Recent entries

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15252 Copy

    Questioner

    Megan's weakness was fire, she overcame it. David's weakens was water, I feel he overcame it when shooting at the window. So my conspiracy theory is that he didn't have to take power from Calamity because he overcame his weakness or he was never experiencing the negative aspects of being an Epic *audio obscured*

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are getting warmer... You're theorizing is wise and you'll just have to see where it goes. But yeah you are definitely getting warmer.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15255 Copy

    Questioner

    In Alloy of Law, Marasi goes to see Wax in his house and he was doing experiments, she describes him as being oddly-- looking oddly younger than he had before. Is that relevant or is that just because he’s excited about--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah it's more that, and more she had this picture in her head of him and things like that. There's no actual magical thing going on there. It's an excellent question.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15261 Copy

    Questioner

    Has a Hemalurgic Feruchemist ever used a Hemalurgic spike to tap power into it? Have they ever done that yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So a Hemalurgic spike is already Invested, so it's going to resist sticking anything else in it, particularly a magic like that.

    Questioner

    So if there's a pewter spike then a Feruchemist couldn't store strength in it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. It would be difficult.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15263 Copy

    Questioner

    What would happen if somebody used the color from a Stormlight-infused gem to create a BioChromatic entity?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So I just had this question actually and what we came up with was that would leave behind something that is like a cloudy quartz and is going to make it work not as well for holding Stormlight. That's our answer right now, I'm going to talk to my scientists and see what they think because draining the color from something doesn't just leave it white, or clear, it kind of ruins it, it's gray-ish, it's dun. It clouds. So I think it would ruin things for Stormlight.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15264 Copy

    Questioner

    So I was actually wondering, I keep finding myself thinking of new and exciting ways to break science with magic. How do you keep yourself from doing that constantly as you're writing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You write the book the best way the book can be. You give it to a scientist. You say "What does this break?" and then you either take it into account, if you think it is going to work for the book. If not you come up with an explanation in-world and you move forward. We're writing fantasy, we don't want the science to ruin our book, we want the science to be something we considered. Does that make sense? Like when I made speed bubbles and Peter's like "Red shift! You're going to irradiate people." I'm like "Alright we're just going to have to say 'Speed bubbles are not irradiating people' ". And just be aware of it and write the best book you can.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15265 Copy

    Questioner

    Shardblades are essentially spren that have died--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not all of them have died but yeah.

    Questioner

    Oh, my question was if they could be revived?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um this… According to the understanding of those in-world it would require the same person who broke their oath. So it would be possible if any of them were still alive. I'm not ruling out other ways, but that's how it's understood by--

    Questioner

    It would be the traditional way.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, mmhmm.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15266 Copy

    Shadow Guardian

    If an Awakener were to go to Roshar and were to bleed the color from a gem would that gem still be able to store Stormlight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Bleed the color from a gem… Um ye-ye-ye-yeah. This would interfere with its function on Roshar. It would probably still be able to hold Stormlight…

    Shadow Guardian

    Might not be able to be used for Soulcasting?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yea-- It's going to… You know what no it would just change it. It would just bleed the color from it and turn it into a dusty quartz or something like that. That's probably what it would end up with, a dusty quartz. Because the molecular structure doesn't matter as much as the color for Roshar. So yeah you would probably still be able to hold Stormlight because a diamond can but I don't know, quartz might cut it. You'd probably end up with something that's not going to work so well.

    Questioner 2

    What about a fabrial that needs a specific--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah a specific-- A ruby wouldn't work any more, and it would let go whatever is captured inside.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15267 Copy

    Questioner

    I just had a question about the broadsheets, do you write all the content for those?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I wrote all the first one. And the second and third one's I'm like "I don't want this all to be in my voice I want it to feel like a newspaper" so I wrote a couple. Isaac wrote a bunch, Ben wrote some of them--

    Isaac Stewart

    Ben didn't write any.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So it was you who wrote the rest of them?

    Questioner

    Did you do the layouts?

    Isaac Stewart

    Yeah I do the layouts and then I give them to Ben to do some of the illustrations.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The really fun thing is Isaac wrote the Nicki Savage one in this one [The Bands of Mourning].

