Help me craft a question to Brandon for my future signed books

[maxal she/her]

The title says it all. I haven't got a signed book. I live in a part of the world Brandon is not bond to visit in the near future and whereas future signing sites are not technically that far-away: I am unable to travel due to work and family.

 

After months of arguing with myself, I have decided to order a book or two. So far, in the store, there is Elantris and the Altered Perception which I would be interested in. I possessed most of the other books and those I do not possess, I have read. Elantris is strangely not available in any public library in Montreal.... I figure I could ask them to purchase it, but I also saw it as an opportunity to get my own signed book via the online store.

 

I know exactly what I want to ask, but I do not know how I should phrase it. 

 

Anybody who has spend more than 5 minutes on this forum knows I am an unconditional Adolin lover... So of course any questions of mine will be geared towards him. I do not ask for a lot, I simply want to know something we don't know, something new. However, people who have asked this question before received what I consider to be deceiving answers such as: "Adolin originally died as Renarin was the important brother" or "Adolin's role has been redesigned in SA, he has a bigger one now". Whereas this is still fun to know, that's not exactly what I wish to know. It does not tell us much more anyway.

 

Therefore, how do I phrase an open question and yet avoids getting the "Adolin was meant to die" answer? And how to I potentially split it in two books to get two cool tip bits?

 

Any suggestions from those who actually have experience in asking question to Brandon? Can I avoid getting the "he died" answer or is there no way out of it?

 

Thanks in advance.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

What exactly is the question Maxal you wish to know, precise phrasing aside?

 

e.g Can you tell us something new about Adolin in the current storyline?

Edited August 11, 2015 by ParadoxSpren

[maxal she/her]

What exactly is the question Maxal you wish to know, precise phrasing aside?

 

e.g Can you tell us something new about Adolin in the current storyline?

 

Well, there are many things I would like to know, but most would probably be RAFO... 

 

I would like to know more about his Blade: is it originated from Alethkar? Did it have a name prior to Adolin holding it? If so why did he dismiss the name if names are supposed to be pass down from wielder to wielder? How did he start talking to it? When? It is relevant? Is Adolin struggling to throw his Blade, a command his untrained brother effortlessly mastered while being stressed-out, symptomatic of anything? How did he really win the Blade? When exactly? Which weapon did he use in that particular duel? 

 

I would also like to know why Zahel chose to tutor Adolin. When? Is Adolin skill natural or did he acquire it by hard-work and intense practicing? Why did he start training at 6 years old when Zahel implies boys don't start until they are 10-11?

 

Had he really been carrying his mother necklace for ten years on him or did he just take it for duels? How did the tradition started? Why this necklace, a chain? Why didn't Adolin the fashion-boy did not chose something more flashy? Is there a story behind the chain (we know it is not magic)? What was his relationship with his mother like?

 

Those are the ones that spontaneously come to my mind. There are hordes of other questions (it's late here, I'll think some more tomorrow), but mainly most are to either fuel my Edgedancer theory or just to get to know the character better. However I am afraid to ask to precise question as he could just RAFO or not answer as I know it happened to a few people... It is why I was going for something more open which I would get an answer for. I just don't want the dying one...

 

Whereas I like your question, I am afraid the "current story line" would leave him room to say: "He has a bigger role than initially planned"....  

[hoser he/him]

If the Nightwatcher were an accurate fortune teller, what is something she would tell Adolin about his fate?

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

Vague and evasive, i fear, is what Brandon will no doubt be seeing as anything tying to the main storyline will either be RAFO'd or an Aes Sedai answer. You just gotta give enough wiggle room yet still be slightly be specific.

  

I think most of these will probably be answered in-book but you could probably ask the blade name along the lines of 'Was Adolin's blade previously named?/Does Adolin know the name given to his blade?' and the original Radiant something like 'What was the ethnicity/nationality of Adolin's blade's original wielder?

 

If so why did he dismiss the name if names are supposed to be pass down from wielder to wielder?

I think this might be that no-one ever found out the name it was given due to it not being a famous blade, it was never publicised or no-one ever found a name that really fit it

 

Is Adolin struggling to throw his Blade, a command his untrained brother effortlessly mastered while being stressed-out, symptomatic of anything?

I think this might have been proto-radiant shenanigans to be honest

 

I know the irritation of so many questions just frothing on the tip of your tongue, tis the same for me. It drives me kayana >.<

[maxal she/her]

If the Nightwatcher were an accurate fortune teller, what is something she would tell Adolin about his fate?

