Recent entries

Kythis

Is there anything Hoid was scared of? And if so, is it still around, and regardless, was it a person...

Brandon Sanderson

There are many things that Hoid is scared of.  He is really scared of Odium, but there are others.

Kythis

How did Pattern actually become a Shardblade even though he hadn't been fully pulled into the Physical Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

He had been pulled into the Physical Realm before when Shallan was younger, and she almost broke her bond.  And in so doing . . . 

Kythis

But he didn't go mad.

Brandon Sanderson

She didn't completely break the bond.  She didn't reject him completely.  But it was dangerous there for a while.  

Kythis

Is there a specific number of the ideals that they have to do before they can get the Shardblade?  

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on the Order.

Kythis

The name 'Zahel' and 'nahel bonds' are both very similar so is it just coincidental or is it part of . . . ?

Brandon Sanderson

It is part of the linguistics.  They are based off of similar suffixes.  They're actually the same suffix I believe.  

Kythis

Can you hold more than one Honorblade at a time?

Brandon Sanderson

That is theoretically possible.  

Brandon Sanderson

So, since I was doing other things.  Hemalurgy-when you spike, you place the spike in a place that determines which charge the spike gets.  

Kythis

Through the heart seems to pick up universally.

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on where in the heart. It's like acupuncture. This was designed from acupuncture and you get very specific on which nerve you're hitting and things like that

Kythis

So the spike will never pick up more than one power.

Brandon Sanderson

Well, the way they know how to do it.

Kythis

Does Khriss owe Nazh a new coat?

Brandon Sanderson

Is what?

Kythis

Is Khriss owe Nazh a new coat?  That little picture in there where it says 'you owe me a new coat'.  I'm wondering if that's Khriss who owes the coat.  Not going to tell me on that one either?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm gonna stay closed mouthed on Khriss.  

Kythis

So a couple days ago you mentioned this person called Khriss.  Has he actually appeared or been referenced in any. . . 

Brandon Sanderson

She has appeared, and . . . 

Kythis

She.  I guessed as much because one of the pictures said 'Dear Woman' toward the end of the book.  So she has appeared or been referenced.  

Brandon Sanderson

Well, she has appeared in. . . if you ask around about Khriss, she has appeared in unpublished books.

Kythis

Is Khriss the author of some of those Ars [Arcana] perhaps?  

Brandon Sanderson

Oh I don't know.  That's very interesting.  

Kythis

The Annotations is actually what got me started.  And I was wondering do we have any Stormlight ones in the pipeline?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes I have finished Part I of The Way of Kings.  That's not a ton, but I eventually intend to do the entire book.  The problem I've run into is that I reference Way of Kings Prime a whole ton while writing them, because it's what is in my head. 

Kythis

And it's a lot a mixed content.  

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, and so it might be better when I can release Way of Kings Prime to accompany them, but I will be doing that.  

Questioner

So, Sigzil is Hoid's apprentice.

Brandon Sanderson

Sigzil claims that Hoid is his master.

Questioner

Cool, very cool.

Brandon Sanderson

Well, you didn't ask me any questions.  You just made a statement.

Questioner

Is there anything you can tell us about that?

Questioner 2

Is Sigzil a worldhopper?

Brandon Sanderson

Sigzil is not a worldhopper. Sigzil spent some time with Hoid during one of Hoid's visits.

Questioner

I've been wondering if the heralds are Surgebinders without Honorblades?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a RAFO.  That's a big fat RAFO.

Questioner

What do you make of, like you were talking about earlier, you're hoping to be nicer, whereas someone like George R. R. Martin or, what's his name?

Brandon Sanderson

Abercrombie? 

Questioner

Yeah.  They tend to be very graphic.  

Brandon Sanderson

I'm glad there is diversity in the genre.  And I am glad that there is a lot for different people to find and enjoy.  I personally feel that I want my books. . . I find that writing as I said to someone else  *inaudible* and for John?  I find writing about good people put in bad situations is important for me.  And I want to read books about people that have admirable qualities that I want to--People that I want to hang out with.  

Questioner

How does Kelsier meet Gemmel?

Brandon Sanderson

How does Kelsier meet Gemmel.  Gemmel was directed to find Kelsier.  

