Questioner
What is the inspiration for the Parshendi?
Brandon Sanderson
There are a lot of different inspirations. One is wanting to build out of the setting a species that interacted with the setting and had a symbiotic relationship with the setting. The other was the idea of a people whose caste system, you could change castes and physically change into other castes of the system. So something like the hives you see, where you can switch from worker to various different tasks. I liked the cultural aspects of what that did.
Questioner
What's your Smedry talent?
Brandon Sanderson
...I usually say "being long-winded." But the truth is, when I wrote the books, I kind of did all the stuff that I do as the first powers. So I'm habitually late, bad at dancing, good at breaking things... But if you actually go "What's the core one," probably being long-winded. I can say things that could be said in one word, in seventeen instead.
Questioner
I have a quick question about the uniforms in Skyward. Is there a specific color for Skyward flight?
Brandon Sanderson
Not for Skyward flight. They are all using the same jumpsuits, and things like this. By the second book, they probably will have... once they kind get ahead of it a little bit, they can start doing things like painting the ships. But in this book, really, you're basically wearing a jumpsuit--
Questioner
It's blue, it's unceremonial.
Brandon Sanderson
Mmhmm.
Questioner
I did have a question about Doomslug and M-Bot, where they came from?
Brandon Sanderson
Those are questions that will be answered, I promise.
Questioner
Are they connected?
Brandon Sanderson
That's what we call a RAFO, Read And Find Out. You will find out; I'm not gonna tell you know. You'll find out some of those answers in the next book.
Questioner
What would Hoid's callsign be?
Brandon Sanderson
He'd probably go with Dust. He likes that. It depends on the mood he's in. Sometimes he might pick something a little ruder, just to make someone have to say it.
Questioner
How do you approach creating scenes? Do you create how you want the scene to play out, and then make the magic system? Or do you make the magic system work first?
Brandon Sanderson
Usually, I do magic system first. The way scenes, I construct, is usually I have big goals in my story. For instance, in Mistborn, Vin is going to learn to train all the powers of a Mistborn. By the end, I want her to be fairly competent. So then I have that goal, and I write down, "What are scenes that can move me toward that goal?" In that outline, it would be: she trains with Ham in one scene, she trains with Marsh in another scene, she trains with Breeze in another scene. What else can I make those scenes do to move character and stuff, to try to pack more into those scenes. But I'll construct those scenes as goals towards the ending.
Questioner
It kind of felt like you let Adolin off the hook for murder.
Brandon Sanderson
I would say no, I didn't. There will be more implications there, but what you've gotta understand is, Adolin does not view what he did as murder. His dad is uncertain if it is. And his dad is the ultimate judge of legality. There will be far-reaching implications of this, but kind of the way a society like that works, if you didn't get caught and you are the son of the king, then you get a little-- you know what I mean?
Questioner
Is it yet to be resolved?
Brandon Sanderson
Yet to have the full extent of its implications, how about that? I would say that you are perfectly right if you were to say he did something morally wrong. There are many who would agree with you; there are many who would disagree with you. And that disagreement is part of what the story is about.
Brandon Sanderson
Someday... once I'm sure everything that it would spoil has been released, I will release [Way of Kings Prime] so you can read it. You can probably see that, if you read Stormlight, a chunk of the book belonging to Taln moved to Szeth, instead, who was a character in the first book but had a slightly different plot. Eventually, we will get to the whole story, though.
Questioner
What was your inspiration for Wayne?
Brandon Sanderson
Wayne had a lot of inspirations... Obviously, there's some Mat Cauthon going on for me when I do Wayne, particularly the way that Mat would see the world differently from the that way he would act. The original inspiration for Wayne was a character who changed personalities based on which hat he wore. He was actually the lead in a Mistborn story I was writing, and he didn't work well without someone to play off of... Some characters work way better when they are surrounded by more normal people. Not gonna say anything about things like the Minion movie (which my children loved), but it's very hard to tell a story about everyone being crazy instead of having a framework of someone to keep it going in the right direction. So that was a big inspiration for Wayne.
