Brandon Sanderson's Blog, page 9
February 6, 2022
White Sand Omnibus News + Weekly Update
Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_4',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider24"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider24"].once = false;window.revapi2_4 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 100%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}White Sand Omnibus News + Weekly Update
Hey, Brandon here with your Weekly Update. I spent this week working hard on the new Wax and Wayne novel, going through a pretty significant revision using beta reader comments and my comments from my editor. So I did about—I’m about a third of the way through that book, counting what I did the previous weeks, though I had to take a week off to work on Wheel of Time scripts, as I mentioned last week. But we’ll go, bing! 33%, 50,000 words. I’ve got about 100,000 words left to do in this one, which I’m going to try to push through at about a third a week, 50,000 a week. We’ll see if I maintain that. You can watch and keep up as I try to do so.
A few other things to update you on. I will be doing a few panels at Life, the Universe, and Everything, the local science fiction convention here in Utah Valley. Students can go to all three days for 15 bucks. I’ll be doing, I think, maybe a reading? I’m not 100% sure. I do know that I will be on a panel with Dan, and we’ll be talking about random things. It might be Intentionally Blank. It might be Writing Excuses. It might be just Dan and Brandon chatting. I’ll only be there one of the days, on the Saturday, but I thought I’d let you know about that.
The other thing is the White Sand preorder for the omnibus of the graphic novel is going on right now. We’re doing it through @Indiegogo. And because all the kind of nicer signed slipcase editions sold out, they’re going to be adding an unsigned slipcase edition as well, in case you wanted one of those but couldn’t get one because they went really fast. They won’t be signed because my plate is full because I have to be signing the new Wax and Wayne leatherbounds, which are coming out this Christmastime, and after that Words of Radiance for the Kickstarter next—not this summer but the following year summer. I have 40,000 of those to sign. So I will be very, very busy and there’s not time to slide in White Sand between those things.
Last thing that Adam wanted me to let you know is we’ve got a bunch of monthly deals. The links are in the descriptions. These come up periodically. Like Emperor’s Soul is going for $1.50 on Amazon right now in the US. And in Australia we’ve got a deal going on Dawnshard. UK has Skyward and Steelheart. So we’ll link those down below. But we periodically have these opportunities, and so we always take them. We like to keep you up to date on when things are on sale.
So anyway, thanks for watching, as always. I’ll be back next week where hopefully we will be past halfway on Wax and Wayne 4.
January 30, 2022
Dragonsteel 2022 Convention Announcement + Weekly Update
Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_5',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider25"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider25"].once = false;window.revapi2_5 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 100%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}Dragonsteel 2022 Convention Announcement + Weekly Update
Brandon here with your Weekly Update. Sorry to miss one last week. Things got a little hectic. But we have one for you this week.
I have been working mostly on two things. Wax and Wayne 4 revision, which I’m still not that far in. I’m about 20,000 words as of this recording because I got interrupted by Wheel of Time scripts and spent more time on those this year than I was able to last time. As you may know, I didn’t get the last two scripts last year. And spent a lot of time on those, just kind of giving commentary, talking to Rafe, and things like that. And that ate up about a week of my time.
So I am kind of dedicating myself fully to getting that Wax and Wayne 4 revision going because that deadline is more relevant right now. I will get back to Stormlight as soon as I can. But right now it’s kind of still sitting at, I’ve puttered with the outline, I’ve written a bit of the prologue, and that’s where we are.
Two things I want to make you aware of. So we are going to have a release party and mini convention for Wax and Wayne 4, the last Wax and Wayne book. That’s going to be November 14th through 15th, and we just wanted to give you a heads up about that. This time we’re going to probably be in downtown Salt Lake. So just so you know, if you are planning to come visit for that or you’re interested in it, November 14th through 15th.
The other thing is, we are switching around the day that I do livestreams. We are going to be doing them on Tuesdays while I have my class at BYU, which is going on right now. Just plays havoc with my schedule every year when it starts up again. So we are going to be doing those on Tuesdays now. And the first of those will be on February 1st. So there will be a link to the Reddit thread where you can upvote questions to ask me. This is not a spoiler stream. This is a regular stream where I’ll just be answering other types of questions. So go throw some questions into that Reddit thread. Upvote the ones you’re most interested in.
And I will be back next week with another Weekly Update.
January 17, 2022
Dave Wolverton—A Friend and Mentor
Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_1',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"].once = false;window.revapi2 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 100%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}Dave Wolverton—A Friend and Mentor
On Friday, my writing mentor Dave Wolverton (who also wrote under the pen name David Farland) passed away in his sixties from complications relating to a fall. It’s with complex emotions that I approach writing a few things here. The community has lost a great and wonderful man, and I thought maybe a few of you would like to hear about him.
Over the last decade or so, Dave had leaned more into his teaching and mentoring, and less into publishing. Therefore, I suspect that many reading these words are less familiar with his books than people might have been in the 90s. His Runelords series to this day contains one of the most intriguing uses of magic I’ve ever encountered in a fantasy world. But it’s not his writing I want to talk about, it’s his compassion.
Dave was one of those strikingly kind individuals who, in a soft-spoken way, finds out what you need, then gives you that–and much more. So many of us in the local community here wearing coats straight off Dave’s back. I’d have assumed he lived his life cold–except for the fact that he had a warmth about him that no chill could extinguish.
When I met Dave, I was unfamiliar with his work. I was nearing the end of my undergraduate degree at BYU, and heard through the grapevine that an actual working sf/f author was going to teach a class. I was curious, and so I signed up, even though it was being listed as a low-level English class. I didn’t realize how foundational that choice would be for my career.
Here was an author–a real, working author–who talked about things like character arcs, narrative pacing, and even contracts. Here was a man who spoke of writing as a career, not just something you did when the whim suited you. Instead of literary theory, he talked about literary practicality, and about what it was to be a storyteller as much as a wordsmith. I still use many of his examples, terms, and lessons in my own teaching.
I remember distinctly one day after, where I mentioned I’d finished several novels already. Surprised, he took me aside (to his office, which was fun, since he had never used it before) and talked me through what I’d been doing in my writing. Impressed, he told me, “Here’s what you’re going to do next. You’re going to go to the Nebula Awards, Worldcon, and World Fantasy convention next year. Find the money somehow. You’re going to meet editors and start submitting to them.”
I’d meet Joshua, who became my agent, at the Nebula awards that year. I would go on to meet Moshe, who bought my first book, at World Fantasy Convention a few years later. But Dave’s mentoring didn’t stop there–when he heard I’d published, he took me on book tour with him the next time he went. Letting me, brand new with only one book out, do readings to an audience who had come to hear him. (At that point, Dave had hit the New York Times bestseller list. I, obviously, had not.)
When the opportunity came for me to teach the class that he had vacated when he moved four hours to the south, I accepted in part because I wanted to be more like the person Dave was. Someone who gave to the community, and who supported writers on their journeys.
