You have said AonDor comes from something analogous to a Nahel bond. What is an Elantrian specifically bonded to? The Cognitive aspect of Arelon? The Dor overall? Etc.
It's not exactly that, but that's the right way to be thinking.
How accurate would it be to say that Allomancy is granted by a Nahel bond to Preservation?
Different kind of bond. Different mechanics.
Let's just hope I can write Nightblood someday. I need to be up to date on things. Because that's a six month write right there, easily. I have been spoiled by doing three month books for a while on [Mistborn] Era 2 and on the Skyward books. I alternate those and eighteen month books like Stormlight. [Mistborn] Era 3 are all going to be six month writes probably because I'm going to shoot from 200,000-250,000 on those. And that's what Nightblood would be when and if I can get around to it.
What is Hoid's favorite food?
Bacon! I always answer this—or instant noodles.
What did The Lord Ruler do all day? He was totally bored right? What would he have done to get his hands on some Cadmium?
He was bored, but he was also—he was not mentally all completely... sane? I guess? That's a wrong way to say it. He was having trouble simply continuing to exist because of pressures and forces upon him in a cosmere sort of way. Much as the same sort of thing is happening to the Heralds and has happened to the Fused. He was not, let's say, in a stable sort of immortality like Hoid has found. Or I should say, his is unlike what Hoid has found.
If you could have a Lego set from your books, what would it be?
I know what I would pick.
What would you pick?
A chasmfiend, for sure. A really detailed Lego Technic chasmfiend would be awesome.
Yeah, okay, you might have persuaded me. Mine went to the person who did all the cool Lego on Facebook. I just like the whole dioramas that they made, like, "here's this scene," and I thought those were very cool. Chasmfiend's a good choice. I would be curious to see how they would do Lego Shardplate though. How do you fit a little minifig in a Shardplate? I guess they have the, y'know...
Paint?
No, it can't just be paint! It's got to be more like how they did the Hulkbuster Armor or something like that.
When Venli attempts to swear her Ideal and it gets denied, she hears "a femalen voice, so very far away—but thrumming with the pure rhythm of Roshar". Is the fact that it says "the pure rhythm of Roshar" instead of "a pure rhythm of Roshar" significant?
Ah, no.
Was that rhythm set to the tone/tones of the Shard or Shards, and if so, which?
RAFO. I want you to be theorizing on that one LewsTherin.
Is Brandon publishing his book on writing in English or is it a Spanish only kind of thing?
So right now—Oh, I didn't know this was out. What's happened here is (since rumors are apparently flying, or maybe it's been talked about), the Spanish publisher came to me and said, "Hey, it's hard for a lot of the Spanish fans to watch your lectures because they're in English," and was wondering can we transcribe these, translate them to Spanish, and actually turn them into prose rather than just monologue, and see if we can turn them into a writing book. And I gave my blessing to this project. We'll see how it goes and see if my lectures turned into prose form actually work. I'm going to want to probably have them do it into English and then translate it into Spanish so I can see how the prose of the lectures works, but that is what's happening. I am not sitting down and writing a writing manual, not yet. I don't know if I ever will. It is a cool idea that the Spanish publisher came up with. I like that they came up with this idea and I hope that it turns out to be something really cool.
Do you have a plan for Whimsy's planet already, like with a developed magic system and maybe a story to go along with it? Or is it kind of a wild card?
I have plans, but that doesn't prevent wild cards. Let's just say I have plans, that doesn't prevent me from changing it as things develop. The only two planets that I'm unlikely to change are Yolen and the Aether planet at this point. Those most likely need to remain canonized for reasons that they are being worked into the narratives. Everything else can be flexible.
And you assume that there's one planet for Whimsy, and that it is a planet, don't make assumptions.
If you've got a plan can we get any little detail about any of it?
Yeah; making assumptions.
Could you create a proto-human using Awakening, steak, and Hemalurgy?
