CANR
WORK TITLE: The Most Boring Book Ever
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.brandonsanderson.com/
CITY: Orem
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CANR 332
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born December 19, 1975, in Lincoln, NE; married Emily Bushman (an educator and business manager), July 7, 2006; children: three sons.
EDUCATION:Brigham Young University, B.A., M.F.A., 2005.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, adjunct creative writing instructor, cohost of a podcast. Has worked as a hotel desk clerk and Mormon missionary in Seoul, Korea, in the 1990s; contributor to weekly podcast, Writing Excuses; cohost of the podcast Intentionally Blank, 2021—; Writers of the Future judge, 2016—.
AWARDS:David Gemmell Legend Award, 2011, for The Way of Kings; two-time recipient of the reviewers’ choice award, Romantic Times, for best epic fantasy; Hugo Award for best novella, 2013, for The Emperor’s Soul; Dragon Award for Best Graphic Novel, 2018, for Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand: Volume 1; Fantasy Prize, Audie Awards, 2022, for audio version of Rhythm of War.
RELIGION: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.WRITINGS
Served as editor-in-chief of Brigham Young University’s Leading Edge magazine; author of a blog. Also author of video game spinoff e-novels, Infinity Blade: Awakening, 2011, and Infinity Blade: Redemption, 2013, and e-book novellas Perfect State, Shadows for Silence, and Sixth of the Dusk.
Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians was optioned for film by DreamWorks Animation; “Mistborn” was optioned for film by Paloppa Pictures and for video-game adaptation by Little Orbit; Steelheart was optioned for film by Fox Searchlight; the “Wheel of Time” series was adapted as an Amazon Prime Video television series from 2021-25.
SIDELIGHTS
Brandon Sanderson is an American writer. Born in Nebraska, he earned degrees from Brigham Young University before becoming a creative writing instructor there. Sanderson focuses on epic themes in his writing, populating his worlds with varied characters, magic, and unique settings. He is the author of a score of fantasy and science fiction works, both as stand-alone novels and in a number of series and for adults, young adults, and middle-grade readers. Sanderson is the author of several science fiction novel series, including “Mistborn,” “Alcatraz,” “Wheel of Time,” “Stormlight Archives,” “Reckoners,” and “Skyward.” Sanderson wrote four “secret” novels during the early years of the Covid-19 pandemic and announced it as a Kickstarter campaign in March, 2022. By the end of the campaign, he had raised $33 million by the end of the month, becoming the top-earning Kickstarter campaign in the company’s history.
Writing on Tor.com, Martin Cahill noted: “Not many authors are quite as consistently prolific as Brandon Sanderson.” Cahill added: “Brandon’s epic fantasy novels [for adults] take place in a same universe, known as the Cosmere. Across the many novels and worlds, there is a secret story playing out behind the scenes, as characters from one book suddenly pop up in others, with new sides and facets being revealed with every new story; ultimately, this story is something that will thread throughout every novel, and not just hide in the shadows as we move forward.” Paste website contributor Frannie Jackson commented on the reason for Sanderson’s continuing popularity: “Dedication to his craft, intricate world building—none of this would matter if there wasn’t a relatable, human element to Sanderson’s characters. Three-dimensional personalities permeate his novels.”
Queried about the secret of his productivity by Salt Lake Tribune website contributor Ellen Fagg Weist, Sanderson replied: “It’s the result of two things: First, loving what I do. Second, treating writing like a real job. I’m the result of Mormon pioneer stock, and though I don’t have any oxen to tend or potatoes to plant, I had the concept of good hard work drilled into me as a child. I get up, and I work. The writing doesn’t always come. I have an inkling that in the times when other writers have writer’s block and are staring at their screens, I instead jump to another project and write on that until my subconscious can figure out what’s wrong with the original story.”
(open new1)In an article in the London Guardian, Sanderson talked with James Smart about his books and how he balances the plot, characters, and world-building in his lengthy novels. Smart admitted that Sanderson’s novels “carry their intriguing plots forward in great, eager strides, whether they’re delivering cosmic drama or giving his characters room to banter or stew in self-doubt.” Sanderson explained that “it wouldn’t be a fantasy book without the world-building and the magic, but it’s the least important aspect of the story,” adding that “Lord of the Rings isn’t great because of the world-building. Lord of the Rings is great because of the character interactions and that idea of taking someone small and normal and thrusting them into a world of giants, saying how that person’s core values can be as valuable to society as another person’s heroic might.”(close new1)
Sanderson’s first novel, Elantris, tells the story of a fallen city of the gods, exploring what caused it to fail and how the major players of the novel—Prince Raoden, Princess Sarene, and Gyorn Hrathen—will affect its future. Sanderson’s personal faith has influenced his writing, leading him to include strong religious themes within his narrative.
Jackie Cassada remarked in Library Journal that Sanderson shows “skill at turning conventional fantasy on its head,” resulting in “a conclusion both satisfying and original.” In Booklist, Regina Schroeder called the book “a surprisingly satisfying, … epic fantasy that invokes a complex, vibrant world.” In a review in Publishers Weekly, a contributor found Sanderson’s work to be an “outstanding fantasy debut, refreshingly complete unto itself and free of the usual genre clichés,” and featuring a “smoothly written, perfectly balanced narrative.”
Sanderson’s second title, The Final Empire, became the first volume of the “Mistborn” series. In 2007 Sanderson continued the “Mistborn” series with the publication of The Well of Ascension. Vin is left to comes to terms with his legacy leading the revolution while everyone seeks to find the former leader’s Atium supplies, gaining power for themselves. In another Booklist review, Schroeder pointed out that the protagonist’s “struggles with love and power inject the human element into” the story. A contributor to Publishers Weekly said that “this entertaining read will especially please those who always wanted to know what happened” in the aftermath of good defeating evil. The following year, Sanderson furthered the series with The Hero of Ages. Elend Venture solidifies his power base as the mist increases its dangerous activity. Vin must lead his army to victory over Elend to return the land to normalcy. Paul Di Filippo, reviewing the novel online at Sci Fi Weekly, recalled that “Sanderson’s prose is always eminently readable, not flashy, not stolid, and his personages likable and authorially conducive to being conjured up on our mental stage. Although the books are weighty, they never feel ponderous.” Di Filippo called the book “a hybrid kind of novel that offers some unique pleasures that neither pure fantasy nor pure [science fiction] can deliver.” Schroeder stated that the series “concludes satisfactorily.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly also praised the book, noting that the novel contains “a dramatic and surprising climax.”
In 2011, Sanderson published the fourth novel in the series, The Alloy of Law. Set 300 years after the end of The Hero of Ages, the story centers on wealthy Waxillium Ladrian, who is gifted with the powers of Feruchemy and Allomancy. He forgoes his place in high society and takes to the streets in the Rough to help restore law and order. After he accidentally kills his lover, he leaves the Rough to accept his position as lord of the Ladrian house. Trouble follows, however, and Wax is forced to take up arms again.
Booklist contributor Alison Downs observed that the novel is “rife with laugh-out-loud moments, religious and philosophical ponderings, and plenty of crime-fighting action.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews remarked that the author’s “ideas on the source and employment of magic are both arresting and original—just don’t expect rigorously worked out plot details, memorable characters or narrative depth.” In a review in Library Journal, William Baer lauded that “Sanderson continues to show that he is one of the best authors in the genre.” Describing the novel as being “part Sherlock Holmes, part X-Men,” a contributor to Publishers Weekly said that The Alloy of Law “is full of close shaves, shootouts, and witty banter.” A contributor to the Medieval Bookworm website summarized that this novel is “definitely recommended if you enjoy fantasy, as are all of Sanderson’s books; this isn’t an earth-shattering read, but it is a good one.” Writing online at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review, Graeme Flory commented that “Sanderson does a fine job of keeping to the roots of the first trilogy whilst also showing how the world has moved on. I couldn’t help but think though that the setting grew less detailed the further the characters moved into the depths of the city.” Flory conceded, however: “This niggle (as well as the others) was a minor one though. The Alloy of Law was a thoroughly entertaining read that I couldn’t get enough of. Any book that makes you want to go out and read everything else an author has written is doing its job very well indeed.”
Shadows of Self concerns protagonist Waxillium Ladrian, a former bounty hunter with supernatural abilities, and his adventures in Elendel, a burgeoning city that may fall apart under its own internal pressures. Ladrian has taken a respectable position as an advisor to the city’s law enforcers while still maintaining his own search for justice on the side. At home, he has a fiance, Steris, and the prospect of a pleasant, upscale future. When a killer begins to leave victims throughout Elendel, Ladrian is puzzled: the slayer moves too fast to be seen, and there are no reliable clues to either motives or identity. With help from Wayne, a former colleague from his rougher days, and his fiance’s sister, Marasi, he takes on what seems like the impossible job of finding and stopping the killer. He has little choice: the killings could act as the final catalyst to send Elendel collapsing into chaos. A Kirkus Reviews writer called Shadows of Self a “fast-paced fantasy adventure set in a fascinating world and populated with lovable, memorable characters.”
In The Bands of Mourning, the next “Mistborn” novel, Ladrian’s marriage to Steris has encountered some complications after an unexpected flood Making things even worse, a group of mysterious beings with shape-shifting powers has started rumors about mystic objects called the Bands of Mourning. These bands are alleged to give immense power to whoever possesses them. Predictably, he and Wayne set out on a quest to the city of New Seran to find these arcane magical artifacts and determine if the stories about them are true or false. And, if true, of course, he would not turn down the power they are supposed to bestow. Meanwhile, he also has to deal with his uncle, a man who is trying to control the inborn magical abilities of those fortunate enough to be born with them. Complicating things even further, Ladrian’s uncle may be holding his sister hostage. A Kirkus Reviews writer found The Bands of Mourning to be a “fast-paced novel that’s part Wild West, part Indiana Jones, and wholly entertaining, combining high emotional stakes with a deep, good-natured sense of humor.”
Sanderson created a new series, called “Alcatraz,” in 2007 with the release of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians. Thirteen-year-old foster child Alcatraz Smedry learns that there is a whole new dimension to the world one day when he receives a bag of unusual sand as an inheritance from his parents. When the bag is stolen by a group of librarians, Alcatraz and his relatives work together to stop them from taking over the world. A contributor to BraveMonster.com remarked: “Sanderson has a very unique style of writing that is extremely fun to read.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer argued that “this nutty novel isn’t for everyone, but it’s also sure to win passionate fans.” Vicky Smith, reviewing Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians in the Horn Book magazine, observed that “for all its self-aware preciosity, this still stands as a happily action-packed romp.”
