Recent entries

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9901 Copy

    Andrew The Great

    Why can Vin fuel Elend's atium-burning, even though Atium is Ruin's Body and Vin is using Preservation? Or did I misread that and he was just burning atium and had run out of everything else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, as has been pointed out:

    A powerful peace swelled in Elend. His Allomancy flared bright, though he knew the metals inside of him should have burned away. Only atium remained, and the strange power did not—could not—give him this metal. But it didn’t matter. For a moment, he was embraced by something greater. He looked up, toward the sun. (From the text.)

    As a note here, the powers granted by all of the metals—even the two divine ones—are not themselves of either Shard. They are simply tools. And so, it's possible that one COULD have found a way to reproduce an ability like atium's while using Preservation's power, but it wouldn't be as natural or as easy as using Preservation to fuel Allomancy.

    The means of getting powers—Ruin stealing, Preservation gifting—are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9902 Copy

    Death Magnetic

    I'd first like to say that this series was fantastic. I was exceptionally pleased with how you tied everything together in this final book of the trilogy.

    (1) This series has the best world-building, magic system, and over-arching plot of any epic fantasy I have ever read. I think George R.R. Martin is still the master of creating memorable characters, developing them, and having them interact with each other. Other authors, like Hobb and Rothfuss, are better at evincing emotion. You are an amazing writer yourself.

    That being said, I have a couple suggestions for you.

    (2) The first contradicts itself, so take it for what it is. I would suggest that you write how you feel the story should be written. Getting inspiration from someone is one thing, but changing your work because some people want a happy ending or dark ending takes away from the purity of writing. The part you added in at the end where Sazed let Spook know Vin and Elend were happy in the afterlife really stuck me like a thorn. I think it was apparent how happy they were together in life and how necessary their sacrifices were. That would have been enough for me.

    (3) My other suggestion is more of a plea really. Please don't extend this series just to capitalize on it. If you really feel there is more story to be told, then tell it. I, for one, thought the ending would have been perfect if allomancy, hemalurgy, and feruchemy would have faded from existence as their corresponding gods did. It would have been rather romantic to have people start over with a new "normal" world.

    Congratulations again on completing a masterful work!

    Brandon Sanderson

    1. You humble me. I don't think I've NEARLY the skill for characters that Mr. Martin does, and that's not just an attempt at modesty. I hope to be there some day, however.

    2. This is a tricky one. I didn't change the worldbuilding or the cosmology of the story in order to fit what people wanted, but I feel strongly about using writing groups and test readers to see if my intention in a book has been achieved. I show things to alpha readers to see what is confusing or bothersome to them, then decide if that's really something I want to be confusing or bothersome.

    In my mind, the presence of a powerful being such as Sazed, mixed with some direct reaching from beyond the grave by a certain crew leader, indicated that there WAS an afterlife. However, test readers didn't get it, so I tweaked the story to make it more obvious. Perhaps I should have left it as is, but I liked both ways, and decided upon the one I liked the most in the context of reader responses.

    I do plan to always tell the stories from my heart, and not change them because of how I think the reactions will be. But I do think it's important to know what those reactions are ahead of time and decide if they are what I want or not.

    3. We are on the same page on this one. You can read other posts on the thread to see what kind of thoughts I might have for more Mistborn books, but I don't know if/when I will write them. It depends on the story and how excited I am to tell it.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9903 Copy

    LexLuthorXIV

    So I have a couple of questions....

    I loved the book, it was all great UNTIL Vin and especially ELEND died. I can see why you did it, but I was crying so hard when Vin confirmed Elend was dead. I actually had an urge to burn the books right then and there and pretend it had never happened. Either way, I continued reading and then found some sliver of hope when Sazed said he hadn't figured out how to restore the souls YET, he said he would get better at it.

    1)Does that mean that he might someday, maybe, hopefully (pretty please) bring them back to life? I suspect that you might not answer, but can I at least hope? Cause if anyone deserved to live a full NORMAL life it was Vin and Elend. Besides, it would ROCK if Elend and Kelsier ever got to meet each other......

