Recent entries

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9904 Copy

    Questioner

    So, you know, on Scadrial, once metal is burned, it returns to the ecosystem, because matter is not created or destroyed. Does color do the same thing on Nalthis? 

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're gonna make me try to decide-- does color have, um-- I'll have to think about it...

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9905 Copy

    Questioner

    From a writer's perspective, in Words of Radiance: explosive things, lots of things happening at the end of that book. As a writer when you're writing that, which of those did you think would hit a fan the hardest? Like, biggest gut punch, or like, shocking moment.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I dunno... Probably when Kaladin finally says the Ideal.

    Questioner

    Me and my wife reading it, it was-- Adolin just shocked my wife.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, yeah, that's the one. Yeah, you're right. That's the most shocking one...

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9910 Copy

    Questioner

    I know Dragonsteel is going to have, like, [Hoid] as a main character in the series, or at least a more prominent character. Is there any other book series that are planned that are gonna have him as a more prominent figure?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    And are those gonna come before or after?

    Brandon Sanderson

    After.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9913 Copy

    Questioner

    So, if we switch to Scadrial, and I had lined the inside of my hat with aluminum, I'm protecting myself from emotional Allomancy. What if I was able to use emotional Allomancy? Would that block me?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, it's going to interfere a little bit. But the issue with that is, a lot of Allomancy is coming from center and going to head. So, you're probably still gonna be okay with the helmet... So, I'm gonna say, you don't want a lot of aluminum around you, but you could probably still make it work.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9914 Copy

    Questioner

    So, I noticed in the books that they like to paint their Shardplate, most of them do, with one notable exception. The Shardplate isn't dismissed, so I imagine, when it's broken, they have to repaint it after they've regrown it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Questioner

    So, if I painted a Shardblade and then dismissed it, would I have used paint in the shape of a Shard to sell?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh-- it would come back without the paint.

    Questioner

    So, the paint would go away with it, but not come back?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've never been asked this before, let me think about it. I think the paint would get left behind.

    Questioner

    So I would have used paint in the shape of a Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, you would, yeah.

    Questioner

    So, you could mold a Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You could mold a Shard, yeah, you could totally do that. Yeah... I haven't been asked that before but that's my answer right now, because-- yeah.

    Questioner

    If the books contradict then the books contradict.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah but I don't think they will. So yeah, you can-- I mean, it could come up.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9917 Copy

    Questioner

    As far as the Oaths go, for Orders of the Knights Radiant that have Oaths that are, like, set, like Windrunners and Bondsmiths, do they have to be spoken in a specific order, or is it just as the--

    Brandon Sanderson

    They have to be spoken in a specific order. But the Oath can vary depending on the individual's own interpretation and feeling about it.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9918 Copy

    Questioner 1

    So, spren can just manifest themselves to different people. Can they choose whether or not to manifest themselves to other spren? Does it depend on the kind of spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, depends on the kind of spren. You'll get some hints of that in the third book. Or you probably have already, if you read the preview chapters.

    Questioner 2

    I read the preview chapters, but, like, the way Syl acted, is that, like, something that she's able to hide from them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    She was not able to hide from that spren.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9921 Copy

    Questioner

    Are you planning on doing more graphic novels, outside of the White Sand series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, there's a couple of things here. Like, we don't want to do another one 'til White Sand is done. They come to us and said, "We wanna do more!" because White Sand sold so well. We're like "No, you finish what you have, then we'll look at doing it." So, we're exploring other options, but we won't start any until what we've started is finished. I really wanna do the story I had for Mistborn, the video game, as a graphic novel with Ben McSweeney.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9922 Copy

    Questioner

    Any plans for a Mistborn, or just Cosmere, collectible card game?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, yes. Asterisk. It's a hard thing to get going. It would probably be more like a deck building game than a CCG, just 'cause we would sell a box set of something you could draft or something like that, rather than trying to go the whole CCG route.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9923 Copy

    Questioner

    Could a Windrunner in Shardplate travel to other planets?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh, theoretically possible. Take a long time.

    Questioner

    Yes, it would. 'Cause he wouldn't need to breathe, if he's got enough Stormlight.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, well, I mean, they can control pressure, so. You'd need oxygen scrubbers, but they can also, so... you can create a ball of air around yourself with their power anyway, so--

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9928 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Re-Shephir related at all to the Midnight Essence in Aether of Night?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. It's me, like-- Related in that Aether of Night isn't canon, and I really liked how that worked in the cosmere, and I ported it to this instead. So that's like--

    Questioner

    So you're not gonna write Aether of Night?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Aether of Night, I might eventually write, but the Mid--

    Questioner

    It may be different?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9929 Copy

    Questioner 1

    Where can I find the rules to the game of Michim?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, probably nowhere. I would have to do some more work.

