What's the plan for a book on Threnody?
Book on Threnody? I have a plan, but no promises when. I don't even have a title for it.
Similar question for a book on First of the Sun?
First of the Sun is probably not going to have its own book. I might do a sequel short story, but it's not planned to have a full novel at this point in the Cosmere.
*inaudible* Does that have anything to do with the second *inaudible*?
No, it doesn't. Good question.
I am not an economist like Lee, and I'm not an accountant like Larry, but I've done enough research in this to be dangerous. Just a little bit of research. And I found two kind of fundamental theories that have always been very useful to me in building a magic system if you want to relate it to your economics. And there are two different theories that people talk about. The basis for an economy. And one argument is, the economy is run by those who control the food sources. And if you can relate your magic system to the food (that can be transportation, getting food from one place to another; 'cause if you can get food unspoiled to a large city, you can urbanize, and things like this), they look at the idea of food running countries. And the other direction that people go is, violence running countries. The people who have a monopoly on violence in a society are the people who are in charge of that society. And they're both very interesting ways of looking at the economics of society and then relating your magic to that.
There's a reason why the Stormlight Archive, I said, "All right, I'm gonna make the magic have a one-to-one, you can correlate it to how much food the magic can create." This lets me understand using some real-world examples how to move armies around, how much magic you would need to keep the army fed, which also kind of ties into the monopoly on violence in society and things like this. But I wanted to relate it in that way because it gave me a way to correlate. "This much magic is worth this much bread. This much bread is worth this much in our world." And obviously, you can't exactly tie it one-to-one. But it gives me a ballpark, so that I can kind of keep a scale going, and I can know how much value these things have. Obviously, scarcity and ease of creating that food and things all play into how this works. It's not exactly, directly across. But it's been really handy for me in figuring out "How much is my magic worth?"
In your opinion. Arcanum and the 17th Shard. *inaudible*
I have never felt creeped out by anything that they do there. But once in a while, I'm really overwhelmed by it.
In Bands of Mourning, there's the people that show emotion with their hands. Who was first, you or Patrick Rothfuss, with people that emote with their hands?
Hey, you can go read Defending Elysium. Which came out before Name of the Wind. Where I have an alien species that use hand gestures as a lot of its emotional accents. I would say it's probably parallel sort of things. Pat and I read a lot of the same books growing up. You'll find this; all of my group of writers around my age all grew up reading the same people, so we're kind of remixing things in similar ways. Brent Weeks and I both released color-based magic systems within a year of each other. I beat him to it by a couple months, which made him really mad. Of course, they were both in development at the same time. Why are these ideas sometimes similar?
Why are me and Pat doing these very scientific magic systems? It's because we read the same books growing up, and we're kind of in the same school of thought as we're pushing in different directions in fantasy.
How long did the writing process take for Elantris?
Elantris was about an eight-month write. And then after I sold it, I needed to do maybe another four months of revisions. So maybe about a total of twelve months.
Elantris. Any further books for the series?
Yes. I have some planned. But I've decided I can't do them until at least Stormlight Five is done.
Are there any possible plans for The Rithmatist becoming a virtual reality game?
We have tried. We get a lot of interest from people who don't actually make video games, who are like "I think this would be a great game. Here's my concept." I'm like, "That's great. But we would need somebody who's actually made video games." So, I think it would make a great one. BYU students did a little fun prototype one that turned out very well. But nothing real so far. So far, I have no interest from game developers who have actually developed games.
What does the Sylspear look like?
Write to Ben McSweeney, he's got concept art for it. He can send it to you.
I had to keep pushing him. He kept drawing things that looked like the ashanderi from Wheel of Time. I'm like, "No, it has to actually look like a spear."
What is the weirdest thing that you have signed?
A baby. Baby is up there. I've signed some pretty weird things lately. License plates, I sign a lot of license plates.
You ever signed someone's skin? And they turn it into a tattoo?
Yeah, at this signing, someone earlier had me sign their Life Before Death tattoo, that they were gonna get the signature tattooed. It's on Twitter.
Someone brought a really strange thing through Idaho Falls. It was something like a muffler, something like that. No, it was the bumper that ripped off their car.
I have had requests to sign inappropriate parts of bodies, and I have refused that one.
Any more plans for Secret Mistborn?
I can't promise it. Decent chance, but I can't promise it.
