Shadows of Self Tour London Day 1 (17-Oct-15)

[Havoc]

I finally got a chance to meet Brandon for the first time in London today. This wasn't one of his typical signings, but a larger, ticketed event organized by Gollancz, his UK publisher.

 

The event itself had 6 half-hour panels of 4-5 authors each, discussing a  different aspect of fantasy/scifi. The panels were quite a nice chance to hear from a large set of authors, most of whom I'd never heard about before. There was a separate panel for new authors making their debut in 2015, which included some really interesting sounding book pitches. In what was a surprise to me, the audience was about 60% female, which encouraged my wife to finally give fantasy a try. She's reading Mistborn 1 right now.

 

After the panels, there was a signing session with all the authors. Brandon drew about 95% of the crowd here, which can't have been heartening for the other authors.

 

Brandon signed my copies of WoK and WoR, as well as my Kindle, and i got a chance to ask him three questions:

 

(all paraphrased)

Minor 'Perfect State' spoilers

Q: I know that 'Perfect State' is not part of the Cosmere, but if the Wode were to construct a 'Perfect State' for someone like Hoid, would that look like the Cosmere?

A: So a universe with him as the most important character.. yes.

 

Yes!

 

Stormlight 1+2 spoilers

Q: What colour is Aimian blood? Is it purple or orange?

A: That's a really good question. It depends on the kind of Aimian. One has purple blood and one has orange blood.

 

Q: In WoK, Shallan is being chased by Cryptics. She begins to summon her Shardblade, stops and then Soulcasts for the first time. We know from WoR that it's her bond to Pattern, her Shardblade that allows her to Soulcast. So my question is, if Shallan had not begun to summon her Blade, would she have been able to Soulcast?

A: She would not have been able to. No one has ever asked me that before.

 

That question earned me the 'Question of the Day' award, a Lightweaver pin!

 

I was also able to get a recording of the whole signing, but there was a lot of background noise. I don't expect to have the time to transcribe it myself, but the whole thing is below if anyone else wants to have a go. When I came back at the end of the session to collect my phone, Brandon said that he had provided some really juicy answers, so he hoped the recording had worked fine.

I was also lucky enough to get the last set of Mistborn earbuds he had. All in all a great day.

 

Recording

There's another signing on Monday, which should include the Oathbringer reading, as it's a Brandon-only event. I'll be going to that one too, and Brandon said he'd try to let me sit at the signing table to jot down any Cosmere goodies that the recording might miss. The man just continues to impress me with how dedicated he is to his fans!

Edited October 17, 2015 by Havoc

[Zas678 he/him]

My mind is being blown just a little bit right now.  That's an amazing question and answer! Well done. 

[Landis963 he/him]

That Shallan question is really interesting.  

[Argent he/him]

I jumped in a few places in the audio, and it sounds like at least most of it is going to be transcribable. With some effort. 

 

But those questions. Man! It feels like we don't get as much juicy information in a 3 hour event as you did in those 3 questions!

[Jit he/him]

Great question Havoc. I might see you on Monday.

[Havoc]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I was nervous enough to forget half my questions, so I'll try to ask the rest Monday.

 

Miles talks about the impending arrival of men in 'Red and gold'. Is this connected to Lightsong's colours?

Why don't the Rithmatists just build an acid-filled moat around the tower in Nebrask?

Is what happened to Shallan's family connected to the Gavilar's black sphere that Szeth buried in Jah Keved.

In the broadsheet in 'Shadows of Self' we see a picture of a mysterious person. Are we looking at a face or a mark here?

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

I'm aiming to go tomorrow but I'll probably head out to get there early (6ish); so far I've got a few questions but i might ask him if I can get an extra 5 minutes or so after or just line up again

[Rockbud he/him]

Hey guys, I'm planning on going to the 7pm signing tonight in London (my first time!). A few questions:

1. Are signings always really busy, ie. Need to get there really early? I finish work around 6 :/

2. Were there copies of Elantris 10 anniversary Ed on sale on Saturday (or exclusively SoS)? If so it gives me hope for picking up a copy to be signed

Thanks! Can't wait!

[Mailliw73 he/him]

A couple questions of not much import, but have been bothering me a bit, that would be great to have answers to:

Who is Lady Truth? Most seem to think it's Beldre or Allrianne, but we can't come to a consensus.

Is Autonomy the Shard who just wants to survive?

[cem he/him]

Is Autonomy the Shard who just wants to survive?

No, Autonomy is Bavadin. Survival Shard, IIRC, isn't on a planet.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Is Autonomy the Shard who just wants to survive?

No, Autonomy is Bavadin. Survival Shard, IIRC, isn't on a planet.

Ehh, you are correct that the "Survival" Shard is not Autonomy/Bavadin but it is also not the Shard that isn't on a planet.

 

We know of both of them by people asking about Shards we hadn't heard about before.  (Therefore the "Survival" Shard isn't Autonomy because we already knew about Bavadin holding a Shard, and then we already knew about the "Survival" Shard when he told us about the Shard that isn't on a planet).

[Argent he/him]

Ehh, you are correct that the "Survival" Shard is not Autonomy/Bavadin but it is also not the Shard that isn't on a planet.

 

We know of both of them by people asking about Shards we hadn't heard about before.  (Therefore the "Survival" Shard isn't Autonomy because we already knew about Bavadin holding a Shard, and then we already knew about the "Survival" Shard when he told us about the Shard that isn't on a planet).

 

I believe that's what he meant. Bavadin is Autonomy, "Survival" is not Invested, Autonomy is Invested, therefore Autonomy is not "Survival." Only the middle steps are not written out.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

I believe that's what he meant. Bavadin is Autonomy, "Survival" is not Invested, Autonomy is Invested, therefore Autonomy is not "Survival." Only the middle steps are not written out.

The way it reads to me makes it sound like he's saying the "Survival" Shard is the same as the Shard that isn't on a planet, which it isn't (as I explained in my post).

[Shardbearer he/him]

Wow, so did getting ready to summon Pattern in that scene draw him a little more into the Physical Realm? That's what my guess is.

[Elbereth she/her]

I guess I'll start transcribing. If anyone wants to help, I won't transcribe past the 1-hour mark until I post again, so if anyone wants to work past that point, feel free. Here's the link to the Google doc!

[dvoraen]

Wow, so did getting ready to summon Pattern in that scene draw him a little more into the Physical Realm? That's what my guess is.

I was thinking that it was more that Shallan intended (key word) to use the Shardblade, which in her case means calling upon the bond.  Because of that intention, and lack of general training, it brought the Soulcast along as a package deal as it were, or perhaps Pattern managed to assert himself in a way that caused Shallan to Soulcast, much like how Jasnah ended up in Shadesmar with Ivory, that first time in WoR's prologue, as if he had somehow managed to pull her into there despite Jasnah not knowing a thing about Elsecalling or Soulcasting.

Edited October 20, 2015 by dvoraen

[Moogle]

 

Q: Something about whether Elantrians are immortal or long-lived (difficult to make out)

A: [verbatim] Elantrians have no physical limitations on their lifespan. The power will sustain them, but it's emotionally and mentally exhausting to be an elantrian, so as far as immortality goes it's actually harder to be an elantrian than other forms of immortality that exist in the cosmere"

 

This is a nice answer!