Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

This may be RAFO bait, but let’s see. Did the Knights Radiant in Dalinar’s Feverstone Keep vision divest their discard their Shards to a specific person/being/entity? (Brandon interrupted here before I could finish, but I’ll include the rest anyway). If so, have we seen them onscreen as of the end of WoR?

That’s a definite RAFO. (And that’s how I earned my first official RAFO card).

knights radiant

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recreance

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dalinar

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feverstone keep

Do some Surges have a stronger cognitive aspect (or cognitive influence, if aspect is too general) than others? Like Illumination, maybe?

(Really paraphrased; I tried to keep the wording in my head but got distracted right after I talked to him). There are those who would argue that it is indeed the case. It would be a matter of some debate.

surgebinding

This one’s kind of out there, but..: Any significant connection between Herdazians having stone fingernails and the essence associated with Kalak (Foil, #8) having a body focus of the Nails?

No, no there is not. Good question, though. (Appreciated Brandon softening the “no” with that)

herdazians

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essences

When Kaladin killed the Shardbearer (Helaran) in WoK, Amaram remarked that Amaram knew the Shardbearer was dead because the Shardblade didn’t disapper and because the Shardplate began to fall off of him. Is there some type of “lesser” bond between Shardplate and its wearer?

Yes, yes there is.

shardplate

Prior to the shattering of Adonalsium, were any of the central cosmere worlds inhabited by humans?

Yes.

adonalsium

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cosmere

Were *all* of them inhabited by humans? [central cosmere worlds]

No.

cosmere

On Scadriel, the city Elendel is named for Elend. Is Luthadel also named for a notable historical figure?

Yes.

luthadel

Will we ever meet them, or hear about them or anything? [whoever Luthadel was named for]

You might hear them mentioned at some point (he was pretty noncommital here) and you probably won't ever actually meet them.

luthadel

In Words of Radiance you have a great line which said “careful planning is the water which nourishes creativity”. I was wondering if, when you wrote that line, were you specifically thinking about novel outlines?

So there’s a line in Words of Radiance that’s says “careful planning is the water which nourishes creativity”. Was I specifically thinking of outlines? So when I speak most lines like this, I’m trying to speak through someone’s eyes. That’s Navani I believe who says that am I right? The idea being that that’s the way they’d perceive it. There are other people who would disagree. Now I am a planner, so I understand that mindset a lot. I use a lot of outlines. There are other people who don’t plan at all and their books still turn out awesome. So I think there are a lot of different ways to be creative. But I don’t think that Navani thinks that there are a lot of different ways. If that makes any sense. She has a different perspective on it perhaps.

navani

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brandon on writing

Revisiting the Wheel of Time?

Robert uncomfortable with people writing in his universe. Changed his mind in the end. Harriet and Brandon presented a united front to publisher. It shouldn’t happen b/c of Robert’s wishes. Harriet and the estate may change their mind but he probably wouldn’t write them himself.

wheel of time

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endings

What about a WoT movie?

Could happen but TV show more likely.

wheel of time in other media

So this may be RAFO bait, but in Dalinar’s Feverstone Keep vision, when the Radiant’s discard their Shards are they doing that to any entity in particular in specific?

Definitely a RAFO.

knights radiant

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recreance

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dalinar

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feverstone keep

Last month you posted a picture of your Dropbox right and there is that one folder that we read about. Is there anything you can tell us about that yet?

So I posted a picture of my Dropbox and I just happened to have crossed out one of the folders. Ahm, what can I say about that...you’ll know eventually. There’s not a whole lot i can say about it because it’s mere existence is a spoiler to people who haven’t read certain other books. And so that’s the reason why I crossed it out.

Question

We can assume it’s Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

I can’t say either way. It’s mere existence is a spoiler. You will find out eventually, but it is definitely a little side project that I may or may not actually ever finish.

future books

What are you reading right now?

The Martian by Andy Weir (fantastic), Naomi Novik’s new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Raising Steam, Peter Orullian’s second book

brandon on reading

If your character Hoid were a Planeswalker what color would he be?