Questioner

Is Shallan's mother, the one that she kills, is that her birth mother?

Brandon Sanderson

It is.  Good question. Good question.  You had a theory there that I may have just killed.

Questioner

That's okay!

Questioner

Can you tell me anything about Tension or Cohesion?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven't truly written these magics in yet, so they might change as I actually write the scenes. But they are... Tension is the ability to take something flexible and make it rigid. Which you think sounds simple, but there are so many cool things you could do with that.

Questioner

How many books are there going to be and how long is it going to take?  I only have so long to wait.  

Brandon Sanderson

It's two five book series: a five book arc which will come to an end, and then there will be a break, and then another five book arc.  

Questioner

In what time span?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm going to try to do them fast.  It won't be as long between the first and second.  Probably every eighteen months.  

Questioner

Why does Hoid show up in all your books?

Brandon Sanderson

Because all the books are connected, and he's searching for something.

Questioner

Okay, so he can go on another world?

Brandon Sanderson

That is possible.

Brandon Sanderson

Syl's inspiration came from a lot of different places. I'm not sure if I can point to one thing.  The spren are inspired by Japanese mythology, that everything has a soul. That is the original inspiration for it.  But Syl as a character, I'd been toying with forever, and I think she came about as a counterpoint to Kaladin's darkness; a figure of light that I knew that the story would need.

Questioner

Is the term 'babsk' reserved exclusively for merchants?

Brandon Sanderson

No, not exclusively.  I think I even used it one place in Words of Radiance for a non-merchant master.

Questioner

If someone was using an Honorblade, would they be able to bond a spren?

Brandon Sanderson

It is indeed possible.

Questioner

Possible. It doesn't block it in any way.

Brandon Sanderson

It does not block it. Good question. You do not have to bond Honorblades.  Honorblades work with whoever holds them.

Questioner

*inaudible*  mention another Shardblade <is gone>.  *inaudible*  Does Nin still have that?  

Brandon Sanderson

I would suspect that. . . yes.  That's a very good question.  

Questioner

I was thinking about the Shardplate in Dalinar's first vision and how it looks different than any other plate now.  Would that be like how Syl could only transform after he said that second round... or was it third round of oaths, so is the Shardplate just like the next set, or would that be a totally different set of...?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm totally going to RAFO you.  Look you've got a RAFO.  You are asking good questions.

Questioner

When Hoid is talking to Dalinar he seems to expect that Dalinar may have heard of Adonalsium.

Brandon Sanderson

Adonalsium.  Yes.

Questioner

Why is that?  Why would he think that Dalinar would have knowledge about that?

Brandon Sanderson

He thought that Dalinar was part of some of the secret societies on Roshar, and he had thought his way into thinking Dalinar was part of them and that was how Dalinar was knowing certain things he was knowing.  Which he really wasn't, he was getting from the storms and things like this, but he thought that Gavilar had confided things in Dalinar and that Dalinar would know more about this.  And so he was kind of testing to see, and he was wrong.  

Questioner

In Words of Radiance and The Way of Kings, was there something important about the stone and the herald <in> the *inaudible* <scene> that has to do kind of with the stone, and maybe Tien giving him rocks?  Am I reading too much into that?  

Brandon Sanderson

Some of that is reading too much into it and some of it is real. I'm not going to tell you what is what. But the st-. . . there is definitely something about that.  

Questioner

We all appreciate that you write real heroes who always try to do what's right, instead of the anti-hero.

Brandon Sanderson

There is a lot of anti-hero out there right now.  And I will let that to other writers.  I am more interested in people who are basically good people who are sometimes put in very difficult situations.  That is more fascinating to me than someone who has no morals or has very little of them.  

Questioner

So Wit, is he in any other books besides The Way of Kings?  

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.  He has a nice big feature in Warbreaker.  He appears in all the others just in little pieces here and there.  In Warbreaker there is a storyteller that she meets with the dust and things like that and his name his Hoid.  

Questioner

What was the other one you said?

Brandon Sanderson

He's in all of them, but in Elantris he's a guy with a hidden face that Sarene hires to carry supplies into Elantris.  In Mistborn he's a guy that Kelsier meets with that pretends to be blind, but then Kelsier notices he is not really blind.  He's an informant that Kelsier gets information from.  

