Are there a significant number of Shardblades that have made it off Roshar?
Define significant.
More than 1 / A number of them are that could come up later.
There is a connection between spren and Roshar that normally prevents spren, even dead ones, from leaving the planet. Note I said normally; do not imagine a large trade of Shardblades going off world.
A little curiosity over the word "Shin", is it a deformation/twisting of their origin ? like "Ashyn person" --> "A Shyn person" ---> "A Shin person" ? (I assume this is a quite safe question to response without going into the rabbit hole)
Shin/Ashyn do have a relationship, but I didn't specifically intend "A Shin" to be Ashyn.
During the Kholinar's sequence, Kaladin is covered with Shallan's illusions and suddenly the illusion runs off. How that happened ? At first I simply thought he breathed the Stormlight by accident, but that Stormlight had to be keyed to Shallan not him and therefore not elegible for a snack.
RAFO. (But don't read too much into this particular RAFO.)
What is writing plot twists in a world with online theory forums like? It always seemed to me like it must be incredibly hard to be clever enough that the theory forums don't figure everything out, while still dropping enough hints to keep the casual readers from being confused. As an example, while there were plenty of surprising things in Oathbringer, I had kind of forgotten that the characters didn't know that humans aren't native to Roshar.
Well, there are a lot of ways to look at this. The one you highlight was a particularly tricky one, because the books have to work on multiple layers. First, they have to keep the hardcore fans interested. Secondly, they have to work for what the characters know. But thirdly, they can't be so obtuse that they edge out the readers who don't follow every detail on the forums.
With the specific element you mentioned, I tried to layer a reveal that would act as a twist for the readers with a separate one that would shock the characters (but which the majority of the fanbase had already figured out.) But on in the long run, I've realized that trying to one-up the fanbase is a bad path to go down--I have to accept that people are going to guess what I'm going to do, because there are only so many rational things that are in-character that the characters can do. And going outside that requires either bad characterization or bad foreshadowing.
Therefore, one of the best methods is to point the tension away from certain questions toward others that depend on character strength. For example, "Will modern Knights Radiant be able to get armor?" is a weak question, and one that is pretty obviously answered in the books already. But "Will this character be able to work out their issues enough to progress in the oaths" is a stronger question, as it is in doubt--and depends on how the choices the character makes.
Given the option, though, I'd rather live in this era where I can get away with stronger demands upon readers in terms of continuity than you used to be able to reasonably do. I think it makes it easier to do the types of stories I like to tell.
Couldn't resist a cosmere question: Since rivers can be quite shallow, could someone "swim" under their counterpart in Shadesmar? (Or to rephrase that...are the landmasses in Shadesmar equivalent in depth to the "water masses" in the physical realm?
It's not a 1/1 ratio, by necessity, and rivers tend to be reflected by rises in Shadesmar. So you couldn't, in most cases, swim through the beads under them.
Is writing a full book with no magic system easier harder when compared to the freedom (and limitations) involved in traditional fantasy? (I haven't read the spoilers, so if there is a magic system, ignore this question :-)
Science in a book like Skyward tends to be its own type of magic--even the Legion books (taking place as the closest to our own world) really have a brand of magic, done my way. So I suspect I'd work this sort of thing into a story no matter what. I do tend to try to do a different tone or style in different genres.
Will all 3 of the Skyward books take place one right after the other? (vs having a significant time gap between books)
The books shouldn't have significant time gaps between them.
Can [Kelsier] and [Hoid] be friends or companions or allies?
Well, anything CAN happen--but for now, I'll let their interaction on screen speak for itself.
But feel free to imagine anything you would like, for yourself. It will be a while before I can get back to this particular interaction.
Let's say some kid ended up with Szeth's Oathstone and tried to pull an Aladdin by destroying it and freeing him.
Szeth doesn't seem like he'd actually let himself be freed, but with the Oathstone destroyed, what does he do next (designate a new rock?)
Use the pieces and try to glue them back together, I'd say. If you actually completely destroyed it, it kind of depends. He might transfer the devotion to the object used to destroy it, or he might try to get another one assigned to him by his homeland--though he would have trouble convincing himself to go back.
So you said that you’ve moved Szeth and Kaladin’s fight from book 3 to Words of Radiance. Did you make any changes like this on your outline for Oathbringer?
There was a lot of general restructuring of Oathbringer after book two was written, but there's no one "big" sequence that was moved into the book.
Hey Brandon!
Here's a quote from Oathbringer:
She willed steps to Soulcast beneath her feet. Individual axi of air lined up and packed next to each other, then Soulcast into stone—though in spite of the realms being linked, this was difficult.
Hey Brandon, what's an axi?
It is the word for an atom in the cosmere, coming from one of the original magics used on Yolen pre-shattering. To some, it's a theoretical smallest division of matter. But others use it scientifically to mean simply an atom.
