Recent entries

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9253 Copy

    Questioner

    I think Kelsier is one of the best-crafted fantasy characters I've seen in the world. He resonates with me on new levels. What exactly were your influences in the character when you were constructing him?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Two big influences for Kelsier. The first is, I wanted to do kind of the classic rogue archetype guy, but someone who had had something so fundamentally life-shaking in his life that he had to look deep within and become somebody else. But it's mixed with the other big inspiration, which is, there's kind of some psychopathic tendencies to him, and he would be a villain in many other books. But in this one, he's what the world needed. And those two combinations created for me a really nice tension inside a character.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9254 Copy

    kari-no-sugata

    Shallan... in Oathbringer... she meets Adolin, and he's staring into her eyes. And she thinks that he can see that when she's Shallan again. So, my question is, is she correct? And if so, how did Adolin see that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, it's not a magical thing. She shifts even when she's kind of being herself-- When she becomes different people, even if she's not completely Lightweaving herself, she shifts.

    kari-no-sugata

    Is it visible?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is visible.

    kari-no-sugata

    So he's looking very closely.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And he wouldn't be able to point out that he had seen that. But it's intuitive, and he's learned to recognize that.

    kari-no-sugata

    ...In her final scene, she seems like she kind of summons her personas-- as if she's fully in control, and they're not coming by themselves anymore, is that correct?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    kari-no-sugata

    So, they still come and go as they want?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, she's much more in control, but still has a way to go.

    kari-no-sugata

    Would Wit basically approve of what she's done?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He would give her a "that's a step forward, but you're not there yet."

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9255 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    Cosmere postal service. Can you tell us anything about this? How many people are involved?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is more UPS than USPS, if that makes sense. Meaning it is enterprising individuals who are traveling and trading between planets. Some places are easier to deliver to than others.

    Footnote: UPS is United Parcel Service (a package delivery company) and USPS is the United States Postal Service (a government agency).
    #the letters
    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9256 Copy

    Aurimus

    Advice for worldbuilders that are trying to create a scientific-based fantasy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Learn to differentiate between the three kinds of what we talk about with science-based magic. One is internal logic. One is logic with the world. And, oh, what is the third one? For instance, "logic with the world" meaning, "This is an explanation of how the magic actually could come to be." And a logic with "This is trying to break one rule, and then keeping the others as consistent with our universe as possible." With the difference being, like, for instance, Investiture keeping the laws of thermodynamics except for the fact that it exists is kind of a reference to the third. We're letting rules affect the laws-- the laws of our universe, we're trying to tie into that. You don't have to do that. Internal logic is the most important. Then the other one would be, kind of, the "How does this magic arise out of the nature of the universe? How could I take a few steps extra? Can I make it realistic?" That's a completely different rule. So look at those three things.

    Aurimus

    Is that where you fit Investiture in the magic? Matter, energy, Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, that's where I'm trying to do a little bit of all three of those things. But you don't have to. Understand that you can do one of the three.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9257 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    So I've noticed a pattern in the way that the Radiants learn their surges. They seem to learn their anti-clockwise surge before their clockwise surge?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They do.

    Overlord Jebus

    Excellent, everyone thought I was a crazy person!

    Brandon Sanderson

    They do tend to-- Now, I'm gonna give you some behind the sausage stuff on that. That is partially for writing expediency reasons.

    Overlord Jebus

    How do you mean?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I designed that partially because I didn't want to overwhelm people with too many magic systems at once so I came up with a little bit of a pattern so that I could have a little bit of an in-world reason why we were slowing that down. It's not a hard fast rule, it's something that I've kept to in order to not overwhelm readers so it's more of form following function than the other way around.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9258 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    This map,

    *Hands Brandon the Part Four Sea of Lost Lights Map*

    How much of a hand did you have in this map or did you kind of let Isaac go crazy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So this one is half and half, I went to Isaac and said put this and this and this and then he added some craziness. One of Isaac's voices in the cosmere is Nazh and almost everything that is written by Nazh is Isaac and he named a bunch of this stuff, he ran it all by me. I actually vetoed a few. He came up with some, I'm like "Ehh" and then I renamed them to things that actually fit.

    Overlord Jebus

    Okay, why is spren fishing banned here, is that you or Isaac?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That was Isaac...

