Recent entries

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14759 Copy

    djscrub

    Since burning Feruchemically charged metal seems to require a choice between getting the Allomantic or Feruchemical property (e.g., Miles only sees gold ghosts when he wants to, not as a side effect of compounded healing), is there any special advantage to compounding pewter and tin, where the Allomantic and Feruchemical use is the same? Is their compounding even stronger than normal compounding because you can tap both power sources simultaneously, or maybe because Preservation is particularly attuned to providing those powers through those metals?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Remember that compounding is a "hack" of the magic. You're looking to fool the magics, and use one to power the other. The value in it is that you can use Allomantic power to fuel Feruchemy. It's like hooking a power cord up to a device that, up to that point, you'd powered by using a hand crank.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14760 Copy

    danimalod

    I also just finished Shadows of Self and was thinking about what would happen if a kandra tried to eat a shade. If they don't have bones, it probably can't happen I guess. But maybe a shade that was a kandra could be pretty frightening.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, a kandra couldn't eat a Shade. And how scary the shade kandra would be depends entirely on the kandra, I'd figure...

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14761 Copy

    Phantine

    So... CS question here, I'm seeing identity as essentially a 'encryption' on the metalmind - the spike has the decryption key to existing metalminds, but when you encrypt a new one you use your personal encryption key with the spike's hardware, so you still have compounding access to the metalminds even after removing the spike.

    Is it possible for there to be a 'key collision' with Identity? Two people just randomly end up making compatible metalminds, because the pieces of their Identities that the magic looks like happen to be the same.

    Brandon Sanderson

    This would be about as likely as two unrelated people ending up with the exact same genetic sequence.

    But, so far as I understand, that WOULD be possible.

    Lucadaw

    So identical twins could share metalminds ?

    Brandon Sanderson

    :) RAFO.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14762 Copy

    Xluxaeternax

    Is the chronology through the whole cosmere fairly linear, or are there some Interstellar-relativity timey-wimey stuff at play?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Relativity is in play for sure, but I am not allowing time travel into the past in the cosmere. So while you might find places that move at slower/faster speeds, and while foreseeing future timelines is in play for sure, nobody will not be pulling serious time travel shenanigans.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14763 Copy

    Phantine

    A friend of mine was thinking Harmony's two-power combination 'perk' was the ability to use them together to create instead of just to destroy or preserve.

    Was that 'chemical reaction' rule in the plan from the beginning, or was having Harmony more a precedent to develop a rule from it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It was pretty early. (The idea that the two together can create was mentioned very early in the series, long before Harmony came to be.)

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14764 Copy

    Phantine

    Dumb personal-obsession question - mistwraiths are people with "a blockage between the Physical and the Cognitive Realms" - does that mean if they set foot on Threnody they turn into actual undead-type-wraiths?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a very cool theory. I don't think I can shoot it down.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14765 Copy

    zotsandcrambles

    Have we seen any soul-stamped objects in any of the non-Sel books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    For you to have seen this, someone would have to have cracked the issue with Sel magics losing power greatly when taken from the planet.

    zotsandcrambles

    Is this a feasible task for someone like Shai or Hoid? We know the Moon Scepter is a Rosetta stone, so the task seems less daunting, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The task is less daunting for certain. I don't want to say more, however, as I think the clues are there about Sel's magic, and I want to avoid saying too much.

    zotsandcrambles

    Thanks for taking the time (again) to answer me!

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, here's the thing. The problem with magic on Sel is not one people are looking at the right way. And I'm really loathe to dig into it more, because I won't be able to write the books set on the world for a few more years yet.

    Already, great moments in upcoming books aren't going to be as powerful to the hardcore fans, as they'll know the answers already.

    But your theory, while very cool, wouldn't work--and stems from you attacking the problem in the wrong way.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14766 Copy

    Bat_Mannington

    If a Windrunner lashed Wax upwards, could he dump all of his weight into his metalminds and be unaffected or would the lashing affect his clothes and whatever else he had on him too?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wax could mitigate the effect (unless he was in a vacuum) but not eliminate it completely.

    faragorn

    Vacuum or freefall?

    It can be easy to confuse them in the context of surface to orbit.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I was talking about a Vacuum, but it's good to clarify. What I'm saying is that without wind resistance, his mass doesn't matter--and the books have established that what Wax does is a freakish transformation of his mass, not just his weight.

