Recent entries

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5401 Copy

    drostandfound

    Are these characters yours, as in you have claims to them for future writing, or do you hope to see other authors take them and move them through the multiverse?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I absolutely want to see other authors do things with these characters. Part of the fun for me in doing an MTG story was the chance to do something like create a character for the Marvel universe--I wanted to add to the story, and throw some of my creativity into the mix, and hope to see them get used in the future.

    I'd hope that if there's ever a main-line story involving Davriel or Tacenda that I get a chance to write it, or at least consult. But I don't consider them "mine." They were a chance for me to add to the lore of something I love.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5402 Copy

    drostandfound

    Is the similarity between an entity and a Shard intentional? They both are objects of great power that allow their holders to move between planes and try to twist the holders personality.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, this is intentional. When Notch designed a card, I liked that he had a nod to his own creation in it. I wanted to bring something that would have a "Brandon Sanderson Lore" feeling to MTG, kind of in the same way.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5403 Copy

    drostandfound

    As far as I know, the Entities are new to the Magic lore. Were they your idea? What was the process like of working with creative to develop a new type of being within a very defined lore?

    Brandon Sanderson

    These were something I wanted to do and create, and a pitch I brought to the lore team. They were on-board from the beginning, though they did a lot of work to help me bring my idea into line with something that would work with MTG lore.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5405 Copy

    drostandfound

    It is mentioned that the Entity is the compressed power of a destroyed plane. How does this happen? Why is it sentient? Why is one in a puddle on Innistrad? Are they related to the planar souls from M15?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most of this will have to be revealed at a later date, but what I can say is that yes, M15 was the inspiration--and the creation of these entities happened through some very special circumstances.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5406 Copy

    wiresegal

    Tacenda seemed to Planeswalk at the end. Did she, or did she just "ascend" within Innistrad? Was she an unsparked planeswalker before she accepted the Entity? If she wasn't, did the Entity give her a Spark, similar to how Slobad was grafted one? And if that's not it, the third possibility... is the Entity native to the Blind Eternities, like the Eldrazi?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will give you both the canon and Brandon head canon.

    Canon is: ambiguous on all counts. It's not confirmed that Tacenda planeswalked at the end, or whether she (or Davriel) had sparks of their own--or if their planewalking powers are granted by the Entities. I can say, in canon, that the Entities are not native to the Blind Eternities--they are the souls of ancient, powerful planes that were destroyed, and their power harvested.

    The Soul of planes sequence from m15 were their inspiration, though something special happened with these specific planes. I can't confirm or deny how many of them there were, but at least two.

    Now, the Brandon Head Canon. (See my post at the top of this thread for an explanation.)

    In my discussions with Wizards, they gave me leave to create one planeswalker--but in the course of the story, I decided to have Tacenda spark as well. This wasn't done with canon permission from Wizards, and I promised them that I'd leave it ambiguous in case they didn't want to have to deal with me playing loose and free with creating planeswalkers.

    I personally imagine that the entities are providing the sparks for both Davriel and Tacenda. Davriel THINKS it's his own spark, and it ignited when he saw the true nature of the multiverse--and this is, right now, the canon answer. But I personally like the idea that one of the reasons these Entities are important is because they provide planeswalking ability to whoever holds them.

    That has too much lore implication for me to canonize, however--and I didn't push Wizards to do so. (I also didn't ask them to make Tacenda a planeswalker; I simply wrote the story, and left them the option of using her in the future.) So take this part all with a grain of salt.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5408 Copy

    mbue

    I understand that your novella will stand very well on its own, but I'm sure there will be references to existing lore. Could you point out any existing MtG novels that would particularly increase our understanding and enjoyment of some details in yours?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Davriel is partially a contrast to Liliana, a main-line character who also has had dealings with demons (but has done it much differently...) and who is a necromancer (exactly of the sort Davriel would hate.) I think reading about her might make for a fun contrast. She's heavily involved in the previous Innistrad story, which you might enjoy if you liked this one. You can find it on Wizards site: https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/shadows-over-innistrad-story

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5410 Copy

    cantoXV1

    Did you struggle with the limits of the Magic world and magic system since you're so used to creating your own?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I worried about this a lot when going into the Wheel of Time--but I found that I really like taking an established magic system and pushing it this direction or that direction. It's a lot of fun to me to dig into how something works, and see if I can "break" it in interesting ways.

