Recent entries - Arcanum

General Twitter 2016 (Aug. 2, 2016)
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Charles Horikami

Just reread Emperor's Soul. Use of cursing being nights and days. Important? Please tell me will be getting more eventually.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it's important. I will get into it some day.

Barnes & Noble B-Fest 2016 (June 11, 2016)
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Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He disabused me of my little theory about a herald. He said the shalebark gardener working in the night when Dalinar and Navani walk by was just a gardener. He was purposefully trying to show "regular" Alethi alongside the more prominent soldiers and leaders.

The Alloy of Law Annotations (March 14, 2014)
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Brandon Sanderson

Dinner conversation with Marasi

This is probably a good point to talk about Marasi too. She's a little more simple than Steris, but also more innately likable.

Marasi represents me playing with concepts of how to make strong female characters. I'm well aware that in fiction, one of the most simple ways to make someone strong—male or female—is to make them capable in combat. Whether it's Vin or Kaladin, being able to kick butt and take names on a battlefield leads to a powerful sense of competence and self-confidence. It's only one side to those characters, of course, but it's an important side.

It shouldn't be the only way to be strong, however. Though I'm very pleased with Vin's ability to be both feminine and combat-savvy, I don't want to fall into the trap of implying that only those who can lay waste to their enemies are strong. I have conversations about this in The Way of Kings, but this story felt like a place to put some of it into practice.

I'm curious to see what people think of Marasi. I gave myself a challenge with her—create a female lead who is also very young and inexperienced, prone to blushing, and has no interest whatsoever in picking up a gun. I hope that she ends up interesting in her own right.

The Alloy of Law Annotations (March 14, 2014)
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Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Four

Waxillium enters the party with Steris

Alpha and beta readers had an interesting response to Steris. It was almost always passionate, many hated her immediately, some thought she was terribly flat, and others found her to be the most interesting character in the book.

I wasn't intending her to be so divisive, honestly. I'm very fond of her myself, and so I wanted to embed some strong personality quirks to perhaps make use of some day. Now, that's not to say that I will make use of them. I like to give some depth to side characters (such as Spook and Breeze from the original trilogy) so that, if the opportunity presents itself, I'll have something to work with in new viewpoint characters. It's kind of done by instinct these days, and it being there is no promise (unfortunately) that Steris won't end up dead.

However, I very much like that as you learn more about the situation, the way Steris acts becomes more and more understandable. Perhaps not rational, as she’s really only rational in her own head. But she is who she is.

The Alloy of Law Annotations (March 14, 2014)
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Brandon Sanderson

Sazed speaks to Wax

So, if it matters to you, this is actually Sazed talking to Wax here. It's not just Wax's imaginings.

I'm not sure what readers are going to think of this. My goal with the original Mistborn trilogy was to set up a mythology for the world, one in which real characters were playing a part. Sazed is, essentially, God now. Maybe a lowercase g would be better on that word, but regardless, he's the one watching over the world and making sure things go as they should. At this point, he's working hard to discover what's going on with the other Shards and to keep another disaster from coming Scadrial's way.

I've spoken before on my fascination with religion, and this aspect is a particularly interesting one for me. I've played with the ideas of men being treated like gods in Elantris and Warbreaker—but they didn't really deserve it. Here, however, we have Sazed who is approaching more of what a god would be. Should he be prayed to? Why or why not?

You should know that holding two opposed Shards of Adonalsium has made Sazed more . . . zen, if you will. Not inactive. However, he has taken a belief that both Ruin and Preservation are important in people's lives, and doesn't feel that interfering is something he should often be doing. He sees his primary role being to encourage people to be better, to keep an eye on the other Shards, and to make sure the world keeps working as it should.

The Alloy of Law Annotations (March 14, 2014)
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Brandon Sanderson

Wax gets his earring

That was MeLaan, by the way, who converted Wax and gave him his earring. (MeLaan, if you don't remember, is TenSoon's adopted daughter/little sister. Though the "little" part is subject to debate, as she's easily five centuries old by this point.)

The Alloy of Law Annotations (March 14, 2014)
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Brandon Sanderson

Vinuarch

Yes, one of the months of the year is named after Vin. There are twelve months, one after each member of the crew, with a few tweaks. (The days of the week have different names too, but we ended up not using any in this book.)

By the way, Scadrial—the world of Mistborn—is the closest Earth analogue in the cosmere. I did this intentionally, as I wanted one planet where technology and the like progressed similarly to what we have. There are distinctions, of course, but generally we've got a lot of similarities. Even in the original Mistborn, we referenced plants and animals by Earth-style names. You can assume that on Scadrial they have horses, dogs, cats, sparrows, and the like. There are twelve months, and a twenty-four-hour day. Gravity is earth gravity. Things like this.

