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Brandon Sanderson - The Cosmere |OT| there's always another secret...

Jag

Member
brandon_sanderson_s_secret_by_rigathi-d7pmp73.jpg
 

Mrbob

Member
I'm reading Mistborn right now. My beginning quest in reading the books of Sanderson. You just blew my mind with the connected universe stuff. Glad to see we will get a future MistBorn trilogy too.
 

Jag

Member
State of the Sanderson

The Stormlight Archive

Stormlight is going very well. I’m working on Book Three, which I’m calling Oathbringer. (That is likely at this point to be the final title.) This is my main project, and I won’t be writing any new prose on other stories until it is done. You can follow the progress bars!

Release dates for this book are still in flux. Even if I finish it early next year, it could be a year or more until you see the book. The amount of editing, continuity, and art that these books require creates a need for a long lead time. I’ve told people that Fall 2016 is the earliest they’d see it, but my team has been warning me that’s not realistic. We’ll see, but for now you should assume on a 2017 release.

The Reckoners

The last book of the trilogy is complete, revised, and turned in. It’s coming out in February, and is—indeed—the ending.

I have not closed the door on doing more in the world, but it will not be for a while. If I do return, it will be like a Mistborn return, where the focus of the books shifts in some way and I create a new series. I like leaving endings as endings, even if the world and some of the characters do progress.
Mistborn

And speaking of Mistborn, how is Scadrial doing? My current plan is still to have the Mistborn books stretch throughout my career, establishing stories in different eras of time with different sets of characters.

The original pitch was for three trilogies. The Wax and Wayne books expanded this to four series. (You can imagine Wax and Wayne as series 1.5, if you want.) This means there will still be a contemporary trilogy, and a science fiction trilogy, in the future.

I have one more book to do in the Wax and Wayne series, and I’m planning to write it sometime between Stormlight books three and four. Until then, Wax and Wayne three—The Bands of Mourning—comes out in January!

Status: Era 1.5 book three done; book four coming soonish
Projected Novel Release Schedule

There’s a good chance I won’t hold to this, but just so you know, here’s how I view my upcoming novel release schedule (not including any novellas or short stories that may or may not appear during moments when I need to do something new):

January 2016: Wax and Wayne 3
February 2016: Reckoners 3 (final book)
June 2016: Alcatraz 5
Sometime 2017: Stormlight 3
Sometime 2017: Rithmatist 2
Spring 2018: New YA project 1
Fall 2018: Wax and Wayne 4 (final book)
Sometime 2019: Stormlight 4
Sometime 2019: New YA project 2
Sometime 2020: Elantris 2
Sometime 2020 New YA project 3 (final book)
Sometime 2021: Stormlight 5 (ending of first arc)
Sometime 2022: Elantris 3 (final book)

Also more updates on his secondary and tertiary and whatever comes after that projects. Frankly I'm shocked how much more he's got going on.
 

hythloday

Member
State of the Sanderson

Also more updates on his secondary and tertiary and whatever comes after that projects. Frankly I'm shocked how much more he's got going on.

This is why Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. I haven't read all of his works by any means (I just started Mistborn but I've read Elantris, Warbreaker, and both Stormlight books), but his dedication to writing and accessibility to fans (he's on Reddit all the time answering random fan questions) are things that really make me admire him and respect his work even more.
 
I know he makes a big point of saying how committed he is to The Stormlight Archives, but I can't help being kind of worried he's never going to finish it. :/

I'm a bit more than halfway through The Way of Kings. Amazing world building, but good God Kaladin's life sucks. The book should just be renamed "The myriad ways in which the universe hates Kaladin. Also crab battle."
I totally felt the same way, and it was tiresome, but it ultimately serves to make the ending that much more satisfying.
 

Kaladin

Member
The machine speaks but seeing "Sometime 2021: Stormlight 5 (ending of first arc)" just makes me sad.

Still beating Martin's pace of output by 4 years to the 5th novel.

I was actually quite shocked that The Reckoners series is as big of a seller as Mistborn and Stormlight.
 

Hanzou

Member
How many books is the storm light archives supposed to be, 14 or something? Series won't be done until around 2040!
 

Woorloog

Banned
Wait, Stormlight 3 got moved to 2017 (DAMMIT!) and is called Oathbringer?

Last i knew, it was Stones Unhallowed and then Skybreakers, implying it was about
Szeth
.

I do wonder if Sanderson decided to change the book's main character, requiring re-writes and thus pushing the book to 2017 from '16?
 