The other big inspiration for Wayne was something I noticed about human nature, where I wanted to tell a story about a character who had some really deep-- Wayne should bother you. Like the way he treats Steris. And the way he treats Ranette. And the way he treats some of the people in his life should really bother you. And one of my goals with Wayne was to tell a story that mimics what I see in real life, where there are people I know and I love who also have this way about them that you realize they aren't quite-- grown-up's the wrong term... Like, all of us are the heroes in our own group of friends. We're all the hero of our story. We each have different things we're working on. And some of them are classic good storytelling things, like "I'm gonna learn to be more bold." Which is totally me. Totally something I need to work on. But some of them are "I treat people who aren't in my inner circle really poorly, especially if they're trying to get into my inner circle. And then when you're in my inner circle, I have a dysfunctional relationship with you a lot of time." And I thought I could only really do that with a character that you loved while you were really annoyed by them, because otherwise I feel like the character wouldn't work. Maybe I could do it a different way, but I really wanted to dig into that in these new Mistborn books, and Wayne was my vehicle for doing this.
Some kind of nebulous sort of writerly things going on there.
Questioner
I like Mistborn: Secret History. Is there going to be a Mistborn: Secret History 2?
Brandon Sanderson
I hope to be able to write one. But this comes back to the "Let's make sure I'm getting the things that I have promised sequels to moving at a reasonable rate before I do side projects like that." So, I'd like to do one, but I'm not promising one.
Questioner
What do you feel about people who take your books and are really inspired by them and taking them as their life motto? For the example, the Stormlight Archive mantra "Life before death..."
Brandon Sanderson
I am honored. Absolutely. The things that I am putting in the books are things I'm passionate about, things I'm thinking about, things that I think are relevant. I am completely honored. And I guess it would depend on whose motto you take. But absolutely honored, I think it's awesome.
lupicorn
I had a question about what it means to swear the Ideal of Law. Several fans have told me it means to define the law, in the Nixon, "when the president does it, that means it is not illegal," sort of way. I interpret it as becoming the embodiment of the law such that they can't willingly violate any law without breaking their oaths.
Do either of these interpretations hit the mark? Nale seems to follow the law more so than most and that doesn't just seem like a personal preference.
Brandon Sanderson
I would say that both of these interpretations could work for a given Skybreaker, which is why there is disagreement among the order itself. Perception is a big part of the oaths.
I wouldn't want to squish this discussion by offering too much on one side or the other, as this is exactly where I want the conversation to be going right now.
BrandosSmolder
Was there any inspiration here [The Library of Alexandria] for the Palanaeum? I assume if I ask about the burning of the library I'll get "rafo", but what about the size?
Brandon Sanderson
It was an inspiration.
Volratho
If someone was tapping gold, would spiking a separate ability out of them kill them? Or would it work at all?
It is possible to spike someone without killing them. But they'd never be the same. It would be worse than being a drab.
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Lift and Hoid disagree on bacon.
Questioner
(paraphrased)
Is this because food on Roshar is usually either Spicy (male) or Sweet (female), so salty bacon would just taste wrong to Lift?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
She just doesn't like the taste, please don't think too much into it.
Questioner
For Skyward: What would your callsign be?
Brandon Sanderson
Mr. Prolific. Probably too long to be a callsign, but it was my nickname in my first writing group.
Aerin
What does M-Bot have against Doomslug and Rig?
Brandon Sanderson
M-Bot treats Rig kind of like you might treat a doctor. Even though he's good for you, you may not enjoy having someone poke around at you.
With Doomslug, it isn't that he has a lot against Doomslug. Doomslug just isn't a good conversationalist. She does a lot of repeating back at you what you say. So getting trapped only with Doomslug would be--
Aerin
Can the second book have Doomslug with a bow?
Brandon Sanderson
In a bow? I will try to get Doomslug a bow.
Questioner
Is Doomslug the cytonic hyperdrive?
Brandon Sanderson
That is a RAFO.
Questioner
Is Emperor's Soul going to show up in the Elantris sequel?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find references to Emperor's Soul in Elantris sequels, yeah. I don't promise a sequel to Emperor's Soul itself, though.
Questioner
Could a skilled Awakener Awaken a gemheart?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, but you got to remember, some of these things like metal and gemstones and things do not Awaken well, how about that... Technically yes, it may not do the thing that you want it to do.
Questioner
But it'll do a thing?
