Orem Library Signing on December 6

[WeiryWriter]

I asked if Kelsier chose not to move on after he died or if he did want to move on but couldn't for some reason.  I kind of expected the RAFO but it was worth a shot.

 

OOOH that's actually a really interesting question! Definitely worth a shot.

[Kurkistan]

A very interesting set of Q/A's there, mail-mi. Is this all verbatim?

[mail-mi]

A very interesting set of Q/A's there, mail-mi. Is this all verbatim?

Thanks! I'm slightly ashamed that I don't know what verbatim means, but I recorded it and then transcribed it if that's what you mean.

[Kurkistan]

Thanks! I'm slightly ashamed that I don't know what verbatim means, but I recorded it and then transcribed it if that's what you mean.

 

You got it right: "in exactly the same words as were used originally." Thanks for going to the trouble, as getting exact words can be quite crucial at times.

[mail-mi]

You got it right: "in exactly the same words as were used originally." Thanks for going to the trouble, as getting exact words can be quite crucial at times.

 

No problem. I wanted to be accurate 

[PeterAhlstrom]

Only Zach said hi to me, and I was there for the first 3 hours.

[Newan]

I got my first RAFO card today! (and I'll probably get more) I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry. Probably both.

By the way, I'm pretty sure Newan was right behind me the whole time. Sorry I was too shy to say anything at the time.   

Once I have a few more RAFO cards, I want to laminate them all into a sheet and have Brandon sign it.  

It's ok.  Were you the one reading Eye of the World? (bad habit: whenever somebody is reading a kindle, I peek to try and see if I can guess which book it is.)

 

 

Only Zach said hi to me, and I was there for the first 3 hours.

 

Peter, I said hi to you!  As we were walking out of the building, I said "Peter Ahlstrom!  Thanks for always answering questions on Twitter and 17th Shard!"  I was wearing a black hat.  

 

 

Here were my questions.  This is from memory, so it isn't verbatim, but zas678 wrote down the answers as I was asking them.

 

Newan:  Is the kandra worldhopper MeLaan?

 

Brandon:  Good question.  *hands me a RAFO card*  In upcoming Mistborn books, you are going to get to know a lot more of the kandra, so you will have a lot more options.  

 

Newan:  Ooh.  When the kandra worldhopper is off-world, er off-Scadrial, does she take the form of a human female?  

 

Brandon:  Not all of the time.  

 

Newan: Has she spoken a word of dialogue in a non-Mistborn book?  

 

Brandon:  I can't remember.  

 

Newan: Ok I have one more question.  Is there some kind of connection between Szeth and Yelig-nar, the Unmade?  

 

Brandon:  Hmm... Szeth has no more of a connection with Yelig-nar than anyone else does.  

 

Newan: Thank you so much!

[WeiryWriter]

Newan: Ok I have one more question.  Is there some kind of connection between Szeth and Yelig-nar, the Unmade?  

 

Brandon:  Hmm... Szeth has no more of a connection with Yelig-nar than anyone else does. 

 

Hmm... That is either good, or really, really troubling...

[sanderfan]

It's ok.  Were you the one reading Eye of the World? (bad habit: whenever somebody is reading a kindle, I peek to try and see if I can guess which book it is.)

 

Yes, that was me. And you guessed right (unless I told you at some point what I was reading, but I don't really remember).

[Newan]

Yes, that was me. And you guessed right (unless I told you at some point what I was reading, but I don't really remember).

 

You didn't tell me, but I saw the names "Egwene" and "Elyas" on the same page.  

[RawToast225]

Newan, I don't think I saw you there. I did meet a couple of people that were lurkers, though.  I think I met zas678 as well. I want him to write the WoBs that were recorded on the forum.

[Scriptorian]

It was way too hot in that library. Anyway, I asked if we would ever read from a Spren viewpoint. He said "it is likely that you someday will."

Better than a RAFO, even if it essentially amounts to the same thing .

Edited December 7, 2014 by Serendipity

[Moogle]

The Szeth+Yelig-nar question+answer was very interesting. I always sort of suspected there might be a connection there due to the wailing Szeth hears. Good idea to ask that one.

[Oudeis]

Reod Elantrian... Shardblade... ::head explodes::

Edited December 8, 2014 by Ooklalhoo'Elin

[Zas678]

I'm working on it- but there's some good stuff. The only trouble is that my phone died, so it's from notes and memory. Gak.

