Recent entries

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9301 Copy

    Questioner

    What's going on in the other pole of Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oooh that's a big ol' RAFO. But it is a RAFO with a promise that you will find out before too long.

    Questioner

    So in these coming two Mistborn books, maybe? Because there was some mention of something to do with that, I thought, briefly, in Alloy of Law, just some vague--like there was something that had been found, or some brief contact, maybe...

    Brandon Sanderson

    *Brandon clears his throat, significantly* let me say this, so I don't spoil things. By the time we do the 1980's level technology, the whole world will have been explored. I mean, I can't really do the second trilogy, with-- I mean, by then, you know what the continents look like, and things. Even in Scadrial, where they just haven't explored nearly as much, but they're kind of behind on that so far, so sometime between now and then, exploration of the world has to happen. 

    Questioner

    Good point. Because they didn't have the whole volcano thing going on. 

    Brandon Sanderson

    No they didn't. They did not.

    Questioner

    How is there anyone alive over there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, I can tell you this because it's in the annotations. The people down there were placed as kind of a control group to the changes that were made to the people of the north, where changes were made to live with the ash and things like that. But other changes were still made to them. Or changes happened to them, shall I say. 

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9302 Copy

    Questioner

    So the shape of the Shardblades of the spren that pretty much die and leave them afterwards, are they specific because of something? Or just because that's how the Radiant used them, in that shape? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a mixture of how the Radiant views them, and how-- Their nature. It's a mixture of their nature and how the Radiant views them.

    Questioner

    Were they still able to shape them however they want? ...The Shardblades. 

    Brandon Sanderson

    Originally? Yes.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9303 Copy

    Questioner

    Atium and lerasium are their own special ways of Investiture, of using it. Do the other Shards have those, that even within their magic systems are unique just to that one Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    Can you tell me anything about any of that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You might see some of them some day? I think, I know you've seen at least one, but people don't know what it is? One person's asked me a question about it, so somebody's figured it out but, yeah, there are things like that in other worlds. Kind of, distilled essence of Shard, yeah.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9304 Copy

    Questioner

    I'm a poet myself and I totally related to your thoughts on writing and how to keep it fresh and on fire, and yet disciplined.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have a lot of respects for poets, it is hard work. When I had to do poetry in one of my books, I actually went to a poet and hired them to write the poems, to put the-- I don't know if you've read Words of Radiance, but the songs were kind of hired out, because I don't trust my own poetry chops, they're just not good enough.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9305 Copy

    Questioner

    What is Feruchemy, is it tied to any Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Feruchemy, is it tied to any Shard in specific? Yes, they talk about that in the books.

    Questioner

    Ok, it's like, of Preservation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, you could say that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Because it seems like one Shard, one magic system?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Here's the thing, it's more that-- They, in their philosophy, say that it's kind of a hybrid between the two, but you could kind of feel that it's more--

    Questioner

    It seems more Preservation.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It seems more Preservation, but in-world they think it's kind of a hybrid. The philosophy says that one was kind of net-positive, one was kind of net-negative and one was a hybrid. That's their in-world philosophy. I personally would place it more with Preservation.

    Questioner

    Ok so more than one magic system can be tied to one Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. 

    Questioner

    Ok, that's what I wanted to know.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Here's the thing, the definition of magic system can be, is so fluid. Like you can look at this book and say "how many magic systems are there?". Is Surgebinding one or is it ten?

    Questioner

    Allomancy's 16--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Is Allomancy 16 or one, and things like that. So yes multiple magic systems can be tied to a Shard.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9308 Copy

    KiManiak

    So, for Shardplate, when Kaladin killed the Shardbearer, which we know is Helaran, in Way of Kings, Amaram remarked that Amaram knew the Shardbearer was dead both because the Shardblade didn't disapper and also because the Shardplate began to fall off of him. And so my question is, is there some type of "lesser" bond between Shardplate and its wearer, like is it in sync with the wearer's lifeforce or--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9310 Copy

    KiManiak

    Do some Surges have a stronger cognitive aspect--or cognitive influence, if aspect is too general--do some have a stronger cognitive aspect than others? For instance does Illumination tend to have more of a stronger cognitive--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah you could say that some do. I think that that is a legitimate-- Though I'd say it is the subject of debate.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9311 Copy

    Questioner

    What's your ideal work environment?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sitting by the fire, feet up, easy chair--recliner, laptop, music. It's not very complicated. I can write almost anywhere if at least the laptop and music are there. 

