Recent entries

Questioner

Once all the Cradle books are released, can we buy physical copies of the omnibus editions?

Will Wight

Probably not

Questioner

If you were asked to finish ASOIAF, would you say yes?

Will Wight

I would never be asked to finish ASOIAF. That is not something that would ever ever happen.

One of the reasons Robert Jordan’s estate requested Brandon Sanderson is because when he was alive he said “Brandon Sanderson is the kind of guy I would want to finish my books” and there is no way in heaven and on earth that George Martin would say that about me. I would not be, stylistically, the correct person to finish it. Me writing it would feel like a huge departure from the rest of the series. So no, I wouldn’t do it. Because I’d be betraying the expectations of a lot of readers.

However, one of the things I’d always wanted is that I wish other authors would cover other’s books like musicians cover each other’s songs. If I had the time and/or ability to cover ASOIAF, I think it would be very funny, because I’d start from book 1 and it’d be 100% completely different reading experience. So, yeah, I’d do that, if that was something anybody could do or ever did.  That sounds hilarious to me, because Will Wight’s ASOIAF would be virtually unrecognizable.

Questioner

Would Ned become a Monarch?

Will Wight

Yeah, 100%.

Somebody asked me “book deaths that really affected me” and the first one that I thought of was Ned Stark because I read Game of Thrones in High School and I *knew* Ned wasn’t going to die. It didn’t even occur to me that he was going to die. So it’s a very tense setting. Would he be sent to the wall? Probably not, because Jon was already at the wall. Is he gonna escape? Is someone going to free him? Then he gets executed. But what really happened end? Did they fake it? No no… he’s dead-dead.

I was like “you can’t do that do your protagonist”. And I remember it dawning on me, “oh wait, you can”. Because set it up so his whole family and the other factions to follow. So the story doesn’t end. It had a big affect on me.

Questioner

Since Heralds can regenerate their body like a sacred liver, can they cut off pieces of themselves to use as dead matter in soul smithing?

Will Wight

I mean, they could. That’d be painful and highly inefficient, but that is something they could do.

Questioner

If Mu Enkai and Akura Shira fought to the death who would win?

Will's sister (offscreen)

I love that their just trolling you now.

Will Wight

I’m just sipping some more tea.

Will's brother (offscreen)

Who would win? All the readers.

Will Wight

Who would win? I know who would lose: me.

The real answer, of course, is that Akura Shira would juggle Mu Enkai. I mean it wouldn’t even be close. But, the meme answer is that they’re both transcendent beings who can never come into contact with one another for fear of shattering reality.

Questioner

Portals - Some are tinged blue because of the Way and others with the user's madra. Why?

Will Wight

So, the question is, some portals are blue because they go through the way, and other portals look like the users madra.  There's a more nuanced answer to this question.  I don't know how much I can go into without getting super weirdly technical.  But it's almost a, it's sort of a style, a method of transportation.  So there are people like Charity, who exercise their authority by going through the medium of their techniques.  They use their madra to move through the Way.  There is also a difference between short range teleportation and long range teleportation.  And others tear open the Way directly and walk through.  So someone like Northstrider could do whichever of those he felt was most appropriate.  And then there are pros and cons to each approach.  There are also others that mask what they are doing in their madra.  So it looks like they are teleporting you through a technique, but in reality they are just opening the Way and taking you through.  So one of the constants of that, is unless you are deliberately masked somehow, you are always going to notice the Way if you are going a longer distance.  Even when its used through a technique.  If you are not being teleported that far, relatively speaking, you might not be able to perceive the blue fabric of the Way.

Questioner

Which sibling is your favorite?

Will's brother (offscreen)

Rebecca.

Will Wight

Sam just said Rebecca.

Will's brother (offscreen)

There's no hesitation there.  I mean, to be real.

Will Wight

What are you talking about?  You said there was no hesitation there.  That's not true.  I don't have a favorite sibling.

Will's brother (offscreen)

No, for me.  

Will Wight

I have a favorite brother and I have a favorite sister.  Oh, for you.  No, your opinion makes sense.  Yeah, that definitely should be Rebecca.  That's the correct answer.  That's his answer.  Mine too.  He was correct to pick Rebecca.  I don't have a clear answer.  I don't.

