So Kandra that just bones. Obviously they need that physically but is there a Cognitive and Spiritual purpose to the bones too?
Uh, no the bones are just there for the muscles to pull against.
So they don't need it, some spiritual link for the bones to...
No, good question.
We're hoping at some point that you will do a collaboration with Patrick Rothfuss.
I would love to do one someday. I pitched one at him. I pitched a concept at him. It was a Brandon Sanderson vs Pat Rothfuss where we would both pick, we would brainstorm a story together then put characters on opposing sides where we try to screw up each other's story and them we get to near the climax and we give it to George Martin and we say "read this and tell us how we have to end our story" and then we have to do what George says and he's the judge. Wouldn't that be awesome?
Does Hoid have two Honorblades?
Hoid has no Honorblades.
That's wrong on both counts, actually? Waiting for Brandon to give them to him, right?
Currently has no Honorblades.
Is Jasnah aware of the Diagram?
RAFO.
Steelheart and The Rithmatist, are they a part of the Cosmere as well?
They are not, yup.
Just someone in line said that Steelheart was Hoid's planet, but I thought that they were not part of it.
They are not part of it. Anything that mentions Earth is something that I didn't want to be in the Cosmere.
Are we going to see Hoid's flute again?
Hoid is very disappointed in the loss of his flute and would like to recover it.
Does Vasher want Nightblood back?
Vasher feels responsible for Nightblood
is there any reason why he didn't go by Vasher, as well?
Because in the original draft he was, and I'm like, "That's just too easy." Plus he's kinda trying to hide, so he's not as foolhardy as a certain other character who goes willy-nilly by the same aliases over and over again and doesn't care. Picking an alias, if you know people would potentially would be hunting for you, having them not be able to ask for you by name is useful.
Different Surges are shared by different Orders. Do they work the same for the different Order?
They work basically the same though there is some... sometimes the combination of the two will produce some side effects that are unique, but the basic powers are the same.
Do we have yet to see a dragon from you? I was wondering if those were coming later.
I did put, one of my world has Dragons.
Is that Dragonsteel?
Yes it is!
So Truthless are kind of pretty rare, right, in the Shin society?
Yes.
So how did they come by the [Honorblades] that Szeth's got?
They, historically, kept all of them.
Oh, ok. I wondered if that was the case. Interesting. Does that have anything to do with why they think stone is sacred?
You will find out more about that as time progresses.
Is the Allow of Law actually a part of the next trilogy?
It is not. It is a book I wrote because I didn't want to be leaving Mistborn for too long untouched.
Who or what is Hoid? Or Wit?
Wit? He is a person who has shown up in all the books. What else do you want to know?
All of the books?
He has shown up in all of my epic fantasies, yes.
Every single one of them?
Yeah, he's been...
Wit or Hoid?
Hoid-- is the same, Wit.
But how do you know it's him?
Because he says his name in all of them.
As Hoid?
As Hoid.
Really?
Yep.
I-- now I need to be more careful.
How does he know so much information about what's going on, and how is he always in the right place at the right time?
Those are two excellent questions.
That you won't tell me.
That I won't tell you. You get a [RAFO] card. But he has a sp-- surprising ability to be in the right place at the right time very consistently in the cosmere. That's the name of the shared universe of all the books.
I didn't realize it was a shared universe.
Yes, it is. There are characters in Way of Kings from Elantris, and... yeah. But it's all Easter eggs. It doesn't-- it isn't something you have to.
So it's not, like, crossovers.
There are crossovers, but it's all Easter egg-ish right now. Some day there'll be one where I do full-blown crossover. For now the story is about this. And so the crossover is all just in the background.
How do Vorin Alethi get married?
How do what?
Vorin Alethi get married?
How do they get married? I will show you a wedding ceremony eventually.
What are Oldbloods?
Oldbloods? Oldbloods are the, um... Lon-- Years ago, Alethkar was ruled by a different group of people. A different, like, dynasty. And it's been overturned, and it's been a long enough time that they're not really a threat. But to acknowledge them, and Oldblood-- they wear the tattoo. It means, "We are-- We used to rule this place." And so, it's just-- It's a lineage of people and a dynasty that used to be the kings of Alethkar.
Is that theory correct where, like, the Heralds are basically, like, reversed now. Kind of going against their thing or...
*laughs* He won't tell us.
I know, I know. That was my question, which I knew you wouldn't *inaudible*.
I just wanna know more what Szeth and the stone is?
You get-- you get a RAFO card. There you go.