Wait, Stormlight 3 got moved to 2017 (DAMMIT!) and is called Oathbringer?

Last i knew, it was Stones Unhallowed and then Skybreakers, implying it was about
Szeth
.

I do wonder if Sanderson decided to change the book's main character, requiring re-writes and thus pushing the book to 2017 from '16?

Lame.
 

LProtag

Member
Wait, Stormlight 3 got moved to 2017 (DAMMIT!) and is called Oathbringer?

Last i knew, it was Stones Unhallowed and then Skybreakers, implying it was about
Szeth
.

I do wonder if Sanderson decided to change the book's main character, requiring re-writes and thus pushing the book to 2017 from '16?

He switched the planned flashback character from Szeth to Dalinar a while ago. He was experimenting with how Dalinar's flashback chapters would work in the context of it. I think he said he's finished the first draft of all the flashback chapters.
 
To be specific, Oathbringer didn't get moved to 2017.. he's just anticipating a 2017 release due to all the fact checking, revision work, etc.. that his team is predicting they'll have to do. It's the necessary evil of having so large and intricate a universe he's creating.
 
I was given the mistborn trilogy as a gift but haven't started it yet, those are the best ones to start with right?

It's the place most people are introduced to Sanderson's big universe, yes. There's no correct or even best way to jump into The Cosmere. Since that's what you have, give it a read and see what you think about him as an author. If you like him, then just keep picking up whichever stories you think are interesting.
 
It's the place most people are introduced to Sanderson's big universe, yes. There's no correct or even best way to jump into The Cosmere. Since that's what you have, give it a read and see what you think about him as an author. If you like him, then just keep picking up whichever stories you think are interesting.

Cheers! I'm currently half way through the dark tower series so might be a while till I get to it
 

hythloday

Member
Just done with Way of Kings. How good was that!? How is this not a TV show yet?

I dunno. The series is amazing but I wonder if it would make for a good show. (I think the same thing about other major series though, not just Stormlight Archives).

The world has a lot of unique things that give it flavor. They could film in a rocky area or something for the landscape, but with the unique look of the Parshendi, all the imagined flora/fauna, shardplate and shardblades, the highstorms, and the spren everywhere... if they skimped on any of those things, it would be pretty sad.

Not to mention, the series won't be done for a long time, so you'd have a max of a couple seasons of material before they had to start inventing their own story arcs or filming spoilers for the unwritten books. We've already got that with Game of Thrones so I can wait on a Cosmere TV series.
 
I dunno. The series is amazing but I wonder if it would make for a good show. (I think the same thing about other major series though, not just Stormlight Archives).

The world has a lot of unique things that give it flavor. They could film in a rocky area or something for the landscape, but with the unique look of the Parshendi, all the imagined flora/fauna, shardplate and shardblades, the highstorms, and the spren everywhere... if they skimped on any of those things, it would be pretty sad.

Not to mention, the series won't be done for a long time, so you'd have a max of a couple seasons of material before they had to start inventing their own story arcs or filming spoilers for the unwritten books. We've already got that with Game of Thrones so I can wait on a Cosmere TV series.

Premium channel, 10-12 episode seasons, and Sanderson's writing speed... they could potentially get 2 seasons per book and not be too terribly fast. Of course he'd have to focus on Stormlight nearly exclusively.
 
So I'm already plowing through Words of Radiance rofl. How exactly does one deal with waiting over a year for a book? I'm really anxious to read through it too quickly.
 

gdt

Member
So I'm already plowing through Words of Radiance rofl. How exactly does one deal with waiting over a year for a book? I'm really anxious to read through it too quickly.

I mean what else can you do?

We wait for movies, tv shows, games....

Lot of waiting in a fan's life.
 

sirap

Member

Sanderson's work ethic is unreal, but he outlines everything to the T, which is what allows him to write 2-3k words everyday.

Rothfuss on the other hand doesn't outline at all. I have no idea how he keeps everything intact. Dude's insane.

And I love that he writes with a Model M. Dude even has an SSK for when he travels.
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
I've read the Stormlight books and really enjoyed them. Have the first Mistborm one on hold at the library. Can't wait as I've been putting between books with nothing really satisfying in a while.
 

hamchan

Member
So I'm already plowing through Words of Radiance rofl. How exactly does one deal with waiting over a year for a book? I'm really anxious to read through it too quickly.

By reading everything else Sanderson writes as well because he's such a beast that you never have to wait that long for his next piece.
 
Sanderson's work ethic is unreal, but he outlines everything to the T, which is what allows him to write 2-3k words everyday.