    Isaac Stewart

    It was really fun, I'm glad Brandon let me.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15268 Copy

    Questioner

    Any hints about what the Stormlight novella will be about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm probably going to make Lift the main character if the scene-- if it works it will be Lift. If it doesn't I could pick a different character, but I have a nice little outline for what Lift has been doing in between and I think she'll make a very good novella on her own. I do want to write the short story King Lopen the First of Alethkar, but that one's only like 5,000 words so if I get that one done I'll stick it in too. If you watch at the end of Words of Radiance Lopen's going around claiming to be king and there's a reason for that.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15269 Copy

    Questioner

    I'm going through Hero of Ages...again and I noticed...when Vin takes the power of Preservation into herself the descriptions remind me a lot of someone who has been Invested with Stormlight--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    --are those powers very similar--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    --in how they operate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ye-- Definitely some similarities. You will see a lot of mist in Stormlight if you are looking. So yeah.

    Questioner

    It like puffs out like mist.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15276 Copy

    Questioner

    What happened to Wax's horse that Wayne did?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What happened to Wax's horse that what?

    Questioner

    That Wayne did, it's kind of referenced.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The reason the horse bit Wayne, is that what you're asking? The horse just has a nice sense of who deserves to be bit.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15277 Copy

    Questioner

    If the spren turn into any weapon how come all the dead spren are Shardblades?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good question.

    Questioner

    Read And Find Out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a Read And Find Out.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15278 Copy

    Questioner

    Is there a meaning for Adolin's name, like there is for Kaladin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    Okay, do you want to tell me it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Honestly I have to look them up. So I don't have them off the top of-- I should. I just have to look them up. It’s like there's technically a meaning to almost every name but yeah.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15280 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering, how often are [???] life imitating art or intentionally put into place?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's rare that it's intentional. Once in a while it is, for instance Nohadon is based off of King Benjamin.

    Questioner

    Nohadon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The author of The Way of Kings, the original author. But more often it's just unintended

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15283 Copy

    Questioner

    Are Returned the same person-- like is a Returned the same person they were before they were alive or-- 'Cause it says in the book that it is a Shard that Awakens the body so is it the consciousness-- Well not the Shard--

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is the same soul.

    Questioner

    The same soul.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Questioner

    I was wondering if it was the consciousness of the Splinter.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15284 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Harmony only able to see and watch over Scadrial or will he be able to see the potential of other parts of the cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    We'll talk about that in an upcoming story. You'll get more clues about that very soon.

    Questioner

    Very soon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Very soon.

    Questioner

    Like before the end of the night?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Poten-- Well not-- Potentially before the end of the night, yes.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15285 Copy

    Questioner

    Do you have a layout of the cosmere, like everything is happening written down or is it just up here?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's written down. Some of it's up in the head, some of it's written down. Most of it is somewhere...

    Questioner

    Somewhere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah most of it's somewhere.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15287 Copy

    Questioner

    I was at-- I think it was at Way of Kings or Towers of Midnight, and I think I might your dad?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay.

    Questioner

    At least I think it was your dad. He said he was your dad. *laughter* I realized like two years later that it might not actually be your dad.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was, it was. *laughter*

    Questioner

    I'm relieved. Old, white hair, he said he was sort-of going to voice act Grandpa Smedry.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So my dad. She may have met my dad. And she really did meet my dad. *laughter*

    Questioner

    I realized like two years later, "Wait what if that wasn't really his dad? Just some crazy guy?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    My dad looks like--

    Questioner

    Your dad was very nice.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, he looks vaguely like Alan Alda. Much more when he was younger, now he looks like a grandpa-ish Alan Alda.

    Bystander 1

    So like Alan Alda.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, maybe like Alan Alda still is. So the funny story about my dad is-- She wanted to know if this was really him and he said he was going to voice act Grandpa Smedry. So what my dad loves to do is he likes to show up at my signings, particularly-- He had a job where he moved around a lot. He would be at home in Idaho for a weekend and then he would go and work somewhere for a week and come back-- One of those jobs, right? And so I would go do my signings and never know where he was, right? And so I'd be doing a reading-- And I did one once in, this was in Ohio--

    Questioner

    I met him in Portland.

    Brandon Sanderson

    You met him in Portland?

    Questioner

    The year someone brought you a massive box of Voodoo Donuts...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes, the Voodoo Donuts...

    Questioner

    ...you don't like chocolate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    But I love Voodoo Donuts! I'm just not going to wait in line for it.

    Questioner

    But you don't like chocolate!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't like chocolate flavored donuts, I like a piece of chocolate, but like the chocolate flavoring they put on donuts is such fake chocolate...

