Questioner
Regarding Hemalurgy and its basis in the Pits of Hathsin being Ruin’s body, my theory is that Kelsier gained his Mistborn powers from being in the Pits of Hathsin.
Brandon Sanderson
It’s a good theory. I’m not going to confirm or deny it. It is a very good theory.
Questioner
Do you just get all the small little bits and pieces from just the way people talk about him as the Survivor, so *inaudible* theory... Are we ever going to see it confirmed or denied?
Brandon Sanderson
It is possible that you will, but you will see...I’ve got somethings that I want to write about Kelsier.
Questioner
Please, that would be amazing.
Brandon Sanderson
You have not seen the last of that man, I want to write some stuff that happened.
Questioner
Is there meant to be a direct connection between the efficiency for transferring Breaths and the stamp magic from The Emperor’s Soul?
Brandon Sanderson
There's not meant to be a direct correlation only in that the magics both work on the same fundamental rules, like all of them do.
Questioner
Okay.
Brandon Sanderson
I wasn't specifically linking those two in any way in my head when I was working on them.
Questioner
Okay, because I was just wondering with the fact that the stamps work better with what there supposed to be like...and the Breath work better--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. That's just a fundamental of the Cosmere, the whole idea of perception, what you're thinking, how much something matches what you're doing, and how well you're able to visualize what you want to have happen. This is all related in the cognitive aspects of the magic, basically, and the spiritual, I suppose.
Questioner
In the <third Stormlight book>, are we going to learn more about the Ghostbloods, and about the organization Mraize is in?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, and yes.
Questioner
So, you know when Feruchemists increase their weight or strength, something like that, [...] like when they're increasing their strength their muscles literally grow bigger, why does that not happen with Allomancy?
Brandon Sanderson
So, the idea with Feruchemy, in Feruchemy you're storing like your own physical strength. So, when you're filling the metalmind, you kind of shrink *inaudible* and you get it back. With Allomancy, you are drawing on the strength magically from something else and so the power and strength you're getting is actually not related to your muscles, it's related to the magical power, you're pulling directly from another place. So, that's why.
Questioner
I remember in, I believe it was Hero of the Ages, when Sazed was helping TenSoon escape. When he had fallen on the guard, he said that, by increasing his weight he also increases his density so he doesn't <hurt> himself. Then in The Alloy of Law, it also says that when Wax increases his weight he said that he didn't.
Brandon Sanderson
So, Sazed is just making a mistake. He's mistaking the fact when he increases his weight his musculature changes to be able to handle the new weight and that was what he was talking about. Strength and muscle tone and things like that. I might have just gotten it wrong in the original one [scene], I can't honestly remember, but this is what we kinda decided it needs to be.
Questioner
In Elantris, so, if the people are dead they don't have any pulse, right?
Brandon Sanderson
They do not have a pulse.
Questioner
So, wouldn't all the blood just go straight to their legs?
Brandon Sanderson
You know, I worked out a few things on this. In order to make what I was doing work I didn’t want to zombify them too much, and so I would give them like a blood pump, like a pulse of the heart, very softly, like every couple of minutes or something like that, and remember they’re being sustained directly by the magic so I was able to fudge some of the stuff. There’s some other things that would happen, like the gas would cause them to expand and... I didn’t want to do that, I didn’t want them to go all the way to zombie, and so I made some basic metabolic processes happen, but more magically caused than physically.
Questioner
(paraphrased)
How are beta readers chosen?How are beta readers chosen?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Mostly off 17th Shard and my Facebook page, Peter watches for people making comments and being involved.
Questioner
In The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, you covered the relationship between Shardblades and spren...you never get around to Shardplate.
Brandon Sanderson
I’m saving that one on purpose, it’s a gun on the mantle, or armor on the mantle. So, you will eventually find out what’s going on there, okay?
Questioner
So, Metalminds: if you store weight, how does that work, do you decrease your mass or...?
Brandon Sanderson
So, storing weight actually plays with your mass, because if you look at how we do the physics of it… This one is really screwy, because we are changing mass and playing with it. You watch, like with Wax decreases his weight while he's in motion he'll speed up, and if he increases it, he'll slow down. The conservation of momentum and things like that, but we'll doing really weird stuff. It's like, how can you store your mass… Well, in the magic system it works, but it’s one of the weirdest things we do. *pauses to sign book* We kind of play loose and free with the physics sometimes. Like the example that I often use is Wayne doing a speed bubble, the light that is trapped in the speed bubble...like if he turns on a flashlight would actually radiate because of the redshift, and you could just kill everybody by flashing that. So, we make the speed bubbles not cause a redshift for that reason. We kind of work with what is good storytelling first, and then work the physics around it, but we have to put in all these little breaks and things like that in there regularity in order to actually have the story.
