Gadmond
Since you knew you were writing for Magic the Gathering, did you ever think about what kind of abilities a hypothetical Davriel planeswalker card (Spoilers: or Tacenda planeswalker card) would have?
Brandon Sanderson
Davriel would, I hope, have the ability to exile a card from a player's hand, then at some point in the future play that card using black mana.
Tacenda would be tougher. Emotional manipulation is hard to capture in MTG, other than as threaten effects. But I'd want something that could mimic this.
EndlessKng
I know you were instructed to not be as concerned with replicating game mechanics, but were there any particular cards or concepts that inspired you as you worked?
Brandon Sanderson
Rage Thrower shows up in a quite obvious moment, and I imagine the dismissal spell that Davriel uses to be Silent Departure. (My interpretation of a blue unsummon effect, as opposed to an actual creature destroying spell.) There are a few other things, like the "summon equipment" spell he learns.
EndlessKng
Which orders of Knights Radiant do you think the main characters would best belong to?
Brandon Sanderson
Hm. Let me think on that. I'm not sure if Davriel would fit into any of them, honestly, though Tacenda could fit several.
NPDgames
What formats/decks do you play?
Brandon Sanderson
I used to play something akin to EDH before EDH was a thing, but now I almost exclusively draft. Powered cube combo is my jam, though I'll try just about anything.
NPDgames
What plane would you LEAST want to set a story on?
Brandon Sanderson
Hmmm. You know, I hadn't even thought of that. I don't really think any of the settings are bad, and most are quite good. Probably something like the Arabian Nights plane, as I think there would be a lot of problems with trying to do a story like that--not the least of which being Wizards probably hating the idea.
mbue
I understand that your novella will stand very well on its own, but I'm sure there will be references to existing lore. Could you point out any existing MtG novels that would particularly increase our understanding and enjoyment of some details in yours?
Brandon Sanderson
Davriel is partially a contrast to Liliana, a main-line character who also has had dealings with demons (but has done it much differently...) and who is a necromancer (exactly of the sort Davriel would hate.) I think reading about her might make for a fun contrast. She's heavily involved in the previous Innistrad story, which you might enjoy if you liked this one. You can find it on Wizards site: https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/shadows-over-innistrad-story
mbue
How many MtG novels have you read yourself?
Brandon Sanderson
Not a ton. I've read a lot of the more recent web-based fiction. I bought the early novels to get the sweet promo cards, and remember liking them--but it's been a while. Otherwise, little spots here and there. (I particularly liked the comics.)
Nixeris
[image of Pathian symbol concepts]
Brandon Sanderson
You're right in that I don't have an official version; I haven't had Isaac take the time to do one yet. (I tend to keep him busy with loads of things.) I'd say these are very nice, and along the lines of what I was considering--but I don't have a full decision on what I want yet. We might have to wait a little longer for a canon answer, but I do think these are close to what I'll eventually want.
Peter Ahlstrom
The first three [Stormlight] books are a continuous narrative, but it's now looking like there will be an in-world gap between books 3 and 4, similar to the year that was skipped between each book in the Mistborn trilogy.
Drathus
Even with that, isn't the plan for SA for it to be two related five-book arcs with more of a major gap in between?
Peter Ahlstrom
Yep. Previously I thought that would be the only timeline gap, but Brandon has leaned more toward this new gap while writing Oathbringer.
Peter Ahlstrom
Rights to the Reckoners books do not include the entire multiverse. (Which I have argued could also be construed to include the Alcatraz books and The Rithmatist!)
WeiryWriter
I'd be curious to hear your argument for that. Is it just that a true quantum multiverse would contain all possible iterations (even weird and wacky ones like Alcatraz and Rithmatist) or is there some underlying mechanical commonality we don't necessarily know about?
Peter Ahlstrom
It's only because the plans for this as-yet-unnamed multiverse all involve different versions of Earth in some type of crisis. And that description fits both The Rithmatist and the Alcatraz books.
Brandon does plan some of these Earths to be pretty wacky.
WeiryWriter
Since you mention its namelessness, will it actually get a name at some point?
Peter Ahlstrom
It would surprise me if it didn't get a name eventually.
vim_vs_emacs
Had never heard about this, but this fits so well! Is this the first time you're confirming it? Or is there WoB on this as well?
Peter Ahlstrom
What I said above was that I have argued for this to be the case. It doesn't mean that Brandon agrees.
Phantine
I believe /u/peterahlstrom mentioned that Mistings can only detect sufficiently close versions of their metal, and burning non-Allomantic stuff is a Mistborn-only risk.
