Recent entries

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12402 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    The Knights Radiants have access to two Surges each, are the two Surges completely seperate or can they be combined together? Something like maybe allowing a Lightweaver to create a solid illusion by combining their Illumination Surge and their Soulcasting?

    Essentially, do each of the Orders have a special talent only they can do that isn't available to any other Order?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, they do, but it's not always directly obvious in a straightforward way, such as your example.

    Overlord Jebus

    Would the lashing system be an example of this? Full lashings apppear to be mostly Adhesion and and the basic lashing seems to be mostly Gravitational, does this mean Bondsmiths will be able do full lashings and Skybreakers can use partial and basic lashings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12404 Copy

    18th_Shard

    Does a Herald using an Honorblade consume the same "dangerous" amounts of Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Honorblades are less efficient; this doesn't change when a Herald uses them. (But they have other advantages.)

    uchoo786

    Are Honorblades closer in power to Nightblood than they are to Shardblades made from Spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hard to say. They're all similar, but at the same time, very different. And in a way, Nightblood is what you might call a "Third Generation" blade.

    uchoo786

    Ah gotcha. And in this analogy, Honorblades would be 1st gen and Sprenblades would be 2nd gen?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12405 Copy

    Yourigath

    We have seen some Hoid-related groups on the diferent worlds of the Cosmere...

    Worldbringers on Scadrial, Worldsingers on Roshar, Enefel on Sel (this one is a wild guess)

    Is there a Hoid-related group on Nalthis? Maybe the Five Scholars are part of it? (That would explain the Shardblade/Nightblood thing you've been talking lately)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hoid did not found the Five Scholars.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12406 Copy

    ParadoxicalWims

    So on theoryland there are a couple of WoBs regarding Selish Shadesmar and the ones that stuck out to me were how Rosharan Shadesmar is aligned with Roshar georaphically (and in turn, the other planets are too) and with the name of Sel's shadesmar expanse.

    So my question/assumption is...Given the above geographical alignment and sometimes inverse nature of Shadesmar, is the Expanse of the Broken Sky Sel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm not going to confirm what any of these are, I'm afraid. (At least not yet.) You are free to theorize as you wish.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12409 Copy

    Bithorp

    On the Coppermind there is this idea that if a natural Mistborn burned duralumin and then lerasium it would empower them to godly levels. Would this actually happen or would another effect happen.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That actually wouldn't work, but it is a clever idea.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12410 Copy

    mooglefrooglian

    Shallan explains the theory that all spren can be divided into two categories (emotions and forces). Jasnah then links these to Cultivation and Honor, and also notes that voidspren are of Odium.

    Is this theory maybe a little incomplete? Is there a third category of spren for "sensationspren" like painspren (which don't seem to involve emotions or forces)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In Vorin thought, those would be emotions, but that doesn't mean that the scholars who think about these things are right.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12412 Copy

    Oudeis16

    Zane comments that he's "always had" his spike. Is that just Ruin's influence making him ignore it, "oh this thing, it's always been there" or has he actually had the spike since childhood? Did he get it before he Snapped, after he Snapped, or concurrent with his Snapping?

    Brandon Sanderson

    More the first.

    After snapping.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12413 Copy

    Wolfbeckett

    Are things that are written by scholars on Roshar suspect? In Mistborn, Ruin could change anything that was written down, so can Odium do the same? Are written words on Roshar: untrustworthy, trustworthy because that ability was somehow limited to Ruin, or trustworthy because Odium COULD do it but just won't because it's not his style/he doesn't consider it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Odium didn't have a hand in creating Roshar, and his essence doesn't permeate it in the same way as Ruin permeated Scadrial. This gave Ruin a great deal more power over things like this--except when he ran into metals, of course.

    Another difference is that Odium has a fully-living, fully-aware, and very powerful Shard opposing him. (Contrasted to one that was half-dead and going mad.)

    So yes, you can trust much of what was written. Odium can be subtle when he needs to be, but his primary avenue of attack has been along a different line than the one Ruin used.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12415 Copy

    Botanica

    Are the Ten Essences from Stormlight inspired from the ancient Chinese theory of the Five Elements, which is often used to explain various physiological and patological phenomena in traditional Chinese medicine?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Part came from there. Part came from Jewish mysticism. Part came from the idea of fundamental forces.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12417 Copy

    Wigginns

    What would a Hemalurgic spike granting atium do for an Allomancer already able to burn atium? Does it function similarly to bronze, granting enhanced atium-ing? Along this line of thought, would enhancing electrum burning via spike be of any advantage?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A spike of something you have would enhance your ability, giving your more strength. With atium, more strength makes for a minimal edge--the length you can push out the atium shadows. However, there's a certain breaking point where you kind of crack the whole system, peer straight into the [Spiritual Realm], and kind of have a "It's full of stars" moment.