Uh, yes. That would work. I mean, you could go for the full triumvirate and have Soulcasting in there too. You don't need need a steak you need... Go with Soulcasting. Soulcasting—get some Awakening, staple on a soul. This is actually—of the weird things that the fans come up with, this is one of the most reasonable that could be pulled off. You could do that with minimal knowledge of all three magics, I should say.
Is it a better proto human if the steak is well done or medium rare?
I think the more rare the better, but I think Soulcasting is the way to go.
Can you please explain what RAFO means?
RAFO, yes! For those you don't know, I inherited from Robert Jordan a phrase that he used with fans when they asked a question that he didn't want to answer. It means read and find out. He would not answer for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes it's too much a spoiler. Sometimes he... Well, I'll just answer for myself, since I am not Robert Jordan. Sometimes I don't want to answer because it's too much a spoiler. That's probably the number one reason, is I am planning perhaps—not a promise but perhaps—to address this in the books. Sometimes I don't answer because I don't want to canonize this yet. Sometimes I don't answer because I like the fandom theorizing along a direction because it acts as a nice red herring for what I'm actually planning to do. I will do all of these things, and sometimes it will just be I don't feel like answering that right now.
When I picked up the Wheel of Time and I went to Harriet and Robert Jordans' house for the first time in December of 2007, she handed me some things. One was of course the big pile of the ending of the Wheel of Time. This is what Robert Jordan had written plus all of his notes for the last book—which was about 200 pages worth of material. Then she also gave me a couple of things. One was one of his pens, which I signed most books on when I was on tour for those books was the pen that she had given me, obviously with ink cartridges that we refilled frequently, but one of his pens—his favorite kind of pen. Then she also handed me a little charm bracelet that said RAFO that a fan had given to Robert Jordan, and she said, "This is yours now," kind of bequeathing the RAFO to me.
Which is kind of funny, that it was bequeathed to me as a physical object, almost. Basically, the ability to be in control of how much information was displayed and basically this was her saying, "The fandom—it's your job now kid to deal with this." I still have the RAFO charm bracelet, my bequeathed RAFO. I started using it judiciously when fans would ask questions and it just started to become a thing that I did with my own fandom as well because it's a very useful tool.
So there you are. I'll have to put that in a shrine and bequeath it to someone else before I pass away and be like, "THE RAFO IS YOURS NOW!"
In Skyward, Spensa said her mother had purple eyes, and Alanik said she had never seen or heard of a human with eyes that color. Is it possible that Spensa has some UrDail blood in her?
RAFO
In Mistborn 5, Shadows of Self, Wax chases Bleeder into the mist after the party where she was speaking in his mind to taunt him. As Wax jumps into the mist to follow, he has an internal monologue thinking about Vin. He says he can see her vaguely within the mist.
"Slight of frame, short hair splayed out as she moved, mistcloak fluttering behind her. It was a fancy, wasn't it?"
Has the mist become a self aware Splinter of Harmony similar to how the Stormfather operated with Honor? Also, since the mist "tuned" Vin to be able to take the Shard of Preservation, does the mist remember Vin in some form? And is it still connected to her similar to how a Returned is connected to their former self?
You're making some excellent theories here; I'm not sure if I want to stamp any of them out. I like where you're going on this. I will say that this is related to where, if you read in Words of Radiance, you will see odd things sometimes happen with Investiture. There is a scene (that I don't think a lot of people pick up on) where Syl is responding to Connection threads being built and is looking different than she should look and things like this. We're looking more at the Spiritual Realm and Spirit Webs and Connections and things like that. Not to stamp out any of your theories, but also to kind of direct you—often times when I'm writing pure Investiture or beings of Investiture, they respond to echoes in the Spiritual Realm. And like I said, you'll see this in Syl sometimes.
I'll leave it there. Continue theorizing but go that direction.
What Ajah would Jasnah be in?
I think she would be pulled toward Brown. The personalities of the Browns don't often fit her, so I bet she'd end up in Blue. It could be Blue—it could be Brown though. I could see Jasnah ending up in Brown. I mean, she's a historian. That's her "occupation" so to speak, but she's a historian who is trying very hard to save the world from something that she sees coming that most people don't anticipate, and that's a very Blue thing, this "I am one woman against the world" sort of thing.
