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2012-04-30: I had the great pleasure of speaking with Harriet McDougal Rigney about her life. She's an amazing talent and person and it will take you less than an hour to agree.

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2012-04-24: Some thoughts I had during JordanCon4 and the upcoming conclusion of "The Wheel of Time."

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  • 1

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Brandon Sanderson (3 January 2011)

    The first wind is in the Mountains of Mist; I've always assumed this was a nod to Tolkien's Misty Mountains.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Look in The Way of Kings on the full map of Roshar for something similar.

    SHECKY X

    Well, his Charlestonian background makes the "Two Rivers" the Charleston area, so the "Mountains of Mist" may be...

    SHECKY X

    ... the Smoky Mountains, upstate from his home. (FYI: the Charleston area is defined by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers.)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Nice note. I'd never known that.

    LYNN OLIVER

    Listening to WoT on audiobook, first time through series. Book one seems heavily influenced by Tolkien so far.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, book one is very Tolkien influenced. Very. Book two less so. It's almost gone by book three.

    Footnote

    The Way of Kings map doesn't have the Misted Mountains labeled, but they border Shinovar on the east.

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  • 2

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    So, Way of Kings. Absolutely huge book, standing at 1000 pages. Even then, the book is taller than your average kind of novel. So, the question I had for Brandon was, with people like Patrick Rothfuss kind of realizing their works were too long—The Kingkiller Chronicles for example was one big book that he split into three parts so that it was publishable—what was it about Way of Kings that meant even though it was so big, it still had to be just that one book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I couldn't do that same thing with this particular book because of the way the plot arcs work. It worked very well with Rothfuss' book—of course, I loved his books—but what he's got going on is sort of an episodic story where Kvothe does this and Kvothe does that and Kvothe does this. And you can kind of separate those as vignettes. With Way of Kings, what I was doing is...I've got three storylines for three separate characters who are each going through troubled times. And if we were to cut the book in half, for instance, you would get all of the set up, and all of the trouble, and none of the payoff. And so what'd happen is you'd have actually a really depressing first book, where nothing really good happens and people are in places that they...mentally, they haven't come to any decisions yet; they're struggling with problems. Essentially, you'd only get the first act; you'd get all of the setup and none of the payoff.

    Marc Aplin

    I see. The two books in front of you here, obviously being re-released... Which point is it that this cuts off at?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This cuts off... We decided we had a fairly good break point, because Shallan's storyline comes to...there's a resolution. And some decisions have been made, and it's kind of... We broke it right at the kind of middle point where people are deciding, you know, we've had these struggles, we've had these struggles; now we have some sort of promise of victory. But the victory or things haven't actually happened yet. And so I do strongly recommend that people read both books—have them both together to read together—because there is a certain poetry to the arcs that are built into this. The second half is lots of massive payoff for the first half. But we did find a decent break point. But conceptually it's one novel, even if you can break for a while and then pick up the second one. Conceptually, to me they are one.

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  • 3

    Interview: Jan 20th, 2008

    Brandon Sanderson

    That doesn't mean I won't write book two. It just means that I'm thinking of starting a much larger story, then slipping in the WARBREAKER sequel sometime later.

    Anyway, WARBREAKER 4.0 will go up early next week. It is my goal to post the downloadable version, then actually do an html chapter-by-chapter version for ease of reading. Would anyone (who hasn't read Warbreaker yet) be interested in this? Sound off on my LJ, my Facebook, or my forums.

    You can also let me know what you think I should do next. You probably won't change my mind (it's not a vote) but I'd be curious to see what readers are wanting.

    Warbreaker sequel
    Elantris sequel (Different characters, same world.)
    Big Epic (five or six books on a new project)
    Random Stand Alone
    Dragonsteel (Which is written, but now I don't know when to release it.)
    More books in the Mistborn world

    (Note: Again, I wouldn't do any more with the same characters. Their story is done after book three, as I promised it would be.)

    Also, for your amusement, two links:

    Funny Comic!
    And Another!

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  • 4

    Interview: Mar 30th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    All right, now that the press release is out, let's talk about some things. I like to be transparent with my readers, whenever possible, and I feel it's time to let you in more fully on what has been happening this last year.

    Pull up a chair. Get some hot cocoa. This is going to take a while. I'm a fantasy author. We have trouble with the concept of brevity.

    In order to explain to you how this book came to be split as it did, I want to step you through some events of the last sixteen months. That way, you can see what led us up to making the decisions we did. You might still disagree with those decisions (many of you will.) But at least you'll understand the rationale behind them.

    Before we start, however, let me explain that I only saw one piece of what was going on. As I've stated before, Harriet and Tom are the ones making decisions when it comes to publication issues. I've deferred to them. My input has by no means been ignored, but often I was so focused on the book that I didn't have the time or energy to do more than say "Harriet, I trust your decision. Go with what you feel is best." Therefore, some of what I say may be distorted through my own lens. I don't have the whole story, but I think I've got most of it.

    Let's hop back to November of 2007. That's the month where I'd discovered for certain that I'd be the one finishing THE WHEEL OF TIME. I was excited, nervous, and daunted all at the same time—but today's blog post isn't about that aspect of the experience. Perhaps I'll have a chance to write more about it later.

    The first discussion of length came in late November, early December during the contract negotiations for A Memory of Light. I say negotiations, though those 'negotiations' were really nothing more than Harriet's agents saying "Here's what we offer." And me saying to my agent "Sounds good. Say yes." I wasn't about to let the chance to work on this book slip away.

    The contract stipulated that I was to provide a completed work which (including Mr. Jordan's written sections) was to be at least 200,000 words long. This sort of length provision isn't uncommon in contracts; it's there to make certain neither author nor publisher are surprised by the other's expectations. It's generally a ballpark figure, very flexible. I hadn't seen any of the materials for A Memory of Light at that point, so I essentially signed blind, saying yes to produce something "At least 200,000 words" in length.

    I'm not sure what Harriet was expecting at that point for length. She was still coping with Mr. Jordan's death, and was focused on finding someone to complete A Memory of Light so that she could rest easier, knowing that it was being worked on. Remember, this was just months after Mr. Jordan passed away. I honestly don't think she was thinking about length or—really—anything other than making certain the book was in the right hands. She left it to my decision how to proceed once I was given the materials.

    Around January or February, I posted on my blog that I was shooting for a 200k minimum. This surprised a lot of people, as 200k would not only have made A Memory of Light the shortest Wheel of Time book other than the prequel, it seemed a very small space in which to tie up the huge number of loose ends in the book. I wasn't focused on that at the moment; I was just passing along my thoughts on a minimum length. I think that I, at the time, hoped that we could do the book in around 250k. That was naive of me, but I honestly didn't want to drag this on for years and years. I wanted to get the readers the book they'd been waiting for as soon as possible.

    At that point, I started reading through the series again. I did this with the notes and materials for the final book at hand, taking notes myself of what plotlines needed to be closed, which viewpoints needed resolution. The read-through took me until March of 2008. As I progressed through the series, I began to grasp the daunting nature of this book. How much there was to do, how many plotlines needed to be brought back together, the WEIGHT of it all was enormous.

    April 2008. I had to make a decision. I realized that the book would be impossible to do in 200k. I'd begun to say on my blog that it would be at least 400k, but even that seemed a stretch. I looked over the outlines, both mine and Mr. Jordan's. I stared at them for a long time, thinking about the book. And this is where the first decision came in. Did I try to cram it into 400k? Or did I let it burgeon larger?

    To get this into one book, I'd need to railroad the story from climax to climax. I'd have to ignore a lot of the smaller characters—and even some aspects of the larger characters. I just couldn't justify that. It wouldn't do the story justice. I cringed to consider what I would have to cut or ignore.

    Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps readers would have preferred a single, condensed volume so that they at least knew what happened. But I just couldn't do it. The Wheel of Time deserved better.

    This was not an easy choice. I knew it would anger some readers. I knew it would take a lot of time, and I would end up dedicating a great deal more of my life (and my family's life) to the Wheel of Time than I'd initially anticipated. At the very least, I was contemplating writing a book three to four times the length of the initial contract—essentially, doing four times the work for the exact same pay.

    But this had never been about the pay for me. I'd been put in charge of this project. I wanted to do what I felt Mr. Jordan would have done. I felt, and feel, a debt to him for what he did with this series. He had promised readers a big, big book—not big for big's sake, but big because there was so much to do, so much to tie up. I decided that I would do whatever the story demanded, no matter how many words it would require, no matter how mad it made people. I would not artificially inflate the book—but I would treat each character, even the minor characters, with care and consideration.

    I flew to Charleston that month and outlined my feelings on the various outlines for the different characters. The Charleston camp was cautiously enthusiastic; I don't know if they realized just how much work this would all take. I'm not sure if I even told them how many words I was starting to feel it would be. At this point, Harriet was pretty much letting me call the shots when it came to the actual drafting of the novel. Harriet is an editor; she works best when I provide material to her, then she works her magic to turn it from good to excellent. That meant I was in charge of getting material to her as I saw fit, then she would tell me if I was on target or needed to try again.

    I had already set the progress bar at 400k words on my website. I started writing in earnest, and also started warning people that the book was likely going to run longer than my initial estimate. Perhaps much longer. Soon, I was saying 750k.

    By this point, I'd already warned Tom and Harriet that I saw the length being very large, but I hadn't told Tom the 700-800k number. When I'd mentioned 400k to him once, he'd been wary. He explained to me that he felt 400k was unprintably large in today's publishing market. Things have changed since the 90's, and booksellers are increasingly frustrated with the fantasy genre, which tends to take up a lot of shelf space with very few books. There is constant pressure from the big chain bookstores to keep things smaller and thinner. When I'd turned in Mistborn 2 (revised and already trimmed) at 250k, production and marketing had nearly had a fit, complaining that the book would cost more to print than it would make. Tom approved the publication of the book anyway. (And fortunately we managed to fit it into enough pages—and sell enough copies—that it was still profitable.)

    Anyway, Tom implied that 400k was what he saw as a cut off for length. Anything 300-350 could be one book, anything over 350 should be cut. (That's me guessing on things he said; he never gave those hardfast numbers, and I know there was probably some flexibility.) Anyway, Tom—like Harriet—wanted to wait and see what I was able to produce first. At this point, it was too early to begin talk of cutting the book. I'd barely written any of it.

    I wrote all summer, and the next point of interest comes at Worldcon. Tom and I were on a panel together, talking about A Memory of Light. I noted that (by that point) I had around 250k written. He said something like "Ah, so you're almost done!" I looked chagrined and said "Actually, I feel that I'm only about 1/3 of the way there, Tom." He blinked, shocked, and then laughed a full bellied laugh. "It's happening again!" he exclaimed. "Jim sold me one book that somehow became three, and now it's happening again!"

    Well, that was the first hint I had that this might be three books instead of two. I started to lobby Harriet subtly, pointing out that previous Wheel of Time books had been 380k, and perhaps that would be a good length for each Volume of A Memory of Light, if it was cut. I also indicated that I felt it would be really nice to keep volumes of the book published close together if, indeed, the book had to be split.

    What I didn't realize was just how taxing this process was going to be. There's only so much one person can write in a year. Before working on A Memory of Light, my average wordcount for a year was around 300k. One 200k epic fantasy, then 50-100k on other projects. During 2008 I wrote over 400k—fully a third more than usual, and that was done with three months of my working time spent re-reading and taking notes on the Wheel of Time series. (Yes, it was easier because of materials left by Mr. Jordan. However, that was offset by the need to become an expert on thousands of characters, places, themes, and worldbuilding elements. All in all, even with outlines, notes, and written materials Mr. Jordan left, I'd say this was the most difficult 400k I've ever written.)

    By December, after my book tour, I was pushing hard to even get 400k done. I still had this phantom hope that somehow, I'd be able to spend January, February, and March writing harder than I'd ever written before and somehow get to 750k by the March deadline that Tom had said was about the latest he could put a book into production and still have it out for the holidays.

    In January, Tom called Harriet and they talked. At this point, I'd hit my 400k goal, and I knew that I was only about halfway done. (If even that far along.) Very little of that 400k had been revised or drafted. Tom and Harriet chatted, and several things came up. One of the most dominating points was this: it had been four years since the fans had been given Knife of Dreams. Tom felt that we NEEDED to provide them a book in 2009. They couldn't wait until I finished the entire volume to publish something.

    Harriet called me and I finally agreed that I needed to stop work on writing new material. It was time to begin revising. That was, essentially, the decision to split the book. And I wasn't certain that we could simply print the 400k that I had written. There were scenes all over the place, and if we printed that portion as-is, it would cut off right in the middle of several plot arcs. The book just wouldn't be any fun to read. Beyond that, editing 400k would take too much time to have it done by April.

    This is the second big decision. Perhaps you would have chosen differently. But let me outline the options as I see them. Pretend you're Tom Doherty or Harriet in January 2009, making the call on how to publish the book.

    1) You can decide not to print anything until the entire novel is finished. That means letting Brandon write until the end, then revising the entire thing at once, followed by printing the book (either as one enormous volume or several chunks, released in quick succession.) Last summer and fall, this was what I was hoping we'd be able to do.

    If you make this choice, the readers don't get a book in 2009. You're not sure when they'll get a book. Brandon took a year to write 400k words, and feels that he's around halfway done.

    So, if you choose this option, let's say Brandon writes all 2009, delivers you a rough draft of a full, 800k book in 2010. 800k words would take roughly eight months to edit and revise. Production would take another eight months or so. (Minimum.) You'd be looking at releasing the book somewhere in summer 2011. Perhaps one volume in June and another in August.

    2) You could publish the 400k as they are done right now. If you do this, the readers do not get a book in 2009. 400k would take roughly four months to revise (and that's rushing it), and you'd have to put the novel into production with a January or February 2010 release date. That's not too far off the November 2009 date you'd promised people, so maybe they would be satisfied. But you'd leave them with a story that literally cut off right in the middle of several plotlines, and which did not have tied up resolutions.

    In this scenario, Brandon writes all through 2009, turns in the second half sometime around April or May 2010. It takes roughly four months to edit and revise that portion, and you're looking at a summer 2011 release for the second half. Maybe spring 2011. (This way, you get the whole thing to the readers a little bit faster than the other option because you have the luxury of putting one half through production while Brandon is writing the second half.)

    However, in this scenario, you end up releasing two fractured books, and the bookstores are mad at you for their size. (Which may translate to the bookstores ordering fewer copies, and fans being mad because they can't find copies as easily as they want—this is what happened with Mistborn Two, by the way.). Beyond that, you missed releasing a book in the holiday season, instead putting one in the dead months of early 2010.

    3) You could do what Tom did. You go to Brandon (or, in this case, to Harriet who goes to Brandon) and you say "You have 400k words. Is there a division point in there somewhere that you can cut the book and give us a novel with a strong climax and a natural story arc?"

    I spent a few days in January looking over the material, and came to Tom and Harriet with a proposal. I had what I felt would make the best book possible, divided in a certain way, which came out to be around 275,000 words. It had several strong character arcs, it told a very good story, and it closed several important plot threads. I felt it would be an excellent book.

    Now, this was longer than they'd wanted. They'd hoped I'd find them a cutting point at the 225k mark. But I didn't feel good about any cuts earlier than 275. In fact, I later took that 275,000 word book and I added an extra 25k in scenes (one's I'd been planning to write anyway, but decided would work better here in this chunk) in order to fill it out and make of it the most solid novel possible. Right now, the book sits at about 301,000 words—though that will fluctuate as I trim out some excess language here and there. I suspect the final product will be right around 300,000k words.

    Now, let's assume you made this decision, just as Tom did. This is the ONLY case in which you get to keep your promise to the Wheel of Time readers and deliver a book in 2009. (Though, it took a LOT of work to get it ready. I've been pulling 14-16 hour days six days a week for the last three months.) In this scenario, you get to deliver them a solid book, rather than a fractured one.

    But you are also splitting a book that Robert Jordan intended to be one book. (Tom and Harriet both have said they don't think he could have done it, or would have done it, given the chance.) A bigger problem is that you're releasing a book without knowing when you'll be able to release the next section. You aren't certain what to tell people when they ask how large a gap there will be between the books; it will depend on how long the next chunk is and when Brandon can finish it. (Plus, Brandon keeps increasing the final estimate, which—now that I've added some material to this book—indicates that the final product will easily be over 800k.)

    So . . . how big will the gap be? Well, the honest truth is that I don't know. Tom has been telling other publishers and retailers that November 2009, 2010, 2011 seems like a safe bet. But that's just an estimate, erring on the side of caution. I'm pretty certain that we have to divide the book in three parts because of where I chose to make the split. There will be another good split at around the 600k mark.

    If I had the next 300k or so done already, it would take me 4 months to revise it at the shortest. I feel that the next chunk is going to need a lot more revision than this one did. Partially because I cut into the 450k completed portion with the hacksaw and pulled out 275k. What's left over is ragged and in need of a lot of work. I'd say five months of revisions is more likely. So, if it were all done, we'd have the second book coming out five months after the first.

    But it's not all done. It's around halfway done. I've got a lot of writing left to do—four to six months worth, I'd guess. By these estimates, we'll have another book ready to go to press, then, in February next year. That means a fall 2010 release. And if things continue as they have, the third book (none of which is written right now) would come out summer 2011 at the earliest.

    And I guess that's what I'm trying to show you with all of this: No matter how the book is split, cut, or divided, the last portion wouldn't come out until 2011. Why? It goes back to that first decision I made, the one to write the book the length I felt it needed to be. And so, it's not the greedy publisher, stringing you along that is keeping you from reading the ending. It's not the fault of production taking a long time. The blame rests on me.

    I am writing this book long. I'm writing it VERY long. Most books in most genres are around 100k long. I'm shooting for eight times that length. And one person can only produce so much material, particularly on a project like this. Writing this book, keeping all of these plot threads and characters straight, is like juggling boulders. It's hard, hard work.

    You're getting a book this year. You'll get one next year. You'll get one the year after that. I don't know which months in 2010 or 2011 the books will come out. You can keep hope they'll be sooner, but you might want to listen to Tom's November, November estimate, as I feel it's the absolute latest you'd see the books.

    I know some of you will be mad that it is getting split; I feel for you, and I hope to be able to persuade Tor and Harriet to publish a special edition omnibus some day. But . . . well, they're both convinced that it will be too long for that. I'm not going to fight for it right now; I'll wait until the books come out.

    I will continue to fight to get the books released as quickly as is reasonable. But I have to write them first. You've been able to watch my progress bar; you know that I'm working and the book is getting written. I'm not going on vacations and living it up. I'm working. Hard. Sixty, seventy, sometimes eighty hour weeks.

    I won't make you wait an undue amount of time. But please understand that some of the things you want are mutually exclusive. You want a high quality book that is of an enormous length published quickly. Get me a time machine and I'll see what I can do.

    George Martin and Patrick Rothfuss have both spoken on this topic already, and both did it quite eloquently. Books, as opposed to a lot of other forms of mass media, are unique in that they rest solely on the production capabilities of one single person. A good day of writing for a lot of authors is about 1,000 words. And you're lucky to get 200 days of writing in a year, with all of the other demands (edits, copyedits, book tours, publicity events, school visits, etc.) that come your way. I tend to scale higher than the average, partially (I think) because of all those years I spent unpublished getting into the habit of constantly writing new books.

    But even I can only do so much. We'll get these books to you. At the slowest, they will be November, November, November—meaning that they all come out in the space of two years. Perhaps it will be faster. If we can do them more quickly, and keep the quality up, I will continue to advocate for that. But I honestly don't know if I can do another two years like these last sixteen months. I'm exhausted. I've pushed very, very hard to get you a book in 2009 because you've been waiting so long. But I can't promise that I'll be able to keep the same schedule. Plus, I do have other commitments, contracts signed to other publishers, fans of other writings of mine who cannot be ignored. I'll need to write another Alcatraz book this year sometime. And I will have to do revisions on The Way of Kings, which I've stayed pretty quiet about. I'm planning to do these things during down time on A Memory of Light, when waiting for revision notes or the like. But I also can't afford to get burned out on The Wheel of Time. You deserve better than that.

    Now, some words about titles. Where did The Gathering Storm come from? Well, in January where it was decided to split the book, I continued to advocate for something that would indicate that this was ONE book, split into three parts. (I still see it that way.) And so, I suggested that they all be named A Memory of Light with subtitles. I love the title A Memory of Light; I think it's poetic and appropriate. Plus, it was Mr. Jordan's title for the book. That alone is good enough reason to keep it.

    And so, I suggested smaller, shorter, more generic sub-titles for each of the parts. With a long, evocative title like A Memory of Light as the supertitle, the subtitles needed to be shorter and more basic, as to not draw attention. The first of these was named Gathering Clouds by Maria's suggestion. Book two would be Shifting Winds, book three Tarmon Gai'don, all with the supertitle of A Memory of Light.

    We proceeded with that as our plan for several months. And then, suddenly, Tom got word from marketing that the titles needed to change. The bookstores didn't like them. (You'll find that the bookstores control a lot in publishing. You'd be surprised at how often the decisions are made because of what they want.) In this case, the bookstores worried that having three books titled A Memory of Light would be too confusing for the computer system and the people doing the reordering. They asked for the supertitle to be cut, leaving us with the title Gathering Clouds.

    I shot off an email to Harriet, explaining that I never intended that title to be the one that carried the book. It was too generic, too basic. She went to Tom with some suggestions for alternates, and The Gathering Storm was what they decided. This all happened in a matter of hours, most of it occurring before I got up in the morning. (I sent her an email at night, then by the time I rose, they'd made the decision out on the east coast.) Some materials had already gone out as Gathering Clouds, and I wonder if The Gathering Storm was chosen because it was similar. I know it was the one out of those suggested by Harriet that Tom liked the most. It's somewhat standard, but also safe.

    That title swap came at me rather fast. I plan to be ready for the next one, so hopefully we'll have the time to produce something a little more evocative. I don't mind The Gathering Storm, but I do realize that it is one of the more bland Wheel of Time titles. (My favorite title, by the way, is Crossroads of Twilight.)

    I think that brings you all up to speed. The question many of you are probably wondering now is "What did you decide to put in this book, and what did you decide to hold off until the next one?" I can't answer that yet—perhaps when the time gets closer, I'll be able to hint at what was included and what was saved. But know that I believe strongly in the place where the cut was made, and I love how the final product has turned out.

    I also want to mention that one of my main goals in division was to make certain that most (if not all) of the major characters had screen time. Some have more than others, but almost everyone has at least a couple of chapters. (In other words, it wasn't cut like A Feast for Crows/A Dance with Dragons with half the viewpoints in one and half in the other.) However, some of the important things you are waiting for had—by necessity—to be reserved for the second book.

    I'm almost done with the revisions on the first part. I expect to start writing new material for part two sometime in April. The progress bar will inch forward again when that happens.

    Anyway, that's the story of how this all came to be. I don't expect you all to be happy with the choices we've made, but I do want you to understand where we are coming from. I have to trust my instincts as a writer. They are what got me here, they are what made Harriet choose me to work on this book, and it would be a mistake for me to ignore them now.

    Those instincts say that we've made the best choices, and I think The Gathering Storm will vindicate those choices. So, if possible, I ask you to hold back on some of your worry and/or anger until you at least read the book this November. As always, the work itself is the best argument for why I do what I do.

    Brandon Sanderson

    March, 2009.

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  • 5

    Interview: May 7th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, that's it, right? I think I've talked about everything. Now, some of you may be wondering what this means. Is there going to be no solo Brandon Sanderson book released in 2010?

    Well, maybe.

    As early as last summer, Tom Doherty began asking me if there was any way I could get Tor a novel for a 2010 release. He doesn't like going years without releases, and he worried that my readers would feel dropped in favor of the Wheel of Time readers. Plus, he really wants to see something more from me.

    When he first mentioned it, I laughed. He was asking me, essentially, to finish the entire Wheel of Time book by spring of 2009, then write him a solo book by fall 2009. Even then, I knew it wasn't going to happen. A Memory of Light was too big a project.

    However, now that A Memory of Light has been split, Tom has asked more and more often about getting a Brandon Sanderson solo book to release between the WoT books. He's very worried about there being a period of three years during which I don't release anything of my own. And so, with his questions, he got me thinking. Was there anything I would feel comfortable releasing? Liar turned out poorly, Scibbler isn't epic enough, Warbreaker 2 isn't written. What else is there?

    The answer was simple. The Way of Kings.

    The Way of Kings was the book I had just finished when I first got offered a book deal for Elantris. I originally signed a deal for Elantris and for Kings. (And because of that, you can still find an Amazon entry for Kings—which has some amusing reviews posted by readers with too much time on their hands. Note that the book was never released, so these are all just made-up amusing reviews.)

    Yes, the original contract was for Kings—but I decided that Kings needed to be put off. Kings is a great book, perhaps the best I've ever written. But it just didn't FEEL right to release after Elantris. The Way of Kings is a massive war epic of legends, mythology, and magical revolution. It's intricate, complex, and was a bit daunting for me when I thought about readying it for publication. Just to give you an idea, Mistborn has three magic systems, Kings has well over twenty. Mistborn has six main viewpoint characters across the trilogy; Kings has dozens. I wrote about 30k of background material for Mistborn. Background material for Kings is over 300k.

    Difference in scope is only one of the reasons Kings wasn't the right follow-up to Elantris. After a stand-alone novel, I felt that I wanted to publish a trilogy, perhaps two, before I offered my readers the first of a big, multi-volume epic. I also worried that the initial draft of Kings just wasn't good enough—because my skill wasn't up to making it good enough.

    Working on the WHEEL OF TIME has forced me to grow immensely as a writer, however. Over the last year, the more I thought about it, the more I itched to dive in and do a revision of The Way of Kings. If I could effectively use all I've learned, I might be able to make the book become what I want it to be. And so, I told Tom about Kings, and he eagerly offered me a new contract for it. I've warned him that it might not be ready in time to come out next year, but I'm going to give it a try.

    Kings needs a solid rewrite. I've been tweaking it over the years, worldbuilding the setting and so forth. I've been planning, working on, and revising this book for eight years. I think that if I do a rewrite now with my current writing abilities, it would turn out very, very well.

    Maybe.

    The thing is, I can't be certain. Maybe it won't work as I want. Maybe I will just have too many things on my mind. Maybe I'm not up to doing this book yet. But, because of the pleading of Tom, my readers, and (most importantly) my own heart, I'm going to give it a try.

    As I said above, writing and revising take different parts of the brain. I can only write new material for a certain number of hours a day, usually around four or six. But I can revise all day long. Perhaps it's the difference between mental heavy lifting and mental long-distance running. Either way, in order to give this a try, I've hired a full-time assistant, Peter Ahlstrom, to do all the things in a day that normally take my time away from writing/revising. Usually, when I'm not revising, the 'non-writing' hours of the day are spent doing all kinds of tasks associated with being self-employed. Peter is going to be handling all of this, theoretically freeing up a few hours each day during which I can revise The Way of Kings.

    This will not take my time away from writing Shifting Winds. If it starts to look like it will delay that book, I will stop working on Kings—not because of any criticism I may get from readers, but because I feel a debt to Mr. Jordan and this project I have agreed to do. I like to keep my promises.

    I explain all this because I want you WoT readers to understand that I do have a life beyond the Wheel of Time. I have obligations, both to publishers and to myself. I feel very strongly that the time has come for me to show readers what I've been working on behind the scenes for many years. And so, on my blog I will spend time talking about projects other than the WHEEL OF TIME.

    I like to be open. I like you to be able to see what I'm doing, and so I feel I should be up-front with you about what I plan. I've shelved a lot of books for THE WHEEL OF TIME, and rightly so. But there are two projects I WILL be spending time on this year—Alcatraz 4 and The Way of Kings. I plan to add progress bars for each of them, and link the titles here so those who come to my site later can read this explanation.

    Sorry to be long winded . . . again. Occupational hazard.

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  • 6

    Interview: May 15th, 2009

    Dave Brendon

    How has finishing (and it’s not completely done yet, guys and girls) A Memory of Light changed your life? Are you still the same Brandon Sanderson you were before A Memory of Light?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’s far from completely done! The first part of the three, The Gathering Storm, is turned in and in production, and I’m only about halfway through the second part’s rough draft. There’s a lot of writing left to go. But working on the Wheel of Time has forced me to grow immensely as a writer. Back when I sold Elantris to Tor, they were interested in following that with the book I was working on at the time, called The Way of Kings. But I felt my career and writing skills weren’t yet in the right place to pull off the ten-volume epic fantasy series that I wanted that book to lead into, so I wrote the Mistborn trilogy instead. Now, after working on the Wheel of Time for over a year, I finally feel ready to dive in and do a revision of The Way of Kings. If I can effectively use all I’ve learned, I might be able to make the book become what I want it to be.

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  • 7

    Interview: May 18th, 2009

    Clayton Neuman

    What do you have planned after you finish Wheel of Time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My next series will be The Way of Kings, which is the start of a big epic for me. I've plotted it as ten books. Fantasy writers, we get into this business because we love the big epics. We grow up reading Brooks and Jordan, and we get to the point where we say, "I want to do this myself."

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  • 8

    Interview: Jun 1st, 2009

    Damon Cap

    Yeah, and you've also made mention about that you feel like maybe there's not enough—now, let me make sure I'm quoting you correctly—there's not a lot of standalone fantasy, and Warbreaker was that standalone fantasy, and now you've gone to writing the Wheel of Time which is obviously not a standalone fantasy. What do you feel the difference is; like how do you get from a book which is all-encompassing, you know, a series of books like the Wheel of Time. And how do you as a writer say, "OK, I can still write that standalone fantasy that's going to have the same impact as, in the same—hopefully—same fan base as a longer series, a trilogy or, you know, obviously Wheel of Time is going to be twelve, thirteen, fourteen books."

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do love big series. I mean, this is what... This is what got me into fantasy; these huge monster series. And so I think every fantasy author—not every, but most of us have a deep-seated love for the great big epic. And I've wanted to do one of those eventually myself. But at the same time, there are so many ideas I have, bouncing here and there, that I feel sometimes I just want to write a single book. This was particularly true when I broke in; my first book was a standalone, Elantris. And one of the reasons why I didn't write a sequel to that was, sometimes I, as a reader, got little bit annoyed when I would see a new author's book on the shelf, that I had never heard of, and it said, "book one of nine." Or something like this. And it threw me as a fantasy fan into a conundrum. I've never tried this author before. I don't know if I'm going to enjoy their books. If I try the first one, and I like it, I've just committed myself to spending the next twenty years reading these books and doing this. If I dislike it, then I've committed myself to never finding out what happened to all these characters that I've read about. You know, even if you don't like a book, you wonder what happens. And so it puts you in this position where it's hard to win. And so, I loved it when I could pick up a standalone by an author to try them out, to see if I liked their style. Tad Williams did this with Tailchaser's Song. And so when I first published, I wanted to do a standalone that people could pick my work up and say, "OK. This is what Brandon Sanderson's like." And I actually really like that I'm releasing Warbreaker right before the Wheel of Time, because there's that same opportunity. People can go pick up Warbreaker and can read a standalone, one volume book by me before they... So they can know what I'm like.

    DAMON CAP

    Before they pick up that...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Before they pick up that Wheel of Time book. They don't have to go and read a big long series of mine; they know they can pick up that one and get closure and resolution. I like both forms, quite a bit. I am going to do a big epic. It's probably gonna be called the Stormlight Archive. The first book's called The Way of Kings. I've mentioned it a little bit on my web site. And it's coming, and I've been planning it for years and years and years, like we tend to do; it's actually been going for about eight years. And so I am going to do that. But I've always wanted to be stopping and doing the standalones. In fact, I'll probably do one or two—or two or three—in the Stormlight Archive and then do a standalone somewhere else. And then do two or three and then do a standalone. Because something about that form really appeals to me as well. Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana is just a beautiful book that wouldn't be the same if it were a big series. Just that one standalone. And the book that got me into fantasy originally was Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. She eventually did some sequels to that many years later, but for many years it was a standalone. And I loved how it was a standalone, and… I liked that form. So I had planned to always be releasing some of those, every now and then.

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  • 9

    Interview: Jun 1st, 2009

    Damon Cap

    OK. Now, can we talk about the new epic fantasy that you want to do. Is there any story; have you released any of the information about what kind of story you want to do?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I haven't, but I can tell you about it. I'm pretty open on these things. One of the ideas that made me want to write this book—a series; I'm calling it Stormlight Archive. I'm not sure if that will be the final series title. I don't know. These things always change. But I love that feel. Anyway, it's got a good feel to it. The Way of Kings...When I was growing up reading fantasy, and even still when I read fantasy, one thing kind of makes me sorrowful about the fantasy genre. Not that I dislike it, but it wakens sorrow in me, and that is, there tends to be a theme in fantasy that the magic is going away. Whether it's you read Tolkien, the elves are leaving. The world is becoming more like our world. This happens in Terry Brooks; this happens in David Eddings. This happens in a lot of these great fantasy series I grew up reading, and it still happens. The fantasy is this thing that's growing more rare. You know, it's the Last Wizard, the Last Unicorn, the last...These sorts of things. And there's a little bit of a sense of loss in me for that. And I really wanted to do a story which is about magic coming back. An epic fantasy about the return of magic to the world after a long period of it being gone. Which is kind of the opposite. There are no mentors around who are great, powerful magicians that can teach you how to use it, because nobody—nobody knows. It's been thousands of years. So I want to tell the story about the return of magic to the world, right about the time that it's time it's needed because of various things that are showing up. So, that's going to be one of the themes of this book; it's the return of magic.

    DAMON CAP

    OK. I'll definitely be looking forward to that one. I actually...I think that's it. You've been absolutely wonderful.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well, thank you very much.

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  • 10

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Nadine

    In a recent (May 2009) interview you stated the following:

    Q: What do you have planned after you finish Wheel of Time?
    A: My next series will be The Way of Kings, which is the start of a big epic for me. I've plotted it as ten books. Fantasy writers, we get into this business because we love the big epics. We grow up reading Brooks and Jordan, and we get to the point where we say, "I want to do this myself."

    This should tie you up for a good ten years after you finish The Wheel of Time. Does it mean that you are not going to write anymore one- or three-volume epic fantasy novels?

    Can you give us some hints as to what The Way of Kings will be about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've told Tor that I want to release Kings on a schedule of two books, followed by one book in another setting, then two more Kings. The series of Kings has been named The Stormlight Archive. (The Way of Kings is the name of the first volume.)

    So I should be doing plenty of shorter series in between. We'll see how busy this all keeps me. I think I'd go crazy if I weren't allowed to do new worlds every now and again.

    But, then, Kings turned out very, very well. (The first book is complete as of yesterday.) What is it about? Well...I'm struggling to find words to explain it. I could easily give a one or two line pitch on my previous books, but the scope of what I'm trying with this novel is such that it defies my attempts to pin it down.

    It happens in a world where hurricane-like storms crash over the land every few days. All of plant life and animal life has had to evolve to deal with this. Plants, for instance, have shells they can withdraw into before a storm. Even trees pull in their leaves and branches. There is no soil, just endless fields of rock.

    According to the mythology of the world, mankind used to live in The Tranquiline Halls. Heaven. Well, a group of evil spirits known as the Voidbringers assaulted and captured heaven, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, the world of storms, but the Voidbringers chased them there, trying to push them off of Roshar and into Damnation.

    The voidbringers came against man a hundred by a hundred times, trying to destroy them or push them away. To help them cope, the Almighty gave men powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons, known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, men resisted the Voidbringers ten thousand times, finally winning and finding peace.

    Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world, essentially, is at war with itself—and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne.

    That's the backstory. Probably too much of it. (Sorry.) The book follows a young spearman forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight. It will deal with the truth of what happened deep in mankind's past. Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?

    I've been working on this book for ten years now. Rather than making it easier to describe and explain, that has made it more daunting. I'm sure I'll get better at it as I revise and as people ask me more often. ;)

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  • 11

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Melhay

    Some of us have been picking books that have some mystery to them. We have stopping points in the books where we discuss what we have read, any questions we have, then try to speculate ahead for what is to come. Your books have worked extremely well for these, along with completely enjoying the readings. But, we had a few questions we were still a little curious about. So, I am going to be a little on the specific side for just a few things.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Needless to say, this will have some major spoilers for the Mistborn series. So turn back now if you don't want to read them.

    Melhay

    In Mistborn: There was mention of a man named Adonalsium. We were wondering if this man may have been Preservation, who "died" before Vin took over. Is that who he was or was he someone else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The man who died before Vin took over was named Leras. (I've occasionally written it as Laras. I've said the names in my head for years, but I'm only now writing them down as people ask me on forums.) Leras, like Ati (aka Ruin), were NOT Adonalsium. (Sorry about the typo on that one in Mistborn 3. I wrote it down on the manuscript, and it didn't get put in quite right. We'll get it fixed.)

    Adonalsium was something or someone else. You will find out more. There are clues in Warbreaker and The Way of Kings.

    Melhay

    In Mistborn #3 Hero of Ages: It isn't mentioned where all the Steel Inquisitors, Kandra, and Koloss went in the end. Do you feel that they were removed from the world and Sazed took all the lost souls to his better place?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Marsh survived. (He'll show up in the Mistborn sequel series.) The Kandra were restored, and have taken a vow to live only in animal bodies. There will never be any more of them, but they are functionally immortal. So you'll see them again. The Koloss who were in the cavern at the time survived, and were changed to become a race that breeds true, rather than Hemalurgic monsters. More below.

    Melhay

    Also, We just took for granted that Sazed is with Tindwyl now. Is that so?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, here's the thing. What Sazed is right now is something of a god in the classic Greek sense—a superpowered human being, elevated to a new stage of existence. Not GOD of all time and space. In a like manner, there are things that Sazed does not have power over. For instance, he couldn't bring Vin and Elend back.

    Where Tindwyl exists is beyond space and time, in a place Sazed hasn't learned to touch yet. He might yet. If you want to add in your heads him working through that, feel free. But as it stands at the end of the book, he isn't yet with Tindwyl. (He is, however, with Kelsier—who refused to "Go toward the light" so to speak, and has been hanging around making trouble ever since he died. You can find hints of him in Mistborn 3 at the right moments.

    Melhay

    Of the people that were sick for the 16 days in comparison to just the one day, it is mentioned that they would be able to burn more precious metals (atium). Could it also be possible they are/were Mistborn—with the ability to burn all 16 metals?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, what was going on here was a clue established and set by Leras before he died. He wanted something to indicate—should he be unable to inform mankind—that what was happening wasn't natural, but instead something intentional. He worried that men wouldn't be able to realize they were being made into Allomancers.

    And so, the mist was set to do something very specific, as has to do with the interaction between the human soul, Allomancy, and the sixteen metals.

    Each of the 'Shardworlds' I've written in (Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, Way of Kings) exists with the same cosmology. All things exist on three realms—the spiritual, the cognitive, and the physical. What's going on here is an interaction between the three realms. I don't want to bore you with my made up philosophy, but I do have a cohesive metaphysical reasoning for how my worlds and magic works. And there is a single plane of existence—called Shadesmar, the Cognative Realm—which connects them all.

    You will never need to know any of this to read and enjoy my books, but there is an overarching story behind all of them, going on in the background. Adonalsium, Hoid, the origin of Ati, Leras, the Dor, and the Voice (from Warbreaker) are all tied up in this.

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  • 12

    Interview: Jun 1st, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    WRITING I NEED TO DO

    And, speaking of that writing, things are going very well. The Way of Kings rewrite is proceeding quickly, and I should be done on-target. I'm feeling very good about the rewrite, though I won't be certain about my plans for it until I get through a few trouble areas later on. As for The Wheel of Time, I just got the Copyedit—which is the final part of The Gathering Storm that needs to be done. This will distract me for another week or so from doing new material, but we'll see.

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  • 13

    Interview: Jul 7th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    Now, the big news. At about 6:00 am this morning, I finished The Way of Kings rewrite. It ended up at 380k words, which is almost double the length of Mistborn [The Final Empire]. (It's almost as long as The Shadow Rising, by Robert Jordan.) Now, before you get TOO excited about that size, know that I tend to write too much on a first draft intentionally, and now plan to trim it down by at least 10%. The final book should be between 300k and 350k. Either way, though, it's going to be a meaty book. (Not long for long's sake, mind you. That's just what it took to tell the story the right way.)

    How did it turn out? Well, to be honest, it's FANTASTIC. This is a monstrous, beastly, awesome epic of a book. And so I'm going to give Tor the official thumbs up so they can put it on the schedule for release next year. The series title, if you haven't heard, is going to be called THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE.

    The book does everything I wanted it to, and then some. It was a lot more work to revise it than I'd anticipated. I essentially ended up writing the thing all over again, not keeping any of what had been written before. But knowing the characters already helped a great deal. (And if you guys ever see my wife at a convention, make sure to give her a thanks and a hug for deal with a husband who has been essentially working two full time jobs for much of this year—one on Kings, one on THE WHEEL OF TIME.)

    Like any time I finish a book, there's still that itching, authorial paranoia that nobody is going to like what I've done. I have chosen a career path where, instead of releasing all of my books in one series, I jump around. I've done this partially because I want the freedom to reinvent myself. Some of my favorite authors growing up seemed unable to give new life to a series when they started it, and ended up repeating the very same story and tone over and over. I wanted to train myself to be doing new things, and wanted the freedom to write different books in different ways.

    I know I'm not as wildly different in my variation as some other authors, but at the same time, there's a different feel to each book/series I've done. Hopefully, all will have great characters, a fun setting, and a compelling plot. But there will always be those who prefer Elantris's thoughtful contemplativeness to Mistborn's action or Warbreaker's reversals and humor. Each time I've released a new book, I've worried. Will my audience follow me in this (slightly) new direction? What will they think of what I've done?

    Kings is no different. In fact, it's got me even more worried. My goal for this book was to give it SCOPE. The setting is the most distinctive I've written, with the largest world and the largest number of cultures and peoples. The book (though mostly linear) involves flashbacks to character pasts, and sometimes firsthand looks at the deep past of the world. At the same time, because of the enormity of what I'm trying, I found that the book couldn't telegraph as easily what it was about.

    What does this mean? Well, Mistborn and Elantris both did excellent jobs of telegraphing to the reader—right off—what the story was going to be about. After the first few chapters of Mistborn, you pretty much knew that it would be a book about Kelsier's attempt to overthrow the Lord Ruler, mixed with Vin's training as a Mistborn. Elantris was about Raoden trying to restore Elantris, Sarene investigating his disappearance, and Hrathen's attempts to convert the people. Because of the scope of these books, I was able to get across very easily what they would be about and what the central conflict would be.

    Kings . . . well, I have trouble describing what the heck Kings is about. While there are a number of plots bouncing around in those 380k words—and many of them do get resolved—the larger storylines are only just beginning. The book isn't about one or two things, like Mistborn was. It's about dozens. And yet, the main character's plotline is simple: survival. He's in a terrible, brutal situation, and he just wants to live.

    Anyway, the book needs a lot more revision, but it's in a state where I think we'll make it. So send a little good will my way as I dig into it over the next eight months. Maybe I'll be able to come up with a way to describe this beast.

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  • 14

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    morph147

    Next, I've been hearing about The Way of Kings series you are starting. Are you planning to have that as a single book or going to try and make it a trilogy like Mistborn or a large ten or more book series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's going to be a big series. No promises on length right now, but I feel that it is going to be long. I have 10 books plotted right now, though some of those might get combined—essentially, there are 10 plot arcs I want to cover. But expect it to be big. The first book is done, and came in at 380,000 words before editing.

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  • 15

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Nadine

    Will The Way of Kings series be based on one of the worlds and magic systems you have already created or are you inventing a totally new one for this series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It will be new. There are going to be a lot of different types of magic in the world (I see there's a question below asking about that, so I'll answer more there.) But there will be two main magic systems for the first book. The first will deal with the manipulation of fundamental forces. (Gravity, Strong/weak atomic forces, Electromagnetic force, that sort of thing.) The second will be a transformation based magic system, whereby people can transform objects into one of the world's ten elements.

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  • 16

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    BenFoley

    You have stated in your blog that Mistborn had three magic systems (Allomancy, Feruchemy and Hemurology) and also that The Way of Kings will have upwards of 20. For comparison, how many magic systems would you say the Wheel of Time series has? Two (One Power and the True Power)? How do you classify other abilities (not necessarily related to the One Power or True Power) such as Dreamwalking, viewing the Pattern, Wolfbrother-hoodness, and changing 'luck' or chance? Would you classify these abilities as a magic system in and of themselves? Has your chance to see the background material Robert Jordan left changed how you view these abilities?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This kind of gets sticky, as it's all up to semantics. Really, you could say that Mistborn had a different magic system for each type of Misting. But at the same time, you could argue that something like X-Men—with huge numbers of powers—all falls under the same blanked 'magic system.' And take Hemalurgy in Mistborn 3—is it a new magic system, or just a reinterpretation of Allomancy and Feruchemy?

    So what do I mean by twenty or thirty magic systems in Kings? Hard to say, as I don't want to give spoilers. I have groupings of abilities that have to deal with a certain theme. Transformation, Travel, Pressure and Gravity, that sort of thing. By one way of counting, there are thirty of these—though by another way of grouping them together, there are closer to ten.

    Anyway, I'd say that the Wheel of Time has a fair number of Magic systems. The biggest one would be the One Power/True Power, which is more of a blanket "Large" magic system kind of like Allomancy being a blanket for sixteen powers—only the WoT magic system is far larger. I'd count what Perrin/Egwene do in Tel'aran'rhiod as a different magic system. What Mat does as something else, the Talents one can have with the Power something else. Though I'd group all of the Foretelling/Viewing powers into one.

    Sounds like a topic for a paper, actually. Any of you academics out there feel like writing one?

    Let's just say that The Wheel of Time has a smaller number of larger magic systems, and I tend to use a larger number of smaller magic systems. Confusing enough? ;)

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  • 17

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Nadine

    I found this on a blog posted July 2008. Does it have any relationship to reality?

    ...No matter your race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or belief system, you will find something to love in The Way of Kings. There were pirates, ninjas, monkeys, fireworks, grand journeys, infidels dragged through streets by dragons and a fair amount of buckles swashed. There were ladies romanced, men romanced, sheep romanced and one scene where even two mice get it on. And if you can forgive an inordinate amount of abuse aimed at Canadians, this just may be the book for you. Be forewarned, however, if you can't abide graphic depictions of sexual content that would make Laurell K. Hamilton blush and cover her naughty bits, you might want to skip this book...

    ...The way Brandon Sanderson breathes life into this story is inspirational. The characters, the storyline, the magic—seemingly woven (as only Brandon can) from sheer nothingness. One of my favorite parts of the book is where the Wizard Ooflar divides one rather simple system of magic into five complex subsets, each with its own arcane history and labyrinthine steps. Who would have thought the apprentice Pemberly could put an entire village to sleep by tapping out a quadrille in her clogs? Although it would seem implausible, somehow his magical system works, especially the dance-off. I also enjoyed the ten-day feast in section two, chapter 85. I don't know if I'll ever forget the scene in which we see King Horag the Midleth eating live grunthyean orbs. (gag) I loved this book and can't wait for the sequel...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ha. These are some of the amusing fake reviews for Kings that readers have been posting on Amazon. For some reason, Amazon put up a page for this book years and years ago, when I got my first contract. Somehow, they heard I was working on a book called The Way of Kings, and jumped the gun in adding a page for it, even though I was still working on the book. (I've been planning, writing, and wrestling with this story for some ten years now.)

    Anyway, readers noticed the page and began having fun with it. None of them have read the book, but that hasn't stopped them from reviewing it. There are even pictures of it, including photoshops of me holding a fake book. Look for it on Amazon. It's rather amusing.

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  • 18

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    MarlonRand

    Is there any information about Way of Kings that you can give us at this time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've wanted to do a long epic for a while. I guess that's what comes from reading Jordan and the others while growing up. And so, way back in the late 90's—when I was experimenting with my style—I started working on ideas for a longer form series. I knew the real trick for me would be to do it in a way that it didn't feel stale after just a few books; there needed to be enough to the world, the magic, and the plot arcs that I (and hopefully readers) would keep interested in the series for such a long time.

    What it gives me (the thing that I want in doing a longer epic) is the chance to grow characters across a larger number of books. Dig into their pasts, explore what makes them think the way they do, in ways that even a trilogy cannot. In Kings, I don't want to do a longer 'saga' style series, with each book having a new set of characters. I want this to be one overarching story.

    One of the things that has itched at me for long time in my fantasy reading is the sense of loss that so many fantasy series have. I'm not complaining, mind you—I love these books. But it seems like a theme in a large number of fantasy books is the disappearance of magic and wonder from the world. In Tolkien, the Elves are leaving. In Jordan, technology is growing and perhaps beginning an age where it will overshadow magic. It's very present in Brooks, where the fantasy world is becoming our world. Even Eddings seemed to have it, with a sense that sorcerers are less common, and with things like the only Dragons dying, the gods leaving.

    I've wanted to do a series, then, where the magic isn't going away—it's coming back. Where the world is becoming a more wondrous place. Where new races aren't vanishing, they're being discovered.

    Obviously, I'm not the first to approach a fantasy this way. Maybe I'm reading too much into the other books, seeing something that isn't there. But the return of magic is one of the main concepts that is driving me.

    Well, that and enormous swords and magical power armor.

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  • 19

    Interview: 2011

    Patrick Rothfuss

    My turn. Did you do the illustrations for Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Fortunately I haven't done any of the illustrations in my books since the Aons in Elantris, and those were all redone in-house. I have very little talent with visual art, though for The Way of Kings I did get to have a lot more influence on the art than many authors might have been able to have. Irene at Tor was very good to work with; she gave me some leeway that she really didn't have to.

    I worked very closely with the artists to get what I wanted. Some of the pieces went through a half dozen or a dozen drafts as we explored and tried to feel out what was in my head, and have the artist add to that until we came to pieces that we were satisfied with. So it was a very interesting process. It wasn't simply "submit a description, get a piece back." It was "submit a vague description, talk to the artist on the phone, get across what I'm trying to do, send lots of examples of other art that's like it, get some early drafts, nudge one direction or another, keep working on it." Some of these pieces took months to do.

    Footnote

    See Brandon's drawings of Goodkind, a Greatshell, and Zombie Asmodean.

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  • 20

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    little_wilson

    Do you know when we'll start seeing The Way of Kings? Sample chapters in particular. This series sounds freaking amazing and I can't wait to see more of it. So, yeah..now that the first draft is finished (congratulations, by the way), I'm quite curious...

    Brandon Sanderson

    My plan is to start releasing sample chapters of Kings next year sometime in the spring. Not too close to draw any attention away from the release of The Gathering Storm, but far enough ahead of the Kings launch to give a good preview. February, perhaps? If you don't see them by then, I officially give you permission to send my assistant a reminder email to 'poke' me into doing it.

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  • 21

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Nightfire

    I almost forgot, now that The Way of Kings first book, first draft is finished, when can we expect that to hit the shelves?

    Brandon Sanderson

    August or September of next year. (Huzzah!)

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  • 22

    Interview: 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's interesting that you should mention rewriting and changing as an author. In some ways, these books that have been with us for so long are much harder to work on than books that just occur to us or that we start off brand new.

    Patrick Rothfuss

    I think you're absolutely right about that. Writing that 60,000 word subplot was easy. It was integrating it into the rest of the book that was hard.

    Brandon Sanderson

    In my history as a writer, The Way of Kings is a project I've been working on for years and years and years. But the Mistborn trilogy was an idea I had, executed, and finished. These two projects have been very different from one another to work on. With one, I had a great idea, I built the world, I built the story, and I wrote the three books straight through and released them. And with the other story, I have all the "killing your darlings" sort of things that are tough to deal with when you've been playing with a character since you're fifteen years old and now you're finally sitting down to write their story. It's hard to manage the baggage of that many years and weave out and cut out things that aren't needed for the story despite the fact that they're integral to the character's soul, to you having spent all this time on them.

    That's one of the reasons why I recommend to new writers not to initially work on those stories that have been so close to you for so long. I feel now that I'm practiced and established an author, I know how to tell the best story out of all of this stuff I've been working on since I was a kid. When I was a new author I don't think I could have done it. I think it would have turned into a fanboy session for my own world that nobody else knows, which would have been a disaster.

    Patrick Rothfuss

    Yeah. It's relatively easy to take a pile of lumber and turn it into a house. But a lot of what I've been doing (And a lot of what it sounds like you had to do with Way of Kings) is like building a house out of a different house. A house that you built back before you knew what the hell you were really doing.

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  • 23

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Joshua_Patrao

    Is The Way of Kings your biggest work planned or do you have something on the shelf that's bigger?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well...depends. Dragonsteel is plotted at seven books. And I plan two more trilogies, eventually, in the Mistborn world. But Kings was always planned and plotted to be the big war epic, focusing on large numbers of characters across a large number of books. Mistborn will span hundreds and hundreds of years, though, so it could be 'bigger' by some definitions. Dragonsteel also is in the running, but for reasons I can't really explain without giving away things I don't want to.

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  • 24

    Interview: Oct 27th, 2009

    Question

    Do you have any books coming out between the next two Wheel of Time books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have been working very hard on a book called The Way of Kings for about ten years now. It is the beginning of a large epic and I've always wanted to write one. I think it's almost ready. If the revisions work it will come out next fall. I don't think I will have one the year after that because the Wheel of Time is first priority. So, either between this one and the next one or between Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light.

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  • 25

    Interview: Nov 7th, 2009

    Question

    Do you have plans to write a longer series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, The Way of Kings will come out next year.

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  • 26

    Interview: Nov 9th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    When asked to briefly describe The Way of Kings (Brandon's forthcoming epic fantasy series) he said he is not good at short descriptions. Harriet humorously interjected that is precisely the reason that he was hired. He went on for a bit about The Way of Kings (WoK?!). What sets it apart from other epic fantasy, which is done in a setting where magic is in decline and the world has lost much of the splendor it once held, is that The Way of Kings is about a "renaissance of magic".

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  • 27

    Interview: Nov 15th, 2009

    Question

    When will we see The Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    "I'll be posting more about it in 2010; this year is for WoT." He expects it to be available around September 2010.

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  • 28

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    Michael Whelan will do the cover for the first Way of Kings book.

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  • 29

    Interview: Dec 1st, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson

    Finally, it looks like Amazon has put up a new page for The Way of Kings—and this time it's for the real thing, unlike the old page with its hilarious reviews. The page count they list is optimistic (the text would have to be tiny; depending on how the book is designed I expect the final count to be north of 800 pages), but the rest of it, including the release date, should be pretty much right. Assuming I get my revisions done on time and to my satisfaction! Right now I'm back hard at work at Towers of Midnight, which I'm guessing will come out more toward the end of November 2010 rather than exactly a year after The Gathering Storm. Anyway, there will be more here on The Way of Kings in the months to come. Stay tuned.