[mail-mi]

Reod Elantrain... Shardblade... ::head explodes::

I know, right?

[PeterAhlstrom]

Peter, I said hi to you!  As we were walking out of the building, I said "Peter Ahlstrom!  Thanks for always answering questions on Twitter and 17th Shard!"  I was wearing a black hat.  

Eh heh heh, I forgot. But now I remember.

 

Next time talk to me more... Zach is cool, but I had already seen him twice in the last month.

Edited December 8, 2014 by PeterAhlstrom

[mail-mi]

*gasp* My first popular post!! Thanks guys!

[Newan]

Eh heh heh, I forgot. But now I remember.

 

Next time talk to me more... Zach is cool, but I had already seen him twice in the last month.

 

I will.  I would have said hi earlier, but I arrived half an hour late, so I was in the line for a really long time, and then I had to hurry out.  

[Oudeis]

Peter, you never come to the Out East signings, or I'd say hi to you.

 

I still remember the time I met an attractive woman at a signing, she was impressed that my friend and I made our own Seons, and when I asked her if she was a fan of Mr. Sanderson, she replied, "Well, I married him, so yes?"

[Zas678]

So I came in to sit next to Brandon Sanderson, and as I sat down and pulled out my phone to record- I saw the dreaded "Battery Low". So instead of recording and transcribing, I took notes physically. I quite enjoyed it. Brandon really is a pleasant person, and he tried sincerely to make sure that every person felt appreciated as he signed, and signed, and signed (He says he's learned that his signings are almost always at least 4 hours).

 

So here's my report on the things that he said and questions he answered.

 

So I’m going to organize this into sections-

STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE-

 

Zas678: Can Odium influence people the same way that Ruin can?

Brandon: (misunderstanding my question as a question about kandra/koloss/parhsendi) Well, you see, the kandra and the koloss have a “hole” in them that allows Ruin to come in and take over. The Parshendi naturally are protected from this, but when they expose themselves to the storms, and the spren come in, many of these spren have that kind of “hole” in them, and that’s what allows Odium to take control of them.

Zas678: No, I’m talking about how Ruin was able to push people, place things in their minds, stuff like that. Can Odium do the same thing?

Brandon: Well, Odium wasn’t around when those people were created [Here it sounded like the mankind that’s on that planet, not the specific generation], so it’s a little different for him than Ruin. So if he influences people in that way, it’s through the Unmade.

 

Zas678: And my other question is about Taravangian. It becomes clear that when he’s smart, he’s less compassionate, and when he’s dumb, he’s more compassionate.

Brandon: Yeah, he mentions that in his interlude.

Zas678: Is that intentional, or is that just how you believe inteligence works?

Brandon: No, that’s intentional. There’s plenty of really smart people who are also compassionate, and dumb people who aren’t.

Zas678: So when Taravangian is smart, his Cognitive aspect is stronger. So when he’s dumb, is his Spiritual aspect stronger?

Brandon: [With a sly grin, pulls out a RAFO]

 

Shalash is the Mistress (which we’ve known forever, but it’s nice to have confirmation).

 

Can Parshendi receive a Boon and a Curse?

Yes they can.

 

Are we ever going to see a spren viewpoint?

Yes it’s likely.

A book where the flashbacks are spren?

Probably not. Or it’s not planned right now.

 

Here's some facts that didn't have specific questions to them that I remember:

 

Odium is able to influence all 3 moving planets in the Rosharian system.

 

There’s also going to be about a 15 year gap in-world between SA arc 1 and SA arc 2.

 

 

MISTBORN-

So what does the term Koloss blooded mean?

Well, Sazed changed how the koloss reproduced, so now they reproduce naturally, and when the kids come to a coming-of-age, they decide if they’re going to accept the spikes and become a koloss, or if they’re going to stay normal. (Which seems to mean that koloss couples have human babies).

 

Did Kelsier move on after his death?

RAFO! (He actually did give a RAFO, but also with some explanation).

The thing is, Kaladin’s wife Maer had certainly moved on, and that would be motivating him to go on to the next life. (Then I butted in talking about how there had been appearances of the Survivor, and how it’s just like Kaladin to be meddling in things he shouldn’t.) But he didn’t actually answer if he did or didn’t. But to me it seemed implied that he did stay around. But it is a RAFO.

 

How did TenSoon overpower OreSeur if TenSoon had the Blessing of Potency?

“Tensoon is wily!” There are also some drugs that affect kandra bodies.

