Why the number four, for Bridge Four? Is there a reason for...?
Nope, it just is what appealed to me. There is no greater significance, other than I wanted to do it, and it just felt right.
We always wondered if it was because it's like bad luck in Asia.
It is bad luck, but I didn't pick it for that reason specifically.
We want to know if Adolin is the hottest character.
If Adolin's the hottest character in the entire...?
In the cosmere.
I don't know, Blushweaver's pretty hot. Adolin's pretty hot.
I thought you might go with a Returned.
But the Returned are supernaturally hot, and Adolin is only naturally hot.
With a Returned it's almost unfair.
It is unfair. If you're gonna go without any magical enhancements, Adolin's gonna be up there. He's got personality hotness and physical hotness, so yeah.
Could a coppermind be able to memorize physical memory?
Ooh, never been asked that before. I am going to RAFO that, but in an "I need to think about it more" sort of way, cause I have actually never been asked that. My gut instinct says no, but maybe. I'm gonna have to really ponder on physical memory and the cosmere, and how that all works. Good question. Not often I get stumped by one like that.
Is there gonna be a sequel to Warbreaker?
Someday, yes. I can't promise when because it's kind of a side project thing, but I've got it outlined, which is step number one.
Are there any plans to revisit Threnody or some of the other worlds that were mentioned in Arcanum Unbounded?
Yes. I have a novel on Threnody I want to write, and I have a short story and a novel I want to write on First of the Sun. We'll see if I can get to any of those.
Is Adonalsium's God Metal aluminum?
RAFO.
My RAFO question will probably be, will an Allomancer or a Mistborn take that chip of Honorblade that fell off and burn it?
*hands RAFO card*
Will you give us a spoiler without context for the next Stormlight book?
Let's see if I can think of one. This is usually pretty hard for me. Let's see... Wit's very annoyed. He often is.
Is there a metal that's the opposite to aluminum, that can store pure Investiture rather than blocking it? And is that metal dragonsteel?
Innately store it? RAFO! Not Feruchemically? Good question.
Is Thaidakar a Cognitive Shadow?
Yes he is. Have you finished Rhythm of War?
I have, yeah.
So you know who Thaidakar is, right?
No. Does it say in the book?
No, but it calls him... It's Kelsier. They call him the Lord of Scars, someone else confirmed it, it's Kelsier.
The "Lord of Scars" thing is what had us thinking, but we weren't sure if it was true.
It is Kelsier. He's been doing some stuff.
Shallan has two spren. I assume the Shardblade she is using in Words of Radiance is Pattern. But had she sworn the Third Ideal at that point?
I will get this whole timeline explained for you. It's really intricate, though.
When's the next book coming out?
Next book is Cytonic. Book after that is Wax and Wayne 4, book after that is Stormlight 5.
When you were writing Elantris and you introduced Hoid, did you already have planned for him to be what he is now?
Hoid started appearing in books I was reading when I was fifteen; I would imagine him in other people's books. By then, I already had this character in my head that had been worldhopping between Anne McCaffrey's books, and David Eddings' books, and all those things. So I did know what I was gonna be doing. I didn't know where it would all go. I didn't have the whole cosmere built, but I did have him. He was my first D&D character. I'm being recorded; I don't even know if they know that, that I used Topaz (is what he was called back then) as my first D&D character. He's in my first book that I tried writing when I was fourteen.
If you were in a Rithmatic battle, what would your defense be?
It would probably be a Knight or Shardbearer, even though it's a little harder... I don't know if you were talking about chalklings, or which defense I would use?
Yeah.
I don't know. See, I name them all after my friends, so... I'd probably pick the Eskridge defense. That makes me pick one of my friends over another, but you know.
On Threnody, is it possible for non-intelligent creatures to become shades?
It is possible, it doesn't happen natively.
Is it possible to turn Breaths into... how does Awakening work on Roshar and Shadesmar?