Dave remained a friend all these years, and I–like everyone else who knew him–was shocked by the news early Thursday that something had happened to him. When he eventually passed on Friday, I was heartbroken. To me, this is like losing Robert Jordan or Terry Pratchett, though Dave’s work for all of us was a little more quiet, a little more hidden, a little more personal. The world would be a colder place now, safe for the fact that Dave’s warmth was the kind that spreads in hearts.
Regardless, I’ll be forever grateful for the coat of his I still wear, taken and given freely by a veteran to a young man facing his first storm.
We’ll miss you Dave.
January 16, 2022
Started Writing Szeth! + Weekly Update
Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_7',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider27"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider27"].once = false;window.revapi2_7 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 100%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}Started Writing Szeth! + Weekly Update
So this week, having finished the draft of Defiant, I have started really getting into Stormlight 5, and I’ve been working on the outline, just kind of refining the outline for the Szeth backstory sequence. And today I wrote a little bit of that. I’m not ready for a percentage bar or anything like that yet. I don’t think I’ll start in earnest until February 1st. That’s my goal. But a little bit of Szeth’s backstory has been written, and I’m playing with just some various different things to figure out how I want it to play out. But that’s where I am in the outlining process, just cleaning up that outline and getting ready, gearing up for Stormlight 5.
The other thing that’s going on here is my evening writing session I am going to be working on the Wax and Wayne next draft. So that book can be out for you, theoretically, later this year. And so I had a meeting with Peter last week about editorial on it, and I am probably starting that tonight, as I’m recording this on Wednesday. And so, theoretically, by next week I will have made some progress on that.
And so not a lot to talk about these weeks in the new year. It’s been so frenetic leading up to the New Year. I don’t have really anything to pitch to you other than saying that I am digging in and getting ready to work on the book, and I’m pretty excited by it. The whole style I do this, where I take 18 months between big projects and work on other things, is really good for my personal psychology as a writer. And it means now that I’m coming back to Stormlight I’m really itching and eager to write on this book again. Whereas, if you would have asked me right after I finished Rhythm of War, I’d have been like, “Do not talk to me about Stormlight. I am done with Stormlight.” And so it feels really good to be back on Roshar, to be working on these things. And I will keep you up to date all through this year as I write the book.
January 9, 2022
Starting Stormlight Five!
Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_8',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider28"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider28"].once = false;window.revapi2_8 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 100%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}Starting Stormlight Five!
It’s been a couple of weeks, since we were all off for the holidays.
And I actually took a little bit of a break. I worked half days through part of the holidays, which left me a little bit behind on Defiant, book 4 of Skyward. And so last week I had a writing marathon to catch myself back up. If you missed that, you might enjoy looking through some of the Facebook links that Adam is going to post with this post because they are a hoot. Basically, I did what I did with Oathbringer. I sat down and said, “I’m going to finish this book today.” And I tweeted out every half hour how I was doing, and how many scenes I had left to write, and how many words I had written. My very loving family put up with quite a bit with me just working straight for 10 hours to get through that. It’s the sort of thing I can only do at the end of a book, once I know exactly how all the pieces are falling together. It’s not something I would ever want to do at the beginning of a book. But it turned out really well, and I did finish the novel as of Wednesday of last week.
Which means I’m officially moving on to working on Stormlight 5. I actually wrote a few scenes for the prologue over the Christmas Holiday, and I am going to spend most of this month outlining. I won’t be doing a ton of new prose, most likely. Just going over the outline, making sure everything works, talking to my team about it, all of that sort of stuff. But it is exciting to write Gavilar’s prologue for that infamous scene that was the prologue of the first book that’s been repeated now four times, and this’ll be the fifth time from a different viewpoint. Hope you guys will enjoy that. That’s going to be my job for the next 18 months. In the meantime, I will actually be doing revisions in the evenings on other books. In this case, I’ll probably be launching into Wax and Wayne 4’s revisions very soon. So we’ll probably be having two progress bars for you that’ll I’ll be updating in the weekly updates. I’ll be telling you how things are going with Stormlight 5 and how the revisions on Wax and Wayne are going.
Otherwise, we are just kind of gearing up and getting back into the swing of things after the chaos of the holidays, which is extra chaotic for us because of all the things we ship out. So I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I certainly did. I got a little bit of video game time in and then jumped back into it yesterday. I’m filming this on Thursday.
So there we are. Defiant is done, first draft, and it is time for Stormlight.
December 20, 2021
State of the Sanderson 2021
Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_1',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"].once = false;window.revapi2 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 80%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}State of the Sanderson 2021
Welcome to my yearly wrap-up. In this essay, I’ll talk about projects recently released, ones upcoming, and ones in limbo. It’s usually a very long post, so feel free to jump to the section that interests you most using the following handy set of links.
Introduction
Part One: My Year
Part Two: Mainframe
Part Three: Updates of Primary Projects
Part Four: Updates on Secondary Projects
Part Five: Television, Video Game, and Film Updates
Part Six: Licensed Projects
Part Seven: Store and Leatherbound Updates
Part Eight: Translation Projects
Part Nine: YouTube Projects
Part Ten: The Lightweaver Foundation
Part Eleven: Projected Schedule/a>
Part Twelve: Conclusion
Is it me, or does it feel like this year just kind of vanished into vapors? I can’t believe we’re already back to December and I’m working on another State of the Sanderson. After 2020 (which felt like it lasted an eternity), perhaps I should be grateful. At the same time, it feels really soon to be gearing up for the daunting task of writing another Stormlight book–and book five (the final volume of the first sequence) at that.
Regardless, I continue to be deeply grateful to all of you who continue to follow me on this journey. It’s been a strange year for me, for more than one reason. Eventually perhaps I’ll be able to explain more of why that is. But for now, it’s time for the State of the Sanderson: my yearly wrap-up post where I tell you in-depth about everything I’m working on.
Warning: these things are usually pretty long. They stay up all year, available prominently on my website. For reference, last year’s State of the Sanderson can be found.
Enough of an introduction, then. Let’s get into it!
Part One: My YearLike always, I keep tabs on everything I did through the year via a spreadsheet. Usually this lists all of my trips and tours also–but there were barely any of those this year! So, we’ll just talk about the books I worked on.
January 1st-March 31st: Cytonic and Sunreach
I spent the bulk of the first part of my year in the Cytoverse, working hard on two stories that are both now out! Cytonic, book three in the Skyward series, came out last month. (Thanks to all who attended the convention and who supported the book its first few weeks! We outsold the previous book in the same timeframe, which is one of the most important metrics for book sales.)
In case you haven’t seen yet, I also co-wrote a series of novellas in the Skyward series with my good friend Janci Patterson. The first two of those are out, with the third one (starring Jorgen!) coming right after Christmas. I hope you’ll check them out. They are a lot of fun, and add some important backstory to what other characters are doing during the events of Cytonic.
