Reddit AMA questions on 15th

[Nepene he/him]

Brandon Sanderson is doing an AMA on reddit. I thought it might be a good idea to coordinate any questions here, both for the sake of inspiring good questions, weeding out any that he has already answered, and avoiding asking the same questions to him twice.

 

For me, if one question is allowed.

 

1. You've mentioned several philosophical concepts used in the writing of your books, like Jung's collective unconsciousness, Plato's cave. Could you expand a bit on your use of those in your books, and whether you think it is necessary to use philosophy to make a good fantasy world?

 

If more than one is allowed.

 

2. What was it like writing using the very different philosophies of Robert Jordan?

 

3. You've said you want to write a book set in the Southern Continent. I did enjoy the Emperor's Soul a lot, so I am curious about you writing that future book. How do they use magic differently, and why should we be excited about reading a book set there?

 

4. In The Emperor's Soul and Elantris the magic systems have very different methods and powers, though both work through symbols. Assuming they adapted the symbols to their local geography could they use each other's methods? Could an Elantrian forge a soulstamp say?

 

5. In Warbreaker Lightsong mentions that the Returned's forms are dependent on contemporary beauty standards. In the Emperor's Soul Shai implies that if others did not believe in the Emperor's Soul it would break. Is my reading of their statements correct, is their magic dependent on how others view you as well as how you view yourself?

 

If these questions got answered early, or if anyone wants a question.

 

6. What would Hoid's abilities be as a mtg card? What sort of character would he be as a DND character?

 

7. Have you ever considered releasing a Mistborn card game?

 

8. You've said before that technically Odium isn't evil. Does Odium have goals and methods that a reasonable, moral person could get behind?

 

9. If Ruin had won what would his long term goals be? What about before he was imprisoned, after the deal with Preservation?

 

10. In the rpg increasing power with a feruchemical power means a greater ability to store and tap that ability. Is that true in the Mistborn world?

 

11. Do planets have a soul, like in final fantasy?

Edited April 8, 2013 by Nepene

[Arran]

Hmm, I think I'll use this opportunity after all. It's just too good to pass up... Here are the questions I'd like to ask him - perhaps this board's elders can tell me if some have already been answered.

 

1) How many Parshendi Shardbearers do the Alethi estimate there are?

 

2) With his army in the Shattered Plains severely depleted, couldn't Dalinar bring in reinforcements from his "home" army back in Alethkar? We know from Kaladin's flashbacks that Sadeas has a home army of about six thousand men, so it stands to reason that Dalinar also has one of similar size.

 

3) What are the population figures for Alethkar and Jah Keved?

 

4) How often will Kaladin appear in Words of Radiance and going forward in the series? I ask because he's by far my favorite character, and if he has as few chapters in WoR and subsequent novels as Shallan did in Way of Kings, I fear I'll be disappointed.

[Kurkistan he/him]

Does a limb that has been "severed" by a Shardblade have any Hemalurgic bindpoints?

 

Others in case things get crazy:

 

If Dalinar were a Feruchemist, would he be able to tap a metalmind (in either world) while experiencing one of his visions?

 

Could Syl be seen in a photograph? (I'm betting no)

 

Is Denth technically the king of Idris, or is he an offshoot that happened to keep the Royal Locks for some reason?

--This is a sneaky question: assuming Denth is a Royal because of his hair changing color as he died, and luring Brandon out by making it sound like it's as obvious as Shallan's "secret", so he'll confirm Denth's royalty when he RAFO's the broader question. Yes, I am evil, thank you for noticing.

 

-Are Conjoiner fabrials sensitive enough that pairs of them attached to taught membranes could work as telephones (conjoiner-phones?)?

 

Do Surgebinders have gemhearts?

 

----

 

You'll forgive me if I critique a few questions so we can get maximum effect:

 

Brandon Sanderson is doing an AMA on reddit. I thought it might be a good idea to coordinate any questions here, both for the sake of inspiring good questions, weeding out any that he has already answered, and avoiding asking the same questions to him twice.

 

For me, if one question is allowed.

