Recent entries

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4554 Copy

    Argent

    When the Everstorm passes over Kholinar in Oathbringer. That is when Ashertmarn appears, that's when they start reporting, "Hey there's a darkness around the palace." Did the Everstorm bring Ashertmarn there? Or did it kind of awaken or unleash it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A little of both.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4555 Copy

    Dragon13

    When Hoid met Kaladin, he said he came chasing an old acquaintance, ended up spending most of his time hiding from him instead. Is he referring to Rayse or Odium? Or someone else.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Not the someone else. He was referring to Odium.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4559 Copy

    Questioner

    Someone had asked you a question about Marsh being a worldhopper, and you mentioned that there was nothing about his Investiture that would prevent him from going off-world. Which implies that there are other people who their Investiture would prevent?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kelsier. I don't count him as going off-world, despite him getting very close.

    Questioner

    Is there anyone living on Scadrial who that would also apply to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    As a default, no. I can't say 100% whether there's nobody. But as a default, that wouldn't prevent people. Not in the same way that you would have trouble getting off-world with a spren bond.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4561 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering if there's any correlation between the spren in the Axies interlude in the Way of Kings with his faces, and what Shallan does in Oathbringer when she's going through the faces telling them it doesn't hurt? 'Cause it said the refugees saw her nature as a spren, and I made a connection there. Is it a coincidence?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will call that mostly coincidence.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4562 Copy

    Questioner

    The Ghostblood that's from the southern part of Scadrial. Does that mean she can use the [Allomantic] metals?

    Brandon Sanderson

    She was not born there. Iyatil is from somewhere else... She has a.. Scadrian heritage. Whether she's an Allomancer or not, I will RAFO. It is possible that someone with her lineage could.

    Questioner

    So she doesn't have to be born on--

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4563 Copy

    Questioner

    On my reread of Reckoners, I remembered it being really kitschy and light-hearted, but the prologue of the first book is really dark. Is the rest of the book so light-hearted because it is David trying to make the best of a really crappy situation, or is it because it's Young Adult?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. It's also partially, I wrote the prologue, stepped away, came back, and wrote the rest... One of the things I regret about the books is that-- I was telling a story about assassinating superheroes. So I thought it was going to go darker than it did, once I found David's voice. And if I could go back, I might take out the baby skeleton... I couldn't cut it because it's such a great image, but I should have. My biggest regret with that series is the tonal mismatch... It's this thing where I'm like, "That would be the best book for, like, a fourteen-year-old to read of mine, except the prologue which involves dissolving babies."

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4565 Copy

    ILuvHats

    I have a question about the Sleepless. So you have confirmed that distance does matter. Is there a limit or a factor affecting how many hordelings they control?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    ILuvHats

    Can you elaborate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, but there is an upper limit on both mass and number.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4569 Copy

    Blightsong

    You've said that, AI in the cosmere, creating one is kind of like having a child realmatically. Would that extend to most sapient creations?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Blightsong

    So could a created spren from a Returned inherit Royal Locks? Within a reasonable possibility?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *ahhing in a very curious manner* You could make this happen, but I don't think it would happen naturally.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4570 Copy

    Volratho

    Was Roshar equally Invested by Cultivation and Honor originally?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Volratho

    How 'bout now, since he's been--

    Brandon Sanderson

    So the Investiture is all still there... It is not all accessible. So, at this point, you might say-- I'd say it's a point of disputation. It would be worth arguing either way. I will say at this point, no, it's not equal anymore. But definitions of where the power is and what it counts as is ambiguous.

    Volratho

    So Cultivation has more active Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I would say yes... Well, but she's been very coy. I'm gonna leave it at that.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4573 Copy

    Questioner

    With Shards, are there any... limits? What can't they do? Besides being opposed by another Shard and their own intent?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It varies a lot. It varies based on experience and situation. They are not omnipotent, though the power is infinite. So that is the weird part that you get into. So, they are limited partially by their own limitations, and also the limitations imposed upon them by the situations they're in.

    Questioner

    Is there anything universal about all of them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They all have bits of them in all of the cosmere, so that's universal. They all are bounded more by themselves than by the power itself.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4576 Copy

    Questioner

    You know how the whole group goes into Shadesmar. What would happen if they accidentally eat a bead, and then leave Shadesmar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That would not be good for them.

    Questioner

    Would they just explode with whatever the object was?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's not exactly how it works. Fortunately. But I wouldn't recommend ingesting any beads.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4578 Copy

    Questioner

    In which part of your process do you start designing [maps]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In the old days, it was during the prewriting phrase, before I got into it. Now that I have Isaac, I can generally just write the book, give it to Isaac, and say, "All right, here's what I was imagining. Give me some iterations on this." And he's very good at that... It depends on the book. For Stormlight, I gave him a map and said, "Here's what it looks like." But for Skyward, I'm like, "Feels like this. It's, like, this distance. Come up with something."

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4579 Copy

    Questioner

    How do the Heralds come back? As Cognitive Shadows, how do they a physical body?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That system will be explained in the coming books, so that is a RAFO. I'm gonna dig into it pretty deeply. It's relevant for multiple reasons...

