Is there a difference between Shadesmar and the Cognitive Realm?
Shadesmar is a word for the Cognitive Realm specifically touching [Roshar]. It's like San Diego is a word for a place in America. It's a local word.
Does Nightblood rip souls out of people, by chance?
Nightblood consumes Investiture, including the spark of life.
In the cosmere you have so much going on, what happens when you come up with something that would conflict with something else?
Then I don't put that in the cosmere.
For the people you have coming back in the Stormlight Archive--how do you pick who makes the cut?
It just depends on where I feel like going, the interludes are complete freedom for me.
How deep are you going into Shadesmar in Words of Radiance?
Not terribly deep in Words of Radiance. We're going to have to wait until Jasnah or Shallan are exploring it more.
When are we first getting a look at the cosmere coming together?
The third Mistborn trilogy is going to involve--it's the first one I planned to do a lot with. I doubt I will do much in the second Mistborn trilogy, more than I probably have done [so far]. It's fun for me, so I'll keep including things in. You'll notice that Hoid is a bigger part of the Stormlight than previous ones, but I still don't want it to come to the forefront quite yet.
For the Dangerous Women story, are you going to write anything again in that world?
That world will show up again. Silence probably won't, but the world itself, yes. It's called Threnody, it is one of the Cosmere worlds. There's not a Shard there but there are interesting things happening. There's actually been a character in other books who's from Threnody. It will eventually be clear who that is, but they have shown up in many previous Sanderson novels.
Would that be Hoid?
Hoid is not from Threnody. Good question though. Hoid is from Yolen.
You very clearly make rules for the wine in this world, like the different colors and different alcohol content. I was wondering what the inspiration for that is, and also what some of them are actually made from, because it doesn't seem like grapes.
It's not grapes, it's a local fruit. So we would not probably call it wine, we would probably call it something else. And it's based on my desire to do funky things with world building in every way I can. The color is a cultural thing.
For a Windrunner, if he had enough heating fabrials and enough Stormlight, how high up could he get?
You could exit orbit. Windrunners, remember they're gravitation and pressure. So if he knew what he was doing, we have actually factored how long it would take to get to the various moons.
It seems like a movie adaptation would have just constant spren everywhere?
That's why I made it so that not every use of the emotion causes them-so it wouldn't get too crazy even when I'm writing them. And what's happening is the spren exist on the Cognitive plane, on Shadesmar, so they have to be attracted, they have to be nearby enough to flock to you, so it depends on how common the spren is.
Where did you get the basis for the spren?
The spren are partially based out of Shinto mythology, the idea that everything has a soul and a spirit to it. And partially mixing that with my desire to have some sort of a unique representation of emotion in these books.
The coats that the Alethi wear, that the officers wear. Is it a Prussian sort of thing?
I'm thinking in my head probably French early 1800's. Just past Napoleonic. Bound tails.
How did you come up with the whole thing in Mistborn where you use metals?
I was looking for something that bridged science and superstition. Metals had an alchemical feel.
What about Kaladin getting sliced with the Shardblade and then being able to rejuvenate?
That is a clue for what is going on with Szeth and his understanding of Shardblades and the Shardblade he has.
Which is an Honorblade, right?
I can't say, but Szeth says in Book One you can't heal a Shardblade wound with Stormlight. There are other very big but subtle discrepancies between what Szeth does and what Kaladin does.
Why does the Stormfather consider himself dead, or will that be covered?
That will be covered, eventually.
What you can tell me about Investiture?
That is the word for someone or something which has gained a portion of the magic of Adonalsium, so the original whatever-it-is. Like a Shardblade is an Invested object, and people if they draw in the Stormlight, they're drawing in the magic--they're Invested.
A while back someone asked if Hoid's sword is Nightblood, you said that was interesting. Is it similarly Invested?
I'm going to RAFO that. It is a very interesting question.
Do you have a story arc for the whole cosmere?
Yes. I do. The original plot outline was 36 books.
Will we see more of Szeth’s backstory, including how he became a Truthless?
That, you will have to wait for his flashback sequences in a future book. Each character gets a set of flashback sequences. I'm not going to promise that the characters live to the book where their flashback sequences are. You might have a character die and then get their flashbacks the next book to get more information on them. This will be Shallan's flashback, then the next book will be Szeth's flashback, then Eshonai, then Dalinar.