Naming a child for Kelsier is not safe, but is also not a bad idea. If you're okay with Kell’s actions in TFE, you will probably be okay with them going forward.
Mechanically speaking, how does steelsight work? The scientific definition of "metal" gets a little murky in the middle of the periodic table-
It does.
-and we see that powerful enough Allomancers can see more than just metals.
Yep.
Are Connection and perception significantly involved here?
To an extent, but the science of it also is. I feel like the stronger steelsight is getting, the more it is detecting things like electromagnetic bonds and even, you know, the strong and weak force and some of these sorts of things that is just in everything, right? And I do think that in strongest applications, Allomancy is going to be moving beyond metals and moving toward things like fundamental forces. So there you go.
The Hemalurgy table mentions that atium “must be refined” in order to steal any power. Could this refined atium be burned by any Allomancer?
RAFO
The terms kinetic and static Investiture were introduced in Rhythm of War, but not defined or explained.
Yes.
What are kinetic and static Investiture?
Good question. So I've been talking about this for a while, so some of the arcanists out there know. Kinetic is a thing I'm defining that the Investiture is being actively expressed and used, and so it has certain effects. For instance, you're gonna see sand get charged by kinetic Investiture but not necessarily by static Investiture. Static Investiture being Investiture that is stuck in a sphere. If you just walk by with that sphere, particularly if it's in a bag or something, the white sand's not going to see anything. But if you are actively using it to do something, if you have created or are maintaining something, if you are flying or you are using one of the Surges, then we call that kinetic. And kinetic Investiture is going to show up much more easily to someone who can replicate the abilities of a Seeker, who can hear pulses. These are the things the spren notice when someone is using their powers. This is white sand. There are just many things in the cosmere that respond to Investiture being used in some way, and when it is not being used it is harder to hear, locate, or reference.
Did the Five Scholars know what Dawnshards were?
RAFO
Another question refers to the long silvery chain found by Kaladin in the shops at Celebrant. Apparently it’s worth thousand broams. Is there anything significant to that in book 5.
No, it's not from a Rosharan magic system.
Physiologically speaking, does a gemheart have a purpose? Beyond the Investiture/spren-related functions. Do creatures with a gemheart also have a regular, meat-heart?
They do have a regular meat-heart.
The gemheart--the function is Roshar-related. It is Investiture and spren-related. That's why things have a gemheart. Resonating with the tunes of Roshar, that sort of stuff. So that is the physiological function of it. That's why they exist. So the answer is, "no, they don't have a physiological function beyond that," but that's like saying, "no, the meat-heart does not have a function beyond pumping blood through the body." I mean, that's why it's there.
In Rhythm of War, why did the anti-Voidlight not react with the raysium in the dagger?
I will RAFO that for now. Good question, but... yeah, there's some reasons here.
Was Glys a deadeye before being Enlightened by Sja-anat?
RAFO, good question. You may have to wait for a while to get answers to some of those questions, sorry. And I'm not even promising that I'll answer them.
Would striking a chime or bell made of a God Metal produce a similar note to that God Metal's corresponding tone?
Not necessarily.
Is Shallan’s mother Invested/someone we know of, or just a woman who got involved with the Skybreakers? Did she ever get involved with the Ghostbloods?
Mmm, very interesting questions, RAFO.
If Thaidakar / Kelsier could get access to one non Scadrian power / set of abilities, regardless of how difficult that would be to obtain, what would he be most interested in?
That's a pretty big RAFO. I mean, Bondsmithing is really dangerous, so Kelsier would be attracted to it, let's point that out.
Is Renarin heterosexual?
Renarin is not heterosexual. Renarin is gay.
Has the Dawnshard that's different from the rest always been different?
RAFO
Now that Kaladin has Radiant Shardplate, could he trap others, particularly other Surgebinders in the Plate and neutralize their powers like the end of Iron Man 3?
