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Interview #692: 17th Shard Interview, Entry #23

17th Shard

What percentage of the Underlying Cosmere have we uncovered? Like five percent, fifteen percent?

Brandon Sanderson

The number of planets? Or…

17TH SHARD

No, not even that. Like how much do we know about the underlying metaphysics? Of the rules?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Um…

17TH SHARD

You said there’s a lot more that we don’t know.

Brandon Sanderson

There’s a lot you don’t know.

17TH SHARD

I was wondering if you could put a number on it?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I don’t know if I can put a number on it. If you’ve read Dragonsteel you have a lot more, because there’s talk of philosophy in that book about it. But I can’t give a percentage because I know it all.

17TH SHARD

(laughter)

BRANDON SANDERSON

And I can’t remember at times. I often have to go back and research and say, okay, what did I put in, what haven’t I included and so on. I would say that you know enought ot be dangerous, but not the majority by far. There is a theorum of magic for all these worlds, which I don’t think has been mentioned before…

17TH SHARD

No….

BRANDON SANDERSON

But yeah, it’s kinda one of the things that may amaze. People keep trying to look for a unifying theory, you know, the great unifying [theory that ties all things together]. I have a little science background and I wanted a unifying theory of magic, which there is, in these books at least. It’s not simple, it’s not like one sentence but you can map out how the magic all fits together in this kind of super theorem.

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