Can you tell me what Wit put in his drink in Shallan's flashback scene?
It was something that you or I would probably not want to eat in our world, but that Wit got some benefit from eating...
Something we've seen in the Mistborn books, perhaps?
[sounding pleased] Yes, perhaps like something you've seen in Mistborn.
Siri comments on how Bluefingers seems to have a supernatural sense of time. Is it really supernatural?
It is not. Good question.
Do Vasher and Vivenna hook up? *laughing*
Uh, that's a definite RAFO.
Who is Susebron's mom?
Um... Oh, I have this... *sighs* So, the thing about it is... You read it, you know, in the book, it's not terribly relevant. And so...
Mhm. But I'm a mom! *laughs*
Yeah, but you're a mom. So it's-- I mean, I have it in the notes, but it's nobody you'd know in the books.
Lemmex. In [Warbreaker] when he's dying he pulses. And later Vasher says that it's rare. What is it...? Don't tell me RAFO...
*presumably hands RAFO card* *stander-by laughs*
Ugh!
Do you know the part in Wheel of Time when Mat is-- seems to be trapped in his *inaudible* ways before he meets Verin?
Yes.
In the town? I always think, when I read-- Every time I feel like-- Is it a <tone> war?
It is, yeah.
Writing the characters?
Yeah.
And is there any correlation between that and Legion and you?
Oh yeah, most definitely. Legion is... You know, I'm-- I don't actually hear voices or see things. But there is this sort of part of you that becomes a different person all the time. I can see if I were more unhinged I'd be like that or like Shallan.
So will Elantris be restored to what it was before the fall?
Yes.
And in Wheel of Time...
Mhm.
Do we know what Moiraine's three questions or requests were to the Finn folk?
Yes... You're going to have to ask Maria. They're in the notes. I'm not going to quote them right. I thought that I already gave people that answer.
I may have not been *inaudible*
But you can go to Theoryland and see, but I thought that we answered that.
Okay. *interrupted*
And so I'm not going to say anything now, because I might-- I mean it's been forever. I might contradict myself.
If the Liveborns are just brains in a jar, how... How do they procreate?
So they-- the Wode believes it's important. They will then use methods of... gene--
Biochemical?
--biochemical...
Okay. But the brain has to generate that signal in order to do it, or...?
They believe that they need the people to meet. It is a cultural thing and not a physical limitation.
The other lake in Alendi's bumps?
A manifestation of Ruin's gathered consciousness, much like the dark mists in book two. The lake was still around in Vin's era, but had been moved under ground. (Note that the Well is a very similar manifestation. You've also seen one other manifestation like this....)
Such as...this?
The "lake" was barely ten feet deep—more like a pool. Its water was a crystalline blue, and Raoden could see no inlets or outlets.
If that's what you're hinting at...I never thought of the connection before! I just kept thinking of Aether of Night, and never thought of this pool at all.
Both are accurate, but the first is what I meant, as most people here don't have access to Aether.
I'm also thinking that the Dor in Elantris is another Shard of Adonalsium. Certainly in the Elantris world, where the Dor came from is rather ambiguous, which I expected it would be. Of course, if other Shards of Adonalsium do exist, the Dor could have come from that source.
I will RAFO from here on the other Shards of Adonalsium, as it would be better for me not to give spoilers. Please feel free to speculate. Readers have met four shards other than Ruin and Preservation.
Have we met these four by name, or just by influence? I can't think of a name that would go with the one that the Elantris lake is a manifestation of.
Hoid could be one? I know nothing his purpose other than that he shows up in lots of different books, sometimes begging and sometimes telling stories. Since most of these series happen on different planets (though two of them may happen on the same planet as each other), I'm assuming he has mad planet-hopping skills.
...Nightblood...
Ookla, I'm going to be tight lipped on this, as I don't want to give things away for future books. But I'll tell you this:
You've interacted with two directly. One is a tough call. You've never met the Shard itself, but you've seen its power. The other one you have not met directly, but have seen its influence.
