Recent entries

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

We have met the [Ones Above] in Sixth of Dusk.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Stormlight Archive is before The Alloy of Law.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Odium didn't start on Roshar.

Questioner (paraphrased)

When Hoid is playing for Kaladin, has he Awakened some part of himself to help him play?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, he's not Awakened anything to help him play.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Did he use Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Could Shai Soul Forge herself into becoming an Elantrian?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That would be really hard. First of all, she'd have to change where she's born, then Soul Forge the fact that she became an Elantrian. Even then, she'd probably look like an Elantrian, but not have any powers. There would probably need to be some kind of bridge, or she would need some kind of super push from AonDor to make it work.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The way that Hoid and Defending Elysium do FTL travel is very different.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How do spren choose what human they'll bond with?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, it depends on the spren type. There's some spren that choose on their own, while there's other spren where it's done by committee. Wyndle, Lift's spren was placed with Lift by a committee. It's a culture difference. Some are free-spirited, others more organized.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Another thing he talked about was some common themes that appear in fantasy. One of them is that Rennassaince air of the Rise of the Common man. You see that in Mistborn for example. The great writing question of the Cosmere, the underlying theme is, What do men do when given the Power of the Gods? How do they act? What do they do?

Questioner (paraphrased)

Would Inquisitors' kids have Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Not usually. It happens sometimes, but not usually. He then mentioned a little about sDNA, but that it's not inherited as much as it is when it's natural.

Questioner (paraphrased)

So what does the term koloss-blooded mean?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, Sazed changed how the koloss reproduce, so now they reproduce naturally, and when the kids come to a coming-of-age, they decide if they're going to accept the spikes and become a koloss, or if they're going to stay normal.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There's also going to be about a 15 year gap in-world between [The Stormlight Archive] arc 1 and [The Stormlight Archive] arc 2.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Odium is able to influence all 3 [inhabited] planets in the Rosharan system.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Can Parshendi receive a Boon and a Curse?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes they can.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Have we seen all of the Heralds?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned all of them, and you've seen a number of them, such as Shalash running around.

zas678 (paraphrased)

And my other question is about Taravangian. It becomes clear that when he's smart, he's less compassionate, and when he's dumb, he's more compassionate.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah, he mentions that in his interlude.

zas678 (paraphrased)

Is that intentional, or is that just how you believe intelligence works?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, that's intentional. There's plenty of really smart people who are also compassionate, and dumb people who aren't.

zas678 (paraphrased)

So when Taravangian is smart, his Cognitive aspect is stronger. So when he's dumb, is his Spiritual aspect stronger?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*With a sly grin, pulls out a RAFO*

zas678 (paraphrased)

Can Odium influence people the same way that Ruin can?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, you see, the kandra and the koloss have a "hole" in them that allows Ruin to come in and take over. The Parshendi naturally are protected from this, but when they expose themselves to the storms, and the spren come in, many of these spren have that kind of "hole" in them, and that's what allows Odium to take control of them.

zas678 (paraphrased)

No, I'm talking about how Ruin was able to push people, place things in their minds, stuff like that. Can Odium do the same thing?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, Odium wasn't around when those people were created, so it's a little different for him than Ruin. So if he influences people in that way, it's through the Unmade.

Scriptorian (paraphrased)

Will we ever read from a spren's viewpoint?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It is likely you someday will.

Scriptorian (paraphrased)

A book where the flashbacks are spren?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Probably not. Or it’s not planned right now.

Newan (paraphrased)

Is there some kind of connection between Szeth and Yelig-nar, the Unmade?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Hmm... Szeth has no more of a connection with Yelig-nar than anyone else does.

Newan (paraphrased)

When the kandra worldhopper is off-world, er off-Scadrial, does she take the form of a human female?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Not all of the time.

Newan (paraphrased)

Has she spoken a word of dialogue in a non-Mistborn book?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I can't remember.

Newan (paraphrased)

Is the kandra worldhopper MeLaan?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Good question. *hands Newan a RAFO card* In upcoming Mistborn books, you are going to get to know a lot more of the kandra, so you will have a lot more options.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How did TenSoon overpower OreSeur if TenSoon had the Blessing of Potency?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

"TenSoon is wily!" There are also some drugs that affect kandra bodies.

sanderfan (paraphrased)

Did Kelsier chose not to move on after he died or did he want to move on but couldn't for some reason?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO. The thing is, Kelsier's wife Mare had certainly moved on, and that would be motivating him to go on to the next life.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Shouldn't the rest of Roshar be more Earth-like, more Shinovar-like, kind of, with Cultivation on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Um, you are mistakenly assuming that Cultivation means Earth-like flora and fauna. Roshar is very bountiful, and, um, like it's not a barren land. Um, Roshar is very, um...

