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Interviews: WOR-Omaha, NE
Summary:
Entries
36
Date
Mar 13th, 2014
Location
Omaha, NE
TourCon
Words of Radiance
Bookstore
Barnes & Noble #2662
Reporter
Sir Jerric
Links
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1
Question
The hair color: is there a link between the hair color in Warbreaker and the hair color in—like with the Alethi always have black, and I can't remember the other country that always have their gold hair coloring?Brandon Sanderson
Yes. You are noticing something very interesting which was done deliberately.Tags
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2
Question
If you write Nightblood, the Warbreaker sequel, chronologically, will it come before or after Stormlight?Brandon Sanderson
Before. More close to Warbreaker than to Stormlight.Tags
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3
Question
So do you know what the end of the series is going to [can't make out the rest].Brandon Sanderson
I do. I've actually written the epilogue to book five. Peter, my assistant, like sent an exclamation point after he saw that appear on the wiki. Actually the ending of the entire series, of the ten books, is somewhere in the two books. Just like in Mistborn it was in the first page. It's not in the first page but it's in those books.Footnote
Some spelling errors corrected in the answerTags
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4
Question
There are some scientists talking about spren, and they seemed to be describing the positioning...[can't make out the rest].Brandon Sanderson
It does, but it's really behind the scenes. This is just helping you understand the nature of spren, kind of their relationship to subatomic particles and quantum thery and things like this. There are relationships there. It's even one or two steps further than what you see in actual quantum physics. In this book you get a discussion of the theory on spren that should relate right back to that. Watch for stuff that Jasnah says about spren. It's worldbuilding stuff that's not part of the main story. It's fun for scientists.Tags
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5
Question
Is Wit a Herald?Brandon Sanderson
Wit is not a Herald. Wit predates the Heralds.Tags
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6
Sir Jerric
Has Hoid ever visited the planet Braize?Brandon Sanderson
[Sing-song, delighted] RAFO. Such a big RAFO! The biggest RAFO!Footnote
Braize is a planet in the Roshar System.Tags
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7
Sir Jerric
Could a Seon, or a Skaze, could they turn into a, some sort of Shardblade on their own planet?Brandon Sanderson
That is theoretically possible. It's—I mean they work under the same fundamentals, but they would need to have something to pull them more into the physical realm.Tags
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8
Sir Jerric
Do we see the highspren at all in Words of Radiance? And if so, do they look like a comet?Brandon Sanderson
That's a good question. That's a gooood, good question. I will say this, the comet, hmm, the comet spren. The comet spren is very important to an order of Knights Radiant.Tags
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9
Macen
What group, if any, was Shallan's mother a part of?Brandon Sanderson
RAFO. But you are right, she was indeed involved.Tags
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10
Macen
Was Shallan's father influenced at all by Odium?Brandon Sanderson
Yes.Tags
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11
Macen
Is it possible to bind with more than one spren? (then I added in) of different types?Brandon Sanderson
I'm not going to say it's impossible.Tags
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12
Macen
I have read White Sands and Aether of Night. Why aren't they published?Brandon Sanderson
White Sands isn't published because I feel that Kenton doesn't have the depth of character that I like to have nowadays. He's more of an oldschool character of mine where he just isn't--personality wise doesn't have quite enough. Beyond that, I feel that White Sands is narrative. It meanders a little too much. I felt that if I cut 50k words and fix them, we would have a good book. Aether is not published because I feel that I wrote two different books and didn't blend them together very well. There's kind of the farcical Shakespearean switch-places-silliness and it's fun but it's like mistaken identity almost, sort of stuff, and the romance. Mixed with these dark things are coming out of the shardpools and destroying the world. And these two stories never meshed together well enough for me to want to publish it. White Sand one more revision, we're trying to go to graphic novel. I'm not sure what I could do with Aether of Night.Tags
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13
Macen
Will there be more romantic subplots? I really enjoyed the scene between Shallan and [can't make this out].Brandon Sanderson
There will be more romantic subplots. There will definitely be. If you watch, there will be a lot more. I'm a big fan of romance.Tags
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14
Macen
Are there any other continents on Roshar?Brandon Sanderson
I haven't said if there's anything else out there, but I have said that it's a pangaea. Meaning if there's anything else out there, they are small. They are not of a similar scope in size. Now on Scadrial, there's other stuff going on. And I've told people that for years and years and years. So you may find some other stuff going on there. So the southern continent was populated on Scadrial, during the Final Empire era even. It was just impossible to reach because of the heat. The poles were the only habitable places on the planet. So anything in between just cooked. Final Empire was on the North Pole.Tags
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15
Macen
We know that 10 is an odd number in the cosmere. And I noticed that the Lord Ruler specifically released 10 Allomantic metals. Is there a reason behind that?Brandon Sanderson
No, that was a coincidence right there. 10 is an odd cosmere number for Roshar, and there are reasons why it is Macen: But it wasn't just Roshar, it was also Nalthis and Warbreaker. Brandon: Nope, that one is a coincidence. Sometimes they just pop up that way. Part of the original reason that Roshar was 10 was I was going for a 10 day like Robert Jordan did, which I thought was cool. But then I ended up writing the Wheel of Time so I have to do something different now. So it turned into the two five-day weeks. Two five-days becoming a 50 day month.Tags
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16
Macen
The Cognitive Realm, is Shadesmar a Roshar specific term?Brandon Sanderson