    Questioner

    I think it was the CocoPuffs one.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. So anyway my dad, he'd just show up at places like this, and I'll be doing my signing, right? And I was doing a reading once in Ohio and there's a disturbance at the back, and I'm like "What is going on?" And people kind of part, and there's my dad signing books. *laughter* Seriously. He's just signing books, and he's just laughing about it like "Oh I taught him everything." *laughter* He's never read a science-fiction book in his life. He reads the books like, that we replaced over here for our signing that are religious books and stuff. He reads-- Oh it was the cart, the cart said religious books and they had stacks of my books on it-- He reads stuff like that, he reads biographies. My dad does not science-fiction.

    Questioner

    Has he read your books? I know he's read Alcatraz, because he was talking and quoting it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He's read my books. He's read the Alcatraz books at least. This is my dad, he's signing my books... The other part of that story is that he then took off and like seven kids came through the line-- like twelve-year-olds that he had bought a hardcover for because he'd seen them with a ratty paperback and knew they couldn't afford one, so he just bought if for them. *audience awws* And he did that for just tons of kids in the line. And he will do that at the signings. If he sees some young kid with a paperback, he'll buy them a hardcover. So that's my dad for you. *applause* I'll tell him you applauded for him. I'll tell him that you remember him...

    Bystander 2

    Will you bring him back?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Will I bring him back? I'll tell him he has to come to the signing next time.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15288 Copy

    Questioner

    Of all the characters you've written which one has the most of you in them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Of all the characters I've written which has the most of me in them. Boy, y'know every character is a bit of me and every character's got something that's very unlike me. Um, I really have trouble answering that. People have asked it of me before. Some days I think it's Jasnah, some days I think I'm arrogant to assume it's Jasnah. Any character I would mention it would feel like the things I like about them are the things I wish I would have, if that makes sense? I don't know if there's any one that is really just me. My mother reads the Alcatraz books and says that's me. *laughter* She really does. Like she loves those books because she says "No that's you". When I have no inhibitions and I'm not trying to be self important I just do stupid things like in the Alcatraz books so maybe Alcatraz?

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15289 Copy

    Questioner

    Do the Shards move-- Other than Odium do the Shards move around and have we seen-- Or have Shards moved to worlds after the events that we have read about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Do Shards other than-- Do Shards move around? The answer is yes, there are several of them. Have Shards moved around after the events you've read about? Yes, there are Shards that have moved around after that.

    Questioner

    That have moved to the worlds we've read about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's a RAFO. I'm not going to tell you whether they've moved to the planets you've read about or not.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15290 Copy

    Questioner

    So Nightblood is sentient, he can make choices, and now he is in Roshar. Could Nightblood bond a spren and become a Radiant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Could Nightblood bond a spren-- *drowned out by laughter* That one's just a bit farfetched. *laughter* I rarely say anything is impossible but let's just say that one's pretty farfetched.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15291 Copy

    Questioner

    Where do koloss-bloods come from?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Where do koloss-bloods come from... Good question. So when two-- When a mommy koloss and a daddy koloss… *laughter* Any natural offspring from two koloss become koloss-blooded, they do not become full koloss unless they decide to take the initiation which involves the spikes.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15292 Copy

    Questioner

    How did you come to know Joshua Bilmes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    How did I come to know Joshua Bilmes. Joshua is my agent, for those who don't know. So when I took the class at BYU, that I now teach, from David Farland, I was writing Elantris and he was very impressed with the book and he said "Look, you're writing to get published." And I said "Great, what do I do?" And he said "Well how much money do you have?" And I said "None." "Well borrow some 'cause I want you to go to the Nebula Awards because they're in New York and when the Nebula Awards," he said, "are in New York a lot of the agents and editors go and it's one of the best places to just go meet them."

    So I managed to scrounge up enough money to fly to New York, I stayed in a friend's basement. It was actually the brother-in-law of Skar the bridgeman, Ethan Skarstedt, my friend he came along with me. We stayed in his brother-in-law's basement and took a train into the city just for the Nebula Awards. We couldn't afford the banquet so we just sat in seats on the side of it. And beforehand Dave said to me "Alright I want you to go, and when you get there I want you to go to the bar, 'cause everyone is there, and I want you to start talking to people." And I'm like "I'm like a Mormon kid, what am I doing in a bar?" "You're ordering a Sprite and you're talking to people, that's what you do in a bar." And so I went and I sat down and ordered a Sprite and started talking to people. Meanwhile Ethan went upstairs to the little lounge area where they also had a bar and ordered a Sprite and started talking to people. I ended up talking to Jim Minz an editor at Tor, who rejected the book I sent him. Now Jim is at Baen Books.

