Recent entries

Questioner

I know Hoid jumps around and meets various people that are very influential in the various books. I'm curious as to how he knows who he needs to meet, how's he lead to them.

Brandon Sanderson

This is a RAFO, but it is a question you're supposed to be asking-- You know what a RAFO is?

Questioner

No.

Brandon Sanderson

It means Read and Find Out. If you watch at the end of this book he's not always certain why he needs to be where he needs to be. So there is some measure-- something is going on here but it is not made clear yet and I don't want to clear it up with you quite yet.

Questioner

I was curious if in the future Mistborn models you were gonna get into the history of the dichotomy between Preservation and Ruin.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. With the history-- maybe not in future Mistborn novels, but in some novels you will find out their history and who they are.

Questioner

The Heralds: I had a question if they might in fact be some form of spren?

Brandon Sanderson

The Heralds are not some form of spren. Good question.

Questioner

I wonder if you knew what color the stone was inside of Horneater peaks and the mountains around the Shattered Plains?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends if-- most of it's going to be cremstone. So it's going to be various shades of tanish brown. Very generic stuff, particularly around here.

Horneater peaks, you-- *pauses thoughtfully* Horneater peaks you're probably going to get into some more slate, some more dark grays and things like this, weathered stone that doesn't have the crem buildup because the peaks are gonna pop up above where the crem is building up, so.

So that's where you're going to get some real, untainted rock which otherwise on Roshar you've got to burrow to get.

Questioner

So the gray one is the untainted one?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Arbron

So how long has "Zahel the swordmaster" been slumming it on Roshar? I mean I don't know who that is obviously.

Brandon Sanderson

Zahel the swordmaster has been on Roshar for a long while at this point. There's something on Roshar that's very easy for him to get that's very hard in other places. And so, yeah.

Arbron

So he retains his previous abilities?

Brandon Sanderson

He was actually in the first draft in 2002. But yes there's something in Roshar that makes it better for him to be there.

Questioner

So Nightblood. Is it going to go into maybe in the next book how Vasher loses him, because I'm assuming that's what [Szeth] gets at the end of the book?

Brandon Sanderson

*Coyly*

Oh you assume that this is uh yeah...

Questioner

So far as we know that's the only sentient sword...

Brandon Sanderson

You will find answers to these questions eventually.

Questioner

With the soulcasting and the spren, is there maybe some quantum physics in there that you were thinking about?

Brandon Sanderson

There is. Yes, very intentionally.

Questioner

Is that gonna come into play?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

How many other characters are in this *inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Oh I'm not going to give you an exact number.

Questioner

I'm guessing one or two, so far at least.

Brandon Sanderson

But there are multiples.

Questioner

Amaram and Dalinar, they both talk about Gavilar a lot. How many secret societies did Gavilar know about or was he a part of?

Brandon Sanderson

Ah! How many did he know about? He knew of more than he was part of, but he was not part of very many.

Questioner

The arches in The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. The faces in the arches, are they dependent on something that happens in the chapter, or are they random or is there a pattern?

Brandon Sanderson

They do, but Isaac picks them, not me. So. There is a rubric for it, but-- so there is some significance, but Isaac is behind that.

Chaos

I'm sorry Brandon, you might RAFO me.

*written* For the metal in Bleeder, is it from a Shard we know?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh no… You drove all this way, that's what makes me. Eric comes and he's like--

Chaos

You RAFO'd me at Words of Radiance--

Brandon Sanderson

I know.

Chaos

--I asked you a question that was too much.

Brandon Sanderson

…you push, yeah… There you are you got your answer. You got me.

*writes* Yes.

Questioner

So you mentioned that Kaladin gets sad during the Weeping. Is that due to lack of stormlight or maybe seasonal affective disorder?

Brandon Sanderson

It is mostly due to seasonal affective disorder. Now, you know, there are other things going on and whatnot, but yes he has strong seasonal affective disorder.

Questioner

See *inaudible* and other signings that Hoid had both long life and lived through time when we was worldhopping, how about other members-- or not "other," just members of the Seventeenth Shard? Like are they time travelling or they have long life--

Brandon Sanderson

It is a mixture of both. Either, or, and.

