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WoT Interview Database
Home | Interview Database
Interviews: OdysseyCon 2016
Summary:
Entries
45
Date
Apr 8th, 2016
Location
Madison, WI
Links
-
1
Kurkistan
How exactly, Realmatically, is it tracked- like [for example] Aon Aon with these swirls and lines means "Arelon"?Brandon Sanderson
I'm not gonna' explain that yet; I can explain how the shape is, but the whole relationship between the Aons and the magic and the landscape-Tags
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2
Kurkistan
What exactly was Harmony's original plan for Lessie if she'd gone along with it?Brandon Sanderson
Well the original plan was to turn Wax into what he kind of ended up being.Kurkistan
And Lessie would still be alive, then?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, and kind of as his minder slash, ya know...Tags
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Kurkistan
What exactly- When an object enters a time bubble, how exactly does it determine- how does it know how fast and which direction it's "really" going?Brandon Sanderson
It gets deflected a little bit when it enters, but then it adapts to the momentum that it would have going in.Kurkistan
Like Spiritual bonds to something or other?Brandon Sanderson
Riiightit's- so... I can't explain that because it has relevance in the future. But in that moment when it passes [into the bubble], something is happening with conservation of momentum. The trick we have to do with it in order to keep from irradiating people. Tags
4
Kurkistan
Do Surgebinders have Gemhearts?Blightsong
*laughs* I was about to ask that.Brandon Sanderson
No, good question.Tags
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Kurkistan
OverheardBrandon Sanderson
I distinctly heard Brandon talking with the other table about space travel as relates to Roshar. He was talking about how the magic can already control gravity/pressure and the like, but the thing that stood out clearly was that he was saying that they already had an ansible. The only candidate for that is spanreeds/conjoiner fabrials, so that's a nice confirmation there that they communicate faster than light.Tags
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Blightsong
Ok, first one. Was Sadeas ever affected directly by Odium or an Unmade, not counting the Thrill?Brandon Sanderson
Not counting the Thrill, ok uhhhhm. There are affects of other unmade around, and Odium's direct effect? I'm going to say, no, maybe some indirect effects.Blightsong
What about Roshone?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhhm, no. The Thrill is the main thing that is getting the Alethi, I mean, there are others around, but it's not as obvious with that as with other things.Tags
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Blightsong
Can Odium change written word on Roshar like Ruin could on Scadrial? (I was wondering this because it would make it easy for him to manipulate Mr.T that way.Brandon Sanderson
*apprehensive* This is not really a thing that Odium does. Um, yea.Tags
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Blightsong
Are sandlings from white sand an early concept for crustaceans on Roshar, with greatshells being a parallel to deep sandlings.Brandon Sanderson
No, um, the idea for white sand came first, and it was more that I was exploring divergent ecology, but I've been doing that in Dragonsteel and in White Sand and in here with Roshar. I would say that the fact that white sand hadn't been published meant that I could do something's that were similar without worrying about repeating myself, but it's not like I used them specifically as models.Blightsong
*jokingly* So does this mean we are going to get to see little dragons running around in Dragonsteel?Brandon Sanderson
Uh, well, in Dragonsteel the dragons are sapient, so when I write Dragonsteel I will put dragons in there, but the dragons are intelligent and uh, can take human form, but there are actual little dragons.Blightsong
Wait, they can take human form?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, yes, yup.Tags
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Blightsong
Is Yolen named after Jane Yolen?Brandon Sanderson
Yes.Question
Yes, ok. I've always wondered.Brandon Sanderson
One of the early fantasy books I read was Dragon's Blood, and so I named it after her.Tags
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Blightsong
Last year I asked you if shadows turn the wrong way in the cognitive realm for a reason, you said to basically think of it like important flavor text. Is this happening because people are being drawn towards the Beyond?Brandon Sanderson
Um, yea that part of it. Definitely.Tags
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Blightsong
What is Proving Day in Vorin mythology?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhhm, equivalent of Bar Mitzvah.Tags
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Blightsong
Can you give us any information on Ral Elorum?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhhm, no other than its called city of shadows for a reason.Tags
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Blightsong
In the end, how many bridge runs did Kaladin go on?Brandon Sanderson