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9259 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    So you've previously described gemhearts as Investiture leaking into the Physical Realm in a similar kind of process to atium. Now atium had a way of-- the Investiture used in the creation of it-- of returning back to the kind of background pool of Investiture on Scadrial. Is there a way of the Investiture used in the creation of gemhearts to return to the Roshar Investiture pool?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Overlord Jebus

    There is? Have we had any hints of it at all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9260 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    Is all Investiture in the cosmere associated with a Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, well, okay. So this is a complicated one. *pauses* So, Investiture predates the Shattering of Adonalsium, all Investiture was from Adonalsium, all Investiture got assigned to one of the 16 Shards when Adonalsium was Shattered. Some of the Investiture was not on Yolen but location is irrelevant. So Investiture is related to Shards even on planets where none of the Shards are inhabiting. 

    Overlord Jebus

    Are they aware of that Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's part of the whole seeing into the infinite, being beyond even the power of a Shard. So, technically you could make the argument that Harmony could feel the sense of Preservation on every world in the cosmere, right? Because the building blocks of all life and creation are these things.

    Overlord Jebus

    So the Shard of Preservation embodies all preservation in the cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes but he just can't do that, right? Like, he's not infinite. The Vessels are not, even if their minds are enormously expanded by holding a Shard, they are not infinite. The Connection is all there in the Spiritual Realm.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9261 Copy

    Questioner

    Does Wit have another name apart from Wit?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wit has many other names. Cephandrius is him.

    Questioner

    What's his real name?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He does... have a real name, but he would argue that they're all real names.

    Overlord Jebus

    What's one that isn't Cephandrius or Midius?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hoid. *laughter* Topaz.

    Aurimus

    When he says he's named after a rock that's a reference to Topaz?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes that's referencing the topaz. And the other thing that he references with... When he says he's named after words on a page that is not breaking the fourth wall... It's not even winking at it. Nope... It's quite literal. Yes, that is quite literal.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9264 Copy

    Questioner

    How do you write the <Shardblade> fighting, like the fencing aspect of it? I guess you do all the research for that, the way the Shards actually work?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, the fight scenes, right? The first drafts are usually pretty bad. I kind of just get down what's happening, who it's happening to, what I want the outcome to be. And then I do a lot of refining, and I try to find people who are actual fencers...

    And I usually try to add something to my worlds that doesn't exist in our worlds, like Shardblades and things, just so I can have a little more suspension of disbelief for people like yourself, where you're like "Well, they have different positions."

    ...But I do try to get some primary sources who can tell me where I'm doing stuff really bad... Matt Easton's YouTube channel is really great for that. Schola Gladitoria, Matt Easton. When I have two people who are fighting with actual weapons, I go-- He usually has done some HEMA things where you see, like, ten bouts with that. And I can watch it, and be like "Alright, this is how it would go down."

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9265 Copy

    Questioner

    Is the Iri religion based on knowledge of the [Shattering], anything like that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kind of, yes.

    Questioner

    But they don't know it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They don't know it, yeah. I would say yes, there are echoes of it. There are more recent events that they don't even quite remember that are more influential.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9267 Copy

    MadhavDeval

    So, if Dalinar used Spiritual Adhesion to forge a bond between Sja-anat and Honor or Cultivation or whoever, then could Sja-anat corrupt a spren, an Odiumspren back to Honor or Cultivation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Maybe. Nyeh...

    MadhavDeval

    What about the Fused?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Fused-- I mean, it's the same kind of thing, they're a Cognitive Shadow. Eh? Eh. I'm gonna give you an "Eh." on that one... *waves hands* I don't know how you write that on the forums.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9268 Copy

    Questioner

    It was actually really interesting, because I started reading Oathrbinger-- I'm a teacher, I teach philosophy, and I was actually using that with my students, which is interesting because it came out particularly randomly. Is there inspiration for some of the philosophy that goes in?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have a philosophy minor. There's a bunch of random philosophical-- yeah. It's all over the place.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #9271 Copy

    Moogle

    Compounding requires practice, according to The Hero of Age's annotations. And yet, it's apparently as easy as burning a metalmind. What was going on that meant the Inquisitors couldn't figure out how to do it (despite Ruin likely knowing how and undoubtedly wanting them to learn) for over a year? What skill did they need to practice doing, exactly?

