The first Mistborn book came out 20 years ago, but the series remains front and center among Brandon Sanderson's current projects — both because he's penning the screenplay for Apple's upcoming film and because he's in the midst of working on Mistborn Era 3.
The author recently revealed how he'll be handling his metal-based magic system in the Mistborn movie, and during a recent SanderFAQ on YouTube, he detailed the origins of Allomancy. Now he's offering insight into the inspiration behind Mistborn's other two power systems: Feruchemy and Hemalurgy.
While Allomancy is at the center of Mistborn, as it's the power the original series' heroine possesses, Feruchemy and Hemalurgy also play important roles in its story. Feruchemy allows users to store abilities in metal objects, then tap into them later. Meanwhile, Hemalurgy enables someone to steal another's power by attaching it to a piece of metal they pierce their skin with.
Despite Allomancy's importance to Mistborn, Sanderson's latest YouTube FAQ revealed that that Feruchemy "came first" — and that he originally "designed Feruchemy for a separate book from Mistborn." For those unfamiliar with Sanderson's background, he wrote a number of unpublished novels prior to publishing Elantris and then Mistborn. Feruchemy was initially intended for one that didn't work out, which led Sanderson to include it in his Mistborn books instead.
Feruchemy is primarily used by people from Terris, which is why Sazed uses it throughout the original trilogy. And Sanderson's magic system stems from a surprising place: his struggles with insomnia in high school.
Where the ideas for Mistborn's Feruchemy and Hemalurgy came from
In his YouTube video, Sanderson revealed that the idea for Feruchemy stemmed from his own insomnia. He recalled "being in high school and being exhausted, just 'drop over' exhausted." This resulted in him being sent to the nurse's office one day, and that's where he had the thought that would lead to Feruchemy:
"I was laying down, and I'm like, 'Man, I am so sleepy right now. Why can't I save my sleep, and then turn it on when I actually want to go to sleep and fall asleep? Because at night, I'm wide awake when I don't want to be, and then at school, I am so sleepy that I can barely keep my head up. And that was the origin of a magic system where you can store attributes of yourself."
The reason those attributes were stored in metalminds was because Feruchemy needed a "thematic tie" to Mistborn's existing magic system, Allomancy. And with those two settled, Sanderson wanted another to explore in his trilogy. That became Hemalurgy.
"Hemalurgy grew because, as I was writing a trilogy, I wanted to have a magic system to explore for all three books," Sanderson explained. "And I wanted to have a magic system that had some moral complications to it."
Sanderson cited his late mentor, author David Farland, as an inspiration on this front. Farland's Runelords books feature a magic system that "involves stealing people's strength." Mistborn's Inquisitors ended up with a similar power, giving Sanderson's series the moral complexity he was hoping for — and presenting Allomancers and Feruchemists with a daunting challenge.
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