Do you have a Calling?
I am a Gospel Doctrine Teacher. Going on my eighth year. I'm on my third bishop. I just don't say anything, because I really like the Calling.
Which Shardblade is this one? *points at illustration* I actually asked Isaac which one it was, and he told me to ask you.
Oh. I bet we haven't canonized it yet. Which is why he doesn't want to say. Normally, I let... 'Cause it's not any of the named ones, it's not Adolin's unnamed sword (well, it actually has a name now), it's not Sunraiser, it's not Oathbringer, so it's probably...
The one who has to do that is Ben McSweeney.
Mark was thinking it was Gavilar's sword.
It could be Gavilar's sword. Who else has one... Khal only has armor, not a blade. Really, what happens is, we have Ben McSweeney just draw a bunch of these, and then we canonize them as we need them to belong to certain people. But you can write to Ben and ask him to canonize it. And we'll just take what he says. Because it's not one of the ones that we... It's from one of Shallan's illustrations? Yeah. So, she saw it in the training field. So it's gotta be one of the Alethi blades. Could be the King's Blade.
Is Michael Kramer's pronunciation usually the correct pronunciation?
He is on more than he is off, but we did not get him the pronunciations in time. So a few of them, he had to do on his own. He is more often right.
And I heard you're also considering jumping into the second book of Warbreaker, eventually.
Yeah, eventually. I don't feel as much urgency on that one as I do something like Stormlight. Because I wanna have regular intervals. And that sequel is one I've said I will probably do, but it's not, like, a promise thing.
I really love the female protagonist in the Way of Kings series. I was wondering where you pull your inspiration for a woman like Jasnah?
So, my mother graduated first in her class in accounting in a year where she was the only woman in most of her accounting classes. So, I draw of inspiration from my mother. But, also good authors I've read. Anne McCaffrey, I would recommend. Melanie Rawn. Some of these people who were my introduction to fantasy were also very good at writing characters and taught me a lot.
In Oathbringer, you kinda have themes of mental illness, right? Is that intentional?
Yes. It is intentional.
How come you decided for...
Because several of the characters that I was dealing with had mental illnesses, and I let theme develop out of what the characters are interested in, what their conflicts are, and who they are. These themes kind of grow out of character.
Is there any basis in reality from where you get your magic systems at all?
A lot of different.... I mean, they're usually several steps removed. But Stormlight started with the idea of the fundamental forces in physics, and it kind of just extrapolated in weird directions after that.
Can you tell me anything about Steris and what she's up to in Book 4?
In Book 4? Steris is working hard on getting Wax to care about politics, since it's his job. And she's doing a pretty good job.
How much does your wife influence your work?
Quite a bit. She's usually the first person who ever reads my books. And we tend to talk a lot together about books and movies and things like that, so I'd say she's a pretty big influence. She won't let me base a character on her, though. I asked her if I could, she said no. She can't be in the books.
If you got an actual Feruchemist who was as battle-minded as the Mistborn were in their heyday, and they met a Mistborn, which one would have the advantage in battle?
In a short battle, a Feruchemist. In a long battle, a Mistborn. That'd be my guess.
If you could get someone that works on VR to make something, what would you have them make?
I would love to do a Mistborn game where you can jump around and do perspective and things like that.
We've noticed some very unique parallels in some of your stories with historical events. Are you pulling some inspiration?
Always. Some of those are coincidental, but a lot of them are... I mean, Oathbringer has the famous story from Genghis Khan getting hit by an arrow and recruiting the archer.
We saw some interesting parallels during Mistborn between some of the Dark Ages stuff.
French Revolution was definitely part of that. There's a whole bunch. So you'll see me pulling from all over the place. I mean, I've used Agincourt as a battle. I flipped it upside down so people wouldn't tell. Stuff like that.
The Rithmatist. Is there another one close to coming out?
Rithmatist, I've had real troubles with for a couple of reasons. Once I get Alcatraz, like, finished finished, my next thing to do will be to get Rithmatist taken care of. 'Cause I finished Legion, last one's coming out in a couple weeks. But I'll finish Alcatraz, and that means fewer series hanging and looming over me. And then Rithmatist will be the only one that hasn't gotten...
Have you ever thought about making any of your books or ideas into movies or TVs?
