Recent entries

Maffu17 (paraphrased)

Can you define the Ars Arcanum Author's term Initiate?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He said Initiation was deliberately vague and didn't define it.

CthuluSpren (paraphrased)

Could you tell me anything about the other [Dysian] Aimians?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

You'll be surprised when you see them, they're barely humanoid.

CthuluSpren (paraphrased)

Could Wax, Vin, or the Lord Ruler burn Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Firstly, you're assuming Nightblood is not Allomantically inert, but if it was, it would be like trying to burn someone else's metalmind.

luke.spence (paraphrased)

How many parties were there to the original Oathpact?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Heralds and Honor. They thought that by walking away from their oaths, that it would break the Oathpact. They're going to find out that it's not quite as broken as they had previously thought (meaning the Heralds).

luke.spence (paraphrased)

You mentioned that human can’t bond Honorblades, but Nalan tells Szeth that his bond with his Honorblade has been broken. Can you clear this up?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Humans CAN bond Honorblades. There's a crucial difference between Honorblades and Shardblades. When you drop an Honorblade, it does not disappear, even if it has been bonded. A Shardblade will disappear when dropped.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

An invested object resists any attempt to put additional investment into it. Just like you can't pull metal that's inside a person's body. When the Shardplate cracks, the streams of Stormlight that you're seeing are actually the plate doing what it's supposed to: healing itself. So, theoretically, you could maybe pull a tiny fraction of that Stormlight out, but you can't just stick your hand up to the outside of the plate and retrieve it. However, if you have the plate open with the gem exposed and you were to touch the gem, then you could pull the Stormlight from it."

luke.spence (paraphrased)

Are the Heralds actually aware that Taln is back?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Are the Heralds aware that Taln is back? Uh, you're implying that this person actually is Taln. *smiles* Which is not guaranteed. It's not guaranteed. However, the return of the Voidbringers does indeed indicate to them, in their mind, that he would have returned.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

So they assume because the Voidbringers are returning--

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Because the Voidbringers are returning, would be a clue to them that Taln has returned.

luke.spence (paraphrased)

How much Stormlight equals one Breath? Do you have an actual ratio?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I have a ratio. It's not on me.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

Okay, that's a Peter question again.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah, well, I may not answer it even then.

luke.spence (paraphrased)

What caused a Desolation to end? Was it just the defeat of Odium's forces? Because the Desolations start when the Heralds break under torture.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Because the Heralds can no longer be in existence. There is a certain period of time that they can be there, and after that, if they're there, they will start a new one. So the Heralds do need to leave for a Desolation to end

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

Oh. So they've got a time limit.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They do. Otherwise the Desolation will start again. What they discovered is not all of them have to. As long as one remains, the Desolation will not start again.

luke.spence (paraphrased)

So, by the nine leaving, did that actually break the Oathpact for them? Did it change the cycle of Desolations?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They have not completely broken the Oathpact, despite what they may think.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

Did Taravangian go to see the Nightwatcher before or after Gavilar's assassination?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Um, oh man. I'm going to have to look at my timeline. I believe it's before, but I can't guarantee I'm right, because these things are all happening around the same time.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

Because he says that Gavilar confided in him the night of.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Ooooh, you're right. Nope, it's after. It is after. You can send that question to Peter so we can confirm it. There might be something I'm forgetting about Taravangian.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

The Weepings--Shallan and Kaladin react very differently to them.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They do.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

It just seems to me that the Weepings feel very close to Cultivation.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The primary thing you’re noticing -- and I'm not going to say there's not any magical influence -- but the primary thing you're noticing is that Kaladin has seasonal affective disorder and Shallan likes the rain. That's the primary thing you're noticing. I like the rain--my wife hates it. My wife gets depressed when it rains and I love when it rains.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Please don't tell me you're going to do a love triangle between Adolin, Kaladin, and Shallan.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*carefully* I'm not a fan of the traditional love triangle. However, I am fond of conflict in relationships.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

So, the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous. Does this in any way have to do with the fact that the Purelake is so shallow?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No. I haven't yet discussed the nature of the relationship between Shadesmar and the Physical world.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

So, when Dalinar has his vision in what he assumes in the Purelake, he sees an obsidian fortress. Is that fortress in any way related to the fact that the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No.