Brandon Sanderson
It'll do a thing.
Questioner
Is Fleet going to make a come back?
Brandon Sanderson
Fleet is probably going to remain in lore.
Questioner
The Reshi Island greatshells, are they born in the ocean?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes... In the ocean may be an extreme term for it.
Questioner
...Can the Storm Striders move when a highstorm is not passing?
Brandon Sanderson
No... Can is a strong term. They do not, how's that?
Questioner
Would you be able to cure addiction with Forgery?
Brandon Sanderson
You could temporarily mask the symptoms of it, but I wouldn't call it being cured. You would also-- If you did something like the Emperor where you're constantly getting it renewed, the big danger is, since you haven't solved the problem at its core, falling back into it. But it's theoretically possible you could cover up the symptoms and have someone pull out of it that way.
Questioner
Would a Mistborn see the atium shadow of someone wearing Shardplate?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, they would be able to. Good question, but they would indeed be able to.
Questioner
Is there anything about the Stonewards that you can share that's not a RAFO? I know they're coming later.
Brandon Sanderson
They are coming later, so not really. They were more of the Knights Radiant front line troops, as opposed to the Windrunners who were scouts. But you probably already knew that.
Questioner
Did we see any possible Phone Company?
Brandon Sanderson
You haven't seen them yet, but they are still around.
Questioner
When M-bot is telling Spensa and Rig about how much is written on human craziness, was he misleading them?
Brandon Sanderson
No.
Questioner
Does Silverlight have any reflection in the Physical Realm?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
Where do the lines point, exactly, when burning steel or iron?
Brandon Sanderson
Generally, right toward your center.
Questioner
On the objects?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, the objects. Center of mass, unless you are starting to get really good at it, whereupon you'll be able to kind of see a sort of spectrum that you can pull on and yank on.
Questioner
If someone had a Hemalurgic spike and they burned aluminum, would the negation of-- am I going to get RAFO'd?
Brandon Sanderson
You're asking if it would destroy the Hemalurgic power? Burning aluminum at that point would not destroy the Hemalurgic power. It would pull the Investiture through whatever you're doing. It would blank your power, but it wouldn't destroy you being an Allomancer with the spike...
I actually considered this in building it and that would be too easy a way to remove Inquisitors, particularly if there were dissension between them.
Questioner
I have a theory that Hoid is actually, perhaps not the good guy we're led to believe? I think he's going to be the big bad guy.
Brandon Sanderson
Hoid would, perhaps, agree with you. As he says to Dalinar very clearly.
Questioner
The rock that Vin has in the beginning of Mistborn--black obsidian rock. What was that? Was that--
Brandon Sanderson
That was a memento from an earlier part of her life.
Questioner
In The Stormlight Archive, are there any on-screen appearances of dragons in any form?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. Sorry.
Questioner
Dragons can be shapeshifters, correct?
Brandon Sanderson
They can, yes.
Questioner
Do they only have a humanoid form they can appear as, or can they appear as many humans?
Brandon Sanderson
Depends.
Jofwu
The ten gas giants, are they associated in any way with the Essences, the Heralds or the Knights Radiant other than culturally?
Brandon Sanderson
Only culturally.
Jofwu
Do the Tranquiline Halls and Damnation--do the Vorins associate them with the planets that they actually are related to?
Brandon Sanderson
They don't.
Blainethetrain
Is the access to Allomancy and Feruchemy granted via Hemalurgy heritable?
Brandon Sanderson
No. Good question.
Questioner
What's the most complex magic system in your books?
Brandon Sanderson
Allomancy is probably the most complex, I would say. Predictably when you start getting into the later applications of it it gets-- It's pretty complicated.
Questioner
How about something related to Emperor's Soul?
Brandon Sanderson
I had a really good idea for a sequel earlier this year, but I don't know if I'll ever do it. I don't want to Lucas it. I don't want to take something that works so well on its own, and then make something that makes it not work as well on its own. I might do it, I might not.
Questioner
You've written a lot of novels and talked a lot about form. Are you interested or excited about any new formats of writing that you might take in the future?
