Cadmium

Its Ruin’s fault!

Eureka! Well of Ascension, Part one. Vin receives a package from a metallurgist with a sample of Duralumin. The note attached mentions that aluminum is hard to come by, but the writer managed to buy some aluminum flatware from a fleeing noble’s estate. There’s at least a tiny bit of confirmation that Gemmel’s fork could’ve been aluminum. Guess I know what I’ll be asking Brandon next time he stops through!

Dang text. You can’t trust anything not written in metal. I wasn’t upset with you, just disappointed with the lack of anything else being out there!

At the end of The Eleventh Metal, Gemmel finds a book of theories on an Eleventh Metal, throws it away, then digs through Shezler’s metallurgy equipment. So... I’ve searched the forums and WoB and reddit and no results for anyone ever asking, WHY? Why was this fork noteworthy to a cracked Mistborn? Was it just a fancy fork of an allomantic metal? Aluminum? Malatium? Or was it hemalurgically charged? Any theories?

I say that every time, but I think this was the first that I kept myself to 2 with a clarifying follow up. Curious how well my recollection will line up with the audio!

If you want, you could try watching the live-stream on MBtB’s FB Page.

My wife & I were sitting behind you (maybe a different guy) when you were chatting her up. We were kinda smirking to each other because we legit thought you were asking for their schedule trying to get her digits (or whatever the kids ask for these days)... She is… very attractive.

WoB confirm that the sheath is at least partially metal. My question last night confirms it was specifically prepared but was not Invested at the time of Nightblood’s initial Awakening & it wasn’t part of the original intent. I dont know if that implies Nightblood has been Awakened more than once or Invested more than once or if more than one intent has been placed upon it.

For those that may not have heard it, Brandon is in town until Tuesday. He’s doing stuff tomorrow with the LDS Church. Monday he’s recording an episode of Writing Excuses at NASA. Then flies out for a Tuesday tour stop? It was hard to hear what his sister was telling the guy asking, but then again that’s how eavesdropping goes!!

Words of Brandon: (paraphrased until transcriptions) Elantris says the Shaod often comes at night. Does it always come at night? No. Was Nightblood’s Sheath present at its Awakening and is it part of the Intent. No. I mean, it may have been there and prepared for its use, but it is not part of the first Awakening or the Intent. So at some point we may learn how it learned to stop with the sheath? I... The sheath is specially made and is special but it was not part of the Investiture, the Command, or the Intent. Good questions.

Whoa, Argent, hold it. Don't confuse have not with cannot. It's subtle shades like this that can make all the difference in the worlds.

Was joke. I keed.

At the Houston Signing, Brandon said he's in talks for a "side-sequel" series in an alternate Universe/timeline.

Genius! Next time, I'm going to stand there and every time someone says they have no questions, I'll throw on my best Herdazian accent and say, "Gancho, what my cousin here means is he would like to defer his turn to me. Now a Realmatic puzzler I've been stewing on is…"

And I thought I was pushing it with 6 questions! Good questions and thanks for bringing them here!!

Ack. I'm on mobile and accidentally down voted @vineyarddawg when I meant to up vote! Sorry!

I know! At the Houston QA he said everyone is bugging him for Rithmatist 2, because they've been waiting for the longest. I hollered out, "Elantris 2!?!" Several others smiled at me and snickered. Only been 10 years.

Not 2 more years. Summer 17 would be 1year 3 months to 1 year 6months more. Sanderson puts out more books than any similar author. Titan Arum, Brandon didn't rule out fossil fuels in future books.

Answers here: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/53221-calamity-tour-houston-tx/

I sought Words of Brandon regarding Connection Medallions last night in Houston. Original thread: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/53221-calamity-tour-houston-tx/

I sought Words of Brandon on this subject last night in Houston. Link to my write up: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/53221-calamity-tour-houston-tx/

