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Isaac Stewart

PART SIX: LICENSED PROJECTS

Brotherwise Games

Brotherwise Games, the team that created Call To Adventure: The Stormlight Archive, would like to announce a new project: Stormlight miniatures. They’re working very closely with Isaac and the Dragonsteel team to create official sculpts of more than 20 characters. The miniatures will be standard scale (28mm-32mm), unpainted but highly detailed. This project will head to Kickstarter in summer of 2022. You can sign up for more information at the Brotherwise Games website.

The Kings Wild Project

Jackson Robinson and co at the Kings Wild Project have created a fantastic deck of Mistborn playing cards that are currently up for pre-order. They visited a few months ago and filmed some of Brandon’s reactions to the cards themselves.

Nauvoo Games

Nauvoo Games ran a Kickstarter in late 2020 for The Reckoners: Steelslayer expansion to their Reckoners game. They have some nicely detailed updates on their Kickstarter page, including a way to lock in a late pledge. The game is being shipped internationally, and the latest update from November has some specifics for what to expect depending on the continent.

The Black Piper

The producers of the Kaladin Album are waiting on their hardcover art books to arrive and will send them to backers soon after that. They’re unable to sell the exclusive hardcover edition outside of the Kickstarter, but for the Dragonsteel convention in November, they were able to make available some softcover versions as a bundle with the album. Some of the second edition softcover art book/album bundles are still available for a limited time.

Here’s a list of our other licensees in case you would like to check out some of the awesome things they’re doing

• Graphic Audio
• Badali Jewelry
• Crafty Games
• Shire Post Mint
• Forged Foam
• Dragon Wood Shop

Brandon Sanderson

PART FIVE: TELEVISION, VIDEO GAME, AND FILM UPDATES

The Wheel of Time

Hey, the Wheel of Time television show is out!  I don’t agree with all of the decisions made in the creation (and it includes some content that I find objectionable).  However, I do like the team working on it, and I feel they’ve listened to my voice as I’ve advocated for a lot of things behind the scenes.  You can read some of my spoiler-ish thoughts on the WoT subreddit here, here, and here.  Overall, I think they’re doing a great job.

Mistborn

 I’m still developing (in a hands on way) a Mistborn feature film.  I’ve written a treatment, some actual scenes, etc.  I can’t tell you much about it other than that I feel very good about the motion on this for the first time ever, as I have some really excellent partners on the project.

The Stormlight Archive

Likewise, I’ve been working very hands-on in creating the Stormlight Archive as a premium cable television show.  This is with Dan Mintz and DMG, who has had the rights forever.  I’ve enjoyed my time working with him, and have enjoyed his thoughts as a partner.  I think this will happen someday, though I’m not sure when and with whom.

Other Properties (Film/Television)

Other things are moving (slowly) behind the scenes, but I wouldn’t say that anything else is very far along.  The pandemic slowed down a lot of Hollywood for various reasons.

Other Projects (Video Games) 

I’ve been working on a video game for several years, and I suspect it will be announced this year.  So, commence speculation!  (Note: it’s not for one of my properties, but something new that I built with them.  It’s a game company many of you will have heard of, but probably not the one you’re thinking about right now.  Not that other one either.)

Brandon Sanderson

PART FOUR: UPDATES ON SECONDARY PROJECTS

Alcatraz Series

As I warned you last year, 2021 was going to be spent on repackaging this series–and getting the art for the sixth book done.  I also co-wrote this one with Janci, as I got about halfway through it back in 2014 and got stumped on something, so I went to her for help both with that and with smoothing out the character voice.  (This one is from Bastille’s viewpoint.)

So, there’s not much of an update from last year.  The first five books are coming out with new covers in 2022, culminating with the final book on September 20th. Final revisions for the book are in, and artwork is approved for the new covers of the early ones, so we should be super close.

Their release schedule is below, including the brand new sixth book!

