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Your search for the tag 'aons' yielded 14 results

  • 1

    Interview: Oct 18th, 2004

    Brandon Sanderson (Chapter 3)

    There is some division among readers regarding their favorite viewpoint character. One group chooses Raoden, but I think the majority go with Hrathen. All things considered, I think he's probably the best villain I've ever written. His personality comes off quite well in this first chapter, and I think he might have the strongest introduction—at least personality-wise—of the three.

    Chapter three marks the end of the first "chapter triad."

    The chapter triads are a major structural element of this novel. The viewpoints rotate Raoden-Sarene-Hrathen, in order, one chapter each. Each of the three chapters in the grouping cover pretty much the same time-frame, so they can overlap, and we can see the same scene sometimes from two different viewpoints. (Note the point in chapter two where Sarene sees Raoden being led to Elantris, wearing the sacrificial robes.)

    We always follow this same format, going from Raoden, to Sarene, to Hrathen. Until, that is, the system breaks down late in the book—but we'll get into that.

    And, you might have noticed that the Aons at the beginnings of the chapters stay the same for three chapters before changing. Each triad, therefore, has a different Aon to mark it. (I did a little bit of fighting to get this through at Tor. The final decision was theirs, but once they realized what I was trying to do, they liked the idea and approved it.) The placing of the Aons is a little bit obscure, I'll admit, but it might be fun for people to notice. (They also grow increasingly complex, built out of more and more tracings of Aon Aon, as the triads progress. There are some special Aons marking the beginnings of sections.)

    I'll talk more on chapter triads later. You can read more about my theory on the format in the critical afterword to ELANTRIS (which should eventually be posted in the Elantris 'Goodies' section.) I might also do essay specifically about the format and the challenges it presented.

    Anyway, back to Hrathen. My hope in creating him was to present an antagonist for the story who would be believable, understandable, and sympathetic. He's a good man, after his own fashion—and he's certainly dedicated. He doesn't want to destroy the world; he wants to save it. It's not his fault he's serving an evil imperial force.

    Regardless, Hrathen certainly has the most interesting character progression in the story. Raoden and Sarene, despite many interesting attributes, are two of the most static characters I've designed. This book isn't about their growth as people, but rather their ability to overcome their desperate odds. Hrathen, on the other hand, has a real opportunity to grow, learn, and change. Perhaps this is what makes him people's favorite. It certainly made him the critic's favorite.

    I can only think of two books I've written—out of sixteen—that use a literary 'timebomb' as strict as the one in ELANTRIS. Three months to convert the kingdom or Wyrn will destroy it. That's a pretty heavy motivator. Sometimes, timebombs can feel contrived, and I tried to make this one feel as realistic as possible.

    Later, when we discover that Hrathen was never intended to succeed in his conversion, I think this three-month limit makes a lot more sense.

    Tags

  • 2

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Master_Moridin

    Why aren't Seons affected by the lack of a chasm line in their Aon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If they tried to actualize their Aon, it would have an undesirable result. In addition, the chasm broke their bond to the humans they were tied to, and you can see the result of that. So they were affected.

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  • 3

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2013

    Chris King (Miyabi)

    Okay, and is the word Hoed based off an Aon and if so which one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, it is. It would be Hoe… no Oed, O-E-D.

    Tags

    aons,
  • 4

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2013

    Darnam

    Would you please draw Aon Aon with the chasm line, so we know where the calamity the chasm lines are?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I always imagined it right there. Um, and so if you finished it... but the strictures of the first book, I didn't quite know what I was doing yet, and I was trying to match a map that didn't quite match what I had in my head. I could do it so much better now. But, the problem is, it is kinda down here at the bottom of this, but where I described it....if you don't mind me putting in this... I described it right there in the book, and it needs to be up more.

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  • 5

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    E.N. Weiry/WeiryWriter (Goodreads)

    In Elantris the Aon used for healing is Aon Ien, but the definition given in the back of the book says it means "Wisdom". The other Aons have effects and definitions that go together, but "Healing" and "Wisdom" don't seem to match. Is there something there or is it an error?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's more a cultural thing. When I was naming the Aons I had some of them cross-align like this because I feel that languages, and cultures, are often messy. (Drive on a parkway, park in a driveway kind of issues.) This is the only one that ended up in the glossary that was like this, though, so I probably should have spotted that and changed it.

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  • 6

    Interview: Jan 8th, 2015

    fletchershair

    How do you convert between types of Investiture?

