Recent entries

Questioner

How far through the series are you, that second half [of Stormlight] with the time jump?

Brandon Sanderson

I mean, I have an outline. How far is that outline along? It needs a lot of work right now. I'm working on that outline; I have Book Ten pretty well outlined, I have Book Six pretty well outlined. But, like, Books Seven and Eight are pretty vague, still.

Questioner

And Nine is just a blip?

Brandon Sanderson

Once you get close to the end, it starts to get closer. It's the middle. Like, I've got Six pretty well, and Seven okay; Eight is probably the least done. Six is the most done; Ten is the second most done.

Questioner

Uranium contains roughly 18 million [kcal/gram], food calories. Could Lift eat uranium to get supercharged?

Brandon Sanderson

Lift has to be able to metabolize it. The way that her abilities work, she has to be able to digest it and metabolize it to get the energy out. She couldn't metabolize uranium; it would just irradiate her.

Glamdring804

So I took a calculus class from Professor Lake in real life, does that make me implicitly canon in the cosmere? 

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Glamdring, apparently you're canon in two legendariums. So yes. 

Joker

Was there a romantic relationship between Ati and Leras? If so, would you call the destruction attempt of Scadrial a messy divorce? And was Autonomy a third member of this? Was Leras cheating?

Brandon Sanderson

Joker, you continue to have very good questions. Very good questions to be asking. I'm gonna give you a RAFO on that one. But there's some things going on in there.

Questioner

Do the Rosharan gas giants have gemheart cores?

Brandon Sanderson

I had not planned for them to do so. So, excellent question.

Questioner

What would happen if Nightblood were placed in a sheath of silver, instead of aluminum?

Brandon Sanderson

Very bad for Nightblood, and it would burn away the silver. He would outlast a sheath of silver, but he would not be happy. He would be very unhappy. Depends on how much Investiture he's currently holding.

Questioner

If Wayne, Lift, and the Lopen pulled pranks on each other, which would take it too far first?

Brandon Sanderson

Lopen has, actually, too much self-awareness to take it too far. If you watch, Lopen (particularly after Dawnshard) has figured out that he goes too far. And that, like, a Lopen big growth moment, and it's really important to him.

Lift's a teenager, and that's dangerous.

Wayne isn't yet (even in the last book) self-aware. He's gotten a little bit there. I think Wayne takes it too far. I think Wayne is the one.

Questioner

Would Szeth be a good ringbearer?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Why would Szeth not be a good ringbearer? You could get certain promises out of Szeth, maybe. But one of the things is, Szeth is really easy to manipulate. That's just the problem with Szeth, is he's just so easy to manipulate. He wants to do good so much, and it's easy to manipulate that both for what you want and against him.

Lift? Lift would be terrible. You don't want anyone carrying the ring who's going around stealing people's stuff. And Lift is also, maybe, too powerful.

Who's our best ringbearer? Taln. Taln would be a fantastic ringbearer. And he's really powerful, but Taln would be a fantastic ringbearer. Adolin gets close, but the problem with Adolin is, he's got a little bit of ends-justify-the-means; that's what's got the division between him and his father. I think Adolin's is justifiable. But Boromir's arguments are justifiable; Boromir has good arguments. You don't want someone who wants those arguments. Which is why asking about Szeth is a good thought, because Szeth doesn't have those ambitions. But he's so easy to manipulate.

It's interesting; who would make a really good ringbearer? Who's not Invested who would be good? Tress, maybe? She didn't have ambitions until her boyfriend vanished at sea. I don't know; it's a good question.

Oh, Tien. There you go, you guys found the ringbearer. It's Tien. Yay, we found our ringbearer.

Questioner

How do you feel about your decision to make Venli the main Willshaper instead of Eshonai, now that you've finished the first arc?

Brandon Sanderson

It's fraught. I wish I would have found a way to make the flashbacks better, and I think I just needed to take a different tactic on them entirely once I had written out things. I'm very pleased with how both Eshonai and Venli's characters turned out. My goal with Venli was to write an unlikeable protagonist who slowly became more likeable, but not fully likeable. So many of the other characters, you're seeing in their moments of heroism. And I wanted you to see Venli in her moments of non-heroism, to just add a contrast. This is a series with Kaladin in it; I needed somebody that wasn't Kaladin. And I'm really pleased with how that turned out. I really like Venli as a character; she did exactly what I wanted her to. The flashbacks didn't work the way I wanted them to. I needed more mystery to them; and that's the only thing that's fraught with that. Otherwise, I really feel great about Rhythm of War, giving it years. We'll have to see how I feel about Wind and Truth, giving it years. I was worried about the science scenes, and coming out of them, I'm glad I did them, even though they're a little different. And part of this is... Well, we won't get into it. I don't want to talk about Book Six stuff.