April 1st – September 20th: The Lost Metal, ReDawn, Evershore
Most of this extended stretch was spent working on the final book of the Wax and Wayne series of Mistborn books. (It should be out for Christmas 2022.) This was a longer write than the other Wax and Wayne books, as I increased the book-length by 50% (and gave the story a little more outlining time) to make certain to wrap up things in style.
While working on that, I also managed to get work done on the other two of the three novellas I wrote with Janci. Basically, anytime I needed a break from Wax and Wayne there was something else to work on, so I had a nice rhythm here. I dove right into the 2.0 of Wax and Wayne once the 1.0 was done, and the beta reads finished up in November!
September 21st-October 31st: Various Revisions and Consulting
After getting that second Wax and Wayne draft done, there were just a lot of little things demanding my attention that I’d been putting off. Some Wheel of Time scripts, some work on the various film projects for my other series, and loose ends of various other things I needed to do.
All this kept me busy until near the end of October, and so I decided to spin my heels a little until I could do NaNoWriMo officially, starting November 1st. Which takes us to…
November 1st – End of December: Defiant
One of my goals this year was to tie up both Wax and Wayne and the Skyward series (at least the Spensa arc of it, see below.) Assuming I can finish up this month strongly, I should be able to do that–as far as rough drafts are concerned. I’ll still need to do some revisions on Defiant next year, but all of the actual writing should be finished–making both of these series a wrap.
That leaves me free to tackle Stormlight Five all next year!
Part Two: MainframeAs I mentioned above, Janci and I have co-written three novellas in the Skyward series. Those join The Original and Lux as stories created as part of my Mainframe project. (Mainframe being an audiobook company I created with my good friend–and all around excellent guy–Max Epstein.)
Max is the driving force behind Mainframe. (He was also one of the first people in Hollywood to see the value in my work as it relates to films.) We’ve got a couple more projects coming in 2022 that I’m excited about, so I’m going to let him tell you about them here!
Thanks, Brandon! As mentioned above, throughout, and below, by the end of this year we will have successfully released four projects. And of course we have more on the way, two of which are currently scheduled for release in 2022. Both are with our partners at Recorded Books, who have been excellent.
The first is the audio exclusive Stephen Leeds: Death and Faxes. This is a new Leeds story within the Legion universe[, with a co-writer]. While we could have released this in 2021, our primary decision to push this to 2022 was because of the four months of back-to-back Cytoverse releases, which will culminate with Evershore in a few short weeks. We’re very excited about Leeds and can confirm that we have the wonderful Oliver Wyman back in the booth as narrator. More information to come as we get closer to our June 2022 release date.
Death and Faxes will be followed up later in 2022 by Dark One: Forgotten, an audio series that ties in with the larger Dark One universe that Brandon has created. Dan Wells co-wrote this with Brandon (along with a larger Dark One novel that we’ll be releasing after Forgotten, though likely not until 2023). We’re all very excited about how the pages for Forgotten have turned out, and we can’t wait for you to hear them. We’re currently planning on six episodes with a full cast, sound design, and music. Very exciting stuff in the year ahead with more to follow shortly.
Part Three: Updates of Primary ProjectsThe Stormlight Archive
I didn’t do much work on Stormlight this year, as my focus was on other series. But I did want to mention that we plan to get Dawnshard in audio out very soon. Hopefully within the next few months. Max, with Mainframe, has created the audio for it–via the always excellent Kate Reading and Michael Kramer.
Obviously, the big motion on this series will happen with Stormlight Five starting in January, with a target for a Christmas 2023 release. (It could end up coming out in the spring of 2024, depending on how difficult a write it is.) Also, I will very likely do a Rock novella as part of the Words of Radiance leatherbound kickstarter in the summer of 2023.
So check back for updates as I work through the book, which will include Szeth’s flashback sequence!
Skyward/Cytoverse
As I’ve talked about already, Cytonic and two of the novellas are out. While I’m writing this, I’m around two-thirds of the way through the final novel–which, with the Jorgen novella out this month, will mark the end of this first sequence.
Turns out, Janci and I had a lot of fun working together on the novellas. Our plan was to do another set of them between books three and four, but the timing was tight on these first ones–and that was a tad stressful. So we’re now working on doing some follow-ups to the first four-book series. We’ve brought on Darci Cole, an excellent writer and one of the beta readers on the Skyward series, as a co-writer as well.
Together, we’re deciding where to take the Cytoverse and what the right things will be to bring to you after Defiant is done. There will be more, but Book Four also involves some major changes and interesting turns. So I won’t say more now, other than that if you love the series, I can promise you more is coming.
Mistborn
Wax and Wayne Four, The Lost Metal, is done and the beta readers have already finished going through it! One of my jobs will be to get a 3.0 draft of it done in the coming months, opposite working on Stormlight Five.
As many of you may know, I do two writing sessions a day—the first one from around 1:00 until 5:00, and the second from around 10:00 to 2:00 a.m. In 2022, I’m going to try doing something new–writing prose on Stormlight in the afternoon session, then doing revisions on Mistborn in the evening session. I’m curious whether this works for me, and if so, whether it’s better or worse for my pace and my enjoyment of the process.
I’ll bring you some updates as I proceed!
Part Four: Updates on Secondary ProjectsAlcatraz Series
As I warned you last year, 2021 was going to be spent on repackaging this series–and getting the art for the sixth book done. I also co-wrote this one with Janci, as I got about halfway through it back in 2014 and got stumped on something, so I went to her for help both with that and with smoothing out the character voice. (This one is from Bastille’s viewpoint.)
So, there’s not much of an update from last year. The first five books are coming out with new covers in 2022, culminating with the final book on September 20th. Final revisions for the book are in, and artwork is approved for the new covers of the early ones, so we should be super close.
Their release schedule is below, including the brand new sixth book!
May: Book 1: Alcatraz vs. the Evil LibrariansJune: Book 2: The Scrivener’s BonesJuly: Book 3: The Knights of CrystalliaAugust: Book 4: The Shattered LensSeptember: Book 5: The Dark TalentSeptember: Book 6: Bastille vs. the Evil LibrariansDark One
A second Dark One graphic novel is in the works for those who enjoyed the first! But in case that’s not your thing, you can go read the Mainframe update above, where we’re working on a prose version. That should be released first in audio, but Dan Wells is currently drafting from my original outline for that–and I’ve read some of his work on it, which has made me very excited. In the meantime, enjoy Dark One: Forgotten, a shorter tie-in that Dan and I have created for release this fall.
Elantris, Warbreaker, Rithmatist
Nothing here, again. (Yes, Rithmatist fans, I hear you screaming at the screen.) Elantris/Warbreaker sequels aren’t planned until after Stormlight Five, as I’ve been saying for years now. Rithmatist might be a little closer than it was, as we’ve been researching potential co-authors who have knowledge and background in the real-world Aztec lore I’d like to incorporate into the book. So don’t give up hope. But, like finishing Alcatraz, this is more a labor of love than a mainline series of mine, so it has to take a back seat to the main stories I’m telling.