    Aw man.....I'm still crying over Elend....Is it wrong I get so attatched to characters? Its just that Elend and Vin got so little time together. It's so sad. Which reminds me: You mentioned, when someone asked about Sazed meeting Twindyl again, that he hadn't because he hadn't reached that space where souls were and the ones that were trapped in the in between were the ones that had a connection with either the physical or the concious world. Those weren't the exact words but it was something like that that IMPLIED that Vin, Elend and Kelsier were somehow still connected with the earth because unlike Twindyl the hadn't progressed past that in between place.

    2) Am I right and maybe going somewhere, or am I talking total nonsense and simply trying to cope with the loss of Elend?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the reasons for that line at the end is to give you, the reader, the power and authority to bring to the characters the ending you wish. I may do more in this series, but until then, please take the future of the characters wherever you want in your own mind. (Also, you mention that they had such little time together—which is true, but also remember that there was a year between books one and two, then another year between books two and three. They spent most of this time together.)

    The door is open for a return of Elend and Vin. Will I write it? It isn't likely to be soon, if I ever even do. Does that mean it won't happen? No. Not at all. If I write more Mistborn books, they will be hundreds of years in the future. During that time, Sazed could have learned to get souls into bodies, given Vin and Elend a life together somewhere away from the others, where they wouldn't have to struggle quite so much like they did through their lives, then ushered their souls on to the beyond. Or they could hang around with him, working with him as he takes his next steps to shepherd humankind on Scadrial. Or neither of the above. Imagine it how you wish, for I'm not going to set this one in stone for quite some time, if ever.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9905 Copy

    Comatose

    So here's my last question. If there ARE people on the other side of the world, did Vin kill them all by placing the sun on their side, or do they have they're own Ruin/Preservation battle going on over there as well? Do they also have allomancy feruchemy and hemalurgy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, they're not dead. Yes, Rashek was aware of them. In fact, he placed them there as a reserve. I knew he wanted a 'control' group of people in case his changes to genetics ended with the race being in serious trouble. All I'll say is that he found a way other than changing them genetically to help them survive in the world he created. And since they were created by Ruin and Preservation, they have the seeds of the Three Metallic Arts in them—though without anyone among them having burned Lerasium, Allomancers would have been very rare in their population and full Mistborn unheard of.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9906 Copy

    Comatose

    I also wondered if you could explain that circle in the cave some more, I didn't quite get it.

    I was sure Vin was the hero right up until the end, even though originally before I read the book, I was sure it would be Elend or Sazed. But then the epilogue author started naming people off, so I knew it wasn't them. But it only mentions Vin as 'she,' when talking about how she got her spike. I was sure one of the epigraphs was going to be: "And that girl is me."

    The Sazed thing totally made sense in hindsight, I can't believe I didn't figure it out. And we were right about the "on the arms," bit being the part Brandon was referring to, good find Vintage!

    I'm a little sad that the lake doesn't come into it more. But the Mist spirit and the Deepness were BOTH Preservation. That was cool.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I think I did a post on the circle. The short of it is, that is drawing too much attention. Just because Vin didn't quite understand it doesn't mean it's important. (Though, of course, there are other things she doesn't understand that ARE important.) Also, the lake might be involved more at a later date. See the other posts.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9908 Copy

    Xandeis

    What is RAFO? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Read and Find Out." It was one of Robert Jordan's favorite phrases, and I have inherited it. (Symbolically, actually, through his bookmark, which was given to me by his wife. It's a little string one with weights on the end which spell out RAFO.) When I say it, I don't mean it rudely at all—it is intended to mean "I'd rather not say, as this will spoil future books." It doesn't indicate how I'll answer the question, or even if I will answer it. It simply means that if I were to do so now (even to say "I'm not going to include this") I feel it would spoil the enjoyment of future books.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9911 Copy

    Questioner

    [Kaladin] gets his arm and various things cut with shardblades a couple times… and he regrows his soul more-or-less. Is that a function of his being a free Radiant or is that from being able to absorb Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is by being a Radiant. Which allows him to absorb Stormlight so--

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9912 Copy

    Questioner

    Is there anything I should look at as a hint for something we haven’t figured out yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, that's a good question too. There are moments through the entire original trilogy that people haven't figured out yet. But they've picked out most of what they are, they just don't know why. Like they know something weird is happening, they don't know-- They haven't guessed why the weirdness is happening. The weirdness is figure-out-able, but it would be hard. But it's not outside of reason for you to figure out why these certain moments-- these moments people have not yet figured out.

