Recent entries

    Orem Signing ()
    #3705 Copy

    Questioner

    Of all the women that you've written, do you have one that was really fun to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In Wheel of Time, my favorite probably was writing Nynaeve at the ending. I had a lot of fun with her in the end. In my own, I would probably say Spensa was the most fun to write.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3707 Copy

    OrangeJedi

    Could a non-native be able to be Returned?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, that is possible.

    JoyBlu

    So someone who was born without a Breath and came to Nalthis could possibly be Returned?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Possibly could be Returned. Yes. That's not very likely.

    JoyBlu

    So they could get a Divine Breath, even though never...

    Brandon Sanderson

    They could be given a Divine Breath, yes.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3708 Copy

    JoyBlu

    In order to have a Breath, do you have to be native to Nalthis?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not to be given Breaths, but people who are not native to Nalthis are not born with that Investiture.

    JoyBlu

    So, you have to be born on that planet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are exceptions. Most of the time.

    JoyBlu

    If both your parents were Nalthians, and they moved off planet, and they had a child that was born on a different planet—

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is possible for that child to have a Breath, but it would not continue too long. But yes, that child would probably have a Breath, depending...

    Joyblu

    If both of his parents had Breaths.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmmhmm.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3710 Copy

    JoyBlu

    Question about marriage. Is there, on Roshar, something to show that a woman is married? Like here we have our ring finger, do they have something?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, they don't have the same sort of cultural thing that we have on that.

    JoyBlu

    What about, what's the planet name with Siri, Vivenna, Warbreaker, is there anything in that one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Depending on the culture, there are several.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3711 Copy

    Questioner

    Are there any Knights Radiant who broke their oaths in the Recreance that are still around in present day Stormlight time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Oh, that broke their oaths. You anticipated me. RAFO.

    Questioner

    But there are still ones around who haven't?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, Nale. That's my loophole there. That's who I was thinking of. But you said that did break their oaths, so you anticipated me on that one.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3712 Copy

    Questioner

    When Mizzy becomes an Epic, what's her Epic power?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So I very carefully didn't mention that because I wanted the freedom for when I actually wrote the books. Right now I have it in my head involving detonations, but I don't want to actually canonize that because if I write the book I want to have the freedom to take it where I want to.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3713 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering, what would happen if you Steelpushed or Ironpulled on liquid metal?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It would work a lot like ferrofluid works. You'd be able to push or pull on it. It would just respond in a fluid way.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3714 Copy

    Kyrroti

    Why does Hoid seem to like the Kholins so much?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He thinks highly of several members of the family. And he also likes to stick near people who are able to cause change in the world in which they are involved. He is very, very interested in a specific member of the Kholin family.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3715 Copy

    Questioner

    When Kaladin and Shallan and the others are in Shadesmar, it talks about broams of Stormlight. How do they measure that? Because you could have partially depleted spheres.

    Brandon Sanderson

    A broam's worth of Stormlight is just a full sphere. Newly infused. Behind the scenes, there are actual units of measurement for Investiture that a broam would correlate with, but you would need to be measuring that using instruments that measure Investiture that they don't quite have on Roshar yet. They could make them, but they don't quite have them yet. They're close.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3716 Copy

    Questioner

    How many shots would it take for Wax using his gun to break a section of Shardplate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Depends on the gun... Okay, so Vindication. He could probably... depends on the bullet, cause he's got several styles. But let's just say two or three. There's an argument he could do it with one, with the right shot, the right bullet, in the right moment.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3719 Copy

    Questioner

    How are the Warbreaker leatherbounds coming?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They're looking great! Oh man, the artists loved Warbreaker, for obvious reasons. We're getting the best art for any of the leatherbounds we've ever gotten, for Warbreaker. It is gorgeous!

    Questioner

    The Nalthis essay?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What's that? Oh, the Warbreaker leatherbound essay. Yeah, I should put that in, shouldn't I. We'll see.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3720 Copy

    Questioner

    You've previously said that Nightblood is the most powerful non-Shardic being in the Cosmere. Is he more powerful than the Unmade or Stormfather in terms of raw Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Raw Investiture? Here's the thing, when you say powerful, it can mean lots of different things. More raw Investiture than the Stormfather... probably not. Than the Unmade, probably. I would have to look, I don't have the numbers on this. But the Stormfather is very restricted in what he can do.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3721 Copy

    Questioner

    Does M-Bot follow the Three Laws of Robotics?

    Brandon Sanderson

    M-Bot does not follow the Three Laws of Robotics.