 

Would Inqusitors’s kids have allomancy?

Not usually. It happens sometimes, but not usually. He then mentioned a little about sDNA, but that it’s not inherited as much as it is when it’s natural.

 

COSMERE/WORLD-HOPPERS-

Another thing he talked about was some common themes that appear in fantasy. One of them is that Rennassaince air of the Rise of the Common man.  You see that in Mistborn for example. The great writing question of the Cosmere, the underlying theme is, What do men do when given the Power of the Gods? How do they act? What do they do?

 

How do spren choose what human they’ll bond with?

Well, it depends on the spren type. There’s some spren that choose on their own, while there’s other spren where it’s done by committee. Wyndle, Lift’s spren was placed with Lift by a committee. It’s a culture difference. Some are free spirited, others more organized.

 

The way that Hoid and Defending Elysium do FTL travel is very different.

 

Could Shay soulcast herself into becoming an Elantrian?

That would be really hard. First of all, she’d have to change where she’s born, then soulcast the fact that she became an Elantrian. Even then, she’d probably look like an Elantrian, but not have any powers. There would probably need to be some kind of bridge, or she would need some kind of super push from the AonDor to make it work.

 

When Hoid is playing for Kaladin, has he awakened some part of himself to help him play?

No, he’s not awakened anything to help him play.

Did he use Allomancy?

RAFO.

 

Odium didn’t start in Roshar.

 

And Stormlight Archive is before AoL.

 

We have met the people “up above” in Sixth of Dust.

 

Here’s an interesting one about Mraize. (I wrote Mraize here, but I’m not entirely sure ) Is he a world hopper?

Yes, he’s been to a few planets, highly supervised by his babsk.

Q: So what planet is she from? (After looking up things, I’m assuming Iyatil.)

1. Well, that’s kind of a hard thing to say. She has 3 planets she’s “from”. For example, she’s living now on Roshar, but then she’s from a different planet, but that’s not a planet that her people are from.

Q: So there was a mass exodus to that planet?

A: Not exactly. If you were to find a Japanese American, where would they say that they are from? Her people did not have a mass exodus.

Q: Have we seen mass exodus’s before?

A: Yes, there are some in the cosmere. There’s a mass exodus that is mentioned in one of the interludes in Way of Kings.

[Note: The person who asked the question, Arthur Dent, says that Brandon said Words of Radiance, not Way of Kings.]

 

And a different one about the WalDo, the female world hopping kandra-

So is the worldhopping kandra MeLaan?

No it isn’t. But you’ll get to see more kandra in Shadows of Self, so that should give you some more options.

Well, the person who she’s imitating is it a human? (Don’t remember). Is it always a female? No. Has she had any lines on screen? You know, I’m not really sure. She may have, but I’m not sure. (So highly unlikely she’s a main character, and if she’s a minor one, it’s one that’ll have a line or two).

 

So what happens when Shards die?

Well, it depends on how long the Shardholders have held the Shard. After it dies, the shard is often able to continue acting, a kind of “cognitive shadow” of sorts. For example, the mists were able to continue doing what Preservation wished in helping out Vin and snapping people. With the Stormfather, he is that cognitive shadow, and he’s semi sentient. It’s that power, but no one is actually holding it. We also see this on Threnity.

 

 

Here's the big lead-in we got. The secret (or at least one of them) to worldhopping. 

 

Shadesmar- you can WALK to the other planets. It’s a pretty far ways away (at least days, if not more), but you can go to Shadesmar, walk in the directions where it says "The Realm of the Vapors" and it runs into Scadrial (which is confirmed). In Shadesmar all of that empty space doesn’t really have any human interaction, so it doesn’t really have an aspect in the cognitive realm, so all of that place gets shortened immensly. Whenever a planet has enough thinking life on it that’s it’s considering it a planet, it drops into Shadesmar.

 

Eventually, he’ll come out with a Shadesmar map of the Cosmere, and a Starmap as well.

 

PUBLICATIONS-

Then about publications. He’s actually still unsure about which book the next SA is going to be about. He said it might be about Szeth, but then again it might be about Dalinar or Eshonai. He said he was going to have to plot it out a little more and see. He said that the determining factor will be what information are we going to need in order to progress. It might be that he needs to do Dalinar’s book because that’s the only way to get in some of that information, but Szeth can kind of talk about some of his on screen. He said he’ll do a little more plotting and see.

