[Bands Spoilers (maybe?)] How many Mistborn Eras are planned?

[Trickonometry]

I don't know if any of this qualifies as spoilers, but I thought it'd be better to be safe than sorry.

A few things I thought I knew:

1) Brandon originally planned for Scadrial to be the location of three trilogies, one a classic fantasy, the second a modern fantasy, and the third a space opera/future fantasy. The space opera/future fantasy would be the epic to finally tie together the whole cosmere.

2) Wax and Wayne started as a Brandon-was-bored-writing-a-book-so-he-decided-to-write-a-book book, and because of both popular reception and a love for the characters, he decided to write more.

3) Bands of Mourning ends with saying there will be another book, The Lost Metal, concluding Mistborn: Era Two.

Point 3 already threw me off when I read it, and it leads me to my first question:

1) Did I miss the memo saying there was going to be 4 books in the second series?

and

2) Are we looking at 4 or more possible Mistborn eras?

and closely tied to that question

3) Are we still getting a modern day Mistborn novel? I remember hearing something about it being set in something akin to our version of the 80s and I think a Nicrosol misting was a main character? Maybe? My memories are fuzzy regarding this bit of info.

Given how technology may be taking some leaps and bounds given the events toward the end of Bands, I am left wondering if Sanderson deemed it unnecessary to make another era before he gets to his space opera.

Thanks to all who can help answer my questions/clear up my understanding!

[WeiryWriter he/him]

1) Yes you did miss the memo.  Brandon announced that Era 2 would be 4 books long over a year ago when Shadows and Bands were announced and during the 2014 State of the Sanderson.

 

2/3) The current plan is for there to be 4 Eras, we're still getting a more modern series set in the equivalent of the 1980's.  It seems that Brandon's plans for it have altered as he has not mentioned the nicrosil misting main character in a while, but he has mentioned a young Terriswoman programmer being a lead character.

[icy1155]

The four Wax and Wayne books can be thought of as Era 1.5 - http://brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2015/

 

He is still planning on the original 3 trilogy arc.  This series is just a bonus.

[Trickonometry]

1) Yes you did miss the memo. Brandon announced that Era 2 would be 4 books long over a year ago when Shadows and Bands were announced and during the 2014 State of the Sanderson.

2/3) The current plan is for there to be 4 Eras, we're still getting a more modern series set in the equivalent of the 1980's. It seems that Brandon's plans for it have altered as he has not mentioned the nicrosil misting main character in a while, but he has mentioned a young Terriswoman programmer being a lead character.

Thank you! I figured that a fourth book wasn't new info to people based on the lack of a reactions to that fact on the forums. I'm glad the Nicrosol misting wasn't a total fabrication of my memory, and this is the first I'm hearing of a Terriswoman programmer, which is exciting. What else do we know about the next Era? Or is that about the extent of it?

[WeiryWriter he/him]

The four Wax and Wayne books can be thought of as Era 1.5 - http://brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2015/

 

He is still planning on the original 3 trilogy arc.  This series is just a bonus.

 

It appears that Brandon changed his mind back on that as the Wax and Wayne series is referred to as Era 2 in the postscript of Secret History.

[icy1155]

Ehh, no wonder everyone is so confused.  For instance, I'm confused why Amazon isn't delivering Secret History until this weekend 

Edited January 27, 2016 by icy1155

[Plaeggs he/him]

1) Yes you did miss the memo.  Brandon announced that Era 2 would be 4 books long over a year ago when Shadows and Bands were announced and during the 2014 State of the Sanderson.

 

2/3) The current plan is for there to be 4 Eras, we're still getting a more modern series set in the equivalent of the 1980's.  It seems that Brandon's plans for it have altered as he has not mentioned the nicrosil misting main character in a while, but he has mentioned a young Terriswoman programmer being a lead character.

the young terriswoman better not be a muggle. I want her to be some super-awesome brute that fights crime on the side. 1980s is prime batman time, right? Like a vigilante justice mojo. That'd be SO COOL.

[Landis963 he/him]

Terriswoman suggests "Ferring," and I suspect given her occupation that she is a Copper ferring, or a zinc ferring. Or maybe she's a steel ferring, and routinely burns through keyboards by inputting commands faster than the computer can accept. I thought for sure that she was a nicroburster, though.

[signspace13 he/him]

Terriswoman suggests "Ferring," and I suspect given her occupation that she is a Copper ferring, or a zinc ferring. Or maybe she's a steel ferring, and routinely burns through keyboards by inputting commands faster than the computer can accept. I thought for sure that she was a nicroburster, though.

could also be an electrum ferring, determination is something I would find useful while programming.

[Voidus]

Early plans for era 2 (Former era 2 that is, now era 3) were a Nicrosil misting in something like a SWAT team chasing down a Mistborn serial killer.
Now as was mentioned all we know is that it's a terriswoman programmer, I think the first idea was before the W&W Quadrilogy was thought of so it might be that Brandons now done the detective thing and wants to try a new character, or maybe the programmer is still working to take down a Mistborn, it's been a while since we heard about it so who knows?

[junior]

Early plans for era 2 (Former era 2 that is, now era 3) were a Nicrosil misting in something like a SWAT team chasing down a Mistborn serial killer.

Now as was mentioned all we know is that it's a terriswoman programmer, I think the first idea was before the W&W Quadrilogy was thought of so it might be that Brandons now done the detective thing and wants to try a new character, or maybe the programmer is still working to take down a Mistborn, it's been a while since we heard about it so who knows?

Taking down the mistborn serial killer still seems like a possibility. She could maintain a website (or the Scadrial equivalent) that starts tracking information regarding the bizarre string of killings, and realizes that the government is attempting to cover up the fact that there's now a deranged super-powered murderer on the loose.

[Shardbearer he/him]

Weiry, Brandon probably wrote that post script before he wrote the State of the Sanderson. It seems like he decided on a whim in that State of the Sanderson post to start calling it Era 1.5

[Ari he/him]

1) Yes you did miss the memo.  Brandon announced that Era 2 would be 4 books long over a year ago when Shadows and Bands were announced and during the 2014 State of the Sanderson.

 

2/3) The current plan is for there to be 4 Eras, we're still getting a more modern series set in the equivalent of the 1980's.  It seems that Brandon's plans for it have altered as he has not mentioned the nicrosil misting main character in a while, but he has mentioned a young Terriswoman programmer being a lead character.

 

I will note that Brandon has been discussing an additional Cyberpunk Mistborn Era on Reddit, placed between the previous Era 3 and Era 4 books, in which case Era 4 would become Era 5. But that's a long way from being confirmed of course.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Ari

[skaa he/him]

Weiry, Brandon probably wrote that post script before he wrote the State of the Sanderson. It seems like he decided on a whim in that State of the Sanderson posted to start calling it Era 1.5

It's also called Era Two in the BoM postscript, so that's two published instances of "Era Two" to refer to the Wax and Wayne books. At this point I'll just keep on using Era Two unless Brandon uses the "Era 1.5" term in a future book.