Brandon Sanderson's Blog, page 61

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Eight

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Wayne imitates a constable

Writing this Wayne chapter was a pure delight. It was here that I was finally certain that I had his character down, following the misstarts before changing to this version of the story. Here is also where I made the decision that I’d chosen right in expanding the short story to a novel. For me, a single viewpoint character often isn’t enough to carry a novel. (Unless I’m doing a first-person narrative.)

Wayne, as a character, really grew into himself here. It is interesting to me how quickly he came together as I started working on this book. That first false start was awful—yet, once I started writing about him as a counterpoint to Wax, he just popped out fully formed, Athena-like, brimming with personality and strength.

I do worry that he’ll overshadow Wax a bit—which is one reason why it’s good to wait until chapter eight to give him a viewpoint. However, I think it is a matter of appeal. The two of them will appeal to different readers. I really like how the two play off one another and have different strengths.

By the way, I realize the cover has a problem with Wayne holding a gun. It wasn’t worth complaining about, as I felt that there needed to be a gun on the cover to indicate the shift in the Mistborn setting. However, Wax’s hands are both down low, so the gun really does need to be in Wayne’s hand. Just pretend he’s holding it for Wax.

Wayne’s adoption of personalities

One thing that I wanted to be aware of when writing Wayne was how he saw himself during these excursions where he becomes someone else. My first instinct was to blend the personality completely, until he was thinking of himself directly as the person he was imitating.

That felt like it went too far. For one thing, it was confusing to have the narrative not refer to him as “Wayne” but as the persona. For another, I didn’t want Wayne to go that far—in my mind, he always has control of these things. He’s not losing himself in his part; he’s always aware of who he really is and what he’s doing.

So, in a way, he’s a method actor. He reinforces who he is in his head, occasionally giving himself thoughts as the persona to remind himself to stay in character. He lets himself feel the emotions they do, and adopt their mannerisms. But it’s a coat he can take off or put back on. It’s not a psychosis. That was an important distinction for me to make as a writer.

He does, however, become more and more comfortable as he plays a role. One example of this is how Wayne still thinks of constables as being lazy partway through this, though he slowly loses his prejudice as he plays the role longer, shifting to thinking of them as “constables” instead of “conners” in the later part of the chapter.

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Seven

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Marasi finds Waxillium experimenting with metals

I was very amused to find that the cover of this book had been steampunkified a little bit, with Waxillium having a pair of extraneous goggles on his head. But, to be fair, I did put some goggles in the book, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

One thing I was aware of when writing this book was that I didn’t want it to feel too much like Sherlock Holmes. There are a lot of paralells, as I mentioned in an earlier annotation. It was important to me to acknowledge the obvious influence to myself, but try to keep myself from falling too much into the same mold.

That’s kind of hard when the story is set up, basically, to be a mystery with an invesigator set in a similar time period to the Holmes stories. In my head, however, I decided this book would be more police procedural and less quirky-genius-does-deduction. I wanted Waxillium to be a cop, through and through, not an eccentric who solves cases out of curiosity. In that regard, Sam Vimes—from Terry Pratchett’s books—was almost as much of an inspiration as Holmes was.

Anyway, that’s all a side note to what is happening in this chapter. Waxillium is being methodical in the way he tracks down what is happening. He’s very much a step-by-step kind of guy in these matters. And now that he’s let himself loose and decided to be involved, he’s gone a little overboard.

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Six

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Chapter Six
The fight in the ballroom

From the early days of the Mistborn books, I’d been planning how an Allomantic gunfight would go down. I felt it the next evolution in what has been stylistically a big part of these books.

There is a fine line to walk in a lot of these sequences. I’ve made something of a name for myself in the fantasy world by attempting to mix some scientific reasoning with my magic systems. At the same time, Allomancy was designed precicely with action sequences in mind. I wanted them to be powerful and cinematic—and a cinematic fight sequence is often at odds with realism. (Watch two people who really know what they’re doing fight with swords sometime, then watch any fight sequence in a film. Most of the time, the film sequences stray far from what would really happen.)

