With your awesome art people, have you thought about doing kids' books, like 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade level?
I've considered it, but I haven't practiced that very much, and it is a different skill. I'm not confident in being able to do that myself. But it's on my radar, since I have kids that age.
So, is it possible for a spren to get more Investiture? And if it does, will it kinda level up into a higher form of spren?
Yeah, it's possible. That is totally possible.
In The Rithmatist, in that world, do they ever use Rithmatics for practical purposes? I can easily see using Lines of Forbiddance for children to just draw a line on the wall, and like--
They should do it more than they do. But there are people using it, chalklings included.
I'm just curious to know if you're gonna see a change in how they treat the spren in [Oathbringer]?
...Yes. There's a slight shift happening.
Nightblood. If the person using him, the Investiture they put into him to use him. Does that make Nightblood more powerful, does he gain that Investiture? Or is it all expended back into the--
That is actually a RAFO. People in-world are trying to figure that out, so it is a good question.
So, if a Type 4 BioChromatic entity like Nightblood was created with a different Command, would it still draw in or feed off of somebody's Breath when they drew it?
It is possible to create one that wouldn't. But it is a dangerous thing to do.
When Shallan reached out to the Midnight Mother, would it have mattered if she used the right hand?
It would not have mattered. Good question!
So, I was curious if the Alethi were always-- like, if there was a time where there wasn't a segregation between lighteyes and darkeyes.
Yes, that did exist.
...How did the separation occur?
There are some clues in [Oathbringer] and in the last book. It has to do with Knights Radiant and Surgebinding and things like that. It's a part RAFO. It's pretty guessable. There's nothing--
Can Soulforged bones be Awakened?
Can Soulforged bones be Awakened? So, Soulcast bones be awakened? Once the Soulcasting is done, it is no longer Invested, and it would act as the normal item. A Forged item will act as Invested, and will resist any manipulation. Differences between the magics.
Can a kandra have a human kid, if they're in a--
...So, their DNA would-- I've answered this both ways, I think, on the internet, as I go back on forth on whether I want DNA testing to be able to catch a kandra or not. I've erred on the side of, their DNA isn't human, and so they would not be compatible, but I've gone the other direction some of the time when people have asked this question. So, I guess the answer is, I have not fully decided for myself yet.
Is this new book in the cosmere, or is it just a shoot-off?
Which one, Skyward? Skyward is not cosmere.
Is looking into the Spiritual Realm the only way to look into the future?
Any looking into the future involves looking at Spiritwebs, probability, and stuff like that. So, yes.
So, the Shardfork. A very versatile, Shard-whatever. Would it be possible to do, like, a Shardrock, or something, that would go in a catapult?
Yeah, it has more variety than people would think, but it isn't limitless, what they can become. But that would totally be possible.
And what would a Shardrock do if it hits you?
Uh, bean them on the head and be really strong. If you can get into the spirit, if you can start getting past the skin and stuff, you can do some serious damage.
So, in Edgedancer, there's a spot where they're going through all the weird things going on in the city, and they're talking about some spren that only shows up if she dumps water out. Is that significant, or is that a crazy person? ...The spren that shows up every morning if she leaves water out?
Yes, that is true.
Okay, she's is not crazy?
She's not-- Okay.
Are the spren intelligent?
Sapient spren, no. But she may have the cause and effect mixed up. She may not have the cause and effect correct. She might have correlation and causation mixed up.
Dalinar's visions are the memories of Honor, correct?
Yes. Yes, they are things specifically created by Honor...
Does that mean that the Recreance happened before Honor's death... since Dalinar sees it?
Yes. But Honor's death, like Preservation's death, is a protracted event.
So, Hoid says he couldn't use the Pits anymore, but couldn't he have used the Trust, with a lot of atium all together? Would that have not formed a Perpendicularity?
No. There's a reason for that.
...I know that a lot of [Dragonsteel] is not canon anymore? How much of it, like, percentage-wise, I don't need specifics.
I would say that all... I consider almost all the worldbuilding to be canon, but the characters to not be.
So, anything about Topaz, does that not stand?
Doesn't really stand. The whole thing with the gods, and stuff like that, is really in flux.
