Recent entries

    Steelheart Portland signing ()
    #14501 Copy

    komekoro

    Wayne mentions a nervous habit that gets cut off, can you tell us what that nervous habit is?

    lunarubato

    Please.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Alright, give me the full context of this please...

    lunarubato

    It was after the battle on the train, and Wax basically… Wax basically says "There's worse things than being genuine. Why, before blah blah blah, before Wayne would, Wayne used to basically get so nervous that he'd start…" And then Wayne cuts him off.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, okay. Yeah, Wayne had a really, really, deep stutter when he was younger, and that, I believe, is what I was referencing.

    lunarubato

    Yay.

    Kogiopsis

    That's adorable.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So if you can imagine poor Wayne and his poor stutter.

    The Well of Ascension Annotations ()
    #14503 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you didn't see the Zane/Kelsier comparison later, I bring it up here. In a way, Zane's purpose in this book is to represent things that Vin never really had an opportunity to choose.

    She ended up with Elend. However, there is another option, and that was the option that Kelsier represented. The option that Zane represents. Despite her assurances to Elend that she didn't love Kelsier, there WAS something there. Kelsier had a magnetism about him, and since he died, Vin didn't ever have to choose between him and Elend.

    The Well of Ascension Annotations ()
    #14504 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    This fight is for the Allomancy junkies. I don't think there's another one quite as technical as it is in the entire rest of the series.

    I try to give variety to how my fight scenes are handled. The spar between Ham and Vin was quick and visual. This fight is all about pushes, pulls, and weight. I fear that it's pretty hard to imagine, and unless you're really into Allomancy, I suspect that many of you skimmed most of it.

    Yet, writing a book is about putting in lots of things for lots of different people, I think. Allomancy is fun because of its versatility–I can to all kinds of things with it. This was just one of them.

    So, if you really like how Allomancy works–with the pushes and pulls, the vectors, mass, acceleration, and all that, this is a present for you. A chapter really showing off what two Mistborn can do when expertly manipulating their powers.

    The Well of Ascension Annotations ()
    #14506 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    Chapter Seventeen

    So, now the Watcher is named. I didn't originally intend him to remain mysterious for so long. In fact, in the original draft, I had a viewpoint from him fairly early on. That's been moved back in this version, to make things flow more quickly at the beginning, but also so that you could form your opinion of him externally first. He has a. . .particular way of seeing the world, and I felt it better to introduce that later, so that it wouldn't overshadow the other aspects of his personality quite as much.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #14508 Copy

    Questioner

    Was the Rose Empire ever under threat from Shu-Dereth? And can you speak a little bit on fitting The Emperor's Soul into a world you'd already created?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So was the Rose Empire ever in danger from Shu-Dereth and could I speak a little about fitting The Emperor's Soul into a world I'd already written. So when I designed Elantris, I knew where I was going, and I knew a lot about the world. This is how I am in building. So when I wanted to do The Emperor's Soul I already knew where I was going to place it, I knew which magic system I was working toward, and things like that. So it wasn't terribly hard since I already knew what was over there.

    The fun about that is that you should go look at the map commissioned, the one Isaac drew, that's done by the Derethi and see how they view the Rose Empire and where they put it on their map. And then you'll eventually get a map of the whole world, and let's just say they don't have a really accurate representation of the world and their place in it. As was very common for a lot of early societies, early European maps are hilarious.

    Steelheart Portland signing ()
    #14509 Copy

    Joshstormblessed (paraphrased)

    What is the stone that Gavilar gave to Szeth before he died?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Good question, there are clues to what it is. (I'm going to try to get this answer right) if you decode [Navani's notebook] in the beginning of The Way of Kings you will find some significant clues to what the stone is. The [notebook] has already been decoded over at the 17th shard but I've never confirmed that those clues are in fact there. So go tell the 17th shard I confirmed that and they will love you for it. 

    Steelheart Portland signing ()
    #14510 Copy

    Joshstormblessed (paraphrased)

    I've noticed that in both Elantris and Roshar there are specific shapes to the cities and in both instances there are chasms. Is there a connection between the two worlds?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Oooo:) Yes there is definitely a connection there. As you know all of these worlds are part of a universe and my magic systems share basic rules. So you'll see similarities.

    Joshstormblessed (paraphrased)

    And the chasms?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    *smiles mischievously*

    Steelheart Portland signing ()
    #14516 Copy

    Questioner (paraphrased)

    Someone asked Brandon why the general feel of Steelheart is so similar to Final Empire.

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    He said that was due to his love of heist stories. A group of thieves tasking themselves to do the impossible is just one of his favorite types of stories. Knowing this, Brandon did consciously try to make Steelheart a different flavor of heist from [The Final Empire].