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  • 30

    Interview: Feb 24th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    The other thing that happened in December to slow me is that production from Tor started to get anxious because they didn't have The Way of Kings (book one of my new series, The Stormlight Archive) in final form yet. So I had to spend a lot of time working on another draft of that book, along with getting some of the interior artwork done.

    Talk has already started to float around the internet about Kings. I'll start posting more about the book in the upcoming months. I wanted this update to be focused on the Wheel of Time.

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  • 31

    Interview: Mar 29th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm working on the final draft of The Way of Kings in order to meet its April 8th deadline, and over the past few days I've posted on Twitter and Facebook breakdowns of how many words I'm cutting from each chapter. This has confused some readers who have asked me not to cut anything out or to save them for an eventual "writer's cut" edition. Trust me on this one—the book you'll get on the shelf is the writer's cut, and you wouldn't like the writing as much if I didn't go through and do the trimming on this draft. Sort of like a director shoots a lot of film and then edits it into a coherent narrative later, I tend to overwrite on my first drafts—the language is more wordy than it needs to be, sometimes a character will come to the same realization multiple times as I'm working out where best to fit it in, that sort of thing. In my final draft I go in and trim out all the fat. We talked about this in an episode of Writing Excuses last year; if you're curious about the process, give it a listen.

    So the words I'm cutting in this draft aren't anything you're going to miss as a reader. Now, sometimes I will cut an entire scene or heavily rework a section, but that usually happens in earlier drafts than this. I do save the cut scenes in case they contain something I want to use somewhere else or just for posterity. In the Library section of the website I've included some deleted scenes from Elantris, Mistborn 1, and Mistborn 2—check those out if you want to understand why it's a good reason those scenes are gone. Long after The Way of Kings is out, some of its cut scenes or early draft sections may end up on that page. We'll see.

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  • 32

    Interview: Feb 12th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    I am working on two major projects right now. The first, and probably of most interest to most people watching this, is the second of the three books that will complete the Wheel of Time. I have a large chunk of the actual writing done, and right now I am fine-tuning some of the character viewpoints and things like this to make sure they feel right. The soul of the Wheel of Time, the reason I love it so much, is because of the strength of characters, the strength of the viewpoints of those characters. And I want to make sure I'm writing them as they should be, as they really are. The goal is to have that book out by November of this year, which is still likely that it will happen. It will depend on how long it takes me to do the revisions, but we're looking like we'll be on target.

    The other book I'm working on is called The Way of Kings. It is a book I've been working on for about ten years now. It is the start of a longer epic, a story I've been wanting to tell for a very long time. I did that over the summer last year. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and that is coming out in August.

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  • 33

    Interview: May 3rd, 2010

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Brandon's assistant Peter here. He's hard at work on Towers of Midnight, which you know if you've been following on Twitter or Facebook. And I've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work for The Way of Kings release (the book is being composited as we speak and is due back from proofreading on Friday). So we're a bit behind on updates.

    The most recent Mistborn 3 annotations cover Allomantic secrets including atium Mistings and the kandra coup and Sazed's decision. I've got the next four annotations queued, which should tide you over until we've got the KINGS proofs approved and I can line up the rest.

    There are three new episodes of the writing advice podcast Brandon does with Howard Tayler and Dan Wells that haven't been mentioned on the blog. First up is a talk with Isaac Stewart, interior artist for the Mistborn books and one of the artists for The Way of Kings, about the visual elements of storytelling. Next up is breaking the fourth wall, again with Isaac (who is also half of the team behind the webcomic Rocket Road Trip with Warbreaker map artist Shawn Boyles). And finally is Living with the Artist which features Sandra Tayler, Dawn Wells, and Kenny Pike talking about what roles they play in their spouses' careers, among other things. (Kenny is a former student of Brandon's whose wife Aprilynne's book Wings hit #1 on the New York Times list. Who Sandra and Dawn are should be obvious.)

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  • 34

    Interview: Apr 30th, 2010

    Richard Fife

    So you have done a single pass-through of line-editing on his upcoming novel, The Way of Kings. What was the difference in working on something that was solely Brandon Sanderson verse working on the Wheel?

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    The characters of The Wheel of Time, I have known since they first came into being, for many of them twenty years. I know how they talk, so I'm much bitchier about them, and will say, "NO! This is not Aviendha! Try again!" And he did, and he got her. But these are his people, so it is different. I don't say, "I don’t like this character," because it is his character and his world.

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  • 35

    Interview: Apr 30th, 2010

    Richard Fife

    I also noticed that, in the reading from The Way of Kings last night, he definitely has picked up Jordan’s flair for description.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    Yes, it is very good. He is different from Robert Jordan, but he is launching on a career that will resemble Jordan's. I feel extra lucky that I got him to work on The Wheel of Time when I did, because as you can tell from his books, Brandon has his own huge trajectory.

    Richard Fife

    Indeed, after all, he has said the Stormlight Archive will be ten novels from the get-go.

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    Yes, but it is not just quantity, but quality. He has wonderful world-building.

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  • 36

    Interview: Apr 28th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon then went on to talk about his upcoming novel, The Way of Kings, which is book one of a projected ten in the Stormlight Archive. Brandon explained that, as one would expect, any writer that is developing while reading Jordan would have a grand epic of some sort in the back of his head. The Way of Kings is his. He wrote a first draft of it a while ago. It was a behemoth of a book, and he had initially tried to get it published right after Elantris. His editor was not so sure that would be something he could do, especially as it was a super-ambitious project. So they shelved it and he moved on to Mistborn. But it was still there, waiting.

    After The Gathering Storm was finished, two things happened. The first being that Brandon found he needed a break from The Wheel of Time to rejuvenate. The second was that Tom Doherty (the big boss of Tor) called him and said that they did not have a book from just Brandon Sanderson coming out this year and that he would like one. Brandon tried to protest, but Tom was persistent and said the six words one should probably never tell an author: "You can do whatever you want." So, Brandon rewrote The Way of Kings entirely, using his since-refined skills to tighten it up (some, it is still nearly a thousand pages), and even managed to get Tom to call in an old favor with Michael Whelan to do the cover art.

    Something to be warned of, though. Book Two of the Stormlight Archive is going to be a long time coming. Brandon is going to finish The Wheel of Time first before he goes back to that. He then intends to do two more Stormlight books, then some other single project, then two more, then a single, et cetera and so forth. So be ready for at least a small wait for a sequel to that.

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  • 37

    Interview: Apr 28th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon then did his reading, where we got some feel for the scope and feel of the book. One can easily tell that Sanderson was heavily influenced by Robert Jordan. From the flair for description that is not flowery, but instead just real, to the vision presented even in the few pages he read us. He also spoke on the structure of the book some. It really has three prologues, for one, which if it was Robert Jordan would have just been one massive prologue, but he instead had a prelude (to the series), a prologue (to the book) and a first chapter from a point of view that never returns. So yeah, three prologues. He also says the book is built somewhat strangely, with several sections that follow two characters each broken up by "interludes", which are just little short stories going on somewhere else in the world that kind of tie back into the action, but are told from points of view that aren't part of the main narrative. Sheer madness, but I think Brandon can do it (and I have it on good faith that he has).

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  • 38

    Interview: May 25th, 2010

    Patrick

    Regarding The Way of Kings, given the fact that the synopsis doesn't shed much light on what the tale is about, what can you tell us about the book and the rest of the Stormlight Archive sequence? You know, a little something to whet your fans' appetite!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm actually preparing a blog post on this. I've had a very tough time describing The Way of Kings. I've been working on this book for many, many years. Parts of it I can trace back 15, 17 years ago to my very early days as an aspiring writer in my teens. Beyond that, I'm planning a very large story that spans many books. So what this book is and means to me is a lot more extensive than with other books I've worked on.

    Because of that it's really defied my ability to describe it. What can they expect? Well, it's about the length of Lord of Chaos. It will be much more epic and larger in scope than anything I have published so far on my own. There's a whole lot more worldbuilding to it—I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 words of worldbuilding notes, scattered across several documents, that I'm now coalescing into a wiki.

    I don't know that this is new information, but the story of the Stormlight Archive revolves around ten orders of knights, each of whom had their own magics and abilities, who fell thousands of years ago for reasons no one understands. Some say they betrayed mankind, others say they were destroyed, others say they were charlatans all along.

    The Stormlight Archive deals with the history of these knights, discovering what happened to them. It also deals, perhaps, with their redemption. Another big theme has to do with the onset of a magical industrial revolution, so to speak. Think of this as Renaissance-era technology where people are discovering how to harness magic and use it in practical ways. I've always wanted to do a story about the dawning of something like the Age of Legends in the Wheel of Time books.

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  • 39

    Interview: Jun 28th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tor has announced the book tour for The Way of Kings. I'll also be adding all the signings to my Events page and clearing up a few details such as: Which Barnes & Noble in Orlando? Which Powell's in the Portland area? I'll probably post the full details tomorrow. Tor is also doing a giveaway of 40 copies of the uncorrected advance reading copy (and when it says uncorrected, it means it!) of The Way of Kings via Goodreads. Last I checked, 601 people had entered. That's still better odds than most contests. Now, Tor only has distribution rights for the U.S., which means this contest is restricted to U.S. residents. I'm considering ways for my non-U.S. fans to have a chance to get their hands on a copy.

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  • 40

    Interview: Aug 23rd, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    Now that it's done, it is time for me to take a break. I've been going full steam on the Wheel of Time and the Stormlight Archive now for about three years. These last eighteen months were particularly demanding, filled with seventy-hour weeks. I don't regret it, and I'm certainly not complaining. I agree to deadlines when I make contracts, and I love my job. I will gladly work twelve- and fourteen-hour days six days a week at something I love if it means I don't have to work eight hours a day five days a week at something I hate. (Which would be pretty much anything other than writing.)

    But I have to take care not to burn myself out either. And so, as I did last summer, I'm going to take some time off and work on side projects. These are very relaxing to me—books that have no deadline and that no editor is waiting for or expecting to see. I'll probably only have time to write one, and I'm not sure what it will be yet, but it won't be an epic fantasy. (They take far too long for the time I'm giving myself.) Probably a YA novel or maybe even something wild, such as an urban fantasy or the like. Perhaps some short stories.

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  • 41

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    John Ottinger

    How did the idea germinate and come to fruition for the gem-studded magic system of The Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the things to keep in mind is I that developed this book before Mistborn was published. I do wonder if sometimes people are going to say, "Oh, he did metals before, and now he's doing crystals." But the thoughts arose quite independently in my head. You may know that there is a unifying theory of magic for all of my worlds—a behind-the-scenes rationale. Like a lot of people believe there's unifying theory of physics, I have a unifying theory of magic that I try to work within in order to build my worlds. As an armchair scientist, believing in a unifying theory helps me. I'm always looking for interesting ways that magic can be transferred, and interesting ways that people can become users of magic. I don't want just to fall into expected methodologies. If you look at a lot of fantasy—and this is what I did in Mistborn so it's certainly not bad; or if is, I'm part of the problem—a lot of magic is just something you're born with. You're born with this special power that is either genetic or placed upon you by fate, or something like that. In my books I want interesting and different ways of doing that. That's why in Warbreaker the magic is simply the ability to accumulate life force from other people, and anyone who does that becomes a practitioner of magic.

    In The Way of Kings, I was looking for some sort of reservoir. Essentially, I wanted magical batteries, because I wanted to take this series toward developing a magical technology. The first book only hints at this, in some of the art and some of the things that are happening. There's a point where one character's fireplace gets replaced with a magical device that creates heat. And he's kind of sad, thinking something like, "I liked my hearth, but now I can touch this and it creates heat, which is still a good thing." But we're seeing the advent of this age, and therefore I wanted something that would work with a more mystical magic inside of a person and that could also form the basis for a mechanical magic. That was one aspect of it. Another big aspect is that I always like to have a visual representation, something in my magic to show that it's not all just happening abstractly but that you can see happen. I loved the imagery of glowing gemstones. When I wrote Mistborn I used Burning metals—metabolizing metals—because it's a natural process and it's an easy connection to make. Even though it's odd in some ways, it's natural in other ways; metabolizing food is how we all get our energy. The idea of a glowing object, illuminated and full of light, is a natural connection for the mind to make: This is a power source; this is a source of natural energy. And since I was working with the highstorms, I wanted some way that you could trap the energy of the storm and use it. The gemstones were an outgrowth of that.

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  • 42

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    John Ottinger

    Your battle system involving bridges and plateaus is both complex and innovative. In writing these scenes, was a significant amount of research necessary, and did you encounter any difficulties when writing the sequences?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes to both questions. This is not going to be immediately obvious, but the big difficulty was in designing bridges that were mobile but also strong enough to support a cavalry charge. It took a lot of research and talk with my editor, looking at the engineering of it and the physics of the world to actually be able to create these things. I'm sure fans are going to try to diagram them out. That was one aspect of it: how were the bridges going to be set?

    I approached this first from a "how would you actually fight on these plains?" direction. But also I wanted to evoke the concept of a terrible siege, with a man running with a ladder toward a wall. And yet that's been done so much. The Shattered Plains came from me wanting to do something new. I liked the idea of battles taking place in a situation that could never exist on our planet, what it would require, what it would take out of the people, and how it would naturally grow. And so I did a lot of reading about siege equipment. I did a lot of reading about weights of various woods, did a lot playing with the length, the span between the chasms, etc. One thing that people should know if they are trying to figure all this out is that Roshar has less gravity than Earth does. This is a natural outgrowth of my requirements both for the bridges and for the size of the creatures that appear in the book—of course they couldn't get that large even with the point-seven gravity that Roshar has, but we also have magical reasons they can grow the size they do. That's one factor to take into account.

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  • 43

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    John Ottinger

    The sprite-like spren seems to be an odd addition to The Way of Kings. Understanding just when and how a spren appears and how and when people are able to notice them is the most confusing part of the novel. Could you elucidate the reasoning behind them, and how one might be able to predict their appearance?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The spren felt very natural to me. I didn't anticipate them being as controversial as they've become. I think part of the reason for this is that the people of the world take them as natural. They're just there, and everybody in this world is going to treat them as familiar. Asking them why a spren appears the way it does is a little like asking a layman in our world why sometimes the wind blows and sometimes it doesn't. If you walk outside, sometimes the wind will be blowing and sometimes it won't, and you just take that for granted. You don't ask why, you just say that it's windy or it's not windy. These characters in this world will say, "Oh, there are some fearspren; someone's scared," but sometimes they don't appear and sometimes they do. Some of the rationale around that will become more and more clear as the series progresses, but the reason it's not explained in this book is because the characters have just all grown up with these things all their lives. They don't necessarily ask those questions any more than most of us ask why a particular leaf falls off a branch when another one stays attached. It's just the natural process of the world. There are lots of reasons why they're there, but I don't think I can get into those without spoiling the series.

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  • 44

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    John Ottinger

    You have stated elsewhere that your story is about a world recovering, a world that has fallen from the height of its power. Why did you choose to set your story in such a setting, what about it makes it an appealing place to write about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Several things. There's a real challenge in this book because I did not want to go the path of The Wheel of Time in which there had been an Age of Legends that had fallen and that the characters were recapturing. Partially because Robert Jordan did it so well, and partially because a lot of fantasy seems to approach that concept. But I did want the idea of a past golden age, and balancing those two concepts was somewhat difficult. I eventually decided I wanted a golden age like existed in our world, such as the golden of Greece and Rome, where we look back at some of the cultural developments etc. and say, "Wow, those were really cool." And yet technologically, if you look at the world back then, it was much less advanced than it is now, though it was a time of very interesting scientific and philosophical growth in some areas. What we have in Roshar is that the Knights Radiant did exist, and were in a way a high point of honor among mankind, but then for various reasons they fell. The mystery of why they did and what happened is part of what makes the book work.

    Why is this world appealing to write in? Well, I like writing my worlds like I write my characters, where at the beginning of the book you're not starting at the beginning or the end of the characters' lives; you're starting in the middle. Because when we meet people, their lives don't just start that day. Interesting things have happened before, and interesting things are to come. I want the world to be the same way. Interesting things have happened in the past, and interesting things are to come again. I want there to be a depth and a realism to the history. It's fascinating for me to write at this point because on the one hand, there are things to recapture in the past, but at the same time there are things that the people in the past never understood and could never do. The former heights of scientific reasoning didn't go at all as far as they could have gone. So there are new places to explore and there are things to recapture. In a lot of ways, this plays into my philosophy for storytelling. The greatest stories that I've loved are those that walk the balance between what we call the familiar and the strange. When a reader sits down and there are things that resonate with stories they've read before that they've loved, there's an experience of joy to that. At the same time, you want there to be things that are new to the story, that you're experiencing for the first time. In this world, that's what I'm looking for. There is that resonance from the past, but there's also a long way to go, a lot of interesting things to discover.

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  • 45

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    John Ottinger

    You avoided using the traditional races of epic fantasy (elves, orcs, dwarves, etc.) instead giving the reader variations on humanity. Why did you avoid using the standard tropes, but still create significant physical deviations in your races?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A couple of reasons. Those are really two questions. Why did I avoid the standard tropes? Because I felt they had become a crutch in some cases, and in other cases they had just been overplayed and overdone by people who were very good writers and knew what they were doing. I certainly don't want to point any fingers at people like Stephen Donaldson who wrote brilliant books making use of some of the familiar tropes from Tolkien, but one of the things to remember is that when he did that they weren't familiar tropes. They were still fresh and new. The same can be said for Terry Brooks. I feel that some of these authors who came before did a fantastic job of approaching those races, and I also feel that we as a fantasy community have allowed Tolkien's worldbuilding to become too much of a crutch—in particular, Tolkien's storytelling in epic fantasy. And really, if we want to approach the heights of great storytelling and take it a few more steps so that we don't just copy what Tolkien did, we do what Tolkien did, which is look to the lore ourselves and build our own extrapolations.

    But personally, why do I include the races that I include? I'm just looking for interesting things that complement the story that I'm telling. The races in The Way of Kings come directly into the story and the mystery of what's happened before. If you pay close attention to what the races are, it tells you something about what's going to happen in the future and what's happened in the past. It's very conscious. This is just me trying to explore. I feel that epic fantasy as a genre has not yet hit its golden age yet. If you look at science fiction as a genre, science fiction very quickly got into extrapolating very interesting and different sorts of things. Fantasy, particularly in the late '90s, feels like it hit a bit of a rut where the same old things were happening again and again. We saw the same stories being told, we saw the same races show up, we saw variations only in the names for those races. For me as a reader, it was a little bit frustrating because I read this and felt that fantasy should be the genre that should be able to do anything. It should be the most imaginative genre. It should not be the genre where you expect the same stories and the same creatures. This is playing into what I like as a reader and my own personal philosophies and hobby horses, but it really just comes down to what I think makes the best story.

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  • 46

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    MadHatter

    The Way of Kings looks to be your largest book to date, but it also might be the longest in gestation with even having an old Amazon page from when it was first contracted where people have written all kinds of lovely things. Can you tell us a little bit about its history?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Way of Kings, like any of my books, is an amalgamation of ideas that work together and fascinate me, hopefully creating something larger than the pieces; the whole is greater than the parts. Ideas for it began back when I was in high school and starting my very first book. The Shattered Plains first appeared in a novel I wrote back in 2000. The Way of Kings as a novel was first written in 2003; I now call that book The Way of Kings Prime. I wrote that book because I was frustrated with my own writing process. That was during my unpublished days, and I had been writing books that I wasn't pleased with—I've got an entire essay on that on my website. Eventually I decided, "I'm tired of trying to write what other people tell me will sell. I'm going to write the coolest, biggest, baddest, nastiest, most awesome fantasy epic I can conceive, and pull out all the stops and grab all the cool ideas that I've been putting off for a while."

    So I wrote this massive book. And then, unexpectedly, I sold a different book—one that had been sitting on an editor's desk for eighteen months. That was Elantris—then Moshe Feder called me up and wanted to buy it, and that threw chaos into my whole worldview.

    Here I thought I would never get published, and I was just writing for myself, but now someone wants one of my old books that I thought would never sell. Then Moshe asked me what I was working on at the time, and I sent him The Way of Kings. Which he was very surprised to get, because it was twice as long as Elantris, and it was extremely big and sprawling and epic. It scared the daylights out of him. He wasn't sure what to do with it. He called me up and said, "I don't know what we can do with this. Can we split this into multiple books? I don't know if I can convince the publisher to publish this massive novel."

    At the same time—and I've said this numerous times before--I wasn't a hundred percent pleased with The Way of Kings because I didn't have the skill yet to write it. So we shelved it, and I wrote the Mistborn trilogy, which I pitched to him very soon afterward—it may have even been on the same phone call—which I was very excited about at the time. I'm very pleased with how that turned out, but it was a little bit smaller in scope. In some ways it was me practicing and learning how to write a series.

    And then the Wheel of Time dropped on me like a truckload of bricks out of nowhere, and I was forced to swim in the deep water and learn how to become a much better writer so I could finish such a wonderful series. During that process I learned a lot about writing.

    Tor started asking me what my next book was going to be and if there was any way I could get them something to put out between Wheel of Time books, so I pitched them The Way of Kings. Then I sat down and wrote it. I wrote it from scratch again; I didn't take anything from the 2003 version of the book other than my memories of what had worked and what hadn't. I reached back and grabbed the Shattered Plains out of that other book that I had written; I reached back and grabbed another few cool ideas that had been bounding around in my head since I'd been a kid. I poured everything into this book, everything that I had, all of my best ideas, to try to make the fantasy opus that I had always wanted to write. That's where it came from. That's the history. I don't know yet if I've been successful, and I won't know for many years, until we see whether it stands the test of time.

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  • 47

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    YetiStomper

    Structurally, The Way of Kings is fairly unique. There are three main POV characters in Kaladin, Dallinar, and Shallan, a handful of minor POV characters Szeth, Adolin, and then The Asides in which we only get a few pages of material largely unrelated to the overall plot. How will the cast grow and change in future volumes? Are you thinking of keeping each volume to a similar number of POVs or expanding it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There will be a similar number, with a small expansion. At this point I believe you have met every one of the major viewpoint characters for the series. I don't want it to spiral out of control. I think too many viewpoint characters is a danger to epic fantasy, putting a writer in difficult predicaments for subsequent books—whether to leave some characters out, or whether to show a little bit of each of them without getting any major plot arcs for any of them.

    So you've seen pretty much everybody. Now, at this point there are several who are major viewpoint characters for the series who we have not had many or any viewpoints from yet—Jasnah is one, a character who shows up in the epilogue is another, and there are a few others—but there are in my mind essentially eight or ten major characters in this series, and it will stick to that.

    The interludes will continue to be what they are, which is that those characters may show up again, but it's unlikely that there will be many more viewpoints from them. The interludes are there because I wanted to have my cake and eat it too—I wanted to have the big sprawling epic with a lot of major viewpoints that we spend a lot of time on like Robert Jordan did, but I also wanted to have the quick jumps around that George R. R. Martin does, and they're two masters of the genre. And so I decided on the interludes as a way to jump around and show the world, to give depth and to give rounding to what's happening—give you little glimpses into important aspects of the world—but those characters are not people you have to remember and follow. Each of the interludes will have one character that you need to pay attention to, but you can take the interludes and read them and without having to focus too much on remembering and keeping track of what their plot is. Then you can jump back into the main characters. And that's always going to be the case in the books to come.

    Each book will also have one character who has flashbacks throughout that book—we'll stick to one per book, and you will find out how they ended up where they are as we dig back into their past.

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  • 48

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    YetiStomper

    How are you applying lessons learned from your work closing Robert Jordan's epic series in beginning your own?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've already talked about it a little bit—one of the things is learning how to approach the middle books, specifically how to use the form to enhance the novel as a whole. One of the big things I've learned from Robert Jordan recently is foreshadowing.

    I used to think I was good at it until I really sat down and studied what he was doing. Another thing I think I've learned a ton about from him is viewpoint; excellent use of viewpoint is one of the ways to keep all your characters distinct. In addition, juggling so many plots, etc., all of these things have forced me to grow as a writer and have helped me quite a bit with writing The Way of Kings.

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  • 49

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    MadHatter

    Did you move a lot of sections around during the development? It certainly seemed as though Kal's parts could go in a different order or start his story from the bottom and work out how he got there.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I did move things around a lot, particularly between the first draft of this book in 2003 and this draft. Things have jumped around all over the place, and even at the last minute I was moving different things between parts. Dalinar moved around more than Kaladin did because I was trying to decide where I wanted his ending in part two to happen. I wanted each of the parts to have its own climactic sense, to have a good ending particularly for the characters who didn't continue in the next part, when Dalinar and Shallan were alternating. So there was a lot of juggling and trying to decide—for instance, the prelude was added very late in the process. I'd had the prologue and decided I needed a second prologue as the prologue to the series, which is where the prelude came from.

    Kaladin's entire sequence, with the flashbacks and things, was decided on early on, but remember I'd written this book once before. At the end of his flashback sequences, he makes a decision. Where this book deviates from the original I wrote in 2003 is that in the old version he actually made the opposite decision, and it happened in chapter one.

    Now we get to see flashbacks of him making the other decision, which works so much better. It's one of those things where I was beating my head against the wall for years trying to figure out how to make his character work. His character was the part of the original The Way of Kings Prime that had not worked, and it took me years to figure out how to make his character work right. That one decision of his was the turning point.

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  • 50

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    YetiStomper

    Is there a relationship between Soulcasting and Spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there is. But I will not elucidate any further at this time.

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  • 51

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    YetiStomper

    How do you set out to write a 1,000 page book? How do you set out to write a 10 volume series? How did you make a decision what to include in The Way of Kings and what to leave out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lots of trial and error, mixed with a very, very detailed outline. I spent a lot of time on my outline, and it's very expansive. But really, this is a question to ask after I've finished the series. Right now I'm very optimistic about being able to do it all.

    Let's see if I can actually pull it off.

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  • 52

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    YetiStomper

    Will The Stormlight Archives have prolonged mystery to rival that of Asmodean's murder?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You know, that's really going to depend on the fans and what they latch on to. I think the first book has plenty of mysteries. But what makes Asmodean different is that everyone latched on to it and fell in love with it. As I've said, Robert Jordan was a genius at foreshadowing and subtlety. I'm not going to sit down and say, "I'm going to put in something like Asmodean." I don't think that's something I could set out to put in. I just have to set out to write the best story I can, with plenty of mysteries and what's going on behind the scenes. The whole Hoid thing is something that hopefully people will be curious about, because it's supposed to be interesting. But I don't think you can set out to write something to parallel Asmodean.

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  • 53

    Interview: Sep 16th, 2010

    YetiStomper

    The Way of Kings serves mostly as an introduction to the world of The Stormlight Archives but only hints at the larger story arc. With the long wait before Book 2, can you provide hungry fans with any teasers?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What Jasnah is trying to do in this book becomes very important to the next two books. That's a very big teaser. The second book will delve much more deeply into the magic; particularly, Shadesmar will be much more of an important aspect. I don't want to give spoilers.

    A lot more magic. I'm telling the story about the awakening of an Age of Legends-style world of mechanical magic, and you can look forward to seeing a lot more of that. We only hint at it here. A very important discovery was made by some characters in a random interlude that will have long-lasting ramifications.

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  • 54

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    With The Way of Kings about to be released, how well-received as the novel been thus far? Are you pleased with the advance praise and reviews?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So far so good. As with any book, there are some reviews that just make me happy and dance on the clouds, and there are others that are still good reviews but make me think, "Oh, they didn't quite get it," or that sort of thing. Asking an author or an artist about reviews is an interesting process, because we all want everyone to love everything that we've created, but not everyone is going to. It's hard, even as a writer, to judge what people are saying. So far it looks really good. We'll see.

    I do think that this is the best book that I've written, but I also think that there are some of my readers who are not going to like it as much. With every book that I write, I do something different. The Mistborn books felt slightly different from Elantris; Warbreaker felt slightly different from the Mistborn books. This newest book feels slightly different again. There are some readers who are going to wish that I were doing shorter, more fast-paced stories rather than longer, more epic stories. I will write more books like that later on, but this book is the book that I wanted it to be. I'm pleased with it.

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  • 55

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    The Way of Kings is a book that you have been planning for a very long time. Is the finished book close to your original vision or has it altered significantly in that time, with the influence of your other work, particularly on The Wheel of Time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say yes, it has altered significantly. Eventually I'll be able to release the previous version of The Way of Kings so people can see how. It's really kind of odd; I can now almost see it as a parallel world, with several important deviations that branch out and create spiraling different stories. In some ways it's very similar. Dalinar's character is essentially identical with who he has always been, yet Kaladin and his story have transformed extensively. Szeth is essentially the same person. Shallan didn't exist in the previous draft; she's new to this one. Some things are the same—the world, the history—and yet some things are different. The characters are more complex and have more depth now, and that certainly was influenced by the Wheel of Time. I think I'm better at foreshadowing, which something else the Wheel of Time influenced.

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  • 56

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    Do you think that the process of working on The Wheel of Time and The Stormlight Archive almost simultaneously has been beneficial to your writing of the two series, with influences from one creeping into the other?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes and no. I never write new material on more than one book at a time. I will be revising one while I'm writing new material for another, which really helps me keep my brain divided, if that makes any sense. It's good to be influenced by Robert Jordan's genius; it's bad to let themes and tropes from one book creep into the other. So I've tried to keep those things separate. Yet at the same time, who I am as a writer influences what themes and tropes I put into books. I do think people will be able to notice similarities in some of what I'm doing, in the same way that you can notice similarities between others of my books. Hopefully there is a larger gap because the Wheel of Time is Robert Jordan's rather than mine. I would say that there is an influence, but not an unhealthy amount.

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  • 57

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    Your solo adult novels have these recurring elements such as the character of Hoid and references to the Shards. In Mistborn, Elantris and Warbreaker these elements are minor and more along the lines of easter eggs, but they seem to be more prominent in The Way of Kings. Can we expect these elements to be expanded on further in future Stormlight books? Will we find out Hoid's full story in this series or are you holding off on that for now?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will mostly RAFO that. Yes, it will continue. No, you won't get a lot of it. The Stormlight Archive will not be about the story behind the story, though someday I will write a book series about that. There are basically two large epics in the greater sequence of books I'm writing, and the Stormlight Archive is one of them. There is another one, and both of the large epics will have certain amounts of influence from Hoid. Other books will be written that will not have nearly as much influence. But I'll go ahead and say that Hoid's origin story is not in the Stormlight Archive. That's not what this series is about.

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  • 58

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    The settings of your novels often seem to be something quite different. It seems the majority of fantasy are basically earth with magic and maybe some cool animals to go along. The Way of Kings just feels different (and the Mistborn books for that matter)—harsher, darker, almost like what we would like call a wasteland. How and why did you create the world The Way of Kings in this way? The landscape of the Shattered Plains is especially unusual and evocative. Was it inspired by the landscape of the American Midwest?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Southwest, particularly. My visits to places like Arches National Park, relatively close to where I live right now, certainly influenced me. More than that—and I've said this in numerous interviews before—I'm a fantasy reader foremost. Before I was a writer I was a reader, and I'm still a reader. As a reader, I grew a little bit annoyed with the generic setting that seemed to recur a lot in fantasy. I won't speak poorly of writers who used it very well—there are certain writers who used it extremely well—and yet a lot of other writers seemed to just take for granted that that's what you did. Which is not the way that I feel it should be done. I think that the genre could go many places it hasn't been before.

    When I approached writing the Stormlight Archive—when I approached creating Roshar—I very consciously said, "I want to create something that feels new to me." I'm not the only one who does this, and I'm certainly not the one who does it best, but I wanted a world that was not medieval Europe. At all. I wanted a world that was its own thing. I started with the highstorms and went from there. To a person of our world, Roshar probably does look barren like a wasteland. But to the people living there, it's not a barren wasteland. This is a lush world full of life. It's just that what we equate with lush and full of life is not how that world defines it. In Roshar, a rock wall can be a lush, vibrant, and fertile place. It may look like a wasteland to us, but we're seeing through the eyes of someone who's used to Earth's flora and fauna. I've also said before in interviews that science fiction is very good at giving us new things. I don't see why fantasy shouldn't be as good at doing the same. Perhaps even better. So that's what was driving me to do what I did.

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  • 59

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    In Elantris and Mistborn it felt more like the world was there to support the story and characters, but outside the locales the characters were in little was revealed about them. The Way of Kings feels much more expansive, with a vast continent packed with different cultures, races, religions and so on. Was this simply a natural development of needing a world that could support ten long novels, or was there some other motive in making Roshar so much more detailed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm going to reverse-engineer your question. When I wrote Elantris and Mistborn, I intentionally kept the world more sparse. The goal particularly of Mistborn was, "I'm going to take an epic fantasy story and condense it into three novels." The focus for me in those novels was plot. Of course I wanted to have great characters and great magic, but there was more of a plot focus, and I didn't want the world to distract. It was a conscious decision in Mistborn.

    When I sat down and wrote The Way of Kings, the plan from the start to do ten books influenced how I approached the world. But really, the world of Roshar is such a big part of the story, and of the history and the mysteries of the series, that I wanted it to be full and immersive. Immersion was one of my main driving forces. With Mistborn, one of my main driving forces was to keep it moving. I hope The Way of Kings still feels fast-paced, but it's a thousand pages long, twice as long as Mistborn. A lot of that extra space is dedicated to fleshing out the world and making it feel like a real place, because that's very important for the series. When I write a book, I look at what the book needs and what is required by the story I'm trying to achieve. Another valid element is that when I wrote Mistborn, I was a newer writer. Writing The Way of Kings, I'm more experienced. I think I'm better at making this sort of decision now, and I felt I could tackle in this book the sorts of things that I couldn't achieve in Mistborn.

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  • 60

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    On several fantasy forums, there have been discussions of "black and white" characters and your name sometimes is mentioned as being one who creates "black and white," good/evil characters. What I'm curious about, however, is how do you think of your characters' traits when you develop them. Are there characters that you think, "well, this 'evil' character has this motivation' for acting like a jerk," or is there something else behind these character creations?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would certainly say I do black and white more than someone like George R. R. Martin does. I would hope that I'm not doing directly black and white, but...this is a hard question for me to answer because I'm not sure that I look at it this way. I don't look at characters as evil or good; I just look at them as who they are and what their motivations are. I personally don't feel that I generally write all-evil characters, though if I look at it rationally from an armchair English major standpoint, I do tend to write very noble characters. Nobility is something that fascinates me, and something that I think we could use a little more of in our world. So I'm straying fairly often into the good, though I don't see any of my characters as entirely evil. Hrathen was not evil; the Lord Ruler was not wholly evil. I don't even look at Ruin as particularly evil; Ruin was a force of entropy, which is its own different thing. In this book, I would say there is a presence of evil that is on a higher level. Is Szeth evil? Well, I don't know. Is the person pulling Szeth's strings evil? Yes, by most definitions I think he would be called evil, but he certainly doesn't see himself that way. I could point at him and say, "You are doing the wrong thing," but he would not agree with me. I'm not trying to moralistically say here is black and here is white; I'm just telling stories about the characters I want to tell stories about.

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  • 61

    Interview: Sep 17th, 2010

    Mad Hatter

    Weather is a major force in The Way of Kings since that is where they derive their magic powers from. Also, the mythology of the series most people believe they are descended from others who lived in another world similar to heaven, but were thrown out of because of the Voidbringers. Reincarnation seems to be a theme as well. All these ideas follow along with Norse mythology to a degree. Was that intentional or just a byproduct of the evolution to this world?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Half and half. I am steeped in mythology, and I enjoy reading about it. I’m absolutely in love with the idea of Valhalla and Ragnarok. But this was not me saying I’m going to copy Norse mythology. Whatever I’ve read can pop into my head. You’ll probably see a bunch of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism too if you look for it. But it was me drawing on various sources, and also just trying to make my own thing. Yes, there’s certainly a Norse aspect to a lot of the weather magic and things like that, but it’s more that I wanted to tell a story about a world that got hit by these magical hurricanes every few days. Weather being such a force is going to therefore be an aspect of the religion, the belief systems, and the day-to-day workings of the people who live in that world. So it was partially natural outgrowth and partially my love and fondness for things that I’ve read.

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  • 62

    Interview: Sep 17th, 2010

    Mad Hatter

    If you can tell us, what's the tentative title for Book 2? And estimated release date? I know you've plenty left to tackle with WoT 14 so we'll take anything you say with that in mind.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good. The tentative title was originally Highprince of War. I’m not decided on that yet, because it might be Shallan’s book, not Dalinar’s book. It depends on whose flashbacks I decide to tell, and which ones will complement the events of the next book. Though I have an expansive outline for the series, I really have to sit down and get a more detailed outline for the second book before I decide which title I want. If it’s Dalinar’s book, it will be Highprince of War. If it’s Shallan’s book it will not be. Tentative release date? I’m going to start on A Memory of Light January first, and it will be published probably about three months after I finish it. (Knowing how Tor’s publishing my books these days.) It will just depend on how long that takes to write. Then I will start on The Stormlight Archive 2 after that. I don’t anticipate that book being as hard to write as A Memory of Light, which is going to take a lot of time and a lot of work. Best case is that I finish A Memory of Light in August of next year, it gets published in November, and I write the sequel to The Way of Kings starting immediately after that and finish it in the middle of the next year so it can be published November 2012. That’s the best-case scenario. But it’s what I hope to be able to do; we’ll see.

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  • 63

    Interview: Sep 17th, 2010

    Mad Hatter

    Will we ever get to visit The Origin of Storms? And has the ending for the series already come to you?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I know exactly what the ending of the series is. I’ve been tempted to write it down a few times. Things Robert Jordan has said make me not want to write it down yet because he felt that writing the ending down before he got there was the wrong move, and I think he might be right. But I do have it worked out. In fact, I’m going to have a big powwow with Peter, Isaac, and Emily where I sit down and explain all these things so that they can point out holes before I start the second book, which is going to be a very interesting thing—we’ll probably record that and then twenty years from now post it on the internet. But yes, I do know the ending. I will not say whether we’ll go to the Origin of Storms.

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  • 64

    Interview: Sep 17th, 2010

    Mad Hatter

    Terry Brooks recently said he'll be doing more Shannara books and that he wishes he didn't use the title The Elfstones of Shannara already since his new arc is basically all about the Elfstones. Did your reticence to titling The Gathering Storm as such have anything to do with The Stormlight Archive? The Gathering Storm certainly seems like a perfect title for a book in the series.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. I didn’t choose The Gathering Storm. If you know the story, it all happened while I was asleep, and they said this was the title they were going to use. There were a couple of reasons. Number one, I knew I was releasing a book soon afterward that was in a series called The Stormlight Archive. Perhaps I pay a little too much attention to making sure that I don’t feel like I’m repeating myself. Kaladin in The Way of Kings was originally named Merin, and one reason I changed his name was because it sounded too much like Perrin. He had been Merin for eight years or so, but when I was just a Wheel of Time fan, it was okay to have a name that sounded a little like a Wheel of Time character’s. But now I may be a little hypersensitive to that.

    Honestly, the greatest reason I might have preferred The Gathering Storm to have a different title is that I felt it was just a little bit generic, more so than recent titles in the series have been. Recent Wheel of Time titles have been beautiful; I love Crossroads of Twilight as a title, for example. But The Gathering Storm is a good title for a lot of other reasons, and it works very well for the first of that sequence. So I was satisfied with it even though it wasn’t the title I would have chosen.

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  • 65

    Interview: Sep 17th, 2010

    Mad Hatter

    Was there any physical inspiration behind the Shattered Plains, which features so prominently in The Way of Kings? Too many visits to the Grand Canyon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’ve only been to the Grand Canyon once, but I do live in Utah, which has beautiful red rock formations and this wonderful, windblown stone formations scattered all across southern Utah. I’ve hiked there and spent a decent amount of time there. I would say that Roshar is partially inspired by that.

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  • 66

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    In your previous fantasy series, you had one main character or plotline, with only a few secondary characters and subplots. But here in The Way of Kings, you expand this to three main plotlines and dozens of secondary characters. Was this division of the book into three main protagonists rather than just a single "lead" something that you had intended from the first draft, or did this story division develop over time and many drafts?

    Brandon Sanderson

    With how long this book has been around, it's hard to say what was in the first draft and what wasn't. If we look at The Way of Kings Prime—the book I wrote back in 2003, then tossed aside and rewrote to create this book—I did have quite a strong multi-character focus. It's always been something I wanted to do. I actually scaled back a little bit for this draft. In the previous version I used six main characters; there was another character who has not yet appeared in the new version, and Jasnah was a main character with as many viewpoints as the others. It was too distracting, too much to juggle. So I pulled back a little bit. But to me, this series is not about one person. That's just how I conceived it from the start, and that's what I want to do with it. That will continue.

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  • 67

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    Over your previous books you've developed a reputation as the 'magic system guy'. Was it therefore a deliberate move to hold back on the magic in The Way of Kings, at least compared to your earlier books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, it was. That's a very astute question. I've written a blog post that I'm not satisfied with, but that I'll probably be revising and posting very soon, that is going to talk about this. When I finished the Mistborn trilogy and Warbreaker, I felt that there were a few things that were becoming Brandon clichés that I needed to deal with. I don't mind being known as the magic system guy. But when I become known ONLY as the magic system guy, that worries me. It isn't that I sat down with this series and said, well, I'm gonna show them, I'm not going to do a magic system. But when I planned this series, it was not appropriate for me to shoehorn in a lot of the magic system in book one. Though my agent suggested that I do just that. He said, look, this is what you're known for, this is what people read you for; if you don't have this it's going to be glaringly obvious. My response was that I would hope that story and character are what carries a book, not any sort of gimmick—well, gimmick is the wrong word.

    Something that I pondered and wrote about a lot—just to myself—is that Mistborn was postmodern fantasy. If you look at the trilogy, in each of those books I intentionally took one aspect of the hero's journey and played with it, turned it on its head, and tried very hard to look at it postmodernly, in which I as a writer was aware of the tropes of the genre while writing and expected readers to be aware of them, to be able to grasp the full fun of what I was doing. And that worried me—that was fun with Mistborn, but I didn't want to become known as the postmodern fantasy guy, because inherently you have to rely on the genre conventions in order to tell your story—even if you're not exploiting them in the same way, you're still exploiting them.

    For that reason, I didn't want to write The Way of Kings as a postmodern fantasy. Or in other words, I didn't want to change it into one. And I also didn't want to change it into a book that became only about the magic, or at least not to the extent that Warbreaker was. I like Warbreaker; I think it turned out wonderfully. But I wanted to use the magic in this book as an accent. Personally, I think it's still as full of magic as the others, but the magic is happening much more behind the scenes, such as with the spren I've talked about in other interviews, which are all about the magic. We haven't mentioned Shardplate and Shardblades, but those are a very powerful and important part of the magic system, and a more important part of the world. I did intentionally include Szeth's scenes doing what he does with the Lashings to show that there was this magic in the world, but it just wasn't right for this book for that to be the focus. I do wonder what people will say about that. I wonder if that will annoy people who read the book. But again, this is its own book, its own series, and in the end I decided that the book would be as the story demanded, not be what whatever a Brandon Sanderson book should be. As a writer, that's the sort of trap that I don't want to fall into.

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  • 68

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    What can readers expect from the second volume of The Stormlight Archive? Any tentative title or release date?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I originally had titled the second book Highprince of War. I'm not sure if I will keep that title, depending on who its central character ends up being. With the Stormlight Archive, I am playing with the form of the epic fantasy novel in a way that's very exciting to me that I haven't done since Elantris. If you read Elantris, the form of that book was very important in how it developed, with its chapter triad system. The books in this series also have a very specific form. Each book will focus on one character. That character will get flashbacks exploring their past, to show you how they arrived where they are. But the book will progress the narrative for everyone. For instance, this book was Kaladin's book, and you got flashbacks for him. He will appear substantially in the next book, and you'll have lots of viewpoints from him, but it will be someone else's book and that character will get flashbacks. Each book will have one central character, with two or three major characters who have no flashbacks and not quite as much screen time—characters like Dalinar and Shallan in the first book, and to a lesser extent Adolin and Szeth.

    The other thing that will continue is the interludes. I really enjoyed including those in the book; I'm not sure what people will think of them, but most of them are essentially going to be short stories set somewhere in the world, that enhance the main narrative and show different aspects of the world without forcing you to follow yet another plotline. They're just quick one-offs. You'll see those between parts in all of the other books.

    Tentative release date? I have to finish A Memory of Light first. I don’t know how long that will take to write. In a perfect world, which is probably not going to happen, the ideal case is that I’m able to finish A Memory of Light by around August of 2011, whereupon it gets published in November 2011 and I start Stormlight Two January of the next year and it's ready for publication in November 2012. That would be the ideal situation. I often do manage to hit the deadlines in ideal situations, but I'm not making any promises on this one. I'm thinking 2012 spring is more likely for A Memory of Light, but we'll see.

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  • 69

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Patrick

    SFF authors such as Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, and Steven Erikson have all had problems keeping an adequate momentum over the course of long series. Looking forward and knowing that there are pitfalls associated with writing fantasy sagas of epic proportions, how do you plan to avoid this as you progress with The Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is a wonderful question. The people you mention are brilliant writers whose skill and mastery of the genre I'm not sure I can ever get close to matching. I'll just put that out there. I do think, having read their work and seeing what they've had to do—I mean, if you look at something like the Wheel of Time or A Song of Ice and Fire, these authors have had to do this without a lot of guidance. When Robert Jordan wrote The Wheel of Time, there were no fantasy epics of that length out. There were trilogies; we had David Eddings' five-booker, but those were all much shorter than what The Wheel of Time became. There was just nothing like what Robert Jordan was doing. George R. R. Martin was kind of in the same boat. They've had to do this without examples to follow. What I have going for me is that I've been able to watch them do it—and as you said, watch them hit those pitfalls (and admirably do great jobs of crossing them)—and hopefully learn from their example. The main thing that I feel I need to do with this series is keep the viewpoints manageable. What Martin and Jordan both ran into is that the more viewpoints you add, the more trouble you get in, because when you get to the middle books you've got so many characters that either you have a book that doesn't include half of them, whereupon you have the latest George R. R. Martin book, or you do what Robert Jordan did famously in book 10 of the Wheel of Time, which is to give a little bit from each viewpoint and progress none of them very far. Which was also very problematic. Both of those solutions were very wonderful things to try, and I'm glad they did them, but what this says to me is, "Keep your viewpoints manageable." So that I won't run into that problem as much.

    Another big thing I'm doing is that I'm trying to make sure each book has its own beginning, middle, and end so that it is a complete story when you read it. When I would read the Wheel of Time as just a fan, and get only a small sliver of the story, it would be very frustrating. When I reread the Wheel of Time knowing and having read the ending, it was a very different experience. I didn't feel a lot of the slowing and the frustration, because I knew the ending, and I knew how long the book series was. So if I can give a full story in each book, I think it will help with that.

    The last thing I'm doing is this idea of the flashbacks for each character. I think that each character getting a book will fundamentally change the form of the epic fantasy, which will allow each book to have its own story without having to do something like Anne McCaffrey did, in which main characters in one book wouldn't have viewpoints in later stories. I think that made for a wonderful series, but for me it detracted a bit from the series' epic scope. I knew that if I read about a character, I wasn't going to get that character again, ever, and there was something sad about that. I don't want this series to be like that. Kaladin will be very important to the rest of the series—in fact, he's probably going to get another book, so he has two.

    Hopefully the books will remain epic without having that drag. We'll see if standing upon the shoulders of giants as I am will help me to approach this in a different way.

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  • 70

    Interview: Sep 12th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    POSTMODERNISM IN FANTASY

    The Way of Kings is out. I've been thinking a lot about the novel, what it has meant to me over the years, and why I decided to write it as I did. I've had a lot of trouble deciding how to pitch this novel to people. It's a trouble I've never had before. I'm going to explain why this one doesn't work as easily. But I'm going to start with a story.

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  • 71

    Interview: Oct 12th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    PART TWO: BUFFERS AND MY WRITING SPEED

    Because of this, and because of my writing style, I need a little bit of a break before I tackle it. I pushed myself very hard to get both Towers of Midnight and The Way of Kings ready for publication this year. Even then, it was only possible because I had written a sizable chunk of Towers of Midnight while working on The Gathering Storm AND because I'd already finished an early version of The Way of Kings.

    People have mentioned before that I am somewhat prolific. Some of this is an illusion. For a while now, I've been warning people that we've been chewing through my buffer at a frightening rate. Once upon a time, I would turn in a book three years before it was scheduled to come out. This gave me a lot of wiggle room. If a book wasn't working, I could shelve it and think about it, then get back to it. Working that far ahead prevents most big crunches.

    However, the books I've been working on lately were a little more high profile than previous ones—and high-profile books get released when they get turned in, not three years later. So, though I took eighteen months finishing The Gathering Storm, it looked like I finished it very quickly. (I turned it in during the summer of 2009, and it came out in the fall of 2009. Warbreaker came out that same year, though I'd turned it in back in 2006.) The very long write of that book was invisible to a lot of readers because books I'd written years before continued to come out while I was working on it.

    The buffer is gone now. I'll talk more about that later. However, I want to mention something else that helps me be productive—and that's allowing myself deviations to keep myself interested. I've told people before that I wrote the Alcatraz books to give me a break between Mistborn novels. If I'm able to refresh myself on other projects, I don't get burned out on the big epics. (Which are my true love, but can be very demanding on me mentally.)

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  • 72

    Interview: Oct 12th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    PART FOUR: STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

    Now on to Stormlight Two. (The title was originally Highprince of War, but I'm feeling in my outlining that this book needs to be weighted more toward Shallan, so a different title is likely). I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here on this one. Writing a Stormlight book, like writing a Wheel of Time book, is a huge undertaking. Getting one of each out in the same year required fourteen-hour days, six days a week, for a good year and a half. I can't ask my family to go through that again. Beyond that, the buffer is gone. (I still had a little bit of it when working on Towers of Midnight—not to mention the first version of The Way of Kings that I'd written in 2002. I threw it away and started over, but having written it once before sped the process a great deal.)

    So . . . what do I do? I'm feeling right now that I will go straight into Stormlight Two after A Memory of Light. But that means (at very best) it won't be out until the fall of 2012. I don't really have a choice, however. The Wheel of Time fans have waited too long for their ending already. I need to do A Memory of Light, and I need to do it right, no matter how long it takes. So I can't make any promises about Stormlight Two except that I won't take a break after A Memory of Light, but will go right into it and try to have it done in time for the fall 2012 season.

    That means, by a quirk of the publishing business, that I have two epics this year, none next year, and two the following year. (If I meet my Stormlight deadline, which may or may not happen.) Still, this is what I'm planning to do. Barring something unexpected, this is what you should anticipate. I don't think there will be a book at all from me next year, which punches me in the gut. But that's what we get for pushing to have two books out last year and two books this year.

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  • 73

    Interview: Sep 12th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    THE WAY OF KINGS

    The Mistborn books were successful. Many readers liked the idea of a world where the Dark Lord won, where prophecy and the hero were not what we expected them to be.

    Because of how well it worked, however, I fell into something of a trap. When it came time to rewrite The Way of Kings, I floundered. I knew the story I wanted to tell, but I felt I needed to insert a major twist on the fantasy genre, along the lines of what I'd done in Mistborn. What would be my twist? What would be the postmodern aspect of this book? It literally kept me up nights. (Not hard to do, since I'm an insomniac, but still.)

    Over time, I wrestled with this because a larger piece of me resisted doing the postmodern thing in Mistborn again. That piece of me began to ask some difficult questions. Did I want to be known as "The guy who writes postmodern fantasies"? There would be worse monikers to have. However, one of the major purposes of deconstructionism, is to point out the problem with self-referential material. There was a gimmick to the Mistborn books. It was a very useful one, since it allowed me to pitch the book in one sentence. "The hero failed; this is a thousand years later."

    There are a lot of very good postmodern stories out there, and I love the Mistborn books. But my heart wasn't in doing that again. In order to write Mistborn the way I did, I also had to rely on the archetypes. My characters, for example, were very archetypal: The street urchin. The clever rogue who robs to do good. The idealistic young nobleman who wants to change the world. My plots were very archetypal as well: a heist story for the first book, a siege narrative for the second. I believe that a good book can use archetypes in new ways without being clichéd. (The Name of the Wind is an excellent example.)

    In fact, it's probably impossible not to reflect archetypes in storytelling. I'm sure they're there in The Way of Kings. But I found in working on it that I didn't want to intentionally build a story where I relied upon reader expectations. Instead, I wanted to look for themes and character concepts that I haven't approached before, and that I haven't seen approached as often in the genre.

    There's a distinction to be found. It's much like the difference in humor between parody and satire. (As I define them.) In the first, you are funny only if your audience understands what you are parodying. In the second, you are funny because you are innately funny. Early Pratchett is parody. Mid and late Pratchett is satire. (Not to mention brilliant.)

    And this is why, in the end, I decided that I would not write The Way of Kings as a postmodern epic. (Not intentionally, at least.) Mistborn felt, in part, like a reflection. There were many original parts, but at its core it was a study of the genre, and—to succeed at its fullest—it needed an audience who understood the tropes I was twisting about. Instead of making its own lasting impression and improvement on the genre, it rested upon the work done by others.

    In short, I feel that using that same process again would make it a crutch to me. There is nothing at all wrong with what Mistborn did. I'm very proud of it, and I think it took some important steps. But it's not what I want to be known for, not solely. I don't just want to reflect and study; I want to create. I want to write something that says, "Here is my addition, my tiny step forward, in the genre that I love."

    To couch it in the terms of the Jewel video that started the essay, instead of creating a piece of art that screams, "Hey, look at those other pieces of art and hear my take on them," I wanted to create something that says, "Look at this piece of art. This is what I think art should be in this genre now." Part of me thinks that a video that was beautiful for its own sake, that didn't rely upon the follies of others, would do more toward undermining those follies than would a video that pointed them all out.

    And so, I tossed aside my desire to confine The Way of Kings into a single, pithy sentence explaining the slant I was taking on the fantasy genre. I just wrote it as what it was.

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  • 74

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2008

    Brandon Sanderson

    He spoke a bit about writing methods, and mentioned one: "In late, out early."

    He mentioned that he doesn't like editing.

    He wrote a few practice books, and a lot of back story for The Way of Kings, about 200k words.