CorwinofAmber (paraphrased)

So one of the things I really like about this is that in the Ars Arcanum and the blurb on the back of the dust jacket, they're not just Brandon Sanderson explaining the magic system, or Brandon Sanderson summarizing the book for casual perusing, they're written in world by characters in the world, and I was wondering if you could tell us or give us a hint as to who wrote the dust jacket.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I can tell you it's not the same person as who’s writing the Ars Arcanum, and neither of those are Hoid. How about that? That gives you something. I had to fight to get in world text on the back cover. I personally really don't like summary blurbs. Those summary blurbs are either bland or they spoil too much, and they really get on my nerves. They're marketing copy, not author copy. And so I fought and I fought and I fought. I won with Elantris, getting the prologue on the back of the hard cover, but then they didn't do that for the paperback. But for the hardcovers of these I won, so I'm glad you appreciate that—I intend to keep doing that. But yes, they're being written in world by a group of people on Roshar.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Are we going to be seeing more Wit in the Stormlight Archive?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Depends on if you mean the character or actual wittiness. I'm never sure if I'm actually witty or not—you'll have to judge. But the character never knows when to leave well enough alone and will be muddling things for quite a long time.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Each of the ten books will be named after in-world books. Because of this, "Stormlight Archive" is a play on words.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

In the picture of Adolin, the double underlined sigh was "his addition."

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Brandon assumes that eventually they'll make a collective art book of all of the Stormlight art.

darkanimereal1 (paraphrased)

I basically asked how long he thinks it will take him to write future Stormlight books, since [The Way of Kings] took 6 months to write and [Words of Radiance] took 18 months to write.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

My anticipation is that Stormlight should take about 12 months to write. It went in six months the first time because I had written the book already once. And so being able to start over from scratch, I had done it all once, so it was really like, even though I really wrote every word new, it was like doing a second draft. Words of Radiance took so long because I had to lurch out of the Wheel of Time mindset. I hadn’t written this book before, I had written the other one, and I was so steeped in the Wheel of Time doing two books that it took a lot more to pull me out. And I would start on it and would end up getting distracted by some other project like one of the novellas or I'd start on it and then I'd go back and do a revision on Steelheart and then I'd start on it. Eventually I managed to start on it and stay in it, but it took that extra six months of spinning my heels before I really dug into the book. And so, I would say that I'm hoping 12 months. I might be able to do them faster, maybe nine months. I don't know. They are big complicated books to write, and you can't really do these on the speed that you can do other things. It doesn't scale. If I can write a novella that's 20k words and I can write that oftentimes in a week, that doesn't mean that when I'm working on Words of Radiance I can do twenty thousand words a week, because it's just a lot harder to get everything connected. The longer you go, the longer it winds up taking per word.

Questioner (paraphrased)

I was wondering if any of the characters from interludes will end up with their own books.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, they will. Lift, specifically, is one of the characters in the back five. I think she might be the only one who has had a view point so far. That’s, um, no … There are others. So, yes, interlude characters will end up with their own books later on. Right now they’re side characters.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Basic stuff about the 2 types of Aimians, both of which have extended control of their own biology, both of which more or less refugees. He also said that they have cosmere significance.

Cheese Ninja (paraphrased)

Do the Aimians predate humanity like the Parshendi do?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

You're assuming that the Parshendi predate humanity.

Cheese Ninja (paraphrased)

How do Bondsmiths use the Dawnshards?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.

old aggie (paraphrased)

Is Roshar a spherical planet?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

Pechvarry (paraphrased)

What happens when non-Nalthians come to Nalthis.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They cannot use their own soul to Awaken but could do so with obtained Breath.

Pechvarry (paraphrased)

So anyone could start Awakening once they received Breaths?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

You would probably have to jump through some hoops to Awaken (talks about systems needing rigged up to work on different planets), but anyone can benefit from a Breath. Essentially said "it's not that easy!"

Pechvarry (paraphrased)

Could you make a spike from a Lifeless?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

"Oooo interesting!" He said their soul is so drained there wouldn't be much left, so you could only get the barest hint.

Pechvarry (paraphrased)

But you COULD technically get a charge?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, but it would be very weak.

Ant

The Stormlight Archive already has that feeling of an "epic" tale, not just in the size of the novels and the rich world building but the story too. Do you have any idea how long the book series might go on for?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I conceived The Stormlight Archive as a series dealing with ten characters, where each book took one of the characters and delved deeply into their past and their psychology. Granted, the other characters will appear, as Kaladin is a big part of Words of Radiance even though this volume could be described as Shallan's book. Since I have those ten characters, and there are ten orders of Knights Radiant, I built a ten-book series with two five-book arcs: five books and then a break, followed by another five books.

Ant

The use of spren are a brilliant idea, what was the inspiration for these creatures?

