For instance, what planet is Elantris set on? Elantris: Sel Warbreaker: Nalthis Mistborn: Scadrial Way of Kings: Roshar White Sand: Taldain Dragonsteel: Yolen There are others, but I haven’t talked much about those yet, so I’ll leave them off for now. I’m sure you could find them if you look…
There are certainly authors who have done this sort of thing before. I generally tend to react against what inspires me instead of toward it. I’ve talked about this before—if I think someone does a very good job with something, I’ll try to approach it from a different direction because…
The cosmere came about because…it really has two beginnings. First, I’m a big fan of Asimov’s work and if you know Asimov’s work he tied his two universes together later in his life and I thought he did a brilliant job of it, though patching it together later in his…
Each of the ‘Shardworlds’ I’ve written in (Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, Way of Kings) exists with the same cosmology. All things exist on three realms–the spiritual, the cognitive, and the physical. I don’t to bore you with my made up philosophy, but I do have a cohesive metaphysical reasoning for how…
Long ago, there was something known as Adonalsium. A god, power, or force of some sort. It was broken through an unknown process, and parts of the power were adopted by sixteen individuals, who became demi-gods. These demi-gods settled on different planets, and are known by the “Attribute” or “Power”…
All of my Cosmere books share a single creation myth, a single cosmology. The connection of them—the greater world, the greater universe—they call the Cosmere. There is a character who has shown up in each of my epic fantasies, and it is the same person, not just a repeated name. Warbreaker, Elantris,…
“Read and Find Out.” It was one of Robert Jordan’s favorite phrases, and I have inherited it. (Symbolically, actually, through his bookmark, which was given to me by his wife. It’s a little string one with weights on the end which spell out RAFO.) When I say it, I don’t mean…
If you could make one change to the Cosmere that is impossible to change now, what would it be? Hmmmm…. I gave this some thought all week, and had trouble deciding because the the things I would change are more about individual books, and less about the Cosmere as a…
I know you already said that there are four shards outside of Ati and Leras in your other books (as of the publication of Warbreaker). Could you tell us the numbers per book? Is just a standard two per book? Or do some have more than others? Some worlds have…
Mistborn trilogy spoiler warnings! I don’t want to give too much away, but in Mistborn: Secret History, Khriss tells Kelsier, “Sixteen people, together, killed Adonalsium, ripping it apart and dividing its essence between them, becoming the first who Ascended.” The shards therefore are the pieces of Adonalsuim, his attributes, his power,…