RAFO, but with a "I don't think this works the way you think it works."
Denth and Shashara, and Arsteel and Yesteel, are referred to and refer to themselves as siblings, despite being Returned. Does that mean they have knowledge of who they were while alive, and Vasher is the only Scholar who doesn't?
Oooh, what a wonderful question. What a wonderful question! Guess what! RAFO. You are supposed to be noticing and asking that. You're supposed to be asking some of these questions about them and about the scholars and about poor Vasher and how this all plays together.
Was the being that became Ba-Ado-Mishram Connected to all the spren on Roshar before becoming an Unmade?
RAFO.
Which Invested Art does Khriss find the most interesting to study? (or is it one we haven't seen yet)
I think Khriss is really fascinated by aspects of all of them, but lately she's been most into the weirdness of Allomancy, for instance things like how speed bubbles work and how weight manipulation works and how that interacts with mass, and the weird, weird, weird science of all of that that drives the arcanists mad.
Did Helaran know Shallan was becoming a Surgebinder?
RAFO. That whole thing with Shallan's family, there's still some wrinkles back there, there's some wrinkles you haven't seen yet.
Mistborn era 3 is chronologically after the back half of Stormlight, but will be written first. With the ever-increasing cosmere connections, how will you keep era 3 from spoiling Stormlight?
It's a challenge. I mean, technically era 2 is post-Stormlight 5, so I have been juggling that so far, it's not long after Stormlight 5 but it is post-Stormlight 5. Karen has to, when I force her to lock down certain parts of the timeline various places but there's certain things we haven't locked down, for instance, I still haven't decided how long the time jumps are going to be until I write the various series. Let's just say, I've managed to write Sixth of the Dusk I hope without spoiling too much, and it's not the only future era Cosmere thing that is perhaps coming through the pipeline eventually, before we get through with Stormlight 5, so I will just juggle this and balance this very well, I hope. I will try. I will do my best to keep this all balanced without spoiling too much.
Evi was shown to have very strong moral convictions in Dalinar's Oathbringer flashbacks, do you think she could have become a Knight Radiant alongside the majority of the Kholin family had she lived long enough? If so, which Order would she fit best?
I think that she would've definitely had a good shot at that. Where would Evi go? Like a lot of people usually there's... most people I know who took the test and talked to them there's often two or three they bounce between. I could definitely see Evi as an Edgedancer in the way that she liked to pay attention to people that sometimes weren't being paid attention to, but I don't think that's where she would land. I don't think that's the strongest one. I would probably put her in Truthwatcher myself, but I would perhaps prefer to sit and think on it. This is one of those things that when I actually sat down to build the outline I'd have to really dig into it, but those are my gut reactions right there. Not a Bondsmith, not a Windrunner, neither of those fit Evi really well, but there you go, there's two she could've been.
In The Way of Kings, when Shallan first goes to Shadesmar, she says something grabbed her ankle and was pulling her into the ocean of spheres. Was Testament the one doing said grabbing?
RAFO! I wondered if people were ever gonna pick up on that one, I haven't been asked that yet.
Can the Shaod be reversed? Turning Elantrians back into regular people, and not just negating its effects by traveling far from Sel?
Possible, yes.
When Sazed ascended into Harmony, he recreated many extinct plants and animals based on the fragments of knowledge he learned about from various religions. Many ancient and medieval texts in the real world had pictures of animals with wildly inaccurate features and proportions. Were the texts that Sazed drew on fairly accurate, or are there herds of monstrosities roaming Scadrial now like on Roshar?
Fortunately, Sazed was able to work with something that you wouldn't be able to here. Which is—remember that Realmatic Theory is based on the theory of the forms by Plato. This is where I got it. I've been very open with that idea, that the first glimmers of that occurred when I was taking my philosophy classes in college. I liked the idea of there being this perfect version of something somewhere in another realm. Now, the thing I've done in the Cosmere is that that perfect thing can change and be shaped over time, but the remnants of those things were still there. He could latch onto something, something that knew what these things were supposed to look like, because he had this deific power.
