Recent entries

Ian M Mackay, PhD

Was much of the Shattered Plains inspired by the beach?

Peter Ahlstrom

A lot of the life on Roshar is inspired by tide pools.

Javs

What is a half beard. A short beard or are nobles in Luthadel walking around with one side of their face smooth.?

Brandon Sanderson

Their term for goatee.

Evgeni Kirilov

Does Kai's name (Perfect State) rhyme with the letter A or I?

Peter Ahlstrom

I can't remember. It might appear in a video of Brandon's reading from his recent tour.

Evgeni Kirilov

He says it like "hey" but I realized that might be like an informal "K". Like a Jason might be J.

Peter Ahlstrom

Nah, it's not a K. So that means that's how you pronounce it. Brandon is usually more likely to say ai as A than I (as I would).

Evgeni Kirilov

Same with Shai?

Peter Ahlstrom

Yes.

Joe ST

Would you be able to tell us the location of the Velding (Elantris) for the wiki page?

Peter Ahlstrom

From the context, it's like a mixture of the Kremlin and the Vatican (or Saint Basil's Cathedral). So, too small for the map.

D'dac de Prades

The Unmade were "made" or are Unmade because they have never been made? It would be 2 different words in Spanish. Thank you.

Peter Ahlstrom

That is a good question. I assumed they had never been made but it's possible it is the other.

ProfessorWC

Could a Surgebinder shut down Shardplate by cracking a piece and then consuming the Stormlight from the internal gems?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, though getting the Stormlight out of those gems while they're already powering something is not easy.

Pablo

We need to see a cosmere world with a more musical magic system!

Brandon Sanderson

I've thought of a few, but have trouble finding something that feels distinctive from other song-based magic systems.

lpf & yurisses

But, I get the feeling you forgot about copperclouds making Smokers and mistborn immune to emotional allomancy. Didn't you?

Peter Ahlstrom

They don't. Only the Smoker himself is made immune.

lpf & yurisses (Part 1/Part 2)

I am not suggesting otherwise. However, I remember Sanderson saying Zane used emotional Allomancy on Vin, and Vin using duralumin and brass successfully on Yomen's Smoker (and Tineye) at the ball. Among other instances I forget.

Peter Ahlstrom

Duralumin beats copper. I'm not sure about the other instance.

BrandonColevander

Are [Jaddeth] & [Domi] the Shards Dominion & Devotion?

Peter Ahlstrom

Domi is more Devotion and Jaddeth is more Dominion. But there is some mixing. The shard holders were Aona and Skai.

Zach G

Were the Alethi made by some creator-figure and given the Thrill deliberately?

Brandon Sanderson

Roshar was inhabited before Honor and Cultivation arrived. The Thrill did not exist then.

Zach G

So it's a response to the power of one of or both of them?

Brandon Sanderson

I didn't say that... :)

BrandonColevander

How come the base 8 abilities come in pairs by base metal & alloy, but the higher ability pairs are not related?

Peter Ahlstrom

Which book are you on? Things change after the first book. They don't understand things as well as they think.

BrandonColevander

I've read all 4 several times. Ex: electrum is a gold alloy yet it is opposite of atium & malatium opposite gold...>

Peter Ahlstrom

Alloys of atium can't be thought of as establishing any pattern.

BrandonColevander

@PeterAhlstrom there are alloyS (plural) of atium?! Any chance that atium or its alloys show up again in any of the upcoming novels?

Peter Ahlstrom

RAFO :)

James Powell

And were I minded to, could I kill Kaladin with a Hemalurgic spike and steal his Windrunning? (I don't want to kill Kaladin)

Brandon Sanderson

You can steal most things with Hemalugy, but Surgebindings are tricky because of the spren. Requires some non-standard workings.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Finally, Brandon RAFO'd me on my question about "the wicked thing of eminence" that Alice theorized about. I asked "Was the wicked thing of eminence an action of spren, of men, or both?" I didn't go into this with him in a line, but my theory is about the spren.

Nashan'Elin (paraphrased)

Could Honor and Autonomy be considered opposites, like, Autonomy freeing from Honor's oaths?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, you could definitely think of it that way. Those two are more likely to be opposed than some others.

PallonianFire (paraphrased)

Is Threnody named in memorial of someone/something?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*big smile* Yes it is.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The reading:

- He read this reading again (I was hoping for something new but only like??? 5 people in the audience had read Words of Radiance and the other excerpt he had prepared had WoR spoilers in it). It's young Dalinar at the feast.

- The only thing of note is in our reading he originally called Sadeas's wife "Ialai Sadeas", then he stopped, cleared his throat and corrected to "Ialai Torol" which would be an interesting naming convention, or his name really is Sadeas Torol and we've all be wrong this whole time.

