Recent entries

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4002 Copy

    Questioner

    What was your motivation behind-- for killing Elhokar and simultaneously ripping my heart out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, it was-- I never feel like I'm killing characters, I'm letting characters take risks and I'm letting other characters have agency to do the things they're doing in the books. That whole plot cycle was more-- less me killing someone off and more me letting Moash go down the dark path that he have been demanding that he go down.

    Questioner

    Okay, but you realize half the fandom-- or the whole fandom practically wants him dead now.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes. Well, they should! He made a very, very bad decision, and he deserves everything that the fandom is throwing at him.

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4003 Copy

    Stormlightning

    You've talked about how Hoid really appreciates his new Lightweaving abilities, but what about the Soulcasting side of things?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, you'll have to see.

    Stormlightning

    Is he excited about that, or does he already have all of that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, he doesn't have all of that. He knows more than a lot of people do, and knows to be more-- frightened of Soulcasting than others are. Frightened is perhaps the wrong term. Wary. 

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4004 Copy

    GyozaGuy

    Allik Neverfar has those medallions that let him to talk to people in their language, but he has an accent because it knows his parents aren't from that area. So I'm wondering, if he and his parents are both using those in a foreign land, does he no longer have an accent and his parents would?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say that they would both still have an accent. 

    GyozaGuy

    So it's not connected--

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's connecting to the soul of his parents and it's kinda picking that out. There are ways around that. If you are really good with the way Connection works and things like that. Obviously you've seen Hoid speaking without an accent all over the place. The medallions are kind of a crude, early version of doing that sort of thing, not really in control of the magic more, and so I wanted to build in some little indications that things are not quite as fluid as they will someday get.

    GyozaGuy

    So it's more of a hack and not a rewrite of the Connection.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, exactly.

    Bluebar

    It's not a direct link from them to the Investiture.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. If you find someone who's using the magic themselves, you'll see that they-- like Dalinar didn't have, the people who spoke with Dalinar didn't have accents when he was using the same sort of Connection magic to give them linguistics and things like that.

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4007 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering about how Alcatraz book 6 is coming along?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Its coming along really well. It's almost done. I've written my half, Bastille hasn't finished her half yet. Otherwise known as Janci -- A friend of mine that I'm co-writing it with so that I can blend the voice and make it sound a little more distinctive. It was sounding too much like Alcatraz, so I wrote a big chunk of it, and then I asked her to write a big chunk of it, and she is smoothing the voice together. I think she is near the last chapter of it, of the chunk she had been writing... It's going to be really cool. The ending that I have, it's really zany and it's really crazy, but it is great.

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4010 Copy

    Questioner

    Can you make a Hemalurgic spike and get two people at the same time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, it's going to Invest from the first one and then potentially spike it into the second one, what it is stealing from the first, generally is what's going to happen.

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4011 Copy

    Questioner

    Are you planning on doing more from Threnody?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I've got a Threnody book. Silence won't be in it. But there's a Threnody book.

    Questioner

    Like a full size?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A full size novel, on Threnody. 'Cause there's a group I need to get a book out about because they're relevant later on, that you need to know who they are.

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4014 Copy

    Stormlightning

    Are Hoid and the Set aware of each other?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but I wouldn't say the Set as a general rule, but members of the Set.

    Stormlightning

    How do they feel about each other?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Some various shades of loathing.

    Stormlightning

    On both sides?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    FanX Spring 2019 ()
    #4015 Copy

    Undercoverwillshaper

    So you had had a Word of Brandon that had said that Tien was on his way to becoming a Lightweaver. My question is, did he ever actually become a Lightweaver; did he speak an Oath, and if so, did he bond with a Cryptic?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's an excellent question. If you look closely through the first book, you will see Tien having some slight Lightweaving effects. In the back of my head, he was where Kaladin was during most of the first book, where it wasn't really official but there was a spren hanging around. He was very close to-- by the time he left, already done that. I would say he never actually managed to get that bond working... Otherwise, perhaps, things would have played out differently than they did.

    General Reddit 2019 ()
    #4016 Copy

    Extesian

    Can you confirm whether Navani will be the prologue viewpoint? Or you want to keep that quiet/ haven't decided yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, she is the prologue viewpoint.

    AridholGM

    Wouldn't it be dope to have the book 5 viewpoint from Gavilar himself, and it finally revealing what exactly he was up to.. :)

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is what I have planned.

    Planet Comicon ()
    #4017 (not searchable) Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lirin was of the opinion that tragedy was the means by which the Almighty proved the virtue of men. How else was one to explain the events of the past year?

    He ducked his head and stepped to the side respectfully, pulling his cloak tight as <Abijan?> strolled past. He remembered setting her arm in a splint some ten years before, soon after her arrival in the town, though she’d been called <Adi?> back then. Brightlord Wistiow had paid good money for her, and after she’d broken her arm, he’d wanted his investment protected.

