Brandon Sanderson
I took it a little easy over the Holidays, and actually worked on Stormlight 5's prologue as I'm eager to get to it.
Gavilar viewpoint. Final perspective on the book one prologue. Some interesting secrets revealed in this one...
El Tiempo
Which character of the world from Skyward would do well in the Final Empire, from the world of Mistborn and viceversa?
Brandon Sanderson
I think that Spensa would do well in the Final Empire. She'd do well if she had one or two energy weapons. She's going to do very well in the world of Mistborn. And from that trilogy I think that TenSoon would do a really good job navigating through all the cultures and the things happening in the Cytoverse, the universe of Skyward.
Rasarr
Huh; I was just uploading [the cover for Bastille] to the CM and realized the Coppermind is still calling the book "The Worldspire", but it's nowhere on the cover itself
Janci Patterson
Yeah, I think that title got scrapped. And now it's just Bastille vs the Evil Librarians. I think.
AonEne
Do the Lenses at the start of each chapter [of the Alcatraz books] correlate to the contents of the chapter in any way? Or just whatever's fun?
Hayley Lazo
I always tried to pick ones that loosely have something to do with things, whether it's a chapter where they are used or introduced, or something thematically that happens in the chapter. Sometimes there's no correlation, we just needed to pick one.
/u/CallumQuinnCreates
Hello Mr. Stewart. Isaac? Lord Ruler?! Well, anyway, I am very excited to hear that you are working on a Mistborn book! Can you give us any updates on your progress? Hope you are well!
Isaac Stewart
Very kind of you to ask! I just passed 100k words and am very excited by how it's all coming together.
Daniel Danchik
How long until we see more of Sel?
Brandon Sanderson
Probably not for a few years.
Syen Adnan Moquith
Any chance you can release the original ‘too dark’ version of the Rhythm of War?
Brandon Sanderson
I think it's Oathbringer you're talking about. If you're referencing the sequence I trimmed where Dalinar is brutally murdering a bunch of people. (In the scene after the avalanche.) Unless I'm forgetting something else? I'd be happy to release the scenes for you, if those are the ones you're talking about.
Maor Bril
SA 5 Title: Knight Of Winds and ThunderBrandon Sanderson
That's not bad, actually. One of the better suggestions I've been given. But it can't just be cool, it has to match the text. Knight of or Knights of is likely to start it, but the last words are ones I'm still mulling over.
Shreyas Wajekar
I'm just going to throw in a title suggestion for Stormlight 5. Knight(s) of Withered Truth(s).Brandon Sanderson
That's a good one. I've toyed with Knights of Woeful Truth for a while. That's the frontrunner, but yours isn't a bad one.
Mike Lach
When will we be getting a non-cosmere short story collection? I'd like to have all of the cytoverse in print
Brandon Sanderson
We've got it prepared and ready, just have to find time for it. (And I have to decide if I want to do an exclusive story for it or not.)
Christian Hoffer
Could you tease any potential crossover characters that are going to appear in these books? Obviously, Hoid (a character who has appeared in all of Sanderson's Cosmere novels to date) is at the center of Secret Project One.
Brandon Sanderson
So, Secret Project Four features a character from one of my books who has never had their own book, who is not Hoid, that readers will recognize. This has been a character who has had viewpoints, but no book.
It's not a main character, but it is somebody who's had some viewpoints and is very related to a main character. So, that's Secret Project Four. And Secret Project One has at least one more character who has been mentioned in a book before, but who has never appeared on screen, right? Stuff like that.
Scott Beckman (paraphrased)
How would Shallan handle pregnancy, and/or motherhood?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
Like most people, she would be scared at first, but dive on in.
Scott Beckman (paraphrased)
Which is scarier... Which is more dangerous: a sword that wants to destroy evil, or a Bondsmith with no bounds?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
A Bondsmith with no bounds.
Scott Beckman (paraphrased)
Can an unbound Bondsmith take that sword's... ability for himself?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
Not exactly, but something similar. Probably not what you're thinking, but he could essentially take what that sword is, yes.