Questioner

How is there sweetener in Mistborn Era One? There doesn't seem to be anywhere in the Final Empire sugarcane might grow, but dessert sweets are mentioned in Era One.

Brandon Sanderson

They do have a lot of honey. They do have a lot of sugar beets. They've got some sugar-like things. Scadrial is an Earth analogue, but you'll find them mentioning some plants that just don't exist on earth, and I think they're making sugar from some of the berries that are mentioned, and things like that.

Questioner

Who do you think the protagonists of the second half of the Stormlight Archive are?

Brandon Sanderson

The protagonists of the second half of the Stormlight Archive are our five flashback characters. You've got Lift, Jasnah, Renarin, Ash, and Taln. And then, you will remain with Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin. And I'd say you're gonna get most everything from them. Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin should remain about the same level of import that they have. Of the five that I mentioned there, it's likely Lift and Taln will be kind of a little more. (Well, Jasnah, also.) Ash and Renarin will probably be more of a main character in the way that Navani and Szeth were main characters, in that there's not as much time dedicated to them. But we'll have to see when I write the books.

Publication order is: Lift is first, then Renarin. And then I'm planning Ash. And then I'm planning Taln. And then I'm planning Jasnah. Jasnah's last flashback viewpoint character for the Stormlight Archive. That's the plan right now.

Questioner

Is there any interesting conspiracy theories prevalent in the cosmere, like flat earthers?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, there's a bunch. I mean, the plague was a bit of a conspiracy theory; there's a bunch going on about where that came from and who caused it and things like that. The plague that was the common cold. There's a bunch about the Sleepless; like, tons about the Sleepless that I think you would find interesting. People think they're Adonalsium; people think they're Aethers. People think that they are aliens that are neither one. People love to talk about the Sleepless. People love to talk about the Grand Apparatus, or whatever I've called it as canon. (I feel like I called it the Grand Apparatus but then I wrote it in a book as something else. Maybe I called it something else on accident, and not the Grand Apparatus.)

Questioner

If a child is born in the far outer Emberdark, would they have Connection to this Realm, like a person on a planet? Or would they be void of Identity?

Brandon Sanderson

They would have a Connection to how they view that outer realm of the Emberdark. So yes, it's the first.

Questioner

Is there a Rhythm of Adonalsium, and if so could it be played?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

Does flavor of Investiture matter? Do you need Invested Arts' native Investiture to work, or could someone make something like Awakening work with Stormlight? Or do you need Breaths specifically?

Brandon Sanderson

No, you can hack this. Way easier if you can strip some of the natural... Like, if you can get that Stormlight, and you can... Let's see, I have to use the right terminology. Let's see, we have unkeyed Investiture and we have... the other term. It works a lot better if you can just make it... not unkeyed, but... Anyway, if you can strip away the Intent from the Investiture. There's two terms; one strips away Intent, one strips away the Identity. Stripping away both helps, but really, stripping away the Intent is what you're gonna need to power another magic system with it. Stripping away the Identity is what lets you use the Investiture of another person as if it were yours. And Stormlight doesn't really need that stripped away as much.

Questioner

Writing what you wrote about Malwish medallions earlier this year, when can I read it? In the Cosmere RPG?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe in the Ars Arcanum of Ghostbloods One. For those of you wanting to know, that's, like, our canonical submitted-to-the-Arcanists-for-review explanation of the technology of Malwish medallions and then how we're doing things like flying cars and stuff in Scadrial.

Questioner

Will the prologues to Stormlight Six to Ten reference another singular, pivotal event?

Brandon Sanderson

That is what is planned. Not the same; a new event. It's part of what made me decide to divide them in two.

Questioner

If surrounding metal in edible materials don't block Mistborn from burning it, could ettmetal be frozen in paraffin oil to delay its reaction when ingested?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I think you might be able to do that. You're talking about, delay its reaction, like blowing you up reaction? Yeah, I suppose that might work.

