Recent entries

    Dragonsteel 2022 ()
    #1002 Copy

    Questioner

    If an advanced android was created with artificial intelligence using technology—but not Investiture like other artificial intelligences—artificial blood, organs, all that stuff, would they be able to access Invested Arts?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's an excellent question. It's a really interesting question in the context of the Cosmere. So for right now, I am saying—now, maybe we will invent true AI, and I'll have to backpedal, but what I'm saying is in the Cosmere, true AI requires Investiture. And so a thinking machine is going to basically... the line between a thinking machine and a spren is going to get very blurred. And it's going to either attract [Investiture] or require it, and so the answer to you is "yes, to an extent". There are some Arts that are easier to use and some that are hard, depends on all these things, but the answer is "yes"...A thinking machine that actually is self-aware would be a person in the Cosmere for that reason, and would have the same Cognitive aspect and Spiritual aspect—so a soul, if you would—that an organic being would have.

    Dragonsteel 2022 ()
    #1003 Copy

    Questioner

    Would you ever consider releasing the grimdark version of Mistborn as a Prime novel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will release it as a Prime novel, I'll do that and Final Empire because they're both cohesive stories. The one I can't release is Mythwalker because it ends part the way through the ideas I have made. The magic system in Mythwalker is just broken beyond all my ability to fix. I plan to eventually get to you Dragonsteel Prime, Aether of Night, Final Empire, and Mistborn Prime in some incarnation. The others get harder because they just get worse and worse after that. But those ones are of interest to Cosmere fans. The first is Aether of Night, there's digital versions but there's no print version. The first showing up of a Shard, and Midnight Essence, and all sort of cool stuffs in there. Dragonsteel takes place on Yolen, which is still canonically part of the Cosmere. And you see Sho Del popping up which are a race that are in Dragonsteel Prime. Final Empire and Mistborn, there's not as much of real cool interest to you because I already took the best ideas and reused them, but I'll get it out there someday.

    /r/Fantasy_Bookclub Alloy of Law Q&A ()
    #1004 Copy

    Ace_of_Face

    Who wrote the "Ars Arcanum"? Since the writer obviously had knowledge of the cosmere I assumed that it was you making an editorial note, but then I thought that it could be Hoid (who was suspiciously absent) or Sazed or any Shardbearer... Does that make sense at all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Ars Arcanum is written in-cosmere by someone, but I don't want to [say] who yet.

    Goodreads: Ask the Author Q&A ()
    #1005 Copy

    Connor

    Are you planning to release White Sand as a graphic novel exclusively, or will the story be published as a regular novel further down the line?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The plan is graphic novel right now. We'll see how the reception is, but I think it would be awesome if this entry into the cosmere story were always in a graphic form.

    JordanCon 2018 ()
    #1006 Copy

    Questioner

    So if a person's holding a Shard, someone like the original sixteen people. Some of the Shards got [Splintered], does that automatically kill the people? Or can some of those people still be walking around?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It does not automatically, because you can give up pieces of investiture and things like this. It did kill them, that was part of the point. But there are ways to conceive of this happening that it wouldn't. Technically what Endowment is doing is giving up pieces, intentionally Splintering to form these other pieces and things, so yeah.

    Words of Radiance Omaha signing ()
    #1007 Copy

    Questioner

    What Heightening is Hoid?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know what you are talking about.  Heightening?  He's just the king's Wit.  

    Questioner 2

    With perfect pitch.

    Brandon Sanderson

    With perfect pitch.  Yeah he does have perfect pitch.  

    Questioner 2

    Now that he has it.  I noticed it now.  

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're just obviously misconstruing that.  

    TWG Posts ()
    #1009 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    AETHER was the best of the patch of three you read.  During that period, I was trying to force myself to write shorter books (ala 500 pages) because I thought the beastly lengths of some of my novels (DRAGONSTEEEL 1100, ELANTRIS 1200, WHITE SAND 1000) was keeping me from getting published.

    What I learned was I just wasn't good at the shorter format.  What happened was that instead of just writing a shorter book, I ended up short-changing something vital (Characters for MISTBORN, world elements and plotting for FINAL EMPIRE) in my attempt to slim-down.   AETHER came in the middle of the patch there, and it actually turned out longer than the other two, and worked all right.  (The female character was weak, ending needs a lot of work, but it's not a lost cause like the other two.)

    New writers be aware (my agent tried to warn me of this): don't try and write in a way that you're just not good at.  You can try to adapt to the market a bit, choosing one idea instead of another because you know the first is more marketable.  However, if you force your writing too much, it will suffer.

