Recent entries

Sorana (paraphrased)

I've got a last question from a friend of mine. Could the light at the end of Oathbringer have been seen by another Surgebinder?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.

Sorana (paraphrased)

I expected that.

Paleo (paraphrased)

Is Tashi a Herald and if so, which one? Is Nun Raylisi Odium?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes to both. I think the Herald is Ishar, but I'd have to double check.

Questioner (paraphrased)

What happened to Hoid after he met Kelsier at the Well?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He went to figure out Feruchemy. When Vin found him beaten up, it was because he got more involved than he should have.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Do you sometimes draw inspiration from real world people?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, I do. Usually it's a conflict a person has, which I want to depict. Most of Bridge Four are friends of mine.

Krios (paraphrased)

At the end of Oathbringer, Kaladin says that the Oaths are about perception. So, what would happen when a crazy person bonds a crazy spren? Is there a hard limit to what the Oaths allow or could they just go on a John Wick style rampage?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Perception will get you a very long way, like Nightblood proves. So you can go beyond the Oaths, but there will be a hard limit. Although it will be hard to find a such fitting pair of human and spren.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Are there parshmen Heralds?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, there are not.

Questioner (paraphrased)

We see Nightblood consuming both Breaths and Stormlight. Earlier you've mentioned conversion between types of Investiture. Is Nightblood doing that?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Nightblood can feed off of any source of Investiture. If you're a Mistborn, burning a metal while wielding Nightblood would directly feed him. So you stay alive for as long as you have metal left.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Are there Windrunners who are afraid of heights?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes there are. You can see with Kaladin that a lot of them would see the sky as their domain, but there are some with a fear of heights. It's like being a left-handed woman in Alethkar, there are some things you just could end up with.

The Forumlurker (paraphrased)

Can a Windrunner use a Basic Lashing on a specific body part?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, but it works the same way a Steelpusher could push on a specific part of metal. Usually, you'd just affect the whole body, because of its Identity and cosmere magic not working as well on parts of something that considers itself a unit. When you're very skilled, you can isolate a hand, like Kelsier could push on specific sections of metal.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Will the Wheel of Time show be from the POV of the Aes Sedai or the ta'veren?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

I can't spoil you on that as I'm under an NDA. They went with some unexpected decisions, which I really liked, though.

Zykai (paraphrased)

Squires and people wielding Honorblades use more Stormlight than a regular Radiant. Who uses more?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The further you progress, the more efficient you become at consuming Stormlight. They're never as efficient as the Voidbringers, since humans leak too much.

Questioner (paraphrased)

When you design a new world, do you give Isaac all the details for the maps?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I may give him notes on how I want it to look like, but sometimes I just let him do what he wants.

timQuestioner (paraphrased)

Can you burn cadmium to trap air and move in space like that?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's a plausible extrapolation, but I'll give you a RAFO on that. You're thinking along the right lines.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Shallan's and Adolin's relationship felt sort of rushed at the end. Was there a reason you developed it like that?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Shallan and Adolin are very young and madly in love. The marriage partly was for state reasons. They're really unlike Dalinar, who was in denial for 15 years about loving Navani.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How do you name your characters?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It depends on how much work I've done on the linguistics. Some planets I haven't done a lot of work on that. On Roshar I've built out the linguistics a lot, so I build names out of that.

On Scadrial, however, I went more with real world inspirations or stuff I liked, like "Wax and Wayne", which is a pun they can't really understand. Names like Elend or Straff are Germanic in origin, Vin, Demoux or Kelsier are French.

Paleo (paraphrased)

Is Wax's name pronounced French in Scadrian?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, it is. I can't even pronounce it. [Various people pronounce "Waxillium" with a French accent]

Questioner (paraphrased)

Is Rock lying about his birth order?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, he is not. There was a change due to deaths in the family, but he did not lie.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Where have we seen proto-Ghostbloods?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO, but you guys are pretty close to figuring that out.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Do you prefer writing epic fantasy or young adult?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

My first love is epic fantasy, but if I only did that, I'd go crazy. I have to change basically every other book and like to be able to jump around.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Do you use consultants?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes I do, but it depends on the book. For instance, we apparently got longswords wrong in the last book and a consultant would have helped there.

Elegy (paraphrased)

The second letter in this one [Oathbringer], was it written by Patji?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

Questioner

Could the Investiture of two different Shards with separate Vessels create their own perpendicularity together?

Brandon Sanderson

Two different - so like, the Vessels of two different shards, okay-

Questioner

Yeah, not Harmony.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is plausible. There could be a mixed perpendicularity.

Excelsius

Has ever a Shard been forced - besides Odium in Roshar - to leave their planet after it was destroyed.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Excelsius

Yes - besides Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Besides Odium? Yes. Has a Shard been forced to leave their planet after the planet was destroyed? Yes.

rxience (paraphrased)

Would a single spike be sufficient to staple a Cognitive Shadow to a mistwraith?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, that could happen.

rxience (paraphrased)

Did that happen in the past?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

That's a RAFO, I'm afraid. Who are you thinking about?

rxience (paraphrased)

Kelsier of course!