 

Not a bad one... What are the odds he'd give an answer to it? Seems like RAFO bait...

 

 

Vague and evasive, i fear, is what Brandon will no doubt be seeing as anything tying to the main storyline will either be RAFO'd or an Aes Sedai answer. You just gotta give enough wiggle room yet still be slightly be specific.

 

I would have asked the simple: "Tell me something we do not know about Adolin". Feather had a neat answer when she asked something similar about Renarin, but I have seen people ask it and they have gotten boring answers... The ones I do not one. 

 

The danger with being too specific is to ask by mistake something tied to the story line to which Brandon won't be able to answer. I'd rather have an answer and not a RAFO. RAFO is cool, when you have one in a long string of questions with answers to work with.

 

 

 

I think most of these will probably be answered in-book but you could probably ask the blade name along the lines of 'Was Adolin's blade previously named?/Does Adolin know the name given to his blade?' and the original Radiant something like 'What was the ethnicity/nationality of Adolin's blade's original wielder?

 

I am not sure these will be answer in the book, that's the problem. Without flashbacks we are not going to get much more of his backstory. Seeing him pass around in Dalinar or Renarin flashbacks won't be the same: these will feature on those characters and not him. The famous duel will presumably never be feature in any book, which is why I want to ask about it and depending on how he answers, it may give me fuel for my own theory.

 

Another one perhaps could be: "Had Adolin inherited Oathbringer, would he have get the Blade famous name or would he have toss it away because it feels wrong?"

 

We know the previous wielder of Adolin's Blade was Alethi. What I was wondering about is if the Blade has not been won in recent years through borders skirmish which would explain why it does not have a famous name. If the Blade had a prior name, no doubt Adolin knew about it. I could ask: "Had Talanvor named his Blade prior to Adolin gaining possession of it and if so didn't Adolin had the incentive to keep the same name?"

 

 

Is Adolin struggling to throw his Blade, a command his untrained brother effortlessly mastered while being stressed-out, symptomatic of anything?

I think this might have been proto-radiant shenanigans to be honest

 

There is enough clues around that scene that implies there may be more going on than Adolin simply being stressed-out, sleep deprived and injured. It could also be just that... but there is enough else where in the book to let us know something happened there. The scene has a purpose and it was not just to show us Blade throwing is a thing.

 

So if there is nothing more going on there, I assume Brandon would simply answer he was just stressed-out, sleep deprived and injured which would settle any discussion on that scene. 

 

If there is something going on there, he can't answer RAFO as RAFO would imply something is indeed going on. He thus have to give an answer...

 

It is not a bad question, I think.

 

 

I know the irritation of so many questions just frothing on the tip of your tongue, tis the same for me. It drives me kayana >.<

 

Yeah it is not easy... Most questions asked are carefully crafted, but most are pertaining the magic systems or the Cosmere... Characters related questions are very rare, so it is why I am so unsure how to ask.

[hoser he/him]

Not a bad one... What are the odds he'd give an answer to it? Seems like RAFO bait...

He likes playing this game with us, I think.  He wants you to feel rewarded.  Anything too specific could run afoul of either things he wants concealed for now or that he wants to congeal later.  So there is no trickery or mean teasing. 

Tell the truth and ask for what you want.  Something in your own words that means: "I really like Adolin.  I know that his role in the story has changed and want to know more about him in his evolved position."

[Patrick Star]

- Does shardplate make the wearer stronger?  Basically, think Thor vs Iron Man.  Thor is stronger with Mjolnir, but the Iron Man suit doesn't make Tony Stark stronger.  Just to get an idea of how it works.

 

- Szeth's voices: Is there an external force or entity causing them?

 

- Gavilar's Sphere: Is there a sentient being in there?

 

- Does Vasher know that Nightblood is on Roshar?  Is he interested in getting Nightblood back?

 

- Plain or peperoni?

 

- Did Renarin wear plain glasses, or bifocals?

 

- Which Rosharian beer is the tastiest?  Do they have IPA's?

 

- In the chasms scene during the highstorms, Kaladin saw 2 beings in the storm.  Were those unmade?

 

- Does Roshar have icecream?

 

- Roshar has a large amount of crustaceans.  Do they also have Old Bay spice?  Because they really should.

 

- Could you have a shardbow that uses regular arrows?  Or maybe a crossbow?  Can spren objects have any moving parts?

 

- How do cohesion and tension work in regards to the stonewards?  How does that interaction affect what they can do?