Part Four: Updates on Secondary ProjectsSongs of the Dead
Moving this one back to minor projects this year. Though Peter Orullian is still working on it, this is one of the co-authored projects that has turned out to be a more difficult write. He’s spent this year on revisions of it, and I hope you’ll all be able to read it someday. But we need to make sure it’s working right first.
The Reckoners
If you didn’t see that there is a new Reckoners novel out…then there’s a new Reckoners novel out! It’s called Lux, and I co-authored it with Steven Michael Bohls, another of my writer friends. (This was a Mainframe project, and so it was an audio original.) The reception was great, and the sales were great too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we did another one soon. But we’re figuring out when and how to do this. (Also we plan a print edition sometime, but at the very least an ebook should come out around the one-year mark of the audio edition.)
The Original
This first of the Mainframe projects will soon be getting an ebook release! So if you don’t like audio, take heart. It’s coming in January. I wrote it with the excellent Mary Robinette Kowal, and it’s a kind of cyberpunk/action/mystery.
Check out the pitch for it here!
White Sand
We should have the graphic novel omnibus coming at you sometime in the near future. I hear that the individual original volumes are sometimes going for a lot of money, but I’d suggest not grabbing one of those but waiting for this new edition. We’ve spent a lot of time making it the quintessential White Sand graphic novel experience, updating text and dialogue to be more in line with the Cosmere. There are 38 new pages at the beginning, revised text and art throughout, a new map and glossary, and fourteen Ars Arcanum pages. We think you’re really going to enjoy experiencing the complete package.
All Others
If there’s something not on this list you’re waiting for, then there’s not really anything to update you upon. Other novellas and small projects continue to bounce around my brain, but I haven’t had time for most of them lately.
Part Five: Television, Video Game, and Film UpdatesThe Wheel of Time
Hey, the Wheel of Time television show is out! I don’t agree with all of the decisions made in the creation (and it includes some content that I find objectionable). However, I do like the team working on it, and I feel they’ve listened to my voice as I’ve advocated for a lot of things behind the scenes. You can read some of my spoiler-ish thoughts on the WoT subreddit here, here, and here. Overall, I think they’re doing a great job.
Mistborn
I’m still developing (in a hands on way) a Mistborn feature film. I’ve written a treatment, some actual scenes, etc. I can’t tell you much about it other than that I feel very good about the motion on this for the first time ever, as I have some really excellent partners on the project.
The Stormlight Archive
Likewise, I’ve been working very hands-on in creating the Stormlight Archive as a premium cable television show. This is with Dan Mintz and DMG, who has had the rights forever. I’ve enjoyed my time working with him, and have enjoyed his thoughts as a partner. I think this will happen someday, though I’m not sure when and with whom.
Other Properties (Film/Television)
Other things are moving (slowly) behind the scenes, but I wouldn’t say that anything else is very far along. The pandemic slowed down a lot of Hollywood for various reasons.
Other Projects (Video Games)
I’ve been working on a video game for several years, and I suspect it will be announced this year. So, commence speculation! (Note: it’s not for one of my properties, but something new that I built with them. It’s a game company many of you will have heard of, but probably not the one you’re thinking about right now. Not that other one either.)
Part Six: Licensed ProjectsI’ll let Isaac Stewart update you on this section!
Brotherwise Games
Brotherwise Games, the team that created Call To Adventure: The Stormlight Archive, would like to announce a new project: Stormlight miniatures. They’re working very closely with Isaac and the Dragonsteel team to create official sculpts of more than 20 characters. The miniatures will be standard scale (28mm-32mm), unpainted but highly detailed. This project will head to Kickstarter in summer of 2022. You can sign up for more information at the Brotherwise Games website.
The Kings Wild Project
Jackson Robinson and co at the Kings Wild Project have created a fantastic deck of Mistborn playing cards that are currently up for pre-order. They visited a few months ago and filmed some of Brandon’s reactions to the cards themselves.
Nauvoo Games
Nauvoo Games ran a Kickstarter in late 2020 for The Reckoners: Steelslayer expansion to their Reckoners game. They have some nicely detailed updates on their Kickstarter page, including a way to lock in a late pledge. The game is being shipped internationally, and the latest update from November has some specifics for what to expect depending on the continent.
The Black Piper
The producers of the Kaladin Album are waiting on their hardcover art books to arrive and will send them to backers soon after that. They’re unable to sell the exclusive hardcover edition outside of the Kickstarter, but for the Dragonsteel convention in November, they were able to make available some softcover versions as a bundle with the album. Some of the second edition softcover art book/album bundles are still available for a limited time.
Here’s a list of our other licensees in case you would like to check out some of the awesome things they’re doing
Graphic AudioBadali JewelryCrafty GamesShire Post MintForged FoamDragon Wood ShopPart Seven: Store and Leatherbound UpdatesAnd now an update from Kara!
We’ve had a busy but amazing year! The first half of 2021 was focused heavily on fulfilling rewards for pledges made during our 2020 The Way of Kings 10th Anniversary Leatherbound Edition Kickstarter campaign. We shipped tens of thousands of packages all around the world and are proud that the majority of our backers received their rewards within a year of making their pledge. Many of these items are now available on our store for those who may have missed the Kickstarter campaign, and The Way of Kings leatherbound will continue to go in and out of stock as we sell out and reorder them. Note: the next printing currently in production will not be signed by Brandon.
Speaking of our online store, we have rebranded and are now Dragonsteel Books! You will still receive the same great service and products, but we are positioning ourselves to continue to grow and provide a wider array of products in future years. Watch our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for announcements of new products and events, restocks on your favorite products, and more! We might have some fun surprises in store!
One of our proudest moments of the year was Dragonsteel 2021, the first multi-day event held in conjunction with the release of Cytonic, the third installment of Brandon’s Cytoverse series. We had two days of games, panels with experts and fans, live painting sessions, puzzles, cosplay, and exhibitors from Brandon-affiliated authors, artists, and partner vendors. We look forward to doing something like this again—stay tuned for future announcements!
Did I mention the future? This year we’ve restocked leatherbound books of The Way of Kings, Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. We are actively working on another restock of these books as well as Elantris and Warbreaker. However, we are excited to announce that in late 2022 we will be debuting the leatherbound editions of The Alloy of Law and Shadows of Self! These books will be individually bound and initially sold as a bundle for $150. After the first printing is sold out, future printings will be sold separately for $100 each like our other leatherbound books. Watch for preorders of these books to open up sometime next year.
Since 2022 will also include the release of the print edition of the Skyward Flight collection, the sixth book in the Alcatraz series, and The Lost Metal, watch our store for potential signed books and swag bundles for these three titles. We hope you will join us!
Part Eight: Translation ProjectsPeter here with a worldwide update! Since Elantris was published in 2005, Brandon’s reach has expanded every year. As of now his books have been translated into 35 different languages and have sold over 21 million copies.