Brandon stopped at Murder By the Book in Houston last night. MUCH smaller crowd than the Shadows of Self signing in September, maybe 150 folks? Speech He kept the speech pretty short. 3-6 minutes with a bit about the effects of choice on humans. Especially when there are more than two choices. Prime example came from his choosing a publisher for Arcatraz that didn't do the series justice after an editor left the publisher after book 1 and the second guessing that became of it. Talked a bit about how we're not daunted by trying to make the best choice, rather we're afraid of picking the worst choice by accident. He also limited the number of questions in the open Q&A because he's had difficulty with his losing his voice periodically (and the Sept. stop at MBTB lasted until 1am and he wanted to try to get out earlier.) Brandon mentioned that he came back to Murder By The Book because it’s one of the best bookstores in the country,and he can't skip any stops in Texas because we have a lot of guns and we won't stand for it. Q&A The open Q&A was filled with pretty standard questions. The ones I remember: How often do airport bookstore employees bother him while he is Brandolizing books? (Sometimes) "I'm 42. How long do I have to live to read it all? Am I going to make it?" ("Well, I'm 40, so at least three years longer than me, but don't worry, we'll get there.") When will we get Stormlight 3? (A year after he's done and he thinks he'll be done this summer, so fallish 2017.) What's next after Stormlight 3? (Probably Rithmatist 2.) How much of the big Cosmere stuff will be in Stormlight 3-5? (Not much. Just hints. The big cosmere stuff will come in Mistborn Era 3 and things more like Mistborn: Secret History for a long while. Some people just don't care about it.) Young Kid: "I've never actually read any of your books" (That's okay) How would you rate your books versus others? (I don't pump them up too much or you're sure to be disappointed no matter what. I'd say compared to other books, they're a little bit awesome.) Something carefully worded about how he isn't opposed to having a major character of Stormlight 6-10 arc be dead before the books started and would he do that in a style like in Mistborn: Secret History. Kudos from Brandon on carefully wording it to avoid MB:SH spoilers and the very consistent answer that if Brandon did so, the character would be the focus of the flashback sequences in those books, and then once the flashback is over they'd be dead, so no one is safe for the book until the flashback sequences are over. Reading He also mentioned that MBTB is one of only two stores/cities that he had in common with the Shadows of Self Tour and, had he not had those two repeats, he would have just read the same Dalinar flashback as the Shadows of Self tour on the Calamity tour. However, he didn't want to read the same thing for those two stops and it wouldn't be fair to give Houston and wherever else two stops in four months AND an exclusive reading, so he read the second Dalinar Flashback for ever stop on Calamity, and all the other cities should be thankful for it. He also told us not to bother trying to hack the Dropbox where he's keeping the draft because it's not in good shape currently and it would not be an enjoyable read. There were a few folks with cameras, so there should be video of all of this eventually. Signing After the reading, they tried something kind of different for the signing. The store organized two lines. The "normal" line allowed for signing and personalizing Calamity + 3 older works, a photo, and a reasonable number of questions. (For most it was 3 or 4. I got 6, because I had a list and I was prepped.) The "Fast Pass" line (the store staffer is apparently a Disney nerd) allowed for one personalization and three regular signatures, no photos, and one manly (or womanly) fist bump. Probably 60% of the crowd opted for Fast Pass. My buddy was #27 and I was #62 and there weren't audio recorders for the questions when we were up there... Guess I'm going to have to buy one. Hopefully others will report their stuff separately. Words of Brandon All of these are near summaries from memory as I didn't audio record and transcribe. I did take the answers for my questions down in shorthand. The person in front of me asked if Brandon invents ridiculous accents for Wayne just to see if Michael Kramer can do different voices. BS: No, it's not just to torture Michael, though Brandon really enjoys hearing how Michael reads the different voices and he's amazed at the various accents, and he listens to all of the audiobooks at least once... However, Brandon will say he has one voice planned for Wayne that does make him giggle when he thinks of Michael Kramer having to do it. He's going to LAFO (Listen and Find Out) which voice it is, but we'll all likely be rolling around in tears when it happens. My questions Written on the title page of Bands of Mourning (as requested by my wife) "Would it actually be possible for a Kandra to "become a rusting bunny?" Also, Thanks for Wayne. He's my favorite character. BS: Yes, But it would be Tough. BS: (spoken to me) They must keep a certain mass to maintain intelligence and a bunny is very small. Me: But obviously being a Harvey sized bunny is totally doable. BS: Yeah... Good movie reference. Me: Would a Connection medallion work for sign language? BS: Yes. Me: Would it make the person’s fingers move or would spoken word be interpreted mentally as the appropriate sign? Would it overcome deafness? BS: (a non committal “ehhh noise”) It would translate the communication. I can say that. Me: Does a Connection medallion account for heavy sarcasm? BS: It would. Maybe not the heaviest, most deadpan sarcasm. Me: Would a Connection medallion accurately interpret a Listener’s Rhythms? BS: Yes, it would, but not all of it, some would be lost in translation. You’d probably lose some of the nuance. It would probably be better to give the medallion to someone who couldn't understand it than someone who spoke it. BS: (Laughs) Well, I’d have to say he doesn’t need anyone to cut his food for him, he’d just kind of grr, arrgh (pantomimes, stabbing something on table with fork and ripping into it with teeth) Because he’s The Lopen right, and he can take care of his food himself. Great question. Very unique. Me: You’re in Houston, questions of Oil & Gas and energy sources will be naturally be bandied about. BS: Naturally. Me: Is the gasoline on Scadrial a fossil fuel or biodiesel? BS: Oh. Hmm. Well It’s fossil fue… no. What they’re using now is mostly biodiesel, I think. It’s not something we really talked out. Me: Ok, we had a whole thread on 17th Shard and even discussed how scientifically fossil fuels could have been put into place during the Catacendre. BS: Well, fossil fuels are possible, and I don’t want to seem like I’m clearly giving credence to those that believe in a Young Earth, but Scadrial *is* a relatively young planet. Relatively. Me: Young Earth doesn’t bother me, though I know I’m not the majority. Me: Where on Scadrial is it being produced? No mention of refineries in Elendel or the Roughs. BS: Where on Scadrial… Well It’s… I’m going to have to RAFO that for now. It starts to touch on questions of the future as they will need more fuels for travel and they’ll need to look for different sources. We’ll just leave it at “If fossil fuels are there, they were placed intentionally.” Me: Okay. I just didn't see any mention of oil derricks in the Roughs or fuel producing infrastructure in Elendel. I’ll just continue to hold out hope that we see Wax fighting some big battle all around an oil derrick. (I start eyeballing the last question on my notepad trying to decide if I'm going to push it.) BS: Ok, well, I need to move on, but thank you, those were really great questions. Good to see you again.

Questions I'm planning to ask tonight in Houston are: "Would a connection medallion account for use of heavy sarcasm?" "Similarly, If someone using a connection medallion told a joke, would the medallion interpret the meaning so that the other person understood humor was implied?" "Who cut up Lopen's food since he can't use a fork and knife simultaneously?" (It's odd, I know, but for some reason I really want to ask this one.) "Is the gasoline on Scadrial a fossil fuel or biodiesel? Where on Scadrial is it being produced and why didn't we see any evidence of oil derricks out in the Roughs?" My wife wants to know if a kandra could actually compress themselves enough to turn into a "rusting bunny." She also says thank you for Wayne. He's her favorite.