 

- Are willshapers basically earthbenders from Avatar: The Last Airbender?

 

- Could a Windrunner go into space (and survive) using his surges?

 

- What language did Taravangian use for the Diagram?  If this is RAFO'd, maybe ask if it's one that's currently in use by Rosharian society (I'm speculating that it was written in the language of the dawnsingers)

 

And I think that's everything.  Obviously, some of these are more serious than others.  I'm particularly curious about the language that the diagram was written in.  The Nightblood question may also be good to ask.

[Confused]

Just remember that Brandon is the Nightwatcher -- however you word your question, he only gives you what you "deserve."

 

(And I'd ask him how Shshshsh died.)

[WeiryWriter he/him]

-Does Roshar have icecream?

 

It's unlikely.

 

- Could a Windrunner go into space (and survive) using his surges?

 

Supposedly they've done the math on how long it would take Kaladin to get to the moons and how much Stormlight it would take so...  I'm going to go with yes.

 

On a side note I will point out that maxal wasn't asking for ideas about what to ask but how she should ask the questions she already has.

 

@Maxal If you can wait I'd probably hold off on ordering a copy of Elantris just yet, since the 10th anniversary edition is coming in the not too distant future.  Also part of the difficulty with asking a question is the box where you put personalization requests only fits a limited number of characters (which is very frustrating).

[maxal she/her]

He likes playing this game with us, I think.  He wants you to feel rewarded.  Anything too specific could run afoul of either things he wants concealed for now or that he wants to congeal later.  So there is no trickery or mean teasing. 

Tell the truth and ask for what you want.  Something in your own words that means: "I really like Adolin.  I know that his role in the story has changed and want to know more about him in his evolved position."

 

Yeah well I have zero experience in asking questions and this may be the only chance I have to ask something and actually get an answer That is unless I decide on ordering every single book, pay for signature, transport and potentially custom taxes if I am unlucky, get a bunch of duplicate books... I don't trust the AMA so much... there are a bunch of questions in there I'd like him to answer, but he always choses other ones and there are so many of them...

 

I rather like your last formulation. It wording makes it so he can't really give the "he died" answers which he already gave out twice. I may try this one, so thanks

 

 

...

 

Yeah I was kind of looking for suggestion on how to phrase my own question. The reason being I have seen two people ask it before and the received very similar answers which I do not want to get. I want a different answer, so I want help into figuring out the wording the most susceptible to give a more interesting response.

 

 

@Maxal If you can wait I'd probably hold off on ordering a copy of Elantris just yet, since the 10th anniversary edition is coming in the not too distant future.  Also part of the difficulty with asking a question is the box where you put personalization requests only fits a limited number of characters (which is very frustrating).

 

Oh bummer. I had not thought of that. Good point. I have to go check when it is due for release, hopefully not to far away. It says on the website international deliveries are only done at specific time, so the delay may be longer. Now Canada isn't exactly very international, but I assume the delivery delays may be longer, though Montreal tends to be rather quick. Amazon ships very fast to Montreal.

 

I'll go make test with the number of characters... I had not thought of that either...

 

The reason I chose Elantris was purely happenstance... I never read it and it is not available at the local library.

[maxal she/her]

I tried for the AMA.... I actually asked questions... I asked the Blade one and I asked about Adolin's future in SA. Since I have to wait for Elantris new version to come out, I have actually tried the AMA........

 

I wonder if Brandon is going to answer my questions.

[gbazz4 he/him]

I tried for the AMA.... I actually asked questions... I asked the Blade one and I asked about Adolin's future in SA. Since I have to wait for Elantris new version to come out, I have actually tried the AMA........

 

I wonder if Brandon is going to answer my questions.

Good luck. I hope he answers some of your questions, I would be interested in hearing about the answers as I enjoy Adolin's character as well.

[maxal she/her]

Good luck. I hope he answers some of your questions, I would be interested in hearing about the answers as I enjoy Adolin's character as well.

 

I hope too, but as I said, I do not put much faith into the AMA. I have no idea how Brandon decides which questions to answer, but it does seem as if he starts from the most recent and moves down until he calls it quit for the night. Unfortunately, there are other questions on top of mine, so he'll probably won't get down to it once he starts answering again.

[maxal she/her]

Oh crap. He answered questions tonight. He stopped at mine   That's why I had no faith in it... I noticed he rarely answers long questions. Perhaps he has no time.

Edited August 14, 2015 by maxal