 

1. You've mentioned several philosophical concepts used in the writing of your books, like Jung's collective unconsciousness, Plato's cave. Could you expand a bit on your use of those in your books, and whether you think it is necessary to use philosophy to make a good fantasy world?

 

He hasn't actually mentioned the Cave directly, just Platonic Forms, so you might want to reformulate.

 

4. In The Emperor's Soul and Elantris the magic systems work quite differently, though both work through symbols. Are there geographic or racial or societal differences in how magic works, or is this just due to them using the magic in a different way?

 

Brandon's (presumed) answer: "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking."

 

11. Do planets have a soul, like in final fantasy?

 

Ooh, nice one. You might want to explicitly say how this builds off of Shadesmar not having vacuum.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Nepene he/him]

----

You'll forgive me if I critique a few questions so we can get maximum effect:

 

 

He hasn't actually mentioned the Cave directly, just Platonic Forms, so you might want to reformulate.

Sure

 

He has, in Alcatraz. I didn't say he had to mention it in a Cosmere book.

 

Brandon's (presumed) answer: "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking."

Why is that his presumed answer?

 

 

Ooh, nice one. You might want to explicitly say how this builds off of Shadesmar not having vacuum.

 

I dunno. What would I be asking here, or saying?

 

Is Denth technically the king of Idris, or is he an offshoot that happened to keep the Royal Locks for some reason?

--This is a sneaky question: assuming Denth is a Royal because of his hair changing color as he died, and luring Brandon out by making it sound like it's as obvious as Shallan's "secret", so he'll confirm Denth's royalty when he RAFO's the broader question. Yes, I am evil, thank you for noticing.

 

You'll probably just get him to say that Denth, as a returned, can change the color of his hair. You'd probably get better results asking him directly if what he did was because of his divine breath. It's probably not a big point- if he does RAFO it and wink you know you're probably right.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Nepene

[Kurkistan he/him]

----

Sure

 

He has, in Alcatraz. I didn't say he had to mention it in a Cosmere book.

 

Ah, sorry, I hadn't recalled that from Alcatraz. My mistake.

 

Why is that his presumed answer?

 

That was mildly tongue-in-cheek, but I was trying to say that your question is a bit unclear. Are you trying to ask if Sel's magic is divided up along racial lines? If Forging and AonDor are actually the same system, but used differently because of their social surroundings? I can't really tell from your question, though that could conceivably just be my fault.

 

 dunno. What would I be asking here, or saying?

 

"We know that the only things in Shadesmar are planets, but do those planets have "souls" of their own? Does each planet have distinct identity, or is it simply the sum of its parts, with one planet flowing into the other naturally through Shadewsmar?"

-Just a quick write up. It makes it a bit more complicated, but let's Brandon know the kind of question you're asking (if that is the kind of question you're asking).

 

You'll probably just get him to say that Denth, as a returned, can change the color of his hair. You'd probably get better results asking him directly if what he did was because of his divine breath. It's probably not a big point- if he does RAFO it and wink you know you're probably right.

 

I seriously doubt that he'll say that Denth's hair-changing is due to his Returned status, as we've discussed in the past.

 

I've wrestled with asking directly, but Brandon has ever been the wily one. . . 

[Satsuoni he/him]

Hm~

 

1. You said that every person on Scadrial has a bit of Preservation in them. It is possible, then, to accumulate enough Hemalurgic charge from killing normal people by, say, steel spike (at once, or in order), to make that spike grant Allomancy? Building on this, is it possible for the spike to accumulate charge while being imbedded in acceptor body, by killing people with the protruding end?

 

2.  From which stage of development does human embryo on Scadrial gain Hemalurgic potential? Is potential of newborn child any greater than of old man?

 

3.  Are bound spren like Syl individuals? What happens to their consciousness when their symbiont die?

 

4. Is it possible to soulforge yourself to have, say,a network of of blood vessels that would work as a self-renewing seal?

 

5.  You have mentioned that certain spren are an embodiment of concepts. How does that work for the concepts like hononr, that can mean opposite things to different culture groups?

 

Something in this vein, I guess.