I didn't count them, uhhm, dozens. Probably not hundreds.Tags
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Blightsong
Is it theoretically possible to hemalurgically spike a shard into someone else, and if so, what would be the outcome?Brandon Sanderson
A full shard? Hemalurgy could not hold that much of an invested charge. Not without something really weird happening.Tags
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Blightsong
With reversals fabrials, if one fell and sat on the ground will the other one continue to rise due to the gravity affecting the one on the ground?Brandon Sanderson
No, good question.Tags
16
Blightsong
What would Rock's name mean translated directly to English?Brandon Sanderson
You want the poem? I've got the poem somewhere, I can't quote the poem at you, I'm sorry. Maybe I'll release it someday. I do have the poem, it's not that long.Tags
17
Blightsong
Can forgery change eye or hair color?Brandon Sanderson
It could theoretically.Tags
18
Blightsong
How well would Jasnah and Khriss get along?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhhm, I would say that they would get along well, like scholars from different disciplines, meaning with respect for the other's discipline.Tags
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Would a savant look different in the spiritual realm than a regular human?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, yes.Tags
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Blightsong
Would Hoid's spirit web seem more similar to that of a savant or a regular human?Brandon Sanderson
Oh, neither one, but it would be weirder than a savant. Are you just getting these question's of the 17th Shard?Blightsong
No, these are mine, I write questions in my notes when I read through books.Brandon Sanderson
These are actually yours? Ok, I'll keep going then. If these are actually yours you can have as many as you want. Some people just go to the list of all the questions to ask Brandon and they come and just "Oh I'm just gonna ask Brandon all of these", and I'm like "no you can have three or four". But, if they're your questions you can have as many as you want.Tags
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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
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Blightsong
Is anything magical going on with the screams Szeth hears?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhh, Szeth's screams. Uhhm, I'm trying to decide how to answer this. It is not, see here's the thing. What we would call magical may not be considered magical in the Cosmere, but it depends on your definition of magic. Would Szeth if he were on our planet and have done those things would he hear those screams, probably not, but would someone else in the Cosmere who had gone through what he had gone through hear those screams, yes.Blightsong
So it has to do with the spiritual realm?Brandon Sanderson
Yea, mhmm, yea.Tags
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Blightsong
Does Baon's name sound Selish for a reason?Brandon Sanderson
No, that just a coincidence. That was before I had written Elantris, so.Tags
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Blightsong
Is it possible for a Knight Radiant to become a kind of Drab if they use too much investiture?Brandon Sanderson
No, you can't really burn yourself out that way, no. I mean, it's possible for drabbery to be mimicked on other planets, but not through that method.Tags
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Blightsong
Were the oaths of the Knights radiant consciously chosen, or did they happen naturally.Brandon Sanderson
*apprehension*. This is one of those vague ones in that yes and no. They are a natural outgrowth of the spren, but the spren are a natural outgrowth of human's perception of natural forces, but the spren are sentient, so I would say it's a little more by instinct than not. For example to Knights Radiant in the same order might speak the words differently, but the concept is the same. You will see this happen in a future book, where a Windrunner will speak the oaths. It's a slightly different take on the same concept. Some are moreso, like Shallan's oaths are very individualized truths, so.Tags
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Blightsong
Would it be harder to soulcast a Knight Radiant?Brandon Sanderson
Yes.Blightsong
Would it be harder for her to soulcast a mistborn?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, investiture disrupts investiture. It's harder for her to even soulcast a regular person than, say, a rock.Blightsong
Is a Mistborn invested?Brandon Sanderson
The Mistborn, how their burning the metal, you're right. They are not specifically invested when they are not burning. When the investiture becomes active, the yes. Before, no, you're right on that.Tags
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Blightsong
So Kelsier, he stayed around longer, not because he was invested, but because he had the ability to become invested?Brandon Sanderson
