Recent entries

Chaos

 I asked Brandon to write in my book something about that opposing force.

Brandon Sanderson

There was a weapon created by the opposition of Adonalsium.

Dalenthas

Was Kelsier under Ruin's influence as well? It seems to me that destroying the Pits of Hathsin (and thus preventing Ruin's power from leaking) is something that Ruin would want to happen...

Brandon Sanderson

There is a short story forthcoming which will deal with Kelsier, the days after he Snapped, his training, and what influence (if any) Ruin had on him. Most likely, this will appear in the Mistborn RPG coming out next year. So I'm afraid that's a RAFO.

Dalenthas

Does the Well of Ascension still exist in the new world? Or is it no longer necessary? I assumed that Preservation collected there like Ruin collects in the Pits of Hathsin, so if Atium keeps forming then the well should keep filling...

Brandon Sanderson

The Well (and the small wells in the Pits) is no more. For now at least.

Dalenthas

With all the talk about action and reaction and whatnot, will some force form to counter Sazed's new Ruin/Preservation mix? It seems to me like the whole nature of the world can't stand to have one person unopposed.

Brandon Sanderson

Ruin and Preservation were not the only Shards of Adonalsium, though they are the only ones on Scadrial at the moment. Sazed's ability to be both at once is actually something I drew from Eastern mythology, where it is believed that the ability to contain two opposing forces at the same time represents ultimate harmony. The Buddha, for instance, was said to have performed the miracle of producing both fire and ice from his hands at the same time.

Chaos

Is "Scadrial" the proper name to refer to the Mistborn world?

Brandon Sanderson

Scadrial is indeed the name of the planet

Dalenthas

Did Sazed leave information about how his new religion should be run for Spook and the others to find? His note to Spook implies that there is an afterlife...

Brandon Sanderson

Sazed didn't immediately leave this, as he was too focused on other things. The next period of time will be difficult for Sazed, as he essentially sees himself as an avatar of deity—the force of Preservation—and not God with an upper case letter. He's still not sure what Truth is 100%. And there is an afterlife, but it's probably not what you're thinking. In other words, Sazed has not touched Heaven or Hell, and actually doesn't yet know what the final beyond contains. He has, however, run into some people who have been sticking around something of a middle place. It's related to the larger cosmology, and I'm afraid that I'll need to RAFO anything further.

Dalenthas

Was TenSoon more susceptible to Ruin's powers than the other Kandra because he took OreSeur's Blessings?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, he was. However, the Blessing of Presence actually enhanced his mind to make him more resistant, so they balanced out.

WeiryWriter

Brandon is pretty good at including people as cameos (such as much of Bridge Four being his friends). Has he given you a cameo in the cosmere, or one of his other books, or do you know if he has any plans for one (because you totally should have one).

Ben McSweeney

You know, I don't think he has... if he did, nobody's told me and I haven't caught it. Of course, I already get name-checked in every book both in the acknowledgements and in the credits. And in a certain sense, I suppose I'm there every time my work is on the page.

WeiryWriter

You've mentioned in the past that you'd really like to do an art book of all the unused and supplementary art done for the Stormlight Archive that doesn't make it into the books. Are there any other projects that you'd love to do, if not now than at some point in the future?

Ben McSweeney

Well, as an animator/storyboard artist by day, it's no surprise that if Stormlight were to be optioned for animation I'd want to be all over that in as great a capacity as allowed. But that's kind of a cheat answer... I'd like to do more comics work, if I could find a way to make it balance. I've been enjoying the hell out of Gary Gianni's work in George R.R. Martin's new collection of the Dunk & Egg novels, a project like that could be fun. Honestly, right now I'm in a nice place with a lot of fun stuff on my lap, so as long as I can keep that rolling I'm feeling good.

mooglefrooglian

I loved the illustrations in WoR, and the broadsheet in Shadows of Self.

I'm wondering if it's possible to put more art in the books in the future. Are there limits in terms of printing costs to putting more art in things like the Stormlight books? Do you guys think the amount of art you have in the books now is perfect?

Something like an image for every chapter seems like it would be wonderful in my opinion. For example, a picture of how the bridges were held/carried during the first scene involving them in WoK (because I found that confusing).

Ben McSweeney

We actually did bump up the number of illustrations between book I and book II, but as you may know we also ran right up against the actual page-count maximum in Words of Radiance. The printer literally could not manufacture a book with more pages, we maxed 'em out.