    I suspected I'd have a similar experience with MTG, and I did--though I did need something I could play with to be unique. I settled on the kind of "Gonti/Nightveil Specter" ability to steal spells from someone else, then use them yourself. This was a really fun space for me to play with, and I found it thoroughly engaging.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5411 Copy

    cantoXV1

    Brandon, how was character creation different for Children of the Nameless compared to the rest of your other works?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Character creation wasn't that different--I start usually with a conflict or a theme. For Davriel, it was "Economist gets magical powers" mixed with "Person who uses contracts with demons not for crazy power, but to get good staff members."

    For Tacenda, I was looking at her curse and the way she uses music. (Mixed with the conflict of being able to hear your entire village get killed--but not being able to stop it.)

    From there, I did apply some MTG philosophy to the refinement of the characters.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5412 Copy

    Nallebjurn

    Is it a possibility that we in the future get to see the characters from Children of the Nameless represented on magic cards?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a possibility, but as the other responder mentioned, I don't have any control over this--I think it's likely, but I certainly couldn't say when. I think the fact that Dack got a card--after being created by the comic book team--bodes well for Davriel, at the very least.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5414 Copy

    Arkm21ebr

    Are there any MtG planes that have had an influence on you and share some characteristics with any of the planets in the cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's hard to say how much influence MTG has had on me, since I started playing in high school--right around the time when I started writing. I don't ever remember seeing the connected shared worlds thing, and connecting it to the cosmere. (I see that as more directly influenced by Asimov and Stephen King connecting their books together) but it's totally possible that MTG was an unconscious influence.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5415 Copy

    Jovh

    What challenges are there in writing for an already established IP vs something of your own creation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The biggest challenge is always the push and pull between what the larger story needs vs. the little story I want to tell. For example, MTG has established rules about what the planeswalkers can do--and it's important to stay in canon for the greater good of the story. (Planeswalkers, for example, can't take people with them when they hop between worlds.) That limits me, for example, if I wanted to do Davriel on another plane--he couldn't take any supporting cast with him.

    That's a rule you probably wouldn't set up if this were just stories about Davriel, as the supporting cast is what makes him shine as a character. But the structure of it is important for not breaking the larger stories the team is telling.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5416 Copy

    mbue

    Did you get to choose Innistrad as the setting, or was that something that was already part of the planeswalker WotC had in mind that your character got merged into?

     

    Brandon Sanderson

    I got to choose. I had built Davriel most of the way when they said, "Hey, we've got this blank slate planeswalker in our files. Do you want to make this your character?" It worked perfectly, as it let me fill out the lore for this person and have them work as part of the larger narrative.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5417 Copy

    MagisterSieran

    How would you compare writing this novella to the Wheel of Time books you wrote? Both have treasure troves of existing lore and characters and both are fantasy media that you're a fan of.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was a similar experience in some ways--I had a lot of creative freedom in both cases, for example, and I had a lot of lore to draw upon.

    For the WoT, though, I was very, very steeped in the lore--and made sure I did another deep dive before writing the stories. Here, I have familiarity with a lot of MTG lore, but there's a lot I don't know. I haven't read most of the fiction, particularly the older fiction, for example.

    So for WoT I felt confident taking main storylines and resolving them, while for this, I tried to create my own sort of sectioned-off part of the plane to play in. Then I created my own lore for that area that I could control more specifically--traditions and lore that were related to the well-known places on Innistrad, but not exactly the same. That way, I could play with them, and undermine them, and do what I wished with them.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5418 Copy

    Aurimus_

    As a worldbuilder, I love digging into worlds I wouldn't experience otherwise - DnD setting guides, wikis and the like. From the chapter released on io9 already, and what I've seen on various reddits discussing your novella, it feels like MtG has a massive world behind it too (someone described MtG as very similar to the Cosmere?)

    First off, will your novella be suitable for someone like me who has never actually dug into the MtG lore before? And secondly, where would you say a Cosmere fan should begin digging into the lore here? What are your favorite worldbuilding elements? Have any inspired elements in your stories? (Cosmere or otherwise)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, this novella will be suitable for someone who knows nothing about the lore. I wrote it expecting most wouldn't know anything about it.

    If you want to dig into MTG lore, the various MTG wikis talk a lot about the world and lore--but you could do worse than just reading the other stories on Wizard's website, as a lot of them are well done.

    My favorite MTG worldbuilding elements tend to be their visual worldbuilding--they have a lot of artists, and much of what they come up with is beautiful. It's a lot of fun to just go to Gatherer (the website with all the archive of cards) and pick a Set (like Innistrad) and read the flavor text at the bottom of the cards. (They are quotes or things in-world. Not every card has them, but much do.) That, with the art style, can tell you an entire story on its own.

