Questions for Brandon Sanderson?

[Fantasy-Faction]

Hello guys,

 

Not sure if any of you are familiar with my site, but without spamming anything out there, I run a not for profit - Fantasy review/article based website.

 

Anyway, I've been given the opportunity to meet up with Mr Brandon Sanderson for about an hour next week in order to do a video interview... something I'm really excited about and looking forward to presenting to the fantasy community once it is done.

 

The reason I am posting on here is because I'm looking for questions to ask Mr Sanderson that haven't been asked hundreds of times before... I want to give him some more unique and challenging questions that were perhaps missed or avoided in the past and hopefully give him a feeling that this interview has been a bit different to ones in the past.

 

Most interview with Brandon were done before Way of Kings and the next Mistborn was fully announced and therefore there can certainly be questions orientated towards those titles...

 

So basically, I'm opening myself up to suggestions from the Fantasy community on what to ask... what do you want to know about Brandon, his writing, his past series and his upcoming ones?

 

If you'd like to reply with questions you'd like me to ask I'll do my best to fit them in... I look forward to presenting the video once it is done :)

[CadeForeverfar]

How much time does he spend answering or reading fan mail per day, and what's the oddest, the most uplifting, and the harshest things he has recieved.

 

Also, did he intend the Way of Kings to be as freaking spectacular as it was?

[jfmarchini]

Thank you for the opportunity for questions. A cinematic presentation of wheel of time is something long discussed, but there is this new hbo series. I would like to ask him if he has seen the game of throne hbo series and what he is thinking of it, and ultimately if it could bolster the feasibility of a successful wheel of time series, instead of a movie adaptation which would likely suffer the fate of something like the last airbender.

Thanks.

[Terez]

Thank you for the opportunity for questions. A cinematic presentation of wheel of time is something long discussed, but there is this new hbo series. I would like to ask him if he has seen the game of throne hbo series and what he is thinking of it, and ultimately if it could bolster the feasibility of a successful wheel of time series, instead of a movie adaptation which would likely suffer the fate of something like the last airbender.

Thanks.

When the show premiered, he was on a plane. (I drove him there and interviewed him on the way. He kindly offered to get someone else to drive him so I wouldn't miss it, but of course I refused.) Edited to add: also, he probably won't watch the show because of its sexual content.

 

Also, insiders such as Jason are insisting that the current film project will go through. You're not the only one who wishes it was otherwise.

[ROB_88]

i'm totally serious with this question, it needs to be asked.

 

Rand and his 3 women, any chance for a foursome?

 

try to ask that in a non-pervy way :P

[kilika]

At the end of the Eye of the World we hear the Creator or the Dark One speaking directly to Rand.

 

IT IS NOT HERE. I WILL TAKE NO PART. ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, IF HE WILL

 

Can you ask Brandon Sanderson if we will find out in a Memory of Light who was speaking to Rand and why?

 

Thanks

 

 

Fraser

[Terez]

That one has been asked several times. Harriet asked Brandon to be quiet in particular on that question so he can't even tell us if it will be addressed in AMOL.

[trench]

Ask him which character has his oppinion changed on since taking over the project. Also ask him if he was not the author who Harriet picked, who he would have thought would have made a good choice to take over. One question I ask all authors I have met is, Do you allow your own personal view points dictate the story or does he try to stay objective.

[OptimusPrime]

Sweet!

 

I would ask him, if we were to put aside all the taboos of diverting from the original plan for the books, is there anything he would like to have seen in the books that didnt happen, from a fans perspective?

[Terez]

Ask him which character has his oppinion changed on since taking over the project.

He has been asked about this, but he tends to side-step because answering might give too many hints about said character's future activities.

 

Also ask him if he was not the author who Harriet picked, who he would have thought would have made a good choice to take over.

He's answered this, but I can't recall who he said.

[Suttree]

Has anyone ever asked if the ripples had anything to do with TP use? I know people have speculated Demy using Balefire and then the quote from ToM:

 

"The Great Lord's essence forced the Pattern, straining it and leaving it scarred. Even something the Creator had designed to be eternal could be unraveled using the Dark One's energies"

[Southpaw89]

ask him if the mystery of Demandred's location was always planned to be held out until the ending or if he (Brandon Sanderson) chose not to reveal it himself until the end to add some more mystery and suspense to it

[Terez]

Has anyone ever asked if the ripples had anything to do with TP use? I know people have speculated Demy using Balefire and then the quote from ToM:

 

"The Great Lord's essence forced the Pattern, straining it and leaving it scarred. Even something the Creator had designed to be eternal could be unraveled using the Dark One's energies"

It's been discussed, but no one's ever asked about the ripples that I can recall. When it was discussed, it was usually in relation to this:

 

The man opened his mouth to protest – citizens always did; they seemed to think Aiel were made of spinglass – but before he could speak, the ground rippled under their feet. The air rippled, too, in spreading waves. The man looked about uncertainly, pulling his stylish fancloth cloak around himself and his lady so their heads seemed to float disembodied. "What is it, Da'shain?"