    Questioner

    Does he follow his own set of laws?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3723 Copy

    Wyndlerunner

    Hoid, he already has his Cryptic by Era 2, if I'm correct on the timeline. So have we seen him using his new fancy Lightweaving in action? Has he spoken his fifth Truth?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will RAFO that for now. I'll RAFO both of those. Those are two separate things, but I will RAFO them. You have seen Hoid Lightweaving, but whether you have seen him use his fancy new Lightweaving... we'll leave that off for now. Let's just say that he knows that certain uses of Investiture are easier to detect than others, and if you don't want to be seen, there are certain things you don't do.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3725 Copy

    Questioner

    I heard rumors for a collectible card game, possibly, for the Cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's possible. The guys who did the Mistborn RPG are really interested in doing one, so we'll see. It's just in the discussion stages right now. There's not even contracts for it or anything.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3726 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Skyward the title or the series title and is Claim the Stars is the book title?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, Skyward is the series title and the book title. Like I should have done with Mistborn because we had Final Empire in the first book, and people got so confused because, "Is this the last book? It says The Final." This time I didn't give a subtitle to the first book. It was just too confusing when I did it the first time.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3727 Copy

    Snipexe

    Are lighteyes or darkeyes dominant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um... Depends.

    Snipexe

    Okay, and how do mixes work?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Different things can happen, but on Roshar, heterochromia is usually indication of a mixed parentage.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3730 Copy

    Snipexe

    Would a primate be turned into a koloss if the spikes were placed in the correct bindpoints?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Something like a koloss, but you would not call it a koloss.

    Snipexe

    Would they lose intelligence or gain, if they were?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You could do it either way.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3731 Copy

    Questioner

    My thought is, you know how the Stormfather in Oathbringer says he's not able, or he's never seen Dalinar be able to create the bridge. Does that mean Honor could be reborn?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, there are things standing in the way, but cosmereologically, it is fully possible that another person could become Honor. The Vessel that was holding Honor before is gone. Though the Stormfather is kind of his Cognitive Shadow at this point, in a way. But the power, something else could be done with it. Or it could remain in the state it is now. Your answer is yes, but there are some hindrances along the way.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3732 Copy

    Snipexe

    Does Hoid's Lightweaving produce light?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *After a very long pause* He has used different types of Lightweaving, or he has access to different types of Lightweaving.

    Snipexe

    Does the Yolish Lightweaving produce light?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yolish Lightweaving could produce light.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3736 Copy

    Questioner

    Are you going to make another Warbreaker book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Someday I will. It probably won't happen until after Stormlight 5 is out, because I want to keep those Stormlight books moving along.  But once Stormlight 5 is out, Ill take a little breather from Stormlight before doing number six to do some things. Maybe like this.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3737 Copy

    Wyndlerunner

    You've mentioned in the past aluminum savants being able to somewhat heal their spiritweb, healing them of the cracks, sort of healing them of Allomancy. Could a chromium savant do this to other people, kind of like in the Avatar [The Last Airbender] finale where he seals bending?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will say RAFO, but I will say you're theorizing along correct directions.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3740 Copy

    Questioner

    With aluminum resisting Shardblades, could you plate Shardplate with aluminum and have extra resistance, or would that be too thin to really even do anything?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This would probably not be very effective. Maybe in modern times, you could, but honestly you'd be better off just building aluminum armor for someone else. It's not gonna add too much to the Shardplate and to what the Shardplate's already doing and it might just interfere too much with what you're trying to do anyway. It would be worth experimenting with, but I don't think it's gonna end up doing too much.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3742 Copy

    Questioner

    How would the city of Boston change over time in the Cognitive Realm, because its harbors have been constantly filled in with dirt?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, right, right. It will change to match, but there will be a time lapse, right? They'll be lagging behind. 

    Questioner

    So, you could dump it full of dirt, and then it might take like five or ten years before it actually appears as land.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, that's exactly about how it would go.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3745 Copy

    Questioner

    Is [Hoid] ever actually what he's actually like in any of the books? I thought Way of Kings would be it, but I'm not sure.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wit is very similar to the real Hoid. He's worked a long time to build a place for himself where he can kinda be himself. I mean, when you see his book from his viewpoint, he'll feel very like Wit from Stormlight.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3747 Copy

    Questioner

    When in the books do you think is Hoid's most genuine moment?

    Brandon Sanderson

    When Shallan hugs him... maybe. You get him out of sorts there. He doesn't quite know what to do. I don't know if that counts as genuine. He often would consider himself as being very genuine. But you rarely catch him with his guard down.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3749 Copy

    Questioner

    Can Hemalurgy be used to steal other...like, the Stormlight...

    Brandon Sanderson

    It could. It's very complicated, particularly with surgebinding, because the bond with the spren is a voluntary thing. So, you could steal the power, but you would also be stealing the sprenbond which the spren then has autonomy over. So, it might not turn out really well for you. It might not turn out well for anyone involved. Much easier to steal things where there isn't an autonomous being involved in your gaining of the magical powers.

    Orem Signing ()
    #3750 Copy

    Questioner

    Does the M in M-bot actually stand for anything?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He says it stands for Mushroom-bot. Spensa thinks it stands for Massacre-bot. Let's just say they have a difference of opinion on that. It's not going to get answered. She started calling him that and he was like, "Oh Mushroom-bot! Mushroom-bot sounds right!"