So the answer is no, there are not versions of very very weird lions as drawn in illuminated manuscripts. I love where your brain went on this one. We were actually talking about, I can't remember the name of it, the wolf that they thought was killing all the people in France in the seventeen or eighteen hundreds, that they had these drawings of this monstrous wolf—where it was probably just a pack of wolves that were particularly hungry because their normal food source was being impacted by human expansion or something. But for a period of like five to ten years, perhaps hundreds of people got killed by this wolf, and all the depictions of it are these giant werewolfy sort of scary things.
I love seeing the pictures of all of those things, the pictures of giraffes on illuminated manuscripts that have just been described thirdhand to someone. Your brain is going cool places. You can make monstrosities like that with Hemalurgy, but fortunately Sazed did not run into that problem.
What happens if a Radiant is ready to swear an Ideal above the one they can't swear (i.e. a Windrunner who can swear the Fourth Ideal but not the Third)?
They would have to wait until they can swear the Third.
Can a Tineye see through the gaseous Investiture of other Shards? If so can they see through a Lightweaver's illusions?
This is possible but it's not going to be a native power.
Something I've been curious about: will Liar of Partinel be released as a Sanderson Curiosity eventually? I noticed that in the stream a while back where you listed your unpublished books, you didn't list it among them.
Also, you gave four approximate sort of "quality tiers", of
Which tier would Liar be in?
Liar would be #2, I'd think. Problem is, it's close enough to continuity (having been written after I'd outlined the cosmere) that I wouldn't want to actually release it until after I've done the actual Hoid backstory book. I've changed some dramatic things about how I want to present the story, so it would be bad to release this one.
We've reached a point where Dragonsteel, however, wouldn't be a spoiler. So I'm tempted to release that one in the next kickstarter. I've been kicking around the idea of an actual revision of White Sand, to make it publishable, and release that as an actual canon novel. It's the only one that could happen to.
Does this mean there is no chance of a canon version of Aether of Night ever being published? I really enjoyed it and think a fully polished version would be fantastic.
It is unlikely, but not impossible. Aether could be made canon with only slight changes--but it doesn't fit into the larger cosmere story any longer, so I don't know of how much interest it would be.
To clarify, you're referring to the actual Aether of Night novel, not the future rewritten Aether books that you've mentioned before, right? Or are those not likely anymore either?
Since Aether of Night could be canon with slight changes, I assume the Aethers in the book will be mostly canon as they are, at least in your current outline?
If you were to revise Aether to be canon, would you be replacing Ruin and Preservation with two other Shards, or would you be more likely to just remove Ruin convincing the Twins to imprison Preservation?
Future Aether books are very likely. And the aethers themselves are going to be very like the ones in the book.
If I did try to make it canon, I'd probably remove the whole Shard plot from the book and instead either use another Shard, or not add a new one, since the Aethers (as I have them now in the notes) function without a Shard's involvement, and even predate the shattering. (Note, that's not yet canon.)
You brought up the magic system [of Way of Kings], and it's fairly unique. It's hard to wrap your head around it at first, but once you get into the story it actually makes a lot of sense. So, how long did it take you to develop that actual aspect of the novel?
It depends on the book. For this one, it's been going for a long time. This is one of the magic systems I've just been playing with forever, the idea...
Now, I describe the basics of the magic systems, and I'm worried that that will scare people off, because you don't need to know any of this stuff. The magic is fun, it should be just part of the story. But if you really wanna dig deeply, this one is based off the idea of fundamental forces. The [four] fundamental forces. Gravitation and electromagnetics and strong and weak nuclear forces. Those are the concepts that built this magic system, where I built an idea of a world with essentially ten fundamental forces, and built ten orders of Knights, each who learn to manipulate a type of these forces. So that is a growth over about ten years of work, to build this magic system with these ideas of "How can I make these fundamental forces manipulate them, what can it do? How can I make surface tension into a magic system? Or how can I make pressure into a magic system? Or gravitation that works in a magic system?"