Peter Ahlstrom
I don't remember saying that, though it sounds reasonable.
Except I don't know what happens when you start involving god metals. How important is the alloy percentage then?
sheesania
Shallan's comment in Words of Radiance that she's "five foot six inches" jerks me out of the story every time, particularly because I'm used to the metric system. I understand in my head how Sanderson is translating for the readers whatever Rosharan measures she actually used...but it's still jarring whenever I actually come across it while reading.
Peter Ahlstrom
Measuring by foot was extremely common in our world. Many European countries had their own standard foot. It just makes sense that humans would measure by feet.
The Vorin foot probably has 10 inches.
Phantine
By the way, if all noble-era Allomancers got some fight training, does that mean a lot of Coinshots and Lurchers got really fat, so they had more weight for their pushes?
Or would that be like, too blatant a clue that someone was an Allomancer?
... I'm now thinking of a scheme where a non-Allomancer noble member has to get super fat in a month so his house can bluff that they have more Coinshots than they do.
Peter Ahlstrom
Hah, good question. I don't think that's what happens. After all, many of them hide what they are in order to keep opponents guessing. If it were too obvious, that wouldn't work.
Phantine
Any significance to these symbols or do they only exist to look cool?
Peter Ahlstrom
Oh, from the old website design. Jeff based them on things in the books, but the symbols are not canon.
sheesania
The question is, WHAT woman [is on the cover of Arcanum Unbounded]?
Peter Ahlstrom
It's Khriss, some years after White Sand. Perhaps around the time she wrote the planetary system essays that are included in the book.
emailanimal
There was a dispute between /u/mistborn and /u/PeterAhlstrom, and last we have heard, the latter, claiming that Hoid was indeed somewhere in the Shadows for Silence, had the upper hand.
Peter Ahlstrom
Now I'm siding with Brandon on this. I think that's the final answer. :)
emailanimal
What you are basically saying is that some people quietly sitting in the corners of various bars, pubs, inns and taverns in Brandon's books are not mysterious nearly immortal worldhoppers... (-:
Peter Ahlstrom
Or they might be different mysterious worldhoppers than the one you're looking for.
Alphaetus_Prime
In Alloy of Law, Wayne says he read a book with talking rabbits, which is referenced again in Bands of Mourning. I'm all but certain this is a reference to Watership Down. In Bands of Mourning there's a bit where Wayne says he read a book where seven convicts stole a spaceship or something, and it's clearly a reference, but I'm not sure what it's a reference to. Does anyone know? Preliminary Google searches turned up only a TV show called Blake's 7, which seems unlikely to be the reference, since it's not actually a book.
Peter Ahlstrom
Both of these are references to books that exist on Scadrial, not our world. Watership Down is not the only book (even in our world) from the point of view of rabbits. (Don't forget Rabbit Hill!)
AstroZombieDC
I believe you when you say that there are books about talking rabbits on Scadrial, but at one point in the Wax & Wayne books, they make a reference to talking rabbits, and then the word "fiver" is used. Fiver is one of the characters in Watership Down. Brandon is definitely using a play on words to reference a classic novel from our world.
Peter Ahlstrom
Oh yeah. I forgot the fiver thing. Nevertheless, it could be a complete coincidence, because talking like that is consistent with Wayne's character. :)
Ben McSweeney
Peter, are there no Misting hazekillers? If not, is there a proper term for noble Mistings trained to fight Allomancers?
Peter Ahlstrom
Well, I thought for sure there was a scene where one of the hazekillers turned out to be a Coinshot, but now I can't find it. Maybe that was in an earlier draft of one of the books...
Anyway, there's no term for that—it's just Allomancer. All Allomancers (trilogy era) are trained to fight unless they're the mental ones.
Tahona1125
Is there any chance White Sand the novel ever gets revised and published? I'm not sure if there is a place for both the novel and graphic novel, but I really enjoyed the read.
Peter Ahlstrom
Well, Brandon said it's not outside the realm of possibility, but I hope he doesn't. The first draft of White Sand is already nearly 20 years old at this point. Nowadays, Brandon has better ideas. He has plenty of things to write that he's excited about. He has already written White Sand twice, and I think it would be hard for him to get excited about it, and his excitement translates into a good book.
Assuming the three volumes sell well enough to warrant continuing the story, then Brandon could get excited about outlining the sequel to get adapted into more volumes.
And, since it's the Cosmere, you can be assured that sand masters will show up when all the planets start interacting with each other.
Judean_peoplesfront
I'm currently on a reread of WoK and in chapter 57 Hoid says to Kaladin: "I've many [names]. I began life as a thought, a concept, words on a page. That was another thing I stole. Myself."