Badger (paraphrased)

What did you do while writing Wheel of Time?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Alternated between writing Wheel of Time books and Cosmere books.

Badger (paraphrased)

What's the status of the video game (Birthright)?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

- It. Didn't work out.

- There was another author at the time trying to get something done with (if I recall correctly) the same company, and he didn't want to compete with them.

- They still have the game rights.

It's been delayed mostly until there's some sort of movie out because basically there's two ways they can do a video game. They can do a big AAA game that will be very very expensive and it could flop, or they could do a smaller indie game. Because there's not a huge established audience from a movie, they want to wait until then before producing a game.

- He wants the gameplay to be a bit like Infamous in design (if I recall correctly).

- Basically what's stopping them right now is it's just really really expensive.

Badger (paraphrased)

What about The Apocalypse Guard?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

- It's set in the Reckoners era

- Basically the coffee girl intern of the Apocalypse Guard gets sucked into a different dimension or something and they have to go retrieve her.

- You can read more here: http://brandonsanderson.com/the-apocalypse-guard/

Badger (paraphrased)

What will be in Arcanum Unbound?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

- All of the things.

- All of the short stories and novellas that are part of the Cosmere by the release date will be included in it, as well as the Lift novella.

Badger (paraphrased)

Can you tell us more about Khriss?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

- She has a cameo in Bands of Mourning

- She's the main character of White Sand, basically said just read White Sand to get more information since it comes out soon.

- Nahz is basically her grumpy secret agent she sends out to go retrieve artifacts for her.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Movie Question

- A film adaptation is different than a graphic novel adaptation. A film brings in new fans who may not be avid readers, a completely different audience. A graphic novel will likely have a similar audience to his books.

- With book to film adaptations he says that there's only a one-in-three chance it will be a good adaptation of one of his books, and it's a risk he's willing to take.

- He quoted someone he couldn't remember saying basically that you can make a bad film, but that doesn't change the fact that the book is good. Someone once asked an author about a film ruining their book and they said "It's still there on the shelf, nothing's happened to the book."

- He sold the rights to people he feels he can trust to make good movies.

- Of all of them, Reckoners has the best chance at getting a movie but he made it clear that's just his hunch/estimate and we shouldn't run to Twitter getting excited about a movie that might not even happen.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

White Sand Information

- His goal for it was a fantasy desert ecology that wasn't Dune.

- [White Sand] was his best unpublished book he wrote between Elantris and Mistborn.

- He didn't want a graphic novel to be a 1:1 adaptation of one of his existing books because it gives nothing to the old readers. He wanted to make sure it's something that new readers will like as well as his existing fans.

- [White Sand] needed a heavy edit and he worked with a script writer and talked a little bit about the process of that.

Badger (paraphrased)

How much say did you have in the narrators for your audiobooks?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He talked about the process behind picking narrators in the sense of he's allowed to request people, but if they can't get them, the publisher will present him with other options he can pick from. Same went for book cover artists (he chose Michael Whelan). He requested Michael Kramer and Kate Reading for his books because he was impressed with how he did the Wheel of Time books. The only one he didn't have say in is the original Warbreaker narrator (surfer dude Lightsong, anyone?).

Badger (paraphrased)

What's your favorite magic system you've written?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Compared picking a fave system to picking a fave child, it's easier to pick who is most obedient. He likes writing Allomancy/the metallic arts the most

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He also commented about how he wanted people to like Steris, and says people probably don't like her in [The Alloy of Law] because they don't see enough of her and don't get to know her.

Badger (paraphrased)

Does The Lost Metal takes place in Southern Scadrial?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, it's in the Basin. However it will have stuff about South Scadrial in it. His exact words were he doesn't want to write anything set in south Scadrial "yet".

Badger (paraphrased)

How do chasmfiends reproduce?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Pretty similarly to chulls. He says there's a hint on the chull reproduction page in [Words of Radiance]. The last step of the reproduction cycle, for chasmfiends, involves a spren.

Badger (paraphrased)

Are there service animals on Roshar/Alethkar and if so what are they, out of the fauna we know?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Axehounds are very easily trained and domesticated and would make for great service animals. Minks, probably next but not nearly as good as axehounds. He also mentioned that we'll know more about them, and their name, later.

Badger (paraphrased)

Has Renarin been a Radiant since before we first met him in The Way of Kings?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO, saving it for the Renarin pov parts to explore.

Badger (paraphrased)

Who bonded with their spren first, out of the new Radiants?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Chronologically, and of the ones we know, Jasnah.

Badger (paraphrased)

Does Marsh like cats?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He's more of a dog person (but fairly neutral towards cats). Kelsier is a cat person. Brandon himself is a cat person (he has a cat).

