What are the odds Brandon powers through the next three Stormlight books?

[dayman]

I love his other stuff ... but I can't say I'm super excited that he just finished his first draft of Calamity. I'm staring at that 25% prewrite for Stormlight and it just doesn't move. 

 

He's certainly free to do as he pleases .... but man all this other work is IMO deflating what could be a nonstop Stormlight phenomenon. I know he needs a break here and there but the way he writes we could finish up the first 5 in a few years if he put his mind to it. 

 

Anyone else hoping and/or think it's possible we could get a 2017/2018/2019 finish to the first half of that series? I mean I'm ready to work through that get another major Mistborn trilogy and then finish off Stormlight and get to Dragon Steel. At this point...it's decades away. Kind of depressing. 

[Edgedancer he/him]

The odds are zero. Brandon himself was said that switching projects is how he keeps himself fresh and otherwise his writting speed would drop.

 

Plus, at least I myself am fond of everything Brandon writes, so I wouldn't say I want anything to be sidelined for the sake of another project, just a bit of everything is quite fine for me.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Edgedancer

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I'm good with a bit of everything, too. Though I confess I'm most excited for Calamity. 

 

Looking at some other writers, I think Brandon's approach—cycling through different projects to stay fresh—is a good one. I'm convinced one of the reasons why Blood of Olympus was so disappointing and lazily written is because Riordan worked on that series nonstop, so by the time he reached the last two Heroes of Olympus books, he was just done. Maybe his Norse mythology series will be better, but I doubt I'll read them. If working on different projects concurrently is how Sanderson stays fresh, I'm all for it. 

[Kobold King he/him]

I agree with Edgedancer. I think I'd get bored quickly with nonstop Stormlight installments, awesome as they may be. I just can't get Calamity fast enough, and I'm dying for my next Wax and Wayne fix.

[dayman]

I love it all as well. Get everything he does on release date. 

 

All I'm saying is Stormlight IS his main thing right now and by the time book 3 comes out he will have published like 6-8 books in between. Granted, they aren't Stormlight-like books that is another level...but that's a lot of story writing in between considering his entire fan base is dying to get the next Stormlight book.

Edited May 9, 2015 by dayman

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I love it all as well. Get everything he does on release date. 

 

All I'm saying is Stormlight IS his main thing right now and by the time book 3 comes out he will have published like 6-8 books in between. Granted, they aren't Stormlight-like books that is another level...but that's a lot of story writing in between considering his entire fan base is dying to get the next Stormlight book.

 

The way I see it, his in-between writing helps keep him sharp for Stormlight. That series is seriously impressive, with the level of worldbuilding and character development he's put into it, so by working on other projects while he's working on Stormlight, he's allowing his mind to wander different paths so he can return to Stormlight with fresh eyes. The same goes for when he's working on Stormlight while fans of his other books are waiting on the next book in their favorite series. 

 

I think it's a good thing for all fans, really. 

[Quiver he/him]

I love it all as well. Get everything he does on release date.

All I'm saying is Stormlight IS his main thing right now and by the time book 3 comes out he will have published like 6-8 books in between. Granted, they aren't Stormlight-like books that is another level...but that's a lot of story writing in between considering his entire fan base is dying to get the next Stormlight book.

...I'm not.

I mean...maybe I'm a minority. And don't take this to mean I don't want to read the next Stormlight, because I do...

But honestly, its third place in what I'm excited and waiting for, behind Nightblood and Mistborns second trilogy.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Quiver

[Kobold King he/him]

I love it all as well. Get everything he does on release date. 

 

All I'm saying is Stormlight IS his main thing right now and by the time book 3 comes out he will have published like 6-8 books in between. Granted, they aren't Stormlight-like books that is another level...but that's a lot of story writing in between considering his entire fan base is dying to get the next Stormlight book.

Well, another person could complain that he's writing so much Stormlight when so many fans are dying to read the next Mistborn trilogy. While I can see the frustration, it's just part of being in the fanbase of a particularly prolific author.

I mean, think about George R.R. Martin fans for a minute. We're getting tons of quality literature in several different series while they're still waiting for the next Game of Thrones book.