We're never going to cut Brandon's text in favor of the art, 'cause we're not crazy, but we want to put as much in there as we can. We're probably not going to reach the point of an illustration for every chapter, but I don't think we'll be cutting back soon either.

fastlindyrick

I've seen you comment on other Cosmere-based conceptual discussions and fan art around reddit. How much does fandom influence your ideas of how things should look?

Ben McSweeney

When a fan really nails it, I think it can most certainly have an influence.

That being said, I firmly believe that the text comes first and foremost... I can't illustrate something that conflicts with Brandon's descriptions and expect it to be taken as canon, and a fan can render the most beautiful art imaginable but it won't stick in my head if they contradict the text.

tritlo

What is your favourite drawing so far? What is your next project?

Ben McSweeney

I think Shardplate is my favorite page. My favorite drawing... I think I'll have to think on that.

My next Brandon project is, unless something breaks, Stormlight III. Of course, Shadows of Self just came out, and Bands of Mourning will hit the shelves early next year, so those are the next things to see print.

tritlo

Nice! Are there any other artists that inspire you in particular?

Ben McSweeney

Oh gosh, lots and far too many to list!

If I was hoping to emulate anyone in my Stormlight work, it'd be artists like Alan Lee and John Howe for Peter Jackson, or Ralph McQuarrie and Johnston for George Lucas, or Ron Cobb and Chris Foss or Syd Meade for Ridley Scott.

I think Brandon's got the legs. But we've got a long way to go. :)

Rutsahl

How does the process work?

Does he give you his ideas, have you draw something up and get back to him when you're finished, or do you both work on it together (like in the same room, with him watching you draw.)

How many rough drafts and back and forths do you usually go through with a particular piece of work before it's called complete.

Ben McSweeney

Usually I get a rough draft of the novel, which lets me start looking for seeds (here is a neat thing) and direct subjects (here is a neat thing that Shallan is specifically described as drawing), and from that we build a list for what we'll actually produce.

Unfortunately, geography prevents me from working in the same room with Brandon very often, but we live in the age of email and Skype so it's mostly just an inconvenience that we work around. Generally what I'll do is start drafting rough sketches, submit them for feedback, and begin a cycle where we spitball ideas and work back and forth until the subject's design is settled. Then I lay out the actual Shallan page itself, putting the subject into place and deciding what else we can include. Once the page layout is approved, I'll render the final illustration.

During the entire process I'm in a regular email loop with Brandon, Peter and Isaac. We make loooong email threads. Some designs take many iterations before we get it right (the axehound was particularly difficult), some designs are nailed down almost instantly (Brandon and I got on the same page with Shardplate pretty early). There's no way to predict how it will go until it gets going.

_0_-o--__-0O_--oO0__

Do you think it ruins some of the mystique to include Shallan's sketches in the novels since her skill level is not left up to the imagination? It's kind of like the recently announced Kingkiller television show that's being developed. No matter how good of a musician they get to represent Kvothe, they will never match the skill level that I imagine him having from reading the books. Do you get what I'm trying to say?

Ben McSweeney

I totally get what you're saying.

The meta-function of Shallan's pages are to help illustrate the more alien aspects of the world around her... we focus largely on the wildlife and fauna of Roshar, with the occasional diversion into something like Shardplate. The idea is to supplement the descriptions, not to supplant them. We try to avoid illustrating characters (even though Shallan often draws portraits) in order to leave them to reader's imagination as much as possible... it's the only perfect tool for interpretation.

Unfortunately, the more popular something becomes, the greater the demand rises for visual interpretations. As such, I think it's much better to have a dedicated team directly working with the author on the subject. Because the alternative is the standard, in which artists will interpret the work at the direction of a third party (usually an Editor or Art Director), without direct, unfiltered authorial input... and possibly without even reading the book itself. I may not match Shallan's skills, but I know that I'm matching what Brandon wants to see, to the best of my ability.

TsorovanSaidin

How awesome an anime do you think Stormlight would make?

Ben McSweeney

OH MY GOD SO AWESOME.

I am biased, as an animator, of course. But I think the world of Roshar is too fantastic and unique to be anything other than fully animated. If you do it with actors, they're gonna do it in the big green rooms, and that so rarely works out well.

I'd be content with a CG animated series (Shardplate kinda begs it), but it'd be a lot trickier to do well. That being said, I've seen some really great CG, so it could be done.

TsorovanSaidin

I'm so happy you agree. I've been a pretty huge fan of Knights of Sidonia on Netflix. That's a perfect style for Plate in my opinion.

Ben McSweeney

KoS is pretty great (awesome manga, too), but the cines for Guilty Gear Xrd are just sick.