Rock is taller than the other bridgemen. When he gets under the bridge, will that make it more difficult for him? Wouldn't he have more load on his shoulders than the guys next to him?
Um, yes, though you will notice that I equalized for height with the pads on the shoulders. And a bridge that will run-- yeah, they will use pads and things like this. And you can customize your bridge over time. The fact that most bridgemen die before that's necessary... um, yes. But it would mean he would end up having to stoop for part of it unless you wanted to carry a lot more of the weight. Being next to Rock would probably be a fun thing. But then there are the pads, and things like that, so. *brief pause* And once they really got it going, they could re-- they could really customize that bridge. Like, you know, take off pieces underneath and things like that so that it fit everyone really well. But in Sadeas's army you don't really get to that point.
Have we seen any Heralds in any of the other books?
In any of the other, um...?
Like Mistb-- cosmere.
You have not seen Heralds [in other cosmere books].
Shardplate thus far has been powered by Stormlight in the spheres. But after-- now that we've got Radiants, is it powered by themselves?
*adds something about "spren" but is spoken over by Brandon*
Well so far we have not seen Radiants wearing Shardplate.
Yeah, I was kind of wondering that myself, 'cause-- 'cause they're not spren, because the spren were the... Shards [Shardblades]. So what <are> they?
So, that's a big ol' "what really is Shardplate?" *hands RAFO card*
So, just curious about Shardplate.
Yes.
Um... In one of the books she said that it was seamless. Like there weren't any chinks in it anywhere.
There are chinks, but there's no direct line to the skin. So if there-- if you see a slit, there's another little plate behind it, or something like this.
Okay, okay. 'Cause I've seen them and out of artist renditions and it <looked> accordion. And I'm like, if I wanted to recreate it for my kids...
Yes.
...it would not be accordion, would it?
Um... It just depends on your own interpretation. The official interpretation of Shardplate is Ben McSweeny's interpretation, which we used for Shallan's sketchbook in book 2, showing her sketches of Shardplate. So that's our official-- official interpretation. But you can interpret it yourself how you would want.
Have you studied Latin?
I have studied enough to know about it, but I have not studied enough that I could read or even figure out most origins. Yeah.
Okay. 'Cause I did-- I took a semester of Latin, and I'm like, "Oh, that's where all these words came from in Brandon's writing." And...
I do often say, "Alright, I need the right feel for this." And I will go delve into Latin, and Greek, and things like this trying to-- The big question is, I'll need to create a word that imitates an ancient word from the world that we're in, but it's going to be in translation. And so often I will use a Latin root to be like-- to indicate "this is an ancient word from their world, from their scholarly language. To make a parallel to that, I'll use one from ours."
Is Wit, or Hoid-- Is he an Allomancer
He did steal a bead of lerasium off of Scadrial. If he were to make use of that bead, certain powers could have been gained.
Okay. "If he were to have used it."
If he were to have used it.
Is the sword at the end of Words of Radiance, is it the actual Nightblood from Warbreaker?
It is, actually. It's fun because when I first wrote Way of Kings in 2002, Vasher was one of the main characters. And then when I wrote Warbreaker in 2006, I wrote a book about him to do his past. And then when I re-wrote Way of Kings it's like, "Well, time for Vasher to come back." So he's been in Roshar, in my head, since the beginning, for some 20 years. But he wasn't-- He didn't originate there, but... He was one of the worldhoppers that I hid in the very first version. Which was a lot of fun to then be able to go write a book about him and come back.
When Sazed is fighting Marsh he hears a voice telling him about his rings, in his head.
Mhm.
Whose voice is that? Can-- Can I make some gueses?
Sure.
Is it Kelsier?
*Brandon hands RAFO card?* What does that mean? *laughing*
That means I'm not gonna answer that.
Do we ever get to see a good banter between Wit and Shallan?
Um, you uh... She is not quite ready yet, to be on his level. And if you watch the series, her use of humor will mature. Um, in fact you should be able to notice a difference between these two even. By later books she will be able to stand a little bit better. Right now he would rip her to shreds.
Why does the Shardbearer-- when they are dueling with Adolin and Renarin-- Why does the Shardbearer freak out when Kaladin grabs the sword? The <Shardbearer> like... He screams, and he's like, "I didn't kill you", and ran away.
Yes.
Why does he do that?
Because when Kaladin was there, and they were touching it, they actually heard the spren that was inside of it. Right? Because when an--
So it wasn't Syl that he heard, it was the sword.
It was the sword's spren... that Kaladin was touching it. When the Knight Radiant touches it-- You can see when other Knights Radiant pick up swords, they can hear the screaming.