Questioner

Why was Aux chosen by Nale and the other highspren as Szeth's spren, given his inexperience that he had enough doubts about the mainline Skybreakers he was considering joining the dissenters?

Brandon Sanderson

They didn't know. This was just how; he was next in line. They're like, "You've waited your time." His questioning was not something that they were aware of.

Questioner

Does Nightblood grant Szeth all the Surges?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood found a way to replicate Surges, yes he did. Letting him sit and chat with Honorblades was a fun thing.

Questioner

Are Clemaxin's (I still have to remember that name, because I renamed them; they were called something else) Hordes created by Adonalsium? If not, created by Invention?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

You said Shards need permission to settle the same worlds. In Era Two, Autonomy Invests Scadrial. Did she get permission?

Brandon Sanderson

Autonomy has permission from before the Ascension of the Lord Ruler (there's a lore drop for you) and is coasting on that. No, she did not get permission from Harmony. You can do it... anyway. I mean, you guys knew this. They know that. Autonomy has had some dealings on Scadrial in the past, they've already known that. That's not a lore bomb for them. But I am confirming it.

Questioner

Is there anything that absolutely cannot be done by Aons, but can be done by other magic systems?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes; Aons aren't good at replicating aether abilites. Aons are not good at replicating anything that requires negative Investiture. Aons are not good at anything that requires a willful choice and persistent bond. But they can mimic those effects.

Questioner

For a double tin Twinborn, what would compounding look like? Would they be able to see microscopically? Telescopically? Past the visual light spectrum? Would they be able to see or hear into the Cognitive or Spiritual Realms?

Brandon Sanderson

Seeing or hearing into the Cognitive or Spiritual Realms, probably not, because that's much more of a Seeker ability than it is a Tineye ability. But seeing microscopic and things like that is fully within... Like, they could probably even see the axi, which is their word for atoms. If you've read Dragonsteel Prime, you know that that's a magic system. And Tineyes could do that; compounding, yeah, if you did it right, you could do that.

Questioner

Were magic systems as abundant before the Shattering as they are now?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, they were. They took a little bit of a different form, but yes. When you see Dragonsteel, you will see plenty of magic.

Questioner

Did they significantly increase or decrease in number afterwards, or just changed?

Brandon Sanderson

I think they increased in number because the number of planets increased, and the number of habited planets increased, and things like that. So, yes, there's just more planets. And the Shards are out doing their stuff.

L-U-C-A-18

In Isles of the Emberdark, we see the Scadrians use a machine to cut Chrysalis's Connections between her hordelings. Would an allomancer burning copper achieve the same result? Similarly, could a hordeling be discovered by burning bronze?

Brandon Sanderson

What a good question. This is in the same power portfolio as copper, but an allomancer burning copper wouldn't naturally just do this. Can they be discovered by someone burning bronze? Again, in the same power portfolio; but no, an allomancer burning bronze would not detect one. What we're getting into in the space age, is we're getting into the ability to reach beyond human limits for achieving things with technological intervention, shall we say. Technological development. Which is something I wanted to see the cosmere do, because it's something that has happened in our world. We use technology to augment our strength far beyond what we could do. Well, this is what you're seeing happening here.

Adam Horne

Are you gonna have an equivalent to something like CRISPR in Era Four?

Brandon Sanderson

Era Four, we are working on something... We'll RAFO that.

Questioner

Are there Scadrian spren equivalents? Have we seen them, if there are?

Brandon Sanderson

No, this Investiture's being used in a different way. Closest you're gonna get... there really aren't. There aren't any. I don't want every world to have them. I want the worlds to be able to have their own... You see them on a lot of worlds, but I don't want every world to have them.

TheElfDruid1

Endowment replied to Hoid's letter telling him to leave Valor alone. Is there some form of prior relationship between the two (Endowment and Valor) before becoming Shards?

Brandon Sanderson

Endowment and Valor, don't read romantic relationship into this, but do have relationship. And they've had more dealings since. You could call those two, they've got a good friendship going, how about that. (Because shippers want everything to be romantic, you can do your thing, but it's not a romantic relationship.)

Questioner

Is there a Vorin equivalent to wedding bands, since it would traditionally go on a safehand?