• May: Book 1: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
• June: Book 2: The Scrivener’s Bones
• July: Book 3: The Knights of Crystallia
• August: Book 4: The Shattered Lens
• September: Book 5: The Dark Talent
• September: Book 6: Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians

Dark One

A second Dark One graphic novel is in the works for those who enjoyed the first!  But in case that’s not your thing, you can go read the Mainframe update above, where we’re working on a prose version. That should be released first in audio, but Dan Wells is currently drafting from my original outline for that–and I’ve read some of his work on it, which has made me very excited. In the meantime, enjoy Dark One: Forgotten, a shorter tie-in that Dan and I have created for release this fall.

Elantris, Warbreaker, Rithmatist

Nothing here, again.  (Yes, Rithmatist fans, I hear you screaming at the screen.)  Elantris/Warbreaker sequels aren’t planned until after Stormlight Five, as I’ve been saying for years now.  Rithmatist might be a little closer than it was, as we’ve been researching potential co-authors who have knowledge and background in the real-world Aztec lore I’d like to incorporate into the book.  So don’t give up hope.  But, like finishing Alcatraz, this is more a labor of love than a mainline series of mine, so it has to take a back seat to the main stories I’m telling.

Part Four: Updates on Secondary Projects

Songs of the Dead

Moving this one back to minor projects this year.  Though Peter Orullian is still working on it, this is one of the co-authored projects that has turned out to be a more difficult write.  He’s spent this year on revisions of it, and I hope you’ll all be able to read it someday.  But we need to make sure it’s working right first.

The Reckoners

If you didn’t see that there is a new Reckoners novel out…then there’s a new Reckoners novel out!  It’s called Lux, and I co-authored it with Steven Michael Bohls, another of my writer friends.  (This was a Mainframe project, and so it was an audio original.)  The reception was great, and the sales were great too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we did another one soon.  But we’re figuring out when and how to do this.  (Also we plan a print edition sometime, but at the very least an ebook should come out around the one-year mark of the audio edition.)

The Original

This first of the Mainframe projects will soon be getting an ebook release!  So if you don’t like audio, take heart.  It’s coming in January.  I wrote it with the excellent Mary Robinette Kowal, and it’s a kind of cyberpunk/action/mystery.

Check out the pitch for it here!

White Sand

We should have the graphic novel omnibus coming at you sometime in the near future. I hear that the individual original volumes are sometimes going for a lot of money, but I’d suggest not grabbing one of those but waiting for this new edition. We’ve spent a lot of time making it the quintessential White Sand graphic novel experience, updating text and dialogue to be more in line with the Cosmere. There are 38 new pages at the beginning, revised text and art throughout, a new map and glossary, and fourteen Ars Arcanum pages. We think you’re really going to enjoy experiencing the complete package.

All Others

If there’s something not on this list you’re waiting for, then there’s not really anything to update you upon.  Other novellas and small projects continue to bounce around my brain, but I haven’t had time for most of them lately.

Brandon Sanderson

PART THREE: UPDATES OF PRIMARY PROJECTS

The Stormlight Archive

I didn’t do much work on Stormlight this year, as my focus was on other series.  But I did want to mention that we plan to get Dawnshard in audio out very soon.  Hopefully within the next few months. Max, with Mainframe, has created the audio for it–via the always excellent Kate Reading and Michael Kramer.

Obviously, the big motion on this series will happen with Stormlight Five starting in January, with a target for a Christmas 2023 release.  (It could end up coming out in the spring of 2024, depending on how difficult a write it is.)  Also, I will very likely do a Rock novella as part of the Words of Radiance leatherbound kickstarter in the summer of 2023.

So check back for updates as I work through the book, which will include Szeth’s flashback sequence!

Skyward/Cytoverse

As I’ve talked about already, Cytonic and two of the novellas are out.  While I’m writing this, I’m around two-thirds of the way through the final novel–which, with the Jorgen novella out this month, will mark the end of this first sequence.

Turns out, Janci and I had a lot of fun working together on the novellas.  Our plan was to do another set of them between books three and four, but the timing was tight on these first ones–and that was a tad stressful.  So we’re now working on doing some follow-ups to the first four-book series.  We’ve brought on Darci Cole, an excellent writer and one of the beta readers on the Skyward series, as a co-writer as well.