Cadmium (paraphrased)

You're in Houston, questions of Oil & Gas and energy sources will be naturally be bandied about.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Naturally.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Is the gasoline on Scadrial a fossil fuel or biodiesel?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Oh. Hmm. Well It's fossil fue... No. What they're using now is mostly biodiesel, I think. It's not something we really talked out.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Ok, we had a whole thread on 17th Shard and even discussed how scientifically fossil fuels could have been put into place during the Catacendre.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, fossil fuels are possible, and I don't want to seem like I'm clearly giving credence to those that believe in a Young Earth, but Scadrial is a relatively young planet. Relatively.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Young Earth doesn't bother me, though I know I'm not the majority.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Where on Scadrial is it being produced? No mention of refineries in Elendel or the Roughs.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Where on Scadrial... Well it's... I'm going to have to RAFO that for now. It starts to touch on questions of the future as they will need more fuels for travel and they'll need to look for different sources.

Questioner

Is it only greatshells that have gemhearts, or do all crustaceans on Roshar have some sort of gem inside? And if it is only greatshells then are their unique decayspren related to this fact?

Brandon:

They're not only greatshells, but not every crustacean has a gemheart, at least not of the style that would be of any relevance to you. Some have the same sort of chemistry going on in their body, they're just too small to have it coalesce into a gemheart. And the gemheart is related to how-- particularly the greatshells, can grow to get so big.

Questioner

Could you use Hemalurgy to steal Surgebinding?

Brandon:

Absolutely, you could steal Surgebinding with Hemalurgy. *crowd laughs* Booooo, you should be scared of that.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Who cut Lopen's food for him while he was one-handed?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

*laughs* Well, I'd have to say he doesn't need anyone to cut his food for him, he'd just kind of "grr, arrgh" *pantomimes, stabbing something on table with fork and ripping into it with teeth* Because he's The Lopen right, and he can take care of his food himself. Great question. Very unique.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Would a Connection medallion accurately interpret a listener's Rhythms?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, it would, but not all of it, some would be lost in translation. You'd probably lose some of the nuance. It would probably be better to give the medallion to someone who couldn't understand it than someone who spoke it.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Does a Connection medallion account for heavy sarcasm?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It would. Maybe not the heaviest, most deadpan sarcasm.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Would a Connection medallion work for sign language?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

Would it make the person's fingers move or would spoken word be interpreted mentally as the appropriate sign? Would it overcome deafness?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Ehhh... It would translate the communication. I can say that.

Cadmium (Written) (paraphrased)

Would it actually be possible for a kandra to "become a rusting bunny?".

Brandon Sanderson (Written) (paraphrased)

Yes, But it would be tough.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They must keep a certain mass to maintain intelligence and a bunny is very small.

Cadmium (paraphrased)

But obviously being a Harvey sized bunny is totally doable.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yeah... Good movie reference.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Do you invent ridiculous accents for Wayne just to see if Michael Kramer can do different voices?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, it's not just to torture Michael, though Brandon really enjoys hearing how Michael reads the different voices and he's amazed at the various accents, and he listens to all of the audiobooks at least once...

Questioner (paraphrased)

Something carefully worded about how he isn't opposed to having a major character of Stormlight 6-10 arc be dead before the books started and would he do that in a style like in Mistborn: Secret History.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Kudos from Brandon on carefully wording it to avoid MB:SH spoilers and the very consistent answer that if Brandon did so, the character would be the focus of the flashback sequences in those books, and then once the flashback is over they'd be dead, so no one is safe for the book until the flashback sequences are over.

Questioner (paraphrased)

I've never actually read any of your books

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's okay

Questioner (paraphrased)

How would you rate your books versus others?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I don't pump them up too much or you're sure to be disappointed no matter what. I'd say compared to other books, they're a little bit awesome.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How much of the big cosmere stuff will be in Stormlight 3-5?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Not much. Just hints. The big cosmere stuff will come in Mistborn Era 3 and things more like Mistborn: Secret History for a long while. Some people just don't care about it.

Questioner (paraphrased)

What's next after Stormlight 3?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Probably Rithmatist 2.

Questioner (paraphrased)

When will we get Stormlight 3?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

A year after he's done and he thinks he'll be done this summer, so Fall-ish 2017.

Questioner (paraphrased)

I'm 42. How long do I have to live to read it all? Am I going to make it?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, I'm 40, so at least three years longer than me, but don't worry, we'll get there.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How often do airport bookstore employees bother him while he is Brandalizing books

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Sometimes.

Paladin Brewer (paraphrased)

Marsh says Wax is "doing his brother's work," is this a reference to what Kelsier did in the past or present?"

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

In the past, as in Kelsier was trying to help the little people and people who could not help themselves.

Paladin Brewer (paraphrased)

Have Kelsier and Marsh communicated in any way post-Hero of Ages?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I don't want to answer this right now, there will be other short stories that will go over this.