    Questioner

    What do you listen to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It really depends on my mood and what I'm into at the moment. Right now I've just got a playlist on Spotify that someone has made. It's called epic soundtracks and there's like 800 songs on it. I put that on shuffle. But I guess it just depends on my mood.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9312 Copy

    Questioner

    When you're developing magic systems do you have it all planned out before you start writing the scenes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I usually do, but I let myself have some wiggle room to change things as I go. Usually by the end of the first book I have it all locked down. Before the first book I have an outline for my magic system. I write the book and see how it works and see if there are things I need to tweak, and then I go back and make sure that it's locked down, and then I can write the other two to be consistent with the first one.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9314 Copy

    Questioner

    If you electrified metal would that have any impact on being able to Steelpush or Ironpull it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not currently have that as an effect, that interfering with it requires Investiture, and electrifying is not Investiture. So no it would not. In fact, I'm absolutely sure it will not because the plans call for that to be a possibility they are doing in the future.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9315 Copy

    Questioner

    You're a lot faster at getting your books out, getting these really awesome books out, then many other writers. And I think you know who I'm thinking about. What’s the secret?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The secret is my work ethic. It's beaten into me by my parents I think. I write every day. It's like that classic pioneer work ethic. I just, I write my stories every day, I do this compulsively. I think the other thing is, we talk about someone like Pat Rothfuss. He is a perfectionist, to a level beyond me. I am okay getting my prose pretty good and then handing it to the editor, and letting them work on it, you know what I mean. He has to be perfect before he hands it on, if that makes sense. And I think that as a result, his biggest strength over me as a writer is his prose is more lyrical because he works so hard on it. So it shows. It's like he takes that extra one percent, but that extra one percent takes him like two extra years to get. Some other writers, as you get older, they just, the grind of it gets to them and they slow down. I just love what I do and I write every day.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9316 Copy

    Questioner

    When you do your outline, all the revelations and twists, do you always stick to your outline?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not. Now the difference between me and someone who's more of a discovery writer is I will rebuild my outline when I start going off of it. So what I'll usually do is I'll try-- if I think I'm gonna break the outline, I'll try a chapter that direction, see if I like it. If I do I'll then rebuild the outline and then go forward on it.

    Questioner

    Do you ever refer back to your previous book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Definitely. Usually what I'll do is I make an outline for the first book, I'll write the first book, and then I will outline the series. That's very common for me.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9318 Copy

    Questioner

    What kind of embroidery is it [on Alethi women's clothing]? Is it like flowers, patterns?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No no, it is a lot of things but the Alethi's don't do the flower thing as much... It's not really an Alethi thing, floral patterns. So you are seeing a lot of designs and hatchings. They may look a little Arabic to you. Or the glyphs and things like that you will see worked in but very stylized.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9319 Copy

    Questioner

    I had a question about how the Alethi women exhibit their wealth through their dresses. So I know there’s embroidery in the fabric and the fact that you're kind of disabling one arm? But besides that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So gemstones, like well cut gemstones and then fill them with Stormlight. 

    Questioner

    Oh ok, but they're round, so...

    Brandon Sanderson

    No no, not the spheres, the actual stones. Gemstone rocks will still hold-- The sphere is just the way to make sure you don't lose them, you can make any sort of jewellery or gemstone, in your hair or anything like that, glowing would be how they would show off their wealth.

    Firefight San Francisco signing ()
    #9320 Copy

    Questioner 1

    I've been trying to figure out how to... make an Alethi dress with a safehound pouch without the hand being all bulky.

    Questioner 2

    Yeah, or looking like it's amputated.

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are people online who have done them and they look good.

    Questioner 2

    Yeah, I've looked them up. The problem is when you have the thing there, and because your putting things that are about the size of a marble, it ends up looking like there's a clump.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh yeah, it does. It does look-- it looks odd to our eyes. It's natural to them, if that makes any sense, but if you make it a little bit tighter, also we found that helps.

    Questioner 2

    But what it be unreasonable for it to go really long, because I was thinking that would be kind of pretty.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah you could totally do a really long one.