Together, we’re deciding where to take the Cytoverse and what the right things will be to bring to you after Defiant is done.  There will be more, but Book Four also involves some major changes and interesting turns.  So I won’t say more now, other than that if you love the series, I can promise you more is coming.

Mistborn

Wax and Wayne Four, The Lost Metal, is done and the beta readers have already finished going through it!  One of my jobs will be to get a 3.0 draft of it done in the coming months, opposite working on Stormlight Five.

As many of you may know, I do two writing sessions a day—the first one from around 1:00 until 5:00, and the second from around 10:00 to 2:00 a.m.  In 2022, I’m going to try doing something new–writing prose on Stormlight in the afternoon session, then doing revisions on Mistborn in the evening session.  I’m curious whether this works for me, and if so, whether it’s better or worse for my pace and my enjoyment of the process.

I’ll bring you some updates as I proceed!

Brandon Sanderson

PART TWO: MAINFRAME

As I mentioned above, Janci and I have co-written three novellas in the Skyward series.  Those join The Original and Lux as stories created as part of my Mainframe project.  (Mainframe being an audiobook company I created with my good friend–and all around excellent guy–Max Epstein.)

Max is the driving force behind Mainframe.  (He was also one of the first people in Hollywood to see the value in my work as it relates to films.)  We’ve got a couple more projects coming in 2022 that I’m excited about, so I’m going to let him tell you about them here!

Thanks, Brandon! As mentioned above, throughout, and below, by the end of this year we will have successfully released four projects. And of course we have more on the way, two of which are currently scheduled for release in 2022. Both are with our partners at Recorded Books, who have been excellent.

The first is the audio exclusive Stephen Leeds: Death and Faxes.  This is a new Leeds story within the Legion universe[, with a co-writer]. While we could have released this in 2021, our primary decision to push this to 2022 was because of the four months of back-to-back Cytoverse releases, which will culminate with Evershore in a few short weeks. We’re very excited about Leeds and can confirm that we have the wonderful Oliver Wyman back in the booth as narrator. More information to come as we get closer to our June 2022 release date.

Death and Faxes will be followed up later in 2022 by Dark One: Forgotten, an audio series that ties in with the larger Dark One universe that Brandon has created.  Dan Wells co-wrote this with Brandon (along with a larger Dark One novel that we’ll be releasing after Forgotten, though likely not until 2023). We’re all very excited about how the pages for Forgotten have turned out, and we can’t wait for you to hear them. We’re currently planning on six episodes with a full cast, sound design, and music. Very exciting stuff in the year ahead with more to follow shortly.

Brandon Sanderson

PART ONE: MY YEAR

Like always, I keep tabs on everything I did through the year via a spreadsheet.  Usually this lists all of my trips and tours also–but there were barely any of those this year!  So, we’ll just talk about the books I worked on.

January 1st-March 31st: Cytonic and Sunreach

I spent the bulk of the first part of my year in the Cytoverse, working hard on two stories that are both now out!  Cytonic, book three in the Skyward series, came out last month.  (Thanks to all who attended the convention and who supported the book its first few weeks!  We outsold the previous book in the same timeframe, which is one of the most important metrics for book sales.)

In case you haven’t seen yet, I also co-wrote a series of novellas in the Skyward series with my good friend Janci Patterson.  The first two of those are out, with the third one (starring Jorgen!) coming right after Christmas.  I hope you’ll check them out.  They are a lot of fun, and add some important backstory to what other characters are doing during the events of Cytonic.

April 1st – September 20th: The Lost Metal, ReDawn, Evershore

Most of this extended stretch was spent working on the final book of the Wax and Wayne series of Mistborn books.  (It should be out for Christmas 2022.)  This was a longer write than the other Wax and Wayne books, as I increased the book-length by 50% (and gave the story a little more outlining time) to make certain to wrap up things in style.

While working on that, I also managed to get work done on the other two of the three novellas I wrote with Janci.  Basically, anytime I needed a break from Wax and Wayne there was something else to work on, so I had a nice rhythm here.  I dove right into the 2.0 of Wax and Wayne once the 1.0 was done, and the beta reads finished up in November!

