darkanimereal1

Alright, I pulled a few of the questions from the general Q&A that seemed like they would be relevant and possibly things that haven’t been brought up yet (as well as CorwinofAmber’s question, which was so good that I figured we should get a word for word answer up ). I’m going to get the files up so that people can listen to the whole thing, but I wanted to get these up asap. There were also a few little interesting things in the first half when he talked about the book itself, but it’s getting to late for me to go sifting through the twenty minute video to grab all of them. I’m for sure watching the video again this Saturday (with my siblings, who couldn’t go), so I’ll update with more specifics at that point. Q: I was wondering if any of the characters from interludes will end up with their own books. A: Yes, they will. Lift, specifically, is one of the characters in the back five. I think she might be the only one who has had a view point so far. That’s, um, no … There are others. So, yes, interlude characters will end up with their own books later on. Right now they’re side characters. Q: (This was my question. I basically asked how long he thinks it will take him to write future Stormlight books, since TWoK took 6 months to write and WoR took 18 months to write.) A: My anticipation is that Stormlight should take about 12 months to write. It went in six months the first time because I had written the book already once. And so being able to start over from scratch, I had done it all once, so it was really like, even though I really wrote every word new, it was like doing a second draft. Words of Radiance took so long because I had to lurch out of the Wheel of Time mindset. I hadn’t written this book before, I had written the other one, and I was so steeped in the Wheel of Time doing two books that it took a lot more to pull me out. And I would start on it and would end up getting distracted by some other project like one of the novellas or I’d start on it and then I’d go back and do a revision on Steelheart and then I’d start on it. Eventually I managed to start on it and stay in it, but it took that extra six months of spinning my heels before I really dug into the book. And so, I would say that I’m hoping 12 months. I might be able to do them faster, maybe nine months. I don’t know. They are big complicated books to write, and you can’t really do these on the speed that you can do other things. It doesn’t scale. If I can write a novella that’s 20k words and I can write that oftentimes in a week, that doesn’t mean that when I’m working on Words of Radiance I can do twenty thousand words a week, because it’s just a lot harder to get everything connected. The longer you go, the longer it winds up taking per word. A few fun tidbits: Brandon assumes that eventually they’ll make a collective art book of all of the Stormlight art. In addition, in the picture of Adolin, the double underlined sigh was “his addition.” Lol Also, this may already have been known, but for sure each of the ten books will be named after in-world books. Because of this, “Stormlight Archive” is a play on words (literally an archive of books). Q: Are we going to be seeing more Wit in the Stormlight Archive? A: Depends on if you mean the character or actual wittiness. I’m never sure if I’m actually witty or not—you’ll have to judge. But the character never knows when to leave well enough alone and will be muddling things for quite a long time. Q: (This is CorwinofAmber's, I think) So one of the things I really like about this is that in the Ars Arcanum and the blurb on the back of the dust jacket, they’re not just Brandon Sanderson explaining the magic system, or Brandon Sanderson summarizing the book for casual perusing, they’re written in world by characters in the world, and I was wondering if you could tell us or give us a hint as to who wrote the dust jacket. A: I can tell you it’s not the same person as who’s writing the Ars Arcanum, and neither of those are Hoid. How about that? That gives you something. I had to fight to get in world text on the back cover. I personally really don’t like summary blurbs. Those summary blurbs are either bland or they spoil too much, and they really get on my nerves. They’re marketing copy, not author copy. And so I fought and I fought and I fought. I won with Elantris, getting the prologue on the back of the hard cover, but then they didn’t do that for the paperback. But for the hardcovers of these I won, so I’m glad you appreciate that—I intend to keep doing that. But yes, they’re being written in world by a group of people on Roshar. (Edit: added the name for the last question)

Great, that's what I'll do then Thanks for letting me know!

Lol, the thread I originally started asking if anyone was going. Since I made the OP, should I edit it and put the information there so it's easier to find, or should I just post it in a reply?

Alright, thanks for the heads up! Even if it won't lead to something else, it'd still be cool to find. Figuring them out is fun (or at least, after the fact once the insanity is over... )

Is the "specific knowledge" something like a skill (cartography, etc.) or do you mean specific knowledge about something in-world/cosmere related?

Ah! I wasn't sure where they were supposed to go. Like I said, this isn't all of it yet, only about half of it. Once I have it all gathered together I'll post it there (meaning tonight). Should I make a new thread or is there a specific one where I should share it?

Wait. What if the real Taln is the one who actually arrived at the gate, but then died. Could they maybe be using the body? Also, going along the "guilty insane Herald" route, I would guess Kalak. I dunno, for now this is all just wild speculation.

Yes, switching him out makes sense. It also really, REALLY reminds me of Padan Fain and his constantly changing accent.

lol, PAFO. "Peter and find out"? Did you just make that up, or am I behind on my Sanderson slang? (And don't worry, I will. Oh I will.)

