Kurkistan
What is/was Endowment's gender? Is Endowment the same being as Austre (making him male)?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
What is/was Endowment's gender? Is Endowment the same being as Austre (making him male)?
RAFO.
If you are standing inside of a time bubble, and throw a spear out of the bubble, what happens to that spear as it traverses the border of the bubble? Are different parts of the spear ever in different "time zones," going fundamentally different speeds?
On that line of reasoning, what would happen to a train and its occupants if Marasi stood next to railroad tracks holding up a Cadmium bubble while that train sped by?
In general, a large object going through a time bubble is not going to notice. An object is either in or out, and it depends in part on how the object views itself. People inside the train would be inside of its influence, and wouldn't notice the bubble. The spear would go from one to the other, but would never be in both.
Do Breaths inherently possess the ability to interpret and carry out commands, or does the Awakener need to impart that decision making ability on Awakened objects?
If the Awakener does need to impart the decision-making ability, then does Awakening consist of an Awakener copying a portion of his/her Cognitive aspect (as determined by his/her visualization and verbal Command) onto the Cognitive aspect of the object being Awakened, with Breath then providing the "juice" for the object to actually follow its Command: powering both physical motion and "cogitation" based upon the copied Cognitive aspect?
If so, is that copying what drains color?
You're very close here.
Can a Shard tell the difference between itself and its current holder?
Tricky question. Depends on the circumstances. The power as a whole, no. Pieces of it, yes. (Ala Spinozism.)
Does the Shard Odium seek to separate things, much like the Shard Honor seeks to bind things together?
An interesting theory.
Some dictionaries list two meanings for the word "odium": the feeling of strong hatred, and that which provokes hatred from others. Do both of these apply to the Shard with that name?
Yes.
Is it necessary to touch a Shard--not necessarily to become its Holder, but to at least touch it briefly--to Splinter it?
RAFO.
Do Honorblades have the same sort of relationship to Honor (possibly to a much greater degree) that Shardblades do?
You're on the right track.
Can a Feruchemist store an attribute in a metalmind that someone else has already stored in and if so, do the charges affect each other in any way?
Yes, but the charges are just stored in separate pieces of the metal, and don't really influence one another.
Is it at all possible for Kelsier to be reincarnated/posess someone/show up as a ghost/whatever and become a character in a future Mistborn book?
He's shown up before, so I'd say that's a pretty good indication for the future.
Is Soulcasting mass-conservative (Soulcast a 1kg goblet, you get 1 kg of blood)?
In most circumstances, yes.
What would happen if, right after someone died, they were made into a Lifeless, and then Endowment tried to Return that person?
Oooh...now that's a spicy one. Endowment's gift of a superpowered Breath would come down, strike the Lifeless, and all kinds of craziness would occur. You'd end up with a drab god, which would be hilarious.
What would happen if Nightblood and a Shardblade hit each other?
RAFO.
How do worldhoppers communicate on all the cosmere worlds? Is there one universal language? Do they just learn a new language for each world?
There is not a universal language.
If two people grabbed the hilt of a Shardblade at the same time and then it got knocked out of their hands, which one could resummon it?
The one it's bound to.
Do Stephen's aspects exist in the way bonded spren exist (independent Spiritual and Cognitive aspect but tied to a human.)?
Legion does not exist in the cosmere, so Realmatic Theory is not at play in the story.
Did Razon's camera use the same Spiritual gravitational anchors as time bubbles?
See above.
When Surgebinding, the person is Binding a Surge (the elemental force). Are those Bindings (the spiritual link) the focus for Surgebinding on Roshar?
RAFO.
is one of the symbolhead-spren (or maybe all of them) responsible for Shallan's ability to Soulcast (in the way that Syl is responsible for Kaladin's Lashings)?
There is indeed a similar relationship there.
Is there any use to being a copper Compounder, from a Feruchemical point of view? I think the same point would also apply to an aluminum Compounder.
Some combinations, like some abilities themselves, aren't really that useful. That said, being able to Compound copper...that could do some things. Aluminum, not so much.