But in other ones, it's just a quirky idea that occurs to me. Warbreaker, I spent only about four months building the magic system for that; an idea, you know, sympathetic magic of bringing things to life and using Breath as a metaphor for someone's life just kind of fell into place and worked together, and I did it. It depends on the book.
The second mistborn trilogy: Takes place in an urban setting with guns, cars, skyscrapers, etc. Plot will center around a group of allomancers paid by the government to take out allomancer criminals and will involve a mistborn (which is rare at this time) serial killer.
Some as of yet unwritten book that I can't remember the title of, but know that it included the word Divine. Anyway, it has a magic system in which the magic is caused by bacteria. Basically, the bacteria and parasites want their hosts to survive as long as possible, so they give them magic. The example Brandon used was that if someone caught the common cold, they could fly until they got over that cold.
What do the burnlands look like?
The burnlands are the area surrounding the Final Empire Area. They are liveable on the border, but as you get further and further from the final empire, they get more and more barren until eventually nothing can survive. Basically a really large desert. Brandon also mentioned that some koloss live there, because they can survive, and some humans live on the border. These humans actually have some technology that the final empire did not, because they needed it to survive, and/or because they were far enough from the oppression of the Lord Ruler to develop new things. Because of this, the border of the Burnlands would actually be a good setting for a game.
What benefit does an aluminum savant get?
Is it even possible to become an aluminum savant? You'd have to be burning aluminum consistently, and aluminum just kind of goes away in a burst.... After that, he discussed how being an aluminum misting will likely be considered a handicap in the Mistborn RPG because you can't pick up other allomantic abilities.
Does Lerasium have Feruchemical and Hemalurgical powers?
Yes. Brandon will probably be getting into these, and the other metals Hemalurgical and Feruchemical powers, in greater detail in the future Mistborn trilogies. He also will probably release full charts for these as he did with Allomancy.
What would happen if a person were to burn a metal that was Feruchemically charged using Allomancy?
The metal used in Allomancy is like a key or a doorway to the power that Allomancy actually uses. The metal acts as a filter, much as the Aons in Elantris do, to determine what the power actually does. However, if the metal is Feruchemically charged, then it will basically become a super-burst of Feruchemical power with no Allomantic effect. The Feruchemical charge acts as a filter as well as the metal, and changes what the power does. in this case, say you were burning steel, you would just be massively speedy for a second, and wouldn't actually have the ability to push on anything Allomantically. Hope that answered the question. I get the concept, so if you need me to explain it differently, let me know and I'll try. Oh, the other thing I forgot is that this concept only works if it's a metal that you charged yourself. If it's a metal someone else charged, it would just work like regular Allomancy, and the Feruchemical charge would just cease to exist.
If someone aluminum or duralumin burned the Feruchemically charged metals, what would happen?
Basically the same thing as above, except with aluminum. Aluminum, they would just go away.
So, today I think I’ll post part of a proposal I’m working on for Tor. I’m going to send this to them, so that Tom Doherty can read about my plans and goals for the future before he and I meet in New York next week.
Enjoy.
Introduction
Writing is art, but publishing is business.
I’ve always believed that in order to succeed in this field, I would need two things. First, I’d need an excellent work ethic. Second, I’d need an eye toward my eventual goal of becoming a professional writer. When I started writing in earnest seven years ago, I realized that the chances of any one book getting published were slim, even if it was a superior manuscript. Therefore, I didn’t let myself stop writing–I figured that the more books I had to send out, the sooner I would get published. When Moshe finally called to purchase ELANTRIS, I was working on my thirteenth novel.
This background gives me an advantage, I think, over other first-time authors. I understand my writing style far better than a writer sold the first book he wrote. I know what I do well, I know what people enjoy from my books, and I have had time to hone and practice my craft. I also have a great wealth of intellectual property in the books I’ve already written. I don’t want to publish any of those books themselves–readers deserve to get books that represent my best and most current skill level. However, the ideas and settings I developed in those previous works can provide models for what to do in the future.