    He ended up talking to Joshua Bilmes. He came down afterwards and said "Who'd you meet?" "I met this guy" Introduced him, they chatted, and then I said "Who did you meet?" "I met Simon Green's agent" And I'm like "Cool I like Simon Green's books" And we went up and I chatted with Joshua and he gave me a card. And then I came home and I sent him a book and he rejected it. *laughter* And I sent him another book and he said "Ah let me see more of this one" And then he read that and rejected that one. And I sent him another book and he rejected that. Then I sold Elantris to Tor and called him and "I've got a book deal" and he said "Well I think I'll probably represent this one." So he was very skittish of taking me on at first but he's an excellent agent and I'm very glad I ended up with him. But yeah Mormon kid trolling for editors and agents in a bar in New York, that's how it happened.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15293 Copy

    Questioner

    *audio obscured*

    Brandon Sanderson

    So Elend's name came from the Germanic word for misery and Straff's name means punishment. The question is did I do this intentionally. I didn't do either one intentionally. I don't speak German, what I did was I went to Germanic morphemes, I didn't even know what they meant, and just got a feel for "Okay this is Germanic, this is Germanic" and then put those aside and said "Alright can I come up with a bunch of names that sound Germanic" once that mood is in my head. Because English has a lot of Germanic influences I guess I did it too well and I named a whole bunch of people things that are actual words in German. *laughter* But you know I'm actually fairly pleased with that, it means I was doing my job. But you know I didn't intentionally make them mean anything in German, at least this time I didn't accidentally pick a swear or something, which I’ve done before. *laughter*

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15295 Copy

    Questioner 1

    So I hear that you have a director for Steelheart--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Do we have a director for Steelheart. So Steelheart was purchased by Shawn Levy's company, at Fox, Shawn Levy directed the film Real Steel, which I really like, he also directed the Night at the Museum films, which I enjoy.

    Questioner 1

    Do you have an idea as to when casting might start?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So the way this goes-- breaks down for those who aren't aware. First thing they do, usually, when they buy a property is they commission a screenplay. Which they did. Screenplay came in some time in January, I haven't seen it yet they are sending it out for a polish. Once they are satisfied with the screenplay, at that point that's when they go to the studio and try to-- Oh that's when they try to get talent attached. Usually a director, like Shawn Levy is enough talent if he says "Yup, this screenplay turned out good, it's my next project" that would get it a greenlight and they would go to casting. So it's actually going really well. If it weren't a studio deal, if it weren't through Fox, at that point they would have to get some talent attached and then they'd have to convince a studio to give up funding and stuff like this. But if Shawn Levy likes the screenplay and says "Yes I'm doing this" it will then go to casting.

    Questioner 2

    Would you have any option on the screenplay?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Would I have any option on the screenplay-- No I do not have any power over the screenplay. No. When you sell rights like this most of the time you just have to hope they do a good job. I feel I gave them a pretty good screenplay in Steelheart in the book itself so I'm hoping Steelheart the book works out as a film.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15297 Copy

    Questioner

    When Galladon appears in Way of Kings why is his skin not silvery?

    Brandon Sanderson

    When Galladon appears in The Way of Kings why is his skin not silvery. That's a RAFO but there is a good reason for it.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15299 Copy

    Questioner

    Was the Rose Empire ever under threat from Shu-Dereth? And can you speak a little bit on fitting The Emperor's Soul into a world you'd already created?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So was the Rose Empire ever in danger from Shu-Dereth and could I speak a little about fitting The Emperor's Soul into a world I'd already written. So when I designed Elantris, I knew where I was going, and I knew a lot about the world. This is how I am in building. So when I wanted to do The Emperor's Soul I already knew where I was going to place it, I knew which magic system I was working toward, and things like that. So it wasn't terribly hard since I already knew what was over there.

    The fun about that is that you should go look at the map commissioned, the one Isaac drew, that's done by the Derethi and see how they view the Rose Empire and where they put it on their map. And then you'll eventually get a map of the whole world, and let's just say they don't have a really accurate representation of the world and their place in it. As was very common for a lot of early societies, early European maps are hilarious.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #15300 Copy

    Questioner

    Why was Dalinar able to feel the Thrill during his visions from the Stormfather?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Why was Dalinar able to feel the Thrill during his visions from the Stormfather. Well that would indicate that the same reason he feels the Thrill now still was in existence. Well not-- I mean was still affecting him. Does that make sense? He was in the real world, his body was in the real world. Whatever makes him feel the Thrill was still affecting him. Does that make any sense?