    Questioner 1

    ...I tried really hard to extrapolate the rules.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I know, that's what I'm saying. Probably nowhere, because-- the rules-- we'd have to look in my notes, to see if I even have them in there.

    Questioner 2

    Did you actually invent a game, just to put it in?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, enough rules-- I don't know if it would pass playing-rigor.

    Questioner 1

    How can you guess the ones your opponent has hidden if it's a game of skill, not chance? I can't understand!

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, I have to fudge these things, just in case it doesn't actually play, I don't have time to, like, playtest for a year. But we can work on it and see if me can make it work. If you beg at me with an email, we can try that.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9933 Copy

    Questioner

    Does the Almighty and the Heralds have anything to do with the bigger cosmere gods and deities?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Questioner

    The Heralds, as well?

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...Not as much, but a little bit. They do. 

    Questioner

    Does that mean that the Almighty is able to worldhop as well?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, the Almighty is Honor, and he is one of the Shards of Adonalsium, so he didn't originate on Roshar.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9934 Copy

    Questioner

    I'm wondering how worldhoppers are able to understand languages on different worlds.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, because I knew I was doing this whole thing, I made it fairly easy to use Connection to start speaking other languages, like you see in the Mistborn books happening. That's a pretty common thing with the various magic systems, one of the easiest things to get going. Some just learn the language. It does happen. But, for instance, Hoid isn't learning the language, which is why you see him making goofs, like when he says "coin" instead of "sphere." Because, like, that doesn't happen really, if you learn the other language. There's not really the word for coin. But the magic is trying to interpret the thing that he says, and it just comes out as a word that's not in their language, really. And you'll see worldhoppers making that mistake. You'll see them using words like "dirt" and stuff like that, and that's just a clue they're using magical means.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9935 Copy

    Questioner

    So, I had a question about the 16 in Mistborn versus 10 [in Stormlight], there's a big discussion on the 17th Shard about it...

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's more-- It's not random. 

    Questioner

    ... So is there a method to the madness?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is a method to the madness, but it may not be as important as some people think it is.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9936 Copy

    Questioner

    So, I'm intrigued by aluminum, especially the fact that it can only be found by Soulcasting on Roshar. So, how was it discovered in the first place?

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...Did I say you can only get it through Soulcasting?

    Questioner

    In the Shallan flashbacks, she has the pendant.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Don't take what she says at 100% truth.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9938 Copy

    Mason Wheeler

    Harmonium is ettmetal... Its chemicals properties are sort of analogous to cesium. It explodes in contact with water. People are made out of water. You try to spike someone, you try to swallow it, you try to wear it as jewelry, it will not end well. Why in the world would he pick something so inharmonious?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He didn't pick it. It's unstable because of the two halves of him not meshing well.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9939 Copy

    Mason Wheeler

    So, because the world is flat in Shadesmar, if there's a place where you can't cross, so if a Radiant was on a ship, they'd have trouble getting across, because their spren would be stuck behind that line of discontinuity. Is the Origin of Storms located on that line?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, good question.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9941 Copy

    Questioner

    Who do you think would win, an atium misting, or Kaladin with Syl?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The atium misting, as long as they have enough atium, is probably got an advantage, but Kaladin can fly. So, I would bet on Kaladin, meaning he flies up high, waits 'til they run out of atium, then gets them.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9942 Copy

    Joyblu

    So, I just had a question about the name Hoid. I've gone through all these [Aons], with the "OID," I know he really cares about how it's spelled. Is there anything you can give me the "O" and the "I" and the "D"? The only ones that have the "O" and the "I" are these two right here. Am I onto anything here, or is that just a coincidence?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, those are just a coincidence.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9948 Copy

    Questioner

    So, I'm about to read the last four books of Wheel of Time, and I know in your interview with Deseret News is that no one has asked you about something big, world-shattering. What should I be thinking of while I read these books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can't give you even a clue, because I've been sworn to secrecy by team Jordan. I made it up, but they said "We can't tell people this." So, this is something I added to the books, it's not something that was in the notes. So there, you learned something about it.

    Oathbringer release party ()
    #9949 Copy

    Questioner

    Where is the status, or will it ever happen on the pizza necromancer book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    ...Death by Pizza's floating. Really I can only start new things if it's directly for my contract for Tor or for my contract [with Random House] until I clear off a few things, so I'm not letting myself do that one. I considered slotting it in when I did Skyward, but Skyward was the one I ended up doing. So, that one's, basically-- I'm not gonna do it until at least I get Rithmatist and Alcatraz done.

    Questioner

    Well, I'm excited. It sounds fun.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a load of fun.