Writing in School Library Journal, Steven Engelfried opined that “readers who prefer fantasy with plenty of humor should enjoy entering Alcatraz’s strange but amusing world.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews remarked: “The premise is intriguing and Sanderson gets in some good digs at pushers of books.” The following year Sanderson published the second book in the “Alcatraz” series, Alcatraz versus the Scrivener’s Bones. In the book, Alcatraz expands his knowledge on his own powers while searching for his grandfather in Egypt. There he meets more curators and librarians who use the Dark Oculary. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews commented that “the animation-style action seems more appropriate to a big screen than a reader’s imagination.” However, Horn Book magazine reviewer Claire E. Gross stated: “Sanderson gives due weight to his characters’ dangerous situation and its emotional implications, balancing absurdity, action, and character growth for a thoroughly thrilling read.”
The “Alcatraz” series continues with Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia, in which Alcatraz Smedry must find a traitor among the Knights of Crystallia and put an end to a plot that might allow the Librarians to regain power. He also begins to feel a certain strange emotion, perhaps love, from his Librarian mother. Reviewing this third installment in Horn Book, Claire E. Gross felt that the “plot offers up plenty of action, gadgetry, metafictional humor, [and] grudgingly dispensed hints of the librarians’ endgame.” Elaine E. Knight, writing in School Library Journal, noted of this novel, “Beneath the wild humor, there are surprisingly subtle messages about responsibility and courage.”
In the series finale, Alcatraz versus the Shattered Lens, Alcatraz, aided by Bastille and a supply of exploding teddy bears, takes on an army of evil Librarian robots. A Children’s Bookwatch reviewer termed this an “absorbing story of gigantic robots, evil librarians, and danger.” Horn Book contributor Anita L. Burkam also had praise for this installment, noting that readers will be “drawn into Alcatraz’s cohesive world, with its unique form of magic and that magic’s natural enemy, the Librarians.”
The Dark Talent is the fifth and final book in the Alcatraz series, resuming the story immediately after the events in Alcatraz vs. the Shattered Lens. “As in previous volumes, the narrative is rife with bizarre situations, thrilling seat-of-the-pants action, self-deprecating asides, and metafictional musings,” observed Horn Book reviewer Anita L. Burkam. Teenage Alcatraz has beaten the army of Evil Librarians, but Bastille, his best friend, is still in a coma. He has also lost his family talent, which severely reduces his ability to manipulate glass. Despite his setbacks, Alcatraz intends to finally end the threat posed by the Librarians. He intends to invade the Hushlands, once known as the Library of Congress, to stop a disastrous plot by his father. When the legendary Librarian Biblioden arrives, however, Alcatraz’s plans are thrown into chaos and his ultimate victory becomes doubtful.
“This final installment takes the reader on a wild ride, not only through the characters sneaking around and their interesting discoveries, but through Alcatraz’s character growth,” commented Tara Creel, writing in the Deseret News. Summing up the final book and the series, a reviewer on the Bibliosanctum website stated, “I’m going to miss this series, and all the wonderful characters—Alcatraz, Bastille, Draulin, Kaz, Australia, Folsom, Himalaya, even Shasta, and most of all, Grandpa Smedry. What a wild ride it has been.”
Sanderson’s success with his “Mistborn” series drew the attention of the widow of author Robert Jordan to help complete that author’s ambitious “Wheel of Time” series. Sanderson contributed The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and the concluding volume, A Memory of Light. A California Bookwatch reviewer called Towers of Midnight “powerful, … vivid, [and] compelling.”
Sanderson worked from Jordan’s notes in the final book of the series, A Memory of Light, in which the Last Battle is coming to determine the end of the world. A California Bookwatch reviewer termed this a “top pick for any science fiction and fantasy collection.” Similarly, Xpress Reviews contributor William Baer felt that “anyone who likes epic fantasy will enjoy it.”
Projected at ten volumes, the “Stormlight Archives” series is a “sprawling epic set on Roshar, a world regularly scoured by huge hurricanes called highstorms,” according to New York Times contributor Dana Jennings. “There are soldiers and scholars, slaves and magic, and Brightlords and Voidbringers. It’s all traditional stuff for fantasy fans, but what sets [the series] apart is how Mr. Sanderson raises genre stakes through detailed world building. The richly imagined books—he calls them a ‘love letter of sorts to the epic fantasy genre’—also contain notes on Roshar poetry and illustrated tips on how to raise chulls (oversize crustaceans domesticated on Roshar).” The first novel in this series, The Way of Kings, appeared in 2010. This thousand-page series launch sets up this “classic story of intrigue, magic, and war, with a large cast of characters and multiple settings lovingly detailed,” as Booklist reviewer Roland Green commented. Stacey Hayman, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, termed the novel a “good mix of military action, political machinations, faith-based intrigue, and personal drama keep the pages turning.” A Publishers Weekly contributor predicted that this series launch “will keep epic fantasy fans intrigued and hoping for redemptive future installments.” Likewise, Xpress Reviews writer Baer observed, “Sanderson is a master of hooking the reader in the first few pages, and once again he doesn’t disappoint.”
Anxious series readers had to be patient as Sanderson was also busy with other series for the next several years. The second volume in the “Stormlight Archives” series, Words of Radiance, was published four years after the first and was another thousand-page epic. Here the author continues to build the world of Roshar, which a Publishers Weekly reviewer compared to the world of Dune by the writer Frank Herbert. The novel also continues the stories of Shallan and Kaladin and of the seemingly endless battles between the humans and the humanoid Parshendi. Booklist reviewer Green praised Sanderson’s “meticulous … world-building,” and termed this second installment a “very impressive continuation.”
In Oathbringer, Kaladin returns home to protect his family from the Voidbringers and Parshendi warriors as the world-ending Desolation begins. While Kaladin tracks their movements, Shallan works on developing her lightweaving abilities and learning more about Urithiru. Meanwhile, Dalinar deals with his past while attempting to unite various factions to save humanity.
In a review in Grimdark, James Tivendale admitted that the 1227-page novel “could have been cut down and streamlined.” However, Tivendale said that “although not quite hitting the glorious heights showcased in Words of Radiance, Oathbringer is still a magnificent fantasy read. Sanderson is one of the best and most consistent fantasy authors currently writing, and Kaladin is a character that I never get bored of reading about.”
With Rhythm of War, Dalinar is leading the coalition on the battlefield. Shallan and Adolin are both tasked with recruiting more allies to the cause, while Navani moves forward working on fabrial technology. Kaladin realizes that they are better employed away from the frontlines of the fighting. Booklist contributor Regina Schroeder lauded that the novel “certainly delivers the dense fantasy epic long-time readers will expect.”
Sanderson writes for young adults in the “Reckoners” series, which begins with the 2013 novel Steelheart. This saga begins with a burst in the sky that endows some ordinary people with extraordinary powers and the desire to rule. The public calls them Epics. In the postapocalyptic world, what was once Chicago is now Newcago, and the powerful Epic named Steelheart has become emperor. The only ones to fight his tyranny are the Reckoners, a mysterious group of ordinary humans who closely study the Epics to find their weaknesses and then destroy them. Each of the Reckoners has a special talent, from research and planning, to science and invention, and weapons and ammunition. Teenager David desperately wants to join the Reckoners, for Steelheart killed his father ten years ago, and he knows Steelheart’s weakness. Booklist reviewer Frances Bradburn praised the “snappy dialogue, bizarre plot twists, high-intensity action, and a touch of mystery and romance” in this series opener. Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Jonathan Ryder noted that the “book should appeal to teens looking for a more developed take on the ‘superhero’ mythos.” A Publishers Weekly critic also had a high assessment of Steelheart, commenting that this “ultraviolent yet playful entry into the superhero genre” is “an absolute page-turner.” Likewise, a Kirkus Reviews contributor termed it a “straight-up Marvel Comics-style action drama featuring a small band of human assassins taking on costumed, superpowered supervillains with melodramatic monikers.”
The action continues in Firefight, which focuses on the aftermath of the battle against Steelheart. David, now dubbed Steelslayer, finds a new and even more powerful enemy than the Epic who killed his father. Now the Reckoners must take on the deadly High Epic Regalia who rules Babylon Restored, formerly Manhattan. Bradburn, writing in Booklist, noted that this installment “concludes in true, violent, high-action Steelslayer style, promising … more of the same” in the next installment. A Kirkus Reviews critic also had praise for this second volume of a planned trilogy, concluding: “Big in size and vision, this is the rare middle volume that keeps the throttle open and actually moves the story along significantly.”
Calamity ends the “Reckoners” series. Here, Prof, one of the Epics, plans to become the ultimate Epic by stealing Calamity’s powers. He has already wreaked unimaginable destruction in pursuit of this goal. A small group of Reckoners has gathered to oppose Prof’s goal, but they are hindered by not knowing Prof’s fear. Finding this weakness is vital, and David and the group have to rely on magical abilities, superpowers, and old-fashioned intelligence and cunning to find it in time. Parts of this series finale are “satisfying, even sweet,” noted Frances Bradburn in a Booklist review. Deseret News contributor Rachel Brutsch concluded, “Whether they’re new to Sanderson’s writing or are returning fans, readers will find much to enjoy in the ‘Reckoners’ series.”
In Skyward, the start of a new series, the Krell have been aerially attacking Spensa’s world, Detritus, for hundreds of years. She longs to follow her father and become a Defiant Defense Force pilot and help save her world. However, after her father is gunned down for deserting his squad, Spensa is unlikely to be accepted into flight school due to this association. Although she is hounded for her father’s actions. Her world is desperate for new pilots to fight the Krell.
At the start of the novel, a contributor to the Illustrated Page confessed: “I felt like I knew exactly where the plot would go and what some of the secrets behind the mysterious aliens would be. … I was completely wrong. Skyward is full of twists and turns I never predicted and that still 100% fit the story. I never should I have doubted Brandon Sanderson’s ability to wow me with plot twists.”
In Starsight, Spensa has been dogged over her father’s actions, tarnishing her vision of him as a hero. However, she is determined to find out more behind the allegations against him. After leaving the protective shield that protect her planet, she listens to the stars to find that everything she had been taught about her world and life had been a lie. She knows what she must do to save humanity. A Kirkus Reviews contributor mentioned that “Spensa’s habitual over-the-top recklessness adds a rousing spark.” The same reviewer concluded that Starsight was “not quite the wild ride of Skyward but still great fun.”
