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Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | I'm loathed to ask two questions but this is a clarification - it was reported way back that you confirmed that the ardent in the Palanaeum is Pailiah. Are you willing to confirm? | There is a Herald in close proximity to Taravangian, but she's not anyone in his immediate inner circle seen commonly on screen. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Will you be posting what you change in the Elantris 10th year anniversary re-release like with how you changed the Words of Radiance ending? Also thanks for writing amazing books! | We'll try. The changes are, on one hand, way more pervasive--but on the other hand, far less substantial. There is a lot of cleaning up language, and a little of moving about the locations of buildings and the like for the sake of continuity. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | A question regaurding Feruchemical iron: So, while Sazed was guarding one of the gates to Luthadel, he tapped weight to compensate, he had to tap pewter as well. Also, when he was climbing a tree, his strength to weght ratio rised, making it easier for him to climb it. Wax doesn't have to do this- when fighting Miles on the train, he's fine without any sort of muscular enhancement, and when he is climbing in the sets base, he notes that he does not make himself lighter because it would simply decrease his weight and strength equally (in contrast to Sazed climbing the tree). So, is this difference for the same reason people can push/ pull on atium, being the you hadn't fully developed your idea for the cosmere yet? Or is it some other reason? | Hmm. I think the mistake is more on me writing the Wax scene than in the original. (For him climbing, specifically.) I'll put Peter on this and see if it's a continuity error we want to fix. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | How many Epics have "unique" powers like Firefight or Mitosis? What about unique and useless? ;) So, a power to, say, conjure Big Macs out of their pocket wouldn't be too crazy? Can an Epic be given powers that are permanently countered by their weakness? Ex: Being able to breathe underwater, but whose weakness is water? Are powers such as being able to negate others' powers or being immune to Epic powers possible? | Less than 10% are both unique and useful. Happens fairly often. No. That's actually well within reason. And actually quite powerful if you don't put a limit on concurrent mass created or speed of creation. Sure. I'm going to say no on this one, unless the weakness is something more specific. (I.E, you can breathe under water, but your weakness is water with food coloring in it.) The weakness can relate somehow to the powers, but not in a way that if every time you use the abilities, they're automatically negated. I based this off of comic books, so I assumed classic comic book superhero powers--various forms of flight, invulnerability, control over various types of matter, energy blasts--are common enough to have "standard powersets" for research purposes. Basically, this means that people like David and the lorists can make references that readers with a familiarity with comics can understand. This is possible, but likely only if I come back to the world for more books beyond the original trilogy. Rare. Yes. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | In Steelheart you mentioned mind control Epics. Just how extensive are some of the mind control powers and are they likely to diffentiate between normal people and other Epics? | Mind control powers among Epics are more subtle than you might find in something like the Marvel universe. (Making someone think they want a sandwich, so they wander away from their post, instead of directly controlling them.) But stronger manifestations do exist. They're more rare. Generally, mind control powers will have more trouble with Epics. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Would a [singer] get sick if it drank highstorm rain water before letting it sit, or would it get sick like a human? | [Singers] don't get sick from this like humans would. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Would Soothing/Rioting have more, less or equal effect on Hoid than regular humans(if he can burn copper, lets assume he isn't) If the effect is not equal, is it due to him being much more Invested than normal beings or some other factor? | RAFO. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Silly Shardblade question: Dick Cheney's artificial heart was a continuous flow model, which meant he had no pulse. If you gave him a Shardblade, how would summoning it work? | You know, I've actually had to think about this. (Not because of Cheney, but because of cosmere applications.) Just as blind people dream differently from people without visuals, I feel a Shardbearer without a pulse would end up having another method of representing the way their soul reaches toward a dead Shardblade and summons it. But it would vary based on the individual. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Would you be willing to confirm that the use of 'they' pronouns for the Sibling is because the Sibling is non-binary? Since apparently some people are confused on this point. | The sibling did not view themselves as male or female. (And considered it odd that so many spren would adopt human genders.) |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | With the second draft of Calamity done and awaiting editor revisions, I thought I'd take this opportunity to re-approach a very common fan question. Do we learn Regalia's weakness in this novel, and if not, would you mind telling us what it is here? | Boy, I do get this one a lot. I'm wary of saying anything until Calamity is out, not because Regalia's weakness is specifically relevant, but because I've found that even the most innocent of things I say can sometimes lead to spoilers. The nature of the weaknesses is a big part of the three book arc of the Reckoners, so I don't want to hurt anything. That said, as I mentioned, Regalia's weakness is not actually relevant. I've just been avoiding the question for reasons stated above. Regalia's weakness was being proven wrong. If you could figure out something she'd done incorrectly, and prove it to her so she couldn't avoid the truth, she'd briefly lose local control of her powers. But I didn't want that book to be about figuring out/using her weakness, in order to distinguish it from books one and three, which use that as the major plot. So I avoided bringing up the idea, or really even using it in the story at all. Yes. That is a time that would trigger her weakess. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Is there any more lyrics to the listener songs? If so, can you share some, please? | I'm afraid I went to a poet and had them rewrite my versions for me, as my poetry chops are pretty weak. So I don't have any more than the ones in the book. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | You confirmed at the Atlanta signing that 9-point constructions could be applied to ellipses to generate valid Rithmatic defenses. Could the same be done using open conics such as hyperbolas and parabolas? (Or do open conics become lines of Forbiddance instead of lines of Warding?) Also, the disparity in strength between the sides and points of an ellipse is attributed to their difference in curvature. Does this mean that a large circle is inherently weaker than a small circle since its local curvature is less? | Yes to all questions, though with a circle, there is an innate structural strength that does weaken with larger sizes, but it isn't as fast as the curvature would indicate. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | To what extent can virtual objects be forced into Stephen's subconscious? Stephen says that "those who work closely with [him] know to just pantomime letting [his] mind fill in the details." Does there have to be a physical object present in order for it to interact with his aspects? JC conjures a virtual phone that clearly had no physical counterpart. Could someone lie to Stephen that they have a bazooka in a box, then pretend to pull it out and proceed to virtually blow holes in the room? | The object does not have to be present, but his subconscious has to see an idea as part of his psychosis for it to appear. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | My question for you is this - I got the heeby-jeebies when Shallan heard about Amaram's collection of flutes within just a few pages of Wit bringing up the flute Kaladin lost? All I can think of is that either: A) Wit's flute will end up among Amaram's collection to resurface later or B) In his work with the Sons of Honor, Amaram or his fellows have stumbled across some flute-related magic or splinterization and his flutes are the brethren and sistren of Wit's flute. Is either of these the case? Or is there some other significance to Amaram's collection of nigh forbidden flutes? | It is significant. It is not a huge deal, but it is significant. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | I may be pushing my luck a bit but I have another question, this time about the symbol of the Ghostbloods. In Way of Kings it was described as three overlapping diamonds, while in Words of Radiance it was described as "triangular". I also heard that recently a fan showed you what he thought the symbol looked like and you told him he was correct, but the picture he showed wasn't triangular in any sense. Was the triangular description a mistake? Do the Ghostbloods have more than one symbol? I personally imagined it to be something like this , which sorta looks triagular since it has three parts sticking out from the center. | We'll release this eventually. Yours is not as I imagined it, I'm afraid. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Is gifting/power transference to normal people with Epics an all or nothing deal or could there be an Epic that can gift one ability but has another power he can't gift? And while on topic of quirks in Epic powers, how much do emotions play into them? We have some examples like Steelheart were strong emotions can cause the power to run amok, is there more of a guideline to this or just a quirk of some powers? | All powers can be gifted if any can. Gifting is a power that modifies other powers. Controlling the powers during times of great emotion is generally more difficult, but this has more to do with human nature than the powers. No, I'm afraid. That's a separate power. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Will Shallan undergo more apprenticeships in future SA books? | I think you'd find that she considers herself beyond that. Not because she's full of herself (though she is a little) but because she has started to resist boundaries placed on her by others. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | How many Cutting edges does Nightblood have? I'm just trying to find out what Nightblood looks like exactly, Warbreaker is a little sparse on an exact description. | Nightblood is a long, straight sword, edged on both sides. Claymore might be close. Though the dark souls ones might be a tad bigger than he is. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | I've got a more hypothethical question. Iron stores weight. Pewter stores strength. What if you both make yourself very light and very strong***? Maybe even throw in burning pewter as well; how does it all work together? Maybe I should throw this over to askscience.. | I have some ideas, and have done some research, but I'm not ready to comment on this yet. I plan to use it in a future book. But if you do come up with some info from askscience, I'd love to see it. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Could Obliteration (or an Epic with similar powers), in theory, actively suppress his danger sense, so he doesn't teleport, even if someone would score a lethal hit on him? Also, do active Epic powers like throwing energy beams or flying drain stamina? | Obliteration hasn't learned to do this. Perhaps it's possible, but difficult. As for how draining the abilities are, it varies based on the Epic. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | I only yesterday found out you changed the ending for [Words of Radiance]. So here is my question. I've only read the first version where Kaladin kills Szeth. When Szeth gets killed now, it's by the storm. What is it that specifically kills him since he can normally just evade the storm or even be healed by stormlight? | Good question! So, the idea here is that Szeth has given up, and wants to die. I wanted the storm to kill him, then, as opposed to Kaladin. What kills him is losing control in the storm, and being slammed into the ground. The bigger change here was actually my desire to leave it at least partially clear that he's not dead, in order to avoid the 'fake out' ending. Having him be dead and reborn was important, but I felt in the first stab I erred on the side of pulling a fast one on the reader. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | So I just recently read the Allomancer Jak short story in the MAG Alloy of Law supplement. I have to ask was the dynamic between Jak and Handerwym at all inspired by your relationship with Peter? I can very easily picture you blazing some sort of fantastic literary trail and Peter following behind explaining why it isn't possible (Kind of like how you initially intended the time bubbles to do red/blue shift and Peter was like "No you'll microwave people") | Peter is not nearly as biting toward me, but always having an editor looking over my shoulder and saying, "Uh...is that actually RATIONAL Brandon?" is probably a big part of my inspiration here. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | I'm reading the preview chapter of Shadows of Self and I'm really curious. Where does the gasoline for the cars in the Wax and Wayne books come? If Harmony remade the world, did he make crude oil too? Does that then mean he can see that far into the future? | There are clues about this in the upcoming text itself. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Do you ever think of how other series might fit in the Cosmere? Are there any that you think would mesh particularly well? | I haven't really considered this. I'll give it more thought. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | We have seen that Epics have a compulsion to pick a name for themselves (and have been told that some apparently have very bad taste) but is there also some kind of compulsion for them to be at least somewhat appropriate or for example could Nightwielder also have called himself Sunshine Shimmer (if he were such inclined)? And on a similar note, about when does this need start to manifest itself. | It is possible for him to have named himself that. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | What is Obliteration's usual M.O.? Does he destroy every town he goes to or does he usually just kill a couple people, melt a small neighborhood, maybe go and hold a sermon and then goes shopping? | He does not destroy every town. More in book 3. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | If you cloned someone using real life technology (so not magic) would they have a normal Cognitive and Spiritual make up or be something like a Drab? | Cloning would most likely work like creating a twin--the body would pull Investiture for a soul, and you probably wouldn't have a Drab. Though it would be possible to do it in such a way that you did create one, if you're simply working from our current cloning technology, you'd get a fully invested human being. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | In Steelheart David mentions that Epics age slower, to which degree is their aging slowed? | It's not the same across the board. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Is there any chance of you eventually publishing an illustrated guide to Epics as a companion to the Reckoners trilogy? | I would like to some day. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | My question is was the change to the use of modern English phrases in The Stormlight Archives deliberate or am I reading too much into it? | In regards to my books, I use Tolkien's own explanation, which was to pretend that the book you're reading is in translation--everything has been taken by myself from native dialects, and translated it to English. When I make a pun, they probably didn't say those exact words--they said something in Alethi that made a pun, and I put an appropriate one in the same place. Likewise, some of their idioms just don't translate, so I use a modern idiom that means something similar for effect. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | What time of day did the Recreance happen? | RAFO! :) (In that case, that's shorthand for "I haven't written the scene, so I haven't settled on a time-frame.") |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | What would be your recommended reading order for the Cosmere? | Publication order, if you're already certain you're going to read them all. If you're uncertain, I'd try to find out which book will best match your interests and get you to read that one first. Right now, order doesn't matter much, though. One thing to remember, however, is that I'm not releasing the books in a haphazard order. Other than Elantris, I've specifically chosen which books to do in which order, as I like the progression. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | What is one Epic power you wished was in one of the Reckoners books but isn't? | If there had been one, I'd have put it in. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | There is some confusion on the Coppermind on whether Sixthface is the name of the world (I seem to recall it was named ‘the cube’) or just one of the Faces of the world? Furthermore, can you tell us something we don’t know about any of the Faces? So, do you have any plans to finish it one day? | Ha. Not often I get questions about that particular story. It's so unfinished that I haven't established, even for myself, all of the terminology. It depends on a lot of factors. One is if there is interest for something a tad more ridiculous from readers. While it's not as off the wall as Alcatraz, that story is quite weird with a particularly specific kind of humor. If the Alcatraz re-releases do well, then perhaps there is room for something akin to them. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | How big is Roshar (the continent)? | That's a question for Isaac; he has the scale somewhere. I ask him when I want travel times or whatnot. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Is it correct that both the continents of Mokia and Nalhalla are located in the Pacific Ocean? Besides that, any plan for a map in the re-releases? | Re-releases will have a world map included. So your answers will indeed be answered then! |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | When did Besk first meet Kai? Two different passages within the story imply two different times in Kai's life, so I'd love some confirmation. | Man, I tweaked this in writing, and now I wonder if I created a consistency error. He met Besk during his adventuring days, but later in them. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Sophie's history is very detailed. I was wondering if her history is the same as Melhi's actual history? | Yes, she was being honest. |
Answer the following question the ebst you can about Brandon Sanderson's works and the Cosmere | Near the end of The Rithmatist, you mention that one of Melody's brothers, who isn't a professor, also has a coat. Do the colors of Rithmatist coats have meaning outside of academia? | Yes, they do! Those at Nebrask also pay attention to coat colors. |
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