So in Mistborn: Secret History, the leader of the Ire is named Alonoe. This is also the name of the lake in Arelon. Is she named after the lake? Is the lake named after her? Or--
*smiling* RAFO!
Would it be possibly to have a bunch of iron Ferrings store a bunch of weight into some iron, turn that iron into steel, and then use that steel to make guns as a cheaper alternative to aluminum?
Yeah but the guns wouldn't be immune--
But they would be resistant, that little bit of extra time could be enough to make a difference.
Yeah.
And the guns would be harder to see with iron/steelsight, correct?
Yes, they would be. Do keep in mind however that we get a very skewed perception of the world and how important stuff like this is because the main characters of the books are Allomancers. This just isn't something that is important to the average person on the street. But this does relate to some things later on in the series.
*inaudible*
You know, I read comic books, but I never really considered writing them. I don't feel I know that format well. I've done a couple graphic novels, but those I always give to a script writer for comic books who's practiced it, let them do it. I haven't really considered ever since I broke-in, because I'd feel like the basketball player playing baseball, you know. You might be okay at it, but might as well let the people who are really good at it, since they're really good at doing it.
Can't wait to get my hands on that new Roshar map! Any chance there's going to be more, not yet released world maps? (i.e. Elendel, Threnody, Nalthis, First of the Sun) I wanna frame them all! Also, having Cognitive Realm versions of them would be sick!
Glad you like the maps! We've talked about creating a poster of Elendel, so I suspect you'll see that at some point. As for the others, we'll continue to map them as Brandon explores them, so I think there's a good chance of eventually seeing a lot of the places you mentioned.
Oh, by the way, are we talking about a new series or a standalone [for Skyward]? :)
A trilogy like The Reckoners was.
Which universe is [Skyward]?
It IS connected to something else Brandon has written. You'll figure it out when you read it.
Quick question about an obscure (mentioned once) name in my copy of Way of Kings: Nelda is one of the people that died on Kaladin (wok 67), is this maybe the same person as Nalma?
Yep, it's supposed to be fixed
Awakeners are useless in space. Awakened objects can't propel themselves where there is no air and can't produce air or food from nothing. Elantrians have another problem. Their power is very flexible, but tied to a location; they can't take it with themselves when they travel. Or, at least, they can't do it in a way explained well enough to extrapolate.
Actually I wonder about this. There is one scene where Vivenna Awakens Tonk Fah's cloak to attack Denth, and it drags Tonk Fah across the room. How? I mean, in theory, sure, we can speculate that it might have moved in a series of sweeps and jerks like swimming to force his momentum, perhaps it grabbed his legs, maybe it pushed off against the wall, maybe it even made a big scoop and sailed there on wind resistance... but the paragraph makes it seem possible that the cloak was somehow able to simply will itself along, strongly enough to drag Tonk Fah behind.
It does seem out of keeping with what Awakening is and can do, so I tend to think that at most it's just a typo (should I page u/PeterAhlstrom? I think they're working on a re-release and looking for continuity errors) but, if this is how it works, then once you're in space, Commanding a handkerchief to "go to Scadrial" might be enough to generate propulsion.
There's no error in that scene, and it also doesn't directly contradict Steenan's statement.
Hey u/Mistborn could you put more SA posters [in the brandonsanderson.com store]?
I keep meaning to do so--but it's hard to find the time for my art team, who spends a LOT of effort on the leatherbounds. There's one I've been wanting to do for a while. Hopefully, we'll get to it before too long.
Would it be too much to ask for another Mistborn novel?
The last Wax and Wayne book should be one of my projects this year. We'll see how Skyward finishes up.
We know that if someone marries a Smedry, they get their spouse's Talent. But what if two Smedries marry? Do they get each own's Talents in addition to the ones they were born with?
And what about polygamy? For example, if there would be two Smedries and a non-Smedry in the marriage, would the non-Smedry get both? One of them? Some combination of them?
As for the Smedries, I've thought WAY too much about this. I went into it knowing I wanted a magic completely different from cosmere magics, and so I've tried to take it that direction--which includes keeping it simple. In a lot of corner cases like you mention, the answer is "nobody knows, because it hasn't been tried yet. But it probably wouldn't work." I'd say that two Smedries who married might BOTH lose their talent, because the entire clan would consider that incest, and kick them out. That would be the answer with most corner-cases.