September 21st-October 31st: Various Revisions and Consulting

After getting that second Wax and Wayne draft done, there were just a lot of little things demanding my attention that I’d been putting off.  Some Wheel of Time scripts, some work on the various film projects for my other series, and loose ends of various other things I needed to do.

All this kept me busy until near the end of October, and so I decided to spin my heels a little until I could do NaNoWriMo officially, starting November 1st.  Which takes us to…

November 1st – End of December: Defiant

One of my goals this year was to tie up both Wax and Wayne and the Skyward series (at least the Spensa arc of it, see below.)  Assuming I can finish up this month strongly, I should be able to do that–as far as rough drafts are concerned.  I’ll still need to do some revisions on Defiant next year, but all of the actual writing should be finished–making both of these series a wrap.

That leaves me free to tackle Stormlight Five all next year!

Brandon Sanderson

INTRODUCTION

Is it me, or does it feel like this year just kind of vanished into vapors?  I can’t believe we’re already back to December and I’m working on another State of the Sanderson.  After 2020 (which felt like it lasted an eternity), perhaps I should be grateful.  At the same time, it feels really soon to be gearing up for the daunting task of writing another Stormlight book–and book five (the final volume of the first sequence) at that.

Regardless, I continue to be deeply grateful to all of you who continue to follow me on this journey.  It’s been a strange year for me, for more than one reason.  Eventually perhaps I’ll be able to explain more of why that is.  But for now, it’s time for the State of the Sanderson: my yearly wrap-up post where I tell you in-depth about everything I’m working on.

Warning: these things are usually pretty long.  They stay up all year, available prominently on my website.  For reference, last year’s State of the Sanderson can be found.

Enough of an introduction, then.  Let’s get into it!

deadmatt666

With the mainstream success of animated series like Arcane, would ever reconsider anyone of your Cosmere IPs to be animated instead of live action?

Brandon Sanderson

I would consider it. The more popular animation becomes for the general public, the more likely I am to consider it. Now, if I am able to get some live-action adaptations, then the chances that I do animated go way up. But it's unfortunate; I wish it weren't the case, but you can go look at the numbers of Into the Spiderverse versus these other Spiderman films and see who went to them. I think Into the Spiderverse is amazing; it's probably my favorite Spiderman film. I think it is incredible. But the unfortunate and annoying truth is that many fewer people will go to it because it's animated.

You might legitimately say, "Well, don't you just want something to be awesome? Let's focus on making something awesome." And that's a pretty good argument. But I feel like I'm not in the realm right now where I want to just have one thing be cool and then leave pop-culture consciousness. If I'm going to get the whole Cosmere made, I need to hit big. Otherwise, we're going to get a couple of seasons and then be done. Because even good things on a lot of the premium cable streaming services right now get a couple of seasons, and then they're done and that is it. If I want to see everything get made, which I would like to see, I'm going to have to hit bigger than leading with animation can get me right now. That could change, that could absolutely change, but that's where my mindset is. 

ChromiumVoodoopunk

Does Kelsier being a Sliver make him more resistant to Harmony's control through Hemalurgy?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Molesttron

We know that the conflicting nature of Preservation and Ruins' Intents within Harmony makes it difficult for Sazed to act in any meaningful way. Does the conflict between the two also protect Sazed, at least somewhat, from being molded to the Shardic Intent?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Striker_EZ

What would the dynamic between Elhokar and Design have been like if Elhokar hadn’t been killed? I feel like Design is perfect for Hoid, but I’m not sure how it would go over with Elhokar.

Brandon Sanderson

She would've really liked Elhokar. I think they would have gotten along very well, and she would've been very good for him, and he would've been very good for her. Let's say that Design and Hoid are a different kind of pair, and they exacerbate certain features in the other that may not be the best for either of them. Not in any catastrophic way, but I imagine that she and Elhokar would've become both better people through their bond.