Questioner

And the RAFO question: where did they get it from?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! There are many methods and there is no one method, and you know some of them already.

Brandon Sanderson

You're going to make me. They're trying to get me to canonize Endowment's gender. *crowd goes oh* ...Yes I have... I'm going to look at the thing that you guys would just love to see--

Kendra Wilson

So now's not the time to snatch that?

Isaac Stewart

It's encrypted, we've been developing a language that only we can read. *laughter* It's all in glyphs.

Zach Stay

Is it in the women's script? 

Eric Lake

Should we get Mi'chelle over here?

Isaac Stewart

It’s in a language that will never be decrypted...

Brandon Sanderson

I can't find-- Karen must of moved this. I have the name in here. I haven't canonized the name either have I?

Kendra Wilson

We don’t know. You can put that information on there too.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah but Karen moved it.

Zach Stay

People have guessed that it's Edgli but..

FeatherWriter

I think it’s gotten RAFO'd before...

Brandon Sanderson

*writes* Endowment is female.

There you go. You guys got two big ones out of me.

Questioner

In Shadesmar, there's cities of spren, right, so-- or at least it's been said where I am. So I read that Shadesmar is kind of connected to all the worlds and that's how Hoid gets around, so why aren't there spren other places?

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, so that is *garbled* fallacy. You're implying there aren't.

Questioner

Is there a maximum number of Bondsmiths that Roshar can support?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Would it be too much to ask for the gender of the original holder [of Autonomy]?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh yeah, the original holder, what do you mean by that?

Questioner

Of Bav--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, we’re going to leave that one for--

Questioner

Can Shardplate be Soulcast?

Brandon Sanderson

Shardplate could be Soulcast, but anything Invested is very difficult to Soulcast and it would essentially destroy it. Which would be one of the few ways to destroy Shardplate.

Seonid

Would you tell me the intent of Bavadin's Shard?

Brandon Sanderson

Hmm…  Are we ready to release that?

Isaac Stewart

I don't know-- well we haven't-- We haven't written it into the scripts yet, but we've only done so many of the scripts so-- I don't know if that would be better place for us to reveal it or not...

Brandon Sanderson

If you're confident that you like what we're doing with it then we can release it now.

Isaac Stewart

Great. Well we had that big discussion and it sounded like that’s what we wanted to do.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, we're going to have Isaac write it. He's in charge of White Sand now. And you can choose whether to share this with people or not because it's not on the recording.

Seonid

Oh it isn't?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I talked around it on purpose.

Isaac Stewart

*writes* Autonomy.

Questioner 1

What is something that we don't know about Bavadin?

Brandon Sanderson

Somebody asked that already too…  Those are both things that you will find out eventually and I'm holding those answers close to my heart right now...

Questioner 2

So can I assume that any question about Bavadin is going to be a RAFO?

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on how specific it is. Like "I just want to know something more" is almost always going to be a RAFO on any question nowadays. Something asks very specifics has a better chance.

Questioner

I was curious, what would happen if a full Mistborn burned lerasium? What would the Allomantic powers be?

Brandon Sanderson

Oohh, excellent, excellent question. So, I have not revealed what lerasium does if you already have Investiture. So, the answer to that is a RAFO. We've actually had like three people ask that tonight, so there must have been a discussion on the Sh-- the forums about it and I didn't answer them, so I can't answer you.

Questioner

What was that plot point you were talking about  where you had to change it?

Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin kept the blade and plate in the original version of The Way of Kings.

Questioner

So I know the last Alloy of Law was a standalone book, not part of the next trilogy. Is this book [Shadows of Self] the start of the next trilogy?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. This is not the start of the actual, official next-- Like-- So, I'm calling these books all Era 2, I moved the next books to Era 3, but this is the start of a trilogy about Wax and Wayne.