[Nepene he/him]

Ah, sorry, I hadn't recalled that from Alcatraz. My mistake.

It's cool. We don't talk about it much here.

 

That was mildly tongue-in-cheek, but I was trying to say that your question is a bit unclear. Are you trying to ask if Sel's magic is divided up along racial lines? If Forging and AonDor are actually the same system, but used differently because of their social surroundings? I can't really tell from your question, though that could conceivably just be my fault.

 

Either of those interpretations would be ok, but I'll rephrase it so it's clearer.

 

"We know that the only things in Shadesmar are planets, but do those planets have "souls" of their own? Does each planet have distinct identity, or is it simply the sum of its parts, with one planet flowing into the other naturally through Shadewsmar?"

-Just a quick write up. It makes it a bit more complicated, but let's Brandon know the kind of question you're asking (if that is the kind of question you're asking).

 

I was more interested in whether a planet had a tangible soul that you could visit and communicate with, perhaps on the cognitive plane, like in final fantasy.

 

I seriously doubt that he'll say that Denth's hair-changing is due to his Returned status, as we've discussed in the past.

 

I've wrestled with asking directly, but Brandon has ever been the wily one. . . 

 

Is Brandon wily? He's answered lots of direct questions put to him that you would expect him to RAFO. I don't believe he's ever been wily in question responses, from my memory of interview questions put to him. He's pretty cool.

[Kurkistan he/him]

^Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, I'll admit. I can't find it right now, but I have a memory of Brandon giving a mathematician's answer when someone asked an "or" question. Since I can't find it or any others like it, I suppose he isn't that wiley, but ever since I saw that response I've thought that it might pay to be careful.

 

Very well, you win. I'll just ask straight out if Denth is a Royal.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Phantom Monstrosity]

I have a few that seem interesting

 

"Are there any magic systems in the cosmere that aren't shard based?"

(We have an earlier quote of: "In all of the cosmere's Shard-based magics, the greater portion of a bisected body regrows the lesser portion".  That *might* imply that there's other magics about, and I'd like to clarify that)

 

"Would it have been theoretically possible to create sapient ilfe by adding excess Ruin instead of excess Preservation?"

 

"We know Hoid stopped by the Well of Ascension.  Would it have been possible for him to take up the power while he was there?"

 

"Would giving a Lifeless a pair of Kandra Blessings make it more intelligent?  Similarly, could Blessings make a Parshman more parshendi-like?" 

[Yados]

Did anything oppose Adonalsium before it shattered?

 

Edit!

 

Also:

 

Does everyone on Roshar except for the Shin have an Epicanthic Fold on their eyes or do the Shin actually just have giant baby-eyes?

 

I assumed it was a funny poke at that fantasy trope where the author has to designate that one character is ethnically Asian even though that world doesn't have an Asia. Like with Faile in Wheel of Time. 

 

So Roshar has like, all people with that eye fold, but does the same thing for people with Western European features. 

 

I'll be kind of sad if that doesn't turn out to be the case. 

Edited April 9, 2013 by Yados

[Asperity he/him]

Neat. I'll probably ask one of the questions I posted in the big ol' question thread (because I never remember them on my own).

[ADIMORTIS he/him]

I'd like to ask how many people on Roshar (including the heralds) are aware that almighty is dead?

[Morsk he/him]

3. You've said you want to write a book set in the Southern Continent. I did enjoy the Emperor's Soul a lot, so I am curious about you writing that future book. How do they use magic differently, and why should we be excited about reading a book set there?

The Southern Continent that uses magic differently is on the Mistborn world, right? You might be confusing it with Sel. For my own I'd ask,

"What place do Forgers and their training have in MaiPon society? They can't all be professional criminals like Shai ... or can they?"

[Nepene he/him]

The Southern Continent that uses magic differently is on the Mistborn world, right? You might be confusing it with Sel. For my own I'd ask,

"What place do Forgers and their training have in MaiPon society? They can't all be professional criminals like Shai ... or can they?"

 

I am aware of that. The book about the Southern Continent would be a standalone book about a foreign society that uses a familiar magic system in a different way, like the Emperor's Soul. I was not saying they were on the same world, simply that they would be similar in what they were doing.