With Cytonic, Spensa is now a thoroughly skilled pilot and successfully spied on the governing galactic alliance, the Superiority, to learn more about her galaxy and her world’s position in it. However, the Superiority has started a large-scale war and plans to use the mysterious and ancient Delvers to destroy entire planetary systems to achieve their goals. As a cytonic, though, Spensa believes she can figure out how to defeat the Delvers after understanding that their defense force will be helpless against them. To do this, she must learn her true nature and find out what she truly is.
With much of the story taking place in another universe from the previous two books, a contributor to At Boundary’s Edge commented that this novel “feels disconnected from the first two books. Aside from a few interludes in which we glimpse Detritus, Spensa and M-Bot are the only characters to carry over from previous books.” Despite getting more context and deeper worldbuilding, “so much of the work done in Skyward and Starsight is set aside for this. So many story arcs are not advanced. And that’s frustrating.” Nevertheless, the At Boundary’s Edge contributor conceded that “ Cytonic is still a fun read.”
In addition to his series work, Sanderson has continued to write stand-alone novels and novellas. He sets his award-winning fantasy novella The Emperor’s Soul in the same world as his debut novel, Elantris. It features a Forger, Shai, who faces death for having forged a treasured work of art. Now she will be pardoned if she can do the seemingly impossible: forge a new soul for the Emperor. Baer, writing in Xpress Reviews, noted that “fantasy fans will love both the compelling story and the creative magical setting.” Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction reviewer Charles De Lint also had praise, commenting: “ The Emperor’s Soul is one of those rare high fantasies that feels fresh and is filled with a sense of wonder.”
Sanderson writes for young adults in The Rithmatist, a fantasy about a group who have the magical powers to bring two-dimensional objects to life, thus protecting their world. These Rithmatists are selected when they are eight. Joel longs to be a Rithmatist, but he is already sixteen. Then, when student Rithmatists at the Armedius Academy suddenly begin disappearing, Joel investigates and soon is battling not only to become a Rithmatist but also to save the American Isles. Booklist reviewer Michael Cart lauded this novel, calling it a “fast-paced mash-up of fantasy and adventure that will grab readers’ attention at the first page and hold it until the inconclusive end.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews critic thought that readers will “devour this well-crafted mix of action and setup, enriched by a thoroughly detailed cultural and historical background and capped by a distinctly unsettling twist.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: “This high-spirited, exciting story will appeal to readers of all ages.”
Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection contains nine short stories that explore many of the workings behind Sanderson’s many epic fantasy series. The stories trace connections between his many novels and show that all of his work may, in fact, be one gigantic interconnected fantasy universe. In one story, the original protagonist of the “Mistborn” series, Kelsier, is shown receiving training. In another, a counterfeiter faces the challenge of creating a duplicate of a man’s soul. Yet another story finds a woman facing the terrifying danger of a forest full of vengeful, violent ghosts.
A Publishers Weekly reviewer called Arcanum Unbounded “required reading for Sanderson fans, offering plenty for new readers who are undeterred by learning too much.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor observed that when Sanderson’s stories are good, “they’re very good, with all the quick wit, richly detailed settings, and memorable characters fans have come to expect from this prolific writer.”
(open new2)Skyward Flight is a collection of three novellas. In the first novella, fighter pilot FM and engineer Rig try to awaken the alien Alanik and learn Taynix’s powers to save humanity. In the second novella, Spensa realizes her dream of following in her father’s footsteps of becoming a pilot but is mortified to learn of his cowardice in a battle against the Krell. She sets out to clear his name but comes to understand that everything she knew about her people is fabricated in the process. In the third novella, Jorgen collaborates with Alanik while Spensa is away when the Kitsen offer to return some of his people. He wonders if they can be trusted, though. A Kirkus Reviews contributor summarized that “hot pilots slug it out with the galactic overlords in a collection that will please series fans.”
In Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, Bastille narrates the story as they try to pick up the pieces where Alcatraz failed. Bastille goes after Biblioden before he can achieve his goal of aspiration for world domination and use his dark powers against everyone after killing Alcatraz’s father. A Kirkus Reviews contributor observed that the novel offered “rescues and kittens by the carload, with a bit of inner growth on the side.”
The Lost Metal finds Senator Waxillium Ladrian tries to avoid civil war in Basin. Constables Marasi and Wayne learn of a dark prophecy about the end of the world. Wax finds out that the mysterious metal trillium can cause huge explosions and worries that the Set may use this information against the city of Elendel. A Kirkus Reviews contributor labelled it “a fast-paced and entirely satisfying conclusion to ‘Mistborn’‘s second era.”
In Tress of the Emerald Sea, Tress works as a cleaner on an isolated island. She is romantically linked to the local lord’s son, who is expected to find a more suitable wife than Tress. When he is kidnapped and abandoned by his father, Tress goes out to rescue him with aid from pirates and a talking rat. A Kirkus Reviews contributor recorded that “engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.” Booklist contributor Regina Schroeder called it “an original fairy tale that will delight fans of” The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Schroeder reasoned that “Sanderson’s storytelling rhythm makes this a fun excursion into an ancillary world of the Cosmere.”
With Defiant, cytonic superwarrior Spensa plays a major role is prevent the Superiority from wiping out her planet. Personally, though, she is torn between her feelings for Jorgen and Chet. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called it “a grand finale, presented with a touch light enough to buoy all the self-actualization. Also: giant space worms.” The same critic opined that the plot would “please space-opera fans.”
In the picture book, The Most Boring Book Ever, an unreliable narrator tries to convince the reader that nothing exciting is happening as a boy sits in a chair. The images, however, show the boy flying through the sky, avoiding explosions and dragons. A Kirkus Reviews contributor suggested that “some adult intervention may be required to clarify what precisely is happening on the page.” The same critic opined that “sky-based pyrotechnics make for a fun if somewhat confusing telling.” Booklist contributor Ronny Khuri called it “a surefire crowd-pleaser.”(close new2)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
AudioFile, April 1, 2013, Joyce E. McCarty, review of A Memory of Light, p. 33.
Booklist, May 1, 2005, Regina Schroeder, review of Elantris, p. 1577; July 1, 2006, Regina Schroeder, review of The Final Empire, p. 43; August 1, 2007, Regina Schroeder, review of The Well of Ascension, p. 55; October 1, 2008, Regina Schroeder, review of The Hero of Ages, p. 32; October 15, 2011, Alison Downs, review of The Alloy of Law, p. 25; May 15, 2009, Roland Green, review of Warbreaker, p. 33; August 1, 2010, Roland Green, review of The Way of Kings, p. 37; May 15, 2013, Michael Cart, review of The Rithmatist, p. 64; September 1, 2013, Frances Bradburn, review of Steelheart, p. 105; April 1, 2014, Roland Green, review of Words of Radiance, p. 34; January 1, 2015, Frances Bradburn, review of Firefight, p. 88; February 15, 2016, Frances Bradburn, review of Calamity, p. 73; November 15, 2018, Cindy Welch, review of Skyward, p. 55; November 1, 2020, Regina Shroeder, review of Rhythm of War, p. 34; April 1, 2023, Regina Schroeder, review of Tress of the Emerald Sea, p. 36; September 1, 2024, Ronny Khuri, review of The Most Boring Book Ever, p. 88.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, February 1, 2008, April Spisak, review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, p. 260.
California Bookwatch, February 1, 2011, review of Towers of Midnight; March 1, 2013, review of A Memory of Light.
Children’s Bookwatch, January 1, 2011, “Scholastic Press.”
Chronicle, July 1, 2005, Don D’Ammassa, review of Elantris, p. 20.
Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), March 12, 2007, Rosalie Westenskow, “Wee-Hour Musings Paying Off for Author,” interview with Brandon Sanderson; August 27, 2016, Tara Creel, “Book Review: Brandon Sanderson’s Long-Awaited The Dark Talent is a Humorous Adventure,” review of The Dark Talent; May 28, 2016, Rachel Brutsch, review of Calamity; March 25, 2022, Trent Toone, “How Brandon Sanderson’s Secret Pandemic Novel Became the No. 1 All-time Kickstarter with $33 Million.”
Guardian (London, England), December 6, 2024, James Smart, author interview.
Horn Book, January 1, 2008, Vicky Smith, review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, p. 94; November 1, 2008, Claire E. Gross, review of Alcatraz versus the Scrivener’s Bones, p. 715; November 1, 2009, Claire E. Gross, review of Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia, p. 685; January 1, 2011, Anita L. Burkam, review of Alcatraz versus the Shattered Lens, p. 100; January 1, 2017, Anita L. Burkam, review of Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, p. 100.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2005, review of Elantris, p. 456; September 1, 2007, review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians; October 1, 2008, review of Alcatraz versus the Scrivener’s Bones; October 1, 2008, review of The Hero of Ages; October 15, 2011, review of The Alloy of Law; May 1, 2013, review of The Rithmatist; June 15, 2013, review of Steelheart; November 15, 2014, review of Firefight; September 1, 2015, review of Shadows of Self; December 15, 2015, review of The Bands of Mourning; January 1, 2016, review of Calamity; September 15, 2016, review of Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection; December 15, 2017, review of Oathbringer; October 15, 2018, review of Skyward; November 1, 2019, review of Starsight; September 15, 2021, review of Cytonic; May 1, 2022, review of Skyward Flight; July 15, 2022, review of Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians; November 15, 2022, review of The Lost Metal; May 1, 2023, review of Tress of the Emerald Sea; September 15, 2023, review of Defiant; October 1, 2024, review of The Most Boring Book Ever.
Kliatt, January 1, 2007, Cara Chancellor, review of Elantris, p. 30.
Library Journal, May 15, 2005, Jackie Cassada, review of Elantris, p. 112; October 15, 2008, Cassada, review of The Hero of Ages, p. 61; October 15, 2011, William Baer, review of The Alloy of Law, p. 67; May 15, 2009, Jackie Cassada, review of Warbreaker, p. 69; March 15, 2013, Denise A. Garofalo, review of A Memory of Light, p. 80.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1, 2013, Charles De Lint, review of The Emperor’s Soul, p. 31.
New York Times, April 17, 2014, Dana Jennings, “After Years of Writing, an Author’s Own Epic Fantasy Comes True,” p. C4.
PRWeb Newswire, July 10, 2014, “Update: GraphicAudio Releases Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Well of Ascension.”