So, as I said, I walk a line. Sometimes, there are things I just can’t do because they violate what I’ve set up as the rules of the world. Other times, I design the setting and nature of the fight specifically to allow for certain types of cinematic sequences. One thing I like a lot about Wax’s abilities is the power he has to manipulate his weight. There’s some realism to what he does—for example, increasing his weight doesn’t make him fall more quickly, but it allows him to do some powerful things while falling. Destroying the chandeliers is an example.

At the same time, I acknowledge that the weight manipulation aspect of Feruchemy is one of its more baffling powers, scientifically. Is he changing his mass? If so, he should become more dense, which I don’t actually make the case when it plays out in fights. (Otherwise, increasing his weight enough would make him impervious to bullets.) So, if it’s not mass manipulation, is it gravity manipulation, like Szeth and Kaladin do? Well, again, not really—as when his weight increases, his strength and ability to uphold that weight increase as well. Beyond that, Wax can’t make himself so light that he has no weight at all.

So . . . well, at this point, the ability to explain it scientifically breaks down. I do like what it does, but I have to set its boundaries and stick to them—and accept that some of what’s going on is irrational. (And don’t get me started on what should really be happening scientifically when Wayne slows time.)

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Five

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Chapter Five
Koloss-blooded

I’ve mentioned before, obliquely in interviews, that Sazed transformed the koloss duing his ascention. Part of what he did restored their sentience to more human levels, and he changed the way they interact with Hemalurgy. (And that’s all I’ll say about it for now.)

Anyway, yes, it’s possible for someone to be a koloss-blood. I’m reserving an explanation for precicely what this is, and how it works, for a future book.

Waxillium gets pushed to the brink, watching the robbery

I realize it’s amusing for people to think of the process of this book, which began as a “short” story. Perhaps I’ll post my original attempts at writing the book. As a matter of note, Wayne was the first person I imagined for this series. In very early notes I scribbled down, he was actually going to be a hatmaker. (If you can believe that.) He developed a long way from there.

Many of you may know that I wrote this book during my “time off” between finishing Towers of Midnight and starting A Memory of Light. However, the ideas for this story had been around for some time longer, perhaps a year or two. I decided I wanted to do some shorter stories between the first two larger-scale Mistborn trilogies, and . . . well, this is what “short” means to me, I guess.

Anyway, the first scene with Wayne I dabbled in (this was before the break) was him out in the Roughs riding into town on a kandra that had the body of a horse. It was a nice spin on a typical Western motif—instead of being the quiet gunman of Western cliché, he was a screwball hatmaker. And his horse was sentient and grumbling about having to carry him around; she wanted to get back into a human body as soon as possible.

The scene didn’t work, though. I didn’t get far into it. Wayne wasn’t working for me as a main viewpoint character at that time, and I hadn’t gotten around to filling out his character with the things he eventually became. (His “borrowing,” his love of accents, his good nature despite a dark past. Things like this grew as his character became more deep.)

The other thing that didn’t work in those original scenes was the fact that there was no Wax. Wayne needed someone to play off, someone to be dry and more solumn—but still make for good banter. And Wayne just wasn’t a leading man. The story was wrong when it was just about him. I needed to tell a story about someone else and fit him into it.

That brings us to this sequence. When I planned the original short story, this sequence at the party was going to be the end of it. The Vanishers weren’t in the book—it was just a simple gang of thieves taking a hostage. The prologue didn’t exist, as I’ve spoken of earlier. It was a more simple story of a man coming into his own and deciding to fight again after losing someone dear to him.

For that reason, this sequence here—this chapter with the next—may feel like a climactic sequence to you, of the stort you often find at the end of my books. Originally, this was going to be the ending. (Though by the time I reached this chapter in the writing, I’d already decided I was going to make the story much longer, and had greatly expanded my outline. Hints of the story’s origins can still be found, however. Note that we don’t get a Wayne or a Marasi viewpoint until after this sequence when we hit the expanded outline material.)

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Four

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Waxillium enters the party with Steris

Alpha and beta readers had an interesting response to Steris. It was almost always passionate—many hated her immediately, some thought she was terribly flat, and others found her to be the most interesting character in the book.

