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Interviews: WoR Signing Report - Bartbug
Summary:
Entries
35
Date
Mar 6th, 2014
Type
Verbatim
Location
San Francisco, CA
TourCon
Words of Radiance
Bookstore
Borderlands Books
Reporter
Bartbug
Links
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1
Question
Who are the 5 main characters from the first half of The Stormlight Archive?Brandon Sanderson
Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth, Eshonai, Dalinar in that order.Tags
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2
Question
When are we going to get Hoid’s book?Brandon Sanderson
Hoid has 6 books, they are the 3 books of Dragonsteel, which are prequels and the last Mistborn trilogy of the nine book arc will have him as a main character.Tags
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3
Question
What powers does [Hoid] have, what magics is he using?Brandon Sanderson
If you watch in these books, he has used on screen so far three of the different magics?
Question
Have we seen those three, do we know what those three are?
Brandon Sanderson
You know at least two of them. More obvious clues are in [Words of Radiance]. Watch where he and Kaladin have some interactions. Watch carefully, you will see something in what he mentions. You've seen him and Shallan, that scene in one of her flashbacks, in that scene he uses one if you watch.
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4
Question
I was interested in the implications of Gaz coming back.Brandon Sanderson
Gaz was always planned to come back. Which is why there's kind of a mystery to him in the first book, like where did he go? It's something Robert Jordan did that I liked.Tags
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5
Question
Do you know how you're going to write how Hoid goes between worlds?Brandon Sanderson
Yes I do. There is a big clue in Words of Radiance. There is a very big clue in the very first book I published.Tags
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6
Question
Do you hear the Parshendi song as you write it?Brandon Sanderson
To an extent, yes, but I'm not as musically inclined as some, and so if we ever do it, I'd probably have somebody else come up with something more... It's more of a cadence though.Tags
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7
Question
Are you going to expand on the cosmere in its own book?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, the thing that started it all, Dragonsteel, is going to be about the cosmere a lot more, and the third Mistborn trilogy will be also. I want to make sure that it never comes to the forefront until I am warning people, "Now, you need to know this stuff."Tags
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8
Question
Will you ever have characters use the different systems of magic openly in front of each other?Brandon Sanderson
I'll warn you this, the third Mistborn trilogy is a space opera, which will involve travel between planets.Tags
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9
Question
What was Kaladin's original decision that you changed?Brandon Sanderson
Kaladin won the Plate and Blade in chapter one and kept it.Tags
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10
Question
How did you decide that you were going to tackle racism, classism, gender, all those things in The Way of Kings?Brandon Sanderson
One of the things I like about Fantasy is the ability to tackle things like this in a way that removes the baggage from our current society which is why you see me doing things like the gender relations centered around whether the hand is sleeved or not. I want to do something that is one step removed so that it is pertinent... The Parshendi-Human thing is going to be a big deal for the series so I wanted to introduce it early on in the books.Tags
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11
Question
Would aluminum give an atium shadow? Like if someone threw an aluminum spear?Brandon Sanderson
The aluminum would not give an atium shadow. Good question.Tags
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12
Question
When you were planning Zahel being Vasher, how long did you do that?Brandon Sanderson
Vasher was in the 2002 version of The Way of Kings by name. I only changed him to the new name after I finished this entire draft. Because I was like, oh he'd probably go under a pseudonym. So he's been in Roshar 12 years our time.Tags
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13
Question
The Ars Arcanum, is there an in-cosmere author of that?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, it is in cosmere
Question
Because it seems like it'd be written by someone like Hoid.
Brandon Sanderson
It's not him. I don't know if I've released who it is; but it's probably not who people are thinking but it is in-world.
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14
Question
So what was the Moment?Brandon Sanderson
It was actually right near the climax. It was the phrase 'These words are accepted.'... Oh I thought you were talking about the Moment of Inspiration. Oh the moment you're asking about is the moment where Kaladin, in the original writing, he took the Blade and plate instead of turning it down.Tags
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15
Question
Why didn't Shallan summon her Shardblade on the ship when they were attacked?Brandon Sanderson
The Shardblade has a lot of... I mean if you look at it she thought about it. She has this psychological thing where she ignores the past, and it's so painful to her, the things that happened.Tags
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16
Question
Why did you gloss over [audio obscured]?Brandon Sanderson
Because Jasnah, that was not going to happen in this book. In the initial plot it didn't happen, and Shallan was unable to, in the initial scenes I wrote, come into her own and so I had to make major revisions to the plot for this outline, the biggest thing I did was that.Tags
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17
Question
What's your favorite original Shardholder?Brandon Sanderson
I don't know... The tricky thing is that I'm going to have to write them as their personalities because right now they are just concepts. I'm very fond of Bavadin but I can't say.Tags
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18
Question
Is Bavadin the only shard on Taldain?Brandon Sanderson
He is the only shard on the planet.