Brandon Sanderson

There's not really a Vorin equivalent of that. Not all cultures have that, though it is a useful thing.

Questioner

Was the creation of the Evil an intentional result of the splintering of Ambition?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Odium didn't really know what he was doing, but he knew he didn't want to have the same thing happen that happened on Sel. And what happened was worse. So, this is why Odium had to recuperate and could not really attack Honor and Cultivation and kind of had to sideways work with them a little bit, because of what happened there.

Questioner

Will the final Era of Mistborn focus on Hoid and his apprentices?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, you are wise, you are seeing something that I am setting up. You will definitely have some more interaction of Hoid's apprentices in the final Mistborn series.

Questioner

Can the Dor be taken up by a Vessel?

Brandon Sanderson

This is possible. It'd be very hard.

Questioner

And if so, is it more probable than the Dor being separated into its two parts?

Brandon Sanderson

Being separated into two parts, I would say, is a little more likely.

Questioner

Can an Unoathed revive a deadeye to the point they can have Surges available to them again?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, this is theoretically possible, but it is not the same bond. In other words, the Unoathed will not get those Surges. And most of the deadeyes are of a sort that would not want to grant them. That gives too much power over each other to the people; and it's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of morality to them. And this is a disagreement: what happens in the Radiant bond feels too close, for some of the spren, to slavery. It's not, in my opinion; and it's not, in the other spren's opinion. But it is in their opinion, and they get to make that decision.

Questioner

Lift's favorite color?

Brandon Sanderson

Neon something. If you showed her neon pink, she'd be all over it. Currently, what's the most garish? Like, a good garish orange, I'm gonna say, is what she would like.

Questioner

If you hemalurgic spike a Sleepless, would each of their parts get the power, or just the one spiked?

Brandon Sanderson

They are an individual, all together, so all of them would get the parts. Be kind of hard to get the spiking to work right, but it would transfer to the whole thing. Just like it transfers to you when not all of your cells are not actually touching the spike.

Questioner

If Wax has another child, could it be a mistborn?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, much more likely to be mistborn than anyone else born.

Questioner

Did Wax have another child?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

Who is Kazilah, and why are they so controversial in Roshar's history?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

If a spren found a mistwraith, could they inhabit it to get a Physical form?

Brandon Sanderson

Ehh, this could possibly work. This is a weird one. It could possibly work. Possibly. I don't think it'd be natural, but I like the cut of your jib, let's just say that.

Questioner

Can you tell us something fun about the [larkins]?

Brandon Sanderson

You probably already know that Isaac inspired them with concept art, that they were a thing that I kind of wanted something like this, and I'd been devising something, but it didn't have wings. And when I saw Isaac's cool drawing, I'm like, "Okay, this is what they are. This is what we're gonna do with them." So, thank Isaac.

Questioner

Were fire lizards from Pern an inspiration for larkins?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, fire lizards from Pern were an inspiration.

Questioner

Are there now eleven Honorweapons/blades?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

Does a Reason Shard simply imply the other Shards are devoid of it?

Brandon Sanderson

No. Any more than being an Honor Shard implies that the others are devoid of Honor. So, no.

Questioner

Can Awakeners use their hair as a color source?

Brandon Sanderson

Not if it's on them.

Questioner

Is the Dawnshard that's different one of the ones we know?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO on Dawnshards. Sorry, folks.

Questioner

Was there ever a Reproduction Shard, and it did it get it get turned into Endowment and/or Cultivation?

Brandon Sanderson

There was never a Reproduction Shard. Cultivation and Endowment cover that.

Questioner

How many kids does Hoid have?

Brandon Sanderson

He only has two. The twins.

Questioner

If Book Fourteen Rand fighting Taln...

Brandon Sanderson

Usually, these are easy. I think Rand probably still wins. I think that, in general, the weaves of the Wheel of Time are more powerful than the Cosmere magics as a whole. I think they are; it's just a step up in power level, and Rand is several steps beyond that by Book Fourteen. I think Rand has the edge on Taln. But, I mean, Taln is the only non-deific thing that could give him a run for his money. And Taln's got going for him that if you kill Taln, Taln can come back. So there is that, as well. Taln might have inevitability because of that. And Taln can move at a speed that Rand might not be able to track. But Rand can teleport, and that's a really big deal. I'm gonna give this one to Rand by a narrow margin.