MadnessLemon

What does Leshwi think of Moash in Rhythm of War? She seemed to encourage his actions and essentially brought him into Odium's forces in Oathbringer, and according to Venli she respects him, but it's hard to imagine she'd be cool with a lot of his behavior throughout Rhythm of War. Particularly his tormenting of Kaladin.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but she doesn't know about any of that.

MadnessLemon

Have her thoughts on him changed as he's become closer to Odium and embraced the identity of Vyre, or does she regret picking him out altogether?

Brandon Sanderson

Not—no. Leshwi occupies an interesting space. Being closer to Odium is not a bad thing in her mind, right? She is reluctantly placed between things... she reluctantly has been put in a position she did not want to be in. She would not necessarily have approved of some of Moash's actions, but fighting as well as he did is something she legitimately respects. And the way he's been acting among the singers, nothing about that is a big warning flag to her.

CODA_451

What has Marsh been up to and will we see more of him in Lost Metal?

Brandon Sanderson

You will see Marsh in The Lost Metal.

bitchasstwink

Can more than two pure tones reach harmony? And, extending on that, does Harmony the Shard have a pure tone for itself, or is it a mix of Preservation and Ruin?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! Excellent question, sorry to dodge that one.

Mattlink123

From what I understand, Preservation and Ruin worked together to create Scadrial because neither had the ability to create on their own. If that was the case, why did they feel the need to create a world from scratch in the first place? Was it not possible for Preservation and Ruin to Invest themselves on different pre-existing planets and not bother each other?

Brandon Sanderson

They didn't want to. They wanted to create. That is an impluse that some have, and in that case it is something those two both shared is this desire to create something. And so they did!

hajas96

Ishar, when fighting Dalinar, showed similar powers to Hemalurgy (stealing the Nahel Bond). Could an unchained Bondsmith steal other stuff from a person? Strength, Breaths, ability to use Allomancy, etc.

Brandon Sanderson

Among those are things that they could steal.

Niter

Is Jason an ancestor of Jorgen? In fact, I imagine their appearances similiar.

Brandon Sanderson

I will RAFO that one. Good question to be asking. The relationship there is not something that I am planning to dig into in the Skyward main series, but I might eventually, so that's why I'm RAFOing it. So don't expect it in book four I'm afraid. You're not going to get much more Jason stuff in book four. It's more of a thing to tease out for those who are very interested in book three. Book four is moving back to the focus on the... yeah. I'll just leave it there.

ChromiumVoodoopunk

Are there people with more innate Fortune? Could those people store Fortune quicker than others?

Brandon Sanderson

There are, but it is not probably in the way you're thinking.

edgwardoe

 Would a being with a gemheart have any weird interactions off Roshar, like in the mists on Scadrial or perhaps with Breaths?

Brandon Sanderson

It's possible, yes. Or, I would say, it is probable, yes.

waves_under_stars

What would happen if a kandra ate the body of Ati or Leras? What would happen if they were turned into Lifeless?

Brandon Sanderson

The bodies would be a little bit warped by what's happened to them. The Lifeless thing is more likely to produce an odd effect than the kandra. The kandra is likely not going to have any weird effect, or maybe some small weird effect. So I would say weird effects are plausible, maybe even likely.

waves_under_stars

What do spren get out of the Nahel Bond?

Brandon Sanderson

The main thing is being able to function in the Physical Realm.

waves_under_stars

If a Radiant went to Taldain's Dayside, would they be able to '"recharge" from the sunlight?

Brandon Sanderson

They would be able to draw some Investiture from the sunlight.

Argent

Navani's lecture on fabrial science mentions that a tin cage can cause a painrial to numb pain⁠—presumably a pewter one can enhance it. The same epigraph also tells us that more advanced cages, with iron and steel, can change the fabrial's polarity. What does polarity mean in this context? What effects would iron and steel have on that pain-numbing fabrial?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! We'll get into it Evgeni. Well, I'll say I intend to get into it, whether I actually will have the chance. I was pushing it in that book with the amount of fabrial and scientific sort of stuff, and I want to be careful not to always be pushing that line. Because while some people love it, it gets very fiddly.

NeedsToShutUp

What would happen if Hoid tried to burn the shard that came off Ishar's Honorblade?