I wasn’t intending her to be so divisive, honestly. I’m very fond of her myself, and so I wanted to embed some strong personality quirks to perhaps make use of some day. Now, that’s not to say that I will make use of them. I like to give some depth to side characters (such as Spook and Breeze from the original trilogy) so that, if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll have something to work with in new viewpoint characters. It’s kind of done by instinct these days, and it being there is no promise (unfortunately) that Steris won’t end up dead.

However, I very much like that as you learn more about the situation, the way Steris acts becomes more and more understanable. Perhaps not rational, as she’s really only rational in her own head. But she is who she is.

Dinner conversation with Marasi

This is probably a good point to talk about Marasi too. She’s a little more simple than Steris, but also more innately likable.

Marasi represents me playing with concepts of how to make strong female characters. I’m well aware that in fiction, one of the most simple ways to make someone strong—male or female—is to make them capable in combat. Whether it’s Vin or Kaladin, being able to kick butt and take names on a battlefield leads to a powerful sense of competence and self-confidence. It’s only one side to those characters, of course, but it’s an important side.

It shouldn’t be the only way to be strong, however. Though I’m very pleased with Vin’s ability to be both feminine and combat-savvy, I don’t want to tall into the trap of implying that only those who can lay waste to their enemies are strong. I have conversations about this in The Way of Kings, but this story felt like a place to put some of it into practice.

I’m curious to see what people think of Marasi. I gave myself a challenge with her—create a female lead who is also very young and inexperienced, prone to blushing, and has no interest whatsoever in picking up a gun. I hope that she ends up interesting in her own right.

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Three

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Wax investigates

If you’ve read the book, then you probably won’t be surprised to find that a partial inspriation for it was the Sherlock Holmes stories. Of course, you’d have to search pretty far to find any kind of detective story that isn’t somehow influenced by good Mister Holmes. This story, however, is more conciously inspired along those lines. I purposely developed a mysterious (almost even magical) series of robberies along the lines of what you see in the Holmes stories. The techological era is similar as well.

Of course, the characters are much different—even down to the character roles and dynamics. I wanted Wax to be a thinker, but more of a lawman than an eccentric. Wayne has encogh eccentricity for three characters. I wanted the way that Wax approached solving a problem like this to be more methodical, more like a lawman who has grown accustomed to doing things on his own—but who has proceedures he follows.

Beyond that, I wanted Wax to be solid. Many people are going to prefer Wayne for obvious reasons, but I prefer this story to be about Wax. (I’ll talk more about Wayne’s origins later.) Wax’s solidity helps anchor the story, I feel. Perhaps I find him more interesting than others will, but the different parts of him that are warring inside create for a stronger dynamic than some of the other characters, who are more static.

Show Spoiler (172 More Words)

The Butler

If you watch in these scenes, I’m trying very hard to set up the butler’s eventual betrayal. This one must be done very carefully, however, for a couple of reasons. First off, Tillaume is actually a pretty good person. Loyal to Wax’s uncle, true, but a good man. He doesn’t want to kill Wax, but he sees it as important and understands what must be done.

What he is doing here in discouraging Wax is an attempt to keep him from drawing the old Lord Ladrian’s attention. Tillaume knows that if it goes too far, Wax will have to be removed. But Tillaume is fond of him, and doesn’t want that to happen. Hence his dissapproval. He doesn’t actually know he’ll be ordered to kill Wax; in fact, if he had known that he’d be responsible, he probably would have tried harder to sabatoge what Wax is doing in these chapters. It takes him a little by surprise that Wax does all this, however, as Tillaume thought he’d sufficiently discouraged such behavior.
Vinuarch

Yes, one of the months of the year is named after Vin. There are twelve months, one after each member of the crew, with a few tweaks. (The days of the week have different names too, but we ended up not using any in this book.)

By the way, Scadrial—the world of Mistborn—is the closest Earth analogue in the cosmere. I did this intentionally, as I wanted one planet where technology and the like progressed similiarly to what we have. There are distinctions, of course, but generally we’ve got a lot of similarities. Even in the original Mistborn, we referenced plants and animals by Earth-style names. You can assume that on Scadrial they have horses, dogs, cats, sparrows, and the like. There are twelve months, and a twenty-four-hour day. Gravity is earth gravity. Things like this.