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9321 Copy

    Argent

    The ketek in the first book ["Above silence, the illuminating storms - dying storms - illuminate the silence above"], it seems like this refers to Honor's death.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmhmm.

    Argent

    What does "Above silence," refer to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Above a silent land. 

    Argent

    Hmm. Roshar, somehow? Okay, you're not gonna tell that.

    And the second ketek, in Words of Radiance, similarly refers to the highstorm and the Everstorm... Is there more to it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it's by Navani about the two [storms].

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9326 Copy

    Argent

    There is a person on the forums who noticed that Shallan has this awesome Memory thing going on, Jasnah seems to have a really powerful, kind of, geolocation thing going on, Kaladin is a really good fighter - are those just their traits, or is there something supernatural going on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is something supernatural going on. Each Order... Well, how about this. If you look at the scholar interpretations, there are some scholars who think that these things are not supernatural, in the past, and some who said they definitely are. But many, if you look, many Lightweavers had powerful mnemonic abilities.

    Argent

    So it's definitely tied to the Orders?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's tied to the Orders. Now, I am not going to say that you've got them all 100% correct, but each Order, there are things that come with Order, things that do not add up from simple the "you get this power plus this power," there is something else going on. And I would say that for Windrunners, watch the number of squires and the power of the squires... is abnormal for the Windrunners.

    Argent

    And each Order's squires are somehow different from the other Orders'?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeeeaaaah... some Orders don't have them, [that] is the difference.

    Argent

     But some have more?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9329 Copy

    Argent

    Can you confirm the real names of the Heralds for me? I have Jezrien (ˈjɛzɹən), Nale (for Nalan) - is that right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nale (neil) is what-- Nale is, yes, yes.

    Argent

    Chana [pronounced Shana] or Chana...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Argent

    Vedel.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vedel (vəˈdÉ›l), yeah. Chana (ˈt͡ʃænÉ™) is also called Chanarach (ˈt͡ʃænəɹæt͡ʃ). Either one would be alright.

    Argent

    Okay, but her birth name...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Probably-- I think Chanarach is actually her birth name and Chana is the nickname.

    Argent

    Vedel... Pali, for Pailiah?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, I think Pali (ˈpæli) is the nickname in that case.

    Argent

    Okay, Ash?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, that's a nickname.

    Argent

    What's the real one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Shalash (ʃəˈlɑʃ).

    Argent

    That's not he just the Vorin...

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, that one was actually symmetrical.

    Argent

    Awesome. Battar (bəˈtɑɹ)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Argent

    Kalak?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kalak (kəˈlɑk), yes.

    Argent

    Talenel (tæləˈnÉ›l), with a nickname Taln (tæln)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Argent

    And Ishar (ɪˈʃɑɹ)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9330 Copy

    Argent

    When a Surgebinder's eye color changes when they Surgebind or have a Blade [out], is the color of their eyes corresponding to their Order? So Windrunners would do blue, and then--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. 

    Argent

    So each Order gets a different eye color?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Each Order does indeed have an eye color representation.

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9332 Copy

    Argent

    Can the forms of power of the listeners be treated as anti-equivalents of the Orders of the Knights Radiant? Could we consider Stormforms to be anti-Windrunners?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You could consider it that way, but there is not a one-to-one analogue.

    Argent

    Because it seemed like there are ten voidforms, and their abilities are kind of anti-Surges...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes, there is definitely something there, but again I say, it's not a one-to-one correlation. They are not going to be exactly opposite.

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9333 Copy

    Questioner

    If I were to impulsively Soulcast pewter, the way Shallan does with the blood in The Way of Kings, would it come out that an Allomancer be able to use it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You could create Allomantically viable metals, yes.

    Questioner

    But is it automatic?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say that the pure metals are, but the alloys are not.

    Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
    #9334 Copy

    Questioner

    Where does the fiber for fabric come from on Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Brandon misunderstands the question to be about Rosharan fabrics] Some of it comes from seasilk. The silk is not the same silk that we [have], most of it is from plant-based textiles. Most of the-- here we have insects, we can use their cocoons and stuff; cocoons on Roshar have rock in them. And so it's a little bit hard. But a lot of the plants do too, and there are a lot of plant-based textiles you can use, so...

