YouTube Live Fan Mail Opening 1

Argent.

After the first Everstorm, what form did the parshmen gain?

Brandon Sanderson

You want me to name that form? I'm not gonna name that on stream; I've got it written down somewhere, but let's not canonize that yet, so that's a RAFO. It's a good question. It goes on that list of things that I should canonize, like what Dalinar's name means, and some of these other things that are on the list of "would be really nice if the wikis could actually have a word for this." We'll put that on Karen's list to make sure she grabs out of my notes and canonize.

Naomi's Book Nook

Is Soulcast meat vegetarian or vegan?

Brandon Sanderson

So this is a good question, you would have to decide this, right? I can't decide this for you. We were talking the other day, this is actually a bigger question. If a plant is sapient, like from a fantasy world, and you're eating that, is that meal vegetarian? If you cut down an ent and eat an ent, is that a vegetarian meal? I'm sure we're not the first ones have to asked this, but at Magic [The Gathering] when we were playing last week, we were like, "Wait!"

Adam Horne

My vote is yes you're vegetarian, but you're also a monster.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes! Yes, you're also a monster, right? There needs to be some new phrase... vegan could probably be adapted to it, but there's got to be something that's like, "This did not come from any sapient being." I would... if I were vegetarian, I would have no problem eating sSoulcast meat if I would have no philosophical problem with eating lab grown meat. So it is cruelty free, but it is based on an animal product.

Winter Wolf

In Warbreaker, how did Denth feel about Vivenna?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. I'll RAFO that. We'll get to that... I don't want to... it's more I'm worried that I would spoil things if I answered that question the right way. Complicated. How about that? He had complex feelings toward Vivenna... not easily encapsulated in a simple answer.

Jonathan McGuire

If Wayne and The Lopen were to meet, would they hit it off?

Brandon Sanderson

They would get along fantastically, absolutely fantastically. Lopen would find Wayne imitating his accent to be the funniest thing that he has ever heard... and Wayne would introduce him to all kinds of interesting modern conveniences like flushing toilets and whatnot and Lopen would find that all just delightful. So, yes they would certainly hit it off.

Argent.

The violet eye color in The Way of Kings. We got to know that Dunny had violet eyes and Sigzil said the color wasn't native to Alethkar. Navani also has violet eyes, Jasnah too, and Tanalan from The Rift. So, is Navani or her family line not Alethi? And is there more to this specific eye color than we know so far?

Brandon Sanderson

There's a little bit more there that I will talk about eventually. You should not look at Navani and be like, "Oh, they're not native" in that I designed the Alethi as a race of conquerors who also--like I said before, one of the inspirations for the Alethi were the Mongols and particularly how the Mongols ruled after they had their empire. They were perfectly willing to incorporate anybody. The Romans did this too, "If you want to be part of our empire, great. If you're not gonna rebel, great. We will, to an extent, respect your religions and your ways and if you're willing to integrate then we're not gonna treat you terribly."

The Alethi have this history of being one of the, in that way, most multi-ethnic cultures on Roshar. Now, the sad thing is, the reason some of those ethnicities are there is due to brutal conquest and treatment of the world. But regardless, the Alethi have--most of them have no kind of pureblood sort of perspective, they don't care. They don't care what you look like, they care about whether you act like as part of their culture, whether you're integrated.

Emily Sanderson

As long as you have light colored eyes.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, well, they'll still accept you as Alethi.

Emily Sanderson

That's true. You just don't get to be the ruling class.

Brandon Sanderson

You just don't get to be highborn. So, this is just a hint much like you will see the Alethi have a very varied skin tone, they have lots of varied hair colors. You know, you're going to see mostly the kind of traditional Alethi black, but you know, there are multiple main characters in the series [where] that is not their hair color despite being considered one hundred percent Alethi. They would not look at Adolin and say he's half-not-Alethi, he's all Alethi even though one of his parents was raised in a different culture, he's one hundred percent an Alethi. And that's just how they look at things. So that's how you'd read into that, though there is a little bit to the eye color that maybe I'll get into some day.

Jay Mike McCue

In regards to Chiri-Chiri, when she's fully grown, will her size be comparable to Ruth the white dragon, as large as Lessa's Ramoth, or a size in between?

Brandon Sanderson

So, they can get to full--I would say as large or larger than the larger Anne McCaffrey dragons. Whether Chiri-Chiri will grow to that size, it depends. There is variety in adult sizes of the larkin.

Gatlin A Jordan

If you were part of the cosmere, would you join up with Hoid's cause?

Brandon Sanderson

Would I join up with Hoid's cause? I do not believe I would.

Gatlin A Jordan

The possibility of turning the plot of Mistborn: Birthright into a graphic novel.

Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn: Birthright graphic novel. We have discussed this, we have talked about it. This was, if you're unfamiliar with it, a video game that was in development for many years with a video game person, Matt Scott, that I really like. And it just never quite panned out. I had provided the initial story and outline. There is definitely something there, the thing is--to remember--I designed it for a video game and sometimes those things interpret or change well, adapt well, sometimes they don't. I'd have to think about it. I haven't given up hope on some day doing it, but we shall see.

Charlie Anderson

Would Gavilar be proud of Dalinar if he could see him now?

Brandon Sanderson

Proud of some things, not of others. Gavilar would want more ambition from Dalinar than Dalinar has shown. He would think that Dalinar has been too inhibited in certain things he's chosen to do. Yet, at the same time, there are certain things that Gavilar would very much approve of, even things that Dalinar himself is proud of. It would be complicated.

Argent.

Were the kandra based on the monster from John Carpenter's The Thing?

Brandon Sanderson

I would be willing to bet that there was an unconscious influence there. I am a fan of John Carpenter films and of The Thing. I didn't consciously say, "Oh, I'm going to design something like The Thing." Mostly, I wanted a shapeshifter that had an interesting limitation and rule to it that had not been--that I hadn't seen in fiction before and the mistwraiths actually kind of grew out of that, but the kandra were just, "What can I do with this idea?" But there are some kandra related plots that are reminiscent of The Thing.

Argent.

Will Dalinar be a focus character again?

Brandon Sanderson

Dalinar will have a larger role in book five than in book four.

Argent.

What was the level of technology before the Ascension [of the Lord Ruler]? You mentioned gunpowder and canning, but everything else appears to be a blend of feudal Europe and the early Renaissance.

Brandon Sanderson

Well, it depends on the country you were in and the time period specifically we're talking. Right before the Ascension, we're looking at a society that is hitting industrialization. Basically, where you see the Final Empire stop is close to where they were, they got a little bit further. Except there were certain things that were forbidden.

Brandon Sanderson

There's some good Design lines coming up as well, if we're talking about Cryptics. Design has her own interesting perspective on the world.

Argent.

Can a bonded spren be Enlightened by Sja-anat?

Brandon Sanderson

This is possible, it would have dire, dire ramifications for the bond. [It's] much better to happen before, but it could happen

Argent.

I was reading Starsight, I noticed that there was this flight called Xiwang Flight. I was wondering if you intended for it to mean "hope" in Mandarin.

Brandon Sanderson

I did intend for it to mean "hope" in Mandarin.

Allura Williams

I love the symmetrical Alethi names like Shallan and Navani. How do you come up with such good names.

Brandon Sanderson

It is part instinct, part design. And trying things out and seeing how people respond to them and changing it if they just don't feel right over time. I like having a linguistic quirk, such as symmetry or repeated consonant sounds. Those sort of things are very fun for me. I like real world inspirations. Famously, Silence came from looking at names of actual... Puritans, came from an actual Puritan name that I ran across in sort of a family history context, and I'm like. "Ooh, someone named their child Silence? That I've gotta use." Real world inspirations are fun. Ran across another one of those, you may see pop up if I do some more Threnody things. I ran across a person whose name was Thomas Thomas and I just love the name Thomas Thomas.

Robert

It is established in The Way of Kings that standard Shardplate forms to fit the wearer perfectly. Would this work if you put it on a dog or horse?

Brandon Sanderson

Within reasonable limits, how about that? Depends on the size of the dog or the horse. There are dogs that you could fit Shardplate with, there are probably horses that you could too.

Emily Sanderson

But they would be axehounds, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, yeah. If you brought a dog to Roshar.

Hut on a Hill

Can living Shardblades or [Shard]plate be lashed by their Radiants?

Brandon Sanderson

Can living--by their Radiants? I'm going to say this is possible, yes. Not, not... there's something you'd have to figure out, but it is possible.

Hut on a Hill

One last question, why do gems crack when Stormlight is drawn out of them quickly?

Brandon Sanderson

When the Stormlight is coming out--you'll notice that there's the slightest physical presence of lots of spren, seons. A lot of this Investiture does have a physical side to it you can feel and that much Stormlight coming through... like when it's leaking out, it is generally going through micro cracks in the structure--where the crystal lattice didn't line up or flaws in the structure--and it coming out quickly like that, it's like hitting it with a hammer from inside along those fault lines. Much less likely to happen based on how good your gemstone is.

Argent.

Let's say Wax filled an ironmind with weight, forged it into steel, and then burned that steel with Allomancy. If there would be an effect, what would it be?

Brandon Sanderson

It would not have an effect in that situation, depending on what it looks like. There is a way to do this where you would end up with just a very, very mild effect. But with him... no, you couldn't even make it work. All that would happen is, you could maybe get the weight back out a little bit. But you couldn't compound it, basically. Good question. I've never been asked that one before.