Questioner

How do spirits reach herald? 

Will Wight

Ah, good question.  How do spirits reach herald?  Because the only way we've seen someone reach herald is to separate from your remnant, so how does someone who starts off as a spirit, basically just a remnant, how do they advance to herald?  I'm trying to remember what I've established in the books already, dang it.  Why haven't you guys read Reaper?  I don't remember how many things I've established, and how many I haven't established yet.  Well.  So...  What can I say?  Spirits, remnants, anything that is going to advance to herald, they develop a physical body first.  So they are spirit, and they develop a body around themselves.  Then they still have to separate the two entities out and advance to herald normally.  It's just that they get to that point, they get to the peak of archlord, with a developed enough spirit to separate, well it's more like they developed enough of a body that their spirit can then separate.  So it's almost the reverse of how a sacred artist would do it, where they have got to get to where their spirit has a clear and firm enough existence to separate, this is the spirit's body has to be real enough for their spirit to separate out.  So their you go.  

Questioner

Do objects forged with authority become more powerful if the person who made them gains more authority afterwards?

Will Wight

Yes, they do.  So, the question there is, if someone with authority makes a powerful, monarch level weapon, or a device like the Abidan would use, and they gain more power afterward, does the item also gain in power?  And the answer is yes, it would.  So honestly, the same thing is true of bloodlines.  So if someone inherits a bloodline power from a herald, and that herald then advances to monarch, that bloodline power will then get stronger.  It is more that, conceptually you are a descendent of this person, then it is you inherited it genetically.  Because of course they are not genetic powers, they are spiritual programs.  So yeah, that's the answer.

Questioner

Would you consider doing a collection of short stories after book 12 while you figure out what you want to write next?

Will Wight

I actually intended... I really don't want to spoil anything for Reaper, dang it.  But I have intended to write some short stories, that cover in gaps in the books, going back several books.  But especially scenes where you might expect some more slice of life chapters it this was a web novel.  But it isn't so you don't get them.  And you know how much I love slice of life.  I don't.  Bit it's good fodder for short stories.  I just don't like novels or movies being paused in the middle.  But that's the kind of thing I've considered; going over Cradle, and kind of doing almost like a collection of bloopers, but more like a collection of moments from different points in their lives.  So prepping for the Uncrowned Tournament, working for the Skysworn back a few books ago, in between books, that kind of thing.  That's the kind of thing I'd like to do.  And then of course just writing some random other short stories would be fun.  I'm going to write nothing but slice of life after Cradle.  That or a lot of romance.  You can hold me to that.

Questioner

Do any of the Iterations have standard holidays?

Will Wight

Yeah.  Yeah, first of all, the iterations, they all have some kind of standard holiday.  But one of the reason I did the Traveler's Gate short stories a few years ago, I did them around the holidays, is that Amalgam, the Traveler's Gate world, has a seasonal calendar.  At least Damasca does.  So therefore, the turning of the seasons is always marked by a holiday.  And I did that both so you could have a sense of time that was sort of memorable, and so I could make a time line really clear.  But that means they have a winter holiday.  They have a spring holiday.  They a fall holiday and a summer holiday.  Everything kind of revolves around those.  So the have a lot of seasonal holidays. 

So if this person is asking if there are any cross-iteration holidays, not sure.  I think seasonal holidays tend to be, most cultures have seasonal holidays.  So I would suspect, and this is probably how I would work in a holiday series, I would suspect there would be some sort of resonance in the Way, because it's such a commonly held concept.  So there would be some icon, so to speak, that would be reflective of what fall is, and what a fall holiday is, so you would end up getting some sort of blend between Halloween and Thanksgiving, that is almost a universal holiday, then there would be one of those for each season.  So that is probably the way I would do it.  (responding to chat)  The Santa icon.  Yes, that would be what it is.  It would be something like the winter, I mean you wouldn't, there wouldn't be a name for it.  It's not like an icon you manifest.  It's just a concept in the way.

Questioner

As a reader and listener on audible the most memorable moment for me is when Fury advances to monarch. As the author do you have a similar moment?