Over time using the magic will invest you, on Scadrial. Most of the power is not coming from, on Roshar the power isn't coming from the person either (He cut himself off, so I assume this is how it works on Scadrial even though he didn't finish his thought) so I'm going to have to back up on that one and say, yes, the mistborn are as invested as a Knight Radiant, because in both cases the majority of the power is coming from somewhere else, but there is the spirit web. Investing the wrong term, but you have all these connections in the spiritual realm, so yanking you away from them, or rewriting them (like soulcasting or forgery) is harder.Blightsong
Would they be harder (kek) with more Stormlight or Metals burning?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, yes. That would increase the difficulty ratio. For instance, wearing shard plate is gonna be a great barrier, right, and things like that so yea. The problem is like, invested is the wrong term for that, their spirit web is connected in different ways. (I deem this "Spirit Web Magical Connectivity Diversity, or SWMCD".Tags
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Blightsong
How much did Super Mind Taravangian know about the Cosmere as a whole, roughly, rough estimate.Brandon Sanderson
He had a little bit of knowledge. Not as much as... not as much conscious knowledge.Blightsong
Did he guess about the three realms?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, he knew about the three realms. He didn't have to guess on that, he had read philosophy and things, that knowledge is there on Roshar.Tags
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Blightsong
Does magic happen on Sel because areas have a stronger cognitive presence, like, more sentient life in that area?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhh, no, good question, good question. That is not the answer. I am going to give it in the Cosmere collection (Arcanum Unbound?) if people don't guess it by then. So I'm going to leave off, I could tell you right now but, I can't remember if anyone has guessed it or not.Question
Is it related to tectonics?Brandon Sanderson
No, it's all kinda going in the wrong direction. I haven't really given you the clues to figure it out, I don't think. Once I say it, it will make a lot of sense.Tags
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Blightsong
Was Hoid trying to become an Elantrian kind of in a way how Kelsier was able to connect to preservation to take up the shard?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, the thing about it is your getting Hoid before he knew as much as he did in Scadrial era, so what he was trying to do was completely ineffective and it couldn't have worked.Blightsong
Doesn't it get weaker the farther away you are, so it wouldn't help at all.Brandon Sanderson
mhmm.Question
Well we have an example of an Elantrian on Roshar, so.Brandon Sanderson
Yes we have an Elantrian on Roshar, but we don't see him use any powers, and his skin is dark on Roshar rather than glowing. That is something to be aware of. While I keep doing this, who is here for the magic draft? *Talks about the magic draft and his writing process for a bit*.Tags
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Blightsong
Can Honor spren, or any other type of Knight Radiant spren, be evil?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, because I don't call the shards good and evil. There are no good and evil shards in my opinion, like and so, what evil and what's not evil can totally have spren of honor that you would consider evil. They have free will, but they are much more limited. It is very hard, or impossible, for them to lie but they can be cruel.Tags
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Blightsong
Can you shed some light on why ruin's last words were "Vax".Brandon Sanderson
No, I can't, I mean I can but I'm not going to.Tags
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Blightsong
How does corrupted investiture work, like Nightblood?Brandon Sanderson
Oh, Nightblood. Again, this is a definition of what somebody feels is a corruption. For instance, there are spren people would feel are corrupted. But that is corruption where the mixing of different shards has changed things, and I think a lot of times when people say corruption, people are meaning the mixing of shards powers.Blightsong
So is there a mixing of shards power with Nightblood?Brandon Sanderson
*smirks* RAFO. That's the natural question, I'm glad you asked it.Blightsong
Ok, uhhh, so something similar is happening with Gavilar's sphere, right?Brandon Sanderson
*contemplative silence*, RAFO.Blightsong
Uhhh, if anyone else has questions, speak up (I started running out of questions at this point).Brandon Sanderson
Question over here!Tags
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Question
I was wondering if we were very going to see Dragons in the Cosmere?Brandon Sanderson
Yes, Dragonsteel. One of the first books I ever wrote in the Cosmere has dragons. It's also just one of the weaker books, so I can't publish it as is, but yea. Being a big fan of dragons, I did write them into the Cosmere. They are the one standard fantasy race in there.Question
Are they ever going to infiltrate the other worlds kind of?Brandon Sanderson
*Talks about the letter and Frost, Flashback order, and the girls costume*Tags
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Question