    Questioner

    Because Odium had influence on Scadrial.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Not a ton, but yes.

    Questioner

    ...Kelsier had an irrational hatred for Nobles.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He did, he did indeed.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9913 Copy

    Questioner

    How does Odium kill Shards?

    Brandon Sanderson

    OOOh that's a big ol’ RAFO. It's a RAFO I've promised to answer in the books eventually.

    Questioner

    We've got a theory… He kills a Shard by destroying the idea of the Shard into a population with hate. So on Sel he replaced the idea of Dominion with hatred of other people…

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s a very good theory... I will say-- Yeah.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9914 Copy

    Questioner

    In Adolin's fight in Words of Radiance, when his shardplate was being destroyed. Had he fought Sadeas right there, would he have been able to win? Or would he have--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Adolin thinks that he would have been able to.

    Questioner

    Adolin thinks he could, but would he be able to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know. Adolin's pretty good, but Adolin's not as good as he thinks he is.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9915 Copy

    Questioner

    So the lighteyes that get Soulcast into stone, can they be Awakened?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *pause* So… Yes, but their soul is gone. When they get Soulcast into stone it is only the corpse, so yes they could.

    Questioner

    Would it be a lifeless or a-- Would it be like Awakening something inorganic or would them once being alive help?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The fact that they were once alive will help. There's a Spiritual Connection that still exists on the Spiritual Realm and that is going to help. But you're not going to get the person back. The fact that it is the exact form of a person is going to be really helpful. It would be a lot easier to Awaken that than it would be to Awaken other stone.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9917 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Hoid aware that he's fictional?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    Questioner

    So he's not like *unintelligible*

    Brandon Sanderson

    He's not. And any quotes along those lines are-- that you might think he is saying for that reason are actually in-world-- for in-world reasons you don't understand yet.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9918 Copy

    Questioner

    [Lift, her abilities] how might that apply to elements? Fire, air, rain.

    Brandon Sanderson

    She just changes friction, so however it would interact with it in our world it will interact that way.

    Questioner

    So fire would... I don't know how that works.

    Isaac Stewart

    She could keep someone from lighting a match, possibly.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9919 Copy

    Questioner

    Abstract concepts, have representations in Shadesmar. Fear, whatever. So, now we are going into complete nerd-land. I'm a programmer. the things that I program, the programs that I make, to me they are discrete things that kind of come alive. So the question is-- The first part of the question would those have a representation in Shadesmar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So here's the thing. A lot of people have to collectively start doing this for it to come alive. And it's not just any abstract concept, it is an abstract concept related to the Shards that are there and Investiture actually actively coming to life bearing that sort of personality and attribute. So that's-- you see things relating to human emotions, you can see things related to nature, because of Cultivation, you see a lot of things relating to how people interact with one another, from Honor. So the answer to that is that seems-- That's not really what spren are doing, but programmingspren you could see something coming from

    Questioner

    Programmingspren, but not a spren for a specific program.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Unlikely, yeah to have a spren for a specific program. There are some really weird spren, that are different. So it's not impossible, but it's not likely either.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9924 Copy

    Questioner

    Mistborn travels to Roshar, what does he or she use to get Invested?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *pause* So. *pause* I think I've talked about this before on the 17th Shard, but I'm not 100% sure and so I don't want to anything right now, not knowing what I've said. But you can look it up. You can ask Peter. Hey Peter, have I talked about someone using-- Have I ever in an interview before talked about using metals... A Mistborn travels to Roshar and uses the metals there?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    I think that you have said that they could do it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I said it.  Okay, so the thing about the metals you have to understand is the metals are a key, the metals are not magical themselves, except for specific ones. If I've already said that I can tell you, go to Roshar and you could use the metals that are there to power your Allomancy because the difference is in your soul and you're actually drawing directly from Preservation. Remember that on the Spiritual Realm, this is the big tidbit--they're listening. On the Spiritual Realm time, distance, and space are irrelevant. It's a place where time and space are compounded in one. So anything that exists on the Spiritual Realm, space doesn't matter for it.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9927 Copy

    Sporkify

    This is more towards the whole physics stuff, but is Feruchemy really balanced? If it gives diminishing returns, wouldn't this end up as a net loss of power?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It doesn't diminish. Or, well, it does—but only if you compound it. You get 1 for 1 back, but compounding the power requires an expenditure of the power itself. For instance, if you are weak for one hour, you can gain the lost strength for one hour. But that's not really that much strength. After all, you probably weren't as weak as zero people during that time. So if you want to be as strong as two men, you couldn't do it for a full hour. You'd have to spend some energy to compound, then spend the compounded energy itself.