    He wanted to do a short series first alone with some stand-alone novels before writing an epic series.

    He usually writes from 12AM to 4AM.

    He learned about being chosen to finish WOT from a voicemail from Harriet, who picked him after reading Mistborn. Finishing A Memory of Light is now his focus.

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  • 75

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2008

    Question

    How much pre-writing do you do for each book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He wrote 50k words backstory for Mistborn, and 200k words backstory for The Way of Kings. It takes about 8 months to write a novel. Though it only took a month to write Alcatraz, which was a parody of conspiracies, and included bad super-powers, an anti-epic fantasy (and that a possible movie from Dreamworks was in the works at the time).

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  • 76

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2010

    Question

    Do you write the scenes in order?

    Brandon Sanderson

    For very large epic fantasies, such as Towers of Midnight and The Way of Kings, I actually approach it by viewpoint grouping, meaning I take all the characters who are together in the same location, or who are kind of together emotionally or things like that, and I will write them straight through until they run into people from other sequences. At that point, I'll usually stop and do the next one straight through, or I'll just skip those chapters and go on, depending on what's going on. I do it by group, and the reason for that is: juggling all of these characters in your head, and making sure I'm keeping every character true to themselves, it's kind of like I have to upload a bunch of stuff into my brain, and then wipe it clean and upload a bunch of other stuff for another sequence. So for instance, for this book, Perrin and Faile and everyone around them would have been written straight through, and then I jumped back and would've done Mat, and so forth.

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  • 77

    Interview: Nov 7th, 2010

    Hilwa Katir

    Some things you may or may have not known:

    Harriet McDougal Rigney

    Harriet graduated from Harvard University. She had a hand in editing The Way of Kings and drum roll please, Brandon let it slip that there will be one more opportunity to make a donation and have the chance to have your name be in the Final book of the series!!!!!! THANK YOU!

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  • 78

    Interview: Nov 13th, 2010

    David Larsen

    You know that feeling when you finish a good book and you wish it wasn't over? "I wish that book had been 100 pages longer," you think. Well no, you probably don't, because that would have meant 100 pages of padding. A good book defines its own proper length. But wouldn't it be nice to find a good book whose proper length was really, really long? Let me introduce you to Brandon Sanderson.

    Brandon Sanderson

    "You know, I trimmed it a lot. It's the right length. It's the length it needs to be. It's fair to say it is not a small book." Sanderson is talking about The Way of Kings, his latest novel. It is, and let's just fixate on this for a moment, very long, indeed.

    David Larsen

    One of my favourite New Zealand novels, Nigel Cox's The Cowboy Dog, is about 60,000 words long. If you put six copies of The Cowboy Dog between one set of covers, The Way of Kings would still be longer. The first time Sanderson showed it to a publisher, the response was a shaky, "Do you know what getting this thing printed and bound would cost us?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson laughed, and offered the publisher three smaller books instead. Those three books made his name, attracted a very scary phone call, and made The Way of Kings a viable publishing proposition. But let's back up a little.

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  • 79

    Interview: Nov 13th, 2010

    David Larsen

    Meanwhile, Sanderson has also found time to go back and rewrite The Way of Kings and sell it to his publishers, who by this time were very glad to take it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's worth mentioning here—"though my publisher would rather I stopped talking about this, they think it's off-putting"—that he had always intended it to be volume one of a 10-book series, The Stormlight Archive, each book of which will be about the size of the first.

    "The thing about fantasy novels is that they start off with a very steep learning curve. They're like historical novels, except that the world is entirely invented. You have to learn new names, you have to learn new laws of physics, new geography, new history, all of these things."

    "This is what fantasy readers love, but when you're making the effort to master all this information it's nice to maximise the payoff. That's what a big series has that a shorter series doesn't, it can be far more richly immersive. You get to spend serious time in this new world."

    David Larsen

    In other words, even before he was tapped to complete Jordan's magnum opus, Sanderson was setting out to be his generation's answer to Robert Jordan. Is he not worried, with nearly four million words of projected storytelling ahead of him on this series alone, that he may meet a similar fate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    "I'm still pretty young. Plus, I live in perpetual fear of this distant cubicle far behind me. Some day I worry it will catch me and I'll have to become an insurance salesman or something. So I tend to work pretty hard. My hope is that I'll be releasing two of these books every three years. There'll probably be a third book in there as well, something smaller to keep me fresh. We'll see."

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  • 80

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    He mentioned that doing Towers of Midnight and rewriting/editing The Way of Kings the same year was quite intense in terms of time. He is still committed to getting books out quickly and regularly, but The Way of Kings and Towers of Midnight in one year was more than he wants to do on a regular basis.

    He is going to take three months to reread the series and plans to have A Memory of Light done by end 2011 for a release in early 2012.

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  • 81

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2010

    Question

    What's up with Szeth? (The Way of Kings)

    Brandon Sanderson

    He's very bound by his honor, but very messed up psychologically.

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  • 82

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2010

    Question

    When will you come out with the next Stormlight book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A year after A Memory of Light.

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  • 83

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2010

    Question

    You seem to want to write your own Wheel of Time with The Way of Kings, first book of The Stormlight Archive—a series which should consist of ten books. Could you tell us more about it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can. You don't grow up reading Robert Jordan and Melanie Rawn and all of these people who've done large epic series without wanting to do one yourself. I started planning a large epic of my own many years ago, and finding a publisher and convincing them to take a chance on me is very difficult: the longer your book is, the more ambitious, the more hesitant they are—and rightly so, because that can fail. You know, the high opportunity for success also generally means great opportunity for failure. And so this was a book I actually sent to Tor, and they said: "This isn't the right time for this, it's not the right time in your career for this", which was okay. So it's been brewing for a long time; it's dealing with a lot of themes and concepts that I wanted to deal with for a long time.

    And again it comes back to me trying to look at where fantasy can go, not where it's been. A lot of fantasy seems to be very static: the technology doesn't change, the world doesn't change. It's been thousands of years in these fantasy worlds, and there's been no evolution of culture, or technology or anything like this: it's always been that way, and it will always remain that way—which bothers me a lot. It's not realistic, but it also does not give a lot of opportunity for conflict and change and the exploration of that sort of thing.

    The Way of Kings is many things: it's about the dawning of essentially an era of Renaissance, a magical Renaissance, exploration of what magic can do, and the conflicts of magic and technology. But that is actually kind of the background of the series, and in the first book it's much more personal. It's about a young man who was trained as a surgeon by his father, who gets recruited against his will, essentially, into a terrible war. And it's about the conflict between having been taught to heal and then being trained to kill. And what does that do to a person? How do you protect, who can you protect, and who can you heal, when your entire life is about fighting for your life or killing other people? And that really drives him. It's also a story about a young woman who is based a little bit on a mix between Darwin and Pliny the Elder, a natural historian who's kind of at the advent of this Renaissance, this beginning of a magical technology revolution, and her life and experience. It's both of those characters: it's about the characters.

    It's so hard to explain a book this large, because if I start talking about the large-scale concepts, those don't even appear in the first book; they're just hinted at.

    But one of the other things about The Way of Kings that I like to talk about is that I want to see, again, where the genre can go, and I've been pushing for a lot more art. Scott Westerfeld did a very interesting book that included a lot of art recently; it's kind of a half-graphic novel. I wanted, with Way of Kings, to do something like that. If you read Tolkien: Tolkien had a map, and this map had a purpose. If you looked in the book it was a map that the characters actually carried; it was part of the world. And the map has actually, for a fantasy novel, become something of a cliché: you open it up, there's a map, okay. But I don't like that because it's just there: where did this map come from, what does it represent? I want everything to be a piece of the story.

    So I wanted to include a lot of art that was pieces of the story: sketchbooks from one of the characters' notebooks, illuminated manuscript pages from a manuscript they're reading—these sorts of things, so when you read you can see their culture in the art. I've been very excited about it.

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  • 84

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    duiker8 ()

    Is the fact that The Way of Kings and rest of the books in the series are going to focus each one on a different character connected in any way to the fact that both The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight focused each one on a pair of characters?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    No, not really. Most of my plans for the Stormlight Archive go back years and years to before I was working on the Wheel of Time. I would say that the The Gathering Storm/Towers of Midnight character split happened because of the book split, less than any real planning on my part. I had the character arcs and decided which ones would fit well together if I was only going to be releasing one batch of them at a time.

    So the answer is no, but with the caveat that with the way my mind works, it may have been working in the same way in both cases.

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  • 85

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    Andrew B ()

    Was the symbol of the Ghostbloods the same symbol that you used to move between different scenes in The Way of Kings' chapters (the three diamonds in a triangle pattern)?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    The Ghostbloods' symbol has interconnected diamonds. I didn't ask Tor for a specific scene break character; that was a design decision on their part.

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  • 86

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    Jemaclus ()

    In The Way of Kings, the epigrams indicate that the year is 1174 (or thereabouts). In the Prelude, the date is indicated as 3000 years ago. What mechanism is used to delineate the epochs? Obviously in the Prelude they wouldn't refer to their date as -2174. In other words, what are the B.C./A.D./BCE equivalents for that series?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    
I'm going to have to RAFO that.

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  • 87

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    oscar816 ()

    I saw an interview of you talking about Way of Kings before it came out/before I read it. In the interview you mentioned the ten knights and each book will focus/ be about one of the knights. After reading book one I can honestly say, I have no idea which Knight was supposed to be in book one. Is this by design? Or did I miss the point?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm not sure what the question means. Do you mean the Heralds? Or the ten orders of the Knights Radiant? The symbol stamped into the front of the first hardcover represents the Windrunners because of Kaladin's awakening as a Windrunner. Also because of Szeth, but mostly because of Kaladin.

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  • 88

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    Mike Potts ()

    What's the general time line on Stormlight Archive releases? Do you plan any major gaps in the series, or will books 2-10 likely be your main projects for the next few years?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    I wrote a blog post on this back in October.

    After I finish A Memory of Light, my major novel publishing schedule will be Stormlight Archive books two years in a row, followed by something else the next year. This pattern should continue until the series is finished. That doesn't count shorter exploratory side projects like Alcatraz or The Rithmatist (formerly called Scribbler), which comes out in 2012. I'll do one or two of those every year when I take a break after finishing a major novel, and not all of them will get polished to publication standards. Those deviations are largely to keep me from burning out.

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  • 89

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    Mike Potts ()

    Are any secondary The Way of Kings characters likely to become more major in the next book?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    Jasnah, Navani, and Taln all have expanded parts in the series to come. I won't say specifically in which books, but all three of those characters will have larger roles. Several of the members of Bridge Four have larger roles; they will basically remain secondary characters, but may have expanded viewpoints.

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  • 90

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2011

    Maru Nui ()

    You've said you lifted the Shattered Plains from Dragonsteel, what would Kaladin have been doing if not running bridges and what will happen to Dragonsteel without the Plains?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    Both good questions. I've spoken before of the big changes that happened when I wrote The Way of Kings 2.0. One of them was bringing in the Shattered Plains. The problem was that there was a big hole in Kaladin's storyline, because in the original manuscript of The Way of Kings (major spoiler), he accepted the Shardblade. That was the prologue of the book; Kaladin—then known as Merin—saved Elhokar's life. They tried to take the Shardblade away from him, and Dalinar insisted that he be given it. So Merin was made a Shardbearer in the very first scenes of the book. And from that point, his character never worked. So in doing the second version of the book, I decided that no, we've got to build more into this, we've got to dig deeper, and he has to make the opposite decision, which is where the entire framework of him turning down the Shardblade and then being betrayed all came from. The problem was then what was he going to do? I knew I wanted him to have therefore ended up sold into slavery and have terrible things happen to him, but I couldn't figure out what Kaladin was going to do and was unable to write the book until I mashed in the Shattered Plains and said, "Ah, that was what he needed to be doing all along."

    I really don't know what I'll do in Dragonsteel without that now. The problem is that it was the part of Dragonsteel that worked, but it was the part that was most at odds with the story in Dragonsteel. The story that I wanted to tell was the first half of the book, which is the more boring part. Hopefully as a better writer now I can make that part more interesting, but that was the core of what Dragonsteel was. The Shattered Plains was always just going to be a small diversion, but when I wrote it it was fascinating, and I ended up pouring tons of effort and time into it. In many ways it was a distraction, a deviation, a beautiful darling. So for a long time I've been thinking, "I can't kill my darling, because that's the most exciting part of the book." Yet it was at odds with what the story of the book was originally intended to be. I wasn't as good at controlling my stories back then, making them come out to have the tone I wanted. Anyway, we'll have to approach that when I actually write Dragonsteel.

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  • 91

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    The art featured in The Way of Kings is very striking and has been well-received by readers. Do you have any plans to include more art in your future books—other books as well as The Stormlight Archive? Or maybe as bonus content on your website?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There will be more art in future Stormlight Archive books. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and I think adding a visual aspect to novels helps create a more complete and immersive experience. You'll notice that art has been important to one extent or another in all of my books. Elantris had its map and the Aons; Mistborn had its maps and the Steel Alphabet. The Rithmatist, when it comes out in 2012, will have extensive magic system diagrams with every chapter.

    Including a map in a fantasy book has become a bit of a cliché ever since Tolkien did it. But if you go back and look at what Tolkien actually did, the map that was in the book was an in-world artifact—it was something the characters carried around with them and used. So I've approached the art in my books in a similar manner. Each piece represents something that is made and used by the people in the world of the books. I think that helps give a richer feel to the world I'm creating.

    One thing you probably won't see me doing in future novels is including character art. I want to leave exactly how characters look up to the imagination of the reader. But I'm a big fan of the sequential art storytelling form as well, so you'll likely see me do some completely graphic novels in the future.

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  • 92

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    You've mentioned that each of the smaller glyphs on the inside cover of the The Way of Kings represents a type of magic. Can you tell us how many of these types we've seen so far?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Remember that to get an order of the Knights Radiant you take two of the small glyphs and one of the large glyphs. The large glyph represents a concept or an ideal mixed with an essence, what they call the elements of this world, with two magics attached to it. You have seen the Windrunners, which is the first, top-right glyph, mixed with the two Surges—the forces in this world—attached to it. So you've seen pressure and gravitation as mixed together to form a Windrunner. You have seen one of the other Surges, which is Soulcasting—Transformation—though which other Surges that mixes with to form orders of the Knights Radiant I am not specifically going to say at this time. What else have you seen? Those are the only ones that are overt. But you have seen the effects of others.

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  • 93

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    The spren are a really unique part of Roshar. Do you have rules for deciding what "gets" spren (wind, flames, glory, creation, life, death) and what doesn't? Have you introduced most of the spren types, or will we see a lot of new ones as the series goes on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You will find out much more about the spren as the series goes on. There are a lot of things that get spren where the spren are not noticeable, or they only occur in very rare circumstances or in certain regions, as Axies explains. So the phrase "There's a spren for that" that I've seen popping around on the internet is actually fairly accurate. There's a spren for quite a lot of things. I don't want to delve too deeply into this until I've written more in the series and you begin to understand exactly what the spren are.

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  • 94

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    Can all spren imprint on someone—like Syl has with Kaladin—or is this ability special to certain types of spren? (I just got a mental picture of a flamespren taking notice of the pyromaniac noble girl from the castle market exercise in your JordanCon talk. Not sure that would end well.)

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is special to certain types of spren. There you go, a non-RAFO.

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  • 95

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    You've said that Shadesmar is the cognitive relam connecting all the worlds in the cosmere, and that Hoid is very good at using Shadesmar. Should we take this to mean Shadesmar is how he travels between the worlds? Do the other worlds have different ways of accessing Shadesmar than the way(s) the people of Roshar use?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

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  • 96

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    At the end of The Way of Kings, several key characters seem to be converging on the Shattered Plains. The Way of Kings takes place mainly on the Plains and Kharbranth. Do you plan to spend much time in new locations in book 2?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Book 2 will begin with Shallan and Jasnah either very close to or arriving at the Shattered Plains.

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  • 97

    Interview: Dec 25th, 2010

    Question

    Everyone's favorite Wheel of Time question has been answered—after Towers of Midnight, we now know who killed Asmodean. It doesn't seem right to leave you without a WoT question, so in honor of Asmodean: What do you think would happen if Rand managed to hurl Padan Fain through the Bore into the Dark One's prison?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Dark One would spit him back out because he tastes bad.

    In honor of Asmodean, I'll say that there is a mysterious death in The Way of Kings that could use some resources devoted to it. I did not put it in there simply because of Asmodean, but as I thought about it after writing it, I said, "Oh wow, I wonder if people will pick up on that." So there you go.

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  • 98

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    ArchAuthor ()

    Seeing as this is a planned ten book series, do you ever fear that your writing will deteriorate along with the length of the series like Robert Jordan's (arguably) did?

    Brandon Sanderson

    First question first, as it is an excellent one.

    Long series run into some problems, particularly if they're a single, ongoing story rather than a sequence of episodes. Robert Jordan ran into some of these problems, as has George R. R. Martin. I think much of it can be mitigated by releasing books regularly. The Wheel of Time reads much differently to me now that I know the ending, and am not waiting years between books, only to get one that doesn't feel like it progresses the story as far as I want.

    I feel the other big danger with the long series is the explosion of side characters. Sometimes, it seems that their narratives—and their plots—take the bulk of books, causing some bloat to the series.

    I can't promise my writing won't deteriorate. I haven't ever tried something of this length before. However, I have attempted to do some things specifically in the construction of my outline to try to forestall it. Specifically, I've outlined quite a lot. (See my other reply.) I know where I'm going.

    Tangents will be kept to a minimum; I've given myself the interludes, as I've mentioned before, to let me explore some tangents. I think this will keep me from feeling I need to tell entire books about side characters; I can give them an interlude, and hint at a greater story for them. Then I can leave them be.

    The other thing I'm doing has to do with the flashbacks. Each book will have a single focus character, and I will delve into their backstory. I'm hoping this will give each volume it's own cohesion; rather than just a tiny slice of a story, I hope this will help make each one feel like it is its own story.

    Time will tell if I succeed or not. Until then, I don't fault you for being wary.

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  • 99

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    ArchAuthor ()

    How long does it take to make a universe, how deep do you go?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on the book, honestly. For a thick, multi-volume epic fantasy, I take years working on the world. Such was the case with The Way of Kings, and a few of the other massive Epics I'm planning. Mistborn had about a year of planning ahead of time.

    Some books, however, I write more freely. I almost always spend a few months working on the world before writing; it's the thing I feel I need best fleshed out. However, it is dangerous as well. Some writers spend all of their time worldbuilding and none of their time writing.

    I try to focus my energies on areas of worldbuilding important to the conflict and the characters. In Mistborn, the languages weren't important—I was going to have everyone speaking one language. In Kings, language was more important, so I developed the linguistics. (Though that won't be manifest for a few more books.)

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  • 100

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    gunslingers ()

    The number 10 seems to be a recurring theme in this world. Are the Ten Fools the antithesis of the ten orders of the Knights Radiant?

    Have you ever killed off a character and later regretted it?

    When writing a battle scene in which thousands die do those deaths affect you in any way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    First Question: Yes, ten is a number of mythological import in the world. The Ten Fools are, essentially, the opposites of the Ten Heralds—who each represented an ideal. (Those ideals were later adopted by the orders of Knights Radiant, so yes, there is a connection—but there's a step between them.)

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  • 101

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    staircasewit ()

    I really enjoy your books, and I can only think of one question at the moment, perhaps I'll come back with more.

    I suppose my question is about how you name your characters. I've been reading WoT and notice some similarities, for example Cenn, and Sarene, and Shalon (different spelling, but they probably sound the same). Is it purely by accident that you have characters with similar names, or is it a homage to a recent master of the fantasy genre? Or is it just that with RJ's 2000+ names, it's impossible to escape some overlap? :) So I guess I'm curious about how you name your characters in general (and even places. Urithiru is an awesome name.)

    Thanks for your time, and your books!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I ended up with a lot of unconscious similarities in Kings as I was working on it for such an extended period of time. Cenn wasn't actually intentional. (At least, I don't think so; sometimes, it's hard to remember back to which names pop out intentionally and which do not.) The eyebrows of the Thaylens were, however, an intentional homage, as is the name of the mountains by where Szeth's people live.

    There is going to be some overlap. Sarene is a great example of this; I'm pretty sure that one is just coincidence, though I'd lay odds on Cenn being an unconscious influence.

    Some of the names in the book were constructed quite intentionally to fit linguistic paradigms of the setting. Urithiru, for example, is a palindrome—which are holy in the Alethi and Veden tongues. Some names, like Shallan, are intentionally one letter off of a holy word—as to not sound too arrogant. (Shallash would be the holy word; nobility will often change one letter to create a child's name to evoke the holy term, but not be blasphemous.)

    With many, I just go for the right feel. I've worked these names over for years and years at this point. Dalinar's name has been set in place for a good ten years or so, but Kaladin used to be named Merin and Szeth used to be named Jek. (The first changed because I didn't like it; the second changed because the linguistics of the Shin people changed and I needed a name that better fit.)

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  • 102

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    ISw3arItWasntM3 ()

    Before I ask my questions I just wanted to say I loved Mistborn and found The Gathering Storm to be my favorite WoT book after The Great Hunt.

    For my question I was wondering, how do you go about worldbuilding? Do you come up with a premise for a book before creating a world for it or do you like to create a world first and then come up with a story to take place in it? Got a favorite part of worldbuilding?

    Also, where do you feel you've improved most as a writer since your beginning? And if you'd like to go one further, what do you think are some common flaws which tend to be found an author's earlier works?

    Thanks for taking the time to do this!

    Brandon Sanderson

    First Question:

    I jump around a lot when outlining, and so things kind of grow in one place (maybe character backgrounds) and that sparks me thinking about something in the culture, so I jump over there and work on it for a while. Then over to plot, then back to world.

    However, Kings is a little different in that I specifically spent months and months doing dedicated worldbuilding for the novel. In this case, I started with the most important setting elements and explored them in a kind of encyclopedia form, then moved on from there.

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  • 103

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    Phaz ()

    In your gut instinct, who would win in a fight, Marsh (no atium, limited feruchemy) or Szeth? (Or maybe we could go Zane & Szeth since I see a lot of similarities in their characters. They also happen to be my favorites from their respective series)

    One of the interesting things I really liked about the book was Jasnah's lack of faith. It seems like during a lot of the scenes where that is an issue, you give her the upper hand. She makes some argument or point and the other characters leave it unchallenged. For instance the line where she says something like "Religion looks for super natural explanations to natural phenomena, science looks for natural explanations to super natural phenomena." That side of her seemed incredibly well written and genuine. Was it hard to do? Where did you get her arguments/points from? I swear a lot of what she says could of been ripped from comments of /r/atheism.

    Lastly, I've been rereading the Mistborn series again after reading The Way of Kings twice in a row so I could decide which I liked more. So far...it's still a tie. I'm really liking getting back into the Mistborn world though. That has me super excited for Alloy of Law. Once it get's a bit more polished would it be possible to get an early copy? :)

    Brandon Sanderson

    First question: It's always hard to answer these questions, since there are so many factors. Do the combatants start at a distance? If so, Marsh/Zane have a huge advantage; they have the ability to fling coins.

    Does Szeth have metal on him? Szeth's Shardblade would be mostly immune to Pushing and Pulling, as it's an Invested object. But he'd still have trouble getting to them if he had a clasp on his shoes, for example. He doesn't carry a lot of metal, but he might have some.

    Overall, I'd say that a full-blown Mistborn would be tougher than Szeth in most cases.

    Also, send me a PM with your Email, Phaz. I can't find your email in my address book. I remember that it's not something I expect it to be, so I'm having trouble looking it up.

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  • 104

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    JamesKY ()

    First off, I really enjoyed The Way of Kings. I became more emotionally attached to the characters in this book than I did in Mistborn or Elantris. Dalinar and Kaladin are some of my favorite literary characters of all time.

    My question is in regards to the audio book version of The Way of Kings. I think Michael Kramer and Kate Reading did a great job narrating the book and creating voices for each of the characters but I wanted to know what you thought about it. Do you feel like the characters were portrayed accurately based on your original ideas for them?

    I'm also reading WoT for the first time. I just finished A Crown of Swords and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens and how you complete the series. I just hope it doesn't delay the sequel to The Way of Kings too much. ;)

    Brandon Sanderson

    I asked for Michael and Kate specifically, since I've liked their work on the Wheel of Time. That said, it's always an odd experience to hear the book read by someone else. In fact, I find it an odder experience than getting cover art, which is arguably a larger 'interpretation' of my work than a reading is. I think with the reading, I find myself wanting to tweak and change things, so it's kind of a nerve-wracking experience.

    I think Michael and Kate did a great job, though sometimes, it's a strange experience to hear voices I associate with WoT characters being used for someone else.

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  • 105

    Interview: Feb 28th, 2011

    nowonmai666 ()

    Hi! Two sort-of related questions here, about the writing process:

    What would you do differently if you were writing the books to be released all at pretty much the same time (like Lord of The Rings) rather than as episodic updates? Would you still go into the same level of detail in describing relatively trivial events such as the affixing of contraband from the Chasms to the underside of permanent bridges?

    I'll probably finish up the book later today, and if/when I write the review it will be a mixture of fulsome praise and F7U12-level frustration. The latter is largely because you set up so many questions—hints about characters' backgrounds, secrets about the world, its people and its magic, riddles wrapped in mysteries inside enigmas. After 1007 pages I feel I deserve more answers! I imagine you planting the seeds of mysteries and thinking "haha, I'll make 'em suffer 8 years before they get the answer to that one!". The question here is how do you balance (1) providing enough information to make the world and characters seem consistent, real and immersive with (2) withholding information for revelation later in the series? Do you consciously think about building up trust in the reader that the questions they have will one day be answered, or worry that the reader might think everything is so mysterious it will probably end up in a nonsensical betrayal like so many scifi films and tv series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a very interesting question.

    I actually wrote the Mistborn trilogy straight through before releasing the first, so I have some experience doing it both ways now. With Kings, I'm much more careful with my foreshadowing. Maybe to the point of teasing. That's a contrast to Mistborn, where I may have been too blunt with my foreshadowing. (Or just not put it in.)

    The trilogy there was one book in my mind, so things that happened at the end of the first book that should have been better foreshadowed didn't get the foreshadowing they deserve—because I was looking at them as elements I was introducing 1/3 the way through the story, and thinking of them as being on a proper curve of information.

    The balance of what to provide and what to withhold has more to do with not bogging down this story with details for a future story than it does with trying to tease. In my mind, this book is three things: Kaladin's experiences as a bridgeman 2) Dalinar's decision to do what he does at the end of the book 3) Shallan's first apprenticeship. I wanted to keep the narrative focused on those things, and provide climaxes dealing with those three concepts. Other secrets and teases are more intended to begin setting up future stories.

    However, the "Lost" effect (making the mysteries so cool that no reveal can live up to them) is in the forefront of my mind. My feeling is that instead of dragging them eight books, I should be quick to give answers in future volumes. The things that span eight books as secrets shouldn't be the ones that you're wondering at in the first book; they should be the things that, after you begin wondering about them in the seventh book, you can look back to the first book and see the hints. Then you get your answers in the eighth.

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  • 106

    Interview: Apr 13th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are also a couple of other updates. Towers of Midnight has made it to the semifinals of Audible's Tournament of Audiobooks, but it is currently behind in votes to Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. If you liked the Towers of Midnight audiobook, consider giving it your vote. (Of course you can vote for Matterhorn instead, if you think that was a better audiobook.)

    The Stormlight Archive character name auction is still going on. The local newspaper did an article on it.

    I haven't linked this week's Writing Excuses podcast episode yet. Recent episodes were recorded at LTUE when I was at ConDFW, so I haven't been appearing, but this episode marks my return. Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, and I talk about urban fantasy.

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  • 107

    Interview: Dec 23rd, 2010

    Scott Wilson

    Thank you so much taking the time to chat with us here at The Fringe magazine. Like Stephen King's Dark Tower series, you worlds exist in the same universe and are linked somehow. Is there any particular reason to have this link rather than create a fresh and new world, with new systems and characters?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I started doing this early in my career before I got published, when I felt that writing sequels was not a good use of my time. Just look at the hypothetical; if I'm trying to get published and I write three books in the same, if an editor rejects book one, he or she is not going to want to see book two. But if an editor rejects book one but is optimistic about my writing, I can send them a book from another series and they can look at that.

    During my unpublished days I wrote thirteen books, only one of which was a sequel. So I had twelve new worlds, or at least twelve new books—some of them were reexaminations of worlds. But I wanted to be writing big epics. This is what I always wanted to do; something like the Wheel of Time. So I began plotting a large, massive series where all these books were connected, so I could kind of "stealth" have a large series without the editors knowing I was sending them books from the same series. It was mostly just a thing for me, to help me do the writing I wanted to be doing. And then when publication came I continued to do that, and told the story behind the story.

    Why not do separate worlds? Because it was more interesting for me this way. This is the story I want to tell. The big, overarching story that I've planned out. I've been talking recently about how my inspiration for this is the idea that in science people have for a long time been looking for a unified theory of physics, some theory that will explain all interactions of physics in a concise way. I wanted to tell about a universe where there was a unified theory of magic, where magic worked according to a unifying principle. Despite the magic systems looking very different and doing lots of different and interesting things, hopefully original for each book, there is an underlying rationale that is keeping them all together. I write what I find interesting, and that was interesting to me.

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  • 108

    Interview: Dec 23rd, 2010

    Scott Wilson

    Your battle systems are both complex and innovative. In writing these scenes, was a significant amount of research necessary, and did you encounter any difficulties when writing the sequences?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on what I was trying for in the various different books. For instance, in Mistborn, I wanted the battle sequences to be very personal. One-on-one, allomantic fights, or one-on-small group.

    As a novelist, feel that I need to approach action sequences differently from how movies approach them. In a film you can watch Jackie Chan going through this marvelous fifteen-minute blow-by-blow fight, but I think that in fiction the same thing written out descriptively would get very boring. I can't compete with movies in that regard. So I try to make my action sequences character-driven and problem-solving-driven, as well as how the magic system works. I look at what resources the character has, what they are trying to achieve, who they are and how that influences their actions.

    For The Way of Kings it was a little bit different in that I was trying to do large-scale warfare, and in that case I needed to look to historical accounts and research and read up on how actual battles played out. Something that gave me a bit of leeway was setting the battles in scenery like the Shattered Plains. One of the reasons I did that is because it's fantastical scenery that couldn't exist in our world, at least not in the same way, and it therefore allows me to exercise my fantasy worldbuilder muscles as well as my historical warfare muscles, such as they are. Putting all of that together let me create scenes that are hopefully unlike anything others have written or that my readers have read.

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  • 109

    Interview: Dec 23rd, 2010

    Scott Wilson

    You have really broken the mold and steered away from the usual races of the fantasy genre, is there any major reason why you avoided the standard tropes, such as elves and orcs?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A couple of reasons. Those are really two questions. Why did I avoid the standard tropes? For a long time I've felt that epic fantasy has relied too much on Tolkien, who did a wonderful job, but I feel that rather than doing what he did by creating races and mythologies and worlds of our own we've in some ways allowed ourselves to be strongly influenced by him and relied on some of the work he did. In other cases those tropes have just been overplayed and overdone by people who were very good writers and knew what they were doing. I certainly don't want to point any fingers at people like Stephen Donaldson who wrote brilliant books making use of some of the familiar tropes from Tolkien, but one of the things to remember is that when he did that they weren't familiar tropes. They were still fresh and new. The same can be said for Terry Brooks. I'm sure if I were writing back then that's what I would have done too, because we were still exploring the genre and trying to decide where it was going to go and what epic fantasy was and meant. But I feel that I belong to the generation after that. There was the generation who relied a lot on Tolkien and the generation who grew up reading those authors' books, and a lot of us in my generation of writers seem like we are reacting against the previous generations by saying, "Okay, that's been done, and you did a good job. Where else can we take this?" I have no interest in writing about elves or dwarves or any of these things that have been explored for the last four decades in intricate detail. I want to go my own directions.

    But personally, why do I include the races that I include? I'm just looking for interesting things that complement the story that I'm telling. The races in The Way of Kings come directly into the story and the mystery of what's happened before. If you pay close attention to what the races are, it tells you something about what's going to happen in the future and what's happened in the past. It's very conscious. This is just me trying to explore.

    I feel that epic fantasy as a genre has not yet hit its golden age yet. If you look at science fiction as a genre, science fiction very quickly got into extrapolating very interesting and different sorts of things. Fantasy, particularly in the late '90s, feels like it hit a bit of a rut where the same old things were happening again and again. We saw the same stories being told, we saw the same races show up, we saw variations only in the names for those races. For me as a reader, it was a little bit frustrating because I read this and felt that fantasy should be the genre that should be able to do anything. It should be the most imaginative genre. It should not be the genre where you expect the same stories and the same creatures. If we want to approach the heights of great storytelling and take it a few more steps so that we don't just copy what Tolkien did, we do what Tolkien did, which is look to the lore ourselves and build our own extrapolations. This is playing into what I like as a reader and my own personal philosophies and hobby horses, but it really just comes down to what I think makes the best story.

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  • 110

    Interview: May 30th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    About the scheduling. He plans to start writing the next Stormlight Archive book right after he turns in A Memory of Light. He hopes to write two books for the Stormlight Archive in a row. The first of those might (very early estimates) be released at the end of 2012, or early 2013.

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  • 111

    Interview: May 30th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    He talked about the link between his magic systems. One of the core principles is 'investing'. In a lot of his systems people are through some mechanism invested with magic powers. In Elantris through the Shaod, In Mistborn it's genetic, in The Way of Kings it depends on what someone has done.

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  • 112

    Interview: May 30th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    Objects with almost sentient behavior like Nightblood in Warbreaker share important links with the spren from The Way of Kings. If you understand the spren you will understand a lot about the connection between the books.

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  • 113

    Interview: May 30th, 2011

    Ashley

    Ashley asked "Who is Hoid?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon answered that we would have to wait and read it later. When asked in what book the answer would be, Brandon was vague. It would probably not even be revealed in Stormlight Archive book 10. In the end He gave Ashley a R.A.F.O. card and a WoT sticker.

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  • 114

    Interview: Jun 4th, 2011

    Question

    Fans wanted to know when the next book in the Way of Kings series would be out.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson confirmed this would be after the last Wheel of Time book was published.

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  • 115

    Interview: Aug 29th, 2011

    Literatopia

    In April The Way of the Kings will be published in German. What's in store for the reader? What kind of topics do you deal with in the novel, what's your focus?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One very common story in fantasy, ever since Tolkien, is how the magic is going away. In the Stormlight Archive I wanted to write a story about the magic coming back. According to the mythology of the world, mankind used to live in heaven until a group of evil spirits known as the Voidbringers assaulted and captured it, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, a world of storms, but the Voidbringers chased them there, trying to push them off of Roshar and into Damnation. To help men cope, the Almighty gave them powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, men resisted the Voidbringers ten thousand times, finally winning and finding peace. Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world, essentially, is at war with itself—and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne.

    That's the backstory. The book follows a young spearman forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight. It will deal with the truth of what happened deep in mankind's past. Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?

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  • 116

    Interview: Aug 29th, 2011

    Literatopia

    Dalinar is Alethkar's military leader fighting for unity between humans. What else can you tell us about this character? Can he be compared to any of your previous characters or is he a completely new creation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In my mind, all of my characters are unique individuals with their own experiences, hopes, and ways of thinking. The character who became Dalinar actually began life back in the very first novel I started writing when I was a teenager. He's the aging warlord, the man who was a bloodthirsty berserker in his youth but is now beginning to question his society's concept that war is an end unto itself. I have always had a firm sense of him in my mind, and I've been saving him for the right book. The Way of Kings is where he fits.

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  • 117

    Interview: Aug 29th, 2011

    Literatopia

    Expectations are high for The Way of Kings. Does that influence you? If so, how? Does it mean more pressure for you or does it motivate you to give it your absolute best?

    Brandon Sanderson

    With the Stormlight Archive, I've set out from the start to write a ten-book series. This is the grand epic that I've wanted to write since I was a teenager. It is certainly daunting to set out to do something so complicated. Some people have said that this is the next big series to follow the Wheel of Time. I don't think I can ever replace Robert Jordan's genius, and equalling the Wheel of Time is beyond what I hope to do. If the Stormlight Archive ultimately ended up even half as successful as the Wheel of Time became, I would be overjoyed. But I do feel pressure&mdsah;mostly from my own expectations. This is my big series, and I have to do it right. It's off to a very good start, and the reader response has been overwhelmingly positive.

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  • 118

    Interview: Aug 29th, 2011

    Literatopia

    Your stories are often promoted as being unique and unprecedented. What do you think about propositions like that? Have you ever been afraid of being unable to meet the market's expectations concerning your writing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In my writing I try to combine the unfamiliar with the familiar. If something is too unique and unprecedented, then readers won't have anything to relate to and will just be lost.

    But if something is too familiar, it will feel stale and cliche. I like to look for twists on familiar tropes that haven't been extensively covered before. This often comes when I read other books in the field and think of a different way something could go. That's not to say other authors aren't doing the same thing, but I like to tackle takes that I haven't seen before. Trying to do what the market expects of you is a bit of a trap in the publishing field. You want your books to be things that people want to write, but if you try to write to the market you usually end up with something too familiar and boring. Back when I was writing those thirteen books I was sending the good examples out to editors and agents and getting a lot of rejection letters. (Elantris was the first book I wrote that I felt was good enough to send out, and I also sent out a couple I wrote after it.) After being told time and time again that my books were too long (Elantris in manuscript form was 250,000 words), I decided to try to do what I thought the market wanted and write books that were a lot shorter. But I discovered that the books I turned out in that format just weren't any good; they contained some very interesting ideas but were lacking in many areas.

    When Moshe bought Elantris and wanted to follow it up with another novel, I first offered him The Way of Kings but we realized that it was too ambitious a project at that point in time. So instead I took concepts from three of those failed novels and rewrote them into the first Mistborn book, writing it at the length my natural style seemed to work best at. And Mistborn was a huge success.

    You shouldn't assume that when you've read one Brandon Sanderson novel, you know what the next one is going to be like. From one series to the next I like to try different things. I know that some readers who really liked Mistborn are not going to like The Way of Kings; Mistborn had a narrower scope and faster pace than a huge epic like The Way of Kings has, and if a reader prefers that sort of book that is perfectly okay with me. I am going to write some books that are fast-paced and others that are huge epics. I like to change things up.

    Tags

  • 119

    Interview: Aug 21st, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    There will likely be glimpses of a Stormwarden in the Way of Kings interlude.

    Tags

  • 120

    Interview: Sep, 2011

    Leigh Butler

    Tell me about your series The Stormlight Archive, of which the first book, The Way of Kings, was published last August. What's the motivation behind writing this story?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Stormlight Archive—you don't grow up reading the books I read, such as the Wheel of Time, without wanting to tell a big epic, and this is kind of what I always wanted to do, to have my own big epic. It's what I love to read and so it's what I want to write. So I've always planned for The Stormlight Archive to be very big, and hopefully meaty and weighty. I started writing about the characters as long as two decades ago, and I finished the first draft of The Way of Kings in 2002, so almost ten years ago now. So it's a series I've been working on for a long time.

    I think you'll find that most authors have series like this; for Robert Jordan it was The Wheel of Time. And people have asked me if I want this to be my Wheel of Time, but that's a very difficult comparison for someone to make. What I want is for this to be a great story, hopefully told really well; it's a story I've been wanting to tell for years and years. And time will tell how that turns out.

    Leigh Butler

    What are your plans for the series as a whole?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It will be multi-volume; I pitched it to Tom Doherty [of Tor Books] as ten books, and I envision it as being a project I work on for a very long time, and try to do these audacious things I've wanted to do forever.

    It's very art-intensive, and very different from the other books I've done; it incorporates some of the other things I've liked to do from other books, but at the same time it's its own thing. So I view as something awesome that I want to be working on for a long time.

    Leigh Butler

    When is the next book in the series coming out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm planning the second book to be done following my finishing the Wheel of Time, so it will come, but it will probably be a little while.

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  • 121

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    Is there any iconography planned for the Twelve Heralds? [Editor's note: he means Ten.]

    Brandon Sanderson

    Like in what specific way?

    Question

    Images of them as the (indistinguishable)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There's already some in the book. Front cover. Look at the corners.

    Maybe eventually. The thing is, the Heralds are... they're mythological figures of lore. So what you'll see are things like that. Those are actually large representations of them in the archways.

    Question

    I remember reading about statues.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there are statues, and so maybe eventually you will get some drawings from Shallan regarding things like that. We'll see. It's a good question, though.

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  • 122

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    So in The Way of Kings you had a whole bunch of chapters with different characters. How are you planning on tying these chapters that you didn’t really go into depth with, in the next [book]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, the interludes?

    Question

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The whole purpose of the interludes is when I sat down to write this book, I thought: Okay. I want to get across the scope of this world and how big and immense this world is, and how big and immense just all of the different political structures and all of these things are. And looking at what other authors have done, namely Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin recently as a way to do that, they add new characters to show all this. But then that seems to kind of snowball on them, and by the middle books, there are so many characters that keeping track of them becomes a challenge, which may be the biggest challenge in those books. So when I sat down to write Way of Kings, I said, I want to do that, but I'm going to do that with throwaway characters. Meaning, all of the characters in the interludes are not necessarily characters you will ever see again. You can read the interludes as if they were short stories set in the world in between the main stories going on. Everything in those is important, but those characters you don't need to worry about remembering who they are because you may not ever see from them again. They may occasionally show up for things like this and if you love keeping track of all these characters—but you won't have to, in book two try and remember who those two ardents who were working with the spren were, or things like that. That's not generally going to be that important. I will usually do one interlude with a more major character, though, that I'm introducing like Szeth, in each section. Szeth, the Assassin in White. But most of those, don't worry about those. The whole point of those is that you can read them and and enjoy that chapter and then jump to something else.

    Question

    The Assassin in White, you know how he tied into the story, with the crazy king who had people killed—

    Brandon Sanderson

    Don't give spoilers in case people haven't read it!

    Question

    —yeah, is that going to tie into the story?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's very important.

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  • 123

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    Question for all three of you guys. I know there's a lack of artwork to be able to put as [desktop] backgrounds—I know Way of Kings has some really neat ones, but like I love the artwork on yours... I know a lot of the stuff you've done with Mistborn, with Way of Kings symbols, I'd love to have good hi-res stuff, so if you guys ever have time, put something like that on your websites because—

    Isaac Stewart

    I've actually got that. I can totally put that up [online], yeah.

    Question

    [unheard question]

    Brandon Sanderson

    We keep meaning to, for the people who bought the ebooks. In the ebooks you can't see the interior art really well; we're going to put up hi-res versions of it. It is planned, but we've just got so much stuff to do. (laughter) And I of course don't own the rights to Michael Whelan's artwork, so we can't do much with that. But we can put up Isaac's artwork.

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  • 124

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    With Szeth, the Assassin in White, is he tied to the stone or is it a genetic thing or is it kind of like a spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You mean his oathstone?

    Question

    Yeah, his oathstone.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Aah. You will get, here, have one of these. (laughter) Proudly presented to you, the first RAFO card of the night. You may pick that up if you want.

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  • 125

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    So, Michael Whelan did the cover for The Way of Kings, and I read that Tom Doherty called him up personally and asked him to do it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, he did.

    Question

    Are there any plans for him to continue to do them, like Darrel K. Sweet has done for the Wheel of Time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He's a very busy man. He said that, if it fits in the schedule, yes he will. But since we don't even have book two written yet, we don’t know. He's my favorite artist, so that would be wonderful. But, we will see.

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  • 126

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    Isaac, how closely do you work with someone like Brandon when you make the maps?

    Isaac Stewart

    Pretty closely. Brandon has a lot of say of what's on there, because of course it's his world. So I defer to him or Peter in everything as far as the maps come out.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, but he adds a lot himself. He's really good, so we give him free reign. My favorite thing that he did in Way of Kings, there's actually a map that is of the warcamps, the ten warcamps if you look at that one. And it's actually done in the style as if a famous artist came and toured them and then went home and did an idealized representation of them, and so you can read, you know "done by the artist blah blah blah". But the fun thing, Isaac kind of just did this, is yeah, I figured since he's probably got this big ego he's going to name stuff after himself, so there's a river that's named after the artist. That's not really, the artist just put it in his artwork as being named after him and you just have to notice this. You have to look and say, "by the artist such-and-such" and then at the bottom in the description is "and that goes past the mighty river..." what's his name? Vandonas, yes. Stuff like that where he's just naming stuff after himself. Yeah, Isaac gets a lot of free reign to do things like that because all the art, particularly from Way of Kings we wanted to be in-world and so the different artists doing them have different personalities and different goals. One is, you know, an official survey and another is an idealized representation, and everything in between. So you have to wear a bunch of different hats like I do when I write a book. He was becoming different artists.

    Isaac Stewart

    It's also fun too because Brandon will say things like "eh... there's a bunch of cities over here. Why don't you name them and I'll see if they fit." So there's some cities on the Way of Kings map I wrote down and he let them stay there. Who knows if people will actually go there.

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  • 127

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Question

    Is there a link with the fact that we know that Szeth is truthless and the fact that Honorspren are what cause Surgebinding? Is there a connection there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There may be. I won't say. That's a RAFO. Do you want a card?

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  • 128

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Josh

    Josh: Is Aona's Shard name Devotion?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO, but that's more of a "Email that question to me" because I would have to look at my computer to see which term I settled on, but you're basically there. [Note: we have emailed him, haven't heard a response yet.]

    Mi'chelle

    We've got the right idea.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I think it actually may be Devotion. So I'll have to look. It may be a synonym.

    Josh

    Is Skai Unity?

    (Brandon seems confused by the pronunciation. It is apparently more like "Skae".)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um, RAFO.

    Josh

    Passion?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What? RAFO. I'm not going to tell you. You already kind of pulled out of me what Aona was.

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  • 129

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Josh

    Is Galladon the Dula in Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, he is.

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  • 130

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Josh

    Is Soulcasting a subset of Surgebinding?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, it is.

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  • 131

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Josh

    Is the focus for Surgebinding the Body Focuses?

    Mi'chelle

    Is the body the focus for Surgebinding, I think is what he meant.

    [Eric's note: Well, I meant what I said, but whatever. :P]

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, okay. The Physical?

    Mi'chelle

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Surgebinding is... Yeah, kinda. That's a "yeah, kinda."

    Mi'chelle

    We'll figure it out in more detail later.

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  • 132

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Josh

    Do Splinters have their own Intent, in addition to the Shards'?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Splinters often have their own intent.

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  • 133

    Interview: Aug 4th, 2011

    Josh

    The Allomantic metals are separated into four quadrants. Do the Shards have classifications as well, in groups of four?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This division, the Allomantic division is a thing researchers and scholars placed upon it.

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  • 134

    Interview: Sep 13th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson (14 September 2010)

    Foreshadowing

    People have been asking me to expand on that essay, though it was written (originally) to be part of a series I did on writing The Way of Kings. I never had the time, however, and that was the only one that was fleshed out, so my assistant suggested it might be a good fit for a Scalzi guest blog. However, I do worry that some of the ideas are unformed, as it was written to come after several other essays I was planning.

    The short answer to your first comment is a yes, you are right. The realization I came to while working on The Way of Kings was that I was so accustomed to writing self-aware fantasy in the Mistborn books that I was searching to do the same with Kings. While anyone can enjoy Mistborn (I hope) it works best as a series for those who are familiar with (and expecting) tropes of epic fantasy to come their direction. That allows me to play with conventions and use reader expectations in a delightful way. But it also means that if you don't know those conventions, the story loses a little of its impact.

    But this is an interesting discussion as to the larger form of a novel. Is it okay, in an epic fantasy, to hang a gun on the mantle, then not fire it until book ten of the series written fifteen years later? Will people wait that long? Will it even be meaningful? My general instincts as a writer so far have been to make sure those guns are there, but to obscure them—or at least downplay them. People say this is so that I can be more surprising. But it's partially so that those weapons are there when I need them.

    It often seems to me that so much in a book is about effective foreshadowing. This deserves more attention than we give it credit. When readers have problems with characters being inconsistent, you could say this is a foreshadowing problem—the changes, or potential for change, within the character has not been presented in the right way. When you have a deus ex machina ending, you could argue that the problem was not in the ending, but the lack of proper framework at the start. Some of the biggest problems in books that are otherwise technically sound come from the lack of proper groundwork.

    In the case you mentioned, however, I think I would have cut the creature. Because you said it was slowing things down. There's an old rule of thumb in screenwriting that I've heard expressed in several ways, and think it works well applied to fiction. Don't save your best storytelling for the sequel. If your best storytelling isn't up front, you won't get a sequel. Of course, once you're done, you do need to come up with something as good or better for the sequel, otherwise it might not be worth writing.

    For The Way of Kings, I've had to walk a very careful balance. I do have ten books planned, but I had to make sure I was putting my best foot forward for the first book. I had to hang guns for the later novels, but not make this story about them—otherwise readers would be unsatisfied to only get part of a story.

    Question for you, then, Brent. Have you ever planned out a story to be a certain length, then ended up deciding there just wasn't enough there to justify it? I had trouble learning this balance as a younger writer, and some of my readers know that I wrote two failed books (one called Mistborn, the other called The Final Empire) in which neither one had enough material to form a novel. It wasn't until I combined the ideas and story together and wrote Mistborn: The Final Empire that everything worked.

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  • 135

    Interview: Jul 11th, 2010

    The Order Of The 17th Shard

    Hey Brandon, any chance you'll be having pre-approved "Storm Leader" type things for the Way of Kings tour?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm thinking we'll try something else that tour. The Storm Leaders were awesome, but we had Jason to set that all up. I may return to doing something like that on another tour, but this one will involve something else. I'll explain eventually.

    ERIK HOLMES

    Brandon, when does your tour for The Way of Kings start? I saw that you would be out this way later on in the month

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    The Way of Kings tour starts August 31st. Lasts about 3 weeks, with Dragoncon in the middle.

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  • 136

    Interview: Jul 11th, 2010

    Bashar

    After the WoT I made a decision to never read a series that is in progress. That's why I never read GRRM. Will I have that problem with the Stormlight Archive or will each book have very satisfying conclusions?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I try VERY hard to do that in all of my books. So hopefully, yes it will.

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  • 137

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    Jezrien ()

    Do you ever feel a real desire to just start on the Stormlight Archive 2? A Memory of Light must have its perks to write but do you ever just want to get stuck in to book two?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I do feel that desire to get on to Stormlight 2. However, this is not a new feeling. In every book—at about the 50% mark or so—I want to be moving on to the next book. By then, I've already done a lot of the exciting things in worldbuilding and discovering characters, but I'm not yet to the exciting ending.

    This is a challenge for a lot of writers. I know Neil Gaiman has spoken on it before. I have trained myself to remain focused on the project at hand.

    Jezrien

    Do you ever take breaks away from A Memory of Light and go over notes and ideas for the next installment of the Stormlight Archive?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, I do take breaks and outline other projects (specifically Stormlight.) But not for long.

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  • 138

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    staircasewit ()

    You’ve mentioned some of the characters who we are going to see throughout the Stormlight Archive series (Shallan, Dalinar, Szeth, Jasnah, etc.). However, I don’t remember seeing you comment on Wit. Are we going to see Wit (or plain ol’ Hoid) more throughout the series? Or less? (Hopefully more!)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hoid has a large part of the story in the Stormlight Archive. You will be seeing much more of him. However, he will not get a 'book' of his own, most likely. He will get his own novels, just not among the Stormlight sequence.

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  • 139

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Melhay

    Is Adonalsium going to be mentioned by name in Warbreaker and The Way of Kings or is he going to be an underlining "God"(I don't know what to call him yet) idea? I am curious now, so I will have to keep my eyes open for him.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Adonalsium (Ahy-doe-Nahl-see-um) will be mentioned by name again. Ruin and Preservation were what have been called Shards of Adonalsium. (The Voice from Warbreaker is another Shard.)

    Melhay

    Is this "character" a common link between your books for religion or magical or maybe even both?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Adonalsium has to do with the Cosmere, which is the word Realmatic philosophers use to refer to the greater universe of the Shardworlds. It's hard to separate religion, magic, science, and society in most of these worlds. So "both" is a good guess.

    Melhay

    I was curious because he just seemed to appear and nothing further on him/it. Thank you for mentioning that he is in these two other books, I will have to look for hints of him.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The word Adonalsium (or, well, the miss-spelling of it) appears in only one of the books. Other clues and links between the books can be found as well. (Some people on my forums have spotted some of them. Others have gone unspotted so far.)

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  • 140

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Chaos2651

    Will Sazed appear at all in the Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are no current plans for him to do so.

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  • 141

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Chaos2651

    One other question, what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Elantris: Sel

    Warbreaker: Nalthis

    Mistborn: Scadrial

    Way of Kings: Roshar

    White Sand: Taldain

    Dragonsteel: Yolen

    There are others, but I haven't talked much about those yet, so I'll leave them off for now.

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  • 142

    Interview: Nov 11th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    Upcoming book plans: A Memory of Light is first, of course; he expects to follow that with Book 2 of the Stormlight Archive in March or April 2013. Book 2 will have Shallan as the focus character (like Kaladin was in book 1), followed in subsequent books by Szeth, Navani and Dalinar. Once the first 5 Stormlight books are out, he plans to do the second Mistborn trilogy, then books 6-10 of Stormlight. Interspersed with the first 5 Stormlight books, he'll do several more Wax and Wayne books; similar to Alloy of Law, they'll be shorter, lighter, more witty & adventurous than the epics.

    Warbreaker 2 will be another "in between" book; he plans to use the same process as the first Warbreaker, posting sections on his website and getting feedback, using a very open and interactive process of development.

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  • 143

    Interview: Nov 15th, 2010

    Alex C. Telander

    Yep. So you kind of mentioned you'd have no books coming out in the next year. So when do you plan on having the next Stormlight Archive book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will start writing the next Stormlight Archive book as soon as A Memory of Light is done and we're satisfied with it. And so, I haven't been able to give people a strict date on that. What I've been telling people right now is January 1st I'm starting back on the Wheel of Time. I'm going to re-read the entire series. And then I'm going to start working on A Memory of Light, and it's however long it takes. In the past, it's taken working on these around a year to eighteen months to get them all finished and turned in. And who knows how long this last one will take, because the Wheel of Time books take me much longer than my own books because of that need, before I write every viewpoint, to spend time re-reading Robert Jordan's books. And so, I've just been telling people one year from the publication date of A Memory of Light looks like a likely bet for the next Stormlight book.