You once told me that Roshar is the name of the planet from the cosmere-literate point of view. Were the dawnsingers cosmere-literate?
There are various levels of cosmere awareness.
Now that you have finished writing [The Wheel of Time], how does it feel going back to telling your epic story that you have wanted to share with the world and being able to write a story naturally without the outside constraints that came with [The Wheel of Time]?
What if anything has been the biggest challenge getting back into writing Stormlight Archive after working so hard on [The Wheel of Time]?
It feels great, though it's a feeling I've felt before. It was the feeling I had when jumping out of the Mistborn world after finishing all three books and instead doing Warbreaker. For most of the process with [The Wheel of Time], I didn't feel 'constrained' really. It was more a sense of difficulty--it was difficult to do for unique reasons. Matching [Robert Jordan]'s story, making certain to keep characters consistent, that kind of thing.
It is refreshing to move to a new project, but this one presents difficulties of its own. I have to follow up The Way of Kings, which I feel is the best book of my career so far. I poured twenty years of effort into that book. Now, the sequel needs to be equally awesome, which is a real challenge.
Also, I keep wanting to use [Wheel of Time] curses.
Does the world map in The Way of Kings show all of the landmasses of Roshar? Does that make the continent on Roshar a Pangaea-like supercontinent? And as I think about it, are there tectonic plates on Roshar?
It is a supercontinent. I won't say there is NOTHING out there, but (unlike Scadrial) there is not another full continent. Plate tectonics are not a factor on the supercontinent.
When Dalinar and Honor are having a "chat" at the end, Honor says "I don't know who you are, or how you found your way here." Does Dalinar visit the Spiritual Realm in his dreams then?
RAFO. (Sorry.)
Do you have any of the Power Nine, and if so, which ones?
Pearl, Emerald, Ruby, Time Walk, Recall. Four left to go. I try to pick them up at times when it means something--for example, I bought my Ruby in Taiwan during my visit there earlier, and my wife gave me one as a gift...that sort of thing.
What aspect of a new setting do you find to be the most difficult to develop?
Hmmm.... The everyday stuff is actually the hardest. For example, the question about racist jokes. They'd have them in world, but getting everything like this into a novel can be tough--particularly since it has a chance of squeezing out the story if you do too much.
A few months ago, I discovered listening to classic jazz just really got me into the mindset for my current novel, and I think it might be because the story is set in a time similar to the America in the 1920's; do you ever try to match the music with the setting of a specific book or scene? Is there any one artist or style of music that works no matter what?
Yes, indeed I do. I actually listened to era-appropriate music when working on Alloy of Law. In general, a good soundtrack can work no matter what, but for some scenes I need something more powerful. (Szeth's scenes in [The Way of Kings] were usually to Daft Punk.)
Are the lighteyes descendants of the first people who took the Shards after the Knights Radiant abandoned them?
I'm afraid I have to RAFO this too.
If Kasbal hadn't been trying to kill Jasnah, would him and Shallan have gotten together?
It's uncertain. He actually did care for her, but he was an assassin trained to infiltrate and gain the trust of people like Shallan. If he hadn't been trying to kill Jasnah, he would never have had a reason to begin spending time with Shallan. However, I assume your question is if they had somehow started interacting, would they have gotten together. It's possible, but I don't think--in the end--it would have lasted.
Are there any other Shards on Nalthis aside from Endowment.
I suppose I can answer this if I haven't already. No, it is only Endowment.
With Stormlight being in your mind 2 five book arcs, is there still a single "through-line" so to speak (aka, the Everstorm, A clash with Odium, or the like).
Yes.
Before Adonalsium was Shattered, was there magic in the cosmere and what form did it take?
Yes, and when I write Dragonsteel, you shall see the answer to this.
Did Sazed do anything with the bodies of Ati and Leras after he Ascended?
No, I'm afraid not. Those might have been useful to have around, though.
Are there more kinds of kandra blessings than just the four we've seen?
Potentially, yes.