    TWG Posts ()
    #1010 Copy

    Natalie Perkins

    Will we ever find out what EXACTLY gold is? That's been bugging me as well... it doesn't seem complete.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I leave gold intentionally vague, I'm afraid, even by the end of book three.  I do this in novels, particularly when I feel that I might do more books in a world later on.  The events of books two and three don't lend me to spending much time on gold or malatium, so I figure I'll save really digging into them when I can have a character more focused on them.  (I'd someday, for instance, like to do a Malatium or gold Misting and see if I can do anything interesting with them.) 

    Hero of Ages Q&A - Time Waster's Guide ()
    #1011 Copy

    Dalenthas

    Does the Well of Ascension still exist in the new world? Or is it no longer necessary? I assumed that Preservation collected there like Ruin collects in the Pits of Hathsin, so if Atium keeps forming then the well should keep filling...

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Well (and the small wells in the Pits) is no more. For now at least.

    Salt Lake City signing ()
    #1015 Copy

    Questioner

    How does a world that is wracked by Storms supply food for an entire population?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, you um... The thing to keep in mind is, it's not a barren planet. There are lots of plants on this planet. When-- I mean, it's no more barren than a corral reef that deals with the tide rushing in and rushing out. Now, the life has to adapt to it, but it's a really lush planet. You-- I mean, if you go and you look at the Shattered Plains there's grass everywhere and plants growing all over the place. It's just, right before a Storm, it becomes barren and then becomes lush again.

    *long pause* 

    Yeah, that was, um... One of the things I kind of have to overcome with this books is, though it is very rocky and stony, it's also very lush, and it's hard sometimes for people to imagine that. But even if it is a little bit barren, Utah is barren, and it supported people.

    YouTube Spoiler Stream 1 ()
    #1016 Copy

    Gordon Kelsch

    Can Dalinar permanently bring someone back from the Spiritual Realm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. In fact, whether or not the voices he is hearing are legitimately voices from Beyond the Spiritual Realm, or if they're a manifestation much like the visions that the Stormfather creates, where Dalinar's desire for certain things is basically creating... So when Dalinar goes into the visions, what's going on there is: these are not people with autonomy that he is interacting with. These are Investiture manifesting a basic AI that is able to adapt, cause Investiture kind of can do this.

    Dalinar would argue, "Yes, that's the case except for when I actually met Nohadon. That character felt different, that felt like the real Nohadon stretching through the Spiritual Realm and actually interacting." Jasnah would say, "No, that's because, Dalinar, you have such, in your mind, a hope and desire to see Nohadon, he's this mythological figure in your head, that basically the Stormfather's knowledge of who he actually was was creating this much more animated puppet that was more like actually how Nohadon was, but was based on knowledge of the spren and the Investiture that you're interacting with." And Dalinar would say, "I heard Evi's voice." Jasnah would say, "You heard the Investiture coming to life and speaking with her voice the things you needed to hear. And it wasn't that the Stormfather was like, 'He needs to hear this, I'm going to create this fake.' But it's instead your relationship with this magical force that does take on life of its own, manifesting this thing." Which one it is, I do not answer. Both are, I consider, equally valid interpretations of the text, and equally valid interpretations of the magic system.

    Once someone is passed into the Beyond, there is no force that can bring them back, according to people's understanding of the magic system. There is even the argument that Cognitive Shadows are not the person. That the Cognitive Shadow is indeed a spren with the memories and an imprint of the person's personality that becomes self aware and continued on living that person. It's kind of the same question that arises in Star Trek. When you are ripped apart and rebuilt piece by piece with the transporter, some people in Star Trek do not believe you are becoming the same person again. You are then a different individual who has been cloned from the person and had the memories attached. Functionally, in the narrative, for the reader, it's the same. Is it the same soul or not? That question is answered differently by different people in the Cosmere. There are equally valid interpretations from the reader. You get to decide, basically. You get to decide, just like if there's a story where a person's brain is uploaded to a computer, you get to decide: is that the same person? Because we can't do that, we don't know. Is that the exact same individual, or is that a computer simulation of that person, where the person has died? That's what a Cognitive Shadow essentially is, but using Cosmere physics instead of theoretical science fiction physics.

    Orem signing 2014 ()
    #1017 Copy

    mail-mi

    Most of my questions are actually about the Reod Elantrians.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay.

    mail-mi

    So, could they be felt by life sense?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They would, um...they are in the middle of a transformation. I would say that yes they could be, but you're going to get like a stutter is what I'd guess you would get, it's like you would get a...a flashing.

    mail-mi

    Because they're kind of alive, and kind of not alive.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. And so, yeah, you'd just get a flashing sort of....something.