Brandon Sanderson

If you were able to get a hold of that piece and burn it, it would act like burning... You would be burning a very pure form of a God Metal, and those have some very interesting effects. RAFO.

howtofall

We know that the effects of various magic systems are changed by their interactions with metals (Scadrial’s three obviously, as well as fabrials on Roshar). So my question is: when a piece of metal is Awakened, does the type of metal change the nature of the Awakened object in any meaningful way?

For example, If Nightblood had been made of iron or tin rather than steel...

Brandon Sanderson

It would most likely change what is happening with Nightblood to use different materials, and that includes different types of metal.

TopicCharming2157

Living Shardblades are the physical manifestation of spren. If Moash had used Raboniel's anti-Stormlight charged dagger to stab a spren while in Shardblade form, would it kill the spren? (Like Kaladin forming a Syl shield to guard a stab)

Brandon Sanderson

Physical form of a spren is going to be more resilient to this.

graciemoo

Does Khriss have anyone working for her besides Nazh?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

SoarWay

The Sleepless let Rysn carry a Dawnshard around and continue to live her life as relatively normal. Could we assume that someone like Hoid would be able to interact with her without noticing she holds a Dawnshard?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends. You could not necessarily assume that.

-stormlightning-

What happens if you mix Stormlight with a different Light's inverse (like anti-Voidlight)? Would they repel each other because one is a natural Light and one is an anti-Light, or would would just behave like two different Lights? Theoretically, would there be a emulsifier for Light and anti-Light combos?

Brandon Sanderson

Right, we'll RAFO for now. It's a good question, but it's not the sort of mechanics I want to be canonizing in a livestream.

SoarWay

In Wax & Wayne we see the Sovereign who saved the Southern Scadrians was Kelsier, but in modern day people confused him for the Lord Ruler. Is Kelsier responsible for this misdirection or is it just a natural misunderstanding?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

Kael_the_Adventurer

The Lost Metal announcement blurb mentions "offworlders" and factors "from the larger Cosmere"; are there any particular books or series that you would recommend be read or reread before reading The Lost Metal?

Brandon Sanderson

If I said what they would be it might be giving too many spoilers.

Amber Burningham

Does Hoid like milkshakes?

Brandon Sanderson

Does Hoid like milkshakes? Hoid likes a milkshake, yeah.

EagleTiger32

Have we seen anyone (other than Hoid) use a magic system not featured in a published story?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends on whether you count... You have seen some effects and some Aether involved things in the books before, so the answer is yes—tentative yes.

Mr_Magatar

When Gavilar died, it took the Stormfather around five years before Dalinar started to get visions. Outside of those two, have there been any other that the Stormfather started to give visions to? If so, care to give a number?

Brandon Sanderson

Don't care to give a number, but there are others that were at least investigated.

AyushStormblessed

If a Mistborn or Misting is Returned, do they retain their Allomantic powers? 

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

AyushStormblessed

Theoretically then, can Kelsier come back to Physical Realm as a Returned?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. Double RAFO!

Clerk_Antique

What did the singers do in between desolations? Did they have their own kingdoms? Did anyone try to create a combined nation of humans and singers?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! Book five might have a few answers for you.

Pawell2812

Name the sixth light: storm, life, void, war, tower and…

Brandon Sanderson

Maybe there is one, maybe there's not. Who knows, who knows? It's a mystery.

LightPhoenix

Would an Enlightened spren cause a Listener to adopt a different form than a normal spren? For example, if lifespren lead to Mateform, would an Enlightened lifespren lead to the same Mateform? What about other creatures that are linked to spren and have gemhearts?

Brandon Sanderson

That is RAFO. But it would be different. I suppose I can just answer it would be different because the way you phrased that question, I believe I can answer that way. But in what ways would be RAFO.

halohunter51

Do you have a term for anyone within the cosmere that can use Investiture? And can you tell us what it is?

Brandon Sanderson

I have started dabbling with these sorts of things and I've started just calling them Invested, right? Like this person is Invested, and things like this. And I think that term is going to work, but I'm gonna see how it feels going forward.

