Mystery Project in Sanderson's Status Bar

[anna she/her]

7 hours ago, Farnsworth said:

He said it was a project, not a book, so he could just be building a park bench. With plot twists of course.

Or, it's book with the plot written by Sanderson, actually fleshed out into works by Rothfuss, with occasional humor injections from Pratchet. Happiness in rectangular form.

That would be fun, assuming he's found a way to talk to Pratchett's Cognitive Shadow

[Pagerunner he/him]

Brandon in July: "I've got my next two years of writing planned out for five non-Stormlight books, and then focused on Stormlight after that to close out the first half of the series."

Brandon in October, after finishing literally one book of his previous plan: "I decided to do a mystery project I've never talked about before."

By the way, Brandon recently said the mystery project is not Dark One. My bet is on the Threnody novel, since that's one he's been talking about more and more over the past year or so, but it's been in the works for a long time. My impression is that Brandon has been getting excited about this book.

 

[Steeldancer he/him]

12 minutes ago, Pagerunner said:

Brandon in July: "I've got my next two years of writing planned out for five non-Stormlight books, and then focused on Stormlight after that to close out the first half of the series."

Brandon in October, after finishing literally one book of his previous plan: "I decided to do a mystery project I've never talked about before."

By the way, Brandon recently said the mystery project is not Dark One. My bet is on the Threnody novel, since that's one he's been talking about more and more over the past year or so, but it's been in the works for a long time. My impression is that Brandon has been getting excited about this book.

 

Threnody would be good. Very good. I need more cosmere in my life, and a gritty threnody novel would be very much appreciates. 

[SilverTiger she/her]

It could be the story set of Ashyn (since he decided not to call it The Silence Divine). Ashyn being the planet in the Rosharan system with upside-down floating cities and magic diseases.

[HelloMyNameIsDrBloodborne]

Okay, at around 1:23:00 in this video, he says it's based on an idea he came up with in his first round of Youtube lectures, around 6 years ago.

[Steeldancer he/him]

46 minutes ago, HelloMyNameIsDrBloodborne said:

Okay, at around 1:23:00 in this video, he says it's based on an idea he came up with in his first round of Youtube lectures, around 6 years ago.

Time to peruse those...

[OrangeJedi he/him]

Here are my favorite theories:

On 10/24/2017 at 1:56 PM, The Invested Beard said:

My hope is Warbreaker 2, Elantris 2, or a Silverlight novella. Although with my luck it will be a non-fiction memoir about his dog or something.

The non-fiction is a bit of a stretch, but I think that a Silverlight novella is very plausible. 

 

On 10/24/2017 at 1:39 PM, Glamdring804 said:

Calling it now. The mystery project is Stormlight 5, which he needed to write so he could figure out how to write Stormlight 4.

Yes, just yes.. What more can I say.

On 10/25/2017 at 1:38 PM, Anagrama said:

The timing suggests to me it's the story for White Sand 2 that he'd give to dynamite if they're going to keep the series going after volume 3. They would need it sometime next year, so if he's going to do it, he'll have to knock it out before stormlight 4. 

Having read White Sand (the full draft version) I can easily see a squeal to White Sand, though I would be disappointed if it was only released as a graphic novel.

On 10/26/2017 at 4:04 PM, Angsos said:

My vote is he accidentally wrote a book much earlier than planned and doesn't want to tell anyone in case he wants a rainy day book.

I like it, seems like something he would do just for fun.

On 10/27/2017 at 6:43 AM, Pagerunner said:

Brandon in July: "I've got my next two years of writing planned out for five non-Stormlight books, and then focused on Stormlight after that to close out the first half of the series."

Brandon in October, after finishing literally one book of his previous plan: "I decided to do a mystery project I've never talked about before."

By the way, Brandon recently said the mystery project is not Dark One. My bet is on the Threnody novel, since that's one he's been talking about more and more over the past year or so, but it's been in the works for a long time. My impression is that Brandon has been getting excited about this book.

 

I was kind-of hoping for the dark one, so I am disappointed to see that one nixed. The "never talked about before" probably nixes Warbreaker 2/Nightblood, an Elantris sequel, Alcatraz 6 (really wanted that one), or any other book in tSoS. It could still Silverlight novella, but I am inclined say no to that one too. My best guess is that it is a new book or novella that we probably can't guess. Hopeful a Cosmere work (a short story on Nathalis would be nice).