Do we know if this is Hoid breaking the fourth wall or is it just some kind kind of metaphorical reference to his presence at the birth of the Shards?
Peter Ahlstrom
The simple answer is that this does not break the fourth wall, but we won't find out why until years from now. So it's understandable that you would interpret it this way.
firstRainbowRose
Can we have a hint as to which book will explain it?
Peter Ahlstrom
Probably Hoid's origin story, which Brandon is writing after he finishes Stormlight 10.
Peter Ahlstrom
Part of Kaladin's issue is seasonal affective disorder. He doesn't show bipolar signs that I can see.
Shallan also has some kind of PTSD going on.
Peter Ahlstrom
It was Meridas [dual-wielding Shardblades in Way of Kings Prime], but this never actually came up in the book itself. It was just Brandon's headcanon. Would have happened in a sequel or something. Though, something about this is implied, if you read the chapters in Altered Perceptions, because of the way Shardblade bonding worked in that draft.
Meridas was kind of part-Amaram, part-Sadeas, part-...I dunno, Vstim? His personality was most like Sadeas, but he was a trumped-up merchant who wanted to marry Jasnah.
Poser1313
Does anyone understand what [Brandon] means in saying that dead Shardblades cannot heal the soul, whereas living ones can?
It seems like it's been a while since I've read WoR, and I can't make out how the original scene demonstrates this? Is he talking about Kaladin's soul or Szeth's?
Peter Ahlstrom
I don't understand it myself, except that two Orders can use Regrowth. But that might not be what Brandon is talking about.
Peter Ahlstrom
I think by [the time of Alloy of Law] the probability is so low that [a Mistborn being born] wouldn't happen under normal circumstances.
abriggs08
I just read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell in the Dangerous Women anthology. Having the knowledge that this is a story set in the Cosmere is anyone aware if Hoid (aka Wit) is in this story? I'd imagine that he isn't as its not a novel worthy plot but I was just curious.
Peter Ahlstrom
Yep. Hoid is in there. Brandon just forgot, but we talked about it and he remembered. Hoid had to have a reason for being there. And there is a reason.
Katelyn
Is there an official cosmere coloring book? I feel like this should be a thing.
Isaac Stewart
I've been investigating this possibility and already have an artist interested if everything lines up nicely.
0pointenergy
I am re-reading through Elantris for the second time and I am at the part where Raoden and Galladon are trying to find out who Shaor is. They sneak around and find a little girl in a pink dress and golden hair yelling, "Bring me more food." To top all of this off, Raoden is trying to remember her name something like Soine (Sō - īne) or swine........or Miss Piggy....
Did you do this on purpose /u/Mistborn ? Or is it just a really hilarious coincidence?
Brandon Sanderson
This is a coincidence, I'm afraid, but an amusing one.
aldeayeah
In my mind [Kelsier] was Blue-Black before the Pits and picked up Red after that.
You could make the case for White I guess but IMO even though he has this small group/community around him, he's too much "f*** the law" to be white.
Brandon Sanderson
I wouldn't generally make Kelsier white. I tend to make him blue black in my head, though there are good red arguments. (He lets his love of Mare override his logical conclusions that she probably betrayed him, his last encounter with Vin is him arguing about the importance of being a good friend, etc.) In fact, the red portion of him is probably the best in him--though it is also part of what drives him to kill ruthlessly.
Adalimumab8
Please make this [Warbreaker Chinese cover] available on your store!!! I want a print of this so badly, I already have enough of your stuff on my wall to drive my wife insane but she like this one shined read warbreaker too!!!
Brandon Sanderson
I would like to offer a pack of all the Chinese covers, sized to be placed on American hardcovers--so I'm ahead of you on this one.
kroen
Is it coincidence that Lightsong the Bold, God of Bravery's colors are red and gold, same as house Gryffindor?
Brandon Sanderson
It wasn't intentional, /u/kroen--but I'd bet that my view of "heroic" colors was soundly influenced by HP.
NeoBahamutX
Not sure how many people would buy it but it would be amazing if he created an Ars Arcanum Compilation book and released it as a stand alone Hardcover reference style book.
Could be broken down per cosmere system (sort of like Arcanum Unbounded) and go into more details of the various magic systems, charts and the like. Sort of like the Hemalurgy Chart in the Hero of Ages leatherbound.
Thoughts?