Brandon Sanderson
I would like to try my hand at video games. I play a lot of games. I am really interested in the way that video games tell stories in ways not like books. I generally (though I can enjoy those games) don't like the stories of games that try to do it like a book. So I like things like Dark Souls, that does its worldbuilding and storytelling in a way very different from the way that a book does its storytelling. Or even something like Infamous, where they make you run across to do something, and while you're doing it someone calls you on the phone and gives you an infodump. That's really interesting to me.
So I would like to try my hand at it at some point. My first attempt, which was getting a Mistborn videogame going, did not work out. But I have not given up. I have no news on that, but let's just say I have not given up on finding a way to worm my way into video games. And you see me doing this periodically. The Infinity Blade books were me wanting to work with video game storytellers to try and figure out how this format works better. And you'll see me doing more of this in the future.
Questioner
Do you have any places where you put worldbuilding material out in public?
Brandon Sanderson
Once in a while. I put up the outline for Steelheart once the series was done. I usually keep things close to the heart if there are things that have not yet been finished. The dramatist in me does not want the spoilers to get out there. (Even though... studies have all said that if you have spoilers, you generally enjoy a story more than if you haven't. I am incapable of believing those numbers, and doggedly dislike spoilers.) There are some that I'll release, and you can look on my website where I talk about some of this stuff. The Steelheart outline's floating around out there somewhere, and it has a bunch of the worldbuilding elements for that in it. And I'll do more of this as I finish up series and release them.
Questioner
I'm planning a game for Mistborn roleplaying. What are your thoughts on an obligator, an Oracle obligator Misting who (and this is pure theorycrafting on my end) can, burning the alloy of atium and cadmium, put himself into a stasis to last into Alloy of Law era, realize "Where has my Lord gone?"
Brandon Sanderson
I think that's a great story. I don't know if it would work 100% in canon, but in a roleplaying game, that sounds feasible and great.
Questioner
Are you ever scared someone's going to ask you a question you don't want to answer?
Brandon Sanderson
Scared, no. But the thing that worries me is I flub some of the questions 'cause I'm just not paying attention. I get into the groove of signing and they hit me with something. And I usually flub one or two a night, where I'm just not paying attention. Or I think they ask something, and I'm thinking they asked something they didn't. Those are the ones I don't like. I don't fear them, but I'm like, "Argh." They only happen once a night. But it happens consistently.
Questioner
If you write down a measurement of a firespren, it locks into that. If you write down a measurement that's not true, will that still work? Can you just write down the measurements of a firespren and quadruple its size?
Brandon Sanderson
Let me just say this. Human perception of spren has an intrinsic effect on how they act, react, and interface with the world.
Questioner
So if I were to take a picture of a firespren, increase the brightness on my phone by 5000, and then write down that recording, the firespren would multiply brightness by 5000?
Brandon Sanderson
I didn't say that. I said, "Human perception of spren influences their behavior and their form."
Questioner
I'm an illustrator. I know a couple illustrators in the area have worked with you on some illustrations. So how does that work? I know usually the art director is the only one who has a say in the art.
Brandon Sanderson
Isaac is my art director. We have enough influence with the publisher that we hire out everything except the cover, and we say, "You're just putting this in." I pay for it. I started that on my second book, after they didn't pay my illustrator on the first book, because they forgot and lost the check. And it took them, like, eight months to get another check. I'm like, "I'm just gonna pay for this. So I make sure my illustrator gets paid." And from then on, I've just done that. When you're paying for it, the publisher lets you do a whole bunch of stuff.
Dragon13
Is the conduit that seems to be powering the Ire fortress, can that act as a safe passage through the Cognitive Realm of Sel?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. Maybe not the way that you're implying, but yes.
Questioner
The screams on Roshar. Is that a cosmere-wide phenomenon?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Volratho
Did Adonalsium have a god metal?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
Questioner
If Adonalsium was whole, would there be other powers in the cosmere that could threaten it?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. But I would say the fact that Adonalsium was Shattered answers that question, itself.
Argent
The namesake of the Nahel bond. Was that a person, or is just a name?
Brandon Sanderson
It's a word in original Alethi as I was working on it. And actually, the original didn't use "bond." Bond was implied by it. The word meant, "connection to the divine." It's gotten larger since then...
Blightsong
So when Vasher takes a similar name, he's trying to imply that meaning?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
