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For the last two years, following the release of the State of the Sanderson, I've done a post discussing it and comparing it to States past. Well this year's State is out so if you have already read that and want to know some more context read on! Finished books being released next year: Legion: Lies of the Beholder Brandon has finally written the third, and final, installment of the Legion series. It will be release as part of a collection with the rest of the series next September, though there will be an individual Subterranean Press edition to match those for Legion and Legion: Skin Deep. White Sand Volume 2 The second volume of the White Sand graphic novel has been sent to the printers and is expected to release in February. Works in progress: Skyward Brandon’s current main project is writing Skyward, a novel that was first mentioned back in the 2013 State. (And then never mentioned again, at least until now). Skyward is Brandon's take on the "boy and his dragon" trope, in the form of a "girl and her starfighter" which sounds like an interesting premise. If the writing goes well Brandon may write the entire trilogy in one go, but he does have to budget time for the final Wax and Wayne book. Brandon spoke more about it in a blog post earlier this week, including a mention that Skyward takes place in the continuity of something he has written before (but not the cosmere and not the Reckoners multiverse). Brandon did a reading of the prologue of Skyward during the Oathbringer tour, which you can listen to on the 17th Shard youtube channel. Stormlight Archive Brandon isn’t planning on starting to write Stormlight 4 until January 1, 2019 but he will be working on getting "rock-solid outlines" for Books 4 and 5. This may be a result of him shifting events around in order to make Dalinar's flashback sequence work in Oathbringer, as it was previously scheduled for Book 5. Brandon gives an estimated release of 2020-2021 for Stormlight 4 but does mention he hopes to write another between-book novella, this one titled Wandersail. Brandon doesn't give any information on it except for its name in the State but at the Oathbringer release he did mention Rysn may get a novella, and if you've read Oathbringer there are reasons in it that would explain why a Rysn novella could be titled Wandersail. Upcoming projects: The Lost Metal The final Wax and Wayne book is next on the docket after Skyward with plans for a 2019 release. Due to the schedule for Stormlight 4 and the length of time necessary to write this book Brandon wants to start drafting this September 1st, or preferably, before. Brandon also definitively states that the Wax and Wayne novels are Era Two. Again... Unfortunately, this will be the final, planned, Mistborn novel for the foreseeable future. Alcatraz Bastille versus the Evil Librarians: The Worldspire The actual final entry in the Alcatraz series, from the viewpoint of Bastille. Brandon did some test chapters but couldn't quite nail Bastille's voice. As a result he is going to try collaborate with fellow author Janci Patterson (a former student and long-time friend of Brandon's). Brandon's intent is to write an outline after finishing the first Skyward book, which Janci will work with. Brandon will post updates about this. Secondary projects: Elantris sequels The 2014 State said that these had to be written before the 1980s-esque Mistborn trilogy for “behind-the-scenes Cosmere bits”. The 2015 State put the first as one of the books between Stormlight 4 and 5. Last year's Sate more-or-less reaffirmed that plan, explaining that Elantris novels would likely take the place of the Mistborn Era 2 novels in alternating with Stormlight novels. This State says about the same. Nightblood No change on this. The 2015 State seemed to imply he does not plan on writing it until at least after the Elantris sequels are finished. This State really doesn't add anything new. White Sand Volume 3 The State does not mentioning anything about the third volume of the White Sand graphic novel. With the second volume's completion however, work should be starting on it soon, if it hasn't already. Hopefully it won't take as long as the second volume did. The Aztlanian Brandon again says that The Aztlanian is his most requested book at the moment. Last year Brandon mentioned that since his eldest son getting close to the age where he can read The Rithmatist, Brandon planed on reading it with him and then jumping into writing the sequel, but it seems it just didn't work out this year. The Aztlanian was originally planned to be written a couple years ago, but felt he did not have a firm enough grasp on Aztec history and culture to do it justice. He did some research but by the time he had finished did not have enough time finish writing it, and so wrote The Dark Talent instead. Brandon reaffirms his desire to deal with the time period, cultures, and viewpoints in a way that is respectful, but emphasizes that that requires a lot of research. Last year Brandon indicated that he wanted to slide this in this year, but with Oathbringer taking longer than expected, and The Apocalypse Guard being broken, the stars did not align. I really hope they do soon. Minor projects: Apocalypse Guard Brandon wrote the first book of this trilogy this year, but its broken and he doesn't know how to fix it. At the Oathbringer