Brandon Sanderson

In part, they stem from the underlying cosmology and overarching rules, the dictates of the magic systems of my shared universe. I was looking for a manifestation of that in Roshar. I also was searching for something that would give Roshar a different feel from things that I'd done before. I wanted this book and this series – and everything about it – to feel different from fantasy worlds in the past. I wanted it to be fantastical, but I wanted it to be unique. I wanted something that could consistently remind the reader, "Oh, I'm in a different place. Wow. Their emotions manifest visibly when they feel them strongly. This place is bizarre." That was one of the main inspirations. Looking in our world, one inspiration is certainly the Eastern concept in Shinto mythology of everything having a soul, every rock and river and tree having something living inside of it that is a manifestation of it. Since I was working with the idea of Platonic realms and the like, I spun that off into the spren.

Ant

Where did you get the idea of a world ravaged by fierce storms?

Brandon Sanderson

The original seed of an idea was the storm of Jupiter, this massive persistent storm. Of course, that's a gas giant. The physics are very different. But I remember one day staring at a picture of Jupiter and thinking about a storm that circled the world that was massively powerful. That was one of those seeds that stuck in my brain. This sort of thing happened over months and years until that seed grew and developed and mixed with other things I was thinking of, and the result was Roshar.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

For the first 5 SA books he's heavily outlined them. For the last 5 SA books he has outlines for the main climax scenes. For the flashback characters for the last 5 books he's not settled on which ones or order but current plan is for Taln, Ash (aka Shalash), Lift, Jasnah and Renarin.

He also specifically stated that for one of the flashback characters that they would be already dead (sounded like definitely dead not maybe dead).

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They're not written but we should eventually get annotations for Stormlight Archive. (normally does them during copy-edit but wasn't done that way for current books)

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Hoid doesn't really have friends, more like people who find him less annoying (or he finds less annoying?). Talked about someone he might be more of a friend with - sounded like "Frost".

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He described Khriss as a research scientist.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

On origins of Dalinar: from story he wrote as teenager - his brother is the king who gets assassinated and he has to decide whether to take over from his nephew or not. Hoid is the court magician

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

On Shallan's origins as a character: mostly derived from a character in Dragonsteel and Mat Cauthon. Specifically mentioned that she has issues with authority figures.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

On being asked if an Elantrian could wield Nightblood, he said yes it's possible but would be very dangerous - you'd have to figure out a way to connect Nightblood with a local source of Investiture.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Brandon threw us a bone on what the big world-hopping hint in Elantris could be: Raoden has misinterpreted one of the Aons.

Wyrmhero (paraphrased)

What would happen if you made a cup of tea from the Tears of Edgli?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

You would have a very interesting cup of tea.

Wyrmhero (paraphrased)

Can you could Hemalurgically spike a dead thing, similar to how Breath goes into dead things? Could you spike a Lifeless?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, if there was enough of the soul left for the spike to take.

Sabrina Stormshard (paraphrased)

Could an awakened sentient object (e.g Nightblood ) bond a spren?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Technically but the specific circumstances you would need are so bizarre, in practice no.

Sabrina Stormshard (paraphrased)

Where is Nazh from?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Threnody!

Questioner (paraphrased)

Is there time travel in the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

We haven't seen time travel into the past, but we have seen it into the future in Alloy of Law.

DeployParachute (paraphrased)

Will Kaladin ever get Wit's flute back to woo a certain red haired young lady?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Wit is very mad about Kaladin losing the flute. If he recovers it, he wouldn't let Kaladin have it again.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Where did you get your ideas for knights?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

A knight has a sword, armor and a horse.

the_archduke (paraphrased)

How do you pick names?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Each group is based on real world naming conventions, Alethi = near-palindromes + Semitic, Central Dominance = French, Emperor's Soul = Ancient Zoroastrian

the_archduke (paraphrased)

Were Shardblades influenced by lightsabers?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes *long aside about how everyone in the last 40 years was so influenced*, but not sure how direct of an influence

the_archduke (paraphrased)

Who are your biggest literary influences?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Robert Jordan *laughter* and Victor Hugo.

the_archduke (paraphrased)

Is chouta based on food from Korea?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*long explanation about industrializing societies developing portable food* and no, it is Mexican/Italian, think deep fried meatballs in a sopaipilla.

the_archduke (paraphrased)

Does Hoid have all the abilities of the planets he's visited?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Not yet.

DeployParachute (paraphrased)

What is the effect of the Nahel bond on human lifespan

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.