You can still use it normally, as you would expect it, as the magic works. People are trying to figure out how to turn one type of Investiture into another, and it it is harder than it seems. They haven't cracked it yet.
So they always have to bring their own form of Investiture?
A Returned can feed off of other Investiture, just like Nightblood can. One of the reasons to move to Roshar is: it's easier to get Stormlight than it is Breaths.
That makes sense why Zahel, then.
That explains Zahel, right.
Which is your favorite Unmade?
RAFO. We'll see, I don't know if I have a favorite yet.
Is Sja-anat going to join the Knights Radiant?
RAFO.
Are there other objects that we've encountered like Nightblood?
Nothing quite like Nightblood, though Azure's sword is Invested.
How did Nale bring Szeth back to life?
Szeth's spirit had not moved onto the Beyond. It was basically Rosharan CPR. He repaired the body, and Szeth was not dead dead. His heart had stopped, but when his body came back together, it started beating again.
Is Khriss going to make her appearance on Roshar?
So far, she's had Nazh do that, but she is in Shadesmar, or has been in Shadesmar at various points. So it's entirely possible. She lets Nazh do the hard jobs.
What shattered the Shattered Plains?
RAFO.
What color are Spensa's eyes?
I don't have a specific color in mind.
They're purple on the cover.
So we'll just go with violet.
Could a mindblade break a Shardblade? Could a mindblade stop a Shardblade, or would a Shardblade stop a mindblade?
I think that a Shardblade would stop a mindblade. And whether the mindblade could stop the Shardblade or not would depend on the power of the cytonic and how strong their mind is.
Is Odium gonna make Gavinor his champion?
I'm gonna say complete RAFO on anything about who the champion is.
Are we going to learn the similarities between the two people, the surgeon's first words when they were born... <Demid> and Taravangian? The cord around their neck?
I'll just say, I didn't intend that to be something you look at and say, "Oh, it's the same!" What I mean that to mean is bad medical care. All three of my children would have died in childbirth if we didn't have modern medical care. My first one had the cord around his neck. The doctors have told us they would all be dead. I just think that's very common in a society like this. The things going on with Roshar is, Rosharans are innately tougher because of their Investiture, so they're more likely to survive traumatic experiences. It's not meant to say you should be looking for any other connection in something like that.
In the Arcanum Unbounded, it says that a Rosharan foot is longer than cosmere standard. How does that compare to an Earth foot?
Longer. Kaladin is almost seven feet tall, by our measurements. We've got a height comparison, Shallan is about six feet tall. She thinks she's short. Compared to us, she'd be on the taller end. That's why if you notice people from around the cosmere that show up, they're often mentioned as short. Not Hoid, who's able to use magical means to change how he's perceived, but someone like Felt, and stuff like that.
Would a Shardblade be able to hurt Steelheart?
Yes, I think it would.
If the person feared him, would they still be able to hurt him?
Even if they didn't fear him, if you mashed Steelheart into the cosmere--which it's not, but if you did, the Steelheart magics would all have to work on the cosmere magics, which means that a Shardblade could hurt him. If you had a Shardblade, you could hurt someone even if you didn't know their weakness. That would be a way it would have to work. Now, if you were to mash them all into Steelheart's universe, then maybe not.
Can Leechers leech on other types of Investiture across the cosmere? And how do people power their powers on worlds?
So, Scadrians can use metal from other worlds. The metal is considered a facilitator, a key for reaching the Spiritual Realm, and distance doesn't matter for the Spiritual Realm. All of the Allomantic powers, Leechers in particular, they do have an influence with the other magic systems. Even as simple as a Shardblade would be very difficult, near impossible to push or pull, because of the level of Investiture it has. Copperclouds have some interesting ramifications, as well as Seekers have interesting ramifications, and Leechers would work on other magic systems as well. It is a little tricky how it interfaces sometimes, but it'll generally do what you're expecting it to do.