I have tried. It's bigger than one person can do. So really, with movies and TV, you have to find someone you trust and hope they can get it done. But funding and things is so hard. We've had some decent scripts. We have a really good script for Snapshot, which is one of my shorts, right now. So far, I have no news on anything other than "We're working on it," but I would like to.
How long before [The Way of Kings] is Alloy of Law? I heard somewhere that it's a hundred years, but I don't think that's right.
I intended them to be happening roughly close to one another, with [The Way of Kings] slightly before.
Is finding out what the deal was with Mare, is that an Era 2 thing we're going find out or is that...
No, unfortunately it is to be left, probably, as a mystery. It is a minor secret that I do not consider a major Cosmere thing, more of a backstory thing. I might eventually get around to it. The chances of it factoring in are very, very slim. I stay closed lipped about it because there is a part of me that thinks I will work it into Secret History 2, sort of like flash-backing material, but I'm not 100% sure I will.
*Inaudible*<how long it had been like that...or just a weird thing>
I was so excited to be able to do that.
How long were you sitting on that secret?
I've sat on that secret since the first book. I don't know if you've read Arcanum Unbounded and the scene in there, but I was building in all these little things, it was a lot fun. But it took me forever to get that book written.
If there are fabrials that can attract substances, are there ones that repel?
Yeah, there are.
So in the Way of Kings Ars Arcanum we get a really good explanation of the different kinds of fabrials. Then in Words of Radiance we get a new kind of fabrial, one that attracts certain substances, but they weren't discussed in the Words of Radiance Ars Arcanum. And they are not in Oathbringer's either.
Yeah, so this is actually something Isaac has been bugging me about. There is no reason they were not included other than me being lazy.
So in Mistborn: Secret History, the leader of the Ire is named Alonoe. This is also the name of the lake in Arelon. Is she named after the lake? Is the lake named after her? Or--
*smiling* RAFO!
Would it be possibly to have a bunch of iron Ferrings store a bunch of weight into some iron, turn that iron into steel, and then use that steel to make guns as a cheaper alternative to aluminum?
Yeah but the guns wouldn't be immune--
But they would be resistant, that little bit of extra time could be enough to make a difference.
Yeah.
And the guns would be harder to see with iron/steelsight, correct?
Yes, they would be. Do keep in mind however that we get a very skewed perception of the world and how important stuff like this is because the main characters of the books are Allomancers. This just isn't something that is important to the average person on the street. But this does relate to some things later on in the series.
So far during The Stormlight Archive we've seen that the spren bond appears to have some distinct advantages (i.e. armor, more efficient Stormlight consumption, access to a variety of weapons) over what Tanavast via the Oathpact provided the Heralds. With the exception of Nale, and the fact that the Heralds had no need for Stormlight, can you please tell me one way in which a Herald had a distinct advantage over a level 5 Radiant of their corresponding order?
Rebirth. *pause* The Heralds had access to raw levels of power that no Radiant could obtain.
At Emerald City Comic Con earlier this year, you stated that Singer gemhearts are a "milky white" color, and looked like bone/bone marrow. You also said they were related to something in Dragonsteel. Having read the sample chapters of The Liar of Partinel a while back, I couldn't help but be reminded of the skullmoss, which is a bone-white color. Are the singer gemhearts related to the fainlife in any meaningful or important way?
Yeah they are very similar to Tamu Keks.
I'm still upset that mistspren is not the Truthwatcher spren. Logically, they're like the only ones that didn't fit.
Yeah, okay. I can see why you would be annoyed by that.
The Nightwatcher is described as having an amorphous, vague, humanoid form of dark green mist with a smooth, defined face. This is similar to how the mistspren are described (faces like porcelain masks and bodies of swirling fog). Did the Nightwatcher serve as the progenitor of the mistspren similar to how Honor, and later the Stormfather, were progenitors of honorspren like Syl.
One more time.
...Did the Nightwatcher serve as the progenitor of the mistspren similar to how Honor, and later the Stormfather, were the progenitors of the honorspren like Syl.
...Are you talking about author inspirations or in-world sort of things?
Either.
No, not in-world. And out of world, it's the reverse. Mist spirits came before. I ended up doing--
No, mistspren.
Oh, mistspren. So you're saying the ones in Shadesmar... You're using terms for things, because I haven't given you other terms.
They are named mistspren in the books.