The newest language releases coming up include Arabic (Mistborn and Legion), Persian (Warbreaker), and Bengali (Legion). It’s an exciting time to be a Sanderson fan.
Brandon’s German and French publishers sent along some announcements, so if you read those languages you’re in for a treat!
Germany
Recent and upcoming releases from Heyne
15, 2021: “Der Rhythmus des Krieges” (Rhythm of War, part 1), in hardcover / ebook / audio download format21, 2021: “Der Turm der Lichter” (Rhythm of War, part 2), in hardcover / ebook / audio download format8, 2022: “Sturmklänge” (Warbreaker, reprint with new cover design), in trade paperback / ebook / audio download format25, 2022: “Das Original” (The Original, with Mary Robinette Kowal), audio download (at Random House Audio)12, 2022: Dawnshard (German title to be determined), in trade paperback / ebook / audio download formatFor Brandon Sanderson fans who would like to buy German editions of his work we can recommend:
a) the Otherland Berlin fantasy and science-fiction bookstore who are eager to provide everyone with their genre book of choice; they do not have an online store, though, but do answer requests promptly and friendly;b) Thalia ships internationally, but only to some European countries; and of coursec) our own Penguin Random House online store; we sell German and English books by Brandon Sanderson and ship internationally.We successfully launched our German landing page for all things Sanderson, brandon-sanderson.de where you can find all of his translated work, from Penguin Random House publishers as well as from others.
Recent and upcoming releases from Droemer-Knaur
Skyward – Der Ruf der Sterne: 1 July 2021 (ebook) & 2 August 2021 (paperback)Starsight – Bis zum Ende der Galaxie: 1 February 2022 (ebook) & 1 March 2022 (paperback)Brandon also did an interview with Droemer on Instagram.
France
In 2021, at Le Livre de Poche, we published, simultaneously in paper and digital formats, Rhythm of War (Rythme de Guerre) in January, alongside with the mass market edition of Oathbringer (Justicière). Last May we published the second installment of the Cytoverse, Starsight (Astrevise), and last September the mass market edition of Skyward (Vers les étoiles).
In January of 2022 we will publish Children of the Nameless (Les Enfants de l’Innommé), Brandon’s incursion in the Magic: The Gathering multiverse. The mass market edition of Starsight will be out in early May. For the end of 2022, the spin-off to the Stormlight Archives, Dawnshard (Aubéclat), will hit the stores in September and the mass market edition of Sixth of the Dusk (Sixième du crépuscule et autres nouvelles) will come out in November.
As always, French editions of Brandon Sanderson’s work are available worldwide in online bookstores such as Place des libraires, Mollat, Décitre, Furets du Nord, Dialogues, Cultura, or online retailers like Fnac.com, Amazon, Rakuten, Momox and many other, but don’t forget to ask your local bookseller if he can get it for you!
You will find all the many ways to get Brandon’s book in French on our website.
Part Nine: YouTube ProjectsNow, here’s Adam with his update!
We have some new and exciting things happening on YouTube right now. We recently started a new series called Five Favorites where Brandon and a guest discuss their five favorite “somethings.” So far we’ve been fortunate enough to have Will Friedle, Brandon Mull, Kevin J. Anderson, and Daniel Greene. We have some exciting guests planned for next year, and I look forward to seeing your reactions! You can watch all the released episodes here.
And in case you missed it (I’m sorry if you did!), we recently did a giveaway for the Twelve Workdays of Christmas—which concluded during the spoiler livestream last week—where we gave away a bunch of awesome stuff, including signed sets of books, two Rhythm of War advanced reading copies (ARCs), and we capped it off with a full set of our leatherbound book collection! Across the whole campaign nearly 100,000 of you entered to win, which really shows how awesome you all are, and I wish I could send something to all of you.
We’ll be occasionally doing more of these types of giveaways, so if you don’t want to miss one, be sure to follow Brandon across all his social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube). YouTube in particular is the best place to keep a close eye on what Brandon’s working on. So if you’re interested in following that, be sure to subscribe there. If you only want to know about the big stuff that’s happening, subscribing to his newsletter is probably the best option for you, as we only send a few out each year.
Part Ten: The Lightweaver FoundationJane here with our Lightweaver update. Thank you to everyone who donated this year to our annual holiday ornament fundraiser! This year we were able to raise $42,328 for the School Zone at the Primary Children’s Miller Family Campus in Lehi, Utah. We appreciate every donation and are amazed at the fan support this year! Ornaments are currently in production and will be shipped by the end of January 2022.
We also want to thank Malkier Talks, who ran a 24 hour WoTaHoliday Charity Livestream. Their efforts brought in a total donation to The Lightweaver Foundation of $10,752.
Thank you again for all your support this holiday season and year! We are excited for what 2022 has to bring!
Part Eleven: Projected ScheduleLast year, I suggested this schedule for the next few years:
Fall 2021: Skyward 3
Spring 2022: Alcatraz 6
Fall 2022: Wax and Wayne 4
Spring/Summer 2023: Skyward 4
Fall 2023: Stormlight 5
Well, I got Skyward 3 out, and have finished Wax and Wayne 4 and am close to finishing Skyward 4. The only change there that seems likely is that Alcatraz 6 is come out at the very end of summer, and the first five Alcatraz books are getting a rerelease first. Adding in a few other things, my release schedule looks like this:
December 28th: Evershore (the third Skyward novella) ebook and audio
January: The Original ebook
February: Dawnshard audiobook [THIS IS NOT FIRM]
April: Skyward Flight hardcover collection
May: Alcatraz 1 paperback rerelease
June: Legion: Death and Faxes, Alcatraz 2 paperback
July: Lux (Reckoners) ebook, Alcatraz 3 paperback
August: Alcatraz 4 paperback
September: Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz 6), in hardcover, ebook, and audio; Alcatraz 5 paperback
October: Dark One: Forgotten audio
November: The Lost Metal (Wax and Wayne 4), in hardcover, ebook, and audio
I’ll be spending the entire year writing Stormlight 5! So you can follow along, as always, with the percentage bars on my website.
Part Twelve: ConclusionWhew! That’s something, isn’t it? Reading through all of that, you might think I’m stretched a little thin. However, the bulk of this is centered around letting me focus my attention on the Cosmere. The co-authored Mainframe projects are ways for me to tell stories with the help of talented writers–scratching the itch of storytelling these stories while leaving me with more time to devote to things like Mistborn and the Stormlight Archive. Hosting a convention instead of going on tour is much, much easier on me–it lets people come to me, rather than me flying around to meet people in small groups. Having the YouTube channel instead of going out to a lot of different comic cons lets me be available to fans, but also allows me to sign stacks of pages at the same time, so it’s not cutting into what would otherwise be writing time.