    In more mathematical terms, let's say you spend one hour at 50% strength. You could then spend one hour at 150% strength, or perhaps 25 min at 200% strength, or maybe 10min at 250% strength. Each increment is harder, and therefore 'strains' you more and burns your energy more quickly. And since most Feruchemists don't store at 50% strength, but instead at something like 80% strength (it feels like much more when they do it, but you can't really push the body to that much forced weakness without risking death) you can burn through a few day's strength in a very short time if you aren't careful.

    Footnote: This question was asked when fueling Feruchemy with Allomancy had only been seen in Rashek. As such, the term compounding is used purely to reference tapping at a higher rate than can be stored.
    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9930 Copy

    Questioner

    I cannot picture what the symbol for the Ghostbloods looks like.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Isaac?

    Isaac Stewart

    I've got it on Dropbox.

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...Partially this is because I hadn't decided how I wanted it to look, so I didn't let Isaac put a picture of it until we got it. So I'll put it in the third book. That's partial-- And I imagined what I wanted it to look like and I said "Draw this" and Isaac came back with like five and I'm like "Oh… No, it's not any of those".

    Isaac Stewart

    We had done a bunch of different concepts, but that's the one we ended going with.

    Questioner

    Oh yeah!

    Brandon Sanderson

    And I was imagining something more like this or this originally.

    Questioner

    Yeah, that's kind of what I originally-- Yeah, that's awesome.

    Isaac Stewart

    But this one winds up being a little more distinct, I think, from the others.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9931 Copy

    Questioner

    Why have we not seen strong emotions like love or hatespren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So. *pause* That's a good question, it actually is something I've considered a lot. Spren, it's hard to explain, but I'm going to try and vocalize it. It's partially that s-- that emotions that are like that are so individual to each person that you can't as easily create an identity for the Rosharans in their collective unconscious, if that makes sense? That they're just so-- and they're so ubiquitous that it didn't end up working the right way. That doesn't mean that they don't exist, but it's just not the same sort of ubiquity of some of the other ones. And I treat spren like races. Of animals. It's like saying "Well why didn't an animal grow that looks like a cat but has floppy ears?" or something like that. Well it just didn't happen, right? The organic nature of it-- There's no reason it couldn't have happened, and maybe you say "That's a fox, Brandon" but there's certain creatures that could have grown in our world that didn't and it's kind of a mixture between those two things. I kind of had to decide I didn't want a spren for everything for those reasons. And I wanted some spren to be really, really rare. And so you might see like a lovespren, but it doesn't pop out for puppy love, does that make sense? Or you might feel it, but there are none of those in the Cognitive Realm nearby, so they just don't show up.

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9932 Copy

    Sporkify

    Before, Inquisitors had supernatural healing. How did they get the Feruchemists for the spike? Were the keepers not so hidden after all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The keepers have been hunted for years. Much like skaa Allomancers, they were often captured and taken by the Inquisitors. It didn't happen nearly as often, of course. Two things to remember, however: Not all Inquisitors had the same spikes, and spikes CAN be reused with much less effectiveness. The longer they are outside of a body, the more their power degrades.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9933 Copy

    Questioner

    So Threnody, does it have anything to do with Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh, I mean--

    Questioner

    Beside y’know that there in the same--

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it doesn't. I mean, it's connected to the larger cosmere… You will find more. There are important people from Threnody that are involved in things. You've seen other people from Threnody in the books but I don't think like it's connected to Roshar in any special way

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #9934 Copy

    Sporkify

    How did Inquisitors find Atium mistings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They spike the drinks at one of the nobility's balls with trace amounts of Atium, then cause a bit disturbance. (Often, the Inquisitors themselves arriving will do it) and burn bronze and watch for brief pulses. The body will burn metals instinctively if it can, which has been shown quite often in the series. This is also how they get a lot of their secret information about who is a Misting and who isn't. It's not a perfect method, since you have to watch for Copperclouds messing things up, but it is effective once in a while.