Publishers Weekly, April 18, 2005, review of Elantris, p. 48; May 15, 2006, review of The Final Empire, p. 53; June 18, 2007, review of The Well of Ascension, p. 40; November 19, 2007, review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, p. 58; August 18, 2008, review of The Hero of Ages, p. 50; August 15, 2011, review of The Alloy of Law, p. 58; April 20, 2009, review of Warbreaker, p. 36; July 26, 2010, review of The Way of Kings, p. 58; July 9, 2012, review of Legion, p. 44; January 21, 2013, Rose Fox, “The Last Battle,” p. 10; March 25, 2013, review of The Rithmatist, p. 71; April 29, 2013, review of A Memory of Light, p. 128; July 15, 2013, review of Steelheart, p. 173; October 7, 2013, Sally Lodge, “Sanderson Takes Flight,” p. 15; spring, 2014, review of The Rithmatist, p. 116; October 6, 2014, review of Legion: Skin Deep, p. 48; December 7, 2015, review of The Bands of Mourning, p. 72; September 19, 2016, review of Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection, p. 53; November 27, 2018, review of Skyward, p. 76; April 7, 2022, Sally Lodge, “Brandon Sanderson Looks ‘Skyward’ with New Books for Young Readers.”
School Library Journal, November 1, 2007, Steven Engelfried, review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, p. 137; January 1, 2010, Elaine E. Knight, review of Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia, p. 112; July 1, 2013, Anthony C. Doyle, review of The Rithmatist, p. 85; July 1, 2013, August 2, 2015, Sharon Rawlins, review of Steelheart, p. 100; March 1, 2014, Amanda Raklovits, review of Steelheart, p. 76.
Voice of Youth Advocates, October 1, 2005, review of Elantris, p. 328; October 1, 2007, Arlene Garcia, review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, p. 358; October 1, 2010, Stacey Hayman, review of The Way of Kings, p. 370; August 1, 2013, Susan Allen, review of The Rithmatist, p. 83; August 1, 2013, Jonathan Ryder, review of Steelheart, p. 83; December 1, 2017, Jewel Davis, review of Oathbringer, p. 72; February 1, 2019, B. Kunzel, review of Skyward, p. 69.
Xpress Reviews, August 6, 2010, William Baer, review of The Way of Kings; November 16, 2012, William Baer, review of The Emperor’s Soul; January 25, 2013, William Baer, review of A Memory of Light.
ONLINE
At Boundary’s Edge, https://atboundarysedge.com/ (December 13, 2021), review of Cytonic.
A.V. Club, http://www.avclub.com/ (January 15, 2015), Samantha Nelson, review of Firefight.
Best Fantasy Books, http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/ (February 14, 2016), Jon Snow, review of Calamity.
Bibliosanctum, http://www.bibliosanctum.com/ (September 5, 2016), review of The Dark Talent.
Brandon Sanderson website, https://www.brandonsanderson.com (September 20, 2025).
BraveMonster.com, http://www.bravemonster.com/ (December 12, 2008), review of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians.
Cal Newport, https://www.calnewport.com/ (February 25, 2022), “Brandon Sanderson’s Advice for Doing Hard Things.”
Deadline, http://deadline.com/ (July 22, 2015), Mike Fleming, Jr., “Carter Blanchard to Adapt Fox’s Anti-Superhero Tale ‘Steelheart’ for Shawn Levy.”
Fansided, https://winteriscoming.net/ (April 5, 2022), Daniel Roman, “Author Brandon Sanderson Had One More Surprise for Fans up His Sleeve.”
Fantasy Book Review, http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/ (December 12, 2008), author profile.
Games Radar, http://www.gamesradar.com/ (January 4, 2013), Dave Golder, “Interview: How Brandon Sanderson Ended the Wheel of Time.”
Gizmodo, https://gizmodo.com/ (April 15, 2022), Linda Codega, “Brandon Sanderson’s Record-Breaking Kickstarter Is the Exception, Not the Rule.’”
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review, http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/ (December 8, 2011), Graeme Flory, review of The Alloy of Law.
Grimdark, https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/ (November 3, 2020), James Tivendale, review of Oathbringer.
Guardian (London, England), https://www.theguardian.com/ (July 23, 2020), Alison Flood, “Brandon Sanderson: ‘After a Dozen Rejected Novels, You Think Maybe This Isn’t for You.’”
Illustrated Page, https://www.theillustratedpage.net/ (December 4, 2018), review of Skyward.
Io9.com, http://io9.com/ (March 18, 2015), Jason Krell, “Brandon Sanderson: ‘We Haven’t Hit What Epic Fantasy Is Capable of Yet.’”
JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc. website, https://awfulagent.com/ (September 20, 2025), author profile.
Lightspeed, http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/ (April, 2013), “Interview: Brandon Sanderson.”
McNally Robinson website, http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/ (October 27, 2008), Chadwick Ginther, author interview.
Medieval Bookworm, http://medievalbookworm.com/ (January 8, 2013), review of The Alloy of Law.
Mistborn website, http://mistborn.livejournal.com (August 6, 2015).
Monkeypup website, http://www.monkeypup.org/ (November 30, 2005), author profile.
New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/ (April 16, 2014), Dana Jennings, “After Years of Writing, an Author’s Own Epic Fantasy Comes True.”
Paste, http://www.pastemagazine.com/ (April 22, 2014), Frannie Jackson, “Brandon Sanderson: Heralding a New Era of Fantasy.”
Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com/ entertainment/ (January 5, 2015), Ellen Fagg Weist, “Brandon Sanderson: From Road Rage to Best-selling Series.”
Sci Fi Weekly, http://www.scifi.com/sfw/ (October 13, 2008), Paul Di Filippo, review of The Hero of Ages.
SF CrowsNest.com, http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/ (November 12, 2007), Jessica Martin, author profile.
Tor website, http://www.tor.com/ (May 11, 2015), Martin Cahill, “Here’s Where to Start Reading the Works of Brandon Sanderson.”
VG247, https://www.vg247.com/ (April 2, 2022), Stephany Nunneley, “Fantasy Author Brandon Sanderson Approached by Elden Ring’s Publisher for Future Collaboration.”
Hello! My name's Brandon.
I write science fiction and fantasy stories that focus on complex characters and innovative settings. I’m glad you stopped by.
I’ve written a lot over the years. It can be a little daunting to get into my work, but it doesn’t have to be. Most of my series can be read independently of one another, and although many of them are connected behind the scenes, references to these things are generally easter eggs or other small-scale connections.
I thought that here I’d pitch to you a few books—each a good place to start—if you want to dive in. Each book or series I write is usually trying something slightly different, so they each tend to have a unique vibe. The best place for you to start, then, is generally with something that matches your reading tastes. Let me give you a few options. You can click the title of each one to read sample chapters!
All of these works, save Skyward, take place in the same universe called the Cosmere. The connections are quite ephemeral in these pieces, but watch for a character named Hoid (a.k.a. Wit). He is relevant to each of them in some way or another. Watching for him and trying to piece together his motives is one of the mysteries of the Cosmere.
Thanks again for looking into my works! I hope you found this little guide helpful.
Brandon's Bio
Brandon Sanderson was born in December 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested for him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This all changed in eighth grade when an astute teacher, Mrs. Reeder, gave Brandon Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. Brandon thoroughly enjoyed this book, and went in search of anything similar. He discovered such authors as Robert Jordan, Melanie Rawn, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, and Orson Scott Card. Brandon continued to be an avid reader through junior high and high school. He liked epic fantasy so much that he even tried his hand at writing some. His first attempts, he says, were dreadful.
In 1994 Brandon enrolled at Brigham Young University as a biochemistry major. From 1995 to 1997 he took time away from his studies to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brandon often says that it was during this time in Seoul, Korea that he realized that he didn’t miss chemistry one bit, but he did miss writing. Upon his return to BYU, Brandon became an English major, much to the dismay of his mother, who had always hoped he would become a doctor.
Brandon began writing in earnest, taking a job as the night desk clerk at a hotel because they allowed him to write while at work. During this era he went to school full time during the day, worked nights to pay for his schooling, and wrote as much as he could. He says it made for a rather dismal social life, but he finished seven novels during his undergraduate years. Brandon submitted many manuscripts for publication . . . and accumulated quite a pile of rejection letters. In spite of this he continued to be a dedicated writer.
Volunteering for The Leading Edge, BYU’s science fiction/fantasy magazine, was a wonderful experience for Brandon. He read many submissions, formed some lifelong friendships, and served as Editor in Chief during his senior year.
Brandon learned much about the business side of being a writer by taking a class from David Farland, author of the popular Runelords series. One piece of advice Dave gave Brandon was to attend conventions, such as WorldCon and World Fantasy, in order to connect with industry professionals. Brandon and a small group of friends who were also aspiring writers began to do so. He eventually met both his current agent and one of his editors at conventions.
It was in 2003, while Brandon was in the middle of a graduate program at BYU, that he got a call from editor Moshe Feder at Tor, who wanted to buy one of Brandon’s books. Brandon had submitted the manuscript a year and a half earlier, and had almost given up on hearing anything, so he was surprised and delighted to receive the offer. In May 2005 Brandon held his first published novel,Elantris, in his hands. Over the next few years, Tor also published Brandon’s Mistborn trilogy, its followup The Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings, the first in a projected ten-volume series called The Stormlight Archive. The second book in the series, Words of Radiance, was released on March 4th, 2014. Other projects continue to be in the works.
In 2004 after graduating with his Master’s degree in creative writing from Brigham Young University, Brandon was asked to teach the class he had taken as an undergraduate student from Dave Farland. In spite of his busy schedule, Brandon continues to teach this one section of creative writing focused on science fiction and fantasy because he enjoys helping aspiring writers. It also gets him out of the house, he says. Additionally, along with Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Dan Wells, he hosts the doubly Hugo-nominated writing advice podcast Writing Excuses, which has twice won a Parsec Award.
In July 2006 Brandon married Emily Bushman. Emily and Brandon ran in many of the same circles at BYU during their student days, since Emily majored in English as well. They never met, however, until a mutual friend set them up on a date in 2005. Emily had spent seven years as a teacher, but chose to quit with the birth of their first child in October 2007. Emily now works from home part time as Brandon’s business manager.
Brandon’s repertoire expanded into the children’s market when Scholastic published Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, a middle-grade novel, in October 2007. Nancy Pearl gave this book a very favorable review on National Public Radio, which pleased Sanderson fans. Three more volumes of the series have been released so far. Additionally, Brandon’s novella Infinity Blade: Awakening was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series.
In December 2007 Brandon was chosen by Harriet McDougal Rigney to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series after his untimely passing. 2009’s The Gathering Storm and 2010’s Towers of Midnight was followed by the final volume in the series, A Memory of Light, in January 2013.