    Argent

    Didn't you ask about Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, Scadrial! I was thinking about Roshar. Yeah, Scadrial is an Earth analogue. Scadrial is my place that if it's on Earth, you can assume it's on Scadrial. That is not the case for the other worlds, but it is for Scadrial.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9335 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Denth's Motivations Here

    If you're reading through for the second time, pay close attention to the things Denth says here about Lemex. They're having a conversation about how Lemex could be a patriot but still steal from the king. Well, Denth is kind of talking about himself here, and not Lemex. He's hinting that he thinks (or would like to think) that he can both do his job and be a good man at the same time.

    These are things he's struggling with. He tries to tell himself that he doesn't care, but he does. He has kidnapped Vivenna here without her knowing it, and is very deftly manipulating her. (By the way, Jewels tails her to the assembly meeting, if you were wondering.) He does feel bad about this, just like he feels bad about killing Lemex. That doesn't stop him from doing things like this, though.

    He does plan to get Vivenna's Breath. He knows, however, that in the end he can probably just torture her into giving it to him. In this scene, if you could see into his head, he's trying to figure out how exactly he can get her to give it to him without having to hurt her.

    He doesn't really believe he can do it, though. Life has proven to Denth lately that he just has to do bad things. He almost sees it as inevitable.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9337 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Denth Chats with Her about Breath

    Vivenna and Siri are beginning their role reversals here. Siri is learning to be more reserved—though it's more that she's learning to act like a queen. Taking responsibility, being active rather than inactive.

    Vivenna is being forced, just a little bit, into inactivity. She thinks she's doing things, but she's mostly just reacting. Beyond that, she's experiencing what it's like to lose control of her emotions repeatedly.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9339 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Chapter Thirteen

    Timing of This Chapter

    My editor threw me a little curveball in the last edit for this book by asking me if I could move the first Vivenna chapter (the previous one) up a few spots so that she was introduced earlier in the book.

    This presented a problem, since I had her arriving, meeting the mercenaries, going to Lemex, then going to see Siri all in the same day. (Though across three chapters.) That meant that I had to move two chapters forward, then, since I didn't want to break with the mercenaries telling her that they were there to kill her. I wanted to go directly to the next scene with her.

    It took a lot of juggling. One of the revisions I had to make was to move this third chapter a day later in the process. She had to arrive, fall asleep, then get up the next morning and have a conversation about giving the Breaths away. Then she had to go see Siri that same day.

    I still worry that this jumble caused timing issues. I think I caught them all, but I worry that at one point Lightsong says, "The presentation of the queen is two days away," then we have Vivenna arrive that same day, then fall asleep and go see Siri the next day. If that's the case, then the explanation is—unfortunately—that the chapters aren't happening quite in chronological order.

    Usually, I try to make my chapters all chronological, even across different viewpoints. But once in a while, the story is better if they aren't. The distinction is very hard to pick up. But I think it may happen here. (Note that a lot of authors, like Robert Jordan, don't strive for chronology—they like it better if the chapters are out of order a little. In a Robert Jordan book, for instance, we'll often have characters doing things in one chapter, then jump to other characters doing things a few weeks earlier. The chapters are always chronological by viewpoint, but the viewpoints can be off from one another. In fact, he plays with this concept a lot, setting book ten mostly back during the same time as book nine.)

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9341 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Siri Realizes That She Needs to Be Proactive

    As I said in the other section, I think that Siri's plot here is just a tad accelerated from what I'd like—but that's necessary. Nothing is worse in a book than a character who never does anything. She needed to get through her fear and her worry and decide to become proactive. It was only then that interesting things could start to happen in her storyline.

    So, I pushed through the moments of indecisiveness and inaction as fast as I could, getting to this moment where she decides to change. I feel that her character being what it is (impulsive and determined) justifies her quickly deciding to take responsibility for herself, now that she's been placed into a situation of great stress.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9342 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Chapter Twelve

    Lightsong Hears Petitions

    The concept of petitions—and the gods being able to heal someone one time—grew out of my desire to have something about them that was miraculous. Something obvious, something more than just an ability to make vague prophecies. Their Breath auras are amazing, true, but an Awakener with a lot of Breath can replicate that.

    I took the idea of being able to die in order to heal from an idea discarded from Elantris. If you look at the deleted scenes (Caution: Spoilers for the ending of Elantris), you can read about how there was originally a subplot to the story where the Seons (the floating balls of light) could expend the Aon at their center and create a miraculous event one time. However, doing so would kill them. I eventually ended up not using this plot structure in the final draft, and so I cut all references to this ability from the book. I felt that it was too contrived in that novel.