Questioner

If I were to start reading your books, which you would recommend I start with?

Brandon Sanderson

Normally, I recommend that people either start with a book called Mistborn or a book called Warbreaker.  Warbreaker is a standalone.  It has a little more romance to it and it's a little lighter. Mistborn is a little more action oriented and a little more plot focused.  So it just depends what you're interested in.  

Questioner

Do you get to work with illustrators?

Brandon Sanderson

I do.  In fact, the interior artists I hire myself, just to make sure that they look the way I want them to. The cover illustrator, normally author's don't have much control over that.  I'm kind of a special case, and so I've been able to pick my cover illustrator for the last few books, and so I have a lot of influence over these sorts of things.  It's not standard.  I think the artistic design of these books is very important.  

Questioner

Do you get any of yours [inspiration from mythology]?  Like I know you mentioned sciences and physics. 

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah a lot of science and physics is where it's coming from.  A lot of, I mean, having lived in Korea for two years, and speaking Korean, a lot of my linguistics come from Korean, and the idea of Spren comes from Asian mythology: the idea that everything has a soul.  So that's an inspiration.  

Questioner

I want to look into ancient Asian culture, and it sound like something to do.  

Brandon Sanderson

There's that.  I would bet that the three kingdoms stuff has some influence on me, and Sun Tzu's Art of War has been an influence on me, and things like that.

Questioner

The Mistborn video game.  Still working on that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.  We are still working on that.  They are moving very slow.  And I am disappointed by how slow they are moving, and I had dinner with the producer a week ago.  He says it's still coming, but I don't know when.  He says Christmas time 2015.  I'm skeptical.  

Questioner

Do you ever find you own stories, your own characters, coming back and influencing you?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.  More, it's like I have these things I'm really interested in.  And so I find myself rounding those things again and again.  And I've actually started a list of 'You've covered this thing, Brandon.  You can't do this one anymore'.  Just because I work in the cosmere where everything is connected, so the underlying physics of the books are sometimes very similar.  And so I just have to be very careful not to repeat myself too much.  

Questioner

As an English teacher, what inspired you to be a fantasy writer?

Brandon Sanderson

I was inspired by the book Dragonsbane which was given to me by an eighth-grade English teacher at Lincoln East High School, who was convinced I was reading below my level and felt I needed to be stepping up my game a little bit. And she took me to the back of the room and had me browse on her little shelf of books that she'd read, that she'd recommend to me. And that book worked for me.  It probably shouldn't have - it's about a middle-aged woman having a midlife crisis - but I loved it.

Questioner

How many drafts do you usually go through for a book? 

Brandon Sanderson

It really depends on the book.  The highest number I believe was one of the Wheel of Time Books, which would have been 14, and I would say more commonly 5 or 6 is what's normal.

Questioner

Do you read non-fiction at all?  I'm a history grad student.  I'm reading some of your stuff.  I was kind of wondering if you ever did get inspiration from history or things like that?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes I do like them.  I really like pop history books.  So if you've got any good suggestions, just like you know, history of war, history of. . .  Honestly, I end up at the Barnes and Noble browsing their discount things for pop history and pop science books, and you find really interesting ones there a lot of the time.  

Questioner

So, if someone went to Shadesmar on Scadrial would the whole ground-water inversion, is that a Cosmere wide thing?

Brandon Sanderson

That you will have to read and find out about.  I will say that there are places in Shadesmar that are different and there are places that are the same as what you see on Roshar.  

Questioner

So the Cognitive realm.  Is Shadesmar a Roshar specific term?

Brandon Sanderson

Shadesmar is Roshar specific term, but when I translate from what other people are saying in these books I just translate it to Shadesmar.  So for instance when Wit is talking about it he's going to call it Shadesmar.  He's just going to use the Roshar term. But no, Shadesmar  is what it's called there.  

Questioner

What was that plot point you were talking about  where you had to change it?

Brandon Sanderson

Kaladin kept the blade and plate in the original version of The Way of Kings.