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14518 Copy

    Questioner (Paraphrased)

    Why do you have so many series going on at once instead of finishing one of them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A couple of reasons. The main one is that it's the way I stay fresh as a writer, I find that I get burned out on things. Another main one is that I feel if I'm not practicing different styles, I'll get into a rut, and my writing will repeat itself. It's kind of like a philosophical reason and an instinctual one. I tell people who are annoyed that I'm not writing Stormlight that you wouldn't get Stormlight any faster if I weren't writing these other books in between - you might get it more slowly, because it's working on other things that really rejuvenates me as a writer. So I would be writing at a [Patrick] Rothfuss speed if I weren't jumping between things.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14520 Copy

    Questioner (Paraphrased)

    What was your involvement with the Infinity Blade franchise?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What happened there was, I came in when the first game was already made. They said we'd really like to do something, and I really like the guys, they're friends of mine, and I'm like, "You don't have a story here. You've got to have a protagonist and things like this." So then I said, "Okay, let's take what you have, tell me what you have for the world, and let's brainstorm together, and let's construct a narrative. And so we did it together. We spent a lot of time in their offices constructing the next two games, then I was able to write the novellas between the two.

    Questioner

    So did you have any input on the game stories, then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I did. I had a lot of influence, though I did not write the dialogue, so sometimes it's a little bit cringe-worthy. They sent me the script, but I just didn't have time to go over the scripts for them. Sometime I'd like to actually do a game with them, because they make great games.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14521 Copy

    Questioners (Paraphrased)

    *Exact transcription impossible as everyone is talking over each other* Basically a couple of fans were talking with Brandon about making Legion into a TV series; one person thought that in the pilot, the aspects need to be actors, while the other thought that (for the pilot only) they should not be seen, so Stephen looks like a wacky eccentric talking to himself about solving mysteries, and then the episodes would reveal the individuality of the aspects.

    Brandon Sanderson

    *paraphrase* Brandon agreed that the second approach would be very clever, but that it would be very hard to convince (someone - not sure if it was himself, or the aspects, or who!) to do that, because he has them all cast in his head.

    *verbatim* Normally I don't cast actors in the roles in my books, they're just who they are, but each of the aspects is an actor to me. If you look really closely, you might be able to guess who they are, because they're all famous actors.

    We sold it to Lionsgate, and they never made it, and the option lapsed. We've sold it to somebody else now, but we’ll see if it ever gets made.

     

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14522 Copy

    Questioner (Paraphrased)

    In the acknowledgements of Firefight you promised that if you ever became an Epic you would go after your alpha, beta, and gamma readers last. What would their best defense be, i.e what would your weakness be?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mac'n'cheese? Well, No 'cause I like mac'n'cheese too much. Fish sticks. It would be fish sticks.

    Questioner

    I thought you disliked fish sticks.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Exactly. That's why they'd be my weakness.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14523 Copy

    Questioner

    When is the second book of The Rithmatist coming out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I haven't written it yet. I started doing the research, and it was so much work I realized I needed more time to do it, because I'm going to South America in it, and I just needed to know South American cultures better, so I decided I need to take another year to do research. So I'm doing research for it right now, I'm going to write it hopefully after I finish the next Stormlight book, and then we'll release it soon after. So it's a little ways away.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14524 Copy

    Questioner

    What do you think is the difference between SciFi and Fantasy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    SciFi works with the improbable becoming reality; Fantasy works with the impossible pretending to be reality. I think the line is between what could be and what can't be. By my definition, that kind of takes Star Wars into Fantasy. I don't necessarily like Asimov's definitions, just because he was very down on fantasy. A lot of the fantasy of his era was very Conan-ish. He was a great writer, I respect his fiction a lot, but I don't think he gave fantasy its fair due.

    I would count Star Trek definitely science fiction, they're trying to talk about - even though they're using fantastical teleporters and stuff - they're trying to say this is what's possible. It's social science fiction, a lot of it.

    Questioner

    But wouldn't you say Star Wars is really both?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say it’s a mash-up hybrid. It’s a fantasy magic system in a space opera science fiction setting.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14525 Copy

    Questioner

    In Sixth of the Dusk, it feels like it's a crossover...

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is true.

    Questioner

    So is it a planet that we've seen before, or...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Well, you have seen the people they are calling the "Ones Above".

    Questioner

    And you're not going to tell any more?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nope.