The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award eight times in seven years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings. He has also won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice award for Best Epic Fantasy twice and has been nominated three other years. His novella The Emperor’s Soul won the Hugo Award in 2013. Brandon has been serving as a judge for Writers of the Future since 2016. He has hit the New York Times Best-Seller List fifteen times, most recently at #1 with Oathbringer, book three of The Stormlight Archive, which is also Audible’s most pre-ordered book of all time. DMG Entertainment optioned the rights to the Cosmere universe shared by his fantasy novels, and Fox acquired the Reckoners trilogy for Shawn Levy’s production company 21 Laps. Brandon’s books have been published in thirty-five languages.
FAQ: https://faq.brandonsanderson.com/
Brandon Sanderson
Agent
Joshua Bilmes
Eddie Schneider
Brandon Sanderson is the multiple #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn® series and the Stormlight Archive® series. In 2013, he won the Hugo Award for “Best Novella” for The Emperor’s Soul, set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Brandon also ran the #1 Kickstarter of all time in 2022 for his four Secret Project novels, breaking multiple records by earning over $41 million across 185,000 backers.
In addition to epic fantasy, Brandon has published several New York Times bestselling books aimed at young adults including the Skyward series, The Rithmatist, the Reckoners trilogy, and the middle-grade Alcatraz series.
Brandon’s notable accomplishments:
Since his first novel was published by Tor Books in May 2005, his books have been translated into thirty-five different languages and sold over 30 million copies
He’s had a myriad of books on The New York Times bestseller list, with ten hitting the #1 position (the most recent being Rhythm of War in 2021)
Over the course of its first year, Words of Radiance received 300k ratings and is currently the highest rated novel in the history of Goodreads.
At the time that it was published, Oathbringer was the most preordered audiobook in the history of Audible
Mistborn is the top bestselling trilogy throughout the 21st century that isn’t attached to a media property
Along with his solo novels, the three Wheel of Time books Brandon has co-written have sold an additional 10 million copies, and Brandon is a Consulting Producer on the Wheel of Time television series.
Find Brandon on his website, or follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube @BrandSanderson.
Brandon Sanderson
USA flag (b.1975)
Brandon Sanderson is an American fantasy author, who grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He earned his Master's degree in Creative Writing in 2005 from Brigham Young University, where he was on the staff of Leading Edge, a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine published by the university. He was a college roommate of Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings. He has been nominated twice for the John W. Campbell Award.
In 2013, he won a Hugo Award for Best Novella for The Emperor's Soul, set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time(R) sequence.
Awards: Hugo (2013) see all
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy, Children's Fiction, Science Fiction
New and upcoming books
July 2025
thumb
Isles of the Emberdark
(Secret Projects, book 5)December 2025
thumb
Tailored Realities
Series
Elantris
1. Elantris (2005)
The Hope of Elantris (2007)
2. The Emperor's Soul (2012)
thumbthumbthumb
Mistborn
1. Mistborn (2006)
aka The Final Empire
2. The Well of Ascension (2007)
3. The Hero of Ages (2008)
4. The Alloy of Law (2011)
5. Shadows of Self (2015)
6. Bands of Mourning (2016)
Secret History (2016)
7. The Lost Metal (2022)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumbthumb
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
1. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (2007)
aka Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
2. The Scrivener's Bones (2008)
3. The Knights of Crystallia (2009)
4. The Shattered Lens (2010)
5. The Dark Talent (2018)
6. Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (2022) (with Janci Patterson)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumb
Wheel of Time (with Robert Jordan)
11.5. What the Storm Means (2009)
12. The Gathering Storm (2009)
13. Towers of Midnight (2010)
13.5. By Grace and Banners Fallen (2012)
14. A Memory of Light (2013)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumb
Stormlight Archive
1. The Way of Kings (2010)
2. Words of Radiance (2014)
2.5. Edgedancer (2017)
3. Oathbringer (2017)
3.5. Dawnshard (2020)
4. Rhythm of War (2020)
5. Wind and Truth (2024)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumb
Infinity Blade
1. Awakening (2011)
2. Redemption (2013)
thumbthumb
Legion
1. Legion (2012)
Legion and The Emperor's Soul (2013)
2. Skin Deep (2014)
Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds (2018)
3. Lies of the Beholder (2018)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumb
Reckoners
1. Steelheart (2013)
1.5. Mitosis (2013)
2. Firefight (2014)
3. Calamity (2016)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
Cosmere
Sixth of the Dusk (2014)
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (2015)
Arcanum Unbounded (2016)
The Sunlit Man (2023)
Isles of the Emberdark (2025)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
Skyward
1. Skyward (2018)
2. Starsight (2019)
3. Cytonic (2021)
Defending Elysium (2021)
4. Defiant (2023)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumb
Oathbringer Serialization
1. Oathbringer Part One (2019)
2. Oathbringer Part Two (2019)
thumbthumb
Skyward Flight (with Janci Patterson)
1. Sunreach (2021)
2. ReDawn (2021)
3. Evershore (2021)
thumbthumbthumb
Secret Projects
1. Tress of the Emerald Sea (2023)
2. The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England (2023)
3. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (2023)
4. The Sunlit Man (2023)
5. Isles of the Emberdark (2025)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumb
Dark One
Dark One: Forgotten (2023) (with Dan Wells)
Dark One: Prophetic Histories (2024)
thumb
Novels
Warbreaker (2009)
The Rithmatist (2013)
The Original (2020) (with Mary Robinette Kowal)
Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel (2021) (with Steven Bohls)
Stephen Leeds: Death & Faxes: Legion (2022) (with others)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumb
Collections
FirstBorn / Defending Elysium (2013)
Shadows Beneath (2014) (with others)
Three Fantasies (2014)
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell / Perfect State (2015)
Tailored Realities (2025)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumb
Novellas and Short Stories
Perfect State (2015)
Snapshot (2017)
H.A.R.R.E. (2023) (with Ethan Skarstedt)
thumbthumbthumb
Series contributed to
Tor.Com Original
Firstborn (2010)
thumb
Picture Books hide
The Most Boring Book Ever (2024)
Brandon Sanderson
Article
Talk
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Appearance hide
Text
Small
Standard
Large
Width
Standard
Wide
Color (beta)
Automatic
Light
Dark
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson at the 2016 Lucca Comics & Games convention
Sanderson at the 2016 Lucca Comics & Games convention
Born Brandon Winn Sanderson[1]
December 19, 1975 (age 49)
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Education Brigham Young University (BA, MA)
Period 2005–present
Genre
Fantasyscience fiction
Notable works
Mistborn
The Stormlight Archive
Final three books of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time
The Reckoners
Rithmatist
White Sand
Spouse Emily Bushman (m. 2006)
Children 3
Website
brandonsanderson.com Edit this at Wikidata
Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, are set. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including The Reckoners, the Skyward series,[a] and the Alcatraz series. He is also known for finishing author Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Sanderson has created two graphic novels, including White Sand and Dark One.
Sanderson created Sanderson's Laws of Magic and popularized the idea of "hard magic" and "soft magic" systems. In 2008, Sanderson started a podcast with the horror writer Dan Wells and the cartoonist Howard Tayler called Writing Excuses, involving topics about creating genre writing and webcomics. In 2016, the American media company DMG Entertainment licensed the film rights to Sanderson's entire Cosmere universe, but the rights have since reverted back to Sanderson. Sanderson's March 2022 Kickstarter campaign became the most successful in history, finishing with 185,341 backers pledging US$41,754,153.[3] In mid-2022, Sanderson and Dan Wells started another podcast, Intentionally Blank, which is focused on writing and pop culture.
Personal life
Early life
Sanderson was born on December 19, 1975, in Lincoln, Nebraska,[4][5] the eldest of four children born to Barbara and Winn Sanderson. He was a "reluctant reader" as a child but became a passionate reader of fantasy in his teens after a teacher gave him a copy of Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.[6] He made several early attempts at writing his own stories.[7] After graduating from high school in 1994, he went to Brigham Young University (BYU) as a biochemistry major. He took a two-year leave of absence from 1995 to 1997 to serve as a volunteer missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was assigned to serve in South Korea.[7]
Education
After completing his missionary service, Sanderson returned to BYU and changed his major to English literature. While an undergraduate, Sanderson took a job as a night auditor at a local hotel in Provo, Utah, as it allowed him to write while working.[7] One of Sanderson's roommates at BYU was Ken Jennings, who nearly ten years later became famous during his 74-game win streak on the game show Jeopardy!.[8] Sanderson graduated from BYU in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts. He continued on as a graduate student, receiving an M.A. in English with an emphasis in creative writing in 2004.[9] While at BYU, Sanderson was on the staff of Leading Edge, a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine published by the university, and served as its editor-in-chief for one year.[10]
Adult life
In 2006, Sanderson married Emily Bushman, an English, Spanish, and ESL teacher and fellow BYU alumna; Emily later became his business manager.[7][11] They have three sons and reside in American Fork, Utah.[12]
Career
Early writing career
Sanderson in 2007
Sanderson wrote consistently throughout his undergraduate and graduate studies; by 2003, he had written twelve novels, though no publisher had accepted any of them for publication.[13] While in the middle of a graduate program at BYU, he was contacted by Tor Books editor Moshe Feder, who wanted to acquire one of his books. Sanderson had submitted the manuscript of his sixth novel,[14] Elantris, a year and a half earlier.[7] Elantris was published by Tor Books on April 21, 2005, to generally positive reviews.[15][16] This was followed in 2006 by Mistborn: The Final Empire, the first book in his Mistborn fantasy trilogy, in which "allomancers"—people with the ability to 'burn' metals and alloys after ingesting them—gain enhanced senses and control over powerful supernatural forces.[17]
He published the second book of the Mistborn series The Well of Ascension in 2007.[18] Later that year, Sanderson published the children's novel Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, about a boy named Alcatraz with a talent for breaking things.[19] Alcatraz confronts a group of evil librarians who are bent on taking over the world. The first of his "laws of magic" were first published in 2007, with the second and third published in 2012 and 2013 (respectively).[20][21][22] In 2008, the third and final book in the Mistborn trilogy was published, titled The Hero of Ages, as well as the second book in the Alcatraz series, titled Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones.[23] That same year, he started the podcast Writing Excuses with Howard Tayler and Dan Wells.[24]
The Wheel of Time
Sanderson rose to prominence in late 2007 when Harriet McDougal, the wife and editor of author Robert Jordan, chose Sanderson to complete the final books in Jordan's epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time after Jordan's death. McDougal asked Sanderson to finish the series after being deeply impressed by his first Mistborn novel, The Final Empire.[25] Tor Books made the announcement on December 7, 2007.[26] After reviewing what was necessary to complete the series, Sanderson and Tor announced on March 30, 2009, that a final three books would be published instead of just one.