    Kaladin changes how much gravity pulls on someone, and in what direction. Wax (basically, it's more complex than this) changes how much mass he has. The two, then, have some very distinctive effects.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14769 Copy

    tay95

    A theme throughout a lot of the Cosmere novels is that form, of one sort or another (patterns, aons, etc.) has a crucial role to play in unlocking or using Investiture.

    As a chemist, I'm curious about the role of form in Allomancy and Feruchemy. Does the underlying molecular or crystalline structure of the metal or alloy play a roll? Different processes, doping ratios, and metal mixtures result in different molecular packing, lattices, and ultimately structure. It seems like that kind of very defined, orderly matrix would be right in line with other forms of unlocking Investiture.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes! I've actually mentioned to people before that the chemistry of the various metals acts, for Allomancy, in the same way that the Aons work for AonDor. It's more a key than it is a source of power itself.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14770 Copy

    danimalod

    I just read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and loved it. How did the first shade come to be? Are there shades in other worlds? Do shades have bones?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Shades are what we call "Cognitive Shadows" in the cosmere. They're basically "spren" or "[seons]" created from human souls. (Where Investiture--or magical power--keeps a consciousness alive after it has lost its Physical connection.) Yes, shades all once had bodies.

    Think of them like petrified souls, where instead of stone replacing the tissue of a corpse, magical power replaced the parts of a soul that connect that soul to the Three Realms.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14771 Copy

    JamesCRNA

    There seem to be several black trinkets in your books (Vin's obsidian chunk, the polished-to-a-metallic-look pendant Roadan receives as a wedding present, & the sphere Gavilar gives to Szeth) My question is...are these things related?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. Unfortunately, you've seen a coincidental connection. Several of these things are important, but for different reasons.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14772 Copy

    JamesCRNA

    Is there any substance that reflects Allomantic power? (For example, such that a Coinshot could appear to be a Lurcher if this substance were behind the piece of metal being Pushed, or perhaps said Coinshot could Push things around a corner if this substance were angled properly?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Nothing like this is known right now.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14773 Copy

    yurisses

    If Miles stored a very tiny bit of health into a gold bead and then burned it, what would happen? Would he see goldshadows for a time and then obtain Compounded health when reaching the charged part of the bead? Would the bead be evenly charged and deliver only health, no gold shadows, but at a very low rate since only little health was loaded in it? Would the bead be evenly charged and deliver only health, but at a standard rate the user would always get when compounding?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He'd hack the system to deliver health for a short time instead of doing what it was supposed to do, but only until the small portion of gold Invested with his Investiture ran out.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14776 Copy

    jmass12

    Quick question on genetics and investiture on Scadrial. Is it weird that Wax would have a different Allomantic power than his predecessors, or does it only matter that you have the ability in the first place, and then it takes different forms generation to generation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Great question! I don't think anyone has asked it.

    It is the second of your two theories. The power manifests differently in different people; specific powers are not hereditary.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14777 Copy

    bmanny

    At what point in your writing did the ending of [Shadows of Self] become a thing in your mind? Was is there from the beginning? Did it unfold naturally? Or was it something you saw before even writing [The Alloy of Law]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I wrote Alloy of Law as kind of a free write. Once I finished it, and liked it a lot, I sat down and said, "Okay, if this is going to be Mistborn, it needs to have a tighter series outline." So I outlined three sequels, so I knew where Wax and the characters were going. Then I wrote the prologue of Alloy of Law. (It originally didn't include that scene with him and Lessie meeting Bloody Tan.) That scene was the first I wrote knowing the entire three book sequence, including the ending of SofS.

    From there, I did a revision of Alloy of Law to match what was to come. The biggest change was adding in the trauma to Wax, which wasn't a piece of the initial story. (It was also something the book needed. Wax didn't have an arc in the original draft; he was kind of just "stoic sheriff." Building into him this longing to escape responsibility, and an underlying worry that his failures would break him, made it possible to create for him a four book arc.)

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14778 Copy

    AmbiguousPuzuma

    In Chapter 19 of The Way of Kings, when Dalinar has a vision of fighting Voidbringers (maybe something else?) as a farmer, he says that he felt the Thrill in the vision. Does this mean that Nergaoul was active there, at the time that vision was "recorded" or was it Dalinar's viewing of the vision that was affected by the Thrill? Would the actual person whose perspective he was seeing have felt the Thrill if he had fought?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a great question, and one I've never been asked before. The answer is going to be a little vague.