Game cinematics offer the best examples of quality, but it's not easy to get a studio in the range of Plastic Wax or Blur to dedicate the resources required for a full feature or a 22x12/24 series. Well, mostly it's just crazy expensive. But costs are always adjusting, the field is expanding, and we've got a lot of books left to publish before anyone's adapting it for animation or film.

ari54x

I think some of the 2.5d CG animation they do could work well for Stormlight- you know, where it's mostly illustrated but some action scenes use cell-shaded 3d models as a reference for the perspective and animation so it's really spot-on? That would be really cool.

Ben McSweeney

Oh, it's entirely feasible. Just a matter of the right budget with the right people at the right time. 'Course, that's a tricky triumvirate. :)

ari54x

Definitely. I'm hoping White Sand does well as a start to prove that drawing Brandon's work is a good idea.

Ben McSweeney

I think it might. And if nothing else, it's one more branch on the tree. Reaching out to new audiences is almost always a good strategy. :)

sproon

What medium do you usually favor and about what dimensions do you use for a standard book cover piece? Are they the actual book size or scaled down?

Also, do you have any clever signatures or symbols you like to hide in your work that you wouldn't mind sharing?

Ben McSweeney

I work almost exclusively in digital media these days, usually Photoshop or Manga Studio. Before I made the switch, I was primarily a pencil and ink artist. Hence the "Inkthinker" name, which I've been using for... well as long as I can remember being active on the internet. It was my first email!

Interesting you should ask about clever logos, are you already familiar with my other work? I do have a signature symbol, variations of which I will often use in illustrations. It's an icon of a lightbulb over a pen-nib, and you can find it all over my stuff on DeviantArt. Here's a good example of the logo game..

I don't think I've ever used it in Stormlight, because it would seem... inappropriate, I guess? Shallan's pages represent in-world artifacts, the lightbulb-logo meta-game has no place hiding there. I have used it a couple times for Mistborn illustrations in the MAG, and I did sneak it into an ad in the first broadsheet, but only because it seemed thematically appropriate at the time (it was an ad for lightbulbs).

Of course, the problem with a "hide the logo in places" game is that I often forget when and where I've done it at all.

sproon

I won't lie, I'm not overly familiar with your work but what I've seen, I'm a fan of for sure.

Do you enjoy the digital medium or do you miss the old days?

Ben McSweeney

I miss the secondary revenue stream that original art represents once your profile reaches a certain state. I still work with physical media from time to time, but I'm completely consumed by the variability of digital drawing. It's given me the freedom to do a lot of things I could never do before, but that option for secondary sales is greatly reduced.

If you like playing hunt-the-logo, I recommend my older work from 2007-2012, especially the game stuff. I was playing it all through my work with Fantasy Craft. Those guys give me lots of freedom to play around, and the meta-game seemed most suited to a game book. :)

_0_-o--__-0O_--oO0__

What is the best and worst part about working with Sanderson?

Ben McSweeney

Hmmm... best part is working with someone who genuinely loves what they do, and they're really, really good at it, and even better he's got a plan to keep doing it. It makes him a very inspirational partner.

Worst part... well, with the touring and so forth, sometimes it's really hard to get time where we can actually talk, even by phone. Unlike the rest of the team I don't live in the same city as Brandon, so aside from those few occasions when we're attending a con or his tour comes nearby, almost all our communication is by email. And that's a little frustrating, 'cause I genuinely like the guy on a personal level.

Brandon and I talk pretty steadily during production, but that's business and only takes place for a few months of the year. Most of the time I talk to Isaac, he has the patience of a saint.

inkfinger

Love your work, it must be so amazing to work alongside Brandon Sanderson and the rest of the team :)

As someone who wants nothing more from life than to be a full-time illustrator, I'd love to know what you think one should focus on to get into this type of work. Basically, what would your advice be to a young illustrator?

Ben McSweeney

Hm. To keep it short, I think you want to get a solid foundation in classical technique... the really boring stuff like perspective, anatomy, composition, life-drawing and portraiture. I know it might not seem like it relates to the sort of work you want to do, like you're being forced to conform to these rigid schools of thought that aren't relevant, and your teachers might mock your ambitions (if you have bad teachers), but please believe me... if you can master that cranky old-guy stuff, the possibilities are endless.

You're probably going to need to master digital tools, but most of the software we use to paint and draw in the computer is based on real-world toosl and techniques, so the more you know about the real stuff the easier you'll find it to manipulate and master the virtual. That being said, it's hard to survive as a commercial artist in the modern industry if you're not willing to work on a tablet.