The first of these, The Gathering Storm, was published on October 27, 2009, and reached the number-one spot on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.[27][28] Towers of Midnight, the second-to-last The Wheel of Time book, was published just over a year after The Gathering Storm on November 2, 2010, debuting at number one on the bestseller list.[29] In early 2013, the series was completed with the publication of A Memory of Light.[30]
Career
In 2009, Tor Books published Warbreaker, which originally appeared serially on Sanderson's website while he was writing the novel from 2006 to 2009.[31][32] In the same year, the third Alcatraz book was published, titled Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia.[33] In 2010, Sanderson published The Way of Kings, the first of a planned ten-book series called The Stormlight Archive. It achieved the number seven slot on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list.[34] The fourth Alcatraz novel, Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens, followed soon after.[35]
In October 2011, he finished a novella e-book, Infinity Blade: Awakening, based on the action role-playing, iOS video game Infinity Blade, developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games.[36] In November 2011, he published a sequel to the Mistborn trilogy, Mistborn: The Alloy of Law.[37] It was originally planned as a standalone novel set about 300 years after the original trilogy, but it was later expanded into a four-book series.[38][39] It debuted at number nine on the combined print and e-book New York Times Best Seller list.[40]
On August 31, 2012, Sanderson published a science fiction novella entitled Legion, followed by another short work titled The Emperor's Soul.[41][42] In 2013, Sanderson published two new young adult series. These series included The Rithmatist and the first of The Reckoners series titled Steelheart.[43][44][45] In March 2014, Words of Radiance, the second book in The Stormlight Archive, was published.[46]
Later that year, Subterranean Press published the second novella in the Legion series, Legion: Skin Deep.[47] It was a preliminary nominee for the 2015 Hugo Awards, but did not make the final ballot.[47] In January 2015, the second book of The Reckoners, titled Firefight, was published.[48] Firefight won the 2015 Whitney Award in the Best Young Adult—Speculative category.[48] It also placed eighth in the Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category of the Goodreads Choice Awards and was a finalist for the 2015 AML Award in the Young Adult Novel category.[48]
Nine months later, Sanderson published Mistborn: Shadows of Self as a direct sequel to The Alloy of Law.[49] The novel won the 2017 Neffy Award in the Best Novel category, placed third in the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards in the Fantasy category, was a finalist in the Best Speculative Fiction category of the 2015 Whitney Awards, and was a preliminary nomineed for the 2016 Gemmell Legend Award.[49] On November 16, 2015, Sanderson's agency (JABberwocky Literary Agency) announced that Sanderson officially sold over 7 million copies worldwide.[50]
On January 26, 2016, Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning was published as the sequel to Shadows of Self. On February 16, 2016, the third and final book of the Reckoners trilogy, titled Calamity, was published. In June 2016, Sanderson's first graphic novel White Sand—written with Rik Hoskin—was released. The series is planned as a trilogy.[51] The graphic novels are based on an original manuscript by Sanderson.[52] On September 6, 2016, the fifth Alcatraz book was published, called Alcatraz Versus the Dark Talent.[53]
DMG Entertainment optioned the Cosmere in 2016 for film and television.[54] On November 22, 2016, an anthology of Cosmere short stories and novellas was published, titled Arcanum Unbounded: A Cosmere Collection. The third book in The Stormlight Archive, Oathbringer, was published on November 14, 2017.[55] The first book of the Defiant series, Skyward, was published on November 6, 2018.[56] The second book in the series, Starsight, was released on November 26, 2019. In September 2020, a collaboration project with author Mary Robinette Kowal called The Original, was released. Rhythm of War, the fourth Stormlight novel, was published on November 17, 2020.[57] In 2020, Sanderson's agency updated his number of copies sold to over 18 million worldwide,[58] and in early 2021, to over 21 million.[59]
In March 2021, Brandon Sanderson announced a "Weekly Update" in his YouTube channel which will give updates on his current projects every week. On May 26, Brandon Sanderson revealed the title and cover for Cytonic, the third book of his Skyward series, which was published on November 23, 2021. Sanderson started a new podcast in June 2021 called Intentionally Blank, with friend and fellow science fiction author Dan Wells.[60]
Sanderson announced in March 2022 that, over the previous two pandemic years, he had secretly written five otherwise-unannounced books (four full adult novels and a shorter junior novel). The full novels (three of which are set in the Cosmere) were made available through a Kickstarter subscription that releases them quarterly through 2023.[61] The Kickstarter campaign was highly successful, raising $15 million in its first 24 hours[62] and over $20 million within three days, becoming the all-time most successful campaign.[63] The Kickstarter campaign finished with 185,341 backers pledging $41,754,153.[64][65] Before the conclusion of his Kickstarter campaign, Sanderson also backed every other publishing project on Kickstarter, for a total of 316 projects.[66] One of the secret projects during the pandemic, Tress of the Emerald Sea, was released in book form in April 2023.[67]
Sanderson also collaborated with Unknown Worlds Entertainment to create the lore and setting for the video game Moonbreaker, which was released via early access in September 2022.[68]
Sanderson announced a further 'secret project' novel, set for a 2025 release, in March 2024.[69] The "biggest release the [fantasy] genre has seen in years" came about in December 2024 with the unveiling of Wind and Truth.[70] This is Sanderson's fifth and final book in the first arc of The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson projects there will be at least five more books in the series, but the printing of these novels is not expected until 2031.[70]
Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC
Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC is a company acting as publisher, storefront, and producer for various Sanderson-related products and projects. It is also known as Dragonsteel Books, according to Sanderson's personal blog as a rebranding tactic in 2021.[71] It holds copyrights to many of Sanderson's novels and has self-published several of his stories in both digital and print formats.[72]
In 2024, Sanderson appeared before 5,000 fans at FanX in Salt Lake City, Utah at a 50-minute panel. During the panel, Sanderson announced that Dragonsteel Entertainment had purchased land to "theoretically build a bookstore" called Dragonsteel Plaza. Dragonsteel Plaza would be home to a bookstore, outside market, and the headquarters for Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC.[73][74]
Kickstarter campaigns
Sanderson first turned to Kickstarter in 2020, when he generated $6.7 million from almost 30,000 backers to produce a collectable leather-bound 10th anniversary edition of the Stormlight Archive novel, The Way of Kings.[75]
In 2022, in his second Kickstarter project, Sanderson raised over $41.7 million for four secret books, all intended as stand-alone novels, through Dragonsteel Entertainment. The crowdfunding campaign became the largest in Kickstarter history by pledge volume, surpassing the previous record holder by more than double. It also set new records for the most funds raised in the first 24 hours, with $15.4 million, as well as the highest number of backers and total funding within the same time period.[76]
In August 2024, Sanderson teamed up with Brotherwise Games to create a tabletop role-playing game (RPG) based on the mythical universe the Cosmere, featured in many of his fantasy novels. With over $14.6 million in pledges, the Kickstarter campaign broke the previous record in pledges for a tabletop RPG.[76]
Community relations
In 2015, Brandon Sanderson and wife Emily Sanderson created a charitable organization called The Lightweaver Foundation. Its mission is to "Feed bodies. Fill minds. Fuel hope."[77] Jane Horne is the director of the organization.[77]
The Lightweaver Foundation's first project helped students at Utah Valley University (UVU) and Brigham Young University (BYU) publish their speculative fiction in journals. The foundation set up an endowment fund to support university journals and ensure future publications of these journals continued.[77]
The Lightweaver Foundation is also responsible for raising money to support people and programs, largely within their local community. One of the major beneficiaries for these efforts has been the Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. The Lightweaver Foundation has also promoted literacy by supporting a writing conference for teens called StoryCon (formerly Teen Author Bootcamp) and also supporting Book Drop, which hosts popular authors to speak at schools and give away copies of their published works.[77]
Cosmere
The Cosmere is the name of the universe in which Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, The Stormlight Archive, White Sand, Tress of the Emerald Sea, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, The Sunlit Man, and stories contained in Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection are all set. This idea came from Sanderson's desire to create an epic-length series without requiring readers to buy a ridiculous number of books. Because of that, he hides connections to his other works within each book, creating a "hidden epic".[78] Further, Sanderson has cited inspiration from the way Isaac Asimov's separate Robot and Foundation series were eventually tied together; the Cosmere is his attempt at an overarching superstory established at onset of the series. This is unlike Asimov's stories, which were connected ad hoc mid-series.[79] Sanderson has estimated that the Cosmere sequence could conclude with at least 40 books.[80]
The story of the Cosmere is about a mysterious being called Adonalsium, who existed on a world known as Yolen. Adonalsium was killed by a group of at least seventeen conspirators, causing its power to shatter into sixteen different Shards, each of which bears immense power.[81] Sixteen of those people—referred to as Vessels—then took these Shards and traveled to new worlds, populating them with different systems of magic or extending on ones already present. In one case, the Shards known as Ruin and Preservation worked together to create the planet Scadrial, the setting of the Mistborn series.[81]
Each Shard has an Intent, such as Ambition or Honor, and a Vessel's personality is changed over time to bring them more in-line with their Intent. One such Shard, Odium, has killed—or "splintered"—several other Shards. On Sel, he splintered Devotion and Dominion, accidentally creating the Dor, from which Seons and Skaze have emerged. He has also splintered Ambition, in the Threnody system. A man known as Hoid is seen or mentioned in most Cosmere books. He is from Yolen and travels the so-called Shardworlds, using the people of those worlds to further an unknown agenda.[82]
Sanderson has indicated that an upcoming work in the series will be in the cyberpunk genre, a marked departure from the setting of the high-fantasy and urban-fantasy settings that have featured in the Cosmere universe to date.[83]
Sanderson's Laws of Magic
Sanderson makes an express distinction between "soft" and "hard" magic for purposes of world building and creating magic systems in fictional settings.[84][85][86] Both terms are approximate ways of characterizing two ends of a spectrum.[20][87] Hard magic systems follow specific rules, the magic is controlled and explained to the reader in the narrative detailing the mechanics behind the way the magic 'works' and can be used for building settings that revolve around the magic system.[88][89] Soft magic systems may not have clearly defined rules or limitations, or they may provide limited exposition regarding their workings. They are used to create a sense of wonder in the reader.[84][90]
Sanderson's three laws of magic are creative writing guidelines that can be used to create magic systems for fantasy stories:
An author's ability to solve conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.[20]
Weaknesses, limits and costs are more interesting than powers.[21][91]
The author should expand on what is already a part of the magic system before something entirely new is added, as this may otherwise entirely change how the magic system fits into the fictional world.[22]
Additionally, there is a zeroth law:
Always err on the side of what's awesome.[92]
Teaching
Sanderson is adjunct faculty at Brigham Young University, teaching a creative writing course once per year.[93][94]
Sanderson's writing courses are also published to his YouTube channel, "Brandon Sanderson."[95]
Sanderson also participates in the weekly podcast Writing Excuses with authors Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and web cartoonist Howard Tayler.[24] He began hosting the podcast Intentionally Blank with Dan Wells in June 2021, where they discuss random things they enjoy.[96]
Bibliography
Main article: Brandon Sanderson bibliography
Selected awards and honors
Sanderson has been nominated for (and also won) multiple awards for his various works. See Writing Excuses for additional awards and nominations.