    I've been playing MTG since I was in high school, so I'd say my writing was probably influenced by it a lot--but I don't know if I can name any specifics.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5419 Copy

    mbue

    Did Tacenda and Willia start out as a pair of twins who visited the Nightwatcher in your head? Their background sounds a lot like a boon/curse pair. :)

    Brandon Sanderson

    More, I was looking for a curse to be involved in the story (because I liked the flavor of the curse mechanic in Innistrad) and curses/boons tend to be connected in my brain--probably from playing too many D&D games where I got a ring of wishes, and the DM was feeling grumpy.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5420 Copy

    Aurimus_

    From a writerly perspective - as part of your process, how do you come up with magitech solutions that feel like they're a natural part of the magic system - IE fabrials, medallions?

    Brandon Sanderson

    As for magitech, I try to make them still have a sense of mystery and magic to them--but also have those who, in world, do understand them. To walk that line between science and the fantastic.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5423 Copy

    wackyHair

    How did writing this differ from writing the Infinity Blade novellas?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The IB novellas were interesting in that I was specifically looking to explain game mechanics with a narrative, something that the Wizards people didn't want me to do. (That said, I slipped a little in here and there, such as Davriel "flashing back" many of his spells, using them again and again.)

    I'd say that here, the biggest difference was knowing of an existing lore and mythos that I wanted to weave my story into, rather than creating it wholesale from the game. (Which is what I did with IB.)

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5424 Copy

    carnivorouspickle

    If you hadn't had the opportunity to write for MtG, would any of these characters have made it in one form or another into one of your other books, or would they only fit in this setting? If they would have made it into a different story, which one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've wanted to do this story for a number of years, and it was inspired by me asking myself (after my first visit to WoTC a number of years back) what I would do if I were to write a story for them.

    I didn't seriously consider doing this in another setting, since the concept of demons and contracts isn't really a Cosmere one--and the first ideas were for Davriel and Miss Highwater. That said, spren bonds have some slight similarities, so it's not impossible.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5425 Copy

    Rutherfox

    Did you consider other planes for the story, or was Innistrad your go-to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Since this story had been brewing for years as inspired by Innistrad, I didn't really consider others. I'd say that if I hadn't done Innistrad, I might have done an old-school story about one of the legends from Legends (which is the first MTG expansion I ever bought) that doesn't yet have a story.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5427 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Before we start, I wanted to say something about continuity and canon. I don't represent Wizards of the Coast, obviously. This was a very fun project, and I had a lot of freedom in developing Davriel, Tacenda, and the lore of the Approaches. However, I can't state or make official Magic canon, beyond the extent of what is in the text of the story.

    So, when I answer these questions, I'll often have a couple of different terms. If I mention Official Canon, this is (by my understanding) the current canon of the Magic storyline--as explained to me by the local in-house experts. I could be wrong on this sort of thing, but I'll try to pass along my understanding of what the canon answer is in relationship to this story. (For example, I was assured it was okay to have female demons in my story, despite it not being something that Wizards has done very much in the past.)

    I'll relate my own Head Canon on other items--things that I haven't cleared with Wizards. This should be taken as what I was going for, and can work for your understanding of the story, but it shouldn't be taken as gospel--and it could very well be contradicted by future decisions by the lore team. They take their continuity very seriously, and I am not up-to-date on everything they're doing with the stories of the other characters. I was pretty focused on my little corner of the multiverse.

    In other places, I'll talk about decisions I made (or didn't make) in relation to the story--if I am talking about the process, you shouldn't infer too much from decisions I didn't make. I did a lot of this work before talking to the lore team about larger continuity, so things I considered (and discarded) before the story was finished shouldn't be taken as hints for the larger story. To be honest, I didn't know much about it at that stage anyway.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5428 Copy

    DataLoreHD

    When can we expect all your non-Cosmere novellas be collected into one anthology book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    We are quietly getting everything ready for the non-cosmere collection, just in case. The thing that would make us pull the trigger early would be if Snapshot actually gets greenlit for a film at MGM--though I don't know how close we are to that. We want want to be ready just in case.

    I feel like it needs one more story or two before publishing it otherwise, though, so I'd expect a little wait.

    Glamdring804

    I remember hearing a while ago that there was a non-Cosmere collection in the works. I too would like to know if this is still a thing, before I go and buy each novella or short story individually.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It WILL happen, so you might want to wait--but the release of the movie (if it happens) for Snapshot will influence timing. I wouldn't expect it in 2019, if it does happen. 2020 would be much more likely.