So something I've noticed in the fantasy genre that I love is that my 2 favorite authors (Sanderson and Rothfuss) don't use the traditional fantasy medieval setting (that I love) of castles, knights, feudalism etc. Now there are plenty of great authors that do (GRRMartin comes to mind as one that does it right), BUT the truth is, a good story eclipses all minor details like setting. An example I always give is that Patrick Rothfuss could write about brushing your teeth and it would make a fascinating read, and Sanderson would make an intriguing plot with amazing characterization throughout the dental hygiene experience. But I digress.
My question (If Brandon would be so kind as to show up, and if not, if anyone has any insight) is why; why doesn't the cosmere have any traditional medieval fantasy settings? Mistborn has keeps, but the society is not the traditional technology and setting of the medieval time period, nor do any of the other worlds given us.
There are both in-world reasons and writing reasons.
The writing reasons are obvious. I grew up on a steady diet of fantasy in a faux-medieval setting. I felt that some of these stories were really good, and enjoyed them--but at the same time, I felt the genre had been there and done that. In some ways, GRRM doing fantasy with the eye of a true medievalist provided a capstone to this era of fantasy.
When I sat down to write, didn't want to write what I was tired of reading. Dragonsteel (which never got published) was bronze age, White Sand was industrial, and Elantris was (kind of) Renaissance. (As you noticed, Mistborn is somewhere around 1820's. I modeled a lot of the society around the fascinating culture/industry of canals as shipping lanes that happened in England right before railroads took over.)
The other big reason, writing wise, is that I feel some of the magics that I enjoy dealing with in my settings need a certain near-industrial mindset to be interesting. The stories I want to tell are about people applying scientific principles to magic--and about the commodification and the economics of magic. Those are early-modern era stories.
The in-world reasoning I have is that on some of these planets, those eras existed--but the books are taking place when the stories of the worlds start smashing into one another. In addition, however, the Shards have an influence on this, because of things they saw happen on their own home planet.
Bluefingers is left-handed
Saw the "what inconveniences do left handed people have?"
It seems left-handers get ink all over their hands when writing....or he could be a righty and they write right to left
Not much of a revelation, but wanted to share it.
I feel the pain of lefties, though I am not one myself. Every time I see them writing, I think of how inconvenient that must be.
I'd be happy to canonize this, but I'd be taking too much credit if I said this is what I'd thought of when writing. I had simply imagined that he wrote a lot, and was not always as careful about cleaning off his hands as he should have been.
Would you be willing to confirm if Skar is a proto-Radiant (on the same level as The Lopen?)
It is implied by his statement of "We protect those who cannot protect themselves", which is obviously an affirmation of the oath, if not an outright swearing of it. I could see it being either/or. He's a good man that did what he thought the order, and he himself, wanted or he just became a Radiant on the same level as Kaladin during the Battle of the Tower.
Thanks for your time. I understand if you can't/won't answer that at this time. It's simply a curiosity, so I get it if you're a bit too busy to answer. :p
By the end of Book Three, I'd put Skar very close to (though not quite at the level of) Lopen along the way toward full Radiant-hood.
If a Feruchemist Taps warmth, does it actually warm them up physically, or do they just feel warmer?
It actually warms them. It’s not just a feeling.
So, is Kings in any way like your other books? Shall we expect an unexpected twist?
KINGS is like my books in some ways. But in order to be grand as a series, it had to start--oddly--more humbly. Yes, there are twists. I wrote it so that the epilogue redefines the entire book and series. Each of the 4 viewpoints has an epilogue. Much as RJ had huge prologues, this series will have huge epilogues. Those epilogues, like the Elantris first lines, are intended to be ‘BANG’ moments.
Is it possible to use a Soulstamp to give Shardplate life or at least achieve a robotic status?
Wow, it is really, really hard to Invest things that have already been Invested. Regular-- Let's just say that, it is really hard to do that. Part of the reason why it is difficult for instance to Push or Pull on something that is inside of somebody because the Investiture is interfering and you would have that similar problem doing anything to Shardplate with any of the magics.