It's a really competitive world out there. I worked for over ten years before I was able to make drawing-for-money into my sole source of income, and even then it was another five before I started to feel like maybe I wasn't going to grow old in the same world I grew up in. Lots of people make it happen faster. Even more people never make it happen at all. It's a great career, but you gotta be strong and well-suited and maybe just a little lucky.

The sooner you start, the longer you'll have to travel as far as you can go. :)

Argent

Are there any plans to create and release a collection of drawings as a separate book? While some of your gorgeous gorgeous arts makes its way into Brandon's novels, the focus is naturally not on them - but I am sure some of us would like to get our grubby grabby hands on a book that's only, for example, Shallan's drawings. One of her in-world sketchbooks, in a way.

If there are no such plans, is this something you would consider?

Ben McSweeney

There's plans, but they are waaay down the road. With Stormlight we're looking at a ten-book series, and we're only now on book 3.

That being said, we create and collect a lot of ancillary material during production. Failed ideas, wrong turns, and even just construction material. I don't see us leaving all that in a drawer forever. :)

Darkenmal

What's your average schedule while you are working on a novel?

Ben McSweeney

I usually get an early draft right alongside Isaac and Peter, which allows me to start thinking and thumbnailing and asking all Brandon all sorts of annoying detail-questions as much as a year before publishing. But the real, down-n-dirty work-work of producing the final art usually takes place in the last 3-6 months before delivery.

Kopaka99559

Which of your illustrations would you say was the most enjoyable to create?

Ben McSweeney

Shardplate and Blades, hands down. It was also kinda the easiest, because I'd been doodling different types of Plate since the first pitch to Tor back in 2008. Brandon basically gave me a big ol' present with that one. :)

Discounting that, probably the Chasmfiend, just because it was one of those designs that was awful and failing and then suddenly I figured out a solution, and ultimately I loved the results. That nosedive is the worst on the way down, but man it feels good when you pull out of it.

platysaur

Chasmfiends are some of the most badass and terrifying creatures in fantasy, I think. So in that regard, you did an amazing job! Whitespines are pretty awesome too.

Ben McSweeney

Thank you! The whitespine design was particularly challenging, we almost went with a different creature up until just a few weeks before the deadline, when I scrapped it and redrew it all again. It really was a bad design, anatomically, and while I could have let it pass I would have hated it forever. The end result isn't perfect, but it's much better.

I think there's a blog post about it on Brandon's website, somewhere. Isaac did a whole interview with me, including pictures of the previous designs.

platysaur

Interesting story! Thanks for replying. I can't wait to see what you have next for Stormlight Archive! And great job on Shadows of Self too, I just finished it yesterday. I love the dude's super long and pointy mustache.

Ben McSweeney

Haha, I think Isaac came up with the description of the moustache, so he deserves much of the credit. They are dangerous-looking, aren't they?

MikeOfThePalace

Is there a book out that there that you're just dying to illustrate? Something that caught your imagination and you would die of excitement if offered the chance to bring your drawings to print?

Ben McSweeney

Ohhh... gosh, if I wasn't drawing it already, I'd probably be all over Stormlight, but that's a crap answer. Let's see...

I reserve the right to come back to this later, but right now I've been enjoying the hell out of the Malazan series, and I wish I had solid illustrations of the various races... still, I'm only up to book 4.

I just started Jim Butcher's super-steampunky The Aeronaut's Windlass, and I'm kinda wishing for a guide to ship types and some of the House heraldry. I really loved what Keith Thompson did for similar content in Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan novels, though that was much more traditional illustration rather than visual development.

Not every novel really needs an illustrator... for instance, I don't think it's needed for Glen Cook's novels, even though I love the Black Company, The Instrumentalities of the Night and the Garrett P.I. series (I do wish the cover artists would stop illustrating Garrett as if he were Sam Spade, it's worse than putting a hat on Harry Dresden).

I'll think about this some more.

Oudeis16

I know a lot of people get tattoos with work from Mr. Sanderson's books. How do you feel knowing people have your work etched painfully into their flesh?

Ben McSweeney

It's a little weird, only in the sense that it's so intensely, overwhelmingly flattering that it's difficult to figure out the right response. What do you say to someone who appreciates your work that much, other than a wholly inadequate "thank you"? Though I guess as it goes on, I'm getting used to it.