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  • 144

    Interview: Nov 16th, 2011

    Open The Fridge

    Let’s start with an Alloy of Law question, since that’s why we’re both here. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into the evolution of the world of Scadrial, specifically in how you’ve integrated the world’s technological advances. Was there anything in particular that drew you to the old west setting, and did you do anything to research it, like going to a shooting range or a ranch?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good question. I actually wrote the prologue LAST. I wrote it to be the prologue to another book about Wax and Wayne if I did one. I always knew what happened, but I didn’t want to start the book with the old west, because most of it didn’t happen in the old west, it happened in the city. What is now chapter one used to be the prologue. And after writing the whole book I realized that we didn’t see into Wax’s heart, we didn’t know what he was always referencing with Lessie… we actually needed to see it. And so I actually took that chapter and moved it to the front. I worry a bit that it will old-west-ify it a bit too much, because I did see this as a city book. All of the Mistborn books have taken place in cities.

    Open The Fridge

    And will that hold true for the second trilogy, as well?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. It might not hold for the final one in the same way. But as for the research I did... I actually got my gun nut friend. Gun nuts are very particular. He’s a big Wheel of Time fan, and a very big gun nut. I got him to read the book and give me all the “this is how a gun nut says you’re doing it wrong” notes. That’s how I usually do something that specific. I like to write the book, and then go find an expert. For instance, in The Way of Kings, Kaladin’s surgery and first aid things. I wrote the book, I did do some reading on it, but then I sent it to an author that my editor knows. He’s a medical doctor, and I had him read those things and tell me what I was doing wrong. I prefer to do it that way and then fix it, because I can do enough, but there’s a certain understanding curve. I can pick up 75% of what I need to sound authentic with a little bit of research, and that last 25% requires a Ph.D. (laughs) And so rather than getting a Ph.D., I just give it to someone who has a PhD, and they can crosscheck it for me.

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  • 145

    Interview: Nov 7th, 2011

    Neth

    My understanding is that The Alloy of Law is intended to be more or less a stand-alone book. However, without giving too much away, it feels like there is a whole lot more of Wax's story to be told. When's the sequel coming?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will most likely write a sequel. However, what you've got to remember is that I will be writing that future trilogy, the urban fantasy trilogy. The events in this book are of relation to what's happening in the future, so you will find out eventually the answers to the questions this book gives you, even if a sequel to this book never comes. But I more than likely will write more of these books over the next few years. The Stormlight Archive is my main focus following the Wheel of Time; I don't want to leave people hanging too much where that's concerned. But between books I will probably write more about these characters.

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  • 146

    Interview: Nov 7th, 2011

    Neth

    Since pretty much all fantasy fans are eagerly anticipating one story or another from you, let's do the obligatory update on your on-going projects. How is A Memory of Light coming? Stormlight Archive 2? The Rithmatist? Alcatraz? Are any other side projects about to unexpectedly see the light of day?

    Brandon Sanderson

    As of doing this interview, the last book of the Wheel of Time is nearly done, but boy, that's a big "nearly." There's so much work to do with the last chunk of this book that it's feeling pretty overwhelming right now. My goal is to have a revised manuscript in to Harriet by January 1st. When it comes out will depend on how long it takes to edit it.

    The second Stormlight Archive book is in the planning stages; I should go right into writing that starting January 1st, with it coming out hopefully around a year after that, maybe March 2013. That's a long wait since The Way of Kings was released, and I hate to make people wait that much, but I plan to write the third book fairly soon thereafter.

    Alcatraz is on hold until I decide what to do with the series. I will write one more book in that eventually. The Rithmatist is exciting; it's fun; but I also don't want to have too many balls up in the air that people are reading and having to keep track of. So I keep delaying it with Tor, saying we shouldn't release it until I'm sure I can commit to getting the trilogy done in a reasonable amount of time.

    Other than that, I have a few random side projects in the works that should be coming your direction. I always have random side projects in the works, but none of those are ready for announcement yet.

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  • 147

    Interview: Nov 21st, 2011

    Question

    A lot of your work deals with stereotypes. Can you tell us more about that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’s true, but I always make sure that it isn’t just about the stereotype. It’s a fun thing to challenge some of the classic fantasy models, but that shouldn’t take over the writing as that can really undermine a writer. Piers Anthony was an example where the puns were fun but eventually came to undermine the series. I like having non-stereotypical professions and I enjoyed challenging age perceptions in Way of Kings. Having a romance between a man in his 50s and a woman in her late 40s is unusual in fantasy, where it’s all about the young man falling in love.

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  • 148

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    insertcleverphrase ()

    I know from reading your blog and various other comments that many of your books are in the same cosmos/universe, specifically Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, and Way of Kings. I also am pretty sure that one day you'd like to do a series that ties all the different series/books together into one super-series. So my question is, would the various magic systems work on different worlds? For example, would a Mistborn be able to use his/her abilities in the world Way of Kings is located on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on the magic system. They are all related to a kind of "Spiritual DNA" that one gets from their heritage on a specific planet. However, there are ways around that. (Hemalurgy, for example, 'staples' a piece of someone else's soul to your own, and creates a work around to give you access to magic you shouldn't have.) Some of the magics are more regionally tied than others. (In Elantris, you have to access the Dor, which is very regionally influenced.)

    The end answer is this: With in-depth knowledge of how the magics work, and their connection, one could probably get them all to work on other planets. It may take effort for some of them.

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  • 149

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    radda ()

    Will Stormlight 2 have more Shallan? I require more Shallan.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Much more Shallan. It's probably going to be her 'flashback' book.

    Tags

  • 150

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    ISw3arItWasntM3 ()

    Do you plan to write the Stormlight Archive books with the same POV characters throughout the series (like WoT) or do you think that you give other characters POV (aSoIaF) as the series continues?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most of the main POV characters have been introduced. Each book will take one major character (Kaladin, Dalinar, Adolin, Jasnah, Shallan, Navani, Szeth, Taln) and give them 'flashback' sequences in the same way Kaladin got flashbacks in the first book. There are some open spots for which I'm toying with other characters being used.

    Other characters will get viewpoints now and then, but I feel that one of the ways that big series get off track is by changing the focus to side characters. (Note that I will continue doing the Interludes to give some other voices and perspectives screen time. Few of these will be main characters.)

    oditogre

    This problem, more than any other thing, 'broke' 3 of the biggest fantasy series for me (you can probably guess which ones)—I gave up on each of them partway through.

    I liked Mistborn, but honestly I hadn't planned on even giving Stormlight Archive a chance because I assumed it would do the same type of thing as those other series. Knowing what you said above, I'm going to have to pick up that first book, now.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'm hoping it will work. If I can do it right, and each main character gets a book of their own, it should keep me on track.

    The sprawl gets reduced, in theory, as each book has its own specific focus. You get a little of each main character in each book, but one takes center stage and you get a full story with them. (Flashbacks to their past, getting them to the first book, and a depth of story for their narrative in the novel.)

    If you do read the book, one of the things I do to try to keep this all from going out of control is I write what are called "Interludes." Most of these (all but the ones about a character named Szeth) are essentially short stories in the world, about characters you don't have to remember or learn. They add depth, expand the plot, but are set off as their own thing with a specific sort of "This won't be on the final" sort of feel.

    Tags

  • 151

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    MindCanaries ()

    Are Shardblades the physical form of one of the Shardholders on Roshar (much as we saw the physical form of a Shardholder play a role in Mistborn)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Answer is forthcoming in one of the future books.

    Tags

  • 152

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    b4dave ()

    My question is, why are they called Shardblades/Shardplate? Is it because they are a splinter of the the Shard Honor, or is there something more to them than that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are on the right track.

    Tags

  • 153

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    eri pl ()

    About Way of Kings: some Surgebindings have strangely similar symbols—left half of one is the right half of another. There are two such pairs. Is that important, or just a coincidence or something?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't believe there is any connection there.

    Tags

  • 154

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    eri pl ()

    Is Jezrien a Sliver?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Jezrien is one of the Heralds, but has never held the power of an entire Shard himself. (So no, not a Sliver.)

    Tags

  • 155

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    Yserbius ()

    What made you decide on a 10 book length for The Stormlight Archive? Do you have the entire thing planned out, including how it will be paced and plotted?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I had eight characters I wanted to tell a story about, and wanted to give each one a book to include flashbacks and specific character development. Once I got to outlining, I realized that I had material for about ten books, and ten was a very special number in the world. So I settled on that. It will be paced and plotted much as the first, though I plan the future books to be a little shorter than the first establishing one. There will be two primary five-book arcs, so you could consider it two series of five, if you'd prefer.

    Tags

  • 156

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    som1else ()

    How often is a "weeping" in Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Once a year. Opposite it in the year is an extremely powerful highstorm.

    eri pl

    When, relatively to the events in Way of Kings is/will be the nearest Weeping? (I ask, because I started wondering, if this powerful storm was, coincidentally, the one, during which... you know... the face in the clouds and all that.)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well, there are ten months in year. If I haven't mentioned dates in the last book (I may or may not have) I am planning to in the next. So a timeline should be possible for fans to figure out...

    Tags

  • 157

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    FirstRyder ()

    This series will apparently be 10 books long, and for in-world reasons having it end up 9 or 11 books long would be inauspicious. Do you think you'll regret setting a pretty firm length on it, fifteen years down the road?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Honestly, I'll let myself drop by a few books if the story demands. I won't inflate it to ten if, in the long run, the story just can't hold it up. Right now, though, I've got a really solid outline.

    It's ten books, though in my mind, there are really two five book arcs.

    Tags

  • 158

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    FirstRyder ()

    Hey, when's that second book coming, anyway? 2013?

    Brandon Sanderson

    2013, I'm afraid. I'll start on it at the end of this year, but these books are big and take a lot out of me. Even if I finish it late next year, early 2013 is a realistic publication date.

    Tags

  • 159

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    stormingthecastle ()

    How do you take a book like The Way of Kings through a writing group? Surely chapter-by-chapter critiques, which seem to be the norm, would take years!

    Brandon Sanderson

    The writing group agreed to accept 15k chunks for Kings so I could get it out on time.

    Tags

  • 160

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    kmolleja ()

    I've noticed some similarities between the father-son pairs of Dalinar/Adolin and Mormon/Moroni, was that intentional or did it creep in subconsciously? The M/M relationship is an incredibly powerful one for me and I'm glad to see it pop-up in unexpected places.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's not intentional, but it could certainly be unconscious influence.

    cfornia25

    Very interesting thought. One I never considered, but will think about further. I've heard Brandon talk about these characters and he said that originally there was no Adolin. Dalinar was the only character speaking to both the belief and doubt of what he was experiencing. Brandon's Writing Group gave feedback that having one character flip-flop like that wasn't working, so Brandon developed Adolin to help express those doubts. What a great way to solve a problem, and the result is a wonderful relationship that imitates many powerful Father/Son stories. So, I would guess that the parallel you mentioned wasn't intentional, but as writers, of course, that which we believe, read and experience will find itself, unwittingly, on the page.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    You're ALMOST right. Adolin wasn't a viewpoint character initially, but he was in the book during the draft you're talking about. (The one where I had to fix things.) But if I go back to Dalinar, the character, back in his origin (before I wrote The Way of Kings the first time, back in 2002) he did not have a son. It was his relationship with his brother and nephew (needing to take over the kingdom for a beloved brother who died, and rule it for a nephew—then have concerns about giving up power, and how much he should take) that was the origin of Dalinar.

    Tags

  • 161

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    zachbelow ()

    How many books to you anticipate writing for Stormlight Archives? Please write like 200 of them.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is planned as two arcs of five, though I will shrink or increase if needed.

    Tags

  • 162

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    crucix ()

    Probably a RAFO question but why does Syl have an aversion to shard equipment? Is it something inherited from Kaladin's interaction with shardbearers?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. (You'll will find out eventually.)

    Tags

  • 163

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    crucix ()

    Do you have any plans for companions to any of your book series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will do a Stormlight book eventually. There is a Mistborn pen and paper RPG coming out later this year which will cover a lot of that for Mistborn.

    Tags

  • 164

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2011

    Question

    What’s the status of the second book of the Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will be going right into that as soon as I finish A Memory of Light. I have it outlined, I have decided whose book it will be, each of the Stormlight books will have a focal character who gets flashbacks. It’s going to be Shallan’s book. So the first major cycle of the Stormlight Archive is looking like it’s going to be Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth, Navani, and Dalinar as the five book arc. And if you haven’t heard, I’m doing it in two 5-book arcs, so the first 5 books should wrap a lot of things up and whatnot. And I might even stop then and do like an Elantris sequel and things like that, and then start the second 5-book arc. So I will do that immediately, I’m actually planning to do that and have it out, it probably won’t be next year, it’ll probably be the following spring, but it’s a little over a year away. I’ve got it all outlined, so it should be...I’ve done a lot of work on it, I just haven’t written it.

    Tags

  • 165

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2011

    Question

    Was the Almighty still alive when the Heralds packed it in, and did the Radiants pack it in in direct response to what the Heralds did?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Radiants did NOT abandon their post as a response to the Heralds. The Radiants abandoned it for some other reason which will become evident eventually. The Almighty was still around when the Heralds did their thing.

    Tags

  • 166

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2011

    Green Hoodie Mistborn

    Is there any relation between the smoke that is emitted when a Shardblade cuts somebody and the smoke that Nightblood emits in Warbreaker?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there is. You've been...are you a 17th Sharder?

    GREEN HOODIE MISTBORN

    Yeah.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    That's a really smart question. [laughter] If you're not aware of this and you're kind of baffled by this, people have figured out that all of my books are connected, and there is a continuing character who was in Elantris who shows up in Mistborn who also is in Warbreaker and The Way of Kings. This person is trying to figure out some of the connections between the worlds.

    Tags

  • 167

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    luxgladius ()

    I'm working my way through Mistborn and have read The Way of Kings and Warbreaker. It seems to me that one of your signatures as an author is a highly developed and often novel world mythology and magic system. I'm curious, do you develop the system in full before writing, and then introduce elements as the series progresses, or do you deliberately leave some wriggle room for later creative insights? For example, did you think of the duralumin when you first came up with aluminum among the other metals, or was that something you came up with in your brainstorming for The Well of Ascension? Do you already have a fully fleshed-out idea of all 10 orders of the Knights Radiant, or are you still coming up with them and their Ideals?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's actually a mix of both. I generally flesh everything out at the beginning—then, as I write (particularly the first book) knock huge holes in the worldbuilding and replace them with new and better things.

    I work everything out, then leave notes to myself as to what is cannon so I can throw out bad ideas and replace them with better ideas as I write.

    So, all ten orders are finished and worldbuilt. (I feel pretty good about them.) However, I could decide to move some things around as I write.

    Tags

  • 168

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    douchebag karren ()

    Do you work on one story until it's done, or do you work on one, then move to another, then come back to the first?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I usually write new material for one book at a time, but will often jump off of that for a while and do edits on another, then come back. With A Memory of Light, for example, I'll probably finish it in November, write something very short to clear my mind, then come back and do edits while I start working on the second Stormlight book.

    Tags

  • 169

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    33monks ()

    Given the significance of palindromes in The Stormlight Archive, is it merely a coincidence that The Way of Kings clocked in at exactly 1001 pages?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It didn't start out that way, but when I saw it was possible, I thought it was very cool. Hopefully, I can get them to do it for the other books.

    Tags

  • 170

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    ModernGnomon ()

    The artwork in The Way of Kings is outstanding. I picked up a copy from the library and I am glad I did. I read your other books on my Kindle. Did I miss out? In general, what are your thoughts on e-readers as the medium for your stories?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kings has by far the most extensive artwork for any book I'd done. However, in the others, you are generally missing out on one or two really excellent maps. (Isaac's work is wonderful in the Mistborn books.)

    I think ebooks ofter a lot of exciting opportunities, and some challenges. We can probably start doing full color maps, for example, in all books—but we need to make sure the devices can show them in the right way. For Way of Kings, the hardcover is the way to go for the art. That might not always be the case.

    Tags

  • 171

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    som1else ()

    Was Vallano, Szeth's grandfather, also a Truthless? And if not, what did he do to disgrace the Shin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, Vallano was not Truthless.

    Szeth was a very respected member of his society, once. There are clues to what happened in his story, but you won't hear it in full until he gets his book. (Which will include his flashbacks.)

    Tags

  • 172

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2011

    Question

    I really appreciate all the work you've done on the Wheel of Time, and everything else. Now that you're starting your own really epic fantasy series, you know, I've noticed an issue that Robert Jordan had and that George R.R. Martin has is that the series kind of bloats on them over time. So, how would you approach that with your series, and how are you dealing with the possibility of that happening?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's a really good question, actually. A lot of the great series that we love did get a little bit...they feel like they may have gotten away from their authors a little bit, and I have a big advantage that Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin didn't have, which is that I got to read Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin. [laughter] And I say that—we laugh at it—but if you really think about it, a lot of these big epic fantasy series, these people are treading new ground, and they didn't have—you know, the best they have is Tolkien, three books. What do you do with that? I mean, maybe you have Zelazny with Amber, and a lot of books, but they're really thin, and I mean nobody had really done what Robert Jordan did, before he did it. What I'm trying to do, is I kind of have a mantra for myself on these books, is that they must be...each one must be individual. Meaning, it's gotta have its own conflicts, its own feel, it's gotta have its own art. I can't let them just blend together, and I think that will help a lot. And so, for doing that, that's why I assign each book in the series a character, and I do the flashbacks in that book for that character in that book, and tell what I want to be a complete arc for that character in that book. Doesn't mean the other characters won't be in the books; Kaladin will be in all the books; Dalinar will be in all the books—assuming they survive. [laughter] But each book will have a character as being kind of the soul of that book, which I think will make them all feel self-contained, and be their own thing. The other thing that I'm doing is I'm trying to avoid secondary character bloat. One of the reasons secondary characters show up is you want to show off this little piece of the world, and so you write this thing about this character, and then you're like, "Wow, that's an awesome character; I wanna write more!" And then...BOOM. And so, in The Way of Kings, I actually gave myself these Interludes, which are in-between parts of the book; I let myself do basically two short stories set in the world, or maybe three, and the purpose of that is to show the scope of the world, but to use characters that you don't really need to come back to, for most of them. And so it kind of gets it out of my system, but I have kind of written down as my mantra: "These characters cannot become main viewpoint characters." That's the purpose of doing them in that, and so by doing that and giving myself a sort of pressure valve in one way, and a kind of constraint in the other, that each book must be about a specific character, I'm hoping it will keep this series more focused.

    Footnote

    Brandon had, at this point, only read Game of Thrones by GRRM, but the phenomenon of bloat in GRRM's series is something that is talked about a lot in the internet circles Brandon has frequented, so he is familiar with it, and the comparison to WoT.

    Tags

  • 173

    Interview: Dec 5th, 2011

    Helen Lowe

    As well as the Wheel of Time novels, the first installment of what you have called your own "grand epic", The Way of Kings (Book One of The Stormlight Archive) was published in 2010 and this year won the Gemmell "Legend" Award for Best Fantasy Novel of the Year. Was there any particular significance for you in winning the award for The Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sure. First off, The Way of Kings is the book of my heart—the book I've been working on for years and years. For example, it has a character in it who originated in the very first novel I tried my hand at as a young teen. Finally having this book come out is extremely fulfilling, and having people enjoy it as much as they have is even more fulfilling.

    Specifically with the Gemmell Award, I'd lost the award two years in a row—in fact I'd lost three times in those two years, since I had two books nominated one of the years. Finally winning was extremely gratifying and a really big honor. Plus the actual award itself is a battleaxe. That is the best award ever.

    Tags

  • 174

    Interview: Dec 5th, 2011

    Helen Lowe

    Magic systems are a strong part of both the Mistborn books, with their allomancy and feruchemy, but also of the Stormlight world, with its fabrials, shardblades and voidbinding. Do you spend a lot of time developing the magic system before you begin writing, or does it tend to evolve with the story?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I spend a lot of hours ahead of time on my magic systems. I am a planner when it comes to worldbuilding. Of course, everything's going to evolve as you work on a book—nothing can be planned out perfectly; there needs to be some freedom, some improvisation to really bring life to it. But I do plan things out a lot, specifically my magic systems. This is a big focus to me, partially because it's become one of my big calling cards in the genre. It lets me add something different, my own take. Granted I'm not the only one who does interesting magic systems, but it has become one of the hallmarks of my writing, and so that's fine with me because it's something that I love to do.

    Tags

  • 175

    Interview: Dec 15th, 2011

    Question

    Quick question I get asked all the time working here at Barnes and Noble. When are you expected general release dates for Stormlight Archive #2 and A Memory of Light?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Alright, so this is what I'm doing right now. I am turning in A Memory of Light December 31st. If I don't, Harriet will probably fly to my house and shake me. And so I will start writing Stormlight 2 right then. It's going to be a tough year because I want to get that done as soon as it is reasonable but I also have to edit the wheel of time book. and I will balance those two projects. Wheel of Time—I will tell you, most likely is October, November. We would like it to be sooner, but we have to wait on Harriet's edits, and beyond that, it's the last book, and she requested extra time to make sure we get everything in it.

    That is my guess right now. Stormlight 2, if I'm on the ball, is March or April of the following year [2013]. That is what I'm really shooting for. The only other release that I have potentially is Tor has been hanging on to my children's books that they haven't yet been sure when they want to release. They actually have a book that is called Scribbler , which has been renamed the Rithmatist, and people see me talk about it. I actually wrote that one back in 2007 I think? Yeah, 2007. They've been hanging on to that one. I keep being noncomittal on that because it needs heavy rewrites.

    So it needs a heavy rewrite. It would take like 2-3 months, and I've not had 2-3 months to dedicate to it. The other book they have of mine is Steelheart, which I've read from at things at signings and whatnot, it's a book I wrote a while ago during one of my breaks. They may release one of those next year, I'm not sure. Probably not The Rithmatist, because I don't have 2-3 months to spare. We may see Steelheart next Summer or next Fall. The thing is, they are in the process of acquiring the Alcatraz books from Scholastic, to repackage them, and they said they probably going to get that deal for sure, so they have them. So they probably want to do an original, like Steelheart, or Rithmatist, before they release the Alcatraz books, so they say "Hey, Tor has Brandon's children's books, now here is a new children's book, and by the way, here are repackaged books." Kind of in tandem in the publicity place. If they were going to do this, Steelheart in September, alongside Alcatraz 1 repackaged in September, and then 2, 3, 4 repackaged in the next months, and then Alcatraz 5.

    So that is what's going on right there. A lot of it depends on how long it takes to write Stormlight 2.

    MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE

    It's okay, we're Wheel of Time fans. We're used to waiting. (laughter)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I want to be more punctual than some authors have been recently in fantasy. (laughter) The thing about it is, we sometimes give Robert Jordan some grief about this but he was really good. There was a book a year for many years and then he went to a book every two years, and it wasn’t until late in his career when he was sick that he got a lot slower. He is actually a good model to follow. I’d like to have a book every year, going forward for as long as I can. I’d really like to do 2 Stormlight Archives every three years, if possible. I’m not sure if that’s viable or not.

    JOSH

    We would like that too. (laughter)

    Footnote

    Brandon is now shooting for late 2013, early 2014 for the Words of Radiance release date

    Tags

  • 176

    Interview: Jul 22nd, 2011

    Shawn Speakman

    Those side projects that you mentioned... Obviously The Way of Kings came out last year, was a phenomenal success...

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's not a side project.

    Shawn Speakman

    Yeah, that's not a side project.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I did this knowing that I would still try to keep my main...you know, I would still try to keep Mistborn and Way of Kings—Stormlight Archive—with support. You know, I have to work a lot of sixteen hour days to make sure it does, but I didn't want my readers to get short-changed for the Wheel of Time readers, even though Wheel of Time is my main focus right now. And so I've made sure I'm still doing that; I just can't do the other wacky things I've done. My kids' books—I couldn't finish that series until the Wheel of Time is done. You know, the contract ran out, but I still want to do another one, but I could not sign another contract, couldn't write that book because—

    Shawn Speakman

    You're under contract already.

    Brandon Sanderson

    —I'm under contract. I have to do the Wheel of Time, I have to make sure it's got all of my attention and that it comes out and is really good. So those side projects just had to fall by the wayside.

    Tags

  • 177

    Interview: Jun 11th, 2007

    Kaimi Wenger

    You've confessed on your blog that you can write scores of pages in a day when you're on a roll. Is this plotting plus writing? How do you work, in a nuts-and-bolts fashion? Do you sit and plot for weeks on end and then suddenly hammer out a bunch of text?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Writing is a funny thing. In the last month, I've probably written only fifty or sixty pages. The month before that, I wrote five hundred. For me, I do spend a lot of time planning, thinking, and working things out.

    However, it's not always a rushing river of words for me. Most of the time, it's ten pages a day, day after day. There are periods of two or three pages a day. There are periods of forty or fifty pages a day. It all depends on the project. Right now, I'm working on the first of what will be a lengthy series, and so it's slow going for me because of the weight of thought that has to go into foreshadowing and worldbuilding.

    Tags

  • 178

    Interview: Dec 15th, 2011

    Question

    In Way of Kings, Hoid gives Kaladin a flute. Is that flute going to play a important role in progression, or is it just a trinket?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can’t answer that right now. That’s too much of a RAFO.

    Tags

  • 179

    Interview: Dec 15th, 2011

    Question

    Can you give me a hint about Odium?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Odium is not native to Roshar.

    Tags

  • 180

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    kikastrophe

    Any idea how many books will be in the series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tor asked me not to lock myself into a length. But I plotted Kings at 10 books.

    Tags

  • 181

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Alphashard

    It is difficult to think of questions that don't deal with the plot! Will there be romance in The Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Two of them, actually.

    Tags

  • 182

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    HalBrandenburg

    Can you reveal anything about the setting in Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The setting with be the most unique I’ve done. Entirely new ecology. The world is hit by a huge hurricane every few days. Everything has evolved to deal with that. There is no soil, just rock, and even plants have thick shells they can withdraw into.

    Tags

  • 183

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    kikastrophe

    So, is Kings in any way like your other books? Shall we expect an unexpected twist?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kings is like my books in some ways. But in order to be grand as a series, it had to start—oddly—more humbly. Yes, there are twists. I wrote it so that the epilogue redefines the entire book and series. Each of the four viewpoints has an epilogue. Much as RJ had huge prologues, this series will have huge epilogues. Those epilogues, like the Elantris first lines, are intended to be ‘BANG’ moments.

    Tags

  • 184

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    kqrpnb

    Brandon, how do you think The Way of Kings will read as a complete set with your voice in the last books? Did you plan ahead for that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Short answer is yes. We’ll see if I can pull it off. Original plans for my series was for a 36 book arc. I thought that would intimidate readers. But the secret answer is this: People ask for an Elantris sequel. There is one. It is called Mistborn.

    Tags

  • 185

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    rhPieces

    Elantris and Mistborn had darker settings, Warbreaker lighter. Where does The Way of Kings fall?

    Closer to Mistborn.

    Tags

  • 186

    Interview: Jul, 2009

    Thistledown

    Any plans for a kindle Elantris version? Is The Way of Kings slated for 2010 along with WoT book 2? Now that you've revised WoK, do you think you'll release two books next year (WoT and The Way of Kings)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, if we can get Amazon to pay attention. (Grr.) And yes, two books next year. The Way of Kings and WoT13. 2011 will probably have just one, though. I don’t know if I’ll be able to write the Way of Kings sequel in time.

    Tags

  • 187

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Question

    When will we see a Hoid book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’ll be a little while. He’s playing around with things in the Stormlight Archive if you couldn’t tell, he’s decided to—Hoid is fiddling with things, more than he usually does. But Hoid as a major part of things doesn’t really show up till the third Mistborn trilogy, which is the outer space Mistborn, the sci-fi Mistborn.

    If you didn’t know, Mistborn was pitched to my editor as a trilogy of trilogies. I told him I wanted to do a trilogy of epic fantasy books, then the same world in a modern setting, which we’re not to yet, but it’s going to be Allomancers in the 21st century-equivalent technology. It’s an urban fantasy series. Then I wanted to do a Science Fiction series in the same world, using the Epic Fantasy world as kind of a mythology to this new world, and the magic system becoming the means of Space Travel.

    MEMBER OF AUDIENCE

    Whaaa?!

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    And so that’s how I pitched Mistborn to my editor.

    Alloy of Law is actually a deviation from that, because I didn’t want people to forget about Mistborn, I wanted them to keep reading Mistborn, so I wanted them to keep releasing things, and we’ll eventually get to that second trilogy—

    Hey there you are Mark! I heard you got number one.

    MARK

    Yep.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    You’re crazy (laughter). You’re awesome though. He even beat the 17thshard people, which is really a hard thing to do. (oohs and aahs) Two hours. Beat them by two hours.

    So Alloy of Law I wanted to set up things for the second trilogy. I didn’t want to do the second trilogy yet, because the second trilogy, like the first trilogy is kind of bigger books, with a very involved storyline evolved across three books, and I didn’t want to be releasing that parallel to Stormlight Archive, which is the same sort of thing. Very evolved books where you tie a lot of things together, and so I wanted a series of Mistborn novels that were more independent.

    Alloy of Law is intended to be a “read it, have fun.” Eventually I may end up doing more with those characters, but when I do, you won’t have to remember that much about this one. It’s not like you have to remember a cast of 500 characters. You can just keep track of the main characters. They’re more of an episodic adventure. I kind of imagine Alloy of Law being—I’m not totally sure how to describe it. It’s like you have the giant movie that comes out, and then you have a TV show that’s based off of it, and then another big movie series, or something like that, if that makes any sense.

    So that’s what Alloy of Law is. So Hoid is very involved in the third Mistborn trilogy, he’s also very involved in Dragonsteel, which is actually the first book in the sequence, long before Elantris happened. So eventually I will tell that story. You can read a draft of it at the BYU library. It’s the only copy that I know of in existence. It’s almost always checked out. It’s my Honors thesis, and it’s not very good. It really is not very good, but basically it’s involving the ideas that eventually will become Dragonsteel once I write it again. But I stole the Shattered Plains and put them in Roshar instead because the fit better there.

    Tags

  • 188

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Question

    How many marks to a broam? [Stormlight Archive currency]

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh, Peter—take out the … It’s been so long. I had it at ten, but then I think he came in and said “it can’t be ten”, and so it’s actually in our wiki. Peter—hey, where’s Peter? How many marks are in a broam? Is it ten or 25?

    Email Peter, and he’ll tell you. I have to get back into it when I start writing that series again, but I’m so in the Wheel of Time right now, so I’m like “Well it’s Tar Valon marks and...” (laughter)

    Tags

  • 189

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Question

    Who’s going to be the focus for the next Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I spent a long time deliberating this, and eventually, in my plotting, I came upon one of those moments where you’re “Ah, this is what I need to do”, so it is going to be Shallan. So the focus for the next book is Shallan, and half of you want it to be Dalinar, and half of you want it to be Shallan, Dalinar will get his book, Shallan will get her book, but there’s a funny story here. In my original outline, I named many of the books, like Dalinar’s is named Highprince of War. Shallan’s book was actually named after the book that Jasnah gives her, which is very thematically important to her. But then I started telling it to people, and they started laughing, because the book that Jasnah gave her is called the Book of Endless Pages (laughter).

    So, I thought that was a really cool title, but apparently, that’s going to give the reviewers too much fuel. (laughter) So you can pretend in your head that it’s called that, but I’ll come up with a different name.

    Footnote

    Brandon has decided to call book 2 "Words of Radiance"

    Tags

  • 190

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Question

    Do you have particular Inspirations from classics that you brought in your books? I felt like Dalinar was heavily influenced by Constantine.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, I did have a degree in English, and so I read lots of stuff, but my favorite classics are Moby Dick, Les Miserables, and depending on the day one of the Jane Austen books, it changes. And so those are definite influences. You can probably see some Les Mis influence, a lot of it, in the Mistborn books. There were several places where I kind of consciously let myself be influenced there. I wouldn’t say that Dalinar though. The thing is, I started writing Dalinar when I was 15. He was my first character. In fact, I posted at Tor.com when Way of Kings came out a page from my very first novel that I tried to write when I was 14, and it was really really bad, and it has Dalinar in it. He is one of the few characters that survived through all these years from maturing, growing, and things like this. The story of the brother of the king who dies, and the brother must decide: does he take control, or does he let his nephew take control. So a lot of things have influenced Dalinar, but I can’t point to one specific thing.

    Tags

  • 191

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Question

    What’s the difference between a Dawnshard and a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They’re actually, they… You will find out. (laughter) I can’t really reveal that right now, because that’s a RAFO. I’ve got RAFO cards that I can give you that say “Sorry I can’t answer your question.”

    Tags

  • 192

    Interview: Nov 8th, 2011

    Brandon Sanderson

    Expanse of the destinies = a world you know.

    Footnote

    This seems to reference the map of the Shadesmar that is in the Stormlight Archive.

    Tags

  • 193

    Interview: May, 2010

    Chaos

    How many Shards have existed on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Three

    Tags

  • 194

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Ok, the first question is, why did you change the main character's name to "Kaladin" in the final draft?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Excellent question. I see you're stealing all of my annotation questions that I would ask myself. For those of you who don't know, the character's original name was Merin. The change was a very hard decision because the history of Way of Kings goes back so far. You know, I started writing about and working on Merin as a character in the year 2000, so he'd been around for almost a decade in my head as who he was.

    A couple of things sparked the change. Number one, I'd never really been pleased with the name. I had been doggedly attached to it, despite the fact that all of my alpha readers on the original Way of KingsWay of Kings Prime we'll call it now—said, "This sounds like a girl's name." I'm like, "Well...you know, sometimes in different cultures names sound like girls' names. I've recently discovered that Bilbo and Frodo's actual names are "Bilba" and "Froda". Those are their actual names; that's what they say in-world and in the appendices. Tolkien in one of his appendices said, "I English-ized them to make them sound more more masculine for the 'translation' of the Lord of the Rings books, but they would actually call themselves Bilba and Froda." So, anyway, Merin sounded a little bit feminine, but still I dug in my heels.

    One of the concepts for the new Way of Kings is Kaladin's arc as a character. In Way of Kings Prime he makes a decision very early in the book, and in The Way of Kings I wanted to have him make the opposite decision. There's a big decision that comes to him and it's almost like these two books are branching paths from that moment in a lot of ways. And so it's going to be a very interesting process when I eventually let people read Way of Kings Prime, which I won't right now because it has spoilers for the rest of the series, but you can see how all the characters go in different directions from that moment and they also change slightly. It's like an alternate world version of the book you're reading.

    So, point number two was that I started to feel he's changed so much as a person I can no longer think of him as the same character. Point number three was that, as I am now working on The Wheel of Time, having a character whose name sounded a lot like Perrin started to be problem to me. Particularly since in Way of Kings Prime Merin was not the main character but in this Way of Kings he is. Way of Kings Prime was much more evenly divided between the characters, but in the published book he gets essentially double the space, and so he becomes the main character. I felt I wanted the main character of this book to have a much stronger, perhaps a little more mythic name. I tried lots and lots of names before I eventually settled on "Kaladin".

    17TH SHARD

    Kaladin does sound like a much more powerful a name.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yeah, it's a much better name. I'm very happy we did it, but we changed it on like the last draft, so it was very surprising to my editor and to my writing group when all of a sudden he changed to a different name.

    Tags

  • 195

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    We know it's not your job to pick cover artists, of course, but do you have any idea if Michael Whelan will make additional Stormlight Archive covers, or will it be different artists each time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Another good question. This one I don't quite know the answer to. The thing is, Whelan is so busy and does so few covers that it'll come down to whether he has the time and is willing to. We would certainly like him to do more, and I've heard news around Tor that they're optimistic for him doing the rest of the series. But, like I've said, I felt like it was incredibly fortunate that we got him to do one. You'll notice that he doesn't even do whole series for some of his favorite authors anymore. For example, Tad Williams's latest in the Shadowmarch series. He did the first cover in the series, and they had someone else do the other covers. I don't know the details of that but I suspect it had something to do with the fact that Michael Whelan likes to do his fine art. As a favor to people he'll do the occasional brilliant, beautiful cover but then he wants to go back and I can't blame him for that. So we'll see what happens when the second book is ready for a cover.

    Tags

  • 196

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    What's it feel like to finally have your baby released to the public? It's probably a very different feeling from any of your other book launches.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah.

    17TH SHARD

    Are you more nervous than usual or have the positive ARC compliments made you feel fairly confident?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'm more nervous than normal. It has been my baby for a long time, and I got Tor to invest so much into it, what with the cover, the interior art, the end pages, the really nice printing, and the sheer length of it. Tor would really rather not publish books of this length. The rest of the series will be shorter; I promised that to them. I do want to warn readers that the 400,000 word length is not going to be the standard for the series. They're probably going to be more like 300,000 words, which is what this one should have been, but I just couldn't get it down. It was right for the book for it to be this length.

    I'm worried about it for a couple of reasons. Number one, it is a departure for me in a couple of ways. I've been planning a big massive epic for a long time but I only wanted to have one or two big massive epics. My Adonalsium mythos couldn't support multiples of something this long and so a lot of my other books are much more fast-paced and I do wonder what readers are going to think of a much larger more epic story, because it is going to have a different feel.

    It's happened every time I've released a book though; Warbreaker felt very different from Mistborn, which felt very different from Elantris. Way of Kings feels very different from all of those as well so I'm worried that there are a lot of readers who are not going to like it as much. I hope that there are a lot of readers who are going to like it more, but we'll have to just see what people think of it.

    Tags

  • 197

    Interview: May 24th, 2010

    Brandon Sanderson

    The other thing that I would mention is I do have another book coming up this year other than the Wheel of Time book, which is called The Way of Kings. Which is very interesting in that...working on the Wheel of Time has taught me a whole lot about writing, and there is a book I had been working on of my own for about ten years now that hadn't ever worked. I hadn't been able to get it right. And after writing The Gathering Storm, the first of the Wheel of Time books, the changes it required in me as a writer started to make things click. And so last summer, I went and I took several months off from the Wheel of Time and I did a revision—actually, a complete rewrite, a start from scratch—on this book, which is the start of a large epic of my own. And it finally worked, it all came together. And so Tor is publishing that novel in August—August 17th—The Way of Kings, which, you know, I'm very excited about. It's something that's been part of my life for a very long time, and it's now working, and everything is coming together. So I'm quite excited about it.

    Michael Stackpole

    Excellent, excellent.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Did I say I'm excited about it?

    Michael R. Mennenga

    Yes, you sound excited. You definitely sound excited. So, did you ever expect your career to get to this point, or by this route, when you were first starting out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not at all, not at all. I mean, these are the sorts of things you can't anticipate. When you're first starting out, at least for me...I actually wrote thirteen novels before I got published. Coincidentally, the thirteenth of those novels was The Way of Kings, the first version of it. I sold book number six, which was Elantris. Which actually...you guys had me on about a month after Elantris came out. I think it was one of my very first interviews. I sold my sixth book. And you know, during that time, publishing alone becomes this mythological thing that you're not sure if it will ever even happen. The fact that that happened, and now I've had this incredible success and been able to be part of a fantasy series that's been dear to me for so many years, I mean, this is the sort of stuff that if I were to write this sort of thing happening to a character in a book, no one would believe it even in a fantasy novel.

    Tags

  • 198

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    On later Stormlight Archive novels will there always be one character we get to see flashbacks for?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, and it should rotate to different characters. I have not yet decided who gets book two yet. It's really between Dalinar and Shallan and I go back and forth on whose story I want to tell next.

    17TH SHARD

    So, does that mean there's going to be 10 different characters that would be seen?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It's very likely there will be 10 different characters. The only caveat on that is that part of me really wants to do a second Kaladin book. And so I haven't quite decided who gets flashback books. You can probably guess from reading this book some of them who do. But there are some that don't necessarily absolutely need them, so Kaladin may get a second flashback book.

    17TH SHARD

    So, fingers crossed, fingers crosses, will Szeth get one?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Szeth will get a book.

    17TH SHARD

    YES! (laughter) We're all cheering.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, Szeth will get a book. Shallan and Dalinar will get books.

    17TH SHARD

    Adolin?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Um…I'm not sure on him yet. He's one that could, maybe not. I mean he's got some interesting things going on but we'll see how the series progresses first. There are characters who will get flashback books that you haven't yet met or at least not spent much time with.

    Tags

  • 199

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    You've told us that you took the idea of the Shattered Plains from Dragonsteel into Way of Kings and reading Way of Kings it's hard to imagine the book without them. What did Roshar look like without them? Can you walk us through the process of moving that concept from that series to this one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, it looked pretty much like it looks in the books, but Way of Kings Prime takes place mostly in Kholinar and in a location that has not yet been talked about in the books.

    Ah...it took place in another location, how about that?

    One of the big things with this book is, as I was saying, that I think I started [Way of Kings Prime] in the wrong place. I moved some things back in time and some things forward in time. For instance, if you ever read Way of Kings Prime, the prologue to Way of Kings Prime is now the epilogue to The Ways of Kings. You know, the thing that happens in the epilogue with the thumping on the door and the arrival of a certain individual? That scene is now from Wit's viewpoint which it wasn't before. Pull Wit out of that scene and you'll get almost exactly [what happened] in the [original] prologue. So, the timing has been changed around a lot.

    As I was playing with this book I found that, like I said, one of the big things I had a problem with was that I felt that Kaladin had taken the easy route when he needed to take the hard route. I was really looking for a good plot cycle. I needed something to pull this book together. I had characters but I didn't have a plot and I've mentioned before that sometimes things come [to me] in different orders. In this book world and character came to me, in fact character came to me first, world came second and then I was building the plot around it. I knew the plot of the entire epic and the entire series but I needed a much stronger plot for book one. Because of the various things that are happening I wanted to deal with a war.

    So I was planning a war away from Alethkar, and I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do with this war. Meanwhile I have Inkthinker, Ben McSweeney, doing concept art for me to use in my pitch to Tom Doherty at Tor and he says, "Hey, I just drew up this sketch of some creature that lives at the bottom of a chasm, what do you think?" And he showed me this.

    I told him that we were looking for kind of above water coral reef formations, and he sends me this brain coral, which is essentially the Shattered Plains with a big monster living at the bottom and I'm like, "Wow!" I actually did a book where this was essentially the setting. I looked at that, and that's actually what made me say, "Wait a minute, could I transpose this and would the Shattered Plains actually make more sense on Roshar than they ever did on Yolen?" I started playing with that concept and I absolutely fell in love with the idea. Unfortunately for Dragonsteel, that was the only really good plot cycle from that book.

    [You can read Ben's take on this story here. That's also where we got the images, which we've used with permission. —ed]

    So, I ripped it out of that book and I put it here, and that means it brought with it a few side characters who no longer live on Yolen because they now live on Roshar. Rock is one of them, though he's been changed. When he came along the Horneaters were born; they had not been in the books before. For those who have read Dragonsteel, he was Ke'Chan [a nationality, not a name. —ed] in that book. I couldn't bring that culture because that culture is extremely vital to [Dragonsteel]. I can bring a plot cycle or a little region, and there's certain things you can pull out of a book without ruining the soul of what the book is. I couldn't take the Ke'Chan out of Dragonsteel; they're just part of what that book is and so Rock had to change nationalities. I had to build him his own nationality, a new culture essentially just for him. And yeah, it worked wonderfully.

    Someday I'll let you have that art, and if you remind me to ask Peter you can probably post it with the interview. As you can just see it's not the way that it ended up being because it looks different from how the Shattered Plains turned out, but it was the spark that made me say, "Let's move this over."

    17TH SHARD

    That's cool, so basically Inkthinker's responsible for the Shattered Plains?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Inkthinker is responsible for them moving to the new book, yes.

    17TH SHARD

    That's pretty cool.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yeah.

    Tags

  • 200

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    What can you tell us about the Knights Radiant?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um…what can I tell you that's not in the books?

    17TH SHARD

    A little more about them.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    There were 10 orders of Knights Radiant. Each order was based on a combination of two of the "smaller" magic systems in this world, so to speak. You combine two of them together and they each had something kind of "their own". So if you look at the map in the front of the magic system and you mark circles that include one large circle and two of the smaller circles in between, you can find the 10 orders right on there. The mini circles are the powers and the big circles represent the orders and the essences and things like that. So one big circle, two little circles equals an order of Knights Radiant.

    Tags

  • 201

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Please explain the arches and symbols that are seen at the beginning of each chapter and why you decided to do them.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The arches and symbols are a series of arches and symbols at the beginnings of chapters.

    17TH SHARD

    (laughter)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    There's an explanation for you. They rotate and change for every chapter. What they mean should be intuitively obvious to the casual observer, as Robert Jordan used to say.

    17TH SHARD

    (laughter)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I decided to use them because I wanted to have interesting things at the start of each chapter. These were done by Isaac. I originally sat down with Isaac and said, "I want to be able to build symbols at the beginning of my chapters. Something like in The Wheel of Time, which I really like, but I don't want to imitate them, I want to go somewhere different. I want to have different pieces that interlock together that form some stonework symbol that's at the beginning of every chapter." I also told him what I wanted the symbols to mean (among other things) and he actually transmogrified all that into an archway. I had originally been planning it to be some sort of inscribed rock stamp or something like a little relief at the beginning of each chapter, but he persuaded me that an archway with a different kind of symbol in the center [would be better]. So, they became arches through Isaac's working with the art and changing things and deciding what would look good visually.

    Tags

  • 202

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    The Way of Kings has a very interesting format. Why did you decide to go with that format and what prompted you to include the interludes?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's another excellent question. You guys are really on the ball. Uh...so, what went through my head is one worry that we have in epic fantasy. The longer the series goes, and the more characters you add, the less time you can spend with each character. This gets really frustrating. You either have the George R. R. Martin problem where he writes a book and doesn't include half of them, or you get the middle Wheel of Time problem where he will jump to each character for a brief short time and no one's plot seems to get advanced.

    If you look back at Elantris, I did a lot of interesting things with form in that novel, and I wanted to try something interesting with form for this series that would in some way enhance what epic fantasy does well and de-emphasize the problems. And I thought that I could do some new things with the form of the novel that would allow me to approach that, and so I started to view the book as one main character's novel and then short novellas from other characters' viewpoints. Then I started adding these interludes because I really like when, for instance, George Martin or Tad Williams or some other authors do this. You'd jump some place and see a little character for a brief time in a cool little location, but the thing is, when most epic fantasy writers do that, that character becomes a main character and you're just adding to your list. I wanted to actually do something where I indicated to the reader that most of these are not main characters. We're showing the scope of the world without being forced to add a new plot line. And I did that is because I wanted to keep the focus on the main characters and yet I also wanted to have my cake and eat it too. I wanted to show off the interesting aspects of the world.

    When you read Way of Kings Prime someday you'll see that there are six major viewpoint characters, all in different places, with all different plots, because I wanted to show off what was happening in different parts of the world. That spiraled out of control even in that one book. Keeping track of who they were because there were such large gaps between their plot lines was really problematic. Instead I condensed and made, for instance, Kaladin's and Dalinar's plots take place in the same area as Adolin's. And so, even though you have three viewpoints there the plot lines are very similar. Or, at least they're interacting with one another.

    And so the interludes were a means to jump around the world. They're essentially short stories set in the world, during the book, so when you get this book, maybe you can think of it this way: Kaladin's novel with Shallan and Dalinar each having shorter novels or novelettes or novellas, with occasional, periodic jumps to short stories around the world. And then of course Kaladin's flashbacks. As we've mentioned, every book will have flashbacks from its main character to enhance the main plotline.

    I'm hoping that form will do a couple things. It'll show the scope of the world without us getting too overwhelmed by characters we have to keep track of. You know when you hit interludes that you aren't going to have to pay attention to most of them. You can read and enjoy them, but you aren't going to have to remember them. How about that? You can want to pay attention but you don't have to remember them. By the end of the book, the main characters' arcs and flashbacks should have been resolved and you should have a feel of a completer story from that main character. And then we have other characters that are doing things that are essentially just starting plotlines.

    In the next book, you'll get another character with a big arc and flashbacks. The major characters from previous books will still have parts and viewpoints; Kaladin will still be important in the next book but it won't be "his book". He'll get a novella-length part instead.

    (Of course, they're not really novella-length because it's a 400,000 word book. Those "novellas" are actually like 70,000- or 80,000-word novels)

    17TH SHARD

    Will the next Stormlight Archive books have interludes as well?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, all of them will have interludes.

    17TH SHARD

    Ok.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    And you will, very occasionally, revisit people in the interludes. I'll let myself have one interlude that's same between each part like we did with Szeth in this book.

    Ah...Szeth's a little bit more of a main, major character, so you'll get, like, one four-parter and then you'll get what, eight just random [characters/viewpoints] around the world. And you may occasionally see those characters again, but you don't have to remember them; they're not integral to understanding the plot. They should add depth and they should be showing you some interesting things that are happening in the world while we're focused [on a few important plot lines]. I don't to travelogs in my books; my characters are not going to be sweeping across the countryside and showing you all the interesting parts of the world. I tend to set my books in a certain place and if we travel someplace, we skip the travel.

    17TH SHARD

    (laughter)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    But that means the chances of us ever visiting Gavland, um...or Bavland I think I ended up naming it...

    17TH SHARD

    Was that the place with the grass?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Shinovar is where Szeth's from. Bavland is where Szeth is owned by the miner and things like that. I can't remember what I renamed that. Originally I called it Gavland, and then we had a Gavilar and so my editor insisted that it be changed. I think it's Bavland now.

    And so the chances of us ever visiting there with a major character and a long plot are very low. But, you know, being able to show just a glimpse of Szeth there allows me to give some scope and feel to the world.

    17TH SHARD

    Makes it epic.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Hopefully, yes.

    Footnote

    Brandon has recently said that Stormlight Archive 2 is going to be from Shallan's viewpoint.

    Tags

  • 203

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Okay, next question. How is The Way of Kings related to the rest of the cosmere? What point in time is it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, so far I have written the books/series chronologically. Though, I have skipped books...

    17TH SHARD

    (laughter)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    And so there will be jumping back eventually, but Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker and Way of Kings all happened chronologically.

    17TH SHARD

    Just in general, how is it related to the rest of the cosmere? Or can you say?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I, uh...officially don't know what you're talking about.

    17TH SHARD

    (laughter)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I mean, what do you mean by "related to"?

    17TH SHARD

    For example, the letter...

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, just like the letter that I have no idea what you're talking about.

    Tags

  • 204

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Just in general, how is Stormlight Archive related to the rest of the cosmere? Or can you say?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will tell you that one of the novels I skipped is actually set in the same solar system.

    17th Shard

    Oh...so this is the series that that book shares.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, this is the series that the book shares that I skipped. I was planning to do it first, but now was the time to do the Stormlight Archive. So you will eventually see a book set on a planet in the same solar system. You could just pick out in the sky of Roshar if you were watching when ..., and it may even get mentioned because it's a fairly close planet.

    17th Shard

    Is that on Divine Silence?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Silence Divine happens there.

    17th Shard

    What is the name of that planet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hmm...should I tell you?

    17th Shard

    Yes!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, Peter says no.

    17th Shard

    (laughter)

    Brandon Sanderson

    You got PAFO'd.

    17th Shard

    (laughter continues) Go ask Peter and find out.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it's like, Peter and not find out.

    17th Shard

    (still laughing) PANFO.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, PANFO'd, Peter and not find out. Good.

    17th Shard

    (more laughter) We just won't leave.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, so, I will tell you the name of that planet once it is out like I've told you the rest of them.

    17th Shard

    Ok, fair enough.

    Tags

  • 205

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Jon

    My burning question for Brandon is did I miss the explanation, world building moment or historical gem that explains why women have a safe hand and why they must keep it covered?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    No, you haven't missed it. People have asked about this. There will be more explanation in-world as it comes along, but it's for much the same reason that in some cultures in our world you don't show people the bottoms of your feet, and in other cultures showing the top of your head is offensive. It's part of what has grown out of the Vorin culture, and there are reasons for it. One of them has to do with a famous book written by an artist who claimed that true feminine pursuits and arts were those that could be performed with one hand, while masculine arts were those performed with two hands, in a way associating delicacy with women and brute force with men. Some people in Roshar disagree with this idea, but the custom has grown out of that foundational work on masculine and feminine arts. That's where that came from. One aspect of this is that women began to paint one-handed and do things one-handed in upper, higher society. You'll notice that the lower classes don't pay a lot of attention to it—they'll just wear a glove.

    As a student of human nature and of anthropology, it fascinates me how some cultures create one thing as being taboo whereas in another culture, the same thing can be very much not taboo. It's just what we do as people.

    There's more to it than that, but that will stand for now.

    Tags

  • 206

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    meleah

    The inside cover is beautiful. Do you plan to do something similar with every book?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    We asked for colored endpages. At first Tor was hesitant; they're very expensive. We kind of begged a bit, then showed them these cool pages and talked about how great the book would be with them, and eventually Tor decided that they would go with it. One of the aspects of doing colored endpages like that is that generally you have to use the same endpages for the entire series, to offset the printing cost. So those same endpages will be in every hardcover of the series. There will be different interior art, however.

    Tags

  • 207

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Amanda

    Will Kaladin (or Shallan, or any of the other characters) be going to visit the various places Kaladin saw in his dream, and if so, for extended periods of time or just short trips? I think the interludes are wonderful ways of showing other parts of the world, if I may also comment.

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I'm glad you liked the interludes. One of the reasons to include them is to show parts of the world that I won't be getting to for a while, but this is an epic, and there will be characters traveling to various places you've seen. Maybe not all of them, but some places will be visited. Some for extended periods, some for shorter periods.

    Tags

  • 208

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Louise

    Are you already decide whether it's Shallan or Dalinar story for book 2 central plot? What about the tentative title?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I keep going back and forth. I'll probably have to sit down and completely write out both of their backstories--their flashback sequences--and after finishing that see which one best fits the theme and the plot of the novel, the story I'm trying to tell. So it's going to take a while to decide that, and it would require enough of my focus that I really need to do A MEMORY OF LIGHT first. So we'll know more after A MEMORY OF LIGHT is finished and I begin writing out their sequences.

    Footnote

    Shallan will be the flashback character for Words of Radiance.

    Tags

  • 209

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Louise

    Which one will you focused more in the future, the Heralds or Radiants? Will you dig deeper into each of Heralds story and some of Radiants?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I feel that I should probably RAFO this one. We are going to delve into the Radiants as orders a lot. But the Radiants as individuals? Depends on what you mean. Kaladin is well on the path toward becoming one of them, though he's not one yet, as Teft is quick to point out. So if you mean focusing on actual Knights Radiant, we'll have to see if anyone actually manages to become one.