There’s no hidden meaning there—no tie back to Earth, at least not in any important way. The cosmere is entirely separate from Earth. This one planet, however, has creatures that were developed along the same lines as Earth. (Well, it’s not the only one, but to say more would be to give away too much.)

Wax gets his earring

That was MeLaan, by the way, who converted Wax and gave him his earring. (MeLaan, if you don’t remember, is TenSoon’s adopted daughter/little sister. Though the “little” part is subject to debate, as she’s easily five centuries old by this point.)

Sazed speaks to Wax

So, if it matters to you, this is actually Sazed talking to Wax here. It’s not just Wax’s imaginings.

I’m not sure what readers are going to think of this. My goal with the original Mistborn trilogy was to set up a mythology for the world, one in which real characters were playing a part. Sazed is, essentially, God now. Maybe a lowercase g would be better on that word, but regardless, he’s the one watching over the world and making sure things go as they should. At this point, he’s working hard to discover what’s going on with the other Shards and to keep another disaster from coming Scadrial’s way.

I’ve spoken before on my fascination with religion, and this aspect is a particularly interesting one for me. I’ve played with the ideas of men being treated like gods in Elantris and Warbreaker—but they didn’t really deserve it. Here, however, we have Sazed who is approaching more of what a god would be. Should he be prayed to? Why or why not?

You should know that holding two opposed Shards of Adonalsium has made Sazed more . . . zen, if you will. Not inactive. However, he has taken a belief that both Ruin and Preservation are important in people’s lives, and doesn’t feel that interfering is something he should often be doing. He sees his primary role being to encourage people to be better, to keep an eye on the other Shards, and to make sure the world keeps working as it should.

Annotation The Alloy of Law Chapter Two

Here is the first batch of annotations for The Alloy of Law. As with all of the other annotations here on the site, each annotation contains spoilers for the current chapter. Spoilers for chapters after the current one are hidden by spoiler tags. We recommend you read the book before reading the annotations! Also, please note that there are not yet annotations for the prologue or first chapter.

Wax ties a cravat

In the original draft, I conceived this scene specifically because of how strong a contrast it would provide to jumping around in the mists in the previous scene. This has always been a theme of the Mistborn books, and I hoped that some familiarity in that regard would provide a connecting tie between this book and the previous trilogy.

Mistborn was about balance—balancing the life of a thief (and then assassin) in Vin’s case with the life of a noblewoman. I wanted Wax to be dealing with some of the same concepts, but from another direction. Instead of a young person discovering high society, Wax is returning to it after abandoning it. But, as Vin never truly abandoned her street-thief roots, Wax never abandoned his gentleman’s ways.

Wayne shows up

Another aspect of the Mistborn books is the humor. I plan the humor in each of my novels specifically. In Warbreaker, the humor is all about wordplay and lofty back-and-forths. In the Alcatraz books, it’s about being audacious, whimsical, and . . . well, a little insane. In The Way of Kings, it’s more character-specific, certain characters engaging in different types of humor to fit the scene.

The Mistborn books have always employed a type of humor I’ll call grim banter. Friends who know each other making jokes back and forth amid sometimes terrible situations. There’s usually an edge to the banter, much how Kelsier would speak in the original trilogy. I wanted to maintain that feel, and so for this series to work, it needed to be founded on at least two characters who knew one another well and who were comfortable with insulting one another in the name of levity.

It was actually hard not to get to Wayne sooner in the book—even though this is only chapter two, he’s a big part of the heart and soul of this story. I wanted to get him in quickly, as quickly as possible. This was the right place, I’m confident—he’d have distracted from Lessie in the prologue.

I’m pleased with how he turned out, by the way. He’s vibrant enough as a person, with a good soul and a lot of quirks, that he quite often steals the show. That was a balance I had to work on in the book to make sure he didn’t steal it too much. (Or, at least, too often.)

Tour Goodies from Readers

Hello, Sanderson fans! This is Emily, Brandon’s wife and business manager. Brandon is on tour for Words of Radiance (tonight and tomorrow he’s in Arizona), so I’m posting on his behalf today. The purpose of this post is to say thank you.