Cheyenne Sedai

You told us more than a year ago that you wanted to save the mystery of the Order Dalinar's Plate was from until after ROW. What is it?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, the main reason I wanted to do that is I did not want to talk too much about armors. I did not want to talk about where armor came from. And I'm going to say Isaac is working very hard on the concept arts of all of these and canonizing all of them and we know which armor Dalinar's is, but I am not going to tell you right now, because I don't want to tie his hands, because what he's doing is he's finding the consistent types of ways they would look and categorizing all the armors into certain ones as we had done in the past for Shardblades, and we're doing some cool things. It's been really fun lately.

So, one of the things that was teased at the Dragonsteel Minicon is that we are going to be doing some minis soon, with Brotherwise, who are fantastic. And one of the things we wanted to have done before we could do minis was just have really solid concept art guidelines for characters and worldbuilding elements and things like that. Often, with the books, we'll just give artists a lot of leeway and freedom, and we still like doing that. But at the same time we do need to have more strong sort of "here is what Brandon sees these things looking like." Which is not how I've normally done things, right? Like, I like fan art. I don't like to be too strict and be like "oh, the fan art's wrong for this reason," or things like that. I like artists to be able to do their thing.

But as we move into doing merchandise, like these and minis and stuff like that, I acknowledge that I can't take that tactic anymore. And so one of the things we're doing is we're making sure we have canon versions of, "Here's what characters look like, here is what the armors look like, here is what these Orders look like, here is what listeners and singers look like," and things like that, so that we can be more aligned on all these things. It's been very fun; Isaac's been putting a ton of work into this and doing a really good job with it. But let's pass on that question until Isaac is able to reveal some of these things to people.

Baldur

Is Jasnah Kholin autistic?

Brandon Sanderson

Jasnah, I have not deliberately put on the spectrum in my approach to her, but at the same time... there are some traits she might share. But, you know, it's one of these things when we're dealing with, we're dealing with personalities and ways that people see the world. For instance, let's talk about this: my son Dallin, my middle son, he is not autistic—at least he was not diagnosed autistic, when we took him—severe ADHD, and some other things, however we have put him in a school that specializes in helping people with autism and has been wonderful for him, because some of this the things that he does and the ways that he thinks are helped by the same sorts of systems. So, the fact that I would not personally diagnose Jasnah with autism does not necessarily go as far as you might think.

 

Niter

Was David Bowie Cytonic?

Brandon Sanderson

David Bowie? Absolutely! I would say that he was. The legends of him that Spensa thinks are inflated are indeed not.

 

Navs

In Cytonic, why is the AI that travels with Jason a sphere and not a drone like M-bot?

Brandon Sanderson

Many, many, many, years earlier and different technology and different things that they're doing.

Bruno Vale Fernandes

We know Herdazians and Horneaters are singer-human hybrids. My question is: Are all humans, besides the Shin, also hybrids with more diluted blood that gives them epicanthic folds?

Brandon Sanderson

No. The... oh, of each other you mean, or...? I thought you were meaning with... I would say that's not the way to look at it. I would say that yes, most people on Roshar probably share some common ancestors in some way, but you can say the same thing of most people from most regions on Earth and things like that. I don't think that's the right way to look at it. They just happen to be a large number of different human ethnicities that share some common features.

wanderinglightly

Rysn, our favorite Dawnshard holder is...

Brandon Sanderson

Is she your favorite Dawnshard holder?

wanderinglightly

...is a Caesarian shift +10 of a pesky traveller named Hoid. Meanwhile, Hoid is a Caesarian shift +16 of Rysn. Is this a RAFO or a happy little accident?

Brandon Sanderson

This is a happy accident. Happy accident, not planned. That's one of those ones where I'd like to be like, "See how smart I am, I've played a wordplay on you that—" no, I was not.

ncmagic97

Dragons are often depicted as much more intelligent and/or powerful than humans. Are dragons in the Cosmere better equipped to handle the power or psychological influence of becoming the Vessel for a Shard of Adonalsium?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say that... RAFO. That's not where I thought you were going to go with that, so I was planning to answer a different question. The one that you asked I will say RAFO to. 