    In the original version, Taln ended up in someone else, like they would get a body from someone else, which was part of fueling the "Is he crazy, is he not," because people were like, "I recognize this guy!" I don't use that system anymore.

    Questioner

    That's what I was wondering, because the Fused--

    Brandon Sanderson

    They use something kind of more like the Fused in the original draft, it's not that process anymore.

    Questioner

    Is that gonna give us lead-ins to how it worked with Kelsier?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Maybe. Maybe. You shall see.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4580 Copy

    Questioner

    When did you first really realize who the Lord Ruler was, if he was good or bad? Because I feel like you turned him into a good guy.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He is complicated. I started with that concept in mind. In fact, I had written a different book that had used the same concept that had not turned out, and I kind of recombined it into Mistborn. So I went into it knowing he was this complex character.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4582 Copy

    Questioner

    In The Way of Kings, how did Lopen get in and out of the chasms with only one arm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, he had a little help. And he can do it. Getting down and up-- I've actually seen people, looking online. You can climb a ladder. It's not easy. It's better if you have some help. But you can get up and down.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4584 Copy

    Questioner

    As far as Hemalurgy, when you give that-- when it's done to somebody, would that create a new resonance?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's possible that it could. Though I'm gonna say, most of the time, no... Lots of things are possible, but I'll give you a "mostly no" on that one.

    Questioner

    What about savantism? Is that possible with Hemalurgy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, it is.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4585 Copy

    Questioner

    Were you gonna do anything with The Stormlight Archive with an RPG?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would like to. We'll have to see. We want to support the Mistborn RPG while it's out, we don't want to abandon it. But once we feel like we've done that one the way we want to, you might see a Stormlight.

    Questioner

    I need to get ahold of that, because I would almost be worried about, if you have a Mistborn character, especially in Era One, it would be too overpowered.

    Brandon Sanderson

    They made it work. The game is less combat-focused. There's social influence and gathering resources influence and combat influence are all separate, so you can have a duel of words where you attack someone's social influence that can be as valuable as attacking them on the streets at night. So because those two elements are so useful, what you end up having is, you can balance characters who don't even have Allomancy with characters who are Mistborn or with Mistings, things like that.

    Questioner

    I was more thinking something like Twinborn, that you can almost balance that without getting any Mistborn.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The problem with Twinborn is, you get the right combinations, it's kind of OP. But it's a storytelling based system.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4587 Copy

    Questioner

    Do the Heralds know about AonDor?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say, conceptually, a few of them do, but not in specific detail.

    Questioner

    'Cause Ash's name is a combination of Transformation, Beauty, and Light. I didn't know if that was a coincidence, or--

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are some non-coincidences in the linguistics that people have started to pick up on, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the people who have those names know about the origins of their names.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4588 Copy

    Questioner

    This is purely hypothetical, but if Dalinar was to become the Vessel for multiple Shards, would he have had more difficulty with Preservation separately if Harmony was involved? Because that's the only of the Shards I can't see him holding onto particularly well.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hmm. I can say yes on that. I think that's a good theory... you phrased [that] very well.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4590 Copy

    Questioner

    In Arcanum Unbounded, it said that a Hemalurgic spike could work in any world. So if I were to take a Hemalurgic spike and spike someone like Kaladin, would he die and then I have a Windrunner's power?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but there's a big asterisk on that. Because, with the spren being a third party in this sort of arrangement, weird things would happen.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4592 Copy

    Questioner

    About the Passions. Are they related to Odium, or is there something bigger cosmere-wide?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are related to traditions from the past that were Odium-influenced. I wouldn't saa-- So, they are technically related to Odium in that sort of method. More in a roundabout way, though.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4593 Copy

    Questioner

    I had a question about the Terris. Is the reason why they don't any Allomancy in their population, is that because they have less of Preservation than the rest of the Scadrial population?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, I wouldn't say it that way. Good question, but no.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4594 Copy

    Questioner

    Why is it called a Nahel bond?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is a word in Rosharan. I'm not sure what it meant in 2002, but it basically just means "the bond to divinity." I'm not sure what the 2002 version of the linguistics played out as. I actually just called it Nahel in the original draft. I added "bond" in as I prepared this [Way of Kings Prime excerpt] for reading so it would make more sense to people.

    Skyward Chicago signing ()
    #4596 Copy

    Marethyu316

    I noticed that the Third Ideals have a similar theme to them. Is that intentional?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They do, that is is intentional. They won't all exactly go along those lines, but I'm trying to theme them, as best I can, in groups. So all the First ones, all the Second ones, particularly a lot of the Third ones have a similar--

    Marethyu316

    "Those I hate," or "Even those I'd rather not listen to"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Watch for more of that, how about that.

    Skyward Atlanta signing ()
    #4598 Copy

    Questioner

    Skyward, is M-Bot actually sentient or just really well programmed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would call him sentient.

    Questioner

    You think so? You do imply a little bit but--

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do... But I have built into the world an explanation for why that might be.

    Skyward Seattle signing ()
    #4600 Copy

    Questioner

    How do you feel about Moash as a character? In terms of how the fandom receives him?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I am not surprised by how the fandom receives him. I wish it weren't a Wheel of Time meme that became our meme, but that's how memes go, right? ...I will say, brace yourself.