    The Heralds are integral to the entire story, which is why the Prelude focuses on them. Since someone showed up at the end of the book claiming to be one of them, I think you can obviously expect some attention to be drawn there. Who each of the Heralds are and what their natures were is important.

    Tags

  • 210

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Louise

    Is spren lost their memories and personalities because of the loss of their attached radiants? But retain a basic attraction to things associated with the radiants they bonded to previously?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Not all types of spren bonded to Radiants. You will find out more about this in the future. However, if you're speaking specifically of spren that were bonded to Radiants, then yes, you're on the right track.

    Tags

  • 211

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Louise

    Is the remove of Shalash statue connected to the man speaked gibberish that Szeth met before he assasinated Gavilar?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 212

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    SeekingPlumb

    Question. When writing TWoK, did you write the story lines individually & then weave them together (e.g. Place the chapters as desired.), after the fact? Or did you write the book generally in the order that we see the end result?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I wrote the parts by viewpoint. Meaning that for Part One, I wrote Kaladin straight through and then Shallan straight through. And then I switched for Part Two and wrote Dalinar and Kaladin, and then I switched back. So I did write the storylines individually by viewpoint, but in sections by part.

    Tags

  • 213

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Bahador

    I really like the dialogs between Jasnah and Shallon, convering sometimes atheism, god, blind faith, etc.

    Are you going to expand on these philosophical topics? Will it play a larger part in the plot?

    I really enjoyed these moments and hope to see more of them

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I'm glad you liked them. These questions are very important to Shallan and Jasnah and to an extent other characters such as Dalinar, so you will indeed see much more of this. I wouldn't include it if it weren't very important to the characters. And what's important to the characters has a strong influence on what's important to the plot.

    If what happens at the end of Part Five with Dalinar is to be believed, then there is a very interesting theological conundrum to this world. Something claiming to be God claims also that it has been killed. Which then in some ways leaves someone who is atheist right, and yet at the same time wrong. When Jasnah and Dalinar meet, you can expect some discussion of what it means to be atheist if there was a God and God is now dead. Or will she say that obviously wasn't God? Those circles of thought are very fascinating to me and to the characters.

    Tags

  • 214

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Josep

    Just a nagging question: What happened to Gaz? After some character development he just vanishes in chapter 59 without further explanation. Will he be back on the next books?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I'm planning for you to find out what happened to Gaz. There are sufficient clues that you can guess. But it is not explicitly stated, and I'm not going to say it's as obvious as Robert Jordan implied Asmodean's killer is. I was tempted to spell it out explicitly, but there wasn't a good place for it. I will probably answer it eventually, maybe in the next book, but until then you are free to theorize.

    Tags

  • 215

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Dustin

    Your sidekick characters (Nightblood, TenSoon in WoA and Syl) are always interesting, sometimes more so than side characters. Is this planned out or does it just happen? Do you control their lines more than other characters? (I really liked Syl's personality if that wasn't clear.)

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Thank you. That is partially intentional. One of the aspects of writing characters like them is that if we're not going to get viewpoints from them, their personality has to be strong enough to manifest externally. Which tends to have an effect, if it's not done well--or sometimes even if it is done well--of making them feel one-sided. In some ways I play this up; for instance Nightblood really is one-sided because of the way his personality works, the way he was crafted. He's a construct, and he has a main focus.

    So with someone like Syl, I really wanted to bring out a lot of personality in her dialogue so that we could characterize her without having any of the internal thoughts and monologue and emotions that I sometimes instill in other characters. But Syl also was meant to be a vibrant splash of color in Kaladin's sometimes dreary viewpoints. Because of that, I really needed her to just pop off the page. So it was done intentionally.

    Tags

  • 216

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Dustin

    I felt the illustrations added a lot to the book physically and to the story. Will there be more in book two and so on if you have your way or was it a one book experiment?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I'm glad you like what the illustrations added to the book and the story. I plan future volumes to have more of them.

    Tags

  • 217

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Dustin

    Can a Herald's blade/equipment be um....adopted? I only ask because Dalinar seems to be lacking one and that Herald at the end did kick the bucket in his capital and he's gonna need more than armor when Szeth shows up.

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Someone who is not himself or herself a Herald can indeed use one of the Honorblades.

    Footnote

    Just because he fell doesn't mean he's dead.

    Tags

  • 218

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Dustin

    Does the scene where Shallan is counting heartbeats mean what I think it means? It just kind of strange to imagine her carrying around of of those but then again she does like secrets.

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    It means what you think it means.

    Tags

  • 219

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Cory

    Will there be flashbacks for a different character in this next book?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Yes. Each book will explore a different character in flashbacks, though Kaladin will also end up getting another book with flashbacks of his sometime down the line.

    Tags

  • 220

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Robert

    Was Syl's appearance and behavior caused by Kaladin giving up his shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    It was a major fundamental factor in what happened between them.

    Tags

  • 221

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Brianna

    Will Hoid be a major player in all, most, or only some of these books?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    He should have as large a role in other books as he had in this one, for the most part.

    Tags

  • 222

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    T.t

    1. Are Kaladin's parents still alive, and if so, are they actually mad at him?

    2. Do dead parshmen turn into Chasmfieds?

    3. What is the dark-glowing sphere?

    4. What did Szeth do to become a Truthless, and is there anything else involved in being a Truthless that we haven't seen?"

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    1. Yes, they are still alive. RAFO.

    2. No.

    3. Major big RAFO.

    4. Szeth was perceived as betraying his people in a fundamental way, and you will learn more about that when his book comes along.

    Tags

  • 223

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    T.T.

    5. Is Hoid a Herald, or a Shardholder, or something else entirely.

    6. Was the letter posted on the top of chapters to Sazed?

    7. Barring the Almighty, did we seen a Shardholder (like Sazed) in this book?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    5. Hoid is something else entirely.

    6. It is written to a character who exists outside of Roshar. I won't yet say who.

    7. I think "Shardholder" would get confusing alongside "Shardbearer." Basically, in the Cosmere's terms, when someone holds a Shard of Adonalsium, I call that person a Shard of Adonalsium. They are imbued with the power of that Shard, but they also become the Shard. Fans can use whatever terminology they wish, but this is how I term it.

    You did at least see the direct effects of two of the Shards of Adonalsium, but I won't say whether or not you actually saw a Shard of Adonalsium.

    Tags

  • 224

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Bri

    I've read somewhere (probably your blog) that the Way of Kings will be made into ten parts. My question is this: Is it ten individual books, or really just ten parts? I notice that the first book had several parts in it so I was just curious.

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Ten individual books.

    Tags

  • 225

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Gary

    The Way of Kings is certainly a great first book of a series. It does, however, leave one hungry for more. What's the best guess on when for #2? And does it have a name?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    I'll try to write it so it can be published in late 2012, but it really depends on how long it takes to write A Memory of Light, since I won't start until after that is finished. As for the title, if it ends up being a Dalinar book it will be titled Highprince of War, but if it ends up a Shallan book it will have a different title.

    Footnote

    He has decided that the second Stormlight Archive book, Words of Radiance, will be Shallan's book.

    Tags

  • 226

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Jay

    Do Szeth and Kaladin both belong to the same order of knights radiant?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Szeth isn't actually in an order of Knights Radiant. Something different is happening with Szeth that people have already begun to guess. And Kaladin isn't yet a Knight Radiant, but the powers he uses are those of the Windrunners, one of the orders of the Knights Radiant. Szeth is using the same power set. So your phrasing is accurate to that extent.

    Tags

  • 227

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Jet

    The Stormlight archive is a very big book. Do you have plans of including a glossary that's more expansive than the ars arcanum?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    If I do make a glossary, it will probably be on my website. Perhaps I'll be able to slip in a longer glossary into future books. The problem is that the first book is already so long, as you said. I just don't have the pages for it now. As the series expands, maybe.

    The thing is, I've always partially liked a glossary and partially not liked them, because as series get longer and longer, you have to make decisions about what to include and what not to include. Using the glossary in the backs of the Wheel of Time books is somewhat bittersweet because it only covers around one percent of the things you'd want to be in there. So in some ways it's become irrelevant, because most of the things you'll want to look up are not going to be there. It seems like it served its purpose best in the early to middle books, but now if you really want to know you've got to go to Encyclopedia WoT or a similar site. So maybe we'll just do an online glossary or send people to one of the fan-created wikis.

    Footnote

    There are currently two Stormlight Archive fan wikis. The Coppermind, which is cosmere wide, and this one.

    Tags

  • 228

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Mike

    Has Kaladin's windspren Syl reached the epitome of her consciousness or will we see a smarter spren in future books?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    Syl has recovered everything of her personality. There are things she doesn't remember, and things she can still learn to do, but she has recovered her personality in full.

    Tags

  • 229

    Interview: Dec, 2010

    Sandi

    I keep hearing about the great art in the book, but I listened to the audio version. Is the art available to view online?

    Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)

    It's not currently online. I need to bug my assistant to put the art on my website.

    Footnote

    There are two places where the Way of Kings art is. Here, here, and here.

    Tags

  • 230

    Interview: 2011

    atheistcanuck (21 Mar 2011)

    The Almighty's original name was Tanavast, yes/no?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    Yes and no. The concept of the "Almighty" in Roshar has a lot of meanings, many of them wrong.

    ATHEISTCANUCK

    But the person who held the Shard Honor was originally named Tanavast?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes. You wiggled it out of me. That was the name of the original holder of the Shard Honor

    Tags

  • 231

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2011

    Vericon Report - Puck (Paraphrased)

    Puck

    "How is a Splinter different from a Sliver?

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Let me see... You have met splinters in Elantris, Warbreaker, and in Way of Kings. You have not met them in Mistborn."

    PUCK

    "I feel like we know that. So, qualitatively, what's the difference?"

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    "Qualitatively, they're reverses of one another. A Sliver is a human intelligence who has held the power and released it. A Splinter has never been human."

    PUCK

    "But it derives from a Shard's power."

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    "Yes. That's not it completely, but there's at least something to think about."

    Tags

  • 232

    Interview: May 31st, 2011

    Thorondir

    Does Bavadin hold a Shard?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes (and that’s about all he would say. He did however confirm that Rayse is Odium)

    Tags

  • 233

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2011

    seaksstamp (14 November 2011)

    What is your favorite book you've written?

    Brandon Sanderson (14 November 2011)

    Favorite is hard to pin down. I'm most proud of either The Gathering Storm or The Way of Kings, as they were among the hardest and most satisfying.

    Tags

  • 234

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2011

    spencerpanger (14 November 2011)

    Is the recipient of the letter in Way of Kings also in Dragonsteel?

    Brandon on Sanderson (14 November 2011)

    Yes. (Good question.)

    SPENCERPANGER

    If so would it be the person that Topaz gets mad at?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    RAFO on the second one. I've already given you too much!

    Tags

  • 235

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2011

    tritlo (14 November 2011)

    Another question, do you think you'll eventually publish a "The World of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere"?

    Brandon Sanderson (14 November 2011)

    Probably. Though first, we'd probably do The Way of Kings and Mistborn worldbooks.

    Tags

  • 236

    Interview: Nov 14th, 2011

    blan_Ryan7 (14 November 2011)

    Loved Way of Kings; can you say where shardblades go when not summoned or is it a RAFO?

    Brandon Sanderson (14 November 2011)

    It is RAFO, but one that will be answered for sure.

    Tags

  • 237

    Interview: Nov 23rd, 2011

    Tortellini

    Someone asked if it were hard to write Jasnah, an atheist character, for a devout Christian.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said he read a lot of atheist message boards for inspiration. Also, it sounded like he'd had the character in his head for a while, but hadn't found the right book to put it in—e.g. he said it would make no sense to put an atheist in a world where gods walk around (i.e. Warbreaker).

    Tags

  • 238

    Interview: Nov 23rd, 2011

    Tortellini

    This is a big one and I hadn't heard any of this before. A girl asked what was up with Taravangian, since it seemed a rough break between the tottering old man and the scheming mastermind that Szeth meets at the end.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The answer is quite surprising. Brandon said that Taravangian used the Old Magic, and that he wakes up each day with a different IQ. Sometimes he's a genius, sometimes he's an idiot. So what he does is he writes up math puzzles for himself in the evening, and if he cannot get a certain score in the morning the guards have orders to just take care of him and keep him away from important decisions for that day. That way he keeps his effect (personal speculation, it could be his curse, but also his boon if e.g. he asked for intelligence and only got it part-time) under control.

    Tags

  • 239

    Interview: Nov 23rd, 2011

    Tortellini

    There was more, but I can't really remember anything major. Finally, I came up and got to ask my questions. Since I started the thread about outposts and stone bridges, I felt like getting some input there.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon told me that single highprinces could not erect outposts because due to the superior mobility of the Parshendi—they would overwhelm any small outpost quickly. Soulcasting stone bridges is also not plausible. Apparently, they would need to first get the wooden bridge out there, then soulcast it and then, since the stone is heavier than the wood, they would have to reinforce it, e.g. with ropes. These could then be cut by the Parshendi, so it would not help at all. Dalinar with his mobile bridges is on a better track in his opinion. He did say however that several highprinces working together could easily establish outposts in the Plains. He said the competitive nature of the Alethi was doing them a huge disservice in the war and that if they would work together, they could have taken the Plains long ago.

    Tags

  • 240

    Interview: Nov 23rd, 2011

    Joe ST

    So you must be (of) the guys that asked me about my question about Axies the Creator:

    Brandon Sanderson

    I asked if Axies could regrow limbs, and he stated that he could do 'some interesting things', and that the two species of Aimian (whom Axies is of) each do different interesting things.

    Tags

  • 241

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2011

    Orome

    This post is for anything info that was gleaned at the recent signing at Forbidden Planet in London.

    To start with, The question i asked him was, 'Is Shalash the lady smashing up the art in The Way of Kings?'

    Brandon Sanderson

    He was apprehensive to say it out loud, but he wrote in my copy of Alloy of Law 'Shalash appears in The Way of Kings'! I shall get a scan of that once i am able, and ill put it up in here. He also said to me 'you'd be surprised at how many of the Heralds appear in the book', so i guess another re-read is in order!

    Footnote

    Brandon has also hinted that Jezrien was in the book. (See signed cover.)

    Tags

  • 242

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2011

    Fejicus

    The Stormlight Archive is going to be in two 5-book arcs; will there be a big gap between these (story time wise)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said there would be a small gap, nothing as big as Mistborn and Alloy of Law, but it would be there.

    Tags

  • 243

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2011

    Fejicus

    I made a comment about the role mythology plays in WoT, and if Brandon was planning on using any real world mythological parallels for the Stormlight Archive.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, he said that while they play a huge role in WoT, that if he were to include mythological parallels in Stormlight, that they would be parallels of Roshar's own mythology. (So perhaps were going to see Kaladin/Dalinar paralleling the Heralds?)

    Tags

  • 244

    Interview: Nov 19th, 2011

    Fejicus

    Concerning the Radiants' shardplates, and the glyphs on them that Dalinar had never seen before, is there any relation to these and the AonDor? Could they perhaps act as an added focus?

    Brandon Sanderson

    From what I recall, he didn't really give a definitive answer on this one, but he seemed as if we were in the right direction.

    Tags

  • 245

    Interview: Nov 12th, 2011

    zxg15

    Asked him for more info on what he meant when he said that Stormlight will be organized as two 5-book series within the total 10 books.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Understandably he didn't want to give much away, he wouldn't say if there would be a time skip or not. He did tell me that there would be a large change in tone between books 1-5 and 6-10. Also, he said that since book 2 is now going to be Shallan's, he wants Dalinar's book to be number 5. He then talked about how the 5 characters that were introduced in depth in Way of Kings would be the the 5 flashback characters for the first 5 books and the others would be more focused on in the final 5 books.

    Tags

  • 246

    Interview: Jan, 2012

    Schocksrage (Reddit.com)

    The Alloy of Law left me wanting more books in the universe right away. Any hints as to when we might get to see the next trilogy?

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit.com)

    My current plan is to hold out on the second trilogy until I've reached a breaking point in the Stormlight Archive. (So after book five.) My reasoning is that the second trilogy is very involved, and I'm not certain if I want two thick-booked series going at once. There is a good chance I'll return and do another shorter book, like this one, in the world before then. Either about Wax, or perhaps a quick glimpse of the southern continent.

    MORGHUS (REDDIT.com)

    That's awesome! I really enjoyed both worlds, but right now the Stormlight Archive is the one that got me totally hooked. How was the reception for the first Stormlight compared to Alloy of Law? :)

    BRANDON SANDERSON (REDDIT.com)

    I would say the reception is about what I hoped. The Way of Kings has made much more of an impact, as I would hope would be the case. A book that is the result of many years of effort compared to a fun diversion...well, I would be worried if Alloy of Law had been the one everyone latched onto.

    That said, I've been very pleased with the reception to Alloy of Law. The sales are strong, and most people seem to be enjoying it for what it is rather than expecting it to be something it is not.

    Tags

  • 247

    Interview: Jan, 2012

    zas678 (Reddit.com)

    How long before Way of Kings is Alloy of Law? I heard somewhere that it's a hundred years, but I don't think that's right.

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit.com)

    I intended them to be happening roughly close to one another, with Way of Kings slightly before.

    Footnote

    This is in conflict with earlier reports, so it was confirmed

    Tags

  • 248

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    So the series, people are presuming it's going to be ten books long because of a comment you've made, is that correct?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is correct; it's going to be ten books. Ten is a holy number in the series. It's related to the Order of Knights Radiant and the number of magic systems and things like this. So ten books.

    Marc Aplin

    Is the 1000-page format something that's going to continue throughout the series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Each of the books will be medium long. I'm not sure...you know, I can't tell you exactly how long they will be. Instinctively, looking at my outline, I feel that the first is probably one of the longest in the series, which is a bad way to do it, honestly. You really want to have the first ones be the quick pow, and the middle ones get to be the thick, meaty ones. But I'm expecting... This one was about 400,000 words; I'm expecting them all to be around 300,000 words. There may be some that go a little bit longer. It'll depend on the book and how many characters I decide to deal with in that book, and the plot structure of the books.

    Tags

  • 249

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    Okay, so Way of Kings...the people who don't know the background, I'll just give you a little bit. The book was written actually before pretty much anything else of Brandon's was published. I think it was 2002, 2003 he finished it. Obviously he went on to publish Elantris, Warbreaker...Mistborn as well, of course. And the Wheel of Time books. Has his experiences with these other books changed the way that he sees the Stormlight series continuing from this point?

    Brandon Sanderson

    When I finished Way of Kings the first time in 2002, it wasn't ready yet. And I knew...when I finished it, I knew something was wrong. My skill wasn't up to writing a book of this length yet. I was very proud of it, but proud in the way that, you know, someone who finished their first marathon but with a horrible time would be proud of having run that marathon; and I knew I needed to get better as a writer before I could actually do it justice. And so, yes, it's evolved. There were flaws in the original book. The character of Kaladin was just boring, in the first write of it. Dalinar stayed about the same. Dalinar's plot changed the least, and who he was changed the least. But both Shallan and Kaladin had deep flaws in how I had written them, and I just wasn't...I wasn't creating characters deep enough yet. And so I set it aside, partially because I knew I needed to get better as writer. When I wrote it again in 2008—actually it was 2009, I think—I started over from scratch. I threw away everything and did it again. And my skill had increased by that point to the point that I could do it justice, I think.

    Tags

  • 250

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    Okay. So The Way of Kings. The question that we had from the forum: Is The Way of Kings the rediscovery of old magic or the invention of new technology? Or maybe a combination of both. Could you elaborate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's an excellent question—somebody's been reading my mind. First, I do want to say, thank you, guys, all, for reading the books; thank you for all you're doing supporting me as a writer. With this series, one of things I wanted to approach was...both of those concepts, actually. A lot of fantasy has the feel of magic's going away. Magic is dying. This goes back to Tolkien, with the idea that, you know, the elves are leaving and magic is going to leave the world, and that's always made me a little bit sad, that these books have this theme. And so I did want to write a book about the return of magic. But beyond that, I'm very fascinated with technology, and the development of technology, particularly as it relates to magic. And so this series is about the rediscovery of magic and how magic interacts with science, and the treating of magic in a scientific way on a large scale. You know, you see that in each of my books, with magic being treated scientifically, but I really wanted to do it in a way that changes the lives of everyone. The common people—magic changes their lives as much as technology changed the lives of the common people in the technological revolution we went under. And so that's what I'm going to try to approach in these books.

    Marc Aplin

    Brilliant.

    Tags

  • 251

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    Okay, the next question we have�I think this one you might have answered before�but have we met all the main point-of-view characters yet? Or, if not, what percentage are we talking?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You have met almost all of them. Let me do a count... Let's see. The main characters in the book are�in the series�Kaladin, and Dalinar, Adolin, Jasnah, Shallan, and Navani, whom you all met in this book and most of them had viewpoints. Szeth, Taravangian, and Taln. And one of the other Heralds; I'm not going to tell you who that is. But I think you've met...you have, I'm sure, met that person; I know he's in there. And so, I think you've met them all, basically. Taln is the person who shows up in the epilogue.

    Marc Aplin

    Excellent.

    Footnote

    Brandon confirmed that Shalash was seen in The Way of Kings, but he also hinted there were others.

    Tags

  • 252

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    Okay, another question that's kind of similar to that one. Why are so many Alethi point of views used as opposed to others?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Why are so many Alethi point of views used as opposed to others? This was basically one of the changes I made as I was working on the series. I originally had planned to show all of these viewpoints, from all across the world, and I found that, when...the original time I tried this book, that since people's plots weren't interwoven together, the book was very difficult to read. Because people weren't connected to one another, emotionally and spiritually. And so because of that, when I rewrote the book, when I started again, I made sure to put Dalinar and Kaladin and Adolin in proximity of one another. So that this story...their stories would play off of each other. And so you would have a consistent storyline.

    That said, we do have...you know, those three are all Alethi. But Shallan is not, and Szeth is not. And those two have fairly significant parts in this book. Most of the characters will be Alethi for that reason, that their stories are tied together. But you will....see, this is one of the reasons why, with this book, once I pulled everything back and was telling Alethi stories, I felt I needed to show the breadth of the world, and that's where the interludes came from, was me wanting to jump around the world and show all these different other characters and cultures, but shown in bite-sized portions so you didn't get overwhelmed with all of these different characters, that you knew when you go to an interlude, you can read this person and then you can kind of forget about them. You don't have to follow who they are, because they're there to show you the breadth of the world and what's going on, but not necessarily to show you...to go on a big distracting tangent.

    Marc Aplin

    I see. Excellent.

    Tags

  • 253

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    And that, again, fits in kind of with this question. Final one in this section. Could we ask... The pictures and the maps and the illustrations used are absolutely fantastic, and for me as a reader, really kind of added... Especially the way you kind of put pictures after you'd described them, in a way, because then you could compare what you thought to what you saw. How do you think that added to the book, and was that something you planned or was that something the publisher or...

    Brandon Sanderson

    This was all me. In fact, the publisher was kind of skeptical, because it's not something you see in epic fantasy. And publishers, you know, they have this weird sort of mix inside of them—they want to do what's been successful in the past. And yet, unless you innovate a little bit, you won't continue to be successful. And that's a hard balance. And to Tor's credit, they decided that what I was pitching on this book with all these illustrations was in the right direction. That it would be evolving, and it would help with the sense of immersion, rather than fight against it. But they really worried it would feel like a graphic novel. There's nothing wrong with graphic novels, but we don't want the audience to get the wrong opinion of the story.

    And one thing I was very careful to do is I don't illustrate the characters. I want the characters to be how you imagine them, and I don't want to give you a picture of them. So these illustrations I really wanted to be in-world illustrations done by someone...done by Shallan. And this was something I've wanted to do for a while, and I felt was integral and important to the book. And that without it, the book wouldn't work as well because Roshar is a pretty weird place. It's got some pretty bizarre feelings to it, and I wanted to give some illustrations to help the reader get a real sense this is a real place. So that was me. I'm glad that people are enjoying them; we did dedicate quite a bit of work making them all come across—there are four illustrators that worked on the book. And so...yeah.

    Tags

  • 254

    Interview: Jul 2nd, 2011

    Marc Aplin

    So this question I think was quite difficult for Brandon. I hope I didn't cause any kind of offense when I asked it, but I think it's a question that... It's a good question, because it shows a lot about Brandon, not only as a writer, and as the kind and respectful guy we know he is, but also it shows the feelings and kind of commitment he has to you fans as well, which I think was really great. I'll start by reading a quote which I'll read to you now. "I think the concept of anyone else working on the Wheel of Time series was very painful for Robert Jordan." Just to put it in context: he did go on to say that he was eventually happy that someone was continuing his series, so there's no issue with that. The question I wanted to ask Brandon was, for any reason if he couldn't write tomorrow, how would he feel if someone else was to continue his Stormlight series? Is it something he would allow, is it something he would be happy someone else is doing? And what are his thoughts?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I certainly would. If I were far enough along in it. If happened tomorrow, it were only one book in. At that point, I'd say, "You know what? Scrap the project. Don't make people... You know, don't..." I don't have enough notoriety for it to happen. But let's say I got seven books in and there were three books left. At that point I would say, "Definitely, it needs to be finished." I do keep very good notes. And so, basically, I would trust my editor to find somebody, and I would want them to work very closely with my assistant Peter who has known me for many years and is very... He's the one that knows the most about my books and my worlds, aside from myself. And there are lots of very talented authors. There are plenty of authors who are even more talented, you know...more talented than I am, certainly. Plenty of authors. And so, finding the right one, I would leave that up to editors and people like that. I mean, most people that I would want, that I would pick, are too popular in their own right to want to go write this dopey guy's books. I think Brent Weeks and I write very similarly, and I think he would be a fantastic choice, but there are plenty of authors out there that I think could do the job if I left the right notes.

    Marc Aplin

    Thank you. Again, a great answer there by Brandon.

    Tags

  • 255

    Interview: Jan, 2012

    zas678 (Reddit.com)

    I dislike double posting, but I have one question that came up recently from your tweet. You said that there are "multiple" people from Mistborn in WoK. Does this include Hoid?

    Brandon Sanderson (Reddit.com)

    Yes, it does.

    CORWIN01

    Are they just vague allusions?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Vague, no. But I wouldn't say they, save Hoid, have any important impact on the events of the book.

    Tags

  • 256

    Interview: 2012

    eridius (Thu Jan 19)

    Wait, are Mistborn and Stormlight Archive somehow connected?

    Brandon Sanderson (Thu Jan 19)

    Multiple people from Mistborn appeared in The Way of Kings.

    Footnote

    "Multiple people" includes Hoid.

    Alloy of Law Reddit Q&A

    Tags

  • 257

    Interview: 2012

    Twitter 2012 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Shaun Duquette (18 January 2012)

    Ok,when can we expect excerpts from A Memory of Light? And are you going to start another Way of Kings book after A Memory of Light?

    Brandon Sanderson (18 January 2012)

    I expect summer to the first, and yes to the second.

    Tags

  • 258

    Interview: Nov 24th, 2011

    Fire Arcadia

    You have said before that all the planets had their names before the arrival of the Shards. Is Roshar the planet's name before the Shards arrived?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    FIRE ARCADIA

    How do the Roshar natives know the name of the Cosmere?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 259

    Interview: Nov 24th, 2011

    Fire Arcadia

    Is Shallan's memory a Surge?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I want to wait for the right opportunity before revealing more surges.

    Tags

  • 260

    Interview: Nov 24th, 2011

    Fire Arcadia

    You have said previously that the Stormlight Archive will include Lightweaving. Is that still the plan?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    FIRE ARCADIA

    Have we seen a Roshar native in The Way of Kings who can use Lightweaving?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yes, we have seen someone who has potential.

    FIRE ARCADIA

    He seemed to be trying to say that they didn't know that they can use it.

    Tags

  • 261

    Interview: Nov 24th, 2011

    Fire Arcadia

    How many Heralds appear in The Way of Kings

    Brandon Sanderson

    More than you might expect. Some have appeared, some have been mentioned but not appeared.

    Footnote

    One of these Heralds that appeared is Shalash.

    London Signing

    Tags

  • 262

    Interview: Nov 2nd, 2010

    Aidan Moher

    Recently, you detailed all the different series and novels you have in the pipeline, including White Sand, The Liar of Partinel, The King's Necromancer, at least nine more volumes in The Stormlight Archive and Nightblood, a sequel to Warbreaker, just to name a few. How do you keep them all straight in your head? And, when one project is finished, how do you choose which one to work on next?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Choosing the next project is a balance between the promises I've made to readers and the best way to channel my creativity. I stay fresh by jumping between projects; it's the way I've (for better or worse) trained myself. And so I always have a lot of ideas, and there are a lot of things I've worked on.

    One thing to keep in mind with me is that, because of the way I work, some of these things just don't end up turning out. They aren't good enough for publication, at least in their current state, so I shelve them. Imagine it like the B-sides of an album. The band may do a lot of playing, jamming, and recording—and then they pick the very best to present to their listeners.

    In the case of the books mentioned above, Liar turned out poorly enough on the first go-around that it's shelved indefinitely. I'm not sure how I stand on The King's Necromancer yet, and White Sand is unlikely to be in good shape for many years. Scribbler (one you didn't mention) turned out great, and you'll probably see it in the near future.

    As for sequels to books that are half-promised, we'll see. Something like Nightblood (where there is a potential sequel, but the story of the book was wrapped up and told strongly, I feel) is less urgent than something like the rest of the Stormlight Archive (which is a single story, told across many books.) In the case of Stormlight, I've made a stronger promise to readers, one I feel the need to fulfill.

    Of course, the question you asked is how I keep them all straight. Lots of notes mixed with quirks of the way my brain works.

    Footnote

    Scribbler has since been renamed, "The Rithmatist".

    Tags

  • 263

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Vaelith (15 October 2008)

    I would like to echo a question that someone beat me to. The way you ended it seemed to leave the door wide open for other books with characters such as Spook and Breeze playing much larger roles. My question is, was the ending planned as just an open-ended ending to make people wonder about what might happen, or was that with the intent of writing more books in mind?

    Brandon Sanderson (15 October 2008)

    I like it when my characters live on in people's minds. I have no plans right now to write any more books about Spook or Breeze, though what they do in the next period of time will create the history for the next series. However, there's a chance I'll change my mind on this. However, this ending was not set up for another book specifically. I just wanted to tell the best ending I could, and this is how it turned out.

    PETER AHLSTROM

    (cross-post)

    Brandon does want to write more Mistborn books, but not with the same characters. There would be two more trilogies. The second trilogy would be set a few hundred years later, in a modern day–type setting, when the events of the first trilogy have passed into legend. The third trilogy would be set a few more hundred years later, in a future, outer space–type setting.

    It's such an audacious idea I wish he would write it right now because I want to read it, especially the third trilogy. But Brandon has announced his next project (pending Tor approval) will be Way of Kings, a 10-volume epic fantasy. He'll sprinkle in a book from another project here and there, so the next Mistborn trilogy might start before Way of Kings is ended, but it will be years yet before there is any more Mistborn.

    KAIMIPONO

    But Ookla, he already wrote that one!

    PETER AHLSTROM

    I know. :)

    The real story is that Brandon was writing (or revising?) Way of Kings when Tor offered to buy Elantris. Brandon signed a two-book contract for Elantris and Way of Kings. Then Brandon realized he wasn't in the point in his career yet where he could write Way of Kings the way he wanted to, so while he was supposed to be revising Way of Kings he secretly wrote the first Mistborn book instead, which he then sold to Tor as a trilogy, replacing Way of Kings in the original contract.

    But for some reason Amazon already had a listing for Way of Kings, with a release date. Thence the fake reviews.

    I've read an early draft of the first book, and it aims to be very epic. (No, Elvis is not involved.) I do wonder, though, whether when it actually comes out, the fake reviews will get attached to its Amazon listing. :)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    This is all true. Note that the book would not be named The Way of Kings. Most likely, I'm going to make that the series name. So I guess the book "The Way of Kings" must be some kind of parallel novel or prequel or something... ;)

    PETER AHLSTROM

    Oathshards is out, eh?

    You're such a tease, Brandon. All these details about the next series will make everyone hungry for it, and then we'll all have to wait.

    Of course, any other book you put out in the meantime will still be awesome, so we should be content, right?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I don't think Oathshards is as strong a name as "The Way of Kings." Plus, that's really what the series is about.

    Tags

  • 264

    Interview: Oct, 2008

    Brandon Sanderson (20 October 2008)

    Folks,

    This essay I just posted:

    http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/55/EUOLogy-My-History-as-a-Writer

    Started as a blog post for this thread, talking about the old books I wrote to give context to my previous post. It outgrew the length of a proper forum post, so I put it on the site instead. But this might help you understand some of my history as a writer, not to mention explain the origin of all these old books Ookla that references all the time.

    LIGHTNING EATER

    I remembered a thread from ages ago in which Brandon posted a list of the books he'd written, I looked it up when I realised it wasn't in the article, and I figured you guys might be interested too, so here it is.

    1) White Sand Prime (My first Fantasy Novel)
    2) Star's End (Short, alien-relations sf novel.)
    3) Lord Mastrell (Sequel to White Sand Prime)
    4) Knight Life (Fantasy comedy.)
    5) The Sixth Incarnation of Pandora (Far future sf involving immortal warriors)
    6) Elantris (You have to buy this one!)
    7) Dragonsteel (My most standard epic fantasy
    8) White Sand (Complete rewrite of the first attempt)
    9) Mythwalker (Unfinished at about 600 pages. Another more standard epic fantasy.)
    10) Aether of Night (Stand-Alone fantasy. A little like Elantris.)
    11) Mistborn Prime (Eventually stole this world.)
    12) Final Empire Prime (Cannibalized for book 14 as well.)
    13) The Way of Kings (Fantasy War epic. Coming in 2008 or 2009)
    14) Mistborn: The Final Empire (Coming June 2006)
    15) Mistborn: The Well of Ascension (Early 2007)
    16) Alcatraz Initiated (YA Fantasy. Being shopped to publishers)
    17) Mistborn: Hero of Ages (Unfinished. Coming late 2007)
    18) Dark One (Unfinished. YA fantasy)
    19) Untitled Aether Project (Two sample chapters only.)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Thanks for posting that. Note that I can never quite remember which was first, Aether or Mistborn Prime. I always feel that Aether should be first, since it wasn't as bad as the two primes, but thinking back I think that the essay is more accurate and I wrote it between them.

    This would be the new list:

    1) White Sand Prime (My first Fantasy Novel)
    2) Star's End (Short, alien-relations sf novel.)
    3) Lord Mastrell (Sequel to White Sand Prime)
    4) Knight Life (Fantasy comedy.)
    5) The Sixth Incarnation of Pandora (Far future sf involving immortal warriors)
    6) Elantris (First Published)
    7) Dragonsteel (My most standard epic, other than the not-very-good Final Empire prime.)
    8 ) White Sand (Complete rewrite of the first attempt, turned out much better.)
    9) Mythwalker (Unfinished at about 600 pages. Another more standard epic fantasy.)
    10) Aether of Night (Stand-Alone fantasy. A little like Elantris.)
    11) Mistborn Prime (Shorter fantasy, didn't turn out so well.)
    12) Final Empire Prime (Shorter fantasy, didn't turn out so well.)
    13) The Way of Kings Prime (Fantasy War epic.)
    14) Mistborn: The Final Empire (Came out 2006)
    15) Mistborn: The Well of Ascension (Came out 2007)
    16) Alcatraz Verus the Evil Librarians (Came out 2007)
    17) Mistborn: Hero of Ages (Came out 2008)
    18) Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones (Came out 2008)
    19) Warbreaker (Comes out June 2009)
    20) Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia (November 2009ish)
    21) A Memory of Light (November 2009ish. Working on it now. Might be split into two.)
    22) The Way of Kings Book One (2010ish. Not started yet.)
    23) Alcatraz Four (2010. Not started yet)

    PETER AHLSTROM

    Will elements of your untitled Aether project be worked into the Dragonsteel series?

    The Silence Divine (Working title. Stand alone Epic Fantasy. Unwritten.)
    Steelheart (YA Science Fiction. Unwritten)
    I Hate Dragons (Middle Grade fantasy. Maybe an Alcatraz follow up. Unwritten.)
    Zek Harbringer, Destroyer of Worlds (Middle Grade Sf. Maybe an Alcatraz follow up. Unwritten.)
    These titles are news to me. You described two potential YA or middle-grade books to me and Karen when you came out to Book Expo, plus Dark One, but now I can't remember the plots except they were cool (and that one of them involved superheroes). Are they among this list? Also, is that really Harbringer or is it supposed to be Harbinger?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Bah! That's what I get for typing so quickly. Yes, Harbinger. It should be "Zeek" too. Short for Ezekiel.

    Steelheart would be the superhero one, though that's a working title, since I'm not sure if it's trademarked or not. Haven't had much time for thinking about any of these books lately.

    PETER AHLSTROM (OCTOBER 20)

    Brandon, here you said Alcatraz 4 is called Alcatraz vs. The Dark Talent; is that still the working title? Also, you mentioned Dragonsteel: The Lightweaver of Rens, but now you say The Liar of Partinel is a standalone. Change of plans? (I know you can't get back to Dragonsteel for a while.)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    The Alcatraz titles are in flux because I need to know if Scholastic wants the fifth one or not. (They only bought four.) Dark Talent will be one of them for certain.

    The Liar of Partinel was part of a two-part story told hundreds of years before the Dragonsteel epic. However, since I've dropped plans to go with Liar anytime soon—A Memory of Light has priority, followed by Way of Kings—I don't know what I'll end up doing with the second book, or if I'll ever even write it. I was planning on not calling either of these "Dragonsteel" in print, actually, and just letting people connect the two series on their own. It wouldn't be hard to do, but I didn't want the first actual book in the main storyline to be launched by Tor as "Book Three" since there would be such a large gap of time.

    Tags

  • 265

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Ok, fair enough. Do you have a scene you enjoyed more than the rest, and on the flip side, was their something that you did not enjoy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will say that I really loved doing all the interludes because they gave me a sense, when I was writing this book, of jumping to something new, which is part of what kept me going in all of this. Are they my favorite scenes in the book? No, but they were probably my favorite to write because it's like I get to take a break and write something whacky and looney, so to speak.

    Hmm…is there anything that was harder? You know, revisions are always hard. In the next to last draft I changed Dalinar's arc very substantially, and that was a hard write. And, you know, Adolin was not originally a viewpoint character, so there was a lot of hard writing there. So, poor Adolin probably gets the badge for hardest to write. Not because he as a character was hard to write but because I was having to repurpose scenes and toss out scenes and rewrite them with Adolin as the viewpoint character and so on to add just a little more dimension to Dalinar's plot arc.

    Tags

  • 266

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    You hired four artists to contribute to this book…

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    17TH SHARD

    …and had their artwork included in the book. Why did you decide to do this?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    When I say four artists I am including Michael Whelan whom I didn't hire, the company commissioned, so we really have three interior artists and then Michael Whelan who did the beautiful cover. Again, I wanted to use the form of this novel to try and enhance what epic fantasy can do, and downplay the things that are tough about it. One of the tough things about epic fantasy is the learning curve. How much you have to learn a pay attention to, how many things there are to just know. I felt that occasional illustrations could really help with that. For instance, how Shallan's sketch book, or uses of multiples maps, could give us a visual component to the book. You know, pictures really are worth a thousand words. You can have on that page something that shows a creature much better than I can describe it. And so I felt that that would help deemphasize the problem of the learning curve, while at the same time helping to make this world real. Epic fantasy is about immersion, and I wanted to make this world real since that's one of the great things we can do with epic fantasy. We've got the space and the room to just build a completely real world, and I felt that the art would allow me to do that, which is why I decided to do "in world" art.

    I didn't want to take this toward a graphic novel. I like graphic novels but it wasn't appropriate here to do illustrations of the scenes and characters from the books, because I don't want to tell you what they look like. I want that to be up to your own imagination. And so we wanted that "in world" ephemera feel to it, as though it were some piece of art that you found in the world and included.

    I think it goes back to Tolkien. There's a map in The Hobbit, and that map isn't just a random map, which has become almost a cliché of fantasy books, and of epic fantasy. "Oh, of course there's a random map in the front!" Well [Tolkien] wanted you to think this map was the actual map the characters carried around and that's why he included it. He wrote his books as if he were the archivist putting them together and translating them and bringing them to you, this wonderful story from another world, and he included the map because the map was there with the notes. That's what I wanted the feel for this ephemera to be. As though whoever's been writing the Ars Arcanum for all of the books has collected this book together, done the translation and included pieces of art and maps and things that they found in the world that had been collected during these events, and that's what you're getting.

    Footnote

    Some of the authors include Isaac Stewart, and Ben McSweeny.

    Tags

  • 267

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Now that we've seen Shadesmar can you elaborate more on it? Perhaps why you wanted a map of it included in the book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    Tags

  • 268

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    Is Cultivation a Shard on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, Cultivation is. (very inquisitively) Where did you get that word?

    17TH SHARD

    It's in the book.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Is it in the book? Okay.

    17th Shard

    It's mentioned once.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Okay, one of the Shards from Roshar is Cultivation.

    Tags

  • 269

    Interview: Oct 15th, 2010

    17th Shard

    What is the name of the Shard which is the Almighty?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ah... RAFO!

    Footnote

    It's Honor, and the original person holding the shard is Tanavast.

    Tags

  • 270

    Interview: Apr 11th, 2012

    Satima Flavell

    I remark that Sanderson's style had changed between Mistborn and his latest series, The Stormlight Archive.

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Well," says Sanderson, "I try to use a different style for each series. But I've also learnt a lot from working on The Wheel of Time. Jordan's writing is so detailed, so subtle, so layered, that I can't help being influenced by it."

    Satima Flavell

    He has, by the way, now used up all his backlist: The Way of Kings is the last of those early books and after this year he expects his output to slow down.

    Tags

  • 271

    Interview: Apr, 2012

    Some Stuff for fans of Brandon’s Other Works

    Brandon Sanderson

    Firstly he read from his novella, Legion, which is out in November [I think??]. It's about a genius whose genius manifests in the form of hallucinations. Basically whenever this guy studies anything, he creates a hallucinatory expert that retains the full extent of all this knowledge like a repository, and it is with his 'legion' of hallucinatory experts that his full genius and ability comes from.

    On the second day he read from a new novel set in the Elantris world (though in a whole different part of the world, with completely new characters (barring, of course, Hoid)). I didn’t write it down, but the title was something like 'Soul of the Dragon Emperor'. The magic system involves Forgers, people who can through study and understanding something’s past, forge a soulseal which can change that past so long as it is touching the thing itself. So a Forger could look at an old and battered table, and by studying it—understanding where the wood came from, where the polish came from, so forth—they could then create a soulseal that says the table has been lovingly and carefully cared for, and so long as that seal is laid into the table, the table will no longer be battered and old, but perfectly polished. This is the gist of the plot as well, that something has happened to the Emperor and a talents Forger who works as a thief is supposed to Forge the Emperor’s soul so that it appears as if nothing has happened.

    Other than that the only other thing I have in my notes is that Shallan is to be the Stormlight 2 Flashback character.

    Tags

  • 272

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2012

    Google+ Hangout (Verbatim)

    Luke

    I was wondering if you could only write in one universe from now on, what would you pick?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well you gave me an out, because so many of my books are in the same universe.

    *laughter*

    LUKE

    You know, I thought you might say that.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    So that, I could cheat and just say the cosmere, but I think the soul of the question is which series would I write on.

    I would probably have to -boy- it would probably be a toss up between Mistborn and the Stormlight archive, Mistborn because I've invested so much into it already. If I can only pick one I would probably pick Stormlight because there is so much left to tell there and I've got a lot of places to explore, but I would cheat and say they're all in the same universe.

    Tags

  • 273

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2012

    Google+ Hangout (Verbatim)

    Rick

    1.Are there any other sentient spren like Syl, if not are there any Spren capable of becoming sentient or is she purposefully unique?

    2.If so, what are the conditions that must be met for a spren to become sentient?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ok Cool.

    1. There are other sentient spren.

    2. There are many more who could become sentient, there were choices that were made that we will get into that were made by some spren that, that involved-

    There were certain choices that were made that influenced this, so yes, that was a very detailed and specific question, you did a good job and so I will give you your answer that there are others like Syl that could become and there are some that are sentient already

    RICK

    Would that also mean that certain spren had an alignment or would some spren be catered toward good or evil or not?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    They're creatures of nature and so good and evil aren't as, as big a deal to them. There are some that may be put in that sort of alignments, certainly honorspren are going to be of a certain type, but there are many spren of many different temperaments and they are kind of aligned to their temperament, having to do with who they are and what they are.

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  • 274

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2012

    Google+ Hangout (Verbatim)

    Tristan

    So my question is, you're planning the Stormlight Archives as this big long ten book series and I think that obviously look at your work with the Wheel of Time the other big long epic series one of the issues that at least some fans perceive is that these series are at least perceived to sag or at least slow down at some point in the middle, people start to get very bogged down and it takes years for the next one to come out, is that something you're considering for your structuring of the Stormlight archives and what are you trying to do to address that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Excellent question, it is actually something that I've very consciously thought about when designing this story. One of the reasons that I didn't release the Way of Kings when I wrote it back in 2002 is that I hadn't figured out this problem yet, and it's one of the reasons that I shelved the book and re-wrote it from scratch back a couple of years ago.

    I really was conscious of it because I have an advantage over authors like George Martin and Robert Jordan, who have had these kinds of accusations levelled at them, in that I've read them! I've read Robert Jordan, and I can see he's kind of pushed his way in the snow for some of us to fall behind and see some of the things that he did even after he said "Boy, I think I might have done that differently." We can learn from that.

    What I'm trying to do is -first off the Stormlight archive is divided in my head into 2 five book series, it is a 10 booker but it is divided into two big five book sequences. I do think that will give me more of a vision of a beginning, middle, and end for each of the sequences.

    The other thing I'm doing is I consciously did some little thing in the books. One of the reasons we end up with sprawl in epic fantasy series is I think writers start writing side characters and getting really interested in them. The side characters are awesome, they let you see the breadth of the world and dabble in different places, so what I did is I let myself have the interludes in the Way of Kings (I will continue to do those in the future books) and I told myself I can write those interludes but those characters can't become main characters, those characters have to be just glimpses.

    The other main thing that I'm doing is that each book in the Stormlight Archives is focused on a character that character gets flashbacks and we get into the back-story and that gives me a beginning middle and end and a thematic way to tie that story together, specifically to that character, which i hope will make each chara- each book feel more individual.

    That's another part of the problem with the big long series; they start to blend. If the author starts to view some of them as blending then you stop having big climaxes at the ends of some of them and view them too blended together. This isn't a problem when the series is finished, I think that when the Wheel of Time can be read beginning to end straight through, a lot of this worry about middle-meandering is going to go away because you can see it as a whole. But certainly while you're releasing it, you get just these little glimpses that feel so short.

    I feel that if I can take each book and apply it to one character give a deep flashback for each one and thematically tie it to them, each book will have its own identity and hopefully will avoid some of that. That's my goal, who knows if I'll be able to pull it off but it is my intention.

    GOOGLE MODERATOR

    You seem to be pulling it off so far Brandon

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well I only have one book yet! I mean none of these, none of these series- they all started with great first books, in fact I feel that a lot of them are great all the way through but the sprawl issue doesn't usually start to hit til around book four is really where the, where the problems show up.

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  • 275

    Interview: Apr 17th, 2012

    Google+ Hangout (Verbatim)

    John

    Going back to the Way of Kings, as you said you wrote that, 2002 then you shelved it. So that's, like you give it an introduction you say it's over ten years of planning and through that, a lot of the planning on a series like that is also world building and so on, but the next book you said you want to get through as quickly as possible, do you think it'll have an impact on the -not on the quality of the book, but on the type of book? In the sense, the Way of Kings took ten years and the new one, less. What do you think?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm hoping it won't. I will have to see when I write it, I'm certainly hoping that I don't have to write it and then shelve it for ten years; I think people would be very angry with me. If it's the right move, I'll do it but I think I would have major outcries. My instincts - over the years I've developed pretty good instincts for when a book is going to work and when it is going to be a rougher write and I will know very quickly once I start if it's working or not. I'll be upfront with people as I write it about that. My instincts right now are very good for it, I'm kind of chomping at the bit. There are many parts of the original Way of Kings that that I didn't end up getting to in the new one, because it wasn't time for them yet. So there's still stuff floating from that book that is still going to be part of the future books.

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  • 276

    Interview: Sep 21st, 2010

    Boomtron Interview (Verbatim)

    Lexie

    In reading the Way of Kings a very Ben Hur vibe can be felt from Kaladin., was this intentional and what other genres were your inspiration?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I wouldn’t say that I was specifically shooting for that vibe, certainly I am influenced by all the things around me, I was just looking to tell a really great story, and this is the story that came out. It was Kaladin's story in specific, it was - the genesis of the story was actually the Shattered Plains themselves, the area. I write fantasy and one of the reasons that I write fantasy is I want to tell stories about places that don’t exist, that maybe couldn’t exist in our world and so the geography of the shattered plains is sort of what appealed to me. I’d actually been planning this for many years and extrapolated from there, how would warfare be like in this place and then I extrapolated from there, what are they going to need, what types of troops. And Kaladin as a person was growing separately, and I just wanted the best place to put in- the place of most conflict and it ended up being that.

    Plot-wise to be perfectly honest I was looking more at- when I was building this plot- underdog sports narratives. To be perfectly honest, I like to, when I look for inspiration in plotting sequences I like to look far afield to try and take things and pull them into my books so that we aren’t getting some of the same repeated dealings over and over again. But certainly historical works like the ones you mentioned are a big part of my make up as well.

    Footnote

    Shattered Plains came from the original Dragonsteel book.

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  • 277

    Interview: Sep 21st, 2010

    Boomtron Interview (Verbatim)

    Lexie

    Was Kaladin supposed to be Originally with the bridge crew or was that something that just built from while you were writing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’s actually built at the planning, it was not originally, in fact I did an entire draft of the Way of Kings, in 2003, so seven years ago, the version of the Way of Kings I wrote then didn’t have him as a member of the bridge crews at all. In fact the Shattered Plains weren’t even in Roshar at that point. They were something I’d been developing for another series and when it came time to do this version of this draft I hadn’t exactly been pleased with the one I wrote in 2003, I wanted to do the book again, actually tossed all that and started from scratch.

    I was looking for a really strong visual setting location for Kaladin's story to take place. I was building him separately as the soldier, and the surgeon, with both two sides of him warring within him at this part. This part of this book for me is about the contrast between the sides of, different sides of people, people who have different things pulling on their insides trying to wreck them, so I was looking for a great setting location and the Shattered Plains through various- actually doing artwork, some of the concept art for the world. I was working with an artist, just to give myself a better visual handle on things. The Shattered Plains appealed to me, it worked and so I built it in and it all kinda came together.

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  • 278

    Interview: 2012

    Brandon Sanderson (16 May 2012)

    I'm sorry I don't have more specific WoT posts for you—I know that Harriet prefers me to be more closed-mouthed. However...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Maria from Team Jordan has finished her revision notes for the entire book, as has Harriet herself. So we're only waiting on Alan's notes.

    Brandon Sanderson

    As he's playing "Great Captain" for me on A Memory of Light, his notes are vital—and he needs to be detailed. When I get them, I can finish revising.

    Roberto Sánze

    Sooooo...there might be a sooner release date than the current for January?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is possible, but I don't know how likely.

    Roberto Sánze

    Darn, I need to haste to be ready for A Memory of Light once it releases. Is there gonna be a ebook version along with the physical book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    (Winces.) Harriet has a distrust of ebooks; she prefers to delay the release. It is her call. (Ebook is a few months later.)

    Terez

    Do we have chapter names yet? Or do you know how many chapters there will be? Or is that a secret?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No chapter names yet, as it won't be until this draft is finished that I settle on the number of chapters. Some are being combined.

    Mark Prybyla

    I'm truly hoping this book is 1/3 battles/fights.

    Brandon Sanderson

    More than 1/3, I'd say...

    Daniel Shepard

    Forgive me for not understanding, but what does this mean? Release date's not going to change, is it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Probably not. It's just a progress update, so people know things are still moving behind-the-scenes.

    Richard Collett

    How's The Stormlight Archive coming? I need more.

    Brandon Sanderson

    A Memory of Light comes first. I will get to the next Stormlight book soon, but not until A Memory of Light is done to my satisfaction.

    (Facebook)


    Yosun Erdemli

    So this means we will be reading the final volume sooner than first announced?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is possible, but I don't know how likely. I still need to do two drafts, I feel. Then there are beta reads, then proofreads, then we need at least two months to get the books printed and shipped.

    Adam Sloan

    What does it take to be one of the beta readers?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Be one of the major members of fandom for years, and personally know Harriet. (Sorry.)

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  • 279

    Interview: Aug 8th, 2009

    WorldCon 2009 - Dom (Paraphrased)

    Dom

    Brandon Sanderson

    After the Q&A, Brandon stayed around to sign more books and chat and answer more questions. He showed us some awesome concept art he had an artist do to help him envision his Way of Kings concepts. He talked at some length about the main characters and the set up. I must say this sounds like an awesome series—Brandon described it as somewhat midway in style and story between Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire—or at least it was his goal when he conceived it.

    Tags

  • 280

    Interview: Oct 18th, 2004

    Brandon Sanderson

    Another interesting moment in this scene is Sarene's idiocy act. There's actually a good story behind this plotting device. I've always enjoyed this style of plot—where a character intentionally makes people underestimate them. You can see a similar plotting structure (pulled off quite a bit better) in my book THE WAY OF KINGS. (It should be published around 2008 or so. . . .) Anyway, some of my favorite plots of this type are found in HAMLET and DRAGON PRINCE (by Melanie Rawn.)

    Sarene's own act, however, plays a much smaller role in the book than I'd originally intended. I soon discovered that I'd either have to go with it full-force—having her put on a very believable show for everyone around her—or I'd have to severely weaken it in the plot. I chose the second. There just wasn't a reason, in the political climate I created for the book, to have Sarene pretend to be less intelligent than she was. (The original concept—though this never made it to drafting—was to have her pretend to be less intelligent because of how many times she'd been burned in the past with people finding her overbearing and dominant.)

    I decided I liked having her personality manifest the way it is. The only remnant of the original feigning comes in the form of this little trick she plays on Iadon to try and manipulate him. Even this, I think, is a stretch—and it has annoyed a couple of readers. Still, it doesn't play a large part in the plot, and I think it does lead to some interesting moments in the story, so I left it in.