I'm quite certain Isaac has me way beat in the tattoo-inspiration department, as he does most all of the icons and symbols associated with Brandon's novels. But every Pattern tattoo is another tally for me. :)

NoNoNota1

Since you do this as a career, do you still draw and illustrate for fun as a hobby, or does it begin to just feel like working overtime, no matter how much you love it?

Ben McSweeney

I do, but not nearly as much as I would if I wasn't doing it all day, every day. I'm not sure what my hobby is, these days... reading, I suppose? Games sometimes. Redditing too often. :)

ChannelSaidin

First off, I want to say thank you for the great illustrations.

I was wondering, what is your favorite scene that you have, or wish, to draw?

Ben McSweeney

Thank you for the compliment! We do 'em 'cause we love 'em, and we love when you love 'em too. :)

All my favorite scenes are so spoileriffic. The Second Ideal, the chasmfiend appearances, the final battles of WoR, "Stretch forth thy hand!"

If I draw my favorite scenes and they're seen by people who haven't read the books, it'd be like seeing all the best parts of the movie in the trailer.

lurkotato

Are there any creature sketches of Shallan that didn't get included in the Stormlight Archive books?

... because I would pay for a copy Shallan's sketchbook, especially the wildlife detail. take note Brandon

Ben McSweeney

There's a few. We hope to collect all the ancillary material into it's own book at some point, but not for a while... the novels are the main focus for the immediate future. The more novels Brandon writes, the more ancillary material we can create and collect. It'll pay off in the long run.

ballthyrm

Would you like to continue your collaboration with Brandon Sanderson on a comic Book for example ?

Ben McSweeney

Brandon and I have discussed working on a comic together on multiple occasions. We both love the form, it's something I've done in the past, and I think together we'd make some amazing pages. But it also requires a lot of resources up front to cover overhead costs, and finding a way to make that happen has been tricky. I'm thinking we'll figure something out, but it's going to take a while. Crowdsourcing has opened up some very viable options, but it still requires a seed of core content that has yet to be created.

Happilymarriedman

I'm currently working on a novel myself. I'm having some issues visualizing the characters I can write descriptions all day long. How often does an author come to you and give you a relatively vague description of what they are seeking, is there an extra cost for dreaming that stuff up?

Ben McSweeney

Well, generally speaking there's always going to be a cost if you're commissioning someone to illustrate your descriptions. Before you go to the expense, one suggestion I might put forward is to cast a few actors in the roles. Don't tell anyone who you choose, but if there's someone out there who would perfectly fit the role, cast them in your notes and then use Google Image and IMDB to collect reference and let that lead you. Also, don't overdo the descriptions when you do get down to the actual words-on-the-page... Pick a few notable features, be consistent, and allow the rest to be inferred.

Brandon is actually not very interested in portraiture for the published art in the novels... you may notice that we very rarely show anyone's full face in our illustrations. Part of this is because Brandon doesn't want to force the reader into imagining the characters looking just one way... the image you create in your mind when you read a description is yours, it's the part of your reading experience that you create and it should be as valid as anyone's.

That being said, I got to help Michael with Shallan's portrait in the Words endpages, and that was great fun for me as well as leading to a better, more accurate Shallan.

EctMills

Have any aspects of your style changed as a result of working in the publishing industry? If so what were the changes and why were they necessary?

Ben McSweeney

Oh gosh, yes... for one thing, I'm constantly having to push harder just to keep up, younger artists have a great advantage in learning to work digitally from the start. I picked it up over a decade into my career, and had to learn it on the fly.

The switch to digital media is probably the largest, most sweeping change to happen to Commercial Art in hundreds of years, and if you can't make the switch you had better be damn good. Art Directors and Editors have come to appreciate the mutability of digital media, and it has massive advantages that physical media can't replicate. It lacks the tangible nature, but for most commercial purposes an original piece of physical art is just an artifact with a separate value, it's not relevant to the needs of the client.

I was dragged kicking and screaming into learning to use a tablet. 8 years later, and I never want to give it up.

what_how

I enjoy your covers quite a bit. You also do a lot of animation work, one of which was Post Human, which was in 2012, I think? Incredible work!

I've looked around, and I can't see many of your sketches posted online. Those that can be found look incredibly clean! Do you keep a running sketchbook for ideas, and if so, are they all that pretty looking?

Ben McSweeney

I don't do very many covers (none for Brandon so far), but I love when the opportunity presents itself. :)

Yep, Post Human was produced in 2011-2012, it was the last project I worked on at Studio Fates. Crazy stuff.