If there only existed a single atom in the cosmere, would that atom have a Cognitive aspect?
Yes, it probably would.
When a Steelrunner taps speed, does it work by breaking the laws of motion, letting their speed be higher than it should be when considering their kinetic energy during movement or the force they impart upon impact with something (and inversely while storing)?
A lot of [Feruchemy] breaks the laws of thermodynamics, and this is indeed an example.
I've noticed a sort-of pattern in some of your work of human/non-human partnerships (spren, Aviar, Seons, etc, and now spaceships). Is this a concept you're consciously interested in? (It's actually probably one of my favorite parts of the relevant works.)
Yes, it's something I'm very interested in. It happens to be a theme of the cosmere, so you'll see it a lot. One reason for this is that I think a purpose of SF/F is to explore things that don't exist to our current knowledge (things that are intelligent, but not human) but which it's very plausible humanity will some day deal with. Another reason is that I like the idea of looking at the things we do from the outside--and the perspective of something like a spren or a machine is very interesting for me to try to wrap my head around.
So what do Harrier's Lenses do?
Harrier's Lenses magnify the pain of someone you focus on.
They aren't terribly nice things.
Is the core principle of Voidbinding consumption and reconstitution? If so, is that what Enlightening does, therefore making it a fundamental if not the first level of Voidbinding?
RAFO.
"To see the future originates with the Unmade..." "Voidbinding is a dark and evil thing, and the soul of it was to try to divine the future." Is it therefore safe to say that Voidbinding, by extension, also originates with the Unmade?
Not always. But usually.
Is Renarin technically Enlightening his visions into precognitive ones?
RAFO.
Dai-Gonarthis is speculated by Mythica's author Hessi to be the cause of Aimia's destruction. Does this have relevance to the Night of Sorrows?
RAFO.
In the Midnight Essence vision Dalinar has in The Way of Kings, the female Radiant was wondering "who released it". Shouldn't the Radiants have known then that it was Re-Shephir that was the general source of Midnight Essence?
Yes, but Midnight Essence can be extracted and used independently.
Does Ba-Ado-Mishram have similar traits to a Borg Queen? In other words, does she consume individuality itself?
RAFO.
When Dalinar teleports away from Vedenar back to Urithiru, the Thrill immediately comes to him even though he just went a very large distance away. Was this due to Odium talking to him directly at that point, or did Odium move Nergaoul there to maintain the effect of the Thrill, or was Dalinar already Connected to/consumed by Nergaoul and the distance effectively didn't matter because Spiritual Realm Things(tm)?
Dalinar's feelings are not always the Thrill. A part of him legitimately feels these emotions--and there are other things happening as well. (Either way, Odium did not move Negaoul in that scene.)
Excluding Midnight Essence from Re-Shephir, have we seen at least two examples of the Unmade creating spren that people dismiss as normal, uncorrupted spren? (One type in The Way of Kings, one in Oathbringer, specifically.)
Humans are not terribly good at determining whether a spren has been touched by Re-Shephir. (That's a yes.)
Did you mean Sja-Anat or can that Unmade also affect Spren in a similar, if not the same, manner?
Yeah, that was just me typing too fast.
What are the titles/bynames/epithets for Moelach, Nergaoul and Ba-Ado-Mishram?
RAFO.
During the course of Oathbringer, and not counting what happens towards the end of the book, are all nine [Unmade] active in the world again (no longer imprisoned)?
RAFO.
Have we seen the Night of Sorrows yet?
RAFO.
What caused the Sel earthquake? Could it be the fall of a Shard? Ambition? Will we see the Ire again?
RAFO on all!
We've spoken before about how you don't usually read Cosmere fan fiction, and I was wondering, what about other things people create? Like artwork or podcasts and such.
I barely have time to get to the books written by my friends, or the ones in the industry I feel I should be reading to keep an eye on it. I look at fanart, certainly, and post a lot of it--but I don't listen to any of the podcasts.
On The Orville, the enemy space aliens are called the Krill - any connection there?
Maybe? The word Krell is one of those ones that pops up in SF now and then, as an homage to The Forbidden Planet. (Which is why I chose it.)
I can see a network being more worried about using the actual name, and making the creators go with something similar but not the same. You'd have to ask them.
Can [singers] maintain their form indefinitely long or do they need to change it every so often or at least supply it with Stormlight by coming out in the highstorm?
[Singers] can maintain their form indefinitely.
Can Nightblood be Soothed or Rioted? Or influenced by Nergaoul or Ashertmarn, for that case?
RAFO!
Does Hoid play the piano? :)
Yes, Hoid can play the piano.
I've heard it is possible to be a Radiant of two orders - it would depend on spren and ideals, and may be difficult to handle, but is theoretically possible. How about being a Willshaper and an Edgedancer at the same time? Could that work?
I'll have to RAFO that, I'm afraid.