Brotherwise games
During our last trip to Dragonsteel HQ, we talked to Isaac and Brandon about adding characters [to the Stormlight Miniatures campaign) that weren't previously planned. Our Nale and Rysn miniatures both came out of that trip. During the same conversation, Brandon said, "let's add Zellion."
"Who?" we asked. We know the Cosmere very well, and Zellion was not a name we'd ever heard. Brandon just smiled and gave Isaac a knowing look. Isaac told us he'd work with Ben to get concept art to us as soon as possible.
Who is Zellion? To quote a great man, "Read and find out."
Dan Wells
As of last week, I am officially the new Vice President of Narrative at Dragonsteel Entertainment, which is Brandon Sanderson's company. Brandon is one of the biggest and most successful fantasy authors in the world, with a vast universe of interconnected worlds and series called the Cosmere; I will be helping to guide the Cosmere, coordinate tie-in projects, write short stories, and co-write novels. This is, in part, a response to our collaboration on DARK ONE, and my first project as VP will be a large revision of that book.
/u/brnbrn1996 (paraphrased)
Is it possible for a sentient bit of Investiture to pick up a Shard? Like a spren or Nightblood?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
It would be possible yes, well, for a spren or a seon for example, it would. Nightblood could theoretically but it would be difficult for various reasons.
/u/brnbrn1996 (paraphrased)
Right, because he has no hands.
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
*graciously chuckles at my dumb joke*
/u/brnbrn1996 (paraphrased)
Would they have to be embodied to be able to actually use it effectively, or would they have the same limitations as Kelsier did when he was a cognitive shadow ?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
They would have the same limitations yes, but there are ways around that.
/u/brnbrn1996 (paraphrased)
Right, like Ishar is working on.
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
Right.
Ianray7 (paraphrased)
Would a highly invested person or object resist a soul stamp?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
Yes, but soul stamps have a lot to do with volition. If the person was willing, they would be able to overcome that resistance to an extent.
Travis Gafford
This decision [do be more Cosmere-aware] for this book [The Lost Metal] in particular, was this more out of desire or necessity to start doing this?
Brandon Sanderson
It was a mix of both. I would say it's more desire. There's some things I wanted to get in. This book introduces a character from a world we haven't visited yet who has a completely new magic system that is just kind of part of the story, and I was really hesitant about putting this character in, because you could feel lost. (Even though there's no book for this character's backstory yet.) But I thought, "This is the character I want in the story. This is the story I wanna write. I'm just gonna put him in. I'm just gonna do it." And it worked wonderfully. I love how it worked in the story. And at that point, I'm like, "This has gotta be the moment." The "gloves off," as I said. Before, I've been kind of pulling my punches a little bit.
Travis Gafford
You somewhat implied that you have this idea on a video game that you'd like to explore at some point in time. I think a lot of people, when they hear "maybe a Brandon Sanderson video game," they're like, "Oh, man: Mistborn or Stormlight," or something like that. It sounds like, maybe, this would be something completely out of there?
Brandon Sanderson
Having been a gamer, I would want to design a video game that the narrative plays into the strength of the video game. I wouldn't want to simply adapt one of my books. Now, that doesn't mean I wouldn't put it in the Cosmere; I might. But I wouldn't limit myself to that. I would want to do a game that I designed to fit the medium, the storytelling to work with the type of story it is. I've got several cool ideas that I think would make fantastic narrative video games, but we'll see if I can ever do it. If someone out there wants to give me $100 million, if FromSoftware wants to come, I would totally be onboard.
I think Mistborn will make a fantastic video game, don't get me wrong. I think we are going to have one, eventually. But the thing about that is: I can basically hand that off to someone, because I've already built the mechanics. I would have to help supervise, but I don't have to make that game myself. The games I want to make, I would have to pitch and explain to people why these mechanics work, why the narrative works. There's not a lot of pitching I have to do for a Mistborn game. It makes sense to people because they've read the books.
Travis Gafford
End of [Words of Radiance], Szeth meets Nightblood. Nightblood normally makes people feel very sick as a test. He does not have this. And I'm curious if there's a reason for that other than you didn't want to end your book with Szeth puking in a corner.