[king of nowhere]

Even splitting his time in many projects, he still writes more in the stormlight archive, by word count, than most writers write in their whole career. I mean, most writes would be hard pressed to pull out one stormlight book every few years, without publishing anything else in between.

 

Anyway, creatiive work is not something you can command easily. Sometimes you are inspired, you feel the words rushing through you and you wake up in the night to put them on paper (or, rather, on a screen). and sometimes you just can't think of anything meaningful to write, and you spend hours in front of your pc without writing anything. just be glad brandon has so much inspiration that his version of "writer block" is "I need to write another book before I come back to this one"

[dayman]

I agree about the second proper Mistborn. I'm also as excited for that as the next Stormlight. I wish he would bounce between those two and prewrite Dragon Steel ... I mean I know the YA stuff and stand alones are lighter lifting but he could still throw one in here and there. 

 

I'm just saying if he needs to bounce around he could do it on the "big stage" as well. He's got several major Cosmere pieces set to take off ... I love Wax and Wayne but I hope when that's done it's on to larger scale stuff for Mistborn. 

 

I like The Reckoners series and I actually really liked the Rithmatist (strangely...I loved that book) .... but there is room for those here and there if bounces between heavy hitters. 

 

Anyway I'm not hating on Brandon at all so I hope nobody takes it that way. I'm just saying he has enough major stuff in the kitchen to bounce around and stay fresh with primarily that. 

 

Also, on the whole I prefer Brandon more but GRRM's stuff is on another level. The guy's a sloth and way too slow but it is understandable it would be slow his prose and characters are sublime. 

[natc]

I'd like more Mistborn too. That's the other more popular project if only due to book count. SA 3 would be great too, of course.

Honestly, the prospect of learning more about the Cosmere story underneath the other stories at all excites me.

[Redbird he/him]

I really don't care what order he writes everything in, i'm going to read it regardless, but I am more excited for Shadows of Self and Band of Mourning than Stones Unhallowed.

[kaellok he/him]

Well, another person could complain that he's writing so much Stormlight when so many fans are dying to read the next Mistborn trilogy. While I can see the frustration, it's just part of being in the fanbase of a particularly prolific author.

I mean, think about George R.R. Martin fans for a minute. We're getting tons of quality literature in several different series while they're still waiting for the next Game of Thrones book.

And while I loved the first three SOIAF books, the last couple have been rather sharply down-hill in quality, imo.  Compare that to Brandon, whose quality of writing tends to increase/get better with every novel he publishes.  If working on different projects in between ensures that each book that we get is worth the wait, then I'll avoid gnashing my teeth too hard or voicing bitter complaints (even though I might think them.  After all, I began binge reading nearly two decades ago, and all of my favorite authors combined cannot keep up with the rate I go through books.)

 

Hells, if we're speaking honestly here, if Brandon said that looking at pictures of hats helped his writing process, I'd get him a couple thousand new ones every day.  Whatever the man needs, or wants, or desires to keep writing at the same consistent level of quality that he's at, I endorse fully.

[Young Bard he/him]

Do you do any writing of your own?

 

As someone who has done some (not very good) writing in the past, I think you don't have a proper understanding of how it works. You seem to think that he treats all of his other books as oil to smooth the gears for Stormlight and Mistborn. But the fact that he writes several series on the go isn't so much the intent as the by-product.

 

On a given day, you might sit down to type. You've just passed the 'First Ordeal' Stage in your story (where I always seem to get writer's block). You had been working towards that point in your story for ages. Then you get past it, and you just find it anti-climactic, dull. Boring.

 

That energy, that feeling that made you want to write, is spent. You don't have anything to look forward to in your story for roughly the next (you check your notes) 25000 words???

 

Suddenly, that other idea, the one that's been tinkering in your mind for a little while, shows it's face. It looks better than this quagmire of a novel. Hell, at the moment, sticking your head down the toilet bowl would feel better than enduring this.

 

So, you start your new project. It might not be as grand, as fantastic, as your other project, but, it's a nice change.

 

And then, the turn. The novel strikes back at you draining your energies. Suddenly, that plot of yours looks ridiculous. Who in their right mind would want to read something so ridiculous?

 

Then your cursor bumps over that old project. The one you abandoned, months ago. That one, where...