Will Wight

There are a lot... Really, it's funny, because of course it's different for me, writing the scenes, but most of the scenes that stood out to you, also stood out to me.  Because I was like, oh, those stood out to me, I need to make them stand out to the reader.  So that's why I did it.  So you have something like the Dross scene at the climax of Ghostwater. and that is something that obviously stood out to me.  I went into the book saying, I need to make this pop.  Then I worked really hard to make it pop.  So did I have the same experience you did?  No.  Because I was not feeling this big revelation, I was going, the reader needs to feel it.  So then I set it up.  But in terms of the stuff that really hit me to write, in terms of the moments that stood out to me as a reader, it's really a lot of the ones that stood out to you I think.  The Dross moment in Ghostwater was definitely one of them. 

Off the top of my head, the one that immediately comes to mind, is Lindon's showdown with his family in Bloodline.  Because of course, that was a fairly recent book.  And that was... I felt that scene.  It mirrored an earlier scene.  I felt like Lindon really would be that awkward.  One of the things that has frustrated people about that scene is there were a number of other ways Lindon could have handled it.  And, yeah, there were.  But what I like about it, is he's feeling like he is back where he was before.  And he's not, but he feels like he is.  And I feel like that's real.  That's something that stood out to me.  And because I felt, I don't know, I enjoyed it more?  It felt more memorable to me?  It was just something that I guess I empathized with Lindon a lot there.  

Other scenes that really stood out to me...  Yes, there is a bunch of them from Reaper.  I'm not even kidding.  There's a few scenes that aren't even close to the end that really really stood out to me.  And they are really memorable to me.  Also, because that's the book I finished most recently, it is a lot clearer to me.  The problem is I can't talk about those, dang it.  So this is a land mine question.  There's a few of them that aren't even deep into the book.  They are fairly early chapter stuff, but I can't talk about them, dang it.

Questioner

Back when Sesh was telling Sophara that he'd be fine with her as long as she fought like a dragon regardless of whether or she won or lost, was he being sincere?

Will Wight

Yes and no.  Yes, he was expressing a sincere thought that he has.  As long as his philosophy is brought across, and she honors him and doesn't shame him as a dragon, and she makes him look good, then yeah, he was going to be happy.  On the other hand, he does have to deal with the consequences of what happens when she loses, so he would still be irritated.  He's not known for his restraint.  But he wouldn't punish her.  It's one of those things where if she had done well and Mercy had just done better, then it's like, ok.  She wasn't going to get punished for losing to Yerin at the end there.  That wasn't going to happen.  Because how the heck was she supposed to win?

Questioner

What Final Fantasy Summon would Lindon and crew be represented by?

Will Wight

Honestly, I've played a lot of Final Fantasy games, bit I'm not familiar enough with the series to say.  Well, Orthos would be Bahamut.  I would say that.  100%.  It's just him; that's who he is.  Other than that, I don't have a good answer to that.

Questioner

Do you have an idea how long the last 2 books in the series will be compared to Wintersteel? Looking for as much Cradle left to read as possible!

Will Wight

No.  I don't know.  I think, I suspect book 11 will be a little bit shorter than Wintersteel.  Probably, my guess, and please don't hold me to any of this, this is just a guess, I don't know, is about 120, 130, thousand words.  Kind of like Reaper.  That's were I think book 11 will be.  Book 12 on the other hand, being the last book, one of the things I have, my personal taste, is that I wish the end of long series had a lot of epilogue, had a lot of falling action.  Because you're really doing the falling action not just for one book, but for the whole series.  So I would like to see the resolution for what happens to a bunch of people.  Therefore I intend to wrap up the plotline of the final book before the end of the book.  Normally of course, I'm very structured about hitting the climax of the story then getting to the sequel as soon as possible.  But in this case that's not going to be my philosophy for the last book.  So how long will the last book be?  I don't know.  As long as it needs to be?  Kind of?  I normally do not have this philosophy at all, but in this case my philosophy I'm going to try to put everything I can in it, because we're leaving.  Before I go out the door, I want to wrap everything up.  So it might not be massively bigger than the other books.  I don't know; it depends on what I feel like I need to wrap up.

Questioner

Are there any items or artifacts that you would describe as the Excalibur of Cradle?  Something that legendary?