You know I might do him like the Reaper King. Like two slash on all five. That’s what I would do him as.

hoid

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magic the gathering

Inspiration for Cody?

At a convention in the South a guy used y’all for “me”; for one person. Built a character around this person. A Kentucky dialect is y’all for one person and all y’all for many. Gets many emails from Southerners letting him know that’s not right.

influences

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firefight

Who would I cast to play Wayne in Alloy of Law?

He doesn’t cast characters; pays attention to directors. Impressed by Matthew McConaughey these last few years. Best actors are versatile. He cast the Legion hallucinations as famous actors except for Kalyani.

mistborn in other media

Plans to make tabletop RPGs for other books?

Eventually we will do them, but not anytime soon.

role-playing games

How do you pitch a book?

Practice.

publishing

Inspiration for Szeth?

Discovery writes his characters. Writes characters into a plot like casting them into roles. For Szeth it came from the idea of a religion worshipping stone.

influences

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brandon on writing

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szeth

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stone shamanism

Most unforgettable frustrations of becoming a writer?

Meeting deadlines; trained himself to be creative and excited about necessary book. Touring also exhausting.

Brandon on writing

Which power would you have in the real world?

Allomancer. Steel/Iron. Others would keep you alive or give immortality but he wants to fly.

allomancy

So I’m asking a question for my little sister. So since Disneyland is taking over the world, Disneyland is obviously Librarians. So is Alcatraz ever going to visit Disneyland?

Oh that’s a good question. He should because Disneyland is totally Librarians. They totally run that. I will consider that. I will consider that. Good question. Alcatraz 5 is written. We’re re-releasing the Alcatraz books with new covers and new artwork and all sorts of cool things like that starting January next year and they’ll run straight through to the fifth book which will come out in the summer sometime.

alcatraz

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future books

How do you keep everything straight?

He has an internal wiki with [WikiDPad?]. He’s scatterbrained; forgets wallets, keys, but never forgets stories. They stick in his head.

Brandon on writing

Will you tell us the Intent of Bavadin’s Shard?

The Intent of Bavadin’s Shard? No. But good question. Have a RAFO card.

bavadin

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shard

If you could talk [?] optioning Stormlight Archive.

Have I thought of optioning Stormlight as a miniseries? Yes I have, but I think it’s premature if you do anything until a few more books come out.

stormlight archive in other media

Should the things you thought of in Firefight apply in Steelheart?

Yes, the things I thought of in Firefight should apply in Steelheart. Uh, about weaknesses.

firefight

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steelheart

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weaknesses

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retconning

Who’s your favorite Epic?

Ask in line, since it’s a spoiler for the books. It’s someone that you don’t know is an Epic.

epics

Syl changes forms a lot more than the other bonded spren. Is human her default?

Is Syl’s default form the little human woman or does she not really have one? You will find out more about that eventually.

sylphrena

How do they work with spheres being the money, magic system, and lighting on Roshar?

They would say, “How could you have three different things to fulfill those functions?” Mostly rich people use spheres for lighting. Poor people use candles and such since you don’t want to leave your spheres out in the open. There are low-light spheres worth the same amount as a candle, so someone could swipe that and there wouldn’t be a difference.

spheres

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currency

What does the Upside Down [??? sorting system] exactly mean?

[laughing] I don’t know, it’s something I made up for the Librarians in Alcatraz.

alcatraz

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?

Your duty is to practice writing in such a way so you can write great books. Your job is not to write a great book. It takes practice, like being a doctor or pianist. Resolve to practice. Don’t worry if you’re not playing Rachmaninoff immediately. Practice trumps perfectionism on a small level.

Brandon on writing

The Shardblade that Dalinar had at the end of Words of Radiance, was that the Honorblade?

The Shardblade that Dalinar had at the end of Words of Radiance that he gave up?

Question

Yeah, that he gave up.

Brandon Sanderson

No it was not.

Question

It was not? So what happened to the Honorblade that the Herald had?

Brandon Sanderson

Nobody kno- Well, somebody knows, but it is not known to the main characters.

Question

Can I ask if uh, Hoid-

Brandon Sanderson

If Hoid knows?

