jaddeth below Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 I was wondering whether Brandon has decided that all the information and stories about Taldain, Khriss and the Shard Autonomy and her isolationism will only be dealt with in graphic novel form because that would not be very effective would it? All this cosmere stuff I think would be much better explained in written form even if it is in a short novella as graphic novels tend to be on the action heavy side which would not be compatible with the sort of scholarly tone set by Khriss herself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagerunner Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 Last I've heard, he hasn't decided yet. It all depends on how well the current run of graphic novels sell; if they're popular, then Brandon may continue the full White Sand planned trilogy (i.e. 9 graphic novels) in that format. If they're not, he might go back and do a new written version of White Sand (rendering the graphic novels non-canon). Although it's not as labor-intensive for Brandon as writing a real book, it does sound like it takes big chunk of work from his staff to make sure everything lines up. Personally, I would prefer to see everything in prose form, as well. We'll have to wait and see whether or not we're in the minority or not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) Yeah, Brandon just mentioned at the signing in Poland that a rewriting of the prose version is still a possibility (in the context of that being an opportunity to remove a troublesome element that made it into the graphic novel) and before that he mentioned that plans for the as-yet-unwritten sequels to White Sand are up in the air as far as their format goes, depending on the overall reception of the graphic novels. So Taldain's story might be all-graphic novel or it might be a hybrid of some sort. Though if you want to really get into hair-splitting territory we have material about Taldain that's not in graphic novel form (Khriss' essay in Arcanum Unbounded) so... technically not everything in that system is in GN format already. Edited March 22, 2017 by Weltall 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theuntaintedchild Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 15 hours ago, Weltall said: in the context of that being an opportunity to remove a troublesome element that made it into the graphic novel Something tells me this troublesome element is the "sky faces". I really don't think he wanted them to be as noticeable as some of them are. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryokina Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 20 minutes ago, theuntaintedchild said: Something tells me this troublesome element is the "sky faces". I really don't think he wanted them to be as noticeable as some of them are. I think he's said it's slatrification, which he feels doesn't fit very well with the mechanics of the Cosmere as they are. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theuntaintedchild Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 5 minutes ago, Cryokina said: I think he's said it's slatrification, which he feels doesn't fit very well with the mechanics of the Cosmere as they are. Oh yeah. I forgot about his comments on slatrification. It would definitely make more sense to do a rewrite to amend that issue than it would to try and fix the faces. We can't after all unsee those now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 On 23/03/2017 at 0:47 PM, Cryokina said: I think he's said it's slatrification, which he feels doesn't fit very well with the mechanics of the Cosmere as they are. Did he give any details on how they didn't fit? I'm bad at realmantics, so... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) He didn't say specifically so the following is just a guess off the top of my head. Assuming that slatrification works in a similar manner to Soulcasting from Stormlight Archive, you have to essentially bribe the Cognitive aspect of the material to transform into something else by giving it some form of Investiture and commanding it to change and how successful you are depends on force of personality, any inherent resistance in the target and how much Investiture you're funneling into it. With Taldain's setup, the sand is already Invested so the user isn't really able to offer it anything and its Invested nature makes it somewhat more resistant to change anyways. So it's a bit weird in that respect and it's also very different from the main aspect of Sand Mastery, which is telekinesis. Also, the very idea of slatrification acts as a 'cheat' around the primary limitation of the magic system (violating Sanderson's Second Law) that it uses your body's water reserves as a catalyst. That makes for an overpowered combination that's built into the system as it exists. Brandon has done similar things in other settings but it's always been much more limited, whereas slatrification is widespread at least among the highest-ranked members of the diem. Edited March 26, 2017 by Weltall 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagerunner Posted March 27, 2017 Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 On 3/25/2017 at 9:14 PM, Quiver said: Did he give any details on how they didn't fit? I'm bad at realmantics, so... From the June 2016 newsletter (emphasis mine): Quote Today, because of the White Sand release, I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences between Brandon the writer from the late 90’s (when the book was written) and today. I was 19 when I wrote the first draft of White Sand, and 24 when I wrote the second version (the one that was turned into the graphic novel.) Looking through it again, there is a lot about me and my writing that has changed. The magic system is one. White Sand has a very cool magic system, where people control sand with their mind. The magic is powered by the water inside the person’s body, which is a neat system. You need to drink a lot in order to have power over the sand--but it’s on a tidally locked planet, where the sun never sets on that side of the world. (In fact, the sun recharges the sand’s power.) So everything is connected in a cool way. Sunlight recharges the sand, a person gives water to the sand (it’s actually a microscopic lichen-like substance living on the sand, and giving it its white color, that creates the magic. The Sand Master gives water to the lichen, fueling its magical life cycle, which in turn releases power that allows the Sand Master to control the sand.) But the sunlight also makes you more likely to dehydrate, which in turn stops you from being able to power the magic. And then, it has the oddball--Sand Masters ALSO have the power to turn sand into water. I did this because it was cool to my then-writer brain. What if people who lived in a giant desert could make water? Wouldn’t that be useful? I use this to great effect in the story, and yet, it doesn’t fit the narrative. The modern me would never have added this power. It doesn’t fit into the entire system in a cohesive way. The rest makes logical sense; this (though I tried to justify it with worldbuilding behind the scenes) just doesn’t. But in some ways, the old me was more willing to take chances. This is important to realize as well--I can't become so certain I know the way that things SHOULD be done, that I fall into doing the same thing over and over. I don't think the power to turn sand into water, ultimately, works in the novel. (Let me know what you think, if you read it.) But the fact that I was willing to add screwy, out-of-the-box powers to magic systems back then is a reminder that not everything in life is neat, able to be tied up with a bow. As much as I like playing video games, I don't want my books to feel like a video game--and that's a danger when every piece of the book, magic, and setting fits together to the point that it loses any sense of feeling organic. A good lesson to learn from my old self. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storming Radiant Posted June 19, 2017 Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 Oh I really hope we'll get the entire Taldain trilogy as novels, the GN was super annoying! I had to read it about three times to understand what was going on. (I did enjoy the story, but the platform was just... well, bad.) I have the prose and I want to read it, but I hate reading ebooks and such, it just doesn't feel right to me. Anovelization seems like my only option... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teknopathetic Posted June 21, 2017 Report Share Posted June 21, 2017 I had read the unpublished Whitesand novel and even I had trouble understanding what was going on. I really think each graphic novel should focuse on one character only, but I'm no author so ignore me haha. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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