    Any time an obligator who is not a Misting joins the Ministry, he is unknowingly given a larger chunk of atium and then forced into a series of rituals that will drain him physically and get the body to react and burn the metal. This was how Yomen was discovered.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9936 Copy

    Questioner

    In Shadows for Silence, there was one line, like in the middle of the book that *inaudible* chasms and surfing the wind. Is that like intentionally harking back to The Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm going to say, most likely not but I'd actually have to look at it again and see if I was being cute. I don't think I was because--

    Questioner

    Like riding the wind. I was like "woah".

    Brandon Sanderson

    Because if we're in Silence's mind, she's not cosmere-aware. She wouldn't know any of that stuff. If it was someone else, then maybe yeah, I was being cute. But I'd actually have to go look at it, I don't think I was being cute.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9937 Copy

    Questioner

    How did you get into map drawing?

    Isaac Stewart

    You know I mapped out things like The Legend of Zelda when I was eight years old. I was fascinated by my dad's paperbacks of The Lord of the Rings and the maps that were in those. It's just, I was doing maps like that for a while but when he asked me to do a map he didn't know that. It's worked out well so far.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9938 Copy

    zas678

    What would have happened if Kelsier and the crew had discovered Zane instead of Vin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What if Kelsier discovered Zane instead of Vin? Ohohoho, no one's ever even asked me that. I haven't considered it. That would have been a bad combination. I could totally imagine that happening, though. Need to get Zane a little bit younger than he was in the series, but yeah bad combination.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9939 Copy

    zas678's sister

    In Alloy of Law there's the news-sheet, right? And advertisements for like the soothers--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    zas678's sister

    Is this something that actually works-- could help with mental illnesses or is it more like snake oil. Because it seems like-- that advertisement seems a little more like snake oil.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It seems like snake oil, the problem is it will cover symptoms. It will not get at the core root--

    zas678's sister

    It won't solve the problem.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It will not solve the problem. And so it reads like that but it would actually do something.

    zas678's sister

    It would help you maybe get out of the funk.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, depending on the skill of the soother obviously, but yeah.

    zas678's sister

    And could you-- Are there people who fake soothe?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh yeah. All the time.

    zas678's sister

    I figured there would be.

    Brandon Sanderson

    But I mean it's not too hard for someone with means to check, because they just need someone to come in and-- it'd be a seeker and oh yeah they're actually doing it.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9940 Copy

    zas678

    Can you detect Feruchemy with bronze Allomancy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is actually possible but it's very difficult. There's a tweak that you need to do to make it work and I haven't talked about that yet. They do not know how to do it… on Scadrial. But you can theoretically detect all kinds of active Investiture. Investiture that's being used. Kinetic Investiture would be the way to call it.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9941 Copy

    Questioner

    Hemalurgy spikes lose power after they are taken out of a body, right?  So why did Vin’s spike still give her power after being so long out of her ear?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They decay, but it's not a really fast decay. And it also kind of works like a half-life thing. Does that make sense?  So you get an initial just "that's bad" but that had happened to hers long ago when she had taken it out for the first time, right? And then over time, like if that had sat out for hundreds of years you're going to end up with something like Wax's earring that's like-- it gives a bit, but it barely gives anything. But as long as you're kind of keeping it in and out you're going to be a lot better off.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9942 Copy

    Questioner

    Why in the world would the Lord Ruler spike himself?

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...Because he needed to give himself the powers that he didn't have. He could have done it like-- gained the knowledge but the power was gone so fast he actually needed to-- Well no no no, the spikes, the spikes, the spikes. So, it doesn't matter if he was spiked because he was hiding the metals inside himself so people couldn't Push or Pull on them. That's the real reason he was doing that. Does that make sense?

    Questioner

    No.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Metal that's inside of him--

    Questioner

    Ruin influenced him, what did the spiking do?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, the metals that were stuck through him were so people couldn’t Push or Pull on them. If they were outside his body people would know he was a Feruchemist. Which is the very thing he was-- so he would stick the metals inside of himself to hide them.

    Questioner

    And he did that as Hemalurgic spikes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'd have to go back and look because-- Lord Ruler is he spiked or has he just got--

    Isaac Stewart

    I thought he was... spiked but I can't remem--

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're asking something that I wrote 12 years ago.

