Recent entries

Questioner

How far away from the original Mistborn trilogy is The Stormlight Archive?

Brandon Sanderson

From the original Mistborn trilogy? 300 years-ish. It’s happening kind of… Just before The Alloy of Law era.

Questioner

Is Stormlight an infinite resource or a finite one?

Brandon Sanderson

Stormlight is a renewing resource.

Questioner

Does Hoid go to the same place the Elantrians are going?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

In Hero of Ages, I don’t quite understand why… the point of Hoid is in Fadrex, going around the city, gathering information…?

Brandon Sanderson

Not many people do! It’s an intentional secret, I have to wait a little while longer to explain it.

Questioner

What are the odds of making a Stormlight RPG?

Brandon Sanderson

If the Mistborn RPG goes well, maybe in the future.

Questioner

Have we seen Odium’s champion?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Landis963 (paraphrased)

Imagine a hypothetical Shard of Tenacity. What happens when the Vessel of that Shard dies?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The magic will change drastically. Among other things, it would be very easy for practitioners of that magic to become Cognitive Shadows.

Landis963 (paraphrased)

Is the programming-esque nature of the Dor a product of the power being in the Cognitive Realm or is it for some other reason?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

A mixture of the Vessels' personalities, the fact that the power's in the Cognitive Realm, and the nature of Sel's focus.

CrypticVoidbringer (paraphrased)

When Khriss visits Scadrial, does Harmony know it?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*written* Some times He does. (more often than not, these days...) But it is possible to hide.

*spoken* Khriss doesn't have a lot of reasons to hide. She doesn't mind the attention, usually.

Brandon Sanderson

The short is this: A fan asked if there were any holidays in the Mistborn world. I jokingly said Koloss Head-Munching Day. Fans ran with it.

eKalb

is Koloss Head-Munching Day when people munch on Koloss heads, or Koloss munch on people’s heads? Just want it to be clear.

Brandon Sanderson

It’s the day the koloss celebrate by having a nice head to eat.

vetemix

How do you reason using such specific historic terms as “Messiah” & “utilitaristic” in Mistborn world?

Brandon Sanderson

What you are talking about is sometimes called the “translation question” in regards to fantasy novels.

The book—and the dialogue—weren’t in English & had to be translated. The translation uses similar English words to the originals.

So when the book uses a word like those, the translator from the original Mistborn language feels it is the closest approximation.

CorbyCampbell

‘IronEyes’ at the end of AoL is actually Marsh? It could be any kandra could it not?

Brandon Sanderson

It could be a kandra, but I will tell you specifically that this time it is not. It is him.

HolkorS

Do Shardblades go to the Spiritual Realm when they haven’t been summoned?

Brandon Sanderson

The answer is in future books.

Fyodor32768

In Alloy of Law, are people still Snapping?

Brandon Sanderson

Sazed chose to alter the way Snapping works. It bothered him. It does happen, but differently.

gandy93

Will we ever meet Elend and Vin again?

Brandon Sanderson

Elend and Vin have had their stories told.

Shadowsofink

Complex “magic” system in Mistborn, & the complex one in Elantris, what base ideas do you build from for this?

Brandon Sanderson

For Mistborn, Alchemy and biological metabolism. For Elantris, Chinese linguistics and geometry mixed.

blan_Ryan7

loved Way of kings, can you say where shard blades go when not summoned or is it a Rafo

Brandon Sanderson

It is RAFO, but one that will be answered for sure.

Chaos

Is Endowment's holder female?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. :)

ericpeters

What exactly is a dueling cane anyhow?

Brandon Sanderson

Some are flexible, like sparring swords, and are used for duels where blood is not needed.

Others are basically a big length of wood for hitting people, like a tonfa without the grip.

ericpeters

Do canes have a hilt like a sparring sword then? I always picture something like pic being used

Brandon Sanderson

Many have a hilt. However for most, there is no crossguard or the like.

And most don’t taper like that one. They are often of a uniform diameter all the way down. #torchat

ericpeters

You mentioned friday night in Seattle Allomacy has “FTL” built into it, any more hints you can share on how that would work

Brandon Sanderson

It involves where the lost energy from thermodynamic issues goes in certain Allomantic interactions

ShimmerGeek

Will some of the loose ends in The Alloy of Law be tied up?

Brandon Sanderson

All of them will, but some are foreshadowing for the second main-line Mistborn trilogy.

CorbyCampbell

your side characters often have physical infirmities. Can you explain why?

Brandon Sanderson

I feel that often, fiction tends to gloss over or ignore people like Clubs. So I find myself sticking them in.

AshleySMoser

i messaged earlier regarding #alloyoflaw appendix narrator, unaware of today’s torchat. maybe you can respond in the chat?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven’t been telling people the name of the appendix author. It is either Hoid or one of the 17th sharders. #torchat

atheistcanuck

The Almighty’s original name was Tanavast, yes/no?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and no. The concept of the “Almighty” in Roshar has a lot of meanings, many of them wrong.

atheistcanuck

But the person who held the Shard Honor was originally named Tanavast?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. You wiggled it out of me. That was the name of the original holder of the Shard Honor.

Chaos

So Aona is a synonym for love, hmm? Is Charity the correct Shard name?

Brandon Sanderson

Not quite. I’m trying to remember what the guesses were for the other Shard on Sel. I may have dismissed them too quickly.

Chaos

How about Mercy for Aona, then? The guesses for Skai’s Shard include Devotion, Obedience, and Order

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, I was right, then. Ha There’s something very ironic in all of this.

keithpishnery

was reading the Liar sample chapters again today. Really want this book to come out… any idea when/if it will show up?

Brandon Sanderson

It’s a long way off. I’m displeased with some of the aspects of it mid-to-late in the book.

feelieking

Is Roshar *broken* in some way? Shards, storms, Spren—everything there seems very fragmented.

Brandon Sanderson

Roshar is broken in some way. You are on to something there.

CameronAndersen

Do allomantic pushes and pulls apply forces only to an allomancer’s center of gravity?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, they do.

BigIllyStyle

Why is Sazed “unfortunately” the hero of ages? Why by depressed about it? He became a god and gets to see Vin etc.

Brandon Sanderson

He did not want the responsibility, and so he regards it that way.

atheistcanuck

whatever happened to the flute that Wit/Hoid gave Kaladin, why do I think it’s going to be insanely important in book 2?

Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin still has it

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.