Question

Yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid did not take it, but I’m not answering whether he knows.

dalinar

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hoid

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taln's honorblade

When spren die, they kind of become part of everything, so why did, when the Knights broke their oaths, why did they stay as Shardblades?

They had been bound into that form by those oaths. The oaths are broken, but it’s like they’re cracked. Does that make sense? Like, there’s still something holding those spren and that’s what made them [?] It would have been better if they had actually died, does that make sense? But they couldn’t, they’re bound in that form.

Question

But their consciousness is gone-?

Brandon Sanderson

They still have a consciousness some- to an extent.

Question

That’s why the screaming happens.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

shardblades

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spren

So Words of Radiance… [paper crumpling; Adolin?] ...killed by… [crumpling; Sadeas?] … knife through the eye [crumpling] … worked so hard, I mean like does that change him in any way [?]

You will have to read on and see where it goes, and it’s certainly not something his father would have done, but at the same time, ah, I think there is a legitimate moral argument that what he did was right. I think there’s a legitimate one. I’m not saying it won’t change him or stuff, but there is a legitimate argument.

adolin

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sadeas

What has been your most favorite character arc to write?

Um… Normally it’s very hard to answer questions like this because it’s like all my characters are my favorites, but in this case I can say writing Perrin’s arc in the Wheel of Time was very satisfying and fulfilling since I’ve been a fan for so many years and being able to do the things there, yeah. That was very satisfying, how about that?

brandon on writing

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favorites

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perrin

So I thought through a lot of your recommendations, and a lot of other recommendations from other people on reddit, but where do you find books that you read?

Reads the first few pages to his wife, who’s a avid reader. Guy Gavriel Kay, Brian McClellan, Elerix [?] David Gemmell.

brandon on reading

For the past year I’ve been the administrator for the Stormlight Archive Wiki and any feedback you or Peter could give me is most welcome, no feedback would be fine,-

I go there when I’m looking for, like that, like, I know I wrote something about this, what did I put in the book. Then I’ll go to your wiki and look at it.

Question

That’s cool.

Brandon Sanderson

I got that habit with the Wheel of Time, because I could find it in the notes, but it always takes longer to go to the notes than to Google and Google doesn’t index my wiki, so I go to yours. I think it’s well done. More stuff about the SA wiki and maybe they’ll link it on Brandon’s website.

coppermind.net

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brandon on research

I’m at a magazine and we were wondering if you could do an interview or a short story.

I can do the interview, but I don’t do short short stories, short means 17,000 words for me.

brandon on writing

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future interviews

When it comes to like, touring and stuff like that, how do you pick these locations?

Sometimes, it’s my publisher, sometimes it’s me saying let’s go somewhere different. And sometimes it’s places where I’ve come a lot where they do a good job, like when I come to a store like this, I think they do a good job, so I put a good report into the publisher and say, feel free to send me back to that store.

brandon on touring

I’m a student at San Francisco University, and I have a lot of people who are fans of you there and they would love it if [?]

The best way to get me to places like that is if you have a local science fiction convention. If you have them invite me as the guest of honor, I do that sort of a lot, like I do [VegCon?]

Question

I’m planning on going to [VegCon? WorldCon?], so-

Brandon Sanderson

Cool! Something about the Hugo’s? It’s a civic responsibility if you’re going to WorldCon.

Question

Well, I feel like-

Brandon Sanderson

I’m not saying you have to vote for me, just saying that you have to vote.

conventions

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fandom

I’m concerned that that bloodthirsty sword is off on his own again

He, ah, he is, he is in dangerous hands right now, let’s just say that

Question

Yeah, untrustworthy hands.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, yes he is.

nightblood

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szeth

Does Sazed talk to Wax when he has that thing in his ear, when he’s praying?

Yes.

sazed

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hemalurgy

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waxillium

Aha! Yes! Uh, ok, second thing. My brother and I have been debating about Hoid and how he got his abilities. We have a couple theories. One of them is Hemalurgy.