Year Organization Award title,
category Work Result Ref.
2005 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award,
Best Epic Fantasy Novel Award Elantris Won [97]
2006 World Science Fiction Society John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer -- Nominated [98]
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award,
Best Epic Fantasy Novel Award Mistborn Nominated [99]
2007 World Science Fiction Society John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer -- Nominated [98]
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award,
Best Epic Fantasy Novel Award The Well of Ascension Nominated [100]
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Speculative Fiction Nominated [101]
Whitney Awards,
Best Youth Fiction Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians Nominated
Polytechnic University of Catalonia UPC Science Fiction Award Defending Elysium Won [102]
2008 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award,
Best Epic Fantasy Novel Award The Hero of Ages Won [103]
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Speculative Fiction Award Won [104]
2009 DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Fantasy Novel The Hero of Ages Nominated [105]
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Speculative Fiction Warbreaker Nominated [106]
2010 DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Fantasy Novel Warbreaker Nominated [107]
The Gathering Storm Nominated
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Speculative Fiction Award The Way of Kings Won [108]
Whitney Awards,
Best Novel of the Year Award Won
Goodreads Goodreads Choice Awards 2010,
Best Fantasy of 2010 Towers of Midnight Won [109]
2011 DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Way of Kings Won [110]
Towers of Midnight Nominated [111]
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Speculative Fiction Award The Alloy of Law Won [112]
2012 DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Legend Award For Best Novel The Alloy of Law Nominated [113]
Goodreads Goodreads Choice Awards 2012,
Best Fantasy of 2012 The Emperor's Soul Nominated [114]
2013 World Science Fiction Society Hugo Award,
Best Novella The Emperor's Soul Won [115]
World Fantasy Convention World Fantasy Award,
Best Novella Nominated [116]
Goodreads Goodreads Choice Awards 2013,
Best Fantasy of 2013 A Memory of Light Nominated [117]
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Young Adult—Speculative Steelheart Won [118]
Goodreads Goodreads Choice Awards 2013,
Best Young Adult Fantasy of 2013 Nominated [119]
2014 World Science Fiction Society Hugo Award,
Best Novel The Wheel of Time[120] Nominated [121]
DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Legend Award for Best Novel A Memory of Light Nominated [122]
Goodreads Goodreads Choice Awards 2014,
Best Fantasy of 2014 Words of Radiance Nominated [123]
LDStorymakers Whitney Awards,
Best Speculative Fiction Award Won [124]
2015 DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Legend Award for Best Novel Words of Radiance Won [125]
Goodreads Goodreads Choice Awards 2015,
Best Fantasy of 2015 Shadows of Self Nominated [126]
Goodreads Choice Awards 2015,
Best Young Adult Fantasy of 2015 Firefight Nominated [127]
2016 World Science Fiction Society Hugo Award,
Best Novella Perfect State Nominated [128]
Dragon Con Dragon Awards,
Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel Calamity Nominated [129]
2017 DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Bands of Mourning Nominated [130]
2018 World Science Fiction Society Hugo Award,
Best Series The Stormlight Archive Nominated [131]
DGLA David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy,
Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel Oathbringer Nominated [132]
Dragon Con Dragon Awards,
Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal) Won [133]
Dragon Awards,
Best Graphic Novel Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand Volume 1 Won
2019 Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Geffen Award,
Best Translated Fantasy Book The Alloy of Law Won [134]
2021 Dragon Con Dragon Awards,
Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal) Rhythm of War Nominated [135]
2023 Dragon Con Dragon Awards,
Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal) Tress of the Emerald Sea Nominated [136]
Utah Valley University Honorary Doctor of Letters -- Awarded [137]
2025 World Science Fiction Society Hugo Award,
Best Series The Stormlight Archive finalist [138]
Interview
‘It’s got everything you want, plus dragons’: Brandon Sanderson on the joy of writing fantasy
This article is more than 8 months old
James Smart
The hugely popular author reveals his excitement at the release of his latest Stormlight saga, how he extracted himself from Amazon and why JK Rowling should have stuck to novels
Fri 6 Dec 2024 11.32 EST
Share
It’s 1pm in American Fork, Utah, and the author of one of the biggest books of the year – in physical size and sales potential – is in his bedroom, having just woken up. This, it turns out, is typical. “I usually write until about 4am, then get up around noon,” Brandon Sanderson tells me over video call, leaning forward in a large chair.
The Nebraska-born author has been writing through the night ever since he was a student some 25 years ago, when he spent his graveyard shifts at a hotel drafting a succession of unpublished novels. In 2005, his debut, Elantris (about religious extremists and a cursed city) was published to acclaim. His hugely successful Mistborn series (metal-fuelled wizards battle an immortal tyrant – then deal with the consequences) began a year later. But the Stormlight Archive, a saga that sits somewhere between Final Fantasy and Ragnarok with a sprinkling of Paradise Lost, is Sanderson’s defining work, accounting for more than 10 million of the 34 million copies he has sold throughout his career.
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson.
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson. Photograph: Orion
Plenty rests, then, on Wind and Truth, the fifth in a promised 10-book cycle. “There are a whole lot of people who would love to be in this chair,” says Sanderson, speaking with a focused enthusiasm that barely dips over the hour we speak. “And what that means to me is, wow, I better make good on it.”
Stormlight’s setting will feel idiosyncratic to anyone who still thinks fantasy means orcs and wizards: its world is shaped by brutal storms, which leave much of the land only capable of supporting crab-like lifeforms, stubborn plants and hovering nature spirits. Humans have settled, but the god Odium has his sights on domination. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and Sanderson cheerfully acknowledges that “epic fantasy can become a bit of a blur”.
Yet Sanderson’s books, while not exactly concise – he rarely uses a sentence when a paragraph will do, and Wind and Truth stretches over 1,300 pages – carry their intriguing plots forward in great, eager strides, whether they’re delivering cosmic drama or giving his characters room to banter or stew in self-doubt.
“It wouldn’t be a fantasy book without the world-building and the magic, but it’s the least important aspect of the story,” he says. “Lord of the Rings isn’t great because of the world-building. Lord of the Rings is great because of the character interactions and that idea of taking someone small and normal and thrusting them into a world of giants, saying how that person’s core values can be as valuable to society as another person’s heroic might.”
By Wind and Truth, the Stormlight Archive’s scale is epic: cities across the world are under siege and heroes wield supernatural blades, with one on a path to godhood. Sanderson says he never knew things would get this big, or capture so many readers’ imaginations.
I realised I don’t work for the fans anymore, I work for Amazon, so I tried to get out from under its thumb
“Success at this level is luck,” he says. “It is absolute luck.” He calls The Wheel of Time, the Robert Jordan book series he completed on behalf of the writer’s estate after his death, a “huge boost”, but suggests the success of his works – most of which are set in a shared universe called the Cosmere – was enabled by a cultural shift. “The Marvel Cinematic Universe started in 2008 and the Cosmere started in 2005,” he says. “And I think the advent of the internet, allowing us to go back and easily find summaries and ways to remind ourselves of what had come before, unearthed a natural desire to have stories get a little more interconnected. It allowed complexity to come into a serialised work in a way that hadn’t been mass market-viable really ever before.”
Sanderson’s fans mob him at conventions (he now needs a little buggy to get around) and flood online forums with theories about Cosmere lore. Readers have also signed up in droves to raise funds for special projects, including a Cosmere role-playing game. In 2023, he arranged a Kickstarter offering subscribers four secret novels and associated merchandise, raising an astonishing $42m in a month – it remains the largest fundraiser ever on the platform.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Bookmarks
Free weekly newsletter
Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you
Enter your email address
Sign up
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Brandon Sanderson
Fantasy fans crowdfund record £17m for author Brandon Sanderson’s new novels
Read more
He was prompted to mix regular publishing with these straight-to-consumer projects after watching Amazon remove his publisher Macmillan’s books from sale in a 2010 dispute over eBook pricing. “That’s when I realised, man, I work for Amazon,” he says. “I don’t work for the fans any more, I don’t work for the publisher.” The desire to “get out from under [Amazon’s] thumb” has led to the creation of his “own little publishing house”: Dragonsteel, which sells mugs, T-shirts and leatherbound books, owns property and handles Sanderson’s proofreading and illustrations.
While The Wheel of Time is now a glossy series on Prime, films of Mistborn and The Emperor’s Soul – a novella that’s a great entry point into the Cosmere – have fallen through. “Hollywood,” says a resigned Sanderson, “is a weird place”.
Though he would be up for writing an adaptation himself, he is working to hone his screenwriting skills, as he doesn’t think his success as a novelist automatically means he will be good at writing for screen. He gives the example of JK Rowling, who he thinks made mistakes in the writing of the Fantastic Beasts series. “She should not have been allowed to write screenplays,” he says. “You think you’re good at one aspect of writing? That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at others.”
Books remain Sanderson’s love. He rhapsodises about the thrill of combining the wonder of magic with the “crunchiness” of a scientific perspective, and charts fantasy’s evolution as a “brand-new genre” from CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien through George RR Martin (“very smart”), NK Jemisin and Joe Abercrombie. “If you fell out of reading it, give it a try. You will find everything you want that is in any other genre, plus it will have dragons,” he says. “So why would you read anything else?”
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson is published by Orion (£30). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
Sanderson, Brandon SKYWARD FLIGHT Delacorte (Teen None) $19.99 4, 5 ISBN: 978-0-593-56785-2
In a trio of novellas, supporting characters take center stage to battle treachery and cement alliances with aliens while the series' protagonist is off on a quest.
