Recent entries

CoffeeHolick

Did you intentionally make Kredik Shaw resemble hemalurgic spikes coming from Luthadel?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I did. The modern symbols of the metals (Spikes piercing skin) are also done intentionally.

fbstj

is Sazed important? >.< as in is he (Sazed) as important as, say, Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson

Sazed is both more important and less important than Hoid. It depends on who you talk to and which story you’re in.

atheistcanuck

Can you paralyze somebody’s individual fingers with a Shardblade, I mean theoretically, they’re a bit big to actually do it

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

feelieking

If Vivenna travelled to Scadrial, could she awaken stuff there? Could Vin burn allomantic metals on Nalthis?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, I’m afraid. Note that at least one of the magics—AonDor—is directly influenced by location.

velinion

Noticing similaritys between Fabrials/Radiants and Lenses/Smedrys… comments?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, being a Smedry is hereditary while being a Radiant is not. Lenses can only be used by Occulators, Fabrials by anyone.

So, there are bound to be similarities, but I see them as being very different.

talonnolan

How do the Shin get Stomlight, if the storms are broken up by the mountains before reaching Shinovar?

Brandon Sanderson

An excellent question that you should be asking. (So…RAFO.) Note that they don’t use it as extensively as outlanders do.

Also note that though the storms aren’t as strong there, they do still reach Shin lands, to an extent.

mistlepro

my question was Aona/Skai Shards shattering the event we saw the aftermath of in Elantris? Or a further final apocalypse?

Brandon Sanderson

The events in Elantris happened many years before The Way of Kings. That’s all I’ve said for now.

mistlepro

But I thought the monks of Dakhor and the ChayShin(?) were all AonDor related? The energy familiars are related to Skai?

Brandon Sanderson

What the Dakhor did accessed the Dor, but it was not AonDor—they weren’t using Aons, but different symbols.

RyanL1986

Do you have any plans to do cross over stories? I would love to see Stormlight v Mistborn fight

Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere cycle is 32-36 books total. There might be something like that in there.

KevinPavon

Other than Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson

It has been discovered that Way of Kings has several characters from other worlds in it. One has a Dula accent.

spencerpanger

Does Frost make any incognito appearences in any other books other than Dragonsteel? If so Book/chapter?

Brandon Sanderson

He does not appear on screen in any published books, though he is referenced. He has a non-Interference policy.

spencerpanger

Is this reference you are referring to in TWoK in form of a letter or does it show up elsewhere?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. :)

mistlepro

Ati is very obviously (atium) Ruin, Aona and Sel clearly refer to Elantris though I don’t know who/what Skai is (Wyrn?)

Brandon Sanderson

There is a group mentioned at the end of Elantris which has something to do with Skai.

mistlepro

regarding “bumps” in TWoK, did the events referred to in the Part 2 bumps already occur in your other novels?

Brandon Sanderson

So far, the books have been chronological. Alloy of Law is a little out of order, happening before KINGS.

samulihonkanen

Have you decided which future book Adolin character will be the focus of Stormlight series? Book 3-4 He is the best character

Brandon Sanderson

We shall see. Talking too much about which characters get which books risks spoiling who survives long enough to get a book.

ericpeters

Any way we could ever read Harmony's Words of Founding in total?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe someday…

Knifelunatic

Wait. You sold the rights for TV before it was published?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I actually wrote a proposal for the TV series, sent that out first, then wrote this to prove it would work.

zas678

We have conflicting reports on chronology. Is this link right, or is this link right?

Brandon Sanderson (Part 1/Part 2)

The second. I revised my placement of KINGS relative to HERO after realizing a behind-the-scenes conflict.

ALLOY had to happen after KINGS for Cosmere reasons. I had two timelines arguing, and in plotting Stormlight 2, I fixed this.

SwiftxJustice

Quick question to help me settle a debate. Could Allomancy affect a Shardplate/blade?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Investiture interferes with most magics.

eridius

Wait, are Mistborn and Stormlight Archive somehow connected?

Brandon Sanderson

Multiple people from Mistborn appeared in The Way of Kings.

The81stShephard

So, do you have a final scene in mind like RJ did that you’re working toward?

Brandon Sanderson

I do indeed!

word_thief

What would happen if a Mistborn ingested the metal of a Shardblade/Plate?

Brandon Sanderson

A Shardblade is Invested. A Mistborn isn't likely to have a tie to that type of Investiture. So probably nothing would happen…

deafdragonrider

When you will write a book with a deaf character?

Brandon Sanderson

Original draft of The Way of Kings had Taravangian as a deaf man, but I felt I did it poorly.

I have a second story I'm planning with a deaf protagonist, but I need to do more research.

angie_rasmussen

Are there any female Shardbearers? Or would they be considered immodest for not covering their safehands?

Brandon Sanderson

Eshonai, who is Parshendi, is female. (You saw her fight Dalinar in Book One.) There are others. (One is in the WoR prologue, for example.) It is easy to hide that you have a Shardblade. Historically there were many more than there are currently.

Arithered

Do you ever write cosmere stories NOT intended for publication, i.e. just for fun, sans meticulous planning?

Brandon Sanderson

I have written a few.

tsieberhagen

Will there be a Stormlight book with Parshendi flashbacks?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

OmoiDake

I want to #AskBrandon if Jasnah’s second Surge is Electromagnetism or Light?