zas678 (paraphrased)

Thriving?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's thriving. Yeah, it just has a different ecology. Um, you're mistakenly assuming that our ecology is the only sort that can be bountiful.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Does a more Investiture-poor world make it so its magics are easier to use off-world? Because, you said that Scadrial is really Investiture-poor, and it can be used easily off-world, but Roshar is very Investiture-rich, and how can you get Stormlight off of Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah. Um, I would say that there is a correlation.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

There is a correlation?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Mmhmm.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Is Nightblood's sheath made out of aluminum?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That is an excellent question that nobody has asked me yet! Um...I will RAFO that.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Oooh, I get a card. I got the card.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That is an excellent question.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

How easy would it be to Pull metal through ["zombie" Elantrians]?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Pull metal out of them.... Easier.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Easier than a regular human?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

So can you affect [a "zombie" Elantrian] with Emotional Allomancy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

What would a Shardblade do to [a "zombie" Elantrian]?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Um, a Shardblade would...oh boy. A Shardblade...a Shardblade would still be dangerous to them, um, the trick is, um, the Shardblade's gonna treat them half alive, half dead. So, it probably would be kind of a flicker, so it depends on when you hit them. It might cut the arm off.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

It might cut the arm off...

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

And it might just leave it dead.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Most of my questions are actually about the Reod Elantrians.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Okay.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

So, could they be felt by life sense?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They would, um...they are in the middle of a transformation. I would say that yes they could be, but you're going to get like a stutter is what I'd guess you would get, it's like you would get a...a flashing.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Because they're kind of alive, and kind of not alive.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah. And so, yeah, you'd just get a flashing sort of....something.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Could you spike Elantrian-ness? Like, could you Hemalurgically spike Elantrian-ness?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Theoretically, yes.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Could you out of a Reod Elantrian? The zombie ones?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Um, yes you could.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

You could?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

So what you would be spiking there is their Connection to...to the planet, first. That's gonna be the big important thing. So you're going to overwrite your Connection. Um, and then you're going to....it's going to be a complicated process because you're going to have to spike the actual ability to have been transformed, that's gonna be harder.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Does that make sense?

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Yeah, so it's gonna take two spikes.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's gonna take two spikes.

mail-mi (paraphrased)

Alright.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

And you gonna have to get the right Connection to the right place. Let's say you spike somebody from MaiPon, and then you spike an Elantrian, you're not going to be able to use it, you're not connected to the right area.

ProfessionalLurker (paraphrased)

Where's Marsh?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Investigating the Southern Continent of Scadrial.

ProfessionalLurker (paraphrased)

Any news on Alcatraz 5?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He said he wrote the book last summer, and is waiting for the greenlight from Tor to hand it off, basically. They want to publish books 1-4 first, followed by this one. But the only thing needed is a schedule and edits! Still sounds like an early/mid 2016 thing to me.

ProfessionalLurker (paraphrased)

Are the Elantrian pool and Horneater lake connected?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They are the same thing.

leftinspace

Can you write in one of my books about something we don't know about the Shards, or at least one of the Shards?

Brandon Sanderson

*written* Odium has killed at least one more Shard than the ones we know about.

leftinspace

I've picked up in bits in pieces that it's possible, for some people at least, to use the Shardpools to worldhop...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

leftinspace

Can non-Invested people do that, or do you have to have some form of Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

*hesitantly* Every individual is Invested to some extent...

leftinspace

Do you have to have any special Investiture above and beyond the normal spark of life?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm gonna go ahead and RAFO that.

leftinspace

Can you tell me how long it was from the Shattering of Adonalsium to the prelude of The Way of Kings when the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact?

Brandon Sanderson

Current timeline, which I have NOT canonized, is around 6,000 years... I have not finished with my outline document yet.

leftinspace

'Cause I've looked at the current chronology and it's very, very spotty...

Brandon Sanderson

Yes it is... the real trick is... making sure that I fit in, for instance, White Sand and things with the proper amount... because I haven't released that book series yet, I have to make sure while we're doing the graphic novel, that it fits the chronology, which is why I can't quite canonize things yet.

leftinspace

That one takes place before Way of Kings doesn't it?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes

leftinspace

'Cause I know one of the worldhoppers from there shows up in Way of Kings...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, White Sand is one of the very earliest.

