Did anyone else notice the extra Cosmere project in the YouTube State of Sanderson?

[Hoids4thApprentice he/him]

I listened to the YouTube version of the State of Sanderson after reading the version on his website.

The website version says:

"The Night Brigade, Dragonsteel, The Silence Divine, the Grand Apparatus, Mythos, the Aether World book series, Free Fall Seven Layer Burrito World, Caveman Heist, Unnamed Other Ashyn Book... My, my. This list keeps growing, doesn’t it?"

When listening to the YouTube at 9.37 in, it sounds like there is an extra project inserted between Dragonsteel and the Silence Divine. Sounds like "Cairn"?

Does anyone have any ideas on what this might be?

Edited December 24, 2025 by Hoids4thApprentice
typo

[Use the Falchion]

On 12/24/2025 at 7:08 AM, Hoids4thApprentice said:

I listened to the YouTube version of the State of Sanderson after reading the version on his website.

The website version says:

"The Night Brigade, Dragonsteel, The Silence Divine, the Grand Apparatus, Mythos, the Aether World book series, Free Fall Seven Layer Burrito World, Caveman Heist, Unnamed Other Ashyn Book... My, my. This list keeps growing, doesn’t it?"

When listening to the YouTube at 9.37 in, it sounds like there is an extra project inserted between Dragonsteel and the Silence Divine. Sounds like "Cairn"?

Does anyone have any ideas on what this might be?

I went back and relistened due to your prompting and I heard it too! 

I have no idea what it's about, but since I'm almost positive Brandon wrote YET ANOTHER Secret Project this year (either as an add-along to either Arcanum Unbounded's* eventual Leatherbound or Oathbringer's Leatherbound in 2027 or as something else), I'm pretty sure we'll hear about it by the end of 2026. 

As an aside, I'd honestly rather Brandon's next Secret Project novel be Arcanum Unbounded 2. If it's not that, I'd prefer it even more if Sanderson saved most of his Secret Projects for another big SP Crowdfunding Campaign like the 2022 one. Having books release with smaller crowdfunding efforts does increase how much those smaller efforts raise overall, but that first Secret Project Kickstarter was magical...

[Hoids4thApprentice he/him]

Glad I'm not going mad and that someone else can hear that there is something else there too lol!

On 1/1/2026 at 6:41 AM, Use the Falchion said:

I have no idea what it's about, but since I'm almost positive Brandon wrote YET ANOTHER Secret Project this year (either as an add-along to either Arcanum Unbounded's* eventual Leatherbound or Oathbringer's Leatherbound in 2027 or as something else), I'm pretty sure we'll hear about it by the end of 2026.

Thinking about the process of recording the State of Sanderson (where some of it was recorded before the completion of all the sections) I think that they may have chosen to edit out the mention of this project from the published State of Sanderson after recording this section. I think there are a few possible reasons:

1. This project is something that he has done a bit more work on since recording the segment and decided it won't work (like the Hoid Princess Story or Kingmaker) so asked for it to be removed from the published version.
2. Since recording the YouTube version he has discussed it with Dan, Isaac or another potential co-author and handed it off to them so that it no longer belonged in that section
3. That he is giving more priority to this project since recording the YouTube and is now saving it for a Secret Project announcement. 

I honestly think option 1 is the most likely, but I really hope it is option 3 and that as you say, this gets announced at some pint in 2027.

The reason that I think one additional secret project is likely in the short term (regardless of any other secret project that come up in the long term) is the way Brandon has stated the the Fires of December (when added to tress and Yumi) creates a new series (initially a trilogy, but one that can be added to): Hoid's Travails. The only other two Cosmere based secret projects to date (Sunlit Man and Isles of the Emberdark) were focused on 2 of Hoid's apprentices. Brandon is fond of having symmetry and numerical significance in the way he sequences the Cosmere books. Brandon also told us, when introducing the Sunlit Man during the Kickstarter, that Hoid has 3 apprentices. For me, it seems pretty likely that a book focused on the final apprentice to be introduced would be the next thing he would want to prioritize.

Edited January 2 by Hoids4thApprentice

[Use the Falchion]

13 hours ago, Hoids4thApprentice said:

The reason that I think one additional secret project is likely in the short term (regardless of any other secret project that come up in the long term) is the way Brandon has stated the the Fires of December (when added to tress and Yumi) creates a new series (initially a trilogy, but one that can be added to): Hoid's Travails. The only other two Cosmere based secret projects to date (Sunlit Man and Isles of the Emberdark) were focused on 2 of Hoid's apprentices. Brandon is fond of having symmetry and numerical significance in the way he sequences the Cosmere books. Brandon also told us, when introducing the Sunlit Man during the Kickstarter, that Hoid has 3 apprentices. For me, it seems pretty likely that a book focused on the final apprentice to be introduced would be the next thing he would want to prioritize.

Oh good points!

EDIT: I'm not sure that Hoid's Travails is a trilogy, however. I thought it was just a subseries for these specific Secret Projects. If you have a source to prove me wrong, please go ahead!

I personally feel another Secret Project is likely because:

A) Current Era (2020-Current Time) Brandon seems incapable of being able to stop writing them;

B. There are several small lines and hints in the SotS that present that vibe to me. Toward the beginning of the SotS, Brandon says "there's always another secret. And another story." He didn't need to add that last part, but the fact he felt like it was necessary to include sparked the idea of another Secret Project. Later on, Dan talks about the Council of Wizards meeting three times. Even if two of those books were Dan's books (which itself isn't a given*), Fires of December was finished last year and Mistborn 8 hadn't been finished yet, so I'm not entirely sure these would have been counted among the three. Thus, we're left with an open slot for the story/project that the Council of Wizards could have been to discuss, and a Secret Project would fit there quite well! 

 

13 hours ago, Hoids4thApprentice said:

1. This project is something that he has done a bit more work on since recording the segment and decided it won't work (like the Hoid Princess Story or Kingmaker) so asked for it to be removed from the published version.
2. Since recording the YouTube version he has discussed it with Dan, Isaac or another potential co-author and handed it off to them so that it no longer belonged in that section
3. That he is giving more priority to this project since recording the YouTube and is now saving it for a Secret Project announcement. 

I honestly think option 1 is the most likely, but I really hope it is option 3 and that as you say, this gets announced at some pint in 2027.

4. (Or rather 3A.) Brandon did this deliberately to see if he could drop a teaser and have people pick up on it. 

*Dan talks about three projects. Two are in revision, and one is most likely Dark One, as it's been in revisions for years at this point. That leaves one other project, one of the Cosmere projects. If this one finished up and was part of the reason the Council of Wizards met, then that's one book accounted for. 

Edited January 3 by Use the Falchion

[Use the Falchion]

With the release of the new crowdfunding campaign coming in two days, I can't help but think that Sanderson still has one more card up his sleeve, and that's going to be another Secret Project. (Because even Brandon would be amused by a 6-7 pun.) I can't say if it's the Cairn thing we've speculated about here, but I do believe it'll happen...well, either here or for Oathbringer 10th anniversary. 

(Once again, I'd prefer Sanderson save these Secret Projects up for a big campaign with 7-10 books, but I'll also take 2 SPs for this Kickstarter, 1 for Oathbringer, and then 4-6 for a big campaign down the line.)

Edited March 2 by Use the Falchion