I thought Nightblood was explained sufficiently for my tastes in Warbreaker, so I doubt that it is a Shard, but I've been plenty wrong before. Also, I don't know if Hoid could even be a Shard. Certainly he has mean planet-hopping skills, but I don't know what purpose a celestial storyteller would have in this universe. He doesn't really have the same kind of power as Ruin or Preservation did, so normally I would rule him out right off the bat. But it is possible that these Shards come in many shapes, not just in the near-deific quantity Ruin or Preservation had. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say Hoid is a Shard... but, then again, I don't have any ideas for what those four other Shards are.
Maybe Hoid is just a traveler trying to find remnants of Adonalsium and stories about them. He doesn't need to be a shard, I suppose.
This is slightly a tangent, but here is a relevant chunk from the Warbreaker Annotations. As this won't be posted for months, I'll put it here as a sneak preview.
This whole scene came about because I wanted an interesting way to delve into the history. Siri needed to hear it, and I felt that many readers would want to know it. However, that threatened to put me into the realm of the dreaded info dump.
And so I brought in the big guns. This cameo is so obvious (or, at least, someday it will be) that I almost didn’t use the name Hoid for the character, as I felt it would be too obvious. The first draft had him using one of his other favorite pseudonyms. However, in the end, I decided that too many people would be confused (or, at least, even more confused) if I didn’t use the same name. So here it is. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about. . .well, let’s just say that there’s a lot more to this random appearance than you might think.
Brandon, I believe in one of Sazed's epigraphs, he actually called it "Adonasium" rather than what you are referring to here, which is "Adonalsium". I'm thinking that's just a typo, right?
I don't suppose you could tell us which book series of yours will tell us more about Adonalsium, would you? You know, just so us theorizers on the forum know when to properly theorize about these things...
Well, I guess this means that the proofreaders did not add the "L" when I marked the error on the manuscript.(sigh). Yes, the correct spelling is Adonalsium. I will try to get this fixed for the paperback, but I've been trying to get that blasted steel/iron error in the back of book one fixed for two years now. . .
If it helps, Sazed would probably under-pronounce the "L" as that letter, like in Tindwyl's name, is said very softly in Terris.
As for your other question, you will have to wait and see. Now, you could search my old books for clues, but I would caution against this. While there are hints in these, they are not yet canon. Just as I changed how things were presented in the Mistborn books during editing, I would have fixed a lot in these books during revision. Beyond that, reading them would give big spoilers for books yet to be released. White Sand, Dragonsteel, and Way of Kings in particular are going to be published some day for almost certain. (Though in very different forms). Aether of Nightshould be safe, as should Final Empire prime and Mistborn prime, though of those three, only Aether is worth reading, and then only barely. (It is still pretty bad).
And then on Elantris, does the Shaod take one 1/16th of the people? *spoken over*
Oooo, good question. *brief interruption* It does not.
It does not.
No.
What is the method or the process of choosing there?
Uh, that is a RAFO.
What did Leras do to Kel right when he died that made him stay? That prevented him from going on?
Right when he died?
Right, because he starts to go-- slip into the Beyond, and then Leras keeps him there.
Read that again closely.
He did something. He shoves him into the pool right?
Okay, yes. You just answered it.
Okay, but I wasn't sure...
Okay.
...if it was specifically what Leras did? Or if that's something only [Vessels] can do?
So it's the pool and not Leras that is important there.
In Mistborn: Secret History... The Ire--are they Elantrians?
They are.
They are.
Mhm.
And how-- what is their history with Ruin and the other [Vessels]?
So, these are some very old people, who are cosmere-aware.
Are they... that wasn't mine... Do they predate the Elantrian story?
I haven't answered that, and people have asked it. So I'll RAFO that.
Oh, great.
But let's just say they're very old, and the Shardpool in Elantris, if you go back and read about the lore surrounding it in the book Elantris, you will see that they were aware of what was happening with it before the fall of Elantris.
Did they-- were they affected by the cataclysm?
That is a RAFO!
I really like how you have different fingernails. *inaudible* Because I barely noticed, rereading for Stormlight, you've got the He--
Yeah. Herdazians.
Herdazians.
That's because Herdazians are-- have Parshendi blood. Parshmen blood. They're one of the halv-- they're one of the mixed breeds. Horneaters *inaudible* too.
Horneaters, um.. they're not *inaudible* with Parshendi are they?
Yes, they are.
That's where they get the red hair then.