    I've always thought it was interesting conceptually, however, so I developed it into this book as an aspect of Returned that makes them different. They can create one miracle—and in this world, that one miracle has to be a healing. They can expend their divine Breath to heal someone.

    This created another problem for readers, however. It became very difficult in the book to explain to them that a Returned could still Awaken things—but not by using the Breath granted to them by their Return. In other words, if a Returned gained a hundred extra Breaths, they could use them just like anyone else's. But if they give away the Breath they start with, it kills them.

    Every person starts with a Breath. Well, Returned start with one too—a divine Breath that can be given away to heal someone else's Breath that is weakening and dying. That's what these petitioners are asking for.

    But regular Breaths, they can give those away. They just have to be tricky about it.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9343 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Anyway, in this chapter, he's trying to give Siri a seed of worry and doubt. He's hoping that if she feels she's in danger, she'll trust him more and that will let him do what he needs to. At this point, he's not sure that he will kill her. It's more that he's hoping he'll be able to manipulate her to in turn manipulate the Idrians in the city. So he wants to make sure Siri sees the Hallandren as her enemies. He can tell that she's beginning to think her life in the city isn't all that bad, and he's worried about that. Idris and Hallandren won't go to war, in his opinion, if Siri is too content.

    However, Denth's success with Vivenna out in the city (and yes, Bluefingers is the one employing Denth) will eventually convince Bluefingers that he doesn't need Siri for that role. Unfortunately for her—and for him, in a way—he realizes that if she were seen as having been killed by the Hallandren priests, it would certainly spark a war.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9344 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Origin of Bluefingers as a Character

    Bluefingers originated, like most ideas for my books, as a character unconnected to any story or world. I wanted to tell a story about a scribe in a palace who was looked down on by the nobility for his simple birth, but who became the hero of the story. I felt that a scribe would make a nice, different kind of viewpoint character.

    And maybe I someday will tell a story like that, but the character evolved to be the one who entered this story. He's much changed from those origins, as you can see, but he's largely the same person in my mind. And I love the name Bluefingers for a scribe character.

    Yes, Bluefingers was also planned as a traitor from the beginning. The whole reversals idea required me to build my shadowy villains quite carefully and deliberately.

    Just above, I spoke of the original Bluefingers as a hero. Well, the thing is, that's how he still sees himself. The heroic Pahn Kahl figure with his fingers in events, ignored by the nobility (or, in this case, the priests) because of his race and position, he was able to manipulate quite a bit of what was going on in the kingdom.

    He was the hero trying to free his people. He just took it too far.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9345 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Chapter Eleven

    Siri Visits the God King's Chamber Again

    To be honest, in a perfect world, I'd probably slow this down just a tad. I'd insert another chapter from Siri's viewpoint with her going to the chambers, the God King watching her, and her being subservient. I wouldn't do this chapter, where she explodes at him, until their third scene together.

    But that would only happen in a book where I don't have quite so much going on with other viewpoints. My books are already a tad on the long side, as far as the booksellers are concerned. They'd like it if epic fantasy novels shrank down to about 120,000 words (instead of my average of 240,000).

    If I'd really thought it mattered, I'd have put the extra scene in. The real problem is that since Siri is only one of four major viewpoints, I needed to be careful. If this book were only about her, I could have filled her chapters with more political intrigue and added a lot of subplots. That would have made a slower pacing with the God King work. However, I decided not to go that direction with the book, so I needed instead to make sure the pacing was quicker on the main plot she's involved in.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9346 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Denth the Traitor

    Denth was always going to betray Vivenna. In fact, this is one of the very early concepts for the book—the idea that I wanted a bad guy who was not only likable, but funny. Too often, villains are portrayed as simply despicable people. If they laugh, it's evil laughter.

    But people just aren't like that, not most of them. They're real, they have goals and motivations, but they also laugh, cry, and feel. Denth is a mercenary. More than that, he's a man who has caused a lot of pain and death in his long lifetime, and he copes with it by letting himself be hired to do important tasks. So that he doesn't have to feel as responsible.