People are so kind to Brandon at signings, and I’m grateful for that. He comes home with all types of clever, unique, and even delicious gifts from readers. Often some of those gifts are addressed to me! I want you to know that we really appreciate your thoughtfulness.

This is a tricky subject to tackle, though, because I don’t want anyone to read this and get the idea that they ought to bring things to Brandon at signings! That is not expected, or necessary. Really, the best gift you can give Brandon is to enjoy reading his books and share them with others.

However, we also want those who have been generous with their talents to know that we are grateful, and it would be impossible for us to send individual thank-you notes. So, if you’ve ever given Brandon anything, a drawing, a letter, a treat, a late night spent reading, or just your time waiting in line to talk to him, THANK YOU!

We can’t thank everyone personally for everything, not just for the gifts, but also for your kindness. We’ll try to highlight these things every so often. Some of the items below are from previous tours and other events.

(Also, if you have a shardhunt code, or know someone who does, make sure it gets entered here. I’ve been told I’m not allowed to see the awesome bonus material until you guys unlock it.)

Us with some of the goodies from the first week of the tour.

Meatloaf in a crocheted Trolloc hat.

Chocolate goodness.

A souvenir from Brandon’s visit with Bad Robot.

Lego minfigs of Vin and Kaladin.

Fun Allomantic Table shirt (Thanks, Christina!)

Vin Is Best Pony poster

Brandon loves Overclocked ReMixes.

Book cover magnets and a Manetheren Golden Crown of Ellisande.

Signing in TX, NE, AZ; Stores that ship signed copies; Storybundle & Updates

My book tour for Words of Radiance continues today. Tonight I’m in Houston, and later in the week I’m in Omaha, Phoenix, and Tucson. My whole tour is listed here.

If you don’t live near one of the tour cities and want a signed book, most of the stores I signed at already have signed books and would be happy to ship you a copy. If you want your book personalized, contact one of the upcoming stores on my tour to ask if they can get a book personalized and shipped for you.

Here are the stores that should have autographed copies ready to ship to you:

Mysterious Galaxy San Diego
Barnes & Noble Huntington Beach
Copperfield’s San Rafael
Borderlands San Francisco
Powell’s Beaverton
University Bookstore Seattle

It’s probably safest to deal with them over the phone to make sure you get an autographed copy.

With the release of Words of Radiance, publishers have reduced the ebook price of the first title in the Stormlight Archive, The Way of Kings, in some markets. In the US it’s $2.99 in some stores including Kindle, and in the UK it’s £1.99 in some stores including Kindle. I’m not sure which of all the other different ebook stores have the special price, but several of them do. Go to this page and click on the tab for your region to see the ebook store links. I’m also not sure how long the special price lasts.

As with the first book, Words of Radiance also includes many full-page illustrations. My assistant Isaac has uploaded the illustrations for the book, which is helpful if you have the audiobook. The ebook illustrations this time around are included at “retina”-quality resolution, so you can zoom in on them on your ebook reader if you have trouble making out the details.

The Epic Fantasy Bundle at Storybundle I talked about last week is still available for the next two weeks.

Neil Gaiman, David Farland, Tracy Hickman, James Artimus Owen, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Peter David, Kevin J. Anderson, and Peter J. Wacks & Mark Ryan, along with me. This is a great lineup, and in the tradition of bundles like this, you can name your price and receive six of these ebooks, and if you pay more than $12 you receive the first six as well as The Emperor’s Soul, Clockwork Angels, and The Immortals. All are DRM-free. You can also decide yourself what the split is between the authors and the Storybundle organizers, and you can optionally pick from three charities to donation a portion to. Please do note that my Hugo Award-winning novella The Emperor’s Soul is the only part of the bundle that can’t be included worldwide for licensing reasons—it’s not in the bundle if you buy it from the UK or Commonwealth/former Commonwealth countries (except for Canada, where it is included in the bundle). I apologize for throwing this wrench into things, but my UK publisher has exclusive distribution rights in those countries.

My assistant Peter has uploaded my March Twitter posts up to this point here. Future March tweets from me will be added to that page later.

I posted my review of the audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, narrated by Simon Prebble, on Audible.