Edited October 28, 2017 by OrangeJedi
fixed an auto correct typo

[Shadowmancer he/him]

@OrangeJedi You mean sequel to White Sand, right?

[The Invested Beard]

1 hour ago, OrangeJedi said:

Having read White Sand (the full draft version) I can easily see a sexual to White Sand, though I would be disappointed if it was only released as a graphic novel.

 

Ooooooh yeah.

[anna she/her]

To be fair, White Sand is a pretty sexy book

[Steeldancer he/him]

What is Adamant, and what is Skyward? 

[thegatorgirl00 she/her]

21 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

What is Adamant, and what is Skyward? 

If you haven't already, I suggest reading through some of the state of the sandersons. They're a summary of his previous year, but also talk about future projects. It's on Brandon's site under future books. 

https://brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2016/ 

Don't just limit yourself to the most recent one, either. Older years have info that is sometimes left off newer years. 

[OrangeJedi he/him]

23 hours ago, Shadowmancer said:

@OrangeJedi You mean sequel to White Sand, right?

Yes, sorry, my auto correct got the best of me.

[Tesh Any pronouns]

Yes, please be Silverlight! Please! Answer some of the millions of questions we have, and give us even more to ponder, and make the Shard explode!  

[Podman]

I doubt anyone will be able to guess what the mystery project is if he's

On 10/27/2017 at 11:14 AM, OrangeJedi said:

"...never talked about [it] before."

 

[Steeldancer he/him]

On 10/27/2017 at 5:05 PM, thegatorgirl00 said:

If you haven't already, I suggest reading through some of the state of the sandersons. They're a summary of his previous year, but also talk about future projects. It's on Brandon's site under future books. 

https://brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2016/ 

Don't just limit yourself to the most recent one, either. Older years have info that is sometimes left off newer years. 

Ok i remember adamant now. But information on Skyward is minimal at best. Urgh. 

[Jonathon]

I like how we're all debating and guessing at what this mystery project is going to be, and saying that you're disappointed because there's no longer a possibility for it to be this thing or this other thing. I mean honestly, we're acting like we wouldn't all drop about $100 dollars even if it were a ten page short story written in pig Latin. 

 

But in all seriousness, I don't think it'll be anything cosmere related, just a novel that may be standalone, or may have a sequel in the future. Something like Rithmatist with how it came out a while ago, but still has no sequel. 

[thegatorgirl00 she/her]

2 hours ago, podman36 said:

I doubt anyone will be able to guess what the mystery project is if he's

 

Challenge accepted! 

The story will take place on Vax. The planet is a cold dreary place, far from the sun and filled with mist. The story will be about a newly married couple's troubles when they must decide whether or not to undergo the process that will give their unborn child magical powers. Although it will make survival easier, the child will be shunned since using magic requires heat, a rare resource often stolen from other humans and turns them into blocks of ice. 

[Jonathon]

19 hours ago, thegatorgirl00 said:

Challenge accepted! 

The story will take place on Vax. The planet is a cold dreary place, far from the sun and filled with mist. The story will be about a newly married couple's troubles when they must decide whether or not to undergo the process that will give their unborn child magical powers. Although it will make survival easier, the child will be shunned since using magic requires heat, a rare resource often stolen from other humans and turns them into blocks of ice. 

That is oddly specific...

If that turns out to be even remotely accurate then I'll give you like... three whole high-fives

[Angsos]

Or it's Brandon or Peter posting under an pseudonym to gage interest.

[Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him]

My theory: He got an idea for a story around one of the Shards we haven't seen yet and wants to try doing a rough draft of the world, story, and magic before putting up anything about it. The point of a "Mystery Project" as a name, is that A. if he were to put up an actual title, that would raise a ton of hype, and then if it didn't work out, it wouldn't be good, and B. it might still be in a state of flux where he doesn't have nearly enough yet to give the project a proper name.

[The Sovereign]

I saw this book personalization on Facebook, I'm not trying to get my hopes up too high, but could the mystery project be Nightblood!?

Edited October 30, 2017 by The Sovereign

[Draginon he/him]

How funny would it be if the title of this thing actually is Mystery Project?

[The Invested Beard]

46 minutes ago, The Sovereign said:

I saw this book personalization on Facebook, I'm not trying to get my hopes up too high, but could the mystery project be Nightblood!?

I would squee.

[The Sovereign]

32 minutes ago, The Invested Beard said:

I would squee.

As would I.