Adam Horne

Do you want to tell the chat what question you thought they were going to ask?

Brandon Sanderson

They are better suited toward long lifespans, which makes them... But I would not say that a dragon in the Cosmere is born more wise than a human.

CovaDax1

You've hinted before that Hoid is in reality much more self-interested than he is perceived to be and walks a path you yourself said you probably wouldn't condone.

Yet at times we see him share touching personal moments with multiple characters. Such as during Shallans childhood, or helping Kaladin through several rough patches.

Are these also to serve his own interests or goals, or are these genuine moments he's shared with them?

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid is legitimately empathetic to the individual. This is how he is. He is very empathetic to people's problems. But in the grand scale, he is more self-interested than I think people are seeing and fandom him being. These things aren't mutually exclusive. He can be very empathetic to the problems Shallan is going through while at the same time understanding that if Roshar were destroyed but Odium were contained, then it meets his goals better than if other things were to happen. And in a moment of decision, like if he were said, "Alright, you can sacrifice Roshar⁠—Odium is contained forever," he would probably say yes. Meaning all these people that he's empathizing with would be dead. (And that's what I'm saying right there when I say sacrifice Roshar.) Not that that is what would happen necessarily. I'm not saying that, but y'know, given that kind of impossible false dichotomy, that's one of the places where his mind and heart is. Depending on your axis and things like this, he has, like many of us, a complex morality. But those are legitimate moments of empathy on his part where he is trying to make their lives better. But it doesn't mean that every motivation he has is purely altruistic or purely aligned with what the people on Roshar would want.

Muhammad Malkani

Can we see your cameo in Wheel of Time?

Brandon Sanderson

I did not ask for a cameo in the Wheel of Time. I might be willing to do it in future seasons, but this plays down to that—I know some of you say that I am too much this way, but it felt like that was taking that step over the line into taking too much of Robert Jordan's role. I love the Wheel of Time. I am very proud of my time in the Wheel of Time. I feel an ownership to the Wheel of Time, but having an ownership does not make me the owner. The Wheel of Time is Robert Jordan's, and if it were all about "Where's Brandon's cameo?" I just feel like that would in some way detract from it being Robert Jordan's, the culmination of 30 years of Robert Jordan's work to bring this to people, and I don't want to do that. I told them that I would be interested in cameos maybe in later seasons, but I did not want to do one in season one. I don't want too much attention on me for season one. The attention should be on Robert Jordan.

cosmere1313

Would you do a Black Library book for Warhammer 40k, fantasy, or Age of Sigmar?

Brandon Sanderson

So here's the thing, I think Warhammer's worldbuilding is pretty awesome, but I have not been steeped enough in its lore to feel in any way, shape, or form capable of writing in that world. My experience with it is the occasional game and only one campaign of Warhammer fantasy RPG. And the fact that my friends are all huge Warhammer geeks. Dan and Allen. Dan Wells you guys know, and Leyten from Bridge Four both are very big into Warhammer, and so I do think Black Library—I'm very impressed with Black Library, but I don't feel capable of doing justice. Right now I would say no just for those reasons. Magic [the Gathering] is this weird thing where it is my nerd obsession of choice. It's the thing I pay attention to and can track, and it is very hard for me to have very many of those. I just had my fanfic that I needed to write, and I bullied Wizards into letting me do so.

EvilAdolin

If you take a gemstone from Roshar to Taldain, would it be charged with Autonomy's Light on Dayside?

Brandon Sanderson

It could capture it; I'm not sure if it would happen automatically. You could definitely get some Dor. I don't know that it's gonna naturally pick up Autonomous Light; it might though. That one's iffy for me, I'll have to think about it.

I'm gonna say yes to that one, but it's not going to infuse very deeply. You're gonna get something in it, but it's going to vanish soon after, to the point that gemstones—they would have noticed on Taldain if gemstones just naturally picked this up. So, you're going to get just a little, little bit of a charge, but it's going to be almost imperceptible to someone without the right instruments.