Joker

Which Shard that we haven't seen yet are you most excited to write, and for us to read, and why?

Brandon Sanderson

Valor, probably. Valor's history with Hoid is fun. Writing an almost all-powerful Shard of Adonalsium who is also Hoid's ex-girlfriend is a lot of fun. Little spoiler for Dragonsteel, but there you are. Hoid's not good at relationships. He's really, really not good at relationships.

Don't spread that one to people who haven't read, yet; you will get something. There's a good reason that Valor does not want Hoid to find her, let's just say. And he doesn't know where she is.

Questioner

Can we have a Romantasy book, Hoid and his wife?

Brandon Sanderson

Romantasies don't deal well with tragedy, in my experience. I don't know if that would work terribly well.

Questioner

He said writing about Hoid's ex-girlfriend "is" a lot of fun, not "would be."

Brandon Sanderson

It is a lot of fun because Jasnah is also an ex, and I've already written about her. She was only an ex briefly by the end of Stormlight Five, but, yeah. Writing about Hoid being annoyed is a lot of fun. You shouldn't expect a Hoid and Valor story anytime soon.

Questioner

You've stated before that you had a backup plan in case you decided to not have Taravangian take up Odium. In this world, Rayse was pretty against picking up another Shard. What might have been different about the finale of Book Five in this alternate future?

Brandon Sanderson

This is a very hypothetical question. If he hadn't taken it up, I would have left Rayse in charge, and Rayse would have tried to splinter Honor and Cultivation, and we would have continued on the whole splintering route, rather than him taking it up. Again, this is one of those ones that, once I got to the actual book, I knew was just not very likely. Because the main choice had always been Taravangian; I'd given myself this backup, and I just really liked Taravangian as... He makes a better villain for the entirety of the Stormlight Archive and for the entirety of the Cosmere than Rayse.

And this is partially just because I haven't written Dragonsteel yet. If I had started with Dragonsteel... Remember, when I was working on these outlines, I was intending Liar of Partinel to come out before Stormlight. This was before Wheel of Time hit me. And you would have read a trilogy about Hoid, and you would know all of the Shards of Adonalsium's Vessels. And Rayse, then, being a major villain... it works so much better. I didn't get that done, and I'm not likely to do that for a while. I needed to do Stormlight Archive. And so because of that, when I sat down to write Book One, I'm like, "No, Taravangian is the better villain." And he had been since Way of Kings Prime; I can't remember what I called him in Way of Kings Prime. 

Just one of those ones that, when you're writing, it just became more and more likely it was gonna be him as I wrote the books. And then, yes, when I finally got to Rhythm of War, I knew it was the right answer.

What happened to the Liar of Partinel sample chapters? We should find a way to get those back up. There's no reason to not. It's not very canon anymore; Liar of Partinel did not turn out very good. Here's the problem with Liar of Partinel: it just isn't a good book. Way of Kings Prime was a good book that didn't do everything I wanted it to, and I was sure I could get it better. Liar of Partinel doesn't work. It does introduce the Aethers; it was gonna be nice to have the Aethers in the Cosmere that much earlier. But there's an alternate timeline where, instead of working on Rithmatist and then Wheel of Time, I fix Liar of Partinel and the thing that follows Warbreaker is the Shattering of Adonalsium. So, that's interesting.

Questioner

Why didn't Nightblood cause an explosion or chip the Honorblades while Szeth was fighting the Honorbearers?

Brandon Sanderson

Let's see if I can talk around, or if I just have to RAFO this. Part of this is awareness on Ishar's part of what happened. Part of this has to do with the same mechanics of why some of the first attempts Raoden made with AonDor were a little more explosive, reactive, than anticipated. And there's some other things happening behind the scenes.

Sudo

Can a pregnant dragon change forms? Does this involve some Spiritual Realm shenanigans for the fetus?

Brandon Sanderson

That is one of the first questions I thought of. They try not to, but they can; and the child will change form, as well. Right now, I have that, when they're in dragon form, they do not have sexual organs. They still have some anatomy that would care for an infant. This is a thing I could change; you could read later on, and I just put a lock on, that a pregnant dragon is just locked into their human form until they give birth. That's how I have it right now; but, in dragon form, they don't have sexual organs. But we still haven't had a lot of dragon protagonists, and so these things tweak as I write more characters.