Brandon also has some more writing laws that he’s going to write about, including Sanderson’s 0th law- “Always err on the side of awesome.”

 

Fireflight is next month,

 

Elantris has a 10th anniversery edition coming out! It’s going to have pretty maps and new illustrations, and maybe a couple new line edits.

 

Alcatraz- Tor has bought the rights, and will rerelease Alcatraz 1 2 3 4, then release book 5 sometime next year or early 2016.

 

Shadows of Self- There is a likely date of Oct 2015 for that book.

 

Calamity (Steelheart 3)- That book has a likely early 2016 layout.

 

Rithmatist 2- He said that he wanted to write this book, but because it’s based in this world slightly, he has to use a lot more research. He said he’s doing a lot of research of Aztec ancient culture, that it will be held in South America.

 

Next week, I’ll post the tour dates for the firefight release. I’ll also likely post some other news and updates.

 

Who’s your favorite side character?

That’s a hard one, but I might have to say Syl. Or Wayne! He’s just so much fun to right. Oh, and about him, look out for intentional misspellings in Shadows of Self. My alpha readers skipped completely over them!

 

EDIT- To help clarify things from below.

 

The Stormfather IS a cognitive shadow.  As to Cognitive Shadow as Kelsier.... I'm not sure. It's possible that Kelsier just kindof held it, but the mists were acting by themselves, because Kelsier didn't have full control. 

 

Yes, when I said the mistress, I meant Baxil's mistress. He didn't say it directly- the actual question was 

Have we seen all of the Heralds?

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned all of them, and you've seen a number of them, such as Shalash running around (I'm pretty sure he mentioned something that made it clear that it was the Mistress, or the person cutting off the faces)

 

On Odium being able to affect the planets is about , the three important planets- Roshar, Braize, and Ashyn.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Moogle
Added note to exodus from Arthur Dent.

[Moogle]

Nice Q&A!

 

I was particularly interested by the confirmation that Odium's influence is mediated through the Unmade, and that the Stormfather is a Cognitive Shadow.

 

(I still have no idea how that works.)

 

The implications for the Nightwatcher are interesting.

 

Edit: Can you confirm he literally said that the Stormfather was a Cognitive Shadow, or did he mean like a Cognitive Shadow in the sense that the mists were kinda-sorta like one? Your post doesn't seem like direct confirmation.

 

The Kelsier bit on Cognitive Shadows is odd - is our entire understanding of them wrong? Did Kelsier actually "move on", so to speak, and Cognitive Shadows aren't really the person, just... flawed "copies" of their Cognitive aspect?

Edited December 10, 2014 by Ookla the Infinite

[RawToast225]

Thank you, zas! Thanks for including my worldhopper questions. It made me feel good about myself.

 

Quick question. Who is the Mistress?

 

Also, was the mass exodus from the planet talked about by the Parshendi? I think Eshoni's mother talks about it in a song, but I'm not sure.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Arthur Dent

[Kurkistan]

Nice coming back gift, Zas.

 

Some cool stuff; a fair amount that's more confirmatory than revelatory. The "walking for space travel" theory has been around for awhile, Baxil's mistress is nice to nail down with WoB...

 

The question about Shai seems to nail down that Forging likely can't mimic things that actually require their own Investiture (so no creating Awakened objects of the like) all on its own.

 

@Dent

 

"The Mistress" is also known as "Baxil's Mistress", and is what some call the woman who smashes up/defaces art in the interlude in WoK.

 

So far as the mass exodus goes, that seems to be pointing to the Iriali and their Long Path (not sure if I'm remembering nouns/spellings right).

Edited December 10, 2014 by Kurkistan

[ccstat]

Wow, zas, that is a lot of great questions!  Confirmations and answers of several things I thought would be RAFO, and also some insightful connections I hadn't thought of before. Well done! (Also thanks to those who contributed questions.)

 

Of particular note, (or needing clarification):

• Odium's influence on people is necessarily via the Unmade
• "Odium is able to influence all 3 moving planets in the Rosharian system." Um, does that imply that there are non-moving planets? Or is it just the way it was said?
• We have me the "Ones Above" from Sixth
• Vapors is Scadrial (I'd guessed that wrong before.) Do we have any other confirmations for expanse/shardworld identities?
• The RAFO about Taravangian's spiritual/cognitive sliding scale is interesting. Sounds like we're on the right track at least.

Edited December 10, 2014 by ccstat