    Children of the Nameless Reddit AMA ()
    #5429 Copy

    EndlessKng

    As someone who has studied Asian cultures and history and mythology, would you consider writing a story in the Kamigawa plane? It's one of my favorites but it seems to be a bit underloved, and I'd love to see some more development of it in a story.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm a big fan of Kamigawa, and would call Toshiro Umezawa an inspiration for doing a black-aligned hero in this story. So it is something I'd consider.

    General Reddit 2019 ()
    #5430 Copy

    Nixeris

    [image of Pathian symbol concepts]

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're right in that I don't have an official version; I haven't had Isaac take the time to do one yet. (I tend to keep him busy with loads of things.) I'd say these are very nice, and along the lines of what I was considering--but I don't have a full decision on what I want yet. We might have to wait a little longer for a canon answer, but I do think these are close to what I'll eventually want.

    General Reddit 2016 ()
    #5431 Copy

    Phantine

    I believe /u/peterahlstrom mentioned that Mistings can only detect sufficiently close versions of their metal, and burning non-Allomantic stuff is a Mistborn-only risk.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    I don't remember saying that, though it sounds reasonable.

    Except I don't know what happens when you start involving god metals. How important is the alloy percentage then?

    General Reddit 2016 ()
    #5432 Copy

    sheesania

    Shallan's comment in Words of Radiance that she's "five foot six inches" jerks me out of the story every time, particularly because I'm used to the metric system. I understand in my head how Sanderson is translating for the readers whatever Rosharan measures she actually used...but it's still jarring whenever I actually come across it while reading.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Measuring by foot was extremely common in our world. Many European countries had their own standard foot. It just makes sense that humans would measure by feet.

    The Vorin foot probably has 10 inches.

    General Reddit 2016 ()
    #5433 Copy

    Phantine

    By the way, if all noble-era Allomancers got some fight training, does that mean a lot of Coinshots and Lurchers got really fat, so they had more weight for their pushes?

    Or would that be like, too blatant a clue that someone was an Allomancer?

    ... I'm now thinking of a scheme where a non-Allomancer noble member has to get super fat in a month so his house can bluff that they have more Coinshots than they do.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Hah, good question. I don't think that's what happens. After all, many of them hide what they are in order to keep opponents guessing. If it were too obvious, that wouldn't work.

    General Reddit 2016 ()
    #5436 Copy

    emailanimal

    There was a dispute between /u/mistborn and /u/PeterAhlstrom, and last we have heard, the latter, claiming that Hoid was indeed somewhere in the Shadows for Silence, had the upper hand.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Now I'm siding with Brandon on this. I think that's the final answer. :)

    emailanimal

    What you are basically saying is that some people quietly sitting in the corners of various bars, pubs, inns and taverns in Brandon's books are not mysterious nearly immortal worldhoppers... (-:

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Or they might be different mysterious worldhoppers than the one you're looking for.

    General Reddit 2016 ()
    #5437 Copy

    Alphaetus_Prime

    In Alloy of Law, Wayne says he read a book with talking rabbits, which is referenced again in Bands of Mourning. I'm all but certain this is a reference to Watership Down. In Bands of Mourning there's a bit where Wayne says he read a book where seven convicts stole a spaceship or something, and it's clearly a reference, but I'm not sure what it's a reference to. Does anyone know? Preliminary Google searches turned up only a TV show called Blake's 7, which seems unlikely to be the reference, since it's not actually a book.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Both of these are references to books that exist on Scadrial, not our world. Watership Down is not the only book (even in our world) from the point of view of rabbits. (Don't forget Rabbit Hill!)

    AstroZombieDC

    I believe you when you say that there are books about talking rabbits on Scadrial, but at one point in the Wax & Wayne books, they make a reference to talking rabbits, and then the word "fiver" is used. Fiver is one of the characters in Watership Down. Brandon is definitely using a play on words to reference a classic novel from our world.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Oh yeah. I forgot the fiver thing. Nevertheless, it could be a complete coincidence, because talking like that is consistent with Wayne's character. :)

    General Reddit 2016 ()
    #5438 Copy

    Ben McSweeney

    Peter, are there no Misting hazekillers? If not, is there a proper term for noble Mistings trained to fight Allomancers?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Well, I thought for sure there was a scene where one of the hazekillers turned out to be a Coinshot, but now I can't find it. Maybe that was in an earlier draft of one of the books...