    Now, instead of a simple smock, the parshwoman wore a fine silken havah. White, which was an odd color. Lirin didn’t think he’d ever seen a human woman wear a dress that shade. But the Fused taught that in the past, the parshmen—or singers, as they now began to be called—had preferred solid and often muted colors to not distract from the patterns of their skin. <Abijan>, like many of the town’s new parshman Brightlords, listened intently to what the Fused said about the past. They treated the ways of the ancient parshmen like scripture, but couldn’t cover up that they were more Alethi than they were like those old singers. <Abijan> wore her safehand in a sleeve, and when she spoke to her companions, two townspeople who currently had her favor, she didn’t have even a hint of an accent.

    Her skin patterns were swirling shapes, like mixing paint, red on white. Lirin had to admit the pattern was indeed striking against the white robe. He kept his eyes down, however, and remained by the side of the pathway, waiting until the parshwoman disappeared in the morning fog. Such extreme deference wasn’t required, but it was best to be careful when you were known as a potential troublemaker.

    Lirin pulled his cloak tight again and continued on his way through the dense fog. Though the sun was well above the horizon, he saw it only as a vaguely circular white blotch. They’d been seeing spring weather lately in Hearthstone, and that meant morning fog. A welcome shroud for his chosen activities this day.

    As he neared the perimeter of the town, he passed an increasing number of improvised shanties, blankets and tarps stretching between rooftops, making a kind of shelter for the crowded refugees. Entire streets were closed off this way. The sound of plates clinking and people talking rose through the fog surrounding him. These shanties would never last a storm, of course, but they could quickly be torn down and stowed. There just wasn’t enough housing otherwise. Hearthstone, as one of the towns of modest size this close to the Herdazian border, was clogged with refugees these days. In Herdaz, men could claim to fight for freedom, but how free were the corpses they left to bleed into the storm waters?

    In some ways, little had changed, despite the coming of the Everstorm and the awakening of the parshmen. The skin of some involved in the battles changed, but the same old conflicts raged. Those who had a little taste of power wanted more, and sought it with the sword. The normal people bled, and men like Lirin had to try to put them back together. At least it seemed to almost be over. Word was that the resistance in Herdaz had finally collapsed, and the singers were securing dominance in the country. That meant more refugees for a time, but maybe after that, everything could settle back down and men could stop killing one another.

    Unfortunately, as he emerged from a line of shanties, he found a sorry lot waiting for him. It was hard to get a count in the fog, but there had to be a good hundred people here. And with Hearthstone already nearing bursting, where were they going to fit so many?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So the rest of the chapter outline goes—and the rest of it’s in a real big mess—Lirin is there, he’s kind of looking through the refugees for sickness. Really, he’s keeping an eye out for that Herdazian general that had an interlude in the third book. He’s gonna be relevant here, they’re gonna try and hide him. But then they’re looking through the refugees, and one of them is Kaladin!

    General Reddit 2019 ()
    #4018 Copy

    Ben McSweeney

    If I recall rightly (it's in my notes somewhere) the height is 15' per level. Only a variance of 3', but it adds up. I feel like 17S did this same math a while back but it's probably buried by now. Could be worth digging up to compare notes though.

    We do have numbers, I went to some pains to try and get the drawing to represent them correctly. Your estimates are a little high I think, and you might be discounting the amount of internal space given to non-residential function (giant elevator atrium, for instance), but I think you're in the right zone.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4020 Copy

    Questioner

    Do you have an update on when the Hemalurgy table's gonna be available on the website?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not. That's really Isaac, you bug him and poke him. Whenever he decides to release it. He's kinda just in charge of that. Karen's around, I don't know if she knows.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4021 Copy

    JoyBlu

    At the end of Oathbringer, Hoid is there, and he uses the Breath to talk to the doll, and he gives the doll to K-whoever - he gives it to someone named Cob and Kheni. So, is Kheni a Parshman?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'll RAFO that.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4023 Copy

    JoyBlu

    Okay, A larkin and an aviar. Could you tell us how they're related - are they a bit similar? Other than that they both fly.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would not call them terribly similar. A larkin is a specific type of creature that feeds off of Investiture. And there are some other things like that in the Cosmere. But aviar don't do that. Aviar have a symbiosis with an Invested entity. Aviar are more like, they're kind of weird because they fulfill both the role of a spren, but also the person that's bonding the spren. They're an intermediary.

    JoyBlu

    Okay. And larkins don't have feathers, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Larkins do not have feathers. They look like little... They look like wasps.

    JoyBlu

    Like wasps? That little?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, not that size, but that's the look of them. They're in the picture in the front of Way of Kings, the magic map. If we have Way of Kings here... We can grab it for you. If you go to my website for the art for Way of Kings, look up "Way of Kings art archive" on my website. It's not the cover, it's on the magic, the double eye symbol of the Knights Radiant in the inside cover flap. There's a pair of larkin there.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4025 Copy

    JoyBlu's Friend

    Many of my questions have to do with the Dalinar-Adolin relationship because I love families and I find this particular relationship very strained. I wish to know stuff like what Dalinar really feels for Adolin, as I find he treats him more like a tool than a son. Or whether or not we've seen the end of the Adolin murdered Sadeas narrative arc, as no character really had the time to react to it yet.

    Brandon Sanderson

    You have not seen the end of that arc. Dalinar loves his son but has trouble treating anyone as anything other than tools.