Are we gonna find out more about spiritwebs, like, how they work?
Yeah, that's a little ways off, though.
Could you Invest... Could you use a nicrosil metalmind to Invest the sort of Investiture enough that you could open a Perpendicularity up to the Cognitive Realm?
So, I'll just say it this way. Enough concentrated Investiture in one point is going to pierce the Realms, no matter what form it takes.
...So, it doesn't have to be a nicrosil metalmind.
No.
Okay... But it could be?
Yes. That is theoretically possible.
Would he also be able to have powers from Warbreaker without using Breaths?
Yes that is-- It is possible to power the magics with one another. Breaths are one of the-- it's-- yeah, let's just say that.
How many Breaths would it take to infuse a gemstone?
Gemstones would be not that hard to infuse with Breaths. Like, you can get one glowing pretty well with one Breath... Depends on the size of the gemstone, obviously.
Where did you get the idea for the gemhearts.
So, I wanted-- in the books, I wanted there to be an economic component to the magic, like, something that was based on the money in the world. And I knew I wanted to use the gemstones, but I also knew they would be used up really quickly by the magic, with Soulcasting. So, I built something into the creatures of the world, so that we could renew the gemstones, so they wouldn't all just be gone after a few hundred years.
I'm curious to know if there are any books-- any stories or scripture in the Book of Mormon that have particularly inspired your writing, that you like.
Yeah, King Benjamin's speech is the thing that I can point to most specifically as influencing me on my views of leadership, specifically in The Stormlight Archive.
What kind of spren is Hoid's favorite?
He is quite fond of Patterns.
[Can you write] something interesting about the Seventeeth Shard? ...Or how about this, a character that's in the Seventeenth Shard that we don't know about?
*spoken* ...I can do that--
*written* So... Iyatil was once in the 17th Shard...
Who is Rock, of your friends?
Rock is one of the ones that isn't. The core of Bridge Four isn't, yeah, Rock, and Teft, and Moash, and Lopen. Those aren't-- It's all the ones that aren't the main characters, except for Skar, I just named after my friends.
Are we going to see a clash between Nightblood and a Shardblade anytime soon?
Yes.
Would you be able to write the... Second Ideal of the Truthwatchers?
...It's a RAFO. There's a lot of stuff about the Truthwatchers in [Oathbringer], that's gonna make it complicated to do that, okay? ...Yeah, it's really complicated, and those are things I'm not gonna probably canonize for another couple of books, for reasons that will be very clear by the end of this book.
Hoid. Did he have a family, and if he did, does he miss them?
That's a RAFO, because Dragonsteel, the book I'm eventually gonna write, is his backstory.
We were wondering about Nightblood, if he's sort of out-of-place on Roshar? 'Cause he's sort of the opposite of change, right?
He is supposed to be really out of place. He is a messed-up, messed-up... sword thing.
So, a Radiant's blade. When it takes other forms, does it take on any different properties? So, like, if Kaladin beat someone with the butt of his Sylspear, would it still do something in regards to the soul?
Would he still hit the soul? That is theoretically possible to make happen. It requires a lot of work. That is theoretically possible.
So, the first [question] is whether or not a Shard can be healed after it has been [Splintered]?
That is actually a RAFO. That's been asked before.
How much do you plot books? How much do you plan out what happens before you start writing?
I am a plotter. I am very naturally-- I do a lot of extensive plotting. So, I would say I have, like, 90% of it before I start most books, thought I knock out like, 10% or 20% while I'm writing and change it if something better comes along.
Do you go chapter by chapter, or do you kinda just--
It's more like an outline of, like, "Here's my goal. And here are ways to achieve it." I do a whole lecture on it in the BYU lectures, if you're interested, that are on YouTube.
Is there a limit to what the spren can become, like we've seen them become a blade or a spear or a shield, can they become, like-- I've heard hints of a bow and arrow. Can they become a sword and a shield or just one main thing?
Um, it is more expansive than people guess it is, but it is limited.
How do you come up with names that sound awesome?
It's harder than it sounds, no pun intended... If you wanna know how to name things, find the podcast where we answer that on Writing Excuses, we go into in depth, that'll help you out. But basically I'm looking for, like, lists of baby names from languages that I don't speak, and trying to play with those names until I find something that sounds good.