I've already been talking with RShara about this. I'm going to send it all over to her once I have it all written out, along with the videos

Haha, love that it autocorrects it to "What the calamity." Note: I didn't use as bad a word as you'd think

Alright, what the hell. Since I have my iPod on me I went ahead and wrote out the questions we asked him one on one. There were a few interesting answers from the Q&A, but I’ll have to type those up later (the video I got of those is much longer--I think it was 25 minutes?). The one with our specific questions was only six minutes long, so a lot faster to write up. I’ll definitely upload the videos/audio. Is there a good website to do that with? They’re specifically videos taken on my iPod. I suppose I could always YouTube it if that’s the best route. [Note, I was so dumb and didn’t record the exact answers for these first two, so this is paraphrasing.] Me: So, the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous. Does this in any way have to do with the fact that the Purelake is so shallow? Brandon: No. I haven’t yet discussed the nature of the relationship between Shadesmar and the Physical world. Me: So, when Dalinar has his vision in what he assumes in the Purelake, he sees an obsidian fortress. Is that fortress in any way related to the fact that the Purelake in Shadesmar is mountainous? Brandon: No. Someone in line before us: Please don’t tell me you’re going to do a love triangle between Adolin, Kaladin, and Shallan. Brandon: [he phrased this very carefully] I’m not a fan of the traditional love triangle. However, I am fond of conflict in relationships. [Alright, these are from my recording, so word for word.] Me: The weepings--Shallan and Kaladin react very differently to them. Brandon: They do. M: It just seems to me that the Weepings feel very close to Cultivation. Brandon: The primary thing you’re noticing -- and I’m not going to say there’s not any magical influence -- but the primary thing you’re noticing is that Kaladin has season defective disorder and Shallan likes the rain. That’s the primary thing you’re noticing. I like the rain--my wife hates it. My wife gets depressed when it rains and I love when it rains. Me: Did Taravangian go to see the Nightwatcher before or after Gavilar’s assassination? Brandon: Um, oh man. I’m going to have to look at my timeline. I believe it’s before, but I can’t guarantee I’m right, because these things are all happening around the same time. Me: Because he says that Gavilar confided in him the night of. Brandon: Ooooh, you’re right. Nope, it’s after. It is after. You can send that question to Peter so we can confirm it. There might be something I’m forgetting about Taravangian. Luke: What caused a Desolation to end? Was it just the defeat of Odium’s forces? Because the Desolations start when the Heralds break under torture. Brandon: Because the Heralds can no longer be in existence. There is a certain period of time that they can be there, and after that, if they’re there, they will start a new one. So the Heralds do need to leave for a Desolation to end Me: Oh. So they’ve got a time limit. Brandon: They do. Otherwise the Desolation will start again. What they discovered is not all of them have to. As long as one remains, the Desolation will not start again. Luke: So, by the nine leaving, did that actually break the Oathpact for them? Did it change the cycle of Desolations? Brandon: They have not completely broken the Oathpact, despite what they may think. Luke: How much stormlight equals one breath? Do you have an actual ratio? Brandon: I have a ratio. It’s not on me. Me: Okay, that’s a Peter question again. Brandon: Yeah, well, I may not answer it even then. Luke: Are the Heralds actually aware that Taln is back? Brandon: Are the Heralds aware that Taln is back? Uh, you’re implying that this person actually is Taln. [The smile on Brandon’s face at this moment was the best, most excruciatingly awful smile ever. And we thought Peter was a tease.] Which is not guaranteed. It’s not guaranteed. However, the return of the Voidbringers does indeed indicate to them, in their mind, that he would have returned. Me: So they assume because the Voidbringers are returning-- Brandon: Because the Voidbringers are returning, would be a clue to them that Taln has returned.

It really comes down to "How many questions can you ask without holding up the signing line too much?" lol We averaged about 2-3 questions per person each time through (we went through the line twice). We were stupid and didn't record his answers the first time (feel soooo dumb), but I do have a recording of his answers for both of our second times through. I'm going to write up everything later today (at work until 5:30, so it won't be for another 8 hours at least, but I'll work on it). I didn't have a recording device to listen to other people's questions, but just wait. We got some really awesome information, some of which was very "Wait, This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules!?" Ha ha.

Okay guys, you need to talk with luke.spence We went to the signing last night and asked Brandon about this. I don't remember the exact answer (Luke's the one who asked), but basically Brandon said that the easter egg is on the main Roshar map (in any version of it--TWoK or WoR) and that it is NOT the compass rose. He also made a comment about it being really hard to find and not being a super huge thing, which was ... disappointing. lol

Ah, I had completely forgotten about that vision. I need to re-read TWoK (was just joking with a friend today that we should get paid to read.... lol). Thanks for pointing that out.