Questioner
(paraphrased)
If you had to pick one character to have dinner with, who would it be?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
I’d pick Sazed. It would not be Kelsier, cause he’s kind of scary, and it would not be Hoid cause he would make fun of me.
Questioner
I almost have a little bit of trouble understanding the difference between the Lighteyed and the darker...How did you come up with it?
Brandon Sanderson
I wanted to have some kind of racism in the books that was removed from the racism we have in our world, so I could talk about it in a more isolated way related to the books; and so, having it based on eye color made sense because the Voidbringers have these glowing red eyes and the Heralds have these bright eyes. So, this idea of eye color being related to your level of nobility, which is not true, but it entered the culture and became the form of racism and prejudice that they use.
Questioner
Was it a deliberate move on your part to make it such that on Scadrial, people who wear aluminum foil hats actually are safe from mind control?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, yeah that was a big inside joke. *laughter* When I realized it would work, I had to put it in. *pause* I’m doing some fun things. The gun thing is another one I’m very fond of.
Questioner
I was one of your beta readers. So, I wanted to know whether Lord Harms ever got off the roof?
Brandon Sanderson
Lord Harms. Yes, I did because people were so--*grumbling* 'Lords Harms Lord Harms'. Alright. Fine. So, I mentioned Wax saying, "go get Lord Harms back," or something like that. I did put it in at some point.
Questioner
Is the key to the [Oathgates] dead spren?
Brandon Sanderson
*dry laughter* That’s an excellent question, you will actually find out a lot more about the Oathgates when you see them from the cognitive side.
Questioner
If Kelsier had been born on Roshar, would he have become a Knight Radiant and if so...?
Brandon Sanderson
I think there’s a possibility that some of the orders might want him, but it really depends on what period he was born in, and what he’s up to, because Kelsier's got this dark edge to him where he could go villain very easily, depending on what’s going on with him. *pause* That’s kind of how I view Kelsier’s defining attribute, if channeled correctly he’s a great force for good, but he’s like right on the line.
Questioner 1
How did Marsh survive for so three hundred years and *inaudible*?
Brandon Sanderson
Compounding atium. He got a little pouch that one of the kandra gets sent out with if you watch, and then Marsh shows up and he has the pouch.
Questioner 2
<When is that>?
Brandon Sanderson
Go look for the little pouch of atium.
Questioner
In Well of Ascension, Zane: how and when did he get spiked?
Brandon Sanderson
That is an excellent question. That someday I will answer, but not right now.
Questioner
I was wondering if you were planning on writing anything else in the Elantris world?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. There will be some more [clipped off]. Yeah. I'm going to do some more full books. I'd like to get Shai into things a little bit more, but I don't wanna ruin The Emperor's Soul by writing a bad sequel. Mmhmm, you know, it just turned out so well.
Questioner
Calamity, it is just, because it talks about it always being in the sky. Is it hovering above North America or is that a global thing?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find out in the next book.
Questioner
I was wondering if there was any update on the movies, similar to video games?
Brandon Sanderson
The movies are moving along better. They're taking some time, but they are moving along better. I think, right now the farthest along are going to be Steelheart and Emperor's Soul.
Questioner
Okay. Are they like in production right now?
Brandon Sanderson
No. They are in screenplays. So, yeah, nothing's really gotten done.
Questioner
Are you writing the screenplays?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm writing the treatments.
Questioner
Okay.
Brandon Sanderson
I don't want to write the screenplays but I can do the treatments.
Questioner
Thing about Stormlight, are you kinda writing a series about the nature of abstraction?
Brandon Sanderson
Kinda yeah see…*recording paused* journey before destination.
Questioner
Yeah, that is my favorite, so far. I mean I don’t know all the orders yet. Because that is...I’m looking forward to the rest of it.
Brandon Sanderson
It is, the nature of abstraction and that sort of stuff is a very big part of it.
Questioner
Are Steelpush and Ironpull strictly momentum conserving
Brandon Sanderson
I believe they are, Peter has the math, but I believe that they are. You are not losing anything to the cognitive and spiritual realms, if that’s you are asking. You are pulling energy from those places, but only to cause the push/pull.
Questioner
There is quantitative difference in Allomancy (e.g. Elend is stronger than Vin), there is skill difference (e.g. Breeze is better than Vin with zinc), but is there a qualitative difference too?