[Windrunner he/him]

When you say "[using] a familiar magic system in a different way, like the Emperor's Soul," what do you mean? None of the magic systems we'd seen on Sel previously appeared in the novella.

[Nepene he/him]

When you say "[using] a familiar magic system in a different way, like the Emperor's Soul," what do you mean? None of the magic systems we'd seen on Sel previously appeared in the novella.

 

In Elantris, magic works by people drawing symbols of magical things and making magical things happen.

 

In the Emperor's soul magic works by people engraving symbols of magical things and making magical things happen. Due to the substantial similarities, I described it as a familiar magic system to explain my point. We don't know for sure whether they are the same sort of magic- that is one of my questions, whether an Elantrian could make a forging if they knew the right symbols- but they are clearly very similar.

 

Also you have downvoted a lot of my posts. Every time I remember seeing you in recent times, it's been next to a downvoted post.

 

Edit. Resolved with Windrunner. Someone was previously causing issues, I was on edge.

Edited April 14, 2013 by Nepene

[Kurkistan he/him]

^I see where you're coming from on the whole "form based investiture front," but you're question is a bit odd. Forging isn't even the same magic as Bloodsealing, let alone AonDor, while, to my knowledge, the Southern Continent uses the exact same magic as the North (Allomancy, Feruchemy and Hemalurgy, at the most), just in interesting ways. They really are different questions, so you might want to rephrase.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Nepene he/him]

^I see where you're coming from on the whole "form based investiture front," but you're question is a bit odd. Forging isn't even the same magic as Bloodsealing, let alone AonDor, while, to my knowledge, the Southern Continent uses the exact same magic as the North (Allomancy, Feruchemy and Hemalurgy, at the most), just in interesting ways. They really are different questions, so you might want to rephrase.

 

I did put them in different questions, so this shouldn't be an issue. I was merely explaining to someone why the Southern Continent book was a book of interest to me in a similar way to the Emperor's Soul.

 

We don't know that forging is a different magic. It's possible, with the right symbols, that an Elantrian could make an soul stamp. So I asked a question about that.

 

4. In The Emperor's Soul and Elantris the magic systems have very different methods and powers, though both work through symbols. Assuming they adapted the symbols to their local geography could they use each other's methods? Could an Elantrian forge a soulstamp say?

To any who are reading- me and Kurkistan got into a long discussion. If you wish to see new posts unrelated to the discussion, skip to the next page.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Nepene

[Kurkistan he/him]

I did put them in different questions, so this shouldn't be an issue. I was merely explaining to someone why the Southern Continent book was a book of interest to me in a similar way to the Emperor's Soul.

 

Ah, my mistake. Sorry for misreading you, I was in a bit of a hurry. 

 

We don't know that forging is a different magic. It's possible, with the right symbols, that an Elantrian could make an soul stamp. So I asked a question about that.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and so that it's incredibly different. Forging isn't even the same magic as Bloodsealing, for all their surface similarities, while AonDor seems to work on completely different principles. If you want, just imagine me brutally listing every difference in scope and application between AonDor and Forging--like was done for Bloodsealing and Forging in the linked thread.

[Nepene he/him]

Ah, my mistake. Sorry for misreading you, I was in a bit of a hurry. 

 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and so that it's incredibly different. Forging isn't even the same magic as Bloodsealing, for all their surface similarities, while AonDor seems to work on completely different principles. If you want, just imagine me brutally listing every difference in scope and application between AonDor and Forging--like was done for Bloodsealing and Forging in the linked thread.

 

The obvious reason why Forging is so different from Bloodsealing would be that Bloodsealing was in line with Dominions intent, as Chaos said, and that Forging was in line with Devotion's intent, as I say.

 

Are you saying that it would be pointless to ask him if an Elantrian could do a forging, or to ask if the magic systems were the same? You can go out on a limb all you want, but do you believe you have enough knowledge from the books to make a solid case that they are different, enough that it would be pointless asking him a question about that?