A while back, you mentioned that if certain circumstances hadn't happened on Taldain, that Taldainians... the people on Taldain probably would've been the first to space. Which interests me greatly, because they don't really have a magic system that is very conducive to faster than light travel.
I didn't say--did I say FTL?
You didn't, that's true, but that doesn't change my question. So my question is, is there a method, other than Allomantic ways and Surgebinding ways, for faster than light, that could be achieved on any minor Shardworld, as long as they have access to Investiture?
Yes, there is, but it depends on if you could get in Shadesmar. You could travel FTL in the Physical Realm through Shadesmar. Basically, just take a spaceship in Shadesmar and travel between Shardpools and you've achieved FTL. Because travel through Shadesmar, you could walk between planets in Shadesmar. So anyone who can get in and out of Shadesmar reliably can FTL. Ways in and out of Shadesmar are very rare, which is extremely limiting, but it is possible.
What question about the cosmere does Khriss most want answered?
She would want to know what happens in the Beyond. Followed secondly by, how can you get Stormlight off of Roshar?
Did Kelsier ever consider remarrying, for any reason at all?
He has not. He never did in the... Let's say "no." No thoughts of remarrying.
Would you ever consider creating a sport in one of your series similar to a quidditch thing? Selling jersey and such? Mistborn Dodgeball?
Yes! In fact, the previous Wax and Wayne book has little hints about this, and the new one has another step forward. Obviously, Rithmatist is this; but they mean in the Cosmere and more of a formalized sport.
For those who don't know, part of the reason I wrote the Rithmatist is I'm like, "I wanna do a book where they use the magic for some sort of game or sport." But you can anticipate in Era 3 fully Metallurgic Arts-enhanced sports teams.
In the fourth book of The Way of Kings, when Kaladin ascends to the fourth thought [ideal]. The only thing I don't like is that he projects the Shard [Shardplate], you know, to protect the kid and stuff. How - I don't know, that bugs me.
You are allowed to be bugged. And I give readers line-item vetoes. If you want to pretend that doesn't exist, you'll just have to imagine some of the scenes in future books differently.
Well I mean, hopefully there will be an explanation for that or something, I don't know. As of right now, it bugs me, but everything else was awesome.
I'll try to explain it, we'll see if it works for you.
In Skyward, Jorgen's original callsign, he asks to be "Jorgen." Is that also his real name?
Jorgen? Yes.
So he asked for his real name to be his callsign?
Yes, cause he is not quite as imaginative as he should be. It's supposed to kind of be a joke. Jorgen has trouble with stuff like that.
I've been curious cause I couldn't find anything about a real name.
Yep, it is actually his real name.
Jasnah was in Shadesmar for kind of a long time, right?
Yes.
Did she go somewhere and get other Investiture?
She did not manage to get off world. Good question. She's becoming cosmere aware, but really it's through Hoid. Before, she didn't really have very much awareness of that.
How did she survive, like getting stuff to eat and stuff?
You can get it if you know what you're doing in Shadesmar.
She's pretty resourceful, right?
She's pretty resourceful. Most of the time, you're gonna have to trade for it. There's actually caravans that go through Shadesmar. They almost always stop at Roshar to resupply through the Horneater Peaks. So if you know what you're doing, you could trade for food. They have food in a lot of the waystops and the cities and things like that because humans are coming through, and it's a thing they can trade them.
A lot of those canned goods, those coming from Scadrial?
If it's canned, it's coming from Scadrial at this point. Taldain probably has the same technology at that point, but Taldain is closed. So the cans are coming from Scadrial.
How old was Shallan when she killed her first spren?
I would have to look at the exact outline of that. Karen keeps all of the continuity timeline stuff, and I just kind of offload that part of my brain to her, so she's the one that would know. You can ask Karen some time when she's around.
I've heard that you're kind of close with the Magic: The Gathering people?
I mean, I did write a story for them, I do know some people over there.