    Questioner

    When will we know?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, fifteen years maybe? Hopefully it won't take me that long, but I only just finished the outlines for Era 3 Mistborn, which is now what we're calling the 1980s, so I haven't even at the moment got the sketches of the sci-fi one, I don't have the outlines and things. So in other words, we aren't to the science fiction era; we're a ways off from that.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14526 Copy

    Questioner

    What was the main inspiration for Elantris?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My main inspiration for Elantris was reading in the New Testament, actually, about lepers and leper colonies, and wanting to write a story about a magical leper colony. And that's where the idea for the people who got this disease, and the city, and everything like that.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14527 Copy

    lightningrani

    Can you tell me anything about Kaladin's maternal grandparents?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Let's just say that his mother [Hesina]--you're asking a very astute question--gave up more than most people gave up in that city to go be what she became. She's definitely fallen in social standing since her childhood. She took a hit.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14528 Copy

    Questioner

    Do you have any word on the Mistborn video games that are coming out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have no official word, other than to say that we did option the rights to the film to the people who are making the video game, and told them, "You have to make the video game or you can't make the film." I actually really like them, and their script treatments on the film are great. And it's not their fault, really, that the game hasn't taken off. It's just that they've had - these things happen in video games. The studio they were working with went under, and another one split, and this sort of stuff happens.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14529 Copy

    Questioner

    Elantris, though, how you came out with The Emperor's Soul, it didn't involve any of the magic or anything, I have a feeling they're going to collide?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, there will be - you will see much more of that. Definitely.

    Questioner

    So we'll be able to see the actual Elantris again? Shining and beautiful again?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, you will.

    Questioner

    It was very sad, to see them all in pain, the continual pain and...

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the reasons I wrote Warbreaker was that I didn't think I could get back to Elantris yet, but I realized I'd written this entire book about the city of the gods, and you never got to see the city of the gods. So Warbreaker was another take on that idea.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14531 Copy

    Questioner

    There was the poem at the end of Way of Kings. How long did that take?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It took an embarrassingly long amount of time. I am not a poet, so mixing poetry with a really rigid form... Yes, the keteks take a long time. Both of them.

    Wetlander

    Are you going to do that in every book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A ketek? Yes, I probably will do that.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14534 Copy

    Questioner

    In The Emperor's Soul - when did you decide to change the beginning?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was Mary, from the podcast with me, is very good at short fiction. She read it, and she said, "This intro is just holding the story back." And I read it again, and I'm like, I really feel that she's right. I felt at the end of it that the intro was interesting for people who liked Hoid already, but for people who didn't, it was just distracting and confusing. So at the end of the day, I cut it out, and I think it was a good move, even though it was sad. If you google the phrase "killing your darlings". it's a phrase we talk about in writing and storytelling. That scene was what made me want to write the book, it's what started me off in writing the book, and then I cut it out. But sometimes you have to end up doing that.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14535 Copy

    Questioner

    At the end of A Memory of Light, it mentions that Rand is no longer ta'veren - does that apply to Mat and Perrin as well? And if it does, how does it apply to Mat's luck?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Everything I'm saying right now is not 100% canon, because I'm only working off of my guesstimates based on his notes. I believe that Mat's luck is a soul attribute that is independent of him being a ta'veren, but enhanced by his ta'veren nature. Part of the proof of this is the Heroes of the Horn knowing him as Gambler, which means in other Ages when he's been born and not been ta'veren, he's still had luck and attraction to things like that. Plus things in the notes, I'm basing on that. So it does not necessarily mean they aren't ta'veren right now, but even if they weren't, I think Mat would still have his luck.

    Questioner

    So you don't know whether they're ta'veren or not?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do not know. My suspicion is that if he would have written the outriggers, Mat still would have been, and maybe Perrin, because Perrin was going to be in the outriggers, we know this. But I don't know for sure.

    But I think it would have been fun, if in some parallel dimension if I were to have written them, which I'm never going to, I would have not made Mat ta'veren, or Perrin, I would have made Tuon ta'veren, and forced Mat to deal with someone else who was ta'veren, which I think would have been interesting.

    Questioner

    Can women be ta'veren? Because in the entire series there is not a single female ta'veren.

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is not, but I'm very sure that they can be, based on things that I read in the notes. So, that's what I would have done, but I don't know if that's what Robert Jordan would have done. Can you just imagine that, Mat having to think that he's in someone else's story now?

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14538 Copy

    Questioner

    What was your inspiration for Sixth of the Dusk? It feels so, Polynesian or Hawaiian...

    Brandon Sanderson

    I love Hawaiian and Polynesian culture, and it was basically me reading some stories about Kamehameha, and his unification of the islands, and all this stuff, and I'm like, "Ah, I've got to use this someday." It was years later before I got to use it, but I did find a time to use it. And then we got Kekai [Kotaki] to do the illustration, and he's Polynesian, so...

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14539 Copy

    Questioner

    Do you ever have trouble keeping your characters straight? How long does it take to get back into them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If I stop writing and go back, it is hard. It takes about a month to get back into a story after I stop. I don't get the characters mixed up.