Questioner

Is that why they're kind of shorter?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Well they're kind of shorter because I wanted something to balance Stormlight that was-- So like Stormlight you have to keep track of all these characters and they have this continuing storyline that is so deep that it's-- you kind of have to re-read each in the series each time. I did not want you to have track that in another series, any of my other series. That's why both Steelheart and Mistborn now you will see the self-contained stories, where certain things-- it's a trilogy, but it's keep track of one, or two, characters, not keep track of an entire thing. And then there's an arc and done, an arc and done, an arc and done. That is intentional. So, you might see Stormlight stories more that length when I go back to... Scadrial for longer stories.

Questioner

So there's still going to be another trilogy that's more modern and then a sci-fi one?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes there's still going to be a modern trilogy and a sci-fi trilogy.

Questioner

Are are they any other continents on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Roshar is, I haven't said that there's anything else out there, but I have said it's Pangea, meaning if there's anything else out there, they are small.  They are not of a similar scope and size.  Now on Scadrial, there is other stuff going on.  And I've told people that for years, and years, and years.  So, you may find some other stuff going on there.  For years, you know, the southern continent was populated on Scadrial during the Final Empire era, even.  It was just impossible to reach because the heat, the poles were the only habitable places on that planet, and so anything in between, you just couldn't deal with it.  The Final Empire was on the North Pole.  

the.fulgid

It seems to be more apparent that different abilities are granted depending on the design of one's Spiritweb. Is the design of a Spiritweb, and the abilities it grants, limited to a specific Shardworld or are the designs universal across the cosmere? For example could someone from Roshar go to Scadrial and have Hemalurgy done on them and have it work?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yeah, some of the magics are more regionally-locked than others. Hemalurgy will work on any planet. But, for instance, you'll notice that Elantrians have trouble even going to the next nation over. There's a specific reason for that. Most of the magics transcend location.

the.fulgid

My question, in regards to Dragonsteel, is: Is there a possibility that somebody with the ability of microkinesis can see the spiritweb and alter it according to their will?

Brandon Sanderson

This is, this is totally possible. But you have to remember this is pre-Shattering of Adonalsium. Dragonsteel is the story of the Shattering of Adonalsium... the whole book is before, the whole series... So there are lots of things going on there that are-- like you will-- yeah. But it’s not canon yet.

Questioner

How do you start a new book?

Brandon Sanderson

I start with an outline.  I like very detailed outlines, and I like to know where I'm going before I start.  If I don't have an ending in mind I'm in trouble.  So, I will often spend a lot of time imagining that I'm *inaudible*, you know, walking on the treadmill or going for a walk or something, and getting through my head just what I would imagine being the cool scenes from this book.  What are the scenes that people are going to want to read, that are going to make it all come together.  And then I build those into my outline.  And I usually outline backward, start with those cool scenes, and then I write my book forward.  

Questioner

Safehands: Where did, that-- like why? Is there like a cultural *inaudible*?

Brandon Sanderson

There is a culture-- Now the actual answer to that is because different cultures have really different mores, and if you go around our world you will find places where, for instance, showing the bottom of your foot-- where the bottom of your foot is offensive, or where showing certain parts of your anatomy is not offensive that it is here. And that is very common, it's part of what it means to be human.

Now if you want to trace back in Rosharan time, there is actually a moment that you can point at and say "this is where it started" and it started right after the Recreance where all these Shardblades and Shardplate were suddenly out there everywhere, and certain people in power wanted to make sure that half the population didn't have access to them, and so they started emphasizing a certain philosophy book that had been written by a woman that said "feminine arts were one-handed, masculine arts were two-handed".

And because of this it became culturally ingrained, which then-- basically it was a misogynistic ploy to keep the women from having the Shardblades, and then in that a certain movement of the women seized writing, and that's when men stopped writing. It's kind of a reciprocation on it. But that's kind of where it went, but it's become much bigger than that, if that makes any sense.

Questioner

What do you do if you safehand is your dominant hand?

Brandon Sanderson

If you are darkeyed it's not a problem, you just wear a glove. If you are lighteyed then you learn to write with your non-dominant hand, which is a problem.

Questioner

Does metal on Scadrial hold Investiture the same way gems do on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Questioner

Will there be more romantic sub-plots?  I really enjoyed the section with Shallan and Kabsal.