    In a lot of ways, I imagined Denth as the anti-Kelsier. Glib, smart, and hired to do impossible tasks. Only in this book he works for the wrong team. In this scene in particular, he was doing his best to nudge Vivenna to give him the Breaths. His job was only to hold her, to keep her captive and in reserve just in case the plots with Siri failed. That way, there would be a second princess to use in the plots. He was assigned to work for Lemex originally just to give him an in with the Idrians in the city, so that he could rile them up to incite the war further. But when he found that Vivenna was coming, he realized that she would be a much better pawn, and so he poisoned Lemex and took her instead. His employers were very happy to have a backup princess.

    So, anyway, Lemex's Breaths were secondary. Denth wanted them, but he knew that the most important thing to do here was get Vivenna to trust him. So he tried to subtly manipulate her into giving them to him. (He intentionally acted reluctant to take them in order to goad her.)

    In some ways, even though he doesn't have a viewpoint, a big theme of this book is the tragedy of the man Denth. He could have been more. At one time, he was a much better man than most who have lived.

    Tonk Fah is a waste of flesh, though. Even if he is funny sometimes.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9347 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vivenna Visits Lemex

    In the very early planning of this book, I intended Lemex to live. He was going to become a mentor figure for Vivenna, and have the very personality that she described him as having in her imagination. Spry, quick-witted, intelligent.

    So I decided to kill him off.

    Why? Well, it's complicated. On one hand, I felt that he was too much of a standard character from one of my books. The witty mentor is not only a stereotype of fantasy, but something I rely upon a lot in my writing. (Though, granted, many of those haven't been published—however, Grandpa Smedry from the Alcatraz books is a great example of this kind of character.)

    I also felt that Lemex could too easily be a crutch for Vivenna in the same way that Mab could have been for Siri. The idea was to keep these sisters consistently out of their elements, to force them to stretch and grow.

    Instead, I upped the competence of the mercenaries and decided to have them play a bigger part.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9348 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Chapter Ten

    Vivenna Meets the Mercenaries in the Restaurant

    Denth was planned as an important figure in this book from the early going. I was looking for a type of character I'd never written, someone who could be interesting, but not steal the show too much from Vivenna. But I also wanted someone who would provide some good verbal sparring (a theme of this book) without simply replicating the way that Lightsong makes word plays.

    Denth's and Tonk Fah's personalities grew out of this. I wanted them to offer a more lowbrow sort of humor, conversations that dealt with more base types of joking. They aren't supposed to be laugh-out-loud funny, but hopefully they're amusing and colorful as characters.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9349 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Parlin as a Character

    Any of you who followed the development of Warbreaker as a novel through the early stages know that Parlin, as a character, changed dramatically across revisions. He began with a different name (Peprin) and was much more bumbling and innocent. He provided some comic relief and often said dumb things.

    This just didn't work. For one thing, we already have the mercenaries in Vivenna's viewpoint to give us some fun lines. (More on them later.) For another, Peprin was just too dense. I didn't like how stupid he came off. He seemed ridiculous rather than funny. So, I chopped him out and replaced him with a similar character who was more competent.

    For instance, in the original draft, Peprin bought a hat because he thought it was cool—but it just made him look stupid. Parlin buys the same hat, but his reasoning is that if you're going to go about in the woods, you dress in woodland colors. If you're going to go about in the city, you want to start dressing in city colors. It's good reasoning, and you'll see him follow it more in the future. The two men do the same thing, but in my head the rationale was completely different, and that changed how I wrote them. (I hope.)

    Reading through the book again, I still feel that Parlin just isn't enough of a character. With the mercenaries there to dominate the scene, Parlin gets lost. I feel that if I had the time, I'd probably chop him out again and replace him with yet another character, one who talks more, so that he can be more a part of things. Ah well.

    Warbreaker Annotations ()
    #9350 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vivenna Watches the City

    One of the reasons I knew that I had to make Vivenna a viewpoint character was that there was such a wonderful contrast between her and Siri. The way they look at the world is so different that it provides excellent opportunities for the story. The way they each respond to their first visit to T'Telir is an example of this.

    Beyond that, with Siri and Lightsong locked in the court, and with Vasher doing whatever the heck Vasher is doing, we didn't have any characters who could experience the city itself consistently with a sympathetic viewpoint.

    As I've stated, this book began as one about the two sisters who are forced into each other's roles, and how they deal with those changes in their lives. Vivenna is an integral part of this process.