 

I am sure they are different in scope of course, with the Elantrian city. In Elantris 2 if we get to explore more cultures it would be interesting to see how they used Devotion's magics.

[Kurkistan he/him]

The obvious reason why Forging is so different from Bloodsealing would be that Bloodsealing was in line with Dominions intent, as Chaos said, and that Forging was in line with Devotion's intent, as I say.

 

Yeah...no. This isn't the place to get into it, though.

 

 

Are you saying that it would be pointless to ask him if an Elantrian could do a forging, or to ask if the magic systems were the same? You can go out on a limb all you want, but do you believe you have enough knowledge from the books to make a solid case that they are different, enough that it would be pointless asking him a question about that?

 

I am sure they are different in scope of course, with the Elantrian city. In Elantris 2 if we get to explore more cultures it would be interesting to see how they used Devotion's magics.

 

Not pointless, no, but largely unnecessary. I think we have enough reason to believe that an Elantrian being able to Forge would just mean that anyone can Forge, and that Forgers can't normally use AonDor. You might want to argue nitpicks about that, but I think we both see it as highly probable.

 

If we lived in a world where we could ask infinite questions without cost, then I would endorse asking just about any question. But Brandon is a mortal guy with finite patience and attention, and we owe him the regard of not pestering him with extraneous questions when we can avoid it, if only so as not to demand too much. This debt is particularly important in this very discussion, since we're essentially planning to hijack a WoT-focused AMA with Cosmere questions. Now I'm all for a handful or so of questions, since all's fair in theorizing and war, but given this limitation, we should really narrow in on the most important.

 

So no, that question is not pointless, and should be asked in a world where questions are free. But it is highly unlikely and thus, if I may say so, trivial. Since questions are not free, we should refrain from asking those of such low priority as the one we are discussing.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Nepene he/him]

Yeah...no. This isn't the place to get into it, though.

 

 

Not pointless, no, but largely unnecessary. I think we have enough reason to believe that an Elantrian being able to Forge would just mean that anyone can Forge, and that Forgers can't normally use AonDor. You might want to argue nitpicks about that, but I think we both see it as highly probable.

 

If we lived in a world where we could ask infinite questions without cost, then I would endorse asking just about any question. But Brandon is a mortal guy with finite patience and attention, and we owe him the regard of not pestering him with extraneous questions when we can avoid it, if only so as not to demand too much. This debt is particularly important in this very discussion, since we're essentially planning to hijack a WoT-focused AMA with Cosmere questions. Now I'm all for a handful or so of questions, since all's fair in theorizing and war, but given this limitation, we should really narrow in on the most important.

 

So no, that question is not pointless, and should be asked in a world where questions are free. But it is highly unlikely and thus, if I may say so, trivial. Since questions are not free, we should refrain from asking those of such low priority as the one we are discussing.

 

I was not saying that they used AonDor, merely wondering if whatever geographical magic they had was similar to AonDor. It might be that you could do basically the same things anywhere if you knew the right symbols, or it might be that different areas could do different types of magic. You haven't said anything to convince me that one scenario is definitely true. Nor am I completely sure what you are saying.

 

Anyway, I don't believe we should focus our questions around what is a high priority interest to you. Everybody should be free to ask whatever questions are of interest to them. If we wish to be polite I could certainly just ask one Cosmere question, and said so in my first post. If people do want to ask a pointless question, like whether you could use soulcasting to make waffles, they should be free to. It's high priority to them.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Nepene

[Windrunner he/him]

Also you have downvoted a lot of my posts. Every time I remember seeing you in recent times, it's been next to a downvoted post.

 

I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken. I did not downvote your post. I was trying to understand what you were saying. I don't downvote things that I don't understand, because in that case the fault could be my own, for misunderstanding something. You're also doubly mistaken, because on the rare occasion I do downvote someone, I don't typically respond in the same topic because I'm usually in a hurry and don't have time to properly write a post to explain what I object to. Incidentally, I did not downvote your response to my question either.

 

The rep system is anonymous for a reason, it's an aggregate of what the community thinks about a post. Perhaps the question to ask yourself is "why would someone want downvote this post?" and try to avoid doing whatever you did to provoke someone's ire, rather than lashing out without any solid evidence. I know that's what I try to do when I get downvoted.