The Rithmatist audiobook, narrated by Michael Kramer, has been nominated for an Audie Award in the fantasy category. The winners will be announced at the Audies Gala in New York in May, and all the nominees can be seen here.

In the most recent Writing Excuses episode, Nancy Fulda joins us to talk about engaging characters.

My assistant Isaac has uploaded another video from my creative writing class. This one is an in-depth discussion of setting.

)

Tweets March 2014

BrandSanderson Sat Mar 01
Words of Radiance comes out on Tuesday in hardcover, ebook, and audio. And it broke the top 10 on Amazon Canada. link

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 03
Words of Radiance comes out tomorrow. Preview the chapter 7 audio here: link (Please keep spoilers off Twitter & Facebook)

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 03
There are two Writing Excuses episodes I haven’t mentioned yet, on handwavium and truth being stranger than fiction. link

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 03
The Words of Radiance release party is midnight tonight at the BYU Bookstore. The wristbands are almost half gone. link

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 03
I am now pre-signing and numbering Words of Radiance for the midnight release at the BYU Bookstore. My Q&A and reading starts about 10:45.

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 03
Doing the Q&A at the midnight release. The livestream wasn’t working, but it is being recorded and will be uploaded afterward.

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Words of Radiance, out today in the US/Canada, has been chosen for the @iBooks Best Books of March list! link

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
San Diego! Tonight I’ll be signing & numbering Words of Radiance at @MystGalaxyBooks. link

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Words of Radiance is out! First Brandalization has a guest star: Ben sketched in each SLC Airport copy! Gate C6. pic

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Close up of Ben’s Szeth sketch in a Salt Lake airport copy of WofR. I also numbered each copy, as it is release day. pic

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Close up of the Kaladin sketch. Each of these has a Szeth standup goodie card in them too, with a Shardhunt code. pic

sumzup Tue Mar 04
@BrandSanderson do you sign kindles?

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
@sumzup Yup!

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Ben’s Parshendi. (If you don’t know, he did all Shallan’s Sketchbook pages) Salt Lake airport Simply Books. Gate C6. pic

Duponttc24 Tue Mar 04
@BrandSanderson is Ben going to be joining you at any of your signings?

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
@Duponttc24 Only the release party at BYU, I’m afraid.

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
San Diego, I’m here! Signing tonight at Mysterious Galaxy. All copies will be numbered to commemorate release day! Details on my website.

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Flying through San Diego airport? Want a signed Words of Radiance & a unique Szeth goodie/Code? Terminal 2 Warwick’s pic

usmcspadden Tue Mar 04
Congratulations @BrandSanderson I have never felt like I have been kicked in the nuts by a book, but the end of CH55 of WORDS did it.

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
@usmcspadden 55 already? You read quickly!

lageriii Tue Mar 04
@BrandSanderson check out the last question on my physics test today. Just can’t contain the excitement. pic

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
@lageriii That is awesome!

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
Here’s Szeth in my swanky San Diego hotel. Want one? I’m giving him out at signings. (Good costumes often earn one.) pic

6thgradersrule Tue Mar 04
@BrandSanderson Will you have him in Houston next week? #springbreak

BrandSanderson Tue Mar 04
@6thgradersrule Yup.

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
Storybundle has an Epic Fantasy Bundle, with my Hugo-winning The Emperor’s Soul (unless you’re in the UK/Commonwealth link

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
Tor.com posted photos of the drawings Ben McSweeney sketched in the WoR copies I signed at SLC airport yesterday. link

janiv2 Wed Mar 05
@AmazonHelp My pre-order for @BrandSanderson’s new book is damaged and now I have return it instead of reading. pic

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
@janiv2

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
And here Szeth is on the train to LA. I will be giving these out at my signing in Huntington Beach tonight! pic

FancySwampJoel Wed Mar 05
@BrandSanderson Where do I buy one?

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
@FancySwampJoel Afraid these are not for sale. We will give some away on twitter, though.

ImSoJung Wed Mar 05
@BrandSanderson Please tell me there’s a way for me to acquire this without having to chase you on your book tour?

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
@ImSoJung We will give some away on twitter.

drifter_083 Wed Mar 05
@BrandSanderson who sculpted that?

