fletchershair
Now that Nightblood is on Roshar, can it use Stormlight the same way is would use Breaths?
Brandon Sanderson
I'll just tell you "yes." I was gonna RAFO that, but I think everyone's figured that out by now.
fletchershair
A friend wants to know exactly how you can go between types of Investiture. You've said that you can before.
Brandon Sanderson
It just depends on the Investiture. Some are much easier to use than others. Like, running Aons with other Investiture, very hard. Just the nature of the magic makes it very hard. But, Nightblood? He'll feed on whatever he can get. So, it's really easy to fuel Nightblood.
KChan
Does Feruchemy have anything to do with that? Converting into Investiture?
Brandon Sanderson
Not gonna say.
ROCkUguys13
(paraphrased)
Is there any sort of civilization on Braize?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Braize is the weirdest one because it's kind of like a prison. So, is there any civilization on Braize? Kind of. It's like a prison. That's all I'll say.
Blightsong
(paraphrased)
Was Adolin's murder of Sadeas him falling under the influence of Odium, or was that all him?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
That was all Adolin.
Blightsong
(paraphrased)
Is Roshar, or has Roshar always been the only large landmass on the planet?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Roshar is.... *Brandon then paused and looked up, thinking very hard* Roshar has always been the largest landmass--as long as there has been land.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
Alright, but would nicrosil be the right metal to make a Hemalurgic spike if you did want to steal powers from another world?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
It's a good theory, you're theorizing well.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
Does Hoid have a Hemalurgically charged Nicrosil spike?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
It's... unlikely. Hoid would not want to open himself to the influence of Shards so using Hemalurgy on himself is unlikely. Although Hemalurgy is the easiest way to get other powers, he'd more likely do things the hard way.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
On a similar note, since Elsecallers can physically go to Shadesmar and have access to Transportation surge, can all Elsecallers worldhop?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Yes, that is one of the Elsecaller powers.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
In hindsight this seems like a really obvious question now *laugh*, but I think it's really interesting that Elsecallers can travel to other planets too--we didn't know that before.
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
There are hints in the names on the map of Shadesmar.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
Is there a separate "Shadesmar" for each planet or is it one big place that are all connected with different regions for each planet?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
It's one big place with different sections.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
So since its one big place, could spren travel to a different section that correlates with a different planet, such as the cognitive segment for Scadrial?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
They could go there, but they wouldn't usually...
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
Is that because Honor's influence is only on Roshar?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
*Brandon gave sort of a noncommittal half nod, but looked doubtful himself. Maybe best to interpret this last answer as a RAFO rather than reading into it too much.*
Blightsong
(paraphrased)
Is there a reason why shadows go toward the light in Shadesmar, or is it just worldbuilding flavor?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
There is a reason, but its not super important. It's like a cultural thing, things have reasons but they aren't always super relevant to the story.
Blightsong
(paraphrased)
Does Harmony have any Splinters?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
Do you mean like in his fingers? *Brandon has a coy smile. Questioner looks at him like "you know what I mean you fool". Brandon laughs.* No, he does not have Splinters right now. Good question.
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
Any hint on how Nin got a hold of Nightblood, or how Vasher lost Nightblood?
Brandon Sanderson (Written)
(paraphrased)
Vasher and Nightblood had something of a falling out...
Ruro272
(paraphrased)
Will we see all of the Heralds doing things in the upcoming books?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
The back five books are all about the Heralds. Two of them claim to be Heralds... Two of the point-of-views will be Heralds.
fletchershair
So, they're all in... Urithiru, and that's safe from the Everstorm, right? Because they're trying to get everyone there, right?
Brandon Sanderson
It is definitely safer than the Shattered Plains.
fletchershair
So what makes it safer? Is it just the location?
Brandon Sanderson
They are on the east side of a mountain. It's coming from the other direction. They also think they might be high enough to be over the storm, judging based on the fact that Kaladin was able to hop over it, so he knows generally how high up they go.
Dirigible
What are ReLuur's spikes made of? Marasi thought they were pewter, but that doesn't make sense.
Brandon Sanderson
It doesn't.
Dirigible
If you tap Connection in one area, for location, would that remove your Connection to your original place, where you're actually from?
Brandon Sanderson
Um, RAFO.
Dirigible
Could someone who's never been to Scadrial be Connected to Ruin, Preservation, or Harmony?
Brandon Sanderson
Possibly. Depends on the strength of the Connection. But yeah, Connection's not an on/off switch.
Dirigible
Can you store any sort of Temporal Connection?
Brandon Sanderson
Um, most.
Dirigible
Can you store....like if there is a Twinborn, who is a gold Allomancer and a duralumin Ferring, would his goldshadow change based on what his Connection is?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to RAFO that.
Dirigible
Can you store different types of Connection at different times? Like can you store Connection to people versus location?
Brandon Sanderson
That is possible.
Dirigible
Can you be Connected to two locations at once?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes
Dirigible
Will that help with doing Sel magic off-world?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO
Dirigible's sister
The Expanse of Broken Sky, is that Sel?
Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)
RAFO
Dirigible's sister
Is the Cognitive Realm flat or spherical?