Will Wight

Yes.  One of the things I went and did originally is I went and designed other threats that are potentially existential threats to Cradle that aren't the dreadgods.  So I went through and did that.  And I think that is one of the only things that made it into the books from that is a reference to the plague that killed a monarch, Sha Leiala.  It's really like a biological weapon that sort of developed itself.  But there's a couple of those.  And there are a couple of references, I think in Reaper, I think there are a couple of references, to legendary weapons that aren't from Cradle specifically, but are other legendary weapons.  I wish I could off the top of my head give you a run down of a legendary weapon from Cradle, but I can't.  But there is stuff like that.

Questioner

If you could write anything you want right now, without worrying about sales, productivity, fan reaction, or anything else, what would you be writing?

Will Wight

I fully understand this question, but really, anything.  It's not a particular thing, it's just I like coming up with new ideas; it's just fun.  So most anything action-fantasy related.  I say anything, I mean in my very narrow niche.  So, I had been considering something that is more like a Korean light novel in style, something that is a game sort of system, but in the real world.  So something like Solo Leveling or The Gamer, those are the ones that I guess would be more popular that you would know.  Something like that I think would be fun, something I've wanted to do.  Because infamously I don't really understand LitRPG; I don't really get it.  I've read a lot of it; it's not really my cup of tea and it feels like ti should be.  So I would like to figure that out in the genre that is closest to what I would like to write.  So that's one thing I think would be fun.

Another thing I think would be fun is I mentioned space fantasy earlier; that is something I have been kicking around for awhile.  I think that aesthetic is really cool.  Again, it's just a theme, just a subgenre, it's not a particular story.  There are a few character ideas I really like, a few game mechanics I really like, or world mechanics.  I would love to do a sort of survival style fantast novel, like The Martian.  I would love to, these are... Gothic fantasy, gothic horror style fantasy, so not a horror novel, a fantasy novel, but in a gothic fantasy, like Innistrad, if that means anything to you.

Oh, I would also really would love to do holiday books; I've wanted to do those a long time.  Halloween, I love that aesthetic, I'd love it for a fantasy novel.  Christmas, I love that aesthetic, I'd love it for a fantasy novel.  Something like Nightmare before Christmas, but as a setting for a fantasy.  I think it would be really neat.  The problem with that is it feel like I would have to come up with holiday analogies for the other two seasons, because we have winter and we have fall.  I just think it would be cool.  I think it would be neat to have a character that has Christmas magic, right?  I think it would be fun.  So yeah, standard sort of ideas that I kick around.  Those are all sort of things that appeal to me.  But if I could write anything right now, it would probably batting one of those around until it felt like it clicked and then I would go with that.  

The funny thing is, when I consider writing a new thing, I kind of go around in circles.  I go around between, "Ah man, is this too much like Cradle, is this not enough like Cradle?  Is this the kind of thing people expect from me?  Is this a thing they expect too much?  Is this..."  And I get up in my head a little too much.  It's funny, because when I look at other creators who have that mentality, I don't care of it's too similar, or not similar enough.  Just do something.  It's fine.  So I know that's the attitude I should have.  And it is probably the attitude that I will actually go with.  But it's just...  It's hard.  I still go round and round about it.  That's it. 

There's a part of me that says... so I'm playing Stardew Valley right now, ConcernedApe, that's the developer of this, last week announced his next project, which is called Haunted Chocolatier.  And it basically is a gothic, or lightweight horror themed chocolate factory.  So it is sort of like a whimsical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, mixed with ghosts, mixed with Stardew Valley.  And what it looks like right now, and we have very little information about this so it could end up being completely wrong, but what it looks like right now, is effectively Stardew, but with a different, more fantastical theme.  And I love that.  I think that's great.  I wish people would just keep doing what people like from them more often.  I also think people should just straight up copy people more often.  I don't know why there aren't more knock offs of Harry Potter, weirdly.  Even though there is tons of school fantasy, I'm like, why aren't there more Harry Potter knock-offs?  Because there are tons of Twilight knock-offs.  But as much as I say that, then I think, yeah, but that would that be fun for me?  Is that what I want to do?  Then again, I think about the chance to start over on Cradle and redesign it from the ground up, knowing what I know now, and that appeals to me.  So, it wouldn't be Chinese cultivation novel inspired now, by the way.  Probably.  It would Probably have more different inspirations or conventions, not so much from the Chinese cultivation side of things.  It's just, you know.  I've done that.  So it would be a different thematic inspiration, if anything.  That's my answer.

