Questioner (paraphrased)
Is Hoid's sword when he is the King's Wit an Invested object?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
No. It is a badge of office as the King's Wit. Hoid isn't even that good with a sword.
Is Hoid's sword when he is the King's Wit an Invested object?
No. It is a badge of office as the King's Wit. Hoid isn't even that good with a sword.
[the_archduke] missed the question but someone seemed to be berating Brandon in line about how poorly Glys treats Renarin, like it was abusive or something.
Brandon said that that relationship is different, even for a Nahel bond. And we will see a lot more of Renarin in the next book.
What is the relationship between Nightwatcher and Cultivation?
I expected a hard RAFO, but he said Nightwatcher compared to Cultivation is similar to Stormfather compared to Honor.
How long of an in-book time break between the two 5 book arcs in The Stormlight Archive?
10-15 years
Why can only women read in [The] Stormlight Archive?
Immediately after the Recreance an old book was used to argue for the idea that only men should be picking up the blades and plate, fighting was a masculine art. Over a period of 20 or so years this became established and some women used the same argument to take back some power by taking literacy for themselves as a feminine art.
[Brandon] said in the lecture that he took a programming course in college. He was asked if we will ever see a programming language as a magic system?
We already have. Reread Elantris.
He's taken programming classes, and someone wanted to know if he'll apply that knowledge into magic systems.
Yes, see: Elantris.
The non-cosmere works/series are not related to each other or in the same universe.
Are the non-cosmere books related?
No, Earth is just generally non-cosmere, but they're not related.
The potato in the minefield was his favorite bad metaphor.
He enjoys coming up with Epic weaknesses more than Epic powers.
Favorite thing Hoid's done?
RAFO, sorta. A lot of his fave things have happened off screen that we're not supposed to know about (yet). Wit is his fave role that we've seen!
You say you put limits on magic to make it interesting, do you do the same to characters?
Yes! A lot of characterization comes from conflict in what the characters can't do.
Sabriel was his inspiration for unique rule based magic systems.
He was asked a question about creating Steelheart and it boiled down to being unique with names and powers is hard, he had a hard time finding things that Marvel and DC haven't done already.
Are Mat's [from The Wheel of Time] memories from the past his own or other people's?
Other people's.
What was your inspiration for Grandpa Smedry?
[Brandon's] mother, who was always late to things. [Brandon]'s the inspiration for Alcatraz *he held up his broken phone to us*.
How do you come up with names?
He takes a culture then breaks down the linguistics of it and its kind of complicated but he uses the rules from one language, then breaks them and makes his own?
Does the plague on the Purelake has anything to do with the fact that the magic fish form symbiotic bonds with spren?
No, worldhoppers brought a disease to Roshar that they didn't have before. It's the common cold. Rosharans' Investiture makes it so they're usually a healthy bunch so something like the cold is kind of frightening. "It's a plague of the sniffles."
Another person asked about the plague in the Purelake.
Turns out, that was a pathogen introduced by worldhoppers. People on Roshar normally have greater health than elsewhere in the cosmere because they are more Invested (Stormlight and all that). This plague was what we call… the common cold.
What is Renarin's eye color?
PAFO - Peter and find out. He gets to canonize it.
Since Shallan has a unique ability of memory from her blended surges, is fighting what Kaladin has?
No. His unique ability is "strength of squires".
And Jasnah?
RAFO.
I asked if knowing the positions/orbits of the moons would be enough to predict the [highstorms].
He said not enough. You need the historical records of storms as well because there is a pattern. You need that pattern and the tides, to correctly predict the timing of the storms. He said it was more than a simple beat.
I then turned back and asked, "Are you saying the highstorms are music?"
He replied, "I didn't say they were music. You said that."
If the Lord Ruler captured Shai and gave her 100 days to craft a soulstamp that could turn an iron Hemalurgic spike into a steel Hemalurgic spike, could she do it?
Yes, but she would need a boost of power to do it. Affecting an Invested object is hard.
Can Shai change Hemalurgic spikes?
Yes, but it costs a lot of power and she wouldn't be able to do it alone.
Could a Knight Radiant pass their Nahel bond the way seons can be passed in Elantris?
Theoretically possible and in fact has happened in previous eras.
Is the Ars Arcanum written by a person we have met yet?
He said some people have met this person. I pushed and he said this person is from an unpublished work.
Have we seen the [Seventeenth Sharders] from the Way of Kings interlude before?
You have seen two of them, the third is from an unpublished work that will be coming out soon in graphic novel format.
Who are the 3 travelers in [The Way of Kings]?
We've seen 2 of them already.
The third will be in the graphic novels that are coming soon
Will Book 3 [of The Stormlight Archive] be Szeth's book?
He used to think so. Now it might be Dalinar's. He is going to do the flashbacks for both (and Eshonai) and then decide.
[The Stormlight Archive] 3 pov character? Some say Szeth others say it's up in the air?
He said he's not going to canonize it or anything, he's also looking at Dalinar and Eshonai and going to see who's backstory fits the flow of the book best
Is it possible for a seon to abandon someone?
Yes and we might see it in a later book. He avoided answering the follow up about how this could happen.
Could you become a double misting if you took two lerasium/metal alloy beads (I think the example was iron and steel) at the same time?
Yes.
Can Vasher use Stormlight to Awaken things?
No, all it does is keep him alive. But he has tried and has not figured out how to Awaken things.
Vasher + Nightblood were written into The Way of Kings Prime, then he wrote Warbreaker before returning to rewrite The Way of Kings.
Will there be kandra in the next Mistborn book?
Yes. I think I heard him say that there was an appearance in Alloy of Law, but I am not certain as it was really loud at that point of the signing.