There's no hidden meaning there—no tie back to Earth, at least not in any important way. The cosmere is entirely separate from Earth. This one planet, however, has creatures that were developed along the same lines as Earth. (Well, it's not the only one, but to say more would be to give away too much.)

The Alloy of Law Annotations (March 14, 2014)
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Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Nine

Wax and Marasi talk philosophy and his past

This sort of thing is another hallmark of the Mistborn books. (And, well, perhaps my writing in general.) I intended this book to be faster paced than what I term an "epic" like any of the books in the original trilogy. I wanted to move at a fair clip and not get slowed too often by conversations like this one. However, conversations like these are what add depth to characters for me, so I didn't feel it right to cut them completely.

Here, we get to see Waxillium's and Marasi's different views on life, the ways that who they are ground what they do. Waxillium is a realist. He sees things as they are. (Or how he thinks they are, at least.) He has a touch of a philosopher inside of him, as he wonders about what the truth is—but he wants to find that truth, prove it. He's not unaccommodating or harsh, but he does believe in absolutes and wants to find them.

Marasi is more interested in extremes because they're interesting, not because she is seeking for truth or reality. She's like a moth drawn to flame, fascinated by outliers. She's good with numbers and statistics, and can find those outliers; then she reads as much as she can about them. She could name for you every serial killer in Elendel's history, and talk about their lives and what led them to do what they did. She wouldn't consider it morbid, just fascinating. Wax, reading the same thing, would find his eye twitching. He'd get through a part of the reading, then find himself out on patrol, trying to run across someone doing something wrong that he could stop.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair

Is there any chance of queer characters some point in future books?

Brandon Sanderson

There already are a number of them. Drehy the bridgeman is based off of my friend Ryan Dreher who's gay. And Ranette, the woman that Wayne chases-- I thought I made it clearer than apparently I did, but she's queer. The woman that Wayne thinks he's in love with. Those are two of them, and there will be others.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair (paraphrased)

Out of all your characters, who would you most want to be like, personality-wise?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Dalinar.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair

In Alloy-of-Law-era Scadrial, aside from Marsh, is there any Hemalurgy, or has that all been forgotten about?

Brandon Sanderson

That is a RAFO. But if you go back and look at it, the things Marsh says at the ending, indicating the book that he has given. The book has a lot to do with Hemalurgy.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair

How long has Odium been on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

I would have to grab the timeline and pull it out. That's one of the ones I'd just have to eyeball. It has been a while. A long time.

fletchershair

And has he been on Scadrial or Nalthis? Because we know he's been on Sel.

Brandon Sanderson

He is aware of both of them. But I'm not gonna say if he was on them or not.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair

Can you combine Aons? Instead of just adding the things that make them more detailed, can you combine them with each other?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. There is an entire art based around figuring out what combinations work.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair

Now that Nightblood is on Roshar, can it use Stormlight the same way is would use Breaths?

Brandon Sanderson

I'll just tell you "yes." I was gonna RAFO that, but I think everyone's figured that out by now.

fletchershair

A friend wants to know exactly how you can go between types of Investiture. You've said that you can before.

Brandon Sanderson

It just depends on the Investiture. Some are much easier to use than others. Like, running Aons with other Investiture, very hard. Just the nature of the magic makes it very hard. But, Nightblood? He'll feed on whatever he can get. So, it's really easy to fuel Nightblood.

KChan

Does Feruchemy have anything to do with that? Converting into Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

Not gonna say.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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ROCkUguys13 (paraphrased)

Is there any sort of civilization on Braize?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Braize is the weirdest one because it's kind of like a prison. So, is there any civilization on Braize? Kind of. It's like a prison. That's all I'll say.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Blightsong (paraphrased)

Was Adolin's murder of Sadeas him falling under the influence of Odium, or was that all him?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That was all Adolin.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Blightsong (paraphrased)

Is Roshar, or has Roshar always been the only large landmass on the planet?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Roshar is.... *Brandon then paused and looked up, thinking very hard* Roshar has always been the largest landmass--as long as there has been land.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Ruro272 (paraphrased)

Alright, but would nicrosil be the right metal to make a Hemalurgic spike if you did want to steal powers from another world?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's a good theory, you're theorizing well.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Ruro272 (paraphrased)

Does Hoid have a Hemalurgically charged Nicrosil spike?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's... unlikely. Hoid would not want to open himself to the influence of Shards so using Hemalurgy on himself is unlikely. Although Hemalurgy is the easiest way to get other powers, he'd more likely do things the hard way.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Ruro272 (paraphrased)

On a similar note, since Elsecallers can physically go to Shadesmar and have access to Transportation surge, can all Elsecallers worldhop?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, that is one of the Elsecaller powers.