Ok…

Question

The other has to do with the portals into the worlds themselves, because the birds in Sixth of Dusk-

Brandon Sanderson

Ok, he does not have Hemalurgy. He has powers that predate the Shattering of Adonalsium. Not all of his powers predate, but he does have powers that predate.

Question

Ok, so I was wrong on both counts then… Am I wrong on both counts?

Brandon Sanderson

I’m not saying that. I’m saying that he has powers that predate, and has gained powers since.

hoid

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hemalurgy

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cosmere

I actually have a few questions. I figure most of them will be RAFO, but I might as well try. In [Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell], that one? The Evil that destroyed the Homeland, was that Odium [killing?] a Shard? Or was that someone else-

RAFO

shadows for silence in the forests of hell

Are we going to see more of that world?

Yes.

Question

Sweet!

Brandon Sanderson

Thredony is the name of that world. [Threnody is correct spelling]

threnody

I’ll make sure to write that down somewhere. I really liked Silence, by the way. She was awesome. Are we going to find out who brought Nightblood to Roshar?

Yes.

nightblood

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roshar

Cool. I’m not going to bother asking who did right now. With Syl being able to be revived, is Adolin ever going to be able to revive his own blade, or-

Ah, that would be very difficult, as the orig-, in most cases, the original person who broke the oaths has to be the one.

Question

Ok. Do you have to have done the third oath before you can convert your spren into a Blade?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, in most orders, yes.

Question

What about Shallan then? Did she do it, cause she was a kid when she first-

Brandon Sanderson

Um… You will find out more.

recreance

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knights radiant

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oaths

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shardblades

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spren

Cool. The other big one that I had was, um, how far ahead in the timeline is Sixth of Dusk?

Pretty far.

Question

… kind of a general-

Brandon Sanderson

Most people that I’m writing about now are all dead.

Question

Is it up into the third trilogy of Mistborn?

Brandon Sanderson

It is that era, yes.

Question

Sweet! That’s what I thought.

Brandon Sanderson

It might be a little bit before that trilogy, but it’s that era.

chronology

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sixth of the dusk

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cosmere

I have a final question then, is there a Hoid cameo in Shadows for Silence?

I intentionally didn’t put one in, because I didn’t- couldn't come- there was no reason for him to be there, and I didn’t want to be doing it just to do it, if that makes sense, like, the Cosmere isn’t just a bunch of cameos, it is a story within itself.

shadows for silence in the forests of hell

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where's hoid

One thing I wanted to ask about is the [test?] on Emperor’s Soul, are you going to write a bigger one about that?

It’s unlikely because I think it works so well as it is. But you will probably see Shai again at some point.

shai

Do you ever feel that when you are writing becomes forced and what do you do…[?]

I write it even when it’s feeling forced when read it over the next day and see if it reads forced.

brandon on writing

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brandon on editing

My son wants to know...Why is Alcatraz a bad guy but he doesn’t do bad things?

He ahm...You can just say to him that Alcatraz is not a bad guy but he has a poor opinion of himself. He has bad self esteem.

alcatraz

Who is your favorite Epic?

I would say that Megan is my favorite Epic.

epics

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megan

What’s Mitosis? Is it available in print?

Novelette. They will reprint it. It’s too expensive now.

mitosis

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reckoners

Were you ah, [?] dictionary type thing with Jordan and Harriet? (maybe about getting it signed)

I have not done very much of that. It was supposed to be Harriet’s thing. But she won’t tour again.

wheel of time companion

Are you going to complete any series or just continue?

I will be completing stuff. The Reckoners will be finished fairly soon. I writing the last one right now.

Question

And new Mistborn?

Brandon Sanderson

And the new Mistborns. We are getting close to the end of that.

future books

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mistborn

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reckoners

Why can you never find the fourth book in the Alcatraz series?

Because the fourth book had the lowest distribution and was not printed in paperback. And so.. but the reprints of those -- the new ones that Tor is doing -- I’ve seen the covers and they’re awesome. They’re the first time I’ve gotten good covers on an Alcatraz book. So I’m very excited about those.

Question

You did like [name]’s covers?