Shadesmar is a Roshar specific term. But when I translate from what other people are saying in these books, I just translate it to Shadesmar. For instance, when Wit is talking about it, he's going to call it Shadesmar, he's just going to use the Roshar term. But no, Shadesmar is what--it's called there.Tags
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17
Macen
With the whole ground/water inversion thing, is that a cosmere wide thing?Brandon Sanderson
That, you will need to RAFO. But I will say that there are places in Shadesmar that are different, and some that are the same.Tags
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18
Macen
[Not sure on this] Is there something important about the stone, and the girl that's missing that has to do kind of with the stone, and how Tien gives him rocks?Brandon Sanderson
Some of that you're reading too much into, but something is real. I'm not going to tell you what is what. But there's definitely something about that.Footnote
This is probably a reference to Tien's obsession with shiny rocks.Tags
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19
Macen
When Hoid was talking to Dalinar, he seemed to expect that Dalinar had heard of Adonalsium. Why would he think that?Brandon Sanderson
He thought that Dalinar was part of some of the secret societies on Roshar. And he had thought his way into thinking Dalinar was part of them and that was how Dalinar was knowing certain things. Which he really wasn't he was getting them from the storms and things like this. But he thought that Gavilar had confided things in Dalinar. That Dalinar would know more about this. So he was kind of testing to see. And he was wrong.Tags
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20
Macen
I was thinking of how Shardplate in Dalinar's first vision looks different than Shardplate is now. Syl can only transform into a Shardblade after he says the third round of Oaths. Is Shardplate the next set or will it be a totally different [Can't make this out.]Brandon Sanderson
You are totally going to get a RAFO. You are asking good questions.Tags
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21
Macen
If someone is using an Honorblade, would they be able to bond a spren?Brandon Sanderson
It is indeed possible. It does not block it. Good question. You do not have to bond Honorblades. Honorblades work with whoever holds them.Tags
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22
Macen
Why does Hoid show up in all of your books?Brandon Sanderson
Because they're all connected and he's searching for something.Tags
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23
Macen
Soulcasters, [can't make this out] do they visit Shadesmar, do we see more about them? Because they're [can't make this out] something about them with the stony face.Brandon Sanderson
Yes, the actual soulcasters. Use of the soulcasters is affecting them on one of the Realms other than Physical.Footnote
Fixed a spelling errorTags
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24
Macen
Can you tell me something about Tension and Cohesion?Brandon Sanderson
I haven't actually written these magic systems yet, so they may change. But they are--Tension is the ability to take something flexible and make it rigid. Which sounds simple, but there are so many cool things you can do with that.Tags
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25
Macen
Is Shallan's mother, the one that she kills, is that her birth mother?Brandon Sanderson
It is. Good question.Tags
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26
Macen
What Heightening is Hoid?Brandon Sanderson
[Coy] I don't know what you're talking about! Heightening? He's just the King's Wit! Q: With perfect pitch? A: He does have perfect pitch! [Even more coy]You're obviously misconstruing that!Tags
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27
Macen
Are Heralds Surgebinders without Honorblades?Brandon Sanderson
That's a RAFO. That's a big fat RAFO!Footnote
[This was answered at another signing.]Tags
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28
Macen
Unknown question.Brandon Sanderson
Sigzil claims Hoid is his master Sigzil is not a world hopper, but he spent some time with Hoid during one of Hoid's visits.Tags
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29
Macen
A couple of days ago, you mentioned some person called Khriss. Has he actually appeared or been referenced in any of...Brandon Sanderson
She! has appeared and.... Q: I guessed as much because one of the pictures says "Dear woman!" toward the end of the book. A: She has appeared in--if you ask around about Khriss, she has appeared in unpublished books. Q: Is Khriss the author of some of the Ars Arcanums? A: [Teasing]Oh I dunno. That's very interesting Q: Does Khriss owe Nazh a new coat? A: [Long pause]I'll stay closed mouthed on Khriss.Tags
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30
Kythis
Unknown question.Brandon Sanderson
Hemalurgy-when you spike, you place the spike in a place that determines which charge the spike gets. Q: Through the heart seems to pick up universally. A: It depends on where in the heart. It's like acupuncture. This is designed from acupuncture and you get very specific on which nerves you're hitting and things like that Q: So the spike will never pick up more than one power. A: Not the way they know how to do it.Tags
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31
Kythis
Can they hold more than one Honorblade at a time?Brandon Sanderson
That is theoretically possible.Tags
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32
Kythis
The names Zahel and Nahel bonds are very similar. Is it coincidental?Brandon Sanderson
It's part of the linguistics. They're based off of similar suffixes. They're the same suffix I believe.Tags
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33
Kythis
Is there a specific # of Ideals that they have to do before they can get the Shardblade?Brandon Sanderson
It depends on the Order.Footnote
Ideals=oathsTags
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34
Kythis
How did Pattern actually become a Shardblade even though he hadn't been fully pulled into the Physical Realm?Brandon Sanderson
He was pulled into the Physical Realm before, when Shallan was younger. And she almost broke her bond. Q: He didn't go mad though. A: She didn't completely break the bond. She didn't reject him completely. But it was dangerous for a while.Tags
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35
Kythis
Is there anything Hoid was scared of? And if so, is it still around, and...Brandon Sanderson
There are many things that Hoid is scared of. He is really scared of Odium, but there are others.Tags
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36
Kythis
I'd kind of like to get you to talk more about Southern Scadrial but...Brandon Sanderson
That, we're just going to wait on. Q: I have a theory that it requires Hemalurgy to get started. A: Hmmm! Good plot, good theory!Tags
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