Question
Is he the sun?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO
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19
Question
Would a Hemalurgic spike take surges?Brandon Sanderson
Hemalurgy can interact with every one of the magics. I designed it specifically in writing Mistborn for future use. Because some of the magics are so limited by their planet I wanted one that transcended all of them and Hemalurgy is very important to the entire cosmere Its invention is a thing of great power and great danger to the entire cosmere.Tags
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20
Question
Have people not from/on Scadrial used Hemalurgy?Brandon Sanderson
Yes.Tags
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21
Question
What was the pouch on the Radiant in Dalinar's vision in Words of Radiance?Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. I'm not saying its important, but you have to get a RAFO.Tags
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22
Question
Were there spren bonds before Aharietiam?Brandon Sanderson
I'm not going to answer that one either but we will delve much more into this. The spren were around back then but they're not nearly what they are now they've changed over the course of the book obviously. I think the cosmere theorists have figured it out. They are much more prevalent following Honor and what happened to him, but there were some spren on the planet before even that happened.Tags
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23
Question
Are there other shards in the Taldain solar system?Brandon Sanderson
Now that's a clever question. There is only one for that solar system. There are other places with only one. It's not uncommon. We've gone to places with more than one because that is where the conflict is cosmere-centric.Tags
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24
Question
What were Jasnah's "last thoughts"?Brandon Sanderson
Her "last thoughts" were of escaping.Tags
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25
Question
Is Jasnah's book going to be one of the backstories?Brandon Sanderson
It is. She's on the back five.
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26
Question
So that bit at the end [of Words of Radiance with Szeth...Brandon Sanderson
That's setting up for book 3, which is going to be crazy.Tags
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27
Question
Do all the humans have innate Investiture?Brandon Sanderson
I believe that they all do. I don't think that you've seen anyone without innate Investiture yet. [Drabs] do not have innate Investiture. And on Scadrial they have the pieces of Ruin and Preservation in them. And they do have it on Roshar.
Question
Which Shard is that?
Brandon Sanderson
You'll have to RAFO
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28
Question
In The Way of Kings you do this one thing from the PoV of Gaz, where you turn him from random bad guy to interesting character. You said that if we read carefully we could figure out what happened to him but I never could?Brandon Sanderson
So he had his debts. He was owing people debts and they came due and he deserted.Tags
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29
Question
What's the deal with safehands?Brandon Sanderson
You'll find out eventually. There is something it originated in. Inspired by bottoms of feet being offensive in Korea.Tags
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30
Question
Why do they ride horses instead of fast insects of some sort?Brandon Sanderson
That is an excellent question that I am not going to answer.Tags
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31
Question
At the very end of Words of Radiance, Dalinar touches a Shardblade and it screams at him. Should that particular Blade have been safe?Brandon Sanderson
No it should not have. It's a clue that something has happened. There are other clues that something is wrong with what the story you've been told is.
Question
Because Option 2 is that it's unsafe to touch an honorblade, but there's no evidence of that.
Brandon Sanderson
There is no evidence of that. There's much stronger evidence that something else is going on.
Question
Did Hoid switch out the blades?
Brandon Sanderson
Hoid did not switch out the blades, but good question.
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32
Question
Does The Silence Divine take place in the cosmere?Brandon Sanderson
It does, it takes place on a planet called Threnody. There is no shard on that planet however. The magic is more something you interact with, not something you perform because there isn't a shard there.Footnote
Brandon makes a mistake here, confusing the stories of "The Silence Divine" and "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell". The Silence Divine takes place on Ashyn, whereas Threnody is the setting for Shadows for SilenceTags
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33
Question
If Kelsier's Cognitive Shadow or a Seon went to the Forests of Hell, would they be shades?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, that is the same thing. The people on that planet; their Investiture; the lack of shard means that their cognitive shadows react differently. The ghost of Leras is the same thing too.Tags
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34
Question
If Nightblood were on Roshar would he be a Shardblade?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, they are exactly the same thing. He is a Shardblade that is twisted and is a lot more powerful than normal.Tags
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35
The Question/Anaroth85 (paraphrased question)
During the Final Empire Era, had anyone on Scadrial, particularly Sazed, Tindwyl, or Elend, read The Way of Kings?Brandon Sanderson ()
The Way of Kings as a novel is known off-world, but not on any of the planets you mentioned. At least not currently.Tags
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