Does aluminium have any effect on the other Allomantic metals aside from iron/steel and zinc/brass? If yes, does that include god metals and their alloys?
Yes and no.
Would an Archivist who was sufficiently practiced be able to store memories at different strengths? (Keep a vague recollection of the memory as well as a stored copy which would degrade faster)
I don't think this is outside of reason for one to do, if they wanted to. I'm not sure if they would want to, but it's plausible.
What would happen if you Allomantically burned an Awakened piece of metal?
RAFO.
Is Szeth bounded to the Oathstone (master) with magic/force or just with his honour? As I can remember, in the end of [The Way of Kings] he nearly killed Taravangian.
RAFO. :)
Do you plan a magic system which enables the character to manipulate the four elements with their will? I mean not so bounded, like Allomancy with Pushing or Pulling but shaping/summoning the elements according to the wishes of the person. I ask this, because in the whole fantasy genre I rarely find something like this (except: Arc Magica RPG), so I had to develop it myself at home. But from the authors I know you are the person who has the creativity to do this without doubt.
Maybe, but there are a few problems here. For one, "Four elements" magic has been done over and over in books and video games, so it feels hard to make fresh. And in what you describe, it sounds like the characters would be very powerful, which makes for a challenging story to write.
When will be see the whole Cosmere-concept (Shards, the plans of Hoid) at the level of the books? In the third Mistborn trilogy or earlier? In which books do you plan to finish the "hidden story" which connects all your earlier books?
Third Mistborn Trilogy will certainly include some of this. We shall see if I do any of Hoid's stories before then.
As Dalinar gave his Shardblade to Highprince Sadeas, was his motivation only to free the Brigdemen as "Thank you" for the help? Or did he already plan to build a team from soldiers who are loyal only to him?
He certainly saw the side benefits. However, his primary motive was to make a statement. Not just as a thank you, but as a way of proclaiming to all of the Alethi "What we have been doing is wrong. This wealth is not worth the lives of men."
Are the intelligent spren like Syl the "seons of Roshar"?
What a clever question. Gold star for you.
Most of your heroes are true traditional "heroes", because they want to be useful for the family/society/other, and they often lack selfish, "dirtier" motivations. Will we sometimes see characters, who are not villains but are rather egocentric?
Kelsier. :)
Expanding that, however, I feel that in general, other people are telling stories about "dirtier" characters and doing it well. I don't feel characters who are generally good characters are any less realistic, however--in fact, almost everyone I know is more like Vin or Dalinar. They want to be good people, they TRY to be good people. Fantasy has taken a very dark turn in many ways, and this is fine, but it is not the type of story or characters in which I am interested.
That doesn't mean I won't ever do it. There are some far more borderline characters mixed into some of the series, but they are more the exception than the rule.
According to [Sanderson's Second Law of Magic] your characters have flaws, weaknesses. What is the reason, that in a lot of them (Vin, Elend, Kaladin, Dalinar, Spook, etc) the most significant weakness is the lack of self-confidence?
It's because of mode-shifting. The people you noted have been doing one thing for a long time, and are now forced into something else. The self confidence is a side effect of that. However, I wouldn't say it's the primary character attribute for any of them, however. I think you're blanketing self confidence as a larger issue, when it's the smaller part of something larger for each character.
Vin: Trusting Others
Elend: Idealism
Dalinar: Conflict between the killer he was and the man he wishes to be.
Spook: Self Worth
If a Shardblade was used on an Awakened object, would it physically harm the object, destroy the Breath, or a combination of the two?
You will someday know.
Can Knights Radiant of one Order see the spren of someone from another Order?
RAFO.
How has writing Shallan as the focus character been compared to Kaladin in the last book? Easier? More difficult?
So far, I've only done her flashback sequence--but this was a little easier than Kaladin's, as I've been kind of chomping at the bit to tell her story.
What do you think to a Sadeas and Zane pairing? Not many people seem to like the idea, but I think they'd get on swimmingly :P
Sadeas would make great use of Zane. Far better use than his father did.