Brandon Sanderson

No I thought they were terrible. The first one wasn’t bad. I was ok with the first one. But they got progressively worse I felt.

alcatraz

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reprints

What book has inspired you the most?

Les Miserables. I love Victor Hugo’s writing style. His use of character and his use of language.

influences

What influenced your characters in Steelheart? Comic books? Specific ones?

I’ve read a lot of comics. Watchman influences everyone. Kingdom Come - one of first that really made me think about comics. The original Turtles. Graphic novels (self contained) like the Killing Joke.

influences

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reckoners

From the very beginning did you already know like the Cosmere? Like was that your goal setting out?

It was my goal very early on. In fact, before I wrote any books I wrote a short story about Hoid. So he goes back to before the very first book that I wrote. So yeah it goes back pretty far. I can trace inspirations back to Asimov tying Foundation and Robots together and feeling like that was really cool and wanting to do something like that, if it makes sense. And so I would say that’s probably like the first seed was when I read the later Foundation books and they tied them together.

cosmere

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brandon on writing

What books you use to improve your own writing?

Orson Scott Card’s books. Stephen King’s book is very good. Improves more when I read writing I admire and ask myself what they did well. Anne McCaffery for example.

Brandon on writing

I was reading stuff online about like a Mistborn videogame…

Yeah, we’ll still working on it. It’s taking much longer than we thought. The developer the producer of the game and I had chosen -- they, ah, had a falling out and split and so we had to start over from scratch and that’s what really threw us for a loop. We then took it to a really prestigious one game company that I love and they considered it for a long time, but it turned out that they just didn’t have the time and couldn’t do it. So now we are kind of back to square one finding a third group to do it.

mistborn video game

My question was about Shards actually. So at the end of Words of Radiance Syl is turning into a Shardblade as well as other different weapons. And Kaladin has a whole bunch of Windspren around him. And I am wondering if that is a precursor to Shardplate?

I think you are a very smart man and you are asking wise questions.

windspren

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shardplate

I’ve been trying to figure out how to make an Alethi dress without making the safehand pouch look lumpy.

People online have done it. Make it tighter. Also it looks natural in-world.

safepouches

I had a question about how the Alethi women exhibit their wealth through their dresses. So I know there’s embroidery in the fabric [that you’re kinda disabling one arm?]

So the gemstones -- like well cut gemstones and then fill them with Stormlight. The glowing is how they’d shown off their wealth.

Question

What kind of embroidery is it? Flowers? Patterns?

Brandon Sanderson

It is a lot of things but the Alethi’s don’t do the flower thing....It’s not really an Alethi thing. So you are seeing a lot of designs and hatchings. They may look a little Arabic to you. Or the glyphs and things like that you will see worked in but very stylized.

alethi fashion

Worldbringers and Worldsingers -- similar mission?

The similarity of the names is intentional.

Question

Similar origin?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Question

Did Hoid start them?

Brandon Sanderson

That’s a RAFO. That’s a RAFO, but definitely they have a similar origin.

worldbringers

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worldsingers

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hoid

Do you always stick to your outline?

I do not. I will rebuild my outline. If I think I’m gonna break it, I’ll try a chapter that direction and if it works rewrite the outline.

Question

Do you ever refer back to your previous book …?

Brandon Sanderson

Definitely. Usually I make an outline for the first book, write it, then outline the series.

Brandon on writing

What’s the secret to getting books out as fast as you do?

The secret is my work ethic. Pioneer work ethic. Pat is a perfectionist. I get it pretty good and hand it to my editor to polish. His biggest strength over me is his lyrical prose. That extra 1% takes him two years. I love what I do and I write every day.

Brandon on writing

If you electrified metal would that have any impact on being able to Steelpush or Ironpull it?

I do not currently have that as an effect. That interfering with it requires Investiture. And electrifying is not Investiture. So no it would not. In fact, I’m absolutely sure it will not because the plans call for that to be a possibility they are doing in the future.

allomancy

Can a kandra burn things...could they burn lerasium...and if they did would they be able to burn other things?

Yes that is possible. It is even plausible that an kandra could gain other powers, they just don’t know how to do it.

kandra