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Well, he is somehow in the Physical Realm. And he does look like himself, doesn't he?

Paleo (paraphrased)

How is Dark One coming along?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's coming along very well. It's like Harry Potter from the perspective of Voldemort, where the good guys want to get the bad guy. It's like Narnia was trying to assassinate those who come over to their world to destroy it.

The outline is really great, we pitched it across Hollywood. We had a really great response, but no contracts are done. We're planning to release it as an audiobook original. We haven't closed the contract on that yet, but we have an offer.

Questioner (paraphrased)

The map of Kholinar looks like a lion's head. Is that an allusion to Caemlyn?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It was not a conscious decision to make it look like Caemlyn. The city shapes are based on cymatic patterns that have deep-rooted origins in the history of Roshar. I may make a lot of unconscious allusions, but something like the Misted Mountains are a conscious reference.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How has Sunmaker's sword ended up with Dalinar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Initially, it belonged to one of the highprinces. After that it went through a lot of people.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Who did the Crownlands historically belong to before there was a king and what purpose do they serve now?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

At the moment the Crownlands are the property of the king and work for him, to earn money or to give them away to a lord. Before Gavilar, they belonged to some princedom.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Have we seen Ghostbloods in action outside of the Rosharan system?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

You have seen proto-Ghostbloods, but not after the their actual initiation.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Are you involved with the Wheel of Time TV show?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, I get to read the scripts and give feedback. I get to push the characters in the direction I want them to go. The first screenplay was really good.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Did Aginor reappear after the cleansing of saidin?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Ask Maria, the continuity person.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Do you want to build up Hoid to be a character like Randall Flagg?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO

Questioner (paraphrased)

Will Vivenna, Vasher and Nightblood reunite?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO

Questioner (paraphrased)

Do specific colors have an impact on Awakening in Warbreaker?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Not usually, you just need a certain amount to Awaken. But there can be more due to various reasons connected to the cosmere. It is connected to the significance of eye color on Roshar.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Will there be a Rithmatist sequel?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There will eventually. I was working on that when I was offered finishing The Wheel Of Time and just couldn't get back into it yet.

Questioner (paraphrased)

[inaudible - something about Shallan's personalities]

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

At the end of Oathbringer, she works really hard to suppress her other personas and she will be a lot more stable.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Are there certain topics you want to avoid in your writing?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There certainly are some topics I'd never cover, like certain types of abuse.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How do you write the beginnings to your books?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Beginnings are hard. Usually I write one, trash it and come back to it when I finished the book. After I finished the book, I try to find the perfect beginning.

Sishal (paraphrased)

How was Glys corrupted? Was the process similar to the lesser spren, like painspren?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It is similar, but Glys is self-aware, so slightly different process, but similar. It is through Sja-anat.

Sishal (paraphrased)

Did Sja-anat have to convince Glys to corrupt him then?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Why did Adolin kill Sadeas?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He's young and hotheaded unlike Dalinar.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Was there a good reason for Elhokar to not speak his First Oath earlier or was he just plain stupid?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He wasn't ready yet. It can take a long time and he was hung up on his insecurities.

Questioner (paraphrased)

How is Ashyn Earth-like given its orbit? It should be even less habitable than Roshar.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Rosharan system was manufactured for a specific purpose. The position of the moons isn’t stable and even the continent itself might eventually vanish.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Ambition wasn't Splintered in the contest with Odium. Is there a reason why he hasn't chosen another Avatar [Vessel] yet?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes.

Zykai (paraphrased)

Did the Shin use Honorblades in their invasions? If yes, did they also use Surges?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes and yes.

Questioner (paraphrased)

The Voidbinding chart has a red ruby with two imprisoned Voidbringers who have no connection to the Voidbinding skills. Is this the because they are imprisoned or are they in need of the other Voidbringers to unleash their powers like the lightnings are trying to illustrate?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO

Questioner (paraphrased)

What's the most challenging part about art?

Isaac Stewart (paraphrased)

He said he has lots of things in his head, but the problem was getting his hands to reproduce the images in his head the way he imagines them. Often they end up looking quite different and that can be frustrating. It took a lot of practice to produce what he wants.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Is Doomslug capable of using Hypertravel as well as taking matter with her?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

RAFO. Doomslug will be very important to the next book. She's very relevant to the events of the book coming out in December.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Any tips on creating a magic system?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Focus on what the powers can't do instead of what they can do. It's the boundaries that get interesting. Lookup Sanderson's Laws.

Questioner (paraphrased)

What inspired the Shattered Plains?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Little Wild Horse Canyon and others in southern Utah. That's what inspired the chasms.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Is Nightblood an aluminum-titanium alloy?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No, he's something else. RAFO

Questioner (paraphrased)

Can a Mistborn use the Investiture from a Highstorm?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It takes some effort to convert the Investiture. They can burn metals from other planets, though.