One of the character types I've wanted to do for quite some time is a, because I haven't done this before, is a nobleman.  Do like a noble.  Someone who is born into a noble house.  Someone who was born into more privilege and luxury, because that is something that I just haven't done before.  So my characters tend to not be there.  So, technically, Lindon is born into, like he's in a well off family, right?  Well, for Sacred Valley, right?  But the bottom of the bottom of the barrel in Cradle context.  So it's more something that they would face unique challenges and start in a very different place.  So that would be an interesting aspect to play with.  That's all.  Just be a little different.  That's it.  (responding to chat)  No, Eithat doesn't count, and here's why: Eithan is not the primary protagonist of the series.  So it's Lindon I'm comparing to, Lindon and Simon I'm comparing to.  Because of course I've written characters who are noble before.  Mercy is.  

Sage Of Quotes

Do Fury's kids have to abandon their paths and start on a new magic system? Are they able to advance without cradles aura?

Will Wight

So one of the things that I have... One of the tenants of this multiverse I guess is when you advance under your own power you have almost completed the definition of yourself if that makes any sense. You have finished defining yourself, you have... now transcended your mortal being. You are now this person. Now, of course, you can change and grow over the course of infinite lifetimes, as indeed we have seen from the Abidan. Some of them grow weary and retire. Some of them change from who they were as mortals. So you do change and grow but not as much as you would. In a way, your origin is somewhat fixed.

But people who are taken beyond their world are not subject to that principle. So they can continue to practice sacred arts if they have a source of aura. Can they get other sources of aura outside of Cradle? Yes, they can, that is something they can do. It's not inherently on other worlds that are not cradle but there are ways of doing that. And they can perceive sources of aura that other people who grew up in other worlds cannot. So that's the kind of thing that they could... they could find a way to keep practicing their sacred arts

OR

They could learn new magic systems from another source, another world, another... There would be other energy systems that they might be compatible with. Usually, they would be compatible with something that is reminiscent or... shares an icon you might say with the path they are already on. So if they're, talking about Akura family so if they are on a shadow path and there were some sort of shadow elemental path they would be able to learn that more easily. 

So.... Yeah, that's the answer. They would be able to learn new magic systems or they would be able to continue their own if they found an appropriate source of aura to continue to cultivate.

Questioner

Do natural spirits need lord revelations?  Do they need to be remade with soulfire to advance to the lord realm?

Will Wight

Yes they do need soulfire to advance to the lord realm.  In terms of do they need revelations, yes and no.  They need to understand themselves better like sacred beasts do and human sacred artists do, but it's a little bit different for them just like it is for anything else.  However, something like a naturally advancing tree for instance, it's really more about, like Emriss Silentborn when she was alive. it's really more about growing degress of sentience and awareness more than it is... Oh, hear we go.

Will's brother (offscreen)

We found batteries.

Will Wight

We found batteries.  I'm being dismembered.  She's trying to make me into a Skywalker by cutting my arm off.  That's how it works.  Except she was attacking me at the shoulder, so I don't get to be Luke.  And I don't get to be Lindon either.  

Questioner

Can one person inherit multiple distinct bloodline powers (eg akura armor + aurelius senses)?

Will Wight

No.  So, the idea is you have one... (Will gets distracted by a scarecrow.)  All right.  So you really have slot, so to speak, for a bloodline power.  So if you did inherit two bloodline powers, they would blend.  They would blend, or one would overwrite the other.  It depends on how powerful the ancestor leaving you the bloodline power was and ow much of it you inherited.  So if you inherited a really strong measure of a bloodline power, that one would be dominant.  The example of course is Akura armor and Arelius web detection, because those are the two major bloodline powers in the series.  With those two, it would really depend.  If you were a direct descendent of Malice almost certainly your bloodline would be stronger than the Arelius one, so it would probably just be overwritten.  But there's a possibility you would get a hybrid.  So if Malice left a stronger, it would kind of be like a, lets say a suit of armor that had some detection capabilities while it was active.  And was a different color, or was more sensitive to being controlled, or armor that now as part of its defensive mechanism web of madra.  Akura, your right.  Akura.  That's definitely how you say it and always was.