    Footnote

    This Way of Kings was the original, instead of the rewrite Brandon released in 2010.

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  • 281

    Interview: 2012

    jdiddyesquire (June 2012)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Thanks, all, for the good wishes on this.

    I first started talking about Steelheart a number of years ago. (Five, maybe six?) It was one of the projects I'd been planning to do in 2007 when the Wheel of Time came along and kind of distracted me.

    Unable to work on it for years, I instead did up a proposal and started shopping it in Hollywood. I got interest, but everyone said "We'd be more comfortable if the book were done." So, over the years, I slowly pieced together an outline in my spare time and did chapters when I could. (I think a reading I did of the prologue of this last year is floating around on-line somewhere.)

    One of the problems with working on the Wheel of Time is that it's so time-consuming, I basically can't work on any other big project while writing it. I stay creative by changing to new ideas and new concepts whenever I start feeling burned out—I work on them for a short time, then get my groove back and turn to the larger project.

    That's why you see all kinds of little projects popping out here and there from me. I can't do Stormlight 2 at the same time as WoT. Two big series are just too much to do at once; one would suffer. Yet, I still need artistic liberation now and then to try something new and refresh myself.

    The two novellas I'm releasing this year (Legion, The Emperor's Soul) and the short Mistborn novel last year (Alloy of Law) are things that came out of these side deviations. Steelheart is another. Shouldn't affect Stormlight 2 very much. I always like to have one large project and a handful of smaller ones running at the same time.

    It may seem like a lot to have on my plate, but if you add Alloy of Law, Steelheart, and the two novellas together they are combined around half the length of The Way of Kings. (And took about 1/10 the brain space...)

    I don't want to make excuses for not doing Stormlight 2, but this might give a little insight as to why you keep seeing all of these other projects popping up.

    corwin01

    Are any of these stories within the cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Emperor's Soul, a novella, is in the cosmere.

    Tags

  • 282

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2011

    Reddit AMA 2011 (Verbatim)

    zas678 ()

    I've got a question-

    One of the early typo's that was mentioned in the Way of King ARC was the numbering (changing from three to 3) in the chapter-header-death-quotes. Peter said he and the editor saw that too, but then you explained something to them, and they understood why you did it. Why did you do it?

    Thank you for all you do. I truly love your works.

    PeterAhlstrom ()

    It's not a typo. Brandon may answer you, but I think the explanation to this one is easy enough to figure out on your own if you look at the big picture.

    Tags

  • 283

    Interview: Apr 21st, 2013

    Invisible Vanguard

    I am curious if professional writers ever get psyched out by their own works. When you are working on an epic series, such as 'The Stormlight Archive', do you ever have moments of doubt in your ability to see it through to completion? Does it ever feel overwhelming that you have so many volumes ahead of you to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's not the part that psychs me out. Length doesn't do that to me, particularly when I have a series well planned and I have a feel for how each book is going to be distinctive. This really helped me with the Mistborn series, for instance-when I planned it out, I planned each book to have its own identity. That kept me interested in them.

    No, what psychs me out is that sometimes something just turns out really well, like The Way of Kings, and then I immediately start thinking, "I have to do that again, and I don't know how I did it in the first place." Writing becomes a very instinctive thing.

    Most of the time when I talk about the process of writing, I'm analyzing what I've done after the fact. The truth of it is that right in the moment, right when you're sitting there working on a book, a lot of that stuff isn't going through your head. You're just running on instinct at that point. So it's easy to get psyched out when you're not sure if you can ever do it again.

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  • 284

    Interview: May, 2012

    Nalini Haynes

    When are the sequels for Way of Kings and Alloy of Law coming out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I am working on revisions for the last Wheel of Time novel, and I have a number of revisions to do; I’m planning to be done with that around July. At that point I will write the sequel to Way of Kings. I feel very bad that people have to wait so long for the second book, but I plan to be much quicker in the future. And I plan to alternate a Way of Kings book and a Mistborn book after that.

    Tags

  • 285

    Interview: May, 2012

    Nalini Haynes

    Where are you planning to take us with your writing next?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [musingly] Next, where am I planning to take you? Certainly I want to try and do the Stormlight Archive, the Way of Kings series, in a way that I hope is just awesome. I have an advantage over people like Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin in that I’ve read Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin. The big epic fantasy series is a real challenge: to do a longer series and have it work. Have it not sag during the middle, in places. To have all the characters and the narrative remain tight. Having learnt the lessons of the great writers who have come before me, I think I can try this in a new way. So I’m really eager to give it a shot. Recently a writer did it in a way that it looks like the best it’s ever been done, which was Steven Erickson. I haven’t finished his series yet but, from the fan reaction and from what I’ve read of it, he seemed to get around that. I think there are great things we can still do with the epic fantasy genre. I want to try and explore them, I want to find what the great things we can do with the genre are and try to take us there.

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  • 286

    Interview: May, 2012

    Nalini Haynes

    What does the future hold for you?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Keep writing books, keep telling stories. Now that I have finished the Wheel of Time, I can get back to a bunch of these little side stories that I’ve been wanting to do. This year I am releasing two novellas in published form.

    Nalini Haynes

    Emperor's...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Emperor’s Soul—you wanted to say Emperor’s New Groove, didn’t you?

    Nalini Haynes

    NO! What I am visualising is the cover of the book, which kind of looks a bit like pen and ink drawing, it’s gorgeous. I was going to say Emperor’s Ink, getting the artwork and the title confused.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Often when I do a big trip, I kind of try to absorb everything from the culture and spit out a novella. That’s what I did in Taiwan. The Emperor’s Soul came from my trip to Taiwan. I actually have one that I’m absorbing that’s built—growing—from Australia. If I can work drop bears into a book and actually make them not silly I am totally going to do it. These novellas are both ones that I did that for: Legion and The Emperor’s Soul. Legion comes out in June, and The Emperor’s Soul in November, I think.

    So that’s something I can be releasing since I didn’t have time to write a novel. It’s something I can give the readers, so hopefully people will enjoy those. They are both quite good—I think, if I may say so for myself—as novellas go.

    I’m not a great short fiction writer; I’m trying to learn how to be a great short fiction writer. A step toward it is to be a novella writer first. I can use those novel writing skills. So those are coming out. From there, I will write the second Stormlight book, and I will write the sequel to Alloy of Law. After that I will probably just let myself do anything. I will take time off and say, ‘Brandon, you don’t have to write anything specific, just see where you go,’ and I’ll write something crazy. After that I’ll come back and do more of the other stuff I’m supposed to do.

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  • 287

    Interview: Aug 1st, 2012

    Brandon Sanderson

    Now I stroll back into my workshop and find that a little bit of dust has gathered. Out of necessity, the Stormlight Archive has been neglected. I am pleased I made the choice to work on A Memory of Light instead of Stormlight 2. However, it is time to pick up that story again and make this series all of the awesome things I've dreamed of it being for some twenty years.

    The stories of Mat, Rand, Egwene, and Perrin are now done. Returning to the stories of Kaladin, Shallan, Jasnah, and Dalinar will be my next major project. You'll also see me doing revisions on both The Rithmatist and Steelheart this fall—as I've made arrangements for both to be published next year or the year after. You'll probably hear more about them in the days to come. And yes, I WILL be doing a sequel to The Alloy of Law.

    Tags

  • 288

    Interview: Jul 21st, 2012

    Phillip

    For Brandon, you have a career on your own as an author....

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Phillip

    Since you've had this other career—which has helped, I'm sure, in a lot of ways—what impact has this been on your original writing career, I mean I know you had to have slowed down your progress and your series, but you've still been writing those. What are the biggest impacts you've seen on your writing career because of taking on the Wheel of Time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's definitely done some...it's made me have to put down projects. In fact, next year, I have coming out the projects I was working on in 2007 when this came my way; The Rithmatist and Steelheart are both books that I did way back then that I didn't feel that I was able to release in the middle of the Wheel of Time books, even though I had them done, because I wouldn't have been able to do the revisions on them, and because I wouldn't be able to support them; I wouldn't be able to do sequels and things like that. They're both YA books. And that's, you know...when I accepted this, I said "Okay, I'm shelving these things." I did get to do a couple of books, I got to do The Way of Kings, which, granted, I already had a draft of that done. So really, the only book in these last years, the last five years that I've been doing this, that I've written from scratch and released was Alloy of Law. And so it's going to...it did kind of slow me down. The only reason it didn't slow me down as much as it could have was because I had all of this stuff done already. I had a great big backlog of books, because I enjoy writing, and I've been writing for years, and back then I wasn't as popular as I am now, so Tor would put things in slots later on, like...while I've been working on these, Warbreaker and Mistborn 3 came out, both of which were done years before I was offered the Wheel of Time. And so...yeah, all of this stuff that I had been working on long ago got delayed, and that was just fine—I went into this eyes open—but it is going to be nice to be able to go back to these things and give them some of the support that I've wanted all along.

    You know, this project took more time than all of us expected it to. I had to say yes sight unseen to knowing how big it was. I knew what Jim had said, but I didn't know how much of it was done. I didn't know that we had two hundred pages out of two thousand. There was no way for me to know how much would need to be done. So yeah, it's been a big long deviation, but not a distraction, because I think my writing has grown by leaps and bounds. It's kind of like I had to go pump iron, because writing in the Wheel of Time has been much harder than writing on anything else I've done, and I have been forced to grow, and you can see my being forced to grow between the books in the Wheel of Time books. I think my writing is way better in Towers of Midnight than it was in The Gathering Storm, particularly in some of the ways that that Jim was strong. And so, I think that's helped me. It's certainly not an experience that I would trade for anything. I got to read the ending in 2007, so there's that. (laughter) But yeah, it's been a wonderful experience, but boy, it's been a big, big, big deviation. It's not where I thought my career would go at all.

    Joe O'Hara

    Was it daunting seeing just that small amount of work that was taken care of before you stepped on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, it's daunting in two ways: First, I got that. It was really nice to have the ending. Like, having the prologue and the ending basically done—those were the two things that he did the most work on—meant that I had the bookends, which is how I build an outline anyway. I know where I start, I know my ending, and I build an outline out of that. But at the same time, there's three million words of notes about the series, which is daunting in another way. Yes, there's two hundred pages of work done on the book, and then there's this stack over here of all these other notes that include all of these things that are just mind-boggling, the stuff that's in there. We released a few of them last year for you guys. Was it last year that we released the notes?

    Jennifer Liang

    Yeah, we got the page on Cadsuane and...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, the page on Cadsuane and stuff like that. You just see all of weird things that he had in his notes. I have all the same sort of weird stuff in my notes about like Stormlight and stuff, but it's just fun to see. You go pore through these notes...he has the most random stuff. Lists of trees, lists of people, lists of this, and just millions and millions and words of this stuff, more than I can keep track of at all. It requires Maria and Alan to keep track of all this stuff. So it was also daunting in that, yes there are two hundred pages written, which actually nice, because as I've said before, if the book had been 80% of the way done, they wouldn't have needed to hire me, they wouldn't have needed to bring me in. When a book is 80% of the way done, that's when you get a ghostwriter, or Harriet just does it herself. She really could have done it in-house herself and finished that and said "Look, here we're going to do a few patches and stuff, but the book is mostly done."

    And so, getting there and saying "Hey, I actually get to do something with this, I have an opportunity to add the scenes that I've been wanting as a fan for years and years, so I get a chance to actually write these characters, rather than coming in and just patching some holes," was very thrilling for me at the same time. You know, I worried that I would get there and it would just be patching holes—"Write these five scenes," or something like that—and that would have meant I wouldn't have really had a part in it. Granted, that would have been better, because it would have meant there was more Jim in it, and it would have made a better book, but at the same time, when I got to see those two hundred pages, I was saddened but excited at the same time.

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  • 289

    Interview: Jul 29th, 2006

    Brandon Sanderson (Second Title Page)

    Okay, so here we see the words FINAL EMPIRE for the first time. Continuing the discussion I had in the last annotation, one of the books that I wrote after MISTBORN PRIME was called THE FINAL EMPIRE. (I now call it FINAL EMPIRE PRIME.) It was the story of a young boy (yes, boy) named Vin who lived in an oppressive imperial dictatorship that he was destined to overthrow. It was my attempt at writing a shorter book that still had epic scope.

    This book turned out to be okay, but it had some fairly big problems problems. While people reacted rather well to the characters, the setting was a little weak for one of my books. Also, once again, I wasn't that enthusiastic about the way the plot turned out.

    After that, I gave up on the short books. I proved no good at it. I decided to do THE WAY OF KINGS next, a massive war epic. It turned out to be 350,000+ words—I kind of see it as me reacting in frustration against the short books I'd forced myself to write. About this time, I sold ELANTRIS, and Moshe (my editor) wanted to see what else I was working on. I sent him KINGS. He liked it, and put it in the contract.

    I, however, wasn't certain if KINGS was the book I wanted to use as a follow up for ELANTRIS. They were very different novels, and I was worried that those who liked ELANTRIS would be confused by such a sharp turn in the direction of my career. So, I decided to write a different book to be my 'second' novel.

    I had always liked Allomancy as a magic system, and I liked several of the character concepts FINAL EMPIRE. I also liked a lot of the ideas from both books, as well as some ideas I'd had for a great plot. I put three all of these things together, and conceived the book you are now reading.

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  • 290

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    Will there be an Alloy of Law 2?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I really enjoyed writing it, and people seem to have enjoyed reading it, so I plan to do more. It was a really fun thing to do. You won't have to wait too long. I have to write the sequel to Way of Kings, which I'm doing right now, and then we'll see where I go.

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  • 291

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Fan

    I'm so excited for the Way of Kings sequel.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, you'll be glad to know that I finished with the first section of it last night; the second book is Shallan's book, so I was writing her flashback sequences.

    Question

    Any new name ideas yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not yet. The name's still the Bad Name. [explains to others]. In my notes it's called The Book of Endless Pages, because that's the book Shallan gets at the end of Book 1, but the problem is that it's kind of a silly title for a book this long.

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  • 292

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    So you said that you recently threw away a sequence from Way of Kings 2. How do you know when to throw it out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Practice. Lots of practice. It was much harder to do that early on, but I've had lots of practice, and so I know that when it's not working, I know why it's not working. Sometimes when it's not working it's because I'm just having a bad day. I need to try it the next day. Sometimes when it's not working, Something fundamental is wrong with the book. Sometimes, it's just the scene is in the wrong place or isn't active enough. And this one wasn't active enough. I set it in a way that people were just sitting around too much, and I had to scrap all that rework it so that there would be conflict and motion.

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  • 293

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    Can one person have more than one Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. A person can possess more than one Shardblade. [referring to us] They're like Oooh!

    Question

    That actually changes a whole lot of ideas that I had.

    Brandon

    So has there been debate on this topic?

    Zas

    No, not that I know of.

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  • 294

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    Can spren die?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, spren can die.

    Question

    Okay, so Syl, she's been around for at least a few thousand years, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Question

    How does she forget her memories? Is it in connection to humans that makes it so she remembers things?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Question

    And she's what, a Bonding Spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You will find out. She [says she's] an Honorspren, but you will find out.

    Zas

    Is that bond the Nahel bond?

    Brandon Sanderson

    [Nervous grin on Brandon's face] [laughter] There is a certain amount of... It is a symbiotic bond that is gained by Syl. And things gained by the person bonding. And the stronger presence in the physical realm, and the ability to think better in the physical realm is a part of that bond. She is mostly getting [something] of the physical realm. Without the bond, it is very hard for her to think in this world.

    Question

    Because she's windspren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's part of it. That's part of something else.

    Question

    Shallan. What the crap was up with the headless spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You will find out! Read and Find out! I did just finish her flashback sequence, the first thing I wrote for the second book.

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  • 295

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    When is the next Stormlight Archive coming out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Next fall. If I'm on the ball. That's not supposed to rhyme, but it did. Tor said they'd put it out next fall if I turn it in on time.

    Question

    When is turn in time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    April. They said if I get it to them in April, we'll be fine. The trick is, for Michael Whelan to do the cover, I need to give him a cover scene like next month. Because Michael takes his time, because he's the best artist in the business, so you need to turn stuff in early. So I need to decide "What's the cover going to be", and come up with a fantastic cover scene for it.

    Question

    So is it finished? Is the book finished?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You can follow on my website, I'm at 7% right now. I have to turn it in in April, so if I can get to 100% by April (or 110% knowing Brandon) we'll be all right. If we can't than it gets a little more sketchy.

    Question

    Is that turning in the first draft?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, we should be able to do it if I turn in the first draft in April.

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  • 296

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    I heard you're doing another Mistborn Trilogy?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Question

    Any estimate when the first book might be?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I might do some more Alloy of Law era things in between, they are not the second trilogy, but I will do them. The second trilogy will come between the break between the first sequence in the Stormlight Archive, and the second sequence of the Stormlight Archive. it's two five book sequences, and during that break I will stop and do the second Mistborn trilogy. So it will depend on how quickly I can write those.

    Question

    So when exactly would the second Mistborn trilogy take place relative to Alloy of Law?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Late 20th century era. Modern technology.

    Zas

    I've heard that's like... 50? years after Alloy of Law.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, right around there. Roughly. Not quite information age, is what I was looking at. So there's no direct equivalent, because the different technology aspects, but you would see it as something around the 80s. Maybe early 90s. Allomancer SWAT team is what it's about.

    Question

    Okay, that's exciting.

    Brandon Sanderson

    First book is a Mistborn serial killer versus an Allomancer SWAT team. With deeper ramifications to everything.

    Question

    Is Dan helping you with the psychology on that one?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh, I actually haven't yet gotten his help on a [profile?] yet.

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  • 297

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Question

    How do you come up with your magic systems? Do you just open the dictionary and point to a word? "Oh, I'll make something with that."

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, I'm always looking for something that strikes me. And I'm looking for things that haven't been done before. Things that will make nice conflict, that walk the line between science and superstition.

    Question

    That's what I love, that it's all super scientific but it also has magic.

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you will Google Sanderson's First Law, and Sanderson's Second Law, I have two essays that I wrote about how I do magic. They're both on my website, but Google will find them easier than trying to find them on my website.

    Question

    Did you ever read Master of 5 magics?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I did. That's old school.

    Question

    Yeah, not great stories, but wonderful magic.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yep. Great magic. That's what I felt about them too.

    Question

    When will the next Mistborn (Alloy of Law era) come out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It will probably come out after the next Way of Kings. Next Way of Kings is next Christmas, the next Alloy of Law era book is probably the following Spring or something like that.

    Question

    Are you planning two more or three more?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will do as many of those as strikes me. The Alloy of Law books are a deviation from the main world plotline.

    So it's just for fun. I'm not going to commit to how many I'll do or not do. Just whatever's working.

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  • 298

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Zas

    So the number of Shards that have been on Roshar is three, correct?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Correct.

    Zas

    People have been thrown by you saying that Odium is not native to Roshar.

    Brandon

    Odium is not native, that's the thing. Are any of them native? So if you dig the deeper question, are any of them native, ehhh, none of them are native to the planets you've seen so far. What I probably should've said to be more precise is that Honor and Cultivation were there long before Odium showed up.

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  • 299

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Josh

    If Odium went to Scadrial, would he be blind to metal there?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um. [nervous laugh] Um...

    Josh

    Because I think you mentioned more than once that focuses are actually determined by planet.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm going to RAFO that. But that's one of those excellent questions. I'm amused that people have figured out enough to be asking questions like that.

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  • 300

    Interview: Sep 22nd, 2012

    Zas

    That's it. Oh wait, we can do this ridiculous one. There's this crazy off the wall theory that Parshendi are dead people brought back to life.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Interesting. There will be Parshendi viewpoints in the second book, and you will be able to see a lot more of that.

    Question

    Are Parshendi like a hive mind sort of culture?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are not a hive mind. I thought people might assume that.

    Question

    But because of the singing, it seems like...

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is a connection. It's more Union than Hivemind. You know about Jung?

    Question

    Not particularly.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Jung's philosophy was that all people are connected.

    Question

    Oh, like the dream psychologist?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I believe that collective unconscious was one of his terms. So it's not hive mind, but there is—there's something the Parshendi can tap into.

    Question

    With the singing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, like with the singing, where one sings over here, and one sings over there, they are actually in beat with one another even if they start at different times. So there is something there, a connection.

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  • 301

    Interview: Jul 9th, 2012

    Phillip Carroll

    The Alloy of Law was the first book of yours that I listened to—I don't have a chance to read; it's like you; it's limited time, and at work I can listen—and I really enjoyed that and handed it on to my daughter who loved it as well. Can we look forward to the second book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there will be more with those characters; I really enjoyed doing that one, and so I will be doing more. There is the trilogy before, of course, which is more epic fantasy, and this is a little bit more a detective novel, but yeah, I plan to do some more.

    Phillip Carroll

    Do you have any idea when that next one will be?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I really can't say because there is so much that I've got going on. Finishing the last Wheel of Time is really a big priority to me right now, and then the second Stormlight Archive is a very big priority also. And so, I will do the second Alloy of Law book—I've given it the title Shadows of Self; I've got some plotting and things done for it—but I can't promise a time.

    Phillip Carroll

    Okay, thank you. That was one of my other questions that Zach sent in was, The Way of Kings. That's the one you just mentioned, you're doing the second book? Because I'm listening to the Mistborn trilogy right now; I just started on The Final Empire, and I'm loving that. Again, through Audible. I'm through the first third of it, and I'm having a good time. But that was Zach's second question.

    Brandon Sanderson

    When is the second book going to be out?

    Phillip Carroll

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will be starting that as soon as the Wheel of Time book is done to my satisfaction. That's looking like maybe July, and then I will write the second book, as long as it takes. A book like that doesn't come fast. The way I'm a faster writer: I'm imagining eight months to ten months for the initial draft, and then it will depend on how long it takes to revise based on my editor's feedback and how long Tor feels they want to wait. I am guessing next fall.

    Phillip Carroll

    Okay. Zach says, the year that he read that book, by far, it was the best book he had read that year.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, well I appreciate hearing that.

    Phillip Carroll

    He's a big fan. When I told him that—they're all at Balticon, and I'm here at BayCon, and when they found out you were going to be here, he just went all fanboy on us.

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  • 302

    Interview: Apr 14th, 2012

    Question

    Hi Brandon.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hi.

    Question

    I've read a bit online about how you have an overall storyline covering all of your novels, but I really don't know much about it. I was wondering if you could expand and explain.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay. The overarching story of all of my novels. This warrants some backstory. If you weren't familiar, I wrote thirteen novels before I sold one. I spent a lot of time practicing and learning, and I love big epic grand series. However, you know, you can't grow up reading the Wheel of Time without loving big series, but advice I heard early on was, selling a big series is actually pretty hard from a new author and if you, for instance, spend your life and you write like six books in the same series, and you send off the first book to someone and they don't buy it, you can't really send them the second book because, you know, they've already rejected that, and so it's really putting all of your eggs into one basket, and that doesn't end up working out for some people. I didn't want to do that; I wanted to expand my chances, and so I wrote thirteen novels in different worlds, all with their own different magic systems and own characters. But secretly I loved the grand epic, and so I started connecting all these worlds during my unpublished era, and telling a hidden epic behind them all that I was setting up for.

    Well, eventually I sold book number six, and embedded in book number six was a bunch of this stuff for the hidden epic, of course, and six is actually one of the ones where I first started doing this. My first five were kind of throwaway novels. It was six, seven, eight, and nine that were really involved in this. Six was Elantris; seven was a book called Dragonsteel; eight was a book called White Sand; and nine was a book called Mythwalker, which eventually became Warbreaker, which I eventually rewrote and released as Warbreaker. So that four-book sequence was very ingrained in this kind of hidden story behind the stories. When I started publishing these books, I just kept it going, the hidden story, the hidden epic.

    Now one aspect of this was that I didn't want people to have to know all the books that came before to understand what was happening in any one of them. So, for instance, if you read these you don't need to know anything about the hidden epic. It is back there behind the scenes for some day when I actually write a series dedicated to it, that there will be all this foreshadowing, but it will never directly and in really important ways influence a given series. For instance, you don't have to have read Elantris to understand Mistborn even though technically they're sequels; Mistborn is technically a sequel to Elantris, just set on a different planet.

    There is one character who has appeared in all of my novels, and several other characters who have jumped between novels. For instance there's a character from Elantris who is in The Way of Kings—one of the main characters from Elantris shows up in Way of Kings under hidden auspices, but it's pretty obvious; the fans found it really fast, those who were watching out for it—but that sort of thing. So, there is a story going on behind all of this that I will eventually tell, but what do you need to know about it right now? That all of these things are basically Easter eggs right now. None of them are dominating the storyline at all; it's just a bunch of cool Easter eggs that eventually will mean something to you. So the character to watch out for is called Hoid; it's a pseudonym he usually uses—pseudonym is I guess the wrong term; the alias he normally uses—and he's all over in the books, so if you watch out for him you'll see him.

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  • 303

    Interview: Apr 14th, 2012

    Question

    Have you chosen a flashback character for book two of Stormlight Archive yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I have chosen to use Shallan as the flashback character for Stormlight Two. I feel that her narrative is the best one right here, and so I pretty much filled out the first five, 'cause Stormlight's in two five-book narratives, where we're going to anchor it with Kaladin is the first one and Dalinar is the last one, and then we'll use Shallan, Szeth is number three, and then probably Navani is number four. That's the one I haven't nailed down yet. It's either Navani or a character I can't tell you yet.

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  • 304

    Interview: 2012

    PostPostModernism (November 2012)

    How excited are you right now?

    Also, what are some of your next projects?

    Brandon Sanderson (November 2012)

    Hmm... For me, the excitement probably won't hit until the day of, but it will be mixed with a steadily growing sense of anxiety. It's the same anxiety for every book release. Will I have hit the target? Will it provide the right experience? Did I succeed or fail? These are things you can't know for certain until the book is out. It will be worse with this one in some ways, since there are no second chances here. Mistakes in earlier WoT books could be compensated for by future volumes. That doesn't exist for this one.

    Next year, I actually have a few YA books coming out (projects I was working on before the Wheel of Time came my way.) One of them, Steelheart, I'm very excited about. I'm also working on a sequel to The Way of Kings.

    Arithered

    Yep. Sometimes I just stare at that progress bar on your site, willing it to suddenly jump forward in real time. I can imagine it must be pretty bizarre from your end of things, having what begins as formless inspiration become quantified, written down, picked to pieces, bound, and then eagerly awaited by large numbers of people.

    We're grateful for it though, those pieces of your brain. :-)

    wisd0m (December 2012)

    Need more Stormlight Archive.

    It is very frustrating to get into a series at the beginning and have to wait for each book. I started WoT this year and ASOIAF last year, so I avoided years of waiting. The Stormlight Archive will be the true test of my reading patience.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm working on book two now. Hopefully, the wait won't be as bad for future titles in the series.

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  • 305

    Interview: Sep 25th, 2012

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm now seven percent through writing the sequel to The Way of Kings, and I've finished the first sequence. You can track my progress in the sidebar on my website, and I often talk about it on Facebook and Twitter. My goal is to finish the first draft by April 2013, and if I can pull that off, I'll try to get the book released by Christmas 2013. I should know better in April whether that is possible.

    Something else you've already seen if you follow me on the social media sites is this "dance review" of The Way of Kings:

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  • 306

    Interview: Jan 5th, 2013

    Michael Mason-D'Croz

    With the series coming to a close, it now allows Sanderson to move on to his own material. He is working on the second Stormlight Archive book, which he hopes to release in November, and a couple of young adult novels.

    Brandon Sanderson

    "These are projects I had been working on for years and years, and I finally have some time to work on them," Sanderson said.

    Michael Mason-D'Croz

    Sanderson plans to release The Rithmatist in May and Steelheart, the first of a trilogy, in late summer or early fall.

    The Rithmatist follows Sanderson's normal fantasy themes. However, Steelheart is more of an action/adventure with some fantasy twists. In the book, the only people in the world with super powers are evil, and normal people organize ways to try to bring them to justice.

    He sold the film rights to Steelheart to Random House after eight different companies bid on it.

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  • 307

    Interview: Jan 9th, 2013

    Geek's Guide to the Galaxy

    Brandon Sanderson on making videos of your creative process:

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Some artists that I like, they're doing this thing where they'll film themselves painting a piece, and you get this awesome thing where you start with the blank page and then you see in fast motion them painting the whole thing. . . I can't do that with writing. It's not nearly as engaging to watch someone typing as it is to watch someone creating this amazing piece of art out of nothing, but I wanted to try, and see what it was like . . . I do these things called 'interludes' in the Stormlight Archive where I basically write short stories in the world and put them between major sections of the book, and I screen captured myself typing that out . . . The idea is just to put those things up as something fun that people might enjoy, probably sped up a bunch, since it took me six hours to write the scene . . . It totally makes you self-conscious. Mostly it's the spelling. I'll be typing along and I'll see that I've spelled some word wrong, and I'll be like 'Oh man.' . . . It does actually keep you focused, though, because every time your instinct is 'I'm going to go check my e-mail' or 'I'm going to check this browser,' you're like 'Oh, wait a minute. I'm filming. I probably should not do that.'"

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  • 308

    Interview: Jan 9th, 2013

    Jhirrad

    As the line continued to shrink and the clock drew closer to midnight, we all withdrew together to the signing area. We had more discussions with fans about the series, making certain to keep the conversation spoiler-free.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon talked about the other things he has coming out, including Steelheart, and the new Stormlight Archive book (due in November!).

    Jhirrad

    We named the AMAZING Trolloc doll he was given (Narg Jr.) and congratulated him on the upcoming birth of his third child. We watched people come through the line with nearly thirty books to be signed (this was at the end, when Brandon would sign any number), and the joy on their faces was great.

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  • 309

    Interview: Jan 9th, 2013

    Question

    How did this prepare you to write The Stormlight Archive series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There’s actually a good story there because Way of Kings, the first Stormlight Archive, was the book I was writing when I first sold Elantris. Elantris was my first published, but it wasn’t my first written. It was my sixth novel. It was the first one that was actually somewhat decent. But I was writing number thirteen when I got the offer on it. You’ll find that’s very common among authors—it doesn’t happen to all of us, but a lot of us, we write for a long time, until we get it done—and I had just finished Way of Kings, and it was not right yet. In fact, when I sold Elantris, TOR wanted to buy two books from me, and my editor asked, you know—"Send me what you're working on right now." And I sent him Way of Kings, and he said "Wow, this is awesome, but number one, it's enormous! I’m not sure we can publish this, at least in one volume from a new author." Later on I was able to convince them that it should be one volume. But that's when I had a little more clout, and they could print more copies which drives the prices down for printing them. But also, it just wasn't right yet; the book was not right. And I said to my editor, "I'm okay with not publishing it now, because I don't know what's wrong with it." As a writer I think it was just too ambitious for me at the time, I just couldn't do it yet. And it wasn't until I'd written Gathering Storm in its entirety that I started to figure out what I'd been doing wrong.

    It was actually managing viewpoints, was one of the things. During the reread of Robert Jordan's entire series I noticed how he gathered the viewpoints together. When you start writing a big epic fantasy series, and you feel like, "Well, they have so many characters, I want to start with that." And the reason on the draft of Way of Kings, I started with—all over the world, I had all these viewpoints and things like this, and the book was kind of a train wreck because of it. Where, if you read Eye of the World, Robert Jordan starts with them all together, and then slowly builds complexity, and even the later books he's grouping the characters together so even if they have individual story lines going on they're in the same place so they can interact with each other and there's clusters of them in different places.

    And that was one thing. Working on The Gathering Storm I've learned how to make my characters...also how to use viewpoint the way he did, how to manage subtlety—he was so subtle with a lot of his writing—and some of these things, it all started to click in my head. And I actually I called my agent and said, "I need to do Way of Kings RIGHT NOW," and he's like "Are you sure? Because you kind of have a lot on your plate." And I'm like, "I need to do it; it's going to be fast, because I know how to do it now." And so I actually took time off between Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight and re-wrote Way of Kings from scratch. Took me about six months, which is amazingly fast for a book of that length. And then I showed it to my editor, and it was right this time. And it's hard to explain many of the specifics. It's just, you know...it's like how do you know you can lift this weight after you've been lifting these other weights? When you've worked hard enough, that you've gained the muscle mass to do it. And lifting...writing the Wheel of Time was heavy lifting. And that's how it happened. I do apologize the sequel is taking so long, but after that deviation to the first one, which I could do very quickly, I couldn't stop to write the second one after Towers of Midnight because the second one would take too long, and delay the last book too long. And so, I am getting back to the Stormlight now—I am working on the second book—but I had other obligations first that were very important, and they're why you're here, so... [laughter]

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  • 310

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2013

    Question

    How are your plans for Stormlight Two doing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I am trying to get done for a fall, late fall release this year. Harriet snickers at me when I say that, because she knows that the chances of that actually happening are kind of slim. It could happen. It's more likely that it would be spring the following year, but I'm going to try. I'm going to try very hard. I'm about forty percent of the way through the first draft; the problem is never first draft, though; revisions take a long time on a book this big. Rothfuss once described it as, "It's like ninety percent awesome, but you don't want to release something that's only ninety percent awesome, and that last ten percent is really hard to get to sometimes." So we'll see.

    Harriet McDougal

    And then, production on an enormous book is also very time-consuming, and the way I think of it is, there will be Gelusil on coffee carts at Tor, or other remedies for stomach upsets. They say, "You want this book by when?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tom, who runs Tor, is optimistic, though I noticed he had little stickers—there's copies of Way of Kings to give out as prizes, and they have a sticker on it that says, "Watch for the sequel in late 2013."

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  • 311

    Interview: 2013

    Clayton Boyd (3 January 2013)

    Excited about Memory if Light in a week. Any idea about book 2 of Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson (3 January 2013)

    Next fall, hopefully.

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  • 312

    Interview: Nov 4th, 2012

    Rebecca Lovatt

    Okay, and, next year, we're getting Stormlight Archive book 2? Or will that be early 2014?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It should be Christmas 2013; that's what we're aiming for. In fact, I have to name it this weekend so TOR can start the publicity for it.

    Rebecca Lovatt

    And then we're also getting A Memory of Light, obviously, and The Rithmatist?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, that's the book I wrote just before Wheel of Time in 2007, back before I was offered a Wheel of Time offer...and it languished for years because I was so busy with Wheel of Time—and when I had any free time, The Way of Kings—I wasn't even able to do revisions. The three or four months it would have taken would have slowed down one of those two books, so I was able to take those months after A Memory of Light was done.

    Rebecca Lovatt

    And is there anything next year?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know when Steelheart will be out, but probably 2014...but it is on people's radars. This is another one before I took up before Wheel of Time, but I wrote it in gaps between books, so people know about it. I've been trying to shop it Hollywood for years, but I was finally able to polish it off and sell it. Once Wheel a Time was done I was finally able to spend time on these things which have been put aside for years. Things like this are good, but to give them the time to make them great while I was working on them would have taken time away from A Memory of Light, and it wouldn't have been right to let them demand that time, so it wasn't until recently that I've been able to give them that time. So, I think that'll be 2014, but we do get three books next year most likely.

    Rebecca Lovatt

    Yep, and that's great... I'm looking forward to reading them all.

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  • 313

    Interview: Nov, 2012

    Szabó Dominik

    Would you tell us about your plans for the future? Which of your series would you like to continue?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My immediate goal is to continue the Stormlight Archive with the sequel to The Way of Kings. I'm writing that now, and I plan to finish in April so that it can be published in time for Christmas 2013. We'll see if I'm actually able to do that. Also in 2013 I have two young adult books coming out. The Rithmatist is a gearpunk fantasy about the son of a cleaning lady at a magic school—he can't do the magic himself, but he gets free tuition because his mother works there. Then there's Steelheart, which is a post-apocalyptic book about people who get super powers, but all of them turn out to be evil. The main character is a boy who thinks he saw the one weakness of Steelheart, the emperor of Chicago, and he meets up with a group of assassins that discovers these villains' weaknesses and takes them out.

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  • 314

    Interview: Nov, 2012

    Szabó Dominik

    You are most widely known for the Mistborn novels in Hungary, so we are especially curious about this series: when can your readers expect the next book in the series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do plan to write a sequel to The Alloy of Law between books in the Stormlight series, and will probably write more of those after that. The second major Mistborn trilogy is something I will write after book five of the Stormlight Archive.

    Szabó Dominik

    If I'm not mistaken, you have great plans with this universe and you intend to write more trilogies set in this world. Would you tell us about this conception in some detail?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sure. I originally pitched the Mistborn series to my editor as a sequence of three trilogies. Past, present, and future—epic fantasy, urban fantasy, and science fiction; all with the running thread of the magic system.

    Since I just started coming out with the Stormlight Archive, I want to commit myself to that and don't want to dig into the second Mistborn trilogy for quite a while. Yet I want to prep people for the idea that Mistborn is going to be around for a while, and they are going to be seeing more books. I didn't want it to just come out of nowhere at them in ten years or whenever I get to it. So I decided to do some interim stories.

    One of the things I'd been playing with was the idea of what happened between the epic fantasy and the urban fantasy trilogies. We have some very interesting things happening in the world, where you've got a cradle of mankind created (by design) to be very lush, very easy to live in, so a great big city could grow up there relatively quickly; civilization could build itself back up over the course of just a couple of generations. Yet there would be very little motivation to leave that area at first, which I felt would mean that you'd end up with this really great frontier boundary. The dichotomy between the two—the frontier and the quite advanced (all things considered) city in the cradle of humanity—was very interesting to me. So I started playing around with where things would lead.

    To worldbuild the urban fantasy trilogy coming up, I need to know everything that happened in the intervening centuries. Some stories popped up in there that I knew would happen, that would be referenced in the second trilogy. So I thought, why don't I tell some of these stories, to cement them in my mind and to keep the series going.

    I started writing The Alloy of Law not really knowing how long it would be—knowing the history and everything that happened, but not knowing how much of it I wanted to do in prose form. Things just clicked as they sometimes do, and I ended up turning it into a novel.

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  • 315

    Interview: 2013

    Justin Kirklin (10 January 2013)

    Is Kaladin in Stormilight 2?

    Brandon Sanderson (10 January 2013)

    Yes, quite a bit.

    Tags

  • 316

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2012

    Daily Dragon

    The light-hearted banter in your recent standalone Mistborn book, The Alloy of Law, is an unexpected yet delightful change from the more serious tone of the original trilogy. Why did you decide to make such an abrupt shift? Will we get to read more about Waxillium and Wayne?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This was quite conscious on my part. One of the reasons I ended up writing The Alloy of Law as I did is because I personally wanted something to balance The Stormlight Archive, which is going to be more serious and have a tone more like the original Mistborn trilogy. I'm planning a five-book sequence to start off The Stormlight Archive, so I wanted something to go between those books that was faster paced, a little more lighthearted, and more focused.

    I love The Stormlight Archive—it's what I think will be the defining work of my career, but that said, sometimes you want a bag of potato chips instead of a steak. Sometimes you want to write that, and sometimes you want to read that. I knew not all readers would want to go along with me at the start on such a big, long series; they may want to wait until it's finished. So I wanted to be releasing smaller, more focused and more simply fun books in between, both for my own interest and for my readers. And I will keep doing this; there will be more Wax and Wayne books in the future, spaced among my bigger epics.

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  • 317

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2012

    Daily Dragon

    What other projects do you have planned or in the works?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My novella Legion just came out from Subterranean Press and I'll do a signing for it at the Missing Volume booth at noon on Saturday; it's a modern-day story about a guy who has something like schizophrenia, but he's a genius. He himself can't do anything special, but all of his hallucinations are experts in their respective fields. People come to him with problems they need solved, and he brings a few of his hallucinations along with him to help solve them.

    In November I have another novella, The Emperor's Soul, coming from Tachyon Publications—it's more like my fantasy books, in a world where trained Forgers can change reality, and the main character has to Forge a new soul for the Emperor, who was left brain-dead in an attack.

    Next summer I have two YA books coming out: The Rithmatist, which is about fighting with magical chalk drawings, and Steelheart, which takes place in a world where all the superheroes are evil; the main character is a boy who knows the weakness of the Emperor of Chicago and wants to hook up with a team of assassins to hunt him down.

    Then my next book that will come out after those is the sequel to The Way of Kings, which I'm working on the outline of right now.

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  • 318

    Interview: May 11th, 2012

    Sean

    On your website, the completion status for the next book in the Stormlight series has been stuck on 0% for too long in my opinion. When do plan to get it written? And is there any hopes that Michael Whelan will do the cover?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I plan to jump right into the next book in the Stormlight Archive series as soon as I finish up with The Wheel of Time. I feel extremely honored that Michael Whelan came out of semi-retirement to do the first cover so I can't rightly expect him to paint the next one but we'll just have to see what happens. It was a dream come true to have him do the cover of one of my books.

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  • 319

    Interview: 2013

    Vanessa (23 January 2013)

    Are the Ghostbloods associated with Odium?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    Odium has his fingers in a LOT of things.

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  • 320

    Interview: 2013

    Darrel (23 January 2013)

    @BrandSanderson, can we expect to see Wit in his same duties to the king? Or perhaps just in other duties?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2013)

    Wit is going to be around, for sure.

    Tags

  • 321

    Interview: 2013

    Brandon Sanderson (28 January 2013)

    I recorded myself writing a chapter from the next Stormlight Archive book. This video is the prewriting. More to come.

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  • 322

    Interview: Nov 5th, 2009

    Matthew Peterson

    And your Mistborn series, like you said, it is more serious. Tell us a little bit about the Mistborn series.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay. One of the things I felt that I wanted to do, when I finally did break in, was find some way that I could add to the genre, rather than re-treading the same ground. I felt that I wanted to try and look at the fantasy genre and do plots that hadn't been explored yet. And the Mistborn books are my attempt at doing that.

    A lot of epic fantasy has this same sort of concept. This young protagonist, raised in the rural area goes on a quest to defeat the dark lord. And it's a wonderful, powerful story; it's the story that Tolkien used to an extent; it's certainly the story that Robert Jordan used, and you see it coming up over and over again in fantasy and I worried it had come up too many times. And so the Mistborn series came from me saying, "Well, what if he failed? What if this kid, this plucky protagonist, you know, went to save the world and it went all wrong?"

    Matthew Peterson

    And it failed? Oh!

    Brandon Sanderson

    What if Frodo kept the ring? Or what if Sauron had killed him and taken the ring? What if Voldemort killed Harry Potter at the end of book seven? What happens? And the way that I approached this is saying, "Okay, that's happened. You've got your generic epic fantasy story that all happened, and the hero failed." Thousand years later, now what? And it focuses around a team of thieves who get together and decide, "Okay, the prophecies were lies, the hero didn't save us, the world is essentially enslaved. Let's try this our way." And their plot is to rob the dark lord silly, use the money they get to bribe his armies away from him, and over throw the empire. And that's Mistborn.

    Matthew Peterson

    You know, Brandon, as you were talking about the Mistborn [series], you brought up some memories of my childhood. I don't remember what this series was, but I read this series that exactly was kind of like that: you know, the character is a normal person, he's great, throughout the series, but the very end, it doesn't all turn out right. He becomes evil and the series ends! And it haunted me. My whole life. And I still don't remember what the series was. I wish I would have remembered it, but . . . yeah, that's a very interesting concept and it doesn't happen very often.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I was tempted to actually do that. I felt that would have been too much of a downer. Which is why I jumped forward a thousand years and then used kind of flash backs to tell the story of what happened a thousand years ago, because it's not as clear cut as I've made it sound.

    Matthew Peterson

    Well, that series I mentioned, I mean, that scarred me for life. [laughs] So I'm glad that you did a little different at the end there.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The other thing is I would have had to write it as a kind of more generic fantasy at the beginning and then take it other places, and I wasn't sure if I could do that because I don't know if my heart would have been in it, trying to write a fantasy that is more generic.

    The other big thing I like to do with my books that I hope does something new and interesting is try to approach having interesting different types of magic. And I think the best fantasy books do this, and I wanted each book that people read of mine to have a new magic system. I like to write magic that feels like it could be a science, that in this world there's another branch of science that we don't have in our world, that if you explore and apply the scientific method to it, you can figure out how it works. And I tend to write stories where we've got people figuring out the magic. They're working in sort of a magical renaissance. That's the theme for my next series, The Way of Kings, which is what's going to be coming out next year, is the idea that we're living in a world where people are discovering the magic and bringing it back to the world and trying to figure out how it works and actually applying reason and science to it to get some hard numbers on what it can do and what it can't do.

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  • 323

    Interview: Feb 1st, 2013

    Question

    You work on 4 or 5 series at time, how do you keep them from leaking (into each other)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's a challenge. Being a writer is a lot like a juggler, keeping the balls in the air. One of the things I worry about is repeating myself. It's a valid thing, making sure you don't do that and keep them separate. I use an extensive wiki for myself and my books. A lot of my childrens' series are breather novels, and things I do between big epics where I don't have to worry so much about continuity. There's a lot of continuity with The Way of Kings and books like that, so it can be very in depth and intensive, so to keep my sanity, every once in a while I'll take a breather.

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  • 324

    Interview: Feb 1st, 2013

    Question

    How do you think finishing the RJ series will affect the Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the things is that it has influenced and taught me to juggle viewpoints much better. When I first tried to write Way of Kings, the viewpoint juggling was off and when I rewrote it, it was better. I also really liked RJ's subtlety. His foreshadowing has a light, gentle touch and I'm not always so light. I kinda punch you in the face with it. So those two things are something I learned a lot of. In general, something a lot of fantasy writers have problem with is side characters going out of control. It happens to about everyone. I have the advantage is that I got to read RJ. He said he wouldn't do it again if he had to do it over, so I can learn from that and be able to keep the tighter focus for the story. I like The Wheel of Time and the side characters, but RJ said he wished he did Book 10 differently than he did.

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  • 325

    Interview: Jan 29th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm starting a new weekly bonus content feature for the next few months as a bit of an experiment. Right now I'm writing the sequel to The Way of Kings, and I've recorded my writing process for one chapter using Camtasia (which was provided to me by the folks at TechSmith). The chapter I've recorded is the new interlude featuring Rysn (who was in one of the interludes in the first book). I've split the recording up into multiple videos that I'm uploading to YouTube. The first one is up now, and it covers the prewriting/outlining for the chapter. For now, the videos are in real time, but once they're all uploaded I'll make a high-speed version of the whole chapter for those of you who don't want to sit and watch my normal typing speed.

    Some of you are wondering if this video will have spoilers for Stormlight 2. As an interlude, it takes place away from most of the action of the rest of the book, so you shouldn't see more than hints. This first video has the interlude's outline in it, so it will partially spoil the rest of the videos, but you'll find that the outline is very sparse. It's probably more likely to make you more interested to read more than to spoil you for the rest.

    The main point of these videos is to show you my writing process, which is something I get a lot of questions about. Enjoy. Stormlight 2 should come out before Christmas if I can get the first draft finished in April. I'm working hard on it right now, so we'll see if that happens.

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  • 326

    Interview: Feb 5th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've uploaded the second video of me writing the Rysn interlude from the sequel to The Way of Kings. If you missed the first video with the prewriting, it's here. This week's video starts the interlude itself.

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  • 327

    Interview: Feb 11th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    The third of my Stormlight Archive 2 writing videos is now up on YouTube. Be sure to watch it in 720p for the best quality. I WILL be posting a sped-up version of the whole chapter once I'm done posting all of the videos; if my typing is too slow for you, don't worry.

    Tags

  • 328

    Interview: Feb 8th, 2013

    DJ Stipe

    Harriet arrived shortly and Thom got the distinct honor of offering his arm to escort her inside. Once inside, he quickly got lost and Harriet was kind enough to point out the way to go ("that door, the one that says 'Employee's only?'"). She was still kinder to make a point to mention that she'd been inside many book stores in her time.

    Once in the back she joined Brandon signing some book stock and the Memory Keepers were called in to spend some time, ask questions and get signatures. They were both very gracious with the little amount of time they had and we were joined by Jason and his writing group, so many were able to get Jason's signature on Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light. There were a couple of those present who hadn't read the book, so we kept it spoiler-free. Brandon mentioned during this time that the pacing of the final book was the most difficult part to get right and was behind most of the revision work. He said he wrote the POVs separately for the first part of the book but as the pacing picked up he had to abandon that approach. Harriet was asked about the movie/series with NBC Universal and said it is a movie that's in development, not a series, but she hasn't been involved. They retain the right to consult with her, which means they could ask her out to consult and subsequently ignore whatever she says (paraphrased). Brandon was also asked if he knew how Stormlight would end, which he said he did, that he hadn't written it yet but he knew how it would end. When asked he said he had about a page outline for each of the books after four, that he adds and modifies them as events in the first books get fleshed out.

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  • 329

    Interview: Feb 8th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    Since many asked this, Stormlight 2 will be out in Christmas 2013 if lucky, otherwise Spring 2014.

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  • 330

    Interview: Feb 11th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    Another frequently asked question that I will get a bunch of times in line, so I will answer now: I am working on the second Stormlight book. (applause) Tor thinks it's coming out this fall; I'm hoping to meet their expectations. (laughter) If not, it will be the following spring. A sequel to Alloy of Law would be the next thing I would work on. (applause) Yeah, it's funny how these things happen. One of my favorite stories about Robert Jordan and the series is, you know...I started reading these books in 1990, right? How many people picked it up in 1990, when Great Hunt wasn't out yet? That's...the few the proud, right? 23 years?

    Question

    How many times did you reread it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, and you would reread it every time a new book would come out, right? That's what I did. Until you...at one point, I reread the whole series, and by the time I got done, the next new book was out, and I'm like, "Whoa, this takes a long time!" (laughter) And...there's a lot of questions I had as a fan that I have now been able to get answers to.

    For instance, I went to Tom Doherty—Tom Doherty is the publisher at Tor; he started the company, and I don't know if you guys know, Harriet was the first person he hired, as editorial director; she was in charge of editorial, and Harriet edited a lot of wonderful books. One of the books she edited is Ender's Game, if you're familiar with that. (applause) And she did also discover Robert Jordan, and then she married him. (laughter) I've always noted that's a great way to make sure your editorial advice gets taken, right? (laughter)

    And so I went to Tom, and I said, "Tom, really...how many books was it?" When you hear this talk of, "Oh, we expect it to be this long," "We expect it to be this long..." And Tom sat me down and said, "Okay, let me tell you Brandon. Robert Jordan came in, and he had this pitch for me, and he gave me this big, long description of this awesome book. He said in the first book...the first book ends with our hero taking a sword that's not a sword from a stone that's not a stone. That's where the first book ends. And from there, we have two more books; it's a trilogy." This is what Tom Doherty said, exactly. And then Tom said, "Jim,"—Robert Jordan's real name was Jim Rigney—"Jim, I know how you are. Why don't we sign you for six books?" (laughter) And Jim said, "Well, I don't need six books. This is a trilogy." And Tom said, "Well, if you think you don't need that, we can do something else. You know, let's just sign you for six books in the series." Tom looked me right in the eyes, and he said, "Brandon, I thought I was so smart." (laughter) "I thought I was buying that whole series for sure." And here we are on book fourteen.

    And so, yeah; this has been quite the experience; quite the ride, quite the journey of 23 years, and it's been amazing to be part of it.

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  • 331

    Interview: Feb 11th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    All right, I have to call on Mr. Brent Weeks, because he . . .

    Harriet McDougal

    Because he is who he is.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He knows many assassins, I hear. (laughter) So if I don't call on him, I could be in trouble.

    Brent Weeks

    So I hear the Stormlight Archive is supposed to be ten books. So does that mean 15 or 20? (laughter)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Stormlight Archive is supposed to be ten books. I'm hoping it will be ten books. It is two sequences of five, so you can ask me after the first five-book sequence where I am in my original outline. It should stay pretty close to that, I hope. I don't know. I used to be able to say everything stayed the same length I wanted it to be, but then my Wheel of Time book got split into three, so I can't say that any more.

    Brent Weeks

    Two years between books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, two years between books. They're very thick and involved, and I want to be doing other things as well. I like to jump projects—it's what keeps me fresh. It's what allows me to keep on doing this productively, and if I get stuck in one thing, no matter how much I love it, I find that I get less and less excited about it as time passes. But if I finish one book and skip to something else—like an Alcatraz book—for a little while and then jump back, I find my enthusiasm has come back to the beginning, where it was. And so I do a lot of jumping between projects.

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  • 332

    Interview: Feb 12th, 2013

    Mason Wheeler

    So, according to King Taravangian, the... erm... I don't actually know the name for it, the uh, death-babbling phenomenon...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Death rattles.

    Mason Wheeler

    OK, death rattles have been going on since about the time the Parshendi were first discovered. Soon after this, King Gavilar was killed, and he said something that sounds kind of nonsensical. Was that him talking, or someone else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, that was Gavilar.

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  • 333

    Interview: Feb 12th, 2013

    Mason Wheeler

    All right. And related to that, sometimes some little concepts kind of... cross worlds. When Miles [from The Alloy of Law] died, who was talking there? Him, or someone else?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wow, that's a really excellent question. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to RAFO that.

    Mason Wheeler

    Aww... figures.

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  • 334

    Interview: Feb 16th, 2013

    Viper

    You said that the Pits are a leak from the spiritual into the physical—

    Brandon Sanderson

    A necessary leak.

    Viper

    Ok. Are the spren a similar leak but from the Cognitive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The next book is going to explore the spren a lot further.

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  • 335

    Interview: Feb 16th, 2013

    Viper

    Are we going to find out soon if the Parshendi are actually of Honor?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. (You'll find out.)

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  • 336

    Interview: Feb 11th, 2013

    Anna Hornbostel

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Brandon told a fan that the Alloy sequel will be called Shadows of Self. I then asked about the title for the next Stormlight book and Brandon laughed and said "Don't ask me that" so I guess we will have to wait on that!

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  • 337

    Interview: Feb 19th, 2013

    Rob B

    The Q&A session then began, much of which involved questions about The Wheel of Time and Brandon's experience working in it.

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    He also noted that the second Stormlight Archive book is tentatively set for the fall/November 2013, and he hopes he can make that date. (So do we all Brandon!) Brandon also stated, unasked, that the film rights are with Universal and that questions this evening should avoid potential spoilers for A Memory of Light.

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  • 338

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    E. Hyde

    I asked if assassination is common among the Parshendi, since they have a tradition of what assassins are supposed to wear.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said (and I'm paraphrasing) that the Parshendi are a lot more unified than they used to be, and back when they existed as a lot of separate tribes (he didn't say how long ago this was), raids and assassinations were a fairly regular thing.