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
@drifter_083 It is a die cut plastic card with art by Ben McSweeney and colors by Kelly Harris.

ChrisWarcraft Wed Mar 05
@BrandSanderson Guhhhhhhhhhhhhh. You are coming to where I live the day I fly across the country to West Virginia. ALL THE SADNESS.

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
@ChrisWarcraft

SoulReclaimed Wed Mar 05
So I’m in the SLC airport and they’re out of signed books and @BrandSanderson is in my city of HB tonight signing books. Sigh; 0 for 2…

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
@SoulReclaimed Gone already? So sorry! I’ll be back through SLC Tues, and will sign some more then. So if you fly out after, check again.

BrandSanderson Wed Mar 05
There are a few dozen signed/numbered copies of Words of Radiance left. Plus THE EMPEROR’S SOUL at Storybundle. link

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
Many thanks to all who came tonight! And thanks to karen for the fruit, and to @annadala for her gift. pic

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
Somehow, I am up at this unnatural hour. At least I can tweet and celebrate that Words of Radiance is finally out in the UK/Australia/etc!

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
San Francisco airport (sfo) has been Brandalized! Hudson News stores by gate 40 & gate 44 both have stealth-signed WORDS with Szeth figures.

HudsonBooks Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson Thank you Brandon!

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@HudsonBooks My pleasure! It was awesome to see the book in stock and placed so well.

HudsonBooks Thu Mar 06
‘@BrandSanderson Above the bestseller list all month and 20% off at all @hudsongroup @Hudson_News stores.

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@HudsonBooks @hudsongroup @Hudson_News Sweet! Expect many more tweets about signed copies, then! I will mention the discount.

thekidd142 Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson do you ever get caught by the staff and have to explain why you’re “defacing” their merchandise?

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@thekidd142 No, if the staff isn’t busy, I introduce myself. If they are, then I sign quietly and go.

tommartell Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson drafts?

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@tommartell Ug. I would love to, but they booked me so tight this time. I don’t know if there is time.

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@tommartell Two signings in one day and a very early flight. It might be impossible this time around.

tommartell Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson next time then. I’ll spend my night with your book instead of you. A few chapters in so far and it’s great!

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@tommartell Hope you enjoy it! Isn’t there a GP in Salt Lake this year? I’m good for dinner if you happen to attend that one.

Top8Games Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson @tommartell You should definitely play in that one Brandon! I can promise you a feature match

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@Top8Games @tommartell Sorry—got distracted by a signing. I am tempted, but I don’t often play at competitive REL…

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
San Francisco! See you tonight at Borderlands Books. Details: link

CarinaMinaBoBe Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson Awh people in L.A. read too

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@CarinaMinaBoBe I was in Huntington Beach last night. Not LA I know, but close.

_Korobeiniki Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson I thought Firefight was going to be released this year, and now I read 2015 on goodreads? Please tell me that isn’t true.

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@_Korobeiniki Don’t sweat too much. It got moved from Nov to Jan, so not much more of a wait. Turned in the book just a little late.

Musingsby Thu Mar 06
Saw a winged insect in my shower and instinctively called it “showerspren!” in my head @BrandSanderson Too much #TWOK #WordsofRadiance

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@Musingsby As long as you don’t start leaving your money out in the rain…

dancingmonkeys Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson The Shallan + Adolin scenes are cracking me up.

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@dancingmonkeys

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
After a brief stop at my hotel, Szeth and I are off to Borderlands books in downtown SF for the day’s second signing. 6:00 tonight.

danielmarshal15 Thu Mar 06
@BrandSanderson I would like to compliment you on WOR. It is superbly written. Congratulations, and thank you!

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
@danielmarshal15 My thanks to you for reading!

BrandSanderson Thu Mar 06
UK folks: The Final Empire is a £1.49 Kindle Daily Deal, Friday only. link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
UK folks who didn’t see it this morning: Mistborn: The Final Empire today only is the Kindle Daily Deal for £1.49 link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Portland! I’m signing at the Beaverton Powell’s tonight. Details here: link See you there!