Do bigger gems store more Stormlight for longer than smaller gems? So a broam would hold it for twenty hours where a chip might hold it for six hours or something.
The cut of the gem and how flawless the gem is has more to do with how long the Stormlight stays than size.
Is Shalash the daughter of Jezrien?
Umm... Oh, yes, she is indeed his daughter.
Would Rock be able to see the Cryptics?
Would Rock be able to see a Cryptic? That is a good question, you will have to see.
Is that kind of similar to the reason why there are no spren in Shinovar is because the people there so disbelieve them that it creates a negative pressure that keeps them from physical manifestation?
Good question.
Why can Rock see Syl?
Ooh, good question, why do you think Rock can see Syl?
My personal theory here is because his people have such a strong belief and reverence in them it allows him to see them for that reason because his strong belief creates some sort of cognitive or spiritual pressure which allows them...
He would agree with that philosophy. I would say, usually when something like that happens there is also something physiological going on.
When do you plan on releasing the Way of Kings annotations?
I've only written about a quarter of them. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will take me a few years just because it's taken me three and a half years to get the second book out. So I feel a burden to get the books going before I do side things like this. My life got a whole lot more busy with The Wheel of Time than it used to be. Which has cut out some of my side-projects like this but I would like to do them eventually.
What are some characteristics of and how many other wordhoppers are there that we have seen excluding Hoid, Demoux, and Galladon.
You gave me really good wiggle room on that one. Obviously the other person with Galladon and Demoux.
Right, the one from a future book.
His characteristics are-- What is he like? Some people have read his book so they know what he's like--
Which book is he from?
He's from White Sand.
Okay, that's one I have but have not gotten to.
It's only mediocre so don't worry about it. Let's see what other worldhoppers I want to give you clues about-- *long pause* There's a Terriswoman running around, if you keep your eyes open.
I have to re-read it, everything.
Who else do I want to talk about-- Words of Radiance has a couple good ones, that will be pretty obvious.
Can you store Breath in metal without the [Ninth] Heightening? Just put it there without Awakening, just to hide the Breath.
Can you hide Breath in-- Yes you can hide Breath in things.
Metal in particular, without the [Ninth] Heightening could you put it into metal. Without the purpose of Awakening it, just storing it there.
Oh without the [Ninth] Heightening-- I would say yes you could.
Does Shu-Keseg predate the splintering of Devotion and Dominion?
No, I don't believe it does.
Is the word Hoed based off an Aon and if so which one?
Yes, it is. It would be Hoe... no Oed, O-E-D.
What year did the Reod occur in the Elantrian calender?
Let's go ahead and-- Oh boy, Elantrian calendar?
...I don't have my wiki on me, I'm not going to-- I mean--
Did seons exist when the Aonic peoples discovered Elantris?
When the Aonic peoples discovered Elantris, did seons exist-- Okay let me go back to my timeline... It kind of means you have to define what you mean by Aonic. The problem is if you dig back too far in history it's kind of like asking "What's a German?" You know what I mean?
Because the Aons are based upon Elantris itself and so they don't become Aonic until they are writing the Aons.
And Aonic is also-- You are talking about the people and so it's like are the Normans Brits? Or are they Vikings? Or are they Frenchman?
Why don't we phrase it as the people of Sel when they discovered Elantris.
No, no, that's getting, okay-- Let's go ahead and RAFO that one, just because the history of Elantris is very interesting to the cosmere. When people are starting to get an inkling of that.
Odium was there once upon a time.
Yah... And the question of who built Elantris and how they built Elantris. What's going on with the Elantrians back then and things like this. So let's just RAFO that.
I think it's pretty clear in the book that Mraize is from Thaylenah.
And I wasn't being sarcastic or joking when I said I thought it was obvious from the text that Mraize was a Thaylen from Thaylenah.
Hey Karen, I have a question I hope you can confirm for the Stormlight fans.
What are the exact gemstone types Rosharans use in their currency? In The Way of Kings Shallan suggests that only nine out of the ten Polestones are actually used in spheres (or is this wrong?), and while eight of those are accounted for in the books, we don't know whether the last one is a smokestone or a heliodor. Is this something you can and are willing to confirm for us?