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  • 339

    Interview: Feb 18th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    In the fourth of my Stormlight Archive volume two writing videos, two of the included songs are the actual songs I listened to while writing. I've been able to include them in the video thanks to the artists, Ray Lynch and Incendio. This might help you feel even more like you're looking over my shoulder while I write.

    "Her Knees Deep in Your Mind" by Ray Lynch. © ℗ Ray Lynch Productions/BMI/1994 Music can be found on his website, Facebook, Amazon, and iTunes.

    Incendio, "Temple of the Sun" ℗ 2003 Incendio Music Music can be found on Facebook, Amazon, and iTunes.

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  • 340

    Interview: Jul, 2012

    John Hartness

    I really appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your revisions for us. We'll look forward to book fourteen—The Memory . . .

    Brandon Sanderson

    A Memory of Light.

    John Hartness

    A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yep.

    John Hartness

    And is there maybe another Mistborn book coming soon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will be doing some of my own stuff. The second Stormlight book is what I'll be doing next, which is the sequel to Way of Kings.

    John Hartness

    Cool. Sequel to Way of Kings—don't drop it on your chihuahua.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's right. It will kill him.

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  • 341

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Question

    When is the next Way of Kings book coming out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tor has it scheduled for November, we'll see if I manage that or not. But November until told otherwise.

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  • 342

    Interview: Feb 22nd, 2013

    Question

    In The Way of Kings, is Assassination a common thing in the Parshendi culture, because it seems odd that they would have a specific custom for what assassins wear?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is something that happened quite a bit more in the past than it does now. But yes, you will find out much more about them. They are now more unified, but they used to be a bunch of different tribes, and they would send assassins into each other's camps.

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  • 343

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Chaos

    In the Ars Arcanum of the Way of Kings, next to the Essences are listed ten Body Focuses. Are these Body Focuses the focus (in Cosmere terms) of Surgebinding?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

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  • 344

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Satsuoni ()

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

    Brandon Sanderson

    Words of Radiance has some clues on this one.

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  • 345

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Satsuoni ()

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

    Brandon Sanderson

    Human perception has a lot to do with why spren act like they do...

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  • 346

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Cheese_Ninja ()

    Did Kaladin say the words of the 2nd Ideal of the Windrunners in modern day Alethi or the ancient tongue that Dalinar uses in his visions?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He spoke them in his own language.

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  • 347

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    ryanthelion ()

    I know that you are very meticulous in developing your stories. Were the shardblades, shardplate, Mistborn cloaks, or even Nightblood from Warbreaker developed in a similar fashion, or is it a more organic process to making cool weapons and armor? How do you blur the line between what makes sense, and what is just plain fun?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are connections in the things you mentioned above, though I don't want to speak of specifics yet for risk of spoiling future revelations.

    As for blurring the line between what makes sense and what is fun...I err on the side of the fun. However, part of my meticulous planning is about how to make the fun make sense. I feel that is part of what makes this genre interesting. I decided I wanted to do a story about the Knights Radiant, with the Plate and Blades. From there, I spent a long time thinking about what would make those kinds of weapons reasonable and important to a society.

    You can do anything, but do try to focus on laying your groundwork and being consistent.

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  • 348

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    DrDont007 ()

    I was wondering something about the Stormlight Archive. You have said before that an upcoming book will be The Highprince of War. Will this definitely be Dalinar's book, or could this be referring to a subsequent Highprince of War (like Dalinar's sons?). And a quick side question: how is book 2 coming along? Can we still hope for a late 2013 release?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Book two has been renamed Words of Radiance, as it's Shallan's book. Dalinar's book will be Book Five. (Though I haven't promised he will survive that long. I reserve the right to do flashbacks for someone in a book after they have died.)

    It WILL be Dalinar's book, however, not one of his sons.

    Late 2013 is still possible. I'm about 2/3 of the way done.

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  • 349

    Interview: May 17th, 2013

    Kogiopsis

    Is Renarin Kholin on the autism spectrum?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Slightly—not even so much as Asperger's, but yes. (Something about it being difficult to notice/diagnose?)

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  • 350

    Interview: May 17th, 2013

    Kogiopsis

    How much control does he have over the Words of Radiance cover?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Some, by dint of being fairly well-known in the industry, but he's really fond of Whelan's work and more likely to pick a direction from concept sketches than push Whelan somewhere entirely new.

    Kogiopsis

    (I asked if he could, for instance, hold firm for epicanthic folds on Rosharan characters; he said probably yes, but most of Whelan's cover work has been figures in the distance for now so that isn't likely to be an issue. I didn't feel comfortable asking the same question over again re: skin color.)

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  • 351

    Interview: May 22nd, 2013

    StormAtlas

    I finally got to ask a question about the Stormlight Archive that Windrunner17 and Chaos helped me with which was: "Why Can Kaladin Surgebind with any gem type but Jasnah and Shallan need specific types?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    A lot of that will be explained as the series comes along. It is really the difference between Soulcasting and the other forms of Surgebinding. It's more a quirk of Soulcasting than it is something that is different about about Kaladin. So you've kind of got it reversed a little bit though; Soulcasting has this additional restriction that the other ones don't.

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  • 352

    Interview: May 22nd, 2013

    StormAtlas

    Is Cultivation's holder still alive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

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  • 353

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Kchan

    In your books, we see a lot of really interesting and diverse world elements that make these places and cultures really come to life. What are some of the world elements you've had the most fun creating, and what do you like best about them? Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy it here! We're crazy, but we like it that way.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'd say that the spren on Roshar have been my favorite so far--they are so different, but also so RIGHT. They have a mythological fae-feel to them, but also fit into the cosmere arcanum just perfectly. I also like writing them.

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  • 354

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Sweetness

    So, those things on the inside cover of WoK. Crabwasps, or crabdragons?
    (These guys, for clarification.)

    Brandon Sanderson

    They range between the size of a hand to perhaps the size of a small melon. You'll find out more about them eventually. Like most things from Aimia, they're pretty odd, and are also now very rare since the scouring.

    Tags

  • 355

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Nemuri

    How has writing Shallan as the focus character been compared to Kaladin in the last book? Easier? More difficult?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So far, I've only done her flashback sequence--but this was a little easier than Kaladin's, as I've been kind of chomping at the bit to tell her story.

    Tags

  • 356

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Nemuri

    Can Knights Radiant of one Order see the spren of someone from another Order?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 357

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Link389

    With Stormlight being in your mind 2 five book arcs, is there still a single "through-line" so to speak (aka, the Everstorm, A clash with Odium, or the like).

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes

    Tags

  • 358

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Kaist

    Are the Parshendi of Honor?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 359

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Kaist

    If Kabsal hadn't been trying to kill Jasnah, would him and Shallan have gotten together?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's uncertain. He actually did care for her, but he was an assassin trained to infiltrate and gain the trust of people like Shallan. If he hadn't been trying to kill Jasnah, he would never have had a reason to begin spending time with Shallan. However, I assume your question is if they had somehow started interacting, would they have gotten together. It's possible, but I don't think--in the end--it would have lasted.

    Tags

  • 360

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Brendan

    Now that you have finished writing WoT, how does it feel going back to telling your epic story that you have wanted to share with the world and being able to write a story naturally without the outside constraints that came with WoT? What if anything has been the biggest challenge getting back into writing Stormlight Archives after working so hard on WoT?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It feels great, though it's a feeling I've felt before. It was the feeling I had when jumping out of the Mistborn world after finishing all three books and instead doing Warbreaker. For most of the process with the WoT, I didn't feel 'constrained' really. It was more a sense of difficulty--it was difficult to do for unique reasons. Matching RJ's story, making certain to keep characters consistent, that kind of thing. It is refreshing to move to a new project, but this one presents difficulties of its own. I have to follow up The Way of Kings, which I feel is the best book of my career so far. I poured twenty years of effort into that book. Now, the sequel needs to be equally awesome, which is a real challenge. Also, I keep wanting to use WoT curses.

    Tags

  • 361

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    FireArcadia

    Does the world map in the Way of Kings show all of the landmasses of Roshar? Does that make the continent on Roshar a Pangaea-like supercontinent? And as I think about it, are there tectonic plates on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a supercontinent. I won't say there is NOTHING out there, but (unlike Scadrial) there is not another full continent. Plate tectonics are not a factor on the supercontinent.

    Tags

  • 362

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    FireArcadia

    You once told me that Roshar is the name of the planet from the cosmere-literate point of view. Were the dawnsingers cosmere-literate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are various levels of cosmere awareness.

    Tags

  • 363

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Telcontar

    Is one of the symbolhead-spren (or maybe all of them) responsible for Shallan's ability to Soulcast (in the way that Syl is responsible for Kaladin's Lashings)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is indeed a similar relationship there.

    Tags

  • 364

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Telcontar

    When Surgebinding, the person is Binding a Surge (the elemental force). Are those Bindings (the spiritual link) the focus for Surgebinding on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 365

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    ReaderAt2046

    Is Soulcasting mass-conservative (Soulcast a 1kg goblet, you get 1 kg of blood.)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In most circumstances, yes.

    Tags

  • 366

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    rags

    We know that there are 10 orders of Radiants and 10 different powers, with each order having access to 2 of them. Any reason why this "class restriction" exists (they are lot more combinations possible with 10 powers)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is a reason. I don't know when I want to get into it, however.

    Tags

  • 367

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    rags

    You have told us there are more than 30 magical systems on Roshar. I am assuming there are 10 surgebindings and 10 voidbindings. Do the next 10 belong to another such classification? If yes, can you give us the name for it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Fabrials are part of it.

    Tags

  • 368

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Lightflame

    You've confirmed that several Heralds have appeared or been mentioned in the modern (non-prelude, non-vision) parts of The Way of Kings. Have any members of the Knights Radiant (the one from the days of Urithiru, not near-Radiants like Kaladin) appeared in the modern parts of The Way of Kings? And if you have to RAFO me, could you give me a hint about the Heralds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can answer that--no, no Radiants from those days have appeared on screen in TWoK.

    Tags

  • 369

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Lightflame

    When Shallan is appealing Jasnah, Jasnah reveals that she has heard about Shallan's step-mother, Malise Gevelmar. Has Malise Gevelmar ever met Jasnah or one of her associates (excluding Shallan)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, she has not. You'll learn more about Malise in Book Two. She really is just a rural lighteyes of not much consequence. Shallan's mother, however...

    Tags

  • 370

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Lightflame

    Can you give me a hint about Nafti, the Uvara girl that Derethil brought with him when he left the Great Abyss?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is more truth to that story than some may think.

    Tags

  • 371

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    McCullough

    In what ways do you feel that finishing the Wheel of Time helped to prepare you for The Stormlight Archive and how did it change your writing in general, if at all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I gained three things, I feel, by working over the years on the WoT. (And, in particular, by studying RJ's work in depth.) I learned how to better balance lots of different viewpoints, I got a better grip for foreshadowing and subtlety over many books, and I gained a deeper understanding of how to write a really sold third person viewpoint.

    Tags

  • 372

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Lance Alvein

    Did Cultivation come to Roshar with Honor, or was she already on Roshar when Honor arrived?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good question. They came together.

    Tags

  • 373

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Stroniax

    Is JeksonsonVallano important? Is JeksonsonVallano SzethsonsonVallano's brother?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He is the same person as Szeth; I just changed the name. Sorry, no hidden truth there.

    Tags

  • 374

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Stroniax

    What did Jek and Szeth do to become Truthless?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This will be answered in his book, during his flashback sequences.

    Tags

  • 375

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    mycoltbug

    Is there any ramifications to the holder of a shard blade for using a blade in a manner that it wasn't intended?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Depends on the type of Shardblade. (You have seen three different kinds in TWoK.) For most, no. For some, most certainly.

    Tags

  • 376

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Yamato

    How did you portray Jasnah's aitheism so well? As a staunch aitheist myself, I think you did an absolutely brilliant job. Honestly, It made me happy that a religious person was trying to understand my mindset. Anyway, who did you ask to get such accurate ideas of aitheist thought?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I found some really good atheist forums. Not the 'hate on religion' type atheist forums, but the kind with some serious depth. People asking one another about morality, talking about how they felt when people reacted to them being an atheist, and expressing their philosophy. I gained a great deal of respect for them during these readings.

    From there, I went and chatted with some atheists I know to gauge if I had a good handle on things. It was important that I get this right, as it's different enough from my own worldview that if it went wrong, it would have gone VERY wrong and I'd have ended up with something insulting.

    Tags

  • 377

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Yados

    Could a Shardblade sever a Nathel Bond? Could it slice a Spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 378

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Yados

    What's up with those fish in the Pure Lake?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Haven't you always wanted magic fish?

    Tags

  • 379

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Yados

    Between the Parshendi and the Alethi harvesting gem-hearts, how long has it been since a Chasmfiend got to finish pupating?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Aha. I wondered if someone would ask that. Much like whaling in our own world, there is a big ecological price building for what is going on here. You are right to worry about this.

    Tags

  • 380

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    mcalton2

    Can we expect to see a fight between a Windrunner, an Awakener, and an Allomancer in one of the Stormlight books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've said before that it's unlikely that the Stormlight books will ever delve strongly into the connections between worlds. There will be some cool things happening for the cosmere-literate, but this series isn't focused on those concepts. I want it to maintain its plot cohesion for those who aren't aware of all of the behind-the-scenes stories. Epilogue to Book Two should excite you, though.

    Tags

  • 381

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Zenith

    In one of the death sentence things it says something like three of sixteen ruled, but now the broken one reigns. Is this referring to the Shards on Roshar and if so, is the broken one Odium?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 382

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Zenith

    Are Dawnshards the same thing as Honorblades?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 383

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Zenith

    Are spren Cognitive aspects?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You guys are figuring this all out pretty well. I want to hold off on talking much about the nature of the spren because the characters in world are discovering this as the books progress.

    Tags

  • 384

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    moochboy

    The Way of Kings was named after an in story book, as is the would be Shallan's book if you don't change like you siad you might "The Book of Endless Pages", do you plan on naming all the books in the Stormlight Archive with in world literature?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That was the original plan.

    Tags

  • 385

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    PricklyBear

    Dalinar ever getting an honorspren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. (You knew I'd do that.)

    Tags

  • 386

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    PricklyBear

    Is there a functional/structural difference between modern-day Shardplate and the stuff the Radiants wore? Did the Radiants have to use infused gems to keep their suits going or could they just 'breathe in' Stormlight and feed the suit off of their 'inhaled' reserves?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Something is different. You will find out what.

    Tags

  • 387

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Observer

    What are the smoke-y spren that appear around a dead chasmfiend?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are in a symbiotic relationship with the chasmfiend, and are part of what allow the creatures to grow to the size they do with an exoskeleton. (Along with a high-oxygen, lower-gravity world.)

    Tags

  • 388

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    E. Hyde

    Is Honor the only one who created people on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 389

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    E. Hyde

    You said that a person can have more than one Shardblade--can they be dual-wielded?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Someone did exactly this in the original draft of Way of Kings, back in 2002.

    Tags

  • 390

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    E. Hyde

    You've already given some information about the origins of the custom of a safe hand (feminine arts being those that can be done one-handed) but why the word "safe?"

    Brandon Sanderson

    It grew out of the culture and linguistics somewhat naturally; nobody 'named' it that.

    Tags

  • 391

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    E. Hyde

    Shinovar seems more earthlike than the rest of Roshar; does this occur naturally or was it somehow changed to be that way?

    Brandon Sanderosn

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 392

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    ROSHtafARian

    Will the fact that Roshar and the Silence Divine planet exist in the same solar system come into play at all in The Stormlight Archive, or is that only relevant for later books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's mostly relevant for later books, but there are some things here and there.

    Tags

  • 393

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    JamesW

    Are all of the orders of Knights Radiant human?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 394

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    JamesW

    Are there non-human races on Roshar, or non-humanoid races that are sentient?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Parshendi are not human, but you probably already knew that. The two races of Aimians are not human either. There are many races of sentient spren. From there, it depends if you call something like Ryshadium sentient or not.

    Tags

  • 395

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Cheese Ninja

    Did Amaram ever find out who the Shardbearer that Kaladin killed was?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 396

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Cheese Ninja

    Nightwatcher's curses all appear to be neurological in effect, are the boons limited in any particular manner?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 397

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Cheese Ninja

    If a character bears multiple Shardblades, can they summon them all in the same 10 heartbeat span, or does each Shardblade require a separate summoning? Dying doesn't count.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Separate summoning.

    Tags

  • 398

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Kurkistan

    Was it Shallan's brother, by the way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO

    Footnote

    Kurkistan is referring to the Shardbearer who Kaladin killed.

    Tags

  • 399

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    XFER

    Are you planning to include a gay character in the second book of the Stormlight Archive? I know there is that bridge guy, but I mean a character with some weight on the book. Would be cool.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I've tried to be more GLBT aware in recent years, but I want to be careful. Doing it poorly could be more insulting than doing it not at all. Having Ryan, the real world Drehy from Bridge Four, as a friend does at least give me access to someone who can give early feedback and tell me where I might be going wrong. So let's just say maybe.

    Tags

  • 400

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    XFER

    And I saw on facebook about the discussion about the name of the second book. This is more like a request, please, keep the name of it being The Book Of Endless Pages. That title is awesome! Oh and another suggestion, please, keep making huge books! Now, after reading your books, I expect books to be at least 600 pages, so you can see I get disappointed quite often lol

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will keep the books, in this series at least, long. It's what the story demands. As for title...it does have a certain charm, but I worry that it just feels wrong to too many people. Three out of four laugh when I mention it. That doesn't bode well...

    Footnote

    Brandon has since renamed the second book of the Stormlight Archive to, "Words of Radiance."

    Tags

  • 401

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Arcanist

    1.A few years ago you posted a long post about your future plans on your website: Do you plan a post like this again or could you perhaps describe the current version of your plans right here?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sure.

    BOOKS YOU WILL SEE SOON: (The books that are done.)

    AMOL: January

    The Rithmatist (once named Scribbler): Summer 2013

    Steelheart: Fall 2013 or spring 2014.

    BOOKS YOU WILL SEE SOMEWHAT SOON: (Working on right now.)

    Stormlight 2: Hopefully Fall 2013.

    Shadows of Self (New Wax and Wayne): 2014

    OTHER:

    Alcatraz 5: I own the rights again now, and hope to write this book sometime in the near future.

    Stormlight 3: Goal is to write this soon after Stormlight 2

    Steelheart and Rithmatist Sequels: I will probably try to do one of each of these between Stormlight 2 and 3.

    MAYBE MAYBE:

    Elantris 2: I'd still love to do a sequel for 2015, the 10th anniversary of the book's release.

    Warbreaker 2: Long ways off.

    STALLED PROJECTS

    Dark One: Unlikely any time soon.

    The King's Necromancer: Unlikely any time soon.

    I Hate Dragons: Unlikely any time soon.

    Death By Pizza: Turned out mediocre. Won't be released anytime soon.

    The Silence Divine: Will be written someday.

    White Sand: Will be written someday.

    Mistborn modern trilogy: Will be written during the gap between Stormlight 5 and 6.

    The Liar of Partinel Didn't turn out well. Scraped.

    Dragonsteel: Won't be written until Stormlight is done.

    Not a lot of changes from back then, except that Steelheart got finished and Rithmatist got a release date for certain.

    Tags

  • 402

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Arcanist

    2. According to the Second law of Sanderson your characters have flaws, weaknesses. What is the reason, that in a lot of them (Vin, Elend, Kaladin, Dalinar, Spook, etc) the most significant weakness is the lack of self-confidence?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's because of mode-shifting. The people you noted have been doing one thing for a long time, and are now forced into something else. The self confidence is a side effect of that. However, I wouldn't say it's the primary character attribute for any of them, however. I think you're blanketing self confidence as a larger issue, when it's the smaller part of something larger for each character. Vin: Trusting Others Elend: Idealism Dalinar: Conflict between the killer he was and the man he wishes to be. Spook: Self Worth

    Tags

  • 403

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Arcanist

    6. As Dalinar gave his Shardblade to Highprince Sadeas, was his motivation only to free the Brigdemen as “Thank you” for the help? Or did he already plan to build a team from soldiers who are loyal only to him?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He certainly saw the side benefits. However, his primary motive was to make a statement. Not just as a thank you, but as a way of proclaiming to all of the Alethi "What we have been doing is wrong. This wealth is not worth the lives of men."

    Tags

  • 404

    Interview: Sep, 2012

    Arcanist

    8. A bit RAFO but: Is Szeth bounded to the Oathstone (master) with magic/force or just with his honour? As I can remember, in the end of WoK he nearly killed Taravangian.

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. :)

    Tags

  • 405

    Interview: Oct 30th, 2012

    Lance Alvein

    How are people with two different eye colours treated on Roshar?

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    RAFO - this will be explored in one of Shallan's flashback sequences in Stormlight 2, and is already written.

    Tags

  • 406

    Interview: Oct 30th, 2012

    Lance Alvein

    The creatures on the inside cover of Way of Kings - we've had various discussion about what they actually are, and some people are calling them Crabwasps and other Dragonwasps. Can you tell me anything else about them, and can you pick one of the two for us to use?

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    The decision for that image was made near the last minute to have Isaac make the image. It is an important symbol, and will be mentioned in detail in later books. While neither name is correct, they both could work until the official name is revealed (Brandon wouldn't pick one over the other).

    Tags

  • 407

    Interview: Oct 30th, 2012

    Lance Alvein

    Can you confirm if the scene with Taln at the end of Way of Kings is entirely in Hoid's perspective? There was some discussion that it might not be, since Taln's honourblade was called a shardblade.

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    That entire scene is in Hoid's POV, and the reason for it being called a shardblade is because honourblades are shardblades.

    Tags

  • 408

    Interview: Oct 30th, 2012

    Lance Alvein

    Something that's been a bit of a thing on the chatroom for a while - Since there are Spren of everything on Roshar, is it possible that there is such a thing as a "squeespren"?

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    They do exist, however, they would be called by a different name on Roshar.

    Tags

  • 409

    Interview: Oct 30th, 2012

    Lance Alvein

    Can you give us an idea when the Prelude to Stormlight Archive is with respect to Elantris?

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    RAFO

    Tags

  • 410

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    Were there highstorms on Roshar before Adonalsium Shattered?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Were there highstorms on Roshar before Adonalsium Shattered? I'm gonna RAFO that. I'm not gonna answer you, because I'm mean. Maybe someday you shall have your answer to this important answer.

    Tags

  • 411

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    Where did you get your inspiration for having kind of a kind of consistent universe; it's kind of similar to Stephen King and things like that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, where did I get the inspiration for that? There's a couple of places, and I don't want to go off on this too long, if you go look on the Q&A database that these guys have on the 17th Shard you can find more.

    But there were really two things that made me do it. First off is reading how Asimov did it and really being impressed with what he did and also noticing that he had to like do some patches in order to make everything work. Asimov connected his Robot series and his Foundations series after the fact many years later. It turned out really well; the two series, as it turns out, blend together in a really cool way but it felt to me it felt after the fact . And I wanted to do something from the get-go and say, "Well, if I've got something like this as a model." Stephen King did it also, but he did it after the fact. But I've got writers like this as a model to show how cool this can be, so my question to myself is, "How much cooler can it be if I do it from book one?" And you know, it's the sort of advantages you get as a writer by standing on the shoulders of authors like that, who have done these awesome things in the past. It allows us to kind of see what they did and say, "Okay, how can I expand on this? How can I do something new, rather than just doing what Asimov did?" And one of the approaches was to try it from book one.

    And the other reasoning was that I like big epics but I also want to be writing a lot of stand-alones. And early in my career in particular, it was important for me to be writing stand-alones. And so the hidden epic behind the scenes allowed me to embed some of this depth of foreshadowing and connection in a way that would not be intimidating to readers because they could just read the story and enjoy the stand-alone. And then if it's something- if they're the type that really gets into this and really wants to dig deep, they can find the other level and be like, "Wow, there's an epic on here and Mistborn is a sequel to Elantris. I didn't know that," and things like that. Or they can be read completely independently and you never have to worry about that. So I like that versatility.

    I will eventually write some stories connecting all of these things in a more obvious way, but I don't want it to come to the forefront of any series that that's not already the focus. For instance, I don't want Way of Kings to be about that, because I've already promised you what Way of Kings is about. And I don't want then to trick you into, "Oh, now it's this other thing." I have books planned that will be that, but they're a little ways off.

    Tags

  • 412

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    So, do the Parshendi need a highstorm to change forms?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They do, good guess! Excellent question.

    QUESTION

    Do they eat?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Do they eat? Yes.

    QUESTION

    So, they eat like grains and stuff like that?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    You will find out, but they do eat.

    Tags

  • 413

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    Is there an odiumspren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You will find out what there is.

    Tags

  • 414

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    The question is, can you read it (the Alethi alphabet)?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can’t read it, Isaac can.

    JOSH

    Isaac can’t read it.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Can’t he?

    Josh

    No.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    He came up with it!

    I told you where it came from, the writing system, right? That I told Isaac, “I want it to look like waveforms,” and he developed it to look like waveforms on the little thing when you speak voice- and things like that, and that was my goal for the [writing] system was something that was a line with waveforms across it. And he developed it then.

    Tags

  • 415

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    Shardplate, does it have to be fitted by a smith or does it just kind of magically...?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It magically fits to you.

    JOSH

    I’d like to see it fit to someone three foot tall.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    If it’s within reason, it can fit.

    QUESTION

    But they do weld stuff to it to it?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    They weld stuff to it to ornament it.

    QUESTION

    But that doesn’t really stick?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It won’t stay, it can get cut off and things like that. Yeah, and they paint them and things.

    QUESTION

    So the actual color is gray, right?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Dalinar’s color is the actual color.

    QUESTION

    He doesn’t have it painted, yeah. It’s kind of stone, right?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It’s not really stone, it’s more like a deep metallic, like an unbuffed steel sort of metallic. A dark charcoal metallic.

    Tags

  • 416

    Interview: Nov 6th, 2012

    Question

    So we actually had a question. So the Shardplate, so like if you were to break up the Shardplate shirt first and then start regenerating it over a short person would it regrow to full size?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A little person? A little person could probably find a way to get their Shardplate to regenerate to their size.

    Tags

  • 417

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    I enjoy Way of Kings, it seems like that’s the one where everyone’s coming together. I was reading online about Galladon and Demoux being in it. I enjoyed that. Is that going to happen more often?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In that book- that series, yes. There will be more crossover. It’s kinda one of the core stories, along with the things happening on the Mistborn world and things like that. And so, there’s going to be a lot more crossover. Most of it’s still kind of subtle stuff, but if you keep your eyes open there’ll be some real zingers in the next two books.

    Tags

  • 418

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    So why is Shallan so whiny? No I’m just kidding...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Shallan is very young and has gone through a lot in her life.

    QUESTION

    And does she have a Shardblade?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    She does have a Shardblade.

    Tags

  • 419

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    When are we going to find out about how Elhokar can see like the symbols in the mirror and stuff like that. He can Soulcast then, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You’ll have to see, you’ll have to see...

    Tags

  • 420

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    And so like the Windrunners, they’re just one Order of the Knights Radiant, aren’t they?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes they are, in fact they are- every order is a grouping of one of these [points to the large symbols on the Radiant tables] and two of these [points at the smaller symbols], these are the Surges. So these are the ten, sort of forces. And so Windrunning is pressure and gravitation, which are those two. But the Skybreakers are right there [points to gold symbol in the upper middle], with a different combination and each of these different groupings would make one order of the Knights Radiant. And that is the symbol of the Windrunners, right there on the cover. [Points at the swordgylph under the dust jacket]. So, fun little easter-egg type things there.

    Tags

  • 421

    Interview: Apr 4th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Tor.com has also started a reread of The Way of Kings in preparation for the release of the sequel, Words of Radiance, hopefully later this year. Two reread posts have gone up so far, the first one covering the prelude and the second talking about the prologue. And the ebook of Kings is still $2.99 for the next week or so.

    Tags

  • 422

    Interview: Apr 4th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    And here's the newest video of me writing a chapter from Words of Radiance.

    Tags

  • 423

    Interview: Apr 11th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tor.com is continuing its reread of The Way of Kings. This week's article covers chapters 1 and 2, which include Kaladin's introduction.

    And here's the newest video of me writing a chapter from Words of Radiance. This is the climax, but there are two short videos after this. I'll upload the sped-up version of the chapter the same day I upload the final video.

    Tags

  • 424

    Interview: Apr 23rd, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    Tor.com has put up another two chapters of their reread of The Way of Kings: chapters 3 and 4. This covers Shallan's introduction and Kaladin's arrival at the Shattered Plains.

    If you missed my AMA at Reddit, you can find my answers here.

    I've finished uploading the videos of me writing one of the interludes from Words of Radiance, the sequel to The Way of Kings. I've also made a high-speed version of all of the writing, which you can see below, if the real-time version was too slow for you. There's a playlist of all of the real-time videos here, and the final video (if you were keeping up already) is here.

    This has been a bit of an experiment, to show my writing process. Now that it's all done, what have you thought about the experiment?

    Tags

  • 425

    Interview: May 22nd, 2013

    StormAtlas

    Were Cultivation and Honor romantically involved?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 426

    Interview: Feb 13th, 2013

    Question

    I hope you don't mind if I have a second question since . . .

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh, it's the guys behind you that you gotta . . . they look like they're nice fellows.

    Question

    Thank you. Jordan didn't plan 14 books certainly. As you said, you know, this trilogy will be good. And it's no secret that as an author . . . no author seems to be in complete control of their creation. It evolves. And he kept saying, no more than three more books, for like five books from the end. I think it appears like George R. R. Martin seems to be in a similar place, where, you know, there's this . . . [laughter, applause] Do you think that the experience of writing the end of Wheel of Time has given you a different perspective that will help you with Stormlight Archive? Or do you think that would never have been . . . Or do you think that your style, you know, did you always have it plotted out that it would never expand in that way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It certainly could expand. It does happen to all authors, but authors do tend to fall into two general categories. George Martin has great terms for these, so I steal his. He calls them gardeners and architects.

    Gardeners, which Robert Jordan was and George Martin is, they explore their story and more discover it as they go. Robert Jordan was actually a little bit like halfway between architect and gardener, because he would always have waypoints that he was writing toward, and he knew the ending and things like that. Stephen King is a complete gardener. He says he doesn't know where he's going. He just puts characters in interesting situations, and starts writing. And George R. R. Martin has said that he's a gardener.

    I'm an architect. And an architect is someone who plots out things beforehand, and then writes them. But even being an architect the creative process is such that if while you're working on it, something better comes along, you have to be willing to knock down the blueprints that you have done, and build them up again.

    That said, things have not expanded on me in the same way. People point to the last book being split into three, but I point to my very first blog post I made about it, where I said I was planning to write a single 800,000 word book. And instead I wrote one—it's about a million words. So I'm within a fairly close hit on what I initially . . . [laughter] Eh, 200,000 words, 20 percent, whatever. But yeah, I'm more like a 20 percent than expanse—does that make sense? And Stormlight is written out as ten books . . . and I honestly think that it will hit that: two five book arcs, for those who are wondering. I think it will hit that, but we'll see. I have never done something this long before on my own, so . . .

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  • 427

    Interview: Apr 21st, 2013

    Invisible Vanguard

    I am curious if professional writers ever get psyched out by their own works. When you are working on an epic series, such as The Stormlight Archive, do you ever have moments of doubt in your ability to see it through to completion? Does it ever feel overwhelming that you have so many volumes ahead of you to write?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's not the part that psychs me out. Length doesn't do that to me, particularly when I have a series well planned and I have a feel for how each book is going to be distinctive. This really helped me with the Mistborn series, for instance—when I planned it out, I planned each book to have its own identity. That kept me interested in them.

    No, what psychs me out is that sometimes something just turns out really well, like The Way of Kings, and then I immediately start thinking, "I have to do that again, and I don't know how I did it in the first place." Writing becomes a very instinctive thing.

    Most of the time when I talk about the process of writing, I'm analyzing what I've done after the fact. The truth of it is that right in the moment, right when you're sitting there working on a book, a lot of that stuff isn't going through your head. You're just running on instinct at that point. So it's easy to get psyched out when you're not sure if you can ever do it again.

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  • 428

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    TheFinisher4Ever ()

    Are all wind spren really just unbonded honor spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, they are cousins to one another, but not exactly the same thing.

    Tags

  • 429

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    The_Vikachu ()

    Is Kaladin naturally stronger than Szeth in using Stormlight? Szeth can only hold onto it for a few minutes, but Kaladin has been shown to hold onto it for much longer. Or does it have to do with Kaladin having a spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ah, so you all noticed that, did you. :) Glad you did. I have like a dozen things I nearly posted here, but all of them spoil a scene in Words of Radiance. So I'll just zip it for now.

    Tags

  • 430

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    ArsenoPyrite ()

    I have a technical question here re: gemstones in The Stormlight Archive. How are the lines drawn between different types of gems? Emerald and Heliodor are both varieties of the mineral beryl. Emerald can get its color from trace amounts of chromium, vanadium and/or iron. Heliodor gets its color from iron combined with microscopic crystal defects. So, is the line between these two defined by color? If so, would a heliodor lose its usefulness if it were heated (which would turn it colorless or pale blue). Is it defined by trace elements—in which case, how do you deal with emeralds, or with aquamarine (the blue variety of beryl, which can also contain chromium or vanadium in small quantities and is mostly colored by iron)? Sorry for getting so technical, but this gem nerd needs to know!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I actually spent a long time working on this while building the world. You'd probably be amused by how long I spent on it. Chemically, many of them are actually very similar, as you pointed out. I tried doing the book originally with them all being different, not using any that were basically the same crystal with different colors, but it didn't work out. There weren't enough, and so I had to stretch to make it all work.

    So, I went back to the original, and decided that color was enough to differentiate them. Just as steel and iron are very similar in the Mistborn world, emerald and heliodor can be very similar—but produce different effects. The idea here is that the physical items (like the metals or the crystals) provide a key by which magical interaction occurs.

    So, in a long winded answer, a gemstone with an impure color would be considered like a bad alloy in the Mistborn magic—it either wouldn't work at all, or would work very poorly. The chemical and color signature needs to be of a specific variety to provide the proper key to accessing the power of transformation.

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  • 431

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    Orang3dragon ()

    Do you plan for the Stormlight Archive to stay grounded to its world, or will there be some interplay with the rest of the Cosmere, as, literally, worlds collide?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mostly grounded, though as I've answered in other questions, the further into the future of the cosmere we go, the more interactions between the worlds will happen. There is a certain inevitability as more and more people discover the true nature of the universe.

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  • 432

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    p0staldave ()

    Hay Brandon, Huge fan! Finished A Memory of Light, Re-read all 3 Mistborn for the 2nd time, re-read Way of Kings for the 4th time and am currently listening to Alloy of Law while I toil away at work. Also recently listened to all of season one of Writing Excuses, very cool stuff please keep doing it, maybe a live podcast from SDCC this year?

    I also wanted to mention I met you last year at SDCC on preview night and I'm working on that Memento. http://i.imgur.com/tve4Xqv.jpg

    To the questions...I believe I've heard you mention more than once that you weren't happy with Way of Kings, could you explain a bit exactly what you would change or love to do-over with it or expand on your comments?

    Also, any teasers for the new Stormlight archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The problem with doing something live like that at SDCC is that it's really hard to get the space or work out the logistics. We keep talking about it, but have trouble making it happen. Everyone is just so BUSY there. But maybe!

    The original draft of The Way of Kings had some big issues. One of the largest ones was that I was trying to do too many characters with too many separate plots. (Jasnah and Taln both had full sequences with as much complexity as the three main characters in the current draft.) Beyond that, Kaladin's character (he had a different name there) was bland and never worked. I needed to rebuild him from the start.

    I'll post more explanations of this in the Kings annotations, which I'm working on right now. As for teasers for the second book, one of the interludes is from Taln's viewpoint. (He's the guy who shows up in the epilogue of the previous book.)

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  • 433

    Interview: Apr 15th, 2013

    Reddit AMA 2013 (Verbatim)

    BalefireX ()

    Will Sazed have any role whatsoever in the Stormlight series?

    Only a tangential one.

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  • 434

    Interview: 2013

    Kaladin_Stormblessed (March 2013)

    Discussion of the week: Shadesmar & Truthspren

    http://coppermind.net/wiki/Shadesmar

    sufficientlyadvanced

    It says that it's dangerous to travel to Shadesmar on Sel. Why?

    Brandon Sanderson ()

    It has to do with the Dor and the lack of an entity controlling much of the power Odium left in his wake on Sel.

    Phantine

    Woah, that's interesting. I had no idea Odium left little bits of his power on Sel... I guess it kinda makes sense for evil monks to be powered by pure hate, though.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Odium did not leave his power behind, one should note. He left several other powers which are now, to a large extent, mindless...

    Windrunner17

    This is an awesome answer!

    If you wouldn't mind answering, does Roshar have a similar problem, with Honor being Splintered?

    Thanks!

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, Roshar does not have the same problem. There are some differences going on. (One reason being that the spren are far more extensive on Roshar, and provide something of a "release valve." The Seons and the Skaze on Sel are not numerous enough to fulfill a similar function. Though, of course, that's only one part of the puzzle. Raw power is dangerous.

    It's one reason everyone should be thankful Kelsier was around on Scadrial.

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  • 435

    Interview: 2013

    wesem (June 2013)

    Just realized what Shardblades remind me of...

    In my head, they remind me a lot of Keyblades from Kingdom Hearts. The blade appearing out of nowhere when you hold out your hand seems rather similar. They're also both highly coveted in their universes and for both types each blade is different from the next (I think). Just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this or if I'm just crazy and have had way too much time to think waiting for Words of Radiance.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Shardblades aren't inspired by keyblades specifically, though there is a core inspiration that might be shared by both myself and the creators. While I did play the first kingdom hearts game when it came out, the first draft of The Way of Kings was well under way when the game was released.

    However, I did play all of the Final Fantasy games—I had the first on original Nintendo, so get off my lawn, you kids. The origin of Shardblades relates to fantasy games and art in general, and the concept of the stylized sword which is also horribly impractical.

    In a lot of my writing, I react toward or against the fantasy archetypes of my youth in the 80s and 90s. When designing the Stormlight Archive, one of the things I asked myself was, "Can I make a situation where these oversized, over-stylized blades are actually practical? Why in the world would you need a weapon like that? And how do you actually use one?"

    Making the blades summonable seemed one of the only ways that carrying one around would be reasonable.

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  • 436

    Interview: 2013

    trimeta (July 2013)

    As much as I know I'll enjoy every single book listed there, I'm a bit curious what (if anything) is happening with the "modern" and "future" trilogies in the Mistborn universe. Are those still planned? Have they been put into a "not until the Cosmere is far more well-established" category?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I decided that, while doing Stormlight, I wanted to stay away from other "in-depth" series. The second Mistborn trilogy is very involved, and will require memory between books for all of the hints, plotting, and twists to make sense. (Much like the first trilogy and Stormlight.) Therefore, I am keeping to series like Wax and Wayne or Steelheart, where each book stands better on its own, and doesn't evoke a "I have to re-read each time to catch up to the new one" mentality.

    Once I finish the bottom five Stormlight books, which form a complete arc of their own, I will jump over and do the modern Mistborn cycle.

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  • 437

    Interview: Mar 16th, 2012

    Chaos

    Some other things that I had overheard and noted:

    BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

    Shardblades can be willed down. We see this with Dalinar slamming the Shardblade down into the stone at the end of the Way of Kings.

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  • 438

    Interview: Jun 20th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Way of Kings: Is set on a strangely awesome world. Apparently, a super large storm (like hurricane size) passes across the Earth every few days. This happens in a very predictable cycle. Because of this, there is no soil anywhere, everything is stone. The plants and animals have adapted to this environment, so they are also pretty strange. The plants, for instance will be much like a coral reef. They have shells, or can withdraw into the ground, and do so when the storm comes. They also will do the same thing if you try to step on them and such. So like, as you're walking, the grass around you shrinks into the ground, and pokes back out again when you pass.

    I also found out that the Way of Kings is largely about the birth of magic, since Brandon was tired of fantasy books talking about the death of it. As such, most of the magic systems are largely unknown, and will be explored. There was at one previous time, several hundred years past, magic on the earth. However, it's been gone for a while, and is being rediscovered. There are a total of 30 planned magic systems, and the books will jump around chronologically between the present and character's pasts. The technology level is a typical fantasy, Renaissance minus gunpowder. At least I think that's what he said.

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  • 439

    Interview: Jun 20th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    He also mentioned these awesome suits of armor and like 6 foot long swords that he called "Shard Plate" and "Shard Blades." Apparently, they are the only relics left over from the time when mankind originally did have magic. Also, in the mythology of this world, mankind originally lived in heaven. However, a race of beings called (I think) the Voidbringers conquered heaven and basically cast mankind out to the earth. They made war on them again and tried to cast them out to hell, but mankind devised These Shard Blades and Shard Plate as a method of fighting the Voidbringers and were able to push them back. He also mentioned that the world is currently basically dominated by those who have these magical items, and one person with a suit of shard plate and a shard blade is basically the equivalent of an army. When I asked him if these were related to the Shards of Andonalsium at all, he said, "Maybe." He also confirmed that the Stormlight Chronicle (Way of Kings) takes place in the Shards universe.

    The reason Way of Kings is called the Stormlight Chronicle apparently has to do with the massive hurricanes that come through every few days. If you leave a gemstone out during the storm (and affix it to something so it won't blow away), it will gain magical properties. One of these is that they give off light, called stormlight. The other that he mentioned is that they can be used kind of like a battery, and are used to power the Shard Plate Suits.

    That's all I remember about the Way of Kings right now, maybe I'll remember something later.

    Footnote

    The name Stormlight Chronicle has been changed to the Stormlight Archive.

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  • 440

    Interview: Jun 20th, 2009

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    Over-arching thing with the Shards of Andonalsium: Brandon told me tonight that he actually has a chart/list thing with all of the books that he's planned in the shards universe. His exact words were something about having an arch over thirty-six books involving the shards of Andonalsium. Which makes me wonder if we're going to get some of the story about Andonalsium. He also said that there were only a few lines in each book to give us clues. Apparently there's something in the HoA, but I didn't notice anything when I read through it. Of course, I wasn't looking for it. He mentioned that there were 36, or possibly 38 (he couldn't remember which) books that would be in this universe. They included all of the Mistborn books (all 3 trilogies), all of the Stormlight Chronicle, all of Dragonsteel, Elantris, Warbreaker, White Sands, the other book that I mentioned but can't remember the title of, and others. I'm excited.

    Footnote

    The "other book" mentioned is Silence Divine.

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  • 441

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    Is the city that the Parshendi are in Urithiru?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In the Way of Kings, Jasnah tells Shallan that Urithiru is not on the Shattered Plains. So either Jasnah is incorrect or that is not Urithiru.

    QUESTION

    In other words, you’re not going to tell me?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I’m just clarifying for you so that you have all the information you need in order to make judgements and ask questions.

    Footnote

    Brandon pronounced Urithiru like "You-rith-ir-oo".

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  • 442

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    Is it possible to build a city that only exists in Shadesmar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    QUESTION

    Do people inhabit Shadesmar, like normal people?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Define normal.

    QUESTION

    Let’s rephrase that, describe the people that inhabit Shadesmar.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well, you have seen people who inhabit Shadesmar.

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  • 443

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Question

    If you slash somebody with a Shardblade, kill them, and then cut them again, will the Shardblade make them bleed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Just like a chasmfiend once it dies, they are chopping it apart with Shardblades.

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  • 444

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Brandon Sanderson

    So what’s going on here is, for Stormlight 2 I needed a lullaby in-world. And poetry is not my forte. However, my father-in-law is a semi-professional singer/songwriter. He’s released a couple of albums, they’re just local, he does stuff like that. So, I asked him to compose a lullaby that I just left blanks in the story from. And he actually turned it in just like a couple of days ago. And it’s quite good and it fits in.

    So, what I’ve been doing lately is writing on Stormlight 2. And Stormlight 2, if you’re unaware with what’s going on in the Stormlight series, I conceived the series as ten volumes, two five book arcs, with each volume focusing on a character by giving them a flashback sequence. So if you’ve read the first one, Kaladin, one of the main characters, there’s a sequence of flashbacks that kind of inform how he came to be where he is at the start of the book. And I intended that for each of the ten primary characters because I kind of began them all in the middle of their stories, which is what happens when you’re writing a book. The beginning of a story is not the beginning of a book. It’s impossible to tell the beginning of a story because there’s always something more that could come before. So you start with people who have passions, who have lives, who have things going on and then I wanted to use these sequences to bring you back up to where they were when they started.

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  • 445

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2012

    Brandon Sanderson

    This was a method I thought I would use in order to help divide each book and help me envision each book as a stand-alone volume in the series. Because one of the challenges of writing a big series like this is you don’t want them all to blend together. You want them each to feel distinct, to have their own climaxes and their own story because when they start to blend together it can be detrimental to the series in the long run. So in my original outline, I spent a lot of time figuring out what everyone’s story was going to be but I didn’t actually have to do them in a certain order because they all are flashbacks I didn’t have to have the flashbacks in certain parts. And so I wasn’t sure whether I was going to do Dalinar or Shallan for the second book, I always knew I was going to do Kaladin for the first book. And I ended up deciding on Shallan, in part because I want to get into her story because of things that are happening in the plot but also because I wanted Dalinar’s sequence to come later.

    Now, I’m not promising that characters all survive that long. It’s entirely possible, just so you know, that I would kill someone off and still show their flashback sequence. Because the flashbacks aren’t them having a flashback, the flashbacks are- it’s not them sitting there and remembering that, it is simply a non-linear way of telling their story. So just so you know, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Dalinar survives til book five.

    Shallan Flashback

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  • 446

    Interview: Mar 17th, 2012

    Zas

    There is a debate on what to call Shallan's Symbols, so we don't have such an ambiguous term for it .

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Symbolhead?

    ZAS

    Yeah, the Symbolhead, Shallanspren,

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    (laughter)

    ZAS

    We don't really know what to call them.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Do I want to canonize this yet?

    ZAS

    You don't have to canonize it yet.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I don't know if I want to canonize it yet. But I will say this. They are spren, that should be pretty obvious. They are the spren connected to what Shallan is capable of doing. But I don’t know if I want to canonize it yet. Truthspren is as good a name as any, and I would suggest you use that until further notice.

    Tags

  • 447

    Interview: Mar 17th, 2012

    Question

    A question related to that. There’s an idea going around that all the spren that can Nahel Bond, all Knight Radiant spren are called honorspren, and then Nohadon talks specifically about honorspren. Is that the case? You know, is it just the Windrunner spren, or is it all the spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m going to deal with this in the next book. So I’ll just go ahead and let it be a literal RAFO. It is coming.

    (interruption, leading Brandon to lose his train of thought)

    So what we are dealing with here is that all Spren are indeed all pieces of the one who has gone, so those spren are all- except the Windrunner spren, the spren like Syl, have certain umm.

    ZAS

    Nohadon mentioned that "All the spren aren’t as discerning as honorspren."

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    So there has been dissension among them about who gets to call themselves honorspren, if that makes sense, and there is some disagreement among scholars about which ones are really, you know "This is what defines an honorspren".

    But the spren you are running into are all (something) of either Honor or Cultivation, or some mixture between them. And you can usually tell the ones that are more Honor, and the ones that are more Cultivation. That should be able to be (something).

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  • 448

    Interview: Aug 9th, 2013

    Question

    Going back to characters: Stormlight Archive is very character driven—each book essentially focuses on one character. Who will we learn more about in Words of Radiance?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In the second book Shallan becomes the focus, though I would honestly say there is as much Kaladin in in the second book as there is in the first book. In the first book the things Shallan was doing were important and fun, but at the same time her plot line was intentionally disjointed because I was setting up what's happening in this book.

    Tags

  • 449

    Interview: Aug 21st, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    I remember coming to see you the very first time, when Elantris was just barely out. I've always been impressed, because I was a nobody and you had read my book. There can't be many other publishers of major companies who read as many of the books as you do. Why do you do that?

    Tom Doherty

    Well, if I've got an editor working for me, it's because I believe that that editor really has something to contribute. Moshe [Feder] was so enthusiastic about Elantris that I couldn't not read it. And when I read it, I loved it.

    I think it's pretty clear we really loved what you were doing. I may be a little prejudiced as his publisher, but I think Robert Jordan really created one of the great epic fantasies of all time—a magnificent series, and you just finished it magnificently. We never could have turned it over to anybody that we didn't have tremendous confidence in, Brandon. We loved what you were doing. It said to us, "Yes, he can do this."

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you weren't the type of publisher who read all the books, you couldn't have fingered someone like you did with me. You couldn't have said, "Give him to Harriet." I remember she said she asked you to send her some of my books. And you said, "Well, I'll send you Mistborn instead of Elantris. I've read them both and Mistborn is a better novel."

    Tom Doherty

    Yep.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Elantris is a first novel. The second novel's better. You knew to send her Mistborn, and it's that book that made her choose me. In a lot of ways, if you hadn't been on top of things, it may not have happened the way it did.

    Tom Doherty

    Well, Mistborn's really great. We thought of it as a trilogy, but then you wrote more.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, I'm in the Robert Jordan tradition, right?

    Tom Doherty

    You are. But, anyway, it's smaller scale than The Way of Kings. The Stormlight Archive is such a natural progression for you, I think. You've told me you picked up foreshadowing from Jordan.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yep. One of the main things I learned from him.

    Tom Doherty

    If I recall, you said that you'd actually written the first draft of The Way of Kings in 2003, and that you had ideas for it way back to high school, and that when you and Moshe were talking about what to do after Elantris, you weren't completely happy with it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It wasn't good enough yet. I had all these dreams, these aspirations of doing something big and momentous like the Wheel of Time, but I couldn't do it yet. I tried, and I couldn't. The problem was juggling the viewpoints, and the foreshadowing.

    What I learned, when I was rereading the Wheel of Time to work on the series, was that Robert Jordan kept everything really quite focused for the early books of the series. He expanded it slowly. He didn't hit you in the face with twenty viewpoints.

    We had something like a seventy viewpoint chapter in the last book. That's something you have to earn, across years of writing. You have to get the reader invested in the main characters. Without that investment in the main characters, I wouldn't have cared enough to pay attention to the side characters.

    It was a matter of scale and scope and building upon itself, rather than just trying to start off with this massive book that gets everyone lost. That's one of the big things I did wrong in the original write. I had six main characters with full arcs and full viewpoints. It was too much. You couldn't really attach to any of them. In the revision I cut that down to three, which really focused the book. It let me give the passion and focus on these three characters, so that you felt it when you read the book.

    Tom Doherty

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Working on those Robert Jordan books did that for me. Writing The Gathering Storm in specific was like going to the gym and having to lift some really heavy weights you aren't used to. Either you get used to it or they crush you. I had to get used to it very quickly. That taught me a lot. I grew more that year than I had at any point in my writing career, except maybe the very first year I was writing.

    Tom Doherty

    When I look at the Stormlight Archive, you also like to jump around like George R. R. Martin. These are the two great epic novelists of our day, Martin and Jordan.

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's really one of George's big strengths: jumping to keep the pacing up. But even he didn't start with a lot of characters at the beginning of the first book. I've actually tried to learn from Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin and say, "Okay, what are the things they had to deal with? There are growing pains when you're creating a series this long. There are certain things that are difficult to do. What looks like it was difficult to do for them, and what can I learn from them?"

    I often say that I had a big advantage over Robert Jordan: I've been able to read Robert Jordan, and he couldn't, at least not in the same way. Reading Robert Jordan showed me what happens when you create a big series. Nobody did this before him, right?

    Tom Doherty

    No.

    Brandon Sanderson

    There were no massive epic fantasy series of that scope at the time. You have things that are episodic, like [Roger Zelazny's] Chronicles of Amber, which is fantastic, but it's thin little episodes. You have nice trilogies like Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. But you don’t have anything with the scope of the Wheel of Time.

    I was able to watch and benefit from what Jordan did. After the fact, he said "You know, I don't think I would have done book ten the same way if I had it to do over again. I learned this and I learned that." Being able to pay attention to those things allows me to hopefully use that.

    When I went into The Way of Kings, I saw what George R. R. Martin does, jumping to these other places and giving you a scope of the world. It makes it feel epic. But if you spend too much time on jumping to those places, you get distracted and can't focus.

    So I did this thing where I would end a section of The Way of Kings and do what I call interludes, where we jump around the world. If this is the sort of thing that doesn't interest you, you can skip those interludes and go on to the next part, where we get back to the main characters. But there are these little stories in between each part, showing the scope: "Here's what's going on around the world, now we focus." You get distracted for a little bit, after a natural end point, then we come back to the main story.

    That restrains me. It makes me say, "Okay, I can only put this many of these chapters in." It makes me keep my eyes on the main characters more. One of my main goals with writing this series is being able to juggle that. It's hard.

    Tom Doherty

    I think you’ve done a particularly great job of still having that broad, epic feel with fewer characters. You only have the three principals: Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar. Jordan had six, maybe eight depending on how you count them.

    Tags

  • 450

    Interview: Aug 21st, 2013

    Tom Doherty

    How do I get you to write one book in the Stormlight Archive every year?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Is this the part where I get in trouble for not having the second book in to you yet? I keep promising it, and I'm usually very good at meeting my promises on deadlines, but I'm touring so much this year. I've had to tell the fans, "I have to support the books that are out there, and you all want to see me, and you all invite me to conventions." I have to learn how to manage that better, because since January, I've basically only been home for about two months. I'm out there all the time, all over the place.

    It's tough. I have to write. I had to write 3,000 words on the plane yesterday, and writing on the plane is not easy, but I'm going to have to write a big chunk of this book on this tour. Grit my teeth and go.

    Tom Doherty

    I don't want to wait myself.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm trying. I'm trying, Tom. If I finish this one in the next couple of months, it will have been one year since I started writing it. That makes it more reasonable that we'll get them every year. I really think every 18 months is more likely, but I don't want the readers to have to wait. You know, as much as I respect the guy, I don't want to do a George R. R. Martin thing to people, where it's four years between books. That's just too long to keep all these characters for a big epic fantasy in mind.

    Tom Doherty

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So hopefully, one every year, two every three years, will continue to be my goal for this series.

    Tom Doherty

    Beautiful. Do you expect any crossover between worlds ever at any time?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh yes, definitely. In fact, if fans go read right now, there's crossover.