release he did mention that he had asked Dan Wells (his friend and fellow Writing Excuses member) to take a look at it and see if he can figure out what exactly is wrong. Until it gets fixed this series is on an indefinite hiatus. Adamant (previously The Lurker) A science fiction novella that Brandon has described as “Silence of the Lambs in Space”. He has spoken about it before but the plan is for it to be a sequence of six novellas released over the course of a year (one every other month). He has the first one written, and plans on writing three more at some point, with the last two being written by guest authors. No idea on when this will get released as he would like his sequence of novellas finished before it starts to be released. Brandon did get some work done on the outline this year, and came close to writing the second novella a few times, but it ultimately did not get put on the front burner. During the summer of 2015 he did mention that he was contemplating sliding it into the cosmere, but there is no mention of that in any of the last three States. With the knowledge that he wants guest writers coming in, that may mean Adamant becoming Cosmere is off the table, we shall see. Dark One The story of a boy discovering he is the one destined to destroy the world, takes place on an electricity-based world. It has jumped in and out of the cosmere a few times over the years (depending on whether Brandon feels it is too self-referential to the genre to be included) and is currently non-cosmere. Brandon did write an outline is very pleased this summer, skewing it "older and more twisted", and hopes to have more to announce in next year's State. Death by Pizza In the 2015 State Brandon said he had recently had a breakthrough with. While it was left out of the 2014 State it was included in the 2013 one (though at the time Brandon seemed doubtful of it ever progressing). Still no movement on this one. Dragonsteel No change on this one, it’s not going to be on the docket until after Stormlight 10. The Silence Divine No change on this project either. Brandon has written a small portion of it, which he read during the Words of Radiance tour, but it is still quite a ways off from release. Soulburner A project first mentioned in the 2015 State, it is a space opera/fantasy hybrid. Brandon does not go into too much more depth this year. No progress has been made. Aether of Night This is an old project, one of the thirteen novels Brandon wrote before getting published. Long thought to be a trunked novel, as various concepts from it were cannibalized for other projects, Brandon confirms that it is still part of the cosmere sequence (he does explain that currently the only thing canon from it is the magic system). The original draft of this is still available by request from the 17th Shard. Untitled Threnody novel A planned novel set on the same planet as Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell. Brandon mentioned in the 2016 State that the original plan for this was to tell the story of the people fleeing the Homeland and the Evil, and that he was considering switching gears and telling the story of an expedition sent back to the Homeland. As of this year it seems he has decided to go ahead with that plan when he gets around to writing it. Untitled Silverlight novella Still no information about this one in the State, but Brandon did make a comment at the Oathbringer London signing that implies it may be from the point-of-view of Khriss. Probably still a ways off before he writes it. Untitled Sixth of the Dusk sequel Brandon doesn't say too much about this in the State but at the Oathbringer Newcastle signing he mentioned that he had an outline for a novella where Sixth does some exploring in the Cognitive Realm. Untitled Reckoners follow-up A potential follow-up to The Reckoners, featuring Mizzy as the main character. No indication on when it will be written, if ever. The Eyes A novella based on the Fermi Paradox (which asks the question that if there are other advanced civilizations out there, why have humans not detected any radio waves, or other forms of wireless communication) that Brandon wrote a short snippet of during last year’s Writing Excuses Retreat cruise. No mention of it in this year's State so it may have been trunked. Adaptation Updates: Mistborn The rights are held by DMG (as with the rest of the cosmere), a script has been completed and they are shopping it around Hollywood. Stormlight Archive Largely in the same place as Mistborn, in that it has a script which is being shopped around. However what it does have, which Mistborn doesn't, is a team making a VR experience titled "Escape the Shattered Plains" which DMG hopes to use in order to give filmmakers a sense of the setting. What's even better is that it will also be released on Steam so the rest of us can experience it as well! It will released in February and Brandon posted a preview video on his Twitter. The Reckoners Fox renewed the option this summer, Brandon doesn't know how the recent Disney merger will affect things. Snapshot The rights are held by MGM, work on the script should start early next year. Defending Elysium Under contract, with the first draft of a script completed. Legion Currently in negotiations for another television deal. Dark One Also currently in negotiations for a television deal, as well as a potential graphic novel.