Are we ever going to learn what threat Taravangian is referring to?Brandon Sanderson
Uhhh, yes (So is there a different threat than Odium?)Question
It will be big, I assume so.Tags
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Blightsong
Have larger land going greatshells existed above a chasm fiend?Brandon Sanderson
Larger than a chasmfiend, the ones out near Reshi can go on land. So yea, it is possible that there are larger ones. They do better in the water, because of how big they are, the high oxygen, low gravity, and symbiotic relationship with the spren allow for mega fauna that is just unrealistically large and just could exist on earth, so yea.Tags
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Question
What is the purpose of the gigantic four armed spren that looks at the origin of the Surgestorms (Highstorms?)?Brandon Sanderson
Good question, haha, RAFO.Tags
38
Question
So we know how people can enter Shadesmar, or the cognitive realm, how do other places, like, we haven't seen anything for the Mistborn series. Do we know how they can enter?Brandon Sanderson
Read Secret History.Question
I did read that, but it didn't really say anything besides that one special case.Brandon Sanderson
Right, Hoid talks about Perpendicularities on Scadrial, if you go look at that there are certain places he talks about that. ,eyes just say that large concentrations of investiture can cause a puncture through the spiritual realm straight to the physical realm. If you know how to use it, you may transition. That's not the only way but is the primary way.Question
And of of Course you can soulcast (Elsecall?) to get there.Brandon Sanderson
Yes.Question
Now that's a very interesting analogy you just made, you said "punctured" almost as if it were a spike.Brandon Sanderson
Yes, yes, that was intentional. Anyone who wants to ask questions after the Magic draft, you guys can come back in maybe 45 minutes. I'll just be hanging out and playing magic. If you’re just here to hang out and ask question, I'll be free to do that in about 45 minutes to an hour.Tags
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Blightsong
Is it normal for people to become connected to an area after being there for a bit, like with Kel and wherever he was when he found the Ire, or is something special going on?Brandon Sanderson
It is normal for a cognitive shadow to get stuck to places, because they exist through investiture it is normal for them to get tied to an area. Kelsier was still in Scadrial when he found the Ire. This happened with Odium and the two shards on Roshar, Preservation to Ruin, and the Heralds (To Roshar? Braize?). (I think this is basically what happens with shards when they invest on a planet, so this same thing happens at smaller levels than shards.)Footnote
(After about an hour and a half he started answering more questions, so I sat nearby and wrote the gist of the questions and answers he was getting. Thsi next part is going to be paraphrased, but fairly accurate. It wasn't as rapid fire as it had been, as I and other people didn't want to keep interruption him while he was playing magic.)Tags
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Blightsong
Can a Parshendi with the right mind set transform with an Unmade?Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.Tags
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Question
In Elantris it talks about how to wood and stone in the city is rotten and crumbling. Why does this happen?Brandon Sanderson
This is because when objects become Invested for long periods of time their spirit web changes to accommodate the investiture. When the investiture was pulled up of the stuff in Elantris its spirit web was severely damaged so it showed that in the physical realm. This happened with the Lord Ruler when the Bands of Mourning were ripped out of him.Tags
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Question
Do Rhyshadium exist because of a spren bond, like greatshells?Brandon Sanderson
Yea, they evolved symbiotically with spren, unlike other horses. They can still mate will other horses, but the are genetically distinct.Tags
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Blightsong
Why is going into the Spiritual realm like Kelsier did damaging, as Leras seemed to suggest?Brandon Sanderson
The thing is, Leras didn't know that Kelsier had a broken brain, that is how Kelsier wasn't damaged by doing what he did. You can break your brain by doing that though, worse than how broken Kelsier is.Tags
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Blightsong
Is Adolin's inability to form meaningful relationships important to his overall character arch? (Shoutouts to Maxal)Brandon Sanderson
Yes, it is.Tags
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Question
My friend wants to know how fast steel compounders could possibly go, can they run up walls or over water like the Flash?Blightsong
*jokingly* Can they run through time?Brandon Sanderson
Steelrunners and resist a lot things due to the power, like they can withstand the Gs they are out through, but they can't ignore wind resistance and friction. They will burn up if they start running too quickly.Tags
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