    Anyway, there's no term for that—it's just Allomancer. All Allomancers (trilogy era) are trained to fight unless they're the mental ones.

    General Reddit 2015 ()
    #5439 Copy

    Tahona1125

    Is there any chance White Sand the novel ever gets revised and published? I'm not sure if there is a place for both the novel and graphic novel, but I really enjoyed the read.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Well, Brandon said it's not outside the realm of possibility, but I hope he doesn't. The first draft of White Sand is already nearly 20 years old at this point. Nowadays, Brandon has better ideas. He has plenty of things to write that he's excited about. He has already written White Sand twice, and I think it would be hard for him to get excited about it, and his excitement translates into a good book.

    Assuming the three volumes sell well enough to warrant continuing the story, then Brandon could get excited about outlining the sequel to get adapted into more volumes.

    And, since it's the Cosmere, you can be assured that sand masters will show up when all the planets start interacting with each other.

    General Reddit 2015 ()
    #5440 Copy

    Judean_peoplesfront

    I'm currently on a reread of WoK and in chapter 57 Hoid says to Kaladin: "I've many [names]. I began life as a thought, a concept, words on a page. That was another thing I stole. Myself."

    Do we know if this is Hoid breaking the fourth wall or is it just some kind kind of metaphorical reference to his presence at the birth of the Shards?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    The simple answer is that this does not break the fourth wall, but we won't find out why until years from now. So it's understandable that you would interpret it this way.

    firstRainbowRose

    Can we have a hint as to which book will explain it?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Probably Hoid's origin story, which Brandon is writing after he finishes Stormlight 10.

    General Reddit 2015 ()
    #5442 Copy

    Peter Ahlstrom

    It was Meridas [dual-wielding Shardblades in Way of Kings Prime], but this never actually came up in the book itself. It was just Brandon's headcanon. Would have happened in a sequel or something. Though, something about this is implied, if you read the chapters in Altered Perceptions, because of the way Shardblade bonding worked in that draft.

    Meridas was kind of part-Amaram, part-Sadeas, part-...I dunno, Vstim? His personality was most like Sadeas, but he was a trumped-up merchant who wanted to marry Jasnah.

    General Reddit 2015 ()
    #5443 Copy

    Poser1313

    Does anyone understand what [Brandon] means in saying that dead Shardblades cannot heal the soul, whereas living ones can?

    It seems like it's been a while since I've read WoR, and I can't make out how the original scene demonstrates this? Is he talking about Kaladin's soul or Szeth's?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    I don't understand it myself, except that two Orders can use Regrowth. But that might not be what Brandon is talking about.

    General Reddit 2015 ()
    #5445 Copy

    abriggs08

    I just read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell in the Dangerous Women anthology. Having the knowledge that this is a story set in the Cosmere is anyone aware if Hoid (aka Wit) is in this story? I'd imagine that he isn't as its not a novel worthy plot but I was just curious.

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Yep. Hoid is in there. Brandon just forgot, but we talked about it and he remembered. Hoid had to have a reason for being there. And there is a reason.

    General Reddit 2019 ()
    #5447 Copy

    0pointenergy

    I am re-reading through Elantris for the second time and I am at the part where Raoden and Galladon are trying to find out who Shaor is. They sneak around and find a little girl in a pink dress and golden hair yelling, "Bring me more food." To top all of this off, Raoden is trying to remember her name something like Soine (Sō - īne) or swine........or Miss Piggy....

    Did you do this on purpose /u/Mistborn ? Or is it just a really hilarious coincidence?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a coincidence, I'm afraid, but an amusing one.

    General Reddit 2019 ()
    #5448 Copy

    aldeayeah

    In my mind [Kelsier] was Blue-Black before the Pits and picked up Red after that.

    You could make the case for White I guess but IMO even though he has this small group/community around him, he's too much "f*** the law" to be white.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I wouldn't generally make Kelsier white. I tend to make him blue black in my head, though there are good red arguments. (He lets his love of Mare override his logical conclusions that she probably betrayed him, his last encounter with Vin is him arguing about the importance of being a good friend, etc.) In fact, the red portion of him is probably the best in him--though it is also part of what drives him to kill ruthlessly.

    General Reddit 2019 ()
    #5449 Copy

    Adalimumab8

    Please make this [Warbreaker Chinese cover] available on your store!!! I want a print of this so badly, I already have enough of your stuff on my wall to drive my wife insane but she like this one shined read warbreaker too!!!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would like to offer a pack of all the Chinese covers, sized to be placed on American hardcovers--so I'm ahead of you on this one.