Here's what I have on my wiki page. I'm pretty sure it was written by Brandon before I started to work on things.
Gemstones
◆ Sapphire: blue (deep)
◆ Zircon: blue (light)
◆ Ruby: red (deep)
◆ Amethyst & Garnet: red (light)
◆ Topaz: yellow (deep)
◆ Heliodor: yellow (light)
◆ Emerald: green (deep)
◆ Smokestone: grayscale (deep)
◆ Diamond: grayscale (light)
Elsewhere I found this list that shows the spheres from highest to lowest value. It says that smokestone coins are very rare.
Values: Highest - 50 (250, 1000)
◆ Stone: Emerald
◆ Color: Deep green
◆ Essence: Pulp
Values: Prime Pair - 25 (125, 500)
◆ Stone: Amethyst
◆ Color: Pale violet
◆ Essence: Mineral (Metals/claws)
◆ Stone: Sapphire (skymark)
◆ Color: Deep Blue
◆ Essence: Vapor
Values: Middle Weight - 10 (50, 200)
◆ Stone: Zircon
◆ Color: Pale blue
◆ Essence: Blood (Water-based liquids)
◆ Stone: Ruby (firemark)
◆ Color: Deep red
◆ Essence: Spark (Fire/Soul)
◆ Stone: Smokestone (Uncommon as a coin)
◆ Color: Translucent
◆ Essence: Smoke
Values: Less Weight - 5 (25, 100)
◆ Stone: Topaz
◆ Color: Pale orange
◆ Essence: Talus (Stone/Bone)
◆ Stone: Garnet
◆ Color: Deep violet (Bloodmarks)
◆ Essence: Flesh
◆ Stone: Heliodor
◆ Color: Light yellow
◆ Essence: (Sinew)
Cheapest 1 (5, 20)
◆ Stone: Diamond (Clear chip/mark/broam)
◆ Color: Transparent
◆ Essence: Glass (Crystal/Eyes)
One thing I am noticing is that the essences don't entirely match what's in the Ars Arcanum of the books.
Yeah, AA is correct and what we base things on. Like I said, these are probably written by Brandon a long time ago when he was just world building.
How do you make up names and words for your fantasy settings?
Mostly, I choose an earth culture (or two) to base my linguistic influences on. For instance, in the Mistborn books, I used French. It's obvious in words like Fellise, Renoux, Blanches, Delouse and Demoux. Less obvious is Kelsier, whose name would be pronounced in-world without the last R sound.
Do you think you'll ever develop a language like Tolkien did?
Maybe. I did a lot of that in White Sand, which didn’t get published. I’ll do more for other books.
Do you use Hebrew words?
The name Adonalsium is derived from a Hebrew name for God, Adonai and Aharietiam was derived from the Hebrew/Jewish term for the end of days acharit hayamim or אחרית הימים
So what you're telling me is that not only my first edition Words of Radiance, but also my first edition Way of Kings are Dragonsteel guaranteed to be worth at least a sapphire broam in ten years time.
I wouldn't go so far as that! Looks like 2-carat cut sapphires are going for about $2000. They printed tens of thousands of copies of Way of Kings. They're not that rare.
Ah, so is that the canon size of the gem in a broam?
Yes. 2 carats.
Oh, I've been curious about this for a long time. One of my hobbies is working with gemstones, so knowing the sizes (and cuts, because of how light is affected by the cut) of the gemstones in spheres and Soulcasters would be wonderful!
I'm not sure about the cuts, but broams are 2 carats and the other sizes are proportional to their value.
Thank you, that helps a lot!
would be happy to offer input on cuts, should that ever be wanted
The canonization of the cuts is being worked on, just not by me.
This is great to know, thanks! One last clarification though: is this proportionality linear? In other words:
* Since there are 4 marks per broam, does that make marks 0.5 carats each?
* Since there are 5 chips per mark, does that make chips 0.1 carats each?
Or is there some wonky formula with diminishing returns?
Yeah, that's it.
Just to clarify, as a jeweler I think those numbers might be a bit on the small side.