So far, it’s been working well. All of this is why, for example, I’ve been able to dedicate more time to the Mistborn and Stormlight adaptations. I worry more about overwhelming all of you than I do about overwhelming myself, though (admittedly) that second one is also a danger. I’m trying to make sure I have a good work/life balance, so that I can continue telling stories as long as you all are willing to put up with me.
A strange, and very ephemeral year though it’s been, I’m still honored to be your storyteller. Thank you for supporting me, my work, and my team.
Here’s to many more, and a year of working on Stormlight!
Brandon
State of the Sanderson is Live! + Weekly Update
Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Sunreach Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_3',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider23"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider23"].once = false;window.revapi2_3 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
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See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 100%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}State of the Sanderson is Live! + Weekly Update Hello. Brandon here with your Weekly Update. So first of all, the State of the Sanderson is out today! What is the State of the Sanderson? Well, every year around my birthday, which also coincides with Koloss Head Munching Day in the Mistborn world, we release something I call the State of the Sanderson, which is just a look back at everything I did this year and everything I’ve got coming up for the next year. And so it’s one of the biggest posts of the year that we do, and we leave it up all year. So go have a look at it to keep track of everything Sanderson.
If you want a more granular look at what I’m doing, I am working my way through the fourth Skyward book, Defiant, and around today I will probably hit, bing! Around 80%. I hit 75% on the Thursday I’m recording this, and I’ve got two days to go until you see this. So I will hit 80% sometime Monday probably.
What else have we got going on? Well, Evershore, speaking of Defiant and the Skyward universe, Evershore is out next week. This is the third of the novellas I did with Janci, and it is the strongest of the three, I feel. I think you guys will really like it. So if you haven’t been reading those, go check them out. They’re in eBook and audio right now, a collection to follow in print sometime next year.
This week we’re going to try something cool. We are going to livestream me and Matt Hatch from The Dusty Wheel, a Wheel of Time YouTube channel. We’re going to watch the last episode of The Wheel of Time show and kind of talk about it live. So you can join us at 7 o’clock my time, which is here in Mountain Standard Time. You can watch us as we respond to it. You can do a watch along. We’re not going to be showing the show. We’re just going to be showing our reactions, and theoretically you turn on the show and watch it as we’re going. At least that’s how I think it’s going to work out. We’ll figure out the bugs. But that’s this Thursday.
And the last thing I want to warn you about is, this is the last week that my team is going to be shipping things out from our store. So the week between Christmas and New Year’s, they are all taking a much-deserved vacation. And so if you want to order something and get it shipped, it may not arrive for the holidays this week. We’re getting pretty tight. But if you want to get something in the mail, make sure that you order it this week.
Otherwise, I hope you all have a happy holidays. Hope you had a wonderful Koloss Head Munching Day yesterday. And I will be back next week with another update.
December 15, 2021
Alcatraz and Lost Metal News + a Question I Have for You
Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_1',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"].once = false;window.revapi2 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 75%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}Alcatraz and Lost Metal News + a Question I Have for You
Hey, Brandon here with your Weekly Update. I am working my way through Defiant, the fourth book of the Skyward series. I’m about, bing! 66%, two-thirds of the way there. I have a few weeks left to finish that, so hopefully I will be on time. But if I’m not it’s not the end of the world.
A few other really cool things for you. I’ve been promising forever that we would have Alcatraz 6 out for you. Well, it’s actually starting to happen. In the state of Sanderson last year I warned you it probably wouldn’t be in 2021 but would be in 2022. And we are here and we’re getting ready for it. Part of what TOR wanted to do before releasing the sixth Alcatraz book is just repackage all of the previous books and rerelease them in paperback. And we have the first of these covers, Alcatraz 1 with the brand new cover. This is going to be coming out in spring of 2022. And then there’ll be one of these a month or so until we get to Alcatraz 6. Late summer is when I think we are going to be releasing that. So Alcatraz fans, rejoice. Your final book is coming.
A few other cool things. Lost Metal is up for preorder. If you are interested in ordering the last of the Wax and Wayne novels, which will come out in November of 2022, that one’s up for preorder. So those are going to be two of my books that are coming out next year.
We also want to remind you of the spoiler stream. This is our twice a year we do an all spoilers stream where you can ask questions about anything relating to any of my books. Won’t promise to answer them, but we will be having spoilers in this. The stream is on Thursday, Thursday the 16th, that’s this Thursday, at 6 o’clock in the evening Mountain Standard Time, so where I am. So I’ll be answering spoiler questions. If you would want to ask one, please go to the Reddit thread that is linked here in the liner notes, and that will let you ask a question of the ones you most want answered. And we’re going to be taking most of the questions from that, though we will take generally a few as they come through in the stream as well. So show up on Thursday to see me answering spoiler-related questions.
Last thing is a request for you. For years, one of the things that I liked to do early in my career were annotations on my books. And I have just not been able to find time to do this. And Adam, Producer Adam of this channel, has suggested a method of making it happen. Things usually happen if I have deadlines and a formalized reason to do them. So he suggested that we do a Patreon focused specifically on behind-the-scenes with spoiler annotations of each chapter of books, being kind of the showpiece of them. We’ll release, like, an annotation, you know, maybe two a week, something like this, that I have filmed in a video capacity, because Adam has gotten very good at helping me do things via video.
I am uncertain on this. A couple reasons. The main reason is, I don’t know if people are that interested. How interested are you in my annotations and getting a couple times a week a three to five minute video just on a Patreon for subscribers only talking about a chapter and why I wrote it and things like that, of current books. We’d probably try to start this with the new Wax and Wayne book.
The other thing is, Patreon, it’s best served for smaller creators, I’ve found, to get more attention and things like that, which is not necessarily something that I need, which is why I haven’t ever started up a Patreon. But if it were focused specifically on kind of something like this, a good that we’re not sure if people want, a thing I could provide, but it’s really kind of up to you if you are interested.
So we’re going to have a poll. Would you be interested in paying $5.00 a month for a couple of annotations every week? And is this something that excites you, interests you? Let us know. We like to listen to you. We don’t like to overwhelm you with things to pay for and do. So we want to be spending my efforts, my time, and your money in places you would like to see me spending my efforts and time.
So hey, thank you, as always, and we will have the State of the Sanderson coming very soon for you. And I look forward to you reading that when we release it in about a week or so.
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December 8, 2021
Some Thoughts from Brandon on Episode Three
Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_1',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"].once = false;window.revapi2 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
Every December
Brandon updates
readers on the state
of each of his projects.
See if Brandon is attending an event or signing near you.
#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-61fab84339bcfb55c97705a32b03eeb0 > i { margin-right: 8px;}UPCOMING EVENTSLATEST UPDATESBrandon updates readers on Reddit.