With Dalinar as a Bondsmith, what does that mean his power is?
Ah, now that's a good question! That is going to be a R-A-F-O, because you have to read and find out. But I'll give you a card.
Is healing a universal Stormlight power than?
Yes, within reason. Some are better at it. But it is a universal power.
So how did Shallan rescue Kaladin when they fell in the chasm?
She did not. It was actually Syl, but he was in the process of breaking the bond, and so she was able to get some Stormlight to him. But that is what really set it really poorly. Like you can imagine, she-- this bond was really a strain for her to use at that point, so it was her. But doing what she did just about destroyed her, which is why you don't hear from her after that.
One thing I can't figure out - Newcago's name is obviously a short of New Chicago. So is there anything Babilar stands for? The "Babyl-" part is obviously from Babylon, but I can't think of anything for "-ar"... Babylon Restored > Babylo-R > Babylor > Babylar kind of makes sense, but it doesn't make me happy.
Babyl-R (say the letter name).
Warning, Evgeni. I'm really considering doing a backpedal on savants. The more i think about them, the less I'm not liking how my current course has them being treated in upcoming books. I think it deviates too far from my original vision.
Hey, I wouldn't normally contact you directly like this, but given that you thought it important enough to reach out and let me know you might change how savants work, I figured you probably wouldn't be too upset by this message. I replied to your Facebook comment, asking if you could clarify a little bit which aspects of savantism you are thinking of keeping and/or cutting. I don't need an essay on the topic (though you know I'd love one!), just some details on what we can consider canon for theories, and what we should be careful around.
Evgeni,
So here's the problem. The more I dig into savants in the later outlines, the more I feel that I'm in a dangerous area--in that I'm disobeying their original intention. (Which is that using the power so much that it permeates your soul can be dangerous, a kind of uncontrolled version of a spren bond.)
And so, I don't want to let myself just start making people savants right and left. It needs to be a specific thing. Wax is the troubling one, as I have him burning so much steel that he's well on his way, but isn't showing any side effects. If I'm going to give him savant-like abilities, he needs savant-like consequences.
That's the danger, just falling back on savanthood to do some of the things I want, so often that it undermines the actual point and purpose of them in the cosmere lore.
So if I backpedal, it will be to contain this and point myself the right way, sharply curtailing my desire to make people savants without their savanthood being an intrinsic part of their story and conflict in life. (Like it was for Spook, and is for Soulcasting savants on Roshar.)
Feel free to share this.
Okay, so - if you do decide to go this route, I see the story implications (larger focus on consequences, less easy to get to the point where a character can be considered a savant). What I am not sure about is the potential for a mechanical change. Would a backpedal on your side cause a conflict with information you've shared with us, in or out of your books? Are you saying that it's possible that Wax won't be considered a savant (if you can't squeeze a good ramifications plot for him that doesn't contradict the apparent lack of consequences so far, for example)?
I haven't decided on anything yet. It's mostly consequences for the future--just a kind of, "be aware I'm not 100% pleased with how Wax turned out, re: savanthood and Allomantic resonance."
The idea of resonance is that two powers, combined, meld kind of into one single power. This is a manifestation of the way Shards combine. Wax was intended as a savant of the two melded powers. But without consequences in his plot, I'm not confident that I'll continue in the same vein for future books.
What Is Altered Perceptions?
This anthology will collect "altered" versions of published stories—deleted scenes, alternate endings, original concept chapters, and that sort of thing.
For it, I'm letting people see—for the first time—a large chunk of the original version of The Way of Kings, which I wrote in 2002–2003. This version is very different, and involves a different course in life for Kaladin as a character—all due to a simple decision he makes one way in this book, but a completely different way in the published novel.
These chapters are quite fun, as I consider what happened in The Way of Kings Prime (as I now call it) to be an "alternate reality" version of the events in the published books. The characters are almost all exactly the same people, but their backstories are different, and that has transformed who they are and how they react to the world around them. Roshar is similar, yet wildly different, as this was before I brought in the spren as a major world element.
I asked him to tell me about one of the Herald's innate powers.
They have none.
I asked if Gaz had been replaced by a kandra.
He said no, that Gaz is still the real Gaz.
I asked what planet we have seen the kandra worldhopper on.
He said "You have seen her before".
I asked if she was an agent of Sazed
He said yes.
And I was trying to figure out how jazz could possibly develop on Scadrial in Alloy of Law.
How what?
How jazz could develop on Scadrial.
Jazz? Okay.