    JoyBlu's Friend

    What are Brandon's thoughts on the relationship? I'd also die to hear Brandon speak about what to expect for Adolin within book 4 in terms of length, scope—

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO! RAFO!

    JoyBlu's Friend

    —as I just wished to give Brandon comment on the fact that some readers were disappointed with the outcome of this narrative arc.

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO, RAFO.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4026 Copy

    JoyBlu's Friend

    I want to ask Brandon if he plans to write how Adolin feels next to Shallan, as we never get Adolin's viewpoint when it comes to their relationship. I thought it was missed.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tell them that I do plan to do some of that.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4028 Copy

    Questioner

    What happened to Rand? He's not dead?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So Robert Jordan wrote everything from Rand stumbling out of Shayol Ghul until the ending, with the exception of the Perrin scenes, which I added to that epilogue. Harriet says--his wife--says he sat laughing to himself as he wrote the scene with the pipe, but he did not tell her what it means.

    Questioner

    Pipe?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The pipe where he-- he lit the pipe just by thinking about it. 

    Questioner

    That's also something-- he's using the Tel'aran'rhiod power to light it in the real world?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not know. Now, I have my theories. I think that because Rand touched the Pattern directly, when he was doing what he was doing, that he now has influence over the Pattern. 

    Questioner

    So he can change and manipulate things? But he's-

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's what I think, but Robert Jordan didn't say, and he did write those scenes himself before he passed away. So, I wrote the actual Last Battle-

    Questioner

    All of it? That was so epic.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. So he took over-- where he left was right when Rand stumbles out. The Last Battle chunk before that was me. He wrote Mat in the Tower of Ghenjei... He wrote most of Egwene in The Gathering Storm, and then little snippets of Egwene all the way through. Perrin was almost one hundred percent me; he didn't leave much on Perrin. With Rand, he wrote little chunks here and there...

    So I do not know. Now, I can tell you that there in the notes that when the balefire streams, when they crossed, intertwined [Rand's] soul with Moridin's soul. And one thing that his assistant said is that the [soul] that wanted to live found the body that was going to live, and the [soul] that wanted to die found the body that was dying. And that's what happened.

    Questioner

    They swapped bodies because he had this thing-- Why didn't he go in and say "hey everybody?" ...He didn't want to be with his family and friends anymore?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I think he probably came back-- He just needed a break. I'm pretty sure that he eventually let them know, but he just needed a little time. So, but I don't know for sure.

    Questioner

    I thought it was super cool, going in, the chase between Slayer and Perrin.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I had a lot of fun with that scene.

    Questioner

    ...Also, you told me last time I saw you, that Tel'aran'rhiod is basically-- Is that kind of where you got the idea of the parallel universe in the other books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, Shadesmar. Shadesmar you can tie directly back to my love of Tel'aran'rhiod. It's kind of mixed with that in my love of some ancient Greek philosophy things that are not that important, but yeah.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4029 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering if there was ever a time where you wanted to write but you were too afraid to, or if you've always just been writing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, as a teenager particularly, I was very nervous about my writing. I would hide my writing from my family. I was so embarrassed of the idea that they might find it and read it, and things like that. Early on, I didn't ever show my work to people. I wasn't scared of writing, but I was scared of letting anyone see it. As I got older, I got around that. I got over that, but it was kind of hard.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #4030 Copy

    Questioner

    Alcatraz! Sounded as though there was gonna another book. Probably not by Alcatraz himself?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, by Bastille. I've written half of it. After I wrote about half of it, I realized I wanted a little help with the voice from a friend of mine who's very good at voice. So I've been letting her look at it and offer some tweaks and suggestions. Just 'cause I want it to feel like Bastille, but it felt too much like Alcatraz when I wrote it. Like I said, it's about halfway done, 25,000 words are done and good. We just need to tweak the voice. It's probably gonna be called "Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians." It will give the real ending, not the ending Alcatraz thinks it should have.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4032 Copy

    treegrass

    How long does it take to summon an Honorblade? Is it ten heartbeats or instant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, Honorblades, as far as anyone knows is ten sec- ten heartbeats. If you were to ask Szeth how long it would take, he would say ten heartbeats.

    treegrass

    But they're not?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I am not saying that. I am saying if you ask Szeth, if you ask the current bearer of Jezrien's Blade, they would all say it takes ten heartbeats.

    Questioner 2

    What about for the Heralds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO there.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4033 Copy

    JoyBlu

    On the back of The Way of Kings, it says "I long for the days before the Last Desolation." Who's I?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is one of the Sleepless. You have not...

    JoyBlu

    And it ends in "One of them will destroy us." Okay. And I have it we don't know who the Sleepless is yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You know who the Sleepless... You don't know which one. It is not the one that you have met officially. I mean, you've met a couple of Sleepless, but it is not the one that Lift hung out with. He's a little odd, even for a Sleepless.

    Orem Signing ()
    #4038 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 ()
    #4040 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 ()
    #4041 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 ()
    #4043 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 ()
    #4044 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 ()
    #4045 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 ()
    #4046 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 ()
    #4047 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 ()
    #4048 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 ()
    #4049 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.