My foremost distinguishing attribute as a writer is my ability to create interesting settings and unique magic systems. I don’t use the standard fantasy setting–nor do I even use an iteration of it. I strive to push this genre to its full potential, giving my readers something new with each book. Another of my strengths is my ability to push my books’ plots toward dramatic climaxes with well-foreshadowed surprises and twists. I also think that I have a flair for witty side-characters and powerfully-motivated viewpoint characters.
My weaknesses are offshoots from these strengths. My books build slowly sometimes, and so the first quarter or so of a given novel tends to be the slowest. My books also have very steep ‘learning curves,’ meaning that because they have original settings and magic systems, it can be difficult for readers to grow accustomed to all of the new elements. Finally, I’m not a brilliant prose craftsman, though I think I’m getting stronger in this area. One of the things I’ve learned during my years practicing is how to focus my books around my strengths as a writer, while at the same time minimizing the effect of my weaknesses.
I’m at an interesting point in my career. My original goal, that of getting published, has been met–indeed, I’ve succeeded beyond what I dared dream was possible. I’ve been picked up by the most prestigious publishing house in fantasy, and am releasing a book in hardback.
However, getting published was always just a step. My real goal is to build a career as a writer. You don’t do that by publishing one great book–you do that by publishing a great book, then publishing an even better one the next year, then an even better one the year after that.
I can do this. However, I realize the need for a plan. Therefore, I’ve begun to look at the various books and series that I’ve written recently (within the last year) or am planning to write very soon. I’ve never published before, so I’m not sure which direction to take my career. Therefore, I developed this list of my most promising new and upcoming works so that I could get your advice on what plan I should use during my next five to ten years of writing.
Summaries of five series I’ve been developing follow. At the end, I’ll give a summary of my thoughts regarding my future.
Aonic: Pronounce Aonic names by finding the Aon (most of them are listed in the back of the book. Otherwise, find the two nearest vowels.) Then, pronounce the Aon’s vowels in ‘long’ form (I know—my linguist friend told me that’s not exactly correct. See below for examples, however) and any other vowels in short form. The first syllable with the Aon in it always gets the stress.
Examples: Aon = AY-Ohn Raoden = RAY-Oh-den
List of Aon vowels: A = a as in ‘bake’ E = e as in ‘eat’ or a as in ‘bake.’ (See below.) I = i as in ‘bike’ (A double i Aon pronounces both long i sounds. See below.) O = o as in ‘boat’ U = There are no ‘u’ sounds in Aons.
Every other vowel should be pronounced in short form without a stress.
A note on ‘E’ sounds in Aonic. The only exception to the rule includes words written with ‘e’ in the Aon. In English, ‘e’ can often produce a long ‘a’ sound. So, I wrote many long ‘a’ sounds with ‘e’s. This was a device I used to try and make the names look better and have a chance of being pronounced more accurately. Note the examples in names below.
Common Aonic Names Raoden = RAY-Oh-den Sarene = sa-RAY-Nay (or sa-REE-Nee, if you want to get technical.) Elantris = EE-Layn-tris (Though most people say el-lan-tris, which is fine.) Kiin = KYE-Eye-n Teod = TAY-Ohd Arelon = ah-RAY-Lone Daorn =DAY-Ohrn Kaise =KAY-Ice Ahan = AY-Hayn Roial = ROH-Eye-al
Other Names: Hrathen = Ray-then (with a very subtle ‘h’ sound at the beginning.) Fjorden = Fee-ohr-den Galladon = Gall-ah-dawn Dilaf = Dee-lawf
Interestingly enough, I’ve never written a sequel. After seven years and fourteen novels, you would think that I’d have tried a sequel at least once–but I never have, not really. (Early on, the third book I wrote [Lord Mastrell] was a continuation of my first book [White Sand]. I don’t really count it as a sequel, however, since I simply stopped mid-plot on my first book because it was getting too long. I declared it to be ‘book one,’ took a breather and wrote something else for a while, then came back and finished the story.)
