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Interviews: Alloy of Law Signing Report - Wetlandernw
Summary:
Entries
23
Date
Nov 11th, 2011
Type
Paraphrased
Location
Seattle, WA
TourCon
Alloy of Law Book Tour
Bookstore
University Bookstore
Reporter
Wetlandernw
Links
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1
Wetlandernw
Why do the Twinborn in Alloy of Law have only one feruchemical power, when all previous feruchemists, in spite of breeding programs, could use all the metals? (from travyl) Or were Ferrings always part of the system and we just didn't meet them in Mistborn? (my addition)Brandon Sanderson
The Ferrings are a new development since Mistborn, as the Feruchemists have been interbreeding with the Allomancers. Basically, the Allomancy genes interfere with the Feruchemistry genes, breaking it down and creating the limitations we see in Alloy of Law. (His response to this was really fun—he found it a very perceptive question, and enjoyed talking about it. I wish I'd had my recorder handy so I could give you the full transcript instead of the boiled-down version.)Tags
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2
Wetlandernw
Is this a prequel to the "modern" trilogy? How far into the future is that? (in-world)Brandon Sanderson
There will be several "Wax and Wayne" books dealing with the next development; they're not so much "prequel" as they are a side venture into life between the first and second trilogies, but they will be used to provide some foreshadowing for the second trilogy. Incidentally, he also described the beginning of the second trilogy as "a Misting SWAT team trying to figure out how to take out a criminal Mistborn." He also said that the third trilogy will be much nearer "hard scifi" as their understanding of Allomancy and Feruchemistry enables them to develop FTL propulsion.Tags
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3
Wetlandernw
Was the scruffy-looking "beggar in black" guy at the wedding dinner Hoid?Brandon Sanderson
Yes.Tags
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4
Wetlandernw
In whose voice is the "Ars Arcanum" written? Hoid's?Brandon Sanderson
I've avoided answering that question. It's either Hoid or a member of the Seventeenth Shard. That's as much answer as I'm giving anyone right now.Footnote
Brandon has later stated that the Ars Arcana Author is not Hoid.Tags
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5
Wetlandernw
Is there a distinction between the "bubbles of evil" and the "Pattern unraveling" events?Brandon Sanderson
There is a distinction, in that they are different manifestations of the same root cause: the bubbles come from the Dark One's prison and slide along the threads of the Pattern until they pop, while the Pattern unraveling is a result of balefire as well as the Dark One's direct influence. The "torn lace" icon is used for both.Tags
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6
Wetlandernw
Did you ever find out what were the means & end of Cadsuane's blackmailing the Asha'man?Brandon Sanderson
It's all in the notes, but I'd have to look it up before I could answer.Tags
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7
Wetlandernw
Who do you consider a "main character"? (How do you define "main"? Is Nynaeve, per tordotcom discussion?)Brandon Sanderson
I consider the five original Two Rivers people, plus Elayne, to be "main characters." Min and Aviendha are major, but not quite at the same level. -
8
up2stuff
Is Rand gonna win Tarmon Gai'don?Brandon Sanderson
He deserves his very own RAFO card for that one.
WETLANDERNW
(up2stuff: I have it, and will mail it to you if you want. Put your address in my shoutbox and mark it Private.)
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9
Loialson
What happened to the Jenn Aiel? What was their fate after we saw them last in the WayBack ter'angreal? I'm curious on how they disappeared after partially building Rhuidean. Were they consumed in the making of Rhuidean like the Aes Sedai that made the Eye of the World were? Or did they just stop procreating thus dying off, or something else?Brandon Sanderson
Aah. RAFO!
WETLANDERNW
(The exclamation point, and a smile, was clear in his voice and in his eyes. He liked that question and was pleased to have it asked. We will apparently find out soon! Loialson—I'm sorry, I should have gotten you a RAFO card too. I only actually asked the first question—since it got the RAFO, I figured there was no point in asking the rest.)