    Orem signing 2014 ()
    #1020 Copy

    mail-mi

    Does a more Investiture-poor world make it so its magics are easier to use off-world? Because, you said that Scadrial is really Investiture-poor, and it can be used easily off-world, but Roshar is very Investiture-rich, and how can you get Stormlight off of Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. Um, I would say that there is a correlation.

    mail-mi

    There is a correlation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mmhmm.

    Orem signing 2014 ()
    #1021 Copy

    mail-mi

    Shouldn't the rest of Roshar be more Earth-like, more Shinovar-like, kind of, with Cultivation on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, you are mistakenly assuming that Cultivation means Earth-like flora and fauna. Roshar is very bountiful, and, um, like it's not a barren land. Um, Roshar is very, um...

    zas678

    Thriving?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's thriving. Yeah, it just has a different ecology. Um, you're mistakenly assuming that our ecology is the only sort that can be bountiful.

    Orem signing 2014 ()
    #1022 Copy

    mail-mi

    What would a Shardblade do to [a "zombie" Elantrian]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, a Shardblade would...oh boy. A Shardblade...a Shardblade would still be dangerous to them, um, the trick is, um, the Shardblade's gonna treat them half alive, half dead. So, it probably would be kind of a flicker, so it depends on when you hit them. It might cut the arm off.

    mail-mi

    It might cut the arm off...

    Brandon Sanderson

    And it might just leave it dead.

    Orem signing 2014 ()
    #1024 Copy

    mail-mi

    Could you spike Elantrian-ness? Like, could you Hemalurgically spike Elantrian-ness?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Theoretically, yes.

    mail-mi

    Could you out of a Reod Elantrian? The zombie ones?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, yes you could.

    mail-mi

    You could?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So what you would be spiking there is their Connection to...to the planet, first. That's gonna be the big important thing. So you're going to overwrite your Connection. Um, and then you're going to....it's going to be a complicated process because you're going to have to spike the actual ability to have been transformed, that's gonna be harder.

    mail-mi

    Okay.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Does that make sense?

    mail-mi

    Yeah, so it's gonna take two spikes.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's gonna take two spikes.

    mail-mi

    Alright.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And you gonna have to get the right Connection to the right place. Let's say you spike somebody from MaiPon, and then you spike an Elantrian, you're not going to be able to use it, you're not connected to the right area.

    Alloy of Law Seattle Signing ()
    #1026 Copy

    Travyl (paraphrased)

    Why do the Twinborn in Alloy of Law have only one Feruchemical power, when all previous Feruchemists, in spite of breeding programs, could use all the metals? 

    WetlanderNW (paraphrased)

    Or were Ferrings always part of the system and we just didn't meet them in Mistborn?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    The Ferrings are a new development since Mistborn, as the Feruchemists have been interbreeding with the Allomancers. Basically, the Allomancy genes interfere with the Feruchemy genes, breaking it down and creating the limitations we see in Alloy of Law.

    Footnote: Brandon's response was very enthusiastic. He noted how perceptive the question was, and obviously enjoyed the discussion. The reporter has expressed their regret at lack of an audio recording to share his enthusiasm.
    #twinborn
    Sources: Tor
    When Worlds Collide 2014 ()
    #1027 Copy

    Gagylpus (paraphrased)

    Is there anything unusual or special about the afterlife on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    There is a "far afterlife" or "real afterlife" that is cosmere-wide, but there is also a "middle afterlife" specific to each world. So Roshar's is different, but so is the afterlife for every world.

    Gagylpus (paraphrased)

    The "far afterlife" is where Vin and Elend go and where Sazed cannot reach them, correct?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Yes.

    Manchester signing ()
    #1035 Copy

    ChocolateRob

    With the Vorin religion split between men and women... do you tend to get women sneaking into the army-- *laughter*

    ChocolateRob

    This does not happen as much on Roshar as it apparently happens in Terry Pratchett novels. I'm sure that on Roshar they have their legends, 'cause basically every culture has their legends and one thing you have to remember is that whole thing is specifically Vorin. That's Alethkar, that's Jah Keved, that's Kharbranth, and Herdaz to a lesser extent and in there they probably have some of those myths and things like that but I don't think it actually happens that much in Roshar. That's my take on it, but I'm sure that they have their mythology.