A 2 carat sapphire (assuming a standard well proportioned round cut) is going to be about 8 millimeters in diameter.
A 1 ct sapphire is going to be around 5 mm ish.
A 0.1 carat sapphire would be really tiny. Like, about 1 mm in diameter ish? Depends heavily on how shallow the cut is.
It just seems way too tiny (and imagine the poor high-precision lapidarists working on making pennies - diamonds require specialized cutting equipment because they're WAY harder than anything else)
Those sizes are pretty much right.
For Words of Radiance, could you put a comment about something in the upcoming books, something not too specific, just something I can think about? Something like "Renarin has a spren" you wrote for somebody else in The Way of Kings?
[written] Stormlight makes plants grow.
Does the highstorm/no highstorm rotation of the Weeping have to do with Ashyn's relative location to Roshar?
No! But great question!
Is there only one perpendicularity on a planet per Shard Invested there, or can say Scadrial have more than two (natural) at a time? (Old School Scadrial when there were two separate shards)
RAFO
In OB, you explained that the Singers have four sexes. I was wondering... Can the Singers have genders other than those four, like humans? Even as simple as just not going with male, female, or malen/femalen. Could a transgender Singer use their ability to shift forms to change their biological reality? And, finally, could a Spren be non-binary, if it wasn't personified in a typical male/female way?
In the cosmere as a whole, a person's perception of themselves has a lot of power over both their Spiritual and Physical forms. It is possible, with Investiture, to change their biology to match Cognitive perceptions--and while this could be easier for some races (like the Singers) it's not outside plausibility for any race.
There are non-binary spren, actually--and you should be meeting one important one quite soon in the books.
The first wind is in the Mountains of Mist; I've always assumed this was a nod to Tolkien's Misty Mountains.
Look in The Way of Kings on the full map of Roshar for something similar.
is Barlesha Lhan the scholar/author of Topics and Lhan from the Pai interlude the same person/related?
I think one is a first name and the other a last name, so not related
Did Odium have the assistance of another Shard to kill Honor?
I'm going to have to RAFO that for now, I'm afraid. Too bad it's not in person! I could give you a RAFO card. :)
I finally asked if [Brandon] could write anything in my book that we did not already know about the Skybreakers. I will upload the picture when I get home but it is the second oath of the Skybreakers which says:
[written in book] "I will put the law before all else."
As far as I can tell, in The Stormlight Archive, we have seen three different lights: the stormlight, the amberlight in the flashbacks, and the dark light in the stone. Do those correspond to the three Shards?
No, the amberlight is more a function of...it's no different than the stormlight.
So, you see that in a storm? Like when gems gather that in the storm?
That amberlight is more related to... so, no... you are not seeing something other than stormlight. That is like saying that stormlight in a topaz is a different color than stormlight in a sapphire. It's not different colors; you're just seeing it filtered through something. The dark light of the, um, the gemstone that Szeth was given is indeed something different and distinct.
Voidlight?
Yes, it is related to a different shard. How about that?
We know that the Cognitive Realm is called Shadesmar, because in the language of the people who "coined" the term, "shadesmar" translates loosely to "cognitive realm." Is there a similar name/phrase for the Spiritual Realm we could use?
There are cultures with a name for the Spiritual realm, but most of them translate to "Heaven" which isn't entirely accurate by our understanding. Some day perhaps I will say more.
Who is your favorite character in Mistborn?
Hmmm, probably Sazed. The truth is, my favorite character changes depending on who I'm writing, and things like that.
Okay, I feel better about it now.
Breeze is my favorite character
Breeze is a lot of fun.
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.
Vasher + Nightblood were written into The Way of Kings Prime, then he wrote Warbreaker before returning to rewrite The Way of Kings.
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.
I then pointed out the basis for my theory, beginning with the flashback chapter where Kaladin whales on Jost with the quarterstaff.
What you didn't ask was whether Kaladin had ever felt the Thrill.
He then went on to say that that was not a confirmation or a denial.
In response to the RAFO I complained that I didn't even get to my third question which was, "Does Kaladin feel the Thrill?
*Laughs* No he does not. Kaladin is "immune" to the Thrill.
Is the Thrill an exclusively lighteyed trait?
RAFO.