That's where they get the red hair. And they actually can-- they call them Horneaters because they eat shell, and they actually can metabolize it which humans can't. Yeah. They've actually got, actually-- they've actually got different teeth than humans have.
How do people live on the Darkside [of Taldain]?
Oh!
Because like... how to plants grow...?
So, Darkside has a really weird thing going on. *brief interruption* So, Darkside is full of life. UV light comes through. In fact, on Darkside-- it's very interesting-- basically my concept for Darkside is everything's under a blacklight. So...
So it's like the scorpions you see in the--?
Yes. So actually people's fingernails, eyes, and hair glow on Darkside. And a lot of plant life glows, and things like this.
*inaudible*...Count Dooku?
I did. Count Dooku was given to me by *inaudible*, a writer from my... The joke about him is he was not actually potted, he was the plant that you put in a jar and the roots go down, so we joked about a potted plant writing my books and I wanted to put a picture of a plant that wasn't actually potted, but then the publisher wouldn't do it. I wanted to put a picture of Count Dooku but they wouldn't do that.
'inaudible*
There's a lot of divisions in the lighteyes. The lighteyes are basically...there's as many of them as there are darkeyes and the lower ranks of lighteyes are basically peasants, like you would look at them and say, but they're not quite, they're like Roman citizens, not all the Roman citizens were wealthy, things like this. And so all of them, their lives would be fairly familiar to you. The higher you go on the rankings, the less likely they are to care for their own children.
*inaudible*
You'll see a very young child in the next book and I think at least one baby. But it's not a baby of relevance to any of the main characters.
So I just finished rereading Mistborn, and I really liked reading the annotations with it.
Huh.
Are you planning on doing those anymore with like The Way of Kings and stuff *interrupted*?
*sighs* So here's the problem. I used to do those when I did the copyedit, which was really boring. Peter does the copyedits now. So I don't have to do them anymore.
Do we see Hoid in this [White Sand Volume 1]?
Yes. *inaudible*
Aw! Is he Hoid though or is he hidden?
He's hidden, but the further the book progresses the more obvious it will be that it's him.
Cool.
I don't know if he's done the obvious things yet. I can't remember where this one cut off. I'll have to go back and look because you won't be the only one who asks that.
I was just wondering--I'm a big Hoid fan--and I was just wondering if he's in this [White Sand Volume 1] and if I will recognize him as Hoid.
He is, yes. So...
And is that how he actually looks, or is that just like...
Nah, that-- it-- he disguises himself a little bit, but in this book he doesn't have to go to magical extremes. So if you is wearing a wig or something it's still kind of how he looks. I don't think we even disguised him at all. We did change it from how he was originally, because he had such a small part. I'm like, people like him more. So we beefed up his part.
With your upcoming series, Apocalypse Guard, would there be any chance for crossover with Rithmatist?
No, but it is crossover with Reckoners. But no... Rithmatist occupies a very weird space in my writing, because it was originally in the cosmere and I popped it out. And so it's not in any of the continuities I have devised.
The Herald of War at the end of Way of Kings-- I assume he had an Honorblade with him?
Yes.
Okay... So when Dalinar had the sword that he gave up...
Yes.
...for the Stormfather it actually cried, which it typically happens if there's spren in the sword, which means that was not an Honorblade, correct?
Yes, and if you look they're described differently!
Which means somebody else has the sword, correct?
The sword was switched out!
Probably by Wit. I'm not going to ask you for spoilers, but...
Wit does not have the sword.
No!?
But... I can't-- I dunno if I've told people whether or not he at one point had the sword... But he does not have the sword now.
I guess... At what point or which book will Sixth of the Dusk eventually tie in to?
So... Heh...
And if that is unanswerable, then how many years until that book comes out?
It's not unanswerable, but it's a ways off. The problem is that's a weird planet, and visiting it from Shadesmar is-- it just-- in the Cosmere Collection I'll talk about that, okay? It's a weird planet, and getting to it is interesting.
Okay...
There's no Shard in residence, but there's a Shardpool. But it's on... one of the most dangerous places... that exists. And so, let's just say it's not going to be relevant until you can regularly travel there somehow that doesn't involve popping up into a giant death trap.
Okay, follow-up question though. How many people have tried to pop up, only to find out it was a death trap?