So, how much time-- personal reading time to do you spend on different types of things: research versus classic versus other fantasy type--
I would say, boy-- most of my reading is fantasy. My reading for other things is eclectic; it's like, when I find something I'm interested in. I would say, of that, it's like, half just reading whatever I feel like reading and then taking notes, and half reading for research. But, I do a lot of audio books, and I do a lot of podcasts, I can do them while I'm signing books, and things. So, some of my reading recently has been like, Hardcore History, which is a podcast. Stuff like that.
So, how many hours do you actually spend. Obviously, when you write, and you're signing, I understand that.
Always, when I'm signing, I try to listen to, like, a book, or something like that. And then, I try to get in, like, an hour every night. I don't always get it, but that's what I try to do.
Does anybody every ask you to, like, write them? Like, people ask someone to draw them, but does anybody ask you to write them?
Yeah, an artist asked me to write something for them. Yeah, I've actually had some artists say, "What if I painted a picture, and then you wrote a story for it." Which I think would be a really cool idea, we just have to wait for the right time to do that.
So Lift, she used a Shardfork. If you could use a regular item, and it be a Shard item, what would choose?
Shardpen, obviously!
So now that Lopen has his arm, are there any good two-armed Herdazian jokes?
He's working on them. In a scene, you will see him working on two-armed Herdazian jokes.
Favorite Herald?
Taln.
Which is your favorite of the ten fools, and why?
Uh-- I don't know. I honestly don't know.
Can you give me a name of one of them, then?
That I haven't named yet? Those are in the notes, I have to look those things up. I don't know. We're gonna do a ten fools painting for the next one, maybe. We were gonna do it for this one. I'm not sure who my favorite is. I'd have to sit and think about it, perhaps more time than we have right now. It's going to depend on Isaac's sketches of them and things like that. Maybe, uh, Jezrien's fool. Probably Jezrien's fool.
What's the name of that one?
I can't remember. Like I said, I have 'em in a list. I have to go look at the notes and look them up every time. I don't use them, like, I just write--
Not like the Heralds, that you're using all the time. They're just the ten fools.
Right, I just use, even when I'm writing, I'm like "Jezrien's Fool," and then I go look up the name of it.
Warning, Evgeni. I'm really considering doing a backpedal on savants. The more i think about them, the less I'm not liking how my current course has them being treated in upcoming books. I think it deviates too far from my original vision.
Hey, I wouldn't normally contact you directly like this, but given that you thought it important enough to reach out and let me know you might change how savants work, I figured you probably wouldn't be too upset by this message. I replied to your Facebook comment, asking if you could clarify a little bit which aspects of savantism you are thinking of keeping and/or cutting. I don't need an essay on the topic (though you know I'd love one!), just some details on what we can consider canon for theories, and what we should be careful around.
Evgeni,
So here's the problem. The more I dig into savants in the later outlines, the more I feel that I'm in a dangerous area--in that I'm disobeying their original intention. (Which is that using the power so much that it permeates your soul can be dangerous, a kind of uncontrolled version of a spren bond.)
And so, I don't want to let myself just start making people savants right and left. It needs to be a specific thing. Wax is the troubling one, as I have him burning so much steel that he's well on his way, but isn't showing any side effects. If I'm going to give him savant-like abilities, he needs savant-like consequences.
That's the danger, just falling back on savanthood to do some of the things I want, so often that it undermines the actual point and purpose of them in the cosmere lore.
So if I backpedal, it will be to contain this and point myself the right way, sharply curtailing my desire to make people savants without their savanthood being an intrinsic part of their story and conflict in life. (Like it was for Spook, and is for Soulcasting savants on Roshar.)
Feel free to share this.
Okay, so - if you do decide to go this route, I see the story implications (larger focus on consequences, less easy to get to the point where a character can be considered a savant). What I am not sure about is the potential for a mechanical change. Would a backpedal on your side cause a conflict with information you've shared with us, in or out of your books? Are you saying that it's possible that Wax won't be considered a savant (if you can't squeeze a good ramifications plot for him that doesn't contradict the apparent lack of consequences so far, for example)?