Edit just realised the perfect cover could have possibly already been designed - see the book on the cover of Arcanum Unbounded - that white cover with the gold Cosmere symbol is awesome
Brandon Sanderson
I've really considered doing this, particularly since there are a lot of worlds in the cosmere I don't know if I'll ever be able to do books for. So we will see, /u/NeoBahamutX. It would have to be something I do primarily for the hardcore fans, which would limit the publisher's interest--but I'm at the point where I can get them to do projects like that to keep me happy.
Aethy
Aether of Night was cannibalized; it's no longer going to be released. Apparently some of the concepts were taken and worked into other books, so it's no longer publishable.
Peter Ahlstrom
Actually it might be un-cannibalized. Some concepts went into Liar of Partinel, but now that book won't ever happen in that form. So there could still be one or more Aether books in the future. But it would be a ground-up rewrite like happened with Mistborn and Stormlight.
WeiryWriter
Wait, really? That's pretty big news, even just possibility of it happening. I presume the Shards of the world would change then? Since Decay got reworked to be Ruin and such?
Peter Ahlstrom
Yeah, Decay is essentially Ruin, so lots of things would change there. But the magic of the Aethers, especially, could get their own book later.
There is a reason that Aethers are already canon. I don't think anyone has figured that out yet. But the backstory Brandon gives them could change in the future, or could end up never materializing.
tatu_huma
Nightwielder's weakness is UV light. When David shines the UV flashlight on his shadows/mist, they disappear. So how does he block out the sun, since the sun is a giant UV light. Wouldn't the UV rays from the sun just destroy his shadows that he covers Chicago with.
Does that mean the shadow he uses to cover Newcago, is different from the shadows he uses to attack David. I think I remember the shadows he used to attack being dissolved by the UV light.
Peter Ahlstrom
Some of the Epics' powers have macroeffects and microeffects. What is effective against the micro may not be effective against the [macro].
Peter Ahlstrom
No one has read all of Liar of Partinel whole thing, not even Brandon's writing group—though they did read most of it. Brandon tried to freewrite the book instead of outlining it, and it just did not work.
When Brandon gets back to it eventually, he'll rewrite it from scratch.
sectoidfodder
I've wondered whether the portraits in chapter headings have some deeper significance.
Some of them correspond well to the contents of the chapters...
-
"The Four" is the first chapter to have four different portraits - Jezrien, Ash, Ishar, and Pailiah, representing the Radiant orders that Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, and Renarin belong to, respectively.
-
Vedel's portrait appears before Ym's and Lift's interludes (this suggests that Ym's other power was abrasion, just like Lift).
-
Battar's portrait for Jasnah's pov prologue; Battar's and Wit's portraits for the epilogue where Jasnah and Wit are the only characters.
Most others just seem random/unrelated:
-
Kaladin's earliest chapters in WoK were headed by Taln's portrait.
-
Eshonai's and Szeth's interludes have a variety of different Herald portraits, seemingly at random.
-
Taln's own interlude features Wit and Chach, of all things.
Peter Ahlstrom
The correspondence can be from any column on the essences table in the Ars Arcanum, or a few columns that are not on the publicly revealed table.
Phantine
Is there a row for when Hoid's portrait will show up?
Peter Ahlstrom
They are not actually portraits of those characters. But there's not a row for the Masked Man.
hula
(paraphrased)
Is the Seventeenth Shard based in Silverlight? Like their home of operations.
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Yes.
Chris McGrath
Excited about a Sixth of the Dusk sequel someday!
Brandon Sanderson
Really hope I can find time for it. He goes to explore Shadesmar...
Brandon Sanderson
*drawing in book* <-- picture of a Shard you haven't met.
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
*With a smirk* Trell is not native to Yolen.
Brandon Sanderson
Projected Schedule of Releases
Starsight (Skyward Two): November 2019
White Sand Three: Sometime 2019–2020
Stormlight Four: Fall 2020
Skyward Three: 2021
Wax and Wayne Four: Sometime 2020 or 2021
Brandon Sanderson
Games and Other Licensed Work
Amazon
We've recently partnered with Amazon to help bring you more apparel options. As of now, it's the only place other than my website store to sell officially licensed clothing. And in the not-to-distant future we're going to expand our selection to include hoodies and other things as time allows.
Brandon Sanderson
Games and Other Licensed Work
Music
Black Piper's Kaladin album has been shipping its physical rewards for backers, and are finishing up the last steps of their Kickstarter. I'm very pleased with the music, which you can find on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon MP3, and many other digital outlets. I think they did a great job, and suggest that it would make a great accompaniment to your next Stormlight reread. Due to the complexities of fitting in the album around the windows for some of our other licenses, if you're interested in owning this we'd encourage looking at it before year-end.