Yeah. So ask me one more time.
Did the Nightwatcher serve as the progenitor of the mistspren similar to how Honor and later the Stormfather were the progenitors of the honorspren like Syl.
Okay, I see what you're asking now. I was thinking mist spirit the whole time. We'll RAFO that. More because-- yeah we're just going to RAFO it.
Can you sleep through a highstorm?
Some people can. I probably wouldn't be able to.
So it's not impossible.
It's not impossible... The guys in Bridge Four? They can sleep through anything.
I was wondering what is your favorite book was to write?
...That's really hard to answer, I like different books for different reasons. The big ones are more satisfying, but a lot of the shorter ones can be funner. So, probably Bands of Mourning, from the Mistborn series is my favorite for the fun. But the Stormlight books are more satisfying.
Who is your favorite character in Mistborn?
Hmmm, probably Sazed. The truth is, my favorite character changes depending on who I'm writing, and things like that.
Okay, I feel better about it now.
Breeze is my favorite character.
Breeze is a lot of fun.
How do you think Elend would deal being on Roshar with the fact that men can't read?
Oh man, he would have so much trouble with that. He'd have huge problems... Though he wouldn't look Alethi to them, they'd be like, "Oh the Shin do weird things."
I just got done with Elantris the other day. Are all of the planets--is Shadesmar the same place? Can you access all planets from Shadesmar?
You can walk through Shadesmar between the planets. Yes. A little bit of bending of space/time in that, but yes.
Are we ever going to get Hoid's story?
Yes.
Does... <Roial?> make it to one of the other books?
I-- That-- I have to RAFO that... Hoid's backstory is coming. It's going to be a while, but you're going to get it.
This book seemed a little sadder, I thought Kaladin would reach the next level.
Yeah, he's still got some things to work out.
I was surprised that Elhokar getting killed *inaudible*
At least, in this draft, it wasn't Dalinar that that killed him like in the original version... That didn't work.
How did you know that Stormlight and Mistborn were going to be the focus [of the cosmere]?
A lot of writers figured out the *inaudible* exploration. And I had the advantage when I broke-in that I had written all these books before, and I was able to go back and say, "The Way of Kings, there's something special about--" right from the beginning, there's something special about that.
I was able to look back at say, Mistborn, which had I had tried the magic system. The magic system really worked, my best magic system. I know this has the best magic magic system, if I can match a plot to it that makes it a good book, I can make that magic system kind of the spine of what I'm doing.
...So I got lucky on that. In some ways, not publishing for a long time was the luckiest thing that could have happened to me.
I feel like you're the kind of person who sneaks little details all over the place. Do you have a favorite that you've ever snuck in somewhere?
Oh yeah. Most definitely, the first line of The Final Empire. I have never been able to, so far, pull off as long a con as the first line of the first book being the climax of the third book. I do have some other long cons going, but they haven't paid off yet.
Have we seen Wayne in any other series besides Era 2?
No, you haven't. Good question!
*inaudible*
You know, I read comic books, but I never really considered writing them. I don't feel I know that format well. I've done a couple graphic novels, but those I always give to a script writer for comic books who's practiced it, let them do it. I haven't really considered ever since I broke-in, because I'd feel like the basketball player playing baseball, you know. You might be okay at it, but might as well let the people who are really good at it, since they're really good at doing it.
The reveal at the end of The Bands of Mourning was just the biggest surprise ever. I held off reading Secret History... When I read Secret History, it feels like reading Hero of Ages all over again. It was so great... Kelsier, what it's going to mean.
You'll see, next book. RAFO card.
If you ever get the go for a movie or TV show, who do you want to pick as Kaladin?
Kaladin is a hard one to cast. Because all of the Alethi are going to be hard to cast, because they're basically half Japanese/half Arab... So I'm not sure. I've been thinking for Dalinar lately, the guy who plays Drax the Destroyer. He's half Filipino and he has just the right look for Dalinar. You gotta look at him not in his make up for Guardians of the Galaxy. Get a little silvering hair on him. That's my latest casting choice. But I do not have a Kaladin.
Do you know when we're going to get Nightblood?
I don't know for sure. Your best bet at Nightblood is after Stormlight 5. I'll take a little bit longer break than normal between 5 and 6 because there are two five-book arcs, and I'm really hoping to squeeze Nightblood in there.
