Recent entries

Questioner

What's your favorite order of Surgebinders?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably the Bondsmiths.

Questioner

Can an Allomancer burn any god metal? Or is it specifically Preservation and Ruin?

Brandon Sanderson

That is actually a RAFO. There's some funkyness going on there.

Questioner

This [Kaladin chapter icon] looks a lot like the Allomantic metal symbols? Is that completely coincidence?

Brandon Sanderson

That's coincidence. There is something weird about that picture, but it's not that.

Questioner

Is there a thing which determines what kind of spren is a higher spren, and what is, like, a basic...

Brandon Sanderson

Amount of Investiture, the way they're regarded, and a few other minor factors.

Questioner

Would Kelsier be able to wield Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

In his current state? That'd be really dangerous.

Questioner

I didn't say "should"! I said "would"! *laughs*

Brandon Sanderson

Briefly.

Questioner

When Kaladin runs out of Stormlight, is that something you've worked out, how much Stormlight should have, and how much each move takes?

Brandon Sanderson

So, what I do is, I actually write the thing first, and then I tell my assistant, "Work out how much he needs," and then I give him that much. I work backward. Yeah, I do that a lot in books, but that's a little bit seeing how the sausage is made, there.

Questioner

Saze. How do you pronounce it?

Brandon Sanderson

I sayˈse͡izɛd. And that's the way Kelsier says it. But, in-world, Sazed himself would say something closer to se͡izd.

Questioner

Is ten of significance in Roshar as sixteen is on Scadrial?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it is.

Questioner

Did Hoid think of the Shattering as necessary?

Brandon Sanderson

*pause* Kind of.

Questioner

When Odium said "we killed you" to Dalinar, was he referring to Adonalsium? Was he referring to Honor?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

Can Hoid be killed by Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

A word for the intent/mandate? The canon word for it, do you have a term for it?

Brandon Sanderson

No, we don't.

Questioner

Do spren not appear in Shinovar because the highstorms don't Invest there?

Brandon Sanderson

No. And spren don't necessarily not appear.

Questioner

Is there any hope for a History of Aons companion book, with Elantris sequels? 'Cause I really like those ones you did way back when.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, there's a hope, but not a big hope.

ParadoxSpren

With the ardents and the flamespren, is something going on similar with Cusicesh?

Brandon Sanderson

Only slightly.

ParadoxSpren

Because he seems to be stuck in a cycle.

Brandon Sanderson

There is something there, but it's not as direct a connection as you might be making it.

ParadoxSpren

If Elhokar had been able to finish his sentence, what type would he be?

Brandon Sanderson

He would have been a Lightweaver.

ParadoxSpren

Will we ever find out what Lift asked of the Nightwatcher?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. It's probably gonna be her book before you find out. Book Six.

ParadoxSpren

If someone did, like what Dalinar did at the end of [Oathbringer], go on Sel, and they Ascended to take up the Dor, would they be stronger or weaker than Sazed?

Brandon Sanderson

If someone were able to take up the entire Dor, would they be stronger or weaker than Sazed? I would say equivalent.

ParadoxSpren

Aren't they all Shattered? Aren't they all Splintered, both of them?

Brandon Sanderson

The thing about it is, taking up the power-- taking up the power would-- So, I'll leave it at this. I would say equivalent. Everything still considered.

Questioner

Dilaf seems to be very similar to Voidbingers in terms of what he looks like, when he's in his full form. Is there something to that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. It's not a big connection, though.

Obbles

Is Nightblood made of the same material as the sheath?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Good question.

Questioner

Does Hoid use a similar time-shifting method to the Heralds?

Brandon Sanderson

No. The Heralds don't time-shift.

Questioner

The painter dude that Shallan had the book from... Was that Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson

The Oilsworn? No, that is a little tuckerization for Dan dos Santos, who did the American cover of Warbreaker, and did several of our interior arts in here [Oathbringer], the fashion pages. He's one of my favorite artists.

Questioner

Do Ryshadium have gemhearts?

Brandon Sanderson

Um... I'll RAFO that for now. I'm just kind of staying really dodgy about Ryshadium, on purpose. I will dig into them later on.

Questioner

For Adonalsium to create the universe, therefore he must have infinite power to create an infinitely sized universe. Therefore, infinity divided by sixteen is equal to infinity. Therefore, why don't the Shards have infinite power, which they clearly don't, because they can be killed?

Brandon Sanderson

The power can't be killed. The entity controlling the power can. Infinite power existing and being able to access the infinite power are different things, and a finite mind, even added to a very powerful sense of power, isn't necessarily able to tap all of that.