    Tom Doherty

    There is?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the characters from Elantris is in The Way of Kings, just in one chapter. And one of the characters from Mistborn is in The Way of Kings. There is crossover. It's never going to be the forefront of the series. I don't want you to have to have read Mistborn to enjoy the Stormlight Archive, but if you have, and you really want to get into these things, you can find all the clues connecting all the worlds. It's a story hidden behind the story. Someday I'll write its own dedicated series for it. But again, it's important for me that I make sure that fans don't have to have read my entire breadth of work in order to enjoy a given series. It has to stand on its own.

    Tom Doherty

    Well, I think we've got something special going. It isn't often I can't wait for the next book. I've got too much to read.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, thanks Tom. That makes me feel pretty awesome.

    Tags

  • 451

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2013

    Shawn Speakman

    You have finished Words of Radiance and it publishes in early 2014. What are you currently working on? The sequel to Steelheart, I hope!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Actually, I'm working on the revisions for Words of Radiance. "Finished" should be in quotes. Yes, the first draft was turned in at the end of June, but since then, we've been working on revisions. It is a long, arduous process to take 400,000 words—1000 pages—and take it from good to excellent. We're in that process right now. However, I've often described how I can write one book while revising another—so I am indeed working on a sequel. The sequel to Steelheart, titled Firefight, which should be coming out in the fall of 2014 if everything goes well.

    Tags

  • 452

    Interview: Aug 31st, 2013

    WorldCon Flash AMA (Verbatim)

    Gandemort (August 2013)

    You've mentioned that the Stormlight Archive is broken down into two sets of five books. Is the story arch of the second set of books going to be completely different than the story in the first 5 books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It will focus mostly on different characters, with some appearances by characters from the first five. I wouldn't call it a different story, more a sequel.

    Tags

  • 453

    Interview: Dec 9th, 2013

    Question

    You mention the phases of the moon fairly often in The Way of Kings—is this significant or something that we should be paying attention to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    After working with the Wheel of Time community and dealing a lot with fans wanting to know when certain events happened in regards to some other event, Brandon added in the phases of the moon in order to give dedicated fans a way of determining the chronology of the events of the Stormlight Archives.

    Footnote

    "Phase" is not the word Brandon used, it has more to do with which moon is up.

    17th Shard

    Tags

  • 454

    Interview: Oct 1st, 2013

    Question

    Will Hoid return as the King's Wit in the next/future Stormlight Archive book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 455

    Interview: Mar 24th, 2014

    Question

    I'm curious as to whether committing to a 10 book series ever feels daunting.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good question. I would say no, it doesn't. The reason being that The Stormlight Archive, as I've said many times before, is this series that I have been planning for years and years and years and years and years. Twenty-plus years I've been wanting to do this book series. Having that, and having that desire to do this, means that the book series is this awesome thing in my head. Books get into my head, and they have to come out eventually. They bug my brain until they do. This one's been bugging my brain the longest. I don't think it's daunting, because it's not like I don't know what to do for ten books. I know what to do for ten books. These books have been screaming at me for decades to get written. It's more a relief that I can finally get them on the page, that I finally have the skill in order to accomplish it. It's a relief to finally be doing the ten-book series like this that I've wanted to do for so long. That said, at dinner tonight I was chatting with my assistants, and they said, so we're going to be working on this series until we're past age fifty, aren't we, Brandon? And I said yes, we are.

    Tags

  • 456

    Interview: Mar 24th, 2014

    Question

    The Way of Kings was around 1000 pages. Words of Radiance is almost 1100. I've done the calculations and using extrapolation book 10 will be 280,000 pages long (assuming geometric growth). Of course, that is only really a problem for the printers (who have to find a way to bind them), but do you think there are any limits as to how long a book should be?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, in some ways The Wheel of Time is a single novel, and can be read that way, and is actually eligible for some awards this year as a single completed novel. If there is an upper limit, it's longer than The Wheel of Time was. I don't think I'm likely to hit it with The Stormlight Archive. On a more serious note, when creating a book of this length, what I have to ask myself is, what is the purpose of the length? Why am I doing what I'm doing? I like to be conscious as a writer. In this case, as I mentioned earlier, I do view each book in The Stormlight Archive as multiple books unto itself. You can pick up The Way of Kings and read it with break points at certain places to make it into a trilogy of books. In Words of Radiance, they're even more distinct. It's like you're picking up a collection, an omnibus that is called Words of Radiance, that is really three books, plus a short story collection, plus an art book. For me, length is a way that I can tell you these smaller stories are all connected in a larger story, which is in turn connected in a larger story. It allows me to create a type of art that I can't create in the shorter form. Yes, I'm sure there is a boundary. I would personally think it's far beyond what I'm capable of achieving in my lifetime.

    Tags

  • 457

    Interview: Mar 29th, 2014

    Question

    How does a world that is wracked by storms supply food for an entire population?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well the thing to keep in mind is that it is not a barren planet. There are lots of plants on this planet. It's no more barren than a corral reef that deals with a tide rushing in and rushing out. Now, the life has to adapt to it, but it's a really lush planet. If you go and look at the shattered plains there is grass everywhere and plants growing all over the place. Right before a storm it becomes barren, then it becomes lush again. [...] One of the things I kinda have to overcome with this book is that though it is very rocky and stony, it is very lush, and it's hard sometimes for people to imagine that. But even if it is a little bit barren, Utah is barren and it has supported people. [...]

    Tags

  • 458

    Interview: Mar 29th, 2014

    Herowannabe

    When Sazed

    Brandon Sanderson

    You do know that I've got a character in one of the books named Bowen? [Clarification: My name is Bowen. He said this while personalizing our books]

    Herowannabe

    Really?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. He's actually been in the books so far, but not by name. He's one of the Worldhoppers. If you go look and talk to them they may have identified him, some people who have read.

    Herowannabe

    Thank you for naming a character after me!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I did it. He's from White Sand. I wrote the book in '98. Yeah, he's one of the Purelake guys.

    Herowannabe

    Is he Blunt?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah. [...] (later) So yeah, Bowen, you'll have to see because when I redid the linguistics for the world, his name I think got changed. I think it's now Baon. But in the very first draft of the very first book I ever wrote his name was Bowen. And the reason I think I changed it - is because he's a bowman. And I'm like I can't name the bowman—the archer—Bowen. That's kinda dumb. But in my head he's still Bowen.

    Herowannabe

    Anyway, my question...

    Tags

  • 459

    Interview: Mar 29th, 2014

    Herowannabe

    I’m curious, I’ve got a list of various cosmere bits of metal, and I wonder if you would rank them from like 1 to 10 or easy to difficult on how hard it would be to steelpush on them?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Okay.

    Herowannabe

    So, like metal inside a person’s body?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on how strong the investiture in them is.

    Herowannabe

    Is that going to be the answer for all of these?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Probably. :)

    Herowannabe

    How about a spike charged with Hemalurgy? Not in a person.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Not in a person? It depends on how strong—yeah. A spike is moderately—in the realm of these sorts of things—moderately easy to push on, because a spike does not rip off very much investiture. Only enough to short circuit the soul, and it loses that over time. So I would put that at the bottom—with the top being very hard—to be one of the easier things.

    Herowannabe

    How about a metalmind? A feruchemy metalmind that is "full."

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is going to be middle of the realm. Generally easier than, for instance, a shardblade, which is going to be very hard.

    Aaradel

    But a shardblade isn’t actual metal. Ish?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Ish. Is Lerasium a metal? Yeah.

    Herowannabe

    So would that be the same for Shardplate, too?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Shardplate and blade are very hard. Blade is probably going to be harder. [...]

    Herowannabe

    Halfshard? Like a halfshard shield?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Halfshard shield is going to be in moderate.

    Herowannabe

    Nightblood? I imagine is going to be very difficult.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Very hard. Of all the things you’ve listed, he’s the hardest. Far beyond even a shardblade.

    Herowannabe

    Far beyond metal inside a person?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, depending on how invested the person is.

    Aaradel

    If someone was invested as much as Nightblood I’m pretty sure it’s going to be very difficult.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, for instance, the Godking, at the end, with all of those Breaths. Pushing on something inside of him? Getting through all that? Gonna be REAL hard. Average person on Scadrial? You’ve seen how hard that is. A drab? Much easier.

    Herowannabe

    That was actually going to be my next one- No, sorry, not a drab, a Lifeless.

    Brandon Sanderson

    A Lifeless. Lifeless are kinda weird, because they’ve had their soul leave, but then they’ve had a replacement stuck in, in the form of Breath, which puts them in a really weird position compared to a Drab, which has had part of their investiture ripped away, but the majority of it remains. So anyway, I’m going to give you one more. Pick your favorite.

    Herowannabe

    Okay, a soul-stamped piece of metal.

    Brandon Sanderson

    A soul-stamped piece of metal is going to be on the lower, easier side. Not a lot of investiture going on in a soulstamp.

    Tags

  • 460

    Interview: Mar 29th, 2014

    Brandon Sanderson

    Anyone else have questions or books that they need signed?

    Question

    I have a question. You gave me one of these little Szeth cards. I noticed on the back it looks like a game.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, yeah it does, doesn’t it?

    Question

    What’s the story with that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Those—that was just like randomly printed there.

    Herowannabe

    [in a stage whisper] I don’t think he’s telling the truth.

    Brandon Sanderson

    We just got them back and we were like, "Wow, those random collection of letters look surprisingly like words from my books. How did that happen?"

    Question

    [inaudible ]… look forward to that?

    Aradel

    He’s not allowed to say.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’s not a “Not allowed to say,” it’s that this is a fun little thing that may become something in the distant future.

    Tags

  • 461

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Kurkistan

    Are flamespren, are they all doing their own thing, or is there some Ideal of "Fire" sitting in the Spiritual Realm that they're all based on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Each spren is based on the Ideal of Fire.

    Kurkistan

    And is that sitting in the Spiritual Realm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, we're using sort of a Platonic Ideal, and that concept is in force, so < sounds hesitant > "yes", but [spren] are manifestations of it.

    Kurkistan

    So these Ideals in the Spiritual Realm: Divine Breath, does that heal by accessing some Ideal of Human Health: so a guy who had never had a tongue and doesn't know how to speak all the sudden has a tongue and can speak? [Note: Talking of Susebron here]

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are... < LONG pause > You are, um, on the right track.

    Kurkistan

    Okay...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Because the Breath is... eh. How can I explain this? You are, yeah... So... So each Breath is a shade of deity, right?

    Kurkistan

    Yeah.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And each Breath incorporates into it this sort of idea of being endowed by the deity Endowment, correct?

    Kurkistan

    Yes.

    Brandon Sanderson

    And so each Breath you hold brings you one step closer to becoming like that, and so what you're saying is... is "yes", kind of true, yes.

    Kurkistan

    But it's like within the Breath, not sitting off by itself—

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, yes yes exactly.

    Tags

  • 462

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    macros

    Based on what we know currently about the ten heartbeats, why does Szeth require ten heartbeats to bring forth his Honorblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Perception is a very important part of how these things all work, and remember, the Honorblades work differently from everything else. Everything was based upon them. Why don’t you read and find out what’s going on there, but remember, the characters’ perception is very important.

    macros

    So then that’s why at one point Shallan requires ten heartbeats and now she doesn’t.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Right, just like—it’s the exact same reason why Kaladin’s forehead wounds don’t heal, because he views himself as need—as having those, somewhere deep inside of him, and that can’t heal until that goes away. And it’s the same reason why in Warbreaker, when you bring something to life your intention, rather than really what you say, is what matters. It’s all about perception.

    Tags

  • 463

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    macros

    I finally asked if he could write anything in my book that we did not already know about the Skybreakers. I will upload the picture when I get home but it is the second oath of the Skybreakers which says:

    Brandon Sanderson

    "I will put the law before all else."

    Tags

  • 464

    Interview: Jan 10th, 2013

    Brandon Sanderson

    "Dalinar is the first character I ever wrote."

    Tags

  • 465

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    In Mistborn, Allomancy tends to get a little addictive, is that something that's going to happen with Stormlight—holding it just because it feels good?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are noticing a similarity. That is intentional.

    Tags

  • 466

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    If Taravangian made the Diagram, and telling the future is of the Voidbringers, is that a bad sign?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on if you're speaking culturally or actually magically.

    Question

    Magically, I guess.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Because he would claim to you that he did it all with strength of mind and no magical influence other than enhanced mind. That's what he would tell you. And so in that case it would not be—culturally they'd look very weirdly at it, but spiritually he would say it's not of the Voidbringers.

    Question

    Right. He would say that.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh-huh.

    Tags

  • 467

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Will the flute come back?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A lot of people are curious about the flute. I have been non-committal, so far.

    Footnote

    The flute that Wit gave to Kaladin, which he had to abandon in Sadeas's camp after the Battle of the Tower.

    Tags

  • 468

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Leiyan

    Can you tell me the order of the three planets in the solar system?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    Leiyan

    Because I know Braize is the third one, I've heard that, is that true?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm staying closed-lipped about a lot of this.

    Leiyan

    Can you tell me which is the most massive moon [of Roshar]? Not the biggest, but the most massive.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I think the biggest is the most massive. All three moons are much closer than our moon is.

    Leiyan

    And so is that Nomon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Leiyan

    How big is Nomon on the night sky, like compared to our moon?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Larger than our moon, but not dominating of the sky. [...] I do believe Nomon is bigger, but I had to have Peter run those calculations, so he may come back and say no Brandon, that's not possible, but I do believe it's bigger than our moon in the sky. You're supposed to be able to see moderately well by Nomon.

    Leiyan

    So I had some things I figured out, I just wanted to know if they're true or not. So I have that the orbits of the moons would precess so that the farthest point is always pointing towards the sun.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, one more time.

    Leiyan

    [uses diagram to explain the question]

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, we have figured all this out. It's in the wiki--so me just saying--it's not in the wiki that you can find. I would need to go compare this. All the calculations on things like this--this is stuff where I sat down with Peter, who knows much more astronomy than me and said "here's what I want" and he's like "well it has to be this" and I put that in.

    Leiyan

    Do you know, do the moons orbit the opposite direction to Roshar's rotation?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I believe they do but I'm not 100% sure.

    Leiyan

    There's no eclipses as far as I can tell, so the plane of the orbit must be strongly inclined, 'cause there'd be an eclipse every day if there were eclipses-

    Brandon Sanderson

    We had to fudge that because as you said, if there were any it'd be all the time.

    Tags

  • 469

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    EHyde

    I was wondering, on Roshar, what sort of plants and animals do they use for fabrics, since they don't have a lot of wooly animals and the plants are different?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Most of them are plant-based. I think I've mentioned one of the plants.

    EHyde

    They have silk though, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. It's called sea-silk, they grow it in the water. It comes from the coasts.

    EHyde

    So they don't have anything like our silk, then?

    Brandon Sanderson

    If you looked at it, you would call it silk, but it is being produced in a very different way.

    EHyde

    Our silk comes from insect cocoons, and they have a lot of that there, but they don't use it for fiber at all?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Insect cocoons on Roshar are either, they melt in water from the highstorm cycle, or they have stone in them, so they don't work really well for textiles. There are certain rockbuds you can shred the inside of the shell to get a textile, there's sea silk that grows out in the ocean, and there are other plants of a similar nature.

    EHyde

    I was also wondering about the Steel Alphabet in the Mistborn books, each letter aesthetically looks like it's built from a cuff, a spike, and a bead, and was that intentional to reflect the magic systems?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Do remember that that writing system was developed by the Final Empire. They actually took the ancient Terris symbols and made them more to their aesthetic over time.

    Tags

  • 470

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Rhandric

    Is Vasher trying to find Nightblood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Vasher misses Nightblood and feels responsible for him.

    Rhandric

    How many worldhoppers have we seen?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, I haven't kept track, you've seen quite a few. There's one from Mistborn, did you catch him? I don't think people have really picked out the Terriswoman yet, who makes her way into them, but they're mostly not supposed to be noticeable yet, until you get to know them as characters and you look back and be like "oh that was that person."

    Rhandric

    Is it the Terriswoman I think it is?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know which Terriswoman you think it is.

    Rhandric

    Tindwyl?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    Kurkistan

    Speaking of the Terriswoman, is she the nurse in Warbreaker?

    Brandon Sanderson

    < Pauses; gleefully says > RAAAAAAFO!

    Footnote

    The last Q&A was transcribed by Kurkistan.

    Tags

  • 471

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Sweetness

    What do the glyphs in the Kholin glyph pair mean?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh boy, it's in my notes, I should know that, but I'd need to look it up.

    Tags

  • 472

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Sweetness

    Were the Ryshadium artificially enhanced or created, or were they natural?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh, RAFO! Good question!

    Tags

  • 473

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    RIT

    Alright, glowing Shardplate and retractable helmets. Is that a similar origin of the Shardblades—

    Brandon Sanderson

    There's a similarity, but they are also very different.

    RIT

    Yeah, I noticed they do seem like advanced fabrials, because Adolin just keeps going on and on about how they're all interchangeable and how they all feel comfortable after a while, and it doesn't have the same kind of thing with the Shardblades.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, it doesn't. Though a Shardblade, used for a long time, will change shape slightly.

    Tags

  • 474

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Is it the power of the bond between humans and spren, the Nahel bond, or from the swords—the existing Shardblades—that causes the eyes to turn light?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Uh ... yes.

    Question

    Does each specific order have their own spren that they would bond?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Each order has a spren that is distinctive. All Windrunners come from wind— from honorspren.

    Tags

  • 475

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    So Nohadon's still alive, right?

    Brandon Sanderson

    ... RAFO! Why would you say that Nohadon's still alive?

    Question

    I know he's still alive.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Why would you say he's still alive?

    Question

    It's the perfect trick, that you're gonna bring back Nohadon. Um. It's my feeling about things.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Um ...

    Tags

  • 476

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    When do we get to see a Radiant and a Mistborn go at it?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's gonna be a while. It is gonna be a while. Unless—yeah.

    Tags

  • 477

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Is Shai on Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Hehehe, good question!

    Question

    Has she already popped up?

    Brandon Sanderson

    She has not already popped up.

    Question

    So she's not a Radiant. Or is she?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You have not seen her on screen yet, other than in her story.

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  • 478

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    I was wondering if you had, off the top of your head, any one-armed Herdazian jokes.

    Brandon Sanderson

    (laughs) Only the obvious one. How do you get a one-armed Herdazian out of a tree? You wave.

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  • 479

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    I was writing about the stances, and I was wondering if you could match them with (unfolds drawing).

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would have you email this to us, because Ben McSweeney made the final call as he drew these, which one was which. While I had notes on each of them, he matched the stances to them, so it would be really easy for me to get them wrong.

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  • 480

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    So what's your favorite thing from The Way of Kings? Quotes, coming from the actual book in The Way of Kings.

    Brandon Sanderson

    The book in-world? I would say it's the story that Nohadon shares about walking and passing the man with his burden.

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  • 481

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    With the ten books split into five and five, is that going to be chronological?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. They will be chronological.

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  • 482

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    I was curious, I know Jasnah wasn't in it too much ... I was curious—she's such a believable non-religious character, was it more difficult writing her as a religious person? I just thought she was so well done even though she's not—

    Brandon Sanderson

    You know she's always been that way in my head, since I conceived of her. I spent a lot of time on atheist forums, learning how to talk the right way to make her real.

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  • 483

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Did you have a fascination with gemstones, and metals, or—?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have a fascination with everything. So, yes, but it takes a while to figure the right theme to fit a book. But I am fascinated by pretty much everything, and so you see that sort of thing manifesting in these books.

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  • 484

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    I do have to know—how many cousins?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on what your definition of cousin is. By Lopen's definition, basically all of the people—there are a lot of cousins. He's counting like fifth cousins, like, dating his sister or his mom's sister—that's a cousin.

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  • 485

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    How many people that we've met know the story of Dalinar's wife?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Know which story?

    Question

    The story about the pact, why he doesn't remember anything.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh. Not very many at all know that he doesn't remember. He's had to fake it.

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  • 486

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Is Lopen still going to have one-arm jokes? That's my big concern.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He's always going to have one-arm jokes. He's probably going to have to come up with some two-arm jokes.

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  • 487

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Is Lopen going to be one of the [main characters in the second five-book sequence]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He is not, he's a side character.

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  • 488

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Is there a difference between the Shardplate of the Radiants and the current Shardplate?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Tags

  • 489

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    Kaladin in the second book seemed to be a different Kaladin than at the end of the first book.

    Brandon Sanderson

    What way?

    Question

    Angrier, and my question is, why did you write him that way?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He has always been angry. In the first book, he is focused on saving his men and now that his men are safe, all of those emotions—if you go look at him from the first nine chapters of Way of Kings, he's that way there, it's when he becomes focused on saving his men he has something to drive him and it kind of subsumes these things, but once they're safe all these things he hasn't dealt with came back out.

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  • 490

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2014

    Ant

    Where did you get the idea of a world ravaged by fierce storms?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The original seed of an idea was the storm of Jupiter, this massive persistent storm. Of course, that's a gas giant. The physics are very different. But I remember one day staring at a picture of Jupiter and thinking about a storm that circled the world that was massively powerful. That was one of those seeds that stuck in my brain. This sort of thing happened over months and years until that seed grew and developed and mixed with other things I was thinking of, and the result was Roshar.

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  • 491

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2014

    Ant

    The use of spren are a brilliant idea, what was the inspiration for these creatures?

    Brandon Sanderson

    In part, they stem from the underlying cosmology and overarching rules, the dictates of the magic systems of my shared universe. I was looking for a manifestation of that in Roshar. I also was searching for something that would give Roshar a different feel from things that I'd done before. I wanted this book and this series—and everything about it—to feel different from fantasy worlds in the past. I wanted it to be fantastical, but I wanted it to be unique. I wanted something that could consistently remind the reader, "Oh, I'm in a different place. Wow. Their emotions manifest visibly when they feel them strongly. This place is bizarre." That was one of the main inspirations. Looking in our world, one inspiration is certainly the Eastern concept in Shinto mythology of everything having a soul, every rock and river and tree having something living inside of it that is a manifestation of it. Since I was working with the idea of Platonic realms and the like, I spun that off into the spren.

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  • 492

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2014

    Ant

    The Stormlight Archive already has that feeling of an "epic" tale, not just in the size of the novels and the rich world building but the story too. Do you have any idea how long the book series might go on for?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I conceived The Stormlight Archive as a series dealing with ten characters, where each book took one of the characters and delved deeply into their past and their psychology. Granted, the other characters will appear, as Kaladin is a big part of Words of Radiance even though this volume could be described as Shallan's book. Since I have those ten characters, and there are ten orders of Knights Radiant, I built a ten-book series with two five-book arcs: five books and then a break, followed by another five books.

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  • 493

    Interview: Mar 17th, 2014

    SFFWorld

    1. So: Book 2. How does this book differ from Book 1?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Living up to a really successful book is always hard. The second book expands the world and the characters. It shows off a new magic. It has Wit being himself. It involves more depth into the understanding of Realmatic theory and the Cosmere. It lets several of the characters really come into their own. It moves at a fast pace, and things where you may have been thinking, "Oh, it's not going to go there at least for a few more books," happen immediately instead of taking forever. This is all part of my desire and goal for the series. I wrote a really big essay for Tor.com about how I envisioned these books going, where I look at each one as being more than book, where I'm playing with the idea of what it means to be an epic. Words of Radiance went very well in that regard. I plotted it like a trilogy, and wrote it as this one book made of three books. Anyway, I'm just super excited about how it turned out. The major difference between this book and the first book is that Shallan comes more to the forefront. Kaladin's presence in the second book is about the same as it was in the first book. But this one is more Shallan and has a little less Dalinar than the first one.

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  • 494

    Interview: Mar 17th, 2014

    SFFWorld

    3. Is the plan still for ten books? How much ahead are you with the overall plan?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The plan is still for ten books, which is two arcs of five. The first five are very well plotted and nailed down in my head. The back five, I know the endings of each of those, but I'm not 100% sure on all the elements. Once I finish the first five, I will sit down and create the second outline in much more detail. Because they are divided in my head in such a way that they are two smaller arcs that have a big gap between them, I'm really focused on the first five right now.

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  • 495

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2013

    Question

    Which hand is the safe hand?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is the left hand.

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  • 496

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2013

    Question

    When we get to the interlude in The Way of Kings, where we see the Shinovar merchant, he talks about his guards being different from Truthless. What makes the distinction?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You will find that out in Book 3 which has Szeth's flashback sequences and show him becoming Truthless.

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  • 497

    Interview: Jun 10th, 2014

    Michael Pye

    One thing I've noticed around the release of Words of Radiance was you pointing out that The Stormlight Archive is really two series of 5 books each. Was that something you wanted to make clear so as not to be daunting to perspective readers or just more about how the story has developed since you began?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's a mixture of both, honestly. I do want to be wary of not being too daunting to readers who are jumping into this thing and have been reading The Wheel of Time. They might think, "The Wheel of Time was 'promised' to be six books and it ended up at fourteen. If you promise six, how long is this one going to be?"

    But it's also because I want to start preparing readers for the break that's going to happen at book five. I'm going to stop writing the series for a few years, and then the "back five" (as I'm calling it) will focus on some different characters than the front five. So I have a lot of good reasons to be preparing people for what's going to happen there. Our expectations are a very big part of our enjoyment of all different kinds of entertainment mediums.

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  • 498

    Interview: Mar 11th, 2014

    Question

    The ending of Mistborn was hidden in the first chapter epigraphs. Is there something similar to that in The Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There is, but they are hidden in different places. The last chapter of The Stormlight Archive is somewhere in these two books.

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  • 499

    Interview: Mar 6th, 2014

    Question

    Who are the 5 main characters from the first half of The Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth, Eshonai, Dalinar in that order.

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  • 500

    Interview: Mar 6th, 2014

    Question

    How did you decide that you were going to tackle racism, classism, gender, all those things in The Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the things I like about Fantasy is the ability to tackle things like this in a way that removes the baggage from our current society which is why you see me doing things like the gender relations centered around whether the hand is sleeved or not. I want to do something that is one step removed so that it is pertinent... The Parshendi-Human thing is going to be a big deal for the series so I wanted to introduce it early on in the books.

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  • 501

    Interview: Mar 7th, 2014

    Question (Paraphrased)

    Seventh—By the end of the Stormlight Archive will you look into the minds of everyone who will develop powers?

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    No. Lists flashback characters; the next three are, in order: Szeth, Eshonai, and Dalinar.

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  • 502

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2014

    Question

    I was wondering if any of the characters from interludes will end up with their own books.

    Brandon Sanderson

    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.

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  • 503

    Interview: Mar 19th, 2014

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    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." 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, " The Stormlight Archive" is a play on words (literally an archive of books).

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  • 504

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Noah Hill (Goodreads)

    Is there any chance we will have a deeper backstory for Bridge 4 members? Maybe an anthology or something with short stories that detail backstory for Rock, Lopen, etc? That would be amazing!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do intend to dig into some of them a little. (Rock, for example, is currently plotted to have a viewpoint sequence in a later book.)

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  • 505

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    Everyone likely wants to know how Stormlight Archive #3 is coming along. Have you worked on a pre-draft or where are you in the process at the moment?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Just pre-writing right now. Building the plot. Plan to start writing in earnest January/February.

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  • 506

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    I'm blown away by all the different types of people you portray in The Stormlight Archive (different cultures, social classes, genders, varying levels of...morality). What kinds of things help you create such diverse casts of characters? I'm imagining that you have a secret encyclopedia somewhere that helps you keep all your cultures and customs straight!

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do, actually, have a secret encyclopedia. It's a wiki on my computer, filled with information. That helps me keep things straight. However, specific inspirations are often in the people I meet. I do spend a fair amount of time looking through the internet for blogs/forums populated by people who think very differently from myself. This helps me create realistic portrayals.

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  • 507

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    Of the 7 remaining Stormlight Archive books (or 3 in the sub-series), which one are you most looking forward to writing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Book ten.

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  • 508

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    Won't it be difficult to keep the storyline interesting for 10 books straight?

    Brandon Sanderson

    We'll have to see! I think the storyline for the series is quite captivating, but I've never done something this long before.

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  • 509

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    In Well of Ascension, it mentions that the language of Terris had a gender neutral pronoun. If you actually constructed the language, what was that pronoun? Or did you just leave it as its English translation of "it"?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I didn't spend a long time on the languages in Scadrial, since most people were speaking the same tongue. I just used "it" in my own writings. Roshar has a lot more detail on the languages, because culture-clash is a bigger part of the theme of the series.

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  • 510

    Interview: Aug 13th, 2014

    Question

    Hi Brandon, love your work and I appreciate you doing the Q&A. I absolutely love the fact that your Stormlight books are so big. I enjoy the feeling of starting such an epic quest and pushing myself to complete higher word count books. That being said, is there a possibility that we might see a 450k, maybe even a 500k word book by the end of the Stormlight Archive or by the end of the Cosmere works? Take care!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Thanks for the kind words!

    It's certainly possible. I will write them at the length they need to be. After 400k, though, the print has to start shrinking which makes reading more and more difficult.

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  • 511

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    Are we going to find out in here, why Szeth and what the Truthless are all about?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    That, you will have to wait for his flashback sequences in a future book. Each character gets a set of flashback sequences. I'm not going to promise that the characters live to the book where their flashback sequences are. You might have a character die and then get their flashbacks the next book to get more information on them. This will be Shallan's flashback, then the next book will be Szeth's flashback, then Eshonai, then Dalinar.

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  • 512

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    A while back someone asked if Hoid's sword is Nightblood, you said that was interesting. Is it similarly Invested?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'm going to RAFO that. It is a very interesting question.

    Footnote

    Hoid's sword has been proven to not be Nightblood. Nightblood is now in Szeth's possession.

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  • 513

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    Why does the Stormfather consider himself dead, or will that be covered?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    That will be covered, eventually.

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  • 514

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    The coats that the Alethi wear, that the officers wear. Is it a Prussian sort of thing?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I'm thinking in my head probably french early 1800's. Just past Napoleonic. Bound tails.

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  • 515

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    Where did you get the basis for the spren?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    The spren are partially based out of Shinto mythology, the idea that everything has a soul and a spirit to it. And partially mixing that with my desire to have some sort of a unique representation of emotion in these books.

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  • 516

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    It seems like a movie adaptation would have just constant spren everywhere?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    That's why I made it so that not every use of the emotion causes them-so it wouldn't get too crazy even when I'm writing them. And what's happening is the spren exist on the Cognitive plane, on Shadesmar, so they have to be attracted, they have to be nearby enough to flock to you, so it depends on how common the spren is.

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  • 517

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    For a Windrunner, if he had enough heating fabrials and enough Stormlight, how high up could he get?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    You could exit orbit. Windrunners, remember they're gravitation and pressure. So if he knew what he was doing, we have actually factored how long it would take to get to the various moons.

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  • 518

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    You very clearly make rules for the wine in this world, like the different colors and different alcohol content. I was wondering what the inspiration for that is, and also what some of them are actually made from, because it doesn't seem like grapes?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It's not grapes, it's a local fruit. So we would not probably call it wine, we would probably call it something else. And it's based on my desire to do funky things with world building in every way I can. [The color is a cultural thing.]

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  • 519

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    When are we first getting a look at the Cosmere coming together?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    The third Mistborn trilogy is going to involve-it's the first one I planned to do a lot with. I doubt I will do much in the second Mistborn trilogy, more than I probably have done [so far]. It's fun for me, so I'll keep including things in. You'll notice that Hoid is a bigger part of the Stormlight than previous ones, but I still don't want it to come to the forefront quite yet.

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  • 520

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    How deep are you going into Shadesmar in WoR?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Not terribly deep in WoR. We're going to have to wait until Jasnah or Shallan are exploring it more.

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  • 521

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    For the people you have coming back in the Stormlight Archive - how do you pick who makes the cut [in the interludes?]

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It just depends on where I feel like going, the interludes are complete freedom for me.

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  • 522

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Is there a difference between Shadesmar and the Cognitive realm?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Shadesmar is a word for the Cognitive Realm specifically touching - It's like San Diego is a word for a place in America. It's a local word.

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  • 523

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    To the spren, is becoming mindless the same as death?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They consider it as such.

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  • 524

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Are there birds outside of Shinovar in Roshar?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are, but very few and they are all in the west. So you're not going to find birds in Alethkar for instance. Unless they're chickens that have been brought, or something like that.

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  • 525

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    Leinton

    Can Breath be used to power Surgebinding?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They are very similar Investitures, and most of the magics can be powered with the other magics if you are capable of making that happen.

    Leinton

    What would happen to the Breath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Breath would be consumed in the same way that Stormlight is. A renewing resource, much like Atium is.

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  • 526

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    Any chance of a Shardspear?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Shardspear? YOU are going to get RAFO'd.

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  • 527

    Interview: Mar 4th, 2014

    QUESTION

    Can someone bond more than one Honorblade?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Honorblade? You can't bond an Honorblade, though it can be given to you. Shardblades, however, come from a spren bond and it is possible to bond more than one.

    Footnote

    Later clarified, Brandon misunderstood the question. One may be bound to multiple Honorblades.

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  • 528

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2014

    Jean Marie Ward

    Are you going through the five stages of grief?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't know. I had such a long time to prepare for it. It's not like getting hit with the five stages of grief in the same way, since I knew this was only going to be a short thing. But there is a sense of regret. At the same time, being able to write the Stormlight Archive is awesome.

    I had been planning this series for many years and being able to share with people these stories that I've wanted to tell for such a long time is very gratifying. Words of Radiance, the second book, this has scenes in it that I initially sketched out to write some eight, nine years ago that I'd been planning.

    They came out just as I'd been planning them and it was really exciting that people can now read those.

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  • 529

    Interview: Sep 24th, 2014

    Jean Marie Ward

    The Stormlight Archive is, I believe, your big project at the moment. . .

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is.

    Jean Marie Ward

    . . . the dominating project. Could you give our viewers a hint of what to expect in Words of Radiance, and also the next books in the series, not spoilery, just a hint, and then tell them some of the other projects you may be working on?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I would say that what to expect, hopefully lots of awesomeness. It's so hard to explain what to expect. Solid world-building. . .

    Jean Marie Ward

    Your trademark magic.

    Brandon Sanderson

    . . . great characters, magic systems. It is the story of Teton people and their backstories, how they become who they are and whether they fail or succeed. I don't know what to tell you to expect other than I hope more of the same.

    What am I working on right now? I am just most recently finished Firefight, the sequel to Steelheart, which was my teen release from last year. I'm currently working on the sequel to Rithmatist, which hopefully both will come out next year some time.

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  • 530

    Interview: Mar 22nd, 2014

    Question

    Will the main characters from books 1-5 be as prevalent in 6-10 as the secondary characters now are?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, the main characters will be as prevalent in 6-10 as the secondary ones are in 1-5, maybe even more so.

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  • 531

    Interview: Mar 22nd, 2014

    Question

    The prologues, will we ever see one from Gavilar's point of view?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's a big ol' RAFO. Because I want it to be surprising to see who you get each book.

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  • 532

    Interview: Mar 22nd, 2014

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    Viewpoint characters: Szeth, Eshonai, Dalinar. Jasnah will be in the back five.

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  • 533

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2014

    Question

    Are we ever going to see a spren viewpoint?

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    Yes it's likely.

    Question

    A book where the flashbacks are spren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Probably not. Or it's not planned right now.

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  • 534

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2014

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    There's also going to be about a 15 year gap in-world between The Stormlight Archive arc 1 and arc 2.

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  • 535

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2014

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    The Stormlight Archive is set before The Alloy of Law.

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  • 536

    Interview: Dec 6th, 2014

    Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)

    He's actually still unsure about which book the next The Stormlight Archive is going to be about. He said it might be about Szeth, but then again it might be about Dalinar or Eshonai. He said he was going to have to plot it out a little more and see. He said that the determining factor will be what information are we going to need in order to progress. It might be that he needs to do Dalinar's book because that's the only way to get in some of that information, but Szeth can kind of talk about some of his on screen. He said he'll do a little more plotting and see.

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  • 537

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2014

    Question

    What's your inspiration?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It really depends on the book. If you want to know the inspiration for the Mistborn books, you can Google "Sanderson's First Law". It's an essay I wrote about how I came up with the magic system. That'll help you see where some of the ideas came from and how I take them and use them.

    Question

    What about The Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Stormlight, the original inspiration was the storm of Jupiter. The big storm that rotates around Jupiter, and I wanted to do something that had a perpetual storm like that.

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  • 538

    Interview: Sep 4th, 2014

    Question

    What are the other books in The Stormlight Archive going to be about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well each one is going to cover a flashback sequence for one of the characters and each one will focus on a different order of the Knights Radiant. And that's not always the same, like the flashbacks for the first one were Kaladin and it was also Windrunners, but we won't always have them be the exact same.

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  • 539

    Interview: Mar 13th, 2014

    Question

    So do you know what the end of the series is going to [can't make out the rest].

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do. I've actually written the epilogue to book five. Peter, my assistant, like sent an exclamation point after he saw that appear on the wiki. Actually the ending of the entire series, of the ten books, is somewhere in the two books. Just like in Mistborn it was in the first page. It's not in the first page but it's in those books.

    Footnote

    Some spelling errors corrected in the answer

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  • 540

    Interview: Mar 13th, 2014

    Macen

    What group, if any, was Shallan's mother a part of?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO. But you are right, she was indeed involved.

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  • 541

    Interview: Jan 6th, 2015

    Wetlander

    How much time elapses between the beginning of the main part of the story (where they start out at the Shattered Plains) and the end of the series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    And the end of the series? Because the end of the series, um, we have a 15-year gap between [books] 5 and 6. So, the first five will probably be Wheel-of-Time-ish, sort of, each one picks up where the last one left off; we have a little more time, maybe, than Wheel of Time, but not terribly much, so it will probably be just a couple of years for the first ones, but then we will jump.

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  • 542

    Interview: Mar 20th, 2014

    Outis

    Do you know the order of 6-10?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I know whose they are but I haven't decided the order. Lift is one, Taln is one. The person who calls himself Taln.

    Footnote

    6-10 presumably means books 6-10 of Stormlight Archive.

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  • 543

    Interview: Jan 6th, 2015

    Question

    There was the poem at the end of Way of Kings. How long did that take?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It took an embarrassingly long amount of time. I am not a poet, so mixing poetry with a really rigid form... Yes, the keteks take a long time. Both of them.

    Wetlander

    Are you going to do that in every book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A ketek? Yes, I probably will do that.

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  • 544

    Interview: Jan 6th, 2015

    Brandon Sanderson

    I actually plot The Stormlight Archive books as a trilogy; each book—like I would plot the entire Reckoners series—I plot that for a book, and then I plot the short story sequence, and then I plot the novella. Usually the flashback sequence is a novella. And so then I write basically three books, a short story collection, and a novella, and put them all together woven as one book.

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  • 545

    Interview: Mar 21st, 2014

    Question

    What came first, Pattern or Chalklings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Pattern was before Chalklings, good question. For some part of its existence, the Rithmatist was in the Cosmere, until I decided I just don't want Earth in the Cosmere at all, even a bizarre sort of version of Earth.

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  • 546

    Interview: Apr 16th, 2014

    Question

    From the moment you begin worldbuilding, how long did it take you before it really resembled what we read in The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Resembled? I would say about a year. But I started worldbuilding it in 2001, if you read the version I wrote in 2002 you would say "This feels like Roshar" but the spren weren't in it yet.

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  • 547

    Interview: Apr 16th, 2014

    Question

    Have you decided on the POV characters for the back five of The Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes I did. When I created the original ten book outline I did decide everybody who was going to have a book.

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  • 548

    Interview: Apr 16th, 2014

    Question

    Concerning everything on Roshar, is it safe to say The Stormlight Archive will become the backbone series of the story of the cosmere?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are three backbone series: Dragonsteel, Mistborn, and The Stormlight Archive. And Mistborn is past, present, future, Stormlight is the center, and Dragonsteel is the beginning. So really it goes: Dragonsteel, Mistborn, Stormlight, Mistborn, Stormlight, Mistborn. Is basically how this backbone sequence goes.

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  • 549

    Interview: Jan 17th, 2015

    Question

    If you could talk [?] optioning Stormlight Archive.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Have I thought of optioning Stormlight as a miniseries? Yes I have, but I think it’s premature if you do anything until a few more books come out.

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  • 550

    Interview: Jan 21st, 2015

    the_archduke

    Why can only women read in Stormlight Archive?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Immediately after the Recreance an old book was used to argue for the idea that only men should be picking up the blades and plate, fighting was a masculine art. Over a period of 20 or so years this became established and some women used the same argument to take back some power by taking literacy for themselves as a feminine art.

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  • 551

    Interview: Jan 7th, 2015

    WeiryWriter

    Are some of the [interlude] characters going to be making re-appearances?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes some of them will, I’m seeding characters who will become main characters later in the series by what I’m doing in that book, in those interludes. Not all of them will be. I have ten characters that are forming the spine for this series-- and like Lift is one of the ones who is going to be in the back five books which will take place-- After Book 5 of Stormlight we will have a break, in-world, for about fifteen years. Not out of the world, not in our world, but we will have a break and when we come back fifteen years or so will have passed and we will start on the back five characters.

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  • 552

    Interview: Jan 19th, 2015

    Andrew

    Can I tell you when you will see Cohesion and Tension Surges? Will, will you see it in Stormlight 3?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are unlikely to see very much of it at Stormlight 3. That is dealing more with characters on the, in the back five, but you will probably see a little bit of it.

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  • 553

    Interview: Jan 19th, 2015

    Question

    Are the character’s ages given in Stormlight Archive Rosharan years, or Earth years?

    Brandon Sanderson

    They’re Rosharan years. So, people are actually, it’s a little bit off from our, our world, a Rosharan year is 500 days, but the hour, the days are a little shorter, anyway they end being like when, when S- when Kaladin’s age is mentioned, in our world, he’d be a few years older.

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  • 554

    Interview: Jan 24th, 2015

    Question

    Have you thought of titles for the rest of the Stormlight Archive? Are they names of books in-world?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, I only named the first five when I was doing my outline. They were Stones Unhallowed, Oathbringer, and I don’t like the other name so I’m not going to mention it. Yes, they are all names in-world.

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  • 555

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Question

    So the first one is Kaladin’s backstory, the second is Shallan’s backstory, who’s next?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I actually haven’t been able to decide yet. It’s going to be one of the five for the first five books are Kaladin and Shallan and then Dalinar, Szeth, and Eshonai and I can’t decide which one matches the next book best. And I’m going to have to write it...

    Argent

    What’s the current list for the back five?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Current list for the back five… Jasnah, Lift, Ash, Renarin, and Taln.

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  • 556

    Interview: Feb 20th, 2015

    Argent

    In terms of timeline-- So The Way of Kings and the Stormlight Archive takes place 1173-4 right now, how far ago, approximately, was the Recreance?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So you-- Let’s see-- Heralds leave at what, 4500?

    Argent

    That’s what it says.

    Brandon Sanderson

    So the Heralds leave at 4500 and we’re at 11--

    Argent

    So we are at 5500 years after--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. So Recreance is more recent than late.

    Argent

    So… In the thousands--

    Brandon Sanderson

    I’m going to have to pull out the timeline.

    Argent

    But it’s not like three hundred years ago.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It’s not like three hundred years ago, but it’s also not like 4000 years ago.

    Argent

    Okay, so from the middle--

    Brandon Sanderson

    The Hierocracy happened after and the Hierocracy was a couple hundred years ago. It’s longer than that even, it’s like five or six hundred years ago I think.

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  • 557

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    About Stormlight, are you kinda writing a series about the nature of abstraction?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Kinda yeah see…[sounds like the recording was possibly paused] journey before destination.

    Question

    Yeah, that is my favorite so far. I mean I don’t know all the orders yet. Because that is...I’m looking forward to the rest of it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is, the nature of abstraction and that sort of stuff is a very big part of it.

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  • 558

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Flashback characters for Stormlight.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Third book is Dalinar, fourth book is Eshonai, fifth book is Szeth is how it stands right now

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  • 559

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Are we going to get more of Lift?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, she is one of the main characters in the second five.

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  • 560

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    For Stormlight, is there going to be a Jasnah…?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, there will be. She is scheduled right now for book #6.

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  • 561

    Interview: Oct 9th, 2015

    Question

    Can all Shards have champions?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This is a, um, Theoretically possible, but you’ll find more about the backstory of why this works here (presumably he is referring to Stormlight).

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  • 562

    Interview: Apr 2nd, 2015

    Ruro272

    Will we see all of the Heralds doing things in the upcoming books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The back five books are all about the Heralds. Two of them claim to be Heralds..... Two of the point-of-views will be Heralds.

    Footnote

    This fits well with what I've read from this site; specifically Taln and Ash are the Herald POVs in the back five according to other WoB. The interesting tidbit here is that "two of them claim to be Heralds" with the implied "but...." in his tone.

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  • 563

    Interview: Oct 17th, 2015

    Question

    [??? Presumably about the interval between Stormlight 5 and 6]

    Brandon Sanderson

    I can't tell you too much without giving you spoilers. It's not a jump like Mistborn. It's more like ten or fifteen years. It will be the same characters, but some of the main characters will fade to be more minor characters, and some of the minor characters will fade to be more major characters. For example, Lift is one of the main characters for the second part, and Jasnah, and Renarin, and such.

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  • 564

    Interview: Oct 14th, 2015

    zandi

    Is the Fleet story indicative of future events/ending of SA?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. Hoid is telling Kaladin things he needs to know. But Hoid's knowledge of the future doesn't extend that far...(or something like that).

    Footnote

    WSB: surprised at such an open answer

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  • 565

    Interview: Oct 14th, 2015

    Question

    I've been listening to the audiobooks of Stormlight. There are some really great character voices. Have you told him how to do the characters?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have not told him how to do characters. I leave that to him. I give him pronunciations.

    Question

    So the Australian Lopen is all him.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, the Australian is all him. Which is weird, because they're, they're based off of Hispanic cultures, so, hearing the Australian - but at the same time, they're not Hispanic, because there are no Hispanics on Roshar, so an Australian's probably just as accurate as anything else. But yes, I intended the Herdazians to have a Hispanic flair to them.

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  • 566

    Interview: Jun 11th, 2016

    Barnes and Noble YA (Paraphrased)

    Question

    Brandon disabused me of my little theory about a herald.

    Brandon Sanderson

    He said the shalebark gardener working in the night when Dalinar and Navani walk by was just a gardener. He was purposefully trying to show “regular” Alethi alongside the more prominent soldiers and leaders.

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  • 567

    Interview: Nov 22nd, 2016

    BYU Bookstore (Paraphrased)

    Question

    no question

    Brandon Sanderson

    Re the Kaladin flashback he read, he said we might have noticed there were holes in what we learned in the flashbacks in the previous books, and he was going to use these stealth flashbacks to fill them in. In the one he read, we learn more about Tarah. He said these flashbacks will be shorter than the main flashbacks. They're probably, like Argent said, in-chapter sequences when the character has a reason to think about them rather than part of a series of flashback chapters dedicated to exploring the past like the main flashbacks.

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  • 568

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Justin Carmony

    So it's been a little over three and a half years since Words of Radiance came out, how does it feel to have this book ready for release on Tuesday?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It feels great. Stormlight books are an enormous undertaking. People know me for big, thick, awesome but fat fantasy books. If you look in between, I've released four or so normal-sized books. The majority of the books I write are about the size you would expect the average novel to be.

    But these books are something different and something special. It's not just the idea of, you know, "I want to write big." Big doesn't mean better, necessarily, but what I can do in these books is I can really dig into a topic that you just can't in a shorter book. I tend to plot these books like an entire trilogy, and each book had the plotting of a trilogy inside that single book. I include a short story collection in there that is interspersed in between. It's a really different way to plot a book, just because there are so many moving pieces, so many different things going on, so many plot lines to cover, but also it's really engaging and exciting to write because nothing else is like it. … There are really interesting things I can do with the format of a novel, and the methods of storytelling, that I just can't do in anything else. It is really exciting but it is so exhausting.

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  • 569

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Justin Carmony

    We talked a little bit about some of the challenges that you have publishing something as large as Oathbringer. For you what was a highlight moment during this journey of writing and releasing the book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the things about it — and we're trying to do a spoiler free interview here — is the story of the Stormlight Archive, the story about the story. … I sat down in the early 2000s, before I had actually even sold a book, and I started work on this project that I wanted to be a really big epic of monumental proportions.

    I worked on this book for a good two years and I just didn't have the skill to pull it off yet as a writer. The book just didn't work. There were lots of pieces in it that did, but the book itself didn't work. One of the problems is that I created all of these interesting characters, but I told all of their stories all at once, which meant that in the book I only got like 15 percent of each of their stories before it was just too long. … So the book as a whole was unsatisfying, a little piece of a lot of characters stories.

    When I came back to it years later, after working on The Wheel of Time (series), after growing a lot as a writer, I decided the method I would use to tell the story would be to … focus on the backstory of one of the characters. That way I didn't have to dive into the backstory of each character at once, I could keep focused, and I could give each book in the series its own soul and heart, so to speak. That's a long, round about way of saying I have been waiting now years — 15 years — to be able to tell Dalinar's story, which I finally get to do in this book.

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  • 570

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Justin Carmony

    That leads into my next question: why did you pick Dalinar to tell his backstory in this particular book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's interesting because originally I was going to do Dalinar in book five. That was the original outline. But I found that (was) the story I was telling in this book.

    … What I wanted to have happen in these books is the character's backstory offers insight, parallel or some sort of interweaving with the main plot that the characters are going through in the present in order to change your perspective both on the past and on the present by what you read in the character's backstory. That's the goal. … I found that the more I worked on this book the more Dalinar's paralleled, or at sometimes contrasted nicely to the story that was going on right now. So I switched, it was going to be Szeth's and I switched to Dalinar and I am really pleased with how that went. The back and forth between the person Dalinar is becoming in this book, and the person he used to be, the journey he began when he was younger, and is only now meeting his fulfillment in his middle age, that story paralleled so nicely.

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  • 571

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Justin Carmony

    I definitely agree after having read it. It leads me to my next question. I'm not going to lie, there are multiple heart-wrenching moments for many of the characters. As an author, what is it like taking these characters you've created and love, and putting them through these situations that elicit a very emotional response from the readers?

    Brandon Sanderson

    There are a lot of different ways to respond to this. … On one hand, most of the times, since I'm an outliner, I've been able to see it coming for a long time.

    So on one hand I don't have the same sort of anguish that a reader might since I've had that time to get used to the idea that this is what this character's arc is going to be, this is what is coming, and I'm prepared for it. Sometimes in the middle of writing you realize there is something (as an author) you need to do, and one response to it is an excitement, not because we're sadists, but because as a writer as you're creating a piece of art like this, and bringing it together, and something clicks where you say "Oh, that's what I need to do" — the kind of moment of excitement, relief.

    I'm not sure I can explain the feeling of satisfaction when these things come together, and a little bit of awe that the process is actually working. Every writer I know has this sense in them that yes, they've been able to write books in the past but is this actually going to work this time? Is this the time where it's just not going to come together, and the book is going to fail?

    There is always that worry.

    And when a book is snapping together, even when it involves something really traumatic happening to a character, there is a part of you that is just so glad that it's working, and so excited by how it's working. Like I said, it sounds a little sadistic but often times the response is "ohhhh, that's right, that's absolutely right."

    … Then there is the sense that books are catharsis. Books are a way for us as human beings (to) learn to deal with trauma and emotion in a safer emotional environment, even though they can be heart-wrenching. … When you can elicit strong emotions in readers for things like this, it's in a way, hopefully, what we're trying to do — making it so that the person is able to cope with that better in the future when it happens in their own life.

    There is this sense of — and maybe I'm over-inflating my own usefulness in the world — but this is one of the things we try to do actively as writers is come up with these powerful scenes and emotions just to give you a chance to feel that before it blindsides you, perhaps, in real life when it happens in a more real and much more powerful way happening to yourself, or to people around you.

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  • 572

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Justin Carmony

    It was a very immersive book, and it was excellent. You now have the three books out, and you are averaging about three and a half years between Stormlight Archive books. With balancing all of the other series you write, do you think this release pattern will probably be the same for the next books, or do you think it might change?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yup, I have no idea. I originally wanted Stormlight books to be every 18 months, that was — way — optimistic. And even though I'm a fast writer, because these books take so much out of me, there is only a certain frequency at which I can write these books, much to the consternation of my fans, I think they are caught in this weird Catch-22 because they acknowledge I am a very prolific writer. I am good at getting things out and meeting deadlines.

    But my core series, the one that a lot of them are the most interested in, still isn't coming out any faster than some of the other epic fantasy writers who are infamously slow in their release. I think it just comes down to when writing one of these books, whether you're me or somebody else, it just takes a long time to get one of these epic fantasies together, and I might do other things in between. In fact, I will always do other things in between, it's just how my brain works.

    Would I like them to be faster? Yes, I would like them to be faster. Am I optimistic that I can make sure they come out at a reasonable pace? Yes, I am. Can I absolutely promise that the next one won't be another three and a half years, I cannot promise that. I wish I could.

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  • 573

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Felix Bauhardt

    Will there be more spin-off books in the world of Roshar? (like Edgedancer for example, as it's not a main series entry)

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I've got an outline for one right now. I don't know if I'll write it sooner or later, but there is a really good chance it'll get written between the next two Stormlight books.

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  • 574

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Shiro Sanada

    Will we see Kelsier in the Stormlight Archive series?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You are not likely to see Kelsier in the Stormlight Archive series. I'll just say that. Not likely.

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  • 575

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Mark Ambrose, Devan Chatelain, and others

    Have we met Odium's Champion yet?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Read and find out!

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  • 576

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Multiple readers

    Which order of the Knights Radiant would you belong to?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Boy, this is a really interesting one that I'm surprised I haven't been asked more often. I have been asked it once or twice and it's really hard to say because where do I think I would belong? Or where would (I) want to belong?

    Because I've always wanted to fly, so if I'm going to choose one thing — one power — I'm choosing "I can fly." Even though it's not the smartest power I could pick, it's what I would pick. If I could self select, then that might be where I would go. But, I don't know if I would honestly fit there accurately. I'm not sure if that's where I'm meant to be. I would probably be more likely to be a Bondsmith than anything else, with just knowing my personality. It's a good question.

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  • 577

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Chandrika Narayan

    Is Lift going to steal Dalinar's dinner?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You can anticipate the fact that Lift is going to from every Monarch she can find, and Dalinar is on that list.

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  • 578

    Interview: Nov 10th, 2017

    Rosie LaJenky

    What is your favorite Rosharan creature?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Favorite creature? Probably chulls; they just crack me up.

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