For many authors in the fantasy genre, it can be hard to make wholly new concepts for worldbuilding. In one way or another, everything is intentionally or unintentionally derived from previous works and ideas.
This is true for Brandon Sanderson, an American author who has created some of the best selling books in the fantasy genre. His collection of books are all complex and unique, but the creation of the Allomancy magic system from his Mistborn series was actually inspired by some unexpected sources.
What is Allomancy?
In the Mistborn universe, Allomancy is the main magic system that many of the main characters use for various purposes in the series. The primary idea behind it is that in this world, magic can be unlocked through digesting different kinds of metals to achieve different kinds of effects. For example, eating iron can allow magic users to pull metal objects towards them.
Although the thought of consuming metal to gain powers may sound silly, the books provide plenty of rules and techniques that make the concept work. It also leads to many moments when the characters use those rules in creative ways to overcome obstacles.
What are the origins of Allomancy in Mistborn?
Allowmancy is a type of magic that has always had fans wondering how Sanderson came up with it. For a recent FAQ on his YouTube channel, the author revealed that one of the inspirations was the Force from Star Wars.
During the video, he explained that when he watched Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, during the climactic lightsaber battle, he realized that the Force acted like telekinesis. Instead of Force-users only being able to push or pull things to themselves, they can move objects anywhere they want to. Not only did this expand Sanderson's understanding of the Force, but it also made him wonder what it would be like for a story to use this kind of magic with the limitations that he originally thought the Force had.
This would likely explain the way iron works in Mistborn, as it can only pull objects towards the magic user. Eating steel has the opposite effect and pushes things away from the user. Ironically, Sanderson got his idea for a fantasy magic system from a science fiction movie!
In his FAQ, he goes on to say that he also originated his creation of Allomancy from his fascination with the late Renaissance and early Industrial Revolution eras. This was a time of discovery, which led to many influential thinkers coming up with explanations for observable facts. Many of Sanderson's books utilize this sort of time period.
"This is where I like to write my fantasy, in part because I like the confluence that happens between science and folklore and mythology during these times," he said. "I like the idea of people trying to take observable fact and come up with explanations, and working their way toward actual scientific theories. I love that Isaac Newton thought that alchemy worked and was trying to prove it. I love the concept of spontaneous genesis as an explanation, and then people trying it out and finding that no, flies don't spontaneously form out of rotten meat. Indeed, they have to lay eggs and things like that."
"I was looking for a magic system that evoked this," he added. "And I went to alchemy itself and to the periodic table, which were both things that were being formed in our world during this time. And I said, 'I want something that has a feel of a periodic table, and the feel of alchemy, but that actually works.' And where I arrived was eating metal."
For Sanderson, it's interesting to see this kind of era being mirrored in a world full of magic, which is why Allomancy is depicted like the early understandings of alchemy. In any case, it's cool to see how real-life experiences can influence the things we create!