Brandon Sanderson
Games and Other Licensed Work
Coins
Shire Post, creator of many fantasy-themed coins for various different properties, did a very successful Kickstarter for Mistborn coinage, and I’m quite pleased with both their professionalism and artistry. We here at Dragonsteel did the designs so that they’d be 100% in continuity with the books. We’re looking at doing more with Shire Post in the future.
Brandon Sanderson
Games and Other Licensed Work
Jewelry
Badali Jewelry continues to do an excellent job creating a variety of awesome artwork pieces based on my various books. They approached me to do this way back when I was basically a nobody, and have been with me all this time, creating beautiful and detailed works.
Brandon Sanderson
Games and Other Licensed Work
Board Games
We'll keep looking at doing more board games. The Reckoners game, from Nauvoo Games, and Mistborn: House War, from Crafty Games—who also developed the Mistborn Adventure RPG—all of which turned out very well, and (equally important) were shipped in a reasonable timeframe to the backers on Kickstarter. We had a Stormlight game in the works, but have backed up a few steps on that one for various reasons. I hope to have one of those finished at some point. You may have seen my announcement from a few months ago, but we've partnered with Brotherwise Games to bring you the Call to Adventure: Stormlight expansion that should be out fall of 2019. I would also be interested in doing a deckbuilding card game based on my works eventually. (After all, you know how addicted I am to Magic: The Gathering.)
Brandon Sanderson
Games and Other Licensed Work
I'm interested in doing some more video game work. Ever since I got to be part of the Infinity Blade games, I've had the itch to do this again. Right now though, there is nothing in the works that I can announce—I've had some short preliminary conversations with game studios, but no contracts. I'll continue to look at doing this, and will announce what I can, when I think something might actually be happening.
Unfortunately, Mistborn: Birthright never came together. (Though I'm on very good terms with the folks there.) And you can ignore any rumors about CD Projekt Red. Some fans got hyped when I said I liked them as a studio—and some news sites even picked it up as a story, for some reason. But that was just me mentioning in a random post that I think they do good work. I've never met with them—or talked to them—and have no reason to believe they even know who I am.
Video games aside, we do have some exciting and fun licensed properties that we've been working on, and I figured I should have a section in the State of the Sanderson for updates on these.
Movie/Television Updates
Bonus Mention: The Wheel of Time
As The Wheel of Time does not belong to me, I like to be careful about what I do and say with it. I don't want to overstep my bounds. But for those who haven't been paying attention, this series has progressed into a full-blown green light at Amazon Studios—with actual episodes being written and filming soon starting.
I don't know what role, if any, I'll have in this. Like I said, I like to be respectful of Team Jordan. It's not my place to try to muscle in and pretend I'm in charge. At the same time, I do think I could offer something to the production, and the showrunner (who is quite sharp) has reached out to me multiple times for conversations about the adaptation. I'm impressed with everything I see, and hope to at the very least be able to pop over to the set when filming happens and grab some photos for you all.
For most of my own properties, I'd say to not hold your breath. I think they'll happen eventually, but you shouldn't start to get hyped up until Step Five happens for something. Well, we're past Step Five with the Wheel of Time, and you can officially begin to feel hyped. It's actually happening, and it looks great so far.
Brandon Sanderson
Movie/Television Updates
Dark One
Dark One, based on an outline and worldbuilding guide from me, is being shopped (in a Step Three kind of way) by FremantleMedia and Random House Studios, with an impressive showrunner attached. There has been movement since that announcement in June, but I can't say anything publicly yet.
Brandon Sanderson
Movie/Television Updates
Stephen Leeds/Legion
The Stephen Leeds stories have recently been optioned for a television series by a new production company. This is the property's third time being picked up for an option, so I'm hopeful we'll make it work this time. I don't believe the company has been announced officially yet, so we'll hold off on mentioning them for now. But we're probably in the middle of Step Two for this one.
Brandon Sanderson
Movie/Television Updates
Steelheart
The Reckoners series was optioned some years ago now by 21 Laps, Shawn Levy's company, using backing from Fox. We were happy when they renewed their option this past summer, as we weren't certain what the status of this would be in light of the Fox–Disney merger. It seems they're planning to take the Reckoners with them through the process, which is good news.
This was an exciting deal, as Mr. Levy has done some great work—including the film Real Steel, which was an excellent adaptation of the original story. (And, of course, he was heavily involved with Stranger Things on Netflix.) Beyond that, it came with the implicit promise of support from Fox, meaning that we could skip the "finding a studio" step. That said, this is still in the screenplay stage.