    Isaac Stewart

    Peter, was the Lord Ruler spiked?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lord Ruler was spiked, right?  Or is it just--

    Peter Ahlstrom

    I don't think so.

    Brandon Sanderson

    --piereced with metalminds, right? They're not actual spikes, just metalminds.

    And I want to ask the Sharders on there [the recorder] about that Lord Ruler question, because I didn’t think he was spiked but--

    Isaac Stewart

    I think I recall him having the bands with spikes in them?

    Footnote: Brandon has previously stated that the Lord Ruler did in fact have Hemalurgic spikes.
    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9944 Copy

    Questioner

    Will Hoid be appearing as a major character in other books besides Stormlight and Dragonsteel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Will Hoid be appearing as a major character in books other than Stormlight or Dragonsteel. Yes, he will have a major role to play in the end sequence of the Cosmere, where he will be a major viewpoint character.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9946 Copy

    Questioner

    If you die, how do we find everything out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If I die... *laughter* This is totally legit, considering my history. So, that's why we have Peter and that's why we have Karen, my continuity editor. She goes through and enters everything into our personal wiki. I talk a lot of things through with Peter and Isaac and if I've gotten far enough into a series that we feel it's right to have someone finish it we will have someone finish it. If I haven't, or if I die tomorrow, we aren't going to have them finish 8 books, we'll just release my notes. And that will be their instructions.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9947 Copy

    Questioner

    I guess this is a continuation of the movie stuff.  I heard that you said a lot of the stuff has been optioned.  Is anything looking better more recently?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Is anything looking better. The Emperor's Soul film is actually looking really sharp. That's owned by DMG who were producers on the second and third Iron Man films. And they sent a representative on the cruise with me last week *laughter* Yes, because they wanted to brainstorm with me--it was a working cruise, I was doing a writing workshop--and so we brainstormed a lot and we have a treatment that is looking very nice. A treatment is the thing you give to a screenwriter to write the screenplay. I'm very pleased with the experience with them.

    And Shawn Levy's company is really good, so our chances are much better there than they have been on anything else.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9948 Copy

    Questioner

    In [The Hero of Ages], what would have happened if Vin had--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, no spoilers. Oh if Vin had met Hoid? Oh that's not too much of a spoiler. Ohohoho, you're going to find out. *laughter* When? I can't tell you. Spoiler. Someday I will let you know. I may or may not have written stuff that involves that and been waiting a long time to release it. We'll see when the time is right.

    Footnote: Brandon is likely referring to Mistborn: Secret History here.
    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9949 Copy

    Questioner

    I've heard rumors of a Steelheart movie and/or tv series. Do you have any updates on that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Updates, I don't know if there are a lot of updates on Steelheart other than what I've posted. Shawn Levy's company bought the rights, they're a very good company. They made Real Steel, if you ever saw that, Hugh Jackman movie. And they made the Night at the Museum films. And they have bought the rights, and commissioned a screenplay. I haven't seen the screenplay yet. I mean they only started that in July, so it usually takes six months to get a screenplay written. So I'll let you know once I've read it, assuming they tell me I can tell you.

    Shadows of Self release party ()
    #9950 Copy

    Questioner

    Alcatraz.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Alcatraz. Oh yes, Alcatraz. *crowd woos* So we got the rights back from Scholastic, who was not treating my baby with the, y'know, reverence that Alcatraz deserves, which isn't very much let's be honest *laughter* And we re-published those, they're going to start January, Tor's putting them out. Isaac has done a brand new full-color map for it. And is that going to go on the cover?

    Isaac Stewart

    ...Yeah that's on the back--

    Brandon Sanderson

    So the cover you'll be able to take off and spread out, and there's a map on the back of it. The jacket cover. Isn't that cool? We want to test this out and see if we should do it for Stormlight, so you have like a map you can spread out. So it's got a brand new full-color cover art, it's got interior art done by someone who did fan-art for the series and we just loved her fan-art so we hired her. So doing fan-art gets you places. And we have brand new covers for the first four and the fifth book, the last book, that Alcatraz will write, is coming out in June. *crowd woos* And the cover is awesome. We finally have good covers for the Alcatraz books. *laughter* They've been so bad for so long.