Do you think we will ever see a Mistborn prequel, about the story of Alendi?

[kroen]

I think it could be really interesting. 

[Kurkistan he/him]

He most likely will not, sorry.

 

He has a fairly full explanation of why here.

[kroen]

He most likely will not, sorry.

 

He has a fairly full explanation of why here.

A shame. I could actually picture this story of being a trilogy or even a ten book saga, although that's not to say I wouldn't prefer a single book. Anyway, he did say "it's unlikely" and didn't turn off the idea completely, so that's something.

[Khmauv he/him]

I am not sure I see the appeal here. I don't doubt Brandon could make it a great story but...

[Rubix he/him]

I really hope that Brandon doesn't go back and do that. I'd rather see him spend his time writing new material, not expanding the backstory of Alendi. I don't know about you, but I want Stormlight and the later Mistborn trilogies. And ten books about Alendi? I don't want Brandon's releases for TEN YEARS to be about him. I don't care about him that much. He got plenty of backstory during the Mistborn trilogy. A short story, maybe, but anything more than that would be a waste.

[kroen]

I really hope that Brandon doesn't go back and do that. I'd rather see him spend his time writing new material, not expanding the backstory of Alendi. I don't know about you, but I want Stormlight and the later Mistborn trilogies. And ten books about Alendi? I don't want Brandon's releases for TEN YEARS to be about him. I don't care about him that much. He got plenty of backstory during the Mistborn trilogy. A short story, maybe, but anything more than that would be a waste.

As I said, I didn't prefer it to be a ten book saga. But from what we know about the story, I mean about Alendi being a blacksmith's son; about him declared the Hero of Ages; about him being a Seeker; about him waging war all across the world with armies at his command; and finally, about him questing to the Well of Ascension—all of these, at the core, sound a lot like other massive sagas such as Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth. All I said was that I could picture this story spanning over ten books.

 

But dang, now that I wrote it down I actually do want this story to be 10 books lol 

Edited April 25, 2013 by Rubix
Watch the language

[Rubix he/him]

As I said, I didn't prefer it to be a ten book saga. But from what we know about the story, I mean about Alendi being a blacksmith's son; about him declared the Hero of Ages; about him being a Seeker; about him waging war all across the world with armies at his command; and finally, about him questing to the Well of Ascension—all of these, at the core, sound a lot like other massive sagas such as Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth. All I said was that I could picture this story spanning over ten books.

 

But dang, now that I wrote it down I actually do want this story to be 10 books lol 

 

What a waste it would be for Brandon to spend ten years of his career writing a story that "sounds a lot like other massive sagas". If you want an awesome war epic, with blacksmiths and saviors of the world, the Wheel of Time executes that story wonderfully. Why would we want another one of those, instead of the epicness that Brandon has planned. We've only started to glimpse the full story of the cosmere, and I'm sure it's going to get more and more awesome as time goes on, not to mention all of the awesome series that will comprise the cosmere epic. I want the later two mistborn trilogies, The Stormlight Archive, and Dragonsteel. The Stormlight Archive probably isn't going to see it's conclusion until about 2026, by the calendar that Brandon's given us. That's 13 more years at the least. And after that's all said and done, there are still another 17 or so cosmere books that Brandon still plans to write. Assuming one a year, we're now to 2043 by the time we see the end of the cosmere if Brandon doesn't expand beyond what he's got planned (which he tends to do).

 

Not to say that it wouldn't be an interesting read, but I want to see what Brandon has in mind to advance his stories, not go back and expand a story that we already have a pretty good understanding of. Do you really want Brandon to spend ten years writing a prequel series?

[kroen]

Good points, but as I originally said, I'd be fine with just one book. Also, I'm pretty sure that so far, historically, he's written more than 1 book per year.

Edited April 25, 2013 by kroen

[Rubix he/him]

He has been writing more than one book per year. But there are also side projects that he works in that we have to account for as well, such as Rithmatist and Steelheart. 

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Good points, but as I originally said, I'd be fine with just one book. Also, I'm pretty sure that so far, historically, he's written more than 1 book per year.

 

Yes, in some instances he has.  But it is not exactly fair to expect it of him.  I would say a book a year is already above the industry average and I don't feel it is right to expect more of him.  That way it is a pleasant surprise when we get more books.

[kroen]

He's indeed an exceptionally busy writer; most fantasy novelists rarely focus on more than one series at the time, and certainly not as many as Brandon. This, of course, is double edged sword. I mean, considering how good his books are, just imagine how much better they could have been had he only focused on one series at a time. But hey, what do I know, I'm not a writer.

[Rubix he/him]

He's indeed an exceptionally busy writer; most fantasy novelists rarely focus on more than one series at the time, and certainly not as many as Brandon. This, of course, is double edged sword. I mean, considering how good his books are, just imagine how much better they could have been had he only focused on one series at a time. But hey, what do I know, I'm not a writer.

 

They'd be worse. Guaranteed. Brandon has said more than once that he writes other projects so that he doesn't burn out. The first Alcatraz book was written because Brandon was getting sick of writing the Mistborn trilogy. He does it to unwind.

[kroen]

They'd be worse. Guaranteed. Brandon has said more than once that he writes other projects so that he doesn't burn out. The first Alcatraz book was written because Brandon was getting sick of writing the Mistborn trilogy. He does it to unwind.

Oh. Didn't know that.

[KChan she/her]

It might be cool to see Scadrial's past, if and only if Brandon needed to write something fun and random to unwind. He could easily fit it into a novella-length story though, at the very most. We don't need to see every single part of Alendi's story, but the big important parts could fit in a nicely paced, shorter work.

 

I'm with Rubix, though. I'd rather see the awesome stuff he planed for us in the future.

[Shivertongue he/him]

The problem with showing the past is that we already know how it's going to end. That does not mean that a cool story couldn't still be written, but the story itself would probably be more interesting if the focus was NOT on one of the major characters from historical Scadrial. Give us a perspective on events that we haven't seen before, with problems that are not directly related to events that shaped the time of the books we've read.

 

That said, I don't really want to see what happened before the Lord Ruler. I prefer that some stuff, including the history of a world, be open to imagination. Robert Jordan did this masterfully over the course of The Wheel of Time, giving just enough history to provide flavor to the world and the events of the novels, and then letting the readers fill in the gaps. Anything he or Brandon or anyone else comes up with is not going to be nearly as cool as what we can imagine for ourselves.