I do have a couple physical sketchbooks that I doodle in, but a large portion of my work today is digital. I keep a Manga Studio story file for a digital sketchbook, though I'm just as likely to doodle something up in Photoshop.

Most of the work I do now is for clients, either studios or individuals, and that doesn't allow me to share as much as I used to. It's unfortunate that one of the results of doing more paid, professional work is that it cuts into your time for personal work that you can share freely.

the_mighty_titan

What's the general cost when commissioning an illustration?

Ben McSweeney

Industry standards vary wildy depending on where you're sourcing your talent, and through whom. Unless you have someone like an Art Director or Editor doing the legwork and brokering the deal, you'll have to negotiate specifics with each artist privately. Their rates will be informed by their current availability, industry experience, and self-confidence.

Newer artists will often work for a few hundred per image, sometimes less. For a more experienced illustrator who's in-demand, you can probably expect a total budget of several thousand, and if they're really popular and you're looking for, say, a cover painting, it's going to hit five figures easily. It's earned through the experience and reliability that they bring, when you commission Michael Whelan he might cost you a chunk of money, but you know you're getting one of the very best.

That being said, the rise of digital painting combined with a growing entertainment industry has given birth to a flood of new, hungry commercial artists... you still have to sort for the diamonds, but if you're willing to do the legwork there are more options for you now than, I'm quite certain, ever before in history.

It's an interesting time for the field, but it really brings that Chinese curse aspect to the front. :)

oednj

How much input does the author have into the illustration?

Do you read his work then draw and show it to him? Do you sometimes draw something and he incorporates it in the novel?

Ben McSweeney

Brandon actually has direct input into the illustrations we do, especially those for Stormlight.

For the most part, I get an early (often partial) draft about the same time as Peter and Isaac. On occasion, something I draw gets incorporated into the text, either as a later edit or even in another part of the book. That's always awesome for me, but it's really rare and only we know when that happens.

Also, why y'all are reading today's Oathbringer sample chapters, know that I wrote chapter one of the final Stephen Leeds (Legion) story.

David J Foster

Wait, the FINAL one? Are you really going to answer all the questions raised about his back story? Or is this just FINAL FOR NOW?

Brandon Sanderson

This one is back story focused.

cyncount

Why aren't the Shattered Plains symmetrical? This upsets me.

Peter Ahlstrom

[On the Oathbringer map] The Shattered Plains are entirely covered up by the words "Shattered Plains." They're not visible on this map at all.

Peter Ahlstrom

Dalinar is 53 in Way of Kings. Navani is a few months older than him. Sadeas is 3 years younger than him.

Note that these are Rosharan ages. A Rosharan year is 1.1 Earth years.

Kabsal

Huh. It seems a proto-Shallan did already exist as of this version [Way of Kings Prime]. I thought with the prologue's discussions of House Davar that Shallan would have been a more recent development.

Peter Ahlstrom

Brandon sees Shinri and Shallan as entirely different people who have the same last name and are both Jasnah's ward. However, most of the other characters are the same people as they are in the published novel.

slevy221

I haven't seen or heard anything about the potential for TWOK movie ever since there was that article about using virtual reality to pitch the idea.

Anyone heard anything recently?

Brandon Sanderson

No updates, I'm afraid. Last big session I had with them was when I flew to LA in June. They're still working on the VR experience/pitch to take to studios.

[Discussion of Nale, and the legality of his actions.]

Brandon Sanderson

He takes whatever steps he can to go through proper channels. He would argue that he's doing what /u/bonly says he is. But remember, he is insane, and his perception of the world is untrustworthy.

He would claim to be, in the context of this discussion, Lawful Neutral.

WriterPGR

Not sure if this has been discussed. But the Oathbringer cover clearly has a new font from WoK and WoR. I thought it was just a placeholder and the final version would have the awesome Stormlight Archive font.

But today at the bookstore I noticed the Words of Radiance they had in stock also had the new (IMO boring) font. Anybody know why this got changed?

Brandon Sanderson

We were getting a lot of feedback that the old fond looked...gimmicky and outdated. The publisher came to us and suggested a change, I believe, but we'd been talking about it in house here too. The more we looked at the new book with the old font, the more we agreed. Somehow, it worked for TWOK but just didn't for Oathbringer.

I realized that some would like the old font, but gave the go ahead to change anyway. At some point, a font that drew that much attention to itself was going to become a millstone around our necks. We decided to change sooner rather than being dissatisfied for years. (Sorry.)

Peter Ahlstrom

So, this was a matter of much internal discussion between Dragonsteel and Tor. It basically comes down to legibility.