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Tor founder Tom Doherty and I discussed the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, especially the audiobooks. link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
I added a video to a @YouTube playlist link 2014 Brandon Sanderson Lectures #6: Setting in Depth

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Shardhunt update! The Sugarhouse Barnes & Noble has inserted Szeth cards with codes into some of their books. link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Evening UK crowd: The first Mistborn ebook is, today only, the Kindle Daily Deal at £1.49 link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Also for the UK crowd: The Way of Kings ebook is £1.99 on Kindle currently. I’m not sure how long that will last. link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
For the US only, there’s a Goodreads giveaway of 20 copies of the Words of Radiance audiobook. link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Oh right, for the US crowd, The Way of Kings ebook is currently $2.99 on Amazon. I also don’t know for how long. link

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
I have 30 min in San Fran (SFO) airport. Time to see how many @HudsonBooks stores I can hit. First is across from gate 74. 2 signed WORDS

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
THEY’RE ON TO ME! Just walked in a bookstore at SFO airport, and an employee said, “How can I help you, Mr. Sanderson?”

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Want WordsofR in SF airport? SF Magazine News, gate 76. 6 copies with a Szeth stand-up inside. Jasmine, the employee, is great. @HudsonBooks

torbooks Fri Mar 07
MT @MacmillanAudio: Head to @Goodreads to enter for a chance to win @BrandSanderson’s Words of Radiance audiobook: link

JaredWSaltz Fri Mar 07
@torbooks @MacmillanAudio @goodreads @BrandSanderson but i’ve already bought the book in physical, audio, and digital format….

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
@JaredWSaltz @torbooks @MacmillanAudio @goodreads Wow? All three? Drop me an email through my website. I will send you a Szeth card!

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
Reminder, tonight I’m in Portland signing at the Beaverton Powell’s. Details: link

zachkpearson Fri Mar 07
@BrandSanderson I’m taking care of a sick wife tonight and will have to miss the signing. Any way I can ask a spoileriffic question? DM?

BrandSanderson Fri Mar 07
@zachkpearson email is probably easier.

BrandSanderson Sat Mar 08
Seattle! I’ll be at UBooks at noon. I’ll do a reading and Q&A, then sign all your books. Details here: link

BrandSanderson Sat Mar 08
Here in Seattle! Signing for 4 hrs at ubooks. Szeth stand-ups to give away.

BrandSanderson Sat Mar 08
Tor.com is giving away 15 Szeth standup cards. (US & Canada only, but not Quebec.) link

lower_nikki Sat Mar 08
@BrandSanderson Okay, I have to know—is Kaloo’s personality at all inspired by Percy Blakeney? Your word choice feels very Pimpernel-y.

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
@lower_nikki I haven’t ever thought of it, but that is certainly where I was drawing inspiration.

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
Seattle airport. I found copies of Words of Radiance OUTSIDE security. Hudson news by Virgin Air ticket counter. Szeth stand-ups included

classaxn Sun Mar 09
@BrandSanderson Meanwhile, I pre-ordered my signed copy two months before the release date & still waiting. Thanks @BNBuzz.

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
@classaxn We are very annoyed by them right now.

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
@classaxn They’ve been canceling people’s orders too. I don’t know what is up. But if that happens to you, drop me an email through my site.

TobyEdwards10 Sun Mar 09
@BrandSanderson I wish you did this in the uk

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
@TobyEdwards10 Flying there this summer. We’ll see! I found the UK airport stores less likely to have fantasy books in stock.

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
SEA airport @HudsonBooks store by B gates has signed WofR, Amol, & TWoK! Ran out of Szeth, so these have stickers. pic

Alatarmg Sun Mar 09
@BrandSanderson Arg, I showed them Teo muy wife, such mistake… Is there any chance I can find them in Spain? If not, I’m in big trouble.

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
@Alatarmg Coming to Spain in July. (Details on my website.) I will bring some then. Just ask me for them.

jvitak Sun Mar 09
@BrandSanderson I promised myself I wouldn’t start another unfinished series after WoT, but I’m glad I did. WoR is phenomenal—your best yet!

BrandSanderson Sun Mar 09
@jvitak thanks!

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 10
New Englanders, a Shardhunt opportunity! Szeth cards are hiding in my books at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, MA. link

BrandSanderson Mon Mar 10
I’ve posted my review of the audiobook of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on Audible. link