 

If you genuinely feel that someone is abusing the system to harass or bully you, this is not the place or way to fix it. Get in contact with an admin through private message and they will be more than willing to look into it. We take such cases very seriously. Keep in mind that there is a possibility that no one is ganging up on you. Sometimes in an online setting, it pays to take special care in the way you phrase the things you say, because when words are detached from tone and body language, things can be lost. I know that sometimes when I'm being brief over the internet, I come across as being short or rude, so that's something I try to keep an eye on.

[Kurkistan he/him]

I was not saying that they used AonDor, merely wondering if whatever geographical magic they had was similar to AonDor. It might be that you could do basically the same things anywhere if you knew the right symbols, or it might be that different areas could do different types of magic. You haven't said anything to convince me that one scenario is definitely true. Nor am I completely sure what you are saying.

 

We know that different areas do different types of magic, or at the very least that geography is needed for raw power. That's not the issue. Asking whether Forging could ever happen in Arelon might nail that ambiguity down, I agree, but I'm unsure that that's the question we were discussing. You wanted to ask:

 

"In The Emperor's Soul and Elantris the magic systems have very different methods and powers, though both work through symbols. Assuming they adapted the symbols to their local geography could they use each other's methods? Could an Elantrian forge a soulstamp say?"

 

and

 

"We don't know that forging is a different magic. It's possible, with the right symbols, that an Elantrian could make an soul stamp. So I asked a question about that."

 

The original question is nearly incoherent in what it's asking, while the second is somewhat clearer. The second is also almost certainly wrong, though, given what we know and reasonable assumptions based on the books and interpretation of authorial intent.

 

You're question is asking either:

 

1) Can Elantrian's uniquely access the power of the Dor in Arelon to Forge using some set of symbols unique to their region?

 

or

 

2) Can Elantrians use AonDor to replicate Forging's mechanisms, as well as its effects?

-So we don't care about an Elantrian turning a block of gold into lead with pure AonDor, they need to use the past-changing method of the Forger for this to count.

 

The first option is somewhat doubtful because we see at least two other magic systems accessing the Dor in Arelon, so Elantrians don't seem to have unique access to the Dor. Maybe those other two were close enough to their home regions to work, though, while Forging wouldn't, or something like that. So that, at least, is somewhat plausible (though, I think, counter to the implication given in the afore-linked source, as we've discussed).

 

The second option is essentially baseless. AonDor just doesn't work that way. I refer you again to my method of argumentation to show that, all things being equal, we have negative reason to twist Bloodsealing into a particular contortion of Forgery. 

 

So if you want to ask this question, I would suggest that you reformulate it to be much clearer on what you mean. As I've said, I don't think you should expend part of your relatively small "politeness budget" on such a question, but it's up to you.

 

Anyway, I don't believe we should focus our questions around what is a high priority interest to you. Everybody should be free to ask whatever questions are of interest to them. If we wish to be polite I could certainly just ask one Cosmere question, and said so in my first post. If people do want to ask a pointless question, like whether you could use soulcasting to make waffles, they should be free to. It's high priority to them.

 

And I thank you for your intended restraint so far as asking questions goes. If you don't intend to ask this question in the upcoming AMA, then consider this a general point on how to prioritize your questions in any upcoming opportunities, or a commentary to any readers out there who might have taken up your spare questions as their own.

 

And, obviously, feel free not to follow my dictatorial whims, if that's all you see my comments as. I'm offering sincere advice and criticism, not declaring orders, as is somewhat implicit in the whole "I don't have the power or authority to compel or restrain your actions" thing.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Chaos he/him]

Nepene,

 

Please PM me or any other administrator if you feel you have been harassed from downvotes and we shall discuss the matter. We take downvote harassment seriously and we can investigate such matters. Please do not jump to conclusions.

EDIT: Oops, I should add in my questions.

What differentiates the Early, Middle, and Late Eras on Sel?

Why does giving your Breath to another person not require color? Every other Command does.