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    It depends on the types. For example, it's really hard to convert to/from Aons.

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  • 7

    Interview: Jan 8th, 2015

    fletchershair

    Can you combine Aons?

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    Yes.

    Tags

    aons,
  • 8

    Interview: Mar 12th, 2015

    focoma (Reddit)

    First of all, I'd like to thank you for e-mailing me White Sand and Aether of Night last year, and for just being so awesome and giving to your fans.

    Here are my questions:

    1. Sel question: What are the names of the Aons for West, North, and South? I'm assuming that these are also the names of the other cities around Elantris besides Kae ("East"). Is that right?
    2. Scadrial question: We've seen Kandra True Bodies made of crystal, stone, or wood. Can a kandra use a True Body made of metal? If so, what happens if each metal "bone" had a Hemalurgic charge, and each one is touching an appropriate bind point?
    3. Roshar question: Looking up the meaning of "lucentia", I see that it's a Latin word related to light and visibility. Why isn't the Surge of Illumination connected to the Order of Edgedancers, which is the Order associated with Lucentia?
    4. Nalthis question: This is a two-part question about Perfect Invocation. (A) When an old God King passes down his Breaths to his infant heir, does Perfect Invocation turn him (the old God King) into a white drab and does that grant him any cool powers? (B) Secondly, do God Kings create white Lifeless instead of grey ones and are these white Lifeless special in any significant way?

    Those four questions will do for now. I hope you'll visit the Philippines one of these days. Anyway, I need to go back to sleep. Happy writing!

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit)

    1. Yes. Peter pointed out to me that we really needed these, so they should be in the Elantris 10th anniversary edition.
    2. Yes. And that would work, better than you think, because Kandra have fluid bind points. But too many spikes can be dangerous to the psyche, even with Ati not messing things up.

    Tags

  • 9

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Have we met any of those three yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    For what I was planning there, yes, you have.

    Question

    Does Alloy of Law take place after the whole Stormlight sequence?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have not nailed down the exact timing, but it’s at least after book 5 of Stormlight. Because I haven’t nailed down exactly how long

    Question

    Do the glyphs on Roshar have any fundamental connection to [the geography? Some confusion about if they’re connected to Sel.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m not going to answer that yet, since I’m going to dig into what’s happening on Sel later.

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  • 10

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2016

    Question

    In SH, we see an Aon written in the steel alphabet, have we seen anything similar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don’t think we’ve shown you any, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. For instance the Aon on the wall in Emperor’s Soul would probably not look exactly like an Aon, because it’s different culture.

    Question

    Similar to the Dakhor monks use different...

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, more like, if you started writing in Chinese characters, and they became popular here in America, they’d change so they don’t actually look like their origin. But I don’t think I’ve ever DRAWN one out like that, but there are references to other cultures across the cosmere.

    Tags

  • 11

    Interview: Apr 8th, 2016

    Blightsong

    Is Aon Omi a kind of God Aon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's what they use it for, so, it would be kind of, equivalent to the god symbols, but it's also partially adopted if that makes sense.

    Tags

    Aons, Omi,
  • 12

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2016

    Question

    The Aons on Sel, they’re all based on - I assume the Inshape of the landscape around Elantris. Covestiture in Elantris itself, all the sigils are based on the general uld that magic work in other places based on geography on the other places with their Investiture, or is that exclusive to Sel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is an aspect of the Selan magic system… did I say Selian or Selan? Can’t remember which one we settled on, Peter knows…

    Question

    Selish.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, Selish, that’s what we settled on, isn’t it, yeah, Selish magic system. This is why we have copy editors [laughter] That’s a feature of the Sel’s magic system that… as far as I know, no-one has pulled out in any decent reason for. But there’s a distinct reason that could be figured out, but it’s… one of these things that will make sense when I explain it, but I’m not sure if it’s quote-unquote “intuitively obvious” to the average reader. I don’t really think that it necessarily is that, but it will make perfect sense once it’s explained.

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  • 13

    Interview: Dec 3rd, 2016

    PatrickDiomedes

    Will we ever get some sort of dictionary/guide to Aons or Forging, one that tells us how they're made, with what all the various parts of a seal mean and how we could theoretically design them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    We might, but it would be a ton of work for him to put together. He compared it to when people ask if we'll ever get the full text of the Way of Kings (the in-universe book) and he said that we might, but all he has is an outline.

    Tags