Brandon Sanderson

There will be more romantic subplots.  There will definitely be.   If you watch there will be a lot more.  I am a fan of romance.  

Questioner

Before Preservation locked up Ruin, or whatever, or if Ruin had won. Would atium exist?

Brandon Sanderson

...There are timelines where there would be no atium.

Questioner

...So if Harmony exists, does atium exist?

Brandon Sanderson

Atium does not exist because there is no Ati. Well there is atium left over from before, but--

Questioner

So it was only part of Ati's body and not part of Harmony's body.

Brandon Sanderson

There is no atium, there is no Preservation any longer, there is no Ati.

Questioner

So does harmonium exist?

Brandon Sanderson

...There's no Leras and there's no Ati, there's no Ruin--

Questioner

Does harmonium exist then?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question.

Emma

How old were you when you started writing?

Brandon Sanderson

I was fifteen when I started writing my first book.  It wasn't very good.  I had to practice a long time before they started getting good.  

Questioner

Miscellaneous questions about safehands. So the women are described playing instruments, are they just instruments they can play with one hand?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, often feminine arts are one-handed arts, but you got to remember that one, a lot of the darkeyes will wear a glove instead, and number two, the safehands of some of the more utilitarian dresses are built with something like an oven-mitt glove on them, underneath, so you can grab things and stuff. So Shallan, she can grab her sketchbook with it and draw. But yes, feminine arts are supposed to be one-handed, so they would, y'know, try to play these it would be one-handed.

Questioner

How does a bridge crew set a bridge down across a chasm in front of them?

Brandon Sanderson

So... I may have to act this out.

*Proceeds to act it out, no video available*

I am Kaladin, running at the front of the bridge, right? Now there's a chasm there. I'm going to step out to the side and grab the poles to the side, and lower the front bridge down. Then these guys are going to lower theirs down while I run around to the back and grab the poles on the side, which extend out. And we're going to get several ranks and then we're going to shove together.

We're waited on this side, remember, we've got the weights that roll to one side or the other. So it's weighted on this side, so we get it over and then plot it down. We're looking for a place where we're a little bit above-- with the paths, alright? And then we go to the other side, your reposition the weights or the poles or whatever it is on the thing so that it's heavier on this side and then get everyone and then you pull it back across and then you can lift it.

Questioner

Okay, great, thank you very much.

Brandon Sanderson

Now also keep in mind a couple of things: 0.7 Earth gravity, a very important aspect for actually making this bridge weight work for carrying it; and it is a soulcast wood. The only way to get the numbers to work if you've got engineers, the weight-- you actually have to realize that we've got a wood that is slightly stronger, yet lighter, than what-- it's like a-- Peter came up, it's like a balsa, there's a soulcast wood that is really a great wood for this sort of thing.

That doesn't mean it's light, it's still a really heavy book

Questioner

*Laughter*

Brandon Sanderson

A really heavy bridge.

Questioner

Will Joel become a Rithmatist?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh that's totally a RAFO.  Here's your RAFO.  

Questioner

Are the Unmade the analogs to Heralds?

Brandon Sanderson

There is certainly something similar going on there. Be aware that it's not a one-to-one correlation, that they're not exactly the same. For instance: Many of the- the Unmade are referenced by Taravangian in this, and he uses a phrase for them, and that is correct, that's what they are.

Isaac Stewart

That's one thing we haven't done in these books, is sports teams! In the newspaper! The Hazekillers!

Brandon Sanderson

They don't have professional sports on Scadrial.

Isaac Stewart

Oh they don't? I didn't know that.

Brandon Sanderson

It's actually a plot point.

Questioner

[My friend] thought Hoid is Compounding Luck.

Brandon Sanderson

That is an interesting question and they are a smart person.

Questioner

Can lerasium be regrown like atium, like in a Pits of Hathsin, just for the lerasium, or no?

Brandon Sanderson

Lerasium did not have a Pits of Hathsin analogue... Not anymore, Leras is dead.

Questioner

Will we find out what Shardplate is?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but that's not next book.

Questioner

Feverstone Keep, is that part of Stormseat?