#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { border-radius: 1px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: 0 1px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.12); transition: box-shadow 0.2s ease-out, opacity 0.45s;}.btn-shadow#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: 0 5px 11px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.18), 0 4px 15px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 { box-shadow: none;}.btn-flat#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { box-shadow: none;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px; font-size: 12px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:not(:hover) * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover { border-width: 0px; color: #b63636; background: none !important; padding: 12px 18px 12px 18px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2:hover * { color: #b63636;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2.ico-right-side > i { margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 8px;}#default-btn-42964f34e3695ae4756100b1ebfd27b2 > i { margin-right: 8px;}READ THE LATESTPROGRESS BARSCytonic Final Proofread 100%Wax & Wayne Book 4 (Mistborn 7) Draft 2.0 100%Skyward Four Draft 1.0 55%Evershore (Skyward Novella 3) Final Draft 100% .vc_custom_1632865261459{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #000000 !important;}.vc_custom_1574525412312{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #040c16 !important;}.vc_custom_1571836774767{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}.vc_custom_1605229319047{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-image: url(https://477612.smushcdn.com/1512865/w...) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}.vc_custom_1573153541066{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}.vc_custom_1573153549868{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844535369{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}.vc_custom_1574844544176{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;background-color: #1f2c3e !important;}Some Thoughts from Brandon on Episode Three
Hey, all! Sorry I haven’t been able to post here right when new episodes release. Having a book launch and the holidays kind of prevented me from digging in deep with the WoT launch. However, in order to make it up to you, I’ve pulled out my actual notes written about the scripts. I’ll let you see a few of the exact pieces of feedback I sent in. Knowing you all, and your fondness for quotes, I figure this will be interesting.
I’m going to try to get you responses to episodes three and four in the next few days. That said, I should note that there was a lot less work for me to do on these episodes than there was on the first two. These two episodes were already quite strong by the time they got to me, and I didn’t spot any major structural problems or character problems like I saw in episode the first two episodes.
Overall, you can categorize my general comments into a couple of genres. First, I am the voice on the team that is pushing for a little less grimness, and a little more hope, in the episodes. They are all turning out rather gory. Though I wouldn’t have chosen that, I’m not opposed to it in the context of the Wheel of Time–as my gut instinct says that Robert Jordan would have felt the violence appropriate. I personally didn’t want to see people being ripped apart by trollocs, but it’s suggested (sometimes explicit) in the text, so it’s not something I can complain about.
However–while I don’t mind a darker tone in general, particularly if it helps the series keep dramatic and emotionally charged–the Wheel of time is about hope. I think that there are times where this adaptation goes too far, mostly in character beats.
One of these was in the meeting the Tinkers. Here’s what I wrote to Rafe:
“Do we have to make the people following the Way of the Leaf into ominous dark figures in ragged clothing with terrible dogs? I really feel like this one is going to rub fans the wrong way–and make the series try so hard to be dark and ominous all the time that it starts to be too much. It feels like the story is trying really, really hard to say, “Look, we can be like Game of Thrones! Notice how like Game of Thrones we can be!” That’s not letting it be itself, or be the Wheel of Time–which has light sequences, and characters who are genuine friends, and strong worldbuilding.”
It feels like he made an effort to lighten the mood with the rest of the tinker scenes, and I thought they turned out great. So my only gripe remains in the ominous approach. It’s a small thing, but I think it’s something to watch for in this adaptation, as the story is walking a line between being authentic to the Wheel of Time and going for that darker tone.
The other example of this is Nynaeve trying to kill Lan. Here’s what I wrote: “Some great dialogue in here. However, to give you fan reactions, I think they’re going to hate Nynaeve actually trying to kill Lan here. This feels out of character for her in the books; she is a healer to her core. Sure, she’d kill a trolloc–but a man who is doing his best to explain himself? Even if she thinks he’s an enemy? Not a chance. I personally feel this introduces her on the wrong foot. If you have her do things like this, what is going to separate her from Egwene and Aviendha, both of whom would totally have stabbed in that moment? I understand wanting a grittier story, but I feel contrast between the characters is important for distinguishing them. And I feel this is not something book Nynaeve would do.”
Obviously, these are things that I disagree with that didn’t get changed. Yet, overall thought these episodes were excellent. And they turned out great on screen. I know it’s more the next episodie, but Logain is fantastic. I love all of the Aes Sedai and the warders; they worked even better on the screen than on the page.
Here are a few things I wrote about this episode that I liked: “Opening Scenes: Nynaeve being and the trolloc. Great scene here; my instincts say fans will love it. It plays to the strengths of the story you’re telling. Making her role here more dramatic with a trolloc is a good move. Nice visuals, and gives us a proper introduction to Nynaeve being a badass.”
Another one, with Lan and Nynaeve, I wrote a brief note. “What a great scene. Well written and fun.”
I really loved the Lan/Nynaeve stuff all through these episodes. I noted it a number of times, and made some suggestions on some things between them that I was pleased to see Rafe and his team take. It’s really working for me on screen, and really plays to the souls of both characters. Lan is just fantastic in this adaptation; his actor is nailing the part. Nynaeve is really great too. Just wish she hadn’t actually tried to stab him.
One thing I was so-so on was Thom stealing from Mat at the start of the episode. I wrote this:
“Fans are going to be very relieved to see Thom here. I was kind of confused as to what I’m supposed to read into the interaction with Thom and the beggar; like, are they working together on robbing Mat? Or did Thom spot him doing it, and force him to give up the pouch? Could you make this more clear?
And honestly, if we’re supposed to like Thom, why does he take all of Mat’s money, rather than just some of it? Seems like he’s just kind of an asshole. Not to sound like a broken record, but that’s the running theme of the show for me. Great dialogue, good visuals and adaptations, but everyone is unlikable and kind of an asshole. Can’t we at least like one character, like Thom? Mat is the only person in the show so far who has shown any really likable traits, and this scene just serves to make a fool out of him.”
That said, by the end, I really thought the entire sequence worked. I wrote:
“I like this scene burying the Aiel a lot. I find it hard to believe the body wasn’t robbed by those who killed him, but this scene gives me some much needed sympathy for both characters. I think this is my favorite scene in the episode. It does do a lot for my worries earlier. I don’t completely revoke them, but this scene does help. (As does the next scene with them.)”
I like it filmed even more, with the actor playing Thom really doing such an excellent job. Even if he doesn’t have proper long mustaches.
So, there are some things that mostly didn’t change. The things I suggested that did change mostly has to do with the Darkfriend found in the town Rand and Mat visit. In the draft of the episode I was given, her role was rather muddled. We had this sense that she was sent to hunt Mat and Rand, but that was confusing, as it also seemed she’d been in the town forever. I don’t have the exact quotes here, since most of this was done discussing with Rafe on a video call.
In general, I requested that she be a darkfriend who had Mat and Rand’s names faces burned into her mind, and that she decided to try to take them and turn them in. I suggested that we give her more motivation, more explanation. I was pleased to see that with just a few minor tweaks to the screenplay, Rafe and his team managed to do this very effectively. I thought she worked really well in the filmed episode.
