Sythrin Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 I am currently in the middle of Skyward and a question came up to me. How do the ships work? Or more important how are they fuelled. Normally I would brush it off but Sanderson is known for his hard magic. Will it be explained? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treamayne Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 3 hours ago, Sythrin said: I am currently in the middle of Skyward and a question came up to me. How do the ships work? Or more important how are they fuelled. Normally I would brush it off but Sanderson is known for his hard magic. Will it be explained? Sanderson tends to be a bit "looser" on the physics with his MG/YA material (especially compared to Cosmere material). That said. . . They use a Power Matix as "fuel" but I do not think the Matrix is confirmed as a nuclear power source (but that was my impression - especially considering Defending Elysium [1]). We do know the caves systems are mostly using geothermal power, though. The Acclivity Stone that allows flight will get significantly more explanation over the course of the series. Note 1: If you were not aware, there was an early novella titled Defending Elysium that has been tied to the current Cytoverse (it takes place at least a few centuries before these stories, and only becomes relevant in book 3) - even then, the story is understandable without having read DE. It contains mild spoilers for Books 1 and 2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonheir he/him Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 The magic system is used in technology. I believe the batteries are made from acclivity stone, as are the GravCaps, lightlances, and other sci-fi technology. Outside the Cosmere, magic doesn't generally follow the laws of thermodynamics. The coppermind might tell you more. Watch out for spoilers though. WoB: Quote Questioner For the light-lances, where do they get their power from? Brandon Sanderson They come from the same sort of place that everything's getting their power. You know, little micro-engines that are basically fantasy-ish. They're... It's super advanced hyper-engines. I think I worked something out where they using acclivity stone in some way. They're like Brandon's versions of Asimov watches with atomic power. They're just fantastically far-future power sources. Otherwise, we couldn't make any of this work. Like, the whole shell around Detritus and stuff. We needed a cheap and powerful energy source. Questioner Exactly. They're just like little bitty things. Brandon Sanderson They're basically fantasy novels with spaceships. Starsight Release Party (Nov. 26, 2019) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treamayne Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 2 hours ago, Dragonheir said: I believe the batteries are made from acclivity stone, as are the GravCaps, lightlances, and other I do not think that is correct, since (Slight Spoilers) Spoiler Acclivity Stone has to be charged by a power matrix - so if the power matrix was also Accivity Stone - that's a weird loop I do not think Sanderson would use. The power matrices are the "small stable power source," (similar to Asimov's pocket-sized atomic power sources - hence my thought they might be nuclear somehow) and they can charge Acclivity Stone (which holds a charge after being engineered into the ships) then run the other ship systems and boosters. Quote When charged, it glows blue, bright enough to be seen from some distance. It seems capable of holding charge for a considerable amount of time - possibly centuries, though the charge does inevitably run out.[5] Uncharged acclivity stone is a musty grey or black in color, with specks of dark blue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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