Brandon Sanderson
That’s the scale of what we call savant. Wax can do more with less. It’s not just skill, the burning for long, using for so long, will actually adapt your soul to the power.
Questioner
So can bronze savants pierce copperclouds?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, a bronze savant should be able to pierce copperclouds. It depends on the strengths of the coppercloud and the strength of the savant, but yes.
Questioner
So Elend could theoretically learn to pierce copperclouds?
Brandon Sanderson
Weaker ones, yeah, totally. He can learn how to do it by brute force.
Questioner
Is aluminum shielding from emotional Allomancy strictly line of sight? So, can someone in the basement bypass somebody’s aluminum hat on the first floor
Brandon Sanderson
No, they could not. You just put enough aluminum there and it disrupts.
Questioner
So it disrupts like a field.
Brandon Sanderson
Yep.
Questioner
Navani’s emotion fabrial, are those correspondent to the Thaylen Passions in any way?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, but the Thaylen Passions would’ve come second to some of this.
Questioner
So through a cultural filter?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. There is no magic to the Thaylen Passions, they are a religion but with no magical component. Sometimes a religion is just a religion.
Questioner
Is crem something like spren poop? Or similar, because I know poop is important.
Brandon Sanderson
It's more like... Yes, but it’s more like... Shard poop?
Questioner
Do you have a name for the division or the veil between realms? Like what separates the Cognitive from the Spiritual from the Physical?
Brandon Sanderson
I’ve had like three of four different names, and I don't think I've settled on one yet.
Questioner
Could-- would Odium ever work with another Shard? Maybe not pick up another one--
Brandon Sanderson
If he were in charge. Yes, this is within the realm of possibility of what Odium would do. In fact, that may have happened at various points *sly smile*.
Questioner
What would happen--
Imagine I had-- imagine Wayne is standing near the end of an aluminium tube. He tries to set up a speed bubble such that he radius would go through the tube, what would happen?
Brandon Sanderson
Okay standing at the end of an aluminum tube, well I don't know--
Oh I see what you're saying. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. I think that if it's trying to be set up through aluminum it's gonna' disrupt it, you're gonna' have that sort of the "backlash" that you get when-- yeah.
Questioner
Oh so you can't even set it, it won't be there *inaudible*--
Brandon Sanderson
I don't think you can set it up, I think it's gonna' cause it to collapse the second that it tries to pop up around the aluminum.
Questioner
Okay that makes sense.
Brandon Sanderson
[...]
Yeah, it's probably gonna' act like you tried to set up a speed bubble on something that's too small and moving.
Questioner
Can all Shards have champions?
Brandon Sanderson
This is a, um, Theoretically possible, but you will find more about the backstory of why this works here.
Questioner
Aradel doesn’t sound like he is from Scadrial, seems out of place with his dark - well, tanned, - skin.
Brandon Sanderson
Aradel is actually based off Goradel, he is a descendant of his. So he is local. The skin, there are streaks of dark skin in Scadrial, they don’t associate them 100% with ethnicities because of the small [gene] pool they were building from, and they are stronger in the Terris bloodlines. So if they see someone with darker skin they will likely think they are from Terris, but there’s so much intermixing so that you can’t really say. Wax would have a darker complexion, maybe like a tanned caucasian.
Questioner
When Marasi goes into the carriage with the Soother & Rioter pair - were they really a Soother and a Rioter?
Brandon Sanderson
Why do you ask?
Questioner
I have a feeling that one of them was not an emotional Allomancer.
Brandon Sanderson
I believe that they were, yeah. I’m not gonna string you out on that one.
Questioner
What were Wayne and Hoid talking about outside the carriage?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO
Questioner
Is it possible for spren to move from one planet to another?
Brandon Sanderson
It is possible for them to get to other planets. They are tied to certain realms… A lot of them reside in the cognitive realm and are pulled into the physical by their bonds--
Questioner
Would they bring the same magics?
Brandon Sanderson
That you will have to wait and see.
Questioner
If a Mistborn burned both cadmium and bendalloy at the same time, would the bubbles default to the same size?
Brandon Sanderson
That's an excellent question that I'm not gonna' to answer yet; because a lot of people have been asking me it and I want to make sure it comes out in the right way.
Questioner
If they made the bubbles the same size, would there still be a barrier between the space inside and outside?
Brandon Sanderson
That's the question. I'm gonna' RAFO these things.
[...]
In general the cadmium bubbles are bigger than the bendalloy bubbles, but you can influence the size.
Questioner
Somebody said that you were writing “hands all red” in all the books, can you tell me what that means?