Only other thing that I noted that I had an influence over was Mat mentioning getting back to his sisters, to explain some of his motivations. I found it odd that of the two, Rand and Mat, Mat would be the one wanting to go home. Doesn’t fit him as well as I’d like–but if this adaptation makes clear why (and Rafe ended up doing that) then it really explains his motives better.
Overall, these episodes just keep getting better and better. My hat is off to the team, because Episode Four was outright incredible. Again, I hope to be back to write some of my extended thoughts there, but I can’t 100% promise. I have to find time in my schedule. The Wheel weaves, after all, as the Wheel wills…
December 6, 2021
Packed Weekly Update + Leatherbound Discussion with Isaac
Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here PREORDER HERE Now Available! The Stormlight Archive Book 4 LEARN MORE setREVStartSize({c: 'rev_slider_2_1',rl:[1240,1024,778,480],el:[300,240,180,110],gw:[1300,1024,778,480],gh:[300,240,180,110],type:'standard',justify:'',layout:'fullwidth',mh:"0"});if (window.RS_MODULES!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules!==undefined && window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"]!==undefined) {window.RS_MODULES.modules["revslider21"].once = false;window.revapi2 = undefined;if (window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal!==undefined) window.RS_MODULES.checkMinimal()} STATE OF THESANDERSON
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Hey, everybody! Brandon here with your Weekly Update of all the random things happening in Sanderland. This week I am up to, bing! 55% on Defiant. A little bit of a slow week for me this week, just kind of catching up after the holidays and all the things that came out. But, I mean, Cytonic is out. If you for some reason missed it, go give it a look.
Couple other things I wanted to talk about. I did a nice little wrap up and sequence of posts on NaNoWriMo on the r/Sanderson subreddit. You may be interested in kind of reading along on those. That happened all last month. I did hit my goal. I got to 51,000. I’m sure you are all shocked that I managed to hit that goal. But it was a busy month for me. So I’m feeling pretty proud of hitting it. And you can also go congratulate Producer Adam who hit his word count goal, as well as Isaac, who is here with us today, who hit his word count goal, as well as Kathy, one of our directors here at the company who hit her word count goal. So we all did pretty good for the fact that this month was a crazy month. Anyway, go say congratulations to them.
Couple of other things here. We have—there’s a charity stream on a friend of the channel called What a Holiday. It’s on the Malkier Talks YouTube channel. They’re going to be doing a charity stream for Lightweaver, my charity foundation, December 11th at 7:30. You may want to go check that out. I think that many who come to this channel would enjoy a channel called Malkier Talks.
Speaking of streams and things, I’m going to be doing my semiannual spoiler stream. We do these twice a year, once for Christmas, once in the summer. This one is December 16th at 6 o’clock Mountain Standard Time. So if you want to come join me as I sign lots of books and answer very spoilery questions about any aspect of my writing, then come along on December 16th, three days before Koloss Head Munching Day.
And lastly, we’re going to chat with Isaac.
ISAAC: Hello.
BRANDON: Hi, Isaac.
ISAAC: How you doing?
BRANDON: Isaac is here to introduce to you the new leatherbound colors of our leatherbound.
ISAAC: Yes.
BRANDON: If you haven’t been following this, we were using a leather for our leatherbounds that was called Corona.
ISAAC: Yeah.
BRANDON: And they cancelled it. They discontinued it for some odd reason. And so we’ve had to scramble to get a new leather.
ISAAC: Yeah, they couldn’t, like, just rename it. It was a wonderful leather, a bonded leather that we had. And they cancelled it, so we had to go and find something new. Our print rep gave us some suggestions. There aren’t a ton of bonded leather companies out there. And so we decided to go with a company that usually has things just in stock generally. So it kind of hedges our bets in the future. This is through Ecological Fibers, which is a very good company for book manufacturing materials.
So here on the left we have what was our original color. This is the Corona bonded leather. It’s a nice burgundy. It’s a little on the plum side. And then over here we have the new bonded leather. You’re going to see a little bit of a difference, I’ll tell you, in texture and color. But most people are not going to notice that. I think that it’s—you’re going to get these on the shelf, and if you have mismatched, meaning mismatched from the different printings, it’s not going to be that noticeable. This one is just a little more on the red and brown side. But, and I’m not sure if you can see this here, you can’t really tell. I’ve put the books up next to each other on the shelf and I think they look just fine.
BRANDON: But we do want to warn people.
ISAAC: Yeah. We want you to know. This is kind of part of our transparency.
BRANDON: When do these start?
ISAAC: These have been up for sale, I think.
BRANDON: OK.
ISAAC: And we’re waiting on the trucks to come. We have several trucks coming.
BRANDON: So this is the new ones that we put up for sale this last month.
ISAAC: Yes, this last month.
BRANDON: All of those will be the new leather.
ISAAC: They will all be the new leather. So if you’ve bought it, or will buy it in the future, it will have the new leather.
BRANDON: Yep. And it’s, like you said, just a slight different change in color. We tried to get them to keep doing it, but they would not. So this is what we have to do. I can’t tell the difference very easily. Like, if you point out one and then the other, then I can be like, “All right. Those are slightly different.” But we do know that some of our collectors are very, very specific about the way they like things, so we want to be up front with you.
ISAAC: Yep.
BRANDON: And so that’s what we’ve got. These are our new leatherbounds. We are having them in stock finally again.
ISAAC: Yeah.
BRANDON: I don’t know how long they’ll last.
ISAAC: Yeah. I don’t know either. These things go really fast. They take about six months to produce. And so we constantly have them in production. But we just, we get them in only once or twice a year.
BRANDON: Yeah, we keep those binderies busy.
ISAAC: Yeah. We do. We keep joking that someday we may have to buy our own bindery.
BRANDON: We do a lot of printing of leatherbounds. But yeah. So these are up for however long.
ISAAC: Yeah.
BRANDON: We generally—we’re still trying to figure out if we can do any sort of pre-ordering or things like that. Right now, we only sell them when we have them. We know that they’re coming. Because we don’t want to sell—with the supply chains being like it is now, we don’t want to sell something we don’t have. Unless it’s for something like a Kickstarter, where everyone knows it’s a big pre-order and it’ll come when it comes. With these, they are books that we know are being shipped to us.
ISAAC: Yeah. And I do—you mentioned the collectors. I do want to just put out a thing here to go on record to say that we listen, and we really try hard to, when there’s a concern, to address it. I’m constantly talking to our print rep. And we spent several days comparing leathers, trying to find something. So we don’t do this lightly when we have to change these things. We know that this is your hard-earned money, and we want to give you a quality product that is going to last for a really long time.
BRANDON: So, there we are. There’s our leatherbounds. If you’re looking for one of those for the holidays, there’s still some time to get some before they sell out. They come in signed and unsigned. We expect the signed to vanish more quickly than the unsigned.
But regardless, thank you, guys, as always for supporting us. Look for the State of the Sanderson, which is going to be coming up pretty soon.