    First, Dalinar could have felt the Thrill from Nergaoul, and imported it into the vision.

    Second, Nergaoul could have been active then, and the farmer could have felt it when he fought.

    So both theories are valid. Which is it? I am going to hang back from answering this for now, as I am digging more into the Unmade in a future book.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14779 Copy

    WeiryWriter

    Can a person who dies but somehow hasn't passed Beyond the Three Realms (a la Kelsier) serve in place of a spren for Radiant purposes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is theoretically possible, but it would require an unusual sequence of events.

    WeiryWriter

    We know that the Stormfather is a Cognitive Shadow and is also acting as a spren for Dalinar but is he able to do that because the "unusual sequence of events" took place or is there something else going on specific to the nature of the Stormfather?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. :)

    Carluun

    If Kelsier became a "spren" for a Radiant, would he grant Surgebinding or Allomancy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Worldbuilders AMA ()
    #14780 Copy

    Argent

    The updated Elantris map (from the anniversary edition) includes a city map, and the interior of Elantris looks awfully like Aon Ela. Was it indeed designed so the streets for Ela, and if so - does this merely augment/support the giant Aon Rao, or does it have a separate effect?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This was designed this way! It is separate from the shape of the city itself.

    Argent

    But does it have an actual effect, or is it just aesthetic?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It doesn't have an effect at the moment. It might once have.

    Idaho Falls Signing ()
    #14783 Copy

    PrncRny (paraphrased)

    Is an Snapped Allomancer more likely to pass on the Allomantic ability than an UnSnapped one?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Not necessarily.

    PrncRny (paraphrased)

    I asked if it was pure genetics, then.

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    He initially said yes, then appended that with "not just genetics. there's a Spiritual aspect to it as well."

    Idaho Falls Signing ()
    #14787 Copy

    Shawn M. Halversen (paraphrased)

    I asked him about the time between each of the original 99 desolations.

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    It turns out that the number 99 in the stories was made up, and that there were much fewer of them. He also then stated that the cosmere runs along a 10,000 year gap and that Roshar falls right into the middle of the timeline. He ended with "That should give you a perspective of the timeline and events of the desolations".

    When Worlds Collide 2014 ()
    #14788 Copy

    Khyrindor (paraphrased)

    Hoid went through Cultivation's Shardpool to get to Roshar as opposed to Honor's. Yet, he notes he never got along well with Cultivation. Why did he choose her Shardpool rather than Honor's?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    You're making assumptions!

    Khyrindor (paraphrased)

    Is it possible that it is Honor's?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    It's possible.

    Goodreads: Ask the Author Q&A ()
    #14796 Copy

    Argent

    The "God Surges" you mentioned recently, are they a part of the Way of Kings frontsheet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    All I said regarding this was to tell a fan that it was possible to make an analogy between the god metals on Scadrial and certain powers on Roshar. However, these are not a codified part of the magic system.

    When Worlds Collide 2014 ()
    #14797 Copy

    Khyrindor (paraphrased)

    Are there Surges that could be considered as God Surges, like the God metals on Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Yes.

    Khyrindor (paraphrased)

    Progression and Adhesion, perhaps?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    No, but they could be considered as such.

    When Worlds Collide 2014 ()
    #14798 Copy

    Khyrindor (paraphrased)

    Shards can talk to dead people. Are the Tranquiline Halls where everyone in the cosmere goes when they die? Or does each world have its own heaven.

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    There is an afterlife that is not heaven that the Shards don't know about, or can't look into. Each world has its own heaven depending on its religions. The real afterlife is different across the cosmere, and the Tranquiline Halls are different.

    When Worlds Collide 2014 ()
    #14799 Copy

    Jeremy (paraphrased)

    We know that Mistborn needed to Snap, and Surgebinders needed have the cracks in their souls filled. But what about the people in Warbreaker or Elantris? Is cracking and snapping only required on certain worlds?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    This is universal to the cosmere; however, in certain magic systems / on certain worlds, this is easier than others.

    When Worlds Collide 2014 ()
    #14800 Copy

    Jeremy (paraphrased)

    Syl gives Kaladin the choice to have any number of weapons or a shield. Pattern can be equally a sword or a small knife. Are spren limited to being items of war or could they be put to other uses? Could the surge binders less geared toward battle use their spren to make ladders, rope, etc?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    No, this is not restricted to articles of war.