Questioner

What about Ruin and Preservation in Well of Ascension? We hear about Ruin using some of its power. Therefore, it must not have infinite power, because if you minus something from infinity, it's still infinity...

Brandon Sanderson

So, infinite power is changing forms. It's not going anywhere, right? So, the Investiture, the power, is becoming energy, which is doing work, which is being released back into the system. Nothing's growing or shrinking. It is simply changing forms, and potential energy is becoming kinetic.

Questioner

How was the universe created?

Brandon Sanderson

...The cosmere? I'm going to give you a RAFO card.

Questioner

I think Kelsier is one of the best-crafted fantasy characters I've seen in the world. He resonates with me on new levels. What exactly were your influences in the character when you were constructing him?

Brandon Sanderson

Two big influences for Kelsier. The first is, I wanted to do kind of the classic rogue archetype guy, but someone who had had something so fundamentally life-shaking in his life that he had to look deep within and become somebody else. But it's mixed with the other big inspiration, which is, there's kind of some psychopathic tendencies to him, and he would be a villain in many other books. But in this one, he's what the world needed. And those two combinations created for me a really nice tension inside a character.

kari-no-sugata

Shallan... in Oathbringer... she meets Adolin, and he's staring into her eyes. And she thinks that he can see that when she's Shallan again. So, my question is, is she correct? And if so, how did Adolin see that?

Brandon Sanderson

So, it's not a magical thing. She shifts even when she's kind of being herself-- When she becomes different people, even if she's not completely Lightweaving herself, she shifts.

kari-no-sugata

Is it visible?

Brandon Sanderson

It is visible.

kari-no-sugata

So he's looking very closely.

Brandon Sanderson

And he wouldn't be able to point out that he had seen that. But it's intuitive, and he's learned to recognize that.

kari-no-sugata

...In her final scene, she seems like she kind of summons her personas-- as if she's fully in control, and they're not coming by themselves anymore, is that correct?

Brandon Sanderson

No.

kari-no-sugata

So, they still come and go as they want?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, she's much more in control, but still has a way to go.

kari-no-sugata

Would Wit basically approve of what she's done?

Brandon Sanderson

He would give her a "that's a step forward, but you're not there yet."

Questioner

When Lift says to Dalinar that he smells like her, does she mean Cultivation or Nightwatcher?

Brandon Sanderson

[She] meant Nightwatcher, but Nightwatcher is kind of Cultivation, so, yeah.

Questioner

Could two kinds of <spren> talk to each other. So, could Syl talk to Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that is possible, definitely.

Questioner

How do you write the <Shardblade> fighting, like the fencing aspect of it? I guess you do all the research for that, the way the Shards actually work?

Brandon Sanderson

So, the fight scenes, right? The first drafts are usually pretty bad. I kind of just get down what's happening, who it's happening to, what I want the outcome to be. And then I do a lot of refining, and I try to find people who are actual fencers...

And I usually try to add something to my worlds that doesn't exist in our worlds, like Shardblades and things, just so I can have a little more suspension of disbelief for people like yourself, where you're like "Well, they have different positions."

...But I do try to get some primary sources who can tell me where I'm doing stuff really bad... Matt Easton's YouTube channel is really great for that. Schola Gladitoria, Matt Easton. When I have two people who are fighting with actual weapons, I go-- He usually has done some HEMA things where you see, like, ten bouts with that. And I can watch it, and be like "Alright, this is how it would go down."

Questioner

Is the Iri religion based on knowledge of the [Shattering], anything like that?

Brandon Sanderson

Kind of, yes.

Questioner

But they don't know it?

Brandon Sanderson

They don't know it, yeah. I would say yes, there are echoes of it. There are more recent events that they don't even quite remember that are more influential.

MadhavDeval

Who's your favorite spren in The Stormlight Archive so far?

Brandon Sanderson

...Right now it's probably Pattern. But I don't know. I love them all. They are my children.

MadhavDeval

So, if Dalinar used Spiritual Adhesion to forge a bond between Sja-anat and Honor or Cultivation or whoever, then could Sja-anat corrupt a spren, an Odiumspren back to Honor or Cultivation?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe. Nyeh...

MadhavDeval

What about the Fused?

Brandon Sanderson

The Fused-- I mean, it's the same kind of thing, they're a Cognitive Shadow. Eh? Eh. I'm gonna give you an "Eh." on that one... I don't know how you write that on the forums.