Brandon Sanderson
The Cognitive Realm is this weird thing, where it's flat, but it's distorted.
Dirigible's sister
Yeah, 'cause I was going to say, if you make a globe flat...
Brandon Sanderson
You can walk from one planet to the next. So it's got really weird...the spatial reasoning doesn't work the same way.
Dirigible
Have we seen a Svrakiss in a book so far?
Brandon Sanderson
Um... RAFO
Dirigible
Can you tell us anything about Svrakiss, like are they originally from Sel?
Brandon Sanderson
Um... I'm not going to go into that.
Badger
(paraphrased)
What was your motivation/inspiration behind the Alcatraz books?
Brandon Sanderson
(paraphrased)
- They're weird and modernist.
- His goal was to do something so different from what he was working on.
- He uses different books like this as breaks in order to keep the momentum up for writing and yet let himself rest.
- Still has a wacky magic system, so it's still one of his books, still what he likes writing, but it's still different.
- Inspired by like, The Emperor's New Groove sort of off the wall storytelling (gave the example of the fact that the opening scene is cut by a flashback and then never addressed again anywhere in the books)
Do you plan are having anymore full Mistborn in your books?
You'll have to read and find out! :)
Will Michael Whelan continue to do cover art for The Stormlight Archive?
That will be up to him, and his schedule. We will always ask!
What has been the proudest moment of your career?
A tie between winning a Hugo award and releasing the last Wheel of Time book, so far. Excellent question!
How many books do you read each year? Best you've read lately?
I real maybe a book a month. Much less than some people, but I have to fight to make time!
What stage of the writing process is most difficult for you?
Revision is the most difficult, by a long shot.
Were there any people present at the Shattering of Adonalsium other than Hoid and the 16?
RAFO.
Do u have plans for a Lurcher character? Orbiting a bullet/coin around them and back at shooter would be awesome .
Some day, I'm sure I'll do a Lurcher character.
Did the Ire form before the events of Elantris or do they form after the city is healed?
This is an excellent question! :) (And one I'm not going to answer yet, I'm afraid.)
Do you feel confident with the producer/directors making slight changes to the movie?
The best film versions of books make changes to fit the media. So I plan on this happening here.
Were you influenced by Tad Williams at all? I see some elements of his writing in your work.
I think Tad is an excellent writer, and have loved much of what he's written. I'd happily call him an influence.
Have you ever designed a character based upon a loved one in order to honor their memory?
Yes, I have--but it's almost always a side character, more a cameo than anything else.
Is there a genre you think you couldn't/wouldn't write (within fantasy)? Or might your writing take us anywhere?
I could see myself doing pretty much anything, within certain bounds of harsher content.
Any plans for any adaptations in the near future?
If, by this, you mean film adaptations--we're trying very hard. Unfortunately, it's up to Hollywood more than it is me.
Would you prefer film or TV adaptations? (If the choice was magically yours)
Depends on the series. I'd like to see Mistborn and The Reckoners as film, Stormlight and Wax and Wayne as TV.
Will all 10 Stormlight books be relatively close time wise, or separate centuries like Mistborn?
They will be relatively close, time wise. Across twenty years or so, rather than hundreds.
Why can non-Scadrians use Hemalurgy? Don't they need Ruin's sDNA, like Allomancers need Preservation?
Hemalurgy is built to be able to be used by anyone. It's about taking and breaking. Ruin doesn't care who does such things
Would you mind giving a width for the Final Empire as well? Thanks! :)
Still work to do on that... Maybe before the end of the year.
Ah, for the book with all the starcharts [Arcanum Unbounded]? Looking forward to seeing it then :).
Not necessarily for that book. :)
Are there any Epics who cannot die by old age?
No, not so far.
When you write certain characters, do you envision them as anyone in real life? Ie. I see Dalinar as Liam Neeson
I don't generally envision them as real people. But A Liam Neeson Dalinar brings a smile to my lips.
How, if at all, did the Wax and Wayne books alter your Cosmere plans?
They made me accelerate some cosmere and Scadrial events forward to that era.
How many books/short stories did you write before you were first published?
I wrote thirteen before I sold one. I was pretty bad at this when I started...
What is your routine as a writer? How do you stay motivated to churn out pages?
I write every day. My motivation is the same now as it always was: to tell stories. Not much has changed. :)
What's the best order for someone to read all the books in the Cosmere?
It depends. Publication order is just fine. However, I often start people with Mistborn.
If Kaladin were to write a self-help book, what would the title be?
Being a man, Kaladin would avoid writing anything, as it wouldn't be proper. :)
Are there any other time periods you would like to explore with the Mistborn series?
I'll be doing a 1980's level tech, and a future tech, in upcoming series. So you could say that there are. :)
Before Ruin and Preservation showed up on Scadrial, was aluminum already antimagical? Also, is [The Alloy of Law] between Stormlight 5&6?
Yes, [The Alloy of Law] is after Stormlight 5. Specific timing will depend on how long I make the 5/6 gap once I get there.
If you had final say on a dream casting for David, who would you choose?
This is a hard one, as I don't generally "cast" my characters with real life actors in my head.