Why do the gems in Jasnah's Soulcaster break when she is using her own ability in the first book?
Jasnah is very good at fooling people.
Simple, harmless, totally non-contro one. Can a spren unilaterally sever a Nahel bond (i.e. where the Radiant doesn't agree and hasn't technically, according to spren and Radiant, broken an oath)?
Yup, no controversy here at all.
This is possible. But I'm not going to go into the mechanics.
Hemalurgic spikes lose power unless they are in a person’s body (or immersed in blood), does that body need to be living, or would a corpse suffice? If so, at what point in the decomposition process would the spikes cease to be protected? When they are no longer encased in flesh, before, after?
I haven't put a specific number or date on it, but I'd say as long as the blood itself would be viable if moved to a living body, it will work.
Would Spensa get along with Vin?
Yes, I think she would.
Godmetal alloys in Era 1 feel a bit like an unfulfilled promise, can you tell us about the attribute stored in a metalmind made out of any atium/lerasium alloy?
No, not yet. (This is something I intended to get to in Era 3, and am saving for it.)
How would you say Skyward compares to, say, Mistborn in terms of completion? By the end of The Final Empire you give us enough answers to leave us satisfied with just the first book, but the trilogy as a whole works without feeling like the story is stitched together - will the Skyward series have the same feel, or will the ending of book one immediately call for the next book?
The ending of Mistborn is one of the standards (in terms of how stand-alone the book feels, yet with promises of where we're going) that I try to achieve. I'd say that Skyward doesn't quite feel as stand-alone by the end as Mistborn or Steelheart, but more so than TWoK did.
Probably a RAFO, I noticed that there's a similarity between what's described for futuresight abilities to Nightform as with Renarin's. Is there a similarity between Glys and the spren that would make Nightform?
Yup, RAFO.
First on Nahel bonds and a bit of a darker question. We know from Syl that if their bonded person is killed in some way, the spren does not die like they do when one breaks their Oaths. However, would Oaths count as being broken if the Radiant committed suicide? Were there any Radiants during the Recreance who did in an effort to spare their spren?
This would be an individual case basis, but I would say that the baseline is no--this alone wouldn't count as breaking the oaths, but getting around the issue of that specific event wouldn't work.
Is there a market for decorative metalminds on Scadrial? (IE gemstone studded earrings or fancy engraved bracelets. A jeweler's gotta make a living somehow, y'know. d= )
Yes, there is a market for this--even among those who don't have specific talents themeslves.
Is there a maximum number of spikes a person can have? Would having more spikes eventually cause issues, be it mental or physical limitations?
Also do the benefits from spikes have some form of diminishing returns, or could some one have like, 200 bronze spikes and be able to sense a person burning metal through copper from 50 miles away?
1) Yes, it would cause big issues.
2) #1 interferes greatly with what you would like to do here, but there are other ways of magnifying the powers to the extent you postulate.
What would be Spensa's favorite food?
Her diet doesn't have a ton of variety, but I'd say she would pick anything that isn't algae paste or rat meat.
Obviously Spensa would love anything that isn't what she normally eats. However, if Spensa could afford food, what would be her favorite?
I think she'd SAY she wanted "warrior's food." She'd imagine that as big hunks of meat. In reality, most of what we find delicious, she would find so overly-spiced that she'd never be able to stand it. I think you'd find her finding simple, but flavorful, foods as her favorite. Rice and beans. Mashed potatoes. Something that doesn't have a lot of spice, but still has flavor. Crepes might completely overwhelm her.
Now that we have canon art of Ishar, Shalash, Jezrien, and Vedel, what Rosharan nationalities would you say they resemble the most?
Jezrien and Vedel would be seen as Alethi, most likely. Shalash would be seen as Azish, while Ishar would be seen as Shin, probably.
Wait, but if Ishar looks like he’s from Shinovar, how did the Tukkari accept him as the God-Priest?
That's a RAFO--but is a question you're supposed to be asking.
Have you ever watched Farscape? How similar are the Skyward living ships to the Farscape ones?
I've seen some Farscape. It's not the same concept, as I recall, but it has been a long while.
Are Shards limited to one per perpendicularity? Can a non-Splintered Shard control where and how their perpendicularity manifests?
RAFO, but yes on the second.
On First of The Sun, does Silverlight have a permanent outpost on the Cognitive side or is it still too dangerous to hang around?
Lastly, any cool tidbits about First of The Sun or its people would be awesome, worldhoppers or the like?
This is actually a RAFO too--it would be relevant if I write a sequel to Sixth of the Dusk. The opening sequence would involve an expedition into Shadesmar...
When Hoid Awakens, does he speak his native tongue (Yolish)?
RAFO.
What’s the likelihood of Elantris or Warbreaker being narrated by Michael Kramer?
Not good, I'm afraid, as we've already done two versions of Warbreaker and the current Elantris reader is generally liked for the book.