Questioner

What book are you most excited about working on?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say the Wax&Wayne book, the last one, I am really eager to do. I've got a lot of really good notes for it.

Questioner

It was actually really interesting, because I started reading Oathrbinger-- I'm a teacher, I teach philosophy, and I was actually using that with my students, which is interesting because it came out particularly randomly. Is there inspiration for some of the philosophy that goes in?

Brandon Sanderson

I have a philosophy minor. There's a bunch of random philosophical-- yeah. It's all over the place.

Shardbound

Were the Surges used by humans, the ones that destroyed their previous home, the same as the ones that the Radiants are using.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, same basic principles. Magic system slightly different. Same basic principles.

Shardbound

Do all Shards have a direct paired opposite intent...

Brandon Sanderson

No, I would say no, they do not all have a directly paired opposite intent.

Shardbound

Was that little remark about queuing by Sigzil [in Oathbringer] a little dig at us Brits?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, yes.

Shardbound

Is Hoid's inability to do harm voluntary or--

Brandon Sanderson

Involuntary.

Questioner

So, at the end of [Oathbringer], a certain Shard says "we killed you." Is "you" Adonalsium there? Or is that a [RAFO]?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a big RAFO!

Questioner

We know Ati chose how Ruin was interpreted, in that he was a card-cackling maniac. Could someone so differently interpret a Shard as to change its name to be something different? Could someone pick up the Shard of Ruin and think I'm the Shard of Change? Or could someone pick up the Shard of Honor and think--

Brandon Sanderson

*hesitantly* Yes. To an extent. The interpretation, what you call a thing-- I think it would be arguable either way in-world, regardless of what they call themselves. There are those who would say the core intent is still there and you can't shift it that far, and others would argue you can shift it far enough to change the definition to a synonym. You see evidence of someone claiming this in the books. I'm not gonna confirm or deny for you whether that is actually a thing or not.

Questioner

When you start planning your books, is there anything you start with? Is there always some sort of starting point, or do you start whenever an idea occurs and you run with it?

Brandon Sanderson

Every book is a combination of multiple ideas that are bouncing around in my head. And when they start sticking together, like when I've got an idea for a cool idea where "There's a storm all the time," mixing with "Hey, I want to tell this story about these ancient orders of knights." with "Ooh, this magic system might develop here." When these all start sticking together, that's what makes a book for me. And then I sit down and write out all the ideas I had, and then start I organize it into an outline.

Questioner

How would Nightblood work when drawn on Scadrial?

Brandon Sanderson

So, you would have to be actively burning a metal or tapping a metalmind, or Nightblood would eat you very quickly.

Wyrmhero

We've seen what Shardblades look like in Shadesmar. What do spikes look like?

Brandon Sanderson

Like, Hemalurgic spikes? That's a RAFO. You will see eventually.

Questioner

Is there ambient Investiture in all of the planets, or just the Shardworlds?

Brandon Sanderson

*pauses* It's mostly Shardworlds. But that definition gets a little uncertain in the case of some various planets, like Threnody. There are other Threnody-esque sorts of things.

Questioner

The next book, Szeth, will he be the primary character?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm probably going to do him as [Stormlight] Five. Eshonai is [Stormlight] Four.

Questioner

From what little we know about the Willshapers, I'm really interested in them. Is there any really tiny tidbit about that Order you could tell us? Even really small?

Brandon Sanderson

One of the first Orders that I developed when I was building the magic systems was the Willshapers... Very excited to do a story about them.

Questioner

If you're an aquatic civilization on Roshar, would the oceans match the oceans? ...Because of all the spheres...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never been asked that before. That's an excellent question... I think it would have some weird different manifestation in Shadesmar, depending on their culture, and the way they view the world.

Questioner

One that's probably for Peter. Shadesmar appears to be flat. And you talk about people walking between worlds. But worlds are spherical. What's up with that?

Brandon Sanderson

This has given him a bit of a headache. It works in my brain, and I'm pretty sure we can make it on the world. Remember, things people think about manifest in Shadesmar, so I've been able to work out a map where places that just aren't inhabited are shrunk in Shadesmar.

Questioner

And they turn into points, so you can just walk off them?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Questioner

How do you come up with your concepts on flying across all of your books? They're a little different from usual flying.

Brandon Sanderson

So, I look for something that just hasn't been done before. Almost all powers in fantasy books have been done. But can you put some interesting restriction on them that'll make it more actually interesting to write? A little different? I spend a lot of time just kinda brainstorming these sorts of things.