Actually, I'm going to jump in here too. I was just about to make a topic about the same thing, but why do it twice? I'm going tomorrow, but I want to make sure that my questions haven't already been answered. I've done some research and haven't come up with anything sound yet. (Even knowing if similar questions have been RAFO'd would be helpful.) One of my biggest questions is about the Weepings. We know that Kal gets seasonally depressed by them, but that Shallan feels rejuvenated by them. This makes me wonder if the Weepings are more closely related to Cultivation than to Honor. Especially after learning that Roshar has a two year cycle -- one year a highstorm in the middle, one year without a highstorm in the middle -- it almost feels like a yin yang type of situation to balance the two out. However, I also have a gut feeling that the highstorms have been around longer than the shards, since most of life on Roshar has adapted so well. So, on that note, my questions are: 1. Were the highstorms around on Roshar before Honor and Cultivation came? (This seems like a likely RAFO target...) 2. We know that the Stormfather is a splinter of Honor and related to the highstorms, but does Cultivation have any hand in the highstorms as well? (The fact that lifespren are very active after the storms leads me to believe this may be the case.) 3. (Very similar to #2) Are the Weepings related to Cultivation? 4. Is the obsidian fortress that Dalinar sees in his vision that he believes is the Purelake somehow related to the fact that the Purelake is represented as mountains in Shadesmar? (Since we know land in Shadesmar is obsidian.) 5. Similarly, is the Purelake mountainous in Shadesmar because the lake is so shallow? (Basically, is it opposite?) 6. Did Taravangian go to the Nightwatcher before or after Gavilar's death? For that last one in particular, all evidence seems to point to Taravangian going after. I know there's been quite a bit of discussion about it, although I'm not sure if anyone's asked Brandon yet. That being said, the epitaph from chapter 78 ("CanwemaketouseaTruthlessCanwecraftaweapon") seems to imply that Taravangian purposely aimed to create a Truthless. If his Day of Brilliance came after Gavilar's death, why would he need to "create" a Truthless? He would just need to "obtain" one.This really bothers me, which is why I want to ask about it.

I've decided to just suck it up and drive there by myself. So excited!!! I should probably get some music together so I have something to do during the six hours I'll be in the car tomorrow...

The best way to find out for sure about Dalinar's blade would be to go back and find out if it's described as having a gem in it. If so, then we can be reasonably certain that it's not Taln's honorblade. Sadly, the ending of TWoK doesn't mention whether or not the blade has a gem.

What bothers me is how he blatantly lies to Szeth about Nightblood. He calls him a shardblade. And Nightblood just... isn't. Someone in a different thread posted a really great argument that Nightblood is more like a shardblade's opposite in nearly every aspect, so I suppose it's not too far from the truth. But at the same time, it's a huge red flag to me. How did he get Nightblood? If he has any idea of what NIghtblood actually is, then he's got to know that Nightblood isn't a shardblade. And if that's the case, then why is he lying to Szeth about it? My brother actually had a theory that the ten heralds are slowly becoming perversions of themselves and morphing into the ten fools instead. With how insane Darkness is acting, if he actually is Nalan, then I could totally believe this.

Actually, based on the same discussion that Velnica just mentioned (about the maps we have so far), I'm fairly certain that the tower that Dalinar saw is somehow related to the Purelake's existance in Shadesmar. If you look at the Shadesmar map, the Purelakes are mountains. And we know from Shallan's trip into Shadesmar while she was on the boat that land in Shadesmar is "obsidian." Seems too coincidental to me.

I could be insane, but I thought that the symbol that pops up everywhere (the one near Karbranth on the Shadesmar map) is the cymatic symbol of the Shattered Plains. Or, actually, now that I compare the two, they're at least similar in shape. (Talk about a trippy map to look at... It's like a Rorschach test...) Also, Dalinar's vision of the obsidan tower in the Purelake... Sounds like a Shadesmar mountain, if you ask me. Also also, I'm really curious to know how the Reshi Isles are represented in Shadesmar, considering they're enormous great shells. On the map they look like bodies of water in Shadesmar, however the biggest island (Kadrix?) seems to have a symbol inside.

I think someone mentioned it already, but Kaladin gets him and Shallan lost in the chasms because the floods retreat differently the further out you go. Actually, Brandon has said multiple times that he is willing to kill of a character (presumably for good) before their flashback book. He keeps using Dalinar as an example: Just because Dalinar's flashback series is book five does not mean he'll live that long. His explanation was that he just couldn't logistically make it work.

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up, Peter! I keep holding out hope that I'll somehow make it to the signing, but there's very little chance. I found out for sure today that I'd have to make the drive alone, and I'm worried about having to drive back in the wee hours with very little sleep. But I really want to go haha, oh well.

There's actually been a HUGE in depth discussion of Shallan's possible relationships here: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6519-shallans-relationship/?hl=%2Bshallan+%2Brelationship

There's probably still more to Teft's back story that we've yet to learn. Remember that at the beginning of WoR, Kaladin is beaming because Teft is such a natural leader, but Teft gets all dark about it and tries to wave it off. I'm not sure if the rest of his mysterious past has to do with where he disappeared off to, but we can't pretend like we understand his character fully just yet.