hey. We should put Kelsier in Fortnite." So here we are.
I realize this probably isn't going to be earth shattering to most of you--I expect the audience who both reads the books and plays Fortnite to be somewhat small--but it was too neat not to pursue.
ImBuGs
Is it really only Kelsier? Or are you hiding anything else? As in, perhaps Vin too? Asking because the skins are usually like $20 and if there are more coming down the pipe i'd rather wait and buy the one from the character I like most (Vin in this case), because, well, I sadly can't afford to buy many of these. I understand if you can't say anything more, but it would be nice if you could confirm its only Kelsier :)
Brandon Sanderson
The deal allows them to make Vin in the future--but I don't know if they're planning to or not. So I'm glad you asked. I wouldn't be surprised to see her in the future--and though there has been not talks of it yet, because it's in the contract, I'd lay decent odds on it happening. (But it would be at least six months away, since it took around five months of working to get Kelsier in.)
Kalinque
Ooh, a Vin skin!
That makes me super curious about the process that went into putting Kelsier in the game. Do you know perhaps if there's any chance we could see the concept art that went into it after the Kelsier skin is out?
Brandon Sanderson
I'd love to do that. I'll see if they'll let me.
Brandon Sanderson
Some are talking about the title [of Cytonic]. Why would I not overrule my publisher, and insist on the title Nowhere? Well, if I ignore their expertise, then why am I using a publisher?
In this case, I expect that my core audience (those who are already invested in the series) will buy the book regardless of title. So if I have a publisher with a lot of experience in what titles work for their core demographic, then it makes sense for me to listen to them. If I really wanted to overrule them, I could. I have that status as a writer. But Beverly and Krista--who head my team over at RH--know their stuff. I won't trust them on every decision, but this felt like a good place to do so.
jmcgit
He wrote two books based on Infinity Blade (though they're currently out of print)
Brandon Sanderson
Working on getting those back in print somehow, but there is red tape that so far I haven't had the brainspace to get cut.
The problem here is that they discontinued the games--and so they, by nature, took down all related materials. They said that the novellas could go back up, but this was happening when it was "all hands on deck" to support Fortnite as a huge surprise hit--and there was a lot of trouble getting them to pay attention to anything else. (They needed to sign a document letting me put the novellas back up.)
I could probably push that through now, but it's tough, because you really need to have played the games to get the stories. I kind of want some kind of "Summary of the game stories" put into it, and to release them both as a single ebook, but we'll see if if it can happen.
Johansj
Do you know which book is gonna be the Final book released in the Cosmere? Chronological/Release Date
Brandon Sanderson
Almost 100% certain it will be the final book of the space-age Mistborn trilogy. (Right now, that is Era Four--but it's not impossible that I'll slip another smaller era, like the W&W era books, in as a Mistborn cyberpunk story while working on the back five Stormlight books.)
CompetitiveCell
I was wondering if thaidakar (during the SA front half era) would approve of Miles’ motives?
Brandon Sanderson
Probably not, but it depends on the specifics you're talking about.
nreese2
I remember a while back you mentioned providing lore and learning about writing for a game, is this [Kelsier in Fortnite] what you were referencing? If not, are we gonna hear about that within the year?
Brandon Sanderson
This is not actually that.
I don't get to choose when the game I'm working on gets announced officially, I'm afraid. I don't think they even know when it will be announced, as it's not close to alpha yet. So...I can't really say.
rederel
Now i'm morbidly curious whether u/mistborn has considered it [cadmium poisoning] while writing his books.
Brandon Sanderson
I have, actually. Though I had to consider it for other metals first. I decided that allomancers are immune to these kinds of effects--they're just physiologically different in that regard.
lepthic
The dog and the dragon release date? I think Brandon mentioned something about turning this into it's own children book at some point. Has he mentioned when he would release it?
astrobuckeye
Yeah the first publisher he reached out to wanted too much creative control I think.
Peter Ahlstrom
This, they wanted to turn it into something Brandon wasn't comfortable with.
somewheretomorrow
I was wondering why the male peak spren is built with a lot of muscles but the female isn't? Is there a specific reason for it?