    Questioner

    *audio obscured*

    Brandon Sanderson

    I try to, but I don't always manage it, because of deadlines and things. It's always going to cost me, and I know it will, sometimes you can't avoid that. In the old days, I never did it, when I didn't have a publisher, but now it's my job. When they say, "We need this revision done," I stop and do the revision, but it costs me.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14540 Copy

    Questioner

    I read online, something about one of your original drafts, [I think it was about] Gavilar, and it was where he was blind?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah that was actually Taravangian, in the oldest version. One of the very first things I wrote was that, though Taravangian had a different name then, and was very different. Szeth has stayed the same through all the revisions. Kaladin has changed wildly, and almost everybody has changed dramatically, except Szeth is the same person. Him and Dalinar are the same.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14541 Copy

    Questioner

    Infinity Blade - are there other plans to continue with that, and are they going to release a print edition?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What the plan is right now, if I can convince them to do it, is to do a nice print edition that will include the script of the first one, annotated by the guys who wrote it, my story in between, then the script for the second, then my story, then the script of the third, so it's a complete story, with the cut scenes illustrated, and things like that. So even a graphic novel, then prose, then a graphic novel - something like that.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14542 Copy

    Questioner

    In the Mistborn trilogy, was it hard to write the final twist, or had it been planned that way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is always the way it was planned. There are some smaller things that I'll allow spontaneity to change the book, but the general structure of the book is always planned out. And if something changes while I'm writing I go and throw away the plan and rebuild the plan, so I'm always writing with a plan.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14543 Copy

    Questioner

    One thing when I was reading The Alloy of Law, in Mistborn, all the [Feruchemists] were the Mistborn version of [Feruchemy], and then it changed to the Misting version of [Feruchemy]. Is there...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, there's a reason for that, and I'll delve into it a bunch more later, but basically, there's two things going on. Number one, the bloodlines have thinned, and that's the reason they're talking about [here]. Also, full-blooded Feruchemists mixing, like the populations mixed, is really dangerous, and Sazed knew this. So, I'll just leave it at that.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14545 Copy

    Questioner

    Why couldn't Joel be a Rithmatist? He wanted it so bad.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will explain as the series progresses. That is a plot point. Every book like that, they get the power in the end, and I thought it was a much more interesting story if he has half - the knowledge - and Melody has half - the talent - and together they create a whole. It just worked, and it was much better for me as a story. I knew going into it that he wasn't going to be able to by the end of the book, but the reasons for it you'll find out as the series progresses.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14546 Copy

    Questioner

    I was wondering if you were thinking along the lines of a movie of Alcatraz?

    Brandon Sanderson

    We tried really hard. We actually even got storyboards and things with Dreamworks Animation, which was going to be awesome, but then they eventually let it die. So if you buy the big art Dreamworks Animation book, there's actually Alcatraz concept art on one of the pages, which is kind of excruciating that it never happened.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14547 Copy

    Questioner

    I loved the ending of Words of Radiance. When you come up with an idea for a new cosmere book, do you have to go "Oh, now I have to figure out how this fits in with everything else", or do you have it pre-made?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have a few little holes that I can slot things into, and I try to get them to fit the roles, like I know there are certain things that need to happen, and if it doesn't fit the role, I just go ahead and make it a minor planet, like Shadows for Silence, where I can write a story, but I can't put as much magic into those books. So I've got a few restrictions on me, but I think that's important for maintaining the continuity.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14548 Copy

    Wetlander

    Human, spren, Splinter, Sliver, Shard, Adonalsium - which of these is most similar ontologically to Nakomi?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *laughter* I can't say anything about Nakomi! Robert Jordan did not want anything said about Nakomi! I can't say anything at all about Nakomi! Dig into the notes when they are released, and then you can find out things said about Nakomi. The little tiny hints we have, I told you he wrote that thing at the end, and I'm like well, okay. So.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14549 Copy

    Wetlander

    Have you actually written out the Diagram, and Words of Radiance, and so on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, heavens, no. That's the sort of thing that falls into the worldbuilder's disease thing; there's no way that writing those out is worth the effort, so no, I have not. Definitely not the Diagram. If I were going to write any of them, I would write The Way of Kings, but even that, it's probably 30 or 40 thousand words in-world.

    Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
    #14550 Copy

    Wetlander

    When Shallan does Lightweaving, is that a combination of Illumination and Transformation, or is Lightweaving just of Illumination?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lightweaving is just of Illumination. Lightweaving is a long-established power in the cosmere. Very early books, in fact one of the very first stories I ever wrote, Lightweaving was the magic. (That story is unpublished, written long ago - long before Liar of Partinel) And so, this stems from my own personal affection for illusion and my feeling that it had not been used as well as I wanted it to be used in fantasy fiction. So I consider it only Illumination truly in The Stormlight Archive.