Brandon Sanderson

Ummm. I haven’t told people where that is, have I?

Questioner

I don’'t think so.

Brandon Sanderson

I don't believe that it is.

Macen

I have read White Sand and Aether of Night, and I don't know why they're not published because I loved both of them.

Brandon Sanderson

White Sand is not published because I don't feel that for one, Kenton has the depth of character that I like to have nowadays.  He's more an old school character of mine where he just isn't, personality wise, doesn't have quite enough.  Beyond that I feel that White Sand as a narrative meanders a little too much.  I feel if I cut back about a thousand words and fix him, we would have a good book.  Aether is not published because I feel that I wrote two different books and didn't blend them together very well.  There is the kind of farcical, Shakespearean, switched places, silliness, and it's fun, but it's like a mistaken identity almost sort of stuff and romance and things like that mixed with these dark things are coming out of the shard pool and destroying the world.  And those two stories never meshed together well enough for me to want to publish them.  

Macen

So would you say it would take one more revision?

Brandon Sanderson

White Sand one more revision. I'm not sure what I could do with Aether of Night because those two just don't work together.  White Sand we are trying to do as a graphic novel.  

Questioner

Are you going to release more Laws of Magic?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe.  The three that I have are really solid.  I'll have to see if there's anything else I would want to write.  It partially is while I learn.  There's kind of two unofficial laws right: Law 0 which is err on the side of a process, and then there's a law about trying to make everything interconnected.  But that kind of blends into the three, right?  So I'm not sure if I need a new law for that one or not.  

Questioner

Where in Roshar do Ryshadiums come from?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a RAFO. I will answer it soon.

Questioner

Will we find out in Stormlight 3?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

Questioner

Would Dalinar make it so they couldn't retreat to make it more a challenge or would he just--

Brandon Sanderson

He will follow good tactics when it's time for good tactics. He won't lose a battle because he wants a better challenge. In an individual sense he will seek the best challenge for himself on the battlefield.

Questioner

I don't think Marsh would get along too well with Hoid, but are they ever going to hang out?

Brandon Sanderson

*pause* Are they ever going to hang out?

Questioner

Are they ever going to meet?

Brandon Sanderson

Are they ever going to meet. It is likely that if they both survive for many more books that they would, but I can't promise it.

Questioner

Who's Tarah?

Brandon Sanderson

*long pause* Why do you want to know?  ...Tell me why you want to know.

Questioner

Because she's important to Kaladin and Kaladin's important to me?

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, that's a decent answer. She-- um. Ehhhh. She was someone Kaladin cared for deeply in a romantic way.

Questioner

Since a computer monitor, the monitor itself isn't metal, could Ruin read something on that and change that. Could you essentially have a conversation with Ruin by typing something on your monitor and having him change it and respond to that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. I think that could work.

Questioner

Are we ever going to get a list of Wayne's Twinborn names?

Brandon Sanderson

Heh, what do you mean? The--

Questioner

He claims to have all the Twinborns memorized?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, okay.

Questioner

Are we going to have a list of that anywhere sometime?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah I think I let the RPG go wild with naming them, and-- I haven't named them all, I'll be honest with you. I name the ones that I need when I need them.

Questioner

Have we met any of the champions in The Stormlight Archive yet?

Brandon Sanderson

Have you met any of the champions in The Stormlight Archive yet. Yee-- You have-- Um, I'm not going to answer that one.

Nethseäar

If you were to Hemalurgically give a fallen Elantrian Feruchemic gold, would they be able to store Health?

Brandon Sanderson

A fallen Elantrian store Health-- And you gave them a Hemalurgic spike-- That’s a good question, I would think-- *long pause* You know I think they would not be able to, that’s an excellent question.

Nethseäar

Would it suddenly store up the moment they were restored?

Brandon Sanderson

No, it would not suddenly recover everything. Unless you wanted to channel-- You could do some goofy things but it would kinda ruin their connection to the Dor. But I don’t think it would suddenly-- Y’know. You might be able to do something where you steal it away from them, that could possibly happen. If they were spiked while they were full Elantrian you could probably get more out of them than your average person.