    And what happened while they were practicing burning metalminds without successfully Compounding? Did they get an Allomantic effect?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What I think I was getting at in the annotations was a cosmere magic rule that, perhaps, I hadn't completely refined yet. This is the idea that INTENTION is vitally important to the workings of most cosmere magics.

    You can learn to burn metals instinctively over time, but it does take time--time for your body to figure out what it's doing. If you have instruction and guidance, you can pick it up in an evening, like Vin did. Same goes for most of the magics. This ties into Awakening, with the idea that you have to form a command.

    During Warbreaker was where I really refined this aspect of the magic. Logically, since the beginning of the cosmere, I've wanted all three Realms to be important to the way the magics worked. The "Practice" therefore for compounding is mental practice--a barrier to overcome in understanding what is happening, and what it will do to you.

    If you already know all of these things by having it explained to you, that barrier is far less high. I think that was what I was talking about in the Annotations, without really having the idea specified yet--though I'd have to look back at the annotation and re-read it to say for certain.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9272 Copy

    Questioner

    We know Ati chose how Ruin was interpreted, in that he was a card-cackling maniac. Could someone so differently interpret a Shard as to change its name to be something different? Could someone pick up the Shard of Ruin and think I'm the Shard of Change? Or could someone pick up the Shard of Honor and think--

    Brandon Sanderson

    *hesitantly* Yes. To an extent. The interpretation, what you call a thing-- I think it would be arguable either way in-world, regardless of what they call themselves. There are those who would say the core intent is still there and you can't shift it that far, and others would argue you can shift it far enough to change the definition to a synonym. You see evidence of someone claiming this in the books. I'm not gonna confirm or deny for you whether that is actually a thing or not.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #9273 Copy

    ArsenoPyrite

    Is the act of taking up a shard parallel to the act of Awakening? In broad strokes awakening gives a piece of a soul for power along with a purpose or compulsion. So, say, when someone takes up Ruin, are they operating on the same principle, taking a fragment of Adolnasium's 'soul' along with the command "ruin things"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You could make this parallel, and argue it to many of the cosmere-aware scholars in the books, and they'd find themselves nodding.

    Stormlight Three Update #4 ()
    #9274 Copy

    mathota123

    Also what would happen if I had a LOT of Breath and tried to Awaken something that was still alive...?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO on the second question. You could say that Investing someone with your Breath, however, IS Awakening them.

    crocsandcargos

    Are Commands unique to Endowment and those with Breath, or do other Shards have an equivalent or similar power / ability? The girl Vasher rescues, his statements to Denth, and your quote above seem to point that Commands can be used on living entities for some purposes... I've always wondered if there was more to Dalinar referring to "unite them" as a 'phantom command'. If other Shards use commands or something similar it could also explain the mechanism of the Nightwatcher's boon/curse related to Dalinar's memory loss.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Intent is one of the components of the Magic, as you'll see frequently. These things are related.

    /r/books AMA 2015 ()
    #9275 Copy

    zotsandcrambles

    You've mentioned that a person's personality eventually erodes and is replaced by the will of the shard they hold. Besides Harmony, are there any Shards holders that are still actively and significantly defying the intent of their shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Kellsier

    Is Harmony ([Sazed], for instance) actively trying to fight against it's shard intent?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Its intent(s) match Sazed very well, actually, and he has the philosophy that these natural powers are best minded and not dominated. So while he pushes back against the inaction holding both of them has caused, he appreciates and understands the need for both. I'd say he has less "push back" than some others.

    The Hero of Ages Annotations ()
    #9276 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vin Asks Ruin about Preservation

    After this scene, perhaps you can see why I wanted so badly to spend some time with Vin and Ruin talking while she was imprisoned. I felt this was important enough that I was willing to stretch plausibility a tad to make it possible. (The spoiler in the chapter 54 annotation explains what I mean by that.)

    The discussion of morality here is an important one, as I wanted Ruin and Preservation to represent forces, not moral poles. This is vital for various reasons in the underlying cosmology. If they represented poles, then that implied there could only be two like them. But, as they represent opposites, that leaves more room.

    Preservation did betray Ruin. This brings us onto the shaky ground of the morality of lying to achieve a greater good. If as much were at stake as is here—the end of an entire world—then perhaps you'd betray someone too. (I love fantasy. Where else can you talk about the end of the world as a consequence of a betrayal and have it be literal?)