    Electrum could reach this same moment, potentially, though there's more interference to fight through. Extra strength in electrum isn't going to be terribly useful up to that point.

    Alsadius

    Is that what happened when atium was burned with duralumin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12420 Copy

    Rah179

    Could you give us a snippet about the Dustbringers? Or Willshapers?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Dustbringers never liked their name, and tried hard to get people to use another title for them.

    awakenedtassel

    Was there a mechanical reason they weren't able to effect the name change, or was it just because the new name didn't catch on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The latter.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12421 Copy

    babididum

    Did the Lord Ruler have any hobbies / anything he just enjoyed doing not related to being a tyrant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He did. Actually, across a thousand years he tried pretty much everything. He was most fond of music.

    Argent

    Composing, playing, or listening to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Playing and listening to. Not composing.

    KeleksBreath

    Did he perhaps play the flute?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, he did.

    TheCurseOfEvilTim

    Is that the flute Hoid gave to Kaladin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12422 Copy

    LongclawDescended

    If Gavilar was still alive, would he most likely have aligned himself to or taken actions most similar to Dalinar, Amaram or Taravangian? In other words, which of the three is best acting out his will?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can say he would align with one of them most certainly, but I want to RAFO this for now. (Though I might have made it clear elsewhere and not be remembering.)

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12423 Copy

    Rillum

    Vasher had a strange reaction when Vivenna mentioned Clod to him. Was Clod someone that Vasher knew in life? Or was this a reaction of his general disapproval of the Lifeless in general?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, Vasher has a connection to that particular Lifeless. It was indeed someone Vasher knew in life.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12426 Copy

    ccstat

    When Jasnah talks about soulcasting the 8 different types of blood, is she referring to transfusion typing within humans (e.g. ABO+/- on Earth) or to different kinds of blood between species (e.g. human vs axehound vs greatshell vs Aimian, etc)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Both, though people on Roshar haven't hit upon the levels of complexity in blood types that we know.

    KingSloth

    Did these arise naturally on Roshar, or did Honor/Cultivation get lazy on templating humanity and copying existing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. (Sorry.)

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12427 Copy

    windolf7

    Is Ashyn the Tranquilline Halls?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    faragorn

    Actually, my theory is that Braize is both the TQ and Damnation.

    Gamers will all be familiar with the concept of rezzing after you die, often at a specific place.

    The legend is that humans were forced out of the TQ and followed to Roshar. If Odium attacked and conquered Braize, and Honor created the heralds before he and Cultivation moved humans to Roshar, then the heralds might very well be rezzing on enemy-held Braize each day as described in the WoK prologue. Against the combined armies of the entire planet they get ganked as described in the prologue, only to rez the next day (kind of like the rez timers in World of Warcraft :-)).

    WoR confirms that Braize was called Damnation, but I think it is now damnation, and was once the TQ.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Excellent theories, strange gaming parallels notwithstanding.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12430 Copy

    Boogalyhu34

    Do those two weather related phenomenons have something in common. They both seem to have investiture that people can draw on.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Weather is important to most cosmere magic.

    Footnote: The weather being referred to are the mists of Scadrial and the highstorms of Roshar.
    #investiture
    Sources: Reddit
    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12431 Copy

    Boogalyhu34

    Is the mist creature, that was seen through out the second Mistborn book, Preservation/the mists version of the Stormfather, which seems to be related to Honor/Highstorms.

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are on the right track.

    Boogalyhu34

    The aforementioned mist being was called a "shadow of self" in one of the original 3 MB books. Does this have anything to do with a book of the same name? The Stormfather also called himself a "shadow" of what Honor was, does this support my above theory?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Stormfather would use the same language.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12433 Copy

    Oudeis16

    If Bob the Awakener Awakened fifty straw men to dance around, then died, then Returned as FormerBob the Appropriately Named, would FormerBob be able to reclaim the Breath from the straw men in the normal fashion (once he learned the "Your Breath to Mine" Command)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. He has enough of his original Identity, and the spiritual connection would remain.

    sonofstannis

    What if he instead were reincarnated as a lifeless? Is there a way he could reclaim it then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lifeless have someone else's investiture replacing their own. (As opposed to Returned, who are augmented.) Depends on how much of them is left, and if they can achieve sapience again, but I'd say this is unlikely.