The old font is just not very legible. If you don't already know what it says, you have to stop for a few seconds to figure out what it says. If you're looking from a distance, Words of Radiance looks sort of like Wobos of Bhoihnce.

After Tor spent some time tweaking the letter shapes on Oathbringer to try to make it more legible, and really didn't get anywhere (it kept ending up looking basically the same), they floated the idea of just doing a redesign. We at Dragonsteel agreed this was the best time to do that if it was going to be done.

They tried quite a few different fonts, and the one they ended up with was one they had actually proposed to use for Brandon's name. We said keep Brandon's name the same, but try that font on the title. It's not just a standard like Times New Roman; the shapes of the letters have interesting little touches with the serifs and whatnot.

No, it's not an "awesome" font like was used previously, but it's a lot more legible for books sitting on the shelf and possibly catching someone's eye when they're walking past.

Badloss

I love, love Brandon Sanderson but I feel like every time he needs a "magic word" he just takes two regular words and jams them together.

Dreamshard, Shardblade, Shardplate, Lightweaving, Mistborn, Coinshot, Pewterarm, Coppercloud, Surgebinder, Soulcaster, etc etc etc

Sorry u/Mistborn I still love you

Brandon Sanderson

It's done intentionally. Let's look at our options.

I can create all-out fantasy words for terms like this. (Lait or crem from Stormlight are examples.) Problem is, the more you do this, the more you pile a difficult linguistics on top of a reader. The more words like this they have to learn, the more difficult it is to get into a story. If you were doing it, perhaps you'd go this direction. I feel that overloading on these terms is dangerous. Already, the main reason new readers put down my books is that they feel overwhelmed by the worldbuilding.

So we have the second option. Use a latin, germatic, or greek root and create a word that FEELS right, has some mental connection for the reader, but which isn't a real word. Allomancy/Feruchemy/Hemalurgy. Veristitalian. To a lesser extent, Elantris.

This so called "Harry Potter Spells" method gives some familiarity to the naming, makes them stick a little better in people's heads, which makes the books a little easier to get into. But they're also distracting to some readers who say, "Wait. There's no Latin in this world, so where did Latin root words come from?" And for others (particularly in translation) those roots mean nothing, and so these all end up lumped into the first group.

The final method is the pure Germanic method--creating compound words. It works in English very well because of our Germanic roots--and is one of the main ways (other than turning nouns into verbs or the other direction) that we create new words. Supermarket. Masterpiece. Newspaper. Thunderstorm. Footprint. Firework. Heartbeat. Yourself. None of those look odd to you because they are words that are "meant" to go together in your head.

I use some of batch one, some of batch two, but I do favor batch three--it does what I want it to. Works in the language, has an "otherworld" feel but is also very quickly understood by someone new to the series. There are arguments for all three methods, however.

Phantine

You can also just go the route of using an English word despite it clearly not being accurate.

"He tied a ribbon around his horse's third antennae, and patted its chitinous flank."

Brandon Sanderson

Agreed. Re-contextualizing English words can work too--I find it particularly useful to do what I mentioned above. Take a verb and make it a noun or vice versa. Or use a verb in a way that you normally don't. (Awakeners or Lashings are examples from my work, though Spice from Dune is one of the grand-daddy examples of this. As it is for a lot of fantastical linguistics.)

Questioner

Considering Brandon likes MTG, this is probably something he has thought out haha.

Kaladin strikes me as someone with a very White personality and Blue powers.

Shallan's Blue.

Dalinar's White, but I feel like he was Red before.

Adolin has some Red, some White, and recently some Black I guess.

Lift is Red in personality and I guess Green at powers.

What else can you guys come up with?

Brandon Sanderson

Hmm... These are not bad, and it's always hard to figure out how to define by this system--honestly, I wouldn't trust my definitions, I'd have to go to MaRo or something.

I'd suspect that Shallan is red/blue instead of mono blue.

Lift is very green, not just in powers, but in personality. She's all about instinct, and doing what occurs to her in the moment.

As OP said, Kaladin is very white/blue. And Dalinar is red who became white. Navani is mono-blue. Szeth is black/white, and Taravangian probably mono-black. Eshonai is probably green.

kakarotoks

I've searched this subreddit for someone mentioning Jane Elliot before, but nobody has, so I decided to share this.

I was explaining The Stormlight Archive to a friend yesterday when he told me that BS must have been influenced by Jane Elliot, so I researched her and found the wikipedia article about her.

