Date: 2015-10-17
Location: London, UK
How did it feel writing Syl as a character, transitioning ?
It took a long time to figure out how I wanted to do her. It took a lot of practice scenes and such. It was very fun when I finally got to do it, because I’d been planning it for so long. It was really just a matter of trying to get inside the head of this creature who is slowly becoming more and more aware of herself. Having children helps, certainly.
In Elantris, the AonDor comes in the form of the lands, so if an Elantrian wanted to use it on a different shardworld, like Roshar, would the symbols change?
That’s an excellent question! And I’m going to RAFO it.
[???]
I can’t answer that yet, because I’m going to be talking a lot about how the worlds blend in later books, so I don’t want to talk too much about how the magics blend now.
Is that something we’ll be seeing in Stormlight?
No.
In Hoid’s trilogy?
Yep. Post-Stormlight. That’s part of why I need to RAFO those questions, because they’re so far off right now. […]
I do.
added for thoroughness though question and answer are incomplete
cosmere ,
Dragonsteel
[??? Presumably about the interval between Stormlight 5 and 6]
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.
[???(probably about Legion)]
I will eventually. I’ve got an idea for a third one. But I’m not sure when I’ll write it. I’ve got something else I’m working on.
You’re doing a leatherbound edition of Elantris. Are there any plans for Warbreaker?
If the leatherbound Elantris does very well, we’d go through the books. So we’d probably do Mistborn next, and then we would get to Warbreaker.
[how he came up with the magic system of the Rithmatist- started with drawing] I’m really looking forward to it.
It’s coming. I’m going to write it after I finish Stormlight 3.
What was your inspiration for Warbreaker?
I kid you not, I was talking to my US editor. I’d just finished Elantris and Mistborn, and he said “Your next book needs to have more color in it.”
Could you write a bad metaphor?
This one’s from book three [Calamity]. “She was perkier than a sack-full of caffeinated puppies.”
What’s on your plate?
[paraphrased] Stormlight 3. [verbatim] And then after that, I have pitched a new trilogy to Random House, which is my teen publisher in the US. That would come out with [something]. It would be the followup to Steelheart, not the same world, but something to follow that up.
Something about whether Elantrians are immortal or long-lived (difficult to make out).
[verbatim] Elantrians have no physical limitations on their lifespan. The power will sustain them, but it’s emotionally and mentally exhausting to be an elantrian, so as far as immortality goes it’s actually harder to be an elantrian than other forms of immortality that exist in the cosmere”
(Something about Spren)
There is a component to that going on, but I will say that denying Odium is an important part of that in the books through his various different manifestations.
I know that ‘Perfect State’ is not part of the Cosmere, but if the Wode were to construct a ‘Perfect State’ for someone like Hoid, would that look like the Cosmere?
So a universe with him as the most important character.. yes.
What colour is Aimian blood? Is it purple or orange?
That’s a really good question. It depends on the kind of Aimian. One has purple blood and one has orange blood.
In WoK, Shallan is being chased by Cryptics. She begins to summon her Shardblade, stops and then Soulcasts for the first time. We know from WoR that it’s her bond to Pattern, her Shardblade that allows her to Soulcast. So my question is, if Shallan had not begun to summon her Blade, would she have been able to Soulcast?
She would not have been able to. No one has ever asked me that before.
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