Lady Radagu (paraphrased)

How do Shallan's Memory blinks work? When she takes a Memory, is it of what she sees in the instant before her eyes close, or is it while they're closed?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It is what she sees right as they're closing.

Lady Radagu (paraphrased)

Since Horneaters don't really go for Vorin dresses, what would your average Horneater guy and girl wear? Anything special to differentiate a Nuatoma and their retinue?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I'm going to have to RAFO that. We're actually working on the sketches for those, and until they're finalized, I don't want to say anything to canonize them. But we will get you that information.

Lady Radagu (paraphrased)

Were there cadmium/bendalloy and possibly chromium/nicrosil mistings in the Final Empire? If yes, were the mists Snapping those too?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Um, yes, there were, but since the mists were trying to create a pattern to be a sign, and people didn't know all the metals, they (the mists) had to use substitutions. They were acting the way we've seen other cognitive shadows, who are deceased, act.

PrncRny (paraphrased)

How and when is the type of Misting you become determined? Can you tell what type of Misting you are before you Snap?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's determined at birth. The cosmere by combining 3 aspects of self. Your physical self, mental self, and spiritual self. The spiritual self is tied to the Investiture of the world that you come from. When an Allomancer snaps, a piece of their soul is broken and some of that power leaks into them, giving them their abilities.

PrncRny (paraphrased)

Why is Breath not consumed in Awakening, unlike most all other uses of Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Not all Investitures are "used up." Much like energy, it isn't typically created or destroyed, just changes for. With Breath, in what it's used for, it is just more easily and readily recovered than in other forms.

PrncRny (paraphrased)

So Alethi hair "breeds true" based on the individual's ancestry, why then does Renarin have more black than Adolin?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

As with us regular people, different shades of skin can be had within the same family with the same parents, its just a matter of how their DNA falls out. No different here. Nothing special with Adolin and Renarin's hair.

PrncRny (paraphrased)

Can any Oathgate go to any of the 11 locations?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

As far as [the people who discovered Urithiru] are aware, the gates can only go to Urithiru.

PrncRny (paraphrased)

What connection is there between Lifeless and Shard-severed limbs?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They are similar, but different. With Lifeless it's due to the soul being drained away, shrinking to nearly nothing. With Shard-severed limbs, that portion of the soul is sheared clean away.

Russ LeBar

Is "dragon's nest" a Nalthis to English translation or are dragons part of their culture? Is Edgli a dragon?

Peter Ahlstrom

I don't know the answer to that.

Brandon Sanderson

Dragons are mythological on Nalthis, but there is a reason that the stories exist. It's not a translation quirk.

Sam Script

Was Nahel name of a person? (Gonna be RAFO'd right?)

Peter Ahlstrom

I don't know, but I doubt it.

Questioner

When is the second book of The Rithmatist coming out?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven't written it yet. I started doing the research, and it was so much work I realized I needed more time to do it, because I'm going to South America in it, and I just needed to know South American cultures better, so I decided I need to take another year to do research. So I'm doing research for it right now, I'm going to write it hopefully after I finish the next Stormlight book, and then we'll release it soon after. So it's a little ways away.

Questioner (Paraphrased)

What are your plans with Legion?

Brandon Sanderson

We will eventually be doing a collection of those on my website, so if you want to wait on those, I'm going to do three novellas, and then we'll collect them into a three-novella thing, so it's a regular book size.

Questioner (Paraphrased)

In the acknowledgements of Firefight you promised that if you ever became an Epic you would go after your alpha, beta, and gamma readers last. What would their best defense be, i.e what would your weakness be?

Brandon Sanderson

Mac'n'cheese? Well, No 'cause I like mac'n'cheese too much. Fish sticks. It would be fish sticks.

Questioner

I thought you disliked fish sticks.

Brandon Sanderson

Exactly. That's why they'd be my weakness.

Questioner

What do you think is the difference between SciFi and Fantasy?

Brandon Sanderson

SciFi works with the improbable becoming reality; Fantasy works with the impossible pretending to be reality. I think the line is between what could be and what can't be. By my definition, that kind of takes Star Wars into Fantasy. I don't necessarily like Asimov's definitions, just because he was very down on fantasy. A lot of the fantasy of his era was very Conan-ish. He was a great writer, I respect his fiction a lot, but I don't think he gave fantasy its fair due.

I would count Star Trek definitely science fiction, they're trying to talk about - even though they're using fantastical teleporters and stuff - they're trying to say this is what's possible. It's social science fiction, a lot of it.

Questioner

But wouldn't you say Star Wars is really both?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say it’s a mash-up hybrid. It’s a fantasy magic system in a space opera science fiction setting.