Questioner

Are they any other continents on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Roshar is, I haven't said that there's anything else out there, but I have said it's pangea, meaning if there's anything else out there, they are small.  They are not of a similar scope and size.  Now on Scadrial, there is other stuff going on.  And I've told people that for years, and years, and years.  So, you may find some other stuff going on there.  For years, you know, the southern continent was populated on Scadrial during the Final Empire era, even.  It was just impossible to reach because the heat, the poles were the only habitable places on that planet, and so anything in between, you just couldn't deal with it.  The Final Empire was on the North Pole.  

Questioner

How do you start a new book?

Brandon Sanderson

I start with an outline.  I like very detailed outlines, and I like to know where I'm going before I start.  If I don't have an ending in mind I'm in trouble.  So, I will often spend a lot of time imagining that I'm *inaudible*, you know, walking on the treadmill or going for a walk or something, and getting through my head just what I would imagine being the cool scenes from this book.  What are the scenes that people are going to want to read, that are going to make it all come together.  And then I build those into my outline.  And I usually outline backward, start with those cool scenes, and then I write my book forward.  

Questioner

Will there be more romantic sub-plots?  I really enjoyed the section with Shallan and Kabsal.

Brandon Sanderson

There will be more romantic subplots.  There will definitely be.   If you watch there will be a lot more.  I am a fan of romance.  

Emma

How old were you when you started writing?

Brandon Sanderson

I was fifteen when I started writing my first book.  It wasn't very good.  I had to practice a long time before they started getting good.  

Questioner

Will Joel become a Rithmatist?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh that's totally a RAFO.  Here's your RAFO.  

Questioner

Are you going to release more Laws of Magic?

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe.  The three that I have are really solid.  I'll have to see if there's anything else I would want to write.  It partially is while I learn.  There's kind of two unofficial laws right: Law 0 which is err on the side of a process, and then there's a law about trying to make everything interconnected.  But that kind of blends into the three, right?  So I'm not sure if I need a new law for that one or not.  

Questioner

Are you going to release more of your online lectures?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. As I do them, or at least in this year, and kind of collecting them on my website this time to make it a little bit easier to find them and things like that. I actually have a substitute teaching right now who is being recorded, and those will go up this time, too. So you'll get a lecture from Howard and a lecture from Eric, who has been *inaudible* short story writer who has been published in Teen.

Macen

You've pretty much implied yes [to bonding more than one spren].

Brandon Sanderson

I did not say yes.

Questioner

You implied.  <What about> more than one type of spren?  Different types of spren?

Brandon Sanderson

Let's see what happens.  This is not impossible.  

Macen

Is her [Shallan's] father affected by Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Macen

So question about Shallan's mother.  What secret group, if any, was she a part of?

Brandon Sanderson

*laughs* RAFO, but you are right she was indeed involved.  

Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, they can't help but be.  I remember sitting out on my porch as a kid, the storms blowing the other direction so it didn't get me, and just swinging on the porch swing watching the storm.  Those are the storms I know, so I would say when I'm describing them I'm thinking that.  But the original inspiration was the storm of Jupiter, the constant storm, and granted as a gas giant it is very different.

Questioner

So in the first book, there's a chapter where you have some scientists talking about spren, and they seem to be describing <superposition> and science.  I was wondering, does that actually play into the books?

Brandon Sanderson

It does, but it's just really behind the scenes.  This is just helping you understand the nature of spren and kind of their relationship to sub-atomic particles and quantum theory and things like this.  There are relationships there, but it's even one or two steps further than what you see in actual Quantum Physics, Right?  

Questioner

Will it play in more?

Brandon Sanderson

It will.  In this book, you get even a discussion of the theory on spren that should relate right back to that.

Questioner

Oh good!  I can't wait.

Brandon Sanderson

Watch for stuff that Jasnah says about Spren and things like this.  It does relate.  But this is all kind of world-building stuff.  It's not part of the main story.  It's fun for scientists.  

Questioner

So do you know quite a bit about what the end of the <Stormlight series> is going to be?

Brandon Sanderson

I do.  I do indeed.  I've actually written the epilogue of Book 5.  

Questioner

Oh yeah?

Brandon Sanderson

Just to get into my head.  I wrote it out.  Peter, my assistant, sent an exclamation point after he saw that appear in the Wiki and stuff.  So yes.  And actually the ending of the entire series of the ten books is somewhere in those two books, just like with Mistborn it was in the first page.  It's not on the first page but it is in those two books.