Rothfuss on the other hand doesn't outline at all. I have no idea how he keeps everything intact. Dude's insane.

And I love that he writes with a Model M. Dude even has an SSK for when he travels.

Doesn't Rothfuss already have Kingkiller written and he's just editing it and rewriting it over and over?
 

Meliora

Member
Finished Wheel of Time last year and I really enjoyed the books when Brandon Sanderson took over so decided to check out some of his own series. I just started with the Stormlight Archive and I loved it! I read both books in no time and I'm eagerly awaiting the next book now.

I didn't know his other series where in the same universe, but I eventually found out and started reading Mistborn. I've read the first trilogy and curently reading the Alloy of Law, about halfway through it. The Mistborn books aren't as fun as the Stormlight Archive, but I enjoy them anyway. So far I enjoyed the three first books more than Alloy of Law, simply because I liked the setting better, but I do like the book anyway.

I'm going through the books pretty fast and I fear it will be a long wait for the next Stormlight book! But I'm pretty confident that the wait will be more than worth it : )
 

Stasis

Member
I absolutely loved the two novels of The Stormlight Arhive I read recently but couldn't get through book #3 of the original Mistborn trilogy despite being a huge fan of the first. Started going downhill for me midway through #2. This thread makes me wanna go back and get through it.

Anyone else have this issue? It's clearly not a problem with his writing. I hate that I left a trilogy unfinished. This has only happened twice in my life. I feel like I'm wrong lol.
 

gdt

Member
I absolutely loved the two novels of The Stormlight Arhive I read recently but couldn't get through book #3 of the original Mistborn trilogy despite being a huge fan of the first. Started going downhill for me midway through #2. This thread makes me wanna go back and get through it.

Anyone else have this issue? It's clearly not a problem with his writing. I hate that I left a trilogy unfinished. This has only happened twice in my life. I feel like I'm wrong lol.

Mistborn 3 wrapped that arc up amazingly imo. Hell of a finale.
 

Meliora

Member
I too enjoyed the third book in the Mistborn triology. I thought the first book was a bit slow, and that the second was a bit better and the third one being my favorite. The ending was very satisfying.
 
First book is a slow start, second gets bogged down a bit with YA tropes, but the third ends the trilogy really well.

I prefer Wax and Wayne's story so far though because I really, really like them as characters.
 
First book is a slow start, second gets bogged down a bit with YA tropes, but the third ends the trilogy really well.

I prefer Wax and Wayne's story so far though because I really, really like them as characters.

Yea, wayne being the more likable of the two imo. Also i really like sterris, especially in the second book. She seemed less stuck up and we got a chance to see who she really was, sterris seems like the kind of woman wax needs (though not necessarily what he might want), she is intelligent.
 
I still can't get over how good and satisfying WoK's ending was. I literally couldn't concentrate during Star Wars: FA because Way of Kings was still so present in my mind.
Dalinar handing his Shardblade to Sadeas was absolutely magical. I had goosebumps for half an hour.

It's just that more often than not, I'm unsatisfied with book and movie endings. WoK nailed it super hard, just like that.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
I absolutely loved the two novels of The Stormlight Arhive I read recently but couldn't get through book #3 of the original Mistborn trilogy despite being a huge fan of the first. Started going downhill for me midway through #2. This thread makes me wanna go back and get through it.

Anyone else have this issue? It's clearly not a problem with his writing. I hate that I left a trilogy unfinished. This has only happened twice in my life. I feel like I'm wrong lol.

Mistborn 3 absolutely rocked. The ending was insane.

And continuation in the "Victorian times" with Wax and Wayne is also awesome.
 
I absolutely loved the two novels of The Stormlight Arhive I read recently but couldn't get through book #3 of the original Mistborn trilogy despite being a huge fan of the first. Started going downhill for me midway through #2. This thread makes me wanna go back and get through it.

Anyone else have this issue? It's clearly not a problem with his writing. I hate that I left a trilogy unfinished. This has only happened twice in my life. I feel like I'm wrong lol.

I got through all three Mistborn books, but thought the first was miles better than the other two. The latter two went in a direction I really hadn't expected, and not in a good way.

Whole trilogy is great, but only Mistborn 1 is a masterpiece IMO.

2nd book has wayyyyyyyyy too much romance shit which drags, but it's still solid. 3rd is epic.

That
love triangle
in particular was just plain bizzarre. Like, what?!

(above spoiler tag is really vague/minor, don't be too afraid to click it if you're curious.)
 
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