    Questioner

    I was suspecting that the girl Kaladin mentions a few times may have snuck in.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh right, you've got some-- I've left her intentionally vague.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1036 Copy

    doomdude1234

    In other worlds, are we seeing any magics already? Like, if Allomancy might be on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You've seen people using Allomancy in Roshar before.

    doomdude1234

    [...] I remember reading in in Words of Radiance you said that the only way to get aluminum [on Roshar] was to Soulcast it, right? I think you said something like that... maybe? I thought I read that. I was wondering how that would work, if an Allomancer were to--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Aluminum has some weird properties on all of the magic systems, not just Allomancy. It does not have the same effect, but aluminum has some bizarre effects.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1038 Copy

    EHyde

    And, how were the Radiants able to summon their Shardblades at the Recreance if they'd already decided to break their oaths?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Their Shardblades are part of what brought them to—part of the Oathpact—but breaking the Oathpact did not affect their ability to bond or unbond Shardblades.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1042 Copy

    EHyde

    I was curious about the dye in Hallandren, the Tears of Edgli. So, that can be used to make a whole bunch of different colors, right? Does the flower come in different colors? Or is that something in the dye process, or-?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The flower comes in different colors.

    EHyde

    And it dyes all fiber types the same?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It does not dye all fiber types the same.

    EHyde

    In theory, if they had synthetic fibers would it work on them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say yes.

    EHyde

    Is it more fuel-efficient for Awakening?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Is what more-?

    EHyde

    Like, color used in Awakening-?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Those dyes are very effective for Awakening.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1043 Copy

    EHyde

    I was also wondering, with the Steel Alphabet in the Mistborn books, each of the letters aesthetically looks like it's built from a cuff, a spike, and a bead, and was that intentional to reflect the magic systems?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Do remember that that writing system was developed by the Final Empire. They actually took the ancient Terris symbols and they made them more to their own aesthetic over time.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1044 Copy

    EHyde

    I was wondering, on Roshar, what sort of plants and animals do they use for fabrics, because they don't have a lot of woolly animals and the plants are different?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most of them are plant-based. I think I've mentioned one of the plants. Theirs are plant-based.

    EHyde

    They have silk though, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. It is seasilk, you actually grow it in the water. It's pretty awesome. It comes from the coasts.

    EHyde

    So they don't have anything like our silk, then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you looked at it, you would call that silk, but it is being produced in a very different way.

    EHyde

    But our silk comes from insect cocoons, and they have a lot of that sort of thing, but they don't use it for fiber at all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Insect cocoons on Roshar are either, they melt in water and are tied to the highstorm cycle, or they have stone in them. So they don't work really well for textiles. There are certain rockbuds you can shred the inside of the shell and get a textile from them, there's seasilk which you grow out in the ocean, and there are other plants of a similar nature.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1045 Copy

    RIT

    So, my question is glowing Shardplate and retractable helmets. Is that a similar origin of the Shardblades—

    Brandon Sanderson

    There's a similarity, but they are also very different.

    RIT

    Yeah, I noticed they do seem like advanced fabrials, because Adolin just keeps going on and on about how they're all interchangeable and they all feel comfortable after a while, and it doesn't have the same kind of thing with the Shardblades.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it doesn't. Though a Shardblade, used for a long time, will change shape slightly.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1046 Copy

    RIT

    In all of your books, except for, like, Warbreaker, there's always a very big symbology to your types of magic systems. Like, with the AonDor, with Allomancy. Is that intentional, is that something you have in your head before you get started on your books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Is the symbolism, the symbology, the actual symbols in the books important? The magic systems, a lot of them have these... Is this something that I did intentionally? Yes, it is. When I built the cosmere, I built some underlying rules of magic that I would use in all of the books to give a cohesion. And not every one of these books is going to be very obvious. There will be different takes on them. But for a lot of them, they are sharing these attributes. And you can notice similarities between them. Because when I eventually do cosmere-centric books, I want Allomancy and AonDor to share things in common, so it doesn't feel like everything and the kitchen sink just thrown into a book. But there are underlying reasons and rules and things like that.

    Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing ()
    #1049 Copy

    macros

    Based on what we know currently about ten heartbeats, why does Szeth require ten heartbeats to bring forth his Honorblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perception is a very important part of how these things all work, and remember the Honorblades work differently from everything else. Everything was based upon them. Why don't you read and find out what's going on there, but remember that the characters's perception is very important.

    macros

    So then that's why at one point Shallan requires ten heartbeats and now she doesn't?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, it's the exact same reason that Kaladin's forehead wounds don't heal. Because he views himself as having those somewhere deep inside of him and he can't heal until that gets away. And it works for the same reason why in Warbreaker when you bring something to life, your intention rather than really what you say is what matters. It's all about perception.