    WeiryWriter

    What if the Lifeless is Awakened with their own Breath? (i.e. they gave it away right before they died and the person they gave it to then used it in the Awakening)

    Brandon Sanderson

    This has happened already in the world, and it does help.

    -Nayrb

    Did this happen "on screen"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12434 Copy

    Rah179

    How significant will the White Sand be to the cosmere? Any hints on the Shard that resides there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Moderately. (Its magic has some cool ramifications for off world use, and several characters factor prominently into the Cosmere.)

    Phantine

    Is there more than one magic system in white sand?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Only one in the current outline.

    WeiryWriter

    Does the one magic have more than one variation? Because I got the impression that there was something going on on the Darkside? Though I guess the Sky Colors (I think that's what they're called, I read the draft you send out early 2014 so my recollection is a little fuzzy) don't have to be related to magic. Or you could have written them out if they were...

    Brandon Sanderson

    In intended the colors on Darkside to be more a matter of the ecology than the magic--though, on that planet, magic and ecology are very closely tied together. (Well, I guess most of the magics are.)

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12438 Copy

    mooglefrooglian

    Why is it that Returned need to consume Investiture to stay alive? Most other Invested beings (like spren, Seons, and the like) don't seem to have a similar requirement.

    Brandon Sanderson

    There's a distinction between a being who is made of Investiture come alive and one who has been overstuffed with it. The Returned are fairly unique.

    mooglefrooglian

    So, would a non-Returned who received enough Breath to overstuff them also need to start feeding on Investiture to live? Or would they be destroyed like Vin before that point?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm going to RAFO this, as I feel I should leave the details of the nature of the Returned for discussion in future books.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12441 Copy

    Boogalyhu34

    Can Nightblood be considered a Splinter and does it function like a spren realmatically, are there distinct differences is what I'm asking.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nightblood is kind of his own strange thing. He's an attempt to use one magic to replicate something in another. He's closest to a spren, but kind of like a...robot spren, for lack of better words to use.

    Argent

    When you say that Nightblood is "an attempt to use one magic to replicate something in another," do you mean life in general, or are you referring to a specific effect in a specific magic system?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are those involved who knew that Shardblades existed before they tried the Nightblood experiment.

    uchoo786

    So does this mean Vasher had knowledge of Shardblades before creating Nightblood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It means what I wrote, and nothing more at this point. :)

    wickedmath

    Dude. That's the most tantalizing RAFO I've seen in awhile. Have other Shards made Shardblades besides Honor?

    Brandon Sanderson

    :) RAFO

    Phantine

    Is that why Vasher uses the word 'Investiture' instead of some personal term for it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I could be wrong, but I think Vasher was the first one in any book I allowed to use cosmere-aware terms for speaking of things like the magics. (Investiture is one of these.)

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12443 Copy

    unknown

    1. Is the Aon that Raoden misinterpreted Rao?
    2. If yes, does it mean "gateway" or something similar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Which one are you talking about specifically?

    WeiryWriter

    If I'm understanding them correctly they are refering to the "Big Hint" you've said there is about Worldhopping in Elantris, which you later explained as being an Aon that Raoden misinterprets. They are proposing that the Aon is Aon Rao (I think?). At least that's my current guess (though my guess is that Rao actually translates to "Investiture").

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ah... They're on the wrong track.

    I'll cut this one off right here, as I see they're misinterpreting what I said. It's more simple than that, and is something I think they have probably already figured out. The "Big Hint" I put back in Elantris are the murals Raoden and company discover. I believe this is what we're talking about, not the Aon being misinterpreted.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12444 Copy

    dougpgc

    Is there Shard based magic that's used for translation? Hoid is very smart, but it seems like it would be a pain to learn all these other world's languages -- and he's very eloquent in all of them. Will you tell us any details you can about this? pretty please : )

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are several ways to do this. Hoid is not learning all of the languages without aid. No details, I'm afraid. Except that if you watch, you will see him slip and use words that have no meaning (or the wrong meaning) in some of the languages he's speaking. Those translate oddly, or don't translate at all.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #12446 Copy

    platysaur

    Well Mr. Sanderson, I finally finished Words of Radiance as well. I thank you for answering previous questions of mine on this thread.

    I didn't read Warbreaker but I intend to. That said, if I don't get to it (college is quickly approaching now), will it be a setback? I know that Szeth's sword is now a character from Warbreaker, but I don't want to be at a disadvantage if I can't get to it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you don't read Warbreaker, I doubt you'll be confused. I wrote Warbreaker as a prequel novel (after writing the original draft of The Way of Kings) to give some backstory to side characters I knew where cosmere-aware, but the story should work just fine without having read it.