Questioner

What is a piece of cut content that you fully fleshed out, but never found a good spot to put in the books? Besides jade cycling techniques, that is.

Will Wight

Well, I shared a lot of that before, I guess, Bloodline I think.  I shared some of the things I had thought about there.  There's a lot of paths that I made.  I think one thing - this is funny, but I made a full character sheet for Charity, Akura Charity.  So the owls thing, that's a real technique.  I know all the techniques in The Book of the Silver Heart.  I have a character sheet for Pride too somewhere, but, you know.  It's Pride.  Charity though, I have names for her weapons and artifacts.  I have some elaborate stuff, and we just never got into it.  Maybe I'll shove it into the nest book.  She still has a role in the series of course.  So maybe I'll elaborate on that.  So that's one thing.  I have character sheets for quite a number of people, but Charity is one that I was looking through my notes the other day, and I was like, huh.  I fleshed out her path.  And I never really did a whole lot with it.  

So, anything else... Another piece of cut content...  Oh, there is a lot of setting stuff.  A lot of Serpent's Grave.  Even in Elder Empire.  I actually built the Gray Island, for the Consultant Headquarters in Elder Empire, I built that in Minecraft so I would have a map for it.  I just went into creator mode in Minecraft and built the whole thing.  Built the docks, built the different traps, and the underground chamber, and all that stuff.  I ended up losing that map because I transitioned computers and didn't back it up.  So I was really salty about that.  So that's another thing; there's a few setting things that I fleshed out then didn't get to include, because of course I, instead f lingering on settings, blow past them at the speed of light.  So there's stuff with Blackflame City and stuff with Serpent's Grave that I came up with, then just didn't use.  I do that a lot with characters and settings; come up with details for them that are probably never going to come up.  There's a few sages that I think are super cool that are probably never going to come up.  Just a few paths they get to use that are (aren't?) cool.  There's also some that I initially had that overlap with another character or they just aren't that important.  So there was one guy that was on a sun path, and he was conjuring... It's kind of like Heaven's Glory but taken to the utmost extreme, because he's a sage.  So yeah, a few things like that.  

One of the first things I did in Blackflame actually, was I went through and defined all the monarchs, and the most prominent heralds and sages and stuff, because I wanted to know who the most powerful figures in the world are.  I did this in Elder Empire too; I went and elaborated on the regents and guild heads in one document in order to define the setting and the magic system.  That's one thing I really enjoy doing, and I recommend anyone do it if you are trying to write a progression fantasy sort of setting where people scale in power, is if you define the upper end of the system really quick, even to yourself, it can help you answer questions you didn't even know you had.  Somebody asked me earlier, how do you get past being stuck, and the answer I am sorry to say, is really just write nonsense.  Write the best scene you can think of.  Well, I don't know what to write.  To bad, keep writing.  Write as though someone is holding a gun to your head so words keep coming out of your fingers.  So that's how you do it.  Another answer that I'll elaborate on is you want to know more about your story.  One of the ways to do that is to answer questions to yourself.  Defining powerful people in your magic system is another way to answer questions you didn't even know you had.

So, one of the first things I did for Elder Empire, which I didn't do this for Cradle, mainly because I just went through and I had a file that's literally called powerful people of Cradle, and I just went through and outlined all the monarchs and their relationships to one another, and their factions, and what continent their on, their most powerful and loyal sages and heralds, all that kind of thing.  So, I went through and did all that around Blackflame, when I was really trying to define the setting, and of course I had done a little bit of that already, because 3 of the monarchs show up in Unsouled, so clearly I had done some of that already, but I finished the documentation there.  And in Elder Empire, I wrote a scene with the Emperor and the first generation Champions, uniting the world.  And of course at least of those first generation Champions became a regent.  And I didn't know anything about Estyr Six at the time; I just thought about a woman with long hair, and a black coat, and three lizard skulls that she was levitating around her with her powers that I thought was really cool, and because of that image, I fleshed her out into one of the major people in the setting.  And that ended up helping me fill in history of the setting that I didn't know I needed, and the dominoes sort of fell, and that inspired me and gave me some gaps to fill in later.