Date: 2011-05-30
Type: Paraphrased
Location: Amsterdam, NL
Reporter: jarno87
Report: Pancakes and fries 2011, A meeting with Brandon
As Isabel already explained above we had a rare chance to meet Brandon in Amsterdam. Brandon was really surprised that after tweeting around 2PM that 15 people turned up for dinner at 5PM.
I made some pictures with my phone, and those can be found here . I made some short movies with my phone. Furthermore Ashley posted more pictures including a group picture on facebook .
WoT/ A Memory of Light related points:
During the walk to the restaurant I asked if someone channels in Tel’aran’rhiod , if he/she really channeled.
Brandon confirmed this. He added that the real question would be if a non-channeler would be able to ‘channel’ in Tel’aran’rhiod . He believed that a non-channeler would not be able to channel, but would be able to create the same effects. So to most intents and purposes it would look as if they channeled.
Brandon made some nice remarks on prophecies. Knowing we wouldn’t get anything specific he was asked about some general questions. Someone asked whether the differences between the Seanchan prophecies and The Karaethon Cycle were completely intentional, or just from natural changes in telling a story for a thousand years from generation to generation.
Brandon said it was a bit of both. He compared it with the story of Beowulf, how a scribe creating a new copy would change one line to make it more Christian, or to make their interpretation more clear. This combined with some influence by the Dark One and his minions make it complicated. He added that it is not that one of the two is true and the other false. They might be on some things, on others both can be true even if it seems to be a contradiction. It’s all in the interpretation of the prophecies which is a tricky business. He also remarked that the Darkfriends also have their prophecies, Foretellings and Dreamers, whose predictions are just as valid as the ones from the Light. Being dark prophecies doesn’t invalidate them.
Someone asked about the plotlines that will not be resolved in A Memory of Light , if Brandon could say something about how many that would be.
Brandon explained that RJ left lots of information about the ending and exactly where everyone will end up. This included some direction about things not to resolved, which would annoy some fans (he mentioned Theoryland here). His estimate was that this is something like 5 to 10% of the plot lines, and all minor ones (we will find out what happens to Rand). However, he said that if you remembered what the outriggers would be about you should be able to fill in most of the blanks and unresolved plot lines.
Brandon noted that people will die in Tarmon Gai’don. We should not blame him.
In the train to the airport we talked about the writing process.
Brandon said that for him writing the Perrin POV’s was relatively easy because he understands Perrin, and more importantly Perrin understands himself. Mat on the other hand is much harder, as he doesn’t understand himself. Furthermore Mat thinks one thing, says a second and does a third. This makes it all really confusing and hard for Brandon to write. However BS said that especially in the later books by RJ, he finds Mat the best written character.
Some other points about scheduling and touring:
Brandon hopes to finish A Memory of Light near the end of the year and turn it in for editing. Then Harriet will get all the time she needs (probably six months) to edit the book. If we wouldn’t have got him into Amsterdam he could have written a chapter while waiting at the airport. So sorry folks, that we caused a small delay.
The Great Hunt last fall was a great success. Brandon was really impressed by the chapter name guessing skills of Theoryland. He is working on doing a new hunt this fall!
Brandon really liked the reception in Amsterdam so he kind of promised that on his next European tour (guess 2013 or so) he would be doing a signing in Amsterdam. This is great news for the Dutch fans and many others close by.
This was all the things that I could remember, if any one has any remarks, please let me know so I can edit the list.
Brandon also talked about his own books, I’ll post that in Brandon section of the forum.
EDIT: Info on Brandon’s book is posted here .
The questions and answers about Brandon’s books are included below.
As Isabel already reported in the convention section , yesterday we had an unscheduled meeting with Brandon in Amsterdam.
The WOT related information is in the other thread but Brandon also talked about his own books. Most of it are just bits and pieces and it’s a bit chaotic. I’ll try to post as much as I can remember:
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.
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.
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.
Some movie company has got an option on the Mistborn books.
The Mistborn series was sold as three trilogies. The first trilogy (the one we know) is set in medieval/16th century technology and is fantasy. The second trilogy will be set in the current day, or at least with the same kind of technology. This makes it urban fantasy. The last trilogy will be science fiction set somewhere in the future. Of course, all of them have the Allomancy magic system to get things interesting. The short novel The Alloy of Law that will be released in the fall this year is set between the first two trilogies so the tech level is around 18th/19th century with steam power. Brandon said it was about some Wild West-like character getting involved in a murder investigation in a city. So Clint Eastwood meets Sherlock Holmes in London.
Ashley asked “Who is Hoid?”
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.
So that was all I remember. Hopefully some of the others can add some more info for you all.
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