I haven't decided on anything yet. It's mostly consequences for the future--just a kind of, "be aware I'm not 100% pleased with how Wax turned out, re: savanthood and Allomantic resonance."
The idea of resonance is that two powers, combined, meld kind of into one single power. This is a manifestation of the way Shards combine. Wax was intended as a savant of the two melded powers. But without consequences in his plot, I'm not confident that I'll continue in the same vein for future books.
Also, in another fun note, Ruin didn't know about the horseshoes trick Vin used until he saw her do it. During a thousand years of Allomancy, she was the first to figure out how to do that. Clever girl.
Marsh was there in the village Elend attacked a few chapters back, by the way. That is where he went after Luthadel; he took charge of a group of koloss and began leading them around to destroy cities. When Elend came to get the koloss, he was commanded to hold onto them for a time—and make it tough for Elend—but then to give them up and let them go.
He was the nearest Inquisitor to Fadrex, which is why he's the one who showed up to claim the nonexistent atium.
Hey, speaking of art. Was the mathematical inspiration behind Roshar's map your idea, or Brandon's?
Brandon's.
Ah, that might be a bummer. I was hoping to figure out the exact formula used to generate it so I can do some animation stuff.
Sorry...I'm afraid I don't know the formula....
17th Shard user Treamayne made an interesting observation re: Surge glyphs - Can you comment? :3
No comment yet on this specifically, tho I'll respond to something in that thread regarding names and "screw yous" within glyphs.
Readers are trying to pronounce glyphs by reading them. Glyphs aren't read. They're memorized. Sounds might be found in glyphs.
Glyphs have evolved from the early days. Just like the Chinese character for "tree" doesn't look like a tree anymore.
Alethi glyphs are recognized by overall shape, not by the shapes/sounds that might be found within.
For example, the Bridge 4 glyph is still recognizable even if the component shapes are changed.
Hope this helps!
So let's see if I got it. The "kholin" glyphpair could, given enough time, no longer look like "khokh" & "linil"...
... but still be recognizable as "kholin" due to its overall shape?
That is correct. More ancient glyphs will have slowly morphed away from the original sounds found inside.
Come on, guys, there are major major reasons Roshar can't possibly be a moon and one of the moons a gas giant. Think about it.
Nobody ever remarks on how one of the "moons" takes up a quarter of the visible sky?
Each moon is in the sky only once per day and moves across the sky in a couple to a few hours. What does that tell us about their orbits?
Could a gas giant be far enough away to look like a small moon, yet have this rapid of an apparent motion? (The answer is NO.)
That they're really fast/close, I would think. Perhaps unusually so...
You may not be aware, but Mars's moon Phobos orbits in less than 8 hours, and gets less than 6,000 km from Mars's surface.
Curses! Foiled again by SCIENCE!!!
Okay, so the orbits aren't magically augmented.
Still, that leaves us some information. The three moons are likely captured asteroids, then, rather than having split off from Roshar during its formation, Luna-style. Three captured asteroids at the same time in relatively stable, seemingly very close orbits... Anything significant in that, science people?
I expect the moons were put in their current orbits artificially, but by whom or what I do not know. On astronomical terms, these are not stable orbits, but astronomical terms means millions of years. A few thousand or even a few hundred thousand years are no problem.
By the way, I minored in astronomy while at the university, for expressly science fictional purposes.
Were the moons also artificially created, or were they originally formed naturally?
I don't know.
Hey, I am curious - have you and the rest of Team Sanderson figured out what the Dawnchant looks like in writing?
There has been some discussion on this. :)
His coyness is rubbing off on you :) I wasn't trying to be sneaky though, legitimately just wanted to know if you guys have an idea :)
I have some ideas. Nothing canon yet. :)
Speaking of The Scar, all the other names on the map refer to a specific planet, right? Roshar, Sel, Nalthis, etc. The scar, as far as know, is more a region, yet it uses the same typography as the planets. What's up with that?
Same typography because when I used other fonts, it looked way out of place. If there were more labels on this map, I would've used italics probably for this feature.
Some stars are yellow, while others are red - is that significant?
Yes. There are other colors in there too.