 

Reminiscing, you start re-reading it. It's far from spotless, and you fix up all sorts of small phrase mistakes as you go along, but it's not too shabby. You reach the point where you'd stopped all those months ago, and eagerly, right a new line underneath it, and then another.

 

Speaking from experience, 2 or more projects can actually make you write each individual project faster than any one project at a time.

 

I apologize if it seems to you like I'm ranting about this, but what I've just written isn't as much of a dramatization as you might think. If you want to understand what writing is like, I thoroughly recommend you give it a go. But, if you haven't (which I'm guessing is correct by your comments), then I don't think you should give the professional author lessons on how and when he should be writing.

[StormingTexan he/him]

I don't know how anyone can read WoR and the Warbreaker sequel not be your most anticipated book but maybe that's just me.

I think the saying "If it's not broke don't fix it." pertains to this. The quality of Brandon's writing just keeps getting better. The mind boggling thing is he gets better while also publishing so many books. In the course of just a few months apart we are going to get two more Wax and Wayne books and Calamity. That's amazing to me. I get why people want SA3 so bad the series is just amazing but so are all the other series.

Edited May 10, 2015 by StormingTexan

[dayman]

And while I loved the first three SOIAF books, the last couple have been rather sharply down-hill in quality, imo.  Compare that to Brandon, whose quality of writing tends to increase/get better with every novel he publishes.  If working on different projects in between ensures that each book that we get is worth the wait, then I'll avoid gnashing my teeth too hard or voicing bitter complaints (even though I might think them.  After all, I began binge reading nearly two decades ago, and all of my favorite authors combined cannot keep up with the rate I go through books.)

 

Hells, if we're speaking honestly here, if Brandon said that looking at pictures of hats helped his writing process, I'd get him a couple thousand new ones every day.  Whatever the man needs, or wants, or desires to keep writing at the same consistent level of quality that he's at, I endorse fully.

 

 

Brewdah, it's not a bitter complaint. Just commenting my friend. 

[natc]

I don't know how anyone can read WoR and the Warbreaker sequel not be your most anticipated book but maybe that's just me.

I think the saying "If it's not broke don't fix it." pertains to this. The quality of Brandon's writing just keeps getting better. The mind boggling thing is he gets better while also publishing so many books. In the course of just a few months apart we are going to get two more Wax and Wayne books and Calamity. That's amazing to me. I get why people want SA3 so bad the series is just amazing but so are all the other series.

And the second Wax and Wayne book was written accidentally at that

Heck the whole mini-series was an accident. And it's an awesome one.

[Delightful]

Uuh guys, IMHO this whole discussion is more than a little selfish - to demand of Brandon to write certain books in a certain order to make us happy. Sure we're the fans, but Brandon is still a human being and if he wanted to he could even retire tomorrow and there's not much we could do.

Dayman, this isn't personal. I just think that in general as a fan base we're pretty spoiled as it is, and maybe we should all just at least tone down the whinging.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Delightful

[king of nowhere]

Uuh guys, IMHO this whole discussion is more than a little selfish - to demand of Brandon to write certain books in a certain order to make us happy. Sure we're the fans, but Brandon is still a human being and if he wanted to he could even retire tomorrow and there's not much we could do.

 

Actually there is.

We could steal his money, so he would be forced to keep writing to pay his expences

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I understand the excitement/frustration of waiting for an anticipated entry in an awesome series... I, too, was young once

 

Think about it like this: With the way writing and publishing goes, every other year is about as fast as I've seen any writer write a coherent series. Any faster, and you either end up with a much simpler story or the Malazan Book of the Fallen. This is Brandon's current goal for the Stormlight Archive and one that is not going to be affected by his other projects.

 

So, what did affect the wait between Way of the Kings and Words of Radiance? Simply put, finishing the Wheel of Time. With that monkey off his back, I trust that he can keep more or less to his current rates, since he can focus on his own projects and not worry about a Legacy Project that could have ruined his career if he messed it up. 

 

So I imagine we'll have the first Five parter finished up by 2020. Just one year outside of the range you specified as being ideal. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. And the wait time is manageable enough with other books... like a ten-part one called the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Edited May 11, 2015 by Orlion