Ruro272 (paraphrased)

In hindsight this seems like a really obvious question now *laugh*, but I think it's really interesting that Elsecallers can travel to other planets too--we didn't know that before.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There are hints in the names on the map of Shadesmar.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Ruro272 (paraphrased)

Is there a separate "Shadesmar" for each planet or is it one big place that are all connected with different regions for each planet?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's one big place with different sections.

Ruro272 (paraphrased)

So since its one big place, could spren travel to a different section that correlates with a different planet, such as the cognitive segment for Scadrial?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They could go there, but they wouldn't usually...

Ruro272 (paraphrased)

Is that because Honor's influence is only on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*Brandon gave sort of a noncommittal half nod, but looked doubtful himself. Maybe best to interpret this last answer as a RAFO rather than reading into it too much.*

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Blightsong (paraphrased)

Is there a reason why shadows go toward the light in Shadesmar, or is it just worldbuilding flavor?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There is a reason, but its not super important. It's like a cultural thing, things have reasons but they aren't always super relevant to the story.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Blightsong (paraphrased)

Does Harmony have any Splinters?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Do you mean like in his fingers? *Brandon has a coy smile. Questioner looks at him like "you know what I mean you fool". Brandon laughs.* No, he does not have Splinters right now. Good question.

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Ruro272 (paraphrased)

Any hint on how Nin got a hold of Nightblood, or how Vasher lost Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson (Written) (paraphrased)

Vasher and Nightblood had something of a falling out...

Minicon 2015 (April 2, 2015)
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Ruro272 (paraphrased)

Will we see all of the Heralds doing things in the upcoming books?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The back five books are all about the Heralds. Two of them claim to be Heralds... Two of the point-of-views will be Heralds.

Firefight Miami signing (Jan. 8, 2015)
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fletchershair

So, they're all in... Urithiru, and that's safe from the Everstorm, right? Because they're trying to get everyone there, right?

Brandon Sanderson

It is definitely safer than the Shattered Plains.

fletchershair

So what makes it safer? Is it just the location?

Brandon Sanderson

They are on the east side of a mountain. It's coming from the other direction. They also think they might be high enough to be over the storm, judging based on the fact that Kaladin was able to hop over it, so he knows generally how high up they go.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

What are ReLuur's spikes made of? Marasi thought they were pewter, but that doesn't make sense.

Brandon Sanderson

It doesn't.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

If you tap Connection in one area, for location, would that remove your Connection to your original place, where you're actually from?

Brandon Sanderson

Um, RAFO.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

Could someone who's never been to Scadrial be Connected to Ruin, Preservation, or Harmony?

Brandon Sanderson

Possibly. Depends on the strength of the Connection. But yeah, Connection's not an on/off switch.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

Can you store any sort of Temporal Connection?

Brandon Sanderson

Um, most.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

Can you store....like if there is a Twinborn, who is a gold Allomancer and a duralumin Ferring, would his goldshadow change based on what his Connection is?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm going to RAFO that.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

Can you store different types of Connection at different times? Like can you store Connection to people versus location?

Brandon Sanderson

That is possible.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

Can you be Connected to two locations at once?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes

Dirigible

Will that help with doing Sel magic off-world?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible's sister

The Expanse of Broken Sky, is that Sel?

Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

RAFO

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible's sister

Is the Cognitive Realm flat or spherical?

Brandon Sanderson

The Cognitive Realm is this weird thing, where it's flat, but it's distorted.

Dirigible's sister

Yeah, 'cause I was going to say, if you make a globe flat...

Brandon Sanderson

You can walk from one planet to the next. So it's got really weird...the spatial reasoning doesn't work the same way.

Calamity Denver signing (Feb. 19, 2016)
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Dirigible

Have we seen a Svrakiss in a book so far?

Brandon Sanderson

Um... RAFO

Dirigible

Can you tell us anything about Svrakiss, like are they originally from Sel?

Brandon Sanderson

Um... I'm not going to go into that.

Phoenix Comic-Con 2016 (June 2, 2016)
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Badger (paraphrased)

What was your motivation/inspiration behind the Alcatraz books?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

- They're weird and modernist.

- His goal was to do something so different from what he was working on.

- He uses different books like this as breaks in order to keep the momentum up for writing and yet let himself rest.

- Still has a wacky magic system, so it's still one of his books, still what he likes writing, but it's still different.

- Inspired by like, The Emperor's New Groove sort of off the wall storytelling (gave the example of the fact that the opening scene is cut by a flashback and then never addressed again anywhere in the books)

#NookTalks Twitter Q&A with Barnes & Noble (Feb. 16, 2016)
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