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10
forkroot
If cuendillar is brought into Tel'aran'rhiod, can it be destroyed in a nightmare (the same way Perrin destroyed the dreamspike)?Brandon Sanderson
If you were strong enough in Tel'aran'rhiod, you could probably force it to break, but it would remanifest itself pretty quickly. (He compared it to how Perrin was able to force Hopper back together for a moment, but no more—it snapped back to "reality" pretty fast.) RJ was pretty strong on this point—it's really, really hard to destroy the stuff. Even an opening gateway wouldn't do it—either the edge would push the cuendillar object out of the way, or the object would block the gateway from opening or closing. (You could actually block a gateway open by sticking a piece of cuendillar in it.) RJ was firm: there are only two ways for cuendillar to be destroyed: the Pattern unraveling, and... one other thing. (From the way he said "one other thing" I think we'll be learning about it in A Memory of Light. He enjoyed that question too.)Footnote
Brandon said in another interview that the second way to destroy cuendillar is with the True Power.Tags
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11
forkroot
Min has said that Perrin would need to be there for Rand twice to save him from something very bad. Assuming Dumai's Wells was the first time (which BWS confirmed), was Perrin's presence in Tel'aran'rhiod at Dragonmount during Rand's time there the second time? Or, in another phrasing, has the second time happened yet?Brandon Sanderson
No, that was not it. We have not yet seen the second time, but we will. (In other words, it's coming in A Memory of Light.)Tags
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12
RobMRobM
Will we find out in A Memory of Light just how Morgase became familiar in her youth with Two Rivers speech patterns?Brandon Sanderson
No, we won't. It would have been part of a book that will most likely not be written, so we will probably get to find out in the Encyclopedia.Tags
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13
Wetlandernw
Are there mature Worms in A Memory of Light? Would a mature Worm be a dragon?Brandon Sanderson
RAFO! (With a smile and a look that indicated we'll see something significant along that line, anyway.) As to the second part, they wouldn't really know what a dragon looked like, so they wouldn't call it that, anyway.Tags
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14
Jonathan Levy
Ask him if he is an amalgamation of several different authors over a 200-year period, edited together after the fall of the northern kingdom. :)Brandon Sanderson
How did they figure it out???
WETLANDERNW
(Everyone in earshot cracked up on that one!)
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15
Wetlandernw
Other miscellaneous notes from the Q&A: -
16
Brandon Sanderson
A Memory of Light is already near 300,000 words (he's marked it 90% on his web page), plus there's about 20,000 for RJ's ending, and BWS needs about another 20,000 to get the two joined up. It will likely end up at around 340,000 words—roughly the size of Towers of Midnight. He needs 2-3 good solid weeks of writing to finish it up, which will have to wait until this signing tour is over. He expects to finish the first draft by early December. Final release date will depend on how much time Harriet needs for editing as well as the marketing people's choice for good timing—like not going directly up against another major competitor for the #1 spot on the NYT Bestseller List. Sometime between July and November next year.Tags
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17
Wetlandernw
He read an excerpt from a new novella, Legion. It was quite bizarre, and very funny. The premise is hilarious, and Lionsgate has already bought the television production rights for it. They want to do a pilot next year, if I heard correctly.Tags
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18
Brandon Sanderson
The contract has been signed for the Mistborn game, but he can't announce the company yet; they want to do a big announcement with cool artwork and stuff, and they aren't ready yet. BWS will be writing all the dialog and the ending to make sure it's a satisfying wrap-up, but he won't interfere in the game content. He'll have some voting rights over characterizations/actors. The announcement should come in January; it will be set as a prequel to the first Mistborn trilogy.Tags
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19
Brandon Sanderson
Upcoming book plans: A Memory of Light is first, of course; he expects to follow that with Book 2 of the Stormlight Archive in March or April 2013. Book 2 will have Shallan as the focus character (like Kaladin was in book 1), followed in subsequent books by Szeth, Navani and Dalinar. Once the first 5 Stormlight books are out, he plans to do the second Mistborn trilogy, then books 6-10 of Stormlight. Interspersed with the first 5 Stormlight books, he'll do several more Wax and Wayne books; similar to Alloy of Law, they'll be shorter, lighter, more witty & adventurous than the epics.
Warbreaker 2 will be another "in between" book; he plans to use the same process as the first Warbreaker, posting sections on his website and getting feedback, using a very open and interactive process of development.
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20
Wetlandernw
Brandon didn't say it in so many words, but I got the distinct impression from what he did and didn't say, that the other prequels and outriggers will not be written. He did mention that RJ left some 3 million words worth of notes, equivalent to 10 The Gathering Storms stacked together. Much of it will be distilled down to furnish the Encyclopedia which Harriet will publish. He also mentioned that the Encyclopedia was always intended to be Harriet's project, not RJ's; they had been planning it for some time already prior to his illness.Tags
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21
Brandon Sanderson
For anyone who didn't know yet, he's doing another Great Hunt on this tour; the text to be revealed is a piece of RJ's notes, to give us an idea of the kind of information collected in those 3,000,000 words. (No, he didn't slip a clue into my book this year. It was too much to hope for... and with my list of questions, I completely forgot to ask about the Hunt!)Tags
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22
Brandon Sanderson
I overheard someone bringing up the "bloody ashes" issue with Brandon. His response was essentially that the phrase has always been there, and using it without the accompanying "blood and" is merely one example of the way a person's language choices sometimes change over time.Tags
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23
Wetlandernw
Last thing—BWS gave the name of the second shard on Sel to someone at the signing tonight, but I can't tell you what it is; it's his to reveal in his own way. When I know he's posted it for all the world, I'll add it here.Tags