Ben McSweeney
The appearnce of Highspren is as varied as the humans that imagine them. There can be skinny peakspren and fat peakspren as well, I think... these two are just some examples that Shallan has seen in her travels.
Turtlebots
When I first read through the books I thought of mistcloaks like normal cloaks with strips of fabric sown into like how a normal ghillie suit is not the shredded cloak style it actually is. Did anybody else think this?
Ben McSweeney
There’s some variety in mistcloaks, depending on Noble House and the Era involved. They all have tassels or strips, but some are interwoven and some are layered, some start above the shoulders while others split below, sometimes they have hoods and sometimes they don’t.
There’s room for other types.
IAmJustABunchOfAtoms
Is this [Evershore] going to be released after book 3?
Peter Ahlstrom
It may end up being the first 2 released before Cytonic, and the third one after it.
the_doughboy
Its interesting that his most popular female characters all seem to have mental health issues.
- Steris: Autism Spectrum
- Shallan: Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Jasnah: Also Autism Spectrum but not as much as Steris, and was treated for some kind of disorder as a child.
Peter Ahlstrom
Hmm, I’m not aware of Jasnah being on the spectrum. Her trauma is something different, though we may not find out until we get her flashbacks.
All of the Knights Radiant (basically, all of the Cosmere’s Investiture users) have some kind of trauma.
Ben McSweeney
Chull toes is good, but you're missing the hollow spaces in the boulder portion of the shell, that the chull tucks its legs into when at rest.
Pixels are murder on long lines, but I'm missing those antennae. They grow in pace with the shell, so that the chull can sense out spaces to determine if they're large enough to pass through (much like a cat's whiskers).
EtheraelEspeon
That’s super cool! I feel like chulls could do with some more in-book world building lol, though i cant see it fitting in anywhere. That one page describing chull breeding is probably my favorite piece of art in the SA xD
I do draw quite a lot of things with antennae. I still haven’t found a way to draw them well, i wanna work on it though.
LazyTurtleDelta
Really thought the legs were more like spikes like a crab or spider has. Guess I better go look back at the depictions of them in the book.
Ben McSweeney
Nope, big flat trunk feet like an elephant. You can see in some of the early development sketches that we started out with spiky crab feet, and Brandon vetoed those specifically in favor of something heavier.
-MargaretAA-
A ketek I made for a poem assignment in my summer class, entitled "Pay Attention."
The price to pay heed to;
hearing words of wisdom to learn and be taught, wearying never.
Deny not what is above you.
Young ones, search the wisdom of the old.
Learn increasing thoughts of thinking--what to gain knowledge and understanding of?
This is all fulfilled here:
Pay attention to what matters most; it matters what attention pays:
here fulfillment is.
Of understanding and knowledge to gain, thinking of thoughts to increase learning.
Old wisdom is searching the young ones.
What is above, do not deny.
Never wearying, teach to learn wise words of hearing;
heed to pay the price.
Now I am curious whether modern Keteks allow for more concessions on symmetry.
I feel it's OK to call this kind of poetry ketek, as the spirit of it is there! Although, technically it isn't.
Maybe u/mistborn could weight in? Assuming a modern Vorin society, would u/-MargaretAA- poem count as a Ketek?
Brandon Sanderson
I think that yes, such concessions are in the spirit of the ketek, which has never been so rigid as to not allow some individual experimentation and/or tweaking.
LuckyJim
I've been really curious for a while about the modern Skybreakers and how they operated while in secret. To keep things short and avoid RAFO territory, what were the modern Skybreakers doing for their fourth ideal crusades? I'd imagine they must have been different from the sorts of crusades classic Skybreakers did, since their main purpose and general methodology seems to have shifted. Was it just stuff like "I will eliminate such and such radiant" or did they have other important missions that could qualify for a crusade?
Brandon Sanderson
Their crusades can actually be rather varied. They are different these days, but often involve joining and trying to help law enforcement in various countries. Watching tor Radiants was actually not often part of it, since Nale did that--and it isn't until recently that it's actually come up.