Brandon Sanderson

Great question! It is not one of those.

j_papshmere16

How long did it take you to develop the idea / world of The Stormlight Archive?

Brandon Sanderson

I wrote down the first ideas 1993. Kept working on the world through college. First draft done 2002.

SimonGrisinger

I have a question about copper. Wouldn't a coppercloud also end up hiding their enemy's allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson

That is one of the dangers of using one.

logosgal

If you cut a plant with a Shardblade, does it die like an animal, or cut like an inanimate object?

Brandon Sanderson

Shardblades would treat plants as they would an animal, not cutting them, but severing the soul.

Arithered

Would it be correct to view pre-Shattered Adonalsium as either a perfect God or perfect power of creation?

Brandon Sanderson

That would be one way of viewing things. Depends on your perspective.

Arithered

So basically, RAFO??

Brandon Sanderson

Not TOTALLY a RAFO. More a “That works. But some would not agree.”

ericpeters

Are spren alive? Can splinters be alive?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

WeiryWriter

Is “Cryptics” the canon name for the spren Shallan draws? Should we use that instead of symbolhead/truthspren?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you may call the symbolheads “Cryptics” which is what they call themselves. 

dswint916

Will Marsh continue to shadow the Mistborn series?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes that character will continue to play a role in the future of Mistborn.

fryman1701

Would burning atium and duralumin together grant view of single far future or widespread of everyone's near future?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven't answered specifically what happens, but there is a hint at the end of Hero of Ages.

TAlanHorne

So, does every Stormlight book begin with the sound of drums playing?

Brandon Sanderson

The first five books will all offer a different perspective on the same night.

Espeon200

Is the plan still for all books in the series to be named after in-world books?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

sunraven01

So, I have to wait until book three to get Szeth’s book?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, Szeth is 3. Eshonai (she is the Parshendi Shardbearer) is probably 4. Dalinar rounds out the first five.

CameronSouri

Will all shardholders from all the worlds/realms eventually meet in one "place"?

Brandon Sanderson

They have been in the same place before. Many are dead now, though.

irothtin

How many pages of notes do you have on your own universe?

Brandon Sanderson

I’m only around 1,000-2,000 or so, at this point. (I guess I’m slacking.)

wilde4fitness

If a live Elantrian entered the pool outside of the city, could they also use it to travel to the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

Let’s just say that the characters in the book do not fully understand the pool or its power.

lamguin

How many shards has Hoid received powers from, whether taken, stolen, given, etc?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, he has a bead of lerasium.

wilde4fitness

Are the Ghostbloods associated with Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Odium has his fingers in a LOT of things.

wilde4fitness

Does the chasm on Sel have a counterpart in the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it does. But moving around there is really tough…

jaggi_christian

Can you give us any hint what Hoid is, and if you'll ever tell us his whole story?

Brandon Sanderson

You will get the whole story someday. He is a person who turned down what others accepted eagerly.

Dev_Chatelain

Have we met Odium's champion yet?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

ShenandoahGrace

So is the Wax and Wayne trilogy the second trilogy in the Mistborn trilogy of trilogies?

Brandon Sanderson

No, it's actually not. I'm going to need better terminology…

Brandon Sanderson

So, there will be a total of four Wax and Wayne era Mistborn novels. Alloy of Law, plus a Trilogy I plotted after finishing it.

NeoNoSeQue

so this 5 and 6 are not the end of this era, there is one more we should wait for, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. The last of this era is tentatively called The Lost Metal.

Brandon Sanderson

Just threw away the prologue to Shadows of Self. Sigh. Need to try something else. (My third attempt.)

SquillWill

Would you mind answering these? What defines a high Epic? How does Tia's tier system work?

Brandon Sanderson

A high epic is one where you have to negate their powers somehow to kill them.

Argent

Can either one of you, pretty please, tell us if Alethi was inspired by the Elian Script?

Peter Ahlstrom

It was not. The inspiration for the shapes was an EKG readout.

Brandon Sanderson

He might be speaking of the Thalyen script, which looks more like the Elian script than Alethi does.

Argent

Right. I was thinking Alethi glyphpairs, which seem to share some ideas with Thaylen letters.

Brandon Sanderson

The glyphpairs are more Chinese influenced. But Isaac will have to answer on Thaylen.

Isaac Stewart

Late to this conversation (forgot password!) Similarities to any Earth scripts is coincidental.

Argent

I was thinking more conceptually, less visually. Just trying to crack the writing system :)

Isaac Stewart

Thaylen and Alethi are related kinda in the same way Korean hanja and Chinese chars are related.

Peter Ahlstrom

Do you mean hangul? Since hanja and Chinese characters are pretty much the same thing.

Isaac Stewart

I defer to Peter on this one. :) And add a small RAFO, which looks a lot like 'rafo.'

MendyKittner

I thought (hoped) you meant you were working on the next set of Mistborn trilogies… Still, Shadows of Self is good too…

Brandon Sanderson

Trilogy two doesn't get to be written until after Stormlight 5, I'm afraid.

kpmill1967

Listening Words of Radiance. Can't wait for the next book. Will this be a trilogy? Thank you.

Brandon Sanderson

5 books! With another series in the same world to follow about another set of characters.

flyleaffan

I was thinking about some assumptions I have made. Are you going to write Hoid's series in first person?

Brandon Sanderson

I have tried it both ways in test scenes, and am undecided, but leaning toward first person.