    Ruin's consciousness—separate from his power—isn't a particularly nice being. But you can't much blame him, as there's very little that is left of the mind that once was. The force of Ruin has pretty well molded the mind to fit with the force's intent.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9277 Copy

    Questioner

    When you start planning your books, is there anything you start with? Is there always some sort of starting point, or do you start whenever an idea occurs and you run with it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Every book is a combination of multiple ideas that are bouncing around in my head. And when they start sticking together, like when I've got an idea for a cool idea where "There's a storm all the time," mixing with "Hey, I want to tell this story about these ancient orders of knights." with "Ooh, this magic system might develop here." When these all start sticking together, that's what makes a book for me. And then I sit down and write out all the ideas I had, and then start I organize it into an outline.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9282 Copy

    Questioner

    From what little we know about the Willshapers, I'm really interested in them. Is there any really tiny tidbit about that Order you could tell us? Even really small?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the first Orders that I developed when I was building the magic systems was the Willshapers... Very excited to do a story about them.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9283 Copy

    Questioner

    If you're an aquatic civilization on Roshar, would the oceans match the oceans? ...Because of all the spheres...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never been asked that before. That's an excellent question... I think it would have some weird different manifestation in Shadesmar, depending on their culture, and the way they view the world.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9284 Copy

    Questioner

    One that's probably for Peter. Shadesmar appears to be flat. And you talk about people walking between worlds. But worlds are spherical. What's up with that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This has given him a bit of a headache. It works in my brain, and I'm pretty sure we can make it on the world. Remember, things people think about manifest in Shadesmar, so I've been able to work out a map where places that just aren't inhabited are shrunk in Shadesmar.

    Questioner

    And they turn into points, so you can just walk off them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9285 Copy

    Questioner

    How do you come up with your concepts on flying across all of your books? They're a little different from usual flying.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, I look for something that just hasn't been done before. Almost all powers in fantasy books have been done. But can you put some interesting restriction on them that'll make it more actually interesting to write? A little different? I spend a lot of time just kinda brainstorming these sorts of things.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9287 Copy

    Questioner

    Will you ever make a book based in Shadesmar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I will, actually. There's one that I've plotted in Silverlight. Whether I'll be able to write it as a whole book, or whether I'll be able to do it just as a novella I'm not sure yet. But I do actually have a plotted-out story with Khriss as the protagonist in Shadesmar.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9292 Copy

    kalamitous_emoashions

    With Hoid, we know that he's got some sort of Lightweaving, Yolen magic. If we're gonna hypothetically say that he bonds with the Cryptic, at the end of Oathbringer. Talking about resonance between magic systems, what are we going to see if he tried the two together? Would they be separate? Or would they form some sort of resonance magic system?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, I'm gonna go ahead and RAFO that.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9294 Copy

    Questioner

    What is the most Invested item so far revealed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What counts as an item?

    Questioner

    Inanimate object. Sentient swords, stuff like that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay, inanimate objects, would be Nightblood. Well-- is he inanimate?

    Questioner

    Well, he's a sentient sword, but he's an inanimate object.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, yeah, he would count.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
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    Yata

    When someone dies on Nalthis, their Breaths: go away with the soul, or remain in the corpse?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Breaths return to Endowment.

    Yata

    Together with the soul? Or remain in the corpse?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The soul--

    Yata

    Passes away?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, unless it turns into a Cognitive Shadow. Then, the soul goes into the Beyond. And so the actual essence of the soul, the Investiture of it, does return to Endowment.

    Oathbringer London signing ()
    #9300 Copy

    Aurimus

    As the two Realms, the Cognitive and the Spiritual, are, well, fictional... Are they all comprised of Investiture, completely?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. No, completely? Well, here's the thing. Investiture, matter, and energy are all the same thing in the cosmere. So, just like energy and matter are the same thing here. So, yes, everything's made of Investiture, in the same way that everything's made of energy in our world. Does that make sense?

    Aurimus

    So, what about what spren are made of in the Cognitive Realm? Is that just Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, yeah, I'll dig more into that. I'm gonna go with Investiture for now, but I could change that as I move along. What I'm kind of debating is, is there a separate Cognitive state, and I don't think so. So I'm gonna go with Investiture for now.

    Aurimus

    How about Connection?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Connection is, like, the equivalent of a quantum connection in our world, so it's more like a force than something comprised of something. The question is like, "What is gravity comprised of?" And then you start asking weird questions.