Go ahead and read what Khriss has to say about it.
Did you have like-- I love Wayne because to me he has a little British background.
Yes. *brief interruption* Yes, Wayne-- If you heard Wayne he would sound... I mean, he's not straight up cockney, but you're gonna be like, "Oh, that's one of my mates."
Cause there's a lot of, like, words in there. I'm like, "He knows, he knows.."
Yeah, yep, yeah. I get a lot of that touring in the UK. Heading over there. I'm like, "Oh, they use this word all the time. Oh, they use this word. Oh...Okay. Things are 'brilliant.'"
About Hoid...
Yes.
Is he a sand master?
Hoid? You will have to read and find out in White Sand! I'm not gonna answer that.
I was just wondering how you come up with the names in your books?
It depends on the book.
Is it usually like a cultural tie-in kind of thing or...?
It's one of two things. Either I go for a cultural tie-in, like you say-- that's if I want to do a shorthand. Something just a little bit easier because I'm not building the linguistics out. Like Mistborn is an example of this; I didn't build the linguistics of Mistborn. The linguistics-- I'm just like, "This is a French sounding area, this is uh--" You know, because I spent my worldbuilding time on other things. But in Roshar I spent a lot of time on the linguistics. I don't want the names to just sound like names from our world. Roshar is most different. It's not an Earth analog. And so I built the linguistics. Or I sometimes do kind of a hybrid, where I pick some weird linguistic trait and I build names around it. Like Warbreaker was this. I'm like, "I'm gonna use the repeated consonant sound as a theme, so you always know who's from what culture." And so you end up with Vivenna and T'Tellir and things like this, where it sounds like people are stuttering to those from other cultures.
Is Bastille really going to write the sixth (Alcatraz) book?
Bastille is going to write the sixth book. In fact, she has already written half of it. It's got some good progress, and it is so cool, Bastille philosophizing at the front of the books about how to best punch people, instead of Greek philosophers, it's so much fun. She's got this essay about how it's cathartic about both the puncher and the punchee, right, it's good because you get to work out aggression, it's good because they may stop being stupid.
Alendi's "Piercings of the Hero"?
This is part of the manipulation Ruin did during the classical era on Scadrial, before the coming of the Lord Ruler. Piercings, and Hemalurgy, were part of the world before the coming of Allomancy in its modern form. Then, they were seen as a means of communicating with deity—which, indeed, they were. Ruin manipulated this to make sure any Hero of Ages who came would be under his influence. The reference is included mostly to indicate that yes, Alendi was under Ruin's influence. He ignored Rashek, though. (At least, right up to the moment when everything went 'wrong' for Ruin, when Rashek killed his chosen Hero of Ages.)
Do any structures/cities still exist after Sazed's ascension? Or do the survivors need to start from scratch?
Start from scratch! Good thing there are building materials in some of the storage caches....
How technologically advanced was the society before the Final Empire? You reference gunpowder, and certainly the current day seems to have technologies like canning and clocks, so how much did Rashek destroy?
They had steam technology, and were just about to hit the railroad era. Something near early 1800s in our world.
What happened to Kwaan? I was half expecting to see him amongst the kandra First Generation.
Kwaan went into hiding, and he was eventually discovered and executed by Rashek. He wasn't among the First Generation, though he would have been if he hadn't turned against Rashek. Rashek kept the plate, however, just as he kept Alendi's logbook. Partially because even then, Rashek was going a little mad, but partially because of the reminders about his old life they contained.
I'm assuming you meant Alendi hunted him down because he turned against Alendi. Or did Kwaan also turn against Rashek?
No, I meant that he turned against Rashek. Remember, the members of the First Generation were offered immortality in exchange for their Hemalurgy. They had to make this choice for all of the world's Feruchemists. Because his uncle had been the one who gave Rashek the chance to become the Lord Ruler in the first place, Rashek blessed him and included him in the decision. (Speaking directly into his mind along with the others during Rashek's moment of ascension.)
Kwaan was the only one who turned down this offer, calling it a betrayal of who they were as a people. Rashek could have just made him one anyway, but in a moment of anger, he tried to destroy Kwaan—which he couldn't do, not with Preservation's power. As the other Feruchemists changed, Kwaan remained the same. Rashek eventually hunted him down and killed him.