 

Others who had seen Charn's hair were gathering around him anxiously asking the same questions, but he ignored them, not even thinking of whether he was being rude. He actually began to push through the crowd, his eyes fixed on the Sharom; the white sphere, a thousand feet in diameter, floated as high above the blue and silver domes of the Collam Daan.

 

Mierin had said today was the day. She said she had found a new source for the One Power. Female Aes Sedai and male would be able to tap the same source, not separate halves. What men and women could do united would be even greater now that there would be no differences. And today she and Beidomon would tap it for the first time – the last time men and women would work together wielding a different Power. Today.

 

What seemed a tiny chip of white spun away from the Sharom in a jet of black fire; it descended, deceptively slow, insignificant. Then a hundred gouts spurted everywhere around the huge white sphere. The Sharom broke apart like an egg and began to drift down, falling, an obsidian inferno. Darkness spread across the sky, swallowing the sun in unnatural night, as if the light of those flames was blackness. People were screaming, screaming everywhere.

 

With the first spurt of fire, Charn broke into a run toward the Collam Daan, but he knew he was too late. He was sworn to serve Aes Sedai, and he was too late. Tears rolled down his face as he ran.

But I have a feeling this person isn't looking for plot-related questions. At least, not specific ones like this.

[jemron]

I once asked him if he felt it was fair to him and his non-WoT fans to be asked by Team Jordan to write the "prequels" or "outriggers." Being the nice guy that he is, he tried to be very courteous about it and say "if Harriet asks me, I'll do it" or "I don't want anybody else doing it but me, so if they decide to have them written, I'll be the one to do it", but the truth is, I think it is unfair of them to ask him to keep using his time to write for the WoT. He owes a lot to his fans of his other works, and based on his writing goals, he has a LOT of work to do in his own worlds. I wonder if he truly feels it is fair to ask that of him. I know it's hard to get a good answer out of him, because he doesn't want to offend Harriet or others, but I would really like to dig deeper on this.

 

I'm not saying I don't want those written, but why does BWS have to be the one to do them? Surely some other authors would love the opportunity, and could do a great job as BWS has done with the last two novels.

[Thorgan]

Ask him if there still is an important darkfriend hidden among people we know. If the answer is yes, ask him for a small hint.

 

Ask him if Rand can find all darkfriends now or just the stupid/weak ones.

 

 

Pretty please :)

 

 

You could also ask him about this. Whether it will be brought up again or not.

[Niniel]

I would like to know if we will learn more about Shara, the Land of madmen and Seanchan in the Encyklopedia.

[Terez]

I'm not saying I don't want those written, but why does BWS have to be the one to do them?

Because he insists on it, that's why. Don't fret yourself too much about it; Brandon doesn't want to commit to writing them, but that's not to say he wouldn't enjoy writing them as a break from his own stuff every now and then. He signed up for this project because he loves WoT.

[Guns of Brixton]

Could you ask him what was the most exciting/thrilling scene in tGS or ToM to write?

[Terez]

Those are some of the most common questions.

[tlburchhardt]

I was wondering about the geography of Randland, since WoT is our past and future. I know that things got a bit messy after the breaking but where is Randland located in correlation to our world. North America? Europe? Is Charleston truly supposed to be the two rivers?

[Hopefire]

A. Is Ishamael correct about the Dark One's ultimate goal, to completely destroy all existence rather than to remake it?

 

B. There was a sunshine-scene in TOM after Rand had left Tar Valon, and apparently without Elayne being present either. Is that a continuity error, or did Rand/Min sneak back to Tar Valon to look at the library (or something)?

[Lynander]

These are probably some common questions, but I'll throw them out there anyways

 

1. The capabilities of Perrin's superhammer

 

2. Role of the Sea Folk/what to expect since we haven't seen them in a while.

 

3. What happened to Verin's warder.

 

4. Is it possible to figure out what Logain is doing?

[b3arz3rg3r]

1. How technologically advanced was the AOL? Was black powder ever used for war in the AOL or is this the first time? Same for the steam engine and other projects of Rand's academies.

 

2. Is the Breaking which happens in each turn of the wheel the pattern's way of replenishing natural ressources? As each age repeats itself it stands to reason that at some point finite ressources like oil, coal, iron and other metals are depleted. Do the enormous tectonic shifts, the new mountains, the land turning to sea and sea turning to land serve to make new ressources avaiable?

 

3. Was Olver winning at snakes at foxes a one time event, because it may have coincided with Mat breaking out of the TOG or is the game now winnable for all kids everywhere because by Mat escaping their power was broken or atleast permanently diminished?

 

4. Since Rand is now emitting "Light" when he channels on a massive scale does that mean he now has a cable of Light linking him to the Creator just like the Forsaken have a cable of darkness linking them to the DO?

 

5. Does the Creator put fake dinosaur bones into the ground every time there is an age without the One Power and tamper with the results of all C14 tests?

[spoke]

The carnivorous mist that attacked Rand and company when he was talking to the carehienen rebels (Darlin, Caroline and co.), was that a 'bubble of evil' or was that Fain's doing?

[Smittyphi]

5. Does the Creator put fake dinosaur bones into the ground every time there is an age without the One Power and tamper with the results of all C14 tests?

 

To date, what is, in Brandon's opinion, the most shocking thing in the series?