*audio obscured* Would it be appropriate to compare the Steel Ministry to the Catholic Church? Not so much in doctrine but...
Sure, that would be appropriate. I mean when I'm writing Alloy of Law era they are only hitting big band stuff.
That's what I figured.
Their music would lag behind ours.
'Cause big band stuff started around the 1920's.
They're not even quite there yet. In the second or the third... anyway one of the Alloy books Wax hears someone and they've added to a band brass and he's like "that's not right" he's expecting violin concertos or a pianoforte and he's hearing brass.
Will we ever find out the when, how, and why Vasher and Nightblood moved to Roshar?
Yes, but I don't know when it will happen. I will get around to it.
And does [Odium] control the Voidbringers through the spren in the same way that the Inquisitors were controlled by Ruin?
There are definitely-- In fact what you have just seen with Eshonai shares an awful lot with what happened in Mistborn.
Have we seen a physical personification of Odium like how Vin was...
You have not.
I assume I'm going to learn a lot more about this in Stormlight 3 but Nightblood, is he more dangerous or less dangerous now that he-- obviously he needs Investiture that is why *audio obscured* any Investiture?
I'd say more dangerous, a little bit easier to get the Stormlight.
I assumed I'd learn a lot more about him...
You will, and he's pretty dangerous, but he is also less dangerous because other people have Shardblades, if that makes sense.
How many different kinds of magic does Hoid know how to use? I know you can't tell me exactly but is it hundreds or like dozens?
It depends on your definition of types of magic, in some ways you could say they are all one. He knows multiple varieties, but not hundreds.
How much involvement does the other planet in the same system as Roshar have with Roshar?
*long pause* Your question has a fundamental flaw to it.
And that is?
That there are multiple planets that have an influence on Roshar.
I thought there were multiple planets in the system that...
There are, but you said "the other", there are more than one so the phrase, "the other" doesn't make sense.
How much influence do the other planets have?
A great deal.
What are the other books in The Stormlight Archive going to be about?
Well each one is going to cover a flashback sequence for one of the characters and each one will focus on a different order of the Knights Radiant. And that's not always the same, like the flashbacks for the first one were Kaladin and it was also Windrunners, but we won't always have them be the exact same.
Is there any reference material for doing cosplay?
It depends on the costume that you want to make. We have lots for Stormlight Archive, less for other books. So if you want reference material for Stormlight costumes you can write us and we'll send you the concept art we are using.
Is there anything in the works right now roleplaying-wise for any of your other works?
Not yet, the response to the Mistborn rpg has been good so I do think we'll do something eventually but right now we just want to support that. It takes a lot of effort to keep one of these supported, because they make it but we have to read everything and talk about continuity and stuff. Maybe eventually.
What's lerasium?
That is the bead of metal that Elend finds at the end of Book 2, that Vin finds and gives to Elend.
Oh so there were only two and the Lord Ruler kind of left it there?
There actually were a bunch of them, and the first Mistborn came from people who ate that. The Lord Ruler took one for himself and he left others there to use if he needed them.
I asked a question at the panel, I asked if the person you refuse to say who he is, I was trying to talk about Taln.
Oh!
Not Hoid.
So what about Taln?
Is there anything you'll tell us about him?
What do you want to know? Ask me a specific question.
Is he Rosharan?
Is he Rosharan? Taln is Rosharan.
*inaudible*
Define Rosharan, how about that?
Native to Roshar.
That I have to RAFO.
Are the Heralds...
The Heralds are from the same place that Taln is from.
Is the level of burning a continuous distribution, can I burn 0.1 level of steel all the way up to flaring? Or is it just I burn or I flare?
The more skilled you are, the more you have the ability to moderate that. For most people it is burn or flare. But you can kind of burn up to a flare, does that make sense? Going below is really hard.
Can you push a flare?
Yes.
Aether of Night, aethers also show up in Liar of Partinel...
Yeah, that was...
Was that cannibalized...
That was a cannibalization, it's an attempt at repurposing and I didn't like it so it probably won't go forward that way but it was an attempt because it worked so well to mash Allomancy and Feruchemy into the same system and I didn't like how it went but...
In The Wheel of Time at the end when they start to use Gateways to spy on the other battlefields, was that your idea or Robert Jordan's idea?
I had for years wanted them to use Gateways for things like that, because I'm kind of a magic system guy, right and it's like I'm writing these books now, they are going to use Gateways smart.
For the space Mistborn are we going to have more elements?
The base 16 are basically it. But the interactions between them and things. And there is one more metal, there is harmonium, so you will hear about that later on.