Separately published in 2021 as e-books, the three tales included here string together both personal and political developments: Sunreach sees empathetic fighter pilot FM and engineer Rig, both White, awkwardly reach the smooching stage while learning how to work with adorable talking slugs that have cytonic powers. Violet-skinned Alanik has to overcome mistrust of humans to enlist their aid in fending off an attempt by supporters of the oppressive galactic Superiority to take over her planetary government on gas giant ReDawn in the eponymous second story. Finally, in Evershore, Skyward Flight leader Jorgen, who reads as Black, discovers both command potential and superpowers of his own while coordinating a defense of the valiant (if furry and squirrel-sized) kitsen. All three episodes kick up the action with both large- and small-scale battles in air and space--all brisk if remarkably low in explicit fatalities--dovetailing neatly in the end into the closing events of Cytonic (2021). Sanderson credits Patterson with the lion's share of the writing but adds five deleted scenes from his series opener, Skyward (2018), with commentary as a literary lagniappe. Each novella opens with skillful character portraits in contrasting styles by the two illustrators.
Hot pilots slug it out with the galactic overlords in a collection that will please series fans. (Science fiction. 12-15)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sanderson, Brandon: SKYWARD FLIGHT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701896823/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=56601b29. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
Sanderson, Brandon BASTILLE VS. THE EVIL LIBRARIANS Starscape/Tom Doherty (Children's None) $17.99 9, 20 ISBN: 978-1-25-081106-6
Previous prognostications of failure and doom notwithstanding, this bustling entry features miraculous survivals and just deserts for the biblio-baddies.
Switching narrators in the wake of devastating deeds at the end of The Dark Talent (2016), the co-authors pick up the action with stern, stab-happy Bastille describing her rescue of traumatized Alcatraz Smedry from a Library of Congress that is filling up with lava, then a desperate effort to keep ultra-evil librarian Biblioden the Scrivener from forcing the world's remaining Free Kingdoms to check themselves out permanently. Despite her own forewarnings of a disastrous ending and stern suggestion to start with Volume 1 for the backstory, she does fill in enough of what's going on for readers to keep pace--and in characteristically take-no-prisoners tones, lays out a rip-roaring tale in which she fulfills her role as Alcatraz's protector with plenty of brisk (if bloodless) sword work and an unshakeable loyalty that, along with the occasional punch, draws him out of a paralyzing slough of guilt and self-loathing. A climactic battle features a horde of bloodthirsty kittens and a ravenous, punning monster--followed by hints that surviving librarians may be taking up worthier missions and, since Bastille insists on the veracity of this account, credible reasons why people the world around have talents for being late, breaking things, and like peccadillos. Most of the heroically posed figures in Lazo's realistically modeled illustrations are light-skinned.
Rescues and kittens by the carload, with a bit of inner growth on the side. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sanderson, Brandon: BASTILLE VS. THE EVIL LIBRARIANS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A709933310/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2db6e9d0. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
Sanderson, Brandon THE LOST METAL Tor (Fiction None) $29.99 11, 15 ISBN: 978-0-76-539119-3
A fantasy adventure about a race to stop a group of fanatics from destroying the world.
Waxillium Ladrian is a senator now, desperately trying to use his influence to prevent a civil war in his homeland of the Basin. Marasi and Wayne are partners, official constables charged with keeping the peace. But when Marasi encounters a member of the shadowy Set with unnatural powers who makes a bleak prophecy about the world ending in ash and darkness and uncovers a perplexing Set plot to smuggle material into--not out of--the city of Elendel, the whole group is soon drawn back into the world-saving business. Then Wax accidentally demonstrates that using a mysterious metal called trellium to attempt to split harmonium into its component metals causes massive explosions. If the Set were to gain this information, the result could be a cataclysmic blast. In Sanderson's capable hands, the first third of the novel moves along at a steady pace, setting up this new adventure while still allowing plenty of time for readers to reacquaint themselves with the charming characters who people this chapter of the Mistborn saga. Once the team heads for the Outer City of Bilming, the pace picks up to breakneck speed, and the bulk of the novel is spent rushing to uncover the plot and prevent disaster. Evil gods, visitors from other parts of the Cosmere, underground bunkers--this is an action-packed adventure that also drops plenty of hints about where the Mistborn saga might go from here.
A fast-paced and entirely satisfying conclusion to Mistborn's second era.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sanderson, Brandon: THE LOST METAL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726309180/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3e4fe01b. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
Tress of the Emerald Sea. By Brandon Sanderson. Apr. 2023. 384P. Tor, $29.99 (9781250899651).
Tress is a pragmatic girl who lives on an island in a green sea, works as a cleaner, collects cups, and has a good friend in the local lord's son. The lord sees their friendship and announces that the family will be leaving the island to find a wife for his heir. Charlie promises he won't marry anyone else, and that he'll send her a cup at every stop. The cups stop coming; the lord arrives home with an heir who is not his son. Tress finds that Charlie has been taken for ransom and abandoned by his father. She cooks up a plan to leave the island, which goes well until she discovers she's managed to smuggle herself onto a smuggler's ship, which is promptly destroyed by pirates, though not before Tress befriends a talking rat named Huck. She soon finds friends among the pirate crew, and navigates an educational and dangerous journey. Sanderson's storytelling rhythm makes this a fun excursion into an ancillary world of the Cosmere, where a world building whim--in this case, seas made of spores rather than water--grows into a full-fledged adventure.--Regina Schroeder
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Mega best-selling Sanderson raised millions (literally, millions!) on Kickstarter for four stand-alone fantasy novels; this is the first, so expect devoted fans and curious new readers to be drawn in.
YA: An original fairy tale that will delight fans of William Goldmans The Princess Bride and Neil Gaiman's Stardust. JS.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Schroeder, Regina. "Tress of the Emerald Sea." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 15, 1 Apr. 2023, p. 36. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A745656591/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=56dd7e2b. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
Sanderson, Brandon TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA Tor (Fiction None) $25.49 4, 4 ISBN: 9781250899651
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife--and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she'll have to get off the barren island she's forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress' world are dangerous because they're not made of water--they're made of colorful spores that pour down from the world's 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it's Tress' quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious--which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, "He'd apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.") The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sanderson, Brandon: TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A747342470/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=19af788a. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
Sanderson, Brandon DEFIANT Delacorte (Teen None) $21.99 11, 21 ISBN: 9780593309711
Hotshot pilot Spensa Nightshade completes her apotheosis in this series closer, as human rebels and their alien allies mount a climactic assault on the galactic empire.
Having progressed from eating rats to being a cytonic superwarrior, Spensa is bonded by ties of loyalty and lust to former Skyward Flight leader, now Defiant Defense Force admiral, Jorgen--and also to a traumatized, planet-killing, interdimensional delver named Chet. Spensa would be well on her way to full-blown pacifism if the Superiority's war of extermination against humans were not ramping up to a newly active phase. Nothing for it but a massive space battle, complete with dogfights, huge explosions, feints, betrayals, and tragic sacrifices not to mention a swarm of ravenous, vacuum-dwelling vastworms eager to chow down on both sides. Though slowed by Spensa's and others' wrestling with conflicting impulses and weighing moral imperatives, the plot features more than enough large- and small-scale action set pieces to please space-opera fans. Better yet, the deliciously expansive cast includes not only humans and AIs but a broad array of aliens and semi-aliens from blue-skinned humanoids and a furry, haiku-reciting, fox-gerbil samurai with a (wait for it) laser sword to sentient crystals and empathic slugs. "The more different types of people we got into the flight, the stronger it would be," Spensa reflects, and indeed, it's collective action that proves decisive in the end.
A grand finale, presented with a touch light enough to buoy all the self-actualization. Also: giant space worms! (Science fiction. 12-15)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sanderson, Brandon: DEFIANT." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A764873262/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=bd73ad65. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
The Most Boring Book Ever.
By Brandon Sanderson. Illus. by Kazu Kibuishi.
Sept. 2024. 48p. Roaring Brook, $19.99 (9781250843661).
K-Gr. 3.
"A boy sat in a chair," begins this debut picture book from fantasy super-duo Sanderson and Kibuishi. A boring opener, to be sure, especially with the text set against a double-page spread of white space--although the young Victorian man sitting nervously in the chair does give a hint of intrigue. "That's it. He just sat in a chair," confirms the next spread; however, the white space has been filled with clouds and blue sky, and the boy in the chair is now falling. Thus begins a whirlwind plummet, anchored by the classic gag of a humdrum text seemingly unaware of the madcap action in the illustrations. As the falling boy boringly looks at clouds, watches for birds, thinks about laundry, and does math, he thrillingly dodges gyrocopters, fends off a dragon, breaks his fall, and calculates a way to survive. Kibuishi does the heavy lifting, of course, leaning into a steam-punk aesthetic in an ongoing series of full-bleed action shots that deliver a nice, quick thrill ride. A surefire crowd-pleaser.
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sanderson and Kibuishi are both giants in their categories, sure to bring a lot of interest over into the picture-book space.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Khuri, Ronny. "The Most Boring Book Ever." Booklist, vol. 121, no. 1, Sept. 2024, p. 88. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A829860902/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=26c19f1d. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
Sanderson, Brandon THE MOST BORING BOOK EVER Roaring Brook Press (Children's None) $19.99 9, 24 ISBN: 9781250843661
In this collaboration between sci-fi novelist Sanderson and Amulet creator Kibuishi, an unreliable narrator informs readers that here be no dragons.
"A boy sat in a chair." The book opens on a bespectacled, light-skinned child in old-fashioned attire. The narration continues, "That's it. He just sat in a chair," while on the opposite page, the boy's chair has unexpectedly whisked him heavenward. The narrator attempts to convince readers that just sitting in a chair is boring. As the story continues, however, the boy is attacked by an array of sky ruffians operating vessels; fight scenes and impressive explosions ensue. A dragon makes an appearance as the narrator drones on about how dull the story is. Kibuishi's detailed cartoon images depict an enticing steampunk-esque world. Adults reading this book to kids might want to read the text first without the pictures; on a second run they can show off the images, neatly illustrating the important interplay of text and visuals in sequential art. Unfortunately, for all that the illustrations maintain the action at a fair clip, near the end the plot grows muddled as the boy gets out of his chair but then tumbles to the ground: Was he falling and then trying to stop himself? Some adult intervention may be required to clarify what precisely is happening on the page.
Sky-based pyrotechnics make for a fun if somewhat confusing telling.(Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sanderson, Brandon: THE MOST BORING BOOK EVER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A810315235/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=bde74db1. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.