Brandon Sanderson
What happens when you take Nightblood is based entirely on what your desire on how to use Nightblood is. If your intent does not align with Nightblood's created Intent, which is kind of a deep, Cosmere sort of thing. But, basically, if you want Nightblood because you can then destroy all of your enemies, you're not gonna match to that Intent. If your desire to use Nightblood is either: "I don't even want to use Nightblood," you're actually gonna be fine; or if your desire to Nightblood is matching what Nightblood's view is... And Szeth is, like, the perfect person, because Szeth only wants to do what he's told, and Nightblood kind of only wants to do what he's told. So there's, like, a perfect alignment. They're both messed up in the same way, and they both view the world in the same way, and it's hard to find a more perfect alignment than those two. And so, because of that, there was just no reaction. And that should be something that I wanted people to pick up on.
Dan Wells
That was the big final showdown. Brandon had built this thing that was supposed to be--
Brandon Sanderson
Don't tell this one because I'm actually going to use this in a book. I've been waiting for years to use this in a book so don't say anything. After I use it in a book you can tell the story. You guys are going to love this. It is involved in the ending of Stormlight 5.
Let's just say I came up with one of the best endings for a story that I have ever come up with and because it's roleplaying the PCs did not play along. Ruined it completely. And I'm like, "I'm going to use that someday." And I actually put it right in the outline of Stormlight a week or two later, and it's been waiting all this time to be used.
Dan Wells
Wow, a week or two later, and that would have been like [1999]. So it's been waiting a long time in the wings.
Brandon Sanderson
*In YouTube comments*
Book five's ending has had literally 20 years to brew in my head, and I've been pushing toward it from book one. When you read it, I think it will recontextualize a ton of important other moments in the series. So I really, really hope it lands right with people. I've been holding this one in reserve for a long while, as I feel it's one of the legitimately best ending ides I've ever come up with for a story. Not to over-hype it. The execution is everything for a story like this, and it's still possible what works in my head will not work as well on the page. I just really hope it will.
Brandon Sanderson
Will the Cosmere persist after I retire? I like to be deliberate about my career, and I have noticed something. Authors who hit a certain success level, once they retire, books continue coming out from them for many years. This seems an inevitable part of the way that media works today. This makes some authors uncomfortable; Robert Jordan, for instance, said to Harriet he did not want to become what he called a "legacy series." This is something like Conan the Barbarian, where not just years after the author's retirement, but decades and even potentially centuries, you see more things coming out. This is part of what influenced me in saying "I want to only do the three Wheel of Time books that I signed up to do." In fact, Harriet and I had a meeting very early in the process, somewhere in 2008, where she said "what do you think?" Granted, this wasn't my decision, but she wanted to know what I thought. And what I said is, "I think we should finish his series and be done." Because I knew how uncomfortable he was.
I am less uncomfortable, but at the same time, I don't know that I like the idea of a giant legacy series. I think it is good that these things have a shelf life, because it opens up opportunities for new authors and new concepts and new stories to happen. What I'm doing is I'm very deliberately building my company in a way that, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I want to have the people in place to finish the stories for you all so that you have endings. This is something that was a great honor for me to do for Robert Jordan, and I stand by that being something that should have been done. I do know there are some people who disagree with that, and I respect their choices. But Robert Jordan wanted it finished, Harriet wanted it finished, and the fans wanted it finished. I want to be in the same position. I also want to have a position where we are doing this deliberately and having control over it. Some of you know, I have hired Dan Wells as VP of narrative, my longterm friend and collaborator Dan Wells. This is so that I can have another brain in the Cosmere, so to speak. My goal is to create something that a lot of people love for a long, long time. But at the same time, I am not trying to create something that continues forever, if that makes sense. Hopefully the books will; hopefully the books that I've written will be read forever.
It's kind of a wiggly, wishy-washy answer. I think it's inevitable, at this point, that my books will continue past my retirement. I want to be deliberate about it and have an endpoint to them scheduled. And maybe we'll hit that before I retire, in which case none will need to be released. But maybe we won't. And who knows what the future will tell and how I'll be feeling about this in twenty years. I think it is likely the Cosmere will continue, but hopefully we do it in a deliberate way and in a way that is creating very high-quality stories and that is finishing up things so there is an actual ending.