This woman was a school teacher who decided to teach her class about racism the day after Martin Luther King's death by segregating the class between light eyed and dark eyed children. It's a very interesting exercise and I love how the darkeyed vs. lighteyed issue was actually experienced for real on this earth, not just in the SA books. You can read more about the experiment on the wikipedia page or in this article.

The coolest part of this is that the 3rd time Jane Elliot did that experiment, she filmed it and it was made into a documentary in 1970 with the title : The Eye of the Storm

I think it's a pretty cool coincidence (probably influence rather than coincidence) and I thought I'd share!

Brandon Sanderson

The study sounds familiar to me, so I'm sure I've read it before--but I can't remember if it was like this (in reference to the SA, which I'd already started working on) or if I read about it before, and it lodged in my brain as something to try some day.

Rotten_tacos

Will there be leatherbound editions of The Stormlight Archive anytime soon?

Brandon Sanderson

We do those on the 10th anniversary of the original. So, not for a few years.

havfunonline

Will there be one for Edgedancer? I know if I was buying the leatherbound editions (which I might someday) I'd want any canon novellas in the correct spots on the shelf XD

Brandon Sanderson

Arcanum Unbounded (which contains Edgedancer) will eventually get one.

NotClever

I can't remember, was it true that Jordan wrote the last chapter before anything else, or was that just apocryphal?

Brandon Sanderson

I've heard that, but can't find any evidence for it--I do know he had it in mind very early, and did write it down in a very complete form before passing. In fact, it was in a more complete form than most everything else in the notes.

But I don't think it was written before he did Eye of the World. And I seem to recall an interview with him before he passed saying something along the lines of, "I've got it in mind. I know what it is. It might be slightly different if I write it now, as opposed to if I write it after I finish the last book, but the soul of it will be the same."

nermid

Can I ask how much of the sequence where Rand and the Dark One devise possible futures post-TG was you and how much was RJ? Because that was phenomenal.

Brandon Sanderson

That was one of the sequences where I had to construct something to fit what I felt RJ wanted--using the notes, in part, and the momentum of the books as my guide.

In the notes, RJ said something along the lines of, "Rand and the Dark One fight. Rand realizes that he can't destroy the Dark One, because doing so destroys choice." So I constructed the idea of dueling possibilities because I felt a simple sword fight with the Dark One would be anti-climactic, and that RJ would have done something more epic.

Questioner

So, you talked about another teen series. What was it called?

Brandon Sanderson

The Apocalypse Guard. Yeah, I've got some concept art on my website.

Questioner

Is it gonna be a Cosmere story?

Brandon Sanderson

It's gonna be Reckoners continuity.

Questioner

I'm working on being an author as well. How do you worldbuild?

Brandon Sanderson

You look for what is going to be relevant and importnat to your characters, and spend your time there. So don't, for instance, build a whole bunch of new languages for a world where all your characters are going to be from the same country, and the languages don't play a relevant part. That is what I would say, particularly in the beginning. If you feel you need more to help you make the world feel fleshed out to you, do that. But worldbuild in service of the story you want to tell.

Questioner

How many books down the line will things really start connecting?

Brandon Sanderson

The Era 4 Mistborn books will have full-blown connections. So, by then.

Questioner

So, I heard you talk about cameos, are there any other cameos besides Hoid and Nightblood in the books?

Brandon Sanderson

So, Galladon from Elantris, Baon from White Sand, and Captain Demoux all show up in Way of Kings. They're the Purelake scene. Let's see... the character of Felt is a worldhopper, you see him in a couple of books. Watch out for him. Khriss is in a couple of the books, she's the one who writes the Ars Arcanums. Nazh is in a couple of the books, Khriss's assistant. Vasher is in the book. They're all over the place.

Questioner

What would happen if a Shardblade hit Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood would act like a Shardblade, in that it would stop a Shardblade. It is significantly more Invested than a Shardblade, so it would have some ramifications beyond that.

Questioner

Does the name [Wax & Wayne] foreshadow anything that's gonna happen?

Brandon Sanderson

No. I named them that because the pun made me crack up. It's not meant to be foreshadowing. The fun thing about that pun is, Scadrial not having a moon, means that those words exist in their language, it's not part of the common parlance like it is here, so they don't get the pun.

Questioner

Do you have a set plotting strategy, or do you kind of adapt it to the way you formulate your idea?

Brandon Sanderson

My plotting, I have a set one, but it's a really flexible one. It's based off of my goals for a given subplot and what I think needs to happen to achieve those goals. So my outline is a list of goals and bullet points, which makes it a very flexible outline.