Brandon Sanderson
It’s just a line from the book I feel captures the tone of the book well.
Questioner
I read some stuff, it’s pretty old, about the sequel to Elantris. Are you still planning on doing it, and is it the same thing?
Brandon Sanderson
It’s still the same thing, and I’m still planning to do Sarene’s uncle, Kiin, and his family as the main characters.
Questioner
And do we get to learn more about the monks, the Dakhor?
Brandon Sanderson
The Dakhor, yes. You will find more about them, it will take place over in, uh, Fjorden.
Questioner
I was wondering about the Ryshadium. So, they can’t be tamed, so where do you go to [get them from]?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find out some of this in Book 3.
Questioner
Do you think we are likely to get another story in the Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell world?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, you’ll probably get another story in the same world, just different characters.
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon recommended the writings of Brent Weeks and Brian McClellan multiple times to various questioners asking for authors with a similar writing style to Brandon. Especially the book The Black Prism.
Questioner
I was wondering, is Nightblood a Shardblade?
Brandon Sanderson
Nightblood is an attempt by someone who didn’t know how Shardblades were made to create a Shardblade using a different magic system.
Questioner
How does Harmony know about radio?
Brandon Sanderson
There are actually two answers to this. First, Harmony was given a grand understanding of the laws of the universe during his Ascension. Second, Preservation had some limited precognitive abilities. Either one of those can lead you to the answer.
Questioner
Could an old [Feruchemist] go and transfer his Coppermind to his star pupil using Hemalurgy?
Brandon Sanderson
Like Deliberate…? Right. Ask me that question after you’ve read a few more Mistborn books.
Questioner
Is there a limit to the amount of useful energy that can be extracted from an end-neutral system? Like Skimmers on a Terris wheel on opposite sides.
Brandon Sanderson
So... Skimmers by making their weight lighter, spinning the thing around, and things and then--
Questioner
You got one on opposite sides--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah you could totally do this. In my mind, the way I work this out is that it's no more-- having people do it and things like this-- yeah you could totally do that. The power for making this happen, you are drawing Spiritual energy into the Physical plane can power your motor. It's not power-negative, it's changing forms.
But in realistic terms that would be so much less cost-effective than other methods because Allomancers are expensive, but yeah you could just keep that going.
Questioner
Same with Lifeless? Telling them to push a wheel around?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, the sustenance for life is coming directly from the Spiritual plane. So if you remove that, it wouldn't work. The whole idea from this is that energy is getting recycled back into the Spiritual plane when people are dying and things like that, so...
Questioner
IF they were to fight with a lightsaber and a Shardblade, which would be able to cut through the other?
Brandon Sanderson
Depends on who’s world you're in, that's what I would say. Is Lucas writing it or am I?
Questioner
Well say you are writing it, since we're--
Brandon Sanderson
If I'm writing it I say they bounce off of each other.
Questioner
If an Allomancer found themselves on Nalthis or Roshar, would they be able to use chromium on someone using Stormlight or Breath?
Brandon Sanderson
I am staying away from answering too many questions like that until I start having it happen. But do know that the magics interact... some ways they interact very naturally, some ways, they don’t. One way I’ve released is, you could use bronze on most forms of Investiture to find it. So you can extrapolate that some of these things would work. But not necessarily all. All of them could be made to work.
Questioner
In Shadows for Silence one of the characters refers to “Justice has died here.” Is that the actual Shard of Justice?
Brandon Sanderson
That’s a great theory! (Big grin, raised eyebrows.)
Questioner
So I’ve noticed a certain syllable, “Vo,” that turns up in this book [Warbreaker] and also in Vorinism. Is there supposed to be a link between Vo, the First Returned, because there seem to be a great deal of similarities between the monks of Austre and the Ardents.
Brandon Sanderson
So there are, um, more links between the planets than people know about, and I’m not going to confirm or deny anything. But the fact that you’re finding words that are connecting, like Worldsingers and Worldbringers, says that there’s… intentional connections. I’m not [confirming a connection], I’m saying that these theories should not be dismissed out of hand.
Questioner
Do the glyphs on Roshar have any fundamental connection to [the geography? Some confusion about if they’re connected to Sel
Brandon Sanderson
I’m not going to answer that yet, since I’m going to dig into what’s happening on Sel later.
Questioner
Does Alloy of Law take place after the whole Stormlight sequence?
Brandon Sanderson
I have not nailed down the exact timing, but it’s at least after book 5 of Stormlight. Because I haven’t nailed down exactly how long
