who or what is hoid?

[grahambam he/him]

why does he narrate tress and other books in the cosmere? I know he is a world hopper but that is it. am i missing anything or is everybody on the same page as me with Cephandrius.

 

[Treamayne]

12 hours ago, grahambam said:

I know he is a world hopper but that is it. am i missing anything or is everybody on the same page as me with Cephandrius.

Others have mentioned Hoid's known backstory, I'll add one WoB to that -

Spoiler

Questioner 1

In The Way of Kings, when Hoid is talking to Kaladin and he says his name is Hoid, he said that he took the name from someone else.

Brandon Sanderson

He did.

Questioner 1

So why is he Hoid in everything else?

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid is not his original name.

Questioner 1

So...

Questioner 2

Does he still go by his original name ever?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know if you've ever seen his original name.

Questioner 2

I've read your [honor]'s thesis [Dragonsteel Prime].

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, he doesn't go by the name that is in there very often but there are people who know him by that name.

Questioner 1

What is his original name?

Brandon Sanderson

Well he's assuming that the name he is using in there is actually his original name. He's using the name Cephandrius. Which you're assuming is his original.

Questioner 2

Closer to the truth than Hoid is.

Brandon Sanderson

It is closer to the truth...

Questioner 2

Cephandrius is closer to his original name than Hoid, it's an earlier alias.

Brandon Sanderson

Well Hoid was one of his very first aliases.

Questioner 2

So I stand corrected.

Brandon Sanderson

But, Cephandrius is more him.

Questioner 2

Does he still go by his nickname he got.

Brandon Sanderson

To some people, Topaz.

Peter Ahlstrom

Cephandrius Maxtori.

Shadows of Self release party (Oct. 5, 2015)

But to answer your first question:

Quote

why does he narrate tress and other books in the cosmere?

Because Sanderson once tried to write Hoid's origin story (Liar of Partinel) and it did not work out well. So, with the Special Projects he decided he needed practice with Hoid's storytelling voice for when he gets to teh Dragonstell books (which will be about Hoid's origin and the Shattering) so he can have the best "voice" for a Hoid PoV series. WoB:

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

So, that is the start of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. Now the analysis.Where did this come from? Well, you can probably tell this is another Hoid story. I wanted, after I wrote Secret Project one, to try a different style of voice for Hoid. Project One has a modern fairytale vibe, like Princess Bride–and I like that. I think it turned out really well. I’m proud of it, and I’ll probably use that voice again sometime.

But I also wanted to have access to a different kind of voice for Hoid. (Or several different voices.) Part of the reason I’m doing all this is to figure out how I want to write Dragonsteel, his origin story, which will be first person. So I wanted to test out other narrative voices that Hoid might use in telling stories. For Secret Project three, I specifically wanted one where Hoid was using more of a traditional narrative style.

To explain it another way, I wanted him to tell a story that felt less fairytale and more dramatic. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter became that next exploration. I’m not sure it’s the voice he’ll use in Dragonsteel yet, but it’s much closer–and I love how this one worked for this specific story. It is, as I’ve said, my favorite of the four secret projects.

<edited for length and relveance> Secret Project #3 Reveal and Livestream (March 17, 2022)

 

6 minutes ago, grahambam said:

also do you guys know what book explains hoid?

None yet, Hoid started as the first clue that all of these series were connected (reading Elantris, then Mistborn and Warbreaker and seeing his name in all three was the connection clue). Dragonsteel, when we get there, will be his Origin Story. WoB:

Spoiler

Questioner

So with your Cosmere books. I started reading with Mistborn, and I got through the trilogy, all three books-- I read really fast, so I was done with all three of them in under a week. And so I went looking for some of your other books, and I think I came on The Way of Kings and I started noticing there were little bits of connections because it's not really apparent--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

--that they're connected until you start looking into it. And of course then I go online and figure out there's this whole wikipedia--

Brandon Sanderson

Then you went down the rabbit hole. *laughter*

Questioner

Then I went down the rabbit hole and then I go "Oh look, all of these worlds are interconnected. And there are these characters who are supposed to be Worldhoppers or something." I could not figure out where the origin of where you learn these people are actually from the other series.

Brandon Sanderson

So where did people learn this. So first I'm going to give the caveat, if this daunts you, don't worry it's all cameos right now. You don't have to read the books in a certain order-- Well you should read the series in order, but you don't have to read the series in a certain order. You're not missing out on something, you can read the books and if you don't see it, it's okay. It's meant to be cameos... It's supposed to be very subtle.

However, where they're getting it is Hoid is almost always mentioned by name. That was the first clue to people. Once in a while he doesn't use his name, in each series at least he's mentioned his name. And people started connecting that name. And I will usually give little tells where they Galladon in The Way of Kings because he spoke in Dula, and so they caught the same words that he used, even though he spoke another language. Some of the words were words he used in Elantris. They were like "Oh." So there's always going to be some connection there.

Watch for people who use the wrong words. For instance if someone says in The Stormlight Archive, if someone uses the word "coin", they're probably using magical means to translate and they're thinking "coin" when they mean "money" or "sphere" and they don't use coins on Roshar. And so you'll have people make mistakes like that in-world, and they'll talk about things the wrong way. And that'll be part of the way you can connect who doesn't belong there. I intend it to be very subtle however. I think in The Way of Kings Hoid is the only one who uses "coin" and things like that. If you watch out for stuff like that--

But here's the thing about it, at the same time I learned from Robert Jordan fandom that fans will theorize about everything. *laughter* And I realized-- I had to make a decision pretty early on. And this decision-- Some authors do it one way, others do it another, I decided I had to be okay if the fans guessed what I was doing. Because if I put the foreshadowing in then it's going to be a mark of respect if people figure it out. And so if you're one of these people who dig in deeply, you will figure out some of things that are going on and they won't be surprises when the book comes along. And I think that's okay for the fans that are doing that. I will warn you, I'm not going to change what's happening, just 'cause you figure it out. So if you don't want massive spoilers you shouldn't necessarily hang out to much, because they are going to get it right. I will put in the foreshadowing so that it is possible to guess what's going to be happening and things like that. Because if I don't it won't feel like the book is fulfilling, if that makes any sense.

That's just a little warning to you guys. But so far there are some things they haven't figured out yet that I think they're going to soon, but they haven't quite yet.

DragonCon 2016 (Sept. 3, 2016)

Hope that helps

Edited April 26, 2025 by Treamayne
New Reply

[ShatteredDiamond She/Her]

 

17 minutes ago, grahambam said:

why does he narrate tress and other books in the cosmere? I know he is a world hopper but that is it. am i missing anything or is everybody on the same page as me with Cephandrius.

 

Hoid was there with the 16 original shard vessels when they shattered Adonalsium so now he goes around and saves the world and makes awesome insults

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

1 hour ago, grahambam said:

why does he narrate tress and other books in the cosmere? I know he is a world hopper but that is it. am i missing anything or is everybody on the same page as me with Cephandrius.

 

1 hour ago, ShatteredDiamond said:

 

Hoid was there with the 16 original shard vessels when they shattered Adonalsium so now he goes around and saves the world and makes awesome insults

Yeah. Mostly. He is known by many names and makes multiple frequent cameos in the cosmere

[grahambam he/him]

also do you guys know what book explains hoid?

[grahambam he/him]

wit definitely has the best insults.

thanks