Have they ever asked you about doing a set, like how they're doing D&D and stuff?
Different thing, but they asked me to write the story for the new Urza set that's coming out. (The Brothers' War, I think they just announced it last month.) And I couldn't do it, I just didn't have the time. But a Secret Lair is totally possible. That's something that we could probably do.
It's just tricky because mechanically unique cards are divisive among the community, and so the question is: "Do we want a Secret Lair that just takes other cards and reskins them? Do we want to wait until there are cards that are being made that would match the characters, and then reskin those? Do we want to see how people receive the Lord of the Rings set, and if they really like it, then maybe they would do something Stormlight?" Something like that. I really kind of want to see how all of this plays out with the Secret Lairs and stuff, which I really like, but I know they're divisive in the community.
Anyway, this is on everybody's radar, right? They're making fantasy properties into card sets. There's only a couple names that come up. It's Tolkien, then probably George, and Harry Potter, and then me, so they have talked to me. But a full set, there haven't even been talks about that. It's all just been like, "Hey maybe would you be interested?" That sort of thing. So don't hold your breath, but we'll see how the Lord of the Rings set goes.
I read a lot of the Star Wars books, and they have a timeline in the front of each book. I know that you mentioned that you don't want to force people to have to read them in a certain order. Is that something that you've ever thought of?
It is. I've actually thought of starting to stick in the back of the book, a guide to the cosmere and stuff. It's just, finding the space for it in the books and all of that is tricky. I think we will eventually do it. But it's just one of the many things that I have to find time to do.
Will Warbreaker have any more effect on the Stormlight Archive series?
I mean, Vasher and Vivenna are around, and Nightblood is around, so I would say yes, would be the answer.
If a listener were to Awaken something, would they imitate the listener or a human?
They would imitate the listener.
And would that change based off of their form?
It could slightly change based off their form. More likely it's just gonna about their culture and the way the person sees the world, but the way that the listener sees the world is changed based on their form, so yeah, it'll have an effect.
What is the Scar?
That is a RAFO. It is something that is visible from multiple planets, and it is a RAFO.
Are the Ghostbloods good, in your mind, or bad?
They are neither, in my mind.
Does their leader, Thaidakar, affect what they do a lot?
Yes, but the Roshar branch is a little bit removed from him.
What the heck happened, did Taravangian do to Wit?
You'll find out more in the next book. He stole a few of his Breaths, and they had memories attached to them.
Does Wit ever get his memories back?
I will RAFO that. It will be dealt with, though; in the next book, he will notice.
Because Zahel was especially Invested when he died, he became that other soul. Does that mean that Elend wasn't actually...?
Zahel is a special case. What happened with him is, on his planet, he was specifically chosen by the Shard to be Returned. That happens, you don't have to be specifically Invested for that. The god gives them that. Now, to become a Cognitive Shadow, which is what certain people in the cosmere are, you need a powerful amount, an enormous amount.
So not the bead?
Not just being a Mistborn, not just... he wasn't even close to being where he needed to be, if you want to end up as a Cognitive Shadow. You need to do some special hoops. We're talking, drawing forth the power of a Shard, or being endowed with the power of a Shard, or a certain number of Breaths would do it. There is a threshold that you could get, you're gonna end up as a Cognitive Shadow.
I asked for one of your precious secrets, and she already knew that it was gonna be "Hoid loves bacon."
Yep, but he can't eat it. Soul work by a Dawnshard has done some weird things to Hoid.
Nightblood's intent is to destroy evil. Since it consumes Investiture, does it view Investiture as evil?
No, it does not. Nightblood has trouble deciding what is evil. It is getting better, more and more, but it wouldn't view Investiture itself as evil.
Which series have you enjoyed writing the most?
Probably Wax and Wayne. It is just pure joy. I save up Wayne quotes for years, and then find places for them in the books.
I'm curious as to when we're going to see the Ire next.
RAFO, you get a RAFO.
